Super Sad True Love Story

I've been taking my time reading Super Sad True Love Story by Gary Shteyngart because it's such a good read. It's set in a futuristic America, and it brings a lot of subtle attention, well-made points to the shallowness of our digital-reality-obsessed generation. (And yes, sorry for saying these words on a blog.) Below are a few of the snippets that have hit home the most.

I felt scared, not because of the military operation outside, but because I knew that i could never leave her. No matter how she treated me. No matter how bad she made me feel. Because in her anger and anxiety there was familiarity and relief.

Eunice had no idea what the hell she was doing. And neither did I.

With just a few morning kisses on my eyelids, unbidden, welcome kisses, Euny could transform me for the rest of the day into the opposite of Chekhov's ugly Laptev. I would greet the food deliveryman in my boxershorts, forgetting my usual timidity at showing my hairy legs, reveling in the idea that on the couch behind me this little girl...was fully ensconced within her digital reality but also within the walls of my apartment. I would hand the deliveryman his ten yuan-pegged dollars with my chest thrust forward, with a Joshie-grade smile on my face, the smile of one of life's easy champions. I am a man, and this is my money, and here is my future wife, and this is my charmed life.

We argued daily. She never backed down. A fighter to the very last. This is how a human being is forged after an unhappy early life.This is the independence of growing up, of standing up for yourself, even if against a phantom enemy.

I saw that there were at least two truths to my life. The truth of my existence and the truth of my demise.

Single Parent Scholarship Fund

I had the pleasure of meeting a lot of sweet single parents Thursday who were awarded with scholarships for the upcoming school year. Arvest, Walmart and Sam's Club sponsored the event and the leaders of all local colleges were present to cheer on the hard-working students.

Here's my story on the benefit in Rogers.

Vic Juris in concert

FAYETTEVILLE-The Summer Jazz Concert Series concluded with a performance by legendary guitarist Vic Juris Saturday evening at the Starr Theater.

Juris was accompanied by Darren Novotny on drums and Dr. James Greeson, a well-known local composer and music professor at the University of Arkansas, on bass. After only one rehearsal, the trio performed a variety of old favorites, cover songs from the jazz greats and original works.

“Juris has played alongside the likes of Dizzy Gillespie, Eddie Jefferson, Sarah Vaughn (and many more,” said Robert Ginsburg, president of the Northwest Arkansas Jazz Society.

At age 59, Vic Juris doesn’t seem to be slowing down one bit. He plays music with his whole body, getting up on the tips his toes at different points of the song, almost as if he’s physically striving to reach the next note. His shoulders squeeze, stretch, arch and recede. You don’t see him play so much as sense him playing. Watching him perform is an enigmatic experience that makes you feel as if you’re peeking into a private practice room because when the song ends, it’s as if he suddenly realizes that other people are in the room. He looks up and smiles as if spotting an old friend and thanks you for being there, as if it wasn’t already a treat for the audience.

Novotny, Greeson and Juris made quite the team, moving in perfect parallel, the music seamless. Songs ended without the tell-tale signs of guitar strings catching on stray fingers. Instead, the trio intuited each others’ moves, complimenting them. The bass and the guitar seemed to play such vastly different roles, as if they were in different spheres, playing the song in some sort of universal way, letting waves of familiarity and fresh riffs pass in sync.

As Juris introduced his Novotny and Greeson for the evening, he talked about the experience of being an on-the-road musician, whose accompaniment is always changing. “Sometimes you play (music) with people...” he said, skeptically trailing off to imply that he’s seen some lacking performers in his day. “But man, (James and Darren) they’ve been great.”

Juris's sense of humor shone through his way of giving songs titled, a practice especially made clear by performances of his original songs “Victim” and “Sweet 16.”

“The song I’m going to play next is one I wrote about my current girlfriend,” Juris said about the song Sweet 16. “The song has 16 bars.”

Similarly, “Victim” was named after himself (Vic) and the trumpet player in his band, Tim.

Using distortion pedals and looping his music, the tones coming from Vic’s guitar are as smooth as an electric keyboard, but the overall effect is somehow big, even in a song as quaintly titled as Sweet 16. It’s a large force-to-be-reckoned with sound and still smooth around the edges.

Juris played theme and variations on Homeward Bound, paying homage to his childhood influence, Paul Simon; a Django Reindhart song “Nuages” and “Wave,” a Brazilian song which had a hidden little riff of “Fly Me to the Moon.”

Styles tossed back and forth from traditional jazz to folk songs, straying for an occasional bossa nova, and cover songs derived from Bill Evans and Miles Davis repertoires.

The nearly two hour performance coasted by gracefully with his effortless transitions from cozy to grooving. The curtains fired up red during his solo pieces and rained down blue during trio performances. He kept tones so pure that the audience squeezed closer together, couples held hands and inched their chairs closer, and no one seemed ready to leave when it was over.

The Color of Hope

Last night the Color of Hope brought loads of financial aid to the Arkansas Children's Hospital and its centers in Northwest Arkansas. For more on the evening's lovely festivities, you'll have to read my story in The City Wire. But I have to say the part that stole my heart was when little Ireland climbed on stage and ambled about just like any other healthy two-year-old while her parents described the process of finding a heart donor for her.



