DAY 2

Back from Rockport, was not able to post as we stayed in a hotel and I left my laptop here in SA. It wasn't so hard since i was at the beach most of the time but still texting is the biggest issue. I stayed over there for three days and not once did i watch TV. Like i said before i have absolutely no problem not watching TV, i feel its just manipulating; people get influenced so much just by what they watch besides most shows that air now-a-days are extremely stupid! The Hills...and well pretty much everything on MTV. its so sad that people actually watch that on their down time. At any rate i think i did pretty well on this project besides my not being able to stop texting! The reason why i think texting is my predominant way of communication is because every one is always working or busy and texting is fast and quiet. i think i could have called everyone i text but its just habit and what years of using this particular kind of technology does. Its funny how over the years technology is to enhance the experience of life by making things easier however, its only lessening ourselves physically. Humans are capable of so much more but now we are always just looking for the easy way out, always looking for and easier faster way. we want things to be done fast for what? to have extra time, but not to spend with our family or exercise to better ourselves but to get on the Internet, watch TV, or do some other activity that excludes human interaction. Realizing this makes me feel awful. just to know that i couldn't go only two days with out texting is mind bottling. I think this experience has really made me want to indulge in more physical activities, and more human interaction as oppose to mere texting or contacting people via the Internet. although most people will never realize this, and only lose out on family time and spending time in a more meaningful way.

yoooo

im trippin





Basically like i said earlier i dont have internet at home, thats why I couldnt blog (even though im addicted now.. can you tell by all the comments I post? Anyway I'm gonna be honest about the media deprivation project for sunday... i didnt participate in the media deprivation project for sunday (lmao)





woke up and listen to damien marleys' "welcome to jamrock"


not the song, the album, yes the whole album (lol)





I went down to eat breakfast and turned on the t.v. like it was the normal thing to do.


All day I used my phone except when that certain person texted and then all of a sudden I couldnt use my phone anymore.





I actually had a powerpoint due at midnight which I needed to go on facebook to ask a question about AND the powerpoint needed multiple youtube music video clips.



So afterwards I swing by a friends house and watch the game from the tivo and realize that I'm suppossed to not be involved with the media so I bounce out of the real fast and go home and study for my finals..
At this point in time I'm on god mode with the deprivation..
Females txting me and I deny them! haha so proud of myself, except for a party invite I had to see what was up with that otherwise it was a strong finish.

Shout out to all who followed the rules you guys are gangsters!!

Well, I started the media deprivation at 12am Friday and I have to say it was pretty hard, but probably not as hard for me as for some people. I am a Sabbath-keeper. I observe the Sabbath from evening Friday to sundown Saturday. During this time I do not watch secular TV or listen to secular radio or read any secular material. SO the fact that this project fell on this day, Saturday, for me it was more of a breeze. I did make a customary phone call to my mother which I do every Saturday morning. But I did not watch Bible movies with my children on Friday night, which I normally do.

Saturday morning: I wake up and find myself oddly rebellious to any change in my normal routine. I find myself making excuses about why I can make this phone call and I tell myself that calling my best friend is “urgent”. Dang! I thought I had more self-control than this! I survive the day with only two mishaps; listening to the radio in my car before I realize “Oops, I’m not supposed to do this!”, and the “urgent” call to my best friend to report the day’s events. –I’m so ashamed of myself. I really thought this would be easy for me; I have long looked at the entertainment business and forms of media as addicting and a distraction to real life and have enjoyed the sense of superiority my keen observations have granted me.

Way to go introspective. Okay, I may be a little more dependent on multimedia than I first believed. I mean, you’re talking about a person who hasn’t had cable in over 5 years and didn’t own a cell phone until a year age. I really believed that I was the last of a dying breed…Until my husband bought me a Blackberry. Now I cannot go to the supermarket without constant contact with home base and 24 hour access to my two email accounts, not to mention facebook. What have I turned into?!

Not being able to communicate with someone unless you’re face to face is horrifying. I mean, who has the time nowadays? -- (or the gas) WE do all sorts of thing to keep in touch, but at the same time disconnect from each other. Our communication is more surface, --superficial. For example: 1. the email—a lazy way of sending a card or a way to avoid an entire conversation. 2. The text—convenient way to crack corny jokes (LOL) and not get in trouble at work. 3. Facebook/Myspace—a convenient way to crack corny jokes (LOL). I hope this adventure is soon over.

Saturday Night: My husband decided to forgo the Saturday night TV and suffer with me. He turns off Saturday Night Live and joins me in the kitchen. What ensues is a 3 hour long conversation/debate, complete with water/bathroom breaks. Whew! Who knew we could talk that long! We actually learned something new about each other and I had a mini- meltdown. However, we actually talked our way out of the problem. Maybe there is something to this..,

super late

just not rememerd to get to this
sunday wasnt as bad as i thought, i actually didnt even bother taking my phone with me anywhere that day, when i came home the 4 text messages grew too 9 new messages and 6 missd calls. didnt think i was that popular :D, just kidding on that by the way.
Beacuse of this project made me happy to realize that im not attached to my phone as much as i use to be when i had my iphone, my current phone is such a down grade from my iphone that got stolen so i dont really care to much for this phone, its only to keep in contact with people and thats it. i enjoyed this project and prolby will go a few days with out useing my phone or any tv or computer just for the fun of it as agood state of peace.

Chevy Chase was in my face!

SUNDAY DAY II

Well Sunday was not too bad I would get it was a big improvement from Saturday! I woke up that morning from my cell phone like I did the previous day. I got ready for work again with out music so I did make great time getting to work considering I had to wake up earlier then I did on Saturday. I drove to work with out the radio listening to my crappy car once again! This time the drive was a little more peaceful maybe it was because it was early Sunday morning and not many people are on the road. Since I was opening the store today the only thing I turned on was the TV because my co-workers wanted to watch something while to store was slow. I will admit I did watch TV only because I was done with reading what I found interesting in the new issue of TIME. I watch some parts of some Chevy Chase movie the on where his family goes to Vegas; I forgot the name of that movie.
For lunch I avoid driving to pick up food so I had a co-worker get my food for me. While I was eating I did end up watching videos on you tube from here phone. I couldn’t resist because it was some baby doing the “stanky leg” and I needed a laugh! During my time at work I eventually turned on the radio only because there was nothing to watch on TV. I also was texting more on Sunday then I was on Saturday!
When I got home I did check my Facebook again! I know it was too hard to resist because I had to get online to post this!! I did not check my Myspace! So that was half a goal achieved! I went with my best friend to our other friend’s house and we did jam out to some music! But I did not watch any TV there! Later that night I did watch the news which is something I already do but the original Twilight Zone came on and I watch them! I don’t think that show should count or anything on Turner Classic because those are shows from way back in the day way before all the technology we use now. I did end up talking on the phone later that night.
What I learned from the project is that I am way more addicted to Facebook then I originally thought. My most used form of communication is through text messaging. Music is something that very hard to avoid its everywhere. J Will I change any of my habits? Probably not!

Only the music remains

what up peeps? Just got off of work and way to tired to do this...Still not using and I have been clean and sober since friday.If you really must know what I did since 6 a.m. I am more then glad to tell you. I worked. Sorry not writting 300 words.

LAST DAY! :)

First things first, sorry this is late I've been at school and than at work taking care of some things.

Okay so Sunday was a lot harder than Saturday. Sunday I had absolutely nothing planned except for working. I woke up to text messages from a certain somebody so there was no way I could ignore those texts. One rule already broken and I had just woken up. Then I took a shower and got ready while following all the rules. After I was ready I got a text to my phone saying that there was new pictures of me tagged in Facebook from the concert. So of course I had to get on and check if I looked decent in them or I was going to untag myself. After I checked out the pictures I was going to update my status but i stopped myself and got off. After that I seriously sat on the couch and just watched my mom plant cotton and do her crops in Farmville. I was dying of boredom when normally I would have been watching television or downloading music. Finally 3:00 came around and I was actually ready to go to work so i could hear some music and actually do something. When I got to work I found out I was an extra so I actually got to turn around and go home. It turned out being a good thing considering I had two finals due the next day and I hadn't started on either one of them. The next couple of hours i was occupied with my finals so the tempation of using mass media didn't even phase me. After I was finally done with those I had to go to my friend Amber's house to do a group project which kept me even busier. After I got home and showered I did get pretty bored and found myself on facebook. I swear facebook is what messed me up most in this media deprivation. Overall I could have done better but I could have done worse too. I'm just glad that now I can text on my phone or update my status on Facebook and not feel guilty about it! Well now i'm off to school again to take my philosophy final and I'll be jamming to the radio the whole way there!

