Reaching Broader Audiences

I've followed Howard Zinn's writing for years. His book "A People's History of the United States," is a comic book illustration of American history meant to reach an audience that is outside of the establishment. I love the idea.

When I taught composition, I always wanted to have students create video essays. I believed that this generation is more impacted by images than words, and that the combination of images and words is an incredibly powerful medium. The challenge would have been to maintain the same standard for sources and arguments required in an academic essay (i.e citations, credible sources, well-balanced arguments, etc.). My bosses never liked the idea. I wish I could have shown them this video, "Empire or Humanity? What the Classroom Didn't Teach Me about the American Empire," based on an essay Zinn wrote for TomDispatch and narrated by Viggo Mortenson.



Will it reach a broader audience? It's been viewed almost 80,000 times and I bet a large number of those 80,000 people don't have a copy of the book. Plus, there are roughly 340 comments on YouTube. Some of them are worthless, but others resemble the types of discussions I tried to get my students to engage in. For example:

"How does one spread humanity? The problems that he identifies are real, but his solutions are too vague?"

Maybe it's all wishful thinking, but the video does prove that a message that combines words with images can be as powerful as a book (if not more powerful). What do you guys think?

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

Back in November, I bought an apartment with some friends here. It was a big move for me since I've pretty much lived from paycheck to paycheck my entire adult life. I was worried that if I didn't invest my savings, I'd spend everything, but I didn't have enough to buy my own place. Then I lost both of my jobs.

Panic!

So, I went on vacation, took a lot of pictures, and started writing some fiction.



I was writing this blog(albeit infrequently) and the one for our loft, editing the thousands of photos I'd taken in California, and meeting weekly with a writing group. I felt like I was spending all my time at the computer. Not much of a life. So, I deleted my Facebook account and stopped writing Inspirosity (unable to actually give up on this blog, just holding off on it for a while). With no Facebook to distract me, I've finished two stories and learned all sorts of neat Photoshop tricks.



Our loft is constantly booked and a few neighbors are asking us to manage renting out their lofts. We're considering expanding our site to add personalized tours and other services for tourists. So, now I'm learning about website design and management.

When I lost my jobs, people kept asking me if I was doing alright and I'd answer, "yea, I know it will all work out. It always does." But I wasn't sure I believed myself. Lo and behold, it is all working out.

The best part is that without a job, I've been able to hang out with the people that rent our loft and I've joined a really cool social networking site for travelers and hosted a few people in my apartment. Meeting other people who love to travel, to experience new places, to learn new things, is what makes life so great.

Since I'm inspired again, guess I'm back.