Day 1: So Far, So Good!

First day of media deprivation – honestly, it wasn’t super hard. I woke up to my phone ringing. It was my sister who is living in Germany. I talked a while with her. Later in the day, I got a phone call from a cousin in Wisconsin and talked with him for a little while. I don’t feel like that was breaking the rules. If it was a local friend or someone I could easily get together with and talk to, then I would not have used the phone. But I can’t just get together to hang out and chat with my sister or cousin since they are both over a thousand miles away.

I later worked on a power point presentation. I think the hardest part of this media deprivation project is the music part. While working on my laptop, songs would pop into my head. I would almost pull up my music player or YouTube to start listening to music, but would then sadly remember that I could not. Thankfully, I play the piano, and spending some time on the instrument (as well as singing to myself) helped satisfy the desire for music. :)

On the way home from a birthday party this evening, my little brothers turned on a movie in the van. I was sitting in the back so, of course, I could not avoid watching Pixar’s Monsters Inc. But I wasn’t too disappointed. ;)

If life was not so busy and school was not still going, I think it would be very interesting – and maybe even refreshing – to try a complete mass media blackout. No internet, television, phones, etc whatsoever. When I’ve been out camping before, I have done this, but it has not been in an everyday setting, which I’m sure would be much harder.

It is interesting what kind of hold these extra little things have on us. They have actually become a need to many. I do not think the concept of “needing” things that we don’t really need is anything new. Yes, nowadays we “need” texting, internet, music, and so forth. Even non media related things, such as microwaves, washing machines, and dishwashers have become a necessity. I can’t help but wonder what types of things people “needed” years ago? What did the older generation of those times see as overused and/or unnecessary? But I definitely think we take our communications now for granted. If I lived just a few decades ago, phone calls across the country would be very rare…out of the country, almost impossible (outrageous prices and such). And email would not have existed. I’m sure I would not have the same relationship with family as I am now privileged to have because of easy communication access.

These are just my thoughts for the day. :)

Keep up the fabulous work everyone else! And thanks for reading!

~Megan

Even without the media, I'm still procrastinating...

I came home from work today around 9 and only got on the computer to check my email, after that I looked to see what my final project was for Mexican American History...I then saw the shower head I bought a few weeks ago laying lifeless on the glass coffee table in desperate need...I opened my toolbox, grabbed my wrench and went to work. Long story short, one project lead to another and to another and now; I have a mildew free shower with a new inside curtain and a shower head that can be used as a masseuse...Needless to say with or without the media, I can still find an excuse not to do my homework. In other news, my bum hurts...Even though I rode a bike, I feel like I rode a horse down a canyon. When I walk, my inner thighs hurt and when I sit down on hard surfaces, pain seems to present itself. :-/ Oh well, at least I haven't succumb to the media yet...(the 5 second rule should definitely pertain to the mistake I made earlier this morning)...I've been reading in the blogs that some people are having some difficulty restraining themselves from Facebook, for me, this is the easiest task. Facebook is more of a luxury than a necessity, I can go without facebook, most of the time I just put random quotes or pictures, if I get comments; cool, if not; life goes on. I guess you could say I just use it as a way to share things with people, whether it be a form of media or literature. When it comes to the games on facebook though, I just don't see the point. First off, having games on the site only makes you stay on that site longer. I don't tread the web, I surf the web. Second off, the games are mediocre scenarios that involve alot of repetition, the only differences are the setting and clothing design...Plant your crops. Grow your crops. Harvest your crops. Sell your crops. Plant your crops. Grow your crops. Harvest your crops. Sell your crops...Here's an idea, why don't you stop investing hours pretending to plant crops and actually plant some real ones?? And back to the repetition, does that not parallel the everyday mediocrity we endure as Americans in a free market society? I guess reality everything is cool nowadays. I wonder what it will be like in a few years, we've already advanced so much within the past decade, I'm a bit fearful for what's in store. When I was young the future to me seemed alot brighter than the one I foresee today. Don't get me wrong, we've made alot of technological advances, but there are alot of pros and cons I see to social networking sites.

