i think most school shootings are just a representation of how messed up our society is. i know that sounds like i'm totally taking the dumb "YEAH ANARCHY DOWN WITH THE SYSTEM" punk rock way out of this, but i honestly think the sort of kids that pull this shit aren't bad people. "what?", you say. "they murdered and injured many of their classmates! how could they be a good person? how could they not know better?"
look, i'm not saying i want to bring a gun to school and shoot anyone or anything, but everyone feels like killing someone or something at some point in their lives. it's called control. these kids just snap and decide that it's time to shake things up a bit...in the worst way possible. maybe it's bad of me to feel sympathy, but maybe if they were happy for once, or had friends or something, then the situation could've been avoided. they must've just not been able to handle things anymore. of course someone who commits an act like this has to be coming from a background of severe psychological issues, known or unknown.
these sorts of occurences definitely detract from a school's reputation and concept of "safety". we've been continually taught that schools are safe places to be, and now i think that everyone is questioning that. i'm not sure how trying to investigate the backgrounds and attributes of recent shooters could really prevent further crimes of this sort, without using discrimination and possibly targeting many innocent people who just happen to coincidentally have similar traits.
i'm ignorant as to what the current gun control laws concern, but i think people should be able to purchase potentially dangerous weapons only after an extensive background check or screening, that could easily be devised by psychologists, to test for violent or abusive personality tendencies.
after reading the article profiling kazmierczak's history of mental illness, i really dislike how the author chose to use his tattoos as some sort of catalyst for his violence. the subject matter of the tattoo may be questionable, considered "inappropriate", or even possibly an outward sign of his disturbing side, but i think a perfectly normal/sane/peaceful person could also display such artwork and just find it very symbolic. i'm probably only mentioning this because i find tattoos to be very expressive, and as an aspiring tattoo artist myself, i found this article to be very forcefully prejudiced against people with tattoos.
i think it's especially interesting how it's never the typically "disturbed" or "loner" kids who commit these random acts of violence. it's always the normal nice guys.
Sunday, February 24, 2008
OC#1:: regarding this class
i guess my main "beef" with this class is that, because we don't meet, i often don't think about posting much, and i probably don't take it as seriously as some of my other classes. it's easy to put off assignments when you don't have a specific time every day, or even every-other day, to complete them.
i understand that reading, critiquing and analyzing internet articles in order to strengthen critical thinking skills is really important to the class, but at the same time, many classes offered at linworth often involve internet research to begin with.
frankly, i like having a lot of freedom when it comes to post topics. i like being able to rant about whatever, but i do agree that at least a few posts each week need to be themed or about a certain subject, just because that gives us a little guidance and gives us the chance to express opinions in addition to just talking about whatever.
although i initially thought this would be a great class to take, particularly with my penchant for casual writing and my history/experience in blogging, i've found that it's almost harder to keep up with a required school blog that in my own personal one. i feel a little bit boxed in, but at the same time, i understand the pros of the restrictions we do have.
i understand that reading, critiquing and analyzing internet articles in order to strengthen critical thinking skills is really important to the class, but at the same time, many classes offered at linworth often involve internet research to begin with.
frankly, i like having a lot of freedom when it comes to post topics. i like being able to rant about whatever, but i do agree that at least a few posts each week need to be themed or about a certain subject, just because that gives us a little guidance and gives us the chance to express opinions in addition to just talking about whatever.
although i initially thought this would be a great class to take, particularly with my penchant for casual writing and my history/experience in blogging, i've found that it's almost harder to keep up with a required school blog that in my own personal one. i feel a little bit boxed in, but at the same time, i understand the pros of the restrictions we do have.
Thursday, February 14, 2008
OC:: the community and culture behind dance games
okay, so yesterday i made an announcement during linworth's town meeting regarding a video game tournament i have plans to attend on sunday at the fort rapids indoor waterpark about a 30 min. drive from here. the announcement was mostly made as a joke among me and my friends who play--i really didn't think anyone would be interested at all. but it did generate a response from my classmates.
mark actually stopped my chemistry class for 5-10 minutes today, right in the middle of discussing a problem on a worksheet. completely out of the blue, he looked at me and said "so you're a competitive DDR player..." and starts asking me questions like how much money is involved [a good friend of mine [also notable tessa's ex-boyfriend] won the nationals 2 years ago and scored $3000], how far most players are willing to travel [i've never left the state, but a ton of kids from michigan, indiana, pennsylvania, and kentucky will be at this upcoming one], etc. and even before class, ethan had asked me some questions about it, like if there was some underground culture based around it that no one knows about [YES], if we used different types of slang to talk about different aspects of the game [YES], etc.
so when i discovered that the OC post assignments for this week were totally up to us, i figured this might be something different to talk about. and at this point, the game is so deeply intertwined and involved with my life, it seems almost unnatural to sit down and explain it or talk about it.
