I present the fifth and final installment of this "Mysteries of the Universe - The Dharma Initiative" documentary produced by ABC in promotion for it's sixth and final season of LOST. In my opinion, the documentary's segments went way downhill after number two, but I can't just leave you all hanging in regards to what happens, can I?
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Vegas!
...tomorrow. Today, meanwhile, was another wet one. I spent most of it in/around the library, reluctantly making copies of online articles, hunting for books, conversing with this one dumb lug who always has to be way too nice to me, drinking far too much coffee, and then peeing a proportionate amount of times. Oh, and then during workshop for my Kidd tutorial program we made this 31-year-old lady cry about her piece. She wouldn't stop. For over an hour. It was rough to watch. Must have been even worse to be her.
And now I'm back at home. It's 11:45 pm. I'm spending most of my time at/around my desk, reluctantly making copies of online articles, hunting for the ones I printed out earlier, typing a post for this one dumb blog that I always have to be way too behind on, drinking far too much water, and then later (I'm sure) peeing a disproportionate amount of times for it being the middle of the night.
But my bag is packed! And I know where I'm going! Which is just about enough to pull me through the next 16-ish hours. Turns out I've got a room all to myself Thursday evening at New York-New York, while Sean and the rest of his friends stay further down the strip at Treasure Island. The parents don't even show up until Friday. What the hell kind of trouble am I going to get myself into alone in Vegas for a night? The right kind, hopefully.
Except that hopefully isn't a word, because one literally can't be 'full of hope' as a descriptor for the way they want something to turn out. Kind of like how "decimate" actually refers to splitting something into ten pieces, and not blowing it to smithereens.
This is me being a barrel of knowledge. Don't we all love it?
all: "Yes, AJ, we love it!"
Very good.
And now I'm back at home. It's 11:45 pm. I'm spending most of my time at/around my desk, reluctantly making copies of online articles, hunting for the ones I printed out earlier, typing a post for this one dumb blog that I always have to be way too behind on, drinking far too much water, and then later (I'm sure) peeing a disproportionate amount of times for it being the middle of the night.
But my bag is packed! And I know where I'm going! Which is just about enough to pull me through the next 16-ish hours. Turns out I've got a room all to myself Thursday evening at New York-New York, while Sean and the rest of his friends stay further down the strip at Treasure Island. The parents don't even show up until Friday. What the hell kind of trouble am I going to get myself into alone in Vegas for a night? The right kind, hopefully.
Except that hopefully isn't a word, because one literally can't be 'full of hope' as a descriptor for the way they want something to turn out. Kind of like how "decimate" actually refers to splitting something into ten pieces, and not blowing it to smithereens.
This is me being a barrel of knowledge. Don't we all love it?
all: "Yes, AJ, we love it!"
Very good.
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
I love This Guy!
You've probably all seen it before, but here are some cool pictures of 3D sidewalk art, courtesy of Julian Beever. Enjoy!
There are a LOT more on his website. Google the dude.
There are a LOT more on his website. Google the dude.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
A Hook of a Title...
... to pull you right in. Not much has happened since last time, other than that I'm utterly sleep deprived for reasons that neither make me too studious nor addicted to coke.
Wait.
Was that too jarring a drug reference for an extended-family-friendly blog? Perhaps. (I seriously don't do coke. Jesus!) But it was either that or no post at all today. Just kidding. I probably could have begun by talking about something else, although it's far too late for that. We're already three (?) paragraphs into this shit!
Otherwise, school is, like, really hard. Except I'm not doing any of the work, so I don't know how it's still so hard! Again, just kidding. I am doing some of the work, but only enough to keep me sitting pretty on a pile of 'A's come week ten. I realize some of you might now deduce that I'm actually working very hard to keep up decent grades - and a pile of them, no less! - but that simply isn't the case. Here's the deal: I'm a Senior now, and I know how to do what I need to do to get by, then stop. Seventy pages of literary analysis from the course reader? No thanks. How about I read the first and last paragraphs just before class starts? One insightful comment later, and I'm on the professor's good side for a whole two hours!
Lather, rinse, and repeat.
Oh, and this weekend is Halloween, and all my friends are coming back into town! And Natalie Portman's Shaved Head is playing for free on Friday night! And I've got a sweet costume figured out! Bah! I feel I'm about one exclamation mark away from totally damning my good time, so I'm gonna quit while I'm ahead. It's off to the bars for me% *
*what I'm going to start using when I feel like I'm one exclamation mark away from totally damning my good time from now on.
Wait.
Was that too jarring a drug reference for an extended-family-friendly blog? Perhaps. (I seriously don't do coke. Jesus!) But it was either that or no post at all today. Just kidding. I probably could have begun by talking about something else, although it's far too late for that. We're already three (?) paragraphs into this shit!
Otherwise, school is, like, really hard. Except I'm not doing any of the work, so I don't know how it's still so hard! Again, just kidding. I am doing some of the work, but only enough to keep me sitting pretty on a pile of 'A's come week ten. I realize some of you might now deduce that I'm actually working very hard to keep up decent grades - and a pile of them, no less! - but that simply isn't the case. Here's the deal: I'm a Senior now, and I know how to do what I need to do to get by, then stop. Seventy pages of literary analysis from the course reader? No thanks. How about I read the first and last paragraphs just before class starts? One insightful comment later, and I'm on the professor's good side for a whole two hours!
