Go Outside

     Hey all and welcome back! It's been a while since I've done an actual blog post and I felt that in order to continue my blog, I obviously have to write something. That has recently, I'll admit, been difficult for me. Since Spring Break started back on March 9th, I haven't had all that much going on, or at least,  enough built up to write a substantial blog's worth. I'm also using this post as a sort of experiment for future blog posts. This blog, and possibly from now on, I'll be segmenting my blog up into chapter-like sections, similar to my Halo Story posts. So let's start by getting caught up.

     My reasoning for this change is mostly for my purposes. I usually get caught up in just talking about what's going on in my life, which is okay and all, but part of why I started this blog was to also talk about Halo, which seems to be my most popular topic, as well as philosophical topics that I find myself thinking about, which is seen on my blog next to never... So, this is all to give me more organization and not to spin off into topics which some don't seem to find nearly as engaging. From now on, I'll be trying to cover a larger variety of topics for people to read.

-Story Time:

     Well, I haven't written anything in my blog since my Spring break, so let's start with how that week went, shall we? In short, my spring break was just the sort of vacation I needed. Throughout this semester, I've been finding myself less and less motivated in school work. Granted, this semester is easier that others, if only on the basis that three of my, then four but now, five classes are very closely related, and because of that, so is the work. The downside of that perk though is that I then do not feel nearly as challenged in those classes... My math class is a bit of a joke, so, again, there's not much for me to pay attention to. Anyway, because of this lack of motivation and a build up of midterms, I was pretty stressed by the end of the first half of the semester, and with my hardest week looming ever closer (but we'll talk about that later). The week-long break was great for pulling myself back together and getting back on track with certain things, many things, in fact. (After reading this paragraph, this is a very good example of how I start on a tangent and get very off topic... *sigh*)

     My break was spent with my friends, whom I saw about every day and evening of break. Matt and I spent a lot of time driving around and catching up and doing outdoor activities, which started a semi-hiatus from the internet. I also came up with two new video ideas with his help, but I'll get to that later.

     I also got back into a small hobby I picked up over summer- Giant bubble blowing. The weather was spectacular and it was a good opportunity to bring out the "wand." What the "wand" really is, is two sticks with a short cotton rope connecting them together with a much longer one below, that also connecting them together. One afternoon, Matt and I went out to the yard and a few neighbors stopped and just sat there watching me make my giant bubbles.

My inspiration for my bubble hobby

Me out on my deck, making giant bubbles for all to enjoy.

     My St. Patrick's Day was fairly interesting. I got a green button-down shirt for a party Colin's family was having that night. Everyone says that the shirt makes me look Alan Grant from Jurassic Park. I'm okay with this, although I was hoping for more of a handsome look instead of going-on-a-safari look. At the party, I got to hang out with Colin, Dan, Chris, Kozi, Terry, and Siegel, who, for some reason, I hadn't expected to be there. Later on, they talked me into going to White Castle with them. I got chicken rings, ate one and a half, and then realized that I shouldn't have done it because it wasn't going to be staying down... I was driving us back when I realized that at any moment, it was all going to come back up. We pulled over into an empty Chipotle parking lot where I got out as quick as I could and began... uh, well... vomiting. While doing so, a cop car pulled in and came up right next to us. The first thing out of his mouth was "How much have you been drinking tonight?" Oh course... It was St. Patrick's Day, it's like 1:00 AM and I'm hunched over outside my car throwing up in an empty parking lot... figures. I had to explain that I don't like to drink and how this was all a misunderstanding because of my lap band surgery. Afterwards, we went back to Colin's to let everyone get their cars before heading home. 

     Before leaving, however, "Icarus," by Madeon came on and Dan decided to start dancing. We decided to carry this over into the street outside Colin's house. It was delightfully fun, because before Spring Break started, I'd been having issues with not being able to dance like usual. I was being much less into the music and whatnot, but that has since passed. Aside from that, I also out-danced Dan, who is much more in shape that I. It was then that I realized that dancing was actually really helping my stamina and endurance. It's also been evident in my new Soccer class and when I was also able to out-dance Mike when I was in St. Louis this past Thursday for the Andrew Bird Concert, which was amazing to hear live, especially since he played one of my favorite songs:

"Tables and Chairs," by Andrew Bird

     My sister, Lizz, and cousin, Pat, also came down this weekend, and boy I miss it already. Again, I didn't spend much of any time on the internet, not only because Lizz's air mattress was blocking my desk, but because I didn't have much of any time. We hung out with Scott and Michael, who are also our cousins, and Pat's brothers. Most notable from the weekend, at least for me, was going fishing and realizing how much I enjoyed it. I don't really get out of my house that much because no one really ever wants to go do things and I don't know what is around here... So, from now on, I think I'm going to be spending my weekends down here on one of the many lakes that I've finally realized are very beautiful and peaceful.

