Reading and Writing in a Digital Age

Sometimes the most difficult thing about a project like this is coming up with a good idea. After approximately 2 hours of reading Google search results for thought provoking questions , I decided to ask for help. My parents suggested I talk about immigration, dogs, or read an essay I had already written. I didn’t really feel any of those topics. Then I thought, who better to call than my best friend? He spent an hour on the phone with me trying to help me come up with a great topic. “You’re over-thinking this. Anything you choose will be great if you do it right. You were on the speech team anyways right?” I just wasn’t convinced. I really can’t see myself talking for 4 minutes on the radio, although I could easily go on for more than 10 in real life. Exhausted, I mockingly suggested, “I should just make my project about me asking people what I should do for this project.”

“That would be awesome,” he said. He suggested that the deeper meaning could be the fact that humans rely on one another for ideas. We need help from others to form a basic starting point for our own thoughts and ideas, the same way we rely on Google or Bing to form the factual basis of our research (he’s an Engineer, what can i say?) And that’s how my Audio-Essay proposal came to be. A few Tylenols later, I’m sitting here sharing it with you.

I can’t say that I have this assignment planned out to the last detail or that it won’t be completely different by the time I submit it, but here’s my idea. I’ll give a brief explanation of the situation, as I did here, in the beginning of the essay and introduce the question. Then I plan to interview many people, mainly looking for short answers but periodically focusing on some interesting ones that the audience would like to see developed (hopefully such ideas will, in fact, come along so that I don’t raise my hopes for nothing). Each segment will be under 5 seconds long, aside from the ones that will be developed, which will be approximately 20-30 seconds long. As was suggested in the assignment, this essay could be part of, or the beginning of a potentially longer Audio-Essay which goes on to actually explore the topics suggested (which I probably won’t do). I’ll be broadcasting from many locations, but primarily from Baruch and my home. As for recording equipment, I will be using my handy dandy smartphone and Macbook. My questions are: Do you have any suggestions for improving my essay? How can I make it more interesting/appealing to the audience? Do you think it has the potential to be funny or serious? Also, from a technical standpoint, what is the best technology to use for the technologically challenged?

In my Audio-Essay, I will be talking about New York City. I came across a quote online one day while procrastinating, apparently from a comic book titled “The New York Five”:

“NY 101: It’ll rob you and cheat you. It’ll take your friends and turn them on you. It’ll kick your ass and break your heart. But then it’ll pick you up again, make you feel so totally alive and untouchable. It’s the center of the world, it’s the best place in the world, and once it’s in your heart, it’ll never leave you.”

Once I saw “The City” under possible topics, I knew that the message from this quote is what I wanted to focus on because it was so true to me. I wanted to record this with me doing the talking about the city life and my experiences with it. I also wanted to broadcast from my dorm room, which happens to be right in the city. I was not planning on interviewing anyone since it is a personal Audio-Essay, however I may end up interviewing my dad. He grew up in the projects to be successful and I think his story could be a perfect fit to what the city can do for someone – a rags to riches story. I think all I will need is an audio recorder and my own experiences for me to make my point. I do need an audio recorder though, unless I can figure out how to do it on my computer or phone.

I want to start by talking about how I see the city in a negative light, such as the pollution, dirt, homeless, difference in wealth and how these are so evident in NYC. How the city has defeated the homeless, the poor and how when they beg, no one pays attention because they are all too much in a hurry. Everyone cares for himself or herself. This will be about half my piece, probably around 1.5 minutes. But then the other half of the piece (2ish minutes) will transition into how NYC is the melting pot of every culture, how people come from all over to make this city home and to look to make their dreams come true. The success stories I see on the streets. The lights, the city that never sleeps, the New York state of mind are all things that revive the spirit when someone is down. Looking out my window and seeing the streets and cars late at night just bring me to life, wow, I am living in the city, the center of the universe. The city becomes home no matter what, it’s like your family and no matter where you go, your experiences here never leave you.

