Please Don't Feed the Animals

Good crap. You give a bear a pretzel and then he just keeps coming back for more. As soon as you miss a day giving a pretzel, he mauls you! Thanks alot guys.

Anyways, It's been a while since I last wrote. Well, about a week. Generally that's not that long of a time, but I started writing pretty frequently lately so it seems longer. I do like writing, I just havent had the drive to do so this week. So, I'ma fill in and waste as much time as possible before I have to debate. Honestly, who just makes me debate about common sense?

So, whats new in the life of Christopher J Thatcher? Well, not too much. Last week I sluffed Track practice every single day cept Friday, and this week I've got every day but wednesday. It's been really fun to go work out with Jason and Levi. Me, Jason, Levi, Hai, and some other weirdo are the only ones that are ever there from T-ville, except for the chirons or whatever. It's pretty fun though, bike 2 miles, run 2 miles, do some weights, then play some ball. It's been fun to work out again as opposed to being a fatkid. Endorphins are a great thing I tell you. Maybe by the summer I'll be ready for carpet again. Instead of having girly muscles like the last two years, I'll have something. Thats a longshot really... chances are they'll stay girly, but at least I'm working on it.

School is going pretty good, I'm sitting on a 4.0 as it stands, and I don't expect much to change unless I bomb a chem test or an algebra test. Everything else is pretty secure, and those two are alright, just not set in stone. World History is still pretty lame, at least it's interesting stuff. I just wish he went about stuff a different way. Granted we learn the stuff, at least for a short time period, but its still boring as heck. Even though a teaching method works, it doesnt mean that it ought to be used, or abused as it is. Physics is fun, I like getting stuff. I've taken to hiding whenever we go to the computers because I've always got to teach everyone that was sleeping how to do it again. Sure, I was sleeping too, but I can figure it out. Its funny to hear them search for me as I hide next to Jessica Thompson in the corner, it's good times.

Today in Fitness for Life we did our Pacer test. I did pretty crappy, but still beat this semester's number. Assuming that nobody beat it in 4th period, or tomorrow, I ought to stay at the top at 56. Thats not half as good as I wanted to do, but I was hurting and just didn't feel it. I don't have any sprints at all, I'm distance to the end. Heck, I'm not really even distance to tell the truth, I just pretend. I'm just more operable at distance than at sprinting. Distance I can get into a groove with my steps and my breath, and forget what's going on and just go. Sprinting you can't do that, your breath comes short, your legs hurt, your brain is dead focused on how much oxygen it needs-and how much it's not getting. Sprinting is teh suxxorz. Granted it's probably more useful than distance. From a sports perspective, sprints are probably better than distance. What's better, someone that can run at normal speed for 30 minutes, or someone that can burst out for 15 seconds to block that huck to the endzone? The difference is 1 point, and that's one big point. Oh well, I can't sprint, and I'm fine with that.

Lets see, what else? The frisbee dream is still very alive. I'm working out some details as it is, I think it's really going to take off and work. There are local tournaments we could get into, it'd be amazing. I'm doing it, Don't let me back out. No lame-o's allowed. W00tah. I'm thinking of calling it UFAT, Ultimate Frisbee Association at Taylorsville. We could get into the High school tournaments, get our butts kicked, and come home happy about it.

Christmas is in X many days. Find a calendar and figure it out yourselves slackers. I'm excited for it, I did all my shopping online, and it's gonnna be pretty cool business. Sorry to all y'alls, I didn't get anyone but my family anything. Maybe I'll post something fun for you on Christmas. Then again, maybe I won't. Either way, I wanna wish you all the most merry of Christmas', we all ought to party down over the break.

I really want to fly. Just like, soar. I'm not sure how I'm gonna do it, but I figure that someday I will. Nobody knows how, but it's gonna happen. Even if they have to shoot me out of a cannon at my funeral, it'll happen.

So, they're thinking of making another seminary video over the Christmas break. What nutjobs. Taylor came into my class to warn me about it today, he was pretty funny about it. "They said that they were gonna invite you to see if you wanted to help them write the script over the break on tuesday or something. Don't go. Just say no. I'm sure you've got better things to do. Don't go. Don't do it man, don't go. Say no, and don't go. Sleep, do something, just don't go." It was hilarious. Oh well, either way it ought to be fun. I need to remember a tripod this time though;). I'll upload that other video as soon as I get a copy of it. Somebody smart killed it on my computer.

