For a brief second right now I thought about just posting my notes (which are in bulleted form in Microsoft Word) and letting you draw your own conclusions from them, but I wanna discourse with myself again and see if I can shed any light on my own thoughts.
For starters, lemme lay down a few things:
- I will be referencing The Prestige again, so be on the lookout for spoiler alerts (I'll let you know when I get there)
- A necessary condition is defined as: "X must fulfill these conditions in order to be Y"
- A sufficient condition is defined as: "If X fulfills these conditions, then it is Y"
- For my purposes, I synonymized these definitions, since we never really separated the two in philosophy
Hokay. So. Let me take you through one of our discussions, which revolved around a ship, called the Ship of Theseus. This ship is made up of 100 wooden planks, let's say. It runs fine, but after a while, one of the planks needs to be replaced. No problem, and it's replaced with a replacement plank. Is this still the Ship of Theseus? One would figure so, since it's only got 1 replacement plank. What about 2 replacement planks? 30? 50? 99? What about 100? Once you get there, you have to take into account the sentimental value of the ship. Technically, it's not the same ship since it's made up of different planks, but sentimentally, it is still the Ship of Theseus. This deals with the numerical identity of the ship (i.e., there is one object at two different times).
So let's generalize that. What are the necessary and sufficient (n/s) conditions for an object to be numerically identical to an object at another time? For this example, I thought about a music stand of some sort. (I was really thinking about the the podium stand that holds papers while I was in class, but just think of a music stand. It's easier to picture.) You can paint the music stand a different color, and it still might be the same stand. You can change the shape of the vertical pole, and it still might be the same stand. You can change the height of the pole, or size of the base, and it still might be the same stand. The thing with that though, is that you're looking at only one component of the stand, and assessing the stand as a whole based on that one change. That centration is what gets people believing that the stand doesn't change. You can't look at only one aspect of your object (centration) - in order to assess the object at time B as opposed to the object at time A, you have to look at it as a whole and at its end product. Another example brought up in class was a door. If you take door A, and change its doorknob, paint the door a different color, and change the location of the window, you can look at any single one of those changes and argue that it's essentially still the same door. But if you imagine these two doors A and B next to each other, they're clearly different, since they don't have the exact same physical properties.
Well, arguing that seemed easy enough - I'm pretty firm in those beliefs and examples I just described. But what if we take it the next level up? Let's talk about the n/s conditions for the same person and the same consciousness to exist. As far as person goes (taking on a more physical sense), I believe that we're always changing, instantaneously. Our hair is always growing, our fingernails are constantly growing, and while these changes are minuscule and insignificant on their own, they eventually add up. And I'm not saying that these specific changes alter who we are - consciously, I'm not a different person compared to who I was 3 minutes ago because my hair is a little longer. That wasn't as fun as thinking about our consciousness.
One of the views of the n/s conditions for our consciousness to stay the same is called the memory view, which says that a person must remember the experiences of an earlier time in order to be the same person as the person at the earlier time. So take a person, and think about him when he's 60, 40, and 10 years old. The memory view argues that if the person at 60 remembers all of the experiences of the 10 year old, then they're the same person. I completely disagree with this; who you are at 60 isn't at all similar to who you are at 10. It's easy to argue - plenty of things change in those 50 years, including but not limited to higher education, marriage, children, and whatever else you can come up with in those 50 years. Things change, and just because you remember your experiences, doesn't make you the same person.
Next, we talked about amnesia and whether or not it destroys a person. And I think that it definitely does – it’s not that the fact that you don’t remember anything makes you a different person, it’s the fact that you don’t remember anything and you acted differently based off of that makes you a different person. It’s not about what you remember or don’t remember, it’s how you act.
Clearly I haven't run into any problems yet, but don't worry - here they are. (This is also where the spoiler alerts come up for The Prestige, so if you haven't seen it, tread carefully. I don't give as much away in this post than I did in my first one about the movie, but you've been warned.) Think about this example. You walk into a box. A box that will teleport you wherever you want. To make it simple, let's say locations A and B. As you travel from A to B, your particles are scattered, and a spontaneous rearrangement is constructed once you arrive at B. Same personality, same memory. Is it you? I first said that if there's no duplicate, then yes. Everything at location B is the same as it was at location A. The thing that contradicts The Prestige is that Angier was duplicated, instead of just teleported. However, that further disagrees with what I believe; if I believe that we're always changing, it shouldn't matter what happens to you at location B. At location/time B, you're someone who's been teleported, while that was never the case at location/time A. Alright, so why am I inclined to believe that but not what happened to Angier? I really wanna say that it's the same person (in the teleportation example), but I didn't believe that the "n+1"th Angier was the same one as the first Angier, since he's gone through the trick n+1 times. It doesn't matter what happens to his conscious or memory or whatever. I do feel like this is a cop out. In saying that it doesn't matter what happens to you (because you're a different person all the time), I'm not really making a decision regarding whether or not the person at location/time B is the same one as he is at location/time A. I suppose that that just means that I'm following what I believe steadfastly, but it's probably more likely that it's just cognitive dissonance (holding conflicting ideas simultaneously).
