Randomness

Lost Season 6 has been great so far. It's a shame we have to watch it with commercials now (since it's not up on NetFlix until after the whole season is complete). I'm using a Mac right now in the computer lab. I don't care for it, prefer a PC.

The More the Merrier

So I've been wasting many hours today because previously my apartment was a short drive from AUM so I'd go home during my long breaks, but since we moved a little further away I've been just sticking it out between classes. But why not add a few blogs? I have no illusions of reaching 70, but the more the merrier I suppose.

Are People Stupid?

Are people stupid? There are unfortunately a great number of people who think so. Why do they think so?

People do stupid things. People say stupid things. People think stupid things. But people are not stupid. It's just the downside of the unity concept. Unfortunately sometimes when people gather, their faults can combine and multiply. Each new generation then becomes enslaved in the conditioning of the previous one.

If you take the average person and put them in the proper environment, they will flourish. It's a shame that we just think this or that person is just incapable of real intelligence. Especially here in the school environment, I can see so much potential. Yeah, most people won't be able to immediately have a practical discussion (free from repitition of religious conditioning, on what life is all about). That's not to say that religious ideas don't hold some semblance of truth, but it's to say that truth is not something that can be repeated from the intellect, no more so than the "intelligence" of a computer pulling up passages from a religious text to answer any input question. I think that human intelligence is so much more fluid than that, so much more capable than that, that it can flow in everyday life to understand our human experience, our purpose here, without relying on other people's ideas.

But people have so much to offer, and there is so much intelligence expressed in many ways. When we are thinking other people are stupid, it's usually us who are the stupid ones. I don't think that it's about being blindly optimistic about everything, just realistic in that everything exists for a reason. People behave the way they do for a reason.

Unity

Yet another thing I realized during the moving process was the concept of unity. We were loading the truck, and I looked at the friends helping, and I realized that all the psychological weight that my wife and I had been carrying by ourselves had magically been diminished significantly. It was not only being shared, but it was being cured, it was disappearing.

It's an amazing thing in itself that as husband and wife, we are a team, therefore we are never alone. That is such an amazing thing that we can come to take for granted. We can become too comfortable and instead of seeing the other person for who they are, we see them as a compilation of memories, ideas, and concepts; and we can start to want to control the other person, or have commentary on every little thing. We're all guilty of it in everyday relationships, whether it's husband-wife, father-son, mother-daughter, daughter-father, etc. - the whole myriad of relationships; we are all guilty at times. But it's so fascinating when making an effort to see our close friends anew that a deeper respect and love begins to surface.

And so, these friends were there, and I was just amazed at how with friendship, all fear dissipated. It's a shame we let things slip into habits of self-interest, and so friendship and unity die. I think it's really worth the effort to keep it alive, not in an artificial sense but in the sense of making the effort to really see people, which brings me on to yet another topic.

Prioritizing and Doing Your Best (part 2/2)

And so, we decided to just do our best with our time and quit bitching about it. And you know, in the grand scheme of things, it was so much better this way. We went ahead and got the U-Haul on Saturday and kept it overnight. The two guys who could still help us could do so much earlier in the day. So we got started right at 8:30 a.m. and it was a gorgeous day all day long, with a nice breeze. Having only 2 people was a blessing in disguise because I'm sure if there were 4 or 5 or 6 people, it would have just been hectic and chaotic. Besides, there's only one entrance to the house. One of the guys had to leave after loading, but one of my wife's friends came to help the unloading. So with a loaded truck we all headed to have a nice big lunch at Moe's. The guy left and I did most of the heavy lifting from there while my wife and her friend unloaded boxes. It all worked out great in the end. And so, it was a learning experience. I've always known intellectually when I'm given time to think about it that we are never faced with anything we can't handle in some way or another. We are human, we will die, and in the middle we can only do our best. Stress and pressure are natural in a way, but I think it's imperative that we are able to deal with it without taking it out on other people or becoming ridiculous, because that's what happens when we let it in.

Prioritizing and Doing Your Best (part 1/2)

Moving has definitely been a learning process. I'm always surprised to see lessons in the ordinary events of life that most people just look over, or maybe just aren't so hot at being able to put the learning into words (which is doesn't necessarily have to be). Anyways, so time seemed to be against me, but in it I've learned to keep my cool (or make a fool of myself by losing it) and just role with the punches. For instance, my wife and I had reserved a truck for Saturday and several coworkers were planning on meeting us to help. Everything seemed to be in place. Despite warnings about weather from numerous friends, we stayed our course. I suppose a sense of positivity was clouding sound judgment. And so Saturday morning came and the weather forecasted numerous showers. So it was then that we were faced with a judgment call. And so we decided to put it off until Sunday, which wasn't possible for several of our friends who had to recall their offer. But it was out of our hands now. Nonetheless, we decided to make use of our time and so we boxed more stuff up, and we also headed to the new house to clean up a bit (you know, people leave dirty tubs, counters, etc., made worse by the fact that one of the sellers broke his arm while doing a repair, so his wife was stressed with everything, it's no surprise she couldn't deep clean the house). So we cleaned more or less all day.

