Come

Where I am now is a place with absolutely unlimited potential. Be ye writer, singer, actor, doctor, businessman, social worker, politician or scientist; the gates lie open for you. 

The things I would share with you, were you here, are countless - every one of them beautiful.

Museums, plays, movies, gatherings and performances of all sorts. Parties!

So many flavors of people, you wouldn't know where to start.

Today, I'm going to meet as many of them as I can. To experience as much of it as I can. 

This I offer you; an adventure unlike anything you've experienced before.

You may choose whether or not to come with me.

If you do,

do it because you want to,

not because of how you feel about me.

Because there's no telling how long the journey will last.

Talking at me, rather than TO me

Look, I get it. You just LOVE with Lady Gaga, Glee, MGMT, The Hangover, Harry Potter and Andy Warhol. I dig your enthusiasm, and I believe you when you talk about how interesting they are. Hell, if you give me something to go on (like the book you were talking about earlier, or a URL to that band's website) i'd be happy to take a look.

But if you judge me for NOT having been exposed to that facet of pop culture, I will completely ignore you. You have no idea what I'm interested in, or why it has emotional resonance to me, and you probably wouldn't care even if I explained it to you; so what's your problem?

So what If I haven't heard about the latest 'up and coming' rapper's debut? Do you know about the goings-on in Egypt and Libya? So what if I haven't seen THAT movie yet? Have you ever watched an arthouse film? So what If I haven't ogled THAT starlet's body before; do you know anything about the evolution of our society's standards of beauty? I love books, movies, music, videogames, and visual and performing art; I try to expand my base OF these interests whenever possible, which is why I'm more than willing to listen to your spiel.

But if you don't have the courtesy to listen to me back, then don't talk to me.  I have better things to do with my time.

Senatus Populus que Romanus

Pie Jesu, domine,
donna eis requiem.

Sit mihi scutum pro omnibus
contra malos in hoc mundo
ut populus
fiat unum corpus vivere
Ut custodias
ut doceo
Didici quod omnia opera, eosque ad

mihi vulnera ferre oportet
et parce innocens
mihi ignoscere non
donec purgantur peccata mea

in summa
mihi satis facere aliis bonum
PRAEGRAVO ad malum feci
et dimitte me cum consummatum.
In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti
Amen.

Reconciliation

Doubt is a funny thing;
keeping the past in mind with the present
to protect us from prior mistakes and heartaches.
It can, and does, err
by suspending our belief in the greatest joys life has to offer,
nameably, love.

These two days past,
I wrestled with Doubt
as did Jacob with God himself.
I won,
because I knew that THIS one
was unlike anyone I had ever met before.

Why tech companies are failing

Hewlett-Packard, Dell, and other top PC makers are all losing incredible amounts of revenue because of rapidly falling PC sales. Consumers aren't buying laptops, desktops, or any particular piece of old-style technology right now. They don't have the money. They do have money to spend on essential technology, like cell phones (smartphones) and tablets, depending on what industry they work in. These same PC makers saw the success of the iPad and tried to get in on the mobile computing market. HP came out with the Touchpad and the Veer (a tiny, blackberry-esque smartphone), and Dell came out with their Streak 7 tablet. Their products were cheaper than iPads, ran on the Android OS, and had pretty much the same hardware specs as an iPad.

So what's the problem? Everyone who wanted an iPad already owns one. I bought one for myself a few weeks ago, and I love it. Even though I dislike Apple's corporate culture, I have to admit that their consumer products are consistently in line with what their customers want. People didn't like how clunky and relatively immobile netbooks are (just try to carry one around with you on the subway), so Apple came up with a product as small and light as an e-reader. The result was one of the most profitable business segment ever created by a technology company.

Apple's competitors don't seem to understand a fundamental rule of the tech business; me-too devices never sell as well as innovative products. If any of them tried to one-up Apple in R&D, by offering 4G/WiMAX connectivity and turning their tablets into smartphones, they would've quickly become top gun.

To all tech manufacturing companies; if you want to profit from mobile computing, you can't half-ass your R&D. Spend the time and money necessary to give your customers a good product, and they will thank you for it.

The Book

This novel is the biggest project I have ever undertaken, for any reason. It has a lot of work to do, and I am nowhere near completing it. That said, I AM going to finish it. When I do, I WILL get it published, and I will dedicate it to my teachers; Mr. Kawano, Mr. Tracey, and Mr. Bailin. Mr. Kawano is no longer here with us, but he remains in spirit. I have felt that spirit in recent months, through successes and struggles alike. I know he would be proud of me. I know he would see all of the emotion that went into this work, and all the thoughts I've tried to compile into a coherent, readable form. I know he would appreciate all the preparation i've taken to make sure that this is something FRESH in American literature.

