On The Proper Use of Leverage

"Give me but one firm spot of land on which to stand, and I will move the world." - Archimedes

So says the man that was the first to discover the properties of buoyancy, to give practical uses for mirrors and levers, to calculate the volume of a sphere. Archimedes was hailed as the one of the greatest polymaths ever to live by taking theory from the abstracted mind, and giving it a practical use. Archimedes stood on the library and museum at Alexandria, and from there he changed the world.

I have Lancaster. And I will have UC Davis. Certainly they are no match for the birth place of modern thought and reason, but maybe - just maybe - they're firm enough that I can change the world too. 

Archimedes changed the world with a lever and fulcrum, what will you change the world with?

(I blame illness on this post. I have been reading "The Rise and Fall of Alexandria" while I've been bedridden...blasted philosophers.)

The Nature of Wind

It isn't often that I read something and feel like the author is speaking personally to me. More often that not, books are an entertainment - a distraction. Complete immersion in a book is one of my favorite diversions since it's so simple for me to get lost in the lives and infinite intricacies of another person's life, but rarely do I ever feel any personal connection to the characters. Most of the time I feel like I'm treated at best as an observer (at worst an intruder) to the book.

But every once in a great while, I read something, and I can't help but feel that either I've known the author or they've known me, because they know exactly what I need to hear at that exact moment. It's an odd thing, that, and it makes you wonder if things like that are always there, but you just don't notice. Because you need someone to tell you those exact words, but when no one does, you go looking for them...and sometimes you do find them.

I didn't make valedictorian this year, nor did I make CSF. I will be one of the few IB seniors to not be a valedictorian or graduate in gold. I don't blame anyone but myself though. Every decision I've made for the past four years was mine and mine alone, and this is where they've left me. Am I angry? Yes. Will I stay angry? No, there isn't any point. So I'll have a different colored robe. So I won't sit next to my friends. There's no point in fighting something that I can't change, and I needed a piece of fiction to tell me the truth of that:

"That's the nature of wind. You can work with it or you can fight against it... but no matter how much you might not like it, you can't change it."

I have two choices: I can get angry about my own failures, or I can enjoy my last two weeks of high school. Staying angry might feel good now, but I will regret the time wasted later. I certainly won't like it, but I'll do what I can to work with it.

Like Clockwork

In gearing up for the release of the new Star trek movie, I've once again immersed myself in the escapist fantasy that is inherently the normal state of being for a Trekkie. Instead of caring about what clothes to wear or what new fad to buy, we ponder the universe and the future and everything in between.

This has led me to consider the one topic that has always fascinated me: alternate universes. The idea of an alternate universe is that for every major decision we make, there is an equal and opposite decision, and by making a choice we split our fate one way or another. This would imply that there are points in life that are distinctly more important than others, and the question is: If such moments do exist, how do we go about recognizing them? Or, are they recognizable at all?

The Star Trek episode City On The Edge Of Forever put forth a situation where a woman that was well liked, well respected, and totally innocent had to die in order for the universe to continue the way it was intended to. If the life of one person can so radically affect the future, then how are we to justify anything we do? A harsh word could accidently turn the tide of a kind person into a hateful bigot, a piece of trash casually tossed aside could prove to be the extinction of an entire species. 

Causation: this is the dilemma of all questions involving alternate universes. If each alternate universe is born of an important decision made by a single person, then the number of possible universes out there is, well...astronomical.

So, for example, this Fall I will be attending UC Davis, but (going back to last November), I may have decided not to join Mock Trial which caused problems with me getting CAS hours and I didn't get the leadership experience, so I didn't get into UC Davis. In another universe, I went to AVC for two years. Maybe I transferred out, maybe I met someone and decided to stay, maybe I died in a car accident on my way home. One decision, whether or not to join Mock Trial could have affected the future of my life to that extent. Of course we'll never know if Mock Trial was the ultimate reason why I got into UC Davis, but the possibility is still there, and for an alternate universe, possibility is all it needs.