I wasn't able to make the deadline again on account of class and finals all day! Today was a whole lot harder than yesterday. Yesterday i was locked up at work all day with really no way of getting a hold of any sort of media. Today I had a lot of studying to do, which involves the computer. When i study i am almost always looking for a distraction and when the World Wide Web is just a click away it makes it very hard to resist. I could take to anyone anywhere! Better yet I could see what the latest sales have to offer without even leaving my room. But not today I had to stick to Microsoft word and just focus on my paper. My grade appreciated this assignment very much. Luckily my phone is on the fritz right now. Also known as not working, I can receive calls and make them and even receive texts. But whats the fun in that? Texts aren't fun if I can't text back and calls, nobody makes phone calls these days. So today was made a little easier on account of my phone not working. Television wasn't much of a problem for me because I don't really enjoy watching it that much in the first place. Even if I did like watching television or had a show that I liked I am sure that I could catch it on YouTube or somewhere on the Internet at some other time. It would definitely not be a cut throat situation. I thought that today would be much harder that yesterday but in the end it didn't turn out that way. I guess since I am always wrapped up in these types of medias it was kind of awesome to get some time off and do things around the house. But if this had lasted for a week or longer I might have just lost my mind.

The Sabbath

Sunday was easier than Saturday. I spent the day fishing. To my surprise there are no televisions on the river. I was shocked. I made a conceited effort to forget my cell phone in my room. I lent my computer to my younger sister so I had no chance of cheating. I imagine I might have.

In the periods of my fishing voyage when the fish were sparse and my patience low I dug into the words of Hunter S. Thompson. He is a genius. I can not imagine giving up my books. No matter how many people may be around in the depths of a great book there is solitude.

When busying myself in the outdoors the world of media rarely if ever enters my mind. When inside a home boredom soon sets in and I pray for ESPN. It seems so funny how the environment to which you place yourself in determines the need for media. I imagine that if there was lone teepee with a television in the Cherokee village it would be the emptiest teepee of all. Then again, maybe there would be a waiting list scribbled in the dirt to enter. This I highly doubt.

I will not likely repeat this mass media deprivation. I will use my computer less for meaningless surfing, mindless games, and pointless social networking. I will not miss a San Antonio Spurs game. Manu Ginobili can score forty points on any night.

The most enjoyable times spent in front of a television or computer do not hold a candle to those spent around a camp fire, in a kayak, or playing a pick up game of basketball. I rarely remember what the top ten plays of the day on Sports Center were the day before. I have never forgotten about any fish I have ever caught!

Day 2

Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty I'm free at last!


I'm definitely excited to have my media freedoms restored. Out of the "bondage" I have a newly restored appreciation of the accessibilities we take for granted on a daily basis. For instance, I had to actually use an "old fashioned" map to find my way to a birthday party instead of relying on my navigation system. I was 30 minutes late arriving, but proud of myself nonetheless.


I noticed that I was more excited to arrive to church Sunday morning than usual. Perhaps I was desperately missing music. So much so, that we even returned for night service!


These past 48 have been very testing of my will power. I'm beginning to question why I rely so heavily on media and the crucial role it plays in my daily life. I must credit this experiment with all the work I achieved over the weekend. My house is cleaned top to bottom. My yard is freshly landscaped. My garage is organized. I even made it to the bottom of the laundry hamper (which existence I was questioning)! I highly doubt whether I would have completed these tasks if I was glued to my electronics all weekend.

Media depravation has been enlightening for myself as well as my family. Our eyes have truly been opened. We see how the simplest changes can make the biggest difference in the quality of our lives. My children will be standing over my grave one day. I want them to recall the memories we shared as a family, not the time I spent connected to media.

P.S.: this is being posted late because I worked 8:30-6:30 today.

A new realization...

First off, sorry this is late, I just got home from school...Yesterday the media deprivation really started getting to me, especially towards the end. I woke up, made an omelet and went to work from 12-6, both times driving in silence. I'd just like to say that silence in itself was torture, I use the CD player in my car, not only to tune out the oh so annoying creaks and rattles from my 2001 explorer, but I also use it to tune out the outside world. (Do you know how hard it is to try to tune the creepy guy yelling next to you without music??) After I got home, I started to try to work on my Mexican American History paper. The assignment was to read a chapter about 15 pages long and write a 3-5 page paper...I started to read about 3 pages or so and when I stopped I realized I didn't retain any information. The whole time I was reading I had other things on my mind; I guess the background silence distracted me to think about other things. I realize that TV or music is the only reason I ever get any of my homework done...Creative writing is the only thing I can do silently because it involves proofreading, editing and critical thinking skills that help preoccupy my mind. When I read history books, my mind really doesn't get any stimulation, the only thing that my mind does while I read history books is notice how poorly they're written...Anyways while I sat there reading this chapter, I started to think...I started to think how quiet it was, how empty it was; how lonely it was. It was such a depressing feeling, I never realized that the main reason I can live alone is because of the media. From this project I've learned that without the media, I definitely would not be able to live alone and ultimately would not be able to function. I'm so thankful to have the media back in my life. I missed music so much...

-Holly Doll

Sunday

Okay, I really messed Sunday up. I talked on the phone to my sister who really needed someone to talk to (breakup) and I was over my mother-in-laws house where the TV is always on, --cable TV for that fact. (An important fact to remember is that I don’t have cable). I couldn’t resist swiping a look at the reality shows. I mean I was like someone who has never seen a television before. My husband said I was having withdrawals and overloaded on it. To my credit, I stayed away from my computer and let my phone just about run out of “juice” until when my sister texted me on my husband’s phone, and believe me that’s the last thing she would want to do {they’re like oil and water}. I knew I had a genuine sister emergency and I had to break protocol. Oh the shame!

On a different note, the first half of the day was spent outside with my kids playing with balls, bats, and hoola hoops. I got downright childish and goofy. My husband and his two cousins watched and occasionally interacted with a ball fake or hit. It was fun. It was then that I realized that we probably wouldn’t be doing this if I had decided to stay home with my computer. I love the computer; I do all my projects on it and I sometimes yearn for a moment alone so I can spend time with it without interruption. I like to let my creative juices flow. I get carried away with the technology I have because it gives me the ability to dream and create right within my home so that sometimes I forget that I have to stop and give my family a piece of me. All they want is time and attention. Just being there doing the normal routine isn’t enough and doesn’t replace real quality time and face-to-face interaction.

The project was great because it let me know just how much control I had and just how much media I’m willing to give up, --which is hardly. I see media as changing the face of everyday life and I don’t see the world going backwards from here. I think media can be abused if we allow our world only to become about entertainment and artificial stimulation, but if we use media in a responsible way, for our work and for our convenience, then it greatly enhances our lives.

DAY2

Finally this experiment is over! Didn't really expect for it to be that hard. Honestly, i coudn't resist not using my phone. I think it is the only thing I kept doing all the time. As far as TV and computers, I did manage to stay away from them while i was at home. When it came to going out with my friends I just couldn't refuse to not watch TV or use my phone. I felt miserable without having a way to communicate with my friends. If I had really taken this project to its full extend i dont think i would've survived in this world! Everything seems to be all about technology now a days. Well, maybe it's not about technology, but it truly is something we use everyday to help us feel part of something.

So basically what I did to at least be able to go along with the project without being botheres was just to hang out with my friends all day. I basically spent all weekend with my friends so i wouldn't have to be needing my phone or computer to communicate with them.

Sunday morning i woke up at a friends house after a long Saturday night. I woke up and hung out there for a long time. Later at around 4pm we went to play soccer for the next 2 hours or so. After playing soccer i went straight home ( by then I haven't had to use my phone). When i got home i took a shower and later went out to have dinner with my family. We went to momaks and hung out there until around 9pm. After having dinner I went straight back home. When I got home I knew I had to study for my monday exam so i didn't feel like i needed my phone or computer or tv for anything. I kept studying all night and decided to go to sleep. Basically I didnt use my phone, watched tv, or used my computer for anything. I would say sunday was a pretty easy day to go by without using any technology or anything associated with media.

Saturday however was pretty hard not to use any of the media i use today.

Odd weekend for bad news

The project was easier on sunday because i had a lot planned. i was moving into my new apartment and i got some pizza with friends. I spent most of the day just hanging out with friends and overall didn't feel too much desire to be on facebook or check the news. There was one moment where i played GTA 4 for like an hour without realizing it. What happened was I was hanging out with my friend Derek and we were at his place. He received a phone call and passed me the controller. I just started instinctively playing for some reason. I played for awhile until someone turned on the news. I immediatly jumped up and said "oh I'm not supposed to watch the news".  I then dropped the controller and yell vulgar words and said "I'm not supposed to play video games ether".  It was around that time that the ice cream truck came and we go ice cream. What i did notice was that i got a lot more done this weekend than most weekends. My weekend went south when my girlfriend called me telling me she has leukemia.  That was the only time I intentionally broke the rules. Overall this experience made me realize that I rely on mass media extensively. 

48 hours.

