All Quiet on the Western Front

Finished All Quiet on the Western Front today. Really an excellent book. Although, if you had asked me two days ago about its quality, I would have told you it was boring.

But I think that was the point of the book, in a way.

To give a brief synopsis, it's the tail of a German soldier during World War I. The story accounts his life in the trenches, the friendships he makes, and the hardships he faces.

It starts off extremely boring: with stories of men joking around in the front lines, with men worrying about food, with men describing what they'll do when they get home. And I suppose that is what life IS like on the front lines.

But finally, in the last one hundred pages, the book turns to a much more non-everyday slant. To a discussion of war itself. Here's one of my favorite quotes from the book:

I am young, I am twenty years old; yet I know nothing of life but despair, death, fear, and fatuous superficiality cast over an abyss of sorrow. I see how peoples are set against one another, and in silence unknowingly, foolishly, obediently, innocently slay one another. I see that the keenest brains of the world invent weapons and words to make it yet more refined and enduring. And all men of my age, here and over there, throughout the whole world see these things; all my generation is experiencing these things with me. What would our fathers do if we suddenly stood up and came before them and proffered our account? What do they expect of us if a time ever comes when the war is over? Through the years our business has been killing; it is our first calling in life. Our knowledge of life is limited to death. What will happen afterwards? And what shall come out of us?

That is one of THE most haunting and humane accounts of war I've ever read.

And that's the true story of All Quiet on the Western Front.

If you find the time or the interest and have not yet read it, I highly suggest reading A.Q.W.F.

Katrina and Extremists

Here's one of those posts I promised you.

As you all know, this week, a very large hurricane named Katrina passed through the US. I know, I'm not so good with terminology when it comes to weather (sorry), but that's pretty much what happened.

And so I thought, "Oh, it's hurricane season, and a hurricane developed and did its thing. Yeah, that's pretty normal. Being on Earth and all, it's expected."

But, oh, how wrong I was! Apparently all of this is happening because THE END OF THE WORLD IS NIGH!!!

That's right, folks, from the Righties, we find out that Katrina is a godsend, created to teach us not to mess with Israel (yeah, don't even get me started on Israel). A home for a home! Man, the God of the Old Testament is a real bitch. Too bad all the Apocalyptics never took the time to read the New Testament. That God was a lot more loving...

But the Lefties, not to be outdone in apocalyptic naysaying, have informed us that Katrina is the result of, you guessed it, Global Warming. So, that's why this HAPPENS EVERY FREAKIN' YEAR hurricane season occurred. Because of GW (and no, I'm not talking about our President). How silly of me.

What are us "sinners" to do? Perhaps teach THESE fundamentalists, because they're just as bad as any extremist "terrorist" out there (think about it for a second. A terrorist is someone who insights fear. What are these folks doing? Yep, inciting fear), some basic facts. So, if you're an Apocalyptic (I'd say Evangelical, but I'm pretty sure they're not all that crazy) Christian, guess what. Read the Bible again. Please. And try not to take is so literally. I mean, it's full of really good stuff. But when you take it literally, you're becoming like a kid that thinks, well, that the Earth was created in LITERALLY 6 days. Nuh uh!

The Leftie environmentalists. Well, I'm sure most of you would think that me, being hippie Dave, would sympathize with them and say, "Take care of the planet! Stop Global Warming!" Well, you're half right. I'm all for taking care of the planet. But also realize, you're on the earth. Hurricanes HAPPEN on the earth. So do tornadoes, and earthquakes, and thunderstorms. All these things happen on the earth. So don't blame "Global Warming," a pseudo-scientific "fact" for these normal occurrences. And read State of Fear.

And for both of you, take a step back, take a deep breath, and welcome back to reality! Yes, there are plenty of things we could take care of. Like poverty, starvation, AIDS, and excessive use of fossil fuels. So, why not place those pent up resources that have previously been used to make "converts" of us into these endeavors? Go for it!

Editor's Note:

Sorry if this article sounded a bit vitriolic. I was going for satire. But I don't know if that came across.

In general, my point is that we shouldn't lose our heads. Yeah, religion can get a little wacko sometimes. But so can science. In which case, I think taking a middle path of moderation is key.

Thanks for reading, and have a nice, non-apocalyptic day!

I've Been Thinking...

that maybe I spend far too much time on the computer. But you know, I spend so much less than I used to. I mean, I've gotten it down to the point that I don't get on til 9 and then stay on til about, well, now.

Yet at the same time, I feel like all my life is spent on the computer. But maybe I'm just being crazy. Because I really don't spend all that much time on the computer.

This thought came up as I realized I haven't posted ANY of the articles that I've wanted to in the past week. I have a bunch of ideas floating around (note to self, write them down before you forget them!), but I haven't made the time to write them down. When I get to this point of the night, I don't feel like posting some really great work of writing. I just want to write this pseudo-personal account.

Lesson: Don't spend so much time looking at other people's blogs, and you'll have more time to work on your own! But everyone else has such interesting blogs...

Anyway, I'll HOPEFULLY post at least one, aiming for two, good posts tomorrow.

And while I'm at it, I'll finish All Quiet on the Western Front, complete my calc work, discover an alternative to fossil fuel, and fly to the moon in a yellow submarine! (Yeah, in case you didn't catch it, those two weren't for real) !-)

Man, if I'm going to do all those things, I'd better get some sleep.

Later.

Nothing to Report

I don't really have anything to post, but I feel as if I must put up something, even if it's mediocre.

And so, I'll post on the Marching Band, and more specifically on when we were given the "freedom" to run practice briefly yesterday. Did anyone else notice that everything ran smoothly, and that noone was yelling, etc.? We were productive WITHOUT adult supervision.

Maybe this is something we can keep up. Or maybe it was just some crazy coincidence because Mr. Reno decided not to finish the drill in a timely fashion.

Well, I'm off to do some homework. And then maybe put up that post up here that I've been putting off.

Peace.

Sundays. I hate Sundays.

Birthday
Originally uploaded by David Darmon.

Well, I officially have gotten to my school year hate of Sundays. I just have such "off" days on Sundays. Maybe it's because they're not quite a week day, but not quite a weekend day.

Anyway, today could have gone better. But that was all my fault. So, noone to blame but myself.

Decided to post another picture. I really don't have any recent pictures. It's horrible. So this is from about a year ago. Do I look different? I know one thing: I look crazy in this picture.

Well, I think I might do one of those big theory posts tomorrow. Perhaps part II of the Humanity series. Or something like that.

Dig life!

