My Japanese friend vacationed in America for a week, and I was responsible for showing him around. I was nervous at first, but fortunately I found several helpful resources that really made for an exciting visit.

Flight Tracking Apps

Flight schedules can be difficult to predict, and a poorly planned pickup can put a damper on the excitement. It’s important to have the most up-to-date info in order to ensure that your visitor isn’t stuck at the airport, and sometimes printed itineraries just won’t cut it. Kayak offers a free application with powerful flight tracking functions, and it’s incredibly easy to track a flight to or from any country via any flight provider. No flight number, no problem; there are also options to track by departure and arrival locations. If the trip is open ended, Kayak can be used to easily purchase a return ticket and also displays useful fee and airport feature information. There’s even a beacon function that broadcasts the user’s position so that group members can find each other. The app is available for iPhone, BlackBerry, and Android.

Finding Something To Do

It’s tempting to resort to pricey restaurants or posh theater, but some of the greatest times can be had at free attractions or local haunts. Wikitravel offers excellent city guides that include everything from the fanciest experiences to famous cheap eats. These guides include ticket and meal prices suited to any budget. It’s also important to take cultural needs into account, and Wikitravel offers useful information on local religious centers. The standard Wikitravel site is awesome, but the mobile version of the site really shines on iPhone or Android.

In general, it helps to create a bank of activities. This allows you to create a schedule on the fly that can be changed to fit the energy level or interests of your visitor. Free apps like Springpad offer powerful ways to capture activity ideas (personally I relied on Bords for iPad).

Apps that Get you There

If you’re in the states, there’s a good chance that you’ll be driving your visitor all over town, or even taking a long road trip. I love my iPhone, but the gps feature simply sucks. It’s painful to drive and type in addresses (not recommended) and it’s nearly impossible to navigate a course while finding a place to chow down or looking for souvenir shops. Dragon Go! offers an elegant solution to the type and drive dilemma. This free app can recognizes such commands as “Transformers Showtimes”, or “Directions to McDonalds,” and it’s invaluable in a setting where typing isn’t an option.

Keeping an Opened Mind

Those who have visited a foreign country know that the experience can be both exciting and a little frightening. Normally new experiences come gradually, but visiting a foreign land brings a Tsunami of new information. There are so many new foods, places, and people to take in that exhaustion is almost guaranteed: throw in a foreign language and your visitor may feel that he or she is climbing a mountain. There may be tons to see but intermittent downtime is a must, especially if jet lag is an issue. It’s important to consider your visitors energy level, and it’s a great idea to stick to relaxing activities for the first and second day of the visit.

Style, personality, and interest vary across cultures, so leave some wiggle room in the schedule for cultural differences. There are two schools of thought when it comes to the flow of time, one flowing and continuous, and the other segmented and staccato. The study of this use of time is known as Chronemics and understanding which category your visitor’s culture falls into is a great start to arranging a fun visit. Those from polychromic cultures may prefer a more relaxed schedule, with plenty of time in between events, and those from monochromic cultures may prefer a more regimented schedule. Regardless of what you read, be wary of cultural stereotypes, and be open to input from your guest.

There are many ways to entertain a foreign guest, and there’s definitely no right or wrong way to do so. Keeping an opened mind and relying on helpful technology can relieve quite a bit of the stress that comes along with choosing from countless activities and trying to provide a pleasurable visit.

The dollar price hike was irrelevant on a large scale, but it spawned an interesting question in my mind; how much am I willing to pay for a limited selection of online content and DVDs with gimped release dates? I’ve discovered that the answer to that question is somewhere between $9.99 and $15.98. It’s all simple math really; Netflix disks have an average turn around time of three days for me, one for Netflix to send the disk, one for me to watch it, and one to send it back. This equates to ten watchable disks per month, or around 80 cents per disk with the new $7.99 plan. This doesn’t take into account the long periods of forgotten DVDs, Sundays, or the times when I forget to update my queue and receive a DVD that I don’t wish to see. The alternative to this is to pay 99 cents at my local video store to rent new releases on the day of release. If I don’t feel like seeing a movie then I don’t have to pay, and I won’t ever find myself with a film that I have no desire to see. It may require more hunting, but the rewards are instant gratification and cash. Netflix is no longer the best alternative to traditional DVD rentals. So what about streaming?

