day 3 yay

Sunday the 6th
Well all I can say is THANK GOODNESS this is the last day! Doing this project was challenging for me but at the same time I have learned a lot and I have more time throughout the day. Sunday was not that hard compared to Friday and Saturday. Today I woke up and went to church so I did hear some music. However, after church I was with my family all day which was so nice! So of course I didn’t get on the computer and my little cousin was watching television, so it was on but I wasn’t watching it. I have found that I can do so many other things than just sit somewhere and get on facebook or lie on the couch and watch television! Oh yea… I did forget to say that I did cheat though. Sunday is a big night on television and so I had to watch desperate housewives and brothers and sisters! But I am proud to say that I turned off the television after they were over. I was driving in the truck with my boyfriend and he was jamming out to some song that I didn’t care about and so I said “oh yea I forgot I can’t listen to the radio” and I turned it off. He was not very pleased with that but we laughed about it later. I want to say that this project was very fun and interesting. It is not like any other final which makes it fun! It made me realize that we take things for granted a lot, and when we should just really think about how fortunate we are to have so many things. I have learned that there life without facebook. Also for the future I am going start doing more active things and not so much getting on facebook or watching television so much. Thank you for such a great semester!

day 3

Today was a harder day because I wasnt as busy. I out all day and didnt get home until now, but it was really hard. to not use my cell phone and text. I think texting is my life, I go crazy if I dont have my phone near or around me. But I cheated real bad today, I texted from the time I got out of Com class and im still texting, actually im texting while im writing this blog. I know very bad. But I didnt text too much all this week, even my sister was surprise that phone wasnt attached to me like a crazy person this weekend.
Im actually cheating really bad right now, because the Tv is on, im texting, and music is playing on my computer at this moment. I would never want to do this experiment ever again. It was ok while I was busy, but other than that it is a no no, for me. Never again, Never again

DAY 3

Well the last day is done and over with, and after having finished my first day of finals I can say that it was well worth it. I don't think that I could have studied quite as well with Facebook and Youtube open at the same time, haha.

So all in all, it wasn't too bad of an experience! I got a lot done, had a lot of down time and didn't die without my usual plug-ins. I doubt that I would voluntarily go without any of that again, but it definitely did have it's benefits. I studied better because I was able to devote my focus to studying rather than checking my IM or profile constantly.

I can say that I can probably continue to go without TV. Most of the time when I watch it there's nothing on anyways!

I'm so glad to be able to use my phone leisurely again without feeling like I've broken the rules, haha.

Well what have I learned? I've learned that I can live without my media. All of the things I usually fill up my time with are luxuries and CAN be done away with. Although they can be done away with, I don't think I will. I feel like with so many people on the internet nowadays it can sometimes be the only way to keep in contact with some of my best friends, especially with so many of them all over the country at college.

I learned that Youtube is probably my greatest downfall. Haha, I swear I've gone to bed soooo much earlier without that constant tempation of,"O, it's just a two minute video. Just one more and I'll go to bed." Seriously have been much better rested without it. But once again, I know I'll be right back at it. I guess I could try to curb my viewing, that'd probably help a lot.

In closing, it was a good experience, and with finals still going on I'll probably keep it up all week (to a less extreme degree, of course). Thanks for the opportunity Prof. Lopez.

~Chris

Day 3- Facebook

I do also want to add that one thing I did accomplish was not being on facebook the WHOLE weekend! To be honest, i'm completely tired of facebook and this project was a great excuse not to be on it!! I just checked it and I have 60 unread messages and 56 notifications, not including my messages. I want to just delete them all!!

Day Three

Day three

Out of all the days three was the easiest day. Waking up I didn’t miss listening to music as much as Friday and Saturday. Knowing that tomorrow I would get my media fix helped out so much! The drive to work was not bad however; I was on the phone (this might have been cheating). I was pretty much at work the whole day so I didn’t miss media that much. When I got home from work, and there was no one there so, I ate and went to sleep. I was so happy to know that in the morning I would have everything back. The one thing I hate is not being able to unwind. Coming home and getting on the computer or turning on the TV is how I unwind, from a long day of work and school. I went to bed early both nights because there was nothing to do. This whole experience as been very hard, everything I do seems to be wrapped up in media. Life without media is a lot less distracting, but I a lot less fun! Like everyone I saw thing clearer and did a lot of thinking. I also sang to myself to keep me from going crazy over the silence. I think that maybe we need a little less media in our lives. However, going with no media is not an option. I need a good balance of media. I should maybe turn the TV off when I do my homework, so that I’m giving it my 100 percent. Going without media for three days, has been one of the hardest thing I have ever had to do. I hope I never have to do this again! The last and final day :)

DAY 3- I gave up.