Wish me luck, Mr. K. This one is for you.

My kingdom for a bit of inspiration

So I've turned my intended blog post into a three-piece series which will be released over the next week or so. Until then, I might as well post a different thought I had.
My writing reflects how I feel about myself and others around me. It extrapolates on my own experiences, which is good because I have experienced a lot in the past few years, but also bad because I can't seem to break out of that maze of "write what you know" and come up with something fundamentally new.
I like how my novel is coming along, and I like the blog posts I've made recently: EVEN IF I GET NO FEEDBACK FROM THEM. Hint hint. In all seriousness, though, I Want to walk in someone else's shoes for awhile, to get some perspective on other people and how they see the world. Mind-reading? That's kind of what I'm getting at, actually. Until that solution comes about, though, I might as well do it the old-fashioned way: read what other people write and listen to what THEY say.
Is that the problem? Do I spend too much time listening to myself? Hard to say, since my own beliefs and opinions are - like everyone's - based on what other people say and do.
For you psy-minded people out there: we ought to try a mind-meld sometime soon. That would help things immensely.

On Community

Loneliness
Isolation
Mental Disorders
Developmental Disorders
Crime, both violent and domestic
Drug abuse and Alcoholism
Early Death

All of these are associated with people who are deprived of community. Why? Because mankind is inherently a social animal. Some of us are more social than others, but the fact remains that without social contact, one loses a fundamental aspect of their identity: how they relate to others.

In the past several decades we have observed a rapid deterioration in community ties, as families move away from each other, elder parents are sent to nursing homes, children are looked after by hired, apathetic caregivers, and increasing rates of urbanization discourage interaction with one's neighbors. These issues, I believe, have produced the majority of societal problems that we face today. These problems are both dire and pervasive.

But what to do about them?  I recognize that it's not very feasible for people to adopt a communal lifestyle, but something like that would be a step in the right direction.

The alternative, to make no attempt at solving these issues, is unthinkable.

Shut up and do it already

Look, I get it. You're tired, you're nervous, you have other things to do first, and it seems like a lot of work. So take a break. Put it off till tomorrow. That work, whatever it is, will still be there in the morning, where it will stay until you get up off your ass and finish it.

I don't care WHAT it is. Maybe you need to apply for college, or for a job. Maybe you need to write that song already, or call someone and set things straight with them. It doesn't matter: Shut up and do it already.

Do you see where I am now? Do you know what it took to get here? I can't brag about it: I have no right to. Everything that has worked out for me in life happened because I put in the time and energy to make it happen. Yes, I had help along the way. I had a LOT of help, actually, but that's beside the point; they wouldn't have helped me in the first place unless I'd made the committment to shoulder those obligations.

So you can be one of those people who leave everything for tomorrow. That's fine; It's an easier, more laid-back way of approaching things. But ask yourself this before you do: Is that YOU? When you look back on your life ten, fifteen years from now, will you call that time well spent? Or will you regret not seizing an opportunity when you had the chance?

Think about it before you call me up and use me as a crutch for your productivity - again. I have my own life to live, as do you.

Technology

Companies, corporations and conglomerates dedicated to technology have been forming and growing for the last few decades like benign tumors in the world economy. Devices and chipsets, sensors, modules, alternative energy, biotechnology, internet businesses, media services and social networks are but a TINY portion of these.

So why have they been growing so fast? Why was Facebook such a revolutionary platform for communication? Why does HALF the global population now own some form of cell phone? Why are tablet computers, smartphones and iPads selling like hotcakes around the world?

Because technology fosters communication, and communication is the hallmark of civilization.

Communication is the reason you no longer have to hunt or farm for your food.

- It is the reason you didn't have to build the house you currently live in.

- It is the reason you are able to choose (within reason) where you want to work.

- It accounts for the strategic location of major world cities

- Its necessity gave rise to governments and monetary systems

- It is what enabled every social, political, scientific, and artistic movement in the history of mankind.

Our humanity lies in our ability to communicate meaningfully with other members of our species. With it, we have become the dominant species on this planet, and have the potential to colonize the rest of the solar system.

Without it, we would soon regress to the dark ages and worse (take note: the story of the tower of Babel).

Think about the implications of this as you go about your week. 

This is for you

Hear this now;
I want you to challenge me.
Dare me to become something I wasn't before,
or was too scared to try.
Help me push back my limits;
and extend my range to the sea and sky.

I UNDERSTAND IT NOW!
It is what you DO together that counts.

9 to 5

What kind of life
is defined by its career?
Ask the man sitting next to you on the train;
"Are you happy with your job?"
"Did you see yourself doing it as a child?"
More likely than not, he will cast his tired eyes
upon the ground and answer;
"No."