Monday, November 10, 2008

HSoT is moving!

The domain is already directed to my new blog site, but I wanted to make an announcement here as well.

I am moving my actual blog to http://thoughts.nathanpguest.info which is a subdomain of my new domain nathanpguest.info where I post most of my written works.

Feel free to explore both sites as one will host my written works while the other will be the classic blog and will be a place to rant and rave and talk about other things not neccessarily related to my writing.


Thanks for reading and I hope you stay with me during this new transition.

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

New Mr. Pickles Snippet

I finally have posted the second snippet I am going to share from my Mr. Pickles short story that I have been working on for probably six months now, if not longer. It is currently posted on my other website nathanpguest.info, which I am using as my writer's journal.

You can check out the first snippet I shared, which I call the Prelude, in an older post on my blog, as well as the story behind the story and a look at a piece of art that a friend of mine did back in 2007 that originally inspired me to write the story.

Feel free to comment on either site, though I would prefer you keep the comments for my writing on the other website.


Thanks for reading!

God's Right Arm

So, to update from the previous post about God's Right Arm, I am officially abandoning the project since it is too much like the Witchblade comics (which I do plan to read some day), which are now graphic novels. What's funny is that I have never read that story, I just saw a few images from the television series and had a mental image in my mind of that type of character in the world I was dreaming up, unfortunately it's almost the exact same world that Sara Pezzini lives in, so I need to start from scratch, which is a real bummer since I had quite a few pages in one notebook filled up and was adding on to that in an almost daily fashion.

All is not lost though since the heroine is one of those type of characters that I have had running around in my head for awhile now and has also been in numerous stories that I have cooked up but have yet to put down on paper, so it's only a matter of time before she returns in something a bit more flattering and original. Most of the material I had laid out was bits and pieces from another idea I had awhile back, so that will be able to be reused too, I will just have to go back to the original idea, which I think I liked more anyways with that material.

Anyways, I plan to start another project soon that I can do on a daily basis so I can help keep my writing up and will share it on my new website nathanpguest.info, so look for updates on there from time to time as well.


Ok, back to the drawing board, and sorry for getting some people's hopes up that were looking forward to the story being fleshed out more, but I guarantee that if you start reading Witchblade you'll understand my decision.

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

It's Alive!!!!!

Well, ok, it's been alive for awhile now, I just haven't advertised it until I got at least one piece of content upon it and now I have three, two about pages and one actual post, with the post being a sample of free writing I did tonight to loosen up.

Anyways, what am I talking about Willis? Well I am talking about my new website that I eluded too in the post before this during April 1st (yes, I know, it's been awhile since I posted anything, I'm busy ok!? :D ) and did as an April Fools joke. Me having a new domain wasn't a joke, the actual joke was the link I posted, but anyways, low and behold my new website is ready for advertising now and is located at nathanpguest.info.

Why the other site you ask? Because I need to keep my writing samples and blog separated and this was the only way I could think of to do it and do it in a more professional manner, plus it was cheap this way as well.

Anyways, I will still rant, rave, and blog on this site, when I can find the time, but any writing I do outside of this that I consider to be more professional work will be on my new website nathanpguest.info. So bookmark it and check it out from time to time and add it to your reader if you would like. I do hope to write to it more than my blog and would like to put up something, anything, at least once a week, so expect another snippet from my Mr. Pickles short story that I am writing posted over the weekend if not sooner, plus an additional short flash fiction piece, and then hopefully I can finish another flash fiction piece I have been working on forever and get it posted the following week (fingers crossed!).

So thanks to what few readers I have out there and let's hope this brings in some more. Thanks for your patronage and I will try to get some more posts and writing done in the near future.


Peace.

Tuesday, April 1, 2008

New Domain

So I've got a new domain now for my writing (I will still use this blog to rant and all that jazz).

All writing will now be at nathanpguest.name, so please change your bookmarks.

Thanks for reading!

Friday, March 28, 2008

Independent Voter Ideology

This has been something I've been wanting to talk about for awhile now, and there are a few readers I have that are going to think that this is solely pointing a finger at them after they read this. Let me assure you that is not the case and that while I may be using a local example, I'm talking about so-called independent voters as a whole, or at least the majority of the ones I meet.

Now, I get the whole wanting to separate one's self from the rest of the voting populace. I've been there, I've done that and I also saw how silly I was once I stopped and thought about it. Calling oneself, "independent" gives you a sense of being better than everyone, smarter than everyone, and less ideological than everyone, but in reality you really aren't, and quite frankly, it's been slowly getting on my nerves over the years at the amount of people, especially in this state (Indiana), who like to label themselves as independent, really aren't, and then somehow think they are above everyone else, or are able to "think outside of the box" more than everyone else is just because they gave themselves what they perceive to be a clever label.

There's a reason for my snark, so let me move immediately along to it. Using one particular local example, which is also one of my favorites, mainly because of the confusion it gives me, is the pro-life vs. pro-choice battle. On one particular day, one particular person told me how much they thought voting was important, and that it was their duty, and that everyone should do it, etc., all of which I agree with and am glad someone as young as her realizes this. But, when you immediately follow this with "I don't like any of the current candidates, but am willing to vote for the lesser of the two evils, and since I cannot vote for anyone that is pro-choice, I will be voting for McCain."

Here's the ultimate problem with that though, if you are going to confine yourself to the two party system, which is fine by me and something I totally agree with, then saying something like what was said above does not make you an independent voter as far as I'm concerned, no matter how much you protest otherwise. The reason being is that the majority of one of the parties in this country is always going to take a pro-choice stance, the Democrats, and so therefore you are basically saying that you will always vote Republican, which totally kills the entire notion that you are an independent voter in any shape or form.

Now, if you want to do a write in ballot and not stick to the two party system, then that is one of your options, and you can then hold your head high and pretend you think outside of the box and all that jazz and make yourself feel good since you would be an independent voter. But not doing this, or not voting at all, or finding some other way to subvert the system in a way that would allow you to still stand your ground on one particular hot button issue, is not the path of the independent voter.

Never mind the problems I have with people who are against the war, think the economy is going into the tank, and agree with me on some other issues but are still willing to cast their vote for a guy that is just going to continue all of that mess and are doing so for only one specific reason, and that's all for the love and arbitrary protection of a little bundle of cells and a law that will never be overturned since just about every attempt in history to do so thus far has failed utterly.

Addendum: Looks like their is a pretty good book on this exact subject and I was pretty good with the point I was trying to make. Check out The Myth of the Independent Voter. Thanks to my friend CJ for the link.

Saturday, March 15, 2008

Trapped

Author's Note: I had originally planned to post another piece that I had been working on all week, but I hit a very thick brick wall and couldn't break my way through it, so I looked through my archive and found this piece, and in doing so, the ideas just started flooding into me. It was originally called "God in a Box" and has been way too long since I touched it to understand exactly why I named it as such, but at this point it has morphed into something else. I think I will want to come back to it at some point and expand upon it (which is why I am having a hard time considering it as one of my weekly flash fiction goals that are usually just one-parters), but until then, enjoy what I have so far and let me know what you think in the comments.

The dark-haired man laid there, eyes shut, his body mostly still accept for his breathing, upon very moist, fertile ground which surrounded him and seem to spread into eternity. A pale woman, softly enchanted, was all that was in his mind's eye, begging, weeping, hoping he could hear her, then she faded. He awoke with a start, his breathing growing more heavily as he looked around and took in his surroundings. He wasn't sure what had just happened, he barely remembered anything, but he knew, deep down, that something dramatic had changed. He noticed the object in his hand then, perfect, black box, small enough that he could conceal most of it in his fist. He ran then, with all his remaining strength, towards a goal that he only vaguely remembered, the voices and footsteps behind him unnoticed. He does however notice the gun fire behind him, which only gives him more speed from untapped strength reserves he was unaware of before.

