the weather

Recently, there was a delightful snow storm that dumped about six inches of powdery white goodness all over the ground. Now, since I used to live in Maine, I am sort of used to it. Yes, I hated shoveling the snow. I usually over-exerted my back. I remember I had to take 1600mg of ibuprofen to alleviate the pain. That was the past, but I remember I had to shovel snow extensively every winter. I'm surprised I didn't destroy my kidneys.

Then I enlisted for four years in the Marine Corps, and I spent two of those years in a sub-tropical island. I remember I landed in Okinawa on December 26^th, and it was 76 degrees. I loved it. No more shoveling! Hooray!

I come back to this country, and the winters were literal cake-walks. They barely got cold. In fact, the winters in Maine and Illinois were balmy. For a short while, it would get below 25 degrees. That, to me, is cold. However, those periods only lasted about three weeks.

Cut to this winter, everything changes. Perhaps, I should say everything switches back to how they used to be. Whenever a "severe" snow storm was on the horizon, the news outlets would go insane with Chicken Little overreactions. They sky was falling! It is going to be freezing! Don't leave your houses! I think to myself snow is part of a normal winter. Whenever a news program goes bananas over the "severe" winter weather, what they are really reporting is the fact that winter weather -- real winter weather -- is a thing of the past, and to experience real winter weather is a rarity. People just got used to tepid winter seasons.

Winters are getting warmer. Winters are not supposed to be balmy in the northern regions of this country. One Christmas I had to shovel, and it was 60 degrees. Wow.

Another thing about this new (old) phenomenon is that whenever there is a span of real winter weather all the naysayers, who don't believe in global warming, scream at the top of their lungs and say that global warming isn't real. Of course, when there is twenty consecutive days of 100+ degree weather, category-5 hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, and years of droughts over whole sections of this country, they are oddly silent. Curious.

Global warming is real. I remember hearing these conversations when I was four years old, back in 1984. Of course, Americans didn't do a damn thing about it because we were too busy driving our gas-guzzling cars, eating, and shopping. Apathy will get us nowhere. Except a planet overflowing with garbage and nothing else.

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the internet is not for porn, but for unnecessary ads, pop-ups, and malware

I think it is hypocritical of the New York Times to cry chicken-little about a highly virulent worm that is wreaking havoc with computers across the world, but then barrage my eyes and psyche with a full-page banner for Verizon. WTF?

Firefox with ad-block is a beautiful thing. I can only imagine how many pendulous titties I didn't see because of that program. Anyway, I looked at the tallies for ads blocked not too long ago, and some of them are in the tens of thousands. Bullshit. Where are the ad-free online spaces? Does everything have to try to sell me something? Is there really some huge-tittied girl out there for me? Does she care I like to sword-fight? No. They are autonomous ads that only care about invading my spaces and my brain and only making money for the site they are on.

The Internet won't die because of trolls. It will die because it is slowly becoming like commercial television. Only, it will be more annoying because commercials on TV are easy to ignore; if, by fast-forwarding through them because they are on a DVR, or just changing the channel. Ads on the internet are invasive, clog up computer hard drives, slow down connection speeds, and soon enough (probably because ad companies are trying to get laws passed, or trying to develop pervasive permanent ads for computers, or both) will be impossible to ignore.

So sad.

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Non-existant punctuation causes confusion, laughter

Egads! I was riding the bus today to Parkland college because it is the first day of classes, and I was staring out the bus window, only half-paying attention to the outside scenery. My bus went by a church, and church signs are pretty insane on their own, but this one was just...weird. It said:


Do Others
See Jesus
In You


Maybe I am a child of the pornography generation, but I guess the intent of this sign is to make the reader ask themselves if they are Christ-like, not command them to have sex with other people. At first glance, I interpreted the sign as "Do others" and then "See Jesus In you!"

It took me a couple seconds to fully understand what the sign was asking me, but my original misinterpretation made me chuckle the whole ride to school. Then I started remembered a book I read a year ago called Eats, shoots & leaves which is about the importance of punctuation. That church sign could have really used a question mark. Better yet, it should have had the whole statement on one line instead of spread over three lines.

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a pod of birds

I know that birds don't congregate in pods; they congregate in flocks. Pods are strictly sea-faring mammalian organizations.

