Question:
"When am I ever going to use this?"
-My math class, in regards to trig identities
Answer:
I don't know, eternity's a long time. Maybe it'll come up.
Monday, February 26, 2007
Sunday, February 25, 2007
Idea-A-Day Six ~ Luminous
Idea Count: 6/20
Title: Luminous Puffy Dress
Category: Fashion
Feasibility: 9/10
Likelihood: 8/10
~~~~~
What's this? You better believe it.
Prom dresses are interesting. Being a guy, I'll never have to wear one, yet I get to see them three times a year. They're outrageously expensive, and most of them are fairly immodest. I figure any prom dress that doesn't cover you right is just an expensive towel.
And really, towels aren't worth that much. You should probably play it safe and get the modest ones.
In any event, I was at a dance recently where all the girls were wearing prom dresses. Some were modest, some weren't. That's not really the point of the discussion, the point here is that I've got a pretty good idea.
See, girls go all out for these dresses. So, why not push the envelope?
I'm thinking of putting some sort of lights in the dress. In the bottom part, the poofy skirt-ish part. I have no idea what to call that part. But, can you see those big princess-esque dresses, the modest ones? With the big bottom parts. How cool would it be to have some sort of soft light emanating from within? You'd totally be glowing.
And since you're in a very low-light environment, it'd be an amazing effect. You'd look like some sort of angelic doober.
It'd definitely be a soft light, nothing huge. You'd have to have several lights, so as to avoid casting awkward leg-shadows. They'd have to be small, lightweight, and not generate a lot of heat. Battery powered, not prone to catching on fire. They'd have to cast light evenly everywhere.
But still, how cool would that be? At the dance I was at, I saw some girl standing on some stairs in a dress like that. There weren't lights in it, but she was leaning up against the wall right in front of a light, it was sorta buried in her big bottom part of her dress. It totally light the whole thing up, it was an awesome effect.
So hey, why not steal the idea and market it?
So that's my idea. Make prom dresses that glow just a little bit. You'd honestly be radiant. I'm not sure if I've done a good job putting the picture across, but in my mind it's pretty much the coolest thing I've ever seen. Just a comfortable warm glow. Hmmm. Perhaps I'll have to sponsor an experiment next homecoming. Hmmm indeed.
Yep.
Title: Luminous Puffy Dress
Category: Fashion
Feasibility: 9/10
Likelihood: 8/10
~~~~~
What's this? You better believe it.
Prom dresses are interesting. Being a guy, I'll never have to wear one, yet I get to see them three times a year. They're outrageously expensive, and most of them are fairly immodest. I figure any prom dress that doesn't cover you right is just an expensive towel.
And really, towels aren't worth that much. You should probably play it safe and get the modest ones.
In any event, I was at a dance recently where all the girls were wearing prom dresses. Some were modest, some weren't. That's not really the point of the discussion, the point here is that I've got a pretty good idea.
See, girls go all out for these dresses. So, why not push the envelope?
I'm thinking of putting some sort of lights in the dress. In the bottom part, the poofy skirt-ish part. I have no idea what to call that part. But, can you see those big princess-esque dresses, the modest ones? With the big bottom parts. How cool would it be to have some sort of soft light emanating from within? You'd totally be glowing.
And since you're in a very low-light environment, it'd be an amazing effect. You'd look like some sort of angelic doober.
It'd definitely be a soft light, nothing huge. You'd have to have several lights, so as to avoid casting awkward leg-shadows. They'd have to be small, lightweight, and not generate a lot of heat. Battery powered, not prone to catching on fire. They'd have to cast light evenly everywhere.
But still, how cool would that be? At the dance I was at, I saw some girl standing on some stairs in a dress like that. There weren't lights in it, but she was leaning up against the wall right in front of a light, it was sorta buried in her big bottom part of her dress. It totally light the whole thing up, it was an awesome effect.
So hey, why not steal the idea and market it?
So that's my idea. Make prom dresses that glow just a little bit. You'd honestly be radiant. I'm not sure if I've done a good job putting the picture across, but in my mind it's pretty much the coolest thing I've ever seen. Just a comfortable warm glow. Hmmm. Perhaps I'll have to sponsor an experiment next homecoming. Hmmm indeed.
Yep.
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Miracle Drug
I found a miracle drug. It's called Mr. Olsen.
So, I thought history was due Friday. I was so proud of myself for starting it yesterday. That was something like three days before I even had to.
But alas, it's due tomorrow. I've got it done. It took some time.
It looks like it's off to the glue factory for me.
-----)(:::::::::::::::::::>
That's a sword.
<(oo<)
That's Kirby pointing to the left.
(>oo)>
And that's Kirby pointing to the right.
Wanna see Kirby point both ways?
Too bad.
So, I thought history was due Friday. I was so proud of myself for starting it yesterday. That was something like three days before I even had to.
But alas, it's due tomorrow. I've got it done. It took some time.
It looks like it's off to the glue factory for me.
-----)(:::::::::::::::::::>
That's a sword.
<(oo<)
That's Kirby pointing to the left.
(>oo)>
And that's Kirby pointing to the right.
Wanna see Kirby point both ways?
Too bad.
Saturday, February 17, 2007
Interest
A few things have caught my interest in the past few days. They're interesting, if nothing else.
http://www.cangooglehearme.com/
Aaron Stanton decided that he had a brilliant idea that Google needed to hear. He didn't really know how to get in touch, so he decided to fly to California and camp out in Google's lobby until he got an appointment to pitch his idea. Great story, pretty inspirational. Makes me smile.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robotic_jockey
Camel Racing is huge in a few countries in the Middle East. It's sorta like the rich man's sport. To have a camel go fast, you need to have a small jockey. They used to use small children, 4 year old boys or so. Slave trade, abuse, etc. etc. got them in trouble with the Western world. Qatar found a solution: Hire some swiss guys to build us robotic jockeys. Seriously. Robots riding camels. How cool is that?
~
Those are the two stories I really liked yesterday. I'm sure there were others I forgot. In the meantime, a few pictures that sorta blew my mind.
http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/jpeg/PIA07997.jpg
That's a sunset. On Mars. Taken by one of the rovers right at the end of a Martian day. So cool.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Sol582A_P2299_L456-A590R1_br.jpg
Another Rover picture. Take a look at that at full resolution. It'll take a day and a half to load, but it's amazing. I have a big crush on the mars rovers.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Deep_Impact_HRI.jpeg
A picture from the Deep Impact mission NASA ran in 2005. The basic concept was that we'd shoot an 80 kg slug of copper at a comet, and we'd watch and see what'd happen. That's all fine and dandy, until we realize how ridiculously far away this comet is from us, how fast it's going, how fast the impactor is going. It's sort of like someone shooting a bullet in Oregon while we shoot a bullet from the top of the high school and have them collide. So cool.
I hope there's something primo coming in the future. Hmm. And now a few one liners.
"Steve was one of those guys that carried a notebook in his pocket just in case a girl told him she liked his shirt. Whenever that happened, he'd take it out, jot down her name and his current shirt, and put it back in his pocket. He spent a few minutes each Sunday organizing and planning his shirt distribution for the next week. He considered what classes he had with what girls on what day. He factored in the weather, the activities he'd be pursuing that day. He was prepared to maximize the exposure of his shirts to the ladies that loved them so.
This forethought brought about two great results. Steve learned to be organized, and girls liked the way he dressed. This put Steve in the perfect position to be the organizational head of Saving Boston. He was dashing and organized; what more could you want in a spokesman?"
Yep. These are just sorta there.
"If there was one characteristic that truly defined that brief and panicked interlude between the fall of the old world and the emergence of the associations, it was the speed in which bad guys constructed their lairs. It had only been two weeks; this place was huge.
Garbage can entered the hall. It was then he realized his mistake.
He should have stayed in bed this morning.
This was suicide. Ridiculous. Poorly thought out and a logistical nightmare from the beginning. It was sadly comical in the "let's irritate the panther and see what happens!" sort of way. Garbage Can let out a sigh. There were bad guys. Everywhere.
And here he was with explosive tic-tacs.
Great idea there Alpha, real great. No, honestly. The tic-tacs. Maybe I can offer the Brown Punisher a mint before he kills me. We'll take a little break while he freshens his breath. He'll pop it in... his brain will explode... great deal. only 94 bad guys left. No sweat.
See, there was a curious phenomenon at work here. It was called the Husenberger uncertainty principle. It stated that it would be impossible to determine just how many bad guys were waiting behind a certain door to kill you. In addition, it quanitified very certainly that they were going to kill you pretty quickly no matter how many tic tacs you offered them.
Garbage Can didn't know who this Husenberger fellow was. He didn't like him much.
Dr. Breakdance's thugs were closing in on him. He was toast. There were villains everywhere.
He had one shot. There was only one way out of this place. Breakdance Fight, now.
Garbage Can increased his stature. With as much macho as he could muster in the face of so many ugly bad guys, he called out defiantly, "Dr. Breakdance, your time has come. It's me and you, breakdance fight. If you win you can have the warehouse and we leave town tonight. If I win, you turn the bank back over. Take me on, boy. You got nothin'."
Now, asking Dr. Breakdance to have a breakdance fight with you is a lot like asking Bill Clinton to have a "Who looks more like Bill Clinton" contest. The smart money is always on Clinton for the win. No, really?"
To be continued on that one.
Yep. Happy Friday.
http://www.cangooglehearme.com/
Aaron Stanton decided that he had a brilliant idea that Google needed to hear. He didn't really know how to get in touch, so he decided to fly to California and camp out in Google's lobby until he got an appointment to pitch his idea. Great story, pretty inspirational. Makes me smile.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robotic_jockey
Camel Racing is huge in a few countries in the Middle East. It's sorta like the rich man's sport. To have a camel go fast, you need to have a small jockey. They used to use small children, 4 year old boys or so. Slave trade, abuse, etc. etc. got them in trouble with the Western world. Qatar found a solution: Hire some swiss guys to build us robotic jockeys. Seriously. Robots riding camels. How cool is that?
~
Those are the two stories I really liked yesterday. I'm sure there were others I forgot. In the meantime, a few pictures that sorta blew my mind.
http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/jpeg/PIA07997.jpg
That's a sunset. On Mars. Taken by one of the rovers right at the end of a Martian day. So cool.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Sol582A_P2299_L456-A590R1_br.jpg
Another Rover picture. Take a look at that at full resolution. It'll take a day and a half to load, but it's amazing. I have a big crush on the mars rovers.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Deep_Impact_HRI.jpeg
A picture from the Deep Impact mission NASA ran in 2005. The basic concept was that we'd shoot an 80 kg slug of copper at a comet, and we'd watch and see what'd happen. That's all fine and dandy, until we realize how ridiculously far away this comet is from us, how fast it's going, how fast the impactor is going. It's sort of like someone shooting a bullet in Oregon while we shoot a bullet from the top of the high school and have them collide. So cool.
I hope there's something primo coming in the future. Hmm. And now a few one liners.
"Steve was one of those guys that carried a notebook in his pocket just in case a girl told him she liked his shirt. Whenever that happened, he'd take it out, jot down her name and his current shirt, and put it back in his pocket. He spent a few minutes each Sunday organizing and planning his shirt distribution for the next week. He considered what classes he had with what girls on what day. He factored in the weather, the activities he'd be pursuing that day. He was prepared to maximize the exposure of his shirts to the ladies that loved them so.
This forethought brought about two great results. Steve learned to be organized, and girls liked the way he dressed. This put Steve in the perfect position to be the organizational head of Saving Boston. He was dashing and organized; what more could you want in a spokesman?"
Yep. These are just sorta there.
"If there was one characteristic that truly defined that brief and panicked interlude between the fall of the old world and the emergence of the associations, it was the speed in which bad guys constructed their lairs. It had only been two weeks; this place was huge.
Garbage can entered the hall. It was then he realized his mistake.
He should have stayed in bed this morning.
This was suicide. Ridiculous. Poorly thought out and a logistical nightmare from the beginning. It was sadly comical in the "let's irritate the panther and see what happens!" sort of way. Garbage Can let out a sigh. There were bad guys. Everywhere.
And here he was with explosive tic-tacs.
Great idea there Alpha, real great. No, honestly. The tic-tacs. Maybe I can offer the Brown Punisher a mint before he kills me. We'll take a little break while he freshens his breath. He'll pop it in... his brain will explode... great deal. only 94 bad guys left. No sweat.
See, there was a curious phenomenon at work here. It was called the Husenberger uncertainty principle. It stated that it would be impossible to determine just how many bad guys were waiting behind a certain door to kill you. In addition, it quanitified very certainly that they were going to kill you pretty quickly no matter how many tic tacs you offered them.
Garbage Can didn't know who this Husenberger fellow was. He didn't like him much.
Dr. Breakdance's thugs were closing in on him. He was toast. There were villains everywhere.
He had one shot. There was only one way out of this place. Breakdance Fight, now.
Garbage Can increased his stature. With as much macho as he could muster in the face of so many ugly bad guys, he called out defiantly, "Dr. Breakdance, your time has come. It's me and you, breakdance fight. If you win you can have the warehouse and we leave town tonight. If I win, you turn the bank back over. Take me on, boy. You got nothin'."
Now, asking Dr. Breakdance to have a breakdance fight with you is a lot like asking Bill Clinton to have a "Who looks more like Bill Clinton" contest. The smart money is always on Clinton for the win. No, really?"
To be continued on that one.
Yep. Happy Friday.
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
Valentine's Interview
Hey Everybody. I sat down with my good friend Nick to have a Valentine's day interview with him. We covered a wide range of topics, all related to the lady situation. Everywhere from the perfect date to religious aspects and Ultimate. It was quite enlightening for me, and I hope that you find it cool as well. Remember, I'm in the blue. Nick's in the red. Score it.
*Nick interviewed me too. That can be found on his blog. Check it out, it's gonna be fun.
Begin Transmission~~~~
Let's get down to business. Q: Nick, have you ever had a romantic relationship? Perhaps a romantic interlude? What's your history in that category like?
