Perceiving vs. Knowing
The thought and act of perceiving something all depends on individual interpretation. Everybody is different; everybody has their own opinions about everything. Take sports for example, in every big city the people there think that their team is the best. This Sunday I will be at home rooting for the G-Men to win over Dallas. I perceive the Giants to be a better team. My mother’s boss would argue that the Cowboys are a better team because they have T.O.; but Osi Umenyiora leads the NFL for sacks this season for the Giants.
Perceiving isn’t knowing. Knowing is stone cold fact and truth. People have their own opinions about things, but fact is what is hard and concrete. My friends and I listen to a lot of music; there are some songs where the lyrics don’t sound clear and we always end up arguing about what the artist is “really” saying. There is a song by Warren Zevon called “Werewolves of London” and since the first time my friend heard this song he always though Zevon was singing “Werewolves of Thunder.” Fact is, Zevon sings it as, “Werewolves of London.”
I don’t know if there are superior ways of knowing, but I think common sense, and instincts, are core central parts of knowing. Instincts were the first key blocks in knowing and perceiving. When bear cubs are in danger, it’s the mother’s instincts to protect them at all costs. Then perceiving comes in play when we ask, why, and how?
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Monday, December 10, 2007
Know Thy Self
Know Thy Self
Finding one’s self often come along with maturity. When you’re young your body and mind go through so many changes that it is extremely difficult to really know who you are. After a person matures they can really get a feel for who they really are. Finding one’s self has a lot to do with morals and roots. Your morals are the idea of what you hold to be in your heart right or wrong, true or false. Knowing what your morals are will help you to find yourself. Roots, and traditions, and heritages, all effect who we are as people. They’re something that you have followed your whole life, and will definitely effect who you really are.
Everyone has strong and weak qualities. My weakest quality is my shyness. Well, my inability to immediately feel comfortable in new surroundings. Whenever I’m in a new place, with people that I’ve never met before, I will never be the one to start a conversation. Even when conversation has started it still takes a while for me to start to really feel comfortable. I’m learning to combat this shyness by thinking to myself, “honestly what is the worst thing that can happen?” If anything you may meet someone you really enjoy.
I feel that a real strength of mine is my humor. I use it all the time to diffuse heated and even awkward situations. When I argue with my dad, I always end the argument by saying something funny about they way my dad was arguing. Sometimes it makes him a little madder at first, but then we realize that what we were fighting about was just stupid. I’m at my funniest when I’m most comfortable. When I am surrounded by friends I’m completely relaxed and myself.
I think people have so much trouble thinking and writing their strengths and weaknesses, because people are not use to talking about that sort of thing. A person’s strength and weaknesses are what makes people vulnerable and human. Usually what ever is someone’s strength, the opposite is their weakness. Some people think that other people knowing your weakness makes them vulnerable. Your weakness is something, and maybe the only thing that can bring you down, and there are some people who once they find your weakness they want to use it against you. It’s not natural for people to admit that they are weak. It’s something that you want to keep to yourself if possible.
As humans we have a notion of wanting to look and be big and strong, and even though everybody has flaws and weaknesses, we still don’t want people to think that we do.
Finding one’s self often come along with maturity. When you’re young your body and mind go through so many changes that it is extremely difficult to really know who you are. After a person matures they can really get a feel for who they really are. Finding one’s self has a lot to do with morals and roots. Your morals are the idea of what you hold to be in your heart right or wrong, true or false. Knowing what your morals are will help you to find yourself. Roots, and traditions, and heritages, all effect who we are as people. They’re something that you have followed your whole life, and will definitely effect who you really are.
Everyone has strong and weak qualities. My weakest quality is my shyness. Well, my inability to immediately feel comfortable in new surroundings. Whenever I’m in a new place, with people that I’ve never met before, I will never be the one to start a conversation. Even when conversation has started it still takes a while for me to start to really feel comfortable. I’m learning to combat this shyness by thinking to myself, “honestly what is the worst thing that can happen?” If anything you may meet someone you really enjoy.
