The Eggmen

My friend, Rachel, and I decided to embark upon a mid-finals rendez-vous to Central Market today. We had gotten pretty tired of studying for our Physical Science final, and needed some sustenance. I hadn't done well on my previous final, and so, for the last 16 hours, it's been all about PS304. Hopefully something good will come out of this.

It must be something about those Market/Dining places around here-- people love them. We had to wrestle through some pretty gross traffic on Lamar, and, as I figured, all of that traffic was going to Central Market. Moms, babies, Grandpas, you name it, they were all there. As we sifted through the many people waiting in line for food, we ventured around the buffet-style vendors, eternally saying "Excuse me," to a mom whom had just bumped into us, racing for that last bucket of Chicken Tortilla Soup. It was hard. But we pulled through.

Upon checking out with our food, Rachel beat me to a "good line" and ended up making it out before I. I asked her to find a table outside, and yet, little did I know, there was no seating at all. MOMS EVERYWHERE.

I tried to find her, and amidst my search, realized that there was an event going on- a concert that was getting ready to get started, and the band...The Eggmen. Obviously a Beatles Cover band. Then it all came together. The Moms, the grandpas. All for the glory of hearing Beatles tunes live once more.

As the band played, we noticed a cultural phenomenon of sorts: babies dancing, moms shaking their butts with one another, and some old guy with a yoga shirt twirling around, oblivious to the world around him, and, inevitably, everyone tapping a foot to the beat. (I swear, the Yoga guy was the most incredible human being dancing I have ever witnessed first-hand. I was impressed.)

I think this is why I love Austin so much. Or maybe it's why I love music so much. Either way, We learned a few valuable lessons today: Everyone likes the Beatles. Bring your kids to Austin and they will grow up to be hippies. That's really neat. And, it only takes good music to bring people from different worlds together.

World Aid, anyone?

A response to the gentle interaction of created and creator

the sounds of leaves comes as the breeze moves
from the tops of the trees to the bottoms
and up through again and in and out
as an invisible visitor, hindered not
and free
the breezeleaves float
some escaping through thick air
riding tiny particles of sea
the sea the air the leaf
work together in a dance of subtle movement

the moist leavesbreeze hits my cheek as i sit
and i am surrounded
whispering shhhhh's and song
speaking through these breaths of mine
were once naught
i am reminded
of the leaves
of the breeze
of the seas
and the breath that was supplied by one great breather
that we leavesbreezeseas may breathe his name

in and out and up and down again
together in a dance without the lights on
with subtle movements like a lover's first touch
known.

without effort.
like a song

The Age of Ease

So, I haven't written a post in a while, and so, in order to continue on in getting an acceptable participation grade in this class, I have decided to end my dry-spell.

Listening to Ryan Adams, while I type through a web-browser set against a Bob Dylan, No Direction Home desktop, I would not expect for my personality to be one that is digitally enhanced, or concerned--- but I am. Why this incredible fascination with recent activity related to my friends and comrades online? All I really do online is check to see if someone has left a comment on of my several outlets of internet community.

So, running with this notion of a continued interest in displaying ourselves online, most of the time, creating ourselves an image that will be most attractive, I want to look at the evolution of this sort of Community.

What is a Community, anyways? I like one of the definitions that dictionary.com provides.

2. The region occupied by a group of interacting organisms.

To me, this a clear explanation of the draw of these online communities. Organisms, (that would be us) find a mutual ground to interact, such as any population might-- for comradeship, and relationship. The ultimate goal of a community of organisms is to prosper and fulfill the natural requirement to procreate? Right?

I heard a girl the other day refer to having sex as "Populating." Funny, and true. Way to go, friend.

Being a student of PR, I have had to take some classes about the evolution of media in our world. All of my professors have chosen to label different periods throughout history in relation to how we have developed in information and digital technology. Each of my professors has chosen a different way of expressing each era, but they are all basically the same concepts.

1. Pre-Printing
2. Printing
3. Radio
4. Television
5. Internet

Some call our particular era the "Information Age," in relation to a rise in online use and supplemental relationships through online communities. Information usually means that we are acquiring things that we previously did not have, in this case more technology, and digitization. To me, the information age can be translated as the Age of Ease. Without lifting much more than a finger, our generation is able to access literally a world of things online. Without lifting much more than a finger, we are able to watch videos online from across the world. Without lifting much more than a finger, we are able to present ourselves as "date-able" and literally date online.

Facts- a continued discussion

According to an Industry Report sponsored by Yahoo!Personals, "For every 1 match on eHarmony that actually resulted in marriage, there were 999 'compatible' matches that did not." With these kinds of results, what would be the attraction to these sites? Commercials for eHarmony claim "there's a reason so many eHarmony matches result in marriage. At eHarmony we match you based on the deep dimensions of compatibility essential for a meaningful relationship. And with over 6 million members your chances of finding a perfect match has never been better." (Dr. Warren, eHarmony spokesperson.) Along with reports from match.com statistics, sights on the online dating world are dark...

