Talk about tossing and turning, last night was insanely tough; the silence was piercing. I have become so accustomed to the routine pattern and cycle of the wonderful mix of absolutely perfect songs to fall asleep to, and trying to sleep in complete quietness with only the creaks of the house to break the silence, was more challenging than anything else I've combated during the short course of this project.
Despite my lack of sleep, I began my morning by stopping by the mall to get some prices adjusted, for the items I had purchased the night before after getting off of work. I then headed off to drama rehearsal at ten in the morning, to teach the blocking of a few scenes to my middle school cast. Rehearsal lasted until two-thirty, and I was out of there and on my way to work. I clocked in at three, and began the long evening filled with rude customers and inconsiderate shoppers that make my life more difficult. It was one of the most difficult days at work for some reason, and I felt completely drained.
Keeping busy seems to help distract me from my loss of contact from the outside world. I must also give credit to the mix of christmas music they play at work, and although I firmly believe that they chose the worst holiday songs ever made, they are the only kind of music I am permitted to listen to, and for some odd reason, they helped my sanity tremendously.
Lets hope tonight goes well, and I get enough rest to finish out this busy weekend. Sunday shouldn't be too hard, going from church service to meeting after meeting after meeting, and rehearsal in the evening, I should be able to get along well with out too much of a struggle.
Well, stay strong my friends, there's only one more day left.
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Day 2, Dec.5, 2009
Good Evening my fellow Bloggers,
Well, this has been the most interesting day-and may be of this entire project. I can't 'survive' without getting on Facebook or Myspace. However, I've limited the time I get on. The time spent on each social networking site, has been reduced by at least half. As for most of my time spent today, I texted one of my good friends-who is in the class before ours. Melanie was not aware we're allowed to text. So, everyone, we are allowed to text! We aren't permitted getting on Facebook or Myspace via cell phone web. I didn't get to watch the Florida vs Alabama game, as I was shopping. Though, I got home and my parent's were watching that game. I gave in and watched the news. I have a hard time trusting people; especially with such significant events occurring. Later in the evening, my parents and I watched the Texas vs Nebraska game. For the first two quarters, I was with them watching it at home. Later after the half, I was commuting between my house and a friend's house. Fortunately for texting, my friend Corey kept me posted! Texas won with a miracle-Praise God! As for the music, I have been good about not listening to my I-Pod. In fact, it's sitting on the I-Home pad charging. My word was kept, and I have been getting better with Mr. Lopez's guidelines/restrictions. I still haven't mastered not listening to music in the car. I really think I'd lose my mind. Music seems to be a calm and smoothing ease in my life; when life get's stressful. Tomorrow, I will try without music and will let everyone know how it goes. This has been by far the most challenging project. I can't fathom how people from our previous generation survived and still continue to do so. Well, I am signing off. Hope everyone's had a safe weekend-so far! Stay safe and warm!!
Blessings,
Kelly
Well, this has been the most interesting day-and may be of this entire project. I can't 'survive' without getting on Facebook or Myspace. However, I've limited the time I get on. The time spent on each social networking site, has been reduced by at least half. As for most of my time spent today, I texted one of my good friends-who is in the class before ours. Melanie was not aware we're allowed to text. So, everyone, we are allowed to text! We aren't permitted getting on Facebook or Myspace via cell phone web. I didn't get to watch the Florida vs Alabama game, as I was shopping. Though, I got home and my parent's were watching that game. I gave in and watched the news. I have a hard time trusting people; especially with such significant events occurring. Later in the evening, my parents and I watched the Texas vs Nebraska game. For the first two quarters, I was with them watching it at home. Later after the half, I was commuting between my house and a friend's house. Fortunately for texting, my friend Corey kept me posted! Texas won with a miracle-Praise God! As for the music, I have been good about not listening to my I-Pod. In fact, it's sitting on the I-Home pad charging. My word was kept, and I have been getting better with Mr. Lopez's guidelines/restrictions. I still haven't mastered not listening to music in the car. I really think I'd lose my mind. Music seems to be a calm and smoothing ease in my life; when life get's stressful. Tomorrow, I will try without music and will let everyone know how it goes. This has been by far the most challenging project. I can't fathom how people from our previous generation survived and still continue to do so. Well, I am signing off. Hope everyone's had a safe weekend-so far! Stay safe and warm!!
Blessings,
Kelly
day 2
Today, was not that hard at all to not watch TV or listen to the radio, or use my cell phone, because, I was in the emergency room all day with my mom. We did watch a little tv in her room that she was assigned in, but it was her, myself, my siblings, my dad and my nephews, watching it all together like a family gathering I guess. Since all my brothers and sisters were there, we all had a lot to talk about and reminiscing on things from the past. Instead of listening to the radio, we actually had a little accupello singing, because my mom is a singer and loves to sing. So that right there, was my radio. Afterwards, my brothers and sisters and I went to this restaurant to go eat and there was a college football game on so we all just me watched the football game together. Today was easy day, so will see how tomorrow goes with me not using my phone or the Internet.
So day 1 was pretty hard i woke up late for my 9 oclock class and rushedto school listening to music the whole time. It wasnt till i was sitting in class that i realized our project had already started. I drove home, cleaned around the house in silence and got so bored i sang and talked to my dogs.I felt some what weird not havinmg the tv or radio on.After cleaning and getting ready I went to my work at the daycare i work at and of course it was really easy not being around anything except for nursery sing along songs. Then After being at the daycare i went to work at HEB which i dislike very much by the way. During my break i just wanted to sit and watch tv in the breakroom but imsted i chose to sit outside and talk to another employee, after my break I didnt get off till 11 so work filled my time through out the whole day. Driving home I was so tempted to just turn the radio on to get my mind off one rude customer who made my night pretty bad but home wasnt to far so i drove home with the windows down even though it was really cold it felt so good( i had two coats on) so im not to crazy. I went home and got dressed to go out with some friends, we hung out at my friend saras house and yes she had her playlist on,so music ended my night, it was just so hard to give up that night.
DAY 1
Well foreword to Prof. Lopez, I'm sorry I'm posting this so late, my Saturday has been filled with class and work, so this was the earliest I could post this.
Day one of the media deprivation was admittedly harder than expected. I realized that without the Internet, a phone, or a computer, I would not even be able to do my job. I spend most of my work day on company websites or on the phone with HQ, and without any of the technological "luxuries" of today my job would simply be impossible to do. Thanks for the loop-holes!
Even the second half of my day was consumed with the necessity of media. In babysitting my cousins, I realized there's no better way to calm a 5 and 6 year old boy down than putting on a kid's flick. I did give it an effort and broke out the old Monopoly board, which surprisingly went over very well
More than that, throughout the day I was constantly using my e-mail on my cell phone to coordinate with my project partner for our Saturday presentation.
All in all I realized the complete necessity media mediums in my day to day life. I can say that I avoided Facebook for a full day and so far I've not, though it is mighty tempting. I have to admit that I completely forgot about the no music part of the trial. Music is such a big part of my day to day that it's extremely hard to remember to exclude it. Driving in the car in silence is not quite unbearable, but extremely hard to remember since music is such a ritual part of what I do. I'll definitely have to give it a more dedicated effort in the days to come.
Well, until tomorrow, Adios
~Chris O.
