Books

Here are books that I've read in the past two semesters for FUN! (This has never happened in my lifetime, so it makes me happy.)

This list of books is aside from the wonderful text books my professors allow me to read. I have a list for the summer that I want to accomplish because I plan on sitting on the grass all summer. I'm stoked to think about the future of my academic life aside from my formal education. I'm getting educated with all the things I missed out on as a kid. It will be great. If you have any recommendations please let me know. (Next on my list is The Hunger Games!)

Bones Again.

FYI, Bones will be on starting April 1st, and it will be on for 8 WEEKS in a ROW!

New Favorite Video

 I found this video somehow and right now I'm in love. I also love Katharine McPhee so this is AWESOME! However, the video is only good until the last 30 seconds. Then it gets a bit crazy. At this point I don't feel like it is too inappropriate. Also, the video isn't that great quality, but it is still fun. As a side note, I haven't watched Bones in weeks. APRIL 1st! I CAN'T WAIT!

Media and the Family

This topic is the reason I wanted to study in the Department of Communications. Ironically this is not what I'll be doing my thesis on this time. However, I do have many new thoughts about the media and the family. Last semester I wrote a literature review about how families and the media interact. One thing we didn't mention a ton about in class today is how families communicate about the media and how that influences the way they communicate in other situations. I find that different types of families use the media to teach or to discipline in many different ways. (That was the end of my random thought.)

One question I wanted to ask to everyone is, where is your television located in your home? Is it the focal point of the front room? Is it hidden unless being used? Is it on the floor, table, stool, etc.? How do you think the position of the television in our home reflects or influences our television use?

For a long time I've been wanting the television out of my house because it is always staring at me when I am working on my school work on the couch. [This is not my house but this gives you an idea about what it was like last week. The TV was staring at you when you sat on the couch across from it. It was up on a pedestal and there was no way to cover it up unless you actually put a piece of fabric over the thing.]

I would get really frustrated almost daily because I would turn on the TV when I should have been working on something more important. I am happy to say, I've found an alternative solution to getting rid of the television! [This picture is weird because I took it with my computer.]

Put your television in a not so obvious place. Our television is now located in the bookshelf and it is not right in front of me when I am working on important things. I don't even really consider turning it on anymore. IT IS GREAT! I can still watch television comfortably when I want to, but it isn't the center of attention, the center of my family room, or the center of my LIFE!

Our family room is now WAY more conducive for people to visit with each other. The couches are across from each other and our two big chairs make the room more circle like. The television is not included in the circle anymore and it makes me feel so good. FREEDOM!!!!!

The Media is Ruining My Life: Potpourri

I picked a contradictory major. I am required to use the media constantly, but I'm also told how bad the effects can be. How am I supposed to work with both

(new subject) For some reason after the body image lectures I always feel super weird/angry/other feelings. I don't know why. It happened in Adolescence and in the Media class. I don't know why I get this gut wrenching feelings after the lecture, but I always freak out. I leave and go tell Kendall about all the things we learned about and then am thinking WAY too much about it for the next week. Our bodies are so amazing. Look at these muscles. Even with whatever is on top of the muscles we need to remember that our body does such amazing things.

 Why do we tend to get so concerned with this?

I mean really, who wants to tell me that the woman on the right is not totally beautiful the way she is without the changes. If you would have put the right picture on the front cover I still would have thought she is beautiful. Why do they have to make women (Faith Hill in this case) unrealistic? Women can't even be like that in real life. We all love looking at Aliens!