Honestly? Only failed crushes and crushed spirits. On a lighter note, now I like it that way. Of course, back then it was a different story.
You say you like it that way now? What changed between now and then?
My outlook. Right now, I realize that nobody needs a romantic relationship in high school, no matter how much they might want it. Seriously, people, it's called restraint. Exercise it.
So, relationships are a no go for you right now?
Yeah, pretty much. Of course, it's not only that I don't need the drama, it's that I couldn't pick up the ladies with a forklift.
I think that's an overstatement. I've seen those forklifts in action. I gotta tell you; the ladies can't resist a man driving a forklift. But really now, you can't be totally anti-relationship. Aren't there some nights when you really wish you had a significant other? What about those evenings?
Oh, believe me, I've wished for it many a night. Most nights, in fact. Those are the evenings when I'm pretty depressed. I usually feel better later, though, and rethink it again. I've "rediscovered" the reasons for not having a relationship many a time.
Alright, I hear you. So, let's take an adventure to one of those depressed nights, if we can. What are your specific reasons for wanting a "more than just friends" on those occasions?
Well... honestly, I think it'd just be fun. You'd have someone to spend time with, someone who really cared about you and was concerned about you, someone who'd listen to you, someone who'd pick you up when you were down, someone to be there for you. I don't know, I think that'd be a really nice feeling.
With a list like that, how could you not want a relationship? What are your reasons for saying "No dice" to the ladies for now, then?
The list of "no dice"s is nearly as long as the list of "yes dice"s. I'm not financially secure (ladies cost money), I may not think it, but I know I'm too emotionally immature to sustain a relationship, I don't want any of the high school drama, I don't want to be picked on by Kyle, I enjoy my high status in the "Clean Lips" club, and honestly, I just don't have the time. (Some of you out there will notice I omitted the obvious "facial features" reasoning).
Changing directions. Let's say, hypothetically, that you are going to fall madly in love with a girl tomorrow. Based on your current status, what would have to happen for that to actually happen? What would the girl have to say, do, wear, smell like? I know it's possible, show me how.
Okay, hmm. All the girls I know... well, they wouldn't have to change much. They're all really amazing, say really cool stuff that makes me laugh, dress really nice, and smell really nice. So, I don't think it's anything on their end that would have to change, unless it was some girl who approached me... then I might be a little more receptive. But as of now, I think my outlook on dating as a whole would have to change for me to "fall madly in love."
Is there anything a girl could do that make your outlook change in a day? I bet there is.
Well... making the first move. I mean, I know I'm supposed to be the guy, make the first move, but that would be very... convincing. Um. Well, it'd be the little things. How they looked at me, how they acted around me... if a few of those things changed, I don't know what I'd do with myself. Of course, you have to realize... I've thought about this. I really could be in love with pretty much any girl I know. I just choose not to see them that way.
Right on. What are your favorite about the ladies that really attract you? Jaron's been posting stuff on his blog in this neighborhood. What's important to you?
My "traits"? Well. That's not a huge list... it doesn't really take a lot to impress me. But I'll be as verbose as possible.
I think that's about it. I mean, there are lots more contributing factors, but those are the main ones.
Wow, sorta hard to break in there. I can think of a few girls that meet the criteria though, so it's not too unrealistic.
Well, it probably is a little unrealistic. I mean... I usually do kid myself about most things.
Me and you have had discussions about the religious issues surrounding this topic for you. What do you think about that these days?
Well, Eckankar really doesn't have any guidelines or anything regarding that that I know of. I mean, they emphasize good values, mostly in line with the LDS faith, and many others. All in all, you should marry who you love, dating isn't really discouraged before a certain age, but it's not encouraged. As far as I know, that's the official standpoint. My personal belief is that steady dating in high school is lame and generally not good. Serious relationships should be saved for later in life when both parties are more mature.
Sounds pretty good to me. Are there certain things that, when you see a girl with, totally takes her out of the running for your affection? Stuff like bad breath, that business?
Hm. Well... I'd say I'm a pretty easy-going guy. I mean, there's not much they can do that will make me not like them. I don't like girls who don't let me be a gentlemen. Some independence is okay, but I mean... I can't hold a door open for you? That's ridiculous. I don't like girls who cry at every little thing. I mean, they've got to cry sometime, otherwise I can't comfort them, but crying because you broke a nail or some other such lame excuse? Not cool. Fortunately again, nobody I know does that. Also, bad breath = bad. However, I still don't know anyone with that problem. Gosh, the girls I know are just really cool.
Yeah, the girls around here are tiggity-tight. What's your feelings on the Levi-Sydney situation? Any thoughts or comments?
Hm. Well, I mean... it may not be for me, but it's his life, she's cool, and... I wish them the best of luck in the future. Honestly, no hard feelings there. If he wants it, he should go for it.
Good outlook. What's your idea of a dream date? Let's get into specifics here.
You mean the girl or the activity?
Both. I guess focusing mainly on the activity, but bring in the girl too, that's a good idea.
Okay, well, I've been thinking about the perfect date. The perfect date for me would entail picking the girl (and maybe another couple) up, driving downtown, eating at a fairly fancy restaurant, but not really expensive, and then go to the symphony. Now, this really depends. I mean... it'd be really, really, really cool to take a girl to the symphony, or maybe an opera, one that is kinda sad. I don't know, I just thought that'd be a good date. Ladies, don't worry about me--I like going to ballets, dances, museums, you name it, I'm good. After the symphony, we'd go someplace for hot chocolate or some other beverage and talk for a while. Honestly, just talking to a girl is the best. The girl would have to like classical music, though... and talking to me. So. I don't know too many of those.
Sweet deal. So, on the topic of Ultimate. Is your dream girl on the field playing, or on the hill cheering for and supporting you?
Oh, no, she's playing. In fact, she's on the other team, and we're both going for each other. We've got a serious vendetta against each other. We really just want to swat that disc. However, we're both really impressed with each other's skills. I'm more impressed than she is, though.
I can take her.
It looks like we're almost out of time, so one last question.
What does the future hold for Nick? Are they any girls that your eyes are on right now? When do you think you'll be ready for a relationship? Won't you be my neighbor?
The future holds lots of fun stuff. It holds school, no fear of getting pulled over if I drive with other people in the car, new friends, stronger friendships, ultimate, racquetball, music, dancing, the stars, and most of all girls. Yes, I have my eyes on girls. I don't know if I'll ever be ready for a relationship, but I'll probably have to have one someday. And I have his autograph.
You have Mr. Roger's autograph? Wow. That's amazing. Happy Valentine's day buddy, thanks for coming to the show.
Thanks for having me, it was a blast.
*Nick interviewed me too. That can be found on his blog. Check it out, it's gonna be fun.
Begin Transmission~~~~
Let's get down to business. Q: Nick, have you ever had a romantic relationship? Perhaps a romantic interlude? What's your history in that category like?
Honestly? Only failed crushes and crushed spirits. On a lighter note, now I like it that way. Of course, back then it was a different story.
You say you like it that way now? What changed between now and then?
My outlook. Right now, I realize that nobody needs a romantic relationship in high school, no matter how much they might want it. Seriously, people, it's called restraint. Exercise it.
So, relationships are a no go for you right now?
Yeah, pretty much. Of course, it's not only that I don't need the drama, it's that I couldn't pick up the ladies with a forklift.
I think that's an overstatement. I've seen those forklifts in action. I gotta tell you; the ladies can't resist a man driving a forklift. But really now, you can't be totally anti-relationship. Aren't there some nights when you really wish you had a significant other? What about those evenings?
Oh, believe me, I've wished for it many a night. Most nights, in fact. Those are the evenings when I'm pretty depressed. I usually feel better later, though, and rethink it again. I've "rediscovered" the reasons for not having a relationship many a time.
Alright, I hear you. So, let's take an adventure to one of those depressed nights, if we can. What are your specific reasons for wanting a "more than just friends" on those occasions?
Well... honestly, I think it'd just be fun. You'd have someone to spend time with, someone who really cared about you and was concerned about you, someone who'd listen to you, someone who'd pick you up when you were down, someone to be there for you. I don't know, I think that'd be a really nice feeling.
With a list like that, how could you not want a relationship? What are your reasons for saying "No dice" to the ladies for now, then?
The list of "no dice"s is nearly as long as the list of "yes dice"s. I'm not financially secure (ladies cost money), I may not think it, but I know I'm too emotionally immature to sustain a relationship, I don't want any of the high school drama, I don't want to be picked on by Kyle, I enjoy my high status in the "Clean Lips" club, and honestly, I just don't have the time. (Some of you out there will notice I omitted the obvious "facial features" reasoning).
Changing directions. Let's say, hypothetically, that you are going to fall madly in love with a girl tomorrow. Based on your current status, what would have to happen for that to actually happen? What would the girl have to say, do, wear, smell like? I know it's possible, show me how.
Okay, hmm. All the girls I know... well, they wouldn't have to change much. They're all really amazing, say really cool stuff that makes me laugh, dress really nice, and smell really nice. So, I don't think it's anything on their end that would have to change, unless it was some girl who approached me... then I might be a little more receptive. But as of now, I think my outlook on dating as a whole would have to change for me to "fall madly in love."
Is there anything a girl could do that make your outlook change in a day? I bet there is.
Well... making the first move. I mean, I know I'm supposed to be the guy, make the first move, but that would be very... convincing. Um. Well, it'd be the little things. How they looked at me, how they acted around me... if a few of those things changed, I don't know what I'd do with myself. Of course, you have to realize... I've thought about this. I really could be in love with pretty much any girl I know. I just choose not to see them that way.
Right on. What are your favorite about the ladies that really attract you? Jaron's been posting stuff on his blog in this neighborhood. What's important to you?
My "traits"? Well. That's not a huge list... it doesn't really take a lot to impress me. But I'll be as verbose as possible.
- She must be intelligent. I don't know about everyone else, but this is a big priority for me. If I can't have an intelligent conversation with a girl, it's just no fun. Fortunately, I don't know any unintelligent girls.
- She must be funny. If she can't laugh at me (often) and herself, what's the point?
- She must like music. Especially classical... if a girl just doesn't understand classical music, then... my whole life is meaningless to her. And that's no way to have a relationship.
- She should probably be modest. I mean, it's not as big a deal for me as it is for others, but... nobody wants to see that.
- She must be attractive to me. Now, notice I said "to me." Regardless of anyone else's opinions of her physical features, she will be attractive to me if she's got an amazing personality to back it up.
- She should have a relatively large vocabulary. Really, conversations are very important in a relationship.
- She must be patient. I'm very... easily distracted. Which means I'm lazy and don't pay attention. So.
- She should like sports, in particular Ultimate and hopefully racquetball, and be willing to play them with me.
- Bonus points if she plays an instrument. But not too much, then it'd be uneven.
I think that's about it. I mean, there are lots more contributing factors, but those are the main ones.
Wow, sorta hard to break in there. I can think of a few girls that meet the criteria though, so it's not too unrealistic.
Well, it probably is a little unrealistic. I mean... I usually do kid myself about most things.
Me and you have had discussions about the religious issues surrounding this topic for you. What do you think about that these days?
Well, Eckankar really doesn't have any guidelines or anything regarding that that I know of. I mean, they emphasize good values, mostly in line with the LDS faith, and many others. All in all, you should marry who you love, dating isn't really discouraged before a certain age, but it's not encouraged. As far as I know, that's the official standpoint. My personal belief is that steady dating in high school is lame and generally not good. Serious relationships should be saved for later in life when both parties are more mature.
Sounds pretty good to me. Are there certain things that, when you see a girl with, totally takes her out of the running for your affection? Stuff like bad breath, that business?
Hm. Well... I'd say I'm a pretty easy-going guy. I mean, there's not much they can do that will make me not like them. I don't like girls who don't let me be a gentlemen. Some independence is okay, but I mean... I can't hold a door open for you? That's ridiculous. I don't like girls who cry at every little thing. I mean, they've got to cry sometime, otherwise I can't comfort them, but crying because you broke a nail or some other such lame excuse? Not cool. Fortunately again, nobody I know does that. Also, bad breath = bad. However, I still don't know anyone with that problem. Gosh, the girls I know are just really cool.
Yeah, the girls around here are tiggity-tight. What's your feelings on the Levi-Sydney situation? Any thoughts or comments?
Hm. Well, I mean... it may not be for me, but it's his life, she's cool, and... I wish them the best of luck in the future. Honestly, no hard feelings there. If he wants it, he should go for it.
Good outlook. What's your idea of a dream date? Let's get into specifics here.
You mean the girl or the activity?
Both. I guess focusing mainly on the activity, but bring in the girl too, that's a good idea.
Okay, well, I've been thinking about the perfect date. The perfect date for me would entail picking the girl (and maybe another couple) up, driving downtown, eating at a fairly fancy restaurant, but not really expensive, and then go to the symphony. Now, this really depends. I mean... it'd be really, really, really cool to take a girl to the symphony, or maybe an opera, one that is kinda sad. I don't know, I just thought that'd be a good date. Ladies, don't worry about me--I like going to ballets, dances, museums, you name it, I'm good. After the symphony, we'd go someplace for hot chocolate or some other beverage and talk for a while. Honestly, just talking to a girl is the best. The girl would have to like classical music, though... and talking to me. So. I don't know too many of those.
Sweet deal. So, on the topic of Ultimate. Is your dream girl on the field playing, or on the hill cheering for and supporting you?
Oh, no, she's playing. In fact, she's on the other team, and we're both going for each other. We've got a serious vendetta against each other. We really just want to swat that disc. However, we're both really impressed with each other's skills. I'm more impressed than she is, though.
I can take her.
It looks like we're almost out of time, so one last question.
What does the future hold for Nick? Are they any girls that your eyes are on right now? When do you think you'll be ready for a relationship? Won't you be my neighbor?
The future holds lots of fun stuff. It holds school, no fear of getting pulled over if I drive with other people in the car, new friends, stronger friendships, ultimate, racquetball, music, dancing, the stars, and most of all girls. Yes, I have my eyes on girls. I don't know if I'll ever be ready for a relationship, but I'll probably have to have one someday. And I have his autograph.
