blue cloud manifesto

2009-08-24T23:36:00.000-05:00

8.11.09
My window tells me
The earth is frozen.
I make my pitiful rounds
On the screen again
And again.
When I get tired,
I change screens
And somehow start again.
I do not know why I do this.
Each page smooth and untouched
Like the snowy surface
Of a magazine or peanut butter jar
And it feels like magic
But wrong, idle magic
And I can’t help but wonder
What it was like outside
Today.

2009-08-24T23:35:00.000-05:00

8.14.09

I kissed her ankles
Her small, delicate feet
Trembled with pleasure

I kissed her quadricep
Her flecked belly
Tensed and sighed

I stand in the doorway half naked
She sits in a tomboy pose
Clasping her shin

I recall a picture our eyes locked
Her hair is up but falling
I am enclosed

2009-05-20T16:41:00.000-05:00

St. Louis

Not always,
but often you’ll find
gardens of shadows
on regretful French streets
a herd of chimneys
in the distance
the smell of a funeral
boiling in the sun.
Again and again this sky
shows me some new emptiness.
My own eyes obscure it.
Looking out the open vestibule,
from Frontenac towers,
Masonry Pillars,
bagpipe plains,
smokestacks of Soulard;
The town is a million splendid views
No one is allowed to see.
The evening will be haunted
by abandoned warehouses
toothless, back-alley grins
amber tiger-lily dances
on the sidewalks
prowlers loud and alone
the empty pubs and pizzerias.
Life passes from stall to stall
flush the blood with the ash
like it was never there
and pray to god
or whomever is there
it will pass by morning.
Take the woman and her babycart
Circling the poorly lit pond,
The fish follow her.
To the south an exchange of smiles.
Take two old men
muttering of miracles,
wheezing in the night.

2009-05-05T13:05:00.001-05:00

Wake

We stand in a barren grassless
plot of soil gaping
before a hole where my grandmother
lays. Our brown hands
toss dirt and trinkets into the hole
for the Great Spirit to carry into the sky.
We take turns shoveling the dirt,
sweating, passing
the shovel onto someone else.

2009-02-16T22:05:00.002-06:00

Cub Fur

The cubs meander
In and out of the den
Like halfway hermits
Never stepping far
From their dank sanctuary
Sniffing and pawing fresh soil
Canvassing the nearby dale
That is the world in their eyes
Starry, strategizing;
Retreating docile
To the comfort of dark
At the slightest wind
of what they deem danger.
In cold nights they bundle
A sprawled heap of limbs,
Knit with heads and paws
Their fur as yet unfrayed,
Swaying with their breath.

2009-01-28T15:54:00.002-06:00

This is the first poem I turned into the poetry workshop I'm taking right now. It was vaguely designed to be an inaugural poem for Obama but it doesn't have to be read that way. Take it in the context of someone with very little power speaking to someone with an enormous deal of power.

Our Swords

If we were to slip
On our own swords
Will you be waiting

If we were to dive
In our empty pool
Will you be ten feet under

If we thrash and grope
And choke on our voices
Will you spin me savior

When our dreams turn sour
For the misty moon
Will you too be asleep

Caught in the funnel
Of the buildings you lay
Will you be flying alone

What colors will spring
From the beaming omnibus
the three-ring circus
We call you and I

If you were to help us
If we were to fall
Will we tell the difference

2008-11-18T13:27:00.003-06:00

Fate

Fasten your seat belt
For all is lost
We have dreamt our Dreams
And sung our Songs
And none can ward our fate
A simple thing it was
And what remains...
A simple prize
A piece of the puzzle
Not worth a moment of our lives
But advancing yet inside
Another hope bestirs my mind
The fate of all our lovers
The fate of all our friends
Collecting fragments of our fate
Together in this stretch of time
Lost with each other
on the same wild ride

2008-11-08T11:35:00.000-06:00

Open All Night
Bruce Springsteen

Well, I had the carburetor, baby, cleaned and checked with her line blown out she's hummin' like a turbojet
Propped her up in the backyard on concrete blocks for a new clutch plate and a new set of shocks
Took her down to the carwash, check the plugs and points
Well, I'm goin' out tonight. I'm gonna rock that joint

Early north Jersey industrial skyline I'm a all-set cobra jet creepin' through the nighttime
Gotta find a gas station, gotta find a payphone this turnpike sure is spooky at night when you're all alone
Gotta hit the gas, baby. I'm running late, this New Jersey in the mornin' like a lunar landscape

Now, the boss don't dig me, so he put me on the nightshift
It's an all night run to get back to where my baby lives
In the wee wee hours your mind gets hazy radio relay towers, won't you lead me to my baby?
Underneath the overpass, trooper hits his party light switch
Goodnight good luck one two power shift

I met Wanda when she was employed behind the counter at route 60 Bob's Big Boy Fried Chicken on the front seat, she's sittin' in my lap
We're wipin' our fingers on a Texaco roadmap
I remember Wanda up on scrap metal hill with them big brown eyes that make your heart stand still

Well, at five a.m., oil pressure's sinkin' fast
I make a pit stop, wipe the windshield, check the gas
Gotta call my baby on the telephone
Let her know that her daddy's comin' on home
Sit tight, little mama, I'm comin' 'round I got three more hours, but I'm coverin' ground

Your eyes get itchy in the wee wee hours sun's just a red ball risin' over them refinery towers
Radio's jammed up with gospel stations lost souls callin' long distance salvation
Hey, mister deejay, woncha hear my last prayer hey, ho, rock'n'roll, deliver me from nowhere

2008-09-06T03:49:00.003-05:00

Oddly enough it is the thing which we fear most that brings us closest to the very essence of life itself. A wolf (any animal really) knows this lesson better than any man or woman ever could. We cower and cry in the shadow of ourselves. I don't deny it. The very letters that I type are personal erected monuments to my own fear, loathing and regret. Death is meaningless beyond our own identity. Life is a state of mind. The imprisoned mockery of persona we display. Who are we to declare ourselves in the presence of something so sharp and so near?