The forest was a maze of unidentifiable green as he ran though, but something else was guiding him, something within the box, for it would grow more intense in heat the closer he came to his goal. It was becoming almost unbearable now, which only prompted him to run harder, his pursuers still hard on his heels and unrelenting. His memories were slowly returning, but in jumbles. all he remembered was a woman, the most beautiful he had seen, trapped within a transparent prison. She had spoken to him in his mind, and he had remembered her from a time before, and what she wanted was freedom, that which they had stolen, the one and only thing that could free her. But it could only be given back by someone with strong emotions towards her and was willing to sacrifice all. that's when he remembered that she was a love from the past, and not just this life's past, but a life he had long since forgotten, despite that little fragment of it. That was the one piece that he had clung onto, that had given him strength in this life, and which was giving him the strength to reach his goal. He ran even faster, the forest just seemed to blur by him, until finally the box was welting the skin on his hand and smoke was emanating from it. He looked over to his right, and there it was, her prison, the thing that had kept her sealed off from the world all this time. Inside she looked so peaceful, but he knew better, knowing she was just in the opposite state, one of endless torment. He stopped running, his breath finally catching up to him, his pursuers still not too far behind. Clutching his side, he slowly walked to where her prison hovered above grown that was full of life.

Time was moving in slow motion for him now as he slowly raised his hand to touch the box to her prison. Seconds seemed like minutes, minutes passed into hours, until finally what seemed like a week had passed and he finally was able to touch the box to her prison. But nothing happened, except for more bullets being fired behind him and shouts to stop and get on the ground. He did neither and began to examine the box, all the while thinking to himself what he had forgotten. Nothing as coming to mind and the voices and bullets were getting closer and closer. He started to tear at the box, looking for a clasp or something to open it, but it was perfectly smooth and appeared to be all of one piece. Then the first bullet found its mark, one in his right shoulder, then another in his left leg. He toppled, but then quickly struggled to get back up, then another hit him in the back and came out the other side through his chest, and then another, his blood gushing and splattering all over the box. Time seemed to slow again and he examined the bloody box, his breathing was raspy and very slow, while he turned the box over and over in his blood soaked hands, when a realization hit him and he threw the box at the prison at the same time the last bullet found its mark and robbed him of his life. The box slowly spinning in the air, end over end, as he slowly fell to the ground.

Upon his final collapse, the box had hit the prison, and then was immediately absorbed into it, the box fading out of existence as a glow of pure blueish-white light illuminated the inside of the prison and several feet surrounding the outside of it. To the outside observer it closely resembled the shape of a star, at it floated to the woman's body and was immediately absorbed into her chest cavity where her heart would be. Following this interaction the prison shattered and the surrounding woods was illuminated with an intensity that demanded that all remain still and just watch the spectacle that was going on before them. The pursuers had lowered their guns, awe-struck, and were only a few feet away from the scene now. The woman slowly floated to the ground and took in long breath of air, as if she had been holding hers all this time, while her eyes came to life with the intensity and blueness of the ocean. She looked down upon the figure of her rescuer and noticed his still form, and then bent down and kissed him. The previous illumination was set ablaze and grew into a blinding intensity, and then both were gone, leaving all witnesses baffled as to what had just commenced. Their shoulders slumped and they slowly walked back to which they had came, looking of defeat.

The man was embraced with a light and a warmth on a level he had never felt. He seemed to be floating endlessly in pure light and smiled to himself, for he was ready again, and as he did so the warmth increased slightly, and he knew it was her surrounding him. His smile spread wider as he closed his eyes and rested, knowing that the trip was not a short one, and he was internally exhausted from his previous adventure.

God's Right Arm and Hell Week(s)

So I've decided to finally post about the book I did at Amory's birthday party. I was the first one to finish (no prize, was just glad I was able to finish) and I got a few positive reactions from what I had wrote. Reading it over a few more times the last few days has brought about me noticing some errors here and there and not being totally satisfied with it. However, that's me in a nutshell, I am never totally satisfied with any of the works I do at first and always strive to make them better over time, but I hear that isn't necessarily a bad thing. I've decided that I am not going to rewrite the prologue any time soon, mostly due to time constraints and the fact that I am regarding this project as something to keep the juices flowing and allow me to always have something to work on, but not take the project too seriously since it will be just something that is posted to my blog and not necessarily something I want to pursue publishing yet. I might eventually go back to the prologue at some point and clean it up some, but I want to wait till I get some more chapters out before doing that.

The idea for the book came from an original idea I had for a campaign setting that has been brewing in my head for a few years now. I then quit role-playing and it has been put on the back burner ever since, until now.

My vision was of an alternate Earth, that had fallen into darkness, due to the forces of the antagonists from the Bible winning, and god leaving and allowing the world to fall into darkness because he lost all hope for mankind.

I don't want to go into too much back story, since one of the chapters is going to go into the story of the world further (or at least several chapters with tidbits here and there), but most of the characters were gleamed from the old testament as well as others taken from John Milton's Paradise Lost, which I am still trying to read in its entirety, but there was a lot of inspiration from that piece that has shaped my vision of the story presently. There will be a lot of back and forth time travel as the main protagonist follows her destiny and completes the steps necessary to get to the point where she can begin restoring Earth to the way it once was before the fall, and I imagine that the story will take several books, with twenty or so chapters in each one, to complete it. so needless to say, this story will keep me writing about something, even if I don't have a new piece to write from time to time.

Anyways, if you want to check it out, click on the image of the book cover below:




Thanks goes to Amory for this idea, it was great fun and I had an awesome time of it. I hope he does more events like this soon, because it was very stimulating and I stayed persistent in finishing this, despite having times when I thought I wasn't going to be able to do it. We'll see where this story will take us, and I already have a few chapters mapped out in my head, I just need to get them written down.

Which brings me to my next point....The last two weeks of the current quarter I am in at Indiana Business College, which are usually referred to as "Hell Week(s)", due to this I am not going to have a lot of time to write, so I might skip my usual weekly flash fiction piece for those two weeks, and if I do try to do something, they will be very short.

I still plan to get out this week's sometime before the weekend is out since I am wrapping it up now as we speak. Look for it being posted sometime today. I was also going to try and get the first chapter of god's Right Arm out before the end of the quarter too, but that won't be too realistic. Once the quarter is over expect things to go back to normal and hopefully I will be able to knock out a few of my goals pretty quickly that I wrote in my last post as well.

That about sums it all up, so until next time.


Go Obama! (I can't believe my primary is going to matter!)

Monday, March 10, 2008

Brief Update and "Spring Break" Goals

So it is slow at work this evening (wish I was outside enjoying the weather) and I figured I would take the time that I am allotted to catch up on some reading and writing while I am at work, as well as fire up some new posts and maybe get them out.

This weekend was one of the best weekends I have had in a long while, despite just doing a lot of work and hardly any play. I think I just needed to feel like I had accomplished some things, and this weekend I did. I holed myself up Friday and Saturday and caught up on quite a bit of chores and other things I have been neglecting. The end result was me accomplishing the majority of my goals this past weekend, with only a few odds and ends left that I can take care of over the course of the week due to a lighter working schedule (the majority of our customers are early year grad students that still get a week off for Spring Break this week). On top of this, Sunday at Amory's was a blast. A lot of people showed up (even if the majority of them were late) and much creativity was flowing around his place all day because of it. I was able to knock out a prologue to a story that I've had an idea for awhile that has mutated over the years and mutated even more over the course of being at Amory's all day Sunday. Once he gets it scanned in and posted on his art blog, I will go into more detail about it. Regardless, I am going to continue working on the story as things come to me and as free time opens up, all the while still working on my other projects that I want to put time into (like my weekly flash fiction pieces, and my Mr. Pickles short story that I would like to finish before my birthday (May 23rd)). Anyways, just as an FYI, I am already working on Chapter 1 (started some writing on it this morning while at school) and am outlining it right now as we speak as well, so keep checking back if you are interested in the unfolding of it. I know I was able to get a few praises while I was at the party from those that had read my finished product.

