Everlasting

I do not believe in saying goodbye; I believe it is one of the hardest things to do.
Tomorrow shall not be an easy thing to do, but it is not the end. You have made an impact on my life that has changed me as a student, as a person, as a human. You helped me through some challenging tasks that I did not realize I had the courage to even attempt. I have opened my eyes to my past and appreciated the fact that my academic history has given me something unique.

I want to thank you for sharing, for guiding, and for listening. Also for making me realize that the pedagogy is constantly changing, and that our roles as teachers and students will always fluctuate.

So what? -- I will forever be changed because of your pedagogy. The topics we discussed might become out dated or forgotten but it is the fact that we did it; we were there and we experienced it. It will forever be ingrained as apart of me.

I will be searching forever in the Library of Babel to find out what exact point and what message you have taught me. I have come to the realization that in my vocabulary, words could never fully describe the change I have experience.


Thank you from the bottom of my heart.


- J

The Power Of The Student Voice

A close friend and I have recently went through something thing that normal students might not believe they have the power to do. The two of us stood up and got our voices heard. We have had many issues with a course we took in the fall semester. We went through the process of trying to get our voice heard. Overall the experience of getting our voice heard has been stressful but a fairly positive one.

The biggest accomplishment personally is the fact that we did it. We got our voices heard and we did the right process. We did what we set out to do.

I will continue this post once classes are finished and I have more updates on our process.

Telematic Embrace a love story?

Roy Ascott believed that cybernetics would not take over or destroy the creative process. Instead he thought that together they could be combined to create collaborative and interactive art. The idea of “art” transforms with each new idea and influences. The combination of ideas and practice forms a new style and type of art. The anti-art revolution would not of succeeded unless there was meaning and thought put into it. The fact that they commented on what art is relates to Jeffery Shaw’s comments on interface. If we comment on something that we use in a piece it makes the art stronger and more political. Fluxus’s movement really relates to the idea that Ascott discusses that things should always be in the process of development instead of being a finished product. They also believed that anyone could create a piece of art; this could be now easily done through cybernetics and the ability to have many people creating something. Overall the fact that cybernetics and the creative process work together would not damage art but only further develop a new type.

The tension in Marcel Duchamp’s piece, Large Glass, is a fight between the seduction of sexual attraction to the embrace and the fact that the figures seem machine like. It becomes a fight between humanistic and robotic love. The other thing that comes into play is the fact that we want to be part of the piece and yet we cannot become closer to it. We fight between the urge of wanted to be loved and the fact that we are kept at a distance. Duchamp’s piece also allows the viewers to interpret the piece how they please. They become more connected to the piece when they can personally decide the meaning of it. All artists, new media artist included, need to remember that viewers and participants will always interpret the meaning of the piece then how the artist imagined it. They have to be aware of the difficulty of prediction how the users will interact with the piece. The issues that arise with virtual worlds is that people can be immersed but they will never actually be in the alternative reality.

The Dis-Embodied Re-Embodied Body

In Jeffery Shaw’s article, The Dis-Embodied Re-Embodied Body, he discusses the ideas of two bodies. These bodies are the real body which exists in real space and virtual body which is in virtual space. What this really means is that we are physically in our natural surroundings but we are mentally immersed into a virtual world.

An interface can be seen like the mediums in visual art. The way an artist utilizes the interface can create specific meaning. If the interface is used in a distracting manor it can detract the true meaning of the piece. If put together hastily it can also have the same impact. A distracting interface can interfere with the immersion into the virtual world. When a piece wants to comment on the technology involved, it might be beneficial to make an interface that reflects this. It can remind the participant of their real body instead of just what their virtual impact is.

I think a huge issue that arises with interactive art is the fact that the interface can become so technical and immersive that viewers forget that it is actually an art piece. The act of making art should still remain the same instead of referencing it when creating interactive pieces. Interactive art is innovative but Shaw believes that it should be still practice like traditional art.

Sousveillance: Inventing and Using Wearable Computing Devices for Data Collection in Surveillance Environments

Our installation does not speak directly about surveillance. We are using Microsoft’s Kinect to detect presence to trigger sounds. Our project is more focused on the ability to have fun, learn, and create something collaboratively. I believe that the interface empowers the user’s ability to learn and create. Personally, I think our project needs to be outside of a classroom because it is important to continue learning in everything we do. The public space becomes a learning environment. We are constantly growing as a human and I think it is important to bring enjoyment to learning.

