Yes, STILL. It's kind of hilarious how little time I've had for this beast. What can I do when Urban Political Processes, the class I'm currently taking, demands weekly reading and a reflection paper, as well as a final paper? When something that needs to be done has no firm deadline, of course I'm going to lean more toward the thing that needs to be attended to every Tuesday.
So even though I've marked up every single page of the thesis with corrections, ruminations and final improvements, I haven't actually made the changes in the electronic version. A day off on Holy Thursday should be just the thing I need to finish this fucker.
Ironically, this shortage of time has probably forced me to delay a decision I've been torn between: Whether to publish online or just in print. When I started thinking about what to do with the thesis when it was finished, I figured it was a given I'd put together a web site. It's a given, right? No one buys books anymore, and given the plethora of art I've collected related to the case studies, the web is surely the best place to share everything. Then there's the custom-made Google map with all the locations of graffiti murals that I've found over the years of researching; surely that should be part of the thesis, right? Oh, and what of the audio files of all the interviews I conducted? And hyper links to the artists, the documents I quote, the stories I cite....
You can see why I've done very little on this end. As I said, the time factor has been the major reason why I haven't harassed anyone at Fordham to help me make this happen. Full time writing job, another class, a toddler, blah blah blah...you get the picture.
So the plan for this semester is to aim low, make the final edits in the print edition, and have it ready for the dean in May. And then? Well, I have three more classes left in the masters program after this, so in theory, I could still put together a web site during that time. I think I will still try, for all the reasons I mentioned before. But two things still give me pause:
A. This is original content, which we all know has value even in this "Work for exposure in lieu of cash" travesty of a journalism environment. I won't lie, I think my thesis is a pretty kickass piece of writing, and while I don't expect to take home any awards or end up on Orpah's book club, I do think it's worth something. So if I put it all out there on a website for all to see for free, will I be selling myself short? Or will I be able to attract more attention to my project from the kinds of folks who might be willing to slap a cover on it and sent it to whatever books stores are still left in 2014? Consider this a tactical question more than anything.
B. The Map. It's there. It's super easy to share. I can point you to 29 different locations of graffiti murals around NYC, Jersey City and Trenton, some of which are defunct, but many of which are still active. But should I? This is a more philosophical question, and it's sort of related to the fact that there are tour guides in NYC who will, for a price, take you to around to graffiti and street art sites. In a sense, I could give away a do it yourself tour guide, albiet one without any context, since in many cases, I don't know who the writers of a lot of murals are.
The thing is, being in the presence of the murals was only half the fun for me. Sure, it's fun to go back to my flickr galleries from time to time and look at the art that I found on walls around town, but really, nothing can replace the actual moment of discovery that accompanied that photo. Many times, the murals I wrote about and detailed on the map were not spontaneous, "turn the corner, holy shit look at that thing" kind of discoveries, but sometimes they were. And even when they weren't, there was a certain thrill in ferreting out of information online that then lead me to the locations.
You know what they say about the journey being as important as the destination? I can't help but wonder if by pointing out the exact location of murals, I end up taking away half the fun for y'all. I mean, wouldn't it be more awesome for you to just be walking down the street one day and see this?
So its publish online or hold out for a book/magazine article, and map vs. no map. Thoughts?
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