Misc Thoughts on #en3177

I noticed that one of my more “on-top-of-it” classmates had posted an assignment on her blog that had been given in the Tuesday class I missed.

At first I was like “Oh god, how tedious.  ANOTHER assignment where I don’t get to just write exactly what I feel like?!  Bogus.”  But actually it’s good, because one of my struggles as a writer is “that kind” of writing.

By “that kind” I mean non-fiction writing to relay information.  College assignment type writing.  I’m more of a poetry and intimate personal prose writer.  Although improving my informational writing skills AND my fiction writing skills are both goals of mine.  Fiction I, I’m coming for you.  Not anytime soon, but eventually.

I did my Kundalini “Warrior Workout” dvd (Ravi Singh and Ana Brett)this morning.  I know it’s not very “traditional” (I notice Yogi Bhajan and the Kundalini Research Institute are not mentioned in the liner notes), but I enjoy it.  After a Kundalini session, I swear I can feel my pranic body.  It feels the way stars look in the sky on a clear night.  I’m very excited to begin my apprenticeship.  I’ve been advised by my teacher (or is it a mentor for an apprenticeship?) to wear the traditional tantric white (increases auric field) and purchase a turban so I may wrap my hair.  The turban effects meridians in the head, and also helps consolidate the huge amount of life force and energy contained in the hair.

Anyways, back to the blogs.

I have been thinking about my best friend’s blog.  It is the best blog I have ever read, and it is password protected, because her son’s biological father is deranged and stalks her in a variety of ways, so her writing must be hidden and secret, which enrages me.  I will go into more detail about this in a later post, but I believe years from now, when my friend can finally share her work without fear of violent reprisal, she will be noted as one of the most important feminist poets of our age.

I know that, even though I have a harassment restraining order against CF (my daughter’s biological dad) there are still some things I feel uncomfortable publishing here, simply because I’m pretty sure he internet stalks me periodically and I do not want to deal with a bunch of my writing getting dragged into court.  Not that he’s any threat in court.  He always loses his cases, is denied his petitions, but still.  Court is a pain in the butt.  It makes me feel gagged.  Not to the extent my friend is, but enough that it bothers me.

I know I could password protect my blog or individual posts, and maybe that’s something I’ll play with in the future, but not today.

#en3177 bootcamp reflection

I still have not figured out the RSS thing completely.  I think I am probably doing it or using it or whatever just fine, but I am having “procrastinated on homework” anxiety, which leads to “oh god I don’t know how anything works” anxiety.

I am pretty stoked to have learned about Creative Commons.  i was already pretty well aware of IP (Intellectual Property) rights, mainly because I’ve been telling my father for the last 16 years that NO, DAD, I am NOT going to buy a paper shredder and shred any writing I throw away.  There are laws and stuff, Dad.  Jeez.  I’m a busy woman.  One of the kids would probably try to shred a piece of toast AND THEN GOD ONLY KNOWS WHERE WE WOULD ALL BE.

Seriously though.

I am excited to take a class where the professor actually takes deadlines for assignments somewhat seriously.  As a creative writing major who takes lots of poetry classes and does lots of independent studies on my yoga practice (as a teacher and a student) and yoga explorations/discoveries/experiments, I am used to a different kind of deadline.  But I think it is really good practice for me as a 33 year old adult (technically, I am an adult) to actually be on the ball a little bit more with school work.

My stinky-hippie poetry class taking habits did play a role in why I will be re-taking Astronomy next time it’s offered (which, by the way, is an awesome class and I look forward to actually going more than a few times this coming semester.  But, as my therapist pointed out to me, how great to give yourself the permission to try things more than once.  How great to try a class with a structure you’re not used to, and then just try again if it doesn’t work out the first time.

Personal call-out: I need to read the text we were assigned for the class.  i need to get on that.  I think I will start carrying it around in my giant mom-purse to force myself to get on it already.

I also need to print out hard copies of the bootcamp docs, and our other syllabus type documents.  I have a hard time reading stuff like that online.  I feel like my eyes just glaze over.  But it’s selective.  i just spent like an hour on the 3HO site the other day and noticed minimal glazing there.

Oh wait.  I will make use of my secret power of saving the syllabus type things as “web page, complete” to my computer.  What a great function.

This coffee is from Dunn Brothers.  One of the Mexico varieties.  French press.

I’ve had no issues with determining a theme for my blog.  It was already established long before I signed up for the class, and it is raw as meat.  I use it to generate fresh material for my zines, and also to get my work out there, even when it’s a bit scruffy.  Because, as we learned the first day in Lit at PCAE, your work cannot develop in a vacuum.

I had someone ask me once what my highest goal as a writer was, and the answer came easy.  Truth.  I speak the truth.  Virginia Woolf once said “You cannot tell the truth about others unless you tell it about yourself.”  Han Suyin said “Truth, like surgery, may hurt, but it cures.”  I think that’s one of the reasons I love the mantra “Sat Nam” so much.  Sat Nam is used extensively in kundalini yoga, and it translates to “true you” or “my name is truth” or “true self.”