--------
PART I:: THE BACKSTORY
i used to be one of those "anime kids" when i was 12-13. i went [and still occasionally go] to anime conventions. i had seen the game before, but didn't really know anything about it, until i saw this really awesome guy playing it at a convention i was at here in town in january 2004 [the game was initially released in america in 1998, so i'm not real old-school]. i was mesmerized by how good this guy was, and decided right then that i wanted to do that.
a month later was my 13th birthday. my good friend had bought the home version of DDR for the PS2 console and brought it over with some shitty plastic mats. that was my first real time playing, and i went for 6 hours straight, determined to get off the beginner mode by the end of the night. it was fun and so addicting! none of us had to worry about being embarassed --we had all just started so we ALL sucked, and it's not like we were playing out in public with people watching. i went to bed and when i woke up, i played for another 4 hours straight. i got hooked.
that april, 2 months later, my little sister had her birthday party at magic mountain polaris. there was a DDR 5th mix machine there! [there are over 10 different versions of DDR, called "mixes", featuring different songs, steps, and options--same game, with a twist!] i spent lots of time away from my sister's party, excited to play for the first time in public, on an actual machine! the 5th mix machine was in japanese, so it took me a few shots to figure out which buttons to hit to set up the game mode. i was still on a very basic beginner mode, doing 3 footers at best [every stepchart for every song in DDR has a difficulty rating, from 1-10, 1 being the easiest songs in the game, 10 being the most challenging], so i played one song over and over again, playing the same steps every time--i was afraid to pick anything else because i didn't know what i could do, and i was afraid to fail!
PART II:: THE OBSESSION
2 months after that, summer began. i had gained some weight around puberty and my parents were looking for ways to keep me active over the summer. my parents NEVER spent this much money on me, but we went out and got 3 different home versions, a PS2 [note that DDR is the only reason my family even owns a gaming console], a small TV, and two cheap plastic dance mats [no home dance pad under $40 is any good]. we spent $400 overall, just to keep me off my ass during summer. i was ecstatic, i was addicted and really wanted to get better at the game, and try and move up to the standard level [generally 5-7 foot rating songs]. tessa began to play with me too, although she never took the game quite as far as i did [although she is still involved in the community].
that summer/fall of 2004, i started googling "DDR" and "dance dance revolution" to look for some cool sites to fuel my new interest. i found DDRFreak, run largely by a NY player named "phrekwenci" [bastardization of "frequency"] and saw that it had a lot of good resources for players. i knew i wasn't really knowledgeable enough about the game yet, but i did want to meet fellow players in the area to meet up with at the arcade. on the forums, i met tom arnold [ally hays' boyfriend of several years--i introduced them, and we originally met through DDR!] and we played the 5th mix machine at magic mountain polaris [commonly abbreviated as "MMP"] together. i also met kyle, my first boyfriend as well as my first kiss, on the forum. how nerdy is THAT.
PART III:: THE COMMUNITY
also, around this time, i found another great site. little did i know, this site would seriously alter the rest of my teenage years. although the websites has had many makeovers, i originally joined when it was know as ohioddr.com. it was like DDRfreak, just with a better community, and more specialized towards ohio players. i joined and posted like the anime kid i was...and got "flamed" for it. some members tried to be nice, but others were pretty hateful. i soon learned that drama was the ohioDDR way [and still is!]. i got fed up with the haters, so i left for a period time. but not until i met some people from the site in real life.
tessa and i went to MMP often in these days, [here are some pictures from way back then!] the machine was in excellent condition, and with a bench right next to it, it was a great hangout spot. even though our beloved 5th mix was gone [the machine's software had been taken out and replaced with a game called "in the groove" or abbreviated as "ITG", an american-made ripoff of DDR--same game concept, with more options, different music, different steps, and a different look], there were still awesome times to be had there. one day, a few really impressive players showed up--being regulars, we knew they weren't from around these parts. when they enter their tags [handles/nicknames] in for their high scores, i recognized their names from the ohioDDR website! i felt creepy not saying anything, but knowing exactly who they were:: dan aka "hotjava", nick aka "muffin", and chris aka "special midget". these were my first friends i made straight from the ohioDDR community.
soon after, a tournament was being held at the other magic mountain location, on the east side, off of brice rd. [magic mountain east = MME]. i'd never been to this place before, but they had two machines--an older mix called 4th+, with less options, and the most common mix called extreme. tessa and i walked in and immediately noticed the crowds of players on the upper floor/balcony of the location. i instantly recognized most of the people from the forums, from the picture post section. again, i felt creepy knowing who everyone was, without them knowing me, and without ever speaking to them. i knew the tournament runner to be steve charron aka "ranatalus" [remember tessa's ex/guy who won the 2006 nationals i mentioned earlier? yeah, that's him], and i recognized sean iverson aka "finch" [who actually graduated from thomas worthington last year, i believe] to be the person who had "flamed"/ridiculed me the most on the site. we played a few pathetic-in-comparison rounds and left, without introducing ourselves or getting to know anyone.
