Theme 5

There is currently a battle between those behind Facebook and those behind Google, to try and own as much of our internet experience as possible and dominate all of our activity on the web. Facebook does this by tapping into our relationships and encouraging us to use our friends for resource information. One of the main ways they do this is using the "like" button. For the users, it allows them to see what their friends like and relate to their likes and dislikes. Facebook monitizes this because Facebook creates a registry of what all Facebook users like and sell the information to retail partners so that they can find better ways to advertise. Facebook also encourages us to use our friends for resources by creating the status updates. People post questions they want their friends to answer or information they want their friends to know. This creates an almost instant response for those on Facebook.

Google, on the other hand, uses other methods to keep us on their site. Google helps us find information and websites by basing the results on what we have previously viewed on Google. While you shop off of websites from Google, Google will show ad's with relevant products on it, so that you do not have to leave Google's page to search for things. They all monitize their information by grouping together all of the sites people have went on, anonymously, and selling it to other companies so that they can see what people are searching. They do this so that they could better their advertising.

Overall, I think that Google will emerge as dominant when discussing which would make better use of our personal data to "help us" find stuff. Google has every website on the internet available for you with the click of a button. You can find anything you want within a matter of seconds. By using the websites I previously visited as a guideline for the future websites that come up when I press search, helps make the search a little more personal.

However, I think differently when discussing which has the best strategies to hold our attention to the site. I think that Facebook has many more attractions and things to do that would keep us on the site longer than Google. Google is just a search engine and a way to navigate to other sites. Facebook has games, profiles, photos, videos, etc., much more than Google does.

And here's something interesting I found while looking up information...

Facebook makes up 7.07% of web visits, while Google makes up 7.03%. While that it not much of a difference, it still shows that Facebook is more popular than Google!

Are kids different because of digital media?

Theme 4

Herbert Marshall McLuhan is a well-known educator, philosopher, and scholar. One of his most important ideas is the fact that media creates new ways of thinking and new environments. McLuhan also said that media affects out way of thinking. Although this may seem at first like a good thing, it really is not. In fact, certain media has actually affected our thinking, attention span, and memory.

One of McLuhan’s major theories is known as technological determinism. This is the idea that technology determines social changes in our culture and in society. He once said, “We shape out tools, and they in turn, shape us.” Our society is definitely shaped by new technologies. They create new environments our society has never been exposed to before. For example, the introduction of computers and cell phones in the past have greatly affected and changed our culture, both positively and negatively. It changes how we work throughout the day and how we communicate with other people. However, although new technologies like computers and cell phones had their advantages, they have also created problems. One major issue is that it is changing the way we think. Statistics prove that people’s attention span’s and memory have lessened as well. This is because the new technology has allowed for any and all information to be at our fingertips, whenever we need them. The article, “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” by Nicholas Carr, explains these facts. He says that Google is doing the work of the mind. People no longer have to search for information anymore. This, in turn, has made people become less patient and less interested.

Another issue about new technology is how it affects children. Children are now learning in an extremely different way than years ago. This is because kids have become so preoccupied with technologies like phones, computers and video games, that learning is of no importance to them. In the article, “The Children of Cyberspace: Old Fogies By Their 20’s”, Bratt Stone says that children are technologically advancing at such a younger age because of new technologies.

One of the most interesting issues about new technologies is the idea of reading books. In a CBS News article titled “Huge Decline in Book Reading” the author Raksha Shetty says that only 47% of American adults read literature. The reason for this is the rise in television, movies and Internet. She also states that the most drastic decline from a decade ago was young people age 18-24. Only 43% of this group has read any literature, compared to 53% in the last decade. This decline is solely due to electronic media. People have new and more exciting things to pre occupy themselves with now, so why would they want to read a book; something that actually requires effort.

According to Marshall McLuhan, media gages the way we think and communicate. It drives social change. Although these electronic medias are beneficial to our society in many ways, they are also very concerning and detrimental to our learning and ways of thinking.

Theme 3

Almost all of the different technologies there are, are not the same as they were when they first came out. All forms of media change and adapt to the new technologies and innovations that are introduced in society. These different media’s are also transformed by their users. Some examples of “old” media’s that have adapted into new digital forms are television, film, books and radio.