If we were to create our piece into a portable device I think the meaning and interface would change a bit. It would no longer become a collaborative piece unless you were to transfer multiple users’ input into one piece. We could record how active someone is by recording how many steps they take in a day. They would create daily songs of the patterns from the speed and paths they take. The participants would be aware of the interface and this might lead to them being more conscious of the amount of daily activities they partake in. Another way of implementing this could be a portable art. We could bring learning and fun into places that need it the most such as a hospital. I think this would be a really neat thing to do because people do not realize how important being part of something is. Each person that has been part of this art piece has altered it in some way.

Computer Vision for Artists and Designers: Pedagogic Tools and Techniques for Novice Programmers

Four Detection and Tracking Methods:
- Detecting Motion (frame differencing)
- Detecting Presence (background subtraction)
- Detection Through Brightness Thresholding (pixel brightness is compared to threshold value)
- Simple Object Tracking (locate & track brightest/darkest/coloured pixel)

There are three challenges with the current vision technology, and they are: lighting, quality, and distance. When using any type of camera, you need to have some type of light to produce any type of image. There are a few issues you can run into, such as participants wearing similar coloured clothing as the background. A few things a programmer could do, is having the participant stand in front of a light and then shine the light onto a screen in front of the camera. This way the participant’s silhouette is seen on the screen and it makes it easier for the camera to pick up the difference between light and dark. You can also create a controlled environment so that the camera does not pick up on any distractions.
The second challenge is quality. The quality of the camera is important; if it cannot pick up a lot of detail than you cannot do very precise measurements. Some ideas to help overcome this problem: a high quality camera, focus/zoom in on specific areas, use colour tracking, and infrared lights (to help reduce noise).
Cameras are limited in the distance that they can read. You need to limit where the participants can go, get a lens that has a large depth of view, and how much room they will need to perform. Physical interactions must be limited to a specific area or the camera will not read the movements.

The History of the Interface in Interactive Art

Söke Dinkla uses examples from Myron Krueger, Jeffrey Shaw, David Rokeby, Lynn Hershman,Grahame Weinbren, and Ken Feindold to help establish her six categories of interactivity.

The Six categories of interactivity are:
Power and Play
Participation Vs. Interaction
Proximity and Manipulation
Strategies of Seduction
Nonlinear Narration
Remembering, Forgetting, and Reconstructing

“This may seem complicated, because Interactive uses the same technology it comments upon, meaning, there is a certain lack of distance. The situation of Interactive Art is therefore comparable with Video Art, which had to gain certain independence from the language of television.”

This quote speaks about how art needs to have a separation from the technology that helps create it. In relation to video art and television, video art needed to have some type of distance from television. Television has a long history of soap operas to cartoons; this might not be wanted in a piece of video art.
Any new media form of art work has a struggle to separate itself from the history attached to technology or iconography it uses. No matter what type of art you are doing you have to be away of the implication a certain object might have to your piece. Personally I created a found object piece from a book. Books have iconography but also a lot of meaning that can be implied to the piece that some might not want. An artist must be aware of what implication things can have on their piece, they can either play on the idea of them, or do something to distract away from those meanings.
Each form of art also struggles to separate itself from the technology that creates it. The photograph was supposed to be representing the truth; photographers often manipulate a photograph to display something that is no longer the truth. Artist can comment on the technology they use by pointing out the flaws.

What Gaming can learn from Installation Art

Allan Kaprow created work to be played with not looked at. He wanted to get the audience to interact with the art and become co-creators instead of being just a spectator. Annet Dekker points out that audiences did not want to become part of the art and simply wanted to enjoy looking at it. Also the "The Happenings" did not allow participation freedom but was created to allow participants to be part of it. Some of the pieces had scripts or guidelines which the participants had to follow. This does not allow them to be fully immersed when they are constantly reminded they are performing. It also does not allowed them to shape the art in any form expect for what the artist has laid out for them.

