Map - Week 1

It's been one week...
...since you looked at me.

I like vanilla, it's the finest of the flavours

- "One Week", Barenaked ladies

Here's a map of my journey so far, after one week.

I want a better way to track my itinerary but I haven't found one yet.
If anyone has a suggestion, please leave a comment.

The direct Google maps navigation distance is 221 miles, approx 3.5 hours driving time. I'll check my car for the actual trip distance when I (forget to, and will never update this post again) remember. Update: 700 miles. Remembered when I thought about selling my house (my car) as a REMAX agent in this post.

The red dots are bookmarks of various Walmarts, KFCs, and national park sites that give a rough outline of the path I've taken. I found out I could colour-code the bookmarks, so you see ahead of me I've prospected some places I can go. Orange for Walmart, Green for park sites, and Blue for 'caravan sites', which I hope are trucker rest stops.

My journey started in Clifton, VA which is not visible on the map, but the closest name would be Washington D.C. . I'm on a Linux distribution at the moment, so I don't have MS Paint to mark the starting point. If I can install an alternative program, I'll mark that on the map. (Update: OK I put the starting area in a red circle. Pinta on Ubuntu owns MS Paint any day, all day.) I am currently in Salem, VA at the downward blue arrow.

My data plan doesn't extend to the majority of my route, so I need an offline map with GPS solution. I'm currently using Maps.ME for navigation, but I didn't find any route saving feature.

Endomondo is a workout app that I use to save itineraries on my hikes, but it's not adequate for long distance trips. Sometimes Endomondo cuts out while I'm driving, and it has to be always on and recording, so that drains battery.

Memorandum

This morning, I was down on myself. Feeling empty with the accomplishments of the past week, because at that moment I wasn't doing what I felt I needed to. After writing this to myself, I felt a bit better.

Be the best of who you are (are.. are.. are..)
Be the best of who you be

It's good to have high expectations of yourself
Just set your goals within reach and work on them.

Bring your secret life to the forefront. Acknowledge it, credit it, and be complete.

I categorized my porn videos and transfered to USB drive so I can access from tablet when laptop battery runs out.

I extracted the mp3s of videos with sexy dialogue to play off USB drive. So I listen to it while driving, or at bedtime.

I zip the images and delete them afterwards, so the porn doesn't show up on the tablet in public. I also screenshot videos and zip those files.

My USB drives attach to an adapter that plugs into tablet or phone for extra storage.

This is my one week anniversary of living in my car.
I've done a lot, but I am concerned I'm not doing what I need to be at the moment. I've been partially rested, without a full night's sleep, mostly because before bedtime I've been occupied by porn.

I ought to manage those masturbation sessions into my day, now that I'm properly set up, so I can do other things. I need to square that away so my sleep blocks are solid.

I need to produce some work. Learn some new things, and get my life ambitions on the move. The Curriculum page with OCW links was a good start. I need to immerse myself into it now, and start producing knowledge. The blog posts need to align with my intentions. Right now, the posts are feeling like a time-consuming routine, that takes away from what I really should be doing... because they're not putting forth the content that I'm really interested in creating.

Let's talk about se... um..

Let's talk about masturbation.

Sex is a part of human needs. Even though we don't talk about it much publicly, it's a strong driving influence to human behavior. Politicians will jeopardize their public image and careers to have a fleeting taste of satisfaction. Helen's beauty raised a thousand war ships. People will even enslave, murder, or give away vast fortunes for sex. Not love, sex.

So even though it is taboo to discuss our private lives in public, to pretend not to notice is ignoring a major aspect of why we do things and how we choose to live.

Warning: Too Much Information starts below. Don't read if you don't want to know.

Survival Guide

Work Backpack Loadout 

Remembering to bring everything with me is important, because once I set up, I have to pack up everything and take it with me if I want to go back to my car to get something. Also, people wouldn't necessarily chase me away from a fast food place, but it feels better to sit down with food and set up than it is to leave and come back. If I'm at a library, I may not have a close parking spot and trips to my car can be time-consuming and impractical.

• Laptop
• Tablet
• Cellphone
• Charger for laptop
• Charger for USB device
• two USB charging cables
• Headphones (a must)
• wireless mouse
• notebook
• pen
• USB external battery

• Dental pick
• Toothbrush and toothpaste
• Granola Bars
• Water bottle

It's challenging to remember to pack everything. The electronic devices get juggled around quite a bit, as I'm charging with a power strip converter in my car.

