question

Can a collaborative research paper still sound cohesive if there are multiple voices/narrators? If so, how? Can we each write our own sections? Or should there be one designated writer? Or should we all sit down and write it together?

-the squatting group

Theory, meet Action: public scholarship

I'm really glad we had to read this. I feel like it brings up an important aspect that I've noticed, but never considered the disconnect as so-called public scholarship. Being outside the academic realm of social science and humanities, this class has put me in contact with scholarly work that largely isn't accessible. As a student, I struggle through these, but I still feel, and totally am, outside these scholarly realms.

The Domke and Ellison public scholarship pieces connected with me far more than most of the others, and this is really what public scholarship is about-- putting knowledge and ideas into the hands of those outside of the scholarly realms in which the writers traffic; bridging the disconnect between the thinking within the scholarly realms and those that this knowledge can influence.

Without much knowledge of scholarly works and the conversations that are contained within certain fields, I simply do not feel comfortable and don't believe I can, write exclusively within a scholarly context. The accessibility that public scholarship strives for is something I take dearly. Regarding my own project, I'm not sure how to make my work accessible other than the way I write it/blog it/use video. Perhaps the way the writing is published-- not a book, because of the scope of that task, but perhaps something more diy-- like a zine? Just because it's photocopied and stapled together doesn't mean it's not valid knowledge. I wonder how amused the squatters will be if I hand them a zine documenting what I think of them/their stuff/artifacts.

Photo credit: Moira Clunie

the casual everyday: read me

Part 1

Average height teenage/young adult, at least part if not full Chinese female, dressed casually.

She’s wearing a pair of cropped pants, and a tank top. The pants are a solid color: chocolate brown. No hint of the plaid that was everywhere last year, and maybe peeping back again this summer. Her spaghetti strap tank top allows view of her black bra straps. The tanktop itself is a solid green, with an image of the front-side (her right side.) The image is black text of some sort, framing “white space” that forms the shape of a mushroom. Another thin black line is located approximately in the middle of the tanktop, not really part of the image in the corner…an accident caused by a Sharpie or printing mistake? On her shoulders, draped haphazardly is a thin black zip-up hoodie, solid color and nondescript. The use of layers suggests she is prepared to be comfortable in the changing temperatures of the day.

Her feet sports a pair of flipflops. Once again, plain black and nondescript. In contrast, her toenails are painted a dark red. Her right ankle sports a thin silver anklet, a chain with small circular charms dangling from it. She also has a silver chain bracelet on her right hand, and a silver necklace, with a pendent of two silver hoops, echoing the shape of the anklet charms and three silver chains, each of various lengths and ending in a black bead. Her earrings, also in silver, dangle a sphere in midst of a silver spiral. Her left ear also has two other silver loop earrings.

A pair of large sunglasses, as so is the style these days, sit perched upon her head, as she is inside. This, along with the mostly bared limbs hints at the warm and sunny whether outside. However, her long black hair is left down, rather than up. The black band around her left wrist appears to be a hairtie, which suggests she expects pulling her hair up eventually.

Part 2

With no business event or meetings or whatnot to dress up for, I enjoy the casual dressing down. I am ready and excited for the sun (cue sunglasses.) I would be wearing shorts if not for two reasons:
1) It’s chilly in the morning when I leave the house
2) no short shorts at work

Instead, I settle for the cropped pants, which are conservative enough to wear to the office, but allow me to stay cool in the sun as well. I’m not a huge fan of flashy colors or patterns, so the solid colors of the pants, tanktop, hoodie,and flipflops suits me fine. The tanktop is not something I would usually buy, and indeed, I didn’t buy it. However, it was silkscreened by me (hence the accidental black line) for one of my best friend’s birthday, in which I made matching tanks for several of us. The image is from an inside-joke amongst ourselves, and no we don’t worship shrooms.

The nondescript black hoodie is one of several I own. Over the years, I’ve just collected a lot of black clothes. I wear it today to keep the morning chill out and to cover-up while I’m in the office. The silver jewelry isn’t matching-I don’t generally buy matching sets of things. But like black clothing, I’ve just got quite a bit of silver accessories.

If I get the chance to sneak away from the computer for a few minutes at work, I'll get a picture taken and up. Otherwise, I'll put one up later.

approaches

After a while of being caught up in "What is squatting? a subculture or counter-culture or neither" I'm just moving on.

