Sunday, June 20, 2010
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
The Arrogant Man
I saw a very irritating man this afternoon. He was one of the most arrogant, prideful, conceited men I have ever seen; it was practically painful to watch him. In every act he showed himself to be filled with his own ego. He drove those around him into the dirt with the words he spoke and the things he did, caring not an ounce for them or their feelings.
This man was also hateful. As I saw him speaking to those near him, he spat words of contempt at all those around him. That was just it--he spoke at people, rather than to them. It was as if he considered his words to be of far more importance than any of the words hovering over his hears. His actions toward his friends showed that he really cared nothing for them; I pitied his friends. They obviously cared for him and wanted what was best for him. He spewed venom nonetheless.
The worst part of that man, though, was how fake he was. I could see it in his eyes; they told a story all their own. His lips uttered opposites. He said what he did not mean. I watched as he put on a glamorous show. He lived as if he were one who deserved to be seen--who must be seen--because of his grand actions, deeds, and thoughts. But one look at his eyes, the only truthful organs in his body, and I knew that inside he was hollow. He had no more substance than a marshmallow.
I know it's wrong to hate another in God's image, but I found myself hating that man. I glared at him with unforgiving eyes. But at the same time I felt sorry for him. Living a life of pride, contempt, and falsities is something no man should have to do. So, I watched the man until I could watch no more. I had grown sick of him. So, I walked away from the mirror.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This post required I be in the right state of self-loathing. Unfortunately, I rarely find that state, so I had to write it while dwelling on past states. This one was fun.
~ Jordan
This man was also hateful. As I saw him speaking to those near him, he spat words of contempt at all those around him. That was just it--he spoke at people, rather than to them. It was as if he considered his words to be of far more importance than any of the words hovering over his hears. His actions toward his friends showed that he really cared nothing for them; I pitied his friends. They obviously cared for him and wanted what was best for him. He spewed venom nonetheless.
The worst part of that man, though, was how fake he was. I could see it in his eyes; they told a story all their own. His lips uttered opposites. He said what he did not mean. I watched as he put on a glamorous show. He lived as if he were one who deserved to be seen--who must be seen--because of his grand actions, deeds, and thoughts. But one look at his eyes, the only truthful organs in his body, and I knew that inside he was hollow. He had no more substance than a marshmallow.
I know it's wrong to hate another in God's image, but I found myself hating that man. I glared at him with unforgiving eyes. But at the same time I felt sorry for him. Living a life of pride, contempt, and falsities is something no man should have to do. So, I watched the man until I could watch no more. I had grown sick of him. So, I walked away from the mirror.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This post required I be in the right state of self-loathing. Unfortunately, I rarely find that state, so I had to write it while dwelling on past states. This one was fun.
~ Jordan
Saturday, June 5, 2010
Technology Hates Me
So I've decided that all of technology has conspired to make my life a nightmare. It seems like all the electronic devices I come into contact with have "quirks" that make things complicated.
Example 1: My Previous Phone
This phone was fine for most of its short life. But for the last two or three months of my life, it decided not to interact with me anymore. Its screen would periodically flicker on and off, and the backlight would sometimes become completely dark. It became progressively worse until the day I moved back home from college. It then decided it no longer wanted to turn on its screen. You see, this is a problem especially with that phone, because it was a touch-dial phone. No screen meant that I had to guess the numbers I was pushing. Reading texts was nearly impossible, and I had to hope I didn't make any spelling errors while texting. Needless to say, I returned that phone (luckily, the warranty was still active).
Example 2: My Current Phone
The phone I have (for now) is, I'm quite sure, demon-possessed. Basically, what it will do is press its own touch-screen buttons. This means that it will open menus at random, send premature texts, and try to delete all my texts without my permission. There was one instance where I was trying to respond to a text, and the demon caused me to send three messages that read "-a". After that, it erased a large portion of past texts. I expect to one day receive a text from myself that will read, "lol u r as good as dead. watch ur back." That phone is basically a bratty, rebellious teenager. For anyone who was into Pokemon when they were little (don't lie - you know you loved it), it was like a traded Pokemon that wouldn't listen to you if you didn't have the right gym badge. I don't have the right gym badge.
Example 3: My Previous Camera
This was partially my fault. I got it for Christmas and left it in the cold car (hooray!) without thinking. It didn't like that. After that, it decided never to turn on again.
