American Education Reform In The 21st Century: From Grassroots to the Lawnmower

I figure that I would eventually go on a rant about nationalizing education, so I thought I would funnel that frustration into writing a paper for poli-sci. My neurotic professor said that if our paper is good enough that he would publish it. I highly doubt anyones papers are good enough to be published, but that is just my opinion. I mean it took over 40hrs to write an EE that received a "C"...only highly researched papers that are well structured and prove a point have a chance at that. Of course, what do I know. Anyhow, life is about the same: sleep, eat, work, go to school and occasionally a game of chess or episode of Glee. Well, here is my paper, feel free to criticize it to the bone or flatter me with ridiculous comments.

Written by JT Newsome for POLS-1100- November 2010. For educational and entertainment value only.

If America's educational system was one big turf of grass, then each state would have its own section with unique methods by which to tend to it. These methods would be determined partially on both national and state education policy and, metaphorically, would include the need for watering, mowing and sunlight. Another factor would be the soil, which is dependent on how previous generations acted. Let's have a grass seed represent an individual student, their success measured by the growth of that seed and, lastly, their equality represented by the height of one blade of grass relative to all the other blades. This paper will first expound upon the past and present circumstances regarding the success and equality of this “grass”, then go onto discuss possible solutions to improving these circumstances.

Education has been extremely important in both the past and present. There will always be many countries competing against one another to gain a more voluminous sphere of influence and power. Education is a prime factor in determining the competitiveness of one country against another. It is what drives innovation, technology and growth in a nation. This is why it is exceedingly salient to think critically about the effectiveness of our educational system and continually strive for improvement. If we do not maintain our “grass”, then it will whither and become overrun by competitors. According to a Newsweek study, the United States does not even rank in the top 25, globally, in regards to education.¹ This demonstrates the reality of the situation and direness of educational reform in America.

Objectively measuring the effectiveness of education is difficult, per se, especially under our current education system. There are many factors which are observed to indicate educational success, but graduation rates are probably the most prominent indicators. Over the past two decades the average graduation rate in America has fluctuated. According to NCHEMS, the graduation rates were: (in percents) 71.2, 67.1, and 68.6 in 1990, 2000 and 2006, respectively.² We must be careful what conclusions we draw from this data. It may seem evident that education may may have slightly deteriorated between 1990 and 2000 and then had slightly rebounded in 2006, but we must carefully examine all conclusions drawn away from this data and their validity. For example, each state has its own individual laws in coordination with various federal laws and mandates. If graduation requirements in one state are more difficult in one, then the probability of failure would increase to some degree and thus decrease graduation rates. In 2006, Nevada had a graduation rate of 50.5% and New Jersey had one of 86.3%, for a difference of 35.8%. If a major cause of such low rates in Nevada is indeed because a rigorous curriculum and vice versa, then who did the better job: NJ or NV? Is producing 50 well qualified students or 90 semi-qualified students better? Furthermore, the variability of the data around the mean (68.6%) suggests inequality between states. How can we ensure equal opportunity among citizens when we cannot even obtain sufficient data for meaningful state-by-state comparison? Experimentation by each state is a great idea if it helps us deduce the best was to structure education, but how do you determine the best way from 50 completely different experiments?

One solution to this particular problem would be to nationalize education, at least to a certain degree. Education is primarily a state right, as stated in the Constitution, so it would probably have to be amended. Under the current sentiment of decreasing the scope of the national government and due to the difficult nature of amending the constitution, the probability of this ever becoming is reality is, at best, minimal. However, for the purpose of this paper we will go under the assumption that it is a viable possibility.

There are many different ways in which we could nationalize education. One would be to institute a national examination for each grade. Every state would have a delegate to go to a convention which would decide on what material would be on each exam (of course, not all the work would be able to be completed by the delegates alone and they would be able to select other persons to aid them in completing their tasks). The test would consist of 3 distinct parts: exam 1, exam 2 and additional projects. Exam 1 would be administered in Nov. and the 2^nd in May, each coving half of the specified material. Additional projects may be required, such as writing an essay or doing a certain amount of hours in an activity (e.g. science laboratories, community service, or extracurricular activities). These extra projects will help by: a)providing equality for students who lack aptitude in standard tests b) increase civic responsibility by requiring students to give service to their country and c) allow students to try and apply academic concepts to a topic that interests them.

One problem that arises from this is feasibility. One possible remedy is to only administer one annual test to children in elementary, then starting in 6^th or 7^th grade we can begin to introduce other requirements to them so that they can get practice for when it begins to be officially recorded in high school. Enforcing a bi-annual exam may be overkill and could be likened to staring at the grass waiting for it to grow. However, in theory, it should help provide insight into their progress. Whether or not that is feasible should be decided after at least one cohort has successfully completed high school under this scheme.