When I heard of the price hike, I immediately thought that the best thing to do would be to switch to the streaming only plan. What else could satiate my craving for twelve-hour Hoarders marathons? The new plan price is $7.99, which allows me to view an unlimited amount of mediocre content, and it’s unreasonable to think that this amount of content could be found anywhere else for less. Like the Walmart $5 DVD bin, Netflix Instant is about quantity and price rather than quality.

We compete for a very specific and small part of the pie. We don’t have everything, but we have a great bargain. That’s what we want the brand proposition to be … Apple and Amazon are very good at being comprehensive.

via Mashable

The more I think about this, the more it seems that Netflix is merely a cheap time sync, not awesome enough to be satisfying, but just enough to keep me hooked. Instead of waisting the money and time on something that is hardly entertaining, I’m going to put it towards doing something awesome, or at least something that’s truly fun. I want movies to be epic again, not just a way to pass the time. I can remember the first time that I saw films like Donnie Darko, Fight Club, and Stranger Than Fiction. It was a time when the movie had to be sought, and although technology is convenient, the shear bombardment of media can be numbing, and it takes more and more content to achieve even a hint of the deep first-time satisfaction. I want interesting films in my queue, and if that takes more effort, or even more cash then so be it.

Besides that, there are much cooler things that can be done with much less than $7.99.

• Learn the foundations of Buddhism.
• Learn how to write the Great American Novel.
• Watch Christian Bale fight an oppressive dystopia.
• Journey down the rabbit hole.

Netflix is a business like any other, and they maintain the right to profit, just as we maintain the right to choose. It’s this balance that determines business success or failure. If enough people truly feel that the change is unacceptable (if $6 really breaks the bank) then Netflix will either change or die. I’ve got a strong suspicion that they’ll be just fine: the %60 price hike is enough to sustain the company, even considering a mass exodus.

Guys, Netflix is a business; they’re not your Mom.

Merlin Mann

The Internet offers writers and bloggers access to millions of potential readers, and tools like WordPress are vital in the war of Internet words. Visual editors in blogging software allow for some form of control over visual appearance of the writer’s text, but HTML is required to attain any form of visual uniformity. The most glaring issue with HTML is that writers are not web designers, and while HTML tags are relatively easy to understand, they muddle the flow of text and force the writer to break his or her concentration with awkwardly long and obstructive tags.

Enter Markdown

What if you could replace

<a href="www.google.com">Google</a>

with a simple

[Google][]

This is the goal of Markdown, a writing syntax created by John Gruber and Aaron Swartz. Downloading a simple script allows the user to convert a Markdown file into an HTML document, easily upload-able to most sites and blogs. Instead of resorting to bulky word processing files, Markdown allows the writer to store work in simple text documents. This simplicity allows the writer to focus on the writing, not the messy formatting. Markdown syntax is incredibly simple; however, working from a mobile device such as an iPad makes accessing the important symbols such as “[” cumbersome. Writing Kit offers an excellent solution.

Writing Kit for iPad

Writing Kit is designed for the researcher, someone who needs to consume massive amounts of Internet data and effortlessly insert references into his or her writing. Writing Kit has a quick research button, that provides dictionary definitions of common words, supports all of the major read later services and even provides its own reading list. The fully integrated browser permits inserting links with a single long press, and it’s never been easier to insert pictures or links into an iPad text editor.

Writing Kit is meant for Markdown, so what good would it be if it handled it poorly? Fortunately, it’s never been easier to use Markdown, even with little to no knowledge of the syntax. There’s a built in cheat sheet that offers an overview of all that Markdown has to offer, and the keyboard toolbar allows you to insert Markdown elements automatically, with a single tap. Popup boxes allow you to enter all of the pertinent info and create an inline link.

The only thing that seems to be lacking from this awesome app is the ability to insert reference links. The picture and link options only allow for inline elements. Fortunately, Writing Kit makes up for this shortcoming by offering TextExpander support, and it’s incredibly simple to create a reference link snippet.