Stupefaction is truly the last bastion the world will posit and therefore possess. "Solace in excess." What other explanation is there for it? What else do we really have to be proud of? Ask us and we will tell you, stupefied or not.
Stupefaction is the key to a life less ordinary. Oddly enough it is also the key to a life less lived.

2008-08-03T14:30:00.005-05:00

Here's another one I wrote in my St. Louis days, daydreaming during a class. Goes to show what results not paying attention can yield. I was experimenting a bit with different registers, clumsily I might add. I guess that eventually I'll be forced to stave off my laziness and start writing some new material for this thing. Until then...

Electromagnetic Assertion

An electromagnetic assertion
pretensions slow-wheeling
coaxed into bonafide adventure.
Unlearned compostions propel
the Mystic Continuum.
Glib, but arranged.
Massive, but flaring.
Til Spring we clamber,
in frigidity plummet
both to a groundswell
and a reservoir.
Arise a convincing pioneer.
A benefited narrator.
A quest, a configuration
achieved.

'The true King's murderers are allowed to roam free and a 1,000 magicians arise in the land'

2008-07-27T20:08:00.006-05:00

I just finished reading Stephen King's "Eyes of the Dragon." Its strange that so far the books I've liked best by him aren't horror novels at all. This one, which is a fantasy novel, and the other one I really like "The Wasteland," which is a western novel.

Its usually a bad sign if a fantasy novel (or any novel really) has the word 'dragon' in the title. Despite being a little poor on the writing side, this one is quite a page-turner and has a pretty good ending that teaches the value of good manners. The plot makes a point to take unexpected turns on the archetypal fantasy/fairy tale formula, the biggest of which is the Hero slaying the dragon in the first chapter of the epic. The true struggle for the Hero becomes raising his two sons, the protagonists of the story. The true villain is Flagg, the court magician and King's Counselor. The dude is sinister. And sinister in that cold, calculating sort of way. Scheming and manipulative. Creepy.

The book references a line from a Stephen Crane poem that I later looked up. Nothing to do with the book, really. Just thought I'd throw it out there.

In the desert
I saw a creature, naked, bestial,
who, squatting upon the ground,
Held his heart in his hands,
And ate of it.
I said, "Is it good, friend?"
"It is bitter bitter," he answered;
"But I like it
Because it is bitter,
And because it is my heart."

2008-07-21T17:51:00.003-05:00

To commence my glorious return to blogging!!! I wrote this in a rush for my creative writing class the day of... ironic that it turned out to be one of the best I would turn in.

Saturday Sun, 7:15 (A Day of Rest)

An exchange of smiles
A setting sun
A herd of chimneys
The smell of a funeral
A whisper of fire
A flicker of sparrows
A garden of shadows
I pass each day.

Very Strange...

2007-12-02T12:15:00.000-06:00

Does anyone else find this slightly disturbing?

X-Mas Break

2007-01-30T16:48:00.000-06:00

The last X-mas break of my college career ended just as quickly as all the rest, but perhaps it ended a little more memorably. It started off terribly with the drive to T-Town. 44 was jam-packed because of the ice and there were a few accidents. The 6-hour trip this time took about 11 hours. But it was all well and good and I honestly doubt that I missed anything. Sometimes a long car drive to clear my head can be just what the doctor ordered especially after a nasty beast of a finals week. I ended up staying at Chloe's apartment for the break and it actually worked out really well with her futon and pull-out couch. I must admit the first week or so of the break I turned into quite a slob. Chloe would work all day and I would stay home and read, watch movies, or mess around on the internet. Those of you who noticed that I recently joined myspace, don't think that it was out of some desire to be social. That was all just simple boredom. But once Joseph and Soren got into town things started to pick up. My nights with Chloe were always fun. We would usually eat Taco Bell (or Bueno for those T-Towners who catch the reference) or something, bring it back to the apartment and watch a movie sometimes tipping back a few girly drinks during the meal (for those of you who are quietly judging me, beer in Oklahoma is more expensive and is only 3-point, which is why I can never bring myself to but it). For some strange reason my family wanted to spend Christmas in a bed and breakfast in this dinky little town of 13 people called Blue Eye, MO. It ended up being extremely relaxing despite the fact that the thermostat in the house didn't seem to work. But then again there is something relaxing about having an excuse to wear a sweater all day long. The other guest in the house was this crazy British guy who said "bollocks" any chance he got, which is pretty sweet. But the undeniably strange thing about him was that he was liable to puke spontaneously at any moment's notice despite not having any symptoms of an actual illness. The funny thing is that he got into a little tiff during dinner with my parents one night after getting completely hammered. Then he decided to make things even more interesting by sabotaging our game of balderdash afterwards. Either he was too drunk to follow the rules of the game or he was simply in the mood to play his own sort of game which seemed to blend the rules of balderdash with charades, clue and jeopardy. When I got back Soren, Joseph and I took a trip to the Land to camp for awhile. Although Soren's brother, who still occassionally goes by his old nickname ''antichrist,'' came along, it was definitely one of the highlights of the break. We played some hackey sack and frisbee, drank some beer together for the first time ever, cooked some bratwurst, and shot a few guns. What more could an ex-undercover Hippy ask for? The other highlight of the break was watching Phantom of the Opera non-stop for about a week. Ok, the real highlight was probably singing Phantom of the Opera songs all day and seeing how angry Chloe would get. After a fairly uneventful New Year's, Soren left town so me and Joseph started hanging out a lot more. We usually spent our time working out, playing chess, reminiscing, or talking about an excrutiating range of topics. We also smoked cigars with Brian a few times and talked movies with Jared who is actually expected to be married sometime in the Summer. That seems to be becoming a trend. Another trend I'd say is the book officially closing with almost all of my acquaintances from high school, which is kind of sad when I think about it.
For some reason, even though nothing really all that exciting happened, I felt saddened when the break came around and I usually don't. I'm not sure why, but for some reason it felt like the end of an era. I guess only time will tell.