Example 4: My New Camera
This one isn't as bad. When it runs low on battery (as it did while I was in Mexico), it decides when and where it wants to turn on. So, if we were passing a large Gothic church being painted yellow, it was taking a nap. As soon as the church was out of sight, though, it awoke from its nap. It has new batteries now.
Example 5: This Computer (My CU Laptop)
Because I was an early enroll student, I used to have the old CU laptop. Well, when the freshmen moved in last year, I found out I could exchange it for this new one. In my opinion, it was a good trade. It doesn't have many problems - really only one. It periodically will click its own left mouse button and hold it down. (To understand the absurdity, you must realize that I have turned off the touchpad, as I hate all touchpads.) Unfortuanately, it still finds a way to cause me to drag unwanted images around the screen and highlight large sections of random text.
Example 6: The Accounting Office Printer
I work in the CU Accouting Office. They have a receipt printer that looks like it survived the first World War. It sometimes refuses to cooperate. This morning, I discovered it was jammed. This instantly darkened my day, as it is very difficult to realign the printer. This meant that it took many, many tries, too much paper, and a lot of frustration to get it back into place.
Example 7: Every Freaking Alarm In My and My Roommate's Room
My roommate has an iPod dock alarm clock. That means that he awakes to We As Human in the morning... most days. I have a normal alarm clock, and we both have cell phones with alarms. My roommate is also a light sleeper. Nevertheless, one morning (coincidentally, the day my roommate had an important Chemistry exam) the alarms slept through their alarms, apparently. Brad awoke to a phone call from one of his classmates asking him where he was. We discussed this later in the day. Neither of us remembered waking up or turning off the alarms (the radio alarm is extremely loud, mind you). Brad looked at his iPod and discovered that it had cycled through 7-8 very loud songs, though we didn't hear a thing. My alarm, which I specifically remembered setting the night before, had also been silent. I've always hated alarm clocks.
Example 8: The Phone I Owned Before My Previous Phone
This probably belongs back with the other two, but I just remembered it. This issue was mainly caused by use and age. That phone had a couple of buttons (namely the number 5) that wouldn't register when they were pressed. So I had to pound them in, which resulted in a double entry. Phones are stupid.
Example 9: All Lawnmowers
Self-explanatory
Example 10: My Toshiba Gigabeat
Yes, i own an MP3 player. It is not an iPod. In its younger rebellious years, it would turn its own sound to the maximum volume... while I was wearing the headphones. That was annoying, but I fixed the issue and it no longer troubles me anymore. It's actually one of my most reliable pieces of technology.
So there you have it - many (but not all) of my technological woes. Why they target me, I'm not sure. There was this one scholarship essay I wrote about technology. It was some scholarship sponsored bu Samsung, and it asked me to write about my thoughts on the effect of technology in the future. For some unfathomable reason, I decided it would be a good idea to write about our reliance on technology, how it has become a crutch, and the consequences in the future. Needless to say (but I'll say it, anyway), I didn't get that scholarship. In a nutshell, that is my battle with electrical appliances.
One more thing: I decided today that Dr. Crompton has the most delightful accent ever.
Example 1: My Previous Phone
This phone was fine for most of its short life. But for the last two or three months of my life, it decided not to interact with me anymore. Its screen would periodically flicker on and off, and the backlight would sometimes become completely dark. It became progressively worse until the day I moved back home from college. It then decided it no longer wanted to turn on its screen. You see, this is a problem especially with that phone, because it was a touch-dial phone. No screen meant that I had to guess the numbers I was pushing. Reading texts was nearly impossible, and I had to hope I didn't make any spelling errors while texting. Needless to say, I returned that phone (luckily, the warranty was still active).
Example 2: My Current Phone
The phone I have (for now) is, I'm quite sure, demon-possessed. Basically, what it will do is press its own touch-screen buttons. This means that it will open menus at random, send premature texts, and try to delete all my texts without my permission. There was one instance where I was trying to respond to a text, and the demon caused me to send three messages that read "-a". After that, it erased a large portion of past texts. I expect to one day receive a text from myself that will read, "lol u r as good as dead. watch ur back." That phone is basically a bratty, rebellious teenager. For anyone who was into Pokemon when they were little (don't lie - you know you loved it), it was like a traded Pokemon that wouldn't listen to you if you didn't have the right gym badge. I don't have the right gym badge.
