http://friam.383.s1.nabble.com/Twitches-tp7582180p7582200.html
Glen -
Unfortunately I fear you are correct. *I* have probably *written*
at least one Novel's worth (a Michener or King's worth?) right
here on the FRIAM list, yet you don't see me buckling down to
publish my own next to Doug's. And in fact, I think Doug will
acknowledge that even *he* wouldn't (couldn't) write his novel
today... it was enough focus just to dig it out, re-asciify it,
reformat it, edit, dust, clean, etc. enough to publish as an
e-book on Amazon. Patricia (and other published fiction authors
here???) might have another perspective of course!
I don't play video games for 6 hour stints, even though I came of
age along with Pong, then Asteroids, Pac Man, Battlezone, and
Missile Command. I do occasionally fall into a hole dug by Tetris
on my iPhone, however.
But I *rarely* read a novel anymore. I was, as you were, was
trained on such... but the last 22 years (if you read my last
post) have slowly eroded that. 22 years ago I had a TV connected
to a VCR in a cabinet with doors, and I might have indulged in a
movie once every week or two... maybe two during a weekend. I
rarely even turned the tube on, and then only to maybe catch a
local weather forecast.
*Even* I didn't have a *laptop* until about 1998 and while I spent
at least half my time at work in front of a computer, I spent
almost no time at home on a computer and the other half of my work
time arm-wrestling (other) idiots in meetings or crawling around
fishing cables under raised floors or dropped ceilings. Today I
spend (to this list's chagrin) 4-16 hours a day (350/365 days) in
front of this (or one or another) damned machine either
reading/writing e-mail, surfing the web (for very important
stuff), writing proposals, writing code, (occasionally) writing
invoices, building 3d models for proposals or for specifying
physical parts of systems, or streaming a movie or ...
I'm lucky to
pull
my face out (2:14) of this machine for any significant
amount of time, it is only because I maintain something of a
"homesteader's lifestyle" that requires me to chop wood, carry
water, repair a dumptruck/tractor/trailer haul my own trash away,
etc. I still spend *several* hours a week arm wrestling (other)
idiots in meetings but half of them are on Skype!
Someone needs to design a haptic-interface (and mediation
protocols?) for a USB attached device to facilitate arm wresting
over the wire proper? Rob Shaw's (also on this list?) brother
(Chris) was involved in a startup 15 years ago (Haptek?) that was
designing pneumatic haptic "suits" for martial arts games,
unfortunately it didn't make it to the market. They got
distracted with
People Putty
(and more)...
I *am* working with the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA)
to try to help them develop/teach *immersive* storytelling in
their
Digital
Dome but I fear, even with full 360 surround environments
and full motion tracking, storytelling is losing something, unless
it can somehow transcend and come full circle. For those lucky
enough to experience Robert Mirabal's live performance (
Po'Pay Speaks), you
might know that there is always hope for such!
We (most of us) are of a generation that preceded all this, I can
only imagine what it has been like for the current generation of
children who were born *after* Al Gore invented the Internet and
the rest of us invented the rest of it. I only see MiniVans and
SUVs on the highway with 2.6 (or is it 1.8) kids in the back seat
with 2 video screens (one on the back of each parent's
seat/headrest with either a movie or maybe a video game (or web
browser) running. I have quoted Jerry Mander with "Shoot your
Television". Obviously that was not enough, my computer snuck in
and filled it's niche to bursting!
Off to a face-to-face meeting that will actually require walking
around outside waving our arms (Hi Jane) !
I've gotta stop this Twitch!
- Steve
Steve Smith wrote at 03/21/2013 10:24 AM:
I'll see your "King's Men" and raise you a"Stone Junction"
<http://books.google.com/books/about/Stone_Junction.html?id=woneSCNLbrYC> by
Jim Dodge
Ordered!
When Glen writes his "great american novel" (surely to be also an
alchemical potboiler, a digital noir happening, an outlaw epic?) all his
(published on paper or internet, indexed by Google) forgotten influences
and sources will be exposed. His Twitch will be a folding of the
origami paper, or perhaps a pull of the taffy.
Unfortunately, I think the novel is dead as a format for story telling.
It may return if peak oil or a zombie apocalypse obtains. But overall,
I think it's efficacy is dwindling rapidly. I still like them because
that's the way I was trained. But I find them increasingly difficult to
read ... the surrounding people, devices, and non-fiction books with
good indices draw my attention away from novels. I'll play a video game
for 6 hours. But I won't read a novel for 6 hours. Even when I do
manage to read for a long time, it sparks ideas that I have to write
down or pause to look something up in another book. I am no longer
linear ... or even first order continuous.
Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College