THE DATA:

The first time I looked at Stanford’s Palladio where each individual and song were plotted on the graph, I thought the data was beautiful as well as overwhelming, like an intricate spider web.  When I placed the data into groups, I belonged to Group two with Sarka, Shawn, and Brain.

There are twenty-seven songs in the Golden Record. Brian and I had five songs in common and five that were not. The five songs that I pick that Brian didn’t were El Cascabel, Rite of Spring, Flowing Streams, Dark was the Night, and Pygmy Girls’ Initiation Song.  The songs that Brian pick that I didn’t were Melancholy Blues, Magic Flute, Tsuru No Sugomori, Percussion, and Night Chant.   Sarka and I also had five songs in common and five songs that were not.  I thought it was interesting that three of Sarka’s songs that he picked which I didn’t,  had a connection to the songs Brian picked.  These songs were Night Chant, Magic Flute, and Percussion.  Shawn and I had the strongest connection as we had six songs in common and four songs that were not.  The only song that Shawn and I had in common within the group was El Cascabel, while the only song Shawn and Brian had in common was Melancholy Blues.  From the graph, the strongest nodes we had as a whole group were the songs Wedding Song, Jaat Kahan Ho, Johnny B. Goode, Morning Star Devil Bird, and Tchakrul.

I thought it was interesting that Brian was the only one who had one edge that didn’t have any relation to anyone in the group.  I had four songs that wasn’t attach to a node, Shawn had three edges, and Sarka had two edges that wasn’t attach to anyone in the group.  I think based on connectivity, Brian would be a central node or network bridge because his edges had more connections to other nodes in our group.

Looking at a macro scale of the graph, this time of the all the groups and songs, the data depicted that some songs were attached to all the groups.  These songs were:

-India, raga, “Jaat Kahan Ho,” sung by Surshri Kesar Bai Kerkar

-“Johnny B. Goode, “ written and performed by Chuck Berry

-Australia, Aborigine songs, “Morning Star” and “Devil Bird,” recorded by Sandra LeBrun Holmes

-Beethoven, Fifth Symphony, First Movement, the Philharmonica Orchestra, Otto Klemperer, conductor

-Mexico, “El Cascabel,” performed by Lorenzo Barcelata and the Mariachi Mexico

These songs were important because they were central to all the groups or somehow a network bridge to other nodes.  Why ?  Unfortunately, it is hard to extrapolate the reason based on the data.

SOME THOUGHTS:

Since the graph delineated connections, I was trying to look at the data based on relationship and the significance of a node in a network.  The data was a lot of quantitative information that can be presented in different ways.  The graph showed how we are all somehow connected through one node or several nodes to each other and that some nodes are more central and significant than others.

However, the data cannot tell the reason why some songs such as Jaat Kahan Ho or Brian in our group are a central node or a bridge between nodes.  Perhaps, it was because the song Jaat Kahan Ho was an incredibly catchy tune?  Maybe Brian had a musical background and therefore knowledgeable in picking the songs that would represent the world?  These would be assumptions though.  What is missing in the data to give it more depth are people’s personal information, their habits, and background history.  Without knowing people or interviewing them, the only alternative to gather more information is to search their personal blogs, Instagram, Facebook, and Linkedin account.

Another thing that you cannot obtain from the data are people’s choice and the reason why or why not.  In the past, I participated in a yogurt marketing research where we did a taste test.  The company created a new type of flavoured yogurt and wanted to unveil it to the market. I w as in part two of the research where the company wanted a sample of the response on the taste and the reason why you would buy the product, why you wouldn’t, and how the company could make the yogurt more appealing.  A person’s qualitative response is something that is missing from the data.  Having said all this, I thought the Stanford Palladio tool created an elegant graph that was visually friendly to use.

