Day 1

I completely messed up m project and started today since I have today and tomorrow off from work, instead of on Saturday. I couldn't figure out a way to get to actually attempt to do the project on the weekend since that is the busiest time at work. I actually don't work at salad creations anymore. I got a new job at Cutco, and I do both sales rep and also PR. On the weekend I do PR which is really awesome, and would be ridiculous to not use my phone since I use my phone all day to call people in for interviews. Now that I am off for two days, I can certainly say this project is beyond difficult. I had so many people all day calling and texting me. To do the project to my best I left my phone at home, which ended up being a really bad idea since I got into an accident at school with a stupid blonde girl. So after the accident issue was resolved I went to my final and ended up being 30 min late. After all the accident drama, I had to break the rules and call my insurance company when i got home, then I had to call my parent to let them know of the situation. After that I decided to keep my phone on me, I just kept it in my purse throughout the day so in case of emergency. Now what was even harder then going without a phone was going without music. The drive in the car was really silent, but it wasn't as hard as I expected it to be to fill the empty space with noise. I just started singing aloud to myself, and talking to myself. I would pretend I had an ear thing on so that way people wouldn't think I'm crazy, but it would be cool if they thought that. So far, today has been sort of successful with the deprivation project.

Day 2

Monday was my last day to go without mass media. Doing this assignment was a lot harder than I thought it was going to be. I love watching television and movies so that was the hardest part of it all. On Monday I started it off by going to the gym, which was really hard because I normally listen to my music when I do my workout. Not being able to listen to my music while doing my work out really messed me up. I felt like I couldn't do anything as long as I normally do. They did have the television going while I was working out, but I couldn't see far enough to read it because the sound was turned off. After the gym I went out to lunch with a few friends and my boyfriend. We then went to fast eddies and played some pool and darts. The easiest part was not being on my Facebook or my phone. I don't really like a lot of people to bother me on my days of anyways so it wasn't hard to not look at my phone. I only answered or check for work calling or my mom calling because she freaks out if I don't answer. After we went to fast eddies we hung out at my house for a little we played cards and relaxed. I saw a few old friends I have not hung out with in a while and they came by to see my cats kittens the rest of the night consisted of hanging out with the cats. I can honestly say I could not give up music for the second day in my car, I drove around a lot and in traffic and I had to have the radio on because if not I get frustrated. Music tends to calm me down. I don't see how we could change up our living standards if we had to go without mass media. Living without mass media or technology for two days makes me happy I didn't grow up without it, things would of been a lot more difficult.

Day 2

I woke up on Sunday at 1 pm . I went to my aunt house because we where having a barbecue. The whole family get together because of the mother day. On my way to my aunt house on the car my mom was listening to the music so there were nothing I could do. When I get to the house my little cousin asked me that if he could borrow my cellphone to play some games. That really help me a lot. I spend more time with my mom. On there I was having a really good time with my family that I really not needed to use my cellphone at all. There were computers on the house but I didn't used I prefered to be on the swimming pool or doing other things. The only mass media that I used that day was the TV. The reason I watched is because my family after we finish to eat they all went to watch a Mexican program that everyone watch it on Mexico. There was a really difficult and weird experience by doing this project. There is going to be always a mass media on our lives. It is really difficult today to be without any mass media. For example if I wouldn't had my cellphone on Saturday I wouldn't hang out with my friend that I hadnt't see it on a while. The mass media that was the most difficult to no use is the phone. It is really necesary for many things.

Day one

The day I started my project was on Saturday.  I woke up at 2 pm that day for two reasons.   The first was that I slept late and the other was I did not srt up the alarm clock.  When I got up, I took a shower and went to my friend's house. It was the first time  I drove without listening to my stereo, and it felt so weird.  My friend asked me why did I not call him and I told him I did not use my cellphone because of the project.  He made fun of me, he could not believe I can live without my cell or stereo.  We made a bet of  20 dollars. It was hard for me at first, but for a while it was ok.  That day was an important game on TV.  My favorite soccer team was in playoffs.  And I had already made plans to watch the game with my friends.  I could not miss it and I broke the rule of watching TV.  We went to a restaurant to watch it. 

With the computer, I did not have any problem.  It was at home, and I only stopped by to take a shower, so I did not use it at all.  Unfortunately, I lost the bet with my friend because that night, I received a call from a friend from Mexico, the reason I answered was because I thought it was something important.  He was in San Antonio and wanted to hang out.  After that call, I noticed it was impossible to be without a cellphone because of emergencies,  I don't know how our parents, lived without them. 

Jessica Flores Day 2

I woke up Saturday morning around the same time I did Friday. Enough time to roll out of bed and get to work on time. This day was a little slower than the day before and I knew I needed something to occupy me that wasn't my phone. I took two books with me to work thinking this was a great time to catch up on some reading. After an hour or so I realized... wait, isn't reading a considered media as well?! I then put down the book I was reading and used this time as an advantage to get some homework done. I tried to execute a "loop hole" so I then started reading my history book that I brought along, but it wasn't easy to keep focus on. Being at work was already boring and trying to read for my history exam as well was a challenge. I kid you not, I found myself reading the same lines over and over and nothing stayed in my head.

I quickly closed the book and just sat in silence for a few minutes. I couldn't wait for the mid person to come in so I had someone to talk to. In the mean time I messed with the toys that had been sitting in the box office from the lost and found.

LOL

They even have names. The one one the left is Stoney and the one on the right is Bob.

Call me a dork but honestly for me, this project was tough to follow.

Anyway... work was work and when I finally got home I had to cook for my love so my mind was occupied. When I waited for him to get home my company I had was the beer in my hand.

Day 2

Today began as my normal routine on a typical workday. As opposed to using my phone for an alarm clock I decide to use my old alarm clock in order to stay away from that from of media. When I was awakened by my alarm I headed downstairs and ate breakfast at the table, No TV, no music, just time to think and talk with my mom. Not watching sports center before I headed to my sports affiliated job was difficult, I might add. As I loaded up for work I placed my phone in my pocket for emergency reasons to follow the guidelines. On my way to work I rolled the windows down as it was a cool morning and just listened to the ways of the road. I must say I enjoy listening to the radio more than the wind but this is all a learning experience, right? It was painful this morning, though. Today I worked from 9:00am to 6:30pm. I work at Team Express which is a business that takes sales orders over the phone and online for various sports teams and individual orders. It is obviously difficult to stay out of the media (phone and computer) in order to complete my job tasks but for today I only used these medias for this purpose only. I usually get on my phone in between calls and on my lunch break and today I had to refrain from doing so (which made for a very boring solo lunch break). Not being able to do anything while I was in between a call or order also made for a very slow day. However, to keep my self busy I went to my truck and removed some homework from my backpack and in between calls I worked on Accounting. Now, I must say, this was a plus to this assignment! As opposed to getting updated on sports and surfing the web and or playing games I got homework done while getting paid! J Not too shabby if you ask me. But, I still like my media!

