5/18/2012- Take off

        Well- it's Italy time!  I haven't traveled on a plane in almost a decade, and even then, that was a short two hour flight.  The SLC Airport is much larger than I thought it would have been on first inspection, but to be fair, it's still just as drab as I imagined airports to always be.  We connect from SLC to Dulles in D.C., and I find it amusing when we pass over Chicago and the whole city of skyscrapers looks flat and significantly smaller than a city of that size should, the world at 35000ft. I guess.  We arrive at Dulles, and yet again, just your regular airport, complete with sitting and waiting in their generously comfortable seats.  Oh well, in 9 hours time, I will be in Italy, and to Hell with any discomfort now.  The flight over was unremarkable, except for the fact that for the first time in my life I saw the Atlantic Ocean, and at 35000 ft. no less! But, having pulled an all-nighter the day before, I quickly succumb to sleep on the flight.

Jet lagged and luggaged!

       We land at the airport in Rome.  The surrounding area is really similar to the way the airport around SLC or Boise looks, and I find it humorous.  Of course though, the airport in Rome is vastly larger than SLC, and possibly even larger than Dulles, because we had to get on a cart to get to the baggage claim area.  We grab our luggage, and head out to the meeting point to try and find out who our tour guide, this "Flavio" person, was.  Of course, we see a tall Italian man bouncing around to a song only he can hear- we know he's going to fit in with us perfectly almost immediately.  We head over to the bus, only to be delayed, because somewhere along the lines, we had lost a couple that belonged to our group.  Go figure-20minutes in, and we're already getting behind.  Well, we're introduced to Antonio, and his magic Rocket Bus (really, it's just a tour bus, but man, he's a speed demon!).

Top of Spanish Steps

        Our first stop was to downtown Rome- straight for the Spanish Steps.  On top of the Spanish steps lies a beautiful Church, as well as one of Rome's many Egyptian Obelisks.  Well, it is a nice way to be introduced to a city that has over 3000 years of history, and just as much mystique to it as history.  The writing, the sculptures, the people, all seemed to be perfectly preserved despite the thousands of years of existence.  The most striking part of this first experience was the fountain at the bottom of the stairs- there were people not only hopping around in it (not that jarring) but drinking straight from it.. Never in America is it smart to drink straight from a fountain! But Flavio explained that the water in Rome, and the fountains themselves, were the best in the world, and perfectly clean.  (I had read a book before going on this trip that actually called Rome the City of Fountains, since it had the acquaducts to direct water pressure for some smaller fountains in ancient times).  The second thing Flavio tells us, there are no sky scrapers in Rome.  Why? Because they don't want to overshadow a few places- like St. Peter's Bascillica (despite the fact that it's in another country) and the Colluseum, making Rome unique in the world's metropolises.

Statues above Trevi Fountain

        The next stop was over to a place I've heard a great deal about, though for whatever reason, can never remember the name to- the Trevi Fountain, my name-sake.  Everything around that piazza is named Trevi, and gave a bit of an ego boost to be honest.  It was also cram packed with people, tourists all crazy to
throw their coins over their left shoulders.  Flavio explained the tradition of the fountain- in ancient Roman times, the soldiers would solute each other by crossing their right fist up to their left shoulder, and in tradition of this, many of them when going to war would throw a coin in hopes that it would buy fate's fortune to letting them see Rome again.  So throw a coin into the Trevi Fountain, and you will see Rome again.  The next part I think Flavio might have made up, but if you throw two coins into the fountain, you will find love in Rome, and throw three coins in, you will find and love and successfully get away from them before it gets ugly (Flavio, fits right in with us).  Here also, I have my first tastes of real Italian pizza and espresso.  There is no comparison to it's American countrerparts, none.

