Perception Test

This is a test of how perceptive you are. Pay close attention and you might pass the test.

Watch the video before reading further.



This is a great example of how we often miss things in life when we're so busy focusing on the details. Often we look so closely at the little stresses and worries of our life and miss the big picture. We get so distracted with the menial tasks of our daily routine that we don't look to what really matters.

So I want you to ask yourself, is it more important to make good money and impress the boss, or should I be worrying more about taking care of my family and friends? What really matters at the end of the day?

Stream Of Consciousness

Some "great literary masters" like to write in stream of consciousness form. In essence, they simply write their thoughts out as they flow from their heads. There is no thought involved. It's almost like taking a picture of someone's dream. It's as base and raw as the mind gets. There is no refinery, there is no editing, there is no thought at all. Just a literary vomiting of thoughts onto a page. It's messy, but it's sometimes very revealing. It's also often very difficult to read. I had to analyze too much of it in literature classes for my major in college. It left a pretty bad taste in my mouth. I almost wanted to try it myself and just see what came out. But I don't think I want to subject anyone else to what I had to go through.

Rock Band 2

Rock Band 2 finally came out. It's funny because I just heard they were making one a couple weeks ago. I never heard a definite release date either. So I called up Gamestop and asked when it came out. They said oh, it came out yesterday. Good timing. After some quick searching around I found a copy that wasn't sold out already and ran across town on my lunch break to pick it up. I LOVE the new game. It's got so many more songs I love and so many new features. I'll have to tell more about them later.

The First Chill of Fall

This weekend there was a shift in the atmosphere. I felt a change in the air over a month ago that told me Summer was ending and Fall was very near. It's strange to think I can feel that, just like the animals around me always do, but I always can just sense these changes. Today it was almost too cold to swim and there was a chill in the air. Autumn has arrived.

I feel so strange right now. The whole atmosphere of the world is changing. I want to think it's the natural balance of things, and this is just a change in seasons. But I feel deeper changes in the atmosphere. It stirs up my heart and makes me uneasy. I always feel somewhat sad when summer ends and Fall begins. Autumn is the twilight season when life begins to store up and hide away. The warmth and life of summer fades like the drifting shadows of dusk.

I like the warmth, I love the sun. I don't want to see the cold return. In so many ways I feel my life changing. I don't know how or why just yet, but I feel change in the works. It's exciting but also hard. I'm so tired as it is, worn down in every way. I don't want to think about picking up and starting over again. Life is an adventure, but sometimes it makes me wish I had a warm, peaceful rest. I don't want to wander forever. I want a home.

New Blogs

I think it's safe to say I'm a blogging addict. I started a blog and just couldn't stop. I ended up with a total of 7 blogs and I may not stop there. Naturally I don't have time to put a huge amount of attention into each one, but I like having each blog specified to its own subject. I used to be a blogging machine back in college. I posted every single day in my blogs, and had lots of activity. But now I want to actually get something out there and my old LiveJournal just isn't right for it. So here I am blogging away at blogger... blogging about blogging.

The Vicious Coffee Cycle

I was extra tired today so I broke down and drank coffee... for about the third day in a row. I did it because I couldn't sleep last night until really late... way past my bedtime... way past any time I could function well at work with. But I just couldn't sleep. When I really thought about why I would be so wired, I realized it was probably because I drank coffee earlier that day. Coffee really affects me and keeps me up sometimes most of the night after I drink just one cup. More like one fifth of a cup.

So when I was exhausted from not sleeping from the coffee, what did I do to wake me up? Drink more coffee. Tonight if I can't sleep I will know I'm caught up in the vicious cycle of coffee. I wonder if others get into this and just don't realize it. I can't imagine our bodies are built to handle so much adrenaline and so much caffeine. Yet we still subject ourselves to it because we need it to function. What ever would our world do without coffee?

Wireless Mouse

I have a wireless mouse that I absolutely love. I used to have a very good one that I was used to but one of my friends dropped it and the thing died on me. It was originally a $50 mouse before the discounts I got a year or two ago.

So I went to get a new mouse. I ended up finding a new wireless Logitech mouse that was the updated model of my old one. The only real difference is it's more sensitive, more comfortable, much better looking, takes half the batteries, and is half the price. It also fits perfectly with the look of my laptop. So now I'm glad my friend dropped my mouse.