Fairness and reciprocity in grading and assessment of proficiency in a certain area will also be difficult to formulate. One way is to have each exam be worth 40% and extra projects 20%, with slight variations between different subjects. Based on performance a curved grade between 1 and 10 would be awarded. Out of the core topics: social science, math, science, english, etc...two topics would be chosen to focus on and would last two years instead of one (exams would be annual for focus topics). In order to get a diploma, students would need to earn an average of 5 in all subjects and score higher than 3 in focus areas. This would allow for students to compensate for ineptitude in one area by aptitude in another.

As you may be able to see, I personally support the nationalization of our education system, but have attempted to discuss the subject critically and provide remedies for many issues that will emerge from nationalizing education. There's much evidentiary support that suggests that our current system does not ensure the equality that is such a tenet of American government nor does it provide the competitive edge we need to succeed in an increasingly international world. While nationalization is one of many solutions to this problem, I believe it would be the most simple and efficient one- Randi Weingarten, President of AFT, perfectly summarizes why: “Should fate, as determined by a student's Zip code, dictate how much algebra he or she is taught? Such a system isn't practical: Modern American society is highly mobile. And it's just not right -- every child attending U.S. public schools should be taught to high standards, regardless of where he or she lives...The time has come for a serious consideration of national academic standards.”³ There are going be numerous other problems that will stem from creating 'national academic standards', but if we just take them each one step at a time then we can at least know that we are going in the right direction.

Just as the community stimulates grassroots growth, the Federal government is needed to function as the lawnmower. We should not be frightened of the big bad lawnmower, we should embrace it. We need to put aside our deeply rooted ideologies and find a compromise that satisfies both of these seemingly contradicting things and do what is right for America and finally get some sort of educational reform passed!

1. Newsweek. "Interactive Infographic of the World's Best Countries - Newsweek."Newsweek - National News, World News, Business, Health, Technology, Entertainment, and more - Newsweek. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Nov. 2010. .

2. The National Center for Higher Education Management Systems. "HigherEdInfo.org: Public High School Graduation Rates."Web. 6 Nov. 2010. .

3. Weingarten, Randi. "Randi Weingarten - The Case for National Education Standards - washingtonpost.com."Washington Post - Politics, National, World & D.C. Area News and Headlines - washingtonpost.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Nov. 2010. .

Postprandial Precocious PeRColating Past-times

I officially deem today "P" day! I officially dedicate it to the large "P" section in my Webster's New 3rd World Unabridged dictionary. First off, I heard the coolest thing on NPR (SciFri!!!) today. They were discussing precotial species of birds, which are able to fly directly after hatching, which is pretty amazing. Humans are on the complete opposite of the spectrum, being uber-altricial. I mean, some of us are still with our parents when we are 30yrs old. Both strategies have their advantages and disadvantages, of course. Reflecting on my own life, I am probably a bipolar mix of both.

I partially attribute my precociality to the fact that my parents held me a year back and had me take pre-school 2yrs in a row. I was always a year ahead in experience from my peers, which probably gave me an edge academically but also set me apart. To this day I still don't like associating with kids my own age (don't know if this was the true cause for my antisocial nature, but it is a good suspect). I suppose I don't like talking to people who are dumber than I am because their stupidity annoys me to insanity, so I guess if I talk to you then that means you are probably more intelligent than me in 1 or more aspect and I believe that you can teach me something.

Speaking of stupid people, I got stuck next to this clueless blonde girl (sorry for blonde discrimination...). Maybe she isn't stupid, but definitely super-uber-double-altricial. She asked me if she should go and get the "D-scale" quiz we were taking in poli-sci, so I told her: "Yes...". i don't know why she had to ask me, I mean if that is what everyone else is doing, then you probably should not just sit there and stare while everyone else works. Then she asked me what "Don't Ask Don't Tell" is and what she should mark (1-7) if she "liked gay people." I tried not to laugh and told her what to do.

Onto more absurd scientific coincidences- "There are no coincidences, only the illusion of coincidences"- V. On my bio-test there were some questions about sliding muscle filament theory, which after I read it 12 times I finally understood it and actually thought it was kind of intriguing. Today the class before my compsci class had written a whole bunch about it, except the more complicated graduate level version, but I still knew the generalities of it. Then today I saw a small spider in the shower, one of the few that don't creep me out (the cute little fuzzy jumping ones). Suddenly I gained perspective on the scale of molecular biology. A similar process probably takes place for that tiny little spider to move- the same thing that makes my muscles. just an interesting insight of chemical universality. I suppose I will never be able to fully comprehend the minuteness of atoms.