Lather, rinse, and repeat.
Oh, and this weekend is Halloween, and all my friends are coming back into town! And Natalie Portman's Shaved Head is playing for free on Friday night! And I've got a sweet costume figured out! Bah! I feel I'm about one exclamation mark away from totally damning my good time, so I'm gonna quit while I'm ahead. It's off to the bars for me% *
*what I'm going to start using when I feel like I'm one exclamation mark away from totally damning my good time from now on.
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Thesis Crap
So on top of all the other madness that's been going down lately, most of my free time has been consumed by this horrible thing called a Thesis Prospectus, which is due in four days. Then, on November 4th, I'll present this prospectus to a jury of Honors College peers (oh God) and my thesis advisor for signed approval to begin the actual year-long project.
As such, I haven't really blogged much. What I figured I could do, then, is kinda just cheap out and copy and paste onto here the "subject" section of this fourteen-page document so you'd all know what I'll be stressing over until late May. This way, if anyone has any brilliant ideas as to any direction I could take either the research or creative portions of my final thesis project, you can let me know!
Enjoy?
Subject: I intend to explore the subject of family life in modern America, as it might be analyzed in postmodern literature. Technology – and, specifically, its increasing relevance in daily life through media, the Internet, and various methods of communication – will play a large role. The point of collision between these two most crucial elements of the 21st century is what I’ll attempt to capture through my writing. The end result will reveal how increasingly difficult it is to remain a sociable, multi-dimensional human being in an era glutted with devices and concepts that aid us in doing anything but.
In selecting an appropriately charged nexus between the issues I’d like to address, the implications of reality media (I’m hesitant to limit this discussion just to ‘reality television’) trumped all other frontrunners. It’s a law of physics that the very act of observation changes that which is being observed. What happens, then, to an identity when it is continuously subjected to the nameless face of an ever-present spectator? How would any sane individual react to their private life becoming public? Does this shift adversely affect interpersonal relationships? When considering our need for social interaction, is the family unit the only remaining milieu capable of functioning without technology’s aid?
Americans already spend a great deal of time both maintaining and tracking inauthentic digital personas. We are a society governed by a need to interact, but the methods through which we’re choosing to do so are only succeeding in isolating us further. Social networking sites – including Facebook, Twitter, and the Blogosphere – are beginning to compensate for a legitimate, authentic understanding of other human beings. Even our own personal mannerisms, interests, and daily activities – in short, that which makes us each uniquely human – are being converted into lists, links, and streaming news feeds that serve as hypersensitive testament to the knowledge that we’re all on display, all the time. Coupled with our increasing propensity for personalized entertainment – we’ll watch it when we want, where we want, how we want – and the technological means for turning everyday reality into near-instantaneous Youtube sensations, the line between spectator and spectacle is blurring.
Our collective consciousness is now more aware than ever of an all-seeing presence that governs who we know, how we behave, and what we desire. Media is defined by everything, everywhere, all the time: it’s life. The world, William Shakespeare once wrote, is a stage. As of 2009, his metaphor has taken a distressingly literal turn.
As such, I haven't really blogged much. What I figured I could do, then, is kinda just cheap out and copy and paste onto here the "subject" section of this fourteen-page document so you'd all know what I'll be stressing over until late May. This way, if anyone has any brilliant ideas as to any direction I could take either the research or creative portions of my final thesis project, you can let me know!
Enjoy?
Subject: I intend to explore the subject of family life in modern America, as it might be analyzed in postmodern literature. Technology – and, specifically, its increasing relevance in daily life through media, the Internet, and various methods of communication – will play a large role. The point of collision between these two most crucial elements of the 21st century is what I’ll attempt to capture through my writing. The end result will reveal how increasingly difficult it is to remain a sociable, multi-dimensional human being in an era glutted with devices and concepts that aid us in doing anything but.
In selecting an appropriately charged nexus between the issues I’d like to address, the implications of reality media (I’m hesitant to limit this discussion just to ‘reality television’) trumped all other frontrunners. It’s a law of physics that the very act of observation changes that which is being observed. What happens, then, to an identity when it is continuously subjected to the nameless face of an ever-present spectator? How would any sane individual react to their private life becoming public? Does this shift adversely affect interpersonal relationships? When considering our need for social interaction, is the family unit the only remaining milieu capable of functioning without technology’s aid?
Americans already spend a great deal of time both maintaining and tracking inauthentic digital personas. We are a society governed by a need to interact, but the methods through which we’re choosing to do so are only succeeding in isolating us further. Social networking sites – including Facebook, Twitter, and the Blogosphere – are beginning to compensate for a legitimate, authentic understanding of other human beings. Even our own personal mannerisms, interests, and daily activities – in short, that which makes us each uniquely human – are being converted into lists, links, and streaming news feeds that serve as hypersensitive testament to the knowledge that we’re all on display, all the time. Coupled with our increasing propensity for personalized entertainment – we’ll watch it when we want, where we want, how we want – and the technological means for turning everyday reality into near-instantaneous Youtube sensations, the line between spectator and spectacle is blurring.
Our collective consciousness is now more aware than ever of an all-seeing presence that governs who we know, how we behave, and what we desire. Media is defined by everything, everywhere, all the time: it’s life. The world, William Shakespeare once wrote, is a stage. As of 2009, his metaphor has taken a distressingly literal turn.
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Thursday, October 15, 2009
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