You have Mr. Roger's autograph? Wow. That's amazing. Happy Valentine's day buddy, thanks for coming to the show.
Thanks for having me, it was a blast.
Monday, February 12, 2007
Thursday, February 08, 2007
Out
I sort of want to sketch something right now. I don't quite feel like paint sketching though, this is more of a paper feeling. I know that nothing would come out if I started. I'd being with a nice little curve. From there I'd get nothing. I've got nothing to sketch, and yet it feels like I've got a masterpiece waiting to get out of here.
It's interesting.
I'm going to bed at a decent hour tonight. That's a really good feeling. No complaints there. This week has been much less sleep than I usually get. We're working on it though. I'm gonna learn from it.
There's a lot of business going on right now. PLC, sweethearts, Sem vid, the athletic options, school, basketball, independent adventures- It's a lot of business.
I've got to prioritize them better.
Fact: My associates and I are capable of creating amazing things. The Sweethearts project, informally codenamed Project Formidable Aroma, has taken a lot of work. I'm not sure if I'm allowed to talk freely about it yet. There's going to be some really cool results for you all to see real soon. Nick will probably post a run down on his blog once it's all through.
Back to the point. It's been a lot of work. Me, Jaron, Brad, and Nick got together a couple days after school and worked for a really long time. Coming home those days was considerably different than coming home on any other day. On a normal day I'll come home and check the blogs, read the news, check extralife, popsci, gamespy, wikipedia, blogoscoped, then wander off.
On work days things were different. The four of us came over here and we sat down and started trucking. It was interesting, to see that after five hour of being on the computer I wasn't even connected to the internet. I hadn't even noticed. We were just booking it along, getting business done.
And so I started thinking. What could we accomplish if we really set out on it?
At this point, honestly, pretty much anything. I'm looking at our skill base, and things are wide open. We could use someone with mad web-design skills. Some programming skills would be favorable.
But really now. You put Me, Jaron, Nick, and Brad in a room together for a while and we could get you elected president if we really wanted to. We could operate a highly successful website that got a thousand hits a day. We could change the world.
Right now I'm not changing the world, at least not as much as I'd like to be. Changing the world is a great feeling. The wonderful part about changing the world is that no one ever specified how much of the world you needed to change.
I believe I have changed the world, at least for a little bit. I know my contribution to happiness and progression isn't too much, but I'm glad that there's at least a little bit. I figure that every person I help with Physics or Math means one more brownie point chalked up on the great whiteboard in the sky. I think that every time I write something that makes someone smile or laugh or think or realize or want to be better- that's a point too.
I want to change the world for the better. I wonder why. Is it an ego thing? Is it genuine altruism?
I love AP History. It is beautiful and applicable at so many levels. I find myself going back to it time and time again. Anyone in my English class knows it- I keep busting it out. I'm seriously digging AP History. Rockwell is a raging studmuffin.
Also in the English department: I really like argumentation. Debates, arguments, whatever you want to call them. I love to get into them. I wish we could spend more time on it. There's something great about being able to look at a topic from both sides and find the most effective counter to whatever April just said.
It goes back to Physics, this argumentation thing. In physics you've got a couple basic formulas that you use. The most prevalent is Newton's second law, F=MA. It's a party.
So we've got eight or so basic ideas and concepts to work with. These eight concepts can be switched around and substituted algebraically in order for us to solve anything that gets thrown at us. "What's that, you're spinning a 2 kg ball above your head on the end of a rope of rubber bands with a force constant of 1100 n/meter that's 1.5 meters long when it's totally unstretched at a rate of 22 revolutions per second? And you want me to find out the centripetal force after two revolutions? Should I find out when it's gonna break if the rubber bands have a breaking point of 500 newtons? Yeah, probably"
And we could do it.
Ok, so maybe not that problem specifically. I bet Landon could do it if we gave him enough time. In fact, I could probably get it with a lot of work. It'd get into calculus and be super trippy, but that's alright.
The point is, we'd have to use a bunch of little concepts and ideas to figure out the whole factor there. There's gonna be centripetal force, potential energy, kinetic energy, tension, all that business.
We take eight tools and apply them in various combinations to solve any problem that comes our way. It's our tool box. I love my tool box.
That's what argumentation is like. The source we're talking about gives us tools. In this case, tools are quotes. We've got external tools too- tools like history or scientific research. When all that's pulled in, we've got to take a look at it and say "Alright, how am I going to assemble these tools to fix the problem?"
I've got Karl Marx writing a book, the cold war with Reagan doing all sorts of fun stuff, and television ruining my life. Sam said that he grew up with TV, but Autumn said that her sister is Wack cause of TV. How am I going to put it together to fix the problem?
I love putting things together to fix problems. Maybe that's why I love Physics, Chemistry, and Math so much. Mmm mmm good.
I'm toying around with the idea of creating a private blog. One that nobody else could read. It'd be the same concept as typing stuff up and saving it on my hard drive, except this would be much more likely to last a year.
The only reason I'd consider doing this is because of the sensitive nature of some of the stuff I really need to explore in writing. I really want to talk about all sorts of business, but my better judgement tells me that that's just not a great idea. With now good writing is for my problem-solving processes though, it seems a shame to be unable to talk about the big issues here.
What if Levi stole my girlfriend and there were valuable lessons to be learned here? It'd be impossible for me to write about it. The girl would get her feelings hurt, Levi would get mad. I'd feel embarrassed about the situation. It's just not something that I could do. It'd hurt more than it'd help.
But what if there was a way to get the beneficial aspects of blogging about such an event and the feelings it creates without the pain? There are certainly enough benefits of writing to justify searching for a new possibility. By writing I can finally get feelings and ideas out all the way. It's hard for me to do stuff like this in person to most people. Some people are a little different, and I can bounce philosophy and ideas and metaphors off of them all day long. They are the small minority. I can dribble any cognitive function I want off of a blog.
Unfortunately though, some cognitive function is just too sensitive to blog about. Not that it's a big deal, because it's not.
But what if I want to write about track, but can't because my track team buddies would read it and call me out for being a pansy? What if I'm not satisfied with the way things are, but can't exactly come out and say it?
These are the problems that bring growth in people. I grow a lot when I sit down and think and write about what's going on. How am I supposed to write and think when doing so would obviously be a bad idea?
And so I'm thinking about it. It goes against my nature, that's for sure. I'm all about sharing, I hate hiding things. I rarely ever close the door to my room. It closes maybe twice a day, at tops. And even then, it's only closed for two minutes max. I honestly don't like closed doors at all. I don't like closing doors on what I have to say either.
The percentages change a lot, but the reasons for me sitting down and writing are about half for me, half for you.
Honestly, this might not do anyone any good. I'm still running at 50% efficiency though, and that's good enough for me.
But wouldn't I rather run at 100 than 50 percent? By keeping a secret blog I'm guaranteed a 50 percent success rate. Here I've got at least a shot at 100.
So it's sort of a catch 22 here. I can write everything here and censor, or I can write some business over there and gimp myself.
We'll see what happens. Chances are I'll start one pretty soon. What I'd like to do is have a time release deal. Where, in a year from now, I release posts. The concept would be that after a year anything that was too sensitive to write on a public forum such as this would have become not sensitive, and could be released for consumption. That way we both win. Just sorta slower than usual, that's all.
I think that's what I'll try. It sounds like a grand adventure.
Comings and goings of blogs are interesting. I wonder how many people are actually still writing a year after making their blog. I'm coming up on the two-year mark of near constant blogging. I'm happy about this. I've said it before, I love this blog.
But it's interesting to see who stays and who goes. Just interesting, that's all.
What are my plans for the future of this blog? A few things-
1. Keep posting. This is the most important thing. In reality, it's the only thing that matters here. I've just got to keep coming here and leaving a dump of words. It's good for me. Maybe it's good for you. I like to think it is. I want to be a posting machine. I set a goal at the beginning of last summer to post at least once a week. As far as I know I've been doing pretty good on it. I need to keep writing. This thing's gonna last forever.
2. Finally upgrade to beta. Everyone's upgraded now. I have failed to get with the times because of the pseudo-custom template I've got running for me right now. It doesn't exactly roll over without any trouble, so I'd have to do some work on it. I need to upgrade and get some cool stuff over on that side bar. I'd like to include a quote of the period-of-time, and a picture of the period-of-time. There's other stuff that would be cool too.
3. Keep this as my blog. I want to start another website one day. Something different, a little more professional. This will always stay though. This will be the place where things always come. Where the big rants, the little business. All that is here. It'll stay. I want to get something professional going on somewhere else too, but that comes later.
Projects. I'm getting those crazy irresistible project run-like-crazy-at-the-moon-because-no- matter- how-far-away-it-is-and-how-hopelessly-screwed-you-are-you-want-nothing-more-
than-to-run-like-crazy-at-the-moon feelings again. They haven't been this strong since the beginning of the school year. During that particular epoch of project run-at-the-moon's the world saw the creation of the Taylorsville Alliance and Taylorsville Ultimate. Both of those projects are currently dormant, but there's a good chance both of them will be making a come back in the near future. With this much motivation, how can we lose?
So that's really what I want right now. Some accomplishments. Sure I want to win at basketball. But that's not what I really wish I had going for me right now. I really wish I had some projects running around. Things I could start, things I could maintain.
Yep, I'm gonna work on that. The project this week was Formidable Aroma. I think next week is going to be something a little different. Something good though, that's for sure.
I love leadership. I love being part of a team and getting work done. I can't wait to have a job. I hope that whatever I end up doing in my life requires a daily meeting to look at what we've done and what we still need to do. I hope there's brainstorming, I hope there's that rush of chemicals and galvanized wind in your neurons when a new golden idea comes rushing through. I hope we get to make something awesome. I hope we get to change the world.
It's interesting.
I'm going to bed at a decent hour tonight. That's a really good feeling. No complaints there. This week has been much less sleep than I usually get. We're working on it though. I'm gonna learn from it.
There's a lot of business going on right now. PLC, sweethearts, Sem vid, the athletic options, school, basketball, independent adventures- It's a lot of business.
I've got to prioritize them better.
Fact: My associates and I are capable of creating amazing things. The Sweethearts project, informally codenamed Project Formidable Aroma, has taken a lot of work. I'm not sure if I'm allowed to talk freely about it yet. There's going to be some really cool results for you all to see real soon. Nick will probably post a run down on his blog once it's all through.
Back to the point. It's been a lot of work. Me, Jaron, Brad, and Nick got together a couple days after school and worked for a really long time. Coming home those days was considerably different than coming home on any other day. On a normal day I'll come home and check the blogs, read the news, check extralife, popsci, gamespy, wikipedia, blogoscoped, then wander off.
On work days things were different. The four of us came over here and we sat down and started trucking. It was interesting, to see that after five hour of being on the computer I wasn't even connected to the internet. I hadn't even noticed. We were just booking it along, getting business done.
And so I started thinking. What could we accomplish if we really set out on it?
At this point, honestly, pretty much anything. I'm looking at our skill base, and things are wide open. We could use someone with mad web-design skills. Some programming skills would be favorable.
But really now. You put Me, Jaron, Nick, and Brad in a room together for a while and we could get you elected president if we really wanted to. We could operate a highly successful website that got a thousand hits a day. We could change the world.
Right now I'm not changing the world, at least not as much as I'd like to be. Changing the world is a great feeling. The wonderful part about changing the world is that no one ever specified how much of the world you needed to change.
I believe I have changed the world, at least for a little bit. I know my contribution to happiness and progression isn't too much, but I'm glad that there's at least a little bit. I figure that every person I help with Physics or Math means one more brownie point chalked up on the great whiteboard in the sky. I think that every time I write something that makes someone smile or laugh or think or realize or want to be better- that's a point too.
I want to change the world for the better. I wonder why. Is it an ego thing? Is it genuine altruism?
I love AP History. It is beautiful and applicable at so many levels. I find myself going back to it time and time again. Anyone in my English class knows it- I keep busting it out. I'm seriously digging AP History. Rockwell is a raging studmuffin.
Also in the English department: I really like argumentation. Debates, arguments, whatever you want to call them. I love to get into them. I wish we could spend more time on it. There's something great about being able to look at a topic from both sides and find the most effective counter to whatever April just said.
It goes back to Physics, this argumentation thing. In physics you've got a couple basic formulas that you use. The most prevalent is Newton's second law, F=MA. It's a party.
So we've got eight or so basic ideas and concepts to work with. These eight concepts can be switched around and substituted algebraically in order for us to solve anything that gets thrown at us. "What's that, you're spinning a 2 kg ball above your head on the end of a rope of rubber bands with a force constant of 1100 n/meter that's 1.5 meters long when it's totally unstretched at a rate of 22 revolutions per second? And you want me to find out the centripetal force after two revolutions? Should I find out when it's gonna break if the rubber bands have a breaking point of 500 newtons? Yeah, probably"
And we could do it.
Ok, so maybe not that problem specifically. I bet Landon could do it if we gave him enough time. In fact, I could probably get it with a lot of work. It'd get into calculus and be super trippy, but that's alright.
The point is, we'd have to use a bunch of little concepts and ideas to figure out the whole factor there. There's gonna be centripetal force, potential energy, kinetic energy, tension, all that business.
We take eight tools and apply them in various combinations to solve any problem that comes our way. It's our tool box. I love my tool box.
That's what argumentation is like. The source we're talking about gives us tools. In this case, tools are quotes. We've got external tools too- tools like history or scientific research. When all that's pulled in, we've got to take a look at it and say "Alright, how am I going to assemble these tools to fix the problem?"
I've got Karl Marx writing a book, the cold war with Reagan doing all sorts of fun stuff, and television ruining my life. Sam said that he grew up with TV, but Autumn said that her sister is Wack cause of TV. How am I going to put it together to fix the problem?
I love putting things together to fix problems. Maybe that's why I love Physics, Chemistry, and Math so much. Mmm mmm good.