I was also thinking of playing “Empire State of Mind” by Jay-Z or “New York State of Mind” by Billy Joel under my speaking. But I plan on choosing the song after the story so that it can benefit the mood and tone of my story better. I am going for the message and tone that NYC is awe inspiring and that there is nowhere else in the world like it. One issue for me that may come up is interview or no interview. I also don’t know how to edit sound very well so that may cause some difficulty as well. But for me I think the biggest trouble will be finding a tone that shows how NYC has broken me down hard at times, but that it has picked me up, left me awe inspired, and after 17 years of living here, it will never leave me – a feeling many New Yorkers can realize and relate to.

I looked beyond the options provided on the project sheet for my draft proposal. I scoured the DS106 site for a topic that I thought I could really pour my heart into. The topic that I stumbled upon is called “SongStory”, and its description is provided here: http://assignments.ds106.us/assignments/songstory/

In essence, what this assignment asks me to do is take a song that invokes some sort of memory in me. A place I don’t think about on a regular basis, but always think about when I hear this particular song. So the song that I chose was “Home”, by Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeroes. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjFaenf1T-Y). This song always takes me back to my sleep-away camp days at Frost Valley. Frost Valley was an integral part of my early adolescence, and I wanted to share my “home away from home” experience.

For starters, I imagine that I will be doing the majority of the talking in my piece. I would like to talk about a couple of things in my piece. One, the specific memories that are jolted into my mind just upon hearing the song. Second, the specific lyrics that connect to specific memories and people that I remember from camp. To add a different voice, I am considering including my sister, who also has gone to Frost Valley. I wouldn’t be “interviewing” her, I might just introduce who she is, and ask her what she remembers best about Frost Valley when listening to the song. I imagine I’ll be talking over the song for the majority of the piece, although I would like to play a bit of the opening of the song as well as the end. I estimate that the musical interludes will take up maybe 30-40 seconds of the total piece. My pieces would take up about 3-3.5 minutes, with approximately 2 minutes for memories and 1 minute for lyrical interpretations. I expect my sister’s bit to take anywhere from .5-1 minutes. This is a little longer than proposed on the project sheet, but I would like this to last the duration of the song, so that I can play it constantly in the background without break.

I would ideally like to broadcast from Prospect Park, because being in a natural surrounding (as opposed to the city streets) stirs up the nostalgia that I feel for camp. I think the emotions and feelings that I have for Frost Valley will come out much more clearly if I broadcast from the park. The issue with that is, of course, equipment. I would have to bring everything with me and set it all up outside. My phone can record audio, but especially considering that it isn’t a smartphone, I don’t know how good the quality would be. I could potentially borrow my sister’s iPhone, especially if I have her in my segment. I see the recording as a stumbling block that I’ll have to overcome.

I would like to convey a sentimental, nostalgic tone. Hopefully my description of my “home away from home” will cause others to think about their “‘home away from home” and what it means to them. I also hope to create a feel-good story through my anecdotes and stories. I expect the song to also add to the mood that I’m trying to create with this project. The song itself is very upbeat and sounds a lot like a mountain song. So I am hoping that it will serve to set the rustic scene, and listeners will be able to picture wide green fields, dense forests, lakes, and more. The music should also help to communicate the message of my piece, that everyone has a special place that they hold dear in their heart, even if they sometimes forget about it. And, everyone should take time to reflect on these places, for ofen they have a profound effect on who we are as people.

As far as hardware, I will definitely have to use Audacity/GarageBand. Between mixing in the song, my parts, my sister’s parts, and any other sound effects that I might find useful, a lot of audio editing will definitely be taking place. I have GarageBand on my Mac, so I have the most crucial application that I’ll need.

