First Year at IAC

UploadLog

Sun, 26 Aug 2007 01:45:19 GMT

date	user	location	storeUrl	uploadDir	toFilename	backupdir	origin
25/08/2007 15:41:49	CarlosGonzalezSF	firstyear.html	store.cgi	.	index.html	.	failed
25/08/2007 16:04:09	CarlosGonzalezSF	firstyear.html	store.cgi	.	index.html	.
25/08/2007 21:45:19	CarlosGonzalezSF	/	store.cgi	.	index.html	.

Week 1 for Classes Meeting at Phillis Wheatley

Sun, 26 Aug 2007 01:44:53 GMT

Introductions
Introduce Portoblog/Notebook
Sign up with Facebook and add the group: First Year at IAC-07-08 (http://mdc.facebook.com/group.php?gid=4209743061)
Writing and Language: A Mango Dialogue

HW:

Continue reading dialogue
"Shitty First Drafts" by Anne Lamott
From Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life

“Shitty First Drafts”
Now, practically even better news than that of short assignments is the idea of shitty first drafts. All good writers write them. This is how they end up with good second drafts and terrific third drafts. People tend to look at successful writers, writers who are getting their books published and maybe even doing well financially, and think that they sit down at their desks every morning feeling like a million dollars, feeling great about who they are and how much talent they have and what a great story they have to tell; that they take in a few deep breaths, push back their sleeves, roll their necks a few times to get all the cricks out, and dive in, typing fully formed passages as fast as a court reporter. But this is just the fantasy of the uninitiated. I know some very great writers, writers you love who write beautifully and have made a great deal of money, and not one of them sits down routinely feeling wildly enthusiastic and confident. Not one of them writes elegant first drafts. All right, one of them does, but we do not like her very much. We do not think that she has a rich inner life or that God likes her or can even stand her. (Although when I mentioned this to my priest friend Tom, he said you can safely assume you've created God in your own image when it turns out that God hates all the same people you do.)

Very few writers really know what they arc doing until they've done it. Nor do they go about their business feeling dewy and thrilled. They do not type a few stiff warm-up sentences and then find themselves bounding along like huskies across the snow. One writer I know tells me that he sits down every morning and says to himself nicely, "It's not like you don't have a choice, because you do — you can either type or kill yourself." We all often feel like we are pulling teeth, even those writers whose prose ends up being the most natural and fluid. The right words and sentences just do not come pouring out like ticker tape most of the time. Now, Muriel Spark is said to have felt that she was taking dictation from God every morning—sitting there, one supposes, plugged into a Dictaphone, typing away, humming. But this is a very hostile and aggressive position. One might hope for bad things to rain down on a person like this.

For me and most of the other writers I know, writing is not rapturous. In fact, the only way I can get anything written at all is to write really, really shitty first drafts.

The first draft is the child's draft, where you let it all pour out and then let it romp all over the place, knowing that no one is going to see it and that you can shape it later. You just let this childlike part of you channel whatever voices and visions come through and onto the page. If one of the characters wants to say, "Well, so what, Mr. Poopy Pants?," you let her. No one is going to see it. If the kid wants to get into really sentimental, weepy, emotional territory, you let him. Just get it all down on paper, because there may be some thing great in those six crazy pages that you would never have gotten to by more rational, grown-up means. There may be something in the very last line of the very last paragraph on page six that you just love, that is so beautiful or wild that you now know what you're supposed to be writing about, more or less, or in what direction you might go — but there was no way to get to this without first getting through the first five and a half pages.
I used to write food reviews for California magazine before it folded.

(My writing food reviews had nothing to do with the magazine folding, although every single review did cause a couple of canceled subscriptions. Some readers took umbrage at my comparing mounds of vegetable puree with various ex-presidents' brains.) These reviews always took two days to write. First I'd go to a restaurant several times with a few opinionated, articulate friends in tow. I'd sit there writing down everything anyone said that was at all interesting or funny. Then on the following Monday I'd sit down at my desk with my notes, and try to write the review. Even after I'd been doing this for years, panic would set in. I'd try to write a lead, but instead I'd write a couple of dreadful sentences, xx them out, try again, xx everything out, and then feel despair and worry settle on my chest like an x-ray apron. It's over, I'd think, calmly. I'm not going to be able to get the magic to work this time. I'm ruined. I'm through. I'm toast. Maybe, I'd think, I can get my old job back as a clerk-typist. But probably not. I'd get up and study my teeth in the mirror for a while. Then I'd stop, remember to breathe, make a few phone calls, hit the kitchen and chow down. Eventually I'd go back and sit down at my desk, and sigh for the next ten minutes.

Finally I would pick up my one-inch picture frame, stare into it as if for the answer, and every time the answer would come: all I had to do was to write a really shitty first draft of, say, the opening paragraph. And no one was going to see it.

So I'd start writing without reining myself in. It was almost just typing, just making my fingers move. And the writing would be terrible. I'd write a lead paragraph that was a whole page, even though the entire review could only be three pages long, and then I'd start writing up descriptions of the food, one dish at a time, bird by bird, and the critics would be sitting on my shoulders, commenting like cartoon characters. They'd be pretending to snore, or rolling their eyes at my overwrought descriptions, no matter how hard I tried to tone those descriptions down, no matter how conscious I was of what a friend said to me gently in my early days of restaurant reviewing. "Annie," she said, "it is just a piece of chicken. It is just a bit of cake."

But because by then I had been writing for so long, I would eventually let myself trust the process — sort of, more or less. I'd write a first draft that was maybe twice as long as it should be, with a self-indulgent and boring beginning, stupefying descriptions of the meal, lots of quotes from my black-humored friends that made them sound more like the Manson girls than food lovers, and no ending to speak of. The whole thing would be so long and incoherent and hideous that for the rest of the day I'd obsess about getting creamed by a car before I could write a decent second draft. I'd worry that people would read what I'd written and believe that the accident had really been a suicide, that I had panicked because my talent was waning and my mind was shot.

The next day, though, I'd sit down, go through it all with a colored pen, take out everything I possibly could, find a new lead somewhere on the second page, figure out a kicky place to end it, and then write a second draft. It always turned out fine, sometimes even funny and weird and helpful. I'd go over it one more time and mail it in.

