Friday, March 2, 2012

11 questions


the rules

1) post these rules

2) post 11 random things about yourself

3) answer the questions of the person who tagged you

4) create 11 new questions for whoever you tag

11 questions for whoever reads this:

1) If you had to live in the mountains or by the ocean, which one would you pick? Why?

mountains, on a river; i walk and hunt better than i paddle and fish...

2) What is the funniest movie you've ever seen?

the ring(sarcastic answer)

phantom of the opera(semi funny,) i had to see this abomination for a class, and gabby had to come along to translate for me and explain what was going on., which is funnier because i loved the silent movie as a child and read the book by Gaston Leroux in grade school.

real answer: ground hog day.

3) Taco Time or Taco Bell (if you say "taco bus" I will love you forevah)?

I'm not trying to curry favor with Kenny, but taco cart for sure.

( uhhh, amigo are you gonna wash that serving spoon?)

4) If you could be really talented at something, what would it be and why?

drawing, i would like to be able to put the pictures in my head into a real medium.

5) Tommy Boy or Zoolander?

tommy boy.

6) What is your favorite thing about summertime?

getting into the mountains.

7) Favorite Beatles song (if you don't have one...that's a little sad)?

black bird, yesterday,

8) If you had to read/re-read one book for the rest of your life (excluding the scriptures, cuz that's a no-brainer), which one would you choose?

Jesus the Christ.

9) How do you feel about ugly sweater parties?

i would rather be naked....say that one time, and you will never be invited again: problem solved.

10) When was the last time you wrote a letter?

by hand? my mission, 1984,1985.

11) What is the best thing you have ever eaten?

Shiro maguro, albacore tuna (sushi) soaked in lemon juice for two days then served in 5 oz filets.

toss the rice, enjoy the burn.


11 questions for those who read this:

1. describe the best sleep you have ever had?

2. what is your dream car/motorcycle?

3. at what moment in your life did you realize that God is real?

4. what is the fastest you have ever driven?

5. do you know that the left lane isn't to just drive in, especially at low speeds?

6. if you had to choose a city to live in for one year, starting tomorrow, where would it be.(cost is not a consideration.)

7. are you ever surprised by others perception of you?

8. impressionist or realist?

9.dog , cat, or other?

10. altoids or gum?

11. if you could know what people were thinking, would you want to?


Sunday, February 26, 2012

things outside of nursing school.

I have decided that i really hate Facebook.

It is brief, simple, and easy. it is communicative top ramen.

Like top ramen;

It has a familiar flavor so that if you truly know the person writing....
If you understand them in the usual and hopefully correct context, (ie. you know what flavor the package of noodles is supposed to be) then you may see the "inside jokes" and discern the seriousness or humor of the posting or comment.

Last week I saw a friend of mine giving comments that were "out of character" for him. Honestly the commentary that he had been making on his own Facebook page, and the comments he had made on others, only seemed mildly odd, when taken for each individual comment. However if you looked here and there, over a period of a week you began to see the treads of a tapestry that frankly worried me. I tried over a two day period to write a message that I could send that would voice my concern without offending him. I wrote and erased my attempts four times. At the point that I almost gave up, it happened......

In the tradition of all great revelation, it came to me in a pillar of light and a thunder-voice, that I might break all rules of genteel society, think out side the box, truly innovate and risk my sense of decorum......I called him....on a courtesy phone......in a bus station....

not really, I just called him, but I actually dialed the number......OK ,OK I used voice activation, but I did it with feeling!

I said to him that it had been a while since i had seen him and would like to take him to lunch. after the initial shock of actually speaking to a voice on the other side of the phone had subsided, he accepted with some trepidation.


It's a funny thing about talking with someone over lunch. You don't need to use an emoticon, or know how to make a particular face using punctuation marks. You don't need to be careful with every word that you write. Fearing you might be judged one way or another. Matter of fact you don't have to say much at all, you don't even have to think very much that all really. The coolest thing about human communication is; that since much of it has to do with visual cues and intonation of voice, and even nonverbal sounds that we make, a look, a sigh, really make all the difference. It doesn't take that much effort; it was, let me see....... if I can remember the old phrase, natural.

Yeah my friend had a lot of things he needed to talk about, but I feel like it was far more effective because of human interaction, I didn't have to explain how I felt or declare that I understood; he knew it, because I was there.

The world moves much faster today than it did when I was a young man, and I'm glad that so many people that I know are able to keep track of and contact each other that otherwise would not able to. There is however the danger that this sterile and substitute form communication, may become the only method by which people communicate most often in their life.

Imagine a world in which you never saw a musical performer do their thing, in fact you never heard them sing, but instead read the lyrics perhaps with emoticons showing the places in the song at which they have particular feeling.

Listening to a Ozzy Osbourne, or Laura Fabian recording is a fine experience, however to see crazy train or Caruso performed, particularly live, is an entirely different experience. Perhaps my allegory is carried a step too far, but that's how I feel. we truly are a multimedia experience communicators. We require: sound, visual input, emotion and context, else there is so much missing from the experience that we may miss the point, or perhaps misunderstand entirely.

Perhaps the role of personal communication, will become an act that demonstrates true personal endearment in the future. Reserved only for those whom it is felt the effort is necessary. philosophically speaking as an open-ended question that I have; to wonder if in the electronic age we've created a separate class of acquaintance, friend, and family; not intentionally of course, but as things we do as a culture; first become passé and then cliché, it is interesting to think where this type of communication may end up being classified.

How satisfying would it be to live on nothing but top Ramen, you could survive, of that there is no doubt, but somehow I think we each would be missing something.

I'm just saying.