The principals of interactivity in gaming has changed only a little since the earliest computer games. We still become immersed in the same ways, and we still relate to video games the same way as we did when they first developed. The only thing that has changed is how we interact and control games.
We no longer rely solely on joy sticks and button mashing to send messages to the programs and consoles. We now have touch screen (Nintendo DS), Motion tracking controllers (Nintendo Wii, & PlayStation Move), and motion tracking cameras (Xbox360 Kinect). This style of gaming involves physical interaction with the games which can lead to it being more immersive. These new forms of gaming are attracting new ages and genres of people. The issue is finding suitable games for each type of gamer. The new generation of gamers might be use to gaming without controllers but the older generation might seek comfort in holding something in their hand. Of course there will be resistance to change, but as we can see with the music industry, people will continue to hold on to the past ways but the majority will go with the latest technology.

Games have still not immersed people in all the senses, we cannot smell the places games can take us, nor can we feel the touch of objects we touch in the game. Interactive art like Davie’s Osmose, allowed the participant to alter the art by breathing. If games were to alter based on how we breathed or physically felt the more connected we would become with our character. The more realistic our experience becomes with the game the more immersed we are.

Instant transaction no satisfaction.

Shopping online is so easy to do, for some people. The greatest fear people have with online shopping is that of privacy. The fear should be that we might all turn into shopaholics. The ease of clicking a button might bring someone into debt. The issue that comes up is that you do not get immediate results; most times you have to wait for your product in the mail. This shopping experience does not fulfill our instant satisfaction of holding the object in our hands as soon as we fork over the cash. Does this lead to more compulsive buying because we cannot fulfill our need instantly? A person can set limits when walking into a store, but the simple button bushing or icon dragging to add objects to our virtual cart does not give us the same grasp of quantity of products we wish to buy. The one feature that might come in handy is the wish list. Many sites have an option to add things to a wish list. Is it not easy to turn that wish list into a shopping list online? What things prevent you from typing in the credit card or debit numbers to something you cannot physically grasp as you wait in line? Another issue is that there are no lines to cash out. Many times people take a second to look down at the objects in their hand and realise they do not necessarily need all of them. Virtually we do not have this buffer time. The comfort of your home is wonderful except for when those bills come into to get paid.
Goodbye grocery cart hello debt.

Where is the line between human and machine?

If you have a medical issue where do you turn first, the internet or your doctor? Are embarrassing issues easier to deal with when you do not have to have a face to face discussion about them? Are sources on the internet reliable enough to be taken seriously? If you look at scientific journals online then they might be reliable. Did people not call a friend to get their advice before we had the internet? There are certain things such as a common cold or simple questions that could be dealt with over the internet. This would help the hospitals and doctor offices with wait times and over population. Where do we draw the line of what can and cannot be dealt with online? While searching symptoms of a common cold someone might mistake it for something more serious and vice versa.
The Ontario government has created a website that allows citizens to figure out what type of health care they need. This is to help the citizens of Ontario and the wait times at family doctors and emergency rooms. Telehealth Ontario helps guide the general public to which health care option is best suited for the issue, over the phone. Options like this are helpful to the general wellbeing of the healthcare system. Patients can check to see waiting times for surgeries instead of tying up the phone lines at the hospital or doctors office. This system is more efficient but does it lose the humanistic aspect of healthcare? Is a personal connection important?
The idea of medicine fusing with technology brings exciting possibilities. People who were once told they could never use their legs again are now able to walk. Retinal implants are allowing the blind to see. These wonderful possibilities that contradict what our human bodies will allow us. Will we one day become these indestructible “human” machines? When do we stop being human and just become machines?

Your Videogame Is My Drug

Videogames are our cure of boredom. They allow us to escape our stressful lives, or they bring people together at a party. Can such a positive thing be so negative in our lives? Society has blamed videogames for some of today’s issues like violence. Videogames are not as harmful as some might think; they are actually beneficial to people of all ages. Have you learned something useful from a videogame? Have you had a bad experience with one? People experience positive and negatives things. People can use videogames as an escape from reality, an escape from their personal issues. Some extreme cases have become so dependent on the escape that they bring components of the videogame world into their daily lives. Dreams become themed, daily objects become visual cues; everything gets related to the fictional world. These people become addicted to this form of escapism. One might ask who this might happen to; the answer to this is anyone. Everyone has issues that they want to escape from. Is this a healthy way of dealing with things? Is it not better than physically hurting someone else or yourself? There is a limit to how immersed you can get, when a person starts to bring the game into reality it a sign of addiction. Weight gain or losses and sleep deprivation are also symptoms of videogame addiction. People play videogames to escape from reality, to fulfill social needs, or to collect all the achievements within games. Do you play videogames? Today the selection of videogames is very diverse that anyone can find a game they like playing. What is your reason for playing?