PART IV:: BECOMING A PART OF TEAM C-BUS
soon, i realized that MME was the place to be. in the groove/ITG ["in the butt"/"in the gay" as some DDR purists call it] wasn't as good, and i had never played on any mix besides 5th before. also, it's where all of the good columbus players involved in the community congregated on weekends to improve their skills/scores. [you get a grade after every song--AAA is the highest grade you can achieve, having "perfect" accuracy on every step in the song [getting all perfects], AA is the second highest, meaning you have mostly perfects, but a certain allowed number of greats, termed the "cutoff" for that song [any more greats past the cutoff and it's an A instead of an AA] the DDR community has come up with their own term for a score between an AAA and an AA --called an SDG, or single-digit great. it means you have AA'd the song, but came close to a AAA--all perfects, but under 10 [hence the 'single-digit'] greats.] here are some older pictures from going to MME with a bunch of kids over a year ago.
i quickly became good friends with a lot of the premier players in central ohio like steve/ranatalus, and his friend jamis. i never really know how big this underground community was until i had joined the ohioDDR site and started hanging out with the big players.
PART V:: THE TOURNAMENT SCENE
in may 2005, i participated in my first tournament. this was the first time i really put myself out there and tried to meet as many people as possible from the community. it was a great time and an awesome first experience. the tournament was called GOM2, held in huber heights, ohio [near dayton], at a place called 180 skatepark. the long hallway leading back to the skatepark is basically a music and rhythm-based arcade. multiple DDR machines of different mixes, a hacked ITG machine, and lots of other music games like guitar freaks [which is what GUITAR HERO RIPPED OFF OF, but that's another rant], drummania [drum simulator game], and beatmania, which simulates a disc jockey experience. it's probably one of the biggest bemani [konami's brand of dance/music games] arcades in the midwest, thus making it the premier location for dayton players, as well as a total tournament hotspot. on top of this, the arcade is owned by the barcas, the parents of a long-time community member aaron aka "laika". this meant that the local DDR players had some standing in what went on at the arcade, and the machine's pads had constant maintenance done so they stayed in perfect shape. it's easier to negotiate with management when they have a son involved with the game.
this tournament was where i really made a name for myself in the community. i was still a "new-school" player at the time, in comparison to the other members, but now that'd i'd made friends with a lot of people, i began to build a solid reputation as a member of ohioDDR. here are some pictures from that awesome day.
PART VI:: THE CULTURE
it all went uphill from there. i've been going to tournaments ever since, and i couldn't even begin to count the friends and acquaintances i've made from the game. even though i've been playing seriously/competitively for about 3 1/2 years, i still have a long ways to go as far as skill [i can only pass 3 10-foot difficulty songs]. i have over 80 heavy-level AAs, and over 25 heavy SDGs, and only one AAA to date, which i actually just got a few weeks ago [note that many of my friends who are top level players have over 200 AAAs....X__X]. i'm awesome at dance games in comparison to an average people off the streets, but in the community, i'm still in the bottom half, although i recently placed 4th in a lower-heavy division tournament in akron called amazone2 [pics HERE]. i'm proud to be one of the few female competitive players out there, and i'm also proud to be one of the younger ones. [most players in the community are guys between the ages of 19-23...to put it this way, i'm managing the guestlist for this upcoming tournament's pre-party...there are going to be maybe 5 girls and 25 guys.] girls who get good enough to play in the upper level competition are ESPECIALLY rare, but i hope to be top-tier someday.
honestly, it's certainly not my life, but it's such a big part of it. i love meeting all these new people who show up every tournament, and i love the fact that i have good friends all over ohio and some from other states as well. i'm not good enough to be "professional" about it or travel around and make money, and not many people are. i came for the game, i stayed for the people. although the website is still as drama-filled and chaotic as ever, every time the bulk of the community gets together at a tournament or gathering, everyone has a blast. it's like a big family reunion, except you actually LIKE who you're hanging out with, and some of your relatives are hot. [lol] this is ridiculously nerdy, but i've only ever dated one guy who didn't play DDR--i don't know if i could date a "normal" guy, i'm just not sure he would really understand the extent of how this culture runs through my freakin' blood. it's a hardcore thing for some players...it IS some people's lives, but to prove that it's MUCH more about just having fun and being around a great bunch of people, i'll leave you with this video from the amazone2 tournament:
and yes, i was TOTALLY in the jungle gym when that video was shot, haha.
