Myspace what?

I became a member of Facebook before pretty much any of my close friends were part of it. Myspace was all the rage when I became a Facebook member. So, if almost none of my friends were on Facebook, why switch when this is a social network? Something deep within my womanly intuition made me believe that this would someday be a big deal (yes, my womanly intuition). And who was right? Yes, I was.

Like many people, I use Facebook to keep in touch with people whom I have left behind from my hometown to go to college. I have also been able to keep in touch with relatives or other friends that I lost contact with over the years. I am not much of one to meet random people online. Like I said, I'm more for the "keep in touch" part of it. When you browse around and see who people that you know are connected with, you begin to realize that the world can be sized down by a simple website. People from all across the globe will know the site Facebook and people that you know will be connected to people on the other side of the world. I think it is a way to build a small community out of a huge planet.

Perhaps the fact that I'm a college student has to do with my opinion on this subject. I don't know what my use of Facebook would have been like in high school since all my friends were around me everyday.

I will be using Facebook for as long as it lasts so I can keep the connections with people throughout my life. If a new social network site comes along which everyone switches to, I will probably be one of the mass users, I like being connected.

The urban stethoscope?

I think telephones are a great invention. It keeps people connected all around the world. Just hearing the sound of a loved ones voice on a bad day can make the world go 'round again. When I read about Robin Rimbaud in John Shiga's article, I was a little creeped out. Rimbaud records conversations over the airwaves from cell phones and 2-way radios etc. and puts it to a beat to create "music". I am always dumbfounded at ways the people keep coming up with to create music, or something like it.

First of all, I find that this is an incredible breach of privacy. I think there is an unsaid code of etiquette when it comes to telephones or the use of airwaves. It amazes me the extent people go through to eavesdrop. No one particularly enjoys being eavesdropped on. It's interesting to me to see that this is allowed despite it's illegality.

Second, how far will art go when anything can be considered art. Yes, there is reference made to the fact that the urban body has a rhythm just like the human body. Yes, I agree that these both can be beautiful sounds. But, as far as my taste goes, I like being able to hear the classic melody.

However, with this all being said, I have to argue in support of this. There could be other ways of revealing this world of music that would not go against people's privacy. Rimbaud is interested in the way people communicate with one another; the way they interact. There is something about the realness and candidness of these conversations that he records that makes it even more beautiful than if he would have brought people in and recorded things with their knowing.

I wasn't one of the cool kids apparently...

I don't really like amusement parks. I've never really wanted to go to Disney World or Land. When I was little, perhaps I thought about it once or twice, but I'm not much of one for rides in the first place (apparently it's a utopian wish to "go to a place where you always feel good"....liars. They haven't heard of those people who lose their lunches on rides. Actually, I've never lost mine...). I don't know if it's the rides that does it in for me, or the crazy over-priced everything, or the fact that there are too many people flying around like a shaken up etch-a-sketch that I lose a little bit of my sanity, but it just doesn't appeal to me. However, there's something about the whole theme park thing that makes me wish I enjoyed it. Seeing the excitement on everyone's faces when arriving, just completely enjoying being scared out of their minds on the rides...
I'm just weird, perhaps, to never have had the interest in going. I think it would have been a neat experience to do as a child. Seeing all your favorite Disney characters "come to life", doing something that every kid wants to do (you don't want to be the only one who hasn't gone to one of the Disney places). But then that's the thing. Sometimes I'm glad I never went because most of the reasons I would have wanted to go were because every other kid had gone. Sometimes I like breaking the trend... However, maybe I'd enjoy it even if I didn't do all the rides...but that's kind of part of all the excitement of the places, isn't it? Maybe one of these days I'll get around to going. Maybe I'm just a party pooper...

Touch of Love

I just got my first iPod this summer. It also happened to be the infamous iPod Touch. Up until then, I had slowly progressed from having nothing, to the walkman, the discman, and then to an mp3 player (which I went through two of since I used my first one so much that it broke). I have always enjoyed the company of a good tune, especially when it's right at the tippy "touch" of my fingers. When Michael Bull mentioned in his articles how people imagine the music that they listen to as their soundtrack, I could not have agreed more. I constantly have my ear-buds parked in my ears with a song to match my mood, whatever it may be. People watch movies and often imagine themselves in the scenarios that they are witnessing. Having music to take with you everywhere you could possibly go invites people to have those movie moments where they are the star.
I do, however, realize that I need my absolute peace every now and then. Having the world busy around me is noisy. Music in my ears all day long, truth be told, gets to be noise after awhile (it hurts me to say that). I think there are so many opportunities in the world that we can miss in our lives if we go about in our own solitary bubbles. Yes, it does give you that control people long for in their lives, but when we shut out the world around us, we begin to shut out things that God could have intended for us to encounter.
But, with that all being said, you will still see me meandering around with those famous white ear-buds, once again, parked where I like 'em. I like being in movies...

Interpret as you wish

Music is an art. It is also a gift from God. It is a way in which people can express themselves. Schultze makes a statement "limiting its use to just one function or one style greatly inhibits the ways music can be used to glorify the Creator." God calls us to use the gifts He gives us. Some people may chose to use their gifts to directly praise God. Some people, on the other hand, sing about issues that everyday people can relate to. This is no crime! A true artist can make you think. Take the group Coldplay for instance. They are not labeled as Christians, but a number of their songs could be interpreted as such. "Fix You" has often been interpreted from the point of view of Christ, and it doesn't even talk about God! As I said, music is an art and needs to be interpreted as such, just as a painting can have many interpretations. People can be influenced by the smallest things in their lives. Whether it be a morally positive song amidst an array of promiscuous lyrics, or a song that really digs deeper into some life meanings than the frivolous lyrics of the latest reality popstar group, God can be found in the slightest things. I admit, I do enjoy a lot of the mainstream music that is out there today, but I have a wide variety in my musical tastes. People who are not under the Christian label tend to be more open and straight forward with their emotions and what is going on in their lives. I think this is something that Christian label artists can learn from. Singing about God is great, but we are humans with lives that we are living and we can relate to one another through song; through the emotions splayed out with such vulnerability. I may be completely off the mark here since I have not been into the whole Christian genre much since I was a kid because of my frustrations with the limitedness of it, but that is just a momentary thought of mine.

P.S. I heard a story on the radio of a girl that was about to commit suicide until she heard the song "Stop and Stare" by a secular musical group OneRepublic where she decided against it. I think that is testimony to God moving in music deemed secular that no one can deny.