Poetry: How I love thee…

Everyone is a poet in their own right.  I like to think that everyone thinks in the form of poetry.  As if the lines are unscrolling in their heads, on parchment with a feather quill scribbling their words into memory.

Not everyone can be a successful poet.  Some poetry just isn’t that awesome.  But I like to value everyone’s thoughts, so bad poetry or not, I’ll listen or read it at least.

I went to Frenchman, a street in New Orleans, twice this year.  When the sun sets, and the dust settles, a few poets will set up shop outside a popular bar with some pop up furniture, their typewriters, and their signs: “poet for hire.”  I think I would like to join them one night.

I now have a favorite poet whom I have commissioned two poems from thus far.  He is a very mild-mannered person, he handles people very well, even the drunk belligerent kind.  For my two poems he has demonstrated his ability for humor and beauty.

This is the first poem he wrote for me.  My boyfriend asked him to after his friends suggested it.  It was the night of my birthday.

The second poem he wrote for me was just any other night.  I recognized him and asked him to write me another poem, this time for my boyfriend.  It was Halloween weekend.

Now to the meat of my thoughts:  the Frenchman poet writes these using carbon paper, so he has a copy of all his works whether he sells them or not.  I don’t even know his name, but I wonder if he has ever published or wished to publish.  I wonder what the title of his works would be?  Or what his cover art would be?

How does one capture all of one’s creativity, humor, beauty, and diversity into a cover, a title, and bound pages?  Most good poetry collections by exceptional writers are hard to find.  As I have stated before, I hope to be able to find these people and offer them something.  Someday when I work in that publishing house, whichever one I choose.  I would love to one day be remembered by some as the one who helped them achieve their dreams.

Info on Pub/Ed 250

So… Initially, I had goofed up and written about the wrong subject for our newsletter.   Oh, well.  I’ll make it count for something.

The digital humanities is a new concentration being offered under the new publishing studies minor here at Southeastern. It is an effort to branch out the career opportunities offered to English majors. As an English major I am always asked the most annoying question: “Are you going to teach?” As if teaching is the only option available to people who study English. When I answer no, I do not want to teach, then the second most annoying question: “What can you do with an English major?”

Well, fret no more! You can design your English major around a specific field with a new minor in Publishing Studies. Students can use courses already included in majors offered by English Computer Science, Communication, and Visual Arts! There are several options: writing, editing, visual culture, print publishing, and online publishing. The minor in publishing studies requires 21 hours with three hours dedicated to each of these fields. The first step is an introduction to publishing studies, ENGL 250.

There is information available to students interested or seeking a minor in this field. Simply log on to your beloved Southeastern website. I just did a search for digital humanities and received a link to the minor’s requirements. According to the minor’s description, “the minor trains students in the latest developments in digital humanities scholarship, as preparation for Ph.D. programs; in digital and print editing and production, as preparation for the workforce; and in classroom applications of technology, as support for teaching writing and publishing.”

After receiving 18 hours in the five areas of publishing studies, plus the introductory course, the student has the choice of an elective, “which may be used either for an internship or for more in-depth study of one of the five areas.” With your elective as an internship, English majors have the options of jumping right into the workforce, doing what they have studied so long to do, or doing what they love to do. As per the description: “The courses and internships draw on professional as well as student-run publications for hands-on, project-based learning.” A good example would be what you, my dear reader, are viewing at this moment.

If you are interested, the question now would be, how do I learn about this minor? How do I get into it? There are several faculty members available to advise a student on their path through this minor, as best to prepare and address their career plans. Just seek out any English department faculty member and they can point you in the right direction. Happy studying, English scholars!

 

I hope to write this beautifully one day

I’m not as inspired to write as I used to be, I feel like my writing lacks depth, and thus I do not attempt to write everything that comes to me. I enjoy writing, don’t get me wrong, but I just haven’t had the desire to write in a long time. I don’t feel as though I am as developed as I need to be to put my thoughts or my stories down on paper and have them convey anything at all. I also am unsure of what I desire them to convey. So I don’t write until a moment such as this one, a moment when everything falls into place inside my head, and I find peace, knowing that what I am writing now is what I want to say. Generally, I am inspired by something I am currently reading, or have just finished reading.