expect a post about FTRAPIDS1 when i get back on monday! =]
oh, and if you're REALLY curious, search youtube for "fgt ddr" ["fgt" is my handle/tag =]] and you'll probably find some tournament matches of mine, haha.
mark actually stopped my chemistry class for 5-10 minutes today, right in the middle of discussing a problem on a worksheet. completely out of the blue, he looked at me and said "so you're a competitive DDR player..." and starts asking me questions like how much money is involved [a good friend of mine [also notable tessa's ex-boyfriend] won the nationals 2 years ago and scored $3000], how far most players are willing to travel [i've never left the state, but a ton of kids from michigan, indiana, pennsylvania, and kentucky will be at this upcoming one], etc. and even before class, ethan had asked me some questions about it, like if there was some underground culture based around it that no one knows about [YES], if we used different types of slang to talk about different aspects of the game [YES], etc.
so when i discovered that the OC post assignments for this week were totally up to us, i figured this might be something different to talk about. and at this point, the game is so deeply intertwined and involved with my life, it seems almost unnatural to sit down and explain it or talk about it.
--------
PART I:: THE BACKSTORY
i used to be one of those "anime kids" when i was 12-13. i went [and still occasionally go] to anime conventions. i had seen the game before, but didn't really know anything about it, until i saw this really awesome guy playing it at a convention i was at here in town in january 2004 [the game was initially released in america in 1998, so i'm not real old-school]. i was mesmerized by how good this guy was, and decided right then that i wanted to do that.
a month later was my 13th birthday. my good friend had bought the home version of DDR for the PS2 console and brought it over with some shitty plastic mats. that was my first real time playing, and i went for 6 hours straight, determined to get off the beginner mode by the end of the night. it was fun and so addicting! none of us had to worry about being embarassed --we had all just started so we ALL sucked, and it's not like we were playing out in public with people watching. i went to bed and when i woke up, i played for another 4 hours straight. i got hooked.
that april, 2 months later, my little sister had her birthday party at magic mountain polaris. there was a DDR 5th mix machine there! [there are over 10 different versions of DDR, called "mixes", featuring different songs, steps, and options--same game, with a twist!] i spent lots of time away from my sister's party, excited to play for the first time in public, on an actual machine! the 5th mix machine was in japanese, so it took me a few shots to figure out which buttons to hit to set up the game mode. i was still on a very basic beginner mode, doing 3 footers at best [every stepchart for every song in DDR has a difficulty rating, from 1-10, 1 being the easiest songs in the game, 10 being the most challenging], so i played one song over and over again, playing the same steps every time--i was afraid to pick anything else because i didn't know what i could do, and i was afraid to fail!
PART II:: THE OBSESSION
2 months after that, summer began. i had gained some weight around puberty and my parents were looking for ways to keep me active over the summer. my parents NEVER spent this much money on me, but we went out and got 3 different home versions, a PS2 [note that DDR is the only reason my family even owns a gaming console], a small TV, and two cheap plastic dance mats [no home dance pad under $40 is any good]. we spent $400 overall, just to keep me off my ass during summer. i was ecstatic, i was addicted and really wanted to get better at the game, and try and move up to the standard level [generally 5-7 foot rating songs]. tessa began to play with me too, although she never took the game quite as far as i did [although she is still involved in the community].
that summer/fall of 2004, i started googling "DDR" and "dance dance revolution" to look for some cool sites to fuel my new interest. i found DDRFreak, run largely by a NY player named "phrekwenci" [bastardization of "frequency"] and saw that it had a lot of good resources for players. i knew i wasn't really knowledgeable enough about the game yet, but i did want to meet fellow players in the area to meet up with at the arcade. on the forums, i met tom arnold [ally hays' boyfriend of several years--i introduced them, and we originally met through DDR!] and we played the 5th mix machine at magic mountain polaris [commonly abbreviated as "MMP"] together. i also met kyle, my first boyfriend as well as my first kiss, on the forum. how nerdy is THAT.