Then we took the example of bodies and brain. Take brain A and body A, and brain B and body B. Swap brains. So now, brain A is with body B, and brain B is with body A. Where is person A? I say that person A is with brain A/body B, meaning that the brain is the trump card in this situation. So, it would follow that since the person at location/time B has the same brain as he does at location/time A, then it would be the same person. So now it would follow that I'm saying that if the "n+1"th Angier has the same brain/conscious as the first Angier who performed the trick, then it's the same person. Which contradicts what I said about Angier during my discourse about The Prestige. +100 cognitive dissonance.
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Last two weeks...don't fuck it
As much as we would all love to completely disregard the last two weeks (I'm talking to you, college folk), think of it this way - there are two weeks left, so why not go hard for 14 more days? Bang out those papers, study for those tests and finals, and stay on top of what you need to do. Easier said than done for most, so for those having a hard time getting off the ground, here are links to 5 songs by Explosions in the Sky, a band that consists of guitar, bass, and drums. No vocals. The perfect opportunity to let your mind do the talking as you regain focus for the end of the year.
ps. Listen to them in order. Forty-five minutes of continuous bliss.
1. First Breath After Coma
2. The Only Moment We Were Alone
3. Six Days at the Bottom of the Ocean
4. Memorial
5. Your Hand in Mine
ps. Listen to them in order. Forty-five minutes of continuous bliss.
1. First Breath After Coma
2. The Only Moment We Were Alone
3. Six Days at the Bottom of the Ocean
4. Memorial
5. Your Hand in Mine
Thursday, April 21, 2011
The Prestige
For those who have seen it, I want you to consider the final few minutes. This is where we see Angier perform his final trick, The Real Transported Man, where he literally transports himself across the theatre. Or does he? I'm not so convinced that Angier is actually transported. The key to this question lies in two factors - the trap door, and the trial run that Angier performs. During the trial run, Angier is duplicated, and this duplicate Angier appears about 10 feet from the real Angier. The real Angier shoots and kills the duplicate. Pay attention to where the real Angier is in this scene, however - he hasn't moved from his spot in the machine. This implies that he would stay in that one spot every time the machine is run, and that the duplicate that is created is in a different location.
Alright, so the duplicate Angier is in a different location each time the machine is run. It would then follow that when Angier performs the trick for the first time during his act, that the real Angier falls through the trap door to the water tank, where he subsequently dies. If this is the case, then the duplicate Angier is transported to the top of the balcony, to be seen by everyone applauding. It seems as though this "new" Angier knows everything the previous one did, and acts like him, etc. (Sidenote: Root, Angier's double for his tricks, isn't involved in the end at all.) So the trick is performed n times, there are a total of n+1 Angiers, but the only living Angier is the most recent duplicate from the most recent machine run. This is also true for the Angier who talks to Borden at the end. (For the record, this is the real Borden as well - his twin, the one who loved Olivia, was the one who was hanged.)
So amidst the convolution at the end of the movie, the real Robert Angier died a while ago, the real Borden was alive the entire time, and Cutter is still the man. I can't wait to watch this movie again and follow the movie from the beginning, with my knowledge of the end.
(Sidenote #2: I love how that works out (watching movies after the first time). It's the same thing with Inception. The first time I saw Inception, I was totally blown away by everything, but each time I saw the movie afterward, I used what happened at the end of the movie to determine what was going on in the beginning and middle of the movie. I still haven't figured out Inception yet, but I have my theories. But that's another blog post for another time, perhaps.)
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Numbers and baseball
Alright so I just realized how few off days MLB teams get during the regular season. Yet, the League Division Series can take up to 8 days to play only 5 games. So, here are some numbers to help show the ridiculousness of the MLB:
Let's take the Red Sox as our example:
Red Sox 2011 Regular Season Schedule
They play 162 games in 181 days (89.50%).
In a 7-day week, they can expect to play 6.27 games.
Simple as that. The Sox play 6 or 7 games in every Sunday-Saturday week, and only have one day off in June. So you're telling me that they play 6.27 games in a week, but they need more than a week to play up to 5 games? The Red Sox routinely play three- and four-game series in as many days. This is something the MLB needs to fix so its season doesn't end in November.
Let's take the Red Sox as our example:
Red Sox 2011 Regular Season Schedule
They play 162 games in 181 days (89.50%).
In a 7-day week, they can expect to play 6.27 games.
Simple as that. The Sox play 6 or 7 games in every Sunday-Saturday week, and only have one day off in June. So you're telling me that they play 6.27 games in a week, but they need more than a week to play up to 5 games? The Red Sox routinely play three- and four-game series in as many days. This is something the MLB needs to fix so its season doesn't end in November.
The Making of Musical Minds
On the car ride home from Stonehill today for Easter break, I began wondering to myself about my Learning Community (LC) for next year. In the fall, I'll be taking an Intro Musicianship course (A++), and in the spring, I'm taking Research Methods in Psych, and a seminar called The Making of Musical Minds, taught by both professors from each of the other two courses.
