Family Interview

Family Interview:
Me: Sahara, do you think your cool?
Sahara: uh, yes. 
Why?
Because I dress really nicely, plus im interested in a variety of things. Also I keep an open mind and try to have a unique and unusual exsperiences. Also a nice personality, I'm funny, not to mention I'm modest.
Haha. What do you think makes a person cool?
What makes a person cool is their personality. If they are confident enough to be themslves and just iteract with people and enjoy life, that makes them cool.
You don't think it has anything to do with image?
I think Image has something to do with it, but an image is only cool if it's a true reflection of the persons personality. People try to adopt other images that everyone else thinks is cool, but thats just conforming. A persons image is part of the way they express themselves.
You have a unique style, is that how you exspress yourself?
Yea
Well personally I love your style a lot
Thank you!
who is the coolest person you know?
I really don't know.
what inspires your clothing?
All my interests, like music and art. Different cultures also help. Literature.


We kind of got off topic after this, plus I ran out of questions.

Street Interviews

Stranger Interviews (all strangers wished not to be photographed):

So for all the interviews, our group had a starter question to get people interested. Larche came up with a really good one that we used in our interviews.

First 2 people we interviewed were Kathy and India from radio shack

Who is cooler, Beyonce or Rihanna?

Kathy: Beyonce, she’s an African American woman who grew up with all racial groups! Rihanna...I don't know about her.

Where you cool in high school?

Kathy: Oh no, I was mainly into sports. I was even on the math team; I was cool when someone needed help with their homework.

India: I was kind of cool. I hung out with the "cool" kids.

Who is the coolest person you know?

Kathy: The coolest person I know is my mother. Who else could raise me and my siblings and still keep it cool and collective? No one.

Any last tips on being cool?

Kathy: Be down to earth; don't care about people’s opinions, and someone who is forward and honest.  Honesty is super cool.

India: Tips on being cool? Open mind to anything. I know your teachers going to turn that around on me, but I don't mean giving into peer pressure, I mean trying things you want to do. Always be opening minded to things you feel comfortable doing.

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Third Interview was with a woman in the park, I forgot her name.

Who is cooler, Beyonce or Rihanna? 

Well Beyonce is too superficial, right now I feel more sympathetic for Rihanna because of the whole Chris Brown thing

Where you cool in high school?

Oh I wasn't cool in high school! Well actually I was more in between cool and uncool

What do you consider being cool?

Originality. If you can pull of your own original style then your cool.

Who is the coolest person you know?

All of my friends! I can't choose one person they are all cool in their own ways.

Do you have tips on being cool?

I don't really have tips but I think it's cool that your class is like, challenging the medias definition of cool. Its like you guys are re-defining it.

Trends in the stories + Comments on 5 people

     Something most of the stories had in them where morals. All the main characters where put in line at the end of the story, thus learning a lesson. In Matt’s story, the psychiatrist tries to explain to his client that she is has so much more to offer then just her looks. She has more value then she is showing, which she begins to realize a bit in the end. Once he has explained this to her, her attitude seemed to change from angry to understanding. Conor’s story also has a message. His main character acts like a total jerk, constantly cracking jokes on others until one girl cant take it anymore. She puts him in his place by telling him the truth, his bad attitude has made everyone in the school dislike him. After hearing this, the main character can’t even come up with a snappy response, he just sits there quietly with a sad expression. In the end, he realizes his snappy comments will no longer get him cheep laughs. He had become the joke now and after seeing how it feels, he learns it doesn’t feel good to be picked on.

    Jessica’s story seemed to be strongly based on morals. All the other stories seemed to include an analysis on what cool looks like, like fashion and how their characters talk. Jessica’s story was more about what it is to act cool which she describes as skipping school and classes. But in the end, her main character gets into academic problems and she realizes that grades are more important then having fun. Morals can also be seen in Larche’s story. The “new” girl has everyones attention on her first day there. She is so use to everyone focusing on her and admiring her fashion sense, but then a newer kid arrives and she suddenly is old news. The “new” girl learns how fast the spot light can be taken off someone, and how bad it feels afterwords. 

    However, Sam’s story to me was really honest since it didn't have a moral. Her main character learned nothing, he just continued to conform to his friends ideas of dressing “cool”. Instead of thinking as an individual, he actually felt bad about looking different and immediately changed his style. Sam’s story shows the true reality of cool, no one learns a lesson about being their own individual, they just continue to conform. 

