first impressions. i want to go to prison.

...i mean CP+B. or are they one and the same?
they bring us Prison Bus, their mode of agency public transportation.

excerpt:
"It's designed to look like a prison bus," Bogusky said. "I didn't want it to look like regular public transportation [...] We were trying to describe what we do in a way that's fun. It creates so many different reactions in your mind."

The idea to provide his employees a free means of commuting to the Gunbarrel Business Park offices from Vic's Coffee, Target and area hotels where new recruits often stay was born out of Bogusky's own passion for public transportation.

"I like buses," he said. "But there's a certain hurdle to get people to accept them. I didn't expect that."

yeah. cos dressing up ride to work to look like i'm heading right into prison make me more accepting of buses. public transportation = good. save gas, meet people. making it look like you're heading to work prison = not so good?

---

other first impressions:

Mobile Sensors = scary.
Dimpls = possibility.
Postmodern Social Media = trippy.
Cell Phone Popcorn = funny.
[even funnier when it makes my parents rush out to buy bluetooth headsets.]

all of these to be followed up with further commentary... except the last one.

revolution, inc. :: in a name.

so some folks have already been coaxing me out of anonymity, a leap i'm not quite ready to make yet--but don't let that dissuade you from any fancy invitations you may want to be sending my direction ;) contact information doesn't change. but, in light of this, i've always been, well, a tease. rather than tell you all about me... i'm going to do scattered posts about facets of myself. what i like or don't, what i own or won't, where i come from, what i eat--whatever brings you closer to me.

think of it like a scavenger hunt. or a riddle.
---

so like anything else, i'm going to start at the middle, because it's more interesting than the beginning.

we'll start with the name, because someone asked me about it yesterday. naming is an intensely important thing. naming has always held weight. and still does. why call the "me series" revolution, inc? it ties in with the essential question;

why Riot?

i have been called Riot, in real life, since high school. and no--it has nothing to do with Paramore; i predate their second album, thank you very much. i had a guy friend then who introduced himself to me as Tony Rebel. he had me going for a minute, but not for long.

i adopted Riot as my pseudonym surname then, selecting the word because i'm really into riot grrrl music, a female-emphasized development out of punk rock in the early to mid 90s. i love Kathleen Hanna (see image above) who was in most notably Bikini Kill, Le Tigre, and Julie Ruin. she helped/inspired Slim Moon to make Kill Rock Stars, a notable indie label even today. (did you know Nirvana was on it for a hot minute?)

the movement meant a lot to me in high school, and still does. i did research on it in college, actually, surrounding commercialism, capitalism and the consumerism (or lack therof) of riot grrrl music (like how punk rock was appropriated, but not riot grrrl). "revolution grrrl style now" was a mantra used. in college, i used my name with the Riot surname as my DJ name for the radio station, 92WICB.

since switching my focus from band management/PR to English/marketing my freshman year, Riot was recreated in accord with my views on branding. while creating a story character i fell in love with, who was a DJ, i inverted "the riot grrrl" to be "the girl Riot" (i wasn't big on the grrr, personally)--and it stuck. and so, i'm the first to coin the phrase.

oh hey, yeah, you know--that girl, Riot? that girl called Riot. her.

so i became the girl Riot™. i treat myself as a brand, both professionally and often personally; so, in line with that, i go by Riot rather than my given name. if you Googled me, you would find more information searching "thegirlriot" than my actual name. no joke.

...so now you know.

---
and besides, it's a friday post. who reads those, anyway?

first impressions. om nom nom nom.

random smattering of thoughts. more structured posts to follow. i'm vocal today.

RANDOM: Om Nom Nom Nom
this site, despite my best efforts, has assimilated my life.
i do indeed now say "om nom nom nom" with surprising frequency. never underestimate the power of boredom, sleepiness, late work afternoons, and Microsoft Paint. it's like lolcats version 1.5, if you don't count manbabies.com (and i certainly don't).

