Let's get derp to business. It is about time I learned how to make active decisions about my new lifestyle. These new habits will dictate the product of the MANifesto. Needless to say, 2A.M. bedtimes are not the intended outcome. I will need to work on that if I want to grow up.
On second thought, I've been wound up for quite a while now. I've tried to keep so much control over my habits that I forgot what it was like to be spontaneous. Let's take an episode to try to claim that back, shall we?
Maybe life is about resisting becoming an adult for as long as you can. Of course, I don't mean neglect all responsibility by streaking in public while continuously gorging yourself with ice cream. That would just make you a fat, naked meta-person. Instead of that, I suggest to live without hundreds of rules. Hopefully, this will stop someone from becoming stuck on the same system for the rest of their life and end up being too stubborn to accept any new discovery that is not applied to by the rules.
Instead of becoming stubborn when I'm old, I choose to become wise. Not all-knowing, because that would take away all the fun; just to be as open and tolerant as science itself. If you want to know why omniscience is not fun, brace yourself.
If by the end of a person's life, that person knows literally everything, that would be terrible. I dread the possibility that science in its entirety can become known. In a world like that, not one person would be left who could make a good debate against ultimate knowledge. As soon as one person knows everything, everyone knows everything because if the internet spreads information this fast already, imagine how fast information would spread in the year 100,000; how about the year 100,000,000?
These dates are definitely in our future, as the earth will be here for about another trillion trillion trillion years. Think of it as year 1 with two hundred zeros after it. Yeah, so much for spontaneity. When we get there, nothing will be fun anymore, so I guess we should do everything fun now. Or maybe common sense would be so prevalent that people were free of rules because they might not need to exist at that point. We could delight in the fact that the persons whom will call us ancestors will be truly free.
After a long, unnecessary tangent about omniscience, here we are back on adulthood. I don't know about you, but I'm tired of hearing my internal reading voice as I type this. Since I'm so bored, I think ima go streak publicly while chugging some ice cream.
[Trying out new conclusions that don't depend on asking questions nobody cares about]
Whoopdee-gobblety-don't do drugs
Saturday, February 18, 2012
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
What Happens in a Derp Post
Error 404. Post not found.
This is a message I will send if I do not find an appropriate internal monologue to post, so there. I said I would do one every week, but I'm just not feeling it right now. Anyway, whenever it happens, it means the week is going sub-par. Let's hope we won't need to deal with a lot of these.
Oh yeah, and for the record...
http://www.memecenter.com/fun/98251/you-just-got-trolled
If you actually bothered to ctrl+c, ctrl+v that, then congratulations, you just randomly clicked on something I said just because I said it. Nice.
Thanks for putting up with my incompetence, internet.
This is a message I will send if I do not find an appropriate internal monologue to post, so there. I said I would do one every week, but I'm just not feeling it right now. Anyway, whenever it happens, it means the week is going sub-par. Let's hope we won't need to deal with a lot of these.
Oh yeah, and for the record...
http://www.memecenter.com/fun/98251/you-just-got-trolled
If you actually bothered to ctrl+c, ctrl+v that, then congratulations, you just randomly clicked on something I said just because I said it. Nice.
Thanks for putting up with my incompetence, internet.
Monday, January 30, 2012
Moment of Zen
"He who asks a question is a fool for a minute. He who does not remains a fool forever."
- Chinese proverb
That awkward moment when you realize you have been tested all along.
Today marks my next momentous self-discovery. It became clear to me when my father approached me this evening with the task of making a new list for the week off I will be having from school. In my last internet episode, something you lung-breathing creatures may call a "post", I mentioned a new "regimented, structured, orderly, systematic machine" that would consume my everyday life. After two weeks of implementing this machine, I can imagine why my father uses it. It was used not only for a punishment by natural consequence, but also to allow me to properly prepare for a final exam in my math class. That final week of class was a stressful five days that I would prefer not to relive.