Dear Conor,

Your story was very interesting, but was the person you where describing yourself or was it just written in first person? I like how it describes the typical “cool” guy, always making jokes and being kind of an ass. I felt that this story was really real and true to life, one thing I didn’t like was that it was so short. I know you can write a longer story that’s even more interesting :)

Dear Matt,

I liked your story a lot. I found it was so creative, I didn’t see anyone else who wrote a play. You made the characters and setting so real, I feel it might have been the best cool’ story I have read when it comes to realism. I love how you get into details, the characters really have their own personalities. One thing to work on was proof reading, that was basically the only problem. You’re a great writer Matt, all your stuff makes me think. Keep up the good work!

Dear Jessica,

Your story had a great message! I like how it wasn’t just all about being cool, it was about living life in moderation. Shaquiqua wanted to be popular, but she started doing it through skipping school. But once she gets into academic problems, she  realizes that she doesn't need to skip school to be "cool" and that grades are more important then popularity.  In the end, she finds a way to balance the two and be cool and get good grades.  I would have liked to see some dialogue in it but other wise this was a good story! 

Dear Larche,

I really enjoyed your story! I really liked the quote  “She looked like she just stepped out of a magazine with her appealing looks. ", it reminded me of when we wrote what "cool" actually means . I wrote about how what we think is cool is heavily influenced through the media and I used magazines that shows what's "in" or "out" as an example, I can just picture your character looking through a magazine foe “cool” looks. I also like how you really explained what made her cool. Her clothing is "crazy" and unique, she has different hair and glasses, and she is exceedingly confidant because of all the attention she is drawing from her peers. There's not much I didn't like, it was a great story all around. Also your character sounds really interesting looking, very creative :)

Dear Sam, 

Your story was short but sweet, it gets the true message of looking "cool". Most people included morals and lessons in their stories but in real life that stuff doesn't happen, your story is something that could actually happen. When people are trying to act cool ,they don't usually learn a lesson that shows them being themselves is okay which is what I liked about your story. Thank you for being honest about "cool". I also like all the comics you post on your blogs,their cute and witty. :) Great story can't wait to see more of your work!

short story

It was a typical morning in Ms. Rune’s math class, everyone struggling to take notes due to lack of sleep. Trying to stay awake, I tune the teacher out as I stair blankly out the window. It’s a dreary morning, light rain and no sun at all. “Joseph.... Kyle.....Bert....” I hear Ms. Rune say until I hear my name. “Yasmin”. I respond, “here” still focusing on the window and without moving. She continues to announce names, her droning voice putting everyone to sleep, until she calls his name. “Adam”. I look around the room, no surprise he isn’t here. 

“Why bother even saying his name” says Demi. “He’s never here, your just wasting time” 

Everyone gives a light snicker, trying to fight off sleep. Ms Rune ignores Demi and continues to call Adam’s name. “Adam...does anyone see Adam.”. As soon as she is about to give up and call another name, everyone is awoken by a loud thud at the door. Everyone turns sharply at the door to see it has been flung open by none other then Adam. Everyone turns back around towards their desks groaning. 

“why the fuck does he even bother going to school” whispers someone in the back of the room. 

Adam can’t hear them over the ridiculously loud rock music coming from his large headphones, originally designed for DJ’s. I watch him walk towards me, my heart still pounding form the loud booming from the door. The rain outside had made the scent of the leather on his jacket more pungent then normal, but It didn’t really bother me. I move my feet off his chair as he take his set. He immediately puts his feet up on the empty chair infront of our table, his black sneakers drip onto the wooden chair and onto the bottom of his faded denim skinny jeans. 

“Are you just getting here Adam?” Says Ms. Rune looking angrily at him.

He doesn’t respond.

“Adam?” She repeats, her tone sharper then the last time.

He just sits there bobbing his head, headphones still blasting. By this time Ms. Rune has lost her patience and gets up to approach him.  By the time she gets to our table, he still hasn’t moved or noticed her. She reaches down and rips his headphones from his ears.

“Adam Garets, where have you been for the last hour!” 

“Can you mind your business and let go of my shit?” He slaps her hand off his headphones, Ms Rune  tries to contain her anger. 

“It is my business as a teacher to know why you are late for my class, now tell me where you've been or I’ll send you to the principles office!”

“Ohhhhhh I’m so scared. Go ahead the sooner you do, the sooner I go back home.”

“May I remind you the next time you get sent to the principles office gets you a 3 day suspension...again?”

Adam’s smug expression is immediately wiped off his face. He gives Ms. Rune a frown and can only respond her threat with “pshhhh”. He takes he takes his headphones off and says “Happy now?”. Ms. Rune continues to stare at him angrily until he removes his hat. His messy black curly hair falls over his face, blocking most of his eyes. He opens his bag and looks through a mess of papers and junk for a notebook. Out drops a pack of cigarettes from his bag, leaving it there until someone notices. 

“Uh hello?” I say “You obviously dropped those”

“Oh really? My bad” He pics them up and opens then, trying to show them off. I roll my eyes and he drops them back in his mess of a backpack. He finally finds a notebook and begins to take notes for a few moments. When the teacher turns her back, he rips a piece of paper out of his notebook and tosses a paper ball at Arin. The paper ball flys through the air, hitting Arin in the back of te head. Arin turns around, frowning at Adam who is pretending to write. His notebook is brand new, nothing ever written in it except a sentence on a few pages.

“Why don’t you actually use that paper for notes?” I say, looking blankly at his weak attempt at entertainment

“Why dont you mind your business?”

“Is that your only come back? Get some new material”

“Pshhhh” He says...again. “What a small vocabulary” I say in my mind “Watching the window is more entertaining then arguing with him”. Arin continues to be pummeled with paper balls, hitting her head and arms several times. She just ignores him. 

“Adam! Cut it out!” Says Mr. Rune “I won’t tell you again”.

“I wasn’t doing anything!” says Adam. Mr. Rune roles her eyes and ignores him.

“Pshhhh, stupid bitch” he whispers under his breath. Mr. Rune turns around immediately, her face is scrunching angrily at him.

“What did you say young man!” she screeched.

“I didn’t say anything”.

“Get up”

“What the hell I didn’t.....”

“GET UP”

He got up and yelled “WHAT!?”

“Pack up your things and go to the principles office, I wont’ let him go easy on you this time ether.”

“I’m not going” laughed Adam, dropping himself back into his chair. “You can’t make me”. The class was awake now, watching the show. Ms. Rune’s pale face was bright as a tomato now, she walked slowly towards his desk clenching her fists. She got to his desk and he looked up at her with a smug look on his face. She snatched up his bag from under his chair. 

“HEY!” he yelled. 

She opened the door, everyone got up from their chairs and ran to the door including Adam, as they watched Ms. Rune take the bag to the front of the downstairs stairs.  She looked down the stairs and dropped the bag, everyone gasping and shouting as the bag went tumbling from the eight floor to the first. 

She walked over to Adam, who was giving her the most disgusting face I had ever seem.

“Why don’t you stop trying to act tuff and actually do something with your life. How many years have you been in the 11th grade. Stop trying to be col and wake up!”

Adam tried to respond, but instead his face when from angry to saddened. So did hers after releasing what she had just done. Everyone watched silently at Adam expecting some outrageous response, but instead Adam slowly walked down the stairs after his bag, with the sound of tearful sniffling of his crushed ego echoing down the corridors. 

What is Cool?

    I feel we all have different ideas on what "cool" is for example,  I feel my views on being cool are totally different from most teenagers. To me, being cool is all about creativity. I'm really interested in art so I think cool is looking unique, which is mainly seen through fashion. I would find someone that was wearing something like a corset cooler then someone wearing a floral dress from Urban Outfitters because the corset is uncommon, as the dress is not. When people follow trends too much, I just see them as a poser because their only dressing like that because thats what's "in". I feel I can connect better to someone dressed unique because their clothing reflects a lot about what they like or what they are interested in.

     However we also have similar views on what is cool. For example, going to parties and getting intoxicated is considered cool to most people, at least it is as a teenager. Such acts are probably considered cool because they are the things we have been told not to do all our lives by authority figures like our parents or the police. Parents are always telling kids that alcohol and drugs are bad. There are also many laws prohibiting "minors" from drinking and prohibiting everyone from doing drugs. Breaking these rules makes us feel free and rebellious and it helps us break away from stuff like the work we get at school.

     Something else a lot of people also consider cool are celebrities, which I think is due to the media. A lot of magazines feature which clothes are “cool” by showing them on celebrities, they even conveniently tell you where to buy them and how much they cost. Its all just for advertising trying to make people buy their merchandise. A lot of trends are influenced from celebrities clothes, tattoos, piercing, etc... For example, lots of stores will label there products that have been worn by celebrities. For example:



      This is a picture of a pair of sunglasses being sold on fredflare.com. The website also includes a picture of Lindsay Lohan wearing the sunglasses. Even if customers don’t like the item, they might buy them because a celebrity is wearing them. Celebrities are heavily admired in our society and many people will buy the things they have to be like them. Even in the book Feed, which takes place in the future, teenagers are still influenced by the media. Through out the whole book, almost everyone is constantly on their feeds getting information on what's “hot” and what's “not”. One of the big things I noticed in the book that the girls are always going off to change their hair styles based on what their feeds say is popular. It just shows that our obsession with the media and looking “cool” is so obvious now, that it is predicted to take place in the future as well.

