...Acquired Minds...

W.T.F, Digital Delay? W.T.F Indeed.

2010-03-15T22:54:00.000-07:00

Acquired Minds -- February 25, 2008 - December 5, 2009.

I haven't devoted myself to this blog, but seeing it have a date of birth and a death date stamped onto its forehead is a little depressing. The last post by Digital Delay says it all. W.T.F. I haven't the slightest clue what he was W.T.F.ing about, but that acronym pretty much sums everything.

Honestly, I feel a little sad. Maybe if I had devoted myself a little more to this blog, the admin wouldn't have declared it as dead. Hm. Nope. No one can prevent the inevitable.

W.T.F. In this situation, W.T.F. doesn't mean "what the fuck." It means "Words always summing up, Tying up our Friendship." Yes, I just created a cheap interpretation of W.T.F. Too bad.

Well, tomorrow is the CAHSEE. Better get some sleep.

(Hahahah. "If you were a Pokemon, then I choose you!" So lame.)

2009-12-05T15:55:00.001-08:00

WTF?

whatever happened?

2009-09-26T00:40:00.000-07:00

It seems that this blog is beginning to whither down to a little more than nothing. It's been fun, but goodbye? I hope not, but I'm pretty sure it's soon to happen. Fortunately, I had a spout of boredom and decided to take a click onto AM at 12:42 AM in the morning. I was going through the articles, and amazingly I had to wonder how much I've grown since I've started writing on here.

This will be immensely horrible in syntax, structure, etc...

It's amazing what time does to the relationships with people. You grow apart, you move closer, you notice the kids you've grown up with become true to their own idea of their identity. You see people dress in ways you never thought they'd dress, while others are still wearing the same thing as yesterday.

I guess I have a fascination with change, but I'm sure not going to deny some form of transformation from the person I was this time last year til now. Wow. It's late, I'm tired. And I'm sure this is horribly written, but at least I'm semi-making sense.

I just wanted to point out that I think we've all (on AM) reached a point where we don't really need a blog to voice our opinions simply because we can voice them on our own. I mean, it's nice to write, but I think we've all grown in our own way to the point where AM is just for pleasure rather than whatever else it may have represented before. I don't know if this is a good or bad thing, but there you go.

Whatever.

what goes around, comes around;

karma police

El Oh Vee Ee.

2009-08-27T16:04:00.000-07:00

"I think that possibly, maybe, I'm falling for you."

There was this boy that caught her eye.
He made her laugh.
His hair looked nice, and his smile did, too.
He had this great personality.
And nice eyes.
And he was oh, so funny.
He made her smile all the time.
He gave her these weird feelings in her stomach.
Her heart leapt whenever she saw him.
She thought about him all the time.
She didn't know how to make it stop.
And so she went to her best friend, who was very wise.
She told him everything.
And he listened.
And when she was finished,
her best friend said,
"I believe you're in love."
Only then did she know what this amazing feeling was.

new perspective?

2009-08-09T22:46:00.000-07:00

On bad days, Tegan tended to enjoy singing at the top of her lungs in the shower. And on this particular day, she knows it'll be horrible simply because her shower is broken and her throat hurts. All her good clothes are either dirty, or lost in the array of her house.

On top of that, her cat is missing, her nails are too long, and she has to go to a reunion filled with a bunch of her "friends" from high school. "Friends" meaning a hundred people who you saw everyday for four years who didn't know much about you except that you had an interesting name and wore too much black.

"Friends" also meaning the same people who Tegan occasionally sees but doesn't acknowledge because they don't recognnize her as the girl who had a mental breakdown on prom (Not that she ever likes to dwell on that).

In short, Tegan knew the moment she couldn't work the shower was the worst omen she could ever possibly get. She knew that by the end of the day she would be ready to sleep for a good twelve hours after eating entirely too much comfort food and writing a few angsty twitter status updates. A petty way to cope with a not-so perfect day.

It was a Tuesday.

------------

On good days, Jack finds lucky heads-up pennies on the floor. Today, he's already found two. He's feeling good, and he's looking forward to finally getting to see his friends from high school. It's been four years, he's changed, but he's still Jack. The same guy who everyone liked. Not loved, but liked. He's ready to spend the night being nostalgic and to come home with a few phone numbers. He's ready to wake up to nurse a hangover and go to work where his lovely receptionist will greet him with a knowing smile.

Jack used to be an unlucky character, but now he's got all the luck in the world. He's gone from average-joe to cool guy, and he's ready to show everyone that he could've been one of the ones everyone envied.

Before leaving to his reunion, Jack helps the old lady across the hall get a few groceries and earns twenty dollars and nail clippers. He finds a particularly chubby cat and brings it back to his apartment and feeds it some tuna. He takes a hot shower and wears clothes that he's sure look good on him. He's ready for a good night, a good way to end a good day.

It was a Tuesday.

---------

Tegan reaches the too-fancy restaurant late. As always. She enters the room and everyone's already laughing at something some good-looking guy is saying. She's looking around at somewhat familiar strangers, and they're all turning their heads towards her in confusion.

They don't recognize her, of course.

"Hi," Tegan says, and she makes sure to stretch a little so they can take a good look at the killer-body her job has forced her to acquire. "What have I missed?"

She notices the looks change in two ways. Everyone's thinking either A) who the heck is that? or B) holy damn look at those abs. Inside, she's already wishing she wasn't there.

"Um, hey, no mean to sound rude or anything," says one particularly rude good-looking guy, "But who are you and why do we have such an honor?"

"Ohhh, you don't know me?" Tegan says and she laughs a little, "that makes me so sad!"

"Yeah," says a rather creepy fellow eyeing her up and down, "It makes me sad, too."

Eventually, everyone goes back to talking and Tegan's sitting at the edge of the room, drinking her fifth glass of (you guessed it) water. She sees all the familiar faces, just aged a few years in time. Nobody's changed much, but at the same time everyone's different.

"Hi, Tegan," says a cheery voice, "thought nobody recognized you, huh?"

Tegan looks up in surpise and is even more surprised to see that it's Jack. Or, rather, a very good looking and confident version of what used to be Jack. She thinks her life can't get any worse, but next thing she knows he's sitting down and leaning in close.

"How've you been?" she says, leaning away. "You look great."

He smiles and she notices that his teeth are perfectly straight. Something that Jack didn't have in High School. "I've been great. You don't look bad yourself."

She smiles comprehensively. He didn't even know.

-----

He was working the room, and he was working the people. Jack was confident that at the end of the night, he'd finally get the attention of the hottest girl of the room. In the case of Senior year it would've been Macy, but Macy now has big huge implants that everyone knows aren't natural except for her. It is at the interruption of no one other than Tegan, when Jack realizes that he isn't the only one has changed.

Everyone doesn't recognize Tegan, but Jack does straight off the bat. She's dressed clothes that show off areas that not many aren't confident to show off, but she wears herself just as she always does- away. When she's addressing the people, though, he notices a sort of switch she makes: from Tegan to Mystery girl. He doesn't know much about Tegan, but he sure wants to know about Mystery girl.

So, he approaches her as she sulks in the corner of the room, and once they start talking, he sees the switch come on, and Tegan fade away.

"What have you been doing since we've graduated?"

She smiles, "Oh, just a few things here and there."

He grins, making sure to show off his perfect smile. "Cool, cool. So listen, I'd love to keep in touch with you after tonight. It seems we never really got to talk back then, but I'd like to now."

She smirks. "No kidding?"

----

Tegan was sure he was kidding. Not only was he coming on too strongly, but he had to be kidding if he thought that she'd want to talk to him again after this night.

"No kidding," and once again Tegan gets a good douse of too much crest-whitening.

"Well," she says and she smiles at him coyly, "I'm glad I'm not the only one who feels that way." She's getting out of there. Pronto. "But, I don't have a pen.."

He looks disappointed, just a little, but takes out his phone. "Just give me yours, and I'll call myself with it.

She can't believe she didn't think of that. She really can't.

Hesitantly, she gives him her phone and just like that, the deal is done. The fate is sealed. She was going to have to go out with him on another day and as kindly as she can.. reject him. All cause her stupid shower didn't work. All cause all her good clothes were in the wash and she had to wear her stupid slut clothes.

What a great night.

-----

Jack was sure he was getting a second date and more from Tegan. He was feeling her, and she was feeling him. He was sure of it. He smiled at her again, and he stood up.

"Want something to drink?"

She shook her head. "I don't drink."

He nodded, "Me neither." Lie. "I think it's so dumb to get wasted." Lie again.

She looked surprised, but pleasantly so. "Really? That's really good to hear." She stood up, looking at her watch. "Look, I'm really sorry, but I have to get going. Call me?"

Jack smiled. He had her. "Of course" He watched her walk away, and walked towards the bar for a beer.

What a great night.

what's yours is...mine?

2009-07-10T23:49:00.000-07:00

suddenly it seems I'm aware

of everything in front of me

what's beneath

what's above

everything within reach

a smack in the face

a chilling spine

everything that's yours

is also mine

I want it to be

you, me, everyone we know

sharing these things

experiencing

pain and comfort

love and hate

everything.

how inappropriate

2009-07-09T01:40:00.001-07:00

Does anyone ever get the feeling that we're all growing up too fast? Maybe it's because we're young, but when I stop and think it feels as if time has flown much too soon. One minute, we're learning about cooties, and the next we're having standpoints on same sex marriage and abortion. I'm not sure if in our parents days, kids were as knowledgeable as they are now of sex, but I've got to talk about this because...well... it's just so appropriate.

For me, sexuality is something that everybody goes through at some point. Whether it's coming out of the closet, or coming out of your clothing, I guess you could say that no matter what it's going to happen. A perfect example is the forty-year-old virgin. My point is this: when sexuality awakens, we should embrace it. No matter what our parents say, or what everyone else says, you shouldn't be ashamed of something that is both natural and perfectly normal in your mind's eye/heart/soul. You can't help the things that attract you just like how you can't help whichever gender you're born.

This can be put into aspect by how parents tend to shy away from telling their kids anything about sex. For one, it seems almost as if they believe that if their kid isn't exposed to anything having to do with it, they won't get pregnant. However, they tend to forget that kids aren't stupid. They "get bored, and have intercourse". In my honest opinion, I believe that it is better to be safe than sorry.

While my aunt believes that commercials about 'it's not even there' condoms is inappropriate, I choose to believe that it's a good thing to be informed. It's good to have our options open.

I just think when it comes down to sexuality, we don't even have to think explicitly. I think that with it, comes the feelings associated with love. The 'heart skipping' and 'pulse stopping' feelings. Your first kiss, first hand-holding, first embrace. In the end, I think that it all contributes to making you feel alive. You become aware of yourself, and what's more, the person who you're with or after. In the end, when it "awakens", I guess a part of you is awakening, too, right?

rated what?

karma police

p.s. TWO HUNDRED, WHAT?

2009-07-07T11:59:00.000-07:00

I was pretty sure it was moooooooog....like the cow.

Yesterday, I managed to get all of my old music out of my old computer. I hate to admit it, but somehow Vista came in handy during this. Although I'm pretty sure it fucked up somewhere along the process. Anyway, while I rummaged through all this old music, half of the stuff on there I hardly recognized. It had been so long, and perhaps I never really listened to most of the stuff. Hell, I still don't. So I wonder, "Why do I even have this stuff?". Apparently I just decided to get whatever I thought sounded alright, a whole album maybe, or half of it. Or people gave me them, or whatever. But what's the point of having all this music that you aren't really attached to? Hm, after all this, I briefly begin to question my own motives, as I often do, since I'm pretty sure I'm a lazy biased jackass. But I realize that I wanted all this music, to prove the little fucking individuality I have. There's really no point. After coming up with this conclusion I decided to think no further, since I don't like thinking about things anyway. But, what is our fascination with individuality? There's nothing to it, it really is absolutely nothing. It's a big piece of shit that we like to eat up a lot. Perhaps the less you try, the more "against the grain" you'll become. Although I'd say it's also a damn good marketing plea, along the lines of "you deserve everything because your perfect and how to get exactly what you want" and "your not good enough just yet, but with this and this you can be". Just look at Chuck Taylor Converse, fuck they're the shoe of our fucking generation but people love them anyway. What about all those magazines that tell you how to get your perfect body, or your perfect spouse? Fucking feminists. Although that doesn't mean men aren't dickheads, because well we are.

and so...just like Tegan and Sara this past week have done...I'm back and gone again.

-digitadelay

where are you?

2009-07-05T12:34:00.000-07:00

Does anyone ever notice that when finding something new, you tend to feel "revived" (or whatever)? It's like... you find a shirt that looks really freaking good on you, and just by wearing it you feel like a completely new person. You find a band that nobody's heard of, and suddenly you feel like you're in on the best kept secret of this century. Or, maybe, it doesn't even have to be something new. It could be something old. Something you forgot about. Running into old friends and seeing the change in them, it makes you really aware that you are the way you are. It makes you wonder if in their eyes, you've changed, too.

When people think of revived, what do they think of? Reincarnation? Refreshed? Renewed? I guess all those apply, but for me, right now, it's that feeling of being aware you're alive. It's looking around, blinking a few times, and seeing the world from a light that you don't normally see it. Suddenly, everything's different, right? Suddenly, for one moment, it's like you've FOUND THAT MISSING PIECE! (coughcough). It's not for forever, but it's for a moment. For one moment you're feeling complete, and completely happy and content about your life.

I guess when it comes to this kind of stuff- finding that missing piece- you can't really look for it, but you can't really sit around waiting, either. It's like that method of taking off a ring that's stuck on your finger, or looking for something you really want. You have to pretend you don't want to find it, or look away and tell yourself that the ring isn't even on your finger in the first place. So, I guess, if you think mathematically, you can tell yourself 'I don't want to find my missing piece...' and your missing piece will find you.....?

I'm not sure if that works, but it's worth a shot, right?

But, my dear great escape, I think that when it comes to these things there's not telling. There is never a guarantee on whether or not that missing piece will make you feel happy. Just like how the other pieces to you aren't always ones that make you happy. You have to think of circumstances, and various factors. I mean, what if the missing piece has a tendency to change shape every once in a while? I don't think people have one solid shape, therefore, the missing piece that you seek will always be fluctuating... right?

I don't know, but for me, it seems unsettling that the one thing that can make you happy/happier is something that you don't know, yet know all at once. But then again, isn't everything always a little unsettling? Oooh.. How thrilling !

here I am !

karma police

I Don't Know What I'm Doing.

2009-06-27T11:20:00.000-07:00

I need to find the missing piece to my puzzle.
(Metaphorically)
It feels like I've got everything I need, except this one tiny part of great importance.
I really don't know where it is.
Or, how to find it.
Heck, I don't even know where to start looking for it.
I need it, though. I want it.
To be happy. To know that everything is going to be okay. To succeed.
All the other pieces are in the right place; everything is in tact.
But they don't matter as much as this one will.
It will make me feel complete.
In all of my confusion, there is one thing that I do know:
I know exactly what it is.
and how wonderfully I'll feel once I have it.

Yours,
my.great.ESCAPE.

Still Alive

2009-06-25T17:58:00.000-07:00

*thump…thump….thump….*

Yes, we’re still alive.

It’s amazing how long this hiatus has been. As is with the regular excuse(s), either we’ve been busy with real life or we’ve just been too lazy to write anything (which is commonly the case). But I started this blog with the intent to keep it alive…or even just “barely alive”…for as long into the future as possible, assuming the world doesn’t end in 2012.

Mr. Stanton was the person that helped me realize the importance of A.M. again. In a class presentation, he said that Acquired Minds served as a blog that brought us—as friends—together, and helped us learn more about each other through our writing. A pang of guilt went through me as he was talking about it. Maybe this blog really was doing something for the better.

Alright, so no one outside of us (the Acquired Minds) reads this stuff. But who the heck cares. We’ve written almost 200 articles over the span of one and a half years—articles that came from our own thoughts, opinions, and ideas. We have already created something that has a part of us in it. Letting this blog die is almost like letting a part of us wither away. Each and every word and article is already important if, at least, we pay attention to it.

So, without a proper poll, let July be a month of Revival.

-the clam.
(and it feels damn good signing off once again)

P.S. Rest in peace: Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson.

a little more seriously now

2009-05-31T14:05:00.000-07:00

I always write the stupidest entries ever. It seems I'm never satisfied with them. Ever. Ever. Ever. It also seems that they tend to not have a point anymore. Hm. Just recently the E string on my electric guitar snapped and I've plunged into a sea of guitarless-ness. It's kind of horrible. But, thank the lord! Yesterday, I took a dear friend of mine's acoustic guitar and spent a good two hours learning how to play a song.

Life is good.

On tumblr they have this thing called MLIA. Which I think is used to make fun of FML. Fml--> Fuck my life. MLIA--> my life is average. Fun fun funny! So I guess you could say that going on acquiredminds for the first time in a long time struck a note of guilt. Then, because of that guilt I clicked the new post button in order to post an article. The funny thing is, that it's all an act of guilt. Does that make sense? I don't seem to make sense a lot these days. MLIA.

I guess guilt makes people do a lot of things. I think guilt was the root of the phrase I'm Sorry, and also the root of breakup/makeup sex (Hi, Digital Delay!). It's also the root for those "I'm sorry let's have breakup/makeup sex" songs. How nice. It seems guilt is a strong force if it can make it sound like it belongs to the billboard top 100.

In the end, all I have to say is that I don't seem to know what I'm thinking anymore. Yet, at the same time, it seems that my thoughts have been more clear. Doest that make sense? I need to stop asking that. I just want you guys to know that if I had more purpose in what I wrote, I'd definitely come on here more often. If I could find the right words to convey the message in my mind, I'd definitely be able to keep you guys coming for more of our acquired taste.

a little less guilty now,

karma police

make your move

2009-05-31T13:46:00.000-07:00

So it's almost the end of the year. The end of the school year, that is. It seems to me that a lot has changed from it's beginning to it's end- one of the biggest being that as of now I seem to be constantly MIA from this website. You all can blame tumblr for my absence, and my new lack of anonymity (thanks for posting it without my permission guys -_-)

If there's anything I've learned this year, it's that love's not a competition (but I'm winning... or at least I thought so). Oh did you guys see that? Quote integration! That should boost up my essay grade! Ha ha ha.

It seems that I've learned a lot in the game of love this year. Some things I've learned are:

never keep a relationship a huge secret
never date within whatever extracurricular activity you do.
first kisses (if it's both of your first kisses) will be wet.
FCK REJECTION! Kind of.
boys are not as insensitive as we think they are
never let a someone you have romantic interest with write in your book in pen.
don't let your romantic interest ever keep you from doing things you want to do.
kissing. kissing. kissing. kissing. <3>

That's basically some of the stuff I've learned. Basically. Romantically, it seems I've learned a lot about myself. But it also seems that I have a crudload of other stuff to learn, as well. I know that my friends are always going to want to know about whowhatwhenwhere and that they'll be there for me no matter who I perk interest in.

What a year;
kp

p.s. dude. take off my tumblr yeah?

Hello

2009-05-17T12:50:00.000-07:00

Oh hey, look who's back. It's been a while, but I thought it'd be nice to come back. Kinda like breakup sex, or make makeup sex, either one. Anyway, I've been doing a bit of thinking (as in...thinking right now as I make this article...), the kind that comes in minuscule amounts (my favorite kind!). It's bad for you to think too much. But, what is it about the past that we agonize over? I know it's a cliche, and people like avoiding cliches, so I'm not being cliche by being cliche, so it's all good. But, the past contains everything we don't want it to, and as human beings, we are forced by our insidiously nasty nature to constantly ponder about our wouldas, couldas, and shouldas.

People will say that there's no point in remember the past, but I still think it's a good idea to remember how old your kids are, if you have any. That's the funny thing about the past, there are good things (memories) and bad things (memories/STDs/bitchy-exes)). But sometimes those good things are bad, and those bad things are good (funny ol' world isn't it?).

Sometimes those good memories do nothing but taunt you. They wag their happy little asses at you as you sit there staying dumbfounded at how happy their asses are. You wish you too, could you happily wag your happy ass at miserable suckers like yourself. You wish you could revisit those moments, relive them. Maybe, if your a lucky bastard, those memories will give you strength, instead of suck it out of you, like a Delilah (thank you 30 Rock). But shame that they often don't. And then, there are those bad moments, like when you got that STD, or when you lost something very important, or you did something stupid becuase you were a stupid bitch. Now, maybe you'll learn a thing or two. That counts as a good thing right?

-digitaldelay

It's called a HUG.

2009-05-07T17:56:00.000-07:00

"When you hug someone, never be the first to let go."

It’s a five-second moment,
I get once in a while.
I live for these moments,
for one, I’d walk a mile.