I am a huge fan of Albert Camus’ notebooks, and once, after writing and publishing a zine dealing with truth, I came across this quote of his:

The peculiar vanity of man, who wants to believe and wants other people to believe that he is seeking after truth, when in fact it is love that he is asking this world to give him.

Something to keep in mind.

I should have been doing homework yesterday, but I taught 2 yoga classes (well, 1, no one showed up for the 2nd class), then I made a bunch of flyers for the NorthWoods Yoga Collective with our February schedule, a bunch of quarter sheet sized handbills, and distributed them to various downtown businesses.  I came home to a house glowing with love, nursed my son with overfull breasts, fatty milk staining the inside to my bra, and embraced my partner.  We cleaned for a while, picked up our daughter from school, and went on a family walk to pay bills, hang more flyers, and pick out some board books for my son’s upcoming birthday.

Sometimes I feel like my life is a puzzle and the school piece can be so hard to fit in.  But writing is what I’ve dreamed of doing since Mrs. Drahos pointed out my talent to me in 5th grade.  It has healed and enlivened me.  I have to remind myself sometimes how amazingly lucky I am to have a second chance at college.  After my crash and burn at Goddard after 3 semesters (circa 2001), I am blessed beyond compare.  College is just one more amazing thing I have been given.  And BSU’s English/Creative Writing department really is a hidden gem of the north.

#en3177 assignment on creative commons and intellectual property

CREATIVE COMMONS/INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY BLOG POST

Last Friday I was busy complimenting myself on what good use I’d made of my stinky-hippie (but awesome) We’Moon 2015 day planner when I realized I had neglected my homework for course #3177. A blog post on “Creative Commons and Intellectual Property.”

I’m 33, and I went to Goddard College the first time around circa 2000 (computers were optional, as was clothing) so in the years since I had heard of Creative Commons, but I had no idea what it was.

My first reaction to the website was “HOLY CRAP! THIS AMAZING!”

CC’s “About” page elegantly describes the purpose of this non-profit:
Our free, easy-to-use copyright licenses provide a simple, standardized way to give the public permission to share and use your creative work — on conditions of your choice. CC licenses let you easily change your copyright terms from the default of “all rights reserved” to “some rights reserved.”

As a (what? zinester – god I hate that word – zinestress? ick, even worse) maker and publisher of zines, this kind of thing is right up my alley.

In the zine community, things are generally up for grabs, with a “go ahead and use it but only douches don’t credit source material” mentality. There are, of course, those few crusty anarchists who have some reason (and a sign asking for beer money, despite their trust funds) why crediting sources is a tool of some giant nameless entity that needs to be dismantled.

From their website’s “About” page:
If you’re looking for content that you can freely and legally use, there is a giant pool of CC-licensed creativity available to you. There are hundreds of millions of works — from songs and videos to scientific and academic material — available to the public for free and legal use under the terms of our copyright licenses, with more being contributed every day.

Homepage

That, right there, is the Creative Commons website. Which I would highly suggest you visit. Because it’s neat-o burrito. And way better at explaining what it is than I am.

But it does warm my heart to see such a thing. A little faith in the human race, and creative types, restored.

According to Wikipedia, Intellectual Property, or IP, is “a legal term that refers to creations of the mind.” Literary, artistic, musical, designs, symbols, inventions, etc.

Also according to Wikipedia:
Under intellectual property laws, owners of intellectual property are granted certain exclusive rights. Some common types of intellectual property rights (IPR) are copyright, patents, and industrial design rights; and the rights that protect trademarks, trade dress, and in some jurisdictions trade secrets. Intellectual property rights are themselves a form of property, called intangible property.

Also from Wikipedia:
Intellectual property rights include patents, copyright, industrial design rights, trademarks, trade dress, and in some jurisdictions trade secrets.

This is really the kind of stuff I should invest a little more time in reading about. I did attend the Perpich Center’s Literary Arts program, and Goddard, for all its eccentricities, did in fact have very good classes, so I was made, at different points through my education, aware of my rights as a writer and creative person.

Boy this is not my best work. But, it is an assignment, and it is done. And I got to learn a little about Creative Commons so cool beans.

#en3177 intro

I am taking a class on blogging this semester, because I firmly believe my education should serve me.  I should be spending my time doing things I already love to do.

I don’t love blogging, though.  I love writing.  Although, I have become somewhat attached to this blog, and I’ve used it to generate some new material for my zines.

Since this post functions to introduce myself to other members of English 3177 –

I am 32 (almost 33).  I teach free will donation yoga classes at the Rail River Folk School, and am one of the founding members of the Northwoods Yoga Collective.  My life partner, Jake, and I run Snotter Press – we publish zines.  I have been writing, editing, and publishing the zine “when the crash meets something solid” since 2010.  I have a 6 year old daughter, Claire Elizabeth, and a 10 month old son, Jorah Vishnu.  Sometimes I feel like I am about to collapse, other times I feel like a golden goddess.

I spent a large portion of my 20’s addicted to heroin and working in the sex industry, and I credit yoga and creative writing with the massive amount of healing I have been blessed with.

Beet smoothies and kundalini yoga start the golden goddess days.  Magic Combination.