The Interweb

I am on the internet every day, both for fun and for work, so it's hard for me to imagine what it was like before it was around. I also have a terrible long-term memory, so that doesn't help.

The first thing I can remember about the internet was using AOL IM. My whole family used one screen name, "kizzoo2". I remember logging on when I was younger and one of my dad's friends from work would always IM me to talk to my dad. It was weird.

I also remember Expage.com. Everyone had an Expage back in middle school. The 'popular kids' would write about who all the 'hotties' were. I never entirely understood what the point of that was. I had a website, and it was much better than all the other kids'. Mostly because I wasn't popular and spent way too much time online, learning HTML and that sort of thing.

Nowadays there are sites like Myspace and Facebook, so no one has to be creative anymore. Or learn any kind of code. But I guess that makes what I do know somewhat valuable. Who knows...

Susanna's First Internet Encounters

Dear Wizard Nathan: My children were not exposed to computers or internet at all as I did not wish it. They grew up surrounded by books, art and the time to love. Childhood is not a thing to be rushed. The world was already spinning too fast and they could do without having to become a part of it at an early age. So, we enjoyed family life instead at a leisurely pace. I knew that in later school years, they would inevitably have to become familiar with the realm of computers. In a nutshell, computers and internet do serve a purpose. Revisions for Rutgers classes work, for example, is facilitated incredibly. Internet shopping is something completely new to us as well and we, as a family, are having a grand time with it. It means that we have come across products that we were shocked to discover still existed, while avoiding crowded stores, the idiots in charge of customer "disservice" centers, neurotic cashiers, clueless managers, impossibly-long checkout lines, along with wasted wear and tear on and expensive gas for the family car. This translates into more relaxed time together. Sadly, families are such temporary relationships. If more people, young and old, would face this reality, society would be functioning at a completely different level. Instead of being wired with every conceivable device which the simultaneously cunning and immensely-profiting media forces us to believe will produce a liberating effect, quite the opposite occurs. Individuals lose their privace completely. They become units of availability -- on call at any hour of the day or night through cell phones or e-mail. Again, the latest technologies can be of great benefit, but only when used wisely and when a logical balance is maintained. As always, there is hope. People are not stupid -- just, perhaps, more impressionable than is good for them. Good night to all! Mayissa Susanna

www.com

So my first experience with the internet....
I got an e-mail from "Santa" informing me that I would be getting a puppy for Christmas. I thought it was pretty cool that he could get the internet all the way in the North Pole. Um, I dont think I really appreciated the WonderfulWorldWideWeb considering I was about 5 or something. It didn't take any real precedence in my life until later. I think my first AOL account name was LadyBaby101 or something. I named it after a horse I rode at my horseback riding lessons. I thought it was really cool at the time.

Other things that happened to me in the year 1994:
-I got stitches in my head.
-I got the Barbie horse I wanted.
-I realized Barney wasn't cool and commenced the destruction of every piece of Barney merchandise I owned.
-My Aunt told me Santa wasn't real. I began to wonder who really sent me the e-mail....
-The Lion King was released. It's still my favorite movie.

Videos to Think About this Week

Cory Arcangel
"Blue Tube"
play again for full effect...


MC Chris

"Fette's Vette"
think about pop culture, appropriation, etc.


Brody Condon
Worship

performance work inside a video game