Every single time,
it makes me feel great.
And at the right time,
never too late.

A brief bit of contact
that I could share with one.
So warm is that contact,
and always so much fun.

It’s a magical bond,
which we can all relate.
An extraordinary bond,
to love and create.

You can find me smiling,
because the moment is all mine.
Everyone would be smiling,
because everything is just fine.

-my.great.ESCAPE.

More than Necessary

2009-05-06T18:38:00.000-07:00

"For the first two years of a child's life, we spend every waking hour trying to get the child to communicate. Then we spend the rest of our lives trying to figure out how we can reverse the process." -Erma Bombeck

Parents have the fantastic job of having a child. Then raising them. Which means feeding, burping, taking care of, getting scratched in the face, performing potty duty, and waking up at 2 AM to soothe the crying child while being frustrated because they don’t know what the baby wants. What parent doesn’t want their child to start talking?

Then the kid reaches the “terrible two’s”. He/she can crawl and walk now, say “no” to nearly everything, and eat a decent array of food. Most of all, they know a basic amount of vocabulary. Unfortunately, if the parents hadn’t supervised their language, the poor innocent kid might be reciting some curse words now and then. Cute, but not good. Regret #1.

Ah, school. It gets more interesting. The child begins to learn more foreign languages, and new information. With no one else to tell their profound discoveries, they unload it in a messy barrage on their parents. “Di’ you know da numba 8 has two circles in it?! COOL!” Regret #2.

And then comes the more dreaded part--puberty and the teenage years. Yes, we understand the mood swings, the different voices, and the modified body parts. But what many parents don’t understand is why their teenagers start getting upset with them for no reason, and refuse to listen. Did puberty plug their ears with something, too?...besides an iPod? Regret #3.

Off to college and beyond. Believe me, I bet parents would be bald by this point after pulling at their hair, wishing their children could just shut up. Luckily, their child finds the special someone. Then they’re whisked away, gone from the house faster than the time it took to spank, feed, house, and raise them. Now the parents wished they had anything at all to talk to…besides to each other. Regr--well, no regrets.

-the clam.

Hilarity.

2009-05-06T16:57:00.000-07:00

"A day without laughter is like a day without sunshine."

I thought this quote was interesting; it's pretty much the story of my life. Ask anyone, I laugh at everything. (The longest time I've lasted in a straight-face contest was 9 seconds.) Despite having a tougher time standing up to others, this is a pretty strong point in my personality, I would think. Laughing rids me of any frustrating problems and makes me real happy. The only thing better than that is making others laugh or smile. It shows genuine joy, and pretty much anybody can [should] laugh: one from a whole different country, one much older or younger than you, it doesn't matter, we can all laugh.

A friend joked once, saying that I was laugh too much, and that my "laugh-o-meter" was running out. Apparently, we have this "laugh-o-meter" thing that indicates the amount of laughter we have in our lives, and I'm "using it up too soon" and I will be "a boring, monotonous person" when I grow old. For me, I think everybody's "laugh-o-meter" is the same: It's infinite.

In fact, I have a "the funniest thing happened today!" every. single. day.

-my.great.ESCAPE.

:D
xD

April's Theme: Breaks and Bids

2009-04-30T10:53:00.000-07:00

<-|April 2009|->

..Breaks and Bids..

This was one small month, alright. Two articles...that's a record! *heh*

And, presenting the super small summary...

Shivers and Silence - Do you fear public speaking over death?

Feelings of Charity - Forgetting that we're supposed to do things for their own sake.

Let's get on to the next month already (May): Quoted Inspirations

-the clam.

Feelings of Charity

2009-04-15T17:37:00.000-07:00

(image thanks to www.move.org.sg)

Why can’t one thing represent two things? Honestly, I don’t care if it’s half-full or half-empty. Half of whatever is in the container is just there. Let it be, people, let it beeee.

So I’m sitting here with absolutely nothing to write about. Yes, I’m typing an article even when I don’t even know what I’m saying. Oh, that's something. Doing things even when you’re not aware of what you’re doing.

It’s pointless to start on this topic, since I’m probably going to spurt out a bunch of crap anyway…but that’s what most people do in these situations, right? It’s not the greatest thing in the world. Doing things “for the sake of it” is pretty terrible, too. You can actually connect this to a percentage of high school students and volunteer work. Volunteering was meant to be an opportunity for the volunteer to dedicate some of their time (for nothing in return) towards doing a healthy act of charity for the community and society. NOT.

Sadly, there are students doing volunteer work “just for the sake of it”. They’d respond, “But it’s to help me look good for college!” Is that what volunteering has become? Just an extra to spiff up one’s college application? That sense of pride and accomplishment in the thing called “volunteering” has been stripped to glitter and stickers to polish a high school record.

As with most of the articles I’ve written, I’m a giant beast of a hypocrite behind each. I admit: I have done volunteer work for the “sake” of it. Previously, I didn’t have much thought for volunteering. It just felt like an obligation to waste my weekend hours away to help out with something I probably wouldn’t even support, but seemed like it was necessary to help me gain entry into a university of my choice. But, that’s changed.

It wasn’t until volunteering in a marathon did I get a drastic change in my viewpoint. My duty at the site was to hand out medals to the marathon finishers and later, pass out food and snacks to those that finished. For the first time ever, it felt like I was doing something really right in my life. The joy in the racer’s faces as I handed them their medal was astonishing. Mind you, it was raining hard, and there were extremely strong gusts of cold wind. By the end of the medal-giving, I was literally completely drenched from head to toe.

The food-giving gave me an opportunity to congratulate the racers face-to-face. They thanked us, the volunteers, for being there. But we really had to thank them for finishing the race in all that weather. Their thank-you’s were so gratifying. It felt great that they had such an appreciation for me, and in return, having such an appreciation towards them.

Just finding the inspiration to move on with the world.

-the clam.

Shivers and Silence

2009-04-08T12:54:00.000-07:00

(thanks to whole-person-counseling.com for image)

It’s a natural feeling to be nervous before a class presentation…I think. Maybe not when you’re about to wet your pants because you’ve downed two bottles of water in 5 minutes, or when you’re shivering like you’ve just been thrown into a below-0 degree freezer. I can recall my 4th grade experience with that…well, not the water part, but I was certainly shivering. That presentation I had to make in 4th grade was my first ever class project presentation in my entire life. You bet I was nervous. Don’t worry, it turned out okay. I could have been louder (as the usual), but I was only 9 years old, com’on.

It wasn’t until 5th grade that I had a wider experience with standing up and talking. My 5th grade teacher gave us projects almost every other week…and if you’ve guessed it, yes, we had to present each and every one of those projects. Sometimes it would be a surprise too. Then I’d have to make up a presentation right on the spot.

But the worst came when I had to present my Tanzania project with my partner. That was the worst anxiety attack I have ever had before a presentation. I did both those things I mentioned in the first paragraph…I was drinking water like crazy, and I was shivering all at the same time. When we finally got up there, we only had a maximum of 10 minutes to present. I took up 7 minutes of that time, leaving my partner with only 3 minutes. But oh well, it was good enough, in my opinion.

The only greatest time I ever had with a presentation was with another partner, in 8th grade. It was a PowerPoint presentation, so we had our script right then and there. I feel lucky to have had such a great partner. She was always loud and energetic, so it made me feel more comfortable in the process. When I was speaking, I didn’t really have a problem at all. I was reading the PowerPoint, but at the same time, I was also “teaching” the class too. Looking back, I can’t believe I was able to do that. My partner did the same, and as a result, we got high praises from our teacher. Hey, I like to be a bit conceited now and then.

Public speaking is a pretty tough thing for some people (me included). Just the thought of having to go outside and say something is hard. I’m still going through the process of finding my own voice, myself. For all those other clams out there, you’re not alone. I’m still working on it, and I guess I’m having some progress. I’d have to thank my friends for that, especially those S&D’ers ;). I think I’d throw a party the day I’m able to say “Screw getting nervous and being shy…life is loud and proud!”

-the clam.

March's Theme: The Greener Side

2009-03-31T23:59:00.000-07:00

Is the greener side always better? Eh, there are diverse opinions discussed in the articles in this past month, and we more or less agreed on some ideas. But hey, going green is always good...I think.

And without further green discussion, here's the summary:

colors in the dark: karma police - Fourth in the Colors in the Dark series, about what else but green, of course.
A tendency to expect a favorable outcome or to dwell on hopeful aspects. - The pessimists and the optimists...which are you?
question: - A random post to wonder why no A.M. has posted anything. Yes, indeed.
Pink's on Us - Are teachers really deserving of the wicked pink slip?
Poster of a Girl - Is being special and original truly important?...
One in Millions. - Feeling "one in a million" makes it all the better.
Politically-Challenged - If you think Condoleeza Rice is a side-dish...don't worry, you're not alone.
A.M. Votes for EARTH HOUR 2009 - Being 'lights out' for an hour is nothing, compared to what we can change.
Cash Cow - Oh, the grandeurs of $$$. But oh, the evils.

So how's that for a month of green, green...and more green? You'll be puking out gree--I mean, you'll be thinking of green in a brand new way after reading March's articles...*heh*.

Next month (April's) theme: Breaks and Bids.

-the clam.

Cash Cow

2009-03-31T21:09:00.000-07:00

Money is important. You can do lots of things with money. Money is valued by people all over the world. Money makes the world go round. If you didn't have money, you'd be screwed, big time. You wouldn't pay rent/mortgage, buy food, buy necessities, gas, etc. Everyone needs money. More importantly, everyone wants money. That's no matter how often you call a fuckin' cow "meal ticket" or "money bags" behind their back, you envy them. You want what they have. Which is money, which means power, and it means luxury.

Sure, money can get to a lot of people's head. It does quite often actually. Still, you can't help but admit it'd be nice to have a few extra dollars for something, then there's something else, then you decide, "Heck, might as well get that other thing."

Money can get you a lot of things. Some people say it can't buy you true love, but hell it sure does help. Satisfaction? You may never get it, but if you're clever enough, you'll have just enough to get by. Happiness? Well, it would be nice not worrying about the bills, the house, or tuition anymore. Financial activities can get dangerously boring, not to mention tedious and frustrating. How about getting that house you always wanted? How about finding out a really interesting person is interested in you now that you're rich (money is interesting and special, shallow doesn't matter). Interesting and special things are always more...interesting and special, doesn't matter how or why they're interesting or special.

Honestly, people would say, money is not important. But those lying bastards would admit any day that they could be making more money, should be making money, or wouldn't miss a chance to easily make a shitload of money. So it doesn't matter.

Remember what they say: Cash is King

-digitaldelay

A.M. Votes for EARTH HOUR 2009

2009-03-28T19:22:00.000-07:00

Billions of people around the world are going dark for an hour tonight, and A.M. is too (but for the sake of different time zones, we'll go off early and go back on later). If saving energy is as easy as switching your lights off for 60 minutes, you might want to flick that power switch of yours off, too.

VOTE EARTH!

-acquired minds.

Politically-Challenged

2009-03-23T20:29:00.000-07:00

(thanks to adirondackbasecamp.com for image)

Besides those that really are interested in government and politics, how many of us can say that we know much about the government and politics? Ask me anything about the stimulus, the Congress, Senate, bills, healthcare, and all that mumbo-jumbo, and I wouldn’t know a darn thing…though I wish I did.

No one really ever cares about anything unless it directly affects them. The economy is one. I actually see people become more politically active because of how the economy affects them. Yeah, it only matters when the green stuff is involved. Nope, not when these groups of people are controlling our country.

We might be living, breathing, using, and crapping on this soil, but we don’t even give a thought to those sitting in state capital offices. Politically-challenged? No worries, you aren’t the only one. Let’s all hold hands and bathe in under-a-government-rock-limelight. But, apparently, we all know the President. You know, he’s not the only one with the steering wheel. There’s all the people under him, which he has to get through before making his plans and ideas go live.

Heck, there was a report somewhere that surveyed people on super duper basic questions about the U.S., and other things that the common American should know…right? Unfortunately not. We’re fine and happy, as long as our land remains free and untouchable. Which includes the green stuff. Go ahead, do whatever you want. *hugs land and $$$*

I don’t know if this is a good or bad thing. It’s good that you don’t have to bother yourself with all the nooks and crannies of the government. Way too complicated. But it’s also bad when you’re not even able to name your governor (no, that’s not me…or is it?).

Well, that’s a different tone in any article I’ve written...which was under 10 minutes. :]

-the clam.

One in Millions.

2009-03-19T12:15:00.000-07:00

What would be feel like to be one of those blades of grass among billions and trillions of others?
I would think we can relate, seeing how we're sort of one person, one in billions. You dont know everybody, all of those nice people that could be great friends that you'll never meet.
One dollar bill in a stack of a million...There wouldn't be much significance, would there?

Then how come that one dollar bill will someday be used?
And why did your loved ones pick you, if there are billions of others to choose from?
It shows that you're somehow special, even if it's to a few people, and not everyone.
The greener side of the lawn is indeed the brighter side.

I don't really know where I'm going with this...
Perhaps I'm trying to show you that there really is a "greener", brighter side to everything.
Or maybe, that everybody and everything is special, in its own way, to its own people.

Green may be a favorite color to lots and lots of people ;D
But there are these other colors to choose from. And everybody else likes all the other colors. But what is it about one color (one person) that draws others (or, doesnt, for that matter) to them?
And the answer, ladies and gentlemen, is a different one for everybody.
And maybe that answer isn't really important to those who don't like a certain thing, whatever it is. But that answer might mean a great deal to those who do like it, whatever "it" is.

Don't worry, you're important.
-my.great.ESCAPE.

Poster of a Girl

2009-03-17T21:08:00.000-07:00

Surprises always help. It's always nice to have something..."special". Once you have it, you're different, one of a kind, better. Isn't that what we all want? A little bit of originality, a bit of non-cliche material. But it's dumb thought. Nothing in the world is more special than something else. For all I care, a 5-year-old's hand print is nicer than Michelangelo's work. Well, that's pretty predictable. Anything could be, the damned sidewalk too. That's the thing. Anything can be more special if you feel like making it that way. "This is the most beautiful sunset ever..." (It happens everyday). "Our love is so special" (Die bitches). "Isn't this band unique?" (no). Something always has to be special. If it's not, then it's nothing. Forget about it. It's not important. That seems like a problem. Who the hell defined "special" things. It's all in the heads of all of us bigots. We have to be the special part, we have to have the special things, know the special stuff. That poster of a girl isn't good unless she's hot, or, what a disgusting movie, he's ugly. Don't we miss the point on things sometimes? I'm not sure I can put this in words. It's a feeling a person gets. You see a person you think seems interesting, and from that point on, they are interesting. You find something that seems neat, and it becomes neat. First impressions always count for something. The way you first see something can always influence how you see it later. To be honest, I don't listen to the music I once did. I just gradually grew out of. It just doesn't seem to engage me anymore. But there was a time I did like it. Maybe I just finally found things that actually did seem right for me. I guess that's what it's all about. You just have to find the things that fit you. The problem is figuring out what it is. Those prejudices, those stereotypes, those generalizations, they interfere, and they always will. If you happen to recognize those...things...then the next problem is finding them. And again, the problem will be getting to them. And then, chances are, if you happen to get it, it won't last for half as long as you wanted it to.

It's as if, you made a list. In that list are all the people you know, the ones you like, or maybe also the ones you don't like. Maybe just your really good friends. Now, you think about why each one of them is so great, or why you're such good friends. If you can put down something like..."they're really cool, they're really good at this or that" or something, then fantastic. But if you say something more along the lines of "I don't know, they're nice I guess, but I like them, whatever", well I think that's pretty neat. You don't need anything "special" about that person to be close to them. They're just really neat, somehow, you don't care how, they just are, it's just the way they are. That's all you need to know.

(you could actually think of the same thing for anything really...music, art, technology, anything that you can have an opinion on)

Pink's on Us

2009-03-13T19:53:00.000-07:00

(thanks to careerhubblog.com for the image!)

Green is always good news, it seems. When stocks are up, it’s green. Money is always deliciously green…at least, in the USA. Veggies, which are good for you, are green. Going green saves our Earth. Green lets you pass the intersection. Green means “CORRECT”. Green saves you from getting pinched to death. And all except for the green-eyed monster, of course :P.

Why, WHY do they have to let teachers suffer though? Schools all across California (and across the entire nation, probably) are having teachers laid off. Evil conniving pink slips. All because of budget cuts. Just so those government folks know--without education, there wouldn’t be a federal government.

They don’t even care about whether the teacher(s) are good or bad. They hand out pink slips as if they were free flyers. Only, it’s mandatory. “Take one…TAKE ONE, and DEAL with it!!” I’m sure schools don’t want to do this, and I understand that. They have no other choice. But there should be some other ways to manage the budget cuts and not have to make thousands of teachers jobless.

It just so happens that teaching is one of the lowest-paying jobs there are. If only they were paid a bit more, they could come up with a strategy like this one. Lowering the higher paid employee’s salaries so that it’s possible to keep from laying off as many employees as possible. It doesn’t hurt to have a CEO has great as that guy, either. If only all CEOs could be Caring Empathetic Officers.

In addition to teachers being cut, many classes and extracurricular activities are also being eliminated. Honors and AP classes may not be able to hold up, and schools are threatening to cut them completely unless the classes have 36 or more students enrolled (which is a very packed class as is). Students approaching high school in the near future will not be able to have their education to the fullest, and that’s terrible. Soon, they won’t be able to participate in an activity that they may really want to do. Also, teachers who only have one credential in a certain subject are at a very high risk of losing their jobs completely. What have we come to?!

*Pink Slip Friday* Show your support.

Oh, and put your money where your mouth is. :$

-the clam.

question:

2009-03-12T23:16:00.000-07:00

why hasn't anybody else posted something?

I just wanted to post the photo on the left because it's absolutely amazing. Go here for the photo stream.

ily

-karma p.

p.s. I'm aware I just wasted one post. But hey, I wanted to have some fun... and also post three articles in a row (yay me)

p.p.s. This green thing has to reach the end of the picture or else I might gain an OCD and react the way a person with an OCD would react and... well I don't know what will happen but I bet it's bad.

p.p.p.s. HINTHINT post something?

A tendency to expect a favorable outcome or to dwell on hopeful aspects.

2009-03-12T23:11:00.000-07:00

"Pessimists are either right or pleasantly surprised." A phrase full of lots of meaning, in many different perspectives. Pessimism is the new black- it's what everyone is these days. I ask my friend why he's so pessimistic and he says he isn't, he's just being realistic. So does that mean that pessimists are the new realists? In my own humble opinion I think it means that the reality of everything is just a sad, disappointing one. It means that in "the current economic recession"- in this "time of crisis"- we are all unable to see past now and look at the future and look at the dreams we all once had... right?

For me, I believe that people influence others most. It's a fact of life. I mean look at religion, god is in all of us- he influences us. He tells us in our hearts what is right or wrong. Our best friends tell us that he/she isn't right for us- we dump them. They help us move on. Yet in many other ways society has lead to a generation of teenagers who don't have the self confidence to do what they can with the potential that they don't know they have. The normal thing to hear nowadays is "I don't think so" or "maybe, but I'm not sure". There aren't as many sure-thing yes and no's. In fact, I've never gone a day without a single ounce of doubt.

It's a sad reality, but the truth of the matter is that a lot of people are not as optimistic as they used to be. Optimism for them is "I'll get seven hours of sleep" instead of "I am going to march up to that boy grab him by the back of his neck and kiss him like he's never been kissed before". I don't think the former is quite as exciting as the latter. People nowadays seem unable to look for the silver lining. People nowadays say "I'm going to die- I'm not going to live after this" for simple things (I should know, I do this), instead of saying "I'll try my best and even if I don't do well at least I tried".

So the lesson today that I'm trying to tell you at 11:04 PM on a school night is a simple one. Everyone today is so caught up in putting themselves down that one day they won't be able to come back up. We have to learn to see through an optimistic point of view if we ever want to cherish the reality of situations. For, although you may be pleasantly surprised, I think that earning "it" after lots of "I knew I could do it" pays off a lot more.

Optimistically yours,
karma police

p.s. I'm sleepy...

colors in the dark: karma police

2009-03-01T15:59:00.000-08:00

To choose any one color is difficult, but to describe them all is impossible. Due to my heavy procrastination and the fact that I already know next month's theme, I guess I'll have to do the color green. (that rhymed, holy heck!) If you guys have been wondering where I've been and whether or not I'll be back, please don't worry- I'm not dead! I'm only barely surviving (I'm kidding, really I am).

So... Green. When I think green it ranges from envy to recycling. But mostly, I think of the feeling of grass in the summer. That phrase "The grass is always greener" comes into my head, and also the image of green slime falling over people's head- but I don't think that really helps in educating a blind person's inability to see the color green. So let's start off with.. the basics? I'll just ramble and whatnot.

