Books

I’ve always enjoyed reading as a pastime, but the problem is that I never have time. The last time I picked up a book was sometime last year. This includes textbooks, because they’re all online now. While my backpack is happy because of the lighter load, I’m not always happy about it. Call me old fashioned, but sometimes it is just better to have the pages there in front of you. I feel the same way in regards to Kindles. They are convenient, but sometimes having the actual text in your hand is just better.

As the semester comes to an end and I lose access to my online textbooks, I’m hoping to replace them with actual books (and books that I actually find interesting). I want to find that pleasure in reading again, the old fashion way.

Friends

I am a Friends addict. I have seen all ten seasons of the TV show at least 3 times. I love it. I can connect with all six characters and I find myself quoting Friends on the daily. It helps that my best friend and I are equally obsessed so we can catch each other’s references to the show. I get so excited when I find out someone else is starting to watch them, and love every opportunity to flaunt my Friends knowledge. 

It is amazing that one show can have such an impact on anyone’s life, even years after it has stopped airing. What we take in through the media can change our view on things, I can’t help thinking of Friends whenever I see cute coffee houses, or hear about paleontology. It goes to show how you need to choose your media intake wisely. I’m not sure if Friends is the wisest choice, but I love it and it’s too late to go back.

FaceTime

Lately I have been thinking about the many different ways we can communicate, I even ranked them for myself. Second on my list, following face to face communication, is FaceTime. I think that FaceTime or Skype is one of the greatest blessings we get from technology these days. I love being able to communicate with my friends and family this way. Even though we can’t be physically present with each other, I see video chat as the next best thing.

I live close to my family now, but when I lived an ocean away from them I would look forward to the moments when we could FaceTime. It allowed me to be at my little brothers’ piano recitals and lacrosse games when there was no way I could make it. Since my brother and I were at school, we couldn't take family pictures together for a Christmas card. We took a screenshot of our FaceTime session and used that instead. It will always be one of my favorite pictures. 

I can experience the special moments with family and friends using FaceTime and because of that, it has become a huge blessing in my life.  

Snap Chat

I’m a Snap Chat enthusiast. It is my social media of choice. In most circumstances I prefer it over texting. I don’t really know what it is about Snap Chat that I love so much. It’s quick, easy, and fun. I love using it to keep in touch with my friends that I otherwise would never see. I like being able to experience what others are experiencing, and share my experiences with others as well. It’s one way that I can let my parents know what I’ve been up to, without having to engage in a lengthy phone conversation.

There are always others who disagree with Snap Chat completely. I have friends who refuse to download the app. They think that the government will keep our photos and use them against us in the future. On the other hand, I think Snap Chat is a great tool for keeping in contact with friends and family. If you use it right, in line with the standards of the gospel, then there is nothing to worry about and Snap Chat can become an awesome asset. 

A Tribute

Tonight I watched the James Burrows tribute. He was/is the director of many popular TV shows including Will and Grace, Frasier, Cheers, Big Bang Theory, and Friends. I watched the tribute tonight to see my favorite friends back together. While I was watching this tribute, I realized how much of an impact these shows have had on so many people, and how this one man was able to unknowingly be a part of so many peoples’ lives. Media has allowed him to do this.

While I am not nearly as influential as this great director, I can have an influence as well. I can’t do it through TV shows or movies, but I can do it through social media. I hardly ever post anything, but when I do, I can make sure that it is uplifting and positive. I want to be like James Burrows in the way he made people smile, I want to influence people for the better. I can do that through media. 

Tina Fey's Teachings

I have discovered the joy that audio books can be. I would always listen to music when I would go for a run. It is good and fun until you’ve listen to your running playlist a few too many times and the songs that once used to keep you going now make you want to fall to the ground. The other day I decided to switch it up and listen to an audio book, best idea I’ve had in a while. I downloaded Tina Fey’s book Bossypants. This media intake has totally changed my running experience. Instead of listening to the same songs, I listen to a different chapter. The story keeps me entertained as I run and distracts me from how much longer I have left. It is also a bonus that the story is told by Tina Fey herself, because, you know, she’s Tina Fey.

I still like to read actual books, but I can’t seem to find time to read for pleasure. Listening to Tina Fey’s audio book has taught me make the most of my time, exercising and increasing my literature intake in the same instant. (Tina herself did not teach me that, but the overall experience did.) I don’t love to run, but listening to audio books makes it much more enjoyable. So for the sake of my health, and my sanity, audio books are the way to go.

