Sincerity

Hi Isis Ardalan, 

I'm just going to write the truth, and I hope you see the sincerity. Thank you for appreciating my work, and thank you for understanding me. I see God in you just from your willingness to help and teach. And from what you shared with me, I think people can see God in me too.

I learned so much from you. As I'm sure you learned a lot from me too. From you, I learned how to go beyond my comfort zone even if I'm not successful in the attempt. 

I have learned so much this semester in general, and I am glad I had the opportunity to experience it. I would be lying if I said everything was easy and I never got frustrated but it was all worth it. I explored new tools, and the tools have already helped me beyond class.

This semester I had the opportunity to just be really open about God in a digital and old school platform. I see some alchemy occurring simply from my ability to do that. 

I know deep down our friendship isn't over, and I look forward to working with you again. See and ttyl!

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      Quanesha

TO HAVE A SPIRIT OF SHARING

      Today, I realized @arenalit on Twitter shared my a memory and a poem post. I am grateful and glad people enjoy my work enough to share, comment, like, or all three. I realize I can still do better with networking, but I am proud of myself and what I have accomplished thus far.

     Later while I was on Twitter, I also came across a tweet from @Isisdalan. She wrote a story that was very interesting. I loved how there were ingredients that were incorporated into the story. I also love the fact she was so willing to let me discuss/reflect upon her work. I am looking forward to reading more work from Isis and who knows maybe a friendship will develop.

" 'THE REPRESENTATION' " DOESN'T HAVE TO BE BAD!

 I just want to use this blog to mainly talk about the bus stop in Egypt. What I learned more than anything is that we rely on cues like facial expressions to tell us when something is a lie. What happens when the cues are not there? Will we still be able to separate "the truth" from the lie? Will "the truth" and the lie change if we are just listening compared to listening and watching? And, just because I say it's not real is it really not real?

To answer one of Dr. Zamora's questions, I think it is "possible to develop a cohesive view of student experience" but hard. After all, other students would have to experience what you did as a student. 

To be honest, I think we all present representations of ourselves and only a few people if any know what is real. Because of the way society is nowadays, representation is important. You have to know when to present " 'the real' " and when to present a representation or a (lie). And just so there is no confusion  " 'the representation' " or the lie does not have to be bad. For example, I could be angry but present myself as being fine. 

My figuring out the lie skills were off! I had a lot of fun! Thank you! https://t.co/mLAs2ZGVCm #netnarr @MiaZamoraPhD @cogdog @Bali_Maha

— Quanesha Burr (@QuaneshaSB) March 30, 2017

A MEMORY AND A POEM

Memory

I enjoyed thinking about the memory I shared with my dad on campus. Sometimes, it takes a while for me to think about an idea, but the memory I shared came to me rather quickly. I am not really sure what connection others will make as far as what it says about Kean University as a whole but maybe it can represent Kean being a place of laughter and happiness. 

Sharing My Poem in Class

When our professors told us to bring in something creative, I started thinking about all the poems I wrote for my Advanced Writing Poetry class. I really wanted to bring in something new but like I expressed in class due to time I haven't been writing poetry lately. Last Wednesday, I decided to go with Paper Clip. I knew it was still a work in progress but it was one of those poems I still liked with it being a work in progress.

Paper Clip

I want my relationship with God

to be like the relationship

of paper with paper clips.

I want to hold on to him 

like the clip.

I want him to be able 

to trust me with 

texts or valuable 

information.

I want him to be able to use me

time and time again

like the paper clip. 

I'LL STICK TO SINGING!

Early Noise/ Morning Sounds

So,I knew I would struggle with the activity this week. When I first scanned the assignment, I was already frustrated because it just sounded complex. I began by downloading everything before class. Then in class we did a mini activity that made me feel better about the assignment, but after I gathered all my sound files and started to convert them/export them to mp3 I was feeling uneasy again. I took the time out to read the blog post thoroughly and realized our Professor Alan Levine had a longer tutorial. The tutorial made me feel better again and it prompted me to import and export all my files again to follow what he did more precisely. Now, all I had to do was test it out. So, I went to the Young Writers Project and figured out how to download my sounds. There wasn't much on there when I attempted to do this and continue my homework so I just listened to three and attempted a draft of what I wanted to say. When I revisited the homework assignment again, I listened to the sounds harder and tried to come up with something creative but realistic. 

