Drift Assessment

Describe two situations that aggravated, bothered, shocked or otherwise stressed you during Drift 1 (Please note that the situation CANNOT be technology-related).  

The only situation that really aggravated me during Drift 1 occurred when I was actually out on my Drift.  My microphones were set up as such: I was wearing my headphones and a backpack, with a microphone clipped to either backpack strap, pointing outward.  Granted, I did look a little outlandish, but no more so than the average person walking around downtown Madison on the day of a Badger game.  So imagine my surprise when three or four guys riding in a black Mustang found it necessary to slow down right next to me and hurl obscenities and slurs at me.  Now, I like to think I’m a pretty thick- skinned guy, but seeing as I was trying to do a project and needed all the time I could get, I found myself shouting right back at them.  So they cackled like hyenas for a second and then sped off.  After that I decided I’d earned a break, stopped for some lunch, and found myself literally shaking with anger.  

The biggest stress during Drift 1 came when it was time to make revisions to my Drift 1 Blog.  I’d gone through my recordings and picked out what I thought were the most interesting out of all of them.  Maybe it was my proximity to the work that allowed me to turn a deaf ear to what my TA pointed out: a persistent tapping noise in two of my recordings.  I realized too late what it was.  When I went on my Drift, the cord from my headphones and my microphone cord were bouncing off of each other as I was walking.  I figured with the way my microphones were positioned, they wouldn’t pick up the sound.  I was wrong.  So now, two days before the final project was due, I had to go back and pick out two new, interesting, recordings.  Needless to say, I found myself a little stressed out.  But overall, I’m happy with how the blog turned out.

 Describe, with details, two situations during Drift 1 in which you felt unusually peaceful,     at ease, or contemplative.

One such situation occurred when I passed through the State Capitol.  I’ve lived in Madison for most of my life and visited the Capitol plenty of times, but I’d never heard the inside of the building like that before.  I could hear such incredible things with all of the echoes in the stone hallways and in the Rotunda.  People passing through on tours, parents with their children, the Capitol staff talking about their day, all of it came in crystal-clear for the first time in my life.  For some reason, it gave me an incredible sense of peace knowing that I was back at the Capitol at eighteen years old and it was still able to awe me like when I was a kid.

I felt incredibly at ease near the end of my Drift, when I reached the Monona Terrace.  The sound of Lake Monona against the rocks combined with the overall ambiance of The Terrace gave me that old sense of “Every little thing will be all right.” It was really fascinating as I could look out from the Terrace, a very modern structure, and see the skyline of Madison, which is a stunning combination of the old and the new.  It was as I looked out on the city that I thought of all the people with problems much greater than mine, allowing me to appreciate the fact that I could handle finishing a Drift blog.  The peace of the moment allowed for a very nice end to my Drift.

Describe three surprises or unexpected situations you encountered on your Drift and in the days that followed. 

I was most surprised by the wide variety of sounds I encountered on my Drift.  I have lived in Madison for the majority of my life and never before have I appreciated the sonic diversity of the city.

I was also surprised by how much was required of me in selecting the sounds for my final blog.  I thought that listening to my recordings and simply picking three out would be easy.  Needless to say I found this was not the case.

Finally, I did not expect to make such drastic revisions to my Drift blog after I had posted my original sounds.  I had hoped that as soon as I posted the final sound, I would be done with the blog for at least the foreseeable future. 

Describe your favorite experience, situation, place, or recollection from your Drift. Be specific about what happened, how you felt, how you reacted, and why you think this particular experience affected you so much.

My favorite place from my Drift was my starting point, the Madison Memorial Union.  It was great walking among all the people, near the lake, with the gulls, seeing the boats out on the water.  I felt happy, for one reason or another.  Something about the whole scene just gave me a tremendous sense of happiness and peace.  I don’t know why I felt it so strongly.  The Union was never really any place special for me.  I had no reason to start there, it just seemed like a logical place.  For some reason though, it affected me very deeply.