Reflective Post (better late than never)

I'm gonna start with a couple of links.

Fear of a Chinese Planet - This article would have been really helpful for those of us doing our essays on race and speculative fiction.

Later: what does procrastination tell us about ourselves? The rate of people who admit to procrastination quadrupled between 1978 and 2002. Does technology widen the divide between what we think we should do and what we spend our time doing?

On this unit - I have mixed feelings. I enjoyed a lot of the readings. I would have liked to get into the theory more on some things, rather than into the details of examples. I'm glad that we didn't get into detail on Lacan & other philosophers briefly touched on in this unit - they're more than adequately covered in other units, and there's plenty of lit out there on them for anyone interested.

The blog - I intended to read everyone's webliographies, or at least to skim for interesting links, but it didn't happen. Too many to scroll through, lifetime procrastinator, those sort of reasons. I used to blog a lot, so I can't say I got much out of the experience other than a few links I wouldn't have otherwise seen, but, given YMMV (your mileage may vary), I didn't mind doing it.

"Cyborg" is not an identity label that carries any emotional currency with me. I guess, by Haraway's understanding of the term, I am. But computers don't procrastinate (as far as I know). Computers don't get depressed. Computers don't do stupid things because they're fun. My life may incorporate more advanced tech than previous generations, but I check on my vegie patch at least as often as I check my email. Cyborg is just not a term I relate to. I've run across labels that fit me only tenuously, but there's still a feeling of recognition, of coming across a community of people that I can identify with, and the discovery of that term, that label, means I feel a bit less alone than I thought I was. Sometimes, whether you fit the definition doesn't really matter. A friend of mine self-identifies as a lesbian, but sleeps with guys sometimes. She just feels more connection with the term "lesbian" than the term "bisexual", so that's the one she uses. It's kinda like that - whether I fit the profile or not, I don't see myself as a cyborg.