Anyway...I was eating my cereal this morning in the kitchen, and I looked out the window. On Trent's rooftop, I saw about a dozen red-breasted robins perched on the roof shingles grazing on gravel. It is windy here in Urbana, so I would imagine they were also trying to escape the cold wind.

From miscellaneous

From miscellaneous

From miscellaneous

From miscellaneous

They were fun to watch. I took these pictures from the bathroom upstairs. I tried to open the window so I could get better pictures, but they got scared off by the vinyl-on-vinyl friction noise. I therefore had to take these pictures through the glass. After a few minutes, something scared them all off.I am moderately surprised that they came out as clear as they did with the time I had.

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Decorating the Christmas Tree: Part I

Yesterday, it was my responsibility to hang the lights from our new Christmas tree. Now, this whole process took a few hours. That was because I was taking several breaks throughout. Anyway, as I look at the tree right now, I am rather disappointed in the overall quality of the tree. Unfortunately, I picked the damn thing and now I am kicking myself in the ass for doing so. When Kevin and I were at Prairie Gardens, in Champaign, I found this "gem" and I thought that it was the best one for the price we were willing to pay. Who knows, maybe it was the best tree there: The whole batch of trees they had just seemed jacked-up. We paid and came back home.

As I was hanging the lights there are just some big gaps between the branches on the bottom half of the tree. I think that is the part that bothers me the most. This tree is just gap-y on the bottom. There is an area of the tree trunk that is so exposed I think I am going to have to turn the tree counter-clockwise 90° just to hide the gaggle of tree light plugs that are nestled against the trunk. The top half of the tree is a whole other deal. The branches grew in a very unconventional way: They seem to wrap and twist around each other. So weird. As I was hanging the lights from those branches I realized I had to double-back on one branch several times just to ensure I got most of the tangent branches.

Anyway...I sincerely hope that the decorations fill in the gaps and hide the light plugs. Kevin and I should finish the tree tonight. Of course, I always enjoyed decorating the tree. The Christmas lights were aggravating me, though.

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Bits and Pieces XVII: Games, Dreams, and Elections

•     It has been a while since I last updated my LJ. I've said this before to myself, and I'll say it again: There is no reason for me to not update on a regular basis. I guess I just haven't been feeling terribly optimistic about myself. I've also been having trouble sleeping. Strangely, my dreams have been even more weird and vivid than usual. That is saying something. Speaking of weird dreams...
•     Not too long ago I had a dream about a Zombie Apocalypse. That was my first one! Anyway, the main plot goes like this: Zombies are roaming the Earth, but the (living) humans are winning against them. My dream started near the beginning of the end for the Zombies. The plot wasn't about the actual Zombie Apocalypse, but about why there was one. Apparently, these two friends would play chess together. One friend would always win; the other would always lose. The friend who always lost was so infuriated at his losses, that he decided release a Zombie virus on the population. Weird.
•     I recently bought Sins of a Solar Empire. That game is, amazingly, better than StarCraft. There are differences between those two games, but they are also similar. I guess that is why Sins... is so much fun. With SC, performing mining and attacking actions was based on selecting those units and telling them what do do. In SC, if I needed vespian gas, I would have to manually select the little miner units to go to the geyser and collect that gas. In Sins..., once I build the crystal and metal miner colonies, they just automatically do. This hands-off approach to certain aspects of Sins... allows me to put more attention to actual technological research and planet acquisition. Of course, Sins... is just a really difficult game -- even set to easy. :(
•     Thursday I was riding my bike returning from school. As I was entering Kevin's driveway, I braked gently and began to turn to my right. Well, apparently the sheet of ice I was riding over didn't like that, so I totally wiped out. I mean, I was on my ass and my left leg was between the bicycle tire and the frame. I quickly recovered. In doing so, I checked to make sure there were no observers. There weren't any, from what I could see. The last thing I need is to become some YouTube viral video.
•     Hooray. My side won. The republicans got their collective asses handed to them. That makes me happy. Of course, the republicans tried their treacherous tactics of voter caging and voter fraud. That didn't work this election cycle. The reason being: Americans got off their fat asses and actually did something. Americans don't realize the power they have if they actually use it. I guess it is just easier to watch trashy reality television and shop for shit they don't need...or even want. Now, I do have hopes for Barack Obama, but he better live up to some of his promises. I think he'll be a positive force for this country and this world. He is pretty popular right now, but I feel the second he asks Americans to sacrifice anything for the greater good, his popularity will crash and burn faster than the World Trade Centers.
•     My Mind: Blown.


