New Media Scav Hunt

I forgot all about this assignment and happened to stumble upon something that actually reminded me of it! I was at Meijer buying groceries and went through the self-checkout lane like usual - when it suddenly struck me this is New Media at work - but it really struck me when I pushed the button to signify that I was buying produce. It asked me for the code, and then asked that I place the bag on the scale - not only did it ask, but it showed a CGI animation of a woman shopper placing a bag of apples on the machine's scale to show you where to place the bag. Even though this is something menial and not terribly exciting, it made me realize that New Media is all around me and that I don't necessarily have to seek it out to find it...

10 Times the Trouble

So we had Susan sub for today, (Very sorry to hear the bad news, Beth, she will be missed). Because of this the class was a little more structured than usual which was fine, but since hardly anybody showed up so even though it was productive, it could have been more so... Either way, we talked about a lot of different topics and particularly discussed the actual definition of new media. Almost everyone in attendance participated in the discussion, and all and all it proved to be both a fruitful and entertaining conversation.

Eighteen is actually 9...

Missed getting this one done on time... again. Today we watched What the *Bleep* Do We Know?, this was a very inspirational film about the power of thought and positive thinking - and rather than giving a New Age-y or any sort of religious connotation - they use the opposite to prove it: Science! Which is very interesting, because I have never heard this approach before - it sounds very mysterious and mystical, but apparently it's backed up by facts... It's not necessarily "god" answering your prayers so much as your concentrative thought processes actually altering reality - fucking wild! I've always felt as though it is possible to alter your own surroundings by your attitude - but not to this sort of degree! With this sort of knowledge it becomes clear why certain people seem to possess "special powers" or "magical abilities." I've always been interested in the esoteric, occult, and magickical (sic) thinking - which it now seems like maybe explained as "real" by us of it's one-time mortal enemy, science. For a little while now I have been trying to make a concerted effort to use thought in order to change the outcome of situations and the way they effect and affect me and my surroundings - it seems to be working, not a huge night and day difference, but then again I've just begun. Will report back on this as more developements occur...

Jeep update forthcoming as well, as new pictures (and my belated tax refund!) have been recieved...