THE OLDEN DAYS

   My whole life, in history class, looking through museums, watching movies and even digging up some pictures of my early family, I always pictured the old days in black and white. It's hard for me to get a clear picture of what things actually looked like for people in the 1700s, 1800s and early 1900s. A very eye opening experience for me was a trip to the University of Pennsylvania. The antiquated campus seemed to bring me back a hundred years. Somehow, I knew that the same sight I saw was shared by someone many years ago, that as real as the buildings looked now, they looked the same for someone before my time.

   I feel like it's difficult to convey what I actually mean about this matter. Take for example a glass bottle of Coca-Cola. 70 years ago, this thing wasn't black and white... It was the same color, same taste, the same image it is perceived today. 

   Another experience that made me wonder was when I watched film of an old baseball game. The footage was choppy and the players were just blurs. Their odd baseball maneuvers seemed preposterous to me and in my mind, I could not put myself in their shoes. I could not imagine myself as a 1930s baseball player seeing a pitch come to me the exact same way it does today. Would I react the same way? Would the pitch do something I've never seen before? The "realness" is impossible for me to imagine.

   Also, Shakespearean times are difficult for me to imagine. Did the clothes they wore give off an aurora of wealth, or to the contrary, an impoverished stench, just by the the sight of them? Pantaloons were cool then and cargo shorts are cool now. Where did we go astray? Anyways, it's hard for me to accept what a Shakespearean person looked like. They looked like people do today. No different. Just their attributes were slightly askew. Over the years, the only thing that has changed in our appearance is hair, clothing and make-up.

   If you were thrown into the 80s, would you know where you were? Would you notice peculiarities in your vision? Would what you see be less crisp than what you see in our present day? Does vision somehow change to a different hue? The answer is no. But like I said, it's difficult to imagine. 

~This isn't the only thing I have trouble imagining. I'll keep you posted.

WHAT IF...

   Something had me thinking today. What if everyone on Earth jumped in the air at the same exact moment? Would Earth spin a little faster in that brief period and people would land maybe a foot away from where they jumped from? Or maybe the planet would be so confused, we'd shoot out and end up in orbit somewhere by Andromeda. Hmm... This is one for the scientists.

   Also, we must think about how to spread the word that everyone is jumping at a certain time. Third world countries would have a hard time receiving the news and time zones might mess up the plans. And there is less than a one second frame where people have to jump, considering  "the average max standing jump is about 0.53 seconds" (wiki).

   I think it would be so cool if we could get half a population to do this. Even just a town jumping would make it feel like an earthquake.

   While we're on the subject, I also think it would be awesome if we could get an entire stadium of people to make weird noises at the same time. A USA chant sounds great no matter how many people join in, but if 40,000 people said it at the same time, nothing would be more patriotic. What else... oh, an entire stadium where everyone claps at the same time, sings in harmony, inhales at the same time, and/or exhales at the same time... all cool to me.

   Unison has a way of making me smile so if anyone knows where an event like this is taking place, please, LET ME KNOW. okay

~This is not the only thing I wonder about. I'll keep you posted.

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_average_standing_jump_hangtime_for_a_human

