He's no Politician...or is he?

If he would agree to hold office of any kind, I would most certainly elect my brother, David. He is unlike the politician. He says what he thinks, regardless of whether people would think he’s wrong or get offended. He is brutally honest. Sometimes people don’t like that, but I prefer brutal honesty over caring lies. He is determined and hates wasting time. When he has free time, he spends it making the most insignificant projects or tasks into developed plans and ideas, making use of unproductive time in any way possible. More importantly, he doesn’t like to wait around to get things done. When he has an idea in his head, he will almost immediately put that plan into motion. If his toaster were to break, he would probably find a way to not only fix it, but also make it eject his toast across the room to his plate, and have it fixed and ready in time for breakfast. He gets things done, and doesn’t stop until they are. If he sets his mind to it, you can bet it will get done.

            I think those traits would make a good politician: someone who is honest in what they believe, instead of trying to please everyone in an embarrassing attempt to gain votes; someone who spends all their time invested in a cause, instead of wasting time on campaigns and speeches; someone who will follow through with their ideas and decisions, and not make empty promises to advance themselves politically. I think my brother would be a great politician, because he is the exact opposite of a politician. 

2 wild and crazy guys

The word wild has been used to describe many things. It seems the meaning of the word changes with the way each person uses it. It’s not what the word wild means, but what it means to you, and what you feel it describes. Certain things may seem wild to one person, and not to others. That same thing may not seem wild to that same person years from now. Wild things become civilized, and civilized things become wild. Your perspective is what determines what is wild.

            Picture a young child, running about on a playground. Eager to try each amusement, he runs about from swing to swing, climbing up metal ladders to the slides waiting above, and trying with all his might to keep his two-fingered grasp on the monkey bars. Around him, there are dozens of other youngsters, all mimicking his actions. To the young boy, the intricacies of the playground seem wild and surreal to him. New shapes and objects seem out of this world and strange. But the chaos and confusion of the playground itself, seems quite civilized to him. He knows where his friends are, where the swings are, how to get from one location to the next quickly and safely, and how to navigate through the herd of swarming children. His mother on the other hand, sees nothing but chaotic wilderness. The wild playground is unnerving, and stressful for her, knowing her young son is in there amongst the madness. Her idea of civilization is a neat desk, stacks of papers, and a hot cup of coffee. Their ideas of wild are infinitely opposite. Isn’t that just wild?

HW - the destroyer of GPAs

Ahhhh homework… I am probably not the best person to ask how I feel about homework. Last year, my poor work ethic had gotten me into some trouble, and it seems I’m beginning to fall back into the same rut. Homework has been and perhaps always will be my biggest downfall. When my work is completed it is generally thorough and correct, although it is rarely completed, and it’s a miracle if it is on time. (as proven by these late blogs)

My problem does not lie with the amount of homework. I think it has more to do with how the work is spread out. You see, teachers tend to give homework in moderation, thinking students have a little each day, and then they get though all of it. I don’t work that way. I prefer to have a large lump of homework and get through it all at once. And although you may think I prefer this so that I will have free time when I’m done, that is simply not the case. Working with a larger sum of work allows my brain to warm up. It needs a blog or two to stretch and shake off the cobwebs. It needs to build up speed and shift into higher gears before it can provide the best, most intelligent work I am capable of. And once I’m going, I don’t like to stop. I’d rather work through two whole days writing papers or doing math problems, and push my brain to its top speed, keeping it there until I run out of gas than constantly turning it on and off for just minutes a day. It’s not reaching its potential. It’s being insulted with petty busy-work. It doesn’t learn things in the slow-moving, tight-muscle, first-gear state of being. It simply does what it needs to.

This blog didn’t exactly answer each aspect of the blog specifically, but my brain got into second gear and it wouldn’t let me slow it down to read the blog topic. It has a mind of its own, and apparently a point to make. 

Solitude

Unlike most people, I generally enjoy spending time alone. Alone time is not time spent being lonely, but rather being alone with my own thoughts. Being alone is a way to escape thoughts and opinions of other people, who often feel they need to voice those opinions. Being alone is relaxing, and is healthy in moderate doses. You can’t be alone all the time, but in moderation it helps to keep your life and the world around you in perspective. Some nice quiet time each day spent alone with your thoughts is a great way to grow a little each day.

            I believe you should find the right balance between craving attention from others and being content in solitude. The optimum ratio is different from person to person, but the extremes on both ends work for no one. We all need companionship and belonging. Humans are pack animals; it is our nature to connect and converse with other people. But those who spend too much time around others tend to lose sight of themselves and begin to mirror others instead of being original and unique. It’s good to spend some time alone, exactly how much time is debatable.

