Day 2 - Alina Martinez

So at this point the absence of music in my life is indefinitely killing me slowly. Today I worked pretty much all day from 1pm to 10pm so I didn’t really miss out on much. However, the drive to and from work was wretched without my daily dose of music. At night I felt I owed it to myself to have a night out with some friends. It was a long day at the day care with two little girls who claimed to be princesses when they were actually wicked little devils. So straight out of work (still in work clothes) I headed straight to a bar. A bar where again, I knew there would be music. I went with some co-workers because they were the only people I had spoken to all day since I had not answered any phone calls. Anyhow, I knew most of my phone calls that day would be completely irrelevant. I spent the night drinking a bit more than I should have. I’m not sure if this is inappropriate, but I find myself a bit intoxicated more often now without the media. It’s weird; you’d think that the media actually encourages people to drink more. But in my case the lack of media actually causes me to drink more in order to keep myself entertained. So apparently alcohol is something really valuable to me when I have nothing else to keep me entertained? I guess it’s just strange to me because I don’t really like going out much. Typically I would have bought a bottle of wine, gone home and soaked in the tub to my Norah Jones cd. Cliché I know, but I find it rather necessary after a long day of work. Anyway, at the end of the night I had my intoxicated self driven home and attempted to fall asleep. Yet another struggle without the media in my life. Again, I spent an extra 2 hours trying to fall asleep without my immaculate flat screen! This all kind of reminds me of the time I went to Concan, TX for 4 days. There was no TV, no internet and definitely no cell phone reception. That wasn’t all too bad because we spent most of the time tanning and we still had music!!

Neysa Day 2

Yesterday was not as bad as the first day. The whole time I was driving without music, I was able to think about many things. So I was more observant I used it to my advantage. With this deprivetion project i have become more aware of my surroundings. For example, When i walk far distances i am not able to use my i pod so i see what is happening around me. I was also able to get alot of studying in. For most of the afternoon i was at school studying for finals. That made me kinda happy that i nothing to distract me, so i had my complete attention on my books. Yesterday morning i was at work and music was blasting. I couldnt have been happier. So i got my fix of music. Since all of my morning and afternoon were busy i had no opportunity to watch television during that period. Later that evening i was out at a few parties and with friends. At the parties there was always music playing so i didnt have much of a problem.

Danielle-Day 2

So Saturday was going to be a breeze without tv, music, or internet....Or so I thought. I woke up around 11ish, and thought I would have tons to do to distract me from not watching tv, or listening to the radio, but let me tell you, I was wrong!
I wasn't scheduled to work, so I wouldn't be able to be distracted that way. So I thought I'd run some errands, get things done. Well it turns out, I didn't have a lot to do. After I ate breakfast, I read the sports section of the paper to see who won between Boston and Chicago. (Oh, by the way, my dad cancelled the newspaper, so it was the last day we recieved it.) My mom wanted me to go to Lowe's with her, but instead, I took my puppy to get his shots. There were no openings, so I just made an appointment for his shots and for him to get fixed. The drive to and from Petsmart was a rather quiet one, I sang songs in my head the whole time.
When I got home, I did some spring cleaning...and it was so hard to do a boring task like that without any music to listen to. I did hear a blurry rendition of oldies that my mom was listening to while she was out back gardening. What seemed like such an easy task to do, a few loads of laundry, organize my closet, turned into an all day affair. I think usually when I clean my room, I do it with ease because I have a lot of songs playing on my laptop. But Saturday, it was a different story. The day dragged on and on.
My phone would beep and beep, text message after text message. I resisted texting back, even though it was really hard. Although, I must admit, I did text back a friend who invited me to watch the fight, just to tell him I couldn't watch the fight or couldn't even text him anymore.
I ended up just staying home instead of going out. When it was around time for me to go to sleep, I thought, "Damn," I usually watch a dvd, and fall asleep to the sound of it playing in the background, but with this media deprivation thing, I just decided to start re-reading the last book in the Twilight series, and I fell fast asleep.
On an ordinary Saturday, if I didn't have to work, I'd just spend the day lounging around, watching tv, and being lazy. So even though it killed me, all day long with no music, no tv, and no phone, I felt like I had a productive day overall. I probably wouldn't have gotten anything done, had I been watching tv all day.