Reviewing your work is simple because Writing Kit allows you to browse by header, providing a hierarchical view of the document. This is an indispensable feature for lengthy works. A built in preview allows you to check the appearance of your work, and there are several in-app fonts to choose from.

Sync

Dropbox sync is simply a must for my workflow, and Writing Kit has worked out most of the bugs present in its initial Dropbox sync release. Writing Kit now allows the user to select which Dropbox folder is synced, but it must be relinked to Dropbox to change sync folders. Since I keep all of my writings in the same folder, it’s no problem for me, but some may prefer the option to easily change sync folders. The method of syncing Dropbox documents is still a bit strange and requires the user to hit a refresh button in the document menu. This can be confusing as it’s not always clear if you’re overwriting an existing document of saving your current version. This is only truly a problem when editing the same document from different sources within a short amount of time.

Sharing

A writing app with cool features is pretty meaningless if there is no way to export documents, and fortunately this is where Writing Kit excels. Documents can be exported as both source code or file in both HTML or Markdown. Documents can be emailed, copied to the clipboard, opened in external apps, or even sent to Omnifocus. The sharing options are simply phenomenal. Personally, I prefer to copy the HTML source code to my clipboard and paste it directly into the WordPress application, but there are much cooler and geekier ways of posting your content with Writing Kit’s export features.

Conclusions

From beginning to end Writing Kit is a blast to use. It rewards those who take the time to long press everything, and there are more features than can be mentioned in this post. The app is perfect for those who are intimidated by new writing syntaxes, because its toolbar provides a quick and easy way of inserting Markdown elements. One of the only gripes that I have with Writing Kit is the inability to easily insert reference or implicit links. There’s also a bug that occasionally prevents the user from scrolling to the bottom of the document page when the keyboard is present. But these issues are minor, and the productivity boost that Writing Kit offers far outweighs these minor issues. I can’t wait to see where Writing Kit goes from here, and if the past is any indication, the developer will continue to bring new and exciting features to this already excellent app. Writing Kit is available on the app store for $4.99.

But precut mats are only $2, so would you even bother?

He was right, the precuts were only slightly cheaper. It’s not like the teacher would even care that I cut my own; in fact, the flawed mats might work against me, but none of this mattered to me.

I just wanted to give it a try. What’s the point of doing things the easy way when you can try something new?

The Project

I started creating the new theme for Tech and Ramen five months ago, even touting the ambitious project in an epically indulgent blog post. I can’t say that it’s been the primary focus of my life, but it’s been quite a fun ride. I could have simply purchased a new theme or found a decent free one, but I wanted to create my own from scratch. This wasn’t the most efficient way of updating the site, but I was more concerned with the process and learning involved rather than the timing. Today I’m proud to switch the blog over to the new layout, or what I’ve dubbed Ramen 0.9.0 I started the coding of this blog theme with no mockup, simply changing bits and pieces until I had a design that I could live with. Sure it has its fair share of bugs at the moment, but these will be worked out in time. I’ve taken screenshots of several stages of the process, and it’s quite hilarious to see how things have changed along the way.

As the project progressed, I realized that I should focus less on the complexity and intricate features of the blog and more on something that is often overlooked, readability. I removed the Google adverts that adorned the previous theme, bumped up the font sizes, and changed them to Helvetica. The colors are no longer bright and overwhelming, but soothing. The posts are more easily accessible, and all of the clutter has been removed. While I’ve left in the coding for the sidebar, I’ve determined that Tech and Ramen would be better off without one. All of the important information can be accessed from the main column but remains unobtrusive. The goal of this theme is to focus on the content, and I feel that it succeeds in this area. The true test for me was creating something that could be used in a mobile environment, without the need for any mobile themes or extra features, and this simple concept has played a large part in the design.

So what lies ahead? I’ve decided to put the comment system on hold for a bit; the site is simply not large and sterile enough to require one. For now, if you have a comment, critique, concern, or simple desire to say something that you’d like me to hear, simply email me or seek me out on Twitter. I’ve always found direct contact much more personable and meaningful than random commenting.

As I continue to develop the theme, I plan to release it for free. It’s not there yet, but I’m hoping to use a general release as way to receive useful feedback and improve my design skills.