The Pantheon

        The Pantheon is our next stop (Rome, and Flavio [by extension a Roman] are just gogogo).  It is just within walking distance of Trevi, and all I can think is, "Honestly, there is something of major historical significance around every corner in this city."  Nothing, and I mean nothing, could have prepared me for the sight of the Pantheon.  Remarkably tall (I've never lived in a big city, so maybe I'm easy to impress), ancient, and amazing.  Originally a Pagan temple, the place is characterized by its large dome roof, columns in front, and a giant hole in the roof.  The hole symbolized the Sun, and the rotation of its light touched each of the planets (i.e. Gods).  The tomb of Raphael lies within this temple, decorated by flowers by adoring fans, hundreds of years after his death.  The reason why this temple wasn't scuttled (or harvested, depending on your view) by the Church, was because it was converted into a church-specifically because they loved the dome (yes, this decision predates St. Peter's construction by a few hundred years).  We were allowed to sing one song inside this space, a rare honor not given to many people ever.  We sing Palestrina's Sitivit Anima Mea with a great response from the crowd of sight seers.  A lady cries over how wonderful we sounded, and tries to convince our tour guide and maestro to sing another song, she insisted so much that after arguing with Flavio, she went to the people in charge and tried to convince them to let us sing another song- talk about flattering!
        This was my first taste of really, honestly, why we keep ancient music.  We not only sounded beautiful, but we became part of the exhibit, another artifact in this museum, but one constructed of sound.  I was flabbergasted by the feeling.
        Well, after walking around and a long plane flight we were finally dropped off at our hotel, Domus Marie Palazzo Carpegna.  The building itself used to be a nun convent, but renovated to become a four star hotel.  It was fully modern, the bedrooms modest, but perfect for the busy sightseer or businessman.  Right behind the hotel is a quaint, beautiful park.  It requires walking around a block to get to the entrance, but once in there there are a series of fountains that are fantastic to see (they were, unfortunately, not running at the time).  Me and my friends opted to go for a walk in our downtime instead of nap, because there is no quicker way around jetlag than to tough out the sleepyness.  In the park, I saw typical Roman life- a couple of older gents talking on a bench, groups of teens clustered around having a good time, younger kids playing football (euro style), couples passionately showering each other with affections (one couple even going so far as really getting into the whole dry humping bit), and most importantly, drinking fountains.  These were normal fountains, but sculpted with the intent of people drinking from them- so of course, when in Rome, I did as the Romans did.  The water was the best water I've ever tasted.  Coming from Idaho though, that's not too hard.
        Jetlag is an interesting bedfellow.  Despite having pulled an all-nighter before, having slept 8 hours on a plane ride, my body was still zonked and not sure what it should be feeling.
        Dinner was held at 7pm (Italy time) and 11am (Idaho time).  So, I wasn't too sharp for my first, full three course, fancy-pants dinner ever.  Delicious pasta, succulent meat, and fantastic dessert, it was a great first full meal for a great trip.  With dinner done, massive jet lag, and having walked several miles that day, my roomy and I were ready to test those beds in our room.  I crawled in, got into a curled up position, and blacked out.  So ended my first day in Rome, and Europe.

Italy and Austria

Well folks, I can say I am a world traveler now.  I have spent the last two weeks in Italy and Austria taking in the sights, sounds, people, food, and what withall that the world can bring about for us.  I have taken a staggering amount of pictures, as well as a steady journal documenting each day as it went by, and random memorabelia from my tour.  I would like to inform the peoples that I will start to upload my journal entries and a few select photos from the trip as if I were on the day they were written (not two weeks after the fact).  So that means one journal entry per day.  After the two weeks of journal entries are put up, I will place posts expanding on things I noticed, tips, and tricks of traveling to where I've been.  Keep in mind, I am no real expert, just an enthusiastic amateur who wants to see all the world has to offer!

