This that and the other...

So... right now I think I'm bored out of my skull. I'm tired, and there's no one to talk to and nothing really to do. At least in 3 hours I get to go home and read or something. I suppose I'll probably draw some or something...

I suppose I can tell you how awesome last weekend was, because my geekheart came on a surprise visit! Friday afternoon I'm just sitting there, minding my own business, learning about the structure of man, and how to draw it, when I look up and there my mom has one of our geeklings in her arms, and my geekheart walks through the door.

I sat there like a deer caught in the headlights. My brain disengaged and I sat there for a moment with a bit of "Durrrrrrrrrr?" going through my head. And then I woke up and gave them all a great big hug.

We pretty much had a blast, except for the whole leaving part. That always sucks :(

But other than ending, it was a great weekend!

Philosophy Outline

So in my philosophy class, we have to write a paper by next thursday, so I figured I'd start with an outline... and you (un)lucky souls get to read the questions I get to answer, plus some of my outline. Our paragraphs are supposed to be no less than 5 sentences, and 25% example, 75% explanation, so I plan on doing two sentences of example, six of explanation, which should result in 8 sentences a piece. At least that will be my attempt.

What is the distinction Hume makes between impressions and ideas

1. Impressions are current sensory input or original contents of psychological states.
2. colors, sounds, tastes, feelings are impressions, as are hate, love, desire, will, at the moment we experience those.
3. Ideas are similar to memory. They are not the actual impressions, only what we remember about them
4. Ideas can be associated with other ideas. Creativity simply takes the ideas/memories we have and links them together.
5. Ideas can be linked together in different ways, resemblance, contiguity, and cause and effect.
6. Resemblance is when one thing resembles another, i.e. "You remind me of so-and-so", or a caricature of a person reminds you of that person.
7. Contiguity is the association between ideas near each other in time and thought, i.e. my friend sally leads me to think of her mother, father, siblings, and the family as a whole. Cause and effect is similar, such as when I push keys on the keyboard, letters appear on the screen.
8. Both impressions and ideas are what Hume calls perceptions, or contents of consciousness

`

Do you agree with Hume that all of our ideas can be traced back to sensory impressions?

1. Yes. Anything I can think about is something that has entered into my senses and associated in some way.
2. If I think about happiness, I can only refer to the way I felt physically and/or psychologically at a particular moment.
3. If I think about the delicious smell of that pizza yesterday, I am simply recalling the sensation, or impression, of the scent at that particular moment.
4. The attempt to imagine a new creature, or planet, or shape, or psychological state requires me to refer to some other creature, or part of that creature, or planet, shape or psychological state.
5. An example, try to explain what salt tastes like. Without the experience, the best you might do is that it tastes like an ionic bond breaking up and attaching itself to various receptors on a certain region of the tongue.

Why does Hume think that reason alone cannot prove God's existence?

1. Reasoning from a priori suggests that there are truths that can be known before or independently of experience, but the existence of God is either a fact or it is not, and if it is a fact, then simply conceiving the idea that he exists is not enough to prove his existence, for it is equally possible to conceive of his non-existence.
2. Hume also rejects empirical arguments that every event has a cause, on his claim that causality is simply a habit of mind based on the constant conjunction of events in our own experience.
3. In one of his works, his character Philo points out that we see that the existence of houses depend on a builder, because every house had a builder.
4. This only refers to this universe, and so relying on our reason is insufficient to explain how universes come into existence.
5.Through Philo, Hume points out five problems. Infinite cause is not provable from a finite effect, there are improvements to make to this world, even if this world is the best it can be, it's not evidence for excellence, What evidence that there is only one God? And if we're anthropomorphic about this diety, why not suppose he's physical as well?

Why is Hume considered to be an agnostic rather than an atheist?