I recognize joining Mock Trial as an important point in my life, possibly one that affected my future. McCoy in the Star Trek episode attempted to save Edith Keeler, but was stopped by Kirk and Spock. Because of her pacifist tendencies, Keeler would have delayed the US's entrance into WWII, to the point where Hitler nearly took over the world. Starfleet never existed in that timeline. For McCoy, trying to save Keeler wasn't a conscious choice. He never considered the repercussions of her living when it was clear she was meant to die. It was an action, not a decision. 

So that leaves the bigger question: Are we in charge of our own fate?

I would say no, based solely on the fact that even if we were able to accurately recognize every important moment of our lives, there is no way that is humanly possible to extrapolate all of the possible outcomes of a particular decision. Our lives are like clocks, with a infinite number of cogs and wheels and little machines that drive everything that we do, but if one falls out of place our lives are derailed instantly. However, by carefully weighing decisions instead of hasty choices, we can make them run like clockwork.

All right. Enough philosophical ranting. 

Emoetry

I'm sick of everyone else's emoetry, so I'm gonna show y'all how it's done, haiku style:

Normally life sucks.

But cryptic phrases say zilch.

So get over it.

Goddamn. If you're going to say something, then just say it already. Pfft.

I Know I Need To Start Sleeping Again When:

1. I spend three hours designing an apparatus that would fit inside my backpack and give me a constant supply of Mountain Dew with minimum effort.

2. I cry over movies and things I've never cried over before.

3. The word 'faloffle' induces unreasonably long periods of hysteria and laughter.

4. Sleeping with my eyes closed is harder than sleeping with my eyes open.

5. I become convinced that because of lack of sleep I will either:

A) Spontaneously combust

B) Evolve into a high being that has no need for sleep

C) Fold inward on myself, thusly creating a black hole and defying the laws of physics.

D) Become a chocolate chip muffin.

6. I actually start paying attention in class.

7. I feel like a stranger in my own house because I wander around in it at 3 AM.

8. It takes me at least 10 minutes to figure out what day it is, let alone what I'm supposed to be doing other than breathing.

9. Suddenly, I completely and utterly understand The Wall without ingesting any recreational or prescription drugs.

10. I read interesting stories about men dying from ingesting alcohol with their anus and Canadian trappers snapping off their man-logs with a bear trap.

I should go to bed. Note: should. 

Problem: Can't.

FML.

FML

Fate

Upholds

Carnivorous

Kites

Meanwhile

You

Live

Implicitly

For 

Everything

That is all.

Update!

Phobias:

Spiders

Dust Motes

Choking on Pop Rocks

Statues (10 wig-out points if it's weeping)

Clowns

Hobos

Telephone booths

Mold

Olive-loaf

Jury duty

Cannibalism

Piranas

Insomnia: Still here, and in full force.

Man-Harem Additions: 

Gary Oldman

Ed Norton

Matthew Goode

Paul McGillion

David Hewlett

Alan Rickman

Current Thoughts:

"Why am I blogging at two in the morning?"

"Does anyone care?"

"Mmm, cheez-its."

"Why do we talk about distance in minutes or hours instead of miles?"

"Fucking cats fighting outside my window."

WoW Accomplishments:

Saintmurder - 80 Death Knight

Oddity - 78 Mage

Chemo - 65 Druid

Coffinated - 64 Warlock

School: Balls

College: UC Davis! Wewt!

Times I've left the house in the last two weeks outside of school: 4

Conclusion: The subject has no life.

Days since I cleaned my room: 13

To-Do List:

Buy new jeans

Buy new shoes

Buy David Bowie

Clean room

Wash car

Get mage to 80

Finish CAS hour sheets

Stoke up motivation to study Bio/Math

...

...

...

Do something productive

Care Level: I_I

("Captain, it appears that her care collection container is bereft of any care whatsoever."

"Very astute, Lieutenant. Her 'care cup' is empty, indeed."

"'Care cup'! Splendid, sir.")

In other words: I have no life. Go me.