Scrapbook Theme

One of the things I talked about in my mission statement was my dream of working as a photographer for a music magazine. This would enable me to get paid for doing something that I love to do and already do on my own time. In my scrapbook i will show some of the concerts I have been to and pictures I have taken while I was there. I will be able to show how music has influenced my life and determined the path that I am now pursuing in terms of a career.

Technology Thesis:

Throughout the years, the various technologies through which music could be heard has helped shape the way in which I listen to music. The evolution of music devices from the walkman to the I-pod to the internet, has led my listening habbit from a very personal to an extremely social experience.

Technology Theme:

My focus is going to be on music. Music has always played an important role in my life and I have many memories about music from when I was young. I want to write my paper as a series of stories that tell about different memories of music throughout my life. I can talk about waking up and listening to my Sebastian cd, listening to my "Kermit Unpigged" cd on my trampoline with my first walkman cassette player, making up dances to songs by The Backstreet Boys, Spice Girls and Hanson at my grandma's house, and my "Jeep" boombox. More recently I can discuss getting my first I-pod, and going to concerts. Also, I will talk about the internet as a source for acquiring music.

I think I will talk about how music started out as a very private experience. When I was younger I remember lisstening to music by myself and enjoying that time alone. I used to take piano lessons but I hated having to play in the recitals. For me, music was something I did for myself and not something I wanted to share with others. Today, music has become a much more social experience for me. My recent relationships with people have been formed through the music--either by listening to the same artists or going to festivals. Instead of something I don't share with anyone, music has become something that I want to share and want to have others share with me. I can talk about music blogs as a way of sharing music and the role the internet and social networking sites play in shaping relationships around music.

My First Technology

My first memory of music is from when I was about four years old. I was living in Santa Fe with my mom and an older couple (her boyfriend's parents) who were from Sweden. I had just moved to Santa Fe from Portland, Oregon and my room was simple and uncluttered. I have no memory of any toys in the room except for my CD player that sat in the corner to the left of my bed.

My morning routine was always the same. I would wake up, put on my "Disney's Sebastian from the Little Mermaid" CD and jump up and down on the bed, my hands in the air, singing "Arise". The song was about waking up, and it's funny how as a little kid that's exactly what it helped me to do. This was, of course, before I was in school and needed to wake up at a certain time. I never dreaded waking up (like I sometimes do now) and instead I started the day out in the most positive way possible, by dancing and singing and smiling and not having a care in the world.

From that time on, music has always played an importnat role in my life. It's something that I always have on whether it be in the car, at home, or while walking around campus. Even 15 years after my Sebastian days, I still like to wake up to music, but I'm not as much as a champ about getting up and dancing. Maybe it's something I should try and see how it affects my day.

My Technologies:

There are several technologies I have used throughout my life:

• cameras
• DVD/VCR
• music: stereo, walkman, i-pod
• computer games: oregon trail, where in the world is Carmen San Diego?, etc.
• CD's and MP3's
• The internet: email, facebook, myspace, youtube, flickr, google, blogs, etc.
• microwaves

personal memorial

There are several events that my family and I have created memorials of or about. Some of these include:

• various weddings of family and friends
• the births of me and my sisters
• family vacations
• visits to relatives in other states
• holidays
• my high school graduation
• concerts
• dance performances
• festivals

Memorial

I have been to several famous memorial sites in my life, and I am sad to say I can't even remember which ones. For me, visiting a memorial is an interesting experience but it doesn't make the event feel any more "real" in my mind. The one site I have visited that did have an impact on me was the 9/11 site and the empty space that was left by the attack on the World Trade Center. I didn't visit the official memorial. The site alone made the event seem so much more real than anything else could have.
I had never been to New York City before, and the experience was extremely overwhelming. The tall buildings, the streets crammed with taxis, and the realization the NYC really is the city that never sleeps; this all was so different from what I had grown up knowing. I was in town visiting colleges the summer before my senior year with my best friend and her mom. My friend's mother had grown up in New York and much family lives there so it was obviously a very moving experience for both of them.
The thing that made this experience so memorable was the how in the midst of this bustling city there was this vast emptyness where the WTC had once stood. It was very surreal. But at the same time it made the event so much more real to me than any other event that has been memorialized. There were many people there who were visting this memorial and there was a calm and quiet atmosphere among these people. Because this site is in the middle of the city there were also many people there who passed by this place everyday on their way to work, home, etc. so they passed by it while talking on their cell phones or reading a newspaper and didn't even give it a sideways glance.