At this point, I'm sticking with "What is the aesthetics of the squatting subculture?" I'll start out with taking squatting as a subculture, and in my conclusion, come back to this framework and address the issue of whether of not my research supports squatting as subculture, or if this is an area of further opportunity.

I was planning to look at traces and environmental behavior, focusing on interior decor. I just found this framework credited to philosopher Marx Wartofsky.

The article I found (the above) from: Díaz-Kommonen, L. et al (2004) Expressive artifacts and artifacts of expression. Working Papers in Art and Design 3. ISSN 1466-4917

This seems like another way of saying (framing?) what I'm trying to do- constructing meanings of what secondary and tertiary artifact, from the primary artifact, says to squatting, (like Ragin's construction of images.) ...Thoughts?

Mieke Bal

In Tradition, Bal claims there is an empowerment that comes from engagement with art, provided it is performative. My question would be how she would understand something like Youtube, which provides a platform for engagement and counter-performativity (ie comments, video responses)

In Telling, Showing, Showing Off, Bal argues that Museums are presented through the lenses of Westernized Society, repressing all others. How does one weigh the pragmatic concerns of serving the audience, while formulating a display that might not be understandable under the ethnocentric viewpoint of the audience?

the form in which content appears

Photo Credit: Jim Bumgardener

On a side note: Just sort of stumbled across the above which documents the rise in activity level on youtube. Check it.

---

The print medium seems so much more traditional, formal, and academic. Thus I probably won't escape doing something along those lines, but at the same time, I would like to also make my research more accessible and appealing to those outside academia- and especially to the people who I am studying. The web, still being relatively new, provides a lot more flexibility. There are fewer rigid conventions and expectations. I find it to be more innovative. I really enjoyed the Web 2.0 video and believe it works a lot better than if a paper was written about the same thing.

Since I'm studying aesthetics, which connects to each person on a personal level, I see the web as a better way to communicate and connect with my audience, rather than on paper, which generally is a bit drier. Furthermore, the mere connotations/associations of web seems more reflective of the subculture I am studying.

the interior, the trace

photo credit: David Carr-Smith

"The Interior, The Trace" has some interesting relationships drawn between furnishings and the space in which the furnishings are, as well as the people who dwell in these spaces. The line about movables (the furnishings) developing out of the immovables is an idea I grasped onto since the idea of movables as a response to the immovables is the basis of my question regarding aesthetics of squat culture.

The idea of fashionable furnishings also caught my attention. Selecting certain furnishing is a consumption of culture, but is it also production of culture? Especially in the squat culture, which (not to make claims before I actually do research myself) seems to have a diy philosophy, how is this idea of fashionable, and often functional, items produced by consumption? Also within this convolute was the concept of the dwelling as a receptacle of a person, and this shell bearing the impression of that person. I think this draws parallel with my focus on aesthetics as a reflection of the person (or in cases of squats as public venue, the "sub"culture." As mentioned in the convolute, to dwell is to form such shell... production, perhaps? ...I have yet to get my hands on that de certeau piece I should read.

Lastly, I would like to touch on the emergence of the private home which comes from the dissociation of the proprietor (of factory buildings.) To extrapolate, the aesthetics, and the process behind such aesthetics of a squatted space serves to dissociate the space from the previous use, or disuse, of the squatted space.

-1-

The surprising opportunities and demands of the industrial sites challenge domestic conceptions and force their users to invent expedients unrestricted by mass-taste, ready-made products, or design-training. The results demonstrate a mode of design rare in our culture: a kind of accretive forming of an individual’s needs on all levels from the shape of their home-enclosure to the casual positioning of their coffee cup. In consequence such apartments display an extraordinary and characteristic beauty - a degree of integration and visual interrelation, a formal and functional unity of structure and use, a completeness and complexity of conception, necessarily beyond the scope of those designed for clients. Carr-Smith, David. Improvised Architecture in Amsterdam Industrial Squats & Collectives.

-2-

There is a drumstel, back-line of one bass amplifier, two jet ear amplifiers, a song installation with three microphones and then free canals still five. The space is in principle accessible for everyone music wants whom make and the idea active approach understands, but there is a guard list. Oefenruimtes, Binnenpret.

On a similar note...

-3-

Simple PII that you can easily recycle from the street. (300Mhz CPU) with minimum 64MB of RAM, random graphic, ethernet and sound cards. And, the most important, server. Since few months we’re using proper server BLAH BLAH. but you can also use any p4 computer with more then 1gig of RAM as we did before we recycled this beauty. Of course the number of thin clients can extend depending on capabilities of LTSP server. If you are interested how it works check http://www.ltsp.org or check how we did it in our cafe. Copyleft, Barcelona.