My questions include: How long is too long? If it’s a 5 minute song, should I cut it so my segment is more around 4 minutes? I’d like to keep the whole song, but if it’s too long, I’ll pare it down. Also, how long should the musical interludes be in relation to the whole piece? I have about 30-40 seconds planned, is that too long? Should I start my piece with some exposition as to what Frost Valley is, or maybe I should ask the audience to think about a place that’s a “home away from home” for them? I’m not sure how to start my piece. Ayuda, por favor?

-Ben Chatham

For now, I think I want my audio-essay proposal to follow a similar guideline to that of the Fifty People One Question video. The only talking I’ll do will happen in the first few seconds of the segment when I’m asking the intended question. I will try and interview as many people as I can so that I can find some sort of common theme and try to organize it so that my segment makes sense. My question will be: If you could accomplish something without the risk of failing what would you do? The segments will be as long as the person needs to answer the question. Quick answers would be nicer but I won’t impede the flow of the person’s thought processes. I will only interrupt if they’re talking for too long and I lose my patience (sorry not sorry). Hopefully the segments aren’t longer than 20-35 seconds so that I can compile enough responses to convey a trend. Right now I don’t know if I want to interview people on the street or ask people I know in school or at the dorms. Maybe I’ll try both and see which one is more convenient. Even as I write this I think that asking people I know will be much easier. The Fifty People One Question videos can manipulate the intended effect in more ways than I can by simply asking people. I feel like just standing on a corner recording people’s answers will end up sounding messy, noisy, and not at all what I envision them to be. I think I’m going to try to ask between 3 to 5 people of every different age group to see if there is any trend in their answers. If this doesn’t work I’ll focus on just one age group that does display a common trend. I’ll need a voice recorder (which I don’t own) and I’m not really sure what else….As of right now I think I’ll have access to everything I’ll need but I’m sure this will change as we discuss the project in more depth. I don’t know what programs I’ll need on my computer to work the editing and I definitely will not know how to work them so I’ll have a ton of questions when I find out. I’m mostly worried because this is so different and I’m basically a grandma when it comes to using a computer for things other than research and Microsoft Word…I finally learned how to copy and paste on the Mac recently….Help?

The only true radio show I have listened to up to this point is Pro Wrestling Talk Radio, which rates and debates the hottest topics in the world of professional wrestling on a weekly / biweekly basis. I’ve been a fan of wrestling for years and I wanted a frame of reference through which I could look beyond the flash and pizzazz of the business and really analyze how the business operates. To me, only experienced intellectuals turn to radio shows as a way of getting their opinions out there and getting their viewers to offer their own opinions. In “Stories Pitched by Our Parents” from This American Life, I listened as Lisa Pollak detailed her attempts to find stories of funny funerals after hearing of one from her mother. She finally finds one that involves a priest who normally speaks Ukrainian and speaks some English to comfort the grieving family of the deceased, but does so in a humorous way without any of the Ukrainian people understanding the humor behind the mistake. “Barbara Dobrish was a good lay. Dee” is an honest mistake to make at such an occasion if you don’t have much experience with the English language, but what’s even more amusing was that the other people in the room mistook the laughter for heavy weeping and gathered around in a group hug in order to comfort the family. While this is all very humorous, I don’t see the point of going through all of this trouble to find a funeral that involved humorous mistakes or such. I have been to two funerals in the same summer for two close family members and the last thing I thought about was trying to laugh. I reflected on my grandmothers in a rather somber way and was depressed for a while. I had nothing to smile or laugh about for a couple of months until I moved on. An interesting story is one that provokes deep thought, causes laughter, or presents an overarching idea in a plethora of ways. This story, although mildly entertaining, did not provoke me with any deep thought or slight laughter. I didn’t hear anything new about funerals. My thoughts and convictions about funerals remain the same – they are a somber affair meant to bring about deep self – reflection, reminiscence, and for some unemotional people (like me), reveal true emotional attachment. This story left a rather bad impression in my mind and caused me to view the other stories with some disdain. For now, I think I’ll stick to just Po Wrestling Talk Radio until other shows can live up to my standards and even surpass them.