Mr. Jankowski's 2nd letter

A few weeks ago I was contacted by a reader, James in Australia, who had purchased another letter by Mr. Jankowski. He offered photos of it to me to translate. I was thrilled to get the chance to read it, especially since it was accompanied by the envelope. This has provided me with many more details and information than I ever expected to learn about Jankowski.

Here is a quick translation of the letter, which was originally sent from Leschek Jankowski in Buchenwald to his parents.

December 31, 1944
Dear Father and Mother,
I am writing to tell you that I am healthy and to thank you for the parcel that you sent me. I ask that you not send me any more packets since it is difficult for you. My dear parents I am very happy you’re in good health.

I have hope for our reunion and believe (when it comes) that we will all be happy. Uncle Herbert has sent me letters (a letter?). I understand that Zelda had sent you a letter and made you happy, just at the new year.

I am waiting on letters from Franz, Sofi and Halinka, with each letter I get much happiness. My dear Father and Mother I wish you a New Year with everything good, health and the wish that your youngest son can come to you and give you kisses without end. I greet and kiss you all, your dearest (garbled by the censor’s stamp)
Post card from Franz I received with this.
Loving Greetings, Leschek

My initial reaction was surprise that nearly a year after the first letter was written, he was still alive and at Buchenwald. I then focused on the envelope’s address and what more I could learn from it.

His parents were Marianne Elsner born 1874 and Josef Jankowski born 1871. They married in 1894 in the Catholic Parish of Dziewierzewo. Leschek was their youngest son, born on November 28, 1911 in Hohensalza. His last address was listed as Jazewska 38 in Hohensalza. Hohensalza, (now called Inowrocław) was in the county of Hohensalza in Prussia in the province of Posen (which is now Poland). The area of Hohensalza had a predominate population of Catholics, though there were some Protestants and a small minority of Jews. 36% of the citizens were German speakers, 64% Polish speakers in the 1930’s.

Leschek was first imprisoned in Dachau where his prisoner number was 35 777 then he was transferred to Buchenwald where he was issued a new number and held until he was liberated April 11, 1945. In 1944 his parents were still living in Hohensalza.

This new information seems to confirm my initial thought that he was a Catholic Pole and an ethnic German. Much like some people in the US today are culturally Mexican (or any other ethnic group) but are US citizens.

Based on my research he would have been housed in the so-called Tent Camp that was constructed for the Polish soldiers who arrived when he did in September of 1939.

He may have been involved in the Battle of Bzura with the 26th Infantry Division or in a reserve division of the Poznan Army. He was probably captured then or in it’s immediate aftermath. This fits the date of his arrest and the general area where he was arrested in Pila (Schneidemühl in German)

We know his wife was Halinka or Zorinka and their daughter was Sofi. He had an Uncle Herbert and he mentions Franz and Zelda and Heinrich and Forenski.
He had an aunt and an older brother, (who could have been named Franz or Heinrich).

As much more information as I have gained, I’m still curious to know what happened to him. How did he manage to live in Buchenwald for 6 years? What did he do to survive? Many people died in the weeks and months after being liberated from disease and malnourishment. Since he was a soldier, and not Jewish, I expect he may have gotten treated better (more food perhaps) than some inmates. Certainly he would have tried to return to Hohensalza after liberation since his parents, wife and child were there.

Again, I invite anyone with a letter from Leschek Jankowski or any of his relatives who may have more information about his fate to contact me. I’m grateful to James for reaching out to me and sharing this second letter.

Photo of a Polish Political Prisoner patch which was worn in concentration camps to indicate the prisoner's status from warrelics.eu from the Polish Forced Labor Collection forum posted by 4thskorpion

A Voice from the Past - Mr. Jankowski's Letter

A few weeks ago I was given the opportunity to translate a letter from German into English. I always appreciate the chance to exercise my translation muscle so I accepted the task, but not without some anxiety as it was letter from a prisoner at Buchenwald concentration camp to his wife. I was concerned that I might not able able to do it justice, but felt it was important to give it a go.

It was shared with me by the letter's owner, someone who purchased it from a collector of such items with the request to translate, out of curiosity as to it's content. I have found this to be a remarkable opportunity to engage with history in a visceral and concrete way and I felt that sharing this (with the owner's permission) would be a good way to shed light for students of history and genealogy. Perhaps this person's remaining family members may even find it one day.

Here is the translation of the letter into English and my transcription of it in German below that, from Jankowski's handwriting in German. In this translation I have tried to convey the language of the letter as best I can in the hope that it is less of a transliteration and more a representation of a note to a family member.

Letter from Prisoner in Protective Custody, Leschek Jankowski
in Concentration Camp Weimar-Buchenwald
dated January 3, 1943

Dear Sofi and Zorinka,
I received your parcel with heartfelt thanks. It is hard to express my deepest appreciation and I can't describe how grateful I am.

In spite of this dear Zorinka, I ask you to please not send me any parcels.

I can understand your situation but you should not waste a single minute to send them to me, because it's really not important.

Tell Aunt and Uncle that I have also received their package and it's contents with deep appreciation.

Dear Zori! On the occasion of your birthday, I send you all my best and good wishes. I want you to stay healthy so that one day we will see each other again and then our longing for each other will be at an end. Our darling little daughter should remain the symbol of our deep love.

Happy New Year greetings to all my family and friends. I've received so many letters from you all, but as of now I have received no news from my brothers. Please also send me news of Heinrich and Forenski and send them my greetings. The next letter (I write) I will send to uncle and aunt.
Greetings, kisses and deepest longing, your dear Leschek
________________________________________________________
Here is my best attempt to transcribe his writing, some of the words I had a hard time deciphering the handwriting on. I've written it out as it appears to me, but the words may appear nonsensical to those who know German.