Now, at the aftermath ( <-- bad pun ) of that class, I now have a substantial amount of time to reshape my life and habits, so changes are being made. Firstly, I'm changing my major from Health Science to Music. That should be obvious, like baby pandas... Furthermore, I can now change my schedule around some more, so I will definitely talk to persons about that in the near future.
For my next trick, I will, well, remember what the derp happened after that. Moving on, in the discussion with Dad about the next action items for the long week ahead, he revealed a part of myself that I just unlocked. Yes, it was during this time when I had my first moment of zen in a full year. This signifies an absolutely enormous personal discovery brought on by the underlying lessons of my actions. The lesson learned was the commitment and ability to solve issues with academic subjects by dealing with them the day they arise. If you require no further explaination, know exactly what I'm typing about, and hate math, skip the next paragraph.
Take, for example, the chain rule of calculus. The chain rule is a formula for the derivative of the composition of two functions with different variables, coefficients, and exponents. In algebraic terms...
d/dx f(g(x)) = f '(g(x)) * g'(x).
The point is, I did not understand this concept at all during the lecture, so I made active decisions to seek out help from professors, students, textbooks, and, of course, the web. These were precautionary measures to insure that I knew exactly what I was dealing with that day. Later, I deciphered that it is basically how to say "yo dawg, I herd u like functions" in the language of numbers. Those who didn't get that reference, google "yo dawg", then image search it. With patience, you will find all the information you need to understand.
Though it may not sound like it, this skill (Zen, not calculus) was the missing tool in my arsenal of being awesome at school. Using this tactic, I can accomplish any class, and get an A. This is so huge a discovery, I could not help but share it, considering my history of reluctancy to ask for help. Internet, if you are listening, you're welcome. I mean, it may sound almost redundant: someone can look at that and easily say "well, duh. Anyone who asks for help from everyone will get smarter. Just like Steve Carell in "Get Smart"". I have no idea why someone would go on a tangent about Steve Carell, other than the fact that they didn't say it; I said it. No matter who said it, you just got learned.
Moments of Zen are rare segments of a person's history, and they would be the perfect milestones to write in a blog like this one. They build upon themselves, like a stack of lego blocks that are very cognitive and very, very real. Moments like these prove to me time and time again why life does not want me to fail but is, in fact, trolling me. They are moments that demand reaction from the user, and must not be ignored. This is because to me, they are the most important; the feeling of when you learn a valuable truth, and every shred of cognitive dissonance goes away, if only for one minute.
What I learned:
My Question to You:
Leave your creative, critical, or constructive responses in the comments. I welcome all feedback on all posts at any time, whether it is your first read or your hundredth.
- Chinese proverb
That awkward moment when you realize you have been tested all along.
Today marks my next momentous self-discovery. It became clear to me when my father approached me this evening with the task of making a new list for the week off I will be having from school. In my last internet episode, something you lung-breathing creatures may call a "post", I mentioned a new "regimented, structured, orderly, systematic machine" that would consume my everyday life. After two weeks of implementing this machine, I can imagine why my father uses it. It was used not only for a punishment by natural consequence, but also to allow me to properly prepare for a final exam in my math class. That final week of class was a stressful five days that I would prefer not to relive.
Now, at the aftermath ( <-- bad pun ) of that class, I now have a substantial amount of time to reshape my life and habits, so changes are being made. Firstly, I'm changing my major from Health Science to Music. That should be obvious, like baby pandas... Furthermore, I can now change my schedule around some more, so I will definitely talk to persons about that in the near future.
For my next trick, I will, well, remember what the derp happened after that. Moving on, in the discussion with Dad about the next action items for the long week ahead, he revealed a part of myself that I just unlocked. Yes, it was during this time when I had my first moment of zen in a full year. This signifies an absolutely enormous personal discovery brought on by the underlying lessons of my actions. The lesson learned was the commitment and ability to solve issues with academic subjects by dealing with them the day they arise. If you require no further explaination, know exactly what I'm typing about, and hate math, skip the next paragraph.
