Day 3

Hey again. Sorry I missed day 2. But I did some serious walking, about 7 miles, all morning, up to Montana and 14th Street, stopping to play a little soccer with Calder along the way. Walked from there to school, working on our skit with Amy for Japanese 8 class that night. Then I took full advantage of the SMC Commuter Big Blue Bus, along with just one other person home. Calder had brought up a good point that I pondered on the bus. He said sometimes you wake up with no plan, and get a random call that totally changes your day.

Then another no phone bummer came. I was going to meet Lisa and Adrian at Hurry Curry for some sweet Japanese Curry, after Japanese class, and got a ride from Amy. I got there at 7:30, and it turned out they were sick of waiting at 7:20, haha. So I was there, ride gone, ride home gone. Walked another 3.5 miles home. But overall, I felt okay without my phone.

And today’s been great. Took the commuter to school, came home on the #14. Took it back to school after lunch and hung out with the Japanese tutor, Saori, and she helped me study for my test today. After the test I told Ka Yan at the bus stop about my walking spree the day before, and we half-way made plans to do a walk from Malibu to Santa Monica! Sweet!

So, I’m still saying so far so good. Phone free.

Day 1

Hey everyone, Day 1 is good so far. Had a chat with my mom before switching off the phone. And so far I’ve had a good day. Missed the number 14 bus and decided to walk home instead of waiting for the next bus 30 minutes later. So I did a 45 minute, 3 mile walk home, and it was really nice.

Now I’m at home, and my friend Chris shows me this. I don’t really feel against cell phones, but I do want to try to not be so attached to the technology right now. And it’s funny, in Intercultural Communcation today we were talking about different cultures ‘uncertainty avoidance‘. Obviously phone communication isn’t going to determine success of a whole culture, but I think many people (my mom included, from our chat today) have a fear of being able to contact people they love. I realized I only have two friends, Max and Sahil, who do not use cell phones. I was talking with Sahil about it last night. He said something like “why should people have to be able to get a hold of me? When I leave here (work) and take off on my bike with no phone, it’s the most free feeling.” He’s never had a cell phone, and I feel like it really changes the shape of experiences he has, as opposed to being able to get in touch with anyone at anytime. Not that it is better or worse, there is no such thing, just different.

So I guess I’ll just say that so far so good.
If you want to, leave a comment telling me how much you’ve used your phone today.

Michael

Welcome

Hi everyone.  My name’s Michael, and tomorrow I am switching off my cell phone.  I am currently enrolled at Santa Monica College and in the textbook of my Intercultural Communication textbook, there was a little blurb about communication and technology.  It suggested “turn off your cell phone for a week”, and see what happens.  The same day, my roommate told me about a show he’d seen where they had a techno-guru (2 cell phones, bluetooth headset, sidekick, etc.) go for one day without his phone.  He was supposedly crying at the end of the day, worried people couldn’t get in touch with him.  Was he in touch with himself?  Who knows.

So I suppose this is ultimately a test of communication and technology.  And in a way, at the same time, a test on internet communication, something that I will probably rely on heavily in place of my cell phone.  As of 8 a.m. Pacific Time on March 19th, I will be cell phone free.

 Until then, and always,
Michael