Digital Penmanship in an Age of Incoherence

Digital Penmanship in an Age of Incoherence

Alternatively titled, "rofl @ u lol!!"

It is no secret that society constantly strives to simplify vocabulary, even as new words enter our vocabulary every day. Many of us know that at one time, lengthy, highly descriptive words were used to communicate even the simplest of things. Sometimes unneccessary complication was added to sentence structure just to allow for such words!

Now, don't get me wrong. I'm not a stickler for 16'th century language, though I think it is very important to have a strong vocabulary. However, I have my limits. The next cell-phone text message I receive that says 'u goin 2 call l8r?' or 'hey just wanted to give u a shout hope ur doin good lol!!!', will test my patience, and strain at the confines of my peace loving soul. ;-)

Digital penmanship is critical. Take the extra five seconds out of your day to properly capitalize, punctuate, and structure your sentences. This is true of text messages, instant messaging, and email; when your face isn't present, your body of text represents attitude, your intelligence, and your philosophy of professional conduct. It's not masculine to talk like a barbarian, nor is it graceful. So I present to you, five quick tips for maintaining professional courtesy in your digital life.

Think of your messages as hand-written thank-you notes to royalty. Show the same sort of courtesy and presence of mind in your digital writing, as you would expect a poet of the 17'th century to show towards the king. Respect your readers!

Don't be hasty to publish your ignorance! That's right, don't rush. The single biggest mistake of the digital age, is to rely on digital convenience. Don't allow the ability to hastily blast something at the screen, or worse, the ability to erase and start over, cause you to rush the writing process. Take the extra time to 'dot your i's and cross your t's'.

Remember what poor text-crafting represents! Professionals in the print industry maintain a very high standard, because well crafted text represents knowledge, confidence, strength, and a firm grasp of communication. They perfect their work so as to make sure their words are weighty, and purposeful. Why would we treat personal communication with any less ferver? Poor text-craft causes the image of idleness, carelessness, slothfulness, childishness, and ignorance.

Grasp the timelessness of text! Realize that though digital words take only moments to craft, they will live on eternally to future generations. This is especially true of blogs and emails, which are much like the publications and letters of our forefathers. How much knowledge of our forefathers has been gained through the letters and paper publications that they printed in their lifetimes? Why should we handle our digital speech casually?

Remember: Our habits of digital penmanship quickly become our habits of speech. By continually perfecting our arts of textual communication, we form habits of sentence structure and articulation. These habits will be reflected in our speech, which deserves just as much, if not more thoughtfulness and consideration. They say 'garbage in, garbage out'. One truth about everything we type, write, or text; we personally read it. Make sure you're not writing garbage, or that old phrase may be proven yet again, the next time you open your mouth.

Apply these. See what happens to the effectiveness of your communication, when you take just a few extra moments to dot your digital i's.

iDot: A new approach to digital communication.

~ In Christ, John.

Get a Room With HeuMoore in San Antonio!

EDIT: The time has been extended to TODAY. This is the last official day to get the rooms at the Drury Plaza with HeuMoore.

However, you can also call them after this date and if they have room available, you can get a discount by asking to be part of our room block. Also, if you want to stay at the Drury for the Academy, reserve the dates 8-10 with the link below, then call and ask them to extend the reservation for the 5-7'th, and you'll receive the discounted rate.

Room at the Dury Plaza in San Antonio, January 8-10.

$101 a night, with a full breakfast.

Typically when traveling as a family to events, we pick the most economical room for a family of 7 that is within a close walking distance of the convention center. Last year, the best option ended up being the Drury Plaza Hotel. (not the drury inn). We were delighted to stay in a very economical hotel with excellent rooms, a gorgeous environment, and a full breakfast that is actually quite good! (Not the typical corn flakes and waffles fare...)

So this year, we made sure to get a room block in advance. The deadline for getting a room is December 19'th, so be sure to get it now. The Drury Plaza is the hotel of choice for the San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival, and a room for four people at 101 a night, with a full breakfast, is just outrageously smart. Especially as nice a hotel as it is, and as close as it is to the convention center.

So, be sure to get a room right away, and leave a comment if you'll be staying in our block. We'd love to say hello at breakfast. :-)



Here are the details, as forwarded to me from my Mother... Be sure to reserve a room by December 19'th!

Rooms have been held for Heumoore Productions and friends at the Drury Plaza Hotel. This is where we stayed last year and it is a wonderful hotel within
walking distance of the Film Festival. To make reservations, please click
on the link below.

https://reservations.druryhotels.com/GroupReservationConfirmation.aspx?GroupNo=2047622

The hotel offers great amenities, such as:
FREE HOT Breakfast- Enjoy scrambled eggs, sausage, biscuits & gravy, Belgian waffles & more

FREE Evening Beverages and Snacks now served daily from 5:30-7:00pm

FREE High-Speed Internet Access in Every Room

FREE Long Distance - One Hour Every Room, Every Night

Please make your reservations by Friday, December 19, 2008 to receive our group rate of $101.00. Reservations made after this date will be subject to prevailing rate and availability. See you in San Antonio!