Looking forward to the end of the second quarter I am going through at IBC for the Veterinary Technician program, it's gone by fast, but has probably been the most stressful amount of time to date since I went back to school. Things have started to look up for the last few weeks and continuing to improve, so maybe here on out I can just go to school, work, write, have a little bit of a social life, and not stress over anything from here on out, plus I am hoping that doing so will help me meet my academic goals too that I haven't been making as of late. I get one week off (my Spring Break) in between quarters before I start up on my third quarter and the beginning of the my halfway point towards receiving my A.A.S., so I am going to write out some goals that I want to meet during that week off, nothing huge, just something to accomplish and give me the sense that I did something productive.

  • Get at least two chapters written and posted during that week for the God's Right Arm story I am currently working on (I did the prologue at Amory's b-day bash this past Sunday)
  • Post my usual flash fiction piece for the week
  • Start working on finding a part time, second job for the summer on the weekends
  • Hope to be back to where my weight was before the holidays and the case of laziness I accrued afterwards late last year
  • Ponder and solidify where I want my externship to be for my last quarter at IBC and keep looking at bachelor degree possibilities at IUPUI (though I'm 99.9% sure I already know what I want to take)
  • Take a mini vacation somewhere out of the city on that weekend (since I usually have them off at work) for a day or two

That's enough goals I think, as well as enough writing for this particular blog post.

Now excuse my while I go sit outside and work on this outline while watching the store. :)

Saturday, March 8, 2008

Melting

I find myself in a very hot, black, pool of liquid. Sweating, slowly melting to the intense heat. Suddenly I see a branch land in the liquid pool next to me and my world begins to spin. Faster and faster I swirl about, desperately trying to grasp the branch to pull myself out of this personal hell. Despite my best efforts though I being to sweat even more profusely and am getting to the point where anxiety and my decreasing energy are overtaking me and causing me to slowly drown. I swim harder and faster towards the branch and am finally able to get a tiny grasp on it, still succumbing faster and faster to the black pool of darkness that I am trapped within. The spinning becomes even quicker though and I lose my grip and float out to the side of the pool, which seems to be bordered by an impenetrable wall of ceramic. I try to cling to it, but it is too smooth and I flounder about losing the last of my strength and succumb to the whirlpool that has taken me. I start to become with the liquid and watch as the last of me dissolves into it, fizzing the area around me. As I drown I remain conscious, but take on a new existence. I witness the branch leaving the pool, forced out by the powerful swirling of the whirlpool and hope for stillness soon. All starts to quiet slowly and eventually steadies and I welcome the ending of the storm and take in my new presence. It appears that I am now more than I was before and I seem to encompass all of the darkened, hot, pool of liquid that I once loathed. I bathe within with joy upon me and fret no loner for my future, for this new world seems full of all sorts of new adventures for me to undertake. But just as things go all quiet and I calm down from my fleeting rush from before, the ground begins to shake and things around me are moving again. I seem to be heading towards the sky, and not fearing the embrace of heaven I welcome it. Then my world begins to tilt and I see that I am not heading towards heaven, or at least the heaven that I am aware of, but instead am heading towards a small cavern that enlarges more the closer I approach it. My world tilts at an unnatural angle and I begin to slide towards the cavern opening. I cling for life as best as I can to my prison, but am unable to get a hold and am consumed by the cavernous maw. My existence changes again as I slide down a reddish, humid tunnel, and feel like I am starting to slowly lose consciousness. Through a long trek of what seemed to be endless tunnels, I finally land into a pit of what feels like acid and begin to break up even faster. My life slowly fades and I remember the good times before I encountered this hell of mine. Slower and slower I fade away until finally I give in and embrace my destiny. My life was short but it was a good life and I take the memories with me as the internal, immortal rest that takes all at some point snatches me and I go without a fight, uttering no words of remorse.

Monday, March 3, 2008

I Am A Bitch

So after seeing something that I found so insulting and misogynistic this morning I decided to jump on the train of calling it out, just to add another number to the list and more fuel to the fire.

David and Goliath tees put up a t-shirt, that is no longer on the site due to complaints, sporting a smiling model with the worst thing I have ever seen on a t-shirt. So I will just let you take a look for yourself below.


Luckily it was taken off a few hours later thanks to a large number of complaints being emailed to the company. But to rub salt in the wound, instead of apologizing for the t-shirt, David and Goliath decide instead to put up another t-shirt, featured below, that's just as bad and one that allows for a discount due to the complaints received earlier.


You can check out the full view on their website as well as get some recommendations that are just as classy, but I guess if you want to keep the patriarchal society rolling along, you have to convert them over while they are young and keep them in their place.

I also would like to add my voice to what Jessica and some others at feministing.com, as well as Jeff over at Shakespeare's Sister have had to say about this. If being a bitch means standing up to misogyny, especially if it's on this level, then add me to the list and call me a bitch. I'll happily accept the label...

Sunday, March 2, 2008

One-Pagers

So, I'm going to try an experiment that a friend of mine, Raven, once attempted and hope to have more success.

The plan is to write one-pagers, as he started to do. An 800-1,000 words, or approximately one page of a one part story. This could also probably be considered in the realm of flash fiction too. I was pretty much doing this before with the older incarnation of this site, but that fell off into oblivion and I am now just starting to recover.

The goal is to do a one-page once a week, possibly more than that when time and creativity permits, and I can only hope that this will give me the practice I need and get me moving on the right track when it comes to my writing.

So, starting today and time permitting I hope to have my first one-page up (though I think at this point I'm going to just categorize them as flash fiction pieces), and then do an additional piece once a week.

Don't be shy and feel free to leave comments, even if they are negative, since any feedback, as long as it is constructive, helps.

Thursday, February 28, 2008

New Writing Sample

I've had an idea running through my head for sometime about a world that once had a creator, but left quite some time ago and left the world to ruin upon itself since the inhabitants gave in to their sin.

I won't go into too much more detail here, but a relic was left behind to test those worthy to possess it and with it could once right the world again and show that they were capable of their god's love once again.

The idea has been running through my head for years and it is obviously a fantasy piece, but I've decided to go ahead and do some work on it and post it here instead of ever trying to get it published. It is not what I would call one of my better ideas, but it could serve as a good warm-up piece for something else later on.

Here is a snippet, though it is very rough and is more or less in a free-writing form at this point:

"Oh lord, thrust ye light upon me and choose my destiny. will ye consume my fate, or will ye show me another path. A path of light so golden and true, that will cleanse my soul of sin and give me the strength to thwart thine enemies and rid the world of ye children of darkness that ye left behind for us to realize our mistake and to eventually consume with ye wisdom and holy light. For I shall arise as the holy warrior of light as per prophecy and summon all thy children and create an army of light to rid us of all darkness forever. Bequeath me the right to carry thine sword into battle and smite thee foes so that we will once again return ye love and restore faith to the land once more."

Thanios gazed upon the sword of light hovering in the air above him and plucked it from the air. The light grew dark and Thanios stood still, frozen in time, a voice echoing throughout the cavern and within his mind "YE ARE NOT THE ONE, SO THE SWORD WILL FOREVER HOLD YE HERE TILL HE FREEDETH UPON YOU. THERE IS ANOTHER, AND HE IS A BETTER MAN THAN YE WERE EVER PROPHESIED TO BECOME. SLEEP FOREVER UNTIL THAT FATEFUL DAY HAS COME UPON YE AND RESTORED YE ONCE AGAIN MY SON..."