Lieber Sofi und Zorinka,
Sowohl euren brief wie das Pakete habe ich mit herzlichen dank erhalten. Es fallte mir schwere meine grossen Dankbarkeit mehligen aus danek nur zur verheilen, und wie wir geschmackt hat brauche ich wohl nicht zur schildern.

Trotzdem liebe Zorinka, bitte ich Dich nun sie aus keinerlei pakete zu schicken.

Ich kann mich in Eure Lage hineinstellen und Ihr sollt euch nicht von einigen Minute absparen um mir zu schicken denn es ist wirklich nicht notwendig.

Onkel und Tante teile bitte mit das ich ihre Pakete mit inhalt ebenfalls mit grösser dankbarkeit erhalten habe.

Liebe Zusier! Anlasslich deines Geburtstages wie auch des Neuen Jahres meine beste und besondere herzliche grüsse wunsche entgegen mögst Du mir recht lange gesund am Leben erhalten bleiben, auf das wir uns einst wiedersehen und unsere grosse Sehnsucht endlich gestillt werde.

Unser lieber Töchterchen möge weiter das Symbol unsere grossen Liebe bleiben. Herzliche Neujahrswünche sende ich auch meiner ganzen Familie und Bekannten. Soviel Briefe habe ich von Euch schon erhalten, aber bisher habe ich nichts von meinem Brüder keinen Nachrichten.

Bitte schreib mir auch etwas über Heinrich und Forenski die ich alle recht herzlich grüssen lassen. Den nächsten Brief werde ich weiter an Onkel und Tante richten. Verbleibt mir also alle recht herzlich gegrüßt und geküsst im grosser Sehnsucht nach Euch.
Deiner Liebe Leschek
_____________________________________________

This letter prompted some cursory research on my end to try to find more about Mr. Jankowski and the context of his situation. Perhaps with some deeper scholarship and a little luck, his fate might be learned.

Buchenwald was described as a work camp rather than designed purposefully for extermination and some people did survive it, though of course the harsh conditions and enforced labor took its toll on many. A segment of prisoners were indeed brutalized and experimented upon, but I would like to hope that Mr. Jankowski was not one of them.

The facts obvious right away are that he had a wife and young daughter, an aunt and uncle whom he was close and at least two brothers or possibly two friends/colleagues, which he mentions by name. His German seems to be that of a native speaker, but his Polish surname makes me think he could have been an ethnic Pole in Germany. Reichs prisoners were required by law to communicate with their families solely in German so this may have been a dictated letter - the hand-writing may not even been his. Minority rights for Poles in Germany were revoked by in February 1940 and their property was confiscated. Zorinka is a Czech female name, so perhaps his wife was from the Sudentenland. Jankowski is the 13th most popular surname in Poland.

As to his ethnic status, I am unaware if he was a Jew. In October 1942 all of Buchenwald's Jewish prisoners were deported to Auschwitz except for 204 essential workers, yet the chances of him being one of these is slim. Jankowski was a prisoner in "Protective Custody", a catch-all phrase used to incarcerate Jews as well as Social Democrats, Communists, Liberals, Freemasons, Jehovah's Witnesses, clergy who opposed the Nazis, members of national opposition movements, non-Germans in general after Germany began to occupy Europe, and any others whose behavior -- real or perceived -- could be interpreted as politically motivated opposition.

He doesn't mention Christmas, which would have been a few weeks prior to the letter being written. It's absence could indicate his religion as Jewish -- or not. Perhaps the New Year could have been reason enough for him to receive packages from family. It is unclear.

I think the best chance of learning more about him would be to access the records of Buchenwald since his Prisoner number 7073 and cellblock 38D, are both clearly listed on his letter. Perhaps other records would indicate his ethnicity.

The printed section on the stationary are instructions to the prisoner and recipient of the letter which I didn't spend the time translating since they didn't hold much information of interest to me. The last few sentences however stick in my mind: Der Tag der Entlassung kann noch nicht gegeben werden. Besuchen im Lager sind verboten. Umfragen sind zwecklos. Release dates cannot be given. Visits to the prison are forbidden. Requests are useless. Very Kafka-esque in it's finality.

The things that stood out for me in the content of the letter was that he indicated he'd gotten multiple letters and parcels from family members -- not something I would have expected for someone in a camp. I found his choice of words that their small daughter, who would stand as the "symbol" of their love, particularly tender and poignant. I wonder who Heinrich and Forenski were - they were clearly important enough to him to ask about. The letter had no envelope so I have no idea where it was sent to, that would have helped. I don't know the condition of the paper since it was scanned and sent to me as a PDF document.

I would like to hear from other people who might know anything of the details of this letter and it's historical context. If anyone has researched individual prisoners, I'd be interested in learning how you went about it. I don't want this man to be forgotten.

Image detail from a 1944 German postcard from the McMaster University digital collection of concentration camp correspondence.

3 Reasons You Shouldn't use your Personal Facebook Page for Business

At work I was speaking to a client the other day who told me that he had a Facebook account already and was just planning on using that to market his business services. "OK," was my reply, "but let me send you some sample pages from Facebook for you to take a look at, just so you can see the range of what's out there." I emailed over some links and pondered how best to address this with him.

Then later today I was in a discussion group online and saw a thread that was asking the question about using a "personal" Facebook for "business. Since it seems to be in the zeitgeist these days, I thought I'd share my ideas here.

