Plug It: the iPod Culture

My mom usually chastises me whenever I can't hear a word she says because both of my ears are plugged with authentic Apple earphones. Even with earphones on, sometimes you just get a feeling that someone's talking to you so when I asked my Mom, "ha? what is it?", she just shrugged of and bombarded me with never minds and funny-how-you-cant-communicate-with-your-daughter-who-is-less-than-a-meter-away-from-you looks and sermons. All because of an iPod :D

But she can't blame me for using my iPod since it was those instances when I was jogging or inside the car and the music on the radio really sucked :))

Alright, here are some scenarios/instances why I use my apple green player:

1. the music on the radio isn't just right for my mood. or it simply sucks, not to mention the most annoying DJs with their corny jokes and irritating laughs.

2. when not so tired, I can't sleep without my iPod playing me to sleep.

3. when walking to my classroom, anywhere or back to my dorm. i think this is becoming more of a habit. i just like to walk with the beat and estimate the number of minutes i spent walking by how many songs I've listened to.

4. when studying or doing something on your own, like reading or surfing the net aimlessly. as you can see, plugged earphones sometimes mean DON'T DISTURB :)

5. whenever I'm obliged to do some boring, manual stuff, my iPod never fails to save me.

6. also whenever I'm forced to wait for long periods of time :| I've got short attention span you know.

7. i also use my iPod to keep track of the time i spent jogging through the songs played.

8. when I'm in awkward position with someone whom I barely know and I know small talks won't save me.

9. when I get emotional, depressed or sad :>

10. I also listen to music whenever I feel like choreographing and creating dance moves in my mind

11. admittedly, I also tend to daydream of "music video" scenes in my head hahaha just for the fun of it :))

12. usually for brainstorming work, listening to music helps me in generating new and unthinkable (but i get to think of it because of music haha) ideas.


and what are the things I usually listen to?

anything that's good music. mostly hiphop, RnB, soundtracks of my life and of some my favorite drama series :P

iPods own 70% of the music player industry.
I'm a proud owner of an apple green iPod Nano :)

which brings me to a realization that maybe an iPod, or any music player, could really be a private thing, or an extension of self. The music synched in your iPod isn't something that the radio DJs programmed, it's usually rather of your own choice. Yes, your friends might help give you songs and new song suggestions but it is really our discretion in to what song you wanna listen. Miley Cyrus could be famous for Disney's sake but mind you, I've only got two of her songs in my music player: 7 things and The Climb -songs which i can tolerate ;p nevertheless, who knows who out there has Miley's complete copies of her album and songs.

Then, i can say that music players are a possible projection of our feelings and emotions. What we can't verbally express, we project it through the songs we listen to. Whoah! So what was I projecting/feeling during the times Lady Gaga's Telephone is on a loop? :)) Well, songs are created to express the singer's sentiments -it is an artistic expression since he find plain words direct, simple and straightforward. Idadaan nalang sa kanta. (Tell it through a song.) People can't force themselves to listen to songs they don't like -be it the lyrics, the beat or even the singer. As for me, I don't care if others think that people who listen to this particular singer is cool. If I don't like the artist/lyrics/beat, I don't like the song. I wouldn't bother damaging my ears with sound waves coming from a song I don't like.

If this is the case, then judging others through the songs in their music players seems too much. I can't call him emo just because he listens to Second Serenade or Paramore. I can't call her baduy, jologs, jeje, or cheap just because the songs in her iPod are obsolete and overrated. I can't call her sozy or cool just because she has the latest and hottest songs in her iPod. Judging a person by her playlist is like judging a book by its cover. Rather, why not take it as an opportunity to know someone better -what songs he/she likes, and why. You'll be surprised that knowing someone's playlist could speak well about the person, as well as or even better than online stalking or other forms of research :D

As for me, I listen to Lady Gaga, Paramore, etc and even KPop (Korean Pop) songs. but sadly I don't get to update my iPod since either I don't know the artist nor the title of the song I want to listen or my downloader's really slooow. My best chance would be to stumble upon a good song, know its title and artist, and hopefully download it or ask for a copy. but everyone knows that just like you can't have everything, you can't listen to everything :D

A little word of advice: please please opt to have a conversation with someone rather than immerse yourself in your own world with your music player and NEVER, if avoidable, wear earphones with people that matter. I know that iPods could create boundaries between the owner and his real world. there's really nothing wrong with trying to be alone in your own world for a while. but DONT go overboard. Mind you, the voices of the people you love are the best soundtrack you may wish to keep in your playlist :)

But if you can't really help but find that new person you just met at a party boring, or when things around you get dull, then I guess iPod to the rescue wouldn't be such a big deal. After all, music players are created for creatures with short-attention span in their genes. US :). If we don't like the song that's playing, then shifting it is as easy as pressing the right arrow button.


If you really love the song, put it on a playlist and a Repeat loop! :))
But don't overlisten or you'll end up hating your favorite song :DD

How to Kill Time When You're in a Mall

When we're in a mall, my friends and I do the usual stuff: eating lunch or dinner together, window shopping and watching a movie.After that, we ran out of things to do (or we're already broke) that we usually end up going home or going somewhere else. After spending some time in malls, whether after school, or whenever we don't wanna be stuck in our own houses, my friends and I came up with some additional default to-do activities, some are for free while some require some medium or heavy spending, which will save us from unproductive mall hang-out or if we don't wanna leave the mall yet.

Go to an entertainment center (medium spending). this one really never fails to save us from unproductive bumming in malls. Be it Timezone, Quantum or whatever, our day's never complete without the following: Karaoke, Dance Revolution, Basketball, Time Crisis, and any arcade or combat games :D go for entertainment centers with the cheapest rates. expensive or not, they offer the same services anyway.