Take, for example, the chain rule of calculus. The chain rule is a formula for the derivative of the composition of two functions with different variables, coefficients, and exponents. In algebraic terms...
d/dx f(g(x)) = f '(g(x)) * g'(x).
The point is, I did not understand this concept at all during the lecture, so I made active decisions to seek out help from professors, students, textbooks, and, of course, the web. These were precautionary measures to insure that I knew exactly what I was dealing with that day. Later, I deciphered that it is basically how to say "yo dawg, I herd u like functions" in the language of numbers. Those who didn't get that reference, google "yo dawg", then image search it. With patience, you will find all the information you need to understand.
Though it may not sound like it, this skill (Zen, not calculus) was the missing tool in my arsenal of being awesome at school. Using this tactic, I can accomplish any class, and get an A. This is so huge a discovery, I could not help but share it, considering my history of reluctancy to ask for help. Internet, if you are listening, you're welcome. I mean, it may sound almost redundant: someone can look at that and easily say "well, duh. Anyone who asks for help from everyone will get smarter. Just like Steve Carell in "Get Smart"". I have no idea why someone would go on a tangent about Steve Carell, other than the fact that they didn't say it; I said it. No matter who said it, you just got learned.
Moments of Zen are rare segments of a person's history, and they would be the perfect milestones to write in a blog like this one. They build upon themselves, like a stack of lego blocks that are very cognitive and very, very real. Moments like these prove to me time and time again why life does not want me to fail but is, in fact, trolling me. They are moments that demand reaction from the user, and must not be ignored. This is because to me, they are the most important; the feeling of when you learn a valuable truth, and every shred of cognitive dissonance goes away, if only for one minute.
What I learned:
- The commitment and ability to solve issues with academic subjects by dealing with them the day they arise
- Often times, the answers to psychological problems are redundant
- Life can never destroy you. It can only troll you.
My Question to You:
- Can you describe the moment when you realized something important about yourself? If yes, please do so.
- Was everything in the post clear to you? Do you now understand the chain rule?
- Is there anything different that you would like to see from this blog? Should I talk about politics? Video games? Music? More science?
Leave your creative, critical, or constructive responses in the comments. I welcome all feedback on all posts at any time, whether it is your first read or your hundredth.
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Super-post #1
Welcome, gentleladies and men. I just wrote that sentence while utterly disregarding the fact that spell-check thinks I just made up a word. Chances are, I didn't. As I was saying, welcome to the very first super-post on this blog. This feature will be used by me to catch up on big life events during my absence to the blogosphere (Auto-correct just did it again, and it's just wrong. I know I didn't make up that word). With that said, let us begin with our customary mood music. This link is an improvisation by one of my favorite pianists on youtube. The title of the song says it all.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IB3Sq0TUdrk&feature=channel_video_title
Hold on to your hats that you may or may not be wearing right now; this might take three minutes. Not like I counted or anything. Now, I'll do my best to recall the events in order. If I fail at that, there's nothing you can do about it, so *ha* (those asterisks mean I actually laughed while typing that).
This begins with Her (more on Her in the post below). I left you last at a starstruck moment in time for me. As the relationship progressed, we took it very slow due to some emotional hesitation on her part, as well as some lack of knowing what to do on my part. This led to an awkward predicament in which I did not know completely what I meant to Her. Knowing this, I took her to a special restaurant the night before our one-month anniversary. I took her to a fancy place in Blackhawk, CA called "the Blackhawk Grille". It was a fantastic night full of dinner, a short drive to and from campus, and endless conversation.
At the dawn of the anniversary itself, I awoke with an unstoppable optimism. Shortly, I received a text message from Her, saying this ad verbatim:
"Hey, i had a great time last night, but i value our friendship too much to be anything more than friends. I hope u can understand and i am so sorry".
To that, I promptly responded:
"Thank you for being honest and telling me. To tell the truth, I'm glad we had the chance to explore our feelings, and I don't regret it. Thanks for a good month".