So I completely forgot about the media deprivation assignment today. I stayed in bed until about 1pm today, tired from the night before. I stayed in bed a little while longer and watched The Game, and Everybody Hates Chris. I went to the café and watched the Raiders and the Steelers play, which to me, was a huge loss for the Steelers. After that I watched Year One with my boyfriend, and was You Tubing and talking on the phone for a while. I was also listening to music on Sunday, I played the Wii at Best Buy (I’m great at the Wii), and did lots of other things that were clearly against the rules. Needless to say, I cannot live depriving myself of the media. My life evolves around the media, my major involves the media, and everything I do is surrounded or because of the media. I lost the challenge, and I’m okay with it, although it is quite sad that I could not at least go one day without breaking the rules. Great assignment!

Day three

It's finally the end of the media deprivation project and I am enjoying the comforts of media. I am proud to state that throughout the last couple of days I was able to not use any type of media other than what was necessary through my job and talking to my parents. Sunday was a very productive day in means of studying for my Monday morning final. Staying busy at all times just kept my mind off of all the usual media I regularly use. I did catch myself listening to music as I drove to work but it was strictly out of habit. After five minutes through my drive I did realize what was happening. I have found this particular project very easy sense I was working around twelve hours every day this last weekend. By the time I home, I am too tired to even continue with anything. I did enjoy the silence and me trying to stay busy when I am not working. It just kept me going and left my mind on other things. I missed the football game I have been waiting to see for a few months, and that was the Cowboys versus the Giants. My friends are all huge Cowboys fans and I love when the Giants win seeing as they are my favorite team. I was wondering why all my friends were calling and texting me and I just had to peek at one of the messages. That one text message made my day. As for monday, the first thing I did was turn on my computer and watch the highlights of the games I missed and looked at every text message I missed for the last several days. I missed in all over one hundred text messages fourty five calls, among several myspace and facebook messages and comments. It felt weird having to actually drive to find my friends just to see them for a little bit. I am so used to just using my phone and knowing in seconds. They have told me that this project even sucked for them because they could never get a hold of me and I was never home. Now I somewhat know what it was like before media, and I really think I have begun to take these luxuries for granted because people live like this every day.

Day Three

Finally the last day! Like usual I tried not to watch tv or listen to the radio, but I do have a confession to make. Yesterday, my friend Ralph invited me to go to the movies. I was not going to deny a free movie (especially not "The Blind Side"), so I decided to go. It was a good movie, I cried a few times. In the car we listened to his iPod. I didn't turn it off because then I would have to explain the whole project to him and then he would think that I am weird. When I got home, I really didn't want to fall asleep early so I just had to watch tv. Besides, iCarly was on! It's my favorite Nickelodeon show. The whole weekend I did not text anyone. I did a good job with that rule. Sadly, I was unable to not watch movies or tv. I was also unable to not listen to the radio or my iPod. Last night I broke the "no talking on the phone" rule. My other friend from California thta I haven't talked to in over two months called so I couldn't just ignore his call. Basically, the no texting part was the easiest. Guys would text me and I would simply not reply. It's not like they were my boyfriend or something. If I would have completely commited to the project, then I would have been really bored. The only thing I would have been able to do was sleep and have face to face conversations with people. That is very limiting. I cannot imagine how people entertained themselves back then. When my parents were younger they couldn't afford all the fancy electronics we have now. They said friends would just hang out at usual spots so there was no need for cell phones or iPods. Now I think that it is very important to our generation to have some kind of electronic to entertain ourselves.

DAY 3!

Good afternoon,

I am so glad it is day three! I have been happy to have completed the media deprivation project. I can honestly say this has not been my worst project. It was a lot easier then I had thought it would have been. Although this project was easy I still found Sunday to be the hardest day of the project just knowing I was going to miss football all day. Unfortunately, thank goodness I did not miss much considering the Dallas Cowboys lost to the New York Giants.