Homework 13 Feed B

Although the story focuses on Titus and his friends, the author still find ways to sneak secret messages into the book that show that even tough Titus and his friends are happy with the feed, not everyone is. During the beginning of the book, Titus and friends are on the moon in a car and they drive past people protesting the feed, they pay them no mind. "they were protesting all these things, some of them even were protesting the feed. They were shouting, "chip in my head? I'm better off dead!chip in my head? I'm better off dead! " Loga rolled her eyes and was like, "Omigod' page 32. After this they aren't mentioned again. I like how the author includes the other side of the story by including the people who aren't conforming to the feed in the story. However, he only gives undertones of this, I think it's a nice way of showing how most of the population has already gave in and became a part of the feed now.

Another part I enjoyed was when the author shows signs of how nature is dyeing off is during the hospital scene were Titus and Violet are looking out at the dead garden. "Outside the window there was a garden....a long time ago the glass celling over the terrarium had cracked, and so everything was dead, and there was moon dust all over everything out there. Everything is gray" page 62. Titus has no reaction to the dead garden other then its beautiful. What I think the author was trying to show was that nature had been dyeing off due to the excessive technology use.  No one had even cared to replace the flowers that had once been there, They have been dead for years. Nature seems to be losing importance in the feed world.

My last argument is when Titus is looking at an older persons feed post. He writes about a time when Eagles were around and there were forests. This implies that in the feed world, there are no forests. "I remember as the last forest fell...at about that time, we would see hawks and eagles in the cities. People walked outside more, back then. The temperate usually didn't get about a hundred. There were streets in the cities, and eagles flew over them, wobbling without moving their wings.." page 94. This quote indicates many economic problems the feed world has been going through. Obesity seems to be up since it is stated that people get less excursive, global warming rising because the temperate is rising, all the forests are gone and hawks and eagles are extinct. Of cause, Titus pays this no mind and says its just an old mans rants. They do not know how bad their situation is. I think the author slipped this piece in to just the message across that the over run of technology has ruined to economy of this city.

Homework 12 Feed A

     I think the teenagers of Feed take digital addiction to a new level. Today, technology takes over a lot of younger peoples lives in many ways like through T.V, computers, cellphones, I pods, Social networking and etc... but it doesn't make up our whole lives. The kids of Feed are very similar to us but I feel their whole lives are just focused on their feeds. There is a possibility that his book my be a grim glimpse of our future. The feed provides all the things most Americans are interested in today, just in one convenient package . Tidus and his friends literally use their feeds for EVERYTHING, IMing, calling people, watching popular T.V shows, finding out the latest rends and etc...There feeds update them on the latest celebrity gossip, hairstyles, music, basically all updates in recent pop culture.

     Somethings I thought were weird were the effects the feed was having on the characters in the book. One that I found VERY weird was the fact that when Titus's dad came to visit him in the hospital, he talked just like Titus. He was using all the popular slang, he sounded just like one of the teens. "(Titus) How's mom?" "(father) She's like, whoa, she's like so stressed out. This is...dude" he said "Dude, this is some way bad shit" (page 55) I don't see many adults doing this now, my parents do sometimes and they pick it up from me and my sister. I think the result of his fathers weird speech may be from two things. The feed is ether producing so much new slang that the kids are using and now his fathers using it, or his father can go straight to the feed and learn the new slang so he can be "hip". I don't know why but when adults try and say stuff like "mad", it freaks me out which is kind of mean. They should be aloud to say it too, its just that it sounds bad enough coming from a kids mouth it just sounds worse coming from an adults.

     Another thing I noticed is that they all were going into withdrawal when they couldn't use the feed. When Titus is in the hospital, he begins to think of life before the feed and compares the feed several times to vital organs. "I miss the feed. I don't know when they first had feeds. Like maybe, fifty or a hundred years ago. Before that, they had to use their hands and eyes. Computers were all outside our bodies. They carried them around outside them, like if you carried your lungs in a briefcase and opened it to breath" page 47. I think it's very disturbing how Titus is comparing technology to something you need to live. He doesn't need the feed, but because it provides everything for him and its in their brains I'm assuming their all getting addicted to it. He also sounds so lazy saying we had to use our eyes and hands for our todays technology. Why would you ever want to lose ability to use one of your body parts?