FILM: The Strangers
advertising decent enough to get me to go.
however, after conclusions of the movie, tamara still "isn't there." in fact, tamara isn't even mentioned again. who the fuck is tamara? and more over, what did she do with the plot of this movie? because it doesn't exist. way to go for a suspenseful let down. as in, a suspenseful lack of plot arc, motive, and, dare i say, creativity.
prove me wrong. please, somehow validate that 12 bucks i won't get back.

FILM: Kill the Sequels
an uncountable number of sequels you really didn't need to know were occurring. or rather, you could know--but why? lemme go with... i will likely never go see nearly any of these. you could sell me on shrek 4 & 5 (i'm a sucker), the grudge 3 (i'll see any shitty scary movie that comes out; see above), and silent hill 2 (because i liked the 1st one). cars 2? for real? why? [watch. there'll be a Strangers 2. -headdesk-]

ADVERTISING: Change Lingerie
a campaign i think i like. not love, though.
i say "i think" because while i instinctively like the political overtones of the campaign and the aggressive, in-your-face tactic, i'm not sure if it's tasteful. i mean, i think it is? it's odd. it's like one of those things where you feel guilty for liking it. like i think i perhaps shouldn't like it. i'm not sure why. clever, to be sure. caustic? unsure.

ADVERTISING: Bob Garfield, Lasagna?
okay, bad joke, as in, i have shamed myself. regardless.
why the disaffection for cheese? that campaign doesn't offend me enough to get me to stop purchasing cheetos. no, i don't want orange underwear (unless i buy it that way!) and no, i don't think they're very clever commercials. but breeding baby drug lords? come on now. for serious. eat some cheetos and calm down, parents of america. i am losing serious respect for adage by the day.

@dailybiz @thegirlriot - garfield needs readers and no better way to get them than to say something completely ridiculous :)
(he is as wise as he is charismatic.) edit to include his wicked awesome post about this here.

full circle, 2 of 2: 2.0 literacy & literature

i forget how, exactly, or rather who, first tweeted me about @smallplaces, but i figured it was worth a look. "small places" is to my knowledge the first Twitter-book. it's a novel(la?) written via continuous tweets, and the followers can read at their leisure.

this is not for interacting. it's a 'bestseller' straight to your phone (or browser, as the case may be). in this way, just as the book was revolutionary for its time, and now internet has revolutionized communication, the two have met in realtime.

as a student of the history of the book, and as a 'digital native,' i figure it's my duty to give my two cents on the matter.

1] it's a really cool idea, otherwise i wouldn't have followed.
2] it is an essentially flawed idea, as i'm discovering.

POSITIVES
> it seems to at once take on what the internet can do for literacy and novel expression, and,
> it also seems to pick up where Palahniuk left off, with the desire to tell a story through slips of scenes, the heart of the matter; to try to express through minimalism but still move the reader.
[don't know what i mean? read the Afterword in a post-95 copy of Fight Club. thank me later.]

NEGATIVES
> unless i'm hooked up 24/7, i lose part of the story.
> the story moves slowly due to the 140 char limit.
..."i tie my shoes." "i shut the door and walk." etc.
[this does not belittle the story itself; i think it could be an interesting plot.]
> if i don't wish to be hooked up 24/7, it's difficult to read on the smallplaces twitterfeed because it moves in reverse (ie, i have to go "back" however many pages until i found where i last left off).

so, in summary, it's certainly an experiment worth watching. however, the medium may make me unable to follow the story in a cohesive sense. it would be, perhaps, worthwhile to do a chapter a week, and let everyone catch up during the next week, and continuing writing another chapter the week after. or, take a total leaf from Palahniuk by tying in a refrain to ground me in understanding as it moves along. or, craft it in such a way, like House of Leaves, where i don't necessarily have to follow along (well) to appreciate it.

Break in transmission...@smallplaces is a twitter-form novel experiment by @nlbelardes: ABC newsroom twitterer, novelist, human coffeedroid.

full circle, 1 of 2: 2.0 literacy "IRL"

study 1: students say "e-text" isn't writing (CNetNews)

study 2: students use "text speak" in school work (TimesOnline)

funny thing? they're talking about the same study: Pew Internet and American Life Project. so how can, in the same study, it be found that 1) students differentiate between txting and writing, and that differentiation makes them understand the time and place for each, and, 2) that in fact that differentiation means nothing and txting is used within scholarly writing.