Once again, taking this equipment, computer stuff in this case, since it is a computer lab, to help define aesthetics and furnishings of this particular space. The mentions of recycled hints at a possible anti-consumerism ideology. The "BLAH BLAH" suggests the type of attitudes possibly associated with a "counter"-culture. The claim of beauty; a particular aesthetic appreciation? The invitation to check out how they did it is a pseudo-entrance.

to inquire

Media: Julia, Dylan, Clint

Their interests are in media & technology, and their questions are, as taken from their presentation:

How primarily do the Dutch interact with their news and commercial media?

AND

How has this shaped the commercial structure and mediums of the industry?

(...and vice versa?)

It might be easier to have one large group question, something along the lines of "What are the interactions/relationships between the Dutch people and the Dutch media?" Within the question, each person can have their own research interest, and sub-question, which seems sort of the way they were heading, but more refining would be helpful.

I am glad they realized their scope is huge and support the idea of doing a case study.

On a side note, it would also be interesting to see what language media is presented in and what that indicates about their audience.

Tourists v. Natives: Mimi & Flannery

I am pretty excited for this team, since one is very much a tourist, and the other is much more of a native. Their question, as far as I understand is, is broken up into three parts:

How do the tourist and natives differ within the tourist industry?

How do the natives differ amongst themselves?

How do the tourists differ amongst themselves?

I'm assuming the last two questions are studying how each different amongst themselves in the tourist industry as well.

What worried me most was that they had a list of 12 touristy places to look at, and so I totally agree with whoever's suggestion it was to focus on something specific, like the canal.

My other concern is with the questions of how natives/tourists differ amongst themselves. I'm not sure what you would learn from these questions. Would you be studying the demographics of tourists/natives, which seems pretty superficial, or how their perceptions are shaped by where they're from, which seems so complicated it could be a whole project in itself... and can you provide a well-rounded study if there are ethnic groups/tourist groups that you were not able to interview? Maybe you can focus on perceptions of a certain tourist/native group, for example, the Brits. I do recall coming across a lot of mentions of how the Brits always seem to come over to smoke pot and nothing more.

Basically, I would rather see a more in depth project regarding one of the three questions. After all, there is so much being considered, a solid project could arise from focusing on any one aspect.

People & Spaces: Jenny & Kelsey

Kelsey's question:

Does the design of a structure [i blame my messy handwriting, can you fill this in for me?] the individuals who visit?
AND

Is there a central theme based on location (an Amsterdam-style?) that may/may not transcend what/who/when it was built?

I'm a fan of the environmental design question. If not focusing on a specific building, it might also be interesting to focus on things such as so-called "green" buildings, historical preservation, or even how structures accommodate certain distinctive aspects of urban-Dutch culture, like bicycles.

Jenny's question:

How does the context/layout of shopping centers reflect the "personality" of the people who shop there or neighborhood its located in?
AND
How is "culture" formed?
AND
In what ways does the city use these centers to propagate their messages?

I feel like there's a lot in these questions brought up during the presentation. I'm not quite sure how well the second question fits in with the other two. It might be worth considering studying the personality/image of one particular shopping center/street and how it is propagated.

Branding/Advertising: Eddy, Katherine, & Haylee

Eddy: Store Tourism

How do stores in Amsterdam attract the types of people that go to them through aspects such as general ambiance, decoration, merchandise, choice of employees, and layout?

My first thought was how this could be studied in any urban context, but if one specific subculture/store was chosen for a case study, this might be more interesting. The issue of gender was also brought up in order to tie this project with the rest of the group's. This seems like a promising avenue to explore since there probably are quite a few stores that cater to a specific gender within a specific subculture/fashion type.

Katherine: Gender rules & fashion

How does Amsterdam couture/fashion style communicate, project, and reflect the image and identity of individuals in relation to gender, class, social group?

I think this can be very interest. What concerned me was that most of her project seemed to be based on observations of stores and people coming in/out of those stores. I think this question requires a lot of conversation/interviews with people, those that wear the styles, and also those that create those styles. Also, the question identifies three areas: gender, class, social group. These are so large that I would suggest focusing on just one, and maybe a sub-category within one.

Haylee: Women in advertising & culture

How does the portrayal of women in advertising reflect Dutch culture?