-In the Internet World:

     Honestly, nothing has been going on in the internet for me. Like I said, I've barely been on at all the past couple weeks, and it's left me feeling awkward and distant from those that I normally talk to on twitter and such. I'll say that I don't like the fact that I haven't talked to anyone on there really, but at the same time, it's not in the forefront of my mind, not to mention how much I've been enjoying my time while NOT on the internet. If this continues, I'm not too sure how I'll end up. I don't want to lose my focus on my relationships with those that I feel connected with, but actually getting out and doing stuff has been so great, and rather therapeutic, in a sense. I wonder, despite how one connects with so many others over the internet, that if I gave it up, like I have pretty much done with television, I would be happier? I'll just have to keep it in mind for the next few weeks and test it out. Only time will tell.

-Gaming:

     The last game that I played extensively was Mass Effect 3. I have done everything in the game except for the last two missions, and ME3 isn't a game that I'll be replaying for a while. I know the current endings already, but with the uproar by fans about the seemingly terrible ending, Bioware has said it will be changing the endings to give them more closure. Since I already know each ending, I've put the end of my ME3 save on hiatus until the new endings are out. I know I can just make another save file, but honestly, I'm not THAT invested in Mass Effect as it is. I know the endings, but they're getting changed, so I'm just going to wait it out.

     Past that, I've been playing Draw Something, so if you'd like to play with me, create a game with me through facebook, because I don't know what my username is, or if I even have one when using facebook to login.

-Halo News:

     Over break, Matt played a song in his car by m83, called, "Outro." You may recognize it from the Red Bull commercial where various athletes are doing jumps and flips in slow motion and are inter-cut with each other. The song is a giant build up and feels very... epic throughout. All I could imagine, especially near the end, was Halo and the sense of scale you feel throughout every game. So, I'm making it. I've already began cutting clips together and when it's done, I think people's mouths will be agape, going "Woah..." It's not like my usual trailer work that I've done before, where it focuses in on the characters and actions, but instead focuses on the scale of the Halo universe and the beauty of the structures, and the feeling that we are so small compared to everything going on. The problem is that since last Thursday, I don't feel like I have much of any time to work on until after April 3rd, due to school work. In the meantime, I thought I'd officially announce it instead of hinting at it on twitter. Maybe I'm revealing too much, but since I can't work on it for another week, I thought I'd at least give you that.

The song during this trailer is "Outro," by m83

     I also came up with a machinima video that, if all everything goes smoothly, will be in production in the summer. So far, I only have a relatively short scene outline written up. Those few that have read it so far have told me that it's actually pretty good, so I'm pretty happy about that. But, like the "Outro" video, working on it has been put on hold due to school work... I've been trying to come up with a fitting subtitle to it, but it's proving to be much more difficult that many other naming endeavors. A couple titles I have in mind are "Halo: In Bonum Omnium," which is my personal favorite, although the word 'Bonum' has understandably left people making jokes. That's the ONLY problem with it in my mind. Otherwise, it's short and leaves the audience wondering what it means, whether it be in English or in Latin, which I felt was rather fitting for it considering the themes and the ties the title has. I also had "Halo: Ad Legionem," but I'm not a fan of saying 'Legionem' and it doesn't give the same impression on me that the first one does. So right now, I'm still on a quest to find a shorter way of saying "Consequentialism." If any of you have any suggestions, please comment! I'm always open to suggestion.

     In actual Halo news, a magazine cover was leaked which details Halo 4 and the new enemies (SPOILERS?), which may turn out to be the Forerunners themselves, or their constructs, which I have been speculating on for a LONG time now (yes, this is my stroking my ego and being proud of myself). If you'd like to see, check out: http://jakewhlr117.tumblr.com/post/19978080931/empresscortana-halo-4-u-mad

-Philosophical Concepts:

     This is something that I really feel I don't do enough of on here. I started out fairly well in this area, but as I said above, I have found the focus of this blog to be more and more of just an e-journal with the occasional Halo 4 news and speculation. And, as a Philosophy major, I feel somewhat obliged to at least bring up certain concepts, discussions, or even stray thoughts that I may have.