Busy

I've been so unbelievably busy lately as I've been moving, working, and schooling. The moving has really thrown a wrench in there, although I will be glad to have it all done with at the same time school is out for the summer. Besides, busy is always fun in the end when you look back like, "Woah, we did all that?... Cool."

Funniest Moment Ever

Probably the funniest moment in my life happened several years ago when I was living with a couple friends in a two-story apartment. Somehow we were all too lazy to go upstairs to the bedroom to sleep so we'd all end up sleeping on couches and the floor. No problem since we had a U-shaped set of 3 sofas. One of my friends would roll out a mat on the floor and sleep there. I would sleep on one sofa, the one in the middle (the bottom of the U, not the sides), and my friend was sleeping on one of the other sofas.

Well it was one night when I had to get up really early for work the next morning, like 5 or 6 am, which is insanely early when normally we went to bed at 2 or 3 am. So to make sure I woke up, I set up an mp3 alarm clock on the computer to go off playing Rage Against the Machine (a very "hard" band) at a ridiculously loud volume when I needed to get up. No one else knew I had set the alarm clock.

The time hits and it goes off, playing this music super loud, my eyes pop open and my friend is already jumped up onto his feet from his sleep on an adjacent couch, and was several inches from my face screaming at the top of his lungs. No words, just AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!! ..... AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!! It was the funniest thing I've ever seen. He didn't know what to think at all. With music blaring I tried to calm him by telling him everything was okay. He kept screaming for several seconds. I had to jump over the couch and cut the music off. I'll never forget his face. He thought it was armageddon.

On the Topic of Getting Hit

What it comes down to is the parent's psychology. I see too many people hitting their kid out of anger. If a child needs to be smacked over something, then it should be a conscious decision on the part of the adult, from a sound psychology. Everyone says, "Well I got hit, and I'm fine," or, "I never got hit and I'm fine." But there are people who got hit that are today in prison for murder. There are also people who never got hit that are today in prison for murder. So instead of just wanting to repeat what our parents did, or what other people have done, let's try to approach our kids from a sound psychology. I don't have kids, but I have cats, a nephew, and a neice. We adults need to get our s**t together, seriously - mentally, psychologically - we need to find in ourselves how to become objective, not slaves to our emotions in such situations. I think human intelligence will dictate what is right in any given situation, instead of just relying on emotional and conditioned responses.

Paddled for Prom Dress Code Violation?

The article I read said 17 of the 18 students who were in violation of prom dress codes opted for a paddling... What a ridiculous event. What kind of grown person would feel comfortable paddling a bunch of 17/18 year old girls? And more, what kind of 17/18 year old chooses to get paddled? This is why I don't pay much attention to these things... people are crazy. Both sides, crazy.

To Switch or Not to Switch...

I have recently picked up a copy of The Elegant Universe as suggested by Jennifer, the subject of my profile. It's a book that outlines the struggles in modern physics to explain the universe, and to unify the theories found in relativistic physics and quantum physics. And it supposedly does all this in layman's terms. I've begun reading it, and it's very well written. I have been thinking about math, how it's interesting to play with numbers, but at the same time I find quantum physics to be very alluring as well. It's a lot of theory, but I think there are answers out there that are much simpler than we can imagine right now. For instance, Einstein's general theory of relativity was absolutely revolutionary in the world of physics, yet the concept itself isn't all that complicated. It basically says that there is no specific vantage point for the universe. For instance, planet A might be traveling 5,000 mph through space relative to planet B, but in relation to another planet it's only traveling 2,000 mph. There is no set "stationary" in space, movement can only be defined relativistically. Then throw in the simple concept that nothing can travel faster than the speed of light. So now there's an insanely simple concept that has so many complex implications. I think it's that sort of thing that the new research in physics is looking for.

So I've been wondering if turning back to the first instinct for a major I had would be a good idea. That was seven years ago when I decided I wanted to go the quantum physics route. I suppose I could go after a double major possibly. Either way, I won't have to set anything in stone at least for a couple more years since physics and math pretty much go hand-in-hand for a while.

The Religion of My Childhood

I grew up in a casual Catholic family with a younger brother and an older sister. We all went to Catholic school from kindergarten to 8th grade. But as a child I never really paid much attention to all the rituals and beliefs. I remember being taught certain things to memorize, like the seven deadly sins, the seven virtues, etc., but I never really gave any weight to them - just memorized words. I do remember even at a very young age feeling that out of respect I should do what was expected during mass. So I did all the things - sang the songs, responded when we were supposed to respond, went up for communion, etc. More than anything I think I was doing those things out of respect. Generally during mass, while someone was talking I would zone out. None of it meant anything to me, save one thing. When they would talk about Jesus's life I would be interested. The man seemed very interesting to me. I didn't want to hear what other people thought about him, or what other people thought about what he said; I wanted to here about what he actually did and said in his life.

