Quick test, good song

Testing the Yahoo media player, what MFR uses and it's really great for music blogs. Here's a song to test it out on here.

Dirty Projectors - Useful Chamber

The break of yawn

I got up today at 8. That usually means I woke up at 8, went back to bed, and got out of bed at 9. not today. I woke up and was super energized, which was weird but welcome. I decided to go into work early instead of taking my usual half an hour to get ready. So I drive to work and eat a sandwich on the way there singing along to the music. most everyday I go to work before 9 I get a good parking spot. That's because most people get to work around 8:45 to 9:30. So I figured, because it was 8:20, I'd be super close to the building. Boy was I wrong.
I had to park in the back of the good lot, which is in someplace further than the next lot. It made no sense to me at all. Why would people get up early on a hump day and go to work. Well, the answer, I believe, is a mysterious force that connects everyone.

There are a lot of books and movies that attempt to describe the concept and some get closer to others, but it is a very vague idea. I think the best way to know it is to experience it and notice it when you think it happens. In the movie waking life, there is a discussion of the rough idea, here is the transcript:

I like that. It's like there's this whole telepathic thing going on that we're all a part of, whether we're conscious of it or not. That would explain why there are all these seemingly spontaneous worldwide innovative leaps in science and the arts, you know, like the same results popping up everywhere independent of each other. Some guy on a computer figures something out, and then almost simultaneously a bunch of other people all over the world figure out the same thing. They did this study where they isolated a group of people over time, you know, and monitored their abilities at crossword puzzles in relation to the general population, and they secretly gave them a day-old crossword, one that had already been answered by thousands of other people, and their scores went up dramatically. Like 20%. So it's like once the answers are out there, people can pick up on them. Like we're all telepathically sharing our experiences.

Their conversation deals more with knowledge in the collective memory that people subconsciously tap into. While extraordinary, this is very subtle and you could do it everyday without knowing it. What I'm trying to get at is the real time version of this phenomenon. Today, hundreds of people went to work at Thomson earlier than usual. I have no idea if there are any statistics on what days people come in the earliest and it might be a coincidence. But I don't think so, mostly based on the fact that I never get to work that early. There was some pull that got me out of bed and in a rush to work. And I think it pulled a lot of other people here too.

Think about this: have you ever been doing something or feeling a certain way and talk to someone who is doing or feeling exactly what you are? It's kind of creepy. But it happens, a lot. Its a common group mentality that any given group will all have roughly the same emotion. There is rarely a split where a group of people are very happy or very sad. Last week I went to a bonfire with my friends and we were all surprisingly happy. It was surprising because we all had been not been doing anything exciting for the past two weeks and so for us to suddenly be okay was out of place. In the moment it was perfect though. Because when you have a unexciting week, you just want to be happy and so by our joined will, we were.
This also happens in very strong relationships. Not just romantic relationships either. I guess connection would be a better word to avoid the confusion, but I think that two people's connection is a part of their relationship. Best friends rely on each other to be there and the reason that that best friend is the best is because your relationship/connection is strong. I've had a lot of recent experiences where I'm doing or thinking something and I will tell a friend and they say that they were thinking or doing the exact same thing. It seems strange, but it also seems very fitting that they are my friend. It's like, oh yeah, that's why were close. Because we not only think alike, but we feel alike across unsaid distances.

If you have felt this way, then be proud of it because a lot of people don't understand just how strong our connections with others are and seeing that important.

Fish Fry

I have had a gross oily feeling for most of summer. I would eat greasy
fried foods and feel gross. I would then banish grease from my diet
and then not think of anything to eat. It really isn't easy to get
fast meals if you dont have the right ingredients ready and I usually
don't have them ready. At work, my first search was for the best and
cheapest food they served. I usually got cheeseburgers because they were a constant price and a good amount of food for $2.50. Then one day the grill was closed because it was after lunch hours and so I had to look around. I found the soup and chili. Now, I love chili. I really do.
And so when I saw that chili comes in cup servings for about two dollars I figured it was a good deal. But what I didn't do was keep getting chili. But today I wanted something hearty as my breakfast was smallish (usually I don't eat breakfast at all). So I got chili and an empty 32 oz cup (for 10 cents) and am having a healthy yet substantial meal.
And so when I go back to Morris, I will be sure to be making lots of chili and hearty meals. They really aren't difficult and usually aren't expensive and taste amazing.

trilogy = new movie[1][3]

I like the matrix movies. I like them all.
That may get such reactions as "what an idiot," "how is that possible," or "yes, and?" but I just realized why I like them all. It's like this:

Most people like/love the first movie, "the matrix" as a stand alone film. I can see how that works, because it's good without all the complication that comes from the later films. I can't, however, see how it is a good movie by itself when you have knowledge of the other movies. The first movie does not end well. It is a huge cliff hanger and opens a crap load of doors that wouldn't stand if they weren't concluded. My main pet peeve is "Why does he fly like a stiff?" The end of the movie has neo say he's the one and then he just flies away. No explanation of how he flies or why we should accept that. Yeah, he's the one, but he also flies away looking stupid. I can't decide if the flying motion was bad editing choice or just limitations of the time. Because he is just standing, then he is moving vertically. Superman had the one arm forward pose and it was clear that he was in fly mode. The lack of change in stance between standing and upward momentum really upsets me. Even in the later movies he has more of a "yeah, I'm flying" look with his arms pretending to be small rudders.