When the first TV came out, not only was it just black and white, but it was very rare for a family to have one in their house. Now, many years later, the picture of TV is far better than black and white. Also, it is not uncommon for a family to have more than three TV’s in their house. TV has made drastic changes in its size and picture quality as the years have gone on, and it is still changing. Television sets have changed physical appearance for convenience of the consumer. Not only is the skinny flat screen easier to display in a room, it is also sleeker and more attractive. TV has also changed by becoming HD. High definition allows for better and more enjoyable viewing. TV has also become digital because of its on demand and online features. On demand is appealing to many people in our culture because we are always in a rush or busy, with no time to sit and watch a show at a certain time. Instead, you just record it for a later day. Or you could get it on the computer for free, whenever you want. Television has changed in a positive way as it became digital.

Another “old” media is film. Film has changed in a very similar way to television. Becoming digital, the picture quality has changed in both movie theatres and on DVD’s. Another major transformation is 3D. This feature is very popular because it is interactive. You feel as if you were in the film with the actors. Also, just like TV, as film became digital, the different ways you watch it have also changed. You can download them from your computer or watch them on your iPhone or iTouch. This allows for convenience, so you could be able to watch the movie anytime you want.

One of the most concerning “old” media’s is a book. As books become digital, they are becoming less and less popular. This is partly because more people have found more interesting things to occupy their time with then reading a book. Reading takes involvement and effort and that is not attractive to most people. Some ways that books have changed is by becoming “e-books” instead of “p-books.” Books have become available on new technologies like the Kindle and the Ipad. These two technologies have full books, like the exact hardcover or paperback book that would be in the library. People can now carry a whole library of books if that’s what they wanted to do.

Lastly, another technology that has changed is radio. Although radio has not made drastic changes, since it began, it still had made some. Listeners now have the opportunity to listen to the radio without listening to commercial, for a free, of course.

I think that no matter how they change, television and film will never die. Although I don’t disagree with the idea that TV and film will not be the same as in years to come, as it is now, I think that people will always be watching their movies and favorite TV shows. Watching a film or the TV is an escape for many people, from the chaos of everyday life and I don’t think that will change. However, I do not feel the same way about books. I think that eventually, in due time, no one will be writing books and nobody will be reading them. I feel that books will only be used in schools, for students to learn and get a better education, but they won’t be read for leisure.

Theme 2

Joshua Meyrowitz, a professor of communications, studied the effects of mass media on people. In his article, “The Separation of Social Space From Physical Place”, Meyrowitz explains that electronic media takes away from the physical location of things. However, it encourages the idea of para-social relationships. This is the idea that people form relationships with other people, usually celebrities, who do not even know they exist. A person who engages themselves in a parasocial relationship, become so involved in that persons life, they begin to think they are close friends, without even ever having a face to face conversation with them. One example of someone engaged in a parasocial relationship is Mary Dyck. Mary was a Kansas farm wife living in the 1930’s. She lived a very isolated life, in a quiet town and was always very lonely. She depended on the soap operas of the FM radio to entertain her daily. These soap operas became her form of escape from the real world. Mary became so attached to the soap operas that she started writing about the characters and what happened on the episodes in her diary, as if they were her real friends. Mary was able to create relationships with these characters, without ever physically being with them.

Another area about parasocial relationships that is more common and well known is Twitter. Twitter is an electronic medium where people update what they are doing at that current moment. These people can “follow” other Twitter users and look at what they are doing at that given moment. Twitter allows people to no longer need physical place setting for social communications. By updating what you are doing at any given moment, you are allowing for the chance of a parasocial relationship. This is because people can see all of what you are going, without you really even knowing who is looking. These people read little pieces of your life, or anyone else’s repeatedly. Eventually it will create your life story and people will become closer to you. It is like the thought of becoming intimate with millions of people. The communication medium Twitter also portrays the idea of ambient awareness. This is being physically near someone and picking up the mood they are in, through the little things they do. However, instead of being physically near the person, you are just viewing their page and are able to see how they are feeling. The thought of people who do not even know you, being able to know whatever you write about yourself, is quite scary. In fact, you can become so connected to people by the updates that you get to know them better than your own family. Because of Twitter and other electronic communication mediums, we have all lost privacy. They allow information to be readily available for anyone at any moment, so long as you write it.