     On the car ride back from spring break, I was thinking about how people with rather dark pasts seem to be considered the adults with the most character, assuming of course, that they bring themselves out of that darkness into a more... civil and social person that is more of a part of society. An example of this would be a former hard drug addict or something. They seem to have the craziest stories and people seem to remember stuff like that.

     On the subject of the institution of punishment, we need to ask ourselves if punishment is okay to do, because when we punish someone, we are effectively doing the same thing that the one being punished has done- setting back the interests of others. In the Deontological defense, Hegel proposes a thought experiment for us. Imagine that Humans are naturally a part of the rational world, where things make sense to us, and how we understand everything. When we harm someone, by which I mean setting back the interests of someone, we figuratively step into another world. This world is irrational and does not make any sort of sense to us. Up is down, black is white, everything is backwards. The Deontologist justifies punishment by saying that when we step over into the irrational world, we must be punished in order to be brought back to the rational world. From this standpoint, punishment is considered an honor, rather than an all out negative.

     So while I was driving, I considered Hegel's thought experiment and came up with an interesting conclusion. Often, we find ourselves happiest when we simply go back to normal from a place of punishment. Do we not feel most grateful when we are taken from shitty circumstances and brought back to normal? How often have you found yourself saying, "Boy, I'm glad that's over?" Probably enough times to make my point valid. Sure, we achieve a great bit of happiness when we are taken from normal to extraordinary, but it's a different happiness, more fleeting and temporary, and generally, I'd venture to guess that such circumstances would not leave us with much of a lesson or anything to take with us for future experiences and reference. I think at least part of why that is, is because when we are punished, we know understand and recognize actions that are considered irrational and begin to familiarize ourselves to the rational world, where the deontologist would say we "belong."

     The question I'm leading up to is this: Is it rational (logical) for Humans to act irrationally in order to bring ourselves further along? The more irrationality we experience, the more punishment we get, the more learning takes place, and potentially, the more civilized and more intelligent we will become? As Thomas Wayne says in Batman Begins, "Why do we fall down? So we can pick ourselves back up."

     Now, let's be clear here, I don't necessarily mean for people to take this and go intentionally harming anyone, and I don't necessarily mean conventional punishment like prison or any physical punishment (although they are definitely applicable too). For most, I'm referring to everyday punishment: work, school, practicing anything. We must pay our dues to achieve a lasting happiness.

     It sounds vaguely like I'm concluding this thought process, but I keep the thought open to any variables that could change the outcome. What I mean to do from all of this is ask simply, 'Is it rational for us to act irrationally, considering the potential outcomes?'

-In my plans:

     Now, I must go back to planning homework for the rest of the week. I have two papers due and an essay exam all on April 3rd, followed by a Math exam on the 6th. I'm trying to get the papers done asap, but I don't have the prompt for one until tomorrow and the website for a survey that needs to be completed for the other is currently down, which has delayed that paper by at least a day, which is at least a day later than when I wanted it done by. Chances are that I won't be writing much until after then.

     So, for now, I'll leave you with "Go Outside," by Cults. Enjoy!

Until next time...

Recently Added

     Hey all! I am slightly busy at this juncture, so as a sort of cop out (in case I don't get to actually writing a blog this week), I am just going to post a list of brand new songs I have just downloaded. Chances are that I will be writing tomorrow, since it's my day off, or Thursday, as it is my birthday. So stay tuned on that front. In the mean time, enjoy all these new songs! The songs with asterisks preceding them are ones that I got particularly into. Enjoy!

Twin Sister- All Around and Away We Go:

Real Estate- Easy:

Real Estate- Green Aisles:

 

Real Estate- It's Real:

Destroyer- Painter In Your Pocket:

John Talabot- Destiny (feat. Pional):

John Talabot- When the Past was Present:

John Talabot- So will be Now... (feat. Pional):

*Washed Out- New Theory:

Washed Out- Eyes Be Close:

*Washed Out- Soft:

Hello, Blue Roses- Shadow Falls:

Small Black- Despicable Dogs (Washed Out Remix):

*St. Vincent- Cruel:

*Madeon- Pop Culture (Live Mashup):

And I suppose I'll add a new favorite video to tag along with the Madeon song:

Yes, I am starting to learn some of these moves, primarily the sequence from 0:43-0:56. To that, I say:

Until next time...