The Ark of the Mario

2006-11-29T15:05:00.000-06:00

My freshman year, a buddy and I decided to undertake a little mission. The quest was simple. Defeat all three Marios on the original Nintendo in one session. No warping. Every Level. Semper fi. Endeavor to persevere. Unfortunately at the time, we only had the original Mario and Mario 3. I often wonder how it all would have turned out and how different my life would be now if we could have gotten our hands on Mario 2. Man, I wish I had a time machine. Anyways, we decided to undergo the rigors of a Mario Marathon with what we had knowing that even if we tamed the beast, it would ultimately be a hollow victory. After around 8 hours of playing Mario we arose triumphant. Despite our victory, however, by my sophomore year I had grown anxious to complete a true Mario Marathon. This time my buddy and I had recruited a few other adventurous souls who committed to take the sojourn with us. That year's attempt, however, was marked by demoralizing defeat. None of us were mentally prepared to face such an epic, ungainly challenge. That and I had a paper to write and we had a date with Macaroni Grill that we somehow could not get out of. Needless to say, the boys were rowdy and fierce by junior year, aching to pickle the beast of Mario. But by some horrible stroke, we had decided to incorporate other challenges into the marathon as well, hoping that they would improve our chances of success. It would be the beginning of the end however, for junior year's run. The Mario Marathon had suddenly spiraled into a nightmarish 2-Liter, Karate Kid, Fort-Mario Marathon. We watched all three Karate Kid movies during gameplay hoping that Pat Morita would fuel our motivation. We constructed a playing fort to shelter us from the distractions of the outside world. And we each drank a 2-liter of cola to sharpen our senses. We could see the glint in each other's eyes. We came to play but good. Our fingers strained at the controller. Our eyes swelled with focus and concentration. By Mario 2 sweat was glistening from our foreheads. Unfortunately, Pat Morita beating the crap out of high-schoolers proved to be rather distracting. Building a fort set the marathon back two hours. And the 2-liters that we clutched so desperately in our calloused hands became the very thing that plagued our tummies and curtailed our marathon. Our hearts sank when we realized it was 5am and we had only just started to play Mario 3; the longest, most treacherous Mario of the series. I'm proud to say that two years of defeat has not flattened our resolve one bit. The last week of school before the Christmas break, we are attempting to finish the quest that has escaped our grasp for the past three years. And let me tell you that our experience and wisdom will not allow us to make the same mistakes we've made in the past. This time, we're constructing the fort well before we plan to raise the flag of the marathon. And we're watching all five Rocky movies to boost our morale. Sure, we're still drinking 2-liters, but we'll have baked goods to absorb the sugary poison left over in our tummies. This time we'll be ready.

Literacy Lariat

2006-11-29T01:41:00.000-06:00

The word "literacy" has become sort of a buzz word in the Education field, but not in the way most people would expect. Of course, it's important that a teacher is actually literate and is capable of helping students become literate, but I guess it's all relative. Apart from this however, there is a growing concern for teachers to be literate in many other ways. For instance, most teachers these days are expected to be computer literate. Although it is probably a neologism, I think the term "information literate" has more meaning than it has in any other time period. I would describe information literacy as the ability to retrieve, identify and interpret the information we receive or require. Because technology has changed so drastically how we store and create data, information is flowing around us in a variety of formats and channels and we have to sort through the postmodern muck in an organized fashion. Our ability to do this makes us information literate. A couple years ago I was watching an old SNL with Bill Paxton who was playing an anchor in a sketch. At first, the show runs normally. At the bottom of the screen was the typical stock market streamer. Then once Bill Paxton moves on to various other topics like weather, sports, etc. he keeps putting up different graphs and images until eventually the entire screen is flooded with information. Eventually Tim Meadows for no apparent reason decides to superimpose a huge picture of a skeleton Terminator in the middle of the screen and Bill is left with this tiny gap of free space to talk through. Although the sketch was humorous because it was an exaggeration, I think it was a perfect example of information literacy as we know it. Being able to watch the news makes us information literate. Being able to navigate the web proficiently makes us information literate. And with this literacy also comes the ability to immediately evaluate the information that bombards us by identifying simple cues that we often take for granted. I guess judging from my description so far, being information literate usually does not require any training, but is simply a result of our socialization. In fact, you could even argue that one had little choice in the matter and the process was purely a matter of reflex, even survival.