Then, a month later, when it was time for another review, the whole process would start again, complete with the fears that people would find my first draft before I could rewrite it.

Almost all good writing begins with terrible first efforts. You need to start somewhere. Start by getting something — anything — down on paper. A friend of mine says that the first draft is the down draft — you just get it down. The second draft is the up draft — you fix it up. You try to say what you have to say more accurately. And the third draft is the dental draft, where you check every tooth, to see if it's loose or cramped or decayed, or even, God help us, healthy.

What I've learned to do when I sit down to work on a shitty first draft is to quiet the voices in my head. First there's the vinegar-lipped Reader Lady, who says primly, "Well, that's not very interesting, is it?" And there's the emaciated German male who writes these Orwellian memos detailing your thought crimes. And there are your parents, agonizing over your lack of loyalty and discretion; and there's William Burroughs, dozing off or shooting up because he finds you as bold and articulate as a houseplant; and so on. And there are also the dogs: let's not forget the dogs, the dogs in their pen who will surely hurtle and snarl their way out if you ever stop writing, because writing is, for some of us, the latch that keeps the door of the pen closed, keeps those crazy ravenous dogs contained.

Quieting these voices is at least half the battle I fight daily. But this is better than it used to be. It used to be 87 percent. Left to its own devices, my mind spends much of its time having conversations with people who aren't there. I walk along defending myself to people, or exchanging repartee with them, or rationalizing my behavior, or seducing them with gossip, or pretending I'm on their TV talk show or whatever. I speed or run an aging yellow light or don't come to a full stop, and one nanosecond later am explaining to imaginary cops exactly why I had to do what I did, or insisting that I did not in fact do it.

I happened to mention this to a hypnotist I saw many years ago, and he looked at me very nicely. At first I thought he was feeling around on the floor for the silent alarm button, but then he gave me the following exercise, which I still use to this day.

Close your eyes and get quiet for a minute, until the chatter starts up. Then isolate one of the voices and imagine the person speaking as a mouse. Pick it up by the tail and drop it into a mason jar. Then isolate another voice, pick it up by the tail, drop it in the jar. And so on. Drop in any high-maintenance parental units, drop in any contractors, lawyers, colleagues, children, anyone who is whining in your head. Then put the lid on, and watch all these mouse people clawing at the glass, jabbering away, trying to make you feel like shit because you won't do what they want — won't give them more money, won't be more successful, won't see them more often. Then imagine that there is a volume-control button on the bottle. Turn it all the way up for a minute, and listen to the stream of angry, neglected, guiltmongering voices. Then turn it all the way down and watch the frantic mice lunge at the glass, trying to get to you. Leave it down, and get back to your shitty first draft.
A writer friend of mine suggests opening the jar and shooting them all in the head. But I think he's a little angry, and I'm sure nothing like this would ever occur to you.
Notebook
If you have any questions, please feel free to post these in group's discussion board under "Questions"; reply to the post instead of creating a new topic.

Mango Dialogue

Sun, 26 Aug 2007 01:42:48 GMT

Alex

Hey man. I know you're busy to the point of being overwhelmed right now, so get to this whenever you come up for air, but I had some thoughts about writing this morning that I wanted to get down. I was thinking about writing some poetry, playing with the idea of writing a poem about how good it felt to eat a mango yesterday. Remember I was telling you about that mango Max gave me from his garden? I wrote some lines, just brainstorming, about how the fibers of the mango flesh are the fibers of my flesh, and how the juices of the mango flesh are my juices. Not sure what all that means. I had this sense of food and body and world being one, and I had this flashing sensation of feeling that unity as sticky yellow pulpy mango juices and flesh got all over my mouth and fingers, and a good, cool feeling spread through my chest and belly, and as the little fibers got stuck between my teeth. The teeth thing is always a little annoying, but I let it slide this time. Didn't ruin my mood.

So my thought is, as this mango poem comes to the brink of existence, where does a poem come from? How would I teach someone else who had a similar experience with a mango to try writing a poem from it? In our classes, we teach brainstorming, outlining, freewriting and other "prewriting techniques" to get students from the chaotic idea to the crystallized word, and these techniques work, and I use them all the time. But it seemed like that wouldn't be enough. You would have to go deeper, into something about settling into a certain state of mind to write a poem, and into something about the motivation behind writing a poem. It is, after all, just a silly poem that probably no one else will ever read. Why would I want to write it? I don't think it will be a very good poem, to be honest. But I wanted to write it. And it felt good to write down whatever preliminary feelings I had, much as it felt good to eat the mango.

Let me finish my thought, which I think is already too long. Do I want to write the mango poem and — this is closely related but different — do I know how to try to write the mango poem just because I am somehow born/supposed/programmed to write? That's not supposed to sound arrogant — it doesn't mean that I necessarily write well, just that I am inclined to write by nature, whether well or, as is definitely sometimes the case, pretty badly. What am I trying to say? Do you believe that some people have an inborn ability to write while others don't? I firmly believe that we can teach anyone to become a good writer in ENC 1101, but can you teach anyone to write a good poem? (I wish someone would teach me.) Can you teach someone to want to write all the time, to let their instincts guide the process, as opposed to mechanical brainstorms and outlines? To make it so there is just a poem there sometimes when you wake up in the morning and vague things that are like memories blended with feelings are swimming around your head? I'm not totally sure, but, yes, I think we can. And then, what does all this mean for our work as English Composition teachers at Miami Dade College? Are we getting into the work of creative writing teachers — or is saying "creative writing" redundant?

How do you get poetry out of people? (I'll send you the mango poem if it comes out.)

Carlos

The mango connection of reality is a powerful reflection. Here's a riff from one of your lines:
...fibers of my flesh, juices of my body
It is right and a joyful thing to re-member
the one flesh and body
in its multiplicity of forms.
We bite into this great imagination
that in-forms all of life, reality, existence.
We take the flesh in;
it does the same to us.
We feed, write, sing, dance, drink, and love.
Flesh and juice,
— sacred gift for a people
in transition.
Holy summertime offering,
Unexpected visitor of creation, iodine, and fiber.