The past 48 hours without mass media have been nothing differnet than what I normally do. I tried very hard to not use my phone or the internet, but that failed quite often. I went out to go swimming with friends which was nice to get away from everything. But on the way home, I listened to music in the car as loud as I possibly could, realized I was doing it, turned it off for about 2 minutes, then turned it back on. I also tried sleeping without music, which is unheard of for me. I was about to die when I looked at the clock and it was 4 a.m. and I still haven't slept. I turned music on and fell asleep shortly after. I'm sure it was all in my head, but it really does help me with my anxiety to listen to realxing music. It was an interesting experiment, but I will most likely keep listening to music, using the internet, and texting.

Day 2 - The Not-So-Bad Day

Day 2 wasn't nearly as bad as day 1 was simply because of the fact that I slept in until about 3:50 PM and Sunday is normally my chore day. I ignored my phone completely and even walked by all of my gaming consoles without glancing at them. I was so proud of myself. :D
I sat at the table downstairs and had a discussion with my room mate. When did we become so reliant on the electronic media devices we surround ourselves with everyday?

I reflected on my past a little before giving my explanation on the whole ordeal. I remember trying to fight off the whole social networking craze when MySpace became a huge deal because I wasn't into the idea of being stalked online. The most I would do on a computer internet-wise was casual gaming. I wasn't even much of a gamer from the beginning, to be honest.
It all began with the console gaming craze in the 90's. I saw that a Pokemon game had come out for the Nintendo 64 and immediately jumped on the idea of asking for the console (and game) for Christmas. I would play the Nintendo 64 for maybe a half an hour before I was running outside to play with my friends in no time.

But when the consoles kept getting better and the games getting filled with more fun it was hard to resist when my dad got me my very first Playstation X and it even came with a couple multiplayer games. That was when I began inviting friends inside my house to play video games with me.
Soon enough I got caught up in the wave of keeping up with Joneses and I absolutely had to have every new Sony or Nintendo console that graced the shelves.

The internet soon became a slow, but steadily rising, addiction to my daily life. When friends forced me to get a MySpace I was instantly hooked. I learned to work my way around HTML just to make fancy profile layouts for my very own profile. Now, if you name the social network I definitely have an account with it- even if I don't use it.
Our discussion ended with us promising to go out and do more this summer. It's sad, but the only thing we remember from last summer was playing World of Warcraft and going to the beach.

Yeah, our own summer (the very thing we look forward to) was pretty much blown away by our addiction to online gaming.

I spent the rest of my Sunday practicing my monologue for my Acting class and even giving Julius another bath since he got in the mud. I put a bandanna on him!

With the dog clean, my room clean, my homework done and my day spent without media I realized that I really did get a lot done without the computer being in the way or in the back of my mind.

Sure, some of my bored moments could have been fixed by playing some Final Fantasy XIII, but I digress...

I got to reconnect with old friends, spend quality time with my parents, clean up my stuff, spend time with the dog, reflect on past memories and, most of all, didn't spend my entire weekend glued to facebook. :D

Though I would most likely not do this project again (willingly), I can say that I honestly learned a bit more about myself and I do vow to go out and do more with my life then let it waste it away behind the screen.

Day Two...

Sunday morning...yet agian, for some reason during the night i forgot that we were doing this project...so as i rolled out of bed, i automatically turned on my radio. morning's are not good for me anyways...but remembering that i can NOT have my radio, seems to make my mornings 10 times worse! i quickly got dressed...i have noticed that it takes me alot shorter time to get fully dressed in the mornings with out my radio and music. ready to get out of the quiet house, i drove to town (not really getting away from the quiet) due to the fact that i had to drive without my radio on! i had done better with out my phone this morning, maybe it was just due to the fact that no one loved me this sunday morning...it makes things easier when u have NO one to talk to! anyways...i got to town...and called a friend, i limited my phone time (tried to keep it under a minute) thats good, right? it was soo hot outside, so it seemed like another good day for swimming. Swimming makes the days so much shorter, and in no time we were all heading back into town. i headed home, and then decided to paint, so i painted my table for my apartment...i had done pretty good all weekend. only a few slips here and there, but nothing to big. Mass Media is a huge part of life, and living without it...is a thing i do NOT pln on doing for a long period of time!

The last 24 hours of the media deprivation project where surprisingly easier than I expected it to be. Just like the day before I was able to get few more things done because of the extra time I had out side of using my phone and the Internet. However I don’t think that I would be able to do something like this regularly because mass media is such a major part of my life. Text messaging is one the major ways I stay connected to friends and face book is how I stay connected to friends that are in other states, so without these two networks I feel a little shut out from the world. Another reason I would not be able to do it again is simply because I enjoy being able to listen to my Ipod or listen to the radio while driving in my car. I did learn a lot from the project, for example I learned how much I depend on mass media just to get through my day to day life. I always knew that mass media had a lot of control over me and the people around me; however I was unaware of just how much control I had until I had to do this project. Because of the society we live in it is almost impossible in my opinion to stay connect to the world without at least one form of mass media, whether it be the radio, television, internet or PDA and smart phones mass media is needed and almost mandatory. I learned a lot from this project, it was a good experience to have, one that I won’t forget. Hopefully after this experience I can attempt to limit some forms of mass media from time to time even if it’s just cutting back on browsing the web unless for academic proposes.

Day 2

Day 2 was another fairly successful day. Like I presumed, half of my day was wasted at work. This automatically prevents most cell phone use, television, and music (besides the blaring country in the background, of course). Still somehow, time slowly passed until shift change had arrived; which followed by me racing home to complete our first blog yesterday by five.

At this point the hardest battle remained with listening to music, especially in the car. Driving both thirty minutes to school and/or to work has completely put me in the habit of jamming out from the point I turn my car on, till it is off. I’ve been hearing noises from my car I never even knew it could make, not to mention how slow the time passes in traffic. Normally, the only reason I wouldn’t be listening to music in the car is if I was on the phone. When I’m driving to/from school and work I sometimes pass the time by calling my mom or friends, but of course this is not an option either. THANKFULLY, I survived all the commutes (by cheating only a couple times).

Overall, I think on a random basis a little media deprivation wouldn’t be a bad idea. I never watch TV (on the actual television at least), and I get my news online. And although texting seems to be the most neurotic thing about my phone, it’s still not bad to have a short escape. The only aspect I never want to give up again would be the music. For all those moments (because that’s actually what they feel like) between school, then work, and then somewhere in there friends, music is the one thing that I will make time to stop and take in. At least for those few minutes my mind forces itself to find peace in what I’m hearing and hopefully put all the other crap to the side.

Day 2: The Final Countdown!!

Day two of the media deprivation project was a little easier than the first day. I woke up pretty much knowing what was coming and how the day was going to go. I had gotten a good amount of sleep due to the fact that I was not browsing the internet aimlessly like every other night. Before I went to bed the night before I was reading a book. I realized that with all the other distractions, I haven’t read a book in quite some time. I woke up on Sunday morning well rested and full of energy. I had told my friend earlier in the week about my media restrictions so he called my house phone and asked if I wanted to go play soccer. I agreed because I would go crazy just sitting around the house. After we were done with our game I headed home where I took a shower in silence because I usually listen to music in there. I made it up by singing in the shower without the usual music playing in the background. My drive to work again was very uncomfortable with the awkward silence. It was driving me crazy! For once I was glad I was working that day because I knew that work would keep me distracted from the project and that by the time I got home I could just easily fall asleep and it would all be over the next day. With this project I realized how much more relaxed I am without all the media including my phone, TV and computer. My days usually end with a slight headache from the strain of my eyes looking at the screen all day long. My homework on the computer was done in good time also because I stopped myself from procrastinating and browsing the internet. This project definitely made me realize that a lot of my time gets wasted with useless browsing the internet and watching TV. The weekend might have been boring but it was relaxing in its own way.

WORTHLESS MEDIA-ADDICT!

LOL These are the words I've come to describe myself! Day 2 alittle harder i must say.. EVEN with my alcohol-phone mishap! I could not resist the call of facebook sunday! i had to do it! IM SORRY Mr. Lopez but it happens! Also caught some of our fellow class members on facebook, they know who they are;]! Sunday was harder, but I would say it was a pretty good day overall, I've realized without facebook and my phone and tv and everything I conversate with the parentals alot more. Crazy concept, I know! But overall I believe this project did open my eyes to how mass media RUNS our lives! I lost my phone in the deal but it was a beneifical project. I believe overall i did good, for the most part. I slipped up acouple times I will admit but overall had a good time learning how life is with no media!


THANKS MR.LOPEZ good end to the year!

See everyone weds!

