Piddling in the Garage

II prefer calling it the flow state. I think my first memory of being in flow state was back at my childhood home listening to Dad’s music on the garage sound system while I practiced taking off bike parts and trying to put them back in the right spots. Joy, curiosity, experimenting with cause and effect without even thinking about it. It was feel. My fingers memorized little differences in size, shape, texture, and I didn’t have words for it. It was feel. My nervous system works pretty darn well. I’ve also used that basic structure God gave me and practiced on honing it to do skills that are useful. Dare I say I have some skills? My mentor told me it’s not arrogant if you can do it.

//Imagine a series of photos or videos showing me doing skillful things.

It’s time to get serious about my media company- Grimm House. I’ve seen enough responsible people in my life to know what it looks like to be a responsible person. I know I can do it, but I’ve been letting fears of different sorts become big enough that they somehow become the thing I pay attention to until I can’t take it anymore, and I cower from within. An outsider’s perspective might be “That man looks scared. See how he’s running around trying to be busy with anything other that what is most important? Some might consider that to be pathetic.”

A bystander might say “That’s one way to look at it. Pathetic. I’ve heard that word, but I don’t know what it actually means.”

//My mom says look it up in the dictionary. By the way this is a good skill that mom made me do a lot.

I could keep going, but I’ve gotten away from my original intention- Getting Serious about Grimm House.

This blog is it. The idea (I think) is that by me documenting my process, I can use my skills to draw an audience. Why would I want to do that? Why do I have the desire to get up on stage? I imagine that all the people looking at me on stage have various strange looks on their face, overall forming a heavy, terrifying Grimacing Tide. 

So this blog then is facing my fear. I’m afraid, but I’m still doing it. In this case, I can turn my attention towards this dream of having a blog that people read and like. Why do I feel the pressure to do this? My mentor said “ Why we do the things we do and think tend to be an amalgam of the experiences of our lives and beliefs.  Some events have more effect than others.” There is more, but basically, my experience from within was complex, and I am spending much of my time trying to gain understanding, and hopefully wisdom.

This brings us into the discussion about what skills go into building an audience. I could build a blueprint of how I’d like to go about it, but I feel pressure- like I ought to research standards and skills, looking at each of the different levels and thinking about how that particular skill gets used in the world. This brings me to imagine doing that skill in different locations. For instance. The first standards that ChatGPT gave me is:

Writing (w.9-12)

W.1& W.2- Argumentative and Informative Writing

-requires adjusting tone, organization, and evidence based on audience and purpose.

-Emphasizes anticipating reader questions and background knowledge.

W.4- Clear and coherent Writing

-produce clear and coherent writing in which the delveopment, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.

W.5- Revision with Audience Awareness

-Develop and strengthen writing by planning, revising, editing…with consideration for audience.

Also mentioned: Revising for Audience is considered a literacy skill. //why?

That’s getting away from where I’m at.

Those writing standards are basically general statements that don’t give us a ton of practical skills to analyze, so they need to be what’s called “Unpacked”. Shout out to back in the 2000’s doing Unpacking of the Standards Professional Development in PLC’s. That’s a whole other rabbit hole you could go down. “Don’t sit down, it’s time to dig another one.” Breathe

FYI the audience I am seeking to reach with this post is my sister Lauren. This next standards I would assume she could help unpack, she is a Speech-Language Pathologist. 

Speaking and Listening (SL.9-12). 

-Present information, findings, and supporting evidence clearly, concisely, and logically such that listeners can follow the line of reasoning.

SL.6 Adapt Speech to Purpose and Audience

-Adapt speech to a variety of contexts and tasks, demonstrating a command of formats and informal styles. This relates to voice and tone.

Next is Language (L.9-12)

L.3- Style and Connotation Choices

-Apply knowledge of language to understand how language function… to make effective choices for meaning or style.

Chat GPT tells me

This standard covers tone shift for different audiences (e.g., your school board-facing LinkedIn vs. your Grimacing Tide blog tone.

I hope that I can bring the two together. One tone. Just me. Jesse.

So what do I want to say? Whatever it is, ChatGPT tells me that now we get into more standards. Under the California CTE Standards- Arts, Media and Entertainment (AME) we find:

AME Anchor Standard 2- Communication/Audience

-construct and deliver messages using appropriate media and technologies to communicate effectively with diverse audiences.

