Vibe Out in the New Year

I know most citizens of the United States are broke right now, and yeah that sucks, but you know things could be worse. I'm not hear to bring everyone down, I'm actually here to bring everyone up. Like Obama said, "it's time for a change."

This morning, I read something truly inspiring and I'd like to share it with you but some background information is needed. Excuse me while I take care of this now.

Plenty of people have this fear of 2012, and they say it'll be the end of the world. I'm a bit more optimistic and only say that it is an end to the world as we know it. I believe it is an end to the "cold" worldview that many seem to think is only possible. A "do no evil" policy seems to be upon us all. I see evidence for this in nearly every sector of "American Life."

Obama's slogan "change, we can believe in" to Google's dominance in the stock market, are pieces of this new mentality.

Our President-Elect is also a symbol of this new wave. He ran (and won!) with a campaign that ultimately said "yes, we can." The emphasis on "we," that somehow no matter how different we are from one another we are tied together and our fates are intertwined. And now that the majority has ruled, 58% of the voting public believes in this same ideal. Together, we will shape Washington; more importantly, together, we can do anything we choose to do. And it isn't just political.

The businesses have invoked a "new" capitalism, if you will, a holistic approach. A capitalism that is driven on the product and not the profit. Virgin is steady gaining speed in the States, and they're philanthropic tendencies are infectious. Apple, now at the height of its success, is lending a hand to those also reaching for the brass ring. There are countless developers making over $250,000 off of iPhone apps and cost at next to nothing to produce. Google's Android OS looks to do the same thing, but their helping hands can be seen elsewhere--YouTube is one example, their environmentally friendly offices is another. [What I'm calling a "new" capitalism, is actually a retrograde to what capitalism originally was but I'll save that for another post.] Yes, companies are failing and falling but when examined, those companies were desperately trying to grind out a profit instead of a good product.

Even Iron Man, the comic book character, is an example of this. The billionaire war monger takes it upon himself to suit-up and "protect those that he put in harm's way." This idea and character resonates with viewers but Marvel's recent success, I'd argue, can also be attributed to their attempt to put forth a positive image in the movie industry. Making decisions about product before profits has lead them to be a successful new start-up. Not to overshadow that fact that they were first to receive the Environmental Media Association stamp, at the end of the Incredible Hulk. They've become the new standard, and it stretches beyond the film industry.

[Sorry the extended tangent, but I felt that it was needed.]

It appears to me now, the only way a company will succeed is when that company relies on its content and not it's potential profit. Though profit is not to be ignored, we are after all a capitalistic society, success is measured by a brand's core values. Also necessary, is a way of giving back to the world. Using their own profits to help others in need, I believe, is a trend that will not fade.

<SocialVibe>

SocialVibe is program/app used in conjunction with your social network. You advertise a brand you like and every time someone visits your page, that brand donates to a cause of your choice. You help them advertise, they donate for you. This program is a pure example of what I'm talking about. Not only does it let "broke" people donate to their cause, it promotes a brand that is willing to lend a helping hand. The brand's kickback is an active advertiser, but also a positive outlook.

But that was the inspiring thing I saw yesterday. Today, I read something different. One of SocialVibes newest member said this:

"I'm supporting my cause because I feel that I am privileged to be able to sit at home and be on Facebook or MySpace and that someone else can benefit from it as well"

That just warms the heart. His cause is the Starlight Children's Foundation and he's my kid brother. That's the future, the world after 2012, that I see. He and his friends are an inspiring example to us all.

You can visit his SV page. Help him and his cause by visiting his Facebook, and find your cause here.

ps... you can find me too.

Teaching America

To be regarded as good as those that have come before, one must be better than what we have seen. Last year's post, America is dead, was commenting on the state of affairs in this country. This year's "state of the union" address is going to be about how to move forward, where we go from here. In my own life, in order to move forward and stay on course, I always return to essence and origin. Questions like "how did I get here" and "why am I here", ultimately lead to "where do I go now?" So, how did this country get to where we are...


Well, to be frank, we've headed in this direction for quite sometime and its not a result of recent events. It is within the human condition to control our environments; businessmen sought out to control their environment and also, their capital gains--after all it is a capitalistic society. We wanted a smaller government and in that exchange, the government chose not to regulate health care, establish education and provide leadership. Communist and socialist societies were the first to establish universal health care, it does not allow for a doctor to make more money from his craft than another doctor, but it is overseen by a group or faction. Comparatively, a drug company can't charge more for a "better" drug but the government sets a higher standard to the drugs produced. Whether its good or bad, our the health care is regulated (in some small form) by the government. Here, in our democracy, they are regulated by the FDA, FCC and other such associations. But the problem with this system is, it asks for the absolute bare minimum. Don't kill the patient (or rather... client or consumer), and every other side effect is okay. "Above minimum", for drugs, is a bit scary to think about; but further more, for lawyers, educators and doctors its even more terrifying. For context, the lawyer you're paying to represent you in a case against your former doctor (who wanted just enough on his MCATs to get into Med School) for malpractice received a score high enough to pass the BAR exam. Like the majority of professionals in this country, they were looking to get enough to average standardized tests and achieve passing grades. What those mediocre teachers did not tell you in school, if you are better than everyone else you'll be heavily rewarded. Our education system does not reflect this, we're given grades and anything above an "E" is passing. This bare minimum system has shaped the way we (meaning together, whole, more than one) are.