Being able to blog about my experience has kind of opened my eyes to blogging. I always thought that blogging would have been boring, but this project has in a way changed my mind. It is actually fun in some sort of strange way ha-ha. Do not mean to offend any bloggers.

This project has taught me that maybe I need to buy an alarm clock to wake me up; because all I use is my phone and these past three days I did not use my phone. Day one I woke up late for work ha-ha. Day two I was late going to my mothers. Day three I almost was late for my final. I had said in day two that I felt that I did not need my phone that bad, well I was wrong I depend on my phone for lots of things such as, alarms, important dates, memos, and keeping in touch is the main one.

I would go crazy if I did not have my phone, or if I was not able to social network. I am not into face book, or twitter, but I am a big MySpace person. Not getting on for three days was tough, but I did it and I am very proud of myself!

I rely on technology so much that I honestly do not think I could function without it.

Day III

My typical Sundays in the fall usually consist of me sitting in front of the tv watching football. The only game I saw on Sunday was the Patriots-Dolphins game which is pretty good for a football aficionado. After the game I did some long overdue cleaning around my place along with some laundry. I would usually do all this while blasting Nine Inch Nails on the radio but I managed to refrain. I did good this weekend about not listening to music, but I don't want to do this again.

The rest of the day consisted of me sitting around around reading a book I had put down a while ago. I love to read everything from history books to magazines but not being able to read magazines was not cool. After that we went to the gym for a workout and ended up staying there for a couple of hours playing basketball. I got back into the gym so something good did come from this project. I caught the days football highlights at Chachos while eating nachos and tacos. I think i found my new favorite restaurant in San Antonio.

All in all this project was fun. That being said, i don't ever want to partake in such a project. I was able to limit my media use but not deprive myself completely. I appreciate all my gadgets that keep me occupied throughout the day but some peace and quiet is also appreciated. I hope everybody made it through the weekend with their sanity intact. I'm out, I got to go clean out my inbox.

Day III

Sweet Media Freedom!

well, last night my family did put up the Christmas tree and we did have music on. Its hard to go against tradition when you have young children. Luckily, I had two papers to complete and it took up the remainder of my night.
I have to admit the feeling of giddiness hit me early this morning because I realized I wouldn't have to restrict myself from sorts of media any longer. That meant I would be able to listen to music and watch TV and search the internet. It almost compares to a kids being able to spend a large sum of money in a candy store in my deprived state of mind. The only draw back would be that my school classes would delay two of the fun choices. I found myself thinking back over the last 72 hours of this project and the shocking truth that was revealed to my inner self. This project made me realize that I an indeed reliant on modern technology and the progress of media. Its hard to swallow the fact that I have tendencies I associated with people I considered to have introvert habits. Many of the social networks have the allure of allowing me to socialize when my schedule allows for it. I can go out to dinner and still catch up with friends all over the globe within the same night. I realize now the thought of resistance to a convenient media seems unrealistic in my own opinion for my life. Communicating with others in class made me feel better that I was not the only one feeling different levels of anxiety or relapse during the 72 hour period. We all seemed to agree that taking away media would make a very interesting reality show. Although that reality show would be the one show I'd never think twice for auditioning for!

Day THREE!!! YAY

I woke up around noon and was awoken by my dad who was telling me of the football scores. I told him that I could not watch the games, but I did have to cheat when the New Orleans Saints played. The game ended with the redskins missing a field goal and then Fox Network cut it off to show the beginning of the Cowboy’s game, so I used my phone to look up the score to find out what happened. I couldn’t resist because the football game was good. I didn’t get anything done during the day cause I was feeling kind of lazy, and I had already done everything I had to do around the house and for school on Friday and Saturday. I had to go to work at 5. The drive to work in silence was fun, so I sang my dance party mix which consisted of Miley Cyrus and he Secret Handshake. It was busier than I thought it was going to be and I talked to a lot of customers about the movies they just saw or what they were going to see. I work near a movie theater so I get a lot of those kind of customers, a lot of them said that "The Blindside" was really good. I got one phone call from my mom and I didn’t call her back cause it was not an emergency. I am proud of myself because I only cheated once to watch that football game which was worth it. With everything said and done I am very pleased with myself. I got a lot of songs stuck in my head that I couldn’t listen to, but I did hear some music through the music player we have at work and now I’ve had enough of Christmas music.

