Flog #4

At first, I had no idea what to do for Hack#2, I was totally lost. I knew I didn’t have enough technical skills, so I didn’t want to waste too much time trying things that wouldn’t really go anywhere. It wasn’t until I watched some videos of classic games that I finally figured out the direction for my Hack. The changes to the rules just kind of popped into my head, and I kept adding more and more details to them. But I still wasn’t sure if I should add even more: Would it make the game too bulky and boring, and blur the social meaning I want to express? Or if I don’t add more, is the Hack surprising enough? Will it be enough to satisfy people? These thoughts still make me anxious every time I do an assignment. Also, I really don’t know how to write the 1,000-word Artist Statement. I guess I’ll first explain the game rules, then talk about what they represent, and reference some literature as support. I hope I can finish it by the weekend.

I don’t like the first reading for this Thursday. I don’t like how Steven Levy always made the MIT guys sound like they were smarter than everyone else. Surely they’re doing really cool stuff, but that doesn’t mean others are just mediocre, or that everyone has to give in to their ideals. What Samson did to that Administrator (or priest) was wrong. He was just doing his job watching over those really expensive and precise equipment, and he didn’t deserve to be mocked. Marge herself was a computer science researcher, and in class we talked about how there weren’t many women who had access to this field at that time. She deserved a responsible husband, not one who ignored her and refused to help when she came home from the grocery store after working for the family. Our media always pushes this individualistic heroism acting like some people are born to be the main characters, and everyone else’s feelings don’t matter. It’s like in Spider-Man movies where Peter Parker can just make fun of the villain, Spot, without thinking twice. I failed to bring up these thoughts in class.