Napoleon Dynamite- I love Technology, Kip met Lawfanduh in a chatroom.

Hes Just Not That Into You

Mona's Garden

The garden created and cared for in Mona's honor attracts a plethora of individuals and families. Roses, peonies, freesia, hydrangea, delphinium, among several hundreds species of some of Mona's favorite plants and flowers exist there to be admired and enjoyed by all. The garden is a comforting beautiful place for many people to reflect and meditate, to play or even to sleep. In this garden, many relationships have both began and come to an end, the benches are scenes of love at first sight, engagement proposals, and long chats about "its not you, its me". Click here to discover who has their marriage in Mona's garden.

Creative Gallery- Who Finds Love, Who is connected, and Who Ends Up Alone?

Mona

Jim

Paul
SallyIvan

Margaret

Mona

Mona was a beautiful mother of two children and a school teacher who married Paul when they both got out of college. She loved her children, Mark and Margaret, very much. Upon her death in a car accident, Mona had no idea how her family would be torn apart without her. Paul became an alcoholic and pushed the children off onto Mona's sister in law. Margaret lost her brother who ran away and her father who remarried 3 more times. Go back to the beginning. Mona's favorite flower was the Rhododendron, and there is a garden betrothed onto her family in her honor in the center of Margaret and Mark's hometown.

Paul, 60

Paul, Margaret's father who has been married and divorced 4 times, served as lieutenant colonel in the Marine Corps and has been retired for 15 years. Margaret's mother, Mona, was his first and seemingly his only love that died in a car accident when Margaret was just 2 and her brother, Mark, was 9. Paul became an alcoholic and his sister raised Margaret and Mark until Mark ran away and disappeared, no one has seen him in 15 years, but Paul received an award from the Marine Corps identifying his son Mark as an exemplary soldier. The family remains in search of him, and Paul grows more sad everyday without his son. On Match.com Paul indicates he is looking for an older woman who just wants to grow older in companionship and love. Paul no longer drinks but still attends parties and although he smokes is in great health.

LA FITNESS

LA Fitness is the gym located downtown where Sally and Mark both have memberships. After an excellent first date and an even better second date, Sally and Mark ironically run into each other on the elliptical machines at LA Fitness. Flirting and giggling, Sally realizes she is in love with Mark. Sweating and feeling awkward, Mark realizes Sally is the most beautiful woman, inside and out, that he's ever met. After 6 more dates and a vacation in Florida, the two get married a year later and have 2 kids. Start Over

Ivan, 24

Ivan, a former soldier and health insurance salesman, seeks the companionship of an intelligent and active female. He has been single since high school and has used online dating for the past 2 years. Although no successful relationship has presented itself yet, Ivan has every faith that the right one will come along. After first convincing his cousin Sally to join LA FIT health club, Ivan helped Sally create her own match.com account. Ivan actively searches for his own partner but also helps everyone he knows as much as he can find love and happiness. Ivan can appear insensitive and has a bad habit of making inappropriate jokes, but he has a lot to offer a woman looking for a serious and hard working man.

Mark, 36

Mark is 36 years old and served time in the military right after graduating high school in Santa Cruz, California. Upon completing his duty, he played baseball at Fullerton. He has been in and out of serious and non serious relationships his whole life, and is looking for the right woman to settle down and start a family with. Although Mark seems like he's got it all, he lost both of his parents when he was 9, and seeks someone to share his life with. He is looking for someone that reminds him of his mother, Mona, a beautiful woman who constantly offered people nothing but inspiration and philanthropist. A fellow soldier, Ivan, suggested Mark get online and start looking for women because Mark's job doesn't leave a lot of time for bar crawling or mingling. At the gym he is a member of, LA FIT, there are not many women and plus Mark tends to be a little shy. The receptionist there, Isabelle, is the only woman Mark has ever had a conversation with at that gym, so there really are no other places where Mark could meet a woman and find love.

Margaret, 28

Margaret, Sally's best friend, is 28 years old and has a 14 year old daughter. She was married very young, in high school, and the marriage ended when she was merely 21. She and her ex husband share custody and since then Margaret has graduated from college and is now working as a fashion editor in LA. Margaret has been on hundreds of dates from match.com, some good, some bad, however not one man has ever met her daughter. She is looking for the man that she can introduce her daughter to. Her father, Paul, referred her to the site, as he has now had 4 marriages. Margaret enjoys running, reading, cooking, and hiking. She seeks a man who knows how to treat a woman right. By clicking this, find out who Margaret shares the rest of her life with.

