Shaving sets the tone of the day for many men across these united states. Whether it's spending a lot of time shaving and getting clean, or bypassing the act entirely, shaving will leave its footprint across the rest of one's day. When one wakes, there is usually some sort of routine. This is different for everyone.
For me, the morning begins with a muttered curse. It's always too early, and my eyes can barely open. The next step is to escape from my bed, which isn't exactly the easiest task. This struggle eventually leads my bleary eyed self to the shower.
The shower is where my morning really begins. It's there that my eyes finally open, and my brain finally gains complete consciousness. Usually right after the shower is when the day's tone is set. Some days, I find the time to shave. Others I'm in a rush, and my face is left scruffy and unshaven. Here is where the dichotomy of shaving enters the equation.
On days when one spends time shaving, life tends to seem kind. If you had time to shave in the morning, you also probably had time to make sure your hair was perfectly messed, so it looks nice and modern. Maybe that meant you had enough time to actually put deodorant on.
Whatever the results of the morning, the presence of shaving has always left a footprint on my day. If I spent the time to shave, my face didn't itch. I didn't get distracted by the itch during classes. Instead of having an itchy face occupying my mind, I was instead able to focus on the day.
As well as just giving one a smooth feeling face, and taking away itchiness, shaving also gives confidence. There's no feeling like that smooth, freshly shaven feeling. Some women like that feel on their cheek (or hand), and many more women like the look of a clean shaven man. It sends the message out that the man is intentional, and cares about image enough to spend the time in the bleary morning.
Whatever the result of the day, mornings spent shaving are sure to turn out better than mornings when this vital step is skipped. Shaving sets the tone of everything. Everything but my precious shower.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
EVEN MOAR WOBSITE SHENANIGANS
(ps: caps lock is cruise control for cool.)
Anyway, I don't think I'm gonna be moving to www.piracyinaction.com any time soon... We'll see. Development of the real site is taking longer than I thought.
Anyway, I don't think I'm gonna be moving to www.piracyinaction.com any time soon... We'll see. Development of the real site is taking longer than I thought.
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Piracy in Action
Well folks, I've begun the website migration. There aren't any nifty features on my new site, so I'd suggest still visiting this site.
Once I get some sort of RSS feed running, you'll want to change your bookmark to reflect my web change.
Once I get some sort of RSS feed running, you'll want to change your bookmark to reflect my web change.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Wobsites
As of today I now own www.piracyinaction.com
This blog will be moving over there sometime soon, once I get motivated enough to get a blog engine running over there. Till now, the joyous ramblings will continue right here.
This blog will be moving over there sometime soon, once I get motivated enough to get a blog engine running over there. Till now, the joyous ramblings will continue right here.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Addiction
Doctor, I think I have a problem. There's this habit I've got, and I just can't shake it. I think about it all the time: In class, in the dining hall, in my dorm, and even when I'm hanging out with my friends. I just can't stop thinking about ripping around a sick hairpin, muscles straining in my arms as I sail over the pavement going speeds that only a maniac would consider safe. I just can't stop feeling the urge to get up from my desk, run out of the room, and ride the concrete wave.
I'm pretty sure I'm addicted to longboarding.
I'm pretty sure I'm addicted to longboarding.
Piracy.
This is one wonderful example of what's wrong with our Music industry. There are more, but this is (in my opinion) the largest and most relevant.
Credit for the comic goes to XKCD, Randall Patrick Munroe. Go check out his site, his comics are awesome.
Credit for the comic goes to XKCD, Randall Patrick Munroe. Go check out his site, his comics are awesome.
Monday, October 13, 2008
Three Cups of Fail: The live version
Tonight I had the pleasure of sitting through an hour of regurgitation. I attended the David Oliver Relin lecture in Cowles auditorium, and wasn't entirely thrilled. The amount of change that Relin has catalyzed in the world is definitely impressive, and I respect his accomplishments greatly. He gas reported on strong current issues, some that other news companies won't even touch, such as Land Mine victims in Vietnam.
His lecture began on a strong footing: A little bit of canned humor, a few half hearted laughs from the audience. His soft voice made it fairly easy to focus on what he was saying, but wasn't pointed enough to really draw you into his words. He proceeded to shoot off into a minute or three of the obligatory thanks that every speaker spews to the audience, showing his clearly genuine appreciation to the hosts.
I may be a bit of a cynic, but Relin's lecture seemed to draw the bulk of the ideas from Three Cups of Tea. However interesting the book may have been, and however relevant the topic is to our modern day, we DID read the book, so spending the better part of an hour telling us the story that we just read doesn't exactly accomplish much.
However, Relin did have a story that resonated with my cynical little mind. When he graduated, his parents gave him a plane ticket to anywhere he wanted to go in the world. He chose India, in order to experience a totally different culture. The next six months were spent riding a motorcycle of questionable mechanical fortitude around the country, immersing himself in the local culture, and gaining experience that would become valuable for a job as a foreign correspondent.
It is my goal to some day be able to travel with absolute freedom, without any schedule or obligations. I believe that immersing oneself in as many foreign cultures as possible yields a stronger and more complete person, as well as a more deeply developed world view.
The rest of Relin's lecture consisted of him paraphrasing his book, along with some slides. Might it have been more effective to have us just attend the lecture, or read the book, and not require both? Both had 90% similar content, and so the redundancy was a mite bit aggravating.