6 Long Years

Well, as of May 5th,2012, I officially became a college graduate.  I began college back in August of 2006, moving down to the local dorms by myself, to a town where I knew nobody, and had to start my adult life.  I will say that those first couple weeks were as terrifying as they were exciting- having no parents or teachers to tell you where to be, what to do, how to do it; there were also no parents or teachers there to help guide you, teach you, protect you from the inevitable stupid things you are going to do.  My best friend and cousin showed up for the first full week of classes and would be my strongest friend through my freshmen year.
My freshman year-
What to say about all I have learned from it.  It was a shell-shock experience, going from suburban highschooler to ramen starved, dorm-living college freshman.  My first year taught me more than any other year up to that point in my life in every area I can think of.  To begin, there was academics-I mostly took generals that year in the fact that shortly after arriving at college I wasn't sure that pre-med would be what I would want to graduate with.  College classes were far different from what you get in highschool. To put it bluntly-most professors don't give a damn about who you are or what you're after, if you are enlisted in a gen-ed  class, they look at you as one of the 75% of people who drop out of college.  For good reasons too- I learned that most people lack the integrity to last all the way through college.  I had so many friends that first year- all the guys I lived in the dorms with, the people my cousin lived with in the dorms, my band mates, and other music class takers; unfortunately after the end of the year, I had a couple sax friends, a couple music friends, and only 3 of my old dormies-out of dozens of people, only about a dozen stayed.  And that was my humanities lesson- most people can't think for themselves, let alone keep themselves motivated amid absolute change.  Not that I can hold it against them, they are the average person.
The next lesson I learned that year was that we can't always control our emotions, but we can choose how we act in regards to those emotions.  I had fallen for the wrong girl, and had dated about a dozen others.  I consider this to be rather impressive given the fact that I was a college freshmen who was only making minimum wage, and hard press for time.  I learned though, that pain can be unbearable, but you get over it.  There are also friends that you will want to keep forever, but you may not be able to.  I miss the people and the groups of friends I was a part of that year, and I honestly believed they would be my friends forever.  Even the ones that stuck around would leave on the occassion, but such is life.
The summer after my freshman year, all of us moved to different places-most of us back to our homes for the summer, some to apartments, and some just hung around the dorms.  My cousin and I decided to move in together in an apartment.  Unfortunately for me, my cousin bailed after the first week, and I spent my sophomore year living by myself unable to fill the contract.

Sophomore year-
I learned that anyone can stab you in the back.  Whether they do it intentionally, maliciously, out of cowardice, or whatever, the results are the same.  The largest lesson I learned my sophomore year was how to forgive, and that to forgive doesn't mean you have to trust or care again, just that you understand and allow that person to know you understand.
The school year was odd-I took a lot of classes that revolved around Eastern philosophies and sociologies, and saw very little of anyone.  I had one person stay in contact with me and stay my friend, and that was my old RA from my freshman year.  This wasn't the best of friends because he was a pathological liar, and usually weighed people by their usefulness, not the best kind of friend to have. So from school, I learned how to tolerate myself and others, and how to breath.
From home, all my money was pooled into rent and electricity.  I usually was lucky to have 20$ for food, so I learned how to eat to survive-PB&J's, Ramen, and non-perishables you can mass.  From all of this I learned I can survive just about damn near anything, and that rapid weight loss also causes your hair to fall out.  As soon as my contract was up, I up and got the hell out of that place.

Junior year-
My old dormies discovered I still lived in town, and they were excited because they needed a fourth roommate for the apartment they were going to rent out.  I of course accepted and moved in with them.  My junior year was the year I consider to be the most "college-esque" in my 6 years.  I had great friends, a community-style apartment, and plenty of adventures.  I also discovered my college sweet-heart here, and a lot of drama too.
In academia, I began the end of my Zoology degree, and the start of my Music degree-quite the change.  I learned a lot about what makes life, and what it takes to live life.  From chemistry and anatomy, to listening and creating music.  I had much to contemplate from my sophomore year philisophically, and was able to discover my personal beliefs on life, which is remarkable to think about.
My grandmother also passed this year.  I was close to her, and she was a profound influence on my life.  She was a piano instructor, and was my first inspirations to music.  I miss her everyday.
However, my junior year I learned about women.  To begin, I had tried for a few girls- one girl in particular sort of set the scene drama wise for my year.  She was a flag girl who had caught my eye, to make a long story short I invited her to a party I was throwing, and she wound out with my roommate.  Well, I was pissed, but after a short while she turned out to be drama-as did the roommate in question (and I'm fairly certain I dodged a big ol' ball of STD's). This opened the door however for a girl who I would meet just before Halloween, a girl who I would date for the next 2 1/2 years, and live with for the next 3...  The story is one I will never forget, nor I believe, her.
We met in the music building, as I was studying the anatomy of turtles and trying to memorize about 200 bones with sketches I had drawn up.  She told me her favorite animal was the turtle, so I geeked out all the information about the shelled reptile I could think of.  We eventually had pizza, and much to my chagrin, found out she had a boyfriend.  Well, shortly after thanksgiving she broke up with her boyfriend, a guy who had been less than honorable to their relationship.  I wish I could say that the next thing we did was start dating, but no, I spent the next 6 months of my life, pouring all my energy and money into trying to get her to see me and date me, and I was not the only one.  It gets tiring, chasing someone who has sprung strong emotions in you, and it gets harder when you have to go over piles of men to get the girl's attention.  We were friends, close yes, but I wanted more.  After 6 months though, her birthday rolled around, and I wanted her to know that I was always going to be her friend, and that I recognized this was about all I would ever be.  So I sent her on a scavenger hunt all around town (ending with a ride in a cop car).  Well, she had never had such a good birthday and I was glad.  A week later, I had a jazz concert at the local brewery, and after the concert, we had our first kiss.  Summer rolled around, and we moved in together.
What I learned from all this year? Never give up no matter the odds and no matter the pains- you fight.  Never fall for a girl who has a boyfriend already- the energy and heartache it all takes to try and get her can be a bit much, but hey, it's human.

