rambles and babbles

Notes

*Apparently I shouldn’t be writing before 9am on a Sunday. Sorry for all the grammatical mistakes! Last night, Ira Glass, host of This American Life was at the Lied Center to speak. I’m going to be a nerd and write about it, mostly because it inspired me in a lot of ways. Near the end, a person asked if mediums like his radio show are becoming obsolete with things such as facebook and twitter—things that attribute to our ever growing short attention spans. Instead of taking the answer I think most of us would cynically say yes to, he adamantly stated no. He then went on to say that we truly do have a great capacity to enjoy the longer media forms. We can sit down and watch movies, people still read long books and the average listener of his radio show listens for 48 out of the 59 minutes of broadcasting. He said that we are in a time where creativity is at an all time high, that we have so many outlets to publish our own personal writings, that we can go on the internet and find other peoples creative outlook on things and then stated that we are living in a time of massive amounts of creativity. I think, mostly, he gave me hope in mankind. What he said made me stop and think that I shouldn’t be so cynical about this futuristic world we are living in and that there is still a market (and a growing one) for creativity. While many (including myself) turn on the television and view assortments of shows on MTV, VH1, ABC that range from drama, to comedy to reality…all of these shows feature characters and plots and narratives. We are living in a world of narrative when we take the chance to stop and evaluate the media we intake. He also said it is important for the person who wants to be involved in creative work to immerse yourself in it. That’s something I struggle with a lot. I put aside my writing for a time when it’s required (class), instead of continually working on it. It’s something I’ll pledge to do in January, then forget by late February. Really, he just left a lot of food for thought as well as a lot of inspiration. I’ve always thought journalists were quite cynical people, but after last night I have a greater hope for journalism and creative work in media art forms.

*Apparently I shouldn’t be writing before 9am on a Sunday. Sorry for all the grammatical mistakes!

Last night, Ira Glass, host of This American Life was at the Lied Center to speak. I’m going to be a nerd and write about it, mostly because it inspired me in a lot of ways. Near the end, a person asked if mediums like his radio show are becoming obsolete with things such as facebook and twitter—things that attribute to our ever growing short attention spans. Instead of taking the answer I think most of us would cynically say yes to, he adamantly stated no. He then went on to say that we truly do have a great capacity to enjoy the longer media forms. We can sit down and watch movies, people still read long books and the average listener of his radio show listens for 48 out of the 59 minutes of broadcasting. He said that we are in a time where creativity is at an all time high, that we have so many outlets to publish our own personal writings, that we can go on the internet and find other peoples creative outlook on things and then stated that we are living in a time of massive amounts of creativity.

I think, mostly, he gave me hope in mankind. What he said made me stop and think that I shouldn’t be so cynical about this futuristic world we are living in and that there is still a market (and a growing one) for creativity. While many (including myself) turn on the television and view assortments of shows on MTV, VH1, ABC that range from drama, to comedy to reality…all of these shows feature characters and plots and narratives. We are living in a world of narrative when we take the chance to stop and evaluate the media we intake.

He also said it is important for the person who wants to be involved in creative work to immerse yourself in it. That’s something I struggle with a lot. I put aside my writing for a time when it’s required (class), instead of continually working on it. It’s something I’ll pledge to do in January, then forget by late February. Really, he just left a lot of food for thought as well as a lot of inspiration. I’ve always thought journalists were quite cynical people, but after last night I have a greater hope for journalism and creative work in media art forms.