Leonardo da Vinci

"Leonardo Da Vinci was like a man who awoke too early in the darkness, while the others were all still asleep."
Sigmund Freud


This guy was incredible, a genius!! I've always been fascinated by Leonardo da Vinci, but have never taken the time to really look into his work. Just on the surface. I think there's only a few people in all of history who have been so intriguing to me, though. He was so passionate about so many different things, from flying machines to multi-barreled guns, to oil painting, to anatomy. I think it is sweet that he figured out anatomy by cutting up dead people in his workshop. That is so rad. I wonder where he got the dead bodies... but back then, it probably wouldn't be hard. And his drawings are some of the most anatomically correct ever. He used to write a lot of stuff backwards, really accurately, besides the backwards part. I think just for fun. And he was left-handed, back when it wasn't cool.

Feliz Navidad

It's Christmas!! It's snowing outside, and the tree is green, and family is here, and I got to bake pie!! I love Christmas.

HAPPY ... happy ... HAPPY ... happy!!

And I watched Home Alone tonite with my best friend! Yay!

We're like sheep without a shepherd
Who don't know how to be alone
So we wander 'round this desert
and wind up following the wrong gods home

The Eagles

storytime

Well, its about time for a quality story. Today I was walking along the edge of a cliff, when I looked up and saw a torpedo made of machetes and anger. and matches. Now thats a dangerous combination, if I've ever seen one. This mean torpedo was heading straight for the huge stack of dynomite and explosives to my right, and looked pretty intent on reaching it. Closer, closer. Even closer now. And Then. Something completely unexpected happened...a flying elephant swooped in and grabbed the torpedo between his teeth... no I'm just joking. That would have been ridiculous! What actually happened was somewhat realistic. This guy who had been climbing up the side of the cliff with an ice pick and spiked shoes grasped a nearby vine and PPPPFFFFFFTTTTT!!!!!!!

Well that story was really lame and REALLY not going anywhere very exciting. Its a shame, I know. Maybe sometime soon something else incredible will happen to me worthy of a story.

Self-Discovery!?

I'm beginning to suspect that I may quite possibly be a sock-kleptomaniac. I keep finding socks in my drawer that I'm pretty sure aren't mine. Sometimes its just one, and that confuses me. But sometimes, its TWO! So I put them on and wear them. It's actually kind of convenient, and useful. If you need to pick up a habit, I suggest sock-kleptomanicaing. Like I said, its been doing great things for me!

This is my uncle, Stein. He sometimes is disgruntled. It appears he is disgruntled in this picture, but no. This picture is actually when Stein is in a pleasant mood. Stein likes rye bread and beer. Sometimes he comes to my campfires, and we sit around smoking pipes and other various tobacco wonderfulness, and talk about things like potato guns and cannons and various weaponry. I learn a lot from my uncle Stein. He has lived a lot and has learned a lot, and doesn't talk much, but when he does, its worth listening to.

Take the Cicada Test!

Enigma

Robin said I am an enigma.

American Education's Downfall

A major downfall of our education system, as far as I've been involved with it, is this: From the time we start writing papers and finding data to support our claims, the problem is just that - we try to find data to support our claims, instead of basing our claims off of data. Ideally, there would be time to examine various information thoroughly, and come to a conclusion from the info. Realistically, our education system usually requires us to come up with a thesis first, and then find random facts and somewhat questionable studies to support our pre-formed thesis. There isn't time to read up on stuff. Its much faster to establish a claim, and then find a conglomeration of facts, theories, suppositions, etc to act as "support" - however sketchy and unreliable that is.
So this is the negative aspect. But do you realize whats even worse than this? It's worse, and affects so much more, that we ground our personal ideas, beliefs, etc off of the accumulation of this so-called knowledge. We get so used to this practice, that we aren't as critical as we should be about sources, and accept whatever is easiest and fastest and most accessible. Whatever comes up on the first google search, if you will. Yes, this is extreme, and perhaps exaggerated, but at the same time, its all too often true. I see it in myself, in my own habits as a student. In the paper I'm writing right now, actually. Great!

Yesterday I went to Trader Joe's and bought cereal. I got this kind that is a wanna-be Cranberry Almond Crunch but actually called Cranberry Almond Clusters. And I got another kind thats a wanna-be Blueberry Morning (My Favorite!) but it goes farther! It also has this granola-y stuff, and some rice stuff... its pretty good. Except I have been eating it really really fast, like speed-cereal-eating, because it turns the milk purple!! And that kind of isn't my favorite thing, or I'm not really sure why I eat it so fast. It's like a contest, to see who will win - me or the purpleness. I've been losing (On the same note, I just lost!! Aaargh!!).

I like people today! I like how everyone is different! Tell me how you are different!

There is a travesty upon us. A challenge to the freedom and "pursuit of happiness" guaranteed us by the Constitution. A challenge we must rise up to, make our voices heard, fight the system, stick it to the man!
The city of Tacoma has recently passed a new ordinance which tightens the restrictions on drug paraphanelia. This sounds like a good idea to the typical citizen, but it is actually a breach on our personal freedom. In this case, the ordinance extends far past actual illegal drug use, to infringe on other irrelevant things. The ordinance makes it illegal to sell or purchase hookahs or any form of water pipe within the city of Tacoma!! I understand the motives for people who are actually concerned with drug use, but look at the facts. In actuality, hookahs are not always used for illegal drug use. They may have that connotation for people, but there's actually a significant amount of people who use hookahs to smoke tobacco (which is still currently legal, who knows for how long..). This ordinance is an attempt to decrease drug use, but its put together all wrong! It extends too far, and is an unnecessary means to pursue the city's goals.
here's the article

This is a story about a man named Jericho. Jericho was this guy with a really sweet name, who lived in a place called Kalamazoo. In Kalamazoo, there were peach trees all over, and Jericho used to walk around Kalamazoo, plucking peaches from the peach trees and delighting in the effervescent peachy juice that would run down his chin and make his hands all sticky. Jericho really liked to eat those peaches while taking walks and getting all sticky. This is because the stickiness was a good kind of stickiness, the kind that comes from pleasant things like walking around eating peaches. This is not all Jericho did in Kalamazoo. Other times, he would go down to the river, which was usually bordered with trees, big leafy magnificent trees with drooping branches that would bend over the water's edge. There was a spot on the river's bank where there was one fantastic tall tree, and it had a rope swing hanging from it. And while Jericho knew that some people - in fact, most people - would swing from the branches into the stream, Jericho would just swing. He would just hang from the tree, swinging and singing. Yes, Jericho was like a real live musical sometimes. But not the annoying unrealistic kind. Jericho was the kind of live musical who would sing out of an abundance of joy with the beauty around him. He would sing because it was one of the best ways to express his erupting zest for life! This is not all Jericho did in Kalamazoo. What else did Jericho do in Kalamazoo? Sometimes he would go birdwatching. He would go out to the orchards, and sit in the trees, and just sit there all day, taking note of how the colors of the sky would change. And since he came back often, he would see how the trees changed with the seasons, and how the light changed also. Jericho didn't really go birdwatching. He kind of used birdwatching as an excuse to sit in the trees and take in the grandeur of nature. Well, sometimes he watched the birds.