Day Two
Yes, one more day until I can start listening to some music, watch the television, and best of all some video games. I believe at this time it is a good time to turn in early and sleep for the other day to come. Sleep was what I have done majority of my time was derived around just sleeping or resting in my bed looking at the fan spin around. I have gathered all the parts for the back part of the Honda civic, but it is a tad cold to really work on a car especially when you are working on tools and one slip the pain sort of increases. I went out to Sears mid day and bought a craftsman bottle jack because I got tired of buying AutoZone, Napa’s, or O’riely jacks they sell. With Craftsman, they give a lifetime warranty at sears, whenever our product breaks by craftsman you can return for the same or equally the same product. This was cool because today Sears had a sale on tools over there, hah! After that little bottle jack pick up, I went home to put up the Christmas tree, which took at most one hour and cleaned up the house once more. Now it is around seven p.m and to me that’s turn in time from this lame day of solitude. Been tempted every time I get on this computer to play some high intensive graphical game, like Aion, Call of duty 2 Modern warfare two, but I have control.
DAY 1: This Never Gets Any Easier
A part of me looks forward to this Media Deprivation experience, mainly because it allows me to focus on the important tasks at hand (grading, daily chores at the house, projects I've put off, et al.), but also because it lets me clear my head from all the "noise" mass media produces for me on a daily basis.
But the other part REALLY loathes this Media Deprivation experience because like many of you I, too, listen to music constantly throughout the day, and when I'm not doing that I'm constantly watching either a movie or something sports-related on the TV.
So, despite this being my third Media Deprivation, I'm still not used to stripping away all these forms of mass media. What I've also discovered is that depriving myself of music, movies, web-surfing, gaming, social networking makes me lazy. Yep, even your professor is susceptible to sleeping in or loafing about to cope with this tortuous experiment.
Thankfully, my Friday was rather easy to navigate. After waking up and resisting the temptation to check my Twitter feed (which I sometimes do while still in bed!), I got a lot of grading done but without the distracting sounds of my iTunes library playing in the background. In fact, the only "sounds" I listened to while grading were the various noises emanating from the washer and dryer. Yeah, this day seemed like a good day to wash clothes.
I had to run some errands later in the day so I was dreading not being able to listen to my car stereo while on the road. If I'm not listening to CDs I'm listening to talk radio while driving, all of which allow me to kind of zone out and ignore the outside world. But I think there's a benefit to not listening to any type of music or talk show while in the car; well, other than being able to notice your car making a weird noise in time to take it in for a check-up. Anyway, the benefit for me is that the silence allows me to really think about things and clear out whatever "junk" may be floating in my head at the time.
I spent the rest of my day eating out with some friends at TGIFriday's (BTW, almost all of their appetizers are half off right now!). Got to see the Lakers-Miami game while sitting by the bar, which means I got to see Kobe Bryant sink the game-winning three-pointer at the buzzer... *sigh*... Yeah, I HATE the Lakers! So being at a social environment such as a restaurant, and with friends, I was able to indulge in some mass media consumption.
I finished off the night at a house-warming party, which provided some much needed warmth since the temperature dropped to 24 degrees! Man, it was cold last night. After some socializing--and watching strangers play drinking games and dance themselves silly (I only knew a few people there)--I called it a night and read myself to sleep.
One day down, two more to go....
But the other part REALLY loathes this Media Deprivation experience because like many of you I, too, listen to music constantly throughout the day, and when I'm not doing that I'm constantly watching either a movie or something sports-related on the TV.
So, despite this being my third Media Deprivation, I'm still not used to stripping away all these forms of mass media. What I've also discovered is that depriving myself of music, movies, web-surfing, gaming, social networking makes me lazy. Yep, even your professor is susceptible to sleeping in or loafing about to cope with this tortuous experiment.
Thankfully, my Friday was rather easy to navigate. After waking up and resisting the temptation to check my Twitter feed (which I sometimes do while still in bed!), I got a lot of grading done but without the distracting sounds of my iTunes library playing in the background. In fact, the only "sounds" I listened to while grading were the various noises emanating from the washer and dryer. Yeah, this day seemed like a good day to wash clothes.
I had to run some errands later in the day so I was dreading not being able to listen to my car stereo while on the road. If I'm not listening to CDs I'm listening to talk radio while driving, all of which allow me to kind of zone out and ignore the outside world. But I think there's a benefit to not listening to any type of music or talk show while in the car; well, other than being able to notice your car making a weird noise in time to take it in for a check-up. Anyway, the benefit for me is that the silence allows me to really think about things and clear out whatever "junk" may be floating in my head at the time.
I spent the rest of my day eating out with some friends at TGIFriday's (BTW, almost all of their appetizers are half off right now!). Got to see the Lakers-Miami game while sitting by the bar, which means I got to see Kobe Bryant sink the game-winning three-pointer at the buzzer... *sigh*... Yeah, I HATE the Lakers! So being at a social environment such as a restaurant, and with friends, I was able to indulge in some mass media consumption.
I finished off the night at a house-warming party, which provided some much needed warmth since the temperature dropped to 24 degrees! Man, it was cold last night. After some socializing--and watching strangers play drinking games and dance themselves silly (I only knew a few people there)--I called it a night and read myself to sleep.
One day down, two more to go....
All downhill from here (day 2)
Of course, I've already broken in so many ways I might as well give up entirely. Started listening to music last night, after waking up for the third time, and I accidentally ran through my dailies this morning. (webcomics, sweepstakes, almost started hitting up my gamesites before I remembered.)
Today was easier than Friday, because my family was home, and there were noises other than me in the house. Went Christmas shopping with my mom and my aunt. Listened to their radio instead of my iPod, which was fine, because my mom's got decent taste in music. My brother continued his rockband spree from last night with even more gloating and excessive flailing. I'll have my revenge come Monday.
I actually helped cook breakfast this morning, another thing I rarely do, which was nice, because I managed to stop my mom from burning the sausage to a crisp.
I'm still not browsing the 'net for fun, but now that I've snapped musically, this isn't nearly as hard as I thought it would be.
I hit up the bookstore earlier, and used my mom's teacher discount to get enough books to last me the rest of the weekend(also laughed myself silly at a Robert Pattinson calender. do they try to get his hair like that, or does he just wake up that way?) I'm hoping that I can occupy myself enough that I don't need music for a while.
My cousin came over, because her parents want to watch the game, so she's helping distract me from my research paper. I'm enjoying repairing her computer.
I miss my gamesites and my comics. one more day....
Today was easier than Friday, because my family was home, and there were noises other than me in the house. Went Christmas shopping with my mom and my aunt. Listened to their radio instead of my iPod, which was fine, because my mom's got decent taste in music. My brother continued his rockband spree from last night with even more gloating and excessive flailing. I'll have my revenge come Monday.
I actually helped cook breakfast this morning, another thing I rarely do, which was nice, because I managed to stop my mom from burning the sausage to a crisp.
I'm still not browsing the 'net for fun, but now that I've snapped musically, this isn't nearly as hard as I thought it would be.
I hit up the bookstore earlier, and used my mom's teacher discount to get enough books to last me the rest of the weekend(also laughed myself silly at a Robert Pattinson calender. do they try to get his hair like that, or does he just wake up that way?) I'm hoping that I can occupy myself enough that I don't need music for a while.
My cousin came over, because her parents want to watch the game, so she's helping distract me from my research paper. I'm enjoying repairing her computer.
I miss my gamesites and my comics. one more day....
Day 2!