A poem for personal consumption, like the mango you bit into. Maybe part of the difficulty of getting to the point of writing is the idea that we do so only because the piece written is of great enduring value, one we associate with publishing and large numbers of people appreciating or admiring. Yet the mango provides a great model — no fanfare, yet a miracle of smell and taste.

So maybe we can get poetry and writing out of people by feeding them mangoes, life, and lots of love. Maybe we suffer, I surely do, from a constipated imagination that longs for a good shit. Mangoes are great for that you know. We find the blockages by writing about them, observing them without judgment, and allowing ourselves room for work in progress, life in the making, imperfection, love of trying and sharing, and creating.

Alex

Love your poem. Why in transition? My favorite word in the pome is iodine. I'm not sure why. I thank you for inviting me into your soft juicy sunny imagination. It's nice in here.

You know, my poem hasn't come out yet. I'm constipated. I need powerful mango-laxatives. Yes, part of the reason is that maybe I want whatever I write to be my best somehow — "of great enduring value," as you put it, if not to other people, at least to me. What this really comes down to, now that I think about it, is something particular about my process. I think I lack trust in prewriting. I need to explore more through my writing — to just write. I need to be a wild and crazy writing person more often! I like to compose things in my head, have them come out nice and neat and meaningful, from the beginning, instead of just squeezing out — I like this digestion metaphor — whatever is there. Even if it stinks. Eeeew. Sometimes you don't really know what you think until you try to write it down, until you unleash the stream-of-consciouesness nonsense in your head. I teach this as freewriting, but don't practice it very often. Sometimes the result is poetry, sometimes the result is, yes, I'm going to say it, shit. But as you say, you clear the blockages, look at it without judgment. Yes, that stuff came out of me. That stuff is me. I need to trust the process, embrace the messiness. I'm thinking the notebooks will be a great way of developing this habit, of writing everyday, of emptying yourself constantly, of letting things fertilize.

For the record, I found myself stopping at several points in the last paragraph and changing things in an effort to make what I'm writing have a meaning, even as I'm writing about not doing that. I also added the caca humor. I guess that's just me.

I think this is also about energy. It can be easy for me to sit down and make a product — a piece of writing. I can write an "essay" in 30 minutes. But it can be hard for me to go through a process. It hurts to know your pouring yourself out and that you may have to throw it all away. But I come back to confronting something that is the only thing that I really know about writing well: that it is hard. That it takes time. Thanks for reminding me that good writers always embrace that it is a long, messy, uncomfortable, at times stomach-turning, but always, in the end, rewarding process. Nothing ever really gets flushed down the toilet when it comes to writing.

I'm curious to know more about your process. I'm curious to know if any part of it gives you a hard time, mango man.

I'm gonna write that poem one of these days...

Carlos

All around me I'm hearing music. My daughter is taking a shower blasting something from the radio. My son is playing Wii and trying to karaoke the song "Freak Out." There's a message there for me somehow!

Often I look for the right time and place to write. I figure that with enough quiet (both the inner and outer kind) that I could write something meaningful and satisfying. The problem is that those times of quiet are hard to find. As a matter of fact, even when things are outwardly quiet, I find myself in a very noisy inner place that tricks me into thinking that the time is not right for writing.

For me this is my biggest obstacle and hurdle. I would like to say that I have this figured out and know how to work in my own noise, but the truth is that more often than not, I am drowned by the noises around and inside. I know that what I must do is actually to get myself to write — no matter what, that even when I feel that what will come through will not be of much worth, that I can keep trying.

I suppose that working with a writing group should be a big help in inviting the writing habit to happen. We've talked about this for some time. It's pretty cool to have someone to share what is happening with one's writing or at least attempts at writing. Working within a community provides a pressure of sorts to not let go of the writing habit. We know that there are others who in a sense are also wrestling with the same writing demons.

In reference to the poem, I was symbolically connecting the mango to the host (Body of Christ) in the Catholic liturgy. The poem picks up on the Eucharistic invocation right before the priest lifts the host and then breaks it in half. For many years, and even now, this ritual has fed my imagination and spirit. Food is divine! So are words. We are all in transition — lives in the process of being lived, loved, and liberated. Like the mango, we will be digested and transformed. It's a matter of time. In the meantime, the noise continues but with enough skill, it, too, can be invited into the stew of our lives' creativity. (Espero.)

Send me that poem!

Week 2 for Classes Meeting on Campus

Sun, 26 Aug 2007 01:31:44 GMT

Monday Labor Day

We invite you to explore the meaning of the holiday. Here are two sources:

We also invite you to consider the action of the local Farm Union and their continued effort to improve wages.

Wednesday

Finish Mango Dialogue
Guest Presentation: Gilberto Simpson, Young People’s Project

HW:

Read "How to Tame a Wild Tongue" by Gloria Anzaldua.
To learn more about Anzaldua, visit the following sites:
- http://gloria.chicanas.com/index.html
- http://www.lib.utexas.edu/taro/utlac/00189/lac-00189p1.html#bioghist

Friday

Introduce Portoblog: *Personal vs. Public writing (Dream Act & Letter Writing)
Go over notebook diagram/process
Notebook

HW:

Post entry in Facebook regarding Dream Act.

MainMenu

Sat, 25 Aug 2007 19:33:00 GMT

Welcome
Syllabus
Portoblogs
Office Hours

Tiddlyspot

Sat, 25 Aug 2007 19:24:00 GMT

This document is a TiddlyWiki from tiddlyspot.com. A TiddlyWiki is an electronic notebook that is great for managing todo lists, personal information, and all sorts of things.

What now? Before you can save any changes, you need to enter your password in the form below. Then configure privacy and other site settings at your control panel (your control panel username is firstyear).

tiddlyspot password:	Save this password on this computer
site management:	save to web(requires tiddlyspot password) control panel, download (go offline)
links:	tiddlyspot.com, FAQs, announcements, blog, email support & feedback, donate

See also GettingStarted.

Working online    You can edit this TiddlyWiki right now, and save your changes using the "save to web" button in the column on the right.

Working offline    A fully functioning copy of this TiddlyWiki can be saved onto your hard drive or USB stick. You can make changes and save them locally without being connected to the Internet. When you're ready to sync up again, just click "upload" and your TiddlyWiki will be saved back to tiddlyspot.com.