Cons:
For one, you can be whomever you like, if you choose. Two, some people use it more as a way to just stay in touch rather than to broaden their social network, which leaves more excuse not to physically see each other. Three, there is a loss of sincerity through instant messaging and social networking...Sometimes in order to make an impact words need to be spoken, not just written. There are some who paint with words, but very few who actually can create a clear picture.

Pros:
Using it to stay in touch can be useful, especially when it comes to extended family and colleagues. I guess you could say for some there is an ego boost involved with having a certain number of friends or comments...as long as they're not arrogant, I would say that's a pro. Self-confidence is always a pro, just don't cross the fine line.

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If there are any grammar or spelling errors, I'll edit them tomorrow or something. I'm just tired and it's now 1 in the morning. Ha, not only am I depriving myself of media, but I'm depriving myself of sleep! YAWN!

Goodnight, Moon
haha

-Holly Doll

Who stole my identity?

First SOMEBODY stole my identity unless there is another Brent out there who watches TV and plays Halo. (Not me!) See post No media for Brent : Day 1
Anyway, this is the REAL Brent Harris and here is how my terrible day went thanks in part to Prof. Lopez.

I started off thinking "this will be no big deal. I've gone without my phone for a week. My car radio has never worked. Ha! was I ever wrong. On Friday night I sent my last mass text for the weekend. I had my text and calls forwarded to my mom and little brothers phone and promptly put my cell phone under the bed and haven't touched it since. However my little mind seemed to forget we're in the 21st century, not the 20th.

This is me 10 hrs into not sending a single mass text or hearing the radio...Note the craziness of my hair!
(First picture is 10 hrs, second pic is 15 hrs)

I forgot I never really talk to people in person, I just text. In fact if they had a device that ONLY had text messaging and no calling device I would own that instead of my cell phone. Also ALL my friends numbers are in my phone, plus I don't know how to talk to people on the phone. One of my favorite things to do is to mass text. Its how I know where my friends are hanging out that night.

My second problem came to listening to the radio. Remember I don't have a radio in my car, but i listen to it online very often or at home. I listen to it especially when I'm doing my homework. While working on a five page paper for sociology I was forced to create my own mental "playlist" and sing to myself; very entertaining.
I don't really use social networking that often, however I'm always checking my personal e-mail. I've always thought that if somebody sends you an e-mail, they think your important. I like feeling important. Today I DID NOT check my personal email account even once

My family knows about this project to they became like referees, helping and guarding me from any and all temptation.

I am glad to say I passed today probably with a 96% of avoiding that "wicked" mass media :~).

Tomorrow will hopefully be easier. I will be at church most of the day, but only time will tell. As the anchor from the bad movie prof Lopez made us watch would say... "GOOD NIGHT & GOOD LUCK!"

Day 1: The cake is not a lie

Well day 1 for me was pretty difficult. First of all he's some background about me. Im a pretty avid gamer, everyday no matter what I spend a few hours online. It's basically the main way i keep in touch with my main buds. When I'm not on Xbox Live, I usually have the internet on all day on my comp. So i have Xbox, internet, and music streaming in my room all day. I do have a facebook, but its not something that i keep up with 24/7. Now back to my day. I woke up pretty late about 1 and decided that i should take advantage of this time to do all my math homework that is due monday. This was difficult due to me usually listening to music on last.fm from my xbox while doing homework. Sadly homework only ate up about 2 hours of my day. After that i headed over to my bids house to hang and make a cake for my bud Matt's birthday. We made a pretty beast cookie cake(see picture for beastness). After making the cake we headed up to my bud Vinny's room when everyone but me played the new Halo Reach beta that i was able to get. Was pretty hard to watch but oh well totally overplayed it the past few days some im totally good. But yeah here I am now chillin with my buds writing this blog. Tomorrow hopfully tomorrow wont be a horrible day.