My internal dialogue consisted of how we fall in love with certain genres of music. It would seem similar to learning language after birth, where we take in our environment and use that to learn vocabulary. Kids are involved with music at young ages - driving in the car with Mom and Dad listening to the radio, singing songs to learn their alphabet, and I'm sure a lot of other places, too. But what about the music we listen to today? My parents told me that when my mom was about 7 months pregnant with me, her and my dad went to an Allman Brothers concert, and incidentally enough, they're one of my favorite bands. But that could be a result of growing up with them too, since my dad listened to them a lot (and still does). The same goes for the other classic rock I like, like Eric Clapton and what have you.
So that was pretty interesting. One thing psychologists love doing, however, is wondering what happens when you completely remove something from an individual's environment. Alright, so what happens if you go, say, the first year or two of your life without music? Is "music" biologically innate? What about 5 or 6 years? Is it nurture as well as nature? Try to think of a point in your life when you didn't know what music was. Pretty tough, right? Try to imagine your life right now without music.
Yeah, I didn't like it either.
My internal dialogue consisted of how we fall in love with certain genres of music. It would seem similar to learning language after birth, where we take in our environment and use that to learn vocabulary. Kids are involved with music at young ages - driving in the car with Mom and Dad listening to the radio, singing songs to learn their alphabet, and I'm sure a lot of other places, too. But what about the music we listen to today? My parents told me that when my mom was about 7 months pregnant with me, her and my dad went to an Allman Brothers concert, and incidentally enough, they're one of my favorite bands. But that could be a result of growing up with them too, since my dad listened to them a lot (and still does). The same goes for the other classic rock I like, like Eric Clapton and what have you.
So that was pretty interesting. One thing psychologists love doing, however, is wondering what happens when you completely remove something from an individual's environment. Alright, so what happens if you go, say, the first year or two of your life without music? Is "music" biologically innate? What about 5 or 6 years? Is it nurture as well as nature? Try to think of a point in your life when you didn't know what music was. Pretty tough, right? Try to imagine your life right now without music.
Yeah, I didn't like it either.
Monday, April 18, 2011
10 mashups
So I guess my "10..." blog posts are developing a musical theme now - covers, acoustic songs, and now mashups, but hey - who doesn't love music?
1. Sgt. Pepper's Paradise City - The Beatles vs. Guns 'n' Roses. You would think that this song would mess up at some point or another, like have a chord that's off or a drum beat, but everything's perfectly in rhythm.
2. Fix Your Surprises - Coldplay vs. Radiohead. This is a nice song with a surprisingly well-put-together combination of major chords (Coldplay) and a minor guitar riff (Radiohead).
3. Boulevard of Broken Songs - Green Day vs. Oasis vs. Travis vs. Eminem. Now this song would have been better without Eminem, and probably without Travis too, but these songs mesh well enough that those songs are fine.
4. Without Pressure - U2 vs. Queen. This is probably my favorite mashup of the ten (and I haven't even decided what mashups 5-10 will be yet); it just sounds so epic. The buildup over time is priceless, and I love how each song's most intense moment is at the same point in the song, so it's a sick ending.
5. The Best Office Party - ILO Productions. Drake, The Office, and Miley. Three things I never thought would be together in any context, but this is a fresh mashup with an AWESOME transition from The Office theme song to Party in the U.S.A.
6. Tricky Child of Mine - Run-DMC vs. Guns 'n' Roses. You would think that with the not-simple (I'm not saying they're complicated) guitar licks of Guns 'n' Roses that they would be hard to mash up. Well, you'd be wrong.
7. Love Story vs. Viva La Vida - Jon Schmidt. Everyone's entitled to one chick song in a list of songs, so here's mine. This is, for lack of a better phrase, really pretty. The end. Resume man music.
8. 99 Problems / Scar Tissue - Jay-Z vs. The Red Hot Chili Peppers. As much as I loathe The Red Hot Chili Peppers, a handful of guitar notes repeated are acceptable. And Jay-Z is Fresh. Capital F.
9. Dirt Off Your Shoulder / Bittersweet Symphony - Jay-Z vs. The Verve. This is another well-constructed Jay-Z mashup...must be the 90's music.
10. Numb / Encore - Linkin Park vs. Jay-Z. Alright, Jay-Z is a mashup artist. As in, he writes songs that are meant to be mashed up. Love the classic hit.
Thursday, April 14, 2011
5 ways Stonehill can improve its housing system
Over the last week, I've been bombarded with emails about where people want to live on campus next year, like "please don't live here!" and "my roommate and I are taking this room in this hallway so DON'T TAKE IT!!" For those who don't know, our housing system works as follows:
- Everyone is given 10 merit points at the start of each year
- You can earn up to 5 for a total of up to 15 (not to exceed)
- You lose one for documentation and other bad stuff like that, and you can't gain it back
- Your activation times for housing selection are based off merit points, and then a random time slot
There may be some flaws, but you might get flaws in any system. So, here are some proposed alternatives:
1. An even more completely arbitrary system. Yep - there are loopholes. If you have enough AP and/or Stonehill credits, you can register for housing with the year above you, which is what I did last night (registered with the Rising Juniors for Sophomore Housing). It's terrific, and I didn't know about this until 2 weeks ago, but hey, I'm not complaining. So why not make things more arbitrary? Let's find some ways.
