RoRRewena

Considering Submitting Articles for Publishing

2011-06-02T20:38:00.000-07:00

I would say the most frustrating thing in my life right now is the mass of ideas that I have and can't take action on. My recent rant on education was just a brief excerpt of my thoughts on the subject and more of just a way of getting my thoughts out than an actual 'blog.' Although is any of this really a real blog? Who knows. More like a log of my random insanity.

But I'm probably going to start writing articles to try and get them published here soon. I'm done with essays for the rest of my high school career, and I really do love to write, so I figure I should probably give it a shot. Perspective from a high school junior. Meh.

Probably won't turn out well, but I need to do something with these thoughts in my head. I'm going to go insane if I don't. For example, I improved the Myers-Briggs personality profiles last night with a friend. We were talking about how we were both INTJ and yet we were so different. We often had the exact same thought processes and the random stuff we said just sort of made sense to each other, but we made completely different decisions. He seemed to be more impulsive and act on emotions a lot more, and yet he claimed to rarely if ever experience emotion. I started thinking about this a bunch, and realized that the Myers-Briggs personality profiles really didn't account for emotion. So I figured that there were two factors to a person's emotion: one for how often they experience emotion, and one for dealing with that emotion. So for my friend, he rarely experiences emotion and therefore can't deal with it as well when it does strike, which results in his impulsivity or ability to overcome reason. So yeah. Pretty good Monday night eh?

Wow, really exposing my inner INTJ right now. Oh well.

So yeah, bottom line is that I want to find a way to profit from my tendency to attempt to reason things out and find solutions. Not quite sure how that'll work that this point, but we'll see.

The Uberman Addiction

2011-05-31T09:58:00.000-07:00

It's really weird, since writing my last article, the idea of the Uberman schedule has really taken hold, to the point that a few of my friends tried to do it. Only one succeeded. Even I planned to do it, but decided I would wait until I wouldn't have as much to lose from sleep depravation. Below is the blog I wrote in preparation about a week ago:

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I suppose I should put a little background info up here so that people know exactly what they can improve off our method or what we did right, depending on the outcome. As far as I know, my little group of three is the youngest to seriously attempt the Uberman schedule (assuming we do it). We are all Juniors in high school, and the vast majority of Ubermen are in college or above. So it'll be interesting to see how this works. I can't speak for the others, but I hate sleep. I currently get around 6 hours of sleep a night. I wake up a little before 6 every morning for school and go to bed around midnight. Not too efficient, and not too healthy. Definitely not getting enough REMs. In addition, I swim competitively everyday for 1.5 to 2.5 hours a day, depending on the day and excluding Sundays. So that's it, no job at the moment, although I'm planning to start applying soon, and nothing else remarkable to take up my days except hobbies.

In addition, right now is possibly the best time to start the cycle. We've all finished our AP classes, so we really have nothing to do all day anyway, so we might as well experiment with expanding our waking day. Several teachers have expressed support, so that shouldn't be a problem, although there will be one section during the day where I will be forced to spend nearly 5 hours awake. Most successful Ubermen have reported being able to remain awake for up to 7 hours, but that's usually after a few weeks. We'll see how that goes.

So now I suppose I should throw up my sleep schedule as it is now. I have everything in military time because keeping track of A.M. and P.M. when there really is no 'night' is going to be rough. So here it is:

Free >> 2400 - 300 >> 3 hours
Post-Midnight Nap >> 300 - 330 >> 30 minutes
Free >> 330 - 640 >> 3 hours 10 minutes
Pre-School Nap >> 640 - 710 >> 30 minutes
School >> 710 - 1205 >> 4 hours 55 minutes
Lunch Nap >> 1205 - 1245 >> 40 minutes
School & Free >> 1245 - 1530 >> 2 hours 45 minutes
Pre-Swim Nap >> 1530 - 1600 >> 30 minutes
Swim >> 1600 - 1930 >> 3 hours 30 minutes
Post-Swim Nap >> 1930 - 2000 >> 30 minutes
Free >> 2000 - 2330 >> 3 hours 30 minutes
Midnight Nap >> 2330 - 2400 >> 30 minutes

Totals: 3 hours 10 minutes sleep ; 20 hours 50 minutes
That's a net gain of around 3 hours per night, or 21 hours a week. That's more than a full waking day! And when I limit it down to 20 minutes per nap, I'll only be sleeping 2 hours a night, with a net gain of 4 hours a day or 28 hours a week. Pretty good, eh?

