Poetry & Pushpins

~ The Writings of S.L. Woodford

Poetry & Pushpins

Tag Archives: technology

The Frivolous Internet Post :)

11 Wednesday Mar 2015

Posted by poetryandpushpins in Pushpins (Daily Life)

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Jane Austen, technology

I couldn’t make up my mind about what to post this week. I was working on two different pieces: one about Daylight Savings Time and human mortality, the other about giving up the f-word for Lent (and failing horribly). But, I decided to take the advice of my homegirl Jane Austen and: “let other pens dwell on guilt and misery.” I’m not posting either. It’s been a long winter here in New England, and I need a proper giggle, heavily seasoned with joy and mirth. Perhaps you need that, too. And so, I humbly present you with a list of internet frivolity that never fails to make me laugh. Enjoy!

1. Jane Austen Fight Club

Things get real when teacups start to fly.

2. Your LL Bean Boyfriend

Okay, so this tumblr doesn’t make me laugh—but, handsome men, especially handsome men who are thoughtful and outdoorsy, always make me smile.

http://yourllbeanboyfriend.tumblr.com/

3. Tom Hiddleston Teaches Cookie Monster Delayed Gratification.

My favorite Sesame Street character and my favorite actor teach our young an important life skill.

P.S. Tom Hiddleston seems to win the internet. Especially if winning the internet involves being cheeky, kind, nerdy, and ridiculously adorable.

4. Last Week Tonight’s YouTube Channel

Oh, I am stupidly fond of John Oliver’s satirical, sensitive, silly masterpiece. I have a big literary crush on the show’s brilliant writing, so I couldn’t choose just one video! Enjoy this channel. Play it on loop. And definitely check out the clips on: FIFA, net neutrality, Warren Harding’s love letters, the Salmon Cannon, Conservatives reading Ayn Rand, Scotland, UK Labour Party’s Barbie bus, U.S. territories, Daylight Saving Time, and Totally Rad GOP Commercials.

https://www.youtube.com/user/LastWeekTonight/featured

Note: John is British and likes to use the f-word (a lot). I do not mind this because the f-word is a very versatile, fascinating word. But, your boss might. This is NSFW.

5. Neil Gaiman Supports the Onion for a Pulitzer Prize

Gaiman is fabulous. He is also British and enjoys using the f-word. This too, is NSFW.

Video Games (and Attempting to Play Them)

10 Wednesday Sep 2014

Posted by poetryandpushpins in Pushpins (Daily Life)

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

learning patience, making mistakes, technology

Gosh, I’ve been busy these past two weeks. And that business has everything to do with the start of another school year here in New Haven. Days have wildly tripped by, full of meeting new students, seeing old friends, and going to lots and lots of opening receptions. All glorious and exciting and new—but, slightly taxing to my introverted side. Which is why I made sure to skulk about my apartment last Saturday night and play video games.

Well, I guess I should say play a video game. Because there is only one I ever play with a certain amount of frequency and that is The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, an action role-playing game that transports you to the digital continent of Tamriel, where, because of open game play, you can fight badies, steal stuff, read books, and run about the breathtaking countryside collecting mushrooms to your heart’s content. To me, Oblivion is the digital equivalent to one of George Eliot’s fine Victorian novels. All of the quests, both main and side, are fine pieces of storytelling that examine morality, human psychology, and religion. And your character’s choices (good, evil, neutral) change their personalities and your gaming experience (so George Eliot!).

So, with a cup of tea by my side, I turned on my PS3, created a new character (I’m really into Dunmers at the moment), started to play…and immediately died before reaching the first real “save point” in the dungeon quest tutorial.

I have played this game before.

I have played this game before. Many, many times.

I always get out of the dungeon without dying.

Apparently not this time.

Feeling like a right regular noob, I went back into the kitchen, fixed myself another cup of tea, and tried the level again. This time, I made it out of the dungeon and onto the next level of gameplay with ease.

Though I’m grateful that no one was in the apartment to see my first epic fail, complete with rabidly enthusiastic dog-sized rats and dark-ass dungeon tunnels, this series of events from sucktastic noobery to competent gamerness reminded me of why, on a meta level, I enjoy playing video games like Oblivion: they teach me to be patient with my learning process while encouraging me to make mistakes.

I started playing video games as a teenager because of my brother (he had to have some way to get me back for all the Jane Austen I made him read). I was horrible at them. Hand eye coordination is not a natural gift of mine. And just like the mean girls at school, who made fun of me for reading Shakespeare and wearing glasses, video games made me, a 4.0 student and a perfectionist, feel stupid and inadequate.