Day 2

I had good intentions when I woke up Sunday morning because of mother's day and all, but Sunday was actually worse than Saturday. It might have been the combination of being out of town and having no media but I just wanted to get home! I woke up kind of early and got ready, but then after that is was just complete boredom! I honestly slept majority of the day. After I got dressed I went to sit in the living room with no TV and feel asleep. Then I woke up to eat lunch and went back to sleep afterwards. I do not know how long I was asleep but by the time I woke up it was time for us to get ready to go home. I will admit I did cheat on Sunday. I had to send out happy mother's day texts to people and on Facebook. When we finally got home it was really quite for awhile because I could not watch TV in my room and my parents did not turn on their TV till later. I wrote in my journal again that night and I actually read a little bit of a book I like. Overall I think having completely no media make me crabby because I am so bored, but I did realize that there are some things I could cut back on... I do not need to be watching TV all the time and I can go without my phon and Ipod. There are so many other things I should be doing that I do not do because I get so caught up watching Tv or on my phone or on my Ipod. I did not like this project at all and I thought it would go a lot better, but I did learn that media does consume my life and I do need to separate myslef from some of that sometimes.

Day 1

I woke up early Saturday morning but remembered I could not use any media devices so I went back to sleep since I figured I would be bored anyways. When I woke up again later things seemed to be going OK. I ate breakfast with my family and then went upstairs to do my nails. After I finished getting dressed is when the boredom started to kick in. We had planned to go to the movies and then out to eat afterwards but waiting for everyone to get ready made me crabby because I did not have anything to do. I tried hanging out outside for a little bit but there was nothing really to do out there and it was hot so I came back inside. I am not much of a book reader. I really have to be in the mood to read and this weekend was not the reading kind of weekend. So I ended up staying in the living room staring off into space while my family watched TV. I did a lot of thinking this weekend. That is all I really could do since my family was occupied with the TV and when they did talk is was about something they were watching. I felt like a little kid being punished for doing something wrong. I hated it! Luckily we got out of the house for a little bit and I felt normal again, but then once we got home I was back to being bored with nothing to do. I did not cheat on Saturday, except for hearing the TV from the other room and checking the time on my phone but I do not think that really counts. Before I went to bed I wrote in my journal. I actually had a lot to write about, I guess since I did so much thinking the whole day. Day 1 was not too bad I guess...

day 2

on Sunday i went to sleep like at 5 am and didn't use my phone or a computer, because i was not in my house and i didn't need my phone. i was at my friends house just talking with my friends.

then i went to sleep and one of my friends wake me up like at 3 pm so i didn't feel weird or disconnected from the world until i got home i was feeling weird and then i forgot that i needed to do homework for accounting and i needed to do it in the computer so i broke the rules to not fail my class of accounting, at least i didnt use my phone or listen to music meanwhile i was doing the homework. i didnt feel anything because i was too stressed doing the homework.

and i think this project make me realized that i depend on the mass media too much, because im getting use to do everything in my phone and in my computer, and trying to not use them for 48 hours it made my life unbalanced.

Bullet Proof Vets? You have got to be KIDDING ME!!!!

11.8.11

Sunday

Today began the same as yesterday, except i was far more tired. Once at the show I once again decided i would try to avoid my phone at all costs. Unfortunatly, the only two people that I highly dislike had decided to take their lesson kids to this show. I had succesfully avoided them for two days, when I came around corners they were quick to get out of the way and avert their eyes. Yet today, the last day of the show one of them chose to send me an ugly text. Once I read it I quickly responded letting them know that between riding my own 5 year old Warmblood, helping another girl at our barn, helping my trainer prepare for her own tests, and looking after my best friends 2 year old warmblood that I did not have time to deal with her silly nonsense. After the incident I must admit that i borrowed my friends iphone to get online just long enough to block the individuals number so i didnt have to hear from her anymore. I continued through the rest of my day not using and media and conversing with the people and horses around me. After the show we loaded up tack and horses and began our ride home. I had forgotten to change the inspection sticker on the trailer so when i saw the red and blue light show behind me I immediatly let a curse word or two slip in front of the 8 year old that I am a nanny for. I slowly pulled off to the side of the road which is not an easy task on a two lane back road in an older model F-250 pulling a full four horse trailer. The Officer sped around me, and I slowed as i realized that there were 15 or so cop cars blocking off a stretch of road in front of me all obviously pointed at an old rock home that I often admire in Grey Forest. I tried my best to get the trailer under some tree shade so the horses wouldnt over heat as I waited to find out when we would be able to move on. I quickly noticed to 30 or so officers panicked and serious demeanor, I instructed Lauryn (the eight year old girl I am a nanny for) and Bailey (a 16 year old girl that i have known since she was two) to sit down on the floor in the back seat. The moment the girls adjusted themselves on the floor the officers quickly began putting on their bulllet proof vest and in what seemed like seconds all of the officers had their guns pointed up at the home on the hill that was just out of sight. I decided that this situation qualified as emergency so I texted the mother of another girl from our barn that was following us home to get low in their car and texted another trainer whos barn is down the street from our own and told her to take another route home. I would have called them but i decided that explaining "why" to the people I texted would not help stop the crying coming from the little girl in my back seat. The scene continued on and finally a gentleman fromt he fire department came over and helped me turn my trailer around in an area that I would have sworn it couldnt have be done in. After the fiasco of the day i chose to shut off my phone, crawl into bed and try to catch up on sleep. The two days of being cut off from the entire world was refreshing. I was able to focus more on the situation i was in, instead of communicating with people that were not with me. I often wonder if people are really meant to live this way. With the ability to talk to any one anytime without even having to use their voice, instanantly being informed of every tragedy around the world, and access to any information you could possibly fathom on the internet. Today is monday and I have spent my entire day on the computer preparing for finals and listening to music and to be completely honest, I couldnt give up the music but I would trade the internet, social networks, television, constant stream of news, and movies for spending my days outside with people being active, in a heart beat.

