Version 7.0ish. Digital Humanities. Running. Linux.

I realized a few days ago that I never posted a link to this. Here is from Monmouth’s graduate program symposium in the fall of 2008. I presented on a panel, annoyingly called “What Is Literature?,” alongside Sara Van Ness, who presented some work from her .

My paper was a rough draft of what would eventually become my article on N. Katherine Hayles in the spring 2009 issue of The Quarterly Conversation. I thought it went well and both Sara and I got some excellent questions and comments from the audience.

This was also the first Monmouth English symposium done after I stopped coordinating them and it was a great afternoon with some fantastic panels. Sara and I would be on a panel together again in the spring of 2009, which was one of my last acts as a student at Monmouth.

Recently read: Further Fridays: Essays, Lectures, & Other Nonfiction, 1984-1994 by John Barth.

This is another excellent collection of Barth’s work, this time from 1984-1994. A lot of my favorite authors, including Borges, Poe, and others, are discussed. I knew Barth had some interest in electronic literature, but it was still a nice surprise to see some thoughts on theorists like George Landow and a long discourse on N. Katherine Hayles’ writing about chaos theory.

In the coming weeks I will have plenty more to say about specific essays.

My article for the new issue of The Quarterly Conversation is now available for reading. I reviewed N. Katherine Hayles’ Electronic Literature: New Horizons For The Literary and offered a brief introduction to many forms of electronic literature in general. It is such a privilege to contribute to The Quarterly Conversation.  I am very happy with how the article came out.

There are plenty of other articles and reviews to engage with in the new issue. While I do hope readers check out my work, I strongly suggest looking at everything else as well.

A new issue of Open Letters Monthly is also out. OLM have been nice enough to add me to their blogroll, so please take a look at what they have to offer too. I am very interested in the article about the fiftieth anniversary of Miles Davis’ Kind Of Blue album.

I would love to hear what you think of my article via email, a tweet, or in the comments below.

With the semester winding down and life slowing down a bit it is time to return to blogging. Here’s a quick update on what has been happening recently:

• Due to the necessity of revisions, my MA thesis defense has been postponed until January.  I think the requested revisions will make my thesis better in the long run so I am more or less content with this situation.
• I did my final ever graduate presentation, in the dark, last night.  Next week is our final class and what could be the last time I ever step into a classroom as a student.  Right now, keep your bets there.
• Last Friday I did a presentation at our program symposium entitled New Horizons For The Literary: N. Katherine Hayles’ Vision For The Future Of Literature which is going be turned into a longer article for the next issue of The Quarterly Conversation.  I am extremely excited about this opportunity.  I will upload a PDF of my symposium presentation soon.
• As of yesterday I am really stepping up my search for full time employment.  With my graduate school career winding down, the prospect of moving on to a job and not being a student anymore is very appealing.
• Over the holidays I am going to be doing a pretty significant remix of my domain.  I am strongly considering moving this blog to something like blog.wpwend.com and making the home page a jumping point for my endeavors.  I’m still thinking this through, but if things suddenly move or seem out of place, that is why.

Recently read: Electronic Literature: New Horizons For The Literary by N. Katherine Hayles.

Hayles’ book has been very helpful for me in getting a broad overview of contemporary electronic literature. There are useful chapters for my MA thesis as well.

Once the dust settles on my MA thesis, one of the things I’d like to do is go through all of my notes for various books, including this one, and blog them over a period of time. Look for that in the new year.

• Christy Dena’s insightful response to Jane McGonigal’s essay The Puppet Master Problem: Design For Real World, Mission-Based Gaming from the Second Person anthology.

• Michael Filas review of N. Katherine Hayles’ My Mother Was A Computer: Digital Subjects & Literary Texts.

• Daniel Green reviews the new James Wood book in the new issue of Open Letters Monthly.

Meanwhile…

• The New Yorker piece on Obama’s early years in Chicago politics is another indicator he is just as scummy and slimy as the next politician. Making the right friends, the right votes, the right influences; you might counter by saying “that’s politics” but I say that if you take part in that crap, I blame you. I’d rather have no government than one filled with slimeballs. None of the above…yet again…in 2008.

• Alexander Solzhenitsyn recently passed away. When we moved to Manahawkin, I remember the first friend I made was reading The Gulag Archipelago at the time. We started to bond while discussing that and other books.

• Io9 offers a guide for fans of the modern Doctor Who series who wish to get into the classic series.

• Scott Esposito comments on the amazing ending of The Mill On The Floss and links to a review of the novel from a 1860 issue of The Atlantic.

• PETA still sucks as much as I remember.

I have put together Toni & I’s notes from our collaborative presentation entitled into a single PDF for viewing. I am very proud of our work during the spring semester. We worked together and pooled our interests, both unique and similiar, to examine the political history of how “texts” are defined.

All of this will be going back into my MA thesis, which due to some financial constraints, has not seen much new research but a few new branches in my thinking have developed. More on that soon. I can happily announce as well that I started the first version of a rough draft a few days ago. Once I have something remotely resembling a semi-completed draft I will leave a continually updated link on the sidebar for those who would like to follow along.