dorothy r. santos

From the time I woke up to reaching the tail end of my work day and crossing things off my to-do list, I felt compelled to write a post about the frequency I post to my blog. Yeah, I know what you’re thinking, “Why the hell should I care how often you post? It’s YOUR blog.” True. But as a budding writer and theorist, writing becomes your life. It’s almost a religious experience. If I miss a day or a week of it, I feel incredibly guilty and in need of some major penance for committing the cardinal sin of not writing  (I was born and raised Catholic so pardon the reference). This past weekend, I was talking to one of my brilliant mentors, crystal am nelson, and she reminded me of my “real” work. From our conversation, I gleaned much of the writing where I crave engagement is the writing I’m doing for grad school and the organizations I work closely with. It’s also the research I’m working on to make certain that I’m sharing authentic information and well thought out writing with the public. This past year, I’ve taken a hit for not blogging consistently. It’s a HARD a$$ job to produce quality content. I’m telling you…it’s challenging. Try it.

I will say this, it’s been a joy reading through critical theory (at the moment, my desk has texts from Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, Michel Foucault, Deleuze & Guattari, Vito Campanelli and Brian Massumi) for my lit review this summer and learning so much for new and old friends. I’m trying to find ways to make these texts accessible to the public. Trust me, I’m working on that part, in particular. I feel compelled to document EVERY single thing I learn and start to think, “I don’t need to share…not just yet.” I want you to read quality writing (or about my feelings and emotions around my studies and writings which may or may not be equally compelling BUT I’m trying to foster a relationship with you, dear reader).

So yeah…

The compulsion to share ourselves runs rampant in our digital culture but not so much in real life (IRL). Imagine if everyone shared and liked the way we do online but in real life. Oh boy! That would be pretty wild. The world has changed and there was a point, back in 2011, I blogged everyday so I could become more visible to the public and a create a potential audience. I wanted to experiment with the notion of content creation. In retrospect, it was a great exercise which reminded me that the new is never going to be new enough. Quality writing and thoughtful content actually takes time. But we are led to believe we don’t have enough of it. Similar to the prey of the fulmar chick, the orange sticky oil actually hit my feathers at some point. I was drowning in information. Even through all my current research, I’m realizing how much I don’t know BUT that it’s okay. So after all this rambling, how did I clean my feathers and get some fulmar chick vomit-resistant steel?

1. I started to realize and remind myself, I only have one brain, two arms, two legs, one heart, and one life.
2. Accepting I’m not going to understand everything I read and that’s OK.
3. Sharing my struggles will reach the people they are supposed to reach. I will make the proper connections and create fruitful work with the “right” people.
4. It’s OK to write pages of crap to work through theory and my own biases…there’s bound to be a gem in there somewhere.

For anyone interested in what I learned specifically from my grad school experience, you can view my virtual notebook here.

Okay, okay…so you want some real news, eh? Fine. This also explains why I don’t blog on a regular basis.

• The Style Issue for Asterisk SF has gone to press! I had the pleasure of writing about styling firm Retrofit Republic and Bay Area artist Mia Christopher
• As a part of the Free Form Film Festival team and new site launch, which is JUST around the corner, I’m excited to announce I will be working on the FFFF Extended channel, which will include writing, essays, and critical discussion on new media artworks and experimental film making (forthcoming!!)
• Recently joined the contributor team over at The Civic Beat founded by phenomenal artist, designer, writer, and culture critic, An Xiao (she JUST spoke at TedGlobal 2013 – So exciting!!) and working on a piece about academic memes and fair wages for academics (forthcoming!!)
• I will be co-presenting with Hyperallergic writer, Ben Valentine, and net artist Ian Aleksander Adams, at ZERO1 in August!!! The working title for our panel discussion, “The Art and Culture Critic: Examining the Expanding Role of the Writer in Arts and Technology” We are INCREDIBLY excited about this opportunity.

There are other things going on but not anything I can post and make public (yet). So please stay tuned and engage. Ask questions, make comments, and feel free to collaborate if you feel moved. I would love to hear from you. I know what you’re thinking now…”Do you sleep?” The answer: Yes. I’m just better at dodging bullets, putting out fires, and I write EVERYTHING down. 😉 Til next time. Be well.

All the best,

Dorothy