Honey.... I'm Home!

So, that was interesting.


Not the first time I've ever lost interest in something temporarily, nor probably the last. But it was a fun two months of schoolwork and exams. Oh, and Work. I probably shouldn't complain, because I have a job in this economy, and it's paying well. So, been having fun, otherwise.


Makes me wonder, though. What was it, in the development of our civilization, that made us need jobs, in the way that we do now? In times of old, they didn't have cubicle farms. What the hell is a cubicle farm for, anyways? See the Anekdote zur Senkung der Arbeitsmoral.


Well, more on that later... Oh, by the way, I won't be posting anymore for the rest of the month. Starting up again next month.


Words cannot describe...

Happy Days, Oh Happy Days

Today was A-WE-SO. Oh wait, I was there! So it was A-WE-SO-ME! For you illiterates, it was jut plain Awesome.

First of all, I got to sleep in. And who doesn't like sleeping in? After rousing, I realized, It's My Birthday! Thank you to all those out across the interwebs that wished me a happy one. Woe betide those of you that didn't!

Then the next best thing happened. I was called. With a Job Offer. Can this day get any better?

Almost! School finally got back to me on some paperwork I submitted. I was told we were going out for dinner, and that I got to choose where. Until I was told,"No, not there"... Bah Humbug.

Well, got some things I wanted. A mouse (mine crapped out on me [same night as my trac-pad]), and Fluxx, this awesome card game I've played before.

So, all in all, a pretty good day.

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Underground

What a fun weekend.

Last few days, I was off with my old Scout Troop, out in ze Wilderness. We stayed at Mississippi Palisades State Park, in western Illinois. On Saturday, we headed across the border to Maquoketa Caves State Park in that weird state they call I-Oh-Waaaay. There we proceeded to dive into bottomless pits, underground rivers, and bat-infested hell-holes.

AHHH! A BAT!

Ok, it wasn't a Bat-infested Hell-hole... It was actually rather nice. I'd been there twice before (aaaaages ago), and actually got a chance to spelunk in a few that I'd been in before, along with a few that I hadn't.

More Cave

So, it was pretty cool going there. The weather was great, nice and sunny. We ate GREAT. For dinner, me and the other leaders had Ribs and Cornbread. Oh God...It was an orgasmic food experience... It was AWESOME. Oh, and I think the scouts had fun too...

Oh, and did I tell you? We saw the Easter Bunny on a Motorcycle.

One Badass Bunny.

Well, night all, have fun. Don't worry about the things that go "BUMP" in the night. It's just me.

Words cannot describe...

Still a-Job Huntin'

Have not found 'er yet.

Been submitting applications left and right. It's not even funneh. It is not at all. Not even funny enough for me to use the internet Lol-speak to describe it. This is just one big box of Seri-O's.

Ok... Enough of that. I sound like an idiot if I descend into that. No time...

What was I talking about before? Oh yes, job hunting. As I was saying, been submitting some applications around. Nowhere near as many as I should be, of course... Set up a LinkedIn account, since I've had trouble in the past sitting down and writing out a resumé, so I made an account there, hoping it might help. Well, so far, so good.

Really should get back ou. Should get off the computer and get out there...

Words cannot describe...

In Lieu of a Title...

Ahhhhh... A refreshing week off.

And for the most part, I actually did what I planned on doing. I got more sleep. Come to think of it, I'm not sure I remember the last time I saw the sun come up on a weekend...

Certainly didn't this time around!

Today I'd like to talk to you about: [voiceover] Books [/voiceover].

Been reading quite a bit lately. Certainly more than I have in the past couple months, which frankly, is rather Odd for me. Been reading books from the "Dragonriders of Pern" series of books by Anne McCaffrey. Really good books, the ones I've read. Though I can't seem to get my hands on the Original Trilogy at my local library, but the different parts of the series are stretched across many centuries, so it's not required to understand them at all. Not like the TV series Lost, or Prison Break, which, if you come in in the middle of them, well, the former describes it perfectly. You'd be lost.

Another one I've been mulling over right now is the sociological-introductory book "The McDonaldization of Society". Wow. Just, Wow. Not even through it yet, and you can really see and understand the examples that Ritzer give in this book... Pick it up.

Anyways, enough of my ramblings for tonight...