 

The first section of Les Miserables is called “Fantine,” although the first few chapters are about M. Myriel, otherwise known as Monseigneur Bienvenu, the bishop. Knowing the story from such a young age, I have always known the bishop as Monseigneur Bienvenu, yet in this translation, it goes so far as to translate Bienvenu for the reader: Monseigneur Welcome. “‘I like that name,’ he would say. ‘The Welcome corrects the Monseigneur.’” From the start, Hugo makes fun of the church and the despots who ran it. Here we have a perfect philanthropist, dedicated to his faith and to the people the Lord has entrusted to him. He is perfectly loveable!
As a young man, M. Myriel is described as “elegant, graceful, and witty; and the earlier part of his life was devoted to the world and to gallantry.” His wife passes, and he becomes a Curé, and after a short exchange with Napoleon, he becomes a bishop. Immediately, he gives his home to the hospital so they can have more room, while taking up residence in a much smaller more humble place. He then divides his stipend of 15,000 francs for the poor and unfortunates in his towns. He does not hesitate to travel any distance to any who call for him. When given another stipend for travelling, he immediately divides it up yet again, leaving himself only 1000 francs for “personal expenses” between himself, his sister, and his maid.

His sister is a curious character. She follows him, and does not question him at all. I see her as one of benevolence. She has great pride for her brother, and often I read of her smile and feel she is an essential character to M. Myriel’s support. She is called a “sainted woman” who “loved and venerated him in the simplest way.” Their relationship is a beautiful thing, described as “friend[s] according to nature, [he was] her superior according to the Church.”

Originally, I started writing this because Victor Hugo very clearly attacks what the French did to Louis XVI. Monseigneur Bienvenu attends to man sentenced to death. He returns after the gruesome display of “justice” very troubled by the guillotine. He personifies the guillotine as a spectre, a spirit which calls to each person individually. “The guillotine is the concretion of the law, it calls itself vindicta; it is not neutral and does not allow you to remain neutral.” Previous to this statement, Hugo writes that one may “feel a certain amount of indifference” on the death penalty “so long as we have never seen a guillotine.” He further personifies the guillotine as an accomplice to the executioner, as a monster that “devours, it eats flesh and drinks blood.”

Monseigneur Bienvenu is very disturbed by the guillotine, but does not turn away from those who call for his guidance. One line describes his duty to the dying beautifully: “He knew that belief is healthy, and he sought to counsel and calm the desperate man by pointing out to him the resigned man, and to transform the grief that gazes at a grave by showing it the grief that looks at a star.”

Isn’t that just beautiful? I love the use of “desperate” and “resigned” to describe the dying. The desperate man fears death and grieves the life he lived, missed out on living, or didn’t get the chance to live. The resigned man is just that: resigned to his fate, perhaps not at peace, but at least accepted the fact that he will die. Monseigneur Bienvenu does more than turn a desperate man into a resigned man. He gives hope. The grief that gazes at a grave belongs to the desperate man, who fears the end, and cherishes his body enough to fear what comes after death in a purely physical form. The grief that looks at a star… hope is the gift that Monseigneur Bienvenu gives. Hugo’s reference to looking at the stars is the bishop’s way of turning the dying towards heaven. The bishop is capable of defeating the fear of death and giving them hope for a life in heaven.

When I look at a star I know that there is so much out there that I don’t know, and so much I may never know. Yet I also know the universe works the way that it is designed to. So I look at the stars, and I feel comforted, knowing that they are in their place doing what they were designed to do and I am in mine.

It just makes me happy to know that my love to read still belongs to me, and my inspiration to write hasn’t deserted me. I have definitely become more selective in both categories, but this bothers me very little.

I keep coming back for more…

Recently I’ve taken to reading the unabridged version of Les Miserables by Victor Hugo. The fascination with is accredited to my Grammie. I remember watching the musical at a very young age, listening to the songs, entranced by the lyrics. I later learned that Victor Hugo originally wrote the book during the French Revolution. The publication that I am currently reading comes in five volumes, published in 1887. The publisher included a preface with some very comforting information:

“It is … a reprint of the English translation … which was made with the sanction and advice of the author. Chapters and passages omitted in the English edition have been specially translated for the present issue … and the author’s own arrangement of the work in five parts, and his subdivisions into books and chapters, have been restored.”

With this arrangement of the English translation, I am able to read the book as Victor Hugo wanted it to be read. My interest in the novel has been seemingly a lifelong obsession. I read an abridged version long ago as a child in the library of my hometown’s school, against the advice of my librarian. Until after I finished the novel, my librarian doubted my ability to read such work. I’ve been reading since a very young age, yet again a passion and ability instilled to my by my family, mainly my Grammie and my mother.

I love this novel; I always shall. I still have a burning passion to learn to speak and read French fluently so one day I may read Les Miserables in the original French text. Perhaps I will not draw more from that reading than I do from this English translation I am reading now, but it is a feat much like climbing mountains to a hiker. Les Miserables in the original French text is much like my own Mount Everest.

