#SoL15 Day 31: moving on from the last slice

…my last post, March 4, on precarious faculty signaled a return to a blogging routine that dipped during the buildup to and during National Adjunct Walkout Day (and week and all the other names it went by) that did not happen. This post is about what happened between then and now.

#SoL15 Day 30: automatic writing

André Masson. Automatic Drawing. (1924). 
Ink on paper, 9¹⁄₄ × 8¹⁄₈" (23.5 × 20.6 cm). 
Museum of Modern Art, New York.

Missed slicing yesterday when sleep caught up with me at 8 pm. Today it took me down in the around 4 pm in the afternoon: I was up again at 8 pm. There is a odd and annoying symmetry to that. I may (am) not in the mood to write but don't want to miss the final days. That's part of the writing challenge too, isn't it? Being in the mood doesn't matter. Write on anyway. Now if I could only manage writing in my sleep — a practical application of Surrealist automatic writing

"Pure psychic automatism" was how André Breton defined surrealism, and while the definition has proved capable of significant expansion, automatism remains of prime importance in the movement. 

#SoL15 Day 28: #Caravana43 & @AnaMFores

Today I worked on collating links and a post about the Caravana 43 project organized by the families of the 43 murdered Ayotzinapa student teachers and supporters in the U.S. My friend Ana Fores and her husband Andres helped organize the DFW Caravan event. Here's my most recent post on Tumblr about the Caravan, #Ayotzinapa #Caravana43 News Roundup March 24-28, and Ana's blog, Adjunct Justice: Fores Forum, which has more posts and gorgeous images. 

Below is a brief description of the project:

#SoL15 Day 27: writing to machines

I did not, after all ~ thought or not, post to precarious faculty last night, although today I added to the Reading Room there. The omission was more about garden variety procrastination and running out of focus for the day than nothing to blog about. If anything, there would be too much.

 I have been writing mornings (at least one good habit getting set as I still cannot say the same for positing), starting the day with 750 Words. Today I realized I have two accounts. Do I finish the month on this one or the other? Can I transfer this month to the other? I wrote 750 Words about the problem after retrieving the password for the original account. "Accounts correspondence" is the ultimate genre of modern frustration.  On top of  everything else, machines read it, not humans. 

This morning I had to write two such "Dear Machine" letters ~ another about computer software not activating. That problem I solved on my own ~ fortuitously so. The machine has yet to write back. By comparison, keyboard workarounds are frustration free.  It may also be best not to think too long or too hard on the implications for audience or reception theories such as reader reader response.

I am participating in the March Slice of Life Challenge: trying to blog a slice a day for all of March.  Thank you, Two Writing Teachers! Visit the site to read some slices

#SoL15 Day 26: endgame, takeaways, postSoL

Thought about #SoL15 and today's post (this already way too meta): commenting; pushing through vs leaving or staying on your own terms. That means don't sweat stuff: you decide what is or not for you. Design participation expectations to fit your projects, plans or just personal inclinations ~ not the other way around. Turn (any) Blogging (or writing) Challenges (not just this one) into connectivist moocs.

Posting just under the wire or missing it aside, the commenting requirement has been the most useful part of SoL. The challenge revived a fading comment habit, making March more of a commenting refresher than a posting one.

#SoL15 Day 25: unplanned movie binge

I'm not sure why except not being in the mood for anything productive and down, in need of distraction ~ not to mention escape. I started out with watching The Razor's Edge (1946) again (last time was around 1961) and was going to let it go at that and be productive, get to work, but ended up watching The Sleeping Car Murders (1965), The Ruling Class (1972) and Father Brown The Detective (1954).  A strong personal activist thread runs through most of them ~  individual resistance to group-think as well. 

#SoL15 Day 24: Workarounds & Back to Whatever

Workaround ~ still about the keyboard or keyboards since I am using two ~ the one built into the laptop and the On-Screen Keyboard, under accessibility options, One hard and the other soft. More keys are working better; plus, I'm not as slow using two as I was yesterday. Being more accurate typist would help too. Corrections take more time. A spare keyboard and mouse are overdue and not expensive. The right click on the backup laptop doesn't: a mouse will make it usable...something you want back-up anything to be.

Back to .... whatever. Posting: two Precarious Dispatch posts completed ~ one posted and the other, a
full Updates, from scratch to finish and dropped in queue to go out at 10 pm, 750 Words completed before noon, albeit copy/paste dependent. If I stay awake (it's only 7 pm),  I'll even finish the day's slicing much earlier than usual. No guarantees, but I might even make it to a post on the hub blog ~ getting closer all the time.

Plus after a day of no comments to speak of, I posted a substantial number. No, I don't know how many. At least double the minimum three. Counting does something to spontaneity, so I don't ~ or I start and at some point just forget. Commenting on SoL (or any other) posts is not the only option.

There are other ways to interact with posts and blogs besides just commenting. Like, up vote, star, ❤ or +1 ~ depending on the platform. Share, reblog. WP and Tumblr are the easiest. Anytime we can add value with an introductory comment or paragraph and customize the post for a specific audience. Follow. Bookmark. Add rss to reader or blogroll. Syndicate to FB page. Widgetize to blog or website. Bundle links, add bundle feed to widget for your blog or webpage. Cite, quote, incorporate material into another post. Keep on using, sharing, remixing and getting the word out about content and content creators.

I am participating in the March Slice of Life Challenge: trying to blog a slice a day for all of March.  Thank you, Two Writing Teachers! Visit the site to read some slices