Jonathan Swayne May,2 2009

Day two was considerably worse than day 1. All day on day one I had things planed that could keep my mind off not using any of the mass media on day two this was not the case. Day 2 started out kind of slow got up and got ready to do nothing all day had no plans and all of my friends were going to be at work until around 9 or 10 pm. I had to think of something to do to keep my mind occupied to I decided to edit my final paper for English which was a good thing I changed a few things that should have been changed but that only took me about 1 hour. It was still only 1:00 and I still had hours before any of my friends were going to be available to do anything so i had to figure out something else to do so I decided to cook something so I went to the store got stuff for making chocolate chip cookies came home and made them. After that took my dog for a walk then I will admit i gave up and i watched a movie time just goes by so slow when you are doing absolutely nothing at home by yourself. later that night the lack of mass media was not so bad the stuff that me and my friends do most of the time dose not usually require any type of media other than music and we can always make that ourselves since most of us play an instrument or sing. At about 9:30 we all got together at my house like we do every night and decided to go out to get some food at Jims Most of my friends had not used any for of mass media all day either since they were at work since a short time after most of them got out of bed. after we were done eating at Jims we all came back to my house and played a game of risk and we went over some of the songs we are singing in our quartet in the next few weeks.

Orlando 2

Saturday day 2 of this media depravation as time goes on it seems less and less intense but then you find yourself stuck in your own head. This for me its sucks cause all I’m doing is thinking about anything and everything. When I get to work its heaven for I can stop thinking and just go to work. When I would drive and have the ability to listen to music it was divine not to be in my head. This Saturday I drove my lady to work in the mourning no music she is really cool about this media depravation project she started out not liking it but the day it started she freaked out when the music started playing in the car. She jumped into action switching the power off it was funny to see her geek out like that. So the drive downtown to where she works the drive was boring cause all that women do is wait till the last min to get ready and put on makeup in the car. Really in the mourning making the bed and breakfast is not as important as getting ready for work. Being on time for work is what you should worry about not if the bed is made that’s what I don’t understand. That’s when she freaks out about how late she is that’s just fing ridiculous. The drive back was even harsher it’s around 10 in the morning I’m tired and all I want is to relax to some nice country music. As I’m driving I find it hard not to see the flaws of other drivers the no blinkers to get into the next lane to the waiting till the last second to run over the yellow bumps and nearly kill everybody just so they can exit. The way people drive is as if their lives were at stake the rushing in cases where lanes are being closed and you now the lane your in is closing as the further you go those big orange cans get close and closer to your car but you wait to get over causing a traffic jam till your side mirror clips the orange can. Is that necessary? The arrival home was usually the cold dark apartment no sound just the buzzing of the air condition and the sound of neighbors kids out side having what seems like the time of their lives. What became unusually was the continuous silence of the apartment. Since the previous night was long I fell right back into a slumber of darkness. The awaking was not bad as I felt the time constraints of page one of my journal tales of days with no media. I had to finish fast with the hour of four approaching not only did I have a paper due I also had work at five. That is one thing I have learned I like to take my mind off thing with music it’s a quick fix instead of think about other things. Work was work I’m new to the job so this is learning day four of my new job. Went by quick the next phase of the day was downtown to meet my girlfriend and her friends out. The occasion was a birthday dinner followed by clubs which was great cause there is media at the clubs TV I can watch ESPN while the ladies dance or try to dance this will be going on into Sunday for I like to drink and hang out.

LaQuinta (Day 2)