Feel It All Around

     From the ashes, I rise. I am the embodiment of the phoenix metaphor. I feel it's not safe to really go into it, but I feel stronger than ever right now. This week has been crazy, but like I said, "From the ashes, I rise."

     Today has been a relatively interesting day. I have really been unable to focus. A good example is this particular blog. From a reader's standpoint, you can't see it, but this is actually the fourth paragraph that I've written. I actually started with the achievement list, then the fortune, and then the phoenix metaphor bit, and now here I am. It's been like that all day though. I began my day very suddenly when I was awoken to my mom needing me to figure out why she couldn't pay bills online through google chrome. It was fixed no problem, but I wonder if it somehow it has kind of started it all. I've been meaning to  check out some new music that Matt recommended to me last night, as well as this cool thing called a music tree. If you don't know what it is, and you're looking for new music ever, what it is, is a website where you enter a musical artist that you like, hit expand, and it branches out into like 5 different directions to other artists that are very similar and you can keep doing that for each new artist. It is so cool and innovative. The one we used last night is http://audiomap.tuneglue.net/. Check it out because I think i just found my new favorite tool for finding new stuff, other than constantly asking Matt or Mike, although Matt did agree with the notion of, 'why spend so much time researching when you can just ask someone that is trustworthy with musical taste?'

     Anyway, my point is that I meant to start that way earlier today and I only just got to it because I was writing about it. For anyone else that has similar tastes in music as I do, which is mostly electronic stuff, mixes, and dance stuff, you may want to check out Jamie xx, Toro y Moi, Girls, Beach House, and Washed Out. I haven't delved into any of these yet, but they're names I've heard a number of times now and I think it's time to get my hands dirty and find some new tunes. I did check out Washed Out's song, "Feel it All Around," which I've just decided is going to be this blog's title and song choice. It's also the opening song to a new show that Matt showed me last night.

     Portlandia is a newer show on IFC, and it just started it's second season yesterday (serendipitous indeed). It's a sketch comedy starring Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein (who I think could be related to Alison Stroll of 343i, but how do you bring that up without sounding creepy? Well, I guess in a blog. Hopefully it worked.), as well as a bunch of other people who appear on SNL. Each episode does have it's own central story, but it breaks up and has other, unrelated sketches in between. The focus of it is the city of Portland, Oregon, which is full of hipsters and conventionally odd characters. The open the show by talking about how when the rest of the world is current, there is still a place in the country that is pretty much still stuck in the 90s- Portland. If that's really how Portland is, then I want to go to there. The type of comedy is very odd too; it's kind of subtle, but things always go haywire in their own way. It's very tailor-made for those people like Matt, Mike, and myself who are generally considered hipsters amongst the masses. I'm not quite so sure that those who consider themselves as the general person who goes with society and the times would really get into it as much, but I may be wrong. Check it out for sure though, because I can't name another show that's anything like this. Another show that is on IFC is called, "The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret," which stars David Cross. So I also plan on getting into that, as Matt told me that it's actually a bit funnier in its own way.

     My dad just picked up Panda Express for me, and, as per usual, I opened up my fortune cookie just after starting to eat. And what did it say? "When in doubt, let your instincts guide you." Eh, it's good, but I've read better... I'll at least agree with this in the case of a survival situation, but not necessarily in an every day sense. I think that perhaps our conventional opinions have gotten too in the way of how certain decisions are made. ...But I don't feel like dwelling on this subject. Perhaps next time, when I have a good fortune that I can discuss. and for the record, I got a large orange chicken (which there's now way I can finish anymore) and an order of their potstickers, which are decent, but pale in comparison to Big Bowl's potstickers, which I had for lunch, so hah.

     Our family doc said that I should make a list of all of the stuff I've achieved lately. I think he really meant just overall, but so much has happened lately that now seemed like a good opportunity. This is mostly just for me, but I though my blog would be a good place to do it. The real point of it, as he put it, was to realize just how much I feel I've accomplished lately, because certain things have been happening so fast for me. ...One of the lights on my ceiling fan keeps blinking... How distracting. ...Alright, now they're replaced. [Okay, now I'm back where I started, at least I am on some track while writing hahaha]. Anyway, let's go through a some things I feel are personal achievements within the past couple years, shall we? I think we should start with the most prevalent.