So why get an A? This lesson is not taught until you plan on going to college, and not as severely as the rest of the world. If that's your course of action, then your performance matters enough to drive you criminally insane. [History Lesson/Sidebar: Hilter didn't have the "grades" to get into Art school and look how well he turned out.] "Oh, you want to get into the best schools, GREAT! How's your GPA? SAT? ACT?" So now, at the average age of 14, you're encouraged to change the way you've gone through academics your entire life, now you've got to motivate yourself to be the best--on your own. That's great and all, but a little too late. I mean, you've never had to do that before; and when you were the best, did you get anything for it? Not likely. The system is designed to separate those that can motivate themselves from those that cannot (the great American lesson), instead of motivating every student individually. What ever happened to encouraging students to do what they wanted to do? So what do you get, a high school diploma that says "you received (at least) the bare minimum? Thanks, but no thanks. The education system should encourage finding your passion and feeding that fire, instead of making you into a mark on a state score sheet.

To their credit, universities do have a personal statement portion of their application. That saves them, somewhat, from having to deal with hordes of bare minimum prospects (but then again, a focused two weeks could pump out a pretty good/coherent pile of bullshit if I really put my efforts to it.) The problem is, this is the first time we're asked what we want to do, academically. That's why the personal statement becomes the most difficult part of the entry, instead of the easiest.

"Wait, what do you mean? What do I want to do?"

So you see our mediocrity, as a nation, is a result of our education system. This may sound a bit communist, or socialist, but Russia is still expanding their transit system and building more public spaces. And the Japanese, well, they're driving their universally health-cared ass in 70+ mpg vehicles. Other than flying to the moon and being a "backward" country, do you know what else they have in common? A government that will pay students for going to school... if you can get into the university.

Your Will Against...

It is in our general nature as creatures under one sun to be contentions. All animals, Homo sapiens and other, are inclined to conflict one another. For a numbers of years, this has regulated life on this planet. From class to class, race to race, battles (and even wars) have been fought for a number of different issues. The war between Human and insect has played out in many homes across the world. Alpha males have been victims of cannibalism, although primitive, but because of their status. These battles are often two sided, but what is for certain is there is always a test of will.

During the 20^th century, the race for the tallest building in the world was resolved in 1974 with the completion of the Sears Tower. [The next building to take the crown (with a bit of controversy) was Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur in 1998; 2004 saw the rise of the current title holder Taipei 101 in Taiwan]. In its simplest form, this is a battle to see who can build the tallest mound. Better yet, who is willing to test their limits? In retrospect, this is merely a human scuffle. On the business side of Architecture, the architect continually battles the contractor in a more intimate engagement. Their difficulty with one another is over the needs and wants of the owner. Human skirmishes can be seen all over; candidates crawling for votes, women crossing blades over a single man, and children throwing hand grenades over religion. You’ve heard it said before, winning isn’t everything. Was that saying always taken (or denied) without thought, ever stop to think about what that meant?

As I said at the beginning of this post, it is in our nature to conflict with one another. The wins and losses can be measured by who or what had the more will. Maybe before we throw our first punch, we should put armour on. Maybe before we shield ourselves, we should open our minds.

Hunger

As you probably [hopefully] already know, a great number of intelligent beings have graced the surface of this planet. [Galileo, Newton, and Einstein, just to name a few (not undermining Copernicus, Descartes, Freud, or anyone one else for that matter)] Each of these great individuals has left something behind. It is within human nature to record what we discover, cave paintings and this blog is pure example of this.

Some people have made the comment: there is nothing left to build because all the styles in architecture have already been processed. Furthermore, some people have said that there is nothing left to discover, because someone has already discovered it. This is when innovation is of the utmost importance. As an argument for the attainment of knowledge, by knowing what has already been done can we truly reach a higher tier. Often times, the student surpasses the teacher; after learning everything the teacher has to offer, isn’t it just obvious that one would reach beyond their scope? Socrates was a great teacher, but Plato was a great student. All great scholars left text, records and materials. Why do we have history courses? Why is it that in every course of study taken anywhere, on anything, we study the past? In physics, we study Newton’s three laws. In philosophy, we study Aristotle’s Ethics. Our nation (and all nations), poised in a position to grow, must learn the teachings of the past.

Why? Because we have this luxury; in America, and other first world countries, we are not concerned with our basic survival. Here, it’s almost taken for granted. The majority of us don’t need to worry about our next meal. America’s biggest question is… should I go to McDonald’s or Burger King. In hopes to help our fellow human race, we must understand the conclusions made in the past and move forward through innovation. I may have not figured out why we need to be together, but I believe to fully reach our potential as a human race we need to be on the same page. I believe there is one goal, and it requires one team... or else we’re just competing against ourselves.

A part of a whole [Part 2]

Throughout the course of this blog, there have been plenty of posts that transmit this overall idea of oneness. This consistent message that everything is better when we work as a whole and understanding that everyone is human has always been apparent in this blog. This “a part of a whole” series consists of rather long posts and I apologize for this, this topic tends to be a lengthy discussion.