It is my belief that if you use your "personal" Facebook page for "business", you limit yourself in some crucial ways.

First of all, Facebook sets a finite number of friends you can have (5,000) as an individual.

Secondly, one cannot "like" a personal Facebook page so you will have to consistently generate content (i.e.: work harder) in order to show up in your "friend's" news feed. If someone has "liked" your page they will see your content automatically.

Finally, there are so many fantastic third party apps for Facebook "business" pages that are not available for "personal" pages. I have clients who have tabs linking to their newsletters, YouTube or any number of resources that further relate to their business. These tools are readily available, easy to implement and cost nothing but the time it takes to set up - often just a few minutes.

If you remain unconvinced as to why you should have a business page on Facebook, consider this: do you really want the public, clients and people you do business with making assumptions about you based on the content that gets shared on your wall by your kids, personal friends, college roommates and others?

Just because you know that red plastic cup you're holding in a picture has soda in it, doesn't mean someone else looking at the photo will assume that. Yes, there are some sharing controls on Facebook, but they can be difficult to locate and therefore implement.

Why risk the potential pitfalls when you can readily set up a "Business" page on Facebook which can be managed by using the Use Facebook as Page switch under the Account drop down menu?

You already have a built-in set of "fans" for your page in all of your personal friends. The "average user" has 130 of them. You can easily share your new page with your personal friends, asking them to "like" it - thereby getting you the 25 likes for the custom URL. You can have a page dedicated just for "business" - increasing your social media footprint, SEO and number of eyes on your product or service.

Women and Social Media – Playing to our Strengths

Marketers are always looking to influence women. While we (still rather appallingly) don’t earn equally to men, in many ways our spending power is greater. Why? Because we often have more influence than our spouses/boyfriends in what is purchased. Women have high influence on the purchase of groceries, home goods and furnishings, and clothing. In families, women’s choices influence children’s toys, entertainment and the petty cash expenditures that make up teen entertainment, allowances and tooth fairy money. We carry brand loyalty, we search for deals, our gender’s proclivities practically program us to be social. Combine that with shopping and you have a marketing home run. 

We are the Social Gender

Because women are by and large expert natural communicators companies have been constantly looking to engage us across multiple platforms and sectors both locally and globally. Rather than selling us something we might not need, but find attractive, now we are approached via social media to not only share our opinion but to sometimes beta-test or even evangelize for products and services before a single sale takes place.

The Good Gossip

Take for example a traditionally female market – baby products. Every new mother is looking for the best products that bring CPQ - Convenience, Price and Quality. If they have a cachet to them as well, so much the better. Who will these new moms listen to? The “Varsity” mothers, those with older children who can share their wisdom from a “been there, tried that” perspective. An entire cadre of “mommy bloggers”, our own version of 21^st century “god-sibbs”, is out there sharing their opinions in real-time and building brand authority for any number of products. These days with social media, it’s not 4 out of 5 doctors recommending, it’s 4 out of 5 of the women in your child’s neighborhood preschool, at your job, on Facebook, in the pew and 6 timezones and perhaps a cultural divide away.

Leading Ladies

Because women are so driven to build relationships, we have a breadth and depth of opportunity to become social media leaders and sisters to one another. Advice driven sites on where to find the best bargains, deals, and coupons continue to grow. The addition of “gaming” techniques to deepen the engagement expands and amplifies our participation.  We have a gender-based advantage in communication and relationship understanding that can be used to effect change and create innovation by aggregating user value and harnessing the power of collective intelligence.

All Access Pass

For women who are trying to start their own businesses, the numerous free tools offered by social media are a huge boon for marketing and promotion. Social media done right is an all access backstage pass – you can build a stream to venture capital, industry experts and key players who can help along the way. Just a few years ago, this would have been much more difficult to gain without an MBA and/or a well-connected friend. A marketing campaign of Facebook, Twitter and a blog about your business costs nothing but your time. Social media enhances our relationships to one another, broadens our spheres of influence and levels the playing field. Women who aren’t using social media successfully are missing out on flexing our social muscle.

Share your thoughts. Are women better at social media than men? Are we truly playing to our strengths? Does gender have any bearing on social media success?

Feel the link love: Images courtesy of Virology, Perfectlyspaced.com, Zazzle.com and the University of South Florida

Follower of Fashion

I'm not particularly known as a Fashion Plate, though I do appreciate nice clothes. I have just had a wardrobe consultation with the amazing Anne Devlin and she has inspired me to look closer at clothing.

This is also exercise for my newly liberated hand...Lefty has been a bit constrained lately. Typing was suggested by my doctor as a good "work out". Snowboarding, not so much. :-(

I've seen a lot of neat fashion ideas recently and thought I would share some of them.

Wear the Shift
This is a site that was crowd-sourced on Kickstarter. Cute, A-line shift dresses that are custom made for you in vintage fabric. They run your measurements in a fancy algorithm and out comes bespoke awesomeness! I can't wait to wear mine and I promise will model it here (yes really).

QR Code wear
Check it out - you can put a QR code on clothing. Maybe this is too Geekchic for some people but I thought it would be a fun idea for All the Single Ladies to put your Match.com profile page as a QR code on a t-shirt. And clearly great minds think alike because they had that idea at Zazzle.

L-R-G
This company has decided to follow me on Twitter (thanks ya'll) and because they did, I'm going to give them a shout out, www.L-R-G.com I am more M-E-D but it looks like fun clothes for guys who like surfing waves and snow. Right on.

