Heat wave

The day has started, you sit (or however you look at the computer) and read.  You're reading the words that formed in my brain, that I structured in my head, and proceeded to type from a "qwerty" keyboard into a Blogger "New Post" document.  How interesting.  You sit (or however you look at the computer) and probably not only read this post, but surf the internet to it's full capacity, you visit hundreds of websites, most of which contain text that some person out there wrote on their keyboard into the vast technology of the interwebs.  How interesting.

The weather broke a record on Monday.  113° in LA which supposedly is a record of some sort.  I read the record record is 119° for something.  I don't know what distinguishes these two "records" or what even qualifies for a record.  I know every single day has records for cold and heat so I really don't know what this 113° record consists of.  I could do a little research but I'm not going to, sorry; if you're that interested, you either already know, or you're going to look it up on google right now.


That said, it's been hot lately, I've been digging it.  It's hard to explain, I may have tried on a previous blog post.  Fact is, my favorite feeling of all time (up to this point in my life at least) is heat on the skin.  It's absolutely wonderful.  The sun being out these last couple days have been delightful.  One of the more notable aspects in the incredible weather during the evening.  Around 9 pm and after, the temperature rocks this world.  The outworld simply stuns those willing to experience.  I've been really enjoying the weather, let's break another record.




Last weekend, I went with my floor, "The Armory" formally known as "The Backside," half way up to Big Bear for two solid days of camping.  This was a great time.  We ate, we slept, we chilled.  It was a blast.  We ate so incredibly much and it was ridiculously wonderful, I don't know if I've ever eaten so much to the point of bursting...in three consecutive meals.  Delicious.  We slept, yeah the sleeping conditions weren't the best as we sleeping on the tough ground, but hey, it is what it is.  And we chilled, we chilled a lot.  Lots of sitting around, lots of walking around, lots of conversation, lots of exploring.  We stumbled upon an abandoned summer camp and explored that bad boy, it was a good time indeed.  And, oh, was it weird being back in the mountains.  Mountains are mountains so they're all kind of look the same.  Pretty nostalgic.  If you want to know more about it, I'll gladly converse with you, just ask me in person.  Here are some pictures from the eat, sleep, chill sesh:

Beauty.


I don't have any video for you.  I apologize.  There was nothing of extreme interest this week, nothing blog worthy.  So instead of watching one of my random videos, go outside and look at a cloud in the sky,  Imagine sitting on top of that cloud and looking down at where you are standing right now.  What would that look like?

Imagination.  Imagination.  Imagine the imagination.



Have a beautiful day.

Pleased

Here we are, September 22, 10 years after the new millennium.  Today is rather interesting in that I don't have much to talk about.  I have this to report: school is full fledged in session and I have become comfortable with my schedule.  The combination of work and school everyday influence the feeling of the days in that everyday feels like a repeat of the day before.  In other words, it kind of feels like high school.  I wake up the same time everyday and have basically the same schedule everyday.  And what's ironic is it was for this reason Collared Shirt Wednesday's came into existence; the monotony of the week had to be broken up.  In fact, this morning someone posted on Facebook "Happy Hump Day!"  My point exactly.

All that said, today is a normal day.  Nothing special, nothing out of the ordinary.




 I really am in a rut, I just sat here for 15 minutes, attempting at a brainstorm, but the sky is just clear as day, no storming here.

 

You know what, I'm actually pleased.  I guess this just means life is good.  Life IS good.  School's good, work's good, family's good, friend's good, continuing list's good, life's good.  I don't have any right to complain.  Even if I had a "reason" to complain, do I really have a legitimate reason?  I bet there are millions and millions of people who have more of a right to complain than I do at any given moment.  Especially living in America, we have it well off.  I'm not going to go into this, but last night, the Preemptive Love Coalition came and spoke to a group of us at Biola University.  Preemptive Love is a nonprofit group that "seeks to eradicate the backlog of Arab and Kurdish children waiting in line for life-saving heart surgery and to create cooperation between communities in conflict" in Iraq and surrounding areas.  Listening to the representatives of the Preemptive Love Coalition talk about the thousands of children simply waiting in line for surgery, a surgery that somebody in America with the same condition would receive in weeks, really put our, as Americans, ease of living in perspective.  This is definitely a complicated subject, and I just grazed the surface.  Check out Preemptive Love Coalition's website http://preemptivelove.org if you have time.