Many of my passions for reading old texts comes from my love for musicals. Another “Mt Everest” in my to do list of life accomplishments is to learn to read “Don Quixote de la Mancha.” Yet another obsession to be blamed on my Grammie. Yet, because of a very sweet and caring friend, I already own an unabridged copy of “Don Quixote de la Mancha”  in the original Spanish text. My knowledge of Spanish is minimal, so I can hardly translate, much less read it. However, the book sits on my shelf, a visual reminder of my own life resolutions, and one that I cherish.

Les Miserables starts with a preface from Hauteville-House marked 1862. It has a beautiful powerful message:

“So long as, by the effect of laws and of customs, social degradation shall continue in the midst of civilization, making artificial hells, and subjecting to the complications of chance the divine destiny of man; so long as the three problems of the age, — the debasement of man by the proletariat, the ruin of woman by the force of hunger, the destruction of children in the darkness, — shall not be solved; so long as anywhere social syncope shall be possible: in other words, and from a still broader point of view, so long as ignorance and misery shall remain on earth, books like this cannot fail to be useful.”

Beautiful isn’t it? Victor Hugo’s book became famous because it is the first of its kind. It is the first to tell a story of poverty from a peasant’s point of view. It is the voice of “the miserable.” I believe it was originally printed through a newspaper to transfer messages to spies, but I am unsure of that fact. Perhaps one day I will be able to dedicate a significant amount of time to learn the entire history of “Les Mis” as well as the life of Victor Hugo.

Saving Scholarship from Time

“What would you like to be when you grow up?”

“I’d like to be a superhero.”

Southeastern Louisiana University has set itself apart by being the only college in the region to start up a minor in Publishing Studies. This program has opened the floodgates to those who want to study outside of a traditional English degree.

The digital humanities are a facet of the minor in the Publishing Studies attempting to bring technology into humanities scholarship. The term “digital humanities” describes exactly what it sounds like: basically the humanities in data readable by a computer meaning that manuscripts are broken up into more digitally accessible bits of data. The digital humanities here at Southeastern are represented by three projects administered by faculty and staffed by students.

The Ruskin Project, headed by Dr. Hanson, is a large archive of approximately 300 separate manuscripts produced by John Ruskin between 1826 and 1842. The plan is to archive all of his written and published works from early childhood to youth. This offers two forms of scholarship. First, scholars may see how Ruskin developed his writing through learning poetry. Secondly, the archive covers all fields that a Victorian child would learn. A scholar will be able to see what Ruskin, or a Victorian child, would have learned through their childhood. It also gives a view of the early Victorian cultures.

The Book of Margery Kemp is another digital humanities project at Southeastern headed by Dr. Fredell, who is currently working on this project in England. The medieval manuscript dated to the early 1400s is believed to be the first autobiography written in English. There is only one surviving manuscript. Though a smaller project, it is no less important. Dr. Fredell plans on “publishing a digital facsimile of the entire manuscript in what is called a diplomatic edition – an exact transcription of what is in the manuscript without any editorial additions for modern readers… The site will also eventually include background articles by scholars, republished pieces of important studies about Margery and her book, and other archival materials.”

The newest project is “Civil Rights on the North Shore” headed by Dr. Blanton. The aim of this project is to record the oral history of the civil rights movement on the North Shore during the 1950s and 1960s. Student workers will gather interviews from natives – transcribing these interviews and including sounds, pauses, background noises, movements, and inflections in voices within the transcription. These will then be archived with the original recordings.

These three archives are being assembled using Extensive Markup Language (XML), under the Text Encoding Initiative (TEI). This means the archive will be available on an international scale, and that information will be optimized for searchability. Much like HTML , XML allows “tagging” of a word or category, making it searchable. It is a very versatile format capable of evolving as technology evolves.

These projects offer internships to graduate students and compliment several classes in the Publishing Studies minor. Dr. Hanson says it is best to just jump in head-first. Learning how to use TEI “does not require a super-person” or someone with a lot of previous experience. What is required, according to Dr. Hanson, is a humanist. Encoding can only be done by someone who is able to analyze text and decipher what scholarship can be withdrawn from it. In this way, the faculty and students of Southeastern’s English Department are making the humanities invincible to the hands of time. Soon, these scholarly subjects will be open to anyone – drawing in all this information into one place available for anyone with a computer and a thirst for knowledge.

Putting “freedom” into “freelance”

Honestly, that would be a silly word:  freedomlance?  Just horrible.  I was going for a pun, but I’m not good with those.  Forgive me, please.

Anyways, I have new tidbits of golden information from Shane, the salesperson I mentioned in my previous post.  There’s a new feature offered by Barnes&Noble:  PubIt.com.  Side note: I don’t understand why people shorten the word publishing.  It just NEVER looks right.

Anyways, again, PubIt.com requires registration (free).  Log in, submit your ebooks, coverart, and other such things, and PubIt.com takes care of the rest.  You can even list yourself as your own publisher.  Advertising is totally on you, unless you have a title that stands out from the rest of the ebooks B&N displays on their search. Now I’m sure your next question is about money.  You can offer your ebook for free, or you can sell it.  Rules are (as per PubIt! FAQ and Support)

1. For eBooks with a List Price at or between $2.99 and $9.99
   • 65% of the List Price
2. For eBooks with a List Price at or below $2.98 or at or greater than $10.00 (but not more than $199.99 and not less than $0.99)
   • 40% of the List Price

Pretty awesome, right?  There’s always the possibility that your ebook won’t sell, but with modern social networking tools, it shouldn’t be that hard to get the word out that your work is for sale.  Especially if you start with something simple, for cheap.  Everyone is always looking for cheap deals for good work.  It’s a pretty good way to get your name out there honestly.

My plan is to publish some of my short stories I’m comfortable with a worldwide audience viewing.  If it even gets that much publicity.  A little extra cash here or there cannot possibly hurt a college student like me.  Even if it’s only my mom buying my ebook.

I think it is a revolutionary idea.  Some are skeptical about it, like the poetry.com shenanigan.  However, the contrast here is that it does not cost me anything to sign up, to publish, or to sell (unless I put money into advertisement).  I can see my results by searching for my work, and not receive a promise that my poetry is published in a book that probably does not really exist.

Sure I’ll be putting my name out there with a lot of other people’s crap, but at least it’s out there.  Some day, my name will mean something (hopefully) and I’ll have some literature that I’ve had time to perfect ready for publication.  Until then, there’s no reason I shouldn’t try building a fan base.  Oh no!!  Egotistical Lilla rears her head again!  Hide all your fashionable hats so they don’t get stretched out by my big ol’ head.

So I guess I’m warning you, that ready or not, I’m starting self-publication.  Eventually.  Probably might start working on it after this semester is over and I have time to think.  So… Wish me luck!!

For more information on PubIt.com go to:  http://pubit.barnesandnoble.com/pubit_app/bn?t=support#pricing_payment_terms

I’m definitely a big kid now.

I have officially (and I should mention legally) obtained my NOOK.   That’s right.  You read correctly.  I now have my nook and I am IN LOVE!   I won’t spend my time talking about how AWESOME it is… but I will tell you of some of the great things I’ve learned from my angelic sales person, Shane, in my new favorite hotspot, Barnes&Noble of Metairie. (Yes, I lay claim.)

As I pondered and contemplated what case to pick for my nook, (which I’ve named Lil’Zophie, and to which I shall refer to her as such from now on) I came across a sign for something called Nookstudy.   Besides the super cute name, which can be mistaken for creepy, there are some interesting and useful features:   Organize coursework, import documents, dual book view, highlight and markup, take notes, tags, research online, find and search, print, and copy.   It’s a program offered by B&N to streamline the studying process.   It’s free downloadable software for your Mac or PC, giving you the option to download your textbooks instead of buying them.  Of course, once you download your books you can definitely load them onto your nook.   Imagine: all of your HEAVY books condensed to digital format and placed inside of your nook (which weighs only a few pounds).   Your notebook would be heavier than all your textbooks!  Did I mention that because Lil’Zophie is 3G and accesses WiFi that I can check my blackboard and  schwebmail (school web) anywhere?  INGENIOUS!

Sorry, I have to catch my breath.   Honestly, that’s my greatest fantasy.   Screw heavy backpacks and limited connectivity.  Come on, nook haters, you have to admit that’s pretty tantalizing and redeeming.

I have to say my favorite feature would be the highlight and tag feature. I start to salivate at the thought that I no longer need to research on index cards. Nookstudy streamlines the writing process by having all your quotes and books in one spot. No more, “aw man where did that quote come from?” Instead you have: “tada! Here I am! Quote me!”

These are my rose-colored glasses, but unfortunately for you my reader, they shall stay on until next semester when I try this out. I am SO infatuated. Why not start now? I have already bought books for the semester.

Next semester will definitely define the age of comfort.  I shall lounge back in my uncomfortable desk, interlock my fingers behind my head, breathe a huge sigh of satisfaction, and then readjust, sit up straight, and fix my posture.  When I say those desks are uncomfortable, I mean it.