As I’ve discovered, living to learn means avoiding the easy path. The journey to simply finish an ambitious project or learn a new skill is littered with mistakes, clumsiness, but also important lessons and gained insight. While seeing projects through until the end is important, the journey should be the focus, and the finish should merely be the icing on the cake. I’ve taken nearly 5 months to complete the redesign, which would be glacial by any other standards but my own, but the amount of knowledge that I’ve gained from the experience is invaluable.

Sometimes we just need an inch. In times of stagnation, or when it seems that there is no path to victory, something as small as an inch reminds us that there is hope.

int motorpin = 3;

I should have capitalized the “p.” I was terrified of frying the circuit board, and I knew that the motor’s inability to move meant that it was all over, I must have fried it. I’d spent the past two days devising a plan to hook the board up to a simple motor. Not only were my Mechanical Engineering skills useless with the electrical beast, but my education reinforced the idea that any small misstep could lead to catastrophic failure. I noticed the error in the code, and held my breathe as I flipped the switch. The motor turned, stopped, and turned again, just as I’d programmed it to do. This was an immense victory, and I was jettisoned from the pit of impossibility that had consumed the project. It was only an inch. Sometimes its as simple as giving yourself permission to royally fuck up, and it was this daring that lead to a small victory. This lead to quite a few more failures, which lead to a handful of successes. Each individual failure, risk, and success were all necessary to keep the project alive. Each forced me to experience something new. A burned-out pump required me to reluctantly push for faster shipping. I hate making waves, but the project forced me to throw a few boulders into the water. I learned how to use a mill and get clean edges, wire micro controllers, use electronic switches, wire bread boards, and even write a bit of code. Most of these accomplishments were crude or simple, but they served as inches creeping to a seemingly unreachable goal.

No Pressure

I’d probably spent a combined 12 hours trying to get that damned contraption to pick up an off-brand Ibuprofin, but it just couldn’t do it more than occasionally. I was working under the assumption that a failure to meet this basic project goal would result in a failure to graduate, but I’d forgotten the purpose of the whole project.

The pump whirred to life, sluggish but still breathing. It was caked with hot glue and had a predicted lifespan of mere moments. I knew that the little vacuum pump wasn’t strong enough to lift the pill, but I didn’t know if this would warrant a big honking “F” on our senior project. The piston lowered and fell perfectly onto the surface of the pill, which buzzed hopefully but ultimately failed to move. I watched our advisor’s expression for even the slightest hint of disappointment, but I got nothing. We finished our presentation and waited for the barrage of criticism, but it never came.

You’re exactly where I expected you to be. Great job!

With the help of close friends and many extended periods of reflection, I’ve decided to walk at my graduation. I told myself that walking wasn’t a celebration of the college that I’ve grown to loathe or the degree that I feel is meaningless, but the inches that I’ve gained. It’s hard to imagine how it’s going to feel to graduate, but I imagine it feels something like this:

I’ve discussed my bitterness regarding the college experience on several occasions, but I’ve never talked of my attempts at letting go of it. I have this fear that I’ve become a bitter person because of my experiences with my college, especially the lack of care or concern exhibited by the people who run things. Its hard for me to walk into an engineering building without the dementors emerging from the cracks and crevices of the brick. I hate that this is the song that runs through my head when I think of saying goodbye to some of my professors:

But these are thoughts, and thoughts, like death and taxes, are unavoidable and uncontrollable. I was going to skip graduation out of bitterness, but this would have been a mistake. I’m claiming my inch, my life, and I’m celebrating all of the things that have made me want to live through all of the negative experiences. Sure, I probably would have figured out that AOL wasn’t necessary to access the internet, but there’s a slew of things that I would’ve never happened if it wasn’t for the cockroach infested dorm that leeched $1,000 a month from my bank account. There would have been no Starcraft marathons, or the epidemic known as WoW. I would have never played ping pong, or learned of the existence of Terry Pratchett, and I would have missed out on nearly every amazing person that I know. I would not be sitting here now, thinking of all of the incredible things that I’ve experienced and continue to experience. The black gown hangs on the back of the door waiting for me. Orange is my favorite color, and the tassel reminds me of sunrise. The sun is indeed rising, and it’s time to bask in its glory.