-Alex Casanova

An Evening of Extraordinary Circumstance: Day 1

I was tested immediately when I left for work in the morning. As I stepped out of my front door, there was a package waiting for me. That package: The Flatliners’ new album. I’ve been waiting for this record for months. I caressed it a few times and tucked it away. I drove to work in silence. It was particularly grating since my timing belt has been squealing relentlessly lately, and that was the soundtrack to my drive. Work was no better. I usually have my iPod in my ears for the whole eight hours. Today? Silence. It’s a lot harder to ignore the people you don’t like when you don’t have an excuse to “not hear them.” I checked my email a few times, and saw notifications of messages and comments from friends on Facebook. I almost can’t stop thinking about what I’m missing. Are they urgent messages? Is my long lost twin brother trying to contact me via social networking? It’s not too far-fetched. It happened to my brother-in-law. Seriously. It’s probably just my friends making penis jokes and Mitch Hedberg references, but I still want to read them. I feel like a drug addict. Except instead of shakes and vomiting, I’m just a nerd.

Back at home, it’s torture. There’s no one here, and with no record player or TV, it’s deadly silent. I love to read, but I need background noise. I have hundreds of books that would breeze me through this weekend, but I need TV and music to enjoy them. Ironic, huh? I have lots of texts going unanswered. Many angry friends, no doubt. I’m too lazy to explain this whole thing to anyone. To satisfy my media craving, I try to watch the news, but all they’re talking about is the oil spill and Tiger Woods. Glenn Beck is on FOX News, but he’s not an option because to the best of my knowledge, I’m not retarded. I’m going to go to Half Priced Books and read for free. Any chance they’ll be playing the new Flatliners record there?

What Class Is This Again?

Sorry I am running behind but I had work. Tired and happy not to use any of this stuff, including the phone. going without has been so easy for me, of course unlike you guys I grew up without most of the things we have become dependant on in our efforts to discover our new world. Well you would think this would be easy for me to talk about since I talk so much any ways but I really think this assignment is a break from the new normal. Makes it simple with work since I have nothing at work that involves anything we can not use. My spare time will be spent building furniture which I love to do, making deliveries for work, and yes professor Lopez I will keep my blogs clean. Supposing for the rest of this I am just going to ramble. Hey peeps this is my Daughter Stacia. She is going to talk for a little bit cause I am desperate to reach the whole 300 count thing. Which I honestly believe is a little controlling since it is suppose to be an independent blog with free thinking involved. Hello people. I am Stacia and my dad has me on this blog thing that i have no idea what it is really about. I was rambling to him about something about what me and my mom were disputing earlier today and he asked me if I wanted to write in his blog. I asked him what it was and he told me it was just myself rambling to people. I know am good at rambling and I love to talk to random people all of the time so I thought it would be cool. So i was watching snakes on plane, and I realized that i have watched many movies that are pointless and idiotic. Oh, i am going to my neighbor's little sister's birthday party. She is really small and i don't really know how old she is going to be, maybe 3 or 4, which may be a bad thing but I didn't really think I should worry about it because I am really only friends with her older sister but the little girl loves me, but who doesn't really? I am someone who likes to talk to people and I like to be the center of attention really. That might be a bad thing sometimes but I believe that wanting people to notice you just shows that you are a social and very elegant individual. I know everyone in every school that I have been to. Not that I remember all of their names, but I have at least been introduced to them at least once. Becoming a part of many peoples lives is a very good thing. The more people you know the more they have your back. I don't judge anyone by what they look like or where they came from, however if you are annoying I would rather avoid you. Which brings me to say that I judge people by their personality. I am really annoying myself which kind of bothers me. One time I kept my mom up until midnight because I couldn't stop rambling and she had work in the morning. She works a full time job, overtime, and every Saturday, mostly. If she is lucky she will get a two day weekend but she usually sleeps it away because she works all of the time and her boss drives everyone in the office nuts, I should know, I have worked there on several occasions. I usually work there when I am out of school because I dislike being in a large box with walls and electronics all day. I am usually a quiet person when you first meet me and it takes a very long time for me to decide whether or not you can make an intelligent conversation, but then again I like talking about silly things and what people like to do the most. I haven't stopped writing since I started but I believe that is partially my English teacher's fault. She does this exercise where we have to write,for about 10-15 minutes and some days even longer, whatever comes to our minds and we can't stop. If we do stop, we fail for the participation grade for the day. It is a little more difficult to do on the computer because I'm not sure if I press the right keys and i have to make sure the spellings and punctuations are correct, and I am not sure if I even spelled that word write. I like to use long extensive vocabulary and i dislike profanity but sometimes i am unsure if I am even using the right words when I talk.

