What does Boingboing mean to you?

What does boingboing mean to you?

Were does an essay about a blog called boingboing begin? My roommate would definitely tell you that it must being with the question "what is the first thing you think of when you think of boingboing?" The questions obviously appeals to the dirty thinker in all of us. But in some ways it also does a great job of getting us to imagine and to have fun. This is, in my opinion the basic principle of boingboing and happy mutantism. My original plan was to talk about boingboings relationship with modern sociological and psychological theorists like Ulrich Beck, Anthony Giddens and Albert Bandura. The orginal title was "Is (late) postmodernity getting you down?" Good thing this essay is not for school and I'm drinking and writing. Instead I will take a more personal approach and describe a few ways in which my friends and family are in their own way happy mutants. Unlike the Happy mutant handbook I feel that we all have a slight mutation, but it must nurtured in order to thrive and make us true mutants. I know, I know, I've skipped a step. You are still wondering what boingboing is. I'll get to that later. But first things first: what is a happy mutant?

Happy Mutant (neophilic optimisticus): Happy Mutants are attracted to new ideas and activities. However, Happy Mutants do not seek novelty to escape misery. They seek it because they know that novelty opens up new possibilities for living a life filled with astonishment, wonder, and entertaining weirdness. Novelty is also highly addictive-the more you get, the more you want. It's important that Happy Mutants get frequent doses of novelty injected into their nervous systems, or they'll eventually revert to normality-a gruesome sight, indeed (from the happy mutant handbook).

For more definitions see this site from the University of Queensland.

Considering this definition, I would like to start this case study with my friend Sean Clark's annual christmas email. Every christmas Sean wraps his friends in the wonder and excitement of his daily existence. Some may find these activities mundane, stale or even boring, but if your daily existence is mundane, stale and boring you are definitely not a happy mutant. I'm elated to report that Sean is keeping in the tradition of happy mutants and making everyday life great. Here is an excerpt from "Christmas Greetings Volume V:

"Hey everybody, how’s it going?

... back at the centre of the universe (meaning Saskatchewan, for ye ill-informed), the gods have rewarded The Chosen People (TM) with an unqualified bounty. Not only did the Roughriders pull out the big win (now 3/16 in the final) and the new premier introduce a used-car tax rebate, fresh data indicates that the return of the lost Alberta tribes (a net gain for the first time since Jesus was a petite baby) helped push our population once again over the million mark. Sure, the province’s fine dining may still only extend as far as the Husky Truck Stop, but seriously, can anything stop this prairie juggernaut? I say we invade Ontario and just get done with it." Has there ever been a more eloquent summar of modern day Saskatchewan. I think not.

My next example of happy mutantism comes again every year during the christmas season. My family gets together to celebrate. Like most families we celebrate wit food. Unlike most families with also celebrate with competition. The anal annual "Read until you're wiped" trophy goes to victor of a random (an necessarily invented) series of parlor games. The trophy is made from a table leg that my grand father was beveling on a lathe. Long story shot, he screwed up the measurement, added a base, a book stand and a toilet roll holder to the leg and the trophy was created. Here it is, and you thought Festivus was a big deal.

My final example of happy mutantism comes from a little project that my wife (more accurately) and a few mischeivous friends were involved in recently. The name of the game is yarn bombing. The projet (when I reading this again I realised that I wrote project in french, I'm going to leave it for fun) aims to beautify urban spaces and make people stop, look, and hopefully feel an emotion of some kind when they see a lamp post decorated with random yarn. So far they have not been arrested so I guess that's good. In reality this is an attempt to make those normals realize their true mutant potential. Here are a few photos for the record.

Finally, I would like to salute the runners up in this case study Johnny K., Cameron and Alexa for their cat run, Jimmy for this British military canoe training, my brother for his shoe fetish, Margot for her sprouting and lesbian haircut/bike shops everywhere.

I started this essay with the question "what does boingboing mean to you?" but I still haven't even really said what it was and I don't intend on it. For me, boingboing makes a critical contribution to a daily does of weird and random. The perils and boredom of sitting in front a screen all day can make life dull. So it's time to start being creative, screw with technology (old and new), make things, and generally be content in modern life. It's not all that bad. For your information this essay is written at a 68.72 (easily understandable by 13- to 15-year old students) on the Flesch-Kincaid Readability test. Not sure what that means but just for fun I put it in an article that I'm going to submit to the American Journal of Public Health. It was a 38.18 (best understood by college graduates). Well at least the article is on the right track. Not sure about this essay. But that is what happy mutantism is all about, exploring ideas.