But, no matter how stupid and inadequate I felt playing video games with my brother, I could always go back to the main menu, and try the level I bombed again. And the second, third, or even the tenth play through would become much easier. The grace that came in the form of the save button was powerful. It gave me space in my perfectionist world to do something crazy, to take risks. It reminded me that learning something is sometimes a process that matures you through your failures, and what you do after your failures, rather than through your exquisitely executed successes.

And if that thought doesn’t give you hope in a dark-ass dungeon while large rats attempt to gnaw your character’s face off, I don’t know what will.

photo

Texturing Text: Or, Adventures in Web Design

02 Wednesday Apr 2014

Posted by poetryandpushpins in Pushpins (Daily Life), The Creative Life

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

New Haven, technology, the creative process

“The Library site is looking great.” I type, in an e-mail to my website designer. “I was wondering if we could do something more with the background? I’m attaching a few photos that may give it more texture.”

We are currently putting the finishing touches on a new website, for the library I direct. It will help our community members and students access the information in our collection faster. So far, I’m enjoying the task, learning a lot about WordPress and web design as we progress.

The new site is clean, balanced, and modern looking, to mimic the building that surrounds the library’s moderate-sized collection. There are splashes of navy blue, a subtle reminder to the viewer of our Yale affiliation. And, if we can do it, there will be a background, rough, warm, and textured.

I was born in the mid-80s. Unlike the students I now serve (especially the college age ones), I remember a time when computers and smartphones were not primary research tools. I’m old enough to remember that learning, that seeking information, has a sensual experience to it. I know how it feels to hold a book in my hands, slowly slipping my fingertips across the paper’s light, fibered surface as I turn another page and learn another fact.

Though students will visit my site and take in information, clothed in svelte text on a smooth computer screen, there will be something else—a little warmer, a little softer, a little different—going on in the background. Their fingers will not touch fiber, but their eyes will feel the presence of a different sort of texture.

Icons at 3:19 A.M.

13 Wednesday Nov 2013

Posted by poetryandpushpins in Pushpins (Daily Life), Religious Exploration, The Creative Life

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Christian community, grief, technology, the creative process, writing

“Icons” is my newest non-fiction. Published in the The Living Church, this little piece is getting a lot of attention. It was even mentioned as a story “worth noting” by AnglicansOnline. The editor writes that:

S.L. Woodford writes in The Living Church (Milwaukee) on death, grief, and text-messages.

And, I do just that. Yet, I cannot think of it as a stand alone piece. In my mind, it will always be linked to something I wrote for Hartford Faith & Values entitled “3:19 A.M.” Both deal with my shock, grief, and yearning for beauty after the unexpected death of my mother. “3:19 A.M.” explores the morning I received the news and “Icons” tells the story of the day after.

Mom’s been dead for five months and I’m deeply glad that I wrote both pieces so soon after her death—each one preserves the hardest, but richest, moments of my life, while setting my love for her as a permanent reality, like a leaf within amber.

Read “Icons” here.

Recent Posts

  • The Natural Sequel of an Unnatural Beginning
  • Late Summer Spiders
  • Hawks and Walks
  • Process Learning and Pavement
  • Saying Goodbye to Terry Pratchett

Archives

  • September 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013

The Cloud of Unknowing: Tags

Advent Anne Elliot is the best books botany Bronte bashing Burberry Women C.S. Lewis Captain Wentworth Chanel No. 5 Charleston Christian community churches community contra dancing cooking countryside cozy apartment empathy England favorite recipes fiction folk songs friendship gardening grief hawks Henry Tilney Highland Schottishe history human nature Ireland Jane Austen laundry adventures learning patience Lent librarians libraries making mistakes Midwest MIss Fisher Mr. Selfridge Neil Gaiman New England New Haven New Year New York PBS Dramas poetry resiliency Rowan Williams running spiders technology Terry Pratchett the creative process Toupee von Pear vintage fashion World Cup writing

Amazing Writers

  • BeyondWhy.org
  • Daisy C. Abreu
  • Jenny Blair, Freelance Writer
  • Kimberly B. George. Feminst. Writer. Bridge Builder.
  • The Local Yockel

Creators of Beauty: Art & Music

  • Elisa Berry Fonseca
  • Ordinary Time
  • Stella Maria Baer
  • Tawnie Olson, Composer

Publications

  • Hartford Faith & Values
  • Lillian Goes Vintage: The Tumbler
  • The Living Church
  • The Vincent Librarian's Blog
  • Young Raven's Literary Review

Sites of Whimsy

  • Ask the Past: Advice from Old Books
  • The Productive Librarian
Follow Poetry & Pushpins on WordPress.com

Follow me on Twitter

My Tweets

Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com.

Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy
  • Follow Following
    • Poetry & Pushpins
    • Join 60 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • Poetry & Pushpins
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...