References:

Code.org. (2017, June 13). The Internet: How Search Works . Retrieved from https://youtube/LVV_93mBfSU

Systems Innovation. (2015, April 18).  Graph Theory Overview . Retrieved from https://youtube/82zlRaRUsaY

Systems Innovation. (2015, April 19).  Network Connections . Retrieved from https://youtube/2iViaEAytxw

Systems Innovation. (2015, April 20).  Network Centrality . Retrieved from https://youtube.com/watch?v=NgUj8DEH5Tc&feature=emb_rel_end

Top Ten:

1)Zaire, Pygmy girls’ initiation song, recorded by Colin Turnbull

2)Australia, Aborigine songs, “Morning Star” and “Devil Bird,” recorded by Sandra LeBrun Holmes

3)”Johnny B. Goode,” written and performed by Chuck Berry

4)Peru, wedding song, recorded by John Cohen

5)India, raga, “Jay Karan Ho,” sung by Surshri Kesar Bai Kerkar

6)China, ch’in, “Flowing Streams,” performed by Kuan P’ing-hu

7)Georgian SSR, chorus, “Tchakrulo,” collected by Radio Moscow

8)”Dark Was the Night,”  written and performed by Blind Willie Johnson

9)Stravinsky, Rite of Spring, Sacrificial Dance, Columbia Symphony Orchestra, Igor Stravinsky, conductor

10)Mexico, “El Cascabel,” performed by Lorenzo Barcelata and the Mariachi Mexico

I listened to all 27 pieces of music on the Golden Record a few times before narrowing it down to 10.  First, I narrowed the songs to try and obtain different geographical representation of countries.  I wanted to represent as much variety in culture. Next, I tried to pick songs that showed a bit of society on Earth such as the Peru ‘Wedding Song’ and Chuck Berry’s ‘Johnny B. Goode’ while also showing different voices. Lastly, I chose songs that had an example of a full orchestra, and orchestra with voice, and one with just a choir.

PRINTING WITH POTATO

I was excited to try out the potato printing because it felt creative and unique.  In my mind, the process looked straight forward.  I thought that if this worked, I would incorporate this into some designs on fabric for the future.   I bought two potatoes, some paint, and a brush.   The outcome was a disaster.  Actually, the entire process was challenging and time consuming that I didn’t even made it to the part where I could print one letter.

The word I wanted to print was bread, because it would be curious to see how the b and d letters would turn out.  I did an outline of the letters on the potato after drying them.  The entire process was extremely challenging.  I kept scooping out parts that needed to stay in.  I kept making this error again and again.  I bought potatoes the next day and again and I repeated the process again.  This time, I had difficulty producing the width and depth I needed in order to get a thick outline of the letter.  A few times, I tried to dig deeper into the potato, I broke it.  It was also difficult to do the curved parts, such as the loop in the b.  By the third night, I gave up and did a diary entry.  There was a lot of potatoes that were sacrificed and a lot of time used in the process and I couldn’t even create one printable letter.

This mechanization of writing using potatoes was such an unproductive way of to write out a word.  But, as Haas pointed out in ‘The Technology Question,’ it was a way “to bring language material to life” (p.3).  It was labour and time intensive just to create a letter that I could imagine how valuable it would be if print was done using this way.

Reference: Haas, C. (2013). “The Technology Question.” In Writing technology: Studies on the materiality of literacyLinks to an external site.. Routledge. (pp. 3-23).

DIARY ENTRY

I do not usually write anything that requires organization or that needs to be more than a paragraph by hand.  It is only when I brainstorm ideas and write key words or jot down a grocery list that I write manually.  If I had to choose between typing a journal entry or writing a journal entry, then this task was difficult.  SINCE I tried the potato printing before doing this journal entry manually, then this was an enjoyable task to do 🙂

I admire beautiful cursive handwriting.  I like writing that appears neat and tidy and I try to always begin my writing this way.  At first glance, my words are a mixture or printing with sprinkles of cursive writing.  I always write using my Frixion erasable gel pen because if I make a mistake, I can just erase.  At times, I just cross out the word.

I find that the more I write by hand, the spaces between words becomes wider, the words appear larger, and I tend to move towards a sloppy cursive writing.  This is like an elementary student’s writing when their hand becomes fatigue from writing too much.  I used to take a lot of notes by hand when I was in university.  One summer, I read a short hand book in order to be more efficient at taking notes in class.  Whenever my hand becomes fatigue, I automatically switch to shorthand in order to be able to write more.

I think the most significant difference between writing manually and using a mechanized form of writing, such as a computer, is that it is easier to edit your words while maintaining the flow of ideas.  As well, no more worrying about making mistakes on paper, encountering arm fatigue, or spending the whole day just to write a first draft.  I like that I can efficiently create multiple drafts before producing the finished writing, which would be hard to do by hand.  I like having the tools of being able to being able to cut and paste my sentences when I am editing, using the spellcheck, as well as the thesaurus.