Day 2

I was so glad to know that this was going to be the last day I had to do the Media Deprivation. I am not going to lie. It was very difficult to do.
I pretty much just woke up on Sunday with the mindset that I wasn’t going to use any media, but I kind of slacked a bit. It was the day of my stepmom’s birthday and all of my family came over. We had mole and rice with garlic-covered shrimp. After we were finished eating, I began to watch “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” on TV. I had slipped up yet again! “Damn!” I thought to myself. So in order to hopefully redeem myself, I went the whole rest of the day without watching or listening to any form of mass media. As difficult as I knew it would be, I knew I had to do it.
I cannot reiterate how difficult this assignment was. I really wanted to go on MySpace and Facebook to check my messages and stuff, but I had to restrain myself.
This project really made me understand how much influence mass media had on my life. Mr. Lopez had told us in class that media deprivation would be like a mild drug addiction for us, and he seemed to be right, because it felt that way.
This media deprivation thing really opened my eyes and it is something I don’t ever want to do again. Not being able to watch movies, surf the internet for recreational purposes, or text message really took its toll on me.
I was very satisfied to know that I could have self-control when it came to limiting the amount of mass media I used. But when mass media is all around you, it is very hard to stay on the bandwagon.

Finally the last day of the Deprivation! Today everything went wrong from the moment I woke up. I woke up listening to my IPod and kept listening to music until I was ready to go out with my parents. I was able to watch some television and hear some music while I was at the restaurant, however it wasn't something that interested me. When I was writing my blog based on my experience on Saturday I also turned on the television and saw some shows while writing the blog. In addition, while on the computer writing the blog it was very tempting to get on Facebook or You Tube. I checked my messages and chatted with some friends for a little while and then I felt bad because even though I knew I couldn't get on Facebook, I couldn't resist from getting on. I also went to La Cantera and on my way there I was listening to the radio; I feel weird when I'm not listening to the radion and also I didn't have anyone to talk to so that made me more tempted in hearing some music. Also, when I got back from eating out with my parents, I really tried to avoid watching television while I did my homework and studied for my finals, but my boyfriend would call me and tell me that there was a really good show and that I should watch it, so I did. Also, I talked to my boyfriend throughout the entire day calling him or sending many text messages. After watching television for hours my family came home, I was able to stay away from the television, cell phone, and IPod. Overall this experience showed me how much I use mass media in my life. It also made me think more about not having to be surrounded by mass media every single day.

Day Two: Ok mass media you win...

The start of my second day did not go as well as my first day at all. Once I broke one rule that morning by checking my facebook, I couldn’t help myself. I watched television while eating breakfast and listened to music on my way to work. I felt very much the same actually compared to the previous day though. I still got everything that I wanted to do. Yet one rule I didn’t break was not playing one videogame over the course of these past two days. Surprisingly, I did not mind the break away from the aggravating matches against other online players. Although, it pretty much had to keep myself preoccupied by watching television or else I would have played a videogame on my computer. I actually socialized quite a bit more when I did use some form of mass media because I got on facebook to see what my friends are up to. Once I knew their plan I would meet up with them and call them only when I arrive to let them know that I was there. I did not idle text either which was for the better in my opinion as well. Instead of idle texting, I actually read some comics and time went by so much faster. I felt related more to the comics by not using mass media, because you know Batman doesn’t text, and only uses the computer and television for his Batman crime fighting greatness. :]

Anyways, overall I did enjoy this project much more than I anticipated. It opened my eyes to how much mass media is an important role in our everyday lives. I’m glad I found what I could accomplish while not using any forms of mass media. I think I will take some time out of my day to turn everything off and go socialize with family, friends, and just people in general. If I did not work over these past two days I would of socialized more but I believe I made the best of it and had a really did appreciate this project.

day 2 the last day!!

The last day!!
Today was the hardest day of all!! I went out of town for work to go help out for a track meet that my middle school had to do. While I was driving to Austin I wanted to listen to my music on the bus so that could go to sleep and not listen to all of the kids talking the whole time. When I was at the track meet I was working the long jump. The whole time that I was at the track meet I had the players trying to be calling me the whole time and play jokes on me because I was not able to use it at all.
That afternoon I was so temped to use my phone and I thought in the back of my mind that I could not use it at all and today is the last day of all of this. The hardest thing for me to do was not able to go online to check out my facebook but I could not. So I am glad that today is the last day because tomorrow is going to be the busies days for me.
That night I was really tried for the track meet and I didn’t think about it once when I got home to turn my music on or even use my phone because I didn’t want to talk to anyone or text anyone at all. So the only thing I did that night was just stay home and be lazy. The think that I am looking forward to is see my phone and see how many people have called me to see what they need for me.
So I finally get to true my phone on, check my facebook, and get to listen to my music in my car!!

Day one and day two

Wow. Thats all i have to say about this day. I woke up on saturday morning about to turn the tv on a watch sportscenter. Then I thought about it and was like man I cant do it. This was about 9:30 so I wanted to go back to sleep if i couldnt watch tv or something. But I checked my phone I had two messages from the last night but I couldnt respond back lol. Thats when I knew this was gon really suck. So anyways layed back down and closed my eyes but i could go back to sleep. Figures. So I was like im going to the gym. But i got ready as slow as I can and I realize only 20 minutes went by. This project was really gon to suck. So I got in my truck and this was the hardest part the project. NO MUSIC. See the thing is i like my music loud. I have two 15 inch subwoofers and 2000 watt amps. So putting it on the off position was like hell. So riding with no sound is the most odded thing I have done in a long time. So the no sportscenter and no music was the hardest things for me. So i put my phone in the locker so I wouldnt listen to music or answer the phone. I decided to stay in the gym for like 2 hours to shorten my day a little. I started on the trendmill and I always have my headphones on but I didnt this time. I notice that me not having my music I get destracted very easily. I was looking at any and everybody in I notice I wasnt even running anymore but i was more into everybody else. So I tried to go to another thing to execise but that didnt work at all. I realize that i think about a lot of things. I even started talking to myself and thinking about how im gon get this day over with. So I got though the gym and I went home. I was about one o'clock so I decided I was gone take a long bath to take some more time. I get home and my cousin called me while I was getting ready for the bath but I know he didnt really want anything important so I didnt answer the phone. So he texted me about the fight and where was I gon watch it. I was just about to text back but I stop while I was writing the text. Got out the shower and it was about 1:45 so I called my cousin. Yes I cheated. I called him so he can come over and keep me entertained. But he didnt want to come. I was home like for another hour and i couldnt take it no more. This project for today came to a end. I need sportscenter or something.



day 2
I know I could make it today. I woke up at 8:30 and started getting ready for church. I went to church without my phone. I got out of church at 12 and tried to look at my phone. But then remembered I left it at home but I was wanting to see who left me a message or called. But I went to my cousin house because we were going to go eat. He was changing and I had the same clothes on. He turned the tv on when we got there but I turned it back off. He changed and came in the living room and found me sitting in silence and he found it ver strange. So I told him about the project and he laughed at me. So I was driving to the place so I still couldnt have any music. So when we got to the place I enjoyed the music and the television they had as much as I could. So we decided to go play basketball but after I post on the blog. But when I got to the house the internet in the area was down. In I dont know anywhere thats open open on a sunday. In I realize that a lot of people wouldnt have a computer if they didnt have the internet. Because I wouldnt lol. But we went to play basketball about 6 after I took a nap and we stayed there for a while. So I made it though the day today. But the first day I couldnt do it. But I made it through half lol.

Day Two-Media Withdrawals

I woke up on Sunday morning at 7:30 am sharp with the alarm from my phone, but I quickly turned it off and went back to sleep because it wasn't supposed to be set. There was already an idea that came to my head about how if I hadn’t had my phone next to me when I went to sleep, or a phone at all, I would've never woken up and been able to enjoy my sleep on a lazy Sunday morning. So, a few hours later when I finally fully woke up, it was a little difficult for me not to watch TV since I have one in my room and it is always on to help me sleep, but with the volume turned all the way down. I was able to resist, however, and turn off my TV and go downstairs to eat breakfast. My boyfriend calls me every morning, but when he called my phone, I didn’t answer and instead used my house phone (which I thought on Day One wasn’t working) to call him and talk for a little bit to discuss what we were going to do for the day. I started to realize that I could resist using my cell phone as long as I had a house phone to reach people with. After I took a shower, though, it was out of impulse for me to turn on my radio while I got ready for the day. I tried turning it off for a few minutes but soon realized I couldn’t handle sitting in silence while I did my makeup and hair and turned on my TV just to hear the noise, but not watch. I find it crazy how if I had been born 100 years earlier, I would have to get ready without all the radio or TV because it wasn’t invented yet, but now that we have it in our world, it’s as if we can’t live without it, even though our great grandparents and even grandparents did fine without this technology. So, as my day went on, I didn’t ever go anywhere until later, but while I was at home it wasn’t very hard to resist getting on face book or using my cell phone or watching TV because I was busy studying for finals and writing my essay for English. By the time I finished all my homework, it was 8:30 pm, so I went to my boyfriend’s house, where, in the car, I didn’t once turn on the radio. I’ll admit that was a little weird driving 15 minutes in silence, but I noticed I was able to really focus on my driving and think about what else I needed to do for school tomorrow, which is when I remembered that I almost forgot to finish my outline for English that was due the next day on Monday, the day of the final. Realizing that I almost forgot an important final assignment, I started to think about the media, in this case my car radio, might’ve blocked my mind and therefore I wouldn’t have remembered to finish my outline until it was too late. So, I can conclude that after the final day of this assignment, I realized that the media not only plays a huge role in entertainment in keeping us busy when we’re bored, but also causes a huge distraction in our lives and can cause us to forget things for school or work or anything that doesn’t have to do with the media. However, I do also feel that the media now-a-days plays an important role in keeping us informed and up to date with today’s society.

