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brainstorming topics --jgriffi9, Tue, 24 Jan 2006 20:05:36 -0500 reply
Space. The most difficult thing about this project, as stated earlier, is picking just one. I feel that in some ways, the more intimate and small the chosen space is, the more detailed my writing and observations about it can be. But if I choose a larger space, like Morgantown, it will probably be more exciting and easier. I also think that it will be hard to view things more closely than I already do. I am from Morgantown and I walk everywhere, so I am always observing the streets. I can always create new links and associations with the spaces I know, though. So far I am most interested in three spaces: Hidden secrets of Morgantown through the eyes of a townie, like the tallest building in downtown, which has an open, accessible roof, or the tank by the hospital that you can climb inside, the cowhouse, and grandview park where you can throw stones at the watertowers to hear the funny echos of the water inside. Also, Park Street is really interesting, with the house the owners painted a pale pink to try to sooth and calm their hyper and viscous jack russel terrier, and the man who walks with a pipe. Or the house that used to be a church. And the fence with the little boston terrier behind it that barks, and doesn't stop when you tell him "it's okay, honey." The third current option is a sunday newspaper: the different compartments and sections. I could talk about the routine of curling up with a sunday paper, the history of comics (thank you , bill watterson), and I could link the coupon pages to www.couponmom.com. To be done: pick a space and examine it closely. Compartmentalize it in a taxonomy.

One English Undergrad's View of Living in South Park --jgriffi9, Wed, 25 Jan 2006 19:01:12 -0500 reply

One English Undergrad's View of Living in South Park --sbaldwin, Thu, 02 Feb 2006 21:50:10 -0500 reply
Jamie: Great stuff. Wonderful to read and much to work with.

Interesting to think of taking the topo or gps map of South Park and projecting other data onto it, i.e. demographics, age, etc. You can do a certain amount of this - as you've begun to - by simply observing. It makes sense that living at the top of the hill makes you a walker - makes you someone who sees South Park as you pass by. So, you walk through South Park but then take the PRT - it means the whole other part of Morgantown you don't see, or only see from the PRT.

The differentiation of parts of South Park is great; the categorization of the houses is fun but probably works. Wonderful echo of Borges and/or Perec! Of course, what about stuff that's not houses? Dominos, the High School, churches. (And the cow house - yes, a favorite.)

The watertower part is great - worth a page of its own, describing being up there in Grandview.

quick comment --amiller, Tue, 14 Feb 2006 15:44:44 -0500 reply
Your first paragraph actually made me want to move to Southpark. I also like how you reminisce about how you used to dream of living in that house. Great idea and great writing!

response --sbaldwin, Tue, 28 Feb 2006 10:57:45 -0500 reply
Jamie:

Well, this is great! I’m just offering a bunch of observations. In general, there’s lots of material here – the next thing is to think about adding images.

Do think more about lateral links, i.e. not just going deep but links between nodes. (Example: your connection from the PRT to the bus route.)

I wonder if the paragraph on categorizing South Park needs to go up front? Or does it need to be followed by something else? Reflection on the difference/relation between South Park and the downtown and the campus??

I agree that the Robinson reading room is a great place – perhaps tell what you like about it, describe it some for us?

You might describe student housing in Sunnyside a bit – give a sense of how bad it is. What was your place like? But also: why do students live there rather than South Park?

What are some aspects of the war between students and residents in South Park? Can you describe any skirmishes?

The image of living “under the bridge” is great. Can you describe that some? What is it like visually/physically? I mean, what do you see, how do you get there, etc. But also, how does “under the bridge” shape your way of thinking about the place? What does it mean to live under the bridge?

One part of this story is your relation to WVU and Morgantown – as a townie and so on. I mean, you seem to want to be partly in both. You’re ambivalent about aspects of “student culture” but not totally. Can you reflect on this? What’s the shift from townie/high school to WVU student like?

I like the way the Cobun Apartment “fooled you.” I wonder if we can imagine this as a kind of image of South Park? Beautiful, old, but a little under powered??

Great story about Steve – a scumbag, but vividly described.