Here is the final product using three of gg sounds: 

Ending to Overlap with gg sounds

My parents always claim I make to much noise so I go to my car which allows me to be free and escape. 

More Practice

So, for more practice I decided to do "Have a Phone Conversation with Yourself." Based off of my solo conversation, I captured the idea of "holding down both sides of a conversation" and "using the pitch changer." I actually enjoyed this activity even though it took me a while to figure out how to make my voice go even deeper. I started off already speaking in a lower tone and just used Audacity to make it less obvious and a little deeper.

ORSTRESSDER

     GIF and Memes

           I have to admit I was not excited about this week's activities at all. I felt like a lot of people were, but these were two areas I did not have much familiarity with. In fact, Wednesday was the first time I made a GIF. I was content with the GIF based off of Howard Rheingold's Alchemagickal Lucid DreamBox and my knowledge, but the GIF was not one of my favorites. In terms of what I produced for the homework, I really like the idea behind it. I see places where I could probably do things a little different, but I decided to stick with what I had. After all, I did so many videos just to get to that one. But the idea behind the GIF was to start off in a state of chaos. I was stressed and overwhelmed. Then, to move to a place where I decided to pray. To write and turn to God, will put my chaos into a state of order.

     
          I think it is important to know sometimes it is hard to pray, but what I learned from Pastor Simmons is "God is a God of order." The GIF was inspired by several Pastors, Dr. Zamora's comment in class asking "does anybody keep a journal of their dreams" (that made me think about my journals), past comments people I know made about a journal, and my own engagement with written prayer and turning to God during chaotic moments in my life.

         In terms of the memes, I was inspired by a photo I took in the past. I made both the order and chaotic memes, and I used pictures I took for both. I just felt the need to claim the order one/make an account because my poem is incorporated. I tried to go back and do the chaotic one but for some reason it did not work. Anyways, the order photo has one of my favorite poems. I wanted it to represent how your work will turn out if you turn to God. Praying to God can lead to great sharing results, and you can even get ideas. For the chaotic photo, I decided to just take a photo of just blank sheets of computer paper. Sometimes, before you turn to God you feel confused, empty, stressed (just chaotic). Finally, a song that kept popping in my head and is a source of inspiration is "Nothing Without You" by Jason Nelson.

Network Effect

       When I visited Network Effect the only connection I could really make is so many other things are taking place in the world, that are sometimes more exciting, during the time we spend on the internet. 

Studio Visit with Howard Rheingold and Mamie Rheingold

      Once again, I feel like I said majority of my feelings about the studio visit Wednesday. To me, a balanced life as a digital citizen is knowing when you need to get off the internet and focus on what is more important. Sometimes, I literally have to avoid Facebook because I know it will distract me. My best practice thus far, has been getting off of Facebook completely for weeks. I know it is good for me but it is also hard.

     

CAN YOU HEAR ME?

So, this week I learned so much goes into audio that you sometimes do not even consider/notice. Professor Levine was right when he said, "with sound you do not have to pay attention" and at times I found myself trying really hard to keep paying attention.

Furthermore, we did an activity Wednesday in class called blackout poetry that was both complex and fun. I chose to work in a group, and I expressed in class I think it made the activity harder. I was very satisfied with my group though and how we all worked together to get the assignment accomplished. I even loved the fact me and @le petit jo was able to put our own sentence/sentences aside and just focus on editing what @Bcre8iv21 had. Sometimes, that can be difficult depending on who you are working with. After completing the activity and reading the homework requirements for week five, the class was asked to "NOT use text to fill out the story." For some reason on the first try, I did it anyway. I liked what I created so I figured why not share. Nothing wrong with adding right?

