The Murky Road

(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)

Wonder How A.M. Got Started?

Yes, sometimes, I wonder myself how this blog began. If you're interested, you can now read all about how Acquired Minds began. Even when I read it to myself, it feels and sounds a bit awkward. But because of what happened, we have what we have today. So have fun reading it!

Click here to go see 'Acquired Minds: The History'!

Watch this space for more and more articles in the future!

-the clam.

P.S. Read this at any time, because the link to the page can now always be found on the right side -->.

Scrubbing for my Dollar

To start off the month of May, I’ll write a little something about ‘greed’.

Being my bored self, I took a look at my aunt’s bookshelf, and I spotted an odd looking book, titled “DUH! The Stupid History of the Human Race”. (hmm, maybe that’s true…). I flipped to a random page in the book, which led me to “Chapter 14: Dumb Things Famous People Said.” Wow…really, really interesting…is it?

Actually, it is. Coincidentally, this quote was on the page:

“I think greed is healthy. You can be greedy and still feel good about yourself.”
-Ivan Boesky, financier

I laughed to myself when I read that. In some ways, that’s true—because when you’re greedy, it’s always about yourself. Moments where you feel greedy are the moments where you feel selfish. Don’t take me wrong—you might not be a selfish person, but everyone has their own selfish moments, right?

I can’t even recall the countless moments where I’ve felt greedy. Ranging from video games to books to music, I’ve always dreamed of getting everything. I mean, if you have an amount of wealth equal to that of Bill Gates, you could just point to something you want and you’ll get it! How GREAT is that?

But then again, would you have the same feeling of satisfaction and accomplishment when you buy the item? When you work extremely hard for your money, and you actually start spending it on something, you feel good when you get it, because you know you earned it really well. I mean, you also ‘earned’ the bunches of money you have (when you’re wealthy), but when you earn less, everything you buy will seem so much more valuable. Instead of saying “Oh, wow, the newest Guitar Hero is being released tomorrow. I’ll just go tell my chauffeur to drive me there tomorrow and get it,” it’d be much more satisfying in the end if you said, “Oh, the newest Guitar Hero is being released tomorrow. Let me work hard to earn the amount of money, and then I’ll go buy it!” That way, while you’re playing the game, you’ll have a warm feeling on the inside that you worked your butt off to get this time to play.

Dang! That was a long, random ramble. I’m just sittin’ here at my aunt’s computer in San Diego typing some random article because of this random spark of inspiration from this random book I found on her random bookshelf. Yeah…random.

-the clam.