Day 3

Day 3 December 6, 2009

Day three was not so bad. I woke up and had breakfas with Gerardo's family. After breakfas i went and laided down for awhile until everyone was ready for church. On the drive to we didnt listen to music, his parents dont really listen to music in the car in the first place, instead talked about mostly the weather, and mine and Gerardo's trip to Guam.

Mass was really good. The songs were really beautiful and the choir was gave me chills. Im not Cathloic though i am thinking about converting. After church Gerardo his mom and I went to the mall for a little more christmas shopping. After about a few hours and not too much success, though i did get a dress for Gerardo's Christmas party.

After we got home, we went straight to cooking. It was alot of fun, me and Gerardo made some ginger bread cookies and decorated them all cute, and then we made a ginger bread house, and then we baked a cherry coconut cake. His parents made the ham, mash potatoes and veggies. His sister and her family came over and we had alot of fun joking around, we kind of upset his mom with some of the jokes, but im pretty sure she got over it. I hope so anyways.

After dinner we exchanged our gifts. Everyone was really happy with what they got, after opening the gifts it was time to head home for the long drive back to San Antonio. We did really good talking on the way home again, though i did fall asleep and Gerardo turned on the radio, but again he played it very softly.

Over all i think the project wasnt as hard as i thought it would be, though i did break some of the rules. I did realize how much i do rely on technoloy, but i know i do let it control me, and my life.

Day Tre

The damn day three...I woke up at 9:30 showered and played my guitar until 10:50ish walked to the bus stop rode it to Vista dropped off my final then took the bus back home. I walked in my room and played my guitar for the last hour. I pretty sure when I’m done with this I’m going to play my guitar for a few more hours then watch Step-Brothers because I haven’t seen it and we just got it. But I really did like this project! I mean it honestly showed me how pointless text messaging truly is. Also it totally illustrated the concept of detaching from modern day vices. That was the kicker for me I loved it. It’s a sense returning to your roots in a way.just enjoy life for what it has to offer and be okay with it. As much as I tried my hardest to not listen to my music I just couldn’t do it. I apologize for the sake of the project but it only made the detachment of the other media devices more of an introspective learning process. So over all I thought this project was the best utilization of outside the classroom processing to teach a class. Kudos Prof. Lopez

free at last! day 3

I couldnt be any more excited for day three to be over with! My urge to get connected to all of my peers through different forms of media was at its breaking point. haha Thats a little dramatic of me but this task was definitely hard for me to overcome. Sunday was my day off from both work and school so i knew i had to make a plan to get through the final day. I had my P.I.C (partner in crime) stay over night with me that way he could keep me distracted because sundays are always my "lazy surf the web" days. Well we woke up around noon and just sat around the house talking about the night before and just discussing our favorite gangster mob movies haha we eventually decided that blow, american ganster and good fellas were definitely at the top of the list. Anyways we did a little cleaning up then ate some barbacoa my mom bought for us. After that we got ready and headed out to Victor's (my p.i.c) house and i sat there and watched him play call of duty (which i did NOT Participate in). Once we were done there we went to old navy to buy me some boots then headed back home to start making dinner. After dinner we decided to be lame and take a silent drive around downtown to see the lights, which only made us depressed because we realized we needed to amke our realtionship with our "significant others" better before christmas time rolls around haha.. well after that we killed some more time as as soon as 12 am rolled around we couldnt be anymore excited so FINALLY get to log onto my "facespace" and start talking to everyone! We even went over board and started calling people on skype haha! So after we chatted with some friends on skype we picked up another friend and went to eat at taco cabana and i was SO overjoyed because i was listening to the radio FULL BLAST the whole time.. i definitely had media withdraws haha. well this assigment truely opened my eyes to alot of things and i realized that i have already been sucked in to this generation of technology and to get away from it is the most difficult task i ahev been assigned thus far.

