Haikus in git (by alaric)

I decided I'd write a haiku a day through February, for WoPoWriMo.

But I had to make it interesting, so I'm doing then in git, and letting GitHub publish them for me at http://alaricsp.github.com/wopowrimo/ using their pages system.

git is a system for looking after a bunch of files, keeping track of the 'history' - previous revisions. Since it knows the history, it can show you the changes made in each version; it can also do advanced stuff like letting you make several copies of your work, making changes to each copy, then comparing the results, merging the changes into one version, etc.

This has a number of uses. Perhaps you can have copies of your work on your laptop and your desktop, so you can work on either computer, and merge your changes when you get a chance. Perhaps you can try several different changes to your work, and decide which ones you want to keep. Perhaps a team can each take a copy of something, work on different parts of it, and merge them together again. Perhaps you can just put a copy on another computer, and merge your changes onto it from time to time, just in case you lose your laptop, so you have a backup.

Keeping the history means you can try making experimental changes, safe in the knowledge that you can undo them by going back to an earlier version.

It's normally used for things like computer software, but it's increasingly being used for things like writing projects as well. There's a git tutorial for designers, and writers such as Cory Doctorow and Tycho Garen are starting to adopt it.

GitHub is a site that hosts copies of your git repositories for you. You can push changes from your local copy to the github copy whenever you want to publish them to the world, and it has a nice Web interface to let people take copies of them, view the history, and so on; its pages system also exposes simple Web sites stored in git repositories onto the Web.

So you can view my efforts at http://alaricsp.github.com/wopowrimo/; or from that page you can find instructions on how to take your own local copy with git (that you can pull my changes into from time to time, and then look at the history), or you can follow the links through to http://github.com/alaricsp/wopowrimo/commits/gh-pages and view the history.

The Frog and The Fiddle (by sarah)

Tuesday I went along to what is essentially a University of Gloucester (I think) event that has been opened up to the public. It is held at the Frog and Fiddle in Cheltenham in their 'barn'.

I really liked the evening though I had to leave early - but I did get up and read 🙂 I also put flyers out for WoPoWriMo 🙂

I was incredibly nervous about this night as it was full of people who like study poetry and things - again the only thing I could speak authoritively on was Interzone and their submitting process :/

WoPoWriMo – World Poetry Writing Month (by sarah)

I am organising and taking part in WoPoWriMo which means that I have been setting up the web-site and facebook group and newsletter sign up and what have you.

Why am I doing this? Because I was asked too! And it sounds like a fun project:)

What will I be doing and expecting others to do?

Write a poem a day for the whole of February!

There is a Pledge to sign too 🙂

So you going to join in? I've even go Alaric pledged and excited - yes you heard me Alaric writing poetry!

Poetry Cafe – Adam Horovitz (by sarah)

Last night at Poetry Cafe one of the main poetry thingys I have been attending we had a blinding headline poet called Adam Horovitz. During his reading I got the chill and the tingle and so actually parted with cash for a pamphlet containing a poem that made me want to cry.

The Great Unlearning.

Know if you know me - you also know that I basically don't buy poetry - unless there is a contributors copy where I don't have to pay postage and packaging I don't even have copies of my own poems - I don't buy the journals or anything. I am basically a culture thicky, the scientist ingressing and yes I don't read much poetry - this is because I will only bother reading something where I have heard some of the poems and have had the tingle.

Anyway I am digressing as I always do!

Basically I really liked this guys poems and I got to read too 🙂 In the open mic! I read Alphabet Soup and Summer Sale - though I felt very fatigued yesturday and had trouble not shaking which sucked big time and I felt it reflected in how well I read 🙁

I also got to announce WoPoWriMo (World Poetry Writing Month) which I need to do a whole post about but basically - February is the month of poetry and the month of poetry is February.

It's a writing challenge - if your intrested do click through to have a butchers 🙂

Also next month I am going to be doing a mini showcase at Poetry Cafe of my work. I am of course excited about this and hope that some peeps might actually want to come and see me 🙂

The Art of Knowledge Unconference (by sarah)

This weekend 12-13 Dec 2009 in Bristol there is an Unconference part of the uncraftivism weekend and I am going to be reading some of my poems that I think appropriate! Like The Programmer's Lament and A Picture of Words.

Me and Alaric are hoping some of you will join us in Bristol 🙂

It looks like a really interesting event so I'm looking forward to it - lots!

BKU2009 on twitter and I think there's some online jabbery stuff occuring. There is also like a talk/culture cafe thing and a lot of free form stuff hence the Un- bit of conference!