A simple quote

I recently finished The Air Conditioned Nightmare by Henry Miller and came across this quote near the end of the book. I found it beautiful and wanted to share it with someone - anyone.

"The world Awake!

Just to repeat that to yourself five times a day is enough to make an anarchist out of you. How would you awaken the world - if you were a musician? With a sonata for rusty can openers? Have you ever thought about it? Or would you rather remain asleep?

A conscious humanity!

Have you ever tried to imagine what that would mean? Be honest. Have you ever paused for one minute of your life to think what it would mean for humanity to become fully conscious, to be neither exploitable nor pitiable? Nothing could possibly hinder the advance of a conscious humanity.
Nothing will."
-Henry Miller, The Air-Conditioned Nightmare (1945)

Typewriter

It was a big step for me - starting a blog, that is.

I may be only twenty years old, but I prefer using a typewriter to any other means of writing and expression.

Ever since I was a kid, seven years old or so, I've wanted to be an author. I finished several books before I ever graduated high school. All of these words I piled on microsoft word, trusting my windows '99 to keep my stories safe. I was proven wrong as I lost some 2,000 pages due to my computer crashing.

After enough of this blasphemous insanity of dealing with computers crashing, I purchased my first typewriter. My first was a manual underwood portable circa 1923. Sure, the thing was old and rickety. I ran into some problems, and, slowly but surely learned to fix it up and fix various things that would go wrong with said typer.

My first typewriter seen above.

Next, I began a frenzied collection of typewriters. I now own somewhere between 12-13 typewriters, mostly manuals, a few portables, and lot of big clunky stationary typewriters. I found them all for under ten dollars, learned how to remove the rust, fix broken belts and make them really shine with Brasso's polish.

To back up all of my writing I use a scanner to scan all the pages onto the computer and then upload them all onto an image hosting website.

There is something different about typing on a typewriter as opposed to typing on a computer. One of my favorite quotes is from Douglas Adams, author of the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy:

"Research, communication, shopping and generally fiddling about. In the old days, writers used to sit in front of a typewriter and and stare out the window. Nowadays, because of the marvels of convergent technology, the thing you type on and the window you stare out of are the same thing."

That quote has always stuck with me ever since I read it. I am, for the record, a huge Douglas Adams fan. I have "don't panic" tattooed on my wrist. I think it's the most important lesson I have ever learned in a book.

I suppose there wasn't much a point to this rambling and babbling of typewriters and light bulbs. Well, minus the light bulbs.

I suppose what I'm trying to get at here is that I have started to like the idea of having my own blog and am coming to terms with that fact. As for the posts that are to follow this one - I'm not yet sure what all of that madness is to entail. I am a very opinionated person, yet I value ones ability to make their own decisions based on their own individual preferences and beliefs.

QUOTE SOURCE:
http://www.douglasadams.com/contacts/

Marketing to children

Children are the future of this world. The corporate giants such as Disney, Leap Frog and Matel, to name a few, are substantially altering the way that children think about the world.

Advertisements are a subject that I often think about. Despite my inherent desire to be a journalist and reporter, I do not watch television. I read the newspaper and news online. I try to keep my intake of advertisements to a bare minimum. When I find myself watching television I am appalled at the amount of advertisement that play on my insecurities. Here's an exaggerated version:

Wait, they're saying that if I don't have [insert product name here] I'll never have those rock hard abs? Even more - I'll never be able to meet a guy if I am not perfectly toned and have said rock hard abs.
I feel sad, they say that there are these great new pills that will make me happier - I just have to ask my doctor! Oh wait, there are a whole lot of side effects. HEY! Problem solved, the next ad just was selling a pill that will reverse the side effects of the previous pill, and I can just take [blank] pill to help with the side effects of that....

Sure, this is an exaggerated version of the thought process, however think about what goes through a child's head when they are being force fed products, values and beliefs left and right. It's enough to make an adults head spin - but what about a child's?

Each year the advertising industry spends an estimated $12 billion on ads targeting to children. There are absolutely no regulations on advertising to children. Isn't it a little odd that parents are putting their children in front of a tv screen watching Spongebob Square Pants or Hanna Montana, then put them to bed in their Spongebob sheets, send them to school in their spongebob shirt with a spongebob lunchbox and spongebob text book cover?

This has been incredibly rant-esque. Here are some things you should check out:


The first part of the Mickey Mouse Monopoly


The first part of Consuming Kids

Sources:
http://www.apa.org/monitor/jun04/protecting.html
http://www.giaheadquarters.com/60min/GIA_on_60_Minutes.wmv
http://girlsintelligenceagency.com/

Funding for Cabrillo College

Cabrillo College is undergoing some serious budget cuts. So - what are we looking at here?

We're looking at somewhere between a $4 million - $8 million deficit (sources below), depending on whether lottery and tax revenues projected in the governor's budget proposal come to pass. Cabrillo's enrollment is at an all-time high as they are struggling to serve a flood of displaced workers that are seeking to upgrade their job skills. I am currently trying to find a list of all of the classes that they had to cut this semester.

However, here is my own personal story:

I had enrolled in several journalism classes this semester. The day is Sunday, the day right before the start of the semester. I decided to double check my schedule using their hawk talk phone system. I was faced with this: You are not currently registered for any courses.

I got out the schedule of classes and tried to re-enroll for the classes I had wanted to take and received this reply: "This course has been canceled."

I was not notified about my classes being cut. Fortunately, I was able to find several classes that I needed to take that were still available.

I went into the Cabrillo College Foundation. The Cabrillo College Foundation pays for everything that the state doesn't cover and has been established as long as cabrillo has. I spoke with Eileen Hill, who works there and supervises various donations that come in through the college. I wanted to know about the Journalism Department and what kind of funding we're looking at for that. Apparently, there is a group that is donating around $10,000 every year for the journalism department which it seems (this is a speculation) is the reason that the journalism department is still running strong.


So, here's the short story: the journalism department is facing extinction from Cabrillo College. Last Tuesday, the governing board met at the Sesnon house to discuss the future of journalism. They are undergoing some serious cuts and we will have to wait to see the future of journalism at Cabrillo.

Sources:

http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/localnews/ci_11614415
http://www.cabrillo.edu/associations/foundation/support.html
http://www.cabrillo.edu/academics/journalism/
http://www.cabrillo.edu/services/marketing/budget_center_updates0822Oct.html
http://www.cabrillo.edu/associations/boardoftrustees/Agenda6-4-07.htm

An Introduction to This Blog

A daily newspaper has accepted my application for an internship. I found it odd at how quick they were to take me on. I spoke to [editors name] who said that no one had applied for an internship in roughly four months. There was one student who took an internship position with them and showed up for two days never to be seen again.

I heard a rumor recently that the [newspaper] might be going out of business. I did a fact check on this and could not find anything to back up this fact. If anyone has any sources for this rumor it would be greatly appreciated.

This brings me to my next subject: blogs. Blogs seem to be the dominating force in where people seek out their news. I think that this is odd seeing as these blogs are not credible news sources for the most part. A fact that isn't backed up with two or more sources should be taken as a rumor - not fact.

I would like to make for myself a profession in journalism. It's more than a profession to me - it's finding the truth and spreading it. Truth is a powerful thing, and ideally, more truth will grow from the seeds of truth that we plant. We live in the age of information - practically anything is right at our fingertips. Unfortunately, this also promotes much misinformation. Misinformation is a dangerous thing. It is my goal for this blog, and for my future, to promote the truth exclusively with anything that I write. If you are reading this and find any hypocrisy or misinformation within my words, I would appreciate any criticism or feedback relating to this issue.

May the truth be with us all.