Kika Paprika
I just bought some clothing from Kika Paprika to boost my fashion quotient. I wanted to achieve an updated look for "casual business" and break out of my "uniform" - those items that I repeatedly went to because they were comfortable, but somewhat outdated. This clothing is VERY comfortable! I couldn't get over how soft the fabric was, seriously, most of the pieces I tried on I could imagine sleeping in they were so soft. The fabrics are pre-shrunk, organic cotton and colored with organic dyes. The clothing is made locally in Los Angeles. How can you go wrong in clothes that look great, support a sustainable business model and that you can shop for without going to the mall?

Images from WeartheShift, Zazzle, LRG and Kika Paprika. Feel the love!

Give Lefty a Hand

A few weeks ago, I broke my left hand. The 4th metacarpal bone to be exact. I am (thankfully) right-handed, but my buddy Lefty does quite a lot to help move things along.

A few hours after. All my fingers are extended in this photo, except the broken one.

Metacarpal fractures are common injuries that account for 30-40% of all hand fractures. They most often involve the 5th (pinky finger) and/or the 4th metacarpal (ring finger) and are also known as boxer’s or bar-room fractures.

This is from the next morning. It does look like I got into quite the kerfuffle doesn't it?

Typing, Holding things, Many household chores, Bathing, Dressing, Cooking, these are all things that are slightly more challenging to do without Lefty.

How did it happen? Dog walking. The short of it is that I was not present in that moment. I had a gazillion little distractions. I was monkey-minding (something we all fall into from time to time). With a little help from Dingo the dog.

I’m fortunate in that the things I am presently committed to – work, meetings, etc. I have been able to either walk to, get a ride to or Skype myself in to. At work, my intern very kindly offers to take dictation. My clients are often surprised, “Oh no! What happened??” Sometimes I like to say, “Well, I was wrestling a wolverine…” or perhaps more believably, “I caught an edge snowboarding...”

Unfortunately they didn't offer a Carolina Blue cast...

Not surprisingly, I’ve really increased my speed and accuracy in one-handed typing. I’ve revamped my meal plans for items that are soups, casseroles and stews; recipes that can be made with pre-chopped vegetables, meat and a lot of stirring. We have feasted on paella and enjoyed a chocolate pavlova dessert. The Crock Pot is seeing more action. The stand mixer and food processor have never been busier.

Soon the cast will come off, but the lesson has been learned. Dingo reminds me, in her goofy, awkward, “ding a ling” way, that I must be present and patient in all of life’s moments. Even the seemingly mundane ones such as dog walking. I have said before, that dogs are our bodhisattvas in fur and this was revealed to me again in an eye opening (and bone breaking) moment.

Some thoughts on the Knowledge Economy

In 1969 Peter Drucker popularized the phrase knowledge economy. The idea of a knowledge economy is that knowledge is viewed as a product versus knowledge as a tool. The knowledge economy is based on the economics of abundance. I touch on this in Open Source: The End of Scarcity Means More. Information and knowledge increase through the act of sharing. The more data/information shared, the more growth in knowledge results. Knowledge flows as water, it drips then becomes a steady stream or torrent where ever there is demand and few barriers. In the knowledge economy, wealth is based on ownership of knowledge and information.

Forty-two years later Drucker’s children are the knowledge workers – the Gen X and Yers, the Millennials and Digital Natives are established or entering the workplace. As suggested in my post, What If Work Were Fun?, the worker of the 21st century is becoming a knowledge worker. Schooled in new media, the brightest of them are capable of both convergent and divergent thinking, they can be collaborative, evaluate priorities, make connections, establish and nurture relationships, and be flexible enough to both create new paradigms as well as modify existing ones.

Social media has risen in importance and currently drives the knowledge economy because communication is a fundamental component to the stream of knowledge and information. Social media highlights the importance of relational capital – one based on interactions and relationships. The act of transforming information into knowledge is the creation of value.

Just a few years ago we did business differently. The rule was - I offered a product/commodity for sale, you bought it (or not), end of transaction. It was an even exchange, a closed system. But the knowledge economy has changed that. The open sourced, new way of doing business also values expertise and the concept of “know how”. Meshing social with business creates an emotional bond. It’s about more than just selling, these relationships foster an interactive and cooperative exchange.

The old way of doing business doesn’t work effectively anymore because more social effort needs to be invested to get people to listen. Business must engage and be present vis a vis their customers who now demand openness, flexibility and a willingness to embrace change.

I have an actor friend who used to believe that once he landed an agent, he could just sit back and the jobs would come rolling in. He believed that an agent would do the heavy lifting for him, bring him work so he wouldn’t have to hustle. This didn’t happen, so he fired the agent. But once my friend realized that he was his own best representative - his career started to take off because he was creating value for himself. He was giving to get. Now he’s got several agents chasing him.

“What you give is what you get.”

I used to talk about this concept a lot when I was a fundraising executive. We rallied our board members around the Give/Get principle because we expected them to create value for the institution.

It’s not really that different in business. By giving value for the people around you, you will get value in return. Value creates thought leadership, someone who people want to know and do business with. People want to give business to those who give them business. This is not a new idea, but it’s one worth being mindful of because emphasizes reciprocity, an exchange which creates a relationship.

I try to create value everyday because I appreciate the community I inhabit. For me, it makes for a full and fulfilled work life. Who doesn’t want that?

Photos from: Wikipedia, Teamsubmarine & Mr. Cheapstuff

And Dingo is her Name-O

Yes, ladies and gents. The New Dog has a name.

Dingo.