PART III:: THE COMMUNITY
also, around this time, i found another great site. little did i know, this site would seriously alter the rest of my teenage years. although the websites has had many makeovers, i originally joined when it was know as ohioddr.com. it was like DDRfreak, just with a better community, and more specialized towards ohio players. i joined and posted like the anime kid i was...and got "flamed" for it. some members tried to be nice, but others were pretty hateful. i soon learned that drama was the ohioDDR way [and still is!]. i got fed up with the haters, so i left for a period time. but not until i met some people from the site in real life.
tessa and i went to MMP often in these days, [here are some pictures from way back then!] the machine was in excellent condition, and with a bench right next to it, it was a great hangout spot. even though our beloved 5th mix was gone [the machine's software had been taken out and replaced with a game called "in the groove" or abbreviated as "ITG", an american-made ripoff of DDR--same game concept, with more options, different music, different steps, and a different look], there were still awesome times to be had there. one day, a few really impressive players showed up--being regulars, we knew they weren't from around these parts. when they enter their tags [handles/nicknames] in for their high scores, i recognized their names from the ohioDDR website! i felt creepy not saying anything, but knowing exactly who they were:: dan aka "hotjava", nick aka "muffin", and chris aka "special midget". these were my first friends i made straight from the ohioDDR community.
soon after, a tournament was being held at the other magic mountain location, on the east side, off of brice rd. [magic mountain east = MME]. i'd never been to this place before, but they had two machines--an older mix called 4th+, with less options, and the most common mix called extreme. tessa and i walked in and immediately noticed the crowds of players on the upper floor/balcony of the location. i instantly recognized most of the people from the forums, from the picture post section. again, i felt creepy knowing who everyone was, without them knowing me, and without ever speaking to them. i knew the tournament runner to be steve charron aka "ranatalus" [remember tessa's ex/guy who won the 2006 nationals i mentioned earlier? yeah, that's him], and i recognized sean iverson aka "finch" [who actually graduated from thomas worthington last year, i believe] to be the person who had "flamed"/ridiculed me the most on the site. we played a few pathetic-in-comparison rounds and left, without introducing ourselves or getting to know anyone.
PART IV:: BECOMING A PART OF TEAM C-BUS
soon, i realized that MME was the place to be. in the groove/ITG ["in the butt"/"in the gay" as some DDR purists call it] wasn't as good, and i had never played on any mix besides 5th before. also, it's where all of the good columbus players involved in the community congregated on weekends to improve their skills/scores. [you get a grade after every song--AAA is the highest grade you can achieve, having "perfect" accuracy on every step in the song [getting all perfects], AA is the second highest, meaning you have mostly perfects, but a certain allowed number of greats, termed the "cutoff" for that song [any more greats past the cutoff and it's an A instead of an AA] the DDR community has come up with their own term for a score between an AAA and an AA --called an SDG, or single-digit great. it means you have AA'd the song, but came close to a AAA--all perfects, but under 10 [hence the 'single-digit'] greats.] here are some older pictures from going to MME with a bunch of kids over a year ago.
i quickly became good friends with a lot of the premier players in central ohio like steve/ranatalus, and his friend jamis. i never really know how big this underground community was until i had joined the ohioDDR site and started hanging out with the big players.
PART V:: THE TOURNAMENT SCENE
in may 2005, i participated in my first tournament. this was the first time i really put myself out there and tried to meet as many people as possible from the community. it was a great time and an awesome first experience. the tournament was called GOM2, held in huber heights, ohio [near dayton], at a place called 180 skatepark. the long hallway leading back to the skatepark is basically a music and rhythm-based arcade. multiple DDR machines of different mixes, a hacked ITG machine, and lots of other music games like guitar freaks [which is what GUITAR HERO RIPPED OFF OF, but that's another rant], drummania [drum simulator game], and beatmania, which simulates a disc jockey experience. it's probably one of the biggest bemani [konami's brand of dance/music games] arcades in the midwest, thus making it the premier location for dayton players, as well as a total tournament hotspot. on top of this, the arcade is owned by the barcas, the parents of a long-time community member aaron aka "laika". this meant that the local DDR players had some standing in what went on at the arcade, and the machine's pads had constant maintenance done so they stayed in perfect shape. it's easier to negotiate with management when they have a son involved with the game.
this tournament was where i really made a name for myself in the community. i was still a "new-school" player at the time, in comparison to the other members, but now that'd i'd made friends with a lot of people, i began to build a solid reputation as a member of ohioDDR. here are some pictures from that awesome day.