Day 3

Day 3 was defiantly the easiest of all the days.
I didn't get home Saturday night, or Sunday morning if you will, until around 4:30. I didn't even wake up the next day until 2 in the afternoon, so the day went by extremely fast.
I didn't have to work, so I was faced with the question of what to do. I didn't feel like going out so I started reading this book called " The Beautiful Miscellaneous," its an OK book, it just started getting interesting. While I was in my room I was tempted by the sound of " Transformers 2" playing in the other room on my gargantuan 65 inch TV equipped with a Bose system, but I managed to refrain.
So most of the day I spent immersed in my room, either playing guitar or reading. The only time I gave in was when I watched ESPN for awhile to see who won, and a couple of minutes of the Vikings game, they got owned, but that was it.
I Think I did pretty good, I only watched TV at my house once during the whole experiment, and I defiantly got out more because of this. So all in all, It wasn't a bad experience,it reminded me of when I lived in Playa Del Carmen, and had no forms of mass media so I would go get in trouble all day.

day 3

So the last day was easy, aside from a little bit of televison. I woke up to my grandpa step grandma three uncles and my unts saying hi to me while iiwas still in bed haha they came to see our new house and had to come to my room first. They came early in the morning and didnt leave till 7.....so wonderful!!! My whole day was spent helping out my mom cook and sitting around with my dad and grandpa bbq (by the way he made some fabulous ribs and steak) I played three games of scrabble and lost each one but i was ok with it because everyone i played with are scrabble champs and know huge words that i cant even pronounce, it was alot of fun though. Staying away from social networks, my phone(which sat in my room all day), music, and movies was pretty easy and fun. I got alot of family time in and getting to know whats going on with them and telling them how life is with me is to me so much better than being involved with everything and everyone else in the world. However i did watch the cowboys game because my dad and brother got me into football so uch now i cant stay away from it, except for the cowboys made me turn it off the last ten mintues because i was upset and just didnt want anymore tv haha but overall i did good my last day and actually enjoyed it.

Day 3

Day 3 at last, I have to say I was looking forward to this day. I could handle the first day, then day two was harder, and day three was even harder. My Sunday consisted of me waking up sick as a dog. I woke up with a horrible sore throat and congestion. I woke up and looked at my phone and had more text messages and missed calls. I gave in and read some of them. After reading my text messages I took a shower and yes it was hard not to listen to music, but I told myself only one more day. I had to go to work so I got ready. I got in my car and my radio was already powered off, I remember thinking I just want to listen to music. I think this was probably one of the hardest parts of the project. I just hate driving in silence. I had the will power and drove without the radio; thank God I don’t live far from my work. Then to top it off they usually play good music at work, but now they are playing Christmas music. I can’t stand Christmas music, I finally get to listen to some type of music and it’s a kind I dislike. I think I would rather deal with the silence ha. When I was at work my phone kept vibrating, and yes I gave in and would check to see who it was. If it was someone that I wanted to talk to, I gave in and read the message and would text back. It was kind of funny because everyone was like are you okay, I haven’t heard from you. Everyone probably thought I dropped off the face of the earth. Although, I am glad this project is over, it really gives you time to yourself. I never noticed how much of my time goes to these media devices, when I could be doing something productive. I actually got to hang out with my family and it was fun. I got a good amount of studying done this weekend and I just had time to think. I didn’t realize how attached I am to my cell phone and ipod till this project.

yay day three!

Now I can finally watch TV without feeling bad. This project made me realize that I depend too much on mass media, television is general. When I watch TV, I usually spend a great deal of time watching many sport games or even ESPN. The athletic games are just so tempting to watch; I like the anticipation of what’s going to happen, or who is going to make a play that is impossible to reenact.


Yesterday I didn’t have too much trouble with the mass media. I spent most of my time studying for my finals, so not using mass media helped out a whole lot. When I woke up, I took a shower and got ready to go eat with my parents and boyfriend. After spending quite some time at the restaurant, we all went back home in time for the Cowboys game (No I did not watch the cowboys game). While they were watching the Cowboys game in the living room, I went to my room to study. After several hours, I ended up taking a break, usually I turn on the TV and start flicking through all channels, but I told my boyfriend that we should go and play some basketball. I hadn’t played basketball in a while so I didn’t start off playing too great. When we were done playing basketball, I went back home to take another shower, and afterwards I continued studying. Sundays are my studying days, so not too much excitement really goes on.

I do not like being deprived of mass media, so I probably wouldn’t go through this again. Now that this project is over I could maybe devote some of my time to outdoors instead of staying glued to the TV for hours.

