The end is nigh

Over the time i've spent in class two things have happened. i have a new found respect for books..which could also be my girlfriends fault, either or. and i have an open mind towards criticism. To look past what has been said and to read the true meaning of the words. Seeing how we mostly read and talked about society and culture, or even the destruction of society and the mutation of culture. i now look around me and see how the generation that will succeed us are in a downward spiral to oblivion. I can see how corporations use and abuse us like so many tissues. all they care about is money and not our well being. i recently saw a movie on how CEO pay ratio to a normal persons pay is 310:1. 310:1!!!!! thats horseshit. because of this intro to lit class i now see how corporations use me and i no longer buy from huge organizations....unless i really have too.

blog #9

A world without books would be a horrible, probably dimwitted place. Books open up a world inside our minds that challenge our imagination and creativity. In a world without books, most stories would probably be told by word of voice, or converted into a t.v show of some sort. How dim and uncreative we would be if every story we heard was displayed in front of us, no reading, no imagination, nothing but flickering lights and a talking box. I for one would greatly miss books, if you had asked me this a year ago i would most definitely have a far different answer, i appreciate books due to the fact that when you read the story everyone has a different image of the characters, how they talk, how they sound, smell, etc.. As an art major books have been a great inspiration to some of my more representational art. Unfortunately we have already started book burning. T.V has replaced books, most books now are being turned into movies so someone can just watch a movie and say that they know what has happened in the book. Wrong. books have so much more detail, emotion, and power. I can foresee in the future there wont be a paperback book, youll have to read books online or watch a movie rendition. This saddens me greatly.  

blog #8

I loved this book, i lent it to my girlfriend to read because we had time before it was assigned. She told me i had to read it immediately. While reading the book i became so immersed into the story i would read 50-75 pages every time i picked it up. The story actually runs with the other books pretty well, the concept of the government running the lives of the masses is a concept most stories explore. So yes this book fits in the curriculum. To be honest i liked Thresh as a character the best. sure you really dont know much about him or see him very much during the story. But the part where he kills the girl from district 1 and saves katniss because of how katniss treated rue with respect. This speaks greatly to thresh's personality. When Rue died I freaked out. i knew she would have to die eventually but the way she died...i didnt see it coming. I wish there was more to the book, after reading 451 im going to read catching fire so i can find out what happens. This book actually reminds me of another book called Battle Royale. It pretty much has the same premise, The country of japan has lost faith in their youth so to root out the week they have a random class (lottery) and send them to a island where they have to kill each other off. the last one alive wins and gets to go home. 

blog #7

Im sorry call it lazyness or irresponsible towards hw, but i cant not bring myself to actually watch these so called "reality shows" every now and then i watch high lights of some idiot doing something equal idiotic and asking why they got in trouble. I feel not only are most of these situations by the directors to create publicity and ratings but the fights that are real can be avoided if they weren't complete assholes. I see no 'reality' i see stupid people being told to act more idiotic then they actually are to create more viewer. We as viewers arent helping things, we watch this garbage mindlessly to make ourselves feel better about ourselves, which i guess could be a valid argument in why one would watch it. Im sorry if i offended anyone with my rant about crappy, mindless television. i dont find this entertaining 

blog#6

Big Brother cant be described as a person in our society, Big Brother is more along the lines of our mentality. We say we want privacy yet we post incriminating pictures and what not all over social networks. Its not that we lost our 'Right' to privacy it just seems we hold our privacy at a lower regard then we used to. The things that would make us feel uncomfortable, such as a stranger trying to be your friend out of the blue, has been replaced by a overwhelming need to have more 'friends'. I would like to say that as a society we wouldn't give up our basic freedoms such as freedom of speak, being able to wear what we want, etc. but the culture is trying to tell us what we should and shouldn't do (wear this, not that; talk this way, not that way; buy this...) yet we will always have our freedom as long as WE want it.

blog #5

Titus- Unit, I just found out like violets feed is broken.
Link- Unit! thats meg bad news, can she get it fixed?
Titus- No idea, she asked for help from the governement but they were all like "da da da da da da, didnt buy anything da da da da da da poor investment.
Link- Meg harsh, so what are you going to do.
Titus- i dont know, its like da da da da da meg hard to deal with da da da da da cant help her.
Link- Hey are you going to marty's party its going to meg awesome, we might even mal with the cheap site we found.
Titus- Maybe, ill need to see what violets doing, shes...(the Feed, says depressed) Depressed.
Link- depressed? (moment of silence) oh ok no big deal. Ill talk to you later unit.
Titus- Later.

challenge day 7 (final day)

It has been 7 long and weird days, it hasn't been pleasant at all. Most of the time i have to do up in my room because my roommates always feel the necessity to watch tv even though they know full well im doing this challenge. I'm sure people not taking the test have this notion that the people taking the test will be enlightened and have the patience of a zen buddihist. WRONG, when i'm not reading i actually feel a lot more anxious because i love listening to instrumental music, but since i cant do that I've kind of been getting stressed out by the sheer amount of work i have to do for my other classes. I really wouldn't recommend this test to anyone unless they feel like having some sort of bragging rights, but even so its more trouble than its worth to go through with this bloody challenge.

challenge day 5

It has been 5 days since i started my descent into technology deprivation. Even sitting on this computer now seems like a luxury just to do my homework. i haven't been on facebook (ive had my friend check to see if anything important has happened) HA loop holes. anywho since ive started this challenge two things have happened, one, ive gone slightly insane, and two i have a new found respect for books. Books were one of the only entertaining things i was able to do. Since i dont listen to music anymore when i walk or take showers i notice small noises and it kind of freaks me out, especially when im reading late at night. Im really glad i took up this challenge it has been an eye opener. i really wouldnt want to do it for any longer then a week though. two more days left then im going to watch netflix and listen to music until my brain melts.

