Is it just me, or does anyone else think that we could definitely benefit from more journal templates? I think 6 templates offers very little variety. To be honest, I'm kind of torn between Livejournal and Shoutpost right now; Livejournal has many more template choices, but Shoutpost, I feel, has a more interactive community. Obviously, the type of community is more important in a blogger setting, but I'm one of those people who happens to be a little anal about aesthetics.

I'm a bit of an artist (nothing big, just like drawing and such), and, if I had the ability, I would definitely spruce up my page on my own. However, it just so happens I know pretty much next to nothing about HTML and CSS web design. I tried to get into it before, but I just don't have the knack for computer coding; I always get tripped up by some random line of code or small command that ends up screwing up my entire project.

*sigh* Anyways, SHOUTPOST, please add some more templates! I'm sick of having the same page as every other person here! No offense to the people who made the templates we use now, but I really want a look that I can be happy with!

Why is it that we still use books today? With technology what it is today, I believe that we could easily start the process of phasing out books out of society. It would be a slow and tedious process, to a certain extent, because we would have to digitize everything, but I think the real world benefits would greatly outweigh the costs.

Today, I was at Office Depot, and noticed they were selling flash drives for $9.99. I think, considering that small, portable drives have gotten so cheap, it's possible for us to begin using hard drives as the new medium for book stores. Can you imagine it? No more wood wasted to make shelves, no more paper needed to make tons of books that may never be bought; just a medium-sized store with a few tables and a counter. There won't be such a thing as a wasted flash drive, since people would only put the books they want on the drives; very cost effective. Basically, what you would do is bring your nifty little drive, pay the person at the counter, and have the relevant book loaded into memory. The tables could have small glass windows with widescreen lcds underneath them, where you could stick in your drive and load up your book. You could just sit there, reading a "book." I could see book stores even encouraging the use of the same drive, by giving 10% discount if you bring your own drive. What about if you enjoy coming to the book store just to read magazines? Well, a portion of every e-book could be loaded into the bookstore's main server, as well as the FULL version of the magazines. I think this method would help consumers maintain most of the privileges that they enjoy in bookstores currently, while at the same time encouraging book sales, by limiting access to full blown novels.

Some people might argue that taking your drive home and reading your e-book on your lcd monitor just isn't the same as reading from a good, old-fashioned book. I will agree: it would be a mighty big change. However, we could minimize the impact of this change by integrating flash drive ports into PDA's. Thus, the PDA's could serve as digital book readers. I think, though the cost might be a little high for major consumers, capitalism would eventually drive the price down so that the majority of the population could own their own PDAs. I think this would reduce the demand of resources significantly: the demand for wood would drop SIGNIFICANTLY. Also, electronics are largely reusable, as well as recyclable. Of course, I know people would be throwing away their PDAs constantly, so they can get the "newest and best" models… can't solve ALL of life's problems, eh?

I think one area that this move would have a huge positive impact on is college life. Every college kid is familiar with the experience of lugging around a gigantic chemistry textbook, along with that book's solution manual, lab book, etc. It's not a very pleasant experience. But if we digitized books? They could just walk around with a drive in their pocket.

I can see two major negatives to digitization: piracy, and people losing work because their jobs have become obsolete. In regards to piracy, considering that "hard" copies of the books would be loaded directly into a person's drive, any license protection on the novel could be hacked. This would potentially drive down sales to a small degree, but piracy of books is already happening currently. I think, all in all, we should still make the move, because the idea just seems more efficient to me. Plus, I think MOST people would still buy books legitimately. I mean, CDs and movies are widely pirated at the moment, but tons of people still go to the movie theaters. CD sales have RISEN since the introduction of mp3s. Plus, the introduction of legal online music stores has helped to decrease music piracy to a large degree among the general public. As for the loss of jobs... well, I'm sure you could think of some jobs that would be negatively affected by this.

