ENTRY # 21 Today, I gave a presentation at the Higher Education Web Professionals of NY conference. Mike Axelrod, a fellow IT professor at RIT, took some notes on the sessions he attended and posted them to his blog. Ill do some of the same in the next few days as my spirit returns. I began my session by saying, “Mr. Grant…” a la Mary Tyler Moore – reason? When Im nervous speaking in front of large groups, I still get this quiver in my voice. Just told the audience I wanted to get that out of the way, and that I felt less stupid doing it as Mary. Then everything else went fine. Felt good, though I dont think Ill ever get over that nervousness before I open my mouth. And now Im beat. So much of me gets sent out when I speak. So much energy. Some, get enervated by speaking aloud. To me, instead, it does feel like Im sending my spirit out into the room and I have to wait for it to return. Glad the day is done. It was a good day. Note to self: write about the presentation. Liz and I had a talk after a session at Pop Tech! last year. I was saying that the talk seemed self-evident. Her response, “To you.” Then gave me a verbal kick in the pants about writing and publishing some of these ideas. (I have also been dubbed Ms. Self-Evident). That said- tomorrow, Inteface Design : A Virtual Dialog in Three Parts.
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fivecats, fivecat@nc.rr.com, http://www.livejournal.com/users/fivecats, , 24.163.56.225, 1056513069, 2004-05-16 20:41:17, “You have spunk… I hate spunk.” (The classic Mr. Grant line to MTM) I emailed Stephe tonight and then caught up with him on his newly installed iChat. Hes using an iChat icon of his face from his RIT IT staff page so when he types in anything the cartoon-y balloon looks like its coming from his mouth. VERY amusing…
fivecat@nc.rr.com, http://www.livejournal.com/users/fivecats, , 24.163.56.225, 1056513109, 2004-05-16 20:41:17, BTW, Stephe said the presentation went really well. …
Francois Lachance, lachance@chass.utoronto.ca, http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~lachance/jardin/html/blogTEI.htm, , 128.100.160.1, 1083980862, 2004-05-16 20:41:17, In this entry Elouise writes about public speaking. Maybe there is a transition in the offing. Ms. Self-Evident just might become Ms. Evident. I like the typo Inteface Design : A Virtual Dialog in Three Parts. Now if I do the evident thing and continue dropping the Rs … Inteface Design : A Vitual Dialog in Thee Pats. victuals surface out of this game, who is feeding who, who is feeding on who… Ti-Grace Atkinson has an essy called “Metaphysical Canibalism” in Amazon Odyssey. Atkinson puts forward the concept in the context of gender relations. I wonder if there is not something about audience – speaker power relations. “if the act of creation and the act of appreciating are combined, we might have thecircular, self-contained structure we need. […] What if ones life were like a work of art, created by a dialogue with ones surroundings, whether animate or inanimate. […] What would happen to the family if each individual life were independent and _self_-justifying? And what would happen to love?” The link may seem tenuous to the entry but is it not evident that the audience-speaker relation is in many circumstances close to the power relations described by Atkinson? I think it helps one understand the factors the militate against considering performance as a type of production. Speaking in public or even in small groups can be figured as a work that is not a one-way giving but also as work that takes. Audiences should be able to energize speakers. On the note of energy giving and receiving, as I continue to read the Weez blog entries in pairs and remain attentive to the surprises of thematic continuities I am happy to report that March 17, 2004 doldrums is about dry spells and blogging breaks and the comments pick up the thread of why enact the daily ritual of writing. https://weez.oyzon.com/archives/000837.html If spirit is replenished by ritual, how can the daily rituals of blogging or going to the gym be translated into the occasional moments where one is called upon to assume a stage and hold forth?