Keep in Touch

The thought of being "out of touch" is definitely a scary one for me. Just leaving my cell phone at home during the school day or when I am out is incredibly annoying. I can't imagine not being able to speak to or video chat with my grandmother, aunt, brother, and my nieces in Italy. The distance from those I love would be unbearable without the media. I stay connected to the news where I live with it and the news abroad that effects them. One of my best friends, Kamille, attended Flagler with me my freshmen year and is now back at home in Denmark, attending school in Copenhagen. If I didn't have facebook messanger or phone cards the distance would surely effect our friendship.

Being able to access the internet, news, and weather reports on my iphone is extremely important. I don't read a daily paper or always have time to look it up on a computer so being able to keep in touch with the world in the palm of my hand is very helpful. I think that keeping in touch and knowing what is going on are you and around the world is very important. It helps you at school, starting a conversation, and in relating to people.

Altough I am fully ready to admit my dependency on the media, I have been able to find a pleasurable feeling in getting out of touch with the world every now and them. I spent 2 months this summer on the isle of Capri off the southern coast of Italy with no cell phone and only used the internet once a week at the local internet cafe. Once I got used to the media cut off I began to really appreciate my trip and spent my time relaxing and enjoying everything Capri had to offer.

A Day in the Life

Every morning my immediate instinct is to check my cell phone. I look for any missed calls or text messages I may have recieved and then I throw my phone into whatever bag I am taking to school that day, because god forbid I leave it at home, I'd spend the whole day reaching into my bag fishing around by habit for a phone that is not there. I get ready and drive to school all while listening to music, the selection changes with whatever mood I am in that day but Kings of Leon, Talking Heads, Ween, Radiohead, and The Strokes are usually always on the playlist.

In between classes I will check my email to see what funny or annoying articles my mother has sent me. These range anywhere between sarcastic articles criticsizing republican politicians, or an article about why good posture is so important for women (which at the bottom she'll add "told you so" or "that's why I say don't slouch") I have no TV in my apartment at the moment so my roommate and I will usually spend about 2 hours everyday watching episodes of Family Guy, Flight of the Conchords, or The Office online. I subscribe to 3 magazines: Vogue, Rolling Stone, and embarassingly enough--People Magazine which I go through and critique every few weeks on the phone with my mother.

I guess when I really take a look at it I do have a media routine that I follow everyday whether I notice it or not. Sometimes I don't even notice how many times I am actually checking my facebook for new notifications, or that I find it hard to do home work or clean my room without music on. Media plays a substantial role in my life, I am not sure if I would go as far as to say I am addicted, but I am definitely somewhere close to it.