Sometime around the age of 10 I was in Movie Gallery with the whole family after eating chinese. My parents were letting us choose whatever movie we wanted. After walking around for a while I went to my dad with Franco Zeffirelli's masterpiece Jesus of Nazareth. Of course this was back in the day of VHS, so the six-hour installment was on, I think, 3 tapes... which I carried up to him. My dad kind of smiled and looked amused, but I don't think anything surprised either of my parents much at this point. So he rented it for me.

I ended up watching the entire six-hour mini-series by myself. I remember this feeling of thinking how awesome Jesus was. I felt like he was everything a man should be. I looked at him in reverence like he was the cool older brother. He wasn't afraid, but he wasn't proud either. He was strong, but not hard. He was confident, but not arrogant. He was gentle, but not weak. He was the perfect embodiment of what real manliness was about - an inner strength unmatched in all of the world, a strength that was untouchable by anything on earth. No man or beast could truly injure this man. Even on the way to the cross, having been abused beyond anything we can imagine, even then, he still held all the power. As mankind thought they were winning, they were in fact only making fools of themselves at the expense of someone who did nothing wrong to them. And in not raising a hand against them, he overcame them. Even in crying out to God while on the cross, Jesus still was all the man anyone could ever be.

Through most of those younger years, I would model myself after this Jesus of Nazareth, and I would put all my problems on his shoulders, knowing that he would hear me and help me, and hoping somewhere in there that he would one day make a real man out of me too.

I remember at some point in middle school when my friends started this thing where they'd punch each other in the chest or on the shoulder for no reason. And the person who was hit would of course immediately hit back, but when someone would hit me I wouldn't even have the urge to respond. It seemed just as natural to me to do nothing. It wasn't something fained; I just didn't feel the need to respond in any way.

Of course, 8th grade came, and so did the hormones. I started sagging my pants very low, below my navel rather than above. I started wearing boxers instead of briefs. I started rebelling. And I began hitting back. The conviction was still there - the faith, the reverence, the brotherhood. But the hormones were coming strong. I used Saint Augustine's story to justify to myself the rebellion. He was bad until a later age when he gave himself back to spiritual purposes, why couldn't I be bad until a later age then?

Entering and Trashing

Someone broke into my car last night... Well not broke, ummm, opened - since I generally leave my car doors unlocked. It's an old clunker, and I keep nothing valuable in it, so it was quite amusing to come to it this morning with the seat pulled up and trash thrown around... Apparently they didn't find anything worth taking and just left the trash (well mostly plastic recyclables that I take to work to get recycled).

Finished Lost Season 5 last night...

Of course, back to Lost, that fantastic series. We just finished season 5 last night, and it was great. It was even better than some of the previous seasons. Season 6 is going to be the last one where they wrap everything up. It ought to be interesting.

Too Few Summer Plans

I have been mapping out some free music lessons to put up online in video form which I hope to be filming sometime soon, probably over the summer. So there's that. Of course I'll be working full-time so it's not like it will be a special break. I suppose I'll dig up some of those draft blogs now and finish them.

The Long-Awaited Final Fantasy XIII

Somehow I didn't find much time over spring break to really get into the new and long awaited Final Fantasy XIII. I suppose it was all the other side projects I've had going. But I am several hours into the game, and it's just as great as I expected. The game's advertising slogan "The battle within begins" is just starting to come to Light - actually that's her name, the heroine - Lightning, but she says, "call me Light." She certainly has some problems within. Circumstances leave her with a group of strangers who become branded (literally) with a destiny they have yet to have figured out. There's deep history and myth involved on the exotic planet where all this takes place, although 8 hours into the game I am still on the mechanical outer surface where the story thus far has taken place. After each cutscene, your "datalog" gets updated with new information, usually giving, in prose, a deeper take on what just happened in the game - altogether it can be a lot of reading if you choose to get even deeper into the story than the movie-like cutscenes allow, but it's not required. I have found it to be a great game. I only wish I had a little more time right now :)

New Moon, sequel to Twilight

I got my wife New Moon on blu-ray for her birthday recently. It's the sequel to Twilight, a vampire/werewolf film based on the novel (the first in a series of 4) by Stephenie Meyer. My wife read them and really enjoyed them. We did find the first movie, Twilight, to be pretty cheesy. A lot of the acting was overly dramatic, and the movie has quite the following of haters. Nonetheless, we did enjoy it, and we also recalled that being 17 and in love was very cheesy even in real life. But New Moon was great. It seems they worked on the cheesy acting. I was really surprised. So that's how we spent the last day of our spring break - watching Twilight, then New Moon back to back... Then played some Final Fantasy XIII then watched some Lost. A good final lazy day.

Blogger's block...