Credit where credit is due ^^^

DISNEY

   What is it that makes a theme park the 'happiest place on Earth'? What do people look forward to when coming here? The rides? (I know for a fact it isn't the rude foreigners...) You can go on rides in Hershey Park or Busch Gardens or Dorney Park or Six Flags... So why is Disney any different?
Well I'll tell ya: there's just something magical about this place. It's in the air. The weather may be offsetting at times and everything may be going wrong for you back home, but when you come here everything seems to change. You forget who you are, what real life is and just soak in the fact that you are in another 'world'.
   Let's face it, you won't see any of these people again so you can be whoever you want. Today I was an obnoxious Canadian tourist, representing Canada with my Montreal Olympics shirt. I laughed loudly at corny jokes I heard and I said "eh" every now and then in case anybody was listening to my conversations. I can be the person I can't be at home. I walk around my hotel/motel/resort (I'm not sure what it is) wearing nothing but shorts because hey, again, who cares.
   For the past 17 years, I've been told that if I want something in life, I have to go and take it. I'll be honest in saying that I never had this way of thinking. I kind of just let things happen and never seem to take responsibility in pursuing my personal interests. But this place is making me someone who I never was, someone who feels obligated to make sure he makes the most of his young life.
   The last time I was here was the first time I was able to fully appreciate all the parks had to offer. When I returned home, I was too upset to go to sleep because I liked this place so much. I would close my eyes and imagine that I was here, wish I was here, even though I knew my next trip wouldn't be for years to come. I wanted my life at home to be like it was here. Maybe that's because this is the one place my family can go to without arguing with one another. We become a fully functional family who makes weird jokes that only we understand. Families make Disney what it is today.
   You don't have to be a thrill-seeking, coaster junkie to like it here, I'm quite the antithesis. You just need to know how to relax and enjoy your surroundings without being a total doofus. Rules don't apply here. Whether you're trekking through an Animal Kingdom safari or you're playing carnival games with Buzz Lightyear, there's always something for you to do.
   Rides, food, attractions, stores, fun, more food, imagination and childhood. You know how Chuck E. Cheese is "Where a kid can be a kid"? Well Disney is "Where a 1-100 year old can be a kid". That is the basic layout of Disney for ya. So if you've never been, come down.
   This truly is the happiest place on Earth. It's where dreams come true.

MUSIC

   There are so many different types of music out there; jazz, rap, pop and so on and so forth. How do we come to love just one type of music? I myself never could. I love songs from every single genre out there.
For example, some of my favorite bands/people are:
  Daft Punk
  Black Keys
  Boston
  Lynyrd Skynyrd
  Bing Crosby
  Jason Mraz
  (LOOK AT THAT VARIETY)
-Little known fact: I spent most of my childhood listening to Ludacris, Outkast, eminem, Limp Bizkit, Creed, Jock Jams, country music and *NSYNC. And you wonder why I'm so weird.
   One type that I could never tire of no matter how much I listen to it is southern rock (Lynyrd Skynyrd, Pure Prairie League, The Allman Brothers, The Doobie Brothers, Marshall Tucker Band) because it reminds me of good times and happiness way back in the day. I used to listen to a cd with all of those bands when I was little and on my way to the beach with my family and I ALWAYS had a fantastic time.
   My guess is that we closely relate music we like to the emotions we are feeling when listening. If you listen to the Beach Boys whenever you go to the beach, chances are they put you in a good mood when you listen to them at home. If you listen to techno when you work out, you'll probably get energetic whenever you listen to it. If you relate rap to violence, you prob won't enjoy listening to it ever. It's all psychological. Don't think... Just listen and enjoy.
   What is so wrong with listening to every single genre out there? I like to fall asleep listening to the 5000 songs on my Zune on shuffle. This usually brings me anything from Christmas music to dubstep to dubstep Christmas music XD but I loooooove everything I listen to. There is absolutely nothing wrong with not being able to stick to one type of music.
   "Chickity china the Chinese chicken, have a drumstick and your brain stops tickin".... I don't care who you are, that's fun to say. (It's 'One Week' by Barenaked Ladies).
   Someone I know told me she liked The Fray and even though I don't usually listen to bands like them, I gave it a try. And you know what? IT WASN'T BAD. So now I listen to them and others of the same quality all because I gave em a try. What I'm trying to say is forget about your opinions and just listen to everything. GEEZE IT'S NOT THAT HARD PEOPLE.
   So whether you are feeling relaxed or if you need a kick start to your day, there is always music to listen to. Don't discriminate music... You're only depriving yourself from enjoyment!

~This isn't the only thing I wonder about. I'll keep you posted.