Ice skating and Wallclimbing (big spending). If you're willing to spend, then why not go ice skating or wallclimbing. Being stuck in a mall is not a reason for you not to get sporty :) For ice skating, I suggest you go for an unlimited pass, it's cheaper than paying for several single passes --I personally think that 1 hour of ice skating is not enough. And yeah, you can also pay for a 30-minute ice skating lesson -more like a crash course, though I haven't tried this one yet.

Buy food and just sit down with friends (medium to big spending). Depends on the (amount of) food we eat. Whenever we're tired roaming around, my friends and I just buy dessert (frozen yogurt, ice cream, halo-halo <3) style="font-size:130%;">Shop for clothes and shoes. And try on them (FREE). My friends and I have this vice of trying on clothes, mixing and matching them up, and then taking a picture of ourselves inside the fitting room :)) Of course, our camera has to be in silent mode since taking pictures is usually prohibited. But really, you will never really know if you'll look good on something, especially if it's something not of your usual style, if you'll just simply look at it. Try it on! It's free of charge, anyway.

Photobooth with Macbook (FREE). weird but yes, we do this sometimes :)) We try on different effects, especially the ones where we get our faces distorted, and then we laugh silently at our crazy and deformed pictures :D If you mind people looking at you, you can skip this one :P

Head for a bookstore or a record store (FREE). One of my personal favorites. I always do this whenever I'm in a mall and mind you, sometimes you won't notice how time flies especially when you're so immersed in rows of books, reading out their book summaries and judging whether it's worth a read or not. I also check out some books which are already opened and skim through the pages until I end up reading them. As for the record store, one can listen to an album for free (just look for a stall with headphones), or one can just browse through movies or albums.

Do Dares (FREE). ANYTHING :))

Stalk someone (FREE). Stalking's really not the word, but we tried this one time with our friend who was having a date with someone :)) We just followed them until she said she can be on her own now. Someday, we'll try stalking a stranger purely out of fun, jotting down the things he did, etc --no evil intentions :D

Summer's here and whenever you can't go the beach or any out-of-town vacation, local malls are here to save us. Rest assured, you won't really get bored in a mall, especially when you're with company :) | UNLESS you go there almost everyday D: So my advice: don't spend too much time in malls or it'll lose the fun of it :D

Out in the Sun

Summer is here and nothing beats the clear, pristine beaches, the touch of sand on your feet, those tan lines you'll get and last but not the least, a well-toned body due to non-stop swimming and moving about. I'm talking about beach adventure: being out in the sun, carefree and almost game for everything. So even though I can't spend my yearly summer months out of the country, (or even out of my home city), I'm glad that summer adventures in the Philippines are within reach. My country's not that bad I guess :D

So aside from simply swimming, I could resort to some of these super basic water sport activities:

SNORKELING

Snorkeling lets you enjoy the underwater beauty without the hassle of taking up expensive sessions nor bringing complicated and heavy equipments like you do in scuba diving. All you have to do is just breathe through the tube and swim as you please. Though in my case, since I was a beginner I wore a life vest and thus it prevented me from diving into the water to explore or touch the corals. I'm just stuck in the surface. Maybe if I'm experienced and confident enough will I try snorkeling without a life vest (though I'm really scared of drowning O_O). My first snorkeling experience was in Duka Bay Beach Resort in Medina, Misamis Oriental, Philippines, just near my home city, Cagayan de Oro City. It was awesome! Though I was scared at first when I realized that we were already far from the shore since I was too busy to look back :D I got to remove my life vest for a while so I can dive with my instructor to touch the soft corals. and yeah, I spotted Nemo! a clownfish :D I also spotted lots of blue starfish (pretty). And yeah, we fed a school of fish with bread! :))

WHITEWATER RAFTING

YOU SHOULD DEFINITELY TRY THIS :D You'll have no regrets. If you are the type who's into thrilling and exciting water activities, then you won't go wrong with whitewater rafting. Those rapids will really try to knock you down off the raft and so you and your team must work together to survive through the rapids. Last year, a day after my 18th birthday, my friends and I tried this out and yeah it was really coool :)). Our guide made us do different stunts each rapid course, like standing on the sides of the raft, holding hands with your team or not paddling at all! He even gave us a dare on one level which was to float through the rapids!! And I thought I was gonna die since the wild water kept splashing onto my face and I found a hard time breathing. And I made sure that I won't hit any rocks or else it would be really painful. Fortunately, I survived and the thrill and adrenaline rush was worth it :) Usually the course ends with the whole team jumping off a high rock or a cliff which serves as our graduation. Of course you have to pay for the guide and equipment although whitewater rafting's not as expensive as jetskiing, etc. Btw, the goal of river rafting is to survive through different levels of rapids without falling off the rafts . However, do get to experience being thrown out of the raft. It's fun :D

BANANA BOAT RIDE

One word: YEY! :D Well, riders of the banana boat aim to stay in the boat despite being dragged on and on in different directions by a speedboat, but hello, nothing beats the fun of being thrown out off the boat and into the water :)) I could remember myself screaming at the top of my lungs to calm my nerves as I was dragged everywhere in the beach. Floating in the water, waiting to climb back into the boat, I can't help but look down into the water though all I see is just deep blue water. and I can't see the bottom of it --so logic dictates that it's indeed deeeeep. Sharks? none but we never know. Let's just have faith in the waters :)) My first banana boat ride was in Grande Island, Subic, Philippines :)

I'm looking forward to doing more water sports activities, like skimboarding, wakeboarding or even scuba diving! If time and budget allows :)) Nonetheless, NEVER ever forget swimming or going to the beach with your family and friends in your to-do list for summer :)

btw, THE BEACH IS BETTER THAN THE POOL :D