“I’ll have that.”

He walked to the back room and returned with a shiny sealed bag. He poured the beans into the grinder and flipped it on. After the grinder finished fulfilling its purpose, he took a metal utensil and tapped the grinder mouth, to ensure that there were no little bits of goodness left behind. He brewed my cup of coffee, one serving just for me. This coffee hadn’t been sitting on a burner for hours. I took my first sip of the hot brew, and damn it if it didn’t remind me of a hot and stormy summer day. I’m glad that he didn’t ask me how it was because I don’t feel that “awesome” would have appropriately described its complexity. If I had time to prepare an answer it would have been “I love coffee.”

I turned to my friend, the coffee enthusiast who introduced me to the cafe, and said “this is what I want to do for the rest of my life.” I didn’t mean making coffee; I meant creating things that remind people of their love or passion. Sure, I drink coffee at least five times a day, but I am rarely reminded that I, in fact, love coffee. In the same way, I spend my days surrounded by someone else’s creations, but most of the time they are frustrating, outdated or awkward. I thought of my drive to school. It’s hard to truly appreciate a car while sitting in traffic, surrounded by exhaust that seems to choke the life out of fresh air. Most cars are no longer special but boring necessities.

I had the same “I love it” experience when I cracked open the packaging of my iPad. The iPad feels huge and not in terms of physical size. The moment reminded me of when I picked up my iPhone 3G. My previous phone was a Motorola Razr, and I was a bit nervous about spending so much money on something that I considered to be unnecessary; now I can’t live without it. The iPad feels the same way, revolutionary. The difference is that there isn’t a device that preceded the iPad, so it’s the first of its kind, the first tablet that was designed to be a tablet and not just a smaller computer. I considered purchasing a Bluetooth keyboard for typing, but this seemed silly. I gave typing on the iPad a try and it was effortless. I’m typing now, almost at full speed. Just as the coffee inspired me, I found myself thinking “I love technology.” This product was designed with an amazing amount of care, thought, and passion, and it shows. It’s one of the few products that reminds me of why I ditched pen and paper. There’s no longer a chain attached to my desk, and I’m free to work or play anywhere. The little flourishes make the difference, and a little care and passion can take a simple product to a whole new level.

There’s ample room to inject passion into our lives, and I find this reassuring when thinking about my future. The world seemed to have lost the need to create amazing things, but this means that there is more room than ever to do something amazing.

Most understand what it feels like to settle for the path of least resistance. Many fail to do what makes them happy on a daily basis. We sensor our dissatisfaction, until it explodes behind the scenes, causing stress and emotional anguish. We take full time jobs doing things that we don’t care about because we are told that having a shitty job is better than having no job at all. We are told that doing things we hate will pay off in the from of security.

I hate the security game. Few stop to compare the value of security to the value of happiness and the consequences of losing each. It’s loss that we fear, losing the house, losing the job, losing a loved one, or losing security. Most don’t understand what it is like to lose happiness because they’ve never truly experienced it. I’ve never truly experienced it. The security game is simple; it starts with a compromise. “I love writing, but there’s no money in it, so I’ll study Mathematics instead.” This compromise costs 4 years and $20,000, but the reward is security which serves as an awesome dessert to the 4 years of the shitty main course.

The Cake is a Lie

This dessert never comes. The security never comes. The shitty major leads to a shitty job, because getting a job is what you do after college. It’s only a temporary job, one that will provide some cash that will eventually allow you to pursue your passion. There’s no happiness here, but it’s only temporary…until it isn’t. My mind can only comprehend sacrifice, because sacrifice is all that it knows to do. The frustration with this manifests itself in the form of bitterness and anger. The resentment can be stifled but at the cost of mental stability. Instead of the desired security all that results is loneliness, anger, and boredom.

Which is more devastating, the death of a close friend or the loss of a job? Does it pain us more to live without money or to live without people? Consider your greatest passion, then consider how much money someone would have to offer you to give it up forever. Your responses should indicate what truly takes priority in your life. Why do most new members of the workforce only remain with a company for a few years? It’s amazing how little money it takes to convince someone to change jobs when there is no passion involved. If a person was passionate about the projects that they were trying to ship would a few extra bucks make them abandon it forever? Could a few extra bucks influence you to abandon your friends? You wouldn’t abandon these things because these things are important.