Spy Versus Spy

2006-11-14T11:57:00.000-06:00

Apparently students have taken ridiculing teachers to a whole new level going from afterschool gossip circles to all out, internet warfare. It is becoming more and more common for students to film their teachers in class usually in particularly unflattering moments such as boring the class with lecture or upbraiding a student, and posting them online at Youtube.com. Actually, it surprises me that students would go through such elaborate measures to make fun of their teachers. I mean, as a student I don't really take it personally if I feel a teacher is less than satisfactory. I joke to myself, occassionally make one to a classmate, and move on with my life. But as a future teacher, the idea truly scares me. If I ever discovered a video of myself online displaying my quirks and shortcomings, I would probably have a hard time regaining my confidence. I'm not quite sure how I would react in that situation. Normally I am not a very confrontational person, but as a teacher I would probably not let this sort of violation of privacy go unnoticed. When I really thought about it, what seems to be a harmless prank is actually quite a careless, degrading act. It is not as though these videos are posted privately or even in a setting where only students are able to view them. These videos are open for any person to see, and that to me just doesn't seem right. I've also heard a few stories of students making videos of themselves pulling pranks or even physically assaulting homeless people in some way and then posting the video on Youtube. Although the two examples are quite different from one another, there is still a common principle that is being violated. Although I am primarily concerned with the personal privacy and dignity aspect, there are also those who claim the act is a violation of intellectual property despite the fact that no profit is being made from it. I for one could care less. In my opinion the classroom is really not a traditinoal setting for intellectual scholarship to be put forth. It is primarily a setting for common knowledge, opinions, and ideas to be transmitted from one party to another.

Emos versus Goths

2006-11-13T19:28:00.000-06:00

I was thinking to myself the other day as I lay peacefully in bed listening to the Boss' "Nebraska" and on the verge of tears, why do I listen to sad music? What do all those crazy emo-kids have up their sleeve? As I pondered this, I wondered as well why we engage in any piece of culture that depresses us. Then again, is there any point in creating something that ultimately brings us down despite how beautiful it may be? The answer is obvious, but the explanation in my mind's eye is altogether frustrating. I suppose there is the simple novelty of it. If we are fed one single emotion through every genre of every art, eventually it will lose its novelty. I could postulate, based on my own reactions, that I can chew on a movie the most when it finds some sort of happy medium, or in this case, an indifferent medium. If it's too sad I get bored and if it's too happy I get skeptical. But this is not altogether true. I've seen "Schindler's List," a thoroughly depressing movie, and I enjoyed it. And I've seen "Executive Decision," which is a thoroughly mirthful movie primarily because Steven Seagal dies in the first five minutes, and of course I loved it. Besides, who digs apathy, right? Not this guy. Anyways, I suppose I treat music the same way. Of all the Bruce Springsteen albums to like, my favorite is his most depressing. I've also found that my favorite Led Zeppelin songs are their saddest. So what gives? Do these songs make me want to curl up in my sock drawer and die? Yes. But do these songs also in some strange way make me happy? Yes, also. Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that there is something inherently tragic about beauty itself. After all, the prettiest girl on the Earth is also the loneliest. I know one of my roommates would agree that there is something beautiful about tragedy as well, that crazy, goth weirdo. I guess the only way to explain it is that there are times in our lives when we need to be emotionally smacked in the face. Depressing movies, books, music, art, etc. serve as the best wake-up calls culture is capable of because in some roundabout way they make life seem all the more precious. I know that if I am ever feeling excessively complacent and need a swift, emotional kick in the nads, my good pal Bruce is there to lend a helping hand....er, foot, rather.

Podcasts

2006-11-08T14:00:00.000-06:00

One day my ambassador friend told me that more and more people were asking about Podcasts when they came for a campus tour. It astounded us both not only that these people had the guts to ask such a nerdy question, but that they are actually being used more and more frequently. Now I've personally never had to use a podcast for a class. And unfortunately, up until now I've never had to make one. But as part of a new technology centered curriculum in the Education Department, I am required not only to create a podcast but also to evaluate one. Apparently, podcasts are even more popularly used in the elementary setting. Since my parents were once from Phoenix and I've also visited there on several occasions, I decided to pick a podcast about Arizona's capitol. I was surprised to hear that the podcast was narrated by a group of second graders. Now apart from the podcast being one of the cutest things I've ever heard, it also has some very admirable qualities as far as podcasts go. The podcast was able to hold my attention remarkably well for a file made specifically for elementary students. They had chapters devoted to Phoenix's weather, tourist attractions, sports teams, wildlife, economy, and "famous friends." Apparently Alice Cooper is a huge fan of fabulous Phoenix. However, if any of these kids honestly know who Alice Cooper is they have been exposed to metal music far too prematurely. Each of the chapters had interesting musical segues (oftentimes featuring the classroom a cappella group) between one another to make for little dead air during the podcast. The students themselves were also pretty fluent and comfortable making the podcast except for a few kids who were obviously petrified. I, personally, can't blame them. It was fairly apparent that the students were given scripts to read from since most of them didn't even attempt to use a regular "speaking voice," but I didn't see this as terribly indecorous. Even though the students stumbled over a few sentences, paused in the middle of words, and often spoke in trembling voices, it was not distracting or even unpleasant. Variety and mustard are after all the spice of life.

Here is the website where the podcast is located if you are interested:

