1 files changed, 101 insertions, 0 deletions

@@ -0,0 +1,101 @@
+---
+title: Autocento of the breakfast table
+subtitle: about this site
+genre: prose
+
+epigraph:
+    content: by Case Duckworth
+
+project:
+    title: Autocento of the breakfast table
+    css: autocento
+...
+
+Introduction
+------------
+
+_Autocento [of the breakfast table][]_ is a hypertextual exploration of the workings of revision across time.
+Somebody^[citation needed]^ once said that every relationship we have is part of the same relationship; the same is true of authorship.
+As we write, as we continue writing across our lives, patterns thread themselves through our work: images, certain phrases, preoccupations.
+This project attempts to make those threads more apparent, using the technology of hypertext.
+
+I'm also an MFA candidate at [Northern Arizona University][NAU].
+This is my thesis.
+
+Process
+-------
+
+In compiling the works that make up this text, I've pulled from a few different projects:
+
+* [Elegies for alternate selves](and.html)
+* [The book of Hezekiah](prelude.html)
+* [Stark raving](table_contents.html)
+* [Buildings out of air](art.html)
+
+as well as added new poems, written quite recently.
+As I've compiled them into this project, I've linked them together based on common images or language, moving back and forth through time.
+This should give the reader a fair idea of what my head looks like on the inside.
+
+Technology
+----------
+
+Because this project lives online, I've used a fair amount of technology to get it there.
+First, I converted all the articles[^1] present into plain text files, which are viewable [here][text].
+Then, I used John McFarlane's venerable document preparation system [pandoc][], along with a short [script][compile.lua], to compile the text sources to HTML using [this template][].
+The compiled HTML is what you're reading now.[^2]
+
+To host the project, I'm using [Github][], an online code-collaboration tool with the version control system [git][] under the hood.
+This enables me (and you, dear Reader!) to explore the path of revision even more, from beginning to end, based on my commits to the repository.
+You can view the repository and its changes and files at [my Github profile][].[^3]
+
+Using this site
+---------------
+
+All of the articles on this site are linked together hypertextually, that is, like a webpage.
+This means that all you need to do to explore the creative threads linking these articles together is to start clicking links.
+However, if you find you're looping around to a lot of the same articles, you can head back to the [index][] and click through the titles in order---that poem contains the titles of all the other poems in this project.
+
+Alternatively, you can click the lozenge (◊) at the bottom of each page.
+It'll take you to a random article in the project, thanks to [this javascript][].
+
+If you want to experience the earlier projects in something resembling the original orders, previous and next links are provided at the bottom of each page, next to the lozenge.
+Sometimes, there are more than one of each of these---they represent other work I've done with hypertextuality.
+
+Things still to do
+------------------
+
+_Autocento of the breakfast table_ is a work in progress.
+The first draft is completed, but some revision and aesthetic work remains to be done for me to consider it fully "[published][]"
+(what does this word mean in 2015?).
+You can see the full list of to-dos by visiting the [issues page][issues] of the Github site.
+
+Contact me
+----------
+
+If you'd like to contact me about the state of this work or my writing in general, you can email me at <case@autocento.me>.
+
+<!-- links & footnotes -->
+[of the breakfast table]: http://www.ibiblio.org/eldritch/owh/abt.html
+
+[text]: src/index.html
+
+[pandoc]: http://johnmacfarlane.net/pandoc/
+[compile.lua]: https://github.com/duckwork/autocento/blob/gh-pages/compile.lua
+[this template]: https://github.com/duckwork/autocento/blob/gh-pages/.template.html
+[Github]: https://github.com/
+[git]: http://www.git-scm.com/
+[my Github profile]: https://github.com/duckwork/autocento
+
+[index]: index.html
+[this javascript]: https://github.com/duckwork/autocento/blob/gh-pages/js/lozenge.js
+
+[published]: published.html
+[issues]: https://github.com/duckwork/autocento/issues
+
+[^1]: I've decided to use the word _article_ instead of _poem_, because not all of the texts included are poems; and instead of _piece_, because _piece_ is vague and, to my mind, pretentious.
+    I'm aware that the true [etymology](http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=article) of _article_ does not reflect my use of it, namely "a little chunk of art", a la the (personal folk) derivation of _icicle_, _treicle_, etc.
+
+[^2]: The great thing about `pandoc` is that it can compile to, and convert between, about fifty formats or so.
+    This means that if, in the future, I choose to convert this project to a printable form (for example PDF, ODT, or even DOCX), I'll be able to with a fairly small amount of work.
+
+[^3]: For more information on the technological aspect of this project, see the [README.md](https://github.com/duckwork/autocento/blob/gh-pages/README.md) file at the root of the github repo.