the last one

this is my last require blog post. as i am typing this we are currently having a conversation about what would happen if we didnt have our blog posts. and now, paul, you are telling me i have until tomorrow. well im sorry, but im writing this one during class. so there.

and now you told us you like our section more. darn right.

the question is, will i remain in the blogosphere after this class gets out? i cant really say.

i have an embarrassing confession to make, which is that in middle school, i had a blog. and i wrote all my middle school thoughts in it. strange right? so, i am not a stranger to blogging. the things you find out about someone over the course of a semester right?

i guess i'll say thanks. this class was nowhere near as bad as i anticipated. also, i have two 15 page term papers due next week, and refworks is my new best friend. for that, i will be eternally grateful.

bye paul, see you around. [step aerobics maybe?]

sam sadler is the man

no really. i just read his e-mail reminding all of us to be safe on blowout tomorrow, but still encouraging us to have fun. the accidentals sang at his ceremony last week, and it was really cool. proof of how cool? look at this photo of him and my friend kanene:






















he built this city on rock and roll.

[thanks for letting me be a creepy facebook stalker kanene.]

heartaches are cured by the sea

I have been missing virginia beach like is it my job. i love the life i live at the beach more than anything else. at home, everyone knows each other by their first name, we leave our chairs on the beach, because we know we are always coming back soon. the weather is swelteringly hot and the humidity unbearable. I want to ride around in my car with the windows down and yell at the tourists who don't know where they are going. I want to put by bathing suit on and take my shoes off. Williamsburg has taken its toll on me, I'm tired, I'm pale, and I have been without salt and sand for too long. It is time to go home.

home strech

i have four posts left to fulfill my quota for this semester, and as i skipped out on the in previous weeks [for lack of time, not apathy i swear] the final four will be on my "topics of choice."

i choose this photo cartoon. it is tight. as is a all "A Softer World." check em out sometime. www.asofterworld.com

the media hype

well. politics are all about the media. government and public opinion in this country are fueled by that media machine. if you are shocked to find that the government influences the media, you are in for a rude awakening. because suprise, our government is run by humans, who are not entirely perfect. sure, we love to hold our government under the light of the founding fathers and the Declaration of Independence, and the halo of democracy, but we have to admit, there is a certain amount of behavior that is tolerated in the capital which would short circuit those lights. but we as citizens may have to tolerate it if we want to keep the image up in the modern world.

i do not support the current administration. i do not support the war in iraq. i could go on for this whole posts about aspects of the current regime that i have problems with. but, all administrations, even the worst that our country could possibly elect [ahem. drop.], there are certain strategies which need to be employed. control of the media, being one of them. it is not ideal, it is not perfect, but because i cannot provide a solution or alternative to it, i cannot criticize it. i don't support it, but i have to recognize that it happens.

slacker hero

this course hero group makes sense. open resources are not totally irrational to ask for. but it is so unecessary. we are college students. we can learn on our own. god forbid we have to work a little. professors are good people, despite what we as disillusioned youth are predisposed to think. they provide us with a good amount of accessible resources, which are easy to get to. it seems like the course hero group has spouted out of two general ideas: 1) that we as liberal college students feel the need to fight the manand turn everything into a case for the ACLU, that the first amendment
entitles us to whatever we want. and 2) we are getting so lazy that we dont want to work or do research or attend classes where we actually have to pay attention. we want resources handed to us. i mean... the group has its basis on facebook.

lets find a more credible cause people. there are people in the world who have it far worse off than not getting their college education handed to them.

its a carnival get it?

fair use seems like too much laws for a concept that is not entirely concrete. america is an electronic, cyber space nation now. we are all connected by a digital web, which you cannot put boundaries on. and that which you cannot grasp, you cannot regulate. the laws seem obscure, like those writing them don't really know what they are saying. and based on the incident in florida, that seems about correct. for a student to take notes on a professors lecture and it to cross copyright laws? isnt the point of a lecture class for students to take notes? it seems like we are trying to complicate our own lives, because humans feel they need to own everything, even their words and ideas. the study kits look like they should be considered cheating, and handled within the school. not a copyright issue. there is no correct side to this issue, because it shouldnt be an issue. fair use isnt a carnival, its a circus.

