Avatars, @gravatar & me

It has been a funny few days.

I have been busy -  I am getting ready for StAnza starting next week preparing my readings. There has been a seedbed of poetry going on and obsessive reading about farming. And of course the day job and then something that seemed unrelated to all of the above, entering an orienteering competition.

Oentries the orienteering entry system allows you to personalise your entry using a Gravatar - the universal avatar creation utility available online. But something that makes avatar creation so simple still doesn't help with one thing. How do I want to present myself?

A lot of people don't bother at all. Does this say they don't care? Didn't bother? Are more interested in orienteering than self-presentation? Or are avatars the online equal of personal grooming? And coming out without one is like coming to work without clean hair and tidy clothes?

Of course this is a sports entry board. There is a part of me that feels an avatar is much more a gaming concept. A better self. An aspirational self. A self equipped to take on virtual challenges. And possibly as in books like William Gibson's Neuromancer leading virtual lives that can get a little out of control at times.

And all of the above complicated by the simple female feeling that I should look presentable and well, OK.

So what did I come up with? Me in a hoodie looking curious...

You can find Gravatar here and make your own investigations https://en.gravatar.com/ And of course if you just want to go orienteering after reading this https://oentries.com/

Finnish visual poetry

Satu Kaikkonen is a poet/visual poet and teacher from Finland. She explores different kinds of artistic and typographical terrains in her work. "To me the most important part of doing visual poetry is being with in process". Her work also appears under the pseudonym (Nele Hannes), because "it gives me freedom to create different kind of things". A sentiment we very much agree with here at poetandgeek and perhaps a foundation of digital poetry.

This is an excerpt from The light is like a rabbit hole.

You can find the full work and more here http://www.kotiposti.net/kaikkonent/alku_2.html. More poetry from Kaikkonen here http://www.rufoussalon.com/2011/04/satu-kaikkonen-prometheus-pour-wine-to.html.

T.S. Eliot tweet poetry

This poem has an almost magical hold and perhaps a world record for inspiration to artists per line length. It is of course a dramatic monologue just like Browning's and meant to be read aloud like his.

Thomas Stearns "T. S." Eliot 1888 – 1965 was a banker (briefly), playwright, literary critic, and poet. This poem was first published in Chicago. Eliot was an American who became a British citizen.

poetandgeek poetandgeek.com 

I grow old I grow old I shall wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled shall I part my hair behind do I dare to eat a peach

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Prufrock is another attractive avatar or character that allows the poet a freedom and experimental lightness. How much he is an imagination of Eliot in old age? And how accurate that vision?

Find the full poem here:

http://www.bartleby.com/198/1.html.