I feel that a real strength of mine is my humor. I use it all the time to diffuse heated and even awkward situations. When I argue with my dad, I always end the argument by saying something funny about they way my dad was arguing. Sometimes it makes him a little madder at first, but then we realize that what we were fighting about was just stupid. I’m at my funniest when I’m most comfortable. When I am surrounded by friends I’m completely relaxed and myself.
I think people have so much trouble thinking and writing their strengths and weaknesses, because people are not use to talking about that sort of thing. A person’s strength and weaknesses are what makes people vulnerable and human. Usually what ever is someone’s strength, the opposite is their weakness. Some people think that other people knowing your weakness makes them vulnerable. Your weakness is something, and maybe the only thing that can bring you down, and there are some people who once they find your weakness they want to use it against you. It’s not natural for people to admit that they are weak. It’s something that you want to keep to yourself if possible.
As humans we have a notion of wanting to look and be big and strong, and even though everybody has flaws and weaknesses, we still don’t want people to think that we do.
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
TOPIC FOUR
Life’s a Garden
The best advice I’ve ever received, (that I can remember) was oddly enough, from a movie entitled “Joe Dirt.” In “Joe Dirt” David Spade plays the main character “Joe,” who is on a 15 year, (and counting) quest to find his parents. Most of the movie is a flashback; Joe is a guest on a radio station re-telling his journey to all of Los Angeles. The back-story; when Joe was eight, he, his parents, and his sister took a road trip to the Grand Canyon. During their visit, Joe gets separated from his family and is left behind. Later events show that Joe did get lost, but also that his parents made no attempt to try to find him. On his journey to find his parents, Joe gets into a little trouble here and there, but makes some really good friends and meets a wide variety of cool and interesting characters along the way. The whole point and moral of the story is, I think, that Joe gets so caught up in that one goal of finding his parents that it really takes over his life, and in turn Joe looses sight of the present. In the end, after hundreds of miles and years of searching, Joe realizes that he spent all this time looking for a home that he already had, with Brandy (the love interest). During the movie Joe has a conversation with his new friend “Kickin’ Wing,” and says; “Life’s a garden, you gotta dig it, to make it work for you.” I saw “Joe Dirt” when I was in sixth grade. I have remembered that advice for six years, if there was any other advice that I had been given that was more influential and impacting, I should have remembered it. My father will be the first person to tell you that although funny, “Joe Dirt” was one of the stupidest movies of all time, which is why I was so surprised to hear this advice flow out of Joe’s mouth. “Life’s a garden, you gotta dig it, to make it work for you.” You can either take life as it comes and hope that you get lucky, or you can get your hands dirty and make life do what you want, make life worth living. Whenever I find myself just sitting around the day before a quiz, (as one example), I think about Joe and his advice to Kickin’ Wing; and I pull out my notes from class and start to study. When I saw this blog topic I started to think about all the advice I’ve been given over the years. I came to the conclusion that, more than likely I have been given advice more meaningful than Joe’s, but can not remember it. If I had been given advice that was better than Joe’s, but just can’t remember it, that must mean that the advice I was given, was not all that great to begin with, otherwise I would have remembered it.
TOPIC THREE
1) Have children
2) Have a good steady job that I love
3) Play guitar as well as Eddie Van Halen
4) Have lots of money
5) Learn how to cook
One thing I want to do before I die is have a family. When I get older, and before I die I want to have children. Hopefully I’ll be able to have children with a woman that I truly love and want to spend the rest of my life with. I would still want kids even if it wasn’t with the “love of my life.” I absolutely love kids. During the past two summers I worked as a Camp Counselor at Orange Parks & Rec. I got to spend all day with kids, luck me right? Some people can’t stand spending all day with kids, but I had a good time playin’ around with them, having fun, but also laying down the law. Don’t get me wrong, some kids can really be a pain in the ass, but that’s only until you get past their “wall.” Once you get to know them, I mean really know them, (not just their names) you find that they are extremely unique and loveable. I think the reason I love working with kids is because of the relationships that I shared with my counselors when I was younger and attending camp. My counselors made my summers the best they could be; I had so many good times there. My boss this past summer was one of my counselors when I went to camp, and to see him now and realize the kind of impact he had on me is remarkable. I want to be able to make that kind of impact on my children. To think that, if you become a good father and push your children to be the best they can be, at whatever they want to be, they will never forget you. You could be the single most influential presence in that child’s life.