First attempt

So, I really liked the line @RissaCandiloro used when she posted/shared her blackout poetry, and I thought it was a great opening that flowed so I decided to use that first. "Considering time when time began . . . . or perhaps the way it will end." "The first morning Pollo dreamed of a monk and crawling boiling phenomenon" (Professor Levine).  The astounding morning dreamed then visited the faceless monk, Pollo, briefly sending pigeons dead as their men. "The skeletons had piled ruins of events in twelve million centuries" (Professor Levine).  

Second Attempt

1. "Incredible beasts still call in the morning but only briefly abandoning scandalous actuality" (Stephanie Jones). 

2.

3. 

Trying to create a story without words was hard. At times, I added sentences then took them away because I felt like it was giving away to much information. So instead of writing all the sentences, I used photos as replacements. I believe the photos incorporated multiple sentences. So, I still used four lines and had the photos capture them. As far as the sound, I like nature jam. I hear the birds but it also has this chopping/smashing element to it which I think works well with the pictures/sentences.

In conclusion

I honestly feel like I shared a lot of my thoughts about the studio visit in class on Wednesday, but now I feel like the studio visit helped me way more than I originally thought it did. For this week's homework, I took the time to also find the trailer to one of my favorite movies Tears of the Sun. I have to admit I looked at the trailer. But when I thought about it after, the sounds in the background lets me know there is going to be death and it creates suspense. And when listening to the Truth's It's Going to Change Your Life, sometimes I felt like I had to tune the words out to fully listen to the sound. Moreover, I think it is possible to do a blackout with audio. In fact, I think Professor Levine already did when he "took a 55 minute RadioLab episode and edited it down to about 9 minutes." I feel like I am constantly learning this semester. 

LIGHT

                                                                                                                                                                

                                                                     

   Original Photo

Original Book

          This week's activities were time consuming and complex, but I am satisfied with the outcome. I could not figure out how to do the edges the same, but I love what I came up with for the alternative book cover. I feel like the name of the book alone fulfills the alchemy element, but for some reason when I look at the fire I think of chemicals and labs.
           I used a photo I previously took for the Four Elements activity but did not use. I also downloaded GIMP. The idea was inspired by the movie Darkness Falls and DS106 Assignment Bank. The bank inspired me to write/paint on the picture. When you think of fairies, your mind goes to all things good. My photos bring out the dark side and make you think of all things evil which was inspired by Darkness Falls.

         These two photos represent the front and back of my postcard. I originally was trying to find/use something on the internet (Jukebox and Canva) but with prices, the words not appearing the way I wanted it to, and just time in general I decided to make it myself. At this point, I am not even sure which one was harder because they both took a lot of time.
         But, I decided to use an old fireworks photo I took because it could not be traced to a particular place. I realized this photo would be best for an "imaginary or magical place." I also felt like leaving the address out and putting Dear Stranger made it more "magical." This postcard was inspired by my professors, wikipedia, Beyoncé song "I was here," a postcard my dentist sent me to remind me about an appointment, and tweets on Twitter. For example,

Every time you focus on the positive, you are bringing more light into your life and that light removes all darkness.

— ManifestationMiracle (@manifestation4) February 14, 2017

WRAP UP 

What I got from watching Kurt Vonnegut is structure could perhaps make it easier for electronic literature. I thought about the response Dogtrax gave to me on my Necessary Creative Path blog. He said, "Great reflection .. I wonder about your first part -- it may be that the bot itself (I agree with you on it) is limited in the way it culls suggestions from its databased based on keywords in the tweet sent its way. So, not likely a weakness of your inquiry much as a weakness in the bot response structure (who knew there would even be such a thing!)"

;)

Kevin 

Systems know what to do if they are following a structure. Lastly in terms of the studio visit with Mark & Rob, I kept thinking about the netprov I was involved in for Dr. Zamora's class. To me, it was fun and at times challenging. Like I mentioned to Dr. Zamora before, I struggled with saying certain things even though I knew it was fake. 

