Notebook of Sand: J. Nathan Matias

• Contents

Main | Writings | About the Title
Academic Integrity Posters
English at Cambridge
Leadership Miniblog
Colophon

2004: Earlier | March | April | May | June | July | Aug | Sept | Oct | Nov | Dec |

2005: Jan | Feb | March | April | May | June | July | Aug | Sept | Oct | Nov | Dec |

2006: Jan | Feb | March | April | May | June | July | Aug | Sept | Now

Flickr TinderboxRSS

• Contact: jnm@rubberpaw.com

• Curriculum Vitae

• Recent Publications

Comparing Spatial Hypertext Collections
Hypertext '09
Philadelphia Fullerine: A Case Study
in 3-Dimensional Hypermedia
An Accordion for the World
Review of Tinderbox (2004)
Overview of RSS Readers (2004)
LinuxWorld 2004 (NYC) in review
What is a Wiki? (2003)
Caffeinate Your Hypertext (2003)

• Recent Projects

World University Project
Cambridge Union- Guide '07
Read for the Sky
Philadelphia Fullerine
Elizabethtown College Website
Harbour Coffee Sales

• Conferences & Speaking

"Comparing Spatial Hypertext Collections"
ACM Hypertext '09
"Archiving and Sharing Your Tinderbox"
Tinderbox Weekend London '09
"The Electronic Nature of Future Literatures"
Literary Studies Now, Apr '09
"The World University Project"
St. John's Col. Cambridge, Feb '09
"Ethical Explanations,"
The New Knowledge Forge, Jun '08
Lecture, Cambridge University
Tragedy in E-Lit, Nov '07
Hypertext '07: Tragedy in E-Lit
Host for Tinderbox Cambridge '07
Keynote: Dickinson State Uni Conf
Upper Midwest NCHC'07: Speaker
eNarrative 6: Creative Nonfiction
HT'05: "Philadelphia Fullerine"
Nelson award winning paper
NCHC '05:
Nurturing Independent Scholarship
Riddick Practicum:
Building Meeting Good Will
NCHC '04:
Philadelphia Fullerine
Lecture on American Studies
WWW@10: Nonfiction on the Web
NCHC '03: Parliamentary Procedure
ELL '03 -- Gawain Superstar

• (a)Musing (ad)Dictions:

Ideas. Tools. Art. Build --not buy. What works, what doesn't. Enjoy new media and software aesthetics at Tekka.

Theodore Gray (The Magic Black Box)

Faith, Life, Art, Academics. Sermons from my family away from home: Eden Chapel!

My other home: The Cambridge Union Society (in 2007, I designed our [Fresher's Guide])

The Economist daily news analysis

Global Higher Ed blog

• Hypertext/Writing

Writing the Living Web

Chief Scientist of Eastgate Systems, hypertext expert Mark Bernstein. (Electronic) Literature, cooking, art, etc.

Fabulous game reviews at playthisthing.

• Stats

Chapter I: Born. Lived. Died.

There is a Chapter II.

Locale: Lancaster County Pa, USA

Lineage: Guatemala

Religion: My faith is the primary focus of my life, influencing each part of me. I have been forgiven, cleansed, and empowered by Jesus Christ. Without him, I am a very thoughtful, competent idiot. With him, I am all I need to be, all I could ever hope for. I oppose institutional religious stagnation, but getting together with others is a good idea. God is real. Jesus Christ is his Son, and the Bible is true. Faith is not human effort. It's human choice. I try to be the most listening, understanding, and generous person I can.

Interests: Anything I can learn. Training and experience in new media, computer science, anglophone literature, education, parliamentary debate, democratic procedure, sculpture, and trumpet performance. Next: applied & computational linguistics, probably.

Education: Private school K-3. Home educated 4-12. Graduated Summa Cum Laude from Elizabethtown College in Jan 2006. As the 2006 Davies-Jackson Scholar, I studied English at St. John's College, Cambridge University from 2006 - 2008.

Memberships: Eden Baptist, Cambridge Union Society, ACM, AIP, GPA.

Alum of the Elizabethtown College Honors Program, sponsored by the Hershey Company.

Empty is Form
Tuesday, 15 Mar 2005 :-:

The web is an interesting place. You never know what to expect.

Over the weekend, I noticed that I'm on the blogroll of a Buddhist-informed news analysis, political coverage & social commentary site: Empty is Form. In a list that includes Adbusters, the Center for Voting and Democracy, Common Dreams, Lessig's blog, and Urban Dharma, there it is, the Notebook of Sand. Fascinating.

** * **

I am somewhat surprised that I would be listed on the site, unless it relates to my multiple postings on Buddhist economics. If I didn't obtain my clothes second-hand, I would probably consider simple robes to accompany the simple, disciplined life I am trying to expand into. But by wearing second-hand clothes, I can still feel comfortable about combatting the waste and slowly paying my debts to nature.

** * **

The phrase "empty is form," gave me something to consider yesterday. I immediately thought of John Cage, but I knew I could go farther, or rather, un-limit my mind in thinking of this. I thought of the sound of one hand clapping and its relation to the sound of two hands clapping. And I remembered the words of Leonard Bernstein:

The qualities that distinguish great conductors lie far beyond and above [technique]. We now begin to deal with the intangibles, the deep magical aspect of conducting. It is the mystery of relationships -- conductor and orchestra bound together by the tiny but powerful split second. How can I describe to you the magic of the moment of beginning a piece of music? There is only one possiblle fraction of a second that feels exactly right for starting. There is a wait while the orchestra readies itself and collects its powers; while the conductor concentrates his whole will and force toward the work in hand; while the audience quiets down, and the last cough has died away. There is no slighty rustle of a program book; the instruments are poised and -- bang! That's it. One second later, it is too late, and the magic has vanished.

Yesterday was the day I began to think of the in-betweens, the emptinesses of my music, as music. As I practiced for my upcoming recital with my accompianist, Kimberly Trout, I understood. Small, subtle, but beautiful changes took place in my music. It was an amazing experience.

<<-- On the merits of Thai food
-->> Discipline