With a Little Help From My Friends

It has been a week since the beginning of this blog, and 6 days since I called and canceled my cell phone account. Even though the request for deactivation was made on Monday, it has taken 6 days for Sprint to actually get me "off the grid." I turned my phone off the day I requested cancellation, and it has been an interesting week.... but I'd rather write about that tomorrow.


Today I want to write about the making of this blog. If there is something tech-related in this world to console me over the loss of my cell phone, or keep me going through this year long challenge, it would be this blog.

A week ago, when I actually decided to follow through with this absurd plan of becoming cell phoneless, I knew I had to begin this blog for motivation. Thankfully, I had the full support of my friends in ResLife at RIT. Even my boss was thrilled when she heard of my plan to blog about this challenge, and confirmed that I did not need a cell phone for work.

One of the beauties of working in a creative, open-minded environment is that the people are mostly creative and open-minded as well. On the night of the blog creation I was up till 4 am designing, drawing and writing this crazy blog... with two of my favorite people by my side.


Stephen Jones is my co-RA on the eight floor, here in Ellingson Hall. Well, he is my co-RA for the next week, and then he will be moving to Croatia to study abroad. No worries Stephen; Once a co, always a co! He is fellow creative and a fellow blogger, and he'll be writing about his study abroad in Dubrovnik, Croatia.

 

Also with me was Adam Kroll, one of the coolest people in the universe. No joke. Adam is one of my best friends, a world traveler, and great person to bounce ideas off of. We are currently having an in depth conversation about the economic levels within the fourth Harry Potter movie. The conversations about world issues, and the changes that need to be made are ever-stimulating and never ending.

Not only are my friends wonderful company, but they are also very supportive and genuinely involved in my endeavor (which is awesome, if you haven't gathered that yet).  Both Stephen and Adam made the creation of this blog a fun experience. 

Stephen showed me how to create the banner for the page in Photoshop (which, despite being a photography major, I have no idea how to use).  He also made some creative sketches for inspiration during the long night of blogging. 

The Man With the BlackBerry Ears

 

He was not the only one to contribute, however.  Adam made his fair share of sketches as well. He insisted that a character in the banner have a question mark head, and although I declined his suggestion, I still thought it should be included in the blog somewhere.

Man With the Question Mark Head

 

He also created on very versatile sketch, which portrays the concepts in the blog to a tee.  A giant cell phone, which propped one way, overwhelms the user.

 

Cell phone overwhelms/attempts to consume (?) its user.

... or, when propped the other way, becomes similar to the world - resting on the shoulders of Atlas. A heavy burden to bear.

Cell Phone Atlas

Needless to say, it was an interesting night.  As Stephen and I became hooked on blogging, we realized that we were not alone. Not only do many of our friends follow blogs, but many of them have their own as well. Also, the writing of our blogs is not a one man show. Input and support from our peers are invaluable resources, and it's nice to feel like people care.

So, thanks to all who follow my blog... and also to all who contribute to it. Constructive criticism is welcome and greatly valued...

... and I'll never begrudge a creative sketch.