First Published: 2018 October 20
Prereading note: Draft 0 of this post is much more rambly and ranty than normal.1
A common comment about internet subculture is that it fractals infinitely. That is, within any interest group, you can always find divisions, going down as far as you’re willing. So, I feel better about complaining about this niche dispute, that of citation. There are two normal ways of citing in academic writing.2 There’s in-text, and there’s footnoting. For a variety of reasons, I find footnoting to be the objectively better form.
To me, the most important part of an essay is the flow of the prose. I’d much prefer to read an essay with a poorer argument, but a better cadence and rhythm.3 Footnoting encourages this flow, because shifting citations doesn’t affect the cadence of a sentence. Conversely, if an in-text citation changes position, or if the citation itself changes, the cadence of the sentence changes.
Second, in-text citations serve as a distraction. If you know me at all, you probably know that I’m incredibly distractible. When I see an in-text citation, I’m reminded of the fact that the argument comes from somewhere else, and feel an urge to read the initial argument. Or, at the very least, I stop reading the paper for a second, and start seeing the paper. That is, I stop seeing the symbols as a dialogue with the author, and start seeing blobs of ink on paper.
A third reason is completely arbitrary and subjective. In-text citations are associated with poor quality prose for me, if only because they were required in my formative years. We would be required to use all of the different kinds of citations,4 regardless of which would flow better.
Finally, footnotes allow the author to make notes that may not be useful in the argument, but could still be useful to the reader. In almost all of the semi-academic5 reading I’ve done, the footnotes contain information that was useful to me as a student, even though it didn’t have any direct relation to the core thesis. If using in-text citations, one is forced to either leave out the information, try to work it into the argument, or use footnotes and in-text citations. I have problems with each of these options.
The first option, excluding the information, makes the reading harder for a reader, and often contains prose that has sent me down wonderful educational explorations. The second, working it into the argument, bloats the prose and renders the initial argument harder to discern. The third option, that of mixing both styles, is just ugly to me.
Now, a fair complaint here is that in-text citations don’t deal with parenthetical expressions, and so focusing on that is unfair. Another complaint may be that good writing doesn’t need asides, as all relevant information should be in the text.
I’d dispute both of these responses. To the first, I believe that6 an option that is more robust while not sacrificing any usability7 is a better option. To the second, I believe that it presents a limited view of good writing. If in doing research on a topic, and finding that a certain path of inquiry may be interesting, but no longer relevant to the central argument, putting the information in a footnote can help a future scholar. I know that footnotes have also been useful to me in understanding the main text. When I was unsure about the meanings, I was able to consult footnotes to read what they meant. However, to rebut the response that the information should just go in a real parenthetical,8 if I don’t need to read the information, then the parenthetical adds words that I have no need to read.
So, in conclusion, I much prefer reading my citations like this9 than like this (Rebelsky 2018).
There are two normal ways of citing in academic writing.10 There’s in-text, and there’s footnoting. For a variety of reasons, I find footnoting to be the objectively better form.
For me, the most important part of an essay is the flow of the prose. I’d much prefer to read an essay with a poorer argument, but better flowing prose. Footnoting allows this very easily, because shifting citations doesn’t affect the cadence of a sentence at all. Conversely, if an in-text citation changes position, the cadence of the sentence changes.
Second, in-text citations serve as a distraction. If you know me at all, you probably know that I’m incredibly distractible. When I see an in-text citation, I’m reminded of the fact that the argument comes from somewhere else, and feel an urge to read the initial argument.
A third reason is completely arbitrary. In-text citations are associated with poor quality prose for me, if only because they were required in my formative years. We would be required to use all of the different kinds of citations,11 regardless of which would flow better.
Another reason is that footnotes allow the author to make notes that may not be useful in the argument, but could still be useful to the reader. In almost all of the classics and linguistics semi-textbook12 reading I’ve done, the footnotes contain information that was useful to me as a student, even though it didn’t have any direct relation to the text. If using in-text citations, one is forced to either leave out the information, try to work it into the argument, or use footnotes and in-text citations. I have problems with each of these options.
