Playing in Text

[ceitfianna]

Today all my classes were so enjoyable and reminded me why SI is a great program. In my InfoCulture course we talked about various ideas of the selves and how we perform for each other and how the internet can help and hinder that. I think this is what I'm going to write my final paper on, I just need to figure out how to take my personal experiences and tie them into social science stuff so it'll fly. Its nice to read these social scientists and go, yes, I know what you mean. Some of them are rather dated in their examples but the language is there.

I love using the language of theater to talk about how we present ourselves to the world, it just clicks for me and makes me miss the theater. It also connected to a conversation I had with the_croupier about why is that some kinds of improvisation and creativity are allowed and others aren't? We were thinking about the early theater which wasn't a respectable profession and now its very accepted, why couldn't roleplaying end up in that place someday.

Then in my second class, I helped to run a book group about the first Heroides by Ovid, which is him writing a letter as Penelope to Odysseus. I'm sorry that I haven't read more Ovid before, he's always been on my list but my focus has tended towards Greek authors. I find it fascinating that this Roman poet wrote out letters from women in well known myths to the important men and I wish I knew more. The way this class worked was we had four groups of two to three people and we had all chosen a short work and we were running a book club. The other things we read were Hansel and Gretel, a poem by William Blake and Robert Frost and then some poems from Card Catalog Poetry. All of the discussions were fascinating and different and it makes me want to run book clubs and just teach.

These classes where you talk about text and how to connect it out into the world is why I love academia and have spent so long in it. Now I just have to find myself a place where I can foster this love in others and encourage it as much as possible.

One thing I love about everyone I've met through online RP is how we all want to dig deeper into canons and love talking and arguing and just getting into the things we enjoy reading and watching. Now I think I'm going to make myself a late dinner and do some more RP.

Comments

[mm-spinelstar.livejournal.com]

This journal entry made me smile. :)

[ceitfianna]

I'm so glad. What connected with you?

[mm-spinelstar.livejournal.com]

All of the stuff about RP-- how it's a form of acting, how we all love to dig deeper into canons and discuss and things. I love this community and this world that I've been pulled into.

Also, it's always nice to hear about when someone has a good day. I'm one of those journalers who writes more often on bad days than good ones, and brighter entries like this remind me to stop and enjoy the little things. ♥

[ceitfianna]

Oh me too. I've had so many crazy days recently that its nice to write about the good stuff. Also I love finding new ways to approach RP, I think because I'm constantly explaining it to people who don't know about it.

[yakalskovich]

If you do write your final paper about that, I'd be glad to beta-read and argue and so forth. It sounds really interesting.-

[ceitfianna]

Thank you, I'm hoping to. I just need to talk to the professor and see how to make it work for the class.