Day 2 start was not so good. I notice that I slept later than normal. After my morning routine, I made use of my time and started reorganizing my house. I still had plenty of boxes that were not unpacked from the move. Since i had no media wasting or eating up my time, I decided to get busy being productive around the house. I moved boxes out to the garage and stored them away. I rearrange my kitchen cabinets to maximize space. This task took up most of the day. When night fell and the kids were in there rooms with media, my husband in our room with the playoffs on, i was in the family room going through important papers and sorting through a few more boxes.
Over all I did not find the time to read a book or the newspaper. Books have always put me to sleep. I only read the new paper for the funnies to laugh, sales and coupons to shop, some articles of titles that catch my eye and when i need to cut out articles in the sports section when my kids were mention. other than that I don't like to read. I did not even watch the news because it would have been to easy to change the channel to something I really rather watch. Normally, I watch the news in the morning to start my day off ,not to end it. I don't like to here and see bad news before going to bed. It makes me uneasy especially if it is close proximity like the swine flu. I did use the computer for my speech class final assignments. I really and not missing the media to much as i welcome the peace and tranquility. I have so much going on such as retuning home to New Orleans to take my job back, leaving my family behind here in San Antonio( this is the best choice for now). my step dad is in the hospital fighting cancer, my oldest son is graduating from high school , my youngest son have a sports event in Houston this weekend, and my daughter still have to rehabilitate her knee from her ACL surgery. I have enough things going on in my life that i am not dependent on the media. I check in from time to time for updates, but not every minute or hour of the day with some media. I really don't even use the phone that much other than to check in with kids and husband to make sure all is well. I don't have friends,
I have associates and they don't mean that much to waste my daytime minutes on. I have to pay for incoming and outgoing text messages, so I rarely use this function. I mainly use the text function to communicate with my kids they are at school or they need me when I am at school. I can definitely appreciate all of the new and modern advances, but sometimes it is overwhelming to the point that i leave it alone sometimes just to find peace of mind. So, this media deprivation for me is great and helping me to do some much needed work elsewhere.
P.S. I'd also like to share that my family is cooperating so that i wont take it away from them, they keep the doors closed and the volumes low or use their headphones.

Jaz Hernandez Day 2

Well yesterday was a lot easier for me. I got lucky and was busy all day.  I had to wake up at 8:30 in the morning and get ready for my flag football playoffs so I didn’t really have time for media at all.  The only opportunity I had was to listen to music on the way but of course I resisted and stayed true to the challenge.   I was at the playoffs from 10 to about 3:30 because the playoffs are tournament style.   So for most of my day I was not tempted by any mass media at all because I was to busy getting sun burned and playing football.   Then after the games I came how in my silent car and took a shower, still no media there.   Once I got out I started working on my papers and my blog, then temptation was kicking in.   While I was going on the Internet to go to the blog site I was tempted to browse the web and look around a bit.   But I got the best of that and followed the rules again.   After working on my paper for quite some time I decided to call it a day with schoolwork.   My friends came over unexpected, which was really cool because I was just about to go to their house without warning to.   So we decided to go eat then go to a party.   I was pretty mad around this time because I couldn’t watch the Manny P. fight that was on at the time.   I was even more mad when I found out he knocked the other guy out super nasty.   That was the hardest part of the day, just having to miss the fight and have other people tell me about it.   We finally got to the party and music was playing.   So I got to listen to some music by the loophole that if its at a party its okay.   I was glad because it was a DJ and he was playing some good stuff.   So for the most part I was out of the media world until that party, I hope y’all wont hold that one against me ha-ha.

Day 2. Jenna Denver

Day 2. A lot more difficult than I expected. I was supposed to work a double today, but had so much homework that I called in. Big mistake. It's a lot easier participating in the media deprivation project when I have something to distract me, such as work. So I'm at the gas station, and I stop by the Redbox to look at what movies they have. Go figure, I see a movie I want. I get it. But I have to say, it is still sitting in front of my tv and hasn't been watched. Its a force of habit. I'm used to getting movies on my way home. I guess it will just have to sit there until Monday. Not too much longer...But anway, I accomplished a lot today. I got all my history and government homework done. It feels good to be done with that. If I could have watched a movie, I probably would have done that instead. I started my car today and the radio turned on. I wanted to leave it on, but once again, I hit the power button, and listened to silence. I then got stuck in a traffic jam. Wow, you never realize how important the radio is to you until you get stuck in a thirty minute traffic jam. Good news is, I work tomorrow night. Once I get home, which should be around midnight, I will be able to watch that movie. The lack of a cell phone is getting a little more difficult. I think some of my friends think I'm lying about his project just so I don't have to talk to them. lol. But thats okay, it's nice to not have my cell phone ringing every five minutes. The ringer is turned off for the weekend. One more day. Can't get any worse.

