Journal Entries
My kind of music
Posted Nov 26, 2000
I'm not really sure what my kind of music is. I've (like most young adults I know) a collection of mp3 files on my computer, and they vary in every important respect. I have songs by Tom Lehrer, Toybox (a danish pop/dance band), Golden Earring, Chet Atkins, Pushmonkey, The Electric Amish, Randy Newman, the Eagles, the Dire Straits (I'm not at all sure what "good bit" was reffered to in "so long, and thanks for all the fish"; all mine is good), Donovan, the Clash, Barry Manilow, Toy Matinee, Iron Butterfly, the Kinks, the Kingsmen, and so on and so forth, ad ifinitum, ad nauseum, ad noctum (any latin buffs, tell me if i got those right. They are supposed to be "into infinity, into sickness, into darkness"). Just in case I feel like spending 5 hours, 48 minutes on my computer, I have the Hitchhiker's Guide radio dramatization there as well. But what I can't seem to find is a common thread. The good percentage of the songs all have mood-altering effects, from changing my mood to deepening a present one, but some are just background noise. Most have words, but not all. Some are shorter than a 1:30, while a few breach 10:00. There's comedy, heavy metal, bluegrass, punk, classical, progressive, muzak, R&B, and even a little polka. The lot of it adds up to well over a day and a half of listening pleasure, but no logical sequence presents itself as to organization.
The variance might be due to the length of time it took to amass this collection, what with any changing emotional states. It might be due to recommendations from firends with varied tastes (one got me hooked to Aqua, another Heywood Banks). I could even be due to mysterious influences from Aflac commercials (a bout of antidaephobia, perhaps).
Whatever has caused this, it is beyond me. I suppose I shall just have to hand-pick them to suit my feelings. I also need to clear out the things i don't listen to any more, but c'est un autre chose.
P.S.: to anyone reading this aside from myself, I recommend the aforementioned artists highly.
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Latest reply: Nov 26, 2000
It's been a while
Posted Jul 23, 2000
It's been a while since i wrote anything in my journal. I guess the reason for this is that i really haven't had much to say on any subject, let alone myself. But I will try to put down some of the events that have happened to me recently for posterity (as if they'll care). Here goes:
On the 25th of May, as expected, i turned 14. This joy this day brought me was later compounded by the fact that i was invited to 2 parties in the days that followed. One was a swimming party, sponsered by my Chorus teacher and at her house, which was to reward all the people who participated in All district and All State Chorus. I participated in neither of those, having fallen a point-and-a-half short of the cut-off score for All State, and having been unable to particapate in the final rehearsal for All district because i would be in another city, buzzing my heart out at a Quiz Bowl. The other was an end-of-Middle-school party, held by some friends of mine. I went to both of these parties, and even served in the capacity of DJ for the second, which mainly consisted of keeping the music playing and the expletives out of such. To you, being invited to parties may be comnsidered a nice thing, but to me, it was an Extremely Super Great thing, because, in the whole of my memory, I had not been invited to any parties, not even birthday ones.
About 2 days after the second party, i left with my brother to live in Stone Mountain, GA, with my father and stepmotherfor the Summer, or at least until July 27. Life has been pretty dull, for the most part, except for a few events, which i will describe to you. About a week after coming here, we acquired a membership at a Swim/Raquet club a block or so from the house. A few more weeks into the summer, my brother left for Valdosta to particapate in the Governor's Honors Program. Since my stepmother has a son, I was not the only youth in the house, until about 2 weeks ago, when he took a trip to see his Aunt in California for 4 weeks.