The Simpsons

The Simpsons is a well-known television series that attracts viewers of all ages. It is about a neighborhood of yellow characters who do peculiar and unrealistic things at times, yet also act like regular human beings other times. I think one of the amazing things about this sitcom is that it is completely ridiculous, yet it has been so popular for about twenty years. I think, however, it is because of this that it has become, and still is, so popular. I think the fact that it attracts people of all different ages is another reason why The Simpsons is popular. This is because the animated sitcom includes violence, disgusting acts, sexual references, and just plain old comedy, that is able to attract a young kid, yet also able to attract an older man or woman. The people who watch The Simpsons are also attracted to it because they can sometimes relate to the people. A lot of sitcoms on television are about perfect parents with perfect children, who live in a perfectly clean home. Although these sitcoms are enjoyable, most people in America do not live in a house like that. However, the main family in The Simpsons is a lazy dad who argues with his wife all the time, a child who is a rebel and is always starting problems and another child who is a perfect student. Although this could be seen as an extreme example of families in America, it is more closely related then many other sitcoms. This draws viewers to this animated sitcom. I think another reason that The Simpsons has such a large audience is because it is animated. Although the young people who enjoy The Simpsons might not know very well what is going on, they still enjoy watching yellow characters run around the screen doing violent and vulgar things. I think that older people are also attracted to the animation aspect of the sitcom. This is because no matter how old you are, you always enjoy stupid animation comedy. So, rather than turning on Nickelodeon and watching cartoons, they are able to watch animation with something they can relate to.

In Jason Mittell's piece, "Cartoon Realism", he analyzes The Simpsons and tries to show why The Simpsons is controversial, yet still successful. He says he does this by looking into what the critics say about the sitcom. The genre of any work is defined by the critic. This is because the way a critic talks about any TV show, book, movie, etc. influences the way we think about that piece. This creates the genre for that piece. So, by Mittell analyzing the way critics think, it allows him to have a better understanding of The Simpsons. Critics say, according to Mittell, that The Simpsons is primarily a sitcom and it uses the animation to highlight certain things. I do not agree with this. I think the animation of The Simpsons is what makes the sitcom so entertaining. If it was not an animation, they couldn't do half the things the occurred on the show and therefore would not be where it is today. The animation does not just highlight certain aspects, it creates the whole TV series.

Texts Without Context

1. Digital and social media have had a great impact on our culture. One example that Michiko Kakutani, the author of the article, discusses is the impact of books entering the digital realm. He says how before digital books, book reading allowed the reader to enter a whole other world and escape reality. By books being read digitally, they become more like a magazine or newspaper; you read little parts of it whenever you get a chance. Another impact of social and digital media, according to Kakutani, is the more and more these media's become popular, the less attention span the public has. He says how people have become less interested in "an entire news article, watching an entire television show or listening to an entire speech." Instead people would rather just hear the conclusion or summary and get on with their day. People are no longer interested in the context of certain things that they were once interested in. In the article, Mr. Lanier says that internet has encouraged people to "...be a child forever, without the responsibilities of adulthood." This is because of the fact that internet has no qualities of a physical world, but instead has "playfulness and optimism."

2. According to Cass Sunstein, cyberbalkanization is personalizing your favorite websites, so that you only get the type of news that you are interested in. They do this so that they do not have to read things that do not interest them. It is said in the article that doing this grows consensus and common ground even smaller. I think that this is becoming a trend in our culture. In fact, I even do this myself. On my Google Mail home page, I have set it to have only information I am interested in. I think that people do this because everyone is having less and less patience for everything and come to want everything in a matter of seconds, because of the digital and social media.

3. I think that these trends are bad news for authors, composers, filmmakers and others who compose their own works. I agree with John Updike's idea in the article, when they point out that these trends would eventually lead to the "end of authorship." He also says that these writers and composers would not have the ability to earn a living from their works. Another major issue is that their own recognition from their own creations would be non-existant.

4. Appropriation art is defined in the article as the recycling or re-do's of older works. It also is the remaking of television shows into films, or video games into movies. The rise in appropriation art means a decrease in originality in media. Although I understand the point that the author has, I do not 100% think this is legitimate. This is because, if you know that an old television show or video game was successful and made a lot of money, then you would want to do something similar to that idea. I do not think it is done out of laziness, like they say in the article. I just think that it is done this way because people want to create things they know will succeed.

5. I do not agree with the idea that audience is archaic. I think that no matter what happens with media, it will always have an audience. I do not really understand how William Gibson could say that audience has become archaically passive.