http://learninginhand.com/OurCity/index.html

Dreams of a Bygone Whippersnapper

2006-11-07T15:10:00.000-06:00

So I'm in this crazy English class called Adolescence and Literature and we talked about our old high school days. It seemed like almost half the class had a pretty dreary view of high school, but everyone kind of agreed that it was mostly a blur and I would have to agree with that. If I based my high school experience on the few memories I had, it would be a rather dull existence watching Jared Meyer squeeze himself into his locker every day and hijacking Mr. Ingram's computer whenever we could. And yet, every time I remember those times, it still seems funny. And whenever I reminisce about High School in general I can't help but smile. I went to a small high school in Tulsa called Cascia Hall. My graduating class was around 80. I knew everyone in my class and, although I only liked a select few, I loved being in such a small, manageable social cocoon. The one thing that I think that I did miss out on going to a small school is that there was a lot less drama. And let's face it. I thrive on drama. One thing I sort of regret about High School in general is not being in town for the summer. Since my dad lived in Missouri for occupational reasons, I spent my summers with him crafting model airplanes and playing golf. Don't get me wrong, hanging out with my dad is a blast. Honestly, if I'd spent my summers in Tulsa during High School I probably would've ended up palying video games and reading Goosbumps. But the summer after I graduated, I was finally able to stay in T-town and it was something spectacular. I spent most of my time biking around town, camping, eating organic food, and playing frisbee and hackey sack; basically living in a hippy's paradise. Quite the extremes in retrospect. I remember so little of it now, but it seems judging from the few memories that I have that it was one of the happiest times in my life. Anyways, in the same literature class the teacher asked who would ever want to go back to high school if they could. I rose my hand immediately. I think the shy, quiet kid I once was in high school might have missed out on some of the great things about High School like parties, brunches, debutantes...that sort of thing. Plus I'd be able to drop knowledge like crazy. And let's face it. Chicks dig brains. They can't help it.

A Cosmic Phenomenon

2006-10-31T17:55:00.000-06:00

Cereal. Truly a cosmic phenomenon. Not only is cereal a staple of my diet, it represents a pure, timeless joy that I can experience every day with no serious bodily or financial repercussions. In fact, one could argue, and I have on several occasions, that eating cereal is a very spiritual experience. It combines two of my most favorite things: food and milk. Now, I categorize cereal under four broad, fluid categories that I have developed over a long period of exhaustive, delicious research. These categories are Sugar-based, Chocolate-based, Crunch-based, and Health-based. With Sugar cereals you've got your whole frosted family and your cinnamon family. I usually lump the honey cereals in with the sugars as well except for "Honey Smacks" or "Golden Crisp" which are obviously Crunch based and pretty much the exact same cereal. I've heard some rumors of placing these in a new "Seashell" category because of their faint resemblance, but most experts will tell you the movement is simply a red herring. The Chocolates are fairly self-explanatory and I generally stay away from them because of bad experiences with them in the past (Count Chocula almost killed me). And then comes my personal favorite: the Crunch cereals. The primary appeal of these cereals lies in their texture, shape, and in rare cases sound (Rice Krispies). Some Sugar or Chocolate enthusiasts will try to tell you that Crunch cereals are more susceptible to sogginess than the other varieties, but this is simply bunk. If those Flakes and Chockheads, as we in the biz like to call them, were as enthusiastic about Crunch cereals as we were they wouldn't get the opportunity to get soggy if you know what I mean. Some marquee Crunch cereals are Crispix, Pops, Apple Jacks, and, the mother of all crunch cereals, Captain Crunch. Now Health cereals I generally avoid actually because of health reasons. Mental health reasons. The very idea of cereal having fruit instead of chocolate or sugar is simply mind-boggling, but if you put a gun to my head and said I had to eat a healthy cereal I'd probably go with Chex or Honey Bunches of Oats. Now some cereals may fall under two categories like Honey Cheerios or Frosted Mini-Wheats that are sugary, yet somehow healthy. Their very titles are paradoxical. And other cereals will fail to be categorized entirely like the new Eggo cereals coming out. Nobody knows what's goin' on with those things. Perhaps these anomalies could be placed in their own category, but this would be quite a slap in the face to most cereal gurus out there. Well, there's my feeble attempt to create order from chaos; to define something that is essentially ineffable. Laugh if you wish, but the cosmos may have other plans in mind.

Website Evaluation

2006-10-31T16:34:00.000-06:00

I was recently assigned to write an article based on my personal evaluation of a website's design and navigation. This is similar to a blog I was required to do earlier in the semester that was meant for me to examine a website's credibility or lack of credibility based on its appearance, credentials, design, etc., etc. I decided that since the assignment was mandatory, I'd pick a website that I had a particular interest in. Since I had just beaten Super Mario World on Super Nintendo - and, yes, it was quite super - I thought it would be interesting to evaluate a website about videogames. One website in particular that my roommates and I frequent fairly regularly when we've found we've hit a dead end is called GameFAQS. This website has been a veritable treasure trove of ideas, hints, and interesting facts since my freshman year in college. Now I'd hate to have to bite the hand that feeds me, but in order to remain impartial I will not hesitate to slam the website if it turns out its design isn't up to snuff.
The main page of the website is very appealing and lively overall. It has prominent, functional links to all of the site's major components. The site's graphics are sound. The one criticism I have of the main page is that it has many non-functional icons, which can be confusing. I tried testing the site's ability to run searches and the site took me directly to the information I needed. One interesting tool the authors of the site have created is the "platform jumper" which allows the viewer to research a specific video game console like Super Nintendo or Playstation. The website does have copyright information and the designing company's information at the bottom of the page. Also, there is a featured daily article involving videogames on the main page that gives the date and time of the update. All in all, the website succeeds in offering gamers a valuable search engine, a reliable source of topic-specific information, and a forum for fans to express their own videogame theories and opinions.