FTC (the Federal Trade Commission, regulators on advertising and publics) regulations foster feelings of embellishment on much of the advertising world related to online dating. In a few words, regulations can be summed up as:

1. Advertising must be truthful and non-deceptive
2. Evidence of claims must be presented clearly and conspicuously.
3. Cannot be unfair, cause injury, or be harmful

Also, consumer testimonials are popular these days, although consumer endorsements are not always representative of the entire consumer population.

TRUth

So, I wiki'd online dating, and found out some really interesting stuff. Apparently, questionable activity through online community is not only exemplified through chat-rooms and fake profiles on these dating sites.

Many times, advertisers take advantage of the space on the internet to create fake profiles that oftentimes blatantly sell themselves for the sake of marketing. Ranging from prostitution to ditch efforts of advertising, most of these profiles sometimes present themselves as legitimate.

A lie begets a lie. From fibbing about your a/s/l at a young age in interest-oriented chat-rooms will come a natural inclination to lie later on. Those of us whom were the liars back in the day are continuing on the legacy of fallacy in online communities. This creates a lack of trust within the community to count on the legitimacy of each profile they see, or even each photograph they see, in representation of the available profiles.

Online predators still find the availability of personal information online a wealth of prey. According to www.TRUE.com, felons and marrieds are shunned from accessing the site for fear of immediate legal action.
If you are a criminal or married, DO NOT use our website. Consider this to be fair warning: Our Member Safety team vigorously pursues individuals who misrepresent themselves on our website. We report violators to appropriate federal, state and local authorities, including parole boards. We also actively pursue prosecution of these offenders in other ways. For example, we recently took the unprecedented step of filing a lawsuit in federal court against a convicted felony sex offender from California who applied for membership with TRUE and accessed TRUE’s database in violation of TRUE’s policies.

It's good to see that online dating sites are beginning to recognize this very prevalent problem. It seems like live communities, such as Austin Residential communities would be more aware of sexual predation. With recent problems in the area revolving around sexual predation and the lack of knowledge about their existence in certain neighborhoods, people are uneasy about their choice of living. The fact that sexual predators are being shunned from online neighborhoods makes it more inevitable that someday action must be taken in true neighborhoods.

Apparently, love equals insanity.

ORLANDO, Florida (CNN) -- Astronaut Lisa Nowak Tuesday was ordered released on an additional $10,000 bond for an attempted murder charge involving a romantic rival.

Nowak, 43, had earlier posted a $15,500 bond on charges of attempted kidnapping, battery and attempted burglary of a car with battery. But, her release was halted as Orlando Police brought the attempted murder charge.

......................................................................

So, since I went to space camp when I was ten, does this mean that I will someday leave my husband and three kids and go after my secret lover's girlfriend?

I hope not.

It's ok to look.

The beginnings of online dating were grim. Online Chat-Rooms and shady profile pictures were the only outlets to a somewhat unexciting life. The only people perusing the faces and claims of others were those that were:
a. Clueless
b. Creepy

I know that when Chat rooms first began, I was just at the dawn of my internet experience. My friends and I at the tender age of 11 always thought it to be an exciting thing to get on the "net" and chat it up with some "hotties" in chat-rooms full of kids our own age claiming to also be 18 with a stellar BOD. LOL. Consistently lieing about our age to people who consistently lied about their identity created a mockery of the entire dating system. I do believe that the rise of chat-rooms also resulted in the rise of mystery meetings between chat-room lovers. Usually including an underage female and, (to her horror) a 55 year old sexual predator hiding under the name "footballstud69." Sadly, most of these relationships were not mutually beneficial, or legal.

Because of this rise in illegal behavior on the internet, most shuddered at the idea of an online dating community. (You never know who could be behind that profile picture.) Commercials and print advertising for companies such as Match.com and eHarmony.com have inspired hope in those woed by the dating game. But, it has been an uphill battle.

There has been a migration from the online dating game from the creepy scene to the not-so-creepy scene. Creepy being those people who have no where else to go to find "true love," and, not-so-creepy being those whom have just had a rough play at the dating game. Those whom we consider normal, business people. It is an interesting thing to understand that many of those viewing and joining these sites are warn-down, stressed and busy professionals who would like to meet others of the same nature. "It's ok to look." People are now beginning to see online dating as a real solution to their lonely lives. With the click of a buttton, dating happens online: One now has the opportunity to take time out of work to surf the net for hot chicks...I mean prospects...I mean, I don't know what to call them. I guess you could see this as a glorified version of surfing Facebook during class. (You should be listening, but HEY, life is more interesting/important.)