I don't know, this is just an idea I was tossing around in my head. However, I see this happening in our very near future. More and more books today are being digitized. As far as I can tell, they're already making this change, but I still think we should be moving faster to transition into completely digitizing literature. I don't know if books would be completely phased out, but maybe they would be limited to archival use? Maybe a few copies of the books would be made, for library use? I don't know…

I don't think we'll ever really stop using paper; it's just too convenient and handy to use. However, if we could limit paper use to just notebooks, organizers, and that sort of thing... we'd still make a huge impact on how much wood we would use per year.

    I ordered a bunch of stuff online last week... and most of them happened to come to my house today! Love it when stuff like that happens. Now I have my new Logitech MX-518 mouse, new keyboard wrist rest, new fountain pen... and a few other new pieces of crap. E-bay rocks.

    Anyways, on a totally unrelated topic... I've been thinking about South Park, and how long it's been on television now. I wouldn't go as far as calling it a phenomenon, but it's definitely made a significant impact on television. I know the humor was initially seen as a little too gross and racy when it first came out, but now it seems to be considered the norm nowadays. It's funny how that happens. What's so surprising is how the humor on the show has been able to remain consistent for so many years; it's still as witty, if not wittier, and intelligent as the day it first came out. In fact, I think it's evolved significantly since its syndication, and has become more than simple entertainment; it also acts as a critique on American society and the absurdities that exist within our nation. Although South Park makes a lot of bold and controversial statements, it manages to avoid the trap of becoming elitist in its views, by refusing to take a particular stance in any subject. Instead, it just bashes on everyone.

     I think South Park is one of the smartest shows to come out in our generation, and I really hope it remains on the air for a long time to come. It does a good job of exposing the flaws in thinking that are often expressed in the media and within the broader social consciousness. Trey Parker, you are my god, LOL.  

If you're here to participate in a suicide pact with me, I'm sorry, but that's not what I'm posting about at all. However, I really do hope you seek some professional help...

No, today I'm here to tell you guys about a Japanese movie, called "Suicide Circle/Club," that I saw very recently. It was written and directed by Sion Sono, and it's positively blown me away. The plot of the movie sounds like standard psychological thriller/ horror fare: 54 schoolgirls commit suicide one day by jumping in front of a subway train. The police are baffled as to what may have caused so many people to commit such a horrible act. As a result of the incident, suicides soon begin to occur all over Japan, and the police must find out what the connection is between all these seemingly unrelated incidents. Although the movie sounds like a suspense thriller/ horror film, if you watch the movie with that mentality you'll be sorely disappointed. Although Suicide Club does have its moments of gore, it's not scary in any particular way (at least not by Hostel standards).

In fact, Suicide Club seems more like a social commentary on suicide in Japan, if anything else. Sion Sono uses various shots and scenes in his movie to convey the "plight" of modern day Japanese within a pop culture/ commercial society, and how people, in general, have lost touch with more meaningful connections in life (e.g., family) in order to maintain the superficial role they have in their everyday lives. 

If you like movies that are mindless and fun, then Suicide Club may not be for you. However, if you like movies that require a bit of analysis and possess a deeper meaning, then Suicide Club might be a movie worth checking out; if you do take the time to figure this movie out, you'll be rewarded with a great piece in Japanese cinema. I have to warn you, though: if you look at this movie with an American lense, you'll finish the movie wondering what the hell you just saw. When you're watching it, keep asking yourself "what would this mean to a Japanese person?" It sounds hard (and it is, I had to do a little research after viewing it to fully understand the movie), but it's a bit necessary.

Welp, that's my "review" on Suicide Club. It'll probably hard to find (LOL), but you might be able to order it from Borders, Amazon.com, or just pick it up at some local anime store (it's not anime, but those stores sell a lot of Asian live-action movies as well). Bye! 

