Mentioned to a work contact the other day that I’ll be splitting my time between NYC and N.C. for a while because I’m getting married and my future husband has been offered a job in Durham. It feels weird to say “my future husband” and not mean Ira Glass or Mr. Darcy.
Achievement Unlocked: Gameification Class
After asking Grant if he got an achievement for the gameification class he was taking, I looked into it and signed up for this gameification class on Coursera too. This was my first Coursera class, and I discovered that it has a magical power that activated almost every time I blocked out an afternoon for classwork, and would cause one of my clients to call and offer me rush work.
The lecture videos asked quick multiple-choice questions, which were great for staying on target and for feeling smart. I usually prefer reading to lectures — I know that there are visual learners and physical learners and action-focused memorization styles and all types of ways people absorb information, but I am a weirdo who likes to read books and learn things that way.
I didn’t mind doing the essay assignments, but I didn’t really enjoy the peer-review part of the class. With each written assignment, we were asked to peer-review 5 classmate’s assignments. I didn’t like this part one bit, because each time I’d read four last-minute essay that got kinda close to answering the questions asked, and one essay that was so good I’d despair of ever working in games. (We were randomly assigned 5 classmates each time, and this happened every time.)
There were quizzes on the lectures as well, and although I didn’t get a trophy or badge, I was pretty happy with how I did.
Games: 4.25 / 5.00
Game Elements 9.00 / 10.00
Motivation & Psychology 9.25 / 10.00
Design Choices 9.90 / 10.00
Not sure what I got on the final exam yet, but I really want to get an Achievement Unlocked! for this class.
I Love Brooklyn
Right now, I’m working at Carthage 521, a coffeeshop and hookah bar near my apartment. Somebody in wifi range has a twisted sense of humor. At least, I hope that’s it…
Secret Message To Tourists
New York, as befits the Greatest City In The World, has a wonderful system of transportation known as the subway. New York, as befits the Greatest City In The World, also has a constant influx of tourists, visitors and new arrivals. Unfortunately, these things do not always go well together.
Here is a handy guide for visitors to New York, who may decide to take the subway. This will increase efficiency for everyone, and make your fellow travelers less likely to hate you.
Sometimes it actually IS your first time on a particular route, or perhaps you take this all the time, but you’ve just noticed that Harold is really, really interesting, and funny, and amazingly good company….and less thrillingly, that you’ve missed your stop. These things happen. If you;re some place unfamiliar, please get out of the traffic flow and look at a map or ask someone for directions. Do not stand in the subway doors wondering if you should get on or off. Do not stand blocking intersections as you determine which way to go. Seriously. No one hates people who ask for directions. Everyone hates people who stand in the way blocking traffic and looking confused.
Get out of the traffic flow by going to the right-hand side of the passage. This is also what you do when someone is walking towards you and you would like to avoid a head-on collision! This is ALSO where you go if you are walking down the street and you need to tell Twitter that you’re in New York! The right hand side is awesome! Try it!
For those who are accustomed to driving, there seems to be some sort of shame associated with using the right most lane. Let me assure you that your fellow pedestrians will hate and judge you much more for standing in the middle of the hallway blocking traffic. Get over to the right. All the way to the right, so you are out of the traffic flow. Then check your directions, look at your map, or text your friends. Then resume walking.
This is also important above ground, where the right-hand side is used for updating your Facebook, taking pictures of the buildings and checking your map. Got it?
Next, getting on and off the subway. Actually, we should call this getting off and on the subway. See, if the people getting off go through the doors before the people getting on, everyone moves more efficiently. If the people getting on board are determined to go first, then the folks on the train have to push around them to get out, which is what we city-dwellers call REALLY STUPID.
Now, escalators. Escalators are quite a lot like stairs, except they move. You have stairs at home, right? On the escalator, people who want to be magically transported stand on the right. People who are in a hurry walk on the left. They will not thank you for standing on the left, or worse, standing in a clump that makes passing impossible. One more thing: The top or the bottom of an escalator is not a super good place for checking your map or your Facebook, either.
Thank you for coming to New York, which really is the greatest place in the world, but thank you even more for not standing in the way infuriating everyone else.