Saw

Ever since I was younger, I have HATED horror films. Not only did they scare me, they also aggravated me; and they still do. I just don't understand how anyone could enjoy being scared out of your mind, seeing people die, or having to watch a movie with your eyes half shut. I mean, seriously, how do you enjoy the full effect of a movie when your sitting there scared of what is going to jump out next? I don't know about you, but I know I would rather watch a movie with my eyes open and a smile on my face. Even though I feel very strongly about horror films, as you can tell, there is a series of horror movies that I feel totally opposite about. A set of movies on my top 10 list of favorite movies is Saw. I know you are probably thinking I am crazy because Saw is an extremely gory and disturbing horror films. I don't know what it is specifically that draws me to these movies, but I absolutely love them. I will say though, I have to watch them more than once, because the first time my hands are covering my eyes pretty much the whole length of the movie. One of the reasons that I enjoy these movies is the puzzle behind it and the connection of the people in the film. It is definitely NOT the gore and torture that the people are put through. I enjoy figuring things out along with the people in the film.

I do not really agree with Parkers idea about the popularity of slasher films during certain periods of our history. I think that all types of slasher films could be popular no matter what is happening in the world. I don't think that a person would go see a movie like Saw, or Texas Chainsaw Massacre, just because we are at war. Slasher films have been and will always be popular because of their disturbing and disgusting nature. People are attracted to them because it is outside of the normal that they experience everyday.

While My Guitar Gently Beeps

I agree with Daniel Radosh, the author of "While My Guitar Gently Beeps", that the Beatles Rock Band game puts the Beatles back in the forefront of the evolution of music. I think this is because by creating a game with there music, they are opening up their fan base to a much younger generation. The kids that are playing the Beatles song's on Rock Band listen and like the Beatles songs they are playing. However, if they didn't play the game, they probably would not download or purchase any of the Beatles songs. When the kids play the Beatles song's on Rock Band, they learn the notes rather than just hearing the song. Because of this, these songs get stuck in their heads and they come to enjoy them.

I think by them having their own game, they are allowing for more success and opportunities. The Beatles Rock Band game also helps with the selling of their albums and songs. In the article, Radosh says that purchases of popular songs from Rock Band on iTunes tripled after they appeared on the game. The Beatles Rock Band game will create nothing but a positive future for the Beatles. I think it was a very good idea for them to join us in mainstream society, so that more people could enjoy their wonderful music.

Pandora Response

Pandora.com is becoming an extremely popular website for music lovers everywhere. Instead of just listing the new and popular songs, allowing you to just listen to thirty seconds of it, like iTunes does; Pandora searches for songs in the same category as the ones you choose in your own playlist. All you need to do is type in a song that you like and press create. In a matter of seconds you have choices of songs that the experts of Pandora categorized with the song you typed in. These music experts categorize songs by analyzing every detail of the song.

According to Rob Walker, the author of the article "The Song Decoders", Pandora "has attracted 35 million listeners and claims about 65,000 new sign-ups a day." The coolest thing about Pandora is that it "ignores the crowd." The goal of the website is not to advertise certain bands and songs, or make hit songs more popular, but instead to focus solely on your interests, the songs you like and want to listen to. I think that this is the reason Pandora is becoming so popular. For once your not listening to songs other people find good, like on the radio or television.

The only down side of Pandora is the fact that it only advertises to iPhone users. Because of this, not as many people know about the wonders of Pandora. If they were to advertise to all people interested in music, (which is pretty much everyone in the world) they would become extremely popular and would change music forever. Pandora could give artists that are not so popular a better chance to become successful. It also allows the listener to expand their music library.

Overall, I think that Pandora will eventually become one of the most popular ways to search for new music. I think that it is brilliant and different. I advise you to check it out now and take advantage of it while its free, because I am sure that will change in only a matter of time!

Twitter Response

When I first heard about Twitter, I thought the idea of it was kind of stupid and pointless. Of course, I never really looked into it; I just assumed. I just did not understand how updating how you were feeling or what you were doing every moment of the day, was entertaining. Most times I feel that my life is so rushed that I barely even realize what I am doing, how would I have time to tell the world about it too? This is how I felt when I first found out we had been assigned to make a Twitter for media. I thought that I was going to have to set a reminder on my phone to remember when to "tweet." But AS ALWAYS, I assumed and I was wrong. I actually enjoy being on Twitter. I don't really use it to vent or say whats on my mind, I just use it to update what I am doing. Even though I really don't think that anyone cares. This may sound weird, but I came to realize that these little updates about my life actually meant something. Every time I updated, it gave me a couple of seconds to take a break and realize what I am doing. It helped me to appreciate the things in my life. I know that sounds really strange, but its true. I always feel that I am rushing everywhere, scrambling to finish something, or just plain stressed. So even though Twitter updates only take a matter of seconds, it slowed me down for those couple of seconds. Anyway, other aspect that I enjoyed about Twitter, was following celebs. Call me a stalker, I don't care, but I love being able to know what my favorite celebs were doing. It is pretty cool. For me, it kind of makes them seem like more of a "real" person and not just a famous celebrity. Twitter also allowed me to sort of enjoy the beginning of the Oscars this weekend. Since I have cablevision and they so rudely decided to turn off the channel, I was not able to watch the beginning of the Oscars. However, since I follow UsWeekly on Twitter, they had minute to minute updates on the Oscars. So, even though I could not watch it, I wasn't totally out of the loop. But, thankfully, channel 7 turned back on halfway through!

