Remembering memories.

I'm currently writing an assignment for my New Media and Digital Cultures university paper where we have to compare two readings from a particular week of the course so far. I chose the week of memory, where we discussed things like remediation, nostalgia and hauntology. (I'll leave a really interesting link explaining a bit more about hauntology, here)

One of the readings was all about the concept of prosthetic memories, and this really interested me, and got me thinking. Prothetic memory is where we remember things we did not actually experience, that are, in a sense, implanted memories. This concept pops up in movies from time to time, including Inception, The Thieving Hand, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Blade Runner. It's kind of a futuristic concept, but I think aspects of it are present in our lives, well, in mine at least.

My parent's filmed a lot of my sister and my childhood's, from the big adventures to the mundane things, a lot of it was caught on film. Every so often we'll sit down and watch a bunch of home movies together, and essentially i'd watch myself grow up. They'll be certain things that i'll 'remember' when watching the tapes, but i'm not sure if I remember them actually happening, or if I remember watching them happen. 

Still with me? I guess it just fascinates me that, at some stage of our lives, we were consciously making decision that have possibly affected who we are today, yet we have no memory of actually making those decisions. Instead they have been overwritten by something else. I guess this is why we film parts of our lives, and take photographs, because we rely on these memories to validate our experiences. 

So I guess back to the "do I actually remember this memory or do I remember watching the video of this memory" question, does anybody else have this? Or is it just me?

In short, i'm semi-geeking-out about this assignment, and needed to have a bit of a brain dump. Prothetic memory does seem a bit 'out there,' but at the same time, entirely possible in our lovely, ever improving technological lives. Especially if sold to advertising companies to make us lifelong, loyal customers - agree? 

Hiatus.

It's been almost 2 months since I wrote my last blog post. 

I know that's not the end of the world, but when I started this blog back in January, I told myself that I was going to write at least three times a month, and i'm slightly disappointed in myself for not sticking to it. 

Sure i've got excuses, exams happened, I went away on holiday, work was busy and I was concentrating more on on my YouTube vlogs, but really, I was never so busy that I wouldn't have had time to write a post or two. 

As well as letting you all know where i've been, this post is a wee kick for me to remember to post regular content, so it becomes a habit, or second nature. I've heard that it takes 4 weeks to make or break a habit, so there's my challenge, which - let's be honest - is easy enough!

I'm excited at the prospect of writing more again, I almost forgot how therapeutic it can be just to write stuff down (even if no one is reading it!). 

I have a few blog ideas, but if there's anything you want me to write about, let me know!

Until next time, kiddies. 

The little things.

Last July my Gramps passed away very unexpectedly. He was the first of my grandparents to go too, which made it that much harder, and I still miss him terribly.

My Gramps was also a very keen carpenter, and over the years had made me jewelry boxes, hat stands, bookshelves, toys, shadow boxes, as well as a lot of other things for our house. I have quite a lot of cousins too, and for each of their 21st's, he would make them a key of some sort. 

Gramps passed away about eight months before I turned 21, and today my dad sent me this little 'S' that he'd found in my Gramps' shed. 

In the note dad said Gramps was going to use it make something for my 21st present. To everyone else this probably doesn't mean much but when I was younger he made me a bookshelf that had the letters "SJP" on the side (my initials), and dad said he think's he was going to do something similar for my birthday. 

I know it doesn't seem like much, but this little "S" means quite a lot to me, as it really is the little things that count.

I feel truly privileged to have known my Gramps, not just as a Grandfather, but as a person, and he continues to be my inspiration of the type of person I want to become.  

I will forever be his 'blossom.'

Fashtags

So Facebook got hashtags...

Well, actually - let me rephrase that. people have been using hashtags on Facebook for quite a while, but now they finally do something. Sort of. 

I get hashtags on Twitter and Tumblr. And Instagram for that matter, though it does frustrate me when people "over-hashtag." (Here's an example) Although i'm guilty of adding the odd, useless hashtag to many on my tweets for 'comedic' purposes, and i'll tag my tumblr posts of pictures i've found and want to share with others. For a monthly event I help run, (Social Media Club Wellington) we use the hashtag #SMCWgtn on the night so people that are unable to attend can still read what's going on.  

Facebook have jumped on the hashtag bandwagon because, “To date, there has not been a simple way to see the larger view of what’s happening or what people are talking about.” (Issac, M. Read the full article here) Although this will be good for businesses, what some people don't realise is that if your privacy settings are up to date, no one will be able to see your hashtag's anyway.

I'm still unsure about FB's new feature, but I guess I can't really knock it too much until i've tried it, right? What are your thoughts?

Feeling it.

Just like everyone else, sometimes I have down days. Days that I don't feel like socialising at all, and times when I just feel crappy. 

My usual method of getting these feelings out is writing about them, but the posts I write never get published. It's almost as if I'm embarrassed to say how i'm really feeling, or i'll feel stupid if I look back over the post on a day when i'm feeling happy. 

It's not like I want to go and rant away on any social media platform that will listen, because we all know how annoying that is, but I do honestly feel better after writing stuff down, almost as if I need to write about it to understand, accept and move on from those feelings.

99% of the time, I am generally happy, i'm blessed to have a pretty awesome life, but like I said, i'm only human, and sometimes you just got to let it out.

I guess what i'm trying to say is that this blog is a space for me to share with you guys what's going on in my life and interesting things I find along the way. I don't want to feel like I can't be my true self on my own blog (Though in saying that, don't expect anything to change, i'm not about to go all emo on you guys and rant and whinge in every post - promise!) 

Even just writing this post, i've cleared out the negative cobwebs and I feel so much better. It doesn't even matter if no one if listening, sometimes you just need to acknowledge your feelings, and move on...

the best thing in May.

With the semester ending and exams looming, i've been a bit slack on the blogging front as of late!  Although we're already a week into June , my favourite thing in May was definitely the company. 

Friends birthdays, my boyfriend's University graduation, BYO dinners and seeing the Harlem Globe Trotters were a few highlights, all spent with the most wonderful people. 

I've said it before and i'll say it again, having the right kinds of people around you makes all the difference. Life is to short to surround yourself with toxic people, or just people who don't always have your best interests at heart. I'm very privileged to have a wonderful friend group and family, and I love that I get to share my life with them (As cheesy as it sounds!).

I'm looking forward to exams being over soon, giving me more time to write and vlog!

Ciao bellas xx

Something new.

There's something about putting yourself out there, and trying new things that is both exciting and nerve-wracking at the same time. 

For me, one of those things is vlogging. I've attempted a few videos in the past, but it never really felt right, or I always came up with excuses as to why it wouldn't work. This year has been my year of trying new things, (such as this blog) and one day I just decided that really, what's the worst that could happen?

This weekend I gathered some equipment and made an 'introductory' video for my YouTube channel. When it came to the editing side, I realised that halfway through, my camera shifted it's focus to the background rather than me. A minor set back, but hey, it's my first attempt and I can really only get better! (I hope anyway, haha!) 

So here goes everybody. Watch my first video here.