Coping With Intertextuality

According to artandpopularculture.com, "Intertextuality is the shaping of texts' meanings by other texts. It can refer to an author’s borrowing and transformation of a prior text or to a reader’s referencing of one text in reading another." 

Intertextuality in all its forms has always interested me, from its literary theory incarnations to clever allusions in current and past TV shows and movies.  The device seems to be expanding in use in popular culture, in its allusionary aspect especially, and becomes a fun sort of interactive game we can play as viewers of film and television programming with our ever-shrinking attention spans.  The game is based on a "who can get the most inside jokes" premise, and can demonstrate intelligence, awareness, or simple dominance of trivia that puts us "in the know" and recreates us as masters of our domain, to reference a Seinfeld contest of an entirely different nature.

Parody can be a form of intertextuality, though I wouldn't consider SNL to be intertextual as much, considering the entire show's premise is based on parody.  The Simpsons and Family Guy are more along the lines of intertextuality, showing an awareness of popular culture that works its way into the storylines as clever references.  Or when a movie character refers to himself in some former character incarnation, such as Arnold Schwarzenegger in Twins with the line, "I'll be back."  The USA show Psych is one of my new favorites for this literary device, with recent episodes focusing around Twin Peaks (which included the self-aware parody of the former cast of the show) and It's a Wonderful Life.

I mention this ironic use of intertextuality only to point out how creatively our culture has adapted to the speed and flood of options within the pop culture sphere.  We probably have to make fun of ourselves and our past viewing habits just to make sense of the whirlwind of influences, and having a healthy dose of ironic appreciation for it all helps us connect the otherwise unconnected randomness that infects many other areas of 21st century life.  Many theorists compare intertextuality to hypertextuality, an idea that is also explained further on artandpopularculture.com, in that the interlinking of texts by reference is similar to the way we read and interact on the Web.  I push this idea further in that the community-building on the Web that is defining the current marketplace and social sphere is accomplished through visual media such as TV programming and movies via intertextuality.  We build communities through our different levels of understanding of these "links" to our own popular culture habits, and feel a sense of belonging when we "get" it.  It's a way of connecting beyond our increasingly isolated physical lives and a healthy and enjoyable coping mechanism for modern detachment.  Community-building in any form, Web or otherwise, is good for our psyches and our culture.  I say, "Bring it on."  Minus the cheerleaders.

Chuck Klosterman, Hugh MacLeod and the Culture of Culture

I've been trying to remember author Chuck Klosterman's name for a week now (sorry Chuck), as I was attempting to chronicle in my head all the wonderfully urbane treatises on modern culture I have read in recent years.  It finally came to me, albeit in pieces (first the Chuck, then two days later, the KIosterman) as I looked up another gem of inspiration - by gapingvoid.com blog author Hugh MacLeod, called Ignore Everybody: And 39 other Keys to Creativity.  Love this book.

For some reason that may be related to the wit and pop culture references of both authors, I was reminded of Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs by Chuck Klosterman. They are not exactly similar in subject matter.  Klosterman waxes not-so-poetic but with insight and a healthy sense of satire about popular culture like MTV's the Real World and other such generation-affecting media influences.  And MacLeod writes about ways to get your "big idea" out into the world without being tainted by the outside forces that always affect us when we're trying too hard.  Not even close to the same subject matter, and yet....

MacLeod and Klosterman both have a sort of "the world is ridiculous so be ridiculous in it on your own terms" sort of vibe, and while MacLeod is inspiring people to take their creativity to the next level, I personally am also inspired by Klosterman's form of genius.  Like a Seinfeldian book-about-nothing that is the creme brulee of dessert theories on Western culture's "finest" offerings - the Sims and cereal mascot wars among them.  His stream of consciousness rants on everything that inspired us as Gen X youth (despite the tired argument that Gen Xers are anything but inspired, Klosterman shows that the opposite is true, and that our healthy sense of irony is still intact even after surviving Saved by the Bell.

And as I visited Klosterman's (book publisher) web site, I saw that he put one one out in 2009 called Eating the Dinosaur, which is apparently about reality (or not) and the way the media and pop culture affect that reality (or don't).  Anyway, check out the page for yourself.  I'll be picking it up soon for sure.