     I think both of these elements are elements of tragedy. Human's rely on technology that much were they limit the activity of their EYES? Sight is a gift, I have no idea why you would want to waste it. Also it just seems like all this dependancy on technology is making people dumber. The father talks like he is some 15 year old kid which just makes him look ridiculous. How can you take someone like that seriously when they sound so dumb. Also Titus is complaining about how people had to use their hands to operate things like cellphones and such which just makes him sound so sad because they have taken technology to the next level were its becoming dangerous towards their health. I'm  not saying modern technology now isn't damaging towards health but I'm sure if we had feeds now, the obesity rate would sky rocket. For me, the feed would be something I personally wouldn't want. The feed seems meaningless to me. All the things it provides would not help me in my daily life, it would just slow me down. I could careless about celebrities lives, hair styles or the latest American Music since they have ling lost my interest.

Hw 11

Since this was the first experiment we are doing in class, I decided to take it slow. I chose to start with not using my cell phone for a full day, a task I felt would be easy but turned out to be incredibly hard. Without my phone, I couldn't go anywhere because I couldn't call anyone, not even my family. I also noticed how incredibly addicting my phone is. Once I had put it down I felt tempted to constantly read or send text messages to my friends, it was all I was thinking about. It was disappointing to see how hard the day was for me without my phone. Now that I actually couldn't use it, I felt like I NEEDED it. For me, I think the phone is a form of entertainment especially since mine has a T.V in it (which I didn't know when I bought it and personally think is stupid) and without the phone, I felt board and the day seemed longer. What I find even worse is that when I couldn't depend on my phone for entertainment, I turned to other electronics like my T.V or my computer instead of going outside and being active. Once I had noticed that, I went outside to draw for an hour or so, but unfortunately that wasn't very satisfying. The drawing in the park was very relaxing, I felt great actually going inside and gathering inspiration from actual people and not from images off my computer, but the day wasn't nearly as fun because of the parks location. The park near my house is a beautiful strip full of trees and grass, but its right in between two busy streets that are ALWAYS full of cars. Enjoying my alone time became difficult when all you can hear are the various noises of several cars like them driving, loud music blasting from them, and honking. It just felt like I was surrounded by technology again. This caused me to cut my drawing time short and I ended up back at home watching Television. What I am thinking of doing for my next experiment is a full day outside without any electronics. I want to go somewhere peaceful were I can't hear the loud noises of the city, so I am thinking an all day hike maybe in Inwood park. I really thought that giving up a piece of my technology would bring me closer to nature, which I believe my next experiment can properly provide.

Research on my interests in technology

Something that has interested me for years is do video games really make kids violent? Growing up, I loved fighting games and I would always played against my sister. We would get angry when we lost, but no one ever got violent! We still play them and its been the same way for years. Thats why I think this whole violence and video games thing isn’t true and that is why I choose to research what evidence they have on the subject.

Source: http://www.financialexpress.com/news/Violent-video-games-making--children-aggressive:-study/136114/

Most interesting quote: “Teachers of 600 children aged between 13 and 15, said children who spent more time playing such video games were more hostile than others. They are also more likely to argue with authorities and peers.”

“......However, long-term effects are as yet unclear.”

“Playing games with violent moves such as karate kicks, for example, leads children to use these moves in real life. Another study showed that playing video games using flame-throwers and automatic weapons made them more “mean and angry” afterwards.”

Ok, I think this article was a bad source not only because the article is so short, but because the evidence doesn’t seem reliable. This is why I chose to write about it. I think any real evidence of video games having violent effects on children are inconclusive and that all the information provided on this website is the only evidence any news source has! For the first quote, I feel that the test should have been done on children of younger agers. Now a days, children get into video games quicker so a study of maybe 10-15 would be more appropriate. Also at the young age of 13 through 15, most children argue with authority figures, its just mood swings. The second quote is where I think researchers would get most of their information. For the best results for this experiment, future studies of the gamers violence increasing or decreasing because of video games would be great evidence. If the violence follows them into adulthood, then it should be considered a problem. As for the last quote I think it just sounds stupid. What is their definition of “mean and angry”? Saying the child acted that way after playing video games that  include using weaponry doesn’t explain much about physical violence or really how they responded emotionally. I guess I can also see what they mean though. I like video games, but I am not one of those people who really get into them , like when Chloe mentioned her boyfriends behavior in class. When she said her boyfriend gets so into games that he takes like 5 minutes to reply to her I couldn’t help but laugh because my dad does the same thing. Now if kids get that into video games, then I could see how people are concerned of them adapting violent behaviors. But I don’t think they have strong effects on older people because their brains have already developed. Also it depends on the kind of video games kids play. I don’t play a lot of violent games, maybe thats why I’m not violent.  

Another thing I wonder about is art. I love to draw and some day I wish to be a real artist. I really don’t no what kind or what I’ll do, but I fear my dream won’t come true. Almost all jobs requiring art now involves graphic design which I see as a form of cheating. I’m not saying  design isn’t hard, but its much easier to make something look perfect on photoshop then using paint or professional markers like I use. That sounded cocky and mean, I’m not a great artist but I want my art to be just as respected as one made on a computer. I found a great article about this topic.

