Neuromancer Part 3 Close Reading Analysis

Neuromancer Part 3 Close Reading Analysis

Personal Response
Chapter 11

Question 9: What “events” provide insight into urban space? How do these events structure the city?


  In the beginning of chapter 11, Case, Armitage, and Molly are in Le Restaurant Vingtime Sicle, a restaurant where Riviera has his audition. Later Case gets out of the building near lake to ease his stomach. Case observes elegant rosewood railing along the lake and a French coupld trying to get on the boat to go to casino located across from the lake. When Case goes back to the restaurant, he observes that it's a nice restaurant with balcony and candles on the ceiling. Around the hotel that Case and Molly stays has expensive shops such as Gucci, Tsuyako, Hermes, and Liberty. The hotel, casino and the shops show that the city is very wealthy, maybe tourists' place for people all around the country and world. This is the opposite of the previous settings that Gibson described earlier in the previous chapters.  However, later when Case chases after Molly, who disappeared after Riviera's show, he ends up at cubicles, a whorehouse for men and women. Along the way, Case first enters a nightclub to go to cubicles downstairs. The doors are numbered and the places is hidden from the outside. the corridor lights are blue and and the hallways reminds Case of an expensive clinic. Each doors are locked with magnetic locks, like Cheap Hotel. Foreign girls who are on "automatic pilot", unconscious and not in control of their body, waits their customers. It reminded me of the scene from the movie "Taken", where girls were kidnapped and drugged to work as prostitutes. This is two different parts of the city where two different social classes inhabit. Usually wealthy and high ranking classes can visit such restaurants, hotels, and the stores described in the text, and some socially and economically lower classes, like Molly, choose to work in cubicles. In this chapter, cubicles perhaps is the one of the few places where two classes meet, low class as the worker and the high classes the client. For high classes, the city fulfills their greed. They can stay at a hotel with expensive stores right across the street, and go to a restaurant like Vingtime Sicle and watch Riviera perform an illusion piece made from his own sexual desire. It also fits Gibson's definition of semi-ruined city, where the wealthy and the poor coexist in one city.

  The city offers both classes something to do- gambling, shopping, working... but this chapter seems to depict everyone in pseudo reality or hyper reality. The city is the place where what is not real is shown real and what is real is shown as not real.
  1. Luxurious lifestyle: gambling is for people who are looking for an instant big fortune and visiting cubicles is to look for false love or just simply for fulfilling sexual desire. Both casinos and cubicles are the place to go to console what people feel they lack. The wealthy class try to fill their emptiness with money, and put false hope and waste time.
  2. International: The row of international stores in one city explore and shop at the best stores from the selected countries. The boundaries and distances between the countries are meaningless. The foreign stores can even make us forget where we are and sometimes put us into thinking that we are in another country.
  3. Cubicles: The girls in the cubicles are not in control of their body. Their mind is not connected with their body and their body serves their clients as "meat puppets". For the girls who stays in their own room all the time, their mind does not encounter the reality.


=> The city stands as an escaping place from reality. Whether they are there for their own will for other's will, the people who reside in the city physically stays in the city but they do not exist or inhabit in the city(their reality).


Critical Question:
1. Does the inclusion of Riviera's performance in the restaurant has any relationship to Molly's past?
2. How does Riviera's performance tell us about the audience in the restaurant and the city as a whole?


Class Discussion

Chapter 11


15. How alterations of the body fictionalized in Neuromancer provide insight into the everyday world of its inhabitants? What kinds of alterations are made? How does this affect the embodied habitation of the city? How does this affect the experience of the body as a map of self?
Body Modification: Riviera - map of himself through his hologram
Molly: glasses and night sensitive lens, Molly came back
-Riding experience- would that be Molly's reminiscence of when she used to be a prostitute?
Technology as extension of body
P.143-144: Molly waking up in the middle of her service and observing the blood splattered surroundings.

Who's the real Molly? Was the part that Molly does not remember still a part of her?

Drugs and cyberspace- limiting geographical space, the body is altered to static meat that is not necessarily necessary.



Chapter 10- Rue Jules Verne

Question 13. What does social life look like in Chiba City? How are relationships structured? Mediated?


