It's late.

It took me a while to get to this point. The post “who am I?” phase whilst getting comfortable in my own skin/soul. I’m many things: honest, biased, oddballish, an over thinker. The hardest part of my self discovery was figuring out how to keep myself happy. A healthy dose of optimism and having awesome peers turned out to be paramount.

I’ve been an artist since kindergarten. Back then I drew what I deemed “cool” (dinosaurs, ninja turtles) and have since shifted to a wildly abstract groove that stems largely from in-the-moment emotion. I originally intended to pursue art as a career, however unpredictable/undesirable events led to a lack of motivation which led me to where I am today. With that said, I am utterly fascinated by the media—from mass consumerism to the psychological aspects– all that good stuff, and I’m all about the teach/learn paradigms associated with the field.

On a side note, I'm a giant video gaming geek, and I came to the realization a few years ago that I think about life in terms of games, which probably sounds really lame on paper but get this: my general daily routine is a game titled “time micromanagement” and “energy conservation,” while my game in academia is titled something along the lines of “how to lose points on easy assignments whilst attempting to get an A.” I can go on but I'll spare the rough humor. Gaming has become integral in my identity.

And now some dinosaurs (nabbed from http://www.10mfh.com/random-news/dino-riders-return-sort-of/):

Getting back on track: at one point I felt as if I were immune to the influence of the media, that is, to advertisements/propaganda/other archetypes that sought to mold me into what I considered a sheep. I realize now that I’m not only malleable but that my previous “impervious” sentiment was due to a) arrogance and b) indifference, which were indeed shaped by my level of exposure to media.

My role in media consumption varies depending on the point of entry; I'm generally all over the place. At one point I completely rejected social networking, I was addicted to World of Warcraft, books were read for school only, and television was alien. Currently I make an effort to watch some films (last two I saw were The Descendents and Drive, both great), I watch television here and there (30 Rock, Modern Family, The Office and Adventure Time, which is the greatest cartoon ever by the way). While I should read more books, I feel that video games provide a healthy void-filling dose of enrichment.

If I had to identify myself in the field of media, I'd have to consider myself a critic. Or an analyst of some sort. I enjoy finding connections between concepts, however I tend to over analyze everything, resulting in a mish-mash of what ifs and happenstance. Show me a toothpick and a painting and I’ll MacGuyver their mutual significance.

That's pretty much me in a nutshell.

-Pablo Dominguez