The tablet is my tool for writing, accessing information and maps, taking pictures, and reading books. It is invaluable when I'm on the go. My laptop needs time to set up and cannot hold battery life long enough to be used without a steady power source. The tablet has great battery life, but is slooooow to charge. I've adopted a two-prong strategy to keeping its battery full. While I'm driving, I charge the tablet and an external battery pack. Then when I sleep, I use the external battery to charge my tablet.

Free WiFi sites

• Lowes (accessible from parking lot)
• Target (inside only) 
• McDonald's (dollar menu salad. power outlets, TV, unlimited WiFi. best daytime spot)
• KFC (outlets are few, but seating is spacious. limit 1 hour)
• Barnes and Noble (name is ATT. Some places have tables)
• Starbucks (If you can stand the smell, and you don't pretend to care about buying a drink. LOL)
• Public library

These I use the most. There are others but I haven't used them yet. Mostly because I need a sitting area with power outlet. If I'm not buying food there, I'm not going to chance whether I can get WiFi and a power outlet. McDonald's are everywhere. If I really want a solid afternoon of computer time, libraries are the way to go. There's always a Lowes next to Walmart where I sleep at night, so if I need to look something up I can park close to the entrance for a bit. Or I walk into Target and google stuff on my phone. Those are reasons why I haven't used WiFi from other places.

Happiness is...

Happiness is finding a power outlet next to a TV with the football game on.

Tonight I'm stealing WiFi from McDonald's in Vinton, VA. It's a town near Roanoke... which is another city I don't know, but looks big on the map.

The dining area is open until 11pm!! Yay. I can watch the whole game! : ) : ) :) ... while I blog. The drive-in is open 24 hrs.

My Pats are up 14 to 7 near the end of the first half. There is snow at the Colorado stadium. It looks beautiful, but also dangerous. Reminds me of Crisis is the same word as Opportunity in Chinese propaganda orated by JFK. The situation will be difficult, but with the weather being slippery and cold, an unexpected turn of events could emerge for either team. I have confidence in my Patriots, that they will take full advantage of the opportunities that arise from the unpredictable playing conditions.

In the Chinese language, the word "crisis" is composed of two characters,
one representing danger and the other, opportunity

危机

Denver temperature low twenties. Here it has been in the 70's. It's been hot sleeping in my car. I want to keep this latitude, not go too far south. The cold weather is advantageous to sleeping with windows up, keeping milk cool, and reducing visibility into my vehicle. Also, I don't sweat too much.

Thing Explainer by Randall Munroe

Found this at the Barnes and Noble. Thing Explainer by Randall Munroe. This is totally the kind of book I would write, buy, or read to little kids.

Explaining how things works with basic words and wry humor. Renaming common objects by what they do or what they are.

Lifting Room. Its the perfect name! How riding a lifting room works: "If you face the back wall instead of the door, people will think you're strange." LOL.

Walmart bookstore

First time I noticed Walmart had a bookstore kiosk in Lynchburg , VA. (BTW, that is a terrible name for a city, no matter how proud of their slavery history they may be. Its like naming a place in Japan A-bombville, or Pogromton in Poland, or Scalpburg, New Gaschamber. OK, so maybe it was founded by a man named Lynch, so what? They can change stadium names to Pepsi-Cola, they can fix this city name too. Pepsiburg. I like that. Makes me want to drink a refreshing carbonated soft drink. Not wear my bedsheet around carrying a torch.)

Guess what they sold? Yep, bibles. And... religious apparel.

"Jesus is my lifeguard" was my favorite. C'mon that's clever. Dude walks on water! They can't teach you that in lifeguard training. Best skill to put on your resume.

The "god's got this" and "blessed and saved" attitudes pissed me off. It's like, 'I don't got to do nothin' but believe in the lord and everything will be taken care of for me.' A simpleton's bragging rights. 

And the blessed attitude reeks of feeling special privilege for doing nothing at all. A childish mindset where winning games of pure chance like the shoots and ladders or the lottery are indicative of one's specialness. 

The actual bargain is more like: become a powerless puppet to a powerful organization and the organization exerts power through you. If you get excommunicated for not falling in line, you are helpless. Like how a cult breaks its initiates individuality and self sufficiency, then the cultists feel power and love through the leader. The scariest thing for a victim of the cult is to be cut off from the cult, since he gave up all his ability to live on his own or deal with the outside world. 