A Million Comic Books
Harold might talk a lot about hating comics, but I’m helping him pack, and that man owns several million comic books.
(Helping him pack actually means dividing his books into boxes for him to take to Chapel Hill, and into a pile for me to read. I’m a catch)
Posted in New York City, North Carolina
Tagged Chapel Hill, Harold, New York City, North Carolina
4 Comments
IndieWalls on thalo
I have a new piece up on thalo today, talking about IndieWalls:
NEW YORK, NY — In the creative world, promised exposure for one’s work can be secret code for unpaid labour. Therefore, I was understandably intrigued but a bit guarded when I heard Indiewalls’ offer of great exposure for local artists. Curator Tamara Weg was kind enough to talk with me after the Indiewalls presentation at DreamIt’ demo day here in New York City, and explain more about what Indiewalls can offer artists.
Startup Indiewalls is a connection between local artists with original works to display, and local venues. It provides exposure in high-trafficked spots for the artist and rotating exhibits for the venues. Weg’s role is to review portfolios from interested artists, before offering the works to potential local venues. She became interested in this type of curating when she “fell in love with interacting with emerging artists and displaying their works. This ties in to the best part of curating for Indiewalls; being able to support and develop artists’ careers while simultaneously supplying venues with the beautiful artwork.
I picked the accompanying photos from the IndieWalls collection, planning to chose samples of work in unusual media. I also happened to choose pictures of NYC icons… Sometimes my subconscious thoughts are very clear.
Via INDIEWALLS: Connecting Local Artists with New Venues on thalo
Splitting The Page
Among my writing and site editing friends, there are some differing opinions on the split-page article layout. Some people think a long article should be split up into several pages, with a link to the next page at the bottom, in case people are intimidated by articles over a certain wordcount. Other people think it’s silly to force people to keep clicking, it makes it harder to scroll up and check what the guy’s name was again, and that readers drop off before clicking to page 2 or 3. But having a split-page generates extra clicks, which makes site revenue, and we like money! But it also bores readers, and we like readers! It’s like our generation’s Oxford comma. And much like the Oxford comma, people that don’t do it my way are really sacrificing readability, but we can still be friends.
Just in case you were wondering if splitting your article over 2 or more pages is a good idea, this Politico piece talks about Paul Ryan nicknaming Romney “The Stench” and then follows it up with some comments about Ryan bringing that needed razzle-dazzle to the Republican ticket with PowerPoint presentations sexily titled “Canada: Friendly Giant to the North.” and “Your Share Of The National Debt”.
The bit about the Stench nickname, including “Tell Stench I’m having finger sandwiches with Peggy Noonan and will text him later.” (Is there MLA style for an actual quote from a pretend Ryan in the real Politico piece?) got picked up as news on Gawker and related non-satire, not-kidding headlines are appearing.
If you trust Politico as a news outlet, and you believe the quotes that Politico attributes to real people are from the real people quoted, and you take a line about Iowans being even polite to soybeans as a throwaway commentary on Midwestern manners, the first page reads like a typical campaign story. The second page, where the bit about the sexy PowerPoint slides can be found, is quite clearly not journalism. It’s pretty hard to read to the end without realizing it’s goofy and embellished.
I’m usually a huge fan of exaggeration for effect (And I’m the world’s biggest fan of hyperbole! You’re welcome.), but I’m not totally sure what point the author was trying to make here, unless MAYBE his editor is a fan of the two-page piece and the author really, really thinks readers don’t click through, and wanted to prove it?
***
Also, the following information from the Politico piece is not satire. This is straight fact, and I challenge anyone to watch a PowerPoint presentation and disagree.
Conducting a PowerPoint presentation is a lot like smoking a cigar. Only the person doing it likes it. The people around him want to hit him with a chair.
***
Edited Sept 2.: Farhad Manjoo has a Slate piece on the same layout problem, and comes down on the same side as I do. He doesn’t say it’s directly tied to the Politico thing, but it did come out just a couple days later afterward, and has a sarcastic second page so…
NYC Gaming September Demo Night
Last night I went to the NYC Gaming September Demo night at Microsoft. Grumpy Goats was one of the demos, it was really fun to see the changes made to the game and see the guys from Verge. Also saw Cloudberry Kingdom, a formerly-indie (congrats on getting a publisher!) platformer known for the practically impossible auto-generated levels, and Top Bot, an adorable asynchronous racing game with taunting from cutely customizable bots. The combination of My Little Pony hair and Geordie’s visor seemed the most popular look… I think this crowd is my people.
