Adaptation Paper on Pride and Prejudice

For those of you who don't already know (which isn't very many of you, I'm sure), I'm in love with Pride and Prejudice. In. Love.

We have a very close relationship. Very close. Bordering on unhealthy. It's really much closer to an obsession actually. I'm really obsessed. But I can't help it! I feel incredibly protective of the novel, and I often find myself having to suppress my combative tendencies when other people say that they love the book.

No, you don't love the book. I do. You couldn't possibly love it more than me. End of story.

It's pretty bad.

Don't believe me?

Proof: I have read Pride and Prejudice thirteen times. Or rather, I stopped counting how many times I'd read it after the thirteenth time -- and that was in high school.

Proof: It was my go-to therapy session after every breakup -- especially in high school (to reaffirm my faith in men and romance).

Proof: I can quote the first paragraph of the book verbatim. And I have a huge appreciation for people who think they are being super clever by adapting that first sentence into something else for journal articles, posters, etc.

Proof: When National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) rolled around last November, I wrote a modern adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. And I started my first sentence with yet another clever adaptation of that first sentence (thereby negating the cleverness. Damn).

Proof: I go crazy with those silly internet pop quizzes on anything related to Pride and Prejudice, and I'm kinda miffed if I miss something. For example, the other day I missed a question on Colonel Fitzwilliam. I couldn't remember his name. How could I forget his name?!

Proof: Give me a passage from the book, and I can tell you exactly who said it, what was happening at the time it was said, and how that passage relates to the overall theme of the book.

I need to get a life.

That is, after I write this paper.

Because, ladies and gentlemen, I get to write a paper on Pride and Prejudice. Booyah baby!

It's a paper on adaptations and why the director adapted the book into a movie the way they did, and I am going to town with this one. I haven't had this much fun writing a paper in .... probably ever. In fact, I'm actually writing this paper on a Saturday and not experiencing convulsions and intense procrastination urges (except for maybe this blog). Not bad, considering senioritis has hit hard this semester.

All this P&P talk makes me want to pick up the book again. At this rate, I'll never get anything else done.

Oh well.

Norman over Spring Break

Nompton. It's an empty place. It's even emptier during Spring Break than it is in the summer, because literally NO ONE is here right now. Except soccer moms and retired people. The rest are in South Padre and Cancun.

I don't mind too much though. Lindsey Street isn't congested, the lines at Walmart are non-existent, and with no one around to distract me, maybe I'll get some work done.

Not likely. But one can always hope.

South by Southwest: Day 5

It was a shorter day yesterday. The Crowdstory team did some promoting, talking to people, and checking out the trade show (more pitching involved). Mostly our day was filled with attending the VIP event at Oklahoma's Buffalo Lounge (the same location as OpenBeta the night before), where we set up our table again and talked to people who came by to ask about our app. 

We also got lunch at Gourdough's, an airstream trailer that sells food on donuts -- including chicken and BBQ (as well as the more tradition strawberries and powdered sugar fare). Strangely enough, it was delicious. 

Naturally, while it was super tasty, it was also ridiculously unhealthy. After SXSW is over, I am going on a food detox and eating nothing but broccoli and carrots. I am taking a break from meat, bread, anything fried, and anything with a sauce of any kind. I've never eaten so much meat in such a short stretch of time before; SXSW was rough on my stomach.

Of course, I say that and then immediately eat a giant breakfast burrito at the Diner when I get back to Norman. 

Hmmmm... What should we get?

Bryce and I

Part of Jack's aunt and uncle's property. They let us stay in their guest house, which was
situated on absolutely gorgeous property outside Austin.

South by Southwest: Day 4 -- In Pictures

Just pictures this time. I need sleep.

I will blog more later. But today was, again, so much fun. And a success. Can't wait for tomorrow.

In the meantime, here is the day in pictures....

Posing with the Xtranormal characters.

That's our Xtranormal commerical that TJ made at the beginning of Crowdstory's existence. Hence the reason we posed with the characters today. We told them that we'd used Xtranormal to make a small commercial of our App when we'd just begun, and they were like, "Cool. Yeah, now Gieco is using us for their online commercials." Awesome. 

Chatting with the CEO of Quibids.

The SXSW Interactive Tradeshow -- this is a line of people waiting for free alcohol. It never ceases to amaze me how little people value their time when it comes to free food and booze. They'll be rushing around, with places to go and people to see, but the instant a line forms, they are there.

Express yourself!

Crowdstory at OpenBeta

Jack presenting Crowdstory during OpenBeta's lightening talk.
So funny. There were tears of laughter from audience members.

South by Southwest: Day 3

It's been a long day. Another very very very long day.