Blue and yellow make green, so you can picture that the sun and the sky make green, which is the grass. The oxygen you breathe and the sunlight you feel, that put together creates the soft grass you walk on. Picture that. The different hues of green range from the different kinds of grass, in aspect. Some is drier than others, some is much more lush and soft. It's all preference, but I prefer my grass not to be wet because I'd love to just lay in it. Sometimes green is muddier colored, that is when the grass is wet with rain and the mud kind of seeps through and when you walk in the grass you slip a little. I guess that's what green is, in aspects.

Green also reminds you of saltwater, which in many ways also relates to blue. Blue and green usually go hand in hand, that's why the ocean always has blue and green hues that make it ocean colored. When you're in the ocean just know you're swimming in blue and green. At night time, the yellow comes back into play when the stars come out. Stars aren't really yellow, but picture them to be- yellow twinkles in the sky. Little pieces of the sun that attempt to warm your face, but usually can't.

At this point if you're by the beach and all of this is happening, you should search for a patch of grass to sit on. That grass will be cool and soft and basically, that's dark green. Dark green is quite soothing. It's much more peaceful and at the same time quite brooding. Just don't fall asleep, because I think that's a dangerous thing to do....

So, what is green? Green is blue and yellow- the sky and the sun. Green is grass. I think that's why it's all go green nowadays- protect the grass?

I forgot how to end these things properly,

Karma Police

p.s. for the mushy hearted

February's Theme: Heartful Desire

2009-02-28T23:59:00.000-08:00

A month February has been... Our first anniversary whizzed by like it never came. But that's alright. That just shows that we ~~somehow~~ have lives. *cough*

I'll cut straight to it:

yippee - Random blurb on Tegan & Sara, 2010 Olympics, and our so-called lives.
Due to copyright laws, I am unable to show the title of this post. - The pirating of music on the internet.
Bitter and just a little sweeter - Some [fun] facts about Valentine's.
Distinctive, Not Separated - A point of view on The Last Airbender casting decisions.
I Shouldn't Have Said That - Inappropriate things that are said, due to our race.
Let's Get to It - Love is only describable by those that are loved or loving.
Routine. - Is everyday a schedule?

Colors in the Dark series:

the clam - Feeling cold?...or maybe blue?
digital delay - Gray but never dull.
my.great.ESCAPE - Why choose a color when you can have all colors?

Put into March:
karma police - Green is limitless in all the mediums we do.

There you have it. Let's get to next month, March, already (:P): The Greener Side.

-the clam.

Colors in the Dark: my.great.ESCAPE.

2009-02-28T23:11:00.000-08:00

Okay, while we were coming up with this 'color' theme post, I thought to myself, ~~almost~~ all the colors of this world are beautiful. Why should I have to choose one?

Red. A bright red reminds me of the embarassment I felt when I got hit in the face by a tennis ball. That's the bad part.
Maroon. A darker red, like maroon, is more appealing. It's the color of warmth and cheerfulness in the air, sort of like around the holiday season...
Orange. Orange is like, a person who you dont quite like, but dont quite not like. An acquaintance, you could say? It's the taste of tangy sweetness, like citrus (hah), where something's sort of sweet, but sort of sour...and you just cant quite decide. Orange is also the color of victory, the feeling you get when you win:]
Yellow. Yellow's not my favorite color (at all). It's because it can be too bright (not that a blind person would know what "bright" looked like). But it's something you can't stare at, something you must look away from. Yellow could be describing a person who is very vibrant and positive, all the freakin time.
Green. Green is a sigh of relief. Getting something off your chest, a sh!tload of work or some guilt you've been putting off. To feel free...of everything.
Dark Green. Dark green describes a mysterious person. Someone who wears a mask and doesnt talk about their feelings much. Dark green is a very lonely person that needs to be needed.
Dark Blue. You probably dont know where I'm getting this, but to me, dark blue is the feeling of falling head over heals for a special person. Having butterflies in your stomach and your face lighting up. Dark blue is the feeling of coming home after the most wonderful night out, and feeling just infinite.
Purple. If you have a great friend that you've known and can always talk to, then you know what purple looks like. A beautiful friend that is there for you to love you, to make you laugh, to be there when you cry, and for you to do the same in return. That's purple.
Light Pink. Pink is the sweeeet taste of cotton candy (or any type of candy, really) that just lingers in your mouth.
White. White is the feeling of emptyness and the color of something new.
Gray. Gray is doing the same old thing, but never getting bored of it.
Black. Black is the color of forever: far and wide, never ending.

What color would you describe yourself?
-my.great.ESCAPE.

Colors in the Dark: digital delay

2009-02-28T21:53:00.000-08:00

I decided on the color gray. It's a personal favorite of mine, although I've decided not to try and ponder a lot about why it is. To me, gray has always just been that color. Blue is beloved, red is strong, yellow is bright, white is soft, black is dark and sleek, but gray, gray is just gray. It's dull. It's doesn't stand out. It's just...there. It's an absolutely wonderful color though. I wouldn't say that its "overlooked", or "misunderstood". It's just...gray.

Gray is also a neutral color. It's in between the ever battling colors of white and black. It's right in the middle. It's not extreme. It's not vibrant. It's not "earthy", or "dream-like". Gray is a pretty modest color, it doesn't have a whole lot to brag about. Gray is the color version of having a day that's not great, bad, simple, complex, or frustrating, but just...one of those days. More like, another one of those days.

There's not a whole lot to say about it. It's the color of gloomy days. It's the color of smog. It's the color of an abundance of everyday items and occurrences. It just doesn't happen to be as lucky as all the other colors. It shouldn't be pitied, you shouldn't feel sorry for it. It doesn't get to be the "indie" color either, black gets that title. It just doesn't get to be as special as all the colors. But that's ok, I'm sure gray goes along just fine as gray.

-digitaldelay

thanks to arcticeice.org for the image

Colors in the Dark: the clam

2009-02-28T21:43:00.000-08:00

(big thanks to dryicons.com for the image!)

It’s tough to feel missed out. Especially missing out on the view of the world. The sounds, the smell, the feel…all are terrible things to live without, but not being able to see is most probably the worst (in my opinion). I can’t imagine what it would be like to be in the position of a person who has been vision-impaired since childbirth. Never to know what a human looks like, what your parents look like, what you yourself looks like, or what color is. Yeah, color…does color exist in a dark world? It’s hard to even think of colors when you haven’t really seen it before in your life.

Blue’s a particular favorite color of mine (if it’s not so obvious; I practically live and breathe in blue *ahem*). Yeah, yeah, it’s the color of the ocean, the sky, your date’s eyes, the Democrat’s represent. But a blinded person is completely oblivious to that. What a shame it is. Blue is such a brilliant color [/ultra-bias].

It’s the kind of color where you feel relaxed. The serene feel (*plays zen music*). Coolness, too, in fact. No, not I-am-freakin’-awesome-cool, the easy-breezy-~~Covergirl~~-cool. It’s the color you think about when you think of the cold. Like a nice…yummy…Slurpee on a hot summer day… *drool*. Or, or, a glass of icy cold tropical blueberry punch, sweet dulcet juice quenching that throat… *realizes puddle of drool in front*.

Alright, er, no more fantasizing about yummy drinks. There’s no point in that. No one will know what “blue” is. Oh, how about, the frigid icecaps at the poles of the Earth. Blue is that freezing, sub-zero chilly color that makes you shiver and tremble and shake and makes you hunger for the great warmth of the--

Okay, BAD idea. Blue…well, blue is the feeling you get when you stop and think about all the people in the world, and you wonder, “Why did it have to be me?”. Everyone deserves a fair chance at the world. Even though we will never be able to look through your eyes, we still try to be as understanding as possible. It’s not a curse, and it’s not a misfortune. In fact, it’s unique. You have the imagination that no one else would ever have. You can create every possible thing in your mind, and no one would have to share it with you. It’s all yours to keep, and to change at your will. So…don’t be blue. Define it however which way you want to. Haha, so don’t feel left out. We’re the ones left out of your beautiful world.

-the clam.

Routine.

2009-02-22T12:13:00.001-08:00

Are you the type of person who likes routine?
Knowing what you're going to do next and when.
Liking how everything is in order and what's supposed to be.
Not minding boredom.
Mind you, that's so not me.
But I have routine anyway.
Even though I actually do mind boredom.
And I actually dont like knowing what I am going to be doing at that time tomorrow, and the next day, and the day after that.
But I do it anyway.
Because my life is routine.
How do I change that, exactly?
I'd want to do something exciting, like climb the world's highest mountain or save a life. Just something amazing, you know?

Have you ever felt alone in a crowded room? (- Jack's Mannequin's Dark Blue) I know how that feels.
At a party, where you're mind's set on something else.
Sitting at lunch where you're not quite acknowledged.
Or in the middle of a dance floor, without a partner to hold.
It's this real emotion. Deep and intense. But not in a good way.

I am just jumping into random puddles of ideas today.
-my.great.ESCAPE.

Let's Get to It

2009-02-11T16:07:00.000-08:00

Who said that love is overrated? Those who don't know the feeling? Those who have never loved nor been loved? You know the saying, "it's better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all" (or something along those lines). It really is a good quote, in my opinion.

People say 'I love you' all the time, and most of them really do mean it. The select few that don't, well, shame on them. You say you love your family, you love your friends, you love a special someone... But are all of those the same type of love? Of course, falling in love is different; it can be quite an easy thing to do. But how do you know you are 'in love'? When you've got nothing to compare it to, how do you know the magic is happening? People always say 'You'll just KNOW'...Fair enough?

A boyfriend here, a girlfriend there. They exchange 'Love you''s all the time, but what if they only think they're in love? What if, in the most random future, they break up? Is it okay to be in love at the time? I'm thinking, sure it is...But not for a week or a month, it isn't. Is it okay to be in love more than once? I'll let you be the judge of that.

If there is "the perfect one" for everyone, a soulmate, then good...But what if I never meet them, ever? ~~Walk right pass them?~~

Like karma police had said, Valentine's day is a happy nice day for lovers. But those without are definitely not alone. You can't go wrong with flowers:D

Happy Luuurrrvvveee Day,
my.great.ESCAPE.

I Shouldn't Have Said That

2009-02-10T21:53:00.000-08:00

There's a little thing that half of the time pisses me off, and the other half of the time I think it's fairly appropriate. That thing, is, being politically correct. A good number of the time, it is perfectly wonderful. Being offensive to other races, genders, and different kinds of sexuality are acts that should not be swept aside so easily. The part I hate however, is when you by no means mean anything offensive at all, and are fairly oblivious at the moment the words leave your mouth, of what others would perceive of what you're saying, and yet people still take offense to it and refuse to turn the other cheek. That pisses me off.

It's a funny thing, it seems to be fairly relative.

"Hey, are you Chinese?"...(no, I'm Vietnamese dipsh*t...)

"Hey, are you white?"...(well, I'm Canadien...)

"Hey, are you Australian?"...(no, I'm from New Zealand dumbass...)

[in a bout of curiosity/fear,in the nicest, most non-offensive tone musterable] "Hey, what ethnicity are you or your parents, or something...? "Uhhh...what do you think I am?" (the f*ck am I supposed to know b*tch?...)

-{[(Honestly, I'm not sure what term to use sometimes to describe people. White, well, maybe Caucasian is more appropriate. Black, well, maybe African-American is better. Wait, if they're..."black", but aren't American? What the f*ck...I've never heard African-English, or African-French.)]}-

In actuality....that could really happen. The second part I hate about that, is that honestly, I was almost going to put in an example of perhaps blacks or Latinos. Then again, I thought about the kind of backlash I'd receive. Then, now I just realized that because I just said that, I'm going to receive backlash anyway. Oh well, f*ck you political correctness.

Yet, I meant absolutely no harm. I try utmost, as a human being, and as one living in our current time, to not be discriminative to anyone. But really, we all are. It's going to take a long time, probably never (for a more cynical view of things...) to get rid of the stereotypes. The only thing we can do, is to try and move past of our brain's hard wiring, and try to see things in the most logical, realistic, and unbiased manner we could possible get out of the shitty minds we have.

But in no ways do I condone the use of derogatory terms either. If someone uses words like "n*gger", "chink". "dyke", etc., etc., then by all means, f*ck them up.

But this extends beyond racial, sexual orientation, or gender matters. Look what I now have to say because of my statement "by all means, f*ck them up". I now have to say that by no means do I condone the brutal, cruel, unreasonable, and physical harming of any fellow souls. Well hell, I didn't even really mean anything bad in the first place. The statement was not serious in the matter that STD's, or babies being hit by cars would be. I mean, the matter and subject itself are serious, but my stupid statement wasn't.

Funny thing too, is amidst all this being nice to everyone when you're already trying to be nice, is that while people are trying to be so correct about this, there's something else that seems to be everywhere. I, we, live in a time where I can't watch t.v. without seeing someone stripping half-naked about to get horny (not politically correct-enough?...how about, getting ready to make additions to our already large population?) with someone else who's also stripping half-naked and about to get...ready. We live in a time where I probably wouldn't really want to watch a movie within 500 ft. of my mom or she might happen upon me watching a sex scene I never intended to watch in movie I heard was really good, and therefore won a few awards. Now look what I have to go on and say...

first of all...not porn...just...no

secondly...( heaves big sighs....) I do not hold anything against the fact that people (enjoy...some...at least do) copulate. It's a fact of life, and it is becoming more and more acceptable in our society. Well, that's fine, your beliefs are your beliefs, just ummm....well....I'll put this as..delicately as possible....don't do anything "stupid".

You know, being inoffensive is good. Being too sensitive about some comments is bad too sometimes.

I just hate how everything is always "not too much of this, not too much of that".

I'm just a bit tired of things.

That, or a bit crazy, loony, cynical, and just plain bored.

-digital delay

Distinctive, Not Separated

2009-02-09T20:59:00.000-08:00

(images courtesy of aang-aint-white.livejournal.com and also to iroh.org)

Sorry if this is a bit off-topic in regards to the posts below (they're great! They shouldn't be ignored just because this long rant pushed it down...). The story’s been hanging around for a long while now, but I feel like I should speak up on behalf of the issue as well, after floundering around and getting more uneasy on the subject.

There are many things that take a turn for the better, but also for the worst. So is the case with Hollywood. Sometimes, they might take a bad to average story, and turn it into a remarkable epic, but there are also times when they take a magnificent story and world and turn it into a plot-mush with missing storylines and maybe even some storylines that didn’t exist before.

But isn’t that something that should be expected? Movies were made to provide entertainment, but for the production company, they’re also made to bring in big bucks. Unfortunately, it can get a bit desperate. Every time that they bring a story or idea—that’s not heavily recognized by wide audiences, but that are more directed towards a specific audience—to the big screen, they’re taking quite a risk. Of course, that’s why they have large promotions and advertisements for the movie, but if they can’t get people to come and pay $8 to watch it, it’s a dead shot.

So, they decide to cast big-name actors. Surely everyone would come and watch their favorite celebrity, because they just know that he/she is going to make any movie great, right? Haha...ha.

It just doesn’t work. No matter how many household names you put into a movie, if the roles don’t fit correctly, it just fails. But what is especially annoying is when a movie is completely demoralizing a tale, and morphing it into an artificial money gobbler.

I could be talking about Eragon, but no, that’s not what I’m trying to focus on (even though I do have things to say about how they demolished the book, but that’s something else). My main point right now is The Last Airbender. Viewers of Nickolodeon are sure to recognize Avatar: The Last Airbender, an American “anime” of sorts, that centralizes around a Asian-styled fictional world where a struggle of balance upon four elemental nations sets the story. I’m not quite an avid Nickolodeon viewer, but I am an avid channel surfer. A couple years back, I was surfing, diving, and paddling through channels, and that’s how I stumbled upon Avatar. I’ve been a fan ever since, and probably always will be.

And yes, if you’ve been following this article, you would know what they’re planning for it—they’re turning this magnificent show into a movie. “Here it goes again…” is an expected thought. As with every story-turned-movie, it’s highly probable that it’s not going to be as stunning as the original, but at least it’d be decent…hopefully? Nope, no, nada. Here comes Tom Sawyer with his whitewash...too bad he couldn’t stick to fences.

In exchange for taking the story of Avatar and turning it into a movie, they decide to surprise the fanbase with HUZZAH four Caucasian actors in the lead roles (well, now it’s reduced to three), namely: Jackson Rathbone [from Twilight], Nicola Peltz, Noah Ringer (no actual visible picture of him as arisen yet, but still plausible), and Jesse McCartney (who backed out due to “schedule problems”…or so they say. He’s been replaced by Dev Patel from Slumdog Millionaire). “Um…and what’s so bad about that?” Let’s see…the entire world of Avatar is Asian-based, Asian-styled, and Asian-themed. Four major forms of martial arts are presented. Settings throughout the series depict Asian cultural monuments, items, and details. Chinese-language characters are frequently shown on scrolls, artwork, and other props. I think the big picture has gotten clear.

Yes, yes, I know that this is just how the big, bad movie industry goes. That’s the way of life in the world of Hollywood. But on a deeper level, this morally affects many people, both by Asians who feel betrayed and by the huge fanbase following (which includes me). There are so many Asian actors and actresses out there, who are struggling to find a chance in this industry. Not just actors and actresses, but talented ones. But for some reason, they just don’t seem to get a breakthrough. This issue further exposes this struggle. The Last Airbender is a massive opportunity for Asian actors to show what they’ve got. Almost every character in the Avatar world is Asian and Inuit (this excludes what they physically look like—this is based on their actual character). But instead, they decide to cast trendy actors in the lead roles, in the hopes of bringing in an audience (which is a highly probable theory). But you know what? They’ve got that completely erroneous. Instead, they should try to bring in the audience that is already loyal to the series: the fanbase, which may I say, is giant. Not the hot-guy-obsessed-fangirl, NO.

This has been circulating for weeks and months now. Of course, I’m not the first to speak up on this subject. Take a look at Saving the World With Postage, a blog on LiveJournal that’s been in the process of a letter-sending campaign to stop Paramount in its tracks and to make them reconsider their decisions. Has it been successful? Well, the casting of Dev Patel and the removal of Jesse McCartney—*cough* emphasis on "due to schedule problems"—is highly suspicious. But it’s still a step into bringing some righteousness to the ordeal.

And to quote Vagabond Sal:
“What does this casting choice say to me, the angry Asian man? It says that every time somebody speaks more slowly and loudly to me because they assume that English isn't my first tongue, they're right to do so, because I'm not normal….It says that every time somebody asks me to translate a random set of pictographic characters for them, they're right to do so, because I know ancient Asian secrets. It says that when Rosie O'Donnell said that Asian people talk in alternating tones of ching chong ching chong, she wasn't being offensive, because we really do all sound like that.”

I’ve had my say.

-the clam.

Note: Racial issues and opinions regarding them are highly debatable and controversial. I am not encouraging the act of racism, but I am only expressing my thoughts and beliefs on how it should be correctly interpreted.

Bitter and just a little sweeter

2009-02-09T16:45:00.000-08:00

A recent study shows that four out of four people will die in their lifetimes.

That single line has put my identity on jeopardy! But here here, I'm sure that half out of those four people have a reason for their deaths and I'm pretty sure that somewhere amongst all of it's bitterness is a touch of sweet. It's T-Minus Five days until the day when disgusting sweet tarts are everywhere and cards that cost five dollars more than their actual sentimental value are given away. How exciting.

Here's a clip on my previous years' Valentines Day.... Okay, I really don't remember, but let's just pretend that I'm off gallantly drowning in chocolates and sweethearts and all those other hearts that come along on the fine occasion. Well, honestly that didn't happen, but in my future I wouldn't mine not spending a V-Day moping in self pity for being alone without a significant other.

Stupid timing.

The origins of Valentines Day are very mixed amongst the bitter and bittersweet. Taken from urbandictionary.com: ERnin_irene classifies Valentines day as "a day to make lonley people depressed and loved people possesed", Brandi says that it's "A scam made by the greeting card company", TheGoblin is quite possibly the most unnpessimistic- "February 14th. A great day for people in relationships, a time to spend lots of money on each other and feel loved. An awful day for single people, who become envious of couples who celebrate Valentines Day because they get nothing."

Hmm. How nice.

I decided to Wikipedia Valentines Day, and I found this part of it rather interesting:

In Ancient Rome, Lupercalia, observed February 13 through 15, was an archaic rite connected to fertility, without overtones of romance. Lupercalia was a festival local to the city of Rome. The more general Festival of Juno Februa, meaning "Juno the purifier "or "the chaste Juno," was celebrated on February 13-14. Pope Gelasius I (492-496) abolished Lupercalia.