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On Halloween

Well, today I had to do another activity by myself. I was hoping that Kevin and I would carve the pumpkins into jack-o-lanterns together. Unfortunately, he couldn't take the afternoon off like he was planning to. But, alas, I still had fun carving two of the three pumpkins. The smallest one was so damn tough! I am guessing that was because the actual meat of the shell was dense and therefore the knife couldn't cut as easily. The two big ones were a breeze to carve.

I am proud of my "scary" creations. I especially like "Frankenstein." That one was meant for Kevin to carve. I guess that is why I placed so much care and attention in that one above all else.


From the bottom: Scarface, Frankenstein, Sabertooth.

Kevin and I also had fun with the (incredibly cheesy) decorations in the front yard.



All in all, I had a very good day. I can't wait to pass out candy to the kids.

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The Pumpkin Patch Adventure

Today, I knew my time was short in being able to grab some decent pumpkins to carve into jack-o-lanterns. Unfortunately, the pumpkin hunt was something I had to do by myself. Kevin is in Chicagoland dealing with family issues. Steve and Bob are also in Chicagoland doing what they do. With a twinge of remorse for doing a group activity by myself, I drove Trent's car to Curtis Orchard. I was happy I was going to pick pumpkins. I just wanted to do it with my partner and friends.

Anyway...

I arrived at Curtis Orchard. The weather was cool and cloudy. I remembered my gloves but didn't bring my woolly cap. I just didn't think of it. I grabbed a wagon and proceeded to the pumpkin patch. As I was walking I looked towards the southern end of the pumpkin patch I remembered from last year. I saw that it was rewilded. I panicked and thought that all the pumpkins were all picked and I was shit out of luck! That was not the situation since other parts of the patch were intact. It was a good thing I was by myself because I abandoned the wagon and ran towards the patch and discovered I was still able to pick pumpkins. I then had to run back to the abandoned wagon and pretend like I didn't panic. It was a good thing there were no observers when I did that.

Unfortunately, most of the good pumpkins were gone. The ones that were left were befouled by vandalism or cold weather. I suddenly realized I was going to have to traverse the whole patch to find decent pumpkins. I did that. And I had fun doing so. During that process I was thinking back to the previous years I have gone pumpkin hunting. I was feeling a bit nostalgic. One trip involves a school trip from when I was in the second grade still living in Massachusetts. Another memory was from last year in which I went with Kevin, Steve, and Bob.

As I was thinking back, I found my diamonds in the rough. About an hour passed and the weather was getting colder. This cool, cloudy autumn day was turning into a winter precursor. Proud with my unorthodox selections, I bought the pumpkins.

I had a good day.


The pumpkins I chose.


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Untamed

You know...urban sprawl really bothers me. Intimately. I mean, there is so much land in this country, but yet almost all of it is cut down and plowed over. The only reason being is because everyone wants a "piece of the pie," but not realizing that they are simply having too big a piece. If the Japanese, with a population twice that of the United States of America, can fit on a piece of land the size of California, how come Americans can't do the same? I am not saying we have to really pack our population into tiny little cubicles, like the Japanese. I am saying we should seriously consider redistributing our population more efficiently. I am saying we should live more like the Japanese: Efficiently, cleanly, minimalistic.

Why do Americans feel the need to spread out into natural areas? There is underused space in cities that need to be revitalized. Then again, Americans are inherently selfish, and simply don't want to share. God forbid if we live only a few feet from our neighbors. We all want the huge McMansion that sits on the incredibly tiny piece of land.

Then comes the disconnect from nature. We won't know what we have until it is gone. The resource that used to be our most valuable possession is now almost completely gone. It is almost wasted away, cut away, plowed over, controlled, contained, secluded, and parsed out to the few who can afford. Nature wants to be free. We should all move back into the cities, revitalize them, and watch Nature reclaim what used to belong to her.

From buseywoods

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Ride the Rides

Ride the Rides

This past weekend, Kevin, Steve, Bob, and I went to King's Island, in Cincinnati, Ohio. I had so much fun. I screamed so often, and loudly, that I am still experiencing a scratchy voice. Yes, I was excited. This was the first time I have been on a roller coaster since I went to Canobe Lake Park, in New Hampshire.