And yes, I've heard all the "ate my Bay-Bay" jokes, enough now. She does look at bit like a dingo, it's true but I think she might be a Belgian Malinois-yellow Lab mix.

She is a lovely girl. More confident now being left on her own. Very excited to play with a tennis ball and loves a flying disc - in fact she has shredded a few already. We think she is younger than 2 because she's still teething a bit.

She seems an excellent candidate for agility and/or flyball and I can't wait to try her out with that.

The Dog with No Name

We adopted a dog this weekend from a shelter in Los Angeles. Witness the satisfied customer above, taking her first contented dog nap.

We'd seen her mugshot on the shelter's website and thought she looked like a good dog.  She was in a kennel with 2 other dogs about her size. When we approached she was nibbling on the others to prevent them from coming close to us. Not in a very aggressive way, but more like puppy gnawing on them as if to say - nope, these are MY people!

She seemed a little freaky when they moved her from the kennel to the outdoor space where we could see her alone, but she calmed down a bit and we decided that for a shelter dog, she seemed very mellow. We walked her around the block at the shelter and were pleased to notice she was an OK leash walker but needed a little practice.

She rode home well in the car, seemed relaxed and when we got her home we spent some time walking in our fenced back yard with her off leash. We came inside and she explored around then we took her for a walk around the neighborhood, again giving her more leash practice time. She's VERY interested in cats! Other dogs don't seem to rate much interest, nor do children, people on bikes or loud trucks.

She arrived at the shelter Dec 17, they estimated about 2 years old and pregnant. She was handed in by her former owner. She left micro-chipped and spayed. I'm glad she was spayed, but I wonder what happened to her pups.

She is very relaxed for a new dog. I think she is just relieved to be at a house, without other dogs and the smells and the drama that is inherent in a shelter. She has demonstrated to us she is house-trained and she enjoys her brisk walks in the neighborhood. She is getting much better on lead but still has some separation anxiety. She doesn't know it but when I go out for a while today she's getting a nice puzzle chew toy with treats inside. I hope she likes it because she's not terribly food motivated. In fact she hasn't eaten much since she's been with us. Her low food interest and worm problem will be addressed at her vet appointment.

For a shelter dog, she is surprisingly mellow and well-behaved. She's been one of the easiest dogs I've ever encountered.

Name-wise we've had a few ideas - but so far she remains without an official moniker.

Dear Old Mrs Dogger

Though it has been more than a year since you departed this world, I still have moments where I think of you.

Hiking in Runyon Canyon last weekend was one of them. I remembered the sheer joy on your face as you yodeled to me from the back of the car. You knew where were were going as soon as I turned onto Franklin to park. I remembered that day we ran into Cesar Milan with his pack of pitbulls up there. That time that you resolutely decided to not walk a step further and it took several of us in turns to carry you down the hill, then straight to the vet where suddenly you were "fine".

You greeted me every morning without fail as though it were the happiest moment you'd ever experienced. You taught me so much about living in the moment because you embodied the joy of the Now. You were loving and kind to everyone equally. You tolerated the loving tugs of enthusiastic small children on your ears and tail without a grumble, just a deft sidestep. I watched you sleep and dream. I knew all your groans, moans, barks, growls and yodels. You spoke clearly yet without words. You taught me about love and family, about life and death. You provided solace in grief, nurturing in illness, abundance in emptiness. You were my furry bodhisattva.

I'd like to get another dog but as I know it will never be the same without you -- I hestitate. Still, when you entered my life, I had not planned for nor expected you. You were just there one day and it felt as though you had always been. When you fell into a deep puppy sleep in my lap the afternoon I drove us home, my heart opened to receive your love in a way I had never experienced.

One day, perhaps another being like you will join me on the road of life. In the meanwhile I will gratefully accept your presence in my memories and your appearance in my dreams for the precious gifts they are.

14,864 words later...

I have the start of something but I am 35,136 words short of "winning" NaNoWriMo.

I did not hit the coveted 50K. Is it that important to "win" or is it really about just doing it?

I believe that it was important to me to do the exercise because it taught me something about myself as a writer. The discipline of sitting down to write was more important than what I wrote. Like any spiritual undertaking - which in my opinion writing can be - sometimes one must just "sit" with it.

And now I have the start of something I never expected - a vampire story.

Those times I woke up in the middle of the night (thank you jet lag) and just started writing the stuff that was in my head led me to Tedward and Vivienne in places I never imagined nor had any interest in going.

The characters I had every intention of writing about, the Amargosa Sisters, resolutely refused to budge. They were pouting in a corner, not ready to step forward. But crazy Tedward came rushing out telling me all sorts of things about his vida loca here in HellAy.

So on one hand, at least numerically, this has been a ride on the fail whale. But on the other hand, it's been a successful meditation, just me in a chair, and more recently standing at my fake treadmill desk, writing.

NaNoWriMovember starts tomorrow -- will I be ready?

This has been a tough few days. We have worked all weekend. We are emotionally drained.

I can't really say much here but suffice it to say there's been a situation that I've been having to deal with at work and on top of our regular 12 hour day, there's suddenly a whole lot of other stuff to handle as well.

GAH!

I am committed to my goal, but what's happening here may well weave itself in a highly fictionalized form into my story.

I wish I had more time to be reflective, to ponder life's mysteries, to really think about things and acknowledge the holidays of Halloween and All Souls tomorrow.

I made some soup here in the office, hoping to nurture and comfort anyone who needs it. Cooking seems to set things right, if just for the small moment of chopping and heating and listening to the simmering broth.

Uh Oh! NaNoWriMo

Call me crazy, but I'm doing it.

