The endless comparisons of who's school schedule, school day, or lack of sleep/stress.
Shits = none given.
Thursday, October 9, 2014
Wednesday, October 8, 2014
No Title
I wrote this once before on my Facebook about 4-5 years ago and it has been in my mind for as much time. I always thought that the initial version was rather weak, and didn't do my mind's eye justice. My limiting factor was my ability to write; I have improved leaps and bounds over the person I was, and although i have room for improvement, I find myself in a good enough position to give this another shot. I have done little fiction writing int he past year or so, because I have been busy being productive in other avenues of my writing, but it was never forgotten. My creative writing is still a massive part of who I am, and although unexpressed for the last year, it probably shadows any other aspect of who I am - I am a writer, of which a large part is consumed with a larger dream of releasing full novels with some of the fleshed out worlds I have created over the past few years that I have yet to release for public consumption. I will explain further in the future, but for now, I'd like to preface this piece by explaining something.
This piece is a weird, twisted one sided story that I haven't bothered putting more thought into, because it is perfect the way it is - simply as a glimpse of a strange world, a fantastical growth from a deeper recess of myself. This piece is more of an exploration of what I find creepy, scary, and disturbing, and allows me to practice my situational writing. Basically, a situation that would be terrifying to find yourself in. I've modified it in my head from the original, but the same basic idea still stands.
The dog was barking again - nothing new there.
"Chester! Be quiet! No one's there."
Ever since they'd moved to the neighborhood, he'd been barking at every sound. It'll take him some time to get used to being so close to people. Travis sat by the computer, trying to refocus on his work, but Chester kept on hollering at the invisible enemy. After a minute of sporadic barking inhibiting reattempts to concentrate, Travis got up from his desk and walked into the living room where Chester was barking at something outside the window. Travis took a quick glance, and as he'd suspected, it was nothing; if anything, it was the neighbor working in the yard. Jon could be found out in his yard at any hour of the day, but as the sun set, he usually took one last stab at planting, fixing, or rearranging some aspect of the garden.
With a sigh, and a quick ruffle of Chester's ears, Travis turned to walk into the adjacent open kitchen. Chester remained ever alert, his tongue suspended between his teeth, panting lightly, staring out of the low hanging window. Travis, unconcerned, opened the fridge and grabbed a Pepsi, looked at it, and then put it back in favor of Pepsi Max - Sophie had gotten on him about soda causing cancer or some rubbish of the sort. He opened the 20 oz bottle, letting carbonation escape before taking a swig. Turning, he took a casual look into the living room - Chester, ever watchful.
Travis chuckled, "You show 'em, boy."
Chester shifted a bit, rearranging his jowls as he surveyed the land before him. He then honed in a new target to begin his mumbles and growls - the precursor to his usual barking sessions.
"Hey, that's enough, buddy, I think whatever you're trying to act tough for is probably scared off by now.", Travis said lightly as he approached the front of the house again and laid a hand on Chester's back. Chester let out a few barks, and then turned to his owner briefly.
"Okay, okay, I'm going to show you that there is nothing there, come here." Putting his drink on the mantle, and grabbing Chester's collar, Travis pulled him to the front door.
Opening the door, one hand remaining firmly on Chester's collar, they walked onto the front step.
"As usual, you're overreacting,", Travis spoke to his puppy as if he could understand him, "I think the score is about a million, me, and zero, you."
Charlie barked once more at something down the road, and Travis followed his sight line. A neighbor down the road was standing on his front step, as well.
"If you're going to bark at everyone that walks out of their house, Ches, I'm going to have to put you in the backyard - I can't do my work."
The dog began intermittently growling, his eyes peeled in the same direction as before. Travis kneeled down to ease the discomfort of being half stooped down to keep a steady hand on his puppy.
"Ches, stop it, seriously."
Taking a second glance, Travis noticed that another neighbor had emerged down the street and was standing oddly slumped over on his front step. He couldn't remember his name, but he remembered meeting him the other week. He looked at one of the closest houses to his own and saw Mrs. Samson doing the same thing, and upon further investigation, all of the neighbors were acting the same way - slumped over, arms sort of dangling by their sides, unmoving from their respective front steps, doors open behind them. Finally, Travis turned his gaze to Jon's house, his nearest neighbor, and the one he had gotten to know the best over the past few months since he and Sophie had moved into the new house; alarmingly, he too was acting strangely.