The Bible and Natural Selection

I was listening to this song today (the song really has nothing to do with this post, other than the mention of Noah's Ark), and it made me think, "Hm, how can fundamentalists believe in the Bible and not in evolution?"

I mean, take the story of Noah's Ark. God got pissed at a bunch of sinners. At that point in time, everyone pretty much lived in the same place. So, he picked the least sinful of the sinners, Noah and Co., and told them to build a boat. Then they picked up a sample of all the animals present at the time (hopefully no dinosaurs, cause that would be one weird anachronism) and set out on a boat.

And then God let out the mother of all storms on their ass. And this killed all the greater "sinners," leaving behind only Noah, his family, and his possie of animals.

But God did some "selecting" in this case. One might say he "naturally" (since God can't really do something not natural) selected the best of the best of the humans, took them on a little trip, and killed everyone else.

That sounds like evolution to me. And God did it! Gasp!

Random thought that I figure I'd post. Mainly because it's one of the few original thoughts I've put up here so far. Everything else has mainly been me regurgitating things others have said. Not this one. I came up with all by myself!

Mabye this is one of those synchronities again: Noah's New Ark, Evolution, Katrina. The stars were just aligned. Go Karma!

Wow, I've started to reference myself. That's when you know you've hit rock bottom. :)

I did it, I did it, I did it!

What did I do? Nothing all that special. I finished my Frankenstein essay. REMARKABLY easy to do.

Why did it take me so long to write this essay? Other than plain old, normal procrastination, there was something else. This crazy perfectionistic nature of mine. I didn't want to start the essay because I wanted it to be extremely well written. And since I haven't written in a while, (well, this is writing, but I mean something that will be "graded") I feared what it would turn out to be.

And that's the silly thing about perfection. As Mr. S says, perfection is unattainable, but one should still reach for it. I prefer to think of perfection as the journey itself. Every step along the way, do your best. And that's perfection.

And the moral? If you don't think you can do something, just try it. In this case, sit down, write a sentence. And almost magically, the rest of the essay will write itself. At least, that's how it works for me.

So, yeah, now I just have 2 more books and 2 more essays to write. But that's no problem. After something is done once, the rest follow more easily. Morphic fields. Cool (if somewhat out there) stuff.

And so that's my mission for tomorrow. Finish the Calc work and read some All Quiet on the Western Front.

Namaste, all. And enjoy some sun. Because it seems like Katrina is gonna be a bitch.

Karma (or Cause and Effect)

The point of this post is to de-mystify (literally take out of the realm of mysticism) the idea of "Karma." Because I personally feel that Karma is as valuable to a person's everday working-knowledge as knowing arithmetic and the multiplication tables (though admittedly, some would disagree on the usefulness of those...)

The Webster defintion of Karma: the force generated by a person's actions held in Hinduism and Buddhism to perpetuate transmigration and in its ethical consequences to determine the nature of the person's next existence.

That's quite a mouthful, and if you're at all interested in Eastern Philosophy, I say go for it!

But for my purpose, I'm going to use a simpler, etymologically derived definition. In Sanskrit (which is kind of like the Latin of the Indian world. No one speaks it anymore, but it's what Hindi and all other Indian languages are based on), Karma literally means "deed" or "action that has consequences." Of these two, I'm going to work with the second one, though you'll see how the first one also fits beautifully.

So, Karma involves "action[s] that [have] consequences." That's pretty simple. Therefore the alternative title of this post: Cause and Effect. Because in all actuality, that's all that Karma is. The game of cause and effect. If anything happens, it must have a cause and it must have an effect (unless you go all the way back to the unmoved mover and such, but that's a philosophical debate for the heavy weights, not for little old me). In simplest terms, if B --> C, then B not only caused C, but was also caused by A. C was not only caused by B, but will also cause D. Ad infinitum, all the way down, and all the way up.

But keep in mind, events rarely happen linearly. In fact, the world is like one big giant interconnected web. If you do one thing, the affects could go WAY beyond your immediate surroundings. WAY beyond. Take the idea of the butterfly effect. This hypothesis states that the flap of a butterfly's wings in Brazil could cause a tornado in Texas. I don't know if this is viable. But it sounds real poetic, doesn't it?

Okay. That's real great. Karma and butteflies. Real great. But how the hell is it useful to ME in every day LIFE? Well, what I'm telling you is that no matter what you do, it will have an effect. On both you, and the world at large. No (wo)man is an island. Whether you do something in public or private, whether it's good or bad, doesn't matter. It will have consequences. And more often than not, these consequences are not what you expected.

A beautiful example of this can be found in the movie The Butterfly Effect. I don't want to give away the story if you haven't seen the movie. But let me just tell you, it's not about a buttefly flapping his/her wings. I highly recommend it. And watch the director's cut. That's the better ending (though people who saw the actual ending tell me that's the better ending, so I guess it depends on which you watch first).

The moral of this story? Be mindful of your actions. In doing so, you'll do the most good and the least amount of harm.

Or if you don't want to do that, this is just something cool to think about. At least, I think so.

And so ends this post.

Now, forget everything I've just told you, and go out and live your life.

Later.

Strange Elation

I don't really know why, but I'm just in one of those really, really good moods right now. If it ain't broke, don't fix it, right? So, I guess I'll just enjoy this mood now and run with it.

Had my last day of band camp. Ever. Today. Crazy. It hasn't hit me yet. I don't know if it ever will. I've had 7 band camps. That's a whole lot of 2 week-long summer programs. A whole freakin' lot. And I'm done with that. Damn. No wonder Stacie keeps coming back. It's going to be weird next year without it. It's become a part of me.

If you missed the first Chichester High School Marching Band performance of the 2005 season today, don't worry, you'll have plenty of other chances to see us!

And seriously, can the "kids" (and by "kids" I mean the band members) run marching band? Pretty please? I swear, when some adults reach a certain age, they must just shut off the common-sense / logic chip in their heads. Because they don't use those two things.

Ah, and the post band "pool" party. Good times. It was fun. As good as the one from 2 years ago. Hopefully that'll become a tradition. I mean, I'll be gone. But it'd still be cool if it was a tradition.

And I'm really tired. And it's Saturday already. So I'm going to go to bed.

Good night. Or morning. Whichever.

Wowzer

I don't know why, but over this summer, the tech world decided that it'd be cool to make all sorts of "killer apps" for the interweb. (If you're not a tech-geek [I used to be one prior to my interest in friendships / philosophy], that's an application that is really, really awesome).

I've been finding these things left and right, so I figure I'd share them with you. They really are amazing. And the best part is they're all FREE.