In conclusion, here are few things that I came across during the preparation of this essay

BODPOD

GIRLTALK

How to talk to a girl

Fear EVERYTHING

PS - LINKED DATA NOW, LINKED DATA NOW!!!



Dan

Punk

Jon

Odyssey? Really?!

Odyssey, Seriously?

I just spent another weekend in Québec city hanging out with Odyssey English Language Monitors (aka. Odysseyers or Odysseyites). It helped to validate my suspicions that we’re a bunch of saps who are being duped by the Canadian government. Now don’t get me wrong, I love Quebec and I’m having a great time in Baie St-Paul (BSP) but Odysseyites (myself included) have got to stop taking this program so seriously.

First of all, let me outline who Odysseyites are. An odysseyite is someone who applies to, and is accepted to the Odyssey program. Among other admission criteria, one must have completed at least one year of post-secondary education. For more information on admission criteria and application procedures go here. Or don’t, because for the purposes of this essay, it suffices to say that all Odysseyites are fresh out of at least one year of university. Note that this essay will deal only with the experiences of English Language Monitors (ELM) on the Odyssey program and are not to be confused with their French Language Monitor counterparts who could alternatively be called Odyséens or Odyséeurs.

Let’s start with the name Odyssey. Here is an excerpt from Merriam Webster’s online definition of Odyssey (almost) word-per-word.

Main Entry: od-ys-sey
Pronounciation: real \rē(-ə)l\ life \līf\ cop \käp\ out \au’t\
Function: noun

1 : a long wandering or voyage usually marked by many changes of fortune
2 : an intellectual or spiritual wandering or quest


Personally, the name makes me laugh. Seriously!? An intellectual or spiritual wandering or quest? I think not. More like a passable excuse not to be in school or working a ‘real job’ for a year. Somehow most Odysseyites seem to have missed the memo on how lame a name it is.

The number of all-important stories about staffroom or classroom mishaps and triumphs I hear (and ashamedly occasionally spew) is incredible, and frankly discouraging. The ELM job itself is a mere 25 hours per week. Other jobs worked by non-Odyseyites that comprise only 25 hrs/wk of one’s time wouldn’t usually tend to consume most of one’s time and existence. Nor would it be their main source of income unless also going to school. Many Odysseyites (myself included) have worked jobs that consumed more of their time while going to school full-time. So why, should Odyssey become so important in Odysseyites’ lives for the duration of a year? Below are some of my theories as to reasons for this phenomenon.

Theory # 1: Nothing Better to Do
When asked why Odysseyites decided to participate in the Odyssey program, one recurring response is a lack of other opportunities or choices. In other words, they came to the end of an era in their lives, such as being an undergraduate student, and have nothing better to do. For this reason, Odyseseyites cling to the program so as to avoid having to face what comes next.

Theory # 2: The Great (but temporary and safe) Escape
Another common response is that they needed to get away from something such as school, their hometown, their family, an ex, or a combination of the aforementioned and possibly more. In other words, Odyssey provided them with a means of escapism. Unlike many other forms of escapism such as drugs, foreign travel, etc., Odyssey provides a relatively safe and structured escape and even funds a (optional) trip home at Christmas time.

Theory # 3: Cop-Out Without
Many Odysseyites express a desire to learn French, to travel, work with kids, and get a taste of what it would be like to be a teacher, as reasons for their participation. It is easy, however, to see that these were the false-fronts to the grimmer, though no less legitimate, reasons for participation. Alternatively, if these were truly once the good-intentions of Odysseyites, they have not become the resounding reality for most. In fact, many an Odyseeyite can be found in centralized locations on weekends and time off from work such as Quebec city socializing and complaining about their students, in English of course, with none other than fellow Odysseites. With all of the noble reasons noted above to hide behind however, one can cop-out while avoiding disapproval.


The next question that has might puzzle one about participation in the Odyssey program is, why Odyssey? Why not Katimavik, Canada World Youth or some other program?
Well, as mentioned above, Odyssey, has a limited travel component, reasonable work demand and relatively short time-frame. As such, it offers a similar escape from ‘the real world’ as other programs might, but also the safety of being not too far from home, having a steady pay, regular but flexible hours and easy work. Once again, this seems to indicate that Odysseyites have found a relative hassle and risk-free way to avoid the real world for a while.

In addition to these attractive qualities, the program workers give convincing pep talks. These pep talks, while seemingly to boost morale and provide Odysseyites with support in reality serve to foster feelings of self and program importance. Perhaps the government (the funding source for Odyssey) is really just in it for the cheap labour and publicity in the area of ‘cultural exchange’.

Overall, it’s quite the feel-good program. I’d recommend it to almost anyone with nothing better to do for about 9 months.

Margot