Source:http://everything2.com/title/digital+art

interesting quotes: "I'm not blind to the old-fashioned joy of merely pushing paint around nor the need to decorate blank walls. But the rest of the art world has embraced high tech as its weapon of choice in battling the ugliness, indifference, injustice, and hatred in the world, why is it that painting still persists in trying to do so, only to fall flat on its face in elephant dung." 

~ Jim Lane, The Future of Painting

“Assuming we compare two identical works, one created digitally and another painted traditionally, the only difference is the physical presence of the traditional piece and the lack of physicality of the digital piece. Yet this difference seems enough reason for some people to write off digital art entirely. Why? The answer most commonly given is that the viewer feels detached or distanced from the artwork because of its lack of physicality. But is that what makes art? Whether or not you can feel the surface of a canvas? Was the same thought and feeling not invested in the digital piece? Of course it was. To demerit an artist's hard work and thought simply because "I can't touch it" shows both laziness and closed-mindedness in the viewer.”

"If a digital artist chooses to create a limited edition of his or her prints, once the prints have been completed, the file may be destroyed so it may no longer be used to create prints from." 

~ Shelley Eichholz, Whoring in the Art World: The Digital Art Debate

“But what about digital art that is displayed online? It is true, the market for these pieces is virtually non-existent, but since when was a big price-tag a pre-requisite for good art? I think that digital artists who display their work online have purer intentions than most of the art world's big names. Artists who are making art for a living are obviously making art to sell. Online artists make art simply to have it viewed by other people. Their intentions are not sullied by deadlines, curators or gallery conventions.”

I think digital art is kind of a waste. I don’t see how you can connect to your piece when you can’t actually feel yourself working on it. I’ve tried using photoshop and it feels empty using a mouse instead of a pencil or  a brush. I don’t think you can really connect to your work with a mouse. The first quote I totally agree with. Art for me is the escape from reality that most people get from technology. I don’t really see the world as a thing of ugliness, in fact I draw inspiration from it but when Jim says that the new generation has “embraced high tech as its weapon of choice in battling the ugliness, indifference, injustice, and hatred in the world” I couldn’t help but agree with him. Digital art makes something look perfect, I love how in traditional art you can see all the nics, damage, misplaced lines, and all the mistakes it just makes the peace more real. And when he questions “why is it that painting still persists in trying to do so, only to fall flat on its face in elephant dung." I could really connect because it is a sort of sad feeling when people admire digital art more then a painting. There is a website called deviant art a friend of mine showed me and it’s FULL of digital work. I’m one of the few people who has a piece up thats done with traditional tools. 

In the second quote, the author makes me feel bad about ridiculing digital artists. “To demerit an artist's hard work and thought simply because "I can't touch it" shows both laziness and closed-mindedness in the viewer.”. I don’t mean to say that digital artists aren’t really artist, or that their art is to be disrespected. It should be respected, but I don’t think more then a painting. It really depends on how hard someone worked on it. A 10 minute doodle on a drawing tablet shouldn’t be more respected then the something like the Mona Lisa or some of Picasso’s work. But another thing to take into consideration is how much effort and heart the artist put into their work.

This third quote I just found interesting because I don’t know if its true or not. I don’t see why they would have too. I guess its because painters sell their art and don’t have an extra copy for themselves, but then that just feel like there are rules for digital artist. I don’t think any art should have rules. 

The fourth quote really made me think. Maybe most digital artist don’t expect to do this as a living but only as a hobby and a way to make some quick cash. With this in mind, I apologize for saying all the negative things I said about digital artist, especially talented one or ones who are practicing. 

response to video comments

Dear Larche

Haha, yes zombies are entertaining :P first off thank you for all the lovely comments! I like how you actually made me laugh and the comment wasn't just following the abcdef format thing, I know mine sounds like that >< Yea I agree, I should have posted that video it would have fit the project better. And don't feel sad your video was a great example for this project! There was so much to say about yours! What you said about the wii was exactly what I was thinking. People should stop pretending their really working out, my wii fit just makes you do a bunch of stretches and hoping around which isn't much exercise. I basically feel we had the same thoughts in both our posts. We all use unproductive technology and your right It is making us lazy. I use my phone to check the time all the time! Just last week in class I was signing out to the bathroom and I checked my phone for the time and the teacher said why cant you use the class clock? I hadn't even noticed we had one because I use my phone all the time, and the even sadder part is that when I turned to read the clock I couldn't remember how for a split second. It was a personal moment of embarrassment :/ I think something we can both think about it what other parts of our lives do technology make lazy or lazier? Thanks again for the great comment hope you enjoyed mine :)

Video comments

Dear Sam,

I would first like to say I'm sooo sorry for posting this SO late. This is honestly something I thought I had posted before, but I had forgotten my computer crashed before it sent. I'm sorry I jeopardized your own work because of my clumsiness. Now to get to your video, I loved the scenario you filmed yourself in. The whole thing just felt real since you were relaxed and in your PJ’s and in what I assume is your room. The setting just looked comfortable and not awkward because you know the camera is there, I know mine looked that way. 