Words cannot describe...

Nadda

Sorry guys and gals (the 2-3 people that even glance at this), I'm skipping this week.

I had a pretty hectic weekend, filled with work, denied job applications, emails and Star Wars, so I'm taking a break and hitting the hay about 3 hours earlier than usual.

As compensation, look at some Cracked stuff...

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Observations II

Last Sunday, I mentioned that I had some Observation Days coming up at my old grade school. Well, I've done two days of it (only 4½ Hours, though) of observation, and I must say, my former teachers had an amazing amount of patience...

On Monday, I went and sat in on one of the First Grade classes for an hour 'n a half. Those kids do not need extra sugar... They were bouncing off the walls at times. I also sat in on a Kindergarten class for about an hour that day. They were (surprisingly) more mature than the first-graders, it seemed.

Today, say in on the Fourth Grade class of Mrs. Johnson. This is a dedicated teacher. She was my Fourth Grade teacher, so you know she's been around for a while. I knew some of the students from outside of the school (mostly from Scouts), so she enjoyed the opportunity of regaling them with a story of my time in her class... Whoo boy...

But all in all, this has been a very interesting experience. I do have to do a few more hours, and need to do a few more by next week, so I do need to get on the ball.

Words cannot describe...

Observations

So tomorrow, I have the pleasure of going back to my old Elementary School. No, this isn't because I failed out of College. This semester, I am taking an "Introduction to Teaching" Class, and this class requires that I go out and observe other Teachers-in-action.

This doesn't seem to be too bad, except that I'm nervous as hell. Even though I don't live to far from the school, and I occasionally run into the teachers and current students, I just don't want royally screw it up, or anything... I am quite happy that the principal, Mrs. Bosnak, is graciously allowing me to come back for the visit. Especially since she still remembers me as a student...

I hope things go alright tomorrow. Wish me luck!

Oh, and if there are are any parents out there that ever read this, do not worry! I will not corrupt your children's minds. I am only observing, not teaching. =D

Words cannot describe...

Look'it That... (Randomness)

Not even one week, does he last.

Well that's what you thought!! It is going to be tough keeping to this schedule, but I gotta do it. Tonight was a little tricky; I didn't quite know what to write.

I could talk about a number of things, really.

For example, I could talk about Comics. Yes, Yes, I am a bit of a Comic Nerd. No, not to the extent that I can name the color of the hat that the alter-ego of in Issue without reading it on someplace like Wikipedia. No, my specialty is Webcomics. I have a number of favorites, and a few I've been reading for a few years now.

Well, one of the ones I've been reading for a while now, Goblins, is having a little competition, so to speak. The author (pen-name Thunt) is asking for all you budding writers to come up with a comical variation of this week's comic. I'm curious to see what people come up with too. Image is below, post them at the author's forums HERE. Have fun.

Then again, I could instead talk about how one of my favorite games, RuneScape recently (well, today) redid a major game aspect. They have increased the number of Health-points by a factor of 10. Of course, they have also changed the damage done by weapons by the same, but one cannot help but be amazed by seeing a "552" hit on a monster, when "55" used to be your more typical number.

If you want to see something truly amazing, though, you should take a look at the game's Recent Updates Forum... Just scanning the titles of the threads within, you can see a number of the immature responses on this update. I mean, seriously; It's only a multiplication of 10, and it means their combat formula will no longer have to floor on a non-integer. E.g., instead of rounding to 33 on a 33. 4 or 45 on a 45.9, it will now do 334 and 459, respectively; So quit whining.

But since those are boring topics, I could do something else, like give a blatant plug... An old friend of mine (I went to Elementary and High School with the guy) formed a duo, The Bearing, with another guy sometime last October. I've listened to the music they have out, and in my opinion, they're not half bad. They definitely have potential. Anyways, they're releasing a Debut EP next Friday. You should check them out.

So, in lieu of anything all that mind stimulating, I'm going to give you two little pieces of mind candy. You might not find it funny, but for what ever reason, I found both of them quite hilarious. Have fun.

See you Sunday.

Words cannot describe...

New Update Sched

I've been meaning to get into more of a habit about updating here...

Nothing more frustrating than looking here every so often and seeing that the last post was from a few months ago...