That brought closure to my last relationship to date. At first, it did not even strike me that I just got dumped via text message. I just kind of focused on the fact that I was dumped. Even then, I was not upset for long because I realized that life is not about sulking about missed opportunities. Life is about being awesome daily. The rest of that day, I proceeded to rock out on piano, watch videos that made me laugh and cry, and successfully console myself. Besides, I was unstoppably optimistic, remember? Of course you did. Isn't the benefit of the doubt awesome? Good, because you have it!
During the not-single time period, I celebrated my nineteenth birthday on November fourth. I feel lucky because it is the day before the famous chant in "V for Vendetta", "Remember, remember, the fifth of November". It was a day full of presents and merriment, as it was on a Friday. On that weekend, my extended family on both sides got together for one party each. It made me very happy to have survived one more year in America, because in America, every year survived is another free cake earned.
Moving on to Christmas break, I had just finished the remainder of finals and saying goodbye to my new friends around campus. Nothing made me happier the first day than coming home to hug my parents. For two weeks, I was home. For the first week, I enjoyed a beautiful Christmas holiday season. For the second week, it requires a new paragraph and a change in tone. Follow me!
Wait for it...
Dead puppies. There, did that change the tone? Well, it either made you laugh, or it made you really confused. Both would be excellent. Either way, I promise you that those fictional puppies I just made up are alive. You can kinda do that if it's all in your head. Anyway, back to my story. My grades came back over the break, and they were far less satisfactory than for which my parents were prepared. This highly upset them to the point where I was and still am not fully trustworthy.
The point is I was making dramatic changes to my habits, and I, in fact, did not make a successful transition. So just like that, I was then smack dab in the middle of another transition. I started making daily notes of strict action items that needed to be fulfilled on that day, and I also started personally calling my father with a day-by-day update to those very notes. It was a regimented, structured, orderly, systematic machine that I was and still am expected to drive.
As anyone would be, I am sad for the loss of my beloved free time. However, in the spirit of optimism and my new slogan, "be awesome daily", I think of it as a way to make me become more awesome. I mean, if you can survive under such strict conditions and regain the trust of those you trust most, then you sir are awesome. I will go forth with this as my new year's resolution. Now begins not only a transition, but a call to action and epicosity (ducking auto-connect).
And so, gentleladies and men, this catches you up on my misadventures. This super-post has been quite fun to write, and I hope you enjoyed reading as much as I have typing. I reserve from the "what I learned" and "my question you" sections because it would take up even more space, and by dog, that would be disgraceful. Goodbye, everybody in the place.
Leave your creative, critical or constructive responses in the comments. I hope you enjoyed your time here more than if you were actually doing something important.
Colon, close parentheses
:)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IB3Sq0TUdrk&feature=channel_video_title
Hold on to your hats that you may or may not be wearing right now; this might take three minutes. Not like I counted or anything. Now, I'll do my best to recall the events in order. If I fail at that, there's nothing you can do about it, so *ha* (those asterisks mean I actually laughed while typing that).
This begins with Her (more on Her in the post below). I left you last at a starstruck moment in time for me. As the relationship progressed, we took it very slow due to some emotional hesitation on her part, as well as some lack of knowing what to do on my part. This led to an awkward predicament in which I did not know completely what I meant to Her. Knowing this, I took her to a special restaurant the night before our one-month anniversary. I took her to a fancy place in Blackhawk, CA called "the Blackhawk Grille". It was a fantastic night full of dinner, a short drive to and from campus, and endless conversation.
At the dawn of the anniversary itself, I awoke with an unstoppable optimism. Shortly, I received a text message from Her, saying this ad verbatim:
"Hey, i had a great time last night, but i value our friendship too much to be anything more than friends. I hope u can understand and i am so sorry".
To that, I promptly responded:
"Thank you for being honest and telling me. To tell the truth, I'm glad we had the chance to explore our feelings, and I don't regret it. Thanks for a good month".
