This was another topic that was brought up in my Digital Media and Psychology class. We weren't told to write about it, but I thought I would anyways. I don't have all that much to say.
I'm not sure when the use of credit become popularized, however it is everywhere now. The ability to pay for something before you actually pay for it is very inviting. I know this from experience. I've never used any form of credit through a plastic card, though many times I've found that having a friend buy something so I may pay them back later is a lot easier than parting with my money directly.
I think I may have slight attachment issues to some items, and money being one of them. I know it is no use if it not spent and I am not saving up for anything in particular. I just don't like to spend it. I don't have a reason to spend it yet. I'm sure once I'm living out of my parents house my ideals will change because I will have a need to spend money. At the moment I can live without it, and find entertainment without it. I always wonder why people complain there isn't anything to do in my town, and many times I've heard there is lots to do but only if you have money. I know I can go out with some friends and have a great time for free at any time. The use of credit allows that entertainment to be found anywhere that may charge for it.
Why not pay later, if you can put responsibility aside and deal with it later. Procrastination is over used by our generation, I'm decently one of those who abuses the concept.
Although, using credit is not a bad thing in itself. If used properly, it builds up your credit rating. I'm not sure how that works entirely, but I know a high credit rating is a good thing. The problem with credit, even more than it's convince, is its interest.
If you put money in the bank, it will grow due to interest. If you put debt in the bank, it will grow due to interest. The more you use your credit card, without paying it off, the more it grows. The interest is also compounded. This is considered a good thing in banking, for if you are in the black (positive) your interest creates more interest. If you are in the red (debt) your debt creates more debt. Even if you use your credit card for small purchases, it will add up. Not paying off your credit card is a terrible event and the credit card companies know this. They love you being in debt.
If you are in debt, you may be able to make a minimal payment. That's great. They get money flowing into their pockets continuously. As long as you are making the minimal payment only, and your interest will keep compiling.
I might finish this later, I might not. If anything I just wanted to kill time in Digital Media. I didn't really want to be here today, but I showed up and stayed most of the time anyways. Now it is time for lunch.
== Bugworlds
Friday, November 19, 2010
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Water Essay ;; Flow
In my Digital Media class we watched part of the documentary "Flow." We didn't watch all that much however I've seen this several times before (well twice, maybe three times within the past two years) and I was expecting to remember more of it. I'm sure I can find 500 words though.
It's unheard of how polluted so much of the worlds water is. There is so little fresh water as it is, for the majority of the worlds water is in the ocean. Saline and all, not so great to drink. Industrialism has poisoned so much of the water supplies in third world countries leaving no drinkable water. They have no choice but to drink it however.
You can live without love but you can't live without water.
The problem is not only extended to third world countries, for water pollution can be found everywhere. It may be considered worse in some aspects in the more developed world. In the water of many major cities there are trace amounts of pharmaceuticals, rocket fuel, I'm sure a lot more but that's all that comes to mind at the moment. Tap water is avoided in many cases, for consumption at least. Many of the chemicals are absorbed through the skin to make things worse. Simple bathing could be slowly loading you up with some heavy drugs.
For those who avoid tap water, and drink bottled water the story is not all that much different. Bottled water is not regularized. There is no standard to meet, no major screening of the water, there is only one person who is responsible for any standards and they also have the responsibility of several other actives. There have been cases where people have set up wells in the middle of parking lots and sold the water from that in bottles. In Toronto a large water company got busted for selling tap water, strait from the tap pretty much. Just stuck in a bottle, given a label, and shipped off. The plastic also may leak chemicals into the water.
So what does this all mean for us? Us being my peers on the most part. We live in beautiful British Columbia and don't need to worry about water pollution very much. From what I've heard, BC may have the best water in the world. At times it isn't that good. As for pollution, I'm sure it's around, however we have so many fresh, clean lakes there isn't all that much to worry about I suppose. I know around the area I live, we are surrounded by lakes. They are almost all accessible by dirt road at the least though, which I find worry-some. There is a fair amount of logging in the area, especially if you take the roads that take you to the lakes. All the logging can't be good for our last perfect water supply?
I've been told that tap water tastes terrible (and it may, depending on the area) however I think bottled water tastes much worse. I avoid drinking it as much as I can, and on the rare occasion where I must the only thought that will come to mind is how it tastes like plastic. The flavor is not actually plastic but I associate it to be. The water tastes bad. It's simple as that. There's something within the process of water sitting on a plastic bottle that does something to it and I don't want to be loading my body with chemicals at such a young age. I may not worry so much if I was much older, however that isn't the case for a very long time. I suspect by the time I am of that age plastic will be much less of a problem.
Everyone seems to be shying away from plastic, or at least the idea of it. I haven't seen any evidence of it disappearing much.
And since I am already on the topic of plastic water bottles I think I will make a note at the price of it. It is ridiculous. How much does it cost for a liter of gas? Something around 1.10 Canadian currency in my town. I'm not sure, but I've seen it around this price. How much does it cost to buy a 750ml bottle of water? 1.50, sometimes more. In larger quantities the water is more affordable per volume of water; but the point is water costs more than gas.
The price of water is only going to go up. In our natural water cycle the water used is always returned to the cycle, although human intervention has pushed it out of this. There is more water being used than what is being put back. There is a continued demand for more water, with less water available. According to capitalism the more demand, the more price.
Eventual we may run out of oil to make plastic bottles. The price of oil will continue to rise due to this resource being limited. The problem of water running out is less of a concern because it will always be there. It is just being used. If the world continues as it is now eventual some of the flawed systems that have been created will become critical flawed and they will collapse. Maybe some large dams will brake, freeing the water they hold?
I'm not against the use of dams to create power, but it is just one more feature adding to the stress of water. The grand cannon was carved out by the Colorado River, however it is going to stay as it is with much less change as there should be for a very long time. The river is held back by one of the largest dams in the world. This is holding back a fair amount of water, much of it is being taken out of the river for the near by cities. What about the other large bodies of water?
Well there is the ocean, where all water gets to eventually. It is salty and unpleasant to drink though. We must wait for it to evaporate and then it rains down from the sky, in the form of rain usually. It can be hail, or snow (we just got much more snow than we are use to.. I dislike it), but I'm pretending that doesn't exist for the current time.
The pollution in the atmosphere may mix with the falling water to create an acidic rain that damages the environment. It is not acidic to the point that it is not fit for human consumption, but after some time it may eat away at paint and plants.
This rain flows into river, on the most part, where it should be filtered naturally. I'm sure a lot of it is, though if you were to go down to any river around any larger city you will probably find a lot of packaging. Food rapers loves to collect in and around water bodies. I'm sure that isn't the greatest thing for it.
The ocean is no better, if anything I'm sure there's a lot more pollution within the ocean. We can't drink that water in the first place so I won't go into it much however it is easy to see that all of the water cycle is corrupted. The negative factors in it may not be found everywhere in the world, but water has a habit of getting around.
- Bugworlds
-- Oh, how I dislike forced writing due to topics that do not interest me much. Writing without inspiration often not so great in quality or quantity.
It's unheard of how polluted so much of the worlds water is. There is so little fresh water as it is, for the majority of the worlds water is in the ocean. Saline and all, not so great to drink. Industrialism has poisoned so much of the water supplies in third world countries leaving no drinkable water. They have no choice but to drink it however.
You can live without love but you can't live without water.
The problem is not only extended to third world countries, for water pollution can be found everywhere. It may be considered worse in some aspects in the more developed world. In the water of many major cities there are trace amounts of pharmaceuticals, rocket fuel, I'm sure a lot more but that's all that comes to mind at the moment. Tap water is avoided in many cases, for consumption at least. Many of the chemicals are absorbed through the skin to make things worse. Simple bathing could be slowly loading you up with some heavy drugs.
For those who avoid tap water, and drink bottled water the story is not all that much different. Bottled water is not regularized. There is no standard to meet, no major screening of the water, there is only one person who is responsible for any standards and they also have the responsibility of several other actives. There have been cases where people have set up wells in the middle of parking lots and sold the water from that in bottles. In Toronto a large water company got busted for selling tap water, strait from the tap pretty much. Just stuck in a bottle, given a label, and shipped off. The plastic also may leak chemicals into the water.