So wait a minute? No overtones of Romance? BUT VALENTINES DAY IS ALL ABOUT ROMANCE!!!!! ! ! In fact it wasn't even called Valentine's Day it was called Lupercalia! And it was so icky that the POPE abolished it! Wow.

Some more interesting information about KISSES:

Love letters throughout the year are often signed with a string of "X's" to represent kisses. Why? Our practice of using an "X" grew out of the Medieval practive of letting those who could not write, mark documents with an "X" to represent their names. This was done in the presence of Witnesses and a kiss was given upon the "X:" to show sincerity. The "X" then became synonomous with the kiss in the minds of most people. There are two possible explanations why an "X" was chosen to represent one's name. One explanation is that the "X" shape was originally thought of as a cross. This "X" shaped cross was the symbol of St. Andrew. It may have been that people were making a pledge in the name of the Saint. The second explanation is that it may have been a plege in the name of Christ. The "X", or chi symbol is also a letter of the Greek alphabet, which has also been used to represent the name of Christ.

Quite interesting, if I may so so myself :) Whatever the case for all those out there who absolutely despise Valentines Day, remember you're not alone. In fact, you're FAR from alone. So break out some good chick flicks or scary movies and forget about your pain.

FUNFACT: 61% of dudes want flowers, too. How odd.

-Karma Police

Due to copyright laws, I am unable to show the title of this post.

2009-02-09T13:27:00.000-08:00

Recently, it came to my attention that YouTube has begun to block/delete certain videos that have broken certain copyright laws. Well I had seen this before, I had only begun to start caring purely because Tegan and Sara videos have also been blocked (but they're still on other sites...), since they signed to Sire Records after they recorded The Con, to distribute it. Sire is owned by the large group, Warner Music Group (Warner Bros. Records). All this isn't really important to anyone, but, it brings into mind questions about legality among files online.

Honestly, the law is the law, but damn I kind of miss those videos. Anway, YouTube is probably the premier video sharing website on the net. So of course, it leads the way for other, similar, sites. If so, some conspiracy nutcases could ramble on about how The New World Order is trying to screw us over.

Also, YouTube is owned by Google, and they could track you down faster than a hobo on a ham and cheese sandwich.

But all this reminded me a lot the music file sharing stuff going on. Limewire, Napster back when it still did the kind of thing, torrents, etc. The RIAA has been trying to crack down on these things, but a lot of their cases make it seem like they've been pretty drugged up lately. But recently the've tried a new approach I believe. Instead of trying to sue the asses off of anyone they think is trying to download music illegally, they made some kind of deal with internet service providers (which, admittedly, sounds kind of scary) to slow down the internet of people they suspect of activity they frown upon. Well, I don't have really fast internet anyway.

Though I do wonder what kind of stances the artists would have.

But all this illegal stuff, well, it is kind of technically illegal...even if prices for music aren't exactly what some, including me, would consider ideal. Honestly, I don't download music illegally. Actually, my entire music library that I don't currently have a hard copy of was lost fairly recently. But I'm sure this issue is an everyday part of lives everywhere among the pirating, we-love-free-stuff (like music), community.

But really, I just miss those Tegan and Sara videos.

What a sweet video for them

good little article thing on the subject-The Consumerist How I Became A Music Pirate

Where the Blog Has No Name (thanks for the picture)

-digitaldelay

yippee

2009-02-07T15:47:00.000-08:00

It's February 7.

Yesterday was February 6.

Yesterday, on February 6, Tegan and Sara played a show (with Broken Social Scene) in Vancouver for the 2009 Cultural Olympiad, or something like that...apparently it's this...celebration(?)....anyway it precedes the 2010 Winter Olympics to be held in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, and this other little town near it whose name I can't remember (but it does start with a W).

It's ok Tegan, we're all getting old...:D=happiness/smilingness[sic]

also it makes me really sad that after this, they have to go record (which makes kind of happy actually), but that means they won't be doing a whole lot of other stuff in that time period, which means I'll be really...bored...

Now, on to the shit people care about...

ummm....well...i don't have much to say here...

Let's just see if we can get out of the 8-12 range this month...

and someone said we actually have lives...well...just for the record..we..must not mean me...I'm just too lazy to post stuff because then I would have to think about stuff to think about what to write since I can't just write something because I don't have anything interesting to write or say, or that would be interesting to read, I guess.

-digitaldelay

January's Theme: Another View

2009-01-31T23:59:00.000-08:00

We’re already one month into 2009. 2010 is “only” 11 months away…

Fortunately, we all have lives, and that is why the blog has been lonelier than it was a year ago *hintanniversarycominguphint*. But miraculously, we still made the ten-article mark. The only month we didn’t reach at least two digits was September, but that’s okay. We’ll just make sure it’s above that, at least :).

Here we go:

Every Now and Then – Ways in which we view ourselves.
Yea…and?.... – What ‘glorification’ is.
Give Me A[nother] Break – Our consequences are our own faults.
Perspective. – Ever thought how someone else sees the world?
“Sometimes I wonder how…” – Your feelings aren’t the only feelings.
but it’s better if you do – Being bipolar isn’t half bad.
You’re the Former, Now. – How important is the U.S. Presidential Inauguration?
A Few Letters…3 To Be Exact – A collection of self-written and self-sent letters.
You’re a Fox – Genes determine our look…and some other things too.
What to Believe? – Religion is an ever-debatable subject.

Congratulations if you’ve carried out your New Year’s resolution (if you had one). If you failed…well, I told you so.

Here comes February: Heartful Desire.

-the clam.

What to Believe?

2009-01-29T19:58:00.000-08:00

What has more different opinions, beliefs, and views than religion?
Sure, everyone around the world knows religion. Or, at least, they know what it is. Some people know exactly what they believe in, and others don't...which is perfectly okay (at least, for me, it is).

The other day, I accidentally spoke my thoughts out loud: "What is so important about religion anyway? It's just a belief, isnt it?"

And a couple of people that were there freaked out on me: "What!?" ... "How could you say that!?" ... "Don't you wonder what your life's purpose on Earth is?" ...

Sure I do. You're here to live, to experience, to help others. is what I thought.

"You mean you dont think we were put here to learn more and more about who created us?"

I dont know.

"Okay, well how do you think that we arrived on Earth? Did there just POOF appear a world and POOF people?"

Well, I think that a longgg time ago, there was nothing (but nothing is actually a 'something'?) and I think that yes, all of a sudden everything -space, planets, worlds, universes, people, etc- appeared out of nowhere. But what is nowhere, a black nothing, or is it white, or clear, even?

"No. GOD put us here."

Oh man. If God put us here, then where did He come from? What/who brought Him?

"He just appeared. POOF." ... "Well do you believe in evolution?"

Sure, I guess. Like, technolgy and stuff? It improves and advances over time...

"But in theory, when you leave something for a long time, like if you leave anything out for a while, it is supposed to rot away slowly, right?"

Yeah. . .

"Well then how come humans are different? How come, instead of rotting away slowly, we are evolving?"

I don't know, that's just how it works!!! Stop asking me so many questions.

So you know how that question, about what happens after you die, always pops up? Well, there it is. "What do you think happens after you die? Like, would you go to heaven or earth, or get reincarnated, or what?"

Well, I don't know...That's just the thing! Nobody knows, and nobody alive will ever find out. Once you're dead, you'll know, and it won't matter anymore. So it's not that important.

"Not important!?!?" ... "Ohmygosh! How can you say that!?" ... "Well what do you think happens then?" ...

Well, I guess, that after you have lived your life, you go to heaven or hell, depending on how you lived your life, and then after you've spent a while in heaven or hell, you get reincarnated again to live another life. Then the cycle repeats. Well, it made sense to me, at the time.

"Ohmygawd." ... "You have like, mixed beliefs!" ... "I've never heard this before..." ... "Well when you said that you get reincarnated, do you think you come back to this world, as a human, or this world as another creature, or in a whole other universe or world?"

I dont know. Wherever, I guess.

"*Gasp* She doesn't know!" ... "Whats that supposed to mean??" ... "Makes no sense." ... "Do you think you have a spirit?"

Stop with all the questions already! I dont know! What do you mean by 'a spirit'?

"Do you think that we have a soul, or a spirit, inside of us, that controls every movement we make and every thought we have? And that it is just using us sort of like a puppet? And when we get old and die off, it's just our 'body' that's dying, and not our soul? Or do you think that our blood and tissues and muscles and organs control us?"

What the crap!? No, I think we are just simply controlling ourselves.
Besides, you are believing in theories about what happened, what is happening, what is going to happen. I will believe them when I actually see facts; when there are solid facts on what happened, what is happening, what is going to happen, then I will believe it.

For a lot of people, religion has become a big part of their life. And I am not saying that is a bad thing, it's great really, to know what you believe in. But it's also not a bad thing to be indecisive about things like this. Well, that's just my view on this ample subject...

Perhaps this is why some people prefer to be anonymous.

Off to reality,
-my.great.ESCAPE.

You're A Fox

2009-01-25T22:16:00.000-08:00

Disclaimer: I don't know shit about any of this.

Genes determine a lot of things. Traits, characteristics, these things can be more important than just good looks and good brain. If you're into the kind of thing, adaptation.

Haven't you ever wondered someone is good looking? Well, what do you think you think, well some of us at least, when you see one of them you think is well, attractive? "Damn, I'd do them, now."

Well, if you humans are supposed to reproduce, then why would we do it with the attractive people? What defines attractiveness anyway?

Well, supposedly general attractiveness is defined by how symmetrical one's face is. Basically, "Well, one side of their face looks like the other side, so, they're a fox." Of course, I'm sure people have their own preferences based on culture and other things, but it's generally a symmetrical face.

And, what determines a symmetrical face? Why, good genes! Holy sh*t, what an epiphany. Basically, we like to f*ck people with good genes. This, sadly, leaves out the rest of us with not so perfect genes. Well, wait a minute, that's not really fair? Haha, well, we're left out because we don't we have great genes. We don 't want our posterity to have bad genes right? I guess that's evolution for you?

So people with good genes get sex so whatever pops out of their vaginas also has good genes, and so on and so on, allowing the human race, or any other race for that manner, to keep good genes in, and bad genes out, letting us do whatever we do with good genes, adapt, evolve?

As I like to say, it's my sacred duty to omit my genes from the gene pool. (no offense to my parents)

-digitaldelay

A Few Letters...3 To Be Exact

2009-01-22T21:27:00.000-08:00

My head is pretty messed up these days. Not in a euphoric way, or a maddened way (maybe), or in a depressed way, just kind of wacko. Sometimes I think if pretty weird crap, as I'm sure a large part of the general populace does. I do remember Russell Peters once said that the mind of a comedian is weird...because it always tries to one up itself by thinking of something crazier or something. By no means am I comedian, or an entertainer. I'm in no way entertaining, in any way, manner, or form. I'm not even funny, in that really dumbsh*t slapstick manner, or that more clever manner. But, forget that for a second, I mean for a really long time.

Anyway, I once thought of this thing..where I could send myself notes, or letters of some sort back through time. Well, I always envisioned myself sending a series of three letters. Here are the basic premises of each one.

-------------------------------------------------

Dear Me,

F*ck You

Cheers, Yourself

---------------------------------------------------

I'm just kidding kid. You're great. Not really. But you're alright. Not bad. You're fine. Don't worry about crap. You'll get through it. Things will be ok. Oh, and don't ask her out. Don't. Ask her out instead. The test is easy. You'll get creamed in that tennis match. Don't worry, you'll get them back. She hates you. So does he. They do in general. Cash in that lotto ticket. You don't suck small balls. I don't know if you're rich or if you have a spouse (I'm not that old yet). By now I basically f*cked up the future, which is...me...so I'm (you're) probably like a cow's udders by now or something.

bye

-----------------------------------------------

No, seriously,

F*ck You,

Go Die (it's not like you're not going to anyway).

Cheerio!

---------------------------------------------

I know, I know, I know (I Know x3), that's pretty dumb.

I also thought about what would happen if I personally went back in time. It's basically the same thing, but physical...

I'd beat myself up.

Then I'd have a talk with myself while I'm sprawled in the floor in pain.

Then I'd beat myself up again, maybe with a stick or something for fun.

Well there you go. That's it for now on the surreal, batsh*t crazy mind of digital delay.

You're the Former, Now.

2009-01-20T16:57:00.000-08:00

[image: thanks to www.loc.gov/wiseguide]

Man, the plague struck me next. Err, the blue-screen-of-death plague (it was more of a freeze-you-lose kind of a screen). DD got hit first, and then m.g.E....ain’t cool. Although I have to honestly say that I contributed to the downloading of freeware, and that’s how I contracted the virtumonde-wanna-confuse-you-with-long-virus-names-disease—AHH don’t point that flashlight at me. Hey, a darn lot of people do that nowadays. Why else would the economy be so bad? We’re not even giving proper credit and respect to the people who make our conveniences possible [/hypocrite].

So, I’m sitting here at a temporary laptop, typing on a very annoying keyboard, straining my eyes at the horrible screen positions, and having my left hand burn at the hot air blasting out from the side of the computer. Have I learned my lesson? *nod* Has everyone else learned their lesson? *probably not*

Were you able to see the U.S. Presidential Inauguration (live)? I’m highly guessing not. I don’t know about you, but I think this day is pretty important. But instead, people have to go to work, sit at their dusty desks, mind their business, and students have to be ~~sleeping~~ in class, taking ~~finals~~ tests and such. “Hmm…6t^3 + t^2 + 7t + 10 divided by 3t – 2 is…uhh…hey, whaddya’ know…Obama’s takin’ his oath right about now…err, 2t^2…”

But nooo, we rightful citizens of the United States of America have to go right along with our lives and then watch some crappy re-airing of the ceremony (probably on YouTube…*hinthint*). Oh, yeah, that’s perfectly fine—we’re letting a man run our country without properly seeing him giving his oath. [NOTE: I’m NOT anti-Obama. He’s a great man for the future of the USA.].

It’s so funny how quick their titles change once the next president gives his oath. “…preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States. So help me god.” - “WOOH! Alright, former President, let me escort you to the helicopter that’s gonna bring you all the way back home…” So harsh, so harsh…but that’s how it goes. Must feel awkward to be President one second, and a long-gone President another second—literally.

Okay, fine. I’ve had my fair share of blurting for today. *zips up clamshell*

-the clam.

but it's better if you do

2009-01-19T22:33:00.000-08:00

Whoever gave the rule that wisdom and knowledge comes with age is definitely not looking beyond the two (non)colors of black and gray. Often times I believe the young are the most smart, and I believe the old are most stupid- but of course I understand and know that that is not always the case. Teen angst exists for a reason, of course.

Often, I believe that there are two sides to a person. The reasonable, sane side, and the deceptive, fantastic, and slightly insane side. I'm beginning to realize that the two sides come out based upon where you are, what you're doing, and whether or not you're alone. I find that upon being alone, I tend to veer towards the latter side, teetering on the edge of what I'm normally like in the "outside world". It's really odd, in many ways and I think there's a scientific way of explaining it- but I like to believe that in those hours of being along I go a little insane, and a little more smart in more ways than just Algebra. I like to believe that the world could be at my hand if I wanted, and that all it would really take is a push.

But then, of course, I eventually am brought back to reality, and the feeling- that high, beautiful, oftenly unique feeling of infinity- is taken away and missed. I begin to remember the work I have to do and that I can't possibly stay in the tub any longer for it's past midnight already. All that comes to play and the sadness of it tends to overwhelm sweetly for a little while. It's amazing, though, while it lasts... I wonder if anyone else feels it.

Influence, I believe, is a key to the latter more morbid side of the human brain. I think if you watch a lot of movies and read a lot of stories where a villain is brought to glorification and heroin is your best friend, you tend to believe it. When casual sex is seen to be an everyday escape to momentary love...? I think it's the human mind's way of tempting you- since we all know temptation is everywhere, don't we? When you're the villain long enough, you begin to see yourself as the hero, right? Or is this all too insane? Ha ha ha.

Usually when I get into these odd doses of odd moods, it's in odd parts of the day, like midnight or when I wake up alone in my house. It's like I feel like living within myself and I relish it. I start to think I can get away with things... like cooking breakfast! Ha haha. Or maybe listening to music and singing at the top of my lungs.. or other things. It's just the weirdest, more beautiful sensation ever, and I wonder if it's sadness or happiness or maybe bittersweet both. It's confusion with a K. Karma Police style.

Carma Polise

2009-01-17T10:02:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I wonder how I feel, not that I actually know what I feel, compared to other people. I wonder how I feel at certain times, certain situations, and certain feelings compared to how other people feel them. I know it's a dumb thing to do, looking at others to set a standard for yourself. It shouldn't really matter a whole lot how you feel compared to others, but I can't help myself. Any who, I guess I would never truly know how someone would feel about something, and there's really no point in wondering. But if I tell myself, "Well, I'm not exactly really spiffy right now...", how would I ever know if I'm actually sad at all? I'm absolutely sure no matter how sad I ever get, at any one moment, there will be someone a lot worse off, maybe even in a similar situation. It's probably the same for me being happy too. I probably won't ever go into the extreme ends of either one, I'll always hover somewhere in the middle, which is probably a terrible idea itself.

But sometimes I see people that really seem anguished. They really seem happy. They really seem like they're going through something, and I feel like I would never be able to match those emotional highs and lows. It makes me think what I'm going through, if I'm going through anything at all. Of course...I'll never know...

I'm not sure I ever want to know to be honest. Sometimes, the truth really does hurt. Sometimes, it's easier to just lie to yourself, easier, but not exactly "better".

If you went through your whole life, thinking of all the wouldas, couldas, shouldas, the has beens, you'd go crazy, but if you never cared about, if you forgot about, them at all, you'd be ignorant and shallow.

Then I realized well, I'm not really going through anything at all now am I? Other people actually have problems, me, my problem is not having a problem to blame anything on. I will always be "ok", and quite frankly, I'm ok with that. It's a fairly bad way to think that you'll always be just ok, but either I've gotten used to the fact or I'm just not willing to do anything about it. Maybe it's both.

One day, as I prepared to take my usual late-night shower, I came across an apiphany of some random kind. Turns out I did have a problem, me. It wasn't the worlds fault, or just some happening, or I'm just unlucky, or not fortunate. I have no right to blame everything else in the world, but I will anyway, I wouldn't be able o live if I blamed absolutely everything on myself. I realized that I was my own prison. I am those cold, bars, that damp, rotten stench, that dark, erry feeling, the seclusion, that broken key. I hold myself in, and by jove (whatever that means...) I ain't letting myself out.

Maybe, though, someday, I'll get out. Maybe someday I'll realize that there was never a prison. Maybe I'll realize that all this was just another one of the many excuses I've made in my life. Maybe that day is today.

Perspective.

2009-01-16T21:30:00.001-08:00

I have this friend who gives the best advice. He always seems to know exactly what he's talking about, and I absolutely love that quality about him (I'd want to be the person that people came to talk to, too, you know?). The thing is, I talk to him (like really talk) whenever I need someone to provide me a whole other view on a situation. That's always good, right?

The universe.
Is big.
We have different theories about it, as you may know.

Some people think that the earth is the center of the universe. Others think that there is another universe out there just like ours. There are lots of different opinions.
I heard this one crazy view, though. This man's point of view made me think. He believed that the entire world/universe revolved around him, that everything/everyone was not really real, and that it was all his imagination and everyday passed as he imagined it to be. I dont know if that made sense or not, but it made me think, what if that's true, only the world revolved around me? and I didn't know it?

There was this other perspective that drew my attention. Some person actually believed that this was a make believe world...and that in a real world, some little girl/child is actually playing with us, like dolls in a dollhouse, moving us around, etc...Is that entirely crazy or pretty smart? Gee, I don't know...

I'm feeling very deep today.
okay, not really.
-my.great.ESCAPE.

Give Me A[nother] Break

2009-01-16T21:09:00.000-08:00

[credit is given on image]

The world must be ending. Who knew gas prices would prance another day in $1 land?

Who knew the stock market liked to play snakes and ladders?

Who knew the people who gave us education would be laid off by the thousands?

And, who knew there were three weeks in a winter break? At least, that’s the case in California. Trust me, if the government is willing to add another week to students’ holiday vacations (we all know they just want to torture us), it means the sky is falling...well, maybe Arnold’s sky.

In fact, three-week winter vacation has already been in effect. In just this past holiday, the Los Angeles Unified School District had their schools award their students with another week of caroling and partying. But you know what’s even worse? They’ve recently reached an agreement to lay off thousands of teachers in the district. You’ve gotta feel some sympathy for the folks. No profession works harder to give us all an education—and no profession are paid less for what they are obliged to do. If you think of their situation, it gets even miserable. Just think about it—if a teacher is laid off in a district, do you think they could get another job in the same district? The district had just laid off a bunch of teachers...do you think they would hire the same person they just laid off? Yes. That means the teacher has to find a job in a more faraway county (NOT country...if that day comes, we might as well eat dirt), and if it comes to the worse, they would have to move to another place just to work in another district.

