HW # 8 Comment to Julie's Video

I appreciate your honest assessment of yourself watching your video. I was equally unimpressed by my video. In fact, just the idea of other people watching me doing seemingly less than nothing makes this whole exercise more depressing.

We were both struck by the dramatic lack of physical activity in our videos. You looked either bored or annoyed (said your mother was trying to talk to you). What made your video more interesting to me than mine was the fact that you told us you were watching Happy Feet. Now watching a thousand penguins tapdancing ought to produce a smile or even a smirk, but you seemed to be getting no enjoyment at all from this movie. Also, you were multitasking by texting at the same time. I would bet that you either weren't even mentioning the film or, if you were, you were saying something like, " I don't know why I'm watching this."

This experience of watching ourselves staring at the computer makes us question how healthy it is for us to be spending so much time essentially watching televison. We all need some down time, but I think more of it should be physical, doing sports, dance, or, as you say, going for a walk with your family. This is especially true because we are using the computer for homework,
research, practical information, and entertainment. That means a lot of sitting and staring, and there is still all that sitting even when our minds are at work.

The texting (like emailing or going on Facebook) is interactive but looks so lonely on film. We would look more animated I think filming our telephone conversations. At least there would be sound, and we would probably be using our hands or arms to express ourselves. What I think we both feel from this experience is a need to balance our lives by interacting with people face to face, going outside, and doing physical stuff.