1. An atheist is one who disbelieves the existence of any god.
2. An agnostic is one who doubts the existence of God.
3. While an atheist claims that no god exists, an agnostic looks at the evidence for and against the existence of God, and cannot determine which case is valid.
4. Hume stated that we live in a world in which "all events seem entirely loose and separate," so anything is possible, including the non-existence of God, or even the existence of God.
5. Though he attacked typical arguments in favor of the existence of God, simply showing that the argument failed to support the conclusion, that was not proof that the conclusion was false, and Hume never claimed to establish the conclusion that God does not exist.

Do you agree and/or disagree with David Hume's ideas concerning the existence of God?

Well, that's all I have time for now, I should head over to my chemistry class. Adios!

Hope? Huh.

So... I used to have hope. Maybe I still do somewhere. Probably or I guess I'd go kill myself. Or maybe I've just got something else to live for... eh. About that hope...

So... from as young as I can remember, I've always known that I would get older and then marry the girl of my dreams. She'd be so awesome! We'd go hike in the woods, we'd read books, shoot guns, ride bikes, swim, play video games, program things... She'd be smarter than me in just about every way, except for the ways I'm smarter than her. And she laughed at that sentence.

She would be amazing with words and people - someone that I certainly am not. But she would understand me. She would see through my lies and give me that look that says, "I know you're trying to lie to me, buster. Don't make me beat you!"

We would also spar. And dance. We would just sit together and people watch. And we would discover more about each other as time went on.

And sometimes we'd find out things that were painful. And we might get hurt... But we would always be able to come back to each other.

Why? This is the important part...

Because she loved me and I loved her.

Now you might say - "Why?"

And I would say, "Well, duh! Isn't it obvious?"

You would reply, "No! Quit being a dork and pretending we're having a conversation when you're really just talking to yourself! You're creeping everyone out!"

I would retort, "Shut your mouth, jerk! I'll do what I want!"

And then you'd hit me over the head with a clue-by-four, after which event I would tell you why we loved each other.

Simple. We enjoyed doing similar things. And then we made a simple, but lasting choice. That choice was that we loved each other and we wanted to be better people, together.

And for those of you that are about to voice an objection... No. It is that simple. You can make a choice to love someone. And then you follow the course of action. It doesn't work without both of those parts.

You can't pretend to love someone without the evidence of your love. You can't show the evidence of your love and pretend that you don't love someone. That last part is tricky though, because there are a lot of selfish things that look a lot like love, when they're really not.

*sigh* and there are even selfish looking things that are really love.

but...

I've given up hope for that bright future... at least... I don't think I believe that it will ever happen. I've seen too much evidence of the lack of girls who fit my criteria...

So my options are between 1) settle for something less (how about not! That wouldn't be fair to the girl, because I would probably treat her like I had settled. Or I would treat her better but continually be looking. Neither of those are fair.) 2) wait forever with a tiny bit of hope that one day... just maybe... perhaps I'll find a friend.

Good freaking luck.

So...

I did something last night that I haven't done for a long time. I don't remember how my light got off or I got from my chair into my bed. I just... woke up.

Weird stuff.

Can you believe it?

Post number 400.

That's a big round number. Us humans, for some weird reason, like big round numbers.

Me? I'm tired as heck and I have to use the potty...

About par for the course, eh?

Two more posts...

after this one to reach the big 400 posts. Kind of an accomplishment I'd say.

Well, I haven't been writing much lately because I've been retardedly busy. Between schoolwork and work and what I want to do, not counting everything else I need to do, I think I'm using up about 207 hours a week...

yes, I realize there aren't that many...

I did have a rather peculiar dream. I asked this girl on a date, and she was terribly excited. I think the most bizarre thing about that was this girl isn't 18 yet... At least that'll happen in the next year though, so I don't feel TOO bad about it.

Well... anyhoo... I suppose that's all for now, other than the thanks J for last night... I like falling asleep on the phone, lol. And I know you know I do :P

[edit]
Oh, and the term is bibliophile.

Huzzah!

First day of classes? Mission: Accomplished.

Yeah, it was pretty good. I only had two classes, my writing class and my math class... it seems like they should both be some good classes.

Dr. Forssman Hill is my writing teacher, and Professor Booher is my math teacher, and they both seem like competent, nice ladies. Of course, the way I see it, that basically makes them teachers anyway, this way they simply get paid for it.