Help!    Find out more about TiddlyWiki at TiddlyWiki.com. Also visit TiddlyWiki Guides for documentation on learning and using TiddlyWiki. New users are especially welcome on the TiddlyWiki mailing list, which is an excellent place to ask questions and get help. If you have a tiddlyspot related problem email tiddlyspot support.

Enjoy :)    We hope you like using your tiddlyspot.com site. Please email feedback@tiddlyspot.com with any comments or suggestions.

UploadPlugin

Sat, 25 Aug 2007 19:23:00 GMT

Name:	PasswordOptionPlugin
Description:	Extends TiddlyWiki options with non encrypted password option.
Version:	1.0.2
Date:	Apr 19, 2007
Source:	http://tiddlywiki.bidix.info/#PasswordOptionPlugin
Author:	BidiX (BidiX (at) bidix (dot) info)
License:	BSD open source license
CoreVersion:	2.2.0 (Beta 5)

version.extensions.PasswordOptionPlugin = {
	major: 1, minor: 0, revision: 2, 
	date: new Date("Apr 19, 2007"),
	source: 'http://tiddlywiki.bidix.info/#PasswordOptionPlugin',
	author: 'BidiX (BidiX (at) bidix (dot) info',
	license: '[[BSD open source license|http://tiddlywiki.bidix.info/#%5B%5BBSD%20open%20source%20license%5D%5D]]',
	coreVersion: '2.2.0 (Beta 5)'
};

config.macros.option.passwordCheckboxLabel = "Save this password on this computer";
config.macros.option.passwordInputType = "password"; // password | text
setStylesheet(".pasOptionInput {width: 11em;}\n","passwordInputTypeStyle");

merge(config.macros.option.types, {
	'pas': {
		elementType: "input",
		valueField: "value",
		eventName: "onkeyup",
		className: "pasOptionInput",
		typeValue: config.macros.option.passwordInputType,
		create: function(place,type,opt,className,desc) {
			// password field
			config.macros.option.genericCreate(place,'pas',opt,className,desc);
			// checkbox linked with this password "save this password on this computer"
			config.macros.option.genericCreate(place,'chk','chk'+opt,className,desc);			
			// text savePasswordCheckboxLabel
			place.appendChild(document.createTextNode(config.macros.option.passwordCheckboxLabel));
		},
		onChange: config.macros.option.genericOnChange
	}
});

merge(config.optionHandlers['chk'], {
	get: function(name) {
		// is there an option linked with this chk ?
		var opt = name.substr(3);
		if (config.options[opt]) 
			saveOptionCookie(opt);
		return config.options[name] ? "true" : "false";
	}
});

merge(config.optionHandlers, {
	'pas': {
 		get: function(name) {
			if (config.options["chk"+name]) {
				return encodeCookie(config.options[name].toString());
			} else {
				return "";
			}
		},
		set: function(name,value) {config.options[name] = decodeCookie(value);}
	}
});

// need to reload options to load passwordOptions
loadOptionsCookie();

/*
if (!config.options['pasPassword'])
	config.options['pasPassword'] = '';

merge(config.optionsDesc,{
		pasPassword: "Test password"
	});
*/

Name:	UploadPlugin
Description:	Save to web a TiddlyWiki
Version:	4.1.0
Date:	May 5, 2007
Source:	http://tiddlywiki.bidix.info/#UploadPlugin
Documentation:	http://tiddlywiki.bidix.info/#UploadPluginDoc
Author:	BidiX (BidiX (at) bidix (dot) info)
License:	BSD open source license
CoreVersion:	2.2.0 (#3125)
Requires:	PasswordOptionPlugin

version.extensions.UploadPlugin = {
	major: 4, minor: 1, revision: 0,
	date: new Date("May 5, 2007"),
	source: 'http://tiddlywiki.bidix.info/#UploadPlugin',
	author: 'BidiX (BidiX (at) bidix (dot) info',
	coreVersion: '2.2.0 (#3125)'
};

//
// Environment
//

if (!window.bidix) window.bidix = {}; // bidix namespace
bidix.debugMode = false;	// true to activate both in Plugin and UploadService
	
//
// Upload Macro
//

config.macros.upload = {
// default values
	defaultBackupDir: '',	//no backup
	defaultStoreScript: "store.php",
	defaultToFilename: "index.html",
	defaultUploadDir: ".",
	authenticateUser: true	// UploadService Authenticate User
};
	
config.macros.upload.label = {
	promptOption: "Save and Upload this TiddlyWiki with UploadOptions",
	promptParamMacro: "Save and Upload this TiddlyWiki in %0",
	saveLabel: "save to web", 
	saveToDisk: "save to disk",
	uploadLabel: "upload"	
};

config.macros.upload.messages = {
	noStoreUrl: "No store URL in parmeters or options",
	usernameOrPasswordMissing: "Username or password missing"
};

config.macros.upload.handler = function(place,macroName,params) {
	if (readOnly)
		return;
	var label;
	if (document.location.toString().substr(0,4) == "http") 
		label = this.label.saveLabel;
	else
		label = this.label.uploadLabel;
	var prompt;
	if (params[0]) {
		prompt = this.label.promptParamMacro.toString().format([this.destFile(params[0], 
			(params[1] ? params[1]:bidix.basename(window.location.toString())), params[3])]);
	} else {
		prompt = this.label.promptOption;
	}
	createTiddlyButton(place, label, prompt, function() {config.macros.upload.action(params);}, null, null, this.accessKey);
};