The first option, excluding the information, makes the reading harder for a reader, and often contains prose that has sent me down wonderful educational explorations. The second, working it into the argument, bloats the prose and renders the initial argument harder to discern. The third option, that of mixing both styles, is just ugly to me.
Now, a fair complaint here is that in-text citations don’t deal with parenthetical13 expressions, and so focusing on that is unfair. Another complaint may be that good writing doesn’t need asides, as all relevant information should be in the text.
I’d dispute both of these responses. To the first, I believe that14 an option that is more robust while not sacrificing any usability15 is a better option. To the second, I believe that it presents a limited view of good writing. If in doing research on a topic, and finding that a certain path of inquiry may be interesting, but no longer relevant to the central argument, putting the information in a footnote can help a future scholar. I know that footnotes have also been useful to me in understanding the main text. When I was unsure about the meanings, I was able to consult footnotes to read what they meant. However, to rebut the response that the information should just go in a real parenthetical,16 if I don’t need to read the information, then the parenthetical adds words that I have no need to read.
So yeah, footnotes are great and I hate in-text citation.
One thing that I’ve begun to notice in a lot of English essays,17 is the tendency for the titles to be alliterative. And, that’s something that frustrates me for a few reasons. First,18 the titles tend to be much harder to speak aloud. Second, they tend to be less descriptive. But, that’s not the point of today’s post.
Rather, it’s an internal complaint about my own inability to write an assigned essay. As I mentioned yesterday, I don’t tend to find myself unable to write anything. Rather, it tends to be the issue of writing the correct thing. And yet, with a paper that’s currently assigned, I find myself with the problem of being unable to find anything to write about.
I’ve tried to force myself to write anything, and it’s been some of the most strained, painful writing I’ve done in a while. There’re probably many reasons for this. I’m going to try to go through them, and see if I can’t resolve them internally. Partially it’s due to the fact that the prompt for the essay is so vague as to allow almost all writing, while specific enough to limit any of the pieces of critical analysis I would’ve enjoyed doing.19 Partially it’s that this week’s meeting of the class felt painful to everyone involved. Partially it’s that I have so many other assignments, which are so much more fun to do. Part of it is that I’m not allowed to cite the way that I prefer,20 and am instead forced to use in-text citations.
Now, I guess an aside, I should mention why I hate in-text citations. Or, I could just write today’s post about that. Yeah that sounds better than whining. I’ll still leave this as Draft 0 in the interest of full disclosure.21
apparently I’m slowly shifting into my inspiration↩
at least as far as I’ve seen↩
and is part of the reason I have a problem with a lot of academic writing, which ignores the importance of this↩
using titles, author names, and page numbers in varying locations both in the general prose, and also in the parentheses↩
i.e. works that are meant for use in by academics, but aren’t meant to be published in a journal and can be done as somewhat pleasurable reading↩
in general↩
which feels the case to me in footnotes↩
i.e. in parentheses↩
Rebelsky 2018↩
at least as far as I’ve seen↩
using titles, author names, and page numbers in varying locations both in the general prose, and also in the parentheses↩
i.e. works that are meant for use in a classroom, but aren’t tertiary, and rather are the author’s own research↩
ooh is that the right word here? They aren’t in parentheses, but it feels right so I’ll keep it↩
in general↩
which feels the case to me in footnotes↩
i.e. in parentheses↩
especially mediocre ones↩
I still find it odd that I was conditioned to use “first” instead of “firstly” in such a short time↩
so really anything on music↩
i.e. with footnotes↩
or something↩
First Posted: 2018 October 19
One of the most dreaded occurrences in a writer’s life is writer’s block. Now, I never really have that problem. I never look at a blank page thinking “I have nothing to say.” What I get instead,1 is the idea that nothing I have to say can be expressed in less time than I want to spend expressing it.