"We are the creators of our own destruction."

–(Sorry, sounds familiar, but I don’t know who to credit)

Yes, yes we are. Ancient Rome killed itself, one way or another, because of their ignorance. Humankind is trashing the Earth even as I speak, even though we know we’re goners if we don’t protect it. We’re still spending our money on wars and foreign oil, investors are still investing in all the wrong stuff, and banks are as chaotic as Katy Perry’s songs.

Life is filled with way too much irony.

-the clam.

Yea...and?....

2009-01-10T22:38:00.000-08:00

Glorification...funny word. Glory can be thought of in both a negative and positive connotation. Glory can come after a victory, a triumph, kind of like when you finally ask that person out. But glory apparently can also mean pride, arrogance, being not-so-modest, kind of like when hat person finally dumps you. Either way, we do it. We glorify things. We glorify people. We glorify ideals.

Why do we glorify things? What the hell does glorifying even mean? If i was actually trying to prove a point, starting a paragraph with a rhetorical (kind of) question is bad, but screw (f*ck) it. -to cause to be or to treat as being more.............something along the lines of making something seem a lot better than other stuff. So why do we do it again? If you sit there and think about it for a few minutes....you'll find an answer that will suit your own character.

If you're reading this....you probably didn't stop to think about it. If you did, and are still reading, you didn't think about it much, or are just curious.

For the brief time span (maybe...a minute or two of actual thought?) that I've thought of this, i just figured something pretty simple, and easy, and I just thought I said this before. I think. We feel that these..objects...are the prime epitome of whatever that thing that they do is.

For example...why do you like those musicians so much? -Cuz they're like...geniuses. All those parts just coming together...those..emotions that are bit less worked on...dude...it's just like..crazy stuff....

...why do you like that person so much? -Cuz they're go-geous, and funny, and sweet, and quirky...

...why do you think that way? -Cuz it makes sense...cuz like..nothing else really does ya know?...

...why did I just write all that? -I really have no idea...I regret it...just not enough to take the time to delete it.

We don't really know why we do it. Sometimes we are actually conscious of it. But even if we know that that noun has flaws, clear, discernible flaws, we will try to cover up. We'll even acknowledge that, and try to explain that in a logical way. Basically, we come up with an excuse to say, "Well, yea all that crap is true, but it's still really amazing."

Those things, are what we want in our lives. What we see in those things, we want. We want to have it, we want to be like it, we want to be with it. The characters of these things are the characteristics that make ourselves insecure about...ourselves. We want to be...perfect. If that's not the right word, we all have things in our lives we want to consider "ideal".

How can we not help ourselves? We are human beings. We are flawed. I for sure know I do it. I acknowledge it. But I definitely can try to think of ways to........of excuses. But imagine how hard things would be, if we took everything plainly, just as it is. We wouldn't be able to take it. We have to deal with the things in our lives, significant or not, in one way or another. Excuses are just one way...

thanks to karma! the person

the ideal is a ***************** (in a lot of cases)

-digitaldelay

Every Now and Then

2009-01-04T13:51:00.000-08:00

Well, thanks to my fellow...minds?...December now has at least 10 posts, something I apparently wished for. Ok, really, I'll try and stop that annoying,aristocratic, tone...

In this order, please, maybe? (in this particular case, the video aspects aren't important...)

This is the new year. Instead of placing 08 on everything, I'll have to remember it's 09 now. As mentioned before, during these times, people make resolutions. They try to improve their lives, towards something they feel will better themselves. Personally New Years has never been a really special time for me. I don't make New Years resolutions. To be honest, I know I won't do them. Again, as stated before by ol' clam chowder down there somewhere, thinking like that isn't very helpful in any way. In fact, perhaps because of thinking like that, I'll never actually do one. But the thing is, I always tell myself these kinds of things. I always say, "Well, you're actually gonna do this", or "You're finally gonna do this...", and etc, blahblahblah. And well, it's not like I ever do anything. Everybody wants to get out of whatever they're in, but how many people are actually willing to do something about it?

Also, karma spoke about how we view ourselves. It's never quite what we want it to be, of course. There's always something that can be better, inside and out. What we want, what we wish for, it's always a dream. Sometimes, every now and then. those dreams are recognized. They are done, but they're never quite satisfied. There's always more to want, more to wish for. People view themselves in different lights all the time, as does society, other people. But there is an absolute? Disregarding the perspectives of people, are there people who deserve what they have, people who don't deserve what they have, people who are assholes that have amazing people in their lives, people are absolutely terrific, but there's nothing around them to show for it, people who deserve more? Thankfully, I'm none of those people, maybe... Or is this entirely in our(my) heads?...

I once read this one little line on his web page, something about the things life taught me. Sadly, i don't quite know what the web page was, or where to find it again. But one of the things was, "...the people important to you never stay long enough, the annoying people are there for too long, and the real pains in the asses are permanent." (or something along those lines...don't quite remember). In a way, anyone can relate to that. True or not, it does feel like the people you care for less are there more often than the ones you do care about. Those important few, are either not there for long enough, or just were never quite close enough.

Well...another thing I found was a picture of a little sign talking about what you would do if you knew you would not fail. As always, not sure on the specifics. But it's a funny thing, what you might do, or think of doing. All those things you've always wanted to do in your life. Also, if no one else was looking, if no one that didn't need to know didn't need to know, if everything was just right, what else would we do? Maybe if we all just started pretending that was all true...

Batman! Begins ----- <<You start to pretend to have fun and you might have a little bit by accident.>>

Another thing I found (......stumbling, obviously....again I don't know where it was), was the picture of a young woman holding up a sign that said, "I know I am unlovable, but I still hope." Now, that phrase can really apply to anything, not only love, but I'm sure a lot of people would like that one, it doesn't even have to be romantic love if you like. But I'm also sure that a lot of people think in such a way. <> And if you keep thinking like that, good (better) chance that it won't. But no matter how much we try to tell ourselves, we always hope. If there was no hope, there wouldn't be much of a point. Ha. if there was no point, why stay? It'd be sad of there was a person who lost all hope. Given up on everything. Given up on themselves. I hope I never come across such an instance in my life. There's pretty much enough hope cooked up for everyone. We may know full well that some things may never happen; and I probably won't do/become a number of things on my life. I know I won't be famous (whew, good thing too, I don't really want to be...), great and talented at anything, won't find their true love (person, place, or thing), won't accomplish much in the scope of others eyes, won't ever be content, or maybe even truly happy. But I'll live. I'm not a sad person, or at least I don't try to be one, or at least don't enjoy the thought of being one. "Life is too short to not be happy" my aunt once said. Hopefully this makes you go and out and do, but maybe some are banking on the fact that life really is short.

Hope is like gravy, it can go with a whole lot of things, but without it, things (like...chicken....)can get real dry........haha...dumb

taken a whole lot of words to say a whole lot of nothing

thanks for the picture....JRI?

-digitaldelay

December's Theme: 365 Days

2008-12-31T23:59:00.000-08:00

Yet another Christmas has passed, along with another year (11 months for A.M. though...our first anniversary is coming up). We hope you received some nice presents...and if you didn’t, you’re probably not the only one, if that makes you feel better. :o) <-- What a funny face. Haha...ha.

Here’s December’s summary:

May I Please Have Some More? – It’s the same things all over again.
All the Possibilities. – Do you think you have a twin somewhere in the world?
The Murky Road – Maybe history repeats itself...who knows.
looking backwards – A lot can change in a few weeks.
Merry Christmas Eve 2008 – A holiday message for 2008.
Too tired (lazy/unimaginative) for a title – What happens when a person suffers the “blue screen of doom”, daydreams, and reads Oscar Wilde? This.
A Proper Title Should Be Here – The first of a series of articles in an attempt to crack it to 10 articles. Talk about “creative”.
All-Over-Again-Year’s – Attempt article #2. All about New Year’s resolutions and a Big Foot love story.
paint a portrait of a mirror – Attempt article #3. A thorough examination into Dorian Gray.
Where art thou? – Attempt article #4 (I know, I know, it’s the last one). A random blurb to end the year. It’s pretty spot on, since that’s exactly what we do 99.9% of the time in our articles anyway—BLURB!

Ah, and we round up 2008 with a total of 155 articles (you might wanna browse our archives and bathe in the glory of blurbiness). *high-fives an imaginary DD* Hey, your 10-article goal for this month was reached. You were the one who encouraged us--don't deny it!

Happy 2009 everyone! Well, it might not necessarily be happy, but Happy New Year’s anyway. Here’s to next month’s (January’s) theme: Another View.

-the clam.

P.S. The January header banner will come later on.

Where art thou?

2008-12-30T20:14:00.000-08:00

Don't you just feel so sophisticated talking in Old English? Okay, so maybe it's just me...But to think that many 365-days's (?is that right?) ago, people used to talk like that and live like that. Women dressed up all nice with their fancy dresses and corsets, the gentlemen with their suits ~~and wigs~~, and all romantics in the air like Romeo and Juliet, where the people lived in a 'kingdom' instead of a 'city'. A kingdom sounds so much nicer than a city...

So digital delay seems really determined to bring up at least ten articles this month, huh? Since I'm feeling up to it, I'll just say ...blahblahblah... and make this the tenth article (hopefully not the last, because then this would make a very sucky last article of the year) of the last month of 2008. (How many of the 366 days do you really remember?)

So here's the thing. I just wrote this fantastical ~~and just snazzy~~ article about a whole new year and the past and blahblahblah, right? Only to have my crazy internet (that's crashing as we speak) delete half of it...just because it felt like it?...and now, I don't really feel like re-writing the whole thing, so I won't. Doesn't that type of stuff just make you so frustrated? Sure, some pretty ahem.interesting.ahem. stuff had happened this year (I won't go into the details; you've heard your fair share). Even so, I don't want to end this year (no matter how bad it was) being p.o.ed at my computer, or spending another night 'in' (again), etc, etc, etc.

So go on. Have a spontaneous 365-days-of-2009. So where art thou on New Years? The best way to start it off is doing something fun, of course. Be it a party, or watching the Rose Parade/Dick Clark's Rockin Blahblahblah...I think that should wrap it up for now. I don't know.

To all a good night,
-my.great.ESCAPE.

paint a portrait of a mirror

2008-12-30T18:39:00.000-08:00

It's come to my attention that our own digital delay has started to write about The Picture Of Dorian Gray in his recent postings, and I'd like to add a little bit onto the subject. I myself am not done reading the book (I get distracted easily), but of what I've read so far it seems to be the kind of book whereas that if I were to annotate it, it'd be sopping wet from my constant highlighter usage.

In the edition I have (the cheapest one I could find at Border's), the preface talks about how Oscar Wilde saw the characters in Dorian Gray as a sort of symbol of himself. Wilde wrote: "Basil Hallward is what I think I am: Lord Henry what the world thinks of me: Dorian is what I would like to be- in other ages perhaps."

I found this incredibly interesting, because basically he thought of himself as a person whose talents were so great he wasn't quite interesting; society thought of him as a person who liked to influence others-whether or not it was in a good way; and he wanted to be a person who committed sins for pleasures. The last one, of course, can be linked to the fact that Oscar Wilde was gay. If only he were in our current "age", he wouldn't have been convicted to jail for two years for his "sins".

If you think about it, how Oscar Wilde is able to separate himself into three distinct yet linked in a way characters makes a lot of sense. Everyone has the person they are to themselves, the person they are to others, and the person they'd like to be- three separate characters that are linked, and yet all incredibly different. The person you are to yourself is how you see yourself in the mirror, in your mind, and in general. While others may think of you as smart, you yourself might find you to be an idiot. The person you are to others is basically what you wish others thought of you as. Kind of like who you want to be, except of course you're being much more humble and condescending since the person you are to yourself prevents you from reaching great heights. The person you'd like to be, then, is basically like a god? a dream? a goal that you know is beyond out of your reach? It'd make sense if Oscar Wilde applied this sort of theory into his writing, since the way Basil and Lord Henry viewed Dorian was kind of as if he were above them (especially Basil, who is how Oscar Wilde viewed himself).

You're most cruel to yourself, which makes sense, since Basil is murdered by Dorian. The way other view you or how you'd like them to makes sense, because Lord Henry is much like an artist on his own, only in his way of words and his influence. He's like a step before what Dorian is, which is that of uttermost beauty, turmoil, and amazement- a somewhat god-like being who is worshiped by lesser ones.

Maybe I'm jumping to all these conclusions a bit to early on. To get a better knowledge of all this you should go here. Then you'll understand everything I've rattled on about a little better.

karma police

All-Over-Again-Year's

2008-12-30T15:38:00.000-08:00

(image: http://zuill.us/andreablog/category/t-shirts/)

DD, I feel the same way. Here’s my blabble in the attempt to inch closer to 10 articles this month (#8!).

Have you ever tried coming up with a New Year’s resolution? Aw com’on, not another “I’M GONNA LOSE 10 POUNDS NEXT YEAR!” We all know that you’d be gaining 10 pounds after the holidays rather than losing it (but please, if you’re already 10 pounds…don’t even try).

It’s quite hard trying to come up with a resolution—mainly because you secretly know that you’re not going to be able to achieve it. Truly, if we all think like that, we would get nowhere. Setting a small goal won’t feel as accomplishing, but setting overly-ambitious goals will make you feel worse for not getting it. Sure, I’d like to get this blog to be noticed in the next year. But who’s going to read eight people’s rants about the tiny things in life? Hm, I don’t know…maybe you, the person who’s reading this right now? :o)

I wonder what’s a-coming our way in 2009. Bunches of new music, movies, TV shows, an inauguration, more people suiciding, more Kodak moments, more kids, more arguments, and more awkward silences. It’s always the same things again. We all go through the same emotions again (which includes feeling so happy that you’re about to die because your stomach hurts so badly, and which includes feeling so sad you’d rather bury yourself and imagine no one really knew you). Such as Uncle Bob farting at your birthday once again, and everyone is both laughing and gagging and trying to evacuate out of the unruly place. Or when your girlfriend dumps you because you didn’t buy her enough chocolates. Oh well.

Will we be seeing yet another teen-craze about another mythical creature? Say, some dreamy Bigfoot who tries to confess his hairy love to a unicorn that cannot accept him because he refuses to shave? Pfft, don’t look at me. I’m no Stephanie Meyer. She does it ~~a hell lot~~ better.

Haha, have you seen how this New Year’s resolution thing slowly turned into a love story about Bigfoot? Yeah, the Acquired Minds are all a bunch of side-trackers that wastes your time for a hobby *muahaha*.

-the clam.

A Proper Title Should Be Here

2008-12-30T15:03:00.000-08:00

I am now thoroughly determined to pump out enough article things to push the monthly amount to at least 10, no matter how many I will need. Although I’m pretty sure I shall fail, and that this will probably be the last thing I write for another few years.

When a person does almost anything that could be considered “creative”, writing, painting, making music, they will always put a piece of themselves in it. Sometimes it’s conscious, sometimes it’s not. When it’s not, it will influence them regardless. When it is, then it becomes a little fun. Usually, it’s with words.

A person use words that could mean a lot to themselves, but to someone else, it could mean something entirely different. Obviously this will happen for every song, every sentence, every piece of literature. But of the words are simple enough, and also vague enough, they can be distorted fairly easily. This isn’t a bad thing though, any artist will not always try to instill their feelings onto another very explicitly. Sometimes they just play around with an audience, if there is one.

Let’s take, for example, something I can’t resist using. Tegan and Sara, do this pretty well. They rarely use the words he/she, or names either. I can only think of a handful of times that happened. “hold, out for the ones you know will love you, hide, out from the ones you know will love you…” What?..didn’t that just contradict itself?, almost as much as my sentence structure there did…
Well, for whoever just read it, depending on our mood, our current feelings, what’s on our minds right now, our experiences, our fears, our dreams, everything.

Or “I’m not proud, that nothing will seem easy about me…” well, whatever you think it is. You can take it in a dirty manner or something better, hopefully.

“I won’t regret saying this thing, that I’m saying” saying to who? Saying what?...maybe just to themselves…..sometimes even the context of the song doesn’t tell thing

“I feel the knife going in, I’m feeling anxious, not enough to kill me, I thought it’d happen fast…” well you could take that quite literally, or maybe that’s the kind of thing that’s on your mind maybe a knife could allude to any number of things…
To be honest…the it’s about a dream the songwriter had where she was stabbed but didn’t die..or something…because apparently if you die in your dreams you die in real life, and if that happened in that instance, I’d be pretty bummed out.

I absolutely hate the tone I’m giving off right now. It seems too…weird. It’s kind of disgusting. When I read it in my head, it sounds like a deep, aristocratic voice…which I hate…musta been that picture gray book thing…but I despise it…I wish I hadn’t written in this manner……holysh*tmotherf*ckerwhichwouldkindofbetechnicallyyourdadinawaymaybenotbutholysh*tthereitisagain…..I think that kinda helped….hopefully I can snap out of this

digitaldelay

Too tired (lazy/unimaginative) for a title

2008-12-30T13:26:00.000-08:00

Looking back on this little blog…it seems kind of empty. Then I realized that I was the kind of person who liked to dwell on the past. That, and also that I realized I was also the kind of person who had nothing else to do.

My computer recently crashed. I got that “blue screen of doom”, and I figured that that must be akin to a computer instantaneously combusting. I might have just rebooted Windows (XP, mind you) onto it again, and start all over, but a relative advised that I should just get a new computer, which is something that I’m trying to do something about. Maybe one with a, ha, better graphics card, to perhaps attempt to do that thing nerds do on their computers all the time (no, not that, and if you’re not thinking of that, then, just no to whatever). So, I am relegated to .borrowing. my brothers computer (whose keyboard I just hate, I should say dislike, just with a deep, deep passion) every now and then, although no where near enough.

Thus, in my pitifully un-pathetic boredom, I have been relegated to doing things that I would not usually do on any other given day, which is, anything worthwhile. These mindless, despicable tasks including coming up with a random ditty here and there, reading, cleaning (tidying) up, and daydreaming (although I admit, I do that plenty of daydreaming already).

Although the thing I am thinking of the most here is reading. Ah, it is a thing I haven’t done in much consistency since I was a young lad. Yet here I am, having just finished The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde. It is a truly magnificent book if not a slightly demoralizing (hooray for dictionary/thesaurus.com, for those of us who are not entirely familiar with the workings of this horrid thing called English) book. For some reason it slightly scared me in ways. But one of the things it said was that wrongs can sometimes creep up on one’s actual outside features, such as the eyes, the hands, etc. Well, being a perfectly logical person, I went, “ What the jhjieu? My fingers are kinda crooked, just look at my pinky fingers! And great ghost of those not in the grave, my teeth are kind of jagged too…” And so, I just figured I was just a really big asshole, at least more so than usual.

Which ends one of my biggest, say nothings (I ..dislike that phrase), of all time, probably tied right up there with all the other things I’ve ever said/written.

maybe i should come up with a proper title from now on, or not....

-digitaldelay

Merry Christmas Eve - 2008

2008-12-24T20:07:00.001-08:00

It's Christmas Eve 2008 (and A.M.'s first X-mas Eve), and all of the A.M.s wish you a Merry Christmas! Spend it nicely with your close loved ones--it's the one time of the year where everyone can forget about everything else and be happy with what you have and for what's to come. 2009 isn't too far off the corner ;).

Shoo! Stop reading this. You have people to be with!

-the acquired minds.

P.S. Prrrresents!

looking backwards

2008-12-21T17:21:00.000-08:00

This month is the last month of the year and in approximately a week(?) it won't be 2008. Three hundred and sixty five days seems so long but in reality it passes by without so much as a blink- without giving you time to breathe. These past few months since Summer have been amazing, and I think it goes to show that a lot can change in just a few weeks. Three hundred and sixty five days seems to be just a reminder of how much time you have, how old you're going to be next year, and a canvas for you to draw your life out on.

So what have you been doing this year? What's changed most? Perhaps you don't think you've changed at all, but everyone does- even if it's a little. So look back on this past year and be a little nostalgic, you'll be surprised at what you realize.

The Murky Road

2008-12-13T19:13:00.000-08:00

(first image: tablet-guru.com - second image: southbaymobilization.org)

Christmas is fast approaching, and so is 2009. What’s there to expect in a new year, really?