Half whispering, Travis pulled his dog closer, "Chester, what's wrong with them?", but Chester only growled, his muzzle crinkled up, ears half folded back in alarm.
Travis made a C shape with his free hand, cupping it around his mouth, and yelled across the street to Jon, "Jon, are you alright?", his voice cracking a bit.
No response.
To Be Continued...
This piece is a weird, twisted one sided story that I haven't bothered putting more thought into, because it is perfect the way it is - simply as a glimpse of a strange world, a fantastical growth from a deeper recess of myself. This piece is more of an exploration of what I find creepy, scary, and disturbing, and allows me to practice my situational writing. Basically, a situation that would be terrifying to find yourself in. I've modified it in my head from the original, but the same basic idea still stands.
The dog was barking again - nothing new there.
"Chester! Be quiet! No one's there."
Ever since they'd moved to the neighborhood, he'd been barking at every sound. It'll take him some time to get used to being so close to people. Travis sat by the computer, trying to refocus on his work, but Chester kept on hollering at the invisible enemy. After a minute of sporadic barking inhibiting reattempts to concentrate, Travis got up from his desk and walked into the living room where Chester was barking at something outside the window. Travis took a quick glance, and as he'd suspected, it was nothing; if anything, it was the neighbor working in the yard. Jon could be found out in his yard at any hour of the day, but as the sun set, he usually took one last stab at planting, fixing, or rearranging some aspect of the garden.
With a sigh, and a quick ruffle of Chester's ears, Travis turned to walk into the adjacent open kitchen. Chester remained ever alert, his tongue suspended between his teeth, panting lightly, staring out of the low hanging window. Travis, unconcerned, opened the fridge and grabbed a Pepsi, looked at it, and then put it back in favor of Pepsi Max - Sophie had gotten on him about soda causing cancer or some rubbish of the sort. He opened the 20 oz bottle, letting carbonation escape before taking a swig. Turning, he took a casual look into the living room - Chester, ever watchful.
Travis chuckled, "You show 'em, boy."
Chester shifted a bit, rearranging his jowls as he surveyed the land before him. He then honed in a new target to begin his mumbles and growls - the precursor to his usual barking sessions.
"Hey, that's enough, buddy, I think whatever you're trying to act tough for is probably scared off by now.", Travis said lightly as he approached the front of the house again and laid a hand on Chester's back. Chester let out a few barks, and then turned to his owner briefly.
"Okay, okay, I'm going to show you that there is nothing there, come here." Putting his drink on the mantle, and grabbing Chester's collar, Travis pulled him to the front door.
Opening the door, one hand remaining firmly on Chester's collar, they walked onto the front step.
"As usual, you're overreacting,", Travis spoke to his puppy as if he could understand him, "I think the score is about a million, me, and zero, you."
Charlie barked once more at something down the road, and Travis followed his sight line. A neighbor down the road was standing on his front step, as well.
"If you're going to bark at everyone that walks out of their house, Ches, I'm going to have to put you in the backyard - I can't do my work."
The dog began intermittently growling, his eyes peeled in the same direction as before. Travis kneeled down to ease the discomfort of being half stooped down to keep a steady hand on his puppy.
"Ches, stop it, seriously."
Taking a second glance, Travis noticed that another neighbor had emerged down the street and was standing oddly slumped over on his front step. He couldn't remember his name, but he remembered meeting him the other week. He looked at one of the closest houses to his own and saw Mrs. Samson doing the same thing, and upon further investigation, all of the neighbors were acting the same way - slumped over, arms sort of dangling by their sides, unmoving from their respective front steps, doors open behind them. Finally, Travis turned his gaze to Jon's house, his nearest neighbor, and the one he had gotten to know the best over the past few months since he and Sophie had moved into the new house; alarmingly, he too was acting strangely.
Half whispering, Travis pulled his dog closer, "Chester, what's wrong with them?", but Chester only growled, his muzzle crinkled up, ears half folded back in alarm.
Travis made a C shape with his free hand, cupping it around his mouth, and yelled across the street to Jon, "Jon, are you alright?", his voice cracking a bit.