Day 2

Ok I just got done with day two of the media deprivation project. So far so good I got a lot of stuff done today. Today I study for all my finals and also clean my room and reorganized it to my liking. Also I got a lot of rest because I took naps here and there for like an hour or so. Then I got out my bass guitar out and did some recording and also wrote some songs that I was needed to do. In the afternoon I help out my mom and dad out in the yard and doing some yard work to. So all and all I had a wonderful weekend this weekend and this project was an eye opener for me. So as for this project of media deprivation was very good thing to do because it showed me the things I can do without the Internet, cell phone, and television. So what I am really saying that we as a person don’t need this entire high tech modern media twenty four hours a day and seven days a week. An also show me things that I haven’t done since I was a little kid like enjoying the great outdoors, spending with my family, etc… So intake of all this is that I am going to do things more in the outer limits of my room and not use modern media that out there. I’m going to keep doing this media deprivation thing and see how my life looks and also see what things I can do or see. Also I’m going to spend a lot of time with my family like I use to when I was younger and go out and enjoy life like how it supposed to be and just do things that I want do .

DAY 2

The second day without using technology was not as bad as the first. I got us to not using my phone and watching TV. I was just enjoying the scenery at Texas State with my friends. We just spent our day outside of their dorms talking. Although my friend Art and I felt a little uncomfortable because we only had the clothes we wear on Friday and we hadn’t taken a good shower all weekend long. We know now that if something like a spontaneous adventure comes around again we will be well prepared. Using technology wasn’t such a big thing to me because as I said in the previous blog that you can’t exchange good conversation with friends for sitting at home doing nothing and having mindless conversation through texting or playing online games. Yet media does have a stronghold on us and we are getting less and less productive. My friend April’s roommate was an example of a media stronghold. The time Art and I have been there she has been in the room on the computer or playing games and locking herself out of the outside world. I guess I’m the same when I don’t have anything to do but just stay home and make the best of it. What I have learned from this challenge is that you don’t need to be around a computer all the time or play video games to have fun. Go out and have fun with your friends without texting people unless you’re trying to invite them to the party extravaganza. This trip was something Art and I needed. We needed to get away from our environment because we felt we were losing ourselves. We needed this trip to find that we ourselves need to get out of San Antonio and make something of ourselves instead of wasting our lives doing the same thing or nothing at all.

DAY 2

Day two was a bit more difficult with not being able to text. My best friend lives in Arizona and we talk to each other everyday with text, phone calls and what not. So not being able to hear from her all weekend was so tough. Every time anything cool happened I would grab my phone to text her and then have to stop. But I learned the out of sight out of mind method and just left my phone away from me all day. The only time I failed at this was to text my boyfriend to let him know the plan for the day because with out that we would have been both out of the loop.
I worked mostly all day Sunday so I didn't watch any TV and I did not use the internet at all... I was so proud of myself.
I learned that its so easy to rely on all this media especially internet because it is quick, a lot quicker than looking up in a book information or making phone calls to companies when you can simply go online and do things. I am going to try not to use my internet as much, especially online shopping. And I am trying not to text as much anymore. Listening to music in the car was the easiest to give up, and I found my self driving without music today even though the project is over. That really shocked me being as how much I LOVE music and singing in my car.
I think I made the deprivation feel a lot harder than it actually was and if more people would deprive themselves here and there it would be easier for everyone to not text as much. Because everyone texts, I couldn't find another way to communicate with some of my other friends so instead I just ignored them all weekend... but they are still great friends and didn't take it personal! :]

day 2.

Sunday for me was so much easier than saturday, with the simple reason that sunday is the day to be spend only with your family. Plus usually on sundays my friends are recovering from the night before so we dont talk or text to each other on sundays, we only stay in touch via facebook. Another fact that made it easier for me to not use my phone, is that i got on a fight with my boyfriend saturday, so there was no point on talking on the phone with him, (haha which is sad, but oh well). My family once again, helped me a lot to stay away from facebook!, because it was one of my cousin's birthday, so i went to her house to celebrate her, and i stayed there for a very long time, i spent a great time over there, i enjoyed the mariachis and the food!! obviously they had music, which i enjoyed so much! i think media is indispensable to everyone's live, we all need our phones, in case of an emergency, we need the internet to keep in touch with those friends and family, but maybe i have to appreciate more of the quality time with my family, because one thing i learned from this two days is that media keeps me from enjoying those special moments with them. i like this project :)

day two...

So yesterday was the last day of the media deprivation make it sound like it was a long time even though it was only 2 days lol. So yesterday started with using my phone with a normal alarm clock sound instead of my computer with music. I had to be up by 5:30am so I could be at church early to set up the stage for practice at 7 for the worship team. So I had to use media that way but it was work related I normally am drumming every Sunday but im having to train people on sound a recordings and other media items so this Sunday was day one of training for them. Made it through service and out to lunch hadn’t used my phone and well did listen to music but that was during service when the worship team played and then music before service just in the lobby. So out to lunch for a small meeting then straight to work which is at a catholic church that asked me to come train people there and do sound. It was hard going to work with out music because before hand I had people in my car going to lunch so it wasn’t bad because we talked. So after work ( didn’t use phone or anything there it was just a sound system and they had music because of the worship team) I headed to my girlfriends house. We didn’t really know what we were going to do so we decided to head to the park and their we did use some media I guess since we used my phone to take pics and make a small video kinda a lame one but o well it should be posted some where on here. We headed back to her place dropped her off then I broke the rules again because I couldn’t take being without music so I did kinda turn it on just for a sec in the car ride home but then got home and crashed since I was up early I was drained and tired.

Over all Sunday wasn’t nearly as bad as Saturday since I wasn’t stuck driving round delivering pizzas alone I didn’t go to crazy without media. Not gonna lie this was a hard project and I can’t even imagine 72 hours with out media

DAY ONE.

Well to be competely honest, friday night I knew it was going to be hard and wake up with out doing my usual facebook and text message check on my phone. So, i decided if I go out friday night and party pretty hard, I more then likely wont wake up til around 2-3 Pm Saturday, Taking about half the day's pain away from not being on facebook, or texting all day, aswell as TV. But while in the process of partying the night away friday, my cell phone somehow ended up in the bottom of a pitcher....FULL OF BEER! So it made my saturday alittle easier to not be texting and updating my facebook and what not! You never realize how much effort and time you spend trying to keep connected and always want to know what everyone else is doing and how you can somehow pry at their lives through facebook, twitter, myspace, etc.. Im almost glad my phone got destroyed, in the aspect of me not being able to use it on the first day of the project. It most definately easied the transission from MEDIA-"WHORE" to unconnected from life! There was one positive thing that came from DAY ONE, my "crack the whip" mom would call me and badger me about anything, it was TRUELY AMAZING! Day one was rough but im pretty sure I could go for like a week or something, just to test it out! Just to see how your life is REALLY impacted by the media, social networking, cells phones, etc! I DO NEED MUSIC, IM REALLY HURTIN' FOR MY MUSIC! Thats my one killer!

Day Two: Here We Go Again...A Little Harder.

So I started day two with not even the temptation for any media. I woke up a little later than planned and had to quickly get ready for church. So I was pretty distracted from any media need or craving. Spending time at church with the friends and family I love took up my morning and the beginning of my afternoon.

Later in the afternoon, I decided to chill by painting and drawing. Okay...I'm really no good at painting and I never do it anyways...but it was even worse this time 'cause I was using crappy paint and paint brushes. Ha ha. I would post a picture of my painting...but I don't want to embarrass or humiliate myself any more...ha ha.

On my way to church Sunday evening I wanted to drive my car. But my dad wanted to drive it too. So he drove and as soon as he started up the car, one of my favorite songs was on the radio station I listen to. This was nice, because if I had been driving, I would've been forced to turn it off. :)

After church, some friends came over to my house. This was very nice and fun - just hanging out with friends, talking, eating, and having a good time. Unfortunately, they had to leave earlier than I had hoped...and this is where things got somewhat tough. My friends left and I was very tired. My family was about to start a movie - some chick flick - and all I wanted to do was relax, watch a movie, and eat ice cream. Ah...no! I could not though! No movies! Not even with my family? *Sigh.* I moped to my room sad and lonely. This actually turned out nice though. I just sat there in my room and began writing in my journal...yay! :)

I then got a welcomed phone call from a long distance cousin I haven’t talked to in a couple of weeks.