So to do that, I'm going to start updating every Sunday and Wednesday. Sunday will probably be a bit more in-depth than the Wednesday one, but we'll see how this works out...

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Philosoraptor Series #1: Colonization

First off, I want to welcome you all to this new series of discussions, inspired by our good friend, the Philosoraptor. In this series of discussions, I will, at the very least try to, provoke thoughtful response on a number of questions from a broad range of topics. Some of these topics will be on subjects that concern us now, such as political observations, to things that will likely not affect us until even I am dead and in the dirt.

If you see something worthy of note, please let me know. If your views are differently, tell me, and, tell me why. The very reason philosophy exists is to try and change another's viewpoint. Something said here could very well change completely my, or someone else's, view. Also, please keep in mind that I, for the most part, speak in generalities, and if you find error, please alert me of such.

Anyways, on to the meat of the post.

In popular culture of science-fiction, we are presented with scenarios and occurrences that, while unlikely, could theoretically happen. This will range from the "mundane", a base on the Moon and genetic engineering, to the "don't-count-on-it", of galactic domination and time-travel. But since this tends to form narratives of what could be, we can use this to model our actions against.

While reading [or watching] the typical Science-Fiction, we see a theme for the Colonization of Space, which often follows the fairly simple formula of: (Earth invents Space-Travel → Earth colonizes known Universe → Humans / Universe Prospers → Earth made Political Center of Universe.) Examples of this include the entire Star Trek universe, and the Ender's Game series by Orson Scott Card.

Now while this formula is good and all, why do we always suppose that things will be so peachy keen? One supposes that if Earth was to form a colony elsewhere, be it Mars or the Moon, we would expect that colony to produce, through means of money or resources, for the government or organization that provided its means of existence. It's a question of "Why Invest, if we get Nothing from it?" That is by all means a legitimate question, as it is human nature to want to "get something out of it", to receive payment on an initial investment. But at what point will the colony change from nothing more than a resource mine, to a sovereign Nation-state or Planet? Will there be a set time-frame for this? Or will it happen through Revolution?

I say this because there is ample precedents in our history, precedents that are rather hard to ignore. The easiest example I can give (because of where I live) would probably be the colonization of North America by Britain. Up until the 1760's, the Americas had primarily been a Resource Mine, to coin a term. They were used to provide cotton, sugar, and other raw materials were shipped to England, and was then sent back in the form of manufactured goods.

An example of the Atlantic Triangular Trade. (Click for Larger Image)

[Source: Google/http://lylesj.tripod.com/trade/tritrade.html]

As time went on, tensions increased and came to a boiling point with the 1765 Stamp Act. The events that followed led to the formation of the United States as we know it.

To bring us back on point, what can we learn from this? From the way I see it, if we simply engage in the act of colonialism with the intention of enslaving some place that is not currently "ours", either the colony will fail, or we will gain little more than an embittered colony population and another chance for warfare. But, if we keep ourselves aware, and our eye on the endgame, we can allow said colony to become sovereign after a set time. Better to plan for it, than to cause it to happen through war.

For those of you Reading this, what are your views? If/When humans colonize extra-terrestrial regions, what should be their course of action? How should this be brought about? At what point is it appropriate to let go of something that is advantageous to you? Leave your responses in the comment section below. Man, Is that how RayWilliamJohnson feels when he says that?

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Philosophically Speaking...

Alrighty, it's been a good long time since I last posted here, and I think it's time I change that.

For a little info of what's been going on lately...
I've started my Fourth Semester of College, with 17 Credit Hours this time around.
I had a good Holiday Break.
I've been going nuts and having fun with my classes.

Ok, so that's enough. It's "a little", and it's really all you need to know. Besides that, I've been thinking in a philosophical way as of late. Which I suppose is rather odd, considering I've never taken a philosophy class, or anything of the like, in my life up to this point. And going on from there, I would like to know what others think of these philosophical musings I've been having.

This is where you, the reader comes in. Now I make no grand assumptions that "I speak therefor you listen" is in play here. I know quite well that very few eyes have ever alighted on this Blog. But if there is any chance for these questions to be answered, I need them to be thought about. So if you do happen to see them, please give the courtesy of making me aware of your presence, please.

That being said, I shall see you all very soon, barring any mishap.

Words cannot describe...