Assignment 6-1 What Does All This Mean To Me?

What it all means to me

Every week for the last 5 weeks my classmates and I have had to post weekly analysis's of an item that we thought represented popular culture. It is amazing to me how different and unique each analysis turned out to be. We are each in our own world, doing our own things, so is it any wonder that each of us explored what we thought to be a popular culture item. Things that are long gone or were considered has beens have made their way back to the forefront of popularity. There were some analysis's that focused on the world itself and the goings on of people in general. It is to say without a doubt that we each find something different that we believe to be popular culture and it doesn't really matter what other people think about it.

I can honestly say that this has been one of my least favorite classes, the instructor, I have enjoyed. It is just the notion of who are we to say what is and isn't popular. Look around, the things my daughter would consider popular culture, I could completely disagree with, and vice versa. Is popular culture materialistic, narcissistic, or just plain opinionated? We believe it is popular culture because everyone wants one, has one, or needs one, or because we are so consumed by the notion of having what everyone else has that it just becomes popular.

I have come to hate cell phones, computers, and iPods. Why? These are just more gadgets that suck your electricity and your money out of your pocket. I mean my computer has crashed twice in less than 6 months, who needs that, and why? Yes, I enjoy going to school online, but at the same time, I am to the point of wanting to go back to a traditional classroom and use pen and paper. Cell phones drive me crazy to the point that I want to throw mine, my daughters and my husband's on the ground and jump up and down on them until they are smashed into teeny tiny pieces. Why? Because you cannot get away from them, on the rare occasion that I leave mine at home, I relish the fact that no one can reach me, yes it is a great convenience but it can be a dangerous road hazard as well.

To answer the burning questions in the action items, here are my thoughts. I understand popular culture no more or no less than I did before, to me it is all relatively the same things, new package and new era. No, I don't have any stereotypes now that I didn't have before, so those stereotypes will not play a role in my career or major. The values that I identified are: I miss the days when you sat on the front porch with your family and just hung out, I miss the traditional telephone of calling your friends just to see what they are doing, I miss actually spending time with my friends and family because of all the household chores that never seem to end. I plan to get rid of cell phones as soon as I get moved. I plan to use my telephone to call my family and friends just to say hi. I plan to use my time more wisely so I can spend more time with my kids and husband. How? Now there is the million dollar question. Just because the cell phone rings doesn't mean I have to answer it, the laundry and dishes can wait a few hours, so can the dusting. I intend on making Sundays the day we try to hang out as a family and not burden ourselves with the day to day chores that never end.

Assignment 5-1

Memory Sticks

Well this is it, my last weekly blog for this class. Hurrah!!! Just kidding, it has been interesting. I decided to write about something that I finally took the time to discover that I am sure many other people have already known about or use. The memory stick, or junk drive, or usb stick or whatever you prefer to call it.

I finally broke down and bought one after my computer crashed for the second time in 4 months. Since I have never had a problem with my other computers I didn't really have a need to save my information anywhere else. Boy, oh boy, what a mistake that turned out to be. I lost all of my homework assignments that I had done, and some pictures which I downloaded but saved on my digital camera. The memory stick has served its purpose. I have used at least 2 different computers in the last 2 weeks to get my work done, and if not for this little stick, I would probably being carrying around a couple of cd's .

The thing I have most recently noticed about the memory stick is how it has changed it the past 5 years. When I first started nursing school, some people had them, but I never paid much attention. They were these black stick things that you could put on a key chain or a lanyard or whatever you wanted. Since I have invested in one, I noticed that you can get them in just about any color you want, not to mention relatively large storage is available, mine personally is 4GB. These little sticks are amazing. Not only can you put a cover on your cell phone or your ipod but now your memory stick can match too.

While I am over having a cell phone and computer, I realized I have a new found infatuation with this item. They are worth having even you don't plan on using anyone else's computer to do your homework; they are a great way to backup your data and not take up much room.