Beverly Hill-like- tanning is popular, hangliders
p.124 Aritage had a book found...'lotta money.' - rich teenagers

Neuromancer Chapter 8 Mapping Zion

Geographical: spatial, physical, interaction of people
Zion is full of yellow taxi (pg. 103), like New York. Many terminals such as Orly terminals (pg. 102) and channels could indicate that Zion is a station. It does not hold gravity (p.103) so the place could be out of Earth, in the space. Arabic slogan in red spraybomb (pg.102), irregular discolored plates laser-scrawled with Rastafarian symbols and the initials of welders (p.103) 30 year old

Ageographical:
Armitage shows Casinos, hotels, big shops through holograms. People often experience SAS, a zero-g, airsick-like effect on individual. The characters, like Case, get mindless, headache, and it could affect some people's ability to operate in the matrix (p.105) The characters go into Eastern Seaboard Fission Authority's Aztec Pyramid of data (p.105). Later, Case meets Dixie McCoy (p. 105) who is still unconscious. The characters later meet surviving old founders of Zion (p.109).

Cultural: desires, expectations, personal bios
Artificial Intelligences (AI's) brainwashing through musicals
Koto music
Dub- Religious music, a digitalized pop of worship plays (p.104) in matrix
ganja: marijuana
Religious: Jah (God), Rastafarians, Zion = Holy Land

Organizational: Government, clubs (special entrances), communities, groups, laws, policies
Respect for elders- to the founders of Zion

Neuromancer Part 2 Close Reading

Chapter 4

The part where Case rides on Molly's consciousness

Rider:

Foreignness of Molly's body: Case cannot control Molly's body, "passivity", "he began to find the passivity of the situation irritating", embodiment of seeing the same thing. Molly's seeing things that Case usually don't see or recognize. They inhabit their body differently. The helplessness, "other flesh"

Memory Lane: Literalization of the concept- act of elicit activities, aspect of past
                            "the link was one way"


p.63
Case's occupancy of cyberspace
"limitless gulfs of nothingness"- ageographical aspect, there's no physical space that it has but its command still have it existed
non-space of matrix
unlimited subjective dimension- the space is whatever you wanted it to be

Mapping Chiba City in Neuromancer

Illustration of Chapter. 1 Chiba City Blues in Neuromancer
http://neuromancer-movie-trailer.blogspot.com/

Geographical features:

Chiba City,
http://owebstertravel.blogspot.com/
2011/04/blog-post_1716.html

1. Chatsubo, Jarre de The (pg.3, 7) - a bar with hustlers, prostitutes, cowboys

2. Dark clinics (pg.4)- where hobbyists interfere with DNA, other genetics. steal organs from strangers, black market. In Case's case, he is looking for neurosurgery,

3. Ninsei (pg.10)- center of the city, crosses Tokyo and Port

4. Chiba (pg. 6)- Near port, between Tokyo and Narita Airport

5. Coffin Hotels, Cheap Hotel (pg.19)

6. Nameless old streets bisecting the city and the port

7. Night City (pg.6-7)- old city between port and city of Tokyo; dark, dead halogen signs and mirky sky, outlaw city with whores, pirates, criminals, and merchants

8. Warehouses

9. Dean's office

10. Fastmoving alleyway- what happens behind the city

11. big corporate entity- Nenhi hotel on recouline street

12. Mitsubishi Bank (pg. 15)

13. Beautiful Girl (pg.10) - cafe, coffee shop

Ageographical:

1. Matrix/Sprawl (pg. 5, 9)- through consensual hallucination

2. Chiba-"magnet for the Sprawl's techno-criminal subcultures"; implants, nerve-splicing, microbionics

3. Drugs- cocaine, people inhaling it

Atmosphere:

Lawless, full of crimes, where lowlife hopeless city dwellers live in the underground backstreets

sky like a dead television channel, "social darwinism" experiment- survival of the fittest(pg.7); follow the demand or die, Mixture of Japanese traditional culture and the newly introduced Western and Milanese culture: almost has a post-war feel; Gaijin (foreigners) crowds on the street; Stores with English names such as "Beautiful Girl", sailors from the port and "tense solitary tourists" hunting for places with dark purposes. (pg.10)

Old city that have brought down to semi-destruction the government left the city still operating- perhaps as a reminder for descendants of their origin?