We’re already 9 years into the millennia (or, almost). It feels like quite some time ago, and when you think about it, a lot has transpired since then. It’s mind-boggling what 9 years can contain. Just imagine the people today, that are 60, 70, 80 years or more old. They’ve lived through so much happiness, sadness, surprises, shockers, and most importantly, history. It’s no wonder people say the old folks are always the most wise.

To have grandparents is a blessing. The grandparents of today have most likely lived through World War II, the introduction of the television (plus the color television), the revolution of what’s called the Internet, and all the problems dealing with the world. Within a single sitting with a grandparent, you can be filled with all the knowledge of the world, within a real person’s point of view. Not just the facts, not just the details. The real story. You just can’t help but to admire what they’ve gone through for so many years. If you’re 25 years old, and you think your life has been crazy, imagine living that life three times over.

As years grow old, history will grow old too, and fade away. Our knowledge of history will still remain, but people who have been there first-person will no longer exist. That is, unless history repeats itself. The Great Depression was a terrible time for people all over the world, and we hoped something similar would never happen. But look at us. Clueless humans that have led ourselves into a financial mess (you know, technically, none of this would exist if the economic system wasn’t created by our self-proclaimed-smart-humans). Oh, so what? Now we’re going to lead ourselves into another Hitler? How can we be too sure that we won’t? After all, any president in the world right now can just go out and decide that he/she wants to be a madman despot—and probably succeed, at that. Not to spread any negativity here, but that day will come...just as how the day that Earth will end will eventually arrive.

To think about the far future is ridiculous (how contradictory...). Hah! We can’t even handle problems that we have in the present, let alone think about the future—it’s just asking for more trouble and stress.

Whether it’s 365 seconds, 365 minutes, 365 hours, 365 days, or 365 years...it’s constantly counting down, and we have no such time to waste it.

-the clam.

(P.S. That second image is what we must change to avoid)

All the Possibilities.

2008-12-06T19:38:00.000-08:00

So there are 365 days (occasionally 366) in one year...That's a lot, right? And on one specific day of those 365, is YOUR very own birthday! (Unless you're one of the unfortunate who was born on Leap Year Day ~~or whatever February 29th is called~~) Wouldn't it be nice if you had that day all to yourself? Sadly, no, because that would mean that there are only 365-ish people in the whole wide world. But we all know there's so much more than that. There are at least a couple billion people living today, am I correct? So if there are THAT many people in the world, don't you ever wonder who out there shares the same birthday as you??

Each day, numerous babies come into the world, but also, that very same day, countless people leave this place...So it's a balanced system, right? The number of babies born each minute, times the number of minutes each day, multiplied by 365 days of the year! (Phew, I needed to take a breath for that..) So you'd be lucky if you had that exact time all to yourself: 10:55:21 P.M. is the official time of birth for this lucky baby. ~~Unless, that "lucky" baby wasn't so "lucky" and another baby was born at that exact time on the other side of the world...~~ I know, I know what you're thinking...It's not really that possible....is it? Well, you never know.

How many people do YOU know that share the same birthday as you?
Oh my gosh! Try playing this game: For each day of the year, find a person you know who was born on that day!

"My day" is coming up soon(:
But, well, I guess that kind of depends if we have the same definition of "soon", right?

-my.great.ESCAPE.

May I Please Have Some More?

2008-12-06T16:32:00.000-08:00

There are 365 days in a year…quite a few if you come to think about it, or maybe you think it’s not very much at all. Every year, we all (technically) age. We all probably meet new people. We all learn new things. We all experience new things. Yet I must admit, everyday seems pretty similar to me. A good proportion of things I do everyday are basically the same. I sadly wake up, get out of bed, wash up, eat food, sleep, sit here on this computer, listen to music, watch movies/t.v., and etc. The times are the same, the numbers I mean. The bathroom is the same. The food quite often is the same repeated sequence. My bed is the same. There are plenty of things that are the same. Each day. Year after Year.

There are plenty of things that change though. Habits can surely change. Maybe after a while you’ll go through your day a bit differently than you did before. Usually though, you don’t really notice it. It just kind of happens. Something big can happen to someone’s life. A death, an affair, a loss, any number of things. These things have the power to rattle someone’s life, but, they’ll eventually get used to it. If not, they’ll learn to live with it.

It seems you leave one cycle just to reach another. A cycle of cycle’s. Never ending…
Not to say that is a bad thing. Perhaps some people thoroughly enjoy their cycles, and the subtle changes each one brings. But I’m sure the majority of us people wouldn’t exactly call ourselves content or happy. Some of us are willing to something about it, others, not so much. Eventually though, with whatever we are dealt, we learn to live with it.

(generally at least…or at least I hope so, because then this all would be a big con)

-digitaldelay

November's Theme: Slipping Hourglass

2008-11-30T23:00:00.000-08:00

Things are picking up slow at the end of November and the start of December. Sorry, but apparently we have lives... (haha). We hope you had an enjoyable Thanksgiving!

Let’s start, shall we?

What About What? – Who said being selfish was a bad thing?
at the speed of BLANK – Life’s empty times.
Sift Through the Hourglass – Time goes by ever so slowly...and ever so quickly.
Stumble here, Stumble There – When will you 'stumble' on the perfect situation?
Ode To The Nice Guys – A special ode to all those nice(r) guys in the world [credits to Wharton Undergraduate Journal].
Smiles Spungold Wine – The unnoticed influence of the winding world.
To our heroes. – To those over the seas, and to those at home, and to any who served so valiantly, we honor you.
...PROPS..... – Whose side are you on?
. – Endless questions abound.
Let It Snow(: - The holiday season is a present full of joy.
Been There, Done That – When do we ever have enough time?

Honestly, “.” has got to be the most epic article name ever (well, next to [Untitled] of course). Although it makes it really hard to click the article to read it...maybe that was the point? -shrug- That's just DD I guess.

Hoorah! We made it to month of giving and joy. Cheers to December’s theme: 365 Days.

-the clam.

Been There, Done That

2008-11-28T15:00:00.000-08:00

(image thanks to www.pastornet.net.au)

“It’s almost like it happened yesterday.”

No doubt about that. Just a year ago, I was go-kart riding, slamming on the gas pedal and whizzing around the lanes—the closest thing I’ve gotten to the real thing. But just a year ago? That’s hard to believe. As fast as those karts were going, time passed by just as quick.

Not long after giving thanks, it’s now time to give presents.

And after giving presents, it’s time to start a new year.

The never-ending cycle just doesn’t end.

You value your family. You value your friends. It seems like we have so much time to value everything, but we always keep on complaining “there’s just not enough time”. I sometimes wonder if it’s the world that doesn’t have time, or if it’s just us who don’t have enough time.

Humans are given the gift to live decades upon decades, and you compare that to the lifespan of an ant—who doesn’t survive more than a couple seconds before someone comes along and “accidentally” steps on it. It’s true we don’t live as long as a tortoise, but who’s to say we don’t have enough time? I mean, do you want to live 150 years? Do you want to be there when global warming kills everything in existence? Do you want to be there when Denmark becomes an unhappy place? Do you want to be there when chimpanzees take over the world? Do you want to be there when the 43rd President dies ~~YES~~?

We have the best lifespan of any living (or even nonliving things…which will survive forevermore unless it’s destroyed purposely) thing on Earth. And yet we still complain we don’t have enough time…

Even I don’t have enough time right now. But then again, who ever does?

-the clam.

Let it Snow(:

2008-11-22T21:07:00.000-08:00

Don't you just love the holiday season? I know I do. For some, it starts right after Halloween, but for me personally, I think it begins with Thanksgiving (coming up later this week) and before you know it, Christmas is right around the corner. Smiles are everywhere you see, going on until after the New Year. It's just this time of year when everything and everyone is just so happy and cheerful. It's like a chain reaction that makes everyone else feel all happy, too. I like the warmth it brings (even though, in most cases, it's cold...but you what I mean). I also like all the bright colors everywhere and all the cozy, decorated places people like to call "home". Seeing snowflakes and Santa Clauses, scarves and mittens, hot chocolate and big dinners, family and presents... Everything just feels so right. It makes me wonder why it isn't always like this every day of the year, and why we need a holiday season to feel more-than-satisfied.

Don't be a Scrooge, and spread the love,
-my.great.ESCAPE.

.

2008-11-22T13:43:00.000-08:00

Sometimes, as I sit in the exact spot I am right now, I wonder why I’m here. Yea, I’m up at midnight watching a myriad of videos of Tegan and Sara, but isn’t that kind of an excuse? Is that really a reason? I can do that anytime I feel like, anytime I want to. But really, who ever does what they want when they can? Sometimes, we don’t even know if we know what we want…At midnight, I sit awake, seeing those familiar smiles, hearing those familiar laughs, those familiar jokes, those familiar croons.. Every time I do that, I know that the next day is a weekday (5/7 days at least…), I know I have to wake up to go through another day of ceaseless existence. As I sit here now, eating my mini Werthers Original hard candies, staring at a watch that no longer ticks, I wonder…is that a way to live? Or is it a way to exist? Everyone exists, but who really lives? Will I ever get to live? That’s a question that’s haunted me for a while, and an answer comes no closer. I know that even after midnight, I shouldn’t stare at the ceiling above me in bed listening to who knows what. I’m just trying to prolong the inevitable. Feebly trying to stop what I know is going to come anyway, me. My head is a classic clash between the romanticist and the cynic inside of me. F*ck the whole half full half empty thing, this is more of a…the glass will never be half full. F*ck off. F*ck you. Give up. Vs the glass might be half full someday, you never know? Of course, the cynic always overpowers its contemporary (cynical isn’t it?), which is a sad thought. As I wake up, half groggy from the sleep I didn’t get (or perhaps just that though), I run through the usual routine. Wash up. Teeth. Clothes (it’s a bummer I cant put no clothes). Food. Out. Now. The day runs by, and there(here) I end up, once again, at midnight, right here. Hope. People make it by with hope. Hope is something that should never be crushed down, never be put down, but damnit it happens anyway. When I do see it happening, when I’m insightful enough for once to see it, when I’m not blindly ignorant for once in my life, it pains me. With no hope there is no reason. If you stop being angry, sad, anguished, beaten down, well, you’ve stopped caring. What happens when you’ve stopped caring? It means you’ve given up on everything, on yourself. To me, that’s a scary thought. I fear that in myself, and subsequently in others. While that could be used as in excuse to point out my caring nature, it sounds more to me like there’s not an ounce of selflessness in there (it’s a wonder “we” don’t use the metric system, thanks to the stonecutters?...). Or is that just the cynic in me? Is there that part of me that wants to believe I am selfless; I am this part ideal thing, in my own eyes. It’s something that eludes grasp, eludes an arm that may have never been outstretched. Being self-content is something that sounds so magical and far off. Yet at the same time, it sounds like it’s right in front of me, and I just have to reach out of it. I just have to stop at midnight, and reach right into that screen. I just have to stop staring at that ceiling, and look through it. (cynical?...life:content with-you ignorant b*stard….not content-who isn’t you b*tch?) Maybe the reason I’m writing this in one big paragraph, with no cohesion whatsoever, is because I don’t know how. I have no sense of direction, I have no idea of what I want to do, of what I plan on accomplishing by writing this. Then I realize, that, the answer is nothing. There’s nothing I see that will happen from this. But we can dream right? I don't really plan on editing, this, on checking it. I don't plan to make it perfect, i don't plan on reworking it so it fits together. I dont really see how, why, or what? It coulda shoulda woulda. I’ve been tired for days and days…

-digitaldelay

...PROPS.....

2008-11-14T23:03:00.000-08:00

Recently, there have been several judgments on the controversial issue of gay marriage. States such as California, Arizona, and Florida have all passed legislature defining marriage as between a man and a woman. In California, both sides of Prop 8 (which overturned a previous ruling, Prop 22) produced substantial amounts of fundraised money, both totaling more than $35 million.

Arguments flew in both directions. Many of those who backed propositions/changes to the state constitution were religious. Many religions, actually most might be a more proper word, are fundamentally against the marriage of two members of the same sex. Supposedly, there are numerous teachings, readings, and etc. that have formed the basis of their argument. Many can cite the Bible in a way as to disapprove of gay marriage, and use examples such as Adam and Eve. Some would say homosexuality is a sin itself, others would say that homosexual deeds (such as gay marriage) are sinful. Even others are open supporters of gays. It’s a sticky situation, one that I have no right to speak of, since I don’t know enough of it in the first place.

Still others may even use a biological argument. Conception can come only with the help of both a man and a woman. Both of the uhm, organs..., are needed to reproduce. If all that is so, then perhaps women and men belonged together, and in no other way?

At the same time however, there are also an abundance of arguments backing same sex marriage. Who’s to say one cannot love one another? Marriage in the eyes of many is the ultimate consummation of one’s love and faith for another individual. Also, many arguments against it are religious in nature, even when this is placed in the hands of the law, and not of religious institutions. Is government affected by religion that much? Is it right for a ruling body to deal out rulings affecting many? Not all people in a state or country are religious, not all of them have a fundamental belief against gays, and what the hell does marriage really mean (at least in a law sense)? Other areas in the world I believe have allowed same sex marriage (I believe I’m correct when I say that Canada has?).

The biological argument I’m sure can be interpreted in many ways. I mean, cakes are meant to be eaten, but I’m sure people throw it too, ain’t no controversy there eh?

I’m not telling you what to choose though (.......ignore the image?..). Maybe you’re undecided, then you should work this out. You have to find out what you’re beliefs are, what your morals are, what your values are, and what’s important to you. Our basic morals and values are of course given to us as young children; there can always be slight changes, and perhaps even major upheavals of it. But if you just keep swaying, if you just keep moving along to the wind (or beat), then you won't end up anywhere. You’ll be tossed around like a just eaten lasagna in a runner’s stomach that is about to be thrown up.

-digitaldelay

To our heroes.

2008-11-10T20:22:00.000-08:00

Henry Van Dyke (1852-1933)

"AMERICA FOR ME"

'TIS fine to see the Old World, and travel up and down
Among the famous palaces and cities of renown,
To admire the crumbly castles and the statues of the kings,—
But now I think I've had enough of antiquated things.

So it's home again, and home again, America for me!
My heart is turning home again, and there I long to be,
In the land of youth and freedom beyond the ocean bars,
Where the air is full of sunlight and the flag is full of stars!

Oh, London is a man's town, there's power in the air;
And Paris is a woman's town, with flowers in her hair;
And it's sweet to dream in Venice, and it's great to study Rome;
But when it comes to living there is no place like home.

I like the German fir-woods, in green battalions drilled;
I like the gardens of Versailles with flashing fountains filled;
But, oh, to take your hand, my dear, and ramble for a day
In the friendly western woodland where Nature has her way!

I know that Europe's wonderful, yet something seems to lack:
The Past is too much with her, and the people looking back.
But the glory of the Present is to make the Future free,—
We love our land for what she is and what she is to be.

Oh, it's home again, and home again, America for me!
I want a ship that's westward bound to plough the rolling sea,
To the bléssed Land of Room Enough beyond the ocean bars,
Where the air is full of sunlight and the flag is full of stars

As you may know, tomorrow is Armistice Day...More commonly known as Veteran's day. Last week, the citizens of America voted for a new President of the United States. But how many of them took this ceremony seriously? Did those voters know, that every four years, they are electing one of the most powerful persons of the world? Tomorrow is the day (not to mention every other day of the year) in which we should remember those brave soldiers that fought for our country and our rights. I was at this ceremony earlier today that celebrated these special people, both those still living and those that are not. It had deeply touched me, and it made me think, "I would be SO proud to be standing up there, like one of them, known for being a soldier/in the military/in the navy/in the air force...knowing that all that I have done and all the sacrifices I have made are being honored by someone out there." I really do think that. If I were to be drafted into a war, I don't think I would mind it much...I would be scared, sure, but I probably will pluck up my courage and look on the bright side of things (and I will find a bright side.) Those soldiers deserve to be thanked.

xoxo,
-my.great.ESCAPE.

Smiles Spungold Wine

2008-11-10T18:27:00.000-08:00

Quite recently, a friend of mine said that he was undecided on whether he wanted to join a certain group/club/gathering/cult/etc. He was having trouble deciding because he wanted to be “different”, and “do his own damn thing”. He then proceeded to ask me, “What shall I do oh great and wise master of digitally delaying?”(Or something along those lines) Of course, being the wonderful person I am, I used all of my gathered wisdom to respond with, “Socrates, I fu---ing ain’t.” (maybe that’s a bit too surreal, but you probably [don’t] get the point thanks to my perfectly clear, logical, and orderly method of [attempted] writing) This event made me think of a certain experiment conducted by some dudes in white lab coats. They had a room full of “actors”, and one genuinely idiotic person. They showed a picture of a line on one side, and three lines of varying lengths on the other. The question was placed on which line matched the length of the lone line. Also, the three lines on the other side weren’t exactly so close you needed a microscope with like…10,000,000,000x to differentiate them or anything, this is the kind of thing a six-year-old could do while vomiting and totally pwning a Halo 3 multiplayer game. (due to my strong personal convictions, I would like to state that I have nothing against six-year-olds vomiting, although maybe with six-year-olds playing a game meant for drunken fratssholes…did I just make up a word?). Still, with such an easy task, whenever the other “experimentees” purposefully identified the wrong line as the right one, the genuine person generally followed. We just love conformity don’t we now? We also love Cracked.com (which is where the info is from…ahem), I hope I get paid for saying that too. Imagine that on a wider scale, something like…the actual damn world. But, as I might have stated sometime long, long ago, and as Cracked also did…, there are those who conform against conformity, which is pretty much conformity, just with the word conform repeated twice in a three word span. So, doesn’t that mean that there’s not much we as humans, sociable beings, can do? “Socrates, I f--ki-g ain’t.”

In the whole span of my short, pathetic life, I have had a total of two bottles of this “water” that has “vitamins” in it. Until I realized that I was getting ripped off (which is what I realize every time I purchase something), I had quite enjoyed the drinks themselves. One thing is that they’re not even actually water with vitamins in it. That’s completely misleading, kind of like commercials that say, “Use this shitty deodorant/cologne/fragrance-thing, you’ll laid by all the slutty, plastic women you could ever dream of!”(I’m absolutely sure this thingy works, because, well, males will be males, and because, sex sells) Either that or all the water companies have been lying to me, and the ocean, and pretty much everything else. Also, when was water so expensive? Can’t you get water, some vitamin pills, and some kiwis/strawberries all together and just eat or drink (or ingest them in some other grotesque manner)? That seems pretty easy.

Also, for the post below me, I for one, also, applaud those nice guys. I probably know a few myself without knowing it, and I apologize to you guys. It can be a hard life with asses like me around, who are also hypocrites, and who probably won’t follow up on that apology, and so will continue to be asses…so….sorry

And thanks to that random title making thing for my lovably messed up title

-digital delay

Ode To The Nice Guys

2008-11-08T23:44:00.000-08:00

So, this isn't written by me, but I thought I'd share, because it's really sweet and really great, and I think everyone here should read it. I got it from here, so it's a repost of sorts. :) I hope you guys really like this.

Ode to the Nice Guys

This rant was written for the Wharton
Undergraduate Journal

This is a tribute to the nice guys. The nice guys that finish last, that never become more than friends, that endure hours of whining and bitching about what assholes guys are, while disproving the very point. This is dedicated to those guys who always provide a shoulder to lean on but restrain themselves to tentative hugs, those guys who hold open doors and give reassuring pats on the back and sit patiently outside the changing room at department stores. This is in honor of the guys that obligingly reiterate how cute/beautiful/smart/funny/sexy their female friends are at the appropriate moment, because they know most girls need that litany of support. This is in honor of the guys with open minds, with laid-back attitudes, with honest concern. This is in honor of the guys who respect a girl’s every facet, from her privacy to her theology to her clothing style.

This is for the guys who escort their drunk, bewildered female friends back from parties and never take advantage once they’re at her door, for the guys who accompany girls to bars as buffers against the rest of the creepy male population, for the guys who know a girl is fishing for compliments but give them out anyway, for the guys who always play by the rules in a game where the rules favor cheaters, for the guys who are accredited as boyfriend material but somehow don’t end up being boyfriends, for all the nice guys who are overlooked, underestimated, and unappreciated, for all the nice guys who are manipulated, misled, and unjustly abandoned, this is for you.

This is for that time she left 40 urgent messages on your cell phone, and when you called her back, she spent three hours painstakingly dissecting two sentences her boyfriend said to her over dinner. And even though you thought her boyfriend was a chump and a jerk, you assured her that it was all ok and she shouldn’t worry about it. This is for that time she interrupted the best killing spree you’d ever orchestrated in GTA3 to rant about a rumor that romantically linked her and the guy she thinks is the most repulsive person in the world. And even though you thought it was immature and you had nothing against the guy, you paused the game for two hours and helped her concoct a counter-rumor to spread around the floor. This is also for that time she didn’t have a date, so after numerous vows that there was nothing “serious” between the two of you, she dragged you to a party where you knew nobody, the beer was awful, and she flirted shamelessly with you, justifying each fit of reckless teasing by announcing to everyone: “oh, but we’re just friends!” And even though you were invited purely as a symbolic warm body for her ego, you went anyways. Because you’re nice like that.