So what does this all mean for us? Us being my peers on the most part. We live in beautiful British Columbia and don't need to worry about water pollution very much. From what I've heard, BC may have the best water in the world. At times it isn't that good. As for pollution, I'm sure it's around, however we have so many fresh, clean lakes there isn't all that much to worry about I suppose. I know around the area I live, we are surrounded by lakes. They are almost all accessible by dirt road at the least though, which I find worry-some. There is a fair amount of logging in the area, especially if you take the roads that take you to the lakes. All the logging can't be good for our last perfect water supply?
I've been told that tap water tastes terrible (and it may, depending on the area) however I think bottled water tastes much worse. I avoid drinking it as much as I can, and on the rare occasion where I must the only thought that will come to mind is how it tastes like plastic. The flavor is not actually plastic but I associate it to be. The water tastes bad. It's simple as that. There's something within the process of water sitting on a plastic bottle that does something to it and I don't want to be loading my body with chemicals at such a young age. I may not worry so much if I was much older, however that isn't the case for a very long time. I suspect by the time I am of that age plastic will be much less of a problem.
Everyone seems to be shying away from plastic, or at least the idea of it. I haven't seen any evidence of it disappearing much.
And since I am already on the topic of plastic water bottles I think I will make a note at the price of it. It is ridiculous. How much does it cost for a liter of gas? Something around 1.10 Canadian currency in my town. I'm not sure, but I've seen it around this price. How much does it cost to buy a 750ml bottle of water? 1.50, sometimes more. In larger quantities the water is more affordable per volume of water; but the point is water costs more than gas.
The price of water is only going to go up. In our natural water cycle the water used is always returned to the cycle, although human intervention has pushed it out of this. There is more water being used than what is being put back. There is a continued demand for more water, with less water available. According to capitalism the more demand, the more price.
Eventual we may run out of oil to make plastic bottles. The price of oil will continue to rise due to this resource being limited. The problem of water running out is less of a concern because it will always be there. It is just being used. If the world continues as it is now eventual some of the flawed systems that have been created will become critical flawed and they will collapse. Maybe some large dams will brake, freeing the water they hold?
I'm not against the use of dams to create power, but it is just one more feature adding to the stress of water. The grand cannon was carved out by the Colorado River, however it is going to stay as it is with much less change as there should be for a very long time. The river is held back by one of the largest dams in the world. This is holding back a fair amount of water, much of it is being taken out of the river for the near by cities. What about the other large bodies of water?
Well there is the ocean, where all water gets to eventually. It is salty and unpleasant to drink though. We must wait for it to evaporate and then it rains down from the sky, in the form of rain usually. It can be hail, or snow (we just got much more snow than we are use to.. I dislike it), but I'm pretending that doesn't exist for the current time.
The pollution in the atmosphere may mix with the falling water to create an acidic rain that damages the environment. It is not acidic to the point that it is not fit for human consumption, but after some time it may eat away at paint and plants.
This rain flows into river, on the most part, where it should be filtered naturally. I'm sure a lot of it is, though if you were to go down to any river around any larger city you will probably find a lot of packaging. Food rapers loves to collect in and around water bodies. I'm sure that isn't the greatest thing for it.
The ocean is no better, if anything I'm sure there's a lot more pollution within the ocean. We can't drink that water in the first place so I won't go into it much however it is easy to see that all of the water cycle is corrupted. The negative factors in it may not be found everywhere in the world, but water has a habit of getting around.
- Bugworlds
-- Oh, how I dislike forced writing due to topics that do not interest me much. Writing without inspiration often not so great in quality or quantity.
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Remembrance Day
Today is Remembrance Day, or as I've mistakenly said several times 'Novemberance Day.' It's a day for us to look back and remember those who have fallen for us, to remember why we are a free nation, and to reflect on everything.
I'm just going to put a note in here that I'm sorry if I offend anyone by this post. If you have very strong feelings around Remembrance Day, or the other topics described such as war and death in the media, there is a chance that some of my opinions may be considered offencive. I doubt that this will happen, however it is better to be safe than sorry and put a disclaimer in anyways. Even if you do have strong feelings around these topics, you may enjoy reading my thoughts about them. I do not intend on offending anyone, it is your choice to read this.
I'm grateful for what the troops who have fallen in battle have done for us, and for those who lived through the strife. If it wasn't for them we may be in such a terrible situation. So why is it that I really don't care?
Now that statement shouldn't be taken at face value, but to be honest I am not very moved by all of this. I've been debating why this may be the case and a class discussion about this (that me and a couple other people continuously encouraged to go on as it was dieing down; Vortex-B seemed to want to get to what he wanted to show the class but it was a good class conversation) in my Psychology class figured it out on the most part. There are a few aspects to it.
First of all, it is an alien concept to me. War that is. I have never experienced war. I have never been greeted at the door to be told that a loved one of mine has passed away. I have never come close to the horror of war.
I have had family in the war, but the only affect this has had on me has been a few stories. I can recall a vivid scene painted in my mind as my Mother told me a story of her father who was in a tank. If you would like to know this story, please don't hesitate to ask. At the moment I will keep it off the interblag. I have no memories of my Mother's father (who I call this because in my mind he is not my Grandpa necessarily. My Grandpa is the grandpa who I know and interact with. I wrote about my Grandpa in the last post actually) for he died when I was three or four. The only memory I have related to him that does not involve me being told of him or viewing a picture is actually my earliest memory. I may describe it in another post. Some of my uncles were also in the war. I don't know when I found this out, I don't know if they fought in it or were just in the reserve. I'm not sure their involvement, I just know they were involved somehow. I don't hear much about it from them, and I have no reason to ask. To be honest it does not interest me all that much. If someone brings up the topic I will definitely continue the conversation but I cannot see myself bringing it up myself.
On top of this the war (I don't know why I am referring to 'the war' as the war, because I know Remembrance Day is related to all the wars Canadian troops have fought in... is it only Canadian troops? Is Remembrance Day a Canadian event? Wow, I may of just realized how little I know about this day to start off with. I'm sure this may add to my apathy towards it) ended before I was born (also I keep thinking of 'the war' to be WW2). There has been the peace keeping mission in Afghanistan, and a few others I'm sure but I am not very aware of them, but there has been no war in my lifetime that has affected me.
Still on the topic of war, I think I have been numbed to it a bit. The closest I've been to war has been (misfortunately) through video games. I don't own any first person shooters that are played on X-Box Live, or even my Ps2. I don't play the games that are associated with wars that have passed often. I play Warrock occasionally (I have written about this game before, check back a few posts), and it is a modern war setting but it is not based off any real war. I don't think this makes it any more or less valid to this point however. The closest I've been to war has been through video games, and to make it worse I enjoyed it. I see them to be just that, games. Just like kids who 'played war' in the backyard with sticks and rocks before electronics were popularized (and even past then, I loved doing that as a younger child; as long as I won), I'm just playing a game. I don't mean any disrespect to those who were in real wars through playing them. I don't want to mock them, upset them, make it look fun. I just want to have a good time playing a game with my friends.
This exposure to simulated death may of numbed me to the death of individuals who I don't know. When I hear on the news that someone has died in a shooting, a car crash, any cause that is not extremely uncommon really; it does not bother me. I know it is a bad thing. I know war is a bad event. I know that someone has died and the people involved in the incident and the family around the people involved may have amazingly traumatizing after affects because of this, but it is not me.
The media has also numbed me to the concept of war and death. With news that Canadian or American soldiers have died overseas, serving our military, fighting for us; it no longer phases me. I have grown up hearing that on the news always. Maybe I was not always told about war, but I may of heard of a gang shooting, a car crash, anything that may happen anywhere in Canada and it will be aired in British Columbia and I may hear about it. There has always been death in the media. There has always been war in the media. There has always been violence in video games.
Back to video games, though I can tell this is getting dragged off topic. What do you think about violence in video games? I think it is there for the entertainment aspect. It is not there to disrupt the minds of our youth (however I do think that ratings should be followed more closely. If a game is rated M for mature it should not be played by anyone under the age of sixteen. This is too off topic though), it is not to encourage violent, illegal acts and lead to riot based anarchy. It is there because people find it entertaining. In a natural environment there will be a natural stimulation around violence in some way or another. Without this natural environment, humans look for other risks or thrills. We will seek out something synthetic to fill this void, and a good first person shooter will fit quite nicely.