That sure took a turn I wasn't expecting; one of the reason's I love this blog, one of the reason's why I write in the stream of conscious; you never know where it's going to go.



I need to explain the picture up top.  You may notice I am wearing a train engineers hat, you may notice I am wearing one long blue sock on my left leg and one short black sock on my right foot (up to the ankle).  These are odes to the summer of Hume Lake, I often wore the train hat, a favorite of mine, and I would wear one long sock on my left leg (maybe to cover something up? I don't know?) for apparently no reason at all other than I wanted to try non-trend.  I do not really know why I decided to pull out these out today, perhaps it is because of the random sighting and conversation with Mr. Charles Stoicu yesterday.  Either way, I'm sporting the getup today.

This may also have something to do with it:

The "Skyline" was a quality hang out at Hume and this past week, I found this beautiful 6 x 2 foot cardboard sign embracing the signage of the Skyline.  I took it and taped it to my wall.  That's straight krillage if I'd ever seen it.




Time for some video, eh?

The first video embraces the art of dance, music, and bicycle riding.  This guy is pro.  When I first saw this, this is what I thought in my head: "I want to see the fixie generation do this."  Yes, I know, the yellow shirted pro is not riding a fixie, but that is beside the point.  The point is: from my knowledge, many fixed gear bicycle riders enjoy doing tricks/stunts/stalls/whatever.  It's not just about riding a bike.  This yellow shirted pro rides his bike like it is his left hand, he knows that thing backwards, forwards, upside down, crooked, invisible, demolished, the list continues.  Consider this a goal, to be this familiar with your bike.




The second video....

Oh wait, THERE IS NO SECOND VIDEO BECAUSE IT WAS REMOVED BY USER THIS MORNING!  I am thoroughly frustrated.  This video was one of the funniest videos I have seen in a long long time.  Here's the thing though, I'm going to explain it, and it's not going to be funny AT ALL.  There was something about it, the pacing of the editing, the sound of the video played a HUGE role, and the visuals (duh) just made this video THE video.  I really wish you could watch it.  This is what it is: there is a telephone pole on the side of the side of the road during a rally car race.  A number of cars hit this telephone pole.  The people on the sidelines laugh.  One car goes into the cornfield.  It's HILARIOUS.  Just ask my roommate, I was crying.

I have embedded it below, just in case the user decides to reupload it or something. 






So that's it, that is the blog post for September 22, 2010.  Crazy isn't it.  Not necessarily the best post ever, but a few surprises showed up that made it a decent read, at least I hope you see it as a decent read.  I don't know if you see it as a decent read, if you don't see it as a decent read, let me know you don't think it's a decent read, and maybe give me some tips on how to make it a decent read, so hopefully, next week, the blog post will be a decent read.



Have a great day, fellow internet user.  Look at your address, realize it is YOUR address, an identity of sorts.  You're blessed.



I'm going to go drive my train now (do train conductors "drive" trains?).

Choo choo.

'orking

Okay so here's something: I started working on campus this week.  It's a great job and I'm excited for the opportunity.  Here's the "something:" I have work everyday, meaning I have a few less hours of everyday to do the things I have been doing these last few weeks during those hours.  One of those things is this blog.  I don't know what will happen, if I will get it out early in the day, late in the day, if it will happen at all, if it will be entertaining, if there will be content.  I'm pretty sure I'll get it done and get it out before work, but hey, it's a few less hours so it has to be quick so it might not be as comprehensive so I'll try to make it just as appealing as it was before so you aren't disappointed by the outcome of each Wednesday so you don't have to worry.  We'll make it work.

This week has been pretty gnarly simply because we are captured within the school year.  We are in the norm.  We are used to our schedules (well, I'm not because of this new job).  We know precisely what will happen each day and what needs to happen to successfully finish the day.  So in that sense, nothing out of the ordinary happened this last week, which is gnarly.