I'm toying around with the idea of creating a private blog. One that nobody else could read. It'd be the same concept as typing stuff up and saving it on my hard drive, except this would be much more likely to last a year.
The only reason I'd consider doing this is because of the sensitive nature of some of the stuff I really need to explore in writing. I really want to talk about all sorts of business, but my better judgement tells me that that's just not a great idea. With now good writing is for my problem-solving processes though, it seems a shame to be unable to talk about the big issues here.
What if Levi stole my girlfriend and there were valuable lessons to be learned here? It'd be impossible for me to write about it. The girl would get her feelings hurt, Levi would get mad. I'd feel embarrassed about the situation. It's just not something that I could do. It'd hurt more than it'd help.
But what if there was a way to get the beneficial aspects of blogging about such an event and the feelings it creates without the pain? There are certainly enough benefits of writing to justify searching for a new possibility. By writing I can finally get feelings and ideas out all the way. It's hard for me to do stuff like this in person to most people. Some people are a little different, and I can bounce philosophy and ideas and metaphors off of them all day long. They are the small minority. I can dribble any cognitive function I want off of a blog.
Unfortunately though, some cognitive function is just too sensitive to blog about. Not that it's a big deal, because it's not.
But what if I want to write about track, but can't because my track team buddies would read it and call me out for being a pansy? What if I'm not satisfied with the way things are, but can't exactly come out and say it?
These are the problems that bring growth in people. I grow a lot when I sit down and think and write about what's going on. How am I supposed to write and think when doing so would obviously be a bad idea?
And so I'm thinking about it. It goes against my nature, that's for sure. I'm all about sharing, I hate hiding things. I rarely ever close the door to my room. It closes maybe twice a day, at tops. And even then, it's only closed for two minutes max. I honestly don't like closed doors at all. I don't like closing doors on what I have to say either.
The percentages change a lot, but the reasons for me sitting down and writing are about half for me, half for you.
Honestly, this might not do anyone any good. I'm still running at 50% efficiency though, and that's good enough for me.
But wouldn't I rather run at 100 than 50 percent? By keeping a secret blog I'm guaranteed a 50 percent success rate. Here I've got at least a shot at 100.
So it's sort of a catch 22 here. I can write everything here and censor, or I can write some business over there and gimp myself.
We'll see what happens. Chances are I'll start one pretty soon. What I'd like to do is have a time release deal. Where, in a year from now, I release posts. The concept would be that after a year anything that was too sensitive to write on a public forum such as this would have become not sensitive, and could be released for consumption. That way we both win. Just sorta slower than usual, that's all.
I think that's what I'll try. It sounds like a grand adventure.
Comings and goings of blogs are interesting. I wonder how many people are actually still writing a year after making their blog. I'm coming up on the two-year mark of near constant blogging. I'm happy about this. I've said it before, I love this blog.
But it's interesting to see who stays and who goes. Just interesting, that's all.
What are my plans for the future of this blog? A few things-
1. Keep posting. This is the most important thing. In reality, it's the only thing that matters here. I've just got to keep coming here and leaving a dump of words. It's good for me. Maybe it's good for you. I like to think it is. I want to be a posting machine. I set a goal at the beginning of last summer to post at least once a week. As far as I know I've been doing pretty good on it. I need to keep writing. This thing's gonna last forever.
2. Finally upgrade to beta. Everyone's upgraded now. I have failed to get with the times because of the pseudo-custom template I've got running for me right now. It doesn't exactly roll over without any trouble, so I'd have to do some work on it. I need to upgrade and get some cool stuff over on that side bar. I'd like to include a quote of the period-of-time, and a picture of the period-of-time. There's other stuff that would be cool too.
3. Keep this as my blog. I want to start another website one day. Something different, a little more professional. This will always stay though. This will be the place where things always come. Where the big rants, the little business. All that is here. It'll stay. I want to get something professional going on somewhere else too, but that comes later.
Projects. I'm getting those crazy irresistible project run-like-crazy-at-the-moon-because-no- matter- how-far-away-it-is-and-how-hopelessly-screwed-you-are-you-want-nothing-more-
than-to-run-like-crazy-at-the-moon feelings again. They haven't been this strong since the beginning of the school year. During that particular epoch of project run-at-the-moon's the world saw the creation of the Taylorsville Alliance and Taylorsville Ultimate. Both of those projects are currently dormant, but there's a good chance both of them will be making a come back in the near future. With this much motivation, how can we lose?
So that's really what I want right now. Some accomplishments. Sure I want to win at basketball. But that's not what I really wish I had going for me right now. I really wish I had some projects running around. Things I could start, things I could maintain.
Yep, I'm gonna work on that. The project this week was Formidable Aroma. I think next week is going to be something a little different. Something good though, that's for sure.
I love leadership. I love being part of a team and getting work done. I can't wait to have a job. I hope that whatever I end up doing in my life requires a daily meeting to look at what we've done and what we still need to do. I hope there's brainstorming, I hope there's that rush of chemicals and galvanized wind in your neurons when a new golden idea comes rushing through. I hope we get to make something awesome. I hope we get to change the world.
H-Two-Oh
Rachel wrote a post about water. It was a very good one.
I have a theory. I believe that as the volume of water I drink in a day goes up, the level of my happiness rises with it directly.
To put it mathematically;
My Happiness = Amount of water I've consumed times x; where x is a constant. We're gonna name it something cool. All constants in formulas have cool names.
Moral of the story: I should drink more water, because it makes me happy. I find that whenever I'm unhappy, I am also dehydrated.
That doesn't mean that every time I'm dehydrated I'm sad, it just means that every time I'm sad I'm also dehydrated. There must be a correlation.
Drink more water.
I have a theory. I believe that as the volume of water I drink in a day goes up, the level of my happiness rises with it directly.
To put it mathematically;
My Happiness = Amount of water I've consumed times x; where x is a constant. We're gonna name it something cool. All constants in formulas have cool names.
Moral of the story: I should drink more water, because it makes me happy. I find that whenever I'm unhappy, I am also dehydrated.
That doesn't mean that every time I'm dehydrated I'm sad, it just means that every time I'm sad I'm also dehydrated. There must be a correlation.
Drink more water.
Tuesday, February 06, 2007
Sunday, February 04, 2007
Things to do
Remember how I talked a while back about deep stuff? How I said I'd let you know if I found something good?
Well, I found something good.
Then Wear the Gold Hat - Thomas Parke D'Invilliers {F. Scott Fitzgerald}
It's a four line poem. It looks stupid on the outside. Wow, it's deep on the inside. I found it in The Great Gatsby, on the title page. Since we're annotating it, I wrote a little note next to it.
The note looked a little like this.
"Advice for Kyle ---->" with an arrow pointed right at it.
Why is it advice for Kyle? Because Kyle and I are pretty similar, so it'll double for both of us. The message in the poem is pretty simple. "Do what it takes to get the lady."
I'm not pursuing any ladies at the moment. I'm keeping myself unaffiliated. There will, however, come a day when I don my combat boots and enter the race.
When this day comes it will be important for me to wear the gold hat. If the girl I'm trying to woo likes my blue shirt, you better believe that I'm going to wear that blue shirt every single day that I see her. If she's a big fan of the Beatles, I'm going to play Beatles in my van.
That task ---> woo the lady.
The means ---> whatever it takes.
We can apply this concept to the rest of life; it's not just restricted to wooing the ladies. When we're playing basketball, we are going to do what it takes to win. If shooting the there will win it, we will shoot the three. If running the tempo up will win it, we will run the tempo up. If giving the ball to Brad every play and letting him fly all over the court and humiliate the opponent will win it, we'll do that. Twice.
Life is way too important to not do what it takes. I understand that there are rules and guidelines we've got to follow, sure.
But when we wake up in the morning and say "Nah, I don't think I want to win today. I'm gonna go out there and give it not-my-best. I think I'm gonna sleep through math today. I feel like texting instead of earning a great living for my family in the future. Yeah, let's do that."
You're not winning any races like that. You're not gonna woo any ladies or dominate any junior jazz teams. Living like that is like playing soccer in a wheelchair.
Don't gimp yourselves. Do what it takes. If she likes the blue shirt---> by all means, wear the blue shirt.
~~~~~
In other news, there are a few books I need to read in the near future. These will be good for me.
In no particular order...
1. 1984 (again)
2. Catch 22 (for reals this time)
3. Lord of the Flies (Piggy!)
There are others - I seem to have forgotten them.
Big business is coming up. This week is going to be good.
I'm beginning to want to revive the Taylorsville Alliance. It's still got potential. We'll see what happens.
Well, I found something good.
Then Wear the Gold Hat - Thomas Parke D'Invilliers {F. Scott Fitzgerald}
It's a four line poem. It looks stupid on the outside. Wow, it's deep on the inside. I found it in The Great Gatsby, on the title page. Since we're annotating it, I wrote a little note next to it.
The note looked a little like this.
"Advice for Kyle ---->" with an arrow pointed right at it.
Why is it advice for Kyle? Because Kyle and I are pretty similar, so it'll double for both of us. The message in the poem is pretty simple. "Do what it takes to get the lady."
I'm not pursuing any ladies at the moment. I'm keeping myself unaffiliated. There will, however, come a day when I don my combat boots and enter the race.
When this day comes it will be important for me to wear the gold hat. If the girl I'm trying to woo likes my blue shirt, you better believe that I'm going to wear that blue shirt every single day that I see her. If she's a big fan of the Beatles, I'm going to play Beatles in my van.
That task ---> woo the lady.
The means ---> whatever it takes.
We can apply this concept to the rest of life; it's not just restricted to wooing the ladies. When we're playing basketball, we are going to do what it takes to win. If shooting the there will win it, we will shoot the three. If running the tempo up will win it, we will run the tempo up. If giving the ball to Brad every play and letting him fly all over the court and humiliate the opponent will win it, we'll do that. Twice.
Life is way too important to not do what it takes. I understand that there are rules and guidelines we've got to follow, sure.
But when we wake up in the morning and say "Nah, I don't think I want to win today. I'm gonna go out there and give it not-my-best. I think I'm gonna sleep through math today. I feel like texting instead of earning a great living for my family in the future. Yeah, let's do that."
You're not winning any races like that. You're not gonna woo any ladies or dominate any junior jazz teams. Living like that is like playing soccer in a wheelchair.
Don't gimp yourselves. Do what it takes. If she likes the blue shirt---> by all means, wear the blue shirt.
~~~~~
In other news, there are a few books I need to read in the near future. These will be good for me.
In no particular order...
1. 1984 (again)
2. Catch 22 (for reals this time)
3. Lord of the Flies (Piggy!)
There are others - I seem to have forgotten them.
Big business is coming up. This week is going to be good.
I'm beginning to want to revive the Taylorsville Alliance. It's still got potential. We'll see what happens.
Khap'Gok
That's Klingon for success.
My favorite part is that you think I'm joking.
But I'm not. I'm dead serious here.
It really is the klingon word for success. At least, it's how you'd spell the pronunciation.
I only know two Klingon words. Animal (Hawk-tuh-bah) and success (Cop-Gawk). Me and Darren Gardner decided that we were going to learn it one summer. We never actually did, but I managed to learn those two words. They've stuck with me ever since.
It was really funny, khap'gok actually squirreled itself into my regular vocabulary for a while back in the day. I was surprised when I found myself yelling Klingon interjections when I pulled off something awesome in sixth grade. I hadn't even meant to do it. But wow, I nailed that shot, and the first thing that came out of my mouth was a loud and nerdy Klingon translation for "Success!"
Yeah. I'm awesome.
The reason I relate this story is that today was a success. We won our Junior Jazz game; it was ferocious.
The first quarter was really good. Both teams played and matched each other. By the end of it, the score was Ten to Nine, our team up by one.
When the second quarter started, Brad, Jose, Jared, Cody, and I took the court. We were fresh from the bench, and the other team didn't have many subs. We were ready to run- they obviously weren't. We pulled our classic "Run-like-crazy-and-push-the-tempo-on-every-play-till-they-stop-trying" game plan. It worked surprisingly well.
At the end of the second quarter, the score was 30 to nine.
Yeah, we went on a 20-0 run there. We held them scoreless for the second quarter.
Dang straight. I'd like to thank our super fans for making it all possible.
The rest of the game was good times. The other team finally started picking it up in the fourth quarter, but by then it was way too late. We won by 25; our record is now 2-3.
The other guys did really play well, we were just too ferocious. They were trying to play man defense against a team that was running like crazy. Had they switched to zone things would have been a lot different. That's not the point though.
The game was a smashing success. We all had a good time.
And then, I came home, and worked like crazy and got a lot of stuff done. Project Formidable Aroma is sitting at 75% completion. It's shaping up to be really nice, I'm super excited to finish it up. w00t w00t.
To cap the evening off, I got to hang out with some of my friends. That was party time. I discovered that I can still do head-stands. I also discovered that I'm much better at head stands than I was last time I tried. Hooray for head-stands.
I had a lot of fun practicing my skills tonight. I greatly improved my M&M catching. I am now proficient in all sorts of comestible-catching.
Booyah Grandma.
What's the business? The business is that I'm going to bed. I'm a champion today.
Congratulations team 1101- we're unstoppable. Here's to a 5-3 record.
My favorite part is that you think I'm joking.
But I'm not. I'm dead serious here.
It really is the klingon word for success. At least, it's how you'd spell the pronunciation.
I only know two Klingon words. Animal (Hawk-tuh-bah) and success (Cop-Gawk). Me and Darren Gardner decided that we were going to learn it one summer. We never actually did, but I managed to learn those two words. They've stuck with me ever since.
It was really funny, khap'gok actually squirreled itself into my regular vocabulary for a while back in the day. I was surprised when I found myself yelling Klingon interjections when I pulled off something awesome in sixth grade. I hadn't even meant to do it. But wow, I nailed that shot, and the first thing that came out of my mouth was a loud and nerdy Klingon translation for "Success!"
Yeah. I'm awesome.
The reason I relate this story is that today was a success. We won our Junior Jazz game; it was ferocious.
