I had so much fun writing my first blog entry for iCraft, an online marketplace for handmade jewelry and crafts. I LOVE jewelry! I should take pictures of my big jewelry collection and post them here. Those posts would be different from my work for iCraft because I would never sell my jewelry...
I imagine it would be so difficult to give something away after spending so much time and energy creating it. I don't feel that way about my writing. I usually don't even feel uneasy when I share something I've written with an audience, be it a family member, a professor, the public. I used to, though. You write then stare. Delete then stare. It's intimate and personal.You don't know how others will receive it, if they'll appreciate it and understand it. And then you press "Send" in your email or "Publish Post" in the blog, and from that point on, it's no longer yours alone.
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Monday, February 21, 2011
An Outside View
If aliens watch North American commercials to learn more about earth dwellers, they may make these assumptions:
That mothers excitedly lurk in doorways with Bounty paper towels and bottles of Mr. Clean to clean up their husbands' and children's inevitable and completely preventable accidents involving spaghetti sauce and toy cars,
That women are obsessed with eating yogourt and "treat" themselves to slivers of chocolate cake and low-fat miniature cookies,
That men value beer and football over relationships,
That animals can speak like humans, but without opening their mouths, and they only talk about how much they love food, cell phone plans and insurance,
That most of us are ill,
That we are idiots,
That there are too many commercials.
Unless these are sociologist aliens who know that commercials don't reflect reality and that corporations think (or know) that women may be more likely to buy yogourt if they are made to feel that they need to lose weight and that yogourt will help them do that.
That mothers excitedly lurk in doorways with Bounty paper towels and bottles of Mr. Clean to clean up their husbands' and children's inevitable and completely preventable accidents involving spaghetti sauce and toy cars,
That women are obsessed with eating yogourt and "treat" themselves to slivers of chocolate cake and low-fat miniature cookies,
That men value beer and football over relationships,
That animals can speak like humans, but without opening their mouths, and they only talk about how much they love food, cell phone plans and insurance,
That most of us are ill,
That we are idiots,
That there are too many commercials.
Unless these are sociologist aliens who know that commercials don't reflect reality and that corporations think (or know) that women may be more likely to buy yogourt if they are made to feel that they need to lose weight and that yogourt will help them do that.
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Expectations
I just read this AOL article about a boy who has no cerebellum.
Maybe you're thinking that this is an article about a tragedy, but it isn't.
Baffling doctors and defying neuroscience, Chase Britton is an active boy who met milestones he should not have been able to meet without a cerebellum. This article reminds me of my own neurological issues.
I was born with Dandy Walker syndrome, a cerebellum malformation and hydrocephalus, an accumulation of cerebrospinal fluid in the brain. It reminds me of how lucky I am to be healthy, to have always been able bodied, to never have been discouraged from doing something or told I couldn't do it.
It is painful, though, to think of the provisions I had as a child. They were isolating. I didn't understand them. I didn't feel like I had trouble with things, but looking back, I know that I did. All I have to do is watch a home video of me walking somewhere or dancing in my ballet class. I remember tiring easily.
There were also provisions I didn't feel I needed, but took anyway, either because I was not given another choice or because I was told I needed it: recess indoors if it was icy outside, the use of the alternate, less steep and lower trafficed stairwell.
There were also optional provisions like the use of the elevator in high school. I never used it. I still have the elevator key on my keyring. It reminds me of how much I could have limited myself if I had taken certain provisions. Stairs are often a bit of a job for me. Always have been. But I can walk up them pretty well, run up them sometimes, and so I do.
It was good that the adults knew I had issues, though, and addressed them. I was young. I didn't know I had issues. When I got older, I started noticing that I was different and opted out of some activities and provisions that made my issues more apparent, like Track and Field. And I avoided telling people about my issues too. I distinctly remember being at the brink of tears when I had to tell my grade 9 gym partner that I wasn't supposed to catch a football to my abdomen. I just couldn't tell her why: I have a tube inside my brain that goes down to my upper abdomen to drain the excess fluid from my brain. I couldn't risk injuring or dislodging it.
It had become hard for me to talk about for reasons I still don't understand. I think it had a lot to do with my dislike for being treated like I was delicate or less capable, something I already had to deal with. I was terrible in gym class, largely because of my asthma.
I was fine with telling others I had asthma or that I had to take a break or sit something out. I used my puffer before and after class in front of everyone. I was such a slow/easily exhausted runner that one of my classmates asked me if there was something wrong with my heart. A few years later I did find out that there was, just a mild heart rhythm disorder, but something I needed and still need medication for. Who knows the degree to which each condition affected my abilities.
I could have tried to get out of gym class or opted out of a lot of activities, but I didn't and it was good for me. I'm so glad no one told me I couldn't do it or told me not to do it.