Deanna Briones-Hassuni Day #2

... Is it possible to go insane without something you are used to having everyday? I need to hear more music. Yeah sure, I hear the birds chirp and the wind blow while I'm in my car, but it's getting old. I usually have a cigarette or two while driving somewhere, but lately I don't find myself buying any. Which is a good thing, but at this point I feel so lonely when I get into my car. Some say they have time to think about the great things in life now that media is not allowed, but I must say that I'm one that constantly thinks about great possibilities with or without media. For example, when I watch the news and see such negative insights occurring in other peoples lives, I think of how fortunate and lucky I am. Also, when I hear music I think of the beauty that feelings and emotions bring. Anyways, can you tell I need music to survive? I pulled out my guitar yesterday. It was a little dusty but shockingly still tuned. In no time my friends and I came up with an awesome song. After that, as I was studying for finals, I wanted to hear more music, so I made my boyfriend play his guitar. Of course, I got sidetracked and distracted. My boyfriend and I were a little bored so we grabbed two beers out of the fridge, chugged them, looked at each other with the same thought, and ended up staying up till 5am. I'll let you all figure that one out. As far as not using my phone... that has been a little difficult for me. It seems as though all of my old friends and relatives planned to check to see how I was doing at the same time. I have only replayed to the ones that I know would worry if they didn't hear back from me right away. The funny thing was when I tried to pull this, "Mom, I cannot use my phone this weekend so don't call me," joke. She didn't care if it was a requirement. She needs to know where I'm at regardless of anything. It was worth a try though. I have only used the internet to check my e-mail, bank accounts, and to research for a project. Oh ya and Sara decided to bring the May issue of Cosmopolitan magazine to my house. I started to open it and remembered that I couldn't even look at a magazine. I just wanted to check out the latest trends, but I had to throw the magazine across the room instead. Everyday is getting harder. I started working on a painting. I usually listen to music when I paint, but let's see how this painting turns out.

Day Dos

The day started off pretty good.  I learned my lesson from just sitting around at home because that only dragged time on even more.  So I planned to go golfing as a way to enjoy my day.  This was an excellent idea.  Golfing is fun and also time consuming.  I was able to get outdoors and enjoy the fresh smell of Texas air.  However, there were some minor situations that had me tempted to turn on the radio.  

Driving to the golf course at ten o’clock in the morning, my friends were pretty upset with   the choice of not listening to music.  They attempted to convince me into not following through with the project.  So I threw some philosophical ideas at them trying to hint at the importance of bonding.  This didn’t go so well, so we all took our own separate cars.  

After the golfing trip, I had time alone at my house to just relax.  This was hard for me to do, because I felt like Facebook was just calling my name.  I kept debating on going online to check everything, or just to even change my status, but I resisted.  This whole media deprivation thing is starting to play with my head.  I feel like I’m being grounded from the better things in life that brought happiness to me.  

Later that night I did get a little taste of media.  My friends and family got together to go bowling.  This was fun and got me out of the slump at home.  Luckily for me, bowling alleys play music to keep their customers entertained.  This is where I was so relieved to hear music other than me trying to sing in the car to replace the deprivation.  I had a great time bowling and enjoyed getting outdoors to pass the time away.

Overall, day two was a little harder to accomplish because it was the start of the weekend and I had these days off from work.  Normally I sit at home and watch television or play video games to get away from the stress of work, school and being in a band.  I had an interesting time doing something not normal to my regular days off.

Day 2 Steven Brewer

Day 2 proved to be much more difficult. I went to Gamestop to buy a new video game, only to remember that I couldn't play it. So now I have it sitting here in front of me, taunting me. One more day, and then its over. My cell phone is turned off, I haven't had much of a problem with it. It't the video games and movies that I miss. I imagine times were much more difficult without modern technology. I've made it without my cell phone this far, but it is not something I would want to make a habit of. I can survive without tv and video games, but reading does get boring after a while. Not listening to the radio has also been very difficult. I always have the radio on for background noise, and now the house is just quiet. Day 2 is definetely much more difficult than day one. I thought I would be able to soar through this project with no problems, but I am tempted to play a game, watch a movie, or even just turn the radio on! I wonder how people communicated effieciently without cell phones? Most of my friends live in Mobile, Al, which is where I'm from, and I haven't got to talk to them for the last few days. Can't use myspace, that's off limits, and can't use my cell phone. I think I could live without cell phones though, and possibly without movies. But the radio and video games, thats whats killing me. I occupied my day yesterday by spending some time outside. I worked on painting the porch like I've been meaning to do and went to the park for a little while with the dogs. Getting outside is nice. It gives you time to clear your head and think. It's amazing how different it is without all the modern day background noise in the picture. One more day, and then it's back to how things were.

