Monday, July 30, 2012
In my place
So, Coldplay is absolutely amazing live. It was such a spectacle, their show. For the better part of one and a half hours, they went absolutely nuts, putting everything they could into every song. Which usually happens once or twice at most concerts I've been at. But one of my favorite parts about the concert is that Coldplay got the crowd incredibly involved. Before the concert, we got bracelets that lit up throughout the show, which was SO COOL when it actually happened. It made me feel like a part of something bigger, which is what I want to talk about in this post. I was thinking about this on the ride back from the concert, this joy out of feeling a part of something bigger than you. Coldplay completely reaffirmed one of the few items on my sports bucket list, which is to watch USA play in a World Cup game. At first, I just wanted to be at a game, to just experience the emotion and cheering for ninety minutes, but I would much rather support my own country/team.
So what exactly is this, this "part of something bigger than you?" If you asked Maslow, it would probably fall in love/belonging. The beauty of sports is that it gives us an opportunity to put our faith in something that we have no control over - yet, we hope for rewards from this faith, coming in the successes of the team. We need to love and be loved. Sports and music are perfect venues for that interaction, and in music at least, I can't think of a better interaction than Coldplay. It was so easy to see that we were all there for the experience, and to just take in all of the energy the band had. Which they got from feeding off of us, creating a positive feedback loop. Which, of course, makes everything incredibly awesome. Yeah, their music was great, but this concert was much more of a show, an experience, like any other one I've ever been to. I would see Coldplay dozens of times before I even thought about getting tired of seeing them. Sometimes I couldn't help myself but to just shake my head and laugh and how amazing everything was. It bordered on the ridiculous, but in a good way. If you ever get a chance to see something that exciting, whether it be sports, music, or any passion that you have...go do it. It's going to be worth it every time.
Saturday, July 28, 2012
Hazard lights
On my way home from school this morning, I noticed that traffic had considerably slowed down as soon as I hit I-95N. I saw one van in the middle lane with its hazard lights on, and figured that something was wrong with the car. Something like that. I kept driving and noticed a few other cars with hazard lights on, and then more and more - there was a funeral procession in the right lane of the highway. There were at least twenty cars I saw, all in the right lane, one after another, with their hazard lights on. At the beginning of the procession were two police cruisers, the hearse, and a bus. There I was, blasting music and singing along, while at the exact same moment, dozens of people were mourning the loss of a loved one. I know that that moment was something that would come and go, but it will serve as an anecdotal reminder for me that at any given moment, we don't know what others are experiencing, whether it's joy, sorrow, happiness, pain, or anything else. Right now, some people are competing and honoring their country in the Olympics - at this same time, other people are being sent to prison, possibly for crimes they did not commit. It's just cool to me, and also important, to be aware of everything going on in the world. As it comes to me. Yeah, I don't watch the news, or read the news, or follow politics, or anything like that, but it doesn't mean I can't take a step back and see what's going on. And the answer is, a lot.
Thursday, July 26, 2012
How We Decide: Spectrum Theory
I've decided that my next blog project will be to go back and reread the book assigned to me as an incoming freshman at Stonehill, How We Decide. I immediately fell in love with the book because of the incredibly interesting investigation between reason and emotion, and how they fuel our decision-making processes. So, in similar fashion to what I did with This I Believe, I'll talk about cool stuff from How We Decide. What I'm most excited for in rereading the book is to go back and see what annotations I made. It'll be my own version of thinking about thinking, and seeing if I knew anything more now than I did two years ago.
