matrixshades89's Xanga

Thursday, November 17, 2005

Thu, 17 Nov 2005 08:04:35 GMT

Speaking in variables.

"When someone says something to you, and you know that that thing which you heard could be socially crippling to someone else, should you keep in what you heard or should you tell the person targeted?"

This is what we call a roundabout statement. Usually, it is intended to be understood only by those in the know, or sometimes it can be used to indirectly answer questions. True, it makes sense, but basically, it's passive, boring-ass blogging. Therefore, let me redesign the above statement to be more readable.

"My friend just told me something really bad about a close pal of mine. Man was it rotten! I'm torn between keeping it a secret or letting my close friend know. What do you think I should do?"

This is the exact same statement. It is easier to read and is more inviting. Agreed? Good, knew you would. I despise it when people "speak in variables." It's like they want to get your answer without asking you the question. It rips away your vote of confidence in them because it's like "dude i can't actually tell you anything because i don't trust that you'll answer right if i do." Yuck. SO, here's another juicy example:

"If you are a very close friend of someone, and that someone starts to do something that is more or less societally unacceptable, would you still support that friend or would you try to make him or her change, or would you just disown that friend"

Once you hear someone say that, you've got like 10 things running through your head.
-"who the hell is this someone? YOU???"
-"what the hell is this societally unnaceptable crap?"
-"are you hiding something?"
-"you really thought this one out didn't you."
-"how am I supposed to know?"
-"it depends what you mean..."
-and four more things.
Now, let's say that someone is your close friend Bob. He just asked you the very same question, except here's how he said it:

"Chris, man, my friend Jill just smoked a joint last night. I don't know what to do... i think she's cool and all but i'm just not sure how to handle this."

And... bingo. I can answer this question a little more accurately than before. You know why? Yeah you guessed it... ALL THE VARIABLES HAVE VALUES!! Now, let's really look at this mathematically (you can go do something else now if you like, but this is interesting to me). We're going to refer to the pre-Bob form.

"If Z a very close friend of X, and X starts to do activity Y that is more or less BAD, the solution is A, B, or C" >>> F(X,Y,Z)=A or B or C.
if you're given X, Y, and Z, you can pretty much know the answer. So:

Z = Chris
X = Jill
Y = smoke a joint

and the answer would clearly be B (arbitrarily chosen). clearly you're wondering why Z would be anyone other than yourself. The answer is: knowing the questioner speaks in variables, he or she may or may not want you to answer the problem using someone else's thinking.

but if you still have X, Y, and Z as variables, well you pretty much have no freaking clue what the hell the answer is. In speaking, even 1 variable left undefined can pretty much make it impossible to answer a question (or know that is going on).

SO to all of you people out there who "speak in variables" (X), you need to go do something (Y) to yourself with a sharp object (Z). And call me when you get back, I love our little visits. Ta ta!

x = leafers
y = fornicate
z = iron stick

Monday, September 12, 2005

Mon, 12 Sep 2005 16:43:40 GMT

Found this one on stephanie's livejournal...

How to make a fucktard
Ingredients:
5 parts stupidity
1 part crazyiness
8 parts microsoft
Method:
Layer ingredientes in a shot glass. Add a little cocktail umbrella and a dash of emotion

Personality cocktail
From Go-Quiz.com

Thursday, September 08, 2005

Thu, 08 Sep 2005 02:19:47 GMT

Who the heck uses this thing? I'll tell ya who. Lots of people. And so, to impress you geeks out there, here is a techical readout of my computer's guts:

3.46 GHz Pentium 4 Extreme Edition (512k L2, 2mb L3, 1066mhz FSB)
2 GB DDR2 PC4200 RAM (4-4-4-8, dual channel)
ATI Radeon X800XL 256MB
Intel 925XECV2 Motherboard (1066 FSB, 4 SATA, PCI-express, crazy other good shit)
MGE Quantum case (a very nice black case, looks kinda like a subwoofer)
21.3" Samsung SyncMaster 213T
Logitech MX Duo
Harman-Kardon SoundSticks
Some crazy DVD burner with dual layer and rewritable capabilities
And a couple dinky 120 GB hard drives.

