As proof, I offer the words of country singer Jerry Jeff Walker, comedian - and I use that term lightly- Larry the Cable Guy, and the Chinese philosopher Lao-Tzu. (I wonder if those names have ever before been connected? Are country-western aficionados, self-proclaimed rednecks and scholars alike wincing at the very thought of it?) Let me explain...
Looking around the playground, there have been plenty of bloggers content to experiment with the web2.0 technologies, write up a little blurb, and move on. Short and simple, maybe too much so, but they get the job done.
You know by now that I am not one of those people,. Instead of viewing these 23 Things as assignments to be checked off a list, I feel compelled to create something meaningful. I awaken in the wee hours of the morning, log on, and begin work. And generally I am rewarded for my efforts. I either manage to complete the assignment in a way that is pleasing or I write a response with which I am pleased.
Not this time, my friends. Thing 21 has been the source of four days' frustration, and I am ready to call it quits. Why? Well, I had used photostory before with great results, making a movie for my nephew's graduation(See insert below. You might want a hankie, even if you don't know him...), another for back-to-school night, and a third over The Canterbury Tales for use with my seniors. Since I felt fairly adept with that application, I thought I'd try something new. Wrong move.
I signed up with Audacity and began making podcasts, playing around with readings from Eudora Welty's One Writer's Beginnings and James Whitcomb Riley's "Little Orphan Annie." The skill set required is fairly elementary, but to get quality results some non-standard equipment is needed, namely a microphone. And a quiet house. And the ability to make peace with the sound of your own voice.
After roughly 15 - 20 readings of Welty's work and an equal number of Riley's, I never could get past the sound of my own voice. In short, the timbre and pitch was vaguely reminiscent of an old boozer still awaiting her first snort of the day. The link to one of my many attempts is included below; however, I would not encourage anyone to actually listen to it. (Unless you want a good laugh. My sister, by the way, is a fellow blogger, and I imagine she will get quite a giggle from it.)
So this is where Jerry Jeff Walker comes in: In his words, "The only way to know how much is enough, is to do too much, and then back up." And that is exactly what I did. I backed up and took a more expedient stance: Was I trying to do too much? Surely four days' work was enough, right? It would be ok to just do something and call it a day, right? Sometimes, in the immortal words of Larry the Cable Guy, you just have to "Git-R-Dun."
I know how to use several of these applications, how to embed them in my blog and/or create hyperlinks to them, etc. That is enough for now; I have done all I can and I am content with my limited knowledge. For as the great Lao-Tzu said, "He who knows that enough is enough will always have enough."
Sam's Graduation Video
Laura's Podcast: Listen at your own risk...
14 comments:
I saw your comment asking about this link on my Lily Pad 23 Things blog where I put some podcasting directions...
to have your photostory appear in a player...you can go back to photostory and save it as a wmv (if you already don't have it saved that way)and then upload it directly to the blog...using the steps included in my post
there is nothing wrong with using switchpod because it does open in a player...
I get the sense that you don't care for the address look of your presentation. A compromise might be to type the title of your PhotoStory, highlight it, right click and make it a hot link with the switchpod html address you have.
Is that part of your concern?
email me if you would prefer to discussion this in depth...
vaughn.branom [at] springbranchisd.com --the school email is back up!
Good Morning Sister, I have blogged today and am ready to do my responses. I investigated Youtube and need help getting my vides to download. I got the video bar and then my images were gone. Anyhow, for a later day. I feel like I should finish all this in time! Aug 5? I loved your 3 Hamlet videos. The cats are weird! Who doesn't love the muppets in any thing? Moving on.
Laura, I loved the library story! I didn't find your voice as you had described. I think I shall send the link to Kristen McBride our school librarian. The first ime I heard my voice in the radio lab at TCU I almost fell off the piano bench. It made me dizzy. Even now when James imitates my voice I can't believe I sound like that but know I do. I am going to run and Bowflex before blogging today because I know it will be time consuming. Talk later.
I laughed out loud reading your comments about your voice on the podcast. My account of Thing #21 was not has amusing as yours, just whiny, but I share your frustration. I recall a project we did in library school. My group made a presentation that required voice. The 4 of us listened to one another read to see whose voice we would use. We all agreed that I should NEVER be heard on tape. Since then, I have vowed that I would hire someone else if I ever needed narration.
Your reading voice was pleasant to me. I recall seeing Jessica Tandy in The Story Lady. Her voice was pleasant, but when they put background music with her reading, she really sounded great. You sounded good without background music--AND what an appropriate selection too.
Sam must have loved his video. He looks so much like my son who is now 36. Hey! we're almost done!
laura--i just posted something but don't see it now--too long to re-do--I had done up to 15--so i am further than I thought--excuse the errors in a hurry--got to get ready for Project Runway!
ps your voice is fine and I loved the video!
Ann, your posts should be automatically saved in draft form. Did you look back to see if it was there? Go to your dashboard, to posts, and it should be at the top of your list of posts... Call me if you need "live" help!
Infomaniac,
Music! Eureka! I am going to try that now... If I can remember my username and i.d. for audacity...
Really, if someone wants to create a useful 2.0 application, it would be a way to log in to all of one's services, sites, blogs, etc. at once. A master key, so to speak...
I share your pain on this one. I almost quit, too, after only spending 2 days on this. I also am trying to get a lot out of this exercise, and not just skim through to get the job done. I haven't finished 21 yet. I am not going to do a vidcast, just audio. My husband and I are remodeling our kitchen and, like so many things, a two week project has now turned into 3 months. Your blog is awesome!
Thanks for stopping by! Even though I declared my independence from this assignment, I found myself fiddling around with it again this morning...
When you do get to #21, I highly suggest using photostory. Even if you are just doing an audio, you can choose one picture as a cover screen, record your voice, and even add music as a background element.
That's what I was trying to do this morning, but for some reason my internal microphone isn't working now. Maybe it is God's way of telling me to let go and moooove on!
30 years as a geometry teacher - wow! I have just finished 18 and am wondering from where the energy for the next 12 will come ...
Thanks again for stopping by - I will check out your blog, as well!
By the way, how did you get that swirl effect and the shutter effect Sam's photo story? I didn't see this when working with it. I saw only the effects you could do on each picture.
Infomaniac, in the section called "Narrate Pictures and Customize Motion", there is a little window that appears under the main screen, "Customize Motion." Click that, and then two more tabs will show, "Duration and Timing" and "Transition." Click "transition" and from there you can select any number of transitions. If I remember correctly, though, you have to choose a transition for each slide... Kind of time consuming, but worth it!
Thank you. I will use this customization when I work on my digital book talk;
While my time with you going back and forth to the AP seminar shamed me into taking more time with my blog response once I finished the step--I will never be able to meet the outstanding quality of narrative you have established in your postings. Your blogs not only give us information we might need to proceed with a particular step, they leave us with a feeling of caring and warmth that we also get when we speak to you in person! You are really very talented and I am going to use you as my model for this process. Thanks for taking the time to make it worthwhile to us all!
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