I think that Carr is right that Twitter has an enduring attraction. Ever since I started using mine, I have become pretty addicted. It allows for a connection with people that you wouldn't dream of connecting with ever. Twitter fits into Winston's conception of new technologies and society. Twitter did not just fall from the sky. The idea sort of copies Facebook's status updates, and although I am not one hundred percent sure, I am assuming the idea of Twitter came from that. Also, Twitter falls into some of the categories of factors that make a new technology work in society, according to Winston. For example, productive advertising. Twitter has become a good source of advertising for companies. Also, the idea of peers and celebrities having it. If you don't, you feel out of the loop.

Overall, I enjoyed the Twitter assignment. I decided that I am going to keep my Twitter for my own pleasure.

BTW, I hope you enjoyed the SPRING WEATHER we had this week! I know I did. Too bad it is suppose to rain for the next four days :(

Response on articles

I found the articles that I read on the iphone, very interesting. The commercial was very true. In a matter of seconds you can locate you point of interest. The iPhone has made life much easier in some ways.

I'm not understanding one thing from the article, "After China ships out iPhones, smugglers make it a return trip." If the people in China are the ones creating them, why can't they just keep one for themselves before shipping them out, rather then going through all the trouble of smuggling them back to China? I guess it is because they are not aloud. HA. But seriously, I know they can not because it violates a purchase agreement. It is just amusing to me that the people who are manufacturing the iPhone have to actually smuggle them to have one for themselves.

The Geekpedia article by Clayton Christensin, changed my way of thinking about new technology. It never really occurred to me that these new and cool products that are created, are actually just transformations of other products. At first, I thought all products were revolutionary. But apparently I see that I am wrong. All products come from other products, basically.

The article, "The Untold Story: How the iPhone blew up the wireless Industry" by Fred Vogelstein was a very interesting article. I never realized how much work and effort goes into making a new product. It takes many years of hard and perfection to create something so technologically advanced. I have to say I honestly laughed out loud when I read the part that the women was so frustrated and slammed her door so hard that she locked herself inside her office. HAHA, she must have been pretty upset!

I think the people described in the article, "The Cell Refuseniks, an Ever-Shrinking Club" are crazy for not having cell phones. Our world is EVOLVING into one such that it is not possible to be without a cell phone. It has become expected that everyone has a cell phone and should be able to be reached at any time of the day. Even though I find this a little scary, it is the way we have all make this world to be. Although sometimes I wish I could just throw my phone into the ocean and never see it again, I can not imagine living without it. My cell phone is with me every second of every day. It is never in my pocketbook, I might miss a call or a text message. It is sickening but I am attached. These people who do not have cell phones, really need to catch up to the rest of the world!!!

I have not yet read the one by David Carr on Twitter. I will do that tomorrow. Right now I am a little Winston and "media-ed" out. Plus, my friend is on her way so that we can have a much needed girls night, to go see Valentines Day and eat Red Mango!

Ta-Ta, Alissa

Digital Nation

In class on thursday, we watched a report titled, "Digital nation". This was about how technology has effected everyone in the world, both positively and negatively. When technology first came about, it was a very positive addition to the world. Even though it still is today, it is slowly changing into a negative effect to many. This film looks to find a change to technologies negative effects.

