What A Day!

I was supposed to head out of town this afternoon (yes, I was one of the six people who emailed that I would be absent). I left work, hopped in my car, and discovered it was dead. Luckily I have Triple A, so I called them, called my mom, and had to get a new battery installed. Luckily the AAA man had batteries with him and it was very affordable, but the whole ordeal took over an hour and I missed my appointment. I guess there's a reason for everything, right?

Apparently the cause of my battery's death was a light I didn't even know about. It's right above the hatch and I'm guessing it got flipped on by accident when I unloaded my vacuum from my car. Bummer, but oh well. My mom was a saint,  as she came and sat with me, and paid for the battery. Not what I needed today, but hey, at least it was only the battery.

I was all ready to go to class, but I have to admit the night off is nice. I cleaned (although I didn't vacuum because that died on me too), cooked, and decluttered. Now I'm sitting down and reflecting on McLuhan. I really do think his readings have been easier to get through despite him being a bit all over the place. I appreciate the large headings in these selections.

The first thing I want to say about that is - wow, I could have used these readings for my first paper, especially Laws of Media! I wrote my paper on how technology creates a shift of responsibility through distance and detachment. McLuhan talked about those exact points! I could have used him, but, I think I did fine without his help.

I was delighted to see the book On Aggression mentioned - I actually picked it up at a local thrift store because I thought it looked interesting. I have a ton of books on my "to read" list, but that one moved up a lot more spots after I read some of the pieces in Laws of Media.

One of the things in Chapter 2 that stood out to me was his comments on dyslexia and how dyslexia is caused because of a cultural shift from left hemisphere (analytical, lexical) back to right hemisphere (qualitative, oral) thinking. He named the television as a catalyst of this change. However, dyslexia cases have been documented as early as the 1800s, so, pre-tv. Also, McLuhan says dyslexia occurs when people cannot adopt a single point of view (left hemisphere) and they look at things simultaneously (right hemisphere). However, many believe dyslexia is not a visual disorder but a verbal one and caused by a weak left hemisphere.

I was thinking of writing my paper on the topic of dyslexia, but I don't want to confuse myself, as some of this work does. I'm interested in psychology/mental health, so maybe I will broaden the topic. I plan on getting started with my paper this weekend, I just have a hard time picking topics!