The old in cold

I'm feeling the old in Adult and the old in cold, as in this unbelievably cold weather. If I wasn't an AOA, and just an Adult, could I retire to warmer climes? Hmm ... may be time to grow up.
Nevertheless, I have my Electronic Publishing project up on the Star Hoppers, and all the links work (at least in Safari). I also finished the final paper and am ready to brave the twenty degree temperatures and forty mile per hour wind gusts to go to class tomorrow night. Yes!!
And though this old body wants to give in to winter and hibernate beneath a down comforter with hot tea and old movies, instead I am going to construct (yes, by hand) a beautiful book of poetry for my Poetry Workshop. And even then, I shall not succumb to winter. Oh no, I will clean, cook and shop for Christmas presents. And decorate the house, thankful that the outside lights are already up. Then perhaps, before the children are home asking why there's nothing to eat, I shall have a few snug moments under the down comforter. I hope you get to have a few cozy, comforting moments in the next week also. There has to be something to like about winter. 

Star Hoppers: the communal experiment story

The story we wrote on Facebook is now on the internet at Star Hoppers, a website dedicated to the full story of Wendell's adventures. Twenty one people contributed to the story, and it is great. 
I published it as an interactive website, so you can click from one page to another. There are links to contributor's webpages and other credits. If you check out contributor's links, you'll see what a diverse group came together to write a story. I had a great time, and I learned about electronic media and being creative without being in control. 
So, go read Star Hoppers, and if you're one of the writers, give yourself a pat on the back. Well done. It was fun. Son of a gun!

The Final Stretch

This holiday weekend (after taking Thanksgiving off) has been a marathon of project work. I have almost finished my Electronic Publishing project; a few tune-ups of the web page and a final edit of the paper and I'm finished. Then I'll use this blog to regale you with amusing anecdotes about online dating and other AOA nonsense. I have quite a backlog of dating stories; obviously my dating life has been less than successful. 
But before I begin my cranky chronicle, I have to physically construct a book of poetry for my poetry workshop class. I have already created an Adobe InDesign document for the text. It was a little iffy at the beginning as to whether or not I would remember how to use InDesign, but after a bit of playing around, it came back to me. I purchased a beautiful sheet of handmade blue-veined paper to use for the cover. My title is, Through Larkspur Veins, and the paper evokes a blue-veined madness. I have a little problem with one of the poems, an experimental piece called "To DH (dead husband)." I know, it sounds morbid, but really, it's not. It's a minimalist spreadsheet of related words. Really, not morbid or sentimental. 
Anyway, the problem is that it's a full 8 x 10 page set in landscape (a 90 degree rotation), and I want my beautiful book to be 4.5 " wide by 8" long. And I'm not THAT good at InDesign. I think I'm going to resort to old fashioned handiwork and make that poem the center 2 pages, so they open into one poem. You'll have to rotate the book to see it, but it should work. This means I'll have to number pages by hand, since I don't know a way to accomplish this rotational trick in InDesign. 
Anyway, I'm very excited about this book. This is the first poetry class I've ever taken and it's been amazing. Not only can I occasionally turn out a good poem, everything I've learned this semester translates into better short fiction, which is my true love (and the only true love for the moment).
Keep an eye on this site: I'll post the link to the Communal Writing Experiment result shortly. It's at the top of my list.

After Thanksgiving

I took Thanksgiving day off, one of the few days this semester that I haven't done any work on a school project or written anything, school related or not. My Thanksgiving was non-traditional, I watched Macy's parade by myself, talked on the phone for several hours, then went to friends to hang out before we went out to dinner. Dinner was late for Thanksgiving, or at least for what my Thanksgivings were before widowhood, and none of us ordered the traditional turkey dinner. I had steak. And it was great.
But for some reason, I couldn't go to sleep (and yet I still didn't do any schoolwork). I last looked at the clock at 3:56 AM. Woke up today at 10:30 and am just starting to get going (it's 5 PM). But I did think about school. Do teenagers do that? I decided on a linear electronic publication on a new website, with pictures and author links, for the communal experiment text. Now I'm writing this instead of working on the site, but I'll get there. For once, I know where I'm going, at least for a little while.
So to all of you who read this: I am thankful you are out there. And I wish you a year of new experiences to appreciate next Thanksgiving. The holiday season is often difficult for those of us who have lost someone we love, yet it's important to remember that we still have very many people and things for which we are truly thankful. Life really isn't so bad, even for us widowed AOAs.