config.macros.upload.action = function(params)
{
		// for missing macro parameter set value from options
		var storeUrl = params[0] ? params[0] : config.options.txtUploadStoreUrl;
		var toFilename = params[1] ? params[1] : config.options.txtUploadFilename;
		var backupDir = params[2] ? params[2] : config.options.txtUploadBackupDir;
		var uploadDir = params[3] ? params[3] : config.options.txtUploadDir;
		var username = params[4] ? params[4] : config.options.txtUploadUserName;
		var password = config.options.pasUploadPassword; // for security reason no password as macro parameter	
		// for still missing parameter set default value
		if ((!storeUrl) && (document.location.toString().substr(0,4) == "http")) 
			storeUrl = bidix.dirname(document.location.toString())+'/'+config.macros.upload.defaultStoreScript;
		if (storeUrl.substr(0,4) != "http")
			storeUrl = bidix.dirname(document.location.toString()) +'/'+ storeUrl;
		if (!toFilename)
			toFilename = bidix.basename(window.location.toString());
		if (!toFilename)
			toFilename = config.macros.upload.defaultToFilename;
		if (!uploadDir)
			uploadDir = config.macros.upload.defaultUploadDir;
		if (!backupDir)
			backupDir = config.macros.upload.defaultBackupDir;
		// report error if still missing
		if (!storeUrl) {
			alert(config.macros.upload.messages.noStoreUrl);
			clearMessage();
			return false;
		}
		if (config.macros.upload.authenticateUser && (!username || !password)) {
			alert(config.macros.upload.messages.usernameOrPasswordMissing);
			clearMessage();
			return false;
		}
		bidix.upload.uploadChanges(false,null,storeUrl, toFilename, uploadDir, backupDir, username, password); 
		return false; 
};

config.macros.upload.destFile = function(storeUrl, toFilename, uploadDir) 
{
	if (!storeUrl)
		return null;
		var dest = bidix.dirname(storeUrl);
		if (uploadDir && uploadDir != '.')
			dest = dest + '/' + uploadDir;
		dest = dest + '/' + toFilename;
	return dest;
};

//
// uploadOptions Macro
//

config.macros.uploadOptions = {
	handler: function(place,macroName,params) {
		var wizard = new Wizard();
		wizard.createWizard(place,this.wizardTitle);
		wizard.addStep(this.step1Title,this.step1Html);
		var markList = wizard.getElement("markList");
		var listWrapper = document.createElement("div");
		markList.parentNode.insertBefore(listWrapper,markList);
		wizard.setValue("listWrapper",listWrapper);
		this.refreshOptions(listWrapper,false);
		var uploadCaption;
		if (document.location.toString().substr(0,4) == "http") 
			uploadCaption = config.macros.upload.label.saveLabel;
		else
			uploadCaption = config.macros.upload.label.uploadLabel;
		
		wizard.setButtons([
				{caption: uploadCaption, tooltip: config.macros.upload.label.promptOption, 
					onClick: config.macros.upload.action},
				{caption: this.cancelButton, tooltip: this.cancelButtonPrompt, onClick: this.onCancel}
				
			]);
	},
	refreshOptions: function(listWrapper) {
		var uploadOpts = [
			"txtUploadUserName",
			"pasUploadPassword",
			"txtUploadStoreUrl",
			"txtUploadDir",
			"txtUploadFilename",
			"txtUploadBackupDir",
			"chkUploadLog",
			"txtUploadLogMaxLine",
			]
		var opts = [];
		for(i=0; i<uploadOpts.length; i++) {
			var opt = {};
			opts.push()
			opt.option = "";
			n = uploadOpts[i];
			opt.name = n;
			opt.lowlight = !config.optionsDesc[n];
			opt.description = opt.lowlight ? this.unknownDescription : config.optionsDesc[n];
			opts.push(opt);
		}
		var listview = ListView.create(listWrapper,opts,this.listViewTemplate);
		for(n=0; n<opts.length; n++) {
			var type = opts[n].name.substr(0,3);
			var h = config.macros.option.types[type];
			if (h && h.create) {
				h.create(opts[n].colElements['option'],type,opts[n].name,opts[n].name,"no");
			}
		}
		
	},
	onCancel: function(e)
	{
		backstage.switchTab(null);
		return false;
	},
	
	wizardTitle: "Upload with options",
	step1Title: "These options are saved in cookies in your browser",
	step1Html: "<input type='hidden' name='markList'></input><br>",
	cancelButton: "Cancel",
	cancelButtonPrompt: "Cancel prompt",
	listViewTemplate: {
		columns: [
			{name: 'Description', field: 'description', title: "Description", type: 'WikiText'},
			{name: 'Option', field: 'option', title: "Option", type: 'String'},
			{name: 'Name', field: 'name', title: "Name", type: 'String'}
			],
		rowClasses: [
			{className: 'lowlight', field: 'lowlight'} 
			]}
}

//
// upload functions
//

if (!bidix.upload) bidix.upload = {};

if (!bidix.upload.messages) bidix.upload.messages = {
	//from saving
	invalidFileError: "The original file '%0' does not appear to be a valid TiddlyWiki",
	backupSaved: "Backup saved",
	backupFailed: "Failed to upload backup file",
	rssSaved: "RSS feed uploaded",
	rssFailed: "Failed to upload RSS feed file",
	emptySaved: "Empty template uploaded",
	emptyFailed: "Failed to upload empty template file",
	mainSaved: "Main TiddlyWiki file uploaded",
	mainFailed: "Failed to upload main TiddlyWiki file. Your changes have not been saved",
	//specific upload
	loadOriginalHttpPostError: "Can't get original file",
	aboutToSaveOnHttpPost: 'About to upload on %0 ...',
	storePhpNotFound: "The store script '%0' was not found."
};

bidix.upload.uploadChanges = function(onlyIfDirty,tiddlers,storeUrl,toFilename,uploadDir,backupDir,username,password)
{
	var callback = function(status,uploadParams,original,url,xhr) {
		if (!status) {
			displayMessage(bidix.upload.messages.loadOriginalHttpPostError);
			return;
		}
		if (bidix.debugMode) 
			alert(original.substr(0,500)+"\n...");
		// Locate the storeArea div's 
		var posDiv = locateStoreArea(original);
		if((posDiv[0] == -1) || (posDiv[1] == -1)) {
			alert(config.messages.invalidFileError.format([localPath]));
			return;
		}
		bidix.upload.uploadRss(uploadParams,original,posDiv);
	};
	