I can't wait to see what the conclusions are for this question, but I don't really have too much to say about this question. If Eddy and Katherine both end up narrowing their focus onto a specific group/subculture, I would encourage the same for Haylee, otherwise, studying the mainstream advertising seems like a pretty good arena.

Research Interest: a question

Photo Credit: Karen Eliot

I plan to study how counter-culture is defined in terms of its aesthetics. To do so, I plan to research and answer to following question: What is the aesthetic of counter-culture, specifically squats?

By narrowing "counter-culture" or "anti-consumerism culture" down to squats, it keeps me within our group question, but provides a specific definition of the space I will be looking at. Researching aesthetics is problematic in that "aesthetics" is difficult to define, and even more difficult to document and analyze. In "Aesthetic Understanding of Organizational Life" by Antonio Strati, the point is brought up regarding the relationship between the researcher and the reader. The aesthetic understanding of the researcher and that of the audience, and even that of the "subject(s)" being studied may vary. I plan to conduct my research through a combination of observation (which brings in my own aesthetic understanding) and conversation with those "natives" of the culture (ie the squatters) in an effort to better understand their aesthetic. At the same time, being on site will provide me with the opportunity to absorb their aesthetic attitudes, or at least, experience them. My interactions with these native persons comes with potential human subject issues, especially concerning privacy of those individuals, and the way I conduct my conversations with them.

kulture+kitchen: group synecdoche

After much discussion, we (Isaac, Cassie, and I) found that many of our various interests (i.e. food, squatting, graffiti) have a similar DIY-ethic base. From that, we decided upon our group research question: How is counter-consumerism a cultural movement?

Photo by: Cookiemouse

Our synecdoche: de Peper.

According to OT301, "de Peper is a collectively organised, non-profit project combining kulture with kitchen. Cultural happenings include poetry, cabaret, dj nights and exhibiting artists work. All ingredients and products used in the kitchen and bar are organic and vegan."

Online Manifestation

To figure out how youtube and blogs work, I'll start out with a couple videos that pretty much explain what squatting is and how it works.

This first one is by youtube user TashPhoto.



This second one is by journalist Julia Dimon.




This site lists various squat bars and restaurants.

[squat!net] is "an international internet magazine with main focus on squatted houses, car sites and other free spaces." It doesn't just focus on Amsterdam, but it seems up to date.

ASCII is an organization that uses squatted spaces for their HQ, located in Amsterdam, and for workshops they host.

Well-known squat restaurant: De Peper. I definitely want to eat here sometime. They also do other various events.

OT301 is a squat venue that hosts performances and film screenings, amongst other events. They happen to have their own youtube station here.


The more I read about squatting, the more attached to this topic I get. Research directions I might want to go in:
-How is a space transformed once it is squatted? I want to see if having squatters "tidies up" the space, or if having squatters results in the place getting trashed.

-How do squatted spaces become a center of culture? I would want to study how squat cafes/restaurant/venues breed a culture within itself, but also contributes to the large squat culture. Furthermore, shared squatted living spaces also seem to contribute to the larger squat culture, and it seems like an interesting intersection to study.

Research interest

This is a mobile upload test since i saw this while walking to my car with thoughts about amsterdam and potential research topics. I started out interested in street art and design. And i still am. But with the recent entry of the mainstream by local underground dining, i thought of squatters in Amsterdam. Funny how the mind works, right? Anyways, as far as i know, there's a pretty significant squat scene with cafes, restaurants, gallarys. And of course there's an anti-squat movement of some sort. I think it would be interesting to study the use of spaces squatted, how they become squatted, what the government stance is, and how the neighbors feel about all this.

Disorderly Recycling: Observations at Seattle Center

We (Emily and Fiona) decided to close read the South Fountain Lawn at Seattle Center, while Cassie visited the New Haven Green. Here are our initial observations regarding the South Fountain Lawn:

1. Cement Walls

-There were low cement walls that ostensibly doubled as hillside blockers (to keep dirt and grass in a mound) and as seats for the passerby. These were interesting because they were too low to be comfortable seating especially for adults. It seemed that to serve two function the architects had to make compromises against the other purpose. The only exception was in one case where the bench was built up with a back.

We also noticed the use of Skatestoppers (circled in red in both photos) indicating that the space was not intended for skateboarders.

2. Location of Ash Trays

-Another thing that we noted immediately was the spacing and location of the ash trays—while there were three lined up [in above photo] equally distant from a green space (and visible from every angle, perhaps there was an element of shame attached as a disincentive for people to smoke?) there was one pushed up against the cement wall [see photo below], presumably for people to sit down in the less visible corner and smoke.