Anyway, I was really, really excited to be going. The previous night, I had trouble falling asleep. I think I stayed awake until 2:30am. On Saturday the 28^th, we left at 9:15am. We arrived at King's Island around 2pm. I was jumping out of my skin already; that is, I was experiencing the excitement people feel while they are on extreme rides: We weren't even inside the park yet.

From kingsisland

Anyway, we buy our two-day tickets and make our way inside. Since I haven't been in a theme park in decades, and because I've never been on an upside-down roller coaster, I decided to go on the "Invertigo." I figured since it traversed itself twice in two opposite directions, had two loops and one cork-screw, I could do the real roller coasters that were further inside the park.

From kingsisland

From kingsisland

It was awesome. After that, we went over to the drop tower. Apparently, it is just over 300 feet tall. Even though Kevin said he didn't like heights, he went on that ride. I was surprised. After we seated ourselves and the handlers secured the restraining bar, we began to ascend. I was surprised at how quickly we made it to the top of the tower. Of course, that ride is purely psychological. I experienced more anxiety ascending and waiting for the ride to drop, than the actual drop itself. Of course, the ride breaks about 75 feed above the ground, so that maneuver is really gentle. That ride also made a very science-fiction-y "whoosh" as it braked. Weird.

From kingsisland

From kingsisland

After that, it was a pendulum ride called "Delirium." I have to commend those crazy Germans (the original designers of this ride) because this was ridiculously fun as well. As it swings, the seat section rotates. The riders have a different perspective every time they reach the zenith of each swing. On one swing, I was facing directly down at the ground. On the next swing, I was looking straight up into the sky. On another swing, I was vertical to the ground sideways. It rocked. The most scary part of the ride is each zenith of the swing. I was weightless, but the rotation of the seat section made it feel like I was being thrown outwards.

From kingsisland

From kingsisland

From kingsisland

Ok. Enough with these rides. We all decided to go on roller coasters for a while. The first one we rode was "Son of the Beast." Oh my. I couldn't believe how violent that wooden roller coaster was. It was loud and fast. To my amazement, this ride goes 78 miles per hour. The scariest part (and the coolest) was the fact the roller coaster cars shook violently. It gave the impression that the ride was going to fly apart while I was still riding it. Kevin didn't like the shaking, but I loved it. I went on this the next day.

From kingsisland

From kingsisland

From kingsisland

After "Son" was "The Racer." It wasn't as fast or high, but still fun. Bob told me that this one was featured in of the Brady Bunch episodes. Ok...

From kingsisland

From kingsisland

Then we headed deeper into the park and found "The Beast." This daddy has two hills, and the second one is taller than the first. Again, it was pretty fast, but not as fast as "Son." It was still thoroughly enjoyable.

From kingsisland

By now the sun was setting. We all decided to grab a small meal and just get over the initial excitement of going on ride after ride after ride. Bob wanted to go into one of the haunted houses King's Island had set up. Reluctantly, I went, too. I had a feeling the haunted house would be weak. It was. The one I went to last year was better, and that one had a ridiculously long wait time.

After the lame haunted house, Steve, Bob, and I wanted to go on "Vortex," but Kevin didn't want to. Now, at this time, it was dark outside; It was probably around 11pm. The line was long, but it was moving pretty quickly. We eventually get in the ride. We seat ourselves, and the handlers make sure the harnesses and seat belts are secured. Now, I am freaking out because it is dark and this is a loopy roller coaster. The ride starts and it begins to ascend up the first hill. Click...click...click goes the chain. I look over to Bob, since he is seated beside me. Click...click...click goes the chain. I look to my right, I see, in the dark, that I am pretty high and the chain is still pulling the cars. Click...click...click goes the chain. I look forward finally, and I see that I am only about two thirds up the first hill. A twinge of regret pulses through my veins...along with all the adrenaline. Finally, the cars make it to the top. I started screaming! (But it was a good screaming.) We all bank to the right, then the left. We go down the first hill that gives the ride all the potential energy it needs. Then, I see two loops in front of me...barely. It was dark. I was scared and screaming as loud as I could as the train went through the two loops. Then it banked to the left, went through a cork-screw, another two loops, then the ride ends. I survived, although not without my vocal cords. Yes, I still had a blast on that ride, even though I was terrified of the loops.

From kingsisland

Steve, Bob, and Kevin wanted to do another lame haunted house. I did not. So, we coordinated a meeting spot, and I went off. I went on Invertigo and Delirium again. We met up and went to our hotel.