arseny Day 2

everybody's right so far: day 2 is pretty much day 1. if the city had me working weekends, maybe i wouldn't have so much free time on my hands. my saturday mornings usually start with a pot of coffee, a newspaper and the TV in the background to get rid of the silence. i hate silence and untill this weekend i never knew it could be so loud. being around gunfire and explosions for a while left me with a constant ringing in my ears so having some kind of noise to distract me, became a habit. anyway, i read yesterdays paper from front to back, classifieds and everything so if anybody's looking for a car or a goldfish, i'll point you in the right direction.
for a while there, i was just passing time. instead of texting my neighbors to see what they were doing, i walked over next door. like it was done in the old days. it turned out to be a waste of a trip because they weren't home. it was nice out so i decided to walk down to the creek bed to check the water status.
not being exposed to any media by choice for a few days got me thinking what it would be like if it wasn't a part of our lives at all... like the communication part: i can text someone across the country or email someone across the world, and it only takes seconds. without a computer or a phones it would take days or even months so i'm thinking i found a new appreciation for the speedy means of communication we have available.
about 7:30 yesterday evening i ended up at my friends house since they were having a little party thing going. after some catching up and a few beers casey asked me to put some music on cause she cound't figure out how to work the stereo so i filled her in on my weekends punishment. it was nice to just sit around and talk to people without music blaring but once more people showed up, the radio got fixed and people started dancing around. a party without music doesn't really feel like a party, i don't care who you are or what you say.
to try and keep the project going, i left the party and went to a mud hole to see if anything was going on there. i could hear my friends jamming out to some Aaron Watson from a quater mile away and since i remembered that music is acceptable at social events, i decided to stay and finish off my saturday with a little bit of mud.

Burak Day 2

With the start of day two I was hoping that it would be alittle easier to cope without forms of media. Just like day one there is an eerie silence over the house. No music blaring or my phone on me to talk with friends. It just seems as if were dependent on multiple objects such as phones and computers to run our lives. The worse part of that is they have been deeply rooted into our social lives that we can't remove them entirely. Going to and from work ive gotten use to not having the radio/ipod in and just driving with the windows listening to the urban sprall the roads. However after my shift when I came home I literally thought i was going to lose my mind. It seems as if thers nothing to do without breaking the terms of the little experiment. After sitting around for 30 minutes I decide to pick up a book and started reading. Which I have to admit was a nice change in pace. Its been awhile since ive had a chance to pick up a book from my favorite author and actually had time to read. If anything this little project slowed down my weekend for me. Without all those distractions i kind of like the peace and quite. Later on that night some friends an I decide to go out which was quite funny. I some how convinced them to try going without any form of music in the car. At first they thought it was going to be simple. They broke which was funny after only 30 to 40 minutes of silence they couldnt take it anymore and put the radio on. Do have to admit im starting to like this project more and more as time goes on. At the start i thought this was going to be a awful weekend but with any media it seems to me the weekend has slowed down. Even tho you can read only for so long we only have one more day left. Then we can all return to out normal daily routines and be glad that this project is over.