Also, new this week I think I have decided to double major in applied mathematics. I figure, if I ever want to get into cryptography I am probably going to need a degree in math. I was kind of scared at first because of all the brainwashing I have undergone to fear math, despite my great resilience and advocation of mathematical advancement (Go Wolfram|Alpha!!! Just had to say that). I guess when I reflect on my math career, I have had a lot of bumps on the way and I know I will in the future, but that should not stop me from at least taking a whack at it. Maybe I am secretly a super math genius? :)

Well, I have to go write my polisci paper, at least part of it, before I go to work in about an hour. I think I am going to title it: "Educational Reform In The 21st Century: From Grassroots to the Lawnmower." Thought it was a clever metaphor that makes people go: "what?!" Anyone that has strong opinions on nationalizing education to make it more efficient, fair and globally competitive, then please do comment and I will consider your ideas for my paper. Fair well for today!

China, KFC and Sexy Dancers!

In my computer science class I always sit next to this Chinese foreign exchange student and sometimes he just says the most hilarious things. He can't speak English very well, so half the time I am just staring at him with a blank face. First we were talking about KFC and he was wondering if I had ever been to the very first KFC and if I liked the buffit (as he called- aka "buffet"). Then he asked me if I was going to Crimson Nights, but I told him I had more fun eating binge food and watching an episode from one of my favorite TV series (Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Malcolm, Anne of Green Gables, Alias, Battlestar Gallactica, Stargate, Glee, Chuck, to name a 'few.') Anyhow, I responded by asking if he went to the 1st one they had and he said he did but that it was "very American party with lots of sexy dancing." Apparently they like to do Karaoke in China for parties, or at least that's what I got from the rest of our conversation.

In other news, this week was just about as god-awful as the last. Lots of working until 11pm and waking up at 5:30am. In fact, I did that today, and haven't really done anything except school, homework, travel and work, but I am still going (for some inexplicable reason...I will probably just randomly pass out like a psychotic narcoleptic, but oh well)! I did get my first check today, which was more than I have probably ever had in my whole life at one time, but of course it will all be going to pay for my lovely college tuition. *_*

Another interesting thing that happened to me was while I was taking a survey for the U of U about orientation. It wanted to know my sexual orientation. I didn't know which was most appropriate: gay, bi, straight (but obviously not transgendered because that's too expensive). I was having another personal indecisive dilemma until I saw asexual...
if (philophobic && virginal && non-reproductive) {
return asexual}
It is the perfect option for people who believe that everyone should only have sperm and egss extracted, which are cryonized and then the person is sterilized. Or for people who are simply afraid of intimacy or just feel incredibly awkward when other people touch them. I would have to say that I am one of those crazy people with absurd paranoia disorders (my mom is super paranoid about what we are doing, so maybe it is genetic or simply a maternal trait?). For example, I am scared that someone will hear me peeing in the bathroom or that I am breathing too loudly when I run. Either I am seriously disturbed or insanely insecure? Well, that was sufficiently awkward, now you know some of my darkest secrets don't you feel so special (for the 2 people who even periodically read my rants)?! :)

Oh, one last deep dark secret...I love singing Madonna on my computer microphone! I got this program called FL Studio and it has tons of features like multiband equalizers, autotuning, reverberators and all kinds of other weird things. And also anything by Kristin Chenoweth (Glee, Wicked, Pushing Daisies- you name it!). Ok, I am now going to go to bed before I say anything that might jeopardize national security or something. ;) And also leave a memo to myself to never write in my blog when under serious sleep deprivation...au revoir!

WoD: Ornithorhynchus: The Platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus) is a semi-aquatic mammal endemic to eastern Australia, including Tasmania. Together with the four species of echidna, it is one of the five extant species of monotremes, the only mammals that lay eggs instead of giving birth to live young...courtesy of Wikipedia.

Dearth and Disconcertment

Let me begin my story about 6 months ago. It is summer and all I am doing is my daily chores and watching TV, at this particular time: Alias. This is where my chess addiction spawned from. Sydney's father challenges a random man that he can checkmate in 9 moves. I just had to wonder how anyone could do that? It just so happens that he is the CIA's foremost Game Theorist. The applications of game theory to both chess and reality were intriguing to me, so accidentally downloaded a bundle of books on the subject. It was not quite as exciting and blatantly applicable as I had probably anticipated, but I guess that is somewhat irrelevant for the moment. The prisoner's dilemma and the Nash Equilibrium (developed by the guy from A Beautiful Mind) were interesting, at least from what I actually understood. It was also just a lot of jargon on economic theories.