I have to say that this film was very interesting. It is amazing how much technology has taken over the world. Yet, I can relate to this very much. Technology has definitely taken over my life. I am attached to my blackberry, so much that, I did not even consider giving it up for my media deprivation weekend. I do not know what I would do without a television and all my favorite tv shows. As a result of my media deprivation weekend, I concluded just how attached I am to Facebook. Lastly, my computer, which is also another addiction and my number one distraction when I am home. Anyway, this film stated that all teenagers think they are good at multi-tasking. Before watching the film, I assumed I was a good multi-tasker because simply, I can do more than one thing at once. It never really occurred to me that I could not do it. But after watching the part of the film where they tested teenagers on multi-tasking, I wondered, Am I really that good at multi-tasking? How does multi-tasking really effect my work in school? The results of the experiment in the video said that teenagers are actually bad multi-taskers. They put in less effort toward what they are doing when they multi-task because there whole mind is not thinking about what subject. Which makes a lot of sense. If you are doing two things at one, your mind needs to split and think about two separate things, so all your effort is not going into your important work.

Another part of the film that I wanted to comment on was the video gaming. I think it is crazy just how addicted people in Japan are to video games. I was shocked when the film said that two people actually died in the video game place from playing too long without proper food and water. I was truly amazed.

Overall, I enjoyed the film, Digital Nation. It opened my eyes to how the world of technology is effecting people and the world itself.

the end of my weekend without facebook.

So...yesterday was the last day without facebook. I went back on it this afternoon for the first time since thursday night. I have never ever had so many notifications before in my history of facebook. It was extremely overwhelming. Part of the fact was because saturday was my birthday! (yay!) So, everyone commented me on that day and i had millions of "happy birthdays." It was really hard that day to not go on, because I was so curious to see who commented me for my birthday! As if I had nothing better to worry about. I truly never knew how addicted I was to facebook. It is actually pathetic and embarrassing. I realized this while at my boyfriends hockey tournament yesterday. I was at the rink all day with him and his mom and every second that I was bored, I picked up my phone to go on facebook. Ofcourse, i did not go on.. I stopped myself. But it was amazing how many times I picked up my phone with a desire to go on facebook. Since I wasnt browsing the latest updates on facebook on my phone, I was conversing more with the people around me, making conversation...and even watching the hockey game. (you know, the whole reason I was there in the first place.) Don't get me wrong I absolutely love hockey and watching the games whenever I go, but sometimes facebook takes my interest. Anyway, I also noticed other things. The time that I spend on facebook the most is right before I go to bed. I am always on the computer chatting with other people, shopping online, listening to music...all while on facebook, right before I go to bed. I had less to do before I go to bed. So, I found myself getting off the computer quicker & going to bed earlier. This was a good thing because I was a little more rested in the morning.

So my whole point in this blog is that stopping myself from not going on facebook for 3 days was a true eye opener. However I hate to say it, but, I don't think I will stop me from going on facebook so often. BUT, it does make me conscious of how many times a day I do go on facebook and how pathetic I really am. LOL. This was definitely an experience that made me realize how connected I have to be to other people at all times. It was interesting!

I just wanted to add- can you believe that its snowing again! UGHHH. I am so sick of the snow and I really just want it to be summer time outside already. I dont know if its just me, but I feel like this winter is taking FOREVER to pass!!! Anyway, back to reality tomorrow.

Goodnight everyone!!

day 1-no facebook.

Hi everyone, it's friday night and I am waiting to go to my boyfriend's hockey game, so I figured I would tell everyone how my first day without facebook went. I have to say it was a lot harder then I expected. I never realized how attached to it that I was. I think it is because it is so easy accessible. I have facebook saved to my bookmarks on my blackberry, so it takes two seconds for me to check it. I am hoping that tomorrow will be a little better. I actually think it is kind of amazing how physically attached myself and almost everyone else in the world is to a silly website. Anyway, I will be back tomorrow to update everyone on facebook-less life.

All about me!

My name is Alissa Longo. I am currently a freshman here at post. I am a math education major, I want to become a middle school math teacher. I live in oceanside and I commute to school everyday. I really want to dorm though, so I hope i can next semester. My birthday is this weekend, the 13th! yay 19! Anyway, i was a gymnast for my whole life, until two years ago when i messed up my knees. Now, i do no physical activity at all. I work at a childrens clothing store, Denny's Childrenswear, as a cashier. I live live live to shop!!! I really think i have a problem though. I have a little pup named Diesel, he is a yorky. He wakes me up every morning with his annoying bark, sometimes i want to hurt him. Just a weird tidbit, my boyfriend has a yorky also, and guess what? his name is diesel too. (no we didnt do it on purpose, they were named before we even met) Strange, huh? So anyway, although this blog thing seems like fun now, i have a feeling its going to be a lot of work in a few weeks. Okay, im going to go now...class is over. bye!

My first blog post!

My first blog post! yay!