Craftology: Brief Musings on Indie Crafts and Media for Change

I found the most beautiful fat quarters (quilting terminology for 18x21" squares of fabulous print fabric for those not in the know) at Michael's on clearance recently.  Pink, beige, green, black, mod, with ovals and rings and little pink retro kitties - not all on the same fabric, of course.  It got me thinking about the rules of design, the art of the handmade, and the resurgence of traditional crafting methods in contemporary culture. 

One of the best sources of info on this topic right now is the documentary Handmade Nation: The Rise of DIY Art, Craft, and Design, by Faythe Levine.   The blog devoted to it is right here on Blogger.  Levine traveled across the country with companions, documenting the sewing circles/terrorist societies (kidding) and "craft mafias" started by groups of indie crafters in their local areas.  These groups have turned into forces of cultural change, reintroducing the art of the handmade, taking pledges on their web sites and blogs to buy nothing artificially manufactured whenever possible, and creating entire online and in-person communities - with accompanying craft shows that draw spectators and participants from across the country - around various revamped crafts like embroidery (now embodied by portraits of Iggy Pop by Jenny Hart of Sublime Stitching), knitting, collage, and more. 

The topic's been done of course, but I never tire of discovering new crafters on etsy, finding new patterns on craftster.org, looking up new methods of creative re-use, or seeing what lines have next been blurred in the age-old art/craft debate.  I'll post more on this topic later, because there's always more to say.  In the meantime, if you're into the DIY thing, check out two of my favorite books on the subject: PAD: The Guide to Ultra-Living and Craftivity.  Make your own decor to fully express yourself in your living space.  Try the Barbarella TV cabinet (PAD).  It's super fuzzy.

Does Refusing to Choose Keep You Stuck?

Refuse to Choose

Still obsessed with the self-help, as always. I almost wrote my master's thesis on self-help books, but then I got obsessed with BUST magazine's influence on the youth rebel faction and the indie crafters' morphing of traditional craft values and went in a whole other direction.  Anyway...my readings of late have been related to the next steps in my career path, as I moved to NC without a job, brave little me, and I'm finding all sorts of wonderful opportunities here in the Triangle.  But I want to explore my passions and find the best direction to go with my skills, which are in writing, editing, marketing, and PR.  These can be used in any field, so narrowing my focus by interest level is going to help. 

At the moment, I'm diving into books about renaissance soul types who have many interests, two of which are by Barbara Sher, a well-known author of books on choosing a career or life direction that will make you happy.   Sure, I joke myself for reading books that say I can do anything I want, especially in 10 easy steps.  But hey, what if any part of it is true?  Let's just consider it a cultural experiment and I'll keep you posted.

Check them out - the author's actually very reasonable, not at all dreamy or new agey.  The tomes are not about living your bliss, which Sher believes can't be sustained.  They're about finding ways to do what you love and support yourself, creating contentment rather than bliss.  Ok, I can probably do that.  Bliss is overrated anyway.  The big issue is the exercises.  I never (never never never) do the exercises.  Can't help myself.  Can't make me do 'em.  I guess that's why I'll never succeed at refusing to choose, or not choose, or...whatever.  Self-help makes me feel worse sometimes.  But regardless, I get a bit of a boost from these two little helpers.

Refuse to Choose: Use All of Your Interests, Passions, and Hobbies to Create the Life and Career of Your Dreams

Live the Life You Love: In Ten Easy Step-by-Step Lessons

In Defense of Gen X

I don't mean to sound petty here, but I'm getting a little weary of the newsbites that seem to be giving all the credit for revolutions in the workplace, technology, and the way we live to the "Millennials."  As far as the media is concerned, it seems that Generation X was and always will be the "slacker generation," who never contributed anything.  The Millennials are the drivers of innovation, the ones who grew up with technology, the ones who have "Hope for Change" and got Obama into office, the ones who volunteer and make philanthropy an integral part of their lives. 

