Bleh, deleted my last entry by somehow highlighting the entire thing and hitting a letter key. Oh joy. Anyway, to sum up... I'm not going to fill in the blanks. Misleading, no? But some things to keep in mind:
1. Don't listen to the advice of the miserable. For instance, existentialism may be closer to "right" than anything we know, but if that's right I'd encourage you to be wrong anyday.
2. I've preached the "anti-gossip" sermon before, but I just thought I'd remind you. It's easier if you just don't worry about other people unless they need to be worried about.
3. Communicate what you mean. Please. Be as direct as possible. Don't hide things. Don't wait for people to pick up on them. Speak! Make sure people understand exactly what you mean. It's why I use smileys, to further express myself. To get closer to the true feeling. Sure they're really annoying, but they serve a purpose. So for crying out loud, talk!
4. As always, be happy, do happy, make happy.
Friday, October 29
Thursday, October 28
Recycling Makes Cents (2 down...)
(Prompt: Choose arts and literature, business and politics, or science and technology and discuss its value to society and a one of its specific problems. Given unlimited manpower and funds for 10 years, how would you maximize its benefit to society?)
Something that always amazes me is the mass of individual bubbles we surround ourselves with. We think in such localized terms with little thought given to the future of humanity. It’s simply a fact of the human experience. Thus, when issues such as environmental awareness come up, most people give it the typical lip service associated with such acts of goodwill. “That’s a wonderful idea, I completely agree. I’m just so busy, I can’t find time to recycle. Sorting the materials, finding a location to deposit them, driving home, it all takes so much time! I wish you the best of luck though, keep on doing good work.” Then they drive away in their football field-sized SUV, on their way to buy a few bags of Styrofoam peanuts to dump into a nearby polluted stream in order to “watch the fish get tricked into eating fake bread.” Ridiculous hyperbole, I know, but the point is made. If most people, myself included, aren’t given an economic reason to protect the environment they’re just not going to start anytime soon.
Now, you may be thinking at this moment, “this guy’s a crazy liberal who’s out to insert an agenda and a completely irrelevant topic into a essay just so he’ll have an easy time thinking up a problem.” While I won’t disagree with the “crazy liberal’ part, I think this issue has an incredible amount of relevance to business and politics. Business and politics are the vessels our society uses to live and evolve. Political movements raise awareness and slowly shape the way we think. Business provides the occupations and products to keep society working. Arts and literature are forms of expression and pastimes that are often overlooked by the average person. Science and technology are accepted without question: if it works and makes me happy, I don’t care how or why. They have little relevance to the individual. Relatively few people think of the arts, literature, science and technology; everyone thinks of business and politics. And that is precisely why it is absolutely necessary to integrate environmental awareness into the public eye and create business incentives to participate.
Wait a minute. There are already environmental incentives for businesses. And a politician can’t get elected unless he at least mentions his adoration for the outdoors and perhaps a clandestine midnight affair embracing some mighty elm that played a pivotal role in his arduous childhood. But those factors are too broad and arbitrary to apply to John Q. Public. What we need is a policy that affects each and every person.
What a coincidence! It seems I’ve unlimited funds and resources to accomplish such a lofty goal. Initially I thought that with such resources anything short of an absolute utopia would be a failure of vision and creativity on my part. But if there’s one thing economics has taught me, it’s that money and men only make the situation proportionally more complex as the amount involved increases. Thus, with unlimited funds and manpower, I ought to establish an unlimited amount of economical chaos. As appealing as that may sound, I’ll have to contain myself to a more realistic approach (which, relatively speaking, isn’t saying much).
Now, I’ve admitted I’m a liberal. The enormous burden of responsibility placed upon me by that almost masochistic ideology is enough to inspire me to conserve gas and recycle as much as I can. But liberal guilt trips don’t faze the average person. That extra thirty minutes a week that such a colossal endeavor as recycling requires are thirty minutes of quality reality TV lost forever, never to be regained. Oxymoron aside, people have other priorities, making money generally foremost among them. So the logical conclusion is to combine the two.