Jim, 40

Jim, Sally's husband, has had a secret online dating account on match.com for about 3 years now, since before his marriage to Sally ended. Jim was in the closet his entire life, and married Sally because he truly did love her, just not the way that he or she wanted during a marriage. Sally and Jim remain great friends, and have began helping each other find the true loves of their lives. After Sally, Jim began his first homosexual relationship which lasted 6 months. The relationship failed because the emotional connection was not strong enough for Jim's needs and wants. Jim is looking for someone sensitive, loving, muscular, athletic, outdoorsy, and someone who enjoys quiet nights at home cuddling. Jim's niece, Isabelle, is the one who helped Jim make his online profile, and who is an expert on technology.

Sally, 32 years old

Sally is 32 year old, just got out of a two year marriage that ended badly. Her ex husband, Jim, had a turning point a year ago when he realized he was solely attracted to men. Sally is an esteemed black jack dealer in New Jersey's casino district. Sally's best friend, Margaret, convinced Sally just last week to build a profile and subscribe to match.com. Very timid, Sally agreed, and has already received numerous emails from interested, and interesting, men. Sally paid special attention to what her profile listed, and also takes very seriously what she reads in men's profiles. She knows the risks of online dating and the percentages of men and women who lie about such characteristics as weight, height, age, and income. Sally, traumatized from not knowing her husband's sexual orientation after 5 years of marriage, knows that profiles are not a true insight to people. She has become so paranoid that she googles men's names, as well as frequently after going to LA FIT with her cousin Ivan she logs onto his account to check men's true intentions.

Trailer time

I am going to be doing a series of blogs that are all linked and that unravel a story, or 10 stories, about 10 online dating service users who have found or failed at love. I want the work I have been doing on my project to reflect the many benefits and the many drawbacks of our society having become so much more reliant on technology, especially when it comes to the personal relationships we establish. It is important that we understand the impact technology has had on not only those who use online dating services, and not only adults in the dating scene, but everyone. Adolescents, for better or worse, now have access to communicating with almost anyone through either the internet, texting, video chat, digital pictures, or the most archaic form of communication- talking on the phone.

Creative Gallery

I have GOT IT! A great idea for my creatie gallery project pertaining to my newly completed essay topic! I am very excited, and relieved, to have grasped something.

In class a few weeks ago we learned how to connect blogs within blogs to create a story, we saw an example of this through someone who had connected their blogs about who killed someone in a fictional setting.

I have decided that I am going to create a story about 10 adults who are online dating customers trying to find love on the internet. They will all weave together, and by the end of every blog connection, it will be revealed who winds up together, and who winds up alone... I will make it juicy and dramatic and entertaining! YAY!

Revised Love At First Cite

I have completed and revised my essay about online dating websites and how they have changed romance! Here

Google Maps!

View Hometowns of ppl I know in a larger map

Creativity

I am looking forward to completing my writing project during/after our spring break. I have what I feel like is a great start on it, I just need to organize the information I already have, and add some info. The feedback from my classmates and from my teacher are all very helpful. I plan on utilizing their suggestions for adding information about each particular dating site for those readers who have no background with things like that, about organizing my info in a more effective way, and for defining my purpose in a clear statement. I also wanted to add to my video to contribute toward creativeness and understanding.

First Draft

First Draft

This is the fine beginnings of my essay, I have much work yet to accomplish, but please let me know your thoughts! I like that I am learning about online dating services and the actual results these services provide.

Youtube Constructs

Authors on YouTube are numerous and diverse. It is the 4th most popular site on the internet for a reason. The messages available on YouTube are most interesting because they are alive and visual, completely unlimited, and original. I find it very peculiar that the Charlie bit my finger video is the most watched video of all time, but with further thought, it does not surprise me. The accent, the cute children, the unusual but not bizarre series of events, make the video endearing and hilarious- especially once accents have caught on. YouTube has become a central area of unique humor that spreads information with rapid speed. Videos from this site can be emailed, posted, and commented on all over the internet.

Diagram!

Here it is.


Look at my creative drawing!

Topic areas

To create our writing project we have endless amounts of options for how to construct our argument. (make use of = quote the work, engage with the arguments, and make it part of your thinking) I am exploring the world of online dating and researching its effects on our culture and on our relationship interaction. What results are we observing from this social device will be exposed. I will use quotes from the sources I have found, and have already began incorporating my findings into my thinking. Many of the documents, lectures, and discussions have helped me formulate my argument. Clay Shirky brings up an array of results that are the onslaught of the internet, and I am sure some of these results reflect online dating as well. Are we forever doomed to only get to know someone based on their online photo and self-description? Will we lose touch with the romance of love at first sight? Or will it become love at first "cite".