Senior year-
Well, my girlfriend and I moved in to a new place with one of my best friends from highschool, and boy...that was interesting.  I started my first official year as a music major, having realized that in my junior year all I could think about was music while in my Zoology classes-usually a good indicator you're in the wrong major.
Not much new academically-having to retake more than a few classes from when I was chasing my girlfriend and had, err... neglected my classwork we shall say.
I learned however, that you can't always get people to behave.  Nor can you always get people to better themselves.  I tried for a full year to get my roommate to go to school and work towards his degree (his whole point of moving to town in the first place), unfortunately I just watched him become more of an alcaholic and drugee.  My girlfriend and him didn't get along, and so at the end of the year, I chose my girlfriend, not my highschool friend.  Though, damage had been done to me and my girlfriend's relationship anyways.
I learned this year that people change, whether you want them to or not.

Super Senior year-

This was another whirlwind year, where I learned a lot of the music world academically, and successfully met one of my goals for college- I had a junior recital.  We moved in with my girlfriend's sister.  Now, I will say that her sister is a fine person to visit, but living with a person can change people a lot.  The year was long, I had started working over 30 hours at my job at nights, while upping my courseload in an attempt to graduate.  I learned my mental limits this year, as well as what it's like to not be able to help the person you care about the most.  The relationship between my girlfriend and her sister deteriorated drastically over the year, and caused a rift to occur between me and my girlfriend.
I learned that timing is everything, and sometimes life forces you to choose the options available in your life at the time. I came to college to get a degree and better my life's opportunities.

Ultra Senior year-

My final year in college.  Of course it was the year of the biggest change.  That college freshman, afraid of the adult world, now having experienced it, was ready to move on.  The lesson of the year was twofold: the first, change never stops.  The second lesson: that I have emotions, and I don't always know it.  The year had many ups- I had my senior recital, I began composing, retied some old friendships; however the year also had a great many downs-the largest being that I was in a failing relationship, and then, broken up from said relationship.  It is never easy to deal with change, a little can be difficult, but throughout the whole year, every aspect of my life slowly changed.  I started the year slightly depressed from the events of the last year, unsure what to do about any of it.  As the year went on, me and my girlfriend realized we didn't have that emotional connection (though at the time we couldn't really figure out what was wrong, just that there was something wrong).  After we broke up (right before winter break...woo...) I had too much anger to work out on my own, so I started going to counseling.  I learned that anger and sadness were both reactionary emotions- that our bodies use them when they cannot tell what emotion they should be feeling, or what is causing tensions in our minds.  I've always had anger problems, and always seemed stoic to most people (except when I'm trying to be funny), so it makes sense to me that my anger is from emotional ignorance.  Over the second semester I drift through the end of my college existence just trying to graduate, no time to really mourn over my broken relationship, no time to really think about what brought it about on my end, no energy to do normal breakup things.   And yes, I had to do all of this while still living with my ex, which was always a rollercoaster of sorts.  I'm glad to say that at least we were (and still are) friends, and that I have learned much from the years we spent living together, lessons that I hope will make my future relationships more fulfilling and successful.