One thing I do now that I didn't at the time is create names for things that lack nomenclature. In the first chapter, Jonah Lehrer (the author) talks about the historical ignorance of emotion when regarding decisions. Everyone thought that reason was the way to go, and that emotion should be cast aside. Well, they were horribly wrong. Emotion helps us a lot more than we think (pun possibly intended), and "reason without emotion is impotent." A big metaphor in the reason/emotion debate is the charioteer and his horses. The charioteer would be reason, steering the horses in the right direction. However, there would be one horse that was considerably weaker than the other - emotion - and it was the job of the charioteer to put the horse in its place. (This is where I personally believe the idiom "hold your horses" comes from, as opposed to many other alternatives.) But for the human mind to work most effectively, there needs to be a relationship between charioteer and horse - there can't be a winner, and that's what drives my theory.
Spectrum Theory. Almost everyone has heard about the nature/nurture debate in regards to developmental psychology. Nature and genetics, one argument says, creates who we are. It is simply in our genetic code to have a language, and to be able to walk. Nurture, on the other hand, is much more environmental - what language is spoken to us is the one we learn best. When conversations like this happen, the tendency is that a middle ground wins out - we have the capacity to learn language (nature), but how that language is acquired is more dependent on our surroundings (nurture).
Spectrum Theory, then, is simply a solution to these types of problems - nature/nurture and reason/emotion to name two. It really is that simple - any debate that has strong arguments supporting each side never seems to end, and that's because each school of thought requires the other to survive. When you open your mind to the whole spectrum as opposed to one extreme, you allow yourself to see the entire picture. In the case of How We Decide, doing so will help you to think much more effectively, which is something I hope to be able to do by the end of my second reading of the book.
One thing I do now that I didn't at the time is create names for things that lack nomenclature. In the first chapter, Jonah Lehrer (the author) talks about the historical ignorance of emotion when regarding decisions. Everyone thought that reason was the way to go, and that emotion should be cast aside. Well, they were horribly wrong. Emotion helps us a lot more than we think (pun possibly intended), and "reason without emotion is impotent." A big metaphor in the reason/emotion debate is the charioteer and his horses. The charioteer would be reason, steering the horses in the right direction. However, there would be one horse that was considerably weaker than the other - emotion - and it was the job of the charioteer to put the horse in its place. (This is where I personally believe the idiom "hold your horses" comes from, as opposed to many other alternatives.) But for the human mind to work most effectively, there needs to be a relationship between charioteer and horse - there can't be a winner, and that's what drives my theory.
Spectrum Theory. Almost everyone has heard about the nature/nurture debate in regards to developmental psychology. Nature and genetics, one argument says, creates who we are. It is simply in our genetic code to have a language, and to be able to walk. Nurture, on the other hand, is much more environmental - what language is spoken to us is the one we learn best. When conversations like this happen, the tendency is that a middle ground wins out - we have the capacity to learn language (nature), but how that language is acquired is more dependent on our surroundings (nurture).
Spectrum Theory, then, is simply a solution to these types of problems - nature/nurture and reason/emotion to name two. It really is that simple - any debate that has strong arguments supporting each side never seems to end, and that's because each school of thought requires the other to survive. When you open your mind to the whole spectrum as opposed to one extreme, you allow yourself to see the entire picture. In the case of How We Decide, doing so will help you to think much more effectively, which is something I hope to be able to do by the end of my second reading of the book.
Monday, July 23, 2012
Destroying a legacy
A sixty million dollar fine. The loss of scholarships over four years. Five years probation. One hundred eleven wins, vacated. Bowl ineligibility for four years.
These are the sanctions imposed by the NCAA on the Penn State football program. As a whole, I couldn't disagree with the decision any more. Yes, I believe that what Jerry Sandusky did was horribly wrong, should never be condoned, and that he should be punished. His 442 years in prison will be ample time for him to reflect on the decisions that he's made in his life. However, I don't think the NCAA spent any time concerning themselves with the implications of these sanctions in relation to the situation at hand.