Taylor Lieber - Day 2

So day two was ok I guess. I am still missing my music very much though. I hate driving in the car without it. I noticed that I'm a lot more irritable with no music in the car, especially if I'm stuck in traffic. Someone cut me off, and I yelled, which I usually try not to do. I haven't really been missing the tv too much, except for at night when I need to fall asleep. Fortunately, there's not a whole lot of shows that I like to watch on the weekends. My shows are all on during the week. I like to get out on the weekends and be just about anywhere but at home. I woke up kind of late again, since I really didn't have to be anywhere. Once again, I took a little longer than usual to get ready to head out the door. I took my mom shopping at Target with me, so at least I had her in the car to talk to. There's never any silence when my mom and I are having a conversation. I bought a shirt that I didn't really need, but oh well. I knew that I would be spending more money this weekend; that's what happens when you get out of the house and do stuff. I am definitely missing my phone more than I thought I would. I don't use it very often to talk, but I text all the time! Since we always want something more when we're not supposed to have it, I found myself looking at my phone more often than normal. I was just looking to check for any missed calls or texts, but I felt like a crazy, obsessive person. If I had missed anything, then I had to fight the temptation to respond. When I got home from the store, I decided to take a short nap. Of course I didn't really need it, but if I'm asleep then I'm not thinking about what I'm missing. Later that evening, I went to the Helotes Cornyval with a couple of friends. I spent money just to stuff my face with all kinds of carnival food. There was a band playing. I didn't really like the songs, but I didn't care. I was just happy to hear music, and beggars can't be choosers. After the cornyval, my friends wanted to watch the boston and chicago game, so I had to go upstairs by myself. I was sort of annoyed, but ok. If the spurs were still playing :-( then I would have had to cheat!! All in all, the day wasn't too bad, but I still can't wait until Monday!

Schiber Day 2

This is the second day without media for me and as I mentioned yesterday my day begin by going to dallas with some friends. It was for a card tournament so we needed to be there at 9am and we left only a half an hour after my previous post at 4.30 am.

Dallas takes nearly four hours of traveling at night and doing this with 4 other people cramped in a car is on its best a truly sorry affair but the lack of radio to keep it quiet make it nearly unbearable. The group was exausted and we took turns sleeping and keeping up randomn conversation. The lack of media for me was the most differcult here as everyone else was able to use their phone/ipod to tune out and take a nap where I had to put myself to sleep with the distracting noise of the road. The trip was unbearable but we made it to Dallas by 9:30 am on time.

At the tournament I don't need any form of media, I don't even listen to musice normally as its distracting and I need to concetrate when playing cards. However the lack of sleep took its toll and I went with three wins and three losses before dropping out and just hanging out with some people I know from out of town. To put this in perspective a good record is six wins and a top eight record is six wins + two draws or more. There are eight rounds total.

The second time this project affected me today was that my friends wanted to see X-men orgins and I was forced to pass. This wasn't as differcult as it may seem though because if you pay attention to this blog I haven't had a good nights sleep since thrusday at the time. Instead we waited for the tournament to wind down and left after knowing who was in the top eight. I knew one of the top eight and couldn't text to see what was happening but my friends happily filled me in on our way back.

Back to San Antonio was nothing more than a repeat of my torment of going to dallas. Its just so boring due to the complete lack of music and the trip took five or six hours due to traffic. There wasn't much of traffic but due to the storm in Dallas their were alot of wrecks. This caused the time differance keeping me even longer in boardroom. I got back at two am and hung out with another group of friends at Ihop doing what I am now; telling them about my day. Course the focus was on the tournament. Then after that I went home.

For the final day I may actually have a normal day so it might be harder to go without media. However its staring now at 1:40 as I slept in, getting back a five am does that. Will I bear not goint to X-men orgins one more day? Will the allure of TV overcome reason? Find out in the final day blog!

Melissa Mancilla-post 2

So it’s getting a little bit more difficult with each passing day. It doesn’t help that every time I go outside my neighbor is singing some of my favorite songs. I’m wondering if it would count as a loophole if I paid him to play his radio outside, but I’m not that desperate yet. Just starting to get irked and feel the withdrawals. Previously I thought I would enjoy these three days, that I’d discover something about myself and my daily routine that would enlighten me so much that it would affect how I lived the rest of my life. All I learned is that when left alone with nothing to hear but my own thoughts I almost begin to show signs of a rabid dog. If music is all that’s keeping me from slipping into insanity then I indeed do need it. For some reason I had thought that after I had accomplished the first day, the rest would be cake. Not so. In fact I woke up in an irritable mood that Frank Sinatra usually cures, but today I had to find another alternative.