2. A completely random system. I love things that are random (and truly random, at that), so why not just break out a huge-ass calculator, fire up the random integer function, and let the TI-84 go to work?
3. Online free-for-all. Open up the housing for each year at the same time for all the students at once. They already do this for classes, and that's hectic enough, so sure, let's do it for housing as well.
4. Offline free-for-all. As much as an online royal rumble would be, imagine if it were for real! Take every student out on the quad, unlock all of the doors to every room in every residence hall, make all the students spin around on a baseball bat 10 times, and whoever gets to their room first gets it. Definitely YouTube-worthy.
5. Cage matches. Cage matches solve everything. Last one standing gets the room. Loser has to enter another cage match for their backup option. Everyone wins!
Disclaimer: At no point have I ever thought that any of these options would be feasible to select housing. Except maybe the last two. When you add physical components to stressful situations, everything becomes more intensified. Just some food for thought.
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Room #50
So this is my 50th blog post, which should mean absolutely nothing to me, because 50 is as arbitrary a number as any other, except this one has factors which include 5 and 10. COOL. Speaking of things that are completely arbitrary, here is a note (which was a survey) I made on Facebook on August 5th, 2009. So approximately a little later than that (today), I'm going to not only repost that survey, with old and new answers (or at least my thoughts on my old answers). Have fun bitches :)
Format:
#. QUESTION?
old answer
new answer
99 Things You Might Not Know About Me...
answer these questions then tag 10 people to do the same.
i didn't really tag 10 people. i'm sure they wanted nothing to do with me
1. ONE OF YOUR SCARS, HOW DID YOU GET IT?
fell on a gutter while playing football
that is still how i got that scar, yep
2. WHAT IS ON THE WALLS IN YOUR ROOM?
pennants and wallpaper
at home, the same thing. at stonehill, flag, posters, pictures, inspiration, demotivation...the usual
3. DO YOU SNORE, GRIND YOUR TEETH, OR TALK IN YOUR SLEEP?
how would i know?
not that i know of
4. WHAT TYPE OF MUSIC DO YOU LISTEN TO?
good
music that i like
5. DO YOU KNOW WHAT TIME YOU WERE BORN?
2:02 pm
2:02 pm
6. WHAT DO YOU WANT MORE THAN ANYTHING RIGHT NOW?
not to have to think so hard about what i want more than anything
to always be this clever ^
7. WHAT DO YOU MISS?
fly balls
haha i crack myself up...seriously though, i can't field for shit
8. WHAT IS YOUR MOST PRIZED POSSESSION(S)
dunno
still don't know
9. HOW TALL ARE YOU?
just shy of 5'9"
close enough to 5'10" where i can say i'm 5'10" 5'10"
10. DO YOU GET CLAUSTROPHOBIC?
nope
only when i'm in the left lane on the highway and there's a big ass 18-wheeler in the next lane...but that's car claustrophobic, i don't actually stop breathing or anything
11. DO YOU GET SCARED IN THE DARK?
not so much scared as prone to jumping
i don't get scared. but sometimes, i guess, crazy shit happens in the dark
12. THE LAST PERSON TO MAKE YOU CRY?
idn
can't remember. either that, or my self-pity is too extreme to share with all of you
13. WHAT'S YOUR WORST FEAR?
not knowing
still not knowing
14. WHAT KIND OF HAIR/EYE COLOR DO YOU LIKE ON THE OPPOSITE SEX?
not a big deal
doesn't matter
15. WHERE CAN YOU SEE YOURSELF PROPOSING?
in front of a girl
on one knee
16. COFFEE OR ENERGY DRINK?
energy drink
energy drink
17. FAVORITE PIZZA TOPPING?
pepperoni
man, do i not change or what?
18. IF YOU COULD EAT ANYTHING RIGHT NOW, WHAT WOULD IT BE?
pepperoni pizza sounds pretty good
i remember from the first time i did this that thinking about pepperoni pizza made me want it. like i said, some things never change.
19. FAVORITE COLOR OF ALL TIME?
blue i think
blue
20. HAVE YOU EVER EATEN A GOLDFISH?
nope
snack, yes, swimmy guy, no.
21. WHAT WAS THE FIRST MEANINGFUL GIFT YOU'VE EVER RECEIVED?
would it be too corny to say life?
^ yes.
22. DO YOU HAVE A CRUSH?
theres no witty way to answer this, is there?
^ nope. that's probably why i didn't answer it last time (or this time).
23. ARE YOU DOUBLE JOINTED?
nope
negatron
30. SAY A NUMBER FROM ONE TO A HUNDRED:
they make this too easy sometimes
http://www.random.org/
31. BLONDES OR BRUNETTES?
brunetttes
brunettes...less hardcore than brunetttes
32. FAVORITE QUOTE?
be ashamed to die until you have won some victory for humanity
"Life is nothing until it is lived, but it is yours to make sense of; the value of life is nothing other than the sense you choose."