Sandusky was an assistant coach at Penn State from 1969-1999. The 111 vacated wins from the Nittany Lions' and Joe Paterno's records are from 1998-2011. How exactly does this have ANYTHING to do with what Sandusky was doing? It's egregious that the NCAA thinks that this plays into those 111 victories. An example of a correct vacancy of wins would be the case of Derrick Rose and his one year at Memphis. Rose, allegedly, had someone else take his SAT so he could gain admission into Memphis and play basketball for coach John Calipari. That 2007-08 season, Memphis set an NCAA record with 38 wins, losing in the championship game to Kansas. The wins were vacated, rightfully so. However, life goes on. Rose would become the 2008-2009 NBA Rookie of the Year after being the first overall draft pick, would lead his Chicago Bulls to the playoffs in each season of his short career, and was the 2010-2011 NBA MVP.
So yes, life goes on. But the NCAA handled that investigation the way they were supposed to, especially with their decision. This is what should have been done with Penn State. Punish the individuals directly involved in the scandal. The incoming freshmen on the Penn State football team, who will not be able to play in a bowl game as long as they wear nittany blue and white, did nothing to deserve that. Paterno, despite not doing all he could in the scandal, did not deserve to have 13 years' worth of wins vacated. (His all-time record now stands at 298-136-3, good for 7th on the all-time Division I coaching wins list.) The University did not deserve to forfeit one year of revenue (appx. $60M worth) because of what one of their staff members was held accountable for.
I want to finish by talking about Paterno's legacy. What's pissed me off the most this entire time is that everyone is making this ONE THING destroy Paterno's legacy. He defined Penn State football. He was a champion in the minds and hearts of alumni, players, students, and faculty. He still deserves to be considered the winningest head coach in Division I NCAA football history. He still deserves to be revered as a legend and an icon at Penn State. And the University deserves the reminder of what one man is capable of - good or bad.
These are the sanctions imposed by the NCAA on the Penn State football program. As a whole, I couldn't disagree with the decision any more. Yes, I believe that what Jerry Sandusky did was horribly wrong, should never be condoned, and that he should be punished. His 442 years in prison will be ample time for him to reflect on the decisions that he's made in his life. However, I don't think the NCAA spent any time concerning themselves with the implications of these sanctions in relation to the situation at hand.
Sandusky was an assistant coach at Penn State from 1969-1999. The 111 vacated wins from the Nittany Lions' and Joe Paterno's records are from 1998-2011. How exactly does this have ANYTHING to do with what Sandusky was doing? It's egregious that the NCAA thinks that this plays into those 111 victories. An example of a correct vacancy of wins would be the case of Derrick Rose and his one year at Memphis. Rose, allegedly, had someone else take his SAT so he could gain admission into Memphis and play basketball for coach John Calipari. That 2007-08 season, Memphis set an NCAA record with 38 wins, losing in the championship game to Kansas. The wins were vacated, rightfully so. However, life goes on. Rose would become the 2008-2009 NBA Rookie of the Year after being the first overall draft pick, would lead his Chicago Bulls to the playoffs in each season of his short career, and was the 2010-2011 NBA MVP.
So yes, life goes on. But the NCAA handled that investigation the way they were supposed to, especially with their decision. This is what should have been done with Penn State. Punish the individuals directly involved in the scandal. The incoming freshmen on the Penn State football team, who will not be able to play in a bowl game as long as they wear nittany blue and white, did nothing to deserve that. Paterno, despite not doing all he could in the scandal, did not deserve to have 13 years' worth of wins vacated. (His all-time record now stands at 298-136-3, good for 7th on the all-time Division I coaching wins list.) The University did not deserve to forfeit one year of revenue (appx. $60M worth) because of what one of their staff members was held accountable for.
I want to finish by talking about Paterno's legacy. What's pissed me off the most this entire time is that everyone is making this ONE THING destroy Paterno's legacy. He defined Penn State football. He was a champion in the minds and hearts of alumni, players, students, and faculty. He still deserves to be considered the winningest head coach in Division I NCAA football history. He still deserves to be revered as a legend and an icon at Penn State. And the University deserves the reminder of what one man is capable of - good or bad.
