Dirk

Dirk Nowitzki sat at the table next to mine at dinner last night. I really wanted to play it cool—you know, no giggling and glancing over my shoulder every 10 minutes or so. Sadly, I discovered that I am not nearly as cool as I would like to be. Not only did I gawk, I surreptitiously took a picture on my phone and sent it to a friend.

Texting Over (for a day)

The other day I realized I’ve been texting quite a bit lately. I’ve been undeniably lazy. Instead of calling someone, I can text and watch TV at the same time. Now, some people are fabulous multitaskers, so chatting with friends and catching up on TV is simple. Unfortunately, I can’t do both at once.

So, in response to my out of control texts, I decided to spend a day without my trusted friend. I wasn’t too surprised with the response…classes were slightly more boring, but my actual conversations with friends were far more fun. I could really let my sarcasm flow without worrying about any uncomfortable confusion.

Narrow news experience

I subscribe to the Dallas Morning News. Unfortunately, it’s a rare morning that I can actually relax enough to read the paper. Instead, I usually catch up on the day’s news on the Internet in between classes.

I realized this week that my looking at news online is like my experience with iPods. It is far more convenient than newspapers, but I don’t really get a well-rounded experience. Once I got an iPod, I didn’t listen to my full range of music as much since I had to search for names instead of breezing through my CD case.

Similarly, at online news sites, I go to topics that immediately interest me and rarely venture out…it’s kind of sad and probably less rewarding if I really wanted to analyze myself.

Dog

I bought a dog…online! A couple of years ago (even a couple of months ago) I would have balked at actually buying a pet via the Internet. I mean, thoughts of over bred, caged puppies filled my mind. However, after unsuccessfully finding the breed I wanted in the classifieds for months, I started browsing breeders online.

Well, I found a listing, made the down payment, and in a month I will drive to pick up my wheaten terrier mix in Missouri. She looks adorable in the pictures, so I guess I’ll find out soon if the Internet is a good place to find a dog.

I've Been Primed

I rather shamefully admit to watching What Women Want starring Mel Gibson (pre meltdown). Gibson plays a sexist bachelor who magically starts hearing women’s thoughts—by the end of the movie he does a 180 and is sensitive and all that. I guess I kept watching because I am taking a women’s studies class, so I enjoyed analyzing the movie in light of what I’ve learned.

One theory is that men are all for women empowerment but squirm at the thought of giving up power in order to make it happen—so, when Gibson admits to stealing his love interest’s ideas at work in addition to his declaration of love and she fires him, it really primed that theory for me.

Sex and the City

I was watching an episode of Sex and the City today, and the topic was abortions. I was really surprised when two or three of the friends said they have had at least one abortion. I know a lot of the show is unrealistic, so I wonder if that number was based on statistics or not. Either way, it was definitely interesting to see a TV show broach the subject. I highly doubt that would be on network TV.

decor8

I love interior design, so I try to keep up with some design blogs. One blog I like is decor8. The author is traveling to Stockholm in a couple weeks for a design show. I was surprised to see that she will meet up with another famous design blogger and extended the invitation to meet up to all the readers.

The Web has allowed people from all over the world to share ideas, but this blogger is taking it further. People with Web relationships can actually meet, and in my eyes this makes blogging more personal and real.

Confusing Crime

I was watching the local news and heard about a small robbery. I know that I that the news shows more crime than there really is, so I probably think the word is scarier than it is. But, maybe it could also give people who commit crimes the impression that there is more crime, thereby normalizing it. Couldn’t the news cultivate this perception of high crimes, which could make people feel more normal committing the crimes?

Video games...a little scary

At the movie theater, I watched a couple of kids playing a shooting video game in the front—the one where you actually hold the fake gun to get the “bad guys”. If people learn from modeling behavior, it seems that actually copying the action of shooting a gun might not be such a good idea. Video games may not make most kids act more violently, but that one in a 1,ooo just might have the motivation, so the game might make that kid think shooting someone wouldn’t be so crazy.

