(advertiser's voice): Do you get cold on a winter's day?! Do you wonder how Daniel keeps up that stylish summer appearance all year round?! GREAT! He's prepared to tell you the secret to his success for only 15 easy payments of 19,99.99!
(normal voice): ok, seriously, i promised manliness, here's manliness... how to not get cold...
when u go outside, dress however you want, but remember a few key things: the first is the most important, it's a simple question of preparation that leads to a reformed state of mind: "Am I going to die if I leave like this?" if you ask this question when leaving your house and u realize that, "Yes, I might die..." put on more clothes or get a glock... but if your answer to this very simple question is "No, that would be absurd..." then you will be fine, maybe cold for a little while, but fine, now, this is the hard one, if the answer is "Well, probably not..." you need to think about how long you will be outside and whether or not you could find a way to generate body heat in an emergency... if you realize that, yes, i can survive, then u're fine, but if u question your abilities, grab a sweater.
so, that's rule one, 'Are you going to die?' rule two is much more difficult. when walking, do things to conserve heat and generate more usable heat... how this tends to look is: you don't shiver (mostly, shivering is useless... your jaw shaking does very little to actually warm u up), second, tuck them elbows in... leaving this huge gap between your arms and body just lets the blood in them get cold... hands in pockets help too :) and thirdly... keep your back or side to the wind, it really helps, i'm not sure why...
and finally, suck it up, u're a man, aren't u?!?!? your body will start to get more used to the cold and u'll actually get much better at not being cold :)
now, go, enjoy, and take off that coat!
01 December 2009
30 November 2009
Cleveland Sunshine
ok, i figured this would be a really easy post until i realized it only makes sense to me... so, in cleveland, TN, where i often stay... it rains a lot... i mean, very often, sometimes quite a bit of rain, but most of the time it drizzles until u just get sick of it...
well... u know how when it's sunny u can feel it but not feel it? like, the sun is warming me, and when i step into shade, my skin is still a lot warmer than if it was in darkness... it's the type of sunshine that sticks to your skin and clothes and what not? well, i was thinking about that type of sunshine one day while walking across campus in drizzle-y nasty weather... and i realized... this drizzle is cleveland sunshine... it's what normally happens, it's only cold on your skin and it's more annoying than anything else.
so, i often refer to drizzle as cleveland sunshine, but, because i think of it like that so often... i started thinking about rainy days as 'sunny' days... i feel like it might be why i'm so happy in cleveland, even when it's 'sunny' for weeks on end... *ponders psychology*
oh, and yeah, i failed on the whole, 'more manly' post... i'll try again soon. *punches wall, eats bacon and shouts loudly* HA!
well... u know how when it's sunny u can feel it but not feel it? like, the sun is warming me, and when i step into shade, my skin is still a lot warmer than if it was in darkness... it's the type of sunshine that sticks to your skin and clothes and what not? well, i was thinking about that type of sunshine one day while walking across campus in drizzle-y nasty weather... and i realized... this drizzle is cleveland sunshine... it's what normally happens, it's only cold on your skin and it's more annoying than anything else.
so, i often refer to drizzle as cleveland sunshine, but, because i think of it like that so often... i started thinking about rainy days as 'sunny' days... i feel like it might be why i'm so happy in cleveland, even when it's 'sunny' for weeks on end... *ponders psychology*
oh, and yeah, i failed on the whole, 'more manly' post... i'll try again soon. *punches wall, eats bacon and shouts loudly* HA!
29 November 2009
honor
last night, as i lie awake in bed, early, cause i ended up driving 13 hrs today, i starting thinking through books i've read...