The nice guys don’t often get credit where credit is due. And perhaps more disturbing, the nice guys don’t seem to get laid as often as they should. And I wish I could logically explain this trend, but I can’t. From what I have observed on campus and what I have learned from talking to friends at other schools and in the workplace, the only conclusion I can form is that many girls are just illogical, manipulative bitches. Many of them claim they just want to date a nice guy, but when presented with such a specimen, they say irrational, confusing things such as “oh, he’s too nice to date” or “he would be a good boyfriend but he’s not for me” or “he already puts up with so much from me, I couldn’t possibly ask him out!” or the most frustrating of all: “no, it would ruin our friendship.” Yet, they continue to lament the lack of datable men in the world, and they expect their too-nice-to-date male friends to sympathize and apologize for the men that are jerks. Sorry, guys, girls like that are beyond my ability to fathom. I can’t figure out why the connection breaks down between what they say (I want a nice guy!) and what they do (I’m going to sleep with this complete ass now!). But one thing I can do, is say that the nice-guy-finishes-last phenomenon doesn’t last forever. There are definitely many girls who grow out of that train of thought and realize they should be dating the nice guys, not taking them for granted. The tricky part is finding those girls, and even trickier, finding the ones that are single.

So, until those girls are found, I propose a toast to all the nice guys. You know who you are, and I know you’re sick of hearing yourself described as ubiquitously nice. But the truth of the matter is, the world needs your patience in the department store, your holding open of doors, your party escorting services, your propensity to be a sucker for a pretty smile. For all the crazy, inane, absurd things you tolerate, for all the situations where you are the faceless, nameless hero, my accolades, my acknowledgement, and my gratitude go out to you. You do have credibility in this society, and your well deserved vindication is coming.

Fu-zu Jen, SEAS/WH, 2003

-Karma Police :)
p.s. love nice guys.

Stumble here, Stumble There

2008-11-08T14:00:00.000-08:00

"I'm a big believer in random capitalization. The rules of capitalization are so unfair to words in the middle." (Margo Roth Spiegelman, Paper Towns)

If only everyone viewed life like Margo Roth Spiegelman, the "manic pixie dream girl" of John Green's latest book Paper Towns, we wouldn't have two highlights of our lives: When we are born, and when we die.
Occasionally, of course there are those capital I's for "when I got married, when I broke my arm, when I had sex for the first time in the backseat of a Chevy, and etc... If only we could fine moments like buying your favorite book as significant parts of the story of you and how your sentence ends.

Maybe then, when people do a biography of you, it won't start with "KARMA POLICE WAS BORN ON_____ AND DIED ON_____ BECAUSE SHE O.D'd ON METH STICKERS", and instead start with "KARMA POLICE'S FAVORITE AUTHOR WAS JOHN GREEN BECAUSE HE ENCOURAGED HER TO BE WHO SHE IS TODAY AND MADE HER WISH SHE HAD GREEN EYES LIKE ALASKA YOUNG, WHO IS ONE OF HER FAVORITE CHARACTERS FROM HER FAVORITE BOOK LOOKING FOR ALASKA."

Maybe.

In life everyone's always searching for that "BIG CRAZY AWESOME THING" that can change who they are and change the course of their everyday life. Of course this can be in the form of "marriage, love, getting into Harvard", but why can't it be in the form of "That time I got Hit On by the Main Singer of The Maine"?

Now that'd be a story to tell.

Perhaps what Margo Roth Spiegelman is trying to say in that little ditty of hers is that she is a firm believer of spontaneity. Perhaps she believes random behavior that can entertain and spice up a sentence so that not only the first word seems important. That's what I believe she's thinking (Or, if you want to think literally, what John Green is thinking).

On another note I've fallen in love with Stumbling. No link there, because I want you kids to discover what it is by yourselves! oh The Drama! Just go on Google and type in 'STUMBLE' and click the first link and be happy for hours of just click click click here and there. :)

Just be warned that it's highly addictive and makes me stay on the computer for more hours than is healthy for a gal like myself.

over And our to You kids,
karma Police

Sift Through the Hourglass

2008-11-05T18:43:00.000-08:00

Ever wondered what it would be like to travel at the speed of light? Apparently, that is exactly 299,792,458 kilometers per second. That's crazy!!! I mean, even Dash can't travel that fast! Ha...Ha...

So time sort of tests your patience, right? Like a long-distance relationship with a boy/girlfriend, or your friendship with your best friends after you've moved far, far away from the past two and a half years. Time allows you to either forget the past, or remember it, good or bad...You may see someone you haven't seen in "forever" and say, "My, you've grown up so fast!" Did they indeed grow up that fast, in what's really so little time, or did they actually grow up really s l o w in such a l o n g period of time?

When you look at an hourglass, or even a clock for that matter, do you feel rushed? Like karma police described, either your "time is running out" or "time goes by really slowly". But in fact, it's going the same pace, ALL the time, right? Of course it is. What you're doing affects the speed you feel in which time runs. Anyone can relate to that. Everything uses up time. If we were just frozen in TIME, what would happen then?

Did I just waste your time by repeating the word "time" all those times?
Well, till next time...
-my.great.ESCAPE.

(Recognize the picture above? It is a famous painting called The Persistence of Memory, by artist Salvador Dali. Photo Credit goes to Wikipedia.)

at the speed of BLANK

2008-11-01T15:23:00.000-07:00

There are two ways to view life as we know it: it's half full, or half empty. Depending on a persons mood (whether they've had a good day- whether they've gotten laid), maybe they can be 'okay', a perfect balance of in between. Is that really possible, though, in the world today when kids hang themselves because of messages on social networks such as myspace? The answer is- 'uhhh.. yeah?'

Gwen Stefani once said 'times goes by so slowly', and yet Muse on the contrary crooned that 'our time is running out', so which exactly is it? I'll tell you that when I'm in those last ten minutes before school ends it's the first, yet when I'm with someone I love, it seems to go by in a flash. All in all, it seems we have little control over time no matter what we may think. No matter how many to do lists you make, you can't exactly control your bladder so your need to pee strikes at exactly nine forty-five in the morning.

Really, you can never have a strict hold on time. Sure, we can have a gist or a guesstimation of sorts, but no matter what you can't keep sand from slipping through cracks naked to your eyes. You can't keep certain people from thinking of you and calling you up when you really do have to study for your finals.

You can't prevent an argument about orange juice when it's just inevitable and it wasn't part of your itinerary.
So, Tuesday is the big big day for all of us in the U.S.A. Obama or Mccain? I guess time can only tell who wins and who can be the best for us.

karmapolice

What About What?

2008-11-01T14:11:00.000-07:00

Sometimes we live for ourselves. We indulge in ourselves. We love to talk about ourselves. Why? No matter how much we think we may hate ourselves, our own self is probably the most important thing to us, in more ways than one.

For example, let’s say two people are drinking orange juice, which just happens to be from Costco, and it also happened to come alone and not in any combined packages. As both finish drinking, they realize a momentous dilemma is upon them. Who shall return the carton of O.J. to the fridge, which so happens to be a few steps away? For the next few minutes, or moments, the two argue ceaselessly, when in that time they could have had some more orange juice, returned the carton, and then learned how to play the theremin. One argues that ‘the one who takes it out’ puts it back, while the other says that ‘the last one to use it puts it back’. Well, it soon becomes resolved. Then the next day the same thing happens, except they each use the other excuse to fit their situation.

So there really was no rule there, neither of them just wanted to put it back…

Often times, even when we think we are doing something for the better of other’s, there’s a good chance we’re doing a big part of it for ourselves.

For another oddly surreal example, I’ll throw in the moon and the sun into one big cluster----k. Maybe the sun thinks the moon doesn’t like it, and vice versa, so they soon become terribly terrified the other will one day decide to try and kill it if they meet. So, they spend their whole lives running away from each other, or is it chasing each other...

Well, while they might think they’re doing a good thing by avoiding any interstellar conflict, they really could just be scared for themselves. To be honest, if I was one, I’d be scared of ramming into some giant rock/molten fireball.

Although scientifically, actually logically (or actually common sense would be better…), none of any of that would be even remotely possible.

So what’s the right thing? The thing we think is right? The thing we think is right that’s affected by those around us? The thing other people think is right but we don’t actually know since we’ve never been told?

I don’t know… f--- you.

-digitaldelay

October's Theme: Lost in Mind

2008-10-31T21:41:00.000-07:00

Life flies by, doesn’t it?

From some nudges by some certain-certain people, we’re going to keep the black for just a bit longer...until we finalize on whether we want to keep it black. It would be a nice change, wouldn’t it?

Anyway, back to the topic at hand. We mounted a total of 11 articles (plus this one) for October. It’s not the least amount (nor lower than that), and that’s what matters! Here’s the summary:

Will You – Similar things are similar...or are they?
A Moment Changed – So quickly can something spread.
Absorbed in Your Thoughts? – The mazes of the mind.
EPICAC – A Kurt Vonnegut classic.
Dark Blue – A spontaneous favorite song of KP’s.
I Hope This Rains on Your Parade – Our first ever conversation-styled article.
Draw a Blank. – Is that child really different from that man over there?
Now or Later – The inevitable nostalgia found in most of all things.
A.M. Halloween 2008 + ampleness! – An announcement post for Halloween and ampleness.
Indecision: The New Black – How do you make a decision?

That wraps up this month. We hope you had a great October, and a greater Halloween. Cheers to next month’s (November’s) theme: Slipping Hourglass.

-the clam.

Indecision: The New Black

2008-10-30T21:15:00.000-07:00

The ultimate question to answer: How do you make a decision? Honestly, I'd like to know, and if by chance you know how, please inform me. This question may seem insignificant and such, but really, how do you make a decision that can alter the course of your future? What happens when one is beneficial, and so it the other? It's seriously like getting caught between two lovers (torn between to lovers, hehe)!

On another note, I've recently been watching the movie Shattered Glass in my Journalism class, and I must say that it's a very interesting movie. Hayden Christensen does well as a two faced writer for The New Republic. In case any of you don't know, it's basically about a writer's career going way up, and then way down. Stephen Glass actually does exist in real life, and the movie is based off true events. I wonder how it is that Stephen Glass decided to do what he did (aka, fabrication), which brings me back to that thing (dead word dead word dead word) that's been on my mind: DECISION MAKING!

I think the Matrix was a lot more symbolic than we gave it credit for with that entire blue pill or red pill crud (or at least, that I gave it credit for). I was reading this book, and one of the characters mentioned how he believed in many universes. Not in that 'vampires are among us!' way, but in the way that there's another universe where there's someone just like me who this morning, instead of putting on a white shirt, put on a black one. Someone who didn't go to this school, but went to another. That sort of thing.

Does this count as being profound?

All I'm saying that I'm beginning to realize that everything you do can lead to a different outcome. What were to happen if I didn't choose Karma Police as my alias? What could've happened if I were late to school today? What were to happen if I didn't do my homework!? Decisions can really make you think for a long time. Serious as a heart attack.

Happy Halloween my dears;
KP

p.s. What if I didn't choose to be what I am being for Halloween tomorrow!?

A.M. Halloween 2008 + ampleness!

2008-10-26T16:10:00.000-07:00

Uh-oh, who turned off the lights?

It’s finally here—it’s the week of Halloween 2008. To celebrate, we have a bunch of new things for you to see!

As you’ve already noticed, Acquired Minds looks a bit dark. To commemorate this occasion, we turned it black, and we have a special Halloween header (made my Sendak). It’s only going to stay black for a week, so enjoy it while you can!

If you’ve been keeping track of the I-C, you would’ve noticed the progress we’ve been making on our new A.M. branch. Well now it’s finished, and we’re proud to present:

ampleness was a branch suggested by my.great.ESCAPE. What is it, exactly? It’s a weekly area where we post our top picks for music, videos, articles, books, and much more. We guess you could consider it as a fun and relaxation zone—there’s music to listen to, games to play, and new things to discover. With ampleness, you can delve into our minds just a bit further, and see what we think you should check out next. We’re currently setting up an info-page in the I-C detailing ampleness. Check the I-C soon!

In addition to all this, we now have a second Graphics page. We just added three buttons, and moved the 'Epic' collection over. It’s not much right now, but as we create more graphics and banners, it’ll expand :).

From all of us here at Acquired Minds, we hope you have a nice, fun, cavity-full ~~bloodcurdling and terrifying~~ Halloween!

-The ExtraOrdinary Eight

Now or Later

2008-10-24T17:00:00.000-07:00

I'm beginning to realize that much like salad, it takes time for you to grow to like a song. Maybe this isn't the best of analogies, but I've come to a quite epiphany-ish moment in saying that sometimes, it just takes time and circumstance for you to fall in love with a song. Maybe it's the human mind to naturally shy away from main stream or only listen to main stream, but sometimes it's just really great to hear Britney before she shaved off her hair and think- this is a damn fcking good song. My loneliness is killing me, stronger than yesterday, if there's nothing missing in my life then why do these tears come at night? - Exactly.

My friend let me look at his phone once over the summer, and being my incredibly anal self, I criticized his musical selection, asking countless times 'you listen to ___!?'. Well hey-ho what do you know, he answered 'they bring back memories'. I didn't go further in arguing due to my inside thinking that 'oh he's so unaware', but now that I think about it, it's true. I've always reinforced the fact that music brings you to moments in life you'd like to remember, but it also brings you to moments in life you want to prolong. I think that's the meaning of a love song you can slow dance to, because when you relisten to it, it seems to bring back that euphoric sense of feeling you get in your chest. I guess I was too blinded by my own 'I know good music, yes I do' sense to even really see. Like seriously, SEE!

Or maybe when you listen to 'First Date' by Blink 182 and you really are on your way to pick up that girl, you think 'wow, this is all so true', and more or less you find yourself listening to it more and more in order to keep that odd feeling in your stomach that makes you smile like ten different shades of happy.

Well in a sense, I think that maybe whatever music you listen to- rock, indie, hip hop, whatever- no matter what happens, you can listen to a song that you heard and hated two years ago and think ' I remember this song! I hated this song!' and yet still know about half the lyrics to it all. For example, I still know most lyrics to the song 'I Want It That Way' by Backstreet Boys (Who I lovedlovedloved and then absolutelydespised) and to a lot of other shiz... AND LOOK HERE I HAVE TO GO.

To be continued,

KP

Draw a Blank.

2008-10-20T16:34:00.001-07:00

Is there ever a moment where absolutely not one single thought runs through your head? Try just sitting there, like you are right now, and think about nothing. No, wait! Not even nothing (because then you are still thinking)! Think of a blank space. But don't think of it, just make it happen, sort of like how your mind is when you are sleeping (only you are wide awake)...It's harder than it looks, right?

(Photo credits go to Flickr)

Thoughts fly in and out of your head all the time. ~~coughEDWARDCULLENcough~~ It's quite possible for another person to be thinking the same thing as you (you might notice that whole "Hey, no way! That's what I was thinking!!!"), but most of the time, that doesn't really happen. You may be so absorbed in your thoughts that you're in your own little world. Whether they're good or bad thoughts, well, that's really up to you.

You'd think the mind of a small child watching TV would differ from the mind of a man who has just committed a crime. Or, the thoughts running through a mom's head holding a new baby, as opposed to the ones of a girl who just broke up with her boyfriend. What might one think before taking a test, or after a great day. What one elderly man would think before he dies, set against to a wife that just lost her husband. The thoughts you have when you wake up to the alarm clock in the morning, and the ones right before you fall asleep.

It might be easy to be lost in your thoughts, or even have one thought that never leaves your mind. Try not to think too much ;D
-my.great.ESCAPE.

I Hope This Rains on Your Parade.

2008-10-17T22:43:00.000-07:00

(WARNING: The following contains sensitive content.)

NOTE: For Halloween 2008, the blog is turned black. To read the following, highlight the words.

We have things we realize are important in our lives, and others that are not so much.

my.great.ESCAPE.: Have you guys ever thought about doing drugs, like weed?
stolen apologies: Yes.
digital delay: kind of yes but then again im pretty sure i never would
karma police: yes I have, but i wont because it can eff your mind
my.great.ESCAPE.: Really? Why ?
stolen apologies: Yes, just to try it.
my.great.ESCAPE.: But, what if you get hooked?
stolen apologies: I have to act stupid sometime in my life, and I think I'd want to get that phase over with, when I'm young.
digital delay: sometimes i think that phase already ended in me..
my.great.ESCAPE.: Some people do it because it "relaxes" them.. Like, smoking..
digital delay: im sure i can find better ways of relaxing
stolen apologies: I concur.
digital delay: i already do
stolen apologies: Others do it because of peer pressure.
digital delay: f*ck peer pressure
my.great.ESCAPE.: LOL.
stolen apologies: Having sex can also result from peer pressure
digital delay: i dont do anything that would result in any form of peer pressure..
stolen apologies: You mean result FROM peer pressure?
my.great.ESCAPE.: but you never know...if your life just suddenly starts spiraling out of control...
digital delay: no
stolen apologies: According to suicide statistics, Monday is the favored day for self-destruction.
my.great.ESCAPE.: well, Mondays DO suck.
stolen apologies: I hate that day.
digital delay: i dont do anything, so how i can get pressured into doing anything when nobodys presuring me?
my.great.ESCAPE.: In my school, so many kids are that "bad". about 3 out of 4 students are allowed to date. about 1 out of 3 students have already had their "first kiss". about 1 out of 5 students probably have done some kind of drug, or smoke or drink. about 1 out of 8-ish kids possibly arent virgins anymore...makes us look innocent.
karma police: according to statistics from BBC news more than seventy percent of all people who've done weed have admitted to thinking that they wouldnt get addicted
my.great.ESCAPE.: If you had a friend who was out of control from drug usage, would you help them or push them out of your life?
digital delay: id beat the sh*t out of them, slap em back
karma police: i'd warn them and help them if they needed help cause my friend likes weed
my.great.ESCAPE.: I mean like, this guy's asking you to lend money and asking for favors to drive you around to liquor shops and sh*t
my.great.ESCAPE.: so if they asked for your help, you'd help them?
digital delay: i wouldn’t
my.great.ESCAPE.: no ?
digital delay: well i wouldnt giv em money or anything
stolen apologies: I wouldn't either.
my.great.ESCAPE.: what if theyre finally realizing they cant do this anymore, and they need real help?
karma police: then i'll help
stolen apologies: Well, yes, if they admit it.
digital delay: id tell them to go to a counselor or something cuz im not someone who could help them..
karma police: i'd drive them to AA meeings
my.great.ESCAPE.: If you guys ever get drug-crazy, i'd help you(:
stolen apologies: Aw, thanks
my.great.ESCAPE.: But that doesnt mean you should go and do drugs.
my.great.ESCAPE.: i wonder who the crap looked at a plant and decided it would be good to snort it, in the first place >:[
stolen apologies: Hippies revolutionized it.
digital delay: damn them!
stolen apologies: I guess back in ancient civilizations, people experimented with different plants and wrote down their effects
digital delay: yup
stolen apologies: And those got passed on, and as society faltered, people decided to abuse them
digital delay: human curiosity is a bitch
stolen apologies: Curiosity killed the cat.
digital delay: freaky, ill tell you that
digital delay: i always wondered what tid be like to fall off a building... or get shot.. or get stabbed really slowly..
stolen apologies: Or die. Or drown.
digital delay: but i dont wanna die.. i just want to see what happens.. like..maybe before i die..
my.great.ESCAPE.: people die because they cant stand not having drugs. its so sad that they go through anything just to get some…what can be THAT much needed.!
stolen apologies: Yeah. Their bodies are so dependent on it that withdrawals can kill them.
digital delay: cold turkey
my.great.ESCAPE.: they kill people just to get them.
digital delay: its sad...to see someone like that..
my.great.ESCAPE.: very sad indeed.
stolen apologies: By then, the drugs have gotten to their brain cells and they're not sane anymore
my.great.ESCAPE.: its possible to become sane once again. you just have to want it.
stolen apologies: And you have the right help. If you've gone that far, you can't come back on your own.
my.great.ESCAPE.: people like us shouldnt mess with the world of the bad people. its like, the heroes and the villains… we have to save lives. thats what we're supposed to do.
digital delay: ooo heroes
stolen apologies: We can't change what we didn't create or contrive to…As much ambition as we have
my.great.ESCAPE.: but we can choose the path to take which is the most important part
stolen apologies: Yes, and hopefully that will make a difference.
digital delay: we can but we wont , depending on who and what
my.great.ESCAPE.: we can be a "somebody" and not a "nobody". i mean, who's wants to be a nobody?? seriously.
stolen apologies: The thing though is, you may be a "somebody" here, but halfway across the world, you'll still be unknown.
digital delay: what if were already a nobody
stolen apologies: Then you'll stay that way.
digital delay: and a somebody is just a bit far away off the road..
stolen apologies: I don't know. There's always two ways of looking at things.
my.great.ESCAPE.: all you need is one other person to recognize that you are a somebody
digital delay: i guess you dont always get what you want …or think you want
stolen apologies: Just so you know, all of you are a "somebody" to me.
digital delay: ha thats sweet
my.great.ESCAPE.: totally (:

just a message from,
- Your [EFFin'] Fantastic Four

Dark Blue

2008-10-15T17:08:00.000-07:00

Recently I've found myself in freaking obsession (against my will, of course) to the song Dark Blue. Why? Well what caught my attention was the line 'have you ever felt alone in a crowded room?'. That right there, explains it all.

