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silveradeptToday passed without incident. Although so far, I've just been clearing projects off my schedule that I've been meaning to do and just didn't. Which does mean some other fun things got semi-accomplished today, and I broke out the Prismacolors and actually used them. However, the set I have is lacking in some shades that I know I'm going to need in the future. Since I'm a bit of a swords geek and I like to try and do human-like figures (although no guaranteed successes on that front), if I ever got around to coloring, I'd need a good flesh-tone sequence and a good metallic set. Any suggestions from those in the know on what tones I'd need and where I can get them? (not necessarily in Prismacolors - any marker that does the job will do)
Superwoman passed away today - Mrs. Reeve died of lung cancer at forty-four. That's far too young an age to die at.
If you thought Buddhism was all monks chanting mantras in far-off locales, think again. Buddhism has paper doll clothes for those who are interested. While on that subject, it occurs to me that the most effective weapons of mara that we have in society today might be advertising. As this article points out, advertising is psychological manipulation, with the intention that we buy products, spend money, and get attached to them as symbols. Advertising may be the single greatest thing causing attachment in the world today. If that's so, then I'm still a very long way from enlightenment. Perhaps by shifting over to simple living one can begin to free oneself from those fetters. (Personally, my approach is to not really pay attention to advertisement anymore - a technique that many others have adopted.)
Speaking of cameras and moviebits, apparently on the Microsoft compound, there's a studio where people make short films. Creativity on the compound - although the clearance to get there might be higher than most anything else. While they're making the movies, apparently they don't want just anybody in there.
Floating back to advertisement and perception - the article that follows suggests that trying to establish a presence in traditional media is an ultimately fruitless exercise. The best way of being anti-capitalist may be to talk politics with your friends, along several different media and channels. Less people in ignorance makes it much harder for the puppeteer to pull the strings. Using nontraditional media channels may be the best and most accurate way of disseminating your own counter-cultural ideas. Talking with friends, both knowledgeable and ignorant, will help you refine and develop your ideas and figure out new ways of getting them to spread.
Pfft. My music player just played the Final Fantasy I Victory theme, first in the Final Fantasy Origins version, then the original 8-bit one.
More things on the strange side - a teacher in Christian schooling confessed to having sex with minors. This is not an odd incident by itself - there are people all over the world with those kinds of preferences. There are enough of them associated with the Republican party, however, that one's eyebrows might raise a little reading down the list and seeing that some of them are also besmirching the name of the Nazorean carpenter by doing what they do.
Speaking of the innocent, South Dakota's governor signed the abortion ban. It's not going to be enforced until all the legal wrangling finishes, of course, and it now seems to be a rather transparent ploy to get the Supreme Court to review the precedents on abortion. They'll hear the case - whether they decide to uphold that women should be allowed the option to abort is a coin flip, if the judges play out their stereotypical positions. In either case, there is already at least one call to boycott South Dakota's products, and the state itself because of this decision.
Also, paying down your debts may induce Homeland Security to think you're a terrorist. Which the administration may brand you as, anyway, since you're not spending well beyond your means and giving the corporations more money than they give you for your wages.
Recall, if you will, an earlier post of mine about an organization that was offering rewards to students at the University of California to transcribe and tape professors who were making political commentary along with their lectures. While that program has since withdrawn its reward structure, a similar situation in the Denver, Colorado area occurred, with a student taping his teacher and then turning the tape to his father, who then complained to the principal. The teacher has since been suspended. The students protested the decision. Some of the remarks of the teacher made a comparison of President Bush to Adolf Hitler, which would not be an odd opinion to have. As pointed out, though, the student may have proven the connections far better than the teacher could.
Two women from Iraq were scheduled to come over to the country, tell their stories of how they became widows in the war, and participate in a demonstration. However, the State Department refused their visas. On the grounds that they didn't have enough or any family to return to in Iraq. The families that the United States Army killed. The article there believes more sinister motives may be at play, since the two women were scheduled to talk about their experiences. I doubt that it would do much for the majority of the country, since only a few would actually get to hear them, but they would paint an accurate picture of what happens on the ground of a war. Those people that do hear might very well come way not supporting the war. As we've seen with approval numbers, the administration has no desire to have more people turn against them than there already are. It could be a matter of policy, it could be a matter of malice. There's a saying about malice and incompetence, but sometimes we wonder if in this particular administration, the malice is disguised as the incompetence.