When I get older it’s important to me to have a good steady job that I actually enjoy doing because if you think about it, a person is going to spend most of their lives working. I can tell sometimes that my dad does not always enjoy his job, the stress, the pressure, sometimes it can be overwhelming, and if you don’t like your job, it makes it that much worse. I want to find a job where I can get up in the morning and look forward to going to work. Life is too short to spend it at a job that you absolutely hate. Eventually the hatred for the job will start to creep into your social life, and you’ll just be miserable and pissy all the time, and it’s just not worth all that trouble to me.
Just a few years ago I listened to my very first rock album. I had heard PLR played on the radio growing up, but never really paid attention to what was being played. On a trip to New Jersey once, I stole a few of my parents’ CD’s to listen to in the car to pass the time. One of the CD’s that I had taken was Van Halen, Women and Children First. That was my first real taste of rock and roll, and I loved it. Now music is pretty much my life, I don’t know what I would do if my computer crashed, or if my i-pod was stolen. The first CD’s that I ever put onto my computer were those of Van Halen. Day after day I would sit mesmerized by the “sick nasty” guitar styling of Eddie Van Halen. I was amazed at how well someone could play the guitar. Music in general along with food is a gateway to the entire world. Anywhere that you go in the world, cultures are going to have music, they may be different from one an other, but music is such a powerful tool that it’s something people can stand behind and follow. Eddie, with some help from Jimmy Page and Jimi Hendrix inspired me to start to learn the guitar. I have been playing for almost a year now and still have a long way to go to be as good as Eddie Van Halen.
Wanting to have lots of money seems a little materialistic, I know. But if you have lots of money, you can do anything you want. Now when I say lots of money I don’t mean Bill Gates money, I mean several million, or just enough so I wouldn’t have to work ever again and could buy what ever I pleased. Of course if I had a real lot of money I would definitely go the charity route too. If I had that kind of money now, I would sit on my deck (on the nice days) and play guitar and eat all day long; that right there is the most perfect moment that I can think of. Could you imagine how nice it would be, to not have to worry about how you’re going to pay your bills, or not have to worry whether or not you’re going to have enough money for gas the next day, or whatever? Not a care in the world, just me, on my deck, with only the sound of the wind, and my guitar.
I love to watch people cook, on TV or in my own kitchen, I think it’s an art form, and the people who do it well, are truly artists. If all that they played on the Food Network was Emril Live, Good Eats, and Iron Chef America, I would have no need for any other channels. The people on those three shows are pure geniuses. They can combine and create dishes that tap into every culture across the globe. In Iron Chef America, the chefs have to be able to look at a counter of assorted foods and create a masterpiece, and they do. Not only am I amazed at their tremendous knowledge about all kinds of foods, but cooking opens up a path to the entire world. Cooking is something, and one of the few things that is shared in common throughout the world. Every corner of the globe has their own traditional recipes, and their own take on how to make it.
I truly believe that all life, no matter how insignificant it might seem has some value. To understand what the value of that life may be, you might have to follow a person around from the time they were born. Sometimes it is quite easy to figure out if a life has value. I am an only child, and I know for a fact that my parents see me as the most valuable thing in their lives. To my parents my life has value, I am their child, I am their son, I gave them a purpose. As a child and until you become a parent, you really won’t understand the value of life that your own parents saw in you. The impact you make as a child or baby on your parents’ life is so significant, and as a child or a baby you really have no idea, how significant.
1) Have children
2) Have a good steady job that I love
3) Play guitar as well as Eddie Van Halen
4) Have lots of money
5) Learn how to cook
One thing I want to do before I die is have a family. When I get older, and before I die I want to have children. Hopefully I’ll be able to have children with a woman that I truly love and want to spend the rest of my life with. I would still want kids even if it wasn’t with the “love of my life.” I absolutely love kids. During the past two summers I worked as a Camp Counselor at Orange Parks & Rec. I got to spend all day with kids, luck me right? Some people can’t stand spending all day with kids, but I had a good time playin’ around with them, having fun, but also laying down the law. Don’t get me wrong, some kids can really be a pain in the ass, but that’s only until you get past their “wall.” Once you get to know them, I mean really know them, (not just their names) you find that they are extremely unique and loveable. I think the reason I love working with kids is because of the relationships that I shared with my counselors when I was younger and attending camp. My counselors made my summers the best they could be; I had so many good times there. My boss this past summer was one of my counselors when I went to camp, and to see him now and realize the kind of impact he had on me is remarkable. I want to be able to make that kind of impact on my children. To think that, if you become a good father and push your children to be the best they can be, at whatever they want to be, they will never forget you. You could be the single most influential presence in that child’s life.