Seriously I sit here in front of the computer and no matter what topic, it just doesn't want to come out. It's okay though I have several drafts saved here that just aren't finished yet. That should take me up to the mark once I finish those out and post them. I think I'll need to let some space into my brain over spring break. I took off work for that week too, a much needed break.

Best. Vacation. Ever.

My best vacation was on my honeymoon. I can't say too much about it since we try to keep it a mystery to maintain its non-touristy nature so that we can go back possibly in the future without it being replaced by hotels and restaurants.

What made it awesome was that it was an island and we stayed in a condo right on the beachfront (well about a 1-minute walk). Going a week without a clock or a watch, sleeping and waking to the sound of the ocean, strong and clean ocean air, strong winds, whale-watching with binoculars from the balcony of the condo, hiking anywhere in any direction to the multiple deserted white sand beaches... Seriously, I didn't think this kind of thing could be experienced in this day and age, and it really can't in most places, but there are a few places left to make this possible. We also got to go snorkeling for the first time ever, and we got to ride mules down a mountainside.

Birds

My brain just won't find words
To put into blog form, ya heard?
It's crazy I know
Can't think of no mo'
I guess I could write about birds

Birds are quite nice I must say
They sing to us all through the day
Some are bright
Some black as night
And some are just charcoal gray

I swear I had something to share
Now it has vanished into thin air
It was just right here
Don't give me that sneer
I guess today I'll eat a pear

Lost, Season 4

Over the past few weeks, my wife and I have gotten into Season 4 of Lost. I had blogged earlier in the seasons about how great it was how this show weaved together so many stories into one seamless experience, utilizing flashbacks into characters' lives before the crash. Well, in Season 4 it takes a turn. It flashes forward. Is flashforwards a word? -nope, it has a red underline. I suppose there are two ways of viewing this season. You could now define the continuation of the main story as the present, which would make the new cutscenes flashforwards, cuts into the future. Or you could define the cutscenes as the present, which would then turn the previous season's present into the past. But it feels much more natural to continue following the "main story" as the present, thereby seeing occasional glimpses of the future. Any way we look at it, it is very effective in spicing things up without sacrificing the beautiful structure of every episode - still brilliant and structured storytelling.

Shakespeare ?= Foreign Language

I can't comment on anything political really, because I just can't follow it sufficiently to make me feel comfortable having too many opinions on the matter... On another note though, I have to finish reading Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing over my first break. It drives me crazy. Why we read Shakespeare in his original language is beyond me. How is it that Theater Appreciation class has temporarily turned into a foreign language class? Yes, Shakespeare is a foreign language. Scenes that should go by quickly take time to understand because of the language. Yeah it was fine for their time, but give them something written by a modern American writer and they would have the same difficult time reading it. It's not that I don't think there's something to be gained from Shakespeare, because I know the power of his play Romeo and Juliet from the modern adaptation of it starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Daines. But it took seeing that several times for it to make total sense since they used the original script. Very moving stories, good writer, but as it is a foreign language I think it should be treated as such. We don't read Latin in English class, do we? Well where do we draw the line? At least I have yet to be required to read Chaucer's Canterbury Tales in their original language. My wife wasn't so lucky in that matter. In her AP high school class, she had to memorize one of the stories, or maybe it was the introduction, in its original Old English. I also thought it was ridiculous back then. Maybe my beard is making me old and grouchy - 'bout time to trim it up!

Songs in My Head

I get the weirdest songs in my head at times, but the funny thing is sometimes I'll only have one or two words that I can remember, and so I google those one or two words with "lyrics" and a bunch of different songs come up. So I resort to singing the tune to my friends until someone finally figures it out. Of course there's an iPhone app that you can sing a tune into and it will do its best to match it to the right song, but I don't have an iPhone - I got the cheapest phone so that I could justify buying a PSP :)

Supporting Cast in the Me Show

This blog could easily be dedicated to countless people... My mother who birthed and raised me, my father who provided seed and raised me as well, my brother and sister who were great friends throughout my life (and also great enemies at times). My best friend Paul who I've known since I was 5 years old and who fixed my car for a good 6 years usually for free until I moved away to Montgomery (from Huntsville).

Thanks to Moses for giving good advice, as well as Jesus for also giving good advice, and Buddha, and Lao-tse, and Mark Pritchard the Gnostic author. Tetsuya Nomura who wrote the video game Kingdom Hearts and all its sequels, it holds very good lessons about simplicity, friendship, and love, and their ability to transcend and overcome any forces that might work against them both internally and externally.

And most importantly my wife who has supported me through the many stages of my learning and growing up, no matter how crazy things got sometimes she has stayed true through it all. She is a champ, works hard, does my laundry (yeah, I tried at first when we moved in together but never did it satisfactorily to her ;) She is the anchor of truth and love and purpose in my world.

Where Will I Be in 10 Years?