With as many times as I've linked them, it looks like the Republicans for Satan news/opinion blog might be getting on the list of things to read. Another sign of the liberal poison infecting my mind, no doubt.
Last thing for tonight, we swear! It's something that![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
locoluis did, and I thought it's an interesting way of seeing how far you've come from where you were.
20 years ago...
Not even of the age of memory, so likely doing all sorts of fun things, like walking, watching and learning to read, talking happily and aggravating both older sister and the parents, most likely. This year, I find out near the end that I've got a little sister.
15 years ago...
First and Second Grade. Catholic Education at its finest - but I learned stuff. Plus, I alwys liked to be the shopkeeper at the store we had in first grade. Could do pretty well with coins and change and that - might have been that there was quite a bit of board game playing at the time, and mother and father always made sure one of the kids was the bank. Practical applications of basic math skills, right there. Plus, lots and lots of books an a little bit with computers at home. I started early when it came to PC gaming...
10 years ago...
Transition time. Out of Catholic ed, into the public school system. It's a whole new ballgame, and it takes me a bit to get settled in. I knew a couple people already and got to know a few more, one of which I do recall we has a short scuffle over, to which I, well, won, although not by actually beating on him. Momentum and conveniently-placed corners did most of the work. Mind you, if there was any point where the socially anxious self developed out of the "afraid-to-be-wrong" self, and then merged with it, along the spectrum of my psychology, this would be the place that I would pinpoint as the beginning of such a transformation. Here I learned even more than usual that being brainy has no obvious social benefits and several detriments. Even through that, I never really stopped being brainy. It might have taken a year or two past this point, though, to get where either people accepted it as the way I was or I toned down the projection of "I am Almighty Brain!" that I was apparently giving off to become tolerable. I don't know which is true. Middle school is a very transitional place, though, so anything that might have been true there is true nowhere else (excepting maybe high school) At this particular juncture, I don't think I really have much of an interest in girls as dates.
5 years ago...
Transition, part two, this time into the University of my current residence. In one way, I might have come to a place where everyone holds their noses slightly above the parallel, and so my "I am Almighty Brain!" image may simply have found a place where everyone was like that. By now, however, it's more likely that I've shelled up enough that whatever ego trip I may have been projecting, it's hidden behind the walls now. I've got a small cabal of friends and acquaintances, but really I'm more focused on getting out than getting any. By this time, though, I have noticed the girls in a date-like way. I do recall going to the prom this year without a date, though. I want to say it didn't bother me (and it didn't, in the sense that I really like to wear formal dress, and I hung out with good people there anyway), but it likely did. Weepy Silver complaining about not finding a date. More than likely, it was a matter of that the girls I thought might have had feelings for me, I didn't want to date, and the girls who had feelings for me weren't blunt enough for me to get it, and the girls I had feeling for, I was too shy or too sure that I'd get shot down to ask. In either case, by the end of that year I had one semester of the university and the marching band program under my belt.
2 years ago...
I made the decision to do my undergraduate thesis and started on it. I'd been stung by a badly-timed request to date someone I did have feelings for and was a good friend with. Shelled up again on that, and started to become, perhaps, a little bitter at all the relationships around me, while not really trying to get one myself, nor necessarily recognizing any signs of someone else wanting a relationship with me. Didn't really get out much, while still going out and doing things. The people I was interested in were either taken or not looking, it seemed (and still does, some days).
1 year ago...
Finished thesis. Graduated once, Made it into graduate school. Transition time again. Ready to start with a fresh slate and try again, with new people and no new prejudices. Feeling a little worried about the amount of debt being racked up with this particular career move. Am wondering at this point whether or not I've actually gotten rid of the bad habits I think I got from high school or not.
Present...
Twenty-second level of experience, about 75% of the way to the next level. Still in school, second semester, over the hump of difficulty, asked out and got turned down by someone. Not bitter, though, have since turned to a sort of bemusement at the problem - tuck it away to some degree into the back of my head and concentrate on just balancing schoolwork and having some sort of social engagement with the world outside. Perhaps a bit worried that I'm not going to meet my college sweetheart at all. Occasional and slight worries about the NPC-ness of the profession being chosen, but those are usually overridden by how much of a fit it seems to be for my personality. Slightly more debt woe, but I can push that out of my head if I really try. So, all told, still doing well, for as much as I complain.
G'night.
Superwoman passed away today - Mrs. Reeve died of lung cancer at forty-four. That's far too young an age to die at.
