Blue Hyacinth consists of four texts by Pauline. You can cycle through the four texts by clicking the square that consists of four squares; each of the four texts is an independent vignette–with some reference to ‘blue hyacinth’.

Pauline has involved vignette and narrative in a way that isn’t present in the other stir frys at http://vispo.com/StirFryTexts

Gibb, above, says the text inspires “mistrust” and “suspicion” as the text “jumps away from my attempts to read/study it”. I suppose that’s ‘natural’ because the text itself, in some sense, resists the wreader’s full control. The behavior is slightly adversarial and gives rise to the feeling that the behavior has some sort of character (worth mistrusting and being suspicious of). As though it has something to hide, possibly. Although it is busy revealing, also, and has to hide some things to reveal others.

I think Pauline has used texts (and chosen the cut points in those texts) that synch with that energy and draw on it in their darting narrative events and observations.

Perhaps I should mention that this is a collaboration with Jim Andrews that I made some years ago. The scripts for the Stir Frys are Jim’s. The texts and the cut-up choices used in this piece were mine.

From my own point of view, viewing/using the Blue Hyacinth stir fry is definitely more about journeying than arriving at any destination story.

But how about if we denote them as Point A/Home, Point B/Airport, and Point C/Destination. Does that create a more comfortable situation? After all, the folks at the airport likely have the same common interests and traits, fears and hopes as those at Point A and B. Or is it the environment that makes it so different, there being no houses, schools, town-type things (though shopping and just about everything else is available at an airport)? Isn’t there an offset in that what all travelers at the airport share is that they are away from their familiar home base?

I’m going to explore Blue Hyacinth much deeper, but my initial feeling is a sense of mistrust as it moves and jumps away from my attempts to read/study it. It is fascinating. Is there a temporary comfort offered when we see familiar text, familiar even in its display on monitor screen and in color if one is familiar with hypertext work. But when it appears to resist our attempts to probe it, there is a different emotion aroused. One of suspicion. Interesting piece particularly in its concept

Your reading guide here does give us a better idea of what we should be looking for in Blue Hyacinth and in other hypertext work. Perhaps it is to find what is familiar, what is shared, so that we can more confidently step further into a world that at first appears alien.