All in all, it turned out to be a pretty good day. I still struggled a little with the music thing. And going to my room by myself instead of watching a movie with my family was hard. But I made it. :)

And…it’s already two o’clock Monday afternoon, and I still have not been on Facebook or used the internet for recreational or social purposes! YAY ME! :)

My friends and family took advantage of my absence from Facebook and, from what I hear, have been “spamming” my Facebook wall. They wanted me to wait to look at it though till tonight when I see them so they can witness my reaction. Ha ha! Oh boy!

Well, great job everyone and see you in class! :)

~Megan

Day two of deprivation

Alright so day two was harder for sure. Went to my grandmother's to eat but became bored quickly. Some family from up north flew in to visit though so that helped. After the previous days activities I was exhausted and slept a lot of the day. Towards the end of the day I went for a long walk. All in all the day was slow and boring.

Day 2

So I got done with day two yesterday, not a whole lot different from day one. I almost had a little slip when my brother kept talking me how close the Lakers and Jazz game was getting. I almost turned on the TV in my room to watch it, but I knew I would feel weak if I did. For a guy who loves basketball with a passion, that was EXTREMELY hard for me. I didn't really want to go anywhere but at the same time there was not really much to do in the house on a Sunday, so I decided to go visit some family.
I just went to my aunts house and spent some time with my little cousins, haven't really been spending time with them as much as I use to. It was funny because my little cousin Lee Andrew, who is 8, kept trying to get me to play video games with him. I kept trying to tell him that it was more fun to go out and play basketball or football. When we went outside to play, it was amazing to me that he didn't really know much about either sport. When I was his age, basketball and football were my life. I would go out there everyday and play after school and on weekends no matter how hot it would get, and sometimes it would get VERY hot outside. As I was explaining the rules to him, I started thinking if this is the way it is with all the kids out there these days. With so many new videos games, TV shows, and the computer; it's no wonder why my little cousin didn't know much about being active.
I really don't mean to attack anyone, but to me that it doesn't seem right that someone would just lock themselves away going nothing but playing video games and getting on the computer all day. I felt so bad to see my eight year old cousin not being very active and just being inside all day. I almost wanted to go up to my aunt and start telling her off about it. I don't think it's right that kids aren't given any motivation to get up and be active anymore. To me, it's as if the world is allowing them to just sit around all day playing videos games all day. My dad, God rest his soul, used to always tell me to go out and play with all the other kids and make new friends. It almost got to a point where he used to force me to go outside and be active, he never wanted me to be lazy or not want to do anything outdoors. Sometimes he would even go out there and play with me, when he had the time. When I look back at that, I can't possibly thank my dad more for what he did for me when I was a kid. He wouldn't allow me to just sit around all day inside the house, he even tried to sign me up for pee wee football a year too early. That's something I don't see much of anymore, I don't see as many kids out on the streets playing as much as I did when I was a kid. Maybe that's just me, maybe I'm wrong. All this is just my opinion from what I've been seeing lately. This project really helped me to see how much of an impact the TVs, computers, Ipods, and all that other stuff has had in our lives. I just hope in the future this doesn't get any worse.

Felt Like I was in Church... ALL DAY (Day 2)

You know how in church you have to put all electronics away- no music, no cell phones, or any other form of entertainment aside from whoever's talking- and focus entirely on what's in front of you? THAT'S what I felt like all of Sunday :(( I couldn't text my friends when I got bored or watch tv to help pass time, which made it feel like one of the longest Sundays I've ever gone through. However that's a pretty good thing considering how much time I needed to cram for finals. The day started off with me waking up earlier than expected from a long night, and habitually I checked my phone for missed texts and/or calls. I had already replied to a text when I realized that I was amidst day 2 of the media deprivation torture, or as prof. Lopez likes to call it "project". I then mentally prepared for the day ahead of me- drives filled with silence and dead time filled with nothing. But then again, if there was ever a day I actually needed to put all of my gadgets (as my mom would say) away it was Sunday, the day before finals. I came to realize how distracting my phone and the tv can be, especially when I'm studying. Usually I study for a good 10, 15 minutes then check my phone or surf the web because I a) get bored or b) get stuck on something and choose to avoid it. Without my phone I was pretty much forced to endure the arduous material I was studying, a definite benefit I gained from this project. Also, without having the tv on as "background noise" while I'm studying, I wasn't sidetracked by an interesting commercial or show. Throughout Sunday I can honestly say I was the most efficient, in terms of studying, that I've been in a long time and might even have developed new habits that don't involve any distractions (well maybe Facebook but taking away the tv and phone is a big step). Aside from studying I went out to eat with the family and again, my media deprivation came into play while we were waiting for our food. Like nearly every person who has any form of technology on them, I turned to my cell phone to pass time. Because it was only my second day of media deprivation, I wasn't surprised that I instinctively turned to my phone without remembering the rules. The drive home from the restaurant was awkward, as I was forced to sit in a car for 20 whole minutes and... talk?! Since my dad was listening to the radio it was a welcome break- I was going to see if he wanted to turn it off and participate in the project but eventually decided... nahhh, it's a loophole! My desperation to interact with some sort of mass media showed how reliant I am on technology, and a mere two days without what I thought were necessities turned my days upside down. Rather than text people when I'm bored simply to start conversations turned into me focusing on my surroundings and the situation at hand. Car drives that are usually spent with trashy rap music blasting from my stereos instead consisted of me looking at the road and the cars around me, which although it sounds obvious is extremely beneficial for any driver to have one of their major distractions taken away. The two days I spent depriving myself of mass media helped me learn how reliant most of our generation is on their cell phones, music, and especially social networking. Although I'm close to positive I wouldn't have made it for 100 hours without FB and my phone, I definitely learned a lot about my daily routine and what I turn to too easily for comfort and entertainment. Well now that the project's over all I can say is I MADE IT, and now it's time to study... without music!

day one

Yesterday i worked a double, which is from 9:30 in the morning until about midnight. Iwas unable to make the deadline. There are about 30 televisions in the restaurant that i work in, even though they were all around me i was not tempted once to watch them. The reason being is because they were on sports channels all day long. I don't have the slightlest intrest in any type of sports. When basketball games weren't on the radio at our work is on. The radio doesnt have any news or commercials on it just music. I can hardly even enjoy the music because I am always very distracted and multitasking.Because i was so busy at work all day I really had no time to check my phone, text on my phone or talk on it. I was also unable to be on the computer, other than the one i use at work to put in orders. I don't think that computer counts as a type of media. Had I not been at work then i doubt that i would have succeeded at this assignment today. Working all day long pretty much kept me away from every type of media. When i drove home I did listen to my Ipod. It relaxes me from the long hard day I had. So tomorrow will be the real test! I'm not sure that I can go without my phone or not check my facebook all day! We will see!

Day two, four days.

“Guess who’s back, back again. Shadys back, tell a friend” the lyrics from Eminem becomes my theme song. I am now able to use mass media. I started on Friday and now its Monday. But as you might know from the first blog I was lost as to what I could do in my endless amount of time. Reading books sounded like a great thing to do. But the whole reason of this deprivation was to expose yourself to the world outside media jail. Even though reading books are a good thing, I thought that I should still, not really try to, because I am still using something that takes me away from engaging with others. However irony struck. I was able to gather people together at my sibling’s birthday parties. But it was through the use of movies and video games. Something I was not supposed to do. Although it was bending the rules I was still happy that it worked. Because before that, everyone was off doing their own thing until I gathered them up into one room and watched a movie and then played games together. So I used some mass media though my time of trials. Now what did I miss, or rather what did I exclude from my life. Well like you read earlier I used my phone for valid reasons, likewise some movies and games. But that took up a very small section of time throughout the media deprivation. The rest of the time I simply did not use any of it. For fun, passing the time or falling subject to the pressure. I was hard on myself to never use it unless I had to. So I did not. And after awhile it became easer and easer. In fact the burden was now freedom. No stress, no constant media gluttony. It was awesome, and the longer I was media sober the less I wanted to indulge. Sure at first the itch still comes and goes. But now looking back I am going to try to apply this to my life all the time. Yes I will still use phones, internet and music. But just not as much.

Lets be real!

OK, so I genuinely tried to comply with the rules to this project however, as soon as I woke up on Saturday I had about five texts I replied to! It seems, for me anyway, that texting is one of the predominant ways I communicate. I text my dad, boyfriend, siblings, mother, step mother etc.

And obviously am barely being able to post this experience due to work (American Apparel) where as a manager I am always sending emails and music overwhelms the store. so just at work I am inadvertently going against this deprivation. Although some good news, as soon as I get home I'm doing well with not using the Internet for miscellaneous reasons, I use it only when i need to email my brother in NYC, or check my bank account, but now that I think about it I could just call and ask as oppose to checking online. Also not watching television is extremely easy for me as I never watch TV unless forced to at a family gathering (ironic i know). At any rate I did not see how this would be so hard until now where I am unable to use my Black Berry to its full extent or what I'm used to using it for. Its amazing how dependant people get on technology. and this is so because it makes things "easier on us, or so we think. we don't have to remember anything since we have snazzy alarms to do that, not even birthdays! We don't have to call people or talk face to face since we have BBM (Black Berry Messenger). Basically, and this is not surprise to me, we are lazy and love for things to come easy and that is exactly why we find this project to be a pain. We shall see what these last hours of depriving my self will hold.