Individually, the victim loses all power. But as long as he serves as a conduit, he feels as if the cult grants him tremendous ability and life. He is tapping into the collective of all the members surrendered power. But his heightened power is only possible at the sacrifice of the many puppet cultists. Not everyone can be promoted. So this temporary lease on the collective power is granted to seduce initiate to join or carry out tasks decided by the leader.

The armor attitude is also backward, because rarely is armor used to prevent violence. It is worn by those seeking to inflict violence. Nobody wears armor who isn't also wielding a weapon. Armor is "I hit you, you can't hit me back", not "put down your arms, let's sit and talk this one through". Same thing the military calls it Defense spending, department of defense. There is no Offense, but that's what it should really be called. You can't run around defending yourself with shield and armor. It sounds like they're for stopping killing, but those things are used so you can kill your enemies. Using god as armor is euphemism for cutting down your enemies.

But hey, at least the bookstore had books. Religious books. The shirts were funny.

Sayings I came across

"Every good man I know been through somethin'."

- Cris Carter, NFL player.

mentioned by: Trucker at Flying J. VA.

My interpretation: It takes enduring hardship and experiencing personal tragedy to make a man lose his ego, feeling of superiority. To be good to his fellow man, to treat others with kindness, and not take advantage at the expense of someone else.

Diary - The cities I'm stopping by

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Today's Hike

The mountain is getting repetitive, but today's hike was a fortuitous find.

I was driving down the start of Blue Ridge Parkway, when a car followed behind me. I like when nobody's driving behind me, so I'm free to go at whatever speed feels good. Wanting to let this guy pass, I pulled into the closest parking lot. The entrance would be easy to miss if I were driving without paying much attention. The peak was simply named "The Rocks" on my map. It doesn't look like much of anything from the outside, but chance led me to a very nice trail.

Basic Car Maintenance

a.k.a how to ask people how to do basic things to reveal your lack of car skills.

The roads off the Blue Ridge Parkway are extremely steep and have sharp corner turns. The steep climbs were putting extra work on my engine. On my way into town, I noticed a bitter burning smell in my car.

I immediately turned in at the nearest gas station and popped the hood. I'm very proud of myself for taking prompt action. The smell was coming from the engine. Being a total newbie at owning a car, man skills, and life in general... I needed help. I figured it might be the engine oil, but was cautious not to pull the oil stick or open the valve without knowing it was safe to.

A man walked into the gas station store as I was ambling about looking for some father-figure to mentor me. The clerks were young women, so I used my sexist stereotyping to steer me away. The man was scratching lottery tickets and chatting with an acquaintance. He looked like a man of the earth, and been around long enough to know a car engine from a donkey's ass. I put on my friendly naive boy face and asked him if he could help me with some information about car maintenance.

Diary correspondence

 I'm cheating. I'm using contents of my email conversation as a diary entry.

Secret admirer

Someone left a note on my car to call a number. I think it was the girl attendant at the truck stop, gave me her number but didn't leave a name. I wanted to call, what should I have done? At first I thought someone fender bender-ed my car and left their number. Then I thought it might be soliciting or a scam. But then it seemed more like a personal number. Only thing I'm worried about is she has me go somewhere and her boyfriend with a bunch of guys jacking my car.

Diary

I was sitting at the truck rest area, blogging on my laptop. Guy in front of me was a trucker, foreign accent, having a conversation with a white guy. White guy wasn't a trucker, kind of a dolt tbh, not much to say, just common knowledge talking like it's his personal knowledge. Head in the clouds, 'educated' type, not knowing the grit of the lowest worker. Trucker was real. Talking bout life, the work, the money, and the slavery that is working.

2 million dollars a month earns the trucking company
they don't tell about driver deaths on the job, accidents falling asleep.
they don't do anything to help the families.
Cold blooded.
"God gives the money who don't deserve."
I'm take this money, I'm going to own a restaurant.
They're going to pay my bills.
If I make 20,000 I give 10,000 to build houses back in my country for poor people.

---

i want to make something tonight. something. something... the power of my mind to solve challenges. turn a difficulty into a useful tool time to program up some projects. i need to write down the list of ideas as they come stuff that is interesting to do, to do list, funny things to try, needs that could be turned into a solution.