Your point about advertising was very interesting too. I always felt like advertising didn't effect me, but after reading your post I noticed that advertisements for electronics effect me. I don't know if its just me, but they seem more appealing like the ipod commercials that distract you with cool "hip" music, vibrant colors, and wild dancing. And like the PS3 commercials with the slogan 'it only does everything". Both commercials drew me in because I had liked what I had seen and they weren’t full of cheesy acting and lame jokes, they were just full of excitement. Now I'm kind of embarrassed to say I own both of those things. 

When you had questioned what your day would be like without your phone, I had thought the same thing. After watching a few peoples videos I began to question, why are they so important and would communication be easier without it? I myself use my phone A LOT for texting. So I guess if I didn't have a phone for a day, it would be harder to get in contact with people. How would we be in contact with out phones? Would we have to go find the person we need to see?  

Something I found very interesting about your post was the part about your little sister. I would have liked to hear more about how technology can effect younger children. I had always seen it as a negative effect because I’m always seeing like 7 year old kids on the train using ipods when they could be talking to their parents. But in your sisters case it seems more like a positive effect because your dads trying to make her happy, not block her out.

Your video made me think a lot about how technology can be used positively. Abusing  phones or ipods  has always seemed like a waste of time to me but in your video, The main thing you are doing is reading a book which I feel is a lot more progressive then reading a text. I liked how you mixed technology with actually doing something productive, and It made me think a lot about how I should do the same and not just choosing between the two. Great video, hope to read a lot more of you posts ^^ 

Dear Larche,

I am soooo sorry this post took forever to put up. While posting this, my computer crashed and I had forgotten the comment never sent >< I’m sorry I jeopardized you completing your own homework because I was careless >< But about your video, I liked how honest you were about it. Instead of making a bunch of excuses, you admit you use both your ipod and phone a lot and that for you it's a little escape from reality. I like that you didn't BS your response :P I think one of the main things about your video and something I also noticed about mine is how people get so into technology! When you said "While texting and listening to my ipod was entertaining to me, at the same time for someone watching me it might seem like I'm kind of being hypnotized by the objects in front of me." I just thought Wow! Thats exactly what I was trying to say. I had said zombified but hypnotized describes it way better since your eyes get glued to the screen your focused on. Your video made me think a lot about how a lot of my day is music and phone too. My phone isn't really an escape from reality to me but music is. I usually blast music from my speakers while I do anything boring like homework or cleaning my room because it just makes things a lot easier! Something I notice that my friend and I do is that we both sometimes picture our selves in  a music video for the song we are listening too which is a total escape from the real world. Loved your post can't wait to read the next! 

Q and A part 2; Asking Bestfriend

Asking my best friend (Through IM) Pink is me, orange is my friend who wishes to be anonymous

mk

how many hours do you use your technology (its for hw)

12

lmao 12?

hours

mk and what would you do if you didnt have technology for a day

i know thats just a long time everyone else i asked lied and said like 4

uhhh smoke weeed or chill with friends

i have to put this on a website lmao

ill just put anonymous

lol hang ouwith frind then

oh werdd put annoymous

lol

lol ok but how would you meet up with ur friends if u didnt have a phone

after schol

oh yea llol

Video Project

For this project, I didn't want to do something typical like playing a video game or watching tv so I choose to film myself using a sewing machine. It was something I had taken up during the summer and is now a hobby of mine. I do practice every weekend or whenever I can and since I had time, I chose to practice and film at the same time.

Response to Comments

To Larche,

I like how you really elaborated on my post. Your comments were the most helpful ones that I got because they really made me think about how I could have added more to my post about the issues of technology. Also, your constructive criticism on my piece helped me realize I could have put a lot more into my own post like how you had mentioned the lack of physical activity technology brings upon us. I had only been focusing on one of the issues when you had tackled many of them and had talked about us as a community when I had only been talking about myself. I feel that technology can be so addictive to the point were we can actually become unhealthy because of lack of exercise. When you mentioned on your blog that technology keeps people from basically going outside because they can use the internet for almost anything, I began to question what the future holds for us. Something your blog really had me think about is that we have way to many opportunities on the internet and what kind of effect it will have on us in the future which leads me to believe that we both might question what kind of opportunities will the internet have for us in the future? Since it is already so advanced, is it even possible there will be any major improvements? Thanks for the great comments and advice!