http://www.gamefaqs.com/

Prohibition P.I. Turns Party Animal

2006-10-18T17:51:00.000-05:00

My senior year at college has seen quite a few changes. And it seems that in the next few weeks I will be attending events that celebrate these changes. First off, ever since my freshman year I've always subconsciously looked down upon alchohol - no, not just because liquor stores were made for short people (It's funny. Laugh. Now.) Heck, I was a regular Elliot Ness freshman year. Turning down drinks, shootin' down smugglers, blowin' up speak-easies. Sure I was responsible for Sean Connery getting riddled with tommy-gun fire, but I think we all knew in our hearts it was a necessary sacrifice. But those times have changed. And I guess some wing of my moral edifice fell under disrepair since then. I personally like to think that it's been been lightly refurbished by some European Interior Decorator with a penchant for postmodern upheaval. But more than likely it's been demolished to make more room for recreational activities. Either way it's a bad analogy. Basically I've come to realize that there is nothing inherently wrong with alcohol. But before I came to this conclusion I was among the opinion that I would never touch the stuff. This opinion was also nourished by a circle of friends who kept me company my first three years of college and who shared my opinions on alcohol and debauchery in general. If you're wondering what our stance was on debauchery, let me tell you that we were all for it except of course when drinking was involved. Despite our similar beliefs, we have begun to see less and less of each other this year and the circle itself has become fragmented. Not to say that we had a falling out, but let's just say that our paths diverged from changing circumstances and residences. It's kind of amazing how big a difference a couple hundred yards between people can make. At any rate, in a few weeks we're throwing a party with all of these old friends to see how they are doing. And now that we are all of age and seem to be less ensconced in our stances we decided to make the occasion even more memorable by allowing alcohol. We'll probably end up doing the same things we always did: board games, movies, sock wrestling. You get the picture. Yet for some reason it seems like it will all be so much more...interesting.

A Different Breed

2006-10-17T12:10:00.000-05:00

I recently read an article about Matthew Carter who is a relatively
famous typographer.  My first thoughts were obviously focused on
how big a nerd this guy probably was.  But after reading further
about all of his accomplishments, I have developed a newfound
respect for a breed of nerd I have yet to encounter.  I never truly
realized that ever since the invention of printed text the invention
of typography came with it.  I was also unaware of how exhaustive
the process of creating a unique font truly is.  To typographers,
letters must fit within an alphabet the way a poet wants words to
fit within a poem.  Going on with the analogy, a typographer is
much concerned with the proportions, character, and overall
aesthetic design of his alphabet which, respectively, could be
described as the rhyme and meter, the diction, and tone of a poem.
However, typographers must also balance their aesthetic goals
with the practical side of letters in that they must be easily legible.
It is interesting to see how the craft affects my life in such subtle
ways that I never realized up until now.  Even in my own blog, I
have unwittingly been using two different fonts (we call them
typefaces in the biz) to distinguish my own personal blogs from
the blogs associated with a topic involving a technology class I’m
taking.  This blog, based on a class topic, is in Georgia font.  I
picked it simply because it was easy for me to read and I liked the
look of it, but for all I know it could very well have been created
for a very specific purpose like subtitles on theater marquees or
footnotes on fishery pamphlets or refurbished text for highway
signs.  Incidentally, for a town so close to Illinois, St. Louis’
highway signs have an appalling disregard for serifs.  To be fair,
it’s the same typeface I see on every major highway in any state.
And apart from “Illinois”, other words which require serifs, like
“Illogical” or “Illusory,” may not be all that easy to find on highway
signs.

Holiday Havoc

2006-10-11T16:05:00.000-05:00

Holiday season is one of my favorite times of the year, but the more I think about it I really don't know why. As much as I would love to migrate south to avoid the bitter cold, the thought of Holidays and all of the cheerful, turbid chaos they bring keep me warm and snug inside. Of course the year is filled with Holidays and most of them are as trivial as bingo night, but this time of year has all the "big ones" lined up, staring you in the face like an offensive line. Halloween for me is always something to look forward to even though I don't necessarily do anything. The last time I went trick-or-treating was in High School when I took an old cane lying around the house, put on a buttoned shirt and a waistcoat, and went out as "an Englishman." After that I naturally thought it best to officially announce my retirement from the trick-or-treating business. I guess the only thing about Halloween I have to look forward to is about ten years from now when I own a house and I can think of elaborate ways of scaring little kids as they ask for candy. Now Thanksgiving to me has suffered the worst over adolescence. Despite the fact that my mother cooks a fantabulous turkey and herbal stuffing and my father bakes his gooseberry pie (he got the recipe from my grandmother who I'm convinced beat some sort of divine being in a game of Euchre to receive it), I never really can get as excited about Thanksgiving as I used to. For some strange reason teachers love assigning projects over the Thanksgiving break so the dice are loaded from the start. This year might be different, however, because I'll be able to throw alcohol into the mix. There is also something about Christmas that has never been fully recaptured. Most of the time my family buys a Christmas tree, my mom takes out the decorations from the attic, and then we look at each other to see who will actually use them. It kind of makes me wonder if I've been duped into doing it for the last fifteen years and I was just so excited about Christmas that I never really noticed. And you can forget about Christmas Lights. But after all, who doesn't dig presents right? And New Year's is right around the corner and this Holiday has probably risen in my estimation over the years. I never really saw the point of New Year's as a child. In fact, I was usually depressed that my brothers were out partying and I only had my broken resolutions from last year to keep me company. So New Year's is probably the one Holiday that improves with age. And then you're pretty much set for awhile until Valentine's Day. Despite this small victory however I can't imagine that I will ever enjoy a Holiday as much as I did when I was a child. I guess the moral of the story is that children can wring the fun out of Holidays the way we can wring them after the Holidays.