Now however, it's coming close to real life.  One month before I move away from this town forever, and have to find a new job, new friends, a new life, new lessons, new loves, new losses, new experiences, new everything really.  I'm anxious to see the world and everything that it has to show me, but I'm also depressed that I have to leave this college life at the same time.  I came to love dozens of people and a way of life-poor, but happy.  I don't know really what will happen in my future, I know it will be great, and I know that I will succeed in any venture I take.  I also know that I will always remember the lessons I've learned from these six years, as well as the people.  So much learned, so much left to learn.  Here's to life, in all it's crazy twists.

The Generation Gap

Today's post will on the magic of generational differences-but only on the subject area in how technology changes the way generations work, play, and live.

My generation (generation.com, not the millenials or gen X) was the first generation to grow up with personal computers, Internet, porn sites, and all things digital. This must be prefaced now, in that our generation understands common modern technology better than any other-from how to activate blue tooths, to syncing all your electronics to a cloud, to even figuring out what in the hell your IP address is. We are used to computers and all the advancements they bring about

A tangent on computers: The technology has revolutionized every field of research, art, and industry the world over. We have advanced scientific machines that can process infinitesimal amounts of data by specific computer programs; there are blogs and post sites to allow immediate documentation to occur in media and private sources; there are cameras and microphones for immediate, trans-global communication to occur; mobile devices that can create an augmented reality for amusements sake; computer generated images (CGI) that almost appear lifelike (and some not so much). In short-if you can imagine a field of interest, computers have augmented it in some serious manner or another, and people of my generation have come not just to respect that, but to expect that.

Our generation is one of progress at a digital speed. We expect every 18 months for our world to be changed and advanced. Admittedly, we have attention problems, but we also know better than anyone how to find out what we want to know. The world is literally at our fingertips and we take full advantage of that fact. We play with lasers, we video chat with our phones (capt. Kirk, eat your heart out), we manage all our information on a thick sheet of paper (basically), the longest average life spans in history (due to medicine technology), and a friggin host of millions of other things. Our generation is the one of science fiction, and basically the best that has ever lived. Ok, that may not be true. But we are still going to be most industrious generation in over a century.

Which brings me to the main of this post. My generation is now entering into the professional working force in full force. The late generation X has done their part as well in developing the technologies of today and tomorrow, lest we forget that Google, Microsoft, and Apple were all created by early Gen X'ers. But as my generation really takes center stage, we are faced with what many generations face-adversity from the older fellas.

To explain what I mean, I am going to give a short history. Technology and advancement is always considered to be new and dangerous until tested-this is how humans function. Now remember earlier how I said that there hasn't been a generation as industrious as mine in over a century? I was just trying to attempt a pun, as well as be partially serious. The generation that created the industrial revolution to spark were a generation that saw the world in a new light, understanding that there was a whole realm of progress they could take charge of and change the world with (they had the best intentions, but no knowledge of things like hazard safety or environmental concerns...concepts we advanced in the 20th century). They were frightening to their previous generation because they were game changers, they not only altered the realm of economics into a completely new route (capitalism I mean).

The mentality those industrialists brought remained for decades, until a new lifeblood of economic, as well as societal growth was refined. I speak of Mr. Rockefeller and his oil industry. The crude oil was fine for keeping machines going, and then he discovered how to burn it and make things go. Not only was mass transit a household possibility, it was economical, and the oil also had more applications-heat, lubrication, food, lighting, electricity...it was another game changer. Now that mentality has remained until the 1990's, the Rockefeller legacy of course is still one of the richest that ever existed in the history of the world. The oil barons were considered new money-they capitalized on a natural resource, something that had never successfully been done to a great degree (ore's were mined of course, but never to a rich vein and by one company/person either). They also remade the legal aspects of how companies functioned-they brought about conglomerates and international corporations that spanned the world. Companies were publicly traded because what they sold was immaterial, so they could sell immaterial stocks.