We got skipped.  And it bothers me.  IMO, the Millennials (no offense, I know many wonderful Millennials and they and their hope are vital to our growth as a society) continued what Generation X started.  They have that hope because of the changes we stood for in our own rowdy way.  Gen X were considered slackers because we didn't like the rules.  We were disruptive and insubordinate.  We had to sit back sometimes and figure out how to create lives we liked rather than following antiquated behavioral patterns just because it had always been done that way.  But disruptive and insubordinate is how change gets made, how revolution happens.  Who bashed the "ME" decade and started up the green revolution started in the sixties again, the one that had been abandoned by hippies turned yuppies in the 80s?  I participated in sit-ins at my high school.  My friends cared deeply about the state of politics and were the ones who tried to get a 3rd party system going by voting for Ralph Nader back in 2000 to break down the status quo.  Movies that broke with tradition, like Kevin Smith's slacker series came out of Gen X.  So did Adult Swim on the cartoon network - the epitome of irony and innovation, though probably considered stupid by boomers.  Look at Seth McFarland and the Family Guy.  Political and cultural satire at its best.

We grew up with technology.  I wrote my own programs in Basic on my Dad's Commodore Vic 20.  We had a home computer from the time I was 6.  I played Atari and the original Nintendo. We didn't get the Internet till 1994, but I was only 18/19 then and college was a whole new ball of wax.  I know, I'm whining, but it's not always so much fun being labeled a generation of slackers.  Makes you want to continue your perceived behavior, flipping the bird at anyone who looks at you sideways.  Which is probably why the characterization stuck.

Not your Momma's Life Path

I've been thinking a lot lately about how to design that balanced life.  There's probably no such thing, but to be able to spend all the time you want to with your family, to feel accomplished and purposeful (but not burned out) in your work, to have time to pursue enriching and creative hobbies that fulfill you, and to be healthy and shape your life in harmony with the planet instead of always battling it - these are things that should be possible in the 21st century. 

And they are to some - I read their blogs, pick up their books, see them on TV, occasionally even run into them in real life.  They're out there.  I think what they all have in common is that they woke up one day and said, "This is crap.  I want out."  And then they got out.  Not of life, but of that entity, that thing, that feels foreign to us every day and keeps us from living out our dreams. 

It's not about quitting your job and taking off to join the Peace Corps, necessarily.  Or living on an island in the Caribbean and fishing for your food every day.  But with all the tools and technology at our disposal, we ought to be able to fashion a life worth living out of the raw materials we have.  Something with balance and integrity and community.  "...a new reality, closer to the heart," as Rush says (the supremely talented band, not the opiate-popping mouthpiece of conservative idiots).  I'm going to keep working on my blueprints.  Contact me with any suggestions.

Creativity with a Capital "C" - Or, Emerging from the Void

I found a book on Creativity (yes, with a capital "C") that I think is absolutely brilliant.  I went to the library to pick up my holds, lots of books about blogging, careers, new media - all the stuff I'm into now.  It's sort of professional development and life development all at once.  I discovered this book in the same aisle and sat down on the floor to look it over.  It's a small library, so I was basically taking up the whole aisle cuz there was no way anyone was stepping over me and my giant hot pink and lime paisley reusable grocery bag filled with books.  Not happening.  I did not care.

This book is by a guy who has essentially crafted a career from the humble beginnings of drawing cartoons on the backs of business cards in a bar - out of boredom.  I love him.  He runs a blog called gapingvoid.com and his book is inspiring in a way not many can master.  Short and sweet bits about fostering your ideas, going the lonely road of supporting them while others scoff and then climb aboard when they pick up...insights that help when you feel like you're doing too much for money and not enough to satisfy the creative monster inside. 

Check it out: Ignore Everybody: And 39 Other Keys to Creativity. 

Authentic Life Management for Type A's who wish they were Type B's

I am diving into a pile of books to continue my quest for fulfillment, including the Life Organizer - a sweet little organizational self-help book that speaks to getting in touch with your authentic self and creativity and not trying to force schedules and datebooks onto your life instead. It's more focused on flow, and listening, and desire at the soul level to access something more and better. While it may sound hokey to some, the idea appeals to me because I've tried all the manic stuff about superimposing organizational strategies on my life.  There must be a better method.

The last few months, I have been trying to come up with a way to make life a little more intuitive. How can people be happy and healthy, living the way we want to and being part of a community?  I'm determined to find out.  Stay tuned.