I know that the war games I play in my favorite Call Of Duty or Medal Of Honour game are not realistic. I know that when I get shot more than just red jelly appears on my screen for a few moments. I understand the pain that someone's family would experience after finding out some sniper (I love sniping in games) landed a headshot on them does not exist after I get an icon on my screen awarding me for my great aim. With all this said though, I do still think that violent video games along with the media have desensitized me to war. I also cannot relate to what war is and what affects it has on people, because as I said before the games I've described are the closest I've ever gotten. They may be the closest I ever get.
I hope video games are the closest I'll ever get, because maybe the fact I cannot identify with soldier is a good thing. Perhaps (as The Unromantic said during Psychology) the fact that the youth of today (and even the generation above the youth) cannot relate is a sign we are entering a more peaceful age. Maybe we should celebrate the fact we do not know what war is. I know if I end up hanging out with some friends on the weakened I'll mention at some time that I'm declaring it a celebration of Remembrance Day. Not a remembering of it.
Back to Remembrance Day itself. There is the event at the Cenotaph in my town, as there is all across the nation. That is optional, the people who go to it want to go to it (on the most part). Many people who went to it are involved in the ceremonies I know through school (they are in cadets, something I dislike). What about assemblies at school?
There is the required assembly at school, the minimal amount of Remembrance Day one can experience if still in the public school system. I'm not sure what private schools do around this day. Everyone is taken out of class, cutting into our learning time, to listen to people talk and a few songs from the choir and band. There is a minute of silence that allows my mind to continue to wander as it will through the entire event. I cannot pay attention to much of it, because it does not captivate my attention enough to hold onto it for very long. Soon I'm notacing the lights hanging from the ceiling of my gym are moving; but only the lights that are near air vents. Soon I am observing the fact that the only colour that stands out in larger amounts in the crowd in front of me is red. Everyone is wearing a dull colour or red, on the most part. I was wearing red also, along with the individual beside me. We were told to stick with our classes. My teacher told me we were not aloud to wear our hoodies. I was slightly colder than I would like, along with the rest of my class. Everyone else was wearing what they may usually wear except their hats. I took my toque off as well.
I'm glancing back at all I have written about the required assembly, and I'm notacing very little about the assembly itself. I think this is because it is required to attend. The people are there not because they have to be, but because they have no choice. If it was not required, the audiance would be much more meaningful. There would be far less people I'm sure, but the people there would be there because they want to be. Wouldn't that be so much better?
Another honesty moment, I almost wish I skipped it. I'm sure I could of found a way to get out of it and join a few of my friends (no names mentioned, you know who you are) who walked down the street a couple of blocks and watched the History Chanel instead of attending. They got their serving of patriotism through watching a show titled 'Tank Battles' or something like that. It reviews larger battles that happened in WW2 involving tanks. I bet they had a much better time doing that, but I suppose by me attending the assembly I was able to think through all of this a bit more.
Do we even need this day of remembering? I cannot see it being removed from our callender's any time soon. I cannot see it being removed ever, because it would be considered too nontraditional and would be frowned upon. The point I would like to get to is, is anyone going to forget? Is anyone who attends Remembrance Day events because they have lost family or been involved in war themselves, really going to forget about it? Those who have no close interactions with war or people in them (such as me) have nothing to remember. We have stories to recall, and assemblies to sit through.
I do not think anyone is going to forget, just because they did not have their annual reminder. I am not saying Remembrance Day is not a good event, but it should mean more than the fact I get the day off school to play Dance Dance Revolution with some friends and a loved one. For those who it does not mean anything, the day off school or work is all it will ever mean. That could change, but at the moment I'm assuming there will not be something that will cause everyone to suddenly be affected by this day.
And with that all said, I am looking for Remembrance Day next year. 2011/11/11 11:11:11 (hour, minute, second) is going to an amusing moment to live through. I might take pictures.
-Bugworlds
I'm just going to put a note in here that I'm sorry if I offend anyone by this post. If you have very strong feelings around Remembrance Day, or the other topics described such as war and death in the media, there is a chance that some of my opinions may be considered offencive. I doubt that this will happen, however it is better to be safe than sorry and put a disclaimer in anyways. Even if you do have strong feelings around these topics, you may enjoy reading my thoughts about them. I do not intend on offending anyone, it is your choice to read this.
I'm grateful for what the troops who have fallen in battle have done for us, and for those who lived through the strife. If it wasn't for them we may be in such a terrible situation. So why is it that I really don't care?
Now that statement shouldn't be taken at face value, but to be honest I am not very moved by all of this. I've been debating why this may be the case and a class discussion about this (that me and a couple other people continuously encouraged to go on as it was dieing down; Vortex-B seemed to want to get to what he wanted to show the class but it was a good class conversation) in my Psychology class figured it out on the most part. There are a few aspects to it.
First of all, it is an alien concept to me. War that is. I have never experienced war. I have never been greeted at the door to be told that a loved one of mine has passed away. I have never come close to the horror of war.
I have had family in the war, but the only affect this has had on me has been a few stories. I can recall a vivid scene painted in my mind as my Mother told me a story of her father who was in a tank. If you would like to know this story, please don't hesitate to ask. At the moment I will keep it off the interblag. I have no memories of my Mother's father (who I call this because in my mind he is not my Grandpa necessarily. My Grandpa is the grandpa who I know and interact with. I wrote about my Grandpa in the last post actually) for he died when I was three or four. The only memory I have related to him that does not involve me being told of him or viewing a picture is actually my earliest memory. I may describe it in another post. Some of my uncles were also in the war. I don't know when I found this out, I don't know if they fought in it or were just in the reserve. I'm not sure their involvement, I just know they were involved somehow. I don't hear much about it from them, and I have no reason to ask. To be honest it does not interest me all that much. If someone brings up the topic I will definitely continue the conversation but I cannot see myself bringing it up myself.
On top of this the war (I don't know why I am referring to 'the war' as the war, because I know Remembrance Day is related to all the wars Canadian troops have fought in... is it only Canadian troops? Is Remembrance Day a Canadian event? Wow, I may of just realized how little I know about this day to start off with. I'm sure this may add to my apathy towards it) ended before I was born (also I keep thinking of 'the war' to be WW2). There has been the peace keeping mission in Afghanistan, and a few others I'm sure but I am not very aware of them, but there has been no war in my lifetime that has affected me.
Still on the topic of war, I think I have been numbed to it a bit. The closest I've been to war has been (misfortunately) through video games. I don't own any first person shooters that are played on X-Box Live, or even my Ps2. I don't play the games that are associated with wars that have passed often. I play Warrock occasionally (I have written about this game before, check back a few posts), and it is a modern war setting but it is not based off any real war. I don't think this makes it any more or less valid to this point however. The closest I've been to war has been through video games, and to make it worse I enjoyed it. I see them to be just that, games. Just like kids who 'played war' in the backyard with sticks and rocks before electronics were popularized (and even past then, I loved doing that as a younger child; as long as I won), I'm just playing a game. I don't mean any disrespect to those who were in real wars through playing them. I don't want to mock them, upset them, make it look fun. I just want to have a good time playing a game with my friends.
This exposure to simulated death may of numbed me to the death of individuals who I don't know. When I hear on the news that someone has died in a shooting, a car crash, any cause that is not extremely uncommon really; it does not bother me. I know it is a bad thing. I know war is a bad event. I know that someone has died and the people involved in the incident and the family around the people involved may have amazingly traumatizing after affects because of this, but it is not me.
The media has also numbed me to the concept of war and death. With news that Canadian or American soldiers have died overseas, serving our military, fighting for us; it no longer phases me. I have grown up hearing that on the news always. Maybe I was not always told about war, but I may of heard of a gang shooting, a car crash, anything that may happen anywhere in Canada and it will be aired in British Columbia and I may hear about it. There has always been death in the media. There has always been war in the media. There has always been violence in video games.
Back to video games, though I can tell this is getting dragged off topic. What do you think about violence in video games? I think it is there for the entertainment aspect. It is not there to disrupt the minds of our youth (however I do think that ratings should be followed more closely. If a game is rated M for mature it should not be played by anyone under the age of sixteen. This is too off topic though), it is not to encourage violent, illegal acts and lead to riot based anarchy. It is there because people find it entertaining. In a natural environment there will be a natural stimulation around violence in some way or another. Without this natural environment, humans look for other risks or thrills. We will seek out something synthetic to fill this void, and a good first person shooter will fit quite nicely.