To Kiana,

I really liked how you could connect to my mishap with my phone, it made the comment feel very friendly and personal. The way you had written felt like you had actually taken some time to read what I had wrote and your response just felt like you really had understood what I had gone through, which was comforting :). Your advice about expanding on my ideas was very helpful, especial your advice about how I had started my sentences in my blog. “Also by starting off your sentences with a stronger view point (basically stating your idea in the beginning of the sentence and then going onto explaining it) can be very helpful” This was so helpful! It made me feel as if maybe how I had written my entry was confusing or not interesting which is something I can definitely work on avoiding. The way you extended on my thoughts about being empty without something as silly as your phone had me thinking about how dependent we are on material items. We have become connected to so many material things like credit cards, chargers (for phones, computers, Ipods etc...) our computers and so much more that weren’t needed years ago which leads me to a question I believe both of us would be interested in, if our generation suddenly had to live like a previous generation that didn’t have advanced technology, how do you think we would react? Would we even be able to survive? Although both our blogs were some what personal, yours revolved around not only you but what had been happening to others like when you mentioned a quote someone had said earlier in class. Mine had only focused on one time when I had lost my phone which makes it less interesting. Thanks for the wonderful advice and all the great comments!

To Sam,

I still can’t see your page! Its weird I don’t think anyone else is having this problem.

Q and A

Asking a family member=

Me: How would you spend you day without recreational technology (like ipods, cellphones, computers, ect...)? Would it be more eventful or less? Why?

Raven (cousin): Depends on where you are. If your already around friends or family who you can interact with, then you wouldn't really need technology for entertainment but if you were alone without a form of communication, then it would be boring and difficult to try and meet up with people.

Me: But if you didn't have a phone or im or anything, how would you already be around your friends?

Raven: Well I would see them at school and work.

Me: Oh right, well back to your comment. Would the day be eventful or not?

Raven: Well without technology, it would be less eventful but with technology it would more eventful. Without it, you would do things that would actually involve thinking, activity and face to face interaction. Technology wouldn't be there to distract you from going out and taking chances instead of staying home on the computer or on the phone.

Me: I understand what you are saying, with no technology, things would be less eventful because you wouldn't be doing anything really exciting if you couldn't get incontact with other people.

Raven: Right, there is a limit to how much you can do alone.

Me: Okay so let me restate my sentence, would you achieve more without technology or less?

Raven: You probably would achieve more. Computers are great devices and can help you with a lot but technology can be distracting. Technology can be used for very intellectual things like learning about other cultures but you can also engage in in certain activity less because of technology like reading, writing , going out and actually watching movies and buying CD's instead of illegally downloading them and a lot of other things that people used to do before advanced technology came along.

Responding to Blogs

Larche

Your ideas were spread out well and even. I love how you had so much to say, but kept it short instead of rambling on and on about something. It made your entry very enjoyable to read! You also managed to cover basically everything the internet offers. It really made me think about how I could have  added on to my own post because I had only focused on one issue with technology, when you had shown many sides of it. I also like how you included both negative and positive issues about the internet like you can use the internet for communication and even to become a celebrity, but It could also cause a decrease in face to face interaction and even start an addiction. One thing I would have liked to see was maybe another small paragraph on why you think the technology can be malicious. I think you can make a lot more interesting and entertaining thoughts about your last statement ("The internet for many is also used as an escape from reality and you can become whoever you want while on it.")  keep up the good work!

Kiana

I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one forgetting my phone :P When you mentioned how you sometimes remember your phone instead of house keys, I noticed I do it too and how ridiculous it is. When I forget my phone it's like the end of the world, but I'm okay with forgetting my keys when they are way more important! Maybe technology is making us more forgetful because we rely on it too much. I also liked how you made the post so personal and even used a quote from class. The quote you used from one of your peers really spoke to me. I felt the same way on the first week of school. I have never used blogs to do homework and the whole idea feels alien and wrong to me. It is almost like technology is replacing all the past generations accomplishments which some people seem more attached to because they grew up with it. Overall great post,  I loved how everything you wrote about was about your experiences. It felt very real and I was very easy to connect to , can't wait for your next post :)

Sam,

Unfortunately, Blogger says your blog can not be found which is ridiculous because I can see others have commented on it. I'm sorry I was too late to respond and when the problem is solved, I definitely read your post and give a proper response. Sorry.