The sword left Thanios hand and hovered back to its original position, the light reborn within it. Thanios, stood still, arm raised, body of total crystal, and forever he rested there, waiting....

Nathan’s Fabulous Autumn Butternut Squash “Pie” Pictures

So here are some pictures of my Nathan’s Fabulous Autumn Butternut Squash “Pie”. I made this for the Super Bowl party that CJ threw and then wrote a paragraph on it for extra credit in my COM 105 class.

Before going into the oven:



After coming out of the oven:



And one after it was somewhat devoured at the Super Bowl party:



And here is the original recipe if you would like to use that instead of my modified one linked above.

Process Paragraph - Extra Credit

Author's Note: This is an extra credit paragraph that I did for my COM 105 class in which I received a 3/5 or an B+ letter grade on (at this point I already have a 100% in the class so the extra points will be added to my Research Paper if I need it).

Process Paragraph – Extra Credit

In making Nathan’s Fabulous Autumn Butternut Squash “Pie”, some preparation and a handful of ingredients are needed, but in the end it is all worth it. First, the ingredients you will need are one butternut squash, 1tbsp. of brown sugar, ¼ tsp. salt, which is optional, a pinch of white pepper, which is also optional, three to four normal-sized Jonathan apples, 1 ½ tablespoons of shortening or margarine, ¼ cup of sugar, though I replaced this with Sugar In The Raw Premium Hawaiian Turbinado Sugar, which made it all the more awesome, three single serving boxes of cornflakes, which is equivalent to about 2 ½ cups, ½ cup of chopped pecans, 2 tbsp. of butter and ½ cup of brown sugar, I also substituted Splenda brand brown sugar for this as well. First, cut the butternut squash and scrape out the seeds. Once you have completed that, either steam the butternut squash for thirty minutes or bake upside-down on foil at 300 degrees until tender. You can also microwave the butternut squash and I found that a combination of baking upside-down at 300 degrees for thirty minutes then microwaving for an additional 2 and ¼ minutes, gets the butternut squash sufficiently tender enough to work with, but be careful and let it cool down a little for a few minutes since it will be extremely hot! Once it is ready to work with, scrape out the pulp of the butternut squash and mash or beat smooth. Season the top of the mashed butternut squash pulp with cinnamon, though the original recipe called for one tablespoon of brown sugar and a ¼ teaspoon of salt and a pinch of white pepper, I found the change I did made the overall product much more tasty. Now, gather your Jonathan apples and core and slice them, but don’t peel. The trick to this is to slice them up into small pieces instead of wedges and I found that doing this created a much better base for which everything else in the recipe builds upon. Next, heat one and a half tablespoons of shortening or margarine in a small skillet, you can also just use normal cooking spray, which is what I used, Pam’s Canola Oil variety, and get a good layer saturated onto the skillet. When the skillet is ready, add your apples and sprinkle one-fourth a cup of sugar on them, or in my case a one-fourth cup of the Sugar In The Raw Premium Hawaiian Turbinado Sugar, but any Turbinado sugar will do. Cover the skillet, in my case I used a 9-inch, 8-quart, round, baking casserole dish, and simmer until they are tender. While the apples are simmering you can start working on the nutty topping, crush your cornflakes coarsely, then add a half of a cup of chopped pecans, the two tablespoons of melted butter and the half a cup of brown sugar. Finally, once the apples are nice and tender and everything else is finished being prepared, spread the fried apples into an 8 inch square or 9 inch round casserole (1 ½ quart) dish. Spoon the butternut squash pulp evenly over it. Last but not least sprinkle the nutty topping over that and bake the work of art at 325-350 degrees until the nutty topping is a light brown, or a bit darker if you like it extra crunchy (usually 30-45 minutes, give or take). Enjoy Nathan’s Fabulous Autumn Butternut Squash “Pie” with friends and watch their warm reactions as they devour into it.

Monday, February 25, 2008

Research Paper Topics - French Health Care

Author's Note: These are just some generic topics that I made a list of for my research paper. The funny thing is that in the end, I picked one of the subjects and narrowed it down to one specific example.


  • Universal Health Care
  • Progressive Tax Reform
  • Dwight D. Eisenhower – last good Republican president
  • Capital Punishment
  • Abortion
  • Liberalism
  • Charlie Chaplin
  • Cats should not be declawed

In the end, I did not pick any of these subject and instead decided to narrow down the subject of universal health care into one perfect example, which is the French Health Care system.


My thesis statement will be: The French Healthcare system, or French Care, is a single payer system that is probably the most perfect healthcare system in the world with its ability to provide health insurance for all, allow for additional private insurance, and its continual evolution to remain relevant with the times.


I will be using some or all of the following sources (minimum of five):


National Coalition on Healthcare - France

Health Care Systems in Transition by Simone Sandier, Valérie Paris, and Dominique Polton

French Family Values by Paul Krugman

Health Care in France and Germany: Lessons for the UK by David G. Green and Benedict Irvine

France's Model Healthcare System by Paul V. Dutton

AFP: France is healthcare lader, US comes dead last study

Healthcare in France: An Introduction

The French Lesson in Healthcare


I am sure more will follow soon as I do more research, but this is a good beginning I think.

Life Without Television Essay

Author's Note: This is the only essay assignment I had for my COM 105 class (though I wish we could have had more of these and less of the single paragraph assignments), and from this point on all of my writing time will be focused on my reasearch paper since that is the last grade we will be receiving in the class. I received a 25/25 on the paper, which is an A letter grade, despite the fact that there was one area where I strayed a little off topic. Despite this, I am presenting the essay in its original, unedited form.


Life Without Television


I dream of a world of higher intellects, where people read much more than they do and participate in intellectual debates and other activities that require more thinking and less zombifying in front of an electronic device that does not always produce high-quality intellectual programming. I think with the passing time and the increase of more and more television viewing over the years our culture loses some things, and while I do not think that all television programming is negative for us, I think the majority of it is and only helps in leading to some of the problems we face, and will continue to face, unless the culture of reality television changes. Life without television, I think, would only improve, and on a much more specific scale would lower the level of child obesity this country has, increase the level of intellectualism in most people, and people’s individual level of aesthetic tastes would improve overall.

If television where to end today, I think you would see a vast improvement in child obesity within a few months, and while television is not the only cause for this problem that we face currently, it is one of the main stimulants. We live in a culture, compared to others around the world, which does not put as much effort into combating this problem as we should. If there were no television, I think children would be more prone to go outside and play, take a walk with friends, hang out at the mall for hours on end and browse, and would also later have a more positive suggestion to exercise as often as possible and that it can also be rewarding later in their lives if they do so. There would probably no longer be the routine of coming home from school, grabbing a snack or two, and then turning on the television and sitting and watching for hours on end while their bodies and minds desperately cry out for exercise. Instead, there would be the routine of coming home; possibly getting homework completed first, since they would no longer be distracted, and then hanging out with friends and doing various recreational activities that would help stimulate more exercise. At the minimum, I do think that television has a place in the things to address when dealing with child obesity and do believe that it is one of the major deterrents for progressing out of the rut that child obesity currently has us in.