well, in one of them, called The Edge on the Sword, a story is related that really inspires me... first off, there's a girl in this story, she's pretty cool, but there's a person who's far cooler, he's a man sent to protect her by her king father... this man, i've forgotten his name, but his story is roughly still implanted in my head:
well, he wears these pieces of rough, plain metal around his neck and wrists, and once the main character figures out that they're slave irons, she freaks out... she's pissed, she goes to her dad and demands an answer, and this is how he explains it (according to my memory, go read the book)... this man was once a soldier, lead a company of men... well, his land was attacked by the Danes (Saxons? someone in england...) and they were surrounded... they had captured the town, but not the last fortified area... this is where the man was fighting, slowly, they picked off his men, or his men deserted, etc... because they were pansies... so they bring this man's wife to him and explain that she's been captured and is a slave, and if he just gives up, they both can have their freedom, but he refuses, he swore an oath to protect his king, so he fights... weeks and months go by and, finally, to get this man to just give up, they bring his king, in shackles, to him to explain that, truly, the land has been lost... and in punishment for him not just giving up earlier, they kill his wife and kids in front of him, make him a slave, and send him so far into the country that he can never escape, and that's where the main character's dad, the king, rescues him from, by buying him from slavery and making him a tutor and protector of his daughter... so, later, this girl asks her protector why he wears the irons still... and he explains that his wife and children will always be free in death, but he will always be bound to his honor, the one thing he can never give up and still call himself a man... he says he's going to do something, he does it...
awesome guy, i really like him... go read the book, it's kind of a girly tween book, but the writer of it did some serious historical research and it's really good, honest...
(the next post definitely needs to be more manly than referencing The Edge on the Sword...)
well, in one of them, called The Edge on the Sword, a story is related that really inspires me... first off, there's a girl in this story, she's pretty cool, but there's a person who's far cooler, he's a man sent to protect her by her king father... this man, i've forgotten his name, but his story is roughly still implanted in my head:
well, he wears these pieces of rough, plain metal around his neck and wrists, and once the main character figures out that they're slave irons, she freaks out... she's pissed, she goes to her dad and demands an answer, and this is how he explains it (according to my memory, go read the book)... this man was once a soldier, lead a company of men... well, his land was attacked by the Danes (Saxons? someone in england...) and they were surrounded... they had captured the town, but not the last fortified area... this is where the man was fighting, slowly, they picked off his men, or his men deserted, etc... because they were pansies... so they bring this man's wife to him and explain that she's been captured and is a slave, and if he just gives up, they both can have their freedom, but he refuses, he swore an oath to protect his king, so he fights... weeks and months go by and, finally, to get this man to just give up, they bring his king, in shackles, to him to explain that, truly, the land has been lost... and in punishment for him not just giving up earlier, they kill his wife and kids in front of him, make him a slave, and send him so far into the country that he can never escape, and that's where the main character's dad, the king, rescues him from, by buying him from slavery and making him a tutor and protector of his daughter... so, later, this girl asks her protector why he wears the irons still... and he explains that his wife and children will always be free in death, but he will always be bound to his honor, the one thing he can never give up and still call himself a man... he says he's going to do something, he does it...
awesome guy, i really like him... go read the book, it's kind of a girly tween book, but the writer of it did some serious historical research and it's really good, honest...
(the next post definitely needs to be more manly than referencing The Edge on the Sword...)
27 November 2009
so i opened this box and hoped to be able to quickly write a blog post... but as i sit here, so many ideas are being muffled out by a lack of ideas... i start something, write a line, then get distracted...
so, as i think about my conversations over the past few days, and i look around my house, i think about one of the peculiarities of the english language - we/our/us
simple huh? first person plural... the problem is this, english, and most western languages actually, don't have a way to specify we inclusive from we exclusive, sometimes, i will be talking and i will say something like 'we're going to go eat' and i mean, the group of people i'm with, myself and the person to whom i'm talking to... other times, i will say something and mean to exclude someone 'we're just stupid i guess' and, sometimes, i don't mean to include my audience...
so, because of this ambiguity, i'm often tempted to write some sort of poem or prose that could easily be interpreted several ways, based on first person inclusives and exclusives, but what keeps frustrating me is that there's no way to clue an english speaker in to thinking like this. they simply assume that if they want to be included, we is inclusive, and if they want to be excluded, we is exclusive... so... next time you hear the first person plural being utilized, think about whether or not it is inclusive or exclusive and chuckle, for you are no longer thinking in the same manner that a native english speaker is.