The first quarter was really good. Both teams played and matched each other. By the end of it, the score was Ten to Nine, our team up by one.
When the second quarter started, Brad, Jose, Jared, Cody, and I took the court. We were fresh from the bench, and the other team didn't have many subs. We were ready to run- they obviously weren't. We pulled our classic "Run-like-crazy-and-push-the-tempo-on-every-play-till-they-stop-trying" game plan. It worked surprisingly well.
At the end of the second quarter, the score was 30 to nine.
Yeah, we went on a 20-0 run there. We held them scoreless for the second quarter.
Dang straight. I'd like to thank our super fans for making it all possible.
The rest of the game was good times. The other team finally started picking it up in the fourth quarter, but by then it was way too late. We won by 25; our record is now 2-3.
The other guys did really play well, we were just too ferocious. They were trying to play man defense against a team that was running like crazy. Had they switched to zone things would have been a lot different. That's not the point though.
The game was a smashing success. We all had a good time.
And then, I came home, and worked like crazy and got a lot of stuff done. Project Formidable Aroma is sitting at 75% completion. It's shaping up to be really nice, I'm super excited to finish it up. w00t w00t.
To cap the evening off, I got to hang out with some of my friends. That was party time. I discovered that I can still do head-stands. I also discovered that I'm much better at head stands than I was last time I tried. Hooray for head-stands.
I had a lot of fun practicing my skills tonight. I greatly improved my M&M catching. I am now proficient in all sorts of comestible-catching.
Booyah Grandma.
What's the business? The business is that I'm going to bed. I'm a champion today.
Congratulations team 1101- we're unstoppable. Here's to a 5-3 record.
Saturday, February 03, 2007
Twirling
"But tonight I say we must move forward, not backward, upward, not forward, and always twirling, twirling, twirling towards freedom." -Kang as Bill Clinton (The Simpsons)
Friday, February 02, 2007
Complete
It's 2:07 AM. I, very recently, finished my chemistry homework. A little before I did that, I finished my physics homework. Prior to completing my physics homework, I busted out my history and capped that off too.
That's three pretty big assignments that I dominated between 11 PM and 2:05 AM. I honestly didn't think I was going to do it. I thought I'd fall asleep. I nearly did with history.
But then, as I contemplated whether I was going to do it or not, I remembered a lot of stuff. Because this stuff has to do with the lessons version two post I'm going to write in the near future, I won't elaborate too much.
Basically --> I told myself I'd finish. I said I'd do it.
And so I did it.
I was almost falling asleep, so I had to get moving or else I'd die.
So I started dancing like that weird old guy we saw on Saturday. You know who I'm talking about Annie. I totally busted out his moves.
And then I did some cool calf work outs. And then I pretended to be a boxer.
And all the sudden I was awake, and I busted out those physics answers. It was intense, that was a way involved little work sheet there. I have no idea on two of the questions. I'm alright with that though, I got the other four or so.
And then chemistry. I finished it. This was the hardest one. It was getting late, and I had about seven problems left. I kept on trucking. The first two took quite a while to calculate. I moved on to the third one. It was talking about van't something or others. I had never heard of that, so I had to go back and read. I read it, learned it, then finished the problem. That took a while.
I looked back on the page that tells us what questions to do. Yeah, I had just done 59. I was supposed to be doing 52. Hrm. Oh well, I learned something.
So I go back. I do two more problems, and then I realize something awesome. The next two I have to do are just theory problems. Nothing to do with my TI-86. I just have to answer something about colloids. No plug and chug. No conversions. Just answers.
I have to look some stuff up for those two. It doesn't matter though, I love theory answers. I'm excited, only one left.
And then I read the question. I was hoping for theory.
What I got was the bearded lady from the videos we watched in Olsen's class.
It was a three part question, dealing with two different solutions. Apparently I was putting benzosomething acid into CCl4, and then the same ammount of Benzotastic acid into C2H5OH. I had to figure out the mole ratios, the molality, and the molarity of each of em.
It took a while. It was the last problem, that wasn't nice of them.
But that's not what's important. What's important is that I finished it, and that now I'm going to bed. I am victorious.
I finished my homework. I didn't think I'd do it.
And yet, I stuck with it. I got it done. That feels great. I beat it. I was [] this close to giving up and just going to bed tonight. Oh no, none of that slackerpants business for me. I'm raging. I'm a homework machine. I was born to read text books. I'm not giving up.
It's 2:16- I'm going to bed.
Dang straight.
That's three pretty big assignments that I dominated between 11 PM and 2:05 AM. I honestly didn't think I was going to do it. I thought I'd fall asleep. I nearly did with history.
But then, as I contemplated whether I was going to do it or not, I remembered a lot of stuff. Because this stuff has to do with the lessons version two post I'm going to write in the near future, I won't elaborate too much.
Basically --> I told myself I'd finish. I said I'd do it.
And so I did it.
I was almost falling asleep, so I had to get moving or else I'd die.
So I started dancing like that weird old guy we saw on Saturday. You know who I'm talking about Annie. I totally busted out his moves.
And then I did some cool calf work outs. And then I pretended to be a boxer.
And all the sudden I was awake, and I busted out those physics answers. It was intense, that was a way involved little work sheet there. I have no idea on two of the questions. I'm alright with that though, I got the other four or so.
And then chemistry. I finished it. This was the hardest one. It was getting late, and I had about seven problems left. I kept on trucking. The first two took quite a while to calculate. I moved on to the third one. It was talking about van't something or others. I had never heard of that, so I had to go back and read. I read it, learned it, then finished the problem. That took a while.
I looked back on the page that tells us what questions to do. Yeah, I had just done 59. I was supposed to be doing 52. Hrm. Oh well, I learned something.
So I go back. I do two more problems, and then I realize something awesome. The next two I have to do are just theory problems. Nothing to do with my TI-86. I just have to answer something about colloids. No plug and chug. No conversions. Just answers.
I have to look some stuff up for those two. It doesn't matter though, I love theory answers. I'm excited, only one left.
And then I read the question. I was hoping for theory.
What I got was the bearded lady from the videos we watched in Olsen's class.
It was a three part question, dealing with two different solutions. Apparently I was putting benzosomething acid into CCl4, and then the same ammount of Benzotastic acid into C2H5OH. I had to figure out the mole ratios, the molality, and the molarity of each of em.
It took a while. It was the last problem, that wasn't nice of them.
But that's not what's important. What's important is that I finished it, and that now I'm going to bed. I am victorious.
I finished my homework. I didn't think I'd do it.
And yet, I stuck with it. I got it done. That feels great. I beat it. I was [] this close to giving up and just going to bed tonight. Oh no, none of that slackerpants business for me. I'm raging. I'm a homework machine. I was born to read text books. I'm not giving up.
It's 2:16- I'm going to bed.
Dang straight.
Thursday, February 01, 2007
Trax Law
I love trax. It's an adventure every time I ride it. I love to observe people, and Trax is an excellent place to do so. Different individuals from all walks of life inhabit the trax train. Through my observations, I've found some business out. Check it.
In order to ride Trax, you have to fulfill at least one of the following four rules. (Fulfilling more than one is alright. Sorta)
1. Have really big/weird facial hair.
2. Have a really cool/weird hat.
3. Be with a date/spouse/significant other
4. Be a hobo.
Wow. Honestly, there's really only two kinds of people I've seen on Trax. People on dates, and weirdo's with facial hair that makes me jealous.
Like I said, I love Trax.
In order to ride Trax, you have to fulfill at least one of the following four rules. (Fulfilling more than one is alright. Sorta)
1. Have really big/weird facial hair.
2. Have a really cool/weird hat.
3. Be with a date/spouse/significant other
4. Be a hobo.
Wow. Honestly, there's really only two kinds of people I've seen on Trax. People on dates, and weirdo's with facial hair that makes me jealous.
Like I said, I love Trax.
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Trends
Hey everybody, happy Monday. It's 12:32 AM, and I'm finished with my homework for the evening. I am going to retire pretty shortly, but I figured I'd stop by and let everybody know how things are going. I've been pretty bad at blogging frequently- I fear I've been a little too ambitious. I keep thinking of good projects for the blog; things that would be really cool. The trouble is that they require a little bit of work because they're not just sit down and ramble posts. So, I procrastinate doing those because they're hard, and I procrastinate rambling because I ought to be doing the projects instead.
So, here we are. No project tonight, just rambling. Mmm mmm good.
Enough bid'ness. There are a few things that need to make a come back. In no particular order.
The Warrior Pride bracelets. Ya know, the rubber ones they sold last year. I'm gonna start wearing mine again. It's just too cool to pass up. I think you all should too. It's going to be a party.
Wearing a plain and white T-shirt to school. Not because of any musical influences, but because it's just way too cool. I don't know what it is, but I'm really digging it. I'm going for it. I already wore it this week. Maybe Friday? Let's have an organized white T-shirt Friday. Yep. It's official.
Class Participation. I'm going crazy with class participation these days; the results are pretty dang good. While teachers are cool and all, students just have way too much to contribute to their peers' education to keep quiet. That's the big deal with AP chem right now. We're migrating away from the Hansen plug-n-chug, and more towards the open classroom discussion. It worked really well on Thursday, not so well on Monday. We're going to keep working at it though; it's a golden concept. That's what I think we ought to do. We ought to really get in to our classes. Hop into the discussions, raise your hand. Make that class yours, own that class. It'll help you learn, it'll especially help others learn, and the teacher will think you're cool. It's a win-win situation. Do it.
So, what's new in my life? I've got a lot of projects on my plate right now. It's a little over whelming, but there's no way I'd trade it. I love projects. They're what keep me going, they're what get me excited. The prospect of taking this opportunity and making something out of it that the world has never seen, something better than anyone expected is too great for me to pass up.
Projects aren't like math assignments where there's just one right answer. A project is open ended, a free shot at making it big. A project, ultimately, depends on you. There's nothing holding you back. You are free to make something amazing. Projects are opportunity, and opportunity is the win.
I'm currently toying around with the idea of playing water polo this spring instead of running track. It's just a crazy idea flying around my neurons right now, but it's worth taking a look at. Water polo is a team sport, and that's something I haven't played on a school level for quite some time. It's objective based, not run-till-you-die based. It'd get me in crazy good shape, probably better shape than track would. And let's not forget that Kyle, Austin, and Stuart are doing it too. With a little coaxing, maybe Levi would do it. That'd be golden right there.
It's just an idea, but I think I'll go to a few practices just to see how things go. I'm not a proficient swimmer or treader, but I bet I could pick it up pretty fast. I'm excited to give it a shot. What's the worst that could happen?
Nick: Drown to death
Me: Oh shut up.
~
Rahaha, just kiddin' Nick, you're alright.
I was going to say something. I had one more talking point I wanted to bring up. And yet, here I am-
just kidding, I remembered it.
Trends. People are getting together. Levi has a girlfriend. Bahahaha.
You know what that really means to me, right? It means I'm usually the best one at halo now. The crown is mine!
Nah, but I think I'm alright with this business. I mean, I don't think it's for me right now, but I can accept that some of my friends are finding lady-friends. It's funny how they all expect me to want to smite them. Yeah, I am the president of the clean lips club and everything, but I'm a nice guy, I'm cool with whatever lifestyle you choose Levi.
Anyways, the important thing to remember is that this business can't get in the way of Ultimate. Whatever happens out there- Ultimate will be alright. I don't care what happens between you and me, you and her, me and her. I don't care if I suddenly fall in love with Kyle's leg-hair and then you steal it from me and then it tells me that I am nothing compared to you. Really, that's alright with me. Once we get to the Ultimate field, we're back to being friends. Maybe I'll hate you during the week, but Ultimate is a neutral place.
Not that I forsee trouble or anything. We're all older these days. More mature. We're gonna be fine.
But in the event that somebody gets jealous or gets their feelings hurt ---> It's alright, we're gonna play Ultimate anyways. Leave your personal lives behind. It's go time.
It's funny how my writing styles change and flow. This is my Late night conversation without a general purpose style right now. It's a lot more colloquial, much less proper. Lots of grammar and punctuation errors. Not so much cool words, but I sorta get the point across.
Compare that to my get-up style, and bam, there's a difference. My get up style is quick, short, and filled with all sorts of amazing adjectives. It's when I'm excited, ready to go. Dang, I love that style.
And then there's my important style, my wishful style, my off-night style. I've got all sorts of styles. I don't quite know how I feel about this current style. The one I'm using tonight (Or rather, the one I was using until I started writing about styles. My current style just shifted a ton now that we're on the subject.) Anyways. The style I was using tonight never really sits well down in my gut. There's always that feeling of unease, like I ought to go back and change it. And yet, because of the style, I don't go back to change it. It's my "I know this isn't the best, but I'm running with it anyways" style.
Hmm, it's not quite my style.
I do love writing. It's something I'd like to be better at. Something I need to practice more. I want to really get in to writing Water. I've got a complete rewrite planned. Haha, I only wrote three impacts, and I'm already ready to have a second run at it. It's a fun little idea in my head, that water is. Garbage Can, he'll be back. I'm going to write, no worries.
I really really like that paint sketch I made a few nights ago. It's the post that is two underneath this one. It's currently my messenger display pic. I like it a lot more when it's squished down than when it is full sized. I don't know what it is, there's something cool about paint sketches. It's unusual for me to express my feelings in a medium like that. I've never been too successful at letting stuff out through art. But here we are, I'm happy with it. I really think it says something, at least to me.
Who knew MS Paint could be so beautiful?
Spring is coming. I love it.
My friends are genuinely good people. I love that too.
I love the fact that they have important things to say. I love that we can talk about physics, and why me and brad messed up, and why kyle was the only one to get it right. I like that my boys have concerns and hopes and dreams and fears and the occasional wisecrack about my pancreas. We're independent beings with so much to offer each other. It's amazing to just stand around and bounce ideas off of each other, to be made better by being with one another. Good crap, I'm impressed with my peers.
I'm really excited for the future, just to find out where we all go. It's going to be an honor to be called a contemporary of any one of you out there. When they're doing a PBS special on one of us, oh yeah, we're all gonna be connected. Contemporary. It's a nice title.