On the level of intellectualism, I think our society faces a very large hurdle to climb when it comes to anti-intellectualism thought and the role that television plays towards feeding it. I think it is because of some of the sophomoric humor that most of our top watched sitcoms contain as well as the fact that the majority of television being watched is reality-based, sitcoms, or talk shows, which the majority to me seem to represent, and stimulate growth of this further, the anti-intellectual, sophomoric humor engaging section of the population which seems to me to be in the majority. This is the reason why, I think, that we hear comments pertaining to “Ivory Towers”, and similar sentiments that suggest that just because people think more, study more, or like to be intellectually more engaged in something, that suddenly the opinions of these people should not matter at all and are always totally way off base because they apparently do not have the cunning intellect of the average Joe, which to me, does not like to always engage in intellectual forethought on a daily basis and would rather watch hours of intellectual disengaging television every day. Mind you, I do not think that television is the sole contributor of this problem, but I do think that it is one of the major contributors since, when compared to other societies, “the average American watches over 4½ hours of television every single day”.

It is because of some of the things that the average American watches on television that leads me to believe that television is definitely one of the factors for decreasing aesthetic tastes when it comes to most forms of art and entertainment. We no longer, as a majority whole, enjoy more quality pieces of art as we once did before the onset of television. The majority of people that listen to music, like what is played on the radio, which in my mind is not always the best samples of the larger musical world to enjoy, and I think it is because of shows like American Idol and others that are similar, that stimulate this lower level of aesthetic tastes that the majority of Americans prefer. All in all, like anything, I do not believe that television is the only factor in causing this decline, but I do believe that it plays an important role and that if we were to ever decrease our television viewing amounts, I think you would start to see a slow, but steady, increase in aesthetic values across the whole of our culture.

In conclusion, while I do not think that television is the sole factor in contributing to some of our problems as a society, I do believe that it is one of the main ones and I could see things improving much, for the better, if people within this society would just watch a little less television each day. The problems of child obesity, the decrease in intellectualism, and the decreasing aesthetic tastes of the populace would see a slow, but dramatic increase in my opinion if we just started finding other hobbies to enjoy and put as much time in them as we do with our television watching. In the end, I am not saying that all of television is bad, in fact I think that there is a decent sized amount of good programming out there, whether it would be creativity stimulating shows like Lost, or intellectual programming like that of what you would find on channels such as The History Channel and The Science Channel, that lead credence to why some television viewing can be good for us, but in the end I think it all boils down to the quality of the programs we watch on the majority level, and the amount that we watch them being the two major things that we should think about and reconsider the next time we turn on the tube.

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

The Gloom

Author's Note: I will fully admit that I am very weak when it comes to poetry, or at least I think I am. I have a tendency to write only things that I can put to music, as if the words were actual song lyrics dancing in my head. This piece is my first attempt at breaking away from the mold and has been collecting cyberspace dust for awhile now. Tonight, while at work, I received some inspiration and decided to dust it off and try to finish it. I'm not sure if this piece is finished or not, and will probably be revisited at some point, but for now I am satisfied with at least sharing it.

Sporadic raindrops falling on my head

No one knows what's in store

Which makes today's life such a bore

And all I want to do is sleep instead

For the wrath of the night has won the day

The gloom spreads forth its icy touch

Layering us all with the darkness's dream

Speaking words I cannot understand

But sounding like bare feet running through the sand

I ask what it wants but it does not answer

Only mumbling and moaning to my ear's fright

Casting shadows of the landscape in flight

Finding dawn's light, to escape this prison, I search

Till tomorrow's awakening rising of light


Tuesday, February 19, 2008

New Header!

Well, I hope you like the new header I received tonight. I personally think it is perfect for the site.

Thanks to Amory Abbott for the time to create it for me after asking him about it earlier tonight at work. I wasn't expecting it to be completed this quickly, but that is what Amory does. He loves little projects like this and likes to keep busy doing art.

Hats off to you man, you did a fantastic job!

Update: Wow! This thing looks even better on a PC that actually has a decent video card. Jesus I need to get a new computer soon. :(

Mr. Pickles Exposed!

So, totally unknown to myself, Amory actually had some images of the sketch that I am basing my Mr. Pickles short story idea off of online, one charcoal (which I like the best) and a digital color painting.

Here is the digital color painting:



And here is the charcoal:



What's even better is he's given me permission to use these later if needed. Now I just wish I had some damn free time so I can actually work on the story. Le sigh.

Interview Paragraph - Extra Credit

Author's Note: This is an extra credit paragraph that I did for my COM 105 class in which I received a 4/5 or an A- letter grade on (at this point I already have a 100% in the class so the extra points will be added to my Research Paper if I need it).

Interview Paragraph


I interviewed a fellow co-worker yesterday named Tariq Atkins, and my main reason for interviewing him is because he and I have some similarities in regards to working full-time while going to school full-time, as well as also having some differences in how this process was approached. Tariq Atkins, like me, has had to work his entire collegiate career, which has consisted of obtaining a Bachelors degree and continuing from there to work on a Masters degree. He has also had to work full-time through the majority of this process too. While he values the advantageous affects this has on one’s character, he does caution against pursuing this path lightly. He stated the major disadvantages to working full-time while going to school full-time as missing out on one of the better parts of your life. He recommends that people take advantage of their collegiate situation by preparing ahead for it, which would entail saving up enough money to help pay for it, get the best grades you can get in high school so you will be able to obtain grants and scholarships easier, taking out as much student loans as you possibly can to survive and pay for college on, and to maybe only work part-time, if needed, during all of this. His reasons for this are simple, you are only young once, and college is the time in your life when you can still enjoy a certain amount of things while also learning to be responsible and working towards the type of life you want to have in the future, and sometimes missing this can leave one lacking certain experiences that may or may not be needed down the road. He listed some other disadvantages as well to taking the path that he has to get through school, such as working jobs you do not necessarily like, building up a level of cynicism that may not necessarily be all that positive or healthy, plus having to juggle a tight schedule and learning and accepting that some things are just going to have to be sacrificed, most of all a social life, and a combination of less study time and less time to sleep depending on how you arrange your schedule. In the end, it is hard for him to say whether he would do anything differently if he had to do it all over again. Part of the thing that helped him was that he was a reservist in the Army, which allowed him some of the funds that helped him on obtaining his Bachelors, but then a year and a half into his two year contract he was injured and honorably discharged and lost a lot of the funding and other help he had received previously. He also chose the path he did mainly because he did not want to create a lot of debt that he would have to deal with later in life, as opposed to having more of a social life and a better schedule with a substantial more amount of debt to tackle in the future. Tariq also had no real set definitive direction on where he wanted to go or achieve during his collegiate career, so paying his way as he went allowed him to focus more on what he wanted to do and narrow it down and also allowed him to take breaks here and there while deciding this, which in the long run would have hurt him more if he had taken out more student loans and other financial aid. Also, while this took him longer to obtain his degrees, the extra time did help him in eventually deciding the path he wanted to take in his collegiate career, and now he has a solid direction that he is secure in and knows he will not waver from. Taking all of what Tariq has said to me in account, it would appear that there are some advantages and disadvantages to working full-time while going to school full-time, but I know, just like him, that my decision to do so was the best decision that I have ever made and I know I am set in my goals and will not waver, and look forward to when I have obtained the degrees that I desperately seek.

Compare and Contrast

Author's Note: This is the ninth paragraph that I have done for my COM 105 class and I received a 4/5 or an A- letter grade on it.