I mean (new subject) Wednesday I was shopping for swimsuits online. I have no idea why, I don't even like to go swimming. I was looking around and I was wondering what size and thinking about measuring, buying something and then having to return it, etc. Online shopping is smart but not. Here are some modest swimwear websites that my sister-in-laws introduced me to. Lime Ricki Hapari Diviine ModesTee

My next thought is also about body image. I've been debating getting a new iPod to encourage me to "work out." I guess not specifically for body image reasons, but it still applies. I want to be healthy. Since starting grad school my health has gone out the window. I feel crappy almost everyday because I never have a chance to do anything physical. If I do get a chance and take it, I feel guilty because I'm not working on school stuff or working, etc. Some might say that I could be running or whatever now, bc it is taking me a million minutes to write this post. What did I tell you... The media is ruining my life! I finally gave up the idea for an iPod/MP3 Player until I can prove to myself that I'm actually going to do some exercise. I also can't decide what color I want. Lame.

Last media thing, now that I've been on the Internet for so long I can't even remember why I got on the computer. Probably to be productive or something... I guess that's not going to happen anymore.

Technology

This weekend I went to a conference in Vegas. It was okay. One thing that I was blown away by was the fact that some people just read their papers for their presentation. I spent a ton of time making a power point and preparing this presentation so it would not be boring. These people just sat there and read their paper. It was super boring. I hope that doesn't happen again at the next conference I attend.

Tweek. vs. The Hunger Games

I just found out something totally disturbing. I was talking to my brother about his life on Sunday and I could not believe this. He read the book Tweek (that we talked about)! I asked him why and he said because his friend gave it to him. I was astonished. I decided that he needed some better reading choices so I'm buying him The Hunger Games series. He is only 15 years old, and is totally a great kid who is sad when his Mormon friends say bad words around him. AND HE READ THE BOOK! I didn't even know what to say. I felt like I should somehow debrief him about whatever he read. I'm just excited to read this series along with him and then we can chat about the content together. I hope he enjoys it too. It was so fun to talk to him. I forgot how hard being an adolescent is when your brain is not all the way developed. It just sounds like he is going through some hard things and I'm so unsure how to help him. I love my brothers so much and I hope I can influence them to do good in the world.

Assignment

My Sexual Content Assignment was anticlimactic. Due to all the House and Bones I watch I thought I would find a ton. There is always sexual content in these shows. However, in the episodes I watched for the assignment I didn't find that many references. I was so surprised.

Friday night was the first time in a long time that I fell asleep watching television (Bones). I woke up with a sore throat. I will never fall asleep on the couch again. I think it was contaminated. I had to miss the new episode of Bones last week because I was busy doing other things. Other media related things. Last week was a good week. This week is not so good and it is only Monday.

I present a paper on Saturday in Las Vegas. I'm totally scared.

Grades.

I was thinking about doing a media fast because I thought Kaylee had a great idea. I think my life would be changed for the better even in just one day. I would be much more productive and have more opportunities to feel the Spirit. However, I realized that my fast would be from blogging and television. I don't do facebook or music. However, my grade for this class is dependent on both blogging and the television. So, I cannot escape the media even if I wanted to. Talk about a media saturated world. Think about a media saturated career and major. I wonder if I will ever be able to escape.

Note: I could do the fast over the summer, but I don't have a job or school. So, I would require myself to watch at least one hour a day because the rest of the day I would be trying to find things to do. (That made better sense in my head.)

OhhhOOOOooooo!

Thank goodness the Olympics are over. Back to my normal media use habits which are much healthier than that of the past two weeks. I also cried when O Canada was playing after the hockey game. I can't wait for not crying so much when national anthems are played.

Next, I am hoping to run reliability (RA Teen Movie Study) again today after double checking how the document was put together. I've made some adjustments and found some mistakes. I've also cleaned the data to find typos and other things that may have influence on the number running. I think this will actually help the situation. If not I'm convinced that we will need to have another meeting and that I will need to learn how to be a better leader. (Sad Face)

Also, House and Bones are both on again this week and I'm happy. However, sad because I will be gone on Thursday night and I'm going to miss Bones.

Another media thing I am doing this week is book club. I'm having it at my house this week, but I didn't read the book because of mid-terms. That is also sad. However, I should be making some good desserts.

Lastly, I wish I was more creative.