By the way, I like Spanish music. And bananas. And firefox. For those of you that don't have firefox, you ought to get it. It kicks the smack out of IE.

Oh man, I wrote a killer cinquain in English the other day. it's a fun little poem that has 5 lines, and the sylablles go 2, 4, 6, 8, 2. It had to be about Christmas or snowflakes, so here goes. Mind you, it's not good, but c'mon! It's poetry! Let me be emo for 45 seconds, c'mon, it'll be fun.

Freedom
No Christmas here
No Han'kuh for the Jew
The ACLU will kill you
Freedom

Yay! Pretty much its a crappy poem, minus the ACLU will kill you part, im pretty proud of that. If I ever write a book, the main character is gonna be named "Thread" cause thats just a cool name.

What else what else what else? I smell funny cause I'm still wearing the shirt I done worked out in. I've got issues, that smell is comforting to me. it comes from my troubled childhood.

What am I gonna do when I grow up? No clue. I don't really wanna work for NASA anymore. I think it'd be fun to be a teacher, but I don't think that's gonna happen. I'd be a terrible terrible teacher. Professional gamer? Maybe if I were good at anything. Professional Frisbee Enthusiast? Too bad nobody wants to watch a frisbee game on TV.... except for me of course. Televangelist? Good chance.

Thinking is a good thing. Go sit and think for 5 minutes about stuff. It'll make you feel better. Think about whatever. Just think about it for a bit, it's amazing.

Anywhom, I guess I got to get to that debate now that I've floudered for the last however many minutes. So, common sense eh?

There are those within earshot that were forced to argue that common sense is a myth, and not a true human value. To those that believe that, I have 2 words for you.

Jade.

Panky.

With nothing against aforementioned individual, there are just some people in the world that lack this common sense. I do believe that there is a correlation between experience and common sense. Someone that has never sat down at a computer before is not going to be able to find their way around. However, once they know the basics, that is the jumping off point where we begin to see the difference between those who posess common sense and those who do not.

Lets theorize here. lets make up a fictional character, we'll call him Kyle. Kyle knows how to use a computer, he's done it before. he sits down at a computer with the assignment to put a picture in to a power point presentation. He doesn't know exactly how to do it, so he looks around at the tools around him. it takes him 45 seconds, but eventually he analyzes the top bar, and finds the "insert" one. Using his noggin, he says "Oh, I want to put something in. Insert is a synonym for "put something in" lets click that and see what my options are." So he clicks it, find the insert graphic, and does it.

Then lets make another person, we'll call them Reynold. Reynold has the same assignment, knows how to use a computer, doesnt know how to insert. What does Reynold do? Raises his hand and asks a question.

Bam, there's the difference. Everyone has some measure of common sense, its a matter of how it is applied. There are those in the world that are not willing to take a jump. Common sense, it's making a choice based on background knowledge, but it has to be background knowledge that isn't certain. Common sense is a choice.

There's a line between ignorance and not having any common sense. Common sense requires effort. It requires you to go into the back of your brain and say "Ok, what's the situation? What have I done that resembles this in any way? Is there anything that relates to this that I know how to do?" Example: You're in an elevator, and the buttons don't have numbers. You know you want to go up 2 floors. The middle button is lit up, and there are several buttons above it, as well as below. What do you do? Well good crap, you hit the button that is two above the one that is lit up. How do you know that? Well, you know that generally the numbers go from highest at the top to lowest at the bottom, that generally the one you are on is lit up, and that you want to go up two levels. It took thought, no matter how little.

How do I cook a turkey? Experience tells you the exact way to do it. Common sense tells you that you've cooked chicken before.

Everybody has common sense, it's not a myth, its a fact of life. Not everybody uses common sense. I don't use it enough. There have been several times in the past month that I've said "You know, had I sat down to think about that for more than 20 seconds, I could have figured it out." But I didn't, I wussed out and was an idiot.

Take a chance, use what you know, use your resources, and make a decision. That's common sense for you. Its no magical voice in your ear that tells you what to do, that goes by another name. This is just the smart way to make decisions you're not certain about. It does exist, its not a fanciful myth that we all pretend exists to make Jade look like an idiot. Nah, its effort, it's searching your knowledge base, then its acting on what you've discovered.

gg.