For more information about Nookstudy and the download go to:  http://www.barnesandnoble.com/nookstudy/features/index.asp?cds2Pid=34330

It’s all about the looks..

Everyone knows the saying “don’t judge a book by its cover.”  That’s how most book buyers purchase their wares, however.  I know that I will glance through a shelf of books looking for the cover that will grab my interest.  If and/or when nothing grabs my interest, I read titles.  For me, titles today do not have the grab and cling value that they used to.  I remember working in Waldenbooks and organizing books, seeing a title, and saying to myself: “That’s my next read.”  Looking back now, I realize that it was the cover art that always clinched it for me.  My favorite books have generally understated cover art coupled with titles that request readers to pick them up.

Recently, my friend Niki suggested Persepolis to me as a good read.  It is a graphic novel, which is something I generally enjoy reading.  I do have to say though, had I seen this book on a shelf among others, I am afraid it is one that I would miss.  The artwork displayed on the cover is appropriate to the story, yet it is simple in design.  The title is intellectual in itself, so in the second half of my perusing, I would have stopped to read the cover.  My boyfriend was the one who pointed out the meaning of the title.  ”Perse” means Persian and “polis,” of course, means city.  So the title of the book translates to city of Persia.  Persepolis is the memoirs of Marjane Satrapi.  I have only come across the most recent cover art for Satrapi’s international work.

First Edition released in the US cover art

The book was originally released in 4 versions in France, then condensed into two books, and finally released in the United States as one book.  The cover you see above is the cover of the book I have sitting in my lap now.   I would have enjoyed reading the books as a duo series.  For some reason, I love the excitement of a sequel.

These fit the content within.

Marjane Satrapi is a graphic artist, all the artwork and writing within her novels are her own.  For this reason I feel as though I cannot dissent on her cover art.  There is nothing more appropriate to her works.  I just feel that it is lacking something.  The book itself is fantastic.  Marjane Satrapi truly has a sensational story, very real, very touching.  Her artwork, though simplistic, brings you closer to her.  She uses fantastic symbolism within her novel.

So, in short, the book is not as attractive as it is interesting.  It was definitely something I could not put down.

My unannounced entrance to WordPress

Finally, a ray of light.  I figured out the posting function after many failed attempts to download through WordPress.org.  Of course, I always make things far too complicated, no surprise it took me this long.  I do apologize for all the other students I must have confused.

I am a college student attending Southeastern Louisiana University (SLU).  English major, publishing and editing minor, can you guess what I love to do?  If you said reading or writing, you are correct!  If you guessed something else, you are also probably correct (depending on the content) but reading and writing was what I was getting at.

This is my first semester taking a publishing and editing course, so I am VERY excited.  Ever since I started college I have known that I want to work in a publishing house.  Within the first week of this class (We’ll call it Eng250 from now on) I have already started learning.  Originally, I wanted to work in a huge publishing house, but after the first few days of class my instructor, Alison Pelegrin (MFA), opened my eyes to the politics of the publishing world.  Now knowing what I have learned, I want to work in a smaller publishing house so I can find, read, and publish MEANINGFUL works of art.  Nothing against the undead trend going on in the publishing world, if you are making your money that way, kudos.  However, my heart lies with the rare gems in the literary world.  Marisa de los Santos (http://www.marisadelossantos.com) and Laura Weiss (http://www.laurawiess.com) are two of my favorite authors and two examples of what I would like my work to reflect.  They are also examples of writers that I would like to find one day.  If you go to the websites I’ve included you can see all the books they have written (also, I have read everything they have published).  Laura Weiss has a cool blog if you are ever in need of an interesting insight into a writer’s mind.

I enjoy reading something that delves into the human psyche and explores human emotion.  I prefer something beyond the sexual gratification of formula fiction.  Sadly enough, if I know where the book is going I become uninterested, no matter how different the characters are.  I guess it is my literary maturity kicking in.  My older brother still enjoys the formula fiction novels.  They are easy to read, easy to comprehend, and they do not take up too much thinking space.  Sometimes he finds one with really good potential.  He will randomly call me with:  ”Lilla, this one is pretty good, you should check it out.”  Then I have to sigh in dismay that such a good idea was wasted in formula fiction.  Damn the consumer wants!

My goals for my lifetime are to travel the world, work in a publishing house, and one day publish something worthy (in my eyes) of being read.  I truly believe that Eng250 is my first step in that direction.  I have no idea where these dreams will take me, but I am strapped in and ready for the ride!  Ready or not, here I am!  (Rather, here I go!!)