This is when it gets really weird. We got there around 12:30am, and went to our rooms. Kevin and I watch CNN until about 1:30am and then we attempted to go to sleep. I must have been experiencing vertigo because I was having some very strange, and scary, dreams. In my dreams, I was going on rides, but they were malfunctioning. I was usually falling to my death, or hanging on for deal life by the restraining bar, or something crazy like that. I had three malfunctioning ride dreams in a row. By this time it was nearly 3am, and I was keeping Kevin awake. Eventually, I did fall asleep. I was really confused when I woke up. Shouldn't I be having malfunctioning ride dreams before I go on rides, not after?

The next day, we made a bee-line for "The Beast" again, since it is Bob's favorite. After that, all four of us went on Vortex. The Vortex is a different experience during the day. Yes, it was scarier at night since I could barely see the track in front of me. Vortex at day time is scary because I could see what was ahead of me. I was really satisfied by this ride. It is pretty fast for a loop roller coaster, but it is also long. I had a chance to experience sustained excitement from a single ride, than having to ride it multiple times. It was just a ton of fun.

From kingsisland

From kingsisland

From kingsisland

From kingsisland

A few more rides, and meals, and the we make it over to "Firehawk." Now, I was supposed to ride this on Saturday, but we didn't make it over to this area until it was late at night. When I saw that it was a roller coaster that I had to lay down, I decided that it would have been too much to ride then, and we decided to go on it the next day.

The next day, we get in line, and I am nervous again. I have now done loopy roller coasters, but not one that I would have to lay down on. Steve and Kevin abstain from this ride; Bob and I went on. So, we get on, strap ourselves in, and the handlers check our safety devices. The seats lay back, and the ride starts. The scariest part of this ride is that the cars go up the first hill "head first." After that hill, the train is released from the chain, and it bends around. During this bend, the train track flips over swinging the train "under" the track so that the riders are now "flying head first" on the ride. It was so scary, but fun at the same time. (Or maybe, the train swings down to its correct position?) I would have done this one twice, but the line was long, even on Sunday. I didn't have a chance.

From kingsisland

From kingsisland

From kingsisland

It was now nearing the end of our time. I went on Delirium one more time. We left heading back to Urbana.

This last weekend was so much fun. I lost my voice from screaming on the roller coasters. My voice hasn't fixed itself yet. I think the best part about scary rides is that I get to scream and embarrass myself and feel no shame.

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The Grade

I just watched the first presidential debate between Barack Obama and John McCain. I was impressed by both of them. When I say "impressed," I mean I was not blown away by either of them. They both did adequately on a variety of issues, but nothing really blew me away. Now, I know that both men practiced for weeks preparing for this debate. It showed. What I wanted to see was some serious emotion and candor from the future leaders of the free world. (Especially from Obama.) I was hoping for some serious sparring between the two, but all that was there was some "I didn't say that" or "That really didn't happen" bullshit. I wanted Obama to call out McCain. I wanted Obama to put McCain through the ringer and hold him accountable to his voting record and his public speeches.

Unfortunately, they both really didn't shine. There really wasn't any stand-out moment from either of them. Perhaps there will be in the next two debates. In all honesty, if Obama got a grade of "B," McCain got a grade of "B-". In other words, this debate was a draw.

If Obama is serious about being the next president he will have to be on the offensive, which he really didn't do tonight. In fact, I would say that he was on the defensive more than. Now, what gave Obama the better grade was the fact that McCain did come off old-timey and grandfatherly. However, Americans might just be looking for that considering these are dangerous times we live in. McCain may just win on that.

So...we'll see who "won" this debate as people digest what they saw and heard. Like I just said, neither one of them really shone brightly.

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Another Mantis Adventure

Earlier this afternoon, Kevin and I went to the gym, and then we did some light grocery shopping. When we were pulling into our driveway, Kevin noticed a delightful praying mantis camping out next to the door. Realizing that nothing happens unless there are pictures, I quickly grabbed my sweet hot 7 megapixel camera and began shooting.

From oregonstreet

From oregonstreet

A very close-up picture of the praying mantis. Just look at those barbs on her legs! She looks dangerous.

From oregonstreet

I realized that the mantis wouldn't last long camping on the side of the house. So I attempted to relocate her to a safer area. Then I dropped her. This picture above is the poor mantis after I carelessly dropped her on the ground. She even looks confused. It almost seems like it is saying to herself, "Where am I?" Poor thing.