Another fun thing: everything was green. It was like St. Patty's revisited. Green dresses in all shapes, sizes and styles, green CAKE, green martinis...

How to ease back into running

With roughly ten weeks until the next half-marathon, I've been easing myself back into a training schedule. As I've explained before, I'm a runner who hates running.

Like a friend of mine recently pointed out,
1. it's boring as all get out
2. no one at the gym knows how long I've been here, so I could just leave
3. I could be eating brownies right now.


photo from facebook.com/clubhausfitness

Here are a few things I've been doing to transition back into the lifestyle, after hanging with cyclists a little too long (who are super friendly & like to offer you beer and cookies while fixing your bike).

I'm taking the stairs at work...every time I change floors or buildings, instead of most of the time.

I'm eating a breakfast with protein every morning, so that I don't get tired (read: discouraged) in the middle of the day, or during the only moment I'd have for a workout.

I'm stocking up on some new music for my ipod, since Bon Iver doesn't make the most encouraging running partner.

photo from freecodesource.com

I'm making my weekly workouts more visual, so I can keep track of my progress without having to think about what day of the week it is or date it is.

This includes expanding my running wardrobe (cutting down on middle-of-the-week-laundry) with these fun shirts from One More Mile Running.

They add a quirky twist that the pile of 5k and half-marathon shirts don't quite afford, and are certainly more interesting than the classic black-on-black workout clothes that are out there.

photo from someecards.com












Another visual way: keeping my training schedule easily accessible (having one copy at my desk and one on my refrigerator), ready to mark off!

What helps you get back into the spirit of running?

A few takeaways from WordCamp Fayetteville

photo by Nathan Allen, WordCamp Fayetteville 2012, facebook.com/wcfay

The 2012 WordCamp Fayetteville was a nice intersection of information and networking for bloggers, entrepreneurs, developers and content creators. I enjoyed getting to know the writers of the Belford Group, developers at Sharp Hue, working with my colleagues from University Relations and many more.


Below are just some tidbits that I found helpful from the Content Creator speakers. Hope they are helpful to you, too. Notes are separated by lecture title and speaker.

The Power of Your Story
by @KimanziC
Why do you want to be heard? Fame, money, impact?
Social media opens the door for the little guys, the ones without substantial money to get started. The good news is that you don't need a huge following just to be heard.

How active are your followers? Are they commenting, retweeting?
How do you make the connection, why people should read

You can create the work you love.

If you're miserable, (change it).

Guest posting is effective.
Tell your story: why do you write? Once people know, they will want to read the rest. People decide based on emotions. The best products connect you with a story

It's not about how big your audience is. It's about how active they are.

Network by using your story.

No matter what the subject, connect it to your experiences.

Keynote speaker @CoryMiller303 of iThemes
-What can you devote five years to?
Your work should make people's lives better.
-What does your perfect playground look like? Base your goals on getting there.
-How are you going to make money? Take care of those you love. Passion without profit is a hobby
-Who's your pirate crew? If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together (African proverb). Decide who your team is and how you can work together.
-What would you give up to get it? My secret motivating kick in the pants- fear of regret.
-What are you doing NOW to achieve your dream? Do one thing today that makes the biggest impact. Vision without execution is hallucination- Einstein

The How and Why of Multi-Author Blogging
by Kyle Judkins, of Lost in Technology

Main road: blogging about your interests
Pros: more content, expand topics, increased network, become an editor, become a manager
Cons: loss of control, loss of voice, share the wealth, become an editor, become a manager

Pitfalls: expectations
Don't be too nice. If your writers need help, teach them.
Models:
1. Partners
2. Revenue share: for larger blogs

3. Finding authors:
-post on your own blog
-job boards (like Problogger)
-guest blogging (like My Blog Guest or Blogger Link Up)
-look for passion
-turnover happens, expect it

4. Paying authors:
-start at $10/post
-reinvest your freelance revenue or your own money
-taxes 1099
-build a template for paying them
--create an onboarding letter and writing guidelines. It will save both of you time.

5. Collaboration
Google Docs, Facebook groups help this so that authors stay longer, but it takes work

Multi-author plugins, such as edit flow: calendar, editorial comments; user role editor: a little complicated; audit trail

Resources
bit.ly/multiauthor
This presentation
payroll example
new writer template

The King & Uncle Sam, Linkbuilding for WordPress,
by Rebecca Haden of Haden Interactive
All websites need linkbuilding
-Links are a vote of confidence for search engines.
-Links can send traffic.
-Links increase authority.
Everything should be as simple as possible. No simpler. -Einstein
Create something that people will want to link to.

Use your settings
-use permalinks to create easy URLs (or "pretty links")
-allow trackbacks and pingbacks
-check your privacy settings to make sure the box is unchecked, allow search engines to find you

Linkbuilding Plugins are for internal links
NRelate
Broken Link Checker
Internal Link Builder
Linkbox Inserter (Ultimate SEO)
Related Content by WordNik

Problems with H3 headings can be caused by your plugins. Plugins can make your widgets.