Online dating has changed the way we meet other people and how we perceive them.

Final Sources for Annotated Bib

Katz, Evan Marc. "10 Dating Resolutions for 2010." Itsjustlunchblog.com. 1 Jan. 2010. Web. 22 Feb. 2010.

This online dating resource is for residents of the Pittsburgh area, it provides many facts and tips for and about singletons across the country, but specifically serves the Pitt area. Marc Katz is also an author of a free eBook all about dating. The 10 resolutions Katz recommends a more open mind about dating and provides some really good advice about releasing your idea of a perfect man. Statistics and other tips are also available on this site.

"Online Dating Gaining in Popularity for Meeting a Potential Partner." onlinedatingmagazine.com, 11 Feb. 2010. Web. 1 Mar. 2010.

I have requested full reporter's access to everything this site offers- many many articles and statistics all about online dating. I am interested in knowing marriage rates and divorce rates that originated online. This article has an unspecified author, but many interesting study results. A Stanford sociologist Michael Rosenfield found the groups most likely to use online dating are groups that have abandoned traditional mediums of finding/meeting love, such as middle aged heterosexuals, gays, and lesbians. Rosenfield surveyed 3,000 adults that showed 23% of heterosexuals met their partners online while 61% homosexual participants met their partners online.

Admin. "The Dark Side of Online Dating." datingsitereviews.com. Jun 09 2009. Web. 1 Mar 2010.

This site overall has a plethora of facts and articles about online dating. The first article sited here describes scandals that have resulted in online dating. I do not want to go into dark sides of online dating much in my research paper, but I do need to mention the risks and drawbacks of the change in the way people date now. Murders, legal cases, and theft has occurred due to online dates.

Irvin, Will. "Top 10 Dating Statistics Everyone Should Know." articlebase.com. 22 Apr 09. Web. 1 Mar 2010.

This article had remarkably interesting statistics for my topic- such as, 40% of singles are online, and for every 100 women, there are only 86 men, so chances for men are much higher. In NY, 50% of people are single! So chances there are much better for finding love. 51% reported that flattery is the best way to attract someone. 2% of men find relationships from on a barstool, and profiles with pictures are three times more viewed than people without pictures.

Watson, Tristan. "Online Dating is Deceptive and Dangerous." star.txstate.edu. 14 Apr 2009. Web. 1 Mar 2010.

This opinionated article highlights basic fears people first encounter when it comes to online dating. Giving out personal information could lead to dangers, but then these personal details could never lead to a solid meaningful relationship. In the topic I want to describe the process and phases that online daters experience and this is a very valuable source for describing people's initial thoughts about it.

Rosen, Larry D. Cheever, Nancy A. Cummings, Cheyenne. Felt, Julie. "The Impact of Emotionality and Self-Disclosure On Online Dating Versus Traditional Dating." portal.acm.org. Sept. 2008. Web. 1 Mar 2010.

This article not only points out interesting facts but it provided me with many references I can look up to further my ideas. This article describes the relationship beginning swiftly with "a furry of emails, each getting more intimate than the last" and the process of starting a relationship online goes much much quicker than it does in real life. This intrigues me and definitely is important to get to the bottom of for my research topic.

Belt, Carrie. "Common Physical Effects of Online Dating." associatedcontent.com. 28 Nov 2008. Web. 1 Mar 2010.

This title sounds like it would be serious and damaging to the health of online dating service users, but the health consequences aren't so serious and touched on a few positive results. Online daters experience happiness, butterflies, googly eyes... and also sore neck and back from sitting at a chair on the computer.

UCLA. "The Impact of Online Dating Sites." marcinek.bol.ucla.edu. Web. 1 Mar 2010.

The College Dating Scene- Offline and Online. This article acknowledges the change in dating methods and that dating has been and will be around forever. If you are not using online dating services, you are incredibly limited by geography. Common sense is still required for online dating though as it is in the real world. This site also offers methods for choosing the dating service that is right for you.

Project, recent thoughts

I think my project is still coming along nicely. I have a few more sources that I have not yet finished reading completely and have not yet included onto my annotated bibliography. The feedback I received from Baldwin was extremely insightful, and hit on subjects I already knew I wanted to cover in more depth. The way love, dating, and interaction has changed between singletons has dramatically changed since the point in time when our grandparents met, also since when our parents met, and it will probably change again for our children when they are dating, terrible thought! I want to add more text and more detail to my trailer, and I also want to find specific texts that pertain to this topic that I can cite and use.