Idea-a-day for January didn't quite work. Alas.
But that's alright. I think my focus in February will be to write as often as possible. I have something to write about every night, guaranteed. I could post every single day if I really really wanted to. I think that'd be a good idea. It'd get more feelings out, more ideas developed. It'd improve my writing, and maybe it'd give you something to do in the mean time.
Life's alright. We're moving along. I love my AP classes. There's a lot of really good feelings in this world.
There's nothing better than dominating your homework. That feeling you get when you can close one textbook, take a deep breath, and jump right into another. When you've read a whole chapter of history, and still managed to find time and energy to work your way through a golden physics assignment. Late at night, toiling away at that desk. It's a great feeling. Pulling it all off like that, I wouldn't trade it. I love it.
I love AP history. There's so much good stuff to learn in there. I love all my classes, I'm just crazy about learning stuff these days.
Yeah, things are moving along. We've got our issues, but we're getting there. We're gonna be huge, you and I. We're going somewhere, somewhere big. The world's never seen anybody like us. We're newschool, but we're not going to forget the power of the oldschool. We're going to change things. And yet, at the same time, we're going to uphold the things that need to be upheld. We're going to do the right things.
Yep. You and I- we're gonna be huge.
So, here we are. No project tonight, just rambling. Mmm mmm good.
Enough bid'ness. There are a few things that need to make a come back. In no particular order.
The Warrior Pride bracelets. Ya know, the rubber ones they sold last year. I'm gonna start wearing mine again. It's just too cool to pass up. I think you all should too. It's going to be a party.
Wearing a plain and white T-shirt to school. Not because of any musical influences, but because it's just way too cool. I don't know what it is, but I'm really digging it. I'm going for it. I already wore it this week. Maybe Friday? Let's have an organized white T-shirt Friday. Yep. It's official.
Class Participation. I'm going crazy with class participation these days; the results are pretty dang good. While teachers are cool and all, students just have way too much to contribute to their peers' education to keep quiet. That's the big deal with AP chem right now. We're migrating away from the Hansen plug-n-chug, and more towards the open classroom discussion. It worked really well on Thursday, not so well on Monday. We're going to keep working at it though; it's a golden concept. That's what I think we ought to do. We ought to really get in to our classes. Hop into the discussions, raise your hand. Make that class yours, own that class. It'll help you learn, it'll especially help others learn, and the teacher will think you're cool. It's a win-win situation. Do it.
So, what's new in my life? I've got a lot of projects on my plate right now. It's a little over whelming, but there's no way I'd trade it. I love projects. They're what keep me going, they're what get me excited. The prospect of taking this opportunity and making something out of it that the world has never seen, something better than anyone expected is too great for me to pass up.
Projects aren't like math assignments where there's just one right answer. A project is open ended, a free shot at making it big. A project, ultimately, depends on you. There's nothing holding you back. You are free to make something amazing. Projects are opportunity, and opportunity is the win.
I'm currently toying around with the idea of playing water polo this spring instead of running track. It's just a crazy idea flying around my neurons right now, but it's worth taking a look at. Water polo is a team sport, and that's something I haven't played on a school level for quite some time. It's objective based, not run-till-you-die based. It'd get me in crazy good shape, probably better shape than track would. And let's not forget that Kyle, Austin, and Stuart are doing it too. With a little coaxing, maybe Levi would do it. That'd be golden right there.
It's just an idea, but I think I'll go to a few practices just to see how things go. I'm not a proficient swimmer or treader, but I bet I could pick it up pretty fast. I'm excited to give it a shot. What's the worst that could happen?
Nick: Drown to death
Me: Oh shut up.
~
Rahaha, just kiddin' Nick, you're alright.
I was going to say something. I had one more talking point I wanted to bring up. And yet, here I am-
just kidding, I remembered it.
Trends. People are getting together. Levi has a girlfriend. Bahahaha.
You know what that really means to me, right? It means I'm usually the best one at halo now. The crown is mine!
Nah, but I think I'm alright with this business. I mean, I don't think it's for me right now, but I can accept that some of my friends are finding lady-friends. It's funny how they all expect me to want to smite them. Yeah, I am the president of the clean lips club and everything, but I'm a nice guy, I'm cool with whatever lifestyle you choose Levi.
Anyways, the important thing to remember is that this business can't get in the way of Ultimate. Whatever happens out there- Ultimate will be alright. I don't care what happens between you and me, you and her, me and her. I don't care if I suddenly fall in love with Kyle's leg-hair and then you steal it from me and then it tells me that I am nothing compared to you. Really, that's alright with me. Once we get to the Ultimate field, we're back to being friends. Maybe I'll hate you during the week, but Ultimate is a neutral place.
Not that I forsee trouble or anything. We're all older these days. More mature. We're gonna be fine.
But in the event that somebody gets jealous or gets their feelings hurt ---> It's alright, we're gonna play Ultimate anyways. Leave your personal lives behind. It's go time.
It's funny how my writing styles change and flow. This is my Late night conversation without a general purpose style right now. It's a lot more colloquial, much less proper. Lots of grammar and punctuation errors. Not so much cool words, but I sorta get the point across.
Compare that to my get-up style, and bam, there's a difference. My get up style is quick, short, and filled with all sorts of amazing adjectives. It's when I'm excited, ready to go. Dang, I love that style.
And then there's my important style, my wishful style, my off-night style. I've got all sorts of styles. I don't quite know how I feel about this current style. The one I'm using tonight (Or rather, the one I was using until I started writing about styles. My current style just shifted a ton now that we're on the subject.) Anyways. The style I was using tonight never really sits well down in my gut. There's always that feeling of unease, like I ought to go back and change it. And yet, because of the style, I don't go back to change it. It's my "I know this isn't the best, but I'm running with it anyways" style.
Hmm, it's not quite my style.
I do love writing. It's something I'd like to be better at. Something I need to practice more. I want to really get in to writing Water. I've got a complete rewrite planned. Haha, I only wrote three impacts, and I'm already ready to have a second run at it. It's a fun little idea in my head, that water is. Garbage Can, he'll be back. I'm going to write, no worries.
I really really like that paint sketch I made a few nights ago. It's the post that is two underneath this one. It's currently my messenger display pic. I like it a lot more when it's squished down than when it is full sized. I don't know what it is, there's something cool about paint sketches. It's unusual for me to express my feelings in a medium like that. I've never been too successful at letting stuff out through art. But here we are, I'm happy with it. I really think it says something, at least to me.
Who knew MS Paint could be so beautiful?
Spring is coming. I love it.
My friends are genuinely good people. I love that too.
I love the fact that they have important things to say. I love that we can talk about physics, and why me and brad messed up, and why kyle was the only one to get it right. I like that my boys have concerns and hopes and dreams and fears and the occasional wisecrack about my pancreas. We're independent beings with so much to offer each other. It's amazing to just stand around and bounce ideas off of each other, to be made better by being with one another. Good crap, I'm impressed with my peers.
I'm really excited for the future, just to find out where we all go. It's going to be an honor to be called a contemporary of any one of you out there. When they're doing a PBS special on one of us, oh yeah, we're all gonna be connected. Contemporary. It's a nice title.
Idea-a-day for January didn't quite work. Alas.
But that's alright. I think my focus in February will be to write as often as possible. I have something to write about every night, guaranteed. I could post every single day if I really really wanted to. I think that'd be a good idea. It'd get more feelings out, more ideas developed. It'd improve my writing, and maybe it'd give you something to do in the mean time.
Life's alright. We're moving along. I love my AP classes. There's a lot of really good feelings in this world.
There's nothing better than dominating your homework. That feeling you get when you can close one textbook, take a deep breath, and jump right into another. When you've read a whole chapter of history, and still managed to find time and energy to work your way through a golden physics assignment. Late at night, toiling away at that desk. It's a great feeling. Pulling it all off like that, I wouldn't trade it. I love it.
I love AP history. There's so much good stuff to learn in there. I love all my classes, I'm just crazy about learning stuff these days.
Yeah, things are moving along. We've got our issues, but we're getting there. We're gonna be huge, you and I. We're going somewhere, somewhere big. The world's never seen anybody like us. We're newschool, but we're not going to forget the power of the oldschool. We're going to change things. And yet, at the same time, we're going to uphold the things that need to be upheld. We're going to do the right things.
Yep. You and I- we're gonna be huge.
Friday, January 26, 2007
Lessons - Part One
I have meant to make a 2006 review for quite some time now. I am, regrettably, 25 days late at this point. I hope that it was worth the wait.
I knew that I wanted to make the review, but I wasn't sure what form I wanted it to take. 2006 was a huge year for me, and I really wanted to do it justice. I considered a chronological listing of all the adventure's I'd had, or perhaps an analysis of all the big changes I'd made in my life. I thought about all the accomplishments I'd had, all the things I'd posted, and all the races I'd run.
In the end, I decided to choose the review that would be most helpful to me as a person.
I firmly believe that life is always trying to teach me lessons. Situations and conflicts are being thrown my way every day. The concept is that as I hurdle these problems I become more and more capable of hurdling bigger problems in the future. I develop skills and abilities as a result of my hurdling, and eventually I'll be able to tackle bigger, more important stuff, later on.
It's a learning process, one that I'm involved in every single day. Not a week goes by that doesn't have a valuable lesson in it for me to learn. That is really the jist of life, the whole concept.
Learn from it.
And so friends, I begin my 2006 review. Not an encyclopedia of my greatest ultimate moments, and not a showcase of stellar events or dates. Simply a look back at important realizations that I came to. Some of them are valuable advice I give to myself, and some others are just better ways of looking at things. In any event, these are the important things I've learned.
The review will come in a three post package. Post one will contain the least-influential ones. Post two will be the more important ones, and post three will be the culmination of it all, containing the really really big ones. It's gonna be awesome.
Without further ado -->
Lessons - 2006
Number One: Love-
2004 marked the first year that I had ever held a girls hand. 2005, consequently, marked the first year I ever broke up with a girl. It was interesting, the whole breaking up business. I honestly thought I'd be fine. In the weeks building up to the event, I was much more worried about how she'd take it than how I'd be. I honestly thought I'd be able to walk out of it and be alright.
Hahahah, funny joke. I was an emotional wreck- it was insane. For someone who prided himself on being emotionally stable, this was the last thing I expected. I was mad at myself for not being over her, and mad at myself for not being happy. I'm finally to the point where I can look back on the whole thing and laugh, even though it took me more than a year to finally be healed of it all.
At the first of 2006, I wasn't entirely whole yet, but I was getting close. It was in these early moments of the year that I came up with my theory on love. I know that it's incomplete, but it's a nice little comparison.
Love is like life on steroids. Being in love is just like any other time in your life, except this time it's multiplied by three. If, for the purpose of this example, we were to assign everyone a happiness scale, going from negative ten to positive ten, where zero was neutral. So, for example, eating lunch and being moderately happy would be somewhere around 5. Taking a test and not being prepared makes you sad, so it'd be somewhere around -4. Get the picture?
Great.
Throughout the day our happiness levels fluctuate; it's a normal and healthy thing. I'll wake up a two, have a six in seminary, go to eight in junior choir, and drop to negative five by the end of the period. It just happens.
But then you get a girlfriend, and the same day is crazy amazing. You wake up, and what would have been a two is a six. Why? Because there's a girl out there that is in love with you, it's a party. You go to seminary, and what used to be a six is now 18. Wow, life is good. The nine in junior choir is just a party, 27. That's unheard of during normal civilian life.
And then whatever made you hit that negative five suddenly makes you a negative 15. Ouch.
See, that's the kicker. In love, life hits the highest highs and the lowest lows. Everything is multiplied by three. There's amazing times, and there's heart-wrenching go-cry-yourself-to-sleep times. It's a gamble. Sure, you get more rewards out if you win, but you're broke if you lose.
We can compare it to hunting. Civilian, or normal, life is like hunting with a BB gun. You are really only able to take out small birds and squirrels, so you don't eat a feast every meal. You're still getting by though. One day you're out in the forest shooting woodland creatures and you accidentally hit your left foot. It hurts. You raise the gun and shoot a squirrel and eat it.
Now, Life in love is like hunting with a rocket propelled grenade. You can take down a wooly mammoth, you eat like a king all day long. Dinosaurs, Tanks, Nessy- nothing can touch you, you've got highly explosive projectiles at your disposal. One day you're trailing an African elephant, hoping to throw a great feast once you kill it, and you accidentally shoot your left foot. It hurts. You try to raise the fun to shoot the elephant, but the fact that both your legs and one arm just got blown off prevents you. Sitting there in the crater, you can't help but feel a little bit like a thumb. You've got no appendages! You're a quadriplegic! You live in a modified wheel chair for the rest of your life.
So, really. BB gun versus RPG. It's great to eat elephants and all, but what happens when you shoot your foot? I'll tell you what happens.
Wheelchairs happen.
Number Two: The only way to win involves spirit and legs
On February 10th, 2006, we didn't have a real frisbee club at Taylorsville. None of us had ever heard of the biscuit, and Brad Shelton wasn't even close to Bultimate. As far as I knew, I was pretty much the only sophomore that was in to Ultimate. I had tried to get my friends to play in ninth grade, but that didn't really work.
I had been playing around with the idea of bringing my boys to Frisbee Friday for a while, but scheduling never seemed to work out. That night was the first night that I ever really took my boys.
I remember it clearly. I can still feel the hard, frozen ground. I can still see the ice forming on the grass, the coefficient of friction plummeting as the night drew cold.
Only five sophies showed up, only five old folks too. This was back in the day when Brad Withers was in charge. He is still my greatest Ultimate inspiration. I can only dream of pulling off some of the stunts he performed.
It ended up that whatever team had Withers on it blew the other team out. We played three games like this, always joking about playing sophies versus old men. We knew that it'd be a blow out, but after so many blow outs, we were ready for a fourth.