And everyone else on my team is going to bed right now, which really sucks away my motivation to be lengthy with this blog. I just want to be asleep too. So today's entry will be short and sweet.

It's amazing what standing on your feet pretty much all day will do to your lower back, calves, and exhaustion level.

Anyway...

This festival is a BLAST.

I basically love everything about it. I love meeting the people here because most of them have incredibly fascinating jobs. I love people coming up and pitching their apps to me, because I appreciate when people listen to me pitching Crowdstory to them. I love the free food, beverages, t-shirts and swag bags. I now have a cup, bag, and frisbee to take home with me. And most of all, I love the atmosphere because it's electric. The passion and excitement are contagious -- it feels like everyone is stoked to be here talking about technology, it's future, and it's implications. I love it. Love.

So what happened in the land of Crowdstory today?

In the morning we split up into teams and attended various panels. I went to a talk by Guy Kawisaki, entrepreneur/writer, and a talk by Chris Poole, founder of 4chan. Both interesting, though Kawisaki was HILARIOUS. I loved his talk.

Also, after making small talk with the girls sitting next to me, they asked me if they could interview me (about Crowdstory) for their blog. Of course I said yes! I haven't checked their blog yet to see if we made the cut, but I'll let you know.

After the panels, we set up shop again on the corner -- this time on the mostest crowdedest street corner we could find. Which just happened to be right outside the front door of the Convention Center. Swoop!

Here are some candid shots of Team Crowdstory doing what we do best -- chatting people up.

And another picture of that sexy banner (note attempted creative angle with camera)...

And then in the evening, we got to appreciate free BBQ on the plastic turf "lawn" in the Hewlett-Packard trailer park. We sat around, ate delicious free food, and listened to music by The Nightmare and the Cat for a while, before heading back to network. It was a great break after a busy day.

Oh, and that's me. It's actually the first picture of me from the trip, but only because I finally let one of the guys pry the camera from me. What can I say? It's my baby.

Well, so much for a short blog. I never was very good at brevity.

South by Southwest: Day 2

Another good (long) day for Team Crowdstory. In fact, it was so long that I barely remember how it started.

Oh yeah. I took my PRAXIS test. Gag.

PRAXIS = test I have to take to teach in Alabama/bane of my existence

I woke up way too early and one of my teammates drove me into town to go take my test. I was so exhausted when I took the test that I don't have high hopes about it at all. I mean, I literally fell asleep during the test and had to take a bathroom break so I could walk around to wake up (I did about 50 jumping jacks in the women's restroom, which I think did the trick). Let's just say that the combination of sleep deprivation, inadequate studying, and high level of stress makes me pretty sure I'll be rescheduling to take that test in April.

But post-PRAXIS day was pretty awesome. The team split up and went to various panels on our own, and then met up after lunch.

Promotion time!

TJ pitching Crowdstory to a Gowalla developer.

On our way back to the Convention Center with banner on tow, we stopped by the Gowalla booth for free t-shirts and ended up talking with one of their developers. The guys had a chat about maps and things that I don't understand, but they walked away really excited, so it must have been good.

We then set up our gorgeous banner (thanks to Megan!) and started pitching Crowdstory.

Admiring Megan's work.

The team, minus Bryce and me, posing with our badass Crowdstory banner.

Overall people were pretty interested. It was difficult to get people to stop and ask about the app, but we'd set up near a truck with free ice cream, so we approached a lot of people in line and snagged them that way.

We're all getting pretty good at our short pitch for Crowdstory. Want to hear it?

"Crowdstory is a location-based audio storytelling app that allows you to tell a story and tether it to the GPS coordinates of where the story happened, which you can then share with friends.

Sha-Bam.

I'm not sure what kind of impact we are making, as our marketing is definitely small-scale guerrilla stuff, but it's been fun. And I am definitely learning a lot about how to approach people and pitch our idea. The atmosphere here at SXSW is unlike any other -- exhilarating, stressed, and fast-paced -- and everyone has something to sell. But there's also an incredible amount of partnership going on. We'll tweet at someone and they'll tweet at us back. And bam -- we're getting traffic from some of the guy's 2000+ followers. At the small level on which we're operating, it all becomes a sort of give and take. And while I wouldn't exactly call it commiseration, I do think we are all painfully aware of how alike we are -- passionate and hungry for success.

South By Southwest with Crowdstory

It was an early morning. The seven of us crowded into a Yukon at 5:00 a.m. (where I got the short end of the deal and had to sleep in the middle back), and drove seven hours to Austin, TX.

But it was all worth it.