Understanding everyone is human is a difficult task on its own, but further to understand that everyone is trying to do the same thing that you’re doing is something altogether completely different. Everyone is trying to live the life they want to live; bare bones, that’s what it is. I don’t believe any rational person wants to live the life that they hate, it’s just not… rational. Why is the CEO/Chairman an ass to the rest of the employees? Because s/he wants to be a leader to company that in all aspects is the best it can possibly be. Why is the neighbor so quick to object to “noise pollution?” Because s/he pictures her/his home/neighborhood in silence. Or maybe, the only type of music s/he wants to hear is the music that s/he enjoys. This is where the conflicts begin; we all don’t have the same ideal of life. My ideal life is probably different than yours. [And everyone needs to get on my page, just messin’] When everyone understands this, then this idea of oneness is much easier to comprehend.

I believe through and through that this is the answer to all of our difficulties and problems. Why do countries go to war? Because one country/leader wants something of its people and it conflicts with what another country/leader wants for theirs. Why do we have the highest car accident rate in the world? Because someone is trying to get somewhere to do something that will make their life closer to their ideal [going to work, going to the park, going to a girlfriend’s house, whatever] and someone else just happens to be doing the same thing and taking the same path. And here, we collide. Why is it so difficult to find a lasting relationship? Because for a [hopefully] long period of time, two ideal lives that two individuals want to live is one in the same or concurrent with each other. [When dating a girl… if you didn’t already know the right page is hers, and she’s already on it so you might as well just get there. Cuz she ain’t jumping onto yours or compromising… hehheh] But seriously, life would be much smoother if everyone took the time to understand the person next to them. Wanna know how to make a relationship work? Ask questions. Plain and simple, no magic tricks, acts of god or planets on silver platters. Two people just have to ask each other one thing, “What kind of life do you want to live?” If the lives sound the same, then together the two of you don’t have any problems [unless of course, the ideal of lives two people want to live are: to be alone and without attachment]. If they conflict you have two options… work it out or walk away. Simple.

[This post is about to get real sour, you have been warned]
It may seem like I think I have the answers to it all, but I’ve never claimed this. Oneness, it’s great and all, but what happens after all that? What’s the purpose of all human beings banding together? For what? If you don’t already know, I believe in purpose. I believe there is a purpose to my life, there’s a reason why I’m here. But is there, can there, be a purpose of all life? Is there a purpose to life as a whole, as a human race? Is it merely for evolution? Or is it a movie for stars? If you’ve got an answer to this, than you’re smarter than me because I’ve got nothing. [If you’ve got it, please comment… I’m begging now because this is something that needs to be answered] I know, as a human race, we are better together; I just don’t know why we need to be like this. What war are we preparing for? [And yes, this question haunts me at night.]

Hello Friend

Wow… it’s been a while, it’s like every time I get to do this is few and far in between. It’s like trying to meet with an old friend; plans don’t always fit right and all that stuff. But don’t forget, I love doing this. So hello old friend, how is everything? As always, I hope all is well and if not it will be. Man… a lot has happened since I was last on here, let’s see… hmmm… lots of work (but you already knew that, because if there wasn’t I’d be on here), you probably don’t care too much for it [if it was architecture, I’d be all about it; but its like trivial stuff, not even school work.] So what’s happened? Just life, I suppose. I got married.


Ha! Yeah right, but it’s a nice transition into tonight’s topic. You know that “How to” page on Google’s homepage is really good. It comments on many different topics that are pretty epic. http://wiki.ehow.com/Make-Your-Parents-Love-You-for-Who-You-Are, that’s a good page if you haven’t read it, it was posted a few days ago. I think your parents, ya gotta be on good terms or else it’s hard to do something you believe in… it’s hard to go through a struggle without any support. Anyways, that’s a topic for next time. Even still tonight’s [was pre-thought before this http://wiki.ehow.com/Have-a-Healthy-Relationship showed up, nevertheless its nice information to read afterwards… it’s a different view (kinda)] topic is on relationships with people (other than your parents). I spend all this time praising wiki.ehow.com and now my argument differs from it. Here’s an original idea: read both and decide on something for yourself. I’m merely presenting my view of things.

Friends… quite possibly the only thing that is so common but not a whole lot of individuals know how to do it correctly. That’s kinda a negative view; I know there are many individuals that have no one else to depend on. It’s that what a friend is some one to depend on? It’s not all they are, but it’s a pretty important trait. When it comes to friends, it’s difficult to find the one that is genuine. I think I’ve been blessed with quite a few individuals I can truly depend on. The criteria for a good friend are pretty extensive, and I know I won’t hit on all the traits… but hopefully I’ll get the heavy hitters.

friend P Pronunciation Key (fr(image placeholder)nd)n.

1. A person whom one knows, likes, and trusts.


2. A person whom one knows; an acquaintance.


3. A person with whom one is allied in a struggle or cause; a comrade.


4. One who supports, sympathizes with, or patronizes a group, cause, or movement: friends of the clean air movement.


5. Friend A member of the Society of Friends; a Quaker.

(I love dictionary.com, knowledge is power)
Dictionary.com always provides a pretty good basis; I always take it with a grain of salt. I’d argue with 2 and you’ll see why in a little bit. I want to highlight 3 though; I think that’s pretty important.