So obviously my schedule is not true Uberman. But it should work, seeing as I've surrounded the hardest parts of my day with more frequent naps. You might also note that my naps are 30 minutes long, with the exception of the Lunch Nap, which is 40 minutes. This is mainly for the beginning so that I can ensure that I have enough time to fall asleep. I don't actually plan on spending all 30 minutes sleeping, but I'm giving myself that gray area to get the ball rolling before I tighten things up. Uberman isn't exactly an art, and very little is actually known about the schedule, so we'll see how this goes.

Also, I've researched just about everything I can about the art of the Uberman and have come up with a few things that should help me to adjust faster/ make this work. Below is my personal "Uberman Creed," an attempt to ensure victory.

THE UBERMAN CREED

If I feel any serious effects from the sleep deprivation (i.e. throwing up, passing out, inability to wake up, etc.), I will stop.
If, after 10 days, I do not recognize any positive changes, I will stop.
If I need to I will take an extra nap for no more than 20 minutes. (This won't provide me with any REM sleep, but I've heard some NREMs can help the transition a bit.)
I will consume at least 7 servings of fruit and vegetables a day (especially juice blends).
I will attempt to consume around 100 grams of protein a day.
I will limit my consumption of fatty foods as much as possible.
I will limit my consumption of caffeine as much as possible.
I will drink at least 75 ounces of water a day.
I will stay busy.

That last one is crucial. From what I've read, most of the people that fail fail because they were either not busy enough or focused too much on the future instead of simply living for the present. I plan to take cognizance tests everyday in math and memorization in hopes of either proving or disproving the belief that cognizance is unchanged from the practical sleep schedule to the Uberman. We'll see, but I want to make sure that it isn't delusion that convinces me. I will also be asking my friends and family for their input. I'm not sure if I'll be adopting this schedule for got or not yet, but I want to make sure that everything I do is documented so that I know for sure what the results are and others can base their attempts off of mine.

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It seems obvious to me now that I was writing off of the high that was created from the excitement of having so much extra time. I'm looking at things a bit more practically now, and I now understand what a commitment this cycle is. It really is dangerous if you're not careful, both to yourself and others.

Irony and The Pursuit for Greatness

2011-05-24T23:07:00.000-07:00

It's ironic really. We spend our entire lives straining to achieve some level of greatness, some ideal state of being, and yet we look to fit in with society's standards to achieve that goal. However, if there's one thing I've learned in my short life, it's that no one ever becomes great by simply achieving the standards set forth by society. My favorite, and probably most cliché, example is that of Bill Gates and Steve Jobs, arguably two of the most successful men in present history. The idea of greatness through individuality isn't isolated to this single case, but nearly every person who has gone on to do something amazing with their lives. Don't believe me? Look into it, and I'm willing to bet you that 90% of 'The Greats' weren't your average everyday Joes (not that I have anything against the name). You see, there's more truth to the phrase "Strength through tragedy" than most people realize, but it isn't simply tragedy that breeds strength. In fact, it's the simple act of carving your own path into the world instead of simply tracing the paths of others.

So why do we strive so hard to fit into the popular, the mediocre? Why do we care what other's opinions or general studies show us when we should be striving to be beyond the standard or the general? In my opinion, the greatest thing an individual can do is reject the standard in an effort to develop their individuality and inner strength. The only real issue that I have with society in general (not American society, not European society, not even Modern society, but society as a whole) is that we tend to have low self images of ourselves, leading to a herd mentality. We rationalize the decisions of others no matter how backward or obviously wrong they may be because, surely, "someone knows better than me." Why? Why should we base our opinions and ideologies on the notion that there must be someone better? Why can't you be the best? If you spend your entire life following the decisions of others without ever taking the time to form your own beliefs and opinions, you will never emerge from the shadows of those around you. You will never be the best, and you will never be great. Instead, we should always assume that we have an equal chance of knowing just as much as the next guy. Obviously there are exceptions and you shouldn't get into an argument with a nuclear physicist about dark matter or alpha decay unless you know what you're talking about. Instead, I am saying that you should never discount your own, personal reason. You have just as much of an opportunity of reasoning things out as the next guy and we should never discount that.