so, as i think about my conversations over the past few days, and i look around my house, i think about one of the peculiarities of the english language - we/our/us
simple huh? first person plural... the problem is this, english, and most western languages actually, don't have a way to specify we inclusive from we exclusive, sometimes, i will be talking and i will say something like 'we're going to go eat' and i mean, the group of people i'm with, myself and the person to whom i'm talking to... other times, i will say something and mean to exclude someone 'we're just stupid i guess' and, sometimes, i don't mean to include my audience...
so, because of this ambiguity, i'm often tempted to write some sort of poem or prose that could easily be interpreted several ways, based on first person inclusives and exclusives, but what keeps frustrating me is that there's no way to clue an english speaker in to thinking like this. they simply assume that if they want to be included, we is inclusive, and if they want to be excluded, we is exclusive... so... next time you hear the first person plural being utilized, think about whether or not it is inclusive or exclusive and chuckle, for you are no longer thinking in the same manner that a native english speaker is.
24 November 2009
on behalf of Christianity
i find that there's a fundamental problem in the organization of the 'church'... especially in america. the organizational strategy of most churches is the monarchical episcopate, which is really fancy for, one guy leads the local congregation. this give way for people to be... people. when one person is in charge, they often see themselves as the boss. this leads to pride, power struggles and overall elitism combined with power plays so... in my shortest post so far i would like to openly say:
if you've ever been wronged by 'the church' or 'church people', i'm sorry, please forgive us, as a community, we are often ignorant and don't treat people as people, but some object in which to 'evangelize' which is a fundamentally flawed thought within 'the church', os, on behalf of Jesus-followers. sorry.
if you've ever been wronged by 'the church' or 'church people', i'm sorry, please forgive us, as a community, we are often ignorant and don't treat people as people, but some object in which to 'evangelize' which is a fundamentally flawed thought within 'the church', os, on behalf of Jesus-followers. sorry.
23 November 2009
movies and reviews
for those of you who know me, i really enjoy movies... i'm not some sort of avid fanatic, but i watch a lot of movies and rather enjoy them. the thing about this is this: i don't really enjoy movie reviews. every once in a while, i'll finish an amazing movie and think, i ought to let people know about this, but then i realize:
it's really presumptuous to assume that someone might like the same movies i do... some movies that other really like, i find simply ok (*cough* dark night *cough*) or i'll find some random, semi-cult classic that i love, that few people have heard of (*cough* flakes, staring ZD *cough*)... but to tell you that you 'should' or 'ought' or 'need to' see such and such a movie is kind of ridiculous, so i will try to not write movie reviews on here, mostly because there's not a lot i can say that u haven't already heard about a movie, even if it's not the common opinion...
but... there's one more thing. when u watch a movie, u should keep in mind that simply what you see is only about a third of the experience, the music, lighting, camera angle, editing, transitions, pauses, backgrounds... all of that stuff... that's the great stuff... some movies will always simply be amazing because u see a man, a dwarf and an elf jogging across the landscape of new zealand from a helicopter shot while epic orchestral music plays, it's simply stunning, maybe even one of the best transitions i've ever seen... i could watch that part right now and be like 'wow, even though this has been spoofed so many times... it's simply amazing, stunning, magnifique!!!'
so yeah, watch the whole movie, not just a few characters doing some stuff or talking about some stuff... u'll miss some of the most amazing things
oh, and, if you find yourself watching an old black and white horror movie from circa 1930... if a character's face is half covered in shadow, they're going to die, it's simply amazing, so, if u are ever having a conversation with me, and your face is gently obscured by a shadow, i might assume u will die soon, don't worry, i've probably just been pavlov-trained...
it's really presumptuous to assume that someone might like the same movies i do... some movies that other really like, i find simply ok (*cough* dark night *cough*) or i'll find some random, semi-cult classic that i love, that few people have heard of (*cough* flakes, staring ZD *cough*)... but to tell you that you 'should' or 'ought' or 'need to' see such and such a movie is kind of ridiculous, so i will try to not write movie reviews on here, mostly because there's not a lot i can say that u haven't already heard about a movie, even if it's not the common opinion...