Thursday, July 19, 2012
You'll find your words
I've been listening to a ton of Explosions In The Sky recently. It's almost entirely attributed to my purchase of their most recent album, but also because it puts me in an incredible thinking state of mind. Songs with lyrics or music videos offer a guided path towards an interpretation, but with instrumental music, all you have are the sounds, and a song title. (Even the latter doesn't help most of the time.) And because of that, you find your own words to the song. You create the story behind the music, playing through scenes in your head. Yeah, you can visualize something if you're listening to a song with lyrics, but it's what the lyrics are that brings you to that visualization. Instrumentals give you the opportunity to create it yourself. You bring everything into the world of the song.
Monday, July 16, 2012
Like son, like father
If there's one thing you know about me, it's that I have some rather distinguishable laughs. Most notably the one where I giggle repeatedly and double over in near pain because something is funny. "Hehe" is often used here. Well, I had to get that from somewhere, right? I'm going with my dad, because, well, that's how genetics work. Every summer in Cape Cod, my dad and I would always watch one potentially hilarious movie. Here's what's gone down in the previous five years, since we started doing this:
2007: I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry
Back when Adam Sandler was still funny, we figured that this would be something worth seeing, and it totally was. It actually remains one of my favorite comedies today, because of some of the humor in it. Not to mention that I get to see Dan Aykroyd post-Elwood. He might not be as thin as his days as a Blues Brother, but he's definitely still as funny. And quirky. Makes for a funny movie. This was actually a pretty good movie outside of the comedy as well, because of the messages it sends and how it brings everything together. This might be the last good movie Adam Sandler and his buddies made. After this, he sort of just left everyone that helped him make hilarious movies for a decade and started doing his own thing. Not what he used to be, but that doesn't ruin the kind of hilarious person he was. Good movie.
2008: Step Brothers
Easily my favorite of the movies we've seen. I know a movie is going to be on my all-time list of favorites when there's one scene that unexpectedly happens and I cry my eyes out laughing. It happened during Anchorman, and it happened during Step Brothers. The scene in Step Brothers was longer and didn't make it an instantaneous burst of laughter, but what was going on made it just as hilarious. The best part is knowing that I will never laugh as hard as I did the first time, because I'll be expecting it. Kind of a bummer that I won't cry my eyes out laughing like that, but it happened only once, which makes it awesome.
2009: The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard
I think this movie was/is underratedly funny. It had just the right amount of people I knew from other movies, but not too much to know that everyone in the industry just decided to collaborate on something. Each character was funny in his/her own way, which made everything really interesting. I've only seen this movie once since we saw it in the Cape, and it was during my freshman year at Stonehill. I was stirring around one day and thought, hey, maybe I should watch this movie again. I got through half of it. Not because it's bad, because when I'm stirring around, I can't really stay on one thing for too long. Still a really funny movie though.
2010: Grown Ups
Grown Ups might have been Adam Sandler's swan song. After the movie, I could definitely see where all of those actors thought that it might be one of their last R-rated, raunchy, hilarious movies together, so a bunch of funny guys (Sandler, Kevin James, David Spade, Rob Schneider, Chris Rock) decided to be funny on set for a while and make a movie out of it. (Editor's Note: I include Chris Rock in that list not because he was one of the main actors, but because it was probably one of his last R-rated, raunchy, hilarious movies. It also might have been one of his first.) With some of these guys past their prime as really funny people, it wasn't as hilarious as some of their other movies, but it was still worth seeing. I would watch it again if it were on TV or something. I like thinking that they knew it was one of their last really good movies. Even if that's horribly far from the truth. I like it because they would have put everything they could into one more movie, and I think that shows.
We didn't see any movies in 2011, and have yet to in 2012, but in defense, we've been to the Cape fewer times this summer. Just a lot of stuff going on now that I'm in the almost real world. Back in high school it was like lah-dee-dah let's go watch a movie because we can. Not that it's no longer like that, but it's...actually, I am making it sound like it's no longer like that. Hm...