Knowing that he can fly opens so many doors that there has to be more to tackle it, which brings us to the second movie: reloaded. This movie is all about excess action and entertainment. That is why it is a good movie. They built a section of a freeway in the middle of nowhere just so they could crash things and blow shit up on it. We also get more plot, which could have been simply left out except that the action demanded something to make it plausible. The plot was interesting enough that I will forgive the very rough dialogue. The problem with the plot was that they made it too big. Could they have made it shorter? maybe. But it would not be as epic a story and so they did the right thing and make another movie: revolution.

This movie is hard to talk about because I only saw it once, but it was good for what it did: conclude the plot. Every time I watch reloaded, I want to just go through the plot of this movie so I remember wtf happens and that it all makes sense somehow. The fact that his powers work in the real world? Kinda iffy, but I'll buy it. The thing that redeems this movie the most has to be the special effects. The tech had advanced so much by this time that they could do justice to Zion and the larger machine city. The fight between Neo and smith at the end is so epic a battle that it couldn't have not caused a lightning storm. Another fav subtly of this movie and also the second is the color scheme. They did what I love when movies do, they make the world colorful in a way only movies can be. They took the green neon glow of the terminal screen they read the matrix on and applied it to most every surface in the matrix world. This use of color makes me extremely happy.

I also want to briefly talk about another part of the matrix world: the animatrix. Where and when else do I get to talk about this stuff? Nowhere, never.

The animatrix was pure fanboy eye candy. There is some plot in there, but I'll focus on how they added to the world without crippling any of it. By adding smaller stories and plots to the trilogy they show how sweet the matrix can be. Think of who likes the movies: nerds and geeks. What do nerds and geeks like? Anime. And so why not combine the two into awesome? There is no reason, and so they did.

That is why I like all the matrix films and not just the first one. They all basically kicked ass.

I tend to cross my arms alo...damn it, don't judge me.

So I've been getting up late recently for work. It's probably because I also have been staying up later, but that's not the point. the point is that I figured a couple nights ago that setting one alarm wasn't enough. So I used my phone to set two more alarms. This worked yesterday morning because I snoozed my first alarm and so when my phone started playing music I woke up, but because it was good music it wasn't painful. This morning I did the same thing, but I got up over an hour after my alarms went off. How did that happen? I have no idea, but it's sad that three worked worse than one.

I had a grilled cheese sandwich and tomato soup for lunch, and I liked it.

I crack my knuckles. That shouldn't be a surprise for anyone, but I noticed today that I'm cracking my knuckles a lot this week. Like loud and obnoxious cracking that I think makes anyone without headphones around me annoyed. Tough luck for them. I've heard that cracking your knuckles is a sign of aggression, in body language speak. I don't really think it means that when I do it though. Because I do it because if I don't my joints become stiff and hurt. I have been trying to cross my arms less though, which I know is body language for not being approachable. I do it because I don't know where to put my arms sometimes when I'm standing. It's annoying, but I can see the idea.
Julie once recommended a body language book to me, but I forgot the title of it. Julie, if you read this, comment the name.

Cause I miss you all(ready)

I was pondering about how the next few weeks will go and I am somewhat distinctly positive that they will be nice. I would normally say that they will be the best things in the world and I will do sooo many things, but in this post I will be realistic. I don't plan on really getting too much done in the way of goals. That is a sadder thought than I'd like, but for the rest of summer, I think it will be okay. I've wished for wonderful and had wonderful and it is wonderful. But maintaining that level of perfection in life is quite difficult and of course it all came crashing down into a heap of unfulfilled expectations.

I like nice, also. I see nothing wrong with being comfortable and having pleasant days. So, instead of expecting the most out of summer, from now on I will be content with seeing people on a usual basis and doing things in time and loving every moment of it. So expect that when I get back on Sunday.

But in an hour I'll be in Wisconsin, so see ya later, Minnesota.

Let's talk around.

Today I was thinking, as I do most days these days. (What I've found is that I don't write blogs as much when I hang out with and talk to people. It gets my thoughts out of my head and then I don't write them on here. It makes it difficult to record an account of happenings, but if it means I'm talking to people, then that's a good thing). I was driving to work this morning and I was playing morning music as I do most mornings. (Morning music really could mean any type of music, it depends on the morning. This morning was Animal Collective's feels album. I just realized how spectacular banshee beat is and so I've been engrossed in it recently.) And so after getting onto 5 and then 55 with near crashes. (When I goto work I have to merge onto two different highways in quick succession and they are difficult merges because people like to drive too fast or too slow. I'm glad my commute is short, but it isn't straight at all, there's only about 5 minutes of driving with no turns. And the 5 minutes usually has a red light in it.) So I got into the thomson parking lot and it was already pretty full, but not as full as it was last week. (Last week they redid the asphalt on the main lot and so my usual lot became overflow parking and I had to park another 3 minutes away. Very annoying, but it's done now.) And I was walking to the building and there weren't many others walking because it was already 9:28. (I was late because 1. I woke up/fell back to sleep 2. I had to pack my car with camping supplies 3. I went to pick some of meghan's things from her mom's house.)
And so I was thinking, how can I possibly get back into writing blogs when I haven't written one in a while. I think this was a decent way to do it.

Only a month

In a month I will be in Morris. I am really excited for that. In 5 days I will be in chicago, I am very excited about that. If this were "find the pattern", I'd assume it is obvious that I am exited to be in other places. Gold star. The cities have not been fulfilling the standards I gave them at the end of the semester. It's in part my own choices of not doing many city life social things, but in general, it just hasn't been the best in the world. And that isn't a sarcastic best in the world, I really mean the best. That is probably a really high standard to have. But that's what I gave this summer.

My standard goal making has left me with a lot to do. I know that I could do all the things that I want to, but they mostly all require other people and it seems that most people this summer have been up for doing stuff, but not actually ever doing stuff. It's easier said than done I guess. We did a good job at the beginning of summer.