anything about everything

Breakfast at Midnight

2012-05-15T23:58:00.001-05:00

My sister is making chocolate chip pancakes at midnight. :D I am so full but I really want one......

I went to Cedar Rapids today and had Red Robin....it was pretty good. The trip was good except a semi almost hit us 0_o. I am very grateful though because I feel like God protected us. Anywho....it was a pretty good day :)

AND my Mom is in Europe so it is pretty interesting around the house. Yup.

That is all........

Summer and Music

2012-05-14T22:39:00.002-05:00

Sorry about the lack of posts. We all got busy with school and I especially got wrapped up in finals. I am so glad that they are over. I am excited that it is Summer for me but I am kind of stressing myself out with the amount of work that I want to accomplish.

I am a music theory and composition major and my professors would really like for me to "get hot" about a composer so that I can model their composition structure (my professor literally said "get hot" lol). I am excited but I don't want to let myself down by expecting to get a certain amount of work done when I know that I won't. I think that I can do the work I have assigned to myself though.

First, I have assigned myself to read Listening to Western Music (Sixth Edition) so that I understand the different music periods.

Then I have assigned myself to read the Artist's Way to help myself to praise God while writing music and be more confident in myself.

Then I have assigned myself to listen to, I believe, 18 CDs to help me understand different composers and their music.

I know that it sounds nerdy and it sounds like a lot, but I think that I can do it. I'll keep you updated on the interesting things that I learn :)

Movies

2012-02-11T10:57:00.000-06:00

Hey guys, with the fast-approaching Valentine's day, many of you plan on doing a dinner and movie. Do her a favor and do something unique. One unique act can create a tradition. Last year, my girlfriend and I both forgot to get gifts, so we decided to go to Walmart and buy them together, and then exchange them outside with the cheapest wrapping paper ever-a plastic bag. Though it sounds stupid, it was really fun and we decided to do the same thing this year at Target. Even if you think this is a stupid idea, find your own. It doesn't have to be elaborate, it just has to be different enough to woo her. (Even if it is a total failure, you will both always remember and cherish that one time you decided to do that incredibly stupid thing that one Valentine's Day)
Please comment and tell us what you plan on doing for V-Day.(Our girlfriends will thank you)

If the World were a Computer...

2012-01-17T19:43:00.000-06:00

I've been on a politics-influenced, economically philosophical rant for the latter half of today. I find it very amusing and intriguing, as do at least a few of my friends, if only in a negative sense. It all started with: If the world were a computer operating system, what software would it run? Here's my list, and reasons behind the current and past versions. Keep in mind that: 1, this is not endorsed by any other members of the blog, aside from myself; and 2, not all of the world runs the same software (this post assumes a single, unified world, which it is not).

Currently, we as the majority of the world run the following software:

World 1.0

Life 3.2

Government 2.3

Economics 3.0

Religion 1.0, although some individuals run 2.0, 3.0, or 4.0.

Conflict 4.0

Technology 5.5

Here's my reasoning:

World 1.0 is Earth. The Computer that runs Life 3.x, the software our world uses to house everything. We have yet to migrate to a new Earth, so World 1.0 suffices.

Life 1.0 was single-celled organisms, with 1.1 being single-celled photosynthetic organisms (plants), and 1.2 being single-celled animals. As life got more complex, World 1.0 upgraded to Life 2.0: complex plants. Life 2.1 (animals) is a fork of 1.0. Life 2.2 is the content patch that brought about the feature called "Sentience:" Life 3.0, Homo Sapiens, code-named "Human." We are Life 3.2, after 3.1, code-named Neanderthal. So, Life 3.2 "Humans," are, themselves dependent upon various software versions they have developed. The majority of this post is going to cover Life 3.2's software dependencies.

Government 0.x was Theocracies, from a time when a belief in a God mattered in government and public policy. Government 1.x forked into Government 2.0 and Religion 1.0 (More on Religion 1.0 later). Government 1.x was single-leader government, such as Kingdoms and Empires; Government 2.0 is representation. Government 2.1 is democracy such as ancient Greece, 2.2 is republics such as ancient Rome (although Rome eventually downgraded to a late version of Government 1.0), 2.3 is Democratic Republics such as the US and EU, which is the current version.

Economics 0.x was simple trading and bartering, mixed in with hunting and gathering. Economics 1.0 was the transition to a more Capitalist environment. Marxism brought about Economics 2.0: Communism. Some people, such as the US, bypassed Economics 2.0 and went straight to 3.0: Regulation. This was Roosevelt's New Deal, which is currently being whittled away by Republicans to bring us back to Economics 1.x.

Religion is a hot-button issue, but I'm still going to go ahead with this paragraph. Religion 1.0 came directly from Government 1.x, after the fork from Government 2.0. Religion 1.0 is a belief in a god. Religion 2.0 is Polytheism, and 3.0 is Monotheism. Religion 4.0 is Atheism. Some people may disagree with this, but that's my personal opinion. Keep in mind that these numbers are only the order of when they first appeared.

Conflict 0.x was "Peace." Conflict 1.0, however, was the start of a long chain spanning between interpersonal conflict (2.0) to inter-regional and -cultural conflict (3.0), and we are now at Conflict 4.0, War between organized nations. With various rules and regulations, we have now upgraded, followed by a downgrade back to Conflict 4.0.

Technology 0.x never existed, but Life 3.0 manifested Technology 1.0, "Stone Tools." Technology 2.0 is the Bronze age, with 3.0 being the Iron age. Technology 4.0 is steam power, with 4.5 being other fossil fuels, such as gasoline and oil. Technology 5.0 is, however, electronic power and electronics. Energy 2.0, "Renewable energy," is a fork from Technology 4.x. Back to Technology, however, Technology 5.5 is Computers and the Information Age.

So, if the world were a computer, and we were the operating system, we'd be one messed-up computer. Also, for those who believe in God, you could argue that, if this theory were true, he could have deleted the program and started over a long time ago, which I'm convinced he may have; or at least ported Life 0.x from another computer architecture.

Um...

2011-12-29T00:22:00.002-06:00

I wrote a novel today. It was about my Dad. It was three pages long and included many pictures....I know that is not REALLY the definition of a novel but my Dad found it quite funny :)

BY THE WAY....I passed my Aural Training class. Someone was very gracious....

Me and Andy are supposed to take pictures of cool places tomorrow and we are also going to visit Matt and Kenny for New Years.

What are you doing for New Years? :)

Sight Singing

2011-12-13T23:02:00.001-06:00

I was very lucky that I barley passed my Sight Singing final today. I hope that God will help me pass my aural training test tomorrow.....

G'Day! Howdy! Hi! Hello! Welcome! Everything Else! (Or: New Poster -- AwSam)

2011-12-11T18:11:00.001-06:00

Hey, all. I'm Sam (also known as "AwSam," here), and I'm a new poster on this blog. I'm still not sure what I'll talk about, for the most part, but we'll see what comes up. Here's a bit about myself...

I'm a nerd, first and foremost. I like anything related to using computers (although I don't have the knowledge or skills to program or do anything serious with developing for them), and usually have an MMO subscription (particularly, I prefer World of Warcraft).

I'm also a college student. I'm going to soon be a creative writing major with a mass-media-communication-type minor. On a tangent to that, I like to write for a fantasy world I've been working on. I have a TV series (currently in the concept and pre-writing stages), based in that world, and it's going to be pretty epic... At least, that's what I want you to think.

So, maybe that's what I'll talk about, here: just general gaming and creative talk. Before now, I haven't posted too often. Hopefully the fact that other people will post on the same blog will help encourage me to write more, so I can help the other writers out.

My next post will come:

ASAP or Sooner.™

PS: for the time being, you can read some old posts on my other (Wordpress) blog over at Siderial.net.

PPS: Also, I wanted to mention that we noticed today (thanks to my linguistics-nerd self) that the "Russian" used on this blog isn't really Russian, but rather English written in Cyrillic (the Russian alphabet). I want to apologize for any inconvenience this poses for English- or Russian-speaking people.

Civil Rights

2011-12-11T17:01:00.001-06:00

I am not a full fledged anarchist yet, but I still believe that if the state starts taking away individual rights, the people not only are able, but have a responsibility to rebel against the state, replacing it with a free-er state. I believe that one of these times where that is needed is nearing. If things not only in this country, but also the world, keep progressing the way they are with gun rights being threatened and our privacy being invaded, I will be one of the first to finally say' "enough!" and if this happens with good cause, I hope that some of you will join in protest. Many people do not feel their privacy is being invaded, but it is. Look in your pocket. If you pull out a cell phone, you are one of the millions being observed by multi-national corporations who pay billions to hear what you say when you are on your phone and even when its just in your pocket. The only way to stop them is to remove your battery. They pay this much money to provide advertisements that are relevant to your life. You may not think this is a bad thing, but if Target or Wal-Mart can do this, what's stopping Uncle Sam from listening to your private conversations. Comment and tell me what you think, or email me at blogginksam@yahoo.com. Mail is checked at least once a week

Hey

2011-12-09T09:42:00.001-06:00

Hey guys, sorry we havent been posting much, we've all been busy with finals. If there is anything specific you want us to post about, post a comment or email us at blogginksam@yahoo.com

First time Ever!

2011-12-05T10:11:00.001-06:00

For the first time ever, today as of 10:09 central time, we have more views from Russia than the US, which I think is kinda weird....By the way, all posts posted by me (MELLONcholly) is Andy. I will try to continue to post something at least every other day. Comment, let us know how we're doing. my email is andysemail23@yahoo.com if you prefer that. have a good day

Procrastination

2011-12-03T13:14:00.001-06:00

Procrastination. We all do it. Most of us are doing it right now. I should be writing my paper due Monday, but I'm updating my Facebook, Twitter (Follow me and I follow you. @MELLONcholly), or StumbleUpon. What are you guys procrastinating on? comment and lemme know
Вхат аре ые гуис процрастинатинг он? коммент анд лет мы кнов

The big 300

2011-12-02T15:16:00.000-06:00

                  (Photo is not ours, belongs to hedgedruid)
We just reached 300 page views thanks to you guys. It took a while to get up to this point but we hope this is the part where even more people start viewing our blog. We will continue to refine the blog, making it a lot more clean, organized, and funny or interesting. In celebration of this mile marker, by velociraptor has decided to throw a party at his house.
                      (Фото ис нот урс, белонгс то hedgedruid)
Вы юст реачед 300 пажи виевс тханкс то ые гуис. Ит тук а вхиле то гет уп то тхис поинт бут вы хопе тхис ис тхе парт вхере эвен море пеопле старт вивинг ур блог. Вы вилл континуе то рефине тхе блог, макинг ит а лот море клеан, организед, анд фунны ор интерестинг. Ин целебратион оф тхис миле маркер, бы велоцираптор хас децидед то тхров а парти ать хис хоусе.

New Feature (Нев Феатуре)

2011-12-02T14:33:00.000-06:00

Just added a new feature. It allows us to type in English, but it automatically switches to Russian when we're done. (Russia is the second largest contributor to our site views next to America) comment and lemme know what you think. I will try to do this to every post I make if you guys like it.
Юст аддед а нев феатуре фор тхе Руссянс вхо реад тхис. Ит алловс ус то типы ин Енглиш тхен аутоматицаллы свитч то Руссиан. Леаве мы а коммент анд лет мы кнов хов вел ит воркс.
И вилл три то до тхис то эвери пост И маке иф ые гуис лики ит.

Republicans

2011-12-01T11:42:00.001-06:00

I'm a republican. Not that I vote republican (though I will...) but that I believe in the theory of self-rule. See, Aristotle came up with the idea of republicanism, which just means self rule and less government. Which is nice, because it should grant more freedom. However, another philosopher; Hegel, once said "Freedom can't be obtained from individual practice of rights" Which I think is true to a certain point. Freedom can't exist if the strongest kill the weakest; but there is also no freedom in the government deciding what is best for everybody. There has to be a middle ground. I believe that to have freedom for everyone, some need freedoms taken from them; but if we take too many freedoms away, the balance of power shifts too much and no one can be happy. What do you guys think? Comment and lemme know. If you like the site, share it with Stumble, FB, or Twitter.

Society taught me...

2011-11-30T15:20:00.001-06:00

Unless you don't have a tv and you can find the right websites, you've probably seen commercials for various products, but have you ever noticed how messed up some of those commercials are? We should not allow young children or people who are very impressionable to watch these things. Ever seen a cookie crisp commercial? they're all the same. The moral they teach young minds is "hoard your stuff and don't share." All the wolf/dog thing wants is a little cookie. If it were realistic the kid would hit the wolf and say "my cereal!" so the wolf would eat the kid. Now he doesn't need the cereal. There are some that are even worse. Did you know there was a Trix commercial in which the rabbit bought a box, but the kids took it and ran off before he could have any? Fruity Pebbles and Lucky Charms are the same way. These three cereals teach us to steal what we want instead of asking politely or even paying for it. Where's the ad that shows all those kids and Barney getting arrested for grand theft cereal? You'd think someone would be smart enough to call the cops. Cinnamon Toast Crunch is by far the worst. All the flakes are licking each other and I don't even want to know what subliminal message is there, but then they eat each other. How is it I've never heard anyone question the cannibalism of this cereal? I'm afraid to buy a box for fear that I'll open it and only get a single flake because it ate the rest on the way home. Therefore, through these commercials, society has taught me to hoard my goodies, refuse to share, steal what I want, and if all else fails, cannibalize.

Gaming Addiction

2011-11-29T22:20:00.001-06:00

Gaming addiction. A lot of people have it, and it's not just spoiled rich kids anymore. In case you didn't bother to read that link, (it opens in a new tab, just click it.) it was about a grown man dealing with his online game addiction. He lost almost everything in his life for an online MMORG. Before the game, he was successful. during his addiction, he had to move in with his parents because he lost his job, car, girlfriend, and home. Though he finally got his life back on track, we all need to pay attention to the friends we have. If they start to show signs of game addiction, we need to step in and talk to them about the potential problem as soon as you realise it. Don't get me wrong, I love video games (without being addicted) but many people want to blame the video game creators because of one girl who spent $1,400 on one app for the iPhone. Alot of people want to jump on this chance to blame the videogame market, but what about the parents? Where was the mother or father when she let her 8 year old take a $200 machine and play games that she knew would advertise things that you have to buy with real money? I believe that instead of blaming the industry whose jobs depend on selling their product, we should blame careless parents for letting their children rack up that many charges.
(HINT: If you HAVE to do this to get the gamer in your life to do something, he may be addicted. however, if you CHOOSE to do this just 'cause, you are an awesome girlfriend/wife.)

Bellum Omnia Contra Omnes

2011-11-29T11:02:00.001-06:00

Or, The war of all against all. Is the world we live in the best of all possible worlds? A lot of people believe that even some angels would give up their immortality just to live in a human body. What if they would? What if they do? Is being human really that great? Though a lot of people experience untold amounts of pain in their lives, perhaps the fact that we all know and try to accept that we die improves even the worst experiences of our lives. I think the reason behind this is because we instinctively try to suck the joy (or find the silver lining) out of everything including the painful parts of our lives.

Politics

2011-11-27T12:34:00.001-06:00

Elections are next year, and I can already taste the mud in the air from the candidate's mud slinging. I can understand the occasional "Obama did this. I'm going to do this instead." But it has escalated to "A few years ago, Steve Candidate had sex with So and So. I didn't." May I ask; who cares who you screwed? someone's personal life is just that; personal. Leave their lives our of it. If they do what they say they'll do (or at least try) that's all that matters. use the 30 seconds you have on TV to tell us what you wanna do. not what your opponent did 25 years ago.

Thanksgiving!!!

