Notebook of Sand

• Recent Publications
• Recent Projects
• Conferences & Speaking
"Comparing Spatial Hypertext Collections"
  ACM Hypertext '09
"Archiving and Sharing Your Tinderbox"
  Tinderbox Weekend London '09
"The Electronic Nature of Future Literatures"
  Literary Studies Now, Apr '09
"The World University Project"
  St. John's Col. Cambridge, Feb '09
"Ethical Explanations,"
  The New Knowledge Forge, Jun '08
Lecture, Cambridge University
  Tragedy in E-Lit, Nov '07
Hypertext '07: Tragedy in E-Lit
Host for Tinderbox Cambridge '07
Keynote: Dickinson State Uni Conf
Upper Midwest NCHC'07: Speaker
eNarrative 6: Creative Nonfiction
HT'05: "Philadelphia Fullerine"
  Nelson award winning paper
NCHC '05:
 Nurturing Independent Scholarship
Riddick Practicum:
  Building Meeting Good Will
NCHC '04:
  Philadelphia Fullerine
  Lecture on American Studies
WWW@10: Nonfiction on the Web
NCHC '03: Parliamentary Procedure
ELL '03 -- Gawain Superstar
• (a)Musing (ad)Dictions:

Ideas. Tools. Art. Build --not buy. What works, what doesn't. Enjoy new media and software aesthetics at Tekka.

Theodore Gray (The Magic Black Box)

Faith, Life, Art, Academics. Sermons from my family away from home: Eden Chapel!

My other home: The Cambridge Union Society (in 2007, I designed our [Fresher's Guide])

The Economist daily news analysis

Global Higher Ed blog

• Hypertext/Writing

Writing the Living Web

Chief Scientist of Eastgate Systems, hypertext expert Mark Bernstein. (Electronic) Literature, cooking, art, etc.

Fabulous game reviews at playthisthing.

• Stats

Chapter I: Born. Lived. Died.

There is a Chapter II.

Locale: Lancaster County Pa, USA

Lineage: Guatemala

Religion: My faith is the primary focus of my life, influencing each part of me. I have been forgiven, cleansed, and empowered by Jesus Christ. Without him, I am a very thoughtful, competent idiot. With him, I am all I need to be, all I could ever hope for. I oppose institutional religious stagnation, but getting together with others is a good idea. God is real. Jesus Christ is his Son, and the Bible is true. Faith is not human effort. It's human choice. I try to be the most listening, understanding, and generous person I can.

Interests: Anything I can learn. Training and experience in new media, computer science, anglophone literature, education, parliamentary debate, democratic procedure, sculpture, and trumpet performance. Next: applied & computational linguistics, probably.

Education: Private school K-3. Home educated 4-12. Graduated Summa Cum Laude from Elizabethtown College in Jan 2006. As the 2006 Davies-Jackson Scholar, I studied English at St. John's College, Cambridge University from 2006 - 2008.

Memberships: Eden Baptist, Cambridge Union Society, ACM, AIP, GPA.

Alum of the Elizabethtown College Honors Program, sponsored by the Hershey Company.

John Kerry Carries Philadelphia
Wednesday, 3 Nov 2004 :-:

Today was an exercise in why America's focus on local control is important. It first struck me on my way to Philadelphia on the Amtrak.

On the way up, the conductor was describing the cabin he built on land he bought from rich people in Tennessee. They were city folks, and he's a savvy midstate Pennsylvanian. While the other rich people in the area are fighting over the marina, he's building his cabin. No matter that they call his home a "fish shed." He bought a kit for half price, and now he has his dream of a home and beautiful land on a lake. It cost him much less than a suburban condo costs. Why? Almost nothing happens in that part of Tennessee. It's not a hotbed of social life. But that's exactly how he likes it.

The conductor on the way back, from Philly, was much different. When we arrived in Mount Joy, he hollered in disdain,

"What is that smell!"

The guy in front of me grinned.

"Lancaster County. What? You don't like manure?"

The conductor shook his head incredulously, and we all laughed. Cow poop is one of those things that makes our lives special.

The peope in Philadelphia are much different than I am -- at least the ones I pass on the street. Nobody smiles, nobody gives respect. A bunch of able-bodied people passed over an elderly woman who could have used an arm to cross the street. People look at me funny when I hold a door open or hand a beggar half of my sandwich.

I guess it really is a different world.

** * **

Many people were out trying to gather attention. But the efforts were focused and carefully-planned. Most Democrat activity I saw was in Center City, so the AP photographers wouldn't actually have to walk walk to get good photos.

Hummer Drivers for John Kerry

This picture is the perfect representation of what's wrong with this election. If Kerry were really interested in the environment, we would never see this. If Bush were really interested in big corporations and freewheeling irresponsibility, then we would never see this. Instead, the most likely-to-be-elected environmealist-ish candidate only comes so far as ignoring the issue by deferring the idea of good policy to the modern, silver-bullet magic of "future technology." This, of course, keeps everybody happy without doing a blessed thing about the problems we face with pollution and sustainability. Under Kerry, we will all be able to drive fuel-efficient, renewable-energy SUVs and hummers. And we'll be happy with how things turn out....(stops ranting before it gets too late)

** * **

Speaking of whom.... I ran into Kerry today while on my way to the Library Company of Philadelphia for history research...

Hummer Drivers for John Kerry

Kerry was stoically tacet when I asked him about his expectations for the election. No doubt he would have spoken out under other circumstances, but in this case, he was just a piece of cardboard. Oh well.

Kerry supporters were everywhere. Toward South Street, people from MoveOn were assembling en-masse.

I did notice later that they were cycling people to make the crowd look bigger than it really was. Good tactic.

** * **
Supporters of John Kerry in Philadelphia
Supporters of George W. Bush in Philadelphia
** * **

My opinion?

Resurrect the dead on planet Jupiter! Toynbee for Galactic Overlord!


Resurrect the dead on planet Jupiter! Toynbee for Galactic Overlord!
** * **