That happened a few times for me today. I’m working on another paper about diaries,2 and in theory working on a paper about theatre. My creative juices are flowing, just not how I’d like. I thought about trying to teach what I’ve learned in my Polymers class, but that seemed like the wrong idea for a Friday.3 So, I decided that I would write about writer’s block. Of course, as I did so, I realized that I could do a journalling prompt that I’d been given, and so did it. It’s in Draft 1, if you’d like to read it. I expect this will happen again.
In what’s likely to be the first of many installments, today I couldn’t think of anything to write. Now, other days that has also been true. Somehow I persevered and found a topic to write about. Not so today.
Anywho, time to try out some writing prompts I’ve been given. One is to describe an old barn as if you are an old man whose recently learned that his son died in the war, but not mentioning the son, war, or death. Here we go!
The barn looked much like it always had, and yet somehow different. The bright red had faded over the years, into the color of dust. Strange how dust was featuring so much in his mind today.
The doors creaked when you opened them, as if they’d been forgotten about over the years of milling the field. Vines had started growing up the sides, unchecked by their normal pruning.
What used to seem as a deep, dark black roof had shifted overnight. Whether it was the dust in the air or something else, they’d faded almost instantly into a grey, almost unnoticeable color.
Ok wow that was a downer. But, I got almost 200 words out of that whole shebang.4 So yeah, if I run out of things to write about in the future, I’ll likely try creative writing prompts. Sorry in advance to future readers.
First Posted: 2018 October 18
So, as I’ve mentioned before, I’m taking a class on polymers. And, so far I’ve learned1 that the most important property of a polymer is its “glass transition temperature.” That is, the temperature when it changes from being stiff to being not stiff.
Different polymers behave differently after the glass transition temperature. Some become rubbery. Some, the more crystalline ones, stay stiff. Some turn into a liquid.2 Some probably do something else.
But! Apparently that temperature is also time dependent. That’s weird to me, since melting doesn’t feel like the sort of thing that is affected by time. But, the longer that the time frame is, the more like a liquid a polymer acts, and the shorter, the more like a solid. So, for short enough time frames, things with a glass transition of very low can remain undeformed at high temperatures. Contrastingly, pitch, which my professor describes as “hard and brittle,” flows over long enough time frames.
So, that’s why silly putty is stretchy when you stretch it, breaky when you smash it quickly, and pancakes if you let it sit. I thought it was cool.
Post Script: As I reread the title, I now am thinking of a musical piece featuring silly putty. I’ll keep y’all updated on the future of that.
First Posted: 2018 October 17
Today I began another form of record keeping: a “Sinister Diary.” Now, for those of you who don’t know,1 sinister is the nominative masculine singluar Latin word for left.2 So, what is a “left diary”? It’s just a diary that I’m writing with my left hand.
In my diary making class, we talked about different ways of sparking creative journal keeping. One of these is to make a diary entry with your non-dominant hand. Now, I have always wished I could write ambidextrously, so this was a good spark to me.
Of course, calling anything written in my left hand’s3 penmanship implies that that written in my right hand is “dextrous.” Dextrous is the British form of the American “dexterous,”4 coming from the Latin “dexter,” meaning right5 or skillful or proper.6
Now, far be it from me to describe anything written I do as skillful, but it’s certainly easier to read than my left-handed writing. Also, I ran into another problem while writing sinisterly.
When I was a young, impressionable freshman,7 I took Latin.8 I had the brilliant idea to write all of my Latin with my left hand, so as to embed it more deeply in my mind.9 Of course, the professor shut that idea down on the grounds of legibility.10 But, today, when I tried writing with my left hand for the first time in a while, I noticed that I was thinking of the Latin11 translations for a lot of what I was writing. This continued to the point where I began thinking, and even writing in in12 Latin. As bad as it was, it was certainly fun.
So, I think I’ll continue my sinister diary, if only to have that as a conversation starter.
Today I began another form of record keeping: the “Sinister Diary.”13 Now, for those of you who don’t know,14 sinister is the Latin15 word for left.16 So, what is a “left daily allowance”?17 It’s just a diary that I’m writing with my left hand.