The Cost of Losing Security

My mind works in worst case scenarios, always imagining a collapsing sky. This thought process often leads to seemingly “safe” decisions, but it’s this same thought process that is helping me to see the flaws with these decisions. Losing a job is often devastating, and being poor is less that desirable. We all fear these things, but consider the consequences of losing the money battle. Losing wealth or a job is met with support from friends and family. If one is loved then losing money doesn’t mean losing security. If one works with people who truly care and uses his or her passion to make connections then he or she will never sleep in the cold. A true friend would never let anyone sleep in cold. What remains when one loses the job that he has sacrificed his friends and happiness for? Nothing, not money nor support remain. This is true insecurity. This is what should be feared. This is what will kill you.

It’s time to be selfish, to act in a way that brings personal satisfaction. This isn’t some satanist philosophy but a plea to reason. When we follow our own passions and ignore the screeching voice that calls for more money we are rewarded with strong social bonds, happiness, and oddly enough security. If one fights hard enough to do what they love, the money will come. If it doesn’t, cut out the things that are not necessary to follow your passion. Very little money is needed to live. Very little money is needed to follow your passion.

Well, all of this is great, but how do I pull it off?

You have to fight everyday. It’ll require disappointing a lot of people, but in the end you’ll find that these people would find a reason to be disappointed anyway. The disappointment is inevitable, but the suffering is not. Failure is inevitable, but every failure is a step to some form of success

But I have no money.

Loose leaf paper is 20 cents a pack. Internet time at the library is free. The internet offers countless opportunities and is incredibly cheap. Find a roommate, cancel Netflix, stop eating out, and quit smoking. It’s surprising how much we pay for things that don’t improve our happiness. Friends are free. Play boardgames instead of going to bars. Read a fucking book; the library has countless. If money is an insurmountable issue then find a job that allows you to pursue your interests, but don’t forget to pursue them! If there’s a subject that you want to learn about then you can often find free guides and tutorials on the internet.

Doing what makes you happy is the most difficult thing that you’ll ever encounter. I’m not negating the undeniable fact that we need money to survive, but I’m convinced that we don’t need as much as we think. I’m also convinced that working hard at something we love will eventually earn more cash than working a soul-sucking job, it just takes that initial amount of time and effort. Our brain works against us because it believes that we will die if we do not pursue security. This remnant of tribal thinking was necessary to survive. There was a point where venturing outside of the cave would lead to being devoured, but those days are over, and those who say otherwise are victims of this very same thinking.

It’s very true that a large percentage of people are satisfied with jobs and lives that they’ve given up their wildest dreams for, and there is nothing wrong with this. There are certainly potential positives that come with this. These people would say that they’re happy, and I truly believe that they are, but I am not one of these people. If there is any secret in all of this chaos it’s that we are all different, and different things make us happy. The trick is acknowledging this fact and getting on with it. The failure to do so is a part of nearly every disagreement since the dawn of man. This extends to religious, political, and cultural issues. If you follow your passions you will disappoint someone, but the reason for this disappointment is not due to a failure on your part but a misunderstanding. Most assume that the ingredients for their happiness should satisfy everyone, and they become concerned, threatened, or scared when they are told otherwise. Consider the long term. Would you rather disappoint your parent now with pursuing an odd passion and please them later when you succeed, or disappoint them later when you eventually burn out and fail at a job that you hate? Like I said before, disappointment is inevitable, but suffering is not. If you’re afraid to become something because it has bad connotations associated with it, then be the person who changes these connotations. Your passion has earned this respect, and it has earned your attention. It’s time to do something about it.

I struggle with these issues daily, but so does everyone else. I’ve found the most support in the experiences of others. It’s assuring to know that we all suffer from fear and the tribal need for security. This isn’t about being a selfish douche, or an inconsiderate prick; it’s about realizing that you are the only one who cares about your own happiness. Live in a way that acknowledges that this is the truth for everyone. It’s not something that can be done overnight, but it is something that will drastically improve your life and in turn make life better for the people around you. In this case being selfish will lead to you to be happy and compassionate, and these traits have obvious benefits to the people around you. If you live in a state of bitter defeat, you offer nothing of value. I’ve been there, in the useless depths of pessimism, and I hated it. I still hate it because pessimism is still a huge part of my life. I won’t allow it to stay any longer. It’s time to do something about it.