Well... I think that's about it for now... I'm rather tired - I've been up since 5AM, see... Heh... it could be fun to take a nap like I learned in the Worst Case Scenario Handbook: College Survival guide... One of the things I enjoy about college is people watching. Especially after being here for a semester... I can pretty much pick the freshmen out like nobodies business - they all seem to have this startled "deer in the headlights" look - slightly unsure and more or less worried. It's cute, really. I wonder if I looked like that my first semester... I doubt it, simply because I've done so much and I'm so easygoing that I was probably like "eh, whatever." Maybe.

Tomorrow I have math again, (bleh, I really need to get books & things) and Biology... what a horrid book. Both of those books will end out around $200 for the two classes. You know, the books should really just be included in tuition or something... about $1500 of random fees is anyway, so why not those?

I'm pretty sure that next semester I'll try to get back with the MWF classes... I just think it'll be a bit easier. Of course that also depends on everything else... like, say work schedule... wheee... so much fun.

So I'm learning myself the Python programming language. It's been a lot of fun so far, I now need to learn how to open/edit files... w00t. And then I wanna start learning how to play with PyGTK+ - it's a programming language/widget set that's pretty darn cool. That's what the GIMP and pidgin are programmed in.

Pretty sweet stuff.

Well, that's enough rambling for now, I think I'll go draft a letter I'm supposed to write for creative writing class... joi de vivre!

A party, a party!

I had a party last night...

I was actually surprised how many people showed up. It was rather nice to see 'em all.

---

On another (sortof) topic, I realize that I'm not a nice person after 8PM. At least I don't have the desires I used to have. I tend to be a little selfish, even if I don't act that way. I think only of myself and my own desires... well, mostly.

Hmm, rather peculiar... *sigh* and more junk to work on. Sweet. I suppose I should look forward to this adventure... it promises to be rather interesting!

well... I'm tired and I need to clean my room. Toodles.

Girl Power!

Or something.

Well, now it's the girls turn. Of course the rest of this will have to wait until I get back from Ratatouille. Or rather, I'll be going to see that somewhere in the middle here.

So, I'll begin by presenting the very dumb dumb things that girls do. And then we'll go from there.

The first dumb thing is fishing for compliments. An example:

Girl: I'm sooo ugly/fat/dumb
Boy(sincere): Awww, no you're not, you're beautiful/skinny/smart
G: You're just saying that!
B: No I'm not! You really are!
G: No, I'm just a fat cow nobody loves!
B: You're not fat! (She really isn't)

It goes on longer until the girl has extracted all the compliments she wants or the guy gets sick and tells her she is.

In the end? Either one or both are upset, and it wasn't great at all.

What is the solution? First off - trust us! We do know what we're talking about. And guess what that says to us when you say, "You're just saying that!"

That says, "You're totally lying to me, I can't trust you to tell the truth about what I look like." And girls... that's a bad way to go with a relationship. Most guys should be aware of their girls feelings (unless you hide them. Don't do that.) and we should be complimenting you all over the place. A lot of times we screw up and don't do what we should, and it doesn't hurt to say, "Honey, I'm feeling a little blue right now. Could you tell me about the good you see in me?"

If you try that and the guy is still slacking... well, get another guy. But if you're that direct, most every guy I know will be able to roll out a string of compliments as long as your arm. And they'll feel good and you'll feel good (if you TRUST them!). And you know what the best part of doing that is? If you have a caring guy, he'll begin to learn what signs you show when you need some lovin'.

Here's another fun thing that makes me grind my teeth to my gums.

Girls who say, "I can't!"

I don't think I've ever talked to a girl who told me that in the proper context.

Proper Context:

"Flap your arms and fly to the moon!" - "But I can't!"

"Hold your breath for ten hours!" - "But I can't without dying!"

"Grow a hundred feet tall!" - "I can't! That's not physically possible!"

Get the picture? And now some improper context:

"When a guy is a jerk like that? Yeah, tell him NO!" - "I can't do that! That's mean!"