First, Google Earth. I haven't been able to get it to work on my comp, but mine is a real dinosaur. Like, seriously 6 years old or so. But from what I've seen, it's crazy awesome stuff. CRAZY. AWESOME.

Something I just found today: Google Desktop. This is crazy stuff. It not only indexes your computer, it also gives you a toolbar that allows you to look at recent news, blog postings, and pictures. Um, duh, yeah!

Another thing from Google: Google Talk. It's like AIM. I don't really know anything about it. But then again, I don't have anyone to talk to on it. So, if you want to try it out, IM (I don't know if that term still applies) me at DDarmon87. We'll test it ourselves!

And that's just some of the offerings from Google. There are many, many more where these came from.

And Yahoo's competing as best it can!

Check out the Yahoo Music Engine. It's like your own personal radio station. I mean, I remember in 10th grade when the Yahoo music videos were the best way to get music on the web. Now there's an application that essentially lets you hand pick artists in its Radio feature. And it's all free.

Also from Yahoo, check out their MyYahoo! feature. It's a great way to have everything you could want, no matter where you are. And it too is free.

No, I'm not paid to endorse these people. But this stuff just blows me away. Technology is making leaps and bounds in every direction, all the time.

Slight caveat. Some of this stuff goes on your computer. So, yeah, let's admit it, they're probably spying on you. But that doesn't really bother me. I don't see Big Brother becoming all that much of a problem anytime soon.

So, check out this stuff!

But don't worry, I'm all for living in the real world too! You know, the flesh and blood one. I promise. And I'll do it better than ever before!

It's funny, because the second part of my post on humanity is going to be on technology. And here I am, finding all this great free technology. Synchronicity is awesome!

PS - Was just informed about IMS by Kenny. Maybe that's what I have at times. :)

PPS - Last day of Band Camp for me ever tomorrow. Wowie. Crazy. Come see us at 8:15 PM at our field (read the High School parking lot). The show will be awesome!

Super Profound Post!!!

Actually, I've really got nothing. Sorry. The brain is a vast reservoir of emptiness.

So, just enjoy life. And do stuff.

And one short thought, just so this is semi-profound:

Make love, not war. Unless war is necessary to make love, in which case make war through love. :)

P.S. And I don't mean that defniition of make love. I mean, like, platonic type of making love. Get your mind out of the gutter!

What to Talk About?

Hm, I don't really want to go onto Part 2 of my thing, mainly because it's late and that would require major thinkage on my part. So instead, I'll just write about anything that comes to mind. Wooh for stream of consciousness!

Um, first thought. Life's crazy. And it never fails to be crazy. There should be some religion called Crazy-ism, in which the major tenets are: Life is crazy, and you have to live life.

Wow, this is so pointless. So I'm just going to stop my stream of con...

Band went well today. Other than this crazy part that Kenny and I have to do during part II. To that I say, "NO!" I mean, we'll get it eventually (maybe), but it's just really tough. But we're the low brass. We can do anything!

And 4 more days of band camp left. Ever. Crazy.

Enjoy your last 2 weeks of summer. Namaste.

On the (Future) Nature of Humanity, Part 1

Disclaimer: This post is mainly philosophical. It's all speculative, and just something that I found very interesting and worth note.

After a long conversation with Dave a while ago, we came to the conclusion that humanity is like one giant, multicellular organism. Well, to be more accurate, humanity linked through modern society is a giant multicellular organism. Admittedly, this idea isn't anything all that new. It's has been around for a long time. But at this moment, I can't think of the one book that I want to talk about, so - MOVING ON!

Anyway, if humanity is a multicellular organism, it must have gotten that way through some sort of evolution, just as prokaryotes evolved into eukaryotes. And this is where this particular branch of our hypothesis provides some interesting conjectures about things like population growth. When discussing population growth, there are three possible outcomes. The first is a plateau, in which zero population growth occurs. The second is a decline, in which population growth is negative. And the final is an incline, in which population growth is positive.

In discussing human poplulation growth, we were most interested in the plateau (the one I thought would happen) and the positive growth (the one Dave thought would happen). Dave and I talked about this for a while with no conclusion. But then Dave gave an analogy that just cracked it open for me. He told me a story about how if you put fruit flys (I think that was the organism - it really doesn't matter) into a container with sufficient food for all of them and then come back a day later, they are all dead. Why? Because they died in their own waste. Now, assuming humanity is like that jar of fruit flys, humanities future looks rather bleak.

But then I realized that wasn't the correct analogy. Instead we should compare humanity in modern soceity to the evolution from a prokaryote to a eukaryote. A prokaryote will reproduce without care, as long as it has the conditions to do so. It doesn't care about it's neighbors. But eventaully, that prokaryote evolved together with a bunch of it's (previously uncared about) neighbors, and created the first eukaryote. Now, suddenly, the prokaryote (which is now a cell of the larger organism), can't/won't just reproduce indiscrimantly. Or else we call it cancer.

Therefore, if humanity in modern society is thought of as one giant eukaryotic organism, then eventually through self-regulation, humanity will control it's population growth as to prevent overpopulation. The "consciouness" of humanity will evolve to the point that it can do nothing BUT think of itself as a multi-cellular organism.

And why is the prokaryote/eukaryote analogy more appropriate than the fruit flys in the jar one? For the simple reason that humanity in modern society can communicate with itself nearly instantaneously, just as cells in a multicellular organism can. Our (individual) level of consciousness, thanks to our three part brain, allows us to act in concert with one another, quite similar (but infinitely more complex) to how cells interact in an organism. With the fruit flys, they have no way of communicating, and therefore act as a bunch of prokaryotic cells, reproducing without care for their neighbors.

And this is where the thinking ends. In the second part of this two part series (to be posted sometime), I will discuss what allows our "global" consciousness. What allows us to be that multicellular organism instead of the jar of bugs.

Editor's Note:

I realize now that I've been using the definition of eurkaryote all wrong. A eukaryote isn't necessarily mutlicellular. So, if you replace Eukaryote with multicellular up there, you'll find the correct analogy I was going for. Luckily, I have AP Biology this year, so I can brush up on all this classification mumbo jumbo.

Just a Test

Just felt like testing something out. And while I'm at it, why not take a look back in time, oh, five years. That's always fun to do.

Flickr, in case you're interested, is an awesome tool for posting pictures on the interweb. I'm not much of a picture person, but I'm going to work on that this year. Hopefully.

Anyway, this is a picture of me from my sister's High School Graduation (notice the track in the background). I was at the end of my 7th grade year at this point in time. That places me at the age of 13. Wow, thirteen.