It did not fit with the neatly organized layout of the rest of the park (where every object was pushed into a corner or logical space) and I wondered who had moved it (maintenance or someone trying to smoke inconspicuously) and whether it was more frequently used by smokers than the other ash trays.

3. Roped Off

-We also noted that part of the grass area was roped off (meaning people entering from the Key Arena side of the lawn via the stairs had to walk around the circle to get access). We wondered why this region would be roped off when there were activities on the grass, especially considering that the stairs were a logical entering point to the region. The photo below is the view from the stairs.

We did notice that the lawn closest to Fisher Pavilion was unroped, as shown in the photo below. We attributed this to the Seeds of Compassion workshops happening in Fisher Pavilion at the time.

Now for our research question... We focused on temporary plastic recycling bags scattered across the grassy public space. These immediately caught our attention because of their odd positioning—they were not located near the cement paths where the majority of people were walking but rather INSIDE the green space at odd angles and at different distances from the sidewalk. They were located far enough into the green that a person would need to walk at least ten feet off the path and over the grass to reach one.

The holes for cans were facing the inside of the grass (except for one bag, which broke the pattern and faced outwards). We wondered “Why are these recycling receptacles placed in this manner, and what purpose do they serve?” We could use any methodological approach to explain this phenomenon, but we chose a combination of close reading the space (a la Burstein) and looking at cities (Jacobs-style) and determined that a good approach would be to observe environmental behavior as a “secret outsider” or “marginal participant,” although we got a little overexcited and became “full participants” (Ziesel).

By close reading/looking at the space we could infer that maintenance (or whoever had placed these bags on the grass) had done so for a temporary event. This was obvious for several reasons: a) the receptacles were soft plastic and not weather-resistant (and were barely grounded, they were obviously not meant to last more than a day or so); b) the grass underneath them was healthy, suggesting they hadn’t been there long enough to block the sun or rain; and c) they were scattered haphazardly across the ground as compared to the highly “ordered” or organized park, which had everything in a corner or by a tree or equally spaced out (although possibly Fiona and I were unable to determine the order of whoever had placed these receptacles). These all suggested that the recycling bins were there for an unusual event, and therefore they had been placed to cater to whoever was going to act in the grassy space.

By first observing from a set of benches above the green space and watching which people used the recycling bins, what they looked like, and where they came from (“secret outsider”) and later walking around it like the people we had been stalking and visualizing how we would use those recycling bins (“marginal participant”) and finally becoming “full participants” by hula-hooping in the event on this grassy lawn, we understood the recycling phenomenon coming from the other direction. By talking to Dizzy Hips, the hula hoopist hosting the Seeds of Compassion event, we heard that there were supposed to be thousands of children and their families on this lawn, and we could therefore infer that the receptacles were set up on the grass facing inwards to cater to the potential customers (but while we were there, only about five kids showed up).

It was interesting to approach this subject from the two different directions, especially because it was unclear why the recycling bins ruined the park’s orderly consistency and “marred” the lawn (at least in my mind). By close reading/looking we could determine there was some sort of a temporary event that demanded it, but by observing environmental behavior and participating we were able to determine what the event was and work backwards.

Observations and thoughts of the similar New Haven Green, CT.

Submission. Islam. Submission. Islam.

The title “Submission” did not surprise me, but what did was that “Submission” is the English translation of “Islam.” An aptly named film, I soon realized.

With the stories all told by what I assume is the same actress, it took me a while to realize there are several different stories in there. Each was about the body; the women’s body to be exact. And the images shown were just as compelling as the tale being told.

Throughout the film, the body is shown painted with the verses from the Qur'an. In my opinion, it is a brilliant way of illustrating the forcing of the teachings from the Qur'an onto the beings of women. The nakedness and a sort of ‘unveiling of the body’ I found to be much more powerful, but also, more subdued and subtle. I found it mesmerizing and a beautiful form of (like I believe Jessica mentioned) art. The blend of the shadow and the burka, highlighted the bit of the face that was shown, reflects life of a Muslim women, but is also effective as part of the composition. In the story of a woman receiving 100 lashes for being guilty of adultery and fornicating, the body is shown, marked with lashes, and of course, painted with the words of the Koran. The story of the women physically abused by her husband shows images of a body, beaten and slumped. The visual imagery is definitely gripping. I wish I had watched it as a silent film first, and then learn the story of the women.

