What's Next?

Sometimes, I wonder: Is there something bigger than the universe? I mean, thinks about it. We live in a state. That state is found in a country, which is found in a continent. That continent is found on a planet, which is part of a solar system. The solar system is part of a galaxy, which is a portion of a nebula. After a nebula, it's the universe. Doesn't that mean multiple universes should be part of something bigger?

Or on the flip side. It goes from atom, to proton, to electron, and to quark. But what makes a quark? Shouldn't there be something even smaller?

This is what keeps me up at night.

A Dog's Best Friend

One might quickly assume that a man is a dog's best friend. This is false.

I came home today to greet my anxious dog. Sure, I felt our bond, and it was strong. But then, something caught his eye. What was it? A tennis ball.

Being the nice owner that I am, I decided to let him play with the ball for as long as he wanted. That was the wrong move. He started putting it under furniture; he started to slobber everywhere; and he started to show he loved his ball more than me.

Rejection is tough.

Brain = Fried

Well, I can finally say that my ethnography is finished. Over the span of three grueling days, I tortured my mind by grinding out this essay. 

Looking back on it, I am grateful to have undergone this entire process. I met some amazing people at the church I went to for my research, and I established new friendships. 

Also, I've now written a 12-page essay' that's a resume builder right there.

Sleepy Time

Napping is both my best friend and my worst enemy. After school, I run upstairs, dive onto the couch, and watch some TV. This is usually the wrong decision.

Slowly, I begin succumbing to the forces of sleepiness. And before I know it, I catch myself as I am about to drift away. This process repeats a few times until eventually I lose the battle.

From a short-term standpoint, napping is great. I get a burst of energy and I no longer feel groggy. Long-run though, it's bad. Napping catches me up on too much sleep; I stay up extremely late as a result. It's seemingly impossible for me to fall asleep at a regular time after taking a nap, because my body is thrown off.

So, if you're willing to handle the repercussions of napping in order to achieve the short term benefits, go right ahead.

Social Media Down the Road

Sometimes, I look through my pictures on Facebook and surprise myself, as I see pictures of me from years ago and think, "was that really me?"  Bear in mind these pictures are from 2006 at the earliest, which truly isn't that large of a time period. But still, it's amazing to see how I've changed over this small period of time.

I remember my mother showing me pictures from when she was a child, which was a much greater expanse of time. The photos were black and white, faded, and clearly tattered. And now I sit here today, thinking about how this will never be an issue for our generation. If Facebook, YouTube, and other social media websites stick around, we will be able to see our images in 2040 that we took in 2010. Looking at the long run of things, these websites are remarkable. The pictures will be in color; the pictures will have adequate quality (although we'll have to see what pictures look like in 2040 to really judge this); and they will even have age-old comments that your friends posted on them.

Imagine showing your own child a video that you took 50 years ago. They can see what it was like to be a teenager in this era and also see how similar they are to their parent. Social media is like a massive digital photo album.

So, even though you might notice differences in your appearance over a span of just five years, this will pale in comparison to seeing yourself after half a century. Hopefully I will remember this blog someday and read it while I'm laying in a nursing home, poking people on Facebook.

The Eth(no)graphy

Some people might think that the ethnography which we are writing is pointless, hence the title of the entry. However, I am looking forward to mapping it out and testing my creative abilities.

Telling a story (especially a true story) can be difficult to successfully pull off. It's important to not leave out important details, but also to not add too many ideas that never even happened. For me, it will be interesting to try and balance these two forces. It's my goal to approach this essay similarly to how I wrote the trend essay; I will slowly chip away at it day by day, and continue to tell myself that if I start now, all I have to do is write around two pages a day.

Overall, I want to adequately represent my group and describe them in ways others never imagined. Hopefully I can pull it off.

No One is Safe (PSA)

It's that time of year again; Halloween is nearing and spooky commercials are everywhere. However, this is the least of my concerns. I can simply change the channel when a frightening commercial comes on.

But it's a whole new game when it comes to social media. The dreaded "screamer" videos are beginning to make their annual presence. Now, I'm a seasoned veteran when it comes to these videos. I have a keen sense and can detect if a video seems fishy. For instance, if the camera slowly zooms in on a stationary object, it is a massive red flag that one may soon be scared to death from a "screamer."

This can almost never be prevented, however, if one uses the application known as Vine. Since videos play automatically when you scroll over them, it is impossible to escape. The videos are only six seconds long, which means that whatever scary tactic might be in the Vine video will be used imminently. It's best to prepare for the worst and expect an extremely loud screaming noise. I'm ashamed to admit that I have been caught off guard on Vine already this week, so take this blog post as a PSA--I'm here to protect the greater good of others.

Personally, I'm going to avoid Vine until Halloween is over. I recommend others to do the same. If you don't take heed of my advice, you will be scared.

Don't be that person.