No response.
To Be Continued...
Talk Less, Think More
I think I walk across campus 2-3 times a day, and in doing so I inevitably pass a large amount of college students. Something that has stuck in my mind for a few days now is how many people, even in the fleeting moments of my walk by, seem to be endlessly fascinated by "people". Now, I don't mean they are fascinated in "people" from a sociological, anthropological, historical, or even a particularly psychological point of view, but more of a general babble about other people's live without much intellectual dissection. Now, I'm not saying that everyone has to be so diverse that every conversation they have is about some worldly fascinating subject, but I do find it noteworthy that so few people discuss the happenings of life from any perspective other than life ending at the extent of what another person is doing with their own life.
What Brittany is doing with Brad, or why Ashley has been deciding to stay in more often than usual is, in 97% of cases, a worthless discussion. Now, I understand that to expect people to engage in fulfilling conversation on a daily, let alone constant, basis is unrealistic. People are interesting, I get that, and we're all quite adept at talking about them - even if we are substantially worse at talking to them about the things we're willing to talk about them. Still, when every conversation I hear is about the shallow world of someone else, I genuinely see no point in such talk. Now, if we were to talk about someone else and expound into a greater discussion based on that initial example, there is something of worth, but the likelihood is low that any of these conversations are ending in some level of revelation or progression apart from self satisfaction or mind numbing conversation.
I thought I was unable to find people in my immediate surroundings that have some level of interest about them, but it is coming forth to me that the majority of the university scene is not about growth, but rather to achieve, blindly, relatively unimportant grades while hoping the weekend approaches to relieve us of the "stupidity" of classes. Admittedly, I fell, in some degree, in that category as well when I first entered university, but the past year or so has been an awakening of how much I don't give a damn about Brad, Angelina, or whoever, but rather in espousing knowledge for furthering my own career and developing my creative exploits. Admittedly, by the same token, I would appreciate conversation with similar mindsets, because these people are interesting, I find - sadly, few opportunities have arisen thus far.
Anyway, maybe the problem lies, as is always a possibility, that I am too critical - yet, I always remind myself that eccentricity can lead to progressive thought and value. The question is, do I (can I) give up my innately alternative style of thinking for the norm to fit in: the answer will probably always be "no".
Listening to: Childish Gabino, "Telegraph Avenue"
What Brittany is doing with Brad, or why Ashley has been deciding to stay in more often than usual is, in 97% of cases, a worthless discussion. Now, I understand that to expect people to engage in fulfilling conversation on a daily, let alone constant, basis is unrealistic. People are interesting, I get that, and we're all quite adept at talking about them - even if we are substantially worse at talking to them about the things we're willing to talk about them. Still, when every conversation I hear is about the shallow world of someone else, I genuinely see no point in such talk. Now, if we were to talk about someone else and expound into a greater discussion based on that initial example, there is something of worth, but the likelihood is low that any of these conversations are ending in some level of revelation or progression apart from self satisfaction or mind numbing conversation.
I thought I was unable to find people in my immediate surroundings that have some level of interest about them, but it is coming forth to me that the majority of the university scene is not about growth, but rather to achieve, blindly, relatively unimportant grades while hoping the weekend approaches to relieve us of the "stupidity" of classes. Admittedly, I fell, in some degree, in that category as well when I first entered university, but the past year or so has been an awakening of how much I don't give a damn about Brad, Angelina, or whoever, but rather in espousing knowledge for furthering my own career and developing my creative exploits. Admittedly, by the same token, I would appreciate conversation with similar mindsets, because these people are interesting, I find - sadly, few opportunities have arisen thus far.
Anyway, maybe the problem lies, as is always a possibility, that I am too critical - yet, I always remind myself that eccentricity can lead to progressive thought and value. The question is, do I (can I) give up my innately alternative style of thinking for the norm to fit in: the answer will probably always be "no".
Listening to: Childish Gabino, "Telegraph Avenue"
Tuesday, October 7, 2014
Biology Class Fascinations
So, this post is going to just be me nerd-ing out over some facts I learned in the past few weeks in my classes: thou hath been warned.