Compare & Contrast


The differences between Obama’s and Clinton’s three main policies while small are significant. On the first issue regarding health care, while Hillary Clinton’s proposal for universal healthcare is superb to Barack Obama’s proposal for a health care system that is not a mandate but still enables everyone to eventually become covered, Obama’s has the bonus political aspect of allowing the concept of single-payer universal health care to be sold more easily to the American people since there is still somewhat of a significant hurdle in regards to this issue. On the second issue regarding foreign policy, there is a very small difference between how Hillary Clinton’s foreign policy proposal and Barack Obama’s foreign policy proposal would work out. While Hillary seems to want to cater to the Neo-Conservative base a little with her foreign policy proposal, which for the most part includes less diplomacy and more chances for war, Barack Obama’s foreign policy plan enables us to step back and start talking with leaders with have disagreements with first and try to resolve our differences and doing our best to avoid another war. Plus with Barack Obama’s plan we have a chance to heal some of the wounds with the world that we have created thanks to some of the current administration’s bad foreign policy plan. Finally Hillary Clinton’s and Barack Obama’s energy plans are very similar, but Barack Obama’s calls for three times as much financial stimulus. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama both want a cap and trade proposal that will reduce GHG carbon emissions by 80% before the year 2050. They key differences is that Barack Obama wants to auction off 100% of those emissions and $150 billion of the auction proceeds to be used over 10 years to stimulate clean energy development", while Hillary Clinton only wants to auction off only $50 billion. On top of all of this, Obama also “is willing to ban new coal-fired power plants that fail to use the latest technology to prevent carbon dioxide from getting into the atmosphere”, and whether this means he is willing to follow Chris Dodd’s approach and ban new coal plants unless they have “operational carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) facilities”, which is a huge deal and a very significant progressive approach to a progressive energy policy, or follow John Edwards approach inbanning new plants unless they are compatible with CCS -- i.e., requiring that new coal plants be IGCC”, which is not as significant as the former, but is still an additional bonus on what Hillary Clinton proposes and still takes on a progressive approach and moves us forward into dealing with the energy crises we need to resolve within the early years of the 21st-century. In conclusion, while there are very few differences between Hillary Clinton’s and Barack Obama’s three main policy proposals, the differences are significant and when you add it all up it is enough for me to support Barack Obama over Hillary Clinton.

Monday, February 18, 2008

Cause and Effect Paragraph

Author's Note: This is the eighth paragraph that I have done for my COM 105 class and I received a 4/5 or an A- letter grade for it.

Cause and Effect


I came back to school for many reasons. One of the main reasons was because I was tired of working contract jobs in IT and wanted a career that was more stable and allow me to gain benefits once again. I have had to go to the emergency room a few times and have had other health issues crop up, where having insurance would cover most of the costs instead of leaving it solely up to me to pay, which is part of the reason that I am in the financial situation that I am right now. Another reason why I wanted to go back to school was because I felt like my life currently was not as pleasant as one that was filled with an education and possibly multiple degrees. I am currently working on my A.A.S. in Veterinary Technology, and despite a lot of stress brought on by my current financial situation, I could not be happier. I see myself pursuing a bachelor’s degree after this one is completed and not being satisfied until that is accomplished as well. Lastly, and probably the number one reason for me returning to school, is because I love animals and I really want to work in an environment where I am learning about them more and helping them. My goal is to work in a zoo, possibly at Sea World, or in an exotic animal rescue environment, and in order to do that, one must have the appropriate degree and desire. I have always had the desire, but now I need the degree, and that is what I am currently working on. Despite it all, I am very glad I went back to school, it has allowed me the opportunity to learn more on the level I’ve been wanting to, getting a degree in the appropriate field to help make some of my career dreams come true, as well as help me change my career completely and get into a field where the pay may be less, but the benefits are much improved, never mind the satisfaction I will receive from helping animals and others that love them.

Argument Paragraph

Author's Note: This is the seventh paragraph that I have completed for my COM 105 class and I received a 5/5 or an A letter grade on it.

Argument Paragraph


Barack Obama is the best candidate for the next presidency because of his ability to draw people from all sides, has the best foreign policy ideals, and because of his progressive health care plan. Barack Obama has an uncanny ability to talk in ways that appeal to voters from all sides of the debate. While I believe he is a very progressive candidate, he has gone to great lengths to sound like a moderate and has succeeded in bringing independent voters as well as moderate Republicans to the progressive side of the debate in hopes of bridging some of the divisions in this country and getting it moving in the right direction again. When it comes to foreign policy, Barack Obama has the right ideas to continue moving us forward in the global world as well as regaining our respect from it. He is willing to actually talk to other foreign leaders and try diplomacy first, especially with certain leaders that are seen as the “axis of evil”, or other leaders that have not cooperated with us in the past. This, in my opinion, is the best foreign policy to have, since I believe that we can resolve some of our differences if we will just listen to each other instead of continuing the usual failed foreign policy of shooting first and asking questions later. Last but not least, Barack Obama has a very progressive policy for health care in the United States. While Hillary’s and his plan have minute differences and are both a gateway to single payer health care, one of the things I think this country truly needs to continue to succeed, I think Barack Obama’s has the right message behind it when it comes to not making it a mandate and will be something that can be used to sell single payer health care easier to the American public and eventually ease us into it. All in all, Barack Obama is the right presidential candidate for America if it wishes to continue to succeed and be a respected global leader of the 21st century.

Definition Paragraph

Author's Note: This is the sixth paragraph that I had to do for my COM 105 class, for which I received a 5/5 or an A letter grade on it.

Definition Paragraph


I am a procrastinator; in fact I am the king of procrastination. A procrastinator is someone who postpones work out of laziness or habitual carelessness, and I have multiple examples of how I do this on a daily basis. My first example focuses on test taking and the need to study before said test. I am horrible at studying and will usually wait till the night before, or even the day of, to start studying for a test. Sometimes this works to my benefit, and sometimes it does not, but overall if I would just study more and not procrastinate so much, I would do much better on the majority of my tests. Another example is writing paragraphs for my COM 105 class that I have this quarter. I think I am a bit too arrogant in my ability to write well as I will usually procrastinate on writing a paragraph that is due till the morning of the due date. So far procrastinating for the class has not hurt me, but I really need to cut that out and get to work if I am ever going to finish my research paper and do well on it. Thirdly, I turn procrastination into an art form when it comes to chores and other duties around my home. Sometimes I will let dishes stack up in the sink for weeks before finally doing them, or not dusting and doing other cleaning jobs around my apartment for months at a time. So, in conclusion, I hope you can see why I am the king of procrastination as I wait till the last minute to study for tests, do not write written assignments due till the morning of, and shirk my chores at home to the point where I can not tolerate the mess any more and finally do some cleaning.

Description Paragraph

Author's Note: This is the fifth paragraph I have written for my COM 105 class in which I scored a 5/5 or an A letter grade, on. Also, yes I've been watching too much of Lost. :)


Description Paragraph


I could tell by looking in the room that a spirit lives here. As I opened the door, a blast of musty air hit me in the face causing me to crinkle my nose. I looked around and saw a dimly lit room, the only light source being an oil lamp on a grungy, wooden table in the center. I entered the room and closed the door behind me noticing that I was leaving foot prints on the dusty, old and creaking, wooden floor. There also appeared to be only one window, and it could barely be called that as it was very grimy and had small breaks here and there in the single pane of glass that it was made of. The room suddenly gets cold and I can see my breath before me as I began to become anxious and look towards the door, frantically hoping I was still alone. At this point I heard it, a soft groan that seemed of loneliness and a creak that accompanied it. I spun around and saw an old rocking chair next to the table rocking back and forth and a ghostly apparition sitting within, softly outlined by the oil lamp on the table next to it. It merely nodded at my presence and muttered one word “stay”. I stood there motionless and caught my breath, knowing, for the first time, that I was in a room that only a spirit could reside.

Archives

So, for anyone that cares, you can obtain archives of my previous website as well as the earlier incarnation of this one from a website called Internet Archives and using their Wayback Machine tool.

If you wish to view archives from my previous site crimsonsun.org then you can access the archives here.

If you wish to view archives of the earlier incarnation of hundredschoolsofthought.org, then you can view those archives here.