33. FAVORITE PLACE?
mine
fenway park
34. HAVE YOU BEEN OUT OF THE USA?
yep
still yep
35. YOUR WEAKNESSES?
my upper body strength
haha ^ that's ironic. and still true.
36. MET ANYONE FAMOUS?
i dont think so
still don't think so
37. FIRST JOB?
camp p woooo
^ 6 years this summer :P
38. EVER DONE A PRANK CALL?
to no avail, yes
stop asking about my past where nothing changes
39. DO YOU THINK EVERYONE OUT THERE HAS A SOULMATE?
nope
i dunno. if we do, then we wouldn't be consciously capable of recognizing something like that, if mind and soul are separate things. hooray metaphysics!
40. WHAT WERE YOU DOING BEFORE YOU FILLED THIS OUT?
watching tv
not filling this out
41. HAVE YOU EVER HAD SURGERY?
nope
nope
42. WHAT DO YOU GET COMPLIMENTED ABOUT MOST?
nothing worthwhile in the social world
how fun i am (and that always makes me smile)
43. HAVE YOU EVER HAD BRACES?
yep
still yep
44. WHAT DO YOU WANT FOR YOUR BIRTHDAY?
a pony
two ponies
45. HOW MANY KIDS DO YOU WANT AND THEIR NAMES?
dunno and for some reason i like julienne but im not even sure if thats a name?
i no longer like julienne since i'm pretty sure it doesn't exist...Jessica is the new leader
46. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE?
almost - my middle name is after one of the blues brothers (jake)
see above
47. WHAT IS THE BIGGEST TURN OFF OF THE OPPOSITE SEX?
hoes
smoking cigarettes. and being a hoe.
48. WHAT IS ONE THING YOU LIKE(D) ABOUT HIGH SCHOOL?
a daily routine
the feeling of senior year
49. WHAT KIND OF SHAMPOO DO YOU USE?
axe...im a genj (sorta)
axe
50. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING?
most definitely
chick handwriting rules
51. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT?
buffalo chicken
roast beef
52. ANY BAD HABITS?
nothing too terrible
i bite the skin around my fingernails often now
53. ARE YOU A JEALOUS PERSON?
hard to determine
not sure
55. DO YOU AGREE WITH FRIENDS WITH BENEFITS?
i spose
i mean i guess
57. HOW DO YOU RELEASE ANGER?
listen to music and play it on the piano
carefully
58.WOULD YOU RATHER GAIN 58 POUNDS OR LOSE 58 POUNDS.
gain
let's stay above triple digits
60. WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE TOY AS A CHILD?
super nintendo
after my senior year refound pokemon glory, definitely game boy
61. HOW MANY NUMBERS ARE IN YOUR CELL PHONE?
80
like 140. i'm so popular i don't feel like counting all of them. or finding where it tells you.
62. WERE YOU A FAN OF BARNEY AS A LITTLE KID?
if you weren't, you had no childhood
heck yes
63. Do you use sarcasm?
yeah
nah like absolutely never
64. MASHED POTATOES OR MACARONI AND CHEESE?
both but not together
both, and definitely together
65. WHAT DO YOU LOOK FOR IN A GUY/GIRL?
someone who can make me happy
yeah i like that answer ^
66. WHAT ARE YOUR NICKNAMES?
matt, tardiff, retardiff...tartar sauce and drool too
people just call me matt now...my roommate calls me tardo which isn't all that bad
67. FAVORITE SUPER POWER?
theyy dont exist
they still don't exist
68. WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE TV SHOW?
HOUSE :)
still house :D
69. WHAT'S THE BEST WAY TO DEAL WITH YOUR ENEMIES?
not to
cage match
70. WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM FLAVOR?
strawberry
still strawberry
71. DO YOU HAVE ALL YOUR FINGERS AND TOES?
last time i checked i did
thankfully
72. DO YOU HAVE A COMPUTER IN YOUR ROOM?
yep
yes
73. PLANS FOR TONIGHT?
hah
registering for housing :P
74. WHERE DO YOU WANT TO LIVE WHEN YOU ARE OLDER?
on earth
in a home
75. DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS?
doesnt matter
i won't lose sleep over it
77. LAST THING YOU DRANK?
milk
gatorade
78. LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE?
my mom
Hum Barbs
79. THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE IN THE OPPOSITE SEX?
probably their face so i know who it is
she's a female!
80. WHAT DO YOU LIKE TO DO IN YOUR SPARE TIME?
confine myself to a world of music and sports
confine myself to a world of music, sports, and making clever facebook statuses.
82. FAVORITE SEASON OF THE YEAR?
im not the biggest fan of earth's orbit...
spring
83. WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE TYPE OF CANDY?
the yummy kind
milky way
84. HAVE YOU EVER REALLY AND TRULY HAD A BEST FRIEND?
yes...question my standards like that...
yessir
85. FAVORITE HAIR COLOR?
ive always wanted to see how id look with neon green hair...
neon green is stupid. i like my own hair color.
86. FAVORITE EYE COLOR?
brown
wasn't this (essentially) already asked? still brown.