Now for the Hard Part

I'm definitely feeling the adolescent angst of being an AOA these days. The experiment part of my final project for electronic publishing is over, but now I have to figure out how to publish it online. My professor suggested a hypertext (sort of an electronic choose your own adventure), but the story is too linear for that. I could write a bunch of alternate branches, but I feel like that would be contrary to the goal of the experiment, which is to see what happens when a group of people, many who don't know each other, have an open electronic forum to write a story. My part was to be a contributor and editor, not controller. Believe me, giving up control was incredibly stressful. 
The story ran over four thousand words and is told from three points of view. So, now I'm doing what adolescents do: procrastinating, complaining (to myself), and a little pouting. I need to sum up that final energy to find a way to present the text online and write the final paper. Maybe I should text a bunch of people and then down a couple of Red Bulls. Isn't that what adolescents do these days? Arrgh! This is making me feel old and tired and immature. But, that's just being an AOA, right? All part of growing up, again. 

The Experiment is Over

The Creative Electronic Publishing project, Communal Writing, is finished, and boy, the cats are tired! Thanks to everyone who wrote part of the story. I will edit the story and evaluate the process for my project paper. 
One thing I can tell you is that letting go of the writing process, was the hardest part for me and created many days of sustained anxiety. The 24 hour accessibility of electronic media makes it impossible to get away from your work. Now I feel sorry for all those people who are slaves to their iPhones and Blackberries. It's extremely difficult to disconnect. I don't think that I will ever be one of those writers with a large internet presence. It's too much pressure: all the blogging, and Tweeting, facebooking and website updates and email answers. There were moments when I felt that I was chained to my computer. That said, the ability to share the creative process with a variety of people, including some I have never met, was thrilling. Each time I opened the project page, I was surprised. Wendell's story took twists and turns that I would never have imagined. In that way, I was forced to expand my creative boundaries. I learned to go with the story, let the character become who ever he had to be, and even allow some aliens into my life. It was quite a ride, and I will keep this experience close when writing stories in the future. I love the feeling of pushing boundaries (it's the adolescent in me), and at times during this experiment I felt our writing was boundless. In fact, it got down right universal!

We're broadcasting to the galaxy!

Cate's Communal Writing Experiment is taking an interesting turn. It now has a galactic audience. Here's what's happened in the last two days:

Only a few feet in front of him, a large cat with fur the color of Tang stretched out and began to wash its tail. Wendell stared. The rippling of muscle in the big cat's forearms and flanks reminded him of something. He shook his head, trying to clear away the Abilifying haze. Thing, Wendell, he told himself, THINK. 
After a moment, mesmerized by the rhythmic rasp of the cat's tongue, he realized that the cat reminded him of Carl. Carl was big and tawny like this, and strong... Wendell shivered. For the first time in days his mind felt like it was working. He stood, watching in amazement as all the cats blinked out of existence. All, that is, except the massive orange tom cat. 
The tom got languidly to his feet. 
"Hello, Wendell," it said. "I've been waiting for you."

This is the voice of GALAXY ONE Hypernet, broadcasting on hyper wave 3D to all civilized (and otherwise) regions of the galaxy:
"Well, gentle beings, things, and machine intelligences, we come to the end of this cycle's episode of "Star Hoppers", the ongoing chronicles of our peripatetic little hive-minded collective, and their faithful Ship. Will those crazy humans survive their star's wrath? Will our intrepid voyagers manage to sneak away ahead of the Monitors? Will Ship continue to outrun the repo team from Mandible Max's Bargain Booster Barn?

And what of the star-crossed lovers, Wendell and Maria? You’ll have to wait until next cycle's episode to find out! But first, a word from our sponsors: Friends, do your cats speak in tongues during solar storms? Do you run out of anxiety-medications during re-polarization? If so, you are in desperate need of Mandible Max's Plot-Weaving Ionization Loom! It slices, it dices, it sews up the ravaged sleeve of care! And it's not available in stores.

++ Mandible Max is our new sponsor! That means we're renewed for another galaxy tenth-turn. I'll be space junk by the time this is over. ++


*** No, you'll have your share of profits to purchase an array of attractive upgrades by then. Reality broadcasting is extremely lucrative. I, however, will be nothing but a dried up husk. Biologics don't upgrade as easily as ships.***

You can still add to the story (in the comment section below or on the facebook page). Add to Wendell's story, Maria's status, the ship, the broadcast, the cats, the birds; we have something for everyone. Four days remain to experience the experiment. Then the big edit before the final text is posted. Let your imagination run wild!