Mapping Idea:

  Chiba City can be mapped out by the interaction between the illegal movements. Traces of Case's one New Yen would be a tool to show who the illegal exchangers would have their deal with, and where the receiver of the New Yen would go to pass the paper currency to someone else. What all the population have in common is that they use money, and money does not discriminate its users against their status. It can move with its holders freely in and out of buildings. Tracing the bill and identifying who the passers are will show how many of those passers are involved in the dark business, and we will see the interaction between the dealers that are not described in the literature. In such an unlawful and prostitute-abundant city, tracking a backdoor business between the passers would be enough to outline the entire Chiba City. It would be interesting to see illegal dealing between a whore and a organ trader, or hustler and a street samurai. We would know the urban population and their personal whereabouts. 

Neuromancer Discussion 10.10.11

1. Cities can be at their experientially richest during periods of relative disjunction. Cities have open-ended potential to be something that serves as what we need, because they can be explored, manipulated to another direction, and gives room to be something other than just one purpose. Free our concepts from all parts of the developed city- experiencing the dark and the lowlife is another part cities offer. Imperfection allows progress to happen. Low rent, minimal policing, and casual welding allow people to engage with the cities and freely express their own will.

2. "Risk of Disneylanding" means that the cities have the risk of serving for just one purpose. For example, Paris and New York are famous for tourist's city that it continues being the tourist's city. Statue of liberty and Effel Tower are often visited by the tourists, but the residents do not go there after once when they first came to the city. This grouping of populations cause limited interaction and encounter between different groups. This causes lack of liveliness and having that various "choices" cities offer. Corporate city where everything is done by a single entity, a single ownership. It causes over control and reduction of choice as a result.

3. Anarchy of choice, disneyfication,

4. Gibson anticipates the concern he took about the city and the future

Life in the Meta City by William Gibson

Picture from Tech Europe
http://blogs.wsj.com/tech-europe/2011/05/27/explore-victorian-london-through-the-maps-of-the-day/

  William Gibson's essay, <Life in the Meta City>, can be summarized by two of the sentences at the very end: "The future of cities will consist of two different modalities combined within the ageographical and largely unrecognized meta city that is the Internet"(1), and  "We all Inhabit the meta city now, regardless of physical address."(1)

  Gibson defines a city as the place of various "choices", where we observe and encounter numerous populations and unusual situations, and where weird coincidences continuously happen. It is the liveliness and the interaction of strangers dwelling and moving about in one place that characterizes the city; city allows this coexistence of various populations. However, Gibson laments that the current, fully developed cities are fixated to serve as only one purpose that they cannot be used as any other purposes; they are "too throughly built to do some specific something that's no longer required"(2). It is like "Disneyland" where the theme is created and “repurposing” is impossible. “Choice reduction” is how he described this condition. He takes the reason to be the shortsighted vision and its resulted, inflexible social norm. 

  What Gibson presents as a solution, is to turn to the less developed and partially ruined cities in the world, for they are capable of “extended fugue of retrofitting”(1), and reversing the city’s purpose to another direction. He also adds technology to these incomplete cities to be the ultimate future models of the cities of the world, since digital technology has lead us to an "ageographical" world where we can freely roam about in such short span of time and spaces, and know about the cities as if we really live there. 

    Gibson's fascination of cities is shown very well in his science fiction, or cyberpunk novel called Neuromancer. The setting of the novel is in a ruined city in the near future, where drinkers, hackers, and prostitutes proliferating in the dark, unfurnished bars. It seems like the characters of the books travel through cyberspace and come out, back to the suburban city. After reading the essay, I understand why Gibson had connected ruined city and digital world to describe the future of the earth.






References


1. William Gibson's essay, Life in the Meta City
Sep 2011, ScientificAmerican.com p.88-89


2. Aaron Shattuck and Gary stix, Cities in Fact and Fiction: An interview with William Gibson
Friday, Aug 26, 2011 2011 Scientific American, A Division of Nature America, Inc. http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=gibson-interview-cities-in-fact-and-fiction

Work Space - Final

Transition

Just a few months ago, I was a student at the University of Florida, studying pharmacy. It has been just two months since I came to Pratt Institute to study illustrations instead. The story of where I have been and what I have been thinking about is depicted best on my desk. I have changed the way I used to use my desk, and these changes have been made along with the change in my major and my thoughts. As my major changed, my desk have transformed from just “the place to study” to something bigger.