That brought closure to my last relationship to date. At first, it did not even strike me that I just got dumped via text message. I just kind of focused on the fact that I was dumped. Even then, I was not upset for long because I realized that life is not about sulking about missed opportunities. Life is about being awesome daily. The rest of that day, I proceeded to rock out on piano, watch videos that made me laugh and cry, and successfully console myself. Besides, I was unstoppably optimistic, remember? Of course you did. Isn't the benefit of the doubt awesome? Good, because you have it!
During the not-single time period, I celebrated my nineteenth birthday on November fourth. I feel lucky because it is the day before the famous chant in "V for Vendetta", "Remember, remember, the fifth of November". It was a day full of presents and merriment, as it was on a Friday. On that weekend, my extended family on both sides got together for one party each. It made me very happy to have survived one more year in America, because in America, every year survived is another free cake earned.
Moving on to Christmas break, I had just finished the remainder of finals and saying goodbye to my new friends around campus. Nothing made me happier the first day than coming home to hug my parents. For two weeks, I was home. For the first week, I enjoyed a beautiful Christmas holiday season. For the second week, it requires a new paragraph and a change in tone. Follow me!
Wait for it...
Dead puppies. There, did that change the tone? Well, it either made you laugh, or it made you really confused. Both would be excellent. Either way, I promise you that those fictional puppies I just made up are alive. You can kinda do that if it's all in your head. Anyway, back to my story. My grades came back over the break, and they were far less satisfactory than for which my parents were prepared. This highly upset them to the point where I was and still am not fully trustworthy.
The point is I was making dramatic changes to my habits, and I, in fact, did not make a successful transition. So just like that, I was then smack dab in the middle of another transition. I started making daily notes of strict action items that needed to be fulfilled on that day, and I also started personally calling my father with a day-by-day update to those very notes. It was a regimented, structured, orderly, systematic machine that I was and still am expected to drive.
As anyone would be, I am sad for the loss of my beloved free time. However, in the spirit of optimism and my new slogan, "be awesome daily", I think of it as a way to make me become more awesome. I mean, if you can survive under such strict conditions and regain the trust of those you trust most, then you sir are awesome. I will go forth with this as my new year's resolution. Now begins not only a transition, but a call to action and epicosity (ducking auto-connect).
And so, gentleladies and men, this catches you up on my misadventures. This super-post has been quite fun to write, and I hope you enjoyed reading as much as I have typing. I reserve from the "what I learned" and "my question you" sections because it would take up even more space, and by dog, that would be disgraceful. Goodbye, everybody in the place.
Leave your creative, critical or constructive responses in the comments. I hope you enjoyed your time here more than if you were actually doing something important.
Colon, close parentheses
:)
Monday, October 24, 2011
She Said "Yes"
Wednesday, Oct 19, 1:30 pm.
"Love doesn’t make the world go round; love is what makes the ride worthwhile.”
- Elizabeth Browning
I never thought I would make a post about this so early, but I just could not help myself. The joy and elation that springs from Wednesday simply forces me to cyber-write this epic coming-of-age. That's right folks, we have a milestone on our hands. I have a girlfriend.
Leading up to this point, I have had many crushes, and some of them came close to a mutual fondness. My love life has been an awkward spiral of paraphrases, such as "wait a minute, what?", "I just don't see it that way", and "I'm sorry, have we met?". Then She came along.
She is an optimistic ball of 'nice' that I'm going to call "She" because public name permission has not been given yet (She kinda doesn't know about this blog yet), She laughed at all of my jokes, She is there for me, She will never hurt me, make me feel small, or separate me from my humanity.
-note- I just made a paragraph in past, present, and future tenses, used an improper pronoun as a proper noun, and I took the mega-sentence and just ran on with it (which is just wrong. Sentences should be walked). All I can blame it on is the fact that I adore Her. -note-
She*** and I have been friends for the better part of this first semester of college. Once we shared a couple breakfast, lunch, and dinner dates, I decided that it was time to explore my feelings (since when do men do that? All the time, actually). It took more balls than one would imagine. If I were speaking to Her right now, I would remind Her that I would never harm Her, judge Her, or separate Her from Her humanity. At the same time, I will never miss the chance to compliment Her herr (hair).
