Rats...I just lost everything I typed didn't I...

So...attempt number two at this...I started out attempting to read John Fiske's article, but found myself slightly distracted by the noises the washing machine was making (woooshwooosh). I don't find it a good sign when I can't keep myself entertained enough to overpower the...wonderful...sounds made by the washing machine. But nevertheless I stuck through it. I didn't find it odd that this didn't appeal to me for two main reasons. First of all I am definitly not the kind of person who would pick up a journal entitled Reading the Popular. Secondly, I am a mall dwelling (Walmart counts as a mall...right?), trouble-stirring teen who enjoys nothing better then rustling a few elderly feathers.

Before i continue I must admit how difficult this is to sit and write with "Fight Club" playing out in the living area...but I will resist...for now at least. I got a few main points from reading this; malls are multi-purposeful, whether or not that is a good thing is arguable; the crowd that mall tends to appeal to is a trouble-stirring, defiant youth; and even old people can abuse the intended use of a mall. I understand though that the intended message was more along the lines of explaining a cultural passtime that doesn't logically make sense. The most represented group at the mall is the jobless teenagers. What attraction a place of consumption...a "cathedral of consumption"...has to the unemployed doesn't make sense...or does it? When there's no where else to hang out...head to the mall, when you have a few bucks to blow on a video game...head to the mall, when your parents are driving you nuts...head to the mall. Our culture is built on places of gathering, from church to malls to restaraunts, people hate seclusion. Malls really have no room to complain, teens do spend money without any realization of how important it will be in their college years. Who doesn't at least buy a soda (and not just to put whiskey in)? Malls are a staple of the American culture and the American economy, and their current uses and purposes aren't changing any time soon. Now to catch the end of "Fight Club."