Okay, I have to learn C++ programming well enough to be able to challenge a course in the fall. Does anyone know of any good resources? A book to help learn it, or something? There are a billion books out there, and I have no idea which to choose. Anyone?
1. Orthodox Quaker (100%)
2. Mainline to Liberal Christian Protestants (87%)
3. Seventh Day Adventist (81%)
4. Mainline to Conservative Christian/Protestant (76%)
5. Liberal Quakers (73%)
6. Eastern Orthodox (70%)
7. Roman Catholic (70%)
8. Orthodox Judaism (60%)
9. Baha'is Faith (60%)
10. Hinduism (58%)
11. Unitarian Universalism (58%)
12. Islam (55%)
13. Reform Judaism (54%)
14. Jainism (52%)
15. Sikhism (48%)
16. Theravada Buddhism (48%)
17. Mahayana Buddhism (47%)
18. Jehovah's Witness (41%)
19. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) (39%)
20. Taoism (38%)
21. New Age (35%)
22. Neo-Pagan (30%)
23. Secular Humanism (30%)
24. Christian Science (Church of Christ, Scientist) (29%)
25. New Thought (27%)
26. Nontheist (22%)
27. Scientology (22%)
It's not surprising that all the mainstream Christian stuff is up near the top right now. Where I deviated most was probably with the Judgement questions, and perhaps the last set on the fundamental aspects of faith.
A lot of the questions didn't really fit me. Most of them supposed that you completely aligned yourself with one of the major religions, and there wasn't much room for deviation. So I chose the closest ones, which were probably more conservative than I would like (I decided to not choose "unsure" or the equivalent). Right now, I would say that "Mainline to Liberal Christian Protestants" most accurately describes me, while "Conservative Christian Protestants" isn't something I'd care much to be connected with.
Neil Gaiman mentioned this on his blog, and I immediately started to feel a strong amount of envy for anyone who lives in Chicago. If I were there, I'd be at the show in an instant. Unfortunately, I don't have any good way to get to Chicago, so it doesn't look like I'll be able to overcome my envy by obtaining my desire. If you're anywhere close, or have a way to get there, though…
Neil Gaiman's book, Stardust, is being put on as a play by the Griffin Theater, in Chicago. Stardust is an adult faerie tale, and Neil Gaiman the perfect author to pull it off beautifully. Here's to hoping that the play evokes the awesomeness of the book.
Perhaps this one will be more deserving….
Elana: Shortly after I signed off, I wrote this, trying to get the thoughts out of my head. I wrote a lot of other stuff, but I wanted you to read this. It's exactly as it was when I wrote it, trying to grasp whatever emotions I was feeling. From around 11:15. I really hope I didn't ruin your enjoyment of your evening, but I'm afraid I might have….
"Just a minute ago, I ran away. I fled, without thinking. I'm not sure now if it was a good or a bad idea; whether it'll do more harm than good. Why did I run? I ran because I was afraid of myself. I was afraid I was doing something really stupidl I was afraid I was hurting someone. I knew I was. And the fact that I didn't realize it until then scared me. The sudden illumination that came upon me terrified me. Am I that insensitive? Am I that blind to the paion I can cause others? I couldn't face that, and in my panic, I ran.
"Now, thinking about it after the fact, I'm not even sure why I fled so furiously. I could probably have helped still, given some reassurances. But now I can't go back. I can only wait, and apologize later. Whenever you get this, Elana, I'm sorry."
I often post things that don't really relate to me. They don't tell you anything about me, besides something interesting that happened in my day. Or (in some cases) something not-so-interesting. I'm going to try to spend more time on each entry so that it really reveals something about myself. I'm sure I'll fail often, and sometimes I might just feel like posting something really quick, but I'm going to try this and see where it gets me.
If you don't currently strive towards this ideal, I'd encourage you to. That way, you're not just telling me something that you could do far more personally and meaningfully in a conversation about how your day went.
Good luck. To myself, and to anyone who tries to do the same (or is already trying).
Today I went to my high school. Perhaps some of you were traumatized by your high school experiences, but I have to say that it was one of the best timtes of my life. The best time to date. So, visiting my high school made me very happy, rather than bringing back disturbing memories. Okay, maybe that's not quite true; SST does bring up some disturbing memories, but at least they're funny disturbing memories. (Anyone for the sexual behaviors of spoons, forks, sporks, and various combinations of table utensils?)