PART VI:: THE CULTURE
it all went uphill from there. i've been going to tournaments ever since, and i couldn't even begin to count the friends and acquaintances i've made from the game. even though i've been playing seriously/competitively for about 3 1/2 years, i still have a long ways to go as far as skill [i can only pass 3 10-foot difficulty songs]. i have over 80 heavy-level AAs, and over 25 heavy SDGs, and only one AAA to date, which i actually just got a few weeks ago [note that many of my friends who are top level players have over 200 AAAs....X__X]. i'm awesome at dance games in comparison to an average people off the streets, but in the community, i'm still in the bottom half, although i recently placed 4th in a lower-heavy division tournament in akron called amazone2 [pics HERE]. i'm proud to be one of the few female competitive players out there, and i'm also proud to be one of the younger ones. [most players in the community are guys between the ages of 19-23...to put it this way, i'm managing the guestlist for this upcoming tournament's pre-party...there are going to be maybe 5 girls and 25 guys.] girls who get good enough to play in the upper level competition are ESPECIALLY rare, but i hope to be top-tier someday.
honestly, it's certainly not my life, but it's such a big part of it. i love meeting all these new people who show up every tournament, and i love the fact that i have good friends all over ohio and some from other states as well. i'm not good enough to be "professional" about it or travel around and make money, and not many people are. i came for the game, i stayed for the people. although the website is still as drama-filled and chaotic as ever, every time the bulk of the community gets together at a tournament or gathering, everyone has a blast. it's like a big family reunion, except you actually LIKE who you're hanging out with, and some of your relatives are hot. [lol] this is ridiculously nerdy, but i've only ever dated one guy who didn't play DDR--i don't know if i could date a "normal" guy, i'm just not sure he would really understand the extent of how this culture runs through my freakin' blood. it's a hardcore thing for some players...it IS some people's lives, but to prove that it's MUCH more about just having fun and being around a great bunch of people, i'll leave you with this video from the amazone2 tournament:
and yes, i was TOTALLY in the jungle gym when that video was shot, haha.
expect a post about FTRAPIDS1 when i get back on monday! =]
oh, and if you're REALLY curious, search youtube for "fgt ddr" ["fgt" is my handle/tag =]] and you'll probably find some tournament matches of mine, haha.
Sunday, February 10, 2008
OC #2
this is so dumb and cliche, and i know that years from now, when we're broken up, i'll look back on this and think about how silly i was to post this, but MY BOYFRIEND makes me happy, haha.
i guess this is an opportunity i'm creating for myself to talk about my personal life, which to be honest, i do not feel like i do often. his name is justin boone, he's 19 years old, and he lives in goshen, ohio, this little nowhere-town near cincinnati. he goes to school at UC, and so i can really only see him on the weekends. he drives 2 hours here, then stays with various friends of ours for the weekend and we spend as much time together as we can manage. the entire week beforehand is spent planning out the weekend ahead, each part of the day filled with something different, and we never manage to get through all our plans. this past weekend, on friday, he made my family [they love him!] a lasagna dinner. on saturday, we had a movie night and gathered up some classics from the library, such as "shaun of the dead", and got pizza.
y'know, normally, i wouldn't get sappy like this--normally, i'd say art or music or writing or sunshine or kittens make me happy, but this was honestly the first thing that came to mind. he's probably the best boyfriend i've ever had [unfortunately, that's not saying much, i've had some bad relationships], he surprises me with little gifts like candy [which i LOVE] a lot, and really takes care of me. he helps me out with anything i aspire to do, like my own business, which he helps me manage. that's how i know he really digs me.
i don't mean to totally gush here, but he's ridiculously smart [see also: dorky] too. he's an aspiring pharmacist, so he knows tons of stuff about medicine, prescription drugs, as well as physics and chemistry. he is a huge dork and i love it. him and tessa bonded over DIABETES MEDICATION, WTF.
anyways, he's a big sweetheart, and although it's only really been about two months, things have been going pretty well. we're very beneficial to each other and seem to kind of quench one another's bad sides, haha.
i know we definitely look like opposites--he's a studious dweeb and i'm some sort of beacon of rebellion. we do in fact have opposite personality types, making up for where the other one lacks in just about everything [i make up for his social shortcomings, and he makes up mfor my academic, haha]. one of us picks up where the other leaves off, and part of me thinks that that's a good part of why we work so well. we actually have a lot of interests/hobbies/likes/dislikes in common, he's just more of an anxious, uptight introvert, and i am more of a socially comfortable laid-back individual. regardless of personality types, we work the same way mentally when it comes to most things. we complement each other ridiculously well, despite the clash in appearance. i like how we're so mismatched and i think it's kind of cute. =]
leaving you with the best one::
OC #1
regarding the target article assigned:
i personally found it to be kind of dumb. it seemed to put a lot of words in the company's mouth. target certainly did not say bloggers' opinions and the entire media form of blogging is "irrelevant", they simply stated that they didn't address that kind of media. just like the spokesperson or whoever it was said, "we don't work with bloggers currently." that's it and that's all. i felt like this article totally blew that outlook out of proportion, and yeah, there's a point in the fact that target needs to get hip, and with the times, but blogging hasn't gotten big until the past few years. maybe their company policy is a little dated, but it doesn't mean they look down on blogging or don't want to interact with that media. it doesn't mean they're totally disregarding it. i don't think that this is as big as issue as the author of the article tried to make it be.