Email Is SO Passe

2006-10-11T00:48:00.000-05:00

Does anyone else remember the good old days when Jeff Goldblum was doing commercials about how exciting and cool email was? Now it seems that the generation that witnessed email's birth has cast it aside like an old glove into the vast pit of obsolescence. Although campus email is still in full effect* at my university, colleges have started to use alternate services like text messaging and Myspace to transmit information to students and many students are finding the change agreeable. Am I one of these students? Not at all. It seems like the appeal of Myspace, facebook, and text messaging resides primarily in their trendiness and their utter remoteness from authority/elderly figures. Now we're just gonna let teachers waltz right into our fragile social world and muck everything about?! I would find it rather disheartening to receive a text message or a friend invite from someone only to realize it's from my grizzled American Politics teacher. No offense to teachers or anything (heck, I'm an education major), but I feel as though work should be separated from social life, especially schoolwork. I mean teachers are already moving in on the podcast front, which in my mind's eye is similar to Hitler's annexation of Alsace-Lorraine. And I think we all know how that worked out. I suppose there is something useful in having different channels and networks designed to spread information, especially if the information is urgent. But there's a small voice in the back of my mind that's telling me the whole thing might snowball out of control as technology inevitably does and instead of getting a weekly email from a professor we might be constantly bombarded by text and facebook messages as well as emails and the occasional podcast about deadlines, requirements, and school policy. And that, my friends, is enough to make Jeff Goldblum blush.

*as in completely ineffective...

Plagiarise This!!!

2006-10-04T15:21:00.000-05:00

Fairly recently, various schools and universities around the world have purchased a new academic service called Turnitin, which is designed to catch plagiarists in the act by cross-referencing specific papers with thousands upon thousands of other student papers. The main issues at stake involve privacy and intellectual property. Since the company is basically profiting from the scholarly work of students and the students obviously aren't getting a stipend, some consider the company to be violating property laws. Some students argue that the very nature of taking a student's paper and broadcasting it across a database for whatever end is simply an infringement on one's intellectual privacy. This last point concerns me since there is basically nothing to keep this company from handling student papers however they see fit. But what concerns me the most about the issue is that the students are upset and it's safe to assume that a large majority of the dissenting students probably don't perform or condone plagiarism, but simply find the company repugnant in some way. I suppose it really comes down to the particular school or university. If the institution finds that deterring and catching their student body in the act of plagiarism is worth undermining the values of that student population than I don't have any strong objections toward it. I certainly would not want to attend an institution like that however.

If you are interested and would like to read an article about the subject, here is a link:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/21/AR2006092101800_2.html

We Are Not Alone!!!

2006-10-01T22:30:00.000-05:00

So I was perusing Amazon the other day in hopes of finding something interesting to buy. And eventually my interests were bent towards 80’s music. Needless to say, I had little choice in the matter. So I type in ‘80’s compilations’ just to see what’s floating out there, and BAM… 3 hours are gone. Believe it or not there are loads and loads of 80’s comp. series out there and as far as I could tell each series had at least a dozen volumes. Apparently, there was like an entire decade of music made in the 80’s. Go figure. Anyways, one of the most well known of these series is “New Wave Hits of the 80’s” and you should hear some of the stuff these people said in the Customer Review section. Now, I’m a guy who digs his 80’s music, but these people are borderline militant. The owner of the first comment struck me as particularly sardonic, so much so that it forced a chuckle out of me.

Fascist_OMD_BachXer wrote: Sure beats the heck out of today's "music."

BlindedbyXyence wrote: It also reminded me that there was a standard of music and talent in the 80's that we don't see nowadays (sorry, Eminem, but you suck!)

Depeche Mormon76 wrote: 80’s music is basically the best music ever. PERIOD.

FlockOSeagrams wrote: This compilation and all of its counterparts are prime examples of music in its supreme form. In fact, considering the drivel we listen to today, I would go so far as to say that the 80’s was the age of musical enlightenment. Simon Lebon was Rousseau, Morrissey was John Locke, and David Byrne was Benjamin freakin’ Franklin!!!

Ok, so maybe that last quote was a little fabricated. Ok, I forged the last one altogether. And I forged the names to protect their identities, but this was basically what they said. Ok, fine. I forged the whole thing, but you still get the idea. I still agree with these people despite the fact they don't exist. Most people underestimate how influential it was. The 80’s gave birth to rave culture as we know it, the hip-hop dynasty, and a smorgasbord of indie bands we now have coming out the butthole. Apart from this, 80’s music is just plain exciting and fun. So my theory on 80’s music basically runs something like this: 80’s music = Good. This is somewhat similar to my theory on milk which reads: milk + X = good. We all know that milk can’t really stand by itself because it isn’t exactly the best thirst-quencher out there, but it goes well with basically anything.

Top 7 favorite 80’s songs at present:

Kirsty Maccoll – A New England
Joy Division – Love Will Tear Us Apart
Duran Duran – Union Of The Snake
Squeeze – Another Nail In My Heart
Big Country – In A Big Country
Happy Mondays – God’s Cop
Total Coelo – I Eat Cannibals

p.s. I actually haven’t even heard this last one, but I figured the title alone made it a shoe-in.

p.p.s. Those quotes actually were pulled from Amazon except for the last one. Seriously.