"What's at stake here is just the ability to express oneself in more than one register," she said. "As long as children are taught to use the standard spelling and to appreciate the difference between registers, this could even be positive."
(excerpt from Times)

yes yes, i agree. there is no trouble with being "multiliterate"--able to txt-speak and write essays also. the problem here is, why, oh why, would you ever need 'LOL' in your essay? or a smiley face? why would there be a need for this expression in academic writing which a teacher must assess and decipher??

i enjoyed this comment response: "I hope those students who do use abbreviations in their essays receive an unhappy face sticker for their incorrect use of the English language." (Farore, Melbourne, Australia)

hahaha, could you imagine? i'd have been livid to get back a frowny face sticker. what does it MEAN? B-? F? it's almost as ambiguous as "A-/B+" (i hated those with a passion). pick one! oh, the teachers' revenge.

in essence, i think the CNet article about the study got it better; it seems that students believe correct spelling/grammar is vital in the academic sphere as well as central to future success in their careers. however, that doesn't stop the error, every so often, of slipping into "native tongue" (txt speak).
[though i'd still love to know when its usage is called for... "and then atticus finch defended tom robinson at trial, showing the ewells for the liars that they are--LOL!" ?]

words on twitter, 2 of 2: conversations?

i am disconcerted today about twitter for a number of reasons [continued]:
1) the addition of ads conversation
2) the lack of conversation... conversation

--

i'm not sure about the point of twitter.
i have a much better idea on it than when i started, to be sure.
but, like other things, what i was told its about and what it is seem to differentiate, in my experience thus far. mainly in this respect:

YES, i do want to know when you update your blog about something interesting.
>> as a follower, i may want to know what you have to say in more than 140 characters.
NO, i do not want that to be your ONLY updates.
>> i can easily... subscribe to an rss feed to your blog if i like it that much.
YES, i joined to make conversation and have conversations.
>> so why do i see most people not doing this? some are, but not enough.
NO, i don't care only about your meetings/interviews.
>> those things are -sweet- to be sure. but who ARE you; do you like Lewis Black?
[i don't really find him funny. and his root of all evil show is less funny.]

what i mean to say is, your twitter is not another RSS feed for your blog. sure, that might be one of its functions. i don't begrudge that at all. but please use it somewhat socially? isn't that what this social media thing is all about... two way (or more) conversations, not mass distribution with no direction?

if you want to have a conversation, please follow/tweet me: @thegirlriot

words on twitter, 1 of 2: ad testing.

i think it's funny how twitter has become its own buzzword.
i'm waiting for the day when i hear someone doing it "twitter style" (short and to the point; no frills).

anyway.

i am disconcerted today about twitter for a number of reasons:
1) the addition of ads conversation
2) the lack of conversation... conversation

--

so yes, one is the ad testing from last night. no, i'm not pissed. the folks want to monetize. who doesn't? high chances i'm not going to love the ads, and yes, in the words of @Armano, i do feel a little 'cheated on.' the adlessness was too good to be true along with no billing.

at least the ads won't be behind my eyelids when i sleep, or broadcast into my brain (that's still creepy. i'm not sorry for pointing that out again. shame on people who celebrate its effectiveness.).

my main question is this, which brings me back to my previous post on txt messaging: will these ads be delivered into phones via txt? or will they be a part of the feed on the Twitter website? i would still find it repulsive to be charged for a txt ad Twitter sent to my phone. however, i would find it more acceptable if i had to skim through my tweets and find some ads there.

what's the plan, Twitter, eh? getting more complicated? careful you don't lose your relevancy and the reason why you're so wonderfully efficient: short, sweet, and to the point. no frills. somehow i feel ads may jeopardize that relevancy. suggestion? users choose the ads we subscribe to on our feeds. i might hate it a little less that way.