My first dorm had a desk the color of dark chocolate, like furniture made of mahogany. The first time I walked in, the desk was the first thing that I saw. It had three levels of shelves built on top of it. The side planes that support the shelves were noticeably thick and high. The first section of the shelves almost reached the ceiling. I could not reach any of those shelves when I sat on the seat. The even thicker desk legs were grounded on the desk. My desk seemed sturdy, and it gave a rather full and dense impression to the whole room.

The arrangement of my books on the shelves showed where my interest lied. I put my favorite books in the middle section of the shelves: an Art History book, Crochet and Knitting books, Paul Klee’s biography, some illustration books, such as Red Tree, Man and His Symbols, The Little Prince, and some Korean and Japanese novels. To the side were the books related to my major: one PCAT book and few textbooks. The side plane of the shelf was wider and blocked one’s view of those pharmacy books.

Sometimes when I was taking a break from studying, I would look up and see all these books. Among the books, only the art books were lined horizontally, and never left their original place. Every time I looked up in the midst of studying organic chemistry during final week, there was a sense of emptiness in me. The way I looked up at the bookshelf mirrored the way I thought about doing art; I could see the books but I could not reach from my seat, and even if I got up and reached for them, I could not read them at that time. A sigh rested on my desk, and the question of what I was doing blinded me from seeing the text. The question slowly dissolved onto a page of my textbook, and I covered it with the thin layer of paper sheet as I flipped the page. At that moment, the desk became the reason for my silent crisis and my inner conflict about the path I am going.

I often left my desk in the midst of studying my main subjects. Sometimes I would grab for a glass of water, go to the bathroom to wash my hands, clip my nails, or just mindlessly wander off to my bed to do facebook and forget to ever come out. When I would sit back on my chair in front of the desk, my seat would already be cold; it had forgotten that I had sat on it a while ago.

Two years later, I came to Pratt Institute, and I had a better time familiarizing myself with the desk in my second dorm. First of all, I already had an idea of what a college dorm looks like. Secondly, my desk was a tilting desk; it was the kind that tilts up for studio work. The desk looked the opposite of my prior desk. Its surface was bigger than its supporting legs, and it did not have the overlooking shelves on top. The desk had a bigger surface than its legs because a studio desk has to support large sheets of paper or other medium which are on top of it. I did not expect to have a studio desk for my own, this soon, and its presence in my room made me feel so much more welcomed to art school.

I used to display many things on my desk. Some are special stationaries, such as colored pens, letter papers, and post-its shaped like a leaf or a thought bubble. Others include stamps, vintage photographs, and teabag bags. These were all placed on my desk in Florida. Those collections were an attempt to fill what was lacking in me, tools used to keep reminding me of who I am.  Today, I am more true to who I am and fulfill the purpose of my desk now. My purpose at this time is to do art, and for art, I need as much space as I can get. So on my current desk, there is nothing on it other than my desktop computer. I put some post-it in the drawer beneath it, or on top of a detached bookshelf on the side of the desk. The objects that rest on my desk have just a functional purpose, not aesthetic. I am very conscious of the presence of objects on my desk, and clean everything so I can tilt the desk any time without much hassle.

           Both in Florida and New York, my desk is the place where I stay the most. The reason for staying, though, is slightly different. When I was studying pharmacy, the eighteen-credit-schedule and work together were a huge plate to finish everyday. Staying in my desk back then meant I was focusing. I was fulfilling my expectations. As time went by, however, the reason for staying became more abstract and emotional. I felt unnatural and bare-skinned when I came out of the desk. As time went by, I stayed longer on my desk and held onto my workload as an excuse to avoid people. By then, staying meant I was restricting myself into a limiting box called desk. The box was big enough to cover my shame for listening to others and following what they want me to do, instead of what I want to do. Page flipping, scribbling, punching into my calculator replaced my painting, drawing, and any art-related activities. The things on my desk lied statically: some stacked up textbooks, the pile of papers waiting to be read, and writing supplies were just some pens and pencils. Feeling less confident and unsure about myself, I did not want to involve in any socializing activities, and my desk became my hiding place from the world.

My relationship with my Florida desk was always awkward and stiff. The way I was sitting was upright and I often got up and sat back again to ease out the tension on my back. I treated the desk like a business partner that I had to cooperate with. After I finished my work, I left the desk. I pushed my piles of study material to one side and cleaned off the space for tomorrow’s work.