Where will I be in 10 years? Well, that's really pretty hard to say! But I do know that I would like to continue improving upon helping people to learn music online, and also writing some stories occasionally. Being able to read, write, and perform music is really precious to me, and so I want to provide something for people who would like to learn but never get around to it. It doesn't really matter much to me where I live. I mean, I would love to be living on a beautiful island with a private jet and all, but it's okay down here.

Shooting at University of Alabama in Huntsville!

Yesterday, a Biology professor opened fire during a Biology faculty meeting at the University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH), killing three and injuring three more. My wife and I found this out on Facebook. I was a student there myself for a year straight out of high school, my wife has a diploma from there, my brother and his girlfriend are students there, and a friend is faculty. Fortunately they're all okay, but I do feel for those who lost loved ones. It's a horrible thing that people can snap like that and that it's so easy for them, with a gun, to take someone else's life, this precious gift we have no matter how bad it may seem at times.

A Welcome Break from Routine

Ah so a bit of snow was good as well as getting to leave work at 12pm. It was a greatly needed break from routine. I'll have to study a bit for my upcoming history test over the weekend. History has never been my strong point. It just comes down to motivation. I really don't have any enthusiasm to learn history, although at times I will get curious about something and google it, which is really how I think a lot of people learn these days. That's great that it's so easy for people to really get answers to things they're really curious about.

Argh, Essay Question...

Just had my first essay question since I've been back in school. You must remember I've been out of school for 7 years and this is my first semester back. Having been rather active online, in forums, writing blogs and stories and the such, I don't mind writing, but it's just that I'm so used to having as much time as I need to finish something I'm trying to say. If I am asked to write five paragraphs to answer a question, I wish to write the best five paragraphs I can possibly write, for better or for worse. How can you do that in less than 30 minutes?! It's not possible! It drives me crazy to leave holes. Oh well...

Internet ?= Less Real

I wondered recently why it is that some people have a tendency to view internet life in opposition to what they would consider "real life". For instance, we might have a tendency to scoff at someone who met their wife on Facebook or some other social network. But why? When I thought about it (which is what I like to do to make sense of things rather than just accepting a blind opinion), I thought about how we have a body here, but can we say that body defines us? What is it that drives this body? The body is a vehicle, with tools available for us to express whatever it is that is inside - i.e. we can speak, we can write, we can sing, we can play music, we can dance, etc. etc. But still, whatever it is that we do, we are only using the tools available to us in the vehicle. For instance, we could lose a hand in an accident and then we wouldn't have that anymore. Or we could hold onto an object and use that object to express ourselves, such as a paintbrush. What is it about the paintbrush in your hand that makes it not part of your body? I don't think there is a difference while you're holding it, because while you're holding it, it is an extension of your being, a vehicle for expression. If there were no air in between us then we'd have to communicate with something other than sound. It's all about what is available to us.

So how is internet life different? It's just a different set of tools, right? It's not really either good or bad, but can be used for either. Not everyone scoffs at the internet, but I've noticed in the older generation that many of them act as though the internet is less real than "real life", which maybe often it is, but I know relationships that formed online that are more genuine than many I've seen in "real life".

Where To?

Born and raised in Alabama, I don't really have any particular plans to stay here, but neither do I have any particular plans to move. I would like to go to New Orleans at some point and give it a chance, assuming my wife would be willing. Why? I'm not sure exactly why. I just do. Traveling is great, but I don't hold any illusions that life is magically better in one place over another. I think each person has their place in any given point in time and also I think home is what you make of it.

My first time on an airplane was for a trip to San Francisco, which was a fantastic place. The air quality was at least a million times better than that of Alabama's air.

My wife and I went to Greece a couple years ago, and it was fantastic. Of course, I would not really want to live there since I don't speak the language, but I have a lot of good friends there. Several months later I went to London alone to help some of the people I met in Greece to renovate a building. It was an interesting experience at least. I was there for 22 days. It was supposed to be a month but I changed my flight to surprise my wife. It was so funny. She thought I was on the other side of the world and I come knocking on her door about eight o'clock at night. I don't think I've ever seen her look so happy to see me. It was the funniest thing.

I think the U.S.A. is a fine place to live. Many people are going to freak as we head into lots of problems, but it's something we should all expect. A nation can't grow as fast as the U.S. did without having to suffer many drawbacks. But, as I've heard it said before - the greater the struggle, the greater the rewards.

Rhyming a Frame

Okay so I complained
Please forgive me in this refrain
in which I stand
with great reprimand
on myself for what I was saying

Whew this is going nowhere
Now I'm stuck in a blank and dumb stare
at this white screen
which isn't green
and at night it doesn't have glare

I took back what I was saying
Because in it all I have been staying
on top of my game
of rhyming a frame
for limerick word playing

Not Much to Say

Today I've got not much to say,
But say it I will anyway -
In limerick form,
Against every norm,
And everything will be okay.