My Grandmother’s 100^th Birthday

Speech to Text app: https://speechnotes.co/

So I am going to talk about my first trip ever to put on an Alaskan cruise and it is very special because I went with my family and my grandmother who is turning a hundred in the beginning I was I didn’t want to go on the cruise because I felt I just felt that it wouldn’t be as fun but in reality I really enjoy it a lot we went on several stops it was 7 Days Juno Ketchikan the ice I was in all seeing all and basically this time from a ship’s perspective I even so Stanley Park the Lions Gate Bridge Paterson from a ship’s perspective surface it was really nice it reminded me I think it’s reminded me or the reminded me of a all-inclusive resort water because they still had a lot of food available and pools and entertainment the most memorable things I I am looking back I thought about was the topper show the topper show was you know one of those Live Theater had a great singing and dance describing it as well as I’m doing now but if you Google it and YouTube it is it is really really fun amazing and uplifting a few other momentous events were I treated my grandmother to that Le Petit Chef Restaurant and it is the first restaurant were going to have to describe it to you but it’s 3D animated so you see images of the Petit chef making your food on your on the table and then when he’s done cooking the real food is there i’m not I’m not making a I’m probably not describing it as well but if you Google it I guess I guess you can see it is it is one of a kind restaurant that I’ve never ever I’m headaches. Something that I felt was like a movie theatre and an entertainment as well as dinner it was the 3D images then Le Petit Chef the the how they would go through the process of making your food so let’s they would you could see him getting the weed from the fields and then his little pet sheet Pig would go around needing the wheat and then he would get the protein and he would put it on and then you’d have like baby I ravioli or lasagna so it was if I had to go back I would love to go back and see that the Petit Chef again I also really enjoyed which is on my bucket list I really enjoyed watching the glaciers while they’re still there and it is to see it so up close was amazing it was nice for my grandmother to see it too because my my relatives were from from LA and so anything that we have a BC and I’m up North it’s just amazing to them my grandmother couldn’t see a really really spacious cabin it had it sleeps about for 5 people able to watch the glaciers without going out just inside and having these big Windows to watch the glaciers and it is amazing it’s it’s towering when you see a piece of the ice fall and break it has this thunderous Thundurus sound other things were the food was amazing I was I was always skeptical about cruises so I never I that’s why I never went on one but it was a great experience the food was amazing they had breakfast there were different places that you could eat lunch dinner and I’m late night snack let’s just say it’s true you do gained a pound I believe a week is the pound a week or a pound a day I can’t remember so I was I was really happy to enjoy my first cruise with my grandmother who turned a hundred last year really really enjoy the food also somehow I ate a lot a lot of creme brulee which is my favourite dessert sometimes I would just skip lunch and have life creme brulee for lunch and creme brulee for dinner so I think that ironically that’s one of my most memorable experience I did get sea sick during the Tropic Waters just kind of funny because my grandmother didn’t and she was looking at me lying in bed but you know I I felt like everything was such an adventure and even going down on that Under the Boardwalk to look around the different shops of from Ketchikan to Juneau which is really really nice a date I was surprised as I went in August and I thought that it was it what places would be really cold and it’s wants us to get close to Glacier I did get cold but in other places it was such a nice kind of spring whether you could wear just like wake clothing

How does the text deviate from conventions of written English ?

This is my first time using any voice to text app and I realized that my writing was like a post-modern poem that was fragmented and free form.  It was difficult to understand where one idea started or ended because it lacked Capitalization and punctuation.  There were capitals, but it was inconsistent.  Some names the app correctly capitalized such as ‘Le Petit Chef’ but a lot of times, capitals appeared randomly sprinkled in.  Also, there wasn’t any type of punctuation so it was difficult to read the story and know where there was more emphasis on an idea.  All the words seem somewhat flat.   It is strange to think that markers, such as a little dot or a line and a dot can convey emotion, the cadence and tone of voice.

What is “wrong” in the text?  What is “right”?

The app transcribed my words verbatim.  However, I find it interesting that when you are just having a conversation with a friend, it is easy to meander from one topic to another or go back to clarify or add more details.  What the app lack was the sensitively to grammatically edit sentences from a culture that is English speaking.  This is difficult because when I taught ESL students in the past, it was easy for them to memorize vocabulary words and put them together, but correcting the sentences for grammar mistakes was always a difficult part.