I know that the war games I play in my favorite Call Of Duty or Medal Of Honour game are not realistic. I know that when I get shot more than just red jelly appears on my screen for a few moments. I understand the pain that someone's family would experience after finding out some sniper (I love sniping in games) landed a headshot on them does not exist after I get an icon on my screen awarding me for my great aim. With all this said though, I do still think that violent video games along with the media have desensitized me to war. I also cannot relate to what war is and what affects it has on people, because as I said before the games I've described are the closest I've ever gotten. They may be the closest I ever get.
I hope video games are the closest I'll ever get, because maybe the fact I cannot identify with soldier is a good thing. Perhaps (as The Unromantic said during Psychology) the fact that the youth of today (and even the generation above the youth) cannot relate is a sign we are entering a more peaceful age. Maybe we should celebrate the fact we do not know what war is. I know if I end up hanging out with some friends on the weakened I'll mention at some time that I'm declaring it a celebration of Remembrance Day. Not a remembering of it.
Back to Remembrance Day itself. There is the event at the Cenotaph in my town, as there is all across the nation. That is optional, the people who go to it want to go to it (on the most part). Many people who went to it are involved in the ceremonies I know through school (they are in cadets, something I dislike). What about assemblies at school?
There is the required assembly at school, the minimal amount of Remembrance Day one can experience if still in the public school system. I'm not sure what private schools do around this day. Everyone is taken out of class, cutting into our learning time, to listen to people talk and a few songs from the choir and band. There is a minute of silence that allows my mind to continue to wander as it will through the entire event. I cannot pay attention to much of it, because it does not captivate my attention enough to hold onto it for very long. Soon I'm notacing the lights hanging from the ceiling of my gym are moving; but only the lights that are near air vents. Soon I am observing the fact that the only colour that stands out in larger amounts in the crowd in front of me is red. Everyone is wearing a dull colour or red, on the most part. I was wearing red also, along with the individual beside me. We were told to stick with our classes. My teacher told me we were not aloud to wear our hoodies. I was slightly colder than I would like, along with the rest of my class. Everyone else was wearing what they may usually wear except their hats. I took my toque off as well.
I'm glancing back at all I have written about the required assembly, and I'm notacing very little about the assembly itself. I think this is because it is required to attend. The people are there not because they have to be, but because they have no choice. If it was not required, the audiance would be much more meaningful. There would be far less people I'm sure, but the people there would be there because they want to be. Wouldn't that be so much better?
Another honesty moment, I almost wish I skipped it. I'm sure I could of found a way to get out of it and join a few of my friends (no names mentioned, you know who you are) who walked down the street a couple of blocks and watched the History Chanel instead of attending. They got their serving of patriotism through watching a show titled 'Tank Battles' or something like that. It reviews larger battles that happened in WW2 involving tanks. I bet they had a much better time doing that, but I suppose by me attending the assembly I was able to think through all of this a bit more.
Do we even need this day of remembering? I cannot see it being removed from our callender's any time soon. I cannot see it being removed ever, because it would be considered too nontraditional and would be frowned upon. The point I would like to get to is, is anyone going to forget? Is anyone who attends Remembrance Day events because they have lost family or been involved in war themselves, really going to forget about it? Those who have no close interactions with war or people in them (such as me) have nothing to remember. We have stories to recall, and assemblies to sit through.
I do not think anyone is going to forget, just because they did not have their annual reminder. I am not saying Remembrance Day is not a good event, but it should mean more than the fact I get the day off school to play Dance Dance Revolution with some friends and a loved one. For those who it does not mean anything, the day off school or work is all it will ever mean. That could change, but at the moment I'm assuming there will not be something that will cause everyone to suddenly be affected by this day.
And with that all said, I am looking for Remembrance Day next year. 2011/11/11 11:11:11 (hour, minute, second) is going to an amusing moment to live through. I might take pictures.
-Bugworlds
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Inspired Again ;; My Grandpa is Great
I would like to thank The Unromantic for inspiring me to get back to blogging. For a while I just got out of it, I had reasons to not write a bit, decided to delay one more day, ran out of time. Time, it's such a reoccurring theme.
If you get a chance to do so be sure to visit The Unromantic's blog. She's awesome.
I'm typing on a great keyboard, the keys are so smooth to press but I have a complaint. It's similar to a laptop keyboard, the keys are are compressed a bit. The backspace is only one key wide, instead of the two keys width I'm use to. Half the time I try to hit the backspace I get the ''\' key however I'm getting use to this. At the moment I'm in the Computer lab at my school and it is flex block. We have flex block twice a week, and it is just great. It's forty minutes to do what ever we want, really it's meant for us to catch up on school work but I only use it for that if I really have to or I am uninspired to do anything else. Usually I spend the time on Photoshop but as I said before The Unromantic inspired me through showing me and the rest of my Psychology class their Blogspot account so somehow that just got me pumped to do some writing.
In my Psychology and Digital Media class we're showing out online activities, through the form of Posterous. A few people are using Blogspot, DeviantArt. As you should know if you've read my blog before, I'm all over all of those.
I'm listening to Kid Kudi right now. he sings in a genera that I don't really like much, however I heard some music by him in my Psychology class today (someone posted a video featuring his music on their posterous) so I went to Youtube and found a playlist premade. I will make my own playlist if I like his music, but I don't think I'll be going back to it any time after my flex block is over.
The Nano challenge, I'm sure I'm way behind. It's been going on for 9 days and I've written twice? Three times? I don't know. This is my third definitely if not fourth. I'm glad I wasn't partaking in the challenge because at this point I don't think I'll be able to catch up. It will still be nice to see how I compare to the people who are actually doing this. I wonder how many of the people who I know are actually going to write enough for the challenge. I think the people who do will be over the minimal by a fair amount most likely. I'm sure I would be if I wrote every day.
A few days I had a great conversation with my girlfriend and grandpa. It was just amazing. We talked about Physics, and I just loved it. Me and my girlfriend had already gotten into the topic and ran into a few arguments within it as we do in all our conversation. Our views are often very diverse but have the same basis so it makes for a great conversation full of disagreement. I wouldn't want it any other way. After a fairly long time I noticed my grandpa had shown up at my house. My parents called him over to take a look at our hot water boiler device thing and now that I think of it I'm not sure what the proper name for it is. I probably do know but I just can't think of it now.
My Grandpa is the greatest person ever. I'm sure of it. He went through college and got some impressive merits from it. Master in Physics, Math, and Chemistry? Maybe not chemistry, there was definitely a third one though. He then went on to come back to this amazing place I live in, I should write about this town some time, and taught at high schools. He taught math, physics, chemistry, I'm sure a few other things. When I need help in anything related to any of these classes never have troubles finding help.
After teaching for several years he ended up with a lot of stories. A insane number of stories. It's just phenomenal how he can relate anything to a story. I've heard so many of them so many times I can recite them to my friends when they bring up a topic that may relate to the story but I am always fine with hearing them again. Combining this with the ability to explain math, physics, and everything related in these stories just makes them amazing. To add to all of this my Grandpa has an amazing memory.
He can remember things from forever ago. A very technical term, I know; but it's true I think. He described his earliest memory to me before and I thought it was phenomenal he could remember it at the time. After learning about how the brain functions and how it develops I became even more amazed by this (note, this learning happened several years after I heard the story but I managed to hold on it it). It was before most people's memory has not developed enough to hold memories. Of course the point where an individuals brain develops enough to retain memories will vary. I think it was rather impressive for such a young age.
There are a handful of different ways to look at what you learn, how it is learned, how well you may learn it. There are also different ways to look at intelligence. I like to split that into intelligence (how 'smart' you are) and knowledge (how much knowledge you have). It seems many people smudge these together. You may be knowledgeable but not intelligent.
I beleive genetics can relate to how you think, learn, and remember. You can also pick up on aspects of thinking, learning, and remembering though your environment. I have a very similar thought process of one of my Grandma's who I am biologialy related to so I can account that to genetics, however my Grandpa who I am speaking about is not biologically related however I seem to think the same way he does. I learn in a similar manner, and recall in a similar way. I don't want to be arrogant but I have a good memory. Once I know something it usualy sticks with me, and recently in the great conversation I had as I mentioned before, I asked my Grandpa if he had a photographic memory. He said he didn't, but once he knows something he doesn't forget. This just blew my mind. I seem to be the same, though I'm sure he's had much more time to ponder over his thought process. I know I have thought of my thought process before, and with such similar ways of thinking I'm sure he has also.