When I get older it’s important to me to have a good steady job that I actually enjoy doing because if you think about it, a person is going to spend most of their lives working. I can tell sometimes that my dad does not always enjoy his job, the stress, the pressure, sometimes it can be overwhelming, and if you don’t like your job, it makes it that much worse. I want to find a job where I can get up in the morning and look forward to going to work. Life is too short to spend it at a job that you absolutely hate. Eventually the hatred for the job will start to creep into your social life, and you’ll just be miserable and pissy all the time, and it’s just not worth all that trouble to me.
Just a few years ago I listened to my very first rock album. I had heard PLR played on the radio growing up, but never really paid attention to what was being played. On a trip to New Jersey once, I stole a few of my parents’ CD’s to listen to in the car to pass the time. One of the CD’s that I had taken was Van Halen, Women and Children First. That was my first real taste of rock and roll, and I loved it. Now music is pretty much my life, I don’t know what I would do if my computer crashed, or if my i-pod was stolen. The first CD’s that I ever put onto my computer were those of Van Halen. Day after day I would sit mesmerized by the “sick nasty” guitar styling of Eddie Van Halen. I was amazed at how well someone could play the guitar. Music in general along with food is a gateway to the entire world. Anywhere that you go in the world, cultures are going to have music, they may be different from one an other, but music is such a powerful tool that it’s something people can stand behind and follow. Eddie, with some help from Jimmy Page and Jimi Hendrix inspired me to start to learn the guitar. I have been playing for almost a year now and still have a long way to go to be as good as Eddie Van Halen.
Wanting to have lots of money seems a little materialistic, I know. But if you have lots of money, you can do anything you want. Now when I say lots of money I don’t mean Bill Gates money, I mean several million, or just enough so I wouldn’t have to work ever again and could buy what ever I pleased. Of course if I had a real lot of money I would definitely go the charity route too. If I had that kind of money now, I would sit on my deck (on the nice days) and play guitar and eat all day long; that right there is the most perfect moment that I can think of. Could you imagine how nice it would be, to not have to worry about how you’re going to pay your bills, or not have to worry whether or not you’re going to have enough money for gas the next day, or whatever? Not a care in the world, just me, on my deck, with only the sound of the wind, and my guitar.
I love to watch people cook, on TV or in my own kitchen, I think it’s an art form, and the people who do it well, are truly artists. If all that they played on the Food Network was Emril Live, Good Eats, and Iron Chef America, I would have no need for any other channels. The people on those three shows are pure geniuses. They can combine and create dishes that tap into every culture across the globe. In Iron Chef America, the chefs have to be able to look at a counter of assorted foods and create a masterpiece, and they do. Not only am I amazed at their tremendous knowledge about all kinds of foods, but cooking opens up a path to the entire world. Cooking is something, and one of the few things that is shared in common throughout the world. Every corner of the globe has their own traditional recipes, and their own take on how to make it.
I truly believe that all life, no matter how insignificant it might seem has some value. To understand what the value of that life may be, you might have to follow a person around from the time they were born. Sometimes it is quite easy to figure out if a life has value. I am an only child, and I know for a fact that my parents see me as the most valuable thing in their lives. To my parents my life has value, I am their child, I am their son, I gave them a purpose. As a child and until you become a parent, you really won’t understand the value of life that your own parents saw in you. The impact you make as a child or baby on your parents’ life is so significant, and as a child or a baby you really have no idea, how significant.