Example 3: My Previous Camera
This was partially my fault. I got it for Christmas and left it in the cold car (hooray!) without thinking. It didn't like that. After that, it decided never to turn on again.
Example 4: My New Camera
This one isn't as bad. When it runs low on battery (as it did while I was in Mexico), it decides when and where it wants to turn on. So, if we were passing a large Gothic church being painted yellow, it was taking a nap. As soon as the church was out of sight, though, it awoke from its nap. It has new batteries now.
Example 5: This Computer (My CU Laptop)
Because I was an early enroll student, I used to have the old CU laptop. Well, when the freshmen moved in last year, I found out I could exchange it for this new one. In my opinion, it was a good trade. It doesn't have many problems - really only one. It periodically will click its own left mouse button and hold it down. (To understand the absurdity, you must realize that I have turned off the touchpad, as I hate all touchpads.) Unfortuanately, it still finds a way to cause me to drag unwanted images around the screen and highlight large sections of random text.
Example 6: The Accounting Office Printer
I work in the CU Accouting Office. They have a receipt printer that looks like it survived the first World War. It sometimes refuses to cooperate. This morning, I discovered it was jammed. This instantly darkened my day, as it is very difficult to realign the printer. This meant that it took many, many tries, too much paper, and a lot of frustration to get it back into place.
Example 7: Every Freaking Alarm In My and My Roommate's Room
My roommate has an iPod dock alarm clock. That means that he awakes to We As Human in the morning... most days. I have a normal alarm clock, and we both have cell phones with alarms. My roommate is also a light sleeper. Nevertheless, one morning (coincidentally, the day my roommate had an important Chemistry exam) the alarms slept through their alarms, apparently. Brad awoke to a phone call from one of his classmates asking him where he was. We discussed this later in the day. Neither of us remembered waking up or turning off the alarms (the radio alarm is extremely loud, mind you). Brad looked at his iPod and discovered that it had cycled through 7-8 very loud songs, though we didn't hear a thing. My alarm, which I specifically remembered setting the night before, had also been silent. I've always hated alarm clocks.
Example 8: The Phone I Owned Before My Previous Phone
This probably belongs back with the other two, but I just remembered it. This issue was mainly caused by use and age. That phone had a couple of buttons (namely the number 5) that wouldn't register when they were pressed. So I had to pound them in, which resulted in a double entry. Phones are stupid.
Example 9: All Lawnmowers
Self-explanatory
Example 10: My Toshiba Gigabeat
Yes, i own an MP3 player. It is not an iPod. In its younger rebellious years, it would turn its own sound to the maximum volume... while I was wearing the headphones. That was annoying, but I fixed the issue and it no longer troubles me anymore. It's actually one of my most reliable pieces of technology.
So there you have it - many (but not all) of my technological woes. Why they target me, I'm not sure. There was this one scholarship essay I wrote about technology. It was some scholarship sponsored bu Samsung, and it asked me to write about my thoughts on the effect of technology in the future. For some unfathomable reason, I decided it would be a good idea to write about our reliance on technology, how it has become a crutch, and the consequences in the future. Needless to say (but I'll say it, anyway), I didn't get that scholarship. In a nutshell, that is my battle with electrical appliances.
One more thing: I decided today that Dr. Crompton has the most delightful accent ever.
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
The Power of Words
Possibly my favorite book is Fahrenheit 451. It not only has a great storyline, but it also influenced/enhanced the way I viewed literature. In Fahrenheit 451, the world (or at least America) is a very different place. Televisions cover entire walls, people drive at insane speeds, and people are basically fed their information and beliefs. The most prominent aspect of this story, however, is the role of "firemen." These firemen do not extinguish fires; the role of these men is to burn any books that are found. In the world presented by Ray Bradbury, owning and reading books is prohibited by law. Essentially, people of this world do not think for themselves (or think at all). The story follows a fireman who becomes curious about books after a shocking encounter with an old woman. Unwilling to be separated from her Bible, she is burned along with the books she owns. His curiosity builds until he takes one of the books from a raid for himself. Through reading and his newly-developed ability to think, he is finally able to see what the world has become. More shocking events follow in light of his decisions and the state of the world.
