12:45 PM Ben: hey eva
me: how are you?
Ben: i'm well
i just found out that one of my classes is cancelled so i'm just killing time in the lab
you?
12:46 PM me: I found out that my next class is optional, so I decided not to go!
I'm really excited about Thanksgiving
12:47 PM Ben: oh yeah? you heard about the turducken I'm assuming?
me: I did
I'm a little apprehensive about that, but I'm sure it will be fine
12:49 PM I have something I want to talk to you about when when we get up there
12:51 PM about blogs
Ben: ok
12:52 PM any clues now so that I can prepare some info?
me: part of my centennial scholar project is going to be a blog, and I am having trouble getting into it
Ben: ok
12:53 PM me: and I think it's because even though I know blogs are an important medium I don't really understand what makes them so special and specific
Ben: ah
well it's best to separate blogs into categories, as in there are many different types of blogs
12:54 PM me: yeah
I don't know what mine is, I guess
and that's the problem
12:55 PM Ben: well tell me what you want to do
me: it's kind of complicated/involved
12:56 PM my project is in some ways about the different ways we interact with time
Ben: hmm
me: so I am doing this large scale perfromance art thing
that has an installation, a live performance, a published piece of writing, and a sudoku puzzle
12:57 PM and the last part of it is a blog
my idea is that each of these things elicits a different relationship with time
12:58 PM I know this doesn't make that much sense, but I can explain more thoroughly when I see you in the flesh
Ben: ok
so what do you want to put on the blog?
12:59 PM or is the blog an actual performance art piece?
1:00 PM me: sort of
my idea about the blog is that it ties into the process of documenting and collective remembering
Ben: ah
me: and so I want to document the process of putting together my project
Ben: ok that makes some sense
1:01 PM me: and then when people come to see the piece itself I will have a laptop there where people can comment on the blog about what they thought of it or what they took away from it
1:02 PM or they can do it later
but the whole thing is about Senegal
1:03 PM and I want to tie in the importance of the internet and internet communities in places that are far removed from each other
because there is a whole different kind of internet culture in Senegal than there is here
which is really interesting
and I am having trouble reconciling these two things
Ben: far removed as in different locales far removed or as in cyberspace as removed from real space
1:05 PM me: kind of both
they are kind of behind in terms of technological access
which is a kind of removal
but they are also far away
like, geographically
1:06 PM Ben: so what it sounds like is first and foremost the blog is the virtual anchor to your project
1:07 PM it connects the "spaces" together, both real and actual
me: and also, the only access Senegalese people have to other places is what they see/find on the internet
yeah
1:08 PM Ben: so are you using technology to facilitate people in Senegal being able to experience things in the US
me: guh, that's what I don't know
I think that is a little much to ask of myself
Ben: well not really
1:09 PM there's a lot of internet technology already designed to do this
me: yeah I know
Ben: for example setting up a streaming video webcast is not so difficult
me: all my senegalese friends invited me to Hi5
oh I see what you mean
Ben: see I don't even know what that is!
me: it's like facebook but french
1:10 PM Ben: ah
is it pronounced "hee-sank"
me: no, it is pronounced like high five but in a silly french accent
Ben: lol
me: so like, hie fayve
1:11 PM I have to go to a lunch date, but I want to keep talking to you about this
Ben: ok
1:12 PM me: also, I just had the idea that as a start to my blog I would publish this gchat, since it is about the process of putting my project together
also just so I feel like I am accomplishing something
is that ok?
I'll send you the link
there is nothing on it yet
Ben: that's an excellent idea
1:13 PM i was going to reccomend that you document with meticulous precision every aspect of the project
and archive the results]
me: that's what I want to do, I just didn't know how to get started, but now I do!
thanks Ben!