Things I'm gonna get someday:
SoundBlaster Audigy 4 Pro
Klipsch ProMedia Ultra 5.1 speakers
Three WD Raptors (74 GB, 10000 rpm)
Raid 10 controller
engagement ring
wedding ring
diapers
cradle
lots more diapers
oh wait, a house
a job?

hee hee

any suggestions?

Monday, July 11, 2005

Mon, 11 Jul 2005 21:16:36 GMT

Xanga is such an ancient tool. But blessed is he who fears not the technological abyss that is xanga. A gem for all who browse... or not!

Thursday, January 13, 2005

Thu, 13 Jan 2005 19:25:05 GMT

Apparently I have a pretty "hot" eye, according to some random girl on that big website "TheFacebook". I must say that I have to respectfully disagree, since Carol has eyes that are way hotter than mine . Just for fun, I've put a picture of my eye here so that you can make your own judgements regarding my aqueous humor.

From December 11 to January 16th is my Christmas break. I'm nearing the end of it, but I'm still having all sorts of fun. Many wonderful things have happened to me, along with some not-so-wonderful things (well just one thing really), but for the most part, I gotta say this has been the best break ever, and I anticipate that future breaks will be equally if not more exciting.

I am assuming that you probably are just dying to hear about what I got for christmas. There is a slim chance that you do not know what I recieved, since I have been loudly proclaiming this stuff obnoxiously to everyone i know... or not? Anywhoo, I got a new lens for my Digital Rebel. 75-300mm zoom telephoto. It's like looking through a telescope - its ridiculously fun. I also got DDR MAX 2, one of my fave ddr games. On the 4th birthday of my first power mac, I bought myself an iPod Photo 60GB, which i completely think is the best mp3 player in the entire world, bar none. The most amazing gift i recieved, though, was from my uncle who works at intel. I recieved a cardboard box. I just loved the texture. This box was filled with packing peanuts. Man I love those. Inside the box was a small box. mmmm so cool. and there was a bigger box with writing on it. Loved the colors. But what was contained in these smaller boxes is what really rocked. I got an intel 925XE motherboard (that's the best motherboard intel makes for high performance gaming) and a pentium 4 extreme edition cpu running at 3.46 GHz (that's the most powerful gaming cpu that intel makes). WOW. my computer flies through cpu-intensive tasks at this point. for example, I can complete a SETI@Home work unit in about 2 hours, which is ridiculously fast.

Presents don't really make the break, though they do tend to amplify it. The real treasure is in hanging out with all those people you never see while you're at college. I have spent almost every waking hour hanging out with somebody. And I've spent a lot of time hanging out with my dearest Carol, just having all kinds of good fun. I've also spend a lot of time being tired from not sleeping right. whoops.

I need to reorganize my brain, since I'm going mad at this moment. And break isn't ever really over! bwahahaha. "What do I look like?" "Don't worry, I'm a doctor." "Did you hear that?" "Let's not go there" "BUMPS!"

Tuesday, January 11, 2005

Tue, 11 Jan 2005 20:56:49 GMT

I am so very tired. I'll write something wonderful for you, darling.

Friday, December 03, 2004

Fri, 03 Dec 2004 17:44:34 GMT

So my friend walks past my door at 2am this morning, turns in and says "Hey whats up. I just threw up." He was very drunk. He played a drinking game... on a Thursday night. All I can say is: what a retard. What on earth is the point of drinking heavily when the only things that happens are negative? You lose judgement, bodily control, and you feel sick as a dog.

Now, this is not to say my friend is a bad person. Although he does some things I do not approve of, he's a real nice guy. Good friend, the kind you want to keep in touch with. But his extreme drunkenness last night only reinforced my promise to myself never to drink. It's just so easy to have a great time without being drunk or drinking at all. And I am afraid that I will not exercise self-control if I did drink.

I am excited about the possibility of moving off campus next year. Jeff and I, along with a couple cool dudes that are in some of our classes, have picked out a fine place to stay next year that isn't too expensive at all. We'll eventually have to work out expenses and such business matters, but it looks like a good deal. I'll finally be able to cook in a kitchen and I'll have more room to sprawl out when I'm lazy. All in all a good thing.