Why is it that each of us dedicates years of our lives to a general education with general students who may or may not have the same drive as we do to succeed? Why are we so bound a system that only serves to equalize performance, to meet a set standard established by someone who 'knows better' than you? The biggest issue with this system is that it binds the progress of the individual to what others deem to be necessary. This is supposed to raise smarter, stronger, and more efficient future generations. But in reality, how do future generations become smarter if they are being told how to think? How are future generations becoming stronger if they don't need the will power to forge their own path to success? How will future generations be more efficient if they are bound to a set standard of performance? It simply doesn't work out. It's ironic.

And to ensure that this system of dominance and marginalization reigns supreme, the schooling system grades it's students on their progress and performance. These grades are then used to determine things about the student that could not possibly be known. Their work habits, their intelligence, and their ability to meet the standard are all determined by simple subjective letters. Not only is this demeaning, but it punishes those that dare to rebel against the general and standard and think for themselves.

In my junior year of high school, I had a teacher who decided to grade me harder than the rest of the class simply because she "thought I could do better." So while the rest of the class averaged out at a B+, I was awarded a C-. I knew that I had done decently well in the class and had certainly performed better than the class average. Obviously confused by this, I decided to confront the teacher to determine what I had done wrong or if it was simply an error in the system. The words she said changed my perception of our schooling system for good. She told me, "You met all of the requirements and performed as well as the other students, but I know you're smart and can do better. So I had higher standards for your performance than the others." I can honestly say that I have never been more angry in my life. I was not angry about the grade. I was not angry about the teacher's audacity that she thought she was responsible for determining my potential. What I was angry about was the realization that everything I had ever done in school was subjective. There is no standard. Grades have no meaning because they are subjective to the instructor handing them out. All the time I had spent working towards good grades was wasted because grades are inaccurate and subjective. At that point, I proceeded to give my teacher a lecture that I stand by today. I told her that it is not the teacher's job to judge the potential or the intelligence of the individual. Her only job was to teach the class the information relevant to the class and then to determine the degree to which each student understood that information. By choosing to grade me harder than the other students, she told the world that I had an incomplete understanding of the topics she was instructed to teach, when in reality I was "one of the smarter kids in the class." Because of this event, I decided that getting good grades was not worth the effort it required. Instead, I decided to educate myself outside of school, learning programming and graphic design.

Now, this isn't simply one isolated case where our system is inaccurate. If you think about it, our current education system is much like winning the lottery: you might get a good teacher, or you might get someone who has no idea what they're talking about; your teacher might hand out A's, or he might believe that all students deserve C's; your teacher might like you and therefore be more generous with their critique, or he might dislike and grade you on unfair standards. There is a flaw in our standards for performance. We treat a subjective and unreliable system as if it represents a basic standard by which everyone can be judged equally. By placing such an emphasis on a flawed and demeaning system, students become slaves to a system that they view as an accurate judgement of their performance. Instead taking the risk and questioning the teaching and beliefs of their instructors, students choose the more reliable route and instead learn to simply accept information without verification. They don't need to think for themselves because their instructors think for them, and if they dare defy their instructors, their all important grades will suffer. Is this ok?

Each student should be required to seek their own education. If we as a culture insist on public education to teach our youth, then it should stop after grade school, when children can still develop the skills necessary to think for themselves. In addition, the grading system as a whole should be abolished. Unless the state would like to implement standardized testing like the AP Exams, SAT, or ACT to determine grades, they are inaccurate, subjective, and unfit for judging performance. We should be encouraging our youth to make mistakes, to take risks, and look at things from their own perspective, not forcing them to comply to our sense of good or right. The greatest asset humanity has is our ability to look at situations from different perspectives. When you attempt to destroy this asset by forming a uniform and marginal society, you destroy any hope for innovation, progress, or change.

Now, I realize that many will argue against my proposed solution to combat the blatant sabotage of our youth, and I would like to address some of those arguments now.