If you thought Buddhism was all monks chanting mantras in far-off locales, think again. Buddhism has paper doll clothes for those who are interested. While on that subject, it occurs to me that the most effective weapons of mara that we have in society today might be advertising. As this article points out, advertising is psychological manipulation, with the intention that we buy products, spend money, and get attached to them as symbols. Advertising may be the single greatest thing causing attachment in the world today. If that's so, then I'm still a very long way from enlightenment. Perhaps by shifting over to simple living one can begin to free oneself from those fetters. (Personally, my approach is to not really pay attention to advertisement anymore - a technique that many others have adopted.)
Speaking of cameras and moviebits, apparently on the Microsoft compound, there's a studio where people make short films. Creativity on the compound - although the clearance to get there might be higher than most anything else. While they're making the movies, apparently they don't want just anybody in there.
Floating back to advertisement and perception - the article that follows suggests that trying to establish a presence in traditional media is an ultimately fruitless exercise. The best way of being anti-capitalist may be to talk politics with your friends, along several different media and channels. Less people in ignorance makes it much harder for the puppeteer to pull the strings. Using nontraditional media channels may be the best and most accurate way of disseminating your own counter-cultural ideas. Talking with friends, both knowledgeable and ignorant, will help you refine and develop your ideas and figure out new ways of getting them to spread.
Pfft. My music player just played the Final Fantasy I Victory theme, first in the Final Fantasy Origins version, then the original 8-bit one.
More things on the strange side - a teacher in Christian schooling confessed to having sex with minors. This is not an odd incident by itself - there are people all over the world with those kinds of preferences. There are enough of them associated with the Republican party, however, that one's eyebrows might raise a little reading down the list and seeing that some of them are also besmirching the name of the Nazorean carpenter by doing what they do.
Speaking of the innocent, South Dakota's governor signed the abortion ban. It's not going to be enforced until all the legal wrangling finishes, of course, and it now seems to be a rather transparent ploy to get the Supreme Court to review the precedents on abortion. They'll hear the case - whether they decide to uphold that women should be allowed the option to abort is a coin flip, if the judges play out their stereotypical positions. In either case, there is already at least one call to boycott South Dakota's products, and the state itself because of this decision.
Also, paying down your debts may induce Homeland Security to think you're a terrorist. Which the administration may brand you as, anyway, since you're not spending well beyond your means and giving the corporations more money than they give you for your wages.
Recall, if you will, an earlier post of mine about an organization that was offering rewards to students at the University of California to transcribe and tape professors who were making political commentary along with their lectures. While that program has since withdrawn its reward structure, a similar situation in the Denver, Colorado area occurred, with a student taping his teacher and then turning the tape to his father, who then complained to the principal. The teacher has since been suspended. The students protested the decision. Some of the remarks of the teacher made a comparison of President Bush to Adolf Hitler, which would not be an odd opinion to have. As pointed out, though, the student may have proven the connections far better than the teacher could.
Two women from Iraq were scheduled to come over to the country, tell their stories of how they became widows in the war, and participate in a demonstration. However, the State Department refused their visas. On the grounds that they didn't have enough or any family to return to in Iraq. The families that the United States Army killed. The article there believes more sinister motives may be at play, since the two women were scheduled to talk about their experiences. I doubt that it would do much for the majority of the country, since only a few would actually get to hear them, but they would paint an accurate picture of what happens on the ground of a war. Those people that do hear might very well come way not supporting the war. As we've seen with approval numbers, the administration has no desire to have more people turn against them than there already are. It could be a matter of policy, it could be a matter of malice. There's a saying about malice and incompetence, but sometimes we wonder if in this particular administration, the malice is disguised as the incompetence.
With as many times as I've linked them, it looks like the Republicans for Satan news/opinion blog might be getting on the list of things to read. Another sign of the liberal poison infecting my mind, no doubt.
Last thing for tonight, we swear! It's something that
locoluis did, and I thought it's an interesting way of seeing how far you've come from where you were. 20 years ago...
Not even of the age of memory, so likely doing all sorts of fun things, like walking, watching and learning to read, talking happily and aggravating both older sister and the parents, most likely. This year, I find out near the end that I've got a little sister.
15 years ago...