The people I call friends has quite a few individuals in it, truly individuals, people are very different from each other. And I love it, it’s not just those individuals that I grew up with, so we’re not bound by the simple fact of time. I have newer friends and I have elementary school friends, and they all follow under my criteria for friend. In our current era, (and I’m not helping this either by joining facebook.com, I’ll argue for this later) the term friend has been abused and mistreated. [I see www.facebook.com as a way to keep in touch with individuals that have flown away, it’s nice to check up on people… see how the trials of life have developed whomever, and it’s not to the extent that it is like a stalker (i.e. friendster.com or whatever it is)]

Lemme get on point, I wanna take that definition I highlighted and start there. In the struggle that we call life, we’ll find individuals fighting for the same thing that we’re fighting for. Whether it’s a real problem we’re trying to solve or just trying to have that time where we can take it easy, we’ll have people trying to achieve the same thing. When I think of the people I call friends, I could (and have) told them by dreams and my plans for life. There’s no feeling of their reaction as negative. When you tell someone your dream (not the one some of you have a night), there are a few things that could happen (I’m highlighting two): they could laugh at you or they could accept you (maybe even try to help you get there). When I’ve discussed what I wanted to do in life, (and maybe this is by general nature) but there’s never a fear of being laughed at; further more, I haven’t been laughed at—why tell someone something you truly believe in, if you think you’re going to be laughed at. There are all these intangibles when it comes to friends, it’s never anything material. With this comfort zone of being able to tell someone your deepest thoughts, there comes qualities of the relationship—trust, I think, is the biggest. I trust they won’t laugh, I trust they will accept it, and I trust them with that information. Anyone that’s two-face is not a friend, and everyone knows this but no one really believes it. People can tell when someone isn’t being genuine; you can hear it in their voice or tell by their body language. And I know it’s the tip of the iceberg, but I lost my train of thought [the next section is nagging me to get to it]

So, how to be a good friend… well be genuine. That ehowto I gave earlier, I would argue that’s what makes a good friend relationship. The “how to” takes about a relationship in terms of significant other. I argue all those qualities should be present with your friends. The first section, that’s the best statement of telling the truth to people. Another quality a good friend should have is a good listener. Listen. I’m not talking about just hearing them out, letting them vent. They could vent to a teddy bear or bottle if they wanted to, when someone says something to you—listen to it, and think about it (it’s not hard…). How can you give feedback if you’re not listening? Again, tip of the iceberg, but the next section is naggin’ me [man, I type pretty quickly, there’s got to be a way where I can just think and it types it all out].

Now I argue the “how to” shows how to be a good friend (and it was intended to show how to have a healthy relationship), so the question comes up how do we pick a significant other? Because obviously those qualities have to be present when picking a significant other, what separates a friend from a significant other? Now I haven’t completely mapped this out, but there are a few things that would separate a friend from a significant other. I think being attracted to, is something small but a part of it. More importantly is someone you want to procreate with. Someone you want to create life with, that’s not exactly something that’s done between friends. I know I’m a reflection of (both) my parents, I can see traits and qualities of both. Think about this when picking a significant other. Basically, what would you like your kids to be like? This will probably lead to some argument for dating, something along the lines of seeing how they react to particular situations and finding their true nature (we’ll talk about this later). But back on point, significant other, the person you marry is and should be someone you’d like to see copies of—someone to procreate with. Here’s something to think about: How can you choose who to be with, if you’re not comfortable with yourself?

And as always, these are my opinions; they have been developed as a result of my experiences and thoughts. With that, I always welcome yours because they are derived from your experiences and your thoughts.

In the Chamber of My Mind

Hey everyone… how’s everyone doing tonight? Good, I hope. I hope all is well with you and yours. I hope everyone had a good break… even if your break was only a day long, like mine. Man… this Architecture projects is damn near getting’ the best of me. Ha! Nah but seriously… this up until 4 in the morning ain’t cool man. Then again, I can’t complain because it’s mostly all self inflicted. I don’t have to care about my project, but I do. So I spend time on it, figure that shiet out. Plus, I like it when my brains buzzing from situation to situation. Anyways… back to the topic… I think people think I’m hard to talk to… or have a difficulty giving advice to… hmmm…

So we ran into a like dilemma today in the matter of my architectural project. And I’m sittin’ there trying to figure out a solution. In our studio, we have people that are willing to put their opinion forth… or give a little suggestion. Now, I personally do love when this happens. I think people see me as just ignoring them… when I’m standing there in silence. But behind these “blank” eyes is the chaos that ensues behind my exterior. In my mind, things are going a mile a minute. When someone gives me a suggestion, there’s a rush of so many different things about the suggestion. I think so people think I’m not listening, but when I respond or speak… I believe so much development comes out that people don’t even realize themselves. It’s kinda back to the whole pre-cognition thing. I’ll say something… and the person that I said it to… they’ll get what I was saying maybe 10-15 minutes later. I think some people know that the lights are flickering on and off, information blurring through the space of my mind. And I suppose that it is awkward when someone has just finished saying something but I don’t have a response or rather say anything. I guess… people have to realize when I speak about something… I thought it thru pretty deeply. Personally, I think I thirst for another opinion, that’s why I ask all of you to post or comment or respond (*hint hint*). Man, I've been repeatedly reminded about people living in their own worlds lately.