But how will lower income families afford to educate their youth if there is no public schooling? That's the real beauty of our modern society. Information is at the tips of our fingers. Anyone can find a library and access the internet or read a book. I admit, it may be more difficult for an individual lost in poverty to educate themselves than a wealthy youth. But I believe that those lost in poverty have an asset that the rich do not: motivation. Those that engage in a constant struggle to improve their lives are going to leap at any opportunity to progress in society while the rich have no reason to strive for greatness. Instead of limiting individuals by confining them to a set standard of rules and obligations, why not allow those with the motivation to work hard and rise up to do so while leaving the lazy and unmotivated behind?
How will colleges and employers judge potential employees if grades are inaccurate? They might have to actually do the work necessary to determine if potential candidates are worthy or not. This means interviews, standardized tests, maybe more essays. Yeah, it'll be more work, but at least students won't have to be afraid to forge their own path to excel.
Won't students just use their time for other things besides school, like video games or socializing? Have you ever noticed that when you tell someone to do something, their first reaction is to do the exact opposite? That is because the individual inherently wants to assert his freedom and does this by rebelling against authority. This is why teenagers are often seen as rebellious. They aren't bad people, they are simply trying to assert themselves as an individual, something I believe to be a good thing. So when teachers and parents attempt to stop students from doing anything but their studies, what do you think is going to happen? They are going to rebel and do what they want to do, despite the fact that they know that studying and improving themselves is probably the best decision for their future. In addition, a large part of the current student's need to waste away their free time on what we perceive to be waste might arise from a desire to take a break from the ridiculous eight hours of schooling five days a week in addition to the work that instructors send home. What individual wouldn't want a break from that? Without the constant pressure of school bearing down on them, students will be allowed to pursue their own interests. If a child chooses not to, then that's up to him. Those with the drive to succeed will rise up while the others will be left to determine their own destiny. They will have no one to blame but themselves because they will have been given full responsibility for their actions. It would be refreshing to know that people are finally responsible for their own actions, huh?

Now, just to be clear, I am not against college in any way. At least they provide a way for the individual to make decisions for themselves and form their own path in life. It is only when a government forces our youth into a particular course of action in order to 'succeed' in life that I begin to get frustrated.

In addition, this line of thinking is not limited solely to our school system, that is simply the most prominent and potentially devastating example that I could think of. Churches, workplaces, and nearly any societal institution falls into this line of thinking. We as a society need to wake up and begin to carve our own path into the world, choosing to take risks rather than simply submit to the popular course of action. Thomas Jefferson wrote in "The Real America:"

And above all things, when it comes to religion, fix reason firmly in her seat and question everything. Take no man's singular opinion. Question the very existence of God, for if there be a God, He must surely rather honest questioning over blindfolded fear.

I agree with this sentiment wholeheartedly, although I believe it applies to more than simple religion. Question everything. Each individual has the potential to be great, no matter how cliché or lame that sounds. In order for that to happen however, the individual needs to step out from the shadow of his predecessors and shape his own path in the world.

Uberman

2011-05-10T15:23:00.000-07:00

Last night I was on StumbleUpon (the bain of productivity) and came across an article describing weird, but more productive, sleep schedules. This article caught my attention since I absolutely hate sleep. But, it is necessary. So I decided to look into the polyphasic sleep cycles a bit more, specifically the Uberman cycle. Basically they are based on the premis that the REM sleep cycle is when the actually recovery takes place, and it therefore the most valuable part of your nightly sleep. Unfortunately, REM occupies a very small segment of time. Stages 1 through 4 are occupied by nonREM sleep with Stage 5 being a short period of nonREM sleep, where dreams typically take place. The Uberman cycle attempts to eliminate Stages 1 through 4 so that you only experience Stage 5, the valuable stage.

While this sounded great to me, I was also skeptical about missing Steps 1 through 4. Can you really have 4 steps that have no specific purpose and if not, what do you need to change to make up for that loss? So I did some research as to the value of nonREM sleep and finally came up with this from webMD:

"During the deep stages of NREM sleep, the body repairs and regenerates tissues, builds bone and muscle, and appears to strengthen the immune system. As you get older, you sleep more lightly and get less deep sleep. Aging is also associated with shorter time spans of sleep, although studies show the amount of sleep needed doesn't appear to diminish with age."

Ok, so nonREM sleep is associated with the repair and regeneration of tissues, but why do you need to be asleep for that? Is there anyway to get the benefits of nonREM sleep without wasting so much time? I'm specifically interested in foods that would help ensure proper healing because I'm fairly confident that while I sit here and type this I am fully capable of regenerating just as many tissues as when I am lying on my bed, dead to the world. The key things that I learned are as follows:

Keep a high nutritional value to caloric intake level. While this may seem obvious, it is important that you spend as little time digesting food as possible so that your body can focus on removing toxins from the body. This means reducing fat and high carb intake, which increases caloric intake with little to no nutritional value.
That said, the body still needs enough calories to continue working at optimal levels. In layman's terms, you still need to eat. This means avoiding foods that digest slowly which are, again, high in fat/lipids.
Protein is incredibly important as it provides a foundation for body maintenance. Consuming lean meats such as fish, poultry, lean cuts of red meat, and nonfat dairy products will help get you the protein you need without adding too much fat to your diet. A protein intake of 1 - 1.5 grams per kilogram (bodyweight) per day is a good amount to shoot for, although higher numbers may be beneficial.
Eat fruit and vegetables. Vegetarians and vegans have reported a higher success rate on the polyphasic sleep cycles than anyone else, perhaps because their diet is already rich in fruits and vegetables. I think this fact is probably the most important on this post.