2007: I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry
Easily my favorite of the movies we've seen. I know a movie is going to be on my all-time list of favorites when there's one scene that unexpectedly happens and I cry my eyes out laughing. It happened during Anchorman, and it happened during Step Brothers. The scene in Step Brothers was longer and didn't make it an instantaneous burst of laughter, but what was going on made it just as hilarious. The best part is knowing that I will never laugh as hard as I did the first time, because I'll be expecting it. Kind of a bummer that I won't cry my eyes out laughing like that, but it happened only once, which makes it awesome.
2009: The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard
I think this movie was/is underratedly funny. It had just the right amount of people I knew from other movies, but not too much to know that everyone in the industry just decided to collaborate on something. Each character was funny in his/her own way, which made everything really interesting. I've only seen this movie once since we saw it in the Cape, and it was during my freshman year at Stonehill. I was stirring around one day and thought, hey, maybe I should watch this movie again. I got through half of it. Not because it's bad, because when I'm stirring around, I can't really stay on one thing for too long. Still a really funny movie though.
2010: Grown Ups
We didn't see any movies in 2011, and have yet to in 2012, but in defense, we've been to the Cape fewer times this summer. Just a lot of stuff going on now that I'm in the almost real world. Back in high school it was like lah-dee-dah let's go watch a movie because we can. Not that it's no longer like that, but it's...actually, I am making it sound like it's no longer like that. Hm...
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
568 days, 218 rooms: Part 2
1. All I Want is You. When I read this today, I could put myself in the place I was in when I first wrote it. I've always seemed to struggle with the afterlife, and the uncertainty of what happens, and even my growing belief that this is all there is. Stonehill has made me a lot more spiritual than I ever have been, and I've thought about spirituality/religion way more in the past two years than I ever have. To see all of that come out into one post, I know that I put everything I was feeling out there. Especially when I explicitly say so at the end.
2. Values Game #6. I have a huge soft spot for awesome quotes, because to me, they really do give such a sense of what life is. I love that in this post, I talk about the Jean-Paul Sartre quote that I'm pretty sure I'm obsessed with, and my meaning of life post. Two things that have come up multiple times in my blog. The deep breath, too. Anytime I take a deep breath or something after a blog post, I can feel myself giving everything I can to the words. I can feel the essence of the post and how much it means to me.
3. The Journey. Get me talking about this poem, and you'll see why it's on this list. It means so much to me because of the message it sends - all we can do is fend for ourselves. Yes, there will be plenty of people that will care about us, and plenty of people we'll care for, but in the end, the only thing we can do is save ourselves. Stars burning through the sheets of clouds is one of the many examples I could use to describe being in a moment. You feel like you are a star burning through the sheets of clouds. It's an incredible feeling.
4. Stonehill "problems". One post does not adequately describe how much I absolutely love Stonehill. Ten posts probably don't do it justice. You literally need to be around me during the Stonehill/Bentley home game, or Orientation, or Relay for Life, or out on the quad, or scooting around on campus...Stonehill has been nothing but good to me, and I'm doing whatever I can to give back. I don't think there's anything better to do at Stonehill than to show everyone else how much you love it. It explains me being a Peer Mentor, Student Ambassador, sports broadcaster, Math Lab tutor...being a part of as much as I can at Stonehill is not only what makes me love this place so much, but what makes me want to show everyone else how amazing this place really is.
5. High school Tardiff. As I wrote this, and as I read it, I could feel how real everything was. As I read earlier today, I could point to the exact spots where I knew I was being 100% real with everything I was saying. I love being consciously aware of the eventual termination of our lives. Sure, sometimes it scares the hell out of me, but when it doesn't, it makes me a better person. Thinking about that gives me the opportunity to know that what happens to us is real. Everything is real, which is a theme of some of my posts. This post is one of the best examples of me being in the moment, knowing that life is real and everything that happens between the start and the end of it is real.