goodbye to you

we recently had senior meeting, the last time we would be with all the seniors from alpha chi. there was a slideshow with sentimental music, which was far more emotional than i normally allow myself to be. i have only been part of this group [proper term: sisterhood] for less than a year, but i already know i will love it for life. even after my first week in alpha chi, i knew it was the place where i was supposed to be, which sounds so contrived it makes me want to gag. saying goodbye to heaney was really sad. i was the first one she called off on her list in her senior will, and just hearing her talk about meeting me and knowing me, and how i will have to go on without her was sad. college moves far too quickly, i have learned this now. i have already lost an entire year. this post is far too frightening to continue.

the a-word

abortion is not illegal in the united states. no matter how many people wish it was, no matter that our president opposes it, not matter its religious implications; abortion is not illegal. the government regulates it and therefore the government should provide information on it. our country has yet to relate freedom of speech to the internet, and even more has yet to regulate what can and cannot be said on the internet. therefore, quietly disclosing information on such a topic is unacceptable. it is censorship in the simplest form. the government is failing to provide its citizens with vital information. i thought our country was beyond that. i am not sure how many arguments can be provided for or again such a clean display of censorship.

library music

finals have been driving me crazy. so i have worked out this awesome new playlist to keep me sane. it is about thirty tracks long, so i'll give you a good ten

1) good lovin- grateful dead
2) over the hills and far away -led zepplin
3) woodstock- crosby stills and nash
4) you got the silver- sue tedeschi
5) box of rain- grateful dead
6) louie louie- the kingsmen
7) thunder road- bruce sprinsteen
8) life during wartime- talking heads
9) juicy- notorious BIG
10) box of rain- grateful dead

try it out. not kidding.

loved of old school.

here at william and mary we boast several titles. the worlds second oldest college. the nations second best small public school. we are a "college" that runs with the best of universities and we want to keep it that way. it is common on campus to see us all glued to our laptops. we facebook, blog, e-mail, use listservs, stream content off the web, skype, google, and download with the best of them. but do we have potential for so much more? personally, that doesn't bother me. nor do i really care to pit myself technologically against other schools. because i am not sure that our school wants to boast that we are the most technologically advanced. that we are the most washed out by the glow of our computer screens. that we blog more than we talk to each other. that we can make the most happen without bothering to come into contact with other people. that we see our friends through our computers or phones than we do in real life. that sooner or later, we will be so dependent on our computers that we cannot function without them.

crime is not fashion

it has been an issue for years, downloading music or videos on the internet illegally. it is a problem that exists, but only in a "well that wouldn't happen to me type of way." you hear about the eleven year old in california being sued, but not you, or your roomate, bestfriend, sister.
what is worse, the fact that we as consumers continue to perpetuate this issue, or that the industry continues to do it. creators of utorrent or limewire, or of early napster, or any of those programs new exactly what they were encouragin users to do. is today's world so corrupt and greedy that people will create programs which are the pop-culture definition of illegal? even after the writer of that post admitted she got caught, those commenting back warned her its only "scare tactics" and its "no biggy."

really. we are addicted to downloading music like crack.
its creepy.

but what can i say, i do it. but you know, i can stop any time i want.

it's good to know it isn't just me.

college= privilege. every statistic in that video is relatable. michael wesch capture the american college experience to the t. we take everything for granted. we are paying enough money to support entire villages to sit on our laptops, not pay attention, facebook, and complain about classes in the meantime. we exploit technology for convenience, but slowly, surele, it is taking our lives away. our ability to learn and function. our ability to connect with those around us. are human's getting smarter or lazier? when is the last time you touched someone outside of your family?
when is the last time you worked out a math problem on paper? when is the last time you mailed a letter than wasn't a bill? when was the last time you signed onto the internet?

make the jump to hyperdrive

i am torn between two schools of thought when it comes to changing my computer's interface. my first is that, it would be sweet. there are so many technological advances that are accessible that it seems time to take an innovative leap. on the other hand, i feel like the interface with which we now interact is fine. it seems like some of the ideas are unnecessary. they dont make using the computer any easier, nor do they provide features that the computer could not already provide.

so do we have progress for the sake of progress? or stick to the old idiom "if it aint broke, dont five it?"