It was a very mind blowing day. My mind was blown atleast five, maybe six times. It was a good day.
I'm sure there was more, but if I start something I want to finish it in that sitting and this was just not possible for this post. I was cut off due to my flex block ending. Also my computer decided to be a failure about half way through and I lost ten minutes of potential typing time. As usually, if I can remember more it will go into my next post. I plan on posting more often, I'll try for a post a day for a week and see if that gets me back into this habit even more than I was in it before. I have also decided to possibly look into getting Firefox or Chrome so I can spell check as I type. I think that would help me a lot more than the Google toolbar. I've been told Chrome has great performance, and Firefox is good too. I use Internet Explorer, with the knowledge it isn't very good. I just always have, and I seem to be sticking to it.
--Bugworlds
If you get a chance to do so be sure to visit The Unromantic's blog. She's awesome.
I'm typing on a great keyboard, the keys are so smooth to press but I have a complaint. It's similar to a laptop keyboard, the keys are are compressed a bit. The backspace is only one key wide, instead of the two keys width I'm use to. Half the time I try to hit the backspace I get the ''\' key however I'm getting use to this. At the moment I'm in the Computer lab at my school and it is flex block. We have flex block twice a week, and it is just great. It's forty minutes to do what ever we want, really it's meant for us to catch up on school work but I only use it for that if I really have to or I am uninspired to do anything else. Usually I spend the time on Photoshop but as I said before The Unromantic inspired me through showing me and the rest of my Psychology class their Blogspot account so somehow that just got me pumped to do some writing.
In my Psychology and Digital Media class we're showing out online activities, through the form of Posterous. A few people are using Blogspot, DeviantArt. As you should know if you've read my blog before, I'm all over all of those.
I'm listening to Kid Kudi right now. he sings in a genera that I don't really like much, however I heard some music by him in my Psychology class today (someone posted a video featuring his music on their posterous) so I went to Youtube and found a playlist premade. I will make my own playlist if I like his music, but I don't think I'll be going back to it any time after my flex block is over.
The Nano challenge, I'm sure I'm way behind. It's been going on for 9 days and I've written twice? Three times? I don't know. This is my third definitely if not fourth. I'm glad I wasn't partaking in the challenge because at this point I don't think I'll be able to catch up. It will still be nice to see how I compare to the people who are actually doing this. I wonder how many of the people who I know are actually going to write enough for the challenge. I think the people who do will be over the minimal by a fair amount most likely. I'm sure I would be if I wrote every day.
A few days I had a great conversation with my girlfriend and grandpa. It was just amazing. We talked about Physics, and I just loved it. Me and my girlfriend had already gotten into the topic and ran into a few arguments within it as we do in all our conversation. Our views are often very diverse but have the same basis so it makes for a great conversation full of disagreement. I wouldn't want it any other way. After a fairly long time I noticed my grandpa had shown up at my house. My parents called him over to take a look at our hot water boiler device thing and now that I think of it I'm not sure what the proper name for it is. I probably do know but I just can't think of it now.
My Grandpa is the greatest person ever. I'm sure of it. He went through college and got some impressive merits from it. Master in Physics, Math, and Chemistry? Maybe not chemistry, there was definitely a third one though. He then went on to come back to this amazing place I live in, I should write about this town some time, and taught at high schools. He taught math, physics, chemistry, I'm sure a few other things. When I need help in anything related to any of these classes never have troubles finding help.
After teaching for several years he ended up with a lot of stories. A insane number of stories. It's just phenomenal how he can relate anything to a story. I've heard so many of them so many times I can recite them to my friends when they bring up a topic that may relate to the story but I am always fine with hearing them again. Combining this with the ability to explain math, physics, and everything related in these stories just makes them amazing. To add to all of this my Grandpa has an amazing memory.
He can remember things from forever ago. A very technical term, I know; but it's true I think. He described his earliest memory to me before and I thought it was phenomenal he could remember it at the time. After learning about how the brain functions and how it develops I became even more amazed by this (note, this learning happened several years after I heard the story but I managed to hold on it it). It was before most people's memory has not developed enough to hold memories. Of course the point where an individuals brain develops enough to retain memories will vary. I think it was rather impressive for such a young age.
There are a handful of different ways to look at what you learn, how it is learned, how well you may learn it. There are also different ways to look at intelligence. I like to split that into intelligence (how 'smart' you are) and knowledge (how much knowledge you have). It seems many people smudge these together. You may be knowledgeable but not intelligent.
I beleive genetics can relate to how you think, learn, and remember. You can also pick up on aspects of thinking, learning, and remembering though your environment. I have a very similar thought process of one of my Grandma's who I am biologialy related to so I can account that to genetics, however my Grandpa who I am speaking about is not biologically related however I seem to think the same way he does. I learn in a similar manner, and recall in a similar way. I don't want to be arrogant but I have a good memory. Once I know something it usualy sticks with me, and recently in the great conversation I had as I mentioned before, I asked my Grandpa if he had a photographic memory. He said he didn't, but once he knows something he doesn't forget. This just blew my mind. I seem to be the same, though I'm sure he's had much more time to ponder over his thought process. I know I have thought of my thought process before, and with such similar ways of thinking I'm sure he has also.
It was a very mind blowing day. My mind was blown atleast five, maybe six times. It was a good day.
I'm sure there was more, but if I start something I want to finish it in that sitting and this was just not possible for this post. I was cut off due to my flex block ending. Also my computer decided to be a failure about half way through and I lost ten minutes of potential typing time. As usually, if I can remember more it will go into my next post. I plan on posting more often, I'll try for a post a day for a week and see if that gets me back into this habit even more than I was in it before. I have also decided to possibly look into getting Firefox or Chrome so I can spell check as I type. I think that would help me a lot more than the Google toolbar. I've been told Chrome has great performance, and Firefox is good too. I use Internet Explorer, with the knowledge it isn't very good. I just always have, and I seem to be sticking to it.
--Bugworlds
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
What My Current Version Of The Normal Day Is
I think I'll actually do some blogging by what many people consider it to be. Actually talking about my life. Hmm.. I'll start at school.
Every morning I am woken up, lay in bed for a bit longer than I should, hesitate more, get up just in time to get minimal food, and run to the bus. It's not the greatest plan but it works. My parents don't like my daily routine, but they don't yell too much so I have decided they may tolerate it or put more yelling into the waking me up process and not in the telling me I'm late.
After my speedy travel towards the bus stop, well it isn't always speedy. The bus goes along the street I walk so I know if I'm late it will just pick me up where I am, though I may as well walk towards the stop anyways. I get on the bus and take the first seat I can, put on my headphones and fiddle with my mp3 player. There is something wrong with the jack so I only get sound in my left headphone unless I find one of a couple sweat spots that will play both headphones. I've had my mp3 player since Christmas in grade seven, so almost five years. That's so much longer than any of my friends have held their electronics, I'm rather impressed with how long its lasted. I should get a new one if I can't fix the jack; I don't think I can. I don't think dirt is the problem because I tried to clean it with no effect.
After turning my music on and finding the spot where music will play in stereo I open my book. It's a bathroom reader, everyone questions me why I have it. Just because a book has a title does not mean I need to follow the title. It's a book full of facts, based around many scientific topics. I find it really interesting, even though it may be intended for use in a bathroom and a younger age than what I may be at. When ever I carry a book around (and I do so when I am at school almost always) it seems everyone wants to find out what it is also, even if they have done so. Sometimes I will have someone check what I'm carrying twice in a day. After I finish reading this there is a Psychology text book I am looking into reading though I'm afraid it may be too large to carry with me.
At school (assuming it is Monday) I will have Math first block. I don't like this class all that much, though I push through it. It isn't a required course and so many people question as to why I am taking it though I've enjoyed math in previous years. That has proven to change, and I am debating not taking calculus next year. I guess I'll see how I feel about math after going through Physics 12 next semester. I never want to do my Math homework though usually get it done. The teacher does not check if we did our homework because she believes we are old enough to do it if we feel we need to, because it's not for her. She doesn't assign the work for her own amusement. She suggests it so we can pass the exam at the end of the year. I should probably do tonight's work soon as I can to avoid having no idea what's happening tomorrow. I have it second block tomorrow, which isn't all that bad. I dislike having it first or last. If it's first I'm still slightly drowsy and would rather do something I enjoy. If it's last I just want to get the day over with.
