Creative Path Studio: Trish Roque’s blog, studio, and musings on living a purpose-filled life.

I listen to the radio in the morning, as I get ready for work. Typically, I have it tuned to NPR, and most times, I don’t listen. I don’t know why I have it tuned to the news - maybe it’s to listen to the weather forecast or traffic report. Most times, it’s background noise.

But on occasion, I’ll hear a news item that catches my attention, often making me ask myself, is this really good for me to listen to this? Is it really making me feel better about my life? Or the world in general. Because quite often I find that I am disgusted with the world, and that does not bode well for my general mood.

I should try shutting off the radio in the mornings - at least wait until I’ve had my cup of tea.

I am incredibly frustrated by this campus wireless network. To access the network, I had to download a couple of applications, including Cisco Clean Access Agent (which had errors in its installation!) and the campus virus software (because apparently, the one I had wasn’t good enough!). And of course, after logging in, the f***ing network tells me I need to update my virus definition — but I don’t have f***ing access to download the latest definitions! F**K, F**K, F**K! So it won’t let me login! Damn it!

Yes, these are the moments when I want to hurl my machine out the window. These are the times when technology completely drives me mad, when I waste more time trying to make technology work than actually have technology work for me!!

I know my blood is curdling right now. And the irony of this situation is that at this time I would normally be out on a hike, away from media and technology, away from frustration, away from this sometimes non-sensical mode of - I don’t even have the words right now. I AM SO MAD!

My submersion into the Multimedia Graduate Program has me thinking about the difference between a tool and media. I’m writing on this blog, which is a form of media, but it is also a tool that allows me to express my thoughts to the world, regardless of whether the world cares or not.

A good place to start would be to define these terms, tool and media.

Tool (a few definitions from Answers.com):

• A device, such as a saw, used to perform or facilitate manual or mechanical work
• Something regarded as necessary to the carrying out of one’s occupation or profession
• Something used in the performance of an operation; an instrument

Media (again from Answers.com)

• Channels of communication that serve as many diverse functions, such as offering a variety of entertainment with either mass or specialized appeal, communicating news and information, or displaying advertising messages

I think part of these questions that come up have to do with another word I’ve often found difficult to define: artist.

Regardless, media as a tool, and the tool as media can define the artist’s vision.

I don’t really know what any of this means. I just know that when I’m in front of a computer, I don’t think of myself as an artist. I think of myself as someone using media.

When I work with paper, ink, charcoal, clay, or other traditional artist’s tools, then I feel that I am an artist.

What is the difference and why is there a difference?

Here I am sitting in the library, originally at a desk, now on a “loveseat” (if one can call it that), with my laptop on, well, my lap. I am reading Multimedia: From Wagner to Virtual Reality as presented by ArtMuseum.net. It covers (so far) the history of yes, multimedia, but as well, computers, the internet, and the world wide web. I have never considered myself a computer geek - I’ll be the first to confess that there’s so much I don’t know. However, I find myself completely fascinated by the story of multimedia.

Anyway, back to the topic at hand: my love/hate relationship with my laptop.

First of all, I spend entirely way too much time with it - probably more time than with any other sentient being (I also live with 4 four-legged creatures). I think to myself, is there something wrong with that? On the physical level, I have had my back go out for a week (hate), tingling in my wrists (hate), soreness on my bum ((hate, yes!), and pain in my neck (hate). All as a result of spending too much time with my laptop (love). Ok, please note that was written in the past tense. I have remedied my work area to be ergonomic though I could force myself to take more breaks. I do force myself to get out. I hike, swim, and play outside just so I don’t end up looking like a computer geek.

What exactly compels me to interact with my computer the way that I do? It is a silver, heavy thing that I carry on my back, and when I turn it on, it is shiny and interactive. Physical looks have nothing to do with it. In many ways, it’s the same question that makes me wonder why I chose to blog instead of write these media entries in my personal journal.

But I do love to play with it.

Note: I will occasionally use this blog for my assignments in my Principles of Digital Multimedia class. From the syllabus:

This seminar class examines the historical and conceptual basis of multimedia; and the central role of creative process and interactive narrative in multimedia expression. We will also survey the nature of sound and light, human perception of and digital representation of media as well as the devices and methods of capturing, transporting, storing, displaying, and distributing multimedia.

The Assignment is to post to a Media Diary: At least twice a week write out a diary entry on your personal interactions with media. Mindfulness and self-aware observation is the focus of this exercise.

This is my first entry.

I began this evening’s entry in my personal (handwritten, non-digital, aka paper) journal, and quickly found myself wanting to blog about it. That alone says something about this assignment. Why did I leave my journal and jump to my blog? Mindful awareness of media in my daily life - ask questions: why do I choose certain media over another in a given moment? I find it interesting that I have a small chest of personal diaries dating back to when I was in the sixth grade! And since my arrival in the Bay Area in 2000, I have only filled one journal. That is definitely another topic to think about.

Ok, back to the reasons I chose to blog instead: in my journal, I was writing about magazines. I was getting ready to go to bed when it dawned on me that I like to read in bed before falling asleep. However, I began to wonder why it was only magazines that I read in bed?

I wrote in my journal:

My choice in literature is not in books but in magazines — magazines that I received as free subscriptions in lieu of those Northwest Airlines miles that I knew I would never use. So I thought - why not? I subscribed to Outside, The Economist, Newsweek, Simple, Rolling Stone; and out of the blue, we started receiving The New Yorker. We suspect this was a gift subscription but we’ve never been able to find out from whom this gift came.

Well, that list of magazines certainly says something about who I am; I should probably also add that Jon gets Motorcycle Consumer News, Sportrider, and Automobile. That says quite a bit about him as well…

Do I actually read all these journals? Nope. I would say that I toss about half of them into the recycling bin, though I do try to at least open them before I fall asleep in bed. But thinking about these magazines made me wonder when it was that I last read a book?

That question is what lead me to blog about this assignment instead of continuing in my personal journal. Blogging about this assignment would give me immediate access to information. I could do things like link to the book, and the author. It felt more immediate to link then to have to handwrite my explanation about this author.

I find myself going on so many tangents, and why do these thoughts always occur in the middle of the night?

Back to the book.

The last time I read a book from front to back was during the camping trip Jon and I took in August, when I promised him that I would not bring my laptop. [See, I could link to the pictures from our trip - I can't do that in my journal.] When you’re in the middle of nowhere, no electricity, just a campfire, your choices are limited. I brought media with me during this trip. We had our camera, my sketchbooks and drawing supplies, magazines (yes), and books.

The book was Assassination Vacation by Sarah Vowell. Wow! Fascinating and entertaining - filled with trivia and random facts. Did you know that Robert Todd Lincoln, Abe’s oldest son, aka Jinxsy McDeath, was present or in the near vicinity of three presidential assassinations? I did not know that prior to this book!

I find it quite appropriate that Sarah Vowell would be the author of the last book I read, considering that she is a great example of a multimedia artist. For those who do not know, not only is Sarah Vowell a writer, but she was also the voice of Violet Parr of Pixar’s The Incredibles, and is a regular contributor to This American Life, a radio program that airs on National Public Radio, which also launched in television format this year. Their website contains podcasts of the radio programs (their stories are always interesting - I particularly like the Break Up song episode) and the TV episodes are available on iTunes.

MULTIMEDIA is everywhere!

What is all this doing for me right now - or doing to me?? Is it adding to the quality of my life? Is it giving me more happiness? I’m yawning, I’m tired, my wrist feels sore, it’s 1 AM, and yet, here I am feeling compelled to continue this entry.

Is this a problem?

This is actually the first post to my media diary.