Saturday

5.7.11

Saturday-

This media deprevation project just so happened to fall on a weekend that was perfect. Today i was at a high end Horse Show at the Rose Palace in San Antonio so using my computer was not an option. Along with the lack of access to normal media, the conscious effort not to use it allowed me to focus more on the situations at hand. I began my morning at 5:00 being woken up by the horrible beeping sounds of a basic electric alarm clock. After washing my face, brushing my teeth and throwing on jeans, tshirt and boots I dragged my half-asleep ass down to the barn. I fed the horses that had remained on the farm, completed my basic list of barn chores and loaded up the two horses that we chose not to leave on the show grounds overnight and drove the 20 minutes to the Rose Palace in silence drinking my coffee, smoking my first ciggarette and gathering my thoughts for the day ahead. While i am a music junkie it was nice to enjoy the sounds of the morning and actually have time to think about what was coming in the day ahead instead of jamming to whatever current hit i chose to blast on my radio. When i arrived at the grounds i was "forced" to listen to the country tunes that were being played over the sound system in the stall area, but next to the Dressage arena i was surrounded by the silence that is always expected during tests. Due to the dangerous nature of the sport i choose to participate in i kept my cell phone handy in case any one from my barn needed to get in touch with me or a 911 call was nessecary. Through the day i ignored my phone and allowed myself to be fully engaged in the small horse world vibe that Horse Shows contain. I was able to make new contacts, meet interesting new people and watch several extremely impressive rides since my eyes were not glued to my phone screen. When i got home late that night i was way too tired to even consider doing anything but falling into bed. First day of Media Deprevation complete!

day 2

My Sunday started out better than most. I woke up to the smell of freshly fried bacon and I didn’t have to do anything all day. I was not used to this amount of free time. I guess it was my cross to bear. But, it was mother’s day and I had to do something. So what do you do for mom on Mother’s Day when you can’t use any media? Exactly, you take her to the lake to party with all of her friends and their families. Did I know anybody? No. But, who cares? I was there for the same reason as everybody else to have a good time. I met a couple characters and good times were had by all. The clock had reached three o’clock in the pm, and I had managed to not break any rules I was proud of myself. Then my phone started vibrating. I broke. I had to check to see what it could be. It’s my brother needing a helping hand to move out of his dorm… in college station. With the offer of my gas being reimbursed, I couldn’t really say no. After packing the truck for the trip, I realized not using the radio will be a test of wills on my part. While leaving the San Antonio city limits, I got to thinking about life, more specifically my life and what I was going to do with it. I was currently undecided in my academic pursuits. I knew what I liked and what I didn’t like. But, the drive for one particular field was just not in me. So I spent the better part of the trip to College Station trying to think deep down for the career that would make me most happy. I can’t say that I pin pointed it but I got pretty close. I must thank my professor for the sound of wind for four hours. After I helped my brother move, it was time to head back. It was one in the morning, technically Monday, so I drove home with the music blasting the whole way.

day 2

My Sunday started out better than most. I woke up to the smell of freshly fried bacon and I didn’t have to do anything all day. I was not used to this amount of free time. I guess it was my cross to bear. But, it was mother’s day and I had to do something. So what do you do for mom on Mother’s Day when you can’t use any media? Exactly, you take her to the lake to party with all of her friends and their families. Did I know anybody? No. But, who cares? I was there for the same reason as everybody else to have a good time. I met a couple characters and good times were had by all. The clock had reached three o’clock in the pm, and I had managed to not break any rules I was proud of myself. Then my phone started vibrating. I broke. I had to check to see what it could be. It’s my brother needing a helping hand to move out of his dorm… in college station. With the offer of my gas being reimbursed, I couldn’t really say no. After packing the truck for the trip, I realized not using the radio will be a test of wills on my part. While leaving the San Antonio city limits, I got to thinking about life, more specifically my life and what I was going to do with it. I was currently undecided in my academic pursuits. I knew what I liked and what I didn’t like. But, the drive for one particular field was just not in me. So I spent the better part of the trip to College Station trying to think deep down for the career that would make me most happy. I can’t say that I pin pointed it but I got pretty close. I must thank my professor for the sound of wind for four hours. After I helped my brother move, it was time to head back. It was one in the morning, technically Monday, so I drove home with the music blasting the whole way.

DAY 2 - Mother's Day

So my day two of the media deprivation project was on Mother's Day. I thought, for sure that today would be way easier than yesterday just because I had planned the whole day outside in the pool with the family. Thankfully, once again I didn't need an alarm for this Sunday morning so I just woke up when my little boy was ready. I left my phone in my room again and began the day. First, my dad cooked my mother and me a delicious Mother's Day breakfast and we opened the small little gifts we had gotten each other. As we were sitting at the table my mom's phone kept going off with text messages from family and friends wishing her a Happy Mother's Day. This of course got my mind wondering who had texted me. Instead of looking at my phone, I got ready to swim, along with my son. We went outside and of course, my dad had the music blaring. I really wasn't going to put a damper on everyone's day by saying no music! I just couldn't do it. (haha) Eventually, my son started to get very sleepy so I retreated back into the house to put him asleep. This is where I broke. As I laid down to take a nap, I reached over to my phone and started reading and responding to all the mother's days texts I had received. I didn't want to be rude to all the very nice people who had texted me. It was out of pure common courtesy that I was forced to text, if you'll believe that of course. Once we woke up from our nap, we went back outside to eat and enjoy the rest of the day. By the end of the day, yes, I watched TV with my mother. It's really amazing how much media goes on in our daily lives. I would love to say that I don't need any sort of media but I think I would go a little crazy without them. I did discover, like I mentioned in the previous post that it was way harder to be deprived from the radio and TV than it was to be texting. Also, I cheated and got on Facebook, but like I said, it was out of pure common courtesy to wish all the mothers who had wished me a happy mother's day. I think and hope that one day I could go a good while without texting, Facebook, or TV.

Day 2: Sunday May 8th

So I obviously broke the rules this morning in order to call my mom and grandma for mother's day... and even now as I type this post from my cell phone. I haven't been home all day so I decided to use my phone instead of computer. Like yesterday I woke up late and went for another swim. With a clean apartment thanks to my hyper-productiveness, I actually read a couple magazines instead of just skim through and just look at the pictures. Eventually my friends came over and we played monopoly. Of course, I won. After being a monopoly beast I craved mcalisters. I did use my phone another time, but it was to get show-times at the palladium in stead of using a "app" or Google. We decided to watch "Fast Five". It was so great to get out again and be surrounded by people...."is this real life?" The movie was awesome! Midnight was fast approaching and I couldn't wait to recharge my brain with useless status updates and pictures of peoples vacations. I'm surprised I didn't break the rules that much. The deprivation defiantly changed how I communicated... I didn't. Other than the times I was with friends I had no communication with anyone. If it wouldn't have been for my pre-planning, I wouldn't have had friends over. I don't think we are the dumbest generation. If anything it is the generation before us that is for allowing us to use new technology mostly as leisure and not resource. If school curriculum was altered in order to include intensive reading and writing there would probably be a lot less essays with text speech. I enjoyed living under a rock for two days. Good luck to everyone taking finals!

I might have to post my blogs a little late because I won't be back home until after 5..

So I started to write my blogs for this weekend but my laptop died &me being the genius that I am, left the charger at home/: so Mr. Lopez if you read this...