2011-11-24T23:10:00.000-06:00

Happy turkey day everybody, enjoy a nice hunk of turkey with a heaping pile of mashed potatoes and bloatedness. I guess its a bit late for this, but I hope you guys had a good one.I know my pterodactyl did. My Brontosaurus hated me all day, but he'll get over it. NOW FEED YOUR LEFTOVERS TO YOUR STEGOSAURUS!!!!!!!

Turkey Day

2011-11-24T17:13:00.000-06:00

Happy Thanksgiving to all those cruel selfish people out there. To those with a conscious, let us have a moment of silence to mourn the massacre of thousands of turkeys just so people may have another holiday...
thank you for your time. Now let's go eat some turkey and while your enjoying your meal, think of something that your thankful for. Now imagine your life without whatever you thought of. How different do you think it would be? Feel free to comment your thoughts or opinions and have a nice day.

Games

2011-11-23T19:14:00.000-06:00

Just got done playing a pretty fun game with a good message. You'll have to play it to see what it's about, but the last message is one that we all need to take to heart.

Money

2011-11-23T15:58:00.001-06:00

Money. we all know what it is. We all have seen it. Most of us want it so bad we worship it. A Chinese philosopher once said, "We destroy our bodies for money, and we use money to repair the damage to our bodies" As a society, we are obsessed with money. A lot of rich parents even go as far as to forbid their children from dating someone in a lower income bracket. So why do we obsess over money? While it's true that we need money to buy food and shelter, we should not kill ourselves trying to obtain it (or spend what we don't have). We should take our time with life, working for only what we need, and enjoy the ride. You never see a U-Haul behind a hearse. So next time you think you need money, take inventory. ask yourself "do I have enough money to buy food? After food, do I have enough money for the rent/mortgage?" If the answer is yes to both of these, then ask yourself if you could spend that time working with your family or friends instead.
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Chess

2011-11-21T23:00:00.000-06:00

I'm sure at some point or another we have all played, seen,or heard of chess. If you haven't... forget explaining it, if you haven't then go to your local high school and talk to a nerd, you'll hear about it in 5 minutes. Anyway, While playing chess recently, I began to feel sorry for the pawns because everyone underestimates them. Everyone isso worried about the enemy queen that they never think to kill off the pawns when, in reality, the pawns are the best things ever. Imagine if life were like chess. You never see one guy or girl facing on an entire army by him or herself in a full-front assault and winning. That crap only happens in video games and awesome movies (provided there's enough explosions between the "not enough" and "too many" ratios). In life, the pawns do all the work while the queen is actually a bloodsucking parasite that feeds on the wallets of the broke. If you have ever worked at a minimum wage job, played an entire game on the sidelines, or even been part of the majority, then you have been a pawn. But don't feel bad about it. The pawns are the most important part to any tactical strategy. After all, every party needs a meatshield.

Zombie Baseball Teams

2011-11-21T21:28:00.000-06:00

Some of you may have checked out my other blog or even my recently created website. Both of these sites have tons to do with philosophy; and what we can learn from the selfish zombie hoard that will eventually take over the government (or did that already happen?).I think one of the most important lessons we can learn from zombies is teamwork. Though the typical zombie hoard looks unruly and unorganized, think about it. They are smart enough to work in packs because they realize that; though they will get less food from their prey, they will be safer with hundreds or even thousands of other zombies around them. In the movies, whenever they show one or two zombies, you know the hero/heroin will easily kick their ass. But against a full blown hoard, most of the time one or more of the survivors is gonna die. That's a fact. As the Human Race, we all need to act like the zombie hoard. too many of us go through life alone and miserable. We all need to be nice to everyone we meet (or at least more than what we do right now) We spend too much time tail gating the person in front of us when they are going the speed limit, ignoring everybody we don't know, and choosing to go home instead of helping the lady in the parking lot who has a flat. Why? Because we "have important things to do" like watch one of the 58 x-men movies.

Breaking Dawn

2011-11-18T13:50:00.000-06:00

:D
<3 I must go see it again