From Math class I walk outside, up the first step of stairs, along the sidewalk that leads me to the main door, across the cafeteria, and into my Digital Media class. It isn't necessarily to walk outside but I enjoy it, it is slightly faster than walking through the school because the interior stairs are such a bottle neck it's ridiculous. Even the speed you can walk is slowed near the top or bottom if you are just passing by it because there are so many people surging through it.
Digital Media is my favorite class. It's great, I get to use Photoshop, take pictures, and do a bit of writing. Most of the writing is done out of class though, it can be found on my Posterous account. I don't feel like putting a link to it here; you can find a link yourself. Along with all of that the teacher shows various interesting things he has found on the Internet, often through Stumbleupon.com. We're encouraged to use Stumble in class every once and a while though I'm usually too busy using Photoshop. I'll often play music off youtube in the background, so that I can listen to what isn't on my mp3 player, not kill the battery of my mp3 player, and block out the people around me a bit. The individual who sits beside me (my other side is empty) spends most of his time pressing the Stumble button and is often very distracting. He's like many people who don't spend much time in class actually doing anything.
Digital Media is a class so many people take expecting it to be an easy class. I guess it is, you can't really fail it as long as you show up, but people treat it like a joke. It ruins the class for those who actually want to be there. I'm doing some amazing work in Photoshop but I need to fall back to teaching myself (mostly through tutorials) and through other people in the class because the teacher is held back by those who are in the class and don't do anything. A couple times I've gotten to teach the class something on Photoshop using a great projector. It's a lot of fun, though kind of nerve racking. I guess I still have a slight fear of public speaking but I think everyone does. It would never stop me from speaking in front of people, though I find I get warmer than I should be and stumble on my words more than I usually do when speaking in front of a class.
I was looking forward to showing the class something my girlfriend showed me in Photoshop. It's a great way of making lightning and other impressive light patterns and it's really easy to do. I know this because I was able to walk my mother through the process of making it. I might make my own brush pack of lightning pieces if I get the time and put it on dA. If you would like to see examples of what I'm talking about be sure to watch my dA account. I have the pictures uploaded, and just need to submit them. They will be up in less than six hours most likely, and if not in less than twenty four. I'm hoping for six.
On a side note, if you were to check my friends blog, LearnFuGu, you may run into a mention of Vortex-B. He's the awesome teacher who teaches my Digital Media class. I might put effort into using that name for reference to my teacher. I like it much better than 'digital media teacher.'
From Digital Media I will have lunch, well probably stay a minute or two later than everyone else because I don't want to leave. I would rather finish off my photoshop project at the moment then eat right away. That never lasts long and soon I pick up my lunch and log out. I'll usually go outside initially, and later go inside to see my friends who don't wish to be outside. I debate going back to the Digital Media lab every lunch, it's kind of ridiculous how much I enjoy that place. My lunch will consist of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich rapped in a reusable sandwich bag. It's blue, and everyone questions me what it is. The exterior is fabric, and the inside is plastic. It is made to fold around the bread and Velcro together. I will also consume two juice boxes, and two granola bars. Sometimes only one of each of these and a large Milk-2-Go, although at times I wish I could get two of those and a two juice boxes... and two granola bars. I may have a piece of fruit but won't eat that until the end of the day.
After lunch has passed Psychology class will call, and I will hope I will actually get work in the class. It may be odd sounding but I enjoy the work from that class. Most of it is reading and I find the reading really interesting. I know I've referenced to it here many times, and if not dirrectly I've written using information from it. I feel that too much of our time is spent watching videos and talking about them. I would like more harder learning perhaps. I'm not sure how to word that, but I would like more of a lecture style however Vortex-B understands that most people don't want that and they will learn better with more alternative styles. I learn well too like this, but I feel like there could be more learned.
When ever we get a sub in that class the attendance cuts in half and I debate skipping the class also. This is because I know we won't be doing anything really other than work we were given the day before; that I probably have done already. Today we had a sub though I stuck around to catch up on writing in that class and then read the booklet we were given the day before.
English class will be last, I will reach it through going right out my Psychology class and following the path outside or walking through the school past our theatre (yeah, my school is amazing. We have a theatre) and out a side door that's down a side hallway. It isn't used that much, but it is fairly quick and free from weather for most of the distance. My English class is in the first portable, so I dislike going to it when it is raining because I'm going to be carrying a book and I really dislike it when books get wet.
My English class isn't all too bad. We take notes, do a lot of group work, and don't get all that much homework. The notes are easy to follow usually and they are easy to write too. Often they will be printed out and we just need to fill in the blanks. The desks are set up so groups of four are easy to make, though your desk is not chosen by you. Every two weeks the teacher makes a new seating plan considering who works well with who, who wants to sit with who, and who is annoying. I usualy get away from the annoying people. It's nice. The group work is great, because usually it is easy to finish by yourself so working with three other people is a great help even if they aren't actually helping. That tends to happen a fair amount.
After English I go to my locker if I need to, though I usually don't need to. I will follow the hall, pass my locker, to the stairs and then to the main door that I went through to get to Digital Media second block. There are a few places outside I am likely to find friends to talk to until my bus arrives. My bus takes thirty minutes to drop off the first bunch of people and then come back to get me and five to ten other people (the second run is never full. Never.) but I don't mind. I actually enjoy the time to talk to people and socialize. When ever anyone takes my bus with me they complain how long it takes but I don't notice the time. It goes by without complaint, most likely because I'm use to the wait. Half an hour doesn't seem like a long time to me anyways, no matter what it's related to. I can do something for half an hour constantly. I tend to type my posts up over a time of half an hour to an hour I think, I should time myself sometime.
The bus ride home is just like going there, music and reading. Not much talking though I'm more likely to talk then. There are less people to talk to but always more interesting conversations. I find I'm much more likely to get motion sickness due to reading in a vehicle on the way home than on the way to school. I'm not sure why this is, but I often have to put my book down before I get to the bus stop. I'm sure after time I'll get better at this and my stomach will be more kind to me.
The rest of the day will vary a lot, but it will be described in a different post. There's a variety of video games, reading, homework, eating, sleeping, and a few other things I'm sure but I can't think of them. If not my day is a lot more bland than I think. I often end up going to a friends house, or more likely my girlfriends house after school.
I guess there will be something to look forward to read tomorrow, incase I have any daily readers. That's a funny thought.
~~ Bugworlds
Every morning I am woken up, lay in bed for a bit longer than I should, hesitate more, get up just in time to get minimal food, and run to the bus. It's not the greatest plan but it works. My parents don't like my daily routine, but they don't yell too much so I have decided they may tolerate it or put more yelling into the waking me up process and not in the telling me I'm late.
After my speedy travel towards the bus stop, well it isn't always speedy. The bus goes along the street I walk so I know if I'm late it will just pick me up where I am, though I may as well walk towards the stop anyways. I get on the bus and take the first seat I can, put on my headphones and fiddle with my mp3 player. There is something wrong with the jack so I only get sound in my left headphone unless I find one of a couple sweat spots that will play both headphones. I've had my mp3 player since Christmas in grade seven, so almost five years. That's so much longer than any of my friends have held their electronics, I'm rather impressed with how long its lasted. I should get a new one if I can't fix the jack; I don't think I can. I don't think dirt is the problem because I tried to clean it with no effect.
After turning my music on and finding the spot where music will play in stereo I open my book. It's a bathroom reader, everyone questions me why I have it. Just because a book has a title does not mean I need to follow the title. It's a book full of facts, based around many scientific topics. I find it really interesting, even though it may be intended for use in a bathroom and a younger age than what I may be at. When ever I carry a book around (and I do so when I am at school almost always) it seems everyone wants to find out what it is also, even if they have done so. Sometimes I will have someone check what I'm carrying twice in a day. After I finish reading this there is a Psychology text book I am looking into reading though I'm afraid it may be too large to carry with me.