Anyway, notice all the differences. Like the lack of sideburns. Or any facial hair for that matter. And the glasses. And the nerdines... Oh, wait, that's still here. :)

I thought it'd be fun to look back at Dave Darmon from years ago. Maybe I'll scrounge up more pictures to share. Maybe. But no matter what, it's just fun to play around with the technology at our disposal. More on that at a later post.

Band camp tomorrow (today? Huh, it IS today)! Gonna kick some ass. And according to Kenny, this is going to be the best. summer. week. EVER.

Peace out!

Another Saturday

Today was (because it's now Sunday, so techinically today is no longer) Saturday. A Saturday like I haven't had in a while. But anyway, that's not what I'm thinking about right now.

Does anyone else feel like everything's changed? I don't know how or why I feel this way, but just now, sitting here, I feel like the whole world's changed. I have no idea why. Nothing has changed. But at the same time, everything looks / feels different. It's a very weird feeling. Nice, but weird.

On a completely different note, if any of you want a local forecast for Chi, I suggest checking out the new weather blog at Chi Weather. It is a promising site from our up and coming meteorologist, Kenny Pratt. Not only do you get your local forecast, but with his own personal flair, you'll learn how said weather will affect "Your Chi Experience" (who's ready for that essay). I look forward to Kenny's contribution to the blogosphere.

Sunday, and then it's the second week of Band Camp. My last week of band camp ever. Crazy.

Anyone know how to play the guitar? Because I'm trying to learn, but it's kind of a hit and miss experience. I'll learn eventually.

Namaste, all.

Marching Band, Season 4: Progress Report

In case any of you are interested in how the Chichester High School Marching Band is doing, I'll give you a brief summary of what we're up to.

Our show this year is called The Elements. It's based on the alchemical elements, though this is just my personal take on the theme. The "elements" of our show turn out to be one and the same as the elements from Dark Age Europe. We're playing On this Day the Earth Shall Ring (Earth), Into the Abyss (Water), The Perfect Storm (Wind), and Fire! (Fire).

And I must say, this is some of the best music I've played in High School Marching Band. It's symphonic! If any of you know my marching band preferences, that's it! We range the gammit from slow to fast, soft to loud, just like any good marching band show should.

And we've had band camp this week from Monday to Friday, 1 to 9 PM. It's been a really great time. We've finished the first song with drill and music. That means we only have three more "parts" to do. Yay for being ahead of schedule. With one more week to go next week.

This year is going to be it. I know, I'm not the one who ever wants to go to ACC's (this is all marching band terminology, don't fret if you don't get it), but I think we might make it this year. We're down in number, but we're up in spirit. It's weird how a smaller band feels more - close. Well, I guess that's not that weird.

Anwyway, you should all check us out sometime at a Chi football game. Or if you want to see us in our best form (because no matter what Mr. Shollenberger says, a half-time show at a football game is not a real performance), come see us at one of our competitions. I'll post more on that as the time approaches.

And look at me, acting like I'm the spokesperson for Chichester's marching band. God knows there are more qualified people than me to do that. But when the spirit moves you.

Namaste

An Exercise

Of course, I had band camp yesterday. Yes, it went well. And yes, I still have another week and two days.

And all of you taking AP Calculus can look forward to your homework soon. Guess what the first part is on? Lines! Boo!

I had an interesting thought about a week ago, and I'm going to expand on it now. I realized that this time next year, I'm not going to be at band camp. I'm not even going to be thinking about Chi. In fact, I will be preparing all my stuff to move into college, talking to my roomate, and in general getting psyched out about this new phase of life I'll be moving into. And that's just in a year.

What about in 5 years? At that point, I won't be thinking about High School, where I spent 4 years of my life. I won't be thinking about the college where I spent the next 4 years of my life. No, I'll be thinking about the NEW university that I'll be going to for graduate school. I'll have lost a connection to two places that I've spent a cumulative of 8 years of my life (that's 35% of the life I've lived so far). And I'll just be walking away from it.

10 years? I'll hopefully (if all goes well) actually do that whole Peace Corps thing that I've been talking about. Maybe in 10 years it won't be needed. But I doubt it. I'll be 27. Older than my sister is now.

20 years? I have no idea. I can't even imagine that far into the future. I'll be 37. And 20 years seperated from who and where I am now. That's longer than I've even been alive on this Earth.

I don't know if this blows anyone elses mind like it does mine. It makes me feel so - small. Not in a bad way. It just puts everything into perspective. I've barely lived any of my life to this point. Assuming I live to be 100, I've only lived 17% of my life. That leaves a whopping 83% left to live. And that is crazy.

Well, that's enough of the future thinking. Now back to the present.

Band camp, away we go!

Sleep Deprivation and Band Camp

Well, I don't really have all that much to post now. Unless you want a complete recap of everything that happened at Band Camp. Which I don't think you do.

Yeah, band camp is going pretty well. I don't think it has hit me yet that we're the seniors. It just seems like last year's Senior class is on vacation, and that they'll show up next week or something. I mean, Kevin McKeeman is even there. It's weird.

And then there's the sleep deprivation. I seem to have set my body to go to sleep late and to wake up late. The opposite of what I'd like it to be. But I've been getting up earlier every day, so I hope that will help. I really don't enjoy tossing and turning in my bed until 1 o'clock, especially when I've been in bed since 11:20. No fun.

Well, I don't really have anything else to say. Summer's almost over. Go figure. Our last summer as students at Chichester High School. I can hear you all cheering already. :)

Enjoy life.

Band Camp, etc.

Well, had our first day of band camp today. Wow are we small. But it's a very close knit (hahahahaha) group. And there's a lot of potential.

It's pretty much like Middle School marching band for me. Except without Kyle and Zach. Oh well.

And then there's life. It's going. I'm tired now, so not gonna post too much.

Namaste.

For old time's sake: HUUUUUUUuuuuuuuzaaaaaaaaaaaah!

Frankenstein, v.2

Nope, no really deep poem this time. Just a little book review.

I just finished reading Frankenstein. It was actually a surprisingly good read, though I know I won't get Brian to agree with me on that one. Anyway, I figure I'll outline the two main morals of the story, for those of you who didn't read it. And then I suggest you read it, you know, if you get bored or something.

Moral 1: This one had to do with the "monster." As a quick recap of the plot, Victor Frankenstein creates a creature from scraps of dead humans. Victor has this obsession with creating life ever since his mother died. However, once his creation lives, Victor cannot stand the creatures appearance. Dude, you made it out of dead people parts!