My idea would be to provide more incentives for businesses to use recycled materials and for individuals to provide them. In time, with future advances in technology, it might become a self-sufficient relationship. At the moment, though, I’m not leaving the matter at the whim of the Magical Invisible Hand of Market. What needs to be done is for overt, obvious recycling areas to be available practically everywhere. I don’t mean hidden in some dark labyrinth of back alleys behind the neighborhood mega-grocery store like mine. They need to be glaringly obvious. Perhaps there can be gigantic patriotic monuments made out of recycled materials indicating every available area. Or maybe they’ll just be neon pink. At any rate, they’ll be noticeable to everyone.
All good business ventures need high quality advertising. Although “Don’t Throw Down on K-Town” is lovely little motto, billboards just don’t have the mind numbing flair that TV commercials do. Of course, these commercials will not be paltry local efforts written and directed by Mr. Fleisman’s 6th grade Science Class. No, these will have action, adventure, romance, and possibly even pirates (they certainly beat the “hippie” mascot). Picture an epic pirate siege onto a garbage barge searching for buried treasure in the form of cans, bottles, and cardboard. After their victorious foray they redeem their booty for doubloons, toaster ovens, and all the vodka they want, demonstrating what one misses by not recycling. Obviously this is for the Monday Night Football Crowd; a variety of other alternatives will be available for other demographics.
So the people are hooked. Here’s where the incentives comes in. In the days of yore, I believe people were often paid for bringing their materials to local recycling establishments. Perhaps that service is still offered in some magical distant land, but here in the Ville of Knox, I know of no such facility. This is probably because I haven’t looked (once again enforcing the purpose of the advertising). But even if I did look, I’m sure I’d find some Mom and Pop shop that barely pays for the gas money. No, I’m talking big incentives. Not quite enough to encourage people to drink soda just for the privilege of getting can money, but so close you can taste it. This will be sold very cheaply to businesses who ought to jump at the opportunity to save money (call it a hunch). Since I’ve only got the next ten years, the price will gradually be increased until it becomes self-sufficient: the businesses pay the individuals for the materials. As mentioned above, by that time it’s hoped technology will be in place that makes this possible. In time, even more materials can hopefully be recycled. If it worked for Seinfeld, why not Styrofoam, complete automobiles, and, dare I say it, junk mail (plastic wrappers and all).
There’s my plan. What has it accomplished? It’s provided extra income for individuals. It’s provided cheap resources for businesses. It’s helped the environment. It’s entertained people. And, perhaps most importantly, it’s helped pirate PR everywhere. I’d call that a success any way you look at it.
Something that always amazes me is the mass of individual bubbles we surround ourselves with. We think in such localized terms with little thought given to the future of humanity. It’s simply a fact of the human experience. Thus, when issues such as environmental awareness come up, most people give it the typical lip service associated with such acts of goodwill. “That’s a wonderful idea, I completely agree. I’m just so busy, I can’t find time to recycle. Sorting the materials, finding a location to deposit them, driving home, it all takes so much time! I wish you the best of luck though, keep on doing good work.” Then they drive away in their football field-sized SUV, on their way to buy a few bags of Styrofoam peanuts to dump into a nearby polluted stream in order to “watch the fish get tricked into eating fake bread.” Ridiculous hyperbole, I know, but the point is made. If most people, myself included, aren’t given an economic reason to protect the environment they’re just not going to start anytime soon.
Now, you may be thinking at this moment, “this guy’s a crazy liberal who’s out to insert an agenda and a completely irrelevant topic into a essay just so he’ll have an easy time thinking up a problem.” While I won’t disagree with the “crazy liberal’ part, I think this issue has an incredible amount of relevance to business and politics. Business and politics are the vessels our society uses to live and evolve. Political movements raise awareness and slowly shape the way we think. Business provides the occupations and products to keep society working. Arts and literature are forms of expression and pastimes that are often overlooked by the average person. Science and technology are accepted without question: if it works and makes me happy, I don’t care how or why. They have little relevance to the individual. Relatively few people think of the arts, literature, science and technology; everyone thinks of business and politics. And that is precisely why it is absolutely necessary to integrate environmental awareness into the public eye and create business incentives to participate.