At school (assuming it is Monday) I will have Math first block. I don't like this class all that much, though I push through it. It isn't a required course and so many people question as to why I am taking it though I've enjoyed math in previous years. That has proven to change, and I am debating not taking calculus next year. I guess I'll see how I feel about math after going through Physics 12 next semester. I never want to do my Math homework though usually get it done. The teacher does not check if we did our homework because she believes we are old enough to do it if we feel we need to, because it's not for her. She doesn't assign the work for her own amusement. She suggests it so we can pass the exam at the end of the year. I should probably do tonight's work soon as I can to avoid having no idea what's happening tomorrow. I have it second block tomorrow, which isn't all that bad. I dislike having it first or last. If it's first I'm still slightly drowsy and would rather do something I enjoy. If it's last I just want to get the day over with.
From Math class I walk outside, up the first step of stairs, along the sidewalk that leads me to the main door, across the cafeteria, and into my Digital Media class. It isn't necessarily to walk outside but I enjoy it, it is slightly faster than walking through the school because the interior stairs are such a bottle neck it's ridiculous. Even the speed you can walk is slowed near the top or bottom if you are just passing by it because there are so many people surging through it.
Digital Media is my favorite class. It's great, I get to use Photoshop, take pictures, and do a bit of writing. Most of the writing is done out of class though, it can be found on my Posterous account. I don't feel like putting a link to it here; you can find a link yourself. Along with all of that the teacher shows various interesting things he has found on the Internet, often through Stumbleupon.com. We're encouraged to use Stumble in class every once and a while though I'm usually too busy using Photoshop. I'll often play music off youtube in the background, so that I can listen to what isn't on my mp3 player, not kill the battery of my mp3 player, and block out the people around me a bit. The individual who sits beside me (my other side is empty) spends most of his time pressing the Stumble button and is often very distracting. He's like many people who don't spend much time in class actually doing anything.
Digital Media is a class so many people take expecting it to be an easy class. I guess it is, you can't really fail it as long as you show up, but people treat it like a joke. It ruins the class for those who actually want to be there. I'm doing some amazing work in Photoshop but I need to fall back to teaching myself (mostly through tutorials) and through other people in the class because the teacher is held back by those who are in the class and don't do anything. A couple times I've gotten to teach the class something on Photoshop using a great projector. It's a lot of fun, though kind of nerve racking. I guess I still have a slight fear of public speaking but I think everyone does. It would never stop me from speaking in front of people, though I find I get warmer than I should be and stumble on my words more than I usually do when speaking in front of a class.
I was looking forward to showing the class something my girlfriend showed me in Photoshop. It's a great way of making lightning and other impressive light patterns and it's really easy to do. I know this because I was able to walk my mother through the process of making it. I might make my own brush pack of lightning pieces if I get the time and put it on dA. If you would like to see examples of what I'm talking about be sure to watch my dA account. I have the pictures uploaded, and just need to submit them. They will be up in less than six hours most likely, and if not in less than twenty four. I'm hoping for six.
On a side note, if you were to check my friends blog, LearnFuGu, you may run into a mention of Vortex-B. He's the awesome teacher who teaches my Digital Media class. I might put effort into using that name for reference to my teacher. I like it much better than 'digital media teacher.'
From Digital Media I will have lunch, well probably stay a minute or two later than everyone else because I don't want to leave. I would rather finish off my photoshop project at the moment then eat right away. That never lasts long and soon I pick up my lunch and log out. I'll usually go outside initially, and later go inside to see my friends who don't wish to be outside. I debate going back to the Digital Media lab every lunch, it's kind of ridiculous how much I enjoy that place. My lunch will consist of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich rapped in a reusable sandwich bag. It's blue, and everyone questions me what it is. The exterior is fabric, and the inside is plastic. It is made to fold around the bread and Velcro together. I will also consume two juice boxes, and two granola bars. Sometimes only one of each of these and a large Milk-2-Go, although at times I wish I could get two of those and a two juice boxes... and two granola bars. I may have a piece of fruit but won't eat that until the end of the day.
After lunch has passed Psychology class will call, and I will hope I will actually get work in the class. It may be odd sounding but I enjoy the work from that class. Most of it is reading and I find the reading really interesting. I know I've referenced to it here many times, and if not dirrectly I've written using information from it. I feel that too much of our time is spent watching videos and talking about them. I would like more harder learning perhaps. I'm not sure how to word that, but I would like more of a lecture style however Vortex-B understands that most people don't want that and they will learn better with more alternative styles. I learn well too like this, but I feel like there could be more learned.
When ever we get a sub in that class the attendance cuts in half and I debate skipping the class also. This is because I know we won't be doing anything really other than work we were given the day before; that I probably have done already. Today we had a sub though I stuck around to catch up on writing in that class and then read the booklet we were given the day before.
English class will be last, I will reach it through going right out my Psychology class and following the path outside or walking through the school past our theatre (yeah, my school is amazing. We have a theatre) and out a side door that's down a side hallway. It isn't used that much, but it is fairly quick and free from weather for most of the distance. My English class is in the first portable, so I dislike going to it when it is raining because I'm going to be carrying a book and I really dislike it when books get wet.
My English class isn't all too bad. We take notes, do a lot of group work, and don't get all that much homework. The notes are easy to follow usually and they are easy to write too. Often they will be printed out and we just need to fill in the blanks. The desks are set up so groups of four are easy to make, though your desk is not chosen by you. Every two weeks the teacher makes a new seating plan considering who works well with who, who wants to sit with who, and who is annoying. I usualy get away from the annoying people. It's nice. The group work is great, because usually it is easy to finish by yourself so working with three other people is a great help even if they aren't actually helping. That tends to happen a fair amount.
After English I go to my locker if I need to, though I usually don't need to. I will follow the hall, pass my locker, to the stairs and then to the main door that I went through to get to Digital Media second block. There are a few places outside I am likely to find friends to talk to until my bus arrives. My bus takes thirty minutes to drop off the first bunch of people and then come back to get me and five to ten other people (the second run is never full. Never.) but I don't mind. I actually enjoy the time to talk to people and socialize. When ever anyone takes my bus with me they complain how long it takes but I don't notice the time. It goes by without complaint, most likely because I'm use to the wait. Half an hour doesn't seem like a long time to me anyways, no matter what it's related to. I can do something for half an hour constantly. I tend to type my posts up over a time of half an hour to an hour I think, I should time myself sometime.
The bus ride home is just like going there, music and reading. Not much talking though I'm more likely to talk then. There are less people to talk to but always more interesting conversations. I find I'm much more likely to get motion sickness due to reading in a vehicle on the way home than on the way to school. I'm not sure why this is, but I often have to put my book down before I get to the bus stop. I'm sure after time I'll get better at this and my stomach will be more kind to me.
The rest of the day will vary a lot, but it will be described in a different post. There's a variety of video games, reading, homework, eating, sleeping, and a few other things I'm sure but I can't think of them. If not my day is a lot more bland than I think. I often end up going to a friends house, or more likely my girlfriends house after school.
I guess there will be something to look forward to read tomorrow, incase I have any daily readers. That's a funny thought.
~~ Bugworlds
Monday, November 1, 2010
What Happens When I Use An Online Dictionary ;; Nano
A couple people I know are partaking in the 'Nano Challenge,' a challenge to write 50,000 words in a month. That's about 1667 a day I think, or some number like that. I do not think I am following the rules exactly, and I am not signed up for it. I'm not planning on taking up this challenge but I wish to see how I compare. I think I would be able to do this if I tried but I have no interest in forcing myself to write. I don't write every day, I don't have inspiration every day, and I don't have time to follow every inspiration I have. This is just something to do for the fun of it, and to see how many words I put out a month. I'm sure I will be putting out more than normal just so I keep up a bit, so at the end of November I will see how I did.
I will be posting my word counts on my Twitter.
So a week ago I planned this post out and since then I have not gotten around to actually typing it up. If you were to take a look at my posterous (on this post), you would find details about it but none of them are expanded yet. Here it is though, for the all of.. well I know one person looks forward to what I post and I'm not sure if anyone else really reads my posts consistently. I can only hope. As long as I get my thoughts to words that's good enough for me.
I realized how great Dictionary.com is, for it has links to interesting articles posted under the search bar (I think) and they lead me from one article to another that I would like to comment on. If I ever have a lack of anything to read (pfft, not going to happen any time soon) I'll probably find myself wondering over to that site and taking a look for something of interest.
Anyways, onto what I was planning on posting.
The first article (What poetic term describes living your life while accepting it is full of uncertainty?) didn't really grab my attention that much, however the title of it was cut off and I was curious to see what the rest of it was. Seeing the full title I decided to keep reading, but by the end of it decided it wasn't all that great. There was a link to the next article though, and I enjoyed it much more.