From oregonstreet

That is the mantis on my arm as I relocate it to the back yard. Isn't she adorable? I think so.

From oregonstreet

Checking out the new house. I apologise for the camera flash wash-out.

From oregonstreet

Time to look pretty.

From oregonstreet

Still checking out the new house.

From oregonstreet

It was so strange. I would get close to her, and she would extend her front legs. Confused, I edged closer, and she hopped onto my hand. Perhaps she just wanted another ride? Who knows.

From oregonstreet

Another shot.

From oregonstreet

She certainly loves to clean herself. It was fascinating watching those little mouth parts working to clean her other parts of her body. I wish my camera could remain focused once I get in really, really close.

From oregonstreet

Our new neighbor...living in our bean stocks. Hopefully she has a hay day feasting on those bastard Japanese beetles that love to eat our vegetables.

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on the bus

I begrudgingly rode the bus today to get to Parkland College. Yes, I do wish I still could drive, but it is simply too expensive for me right now to insure my car and keep it fueled and maintained. Anyway, I am on the bus and a pregnant lady gets on near the hospital. I see her protruding stomach and I think to myself, "Oh, preggers." Yes, I actually thought of the word "preggers" inside my head. I laughed at myself a little bit.

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A question that cannot be answered

I've been doing some reading and thinking. I've been reading about computers, and how quickly they advance. I've also been reading some science-fiction short-stories and books about humans and the uniqueness of consciousness.

Religion and spirituality say consciousness is the certain x-factor that makes us special and unique compared to everyone else and everything else. The self is a separate element that "goes on" in certain circumstances. When we die, our bodies stop, but our consciousness goes on into everlasting life. Well...maybe not everlasting life, but everlasting existence. We receive answers to all of our questions we've ever had. We reunite with people who died in the past, usually family members. Sometimes we get reincarnated into new bodies; the same consciousness is still intact, but only different. (If I strip out the "spiritual" aspect of the soul, I am left with a permanent consciousness: Instead of being given answers to our burning questions from when we lived by a superior being, we simply figure them out on our own since we have all this free time; Instead of meeting the souls of people we met in the past, we just reacquaint ourselves with their consciousness; Instead of being "reborn," we instead "reinsert" ourselves into new corporeal beings.) In other words, the consciousness is the self, the soul.

In some science-fiction, the self is something that cannot be duplicated. In the movie A.I: Artificial Intelligence, the advanced robots in the future could clone humans all day long, but to truly resuscitate someone from the past was challenging. The advanced robots told David a space-time filament (which was heavily alluded to be the original consciousness or soul of someone who once lived) could only be used once to revive a personality. After that, it was impossible to revive that same space-time filament afterwards. In "The Jaunt" from Skeleton Crew, people who teleported awake through the jaunting machine would experience trillions upon trillions upon trillions of years of consciousness in a "white void," even though their bodies would appear instantaneously on the other end of the jaunt machine set-up. Their consciousness wouldn't "particulate" even though their bodies would. In the 2001 quadrilogy, David Bowman was incredibly lonely after his ascension because "there was vast intelligence, but no 'consciousness'" in the monolith network. His loneliness was the reason why he ascended HAL at the end of 2010: He wanted a companion.

Of course, religious texts were written before reason, logic, and understanding of our environment and our universe. Good science-fiction was written before the explosion of technology that enabled "fiction" elements in those pieces of literature to become fact. For the most part, the fiction in science-fiction became science fact. Almost every element of modern life was once thought to be science fiction. Science-fiction is a really good predictor of the future. What does science fact say about the human consciousness now? What does science fiction say about the human consciousness in the future? Consciousness is nothing that special or complicated. Go figure.

Science of today says consciousness is an extension of the human senses, but it is only a sense in the fact that it is designed to perceive the universe around us. We see with our eyes. We taste with our tongue. We hear with our ears. We smell with our nose. We touch with our body. We perceive with our consciousness. It sounds complicated, but apparently it isn't. Consciousness is so simple that it is even thought that it can be copied, just like files on a computer, and replicated and altered at will. Apparently, to upload a human to a computer only requires a storage device that can hold one petabyte. Is that it? Can the whole person simply be put on a hard drive and recovered for another day? Can a person's memories, personality traits, loves, hates, phobias -- can the "self" -- simply be copied? According to current science, and the speculative nature of science fiction, it can be copied. If this is true, what does this say about consciousness? What does this say about the uniqueness that is you and me? The reality of advancing technology will probably forever alter the perception of the human consciousness.