There was also another demo, where the presenter raised some really thoughtful points on freemium games, price points, and perceived value, but then colored it by saying that this particular game is so easy that even your mom or your girlfriend could just pick up and play it! Which is great news for those ladypeople who really wanted to begin playing regular games, but are prevented by our ovaries!
Ran into friends from Next Island and Grumpy Goats, and swapped some game development war stories. As we were leaving, one of the organizers from General Assembly said that we should all take the leftover beers with us! You know, for cleaning and recycling purposes. Not because the game dev crowd needs to drink more, of course.
We all looked at each other, contemplating the awkwardness of slipping beer bottles in our purses and pockets, and then of course we did. Yeah, I’m pretty sure these are my people.
Posted in New York City
Tagged games, general assembly, Grumpy Goats, New York City, Next Island
1 Comment
Yes!
It’s been a bit of an emotional time for me recently. I’m still reeling from my company going under, and trying to sort out the freelancing rollercoaster, and Harold’s been offered an exciting and awesome new job, but it’s in another city. Because of course it is. We also took two trips in rapid succession, to my Massachusetts family and Harold’s Kansas family, which was awesome, but still gave me a lot of feelings. Anyway, I’m having a lot of feelings right now.
So the other day, when Harold and I came into his building, it seemed extremely important that we make out, immediately, and it could not possibly wait until we walked all the way up to his apartment, it had to happen right there in the hallway. (It may be worth noting that I’m in my early 30s and Harold is closer to 40.) We heard someone on the stairs, and stopped kissing and jumped apart guiltily.
“I wasn’t spying!” his landlord said, who was just coming out of his apartment like a normal person on a normal afternoon. “But did I hear you’re getting married?”
“Yes. Yes, we are!”
Jane Austen Fangirl
This rockstar retelling of the greatest book ever opens when virtuoso guitarist and bad-boy rocker Fitzwilliam Darcy, his cousin Richard Fitzwilliam and college friend Charles Bingley, are looking for an opening act on their tour, and band manager Caroline Bingley suggests an indie girl band Long Borne Suffering (I squeed.), composed of sisters Elizabeth and Jane Bennett, and their friend Charlotte Lucas.
And it just keeps giving opportunities for squeeing. Band manager Caroline Bingley interrupting Darcy’s email to Georgiana. Charlotte Lucas smoking behind the tour bus. Wickham as a sleezy music video director. So much to giggle about!
As my epic knowledge of Pride and Prejudice sequels and remakes proves, Jane’s sunny and quiet nature is difficult to portray. Some of us have sisters who really are just optimistic and contented and thinking the best of people all the freaking time, and we resent portrayals of Jane as a ditz. Rigaud’s Jane is calmly contented, her romance with Charles runs smoothly, with building honest affection on both sides. It’s a charming and optimistic love story, and just like in the actual P&P, it keeps the crossed wires with Elizabeth and Darcy from soap operatic melodrama.
There are some pretty long sex scenes, and while I’m sure that Elizabeth and Darcy totally got it on, all the time, and that it was super hot, every single time, I felt a little uncomfortable stumbling into porn. Partly because I do a lot of reading on the subway, which is not really terribly conductive to erotica, and partly because I love Elizabeth and Darcy so much that I felt a bit like my friends were oversharing. (Was that weird? It’s probably weird.)
I’ve read quite a few P&P spinoffs, including the one where Mr. Collins is chased by angry bees into a mudpuddle, where he drowns and the one where Mary Bennett finds a human sacrifice cult in the underground caves of Pemberly, so I speak from experience when I call this one my favorite.
Well, at least until that little-known Harry Potter book where Mr. Darcy is the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher finally becomes a reality.
Posted in Books, New York City
Tagged Harold, Harry Potter, Mr. Darcy, New York City, pride and prejudice, Seattle, subway, travel
2 Comments