Will this have an impact on my everyday life? if only it were a small one. Choices like this are continuous active decisions that enable empathy to be galvanized with your habits. This status should also trigger an emotional barrier to be broken (as if the status shows up and goes like, "Sup son. I'ma break u!", and the barrier's like, "Whoa! I'm totally broken, dude..."), as this will allow personal truths to be revealed to the targeted love interest. Complete and total honesty is required for an extended period of time while inside the metaphoric tunnel of love, which is what I shall practice. In closing... "All you need is love"
- John Lennon
... they said I couldn't do an academic analysis about love. They were so wrong that they were like, wrong or something...
What I Learned:
My Question to You:
Leave your creative, critical or constructive responses in the comments. Please enjoy your time that you should be using to do useful shtuff.
"Love doesn’t make the world go round; love is what makes the ride worthwhile.”
- Elizabeth Browning
I never thought I would make a post about this so early, but I just could not help myself. The joy and elation that springs from Wednesday simply forces me to cyber-write this epic coming-of-age. That's right folks, we have a milestone on our hands. I have a girlfriend.
Leading up to this point, I have had many crushes, and some of them came close to a mutual fondness. My love life has been an awkward spiral of paraphrases, such as "wait a minute, what?", "I just don't see it that way", and "I'm sorry, have we met?". Then She came along.
She is an optimistic ball of 'nice' that I'm going to call "She" because public name permission has not been given yet (She kinda doesn't know about this blog yet), She laughed at all of my jokes, She is there for me, She will never hurt me, make me feel small, or separate me from my humanity.
-note- I just made a paragraph in past, present, and future tenses, used an improper pronoun as a proper noun, and I took the mega-sentence and just ran on with it (which is just wrong. Sentences should be walked). All I can blame it on is the fact that I adore Her. -note-
She*** and I have been friends for the better part of this first semester of college. Once we shared a couple breakfast, lunch, and dinner dates, I decided that it was time to explore my feelings (since when do men do that? All the time, actually). It took more balls than one would imagine. If I were speaking to Her right now, I would remind Her that I would never harm Her, judge Her, or separate Her from Her humanity. At the same time, I will never miss the chance to compliment Her herr (hair).
Will this have an impact on my everyday life? if only it were a small one. Choices like this are continuous active decisions that enable empathy to be galvanized with your habits. This status should also trigger an emotional barrier to be broken (as if the status shows up and goes like, "Sup son. I'ma break u!", and the barrier's like, "Whoa! I'm totally broken, dude..."), as this will allow personal truths to be revealed to the targeted love interest. Complete and total honesty is required for an extended period of time while inside the metaphoric tunnel of love, which is what I shall practice. In closing... "All you need is love"
- John Lennon
... they said I couldn't do an academic analysis about love. They were so wrong that they were like, wrong or something...
What I Learned:
- Rewards make risks a little more bearable
- To know love is to master empathy
- No, you're not disgustingly unattractive. Look inside, and it is quite the opposite
- *** I can use improper pronouns as proper nouns only in blog format
My Question to You:
- Is there or was there someone special to you (he or she doesn't have to know you)?
- If yes, would you give a brief description the specific type of love between you two?
- Troll question: WHY DON'T YOU LOVE JESUS THAT MUCH!?! >=(
Leave your creative, critical or constructive responses in the comments. Please enjoy your time that you should be using to do useful shtuff.
Monday, October 17, 2011
After a Transition
"Experience is the hardest kind of teacher. It gives you the test first and the lesson afterward."
- Author Unknown
Welcome back. I hope you had a great month. I sure did.
In the interest of what has happened in the past month, I am happy to report an almost flawless transition and assimilation into my new home.