Day one

This experience is interesting. Multiple reasons flood my mind as to why I either like or dislike this mass media depravation. In my own side of the experiment I was embarking upon 72 hours of zero mass media. At least that was my plan. And I am proud to say for the greater extent I succeeded. Of course there were some setbacks that flawed my perfect plan of going rogue and withdrawing myself from the world. For example I have the “unlimited” texting on my phone. The reason for this escapes me because I don’t text that much. However on this one weekend everyone wanted a piece of me. Sure some of it was just dumb things like “yo whats up” etc. (which I could ignore) but the majority of the texting (and calling I might add) involved my parents, my brother’s birthday, my sister’s birthday, can I pick up “so’en’so’s shift at work, why can I not pick up so’en’so’s shift at work………..on and on. This is quite disappointing. Sure it might seem like these valid reasons would be a great way to use my on slot of mass media devises (specifically my phone) and get away with it. However this was not true. Once I started this little experiment on Friday morning I did not really know what I was getting myself into. My use of mass media is relatively low, all things considered like my peers or the younger crowd these days and how much ‘they’ are obsessed with media vices. But once you take away all media the truth about just how much I use it is revealed. Like to pass the time, or talk to friends the list goes on. And for the first two or three hours I just sat on my bed. Not knowing what to do. Because homework, working out and sleeping could never take up 24 hours of the day, so what am I going to do? Continued on day two.

Day 2

sorry about that last post i punched enter instead of tab. But day two went really well i never turned on the tv and only turned on the computer to right the blog. I could say that it was easy because most of the time I was sleeping because i drained myself the night before so that that would happen. After sleeping for most of the day i lay there in silence and started readying my book which i did untill a friend showed up at my door to let me know what was happening which was great because if i didnt get out of my house i probably would have gone crazy from the empty silence. that is what i think i hated the most is that it was so quiet. my room is normally lit up by sound with my tv and computer buzzing around that when they were not there it just felt weird. after being picked up by my friend whos name i shall not release to the public, we proceeded to head to a friends where they were about to watch avatar. my love for that movie almost made me brake to the max by watching a three hour movie but decided to go back home after some none technological activities. Sunday night i think was the hardest because i just wanted to watch tv sitting in my room in complete silence trying to make the time go faster so i could just wake up this morning. after waking up this morning i actually drove half way to school before i turned on my radio and i loved the sound of instruments bagging together it was like music to my ears, thats a joke. but thank god that we didnt have to do it for monday as well because i have a final in one of my classes and all i use in the class is computers. all in all i think this was a good experiment i really didnt know how important my cell phone was without it i would be lost from everything i would lose my conection to the world. NO MORE SILENCE!! Thank you and goodnight

Day 2

Day2 (Sunday)

Sunday

So I have come to the conclusion through this project that I have more of an attachment to my cell phone and T.V. than I could have ever dreamed of. But then again I kinda go back to the idea that since I have gone these past few years without cable T.V. I now have formed this serious addiction to WEtv and the Oxygen channel! O and TLC say yes to the dress is one of my favorite shows.

First thing in the morning we headed off to our usual Sunday morning breakfast spot, Guadalajara one of the best morning taco spots in Boerne. From there we headed to the Northern tool store in San Antonio we were looking for new chainsaws, when my step sister who is like 9 took over my moms phone and was repeatedly trying to text me. Thank goodness for this media deprivation project lol I guess that's a little mean Oops. O well : )

We decided to go to the movies and I finally got to watch a girl movie!!!!! We watched The Back Up Plan, it was actually really funny. Justin can not even get out of this one he liked it he laughed the entire time! It was not what I was expecting at all it was better than i thought it would be. So this is how i full filled my T.V. craving for the past two days!!!!

When we got back to Boerne we were a little hungry so we decided to go to Dairy Queen. Snickers Blizzards are the best!!!!! While we were here my annoying step sister continued to pester me with the little text messages. So I had to brake down and call my mom and tell her what was going to so she would knock it off!

When we got home I thought I had got my fix of watching T.V. from the movies but I broke down and watched emergency in the E.R. ( I think that's what it is called.) but is that considered educational since I am going in to the nursing field? but I did do something productive when I watched it I got all my laundry done. : )

Well concluding this project I do realize I enjoy my media but I will say that I know that there are people out there who are more addicted to it than I am.

But I was really happy to get my Rachel Ray fix in this morning!!! : )

Project Day 2

Day two is upon me and again, as I had stated before in my original post, is going to be a breeze. I am in the midst of finals, finishing up a dreaded English paper due, making sure the stupid MLA formats are applicable in every facet. Finals and work will be taking up the majority of my time as it normally does on a weekly basis.

When you really take the time to think about some things, you wonder what life would be like right now without all this technology. There wouldn’t be as much crime, fraudulent activities, or a lazy society to deal with. I have noticed people are lazier than ever and not to mention they have lost their common sense. It’s absurd to see people throw a fit over having to physically look up information in a text book or perhaps even flip through the yellow pages. I actually heard someone say, “What’s a yellow book?” Holy cow I wanted to smack them beside the head. I used to laugh when my parents would say negative things about technology and how it’s going to have a negative impact on society in certain aspects. Now I can see where they are coming from.
As the years passed, I started noticing people younger than myself slipping away into their IPod’s, Iphones’, gadgets of things and now social media sites. From time to time I have to tell my niece and nephew to put away all that crap when they are visiting with family. I think it’s absolutely disrespectful for kids to have them out at a dinner table or sitting with family in general. When I was growing up, there was no such thing as an MP3 player, or a Sony Playstation 3, or satellite stations. I had a bike, a BB gun and an Atari to play Pacman with. My free time was spent outside causing trouble, or building ridiculous ramps to jump off of with our bikes. Parents back then had to worry about kids not breaking their bones or staying out too late. Now parents have to worry about station ratings, internet content and filter settings on just about everything along with passwords. I liked it when things were simple back in the day. I think with technology people take a lot of things for granted. I still like to shut myself out of our fast paced world and go out for a hike. Or even something as simple as taking a road trip somewhere I haven’t been and taking an actual map to look at different routes to take rather than a GPS. I hate GPS systems! I still use my road map which I keep faithfully in the trunk of my car, even though I have a GPS navigation screen, most of the time it’s turned off. I find the illuminating screen rather annoying when I’m driving.

I have to blog now before it gets any later since I have five other classes to study for finals week and go to work at night. I hope people in our class can see the rewards of removing themselves from media and actually living their life to enjoy their surroundings. See everyone in class soon!

Day 2: Media Deprivation

Day 2 of the media deprivation project started off much better than Saturday when I first woke up. I only checked to see if I had missed calls or messages from anyone over night and as tempted as I was, I ignored my urge to check my Facebook to see what would be taking place during the day. I started my day at the gym, and decided to stay longer than usual because it is easy to get away with listening to music and glancing at the news on the TV every once in a while. My day continued with a trip to La Cantera mall where I got to go enjoy my favorite activity ever… people watching! I feel that whenever I get bored I always end up people watching in public places, and it seemed to fit in well with this project because it doesn’t require any sort of media. After about an hour of people watching and walking around the mall, I got back in my car and turned on the radio… you can call it habit I guess, but I quickly turned it off and continued on down the road. I finished up my day at the pool once again and to my surprise I didn’t get burned at all! If there is one thing that I came to realize during this media deprivation project, it is that I’m not really needy when it comes to media. I’m always on the go and like I said before, all of the media just makes it easier to be portable. I don’t base my life on media, other than using it for getting organized and getting people together to go do something out in public or to spend a night in with friends. I have thought that maybe this project was easier to do during the spring or summer time because people can just go outside and escape the media, rather than having this final at the beginning of winter break where one would most likely be cooped up inside and be more tempted to use media.

I DID IT!

I sent my first text message this morning at 12:03 am. The media deprivation project is OVER!

Sunday I think was harder for me despite really only being around the mass media for about six hours.

Once again I finished my 5 page paper without ANY music which is a miracle. (If I do badly on it, I’m blaming you Prof. Lopez… JK)

This is what I normally look like when I'm not doing Media Deprivation

I must admit I kind of failed with the online news. I have my homepage set to Yahoo. I was doing so well on not looking at it and going to the acceptable websites. Around 5pm my temptation became to great not to look at a story about sports.

Also it nearly KILLED me not to read the Sunday paper. I’m one of the few Americans left that will read the Sunday paper nearly cover-to-cover excluding ONLY the Real Estate section. I watched in torment as my family sifted through the newspaper.
Once again the no-use cell phone part was really hard. I just wanted to send a text….just even one text message…but I resisted the temptation not to.