Too much info

Lately, I’ve been trying to keep up with multiple media—newspapers, TV, blogs, magazines, etc…it gets exhausting. Today, my art teacher said something that really hit home—there is just way too much information available. I start feeling guilty if I don’t keep up with everything, but I rarely examine one medium in detail. I would probably get a lot more out of a newspaper if I did read it thoroughly instead of running after the next news source.

My mom rocks technology

My mom bought a laptop computer a couple years ago as an attempt to stay afloat with new technologies. It has taken her a long time to learn to type, and she still gets turned around with small problems. However, it surprised me how much she loves surfing the Web at night. I called her today and she said she was tired because she stayed up late looking up articles and information about something she had read. It gets addicting.

It's a love thing

I love the Internet. I breezed through today’s newspaper and checked out parts of the news on TV, and the main stories are always the same. But the Internet…now there are so many possibilities there. It’s still so new and there are so many sites, that you can always find pieces of news the mainstream media ignores. Now, having enough time to dig those stories up can get tricky.

ACL

Some media will never go out of fashion, and the leader of this list has to be music. I went to Austin City Limits music festival today, and looking around the park amazed me. Thousands of people move from stage to stage, where they stand still and intently or do full out dance moves you never want to see again. If aliens looked in on us today, they would most likely think humans are insane.

Life's too fast for me

In every class today, I saw someone on the computer. People checked E-mail, googled who knows what, or checked the news. We consume so much information all the time. I wonder if we can keep up with such a high paced life forever?

Whoa facebook

When I got to my 8 a.m. class today, multiple people were already checking out Facebook. It was way too early for me to check people out and connect.

School's not healthy

I realized today that when I’m at school and need to relax after class, I turn on the TV and zone out for 30 minutes. During the summer, I don’t watch a lot of TV though. I normally read a book outside or find something else to do. I guess school makes me live a more extreme lifestyle—I use my brain all the way or am completely lazy.

Laughing is great

If anyone needs to bounce out of a bad mood, just come to my apartment. As soon as my sister turns on the TV, she finds something funny to watch and just laughs for 30 minutes every day. I’m talking really loud, truly happy laughing. I love listening to her, even when I can’t watch the show with her.

Kids and Media

I recently babysat a five-year-old named Gabby. We followed a pretty typical routine—she watched her allotted one hour of TV, I gave her dinner, but when I suggested we play a game, she opened my eyes to a new side of childhood. Gabby plopped in front of the computer and proceeded to play some sort of reading game. She grew bored, switched to a different game, and finally left technology behind for a game of evil witch (me) and captured princess (Gabby). When she outmaneuvered my attempt to give her a poisonous potion, she was giddy. I never saw that expression when she played on the computer.

I may be only 22, but I must be getting old fashioned. Kids should be using their imaginations and reading outside instead of spending hours at a computer or TV everyday. They have the rest of their lives to do that, right? Henry Jenkins’ “Why Heather Can Write, Media Literacy and the Harry Potter Wars” reveals a new media creature that combines both worlds.

The article shows how in the wake of J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series, kids and teens around the world created fan fiction Web sites, where people write their own stories about Harry Potter’s world at Hogwarts. They take on imaginary roles in this fantasy world, and develop writing, editing, and critiquing skills as a bonus to their fun.

It sounds great—cutting edge changes to society. Kids learn and grow on a virtual playground where people from any and every background can come to the table without judgment. While I don’t deny the positive possibilities of learning in this new environment, the fact is, it’s all fantasy. Kids don’t really meet or play—they’re on a computer…alone. The Web provides an isolation that could limit a kid’s social development. People need to be together to play and laugh and learn in their own worlds.

After watching a PBS documentary about Sesame Street, TV actually seems like a safer medium that virtual realities. Granted, there has been plenty of research on the negative effects TV has on children. Commercials for sugar and toys, violence, objectification of women…the list goes on and on. However, Sesame Street has bucked that trend since its birth in 1969. Globally, its importance outweighs that of the Internet because most homes don’t have computers.

However, Kids in 120 countries watch Sesame Street and learn about local issues. Children in South Africa learn about life from an HIV positive puppet named Kami. Sesame Street is reaching kids and possibly changing prejudices. Instead of getting lost in an imaginary computer world, kids can take what they learn and apply it to their actual lives.