87. SHOE SIZE?
10
10.5
88. FAVORITE FAST FOOD PLACE?
mcdonalds, but the baconator reigns supreme
wendy's
89. FAVORITE RESTAURANT?
chateau
still the chateau, but the 99 has boss goldfever wings
92. FAVORITE DAY OF THE YEAR?
december 6, june 9 are up there
fenway opening day
93. PLAY ANY MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS?
piano, guitar, and the almighty viola in middle school
see above
94. REPUBLICAN OR DEMOCRAT?
no thank you
i had a feeling when i read this the first time that i would have answered this
95. KISSES OR HUGS?
hugs...i feel like theres no right answer for me there
why not both?
96. RELATIONSHIPS OR ONE NIGHT STANDS?
relationships
relationships
97. WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU BOUGHT?
a haircut lol
lunch
99. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING?
in the lake of the woods...not the best last question
the last thing i opened was the MLB rulebook, but the last thing i read front to back was probably some book for my gen-ed. classes last semester...still an anti-climactic last question.
So yeah, there's my note in all its glory and what have you. Feel free to extrapolate whatever you desire about my personality, etc. You'll probably be wrong. Or right. That's usually how it works, n'est-ce pas?
Format:
#. QUESTION?
old answer
new answer
99 Things You Might Not Know About Me...
answer these questions then tag 10 people to do the same.
i didn't really tag 10 people. i'm sure they wanted nothing to do with me
1. ONE OF YOUR SCARS, HOW DID YOU GET IT?
fell on a gutter while playing football
that is still how i got that scar, yep
2. WHAT IS ON THE WALLS IN YOUR ROOM?
pennants and wallpaper
at home, the same thing. at stonehill, flag, posters, pictures, inspiration, demotivation...the usual
3. DO YOU SNORE, GRIND YOUR TEETH, OR TALK IN YOUR SLEEP?
how would i know?
not that i know of
4. WHAT TYPE OF MUSIC DO YOU LISTEN TO?
good
music that i like
5. DO YOU KNOW WHAT TIME YOU WERE BORN?
2:02 pm
2:02 pm
6. WHAT DO YOU WANT MORE THAN ANYTHING RIGHT NOW?
not to have to think so hard about what i want more than anything
to always be this clever ^
7. WHAT DO YOU MISS?
fly balls
haha i crack myself up...seriously though, i can't field for shit
8. WHAT IS YOUR MOST PRIZED POSSESSION(S)
dunno
still don't know
9. HOW TALL ARE YOU?
just shy of 5'9"
10. DO YOU GET CLAUSTROPHOBIC?
nope
only when i'm in the left lane on the highway and there's a big ass 18-wheeler in the next lane...but that's car claustrophobic, i don't actually stop breathing or anything
11. DO YOU GET SCARED IN THE DARK?
not so much scared as prone to jumping
i don't get scared. but sometimes, i guess, crazy shit happens in the dark
12. THE LAST PERSON TO MAKE YOU CRY?
idn
can't remember. either that, or my self-pity is too extreme to share with all of you
13. WHAT'S YOUR WORST FEAR?
not knowing
still not knowing
14. WHAT KIND OF HAIR/EYE COLOR DO YOU LIKE ON THE OPPOSITE SEX?
not a big deal
doesn't matter
15. WHERE CAN YOU SEE YOURSELF PROPOSING?
in front of a girl
on one knee
16. COFFEE OR ENERGY DRINK?
energy drink
energy drink
17. FAVORITE PIZZA TOPPING?
pepperoni
man, do i not change or what?
18. IF YOU COULD EAT ANYTHING RIGHT NOW, WHAT WOULD IT BE?
pepperoni pizza sounds pretty good
i remember from the first time i did this that thinking about pepperoni pizza made me want it. like i said, some things never change.
19. FAVORITE COLOR OF ALL TIME?
blue i think
blue
20. HAVE YOU EVER EATEN A GOLDFISH?
nope
snack, yes, swimmy guy, no.
21. WHAT WAS THE FIRST MEANINGFUL GIFT YOU'VE EVER RECEIVED?
would it be too corny to say life?
^ yes.
22. DO YOU HAVE A CRUSH?
theres no witty way to answer this, is there?
^ nope. that's probably why i didn't answer it last time (or this time).
23. ARE YOU DOUBLE JOINTED?
nope
negatron
30. SAY A NUMBER FROM ONE TO A HUNDRED:
they make this too easy sometimes
http://www.random.org/
31. BLONDES OR BRUNETTES?
brunetttes
brunettes...less hardcore than brunetttes
32. FAVORITE QUOTE?
be ashamed to die until you have won some victory for humanity
"Life is nothing until it is lived, but it is yours to make sense of; the value of life is nothing other than the sense you choose."
33. FAVORITE PLACE?
mine
fenway park
34. HAVE YOU BEEN OUT OF THE USA?
yep
still yep
35. YOUR WEAKNESSES?
my upper body strength
haha ^ that's ironic. and still true.