The second article (you're not asleep, but you're not awake either. What's the name for that mysterious feeling?) was much better. As the title suggests it's about that odd feeling between sleep and awake. I don't get this very often, I usually just go to sleep or wake up with little transition time but I do know what it is referring to. The difference between being awake and being asleep is in the brain. Your consciousness enters a different state when you are asleep, however it cannot immediately go to this minimal stage. It must slip down into it, or atleast so my theory states. You can get into this state through hypnosis along with drifting to sleep, though that may be a bit more controlled because you will not necessarily fall asleep because of it. To tell what state of consciousness you are in, you could hook your head up to a brainwave reader and it will tell you what sort of waves your releasing. I'm not sure how that all works but I'll probably find myself looking into it at some time; possibly writing about it here too. Read the article for more, I haven't looked over it again so I wouldn't be surprised if some of my ideas conflict with the article a bit. I'm just going off by the title and what I remember.
I'll take this opportunity to talk about the day, more important how it relates to sleep in my mind. The day ends not when the sun goes down, or when midnight strikes, or even my bedtime (assuming I don't fall asleep at the time I've been told I should). Rather it ends when I go to sleep. In my mind the day is not over as long as I am awake. In the morning the day starts when I wake up. Not when the sun comes up, or when I'm told I should be up (unless that wakes me up). Between going to sleep and waking there is sleep time but it does not really exist in my mind. I am aware it happens, but because I cannot observe it I cannot say it is there for sure. I know logic states it is but I like to keep to my alternative thinking concepts even though I know they may not be completely solid. The only value sleep time has for my consciousness is the events others experience then. They may tell me about this, and I may gain knowledge about the events but it is all second-hand knowledge. Far as I know, what I'm being told about could of not actually happened but it's up to my own judgment to decide it if is legitimate or not.
I will be posting my word counts on my Twitter.
So a week ago I planned this post out and since then I have not gotten around to actually typing it up. If you were to take a look at my posterous (on this post), you would find details about it but none of them are expanded yet. Here it is though, for the all of.. well I know one person looks forward to what I post and I'm not sure if anyone else really reads my posts consistently. I can only hope. As long as I get my thoughts to words that's good enough for me.
I realized how great Dictionary.com is, for it has links to interesting articles posted under the search bar (I think) and they lead me from one article to another that I would like to comment on. If I ever have a lack of anything to read (pfft, not going to happen any time soon) I'll probably find myself wondering over to that site and taking a look for something of interest.
Anyways, onto what I was planning on posting.
The first article (What poetic term describes living your life while accepting it is full of uncertainty?) didn't really grab my attention that much, however the title of it was cut off and I was curious to see what the rest of it was. Seeing the full title I decided to keep reading, but by the end of it decided it wasn't all that great. There was a link to the next article though, and I enjoyed it much more.
The second article (you're not asleep, but you're not awake either. What's the name for that mysterious feeling?) was much better. As the title suggests it's about that odd feeling between sleep and awake. I don't get this very often, I usually just go to sleep or wake up with little transition time but I do know what it is referring to. The difference between being awake and being asleep is in the brain. Your consciousness enters a different state when you are asleep, however it cannot immediately go to this minimal stage. It must slip down into it, or atleast so my theory states. You can get into this state through hypnosis along with drifting to sleep, though that may be a bit more controlled because you will not necessarily fall asleep because of it. To tell what state of consciousness you are in, you could hook your head up to a brainwave reader and it will tell you what sort of waves your releasing. I'm not sure how that all works but I'll probably find myself looking into it at some time; possibly writing about it here too. Read the article for more, I haven't looked over it again so I wouldn't be surprised if some of my ideas conflict with the article a bit. I'm just going off by the title and what I remember.
I'll take this opportunity to talk about the day, more important how it relates to sleep in my mind. The day ends not when the sun goes down, or when midnight strikes, or even my bedtime (assuming I don't fall asleep at the time I've been told I should). Rather it ends when I go to sleep. In my mind the day is not over as long as I am awake. In the morning the day starts when I wake up. Not when the sun comes up, or when I'm told I should be up (unless that wakes me up). Between going to sleep and waking there is sleep time but it does not really exist in my mind. I am aware it happens, but because I cannot observe it I cannot say it is there for sure. I know logic states it is but I like to keep to my alternative thinking concepts even though I know they may not be completely solid. The only value sleep time has for my consciousness is the events others experience then. They may tell me about this, and I may gain knowledge about the events but it is all second-hand knowledge. Far as I know, what I'm being told about could of not actually happened but it's up to my own judgment to decide it if is legitimate or not.
This second article touches on that twitch that happens when you are close to sleep also. It doesn't go into much detail about it however I would just like to say I find this amusing. It's called a Myoclonic Jerk, and is characterized by an uncontrolled short muscle spasm or twitch that happens when you are about to fall asleep. I associate this with falling dreams because I know people often wake up from falling dreams like this. I wake up like this sometimes but I don't think I've had any falling dreams. I have one memory but I think it is a synthesized memory because I know it is a story that my cousin told me. A falling dream that he had that he told me about a long time ago. It seems really vivid though. I may of dreamt it at some time after he put the story in my mind. Kind of reminds me of Inception (the movie that is. It's great, everyone should see it twice if they can. I still need to watch it a second time. I may write about it some time).
Now, I'm not sure how I got to this though the third article (Bleep! What's the difference between cussing, swearing, and cursing?) discuses just what the title describes though I have a different idea between this all. Cussing is using words out of context; usually for emphasis or too often just by habit. They are words that have no need to be there. The statement 'the ****ing bird' and 'the bird' will mean pretty much the same thing. It all depends on who says it, but I'll get to that after. Often cussing is confused with swearing. Swearing would be exclaiming something, usually due to pain. It is the (often) yelling of words when something happens, often out of reflex. These one word statements have no meaning though allow the individual to express they are in pain or some sort of discomfort. Cursing is similar to swearing however it is using words against someone. To put it in its simplest form, cursing is name calling. No more or less to that.
Now then, what do these all have in common? They are all mistaken to be the same, and many would define them to be. Also they all are characterized by words that we have deemed to be foul. It may be due to the history of the word, the definition of it, or the way it is used. You can cuss or swear with other words but they just don't seem to have the same shock value (try yelling about vegetables next time you stub your toe). Over time sock value is lost though, mostly due to the over use of a word. The 'F-bomb' has been used so much that most people don't even notice it during conversation. It is used by habit and as filler 98% of the time (a statistic that I pulled out of air).
Personally I don't cuss all that much, I try to avoid swearing, and i see cursing to just be immature and not needed. The words people associate to all of these just are not installed in my vocabulary the same way other words and phrases are. I feel ridiculous using them often, not to mention many of my friends will be quick to point out if I have because they claim it sounds odd coming from me. This is where the shock value comes in. I know if I was to go up to someone and yell a string of curses at them using foul words they, and anyone else who knows me and who was around, would probably be very shocked. I would be too, though I might be pleased with myself that my message was put across.
More people need to avoid excessive cussing. It's not needed, and it's just annoying at times. It kills your vocabulary because you can use the same word with twenty, perhaps even more, definitions. If you use cuss related words often and are in a situation where you may not do so, stuttering may occur. I have troubles with stuttering already anyways. I don't know why, it just happens often. I get jumped up in my words often too, and I have no reason to. I am a confidient speaker, I think through what I am going to say usualy. I'll figure this out one day, or the annoyance will go away.
On top of all of that it annoys many people. Many people find it offensive, personally I just see it to be unneeded though it no longer bothers me that much. Public school has numbed me just enough. It bothers me when people cuss around people who I know don't want to hear it, often the young and the more elderly. Kids shouldn't be cussing, cursing, or swearing. They have no need to, for with their developing minds I'm sure they can think of more intelligent statements to use. If someone does not wish to hear such words for any reason they shouldn't need to worry about it. There should be stronger warnings on television if foul language is going to be used, even if it is censored. I know censuring it may make it more apparent, though it does help in a round about way. It may be easy to even figure out what word fits in, though the censor is there for a reason. The high pitch squeal of the audio cover may be annoying and I wouldn't mind that being replaced but other than that, it's needed.
I think I might of started a slight rant, oh well. Spell check and then time for bed. -- Bugworlds
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