Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Sum: forty tales form the afterlives - David Eagleman (60-110)

     Sum once again ceases to amaze me in its creativity. I guess I should say that Eagleman never ceases to amaze me with his creativity. I will summarize the last story I remember reading. Eagleman starts by saying there is no after life so this story isnt about the afterlife but what actually happens on earth. See earth is part of a computing system, controlled by astronomical beings. Humans being the nodes that pass the information from one to another. But our subconscious controls the process not our conscious mind. A twitch from the left eye as you converse with your interlocutor means nothing to your conscious but means information to your subconscious. That twitch causes your subconscious to make your left leg bounce which passes on information to the passerby, and so on and so forth. The flaw in the system was the conscious which gave birth to free will, emotion, and reproduction of nodes.

     I love this book. So much creativity all wrapped up into a short samples that always leave you craving for that next piece.

Monday, May 9, 2011

Sum: forty tales form the afterlives - David Eagleman (1-60)

     Sum is one of those books that you pick up every now and then but you can't put it down when you do. Sum  is a compilation of 40 short stories that highlight the main theme of death. This style of writing about a theme (compilation of short stories surrounding a general theme) is my favorite style of writing. I like things that are short, to the point. and make you think like quotes or poems even. For this reason it was hard for me to put down the book the first night because at the end of each short story I wanted more of it.

     Its hard to summarize a bunch of short stories. So i guess what i can do is simply state that all the stories revolve around some form of afterlife. Some put the deceased in a waiting room waiting for their name on earth to be last spoken so that their "time" on earth is both physically and mentally dead. Once this is achieved the dead can go to a heaven of sorts. Another idea stated that you would have to relive every experience except in a row with out a break.. So you showered for a grand total of 2 months 18 days on earth, so now in purgatory you must shower for a consecutive 2 months 18 days, sit a stop light for 7 days straight, think about what you could be doing better with your time for 9 days. Read a book for a year straight and so on and so forth. Another a fantastic journey of bravery and courage through the heavens, down the yellow brick road, just to find at the end that God isn't real hes just a projected face controlled by an old man. .

...

I arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve the world and a desire to enjoy the world. This makes it hard to plan the day. - E.B. White

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Action LIst 3.May.2011

     Osama bin Laden dead after nearly 10 years of searching. These headlines, despite the fact that 5 had to be killed in order for me to see the headline, gave me a great inner sensation of relief knowing that the man who has caused me to only see my dad 5 of the last 10 years is gone. It truly was a remarkable thing looking upon how it all played out. This would be my first real major historical conflict that I witnessed start, develop and finish. And the fact that this particular historical event hit so close to home made it all the more surreal. This article did contain some information that was new to me. According to NY Times 70 men and 4 helicopters descended on the compound, not 25 men and 2 helicopters as I was previously aware. As well as the reference to the pakistani cia workers. 

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Senior Interview

     Looking at all the senior's interviews, I have related the most with the architects vision. I also wish to become an architect as an adult and feel as if him and I share a lot of the intangible, "senioritis", feelings towards high school and how badly both of us wish to just get out of all the drama and start worrying about what is actually important in life. I had some issues with the neonatal nurse's interview. She seemed to just not know what she was getting into and sorta just gave out an answer for the interview. Confidence seemed to lack with her interview.


     Where do I see myself in 10 years? Well being 27 i will hope to have a job as an architect by that point. Something that is really important to me is family so I hope to at least be married at this point maybe with a kid or two. I also just hope that everything that I have in my 10 year plan right now works out. With ball state as my college of choice and the 5 year architecture program being my catalyst to a great career as a prospering architect. Weather I work in a corporate firm or my own firm.