Me, Levi, Kyle, Jason, and Glen all came over for a little team huddle before the kick off. We knew we were going to lose. It was inevitable, these guys were just too good. In the chilly moonlight, we promised that we wouldn't go down without a fight. We vowed to sweat and try harder than they were willing to. We were not going to be shut out, we were going to make them see.
And so we did. We couldn't throw as straight or as far back then, and our catching could have used some serious work. Our game plan was simple. Run fast, pass a lot. Quick, chaotic cuts. Never give up.
We scored. Four times.
It was that night that I truly began to believe in the power of spirit-legs. I was so moved by our victory that I wrote one of the most poetic and moving posts of my life. I suggest reading it.
February 10th, 2006. Game On
The concept is simple. He who is willing to run harder than the other will win. Now, this has its limitations, but there is much to be said about spirit-legs. We couldn't possibly beat the old men, but we had a much better shot at it if we ran than if we tried to out-skill them.
This is the philosophy I have tried to take with basketball. I am not Jamarcus- I cannot dunk. I am a 150 lb whiteboy; basketball is not my strong point.
And yet, I play. My only chance of winning is spirit-legs, and you better believe these little legs are pumping. I'm simply going to try harder than the next guy. That's what victory comes down to. I want to leave my whole soul out there on the court. The day that I can finally achieve that, then will I win at basketball.
The only way to win involves spirit and legs.
What'd I learn? I learned that I've got to run like crazy.
Number Three: Eat your Vegetables.
Last year, through some thinking, I came to the conclusion that nobody has ever really been me. People tell me all the time to eat my vegetables, but does anyone really know that vegetables are good for me? I mean, maybe they're good for Glen, but I've never had the opportunity to eat a vegetable on Friday, January 26th and feel good on Saturday, January 27th.
Nobody has ever gone to school as Kyle except for Kyle. Nobody has ever taken the exact same basketball shots as I have.
None of us have woken up on Monday the 29th yet. It's going to be a completely new experience. You and I are walking through paths that have never ever been trod before. We are an entirely new and fresh generation.
I'm new to this whole bit. This whole, life, thing. I don't know what Monday will bring. When it comes, I'm going to do my best to roll with it. Chances are I'll make mistakes.
The same goes for you. One day a girl will tell me she likes me. I've never been there before, so I'm gonna have absolutely no idea how to react to that. Kyle's got no idea either. Austin will probably pee his pants.
So, ladies, forgive us for being stupid sometimes. We're new to this. We're new to math, we're new to malthusian population crises, and by golly, we're new to Monday. We're all treading new ground here. None of my teachers at school have ever gone through one of my days doing exactly what I do.
So really, it's alright to have no idea. Because we're new. Scientific evidence is great and all, but those guys in lab coats aren't me. They don't know that eating broccoli is good for me. They know that, statistically, it's supposed to have health benefits. But nobody has ever run through 72 years of my life with me eating broccoli, and then the same exact 72 years of my life without me eating broccoli, to see what the differences are. Completely new territory here folks.
What did I learn from this? I learned that all of us are going to make mistakes in life, but that's part of the deal. We're all insecure sometimes, we're all awkward and learning. I also learned that nobody can truly tell me what to do in a given situation. Maybe they've done something similar before, but they've never had to make the decision that I, the real me, am going to have to make.
So hey, let's cut each other a little slack. We're new here.
~~~~
Bam, I think that's all we've got for now. Expect some more of this coming later. Honestly, these ones aren't all that good. I'm really only excited to write about three ideas I've had all year. I think it's a good idea to revisit the stuff I learned, but this stuff hasn't had a big impact on me. It's all about the big three. So, expect those soon, they're gonna be good. Hope you enjoyed.
I knew that I wanted to make the review, but I wasn't sure what form I wanted it to take. 2006 was a huge year for me, and I really wanted to do it justice. I considered a chronological listing of all the adventure's I'd had, or perhaps an analysis of all the big changes I'd made in my life. I thought about all the accomplishments I'd had, all the things I'd posted, and all the races I'd run.
In the end, I decided to choose the review that would be most helpful to me as a person.
I firmly believe that life is always trying to teach me lessons. Situations and conflicts are being thrown my way every day. The concept is that as I hurdle these problems I become more and more capable of hurdling bigger problems in the future. I develop skills and abilities as a result of my hurdling, and eventually I'll be able to tackle bigger, more important stuff, later on.
It's a learning process, one that I'm involved in every single day. Not a week goes by that doesn't have a valuable lesson in it for me to learn. That is really the jist of life, the whole concept.
Learn from it.
And so friends, I begin my 2006 review. Not an encyclopedia of my greatest ultimate moments, and not a showcase of stellar events or dates. Simply a look back at important realizations that I came to. Some of them are valuable advice I give to myself, and some others are just better ways of looking at things. In any event, these are the important things I've learned.
The review will come in a three post package. Post one will contain the least-influential ones. Post two will be the more important ones, and post three will be the culmination of it all, containing the really really big ones. It's gonna be awesome.
Without further ado -->
Lessons - 2006
Number One: Love-
2004 marked the first year that I had ever held a girls hand. 2005, consequently, marked the first year I ever broke up with a girl. It was interesting, the whole breaking up business. I honestly thought I'd be fine. In the weeks building up to the event, I was much more worried about how she'd take it than how I'd be. I honestly thought I'd be able to walk out of it and be alright.
Hahahah, funny joke. I was an emotional wreck- it was insane. For someone who prided himself on being emotionally stable, this was the last thing I expected. I was mad at myself for not being over her, and mad at myself for not being happy. I'm finally to the point where I can look back on the whole thing and laugh, even though it took me more than a year to finally be healed of it all.
At the first of 2006, I wasn't entirely whole yet, but I was getting close. It was in these early moments of the year that I came up with my theory on love. I know that it's incomplete, but it's a nice little comparison.
Love is like life on steroids. Being in love is just like any other time in your life, except this time it's multiplied by three. If, for the purpose of this example, we were to assign everyone a happiness scale, going from negative ten to positive ten, where zero was neutral. So, for example, eating lunch and being moderately happy would be somewhere around 5. Taking a test and not being prepared makes you sad, so it'd be somewhere around -4. Get the picture?
Great.
Throughout the day our happiness levels fluctuate; it's a normal and healthy thing. I'll wake up a two, have a six in seminary, go to eight in junior choir, and drop to negative five by the end of the period. It just happens.
But then you get a girlfriend, and the same day is crazy amazing. You wake up, and what would have been a two is a six. Why? Because there's a girl out there that is in love with you, it's a party. You go to seminary, and what used to be a six is now 18. Wow, life is good. The nine in junior choir is just a party, 27. That's unheard of during normal civilian life.
And then whatever made you hit that negative five suddenly makes you a negative 15. Ouch.
See, that's the kicker. In love, life hits the highest highs and the lowest lows. Everything is multiplied by three. There's amazing times, and there's heart-wrenching go-cry-yourself-to-sleep times. It's a gamble. Sure, you get more rewards out if you win, but you're broke if you lose.
We can compare it to hunting. Civilian, or normal, life is like hunting with a BB gun. You are really only able to take out small birds and squirrels, so you don't eat a feast every meal. You're still getting by though. One day you're out in the forest shooting woodland creatures and you accidentally hit your left foot. It hurts. You raise the gun and shoot a squirrel and eat it.
Now, Life in love is like hunting with a rocket propelled grenade. You can take down a wooly mammoth, you eat like a king all day long. Dinosaurs, Tanks, Nessy- nothing can touch you, you've got highly explosive projectiles at your disposal. One day you're trailing an African elephant, hoping to throw a great feast once you kill it, and you accidentally shoot your left foot. It hurts. You try to raise the fun to shoot the elephant, but the fact that both your legs and one arm just got blown off prevents you. Sitting there in the crater, you can't help but feel a little bit like a thumb. You've got no appendages! You're a quadriplegic! You live in a modified wheel chair for the rest of your life.
So, really. BB gun versus RPG. It's great to eat elephants and all, but what happens when you shoot your foot? I'll tell you what happens.
Wheelchairs happen.
Number Two: The only way to win involves spirit and legs
On February 10th, 2006, we didn't have a real frisbee club at Taylorsville. None of us had ever heard of the biscuit, and Brad Shelton wasn't even close to Bultimate. As far as I knew, I was pretty much the only sophomore that was in to Ultimate. I had tried to get my friends to play in ninth grade, but that didn't really work.
I had been playing around with the idea of bringing my boys to Frisbee Friday for a while, but scheduling never seemed to work out. That night was the first night that I ever really took my boys.
I remember it clearly. I can still feel the hard, frozen ground. I can still see the ice forming on the grass, the coefficient of friction plummeting as the night drew cold.
Only five sophies showed up, only five old folks too. This was back in the day when Brad Withers was in charge. He is still my greatest Ultimate inspiration. I can only dream of pulling off some of the stunts he performed.
It ended up that whatever team had Withers on it blew the other team out. We played three games like this, always joking about playing sophies versus old men. We knew that it'd be a blow out, but after so many blow outs, we were ready for a fourth.
Me, Levi, Kyle, Jason, and Glen all came over for a little team huddle before the kick off. We knew we were going to lose. It was inevitable, these guys were just too good. In the chilly moonlight, we promised that we wouldn't go down without a fight. We vowed to sweat and try harder than they were willing to. We were not going to be shut out, we were going to make them see.
And so we did. We couldn't throw as straight or as far back then, and our catching could have used some serious work. Our game plan was simple. Run fast, pass a lot. Quick, chaotic cuts. Never give up.
We scored. Four times.
It was that night that I truly began to believe in the power of spirit-legs. I was so moved by our victory that I wrote one of the most poetic and moving posts of my life. I suggest reading it.
February 10th, 2006. Game On
The concept is simple. He who is willing to run harder than the other will win. Now, this has its limitations, but there is much to be said about spirit-legs. We couldn't possibly beat the old men, but we had a much better shot at it if we ran than if we tried to out-skill them.
This is the philosophy I have tried to take with basketball. I am not Jamarcus- I cannot dunk. I am a 150 lb whiteboy; basketball is not my strong point.
And yet, I play. My only chance of winning is spirit-legs, and you better believe these little legs are pumping. I'm simply going to try harder than the next guy. That's what victory comes down to. I want to leave my whole soul out there on the court. The day that I can finally achieve that, then will I win at basketball.
The only way to win involves spirit and legs.
What'd I learn? I learned that I've got to run like crazy.
Number Three: Eat your Vegetables.
Last year, through some thinking, I came to the conclusion that nobody has ever really been me. People tell me all the time to eat my vegetables, but does anyone really know that vegetables are good for me? I mean, maybe they're good for Glen, but I've never had the opportunity to eat a vegetable on Friday, January 26th and feel good on Saturday, January 27th.
Nobody has ever gone to school as Kyle except for Kyle. Nobody has ever taken the exact same basketball shots as I have.
None of us have woken up on Monday the 29th yet. It's going to be a completely new experience. You and I are walking through paths that have never ever been trod before. We are an entirely new and fresh generation.
I'm new to this whole bit. This whole, life, thing. I don't know what Monday will bring. When it comes, I'm going to do my best to roll with it. Chances are I'll make mistakes.
The same goes for you. One day a girl will tell me she likes me. I've never been there before, so I'm gonna have absolutely no idea how to react to that. Kyle's got no idea either. Austin will probably pee his pants.
So, ladies, forgive us for being stupid sometimes. We're new to this. We're new to math, we're new to malthusian population crises, and by golly, we're new to Monday. We're all treading new ground here. None of my teachers at school have ever gone through one of my days doing exactly what I do.
So really, it's alright to have no idea. Because we're new. Scientific evidence is great and all, but those guys in lab coats aren't me. They don't know that eating broccoli is good for me. They know that, statistically, it's supposed to have health benefits. But nobody has ever run through 72 years of my life with me eating broccoli, and then the same exact 72 years of my life without me eating broccoli, to see what the differences are. Completely new territory here folks.
What did I learn from this? I learned that all of us are going to make mistakes in life, but that's part of the deal. We're all insecure sometimes, we're all awkward and learning. I also learned that nobody can truly tell me what to do in a given situation. Maybe they've done something similar before, but they've never had to make the decision that I, the real me, am going to have to make.
So hey, let's cut each other a little slack. We're new here.
~~~~
Bam, I think that's all we've got for now. Expect some more of this coming later. Honestly, these ones aren't all that good. I'm really only excited to write about three ideas I've had all year. I think it's a good idea to revisit the stuff I learned, but this stuff hasn't had a big impact on me. It's all about the big three. So, expect those soon, they're gonna be good. Hope you enjoyed.
Monday, January 22, 2007
Sunday, January 21, 2007
Post 198 - January 20, 2007
Welcome to another off-night. I've spoken of these before. They are the nights when I'm not my usual self because of the stuff that's going on inside of me. I don't understand them, but I think that's the point.
So here goes another one. A monument to the insides of me on January 20th, 2007. I know that tomorrow's insides are going to be fine. Me and them, we're gonna laugh and smile and play and dream about what's coming up. Things are going to be normal tomorrow. They aren't tonight; that's not a bad thing.
It's just a different thing, that's all.
Maybe I don't need to write tonight. Maybe things are alright. I wonder about that; it seems like a little bit of a let down. Really, I know full well how different things are tonight. That always makes for an interesting journey of self discovery that is of great value in the future.
I don't know how I feel about these semi-colons. Mr Harward taught me about my abuse of comma splices. I loved the way that it sounded; it just wasn't correct grammar. So now it's fixed, and whenever I would have put a comma splice before I just put a semi-colon and things work great.
But it presents a problem- one that I don't really like. I regard semi-colons as something marvelous and useful. As such, they deserve to be used rarely. The over-use and repetition of something glorious in writing leads to its devaluation.
And so yeah, it's grammatically correct. But c'mon, I don't want to rip off the semi colon. So what's the choice gonna be? Write in good form, or respect the semi colon? I'm not sure; we'll see what happens.
I have a slight head ache. Curious, because I never have head aches. Interesting, eh?