There, I've said it so I **REALLY** have to do it now.

I'd planned to do this in September but then I went on holiday (Hello Europa) and then suddenly work fell into my lap (A BIG thank you CGW and the Universe...) and now I find myself yawning at 2:50 AM on a Friday after wrap and wondering WTF and am I nuts??

But yes, I guess I am. Nuts.

Because I am attempting to write a whole bunch of words and eventually create a hypertext web novella. In 30 days. With Scrivener.

Enough of my procrastination!

The story that I began writing 3 years ago and have kept going back to, the story inspired by a collaborative writing project a friend invited me to join, with characters inspired from a photograph by Jane Evelyn Atwood is what I am writing.

So even though I will still be shooting when NaNoWriMo starts on November 1st -- I'm gonna do it. The plan is to devote more time after we wrap and when I get back home on the 20th, so that in that last 10 days I write like a champion.

It'll be an exercise in self discipline. Like getting up for amrit vela, or the "ambrosial period". Early morning for me has traditionally been when my inspiration is at it's best because my mind is always at it's most open, empty and creative in the very early morning or upon first awakening.

Wish me luck!

Bonehead Conehead

Sometimes I just have to point out the things that bother me.

We got a coupon for Coldstone Creamery which was good only at our local store. The coupon said if you purchased a "Love It size" (medium) or larger you'd get a free cone. This seemed like a good way to treat ourselves economically on a summer afternoon and it gave me a positive impression of the company. I had never been there and it seemed a pleasant introduction.

We go inside and ponder our flavor choices. There are lots and they all looked great. The banana ice cream actually tasted like bananas, the dark chocolate was rich and delicious. I was stoked. But then the experience began to turn surreal.

The employee who waited on us seemed confused and lost. We gave him the coupon explaining we wanted the deal it offered and he accepted it. My companion ordered a Love it size. The guy hands him a cone.
"Don't I get ice cream in this?" my companion asks.
"Uh, Yeah." the employee says.
"OK so I'll take a scoop then. But please put it in a cup."
This seemed to confuse the employee even more. Finally my companion got his order in the cup as he requested.
Then it was my turn. I couldn't decide between the two flavors I had tasted.
"Can I get 2 scoops with the coupon?" I asked.
"No. Just the one, but I can give you a half scoop of each."
That seemed fair enough, a small serving was plenty for me.
"OK. Then I'll take that." and told him the flavors I wanted.
He hands me a cone.
I'm confused. "A cone?" I asked. WTH, was I supposed to scoop it myself?
"Here's your cone." he said.
"What??"
"It's your free cone." the employee said.
I'm thinking, are you kidding me?
I sized him up, he seemed clueless.
"There's no ice cream in it?" I asked.
"No, you have to buy it."
"That's misleading and false advertising. We've already spent over $4 for one scoop his sorbet. What kind of deal is this supposed to be?"

The employee seemed puzzled by my dissatisfaction. I explained to him,
"The coupon says free cone, that generally means some ice cream too." There is an implied serving of ice cream in that cone. Yes, the coupon was worded free cone not free cone filed with ice cream but who goes to a store to get just a cone?

Really. Think about it. You offer your customers an empty cone in an ice cream store and that's a draw?

The deal should have been a buy one scoop get one free or at least a scoop at a discount. The employee should have offered some kind of deal or explanation as to why just an empty cone was a worthwhile exchange.

The employee even had the nerve to try to hand me back the coupon as though he were doing me a favor. "Why would I take it back? It's worthless." I said.

Imagine if you got a coupon for a "free" entree at a restaurant with a purchase. You make the purchase and you get a free plate, empty of food. Same thing.

F minus Coldstone Creamery! Bait and Switch is no bueno. I Yelped this and I sent your corporate HQ my story.  DECEPTIVE ADVERTISING + IGNORANT STAFF = NEVER AGAIN

TTYL - Teens build relationships, find temporal freedom via TXT MSGS

"Dad! No body emails anymore!!"

This is a direct quote from two daughters (spoken in stereo) exasperatedly exclaimed to a friend of mine recently. This caused me to conduct an informal survey of teens and pre-teens about their texting habits and social network usage.

Overwhelmingly texting as communication was the most popular for several reasons: ubiquity ("it's on my phone which I always have with me"), functional privacy ("this way mom/dad can't hear what I'm saying") and perceived privacy ("a boyfriend and girlfriend sent each other photos of themselves which was OK, until their parents found out then they got in trouble").

A mere 20 years ago, the modes of discourse for teens were the telephone, in person speech or more metaphorically and abstractly, the mix-tape. Now it's the cell phone and texting or instant messaging within a social networking platform like Twitter, Facebook or Myspace. The mix-tape has been replaced by the CD or viral video. Although it seems unlikely, teens still communicate face to face, but these situations are frequently punctuated by back-channel chat and commentary "stuff you just couldn't say aloud" i.e.: when a voice call is impractical, impossible or unacceptable.

It is ironic that fearful, helicopter parents seeking control over their children's whereabouts purchased these phones for tracking purposes only to discover that the devices are being used by their children to engage in private, un-moderated conversation.

Confiscating the mobile phone is one of the more popular forms of punishment for the behavioral infractions of misbehaving youth. Over 60 percent of parents admitted to doing this and 64 percent of those same parents admitted that they viewed the content of their kid's phone according to a study by The Pew Internet and American Life project.

But what is it about texting? Why is it such a preferred mode and what has made it so commonplace? Is it the immediacy, the speed that mimics a face to face conversation? Does the text message encourage a sense of intimacy which in turn creates a feeling of limerence?

