tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-269231113379049302.post3221765667858008240..comments2023-03-31T14:40:03.889-04:00Comments on these are words: K-kinda Busy-evan.http://www.blogger.com/profile/10580702135716699242noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-269231113379049302.post-15201273554828685602010-06-24T17:00:49.789-04:002010-06-24T17:00:49.789-04:00"I'm struck by the irony of the telephone..."I'm struck by the irony of the telephone, a device meant to bridge a gap between two people, to facilitate communication, instead being used as a gadget to keep oneself from having to interact with anyone."<br /><br />What a profound observation, dude. <br /><br />We live in the age of "digimodernism," in the world of the "apparently real," according to cultural theorist Alan Kirby (see his book Digimodernism: How New Technologies Dismantle the Postmodern and Reconfigure Our Culture.).<br /><br />I think a lot of Kirby's theories are nutty and far fetched, but after studying him in my postmodernism class I can't help but notice more and more that he was on to a few things. Telecommunication and internet are perhaps the two biggest sources of distraction and time-wasting ever invented, and now, the two have been brought together into one, portable, device. People walk around in "the real world" but they are actually living in an "aparently real world," that is, the digital world they carry in their pockets. Not to say that I am free from this prison, owning and cherishing my iPhone as I do, but I tend to live one foot in the real and one foot in the apparently real most of the time. I too wish I could have a conversation with a stranger from time to time, but its much easier to retreat into the apparently real where communication is more comfortable. Evan, props to you for consciously trying to live in the real. <br /><br />For sake of possibly stimulating further discussion here, I'll leave an excerpt from Kirby's book regarding the apparently real:<br /><br />By the way, for sake of possibly stimulating further discussion, according to Kirby blogs are exemplary of the digimodernist cultural text, because blogs exemplify several of digimodernism's characteristics. Characteristics such as "onwardness" - the endlessness of the content in a text via commentability (what I am doing to your text right now), "social authorship" - meaning many contribute to the creation of the text, and, most morbidly, "the death of competence" - meaning that some college kid can start a blog and people will inevitably go to him as a source even though he has no credentials proving he knows anything (=p). These are a few of the characteristics of digimodernist culture as a whole, according to Kirby. <br /><br />Ok, I'm done now =]Adam Reinhardthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17815541897197013575noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-269231113379049302.post-7697771586233933152010-06-21T21:40:22.480-04:002010-06-21T21:40:22.480-04:00I thought that was Garret, because I barely glance...I thought that was Garret, because I barely glanced at the name and judged by the comment of what was written. But hey, that's you, Gareth. Neat.<br /><br />No phones for the win.-evan.https://www.blogger.com/profile/10580702135716699242noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-269231113379049302.post-52514166813204806592010-06-17T21:27:08.386-04:002010-06-17T21:27:08.386-04:00This is another one of the many reasons I still ha...This is another one of the many reasons I still haven't bought a cell phone for myself. I'm not going to lie, I'm pretty shy around most people, so I'm not all that likely to start a conversation with whomever might be sitting next to me. However, I will have a conversation with someone if they're willing to initiate it, and I have no interest in protecting myself from them with a shield made of plastic, silicon, and wifi signals.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17518966063432664364noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-269231113379049302.post-56153697245168625722010-06-17T21:13:55.607-04:002010-06-17T21:13:55.607-04:00Yes, this post was titled using lyrics from a Lady...Yes, this post was titled using lyrics from a Lady Gaga song.-evan.https://www.blogger.com/profile/10580702135716699242noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-269231113379049302.post-27724203561726226272010-06-17T21:11:57.276-04:002010-06-17T21:11:57.276-04:00I don't want this to turn into "TTC Stori...I don't want this to turn into "TTC Stories," so I'm going to add more variety as this goes on. <br /><br />My grandmother was put in the hospital today because she passed out in an elevator. I am worried and hoping she arrives home safely.-evan.https://www.blogger.com/profile/10580702135716699242noreply@blogger.com