In my diary making class,18 we talked about different ways of sparking creative journal keeping. One of these is to make a diary entry with your other hand.
Of course, calling anything written in my left hand’s19 penmanship implies that that written in my right hand is “dextrous.” Dextrous is apparently the British form of the American “dexterous.”20 Dexterous comes from the Latin “dexter,” meaning right21 and also skillful or proper.22
Now, far be it from me to describe anything written I do as skillful,23 but it’s certainly easier to read than my left-handed writing. Also, I ran into another problem while writing sinisterly.
When I was a young, impressionable freshman,24 I took Latin. I had the brilliant idea to write all of my Latin with my left hand, so as to embed it more deeply. Of course, the professor shut that idea down on the grounds of legibility.25 But, today, when I tried writing with my left hand for the first time in a while, I noticed that I was thinking of the Latin26 translations for a lot of what I was writing. This continued to the point where I began thinking in27 Latin. But, I did certainly enjoy it.
Hence, I’ll be continuing my sinister diary.
most likely, if you’re right handed, haven’t taken Latin, and lack pedantic friends↩︎
sinister,sinistra,sinistrum↩︎
lack of↩︎
apparently I’m becoming British more than I thought. Next thing you know I’ll be spelling it oxydized↩︎
like the hand↩︎
I shamelessly use wiktionary↩︎
as opposed to the young, impressionable junior that I am now↩︎
no this story doesn’t end poorly↩︎
the inner workings of my mind are a mystery even to me↩︎
or, more precisely, the lack thereof↩︎
and also Spanish because my mind groups things oddly↩︎
broken↩︎
ooh, does the go in the quotation? If so it should be capitalized↩︎
so, if you’re right handed, haven’t taken latin, and also not pedantic↩︎
latin?↩︎
sinister,sinistra,sinistrum↩︎
also, note that diary comes from the word for daily allowance↩︎
liberal arts are weird↩︎
lack of↩︎
apparently I’m becoming British more than I thought. Next thing you know I’ll be spelling it oxydized↩︎
like the hand↩︎
I shamelessly use wiktionary, like all real scholars↩︎
I might make the claim about my music, especially when asked↩︎
as opposed to the young, impressionable junior that I am now↩︎
or, more precisely, the lack thereof↩︎
and also Spanish because my mind groups things oddly↩︎
broken↩︎
First Posted: 2018 October 16
Today, I tried platform diving for the first time. For those unaware,1 there are two types of competitive diving.2 There’s springboard3 and platform.4 I got to try 1, 3, and 5 meters today. It was much different than springboard, and I kind of like it more. We’ll see how the rest of the semester goes.
First Posted: 2018 October 15
Today, I had the incredible opportunity to see Kwame Kwei-Armah and Shaina Taub’s adaptation of Twelfth Night at the Young Vic Theatre. It compresses the entire show into 90 minutes, including all of the1 musical interludes From the opening until the curtain call, I was almost overwhelmed with joy.
Now, onto a description of the show itself. The show opens with an old man handing out jerk chicken.2 At least I hope that was part of the show, and it wasn’t just a random stranger giving me food.3 The set is a beautiful one point perspective feeling city street. In the middle of the thrust, a van is parked. The show begins with the van slowly moving upstage while mourners come out and soulful saxophone plays. However, that is the first and last time the show is anything less than overwhelmingly energized.
The biggest uniting thread in the show, other than the comic ridiculousness, is the women’s chorus. After every major plot point, they come out, singing “What’s the word on the street?” before explaining what just happened, in case we had somehow missed it.
Then, when Malvolio sings his song about becoming Count, it felt like the quintessential musical number, but something I couldn’t name was missing. All of a sudden, he does a magic trick and has a cane in his hand, and the chorus comes out in top hats. The tap dancing interlude that follows was exactly as fun and cheesy as it4 sounds. That was a hallmark of the show, honestly: the cheesy, over the top fun.