People Who are Doing Something About it

• Humans of New York
• Scared Shitless
• Guide to Not Giving a Fuck

Guides to Doing Something About it

• Learn from the greatest authors.
• Profit from your passion, even while maintaining a bs job.
• Lower your cost of living.

Now Go Do Something About it!

So I was unafraid of death—of the moment itself—and of what came afterwards, which was (and is) nothing.

It takes balls for a terminal cancer patient to deny the existence of a soul, but it takes even bigger balls to do this 12 days before death.

In his posthumous post, writer Derek Miller speaks of oblivion quite eloquently, and he’s not afraid of it. Miller died from complications due to cancer on May 3rd, and his death post was published by a close friend on May 4. It appears that he makes reference to writing it 12 days beforehand via Twitter:

For no real reason, was awake the past 3 hours writing for the future. Time to sleep again now.

Miller fought a year long battle with cancer, but he didn’t stop “living” until he could physically continue no longer. For some reason, I always imagined the terminally ill sitting around, waiting to die in a gray atmosphere that resembled a poorly crafted antidepressant commercial. This idea is absurd. Life doesn’t care if you’re about to die, and it will treat you with unapologetic consistency until the very last moment. Miller seemed to understand this, and the ferocity with which he faced death is something that ought to be admired.

Miller links to an XKCD comic that illustrates his point quite well. A box of legos is merely a box of legos. A box of Legos can be used to build a lego horse, but if that horse is destroyed, it becomes a box of Legos. A person is simply a network of various electrical impulses and physical dependencies, nothing more. When these various pieces are separated or destroyed no human remains.

During a recent conversation with close friends, I stated that I cannot fear that which I cannot comprehend; therefore I cannot fear death. This statement wasn’t meant to be boastful or arrogant but rather an argument grounded in reason. I just don’t find fear of death to be plausible. It makes sense to fear pain or the departure of a loved one, but death is nothing, literally nothing. Death cannot possibly exist at the same time as the human life that it replaces, therefore death can cause no pain or discomfort in the life that vanishes upon its arrival.

Despite all of its power, the human mind is limited by its experiences. This means that things like death can only be quantified in terms that the mind understands, i.e. in terms of “living.” Death does not equal living, and attempts to describe it as such are foolish. Unfortunately for the sane, these attempts are often categorized into things that most refer to as “religions,” or cults, depending on your religion. The details and wordings of religious verses are subtly different, but the flawed human reasoning remains the same. There must be a life after death because life is all that I understand.

Are we strong enough to handle death? Sometimes it doesn’t seem so; we create fairytales to make ourselves feel better about ceasing to exist or simply ignore the inevitability of corpsification. I never understood the fear of death. There seems to be a need for some omnipotent being to come along and say that everything is going to get better, but it’s not. Things aren’t going to get better; things just are. Life is. The adjectives that follow are subjective and meaningless. We are as we are, and when we cease to exist we are not. How we interpret our existence is completely up to us, and our interpretations should not be skewed by those who wish to comfort themselves by controlling us. Hundreds of years ago religion was used as a way to keep the peons in check. “Things may be horrible now, but if you obey this set of rules things will improve drastically when you die.” Does anyone ever stop to think of how many religious “rules” seem to benefit the establishment, the church, group, or single nut? Give 10% to the church because God wants it. Does God see power in percentages? Perhaps 1% of your income only earns 10% of God’s love, because apparently he’s a son of a bitch when it comes to the adding machine. The “glorious afterlife” has lead countless numbers of people to sacrifice their happiness in exchange for filling the coffers of the already wealthy. This is a reality that I cannot promote.

In truth, losing a loved one is one of the shittiest things that anyone can experience, and there is no fluffy alternative reality to repair the irreparable damage caused. This is the harsh truth, but this experience is what defines humanity. The perpetual reminder of our mortality has spawned entire subcultures in art, music, and daily living. The one thing that unites all of humanity, the cruel leaders, visionaries, and factory workers, is that one day it will end. Derek Miller’s blog illustrates how technology is bringing users closer and closer to the faces of their own mortality and hopefully it shows them that there is nothing to fear. Fearing death will not effectively ward it off.

