Allergies

I've been feeling nauseous for the past week. Lethargic, and sneezing like hell. I'm guessing it's because of allergies, but didn't come to that until a while, I've never really been affected like this before.
I spent most of yesterday cleaning my room. Didn't realize how much dust there was... and changed all my sheets. I took some Claritin which helped alleviate my symptoms somewhat. I still feel a little bogged down, but I'm guessing it's probably not the dust anymore, more likely pollen or other Spring-related allergens.

A little Spring cleaning goes a long way!

Javascript Joy

I've seen many webpage actually have Lightbox to create their very interactive looking image loaders on websites, but I never actually realized what it was called and that it was a free toolkit until now.
So... based on some recent incentives to explore Javascript and AJAX, I am currently applying updates to my portfolio/website.

I've implemented a blogger RSS feed to my website as my home page news loader so that I can just post updates from my blog. I should have done it a while ago, and well, whatever, it's done and I'm happy as the site is a lot more easier to maintain now.

BUT, I have got to link you to my gallery page to check out my photos, but not only is viewer different, but I have also added, oh, about 60 more photos. It's my best work, in my opinion anyway. I'd like to see what kind of feelings my pictures evoke.

I'm not sure what to think of the unfolding hostage situation in Manila right now. It's a serious situation for sure, guns, grenades, children, hostages... But I'm tempted to chuckle and cheer for the hostage takers as they aren't the standard "we want money" or "free our compatriots" types. They aren't negotiating for money or ideological or even political reasons. No, they're arguing for a champion's cause, to ensure education for the children. (Okay, I guess this may fall under the political umbrella) Sure, terrorism isn't a RATIONAL means of negotiating, but it gets people's attention doesn't it?

Am I boring because I like to learn?

I spent most of yesterday night scouring and devouring wikipedia. The topic you say? Carl Jung. The psychologist.... well... psychiatrist who founded analytical psychology, or similarly, Jungian psychology

I've been meaning to read into psychology a lot sooner, but I just managed to do so now. I'm very interested in Jung's work based on what I've absorbed yesterday. His theories of archetypes, collective unconscious, duality(self vs shadow, and anima vs animus), and of course, dream interpretation. I could go into each of these topics for hours and delve into the specifics and interpretations, as I'm so fascinated by his work. From what I have noticed, Jung seems to be more focused in personalizing a person's psyche to be interacting with the collective unconscious and behaves differently each day depending on daily interactions, like dreams. His approach is contrary to the Freudian train of thought where each person is merely a definition of their past experiences. Freud's interpretation of dreams as merley an outlet for the subconscious really destroys the view that dreams can be a form of communication to other people.

Well, I'm a dreamer, in the non-literal sense. I have to go with Jung and seek spirituality in our dreams, to follow Freud and believing dreams are the mere musings of our subconscious would shatter my optimism for a deeper meaning in the subject. Besides, Jung's theories make much cooler plot devices in movies than Freud's Oedipus complexes or his crap of psychosexual development.

Sometimes what we need...

...is a new plan.

The last line from tonight's Grey's Anatomy could not strike closer to the heart of the matter.
My plans have so far fallen through, and am now thinking of shifting to my secondary, and tertiary plans.
I'm spending more time worrying about things than actually executing my current plans and thus forcing me to constantly re-evaluate what I'm doing. Counter-productive, definitely. Yet, how can you compel yourself to ignore your fears.

Plans are so much easier when they're nice and exclusive, but when they overlap, how do you decide which one takes priority when you don't even know if any will work.
Well, obviously banking on winning the lottery is still my favorite, it's probably the one plan I should stop counting on. =)

The next great idea...

...is so impossible to think of.

I've been thinking what I could do as a web-app project, that for now is just so I can flex my e-muscles and get acclimated programming in JavaScript/AJAX yadda yadda.

I had an idea last year to make that web-based photo editor, I mentioned it in an earlier post, and yeah, that was the only sound idea I had. Right now, I need suggestions so I can get on track.

I have a couple of ideas I'm working on right now, mostly silly because it's hard. It's hard to think of the future! :(

Idea 1: A personal recipe cookbook type blog.
I say "personal" because I thought of this concept when I cook. I like to print off a recipe, and then maybe take notes. These notes would consist of what I thought of the recipe, results, modifications, future alterations, and anything I guess you would write reminding yourself of what you would do differently.

You could actually do this on a blog, but I thought if you could organize it in a more efficient database, you could make notes after you cooked, and so you could reference it in the future. This is just an alternative to a possibly endless and messy paper trail since you could do all this on paper.

But... what if... You could also get comments? This web-service could be more of a community-based tool IF you can have friendly group discussion. Eg. People could post their comments on things you've tried, and what they've tried.

This could blow out of proportion though with people arguing that you've stolen their recipes, but that's not really the scope of this. It's more of a personal cooking blog, but scalable so that you can share what you've tried to cook with your friends.