	if(onlyIfDirty && !store.isDirty())
		return;
	clearMessage();
	// save on localdisk ?
	if (document.location.toString().substr(0,4) == "file") {
		var path = document.location.toString();
		var localPath = getLocalPath(path);
		saveChanges();
	}
	// get original
	var uploadParams = Array(storeUrl,toFilename,uploadDir,backupDir,username,password);
	var originalPath = document.location.toString();
	// If url is a directory : add index.html
	if (originalPath.charAt(originalPath.length-1) == "/")
		originalPath = originalPath + "index.html";
	var dest = config.macros.upload.destFile(storeUrl,toFilename,uploadDir);
	var log = new bidix.UploadLog();
	log.startUpload(storeUrl, dest, uploadDir,  backupDir);
	displayMessage(bidix.upload.messages.aboutToSaveOnHttpPost.format([dest]));
	if (bidix.debugMode) 
		alert("about to execute Http - GET on "+originalPath);
	var r = doHttp("GET",originalPath,null,null,null,null,callback,uploadParams,null);
	if (typeof r == "string")
		displayMessage(r);
	return r;
};

bidix.upload.uploadRss = function(uploadParams,original,posDiv) 
{
	var callback = function(status,params,responseText,url,xhr) {
		if(status) {
			var destfile = responseText.substring(responseText.indexOf("destfile:")+9,responseText.indexOf("\n", responseText.indexOf("destfile:")));
			displayMessage(bidix.upload.messages.rssSaved,bidix.dirname(url)+'/'+destfile);
			bidix.upload.uploadMain(params[0],params[1],params[2]);
		} else {
			displayMessage(bidix.upload.messages.rssFailed);			
		}
	};
	// do uploadRss
	if(config.options.chkGenerateAnRssFeed) {
		var rssPath = uploadParams[1].substr(0,uploadParams[1].lastIndexOf(".")) + ".xml";
		var rssUploadParams = Array(uploadParams[0],rssPath,uploadParams[2],'',uploadParams[4],uploadParams[5]);
		bidix.upload.httpUpload(rssUploadParams,convertUnicodeToUTF8(generateRss()),callback,Array(uploadParams,original,posDiv));
	} else {
		bidix.upload.uploadMain(uploadParams,original,posDiv);
	}
};

bidix.upload.uploadMain = function(uploadParams,original,posDiv) 
{
	var callback = function(status,params,responseText,url,xhr) {
		var log = new bidix.UploadLog();
		if(status) {
			// if backupDir specified
			if ((params[3]) && (responseText.indexOf("backupfile:") > -1))  {
				var backupfile = responseText.substring(responseText.indexOf("backupfile:")+11,responseText.indexOf("\n", responseText.indexOf("backupfile:")));
				displayMessage(bidix.upload.messages.backupSaved,bidix.dirname(url)+'/'+backupfile);
			}
			var destfile = responseText.substring(responseText.indexOf("destfile:")+9,responseText.indexOf("\n", responseText.indexOf("destfile:")));
			displayMessage(bidix.upload.messages.mainSaved,bidix.dirname(url)+'/'+destfile);
			store.setDirty(false);
			log.endUpload("ok");
		} else {
			alert(bidix.upload.messages.mainFailed);
			displayMessage(bidix.upload.messages.mainFailed);
			log.endUpload("failed");			
		}
	};
	// do uploadMain
	var revised = bidix.upload.updateOriginal(original,posDiv);
	bidix.upload.httpUpload(uploadParams,revised,callback,uploadParams);
};

bidix.upload.httpUpload = function(uploadParams,data,callback,params)
{
	var localCallback = function(status,params,responseText,url,xhr) {
		url = (url.indexOf("nocache=") < 0 ? url : url.substring(0,url.indexOf("nocache=")-1));
		if (xhr.status == httpStatus.NotFound)
			alert(bidix.upload.messages.storePhpNotFound.format([url]));
		if ((bidix.debugMode) || (responseText.indexOf("Debug mode") >= 0 )) {
			alert(responseText);
			if (responseText.indexOf("Debug mode") >= 0 )
				responseText = responseText.substring(responseText.indexOf("\n\n")+2);
		} else if (responseText.charAt(0) != '0') 
			alert(responseText);
		if (responseText.charAt(0) != '0')
			status = null;
		callback(status,params,responseText,url,xhr);
	};
	// do httpUpload
	var boundary = "---------------------------"+"AaB03x";	
	var uploadFormName = "UploadPlugin";
	// compose headers data
	var sheader = "";
	sheader += "--" + boundary + "\r\nContent-disposition: form-data; name=\"";
	sheader += uploadFormName +"\"\r\n\r\n";
	sheader += "backupDir="+uploadParams[3] +
				";user=" + uploadParams[4] +
				";password=" + uploadParams[5] +
				";uploaddir=" + uploadParams[2];
	if (bidix.debugMode)
		sheader += ";debug=1";
	sheader += ";;\r\n"; 
	sheader += "\r\n" + "--" + boundary + "\r\n";
	sheader += "Content-disposition: form-data; name=\"userfile\"; filename=\""+uploadParams[1]+"\"\r\n";
	sheader += "Content-Type: text/html;charset=UTF-8" + "\r\n";
	sheader += "Content-Length: " + data.length + "\r\n\r\n";
	// compose trailer data
	var strailer = new String();
	strailer = "\r\n--" + boundary + "--\r\n";
	data = sheader + data + strailer;
	if (bidix.debugMode) alert("about to execute Http - POST on "+uploadParams[0]+"\n with \n"+data.substr(0,500)+ " ... ");
	var r = doHttp("POST",uploadParams[0],data,"multipart/form-data; boundary="+boundary,uploadParams[4],uploadParams[5],localCallback,params,null);
	if (typeof r == "string")
		displayMessage(r);
	return r;
};

// same as Saving's updateOriginal but without convertUnicodeToUTF8 calls
bidix.upload.updateOriginal = function(original, posDiv)
{
	if (!posDiv)
		posDiv = locateStoreArea(original);
	if((posDiv[0] == -1) || (posDiv[1] == -1)) {
		alert(config.messages.invalidFileError.format([localPath]));
		return;
	}
	var revised = original.substr(0,posDiv[0] + startSaveArea.length) + "\n" +
				store.allTiddlersAsHtml() + "\n" +
				original.substr(posDiv[1]);
	var newSiteTitle = getPageTitle().htmlEncode();
	revised = revised.replaceChunk("<title"+">","</title"+">"," " + newSiteTitle + " ");
	revised = updateMarkupBlock(revised,"PRE-HEAD","MarkupPreHead");
	revised = updateMarkupBlock(revised,"POST-HEAD","MarkupPostHead");
	revised = updateMarkupBlock(revised,"PRE-BODY","MarkupPreBody");
	revised = updateMarkupBlock(revised,"POST-SCRIPT","MarkupPostBody");
	return revised;
};