36. MET ANYONE FAMOUS?
i dont think so
still don't think so
37. FIRST JOB?
camp p woooo
^ 6 years this summer :P
38. EVER DONE A PRANK CALL?
to no avail, yes
stop asking about my past where nothing changes
39. DO YOU THINK EVERYONE OUT THERE HAS A SOULMATE?
nope
i dunno. if we do, then we wouldn't be consciously capable of recognizing something like that, if mind and soul are separate things. hooray metaphysics!
40. WHAT WERE YOU DOING BEFORE YOU FILLED THIS OUT?
watching tv
not filling this out
41. HAVE YOU EVER HAD SURGERY?
nope
nope
42. WHAT DO YOU GET COMPLIMENTED ABOUT MOST?
nothing worthwhile in the social world
how fun i am (and that always makes me smile)
43. HAVE YOU EVER HAD BRACES?
yep
still yep
44. WHAT DO YOU WANT FOR YOUR BIRTHDAY?
a pony
two ponies
45. HOW MANY KIDS DO YOU WANT AND THEIR NAMES?
dunno and for some reason i like julienne but im not even sure if thats a name?
i no longer like julienne since i'm pretty sure it doesn't exist...Jessica is the new leader
46. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE?
almost - my middle name is after one of the blues brothers (jake)
see above
47. WHAT IS THE BIGGEST TURN OFF OF THE OPPOSITE SEX?
hoes
smoking cigarettes. and being a hoe.
48. WHAT IS ONE THING YOU LIKE(D) ABOUT HIGH SCHOOL?
a daily routine
the feeling of senior year
49. WHAT KIND OF SHAMPOO DO YOU USE?
axe...im a genj (sorta)
axe
50. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING?
most definitely
chick handwriting rules
51. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT?
buffalo chicken
roast beef
52. ANY BAD HABITS?
nothing too terrible
i bite the skin around my fingernails often now
53. ARE YOU A JEALOUS PERSON?
hard to determine
not sure
55. DO YOU AGREE WITH FRIENDS WITH BENEFITS?
i spose
i mean i guess
57. HOW DO YOU RELEASE ANGER?
listen to music and play it on the piano
carefully
58.WOULD YOU RATHER GAIN 58 POUNDS OR LOSE 58 POUNDS.
gain
let's stay above triple digits
60. WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE TOY AS A CHILD?
super nintendo
after my senior year refound pokemon glory, definitely game boy
61. HOW MANY NUMBERS ARE IN YOUR CELL PHONE?
80
like 140. i'm so popular i don't feel like counting all of them. or finding where it tells you.
62. WERE YOU A FAN OF BARNEY AS A LITTLE KID?
if you weren't, you had no childhood
heck yes
63. Do you use sarcasm?
yeah
nah like absolutely never
64. MASHED POTATOES OR MACARONI AND CHEESE?
both but not together
both, and definitely together
65. WHAT DO YOU LOOK FOR IN A GUY/GIRL?
someone who can make me happy
yeah i like that answer ^
66. WHAT ARE YOUR NICKNAMES?
matt, tardiff, retardiff...tartar sauce and drool too
people just call me matt now...my roommate calls me tardo which isn't all that bad
67. FAVORITE SUPER POWER?
theyy dont exist
they still don't exist
68. WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE TV SHOW?
HOUSE :)
still house :D
69. WHAT'S THE BEST WAY TO DEAL WITH YOUR ENEMIES?
not to
cage match
70. WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM FLAVOR?
strawberry
still strawberry
71. DO YOU HAVE ALL YOUR FINGERS AND TOES?
last time i checked i did
thankfully
72. DO YOU HAVE A COMPUTER IN YOUR ROOM?
yep
yes
73. PLANS FOR TONIGHT?
hah
registering for housing :P
74. WHERE DO YOU WANT TO LIVE WHEN YOU ARE OLDER?
on earth
in a home
75. DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS?
doesnt matter
i won't lose sleep over it
77. LAST THING YOU DRANK?
milk
gatorade
78. LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE?
my mom
Hum Barbs
79. THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE IN THE OPPOSITE SEX?
probably their face so i know who it is
she's a female!
80. WHAT DO YOU LIKE TO DO IN YOUR SPARE TIME?
confine myself to a world of music and sports
confine myself to a world of music, sports, and making clever facebook statuses.
82. FAVORITE SEASON OF THE YEAR?
im not the biggest fan of earth's orbit...
spring
83. WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE TYPE OF CANDY?
the yummy kind
milky way
84. HAVE YOU EVER REALLY AND TRULY HAD A BEST FRIEND?
yes...question my standards like that...
yessir
85. FAVORITE HAIR COLOR?
ive always wanted to see how id look with neon green hair...
neon green is stupid. i like my own hair color.
86. FAVORITE EYE COLOR?
brown
wasn't this (essentially) already asked? still brown.
87. SHOE SIZE?
10
10.5
88. FAVORITE FAST FOOD PLACE?
mcdonalds, but the baconator reigns supreme
wendy's
89. FAVORITE RESTAURANT?
chateau
still the chateau, but the 99 has boss goldfever wings
92. FAVORITE DAY OF THE YEAR?
december 6, june 9 are up there
fenway opening day
93. PLAY ANY MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS?
piano, guitar, and the almighty viola in middle school
see above
94. REPUBLICAN OR DEMOCRAT?
no thank you
i had a feeling when i read this the first time that i would have answered this
95. KISSES OR HUGS?
hugs...i feel like theres no right answer for me there
why not both?