For more information check out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_game_addiction

I'm not a Ke$ha fan, just a good line to use as a title.

Today's Multiple Personality Disorder

Second life and other avatar-based programs allow the internet society to have the chance to become who they always wanted to be. From the name of your character to the behavior, you can become this new person. Some people become obsessed with this online version of themselves that they do not want to be themselves in the real world. They become addicted and spend their time and money on this online reality. Is it right to be spending thousands of dollars on virtual possessions? Does this only improve what the online society thinks of you? Does the more money you spend online reflect how much money you have in real life? People often become their online character and neglect their real life self. Is this neglect a form of cruelty?

The one thing people need to remember is that the people they are interacting with are real people too. They might be faking who they are and what they do as much as you are. How can we trust the people we have online relationships and friendships with when we do not know the truth about them? Do we even care if their identity is fabricated? Do our online personalities not associate that these people might be living a lie too? Is it really a lie if we put so much effort into it? People who are in romantic relationships online should really meet in person before they get married. How can you commit to each other when you might clash in person? Will your relationship only be between your online personalities and only result online? Often the personality of someone in real life is different from the one online. It is important to love and be compatible with all personalities of someone before you take the ultimate commitment of getting married. Could you be married to someone you have never met in real life?

Do you have control over your own personalities?

Rights to our own news?

Who owns the news? To answer this question we first have to look at what is news. Is news anything that has happened? Or is it only when it impacts a larger number? What is important news? Is celebrity gossip news? It is important to define what news is because it will determine what effect it has on people. If the news is something that has a global impact then more people would want to hear it.

There are two possible owners of the news, the society who reads it and the people who broadcast it. People can argue either way but I think it is important to realize that they both interact with each other. If there was no one to read the news then they would not broadcast it. If we did not have people who broadcasted the news we would have been sheltered before the internet. The internet gives us a way to be able to report our own news.

The use of the word own is interesting; how can someone own something that happened to another person? Do we only own news about ourselves? We need to ask who controls/influences the news. The people who collect and display the news have biases and could contaminate the truth about the information being presented. Society has the power to boycott and ignore certain sources for news, giving them the power to choose which news we want to hear. This might result in biased sources as well but it also shapes each nation and community. Overall society has the impact on which news sources we rely on but we still rely on companies to give us our news. These companies have an overall say of what they put on their sites and newsfeeds. It is a debate that will always be fought until one side stops interacting with the other. Do the people who broadcast the news listen and believe that news? Do you research news if you don’t believe one source is true?

Addictive Updates

Overall the concept of spreading personal experience is related to free speech. Where do you draw the line of how much a person can post? Or what they can post about? Is there a better way to spread your experience? Is a summarizing vlog, story, or blook better then constant updates? Is Twittering about every little thing too much for people to handle? Would the responses to Ms. Jackson’s information be different? Obviously people would still be upset that she is discussion such a topic, but would as many people know about it? Is this just another way for people to become “famous”? Do you use things such as Twitter or Facebook status to keep your friends up to date on your life? Do you post every little detail about your life? Do you follow famous peoples’ blogs? Do people not make a living off of knowing every little detail about famous people? Why can we stand to hear about stars in the news but not local people? Is it the issue that we have grown up as millennials and always think we are special? We always want to self promote what we are doing to the world, do we forget to tell our parents?

Each person has a choice to watch or read what others post, would you post on something that you did not like even though you did not have to watch/read it? What gives you the right to comment on it? Would you then post a rant about that persons post on your own blog or vlog? The internet is open to all ideas and you do not have to read or believe everything that is on there. Some topics are taboo and should be treated with respect when being discussed. People have the freedom to talk about what they want, but they should do it in a classy way. Would you want to be known for an insensitive digital citizen?

The Epic Fight of the Digital World

Today’s society is all about having the latest gadget. The ability of downloading books in seconds and taking hundreds of them where ever you go is what e-book readers provide. Is this selfish need healthy? Are e-books beneficial? Would this make society have a higher literacy rate? Would more people read if it was this easy? Or is this just another way for people to be disconnected from each other? Will we ever reach a stage where books are obsolete? Books might turn to electronic versions only but I do not believe we will get rid of them all together. Books are a way of tracing history. Hard copies and electronic copies should both be kept in case one is destroyed. What would you remember if you did not have all the digital pictures and text files?

Libraries are places for information and quiet study. Libraries have started to move towards the digital age by having the ability to find an article or to check if a book is in the library. Libraries will not disappear, they will simply transform. People will still need a place to study and a place to get hard copies of books. The textuality of E-books will never be the same as a normal book. The smooth texture of the pages, the crack of a spine, the new book smell, the way light reflects of the pages, and many more things can never be duplicated in electronic form. People who grew up with books will always have those memories. Do you hold memories of reading a book?

E-books vs. books whose side will you pick?

World Peace vs Self Destruction

WikiLeaks was created in 2006 and has gained many followers over the last four years. Is this because today’s society is more tech savvy? Or more people have access to the internet now? Is it because the information that been published on the site is more closely related to today’s society? Or is it just rebels trying to find a fresh news site? The news posted on this site was not about well known people it was about soldiers, people that we might know. Is this site just like celebrity news for the common people? How far can we push secret telling? Will it ever turn into something such as leaking a friend's secret to the world? Where does the site draw a line of what secrets are important enough to be on the site?

A big concern people have with wikis is that they might be biased. Information has always been bias. Newspapers, radio stations, television stations, word of mouth, etc. all these forms of communication have some sort of bias. Can we ever have unbiased news? Freedom of press would then be controlled by the influence of the website. If the influences did not like what the user was saying then they do not have allow it on the site. Can a website ever be fully unbiased in the information it holds? Does this just mean the author needs to look for a different site to host their information?

The biggest issue that rose was about secrets in general. Many people have stated that we are able to handle hearing these secrets. Was the society before us better off not knowing the secrets? Will this lead to world peace or self destruction? Does leaking these secrets to the world better the world as a whole or just make things more chaotic? It would be ideal if there was no need for secrets but will that ever happen? Does sheltering society from harsh reality actually help keep the peace among each other? Or will the hate towards these wrong doers ban us together?

Information Cloud vs Pirates

The act of piracy has been around for many years. Piracy was a term used for robbery at sea. Now it is also used for “robbery” on the internet. Was the way they dealt with piracy at sea a humane way? Is it suitable for today’s version of piracy? Obviously we are not going to hang people. Or are we? Is death a suitable punishment? Is piracy the right word to use? Is robbery better? Is copyright infringement? Will films ever become part of creative commons? If you are the one watching the pirated material what does that make you? Are you promoting it? Would you pay for steaming video? Why do people feel the need to not support the artists that create videos? If we removed all the sites that had pirated material would more just spring up? How can we control what websites are allowed to be about? Does that go against free speech?

What if the film industry created a site similar to iTunes? Members pay for credits to be able to watch streaming videos. Part of the proceeds goes to the film studios and the other part goes to host the website. Would this work? I think it is worth a shot, many people will want to support the artists but it is inconvenient to go to a theatre or rental store. Would people actually pay a small fee for videos? How can we stop people from screen capturing the video and spreading it for free?

The idea of a buying a license to be able to see or use a product, instead of an actual product, could be an alternative. This way you would be able to access it whenever you want. You buy a license to a CD, instead of bringing it where ever you go you have a card or an id tag that all your information is stored on. Instead of buying multiple CDs or copying it you would be able to pay for something and have it where ever you wanted. They have started this by having DVD, Blu-ray and digital copies bundled together. Would this idea of a master license ever come into existence? Would this help cut back on the piracy? Would we then just get a new form of piracy?

Sorrowful Remembrance

Often these days, I find myself with tears in my eyes. Tears of happiness mixed with sadness. It makes me question why I keep finding myself in this situation. I have been told I open my heart to everyone or I give everyone a chance until they prove me wrong. Letting people disappoint me ends in tears, these tears are not out of joy but of frustrations with myself. A few years ago I put up walls that blocked people out and they had to earn my trust and friendship. I believe these walls are still constructed in some form. This past summer was a true test of this. Today I had to leave the the people who I grew quite close to and it was difficult. Simple praise and thanks brought me to tears because these people did not see the normal person I am. They saw as a strong person one who did not cry at everything but still genuinely cared about people. This is the person I would like to be. I know leaving them is not forever and I still remain in touch with many of them. It is just hard to leave people who showed me the person I now am. I wish the best to every single one of them the best and I will see them in the spring.

Strong and positive.

Learning is constant.

I was asked the question, what did you learn about yourself this year. I was surprised by the question. I never thought any other “school”, other than the private school I attended, would ask that. It is not even a question of growth but a question of understanding. Have you learned something about yourself? It is such an interesting question. Many people have told me that young people do not know ‘who they are’ but the question I would like to pose is does anyone really know everything about them self? Are we not continuously changing? Do we not have to constantly re-evaluate ourselves?
This made me think of what that particular class has taught me about myself in the last year. I realized that I have such a different opinion and experience of schooling. I have always been told that I am missing out on the true high school experience. Maybe that is so, but was it such a bad thing? When discussing how the “normal” way of teaching is, I cannot agree with the students who have been to a “normal” high school. My school did not teach things the normal way. We were self directed teaching, which has been shown useful in post secondary schooling. I have the opportunity to make learning fun and interesting. Most of my friends from other schools were shocked and confused why I would do extra things for my classes. I like learning, especially if you have some input on how you want to learn. I do not believe sitting and listening to someone talk at you, letting information pass in one side and out the other is learning. Learning needs passion, you need to want to learn. I have learned this year that the way I have been brought up in my school have helped me instead of making me the kid from the weird school. Maybe I missed out of some of the things in a “normal” high school, but I am happy with who I am. I would be afraid to see who I could have been from going to a “normal” high school. It was nice to see that I could bring a different view of education to the class. It also made me realize that there is hope for the education system. Learning is something schools should actually do and not just promote. Learning, in the sense of self development, will hopefully make students more engaged in what they are learning. It would also make classes more enjoyable, I believe. If a student wants to learn and is actively participating in their class, I think the student and teacher would be able to learn more. Have you ever learned something about yourself from a class? Have you ever stopped to think that you might be growing as a person? Will you ever stop learning and changing?

Please take the time and ask yourself...what have I learned today?

Sounds of music.

Just I quick post, I promise.
I am heading to a concert tonight. It is part of a four night concert, some people ask why someone would go for all four nights, and well they are playing different songs (one album each night) and all the fan favourites. I am attending two of the nights and I am very excited. Music has been such a huge part it my life. Going to concerts is one way I support my fellow musicians. Their music has helped me through a lot of hard times in my life. I find that music is the thing that keeps me at peace. At this current moment, I really need to be at peace, since assignments and essays are all crammed within this next week. If you are stressed take a minute or two just to sit with your eyes closed, and listen to the music that you love. Let all your thoughts leave you, just be in the moment. No matter how upbeat or mellow the music it will probably calm you.
"You taught my heart a sense I never knew I had.."

What does society think?

How can we predict what society will think? Are there trends? Who says that it is what is acceptable? Can we change what is acceptable? Isn't being different going against what society wants? Or does society wants people to be different, which in turns make us the same? Is it acceptable for Barbie and air brushed ads to have such an unhealthy look? I guess it is, since we still have them. Is this not setting the ideal self image in the younger generations? Do boys now only want this type of girl? People strive to become the ideal human. Do video games also influence people’s perspectives? Does having form fitting armour, or huge muscles make today's society strive to have this perfect image? Does this make sense, since they want us to play their game and not go work out? Why do we have this constant push to become an ideal image? Why are we not promoting healthy and happy living? Why are we promoting always improve yourself?
It sort of makes me not want to do anything anymore. It makes me sad to think about what rules and guidelines our society is making for itself. It frustrates me to see good people being treated poorly because of their looks or of their social status. It makes me not care even more what people think of me, I am happy with who I am. The people I love and that love me know who I am. They accept me for the way I am, and never wish for me to change. You are your own being, if people cannot accept who you are, and then they have the choice to walk away. I do not think they have the right to say that you need to change.

Photo I edited.

Self... what does that even me?

