Secluding Oneself From Society

Seclusion from society is a great way to find yourself or think of ways to deal with your problems. I don't remember exactly what it was called, but we read a story last year dealing with this theme. It was about a perfect place where you could go when you were stressed out. Not having to deal with other people can leave you alone to think about bettering your own self. This doesn't have to be as extreme as like, say, a one person pilgrimage through a desert or living in the woods for a week or anything like that. It can just be, well, in my case, a quick drive. Crank some tunes. Relax. Think. Just a quick event like this can change my mood easily, hopefully for the better. Just because you go by yourself for a bit doesn't mean that you're antisocial or anything. Everybody needs their own space at some point in time.

Don't get me wrong, friends are great and can ALSO help you through tough times. Sometimes, though, we need to do things on things on our own. It's up to the individual in need of help to decide the true source of the help.

One funny reference to such a seclusion would be the episode "Survivorman" of the NBC Television series "The Office." Michael Scott (Steve Carell) decides that he needs to become in touch with nature after watch the show of which the episode is named after on the Discovery Channel. Thus, Dwight Schrute (Rainn Wilson) takes Michael into a secluded spot in the Pennsylvania wilderness where he will stay for a week documenting all of his ordeals through a camcorder. Michael is a total failure. After about two hours he is hungry. He just wants to go home. However, I still feel that it had some impact on his life. Some very, very , very miniscule impact, yet an impact nonetheless. I don't know. I just thought I'd throw that out there.

Reading for Entertainment

I know people who hate reading books that are assigned in school. For some of these people it doesn't even matter if it's a good book or story. They just don't like the idea of reading things that they aren't allowed to pick. I used to feel this way, but in the past two years I have liked just about everything that we have read in school. One work that really stood out to me that I thoroughly enjoyed every page of was George Orwell's Animal Farm. It was such a clever application of a real life story to talking animals. It was like a fable in its use of lessons and talking animals. Also, I really enjoyed Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet and Macbeth, of which I preferred Macbeth. It was amazing. It utilized very dark psychological themes in showing the downfall of someone who was once very successful.

What I enjoy reading often reflects the music that I like to listen to. Namely The Decemberists. THEY ARE SO GOOD. Phew, got that out of the way again. Anyway, Colin Meloy, with his degree in creative writing, probably enjoyed the same type of literature when he was in school that I enjoy now. It is reflected in his lyrics and themes. Many of his themes deal with merritime events, a subject that I enjoy reading about. His songs of this variety really make me feel like a pirate. Let's reference this link. This song reminds me of Moby-Dick. I just got the same general effect from the excerpt of the story that we read and this song. Either one makes me really happy. His lyrics are a form of literature that I like reading, honestly. They're so well thought out and structured. I don't know, I just love everything that he has ever written. He often reflects the dark themes that I enjoy reading about. Honestly, I don't know why I like these dark themes. I not a very mean person.

An Ideal United States

I don't like history just because everything that has ever happened has been caused by disagreements. One quote from, I forget, maybe Thomas Jefferson, says something along the lines of, "Every 100 years or so, a revolution is a good thing for a country." I don't agree with this statement at all. I honestly wish that people could just agree on everything. There would be no wars. There would be no corruptness. When learning about some of our founding fathers, I'm not proud of this country's beginnings. A lot of the leaders in our young country were back-stabbing and corrupt individuals. Alexander Hamilton, although seen as an economical genius of his time, often went against the best interest of the country for his own fulfillment. A world without these such people would be a great thing. However, some may argue that these traits may have been what pushed some of these successful people to reach their full potential. I don't really think that this is the case. People who want to fight for the good of all would be much more helpful to the country than people looking to do well for themselves. Also, these people's names would go down in history much better than they would had they been kniving and against the good of the people. In fact, I wouldn't even be writing this blog if the world was truly ideal because these people would not be remembered as back-stabbers. Actually, the whole world would probably be united if everyone would have agreed on everything since the dawn of man. Or maybe this speculation is false. Maybe everything would be completely different now. Maybe we would still be unintelligent beings without disputes. I don't know. Let's leave that to the writers in Hollywood. They can speculate all they want.

Either way, I'm not proud of the way that some of our founding fathers acted. But hey, I guess it all worked out in the end. I don't want to debate it.

My Favorites!

I love this topic. I like so many things. This should be a breeze.

Favorite Band: The Decemberists.
THEY ARE SO GOOD. Okay, I got that out of the way. Now I'll tell you why. The Decemberists are a folk rock band from Portland Oregon consisting of Colin Meloy, lead singer, guitarist, and lyricist, Chris Funk, lead guitar, pedal steel, and just about any other random string instrument you can possibly think of, Jenny Conlee, accordion (yes, accordion), keyboard, and backing vocals, Nate Query, upright and electric bass, and John Moen, drums. All of these individuals are incredibly talented at what they do, but the music wouldn't be what it is without Colin Meloy's absolutely fantastic lyrics. He has a college degree in creative writing, and it really shows in their songs. His clever verses, catchy choruses, and dark themes evoke a general sense of awesomeness. Seriously, I feel awesome every time I listen to their music. Everything about the music is just incredibly smart and well thought out. Also, they know how to have FUN. They joke around, they play what they want, and it all works out so beautifully in the end. I honestly love it.
Close second: The Shins.

