Going with the ebb and flow...

Whew. What a week I've had! What a week!! I know everyone's dying to hear my tale...

So I finally got my computer, and I must be honest, Macs are cooler than any other computer. Hands down. However, I'm still a PC person at heart--some comforts just die hard, I guess.

Not only did I get my computer, but I got all of the four different software I needed to install on it, along with a FREE* printer and a FREE* iPod Touch. In addition, I have my CDs that I kept with me, as well as all the information from my old computer stored on my 2GB flash drive, my digital camera installation CD, and my printer CD. Needless to say, I spent the entire day last Thursday just inserting CDs and CD-ROMs into the Mac to bring it up to speed. I have been trying to get all of my information on the computer ever since, and it's a little slow-going. To top it off, it seems as though my 2GB flash drive isn't Mac-compatible, so I've been emailing myself all of my documents from my dorm's computer lab on the third floor...

It's raining outside now, when it was chilly in the morning, muggy and hot around midday, and now it's cold and wet. I just don't understand MI weather. It messes me up: I think it'll be the typical fall day, so I'll wear my numerous layers. MI weather dictates, however, that unless all four seasons can pass within the space of one day, it's not true MI weather. That said, we'll most likely get snow in the beginning of October. Speaking of absurdities, the ice cream truck has had the audacity to drive down the street just now.

I have been in and out of everything this past week, getting my computer and effects, going to my classes, and trying to find good school materials for the cheapest prices. I'm sharing what books I won't need, but am trying to buy what I can from students, since their prices are generally lower than what I've found online or on the used books in the school bookstore. I stayed up till 3 am this morning trying to get homework done. I didn't get much done over the weekend because I didn't have the books for those classes, and everyone who did went home for the weekend. I will finish buying my books tomorrow, though.

I'm taking a very fascinating class called "An Introduction to Communication Theory." It is more or less of a theory class on how communication has affected societies, and ultimately the world, through the communication technologies. Like I said, fascinating. Dr. Patton really has a way with words, and he generally acts out many of his concepts for class (he's the director of the Drama Dept, so any class with Patton is engaging).
Today we discussed 1960s University of Toronto professor Marshall McLuhan and his theory that significant scientific and social changes of history were not necessarily dictated by science or the society itself, but by communication. The beginning of history and peoples is known (according to McLuhan) as the "Tribal Age" where society and people relied primarily on their sense of hearing to gain information; the "Age of Literacy" where, once the phonetic alphabet was created, the average people learned to read by that phonetic alphabet and retreated to a slightly more individualistic culture because they were able to read for themselves; the "Print Age" during which reading material was mass-produced, resulting (possibly) in an upswing of both nationalism and individualism, as books were printed in one language but many dialects; and the "Electronic Age" which is essentially an era of instant and endless communication, renewing the ancient survival senses of both sound and touch all in one. With all these eras, there is an invention/discovery of some kind that completely revolutionizes history: after the "Tribal Age" it was the invention and collective agreement on the symbols that comprise various phonetic alphabets; after the "Age of Literacy" it was Gutenburg's printing press in 1455 A.D.; and after the "Print Age" it was the telegraph in the 1830s. McLuhan maintained nonetheless that with each brilliant new discovery/invention, something was lost and something was gained. The price tag for the invention of phonetic alphabets was that although people could now read information, they no longer relied on storytellers or advanced forms of memorization because writing could be better preserved. Such "price tags" are similar at the other stages as well.

It's food for thought, I guess.
Well, I'll probably write more later, eventually...


*With the purchase of the computer