Facebook is Academic

I recently subscribed to Twitter, and I'm a bit addicted. I enjoy the fast-paced news updates and snarky remarks NPR commentators post. However, I've realized that some take Twitter very seriously, and continuously update their daily activities. "How self-absorbed!" I initially thought. But then, I considered the ways in which the internet, social networking sites in particular, have become a hub for self-expression. Yet, this self expression is often confined to a strict, unofficial set of parameters, so is this method of self expression enough of a release for us?

The modernists are known for tweaking old forms or calling those forms into question. Sometimes they even created entirely new ways of writing (i.e. Stream of Consciousness). They also were groundbreaking crusaders of the notion that everyday people mattered, and their identities were important. In the digital age, we sometimes feel like each of us has a venue for expressing her identity, but the most popular methods of this expression are constraining and at times anti-individualism.

Ergo...

I have this brilliant idea for a research paper:

Online social networks and Identity formation. I'm thinking of tying it to Ulysses and maybe some other modernist stuff. I have a neat list of connections, etc. that I wrote during class, but it's in the other room in my backpack.

In the interest of Curriculum Vitae-building I need to submit stuff to conferences soon. There's a strong composition/rhetoric trend in the field lately, as well as discussions on integrating new technology in the classroom, so this idea is fitting for those things. Although, I'd rather act like an old codger and only read literature and criticism, boring my students with novels they will never see as relevant to their daily lives.

I may use some of the research Dr. Michael Wesch is doing via his Digital Ethnography course at Kansas State U. That particular project both gathers important research from the field and itself is one of Wesch's pedagogical experiments in integrating digital technology into the classroom.

Thesis Idea

Tristram Shandy meets Ulysses.

I've found this article wherein the critic claims Tristram Shandy, an 18th century narrative filled with digressions and witty allusions and references, is an allegory for Ireland's seeking independence from Britain. There's no end to symbolism, allegory, and allusions in Ulysses, which is about a scholar trying to get out of Ireland, but never making it.

Also, both are types of epics, TS is about Tristram trying to tell his story, the storytelling is the story. Ulysses is both about Stephen, the main character, trying to find a "home" and about Joyce trying to find out how to tell this complicated story.

A lot of the time, I forget how much I love literature, or even why I'm trying to be a scholar. Then, a literary enigma comes along, and I fall in love all over again...maybe that's why I'm still single...

Anyway, Irish lit may turn out to be my thing. Yay!

Finally, A Saturday in Hermitude

This is nothing against my friends or family, but I love just to be alone sometimes. It's very rejuvinating and calming. Some days I just need to get away from all you people and just focus on me. I promise, by Monday I'll be lonely as all get out and will start planning dinners and movie-goings like crazy :).

In re my last post, I think I am an INTJ, that just seems to fit me better. The fact that I am set on deciding a type kind of indicates that I am a judger. I know that it can seem a silly thing to contemplate my Myers-Brigg type, but it's not like I'm fixated or anything. I'm not using this blog to contemplate the meaning of life or to expound upon the depth of work I do for literary studies. Nope, this place is mostly for fun. If it seems to get a little too serious, it's because I've run out of academic work to do (ha!) and need a mental exercise to keep in shape.

That said, I'm jumping into research this weekend because I have two upcoming presentations, and I'm going home-home in a couple of weeks to welcome back Jeremiah. It's hard to believe that the little bro is finished with all of his training. I've become used to intermittent communication from him, so finally having him back in WV is like an extra-special gift. Still, the longer he is gone, the more I appreciate/understand the work he is dedicated to doing.

Anyway, this research, I love it. It is a blessing to read these articles and see how the pieces connect. More importantly, I dig reading other scholars' work and using that to come up with an original idea. It's like the ultimate problem solving adventure; there's no denying that literary studies is the place I should be.

On another note, my anxiety is acting up a little this week. I'll find myself clenching my teeth or sitting real tense-like. I can't really pinpoint the locis original of the anxiety, so I can't make it go away. At this point, thankfully, it's nothing to worry about, and that I'm catching it before it gets out of control is always a plus. Still, maybe it's time to break out the Tai-Chi DVDs again.

Identity Crisis: The Myers-Briggs Edition

I may be an INTP instead of an INTJ...

The difference between being a "P," or perceiver, and a "J," a judger is basically decision-making. Both types analyze the world and look at it similarly, usually as a collection of systems that need to be understood and analyzed. Judgers usually need to find an efficient end and applicable solution to their discoveries. Also, judgers work toward a final solution that is logical. Perceivers, however, don't necessarily need to come to a conclusion or make a significant decision. For instance, let us say there really is more than one way to skin a cat, Way A and Way B. Both the perceiver and the judger will note the pro's and cons of each method. The Judger, however will need to conclusively choose a method, while the perceiver is content to admit that both methods could be equally effective.

I'm more laid back than most in that I can readily see others' perspectives and see no need to change them. Then again, because other perspectives are readily plausible, I constantly question my own point of view. Still, I'm interested in the end result

So, the things about an INTJ that I totally get (source material here):

• value intelligence, knowledge, and competence, and typically have high standards in these regards, which they continuously strive to fulfill.
• constantly gathers information and makes associations about it
• The internal form of the INTJ's thoughts and concepts is highly individualized, and is not readily translatable into a form that others will understand.
• are natural leaders, although they usually choose to remain in the background until they see a real need to take over the lead.
• They are the supreme strategists - always scanning available ideas and concepts and weighing them against their current strategy, to plan for every conceivable contingency.
• INTJs spend a lot of time inside their own minds, and may have little interest in the other people's thoughts or feelings (this one seems a little rude, and I have to admit that it's true, but I work to overcome this apathy :))
  

And the things about an INTP that I totally get (source material here):

• "absent-minded professors", who highly value intelligence and the ability to apply logic to theories to find solutions
• minds are constantly working to generate new theories, or to prove or disprove existing theories.
• likely to be very shy when it comes to meeting new people.
• very self-confident and gregarious around people they know well, or when discussing theories which they fully understand.
• has no understanding or value for decisions made on the basis of personal subjectivity or feelings. (double tap on this one)
  
• it is extremely important that ideas and facts are expressed correctly and succinctly.
• are likely to express themselves in what they believe to be absolute truths
• may be prone to abandoning a project once they have figured it out, moving on to the next thing.
• A major concern for INTPs is the haunting sense of impending failure. They spend considerable time second-guessing themselves. The open-endedness (from Perceiving) conjoined with the need for competence (intuitive thinking) is expressed in a sense that one's conclusion may well be met by an equally plausible alternative solution, and that, after all, one may very well have overlooked some critical bit of data. (from Typelogic)