Friday, December 03, 2004

Fri, 03 Dec 2004 03:05:25 GMT

If I could have anything in the world right now, I would choose to go back home and be with my friends and just relax and have a great time. I am sick and tired of school right now. Yes, the freedom to do whatever I want is great and all, but I really just want to go back home! Finals are coming up quick, and I need to figure out how to study for those pretty quick here, so I can do well, especially on Calculus and Architecture.

Lethargy has overpowered my body recently. I just want to sleep all the time. I get enough sleep (probably too much) and yet i don't have much energy. I suspect it's my lack of physical activity, since when I'm at home I do lots of crazy thigns, but here I do not. It's hard to find good food, Everything is far away, and nothing's particularly fun to do alone. I find that I am usually waiting to go out to eat with a couple of my buddies instead of finding my own food. It's just plain sad.

But the food situation got better last night: i bought bread, peanut butter, and jelly and the local seven-eleven. So today I made myself two sandwiches for lunch and it tasted soooo good. I can't wait to get out of these restrictive dorms and finally be able to cook my own damn meals.

Tuesday, November 23, 2004

Tue, 23 Nov 2004 03:01:41 GMT

The study of architecture is by far the least interesting thing I have encountered academically this semester. I do appreciate architecture, and I as a result of taking this course, i see much more in the places in which i live than before. However, the unending analysis of every aspect of architecture, which is what I have thus far ascertained is the goal of studying architecture, causes me great aggravation. It is much akin to listing twelve reasons to breathe. It is very easy and simple to understand that breath is necessary for survival, and it can be used for speech and other such communication, but after naming these two or three reasons, it becomes increasingly difficult to come up with legitimate reasons that are not merely inverted contradictions of previous reasons. It makes the sixth, seventh, eighth, and so on reasons a stretch, a painful exercise that is mostly pointless. So, in coming up with analyses for the Walt Disney Concert Hall, I have mostly been resorting to an extensive vocabulary of "big" words to charm the reader, who obviously can tell that I have absolutely no idea about the "true meaning" of the building which I am discussing.
To the best of my knowledge, all that I have learned in this introductory course has been nothing but theoretical and psychological drivel. There has been little or no substance uttered in the words spoken by my talented professor. Though he has a very keen knowledge of the buildings about which he speaks, his thoughts fall flat to my ears. Yes, it is impressive that building can be thermally balanced. Yes, it is interesting that LeCorbusier used steel bars to resolve unresolved forces in the arches of some building he designed. But that is all these things are: interesting and impressive. These are practically human emotions here. To describe them any further would be a waste of our time, in my opinion. Sure, you can say that fear, perhaps, is caused by a stimulus picked up by one or more of our senses that matches some hardwired piece of data in our heads that means "get afraid". But generally, most human beings don't truly care about what happens when they become afraid. They simply accept (or deny) that they are afraid and attempt to resolve the situation that is causing the stimulus. A similar sort of reaction occurs with interest and amazement. Interest warrants a closer look, and amazement warrants admiration. But I am not one to be concerned about the fine details of what caused these emotions. I merely like to look at the building, take pictures, walk through it, experience al the cool stuff. Analyzing in detail the humanistic aspects of the building, preparing a 5-page paper about the shape of its exterior, and discussing the meaning it has are all pointless exercises in time-wasting to me.
I much prefer to program computers to calculate the forces generated by a 5-ton concrete slab laid on two obscurely shaped steel columns in a building rather than discussing how the contrast of concrete and steel along with the odd shape of the columns amplifies the asymmetric and uncontrolled nature of humanity. I am an engineer. I am also an artist - things that I see as beautiful are usually captured by my camera, written about in a poem, or turned into musical ideas. But I do not verbally analyze such things other than to visualize them through my words.

Thursday, November 11, 2004

Thu, 11 Nov 2004 02:48:27 GMT

Guess who was right about the plot... yours truly. Turns out the Elites are replaced entirely by brutes, and there is major covenant infighting. The elites, hunters, and i think a few grunts unite with human forces to take out the prophets and secure the index. And, as I thought before, the controls to all the halos are on earth. So there, I've spoiled it all.

Check out Carol's Blog!