Do we ever really know what goes on in someone’s head? What they’re thinking? Can we eve really know? I don’t think it’s a good thing to generalize people out, and talk about what their probably thinking… humans change… they’re not like set in stone. They adapt, they change… basically their different. That’s what makes humans so separate. Over seven billion people… of all the different from one another… kinda crazy, but it’s true (and nothing before but ever really matters). Wow, just felt like a ton of bricks just hit me… I’m getting’ tired… This isn’t so good, alright; I gotta get off of his… and stay busy. Until next time, I’ll be here… will you?

Fate Vs. Destiny

Hey everyone, how’s everyone doing? While posting on other blog… I realized that the topics that I talk about; it’s kinda hard or difficult to respond to them. But I need your feed back to further develop them in my own mind, cuz they’re not complete yet. So if anyone is reading this… leave me something… geez. Anyway, I got into a discussion with one of my classmates yesterday, so I figured that I’d post up my theory on the difference between Fate and Destiny.

Well, as you can probably tell, I believe they are two separate things. Fate is not another word for Destiny, vice versa. This example maybe a little choppy, but like I said I’m still working on the theories (posts are good). If you picture life as a “choose your own adventure” book with only one ending, then Fate would be the end of the story. Since it’s a “choose your own adventure” and not a “choose your ending” kinda book, there’s only one way it can end. As stated before, this end is what I would call Fate. This idea of thinking doesn’t leave room for those that believe they have some part in their own life. I believe I have some control in my life, some free will, and I account for this by Destiny. Like a “choose your own adventure” book, there are key checkpoints that you have to hit… how you get to these checkpoints—that’s up to you. Those little points are what I call Destiny. It is your Destiny to get to those checkpoints; you choose your path to get there. Hypothetically, when you have a dilemma in your life and you have two options [most times you have more]… one says turn to page 23 and the other says turn to page 56 and you choose to turn to page 56. Upon reading the result on page 56, it just tells you to turn to page 23… yeah 23 is your Destiny. No matter what path you take, you still hit Destiny among those points, when you reach your Fate… the things you remember, those happen to be your Destiny or checkpoints. Life is a multi-layered path to one goal, when you go up ladders and down stairs… you’re still getting to the goal, maybe you’re taking a detour… maybe you’re taking a shortcut… either way you’re getting there. This applies with my own theory on everyone having a purpose, those checkpoints could have been your purpose, on a higher level, and your Fate is bigger purpose. Does it make sense to anyone? I think it’s pretty clear.

Anyway, when I presented this to her, she made the note that what if there is only one real path, and there was no other path to take… it was just an illusion and responded with the idea that I have no control then, I would like control I think it’s a very good thing. “The problem is choice.” [The Architect, The Matrix: Reloaded]

Then she asked a very valid question, that I’m not going to answer here because I haven’t thought about it enough, she said if religion played a part. Does religion have a factor? I’m not quite sure, on how to answer this… still kinda thinking about it. It’s a very valid question, [Pinky, are you pondering what I’m pondering?]. I'll have to thinking some more on this, you know I’ll post that answer up.

Humans' Worse Problem

Sending another broadcast out into cyberspace… what’s the topic about today? Well, it’s more of a complaint… but not one that can be fixed… so I suppose it’s just an observation.

I’m going to start off with the basis… I believe there is a God and God created human beings. This God is just the idea of God [master and creator of the universe?], not belonging to any particular religion. I admire what God has created; I believe that God created everything on Earth (as well as the rest of the universe). There is one thing that I suppose I would like to remove from one of his creations. I believe the biggest deficiency in humans is…

…

…

…

the necessity of sleeping. Could you image if the world didn’t need to sleep? The amount of productivity that this planet would be able to provide is unimaginable. Scientist could work at all hours of the day and night… there’s no end. Without the need for sleep, and never feeling tired… could you image what this world could do in a matter of weeks? Now, all of those college students and people working on projects… they’re thinking I could get my homework done on time (don’t worry, I was thinking it too), and there’s nothing wrong with that… I would prefer to be educated more than the amount of time that I’m being educated for now… that’s like 4 hours… if professors could pump more information into my mind for a longer period of time, the amount of knowledge that I would have at the age of 21 is incredible. Now, just to show that it’s not all fun and merry things, there are other things that would last longer… things like… WAR. As a human race, if we didn’t have to sleep, we wouldn’t have to stop killing people. There is that possibility, if we (as a human race) never slept or paused, our steadily approach to the final end could come quicker. I can see both sides of the argument, I would just hope that everyone would be productive for at least 18 hours of the day… but that’s still just a dream. This post is mainly based on the fact that I want to just be able to sleep 2 hours and be able to go the next day at 100%. When I’m doing Architecture, I don’t feel sleepy, when I post on here, there’s no sleepiness. In that instance, where I pause… that’s when it hits me like a ton of pillows, it’s not every fun. It’s all the sudden, and that’s never a good feeling. Anyone out there got a cure of sleep? So I don’t have to do it, and still fully functional (and healthy) for the next day. I don’t even sleep to dream anymore… I haven’t remembered a dream in who knows how long… Sleep is a waste of time. When time is the only thing we have to worry about, sleep is the worse deficiency in human beings. “We don’t sleep to dream, we sleep to build stamina” [Mike Shinoda (Fort Minor) Lupe Fiasco, Holly Brook – Be Somebody].