I'm going to talk about something right now.  I have a "Never Met" list for my Facebook friends.  I don't know if you know about Facebook lists, or even have a Facebook account.  It's kind of irrelevant and here's why: If someone wants to be my "friend" on Facebook, I will allow them to be my "friend."  If I have never met this person I put them into my "Never Met" list.  People have given me slack for this, here's my response.  I have absolutely nothing to hide.  The fact that Facebook is on the internet, perhaps the most public place on Earth, means everything that I put on Facebook is, and should be, available for the entire world to see.  So if some person from Georgia wants to be my "friend," why shouldn't they be able to?  You might say: "but this person might be a creep!"  You are right, that is a possibility.  Thus far in my Facebook journey, I have yet to be "added" by a person who I feel uncomfortable wary about.  I have never had a problem with it.  Maybe you have.  If you have, I apologize.  Here's the thing though, Facebook has made it very easy to block users, so there's a solution.

I guess this is what I'm trying to say, everything I write on the internet in on the internet.  The internet was made to be accesable; in my opinion, if a conversation or a picture is too personal for the entire world to see, IT SHOULD NOT BE ON FACEBOOK in the first place. 

I don't know if I'm properly relaying my point.

I'm going to drop it.




In other news, I mentioned last week I was working on a video of a trip to Hollywood.  That video is now complete and is now embedded below for your enjoyment:



I had a lot of fun with this video.  I didn't realize until after but this was the first video I have worked on since Hume and it shows.  I'm pleased how it turned out and it turns the trip to Hollywood into tangible memory.


I guess I got into a video kick because last weekend (and the weekend before, but that's irrelevant) a group of us took a trip to Black Star Canyon.  Here is what the brilliant source of wikipedia has to say about Black Star Canyon:

"One of the most popular ghost tales...tells of a group of friends who witnessed the ghosts of the Spanish conquistadors marching down the hill in the form of small, black shadowy figures. Many of the more popular legends have sprung from the fact that Black Star Canyon was the meeting place of a Satanic cult in the 1980s, which is often misstated as having been the Ku Klux Klan due to the numerous hikers' reports of seeing distant bonfires in the canyon. There are currently satanic cults in the area. Other stories include the canyon being haunted by a demon called "Black Star", being home to extraterrestrials and/or a secret military installation, and being guarded by Indian spirits. The oldest ghost story involving the canyon came from the Spanish, and involved the canyon being haunted by a banshee called "La Llorona" (The Wailer), who was said to live in a well and have the head of a horse."

We went to investigate (best viewing experience: full screen, speakers turned up, enjoy):








Black Star Canyon will live on.  Everything, down to last word, is true in this video.  Black Star Canyon influence upon our group will never be quite known.



Lastly, video wise, I have a confession.  Have you seen "Marcel The Shell With Shoes On"?  I'm hesitant to embed it in this blog....



but I did anyway.  You don't have to watch it if you don't want.  Here's the thing, I don't like that video at all.  Now, what's probably going to happen is you're going to watch it and think it's the cutest thing in the world.  I honestly do not understand.  It's a shell with shoes on.  Yeah, it has a cute, funny voice and says witty, humorous things, but is it funny enough to see it posted and passed on through facebook tens of times a day?  In my opinion, absolutely not.  I watched this video when it was just getting big, I thought it was funny and clever, but not near as "magnificent" as the hundreds of thousands of people that have seen it since that time say it is.  You probably disagree with me, and that's fine.  I just don't understand why people like this video so much.  I watched it, I moved you; "you" watched it, passed it to ALL your friends, and watched as the wildfire spread.  I don't get it.  Maybe it just represents our society.  We get our cheap thrills by watching a shell talk about skiing with men's toenails or walking a piece of lint like a dog. 

Sorry if I'm blasting this video.  Although I don't like it very much, I have much respect for the makers because they have close to a million views on this video (on vimeo, which is rare) and I don't have any video past 5,000 views.  I am trumped.