Epic Fail

So I totally forgot about this project this morning until Damon told me on facebook to get off! Haha, wait...why was Damon on facebook as well in the first place?...oops! rated him out. Anyways, I had plans today so I do need my phone to go through with it and yes its school related plans. Other people are texting me and I feel like a jerk not responding back and if I even explain to them why I'm not replying they won't believe me. Not only a fail on forgetting the project but fail on being a decent friend, haha. Right now I want to get on facebook to write to people but can't so now I'm going to get ready longer than usual, maybe clean up my room, and studying for my Accounting exam coming up on monday. I want to play Star Trek Online for a break but can't so that scratches out my plan. I want to listen to Bob Dylan just like everyday but I can't do that also. Everytime I get into my car I bring my MP3 player to hook it up in the car so I can listen to it but too bad I can't listen to it through long traffic. Music to me relieves the stress and I stress out alot if things don't fall into plan. Throughout the day things have been a little off and I really want to listen to music to get rid of the stress. Alot of fails today my friends :(

Good Luck!

-Amanda Rangel

Jack Nicholson is a Bear king and therefore is stronger than horses.

I woke up this morning and got a minolta maxxium 7000i for free. it came with filters galore and 4 wonderful lens. I spent my day in the woods taking pictures of animals and such.  This is a 35mm film camera i also have my Nikon D70. This has been a large distraction but thus far I'm pretty bummed about not being able to jam to music in my car. Since this project hasn't affected me too much. This is not my main post.

Also I have thought of facebook status all day that i would have posted but can't so i started writing them down.

"Can't feed my facebook addiction so i diverted to my McDonalds frappe addiction. i drank 4 Carmel frappes today and 6 yesterday, you do not want to know how many mocha frappes i drank"

"Played pokemon in my imagination. Mewtwo is so much easier to catch there."

"ate some cinnamon sticks"

"thought i saw Keanue Reaves in the park but it ended up being Brendon Frasier. Sigh"

I think I am going to send these by mail to facebook land to see if my status would update. 

well i got to go play imaginary pokemon and blink really fast while spinning in a chair. By the way this is not my main post for Saturday.

Catch you cool cats on the cool side of cool town. 

Saturday May 1st

I knew media deprivation was going to be difficult for me because I often use my cell phone, the computer, and mp3 player and television. But I had no idea it was going to effect my daily routine this much. I had to stop myself several times from breaking the rules. Usually when I wake up I listen to music while I’m getting ready. But then I though today’s Saturday can’t do that. I always watch television while I’m eating but since I couldn’t I just stared at the wall haha so boring. I don’t like this at all. I always listen to music in the car, while I’m doing homework, while I’m cleaning my room. So you can imagine how I felt earlier, completely lost without my music. I don’t like silence especially while I’m getting ready. Music is my escape, my entertainment, my medicine, and so much more. I was frustrated I couldn’t do what I normally do, especially today because I’m off on Saturdays. I cannot live without music! Might as well tell me I can’t breathe haha!

Media Deprivation Project Guidelines

As we established at the very beginning of the semester, mass media in its many forms dominates every waking moment of our lives. TV, Internet, iPods, video games, cell phones, movies, and radio are just some of the many forms mass media takes today—and we are all subject to its stranglehold whether we know it or not. The point of this experiment is threefold:

1. To see just how powerful that stranglehold is on our daily routine.
2. To discover the advantages of being free of mass media’s many distractions.
3. To leave our cocoons of indoor media consumption and be more active, more social!

The following guidelines will help you determine when you can and cannot use a form of mass media in your daily routine. Media Deprivation begins when you wake up on Saturday and ends when you wake up on Monday (you can still use an alarm clock).

CELL PHONE/TELEPHONE USE:
• DO use your cell phone and/or telephone for basic contact purposes. You may call or text message but only if it’s for an important reason. Use your better judgment here.
• DO NOT pass the time texting or talking to someone. Only text if it’s urgent.
• Finally, DO NOT use your cell phone for web surfing, SOCIAL NETWORKING, or gaming. You may check email, but no games, videos, Facebook, MySpace, et al.