but... there's one more thing. when u watch a movie, u should keep in mind that simply what you see is only about a third of the experience, the music, lighting, camera angle, editing, transitions, pauses, backgrounds... all of that stuff... that's the great stuff... some movies will always simply be amazing because u see a man, a dwarf and an elf jogging across the landscape of new zealand from a helicopter shot while epic orchestral music plays, it's simply stunning, maybe even one of the best transitions i've ever seen... i could watch that part right now and be like 'wow, even though this has been spoofed so many times... it's simply amazing, stunning, magnifique!!!'
so yeah, watch the whole movie, not just a few characters doing some stuff or talking about some stuff... u'll miss some of the most amazing things
oh, and, if you find yourself watching an old black and white horror movie from circa 1930... if a character's face is half covered in shadow, they're going to die, it's simply amazing, so, if u are ever having a conversation with me, and your face is gently obscured by a shadow, i might assume u will die soon, don't worry, i've probably just been pavlov-trained...
15 November 2009
konichiwa ruby!
translation: greetings ruby! (this translation provided by a non-japanese speaking individual)
ruby is a programming language from our friends across the pond. no, not those friends... those either... getting warmer, but i'm not sure if russia is our friends... yes, u've guessed it! japan!
yeah, i know, "JAPAN MADE SOFTWARE?!?!?" and yes, yes they did. i've actually been beginning to learn it. it's called ruby, it's a very simple programming language that works off of definitions and group sets combined with functions and actions... it's wonderful.
but you might be wondering... 'bro, u're a theology major, what are you doing learning ruby?' well, good friend, for a few reasons... first, i'm curious, i want to know how to make my computer do more than simply what i can download (even though that is almost everything i want it to do), second, it might be fun. i like languages, why not ruby? third, i'm a nerd, i like nerdy things, and computer programming brings out the curious in me, and fourth, jon and i were talking about making a program (similar to SmarterChild on AIM or ALICE) that we can communicate with, but beyond the capabilities of these two, very simple, programs, one that as we use words, it checks them against a dictionary database and adds them, one that we can program to go on google or our school databases to do research for us, and, (this one will blow you away) one that we can 'teach' new algorithms to while simply talking with it. This would give us the ability to teach it how to access programs on our computer, utilize them as quickly as possible, then show us the results. imagine integrating that with a speech to text program!!! it would be amazing! "computer, open my e-mail" "{yes, sire... three new messages, one from **** one from [your college], one from facebook}" "good job computer, delete the facebook e-mail and read me the email from [my college]" and then it would do so. it would be amazing, i could pace around my room talking with my computer while it does work for me ::muhahahahahahaha::
well, *cough*, so i'm learning ruby and soon i will be learning python :D
ruby is a programming language from our friends across the pond. no, not those friends... those either... getting warmer, but i'm not sure if russia is our friends... yes, u've guessed it! japan!
yeah, i know, "JAPAN MADE SOFTWARE?!?!?" and yes, yes they did. i've actually been beginning to learn it. it's called ruby, it's a very simple programming language that works off of definitions and group sets combined with functions and actions... it's wonderful.
but you might be wondering... 'bro, u're a theology major, what are you doing learning ruby?' well, good friend, for a few reasons... first, i'm curious, i want to know how to make my computer do more than simply what i can download (even though that is almost everything i want it to do), second, it might be fun. i like languages, why not ruby? third, i'm a nerd, i like nerdy things, and computer programming brings out the curious in me, and fourth, jon and i were talking about making a program (similar to SmarterChild on AIM or ALICE) that we can communicate with, but beyond the capabilities of these two, very simple, programs, one that as we use words, it checks them against a dictionary database and adds them, one that we can program to go on google or our school databases to do research for us, and, (this one will blow you away) one that we can 'teach' new algorithms to while simply talking with it. This would give us the ability to teach it how to access programs on our computer, utilize them as quickly as possible, then show us the results. imagine integrating that with a speech to text program!!! it would be amazing! "computer, open my e-mail" "{yes, sire... three new messages, one from **** one from [your college], one from facebook}" "good job computer, delete the facebook e-mail and read me the email from [my college]" and then it would do so. it would be amazing, i could pace around my room talking with my computer while it does work for me ::muhahahahahahaha::
well, *cough*, so i'm learning ruby and soon i will be learning python :D
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