I think this should make up for the lack in the first four cycles. I'm not really sure though, needs experimentation.

Either way, I'm planning on trying out the Uberman here soon. I'll be interested to try it out and see what results it yields, so look for an update soon on that front.

UPDATE: I decided to wait to try out the Uberman cycle, mostly because I didn't want to give up everything for a week for an experiment that may not work. I'll probably try this summer though, because this really does interest me.

Facebook Science!

2011-04-14T15:48:00.000-07:00

It's SCIENCEEEEEE!!!

Hello world of myself, it's been a while. On today's show, we have Facebook Science! Because math makes everything a fact. So, the inspiration for writing this struck me as I listened to a friend say, "Why do I care if [redacted] went to Disneyland!" And the sad truth is, you don't, and to be quite honest, no one is under the illusion that you do. Most statuses are meant for a specific person, or group of people, and chances are, if you don't care, it wasn't meant for you. Now this doesn't mean that no one cares if you care, but simply that you weren't the intended audience of the status/ link/ post/ whatever. Now here comes the science/ math part:

Step One: So we figure that the amount of people that a particular post is intended for is probably around 10 on a case to case basis. Then we have the amount of friends that each person has. I'm willing to bet that the average is around 200, so we'll use that later. So at this point we have:

Y = C/F

Where Y is the percent chance you care, C is the number of people who were intended to care, and F is the number of friends the poster has. But then there are other factors to consider.

Step Two: We now have to account for the possibility that you will care about something that wasn't intended for you. For this we'll use this:

[ ( |S - 2| ) / 8] = Y

Where S is how much you like the person on a scale of 1 - 10 and Y is, once again, the percent chance you care. I then subtracted 2 from S, because chances are you will care more about someone you absolutely hate than someone you moderately dislike.

Step Three: So what is the real chance that you care? To find out we need to combine the two equations.

Y = C/F + [ ( |S - 2| ) / 8]

But this cannot be because that would result in certain people caring more than 100% of the time, and we all know that isn't possible. OH WELL. Some people just care a little too much then!

Step Four: Test! Let's use my latest Facebook status to test this theory:

"Kris [redacted], Miranda [redacted], Tom [redacted], Wilson [redacted], Cole [redacted], Josh [redacted], Jerry [redacted], Samantha [redacted], and anyone else who's interested: I'm calling it. Tinychat sheesh this Friday at 7:30-ish until whenever we decide to end it."

How convenient! My status was intended for exactly 8 people! And I have 159 friends, and let's just assume that everyone loves me 9/10 (it would be 10/10, but I don't want to be conceded). Plug it in:

Y = 8/159 + [ ( |9 - 2| ) / 8]

Solve:

Y = .05 + .875

Y= .925

So everyone will care about my postings approximately 92.5% of the time. But lets be serious for a second, the last part of that equation is pretty goofy since liking someone is fairly subjective. The real point of this blog post was to point out that chances are, the post wasn't intended for you. In my case, only 5% of my friends should have legitimately cared about what I had to say, and that isn't much. So to all you people who wonder, "Why would I care what so-and-so has to say?", keep this in mind.

Procrastination

2011-03-07T23:42:00.000-08:00

Isn't it ironic how procrastination almost always leads to something less productive than the thing you are avoiding? For example, I just spent the last 2 hours browsing Facebook, downloading music, and talking about things that can't yet be decided. Not that any of these things are necessarily bad, but I could have easily done something that is actually worthwhile instead of wasting time. Oh well. Such is life.

So this weekend I decided to start running. Evidently (obviously?) I need to increase my stamina for swim, because although I am a pretty beastly sprinter, anything more than a 50 terrifies me. Not really, but I just can't keep up on long sets. So I've decided to run a mile or two every day before swim and on the weekends. Hopefully I'll be able to gradually increase the pace until I'm back to April 2010 status.