The 90's brought about the next major game changer-the personal computer, and the late Gen X. The computer was novel-it made office work and statistics and money management simple and affordable-professional level without the professional costs or wasted paper. But the computer itself only goes so far-the Internet was the ultimate in game changing. Now technology had presented a way to capitalize on information. It's taken over 20 years for it to become stable, consistent, and secure enough to really be efficient. In those 20 years, the next generation came about to use that technology- to create sites that you could make a brilliant amount of money in just cheap advertising alone. We changed the game again- now giants had to compete with people not needing them anymore. Mass marketing, mass communication, and self advertising were all possible without those conglomerates that Rockefeller helped to create.

Now these companies are mad that they aren't needed anymore. Look at how the world has hit an economic slump, the world needed a viable solution of bypassing companies that needed massive bailouts to keep their function alive, and the internet provided that solution-with intelligent entrepeneurs from a younger more creative generation who could see the full potential in the technologies of their time. We created sites, and technologies, to go around those large companies. Giant websites became fortune 500 companies, billionaires were created under the age of 30, let alone 40. Like everytime the game changes, the older generation is afraid of change, and try to stop the change from happening.

There are new bills out in Congress right now that are supposedly for the protection of the people-by policing the internet and preventing pirates from getting away with stealing. However, these bills have no teeth, they are only meant to control the content of what Americans are allowed to put on the internet-all because some large companies are mad that they won't be top dogs anymore. So it goes, and so it will always be. I don't want this post to be about the SOPA and PIPA bills being tossed around right now because I know they won't succeed, and neither will their inevitable successors. We of the generation the bills are specifically tailored to combat, know our technology too well and efficiently to be stopped by older generations who don't know the same tricks, or value the smaller things that people appreciate. Such as blogging, Youtube videos and the like-would all become policed and extremely restrictive towards content.

With that being said, welcome to the world of tomorrow. We, the Dot Commers, are coming to be in charge of this blue ball we call Earth, get used to it.

What is in a Mind

Having spent a long time in college, and even longer analyzing the human condition, I have noticed that people think in different ways. I follow closer to what common psychology models as the four areas of personal thought- being on two sides: Concrete/Abstract and Random/Sequential. Not that I believe something as complex as the human psyche can be condensed so crudely, but that it does give a common ground to which we can analyze and interpret the ways in which we all think, work, react, dream...

I have spent a great deal of time the last few months in a rather deep contemplative state regarding myself, those around me, those imaginary, those whose fabrication is only third hand to me etc.

It is interesting to begin with that I believe the saying "opposites attract" is more or less complete bullshit (when regarding relationships we form with people). I mean this in a long term idea- that without more common interest than not, any relationship will be completely strained. I took for an example of a friend I used to have. He was a drummer, a metal head, a bit of an emo, wandered from girl to girl with bad relationships all around. And here I was, musical, but seeing the world as a medical professional in training, and the only reason he and I were friends to begin with was because of marching band and classes. Well of course he dropped out of college to chase a girl, which ended with him calling me several times a month with tales of him being abused (physically, emotionally, mentally) and me saying the same damn thing every time: bite the bullet, get the hell out of there.

The point is, these sorts of problems persisted, and I noticed our "common ground"-that marching band, had been the only real glue to keep us as friends. Now that he was no longer in college we had nothing in common. We were too opposite of each other to work well. He was a good person, we both liked music, but not even the same music, and therefor a simple friendship was out of it.

You always hear of couples that are "opposite," such as the outgoing social butterfly with the mousy homebody. Now honestly-have you ever actually met this couple? Did they ever actually last (meaning in any long term duration)? Most likely not. Why? Because they are socially opposed. You have to understand that how you work socially is how you recharge your batteries so to speak. If you are outgoing, you relax and unwind through groups of people, while an introvert will prefer being at home by themselves. Now consider that most people work the 9-5, with the M-F week, and so they have weekends and evening together. So what do they do to keep common interests between each other? This is a tricky situation for EVERYONE in these relationships-not just romantic mind you. These things fail because they may have the same likes in subject matters-same tastes in music, literature, art... but they fail on how they approach these.