When the "monster" (from now on referred to as Jim Bob. Dude, who doesn't give a protagonist a real name? I mean, "monster" doesn't work too well. Duh!) realizes his creator does not love him, Jim Bob runs away. The rest of the story recounts Jim Bob's attempts at fitting into society. And all of these attempts fail. No matter how altruistic, loving, etc. Jim Bob is, society scorns him because, well, he's one ugly dude.

So Jim Bob turns to killing. Killing the things he loves, the things he wants recognition from, killing anything related to Victor. And thus the story of Jim Bob.

The moral? In my opinion, it has to do with how anyone, deprived of the love of / connection to society will turn to a life of depravity. We humans are social animals. And Jim Bob, in a way, was human. And thus he turned to violence to fill the emptiness in his heart left by society's hate.

So, dude, don't judge a book by it's cover. Even if he's one ugly mother, that doesn't mean you should scorn him and call him a monster! All hail Jim Bob!

Moral 2: This one has to do with our good buddy Victor. This dude is smart as shit. I mean, he created life with some old parts and some lightning (though I don't think the lightning was in the novel. Hollywood added that for pizzaz!) But after realizing the atrocity of what he'd done (you don't want to mess with Mother Nature, she's had a few billion years head start), Victor abandons the mon... Jim Bob. And then when Jim Bob gets pissed and kills almost everyone that Victor loves, Victor gets PISSED.

So, Victor vows to get Jim Bob back, or die trying. And thus he runs around the world, wasting his life tracking down this dude that can't be tracked down unless he wants to get tracked down. In the end, Victor dies in complete despair at the hands of his creation.

The moral from this part? Revenge ain't so sweet. Wasting time trying to get someone back is just that, a waste of time. Even if Victor had succeeded, Jim Bob's death would not have brought Victor's family back. Nothing can do that. Forgiveness is realizing that there cannot be a better past.

-----

Well, I enjoyed the book review. Plus, it gives me some stuff to chew on before I write my essay for AP.

Maybe I should do this with all the books I read? Write down what I learned from them! Crazy idea!

Peace!

Band Camp

Yes, it's that time of the year again. Band camp!!! It starts tomorrow. And it most certainly doesn't end there.

This is the season of the year when you devote your heart and soul to something outside yourself. You give up your free time, your life, your joys, your vices, all to come together with fellow band members to make the awesomest marching band show ever.

And this year will most certainly be no different. Except for the fact that it's our classes last year.

Heh, I sound excited now. But I'm always excited before the season actually begins. Then, when I get into the actual bump and grind of it all, I remember what I don't like: the loss of free time, of my life, of my joys, of my vices. And then I get bitchy. But hope springs eternal, right? Maybe this year will be different. Maybe I'll find out what everyone who truly LOVES marching band finds. And then I'll become a true bando, instead of some half ass one that only does marching band because he's good at it.

Yeah, I can hope.

And the moral of the story: band season starts tomorrow, and it doesn't end there.

Namaste.

An Evolutionary Hypothesis

I'm reading a book called Guns, Germs, and Steel (I know, I don't really need more to read, but I was at the book store and I had a COUPON! I couldn't waste the opportunity!). And in the preface (I'm not all that far into it), the author presents a rather interesting idea: that the Aboriginal people of New Guinea are more intelligent than the average Westerner.

Whaaaa? But listen, it makes good sense when you follow the argument through. New Guineans (NG) and Europeans (EU) evolved in very different environments. NG: they evolved in small, secluded hunter-gatherer societies. EU: they evolved in large cities with many other people. Because of this, the threats to their survival differed.

NG had little chance for the spread of disease, and therefore their greatest threat tended to be starvation or tribal warfare. Such a situation leads to a survival of the fittest defined by intelligence.

EU, on the other hand, lived in packed cities with loads of disease, and therefore had to face this threat every day. And at the same time, food was relatively plentiful (because of the development of agriculture) and warring was relegated to lower classes (due to a political structure). In such an environment, survival depends more on resistance to disease. The more resistant, the more likely to live.

Therefore, from this situation, it follows that on average, NG should be more intelligent than EU (or us, for that matter), simply because of environmental circumstances. NG evolved to be "fittest" by being intelligent. EU evolved to be "fittest" by being resistant to disease. Get it?

Interesting, huh?

Namaste.

"...the chance of learning proper values."

It's amazing how much I assume the rest of the world just makes sense. I just assume, yes, my kind of common sense is shared by everyone. But more and more every day, I learn that these ideas are not common sense, but rather my own personal biases of interpretting the world. However, I hope that after reading this, you'll agree with this particular "bias."

Gay adoptions. This is something we covered in AP Government. You know, the Texas legislature were trying to protect children from the "evils" of gays. Or to take a direct quotation from State Representative Robert Talton: "If it was me I would rather [leave] kids in orphanages as such - —this is where they are now if they'’re not fostered out. At least they have a chance of learning the proper values."

Wow.

And this isn't just an issue in Texas. The same ideology can be found in Utah, Alabama, Arkansas, Indiana, Oregon, Tennessee, and Virginia, amongst other states.

Maybe I'm wrong. But I don't see this as a "conservative vs. liberal" issue, or a "Republican vs. Democrat" issue. Or even as a "Christian vs. Secular" issue. No, I see it as an issue of human dignity. These men or women that wish to raise children that would otherwise not have families aren't allowed to because of their sexual preference. Excuse me? Are we living in the 18th century here? What does sexual preference have to do with the ability to raise children? There are literally thousands of kids that could use families, but these lawmakers would make that impossible. Why?

Anyway, the author of the article goes into far more detail than I ever could claim credibility for. But you get the general idea.

Politics. Why?

Namaste.

Frankenstein

Who isn't Dr. Frankenstein?
Who hasn't
Created a monster?
I do not believe
That anyone is free
From this fate

Whether you know it
or not
Whether you accept it
or not
You, too, have created
a monster

You've let loose in
this world
a creature so
ugly
that it's very presence
reviles all who see
it

But what can
you do with
this monster?
Turn away from it?
Pretend it is not your
own?

No, one must accept it
to be safe
One must understand it
to be at peace

And understand it
you will
And acccept it
you will

Whether now
or lifetimes from now
It will
no
it must be
Understood

And only then
You will know
It is not a monster

No
it is a shadow
Your shadow

And all these years
chasing it

And it was always
just your
shadow

Hm

I'm hearing all these rumours about people (specifically four) quitting band. I don't really know all the details. All I know is the names.

And I know this isn't a good thing. The band is already low on people. Losing more isn't good. Not good at all. This Band Season had (has?) a lot of potential. But we're not starting off on the right foot, people.