-Started my own blog, which I write in frequently and fully, and it has brought back a sense of creativity and just writing creatively again, which hasn't happened much since like two years ago.

-I have proven my fandom Halo a couple different times now
           -I won a Halo Reach Xbox Slim at San Diego Comic Con 2010
           -I was a finalist in the Halo Fest Machinima contest over this past summer
           -I just won probably the biggest contest I've ever won, The Halo Fan of the Decade contest, which        got my picture in a commercial, and I won nice home-entertainment system.

-I've also made tons of new friends and connections within the Halo community and 343i, which will hopefully land me a job there in the next few years working on future Halo games or other Halo peripherals.

-I was asked to create an album cover for my friend, Tassi, and his band, Manhattan Chess Club. This has also brought back some art and creativity back into my life and I've been thinking of stuff all day

-I've found a major in college that I really connect with- philosophy, which has helped boost my grades and GPA like none other. I got a 3.6 this past semester, which, for me, is unheard of.

-My dancing skills have been so noticeably increased these past few months, and I get compliments from a lot of people on it now.

-My friend, Alex, just texted me saying, "God dammit," and a picture of his receipt from where ever he's eating dinner and his order is #117, which isn't an achievement necessarily, but it lends itself to how if this phenomenon happens to you on a regular basis, #1, it may be my fault :), but #2, if you go researching it all, you pretty much will come across me on your search, as has been the case this week when I got a random friend request and message asking what it's all about. You can read about it all in my previous blog, "Halo: Part 3: Movement." So I think that I've somewhat started a movement of sorts in that so many people come back to me with how they see 117 everywhere now. I'm a checkpoint of sorts on the ever-going mystery of the number 117.

-hmm... I don't know of any others right off the top of my head, so I think this is a good place to stop the list, for now.

     So, as I mentioned above, I've been asked by my friend, Tassi, and his band, Manhattan Chess Club, to help make an album cover for their new album coming out. Nothing is finalized at this point, not even the album name, but it's still very cool and has given me the opportunity to start doing some sketches again and being aesthetically creative, which hasn't happened for a long time. He had some particular things in mind, which I kind of put together, but we're still throwing around ideas. He didn't want anything too hippy-ish, as that's not really the nature of their music. The cover I made up last night on photoshop ended up being just that, but I still found it fun to play around with. You can see the two main ideas I've had below :).

      I've also thought of the idea to make a giant battlefield on my shuffleboard in my basement using my Halo Mega Bloks, which there are many of. It's still very much in the planning stages, but I think I'm going to take a day this next week and go buy a bunch of foam, paint, carving knives, and whatever else I feel will make this thing be totally epic. So stay tuned for that soon, hopefully before I head back down to school.

     Oh, also, before I forget, I will be the guest on The Running Riot Podcast on Saturday, January 14th at, I believe 9:30PM (I'm not sure which timezone...), and covers my winning the Halo Fan of the Decade contest, so check that out!

Now, I feel as though I must steal something from my friend, Natalie's blog...

tl;dr- Everything was crazy this week, but has gotten so much better since. Today was filled with a bunch of new stuff for me to talk about and you should just go read it you lazy bum. HAH! See what I did there? I'm not giving you the satisfaction of your laziness.

     So that's all for now. I leave you in the hands of this awesome song- "Feel it All Around," by Washed Out. Very cool and chill (which I hate using as an adjective...). Now it's time for me to go continue watching Pineapple Express. Enjoy!

Until next time...

Up & Down I Go

     Hey all! It sure has been a while since I wrote last. But it's been the holiday season and I needed to build up some material. I hung out with Mike and Matt a couple times and we were talking about the blog and I ended up deciding that perhaps doing a blog every single day isn't so necessary. At that rate I am pretty much just talking to talk. So I am going to be spacing these out to at most a weekly basis. I'll talk when I feel the need to talk. Plus it's good for those days where I do absolutely nothing and I end up writing a small handful of dinky paragraphs about nothing, which can be quite dull. Perhaps, if I do end up writing posts like those, I'll just keep them as drafts and only publish the good ones. I'll let it happen as it will.