This post has contained an abnormal amount of seeming argumentative complaining.  I apologize.  These two topics have just occured one too many times for me to let it slide.  I addressed it, you read it, and we both have our own opinions.  If you brutally disagree with me, that is totally fine; you are fully 100% entitled to your own opinion; however, I am too.  I'll talk with you about these issues.




With that, have a great day today.  Look at a blade of grass really really closely, with a magnifying glass if accessible. 

Norm

It's cloudy today.  It's overcast today.  It's gloomy today.  Point is, it's not sunny, clear, and cheery.  I don't know why, I can't control it, but hey, I can say I like the sun a whole lot, which indeed I do, I like the sun a whole lot.  The feeling of warmth on the skin trumps all other feelings, at least the feelings I have experienced thus far in my life; there is no other experience than feeling the warmth of the skin bask on your skin.  I'm getting all giddy, I want to sit outside in the sun, but alas, it's cloudy today.  It's overcast today.  It's gloomy today.


The last week has been good.  In fact, it's been really good.  Chill workload, long weekend because of Labor Day, a canceled trip to Black Star Canyon, a trip to Hollywood, unexpected visitors, and a memorable trip to the beach made the last week, more specifically the last 5 days, very good.  I'm sorry I'm being vague.

Here's a side note: I like playing with vaguity (Vaguity isn't even a word, it's made up, but it works perfectly).  It's super interesting when you leave out certain details, prompting questions like "What is Black Star Canyon and, better yet, why was the trip canceled?"  It makes you think, it makes me think about what you think, it's quite the thinking process.

Now that that's said, the last week has been excellent.  It's good to be back in the norm of things.  School is cruising.

In other news, I had a job interview today, which is partially why I am dressed the way I am.  The concept of professionalism intrigues me.  I'm going to play with vaguity again and not tell you what job I interviewed for.


Speaking of Hollywood, while we were there, I took video and am now compiling that video into a comprehensible piece of multimedia.  In other words, I am editing the video and am honestly stoked on how it is turning out.  It will, unless I don't finish it, and I better finish it, show up in next weeks post.  Krill.




In other news, I'm bringing back a section that hasn't been included for quite some time: the videos. If you missed them, then here you go, feast. If you didn't miss them, watch them anyway. If you don't want to watch them anyway, it's not difficult to scroll past them. They are just little snippets of interest that I have come across during the last week, so as I "just ran across" them, you are free to "just run across" them as well.

Up first, this gentlemen and his picturesque account of World War II particularly intrigued me.  I can't quite put a finger on why, but I think it may not only be the incredible story, but the fact that he remembers it that well, and not only that he remembers it, but it is possibly just as emotional now as it was then.  Super interesting and super worth a watch.





Seconds.  You may or not know who Mr. Aaron Gillespie is.  Read the second portion of this post: http://emliv.blogspot.com/2010/04/grapevine.html and you will quickly learn about and/or recall the situation.  This is just background.  The video below was particularly eye opening to me, it put a whole new light on the whole situation.  Definitely worth a watch, if you are a music fan or not. 


I Am Living: Aaron Gillespie from Come&Live! on Vimeo.


Thirds.  This last video really has not particular rhyme or reason.  Seriously.  I just thought it was interesting, especially the size and shape the video.  That may just be more interesting than the video itself.


Water Falling into a Cup (Canon 7D) from Blue Green on Vimeo.





Enjoy?  Enjoy.  I hope you enjoyed those particular pieces of media.

I believe my job here is done.  I don't have much else to write about.  No more many topics are is coming to mind minds.



So there you have it, another blog post, another Wednesday.  I still wonder if it's worth doing...but that's entirely different subject.

Here are my parting words:

Yeah it's cloudy today.  Yeah, it's overcast today.  Yeah, it's gloomy today.  But guess what?  That doesn't mean you have to be cloudy.  That doesn't mean you have to be overcast.  And most of all, that doesn't mean you have to be gloomy.

Be cheerful, look at a ladybug and smile.  Or just wear one on your head.