♪ Music ♫

Music is vastly important to me, and for many reasons. Music is so deep and meaningful, whether it was intended to be or not. A specific song can mean incredibly different things to two different people, and that’s ok. That’s what music is all about. Interpret it as you like. Let it reinforce what you already believe, or reveal to you a new way of thinking, as long as you let the music move you and leave an impression on you. Whether you like classical orchestras, rock and roll, the blues, techno, jazz, country. hip-hop, or any other genre of music, let it bring meaning into your life. Don’t use music as white noise to keep your brain idle. Use it for the exact opposite. Music should make you think, motivate you, or even anger you. Let it affect you.

            For me specifically, my favorite music is any song that makes a statement, or forces any certain emotion particularly well. The more changed I am after listening to a song, the better that song is in my opinion. Contrary, music that I can’t stand listening to is, unfortunately, what is mostly on the radio today, the techno dance songs about partying all night. These songs feel lazy, uneducated, and filled with ignorance. Above all, they are immature. These songs do not motivate or inspire me, they simply remind me of how childish society can be.

cell phones

            The cell phone has grown and evolved substantially since its original debut. With the addition of a phone book, a calculator, a calendar, and games, cell phones began their journey into the frontlines of technological advancement. Soon after, smart phones started to pop up, boasting newer features and advanced functionality. Each new phone out-performed the previous, and each had newer, more sophisticated hardware and software. This brings us to today, the cell phone era of apps and the internet. Turn by turn directions from anywhere on earth to anywhere else on earth, streaming radio, social networking and e-mails, hours of entertainment in the form of games, music, and video, and the entire World Wide Web are all in the palm of your hand. I use my cell phone for anything and everything, from social networking to a graphing calculator, and from checking my balance in my bank account to playing mindless video games. Smart phones have thousands of uses and unlimited functionality. It is a powerful tool that comes in handy in any situation. I will never feel lost or scared out in the world as long as I have my phone. It does more than make calls and send texts. It is more than apps and games. It is my life in the palm of my hand. It is the forefront of all kinds of advanced technology from various fields, crammed into a rectangle that fits in my pocket. Cell phones are rapidly becoming much more than their names imply. They are begginning to take over our whole lives, bringing convenience and assistance in every moment of our everyday lives. 

Beep Beep

Ahh driving, one of my few favorite things in life. There is a lot to talk about when it comes to driving. There are good drivers, bad drivers, good and bad driving habits, road rage, traffic, slow drivers, fast drivers, clueless drivers, lost drivers, aggressive drivers, and most common of all, a**hole drivers. These are the ones who are aggressive, fast, unskilled, and often times clueless or lost, generally not caring whatsoever if you get into a fiery car crash or anything, so long as they get one car in front of you.

People often times show their true selves when they get behind the wheel. For some reason, they feel invincible behind their tinted glass windows and drowned in their loud music. They floor it in their tricked out Honda Civic or Toyota Corolla, going from zero to sixty in just under nine seconds. They know that rear spoiler they had installed is really giving them enough down force to get that fast in under ten seconds, and that new tailpipe they put on themselves makes it sound like they are actually going fast, as it alternately bounces of the asphalt and the rear bumper. Even if they are not going fast, they can at least weave in and out of other drivers, and look cool doing it. Safety comes second to looking good in the high octane world of driving on the parkway at 65 miles per hour. “I am going fast and I look cool, so there must not be anyone else on the road at all” they think to themselves.

Others are a bit calmer. They drive the speed limit, use their blinkers, and for some reason, rarely have the slightest clue of where they are going, changing lanes every four seconds and reading a map the size of the windshield. Some are on family vacations, lost in a strange state they have been to only once before; they swear they know how to get there by memory, and insist on doing so. Some are in a crowded car, trying to get to the movies and somehow missed the exit, ended up in one town over, and are forever lost in the urban jungle. They search desperately for a way out, taking as many turns as possible claiming each new turn is the right way, and refuse to read a single street sign, as doing so would most likely take them one block over, returning them to a realm of familiarity.

Unfortunately, I have been involved in a vehicular collision. It was fairly minor, and I was not in motion at the time. It was a raining morning on the way to school, and as I sat in a line of cars at a stop sign, I feel a sudden violent jolt forward. As an automatic reaction to the sudden motion, my foot pushed harder onto the brake, preventing any further contact with vehicles in front of me. My first thought was “Shit, I’m going to be late for school,” not even thinking that there may be an injured person behind me. I put the car in park, and got out into the rain. Immediately I walk around to the damage to see the cracked and shattered rear bumper as I hear “I’m so sorry dude” repeated several times. After a moment I look up at the voice, only to discover it was a fellow student. Luckily, we were able to get to school on time, and resolve the issue without filing a police report or insurance claims.