I learned a lot about media deprivation this week. I learned when you have something readily available such as the Internet, the news, or a cell phone, its harder to give it up. I can promise you that five years ago, for me personally this project would have been really easy. I wasn’t really that dependent on the mass media to keep me informed, and I didn’t own a cell phone. I would dare say I could have done this project three years ago without much problem.

This project made me think about some of the people in 3rd world countries who don’t have these things. They still live life with a land-line telephone, many don’t know what the internet it, and their only news is by word-of-mouth or the local newspaper. I realized that they can live life this way because they’ve never experience the above things for a long period of time (2-3 years of consistent use).

When I look back at this project later in life, I will be thankful for it. In fact, I’ll probably have my kids try it out when they’re older. (Note: I don’t currently have any kids, and NOT expecting any anytime soon…) It’s a great project that can teach you a lot.
I know it’s already morning but once again Good night and good luck on all your finals and your classes this week.

Sunday, May 2, 2010 - Day 2

Today, I woke up without my much needed hangover. I felt fine… just a little thirsty, so my desperate attempt to have an excuse to sleep late and not do anything fell through. Stupid beer, of all the days you chose to be nice to me, you chose today. Well I still slept in till 11-ish (going to sleep at 4 am did work out good for me though). I went over to my mom’s to have breakfast/lunch with my brother and his wife. She was playing music but I took it as my mom’s being a restaurant, so it worked out. We ate and sat around talking for a bit. The TV was almost turned on but for some reason my family felt that going along with my project was a good idea. :(

After eating at the restaurant “Mom’s place”, I went back down to my house to join my hungover boyfriend (the beer gods had mistaken him for me it seems). He bugged me for most of the day to turn on the TV. “No one will know,” he said. I know that but still… I’m really trying not to cheat on this project as easy as it would be. I want to know if media really is so big in my life. Well so far… IT IS!!!! And I’m having major withdrawals. If I could have my music, I would be fine, but without that, I really do not know what I should do on my days off from school and work other than my norm. It’s a beautiful day outside, but what could I do? What should I do? Everything cost money when you go out and money is something I do not have right now. Staying home is great but not when it is engulfed in silence!

I found my book that I had been holding off on reading due to school so I took the time to finish it. In a few hours, I fell asleep due to the lack of sleep from the night before. My boyfriend woke me up to ask me what I wanted for dinner. He went off to the kitchen to cook up some bacon and eggs. He watched TV while I struggled to read my book again. I could hear the TV in the background, and as tempting and frustrating it was to stay out of the kitchen, I was able to endure. The book was read and I was back into sitting around, wondering what to do with myself. Finally, dinner was cooked and my boyfriend and I sat in silence as we ate. My boyfriend making it very clear to me that he really hated this project and how he could not wait till it was over.

Once dinner was over and cleaned up, I went back to lying around with endless possibilities of things to do that never came to mind. Laundry was already being done and the house was clean enough. So the rest of the night, I felt that the best thing I could do was to sit around and annoy my boyfriend. By the way Mr. Lopez, my boyfriend wanted me to relay the message that he hates you.

It seems that because of the media that is currently absent from my daily routine, I find myself not able to function correctly. For the rest of the night, I laid on my bed poking, questioning and taking my boyfriend to the edge of wanting to suffocate me with his own pillow. Finally, the day had come to the end and sleep is in the near future. If only I hadn’t slept those few hours earlier, I would be ready to hit the hay but it seems it might take a bit of persuasion in my mind to give it that extra needed thought of tiredness. Taking a shower and getting ready for the act of sleep did help. As much as I wanted to stay strong through this project, I felt I did not need to put my boyfriend through anymore strain and let him watch TV before bed since that is how he falls asleep. I did indeed get something out of it too. The sweet, sweet taste of entertainment that I have been mostly deprived of for the past 2 days. I’m sorry Mr. Lopez, but I couldn’t help it.

Day One of Media Deprivation

I woke up on Saturday morning completely forgetting that it was media deprivation day until about 12 noon. But as soon as I remembered, I did the best I could at trying not to use my cell phone or radio or IPod or TV throughout the rest of the day. I did use my cell phone to get a hold of my boyfriend because I had no other way of doing so. I also had gotten a few texts from friends that I just could NOT ignore. However, in the car when I drove to CVS to buy makeup, I didn’t listen to the radio at all, and I have to admit, that was extremely difficult. Sitting in silence even just driving down the street from my house was weird because I felt like I was all alone with just me and my thoughts, which I sure wasn’t used to at all.
My boyfriend picked me up around 3:00 pm that day, and while I waited for him, I felt a little stir crazy not being able to watch TV or listen to music or even get on facebook. I’ll admit though, I cracked and did get on facebook for a few minutes while I waited for my boyfriend to pick me up from my house. When we rode in his car we did listen to music from one of his CD’s, and a little bit of the radio. We went to eat at Texas Roadhouse where there is always music playing, but this made it easier for me not to pick up my phone and text. We ended up going back to his place after that where, I swear to you, the TV is ALWAYS on. So it was a little difficult for me not to watch a little of it here and there. However, once he picked me up, I was able to not use my cell phone or the internet all day until I had to call one of my friends around 9:00 pm to meet up because we were all going to the movies together to see Nightmare on Elm Street. After the movies, we all went home and my friend had been on a date with a guy and was texting me all about it and it was SO hard for me to tell her that I couldn’t text her and I would have to talk to her about it in person. She was very understanding and knew I was only doing this for school purposes but it still made me feel so out of touch with the world and with my friends. The fact that I had to ignore my friends’ texts all day and not be able to get on facebook made me feel not only out of the loop but also very lonely. I never really think about how the media has an impact on my life until I am not able to use it. It’s crazy how a simple ignored text message can end up ruining relationships and cause friendships to be challenged. I feel that if I hadn’t cracked and answered the phone when my boyfriend called (after I already texted him the deal for my comm class) then there would’ve been conflict or tension between us. However, the fact that I spent the whole day with him in person instead of just talking on the phone all day actually made things easier and more fun.
I feel that media deprivation can also help relationships and friendships because it challenges people to be more physical and be together rather than more cyber. I realized that doing things like going to the movies and going out to eat and going to the mall are more fun and exciting than sitting at home chatting on facebook or texting or shopping online. I feel that actually being able to hangout in person, without the confusions of the media, is healthier and brings you closer to your friends and boyfriends/girlfriends. Although this thought may seem very obvious, it is surprising to me really how often and how powerfully we let the media control our lives and relationships.
What I got out of this assignment on the first day is that it is possible for me not to use my cell phone, although it is the hardest thing, and it is also possible for me not to listen to the radio in the car, which is also extremely difficult. I’m glad I’m able to experience this because it has also given me a lot more time to myself to think and learn more about myself. This is something that I feel we all lose touch of with all the media that surrounds us on a daily basis and prevents us from ever being able to sit in silence and think; and that, I believe, is something we all need to do once in awhile so we don’t lose touch of who we are amidst all of the confusion of the media.

...And the World Files for Chapter 11: Day Two

The Flatliners record is still sitting, unopened, perched next to my record player. All I can do is sit and read the lyrics and credits over and over again. It’s pathetic, but it’s who I am.

An update: I cracked last night. My roommate was being loud in the next room as I was trying to sleep.. I usually drown him out with my TV, but tonight I tried to soldier through it. It didn’t work. I turned it to news, but I just ended up watching it. So, feeling ashamed of myself, I popped in an It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia DVD. It was my lullaby. Ok, on to day two:

When my girlfriend called this morning, I didn’t answer so I could hear as much of the ringtone as possible. I’m like a music fiend. I did the same thing when my boss called, except I didn’t return that call. Today wasn’t too bad. The dudes in my band wanted to practice. I didn’t know if this was a violation of the project, but since what we do shouldn’t really be considered music, I thought it would be alright. However, since half of our practice session is us playing Super Mario 3 and drinking Pabst Blue Ribbon, I knew that would be pushing it. So while they beat turtles and rode dinosaurs, I sat with my back turned and read random pieces of paper that I found in my wallet. Since I didn’t work and was hanging out with friends, I was distracted much more than yesterday.

My main temptation came in the most stupid and unexpected way. Let me explain: I like to be right. I usually am, and when anything is in question, I don’t hesitate to find the answer. My band’s drummer and I were having an argument about Pluto. I say that it’s been downgraded to a dwarf-planet. He says that it has been downgraded to nothing. A floating rock. He’s wrong! I immediately reached for my iPhone to go to NASA’s web site to prove him wrong. I remembered the phone restriction, and told him that it would have to wait. As it stands, he thinks that he’s right. This is bugging the hell out of me! I’m going to call him first thing tomorrow and let him know just how dumb he is.

So, as I expected, living without media isn’t easy by any means, but it is possible. The thing is, it’s part of our generation, and part of our culture now. We shouldn’t apologize for it, or act like it’s a fault. Embrace it, and prove your friends wrong. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to take some Ambien and go to sleep so I can wake up early and listen to Cavalcade.