//
// UploadLog
// 
// config.options.chkUploadLog :
//		false : no logging
//		true : logging
// config.options.txtUploadLogMaxLine :
//		-1 : no limit
//      0 :  no Log lines but UploadLog is still in place
//		n :  the last n lines are only kept
//		NaN : no limit (-1)

bidix.UploadLog = function() {
	if (!config.options.chkUploadLog) 
		return; // this.tiddler = null
	this.tiddler = store.getTiddler("UploadLog");
	if (!this.tiddler) {
		this.tiddler = new Tiddler();
		this.tiddler.title = "UploadLog";
		this.tiddler.text = "| !date | !user | !location | !storeUrl | !uploadDir | !toFilename | !backupdir | !origin |";
		this.tiddler.created = new Date();
		this.tiddler.modifier = config.options.txtUserName;
		this.tiddler.modified = new Date();
		store.addTiddler(this.tiddler);
	}
	return this;
};

bidix.UploadLog.prototype.addText = function(text) {
	if (!this.tiddler)
		return;
	// retrieve maxLine when we need it
	var maxLine = parseInt(config.options.txtUploadLogMaxLine,10);
	if (isNaN(maxLine))
		maxLine = -1;
	// add text
	if (maxLine != 0) 
		this.tiddler.text = this.tiddler.text + text;
	// Trunck to maxLine
	if (maxLine >= 0) {
		var textArray = this.tiddler.text.split('\n');
		if (textArray.length > maxLine + 1)
			textArray.splice(1,textArray.length-1-maxLine);
			this.tiddler.text = textArray.join('\n');		
	}
	// update tiddler fields
	this.tiddler.modifier = config.options.txtUserName;
	this.tiddler.modified = new Date();
	store.addTiddler(this.tiddler);
	// refresh and notifiy for immediate update
	story.refreshTiddler(this.tiddler.title);
	store.notify(this.tiddler.title, true);
};

bidix.UploadLog.prototype.startUpload = function(storeUrl, toFilename, uploadDir,  backupDir) {
	if (!this.tiddler)
		return;
	var now = new Date();
	var text = "\n| ";
	var filename = bidix.basename(document.location.toString());
	if (!filename) filename = '/';
	text += now.formatString("0DD/0MM/YYYY 0hh:0mm:0ss") +" | ";
	text += config.options.txtUserName + " | ";
	text += "[["+filename+"|"+location + "]] |";
	text += " [[" + bidix.basename(storeUrl) + "|" + storeUrl + "]] | ";
	text += uploadDir + " | ";
	text += "[[" + bidix.basename(toFilename) + " | " +toFilename + "]] | ";
	text += backupDir + " |";
	this.addText(text);
};

bidix.UploadLog.prototype.endUpload = function(status) {
	if (!this.tiddler)
		return;
	this.addText(" "+status+" |");
};

//
// Utilities
// 

bidix.checkPlugin = function(plugin, major, minor, revision) {
	var ext = version.extensions[plugin];
	if (!
		(ext  && 
			((ext.major > major) || 
			((ext.major == major) && (ext.minor > minor))  ||
			((ext.major == major) && (ext.minor == minor) && (ext.revision >= revision))))) {
			// write error in PluginManager
			if (pluginInfo)
				pluginInfo.log.push("Requires " + plugin + " " + major + "." + minor + "." + revision);
			eval(plugin); // generate an error : "Error: ReferenceError: xxxx is not defined"
	}
};

bidix.dirname = function(filePath) {
	if (!filePath) 
		return;
	var lastpos;
	if ((lastpos = filePath.lastIndexOf("/")) != -1) {
		return filePath.substring(0, lastpos);
	} else {
		return filePath.substring(0, filePath.lastIndexOf("\\"));
	}
};

bidix.basename = function(filePath) {
	if (!filePath) 
		return;
	var lastpos;
	if ((lastpos = filePath.lastIndexOf("#")) != -1) 
		filePath = filePath.substring(0, lastpos);
	if ((lastpos = filePath.lastIndexOf("/")) != -1) {
		return filePath.substring(lastpos + 1);
	} else
		return filePath.substring(filePath.lastIndexOf("\\")+1);
};

bidix.initOption = function(name,value) {
	if (!config.options[name])
		config.options[name] = value;
};

//
// Initializations
//

// require PasswordOptionPlugin 1.0.1 or better
bidix.checkPlugin("PasswordOptionPlugin", 1, 0, 1);

// styleSheet
setStylesheet('.txtUploadStoreUrl, .txtUploadBackupDir, .txtUploadDir {width: 22em;}',"uploadPluginStyles");

//optionsDesc
merge(config.optionsDesc,{
	txtUploadStoreUrl: "Url of the UploadService script (default: store.php)",
	txtUploadFilename: "Filename of the uploaded file (default: in index.html)",
	txtUploadDir: "Relative Directory where to store the file (default: . (downloadService directory))",
	txtUploadBackupDir: "Relative Directory where to backup the file. If empty no backup. (default: ''(empty))",
	txtUploadUserName: "Upload Username",
	pasUploadPassword: "Upload Password",
	chkUploadLog: "do Logging in UploadLog (default: true)",
	txtUploadLogMaxLine: "Maximum of lines in UploadLog (default: 10)"
});

// Options Initializations
bidix.initOption('txtUploadStoreUrl','');
bidix.initOption('txtUploadFilename','');
bidix.initOption('txtUploadDir','');
bidix.initOption('txtUploadBackupDir','');
bidix.initOption('txtUploadUserName','');
bidix.initOption('pasUploadPassword','');
bidix.initOption('chkUploadLog',true);
bidix.initOption('txtUploadLogMaxLine','10');