    Well, I went down to the local college library to study today. Ate lunch at Panda Express... I swear, the food there is synthetic. I don't know why, but the food just doesn't feel very.. natural. LOL. I know, it doesn't make any sense. There's been times when I've eaten a ton at Panda, only to get hungry in an hour. I like the way the food tastes, but I can't say I like Panda Express, the restaurant, particularly much. I noticed that all the workers at Panda were Mexican. I don't have anything against Mexicans, but I think it's a bit amusing that the majority of Asian restaurants I've been to (aside from sushi restaurants) have their food prepared primarily by non-Asian persons. Well, the food still tastes good, so I guess it's nothing to anal over.

     I won a bid on Ebay for my first "real" fountain pen! I've never used Ebay before; I have to say: it's a very pleasurable experience! It's fun keeping tabs on the auction to make sure you won. Anyways, back to the pen... I got a Rotring Initial. It's sold for roughly $70 at most places ($50 if you search for deals), but I managed to snag one for $40! Based on the reviews I've read, it's a solid and dependable fountain pen good for everyday use. I could of gotten a decent fountain pen for much cheaper (the Lamy Safari is only $23), but I wanted my first pen to be something I could be proud of. You have to admit, although simple (picture below), it looks very sleek and professional. I ended up getting a fine nib, because I tend to write small. I'm really looking forward to getting it soon! I'll post a review of it as soon as I get it in the mail. 

    When I sit and think about it, I've gotten REALLY boring. Less than ten years ago, I was a total party person. I'd hit up raves on an almost weekly basis. When most of my friends wanted to go partying, they used to call me up. Now, I just... study. I think the fact that I've mentioned this about 3-4 times already this week says it all. I should really hit up a party soon, to preserve my sanity. A friend of mine recently called me to see if I was going to go to Electric Daisy Carnival. I've never gone, and I don't think I'll be going anytime soon. Oh well, there's always next year... well... unless I start getting too old for parties (which is starting to happen).

    Anyways, that's it for today.

    P.S. Oh yeah, I hate people who talk loudly in the library. I don't say anything anymore, but it's very rude. One time, there were people being unbearably loud one time, and I blew up on them... and I felt like I was the one being a jerk! Anyways, as a result, I just keep my peace... just wish others would do the same.   

 

I know, just yesterday, I was raving about the Zebra 301's. However, it came to my attention that several websites recommended the use of fountain pens for long term use. Well, it just so happens that I have an old Parker Vector (Parker's lowest end fountain pen) that has been sitting in my pen holder for the last... 7 years. I went down to the local Staples, bought some Parker fountain refills, and started using the Vector today. I have to say: it's been a pretty pleasurable experience using a fountain pen. It flows like a gel ink pen, but feels a little nicer to write with.

I have to get this out of the way: I have this little quirk, where if I get interested in something, I don't just get interested... I get OBSESSED. I have to say, this little trait of mine has some advantages and some disadvantages. It's great, because I tend to know quite a bit of information about random things... and it sucks because I tend to know a quite a bit of information about random things... that no one cares about. Why did I bother mentioning this little characteristic of mine? Because it'll help clear up any obsessiveness I might start exhibiting in the next few weeks over pens.

Anyways, I was just looking at a website, www.pencity.com, and found a great pen that I want: the Cross Century II Chrome Fountain Pen. Long name, I know, but the pen looks exquisite, all the same. I spent half the day reading about fountain pens, what kinds of inks to use, fountain pens this... fountain pens that... I've decided to invest in a good, mid-range fountain pen, and I think the Cross Century II is the pen for me.

Another day spent studying Organic Chemistry. It's getting harder and harder to maintain focus, but I know if I don't do it... I'm going to choke in my upcoming summer class. Wish me luck! I know my entries have been a bit uneventful, but that's how my life is these days. My daily routine consists of nothing more than waking up, studying, maybe going down to a local store, or getting something to eat. I've been repeating this for the last two months, and I have to say that it's starting to drive me insane, lol. Oh well, I suppose a little boring is better than having too much drama.