My personal views aside, David Oliver Relin is a skilled speaker, and an even more skilled writer. I thoroughly enjoyed his book, but not entirely his lecture.
Or maybe I'm just too much of a cynic.
His lecture began on a strong footing: A little bit of canned humor, a few half hearted laughs from the audience. His soft voice made it fairly easy to focus on what he was saying, but wasn't pointed enough to really draw you into his words. He proceeded to shoot off into a minute or three of the obligatory thanks that every speaker spews to the audience, showing his clearly genuine appreciation to the hosts.
I may be a bit of a cynic, but Relin's lecture seemed to draw the bulk of the ideas from Three Cups of Tea. However interesting the book may have been, and however relevant the topic is to our modern day, we DID read the book, so spending the better part of an hour telling us the story that we just read doesn't exactly accomplish much.
However, Relin did have a story that resonated with my cynical little mind. When he graduated, his parents gave him a plane ticket to anywhere he wanted to go in the world. He chose India, in order to experience a totally different culture. The next six months were spent riding a motorcycle of questionable mechanical fortitude around the country, immersing himself in the local culture, and gaining experience that would become valuable for a job as a foreign correspondent.
It is my goal to some day be able to travel with absolute freedom, without any schedule or obligations. I believe that immersing oneself in as many foreign cultures as possible yields a stronger and more complete person, as well as a more deeply developed world view.
The rest of Relin's lecture consisted of him paraphrasing his book, along with some slides. Might it have been more effective to have us just attend the lecture, or read the book, and not require both? Both had 90% similar content, and so the redundancy was a mite bit aggravating.
My personal views aside, David Oliver Relin is a skilled speaker, and an even more skilled writer. I thoroughly enjoyed his book, but not entirely his lecture.
Or maybe I'm just too much of a cynic.
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Anything.
If you could be anything, anything at all, what would you be?
(Seriously. If you're reading this, it takes like 3 seconds to comment. And I'm curious. So what would you be?)
(Seriously. If you're reading this, it takes like 3 seconds to comment. And I'm curious. So what would you be?)
Monday, October 6, 2008
Money (yum)
Money. Money is the cornerstone of this chaotic existence we call social order. At the base of nearly everything lies our joyous sheets of green paper, and little discs of pressure-formed slag. In order to eat, you need to pay for your sustenance. In order to get to the store to buy food, you need a car (or bike, or bus pass), and that costs money. In order to drive car, you have to pass through an education system. And that costs money.
So all this money, how do we get it? By working. This concept of work is much less concrete for our world than the concept of money. For some, it's sitting and talking. For others, it's bending down for hours to pick tiny hunks of fruit for the enjoyment of someone they'll never meet. So why do we work? Because our system is based around these tow concepts: Work and Money.
If you work, you get money. If you don't work, you don't (Welfare doesn't count). For me, working was sitting around and fitting the correct piece of athletic apparel to people who would never use them. I was a running shoe salesman, one of the best in my store. We didn't actually do much, except when a customer came in. It was all joking, idle banter, and current sports discussion, until a sales prospect came in the door. Any talking ceased, and we were all professional. We went from throwing a crumpled ball of paper around to dusting shelves, checking inventory, and being helpful to the customers.
If you were interested, from three steps I could tell you more about your own foot and legs than you could find from walking on them for years. That nagging pain in your arch? I could make it go away when you ran. That soreness you got on the back of your ankle after any hill runs? A few suggestions and workouts from me, and you'd be cured.
I spent a whole summer doing this cycle, rapidly switching between a shoe specialist and a friend to my co-workers. So what did I get out of it? Money. Money to buy food, longboards, and shiny things that gathered my fancy. But most of it got put into a bank account.
From a functionalist perspective, I worked just to hide my cornerstone, and not build my life on it according to what the world prescribes. But hey, I made it. Money, that is.
So all this money, how do we get it? By working. This concept of work is much less concrete for our world than the concept of money. For some, it's sitting and talking. For others, it's bending down for hours to pick tiny hunks of fruit for the enjoyment of someone they'll never meet. So why do we work? Because our system is based around these tow concepts: Work and Money.
If you work, you get money. If you don't work, you don't (Welfare doesn't count). For me, working was sitting around and fitting the correct piece of athletic apparel to people who would never use them. I was a running shoe salesman, one of the best in my store. We didn't actually do much, except when a customer came in. It was all joking, idle banter, and current sports discussion, until a sales prospect came in the door. Any talking ceased, and we were all professional. We went from throwing a crumpled ball of paper around to dusting shelves, checking inventory, and being helpful to the customers.
If you were interested, from three steps I could tell you more about your own foot and legs than you could find from walking on them for years. That nagging pain in your arch? I could make it go away when you ran. That soreness you got on the back of your ankle after any hill runs? A few suggestions and workouts from me, and you'd be cured.
I spent a whole summer doing this cycle, rapidly switching between a shoe specialist and a friend to my co-workers. So what did I get out of it? Money. Money to buy food, longboards, and shiny things that gathered my fancy. But most of it got put into a bank account.
From a functionalist perspective, I worked just to hide my cornerstone, and not build my life on it according to what the world prescribes. But hey, I made it. Money, that is.
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