Okay so that wasn't ten minutes
(The time which I must spend in finick
'bout what will I write
Ev-e-ry night
Before this educational senate).

PSP vs. DS

The world of handheld gaming was revolutionized by both the Nintendo DS (Dual Screen) and the Sony PSP (PlayStation Portable). Offering the latest in graphics and processing power, both units have their strengths and weaknesses.

I purchased my DS a couple years before getting my PSP. The DS sports dual screens, with the one on bottom being a touch screen. This really adds a new dimension to traditional single-screen gameplay. For instance, in the first Zelda game released for the system, the player controls Link, the main character, via the touch screen only. All movement and gameplay takes place via the touch screen. When the map is accessed, the stylus can be used to make handwritten notes, draw routes, etc. Not all the games utilize the touch screen - some more, some less - but all the DS games use the monitor aspect of the dual screen in some way or another.

The PSP does not have 2 screens and neither does it have a touch screen. But the screen it has is about twice as big as either individual screen on the DS. The system is also a lot more powerful in terms of graphics. On top of this it comes with a built in web browser and a memory card slot to store music, videos, and downloadable games. This means different kinds of games than the DS. The absence of the touch screen makes for more classic gameplay, and games seem to be geared to show off graphic capabilities.

Neither unit is really better than the other since each have their strengths and weaknesses. Graphics alone don't make a great game, although they can add a lot to the user's experience, particularly ones with intense stories. Unique gameplay and dual screens don't necessarily make a great game, but great games can make use of these features.

Ain't Too Happy

I ain't too happy with my literacy narrative, but I don't think I will ever be for any literacy narrative penned in my name. It's just an unnatural topic in a way for me.

Magical Pot Roast

Hands down, no one can cook like my mother-in-law, seriously. I have never met someone else with the ability to cook anything the way she does. She is full-blood Italian, grew up making everything from scratch, and applies that to the kitchen here in the U.S. It's just ridiculous. She will improvise anything, whatever she has around, and it will be the most simple dish comprised of just a few vegetables, some pasta, possibly some meat, but it will be the most delicious food you've ever eaten.

Last time my wife and I stayed at her house it was over Christmas vacation. She made a pot roast. I have never eaten beef that tasted that good... I thought my first filet mignon at Café Paris the night of my senior prom was a spiritual experience in itself, but now having tasted this pot roast, wow what an eye-opener. How can beef be so soft and juicy and just fall apart in your mouth? How can something taste so good that it completely eclipses opinion of any other food? There's only one answer for these questions... magic... it can only be magic.

Rethinking Oedipus

I was thinking about Sophocles' play again. Oedipus Rex if you didn't catch it the first time.

Previously I had the idea that Sophocles may have been giving too much power to the gods, but I've changed my stance. That is just reading into things. Actually, the strange fact about the story is that had the parents never pursued a prophecy to begin with, then none of the story would have ever happened. Oedipus would not have been abandoned by Iocaste, because there wouldn't have been a prophecy to fear. This could almost be interpreted as a warning against prophecy.

I like to keep my options open though, because really I don't believe that a good story's lessons can be simplified. The lessons are the story itself, the experience of the story. If the author just wanted to write a fortune cookie then I'm sure that's what they would have done, but instead he or she decided to write a story.

Brainstorming a Literacy Narrative

It wasn't a specific a-ha! moment in my life from which my reading and writing world changed forever. There was no box of books in my attic, no prison stories, no specific person who inspired me by example or anti-example... I've probably only finished reading three or four works of fiction in my life. Reading and writing for me has always been a matter of motivation. If there is something I want to read, then I read it. If there is something I want to write then I write it. And so for this, the motivation, there was a turning point... It was a certain video game.

How Would I Manage the Workplace?

If I were in charge at my job, how would I change it? There's really not much I would change. I would offer more regular small raises to give the employees an incentive to do well. As it is, raises don't really exist there. Also I would give employees more breathing room when they're in the shop. I know I would because I've been in charge before, and that's how I handled things. Micromanaging is something managers do when it's been too long since they've been employees. I know that people work best when you trust them to their job. Train them well and then let them do their job, only stepping in if necessary. It's that simple. This may not work on a large scale with hundreds of employees under you, but on a small scale I know it works well, and our company is a very small operation. The last thing someone wants in a small operation is to see the same nagging face every day and never hear that they're doing their job well. As it is, many managers think the employees should be grateful for their job, and this is true, but it's also very important that the management is grateful for their employees. Disgratitude leads to poor performance which leads to more disgratitude, so it's imperative that gratitude finds its way into both the employees and the management.

Oedipus and inevitability

I read Oedipus Rex today for my Theater Appreciation class. In the textbook's introduction, I learned about two aspects of the theater experience that are prevalent in this play: discovery and reversal of fortune. I thought long over these aspects and how I could see them in so many places today, in books, television, movies, etc. If things are just linear, it would be quite boring to say the least. There need to be questions, mysteries; and there also need to be turn-arounds that make us forfeit hasty judgments. I'm going to keep these two things in mind whilst working on this musical I've been going at on and off for about a year or so.