Which brings me to today, Sunday the 23rd. It's the year 2000, but it doesn't look much different from 1999. It's still fun to see old Sci-fi movies which saythat such-and-such happened in the year 2000 or before, when, in reality, nothing of the sort happened. Also fun are the prophecies of Nostradomus', which in the past were extremely accurate (he predicted not only the year germ theory was set forth, but also the name Pasteur), but now are complete fallacies (Paris was supposed to have burned to the ground by now, and New York has not suffered any massive earthquakes that I know of). I get phase 2 braces tommorow, and I am kind of expecting the day that they can cure screwy teeth with no more than a pill. If medical science doesn't produce such a thing, then I will, simply to save the countless people that are dreading the metal mouth.
I will try to put more up at regular intervals, but right now, it's thundering in the distance and I must get off the Computer to protect it from shocks.
Thinker
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Latest reply: Jul 23, 2000
New Submission
Posted Apr 27, 2000
I've just come up with a new entry on Songs that get stuck in your head and what to do about it. This is my second entry, about 3-4 weeks after the first one. Gluey Songs, as it is called, are a major problem in the world today, and everyone would be well in knowing some techniques for coping with the problem. If you know of any more ways to adapt, send them to me, and I will be sure to send them back to you with precise directions on where you can shove them. Just kidding! 
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Latest reply: Apr 27, 2000
The Forum
Posted Apr 18, 2000
This may eventually become a guide entry, but I'll write it here first to see what others think about it.
The fundamental thing that a society needs to prosper is a safe forum in which everybody can safely express any idea that they wish to express, no matter how stupid or malformed. As soon as this forum is in any danger of abridgement, the society will crumble. Let me say that again. The society WILL crumble. If a society is in any danger of even beginning to outlaw saying anything, then the people will be afraid to speak their minds. If a person with a good idea is afraid to express it, then no one will know what would have become of it. That is why censorship, in any shape, form, or fashion, is a bad idea.
Censorship is the outlawing of a way of expression or of a certain idea. If a way of expression is banned, then a person who's idea can only be expressed in that way is stuck with an idea. However, if that idea is expressed, than it could be as revolutionary as sliced bread. And where do you think the idea of sliced bread came from? Probably some lowly baker who thought there was a neater way of eating bread besides breaking it. If that person had no forum to express his or her idea, would we have sandwiches? No. There was a forum for his idea to be expressed in and he or she used it.
Because there are forums for ideas to be expressed in, life has improved immensely for all. From the first tribal circle where a young hunter showed his creation of a long stick with a few fibers tied to each end and used it to "shoot" a modified spear into a nearby animal, on to the royal court in which a great leader was shown his name in marks on a stone tablet, all the way to the Internet of today, good has come from open forums of discussion.
That's not to say that only good can come from this. When an artist-turned-soldier got an open forum to express his idea of a perfect race, millions upon millions died as a result. But think of how many lives have been saved because Louis Pasteur told of his idea of microscopic "germs" that made people sick. Open forums have been responsible for most, if not all good things.
This forum must have its sanctity protected, and this is the responsibility of a police force. Such a force should make sure that the society can safely and freely express all of its ideas.
A forum is not only a place for ideas to be expressed, but also argued. One must be able to tell not only one's idea, but must also be able to tell why his or her idea is worthwhile. On that same note, one must also be able to argue for or against others ideas. One must be able to join with others with the same idea.
Thank you for reading this, and please respond to it. I would like feedback. After all: this is an open forum.
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Latest reply: Apr 18, 2000
New Assignment
Posted Apr 15, 2000
For the last six-weeks of school, Our eighth grade gifted class is putting on a Renaissance Festival for the last week of school, and I have been put in charge of the Play, which I have chosen as being a portion of "A Midsummer Night's Dream", by Billy Shakespeare. You need not look at this entry if you don't want to, because I'm just going to post some documents dealing with the play. If you are working with me, you can take a look at this entry to get some of the materials dealing with the play from the replies.
Have a nice day!
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Latest reply: Apr 15, 2000
Thinker
Researcher U115633
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"The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a wholly remarkable book. It has been compiled and recompiled many times and under many different editorships. It contains contributions from countless numbers of travellers and researchers."