Anyhow, getting to the point...On Monday my political science professor took a vote from the class to change our first midterm's weight grade from 30% to 25%. I scored 95/100, so it is obvious that 30% would be better. Usually I am pretty passive and tolerant of people, but when you start messing with my grade things quickly change. I basically vowed never to let GPA get in my way and made it a goal to always and forever get a 4.0 because I had gotten screwed over so many times in highschool (not that my 3.89 HS GPA was bad, just not good enough to compete, apparently). So I raised my hand symbolizing my opposition in this. However, disconcertment quickly descended upon me as soon as I realized I was the only one raising my hand and everyone was staring at me.

Things became worse today after my professor asked me to stay and talk with him after class. Just for the record, the only people he has said this to is if he sees them texting and playing their computer all through class or because they failed their midterm. I was totally befuddled at his request, but did as he asked.

As I naively waited for him I peered aimlessly around the classroom. I was totally took by surprise when he began speaking. My voice instantly became frail, face red and eyes watery. (Please note that I have an irrational fear of authority figures and when they seem mad at me, then I can't help but freaking out. I am pretty stoic or mask feelings with sublimity.) Basically, he thought that I hated him or something. That I didn't agree with anything he said and totally resented his teaching methods. he even went to ask me if I was a "loner." Not sure where he got the idea and nerve to ask that, but ok. I have to wonder if this was all triggered somehow by me raising my hand about a stupid 5% grade weight change? I was not consciously acting any different than I had been previously. I admit I had found some of his teaching methods stupid, but I still went to class, the early morning reviews and did well on the midterm. I don't even care if the teacher is a total bitch, so long as I learn the material and I am given a fair chance to earn the grade I deserve.

I am honestly still a bit confused about the whole thing, it was all sort of overemotional and surreal. I don't know where this is going or where it might end, I guess only time will tell. Let's just hope more random semi-intimidating conversations are not on the agenda again because they are annoying and I have to write a 50,000 word rant about them! It also has left an uneasy feeling whenever I think about the class, which I don't like. It was a lot better before the midterm. He said he would give a book to the highest scorer in the class. I am highly motivated when it comes to academic competition enhanced by positive reinforcement. Now that feeling seems to have washed away. Anyhow, I need to get back to my homework before I go to work. Oh, I also have to pay tribute to Madonna for making the Power of Madonna Glee episode a reality because it was epic!

Words of the Month:
Disconcertment: anxious embarrassment.
Dearth: an acute insufficiency

Oh, the humanity...

Well, here I am again, ranting about how annoying my little sister is. Lately she has been exhibiting behavior that is worse than usual. Before she used to just sneak out to play with her friends, but now it's all about boys. Every time my parents leave some guys always come over. I walked up stairs only to find some random guy making out with my 15yr old sister on the couch, can I say ewww!?

Furthermore, she always just randomly leaves to go to god knows where and just leaves the door wide open. Oh, don't mind me. I don't care if some random person walks into our house when I am home alone...In regards to game theory I am pretty screwed. If I tell my parents what she is doing then they get pissed at everyone and my sister gets pissed at me. If I don't tell and something happens to her like getting raped or overdosing, then people (possibly including myself) will feel like I am responsible. Now that she is a pot addict there is not much I can do to stop the cycle.

Everything that she does or says just makes me cringe because it is so stupid! I can understand some of the things she does, but it still drives me insane when I talk to her because she thinks she is so tough and understands the consequences to all of her actions, but she doesn't. She is totally in denial and is undeniably naive.

Anyways, I started work at USPS yesterday. It doesn't seem too exciting, but I don't have to talk to anyone, it is part-time and it pays well so I can't complain too much. I just hope I can handle it when I have finals in December because I will have to work a lot of overtime then.

Today Jesus Munoz came over and I helped him get Arabic Lvl 1- Rosetta Stone on his computer. We played around with that for a while before he had to again. It was pretty fun.

That's mostly what I wanted to get out of my system so I can work on some more homework...

Word of the Day: Fiduciary: One who holds a thing in trust for another; a trustee; One who depends for salvation on faith, without works; an antinomian;

Self-Righteous Relatives Are Obnoxious...

My aunt is driving me into insanity. Her childishness is fun sometimes, especially when you are like 13yrs old, but as time goes by it just gets more annoying by the day. I am one who at least tries to establish and maintain a neutral relationship with everyone I meet, under the premise that I might need them someday and don't want to create drama. However, I don't know how much longer I can suppress my anger. Anyone who knows who I am talking about understands...