Now, how could a person feel alone in a crowded room? Perhaps they're sad. Perhaps they have something "On their minds". Perhaps someONE?

You guys are probably wondering why I've been MIA for so long, huh? Lots to do, and well honestly, I've lost inspiration. Maybe it comes and goes occasionally but whenever I sit down to type something I always wind up just staring at the screen, blankly.

like right now.

i have to go now

until another time

for now, tell me what it's like to be alone in a crowded room. and why.

-karmapolice

EPICAC

2008-10-07T17:30:00.000-07:00

I just read today the saddest, sweetest I can think of at the moment. Perhaps the saddest, sweetest thing I’ve ever known, or maybe that I can think of at the moment. It is the short story “EPICAC”, by Kurt Vonnegut. Here’s the full story, or for those who don’t care for something that’s that long (it’s not long at all…), here’s the Wikipedia summary of it.

For those of you who don’t care for either of those, I’ll give a really short and lazy version of it. There’s this dude who is in love with this girl who never says yes to his constant proposals. So, he goes to this supercomputer thingermabobber where they work. He asks it to write love poems for him, and soon enough, the girl is wooed. However, when he asks the computer for the perfect proposal, the computer tells him that it’s in love with that girl too. After reasoning to it that it is a machine and blahblahblah, he goes on to propose to that girl and she says yes as long as he writes her a poem every anniversary. The next day, it happens that the supercomputer thing blew it self up, but before that, it made enough love poems for the dude to keep his end of the bargain for 500 years.

It’s so sad how this “machine” (the narrator says that it was less of a machine than other people he knew…, it was also his best friend) finally gets a problem it can’t solve, and that it never will solve. Although, instead of being a huge jackass about it, like it could have been, it does a really sincere gesture for his friend.

The end

I don’t what the point of this was

I wonder if EPICAC stands for anything specific…

Lalalalalalalalala

the end

sorry...

-digitaldelay

Absorbed in Your Thoughts?

2008-10-06T20:43:00.000-07:00

Hmm, I wonder.

Psychology.
What makes the human mind like it is?
What makes someone think ~~and tick~~?
That's a good thinking question, isn't it?
It is quite a mystery how the brain works and how we knew to use it from the start. It just sort of happens.

Psychiatry.
Does talking about your feelings really help?
Opening up your mind, while you're lost in them?
Being lost in your thoughts could be bad...Stress can build up and you may just explode one day.

Can people really change fate, since the start from birth?
Was Hitler born for greatness, but then led away from goodness?
In other words, do you control your mind, or does your mind control you?
All your memories are kept there. All that you learn. All that you know.
It is like one big locked up vault, where no one will be able to tell what is in it but the person who it belongs to. The vault may be small, or it may be an entire library of seemingly endless knowledge, one in which you may easily be lost in.

Stupidity is a disease. But isn't intelligence contagious, also?
-my.great.ESCAPE.

A Moment Changed

2008-10-05T19:15:00.000-07:00

(thanks to miautoloco.com for the image)

It’s bizarre how quickly something can spread.

Is it the outlandish new gossip? A virus certainly isn’t much slower. No, definitely not the fleeting emotions that course through you.

Like a drop of food coloring, it doesn’t take much to accomplish much. Before you know it, you’ll be holding a cup full of bursting, color-tainted water. I can only wish the same could be said for a lot of other things we face in our lives. Rather, everything we encounter takes such a great deal of our energy and strength to achieve. We can’t ask for more...yet we can’t ask for less, either.

As humans, our minds are so very vulnerable. The thoughts and opinions of people around us affect what we believe, and in turn, what we do. Then, in a momentary amount of time, we start to make decisions in an entirely new state of mind. *insert British accent* Observe:

Person 1: Hey, let’s go see ‘Dawn of Reason’!
Person 2: Hm, but I’ve heard ‘Realm of Reality’ was super good...well, according to the critics.
Person 1: Really? Then...maybe we should go see that!

If you’ve never realized how influential other people are to you—including how influential you are to others—then you haven’t discovered your surroundings quite yet. Yes, you might be the nicest, friendliest person in school...but if someone, out of frivolous reasons, decides to start a rumor about how unfriendly you are, everyone will start to believe it’s true. Is it truly true? Maybe (or definitely) not, but you don’t have sudden proof to show that. Only as time goes by, people will start to recognize who you really are.

A lot of people in this world are subconsciously affecting the people around them, unknowingly. Is it a positive change? Or a change for the worse? If you stop and take a grasp of your life, you’ll comprehend it soon enough. And yes, people do make mistakes. People do do things they didn’t intend to do. It just happens. It may be disappointing...regrettable...and undesirable.

But if you were able to change it in the first place, you can change it back.

A little goes a long way.
(and I've never found a better time to say that)

-the clam.

Will You

2008-10-04T14:30:00.000-07:00

Is bottled water better than tap water? It’s not like tap water is particular dirty; it does have to go through a filtering process. Plenty of bottled water is perhaps filtered just as much, or maybe less. Plus, bottled water uses plastic, and it sure does cost a lot to ship it, bottle it, and make the plastic. Tap water also has fluoride in it……………

Can things really become worse, purely because of the perceptions it has taken? If people think Yao Ming is really overrated, is he? Can what those outside of this thing’s direct contact really affect the actual, absolute quality of whatever is being judged? Can a musician(s) become terrible, overrated, and despised to someone just because of the way others think about it? Are we so gullible? Are we so needy that outside perceptions will affect what we think of something? Of course it will happen, but can it happen in a drastic manner? If someone says Alex Rodriguez sucks at the clutch, and always has, does that mean him hitting in a few game winning RBIs or HRs in the playoffs mean he got lucky for a game? Can that restaurant suddenly have bad food once you start to despise their waiters? Can a band start to become watered down once others have caught on?

Does anybody else reading this ever get annoyed at people who are overtly trying to, or are trying to seem to be, green? Actually, screw that, this can be anything really, not just being green, any other little niche too. Maybe they just try to shove it on you too much, but really, whoever said they were (insert here?) in the first place. Maybe you just played a benefit concert for that old dude who lost the election way back when, you probably got there in gas-guzzling private airplane, not to mention the stretched hummer you used to get to and from the airport.

I think its nice to know that something’s a bit funny with little kids running around at night (Halloween specifically) asking for money? Aren’t cute little kids with money in a box also completely defenseless little kids with lots of money that are just waiting to be tripped. Plus, their candy is probably going to get taken, or at least crushed on the floor. You’d UNICEF could think of better ways to advertise and get donations, rather than well, getting little kids beat up, because well, that’s kind of the opposite of what their supposed to do...

I honestly wondered what would happen if people just sat down, and wrote one big long paragraph on why, specifically why, they loved such a poet, musician, band, author, painter, filmmaker, etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. Would you kind of gain an insight into them selves?...maybe see why they appreciate that particular thing so much? Who knows I guess…

Dead weight

-dgitaldelay

September's Theme: Hiding Beneath

2008-09-30T20:35:00.000-07:00

Still as busy as usual, I’m going to type up this summary article very sloppily (if you’d consider it that way). It seems, though, that the Acquired Minds really were "hiding beneath" this month...
Without further interruptions...

Dragging Along – An update article, along with some talk about Political Conventions.
To work up a smile. – Dodging realities and the hidden truth.
Radio Waves of the Heart (or maybe just the head) – The never-ending issues of opposing genders.
underground or above? – Are you truly ‘legal’ at 18?
State of MIND. – The indefinite feelings of emotions.
Glass Against My Face – Simple may not be as ‘simple’ as you may think.
I A.M. a Follower – Become Acquired Minds’ follower if you’re a reader!

As I sit here and stare at my computer screen...looking at this article that I’m typing...well, it just looks so forlorn. Eight articles! Just eight. *sigh* Oh well...Septembers are never really good.
Cheers to next month’s (October's) theme: Lost in Mind.

-the clam.

I A.M. a Follower...Are You?

2008-09-21T19:28:00.000-07:00

If you're reader of Acquired Minds, be sure to be our follower!

Blogger has released the Follower feature for quite some time now, but I've only added it just now. On the right sidebar, scroll down until you see the Follower widget. Just click on "Be a Follower" to...well, be a follower :). Whenever A.M. updates, you'll know all about it. You'll also help us pass the word about A.M., so make sure you start following us!

In other A.M. news, we're currently testing and developing yet another branch to the blog. You can track its progress in the Info-Center (under 'Coming Soon'). It's going to be awesome once it's finished! Much thanks to M.G.E. for suggesting it.

Oh, the drama of life...

-the clam.

Glass Against My Face

2008-09-20T11:09:00.000-07:00

Are simple things really better? People say that the best things are things that say what they mean using the fewest amount of words, or images, or etc. The things that are the easiest to take in, the easiest to understand, have the most meaning and resolve in them: but is this really true? Can something so simple, so easy to make, mean more?

Or do the complex things give off more. They are the things the connoisseurs can enjoy and applaud. The things with every ounce of detail and intricacy you could care for, even with little parts that most people wouldn’t care about, or won’t even catch. Are these things, the ones that take you a second to take in and to develop your feelings on, better?

Is the complex music video better than the strikingly simple one? Is the song with fewer parts in it better than the one with sparse parts? Is that magnificent piece of art better than a hugely plain, but beautiful, one?

There’s the whole DIY argument, the whole indie, lo-fi thing. They hate overproduction in music, hate having things be done for them that are too complicated. If you can do it yourself, why not?

At the end of the day though, does it really matter? As long as the end product works out, is it ok? Does the ends justify the means? As long as what you get from it is great…who cares…

Do the things you do reflect who you are? The music you listen to, the way you play tennis, the guitar you want, the way you act, the way you speak, does it really say something about who you are? I don’t mean the simple things; like that person doesn’t talk much or anything like that. Can they really mean something a little deeper than something on the surface? Can they give an insight into who, or what, someone truly is?

Is it true that, if you never explain your problems, then people will never see them? People can’t guess something, and if they do, they might not be entirely sure about it, especially if it has anything to do with something that’s important to them. Either that, or they’re just arrogant and brash.

Are you really that different from other people? It seems like people always say that their job just sucks, or they’re life isn’t exactly going the way they want. Is it true that that’s probably going on for a lot of people? I mean in no way to say that one person’s problems are bigger than someone else’s, or someone’s is useless. Everyone’s problems are important to one person, that person is the most important person regarding that problem, and it’s themselves. People like talking about themselves, they like to talk about the things that are important to them.

Whenever things aren’t exactly going my way, I always have this little period of time, where I just start to reflect on my life. I just kind of lie down, or relax, and think away. They’re usually not exactly great thoughts either, nothing that will bring joy definitely. But I always try to tell myself that everyone has to go through stuff, stuff twice as worst as my stupid obstacles. I try to tell myself to just walk it off, after an hour or too back in the real world, I’ll be fine. But it’ll come up again anyway…

should i stop?

or have i never started?

State of MIND.

2008-09-18T16:03:00.000-07:00

For you, what's the greatest feeling ever??? It might be making someone smile (or better, laugh). You can get that wonderful feeling after you've just been asked out, for some, or after acing a really hard test, for others. For me, I really love the idea of being needed as a friend. It gives me a reason or role to play in life. You can always tell when someone is happy. I have a thing for those occasional moments where I just can't seem to stop smiling...Don't you just love that? (They occur as often as I'd like...)

How about the worst emotion you can get? Is it losing an important sports game, breaking up with a boy/girlfriend, failing a test? It makes me feel extremely horrible whenever my presence is not acknowledged...Don't you just hate it when you're not included in certain activities, when your left out of this and that, or when a jerk just totally ruins a perfectly beautiful day? If I lose someone special, that's pretty harsh on me, also...

Sometimes, you can get these moments where you're experiencing indefinite feelings...You can't describe them at all, and you're head is about to explode! Feelings are too real. What would happen if we didn't have emotions at all?

-my.great.ESCAPE.

(P.S. Comment and share your most greatest and worst feelings...I'd like to know ;)

(Photo credits go to Photobucket.com)

underground or above?

2008-09-15T19:29:00.000-07:00

In the minds of many young adults across the states, turning twenty one is probably the day they can’t wait for. Why? Because of the one thing they’ll have access to once they reach that age- alcohol. Many long for the day to wake up and go to Vegas to gamble and drink the night away, and some just can’t wait. Underage drinking is a big problem in the U.S. but drunk driving is one, too. Combine the two together and you can’t really tell which is worse, can you? The “responsible” 21 year old who drank one too many beers and died in a car crash, or the 18 year old partier who got caught by the police.

What are the cons to changing the legal drinking age to eighteen? To list a few the main one would be that the number of drinkers in both high school and college will likely increase. People can easily fake eighteen rather than twenty-one, therefore making alcohol a larger constant in their life. Think about it, some seniors in high school are eighteen already, and with the combination of being able to legally buy alcohol and the number of younger peers around them, the results could lead to even more underage drinkers. People are influenced by others around them, and with their peers buying alcohol what do you think they’d want to do to fit in?

In an age where immaturity is ever so common and looking cool is the top priority for many (especially girls), a lowered drinking age will cause the headline ‘girl killed from drunk driving incident’ to frequent front pages more often.

Alcohol poisoning will probably happen left and right, and if underage drinkers start around the age of sixteen to eighteen, then won’t lowering the drinking age make even younger kids start to drink? Being able to drink legally at eighteen seems only a faraway idea to be laughed at to us. Or at least so some may believe.

I came across a webpage that had a petition for college students to sign in support of lowering the drinking age to eighteen. At first I believed that the reasons they were going to have would be idiotic and completely illegible, but when I read into it a little more I realized that some reasons were actually, well, reasonable.

Now many of you reading this are probably in support of changing the drinking age to eighteen because of the fact that you’re young and you just like to think like that. Our parents and teachers and basically everyone have told us all our lives that drinking is bad, and alcohol shouldn’t be consumed-ever. Despite the constant ragging however, teens being teens have rebelled and gone on to do what their parents forebode them to do- drink. What’s the point of a law that everyone breaks?

Perhaps lowering the drinking age may lower the pure excitement of it all. We as teens are known to want what we can’t have, and maybe if we were to have that object of our affection given to us earlier, the excitement of it all might fade away, leaving it to be nothing less of a normal thing that no one has to break the law to get.

At the age of eighteen you’re viewed as an adult. You’re allowed to get married, and you can serve your country. Thinking of the former, young couples seeking to marry at eighteen are restricted from drinking wine at their own wedding. For many this is a big disappointment. At the age of eighteen you are allowed the privilege to vote, and you are allowed to smoke, yet many think it is unfair that you can’t consume alcohol. If you’re considered an adult, why not get all the privileges they have instead of having to wait a full three years in order to get one simple add-on?

Although the numbers of seniors in high school lowered after the drinking age going up, the number of underground drinkers rose to a new level. Because they couldn’t do it that often or in public, drinking was brought to behind closed doors and underground, where the young drank as much as they could while they couldn’t get caught. Binge drinking was happening left and right; and binge drinking can lead to death. So although the drinking age at twenty-one still helps publicly, it’s the underground life that you can’t see that makes it seem horrible. Being twenty-one or eighteen doesn’t stop people from drinking themselves to the hospital or grave.

In places like Canada, provinces are allowed to choose their drinking age. The drinking age is usually between 18 and 19 and for all United States citizen studying there, going back home is like “stepping back in time”. Some college students even say that although there are reckless drunken parties, they occur less often than the ones in America.

College parties are always about alcohol and partying, but does anyone ever stop and think about the fact that most college students are underage? If a twenty-one year old person can barely handle alcohol what makes anyone think an eighteen year old can? In the end, I’m not trying to say that the drinking age should be lowered to eighteen, but that it’s not as preposterous as many of our parents may think.

reprinted with permission from original writer;

Karma Police

Radio Waves of the Heart (or maybe just the head)

2008-09-13T12:53:00.000-07:00

A sensitive issue these days is the issue of the opposite genders. There are the obvious differences, the unchangeable biological differences, and then there are some similarities. It’s odd, the battle of the sexes debate is so much more, for lack of a better way to put it, unique than other kinds of discrimination. In racism, the differences are almost negligible compared to the differences in men and women. While one race can make up a large part of the world, men and women basically make up all of it. That just makes the issue all more significant and controversial.

Feminism, it seems, is the standard now, its understood now, almost like how “going green” is now supposed the right and neat thing to do. In the media, in regular conversations everywhere, feminism gets the high reputation. This often causes other issues to go overlooked. Yes, there is a wage gap, and it’s a terrible thing. But, if you were asked, who in this world is the one most likely to get a job that is rated as one of the worst jobs in America (or in this world I should say)? Well, you’d probably answer men. Which gender most often (there’s never an always) does the most menial, dirty, downright despised jobs? Who’s usually on Dirty Jobs anyway? Also, in domestic issues, women get the upper hand. As stated by one person, (I’m sorry I don’t know who this is, but it’s a memorable quote), “the women who gets divorced three times and doesn’t have a Ferrari is doing something wrong.” In custody issues, guess who usually wins? I remember a story where some male workers (construction maybe? I’m not sure…) had a rally because they were not allowed to see any of there children. If I remember quite right, they were struck down fairly fast and ruthlessly. Also, men aren’t the only ones that commit domestic (or other forms of abuse too) abuse. Both genders do (even if the statistics on who commits it more are disputed, it’s undeniable that both genders commit domestic abuse), but you never hear about the other side of the coin. Men probably don’t report abuse as much either, because of social constraints, and the f@#%!&* parameters of convention. In the past quarter century, we exposed biases against other races and called it racism, and we exposed biases against women and called it sexism. Biases against men we call humor (Warren Farrel, Women Can’t Hear What Men Don’t Say.

But as always, there’s the other side of the coin. Now it just gets annoying. Yes, men do get advantages too. In politics, back in the cloakrooms of Congress or elsewhere, males (most often Caucasian) are mostly dominant. Yes, there’s Hillary Clinton, and now Sarah Palin, but Congress and most of the government is still controlled by men. Many men are still chauvinists, misogyny is still alive. There are still many that see females as the weaker race, just as how racism is still alive in today’s world. You know, I won’t go into further detail, but anyone reading this can’ think of countless more ways men get the upper hand. In the music business I’m sure, there are more successful male musicians. More male producers, more male A &R people, more males in general probably. In business, in science, in mathematics, men have the home court advantage. Sure there are a lot of prominent women, but when did Einstein, or Newton, or Tesla get a sex change?

Another thing is the portrayal of this issue. Depending on who you talk to, and about what, sometimes it seems men are the underdogs, and sometimes women are. But the media always has a funny view on things. The media will always conform to the people, because that’s what people want to read about, what they want to watch. Men can be portrayed as the pervert, the rapist, the asshole abuser, the bum, the idiotic jackass, the nerd, the shy guy, while women can be perceived as sluts, money loving whores, emotionally uncaring bitches. It goes both ways. I’m not saying which is more prominent, which is more important, but both are there. I mean, just look at the t-shirt there. What does that do to kids? When boys see something like that, they’ll see women don’t care, they’ll become emotionally shy. Although I don’t think I was, I don’t think I saw any of that as a kid, and I doubt I cared either. It could do the same to girls too. But today, with the media and internet everywhere, who knows?

Can this all work out? Will stereotypes be gone? That’s easily doubted, but how prominent will this issue be in the future? Personally, I don’t what to think. I choose neither side. Picking a side in an issue like this is fucking stupid. Compromise probably won’t lead anywhere either. Heck, my favorite musicians are females, and gay. My favorite guitarists are males. Most of my favorite films have male leads. I almost actually prefer female singers too. So, ummm…, who cares.

Can you see my problems, if I never explain it?

-digital delay