Geez, I don't know why I'm writing this. I mean, the chances of anyone actually caring about this enough to read all my pointless points are almost laughable. Did I mention the irony of procrastination? Oh well, I just need to remember that this is for my own references, not for anything else. Now I see how Blogs pull you into their little trap...

Actually, that reminds me: existentialism. Not only is it impossible to spell, but it is absolutely brilliant. Although I don't subscribe to many of the core beliefs, I've found that simply knowing and understanding has helped me to clarify and organize my own thoughts. It's like removing the veil of preconceived notions from your life. I mean, obviously you still have to make an effort to follow society's rules, but it is quite refreshing to look at life as if every avenue is a choice. Quite frankly, I think it is the things that we choose not to do that define us more than the few things that we actually do. I mean, think about it. The things that you do don't even reflect your thoughts, since most people will wish to do something that they would never actually do. I suppose this is where I differ from existentialists. Your thoughts make up more of you than your actions. They, in fact, they are the only things that you can verify as real because they ARE you. I don't know, there are an infinite possibilities to human interpretations of the world. There is an old saying that goes, "Any man can come up with an ends to the means." I've always found this to be true. If you have a fact, you can always reverse engineer a reason for that fact. It might be completely and utterly wrong, but human imagination allows for that possibility.

And finally, I don't understand why people choose to believe that Macs are better than PCs or whatever. I mean, it all depends on the user and their purpose. I've used almost every OS extensively, and still believe that each have their pros and cons. From Facebook:

Look, you really can't say any one operating system is better than another, it depends on how you use it.

For example, Macs are great if you just want something that can get the job done quickly and doesn't break. But they don't have the customize-ability that PC's have. And PC's don't have the customize-ability that Linux has, but it has a wider user base. I mean, if one OS was better than another, EVERY other OS would just copy the one that is the best. But that isn't the case, is it? Each OS has it's own specific purpose, and those that use their chosen system are undoubtedly pleased with it.

I could say,
"Macs are film cameras and PCs are digital cameras.

Which one would you prefer for everyday use?"
(terrible example I know)

While most might say the digital camera because of the easy customize-ability, Macs aren't intended for that. They are intended for different things.

Thus, you can only argue what is best for you, not what is best for everyone.

You have no idea how much I want to break out existentialism right now.

"I believe I am becoming an existentialist."

Day 2: Rambles

2011-03-02T23:22:00.000-08:00

So I've decided that I really don't know what I'm going to use this blog for. I mean, my original goal was simply to track my progress, but I suppose it also has the added benefit of forcing me to keep my word when it comes to projects. I mean I have like 10 unfinished projects going right now, and that's not even including the ones I 'said' that I'd touch up. And then there's the Minecraft-esque thing that I want to get going here soon. Geez, so much to do, so little time. I really should just commit to one thing. But I won't.

Speaking of the hundreds of projects that I have going, I am, as I write this, downloading the Ableton Suite 8 trial. Fancy, eh? You see, I've been wanting to produce mixes of music for a while now, and I figure why not start now? Ignore that question. But in all seriousness, I really want to get into this and hopefully now I'll finally have the chance to try. For a 30 day period (I actually don't know how long since it hasn't finished downloading). If you'd like to take a look at this renounced program, here it is. And for the ungodly price of $699 + tax, it can be yours!

Up next, evidently my birthday is coming up. I didn't even realize it until my Grandma sent me a message asking for gift ideas (how nice of her!). So I'll be browsing the interwebs here for any sign of something that might interest me this March. Hey! How about the Ableton Suite 8!

/sarcasm

But I did realize last time I went snowboarding that my board was a wee bit smaller than I remember, so I'm looking into this beauty. It placed first in the Best of Test 2011, so it must be pretty good. And if I actually do end up going to college in Colorado, I'll need a fun board to take with me.

Wow. Looking at this has really made me realize how much more expensive 'toys' get as you get older. My little brothers are thrilled with army men and I'm checking out a $500 board. How many army men could I get with $500...

Scratch that, maybe I DO want army men after all.

And almost finally, I know I mentioned adding all of my school assignments to this blog, but I think I'm going to start a new blog and just add them all to that one. That way I don't have to worry about cramming this one. So I'll be looking forward to that sometime in the near future. It should be interesting.

Also I am adding this:

...so that hopefully I can add it to the background straight from blogger. We'll see. I don't hold out much hope...