Our story begins the couples days before now...I am sitting on my computer, doing my homework as usual. Someone wrote a comment and so I just had to reply. I had been on for about 30secs when my Aunt is like: "Hey buddy! What are you doing?!" (Ok, in reality it was probably: "Whatcha doin hadsum guy?!!!!! im off wrk tumurrow", but that is besides the point). I triy to get rid of her, but she really wants me to do something with her because she has even less friends than I do (god forbid), lives alone and has worked as a cashier her whole life. I finally agree to let her come over and make dinner with me the next. She comes over and says she needs to go to the store and so I go with her...only to find out that she wanted to get fair tickets.

It's like, Oh great...I have tons of homework and have to wake up at 5:30am- now I am going to be stuck with a 45yr old woman (with a mentality of a 13yr old) for 6hrs. I get drug all the way out there and all we do the whole time is walk around aimlessly, watching ridiculous "shows" (if you can call them that), while eating overpriced quantities of highly concentrated morsels of fat and sugar. After wasting a good $50 on nasty tasting food my aunt wants to buy me this blanket. I told her like 500 times: "I do NOT want that!" So, she goes and buys it for me...I was totally pissed, especially when I put together everything I had heard her say that day, whereby I cam to the following conclusions about why she bought the damn blanket (oh, no...I swore shoot me Marie):

1) To make my little sister Maranda mad. They got in a fight a while back because she wouldn't go to Lagoon with her (for once, I don't blame her!).

2) To waste every single dime she had just because she's a psychopath.

3) For my supposed graduation gift, which was like 4 months ago- not to mention again that I didn't even want it...

Things have gotten increasingly worse with the advent of Facebook (at least once we showed her how to do it). Now she can stalk us 24/7. Today I was talking to this guy in Italy about this math problem. He mentioned Google and WolframAlpha, which I use almost every day, so I responded by saying something like: "Hooray for Google and Wolfie...I worship them religiously." She posted on one of my friends walls, who she doesn't even know, the following:"Some people worship worldly garbage...if you know what I mean." You know what?! I don't know what you mean, but I do think you should shove your creepy self-righteous stalker comments right up your hairy fat ass!

Ok, wow...that was a really long rant. I feel much better now...If you actually made it past all that, here are some of the things that might actually be remotely interesting.

Tomorrow I am going to the Dentist- in fact, in a couple hours...which is why I should probably get to bed in stead of writing crap on my blog. School is going relatively ok. Math is kind of tedious and stupid sometimes, but hopefully I will manage. Gov't is crap too...my professor just rambles on and on (even worse than I do)! He always says: "I come here everyday prepared and all you do is text on your phones!" Ya, you come prepared to criticize idiotic college students. This is COLLEGE! Either kick them out or ignore them.

CS 1410 is going splendidly. Aside from the touchy semantics and often inevitable circumstances of gridlock when solving problems, it is going well and I am enjoying the majority of it. I am doing the whole book ignorance thing again though. I haven't picked up any of my books (except my Biology book, ironically). Still rambling...blah blah blah...really don't want to go to the Dentist! Oh, I start work next week too...that should be fun. Ok, I am now going to attempt to force myself to lie down in my bed and go to sleep.

A Lovely But Unusual Urge to Write

So, I have finally mustered enough inspiration to write another post for my blog (after a good two months or so). Yesterday I went and saw Resident Evil IV with my sister and her boyfriend. It was a decent movie. In 20yrs it will be worthless because it was mainly for cool explosions, special effects and violence. i thought it really lacked character development. I didn't feel compelled to get up out of my seat and scream: "Come on! Kill that fat cow zombie!" I could really care less who actually won in the end. I thought II and III were much better.

Prior to this we went over to my sister's boyfriend's house so he could take a shower (he got gasoline in his eyes when he was trying to fix my sister's car and wanted to try and mask it up with cologne). There was a little kid there and the first thing he asked was: "Are you a basketball player?" I was like, "no...?" Then he said I sounded like a girl, apologized and then left. It was a very interesting and awkward experience. I love outspoken people because it is funny to hear them state the obvious, whether it is rude or not. Although, whenever I meet someone like that the first thing that goes through their mind is "OMG?! That guy sounds like a girl. Weird..." But they can't help that a malformation in their brain suppresses their ability to repress thoughts and I can't help that my vocal chords are like tooth picks, so whatever! ;)

After that we went and got sushi, which was, as always, very interesting. I ate all kinds of weird things like raw eel, tuna and shrimp wrapped in seaweed and rice. Some of it was really good though, I have to admit.

In general, I have just been going to the University of Utah to get my bachelor's in Computer Science. I have doubts about whether I am really going to like CS, but then I am just like Whatever! I don't give a @#)$*! I am just going to finish and then see what to do from there.

My hobbies lately have consisted of playing SOCOM on the PS3, attempting to learn how to use FL Studio 8 and playing chess online with random people. Other than the fact that I start working at the USPS coding center this month I really don't have anything to say for the moment...Au revoir mes amis!