Day two went well I’ve refrained from texting and recreational internet browsing while still avoiding the rack of dvds. My music is to damn hard to give up I’m sorry it’s to ingrained into my life. I’ve just been out skating and keeping busy with things that keep me outdoors and out of the house. It’s honestly been an easy going experience for me; I like the fact that the project actually got me outside and enjoying different atmospheres. And I know that the music listening is a negatory as far as the project is concerned but bringing my music with me while I’m out and about just brings wherever I am to a whole new perspective. One thing I will say though is I despise catching myself wanting to text people back. It’s so frustrating because in the back of my mind I know that texting is the devil. And that’s that.
Midway Point/Halftime
Well I guess since just about everyone has posted for Day 1, I will go ahead and start Day2 off. But I dont know if I am going to make it tomorrow because it is football Sunday, and I dont see it bein right without me being able to watch football, at my own place. I guees I'll just have to go watch it at a friend's or someting. Today so far has been a lot easier, due to the fact that I had to work. Man I can only imagine how boring it would have been without it. But anyway, since I was unable to listen to my ipod or use anything else time went bye much slower. It was crazy; I actually almost read the whole newspaper today, and I have not read a newspapaer in months. Even though I dont read them too often I actually found out some interesting things. That goes to show you that the less you do something the more interesting it becomes. But honestly this project has actually helped me take care of things and do a lot of thinking about stuff. Mostly it has indeed helped me stay focused on my finals and get some studying done. But as far as no music, I think that may make me check into a psych ward. I would just be driving, then all of a sudden find myself humming a song that I could remeber. I've literally turned into a human jukebox. I guess since I havent been wastig my time with my "toys" it has made time for me to take car of some things that have been long over due. Also people have been texting and blowing up my phone as if I have been ignoring them on purpose. Good job Mr. Lopez; I mean really thanks a lot. I have to go into detail wiht people about this project or show them the blog page to make them understand I'm not making this up. This whole thing is insane, I think by the time we will have finished this project I will have a whole new level of respect for all media based things that I own. But that's it for me for today guys. Good luck to the rest of you all.
Day 1
Thursday night, in preparation for the “deprivation,” I played as much my online video game distraction of choice, Counter-Strike, as I could stand until bedtime. I had to get my fix in because I was going to have 3 days off and no games allowed. I was going to be okay though. I’d just pretend that my electricity or cable was turned off. That was the plan. I went to bed my normal time, but knowing it was going to snow, I was eager to wake up early and enjoy the brisk day waiting on the snow to arrive. So I woke up around 8am, tried to act normal, sans TV and internet browsing. By 8:30am I was already pacing. No snow and bored. So I did the dishes, started on laundry. I looked and paced around the house trying not to notice all the other cleaning and packing that needed to be done. But all of that in complete silence! “Yeah, right,” I sarcastically thought to myself. I’ll do that after Monday. I literally found myself getting in a negative mood. So I got under the covers and went back to sleep. My only thought was that it was still early and I had a long time to go until bedtime.
Needing to have some sort of stimulation, I figured my parents would be the best bet. That turned out to be the best decision because I was able to use the rest of my day helping them with household projects and normal family conversation. And I got a free meal out of it! Grandpa needed the cows fed and my parents needed the living room rearranged in preparation for the holiday gatherings. My family was conscientious of the lack of TV-watching, so we were able to basically spend the day as a normal family and talked about things like a normal family does. It was actually fun. As for the drive to and from their house, not having radio would make some people go insane, but every now and then, I do enjoy the silence. The only problem was that I had this one song in my head all day—and I only really know a few words—so I kept humming the darn chorus over and over. Overall, the experience hasn’t been so bad. I did use the phone, but kept the conversations to a minimum, but that's how I normally use it anyway. I’m already planning to use the loophole for the Longhorns’ game Saturday night.
Needing to have some sort of stimulation, I figured my parents would be the best bet. That turned out to be the best decision because I was able to use the rest of my day helping them with household projects and normal family conversation. And I got a free meal out of it! Grandpa needed the cows fed and my parents needed the living room rearranged in preparation for the holiday gatherings. My family was conscientious of the lack of TV-watching, so we were able to basically spend the day as a normal family and talked about things like a normal family does. It was actually fun. As for the drive to and from their house, not having radio would make some people go insane, but every now and then, I do enjoy the silence. The only problem was that I had this one song in my head all day—and I only really know a few words—so I kept humming the darn chorus over and over. Overall, the experience hasn’t been so bad. I did use the phone, but kept the conversations to a minimum, but that's how I normally use it anyway. I’m already planning to use the loophole for the Longhorns’ game Saturday night.
DAY ONE
First off I was so excited for this little experiment that I couldn't even sleep, like a kid at Christmas. I woke up at six thirty in the morning. I got dressed, put a load of clothes in the laundry, and this was the beginning of my day. I wondered how cold it was outside, normally I would just pull out my phone and check but seeing as that I am committed to this project I didn’t. So I then walked to the near by gas station and purchased a newspaper. The front page was the weather forecast for the day. This would give me a good idea of what the weather temperature would be today and it was going to be a cold one. I returned home and did more laundry. I had a few errands to run so I did them. I had to drive to get my vehicle registration tag, driving in complete silence, I found me talking to myself and singing in the car to no music. I got home and my father was watching the Price Is Right at the table. I love that show so I watch a little of that as I ate breakfast with him. As soon as he left I turned it off so I didn’t break the rules. I also unplugged the TV and stereo in my room so I won’t be tempted by my casual habits of picking up the remote and trying to turn stuff on. I still did try couple of time during the day out of habit. I cleaned my room and did about a months worth of clothes in laundry. I had to go to work at five so I left early because today was payday and I wanted to stop at the bank first. Also I wanted to buy a nice pea coat and this weather infliction has made it the perfect time for such a purchase. I went to work and had to listen to repetitive Christmas songs, seriously how many times does the same song have to be remade? I worked till 11:30 and again on the way home complete silence, until I thought that I was going to fall asleep! Then I had to sing to keep myself awake. I got home and instead of turning on the TV like my routine permits me to do, I just went to sleep, getting ready for day two. Twenty-four hours down forty-eight to go.
Day 1 - The walls are talking to me...
Well, no not really I thought this would be a little harder. Yesterday I woke up and remembered a few things that made this little experiment easier. One, I don't have a Facebook, Myspace, or any other sort of social networking site account. Two, I HATE texting with the fury of a thousand white-hot suns. Seriously we went to school for twelve or more years so we could misspell three letter words?
Anyway, during the day I found plenty of things to do other than listen to music or play video games. I found myself doing a lot of cleaning, going with my folks to do errands, and getting a lot of Photoshop work done.
The hardest thing for me though was not watching TV. This was because its almost second nature to me. I'll be talking to someone like my Mom or my sister and I'll just start staring at the TV, completely unaware of it until someone turns it off. I got my folks in on this and they just adore C**kblocking me every time I get close to the TV.
The second hardest thing for me to do was to not get on the internet for random shenanigans. I usually don't do much of anything on the internet other than look for video game mods (Yes, I am THAT nerdy! I REGRET NOTHING! NOTHING!!! MWAHAHAHAHAHAH~!!!).
I guess all in all, I just found other things to do.
Oh no, i think my parent's washing machine just broke (literally, no innuendos... if there are even any for that.) Tomorrow shall be an eventful day as well!
Oh yeah and this whole blogging thing made me feel old. I spent like ten minutes trying to figure out how to post. But no longer! I have unlocked its secrets and hold the power to torture people with my random and meaningless daily tasks!
