Well that was fun… now I need a cigarette!

Well we have finally arrived (or should I say came?). It is the end of our journey through the exciting and alluring world or pornography and looking back I am glad I was along for the ride. As I sit in front of my computer screen and type this blog I can not help but remember my first blog for this class, and indeed my first blog ever. My first blog, appropriate titled “fish out of water…” was only 5 sentences long and was simply a short description of myself. Eventually my blogging skills grew and I became more confident with this strange new technology. I now have blogged in numerous blogging sites about numerous topics and find it both interesting and fun. I even hope to continuing blogging to some of the people in this class that I have blogged to about their articles and responses.

I really enjoyed not only the blogging for this class but also the information I have learned and am now able to repeat and use at my disposal. I have recommended the course to many of my friends and they seem interested in looking forward to taking the course if and when it will be offered again. Through this course I have also been able to dispense information regarding statistics and laws about porn to my friends that have spawned numerous conversations as well as many arguments. I also have been able to “shock and awe”, to use the terminology of the times, people with random facts I have learned through this course. I would also like to think that using what I have learned in this course I have help to change the opinions of some of my friends and fellow bloggers regarding porn and its role in technological development not only today but in the past and inevitably in the future as well.

On the topic of Dr. Halavais, all I can say is thank you. Thank you for being a (dare I say) pioneer and having the intellect and “testicular fortitude” to instruct a class about a topic in which society holds many preconceived notions. I am sure that throughout your career you have experienced many instances when teaching elephants how to salsa must have seemed easier then teaching college students about the effects of pornography on society and also more career helpful. Now I know that might have sounded like I was sucking up to the teacher, but do not get me wrong on several occasions I have found myself at odds with the lectures and the information provided there within. Often I found however that my opinion on the topic was based on misconceptions not facts. Throughout this course I have gained a vast amount of information and also dropped a few misconceptions of my own. I also would like to think that I have added, through my blogs, to the learning of my classmates.

In the end I am brought back to my blog and the content held within. If I had to pick from all my blogs I would say there are 3 that stand out as really insightful. I do not say this to inflate my ego but instead because friends and classmates have commented on them to me and seem to think they bring up interesting points. Some of these blogs received acclaim, others criticism but either way I was always interested in the comments made by my peers about my ideas. I figured this was an oppurtune time to link to them and allow my fellow bloggers to read them if they did not happen to read them when they were orginally posted. The 3 blogs are titled; Penn & Tellers Bullshit: Profanity, the bible is obscene, and Learning Curves… and how to touch them.