Day 1 Sunday

Sunday I thought was going to be a pretty easy day to go without mass media, I was very wrong! At the beginning of the day I was doing well. It started off with waking up and bringing my mom her mothers day card. I thought not using my alarm I would actually be able to sleep in but it didn't happen. After giving her the card we went out into the back yard for about a few hours to check on her plants, we just sat out side and talked. I would have to say that the hardest type of mass media to go without today was the television, I worked 28 hours Friday and Saturday combined I really just wanted to watch a movie and not move for 10 hours. My mother turned the television on and it was how to lose a guy in ten days, and yes I watched it. Then after I went to HEB which took about an hour off my day because it was busy. I was very proud of myself I didn't get on the computer or my cell phone all day! I normally have my cell phone attached to my hand 24 hours a day. It turned out fairly easy for me to not even have my phone near me. When I did finally look at it I had several missed calls and text messages. The only one I answered was my manager at my job because clearly it was job related. Listing to music in the car was one form I thought I couldn't go without, I never rode in the car alone so it wasn't really hard to deal without. It wasn't really hard to unjust to not being able to use mass media, other than when I had to use it for work. If I couldn't use it for my boss to get a hold of me it would be very hard to know when I come in. I work at a bakery and normally when they need extra help they will call me in a extra day that week. It would not only affect me and getting money if I couldn't use my phone it would also affect my job and things getting done. After my mom and I came back from HEB my family showed up with my grandmother. We always spend holidays together, even the little ones. My uncle loves being out side so most of the rest of the day we spent outside in the shade, and looking at my mother garden. They both tried to explain what was growing in my back yard, It so hard to understand plant names. I would have to say my relationship with others was good this day because I was around my family. If I was alone during the day with out mass media it would of been a lot more difficult to go without.

So I wanted to go the whole 48 hours without blogging, and write on the total experience as a whole. I have to admit I hate not being able to use my smartphone for all the reasons I can. It honestly makes my life so much easier, I am pretty sure I would be more frustrated, and stressed without it. Now that's just my smartphone, on the other side of the fence I was also unable to listen to music? This is what killed me the most. I cracked the first day after about ten hours without music in my car aor at home I had to play a few songs to release what I feel. releases stress. I couldn't believe that after two days friends had messaged me on facebook and tumblr asking if I was okay? Makes me feel horrible, considering keeping off of facebook for only two days would cause that. Facebook and social networking sites are not all that important to me. Although I do love my tumblr ,with being able to post pictures along with what I have to say on a certain subject. You can get such good feedback, and when it's someone who appreciates what you appreciate, you appreciate it that much more. Through all the difficulty I encountered this weekend with the not being able to use simple media I learned that you can't take things for granted. The things we are able to do now are phenomenal compared to the longated processes our elders had to go through. Without the use of media in my life I don't think I would be able to be AS succesful as I am. (I would still be succesful) The ability to multitask and handle communication in so many effective ways through a device that I can keep in pocket is something I can't give up. I wouldn't say that my generation is under educated. I would say that's much too broad of a statement. It depends solely on the person and the education system he/she was brought up in. I, personally enjoyed reading as a child and the love followed me into my adult life. I genuinely believe that I owe my vocabulary and excellent grammar skills to my love of reading. Media and technology just allows me to accomplish much more much faster and what is wrong with that? I say nothing! With that said let the techies use the media and tecnology to their advantage!

P.S. Although it was a great learning experience I will never agree to a media deprivation again!

Day2 SATURDAY!

So yesterday I didn't get to go to the mall like I planned to. I was running so late to work it was ridiculous actually. Ive been so lazy lately i hate working so many hours during the day especially when I don't ask for those hours. When I got there I was hoping one of the cool manager would be scheduled because some of them are so rude and unprofessional its annoying! As my day went by at work my cell phone literally kept going off. I didn't answer to anyone mainly because my phone was about to die. I cant seem to find the charger anywhere! Another day without media literally because i stayed at work till about 1 AM. HEB was so packed because of mothers day and my manager kept begging me to stay so I did. After work i walked to the parking lot and one of the employees asked if id like to go eat so I agreed. Of course he had the radio on super loud so that wasn't my fault. I do take the blame for enjoying the song because later on I decided to download the album. I just couldn't resist the temptation! I wanted the cd so bad! After I downloaded the album my best friend called me so i had to answer only because im suppose to be getting another job soon and his boss needs my schedule. Tattoo shop again here I come! Im so excited, finally I can sit around and actually do my homework and get paid to do it! I don't think I can go without certain types of media because I think Id go crazy. Literally like I cant go without using my cell phone because without it I wouldn't be able to interact with people. Not only that but, I wouldn't be able to meet up with friends also. It would be like living in a all white cube with nothing in it. I learned that media is so convenient now a days and without it people wouldn't be able to do their daily routines. I know for a fact if I lost my cell phone with all my contacts,photos and all my notes I would not only cry but I would be so angry with everyone. Its not easy to go without all these things! Media is good and bad for different reasons and I think this project made me realize that the cave men back then had it real bad and we are really lucky to have such technology to do some of our thinking for us due to time consuming situations. Im glad that we had this project because if we didn't I would have never noticed how impossible things would feel like without them. Now im going to do my homework thats due tomorrow. Twelve page paper here I come!

day 1

my day on Saturday started breaking the rules because im used to plug my phone to the stereo and listen music in Pandora, so i was on my way to work and i decided that it was going to start with this project when i get to work to make it easier for me.

then i got to work and i needed to use the computer to help customers and it was so hard to not use my phone, because i always use my phone to text my friends, be on Facebook, or just play a game on the phone when is slow at work. so i took my phone few times and then realized what i was doing.

then i got out of work and i went home and take a nap because i just slept 4 hours that night, i dont watch to much TV so that was no problem and i didn't use my computer, but i kept forgeting about not using my phone, because using my phone is like a natural reaction for me, is part of me already.

so i started realizing that im already a slave of my phone and that trying to not use my phone was hard, makes me be unbalanced.

then i broke another rule because my friends and i got together to watch a soccer game from mexico, and watching the game made me forget about my phone, because i was to stressed watching the game.

i think that the toughest mass media to not use was my phone, because i use it for everything from texting or calling friends to just play a game when im bored. and it was hard trying to adapt to my daily routine with no computer, or any other type of mass media.

Sunday, Day One

Today was Mother’s day and was probably one of the easier days to choose for restraint from any source of outside media. Nevertheless, it was still quite difficult for me to not watch TV, check on sports through, and check my social media and much more. My entire family revolves around sports and staying up to date on the latest updates for sports in our news. Therefore, staying out of the living room while they were watching the morning news sports as well as games, etc. was very difficult. I am a big golf and basketball avid, and with both sports being played this weekend it made it extremely difficult for me not to watch them. I have to admit I did sit at home and watch both on TV, but I was not on my cell phone like I usually am. I only used it for texting my parents. After I was done watching TV I went to my girlfriend’s house, and on the way over there I turned the radio off. I have to admit that was the most boring car ride I have ever taken. Listening to the engine can get kind of repetitive. However, the bright side to doing so can give you some time for deeper thinking and can help you remember things that may have been pushed to the back of your mind during the earlier days chaos. Once I arrived at my girlfriends house her parents were watching TV, I did ignore the TV and picked up a magazine to go read in the backyard. After spending some time outside not being able to watch TV with them inside, we went to go get something to eat We rode in the car together so this time listening to the stereo was not difficult to restrain from. Car rides are always joyous when there is more than one person in the car and conversation can happen. It was a great car ride with wonderful conversation and no stereo. I refrained from looking at my phone as well throughout the car ride and throughout the remainder of the day. It was very difficult to not look up the stats of the golf tournament or basketball games but in order to feel the way we used to without all sorts of media technology at our finger tips I was willing to step outside of my comfort zone and give it a shot. With all of this said, I never realized how much today’s society relies on all of the mass media until you do a project like this one. Going from having the ability to use your cell phone, watch TV, playing on the computer etc, to not being able to use anything the next day may be a little overwhelming for some, just like it was for me. I feel like I would not be able to adapt to not being able to use everything I am use to using everyday. I have learned that we rely greatly on technology and what it stands for. From news update, to the latest sports scores and staying in contact with our closets friends and family we depend greatly on these forms of media that keep us up to date, all of the time.