---

people are probably stealing all my passwords, accounts, and personal information over this unencrypted Internet connection. I keep seeing weird shit happen, like unverified sites and my email client asking for me to re-enter my password cuz the one on file didn't work. Whoever is hacking my communication, I don't have anything, so stop stealing my shit.

Thanksgiving Shower

I feel like a cat.  ^_^

Voice Diary - Mysterious Brown Bag of Caring

Playing Flute on the Mountain

Mary's Rock. Shenandoah, VA.

Voice Diary - Thanksgiving morning 11/26

• 29 mph sign 
• breaking stuff 
• not realizing it's Thanksgiving... erm, oops. Thought it was Wednesday.

Mobile Home Office

Best ever design! Very winning!

I stacked the plastic bins next to my pillow to serve as a desk. During the night, I stack another bag on top of the desk to block cold drafts and obstruct outside view. If I want to go full stealth, I can pull the comforter over the top of my pillow fort. It's like being a kid all over again. So much fun!

Sleeping in the parking lots while people come and go is comforting in a way. I want to curl up on a friend's couch and fall asleep while people talk casually and have a good time. My car home kind of satisfies that need. I get to have people around me while I rest, without having to seek them out or socialize.

Voice Diary - Hiking the Old Man in the Mountain

Stony Man summit

FYI, the main section of the National Park is open 24hrs. There are people living inside the park, so you can enter and exit at any time. The closures at 5pm are in the winter of the north and south sections, where there are no resorts inside. In the main section there are lodges and restaurants and other places to take your money. I asked at an information center about sleeping in the car. I was told it is illegal and I would get fined if somebody found me at night. I left at 6pm and slept at a Walmart near Luray Caverns, about 40 minute drive away.

Voice Diary - Natural Flavors

You know it's never good when they say "natural" a lot ... and "flavor". "natural" and "flavor" just don't go well together. Anytime you have something that's natural flavor... that's as artificial as you can get.

Shenandoah National Park

Summit of Stony Man (The Old Man in the Mountain)

Voice Diary - Hillbilly Country

Please wash your hands... if you feel like it, I guess. Meh.



"That's a nice car, buoy"

I'm Not Alone

... I have a Polar Bar.

Temporary Neighbors

This morning when I got out of my car, I met a nice couple parked close by. They had a VW van towing a VW bug on a trip a ways farther north. We chatted for a bit, the young man offered me some pasta and sausage for breakfast heated with the stove in their van.

Turns out we both worked on a Master's degree in a physics-related field. He recently graduated. Didn't strike me as the 9-5 white collar office type. Took off his shirt and lay on a towel fixing a coolant leak under his van. I felt he was very knowledgeable about living on the road and places to travel.

The young lady is mother to a baby several months old, and two cool dogs. The larger dog got jealous when I pet the smaller one, who looked more like a cat. I privately nicknamed the small dog 'Whiskers' and thought he'd be a perfect sidekick to an scheming villain. The baby was beginning to talk without words. At various points she contributed her thoughts to our conversation, especially after her daddy spoke, she'd like to talk.

I sat on a camping chair eating pasta next to the mother sitting on the lawn, while the man worked beneath his van. The morning was warm, sunny and the grass was green. Dogs ambled about and a baby squealed happily beside her mother. It was wonderful to share the morning with my temporary neighbors.

Voice diary - The Science of Staying Warm

Sleeping Quarters

Morning face

Voice diary

Goodwill

After I unloaded my donation at Goodwill, a woman and another store worker came out to meet me . The woman I had talked to on the phone before going to the Goodwill to ask about how to donate, and also about getting a job. I told her I was without a home and a job, living in my car and I want to donate some things. The other worker looked like a manager of sorts. He gave me a card with a number to call to apply for a job, told me to put down my name and contact info, said he would look for my application and bring it to his store manager and hoped to see my application.

A third person was there. He was the first person I met was when I dropped off my Goodwill donation, a guy who came out with a bin to put my stuff in. Seeing I was juggling things out of my car, he said 'take your time' and went inside to let me work it out. When I finished unloading, he came back with the 'call lady' and the 'manager'. Then afterwards he stayed and talked with me a bit. He said he'd been homeless before. 'You got to take care of yourself, nobody else will'. I gave him a hug.

He said he felt God blessed to get out of that situation. Told me things to do to get back up on my feet. Told me I had advantages having a car. That I could rent monthly at a hotel once I saved some money. Told me just keep at it one day at a time. Even reached into his own wallet for me before I stopped him.

