A Use Does Exist for Romantic Comedies.

For about half of a year now I've been in a bit of a slump. I've been slacking in school, I've been slacking in the kitchen, I've been out of a job and I've gotten waaaaay out of shape. Basically I've been an unmotivated waste on society. During this time I've tried to get back to my old self, but I could never find that flame. Earlier today a spark fortunately lit, and it was all thanks to a romantic comedy film (fucking weird, huh?). Don't ask me why I was watching the flick (boredom I guess), but during about the last 30 seconds while the camera was pulling away a song started playing, a song I've heard in films before, and for some reason it sounded really really good and I wanted to hear more. Immediately I asked my mom "What's the name of that song?" Obviously it was a stupid question since I was probably the only one really listening to it. She responded with an expected, "I have no idea," so I ran upstairs and frantically searched for it. I found the credits for the film and proceeded to receive help from my good friends Bittorrent and Limewire to obtain the songs listed. I went through about five or six songs only to be dissapointed but then I came across a version of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" by Israel Kamakawiwo'ole (if they would've played the song long enough in the film for me to hear the damn lyrics this would have been a lot easier) and I gave it a quick "click-click". I almost shit pants. "I found it!"

Something about it, I don't even know if can explain (even after listening to it about 30 times), just brought out everything I've been searching for this long while. I think it's the sheer beauty it gives with such simplicity that's putting everything into perspective for me (I'll ellaborate a bit more if I get around to it, but right now I've got other things I really want to do). Whatever it is though I'm not too concerned, all I know is that I feel fucking awesome. I'm seriously going to run 10 miles (more if I wake up early enough) tomorrow morning. God music kicks ass.

I need to get a life.

Lately my daily life has become extraordinarily ritual and it's causing increasingly annoying mental blocks in the creativity department. I've always been more of the left brain analyst (although I am trying to train myself to see things more as a whole) and my current daily life is thickening the shield against inspiration for my next project.

As many of you know I'm the nancy boy baker (mainly cakes), but lately I wouldn't even dare call myself a cake decorator, right now I'm more comfortable with cake maker due to the lack of uniqueness in my latest work. I seem to be missing that element of surprise in my lifestyle which often sparks an artistic thought process, and now I'll walk into the kitchen only to think, "How about later," and later turns to tomorrow, rinse and repeat. To try and keep my interests in the kitchen I figured I'd look for a more technical challenge and replicate the cake to the left, but I know it will only be as effective as a 24 hour cold pill that I'll have to take again the next day, and sooner or later my body will begin to reject it.

As corny as it sounds, maybe I should just spend some time to figure myself out.

Interesting Study.

Well I'm on spring break and I've got nothing to do tonight (aside from playing Guitar Hero but since I've already logged at least 8 hours in the game since my brother picked it up last night, I think I'm going to take a break) so I decided to browse the web for a bit. I was hopping through the message boards when I came across this article which basically demonstrates the power television has in American society. The article is based on a study that shows only 25 percent of Americans can name more than 1 of the 5 freedoms the first ammendment guarantess (I'm going to take a guess and say the other 80 percent said speech) while more than half of the U.S. population can name at least 2 members of the Simpson's family and 22 percent can name all 5. The accuracy of these studies might not be perfect, but we're given a general idea and a believable one at that.

I myself rarely watch the Simpsons and I can name all 5 members with no trouble yet I have to pause for a moment to recollect the freedoms given from the first ammendment (petition for redress of grievances always gets me), and the only reason I remember them is because not too long ago I was a sophomore in high school taking American Government. This definitely demonstrates how spoiled we are compared to many underdeveloped nations that we show no care for the freedoms we take for granted (and I myself often fall into this category *gasp*).

Now you definitely can't point your finger at schools for statisitics like these because I think it's fair to say 80 percent of the U.S. population doesn't consist of the youth. I'm going to though, give the benefit of the doubt and believe everyone recognizes these freedoms yet only has trouble remembering which ammendment grants them, but if that's not the case its an issue if people don't recognize important rights such as freedom of assembly in a time of many international affairs that are costing people their lives, while we have a president (I'll give you a hint, it starts with a b and its synonym is dumbass) that deals with them in questionable manners.

My Critique's Which Will Undoubtebly Save Your Grade

I don't think I'm going to go too far into detail with the two essays I read (now that I'm finished I realize that's a complete bullshit statement), but there are a few things I'd like to bring up.

Transportation:

Before I get into the main problem I want to talk about, I want to let you know what I'm going to say is purely from an objective standpoint because its probably going to be pretty hard not to take offense (but you might not since our paper is definitly lacking in, well a lot). Basically my biggest complaint was that your argument wasn't very apparant.

I'm not quite sure if you're main argument is about how different forms of transportation set in certain areas segregates us (which I would enjoy as it would be interesting), or if you're just discussing different forms of transportation in different areas. I understand having areas where low income is prevelant, lacking in public transportation and simultaneously having high income areas sporting single men driving in SUV's definitely shows some segregation, but I never seemed to receive that explanation clearly in your essay.

The next problem I had with the essay was the lack of examples from the readings. You did manage to mention "so and so's" essay related to what you were explaining, but you never actually gave an example from the essay.

Other than that and some grammar and spelling issues (which is to be expected in a first draft), I really have no other complaints about the essay. You show some fine examples about transportation in the urban, you just need to explain more effectively how it causes segregation, and show some examples from the readings.

Architecture:

Your paper kind of blew. Just messing around (or am I?). I guess I don't have a whole lot to say about your essay, there's really just two things aside from grammar and spelling I'm going to bring up.

In your introductory paragraph you explained how Young's essay produces a solution to both conflicts (I think you should explain Young's essay produces a model for your solution, which is really what's happening), and later you explain Young's model, and since you're in fact giving a solution you need to explain how each part of Young's model relates to your argument, right? Weeeeeell, when you explained how political responsibility "looks forward rather than backward," I wasn't really given any explanation. You're probably saying its pretty self-explanatory, but whenever you want to solve a problem its always a good idea to discuss it as in depth as possible.

I guess it might be me being nit picky, but there is one more thing I'd like to discuss. I noticed within your essay you often jumped between being "politically correct" and not. What I mean is you'd go back and forth between terms like African American and black, and Caucasian and white (although I think Caucasian and white was only in one instance), and to me as the reader, I wasn't spoken to well about the author's character. It seemed you preferred to not be politically correct (which to me is good), but the fact that you couldn't stick to your own beliefs by jumping between the two almost makes the reader not want to listen to your argument. Whether you want to be PC or not, I think its best if you stick to one way.

I guess that's about it for both papers, and even though it looks like I was trying to tear you guys apart I think both groups did pretty solid job. If you've even read this far I'm surprised because I've probably said more than you'd all like to care.

World... You're in Luck.

I've decided to transfer any further insanely genius journal entries from my LiveJournal to this blog (I've found blogs to be a much more solid tool). Don't expect a consistent amount of entries, but I'll attempt to keep the few I compose somewhat interesting (despite many other blogs floating around in the "blogosphere"). On a side note, don't bother recommending Myspace as I thoroughly despise its existence.