What are the most common “mistakes” in the text and why do you consider them “mistakes” ?

Looking at my writing, a most common mistake I felt where the addition of “filler” words such as so/ um/ and/ you know.  When I am talking, somehow, I don’t think about them and it doesn’t diminish from the story.  But it does in writing.  Another mistake was the app was not thoughtful enough to recognize my dialect or to take into account where I read some ending words softly.  There was a lot of spelling mistakes due to this.

What if you had “scripted” the story?  What difference might that have made ?

I think if I had scripted the story, it would be more organized and it wouldn’t meander.   It was extremely difficult not to brainstorm using a web and write down key points.  It was also difficult not to edit my writing.  I find that without editing, there is more of a chance of losing or frustrating my audience.  I also don’t know if my ideas were getting across to my viewers.  When I create a lesson plan, there is always an objective and then the execution of it which entails the hook, the middle, and the ending points.

In what ways does oral storytelling differ from written storytelling ?

I feel that oral storytelling is more of a journey where you lead the audience like a tour guide through unknown paths that curves in different places.  This is true of written storytelling, but it lacks the guide.  Oral storytelling is a guide against a setting that evokes mood and who tells the tale with voice, body language, and movement of the hands.  There is a connection with the audience.  Another different thing is the lack of specific details in oral storytelling and that the story can change as the narrator “reads” the audience.  The story is fleeting, captured at the moment, and can never be repeated but in your mind and how you interpret it.

Written storytelling is somehow more “grounded” because the words appear stamped onto white pages.  It can withstand time.  You can read it and read it again five years from now and the words won’t change.   As well, the reader can read, re-read parts for clarification, and pause in the middle of the story and continue it again later. Written storytelling is more organized to move the reader from point A to point B.  Perhaps a difference stem from time as Boroditsky mentioned. Oral storytelling is a tale that captures the audience in that moment for that culture.   Written storytelling can last through time and but the words can be interpreted in a different way as society changes.

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What’s in my bag ? As I look inside, I realize that all the contents have a purpose and allow me to navigate the urban jungle, which is Vancouver. A few of items have changed after March 12, 2020 due to Covid.

I carry a Derek Alexander bag which is made of nylon because it is light weight and water resistant.  This is my go to bag for work and travel because it can hold a lot of things and have side pockets.  In the past, I was always searching for that “perfect” bag, but I feel like I have finally found it.    Other staples inside are my keys and a small wallet that I bought in Whistler to hold credit cards.

My bag also has a sticky note pad, a cell charger, my work phone, and my personal phone (which you can’t see because I am using it to take this picture).  I work for the VSB as a District Resource Teacher for Early Learning.  I’m usually going to different places and constantly on the phone so I’m always finding a place to charge my cell and using the sticky pad to write down notes.  I always carry two granola bars, a piece of fruit or a hard boiled egg, and my water bottle in case there isn’t a place nearby that I can get lunch.   I call these my emergency food supply 🙂

Due to Covid, I carry a small hand sanitizer in my bag as well as a cloth mask I made from a tea towel.  I made several of these for my family as well.  It took me awhile to find this particular cloth because I was trying to find a tea towel with a cross-wise weave.  Another item I sewed when I was self-isolating was the small cloth zipper case in the picture.  If you look closely, the words stitched on the front says Hope and Community and there is a pattern of stars on the cloth.  I felt the stars where each of us made of hope and together, all the stars make up a community working together to fight Covid.  Inside the zipper case, I have a little Hello Kitty tissue packet because it’s allergy season, an eyeliner, vaseline, a Yelp chapstick, and Yelp mints.  I use to go out a lot to restaurants and wrote Yelp reviews, which is now been put on pause due to Covid.

The last things in my bag consist of my planner, my favourite pen, and a recipe.  Before Covid, I used to consult in fashion during the weekends so I would have a small blank journal to sketch out ideas.  I finished my project for a client on February 4th and after March 12th, the economy stopped.  I felt it was a nice transition to stop fashion and do something on my bucket list which I never had the time for.  This was cooking and which is why I always have a a new recipe in my bag.  The last two items in my bag are my planner and my blue frixion 0.7 erasable pen.  It’s a bit old-fashioned, but there is just something nice about flipping the pages of a planner that is made of paper.