"Honey, we need to talk..." - "I'm kinda busy right now talking to some friends" - "It's really important. Just ask them to IM you back in 5 minutes." - "I can't do that!"

"Look, all I want is five minutes out of your week! All you have to do is tell your family you'll be back in five and just send me an e-mail, 'I'm thinking of you, this week is crazy busy! I'm well and I'll ttyl!' that's all I need!" - "I can't tell my family that!"
---

Yeah... those were some actual quotes. Possibly slightly adapted... but oh, so very actual. Pretty awesome, huh?

But by awesome, I mean "Dumb as driveway gravel."

Look, if a woman can swim the English-freaking-channel, you most certainly can tell a guy he's a freaking jerk because he only wants to make out with you and doesn't want to do anything that's important to you (i.e. go to church, read whatever scriptures are common to your religion, go on walks, sing, really anything that's important to you). Yeah, if the guy isn't willing to give more than he takes? Time to get rid of him. Don't be stupid, dear.

Here's one thing that pisses me off more than just about any stupid thing girls can do. I mean... I honestly can't stand to be in the company of girls like this because it offends every single one of my sensibilities.

Okay, that guy? He cheated on someone else? That's pretty bad. That guy cheated on you? Yeah, you pretty much shouldn't ever talk to him again. I'm all for repentance and forgiveness, but you don't have to be stupid! It's one thing if he expresses a desire to stay with you and he changes his behaviour. That's right, change. Because I tell you something, if he acts like he did before? If he isn't cheating already, he soon will be. Dump him like a hot tamale and find some guy who actually cares about you.

Seriously, I cannot tell you the phenomenal amount of stupidity that's involved in that kind of action. I mean... they don't want to change? At all? Even worse, they said they'd change and they haven't at all? My goodness woman! You need to get a refund on those brains because they're obviously defective!

Well, I don't know, maybe you're fulfilled when you're treated like an object. When you're not even second - you're last. All of you are last in his life. He's first and foremost. It really makes me sick. On both ends. I hate that guys like that exist, but I hate even more that you girls fall for them. Ugh!

Now... Here's the last thing I have... there may be many more ways that you may be stupid, the only way to not be too stupid is watch and be careful, lest ye become dumb as driveway gravel.

But the last thing... if you don't like something, or you wish we would do something different or better? Let us know! We aren't mind readers. But of course, don't expect us to go ahead and do it. A lot of times we will... or we'll make an effort. If it's something really serious... then yeah, you should hold us to it. Oh, and if you are gonna tell us something - please please please don't do it in front of anyone else.

A simple - "I don't feel like you treat me romantic enough" will suffice. We might change, or we might have a good reason that we do it how we do. And darling, there are some things that it really doesn't matter how it's done. If we fold our undies, or don't, the world won't end. Now, if we're interfering with your undawears, that's something different. But seriously... there are a lot of things that we've done this way forever. Just because your dad/mom/brother/uncle/twelfth cousin once removed/sister did it differently... doesn't mean we should do it that way.

I'm tired and I've probably rambled. Just don't be stupid. Is that really too much to ask? Is it?

Girl Time or Tired Time?

So yesterday the boys got it... and... I was going to do the girls right now... but i just realized that's not going to work. I'm so incredibly tired that for me to form a cohernetnafejsdf thought would bewerdfasdfasdfeiwfa.

Er... yes. I'm tired.

But it's kinda nice - I have my desk back! It's quite a joy to me... My desk that I made with my dad many moons ago is now, once again, my desk. Of course, I think it was my sister who decided to paint it when it was her desk. Bleh. I love my unfinished wood :P

So I'm going to have to break out the torch and start bubbling some paint, whee!

I'm a little tired like I said... but I'll definitely be writing the girl side tomorrow.

Mmmmm, I look forward to it!

YSA, Cont'd

So yesterday, like I said - I went to Memphis for a YSA - Young Single Adult - activity. There were 5 Stakes there. For those of you unfamiliar with those - YSA is an organization for single adults, age 18-30. Stakes are organizations within the LDS church that are comprised of several congregations or wards.