Anyway, I visitted Mr. O today with Dave. It was good times. Mr. O's doing good. Getting ready for that big present he's getting in October! And getting really stressed out. Or maybe that was just because I was there. :)

Peace! Namaste!

Intelligent Design and Evolution

Well, since insomnia still reigns supreme over my life, I figure I'll leave a little contribution to my blog.

I don't know if any of you have heard all the debate over "intelligent design vs. evolution." It's apparently all the rage. Anyway, I just figured I'd put in my two cents in on the matter.

Important Note: I'm just a senior at Chichester High School. I have no "street cred" as the kids are calling it. Meaning, I have no degree, and have not studied sufficiently in these matters to give my opinions. However, I'm really bored, so I figured I go for it.

Okay, the way I see it, both sides are part right. Shocking how often that happens.

The evolutionists have plenty of proof for their theory (side note: all the people making hoopla over evolution being called a theory obviously don't know much about science. It's ALL theory. Newton's Theory of Gravity. The Theory of Relativity. Yeah, surprise! That doesn't mean you're not going to fall if you jump of a cliff just cause you don't believe in the "theory" of gravity.). I mean, just look at a wolf and a dog. Something obviously happened. The dogs weren't made on the 6th day. No, they developed over many thousands of years due to selective breeding by humans. Evolution. Enough said.

However, the intelligent designers have plenty of stuff going for them too. No matter what they told us in Honors Bio, scientists have yet to make any of the rudimentary stuff needed for life to exist. You know, the basics, like DNA, RNA, and amino acids. None of it. Surprising how they fail to tell us that in Bio. So scientists don't know how that came about. But, hey man, that's just a little tiny (read freakin' giant) hole in the theory of evolution.

Now, these are just two very simplistic arguments for each side but they're characteristic of the claims that each side presents. The flaw I see in their views is this. The evolutionists refuse to see anything but their precious natural selection working in the background to drive evolution and the intelligent designers refuse to allow for any evolution that's the result of random / natural selection.

Why can't they both be right? There must (as far as I know) be some sort of driving force going on in the universe, whether or not it's "intelligent" is up for grabs. But it must exist because the Second Law of Thermodynamics states that entropy can only increase (and now I must quickly retract this part of the argument because of this. Read the part about creationism. Oops. Well, I'll just continue with the rest argument. And just ignore this part about the second law of thermodynamics. :) )

But at the same time, the universe is evolving, and organisms along with it. To ignore this is pure folly. Even the laws of the universe have "evolved." Just go back to the Grand Unification when all the forces of nature were the same. They are no longer.

Well, I'm not the greatest pundit of all time. But I gave this a shot. Maybe I'll be able to fall asleep now. Maybe.

And I realize that a good part of America won't believe me on this anyway. Apparently 45% of American's (according to a poll cited in TIME magazine) believe the 6 day creation story from Genesis. And 54% believe that humans did not come from earlier species. How can you argue with that. The majority has spoken, right?

This is why the founders didn't believe in direct democracy (a.k.a. Mob Rule. Thanks, Mr. McKnett!): if it was so, Florida wouldn't teach evolution. Arkansas would still have segregated schools. Utah would make being gay illegal. Sometimes the masses don't know what's best. At least, not what's "best" by universal standards.

Hope, my friends, is what we must have. I have faith in the American people. If they truly are as devout as they claim, then they must understand Jesus' message of love. Love, in my opinion, will win out.

Namaste.

Don't judge a man...

until you've walked a mile in his moccasins (or if you prefer, shoes).

We're going to play a little game. We're going to empathize with people! Yay! I can't here (hear... I hate homonyms) you cheering! I CAN'T HEAR YOU!!!

You see, one of the defining characteristics of a mature human being is the ability to see through someone else's eyes. This is one of the important stages that a person reaches, and it's usually reached around the age of puberty. That means that you, too, can do this! :)

Now, this is not a chance to "bitch" or be a victim. This is a chance to see what someone else feels like, how they see the world. It's a chance to see through their eyes.

So, let's begin, shall we? I'm just going to pick 7 categories: school, family, friends, dreams, worries, beliefs, and fears. I figure that covers my life in a rudimentary manner. If you can think of any other categories, feel free to add them for yourself.

School: I go to Chichester High School. I'm a senior. I'm the other-proclaimed genius of Chichester. I don't think I'm a genius. I just think I have slightly above average intelligence that is very good at memorizing things. Admittedly, sometimes I act the role given to me of "genius" because I can get rather arrogant about things that I feel like are common knowledge. But overall, I just try to learn as much as possible at school because I don't have a choice: I'm there whether I learn or not, so I might as well learn something from it. And I despise the "DaveDarmon" stereotype. Not that anyone came up with it. It just kind of formed over my school career. I'm human, and therefore imperfect, capeesh?

Family: I have a very loving, supportive family. I have a mother and father, an older brother, and an older sister. My family has always given me a healthy structure to live in, but at the same time allowed me to think on my own. My family has instilled in me the value of education, of being a good citizen, and of being a loving person. We fight sometimes, but what families don't.

Friends: I'm a pretty introverted person. So I don't have a massive number of friends. Instead, I have several close friends. I had a close knit group of friends, but we all know what happened to that. I enjoy good friendships. I especially enjoy just talking with my friends. Or just hanging out. I don't really need to be doing anything with my friends to enjoy being with them. Just being with them suffices.

Dreams: My greatest hope is to make some sort of contribution to the world. I want to leave the world significantly better off, by everyone's standards, than it was before I entered it. I don't know exactly how I might do this. I've said I want to join the Peace Corps, and I still do. But I don't know if that is the best way to use my skills. As of now, I think the way to best use my abilities would be to go into alternative fuel sources (let's face it, fossil fuels are running out and take a WHOLE LOT of time to make). I also hope to have a family someday. I don't know how many kids (but if I actually hold up to my one child limit ideal, you could guess how many), or where I want to live, but I do know that I want to "settle down" with a family. To complete the human being, you need both the yin and the yang. I hope to find that someone sometime, but I have no plans for that until college. I have a lot more dreams, but they'd probably fill a book.

Worries: As of now, my worries are that I won't make the most of my Senior Year. It's my last year in Chi, the year of High School when I have the most freedom, the most possibilities. But I'm afraid that somehow I'll just let it fly by. That somehow I'll miss it because of, well, being an ass. And then there's also that worry that all the activities I'm in won't work out. That they'll somehow fall apart. But that one is pretty unfounded. Those are my basic worries for now.