Widgets: create category feeds

When posting:
"Title Edit" to improve your title
"Link to existing content" for fast internal links
Use categories and tags

80% of web traffic in the world comes through Google

Put as much effort into your comments as you do your posts.

In the Eye of the Beholder: Imagery in WordPress by @DesertRoseJenne

She often doesn't write until she finds the image.
Some basics: Copyright protects art. Reproduction is making copies. Distribution is who uses and shares the photo. Broadcasting is public sharing of photo. Adaptation is changing, distorting or editing the work.
Disclaimers do not explain away copyright.

Fair use only applies to copy-written work; lack of copyright symbol does not indicate fair use; commercial and non-commercial use.

Factors determining fair use
purpose of use (for profit or not?)
percent of total material (you can use approximately three lines of material before you're infringing)
effect on fair-market value
transformative
Kelly vs. Arriba 2002 "thumbnails are ok"
Digital Millenium Copyright Act (1998) DMCA

Derivative Creations (originals repurposed)
-stock photo galleries, such as istock, Dreamstime, Jupiter, Getty
-Library of Congress Prints and photos
-Creative Commons
-MS Office Clip Art
-Flickr/Tumblr: give them credit
-Ads, Etsy

Use with care:
Bing Free Image
Google Images
other blogs
Facebook
Pinterest
Models (get a release)

Greenlight:
non-profit
educational or personal use

When choosing an image look for: feeling words, action words, human, color, unique images, dimension, color, texture, theme, relevance

Google Advanced Settings: reuse- copy &/or modify images; commercial reuse/repurposes

Editing images: PowerPoint; faststone.org (full version 4.6)

Giving credit: creator's name, image title, description, website, publication date
or at least title, link to person's work & website where found

Expand your horizons:
-use watermarks & web addresses on your images
-put a copyright on your work
-set your own terms
-say "All Rights Reserved"
-Donate to Image Sharing Sites

Life is easy

Probably my favorite excerpt from this weekend's read:

"I laughed and said, Life is easy.

What I meant was, Life is easy with you here, and when you leave, it will be hard again."

-No one belongs here more than you. Stories by Miranda July

An Ode to my Alma Mater

A couple of weeks ago, I posted this picture of my name on the University of Arkansas senior walk to my Facebook page. It got lots of positive feedback, even though I was really posting for my enjoyment: all that work to earn an undergraduate degree and a decent portfolio...and here it is "etched in stone." Then one of my friends responded a few days later with "April, I love you but when I saw your 'etched in stone' pic, I wanted to throw up."

There are plenty of things that can go wrong on any campus. My experience as an employee has been vastly different from my experience as a student- and each of those came with good & bad experiences, like all other things in life. Unfortunately, this friend has a reason to especially despise the University. And I just have to say that I'm not simply wearing some rose-colored glasses around here.

This week, I've been logging extra, extra miles of walking because I can't renew my parking permit. Until now, I've had a faculty yellow zone sticker, which affords me a parking space at a reasonable distance.

However, currently I don't qualify as a "faculty/staff" member or a "student," even though you could say I'm both.

I work 40 hours a week on campus. I have for a long time. These days, those 40 hours are split evenly between two offices. Last year, they were split between even more offices.

I'm not eligible for health insurance, retirement matching or any of the benefits that "real" University employees supposedly get.

Now that I've been offered free tuition, I'm waiting on the denial or acceptance of my graduate school application packet. Until I know, I'm neither a "fully-appointed" employee" or a "student eligible to be enrolled." Which means I can't even park legally anywhere near my office without paying a ton.

Yesterday I walked three miles just getting from one office to the next and to lunch.

~

All that considered, I'm still glad I went to the U of A for my undergraduate degree.

Just because it can be very frustrating to work for an organization that only sees you as employee 50439852089485 who is not eligible for benefits, doesn't mean that I didn't do my best as a student, enjoy my writing workshops, learn some great skills, make helpful connections, or even enjoy my time here. And it doesn't mean that I don't like my job. I'm grateful, and lucky to get to do something I enjoy.

When I arrived on campus as a student, I immediately felt more comfortable on campus to do my best work. It wasn't stifling as one campus I'd lived on, where I constantly had someone looking over my shoulder (even though I did nothing but study and practice music there) and it challenged me more than the summer courses I took on another campus. What's more, it's relatively close to home. As a 17-yr-old high school graduate who was strongly encouraged by family to stay in-state, this was the best possible option for me.

The U of A gave me the resources to turn my writing into an effective, marketable tool.

It felt like a long, tedious process some days, but I worked hard, enjoyed what I was doing and met a lot of interesting people. The professors in print journalism have gone out of their way to help me a number of times and in recent years I've done the same for them.

This campus is a good place to continue your education and make the connection from your hopes and dreams to something to use in the real world.

And even if your university gained a bad reputation along the way for incidents like those of Penn State, is that really a reason to discredit all the other people who continue their dedication to their subject, who are hard-working, intelligent and helping those around them? Shouldn't they be proud of their work anyway?