Now to bring back the foursquare idea. You may find someone who is a concrete-sequential that works well with an abstract-sequential or concrete-random. They remain on the same side of the rainbow, just on opposite ends, or same end different sides. So you know of that friend that always thinks in terms of logical sequence-one line of thought impeccably traceable from start to end. you know exactly how they reach their conclusions and where they started from. They can work with the concrete-random person who-you can follow his sequences in logical fashion, may jump points randomly, the kind of person who goes from A-C in a way. They could also be just as happy with an Abstract-Sequential who will jump topics but still follow a solid path. The multitasker is a good way to think of this person-they can follow several topics at once and just sort of moves between them. However the Abstract-Random just will never fly. They just pop from topic and point within the topic and don't really care to follow through with them or complete them. This is because of how people perceive and reflect the world. A person who views the world very sequentially, very black and white, but orderly, would not be able to comprehend the person who gets excited about the idea of a bird flying and immediately jumps to how butterflies pollinate flowers and sees the world in varying shades of fish. They perceive the same world too differently from each other to really effectively communicate.

If you have ever been around those people diametrically opposed to you, you know exactly how frustrating it can be. You try to explain something to them that you believe is the easiest way to get the point across-and they just stare at you blankly. Then they try and explain it how they see it, and you just scratch your head and wonder how they got THAT out of what you said. Can you think of anyone like that you spend a significant amount of your time around? I doubt it, though as humans we are remarkable and unpredictable in a way.

Then you have personality conflicts. You can go big between people- like morality. You are wronged for one reason or another, and you are given the opportunity to kill the person who wronged you, and you can get away with it. Do you? Or do you just live and let live? These examples are obvious and usually noticed at the start of getting to know a person.

Or you can go smaller- think about your favorite piece of art. Think WHY it is your favorite piece- is it because of it's color schemes? The contours it creates? The period it represents? The artist? The message of the piece? Now consider the person right next to you. What is their favorite work of art? Why do you think that they think that? Think about it.

You love Bernini's Apollo and Daphne because of its soft, fluid nature depicting the familial love only siblings can know. The person next to you is far more interested in Schoenberg's Pierrot Lunaire because of it's tightly wound, ingenious construction of such impossible density, that only a true master could pull it off. You don't care how Bernini made the piece, you merely enjoy the aesthetics, that it is made out of an impossibly dense marble means little, that it is in a certain specific style is irrelevant; and your friend next to you doesn't particularly care how Pierrot Lunaire sounds, just merely that it is ingeniously crafted.

Now those comparisons make a stronger statement about people's personalities and their abilities to get along, in my opinion. Only because seeing the bigger things about who a person is a lot easier to find out. Most people aren't afraid to ask about life philosophies, religions, beliefs and whatnot. But then getting down to the miniscule details about how a person thinks, communicates, feels, works, analyzes, reacts, likes, dislikes, or any other number of mental engagements that factor into what makes us, "us."

This post is a simple reflection on something I have been spending a great deal of time thinking about over these last few months. It is important to me because I care about how successful I am within relationships, and the only way I figure progress can be made is to try and understand relationships personally, as well as on a larger level.

It is not to say I don't believe that you can make a relationship work with only certain people, on the contrary I believe that a person can have a good relationship with anyone, just a matter of figuring out the length and strength to give those relationships. You can make a long lasting friendship or romantic relationship work with a diametrically opposite person, as long as the both of you are willing to patiently work hard for it, that though, is entirely up to you.

A deep philisophical thought

So ya...the world is supposed to end at the end of this year. So are there going to be a bunch of Christians running around with pickets claiming the end of the world? I ask this because-the concept of the world ending is uniquely a Mayan thing...so by Christian standards, pagan.

So if you see a bunch of cross wielding picketers telling you the world is going to end, they probably are just doom-sayers. Yay!

Thoughts.

Every semester is something new, up to the bitter end. College has been so beyond what i thought it was supposed to be. I grew up in ways that i didn't even know people could grow, i learned things that i didn't even know existed. I don't regret any of it, though if i were to do it again, I admit, I would change a thing or two, but nothing too huge. I look forward to the next adventure, though it is going to be nothing like i had imagined it would be. I don't know where I'm going to wind up in a year, that excites me. What excites me even more, is that it could be anywhere. Whenever you get too down about today, just remember there are plenty of life experiences waiting down the line.