Franklin Springs Family Media, Essay Contest!

If you have had the pleasure of sitting down together to watch any of the Franklin Springs documentary series, you know why the DVD ten pack is such a treasure. The deadline has been extended to December 19'th, so don't hesitate! Jump in there and write away! (it's worth five dollars towards any Franklin Springs product just to ENTER!) ~ In Christ, John.

Franklin Springs ESSAY CONTEST: Why I love being homeschooled (250 words or less.)

One essay will be selected to receive the ten-pack collection of DVDs from Franklin Springs Family Media ($199 Value). Send entry to contests@franklinsprings.com – Subject "Essay Contest"

All Entries must be received by Friday, December 19, 2008. Winner will be announced on Monday, December 22, 2008. All entrants will also receive a $5 gift certificate for any film in the Franklin Springs Family Media catalog.

Franklin Springs Family Media is committed to producing God-honoring DVDs that encourage and inspire families. Produced by award-winning Director Ken Carpenter, our films are suitable for all audiences. Visit the website at http://www.franklinsprings.com/.

In Christ,
Scott Eash

Intern
Franklin Springs Family Media
scott@franklinsprings.com
www.franklinsprings.com

Straight Up Entertainment!

Straight No Chaser is an a-cappella group who I 'discovered', when a friend sent me a YouTube video. I'm a fan of a-cappella, but how I never heard of these guys, I don't know. So here are two videos, first, the timely '12 days' (hilarious!), and second, a personal favorite 'The Lion Sleeps Tonight'.

Simply put, this is the way entertainment should be done!

"12 Days"



"The Lion Sleeps Tonight"

Fireproof, and the 2009 San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival

Fireproof, and the 2009 SAICFF

~ Thoughts on Fairness, and the Purpose of Competition ~

Recently in this big ol' world wide web, there was a group of well-intentioned filmmakers discussing the fairness of allowing films such as Fireproof and Expelled, established big dogs in the world of Christian films, into the San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival.

The comments were along the lines of, 'how are homeschooled filmmakers supposed to compete with that level of film?' Numerous complaints have been raised that 'it is unbeatable,' and 'how could the award go to anyone else', and 'this isn't fair', and 'this will damage the purpose of the festival', and so forth, and so on. Maybe it's something I ate, or maybe it's my Moore blood, but these complaints really grated on me, almost like a child screaming in line at a shopping center.

Well, being a filmmaker who is supposedly going to ‘suffer’ for this decision, I have some thoughts about Fireproof and Expelled being in the festival. And to be fair, these concerns have arisen from members of the HeuMoore production team as well, but we quickly came to the following conclusion.

1.) A competition is never fair.

Varying levels of experience and talent sway the evenness of the competition more so than money, in most cases.

2.) Fireproof is just as independent as any other independent film.

Just because it’s six to twelve months further along in it’s development than our film doesn’t make it unfair for them to enter. In fact Fireproof and Expelled have been worked on for years; The Widow’s Might, from the first day of shooting to the final submission to the judges LESS than 5 months. In the big picture, where will we be with The Widow's Might 13 months from now?

3.) Fireproof legitimizes the festival, and thus, our film.

I do not, I repeat DO NOT feel the honor in being part of ‘podunk and bob’s indie film fest’. Having films that are where I intend to be, causes me to stretch, and ultimately gives me more power by way of association, when marketing or pitching future projects. I’m thrilled to be able to say to any investor, ‘Ya know Fireproof? Expelled? Secret of Jonathan Sperry? Well, The Widow’s Might was chosen along with those three to be part of the largest Christian film festival in the world." For that reason alone, I’m grateful that Fireproof is in the festival… This pursuit of excellence is what separates the SAICFF from 'podunk and bob'.

4.) Every film has the same chance.

Fireproof will probably be given a far more critical eye by the judges, for the reason that they had more time, experience, and financial support. It is stated on the festival website that budget is one of the things taken into consideration when judging the films. I think a film like Pendragon has ultimately the same amount of power to win as any of the others. It’s a film I would imagine the judges would tend to favor, especially when considering budget and the level of creativity exhibited by the filmmakers.

5.) Audience Choice is still the king of the hill.

The film that comes away from the festival with the Audience Choice award, will be able to say decisively that they beat out Fireproof. That’s just the coolest thing in the world, and it could very well be a short film; there, the audience is a true judge. Winning audience choice with no Fireproof would still be grand, but certainly not to the same extent.

6.) I hope to be next year where Fireproof is now; they’re not a studio picture.

It's not a huge budget film. It's just a well crafted indie film, that is an itsy bitsy miniscule drop in the bucket compared to even the lamest of Disney Channel TV shows. We need to take the blinders off, look at the real world of films, and grow up. Moaning about Fireproof and how unbeatable it is ultimately shows how small our picture is of the filmmaking world. It's time to think big, grow up, take charge, move on.

~ In Christ, John.