aloha! my parents told me my name was andrew, so i guess i'll go with that for now...had it been up to me i probably would have chosen something more along the lines of nuclear inoxia. (i'm sure one of you can come up with something more clever, and i'd definitely appreciate the input). afterall, this is cyberspace and within cyberspace there exists plenty of leeway for deception (if you don't prefer the noun deception, then there are infinite possibilities to construct and reconstruct the self). although, this can most certainly happen in the 'real world'...i mean who doesn't have a fake i.d. (i actually don't, but if anyone wants to put me in contact with an individual skilled in that trade, i'd also appreciate that).

now the boring details: born and raised in austin (a place i love, but didn't fully learn how to appreciate until i departed to this wonderful and culturally engaging geographic region. music, friends, and poetry are important to me. art would be as well, it's just that when my most positive and encouraging friends tell me i just haven't found my medium or style the encouragement tends to morph to discouragement...strange how that works.

and finally to interesting part! i've been pondering for quite some time about how the consumption of media effects us/our society as well as other groups. how many hours a day does music play, how often is the television on, how long does the typical teenage/college student spend staring at a computer screen? what about all those zombies in the dorms that play world of warcraft all day? (cheap shot, i know...sorry)? It seems like we're sedated in this world of lightening fast information, yet how many of us could actually build a radio or fix a car? sure we can reset the power button on the router and change channels with remote controls, but are these real skills? this existence reminds me a little of those distopian novels we all probably had to read in middle/high school. makes me wonder a little bit about the possibility if we might perhaps exist in a world in which standing up and taking action is becoming increasingly more difficult with every passing moment??? i mean, some clever bastards could have programmed society into accepting (and loving) their very "meaningful and successful" individual cookie-cutter box lifestyle.

what do i hope to learn in this course, eh? well i definitely hope to learn a great deal more about internet communities...i find looking/reading bulletin board services and forums entertaining and enlightening. who are these people? why do they feel it necessary to network and connect with one another? media advancements seem to be accelerating @ a rate that truly perplexes me, so hopefully throughout the semester i'll have the opportunity to learn a little more about the reasons behind this. One last vague/ambiguous/abstract remark- what is education? if we all come to the table with entirely experiences and ideas about what things mean/symbolize, then it would seem to me that (especially in this field), there can be no absolutes. we've landed on an island together, and it will hopefully be fun riding the waves with all of you!

cheers to an interesting semester!!!

o yeah, i hope i don't offend anyone with my gross departure from 'correct' grammar, punction, capitalization, etc. (it's the internet right? the same rules don't apply).