So, I had a very good time. After an epic game of dodgeball, a chaotic version with twenty people or so, all going after one another at the same time, requiring amazing spatial skills and no small amount of diplomacy, I played frisbee. Now, playing frisbee at Gonzaga is one thing. The people there are more experiences, in general. But playing at SST has a certain element of joyous nostalgia that I can never pass up. So, I took part in the rapture that is the SST field. It's only perpendicular to one of the boundaries of the grass, and the ground ranges from mud and puddles to hard packed dirt (depending on the time of year). Today, it was perfect.
After the delightful game of frisbee, I sat and talked with the slackers in Wendi's room, and after school was let out I took part in Drama club. It is much less intimidating than G.U.T.S., because I am actually one of the better improv players there, so I wasn't afraid to jump on into games. I especialyl enjoyed the game where the guy is late to work, and has to guess what his excuses are supposed to be. It was one of the few I have ever played the part of the person who has to figure out why he's late, and I did it very well, I thought. Apparently, I had been digging a hole to China, and I bought a sombrero. I got these in very little time, which amazed all of them!
So, I played chaotic dodgeball, rapturous frisbee, and entertaining improv games. A very good visit :)
An Apology to Ter:
I'm sorry if I seemed like I was arguing over trivial things; it seemed that way because I was. But I really didn't mean to annoy. I know that Elana and I enjoy arguing over random things, just for the fun of it, and I'm used to doing that with quite a few people. So, I'm sorry if something that I tend to do has offended you. I assure you I didn't mean to make you angry.
I can't remember if I noticed that you had asked to stop arguing. If I did, I took your continued responses to Nathan's points to mean that you had changed your mind about it. Next time I will know better.
I don't feel terrible about it, because I don't think I should have been expected to know that you were getting angry (such things are very difficult to communicate through text; you did it very well in your recent LiveJournal entry). Nevertheless, I do feel sorry that I caused you to become mad.
I would appreciate it if you were a little less antagonistic next time about telling us off, but that's your choice. I won't hold it against you if you do. I hope you don't mind my being blunt.
Sorry.
I am feeling completely content right now. I am excessively happy, but in a calm way. It seems odd…
Have you ever had that feeling?
I just read a part of a book in which something very cool and good happened, and things are looking up for our heroes at the moment. It seems that I've invested so much of myself in the book that I am even more affected by it than I am in movies, which isn't something that has happened much recently. (It happened a couple times while reading Stranger in a Strange Land, and during a couple of Dunsany's short stories.)
When I was young, I would throw so much of my mind into being inside the story that I was able to completely forget about the words. A bit of my consciousness was partitioned for the necessity of scanning each row of characters, but that seemed almost superfluous to reading. I would engage in many long happy hours where I found myself lost in Narnia, or Redwall, or any of my other childhood story-worlds. Sometimes, I wished I could just go away into those worlds and live there. Wouldn't it be wonderful to Impress a baby dragon? Wouldn't it be exciting to have talking bears as friends, or to dance with the satyrs at midnight under the unfamiliar sky? I always dreamt that I wouldn't be forced into the mundane job that my father had.
I always knew that it was impossible to launch myself into the skies over Benden Weyr, always knew that I would never set foot in Cair Paravel. So, I dreamt about the next-best thing: to forge my dreams into reality through the same medium that transported me worlds away during my free time. I wanted to become a writer.
And what do I do now? I study to become an engineer. I prepare myself to do nothing but make realistic dreams come to pass. One day I bring into being the mundane, never the extraordinary. Of course I might one day bring some more fanciful dream to pass, through my pursuit of the mechanical arts. I might just dream into being a better way for mankind to take to the skies, or I might even throw my will towards space and help tame that frontier. But what are the chances of that?
I dream. I wonder whether I could pass beyond dreaming.
Perhaps it is not my lot in life.
For now, I am content, because I partake in someone else's dream. But soon that dream will fade, and I will be left to my own imperfect strivings that never quite reach my desire to create wonders. Fortunately, these thoughts have not made me sad; I'm still just as content as before writing this, but perhaps more meditative.
Maybe I should pursue my vision, but for now, I will be content to echo another dreamer.
Two images were featured on DeviantArt today, and they're both rather insane. (More were featured, but these are the two that were insane.) The first is an example that you can make beautiful art in ANY medium, no matter how restricted. "powerdraw" is a work of dedication and no small personal stash of madness: A detailed painting of Venice (I assume) in none other than our friendly neighborhood Microsoft Paint!
For the second, titled "Grand Canyon Panorama", you'll have to make sure to look at the very impressive full view. It was made using a relatively new 3-d modelling program for landscapes, called Terragen. I've used this a little bit, and it's pretty hard to get AMAZING results. Good-looking things are easy, but things that blow your mind are much more difficult.
Aaron Brown just posted this, and I thought it was very interesting.