Some of my earlier written material from those two websites will eventually appear here but will be in a revised form.

I just wished I would have known about this site earlier, oh well, now I know and can make use of this valuable tool.

Process Paragraph

Author's Note: This is fourth paragraph that I had to write for my COM 105 class. For some reason I initially struggled with this one, but was able to rewrite it, the end result being another 5/5 score, which is an A letter grade.

Process Paragraph


In making a latte various ingredients and equipment are required. To begin, you will need some whole espresso beans, some milk of any variety, coffee bean grinder with an espresso grind setting, and an espresso machine. The next step you should take is to steam the milk. You can do this in any number of ways using any means you have available, just make sure that the milk reaches at least 140 degrees Fahrenheit. Once the milk is steamed, you can then set it aside and start working on grinding your espresso. The amount of espresso you need to use is entirely up to you, but if you are making a normal 16 oz. latte, then you will need to at least grind enough espresso to make two shots. How to determine this is entirely up to the type of espresso machine you have, if it uses a portafilter then just fill the filter to the line. If it does not have a portafilter, and requires cup measurements instead, then make sure you grind half a cup of espresso. After this, you will need to fill the espresso machine with the ground espresso, but before doing this, and this is the most important step as it determines the quality and strength of the shots, you will need to pack the espresso as tightly as possible and make sure you do not fill the portafilter, or other device for holding the espresso, too full. To achieve this you can use what is called a stamper, which allows you to tap the portafilter in a way to arrange the espresso so it fills the entire filter, and then stamp the espresso down with as much pressure as you can humanly muster. Now, fill the espresso machine with the espresso, whether you are connecting the portafilter to it or putting the espresso in a basket within the espresso machine, and make sure you have it set to distribute two shots of espresso. This usually does not take too long, and if you are using a high-end espresso machine with portafilters, like they have at most coffee shops, then you will only want the water to filter through the espresso for about 17 to 24 seconds for a very quality shot, otherwise the shot will be too sweet or too bitter depending on how short or how long the time was to create the shot compared to the desired amount of time. Finally, pour the espresso shot into your cup, add the milk, and then stir the mixture up a little bit if you want. At this point your latte is complete and you may enjoy it however you see fit.

Sunday, February 17, 2008

Quality Paragraph

Author's Note: This is the third paragraph I wrote in my COM 105 class and I received a 5/5 on it, which is equivalent to an A letter grade.

Quality Paragraph


I greatly admire the unconditional love quality my cat Georgie has for me. First, she goes out of her way to cheer me up if I am in a bad mood or am sad. She will sit on my lap all day and purr and only get up when she or I has to get some food or go to the restroom. Second, being a Bengal, she is very vocal and likes to communicate. She will “talk” to me when I am talking to her and sometimes it seems like we are actually carrying on a conversation. Lastly, she is very affectionate and loves constant attention. Georgie will never resist a good pet, especially if it is a long lasting one and will respond in kind by rubbing against me, nibbling my hand, and making soft growling noises that lets me know she is enjoying the attention. In conclusion, my cat Georgie has an excellent quality of unconditional love that she carried on from her previous owner to me, and I enjoy it extremely.

Second Quarter Goals

So I'm on my second quarter in the Veterinary Technology program at Indiana Business College (after this quarter is over I will have exactly one year left) and am trying to get on the Dean's list (minimum requirement is receiving a 3.5 GPA for the quarter or I can get on the Dean's list with distinctions if I receive a 3.8 or better GPA) to make up for the fact that I didn't do as well as I wanted last quarter which resulted in a 3.4 GPA.

The great thing is that half of my classes are easy A's for me this quarter, and of those two classes one is giving me a lot of practice with writing that I have been wanting for awhile, and now I am forced to practice.

Speaking of which I have been slowly uploading my paragraph works that I have done so far this quarter in my COM 105 class and will upload the rest soon once I get them in Google Docs and modified correctly. Once I finish my essay that will be due Tuesday and get it back graded I will get it uploaded as well, and then finally my research paper once we get to that point of the quarter. I've finally picked a topic for it and it will be on the French health care system.

I'm also trying to properly format some papers I did for last quarter and will get those uploaded just as soon as I finish them. These are mostly papers I did in my Strategies for Success class and will have a few images in them here and there.

Some other goals I have this quarter, outside of school, is to get the short story that I am currently working on finished. I am not sure I will be able to make that goal, but I should be able to finish it sometime soon thereafter.

So here's to my future 3.5+ GPA and soon to be completed second quarter, leaving me with only a year before I receive my degree.

Saturday, February 16, 2008

Work Paragraph

Author's Note: This was the first paragraph I did for my COM 105 class. I received a 5/5 on it which is an A in the letter grade format.


Work Paragraph


Working at Mo'Joes coffeehouse has been the best job I have ever had thanks to the totally laid back and positive atmosphere, abundance of new people I have met, stimulating conversations and feeling I can openly talk about anything, and the fact that my boss cares about my input. First, Mo'Joes has a very laid back and positive atmosphere. I am always treated very nicely by all of the customers and have yet to have a confrontation with any of them. All of the people I work with display a much more positive attitude towards the job than any other co-worker at any of my other jobs and they seem to actually enjoy being at work. Next, I have made an abundance of new friends and acquaintances working at Mo'Joes that I have at any other job, plus these are people I actually would like to get to know more, hang out with on a personal level, and would also follow up with in the future if I ever quit working there. Thirdly, I feel that I can openly talk with anyone there about any topic, controversial or otherwise, which just leads to stimulating conversations that give me some enjoyment and allow me to get to know people on a more intimate level. Lastly, and this may be the most important factor, my boss actually cares about my input and asks for it on an almost daily basis, where as before any input I gave was either ignored or dismissed totally, not to mention the rare circumstances where my input was not wanted at all and was frowned upon if given. All in all, I could not ask for a better job and am glad that I found something that allows me to enjoy work.


Stress Paragraph

Author's Note: This was the second paragraph I wrote for my current COM 105 class, which I got a 4/5 on it, which is an A- in the letter grade format. I'm mostly updating this to test how publishing Google Docs does to my Blogger account, since last time it didn't work so well with my last website. Expect the rest of my college papers for this quarter to be uploaded soon.

Stress Paragraph


I have a lot of stress in my life. I go to school full-time, work a full-time job, and am currently having a hard time just paying normal bills, which all contribute to the current level of stress I am feeling these days. When I decided to finally go back to school, the program I wanted to get into could only be taken as a full-time student until just recently. Because of this I elected to go ahead and be a full-time student and pursue my career change, which is just one part of several that can be the reason for the level of stress I am facing presently. Work also contributes to my stress because I am forced to work more hours than I did before, along with going to school. Plus, the type of jobs full-time students can choose from are limited in the amount of hours available and pay, which can cause more problems down the road and add on to the level of stress already associated with being a full-time student who wants to succeed more than normal. Since I decided to go back to school full-time and wanted to change my current career, I had to quit my last job, which paid more, and then take something that paid far less, and this is the number one reason for why I am having a hard time currently just paying normal bills and will also be the reason why I will have to find a second job in the immediate future to compensate. In conclusion, trying to change your career and going back to school to succeed in that is a very stressful road to take, and I do not recommend it to any one who is not at least one hundred percent dedicated.


Saturday, February 9, 2008

Excellent Charlie Chaplin Wallpaper

I found this wallpaper when I was looking for a new background for my blogger and was trying to find some of Charlie Chaplin, in tramp style, that would fit.

Thursday, February 7, 2008

Mr. Pickles - Prelude

Mr. Pickles is the working title of a short story that I am currently working on and hope to some day get published, if not sent off to a writing contest to win some grant money for college.