6. One Summer, Many Rooms. The reason I love this particular end-of-a-Stonehill-year post is the same reason as I love the post I just mentioned - I can point to the end and know that in that moment, what I was feeling was real. After I finished that final post, I sat and took in the world around me, feeling incredibly alive. Like I said, knowing that this life ends eventually is what brings it so much meaning. It means you have to truly live in the moment, and in that moment, I know that I was doing just that.
7. The meaning of life. I love my other end-of-a-Stonehill-year post because, despite the depth and sincerity to it, it feels quiet. I remember as I typed it that I was going slowly, but for no particular reason. It was just how I was operating as I wrote. Time seemed to slow down for those 23 minutes, and it was a different kind of moment that I was in. I felt like I had finished something that meant a lot to me, and similar to my sophomore end-of-a-Stonehill-year post, I just kind of sat there for a while. Reading this post again, I feel connected to not only the person I was at the time, but the person I am now, and how I have changed.
8. Don't regret this life. Any post where I explicitly talk about living in a moment and letting music take over that moment has to make the list. Albeit a short post, there's a lot I could say about the subject (see: this post). Music really is such a complement to moments in our lives, and not just during the climactic parts of movies. I'm sure you can think of a song that you would listen to given a certain situation. Reading this didn't do as much for me as actually thinking about music and its power of the moment.
9. What diversity means to me. I don't love this because it's some mega-profound epiphany. It's something that I've believed for a while, has been reaffirmed while at Stonehill, and will stay with me for a while. I thoroughly enjoy going off on certain subjects, and this is one of them. I obviously wanted to blog about this right after I took that survey, which means that I actively sought out talking about this, instead of having it be something that just came to me. Any time that happens, I know I'll be very into it.
10. Straight in a straight line. To me, this post perfectly encapsulates the idea of life being real. When you acknowledge the infinite number of alternate paths your life could have taken, it makes you appreciate the one you're on that much more. To know that this is what's happening right now, in the moment. Yeah, you could have been in a different moment right now, but you're not. You have this moment right here. I love thinking about moments like that. I couldn't have gotten to this moment without everything in my life happening exactly the way it did. Including simple decisions like in what order I go about my day. Who knows how different this post would have been if I wrote it around 6:30 p.m. instead of right now. No one will ever know, because this moment is now. The moment is now.
2. Values Game #6. I have a huge soft spot for awesome quotes, because to me, they really do give such a sense of what life is. I love that in this post, I talk about the Jean-Paul Sartre quote that I'm pretty sure I'm obsessed with, and my meaning of life post. Two things that have come up multiple times in my blog. The deep breath, too. Anytime I take a deep breath or something after a blog post, I can feel myself giving everything I can to the words. I can feel the essence of the post and how much it means to me.
3. The Journey. Get me talking about this poem, and you'll see why it's on this list. It means so much to me because of the message it sends - all we can do is fend for ourselves. Yes, there will be plenty of people that will care about us, and plenty of people we'll care for, but in the end, the only thing we can do is save ourselves. Stars burning through the sheets of clouds is one of the many examples I could use to describe being in a moment. You feel like you are a star burning through the sheets of clouds. It's an incredible feeling.
4. Stonehill "problems". One post does not adequately describe how much I absolutely love Stonehill. Ten posts probably don't do it justice. You literally need to be around me during the Stonehill/Bentley home game, or Orientation, or Relay for Life, or out on the quad, or scooting around on campus...Stonehill has been nothing but good to me, and I'm doing whatever I can to give back. I don't think there's anything better to do at Stonehill than to show everyone else how much you love it. It explains me being a Peer Mentor, Student Ambassador, sports broadcaster, Math Lab tutor...being a part of as much as I can at Stonehill is not only what makes me love this place so much, but what makes me want to show everyone else how amazing this place really is.