September Tour

It's 12:15, I just ate lunch, and I am now writing a blog post.  I had pasta, manicotti, Hawaiian pizza, a breadstick, honeydew, and a glass, actually more like a plastic cup, of chocolate milk.  This is just hit me now, I miss POG a whole lot.  POG is Passionfruit Orange Guava juice for those of you who didn't know.  I had POG, most often mixed with cranberry juice, at least once a day every day at Hume Lake while I was working there.  It was a highlight of my day...everyday.  When the POG machine was "out on lunch break," it made my shoulders sulk.  I loved me a good cup of POG berry.

 Anyhow, it's Wednesday, the middle of the week of the second week, the first full week, of school.  This week is going well, classes are shaping up, comfortability is arriving, and it still feels like I've been here a long long time.  Interesting.

In other news, this semester is going to be rather media intensive because I'm in a few media intensive classes; so what this means is this: I will more than likely be posting some of my work on this here blog for you, the reader, to see, to watch, to hear, to experience, to enjoy, to hate, to promote conversation, to bore, to promote confrontation.  I'll be posting, you'll be doing what you do, and, more than likely, I will never know how you feel about it.  I guess that is somewhat artistic.

I'm in kind of a strange mood right now, don't know why, maybe it's just right here, in this moment.  I'm just typing this blog post, when I get up to go to class, Nature of Mathematics, this so-called "strange mood" will more than likely disappear completely.  So you, the reader, perhaps get to experience this so-called "strange mood" during its only appearance.  Congratulations.

I don't have much to write about and I'm crunched for time which doesn't normally help things.  Here's what I'm going to do: I'm going to give the grand tour of my room.  I hope that's okay.  I hope you don't feel cramped and/or uncomfortable.  I apologize for the mess in advance.  Here we go:

Welcome to Stewart 162, the room intermittently belonging to Mr. Joel Limbauan and Mr. Morgan Lott.  This is the view from the front door.  If you look to the left and right sides of the photograph you will see the door frame.  The room is small, but we try and make good use of valuable space.  As you can see, Mr. Joel Limbauan is hard at work as a good student should be.

If you look to your left, you stumble upon my desk.  Let's take a closer look:

This is my workstation, where I spend my time on the technology of this day in age.  Please excuse the organized mess.  There really is not much to see here, more like a quick stop on the tour. 

If you look at the front of the workstation, you will notice a particularly confident and hungry animal.  I saved this animal from the depths of the dumpster while still in high school and decided to adopt him into my family.  He has made an impression upon my room for a number of years now.  I hope he makes a positive impact upon you as well.


If you look up on the wall, you will see a collection of different items:

Although the photograph ranges your viewing experience practically useless, the wall is adorned by interesting pieces of art and other items of interest.  If you look to the left portion of the wall, you will see a collection comic strips that have brought upon hearty laughter a number of times in my life.  If continue to your right, you will stumble upon manila envelopes that give a nice contrast to the blank wall.

Among the rest, the phrase "S'us b'ilt" likely stands out to you: 

"S'us b'ilt" is a competitive team that competitively participates in competitive competition.  It remains a mystery.   Below the competitiveness ranges a number of bananas that have been struck by the curse of time to wither.

If you bring your eyes even lower, you will notice a particular picture frame:

This is my inspiration, my goal.  If you cannot make out the faint words, it reads "VIDEO PRODUCTION PROFESSIONAL :: RUDY CAMPOS."   My goal is to become the video production professional, my goal is to become the Rudy Campos of today.

I hope you enjoyed today's tour of Stewart 162.  Before you exit, please make sure you have picked up all of your belongings, and exit to the left.  Thank you and enjoy your day.






The tour guide pretty much summed it up.  I don't have much more else to say.  It's been beautiful, weather wise, these last couple of days.  The weather is unbelievable.  I can't begin thinking about or else I will just go off and talk and talk and go off.  So, that said, go outside today.  Enjoy the weather.  Even better, go outside with someone else and enjoy the weather with them.

Buen.







Oh yeah, and today is September 1st.  What?