Blog Two: Impermanence
For some, dealing with the impermanence of life is as easy as thinking about that light at the end of the tunnel, a belief that death is not just an end, but also a beginning. A beginning of a life in a better place, where you don’t have to worry about terrorism, or murderers, or even war, this place is a land of peace and serenity. This belief teaches people not to be afraid of death, but to accept it. For other people the impermanence of life is dealt with by doing everything they can to make the most of every minute that they are alive. The dream of working hard, to make money, to raise a family, to go sight seeing, lets them live. So these people know that when their time comes, they didn’t spend their whole lives being afraid of dying. They went out, had fun, and took life by the horns, and made it do everything that these people wanted to do. For these people the impermanence of life is motivation, motivation to make every moment worth while, and worth living. I think that the famous words of Van Halen, in the song “Best of Both Worlds” say the same thing. “Now you don’t have to die to go to heaven, or hang around to be born again, just tune in to what this place has got to offer, ‘cause we may never be here again!, ow!”
For some, dealing with the impermanence of life is as easy as thinking about that light at the end of the tunnel, a belief that death is not just an end, but also a beginning. A beginning of a life in a better place, where you don’t have to worry about terrorism, or murderers, or even war, this place is a land of peace and serenity. This belief teaches people not to be afraid of death, but to accept it. For other people the impermanence of life is dealt with by doing everything they can to make the most of every minute that they are alive. The dream of working hard, to make money, to raise a family, to go sight seeing, lets them live. So these people know that when their time comes, they didn’t spend their whole lives being afraid of dying. They went out, had fun, and took life by the horns, and made it do everything that these people wanted to do. For these people the impermanence of life is motivation, motivation to make every moment worth while, and worth living. I think that the famous words of Van Halen, in the song “Best of Both Worlds” say the same thing. “Now you don’t have to die to go to heaven, or hang around to be born again, just tune in to what this place has got to offer, ‘cause we may never be here again!, ow!”
Heroes
Blog One: Heroes
The common conception of a hero is someone who is big and strong, smart, and tactical, a person who does good deeds for the well being of mankind. Superman, Spiderman, Batman, all are heroes who fight crime and keep streets safe. Those heroes however, are made believe. A real hero is someone who will run into a blazing fire, just to save an 83 year old woman, or the rescue workers on 9-11, the people who ran inside the towers to help evacuate. The people who worked around the clock to free all those who were trapped beneath the rubble, those are true modern day heroes. Real heroes are common everyday people, who have an extreme sense of good morals. Heroes won’t think twice about helping someone in need, and asking for nothing in return. But a hero is not always someone who does just good deeds. A hero can be a single parent who holds down two jobs to support their children and provide them with food and clothes. A hero can also be an athlete. Children all over the world have their favorite athletes. These athletes set an example for children to follow. An example that says work hard and follow your dream, and not to stop until you acquired it, and then to dream some more. As humans we all need someone to look up to, someone everybody can turn to in a time of crisis. When something catastrophic happens we all need reassurance that everything will be alright. Knowing or even thinking that there is someone, that there are people who will stand-up in the face of danger or defeat, and have the will power to change and do something about it, makes us as humans more relaxed and calm about the world.
The common conception of a hero is someone who is big and strong, smart, and tactical, a person who does good deeds for the well being of mankind. Superman, Spiderman, Batman, all are heroes who fight crime and keep streets safe. Those heroes however, are made believe. A real hero is someone who will run into a blazing fire, just to save an 83 year old woman, or the rescue workers on 9-11, the people who ran inside the towers to help evacuate. The people who worked around the clock to free all those who were trapped beneath the rubble, those are true modern day heroes. Real heroes are common everyday people, who have an extreme sense of good morals. Heroes won’t think twice about helping someone in need, and asking for nothing in return. But a hero is not always someone who does just good deeds. A hero can be a single parent who holds down two jobs to support their children and provide them with food and clothes. A hero can also be an athlete. Children all over the world have their favorite athletes. These athletes set an example for children to follow. An example that says work hard and follow your dream, and not to stop until you acquired it, and then to dream some more. As humans we all need someone to look up to, someone everybody can turn to in a time of crisis. When something catastrophic happens we all need reassurance that everything will be alright. Knowing or even thinking that there is someone, that there are people who will stand-up in the face of danger or defeat, and have the will power to change and do something about it, makes us as humans more relaxed and calm about the world.
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