Another musical highlight for me was the scene where Viola5 and Andrew are preparing for the fight. I had equal parts Rocky and Meatloaf coursing through my head in the song, where the cast starts air punching and jump-roping to fast paced electrical guitar and strong drums.
I left the show the happiest I’ve been after a theatre production in a while. And really, what more can I say? If you get a chance, I would highly recommend watching it
Today, I had the incredible opportunity to see Kwame Kwei-Armah and Shaina Taub’s adaptation of Twelfth Night at the Young Vic Theatre. It, like all good adaptations, takes the best parts of the original show and leaves out the bad. From the opening until the curtain call, I was star struck for the entire show.
Now, for those of you who don’t know, I sometimes just have a great time. As the diving coach mentioned, I have an expression of joy when I’m doing things I enjoy, there diving. This weekend, I had the chance to climb around Arthur’s Seat, and had a great goofy grin on. And, tonight, my cheeks were almost sore from how much I was smiling.
Now, onto a description of the show itself. The show opens with an old man handing out jerk chicken.6 At least I hope that was part of the show, and it wasn’t just a random stranger giving me food.7 The set is a beautiful one point perspective feeling city street. In the middle of the thrust, a van is parked. The show begins with the van slowly moving upstage while mourners come out and soulful saxophone plays. However, that is the first and last time the show felt anything but energized to me.
When Malvolio sings his song about becoming Count, it felt like the quintessential musical number, but something I couldn’t name was missing. All of a sudden, he does a magic trick and has a cane in his hand, and the chorus comes out in top hats. The tap dancing interlude that follows was exactly as fun and cheesy as it8 sounds. That was a hallmark of the show, honestly. It was a cheery, fun, lively show.
Speaking of the chorus, they were another highlight of the show. After every major plot point, a women’s chorus came out, singing “What’s the word on the street?” before explaining what just happened, in case we had missed it.
But, throughout the show, every actor was as over the top as they could possibly be without making it into a farce.
Another musical highlight for me was the scene where Viola9 and Andrew are preparing for the fight. I had equal parts Rocky and Meatloaf coursing through my head in the song, where the cast starts air punching and jump-roping to fast paced electrical guitar and strong drums.
I left the show the happiest I’ve been after a theatre production in a while. And really, what more can I say?
First Posted: 2018 October 14
Wisdom 7:7b “I called upon God, and the spirit of wisdom came to me.”
Today is the 26 Sunday of Ordinary Time in Year B.
Today’s first reading tells two important things. First, if you pray to the Lord for help, he will aid you. Second, wisdom is the ultimate treasure anyone can have.
The second reading echoes this sentiment, calling that “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword.”1 To me, this is such a meaningful statement. The word of God is what caused creation to be, is what breathes life into all of creation, and is what calls us each day to follow Him more closely. I know I don’t do it enough, but I do really appreciate the time I spend listening and reading the Word.
Hebrews 4:12a↩︎
First Posted: Day beginning 2018 October 13
Today, I was planning on posting about my trip to a museum. But, I’m also in Scotland.
Since I was in Scotland, I decided that I should try to take the opportunity ot listen to some Scottish Folk music. Last night, my friends convinced me not to go. So, tonight, I decided to go.
Of course, it turns out every pub operates on the “Folk Music Friday” “Standard Pop Saturday”1 realm for music, so finding folk music was hard. I did end up being able to find a single pub with it, around a mile away.
By 23002 I was feeling tired, and so routed myself home. After a short walk, I found that the hotel I had routed myself was a different version of the hotel that I was staying at. So, I routed myself to the correct one. Then, at 2326, the unthinkable happened: my phone died. I became slightly worried.
But, I found out that people were very willing to respond to “hello, do you know how to get to the train station?”3 Of course, I soon learned that there were two train stations. Thankfully, my gut did tell me the right one, so I began heading. Somehow I ended up on a gradually curving set of streets which led me in a circle.
Talk about disappointing. I was so excited to see familiar sites, only to realize that it was where I had just been. Eventually, I found my way to the train station, although it was much larger than I remembered. I found a hotel, which had a map and a very helpful man who was willing to draw directions to my hotel. I found a familiar site finally, and made my way home.