Today was the first day of the South by Southwest Interactive Festival, a technology-focused festival where thousands of start-up software companies flock every year to try to get their company talked about. Everyone is trying to be the next big thing -- just like Crowdstory.

Today was a learning day though. We got our badges and swag bags, checked out the parties and events, and listened to a talk by Marissa Meyer, Google's Vice President of Consumer Products.

What do we want to do today?

Hmmm.....

So many panels, so little time! 

The super sexy Crowdstory team.

It was basically a day of getting used to the festival and learning the ropes.

Tomorrow is going to be epic.

Oh yeah.... Forgot about this gem! 

The Crowdstory team was walking along 6th Street making snippets and looking for somewhere to eat dinner, when some guy from a local branch of Fox News stopped Bryce and asked to interview him. Thinking he'd ask why we were at SXSW (free promotion!), Bryce agreed.

Instead, he was asked what his favorite cartoon character was. 

Bahaha! I swear the photo isn't posed.

Birthday Wishes

This was waiting for me when I got to work.

I love my job!

My Birthday List of Awesome

Today is my birthday. And I'm in a great mood!

And while I'm sure there's probably a direct link between my happiness and my special day (and the GORGEOUS weather), I'd like to think that it's also because of all the awesome little things that have happened to me so far.

Here is my current list of awesome -- to be updated as the day continues, since it's only 11:45 a.m. and there's a lot o' daylight left.

1. I had to wake up early to run errands this morning. First stop on my list was Walmart. I was on a mission and only there for shampoo and cereal. But then I saw the almonds. And I bought the almonds. A girl's gotta indulge on her birthday. Too bad I didn't have time to swing by to see if there were any raspberries. Next time.

2. IT'S SPRING!!!

3. The bank is usually a boring affair. But instead of the usual drive-through routine, I had to go inside to get a money order, and from the front counter I could see through to the drive-through banking area.

I watched a man in a large van drive up and roll down his window, and as he reached for his wallet, this pug jumps over from the passenger seat onto the man's lap, staring intently in the bank window. Suddenly the man in the van grins and waves his hand violently in front of his face -- between his face and the dog's arse, specifically. The man then proceeds to roll down the opposite window to relieve the car of the dog's fart. So funny.

4. Someone had already paid for the meter at one of my errand stops.

5. I have to get my fingerprints taken for a background check in order to do Teach For America, so I headed to the county sheriff's office today to get that done before I left for Spring Break. I'd never been there before, so it took me a while to find the building.

And then, once I got there, I couldn't figure out how to get in. There is a large main door on three different sides of that building, and I went into two of them (and through their little security screenings) before being told that I needed to go over to the third. This would have been a major annoyance if I wasn't on cloud nine because of my birthday and sleep deprivation. It was also really funny because at the second stop, the guys asked me if I was getting my fingerprints in order to carry a concealed weapon. If only he knew me.

6. Oh, and my roommates surprised me at midnight last night with cookie cake. They are amazing. We chatted for a while, discussing Madison's swollen eye of mysterious origin (her new nickname is Mad Eye Moody) and if men's balls sag when they get older.

And that's really about it. It's been a good day.

Love,
Now an Old Ball

Crowdstory is in the App Store!

As of today, Crowdstory is officially in the iTunes App Store!

Swoop!

I am so excited that I can't think of anything else right now. Papers? Emails? Forget 'em. All I want to do is Facebook, Tweet, and blog about Crowdstory.

So that's what I'm doing.

My Sex, Love, and Race paper may never get done, but if I have my way, everyone is going to hear about Crowdstory today.

Here are some screenshots of our lovely App:

Ain't it a beauty?!

I guess I haven't really blogged about the app much in the last couple semesters -- though my CCEW business internship started in the fall -- because there wasn't much to say. It's been a lot of work and not a lot of reward. We've been working and working toward this moment, and between that point and this point, there wasn't a lot to say.

And of course, we didn't want to share the idea too early, just in case one of you is secretly a computer programmer or software developer. One can never be too sure about these things.

But now it's out and official, and I'll be talking way too much about it in the next week and a half. Because for Spring Break, I'll be headed to Austin, Texas for the South by Southwest (SXSW) Interactive Festival, a technology off-shoot of the larger SXSW music and film festival, where my business team and I will be promoting the hell out of Crowdstory.

We have so many parties, networking events, and presentations packed into five days. It's gonna be nuts. And I'll be tweeting and blogging all about it.

So stay tuned!

And until then, download Crowdstory if you have an iPhone or an iPod Touch, and see for yourself just how super awesome it is!

Click here to see the Crowdstory website.
Click here for our Twitter.
Click here to DOWNLOAD!