Return to College

I went back to FSU campus tonight and had a great time hanging out with some friends who just started a class there. I went out on the field in the middle of campus and found myself asked to join a game of ultimate frisbee. I got out on the field and naturally was the team that went skins. We took our shirts off so we could easily be told apart from the other team...

And I realized how much I stuck out from the perfectly fit athletic frat guys. I've been out of college for 2 years and worked in 2 office jobs. I've packed on what could be considered a bit of chub, and it especially stood out in contrast to the other guys. To make matters worse, they were all incredibly good at frisbee. They had perfect strategies and formations, and ran all over the place without breaking a sweat. And I was winded after about 5 downs. I feel so old already and I'm only 24. Life seems to just come at us too fast. I wish I could slow down and just live in the moment, but I don't have time for that. There's too much to do.

Frozen Burritos

It's strange to have to watch my diet now. I used to live on nothing but bagels and ramen noodles and I did just fine in college. A fast metabolism, lots of exercise, and sleep deprivation kept me fit and skinny throughout the years on campus. Now I'm working a sedentary office job and needing to be more careful what goes into my body. I'm trying to eat right and get the right balance of enough healthy nutrients and not too much food. I've been trying to eat out during my lunch breaks since I can't really cook during the day. But there are days when I just don't feel like making the trek across town. On days like this, it's time for frozen burritos.

Eating Somewhere New

So today I went to lunch and decided to try something new for food. I habitually eat at the same restaurant and at a certain point your body just gets tired of the same thing over and over. It took me about 3-4 months, but it's starting to hit me. So I decided to walk across the parking lot to Firehouse Subs.

They were PACKED. College kids lined up in a line out the door, all over the inside. The walls were all glass and it somehow made me think of a fish tank filled to the brim with people. There was something so inhuman about the look of it.

Naturally since I didn't want to spend my whole lunch break in line, I went back to the restaurant I always eat at. Maybe next time...

Like a Kid on Christmas

I'm now 24 years old. I hold a regular 9-5 job where I handle very big responsibilities. I have my own house and I pay my own bills. Yet I still feel like a kid on Christmas as I install my new Spore game. As funny as it sounds I'm really excited. I've been waiting for this game since I learned about its development two or three years ago. I always wanted a game like this and now it's finally in my CD drive on its way to completing an install. I guess I should go get breakfast before it hits noon.

Spore Care Bears

So on my first day of Spore I started with a totally unoriginal creature. I made a pink, fuzzy, cute and cuddly care bear creature. You get to structure your creature and customize it with parts to make it look a certain way, and I think I did a pretty good job with the likeness. You can also customize the behavior and traits of your creature based on how you use them...

So I made a race of ferocious carnivore care bears. I ran around the whole planet in packs ravenously devouring anything that moved and was unfortunate enough to cross my path. Soon the care bears will take over the planet and build up a mighty civilization bent on destruction of the universe. Oh I love games like this so much.

Spore

Spore finally came out today. While I'm installing it, I'm writing about it to curb my excitement. It's probably the most complex and innovative computer game to date. It allows you to take a single-celled organism and slowly evolve it into more and more complex forms. When you have a fully evolved intelligent organism, you get to create a tribal society. When your civilization grows even more, you can take over the whole planet and build massive cities and technologies. When that's done, you can launch into space and conquer the universe. It's so immersive and huge. I hope I don't get too addicted.

Paypal

Today I discovered the wonders of Paypal. This could mark the beginning of a beautiful career on the internet. All the constant worries of identity theft have made me wary of ever letting my check card numbers hit the computer. But now I can earn money online, save it in my account, and pay it off without having to ever put my real account up there in the virtual world.

When Work Clouds The Life

I work at a small business which I love, but it's very demanding. If I were at a big company there would be at least 3-5 people doing my job. Even in my company there used to be 3 people doing my job. I barely have time to finish all my tasks even when I give it 100% and buzz through the work at breakneck speeds. It leaves me pretty exhausted. And when I get home, I find myself watching training videos to make me more valuable at work. It's so hard to balance life and work sometimes.

Almost Tired

Here I am again, just tired enough to not want to move but not quite tired enough to sleep. It's kind of the opposite to that state when you just wake up and are still halfway in the world of dreams. I guess this is a good place to blog. Somewhere between consciousness and sleep.