It all goes back to lessons I've learned. Tonight's peculiar, and I believe that it's peculiar for a reason. The trouble is that I can't figure out why it's so peculiar. What message am I supposed to be getting? What have I missed today? Where's the missing piece?
Because honestly, it's got to be out there. I know there's a message- a lesson, a moral, anything- out there.
I want to take a drive. I wouldn't mind driving to Logan right now. That's how I got a lot of my driver's ed hours in so I could get my license; driving to and from Logan. Andrew and Nathan were up there at school, so we always had an excuse to head up there. It was hard to sit for that long, and being a new driver it was a very very long drive for me. I had trouble staying awake and alert the one time, but I did alright.
I don't know why, a drive just sounds like the thing to do right now.
Of course, I'm not going to go on a drive. Tomorrow morning's insides aren't going to want to go to Logan. But hey, this isn't a monument to tomorrow, it's a monument to today.
What am I thinking? What am I feeling? Is this really what's out there? What about every other night? What about the adventures, and the quests, what about all of that? What about Ultimate? Ultimate doesn't fit into tonight.
Maybe that's it.
Yeah, I think it is.
Things are going to be ok.
That's one thing I can learn from tonight, because I have no idea what's going to happen, but I know that things are going to work out.
I don't know what Monday has in store for me. I don't know if I'm going to like my new schedule, I'm going to miss my friends. I don't know what's going to happen when I grow up. Where I'll live, how life will be, I have no idea. I don't know about the social situation.
That's the moral of the story. I honestly don't know what to do about some stuff, and that's ok.
I think that there was somebody I was supposed to talk to tonight that I didn't. We passed a few friendly words around, but not as deep as it needed to be. If that was you, sorry about that, I was sorta wrapped up in my own confusion.
Bravery, that's one step.
It's now 1:10, and I'm going to retire to bed. Monument to today's insides, eh? And already I want to take it down.
Here's to you, consecutive integers.
Here's to you, contrast.
Here's to you, hindsight.
Here's to you, conservation of Messenger happiness.
Here's to you, wonder.
Here's to you, off-nights.
I'm glad that I get to feel like this every once in a while. I hope that you're all doing well. I hope that you're all working hard and moving forward. I'm really going to miss my history and math classes. Leaving communities is a hard thing to do. You get attached and don't realize it. We're all in it together; we're all learning and growing in the same boat. We're subjected to the same treatment- we combat it as one. I'm going to miss my compatriots.
It's funny, the leaving communities business. I might have written about this before. I miss the guys from downstairs at mcdougal's. I miss mama weeks, me and her haven't had occasion to have much small talk for a while.
Things are going to be ok. We're moving along. Gears are in motion, my life is progressing. There's work to be done. I want so badly to make a difference. That's what I want to do.
Smile, things are going to be ok.
So here goes another one. A monument to the insides of me on January 20th, 2007. I know that tomorrow's insides are going to be fine. Me and them, we're gonna laugh and smile and play and dream about what's coming up. Things are going to be normal tomorrow. They aren't tonight; that's not a bad thing.
It's just a different thing, that's all.
Maybe I don't need to write tonight. Maybe things are alright. I wonder about that; it seems like a little bit of a let down. Really, I know full well how different things are tonight. That always makes for an interesting journey of self discovery that is of great value in the future.
I don't know how I feel about these semi-colons. Mr Harward taught me about my abuse of comma splices. I loved the way that it sounded; it just wasn't correct grammar. So now it's fixed, and whenever I would have put a comma splice before I just put a semi-colon and things work great.
But it presents a problem- one that I don't really like. I regard semi-colons as something marvelous and useful. As such, they deserve to be used rarely. The over-use and repetition of something glorious in writing leads to its devaluation.
And so yeah, it's grammatically correct. But c'mon, I don't want to rip off the semi colon. So what's the choice gonna be? Write in good form, or respect the semi colon? I'm not sure; we'll see what happens.
I have a slight head ache. Curious, because I never have head aches. Interesting, eh?
It all goes back to lessons I've learned. Tonight's peculiar, and I believe that it's peculiar for a reason. The trouble is that I can't figure out why it's so peculiar. What message am I supposed to be getting? What have I missed today? Where's the missing piece?
Because honestly, it's got to be out there. I know there's a message- a lesson, a moral, anything- out there.
I want to take a drive. I wouldn't mind driving to Logan right now. That's how I got a lot of my driver's ed hours in so I could get my license; driving to and from Logan. Andrew and Nathan were up there at school, so we always had an excuse to head up there. It was hard to sit for that long, and being a new driver it was a very very long drive for me. I had trouble staying awake and alert the one time, but I did alright.
I don't know why, a drive just sounds like the thing to do right now.
Of course, I'm not going to go on a drive. Tomorrow morning's insides aren't going to want to go to Logan. But hey, this isn't a monument to tomorrow, it's a monument to today.
What am I thinking? What am I feeling? Is this really what's out there? What about every other night? What about the adventures, and the quests, what about all of that? What about Ultimate? Ultimate doesn't fit into tonight.
Maybe that's it.
Yeah, I think it is.
Things are going to be ok.
That's one thing I can learn from tonight, because I have no idea what's going to happen, but I know that things are going to work out.
I don't know what Monday has in store for me. I don't know if I'm going to like my new schedule, I'm going to miss my friends. I don't know what's going to happen when I grow up. Where I'll live, how life will be, I have no idea. I don't know about the social situation.
That's the moral of the story. I honestly don't know what to do about some stuff, and that's ok.
I think that there was somebody I was supposed to talk to tonight that I didn't. We passed a few friendly words around, but not as deep as it needed to be. If that was you, sorry about that, I was sorta wrapped up in my own confusion.
Bravery, that's one step.
It's now 1:10, and I'm going to retire to bed. Monument to today's insides, eh? And already I want to take it down.
Here's to you, consecutive integers.
Here's to you, contrast.
Here's to you, hindsight.
Here's to you, conservation of Messenger happiness.
Here's to you, wonder.
Here's to you, off-nights.
I'm glad that I get to feel like this every once in a while. I hope that you're all doing well. I hope that you're all working hard and moving forward. I'm really going to miss my history and math classes. Leaving communities is a hard thing to do. You get attached and don't realize it. We're all in it together; we're all learning and growing in the same boat. We're subjected to the same treatment- we combat it as one. I'm going to miss my compatriots.
It's funny, the leaving communities business. I might have written about this before. I miss the guys from downstairs at mcdougal's. I miss mama weeks, me and her haven't had occasion to have much small talk for a while.
Things are going to be ok. We're moving along. Gears are in motion, my life is progressing. There's work to be done. I want so badly to make a difference. That's what I want to do.
Smile, things are going to be ok.
Saturday, January 20, 2007
More Than a Feeling
I'm going to go to bed really soon, but I feel I need to say a few things.
For starters, spontaneous was awesome. I'm super glad that Marissa asked me so I could go, cause I was way too lazy that day to ask anybody. I'm very happy it happened though, hooblay! It was just so much fun, being with all my friends, eating cheez-its. Good times, All y'alls rock.
And that last line is really all this post is about. My friends are awesome. They are good people, with a lot to offer the world. I'm so excited to see where the future takes each of you. We're going to change the world, do you realize that?
What is Eric gonna do when he grows up? I don't know, but I bet it's gonna be awesome, just like Shaun.
Things are going to be good. We're going places; we're going to change things.
Class of '08 rocks.
For starters, spontaneous was awesome. I'm super glad that Marissa asked me so I could go, cause I was way too lazy that day to ask anybody. I'm very happy it happened though, hooblay! It was just so much fun, being with all my friends, eating cheez-its. Good times, All y'alls rock.
And that last line is really all this post is about. My friends are awesome. They are good people, with a lot to offer the world. I'm so excited to see where the future takes each of you. We're going to change the world, do you realize that?
What is Eric gonna do when he grows up? I don't know, but I bet it's gonna be awesome, just like Shaun.
Things are going to be good. We're going places; we're going to change things.
Class of '08 rocks.
Thursday, January 18, 2007
Ferocious
Welcome to the bench.
It's the uncomfortable pause between the third and fourth quarters, and the good guys are down by 25 points.
The team looks downtrodden. We've been getting humiliated out there; we haven't done a thing. I know it's time for a morale boost, so I prepare to bust out the big guns.
Whipping off my sweat-band, I motion to the girls across the court to watch this mad action. Excitement builds, the wringing of the absorbent forehead decoration is a glorious sight to behold. I fold the band once, then twice. I place my hands.
Deep breath in.
Deep breath out. This is going to be intense.
Deep breath in.
Pause.
Pause.
Twist.
.....
Twist again.
.....
.....
Grunt, twist.
Twist, twist, fold, twist, grunt, twist, grunt, twist, twist.
Pause.
Barren, that's what it was. The thing was freakin' dry. Not a drop; not a swig. It was the dryest sweatband in the entire gymnasium.
I was embarassed.
It was then, in that crestfallen moment that I realized why we were losing so hard.
We were not being ferocious.
And ferocious was what we should have been being.
~
All my life I've been me.
Being me, I've been blessed with many talents, characteristics, and abilities. Throughout my life these have come in handy. Be it dominating the national nerd tournament or running nine miles one Monday morning, I've got the tools to accomplish certain tasks.
Basketball isn't one of those adventures that I'm cut out for.
A wrench can't be scissors.
Why should it try to be scissors? It's not designed for that kind of labor, it's built to wrench-ify things.
By all means Mr. Wrench, stick to wrenching, for all of our sakes.
~
I am not a baller. I am not a big black guy with a name like Jamarcus and vertical hops like a freight elevator. I am not huge; I do not have post moves. I do not have streetball skills. I do not have churchball, schoolball- not even tetherball- skills.
But I'm tenacious, and I'm pretty sure I've got them on distance. I woke up every morning last summer and ran my heart out. My calves and quads got huge; my determination factor needed its own zip code. I went through a gallon and a half of water a day. I got sweat rings down to my belly button six days a week.
Fast, that's what I am.
Tired? I don't even know what that word means.
~
This Saturday, 3 PM, we take the court one more time. We're 0-2. We've got nothing to lose.
And you know what we're going to do? It's so simple; it finally clicked.
We're going to play to our strengths. We're gonna run the bad guys. To death.
I can't outplay them. I can't outjump them. The chances of me scoring a date with their sisters is slim to nill.
But you know what? I can outlast them. I can run up and down that court for a week after they've fallen over and been forced to eat their shoelaces for sustenance.
Ferocious. That's what we're going to be.
Sweat. That's what's going to be everywhere.
Bultimate's legacy lives on. I will never give up. I will run the bad guys every single play. I will hustle them up and down the court until they can be hustled no more.
I am not walking away empty-handed. I can't beat them on skill, but I refuse to be defeated on speed. I'm going to go down fighting; their only chance is to hope for an early-game knee injury, otherwise they're gonna be awfully embarassed when the nerdy kid is racing it all up in their grills.
Saturday, 3 PM. Game time. I will not slow down. I will not pace myself. I will not give up. I am Christopher Thatcher, I'm taking it straight to them.
It's the uncomfortable pause between the third and fourth quarters, and the good guys are down by 25 points.
The team looks downtrodden. We've been getting humiliated out there; we haven't done a thing. I know it's time for a morale boost, so I prepare to bust out the big guns.
Whipping off my sweat-band, I motion to the girls across the court to watch this mad action. Excitement builds, the wringing of the absorbent forehead decoration is a glorious sight to behold. I fold the band once, then twice. I place my hands.
Deep breath in.
Deep breath out. This is going to be intense.
Deep breath in.
Pause.
Pause.
Twist.
.....
Twist again.
.....
.....
Grunt, twist.
Twist, twist, fold, twist, grunt, twist, grunt, twist, twist.
Pause.
Barren, that's what it was. The thing was freakin' dry. Not a drop; not a swig. It was the dryest sweatband in the entire gymnasium.
I was embarassed.
It was then, in that crestfallen moment that I realized why we were losing so hard.
We were not being ferocious.
And ferocious was what we should have been being.
~
All my life I've been me.
Being me, I've been blessed with many talents, characteristics, and abilities. Throughout my life these have come in handy. Be it dominating the national nerd tournament or running nine miles one Monday morning, I've got the tools to accomplish certain tasks.
Basketball isn't one of those adventures that I'm cut out for.
A wrench can't be scissors.
Why should it try to be scissors? It's not designed for that kind of labor, it's built to wrench-ify things.
By all means Mr. Wrench, stick to wrenching, for all of our sakes.
~
I am not a baller. I am not a big black guy with a name like Jamarcus and vertical hops like a freight elevator. I am not huge; I do not have post moves. I do not have streetball skills. I do not have churchball, schoolball- not even tetherball- skills.
But I'm tenacious, and I'm pretty sure I've got them on distance. I woke up every morning last summer and ran my heart out. My calves and quads got huge; my determination factor needed its own zip code. I went through a gallon and a half of water a day. I got sweat rings down to my belly button six days a week.
Fast, that's what I am.
Tired? I don't even know what that word means.
~
This Saturday, 3 PM, we take the court one more time. We're 0-2. We've got nothing to lose.
And you know what we're going to do? It's so simple; it finally clicked.
We're going to play to our strengths. We're gonna run the bad guys. To death.
I can't outplay them. I can't outjump them. The chances of me scoring a date with their sisters is slim to nill.
But you know what? I can outlast them. I can run up and down that court for a week after they've fallen over and been forced to eat their shoelaces for sustenance.
Ferocious. That's what we're going to be.
Sweat. That's what's going to be everywhere.
Bultimate's legacy lives on. I will never give up. I will run the bad guys every single play. I will hustle them up and down the court until they can be hustled no more.
I am not walking away empty-handed. I can't beat them on skill, but I refuse to be defeated on speed. I'm going to go down fighting; their only chance is to hope for an early-game knee injury, otherwise they're gonna be awfully embarassed when the nerdy kid is racing it all up in their grills.
Saturday, 3 PM. Game time. I will not slow down. I will not pace myself. I will not give up. I am Christopher Thatcher, I'm taking it straight to them.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