Day one

I thought i was going to have a really hard time with this project, because I just got a new cell phone and a kindle on friday, but i was actually so busy filming this entire weekend that i havent had much time to enjoy either of them. I worked from 7-3p on saturday morning and i tried my best not to listen to music while taking up cars (I'm a valet driver) but to no avail. Music is just something i really can't go without. I was able to refrain from staying on my new phone all day by leaving it in the office but my kindle was another story. I had just downloaded Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep and I could not put it down. Right after work I had to rush home, grab all my equipment and go straight to the house I am filming a music video for local band Sohns at. We were on set from 4p-12a! This is the first time I've worked with child actors and man is it rough. After leaving the set I came straight home, showered, and went to bed. I was way to tired to read, watch tv, or get on the computer.

Sorry for the late post, I just got home to my computer.

Day 1 Sat.

Saturday started out like any other, except I slept in and woke up late for work. I had to open the store, so any sort of media wasn’t even an option. Whilst speeding to make it on time, I didn’t even turn on the radio. You would think with no radio I would have time for some introspection, but that wasn’t the case. I had the tunnel vision. Being at AutoZone is not a great place to escape mass media. The radio is constantly on. I am answering telephones left and right, and I am receiving text messages from my boss and my boss’s boss. I was supposed to get off work at noon, but one of my fellow co-workers decided his food poisoning was more important than work. While working a double shift it got hauntingly slow. No customers for hours. All this free time gave me the ability to just think. I was wondering what it was going to be like that night. Not being able to use any sort of mass media medium. These mediums include my cellular, my television, my radio, my computer with the internet access, and many more. After my shift ended I was driving around in my car and it really hit home when I was listening to the sound of wind for twenty minutes. I needed something to occupy my time. I decided to go to O.P. Schnabel and ride my bike to burn off all this excess energy. It was odd riding without my iPod, but peaceful at the same time. I took it all in, the sounds of the wind rustling the branches and my tires on the rocky terrain and the scenery was just idyllic. Without the distractions of the outside world I could really appreciate what I had in front of me.

Saturday morning i slept till 10:30. After my morning routine i walked down the hall to the Kitchen/Dining Room to eat breakfast. I was surprised to see that the tv wasn't when i looked into the den but i didn't say anything because knowing my luck as soon as i opened my mouth somebody would have grabbed the remote. After breakfast the family made the thirty second (approximately) drive to the little polish catholic church down the street, the radio was on but i let it slide because it was a good song. When we arrived at the church we began setting up the visitor center to welcome the two car clubs that would be stopping in Panna Maria that day. When they arrived we all took pictures of the classic muscle cars and custom hot rods. This lasted until about 2 in the afternoon. After we closed down the visitor center we went back to the house where me, my Dad and my Grandpa went to work on the tree house that we were refurbishing for my little cousins. After about an hour my grandpa turned on the radio in his truck. I didn't want to put a damper on anything so again i just let it slide. We finally finished the tree house about five in the afternoon. Me and my dad decided we should go shoot trap until dinner was ready so we grabbed the clay target thrower and headed down to the field by the river and shot until about seven thirty. When we got back to the house my grandma had george strait playing and i just thought to myself "what the heck" turned it up a little. about ten minutes later we ate dinner, so it was about 8:30 at this time. I went ahead and turned on the tv to see if there were any basketball games on. After finishing the basketball game my immediate family loaded up the car and headed back home listening to the radio. I still avoided using my cell phone and the computer though.

P.S. sorry its late, we took momma out for dinner and just got home.

Day 1

I never realized how much of my daily life was really revolved around mass media. When given this assignment, I thought of how easy it was going to be since I wasn’t much of a TV person and how my little boy is just such a big distraction. I was definitely wrong especially since my little boy went to his grandmother’s house and I had plenty of time for myself. Since it was Saturday, I didn’t need an alarm or anything to wake me up. I started to get ready and took a shower just like I always do every morning. Then I proceeded to get my little one ready for his visit to grandma’s house. Everything seemed fine, until I was driving home. I usually call my friends on my way back from dropping him off since it’s the few minutes that I have by myself. I also turn on the radio, which I could not do. As soon as I got home, I told myself I was going to work on homework all day long. I sat down in the living room and turned on my computer to begin working. As I was reading my assignment, I realized I wanted some noise so I turned on the TV for some background noise. I didn’t even think about it! I had mentioned this project to my brother and when he walked into the living room, he asked me why the TV was on. It was so funny because it didn’t even click right away. A couple of hours passed and of course while doing my homework, I caught myself clicking on ‘new tab’ on my browser to open up Facebook. I had given up Facebook before and it hadn’t been hard at all but for some reason the fact that I couldn’t get on, made it more tempting. I still refrained. As far as texting goes, I left my phone in my room just so I wouldn’t get on it. I even deleted my Facebook application just so I wouldn’t randomly click it, like I always do even when I just closed the application. Thankfully, it was finally time to pick up my little boy around four, so I left without radio and without phone. It was the most boring ride of my life. When I brought him home, he fell asleep so I, of course, took a nap with him. The rest of the day, I spent outside with him and my parents, and just enjoyed the evening. It’s very rare that I go outside but since TV wasn’t allowed, I figured I might as well. It really was one of the best evenings spent with him, because he was having so much fun. I realized that being outside was way better than being inside even though he had tons of toys. He much rather spend time out on the jungle gym than playing with any of his things inside. Nighttime, was a little harder though. It’s usually my unwinding time where I watch TV after he falls asleep to go to bed. So instead of watching TV, I finished up some homework and went to bed early. I know I definitely had some slip ups. I honestly thought I would slip up with texting but I actually turned on the TV more. The radio while driving was definitely very hard just because the distance I drive to and from his other grandmother’s house is so long. I am more aware now of how much I use mass media.

