|
Comments:
lynne - 2004-08-24 22:48:55 One trick is to sit at the Dixboro Dam after work, have a beer, and watch the woman walking her black bike south up the Dixboro hill.* * * * * * * * * * * * yd - 2004-08-25 09:06:45 No, seriously. As a maintenance person dealing with offices of unhappy workers, no one is ever satisfied with the teperature. Someone is always too hot or too cold. Place a thermostat on the wall where everyone can adjust it to their hearts content. Have no wires to it. Place the real thermostat in a closet or other secret location. Set it at around 70 in the summer and near 75 in the winter. Most will be happy then.* * * * * * * * * * * * raymond - 2004-08-25 09:42:12 A Puppetry Primer To successfully operate a marionette, become gravity. Leverage at the control works as musculature. Pull the string up not freely but with consideration of the forces which resist. Lower as if the power comes from below. Even if the puppet must fly, the puppeteer works as an anti-gravity device. Regardless of the lightness of the actual puppet, be the weight, feel the resistance. Isolate movement in the figure. Use the mimetic principle of "one-at-a-time" articulation. If the puppet hears a noise: Stop motion. Cock head toward front. Turn figure toward noise origin. Lean or step puppet in that direction. Move the puppet rhythmically. Hear a cadence, a beat, whether ragged or regular. Make mimesis musical. Let motion come from within. The puppet's actions perform virtual actions of the operator. Not every puppet can do everything. Design the puppet for specific action. Use iterations of the same figure designed for different tasks in successive scenes. Know beforehand what the puppet must do, but leave room to explore and discover unexpected attributes. Practice. Practice. Practice. * * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2004-08-25 10:00:51 ypsidweller!: that must have been a mirage caused by the heat waves rising up the road. I happen to know that black-bike chick and whenever I see her she's speeding at about 25 mph--on a recumbent, no less--up that Hill of Gravel and Agony. Just my 2 cents. :)* * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2004-08-25 10:03:36 I love reading these! lynne: smart not to take it personally, I think. Ypsidweller, that is actually a really smart solution!--in a way similar to lynne's: let the people get the bees out of their bonnets. raymond: quite fascinating; I didn't know any of that.* * * * * * * * * * * * yd - 2004-08-25 10:06:48 Must have been a different person walking up the hill yesterday then. My apologies* * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2004-08-25 10:10:39 I was just teasing. :) I was just a tad embarrassed to be caught red-handed sluffing off on the hill. I sometimes ride up--usually do, in fact. But it was so hot and it's such a sandy mess on the shoulder, and (another excuse...bla bla) that I wimped out. * * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2004-08-25 10:27:36 (oh, and ypsidixit doesn't want to seem standoffish and would have gaily said hi in passing, had she recognized yd--it's a bit odd but kind of fun to have been spotted in the real world by a blog acquaintance)* * * * * * * * * * * * Laura yet again - 2004-08-25 10:28:16 at any rate, sorry for the digression--back to tricks of the trades.* * * * * * * * * * * * Anna - 2004-08-25 10:35:22 The trick in my trade (academia) is to limit peoples' access to you, because there are so many demands on your time and attention. I do this in a lot of ways. One way is to work in my office with the lights out (I'm blessed with windows that let in enough natural light without tipping people off that I'm in). That way, buddies or students don't settle on my couch for a long chat when I'm really trying to concentrate on something (like writing). When I'm receptive to visitors, I work with the door open and the lights on. I limit peoples' email access to me by responding slowly to messages. I've learned that the faster you respond, the more responses you get to your responses and the madness never stops. This is especially true of undergraduate questions; they have to be encouraged to come to office hours so that you don't spend 10 hours a week typing out answers that you could give in 30 minutes in person. Plus, it's better for them to interact with instructors face-to-face anyway -- that way they get to know you well enough to write letters of recommendation. Oh, also, I try to find office hours that work for everyone in the class straight off to avoid dozens of individual appointments, which chop up the day. Another way I do it is by not answering my phone -- ever. I listen to my voicemail once a day and return the calls that really need to be returned, email responses to others, and delete the rest. (gosh, I sound anti-social, but if anything, I have to stop *myself* from being too social because otherwise, I'd just flit from office to office like a butterfly or engage in witty reparte with students and colleagues over email and never do any work at all) Finally, I try not to let any piece of paper in my mailbox pass through my hands more than once. I resist the urge to collect my mail if I don't have time to deal with it right away because otherwise, I spend time glancing at it, then bring the entire bundle back to my office, where it sits on my desk until I go through it a *second* time. I stand in the mailroom and chuck everything I possibly can into garbage or recycling and then read and hopefully chuck the rest. Very little important comes through the mail in my line of work anyway, almost everything is electronic (paper reviews, rejections/acceptances, grant notices, etc. etc. etc.).* * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2004-08-25 10:40:30 I think those are all very good practices, Anna--you sound to me like a very professional, very efficient, focused, and practical person--as you say, in such a public position you simply have to draw limits, period.* * * * * * * * * * * * Anna - 2004-08-25 10:47:56 Well, every time I feel guilty about the time I do squander, I try to remind myself that even busy people need to goof off and have fun sometimes... (The irony of writing a long post about my efficient use of time is not lost on me... ;-) )* * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2004-08-25 10:49:19 :) that is indeed pretty funny--I had to laugh.* * * * * * * * * * * * Anna - 2004-08-25 11:06:48 I can't resist one more thing: Our department's photocopier is down four flights of stairs, across a courtyard and up another flight of stairs from my office (!). A friend and I invested in a cheap copier that works fine for single documents. The money we spent (less than $100 each) was WELL worth it.* * * * * * * * * * * * addiann - 2004-08-25 19:54:36 As a theater stage director -- during the 'table work' in the first several days of rehearsal, my primary tool for guiding actors is studying the script, ranging from the playwright's overall intentions to the meaning and even sentence construction of each line. These couple of days save me from worrying about 'will they ever get it?' in the weeks to come. * * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2004-08-25 20:05:51 What a cool job, and an interesting behind-the-scenes peek--thanks addiann.* * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2004-08-25 20:08:58 [update: ypsidixit kept her eyes peeled today for 007s on the dixboro dam in order to say hello and thank him for reading the blog, but no dice. Y. rode up the hill (no more walking!) anyways. Oh well.]* * * * * * * * * * * * addiann - 2004-08-25 20:41:01 It's not a job, but it's what I do.* * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2004-08-25 20:51:51 oops, sorry. Sounds very interesting to me.* * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2004-08-26 21:16:30 [update 2: the wily ypsidixit managed to elude dixboro dam spies once again, or more probably the other way around...oh well, so it goes.]* * * * * * * * * * * * Scott - 2004-08-28 05:43:21 I have a hole in the crotch of my shorts that I where to work at the bar, covered with a towel, and I've been a comando for three years. Then of course to remind them that the more they drink, the better lookin I get! Yah-oo. Bartender, saddest job in the world. Imagine the vile you absorb over the course of the night? Thank god for 5:00 am bike rides in Norml Park, not a soul awake, sans a few Skunks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Peaceful, for sure, highly recomended* * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2004-08-28 12:11:09 I love super-early bike rides--not a soul awake and the whole world fresh and quiet and dark--it's very enjoyable.* * * * * * * * * * * * add your comment: |