Before I end for today, I'd like to mention that, a few days ago, Blizzard Entertainment announced that it's making Starcraft 2, the sequel to what many believe is the greatest strategy game ever made. This is probably the biggest news in the gaming industry that has been released in this year. Screenshots are already posted online; check it out!

In the last 6-7 months, I've made a lot of changes in my life. To most people, they seem drastic and extreme, but when you're unhappy with who you are... sometimes that's what it takes, right? If you're curious as to what changes I made, specifically... here they are:

1) I dumped 90% of my friends. I knew them since highschool. Although we were all very close, I felt very unhappy of where I was in my life, and felt that the change I wanted couldn't come about until I cut them loose.

2) I quit smoking. I've been smoking since I was thirteen years old. I managed to quit smoking once when I was 20-21, but started again at the coaxing of one of my friends. My fault for giving in, really. I quit again 7 months ago, and am 100% sure I'll never go back. I feel so much cleaner now.

3) I started working out. I've been at it for 7 months now... I feel stronger, more energetic, and look better than I think I ever did. I can curl 40 pounds with each arm! =) Seeing results has really inspired me, and I've now set my sights on getting that true toned, cut body. It'll be at least another year before I reach that goal, but it'll be totally worth it in my opinion.

4) Stopped doing drugs... COMPLETELY. Yup, I'll admit it; I was a druggie. Did it pretty hard starting from sophomore year in highschool up until 7 months ago. You know all those commercials about marijuana, and how potheads don't do anything constructive with their lives? IT'S ALL TRUE. I was at a point where my own family didn't believe I was going to do anything constructive with my life. How sad is that?

5) Cut out games drastically from my life. I was a pretty hardcore gamer; I could tell you about what games to buy now and ten months from now. I still play games here and there, but, for the most part, it's taken a backseat in my life. I just don't think I have the room or the time in my life at the moment to concern myself with something that isn't going to do anything worthwhile for me.

6) Started trying to learn how to type "properly." For most of my life, I've been a finger typer. I was pretty good at it, too. Though I wasn't clacking away at blazing speeds, I could do 80 words-per-minute on average. Why did I feel the need to suddenly try and learn to type properly? To tell you the truth, I didn't. I recently got a new keyboard, the Enermax Aurora. It costs $50 (I got it for $35 online off some "Weekend Deal") and is a full-layout, labtop style keyboard... complete with scissor-switch keys. I know, fifty bucks sounds a bit pricey (especially considering this keyboard doesn't have any multimedia buttons of any kind...), but it's made out of aluminum and looks realllly nice. It also types like a dream. The problem is, since the keys are all flat, I kept hitting the wrong ones while finger typing. Thus, for the last 2 weeks, I've been using the traditional typing style. It's been pretty hard; I type an average of 20 wpm now (*sniffle*), but I hope to pick up speed in the coming weeks.

Anyways, that last one was really trivial, but I thought it deserved a place in my list, considering how much pain and sorrow it's been bringing me lately. My pinky fingers are having the hardest time adjusting! At first, everyone, including my family, was very surprised at the changes I had made. Why? Because I made changes 1-5 all within the same month. It was completely sudden and without any warning. It took a lot of willpower and a lot of sacrifice, but ultimately I'm a lot happier with where I'm at. My family is very proud with who I've become, and who they see me becoming in the days ahead; I think that's the biggest reward I've received so far. Now, I just got to get this stupid typing thing down.