Good people. People who've been there and willing to help.

I'm Not Alone...

... I have a Polar Bar :-)

Donating to Charity, Ironic isn't it?

Since I need more space in my car to sleep, I donated clothes and electronics I don't need to charity.
I wonder if one day these things I'm donating will come back to me. LOL.

Homeless in University

Spending the evening at Mason University library. Today I moved out of my place to live in my car for a while.  Saw this timely article in the student newspaper. Guess I'm not alone.

The Death of Hope and Reason

The Death of Hope and Reason

I wanted to see the plant die. That would be the appropriate conclusion. I had not thought about it and I had not watered it. Now it is drooping and sorrowful. I do not have the heart to water it now, in the brief moment I am aware of its misery, because I will not think of it again. Helping it now with no hope of continuance does not promote health, but decay.

The tooth I chipped was not the failing one I was expecting and awaiting to suffer. The chipped tooth was next to that. A tore hunk of bread (as an afterthought to a thoughtful salad and nutritious sandwich) was the irony. My meals had been frying oil potato and late night burger for consecutive weeks, chased down with cola in the three to four hours before dawn. I felt the damage on my teeth and was inclined to take reversing action. It was not even the telling cavity that caved to a crust of bread, just an average of the lot. There are no safe assurances. All these teeth are deficient, bare, vulnerable.

I liked the plant. I saw light green stalks emerge around the stalks as evidence of health. I did not prefer it to grow, but that was the bargain and an acceptable one. When I moved in I picked it out from a selection of more flowery, more trite competitors. Then I spent several shopping trips on a suitable home. Telephone booth red and round. The walls of my room were painted red by the landlady, so I was pleased.

A few times I watered it between long droughts yet the plant wasn't deterred. I felt comforted.

If I manage to water and operate the window blinds regularly, that would be an indication I was doing O.K. That went the thought. The plant's well being was an indisputable demonstration of my healthy condition.

Me Finishing the 2014 Baltimore Marathon in a Tu Tu

Finishing time 4:15:10
Net time: 4:13:55
Baltimore, MD. 10/18/2014

Know when to hold 'em

I went to the supermarket Coinstar to trade in my coins for cash.

The machine kept spitting back out two dimes, so I kept putting them back in. At the end, the machine took my dimes and the total came out to be $37.19. I would have have gotten $37.10 in cash if I held on to my last dime. Instead, when I went to the cashier, I got back a nickel and 4 pennies. Ha ha.

I kept putting that last dime back in, when I didn't need to. I put a lot of effort to trade my dime for 9 cents. So the moral is: don't be stupid. XD

Electronic Music

Playing Beats on ButtonBass.com

Problem Solving Challenge

Is there a way to weigh a scale itself, without using another scale?

I'm weighing all my luggage and belongings to fit in my car with an electronic scale.
The thought occurred to me, I do not know the weight of the scale.
Of course it's not important, but it's a funny thought.

How can I figure out the weight of my scale using the scale itself, without another scale?

Can a solution exist? I'm thinking with some ropes and pulleys kind of thing there might be a way to do this. Or is there an obvious easy way that's right in front of me?

And no comparing its weight to other objects that it weighs. Like if you used a balance to compare that the scale is heavier than a book and lighter than a suitcase, then weighed the book and suitcase to estimate the weight of the scale. No, that wouldn't count

It has to somehow weigh itself. More like this. When I weigh my suitcase, I stand on the scale and check my weight, then I stand on it again with the suitcase. I subtract the difference between the two weights to get the weight of the suitcase. That kind of thing. It has to be fairly precise.

Can I somehow get a reading of the weight of me and the scale together? Maybe by weighing on a special surface that will reduce the weight of me on the scale, proportional to the weight of the scale somehow?

Tic-Tac-Toe Algorithm

Until I setup my github or sourceforge again... here's the source code in C for my tic-tac-toe playing program.