     So let's catch up a wee bit, shall we? I figure we should start with Christmas. Well, on the 23rd, my dad and I dressed up as Santa and his elf, respectively, and delivered a bunch of presents to a family who is currently going through some very hard times, and with two little kids having to endure it all, it felt good to do it. The next day, some relatives came over, as we normally do on Xmas Eve. Everything went well, and the Nerf war we had went spectacularly. There were Nerf darts everywhere around our house... Christmas day went well too, no issues to really speak of, though I did make a mental note that this year, there was slightly more bickering amongst us, to which I say, "Oh well."

     In terms of gifts? I got a bunch of new clothing, which fits me relatively better than what I've been wearing as I lose weight. In particular, I got this nice black zip-up hoodie from GAP, which if you've ever seen me in the confines of my home, you'll know that I am almost always wearing one of these, generally sans shirt (That's right, ladies). I got a bunch of Halo-stuff, including: a bunch of megabloks sets, calendar, MC Play Arts figure, Lmt Ed. version of 'Halo: The Art of Building Worlds,' as well as the Child's Play Auction items: Halo 4 concept art (which I've mentioned in the past), the Dr. Halsey Journal from Halo Reach signed by Eric Nylund, A signed copy of Halo: Evolutions Vol. I, and finally the one and only physical copy (that I know of) of Levi Hoffmeier's, "Halo: A Fistful of Arrows." This last book was a big thing for me because I REALLY loved the story, not to mention the incredible art that he does. Levi also did a personalized sketch in the front cover, which is fucking amazing. Nicely done, sir. The sketch can be seen below. The FoA book also came with a Mr. Chief sketch, done by Frank O'Connor from 343 Industries and some prints from FoA (Levi, if you're reading this, it's like you knew that the Jun-using-Armor-Lock picture was one of my favorites. So cool.).

     I also got tickets to go see Andrew Bird witha friend on March 22nd. Mike and Matt, this concert is in St. Louis, which means you both are coming with me. I only have two tickets though, so one of you will have to buy one. This is for you to decide. ...That is of course, assuming that the seats aren't assigned. I'll have to go and look to make sure >_>. Anyway, Mario Kart 7 has been keeping me busy, I have a new brown leather messenger bag, which I've been using at any opportunity. And I finally got something I've been wanting for a long time, but never really remembered to ask until this year- a golden pocket watch. I've always liked the idea of a pocket watch and I haven't had one since my old Full-Metal Alchemist one broke back in the beginning of High School. What makes it even better is that there is a '117' engraved on the inside cover, which is very awesome to me. And finally, after telling my mom that her old, and quite shitty, computer was finally being replaced by my iMac, I was surprised with a entirely NEW iMac. The plan was that mine would go to my mom and I would get my dad's, which he doesn't use very much at the office and is a couple years newer. Evidently something happened that would've made it more expensive to move his from the office and he decided to just get me a new one. Past the unique Halo stuff and the watch, this was the highlight gift of 2011. Overall, a VERY good year, both in Xmas, and just overall.

     Now, on to more current affairs. Since Xmas has passed, things have been... slow, to say the least. All week long I have literally been doing next to nothing. I built all of the Halo Megabloks sets, watched the Blu Ray Lord of the Rings Extended versions, listened to a dramatized version of The Hobbit, played a bit of Skyrim on my mage, and spent more than a fair amount of time in my hot tub. This week has been a lazy bum's paradise. Only today did I finally get my mom's new computer into the Apple store for a data transfer. And tonight my family and I went to the Chicago Blackhawks game against the Detroit Redwings. We won. Huzzahs were had by many. But this week I've been really noticing a subtle change in my behavior...

     I feel lost right now. Throughout the week, I've been progressively getting more easily agitated by my family, and I guess just by everything. My intolerance for illogical actions has been at a recent high, which has been working against my current meditations to let things go and allow things to work as they will. The constant cheerfulness that I've been having for the past 2-3 months has been diluted... I think some of it has to do with how, since I've been home, I've been regaining some weight- not much, mind you, but some poundage to be sure. There's just been so much bread around. I think I need to re-cut it out of my diet. Perhaps I just need to get out and do something. I could've written this at literally any point this week, and yet I didn't feel like it. I even tried to organize my Halo stuff finally and quit after like half an hour. I don't know... I have become a mope that just meanders about my house, not doing anything; waiting for death to overtake me. That's an exaggeration, of course, but if I let things continue as they are, I fear a looming depression. But the timing of things this weekend doesn't help all that much, seeing as it's New Years.