5. High school Tardiff. As I wrote this, and as I read it, I could feel how real everything was. As I read earlier today, I could point to the exact spots where I knew I was being 100% real with everything I was saying. I love being consciously aware of the eventual termination of our lives. Sure, sometimes it scares the hell out of me, but when it doesn't, it makes me a better person. Thinking about that gives me the opportunity to know that what happens to us is real. Everything is real, which is a theme of some of my posts. This post is one of the best examples of me being in the moment, knowing that life is real and everything that happens between the start and the end of it is real.
6. One Summer, Many Rooms. The reason I love this particular end-of-a-Stonehill-year post is the same reason as I love the post I just mentioned - I can point to the end and know that in that moment, what I was feeling was real. After I finished that final post, I sat and took in the world around me, feeling incredibly alive. Like I said, knowing that this life ends eventually is what brings it so much meaning. It means you have to truly live in the moment, and in that moment, I know that I was doing just that.
7. The meaning of life. I love my other end-of-a-Stonehill-year post because, despite the depth and sincerity to it, it feels quiet. I remember as I typed it that I was going slowly, but for no particular reason. It was just how I was operating as I wrote. Time seemed to slow down for those 23 minutes, and it was a different kind of moment that I was in. I felt like I had finished something that meant a lot to me, and similar to my sophomore end-of-a-Stonehill-year post, I just kind of sat there for a while. Reading this post again, I feel connected to not only the person I was at the time, but the person I am now, and how I have changed.
8. Don't regret this life. Any post where I explicitly talk about living in a moment and letting music take over that moment has to make the list. Albeit a short post, there's a lot I could say about the subject (see: this post). Music really is such a complement to moments in our lives, and not just during the climactic parts of movies. I'm sure you can think of a song that you would listen to given a certain situation. Reading this didn't do as much for me as actually thinking about music and its power of the moment.
9. What diversity means to me. I don't love this because it's some mega-profound epiphany. It's something that I've believed for a while, has been reaffirmed while at Stonehill, and will stay with me for a while. I thoroughly enjoy going off on certain subjects, and this is one of them. I obviously wanted to blog about this right after I took that survey, which means that I actively sought out talking about this, instead of having it be something that just came to me. Any time that happens, I know I'll be very into it.
10. Straight in a straight line. To me, this post perfectly encapsulates the idea of life being real. When you acknowledge the infinite number of alternate paths your life could have taken, it makes you appreciate the one you're on that much more. To know that this is what's happening right now, in the moment. Yeah, you could have been in a different moment right now, but you're not. You have this moment right here. I love thinking about moments like that. I couldn't have gotten to this moment without everything in my life happening exactly the way it did. Including simple decisions like in what order I go about my day. Who knows how different this post would have been if I wrote it around 6:30 p.m. instead of right now. No one will ever know, because this moment is now. The moment is now.
568 days, 218 rooms: Part 1
Allow me to take you to Room #1. At the end of my first blog post, I said that my blog was going to be a representation of me. I'd be lying if I said that wasn't the case, 568 days and 218 posts later. In my previous post, I said that I wanted to see the ten best examples of me thinking about things, where I can read a post and know that I was in the moment at that time, with the wheels turning. And as I started to read through all my blog posts, I started noticing a few things about how I was going about it. I would instantly skip the sports posts, skim through the shorter posts, yet read intensively the longer, more philosophic posts. I now fully believe that Intro to Philosophy has been my favorite class at Stonehill, and has afforded me the most opportunity to learn about myself and the world we live in. It's no accident that a few of these posts come right from my philosophy class. But as I was going through my blog, I thought about these moments that I was in at the time. I can never be in that moment again. Yeah, I can read and remember what I was thinking, and probably what music I was listening to, but I can't capture the same feeling I had as I was writing the words. And I'm okay with that. I'll still pull out some posts that I enjoyed writing/reading, because I think they are an accurate representation of me/my thoughts, but as you go through them, understand that every moment, every room, is different. That's what's so great about this life, that everything is different and new.