Actually... this works exactly like a blog concept. But unlike most food websites, I actually want to be able to store recipe data, and notes. A digital cookbook. A digital recipe archive.

I'm not sure, I still think it's a silly idea, but I feel that it has some merit.
Would love opinions on this.

I wrote Idea 1 up there as if I had another idea, I did... but I've forgotten again.
What have you ever thought that "it would be nice if there was a website that I could ....". I need ideas! I need the future!

Lao Tzu

I've been reading up on Lao Tzu quotes. There are a lot of them and they are truly words of wisdom to those who heed it. Some are obvious, yet still enlightening because they simplify it into thoughts one never contemplates about.

For jumping into the tomorrow:

"When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be." -Lao Tzu

An interesting documentary

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBWOEdy_-qM

This is a clip Cam sent me. I saw the documentary this clip was from last year on Discovery Channel. I really wish I could find a copy of it since it's a really amazing piece on insight into the North Korean frame of mind. A rare glimpse into their obscure shadowed society. It really is a refreshing blast of realization that people still do think like that even in modern times. A little bit of 1984, some George Orwell, and definitely a lot of communism.

Edit: I guess I was wrong, it was History Channel. The documentary is called North Korea: A State of Mind

Although it's a little biased on what you see, I guess it's still an interesting view into what life is like for them.

DST

Daylight Savings Time is such a big joke. Who plays around with time when people have more important things to think about. Not to mention changing it to being 3 weeks ahead. It's so silly.

I thought bad news was "good" news?

I hadn't heard anything about any major events regarding the NBA all-star game, this last February in Las Vegas.
I only found a vague reference in another article on CNN regarding the rap industry. Following up on this, I searched on Google regarding events related to the NBA All-star game. Apparently, because of the young NBA fans, which consisted of "gangbangers and trouble makers", violence and crime in the city shot up the 5 days during the event. I pieced most of this from several articles and blogs. The high volume of traffic caused delays at airports. There were reports of fights, shootings, robberies and probably several more which I'm sure aren't as dangerous but still serious.

Is there a news blackout regarding this event? Or... do "they" want this to be kept under wraps?

Here are some links which I cobbled all my data from:
http://www.ericmcerlain.com/offwingopinion/archives/007206.php
http://www.breitbart.com/news/2007/02/19/070220031716.fq28ybhs.html

Miami pics

My Toronto/NY pics got overwritten b/c of Flickr's silly 200 picture limit on free accounts.

But my Miami pics are up, so take a looksee!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/30752270@N00/sets/72157594563447696/

Empathy

I feel like I have rage issues, but it only seems like it happens when I'm around my parents. My consciousness is a magnet for the feelings of the people around me. Earlier today, when my dad and I parked in a spot at Costco, some girl told us she was waiting for the spot. This was obviously a stupid statement since we were waiting at the spot where the person came out as soon as she was leaving. Circumstances aside, my dad went ballistic as soon as the girl assumed the spot should have been hers. He cussed and swore at her and shouted as if she had done something morally wrong.

That rage manifested in me so quickly. I really hate people who go ballistic over nothing. Even though my anger was focused more on my dad being an almost total jackass (he was in the right, after all), it felt like the world was mocking my idea of reason and respect. I personally didn't really care about the incident, but rather had emotions stirring in my head of people striking each other down, fortunately only verbally in this instance. This feeling of raw rage is quite rare for me. It's only happened one other time when I was in Australia, and again, it revolved around my dad.

Suppressed rage. Empathic consciousness. Identity inheritance.
I honestly don't know what to think of this.

My first hockey game!

I was a really big hockey fan when I was younger. I collected cards, watched games on television, memorized names, and even wanted to play in the minor leagues. Unfortunately, I never got anywhere with my passion for hockey since my parents wouldn't let me take hockey lessons. What I really wanted then though, was to go watch a live hockey game. I know it's pretty sad considering I live in Vancouver that I've never been to a hockey game until now, but I am exhilirated after attending it. =D

Canucks 4 > Coyotes 3
We had awesome seats. Section122 Row 6. Right behind the goalie's right side.
That first goal by Jeff Cowan. Man, that was crazy since my line of sight was right behind Curtis Joseph.
I actually hoped for an OT/Tie since I wanted to see a shootout. The seat had a great vantage point especially for those types of setups. I'm still happy that Vancouver won though. Hehe
Best random fan shout of the night has to be "Hey Sopel, get a haircut you bum!" Haaaaahahaha.

I told Melissa I wanted to see a shootout, and she told me that it doesn't happen here often, people in Vancouver are nice. As to what that has to do with shootouts, I have no idea. I have an idea what she interpreted it as, where people carry guns, but that wasn't the case either. haha

I definitely hope to go watch more live games!