Two Cents and a Thousand Words

I’ve been feeling pretty philsophical lately. I’ve started to think about more general concepts instead of just working on web sites, reading message boards, and the other normal stuff I usually do. It’s almost like I’ve reached a new level since I’ve blabbed so much lately, but I like the kinds of things I’m thinking.

One of the major issues I’ve been debating in my head is if I want myself and society to stay or become attached to computers. I’ve actually been trying to cut down on the amount of time I spend in front of a computer each day (I haven’t been doing a very good job of it yet, but I’m still working on it). After being on the computer for a while, I start to get a little depressed and very introverted. I love being with other people in person; there’s something about the actual physical contact that just blows away instant messaging and e-mail. I’m also a lot more productive when I stay off the computer.

As far as society goes, I’m really not sure if having everyone computer-savvy (at my level, at least) is a great thing. I love knowing that people know to use these things – it really gives me chills when I hear about a story of someone e-mailing a long-lost relative or friend – but it’s pretty easy to get hooked. I really don’t want our culture to develop into one that’s reliant and glued to the screens of our computers. We all have to realize that computers aren’t meant to rule our lives, just simplify it in ways. As much as I love making a web site or IMing, I’ve found I like offline time even more. Sometime I’ll be able to find a balance for myself, but where’s the balance for society as a whole?

Ever wondered what my blog would have looked like if I had it on one of my earlier versions of my home page? I’m probably the only one out there that has.

Anyway, I’ve made up a couple skins that make the blog appear as if it were in the style of older versions of my page. I might add more depending on what I feel like and if anything interests me. Check out the two I have so far:

Delta Blog

Sigma Blog

Some of the links and/or pictures might not work; I’m looking at it. It’s more of just an appearance thing for now.

I decided to make an Amazon.com wish list this afternoon. I’d been holding off since I don’t really like committing people to one place to buy stuff, but I thought I’d try it out anyway. I’ve used an online wish list for a while, but it was just in a hidden directory on my site. When I first made my Amazon one it gave me some recommendations (click for a bigger picture):

Sure, a Wacom tablet would be cool, and I like Photoshop Elements books. I’d even take a Lord of the Rings DVD. But I think I can do without Jewel Girl Teresa, thank you very much.

Chances are I won’t keep it updated, but I think I’ll go through ThinkGeek sometime soon and make one there. I might post a link once I’ve decided what I want to do.

I realized today that I’ll have lots of time on Fridays and weekends to get work done. Fortunately (or unfortunately) I think I’ll be getting a lot of non-homework stuff done.

This brings me back to my list of sites to make. I guess I have to learn PHP first, but after I do that, I’ve got to start going through my list. It has about 15 different sites ranging from services to just million-dollar ideas that have popped into my head. I could use $15 million by the end of the year, I’ll tell ya that much.

Look for a section called ‘projects’ on the right side of my blog for what I’m currently working on. I might even share prototypes… or something.

I’ve put my webcam on top of my oscillating fan. Now you’ll be able to see it going back and forth looking out my window. Sometimes you might even get lucky and get a shot of the window. It’ll go back and forth and back and forth and back and forth…

Can you tell I’ve just been playing around all day today since I didn’t have any classes?

I could like this no classes on Friday thing. Sure, classes on Tuesday and Thursday are kinda hard (four in a row), but it’s good to know I’ll have some time to relax – more than usual.

New Media and the Electronic Age – I think this will be a really good class for me. A little tough, I think, but that’s good for me. It’s great to be with other new media people again, and I think the projects and topics we cover in here (including more of the theory and history of new media) will be helpful. Will I finally learn the ‘meaning’ of new media? We shall see.

If you’re a vegetarian, you should probably just stay the f*** out of McDonald’s.

Darrell Hammond rules; he did some stand-up at MCA tonight. It was the first time I’ve been to a stand-up comedian. Being the loyal SNL viewer I am, I recognized a couple of routines he did from the show, but there was a lot of variety. He played around with some Jesse Jackson then did some Sean Connery upon request and, of course, Bill Clinton. We even got to hear a few details about the behind-the-scenes at SNL (like how the Connery impression started). John Fugelsang (the host of the next-gen America’s ‘Most Rehearsed’ Home Videos) also was there, and between the two there was a good two hours of comedy. I really liked it, and it really cheered me up after a hectic day.

Now I’m really, really tired from laughing that loud. I’m so glad I got to see one of the people who I’ve always respected and found funny on TV. It was great I could see him right here at UMaine.

It just can’t be easy, can it?

I went to where my new media class was supposed to be this morning, and there was only one other person there (Renee) – no professor. We went to the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences office, and what we found out over the next hour or so was that the class had been cancelled but we hadn’t been notified. Oh, well. It only screwed up my schedule a little bit, and on top of that I had someone to eat lunch with. That was very nice. My schedule is now pretty lop-sided, but it works for me. But first….

2-D Design – I think this will be a really cool class, too. The instructor’s really nice; he’s a painter who has a great work in the Carnegie gallery here. He even invited us to a couple of openings that are occuring within the next month or two. It sounds like it’s not all about drawing world-class pieces of art, though, which is very good for me; it’s about the techniques and compositions of artwork, which is exactly what I wanted. Add to that the fact that all of the people in the class are new media people, and I think it’ll work out fine. Maybe it’ll get me a way from computers and more into drawing and photography.

Anyway, Tuesdays and Thursdays will kind of suck for me. Instead of my new media class today, I’ll be having it from 2:10 – 3:25 on Tu/Th. I’ll be going straight from 9:30 to 3:25, and I’m not really sure where I’ll fit in lunch. But it’s about the same length as high school was, so I’m used to it.

Why’d I get myself into it? Mondays and Wednesdays I only have art. It’s a long class (two and a half hours), but he gives us breaks and it should be interesting. I can sleep in and I get back to the dorm fairly early.

Fridays I don’t have any classes. Rock on.

Hopefully the schedule will work itself out and everything will be approved and such. I’ve gotten approval from the chair of the new media department, so everything should be fine. Four-day week, here I come.

The first day of school went really well (yay!). Other than being a couple of minutes late to my first class – I had forgotten how big this campus is – I think I’m really going to like Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Computer Architecture and Assembly Language – I thought this class would be just programming really useless stuff, but it seems as though I’ll be learning some valuable info about how the computer actually works. It sounds like it’ll be a fun class, and the professor is very nice and a little bit funny.

Technology and Society – I wasn’t sure what to expect from this one (the reqired reading includes Frankenstein), but it sounds like it’ll be a good class, too. We’re going to start out by discussing 9-11 and how it affected Americans’ historical standpoints, and then we’ll go into how technology of all kinds have affected society. I’ve only taken classes about hardcore technology, so seeing a more general definition should be very interesting. The professor’s unique sense of humor reminds me of Mr. Hills from HA in a way, and I really like it.

Social Pscyhology – I’m gonna love this class. It’s the same professor (Dr. Alexander) from last year’s Psych 100, and it’s her specialization. It sounds like it will cover all the stuff I love – we even did a little experiment with Hindsight Bias that proved we have a lot to learn in the class. 🙂 Sometime I have to look up the majors in which there are the most females and most males; both my psych classes have had a lot of girls, and I notice since most of my CS-type classes mostly have guys only.

I think I’ll really love these kinds of days, even if I go straight from 9:30 to 1:45. I can’t wait for my one-class Friday.

It’s really weird up here in a couple of ways. Since I’m right across the hall from where I was last year, everything seems kind of backwards, but I’m getting used to it. Also, I feel kind of the same way as I did right after September 11; I guess that’s what happens when I basically started out last year that way. I hope that feeling will go down sometime. It’s also kind of strange to come in after all the first-years have already settled in over the weekend. I pretty much had to go right to the classes after I got here.

Now I’m off to supper. I’m kind of hungry.

I got through my photos for the gallery, and I think I have just about 186 in there now. You’ll see all of them from the Exploring Maine collection (including Boothbay Harbor) and whale watching. Take a look!