So anyways.

We got there around 2 o'clock to the building near the Memphis Temple. They sent us out to do some service, two groups, one went to a park, and we went to the community center. We picked up some trash around the community center for an hour or two, and then we went to the park and helped them finish up and then we played some games. We had a water balloon toss, then we played this interesting game... it was a three legged balloon stomp. Basically you had two people and tied them together - three legged style - and tied balloons to their outside legs. The first round, this girl Sam and I won (kept both our balloons). The second round we pretty much lost. It was sad. Well the next game was a water balloon volleyball-esqe game, but we were playing on a tennis court. We lost our first game then won the second. After that we split up for Ultimate Frisbee or Kickball. I chose Frisbee, and it was pretty fun. After a while we got tired and then we had dinner (hot dogs & hamburgers).

While I was "letting my food digest" I played some football catch with a couple of guys... most footballs I kinda suck at throwing. But I did OK and had a bit of fun but it sure wore me out. And then for some reason, a lot of people decided they wanted some more Ultimate and I actually played too. It was pretty fun, and I even played really hard. I got about three or four of our touchdowns, and then on one they launched a cherry bomb (one from say, half the field. Known in football as a Hail Mary play.) and I booked it. I hear some vague comments about fence, and I launch myself in the air for the Frisbee, and as my hands wrapped around it, my toes (I was barefoot) went through the chain-links. And then my gut hit the top of the fence. But I held on the Frisbee and got the point. I pretty much decided I won at life right then, which was pretty much true. Well we kept playing some anyways...

and then we came home, it was late, I was tired, and I went to bed. I took a nap today, but I don't think it was quite long enough to finish whatever stage of sleep I was in, so I'm also really tired right now. Buuuut, eventually I'll get to go to sleep.

I'm not actually at Riverfest right now, but we're at my dad's office building across the street from the Dickey-Stephens ball-park, and the fireworks should be starting here in about 20 minutes. Jooooy. Sort of. I mean I like fireworks, but I'm also really tired.

So I realized the other day, as I was at the YSA deal... I looked around and saw all these girls, they were really pretty and beautiful and what-not... but I wasn't attracted to them. I think it used to be that I'd really feel attracted to them, but nowadays... I just didn't feel anything.

I don't know, I guess I kinda feel like lyrics in a song by Meatloaf... "I want you, I need you, but baby, I ain't ever gonna love you, but don't be sad, cause two out of three ain't bad."

Expletive!

So... I finally got the transmission in the car.

But now the clutch doesn't... clutch enough.

Ehhhhh!

I think I'll cry. Goodnight.

Bleep, clang, CUT, grease, squash. Tired.

A transmission fell on me yesterday.

What, you may ask, was I doing under a transmission?

Simple - I was changing the pressure plate and clutch in my 1985 Toyota Tercel (that one looks better than mine.

Wednesday afternoon I started pulling parts off of my car (after jacking it and securing the wheels with chock blocks. Wednesday at 11:30pm we gave up and called it a night, got degreased (mostly)and went to bed. Thursday, 8:30 AM I went to work for Pure Cleaning. We went to a house on Kavanaugh Blvd, and tore off a bunch of ivy, cleaned some windows, and I got home around 7:30pm. Then at 9 we (my Dad and myself) went back under the car. The transmission is VERY greasy. Finally we got tired and gave up around 12:30am. I took a shower and fell asleep around 1:30am.

This morning my dad woke me up at 6:30 so we could leave to go to Toastmasters so I could use his truck to go to work. Because mine is on blocks, ya know? So this evening we'll (hopefully, prayerfully) finish putting my car back together and then we'll be going to T's band concert.

Then at 5:30am my parents have to be at the airport because they're going to Utah to see my nephew/their grandbaby. And we (T and myself) need to be at our church at 6 or 6:30am because we're going on a youth temple trip to the Memphis Temple.

It's going to be a long weekend.

I hope I don't die...