AME Pathway Standards: Design, Visual and Media Arts A6.0- Audience and Purpose

-Understand the effective use of stylistic devices and industry-appropriate conventions to communicate intent to an audience.

A7.0 Media Literacy, Social Media, and Messaging.

-Analyze the way media influences audiences and the way audiences influence media.

Chat GPT tells me that this standard is gold for my Grimacing Tide blog strategy.

Then AME Production and Managerial Arts

C2.0- Marketing and Distribution

-Understand how target audiences influence production and distribution decisions.

Chat GPT tells me that this is perfect for blog growth and content targeting.

Next is the California Health Education Content Standards, especially since I have the Healthy Self Podcast where I discuss well-being:

Health Education: Mental, Emotional and Social Health.

Standard 1: Essential Concepts

-People learn how audience, purpose, and communication choices affect relationships.

Standard 4: Interpersonal Communication

-Demonstrate the ability to use interpersonal communication skills to enhance health and avoid or reduce risk.

Chat GPT tells me this includes tailoring communication styles to context- a soft skill essential for audience building.

//Another Rabbit Hole in the Health Education terrain: Risky Behavior

4. California Media Arts Standards (Visual and Performing Arts (digital compositions, storytelling, and audience interpretation).

MA.Cn10- Synthesis of Content/Audience

-Relate artistic ideas and works with societal, cultural, and historical context to deepen understanding of worlds and their impact on audiences.

MA.Re7- Perception and Audience Response.

-Analyze how audience and context influence interpretation of media artworks. 

//I’m interested in what tools and skills I will need to hone to be able to better understand other people’s interpretations of my media artwork. Part of me doesn’t want to care, so as I analyze, I know I will be hearing criticism in my head as I imagine people responding negatively, not liking what they are seeing coming from me. I want my messages to be pleasing. If people don’t like it, I’d rather them just turn away. That’s why I’m not really wanting to promote. It seems too aggressive. But, in order to grow, the business needs to produce art that reaches an audience and elicits a response. I’d rather it be a positive response.

MA.Cr3-Refining and Completing Media Art

-Refine and and modify media artworks considereing personal, artistic, and external feedback from a variety of sources. (Revise based on audience feedback).

5. California History- Social Science Stadards (Historical Thinking and Civics)

These standards deal with analyzing messaging across time, bias, and audience manipulation.

//so people will take what I say, chop it up, use parts of it for their own purposes. Like you and your friend swapping bike parts and seeing how they fit on your respective bikes.

//Analogies are a tool that I like to use to help differentiate instruction. It’s basically exploring the cause and effects and gives and takes of relationships using different parts.

Like building a recipe. You mix things together to make something new. I like to do that with words and concepts.Take them apart and compare them, seeing what connections I make to other things, and what the connotation is, meaning seeing what feelings arise from the mixture. After that, you can see how the new creation can be useful. If it’s not, you can start asking what can be altered or changed for the better. Then, through habitual, or systematic changes, you can shap it.

So one question is what’s a good way to take apart words so you have the knowledge with which to compare parts and make mental connections between the ideas? I think a Frayer Model is a great way to analyze words.

Back to the History Standard:

HSS Analysis Skills: Grades 9-12

Chronological and Spatial Thinking

-Explain the importance of historical interpretation considering the audience addressed.

Historical Reseach, Evidence, and Point of View

-Identify the assumptions, biases, and perspectives of authors toward their intended audience. This is relevant for political messaging (like if I was messaging the school board on LinkedIn).

6. California CTE Business and Marketing STandards:

Essential for branding, blog traffic, and entrepreneurial content.

Marketing Sales and Service (MSS) Pathway

MSS1.0- Understanding Customers (Audience Research)

-Identify the characteristics, needs, and behaviors of target audiences.

MSS4.0- Promotion

-Understand the importance of promotion to the marketing mix including identifying target audience, message creation, and media selection.

Chat GPT tells me this directly maps to my media empire strategy.  

So the next step I need to take is to share this with my sister and see if she’ll help me develop this business idea. A serious, technically accurate and researched experimental blog as a mental playground of learning. Mixed in with all the social adaptations we need to be palatable to our audience. This blog should make sense to and help others, which is the idea that this blog brings people value. Ultimately, I want this blog to bring value to me!

I would get a lot of value out of building this with others. Will you play with me?

MeSquats

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