i personally found it to be kind of dumb. it seemed to put a lot of words in the company's mouth. target certainly did not say bloggers' opinions and the entire media form of blogging is "irrelevant", they simply stated that they didn't address that kind of media. just like the spokesperson or whoever it was said, "we don't work with bloggers currently." that's it and that's all. i felt like this article totally blew that outlook out of proportion, and yeah, there's a point in the fact that target needs to get hip, and with the times, but blogging hasn't gotten big until the past few years. maybe their company policy is a little dated, but it doesn't mean they look down on blogging or don't want to interact with that media. it doesn't mean they're totally disregarding it. i don't think that this is as big as issue as the author of the article tried to make it be.
Sunday, February 3, 2008
observation & commentary.
heath ledger is just a glorified everyday guy with a sought-after career.
death is tragic, and it happens all the time. i don't understand why i should give a shit that heath ledger died, when he wouldn't blink as eye hearing that 'laura snyder' is dead. he wouldn't even know who i am [or if he somehow did, that'd be cool as hell!].
why are celebrities [and their deaths] newsworthy? BEATS ME. in my mind, they're not. i don't care. i would like to read about new animals that have been discovered, music reviews, and cool RELEVANT stuff like that.
i didn't personally know heath ledger. it doesn't affect me whatsoever. i can understand a fan being sad, but it's not like most of his fans ever actually even met him or really knew him anyway. he's in the news due to his career as an actor and a good-looking guy. GUESS WHAT. scientists who have contributed hugely in one way or another to our society and technology today die too. we don't make such a fuss about that. probably because they're not as hot.
we obsess over people whose lives we assume to be fun and easy. we obsess over what we want, what we lost, what we wish we had. people live vicariously through popular figures, so it's a big deal whenever anything happens to them.
and when it's something bad? -- it makes that celebrity, that hero/beauty/genius we've placed on the pedestal, so much less perfect and so much more real. more like one of us.
it's news because we've realized that heath ledger is not immortal.
death is tragic, and it happens all the time. i don't understand why i should give a shit that heath ledger died, when he wouldn't blink as eye hearing that 'laura snyder' is dead. he wouldn't even know who i am [or if he somehow did, that'd be cool as hell!].
why are celebrities [and their deaths] newsworthy? BEATS ME. in my mind, they're not. i don't care. i would like to read about new animals that have been discovered, music reviews, and cool RELEVANT stuff like that.
i didn't personally know heath ledger. it doesn't affect me whatsoever. i can understand a fan being sad, but it's not like most of his fans ever actually even met him or really knew him anyway. he's in the news due to his career as an actor and a good-looking guy. GUESS WHAT. scientists who have contributed hugely in one way or another to our society and technology today die too. we don't make such a fuss about that. probably because they're not as hot.
we obsess over people whose lives we assume to be fun and easy. we obsess over what we want, what we lost, what we wish we had. people live vicariously through popular figures, so it's a big deal whenever anything happens to them.
and when it's something bad? -- it makes that celebrity, that hero/beauty/genius we've placed on the pedestal, so much less perfect and so much more real. more like one of us.
it's news because we've realized that heath ledger is not immortal.
observation & commentary.
i think that, as a doctor or nurse trying to save lives, hand-washing can be a pretty trivial thing to have on your mind. the writer of the article seems not to understand how stressful a job like that could be, having a million people's well-beings floating around on your mind. it's understandable to forget to deal with basic hygiene when you have a lot going on around you. i know that i've forgotten to brush my teeth before when i wake up late or have a lot to worry about--it happens. however, i'm not saying it's okay, or trying to make excuses for it. i'm sure a lot of it is simply due to laziness as well.
honestly, questioning whether or not a medical professional has gone through all the proper sanitary procedures before doing something could be either mildly insulting or embarassing. what would be easier for them to do? 1. admit that they didn't and immediately go back and spend the time correcting themselves, or 2. reassure the patient that they know what they're doing, and that everything is clean and proper. probably the latter.
'national guidelines' say washing for at least 15 seconds is the 'right' way to do it, but i actually would have liked to see some research behind that presented in the article. maybe some statistics or something? i guess i just feel like i can thoroughly wash my hands in less time than that. how long does it take for active ingredients in antibacterial soap to kick in?
the quote from Morales successfully expresses how most people feel about it -- “That’s something you just expect a doctor or a nurse to do." but i do feel like i personally would be extremely embarassed if i was a healthcare worker who had my operating procedures questioned. i imagine it could be awkward, asking a doctor if they're being hygienic.
the quote from Sue Barnes doesn't surprise me either -- “There was some sense of reluctance on the part of physicians at having patients tell them what to do." Generally, physicians know more about health and safety, especially anything germ-related, than the average joe does.