Highlights: two drunk men, who “aren’t from around here” asking everyone near me for directions to the train station. But, I did hear some music, even though it was a little disappointing. I also managed to take more than 30000 steps, which is a lot for me.4 Time for some sleep.
First Posted: 2018 October 12
Today, I was on a five hour train ride. While on the ride, I was doing some homework on the iPad that Grinnell College lent me for the semester. Then, having finished the homework, I decided to play around on the iPad. I saw that the iPad came with GarageBand, so I thought I’d play with it. It was fun!
I forgot how much fun it can be to make musical sounds with synthesizers. Of course, it took around three hours to make a just under three minute long piece,1 but that’s still less time than composing, recording, and then post processing. It wasn’t great, but people who’ve listened to it have responded more positively than neutrally. If you’d like to hear it, feel free to email me at flyingrebelpipes@gmail.com.
Today, I was on a fiveish hour train ride.2 While on the ride, I was doing some homework on the iPad that Grinnell College lent me for the semester.3 Then, having finished the homework, I decided to play around with an app on the iPad. I saw that the iPad came with GarageBand, so I thought I’d play around with it. It was fun!
I forgot how much fun it can be to play around with synthesizers. Of course, it took around three hours to make a just under three minute long piece,4 but that’s still less time than composing, recording, and then post processing. It wasn’t great, but people who’ve listened to it have responded more positively than neutrally. If you’d like to hear it, feel free to email me at flyingrebelpipes@gmail.com.
not a song, which I talk about somewhere earlier↩︎
as I’ve mentioned multiple other times, I’m apparently not supposed to say where in case terrorists are targeting me (because apparently the many devices I carry with automatic location setting don’t exist) so I won’t share my location.↩︎
I love my class↩︎
not a song, which I talk about somewhere earlier↩︎
First Posted: 2018 October 11
One of my biggest concerns about studying abroad was how homesick I might get. For those of you unfamiliar,1 I’ve lived my entire life in the same beautiful city2 of 8000 or so people. This semester, I decided that I would spend a semester of my life 4100 miles away, in a city of many millions.
I was expecting some culture shock, which I wrote about earlier. But, I was also expecting to get homesick, if only because all of my friends told me I’d feel that way.
Now, the only time I’ve ever been truly homesick was, strangely enough, at a camp at Grinnell College.3 But, I’d never spent so much time away from family, friends, and familiar surroundings. And, the first night, I worried a lot about how homesick I might feel, to the point that I began to feel a little homesick.
But, in the 43 days that have followed,4 that’s the only homesickness I’ve felt. I’ve still got another 70 or so, but I don’t think it’s going to suddenly come on. So, yay! No homesick for me.
One of my biggest concerns about studying abroad was how homesick I might get. For those of you unfamiliar,5 I’ve lived my entire life within the same beautiful city.6 Then, I decided that, just for funsies, I would spend a semester of my life 4100 miles away.
I was expecting some culture shock, which I wrote about earlier. But, I was also expecting to get homesick.
Now, the only time I’ve ever been truly homesick was, strangely enough, at a camp at Grinnell College.7 But, I’d never spent so much time away from family, friends, and familiar surroundings. And, the first night, I worried a lot about how homesick I might feel, to the point that I began to feel a little homesick.
But, it’s been 44 days8 and that’s the only homesickness I’ve felt. I’ve still got another 70 or so, but I don’t think it’s going to suddenly come on. So, yay! No homesick for me.
and unable to use google↩
gotta love Iowa definitions↩
more details may come in the future, if I feel introspective but have nothing else to write about↩
also, I just realized I’d almost forgotten my daily beard photo. Thank goodness for this post↩
and unable to use google↩
gotta love Iowa definitions↩
more details may come in the future, if I feel introspective but have nothing else to write about↩
also, I just realized I’d almost forgotten my daily beard photo. Thank goodness for this post↩