Saturday, Day 2

Saturday morning my alarm was my dog jumping into my bed. Since she learned how to jump higher than a foot she’s always on the furniture now. All the jumping finally made me get up so I walked over to the kitchen and made myself some breakfast. My dad had the newspaper lying on the table so I decided to read and this was probably the fourth or fifth time I’ve picked up a newspaper to read. Now I may be over exaggerating but it’s defiantly a low count on how many times I read anything like a newspaper for “fun”. Reading through all the sections I learned a thing or two about what is actually going on. After I finished I went to go get ready for the day and passing through the living room and seeing my dad watch TV was probably the highlight of my morning even though it was sports center. Once I got done getting ready my dad and I went on a hike with my God Mother to have some lunch and so I probably spent the rest of the day with them until I had to go into work later that night. Work defiantly kept me busy and unconcerned about my deprivation considering we’re not aloud to use our phones. Luckily though I got out of work early and so driving home yet again with no music was irritating. Though I made it home without cheating and giving into the temptation of just pressing that button to turn on the Radio. Once I got home and changed out of my work clothes my Saturday night was pretty dull. I did the laundry, picked up around the house, and read over something’s for school. After all that I just picked up one my books on the shelves something my dad had by Dean Koontz. Having read a good chunk I slowly started to fall asleep feeling good about my dedication. All in all being surrounded my people all weekend with the busy events already planned helped me and really had me not notice other than when I was driving alone in the car.

Day 2 - Saturday

Once again I wake up pretty late, around 1pm! I stayed out last night with my friends and I did end up watching some television because we wen't to Wingstop. It felt pretty good to be updated with all the basketball games that were going on. I felt like I was dying. I haven't used my computer at all, it's becoming less and less important now that cellphones are so productive. Not checking your phone every 10 minutes feels so calm and peaceful. I did forget to check Blackboard for one of my classes and I missed a deadline for a project. But I guess that was mostly my fault for forgetting.

I have been receiving all my news through word of mouth this weekend. Nothing major has happened, at least not with me.
I will admit that I have checked my phone's text messages twice to look for anything important. Today is mother's day so I did call some relatives and talked to them briefly. There are some family members I must keep in touch with so I had no choice. I realized the best way to keep myself entertained was just to hang out with friends. Time goes by so much faster when you're with them. I can't wait for this to be over so I can get back to my normal technology filled lifestyle.

Day 1: A Day of Discovery

(First off, I wanna get something off my chest: I'm currently wearing headphones and listening to music while typing up this post, mainly so I'm not distracted by my 5-year-old niece who's playing the Wii right in front of me in the living room. Yes, I'm cheating but you know what? I'm okay with that because I didn't listen to any music whatsoever yesterday. Heck, I wasn't even tempted, which was something of a discovery for me. Anyway, onto the blog...)

After a late night with friends (and sleeping in till after noon at a buddy's house) I got home around 1:30PM and went straight to my room. I didn't listen to the radio at all on the way home, so it was a nice, quiet drive, which can be good for the mind every once and awhile. But I conveniently forgot to turn off my mobile notifications for Twitter and ESPN fantasy sports, so I was still getting updates on my iPhone, which was totally breaking the rules, I know. After sending a few tweets (Hey, it was just a few!), I turned off my Twitter notifications but I still forgot to turn off my ESPN fantasy ones, which turned out to be a good thing (more on that later).

I spent the next five hours or so cooped up in my room reading my online students' discussion posts, which centered on Mark Bauerlein's "The Dumbest Generation" book, the same discussion that I conducted with my face-to-face students earlier in the week. As you would imagine, the discussion was heated but in a good, productive way. If anything, Mr. Bauerlein's book, however flawed and misguided it may be, really gets the discussion juices flowing with my Mass Comm students. During that whole time I didn't listen to any music on my laptop, nor did I check my Twitter or Facebook. I did take recreational breaks by reading magazines that I had bought the previous day at the bookstore. In fact, I loaded up on some novels, too, as I plan to do some more leisure reading since that's something I just don't do as much anymore. I will admit, though, that I didn't turn off my notifications for "Words With Friends," so the eight games I had going were also providing me with the occasional "digital diversion" as Mr. Bauerlein would say. What can I say? I'm as weak as any other "digital native" or "digital immigrant" out there.

Getting back to the reason why I was glad I didn't turn off my ESPN fantasy sports notifications: I would've never known that Detroit Tigers pitching ace Justin Verlander was throwing a perfect game against the Toronto Blue Jays! I had to watch such a historic feat since perfect games are so rare. Perfect games are when the pitcher not only doesn't allow a hit but also doesn't walk or hit a batter, thus retiring 27 straight hitters in a row. So I tuned in to the MLB Network for live coverage and saw Verlander lose his perfect game by walking a batter BUT he still was able to throw a no-hitter, his second (!) of his major league career. What's sort of ironic here is that last year his teammate Armando Galarraga had his perfect game taken away from him by a bad call by the 1st base umpire in the 9th inning. Even the umpire, distraught and fighting back tears, said he blew the call to reporters after the game. Anyway, I would've been kicking myself if I hadn't been able to watch the no-hitter unfold. Besides, I didn't see any of the NBA playoff games that day, so at least I deprived myself of that particular "digital diversion."

As for the nightcap, I decided to have the Pacquiao/Mosley fight at my house and I invited my family and friends. To help subsidize the cost to buy the PPV fight, everyone pitched in some money. I mean, PPVs these days set you back $65! I remember when they were around $45-50, which is still a lot but $65?! Yikes! So there were about 20 people here at my house for the fight, which was pretty good despite there not being as much fireworks as everyone would've liked. Mosley had never been knocked out before (and that stat still holds, by the way), so people shouldn't be too surprised that there weren't a lot of knockdowns. Pacquiao won in an unanimous decision over Mosley who seemed to fight to not get knocked out and was on the defensive the whole fight. After the fight I went over to a friend's house just down the road for a going-away party and ended the night there before returning home and going to bed.

In sum, the thing that struck me the most about my experiences Saturday was that I didn't give in to listening to any music whatsoever. I didn't even forget to turn off my radio whenever I was in the car, which also surprised me since that's usually the first thing that pops up when you start your car. Not me; as soon as I started my car I immediately made sure the radio didn't come on. And when I was on my laptop reading and commenting on my online students' posts not once did I listen to my iTunes or Last.fm libraries, which was very surprising, believe me. That's the "discovery" I made of myself on Saturday: That I wasn't as tempted to listen to music while grading and reading, which is something I do all the time and trust me, it's usually the most difficult type of mass media for me to go without for an extended period of time; well, that and my social media addictions such as Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, et al.

Saturday, Day 2

I woke up at 7:15AM to my annoying alarm on my iPhone. As I lean over to check to see if my friends are still asleep, I’m surprised that they are already out of bed and ready to eat breakfast. I rush out of bed, change, and unwillingly leave my iPhone buried deep in my suitcase.

Mmmmm! Biscuits and gravy! Scrambled eggs with toast! I can’t remember the last time I actually sat down at a table and had breakfast, especially without my iPhone or the T.V. to steal my attention away while I ate. I realized that a well rounded conversation with other people that brings laughter, deep thought, or positive feedback is a requirement of life. The instant reaction of what you say, as opposed to when someone replies back to a comment you left on the internet, has a much more profound impact on the way that you think and they way you will answer back.