As far as the play is concerned, I would quickly have some beef with some of its themes. The play's theme of inevitability is fair enough in my book. The way I see it, not a single atom moves, not a single neuron in your brain fires, not a single ray of light shines, without there being a reason for its shining, cause and effect. It's in this way that all things are inevitable, at least it seems to be so in principle. But who can know this? In Oedipus Rex, Sophocles seems to say the gods have knowledge of this inevitability and regardless of how hard man may try, he cannot escape this inevitability. I think this is probably usually the case, but I think that in man exists the potential to rise above all the elements, that in his universe-given freedom and awareness, he can make choices that not a single soul, save the universe itself, could foresee. The laws and the gods in place would be necessary for such a man to liberate himself from all things that would try to control him, to turn him away from believing in himself, in his existence that came into being for a reason. And so I sensed a bit of fear-mongering in this play which didn't exactly turn me off from it. It was still quite a moving experience from beginning to end, and that in itself is a great thing. Seeing as how most of that culture lived in fear-induced reverence to the gods, it's not particularly surprising that it's so prevalent in the play, with or without direct intention from Sophocles.

Seriously, ten minutes a day?

I don't think I can write ten minutes of not-random-crap every day... Well, just as I type this I hear a blood-curdling scream from the laundry area in our apartment... I hurry over there to my wife, bug-eyed in terror... It was a little roach... It was already dead. I thought there was a zombie in there eating someone's brains out. Seriously, it sounded that bad.

Lost, one long mystery worth watching

My wife and I just finished season 2 of the show "Lost". Yes, I know we are a bit behind as they're now in what? Season 6? Well, this is how it is with us. We don't have cable, only internet, but with Netflix we can just stream it online. And so when we watch a series it's usually several seasons into it when we're just starting. This is actually highly enjoyable, because not only are there no commercials, but also we can really get into the show and watch up to several episodes back-to-back if we feel like it.

I have been highly impressed with this series so far. The story is extremely unique and engrossing. The main story of plane wreck survivors on an island along with "the others" (a mysterious group who were already on the island) is complemented by the back story of each of the main characters. Part of a back story for one main character is weaved into the main story, a specific character's story for each show. Because of these back stories the first season really seemed to be taking off slowly for me. But the mysteries of the island were unraveling and they kept me watching.

See at first, the back stories were completely secondary to me. I thought the story of the show was just about the island. So I waited patiently through the back stories, thinking they'd be over by the second season and then we'd really get into the real meat of the story. By the end of season 2 though, I noticed my stance had changed very naturally. The back stories continued, some more on the characters we've already come to know and love, and some new characters altogether. The back stories had become just as relevant as the main story.

It really amazes me to watch a good series, especially one that is able to run several seasons well. How can they weave a story together so well over so long? It's extremely impressive to me. As I am a slow fiction reader, I'm not used to this sort of thing. I've never been able to finish a book longer than two or three hundred pages (and that's extremely difficult for me, just not my thing)... So this, a good 17-20 hours of story per season, for six or seven seasons, is just so impressive to me. So many characters woven together seamlessly, a mystery that keeps you on your toes throughout its entirety, by the end of every 40-minute show thirsty for another 40 minutes to solve some more mysteries and uncover new ones... It's such a feat of intelligence I think.

wrote a new song for a musical today

Been working on a musical on and off for about a year or so. Came up with a new song for it today. It will be nice when I have time to put it all together.

New Discoveries today

I downloaded this latest trailer for Final Fantasy 13 today and thoroughly enjoyed the song by Leona Lewis. Searching her out, I discovered new songs I liked as well (some I'd heard before but didn't know who sang them). The game featured here is due out in the U.S. in March this year. It will be a turning point for the series as it will be the first on the PS3 (FF12 was on the PS2). It seems when they jump to a new platform they really give it all they've got. In fact, I'm playing through Final Fantasy 7 again right now on the PSP (originally on the PS1). It is arguably the best game of all time. I have a feeling FF13 will also find its place amongst the ranks of the greats.

For those who aren't already aware of the series, it started on the original Nintendo, moved to the Super Nintendo, then it jumped to the PlayStation 1 with FF7. Making another jump at FF10 it went to the PS2, and now it is jumping to the PS3 with FF13. Each entry is a completely separate story line, with the game demanding at least 20+ hours of gameplay, with optional sidequests, stories, leveling up, etc., which can easily bring the entire game in completion to a good 60 hours or more. Although each entry contains unique story and main characters, occasionally some secondary characters make reappearances. Each installment also has very similar battle mechanics, items, equipment, etc., but also incorporates something new into each game. It's really a fantastic series, and a great opportunity for those in charge to really move people in this fantastic medium. Interactive storytelling at its finest.