Ah limerence! A feeling that teens (girls especially) are familiar with. Limerent bonds manifest as intense feelings of attachment and preoccupation with the object of affection. Intrusive thoughts invade, cognitive obsession grows. Teens of both genders have reported that texting and participating in virtual social networks have an addictive quality. The need to remain connected is strong and "reachability" is highly valued. They report feeling a need to "keep up" with what was happening currently. They felt lost not knowing what people were doing or where they were while participating in a voluntary break from Facebook for a 24 hour period.

StudentSpeak Webisode 2 from Spotlight on Vimeo.

Texting also allows teens to multi-task. "It's a lot easier to be doing my homework or watching TV while I am texting." Texting also allows them to carry on multiple conversations, "I'll probably be texting five or so of my friends over the course of an evening." These interactions can range from homework questions, quick social check-ins "hi!" and complaints "my sister's being a B*tch". They have their own acronyms idk, gtg and lingo. Teens carry out conversations with one another without being expected to reply within a short amount of time, as in a mobile phone conversation where reception can be shoddy. Texting offers a flexibility and freedom from temporal constraint.

Teens communicate in this way all day long, even falling asleep in the virtual company of their correspondents -- effectively texting themselves to sleep. But the sound of a voice is just as important as one 17 year old boy told me, "I'll text a girl, but if I'm interested (in her) I'll also call her and talk on the phone too." Thus reinforcing a bond, with every call or 1 txt @ a time.

Monster Media - the Social Economics of Vampires and Zombies

It seems one can track the socio-economic trends in popular culture by the appearance of either Zombies or Vampires showing up in our consciousness.

Right now we seem to be in Vampire overdrive with the Twilight series and HBO's True Blood though Zombies have been making a steady showing in films such as Zombieland and in remixed versions of classic literature with Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. Either way, the monsters are among us, either sucking us dry or eating us alive.

Vampires are the monsters of our intellect. They suffer our existential dilemmas, some even our guilt and shame. They are the ultimate prisoners of body consciousness. Trapped in an eternity that mortals always tend to romanticize because we are (as yet) incapable of living for centuries. In Freudian terms, vampires are the super ego made manifest. These graceful dandies drive fast cars as they struggle to control their carnal desire for human blood. You can find a comprehensive history of vampires here.

Zombies on the other hand can be seen as manifestations of the id. Zombies are dim-witted, staggering louts, poor conversationalists. They are anonymous, remorseless, endless in number, viral. They are all about self-gratification, excess, engorgement, acquisition of more. And oddly, any organized authority is unable to stop them. Zombies are only defeated by a rag tag band of individuals teaming up together to wipe our their scourge - one gore-spattered shotgun blast at a time. What better Zombie movie has there ever been than George Romero's Dawn of the Dead where a shopping mall is the common ground. Zombies frantically search for food in a lusty frenzy while the living are holed up, determined to cling to their last outpost of humanity? A cinematic Zombie timeline is here.

Zombies and Vampires are us, transformed version of humans, our monstrous selves. Writers and artists have used them as metaphors for our political, social and economic fears. They stand in for despotic regimes, our psychological terrors, fears of the other and fear of intimacy, for miscegenation, sexism, xenophobia, communists, homosexuals, consumers. Our fears concerning sexually transmitted disease, mental illness, technology and class division have all been addressed by these fantastic creatures of our mind who define and create by destroying others. If one looks back over the 20th century, it's possible to view the boom times through a filter of Zombies (1950's, 1980's) and the bust with Vampires (1970's, 1990's) so the trend would appear cyclical and somewhat predictable. Which ever genre has the upper hand, there appears to be no end to our monster mania as long as we remain human.

Mashup vs Remix - a tale of two text types

What are the similarities and differences between these two moving image commentaries? Below are some definitions and interesting examples.

A Remix - is an alternate version of an original source, a newly created version from source material. Elements are re-assembled in a new way.

A Mashup - is a version using multiple sources sometimes with little or no relation, often lampooning or referring to another text or source. It is a derivative work with properties of intertextuality where a texts' meanings are shaped and informed by other texts.

This bricolage idea of use what you have is not a new one, but with the easy availability of multiple texts and technology, the remix and mashup are moving from messages passed between peer groups into broader realms of social commentary and education. Aided by the speed of social networking, they can move from one phase to another in a matter of hours.

A Fair(y) Use Tale by Eric Faden - a remix illustrating copyright law, derivative but not lampooning. It's a great example of remix explaining Fair Use and Copyright law. Note that he cites his sources at the end.



The measurements for fair use involve elements of criticism, news reporting, teaching and parody. Keep these in mind as you review the following pieces below.

Once Upon a Time in Afghanistan - Jason Stakeman's remix incorporating mashup techniques intended to educate the viewer about the war in Afghanistan as well as comment on American foreign policy and culture. It compares the US invasion with the westerns of John Ford.

Click To Play

Edward vs Buffy - a remix by Rebellious Pixels/Jonathan McIntosh lampooning the romance genre in a mashup style and commenting on male/female relationships.


And another by Rebellious Pixels - a remixed commercial for a popular SUV.


Here's a mashup lampooning the Twilight series and the music video Wanted Dead or Alive that was created to market fake engagement rings by Ms. Taken.



Here's a mashup of a mashup - the Hitler video parody. Using a clip from the 2004 German film Der Untergang (Downfall), these videos number in the hundreds at least. Seeing Bruno Ganz as Hitler rant about current events and setbacks seems to have an endless appeal. The film's director Oliver Hirschbiegel seems to get the spirit in which they are presented, while Constantin Films, the production company, has requested the videos be removed.