I love the story of your bus as well. I can imagine images here – a picture of Shirley?

Of course, there’s lots of potential locations for images/pictures.

I think you could add a more specific, in the moment description of walking down Park Street. You reflect on it, but I think we should be able to “see” it as well.

Is there a kind of allegorical journey here, i.e. from under the bridge to Cobun, to the mansion, and so on?

Great job --JMurray53?, Tue, 21 Mar 2006 15:10:55 -0500 reply
I really liked your description of South Park and your apartment. I found it very informative, as well as entertaining. The pictures were really good as well. Just how many pink houses containing vicious Jack Russell terriers are in South Park? Your writing was very good and the pictures did a great job of illustrating what you were saying. Great work.

Image Response --mgianola, Tue, 21 Mar 2006 15:32:06 -0500 reply
Jamie,

I really love your space. I don't have many suggestions. One reason being because it is very well organized. It is detailed and the pictures are awesome. The other reaosn may be because I am from Morgantown and Grew up right outside of South Park, and my grandparents lived in South Park, so I am very familiar with the space. In fact I always order from Dominos and your space made me hungry. :) Although I must tell you, the mansion you put on your page is not the mansion I thought you were referring to. Oh well!!! As far as the overall theme goes, I think that all of your nodes are about experiences you've had in or around the South park area. Whether they were experienced by you or someone close to you. As a note, I love the bus ride because all of it is soo true. :) GREAT JOB!!!

... --rreed200, Tue, 21 Mar 2006 15:38:14 -0500 reply
I think that your space is great! The humor, sarcasm and memories that you use to explain your "space" are very well placed and organized! It gives your reader a different perspective on a place that most people are already familiar with, or have at least heard of. I think, overall, your space is extremely well put together and thought out. Good Job! :)

Nice! --eschnei1, Tue, 21 Mar 2006 15:41:12 -0500 reply
Nicely done. Your stories are a great read and the photos are a great addition.

response from Sandy --sbaldwin, Tue, 11 Apr 2006 12:06:10 -0400 reply
Jamie:

This is looking really good.

The first page (Space) is full of text. You might consider breaking it into several subpages. Start with the first paragraph and give people the option to proceed linearly or to jump to topics.

I like the use of bold in the Perec quote - given this, you might consider more formatting throughout your pages? Colors, italics, headings... not necessary but you could experiment.

Some of your pages still have comments in them. You can leave them there or clean them into a separate comments page (which I think you already have).

Wonderful writing throughout.

The images look good. A couple of thoughts. 1) Keep them small. For example, the cow house might be half as big. It would still be detailed but wouldn't take up so much of the page. Then the text should wrap around the images better. 2) If you want them big, like the mansion, you might try making the caption/title bigger. 3) If you want to get the images inline with the text, try using the html syntax and an align command, e.g. . This should get the images inline with the text. Align can be equal to left or right. 4) Think about writing in relation to the images, i.e. notice details or other features in the images and write about those. The point is to make the text and images interact and reflect on each other rather than simply having the images always illustrate the text.

For your video/slideshow, why provide a derive, a walk through South Park. Take a series of photos of whatever you see and strikes you.

You might think about outbound links, e.g. to the facebooks on the PRT? and similar things...

In general, you've done a great job creating lateral links, but I would doublecheck. Think about lateral linkages on every page.

(Check your spelling. Hypocrite has an e on the end, for example.)

Let me know if you have any questions or want to talk about anything.

response by sandy --sbaldwin, Mon, 01 May 2006 23:28:07 -0400 reply
Jamie:

This is great. The writing is wonderful - perhaps we should submit a version of this to the city of Morgantown for tourist purposes...?

You've done an excellent job integrating the graphics and images into the project. Everything's working together to tell the story. I love the Domino's video!

I don't think you need to add anything - this is A work.

you are awesome --jgriffi9, Wed, 07 Jun 2006 23:46:29 -0400 reply
You went a little bit crazy with the effects on the titles introducing the videos, but that just makes me love you all the more. Oh Jamie G...why are you so wise?