COMPUTER/INTERNET USE:
• DO use your computer/laptop for educational purposes such as writing papers, doing research, checking email, et al.
• But DO NOT use it for recreational purposes such as gaming, online shopping, fantasy sports, SOCIAL NETWORKING, file-sharing, etc. Academic purposes only!

RADIO/MP3 PLAYER USE:
• DO NOT listen to the radio, stereo, or any MP3 players under almost any circumstance.
• The only instance you can listen to music is if you’re at a restaurant/bar/party and there happens to be music playing in the background, so social situations are encouraged.
• DO NOT listen to your iPod or stereo while working out or studying, and DO NOT listen to the radio while driving. NO MUSIC!

TV/DVD/MOVIE THEATER USE:
• DO NOT watch any TV or DVDs under almost any circumstance. NO VIDEO GAMES!
• The only instance you can watch TV is if you’re at a restaurant/bar/party and there happens to be a TV playing in the background. Going to the movies is acceptable too.

NEWSPAPER/BOOK/MAGAZINE USE:
• DO read the newspaper, but only the print edition.
• DO NOT get your news online or on your phone. You may watch the news on TV.
• DO read books and magazines, both for academic and recreational purposes. Graphic novels and/or comic books are acceptable reading, too.

No media for Brent : Day 1

So I've only been awake for about 2 hours, and this media blackout already sucks. Right when I woke up I went to check my phone, and realized that I couldn't text my friend back, so I set my phone back down. Ok, time to hop on the internet and kill some time. Oh, wait... What makes this suck even more is my inability to be able to play the Starcraft 2 and Halo reach beta I just got in to the other day. I hadn't fully realized how big of a role mass media devices had in my life until this morning, when I realized how much it sucks not to be able to use the internet, TV, music or cell phones. So for the past two hours I have taken a shower, literally looked at my wall for about five minutes, and then I started to read The Hobbit again, because well, it's probably my favorite book and what else is there to do? I'll probably get a ton of reading done though, which is awesome because I have about 4 or 5 books I really have been putting off reading. At least we can read graphic novels and comic books too, or else I'd really lose it. I'm sure some people will lie in these blogs about how hard it is without internet and TV, as they click back over to Facebook and turn Jersey Shore back on, but I plan on seeing this through. I've always wanted to give something like this a try, but never really had the desire to do so until it was made necessary for Mass Comm. So now I'm going to go back to reading The Hobbit and eating my Hot Pocket. Farewell comrades. (Pic somewhat related)

Fail

Woke up this morning to 7 unread text messages and, of course, the first thing I do is look through them and respond. Told all my friends about this deprivation and as I am typing this my phone is blowing up with texts. I always sleep with music, so tonight will be hectic. I have terrible anxiety and attempting to sleep in complete silence will most likely be the death of me, but I will try it out. As for tv, I never watch it, I don't even have a television in my room. So far, so good, but I already know when I exit out of this blog, I will be tempted to put on music and browse the web.

I ended up sketching instead, but I did have music playing, hah.

"Without music, life would be a mistake."

Well I woke up this morning and had to stop myself from turning on my television, even though nothing good is ever on in the morning, I still appreciate having the background noise. You see, I live alone with my cat so there's really no chance for stimulating social conversation in the morning anyways. I resisted the temptation and chugged an opti meal for breakfast, after breakfast I was editing my profile for this blog I and turned on music. (whoops) I already know this is going to be difficult. TV is not as essential to me as music. Music to me is like the main dish, Televison on the other hand is just a filler...99% of the time, I am either listening to music or hearing music in my head. When I drive, there is music; when I clean, there is music; when I workout at the gym, there is music, on occasion. (Ever since I joined Planet Fitness, I find it easier to distract myself from the workout by just watching television.) So instead of working out today at the gym, I decided to go on a bike ride. I lasted for an hour and went from my place on Wurzbach and Babcock to Beverley Mae to Babcock to Lyceum to Newcome to Merkens to Wurzbach...PHEW! I'm exhausted and I wish I could take a nap. If only I was off today!!! I go in at 12 and it's 10:30 UGH!! I want to hurl...
I forgot to mention I saw peacocks! I'm attaching a picture! I didn't go too close, because I think they're wild...

-Holly Doll