/* don't want this for tiddlyspot sites

// Backstage
merge(config.tasks,{
	uploadOptions: {text: "upload", tooltip: "Change UploadOptions and Upload", content: '<<uploadOptions>>'}
});
config.backstageTasks.push("uploadOptions");

*/

Week 3 for Classes Meeting at Phillis Wheatley

Sat, 25 Aug 2007 12:31:00 GMT

Notebook
Continue dialogue
Discuss Anzaldua
Comparing Spanish, Platform English, Ebonics & Other Languages

HW:
June Jordan Reading
½ Overtown Packet
Think about emerging topic from the notebook

W:

Purpose of Story — Barry Lopez
The stories people tell have a way of taking care of them. If stories come to you, care for them. And learn to give them away where they are needed. Sometimes a person needs a story more than food to stay alive. That is why we put these stories in each other’s memory. This is how people care for themselves. One day you will be good storytellers. Never forget these obligations.
-from Crow and Weasel, p.60
Continue language dialogue
Notebook time
Overtown presentation
Form teams

Week 3 for Classes Meeting on Campus

Sat, 25 Aug 2007 12:31:00 GMT

Monday

Notebook
Purpose of Story — Barry Lopez
The stories people tell have a way of taking care of them. If stories come to you, care for them. And learn to give them away where they are needed. Sometimes a person needs a story more than food to stay alive. That is why we put these stories in each other’s memory. This is how people care for themselves. One day you will be good storytellers. Never forget these obligations.
-from Crow and Weasel, p.60
Discuss Anzaldua

HW:

Read June Jordan

Wednesday

Comparing Spanish, Platform English, Ebonics & Other Languages
Notebook
Discuss June Jordan

HW:

½ Overtown Packet
Think about emerging topic from the notebook

Friday

Overtown presentation
Form project teams
Notebook – work on emerging topic

HW:

½ Overtown Packet
Collect around emerging topic
Gather Overtown stories in teams
Post possible emerging topic in Facebook

Week 16 for Classes Meeting on Campus

Sat, 25 Aug 2007 03:40:00 GMT

Monday

Performances

Wednesday

Performances

Friday

Reflection Day

Week 15 for Classes Meeting on Campus

Sat, 25 Aug 2007 03:39:00 GMT

Monday

Work on final Theater Project
Portoblog due

Wednesday

Theater project performance workshop

Friday

Service-Learning Day

Week 14 for Classes Meeting on Campus

Sat, 25 Aug 2007 03:37:00 GMT

Monday

Discuss Ishmael
Notebook

HW:

Work on portoblog and theater project

Wednesday

Deepening: Writing Circle Day

Friday

Deepening: Writing Circle Day

Week 13 for Classes Meeting on Campus

Sat, 25 Aug 2007 03:36:00 GMT

Monday

Portoblog Q & A
Work on theater project (scripting)

HW:

Read Ishmael through end

Wednesday

Continue working on script for theater project

Friday

Reflection Day

Week 12 for Classes Meeting on Campus

Sat, 25 Aug 2007 03:34:00 GMT

Monday

Discuss Ishmael

HW:

Work on portoblog and theater project
Make sure that you participate in a writing circle by the end of the week.

Wednesday

Writing Circle Day

Friday:

Deepening: Writing Circle Day

Week 11 for Classes Meeting on Campus

Sat, 25 Aug 2007 03:33:00 GMT

Monday

Portoblog

HW:

Read Ishmael through Ch. 11

Wednesday

Writing Circle Day

Friday

Service-Learning Day

Week 10 for Classes Meeting on Campus

Sat, 25 Aug 2007 03:32:00 GMT

Monday

Discuss fear, freedom & creative tension
Poetry
Notebook

HW:

Work on portoblog

Wednesday

Share draft of Essay #2 in class (also post in Facebook)
Discuss Ishmael
Notebook

Friday

Reflection Day

Week 9 for Classes Meeting on Campus

Sat, 25 Aug 2007 03:30:00 GMT

Monday

Prejudice Workshop
Notebook

HW:

Read Ishmael through Ch. 9
Write draft of Essay #2

Wednesday

Continue prejudice workshop
Notebook

HW:

Continue working on draft of Essay #2

Friday:

Service-Learning Day

Week 8 for Classes Meeting at Phillis Wheatley

Sat, 25 Aug 2007 03:28:00 GMT

Portoblog
Doll Test & Modern example
Slavery, Segregation to Today: an Overview
Some links:
Discuss Ishmael

HW:

Read Kozol
Read Jensen
Collect around topic for Essay #2
Update your catalogue page in your notebook.
Note any patterns over the past couple of weeks. Aim for diversity of approaches to stretch yourself. Pay attention to those things that interest and motivate you. Look into these further .

W: Phillis Wheatley Connection

Reading & Writing

Week 8 for Classes Meeting on Campus

Sat, 25 Aug 2007 03:27:00 GMT

Monday

Portoblog: Q & A
Doll Test & Modern example

Discuss Ishmael

HW:

Read Kozol
Read Jensen

Wednesday

Slavery, Segregation to Today: an Overview
Some links:
Discuss Kozol and Jensen
Notebook

HW:

Collect around topic for Essay #2

Friday

Deepening: Writing Circle Day

Week 7 for Classes Meeting at Phillis Wheatley

Sat, 25 Aug 2007 02:52:00 GMT

Notebook
Introduce Brown VS. Board: “Eyes on the Prize”
Reading activity around Ruby Bridges
Introduce Reader’s Theater Ruby Bridges play
Discuss Ishmael
Share draft in writing circles during office hours for provisional grade.
Make sure to bring five copies of your essay to share with the group. The provisional grade is meant to give you a sense of how you are performing. It is not, however, an adequate representation of your learning! Keep in mind that we will collect final work at the end of the semester, giving you ample time to improve your essay if you are not satisfied with the grade agreed upon in the writing circle session.

HW:

Prepare Readers Theater with team members
Read Ishmael through Ch. 7
Identify possible topics for Essay #2

W: Phillis Wheatley Connection

Carry out student-designed activities
Note that you have a very useful set of readings in your packet. One of the texts we included, Tapestries of Tales, provides excellent suggestions.

Guidelines:

Fun
Educational
Active