I'm glad that Chase also has this support, but I worry that people will enforce limitations on him or discourage him from aiming for certain heights. This seems more likely for him as his various conditions are much more serious than mine were/are. I hope that his provisions are well suited to him and that he understands them. I hope others understand them too. And him.
Maybe you're thinking that this is an article about a tragedy, but it isn't.
Baffling doctors and defying neuroscience, Chase Britton is an active boy who met milestones he should not have been able to meet without a cerebellum. This article reminds me of my own neurological issues.
I was born with Dandy Walker syndrome, a cerebellum malformation and hydrocephalus, an accumulation of cerebrospinal fluid in the brain. It reminds me of how lucky I am to be healthy, to have always been able bodied, to never have been discouraged from doing something or told I couldn't do it.
It is painful, though, to think of the provisions I had as a child. They were isolating. I didn't understand them. I didn't feel like I had trouble with things, but looking back, I know that I did. All I have to do is watch a home video of me walking somewhere or dancing in my ballet class. I remember tiring easily.
There were also provisions I didn't feel I needed, but took anyway, either because I was not given another choice or because I was told I needed it: recess indoors if it was icy outside, the use of the alternate, less steep and lower trafficed stairwell.
There were also optional provisions like the use of the elevator in high school. I never used it. I still have the elevator key on my keyring. It reminds me of how much I could have limited myself if I had taken certain provisions. Stairs are often a bit of a job for me. Always have been. But I can walk up them pretty well, run up them sometimes, and so I do.
It was good that the adults knew I had issues, though, and addressed them. I was young. I didn't know I had issues. When I got older, I started noticing that I was different and opted out of some activities and provisions that made my issues more apparent, like Track and Field. And I avoided telling people about my issues too. I distinctly remember being at the brink of tears when I had to tell my grade 9 gym partner that I wasn't supposed to catch a football to my abdomen. I just couldn't tell her why: I have a tube inside my brain that goes down to my upper abdomen to drain the excess fluid from my brain. I couldn't risk injuring or dislodging it.
It had become hard for me to talk about for reasons I still don't understand. I think it had a lot to do with my dislike for being treated like I was delicate or less capable, something I already had to deal with. I was terrible in gym class, largely because of my asthma.
I was fine with telling others I had asthma or that I had to take a break or sit something out. I used my puffer before and after class in front of everyone. I was such a slow/easily exhausted runner that one of my classmates asked me if there was something wrong with my heart. A few years later I did find out that there was, just a mild heart rhythm disorder, but something I needed and still need medication for. Who knows the degree to which each condition affected my abilities.
I could have tried to get out of gym class or opted out of a lot of activities, but I didn't and it was good for me. I'm so glad no one told me I couldn't do it or told me not to do it.
I'm glad that Chase also has this support, but I worry that people will enforce limitations on him or discourage him from aiming for certain heights. This seems more likely for him as his various conditions are much more serious than mine were/are. I hope that his provisions are well suited to him and that he understands them. I hope others understand them too. And him.
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Explanation of Exclamation
I think using exclamation points in writing is often the equivalent to jabbing someone in the ribs and saying "You're supposed to laugh here," or "You're supposed to be shocked here." It's a crutch for people who know they haven't evoked those emotions with the actual prose, or at least feel insecure about their ability to do so.
Exclamation points are great; don't get me wrong. If I write to friends on Facebook chat or MSN messenger and they respond with "Hey!" it puts my mind at ease that they actually want to talk to me. Plain ol' "Hey" is just polite. Laid back polite. "Hi" reads curt. Almost angry. But, "Hi!"? It reads much more friendly, but also kind of sarcastic for some reason. "Hello" is also a bit cold, but it shows more effort in typing because there are more letters in the word. You wouldn't put that effort in if you didn't want to talk to someone would you?
If you write my name after "Hi," or "Hey," I'll know you care. Plus, it will also show that you remember my name -- or at least remember how to spell it. My name is Ashley Ashbee and people tend to confuse the second syllables: "Ashlee" for my first name or, less commonly, "Ashbey" for my last name.
I'm actually not neurotic, though.
Tweet
Exclamation points are great; don't get me wrong. If I write to friends on Facebook chat or MSN messenger and they respond with "Hey!" it puts my mind at ease that they actually want to talk to me. Plain ol' "Hey" is just polite. Laid back polite. "Hi" reads curt. Almost angry. But, "Hi!"? It reads much more friendly, but also kind of sarcastic for some reason. "Hello" is also a bit cold, but it shows more effort in typing because there are more letters in the word. You wouldn't put that effort in if you didn't want to talk to someone would you?
If you write my name after "Hi," or "Hey," I'll know you care. Plus, it will also show that you remember my name -- or at least remember how to spell it. My name is Ashley Ashbee and people tend to confuse the second syllables: "Ashlee" for my first name or, less commonly, "Ashbey" for my last name.