Day 3

The final day was finally here. I had a long night before so I slept in till about noon. Soon after I got ready and went to see my girlfriend before she had to leave back to Corpus. I have to admit on the way I completely forgot about not being able to listen to the radio and I had it on. Probably because I had such a huge headache so I wasn't really focused on it. After spending some time with my girlfriend I left for work. I worked four to eight, an easy shift. I missed the cowboys game but I was fine with that since I heard they lost. After work and going home this was the most bored I had been the entire weekend. I was so use to being out and doing things I was fine with not having any media. But since it was a Sunday night I had nothing to do after work and wasn't really up for it since I had school the following day. I didn't even have a book to read so I started to read the latest copy of my AP magazine. Though I know I wasn't suppose to read magazines I felt it was a better alternative than to turn the t.v. on. Before going to sleep I called my girlfriend to say good night and that I would finally be able to text her regularly the following day. I went to sleep pretty early since I was so bored and didn't want to give in since I was already nearing the end. Over all I honestly enjoyed the weekend. I was very busy with work and seeing my girlfriend and going out with friends. It made me go out and do stuff rather than just be bored at home.

DAY 3!!!!! At Last!!!

So I lied. Day 3 was super hard, probably because I didn't spend the whole day shopping or working. I did work, just not that much. First I went to the library to do the blogs (without listening to music I might add) then went straight to work. I would also like to point out that I am listening to music right now just because I can!! Ha! I made it through! Yeah, I put down on that paper that I might try depriving myself of media again if the time required it, but thinking back on this weekend, I don't think I'll put myself through that again. It's torture, with a capital "T". Sadly enough though, my Internet is still down so I will have to suffer a bit longer, at least until I move. I think it's a good thing I'm not all madly into gaming like some pointed out. Games seemed to be the most addicting forms of mass media and also seemed to be the hardest to live without for those who were so attached. I know that if I ever told my boyfriend or brother to try and do this project they would die without the games. While I find that having media back in my life is pretty filling, I also realize that I was able to accomplish more than I normally would have this weekend, simply because I didn't have the urge to turn on the telly or surf the web. I was able to actually get a good night's rest and found time to look over exam materials. It also gave me a chance to assess a few things that were up and coming, like moving at the end of this month. So I do believe that in some situations, reducing the amount of time we take consuming our lives with things that get us nowhere is a definite necessity.

Day 3

Finally it was the last day of the media deprivation. I felt so out of touch with what the Internet community must be saying. What was I missing in the Twittersphere? What did all my Facebook friends have to say about Saturday night’s UT football game? It came down to the last second! Did people storm the streets and act all crazy? I wanted so bad to get on my phone or computer and read about it all. I had to tell my girlfriend to stay off the computer because I’d be tempted to look over her shoulder. Let’s get out of the house again! We decided she needed to go to her parents anyway and this would be an excellent opportunity. It’s a long drive to Bastrop in complete silence—especially because those few songs were STILL in my head. I kept humming or whistling the 2 or 3 verses that popped in my head.
At her parents’ house, her brother was home and I really wanted to play a few games with him on the PS3 or Wii, but alas, I am deprived. I tried to get them to play a board game, but no one was up for it. We went to visit her sister who works at a Starbucks, where I decided to write my blog entry and use the Wi-fi there to upload it. Just loading the blog page I was SO tempted to just type a few other internet sites in the address bar, but I restrained myself. We had bought a newspaper for the long drive, but it just didn’t have the same effect. I read a couple of pages, but I still felt out of touch. The long drive back was filled with more silence and more humming and whistling, but this time the Christmas tunes that I tried to ignore from the Starbucks! I spent the rest of the night doing the jigsaw puzzle from the day before, but felt like I was just wasting time, counting the hours until I could check my Twitter and tech news sites again.
In closing, I just want to say: OK I get it! We use media in everything we do. It makes our lives simpler and more efficient, but it also makes us lazy and impatient. We want what we want when we want it.