To my studio desk, I treat it a bit carelessly and imprudently, but there is also a kind of fondness to it. It is like treating an old friend; I am less formal and friendlier to my desk. I can tell that the last user of this desk did not have a cutting board or a thick paper underneath their work when cutting their work with an x-acto knife. The desk has few straight, linear scars. I gave myself some more freedom to vandalize on my desk as well, though it is not as harsh or permanent as the past owners. For instance, I rub my eraser against its surface. When my eraser turns black from clearing charcoal marks, I use my white surfaced desk to clean it. I don't have to look for an extra sheet of white paper to rub against and I find my desk effective and convenient to be the alternative. I do not clean the smudges after. I usually like to leave them as they are, to leave the sign that I have done art on my desk. When I feel that I have left the smudges for too long, I pour hot water (I often boil water for tea and there is always leftover water) onto the desk surface and rub against the surface to clean the smudges. How I treat my desk has become more personal and with care.  

My insentient reaction to how I feel about my desk was shown quite evidently here. Georges Perec wrote in his book, <Species of Spaces>, that we live unconsciously, encountering things and treating the everyday objects without really knowing what we are doing.  I realize now that I lived as though I was “sleeping though my life in a dreamless sleep”, especially in my previous school. Perec Also adds, “where is our life? Where is our body? Where is our space?” If I observed myself a little better, just how I behave on my desk, I would have known more clearly about how I felt about where I was. When I was on the desk, I neglected to see the desk’s true function, which made me neglect myself as well.

The range of things I do on my desk and my usage of space has now expanded. Now, the objects move more dynamically and rapidly according to my hands and there is livelier atmosphere to it. So far, on my desk, I have cut and arranged pieces of color aid paper and magazines, painted my 3D models, wrote on my diary, made peppermint tea, read novels and memoirs, recorded my daily spendings, watched Korean shows and documentaries, checked my sleep calculator, read others’ blogs, wrote blog posts, and listened to music. My activities involve not just art, but also everything else I wanted to do for myself, when I could afford time for myself. My workload has not changed. If anything, the assignments from three studio classes take more time to finish than the assignments given in eighteen credit pharmacy classes. However, I can afford time for myself because I make a room to breath. I can let myself to pace at the rhythm I am comfortable with without feeling nervous or rushed.

I realize now how insignificant everyday things have changed on my desk, and I enjoy observing the change that is so evident now. My desk does not represent an obligation or a hiding place but the place where I can fully and freely express myself. I put myself in control of my own life and I make decisions according to what I need. It is surprising how I can see all these by documenting the way I use my desk. I gave my desk “a meaning, a tongue, and I let it finally speak of what it is, of what I am.”

Work Space- Second Draft

My first impression of my desk when I first moved into Willoughby hall in Pratt was very positive. It was the desk that tilts up for studio work. The desk looks awkward if you don't know the function of it because its surface seems way too big when compared to the supporting legs. I wondered why the desk was made in such way, and once I found out the reason, I loved it. I did not expect to have this kind of desk to be my own, and its presence in my room made me feel so much more welcomed to art school. It has only been a month since the school started and all my assignments have been little craft works. I have not had the chance to tilt my desk yet, but I’m looking forward to it.

I like the feeling of utilizing the most from the least. I like the period of adapting myself into a new place and a new object. At first I might find the object awkward or unfit for me, but I find ways to compromise with the object and tame it. The things I do on my desk are the things I could do on a kitchen table, a tea table, in a studio, and many others.  Being an art student who goes to a private college in New York, however, I became humble about spending money, and I did not buy many things I mentioned here. My desk became the main subject where I practice my own “less-is-more” idea. When I find new things to do on my desk, I feel like I am getting to know my desk in a personal level. Here are the steps that I took to tame my desk as my own.

My first step is the adaptation to its form and the structure. I already mentioned about its big surface. Once I unpacked my suitcases, I pushed the desk to the side so it would make contact with two sides of the walls. I usually like to have my furniture touch at least one side of the walls so little objects like pens and pins wouldn't fall down the edge. It is my precaution to avoid the tedious hide-and-seek when I need those fallen objects.