/* This tic-tac-toe algorithm implements strategies to ensure never losing,
*  as well as strategies to create the most opportunities for the human player to make mistakes that lead to loss.
*
*  The strategies are pre-defined rules based on board position. There is no brute force searching of possible outcomes.
*  Decisions are *not* evaluated by future board states.
*  In this sense, the decision-making does not use artificial intelligence, it follows rules assigned by the programmer, based on human intelligence and understanding the game.
*
*  On the play, the computer will choose one of three attacks: center, corner or edge.
*  The order of selection made by the computer mostly follows Newell and Simon's 1972 algorithm.
*  Cutthroatcomputer will play to win, creating the most options for the human to make a mistake, even when a tying position is obvious, so as not to 'give it away' to the human the the game is tied.
*  Smartcomputer will play only to ensure it does not lose.
*  stupidcomputer plays the next available square. It is called when there is only one move available.
*
*  The human player can either play first or second.
*  X always plays first, O plays second
*/
Apu explains it better than I can:

How to Win at Tic Tac Toe

tic tac toe

It is not difficult to write a computer algorithm to play Tic-Tac-Toe that never loses.
http://www.quora.com/Is-there-a-way-to-never-lose-at-Tic-Tac-Toe

But what is the 'best' strategy for a computer to *win* at Tic-Tac-Toe?
 http://www.cs.jhu.edu/~jorgev/cs106/ttt.pdf
(i believe there's a mistake where one of the moves the author says leads to a win, is actually a tying play, but overall he does give good analysis on how to play moves to *win*)

sure the easiest "unbeatable" algorithm is to pick the safest choice, but that is unlikely to beat an opponent because the strategy is predictable and often forces a tie situation.

what would be a more "expert" algorithm is to pick the option that gives the opponent the most chances to lose, since tie is always assured for the computer.

so this is a case where the "best" move cannot be solely determined by best possible outcome for itself. "selfish greed".

it needs to realize it is untouchable, and start figuring out ways to trip up the opponent. lure the human to make mistakes!

Making the Right Mistakes

Sometimes we make the wrong choices to get to the right place
Sometimes the wrong choices bring us to the right places.
The biggest mistake is the one you didn't make

Singing

Inside my Soul by the Space Monkeys

The Pursuit of Happiness

I think people should try to be the best so everyone can follow. Not be the best to take things from others. Best means nothing if you make other people worse to win.

It is right, but this society is not right and it is a struggle to fight the wrong things with no power

This is what I want to do with my life: understand the right things, see what is truth, and explain to people. Give people power to think.

There is a 1 in a million chance to succeed.
But as long as I have a 1, it doesn't matter how big the second number is.
I am happy.

Happiness is hope and pursuing what you believe in.

Thank you my friend, Duck.

Parenting Bookstore

A parenting bookstore offers a wide selection of children's books to match your parenting preferences.

My favorite is the Half-Assed section. Teaches your kids important life lessons, while not setting their hopes too high or low. Sets a great example, showing them you don't care too much and neither should they.

The Patriotic section is just bribe your kids with a nudie magazine so they don't use up your stash and to keep them from doing things that will get you in trouble.

Servo the EmotionBot

Servo: But I wanted to make it clear I was asking him how he was doing and not just giving him a greeting.

Matty: There's no way to ask that, Servo. People don't care how anyone else really feels, it's all just pretending.

Servo: So when you ask me, are you pretending too Matthew?

Matty: No, Servo. When I ask you I really mean it

A fictional screenplay about a prototype Robot created to experience Emotions for people who don't have them. And the orphan boy who rescues him and becomes his friend.

Perpetuate the Problem

"I'd like to go through the door. Would you mind turning off the spinning blade?"

"No... those are the gears of Capitalism. Got to stay turning or the whole place will fall down."

 

Social Skill - Does this need to be said?

three things you must always ask yourself before you say anything

Prison Business

What's great is our service, keeping people locked up, is always in demand because our prisoners are repeat customers! It must be because we do an exceptional a job! 

Childhood Masturbation

Around age 8, I found that I could touch my dick to the floor when I did push ups. It was kind of sneaky and I knew it wasn't undetectable, I just figured like most things kids do, adults might notice but wouldn't pay attention. So one evening while watching 'Jeopardy!' in the living room, with my mom and dad on the couch, I did push-ups on the carpet and kind of humped the ground each time I went down. My mom caught me...

Comforting Words from my Parents

Why don't you like this? Can't you see your feelings are wrong? Don't you realize *this* is what you're supposed to feel? (Explains how I should feel). Now go think about what you did wrong.

People Pretend Not to Notice Unconventional Behavior

some guy honked as he drove by and yelled. 'WOW you jump really high!' I thought to myself, why did that guy yell to me, what a weirdo. LOL.