Anyway, during the day I found plenty of things to do other than listen to music or play video games. I found myself doing a lot of cleaning, going with my folks to do errands, and getting a lot of Photoshop work done.
The hardest thing for me though was not watching TV. This was because its almost second nature to me. I'll be talking to someone like my Mom or my sister and I'll just start staring at the TV, completely unaware of it until someone turns it off. I got my folks in on this and they just adore C**kblocking me every time I get close to the TV.
The second hardest thing for me to do was to not get on the internet for random shenanigans. I usually don't do much of anything on the internet other than look for video game mods (Yes, I am THAT nerdy! I REGRET NOTHING! NOTHING!!! MWAHAHAHAHAHAH~!!!).
I guess all in all, I just found other things to do.
Oh no, i think my parent's washing machine just broke (literally, no innuendos... if there are even any for that.) Tomorrow shall be an eventful day as well!
Oh yeah and this whole blogging thing made me feel old. I spent like ten minutes trying to figure out how to post. But no longer! I have unlocked its secrets and hold the power to torture people with my random and meaningless daily tasks!
Day 1
Friday was pretty easy as far as staying away from certain devices such as a television or a computer. I drove out to my girlfriend's parent's ranch to do some deer hunting and drink a little beer. About half way there I realized that I was listening to the radio, and that I was not supposed to be doing so; I am a creature of habit, and listening to the radio while driving is like second nature to me. Once I got to the ranch, we added corn to our feeder, moved our blind, and cut down some branches that were obstructing our view. After all the hard work was done we started a fire and stood around it guzzling beer after beer. There really wasn't too much on the mind except getting a little "R and R." I wasn't thinking about school, bills, or any of the negative things in my life-- which made this project a lot easier; it was really strange that not one person thought to turn the radio on and blast the anthems of the South like "Sweet Home Alabama," (thank Christ) or the Allman Brothers Band's "Midnight Rider." usually after about a six pack someone wants to crank the radio and continue down the glory road to inebriation.
Saturday morning the alarm went of at 5:30, so I shed my skin from the night before and took a quick shower to wake up a bit. I finally got the rest of the guys moving and we were in the blind by 6:15; it was one of the coldest mornings that I have felt in this part of Texas in a long time; The thermometer read 23 degrees in my truck and it felt every bit of that. We decided to call it at 9:15 because our toes hurt from the cold and we hadn't seen s!%t.
DAY ONE!
Yesterday I woke up to go to work. I do not own an alarm clock, so I woke up to the sound of my cell phone alarm. Knowing I had to go to work in the morning, I thought this project was going to be a piece of cake, but boy was I wrong. I usually listen to the radio or my IPod when I get dressed, so that was a bit hard for me; so to pass the time, I started humming to random music in my head. I did happen to take my phone to work. On the way to work was horrible, I like to listen to music while I’m driving, so that drive was pretty quiet. During work, was pretty easy, though there was music playing in the store. On my break, I checked my phone and saw a couple of missed text messages, so it was tempting to text back, but don’t worry I resisted. I usually talk on the phone and call my boyfriend of friends to socialize on my break, but instead I went to go eat with a co- worker. Eating with a co worker made it easier for me to get through my break. On the drive home from after work, I started planning what I was going to do that night. I am a big sports fan; I knew there was going to be good basketball games on television. I already knew who was going to between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Chicago Bulls, but the game I was looking forward to was the Lakers and the Heat. My boyfriend came over to my house to watch the games. When the first game started (Cavilers and Bulls), my boyfriend watched the game in the living room, so I went to my room to study for a final exam I had. Time had passed and I knew the Lakers game was about to start. Hearing the sound of my boyfriend cheering made it difficult to stay in my room and study. After awhile, I gave in and put the game on. It was the fourth quarter. The Lakers had won by a buzzard beater. It was an awesome game, though I knew I had failed. Wow, I had almost made it through the whole day; I was so upset, all because of one basketball game.
Tonight, I have tickets to the spurs game, so I will not be watching it on television. Thank goodness. Today the spurs will play Denver, so it should be a great game. I will let you know how I did tomorrow.
DAY 1
Day one wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. With the help of my boyfriend (I thought), I reluctantly decided that I would go ahead and attempt to deprive myself of the media. I woke up at about noon from a call from my best friend saying she was on her way. I know answering the phone was cheating, but Prof. Lopez said “only if you need to”, and I felt I needed to take the call or else she wouldn’t have came. We had a busy day planned that didn’t consist of using the media, which was a plus for me. She had arrived when I was in the shower, so when I came out of the restroom, the TV was on and she was on the internet, two things I was not allowed to do. Thank God the show was the least bit interesting so I didn’t even bother looking at it. After I finished getting dressed, I went into to the kitchen to reheat the Cajun chicken and shrimp pasta I had made the night before. My two roommates were already in there and had Jaime Fox on, which I can admit I glanced at. Darn. When I was finished with my leftovers, Tenia and I quickly headed out to the bank. That was about 3p.m. Absolutely NO music in my car the whole time! Hence the fact that it has been like that for a month now because my radio/cd player got stolen and I haven’t felt like dishing out money to replace it. Haha. Haha. So I’m kind of used to it now! After the bank, it was shopping time! We first went to Rue 21, and strangely there was no music playing. Then we headed to La Cantera. Music Galore! I loved it! And that was an exception to the rule, right? We stayed at La cantera til about 9pm, which was great. I had gotten thru most of the day with no serious problems! I dropped my best friend at her car, and headed to my boyfriend’s apartment, where the trouble began. He had on Dreamland, which is one of my favorite reality shows, and had me watching youtube, which was also against the rules. May I add that he was doing this on purpose! He was a little flustered because I kept using his minutes to call him everytime he texted me throughout the day. That was my revenge to him trying to sabotage my assignment! I broke down and watched the Heat vs. Lakers game. I couldn’t resist. And I’m so glad I didn’t miss Kobe’s miracle shot! But then, TV off. Light’s out. Time for bed. Better luck tomorrow. Or not.
DAY 1
Ok so this weekend is so totally not the best weekend for this experiment to take place. It all started Thursday night. I had major drama Thursday night with my cousin. Well she did but we are like sisters so her drama is my drama. Anyway, when the only way for me to check on her is to call or text her puts me in a bind. So Friday I woke up at 1pm, an hour before work, need I say. So as I was riding in my car I totally forgot I was not supposed to listen to my music, but when I remembered I turned it off. It wasn't bad, but when my music is off I tend to think a lot more, which might or might not be a good thing. I did not text a lot, actually I barely texted at all. I only texted one person and it was a guy I'm interested in, sorry but I am still a teenage girl. I did good the whole day until it was time for me to come home from work. After work I was not in the best mood so when I got home I got on the computer and got on facebook because that is what I'm used to doing after a not so good day at work and I had on my tv because that is what I fall asleep to. The experiment completely slipped my mind until I turned off my computer and then I thought to myself, " I wasn't even supposed to be on this thing". Well hopefully today will be better, but honestly it's not looking so good.
~TQ~
~TQ~
Dia Uno.