Word of the Day (or month, more likely): Crapulous (adj.): Sick from excessive indulgence in liquor. A derivative of the Latin adjective crapulosus meaning "intoxicated." My sister looked crapulous today after partying with her friend all night. ;)

Horrible Horror Movie Whore?

Before I get to the main inspiration, if you can call it that, of today's post let me just recap what has happened so far that led up to this event...

First, I went to bed at like 4am and then woke up at 8am. I called Skyline to double check that Michelle, the so called Bookkeeper, would be available to take my money. I enjoyed using the GPS to get there, but was mad to discover I can't charge it with the cigarette lighter because my car is retarded. Therefore, I had to rely on good olde commonsense to find it. Luckily, it wasn't too hard to find. Despite how much I didn't want to do that, I accomplished it anyhow.

Afterwards, I went over to my crazy Aunt Marie's house. Suffered from a slight lack of direction, but luckily I was quickly able to reorient myself. We went to Smith's where she works, talked to my other aunt on Skype, ate lots of fattening foods, and went over and saw my Grandma. Oh, I also took a nap! :)

Next, it was off to take my 2nd post office test: postal exam 714. Yet again I was lost in some random industrial area off of Bangeter highway. I was able to reboot the GPS for another 5min only for it to lead me to a vaguely correct location. After wandering for another 5min I was able to find the "New Horizons" building I was looking for. How the post office coordinates with so many random places is beyond me? I only have to wonder how many companies the NSA has coerced into cooperating with them too? My test was fairly easy as I am a proficient alphanumeric typist! ;) When I got home and checked my email my results were in and it was very vague as usual and said that I was "eligible."

So, I guess you are wondering where this is all going...? Ok, we are almost there! When I checked my email it said I had a PSN (playstation network) transaction. My first thought veered towards identity theft. However, when it said someone had rented Halloween 2 I immediately knew who it was: Maranda, my little sister. Ok, so my mom's credit card is associated with my PSN account which she calmly accessed and started purchasing anything she wanted off the internet. I was mad at her of course and wanted to punch her in the face, but refrained because as soon as mom and dad get home I am going to tell them that she has been making unauthorized internet purchases with their credit card, specifically to buy rated R movies.

Just about 10min ago I was watching the first part of Halloween II and was thoroughly disgusted. I mean, I thought True Blood sex scenes were vulgar, obscene, profane, and risqué, but I think I was sorely mistaken...that show was the sickest shit I have ever seen in my life, I had to get up and leave the room and vent my feelings through this blog. If you really have to know, I saw the scene where the evil guy grabs this black lady at the hospital and starts stabbing her...continues stabbing...followed my intense gore more stabbing and deep fleshly penetrative sounds.

I have to wonder: what do people see in such movies that make them so entertaining and appealing? Paradoxically, I think that movies like that are what create people who incessantly stab people just for fun. Do people watch them to fulfill some sick fantasy of theirs? I guess they would argue that its an adrenaline rush, but frankly I was just thought it was revolting.

I think we see some of the sort of thing with the new hit Twilight series. Although, I don't hate it as much as Halloween I still find it insanely mundane. I neither connect with the relentless psychotic mass murder nor the apparent sexual tension in Twilight. I suppose this just goes to show that art and literature is entertaining to the extent by which we can relate to it. This would make sense if we hold the assumption that literature's purpose is to convey a message, story, or moral more effectively by sticking it in a more creative, narrative and entertaining form. So, if you are a "Horrible Horror Move Whore" addict, then perhaps you contain within you the desire to ruthlessly murder innocent people? If you are struggling with being such a person or any other sort of nasty habit or addiction just think of all the other problems in the world. That's even more depressing for me you might say? No! Just think of all those problems and use it for motivation to go out and do something to help. There is always someone more unfortunate than you. There will always be many problems in the world that are beyond ourselves. So stop wasting your time on shitty horror movies and go do something constructive!!!

To leave on a slightly more positive note, today's words of the day are: antejentacular (before breakfast) and postprandial (after dinner). So when exactly does a moment transition from being antejentacular to postprandial or vice versa? ;)

Thank you for tuning into the lovely rants of an insecure teenager! Remember, if you learned anything...it's all in your head!

Ubuntu: Nefarious or just Solopsistic?