     I'm not a big fan of New Years. For me, it's just when people go out and drink obscene amounts of alcohol and then conceive the unfortunate offspring that will be born in August and September. The kids part is just a side note that I felt like pointing out, but it's really the drinking aspect that makes me not like this holiday. I don't drink at all, especially after the surgery last June. I will say though, I did take two shots last month of SoCo and lime juice, and those weren't bad, but it's nothing that's changing my mind of the matter. And since I would roughly be the only sober adult at such a party/gathering, I would feel the need to take care of drunk people and keep things in order. And even past all that, I don't really care that it's the new year. Ultimately, it's just another day, but even still, this year has been the best in recent memory by a long shot, and I don't really care to see it go. But like I said, it's just another day and that's how I should think of it. I've been invited to three separate occasions for New Years, all of which I have said 'no' to. Colin, Kozi, and a bunch of others are heading down to Chicago to go drink. This was pretty much an instant no for me. Dan and Rojek are heading out to Indiana University to stay and Rojek's house and party there. Again, I said no. Mike and Matt are both in New York, albeit separated from each other. Finally, my cousin's girlfriend, Jill, is having a shin-dig (who uses shin-dig anymore, especially in writing? haha) which is where my brother and sister and a bunch of my cousins are going to. It's the same situation, although I may actually go to that one for a wee bit. So, my plans for New Years? I'm going to see MI:4 with my dad, and I presume my mom also and then I'm coming home and doing nothing, except hang out in the hot tub and enjoy that.

     I never understood the whole Resolution thing with New Years either. All it is, is a false promise that you make to yourself, seemingly in hopes that it'll just sort of bring itself about. I imagine that it's rather rare for someone to actually follow through with it, unless the person is very take-charge. I was asked what mine was tonight at dinner. I replied with, "I don't do resolutions," and that was the end of that. I guess if I was forced to make one? Hmm.... Lose weight? I'm already doing that. Perhaps get down to a target weight by a certain time. Eh, but that seems so generic and typical, especially in the United States. Something with Halo? I have already gained the title which I have craved so. Perhaps giving back to the Halo community in some way. Some ideas come to mind, but I'll need time and people to help with that... I guess on a solely personal level, I would have to say start reading certain Philosophy books that have been recommended to me, and to continue practice my dancing. Oh! That reminds me!!

     On three separate occasions since I've come home, I have been hugely complemented on my dancing skills. So much so even, that on ALL THREE times, the people watching me dance said that it should be recorded and put on the internet for all to see and to become an internet star. The idea seems quite enticing to me to say the least, so that may pop up somewhere in the future hahaha. Either way, when I am at school, my dancing is usually made fun of, so to get compliments so many times after coming home means a fucking lot to me. Thanks all.

     So, I leave you with, "Up & Down I Go," by Pretty Lights, who has been just recently put on my radar by multiple people. Twice this song has come up in shuffle and both times I have tried to put it into my 'Current' playlist. That must mean I like it. I'm going to dance the fuck out of this song tonight.

     Despite not liking New Years myself, I still wish everyone else's to be joyous. Just don't be surprised when you find you're/she is pregnant. hahaha

Until next time...

Lights and Music

     Now, we know how to name, and we know what drives how we choose. So what do I choose? Well, the most prevalent things in my life are school, Halo, and dancing. Let's get the small stuff out of the way first, as they won't be my focus today.

     The fall semester here at SIU is just about over, with finals now on top of the student body. And if you imagined finals as being a person, literally on top of another person (who is the aforementioned student body), then good. That's what I was hoping you'd picture because that's pretty much how it went for me today with my first final. It was an absolute fucking disaster. Where the other 3 tests were at about a 6/10 in difficulty, the final, which was only half cumulative bumped the difficulty way the fuck up to about a 20/10... The proverbial A-Bomb dropped directly on my head... We'll see how my grade ends up soon hopefully. And hopefully the other finals won't be so god damn meticulous. But I digress.