As I spent more time on my desk, I learned how to sit in front of my desk as well. The gap made between height and width difference of my chair and the desk gives me just enough space for me to fold my laps on the chair and fit into the negative space of the desk. If I lift my laps up just a little, I feel the bottom of the drawer that is attached underneath the desk. Before I had my legs fold on the chair, I used to let my legs hang down from the seat, parallel to the chair legs. But my legs are not long enough to reach the floor when I'm sitting, so if I let down my legs, the gravity made my knees sore after just few hours. I complained about the chair’s height, but after I learned that I could fold my legs, the desk became the perfect fit to my physique.

 I don't know who the last user of this desk was, but someone did not think about having a cutting board or thick paper underneath their work when cutting it with an x-acto  knife. The desk has few straight, linear scars. It reminds me of the girl who sat next to me in my second grade classroom. She used to carve out the edges of her wooden desk with an x-acto knife while our teacher wasn't looking. I don't know why she did it, but it became her habit the rest of the year. She kept doing it, and by the end of each class her desk would have a smoother edge, getting lighter as its coated varnish peeled off to show its true self.

 I made a habit that is less harsh to the desk: rubbing my eraser against its surface. When my eraser turns black from gripping charcoal marks, I use my white surfaced desk to clean it. I don't have to look for an extra sheet of white paper to rub against and I find my desk effective and convenient to be the alternative. Sometimes I feel generous to my desk and clean those black smudges by putting elmer’s glue, wait for the glue to dry, and peel it. It is an excellent way to clean the surface that is also entertaining.

 I collect many things. Some are stationeries like bookmarks, pens, letter papers, and post-its shaped like a leaf or a thought bubble. Others include stamps, vintage photographs, receipts, and teabag bags. All these collections used to stay on my desk when I had a bigger desk with three shelves over it. However, because my desk is a tilting table now, I worried about having to clear all those when I had to tilt my desk for work. So now I put some in the drawer beneath it, or on top of a detached bookshelf, on the side of the desk. Except for my computer, every object goes back to where they belong after I complete my work for the day. I might get lazy over the course of the year because my cleaning habit has made very recently. I am going to try my best to keep this habit though.

When I was in high school - when I had only one desk for years, in one place, I had books and papers in tall, three stacks. Because I would just toss my last read book on top of the stack, the books were automatically arranged in chronological order and I had the visual record of my reading history. Now my desk only has my imac, a wireless keyboard and a mouse that cover just 1/6 of the desk. It feels naked, showing its white skin quite boldly. Although I want the desk to be clean for my work, now that my desk is clean most of the time, I have fewer visual displays of my recent activities.

Nevertheless, the cleaning the desk has its own merit. As I produce a mess while working and clean my desk, the same thing happens in my brain; I make a mess and stretch all the thoughts out, and then clean to refresh my mind. It is as if what I do physically transits into my brain and my mind mimics the act the same way. As I repeat the act of making a mess and cleaning the desk, some ideas crystallize while unnecessary things are discarded. The physical act transits to my thoughts and I become more decisive on what I do and gain a better focus. This is another way to utilize my desk. When I am overwhelmed by my workload or too many thoughts, or when I just want to meditate, I clean my desk. It is the most quiet and benevolent way to ease my stress.

Now, on the activities I do on my desk other than cleaning: I cut and arrange pieces of color aid paper and magazines for Light, Color, and Design class, paint my models for 3D design class, write emails, read CNN articles, check my facebook, skype, write on my diary, eat my meals, make peppermint tea, finish my makeup, read, record my daily spending, watch Korean shows and documentaries, check my sleep calculator, read others’ blogs, write blog posts like this one, listen to music, talk on the phone, take pictures, and check myself on webcam to see how I outfit looks for the day (since I don’t have a mirror).

 I do not do my drawing assignments on my desk because I have to face the shoes (our main subject for the first two months), not the white wall right behind the desk, for direct observation drawing. I have not slept on my desk because I managed my time well and have been sleeping early to not fall asleep on the desk while working late at night... so far. I did not exercise on my desk for obvious reasons. So except for these three activities, all my room activities always have accompanied the desk.

Desk has become a place that is of my own now. It is organized in a certain way that only I am familiar with, including what is around it. There is a bookshelf that has teabags on the top shelf and art supplies on the bottom, three different tote bags packed according to what I need on three different days (Monday's drawing class, Tuesday's 3D class, and Wednesday's art history and English class), tangled electronic cords that only I can tell which is which, and so on.