So, this has been my first week with the Linux/Ubuntu OS. You have probably seen my numerous rants on Facebook...I am beginning to wonder if Ubuntu is nefarious or just solopsistic? Sometimes I think it is just flagrantly evil, but I suppose that is Microsoft Windows' job, which therefore leaves Ubuntu to just have its own mind. It acts if it is the only one that exists. Nevertheless, I think I prefer Ubuntu...it keeps things exciting and challenging. What would life be if I couldn't sit on the computer for 6hrs straight inputing numerous seemingly worthless codes into a terminal just to get a eclipse to start up or just properly parse a php code through Apache? Even though I am the one who has administrative control I have to go through about 50 back doors just modify one line of an Apache initialization code. Sometimes Ubuntu likes to pretend that it owns me and not vice versa. After much battling I finally did figure out how to make an alias with Apache, get Eclipse to start properly, install the php plugin, get it to point to the right location, and properly install and uninstall Java 50 times (and correctly point Firefox to the right place for the plugin). Ok, well I am sure you have had enough of me ranting about computer things that you most likely don't even comprehend....

I have, however, came to the conclusion that I like google chrome better than firefox, at least for it's easy interface and functionality. I enjoy just being able to type into the address bar to search something. Or how it remembers which sites I like and I only have to type the first letter, then enter for it to go there. Firefox is much more secure, on the other hand. I even have it set up on a network to ensure a more anonymous browsing experience. It is interesting to see what happens when you login to various sites when they believe you are in some random country like Germany or Japan. Facebook has a total BF and asks you to do all this crap to verify it is really you. Sometimes google is in a different language and when you see those stupid dating commercials saying something like: "Would you like to meet someone in Salt Lake City, UT?" it will substitute the location for some other random location. Oh, I also figured out how to send encrypted email messages using PGP. You make a public and private key using a password and random numbers generated by keystrokes, processing speeds, and mouse movements. You send your public key to a server and when you send someone an encrypted email, then they use your public key. I suppose they would also need your password or would they? I am still confused on that part, as of yet. I guess they could encrypt with their private key and send it back to you followed by you decrypting and sending it back, whereby they can fully decrypt using their private key. Will have to read up more on how that works...

Tomorrow is my postal exam, which I am not particularly looking forward due to my erratic sleeping patterns. Not to mention that it is at some random hotel downtown, which means I have to drive- a long way...and as we all know I detest driving. I guess since I am writing this at 6:30pm today instead of my usual (between 9am/pm)?

Ok, well that's enough for today. Happy week before doomsday!

I guess the words for today are solopsism- a theory holding that the self can know nothing but its own modifications and that the self is the only existent thing; and
nefarious- flagrantly evil or impious.
Song of the day:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m1QzuDCp2pU&feature=PlayList&p=568A694E9FBE3CF5&playnext_from=PL&index=30
(Apparently this is song was done by Robert Pattinson's sister, but I am still in denial)

Ubuntu is just as insane as windows...sometimes anyways!

I made a partition on my HDD so I could do a dual windows-ubuntu boot-up. I have really enjoyed using Ubuntu, for the most part. The ups:

1) It is totally free and easy to download/install
2) You can encrypt just about everything and anything- or manage permissions
3) Interface is simple, cute, and allows for easy multi-tasking
4) Rythmbox allows me to switch between my music, internet radio, and podcasts with one click.
5) There's not a ton of extra garbage and superfluous processes to rape the computer of all it's speed.

However, despite all these Pro's I still find coding in PHP easily and efficiently (the way I want) just as mental or even more so than Windows. You must have Apache correctly configured along with Eclipse in order for you to view your PHP files on the web browser. I have been denied access, been given broken link errors, or simply have only been able to download the .php files. I think I have had every possible circumstance occur except for the one I want...at least I have memorized basically all the commands and directories (/var/www$ sudo chmod 700, etc..)! I can't get the server to correctly parse the .php files/code and output to the browser?! I think I am just going to have to say: "screw it...!"

On to other weird oddities...Today my Dad came in and said: "Guess what I found in your car today?!"
My response: "What?"
"A condom!"
"Where?"
"In the cup holder."
"Ok....?"

Immediately I wondered what kind of licentious immature idiot would do that? Immediately I thought: my sister or my aunt. I asked both my mom and sister and we all independently came to the same conclusion. We can exclude my aunt from the possibilities because it would be highly unlikely that she stole my keys and slipped it in my car, which by process of elimination leaves my sister. Why she would do that is unclear, except that she wanted me to get in trouble? Weirdo...

Oh, I suppose I didn't mention why I excluded myself from the list of supsects:
1) I am not stupid enough to leave a condom in plain sight. I have had about 10yrs of sneaking on the computer experience.
2) I have not used my car for like a week.
3) I would be too embarrassed to buy them in the first place.
4) My seemingly over-reactive "reaction" is simply exaggerated by the apparent joy attained by critically analyzing rather stupid and irrelevant situations just because I have nothing better to do. At least I am not putting condoms in people's cars, I find that even more pathetic! :)

However, an even more disturbing question one might ask is: "How and why does my little sister have access to condoms?"