What is there to do…I could play checkers with myself…or perhaps talk to my dog, both without the excuse of media deprivation just come across as mental illness, so I suppose I have a reasonably good excuse.

I’ve had to find alternatives for everything. Unlike with junk food I just can’t alleviate my cravings by chewing gum. Music has always served as my remedy to everything. Take away my fix all cure and suddenly I’m not the happy camper I once was only two days ago. The television portion of my life can easily be substituted by a conversation with my mother or reading a good book. I plan to finish some books I’ve never got around to finishing, and this is a good reason to finally do so. Even though as I type this House is on, and I love that show, somehow I think I’ll manage. I’m almost relieved T.V. is gone for the day, since the news is often depressing and commercials are always advertising the new “it” product.

My internet fix will be a little trickier to ease off of. I’ve found that I resort to the computer when I’m extremely bored, so I thought I would keep myself constantly entertained different ways. In a few hours I’m off to the mall with some friends, and given that they don’t bail we should be heading on over to O.P. Schnabel park. The next best thing to ease my nerves is nature, and I never fully take advantage of such a lovely park being only a few minutes away from me.

But even the beginning of today went by much slower than anticipated. Before I had known it, I had spent an hour and forty five minutes staring up at my ceiling. Given a Johnny Depp poster adorns my ceiling (don’t judge me), I still have never zoned out and stared off into space longer than the length of a class period at Northwest Vista. Today I am much more pessimistic about the next 24 hours. When I had told me friends last night what I was doing, they laughed, then realized I was serious, then were deeply sorry I had agreed to subject myself to such a wicked experiment. It’s not that bad I assured them, just a little tough when you realize how vital music is to your everyday life. One of my friends asked me how I would get by without Twitter, to which I laughed from a good healthy place, then became horrified when I realized she wasn’t joking either. Our generation seems dependent on social networking sites to get by each day. As if MySpace wasn’t mindlessly self indulgent enough, Twitter (from what I understand, I refuse to check it out) is a networking site where you post you every action each moment of your life. I’m not knocking Twitter, just amazed at how much people rely on it.

I know I can still make the most of these three days and still salvage some sort of lesson. At least it’s been three days that won’t contribute to my hearing loss, or that won’t increase my chances of cell phone induced brain tumors. No, I’m more likely to go on my own free will now, if it meant a dull existence without the comfort of music to help get me by.

The Irrationality of Rationality - Day 2 - Angelo Reyes

Day 2 was not much different than day 1. I awoke at ten a.m., again meditated, then a shower. I worked at eleven. On the way to work, I accidentally turned on the radio; I had forgotten about this project for a split second. As soon as I heard a local dj say something about a bar, the memory of this project came back. I slapped myself and turned it off. I sat in silence, once more, pondering the past and the future to come. There's so much to think about when you're not distracted by media. Just thinking about a problem eventually leads to a solution. I solved a couple of things just on the way to work.
Being at work and actually working, and only working, is kind of new to me. Not that I’m a slacker or anything, not always, I just get distracted easily. I guess it’s a byproduct of growing up in a media-engorged society. There is so much distraction in media it’s quite disturbing. I had somewhat of a revelation last night. I was full of insight and clarity and I came to the conclusion that life is all about survival, and to try and make it mean anymore is basically somewhat of a waste of time. The only test that actually matters is that of survival. Nowadays, people are focused so much on convenience and luxury, hoping to extend their life here on earth. Personally, I’m not too much concerned with making my life easy. Life is more fun the harder it is. Just my opinion, but I digress. Work was work, plain and simple. No television, no phone.
I got out of work at eleven and played a bit of soccer with a friend in the parking lot. He put on music and I told him about my project. He turned it off, respectfully, which i was actually glad he did because I’m not too fond of the country music. After thirty minutes of intense soccer-mania, I headed home, drenched in sweat. I decided to exercise more and stop smoking so many damn cigarettes.
At home, I ate a nice and scrumptious meal consisting of tamales and milk. Yum. I usually sit in front of the television when I eat a meal, but last night I sat the kitchen table and just ate. That’s it. That’s all i did. Eat.I noticed that i enjoyed the meal a great deal more than i usually would’ve. I headed off to bed around 1, after a quick shower and another session of meditation. I laid there, surprised at just how much more simple life is when there is no media involved in it. This has been some project.

