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A Sense of Place

Dimensions, voices, sound, time, language.

1
Run from Ground Zero
A brief collection of essays on politics and the personal.
Thursday, February 20, 2003

Almost everything has an element of “place”, whether we refer to location (long and lat, or within a country or state, place in the universe, “at home”, etc.), social place, place in time.

For instance: I was here, writing this, and you are there, reading it. I am out, devouring. I am at the library. I am singing. I am writing what you will read tomorrow. Without different spatial concepts there would be none of this.

As you can see, the questions raised by the word “place” are manifold. Which brings us to your assignment: within a large interlinked hypertextual narrative using multiple characters, uncover the real meaning of place - of being a place in time with others, of experiencing sound and feeling. Show your work. Avoid declarative and objective concepts, focusing instead on how place is interpreted and communicated both internally, to the perceptive agent (or individual) and externally, between parties.

2
Place as Noplace, and 3D, and Geometry
Paul Ford used a machine to define the way shadows fell, and thus to fool eyes into believing that something existed which did not.
Tuesday, March 12, 2002
3
Location
Place in three dimensions.
Saturday, March 2, 2002
6 sections.
4
Time
The fourth dimension of place.
Saturday, March 2, 2002
14 sections.
5
Santa Fe, New Mexico, United States of America
A trip out West to spend time with my girlfriend, a vacation, and the preface to the new year.
Tuesday, December 31, 2002
3 sections.
6
Candy
2 artifacts from the day.
Thursday, February 14, 2002


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About the author: I've been running this website from 1997. For a living I write stories and essays, program computers, edit things, and help people launch online publications. (LinkedIn). I wrote a novel. I was an editor at Harper's Magazine for five years; then I was a Contributing Editor; now I am a free agent. I was also on NPR's All Things Considered for a while. I still write for The Morning News, and some other places.

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