It's based on a sketch, that I unfortunately can't link to at present, that a friend of mine, and fellow co-worker, Amory Abbott, did within his sketchbook. He had asked me an opinion on it and we had started talking about it the rest of his work shift from there. Weeks later a story begin to form in my mind and I asked him if he was going to do anything with it and if he wasn't if I could use it for the basis of a short story. He had no plans to use it beyond a sketch and thought it was a cool idea for me to write a short story based around it.

The sketch itself showed nothing more than a girl between the ages of eight and twelve and had her looking down at a cat that was blocking her path and was also staring up at her. She says "Mr. Pickles?" and there is also a caption below which reads "Two years after the house fire destroyed everything".

Below is your first taste:
Acrid smoke filled her lungs, she couldn't breathe, she couldn't cough, she couldn't even think, all she could do was gather what strength that she had and crawl out of bed, trying to expel the poison that was slowly filler her lungs. With each inch of struggle she succumbed more to the flaming nightmare, she tried to whimper, to call for help, but not so much as a squeak left her lips. This had to be a dream she thought, a very horrible dream, one that she was a prisoner of, that was claiming her slowly as she finally made it to the floor in one exhausted heap, letting the demon of fire and ash consume her. Without warning she saw something, a miracle, a shadow of a giant engulfing her bedroom window. The glass and frame exploded into what she thought was a million pieces, and the shadow entered her room, bent down, and extended its hand...
More teases to come soon.

And another one does, another one does, another one bites the dust...

On the Republican side anyways. Mitt Romney decided to call it quits and fold to the awesome might of John "The Maverick" McCain, leaving us with the evangelicals' hero, Mike Huckabee, to battle it out with "The Maverick". I can only imagine how proud James Garner and Mel Gibson are right now.

So why did Mitt the Mormon quit? Apparently it was for the love of god, country, and to keep those dirty liberals out of the White House so the terrorists don't win.

The one quote that really floored me was:
I am convinced that unless America changes course, we will become the France of the 21st century...
In all honesty I am perfectly fine with us becoming and would find such a thing particularly great, but in all honesty it probably won't go that route (I'll take their health care at least) and Mittens' quote is nothing more but the typical bullshit pandering that the Right likes to do to spook people in thinking that liberals are some kind of boogeymen out to steal their children or something.

Which is why I need to post my endorsement for Barack Obama and tell exactly why I want him to win. So sorry if I sound a little overly harsh, but I'm a bit fed up with the Right's talk-down wankery that I have been hearing non-stop for seven long years now. I don't know about you, but I'm a bit exhausted from it, know several moderates that are as well, and am ready to get America back on the right course and actually deal with some legitimate issues instead of calling each other names and pinning the evil tag on one another.

Just because some of us want a progressive agenda, doesn't mean we are in bed with terrorists as well...

Genius, pure genius!

Yes, I am a giant dork...

Thanks to my friend CJ for the link.

Bare with the mess...

I am still trying to find the right template that pleases my asethic values for this blog. In the end I will probably just use this template and change the colors more to my liking. I hope to have something solidified before the weekend is out.

I do apologize for the inconvenience.

Tuesday, February 5, 2008

My Top 20 Movies

So I've decided that I want to do a personal top 20 movie list, which will be something of a project since I've seen a ton of movies. I will not do a post on it, but instead will post it as a sidebar on this blog.

The list will compose of a whole range of genres and I am going to try my best to not make it a homage to American-centricism and instead plan to include movies from a wide variety of countries (especially since I prefer foreign movies over most of the crap that gets released in my native country anyways).

Since I didn't see a lot of movies last year, at least not a lot from the Oscar list, and don't have immediate plans to watch the Oscars this year (I just know No Country for Old Men will not win Best Picture, so best to start my ban of the Oscars early) I figured I would make up for that by doing this project.

Don't expect it to be completed any time soon, since I both work full-time and go to school full-time and have a research paper I really need to start putting more work towards, but I do expect to it get it out within a month.

As for the comments that are soon to follow, if there is a movie not in the list it's a safe assumption that I haven't seen it or I have a really good reason for not including it in my top 20 list, so please refrain from "Oh my god, movie X isn't in your list!?" posts and instead focus comments on the choices I made instead and why I consider it superior to movie X (if I have seen movie X).

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Pixar’s Cars and Strategies for Success – A Relation

Author's Note - I did this paper last quarter for my Strategies for Success class. After watching the movie Cars we were to relate the movie to things we had learned in the class. I received an A on the paper.

Pixar’s Cars and Strategies for Success – A Relation

There are many things that can be found within the movie Cars by Pixar that relate to the Strategies for Success course I am currently taking. Of the multitude of characters, there are two specifically that I would like to focus on, namely Doc Hudson and Lightning McQueen, which are the two main race car characters within the movie. Lightning McQueen employs constant self talk, usually positive, during most of the movie, especially right before the two big races. The irony of this is that it usually becomes a bit too positive at times and makes McQueen seem very egocentric in those cases. He also holds some scotomas over the residents of Radiator Springs once he meets them. At one point he screams that he is stuck in “hillbilly hell” and doesn’t treat the residents as his equals and uses sarcasm and other negative talk to drill this point home. As the movie progresses though, he realizes his error and grows to like the residents of Radiator Springs, even going out of his way to help them as much as he can in the end. When it comes to the Doc Hudson character, which is very similar to McQueen and reminds me of the “old guard same as the new guard” thematic approach, he doesn’t take him seriously until he is put into his place by Doc and then later finds out Doc’s hidden past. Once this occurs, McQueen goes out of his way to encourage Doc to drop some of his own scotomas and to get him to want to succeed in life again and have a positive outlook.

Doc Hudson has some similarities to McQueen in that he employs self talk to himself when he is alone and it is usually positive. His scotomas though are that he is a failure, washed up, an old has-been because of what had happened to him in his last race, and he doesn’t think he can go back to that lifestyle ever again. McQueen is the one that helps bring him out of this hole and shines a light on his future. It’s Doc who teaches McQueen how to turn better in dirt and not lose control, which helps McQueen later in the last race. It’s also solely Doc that sends him back to the world of racing, mostly out of jealousy I think and that he thinks Radiator Springs is better off without him. Not soon afterward he realizes his mistake and makes it up to McQueen by showing up at the last race and encouraging him as much as he can so he can win. McQueen doesn’t win, but thanks to his interaction with Doc he does become a better “person” and ends up winning in the end regardless.

In conclusion, the almost symbiotic nature of the two characters Doc Hudson and Lightning McQueen are relevant to the Strategies for Success class I am taking this quarter because they both symbolize, both in singularity and duplicity, what it is we all can achieve if we just stay positive with ourselves and others. This includes employing positive self talk, dropping some of our scotomas we have of life and other people, and interacting more positively with others for the benefit of all involved. I’ve seen this movie several times and each time I learn something new from it, taking this course and trying to relate it to the movie has as well taught me some new things about it and myself, which I am very grateful for.

Monday, January 28, 2008

New Beginnings

So I've switched to a Google blogger account instead of having my own website to deal with, which should in theory allow me to post more (so a post once every four months instead of six now). I will probably play with the templates some as time gos on, but for now what I have selected now will work.

Another great thing about switching to a Google blogger, I think it's a good idea anyways, is that I can start all over from fresh and re-write some of my past works (short stories, poems, etc.), or not, as I see fit, without having to worry about different copies of the same work on the blog and naming them according to their draft revision.

Expect more political posts as the '08 Presidential race goes into full swing and discussing more some of my views on certain subjects.

I also plan to post some of my works from college, especially once I get into my bachelors degree at IUPUI.

Hopefully this will work out for me in the long run and I will want to post more, and I also hope that this helps out what few readers I had before as well as grow that base in the future.


Enjoy the read.