Side note: I went down to Staples today, in an attempt to find a new ballpoint pen to use while writing notes. Many people like using gel ink pens, but I've had a lot of bad experiences with them (like they decide to suddenly stop releasing ink). Others praise fountain pens, but they seem a bit too expensive, and last time I used one it seemed too "watery," which forced me to write larger. Well, the two pens that caught my eye were the Zebra 301 and the Parker Jotter. I ended up getting the 301 (they had a higher 402 model, but they cost an extra dollar each; decided to try out the cheaper model first before I invest in a more expensive pen using the same exact ink cartridge), and have to say that I'm loving it. It uses a fine point, and writes very smoothly. I was using the cheap papermates before, and I don't think I'm ever going back. I used to have to scribble with the papermates to get them going again if I didn't use them for a few minutes; no such thing with the Zebra's. I can just pick them up and start writing where I left off and they're fine. Highly recommend them.

    Well, it's been about 2 months since I graduated from UCLA, and I have to say: I've done more studying after college than I ever did when I was in. It's really starting to grind on me; studying day in and day out. I wake up, study, watch an hour or two of TV, sleep, rinse and repeat. Well, to be honest, I've kind of been straying for the last 2 days. Mainly because of the previously mentioned "grind." I have to get back on it soon, though, otherwise I'll fall behind. *sigh* Will the nightmare ever end? Yes, on June 25th; that's when my summer school will start. I'm taking Organic Chemistry at UC Riverside, and it's going to be pretty intense. They've somehow managed to squeeze in a year's worth of Organic Chemistry into 9 weeks. 9 weeks. Considering that O. Chem. isn't a particularly strong subject of mine, I thought it was a good idea to study it beforehand. Ughh... only one more month to go of this studying nightmare, and then I'll get to start school.... so I can study some more. Oh well, it'll be worth it, I suppose, since I'll get a nice head start in class.

I know I haven't been writing in this blog, for a LONG time, so I've decided to try and make more of an effort. It's funny, I used to be such an avid blogger back in the day... now it never crosses my mind to ever post anymore. So what to talk about? Well, today, I decided to share my thoughts about my impressions as a recently graduated college student.

So what's life like after college? Honestly? It kind of sucks. If there's one bit of advise I can give to you kids out there, who are just entering college, or are deciding what major to pick: choose verrrrrry carefully. I was one of the bright, young individuals who decided to pick Psychology as a major; not because it would help me in my career goals, but because I found it interesting. Now, I'm a college graduate with a degree that's not going to help me worth squat. I still keep in contact with two of my friends from my college, who had the same major, and they both tell me the same thing: their Psychology degree hasn't helped them at all in finding a job. I have another friend who graduated with an English degree. A friend asked him to come out with us for lunch: he said he was a little too strapped for cash. I'm just going to assume that means he's having a hard time with post-college life, as well. 

It's sad, really... and what's even sadder is that, despite the obvious mistake I made in choosing a major with very little real world benefit, there are tons of other people who are making the same mistake. They end up choosing history, art history, or women studies. Yeah, they might all sound interesting at the time, but you have to stop and ask yourself: "What can I do with that after I graduate?" Answer? Not much. The truth is, there are only three possible reasons why you picked a major like that:

1) You were REALLY interested in the subject, and decided it would be worthwhile to dedicate four years of your life to find out more about this wholly useless field, or 2) you didn't really know what you wanted to do with you life, and that subject just sounded the most interesting to you, OR 3) you were positively clueless about what you wanted or why you were even in college, took one class in a certain field, found you didn't hate it, took another class in the said field, and then thought to yourself. 'Hell, I've already invested two classes into it, I might as well see this through to the end.'

Regardless of your reason, all three of those choices have one thing in common: they involved you picking a major without putting a lot of thought into it (unless you picked it because you wanted to devote your life to the field as a career... then great for you!). Don't feel too bad about it, I did it, too... and there are plenty more people who are going to make the same mistake. So... you must be asking yourself, what does this mean? Well, simply put, all you've really accomplished is getting a college degree. The degree itself is utterly useless, but you have one thing on your plate: you're a college graduate. Basically, now what you can do is use that as leverage to get some job that has nothing at all to do with what you've spent the last four years of your life learning. Also, the better the school you went to, the better chance you have of getting hired against someone who also picked a useless major, but went to a crappier school. 