digital health

i do not see a practical purpose in my health records being available on the internet. i dont understand why they would need to be veiwable by any person with a free google account, nor why anyone would want to veiw them. if i were a patient at the cleveland clinic i probably would have volunteered if someone could have given me a legitimate reason why i should have. if people need to manage and access their own health information, why not create a specific website just for that, based solely on area or hospital. or, follow steve jobs format, where people can manage them themselves. why publish it all over google? i dont think the excuse that it helps others search ways to manage their own health is reliable either, there are plently of ways to self diagnose on the internet. try webmd.com, its a blast.

honestly, whether or not it is safe, or ethical doesnt bother me... if someone asked me to put my health records on google, or actually anywhere online, i would never be able to think anything more than "why?"

i do what i want

spring break is going to be excellent. saturday toad tripping to longwood with my best friend erin, who i have not seen in ages, and am going to visit my other two best friends, lindsey and emily. and it will be fantastic. and then i am going to the outer banks with my parents for two nights, just to get away from everything. while i am down there i really hope to arrange my first piece of music. hopefully gavin degraw's "dancin shoes" if it goes well i am also hoping to arrange "because the night" and "it had to be you" i worry it will be pretty tough though. im excited to try it out, and im hoping i can mail the files to maria and she can help me out. after that im going to apply for jobs, visit my friends from high school, and sleep. it will be good to be back.

call me paranoid

I hate to get too "big brother," but the concept of wire tapping make me nervous. I feel like right now, even if the government can justify whatever it is doing under the grand headline of "Homeland Security," we are letting them run away with too much power. The Patriot Act alone was a heinous and egregious error on the part of our legislature. They claim to be wire-tapping terrorists and Al-Queda insurgents, but they are using it as an excuse for racial profiling. Luckily for the government, the right and left are too busy blaming and ridiculing each other to step in and actually protect civil liberties. The conflict from within is perpetuating the encroachment of government control.

I sound entirely too paranoid and intense for my actual emotional attachment to the situation. I do not worry about being spied on or bugged [at least for the moment]. So for the sake of light-hearted fun:
http://www.asofterworld.com/index.php?id=274

lunar eclipse

I just had a friend tell me that the lunar eclipse last night influenced the way computers work. I can only come to the conclusion that it is a bold faced lie. If you ever meet Charlie Heyer, you should tell him he is a liar. Just walk up to him on campus and tell him that. Or Facebook friend him, with a little message attached which said "Did the lunar eclipse also affect your ability to be cool?" That was kindof a lame insult, so take your own liberties with the second half of the statement. But don't be too harsh, he only meant to be witty. All in all, it was disappointing to not be able to see the eclipse last night. I hate snow and cold weather, so having sleet instead of the eclipse was as bad a trade as Frank Robinson for Milt Pappas.

the future of the internet.

The internet is the closest thing to infinity we can reach in the modern world. Its possibilities are endless and the entire range of the concept cannot be grasped. Perhaps this is because the internet is controlled behind closed doors, by a certain group of all-powerful business executives, as suggested by Aaron in his article. These closed doors he says, lead to censorship and executive control of something that is supposed to be equally veiwed by all. Aaron also discusses America's poor progress compared with other nation's internet services, and attempts to overhaul the system. Both of these concepts fall short of finding a solution in this article, maybe as a result of the vastness that is the internet. The concept of controlling something that large and flexible seems almost impossible. Whether or not the public or an executive few try to control it, the internet is alway quickly changing and adapting to new concepts and ideas. Why try to control it? The focus should move away from control, censorship, and regulations, and focus solely on advancement of technology in order to better benefit consumers. That is the purpose of a market economy anyway, let's not forget the basis of our country's industry.

little sister.

I have an almost little sister. She is actually my best friends younger sister, but we have been really close for really long and I consider her family. Tonight she won my high schools pageant, the Miss Cox pageant. I'm happy for her because she is kindof a status queen and these things make her really happy and give her the boost in confidence she really needs. Teenage years are tough. I can't say I really support the concept of a beauty pageant, and telling girls who are already stressed about their teenage lifes and have poor self image that they need people's approval in order to succeed. I worry about her. I worry that she spends so much time worrying what other people think of her she will just get stressed out and become unhappy. I'm still proud, but in a way that makes me question what I'm really proud of.