The Difference between Day and Night

Hey everyone, how’s everyone doing tonight? Good, I hope… Carl is back for a session from the mind.

I've realized not many individuals see me and all of my many complexities. Let’s be honest and state that many don’t care, I think this is largely due to the fact that my persona during the day is rather distasteful (at times). Well, even I think it is, so it’s gotta be. Ahhh, the difference between day and night, the way I am during the day and the way I am when the sun sets are very different individuals. During the day, I am rather confident people mistake this as arrogant. I think this is the wrong impression of me, I don’t believe I’m arrogant… I believe I’m willing to express my opinion and speak my mind (and from the heart). I think that’s the thing that keeps both sides still me. Whether its daylight or the night sky, I’m always ready to speak from my heart. It’s just how I express it, that’s different. At night, I’m not as blunt so to speak, I speak differently. Most that read my blog, receive this “voice.” My friends that I have usually aren’t people that I have in class or people that I hang out with in big crowds. I take a different tone then, when I’m in class that is. Competition turns gentlemen into animals… I don’t mean to make an individual look bad in front of a group when I notice something that they might not have thought about, it just comes off that way. I believe there is a time a place for everything, with this in mind there are times when my night side appears in the day. This usually happens when there’s a one-on-one encounter with someone. At this point, I don’t believe I have to portray my dominance, I guess… I don’t know why I do it during the day, I think a part of it can be attributed to the fact that I’m at a very cut-throat position in Architecture. I just have that tendency to keep an eye over my shoulder to see who’s listening in on my ideas… I’m pretty sure I spoke about this before… people biting off another person’s ideas; it’s a lot easier in a studio. [Then again, you can’t create a buzz in no one sees you] So I guess if people really want to get to know me, they have to notice that small change that happens or occurs during the day, and wonder more about the level of complexity that everyone has; or to catch me, along with the other owls. We, as people in the world, can’t assume anything about individuals that have the ability to change. Since we are all human, we can’t assume anything about anyone. That whole can’t judge a book by its cover, yeah… I can’t look at someone and honestly know everything about them… or monitor how they conduct themselves and know why they do it. I think that’s why people are so interesting, I enjoy meeting people… just sometimes I’m not a person that’s very meet-able, if that makes any sense. The aura that I emit during the day is different than the aura that surrounds me at night. There are small glimpses in which you can see my nocturnal nature during the day, hopefully after schooling and all that, when I've proven myself to myself, that nocturnal persona can take over; this one, the one that speaks to you now; the one that always talks to you in the late hours of the night or early hours of the morning (whichever you prefer, and whenever you prefer to read my posts). I wonder though, would my nocturnal persona reveal itself in the studio, at night? I believe it has before, but I’m not quite sure. If the room was filled with people and the sun has already set, would I be nocturnal? Only time will answer this question… year end show is coming! I’m excited; hopefully someone comes to see my work. And for those that think they know me and have only seen me in the studio… well you’d probably wouldn’t be here, so that doesn’t exactly work… anyways… I know I’m one of those people you kinda want to know about (or you gotta kinda wonder about), that’s where that level of complexity comes from… following from that is the existence of the blog. I love this blog… I promote the damn thing every chance I get… you guys should be too *hint hint* anyways… I apologize for this post is only proposing small theories and whatnot… just something I needed to get off my chest and I needed an audience that consisted more than my sketchbook. Alright, I’m out… I got kinda a headache, been kinda sick… gonna get some fluids and sleep. Out.

Halloween, just costumes and candy?

Hey everyone… how is everyone doin’? I hope no one has anything to complain about.

Chen Li in her response reminds me of a very valid point, if there is anything that I talk about (I understand people don’t read the same material) and ya don’t understand… please let me know (or you can do some research of your own… 10,000 pages of information at your fingertips). You’ve found my page… I’m sure there are more pages to find.