Day 1
What have i gotten myself into? Friday morning started off like any other day. I woke up and tuned into CNN Newsroom completly forgetting the project at hand. Tiger Woods has some explaining to do, I guess that settles whether golfers are athletes or not. About 20 minutes into the news broadcast I remembered about the project. Strike 1. I turned off the television and sat there in silence thinking this was only hour 1, day 1 of what is surely to be the longest weekend of my life. I tried not thinking about it repeating to myself that I can do this. As I sat there, I thought of how i was going to tackle this weekend. My strategy will be to take my time and extend my everyday chores. Patience is virtue, but patience is something I do not posses. I made breakfast for myself and my roomate while explaining to him how I was to be devoid of all media. He laughed and reminded me that this weekend is college football championship week. I just about punched him in the face. After breakfast I picked up my guitar and sat there strumming away. If I can't listen to music then I'll play my own. My roommate goes to the gym everyday so i thought it was the perfect time to join him. We went to Gold's Gym and enrolled after months and months of not having done any kind of exercise so I guess some good will come of this. We must have spent at least 3 1/2 hours in there doing everything from lifting weights to playing basketball. I was really tired after the workout so I showered and took a nap. We went to Hooters at night and sated my hunger and thirst with wings and beer. We sat under a TV and caught the end of the Heat-Lakers game. Man that Kobe is something else. Day 1 went well, but something tells me I'm going to need more beer this weekend.
What have i gotten myself into? Friday morning started off like any other day. I woke up and tuned into CNN Newsroom completly forgetting the project at hand. Tiger Woods has some explaining to do, I guess that settles whether golfers are athletes or not. About 20 minutes into the news broadcast I remembered about the project. Strike 1. I turned off the television and sat there in silence thinking this was only hour 1, day 1 of what is surely to be the longest weekend of my life. I tried not thinking about it repeating to myself that I can do this. As I sat there, I thought of how i was going to tackle this weekend. My strategy will be to take my time and extend my everyday chores. Patience is virtue, but patience is something I do not posses. I made breakfast for myself and my roomate while explaining to him how I was to be devoid of all media. He laughed and reminded me that this weekend is college football championship week. I just about punched him in the face. After breakfast I picked up my guitar and sat there strumming away. If I can't listen to music then I'll play my own. My roommate goes to the gym everyday so i thought it was the perfect time to join him. We went to Gold's Gym and enrolled after months and months of not having done any kind of exercise so I guess some good will come of this. We must have spent at least 3 1/2 hours in there doing everything from lifting weights to playing basketball. I was really tired after the workout so I showered and took a nap. We went to Hooters at night and sated my hunger and thirst with wings and beer. We sat under a TV and caught the end of the Heat-Lakers game. Man that Kobe is something else. Day 1 went well, but something tells me I'm going to need more beer this weekend.
JS3 Presents: Media Deprived Day One
Life is full of challenges. Whether it is something as basic as brushing our teeth or something more involved like a major school/work project, we are constantly asked by life to persevere for the good of our being. During the first day of my media deprivation project, I learned that challenges are only worthy and accomplished based on the meaning we give them. I learned this only after going through inner-conflicts, a psychological change, and finally by justifying the means with the end result. I would say the message first sunk in at the sound of, well, the sound of silence.
When I awoke this morning it was to white screens and an endless hall, where the silence echoed so loudly it was deafening. At the breakfast table, the reality of this media apocalypse incarnate sank in. As my son and I ate breakfast, the television still played in the background, but it was morning cartoons instead of news. The trip to his daycare that followed seemed a bit longer without any music to accompany us. Fortunately, I managed through these media-less parental duties with relative ease, but the real test was yet to come.
The most difficult part of my first media deprivation day was my workout routine. On Fridays, I go running for two hours and usually have my iPod to distract my mind, however this Friday that would not be an option. I went through my stretch praying that I would find the power within myself to complete the run without giving into temptation to press that play button. Throughout the run, my mind would drift towards considering playing music but I remained focused on my ultimate goal. Rather than focusing on the media, I gave meaning to my environment and focused on the beauty of nature, the wonderfulness of seeing the first snow flurries of the year, and the amazement at how many people were not wearing jackets or sweaters! Before I knew it, the run was over and I was back instead in the warmth of my home. It felt odd but enlightening to realize that warmth was not coming from a television or laptop but from the energy that was now pulsating through my body.
For the remainder of my day, I observed my son and how media has impacted his life. He could still go about watching his educational shows, playing with his little computer laptop, and free to dance around to the music blaring from his small radio. I wondered if maybe he was growing up too submersed in technology and, if so, was I to blame? However, this evening he did not turn on the TV, ask for his laptop, or turn on his radio. Instead, he brought me his favorite book, some colors, and his favorite toys as if he knew I was on a mission. You may call it coincidence, but I truly feel he could sense my confident, strong state of mind and was feeding off that to become more in tune with me.
Looking back on my day, it was exactly as difficult as I thought it would be, and though it did not play out how I thought it would, I still was able to reach my expected goal of being successful. I was successful because I did not waste any energy focusing on failing or the subconscious “grasp” television, internet, radio, and media in general may have on me. I gave this project the meaning of self-understanding and was able to learn from every experience because of that frame of mind. You see, we always accomplish the things in life we feel we really need to finish, be it a massive project or something as simple as brushing our teeth.
ahhhh DAY ONE!
Day one of our final was so difficult to over come. I can honestly say that i didnt get through the day following all the rules haha.. My day started off by me waking up and NOT being able to check my email which was totally difficult in its self. I had a few missed calls and about seven unread text mesaages so it was very challenging not being able to respond to them. I got ready for school with no music playing which was not as difficult as i thought it would be until i actually got in the car.. the drive to school was like torchure! haha I felt like the biggest moron singing to myself in the car, i never really realized how terrible i was at it. I felt pretty good about myself at this point because i had not "cheated" yet until i got to my history class, my teacher played a film that was terribly boring so i could help but log on to my myspace! As soon as i realized i had zero updates i immidiately logged off, so i guess you could say i half way cheated? haha.. After class i met up with my sister and we went to the mall and on the way over there she turned the radio on, i yelled at her and she turned it off haha. Lets see I felt even better about myself because i turned down a date to the movies, i had been talking about watching Armored all week and finally when the movie comes out our final started! That made me sad! Ok so bed times rolls around and this is usually the time when i "facespace" which is combination of snooping through my facebook and myspace accounts at the same time, and sometimes i'll even tweet but not this time! I found myself starring at my closet until i fell asleep because i had nothing else to do. So finally i got through the day, not as well as i had hoped for but i did way better than expected!
DAY1
Good Afternoon,
Day one of the media deprivation project was much harder then I expected. I woke up Friday morning remembering that the project started and I could no longer listen to music, get on my MySpace, or text message just to text message. I told myself “How am I going to survive!" I got dressed to pure silence because in the morning I usually listen to music to start my day. I was finished getting dressed and it just was not the typical morning for me. I got into my car, the silence was killing me, and the traffic was stressing me out. I hate traffic in the morning, so I guess I experienced road rage. It was very not like me, because I am usually a very calm driver, but not this morning. Driving to work yesterday morning was the worse.
I got to work around 8:30 in the morning; as soon as I arrived at work I was okay. I work at a daycare so I knew that I was not going to be able to follow the guidelines. The kids right away asked “Teacher Ashley can we watch TV?" I could not tell them NO. So we ended up watching TV. I was so relieved in a way, I mean it was not what I usually watch, but it was something. Yesterday was the way I was going to get around the guidelines, considering I am not yet of age to get into a bar to watch games. The rest of the weekend I am going to be suffering.
Hopefully, I will go out and some sort of media. The first day of this project made me realize how much I depend on media in everyday life. The second day is going to be much harder, because it is going to be the weekend. I hope I can make it!