NASA

   Way back in 1969, Americans looked forward watching one thing and one thing only on tv: the moon landing. Everybody knew when the launch would be. They talked about it on the streets and at social gatherings... it was pretty much the only thing they cared about (besides Woodstock) because it was something new and exciting.
   But nowadays, a moon landing or even a Mars landing means little to nothing to people. Just the other day, Curiosity made a landing on Mars; I was watching it on the NASA channel. People of my age tend to post trending things on Twitter or Facebook to show their interest and absolutely nobody I knew posted anything in the minutes leading up to the event. To the contrary, everyone in the NASA station was super ecstatic when Curiosity landed. Seeing how happy they were made me feel just how wonderful the landing was, including how much work and dedication they put into it. I FELT their excitement and wanted to jump in the air even though it was like 2 in the morning. They did something spectacular and our nation ignored them.
   So how did we go from nationwide interest in the space frontier to nobody but 'geeks' even knowing such a thing like a Mars landing even occurred? THAT'S A BIG DEAL! I went on CNN.com and it wasn't even the top story. Could it be that we just expect things like this now? That we expect to be living in space within a couple years? We are blinded by Hollywood lies that offer the possibility of traveling at 'lightspeed' and other science fiction entities.
   I wish we could go back in time because people now are so ignorant about things that really matter, things that would help us learn more and explore more than we could have ever imagined. People back in the day had to work hard if they wanted to learn. Now all we have to do is whip out our phones (which are on us 24/7) to find answers to complicated historical, mathematical, scientific questions that only a few people really know answers to. Nothing like the internet was available to people a while ago; they had to write by hand and read encyclopedias for answers, and even then they might not have their questions solved.
   Let's face it: We're spoiled.

~This is not the only thing I wonder about. I'll keep you posted.

WEIRD RUNNING CLIPS

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1i7jufSVgA&feature=plcp 
While I was running.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvwY4PdzhP4&feature=plcp 
Later while I was running.

Went over 8 MILES due to some inspiration from a friend and because I felt better than usual, which is odd.

My house -> Swarthmore College -> Modified Rose Garden (through the campus) -> Wrong Turn down a Dark Street -> RUNNING IN FEAR of being MURDERED IN THE DARK -> High School -> Around the Middle School -> INSTEAD OF GOING STRAIGHT HOME, took a path back to MacDade vs Morton Ave -> Straight up MacDade -> Home Sweet Home.

My legs felt terrible when I stopped. But my spirit was lifted high in the sky! #MANLY

I will probably stop after 1 mile tomorrow if I even wake up. Mac's going to ask me how far I ran this week and I'll be like "BAM! I RAN JUST OVER 28 MILES WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

"We're in for one wild night." -300
Midget?

CONFIDENCE

   I have no confidence whatsoever. 

   Now that that is cleared up, I have a very vague and open question: where does confidence come from? Is it something taught to us as children? Because if it was, I never had this lesson... 

   Can confidence be learned over time? Sure it can! That's what I'm trying to force on myself, as painful as it is. I had myself involved with things I never imagined my Junior year of high school. Now this summer I'm forcing myself to talk to people (so painful), mainly in person and on the phone, but even texting/chatting too. 

   I feel like there is so much interaction that is gradually forced on us over the years anyway, like for example I would have never needed to call a Sears representative to reserve a Cooper Response Touring P185/65R15 88T BSW tire in Delaware before, but now I have a car so... What I'm trying to say is that responsibilities are pushed on us as we get older and I don't like it. I never have and maybe it's because I'm spoiled, but seriously talking to people is like a fear that I have to overcome every single day.

   THE FEAR OF TALKING (I think) is due to the fear of my words not being accepted. I ALWAYS say the wrong thing.     Chinese Waitress from a Chinese Buffet: "How are you doing with your soda?" Me: "Yes."     So what's the only solution to this problem? Limit the amount of words spoken. Oops, now I'm a mute. That was a great idea. Sike. I'm so lonely, I'm talking to myself. See?

   On a side note, I hate how people say they don't care what anyone else thinks. If that was really true, they would walk around naked wearing a satchel filled with change and every time they made a purchase, they would take out handfuls of change and pour it on the counter. People care what other people think, unless they are around their friends and I don't have friends that could accept me for who I am besides my brother and Tim. Lame, I KNOW.

   But I have noticed that the more people I talk to (well, really the more people that talk TO ME), the more confidence I end up having and the happier I am. It's complicated. For the past year, I've been too focused on the fact that I have no friends and have missed out on many opportunities to change my predicament. LIKE LEAVING MY HOUSE FOR ONCE. One day it's just going to click and I'll throw the wildest party known to man (I said this to myself 5 years ago. ugh).

   So the only way to build confidence is to jump right in; don't worry about the minor consequences of your little actions, just do what pleases you. That's the only way people can figure out their true personality and become THE MOST CONFIDENT PERSON IN THE WORLD. 

~This is not the only thing I fear. I'll keep you posted.