STALK ME LINKS

Links for Digital Storytelling Class

1.      All my Blogs

http://myimprovedstorytelling.blogspot.com/

All my Blogs on Class Site

http://netnarr.arganee.world/author/quanesha-burr/ 

Twitter/Tweets using Netnarr

https://twitter.com/search?f=tweets&q=%23netnarr%20from%3AQuaneshaSB

3.      Daily Digital Alchemy

http://daily.arganee.world/hashtags/QuaneshaSB/

4.      Hypothe.is

https://hypothes.is/users/QuaneshaB

5.      Kean University Bloggers

http://netnarr.arganee.world/category/syndicated/kean/

THE NECESSARY CREATIVE PATH

           I have to say I was very surprised and pleased with how quick I got a response from the twitter bot. My question to @KairosHotBots was can you suggest or recommend bots that enjoy encouraging others. The two suggestions I received were not very helpful. The response leads me to think either my question was not good enough or encouraging others is not on the popular list. I truthfully believe there are several ways to encourage others. Encouragement can be weaved into statements, stories, songs, poems, etc.
           But aside from encouragement, a page I viewed seemed to give me some hope @SnowballPoetry. I could see how some poems could possibly be constructed from what I read even if I did not understand some of the tweets. I tapped into creativity. And speaking of creativity, I really enjoyed the Flickr activity. Based off the two stories I wrote Necessary Path and Escape, I really like Necessary Path. To be honest when I first started doing this activity, I was thinking about the link Sandy Brown Jensen shared with me. I did not have time to fully read the link though, and I made a deliberate decision not to finish reading it before I did this activity. I wanted to see what came out of me without being so consumed by how others said you should do it. But, I did know the story did not have to be long. Below is the aftermath!
          In conclusion, this week went well. I loved the comments I received on some of my blogs Wednesday night. I learned that people can sometimes make connections from the very elements that you thought hindered your work. I started trying to think about some questions for the twitter bot Friday. I sent one question Saturday, and I did a little investigation Saturday and Sunday. The stories were produced Monday night/early Tuesday morning.

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Five Card Story: Necessary Path

a Networked Narratives story created by Quanesha

flickr photo by cogdogblog

flickr photo by cogdogblog

flickr photo by cogdogblog

flickr photo by cogdogblog

flickr photo by cogdogblog
Brook had to take the same path every day so she could get to the destination she was trying to reach. But, each day she tried to find something beautiful and different to reflect upon even if it was something as simple as a plant. What she found that propelled her to write a story reminded her of Christmas and her life. She was scattered but beautiful and thin but complete in her own unique way. She knew that the right man one day would see everything she saw within herself plus more. But until then, she was focused on her purpose and the road that led to it. She knew that only one person was in control/had the key. So, she lived each day reflecting, dreaming, and constructing stories.

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Five Card Story: Escape

a Networked Narratives story created by Quanesha

flickr photo by cogdogblog

flickr photo by cogdogblog

flickr photo by Mind on Fire Photography

flickr photo by Mind on Fire Photography

flickr photo by cogdogblog
Hope loved music! Hope found a connection with every song even if her real life appeared to have no connection. She could spend hours sitting, watching the sun, and listening to music. Hope didn’t really care about how warm or cold it was. All she could think about was Christmas and Jesus. During this time, she enjoyed taking walks with others, resting at a peak, and then using some of that time to engage in prayer. She prayed for help, and she prayed about her road.
Inspired by: Travis Greene “Made a Way,” and Hezekiah Walker “Grateful”

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DDA9 TO USE A PHOTO TWICE!

This rock is significant because God is important to me! I can't pinpoint the exact age or year I decorated this rock with certainty, but I held on to it. For some reason, I just couldn't let it go.

Inspired by the Gospel Song God is my Everything, and Anna Bella's dda9 

BALLOON

For the most part, I enjoyed the activity for our blog post this week! Although I posted the 4elements blog towards the end, I actually started preparing since Saturday! I purchased my balloons Saturday, but my mind did not start expanding until Sunday. I took most of my photos Sunday, and I have one that I really like but did not use. Furthermore, I also wrote a draft of dda10 Sunday. When I got home Monday, I worked on it, stared, and read it so much. I even read it to my parents to see how they felt about it. What I ended up creating is not a long story, but I love it! I think it is interesting that my dad mentioned Rudolph too. I think it is even more interesting that my dad was not feeling my story when I told him about it verbally, but he was after I read what was written. In conclusion, I loved the feedback I received from my parents and Mr. Kevin. Sometimes, people help you to see your own work from different lenses. 