[On a side note, I just realized I started out using “Qur'an” but then switched to “Koran.” Which is correct? …proper/PC/more generally acceptable…does it matter?]

What shocked me more than the stories was my lack of extreme reaction to this film. None of these stories were “new” to me, and while I am still disgusted beyond words by such treatment of women, I don’t have much to say regarding the content itself. What in the past would have gotten disbelief and anger, I can only muster up a shrug of the shoulders and a “that doesn’t surprise me.” I guess I have just become accustomed and somewhat emotionally drained. The questions that this film sparked were mostly regarding the side that did not have a voice in the film, the men. While I recognize the power of creating shock and controversy, especially when bringing the issues of the suppressed into the light, I really just want to have a better understanding of the complex culture and ideology that spawned all this.

like reading a story, but not

As somebody who has somewhat read blogs before (generally reading through Google reader rather than the actual blog itself) I knew that the most recent blog entry is displayed first (at the top of the page.) However, when tackling this blog assignment, I started reading Irina’s blog like somebody reading a book or journal: from top to bottom. Or I suppose I could say I started reading like somebody who has kept up to date with her blog. Anyways, whoops, but this reverse chronological order definitely has its upside and downsides.

To aid in the laying out of chronological order, Irina has labeled some of her blog posts to reflect this passing of time. While not as consistent as a formal research report, it is sufficient for a blog. A reader can easily navigate though the use of blog entry titles such as “First interview results” and “Research day two.” Some, such as “Research Day... 3.. (I think)” are more reflective of what happens in the mind but clear enough nevertheless. Amongst these numerically indicating post titles, there are those that are less in the “timeline” of things, but happen anyways, such as “Brussels & Gay Pride Weekend.”

Taking a closer look at the posts itself, I notice the posts regarding days are chronologically describing her day. It starts in the morning, and ends in the evening, like in “Research Day Four...it only gets better!” which features the photo of the sunset near the end of the post. Often, it is wrapped up with a last thought or foreshadowing what is happening next.

What caught my attention was the photos, specifically, the location of the images. The images are always integrated with the text, never standing alone. The image always seems to be located amongst the text that describes it. For me, it was a question of how to order this. With the rest of the blog in a chorological order of some sort, it threw me off to have to decide if I should examine the image first, then read about it, or read first, and then look the image? Or read part, then look, and then continue reading? This seems like a place where Irina could have made a decision of which to present to her readers first. I’ll have to keep this in mind as I start to add images in my own posts.

(how) confusing(???): a close reading

This email was not a reply directly to me, but rather, to one of my fellow committee members. A question asking for clarification regarding our upcoming monthly meeting date was sent out via the group mailing list, which is how I ended up with a copy of the email sitting in my inbox. The responding email is the one I will attempt to close read.

The email starts off with no “dear _____” or “______,” or anything of that sort. Being a response to a previous email, the heading seems unnecessary; all of us receiving the copy of the email would have received a copy of the email posing the question. The lack of a direct addressee also implies the email is for all of us. The clarification did regard something that matters to me and all the others that received it. Furthermore, the informal nature of the email is something that is present throughout the rest of the email, as seen in the tone, the punctuation, and the word choice present. Notice the apostrophe s, rather than spelling out “meeting is” and the use of “5-7” rather than adding the “:00pm.” The familiarity between the email sender and receivers is apparent in the omission of such detail since the meaning was assumed to be understood.

The second line was the reason I choose to close read this email. The use of parenthesis creates another separate sentence within, and in this case, with a completely different meaning, than the one spelt out excluding the parenthesis. “See you April fools there!” and “See you fools here!” are significantly different. Would the reader, being reminded it’s April’s fool day, take it to mean the meeting isn’t actually happening today? Or would they read it as a cleverly inserted joke, but realize the sender was serious and that the meeting would be happening at the stated day and time?

The line following says basically, joke aside, the meeting is really happening. But it that truly clear to the reader? The line is set within parenthesis as well, just like the part of the April fool’s line, which associates this message with something less seriously and more as a joke. Even the word choice “but seriously” brings about skepticism.

To further understand the recipient’s understanding of this email, it is important to contextualize it. The steering meetings are regularly scheduled at 6pm. This very unusual time of 5pm would bring up doubts in those not aware of the reason why this one meeting would be held at 5pm rather than the typical 6pm.

The end result? Meeting attendance was significantly lower than usual levels. [Disclaimer: correlation, not causation. Many other unnamed factors also influence attendance levels.]