As previously stated, I love driving. It is one of the few things in life that makes me truly happy. I can have a need for speed at times, as going fast and drifting through turns is almost always more fun than going to pick up milk, but I wouldn’t dare drive like that on public roads or around other drivers. For now, 45mph on the way to school is more than enough for me.

Calm, Cool, and Collected

In general, I am not an angry person; I am very good at letting things brush off, never letting maddening situations affect me more than slightly. Things that irritate almost all people tend to have little effect on me: traffic on the parkway, homework assignments, little siblings, older siblings, parents, bullies. Anger and I are not too familiar with each other. I don’t like to be angry, and I feel it only makes situations worse. Even if the situation is something like traffic, anger couldn’t make it any worse, but it also will do nothing to make the situation better. Getting angry only makes you angry. Why waste your time with it?

Even if I want to be angry at someone or something, I tend to forgive and forget rather quickly. I actually have to work to stay angry. Every time I manage to actually become angry, the frustration and madness soon dissolves away. Whether it is consciously, or more often subconsciously, anger skillfully escapes me whenever we meet.

There are also different levels of angry. The above paragraph describes the most severe level of anger I can reach – not very high – and is a level rarely seen. More often is the level of things I see on a daily basis that make me angry at people. This includes all kinds of things, including some that really shouldn’t make me mad. For example, when an overweight person, often morbidly obese, gets into one of those motorized shopping carts at ShopRite, that makes me angry. There are two reasons. First being the simple and obvious fact that they are having trouble walking because they are overweight. Sitting in a motorized cart is only making it worse. You could use the exercise tubby, get up and carry you groceries and maybe you’ll lose a few pounds. Secondly, and much more importantly, is that those motorized shopping carts were made for a specific reason. They’re not for fat people to be lazy, they’re made for elderly or injured people that are incapable of walking around the store on foot. They need the cart. The overweight people need the exercise.

The only other thing that I can think of that makes me mad is highly egotistical people. These are people with an unreasonable and strong sense of entitlement and superiority. I run into this kind of people quite often in and out of school. I don’t know what makes people think they are better than others, especially when there is a very minor accomplishment involved. Just because your team won in kickball doesn’t mean you’re better than everyone else, or just because you’re a math teacher doesn’t mean you’re a good one or that you’re superior to me in any and all fields. (Yes I have a specific person in mind writing this)

I wouldn’t say I get angry exactly, but more accurately I would say I get aggravated or annoyed. The things that irritate me are few and far between, although when there is a situation that does fall into the category of aggravating, I tend to make it aware, calmly and respectfully of course, that that is not pleasing to me.

If I had to advise someone about anger issues, the best advice I can give would be to let things go. Things only make you angry if you let them do so. Someone or something needs your permission to make you angry. Don’t permit them.

Amigos

   In my opinion, it is very important to have a few or even only one close friend rather than many acquaintances. The amount of friends is not what is important, but it is the quality of the friends that is. These are the kinds of friends that know the real you, and are always there for you. It is much better to have only one very good friend that is very close, than many "friends" that don't know the real you or truly care about you. You may go to a party or a football game and think, "All of these people are my friends," but stop and think for a second. How many of these people are actually your friends? How many would go pick you up if your car broke down an hour away? How many would give you a place to stay if you ran away from home? How many will be by your side during the bad times as well as the good? I bet the number of "friends" you can count would be substantially less.
   Although these people with hundreds of "friends" seem so happy to be so popular, do you think they really are that happy? Would you really rather have all that popularity, yet have no one to confide in or lean on when you need them? How alone must you feel if you are surrounded by friends, while at the same time not have a friend within miles. Tons of friends may seem glamorous and exciting, but the sad truth is that many people with so many friends are in fact the most lonely, trapped by their own popularity.
   In my opinion, those who accumulate many friends most likely do so because they want or need attention. The more "friends" they have, the more often the can be given attention by those people. Being the center of attention is easy when you are always surrounded by people you consider friends. Everywhere you go, there's someone to talk to, someone to hang out with, someone to sit next to in class. You never have to be alone, no matter where you are, because with so many friends, you become increasingly popular. These people idolize popularity, always looking for a way to gain more. It becomes a status symbol, a childish way to establsih your social rank. The more friends you have, the better you must be.
   I feel this way because I have had real friends, fake friends, and even in between friends, and I can honestly say, I would rather have one real friend for 5 minutes than 100 fake friends for an entire lifetime. Real friends are people you can be yourself around, and not try to be "cool". Real friends are an invaluable posession. They are worth more than everything you have and ever will have. Real friends should be family: caring, honest, helpful, and few.