challenge day 1

i know im a little late, i started the challenge yesterday and everything seemed alien. My morning routine concists of waking up, turning my ipod on for music, taking a shower and if i have time watch some netflix. Yet yesterday i woke up took a shower without music, which felt weird in its self because everything echoed in the bathroom and i could hear other peoples conversations. After my shower i ate breakfast, since i had time to kill, i ended up starting feed. I had my phone on me because i told my mother if she needed anything IMPORTANT she could call me. everyone else who calls i ignore. Walking to class without music is seems...longer. I feel its a hour walk instead of the actual 15 minute walk. i hear the cars and trucks and wonder to myself why they seem so loud now. Use the computer for class has become a chore too. i caught myself so many times trying to access facebook. I know people can agree with me when i say logging onto facebook is almost second nature when youre on the internet. The rest of the day went pretty well. The time i would have used on facebook and other electronic stuff i used reading feed. so all in all an interesting day. i feel like it going to get harder the longer i go untill i make a process of it.

post #4

Living in seclusion may not sound bad on paper but i believe it would be a lot harder for most of the generation now. We have become so used to convenience  and technology that we have lost track of how to survive without it. I bet less then a quarter of the class couldn't start a fire without matches. sure this may seem like a trivial matter because HEY everyone has a lighter or matches, yet if you live in seclusion how far will that box of match last you? convenience is great dont get me wrong but theres a line, a line far crossed in feed the people in feed cared so much for there way of life that they didnt care about how it was effecting them and the world around them. I myself would be able to give up simple things like tv, music, ipods, computer, texting, etc. yet i wouldnt be able to go with out a car, heat, and some good movies. Being in my second day of not using electronics for enjoyment i can feel myself becoming a little anxious. Not being able to listen to some relaxing music sucks. Going a year without electronic enjoyment would either make me schizo or enlightened. For instance i might be able to have a deeper thought process, be able to live off the land and not become so dependent on super markets and what not. Its hard to think about something that would probably never happen.

blog #3

Dumbest generation? hardly, the facts that Dr. Bauerlein states do have merit. Yes, we as a generation dont have an extensive memory of culture, history, art or many things. Yes, many of us in our generation fail to grasp the importance of knowledge and education. Yes, we care more about ourself interests then the interests around us. Yet IQ tests are still steadily growing? apparently having a high IQ in this generation is considered "dumb". One of the biggest reasons why we as a generation dont know/ care about history or culture is mainly due to technology. We have google, ask jeeves, bing, etc... we have more means to fast and easy information than any generation before us. Its because of this that we dont care/know who invented the helicopter, or when Kim Jong Ill, dictator of North Korea came into power (i sure dont, and im korean). We dont see this information as important because if we really wanted to we could look it up in a matter of minutes, even seconds. Technology is a virus and a cure all. I do believe that generally there are people in our generation that know almost nothing outside of pop culture and their lives. Knowledge is power and i can understand how Dr. Bauerlein feels when he talks to students and they dont who Di-Vinci is or how Abraham Lincoln died ( these are all simple answers, but they may also spark deeper conversation). Dr. B is right about lazy, sure we're all lazy, we take things for granted such as literature ( why read a classic novel when we could just spark note the crap out of it). But we are not dumb, to compare statistics about two different years with such different technology is really unfair to our generation.

blog #2

reading the culture jam chapters and watching has been enlightening but i have had ideas of the subjects they talk about. In culture jam the chapter post human the writer talks about how people have been so immersed in technology that they lose actual social interaction. During the chapter the writer talks about MUD an online type game that people can create an avatar or an online self. MUD players see their online self as a 'realer' them then in actual outside life. "MUD addicts end up inhabiting a world somewhere between real life and virtual life. It's too real to be a game, yet too artificial to be real. They hover in "the gap". The quote explains something that is happening more and more in our generation with games such as 'World of Warcraft', Mabinogi, and other Role playing games. People are being more involved in these games and feel that their real selves are better represented in these games. The people i've watched in the Youtube videos that were posted on D2L also strengthen this 'theory' that 'addicts' feel more comfortable online where they hide behind a screen and pixel/text instead of going out and living life fully. There was a movie i saw called Ben X this movie was about a student who had social problems and acted very awkwardly while in the real world, granted the student had a mental disorder yet awkward none the less, Student spent most of his days online in a game called archlord in this game he was consider a hero, his true self, he considered this game his real world and the real world an alien landscape. I have a question to ask, have any of you created or witnessed an argument online (youtube, blog, forum, 4chan) for the sake of creating an argument? the reason this happens is because of none confrontational arguments. people seem to grow balls when they cant be seen. This also shows how people show there true selves over the net. This must stop, their should a line when one should know when and where online personas and real life personas meet and end.

myself- Darrelle kehr

My name is Darrelle Kehr, i am a junior and a Art major i'm primarily studying graphic design. My interests include reading, drawing, working out, practicing my Taekwondo, and cooking......love cooking. I'm a fairly relaxed individual yet i become quite annoyed with people who act obnoxious or feel that they are better then anyone one else. I have a strong believe that everyone has something to bring to the table. Contrary to how i look i am a huge geek. I enjoy reading graphic novels and watching anime from time to time. I used to be a huge gamer as well, but now i only play every now and then.