     The Halo subject, however? Well, I got some great news, which has the potential to end even greater, but I won't know that for a couple more hours. I can't say much else at this point however. All I know is that I forever love 343i and the people working there; one in particular, without whom none of my Halo-rific feats would not have been achievable. If they happen to be reading this, I still can't thank you enough for the opportunities you've granted me, and I owe you so much more than you think. <343

     Now, as I feel that the overall subject of Halo would probably end up making a given blog about twice as long as my previous ones, I will leave that for another day, perhaps very soon, perhaps tomorrow? So do not fret, random Halo fan that is reading this in hopes of me telling my stories, including the whole 117 debacle. All your (possibly) burning questions will be answered soon. And I know there's at least a couple of you out there who have requested that I write about it. I will Never Forget. (hah, see what I did there?)

     The primary subject of today's blog is about dancing. Now, before I get into my story, I've always like the movement of dance, especially dances that weren't so structured and choreographed. The free movement of it inspired me. A good example would be pop-n-lock. It just seemed like such free movement that didn't initially seem possible. I would dance in my own time here and there, but it was never something I did actively, and never in front of other people. But that would eventually change.

     Throughout last year (in school year terms), I began gradually changing my taste in music. I would mostly listen to stuff like Dave Matthews Band, who, for a long time, was my favorite music artist. But in general, I would listen to much more contemporary and conventional music. But during that year, I got back into contact with my oldest, and one of my dearest friends, Mike Jehl. At the time, I believe he had been working for my dad's company. Over winter break, Mike and I, and another one of our mutual best friends, Matt Steffen, went out for the first time since the last world cup, when we drove down to St. Louis to visit Mike and enjoy the games. Matt opened my eyes to new musical possibilites. The two most prevalent of which would be Passion Pit and Crystal Castles. Most people know Passion Pit by now, but Crystal Castles remains relatively unknown. They are far on one side of the musical spectrum. Electronic, but much more so than others that we here every now and then. Both artists were I spent most of my time listening to. When we hung out over winter break, it was great. We danced like fools and it was great. They talked about other stuff that they had heard, one in particular: Skrillex. That night, I looked him up and boy, that was awesome. I've since found that I am generally not that into Dubstep, but I can really get into Skrillex.

     That next semester, we kept in contact more than we had in since high school. Towards the end of the school year, Matt put me onto another band: Cut Copy. It was love at first listen. "Feel the Love," was such a new sound to me. Anytime it came on, I had to dance to it. I found out Mike was also going through the same thing, and with the same song. It was such a great summer, listening to such interesting music and dancing with two of my oldest friends. I was moving away from the doing the same thing all the time, which generally entailed my "Every Day" friends coming over, just sitting there watching either Jersey Shore, or god forbid sports, and the occasional bonfire, which after a while, also lost it's luster. It was time for change, and this new music would be the instrument that would lead me there.

     I generally subscribed to Mike and Matt's recommendations, but Cut Copy always remained as the top contender, and still does to this day. I've all but stopped listening to Dave Matthews, and anything else? I can hardly remember what it was that I listened to in the first place. Mike introduced me to the French pop artist, Yelle, whom I adore. Other major artists include Cults, Neon Indian, TV on the Radio, some Deadmau5, Justice, M83, Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaur, and most recently, The Ashton Shuffle (which actually was suggested by one of my twitter friends, @42Meaningoflife).

     The more I listen, the more I dance, and the more I dance, I better I get. I am slowly becoming faster and more fluent in my movements. You'll eventually notice, if you haven't already that I really try to stay in the mind set that there really is no correct way to do something or think something. Dancing is a perfect example of this, it's sort of an implied mantra of mine that it doesn't necessarily matter what you do while you dance, just that you dance and love it. Feel the beat and the rhythm and you'll know what to do. Don't place so much into it. I did however, mention above that I am slowly getting better at dancing. Butto say that I am getting "better" would imply an intended goal. And what is that goal? To be able to dance like this:

     That song is by Yelle by the way. The way that these guy's move so quickly and fluid-like absolutely astounds me and it's this type of dancing that I love and aspire to be 'better' in.

     This is the point where I'll cut myself off. I leave you to listen to Cut Copy's awesome and danceable song, "Lights and Music." If you feel the need to dance, don't question it. Just do it and go with what feels best. There's no correct way to dance, as long as you feel the awesome emanating from the movement.

     Oh! and that embarrassment I would feel when dancing when I was younger? That's been gone for a long time now. I dance where ever, when ever, and I couldn't be happier.


Until Next time...