It feels like a "Diet Crash!"
Posting yesterdays blog did not help with my itch to get on Facebook or write e-mails to my friends overseas. Its weird that I actually use the Internet to talk about books I read and to keep in contact with relatives in different states. I guess the Internet makes it very convenient. To make matters worse I received a notice that a friend from 15 years ago has just found me on Facebook and sent an invitation to be my friend. I can not log in to chat and I got really bummed about it. After submitting my post I remember sulking at the computer screen for a good ten minutes wishing I could surf the web. I found myself grumbling out loud about how I felt like I was grounded as an adult. After all, this is exactly what I do to my children when their grades slip or chores don't get done. I take away every source of media entertainment. My emotions toiled with the thought that maybe my punishment is too strict. "Great, Mr.Lopez has me over guessing my parenting!" I mumbled as I walked to my bedroom and flung myself like a child on the bed. I literally stared at the ceiling in a state of sulking until my eleven year old came in to hug me and lend some empathy to my pain. Although, I saw a smirk across his face as he left my room to finish watch his favorite Disney show. Bet he was thinking about the irony of this project. Half an hour later my husband walked through the door and cracked up laughing at my pouting face as I shouted a warning of his teasing after the 72 hours. He didn't feel threatened enough to avoid putting on the retro music videos we dance and sing to on Friday nights. That was my turning point, I caved in when LL cool J's edition of "I need Love" started to play. I found myself wedged between the stair banister's singing along. My position slowly went from the stair to out in the center of the room. Throughout the rest of the night I found myself dancing with my kids and laughing at our battling techniques in the living room. 11:30 came fast and I realized I over indulged. It felt like eating a whole chocolate cake when you have been eating veggies all morning. I couldn't take it back. The only remedy to fix it is to try to start over again the next day! I remember thinking about how I was going to explain my crash on the blog in the morning as I fell asleep. My last thought were about how it felt like a "Diet Crash" but in the form of media entertainment.
Its now Saturday, my children and spouse are home which means today's restrictions will be harder to resist. One of our weekend rituals is to put on the radio in the kitchen as we fix and eat break feast but luckily they didn't notice when the radio wasn't playing. I was starting to plan out today's activities that would allow us to stay away from different forms of media until my husband ruined it. His cell phone rang and a request to play XBox live sent things in motion. However he quickly reminded me that this was my project and not a family project. I realize he is correct. My plan is too knock out two papers due next week for classes. That should involve allot of reading and writing. when I do come out for breaks it usually means I need to play with the kids to make sure they get quality time with me as well. Cooking will take up at least 2 hours. So now I have a preplanned menu for the day sort of like you do when your trying to shed pounds. Hopefully my husband won't try to sabotage my stamina from media tonight as well! That still remains to be determined as the day progresses on.
Its now Saturday, my children and spouse are home which means today's restrictions will be harder to resist. One of our weekend rituals is to put on the radio in the kitchen as we fix and eat break feast but luckily they didn't notice when the radio wasn't playing. I was starting to plan out today's activities that would allow us to stay away from different forms of media until my husband ruined it. His cell phone rang and a request to play XBox live sent things in motion. However he quickly reminded me that this was my project and not a family project. I realize he is correct. My plan is too knock out two papers due next week for classes. That should involve allot of reading and writing. when I do come out for breaks it usually means I need to play with the kids to make sure they get quality time with me as well. Cooking will take up at least 2 hours. So now I have a preplanned menu for the day sort of like you do when your trying to shed pounds. Hopefully my husband won't try to sabotage my stamina from media tonight as well! That still remains to be determined as the day progresses on.
Day one
Day one
So the beginning of my day usually consisted of turning off my alarm, making coffee, and turning on the radio. I get ready to the morning local radio station. The next thing I do is check my face book. Then I get in the car and listen to the radio on my way to school or work. But this morning was different; no radio on this morning, which kind of put me in a bad mood. And on top of that, I was not able to check my face book. I think I’m going to go crazy and its only 8:30 am. It’s going to be a long day. Then I get done with class early and my roommate who was my ride this morning left, to go run an errand. This would have been fine, but I cannot kill time on- line. This weekend my roommate will be gone, it will be me and my six cats all to myself. I did cheat though, I turned on the TV to fall asleep, I tried not too but I gave in. Driving in my car is the worst part I’m so bored. It seems like the ride back and forth from work takes FOREVER! I never thought I was this dependent on the media, but I guess I am. Media as always been a part of my life and its hard not to give in. Glad that I have to work this weekend because, it will kill sometime, never thought I’d say that! All my homework will be done early this week. My house is going to be very clean. I guess is a good thing. I’m coming to realize that much of what makes me happy is raped up in the media. Two more days I can do this!
So the beginning of my day usually consisted of turning off my alarm, making coffee, and turning on the radio. I get ready to the morning local radio station. The next thing I do is check my face book. Then I get in the car and listen to the radio on my way to school or work. But this morning was different; no radio on this morning, which kind of put me in a bad mood. And on top of that, I was not able to check my face book. I think I’m going to go crazy and its only 8:30 am. It’s going to be a long day. Then I get done with class early and my roommate who was my ride this morning left, to go run an errand. This would have been fine, but I cannot kill time on- line. This weekend my roommate will be gone, it will be me and my six cats all to myself. I did cheat though, I turned on the TV to fall asleep, I tried not too but I gave in. Driving in my car is the worst part I’m so bored. It seems like the ride back and forth from work takes FOREVER! I never thought I was this dependent on the media, but I guess I am. Media as always been a part of my life and its hard not to give in. Glad that I have to work this weekend because, it will kill sometime, never thought I’d say that! All my homework will be done early this week. My house is going to be very clean. I guess is a good thing. I’m coming to realize that much of what makes me happy is raped up in the media. Two more days I can do this!
Day 1 : The Beginning...
Already aware of the what implications were to appear for this mass media deprivation project, I decided to prepare before today had actually started. The night before Friday I stayed up until midnight feeding my insatiable hunger for online gaming. I sat glued to my chair soaking up the warm radioactive rays of my monitor screen because I knew I would have to isolate myself from these very things. As the clock struck midnight, I turned off my computer and headed to bed exhausted from the constant state of play beforehand.
I awoke midday in a common haze, taking a few minutes to orientate myself to the environment. Without the pull of my video game addiction, (because I knew I had to resist it) I took a longer amount of time completing mundane tasks. I stood in the shower longer than usual appreciating the heat on that cold afternoon. The timing for this project couldn't have been more impeccable because my wife and I were off to the In-Laws for rehearsal of this Christmas Play we are participating in. I had also brought my school supplies knowing that a couple psychology papers could be accomplished in this spare time as well. After prancing around for this upcoming ballet theatrical show, I decided to set up my studies at the kitchen table. A couple Filipino elders from our non-denominational church were there talking to me about different aspects of our faith. After much deliberation about the wonderful subject, I was finally able to start some of my psychology homework. I managed to complete three solid pages of work without the distraction of my mass media devices. I didn't really see how misplaced I was when technology is always looming in the corners of my psyche. I found a piece of mind tonight. I discovered that there is way to be functional and happy at the same time. No longer clouded with the delusions of joy that my devices portray, I am breaking out of this shell and seeing a whole new world emerge. Again, sleep takes hold of me...