Wait a minute. There are already environmental incentives for businesses. And a politician can’t get elected unless he at least mentions his adoration for the outdoors and perhaps a clandestine midnight affair embracing some mighty elm that played a pivotal role in his arduous childhood. But those factors are too broad and arbitrary to apply to John Q. Public. What we need is a policy that affects each and every person.
What a coincidence! It seems I’ve unlimited funds and resources to accomplish such a lofty goal. Initially I thought that with such resources anything short of an absolute utopia would be a failure of vision and creativity on my part. But if there’s one thing economics has taught me, it’s that money and men only make the situation proportionally more complex as the amount involved increases. Thus, with unlimited funds and manpower, I ought to establish an unlimited amount of economical chaos. As appealing as that may sound, I’ll have to contain myself to a more realistic approach (which, relatively speaking, isn’t saying much).
Now, I’ve admitted I’m a liberal. The enormous burden of responsibility placed upon me by that almost masochistic ideology is enough to inspire me to conserve gas and recycle as much as I can. But liberal guilt trips don’t faze the average person. That extra thirty minutes a week that such a colossal endeavor as recycling requires are thirty minutes of quality reality TV lost forever, never to be regained. Oxymoron aside, people have other priorities, making money generally foremost among them. So the logical conclusion is to combine the two.
My idea would be to provide more incentives for businesses to use recycled materials and for individuals to provide them. In time, with future advances in technology, it might become a self-sufficient relationship. At the moment, though, I’m not leaving the matter at the whim of the Magical Invisible Hand of Market. What needs to be done is for overt, obvious recycling areas to be available practically everywhere. I don’t mean hidden in some dark labyrinth of back alleys behind the neighborhood mega-grocery store like mine. They need to be glaringly obvious. Perhaps there can be gigantic patriotic monuments made out of recycled materials indicating every available area. Or maybe they’ll just be neon pink. At any rate, they’ll be noticeable to everyone.
All good business ventures need high quality advertising. Although “Don’t Throw Down on K-Town” is lovely little motto, billboards just don’t have the mind numbing flair that TV commercials do. Of course, these commercials will not be paltry local efforts written and directed by Mr. Fleisman’s 6th grade Science Class. No, these will have action, adventure, romance, and possibly even pirates (they certainly beat the “hippie” mascot). Picture an epic pirate siege onto a garbage barge searching for buried treasure in the form of cans, bottles, and cardboard. After their victorious foray they redeem their booty for doubloons, toaster ovens, and all the vodka they want, demonstrating what one misses by not recycling. Obviously this is for the Monday Night Football Crowd; a variety of other alternatives will be available for other demographics.
So the people are hooked. Here’s where the incentives comes in. In the days of yore, I believe people were often paid for bringing their materials to local recycling establishments. Perhaps that service is still offered in some magical distant land, but here in the Ville of Knox, I know of no such facility. This is probably because I haven’t looked (once again enforcing the purpose of the advertising). But even if I did look, I’m sure I’d find some Mom and Pop shop that barely pays for the gas money. No, I’m talking big incentives. Not quite enough to encourage people to drink soda just for the privilege of getting can money, but so close you can taste it. This will be sold very cheaply to businesses who ought to jump at the opportunity to save money (call it a hunch). Since I’ve only got the next ten years, the price will gradually be increased until it becomes self-sufficient: the businesses pay the individuals for the materials. As mentioned above, by that time it’s hoped technology will be in place that makes this possible. In time, even more materials can hopefully be recycled. If it worked for Seinfeld, why not Styrofoam, complete automobiles, and, dare I say it, junk mail (plastic wrappers and all).
There’s my plan. What has it accomplished? It’s provided extra income for individuals. It’s provided cheap resources for businesses. It’s helped the environment. It’s entertained people. And, perhaps most importantly, it’s helped pirate PR everywhere. I’d call that a success any way you look at it.
Quick Note
Tonight is for college essays. Tomorrow is for clearing things up. Until then Be happy, do happy, make happy. Please?