Beliefs: Now, this section could go on and on and on. Let's just put in my basic beliefs. The first one is pretty simple: Love has no opposite. And love is the driving force of the universe. It's also called "Eros" (for all you mythology buffs, that's the Greek God of Sexual Love) for the reason that it unites. You see, I believe that the universe is moving towards more unity, more complexity, and therefore, more love (take that Second Law of Thermodynamics!). Because of this, I believe that all humans are inherently good. Whether they know it or not, they're working towards this end, all in their own ways. I think the world has a great future coming up. All the people around me are great, and people around the world seem to be waking up to their own greatness. I believe in humanity.

Fears: What are my biggest fears? Well, being the perfectionist that I am, one of them is that I won't be able to fix things. If you know me, you know that I hate it when can't fix something. I also fear that the world won't wake up to it's potential. That somehow, humanity in it's infinite wisdom will fuck up too soon and blow itself into a nuclear oblivion. I also fear being alone. I know, who doesn't, right? I suppose the biggest fear I have of all is losing myself. By that I mean falling so far down that I break all my ideals, run away from my principles, and go crazy (running through the High School naked. I still need to do that!).

Well, I hope you've enjoyed this game. I invite any of you that want to play to share your results with my micro-blogosphere throught the comments section. Of course, I realize that this is rather personal. So if you just play the game on your own, I think you'll find it fun.

There, I can put up an interesting (in my opinion) post when I'm in a good mood. Phew. I thought I'd lost it. :)

Namaste.

Serenity

by Godsmack

As I sit here and slowly close my eyes
I take another deep breath
And feel the wind pass through my body
I’m the one in your soul
Reflecting the light
Protect the ones who hold you
Cradling your inner child

It’s serenity
In a place where I can hide
I need serenity
Nothing changes, days go by

Where do we go when we just don’t know
And how do we relight the flame when it’s cold
Why do we dream when I thought mean nothing
And when will we learn to control

Tragic visions slowly stole my life
Tore away everything
Cheating me out of my time
I’m the one who loves you
No matter wrong or right
And every day I hold you
I hold you with my inner child

It’s serenity
In a place where I can hide
I need serenity
Nothing changes, days go by

Where do we go when we just don’t know
And how do we relight the flame when it’s cold
Why do we dream when I thought mean nothing
And when will we learn to control

Where do we go when we just don’t know
And how do we relight the flame when it’s cold
Why do we dream when I thought mean nothing
And when will we learn to control

I need serenity

HUZAHZAHZAHZAHZAAAAAH!!!

Okay, don't worry, I'm going to drop the Huzzah theme after this post. I just thought it was a good way of showing how I feel.

I must say, it's very strange NOT being bored during the summer. I guess it's what I get for being away for six weeks. Go figure!

I really should get to my summer reading. Yeah, I should.

Band camp is six days away. Wow. Band camp. Should be interesting. My last year of it. Something to look forward to, I guess.

Party planning is more difficult than one would think.

Heh, this blog is much less interesting when I'm in a good mood. Go figure. I'll come up with some thought provoking stuff. Don't worry.

I found an awesome album. It's just so perfect.

Namaste!

True But Partial

I AM

I am a thing
I am alive
I am a mammal
I am human
I am a man
I am David
I am a Darmon

I am a son
I am a brother
I am a friend

I am joyous
I am somber
I am content

I am a philosopher
I am a scientist
I am an artist
I am a writer

I am hated
I am loved
I am admired
I am despised

I am mediocre
I am exceptional

I am sacred
I am profane

I am this body
I am this mind
I am this soul
I am this spirit

I am the sun
I am the moon
I am the stars

I am Emptiness

I AM

HUUUUUUUU... zah?

Well, I've come off the euphoric high just a little now. Mainly out of a personal choice on my part. Not so much a conscious one, but I know how to get back to it if I really want to.

Today has been a real blast! The tour de Chi was just perfect. Nothing like speeding around Chi in the rain. You should all try it sometime.

Wow, does EVERYONE have a myspace? I'm still holding out. I mean, being a non-conformist is what I do, right? So, in that case, I'll just have to hold out. And maybe make my own community in the real world. "Virtual reality is dead! Actual reality, actual reality!"

Speaking of actual reality, how's going for y'all? Mine is all shiny and complicated. Just how I like it!

Oh, found this really cool quote somewhere. I liked it.

-------------------------------------------------------------

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.
We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant,
gorgeous, talented, fabulous?
Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God.
Your playing small does not serve the world.
There is nothing enlightened about shrinking
so that other people won't feel insecure around you.
We are all meant to shine, as children do.
We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us.
It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone.
And as we let our own light shine,
we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our own fear,
our presence automatically liberates others.

a return to love - marianne williamson

-------------------------------------------------------------

Yeah, I think I'm just tired. Tired and unable to fall sleep. Oh the irony.

Irony?

Huzzah!!!

HHHHHHUUUUUUUUZZZZZZZAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!

I'm back!

And now that I've gotten that out of the way, it's very nice to be back in Chi. The brimming with happiness hasn't faded. How crazy is that? I'm in Chi and happy. Who could of thought it could happen? Well, a lot of people. But yeah!

I look forward to this coming week. A nice relaxing break from EVERYTHING. A nice chance to get back in touch with people. And most of all, a nice chance to piece together this new life I have planned out. Ooooooh yeeeeeaaaaaaaaaah!

If anyone wants to stop by, I'll be around all this week. Although tomorrow I have an appointment with two of mis amigos.

Yay! The only problem with this brimming happiness is it makes me not too apt to be philosophical. But I've been philosophical for the past, oh, 6 months. So maybe it's time to go with the happiness, non-philosophical theme. Yeah, "To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven." It's finally summer!

On a completely unrelated note, it's fun looking into different genres of music. I've been so stuck in the alternative / rock genre for the past year, I haven't seen all the other oppurtunities out there. And there are soooo many oppurtunities out there!

Aw sit!

Namaste.

I <3 Life

Wow, I'm just brimming with crazy ass joy right now. It is, well, awesometasticlicious (hey, if Shakespeare, who didn't even exist, can make up words, then why can't I?).

A lot of this awesomtasticlic... okay, maybe that isn't such a great word -- a little too long. A lot of this "joy" (much shorter yet just as poignant) is coming from looking at life in a different way. A more optomistic way. A more, well, fun way. And it works, it really does. But a heck of a lot of it comes from looking at life REALLY REALLY closely. And when you do that, all the blandness fades away and you're left with a really cool pattern. Kind of like fractals.

Anyway, I hope that I can keep this radiance up when I get back to Chi. Scratch that. I WILL keep this radiance up when I get back to Chi.

I hope you're all enjoying vacation. I'm looking forward to this year. It's our Senior Year. After that, we leave one "chapter" of our life and move onto a whole new one! How crazy is that?

