Me in the Center for American Progress internship video. I say the first 3 words: "Change does happen." Click to watch all of it.

I abandoned my blog this summer. Perhaps I could blame it on my apartment’s lack of wireless connectivity, or on my 9-6 working schedule (though my wireless hadn’t stopped me from posting twice in May and my internship provided more than enough content to blog about). It could be that summer vacation seeped into my brain as my academic thoughts seeped out (though I managed to blog throughout last summer, with two jobs). Then again, I could always just revert to the fact that I am more of a Twitter person (not to mention the only people who find this blog are ones who Google “Hunter Parrish” + any combination of “gay? girlfriend? naked? Silas?”).

My seeming aversion to blogging presents a dilemma insomuch as I feel like I should have put more effort into ninanyc.com these past two months; I say “should” because substantive blogging is a requirement for any hopeful up-and-comer in the digital media marketing/online advocacy sphere. And yet, is it so wrong that I don’t enjoy hearing or discussing the same topic (“social media,” or anything else, for that matter) interminably? While the Internet and social networks account for my major as well as my work/internship life, one can only handle so much 2.0 talk. Blasphemy or honesty? You decide.

That said, I’ll continue to blog, though on an infrequent basis. This blog never had an explicit purpose or goal and so it has drifted along, becoming more of an intermittent chronicle of my life. I’m content to keep it that way, since my life consists largely of online social networks anyway. As a happy and busy Sam explained, “I’m having a hard time adapting (or even caring about adapting) this blog to a new purpose. It was basically a time-filler, and the time is currently filled.” As I just explained…my blog has no new purpose to adapt to, but my time is currently filled with exciting opportunities, a pending graduation, loved ones, and a new apartment in the West Village.

I will probably post again soon to recount my experience interning in DC this summer and to review my new place with soon-to-be roommate (Gawker-dubbed “NYU’s new-media wunderkind”) Cody Brown. Of course, don’t hold your breath.

The reason this post reads like a diary entry is because that’s basically what it is. I am in DC on my own and for the first time, I have to be completely independent and self-sufficient. This situation is not my forte. My Twitter bio says I “thrive when with loved ones” for a reason (okay, sorry, that was a bad example).  

To be honest, I’m struggling with how to spend my free time, how to be productive, and how not to feel lonely.  At times like these I normally call my mom, but she’s in Thailand for the next three weeks and not always available. I don’t want to cling to my aunt/uncle/cousin too much because I want to make it through this next week as an adult (I mean, by myself). Mallika (my roommate) and Max move to DC at the end of next week and I start work next Tuesday after Memorial Day. I know my new move isn’t a big deal but regardless, I get upset every time I confront the prospect of a full day/week with no set plans. I don’t know what to do with myself. At this point, I’m going to suck it up, pretend I didn’t just emo-word-vomit a blog post, take a shower, and go to sleep.

Yes, I’m at home in New Jersey.  As I’ve explained several times, my tendency to become unproductive while home is in full swing – and by “full swing,” I mean a less energetic albeit consistent medium-speed swing.  The majority of my days consist of me lounging around in my pajamas, completely zoned into the television (or television shows on my computer), as time somehow passes.  Though this kind of lazy hibernation is a particularly bad habit of mine, the mindless vegging not only helps my post-finals recharge but it also means more mindless reality-TV-bonding-time with my mom, cuddled under a blanket in our recliner.  This break has so far consisted of Mad Men, a sudden cold which I expertly slept away, more Mad Men (I started the first season last Friday and I’m already halfway through Season 2), and hangouts with friends here and there.  However, in an effort to be slightly more productive with my seemingly infinite free time, I finally made an account on both LinkedIn and Delicious last night.

I'm working on getting more connections at the moment.

I figured I should continue expanding my social network presence.  Next up is probably Flickr – once I (hopefully) get this Blackberry, in which case tweeting will also become much easier with Twitterberry.  Whereas Delicious is pretty self-explanatory as far as bookmarking sites/videos/articles/etc. go, LinkedIn should be relatively more interesting to explore.  I’ve already come across college friends’ and coworkers’ profiles so I’m curious whether the network goes beyond this utility.  As Julia explained it to me a couple weeks ago, LinkedIn has high search engine optimization, meaning it’s a good profile to have available/searchable no matter what.  Case in point: it already shows up as the third link when I Google my full name, only preceded by this blog (which is first, woo!) and Digg (which I rarely use anymore).  So far, I’m glad I joined and we’ll see how my digital professional network grows.  Speaking of networks, I have 500 followers on Twitter now (skepticism aside, this is an exciting milestone, people)!

As for my next post, expect some musings on the tension between providing personal information on public networks and maintaining privacy and security.  Not that I’ve ever had a problem [knock on wood] but due to recent indirect experiences, the boundary between public/private has been on my mind lately.

Anyway, Happy Holidays, dear friends and readers – stay safe

The boy's apparently looking at his blog, though I doubt he would normally just stare at his screen in a forlorn manner. Credit: Kiichiro Sato, AP

According to this USAToday article, college students are becoming slackers who “get away with” not doing their assigned readings – i.e. the intellectual lives of college students are deteriorating! Problem is, I think this claim is bull – or, at the very least, it says nothing new. I can’t imagine that college students have always done their readings and homework for every single class. I’m sure that plenty of undergrads “get away with” poor preparation all the time, what with their other demanding courses, activities, and social lives to attend to. So even though “[t]he survey doesn’t address whether those students are lazy, busy, intimidated, bored or geniuses,” it probably should – because then it might accurately account for the reasons why students don’t always prepare for class according to their professors’ expectations.