Wwhhaaa? Leadership For Me? Never! (For UT)
For most of my years at West High School, I was content to have a very passive role in school activities. I was in Marching Band, I joined Mu Alpha Thaeda (which I became President of this year), and I participated in National Honors Society. But for the most part, I came home everyday after school and moped at home, aimless, for hours. Even though the lack of obligations was nice, it became quite boring, quite fast. I wanted something more. I wanted some after-school activity that I could look forward to every week. I wanted something fun.
The task proved quite daunting. Like all high schools, West has numerous clubs. However, none seemed to really fit me. The Student Council seemed to have as much to do with leadership as politics has to do with morality. Singing songs and organizing dances I’d never go to wouldn’t do. The Academic Team seemed my sort of “sport’, but it sounded too much like a trivia contest with emphasis on reflexes, entirely too stressful and arduous than what I wanted. There were many others, such as FCA and DECA, but none suited my objectives. So I took matters into my own hands and decided to start my own club after a favorite pastime of mine: Board and Card gaming.
My dream was a laidback, stress-free club where the main motivation would certainly not be a college resume (the irony of me writing this paper on the experience is duly noted). The sole purpose would be enjoyment. A revolutionary concept, I know, but it was exactly what I wanted. My friends responded quite favorably, so I next set my sights on a sponsor. I talked to one of my favorite teachers, Mr. Petko, and he was quite enthusiastic about the idea. His words were something like, “I think one of the best things about West is that is has something for everyone.” Even those of "slightly unconventional tastes" like me.
Now all I needed was a witty advertising campaign to get out the good word! All products need a name, so I spent a surprising amount of time trying to find something that fit. I sought many opinions with results ranging from the “Gaming Club” to “Bored Gaming”, but as we neither shot pheasants nor slept through the entire thing, neither were apt. Then, one of my friends had an epiphany: The Cardboard Club. It was genius! And, like all genius, I soon corrupted it into a horrible pun, as evidenced by my first poster idea: Red title reading “Communism got you down?” Insert Picture of sad stick figure and Communist flag. “Try Laissez Faire!” Insert that staple of American ideology and leisure, The Uncle Pennybags Monopoly Logo. Then, at the bottom, “Are you Cardboard material?” Painful, and iconoclastic, I know, but that was the sort of odd, witty, entertaining thing I wanted to create.
The club went, and has gone, remarkably well. There isn’t a large member base, but the people who do come are quite dedicated. We have a great time working on our social skills, learning to function as a team, and facing disappointment. But mostly we just have fun. Founding and leading the Cardboard Club is definitely my best experience at West. It’s practically my legacy, and I hope it will remain at West for years to come.
The task proved quite daunting. Like all high schools, West has numerous clubs. However, none seemed to really fit me. The Student Council seemed to have as much to do with leadership as politics has to do with morality. Singing songs and organizing dances I’d never go to wouldn’t do. The Academic Team seemed my sort of “sport’, but it sounded too much like a trivia contest with emphasis on reflexes, entirely too stressful and arduous than what I wanted. There were many others, such as FCA and DECA, but none suited my objectives. So I took matters into my own hands and decided to start my own club after a favorite pastime of mine: Board and Card gaming.
My dream was a laidback, stress-free club where the main motivation would certainly not be a college resume (the irony of me writing this paper on the experience is duly noted). The sole purpose would be enjoyment. A revolutionary concept, I know, but it was exactly what I wanted. My friends responded quite favorably, so I next set my sights on a sponsor. I talked to one of my favorite teachers, Mr. Petko, and he was quite enthusiastic about the idea. His words were something like, “I think one of the best things about West is that is has something for everyone.” Even those of "slightly unconventional tastes" like me.
Now all I needed was a witty advertising campaign to get out the good word! All products need a name, so I spent a surprising amount of time trying to find something that fit. I sought many opinions with results ranging from the “Gaming Club” to “Bored Gaming”, but as we neither shot pheasants nor slept through the entire thing, neither were apt. Then, one of my friends had an epiphany: The Cardboard Club. It was genius! And, like all genius, I soon corrupted it into a horrible pun, as evidenced by my first poster idea: Red title reading “Communism got you down?” Insert Picture of sad stick figure and Communist flag. “Try Laissez Faire!” Insert that staple of American ideology and leisure, The Uncle Pennybags Monopoly Logo. Then, at the bottom, “Are you Cardboard material?” Painful, and iconoclastic, I know, but that was the sort of odd, witty, entertaining thing I wanted to create.