Find solace in the fact that every life experience somehow shapes the curvature of our human stories. Loved ones may leave, but their influence can never be wiped from the Earth’s history. Derek Miller will always be the writer that showed his readers what it was like to approach death with vibrance, clarity, and honesty.

If it wasn’t for his death, I would’ve never known him.

Everyone remembers excessively nagging their parents to open presents. Personally, I fancied the 4 o’clock our; there was something about the slight moisture in the air that made the wrapping paper easier to ravage. Five minutes of glee lead to the obligatory thank-you phone calls, and after that I was free to play with my new treasures.

Theres nothing special about 23. There aren’t any cards that reflect on the power gained at twenty as there were to celebrate entrance into the Double Digits Club. There were no Megazords to be unwrapped, and the clown retired some time ago. Regardless of these sad truths, every Birthday is better than the last.

I celebrated my 22nd Birthday in Japan, in a little restaurant called Tanoshoku. My Japanese friends arranged an awesome party, gyoza cake and all. I had only been in Japan for a month, but I already felt that I belonged there. We ate, drank, shared stories, and had a generally awesome time. I wasn’t expecting the party, but it was an awesome reminder of how quickly one can make spectacular friends.

It was the tastiest gyoza cake that I’d ever had.

I worked for seven hours on my 23rd birthday. I was fairly certain that it would be an awful day, but my occasional pessimism is often met with surprise. I devoured my Birthday Bundt, had a celebratory Birthday Icee, and received an awesome piece of cheesecake from some good friends. My work day was sprinkled with texts wishing me a good day, Happy Birthdays from coworkers, a few phone calls, and it ended with the promise of Harry Potter.

Birthdays were always something that I waited for, but now they’re surprises, unexpected and cheerful. It’s nice to say that there is truly nothing in the world that I need. I have an awesome family, great friends around the world, and good health. I’m living every day in pursuit of what makes my passions soar, and I do so while having the opportunity to interact with amazing people on a daily basis. My parents always told me that I’d miss my childhood, and in some ways I do. Childhood meant no responsibilities, which was nice; but, I love the experiences that come with growing up. Everyday I grow stronger and learn more about the world and people around me, and I wouldn’t trade this for a life without responsibility and challenge.

Thanks to everyone for giving me something to write about. Thanks for making growing up worth the effort. Here’s to 24.

But this didn’t fix his slideshow.

He flipped the switch on the tower one more time, flipped another switch or two and held his breath. The projector fan whirred to life, and the presentation beamed onto the wall. It was a glorious site; well, it was black text on a white background, but he was happy with it. The lights where dimmed, and he began to describe the meanings of f-stops and shutter speeds. He slowly pulled his class back from the edge of oblivion and threw in a few self-deprecating jokes for good measure. It was going well, but he was still rushing things; he had to skip out early, but his wife made him promise to keep the motorcycle under 60. The finicky clients were difficult to please, and he knew that the meeting would lead to several more last-minute tasks, all of which would be painfully pointless.

The lecture lasted an hour, and he valiantly clicked over to the last slide. Amateur photographers often overestimate the amount of light sensitivity needed to take an excellent sunset photo, and the image on the presentation was meant to serve as a beautiful example of how a sunset should be captured. The palms where silhouetted, and the orange rays of the sun reflected on the water, which appeared to be made of smooth glass. It was one of his favorite photos, taken during a family vacation, and it also sat in a small frame in his kitchen. He didn’t normally use his own work in his lectures, because he felt it was a bit self indulgent; but, he enjoyed seeing the scene on the big screen, as if he was back on the beach with his young family. It had been quite some time since his children started their own adventurous pursuits, but this picture brought him back.

The presentation was finished, but nothing seemed to move. The cursor slid haphazardly across the screen, and the professor’s head lowered into a deep bow; the chair didn’t like this and squeaked in protest. His clients would have to find someone else to arrange their child’s briss photos.

He was sitting on the beach.