Allhollows Eve… the day before All Saints’ Day, today is/was devoted to young pranksters. Well that’s what it was… now it’s just Halloween. As I grow older the fun of Halloween begins to fade… and I haven’t been dressing up like I used to do when I was younger and do that whole trick or treatin’ thing. Today, well more like Friday I found the inspiration to be someone that I am not. Then when I was deciding who I was dressing up to be, I realized that today is really the only day where it is acceptable to blatantly acceptable to put a mask on your face and have everyone accept it as your face. I know some(/most?) people put a “mask” on everyday, but today it’s different because it is more prominent. It just stands out more, today we’re allowed to “doing something crazy” and “be someone we’re not” (or that we wish to be). So I wonder, when we put these “costumes” on, are we really just showing our true nature or rather “what we want to be”? People dress up in comic book characters or as characters from movies, vampires, witches, and many various other forms. Some dress up as playboy bunnies and others dress up as cows. I think some people that choose their own costume (not influenced by a group or friend); tend to choose costumes that are merely a reflection of themselves. When I was younger, I chose a Vampire at one point, then I chose Jason, and various other “villains;” I believe I chose believe that I would’ve been, if I wasn’t bound to the limits of society. It’d be that hunter in the night, feared by many and always alone. Now I’m older and what have I chosen to be today, I chose Seraph from Matrix Reloaded and Matrix Revolutions. I chose the guardian of The Oracle and protector of Sati. When I analyze it down, Seraph, mythically a 6 winged being that has surpassed the rank of angels, makes a lot of sense that I would choose him. Taken in the context of the movie, he is the warrior [that has clashed with Agent Smith on the battlefield before, and defeated him then but loses the battle when Smith is multiplied] that is evenly matched with the One, once worked for the Merovingian and now simply the guardian of the Oracle (the individual that brings unbalance to the system, tips the scale to humans against her counterpart the Architect) and Sati (the individual that is daughter that has no purpose because she is made of love between her two parents, her father who recycles the dead human pods to feed the new human pods and her mother creator of the interactive programs such as the Merovingian, the Oracle, and the Agents. Her parents are machines that cannot exist without human beings. Sati may be the real glue and prim example of their love for both worlds Human and Machine ::side note:: it appears she is able to manipulate the weather as well judging by the rain that begins to fall after she is absorbed by Smith and the beautiful sky portrait she paints for Neo). Now after all that, I sit back and kinda think… is that really me? Seraph once worked for the Merovingian and well the part of my name Tainted would be the acceptance of that premise. Guardian of the “one that is willing to shake things up”… yeah, that sounds like me. Protector of the “love and unison of two worlds’ humans and [technology]”… I think I try to keep get the humans to be “stronger” through the use of technology. I've fought with the units of control (the Agents) on various “battlefields.” And for the last question… probably the toughest and controversial question… am I as evenly matched with the One? That question I don’t believe I’m going to answer, I don’t think there’s any real way to answer it… Time will tell. Until Time opens that storybook, I am in “costume” as Seraph.

The Impenetrable Fabric

Hey… sorry I haven’t been posting’… I’ll make it up… Imma post twice tonight… y’all just watch me. So ~> let’s get this started, right to the topic.

Topic today is the most important thing in life. Any guesses? Money? Love? Sex? Family? Friends? All those guesses are wrong… this most important thing in life is consistent. Any guesses? In a world where very little is guaranteed, I have realized something that is the same in every single instance. The magic answer I was looking for is…

…

…

…

Time

Time is the most valuable thing in this life. All those guesses come and go in life… life even comes and goes. But time, is the single most idea that many attempt to beat and yet it is still undefeated. Under my research, I have discovered that not a single person has found a way to beat time… I believe Einstein was the closest… but his success (?) was never documented [The Philadelphia Experiment]. Money comes and goes, some believe it runs the world, even without time, money fails to exist. Love remains at the mercy of Time… Time can change Love… Love cannot change Time. Although sometimes, in love, a person feels like Time does not exist… when the person comes out of this dream state… Time is the hardest thing to realize. This leads me to believe that the only true thing that should linger on my mind is the question of Time. Do I have enough Time to do this? Do I have enough Time to do that? I believe I cannot beat the clock, I can only understand that seconds are seconds and minutes are minutes and I have to play by their rules. The game is very simple, the rules are consistent and there aren’t any loopholes. Now the amount of Time left in your life, cannot be told to you [or can it?] and since that is not known… it appears like Time doesn’t play fair… but perhaps we just don’t know all the rules. [Stemming from and earlier post] I believe we all have a set amount of Time on this level of existence, I don’t know how much Time I have… I don’t think anyone really does… and because I don’t fully know all the rules of the game, it may seem the game is uneasily stacked against me… but if you think about it… [I believe] we always complete what we were meant to do… then Time is over, somehow we both win (Time and the Individual). I would suggest that we don’t race the clock… but embrace the clock. Plan. How much Time do you need to do that? Understand that you will win either way. If you play by the rules (of Time), you’re more than likely to have more fun and do more of what you want.

I'm glad I'm not one of those in the field

So the font project is done... and I'm still working on it (well I didn't today or yesterday), but I'm still working on it... why? Because I'm getting published. Yeah, that's right. ::"I Made This" taunting:: After the presentations, I talked to one of the guest graphic designers and asked him... "Tell me the truth, how far am I from publishing it" and he hit with me something along the lines of put it on the computer, get a font builder [and the most memorable part of the conversation] make sure I get a copy. Oh yeah! How sweet is that? Everything is on the up and up... it’s like everything I touch transforms to platinum and diamonds. I hope this special power doesn't run out until I finally lay down to rest. But that's a story for another day. But I have a downer to hamper my mood, that design for the T-Shirt for the school... yeah not gonna happen. I was unaware of the fact that the design was due on Tuesday and well I wasn't going to trade a T-Shirt design (that's extra) for my font (that's my project and has my name virtually attached to it). It's all good though, if they didn't like the entries... I'm pretty sure they'll just open it up for more designs. Either way, I'll get my t-shirt made--whether it be by permission or if I have to do it guerilla style. Oh how nice... moves right into my next topic.