The club went, and has gone, remarkably well. There isn’t a large member base, but the people who do come are quite dedicated. We have a great time working on our social skills, learning to function as a team, and facing disappointment. But mostly we just have fun. Founding and leading the Cardboard Club is definitely my best experience at West. It’s practically my legacy, and I hope it will remain at West for years to come.
Wednesday, October 27
I HATE CONFRONTATIONS
I HATE THEM. I HATE THEM ALMOST ENOUGH TO DROP THE BLASTED F-BOMB. I'M INCREDIBLY TEMPTED. I HATE THEM. HATE THEM HATE THEM HATE THEM.
And the worst part is when they go awry, when someone is inconvenienced, when everyone is not happy because of something that results from them, I get so incredibly conflicted my mind immediately resorts to suicide. I just want the conflict to stop through any method necessary. I want it to end and never, ever, ever occur again. Even for the most trivial affairs. Confrontations drive me absolutely crazy. When others are inconvenienced, annoyed, hurt, inflamed whatever because of something that transpired by me needing something... RAWR!
In case you didn't notice, the stress is turning up. College essays need to be done SOON. And I've got that blasted Shakespeare project to hang over me. And then I turn around and high school's practically done. I feel like cursing. My inability to is only making matters worse. *Imagines glove* I sure hope this works...
And the worst part is when they go awry, when someone is inconvenienced, when everyone is not happy because of something that results from them, I get so incredibly conflicted my mind immediately resorts to suicide. I just want the conflict to stop through any method necessary. I want it to end and never, ever, ever occur again. Even for the most trivial affairs. Confrontations drive me absolutely crazy. When others are inconvenienced, annoyed, hurt, inflamed whatever because of something that transpired by me needing something... RAWR!
In case you didn't notice, the stress is turning up. College essays need to be done SOON. And I've got that blasted Shakespeare project to hang over me. And then I turn around and high school's practically done. I feel like cursing. My inability to is only making matters worse. *Imagines glove* I sure hope this works...
Tuesday, October 26
A Cautionary Note
I'd like to apologize in advance for a few things I may say when a certain "Catherine Kronk" is involved. It's a hate-hate-hate relationship we have going that is entirely too entertaining to taint with "tact" and "proper self-restraint." So when you see me say things like "I'll kill the cat" I mean it completely facetiously. You all know I drown cats, and it is their lack of ability to breathe in water that kills them, not me. See? There I go again. So I'm sorry. But Catherine deserves it. Because she doesn't wear pants. I'm sure you'd do the same in my position too.
*Smacks David* No David! Insult, chastise, ricidule! We don't stare! Catherine, for Allah's sake, put on some clothes! You're corrupting the youth.
*Smacks David* No David! Insult, chastise, ricidule! We don't stare! Catherine, for Allah's sake, put on some clothes! You're corrupting the youth.
Monday, October 25
Of Conflicts and Things
Well, I think I've figured out one of my more significant flaws. I'm more intimidated by the actual conflict than any of the possible outcomes. I'm a fatalist, a stoic; I can take what Fate hands me. It's the idea that I can change that Fate, and that I'll be responsible for doing so, that causes me such fits. If I remember that no outcome is all that bad, perhaps I won't get so anxious about conflict. In fact, it's inspiration for my speech:( "All we have to fear is fear itself." For so long I couldn't understand Roosevelt's words. I thought ,"Surely they're just oversimplifying a complex situation to provide some sort of solace from the horrors of reality." But I think I've figured it out. Roosevelt is saying no situation is so bad that we cannot persevere, or at least try to overcome our obstacles. Fear only hinders our ability to do so. Don't fear failure, fear the fear of failure. Dream the impossible dream; don't fear the inevitable. Work for an impossible goal. What have you got to lose?) Etc. I'll add in lots of failures, to make it funny and pessimistic, keeping with my goal. It's good to realize my problem with stress, though. Maybe I can work on getting past it.