...... and did some assignments
the preamble
This is the website where every bit of work that I do during the duration of dart450 will be displayed and stored. Why is it called "Public Domain"? Because the goal is to be sure that everything I do this semester will draw from the public domain and be released back into it. No copyright.
What makes me want to do this? I'll tell you my life story, and then you'll get it.
I became a real person when I was fourteen years old. That was the year I realized that there were people (and animals) suffering in the world, and that I could do something, even a little something, about it. That was the year I became a vegan, a passionate little anti-sweatshop activist, and a Linux user. About a year later, I became a rabble rouser, a self publisher, and an anti-war activist who blockaded gas stations. By the time I was seventeen, I was jaded, and beginning to realize that I'd have to do something with my life. That was the year I slung salads at a vegan restaurant and took art classes at the Art Gallery of Ontario, realizing along the way that the art world confused and terrified me, but that new media was great stuff. That was the year I learned to silk screen. It was also the year I realized that a university I had previously dreamed of going to was not for me at all. But it didn't matter, because by then, I'd found a better one. I applied to three schools: the better one (Concordia), the just because (OCAD), and the one I never even finished my application for (York). I got into Concordia on April Fool's Day, and subsequently drove my family crazy by running around the house, jumping and shouting. York took me, too. I have the rejection letter from OCAD framed on my wall, to remind me that I need to excel, if only to prove them wrong.
I moved to Montreal the day before my eighteenth birthday. New city, away from home, and living alone for the first time. That was a terrifying year. I tanked in a class I thought I would love (German) and discovered that university is a lot like high school, complete with cliques and profs I don't like. (I later discovered that university is what I make of it, that no clique is immune to sheer dynamism, and that most profs are a lot warmer when their students are interested.) I got over being terrified by the time I hit second year. I smartened up, got a life, and had the time to start caring about things again. I started caring more about public policy. And my time management skills improved enough that I had time to read for myself. A lot of that reading happened on the internet. I started paying more attention to things like creative commons, and I started wondering about the relationship between designers and intellectual property law. I drank a lot of orange juice, and thought about that, too. I moved into a tall building, which gave me a chance to look down at the western half of Montreal. That got me thinking about cities. I tried to write a romance novel, because I thought the money would be good. My work became consistently better. My drawing skills improved, and the production values of my print work increased. I started putting out really good work. Every class, every assignment, it looked better. At least, it looked better before I brought it to school. Every time I stood my work up next to that of my classmates, I felt a little insecure. Sure, there was work that didn't look so good next to mine, but there were always a few things that blew me away. And even if seven pieces were worse than mine, the two that were better always made me feel bad. I desperately wanted to be the very best at something, and I never quite managed it.
If I became a real person when I was fourteen, I finally woke up at twenty. When I started thinking more seriously about grad work, I realized that I'd have to act on my desire to be the best. It finally hit home to me, after a two year slump, that I could get more out of university if I worked harder at it. I started out my first semester of third year by warning my profs that I was shy, and didn't talk much in class. By week two or three of that semester, I had gotten my voice back. I reclaimed the voice and confidence I'd had when I was in high school, causing trouble and protesting the dress code. I also realized that the work would be far more fulfilling if I made sure I cared about it. I started doing more things that really mattered to me. I threw away the two bad years, when I flew below the radar and acted sub-par. I went back to my best years, before I was jaded, before I became a small fish in a big pond. I started making people notice me again, making them listen to what I had to say. I remembered just how good it felt to stand up at the front of a room and say my piece, and how good it felt to make an impact on people. I got back to my roots. I became the rabble rouser, the organizer, the mobilizer, that I was meant to be. And then I stopped being intimidated. I finally remembered, after a two year hiatus, what I was the best at. It turned out that I was the very best at talking, convincing, making people listen, and making them care. I was the best at being passionate about the things I believe in. I was the best at turning research into a convincing product. I was the best at spending hours in the library stacks, and enjoying it. I also turned out to be pretty good with powerpoint presentations and charts.
That was also the year I decided that I wanted to study tech law. I realized that law was one area where it was actually cool to care. I also realized that studying law was a good way to be an activist, and that most of the things I cared about either were technology, or were heavily impacted by it. That's why I've finally started to focus properly. That's why this website is called “Public Domain,” and why it has a concrete goal. To get anywhere in the world, I'm going to need to make a niche for myself. This is where it has to start.