Open Source – The End of Scarcity means More

IBM has estimated that the amount of digital information will double every 11 hours in 2010.

That’s an abundance of unlimited content, access, and information. Something barely imaginable. It is frightening and exciting at the same time. It is a huge paradigm shift for a culture used to a previous world driven by scarcity, preciousness and exclusivity.

The potential here is best understood in the context of education.

At Itunes U any number of amazing and free lectures from places like MIT, the Sorbonne, Cambridge and UNC Chapel Hill can be downloaded.

It’s a remix of the traditional idea of education: get some experts, people eager to learn and start a discussion. Where it takes place is less relevant, though to draw students the content must be strong and the sense of Bakhtinian sobornost – “togetherness” or “true sense of community” must still exist.

More control and choice for learners creates a P2P environment where students are both learners and teachers as well as creators and consumers. Knowledge flows freely rather than being stockpiled.

A unique example of this is happening at Purdue University. They have designed an app called Hotseat. It functions like Twitter for the lecture hall and in fact was developed with the idea that students were already texting anyway -- why not create a faculty endorsed distraction to focus that back channel discussion? With this app, students are commenting on the commentary and asking questions. Student to student sharing has been embraced by Purdue rather than seeing it as a threat for it’s potential to encourage cheating and non independent learning. In this way, redundant academic work becomes more vibrant and open. Hotseat is remediative - a new way of showing an old media form. Ie; the "class discussion" experience.

The Spectacular Society: why the open source movement could lead to a conscious revolution for social justice

Kite running in Afghanistan is a dangerous sport. Lives are endangered in this endeavor so distracting that Afghans have plunged to their death from great heights or been gravely injured chasing their beloved kites, as precious and revered as baseball and apple pie for Americans.

Guy Debord, the author of “The Society of the Spectacle” suggests that mass media offers a distraction by showing a fake reality to obfuscate the degradation of capitalism. After being subjected to a few minutes of the reality TV series “The Real Housewives of New York” in a physician’s waiting room, one might suspect he was on to something.

Could distraction be the metaphor for our involvement in international conflict? Is the pursuit of war a massive spectacle to distract the ordinary citizen? The phrase, “Go fly a kite” comes to mind. In other words, beat it, so the important work can get done.

Victor Klemperer’s writing regarding the language used by the Nazi regime illustrate the importance of observing how those in power manipulate language. Ironically after surviving the oppression of this regime as a Jew he went on to serve in the Volkskammer of the former German Democratic Republic, one of the most oppressive states of the 20th century.

Repeated negative images, news of death and failure, unemployment, the continuing spill of oil into the Gulf all cause us to suffer from “compassion fatigue”, burn out, secondary traumatic stress disorder. Where political events and our private lives in the post 911-era intersect, it appears that scaremongering and schadenfreude create compassion fatigue which in turn is remedied tidily by spectacle.

The disconnect caused by spectacle has also engendered a sense of desperation for contact. We are so obsessed with the need to be ‘in touch” that we repeatedly reach out to our colleagues and family members via text message and Facebook. In a dislocated, spectacular world, our constant seeking of reassurance that everything’s “okay” drives us as intensely as the Afghan kite runners.

A little distraction is probably okay, within the realm of normal even. But how can we be assured that we aren’t completely disconnected from human suffering and injustice? One way is by reclaiming the message we’re given. If everyone can possess the means to reshape the images and messages sent to us, then meaning can be re-framed and the hegemony of those who have power over our language can be challenged.

New meaning can be recreated, communities formed and social change created. In this way, much like the open source software movement, open data and information access can be the tools of compassionate social change.

Mind Mapping - Tinderbox, Scrivener and Neo Victorian Computing

I'm developing narrative that I hope to eventually turn out into the metaverse as an open source collaborative project/experience. It might be a hypertext, a space in Second Life, a web series, or it could become any number of things. Ultimately, I believe it's the narrative that matters and the experience of it, not the distribution method. To this end, I am exploring mind mapping software (which I admit sounds nefarious and cyberpunkish) in the form of Tinderbox and Scrivener to organize my non-linear thought paths.

I'm not sure which one I like better, the free demo for Tinderbox is limited by number of entries and features in demo mode but at this point I'm just not able to financially spring for it at $200+ for the full access. This is also partially why I downloaded Scrivener, which is only slightly more affordable by about $50. Initial use of both however as not yet swayed me one way or the other.

I am inspired by images. I have had photographs send me off into my imaginative deep end - diving into places where I step back after a frenzy of creativity and marvel at where this stuff came from. The world I am creating this codex for has origins in a lot of science and pseudo-science and multiple cultural influences. I want to keep these images, web links, PDF's and clips organized and also be able to see other ways I can mix them together to form the canon. For now I'd like it resident only on my computer, until I am ready to release, which is why I have not chosen a wiki as my main tool.

The creator of Tinderbox, Mark Bernstein has a blog which caught my eye, particularly his thread about Neo-Victorian computing and he defines it as

Built for people 

Built by people 

Crafted in workshops 

Irregular 

Inspired

This has a resonance for me because these seem to be the same characteristics held by the open source movement. Built by those who will use it. Created in small work groups by individuals. Democratic (as in the irregular chaos of a democracy). Inspired - people want to make things work better. An example of this is Blender.org which Ton Roosendaal talked about as a community that evolved around the software with people from all over the world wanting to improve upon it.

Thanks to Jonny Goldstein for this mind map image on Flickr.