I'm currently taking a "Human Biology" course that is simply ripe with fantastic information. When I get especially drawn in by unbelievably cool information, I have a tendency to smile and chuckle relative to the amount that I think about the information; needless to expound, I am smiling a lot. So, what could be tickling my fancy? Probably nothing you, the reader, will find all that interesting, but to me it is ridiculously impactful.
For example, I've learned a few things about cellular processes. Literally all cellular processes are astounding, but I was especially taken with infectious disease. My professor worked for the CDC so his level of knowledge on the subject is evident, to say the least. Anyway, apparently when a pathogen enters a cell - which is already extremely difficult, as each cell has a security "code" that is dependent on something called "Haemagglutinin", and if the pathogen does not contain said code, it can not enter the cell. Let us assume that the pathogen did enter the cell, well the cell immediately begins starving the pathogen, pumps it full of free radicals (which, if you're unfamiliar, those are detrimental to you - you can imagine a concentrated dose isn't the greatest for a small pathogen), and finally, the cell unleashes Lysosomes upon the pathogen, which create an acidic environment for the pathogen to squirm in. However, you'd assume that something would just leave if it were immediately bombarded with all these horrors. Well, it can't. Basically, once it is in the cell, the cell "locks the door" by requiring a different password to leave that is dependent on "Neuraminidase". If the pathogen doesn't have that "password", it is locked in to its fate. After the cell has finished eating the pathogen, it stores its information so that future break ins are dealt with even greater ferocity and effectiveness.
While you're eating a burger, sleeping, watching Netflix, etc, your body is basically waging mass genocide on 99.99% of the pathogens that find themselves into your system. In a way, you have to feel sorry for those bacteria, viruses, and whatever else might step foot. Meanwhile, as your body is killing countless viruses and bacteria, it is doing a plethora of other activities to keep you running optimally. It feels so unjust to put the body under undo stress when it is literally saving your life every moment of your existence.
To put it in perspective, by the shortest terms possible, if you did not have an immune system as you do, scraping your knee would kill you (this happened to a person who did not realize their immune system was completely gone).
Ok, done for now. SCIENCE.
Listening to: Parkway Drive, "Picture Perfect, Pathetic"
I'm currently taking a "Human Biology" course that is simply ripe with fantastic information. When I get especially drawn in by unbelievably cool information, I have a tendency to smile and chuckle relative to the amount that I think about the information; needless to expound, I am smiling a lot. So, what could be tickling my fancy? Probably nothing you, the reader, will find all that interesting, but to me it is ridiculously impactful.
For example, I've learned a few things about cellular processes. Literally all cellular processes are astounding, but I was especially taken with infectious disease. My professor worked for the CDC so his level of knowledge on the subject is evident, to say the least. Anyway, apparently when a pathogen enters a cell - which is already extremely difficult, as each cell has a security "code" that is dependent on something called "Haemagglutinin", and if the pathogen does not contain said code, it can not enter the cell. Let us assume that the pathogen did enter the cell, well the cell immediately begins starving the pathogen, pumps it full of free radicals (which, if you're unfamiliar, those are detrimental to you - you can imagine a concentrated dose isn't the greatest for a small pathogen), and finally, the cell unleashes Lysosomes upon the pathogen, which create an acidic environment for the pathogen to squirm in. However, you'd assume that something would just leave if it were immediately bombarded with all these horrors. Well, it can't. Basically, once it is in the cell, the cell "locks the door" by requiring a different password to leave that is dependent on "Neuraminidase". If the pathogen doesn't have that "password", it is locked in to its fate. After the cell has finished eating the pathogen, it stores its information so that future break ins are dealt with even greater ferocity and effectiveness.
While you're eating a burger, sleeping, watching Netflix, etc, your body is basically waging mass genocide on 99.99% of the pathogens that find themselves into your system. In a way, you have to feel sorry for those bacteria, viruses, and whatever else might step foot. Meanwhile, as your body is killing countless viruses and bacteria, it is doing a plethora of other activities to keep you running optimally. It feels so unjust to put the body under undo stress when it is literally saving your life every moment of your existence.
To put it in perspective, by the shortest terms possible, if you did not have an immune system as you do, scraping your knee would kill you (this happened to a person who did not realize their immune system was completely gone).
Ok, done for now. SCIENCE.
Listening to: Parkway Drive, "Picture Perfect, Pathetic"
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