I was talking to a friend of mine [who will rename nameless for universality], and I said this:

I'm just really glad... I'm not like those stereotypical art students who think they know what an art student is and act a certain way
....
with the crazy hair and funky clothes without brains and might as well be hot pink cows with purple poka-dots
...
just moo-ing along

And I mean that, what's up with this posers. Lemme get on my stand a flame a few individuals tonight. Honestly... daily... I see individuals who think they're artists but when it comes down to it... they can't even grasp what it means to truly be an artist. And I mean any art form whether it be, acting, architecture, graphic designing, musician, painting, sculpting, writer, et cetera. All areas of art are clouded by posers who have no integrity or honesty. They act a certain way because they believe "to be an art student, one has to dress this way or speak this way," when in reality, it's the other way around... it just happens. If you got it, then you got it... if you don't, no one can teach it to you. [If you got it, some teachers can bring it out; but if you don't got it, they can't get it to you] Most of art school is understanding one's own style, and if that's the case, then why do we have so many that are just trying to follow the pack, catch the heat from someone else's spark. Now, much of this is due to the natural progress of most artistic individuals. Most artists do end up designing their own clothing, which is understandable sometimes what you need is not what's in your closet at that moment... so they're forced to make it. What I want to say with my clothing just isn't out in the market right now... so I will have to start designing my own. [I'll keep y'all update on that as well.] Honesty... and Integrity... that's what is missing in these stereotypical art students... whining how they can't get accepted in society because they're an art student... or dress a certain way, because this is how an art student dresses. Remember its not how you look that's being judged by the rest of the world, it's your art work that's in the lime light and under the interrogation lamp. Perfect example of this would be Project Runaway and the winner of that. I can't remember the designers name (much like how most art is... unless you're really really epic), but I can remember his clothing line. Since he was on T.V., we saw how "different" he was... his crazy dress style and the like. But when it came down to actual design and the final day... what did he say? "Let's let the line speak for itself." Yeah, he came out with his hot pink hat and suit on but hey he made the hat. Be who you are... not what you think you're suppose to be... cuz you'll only get it wrong. If this sounds like a subliminal message to all those people that look into the mirror and see what I'm talking about; please do me a favor and don't waste my (or someone else's) teacher's time. You're the reason why there is so much fluff is most art forms nowadays, you and your predecessors are the reason for architecture falling short and movies that just plain suck. Granted, some are the result of failed execution, but if the idea/concept wasn't there in the beginning then there's nothing to try and capture. For the rest of you true art students please do what Mike Shinoda [Linkin Park - Step Up] did, for the rock/hip-hop genre, in your own genres. I know I'll be blazing my own trail [hopefully, doing it in my own designed clothes and never to a conformed style].

[untitled]...

Yeah! I got a lil attention of my cousin's blog... I thought that was pretty cool. Tonight was kinda laid back, I wanted to hit up my font work again and make it as close to perfect as I can get it for Tuesday. ::psst::... I'm shooting for it to get published. Yeah... I know... high ambitions, I heard it before. But I got this. It doesn't have to be published on Tuesday; I just want to make sure that the graphic designers will consider it. Then I’ll run with the idea, I’m sure they'll help out with that extended knowledge on how to publish a font. Yeah... but I didn't work on it today, I wanted to... ran outta materials. Went to the store and it was out of materials as well... disappointing I know. I probably could've gone earlier, but my buddy was up from the burgs on a visit. And when he went, then I went to the art store. I wanted to spend a lil time with friends and I got all weekend, mostly Sunday night. I got to go to the parent's house and see my lil bro after this first football game (they won by the way, in case you were wonderin'). I got to take a few photos and incorp my word (that I chose for the font) into the picture. The word I chose was/is my title for the font, sorry I’m a little vague, gotta cover my own ass make sure no one rips my idea ya know. Cuz even though I don't care about the famous dollars, some people don't care about professional courtesy. So they'll rip someone else idea cuz they can't think of their own. "Blaze your own trail" (adjusted from Papa Roach's "Not Listening" [Verse 2]).

Today... I was gonna just lay back and light a few candles and indulge in my silence and artistic freedom... but I didn't, eh, it's all gravy it wasn't that much needed. I just watched Crash instead. I thought that movie was great (or else I wouldn't have bought it although I do a blind buy every now and again), but I can see why some people wouldn't like it.

Oh! You know what I wanted to talk about or well at least say... you know how people say that you held this information from me so therefore you lied to me. And I was thinking is it really lying if it never crossed my head. That's like saying I didn't tell you I was breathing, but because I didn't tell you I’m lying about breathing. Ya know what I’m tryin' to say? You can't be held responsible for something you're not consciously aware of, right? How did this question come about.............. Oh! I remember now, I keep certain things to myself and so when I don't convey them or talk about them... am I lying to everyone, because I haven't said that I’ve been doing it? For example, you go somewhere frequently and you see someone over and over again and you think you know them pretty well. Then you find out that they're like married or something, and you think they're lying to you. Can that be considered lying? If it never crossed their mind that they needed to tell you that? Person 1 "well you never said that, you lied to me" Person 2 "I never said I did or never said I didn't." And yeah, I understand that if you think about it and it relates and you don't say it... then of course that can be counted as lying. Say Person 1 is out late then goes straight to work in the morning and Person 2 is upset about Person 1 not coming home. When the argument starts over where Person 1 was and Person 1 says "I was out late, and then I went straight to work," then Person 2 finds out that Person 1 was in a certain place. Half the truth is half a lie. But about the example before, it's really the full truth. Now I’m not going to sit here and detail out everything of my activities, and with that you can't say I’m lying to you about what I’m doing. Unless you want to hold me responsible for something I'm not aware that I had to say. Does that make sense to everyone out there... let's hope so? I'll post of a little bit later, gonna get some sleep tonight... I got some stuff to do tomorrow.