I can't wait 'til March :)

"Dawn of civilization"?

In my World History class, we were speaking about this, the so-called "dawn of civilization". Now, it's taught as fact in that class (and I also remember this from high school), that the dawn of civilization began roughly 12,000 years ago. 12,000 years... Now on top of this, it appeared to be happening within the same few thousand years all around the world in groups that had been disconnected from each other. This was a question in this second class on world history. Why development now? What could cause these disconnected groups around the world to take off exponentially all of a sudden? There were several hypotheses given, but to me none of them made any sense at all. The "oasis" hypothesis which states that people gather near water; the "social" hypothesis which states, more or less, that people are social (duh?); and a couple other hypotheses that basically explain why one group might begin to develop. But why in the same period of time did human beings begin to develop? There is no explanation for it as I can tell, not without incorporating concepts from other areas of study.

First of all, a history major needs to really look at the question here. We're talking about in a few thousand year window that separate groups began to develop... the question is not why one group might develop, but why several groups might develop at the same time although seemingly disconnected. We're talking about bipeds who have arguably been around for at least six million years. Six million. That is a big number. So why then, after six million years of animal life, did bipeds make the jump globally to develop in a different way? To me, it's a mystery, although I see no reason to assume that just because we don't have records of civilization earlier than 12,000 years ago means that none existed earlier than that. I see no reason to omit the possibility that entire civilizations could have been wiped out many thousands or millions of years ago in natural disasters, leaving virtually no record.

I suppose this is the original purpose of such studies, to dive into the unknown and to look into possible reasons for what we do know. But I find that many times in the educational system the line is forgotten. Teachers tend to state theories as facts, and then their students become teachers and do the same thing. The line is lost between theory and fact, and in my world it is imperative to differentiate the two.

In my first math class, the teacher was explaining that testing this certain equation, the solution seemed beyond all shadow of a doubt to be a certain number. But, in math, 'seems' is not good enough. An answer must be definite to be an answer. And so, to me, it remains an interesting uniqueness about math, that it deals with definite truths, and when it doesn't it makes clear the line between theory and fact.

Writing blogs? School? Really?

So I just spent my first class of the day on Blogger writing blogs, which is right up my alley :) And there I was in my last post dogging on English classes. If it wasn't for English classes and being forced to read and write throughout the years, then I wouldn't have the skills at all to write in my own time.

Regardless... I might make exceptions for some composition classes. It's the reading big texts, big research papers, etc., that really turn me off.

Why math?

Why choose math?

I've always been good at it. I've always loved numbers. Numbers are free from human opinion or error.

When I write, I write, and I don't really care for criticism on it, because I am the author. When I read or watch a movie, I just read or watch a movie. Over-analyzing these things only detracts from their worth, in my opinion. If a movie or a book is good, it changes you deeper than the mind, the thoughts - not that there's nothing to say about these things, but I am generally turned off by the idea of forced analyzing, and over-analyzing. Sure there are many people who are good at this sort of thing, and I'm sure good comes of it, but for me personally, no good comes of it, just makes my head hurt.

So with math, its purpose is to see facts. One plus one equals two and we all know this. It is a fact beyond discussion, beyond imagination, beyond opinion, beyond dreams, and this is why I'm going for math. It gets down to pure substance.

First Love

I remember being in love for the first time. So caught up with a certain person that I would have never accepted 'no' for an answer. It was faith that brought me through those times, as I was too young and shy to know how to deal with these feelings. But something in me always knew the chance was there, and somehow, some time, it might manifest.

It was high school. Freshman year. And I threw a rotten strawberry at her. She kicked my chair. It was biology class.

I failed that class.

Not because of her. I just rarely went to school those days.

I took the class again in summer school.

We still hadn't really spoken on any close terms. I had my life. She had hers. I didn't see her all summer. She probably didn't remember my name. But I thought about her often...

It was Sophomore year now. I had seven classes - seven chances to see her again.

First class... nothing.

Second class... nothing... still five more chances..

Third class... nothing...

Fourth class... nope...

Fifth class.... oh no, maybe I'll never see her again.

Sixth class... ... ... tapping feet nervously...

Seventh class... NO! I can't believe it! My faith is broken... ... ...

First day of school, last class, my chances are gone. Back to my life. That's okay, I didn't mind being alone, it was just this girl, somehow, I loved her already.

Fifteen minutes into class... and walking through the door comes my queen, resilient, stubborn, full of young life, and beautiful... My entire being couldn't help but smile. My faith broken to be renewed again stronger than before.

That's how things happen. In my life at least. If we got what our heart wanted while our minds still are grasping for it, then it would make us all spoiled brats.

In my life, I always get what I need, although many times it's not until the mind is broken, the grasping is broken, and the fear is extended to such an extent that we just shut up. Then, and only then, can the good come without us taking it for granted, without it being put to waste.

Today... I'm married to that woman.