Science-fiction goes both ways about the human consciousness, but science fact is pointing to a future in which consciousness can be created at will, copied, uploaded, and downloaded. I read an article that says that artificial intelligence will emerge sometime in the next twenty years. If human consciousness is so unique, wouldn't it be impossible to create artificial consciousness? What would that artificial consciousness perceive about the universe? What would we learn about ourselves? I don't know.

I guess the fundamental question arises: "What is the human soul" or "What is the human consciousness?" Is consciousness simply an extension of the five senses put together? Are humans unique simply because we are? When technology becomes so advanced that we can copy people at will, what will become of us; that is, what will become of that consciousness? Will people add to and subtract from that consciousness like a bad macro? Will it maintain its uniqueness, or will it become as inane (and annoying) as a "lolcat" macro? "Hey, instead of making this person straight, lets make him gay!" "Hey, he hates the color red. Change that preference over to love!" If a person is uploaded, and then later downloaded, will that person still be that same person, or will it be a 95% approximation of the original? If a person is uploaded, and that upload is lost due to computer malfunction, is that person dead, or do they live on as a disembodied consciousness, like religion believes?

These questions can never be answered. I certainly cannot answer these questions.

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the car decision

I decided not to reinstate my car insurance. My car is so jacked-up, that I feel it is dangerous to drive. That makes me sad. So very sad. It makes me sad to know that my car's Kelly Blue Book value is around $2800, but I have around $4500 in damages and wear to the car. I honestly don't know if I should put up the money to have it fixed, or just buy a new used car later on.

I am sad, but I am also...glad I am not driving. Driving is so damn stressful because of all the idiots I'll encounter on the road. I cannot tolerate people who weave, don't use their directional signals, yield at stop signs, and tail-gate. It drives me crazy. Do these assholes realize they are operating a piece of hardware that weighs at least 2000 pounds? They don't, but I do. The only thing I ask is that people drive while thinking and concentrating on the road, not blathering on a goddamn cell phone, or having a temper-tantrum because the traffic isn't going as fast as they want.

I am also glad I am not driving because I don't have to spend the money on fantastically expensive gasoline, I won't have to keep my car insured, and I don't have to deal with parking -- and paying for parking. I just hope I have the patience to deal with public transportation for the next six months.

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From the past

I remember when I first got my Nintendo, in 1988, when I was nine years old. I was so excited, I thought I was literally going to jump out of my skin with the realization that I had an actual Nintendo Entertainment System in my very own home. On that Christmas day, my mom hooked up the NES to our 27-inch color TV, and from then on, I was hooked.

I remember how my sister, Angela, would press too hard down on the direction pad, therefore imprinting the arrow onto her thumb. I remember my Grandmother picking up the Zapper gun and shooting the ducks (and missing) in Duck Hunt. She would laugh hysterically and exclaim, "That goddamn dog!" I remember sneaking downstairs, when everyone was asleep, just to play a few levels of Super Mario Bros.

The years passed, and I was given a few more games on my birthday. They were all good, but I'll never forget how SMB felt when I played the first time. Eventually, my mom made me give my Nintendo to my Sister when she went off to college. Later on, I got a Sega Genesis. Sometimes, however, I would wax nostalgia over the SMB over-world theme.

Time passed some more, and I re-acquired a Nintendo again, this time December of last year. Finally, today, I sat down with me, myself, and I, and played Super Mario Bros. from beginning to end without warping. After I rescued the princess, I thought back to all those years and good times with my Nintendo, and my family.

They were good times, indeed.




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Thinks I already know don't need to be re-taught to me.

You know, I really didn't like the summer course I just finished. Everything about the class just rubbed me the wrong way. When I signed up to take the course, I was under the impression that the class would build upon what I already learned, and advance previous knowledge into new and challenging directions. That did not happen. The class was the same shit I already know how to do.

I know how to research and write a paper. I've been doing them since...1999. Maybe instead of collection information to write into my research topic, maybe the class should have focused on us gathering our own research. I've only done that once in the past. Unlike research I collect, I can use my own finding show I see fit. Perhaps that is where this class should have gone: Gathering instead of collecting. This is probably the reason why I was so restless and frustrated with this class: I've done this a dozen times before. I know how to find articles from peer-reviewed sources; I know how to cite sources in my research paper; I know how to paraphrase; I know how an essay is structured. I know these things.