I spent the entire time listening to Explosions in the Sky. What I've come to understand about their songs is that they put you in an immediate mood. But what's even better is that you have to learn exactly what that mood is before you can put yourself in it. For the first few times you listen to the song, it's just that - a song. But after, it becomes more. It becomes a part of you, it drives you, and you feel connected to it. I can be in the moment during any part of their music - slow, fast, quiet, loud...and they're all different kinds of moments. When you give yourself to the music, you feel yourself doing so. You feel yourself in the moment, which is what these posts are all about. You know that that moment is something special, and you do everything you can to hold onto it. That's what these are about.
I spent the entire time listening to Explosions in the Sky. What I've come to understand about their songs is that they put you in an immediate mood. But what's even better is that you have to learn exactly what that mood is before you can put yourself in it. For the first few times you listen to the song, it's just that - a song. But after, it becomes more. It becomes a part of you, it drives you, and you feel connected to it. I can be in the moment during any part of their music - slow, fast, quiet, loud...and they're all different kinds of moments. When you give yourself to the music, you feel yourself doing so. You feel yourself in the moment, which is what these posts are all about. You know that that moment is something special, and you do everything you can to hold onto it. That's what these are about.
Saturday, July 7, 2012
Analytics
So I think I'm going to spend some time in the next day or two and read through all my blog posts. Yep, all 218 of them. Which, for all I know, could take north of two hours, but will be worth it. I won't be doing it to see how far I've come as a person...I'll be doing it to see how far I'm come as a writer; mainly about myself. I'm one of the most analytic people I know, and I think that if I've been blogging for about a year and a half now, I should be able to understand myself pretty well. After all, I've been with myself for 20 years, seven months, and one day. (That's right...I'm 21 in under five months. Yikes.) And I've always prided myself on being able to find the best combination of words to fit exactly my thoughts. Well, I'm putting myself up to the challenge. I want to see what my ten best blog posts are. Not in terms of page views, comments, input...not in terms of how much I enjoyed whatever I was talking about...I want to see the ten best examples of me thinking about things. It's one of my favorite things to do, and pulling out ten posts that really capture the wheels turning is fuel for future blog posts, so I know what I can live up to. Ten posts that really show that I'm in it, per Natalie Portman in Garden State. I'm really excited for this, and I know that if nothing else, it will get me thinking about thinking. Perfect.
Friday, July 6, 2012
Rivalry renewed?
Four games remain before the All-Star Break for the Red Sox, and they couldn't have come against a better team. With four games in three days against the Yankees, the Red Sox have a chance to cut into New York's 7.5 game lead over Boston. But what about the actual excitement/intensity of the games? When was the last great Red Sox/Yankees series we saw? Here are the probable pitching matchups for the weekend series:
Friday: Hiroki Kuroda vs. Josh Beckett
Saturday, Game 1: Phil Hughes vs. Franklin Morales
Saturday, Game 2: Freddy Garcia vs. Felix Doubront
Sunday: Ivan Nova vs. Jon Lester
Seriously? The closest thing to a "you have to be watching this game" matchup is Nova and Lester. Where are the days of Pedro, Clemens, Mussina, and Schilling? I just don't feel the intensity of Red Sox/Yankees games like I used to. Hopefully I'm proved wrong this weekend, but it's just not there.
Friday: Hiroki Kuroda vs. Josh Beckett
Saturday, Game 1: Phil Hughes vs. Franklin Morales
Saturday, Game 2: Freddy Garcia vs. Felix Doubront
Sunday: Ivan Nova vs. Jon Lester
Seriously? The closest thing to a "you have to be watching this game" matchup is Nova and Lester. Where are the days of Pedro, Clemens, Mussina, and Schilling? I just don't feel the intensity of Red Sox/Yankees games like I used to. Hopefully I'm proved wrong this weekend, but it's just not there.
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