About

I’m a PhD student at the University of Pittsburgh specializing in composition, literacy, rhetoric, and pedagogy. These days I’m contemplating the relationship between invention and arrangement, especially in works that feature textual reuse and recycling — anything from quotation to compilation. I mainly study old, weird books, but I appreciate new ones, too.

I like scraps:  handwritten or typed; scribbled, illustrated, or engraved; crumpled, torn, neat, or shiny; found, created, or discarded.

I began this blog in 2009 for my final project in a seminar on digital media theory, in which I explored the media, materiality, typography, design, reception, production, distribution, and authenticity of scraps, especially those scanned or photographed and then transferred to web archives like  Found and Passive Aggressive Notes. (For more information about my initial plans for the project, check out my project proposal.) As I’ve taken on a larger project about textual reuse and recycling, this blog has come to house my thoughts on various other topics, too, though these mainly center around reading, writing, paper, and books.

I still collect scraps — some that I find and some that I’ve created. You can see them here.

Please feel free to leave comments anywhere on the blog. I’d love to hear what you think.