After breakfast we stroll along a beaten path through the mountainside, this path eventually led us to a rock climbing station. As I put on my red safety helmet and blue harness, I think to myself that it would be great to “Google” this event as I have never done it in my life. The thought of trial and error never crossed my mind, as I am used to finding answers or techniques over the internet. Oh well, guess I’ll have to rely on my awesome physical abilities. As the guide secures me on a line, I am beginning to get nervous. I reach for the first crack on the rock wall and start to pull myself up, placing my feet in holes to support my weight. I start to look like Spiderman hanging on for dear life only a mere 3 feet off the ground. It is surprising how well I am doing for the first ten feet. Then I reach a point where the wall starts to get slippery, there are no sturdy spots where I can get a firm grip. My legs are shaking uncontrollably, sweat is getting into my eyes, and now I’m beginning to think that I never really had any awesome physical abilities. I look down and that seals the deal. My heart instantly starts pounding out of my chest and now my hands are starting to get sweaty. I look at my guide and with a great big smile, give him a get me off of this rock look.

We take another stroll through the mountainside and now I’m thinking how great it is to be here. It’s a big change of scenery of my everyday life. I’m not on my iPhone, playing games, or watching television. I quickly realize that being out in the wilderness with no form of mass media doesn’t bother me at all. It’s funny how quickly I have adapted to my surroundings. Maybe it is this easy because I am constantly busy.

We eventually stumble upon a zip line station. I am actually happy to see this station because I’ve done it before. Finally we reach the end of the line and are secured to the zip line. Hearing the sound of the zip line trolley screeching along the wire line brings music to my ears. I feel like I’m gliding across a long valley with no worries in the world. With my arms and legs spread out like a starfish and my head hanging back, I look into the blue sky and enjoy the silence of life for about 30 seconds.

Another hike through the mountainside brings us to a much more exciting event. Skeet Shooting! I look into the distance and see an orange disk spinning in the air. Then immediately after it’s released, the orange disk bursts into pieces. I wait for my turn and while I wait under the hot sun I chug down three bottles of water. I am tired and I have no clue on what to do with my time while I wait to shoot a shotgun. I catch myself reaching into my pocket for my phone. I have forgotten that I buried it deep into my suitcase. But this hot sun is now making me want to go to my air conditioned cottage and play a game on my iPhone. Finally it’s my turn and we each get six shots. I don’t’ even see the first disk fly up in the air. I point and shoot. BANG! My right shoulder is forced back and my eyes are wide open. I’m eagerly searching for the disk. Then I see it floating away in the distance. My guide tells me that I missed high. Shots 2 through 5 are the same. The image of an orange disk slowly floating away from me is seared in my brain. Last shot! PULL! This time I see the disk release. I quickly follow the disk in my sights. BANG! I hear a cheer from behind me and as I open my eyes I see a small piece of the disk change directions and the bigger remaining piece of the orange disk topple over towards the ground. Yes! I finally hit one. One out of six is not bad.

By the time we get back to the camp it’s starting to get dark. They have a coffee shop and my girlfriend’s brother and I decide to get a coffee. While I look over the menu I see that they also have smoothies. After a long day in the sun a smoothie will definitely hit the spot. While we wait for our drinks I spot a Chess board and invite my friend to a game. I quickly beat him in about 5 minutes, our second game another victory in 10 minutes. He says, “One more game.” This time I’m nervous because my luck is bound to run out. I guess I had one more in me because it only took me about another 15 minutes to defeat my opponent. Let the smack talking begin. Then I think wait, I’m in the middle of the wilderness with the closest sign of civilization was that Garven Store 23 miles away.

I had a very eventful day without any sort of mass communication to wastefully occupy my time. Even though I have survived almost 24 hours, I still couldn’t wait till the next day when we would be packing to go home.

I take out my iPhone and put it in my pocket, but turned off. We begin the drive home and make another pit stop at the Garven Store. This time we get ½ pound brisket sandwiches on a sesame seed bun with homemade BBQ sauce. It was so good that I didn’t say a word until I was finished.

I am looking out of the passenger side window watching trees pass by; I spot a radio tower and tell the driver to turn on the radio. Then I see a cell phone tower. I pull out my iPhone. Turn it on to check all of my missed texts, emails, and catch up on my Valor game. For the next couple of hours I’m glued to my phone and distance myself away from reality. It is funny how quickly I adapt to my surroundings and fall back to my everyday habits.

Day 1: Saturday May 7th

I slept in today and did not want to get up knowing what the day had in store. With no T.V. or music to start my day, I started cleaning my apartment. I came across things I had not seen in a long time.I spent about three hours cleaning. It was rewarding to see everything organized. The only sounds I could hear were my air conditioner turning on and off every now and then. It's funny how when you're alone you do not talk for a long time. I am so used to always being with others and hearing music play. Eventually, I opened one of my windows so I could have some background noise. The ambient noises were a relief from the dull silence. Since I had no form of media to entertain me, I decided to create my own. I pulled out my camera and started taking pictures. My cat (Badger) kept me entertained for a while. When he got bored with me I went to go sit out on my balcony. The weather and light was great so I decided to take more pictures of some really loud birds in a tree nearby. Knowing I would not be able to text or call anyone, I had planned accordingly the day prior to have friends come over on Saturday and on Sunday. There was no "I'm on my way" or "I'm here" text. It was torture not knowing when my guests would arrive. Finally, I heard a knock at my door. It was such a relief to hear another voice and actually be able to communicate with someone. My friends and I went for a swim and lounged by the pool. Afterwards we drove in the silent cabin of my car listening to the "hum" of the engine on our way to get some lunch/dinner (linner?). I was so jealous watching my friends faces glow in the dim lit restaurant from the light of their cell phones. The first day was not as hard as I expected. I was extremely productive today. Hopefully I can keep myself as busy the next 24 hours.

Definitely going to the movies tomorrow.

Day Two, Saturday

Saturday wasn't as bad as Friday. Since my mom didn't have to go to work we went shopping and I bought her lunch as an early Mother's Day gift. I did listen to music but that's because my mom didn't want to turn her car radio off. "My car, my rules, my radio," she told me as we left the house. She really got a kick out of me asking her to either change the channel or to turn the radio off. I'm not much of a Bobby Darin fan. It felt so good to finally leave the house and go somewhere other than school or work. By the time we got home I had to get ready for work, so I didn't really have a chance to be tempted by mass media. We weren't too busy at work becuase apparently there was a fight that night and most people were watching the fight instead of going to the movies. Since we didn't have the average Saturday night crowd I was able to enjoy the music playing in the lobby and kitchen, it was much better than the kind of hectic Friday night. All day Friday and Saturday my parents kept the TV off, but when I got home early from work, which was around 11pm they just left the TV on and seemed glad that this was almost over. As excited as I was to see the TV on I wasn't much a big fan of what we were watching and I couldn't change the channel.