The Other Woman

This week my friend and I made time to sit down and watch a movie together. We watched one of our favorites: The Other Woman. We quoted the lines in the movie and laughed a lot because the movie is that funny. This isn’t the only movie that my friend and I will watch again and again. There are actually quite a few other movies that we can quote back to one another. It is funny how movies, and media in general, can allow us to connect to one another. Relationships can be built off of media experiences.  These relationship experiences can enhance our view of media and vice versa.

When looking at the movie itself, I wonder if I am desensitizing myself by watching it. There are a lot of inappropriate jokes in the movie that make me laugh, but in the end it leaves us with a message of friendship and girl power. What sticks with you more, the message or the actions? Does the overall good message of The Other Woman make up for the sexual innuendos? Or am I simply justifying my actions?

Scrutinizing the Stations

 I listen to the radio. Every time I get in my car I find a radio station before I even shift into drive. I listen to all kinds of stations, and would rather listen to a song I don’t like than listen to the commercials. As I thought about my media intake, a lot of it comes from the time I spend driving.

The other day I was driving with my brother when he commented on a song, “what a dumb song, the lyrics don’t have any meaning and there isn’t even a melody.” That, along with the lecture we had about music, got me thinking as to why I listen to music. I don’t know the lyrics to every song I listen to, so I don’t even realize what I’m taking in. I feel like I mostly listen to the radio to have some background noise, being alone with my thoughts can be too much, or not enough. I think I really listen to it for the entertainment aspect though, driving can be boring and it is always the best when I hear a song I love on the radio.

This is one song I could listen to again and again:

How Pinteresting

It’s interesting how social media can often get a bad rep, and understandably so. I think that there is one type of social media that helps more than hinders (this may be me justifying my actions). I’m frequently on Pinterest. I see this type of social media as one that expands your thinking. It helps in creativity, building hobbies, and staying fit (when the ideas pinned are actually implemented).

Of course there can be too much of a good thing, being addicted to Pinterest isn’t a good thing. However, there is so much to explore and it’s fun to see new styles of things as well as things that your friends are interested in. Pinterest is not a popularity contest like Facebook and Instagram can be. I see it as a way to get new ideas and keep track of the things that you like. It can even be uplifting and inspiring. 

The Bachelor: Breaking it Down

I caved. The social pressures got to me and somehow I ended up watching The Bachelor, for the first time all the way through. I was never really against the show, I was just never for it. The concept is ridiculous. One man expected to find his true love among too many dramatic, yet beautiful, women. If we’re being honest, we watch the show for the entertainment factor, not for the hope that the young bachelor will find his happily ever after. What does that say about us? I’d rather not think about it. We watch to judge the girls, pick our favorites, and get ideas for our dream date.

I liked the show on the superficial level, only because there is no other deeper level to the show. I watched with the basic white girl phrase “I can’t even” coming out of my mouth at each part I found outrageous, about every other scene. I cringed at the girls on screen and every awkward, dramatic, and unbelievably cheesy thing they did or said. That being said, I’ll probably keep watching it, mostly for the social aspect (I like to know what my friends are talking about), but partly because I hope Olivia and her cankles go home next week. 

Perceiving Prada

It’s not very often that I will go out of my way in the middle of the week to watch a movie. Between work, school, family, and friends I feel like there is a better way to be spending my time. Miraculously, I found myself pulling up a movie on my laptop on a Tuesday night. I had recently seen a clip of the movie The Devil Wear Prada. I had never seen the movie before, so that short snippet was enough to spark my interest, it was also the only movie that came to mind that I hadn’t already memorized the dialog to (i.e. Mean Girls, Pitch Perfect, The Count of Monte Cristo).

For those who haven’t seen The Devil Wears Prada, it is about a new graduate who, in order to work her way up in the world of journalism, works as the assistant for a demanding editor-in-chief of a fashion magazine.

I sat through the movie, laughing through the funny parts, cringing when something went wrong, and making my predictions as the plot carried on. Overall I would say that I enjoyed the movie. I understood the conflict of doing whatever it takes to succeed while also being true to who you are. However, I did not understand what makes Anne Hathaway, the main character, a good candidate to undergo through yet another fashionable transformation, she already did that in Princess Diaries. I also realized that I must not understand fashion at all. In a movie where fashion was highlighted, I wondered how they put together some of the outfits and if people actually wore such outlandish clothes. Other than that, I thought the content was good and uplifting. There was little gore, few swear words, and in the end I was satisfied.  

I can’t see how The Devil Wears Prada will have a lasting impact on my life, it probably won’t. It has not persuaded me to wear heels on a daily basis, or work for a high-end magazine. Yet the movie helped me appreciate my work place, and solidified my realization that I could never be a fast-paced, high maintenance, busy city girl. I like who I am.