4EVER

 

 To be completely honest, I feel like I had a harder time putting the images in this blog than I did actually thinking about what I wanted the images to be. Or maybe, I just had more fun doing one over the other.

As always, I changed my mind a few times and it took a long time, but I am happy with the results. All the images were taken at home except for the second photo. I also purchased the balloons (the third photo) once I reflected upon what I wanted to use as representations of air. I was really trying to think of things other people would not think of. And I feel like I was creative with some elements, in both photos. Hopefully, you will be able to understand them.

The rock with the cross painted on it is actually something I am considering using in a dda as well. I just could not help but use it in this activity too. The rock says everything it needs to about my faith and the earth.

Of course all my pictures were inspired by one of our Professor's Alan Levine/ his photos. And, I also looked at On Becoming Better Photographers. I honestly felt like I do some of these tips all the time, but certain ones were really helpful the night I took most of the photos. Although it was nothing new for me, I really had to "Look to the Light." I also tried to embrace "Change my Perspective by Changing Yours" which is slightly different than what I am used to because I usually take photos of myself.

 

CREATIVE

DDA10 WHO IS YOUR LADDER?

Max was the deer nobody wanted to be. He was so lost, he was so alone, and it just seemed like he could never be happy. He had nobody he could turn to, he had no home, and he was hungry. But, he was determined to keep going. 

People would look at him and stare, but he became immune and kept going as if a whirlwind was coming. He was a walking ladder. Defined as someone who could help others and be steady.

Max could never understand his own strength. He got up day after day, but he felt so weak. But then one day Max realized, maybe the ladder he seen wasn't a ladder at all.

Inspired by: Rudolph, Son of God (2014) 

ALCHEMY / AL KILLED ME!!!

            Reflecting upon what Dr. Zamora said about alchemy, I imagine this class digital storytelling allowing a “transformation” to occur within me. To be completely honest, I am very comfortable with old ways of sharing knowledge, stories, etc. So in a way, I need to undergo a process that may be uncomfortable but worthwhile. I need to fulfill, get out, and share what is within me. According to Wikipedia alchemy is associated with “purifying,” so as an alchemist I will use these tools to “purify” what is inside me and try and tap into the unique storyteller. I want to create what Dr. Zamora said is “magical.” And I believe you can get to that place, by sharing experiences. 

             When it comes to my weekend performance, I am very satisfied with my blog, my first blog post, and the fact I am exposing the real person behind these blog posts/creations. This week is just about doing what is required, but I  am learning. Overall, I am excited about learning even though alchemy might turn into Al killing me (LOL)! :) 

AM I TELLING A STORY OR DID THEY TELL US THIS HOMEWORK WAS DUE WEDNESDAY???

When I hear storytelling, several things come to my mind. I think of someone telling a lie. Then, I think of someone telling the truth with a twist/exaggeration. I think of my grandparents, and then I think of myself.

I do not think storytelling is restricted to a certain age, but I do think it is a talent. When some people tell their stories, you are automatically glued and it seems as if interest dominates time, other obligations, etc. But then there are people who take forever to finish their story and to call it anything other than boring, would be a story.

The crazy part is different thoughts come to my mind when I think about the word story. When I first thought about the word, I thought about my childhood. In this case, I thought about my mother. I do not remember her reading me stories, but she told me she did. I imagine the stories my mother reading to me being a source of encouragement. I imagine her using storytelling as a bonding moment. I imagine this class pulling out stories from within us that other people can relate to.

I have questioned how I could forget the moments my mother read me stories. But, I have learned that some stories/memories just need to be written. As much as we want to remember, a part of telling/sharing a story is so it will not be forgotten.

To me, digital storytelling is about doing what Dr. Zamora loves “being open.” The reason why people choose to engage in digital storytelling is the real question. I would like to think people love the fact it can encourage others, other people help you to proclaim I have a story, and other people help you to label yourself as a UNIQUE STORYTELLER!