Day three

Well, it's over now, and on the third day I gave in. I could not resist my 52" tv any longer; I never miss a Cowboy's game, especially on  a Sunday. However, yesterday's game was one that I probably should have. I don't get why we can never beat the Giants in December. Anyway, other than slipping up by having my radio on in my truck while driving out to the ranch, this experiment really was not as hard as I thought it was going to be. Okay, so I watched a little football too, but other than that I was too busy doing other things to get distracted by media devices. A year ago I was enrolled in this same class and the project was 100 hours as opposed to 72. I dropped the class because the teacher did not have a clue, and I didn't agree with her teaching methods. Anyway, long story short, I would not have made it five hours last semester because of my living arrangement.

I think that had I not had hunting this weekend, I would have kept it parked right in front of the television; then again, I wanted to see how far I could get with this project. It forced me to do things that I have been putting off for months. I have been wanting to better my slide guitar playing, but have just been putting it off because it is easier to just sit in front of the tv, or browse the web. I kind of rekindled the love I have for guitar and music, and I'm ready to put together another band (So if anyone knows any good drummers and bass players give me a shout).

Day Two

Yesterday was a little better; I was able to keep myself busy enough. The days stared the same as yesterday, I got up and wanted to turn on music. I’ve come to realize that music puts me in a good mood. Driving to work in the morning feels like forever, and I speed because I want the silence to stop. I grew up in a house with six siblings and noise has become necessary. I need people around or noise. I was looking forward to going to work, because I knew that people would be around and in the break room the TV would be on. I was so happy to be able to watch twenty minutes of TV. It kind of made me feel like an addict. In the past I have gone on fast without TV, it was hard. I have never gone without all media. It is helping me get out more and see friends rather than just leave them a comment on face book or text message. Going without media is helping me get so work done, that I normal would have waited on or spent a little more time studying. Having a friend come over after work helped me to not feel so bored. We went to lunch and shopped, I was a good way to keep my mind off of this assignment. When she left I found myself looking at the computer and the remote control. Not giving into temptations has been the hardest thing. No one is around to watch me and see if I really sick to my goal. I’m so looking forward to Monday so I can check my face book! Two days down and one more to go, let’s see if I’ve got all my hair on Monday.

DAY 3: The End...

This day was the easiest to get through given that I have already started to adapt to not having certain stimulus's bombarding me on a daily basis. I awoke early this morning to attend a church ceremony. I brought along my twelve year old neighbor because is interested in learning about God. I give him credit for wanting to come but he seems to have the attention span of a seven year old. The following sermon was quite delicious and afterward there was a potluck to attend. I had various Filipino dishes to compliment my palate. Tasty. My wife and I had stayed back to teach some more kids about their role in the upcoming Christmas Play.
It took my wife quite some time to train the younglings about their role in this whole masquerade. Many times did she have them repeat the part they were assigned. Something tells me that they will not remember the day of the play but I give her credit trying so hard with the little ones. I haven't thought about technology as this day progressed. I think that once you realize you can live without it, that it no longer has a hold on you like shackles and chains. After practice was over, we made our way off to home. Upon arrival, we both took a nap from exhaustion of constant human interaction. It really does take a toll on you when you are expected to behave a certain way for different people. I awoke a couple of hours later to go help my neighbor with his projects. He had been approved to extend his fence and build a shed. I spent a greater part of the evening conversing with him and his son as we dug holes for fence posts. After we accomplished what needed to be done, I took his son on a four mile run with me. I was very surprised that he ran the whole way with me. I had it in my mind that he would drop like a fly after the second mile. We talked for a bit and then departed our ways. My parents who live in Michigan have been wondering why they haven't heard from me. They understood the circumstances once I told them I was participating in a media deprivation project for my professor.
I have been good about adhering to the rules provided. Really, the only person you are cheating is yourself. I am glad to know that I have more clarity when not clouded by so many distractions of mass media. I do note though that I tend to be more aggressive and easily agitated than normal. I think this may only be a temporary reaction to lack of certain stimulus that I am used to in my life. I also managed to turn in all of the late paperwork I had for my psychology class. Raising the grade from a "C" to an "A." Even though I can live without mass media in my life, I prefer to have it around. I often found myself bored with many real life tasks. Well, I am off to celebrate by playing some video games now that it is two in the morning on Monday. Take care.