Brick to face dose of reality - Abigail Day 2

Day two passes much like day one only with less to do. I woke up at around ten and got online to blog out the previous day. By the time I was finished it was time to get ready for work. I did so without any sound other than the one car that passes around the corner to do a U-turn. I like the peace and quite, really. But I like it more when I choose to have peace and quite. There are so many things that I have had time to do this weekend that I had to put off because of the project. Not to much of an inconvenience, I can always do them later, but I’m the kind of person that needs to get something going and done right away. I think this project would have been much easier for me if I wasn’t stuck at home at the mercy of whoever has the time and patience to take me out, wheelchair and all. Its more like, I feel bad, I feel like a burden. In the break room yesterday at work, I was in there alone for a few minutes with the television off. A co-worker came in to take her lunch and asked why I was just sitting there and not watching anything. I explained the project and she sat along with me, but I told her she could turn it on but I couldn’t make the choice. It wasn’t hard. I focused on other things. I have more time now to continue reading. Usually I read for about thirty minutes before I go to bed. Now I read rather than watch television or be on the Internet. I write in my journal also, something I haven’t done in a few weeks. Surprisingly I feel less stress. It makes sense if you think about it. This environment of technology serves as a distraction. When its taken away from you, you’re left to deal with your life and everything gets into focus. Like meditation, you become aware of yourself and your surroundings. There are pros and cons to this project. The cons are only cons because of how dependent we’ve become on gadgets made to ‘improve’ our lifestyle. I think this project is taking an unexpected turn.

Day 2 Michael Petit

Saturday I slept in until I had to go to work. I went to work around two. I work at the Burger King on Lackland Airforce Base. On the way there, the silence in the car was the hardest thing though out the whole day. I just cant be comfortable with complete silence. I think the music is what I take for granted. I never knew how much I loved music. All kinds of music from rock to hip-hop. I think am going to start messing around on the turntables again. When I got to work, I was late thirty minutes late. I worked for an hour then went on break. In the break room, I would usually watch TV. I had a headache anyways so I just ate. Silence is good when your having a rough day. I clocked back in and went back to work until ten. I went home after work. I was to tired to want to watch tv or play my xbox. I just texted this girl a couple of times and cashed out on my bed. My day was very boring and tomorrow is going to be the same. I had fun on Friday cause I was off. This project is easy on the days I have to work. When it comes to blogging about what I did its hard. I wished I didn't work so much for so long. I feel like I am wasting my life working so much. I could be out having fun and getting in to trouble. I think am going to quit soon.................

Adam's Saturday Adventure!

Ok, ok, so it is not as good as you would think. I had to work all morning and then after work my sister was having her birth day party. So instead of staying home with five or six little twelve year old girls running about Adrian and I made plans to hang out with my friends Scott and Dara. It was great fun, and there was no media involved. Scott had his earphones in, and knows about the project enough to turn off the car radio for us. After a walk around the base housing area that Scott currently resides in Dara decided she wanted a burger. Then a trip to Burger King ensued. At Burger King our friend John Sircy decided to visit us and chat for a while before he ran to hang with another friend. The whole night was awesome. Dara had to leave around ten. Then we visited our friends Geoff, Richard and Justin, but Justin was asleep. He had work early. So Richard, Geoff, Scott, Adrian and I talked and chilled on the couch. They had a movie going, but we were not about to tell them to turn it off. Then we headed back to our friend Scott’s house and crashed there for the night. I am writing this one a bit earlier than the blog I typed up yesterday because I have work at 3 today.
One thing I realized that during this project is that I focus more on face to face conversations rather than texting or talking on the cell phone. Which I think is so much more personal and fun. It is truly difficult to show emotion in a text, and hard to read a reaction of a person over the cell phone. This project has me getting out there and talking to other people, which I needed sorely. Professor Lopez did give us all permission to watch the news, online or television, about swine flu. I decided that I was not all too concerned about it. I had heard, previous to the beginning of this project, that people with weak, or damaged immune systems are at the most risk. I have a strong immune system.