96. RELATIONSHIPS OR ONE NIGHT STANDS?
relationships
relationships
97. WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU BOUGHT?
a haircut lol
lunch
99. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING?
in the lake of the woods...not the best last question
the last thing i opened was the MLB rulebook, but the last thing i read front to back was probably some book for my gen-ed. classes last semester...still an anti-climactic last question.
So yeah, there's my note in all its glory and what have you. Feel free to extrapolate whatever you desire about my personality, etc. You'll probably be wrong. Or right. That's usually how it works, n'est-ce pas?
Saturday, April 9, 2011
Dirty Water
Well Red Sox Nation, we got the first one out of the way.
After a 9 to 6 victory over the enemy Yankees on Opening Day, the Sox have one in the win column. It wasn't pretty, and 0-7 was still on the minds of some fans, I'm sure, but we pulled it out in the end (that's what she said). After another horrid performance by Lackey, who has allowed at least one run in every inning except ONE (in 8 2/3 IP) so far this season, the bats and the bullpen picked up the slack. On a related note, I've decided that Dustin Pedroia is simply an animal. He put the team on his back in the first and second innings, bringing life to a team that lacked the energy of Red Sox baseball. But not all was well in the Red Sox lineup, as leadoff man Carl Crawford went 0-for-5, further extending his poor start to his first season in a Boston uniform. Alas, Red Sox fans can breathe a little easier after the Opening Day victory. But there's still work to be done, because one win won't solve all of our problems.
As far as the non-baseball component of Opening Day, it was awesome. It doesn't matter what month, what time, or who they're playing...any time I'm at Fenway, I feel like a little kid again. I take an obscene amount of pictures, especially of the Green Monster. My favorite thing about Opening Day is the American flag being draped over the Green Monster. It's such an awesome sight and I always make sure I get a few good pictures of it. Yesterday was also the first time me and my dad have ever been at the gates before they opened. It felt like New Year's Eve or something, but it was great.
After a 9 to 6 victory over the enemy Yankees on Opening Day, the Sox have one in the win column. It wasn't pretty, and 0-7 was still on the minds of some fans, I'm sure, but we pulled it out in the end (that's what she said). After another horrid performance by Lackey, who has allowed at least one run in every inning except ONE (in 8 2/3 IP) so far this season, the bats and the bullpen picked up the slack. On a related note, I've decided that Dustin Pedroia is simply an animal. He put the team on his back in the first and second innings, bringing life to a team that lacked the energy of Red Sox baseball. But not all was well in the Red Sox lineup, as leadoff man Carl Crawford went 0-for-5, further extending his poor start to his first season in a Boston uniform. Alas, Red Sox fans can breathe a little easier after the Opening Day victory. But there's still work to be done, because one win won't solve all of our problems.
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Is it Opening Day yet?
So I'm sitting in the library waiting for my four chapters worth of psychology notes to print, except there's a paper jam in the printer. I can wait for them to fix it (which they are in the process of now), or I can print it to the second printer. I'm banking that Murphy's Law will go into effect as soon as I click print, and the librarians will watch me print the notes a second time as they watch the notes from the first print come out of the first printer. Good thing there's recycling.
On a slightly separate/related note, this was a helpful mini-vent. With my week ending on Thursday, I'm not going to have a lot of time for myself, with schoolwork and what have you piling up on me this week. And by "not a lot of time for myself," I mean that I really should have printed the second set of notes by now.
On a slightly separate/related note, this was a helpful mini-vent. With my week ending on Thursday, I'm not going to have a lot of time for myself, with schoolwork and what have you piling up on me this week. And by "not a lot of time for myself," I mean that I really should have printed the second set of notes by now.
Monday, April 4, 2011
10 awesome acoustic songs
I live for acoustic guitar. As much as I want to own an electric guitar, I love playing my acoustic guitar (with or without a pick) and messing around with songs. I've compiled the same playlist multiple times, only to delete it, filled with songs that don't have a guitar in them, but would sound awesome acoustic (like Live Your Life by T.I. (feat. Rihanna)). I'm not saying these acoustic versions are better than the studio versions (in some cases I do believe that, however), but that these are ten good acoustic songs.
1. Drive - Incubus
2. Times Like These - Foo Fighters
3. Hey Ya - Obadiah Parker
4. All For You - Sister Hazel
5. 1979 - Smashing Pumpkins
6. Plush - Stone Temple Pilots
7. Dynamite - Tyler Ward
8. It's Not My Time - Three Doors Down
*9. Poker Face - Daughtry
+10. 3 A.M. - Rob Thomas
*Not only did this make the cut for 10 awesome acoustic songs, it should have made the cut for my blog post with 10 awesome covers.
+Rob Thomas and a piano is acoustic enough for me...there are no amplifiers, so it works for me. Also, the song is amazing.
Sunday, April 3, 2011
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