Day 3: The Last Day, Thank you Lord : )

I'm so glad this project is over. I have to say I missed myspace and movies the most.
Day 3 was a good day. I more or less behaved in the project.
I woke up at noon, went downstairs, and hung out with the family till about 2pm. Then I came upstairs and closed my eyes for about an hour then got ready and went to work.
Work went by alittle slower then it has the past couple of days. I think its cause I couldn't wait to come home at midnight and turn on the tv.
It's sad isn't it. I could not wait to come home and detach myself from life to zone out in front of the television. I guess thats normal for my generation. It's how we cope with things.
I don't have really anything interesting to report in this blog.
All I can say is I'm glad it's over. I'm never gonna look at my media the same, thank you sir, but im glad I did it in certain aspects. I mean without the long hours of tv, when I went to sleep I didnt have those overly detailed nightmares. Without myspace I didn't have to over worry about my friends. Without my movies, I now I have a new appreciation for them. I noticed that while I was at work today. I went into one of the movies and, just, got overly intranced into it. My brain kept spinning wondering about certain aspects and thinking about how I couldn't wait to be apart of that.
I know its werid but...
It's over and I'm glad.
-Melanie

JS3 Presents: Media Deprived Day Three

When I began my first semester of college this year, I had no idea what to expect. I often wondered what lessons would be learned, what relationships would be formed, and where the road less traveled would take me. I met this media deprivation project with the same amount of speculation. I contemplated what this project would mean to my life and what I could learn about myself upon its completion. Now, as a both journeys have come to an end simultaneously, I can clearly see that I have become a much better person for going through the challenges, obstacles, and struggles they brought to my life. This belief would be given no greater proof than the events that occurred on the third and final day of the media deprivation.

By the third day of this media deprivation project, I had adapted routines that made the project’s goal much easier to complete. In the morning I made the usual large Sunday breakfast for my son and me, but rather than turn on his cartoons like before, I brought out my old Calvin and Hobbes comic strip collections and read them aloud to him while pointing at the pictures. He pointed along and paid attention until we finished eating, at which point I set him free to play while I washed dished and did some laundry. Every so often he would point to the TV as if to ask why it was not on, but I explained to him for the 100th time that daddy was in the middle of very important school work and that he could help me by cleaning with me or finding a fun game for us to play. While you wouldn’t expect a toddler to understand a conversation like that, he seemed to choose “fun” as he pushed me out of the kitchen and towards his toys.

For the rest of the day, my son and I played with the various toys he has sprinkled throughout the house and before I knew it the day was coming to a close. First we played with his toy cars, racing them through the hallways as if they were burning rubber on a track. After that, his eyes begged me to chase him down those same “roads” until he grew tired and took a nap, giving me time to complete dinner. I had a big smile on my face as I set it down on the table and heard him wake up, but when I walked over to get him from his room, I was met with a very unfortunate surprise: my son had caught a small fever.

When I walked into the room, I could see a sickly red glow to his cheeks. Worried, I took his temperature to verify what I already instinctively knew. When 99.5 registered on the thermometer, I gave him some medicine, retired his prepared dinner to the refrigerator, and served him chicken soup instead. He paced himself through half a bowl before asking to go lay down. After getting him back to bed, I came back to the dinner table and had a few moments to reflect on not only the last few days, but the last few months of my life. What had I learned about myself?

Since beginning college, I have learned that the toughest things in life are usually the things worth doing if they are necessary for the goals you have in life, and that lesson was amplified by this project. You see, if I did not feel college or school was going to get me where I wanted to be, I would have phoned it in on this project and not given it a second thought. If I felt that completing assignments and getting outstanding grades was worth the time commitment, I would not have even gone through the trouble of applying for financial aid, much less finding an affordable and exceptional daycare for my son and attending class. There were a few times I was uncertain of how I would balance my schedule and overcome the challenge of being a single parent and full time student, much like the way I was uncertain as to how I would get through my workout routines without music. However, in both cases I never thought for a second I would fail at overcoming those obstacles. I knew that what I had to gain from the challenges was worth spending the time and effort to figure out a solution, so I did.

While I am not at the end of my life story, I am definitely at the end of the first chapter. Upon completion of this first chapter, there is one lesson that stands out from the rest because it was not something I set out to learn. You see, dear readers, the most important thing I learned from my journey is that while all good things must come to end, the greatest things in life never leave. The greatest thing in my life is my commitment to gaining knowledge and wisdom, and I have gained new facets of both by going through Professor Lopez’s Media Deprivation Project.

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