This is a very rough summary of the book, and does not do it justice (understandable as the last and only time I've read it was over four years ago). However, it gave me a very strong view of the power of the written word, and in the case of Fahrenheit 451, the unread word.
The unread word carries with it a destructive power. Its limiting power withholds knowledge and squashes free thinking. Without the words of others, one does not have a base from which to jump. This is what I think of when I think of the unopened book.
The unopened book, the unread word - they are one and the same. The unread word, in relation to the "non-reader," might as well have never been written. The unopened book contains blank pages. Knowledge unheeded is nearly worthless, but knowledge unheard is no knowledge at all. This is why reading is so critical to the critical mind. It opens sealed books. It unleashes ideals, feelings, and histories. I wonder what might have happened had I not read some of the books I have read. Would I think the same, feel the same? Would I know the things I know? Would I be me at all? So I strive to open unopened books.
Even more destructive than the unopened book/unread word are the unwritten word and untold story. It is more dangerous because of the scope of its effect. Think of the most powerful and influential writings. What would have been the effect an absence of those words? It wipes out ideals, thoughts, and memories, not simply from an individual, but from all of humanity. Had Abraham not written/spoken his Gettysburg Address, what would have been the effect on all writings to follow?
When thoughts and ideas float through an thinker's mind, what will be the effect if he does not write them down? The unwritten book, the untold story - each affect both the thinker/teller and the hearer/reader. The unwritten book affects the thinker, because he is not able to make his thoughts concrete. The teller is not able to learn and grow through the telling of his story. The hearer and reader is derived of the wisdom and experience the book or story has to offer, and he is unable to grow because of this.
Unfortunately, I struggle with the unwritten word. Hopefully, this will do away with a little of that illness. Sorry if this seems like rambling. Sometimes it's difficult to reign in the thoughts in my head into something comprehensible. But it's a start, eh?
Random Question of the Day: How do you pronounce 'pajamas'? I am split between puh-ja-muhs and puh-jah-muhs. However, I had a Peanuts computer game years ago, and Charlie Brown used the latter pronunciation. I'm inclined to believe Charlie Brown.
This is a very rough summary of the book, and does not do it justice (understandable as the last and only time I've read it was over four years ago). However, it gave me a very strong view of the power of the written word, and in the case of Fahrenheit 451, the unread word.
The unread word carries with it a destructive power. Its limiting power withholds knowledge and squashes free thinking. Without the words of others, one does not have a base from which to jump. This is what I think of when I think of the unopened book.
The unopened book, the unread word - they are one and the same. The unread word, in relation to the "non-reader," might as well have never been written. The unopened book contains blank pages. Knowledge unheeded is nearly worthless, but knowledge unheard is no knowledge at all. This is why reading is so critical to the critical mind. It opens sealed books. It unleashes ideals, feelings, and histories. I wonder what might have happened had I not read some of the books I have read. Would I think the same, feel the same? Would I know the things I know? Would I be me at all? So I strive to open unopened books.
Even more destructive than the unopened book/unread word are the unwritten word and untold story. It is more dangerous because of the scope of its effect. Think of the most powerful and influential writings. What would have been the effect an absence of those words? It wipes out ideals, thoughts, and memories, not simply from an individual, but from all of humanity. Had Abraham not written/spoken his Gettysburg Address, what would have been the effect on all writings to follow?
When thoughts and ideas float through an thinker's mind, what will be the effect if he does not write them down? The unwritten book, the untold story - each affect both the thinker/teller and the hearer/reader. The unwritten book affects the thinker, because he is not able to make his thoughts concrete. The teller is not able to learn and grow through the telling of his story. The hearer and reader is derived of the wisdom and experience the book or story has to offer, and he is unable to grow because of this.
Unfortunately, I struggle with the unwritten word. Hopefully, this will do away with a little of that illness. Sorry if this seems like rambling. Sometimes it's difficult to reign in the thoughts in my head into something comprehensible. But it's a start, eh?
Random Question of the Day: How do you pronounce 'pajamas'? I am split between puh-ja-muhs and puh-jah-muhs. However, I had a Peanuts computer game years ago, and Charlie Brown used the latter pronunciation. I'm inclined to believe Charlie Brown.
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