It felt so good to get up this Sunday morning turn the TV on and flip nonstop throught the channels for about 5mins. I have noticed that I may depend a little too much on mass media, but I also know that I can do without mass media. It was kind of a relief not having to reply to every text message or to answer the phone whenever it rang. I also felt accomplished having finished my homework before the weekend was over. I'm not sure if I would willing do this again, but I feel proud to say that I can live without mass media.

Day 2

Saturday was a great day, I stayed clear of the mass media. Slept in Saturday morning then worked on some take home finals. After all that, my family and I went downtown for dinner to celebrate my mom and brothers birthday. The restaurant we went to didn't have a lot of T.V's so it was easy to sit away from them. The only music that was playing was that of the mariachi's. Instead of being on my phone while waiting for our table, I kept my phone on silent and in my moms purse. Friends of mine knew about this project so they didn't contact me through text, for once it was phone calls. Downtown was nice because I was able to enjoy the company of those around me and talk with my brother and his girlfriend, they are super funny together. Honestly, I don't really have a problem being without my phone. I would say watching movies in my room has been the hardest for me because I always have a movie playing in the background. So the past two days has been pretty silent in my room, however I do hear my brother and my cousin playing Xbox and that's entertaining!
This project was not as bad as it was played out to be. Yes, this allows more face to face time, and I'm not as cellphone or computer absorbed as I usually was. Taking a break from mass media I think, is good. It's like a breath of fresh air.

Ok so I know we had to post by 5 p.m. and I am way late but I was stuck at work all day so please bear with me. Where do I begin... Well during this experience so far it hasn't been too hard to follow. If it weren't for me working all weekend then I would think otherwise. Friday morning when I woke up it was around 10 o'clock am and I was getting ready for work. I don't watch tv in the morning or anything so staying away from media was easy. Another reason is because my car has no radio and has been like that for about a month now. Driving in silence is something I still haven't gotten used to but I guess for this project it came as an advantage because I wasn't tempted to turn on the radio. Another funny thing was when I got to work the sign I saw in the box office. By the way I work at the Alamo Drafthouse movie theatre in case you were wondering.

This sign is new but isn't it ironic how they put this up and I have to stay away from media anyway?! (ok so I used my phone once just to take this pic because I wanted to post it in this blog... anyway...) Usually I would be on my cell phone playing Angry Birds or something but knowing the consequences, I'm glad it happened this way.

So, I mentioned above how I work at the coolest theatre in town well, honestly I am not a big movie person, so staying away from watching the new releases like Thor, Fast Five, and Something Borrowed, is no bigee. Pfff... like I want to see them anyway. (sarcasm)

I didn't get home till about 9 p.m. that night and all that was on my mind was beer and food. I live with my Fiance so he's the only one I really need to be in contact with anyway.

(chuckling) I feel like I am cheating on this project because things happened to work out so well.

Just Kidding, Okay so not everything was so easy.

I did catch myself slip a few times actually. When I got home from work the TV was already on and I picked up the remote and changed the channel to something that caught my attention. You may laugh but it was Michael Jackson's This is It. It wasn't until a few minutes into it that I realized my time wasn't up yet. I then said out loud, "Oops... I'm not supposed to use media!" I then explained to my fiance the project and you know what he did? He changed the channel to something he knew I hated.

I know there are loop holes but what good are they if it isn't something you enjoy.

(Laugh Out Loud)

Friday, Day 1

I am one of the lucky ones that have no choice but to leave society behind and spend my time exploring nature and hopefully make a few new friends. My experience occurred last weekend. I was invited by my girlfriend’s brother in-law to a three day retreat sponsored by his church. I’m not a very religious person, so I just thought to myself that it’s going to be like a camping trip, but instead of sleeping in tents there will be cottages with bunk beds that will accommodate twelve people. I guess I am also fortunate enough to have my girlfriend’s two older brothers come along. Now I’m not too worried about being deprived of any sort of mass communication, but more focused on what her two brothers are going to do to me in a very remote area of Texas.

As I start reading over the packing list. My eyes immediately focus on the capitalized bold letters that spell out:

WHAT NOT TO BRING:

• iPods, MP3 Players, etc.
• Computers, Laptops, etc.
• Game Boys or similar devices

What am I going to do for three days without any of this stuff? How will I pass the time? Then I said to myself, “Suck it up!”

It’s 11:38 AM on Friday, I’m done packing and I’m waiting for my girlfriend’s brother to pick me up. To pass the time I start to play the new Mortal Kombat game for XBOX 360, getting my butt kicked by the Sonya Blade character. Buy the game if you were into the first two Mortal Kombat games. Actually just buy the game. I hear a knock at the door and I reluctantly turn off the gaming console. I think to myself, I’m already failing at this Media Deprivation Project. I’ll start on the car ride to the retreat.

As we start the drive to Camp Eagle, I pull out my phone and check the time. It’s 1:52 PM on Friday. The total hours in the car would be about two and a half hours, give or take a couple of minutes for restroom breaks and food. Again I pull out my iPhone and scroll through my games. I click on a game called Valor that takes up a lot of your time if you’re really into it. Only because leveling up a building is time sensitive, let’s say I wanted to level up my City Hall to level 1, I would have to wait 2 hours to build up enough resources required to level up my City Hall, then I would have to wait another twenty minutes for the City Hall to be completely built. I am constantly playing that game. If I just let it sit and do nothing. My resources would be maxed out and my building won’t be leveling up. Again as I click all the right buttons to level up my city. I’m thinking to myself again, strike two!!! So to justify what I was doing I tell myself that I’ll put my phone away when I am out of cell phone reception. My phone switches from 3G to Edge, a sign that we are slowly entering an area that is mostly inhabited by wild animals. We have been off of Interstate 10 for about an hour or so and come up to the crossroads of highway 41 and highway 83. On the corner is the Garven Store that has been in business for over 70 years. They do not have Wi-Fi but their Jerky is the best I remember having. I bought almost a pound of Jerky of a few varieties, Venison, Buffalo, and Beef. I did not care too much for the Venison or Buffalo, but their Teriyaki Beef Jerky was really good. As we left the store I check my phone again and finally, “NO SERVICE.”

After a long 8 mile drive on an unpaved road with the visibility of maybe 25 feet due to the dust stirred up by the car in front of us, we reach Camp Eagle at around 5:30 PM. I grab my bags, pick the top bunk, change into my swimming trunks and head for the river. First activity we do is kayak down the river. Then we hiked up the river and explored a cave. During this time I was just enjoying the wilderness and being out there with my friends. On arriving at the camp we meet a guy with a portable XM radio searching for game six of the Spurs/Grizzlies Playoff series. Crap!!! Strike Three!!! As I listen to the final seconds of the game, I disappointingly retire to my cottage, take a shower, climb in my top bunk and set my alarm on my iPhone. I think to myself that tomorrow will be a better day for me and my Media Deprivation Project.