Adieu!

EDIT: I really don't know who I'm writing this to, since the only person who (I believe) even knows this is here is Tom (Hi Tom!). Maybe all those future people who will flock through my history when I finally do open this blog to the public? Who knows. Just an odd thought that I really didn't consider.

End Day 1

2011-03-01T21:32:00.000-08:00

Alright, I'm ending it here. Almost got the gradient in, but for some reason it won't let me resize it. Oh well, I'll figure it out tomorrow. As for now, I'm just going to attempt to post the song I was mostly listening to all night.

Also, I'm pondering doing videos. There's just too much to do with school! Oh well, until another day...

And with that, adieu!

Progress?

2011-03-01T20:21:00.000-08:00

I've got to admit, this is probably more work than just doing a new website from scratch. I mean, with Blogger, you have to fit all of your images into set templates, while when you are designing your own website you have the privilege of complete control. There's no scrolling through several different lists of predefined settings that completely change what images you must produce.

Of course, all this is beside the point since I also don't want to code my own blog from scratch. Way too much work. No, I'm perfectly happy spending the extra time on some images so that I don't have to recode everything. Although I am going to have to jump into the Blogger code in a second here to see if I can set up a gradient and shadow for this post background. Quite annoying that you can not replace colored backgrounds with images in the UI. Or maybe you can and I just can't find it. Oh well. We'll see. But for now, I think the images I've created will do. I think the most fun I'll have with this blog is simply creating new pictures to throw up in the background and title.

Also, I think I'm going to start going through my essays from years ago and gradually working my way towards the current, posting each one with my commentary as I go. That way future students can have the guidance that teachers never seem to give. Who knows, I might as well just post all my work up here.

Speaking of which, I have a nice little Existential thought activity that I came up with while reading through the packets that I received. Very interesting stuff. For once I think I can actually appreciate a thought process that I learned in English.

Here is my 'thought activity:'

"Imagine this scenario: You have no sense of self. You are simply a brain. And you are surrounded by wires which feed you a predefined set of impulses. You have been fed these impulses since 'birth,' but since you have no other form of senses to verify these impulses, you must assume that they are accurate. These impulses feed you everything that is going on right now. They tell you that you are staring at a screen, what you are reading, the sensation of your behind on your chair. All of these impulses are predefined. It's like watching a movie, you cannot control the events, only your own interpretation of them. And all of these impulses are being fed to you through wires and they aren't really happening. How would you know?

"You might say, 'Well, I'll think to raise my right arm, and I raise my arm, then nothing is predefined and this scenario cannot exist.' But tell me, how do you KNOW, without a doubt, that you actually tried to raise your arm? It is simply a memory, and a common saying is that 'We remember what we want to remember.' If the input sends us the sensation of raising our arm, we will have the memory of raising our arm, even if we never thought it. There is no present, everything we know is noting but a memory. Since there is no way of verifying our thoughts, or more accurately, memories, how can we perceive truth?

"So let me ask you: if this situation was real, and you were armed with the knowledge that you were nothing more but memory strapped to predefined input, would anything change? Would you do ANYTHING differently? Or would you simply continue on with the same actions and decisions as before, since you are unable to change them? Has the lie become reality?"

This experiment is basically to force one to examine the laws and truths that govern them in an unbiased manner. It proves that since there is no real evidence, one must accept the 'truth' that is 'most true.' Since we are never able to act on proof (since it doesn't exist), we must act on a sort of faith in what is most likely.

Here end-eth my first day on Blogger. At the very least, this is quite interesting.

My Reasons For Creating a Blog

2011-03-01T18:48:00.000-08:00

My status on Facebook earlier today:

"Is considering setting up a blog, not because of some misguided sense that it will provide a small income (although that would be nice) or out of an even more naïve need to become known (because anonymity is always better), but because I believe that it has some value in allowing one to watch oneself progress and change over time.

That and because all the cool kids are doing it."

Although I was initially intending to poke fun at the prospect of such an endeavor, the more I thought about it, the more it made sense. I mean, I've heard journals are great, but I've never been able to so much as entertain the thought of starting one because of the common excuse "I won't have time." But now, as I realize that I already whittle away more time at this key board than anywhere else, I figure I might as well spend my time doing something useful... -ish.

So without further adieu (and to the great chagrin of everyone who knows me), I present to you "RoRRe wen a."