Day 1
This first day was not nearly as bad as I thought it would be. Towards the end, it got very boring but I did not mind considering it allowed me to catch up on sleep. My girlfriend was not very happy with the fact that we were not going to be able to text each other the entire day like we usually do. She goes to school in Corpus, so I was not going to be able to see her, this is why she likes to text and call me during the day. So needless to say, she was not a fan of this project. With this in mind, we stayed up very late talking on the phone Thursday night. We did not end up getting off the phone till close to 5 a.m. I had neither work nor school on Friday so I slept in till 2 p.m. After eating and getting ready for the day the first thing I had to do was pick my younger brother up from school. This was the first time in my car with no music playing. I love music and am pretty much always listening to it when I can. This was a very strange ride for me. I found myself just thinking about anything and everything, being very observant of everything around me. I was very bored but driving very well. I always thought my music would help me concentrate on the road but in reality it probably only distracts me. After getting into my car and hearing the complete silence my brother was confused, since I had not told him about the project yet. To my surprise he was actually okay with it and did not feel the need to turn the radio on or put a CD in. We simply talked. It was good to hear about his day and his plans for the weekend. We usually always have a lot to talk about so it wasn't an awkward or quit ride at all. Since he was not doing anything that night I told him he should come hang out with me. We went to the mall to hang out with my friend Evan. After hanging out with Evan, we then went to my friend George's apartment. This was the only time I used my phone, to make calls in order to make plans with my friend's. I would turn it off other wise. Since I was with my brother it was easy to keep in touch with our parents if they needed to get a hold of us. After hanging out at his place we came home at about 11. Soon after I went to sleep. If I'm able to keep busy the weekend should be easy. My girlfriend is coming into town so I'll spend time with her and I work as well so I look forward to the rest of the weekend.
Day 1
Day 1: Friday Dec 4, 2009
Today was pretty hard. When i first woke up i forgot about the whole project until about 2:00 while i was at the gym and some guy asked what the date was. That was when i realized i had tottally forgotten about the rules. So i put my Ipod back in the locker and finished up my workout. It wasnt too hard because the gym always has music playing. The hardest park was doing my abs becuase i usually listen to fast upbeat muisc, and the radio had at the time been playing a slow love song, wasnt the easyest but i kind of just tuned it out and began to motivate my self by telling myself to just keep pushing through.
After i left the gym i had to call my boyfriend but didnt really talk to him for too long, but he lives in Austin so we talk about seven times a day, so i couldnt really stop that or there would be problems. I did however turn off the radio on the drive home. I found out that driving in the car with no music is so boring, and then i started to just talk to myself out loud of thoughts i had in my head. It was kind of weird, but helpful at the same time.
After i got home and showered, i made myself a little snack and realized i didnt have any cheese, so i went next door to my neighbors house and got some, but then i ended up talking to them about an hour when i realized i was suppose to go to my friends house for dinner before i headed out for work. So i called up my friend Dulce to tell her i was going to be late. During the drive to her house i kept the music off, but i did call my boyfriend again.
After dinner i headed off to work, where i served all night until about 11:30pm. I work at Olive Garden, so of course there is going to be music playing. After a busy yet sucessful night at work i headed home. When i got a call from my parent checking in on me, i talked to my dad for about 15 min. and then arrived at the house.
I ended the night drinking a couple glasses of wine with my boyfriend, and eating wraps and cheese in the living room with fire place lit. The perfect night for a fire it was so cold. I did cheat and watch a 2 hour series of private practice, but fell asleep about half way through, when my boyfriend woke me up to get ready for bed. We pulled my matress out in the living room, and slept the rest of the night away next to the burrning fire.
Today was pretty hard. When i first woke up i forgot about the whole project until about 2:00 while i was at the gym and some guy asked what the date was. That was when i realized i had tottally forgotten about the rules. So i put my Ipod back in the locker and finished up my workout. It wasnt too hard because the gym always has music playing. The hardest park was doing my abs becuase i usually listen to fast upbeat muisc, and the radio had at the time been playing a slow love song, wasnt the easyest but i kind of just tuned it out and began to motivate my self by telling myself to just keep pushing through.
After i left the gym i had to call my boyfriend but didnt really talk to him for too long, but he lives in Austin so we talk about seven times a day, so i couldnt really stop that or there would be problems. I did however turn off the radio on the drive home. I found out that driving in the car with no music is so boring, and then i started to just talk to myself out loud of thoughts i had in my head. It was kind of weird, but helpful at the same time.
After i got home and showered, i made myself a little snack and realized i didnt have any cheese, so i went next door to my neighbors house and got some, but then i ended up talking to them about an hour when i realized i was suppose to go to my friends house for dinner before i headed out for work. So i called up my friend Dulce to tell her i was going to be late. During the drive to her house i kept the music off, but i did call my boyfriend again.
After dinner i headed off to work, where i served all night until about 11:30pm. I work at Olive Garden, so of course there is going to be music playing. After a busy yet sucessful night at work i headed home. When i got a call from my parent checking in on me, i talked to my dad for about 15 min. and then arrived at the house.
I ended the night drinking a couple glasses of wine with my boyfriend, and eating wraps and cheese in the living room with fire place lit. The perfect night for a fire it was so cold. I did cheat and watch a 2 hour series of private practice, but fell asleep about half way through, when my boyfriend woke me up to get ready for bed. We pulled my matress out in the living room, and slept the rest of the night away next to the burrning fire.
Day 1 (The Internal Struggle)
It's a beautiful Friday morning, the wind howling at my window and the snow lazily falling on the open fields of my Bandera home. I wake up to see it's 10 o'clock in the morning and I get up to eat some cereal. I pour my bowl of cereal and I sit on the couch. The TV beckons me and I reach for the remote. Then it hits me, I can't watch TV.
The internal struggle begins. I start to question the meaning of existence and the reasons for being alive. But mostly I question Mr. Lopez. " Why would you do this to us?". " Are you some sick kinda monster?" He's probably at home reading these and laughing, watching sports center and listening to smooth jazz over his Ipod speakers.
I then go through the five stages of grief:
1 Denial: " I don't have to do this, no one will know if I cheat a little." I will.
2 Anger: " How could you do this, ahhhhhh?" It takes me a while but I calm down.
3 Bargaining: " What if I don't watch TV all day until Oprah comes on?"
4 Depression: " I can't do this, I can't live this way."
5 Acceptance: " Alright, I can do this."
By the time I'm through with my Internal struggle the clock read 10:05. The fight inside me that seemed to last eternity in actuality only lasted about five minutes. So then I'm left with the question of what I'm gonna do all day.
I decide to sleep for a couple more hours, hoping to waste away the day in a deep dream state. I wake up around 3 and decide to call some friends. I go and hang out with some friends for the rest of the day, and the only media I saw was the TV that was on at my friends house.
Day one was over, and I could sleep happily knowing I survived.
The internal struggle begins. I start to question the meaning of existence and the reasons for being alive. But mostly I question Mr. Lopez. " Why would you do this to us?". " Are you some sick kinda monster?" He's probably at home reading these and laughing, watching sports center and listening to smooth jazz over his Ipod speakers.
I then go through the five stages of grief:
1 Denial: " I don't have to do this, no one will know if I cheat a little." I will.
2 Anger: " How could you do this, ahhhhhh?" It takes me a while but I calm down.
3 Bargaining: " What if I don't watch TV all day until Oprah comes on?"
4 Depression: " I can't do this, I can't live this way."
5 Acceptance: " Alright, I can do this."
By the time I'm through with my Internal struggle the clock read 10:05. The fight inside me that seemed to last eternity in actuality only lasted about five minutes. So then I'm left with the question of what I'm gonna do all day.