 Now, if you're still in college, and got a ways to go... don't make the same mistake I made. If you're really serious about following up on your major, then go ahead and stick to your guns, but if you're almost on your way to graduating and have yet to participate in a research study with a prominent professor in your field or to get those nice recommendation letters from your professors, then you should really ask yourself just how committed you really are. Otherwise, do yourself a favor, and pick something that has a little more real world benefit, like Business or Economics.

If you're already out of college, and find yourself in the same boat as me... then your options are a bit more limited. You have three possible outcomes/choices...

1) You can find out that your job options are pretty limited (financially), and decide to try out for graduate school. If so, be a lot more careful about what degree you decide to go after. If you've already set your mind on something and know that it's what you want, then knock yourself out. If you have even the slightest bit of doubt, however, go with something that's versatile and will help you out in the business world. Even if that degree might not aim towards an area you originally had interest in, it'll be a lot better if you have an open-ended degree that'll give you some leeway, than some highly specific degree that you suddenly realize you don't want to use. 

2) Decide that you've had enough of school, and that you're just going to rough it. If that's the case, then you'd better be a friggin social butterfly, be extremely attractive, and/or insanely intelligent. If you don't possess any of the aforementioned traits I've mentioned, then don't bother roughing "it," cause it's going to rough you.

3) You decide to hitch up with someone whose rich. If this option is open to you, well, you have my blessings. 

I think it's pretty obvious that more schooling is the best option to go for, if you find yourself with a very useless degree. Get some decent job to support yourself, buckle down, and be prepared to spend a few more years in that nightmare you thought you had just left behind. If you're really sick of school then take some time off, but don't let it go past a year. School isn't something you can take a long break from and still hope to do successfully. You need to be conditioned for it, and it's not easy to keep yourself "prepped" for. One of my close friends graduated last winter, and he decided to take a break... I've been pushing him to go  back to school by next winter. The longer you spend putting off going back to school, the less realistic the possibility of you going back will become; you don't know how many  30-something people I've already met who are currently bank tellers, or work at some crap retail job, and don't know how they got there. Many of them tell me it was supposed to be a temporary thing until they went back to school. I have a friend who was intent on going to law school; now she's thinking of just sticking with her current, low-paying job for the next five years. It's easy to get comfortable, so try and constantly push yourself towards school before it becomes too late. I don't want to sound like a downer for all you 30-somethings who find yourselves in this very situation that I'm talking about. If you don't like your job, then do some time management and try to get yourself back to school. It's never too late to change your life. It may be hard, it may be stressful (for a while), but if it'll take you somewhere better, isn't it worth it?  

So you must be wondering: after all this talk, what am I doing right now? Well, as luck would have it, when I was in college I hadn't only taken psychology; I had also been a premed student, but due to some issues I had decided not to follow through with it. However, I've lately been interested in dentistry, and it just so happens that the requirements for taking the dental school entrance exam is identical to that of medical school. Although I didn't finish all the requirements, I DID finish most of them... so I'm currently trying to get the rest of the classes done, and will be registering for the test next year. As you can see, I decided to go with option 1. Wish me luck!

Anyways, this is my general perception of life after college, so far. I know there are going to be a lot of people who don't agree with me... and that's OK. You're entitled to your opinion. If you had a crappy major, were ugly and mean-tempered, and still managed to be wildly successful... that's great, but know that you're a rarity. Most people I know who had a useless major either went back to school (some ended up picking YET ANOTHER major "just cause"), are currently jumping between several low paying and crappy jobs, or were insanely lucky enough to find some job that paid well, even though it had nothing to do with their original degree. Of course, that then just came down to having good people skills: they were able to convince someone to hire them for a job that they were in no way qualified for. 

God, I'm getting very sleepy. I have a feeling I'm going to wake up tomorrow, read what I wrote, and realize none of it made any sense.