"At the St. Louis Children’s hospital, 2,500 employees wear buttons that say “Ask me!” and participate in activities like a monthly “Hand Hygiene Hoopla” that includes games and treats, said Susan Hibbits, the hospital’s director." --this just seems overzealous and just plain dumb. i hate people who devote their lives to one tiny strange little cause and become ridiculously enthusiastic about it. IT'S NOT THAT BIG OF A DEAL. sure, encourage it, maybe have a little satff meeting or something addressing the situation, but 'hand hygiene hoopla'?? yeah, that sounds like buckets of good clean fun [haha]. i'm sure their 59-96% compliance improvement statistics were a little stretched/biased as well.
however, i really REALLY don't believe hygiene practices in schools to be comparable to this situation at all. in a hospital or doctor's office of some sort, you have ALREADY deathly sick people, possibly with open sores or wounds or sensitive areas that need to be kept totally clean. in schools, no one is extremely sick, kids seem to have mild cold or flu bugs at worst, and nobody's walking around with open anythings [i hope D:]. it's a completely different scale. hand-washing in school is definitely not nearly as important as medical places, but i must admit it contributes greatly to various illness, viruses, "bugs", etc. that travel around. in a public place with lots of kids sharing materials, classrooms, the same building, computers...it's easy to see how washing your hands is pretty important. although i personally don't pay enough attention to what others do in the bathroom to reasonably ask them to wash, i'd kind of be surprised if someone told me to do that.
washing my hands after i use the restroom is just out of habit, and i think it should be that way for everyone, especially medical professionals. and for them, it shouldn't just be when they use the restroom, but it should just be a habit before coming into contact with any patient.
honestly, questioning whether or not a medical professional has gone through all the proper sanitary procedures before doing something could be either mildly insulting or embarassing. what would be easier for them to do? 1. admit that they didn't and immediately go back and spend the time correcting themselves, or 2. reassure the patient that they know what they're doing, and that everything is clean and proper. probably the latter.
'national guidelines' say washing for at least 15 seconds is the 'right' way to do it, but i actually would have liked to see some research behind that presented in the article. maybe some statistics or something? i guess i just feel like i can thoroughly wash my hands in less time than that. how long does it take for active ingredients in antibacterial soap to kick in?
the quote from Morales successfully expresses how most people feel about it -- “That’s something you just expect a doctor or a nurse to do." but i do feel like i personally would be extremely embarassed if i was a healthcare worker who had my operating procedures questioned. i imagine it could be awkward, asking a doctor if they're being hygienic.
the quote from Sue Barnes doesn't surprise me either -- “There was some sense of reluctance on the part of physicians at having patients tell them what to do." Generally, physicians know more about health and safety, especially anything germ-related, than the average joe does.
"At the St. Louis Children’s hospital, 2,500 employees wear buttons that say “Ask me!” and participate in activities like a monthly “Hand Hygiene Hoopla” that includes games and treats, said Susan Hibbits, the hospital’s director." --this just seems overzealous and just plain dumb. i hate people who devote their lives to one tiny strange little cause and become ridiculously enthusiastic about it. IT'S NOT THAT BIG OF A DEAL. sure, encourage it, maybe have a little satff meeting or something addressing the situation, but 'hand hygiene hoopla'?? yeah, that sounds like buckets of good clean fun [haha]. i'm sure their 59-96% compliance improvement statistics were a little stretched/biased as well.
however, i really REALLY don't believe hygiene practices in schools to be comparable to this situation at all. in a hospital or doctor's office of some sort, you have ALREADY deathly sick people, possibly with open sores or wounds or sensitive areas that need to be kept totally clean. in schools, no one is extremely sick, kids seem to have mild cold or flu bugs at worst, and nobody's walking around with open anythings [i hope D:]. it's a completely different scale. hand-washing in school is definitely not nearly as important as medical places, but i must admit it contributes greatly to various illness, viruses, "bugs", etc. that travel around. in a public place with lots of kids sharing materials, classrooms, the same building, computers...it's easy to see how washing your hands is pretty important. although i personally don't pay enough attention to what others do in the bathroom to reasonably ask them to wash, i'd kind of be surprised if someone told me to do that.
washing my hands after i use the restroom is just out of habit, and i think it should be that way for everyone, especially medical professionals. and for them, it shouldn't just be when they use the restroom, but it should just be a habit before coming into contact with any patient.
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