First and Second Grade. Catholic Education at its finest - but I learned stuff. Plus, I alwys liked to be the shopkeeper at the store we had in first grade. Could do pretty well with coins and change and that - might have been that there was quite a bit of board game playing at the time, and mother and father always made sure one of the kids was the bank. Practical applications of basic math skills, right there. Plus, lots and lots of books an a little bit with computers at home. I started early when it came to PC gaming...
10 years ago...
Transition time. Out of Catholic ed, into the public school system. It's a whole new ballgame, and it takes me a bit to get settled in. I knew a couple people already and got to know a few more, one of which I do recall we has a short scuffle over, to which I, well, won, although not by actually beating on him. Momentum and conveniently-placed corners did most of the work. Mind you, if there was any point where the socially anxious self developed out of the "afraid-to-be-wrong" self, and then merged with it, along the spectrum of my psychology, this would be the place that I would pinpoint as the beginning of such a transformation. Here I learned even more than usual that being brainy has no obvious social benefits and several detriments. Even through that, I never really stopped being brainy. It might have taken a year or two past this point, though, to get where either people accepted it as the way I was or I toned down the projection of "I am Almighty Brain!" that I was apparently giving off to become tolerable. I don't know which is true. Middle school is a very transitional place, though, so anything that might have been true there is true nowhere else (excepting maybe high school) At this particular juncture, I don't think I really have much of an interest in girls as dates.
5 years ago...
Transition, part two, this time into the University of my current residence. In one way, I might have come to a place where everyone holds their noses slightly above the parallel, and so my "I am Almighty Brain!" image may simply have found a place where everyone was like that. By now, however, it's more likely that I've shelled up enough that whatever ego trip I may have been projecting, it's hidden behind the walls now. I've got a small cabal of friends and acquaintances, but really I'm more focused on getting out than getting any. By this time, though, I have noticed the girls in a date-like way. I do recall going to the prom this year without a date, though. I want to say it didn't bother me (and it didn't, in the sense that I really like to wear formal dress, and I hung out with good people there anyway), but it likely did. Weepy Silver complaining about not finding a date. More than likely, it was a matter of that the girls I thought might have had feelings for me, I didn't want to date, and the girls who had feelings for me weren't blunt enough for me to get it, and the girls I had feeling for, I was too shy or too sure that I'd get shot down to ask. In either case, by the end of that year I had one semester of the university and the marching band program under my belt.
2 years ago...
I made the decision to do my undergraduate thesis and started on it. I'd been stung by a badly-timed request to date someone I did have feelings for and was a good friend with. Shelled up again on that, and started to become, perhaps, a little bitter at all the relationships around me, while not really trying to get one myself, nor necessarily recognizing any signs of someone else wanting a relationship with me. Didn't really get out much, while still going out and doing things. The people I was interested in were either taken or not looking, it seemed (and still does, some days).
1 year ago...
Finished thesis. Graduated once, Made it into graduate school. Transition time again. Ready to start with a fresh slate and try again, with new people and no new prejudices. Feeling a little worried about the amount of debt being racked up with this particular career move. Am wondering at this point whether or not I've actually gotten rid of the bad habits I think I got from high school or not.
Present...
Twenty-second level of experience, about 75% of the way to the next level. Still in school, second semester, over the hump of difficulty, asked out and got turned down by someone. Not bitter, though, have since turned to a sort of bemusement at the problem - tuck it away to some degree into the back of my head and concentrate on just balancing schoolwork and having some sort of social engagement with the world outside. Perhaps a bit worried that I'm not going to meet my college sweetheart at all. Occasional and slight worries about the NPC-ness of the profession being chosen, but those are usually overridden by how much of a fit it seems to be for my personality. Slightly more debt woe, but I can push that out of my head if I really try. So, all told, still doing well, for as much as I complain.
G'night.
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no subject
Date: 2006-03-08 04:38 pm (UTC)Believe it or not, I think what we're "doing wrong" is that we have standards.
no subject
Date: 2006-03-08 06:01 pm (UTC)"Mmm. He looks hot, nice body. Wonder if I should ask him out?"
"No, no, girlfriend! Can't you see. He has... STANDARDS!"
"Ewwwwww! He's off the list! Ohmygod, I almost asked someone out who had standards! Grosss!"
no subject
Date: 2006-03-08 08:04 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-03-08 08:09 pm (UTC)Well, shoot. I'm all out. No wonder I'm not getting anyone - no proper bishie sparkle or teeth gleam or anything like that. I need a special effects crew, I think.
no subject
Date: 2006-03-08 08:27 pm (UTC)...Wait. Don't do that.