@11ysses

When the first earthquake hit Japan this year, I realized that it was surprisingly difficult to get up-to-date news. The New York Times was still making tsunami predictions for times that had already passed and I felt like I was missing out on a ton of information. So I reluctantly joined and it. was. great. Ever since, I've been boring my partner to death with long rambles about how Twitter gets you participating in a larger conversation, whereas Facebook asks you to shape your message to your specific imagined audience. And then Jack Layton said "hashtag fail" in the Canadian Leaders Debate, and I was done for. I love twitter AND THIS IS EXACTLY WHY:

@11ysses

This Bloomsday (July 16, 2011), the twitterverse - okay, a very small portion of it - will work in tandem to tweet Ulysses. 96 Brave Cast members are needed in order to tweet the 96 sections of the book. Each tweeter will work for 15 minutes, tweeting the entire assigned section in this time, then the next person will continue, thus completing the entire book in 24 hours.

For a book that is mostly known for its length, verbosity and difficulty, attempts to condense the text down to 140 character snippets is genius and I can't wait to see how it will turn out. My guess is that each Brave Cast member will have slightly different interpretations of the text and ways of conveying the message and plot. The whole thing will be expertly orchestrated and definitely worth following closely, or at least tuning in to.

I would obviously love to sign up for this, but I'll be in Dublin on Bloomsday and will be not only limited to my iPhone but perhaps out of wireless/3G range...and I think iPhone/Twitter Ulysses would cross over into the TOO abstract.

If you are interested in giving up 15 minutes to what is in my opinion the coolest technology-meets-lit project ever, sign up here before May 28th!