I'm actually not neurotic, though.
Tweet
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Twitter for Market Research?
According to many Tweets, right now, White Chicks is on television in Toronto. Yes, White Chicks is trending on Twitter. It's obvious from the Tweets that the people Tweeting about it have seen it before and love it:
xMrsCrosbyx Tweets "Just watched White Chicks for the 847278573 time in a row...never get tired of this haha #funniestmovieever."
emilym179 Tweets "Definitely watched White Chicks! Forgot how funny it was :P"
Then there are some Tweets blatantly including "White Chicks" to be found through searches of what's trending:
Weirdnesstcz0 Tweets, "COOOLx7 -_Twitter n Google cooperate to develop a brand new SearchEngine - http://bit.ly/fOcmQI === Mubarak #egypt White Chicks"
Yep, just when you thought you'd seen it all, Mubarak and White Chicks were mentioned in the same Tweet, even though Mubarak and White Chicks have nothing to do with the topic of the Tweet: Twitter and Google's new search engine.
These Tweets and others can be used to track how many people have seen White Chicks more than once and how many people love it. It's a content analysis, really. Obviously, it's not terribly accurate research because, like our friend Weirdnesstcz0, many people on Twitter may be writing about White Chicks to gain greater exposure on Twitter and not everyone who loves White Chicks will have Twitter accounts or be Tweeting that the film is on television and that they love it. Still, it is valuable research for television networks to see what is popular, to know that they should air it again. Also, other television networks could monitor trends on Twitter to get ideas about what films they should air.
Now, you're probably thinking that they could get all of this information by evaluating their ratings. True, but by looking at what else "White Chicks" Twits have Tweeted about, networks can assemble pyschographic and demographic research. You can learn a lot by looking at what people Tweet about. You can learn if they're students, what they like to watch on television, who they follow, etc.
Content analysis is often great market research because it is conducted after the fact and is unobtrusive, meaning the researchers aren't influencing the behaviour of their subjects or affecting the results of their research. Plus, it's obviously much cheaper and faster to conduct research by evaluating Tweets because there are no surveys or polls to conduct and information comes out in real time. The information comes straight to the researchers without them even having to prompt it.
Of course, researchers can also search for things in Twitter to see if people are already interested in something the researchers will share with a television network or whoever else is conducting the market research. If a network has launched a Twitter campaign, it can search certain keywords in Twitter to see if they've created a buzz around a topic. Then they just have to look at ratings, sales, etc. to see if that buzz has created results.
Tweet
xMrsCrosbyx Tweets "Just watched White Chicks for the 847278573 time in a row...never get tired of this haha #funniestmovieever."
emilym179 Tweets "Definitely watched White Chicks! Forgot how funny it was :P"
Then there are some Tweets blatantly including "White Chicks" to be found through searches of what's trending:
Weirdnesstcz0 Tweets, "COOOLx7 -_Twitter n Google cooperate to develop a brand new SearchEngine - http://bit.ly/fOcmQI === Mubarak #egypt White Chicks"
Yep, just when you thought you'd seen it all, Mubarak and White Chicks were mentioned in the same Tweet, even though Mubarak and White Chicks have nothing to do with the topic of the Tweet: Twitter and Google's new search engine.
These Tweets and others can be used to track how many people have seen White Chicks more than once and how many people love it. It's a content analysis, really. Obviously, it's not terribly accurate research because, like our friend Weirdnesstcz0, many people on Twitter may be writing about White Chicks to gain greater exposure on Twitter and not everyone who loves White Chicks will have Twitter accounts or be Tweeting that the film is on television and that they love it. Still, it is valuable research for television networks to see what is popular, to know that they should air it again. Also, other television networks could monitor trends on Twitter to get ideas about what films they should air.
Now, you're probably thinking that they could get all of this information by evaluating their ratings. True, but by looking at what else "White Chicks" Twits have Tweeted about, networks can assemble pyschographic and demographic research. You can learn a lot by looking at what people Tweet about. You can learn if they're students, what they like to watch on television, who they follow, etc.
Content analysis is often great market research because it is conducted after the fact and is unobtrusive, meaning the researchers aren't influencing the behaviour of their subjects or affecting the results of their research. Plus, it's obviously much cheaper and faster to conduct research by evaluating Tweets because there are no surveys or polls to conduct and information comes out in real time. The information comes straight to the researchers without them even having to prompt it.
Of course, researchers can also search for things in Twitter to see if people are already interested in something the researchers will share with a television network or whoever else is conducting the market research. If a network has launched a Twitter campaign, it can search certain keywords in Twitter to see if they've created a buzz around a topic. Then they just have to look at ratings, sales, etc. to see if that buzz has created results.
Tweet
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