'Uptown Funk' parody: unemployment in Jordan

Many young people graduate with degrees that are not in high demand in the job market. So they really struggle to find work.

- Muath Bzour, comedy group 'Fooq alsada'. BBC video journal article

A Discussion with a Classmate about our Futures

I may fail. That seems the likely outcome. But if I succeed, and when I do, I want to succeed with the way I believe in.

Survivorship Bias and University

Survivorship bias

the logical error of concentrating on the people or things that "survived" some process and inadvertently overlooking those that did not because of their lack of visibility. This can lead to false conclusions in several different ways. 

- Wikipedia

Basically how universities work. To demonstrate they have the best education, they just exclude all the people who they don't want. They select from the general population the students most likely to get good grades based on past performance. The classes aren't really for learning, it's just a weeding process that puts the "fittest" at the top for visibility and promotes them forward.

On Intelligence

Real intelligence obeys the physical laws of our world, it is a natural phenomenon that we can observe by carefully arranging a system, but not something we can fabricate and mass produce, inject into a machine, and cause it to act as we please.

My mobile phone rang after a call was missed.

My mobile phone rang after a call was missed. While the phone rang I tried to pick up, but there was no answer option. It said the call was already missed. But the phone went on ringing and didn't stop. It repeated the ringtone two or three times longer than usual and probably would have kept going forever. The phone stopped ringing only after I started an outgoing call. What the heck?

Electronic Music - "Shadow"

An earlier song with OnlineSequencer.net. I wanted to program a video game, and do my own art and music for it, so I wrote this to use as background music.

Selling the Future Short

The present is always selling the future short.

Halloween Pictures

I wonder do any women actually dress up scary for Halloween, not sexy?

Why do guys black out every guy's faces in photographs with hot girls? I get that you don't want to think about the guy and you want to focus on the girl, but sometimes guys are way too homophobic.

Many Hats

Ever dream in other people's voices? All your thoughts are spoken in your mind in the voice of people you know. Most of the time you can't catch individual words that are said, but you understand them by the way they say it. If you pay close attention, you can filter individual words as they come through, but it's like focusing on individual breaths. After you stop trying a while you stop noticing. When you strain your ear to distinguish the individual words, you can't see the forest for the trees, so going back to natural breathing makes more sense.

Personality Test Result

INTP Personality (“The Logician”) 

INTPs pride themselves on their inventiveness and creativity, their unique perspective and vigorous intellect. Usually known as the philosopher, the architect, or the dreamy professor, INTPs have been responsible for many scientific discoveries throughout history. 

Source: 16personalities.com

Nonsensical Answers to Pointless Questions

Looking into space with a telescope.

How far can one reach with the Hubble?
How deep can one bend one's eye?
Mirrors reflect and magnify,
But how does one see without any light?

How to break the human heart.

How many breaths plunged to 'cross the Chunnel?
...
The only invention Man devised to break the heart is a funnel.


- The two sections above are from a poem I wrote. I can't remember the rest but maybe it'll come back to me or it's in a notebook I left at my parents house.

Additional explanation about the lines below

Seasons

Summer is time to be lovesick
Fall winds blow back memories
Winter broods cynical insight
Spring takes heartbreak and growth

Singing

Perfect by Alanis Morissette

Singing

Time after Time by Cyndi Lauper

Electronic Music - "Discord"

I made a song with OnlineSequencer.net, while streaming it on Twitch. Here's the result.

Interpretation of the movie Inception

Inception (2010). Directed by Christopher Nolan.

At end of movie the protagonist returns to a layer of dream, where his children are most important. He chooses this fantasy world, where he accepts his wife's death and he chooses to see his children's faces.

Walking Talking Patterns

"Tori: I'm scared to leave home.

Sylvia: (whispers) There's no such thing as home. It's all just an idea. I promise!"

- Remember the Daze (2007). Bathtub scene.

At the Museum

I have a fun idea to go to a museum and sit in front of a painting and pretend to be a really good artist, drawing the painting carefully. Then when people come up behind me and peek at my work, they see I'm drawing stick figures with smiley faces.

On Drawing

"Some stuff takes more time than others. There's nothing really difficult to do."
- u_n_i_c_o

http://www.twitch.tv/u_n_i_c_o

A Spring Thaw

Water flows beneath melting ice at the edge of a sidewalk.