I decide to sleep for a couple more hours, hoping to waste away the day in a deep dream state. I wake up around 3 and decide to call some friends. I go and hang out with some friends for the rest of the day, and the only media I saw was the TV that was on at my friends house.
Day one was over, and I could sleep happily knowing I survived.
DAY 1
Well i survived day 1 of the media deprevation. My day started off yesterday at around 7 a.m. My day started off with my alarm clock, but the one on my cell phone. I don't even own an alarm clock and always rely on my cell phone since it's always by my side. I told myself that I would be allowed to use my phone as my alarm, but I really wanted to try and stay away from texting and the constant checking of my phone. So I went to the gym, but it was different from my other workouts, usually i have my ipod on and I just jamm out. This time i didn't listen to music, I have to say I didn't like it, but because I think the music keeps you going. For instance when a fast song is on, I just seem to run faster or push harder on the eliptical. Overall my workout was good but just quiet. After working out I came back to my apartment and was going to shower. I always take my ipod deck into the bathroom and sing my lungs out in the shower ha ha. This was by far the quietest shower ever, my neighbors probably enjoyed the silence. Once I was out of the shower, I got ready and left to go to the grocery store. I have to say that this was probably the hardest part of my day, driving in complete silence. I did however notice that I was so observant of the drivers around me and just paid attention to the road, not my cell phone or not changing the song on my ipod. I couldn't believe I didn't even take my cell phone with me and for me that is a major deal. I noticed when i was shopping people on those stupid blue tooth things, ugh I hate those things. Is it that hard to hold your phone while you talk. I always think those people are talking to me because I don't notice a phone, it makes me feel so stupid. Are we that lazy where it will kill us if we hold the phone for a little bit? After paying, I drove home in silence and carefully paid attention to the roads. I couldn't believe the way some people drive, but I guess I never really noticed because i was looking at my phone, texting back, on my phone, or messing with my ipod. I never really noticed how much of a distraction these things can be when your driving. The rest of my day was pretty easy because I worked from 2 to 12:30. I usually carry my cell phone on my because it's just a habit and just have to text back. I thought I would give it a shot and leave it in my locker for the day. I noticed that i seemed to be more observant of the costumers and finished my department faster. I think we all get caught up with our cell phones, computers, ipods, tv, and whatever other media devices that we lose track of all the other stuff. I thought it would be hard to not get on my computer all day, but it really wasn't. I guess I get on it just to pass time and chat on facebook and look at everyone's status. I now see that we depend on these things because we are so use to them, I think we could learn to deal without some of this stuff it's just matter over mind. We convince ourselves that we can't go a day without our cell phones, but we can. We simply talk or text just to pass time by. I did use my cell phone once, but that was to call my mom. I don't have a house phone and she lives 560 miles away. I needed to ask her an important question, but I did however cut the conversation short. I am not going to lie, I did check my cell phone when I got out of work just to see how many texts I had received and how many calls i missed. Turns out I had 43 unread text messages and 10 missed calls. Sounds rediculous, and i was tempted to read the texts but i simply said no. I am honestly going to try and go all weekend without texting and listening to my ipod. I think those are the two hardest things for me. One day down, two to go!!!!
Day 1
Today was an intesting day. I woke up at around 12pm and promptly turned off all electronic devices. It's amazing how silent a house really is when nothing is on. I'm sure most of the people doing this project went out into the real world do pass the time but unfortuantly I don't have any transportation so I had to stay home all day and listen to complete and utter silence. It was nice at first. I actually cooked my lunch, ate, layed on the couch playing with the cat. And all that was fine and dandy until about 2. At that point I started getting restless. I felt like moving around and being on my feet. I also started getting really hungry again. I ended up laying around in my bed until I got ready and went to work.
The ride to work was awful without the IPod. I actually had to make conversation with my dad. Five minutes away from my work my dad told me to be quiet because I wouldn't stop talking. I've learned so far that without my electronics I have this strong need to talk. I'm not gonna lie. The silence bugs me so I felt this strong need to just start talking about anything that came to mind.
Again I'm not gonna lie...I had a little slip. I had my phone off all day but I had to take it to work with me because at work its like my watch. I got a text from one of my friends and it just went from there. I'm gonna try harder tomorrow not to do that.
This project so far reminds me of when I tried to quit smoking. I used to smoke all the time but for certain reasons I decided to quit. The first month was difficult. I craved one all the time escpecially in stressfull situations and all I thought about was how easy it would be to just reach out and have one. Thankfully I'm not giving up electronics for life.
Thats one day down, two more to go.
45hrs 9min left...
The ride to work was awful without the IPod. I actually had to make conversation with my dad. Five minutes away from my work my dad told me to be quiet because I wouldn't stop talking. I've learned so far that without my electronics I have this strong need to talk. I'm not gonna lie. The silence bugs me so I felt this strong need to just start talking about anything that came to mind.
Again I'm not gonna lie...I had a little slip. I had my phone off all day but I had to take it to work with me because at work its like my watch. I got a text from one of my friends and it just went from there. I'm gonna try harder tomorrow not to do that.
This project so far reminds me of when I tried to quit smoking. I used to smoke all the time but for certain reasons I decided to quit. The first month was difficult. I craved one all the time escpecially in stressfull situations and all I thought about was how easy it would be to just reach out and have one. Thankfully I'm not giving up electronics for life.
Thats one day down, two more to go.
45hrs 9min left...
day 1: to tweet or not to tweet?
Well, today was the big day...My first day without twitter since I joined the fascinating world of tweets...And I have to say, it was tough. Not that it wasn't hard to stop myself from flipping the tv on or playing a movie, or listening to the radio or my favorite holiday cd; and believe me, it was a huge struggle not to log onto facebook, but the simple fact that I couldn't update about what was going on drove me insane.
As soon as I woke up this morning, I posted my last tweet, which updated the other networking profiles I have, and informed the general public about my technological absence for the next seventy-two hours, i also shut off all of the twitter mobile alerts. not having my phone go off every five seconds was surprisingly lonely, ironic in the sense that it was annoying when i first began receiving them, and holding myself back from replying to the numerous texts was rough. i have realized that the largest media influences in my life are: music, texting and twitter (and those networking sites aren't too far behind them).
We'll see how the following days turn out, hopefully it will get easier...well, I can dream right?
I think I'm learning a valuable lesson here though: I can survive without having my phone attached to me, or without tweeting or receiving tweets, or checking facebook every chance I get.
But, just for the record melanie, the withdrawals have already begun...and they're intense.
As soon as I woke up this morning, I posted my last tweet, which updated the other networking profiles I have, and informed the general public about my technological absence for the next seventy-two hours, i also shut off all of the twitter mobile alerts. not having my phone go off every five seconds was surprisingly lonely, ironic in the sense that it was annoying when i first began receiving them, and holding myself back from replying to the numerous texts was rough. i have realized that the largest media influences in my life are: music, texting and twitter (and those networking sites aren't too far behind them).
We'll see how the following days turn out, hopefully it will get easier...well, I can dream right?
I think I'm learning a valuable lesson here though: I can survive without having my phone attached to me, or without tweeting or receiving tweets, or checking facebook every chance I get.
But, just for the record melanie, the withdrawals have already begun...and they're intense.
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