Sensationalism

Have any over you ever wondered why we think Celebrity news is "sensational"? Or why we value the personal life of a stranger more than news about the world we live in and how it affects us?

I personally believe that this trend of sensationalism started during the Cold War.

During that time there was very little happening in the world...it was a quiet time. A time when newspapers and magazines needed SOMETHING to fill their empty pages, and since the entertainment industry was blossoming, thats what they chose to cover.

Talk shows began covering Elvis Presley's new style of music and even then there were still very few celebrities so the more information they could grab about these celebrities the more space they could fill in their publications.

The people were fed celebrity news, and kids growing up in that time became accustomed to it and were taught that Celebrities lives are our news.

Thus today those kids read these magazines which makes its way into their kids worlds too, and we are stuck in the pop culture that we are in right now.

That's what I think, what are your opinions?

Americans stupidity

First watch this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJuNgBkloFE

I have my own ideas about this, but I want to hear your thoughts:

How can we be so ignorant?

Is it because of our education system (if so, what makes it so bad?), our conservatism, our World War II arrogant mindset, our uncaring attitude...

And how do we fix it?

Tumblr

So...my friends from California made me make a Tumblr in Feb (if you remember, when you all moved to Blogger I was complaining that I already had a Tumblr)

And NOW they're making me use it.

So I've decided I'm going to keep this Blog to post my thoughts and opinions on issues, because I tend to think of that shit a lot.

And then my Tumblr is going to be a video blog on a more casual "WASSSUP!?" level.

This is the link (there's nothing up yet as of July 21st)


Password is: slamacow
:)

Internships for next summer...

So you guys...

I've been talking to friends from CMU and home and lots of people have had lots of trouble finding a job or internship (I lucked out!)

Not only does the economy suck, but its also hard to know where and how to apply!
And it's always hard without connections.

So I made this nifty internship spreadsheet. I'm adding all the internship opportunities I know of in this area so if some of you guys want to come visit me next summer and work here, you'd know where to apply :D

And of course, if you happen to know of some internships in your area (but you don't want to stay in your area, or the company doesn't want someone of your major, etc), you should add it to the list so other people can apply!

It automatically color codes it, so just write what major, etc. Follow the example.
If it doesn't color code it immediately, don't worry about it: I'll check it later.
And you can still sort by major

Also!

Keep this between just us and your close friends. We don't want EVERYONE applying to the same places because then no one will get anything! :)

I know it's super early to think of this kind of stuff, but just keep it in your Google docs and look at it later !

The Formula

You know, whenever I'm home, I almost always feel like an underachiever.

My ex-boyfriend is travelling the globe to compete in canoing competitions. He just got back from Vancouver. He's pursuing an Aeoronautical engineering degree at UC San Diego.

My best friend is currently coordinating and directing her own summer camp to teach kids the value of creativity. She is attending Stanford (major undecided)

My close friend is making a series of fashion music videos and is designing her own fashion collection to show at three shows in the Bay Area next year. She is pursuing a chemical engineering degree at UC Berkeley.

My art friend is making two 5-minute animations: one completely drawn by hand, the other completely done in Maya (3D models) in preparation for when he applies to work PIXAR in a few years. He is incorporating self composed music and voice acting. He goes to SAIC.

I've always wanted to be different and explore my abilities and the world.
I want to do something daring, and out of the ordinary. But at this point, I'm just plain...I'm in the school band, I play video games, I do martial arts, I play badminton, I have an internship... I do everything that is ordinary and organized. And I've always felt like a reason for that is I was always told I should be organized and businesslike to be a success, but the older I get the more real it becomes to me that that isn't the only way to success.

I saw a movie last night called "Acceptance" about how everyone is stuck in the "birth, school, college, job, kids, retire" formula.

Does anyone else feel like their skills are being contained because of this need for our society to follow that mold?

So my main question to you is:

If your parents were cool with whatever you did, and you could do anything with your life, what would you do and why? And if you couldn't think of anything, do you think it's because you have been brainwashed or do you really support this formulaic way to life?

I personally would join Drum and Bugle Corps International.
I'd make my own fashion and mask line and make my own website to promote it.
I'd start my own ska band and compose music, and maybe even try to become a pop star in LA.
I'd travel around the world for inspiration and just to see and soak in all the other cultures in the world.
I'd also move to San Francisco or New York City, or even Berlin!
And of course...
I'd make Jeremy Chen (MVHS) and Madeleine Robson (CMU) design a house modeled after buildings seen in Zelda and continue to collect random Zelda trinkets :D

Maybe I can just be one of those Silicon Valley stars that makes tons of money before they are 35 and then retire early and do most of those things :) There's still hope!

Length of Days

Has everyone ever wondered why days seem so much longer when you're a kid and so much shorter as an adult?

Do you think it's because as a child, you've only lived a limited number of days so each day is a larger percent of your overall life (A 5 year old child has lived 1825 days, so a day is 1/1825, while an 18 year old college student has lived 6570 days, so a day is 1/6570 a much smaller percentage) and thus it feels shorter?

Or maybe because as a child, you are easily excitable and look forward to so many small little things because you're present hedonistic (i.e. you look forward to ice cream tonight, playdate tomorrow morning, going to the park tomorrow afternoon), and as we know, if you watch the clock for class to end the clock seems to go 1/100th the speed it was going when you're not watching it. As an adult, you look forward to bigger achievements (i.e. graduating high school, concert in a month, finals in a few weeks, bigger events) so we aren't constantly watching the clock so time seems to go faster.

Similarly as children we consciously want time to go faster while as an adult you don't want it to. As a kid you WANT to grow up, you WANT to be big so you can go on the big rides at the amusement park, etc while as an adult you DON'T want to get wrinkles and you DON'T want to make that presentation for work tomorrow (so you don't look at the clock). And using the same principle as above, when you're consciously looking at the clock, time goes slower (because you aren't distracted enough?)

What are your thoughts on the matter?

UPDATE: I actually found this : http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=122322542
?

I believe...

...that every pool table in CMU's University Center should be adorned with this



...and that my first car should look like this: