"A Quotation At the Right Moment is Like Bread to the Famished" - The Talmud

So we just couldn't get enough SIS-388 this week, so before we delve into the final exam we thought we'd leave with our favorite quotes from the semester. We'll each be posting our two favorites, so check them out by clicking "comments" below!

Also check out Laura's journal entries from her participation in the No-Technology Project here.

I won't be leaving you with a quote of the week this time, so you'll just have to click below to get your quotation fix.

And that, folks, as they say, is that.

No Technology Journal Entries + Two Favorite Quotes From Class!

My two favorite quotes from the class come from Friedman and Mainiates.
Friedman: "We no longer know an act of God and an act of man"
Maniates: "Be like Rush Limbaugh- just a little."

Day 1

10/28/09 – 11:55pm- The night before.

There is five minutes until the 48 hours of no technology officially starts. I AM FREAKING OUT! I have done all of my work that requires a computer, but what if someone unexpected emails me? Like someone I haven’t heard from in two years or something? Not to mention that at this moment I have THREE instant messaging conversations going on, one with a friend from home, and I have to end them. And to top it all of the Yankees lost tonight and now I am missing game two of the World Series tomorrow- why am I doing this?!!

10/29- 12pm

I am sitting in the marketplace and fidgeting. Earlier I went to reach for my phone because I saw something that reminded me of a friend- BUT no, I couldn’t crack this early on, so now I hoping I see him so I can tell him instead. I am also thinking about the day ahead of me- Thursday- my busiest day. It might be a blessing because I’ll be in class until 5 and then have other things to do, but at the same time I am dreading the fact I cannot use my phone or computer to occupy myself in-between class time, like now. Also later, I made plans to go to the mall with my friend at 5:10 and meet her on the southside of campus, so I hope she remembers. Plus, I am supposed to drive, but I still use my GPS to get around down here- can I do that? Oh boy, this trip might take longer than expected.

10pm

Thankfully I just occupied myself for a good portion of the night. After the mall, I went out to eat with some friends, but now I returned to my room, to find my roommate- a Phillies fan- watching the game. I removed myself from the room with encouragement- more like scolding- from her. I am now planning on reading some books for class tomorrow- environmental policy- one of the few classes I actually read from a book.

Day 2

10/30/09- 11am

I have class in twenty minutes, what should I do until then? I woke up at 10:30 this morning, got dressed and then sat around like I am now. I decided to get the paper, but that was over in 5 minutes ago. I also just remembered I have to turn off my alarm on my phone because apparently it goes off even if my phone is off and I can’t have that happen in class again. The mission was to “get in” and “get out”, but as soon as I turned it on 6 text messages popped up, along with 4 missed calls and a voicemail. As soon as I changed the alarm and shut it off and threw it away from me, hoping that would help me not think about it. Obviously that didn’t work because here I am writing about it…And now I am thinking, “jeez how many emails will I have or facebook notifications. I cannot wait until midnight tonight to check them. But for now, I guess I will just walk to class extremely slowly and see if that works.

5pm

After class I went to work, where I work for my congressman on the hill. I prepared mentally for those few hours, to prevent myself from using any technology personally. Luckily I was busy with ground mail and taking messages. Now I am sitting on a bench waiting for my friend to pick me up. I went to her room last night to make sure we decided upon a place to meet considering I can’t call her. Then for the rest of the night it is my intention to attach myself to her as a liaison to my other friends, so that I knew what dinner plans were or what the plan was for going out tonight.

2am (10/31)

I know this is crazy to be writing right now, but I just had my moment of freedom. I was at my friend’s apartment for a Halloween party, so I didn’t really need my phone because most of my friends were there. And although normally, I do not think about technology I counted down to midnight. Then I grabbed my phone and text-ed the people that weren’t there to let them know I re-entered the world. I then took my friend’s computer and checked my email= 136! Lord, did it feel good to be in the “know” again. Then I checked the score of the baseball game and my hockey team. Now finally, sleep and in the morning I will just call someone to say I will be late for brunch, instead of having to be punctual and responsible or vice versa for he/she.

Day 3

11/5- 5:30pm

So today was another long Thursday. I continued the preparation of putting my email on auto-response, notifying the facebook world and my parents. I also decided not to preplan, but just show up places around the usual eating times and find someone to eat with. And so this is why I am writing now, because I am sitting in MGC waiting for someone to come by. Hopefully, someone I know will come along soon and if not I’ll just read because I printed out some readings for tomorrow.

10:30pm

So I did find three people to eat with and then afterwards I felt lost. I really had nothing to do. So I wandered to my friends’ rooms until I figured I was close enough to in time for me to return to the room, shower and go to bed. I am basically going to bed because I am bored. This whole day I have just eaten, slept, written in this pad, read or played with some balloons that are in my room from my roommates decorations (pathetic- I know). Just another 26 hours or so and I will not have to do this again!

Day 4

11/6- 6pm

This day was the same as last Friday, thank goodness for some type of routine in life. Although, as I started my slow walk to class, I contemplated if now I was allowed to use the elevator or listen to the radio in my car- I decided that I was because there has to be a line somewhere right? And those things were invented much longer ago than the TV or cell phone. Tonight I am thinking I will just stay in because I have a philanthropic event tomorrow early. And even though on these nights I would watch a movie- I cannot. I will just have to convince others to entertain me or play board games or something.

11/7/09

So last night I convinced “my little”, from my fraternity, to play board games with me. We went to the store and also bought cookies to bake and played STRATEGO AND RISK. I will admit those are not my favorite ones but considering I convinced him to stay in I figured I shouldn’t be picky. I have to say I am amazed and proud that I got through those final 48 hours. I thought it would be harder considering I knew what to expect, but with some pressure from my roommate not to “cheat”, helped. Not having access to technology was difficult not only because I as an individual was attached, but society is. Everyone corresponded with email or phones so for all that I knew I was on an island with no civilization- except for the fact I had friends. It made me value them more because they helped me and were supportive- even if none of them joined me in this task.

Week 12: The Final Blogging

Alas, the end of the semester is almost upon us. This will be our last blog posting, but we certainly hope to go out with a bang! To commemorate this most solemn occasion, please take a moment to look upon our fearless leader, Dr. Simon Nicholson, and reflect upon all that he has taught us to better our common future:

Dr. Simon Nicholson
"King of SIS Construction"

This week we will be choosing between two questions to discuss:

1. Think about the environment-themed conversations you had over the Thanksgiving break. What did you learn? Is it best to be provocative, conciliatory, or something else? Which arguments and framings from our readings and discussions resonated best with the people you talked with? What did your conversation teach you about how best to generate constructive change?

OR

2. Look back at the "Leverage Points" piece that you read for Tuesdays class, and to our class exercise. What does the future look like for the environmental movement? What is it going to take to generate positive, lasting action?

As always, click "comments" to read or join in the discussion!

Quote of the Week:

"Why do people give each other flowers? To celebrate various important occasions, they're killing living creatures? Why restrict it to plants? 'Sweetheart, let's make up. Have this deceased squirrel.'"
- The Washington Post