This is not to say that some college students aren’t slackers.  In fact, the whole reason I heard about this article was because my TA brought it to the our attention – he wanted to emphasize his disappointment in those of my classmates who regularly fail to attend lecture.  While those specific absentees could qualify as slacker-types, I doubt they’ll be walking away from this course with A’s.  So that leaves the rest of the class – people who attend lecture but don’t always come to class “prepared.” The article refers specifically to these students, after all – “students frequently come to class without completing readings or assignments.” Right.  They still come to class.  Rather than implying that teachers hand out good grades to undeserving students, this study potentially measure professors’ effectiveness; if students only attend their professors’ lectures without finishing the reading and subsequently get A’s, their knowledge of the material can largely be attributed to their professors’ explanations.

Perhaps this college generation’s knack for “cutting corners” in completing assigned work reflects the transition to a new method of time management and knowledge consumption – say, a more fragmented, albeit efficient one?  Current college students have a very different kind of attention span.  They’re accustomed to multi-tasking; they absorb information from a website while chatting on AIM, texting friends, and simultaneously watching The Office.  Though their attention is more fragmented, students have essentially developed the capability to quickly draw out the key messages/points within most anything, whether it be an article, email, or assigned reading.  This skill can trasnfer to the way in which students complete their assigned readings as well; combined with their knowledge from lecture, it enables students to skim each dense reading for its most important sections.  In the end, students work more efficiently while still learning the material.  The hours they save can then be spent on other homework, hanging out with friends, or catching up on much-needed sleep.

Though my argument might not be convincing (I may be naive in assuming that people still do most of their readings – or I’m just surrounded by those that do), this article’s claim is weak and small in comparison to other problems with universities.  It should be more of a concern that undeserving students who come from wealthy, legacy-and-money-donating families manage to pass their courses.

What is/was your experience with this issue as a college student?

• “Video the Vote is a national network of citizen journalists, independent filmmakers, and media professionals working together to document voter suppression and disenfranchisement.”

• Sarah Palin got prank called and had a 5-6 minute conversation with a fake French President Sarkozy. As Max said, it just evidences the disorganization of the McCain-Palin campaign.

• My former professor, Mark Crispin Miller, discusses and clarifies the status of voter fraud and election fraud on Bill Moyers’s Journal on PBS. Key takeaways? Voter fraud = a person showing up on election day and saying, “Hi, I’m Mickey Mouse. May I vote now?” NOT filling out registration forms with fake names like Mickey Mouse. ACORN flagged the fake forms itself. The allegations of voter fraud are just a propagandistic attempt to distract from the actual issues of election fraud and voter disenfranchisement.

This video is worth the 5-minute watch. Good and clear information.

• Oprah had her own issues with the electronic voting machines when she went to vote early. The machine didn’t record her presidential vote – i.e. double-check your vote is recorded on the electronic voting machines.

L-R: Dhani, Josh (of jessandjoshtalk.blogspot.com), me, Andrea; photo by Mark Hunter (lol)

Forgive me for mixing up my holidays in the title (Little Italy has me confused because it already has a “Merry Christmas” light sign on display. Seriously.). Nevermind, of course, that Halloween is less than two days away. I’ve been more than unprepared this year due to the fact that I have five papers to write in the next two weeks. Last Halloween, I managed to come up with a free, simple costume – that is, I wore a Bloomingdales “big brown bag” as a dress (see above). I was a “bag lady” of sorts. Wearing this costume necessarily elicited several creepster remarks, including some of my favorites: “What’s in the bag?” “I’d like some of that,” and the very incorrect “Hey Macy’s.” After much last-minute deliberation this year, I’ve opted for a couple’s costume, which – yes, I’m aware – automatically nominates me for the lame and nausea-inducing award. I’m okay with that, though. Because if you know us, this idea is perfect. And at least we didn’t choose a costume that obviously displays unequal gender roles or awkwardly triggers resentment for original sin. Now to find a parasol and Mary Janes before my Economics midterm on Friday…

PAPERS PAPERS PAPERS – one was due Tuesday, one was due Thursday, two more due Monday

(writer’s block turned into writer’s paralysis. hence the aversion to writing

ECONOMY – more so due to my macroeconomics midterm this morning. also due to the financial crisis.

ELECTION – the media as a monster/evil/machine of distortion?? or the distributor of information?

the boy and girl who cried, “gotcha” journalism!!!

Palin. ? ! …

Jessica Alba and other celebs for the Declare Yourself campaign

IMPORTANT SITES FOR VOTING INFO

countmore.org

[if you're a college student, tells you which state should you vote in according to last election's margin of victory]

https://voterlookup.elections.state.ny.us/votersearch.aspx

[for New Yorkers - check to see if you (or your friends) or registered to vote]

declareyourself.com – convinces young adults to vote via funny videos and disturbing ads of Jessica Alba (and other celebs)

Google Maps voter info – literally shows you where you can vote and how to register

OR if you’re tired of politics and just want a Japanese site that’ll let you mix-and-match the “melodies” of lingerie pieces to create your own song…um, click here? (seriously).