Favorite Class: Physics.
Physics is amazing. Everything just has to do with formulas and analytical thinking, a real favorite activity of mine. I also love dealing with numbers. Pre-Calculus is a great class, but I like physics every so slightly more only because it is similar math applied to realistic situations. Also, I have seen the math of physics at work (see "Working in Groups").
Close Second: Yeah, Pre-Calculus.

Favorite Food: Buffalo Wings.
And I don't mean the tame kind. I want HEAT. I love bold, spicy flavors. When these flavors are applied to a fatty, buttery, crispy, and juicy morsel, I'm good to go. Favorite place to get these treats? Westwoods lodge. Greatest wings ever. Enough said.
Close Second: Oh boy, that's a tough one... I'll have to say... ummmm... Steak. Good Steak.

Declaration of Work Ethics and Organization

I'm just going to come out and say it: I have no work ethics. I'm lazy. I don't like doing anything that I don't enjoy. Sometimes I don't even like doing things that I do enjoy. For instance, these blogs. I love doing them. They're fun. But they take me some time and effort, and I don't like giving up time or effort. I've always been a big believer in "I don't have to do the work if I understand what's going on." However, recently, my ideas have been changed. People have deadlines. When I grow up and have a job, I will NEED NEED NEED to have a good work ethic. I'm looking into a career in engineering. Although it may seem like engineers push back deadlines a lot (i.e. roads or bridges closed for months at a time), they really DO work around deadlines. Their projects are just bigger than anything that I, or any of my peers, have ever done. If I really want to achieve this goal, I need to work hard now to go to a good college, work hard in college to get a good job, and work hard at my job to earn money for my (hopefully) family. I might as well start right now. Therefore, I declare my new work ethic. It is a good work ethic. I will do my work AHEAD of its deadline. I will work hard when given time in class. I will break free from my shyness and ask for help if I need it.

Another thing that would hopefully help increase my productivity is organization. I'm soooooo unorganized. It's ridiculous. Seriously, all you have to do is look inside my locker at school. It is so messy! I really need to clean it out, get rid of what I don't need, file what I will need later in some neat way, and have everything that I need now close at hand for when I will undoubtedly need it.

Logic and Resoning vs. Emotions

I feel that using logic and reasoning is much more effective than emotional reasons for any argument or other situation. I believe that emotions can skew one's thoughts and/or actions in a big way effectively rendering their argument inaccurate or false. Using logic or facts is much more reliable in that it is the truth. Truth will triumph, in my opinion.

As seen in my previous blog "True Colors(?)", I am a green personality: Analytical, intelligent, logical, etc... This backs up why I like to use logic in debates or arguments. However, there is a downside to my necessity for facts in such events. I feel that if I don't have something that is 100% fact to contribute, I can't contribute at all. This scares me into not talking. It doesn't help that I'm also an incredibly shy person. When these two traits are paired, it's really hard to get me to contribute to conversations in classes or with my peers. I don't know why I'm still scared of conversation after all these years because I have found that when I actually do contribute my ideas, people are accepting. I usually offer a completely different perspective to the subject. I really should try to come more out of my shell and just talk. Who knows? I may become a sparkling conversationalist if I really set my mind and actions to this.

Also along with my green personality comes a definition of why I don't like emotions used as argument mediums. In fact, it quite literally is defined with exactly what I just said. Emotions don't make sense. I just try to avoid them altogether and stick to the facts.

So, I guess my main reason for not liking emotions in argument comes from my need for factual information. This can also be seen in my school work. I LOVE math and science mainly because calculations won't like. It's completely objective. Emotions could be compared to Social Studies classes or English classes. These sort of classes are subjective to the judge of whatever is being judged. In historical events I have trouble seeing any of the things that we read about as anything but propaganda made by the textbook company. A neutral party, such as, say, mathematics, try to force anything at me that isn't true. Also, history can be interpreted in many ways. The same applies to emotions. Some people may side with your feelings, but others may just judge you and say that you're wrong.

School Spirit

I don't really have much school spirit, honestly. This year was the first year that I participated in the spirit days of homecoming week. I don't even know why this year was any different. I just kind of participated and didn't question it. Some people hold very high regard for their own school spirit. I don't know why people think that it's something important. Really, I don't know why I DON'T think it's something important. I just kind of don't. I've never really thought about it. I'm not really AGAINST school spirit, I'm kind of just indifferent. I don't know. I just don't know. It's all really weird to me. I mean, I LIKE my school, yet I don't really get into all of its intricacies. I mean, I hate football, and I wouldn't even go to the games if it wasn't for the fact that I'm in marching band. I do enjoy marching band, but not really because it's a big form of school spirit. I just enjoy marching and playing music. It's a real challenge, and I like a challenge. Keeping in step, dancing, doing horn moves, all while PLAYING? What could be harder than that? Not too many things. But I really do enjoy the challenge that it brings.

Spirit week is just something kind of fun as well. I mean, you get to wear crazy hats and outfits to school. That's really fun. And that's how it's supposed to be. People without school spirit should enjoy it too. It's just something that's naturally fun.

Also, Scholastic Team is really fun. I don't really even care that we're representing our school. I guess I do have school spirit in that I respect our school for giving me opportunities to do such things as marching band and Scholastic Bowl. That's a really cool thing. Also, I know all of the work that goes into providing these activities. My parents ARE teachers. They DO sponsor clubs. Often I will get forced into helping with these clubs. I see first hand how much work they actually do.