Namaste, mis amigos.

P.S. And "anonymous" is now known! It was Laura, that tricky bugger. Thanks for the musical accompaniment to my blog. Feel free to add as many as you want!

YES!!! Nipples!

Why Do Men Have Nipples?

And we finally have the answer to that age old question posed by Jon Anderson in 9th grade Honors Biology: Why do men have nipples?

Sorry, this chance was just too priceless. And I knew I'd get your attention with the nipples in the title. I did, didn't I? I remember the day so well. I was just sitting there first period, listening to a lecture by Mr. Hess, when Jon Anderson raised his hand. Now, you have to understand that we were often allowed to ask questions mid-class in Honors Biology. One of my personal favorites was, "Why do eyes change color."

"They don't."

"No, you don't understand, mine do!"

"No, they don't."

Anyway, back to the story at hand. Mr. Hess calls on Jon. And Jon, in his usual comedic and yet completely honest manner says, "Why do men have nipples?"

The look on Mr. Hess' face was priceless. I really think the question caught him off guard. Here we are in a lecture on genetics, and Jon Anderson wants to know why men have nipples.

Maybe you had to be there. If not, you'll think this is funny.

"Memories, all alone in the moonlight." Cats, I hate Cats!

Victimhood

Do I have the victim mentality? Hells yeah.

This past year, I've been moping around going, 'Why ain't life working out for me? Why doesn't anyone care?'

Uh, duh? I mean, people do care. That was quite obvious. But they can only care so much. And then, at some point, I have to start caring about myself. Because people can show you how great you are, but the only person that can do jack shit about it is yourself.

Yeah, victimhood is easy. It's easy to say, "Well, if only [x] then [y]!" And then you just go around saying that to yourself until you believe it like the Gospel (well, most people don't believe the Gospel anymore, but that's another topic all by itself). And you look at people and say, "Jeese, you're a shitty person for not making me feel better. How DARE YOU not DO something to make me feel better!" because you think they should see the false story that you've built up in your head. But they can't BECAUSE it's false!

And then the victimhoodedness goes on and on and on and -- well, you get the idea. It feeds on itself, until pretty soon people look at you and think, "What a shame. He could have been so [x], but now he's just lost it." And then they still care, but they distance themselves. But that's not even a fair description because THEY'RE not the ones building up the distance, YOU are.

I know, all of you probably already know all this. But I just felt like getting it all out in the open for myself.

And because I have this forum, I'd like to apologize for this past year. I was playing a part that had been set up for me, by myself and others. I was playing the victim, and dragging everyone down with me. And for that I apologize.

And at the same time, I thank you all for sticking by me, for being my friend, for caring. I hope that someday I can be as good a friend to someone as you have all been to me.

And now that I've got THAT out of the way, how's the weather? It's pretty hot our here in Indiana, but I'm sure it's nothing compared to Chi. :)

Namaste.

My Apologies

It seems that I jumped to an incorrect conclusion with the Bolton / Bush situation. And I'd like to retract my slightly vindictive and bitter statement.

I didn't know that this whole appointing someone during Congress' Recess was a common practice. Apparently it has happened many, many times with other presidents. And I, with my deeply entrenched dislike of President Bush, jumped on something that seemed "unprecedented" and "immoral" (my words) to bash him. And that was incorrect of me.

I don't know why I feel like I have to retract the statement. There's just something in me that says, "Hey, man, that's not cool. You can't put a brother down like that. It's not cool to put a brother down." Plus the fact that bitter vitriol from either the left or the right will not serve any good to this country.

Now, this doesn't mean that I approve of Mr. Bolton. I still very much feel that he's not the right man for the job. But if he's appointed by an age old method, by a popularly elected president, then I have no right to put down either he or Mr. Bush.

I know all my "liberal" friends are going to call me a sell-out (well, not really, I'm just exaggerating), but that's okay. I'm trying with all my might to become more well rounded. I'm even reading a hard right blog (powerlineblog.com) to get a more balanced diet of political news.

Don't worry, I'm still the idealistic hippie communist that you've all come to love. Although, I hope by this point you've realized those stereotypes are a litte -- wrong.

And this is just further proof that the world isn't black and white, nor even shades of gray. It's a full blown freakin' rainbow!

Namaste.

Hi Y'All

Well, it's now well past everyone's bed-time on the East Coast, but here at Indiana it's only 10:55, so hah!

Anyway, when am I getting home again? Not anytime soon. But I shouldn't be in such a rush to get out of here. It's quiet, peaceful, and I get to spend quality time with my family. When else do I get to do that?

I should really get on all that homework. You know, AP English, APUSH, Hi-Q, all that fun stuff. But I don't wanna. Not yet, at least.

Apparently APUSH may be taught by Mr. Passin (I don't know how to spell his name, but you may know him better as the person in 10th grade that made people leave their tables. Ah, we were such rebels back then). I don't know if I want to take it. Social Studies isn't really my thing. We'll see.

Two more weeks til band camp. The joy is overwhelming... Does anyone have good parts in the music? 'Cause I don't.

That's all for now folks. Remember to Carpe Diem (that's Latin for 'Seize the Day').

Namaste.

You Can't Always Get What You Want...

But if you cheat sometimes, then you'll find, you get what you need...

Bush appointed Bolton as UN ambassador while the Senate was in recess. Further proof that in the adult world, if you live above the law, you get stuff done and if you follow the law, you can forget about it. But sometimes that whole "forget about it" part is important. Especially with appointments to the US Government.

Oh well, I don't think the UN is all that useful anyway. That's right, I, a "liberal" think that the UN could use a successor. It's an old, crippled, defamed organization. Time for it to pass on the torch. You know, like how King David, who turned out to be a pretty depraved man, passed the kingship on to Solomon, who brought about one of the greatest epochs in Jewish history. Maybe something like that could happen. A true "world government."

I can hope, can't I? I can hope.

Band Camp

Had a funny dream about Band Camp last night. It seemed like it would be a good time. The only problem with it was how not-real it all was. I mean, Kevin Higgins was in the low brass section playing euphonium. He hasn't done that since my freshman year. Other than that, it seemed like it would be a pretty good time.

Does anyone know if the music's any good for marching band this year? My parts are pretty lame, but I guess Mr. Shollenberger's getting back at me for saying I might not do band.

I'm still here at my grandma's house. Still enjoying the pseudo-real world.

Oh, and driving. It wasn't quite as good as I thought it'd be. It is just like riding a bike (except for the fact that I don't know how to ride a bike).

Namaste