Truthfully, I was feeling anxious about my new circumstances at Saint Mary's College when I typed my last post; I felt not an overwhelming sense of fear, but of awareness for the coming change. The reason I reveal this to you now is because in order for this blog to achieve the transparency I want for it, I need to be completely honest with both myself and the internet.
Okay, I was scared of it. So what happened? Where you scared as it happened?
In the first weeks of college, I met more than fifty people, won a brain-damaging 'contest' to enjoy my first Redbull, hiked to a local landmark at night wearing questionable items of clothing, spontaneously sang in Italian to a full class, and got lost while navigating from my new home to my old home... and I did it all clean and sober (I'll make a post about that sometime).
Does that sound like a person who's afraid?
Yeah, didn't think so.
Here with me, I have a special guest. I may have special guests on this blog for the following reasons:
" Make awesome friends like Andrew, and maybe one day, that awesome friend will let you sleep in his comfy chair. The end."
*clap clap *
She says thank you for the applause. I can honestly say that this college has been my best decision that was only my decision. The process of choosing to go to SMC could have not gone better for me. The challenge before me is to make sure that was a good decision. Like, for instance, I should avoid staying up at a time like this (yes, the time that you're reading this counts as well. I totally know you read this when you're high at two in the morning. It's okay to admit it. I won't tell...) when there are more important things to do.
So, I'm not perfect. That doesn't mean I'm going to make this post a rant. I just think there is always more to be done, but I'm one of those people who can say everything well but then only execute what's said when forced. That's how I am. It's important to recognize certain things like this about yourself, because it plays a huge part in your personal growth.
What I learned:
- Author Unknown
Welcome back. I hope you had a great month. I sure did.
In the interest of what has happened in the past month, I am happy to report an almost flawless transition and assimilation into my new home.
Truthfully, I was feeling anxious about my new circumstances at Saint Mary's College when I typed my last post; I felt not an overwhelming sense of fear, but of awareness for the coming change. The reason I reveal this to you now is because in order for this blog to achieve the transparency I want for it, I need to be completely honest with both myself and the internet.
Okay, I was scared of it. So what happened? Where you scared as it happened?
In the first weeks of college, I met more than fifty people, won a brain-damaging 'contest' to enjoy my first Redbull, hiked to a local landmark at night wearing questionable items of clothing, spontaneously sang in Italian to a full class, and got lost while navigating from my new home to my old home... and I did it all clean and sober (I'll make a post about that sometime).
Does that sound like a person who's afraid?
Yeah, didn't think so.
Here with me, I have a special guest. I may have special guests on this blog for the following reasons:
- It's mah f@#$ing blog. I thought we already discussed that...
- It's a new and exciting formula that nobody really tries out in their blog
" Make awesome friends like Andrew, and maybe one day, that awesome friend will let you sleep in his comfy chair. The end."
*clap clap *
She says thank you for the applause. I can honestly say that this college has been my best decision that was only my decision. The process of choosing to go to SMC could have not gone better for me. The challenge before me is to make sure that was a good decision. Like, for instance, I should avoid staying up at a time like this (yes, the time that you're reading this counts as well. I totally know you read this when you're high at two in the morning. It's okay to admit it. I won't tell...) when there are more important things to do.
So, I'm not perfect. That doesn't mean I'm going to make this post a rant. I just think there is always more to be done, but I'm one of those people who can say everything well but then only execute what's said when forced. That's how I am. It's important to recognize certain things like this about yourself, because it plays a huge part in your personal growth.
What I learned:
- It's important to track your personal evolution as you grow
- Begin with the end in mind
- You won't be afraid of change after it's all over
- How different do you feel when Summer vacation ends?
- Do you feel older after a month?
- What is your favorite flavor of pumpkin pie? (trick question)
Sunday, August 14, 2011
Transitions
To illustrate my current emotional journey, I point to an amazing song to listen to while reading this post. With this song, I hope you will read this with a calm mind. It is called "Time Forgets" by a South Korean pianist named Yiruma. Please open up another window, copy/paste this link and come right back.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anicaKGED00
Ready? Great, let's begin.
"Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened"
- Dr. Seuss
Think back to when you were an infant. Imagine all of the responsibilities you were expected to do; all zero of them. Yes, there indeed was a time when we would only have to worry about eating our food and crapping our pants. A very simple obligation indeed.
Now, think ahead to later days of your childhood. You were learning to walk and speak, and eventually, you were enrolled in school. At first, you might have scoffed at the idea of doing work, but you would eventually enjoy meeting new persons, crushing on your hot teacher, and most importantly, recess.
This is an example of a transition. For this blog, I shall create a definition to add to the MANifesto lexicon.
Transition = an adjustment period that one uses to ready oneself for new challenges and experiences.
I, for one, need this time in between schedules. If I do not receive the proper adjustment time I need, my life collapses and I am overwhelmed with stress. I am beside myself when I say that emotional collapse is terrible. However, I'm not going to dwell on breakdowns while I'm commanding you to listen to a clearly not-terrible song. Then what kind of all-powerful, blog-commanding Internet overlord would I be?
Still, I can't help but shake the feeling that I will miss being a kid in high school. My greatest memories were of my time in choir, and with my great friends, and I would be lying if I said that things will not be the same. Still, there is a golden opportunity for me to broaden my knowledge of life in one word: college.
In a short while, I will be studying Health Science at Saint Mary's College of California, a Catholic private college in Moraga, California (a twenty minute drive from my house). I will be living in a dorm with no other person to rely on but myself to eat, study and be a grown man. This is an obviously different circumstance for me, but I look forward to emerging from this as a different person; a person who measures his life in love and the occasional tear, the occasional epiphany. That is a life I can look forward to, so I cannot wait for my next life to begin.
What I learned:
My question to you:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anicaKGED00
Ready? Great, let's begin.
"Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened"
- Dr. Seuss
Think back to when you were an infant. Imagine all of the responsibilities you were expected to do; all zero of them. Yes, there indeed was a time when we would only have to worry about eating our food and crapping our pants. A very simple obligation indeed.
Now, think ahead to later days of your childhood. You were learning to walk and speak, and eventually, you were enrolled in school. At first, you might have scoffed at the idea of doing work, but you would eventually enjoy meeting new persons, crushing on your hot teacher, and most importantly, recess.
This is an example of a transition. For this blog, I shall create a definition to add to the MANifesto lexicon.
Transition = an adjustment period that one uses to ready oneself for new challenges and experiences.
I, for one, need this time in between schedules. If I do not receive the proper adjustment time I need, my life collapses and I am overwhelmed with stress. I am beside myself when I say that emotional collapse is terrible. However, I'm not going to dwell on breakdowns while I'm commanding you to listen to a clearly not-terrible song. Then what kind of all-powerful, blog-commanding Internet overlord would I be?
Still, I can't help but shake the feeling that I will miss being a kid in high school. My greatest memories were of my time in choir, and with my great friends, and I would be lying if I said that things will not be the same. Still, there is a golden opportunity for me to broaden my knowledge of life in one word: college.
In a short while, I will be studying Health Science at Saint Mary's College of California, a Catholic private college in Moraga, California (a twenty minute drive from my house). I will be living in a dorm with no other person to rely on but myself to eat, study and be a grown man. This is an obviously different circumstance for me, but I look forward to emerging from this as a different person; a person who measures his life in love and the occasional tear, the occasional epiphany. That is a life I can look forward to, so I cannot wait for my next life to begin.
What I learned:
- Life is what happens in between transitions
- Each new challenge is different and harder than the last one. Prepare yourself accordingly.
My question to you:
- Do you consider yourself "ready for anything"? By that, I mean "what are your tools that you use in life's many tests"?
- What is your next big goal? (This can be school, work, or another kind of personal achievement)
- What should I write about next?
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