Ultimate Zeal

2006-09-26T19:08:00.000-05:00

This last weekend I made a trip to Tulsa, the gem of the Southern Midwest, with a group of people who play this sport with me called Ultimate Frisbee. We composed a team to participate in what we in the biz like to call…a Frisbee Tournament. Let me explain the premise of the game just in case there are some recreational noobs out there. Most people will try and tell you that the game is kind of like football, rugby, soccer, kickball, water polo, curling, golf, and clay shooting all rolled into one, but this is simply not the case. To put it very simply (every sport is bogged down with rules and regulations and Ultimate Frisbee is no exception) a team scores by catching a frisbee in the opposing team’s end zone, a player can’t move once they have caught it, and the frisbee must be thrown within ten seconds when it is not caught in the end zone. If the frisbee hits the ground or is intercepted then it is a turnover. Now I know that by most people’s standards the word “competition” does not come to mind when one thinks of Frisbee. But I’d say that I’ve been to around 30 ultimate tournaments and each one has had its ups and downs, but every single one of them has been viciously competitive. Usually by the end of the tournament I’m dead tired, covered with scrapes and bruises, and disheartened by our defeats. But one thing that I do love about the game is that it reminds me how easy it can be to find passion in one’s life whether it’s frisbee, baseball, video games, comic books, or the Dewey Decimal System. Some teams that come to tournaments drive for days and sometimes only in one car (that means at least 7 people). There have been some people who I’ve met that basically live their lives around the calendar of Ultimate Frisbee events without a steady job or residence. It is simply all they care about. Now I’m sure to most people this sounds ridiculous. And I’m sure that most of the people that play ultimate would think the idea ridiculous before they ever touched a frisbee. It makes me think that we rarely ever choose our passions, but more often than not our passions choose us. And when they do we have no choice but to submit to them.

A Slap in the Face of Facebook

2006-09-26T16:12:00.000-05:00

It is interesting to hear that Facebook is really nowhere near as exclusive as most people assume it is. Although most facebook purists scoff at myspace's universal acceptance policy (and sigh as facebook slowly imitates it), there is little disparity between the two. Recently, facebook has made moves that will allow basically anyone free access to facebook in which case there is no disparity whatsoever. The only difference is that people on facebook operate under the assumption that there is more privacy than myspace and that the only people who are granted access to their profiles are college students. This is certainly not the case. Myspace members are at least aware that their profiles are being scattered wholesale on the sidewalks of Stalker City, which is why they have little cause for alarm when they hear that an employer or faculty member has viewed it. More and more often I hear of stories where some sort of disciplinary action is founded upon evidence taken from facebook. Some universities, apparently, are pushing for a Facebook task force to hunt down these people more efficiently and report any questionable behavior posted on facebook. This, however, is a little out of hand. But do these people have any right to complain? Not really, considering that both facebook and myspace have the same built-in privacy settings. I am not what you would call a "facebook veteran" which might be the only reason why I'm able to take this cynical approach. People who have been in the trenches for longer may feel like facebook's privacy is crucial for keeping its social networks intact and must be restored in order to maintain its integrity. The only thing I have to say to these people is, "Umm... seriously?"

Wisdom in Stupidity

2006-09-19T18:25:00.000-05:00

Well, for those of you who live on campus, Dumb and Dumber was playing on the BBC, the Billiken* Broadcasting Channel, a couple days ago. Apart from being hysterical and the only Farrelly Bros. movie that isn’t disgusting, I also think there are some valuable life lessons to be found in the plot itself. It’s obviously not going to be as profound a movie as, say, Point Break or Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey or Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure for that matter, but it stands to reason that practically any movie is going to be hard-pressed to accomplish that. At any rate, let me give a brief summation for those cultural noobs out there. Lloyd, played by Jim Carrey, is a limo-driver and an idiot. He picks up this beautiful woman played by that chick from Down Periscope and Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story to take her to the airport. He sees her leave behind her briefcase in the terminal and tries to return it to her after breaking a huge number of airport security codes we have today. Afterwards, he decides to drive more than halfway across the country in a gas-guzzling, dog-shaped van to return the briefcase to a woman he barely even talked to with hardly any money leaving behind his apartment, all of his possessions, and all his hopes of opening up a new pet worm store. Once I thought about it, I realized how courageous his actions truly were and I was astounded that he was able to risk so much on a flimsy whim. Sure, he had just recently been fired from his job and had been mugged by a 90-year old, wheelchair-bound lady and his pet parakeet’s head had just fallen off, but I still think Lloyd’s actions were praiseworthy, if not legendary. It made me realize that it is truly impossible to accomplish anything spectacular without taking risks. But the best part of it all, the part that basically clinches it for me, is that when his trip is over and he has succeeded in his quest, he doesn’t even have the nerve to go up and talk to her. Women are terrifying after all.

*A Note on Billikens: A Billiken is a mysterious, elf-like creature who is given to mischief and all around creepiness. If a genie and a jinn were brothers, then the Billiken would be their second, once-removed cousin’s domesticated monster. The Billiken was adopted by Saint Louis University as its patron and mascot. Only the Jesuits and, arguably, God know why. If someone rubs a Billiken’s belly, its most salient feature, it supposedly brings good luck. However, almost every student on SLU’s campus knows that the only thing this will bring is a good case of Hepatitis A through J.

1st week Assignment: Technology in Education

2006-09-16T17:06:00.000-05:00

I suppose the article was able to clearly point something out that
everyone already knew.  That society and technology is changing so
people and students are changing along with it.  As a student I can say
that I have observed firsthand the new methods that have been made
possible through the use of technology in the classroom.  And it is no
difficult task to see this change across the board.  Students are going
through their college studies with technology hand in hand.  And why
should the "millenial" generation be the first in history to turn their
backs on the infinite possibilities that progress has offered?
Multi-tasking is for better or worse a side effect of the overwhelming
presence technology has in our lives.  The example that the article gave
of a student listening to music, chatting online, etc. while doing their
homework is fairly obvious.  I personally don't believe that
multi-tasking equates with a poor work ethic but the point is certainly
up for debate.  What is important is that teachers and curriculums
remain vigilant in challenging students appropriately so that the
standards and discipline that the educational system twenty years ago
was founded upon can coalesce into our own culture.  And if the
educational system fails in challenging students of the 21st century it
will be because of that system, not because of technological change.