Who knows, maybe this is the reason I'll probably only get a "B" instead of an "A."

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Mr. Impatient Goes to School.

People need to get a fucking grip.

I'm driving to Parkland College today, and some impatient fuck tail-gated me. I would like to point out I was driving five miles above the speed limit. Apparently, that was not fast enough. I'm driving in Champaign, Illinois, I turn off of South Country Fair Drive onto Bradly Avenue, and the driver in the red car passed me on the left while yelling at me through his driver-side window. I couldn't hear what he was saying simply because the traffic muffled his words. But whatever.

I'm not surprised I encountered an impatient driver; I come across them everyday I drive, but the circumstances still bothered me. The time was 10:30am, and I was on South Country Fair Drive, which is a road I use to bypass most of the traffic on Bradly, and this red car was right on my ass. Since the time was in the middle of an hour, I don't understand why Road Rage was so angry. Classes at Parkland start at the top of the hour, so even if he was late by thirty minutes, driving wildly would not enable him to be less late than he already was. If you are late by five minutes or by thirty minutes you are late.

I have to wonder what is wrong with people that experience road rage. Do they realize they are operating a piece of hardware that weighs at least 2000 pounds? Do they realize that the energies contained in heavy objects traveling at "slow" speeds is still enough to do serious damage to other drivers, property, and themselves? No. They don't realize this. They only care about getting home or to work as quickly as possible. They have to get there NOW regardless of the fact that they are not the only ones on the road.

Driving simply is not worth the aggravation of dealing with other people and their impatient attitudes. I am seriously considering buying a season bus pass in the near future because of the stress I feel while driving. I've already been in one accident that was not my fault, and it was not a very positive experience. It was horrifying. It was confusing.

Come on, people. Drive defensively.

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sad song bird

I am a bit depressed. Yesterday, I was visiting the pool next door, just visiting friends. As I was leaving, I almost walked on a baby robin chick. I nearly freaked out! Actually, I did. I called the pool people over to see if they could help me with this poor, defenseless chick. They could not. In fact, one person probably made the situation worse. Katie picks up the chick and, for some unexplainable reason, places it in a terracotta pot. It was not an empty pot; It had a fig tree in it, so the bird wasn't at the bottom of some huge planter. Anyway...I think she thought that it was good to get the chick off the ground, and maybe it was. I don't know. Apparently, the chick parents didn't think so. They were flying overhead, chirping madly, and trying to poop on us. Yes really.

Anyway, I gathered myself. I carefully picked up the robin chick, and gave it a close inspection. From what I could see, it did not look injured. Hell, I am no veterinarian, I don't know for sure. It looked...intact and uninjured. I placed the baby chick back on the ground so the parents could see it, and hopefully feed it. I walked over to the neighbor's house because he has a DSL internet connection. I google animal rescue for Urbana, Illinois, and I gather some phone numbers. I called some of those numbers, and apparently, everything stops after 5pm. There was nothing those associations could do, or wanted to do. I would say I was away for about 45 minutes.

I walk back to Kevin's back yard, and the chick is gone! I am fairly certain no wild animals scavenged the still-living robin chick. I scoured the back yard, and it was not there. There were also no chick remains, so I am slightly hopeful the bird is still alive. I heard Katie relocated it again to a safer location in the back yard. I don't know for sure because I can't find the damn thing.

Anyway...nothing happens unless there are pictures. I took some pictures of the helpless robin chick yesterday. I really, really hope the bird is ok...somewhere.



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Mantis rescue

Today I found a praying mantis on the rear of my car.

I drove to school today, simply because I wanted to take my time in the morning; I didn't want to have to leave my house one hour before I had to be at school. Utilizing public transportation, though inexpensive, is time consuming. So, I drove to school, then I drove to downtown Champaign to putz around on the interweb. I went to open my trunk and there was this darling little praying mantis. It was barely three quarters of an inch long. I gently coaxed it into my hand. The mantis perched itself on my index finger. As I looked closer, the little thing had a brown body and green claws. It was simply cute.

I placed the praying mantis in a shruberry where I hope it will make itself at home feasting on the other insect vermin that annoys so many human lives. I wish I had my digital camera. I would have taken a picture of it.

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