Anyways, today I mostly played with Ubuntu, shot some fat cows up on the PS3, ate lots of deep fried and smothered in chocolate food, and read my PMS (PHP, MySQL, Javascript) book.

I also decided to stop looking at computer components because I determined that I am still too poor to build my own computer. Hopefully someday I will be able to dispose of this horrible 6yr old Dell computer (no offense my baby...you still semi-function!) I am also attempting to suppress my feelings of resentment, fear and excitement for IB scores on the 6th. Lastly, I tried out for the Word Cup. I got 14pts and did not do as well as I hoped. It says on my profile that I am ranked "1." Hopefully that means I made it to the semi-finals, but I really don't know? I will probably find out sometime in August. Well, I think that is all for today! I had better get to bed or my mom is going to be pissed tomorrow when I won't wake up.

Word of the Day: affenpinscher- a terrier-like toy breed of dog.
Song of the Day: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulsfXIBycr8

International Baccaluareate- "Omg, social and mental suicide!"

I.B. scores come out a week from Tuesday! For the 5 people (Margoth, Kali, Josh, Jesus, and myself) are all probably insanely nervous. I have officially deemed July 6th, 2010 at 15:45:00 GMT to be our doomsday. We all probably think the others will pass, but still question ourself (at least I do...). Based on past scores, Margoth is probably least likely to pass at the moment because of nasty chemistry, but she is an excellent artist and I would not be surprised to see her get a 6 or 7/7 there. I, on the other hand, was the most idiotic suicidal I.B. student of everyone and naively took both chemistry and biology (our science program is absolutely horrid). I am screaming sonorously in the back of my brain- trying to justify and analyze everyone's scores to ensure we all pass, as you can already see... :)

Now moving away from this so I don't get too worked up...

As you may have also noticed, I am up at 5am in the morning. My sleep patterns are so screwed up at the moment that I cannot differentiate night from day, nor gauge what day of the week it is either. Sometimes I will sleep until 6pm and then the next day I will wake up at 6am and go back to sleep at 6pm. Maybe someday, maybe someday I will actually sleep in regular cycles. God knows what this is doing to my brain!

Today I also scheduled for a date to take the 710 Clerical Abilities Postal Exam. I am attempting to get a job with the post office at the moment. They pay about 13-14$ an hour, which is really good. I am hoping that I pass and get the job, at least for the summer and probably for at least another month or two into the fall. According to Leif, college is easier than I.B. was, so perhaps I will be able to work part-time and go to school full time. I figure, if you are going to do something, then you might as well go all out! You will never be able to better yourself nor test your limits if you don't...

Yesterday, I went to Leatherbye's and it was rather delcious! I got a Daddy Doug's (for my birthday). I already ate every drop of it! *_* I ate it all while I was playing SOCOM on the PS3 with my friend, "I_Am_Ninja." I also had fun acting like a psychotic drunk lesbian with my other friend from Texas, "Candy." I attempted to act manly on there, but that merely resulted in massive ridicule, so I just went all out and claimed to be a girl- it just seemed easier. Plus, it is fun when I kick their trash because guys have really large ego's and are easily angered when beat by a girl. I suppose this paragraph goes well with the title of my blog. Now you all know my dirty little secrets!

For my birthday I got a "Trac" phone, one of those prepaid ones. I was also given a decent sum of money ($100) to spend on computer parts. However, I don't think I will be able to buy a new computer quite yet. I searched on Ebay (my favorite site of all time) and various other sites for cheap computer parts (motherboards, processors, heat sinks, video cards, etc...), but I figure that I will not be able to buy everything quite yet with the $300 or so dollars I have saved up. I will probably have to wait a while. I guess we will see how it all goes.

Lastly, I have been working on building my trivia site. So far I feel like I haven't gotten very far. I have read a tutorial on Javascript on the W3 website. Recently, however, I have been reading a PHP, MySQL, Javascript book that I got from the library. I have read approximately 100pgs. There is a ton of crap I still need to learn...I suppose if I can't force myself to learn how to do this, then perhaps I should not be majoring in computer science this fall. I am not 100% sure this is the right major for me but I a) eventually want to launch a trivia site b) work for the government 3) want a major that includes computers, math and science. According to some lame (but amazingly fairly accurate) psychology test I took on Facebook I am most predisposed to do well as 1. Chemistry 2. Mathematics 3. Computer Science major. I guess I will just have to do it and see how it all goes. Last random tidbit: the Glee finale was excellent! I think I am going to go and play the spelling bee game on visualthesaurus.com. If anyone is nerdy enough, I am up for a challenger to try and beat me! Au revoir!

Word of the Day: licentious- lacking moral discipline, especially sexually unrestrained;