Topic, briefly

My topic that I want to research and write about it online dating and how people connect through use of dating web sites. There are thousands of dating sites and millions of people that pay money and use them everyday. The world of online dating is changing the way relationships are formed and the way they're maintained. This could change the way our children meet their husbands and wives, or how they could end up alone! Dating web sites offer a community of single people looking for companionship. I think that it is important that we acknowledge and analyze what these sites are doing and how they are changing the way people interact.

Bibliography first 3

Epstein, Robert. "The Truth About Online Dating". Scientific American.com. February 2007. Web. 16 Feb 2010.

This is an article written a few years ago based on a personal account of online dating use. It scratches the surface on issues that arise while online dating that include use of false identities.

James, Scott. "In the Calculations of Online Dating, Love Can be Cruel". nytimes.com. Feb 11 2010. Web. February 16 2010.

This article describes the difference between online dating and dating in the real world. Both have their benefits and drawbacks, but online dating has become harsher lately and even more withdrawn from reality. The social differences between people are more apparent during online dating than they are in real life, and this is harming positive relationship results.

Shapley, Haley. Online Love, Chinese-Style. AOL Personals. January 26, 2010. Web. February 16, 2010.

The internet dating scene isn't just taking place in the United States. This article provides facts, tips, and differences between online dating in our country and in China.

Trailer with sound I hope

Trailer

New Trailer Idea

I have been running into several different topics all surrounding the idea of how the world wide web has impacted relationships, more specifically, romantic relationships. It is no longer messages in bottles, or poems and songs- but emails, blogs, and wall posts. It has simplified meeting people with sites such as match.com, but has it diminished the possibility for tried and true romance? Both of my parents, divorced, use online dating, as does every single parent I know. People closer to my age have also created accounts. Is it going to replace blind dates, bar encounters, and become love at first "site"? WIth this new idea, my trailer is a little tardy for posting, but it well on its way, and this weekend may even meet completion. I am very excited about it. I think i will use still images throughout most of it with text and some corresponding music. Images of lovers, of creating online accounts, costs, benefits, risks, statistics.

Trailer Brainstorming, ct

Photographs online are fascinating and attract much attention and response. Newspapers and magazines have declined greatly in popularity in recent years due to audiences learning news breaks through television and ever more important, the internet. It would be interesting to research the difference in news watching through all the different mediums. I am interested in relaying information through use of photographs online, perhaps even telling a story, fact or fiction. I have not decided if I would take and assemble my own photographs or find photos offered to the public, or use both, citing accordingly. It would be more of a challenge to come up with a story line and also provide the visuals for it, but would be fun and beneficial.

Brainstorming

Online I really enjoy watching photographic slide shows about recent news events. This form of watching the news is more interesting and I feel like I absorb more information. My homepage is set to nytimes.com and I frequent the photographs often. I want to know more about adding comments and information to photographs.

Tenner

Plagiarism becomes more complicated ten fold by the internet. We are all influenced by others and by what we see, read, listen to... If our ideas stem from someone else's do we accredit those? When disputes over singing customers happy birthday in restaurants begin for the song is copyrighted to a group of older women we know we are in trouble. Are our sentences and ideas ever novel, or has everything we have ever said already been expressed before?

Response post #1

1) Are you a “digital native” (“a person who has grown up with digital technology such as computers, the Internet, mobile phones and MP3”)? How much was the internet used where you grew up? By whom and for what?

I would consider myself a "digital native" for my parents bought cell phones as soon as the giant black ones from way back in the day were available. We had a really huge computer that required tedious dial up internet connection. The internet began major use in the recent decade, in homes and classrooms.


2) Describe your earliest memories of using the web. Describe a memory of using the web that involves a moment of insight, inspiration, or other strong emotion.

I loved AOL Instant Messaging. It was SO fun to chat with my elementary school buddies online even though connections were fickle and conversation was simple!

3) Why do you use (or not use) the web? What's your relation to the web - love it, hate it, fear it, rule it...?

LOVE the web. It answers every question I find myself asking- like why do stink bugs stink just yesterday. Also Facebook is fun as well as a waste of time, and emailing is a great medium of communication to not only in my academic and professional fields but in my personal life as well.

4) What sites do you visit? Do you have a web page? A blog? Do you IM and text message? Do you Facebook? Do you MySpace? What do you use and how often? How much time do you spend on the web every day? How much writing do you do on the web and what kind (think of all the different kinds of writing activities...)? What web or computer “skills” do you have?

My homepage is set to nytimes.com and I often visit facebook, weather, bb and t banking, and recipe.com. I have a blog, and not often to I use IM anymore but send ridiculous amounts of texts.

2nd day of class

Hello world! Second day of multimedia writing with Sandy Baldwin.