What makes a person? Does self awareness? Does the perception of us in others?
If you lose your sense of self does that mean you do not exist?
Are you just a soul stuck in a body you are not aware of? Trapped in a place that is unfamiliar, uncontrollable?
What is your quality of life then? If you are constantly controlling yourself, an unable to properly communicate due to lack concentration, does it take away from your quality of relationships?
What about outer body experiences? When experiencing them do you feel non human, something of higher power? Are you human, or part of something else? What makes us human, control of the body we live in? What makes us able to figure out the difference between one another if we had no sense of self? Would we not be united as one whole? Is that the only way we will have "peace", or would there still be issues? What is the concept of self? What does it include, our morals, body, thoughts...? Why do we strive to have a different self then everyone else? Can you define yourself? Is it difficult or easy? Why?

Sorry for not posting, so much for the picture a day for a month.. I might try a picture each week and see how that goes.

Short and Sweet.

Sorry that this one is a day late. Friday night was not a fun night. Drunken people doing stupid things when I was already not in a good mood just put the cherry on top of a bad night.
I really do not want to rant about it here. I am over it.
Here's a picture.

 

A group of us performed for a talent show.. this picture was not taken there, it was at a concert. 

No Rant Today

I do not feel in the mood to talk.
I have not been feeling well all day. I think I am overwhelmed.

Here is some Olympic spirit.

Where are you?

Today I had to deal with things that were not my wrong doing, but my responsibility as a citizen to do.
Some might question what I did. Why did I deal with things? Why did I even bother getting involved? I was involved, maybe not as an active member, but as a bystander. It affected me even though it was not directed at me. It also affected many others who were also bystanders. When something happens what is your role? Are you a victim? A bystander? A perpetrator? Are you present at the situation? Body and mind? If you are not there mentally then where are you? Can you say you were actually part of the situation if you were not mentally there? How can you mentally not be in the location your body is? Is the body that we "live in" actually just an avatar? Do we control ourselves like video games?
If we cannot "multitask" can we really be in two places at once? Is it all to do with how we perceive our thoughts? Is this a reality or is this just fantasy? Is fantasy a better place to perceive us in? If it is why are we not all in our fantasy worlds? Would that stop war and hatred? Is our world actually being polluted? Or is it our minds telling us that we are doing something wrong by living in a fantasy world? Is diseases and death just a way of coming back to reality in another "world"? Is the light people talk about when they are about to die, an actual light of the "real world"? Are the people that we interact with computer generated? Are they other avatars stuck in the same fantasy as us? Are we stuck? Or do we choose to be here? Are the senses we encounter real? Are emotions real? Is anything real or is it all just computer generated?

 

Is it real? 

Can we ever be unique?

Dare to be different. 

I thought that this picture would be a good one to start off this post. Even though the pop tab might still be a part of the can unlike the others, it is the same as the others yet different.

Today I found a lot of things pointed towards this idea. Does our clothing make us different? Does it depend what your friends dress like? Do our hairstyles? Does the colour of our skin? Does the religion we believe in? Does the language(s) we speak? Does what we think about? Does anything make us different, or will there always be some one that is like us? Can anyone really be different? Does it matter if we are? Why do we want to be different? Is there a benefit to trying to be different? If so many people are trying to be different, does not trying make us different?

I find it frustrating when people judge others that are different. Sure we have all done it, me included. I have to say the worst thing that could be done, is to criticize someone and say that they cannot be different in front of a large group of people. People have rights. Yes they might use their differences as excuses or as barriers, but there is no reason why you should take away their rights. This embarrasses them, but can also lead to large arguments. The people witnessing it feel awkward and helpless. Should they step in and stand up for someone's opinion? Should they try to stop the argument? Should they tell the person who started it that they were wrong? Was that person wrong? Was it wrong to do nothing and sit by?

What makes you different?

Are we just puppets?

I read someone’s profile last night, and they said some pretty meaningful things.
He talked about us being puppets, unable to control how our lives change. Big moments happen and you cannot do anything to prevent them. He said that it is what you do after them that define you. That is when you realize who you are.
It inspired me to think after every big event, what should I do now? What can I do now?
You have to live each day to the fullest; you never know how many days you have left.


Picture Four

Costa Rica 2006.

Why all the secrecy?

It came across in conversation yesterday, that people who are not "straight" are still scared to show the truth to the world.
It frustrates me that there is still a lot judgment and criticism towards these people. Does a friend have to hide their preference in others secret to keep a friendship? Does a teacher have to hide sexual orientation to keep the peace within the classroom? Does religion hold back happiness of some people? So many questions come to mind about this topic.
I support people who try to find their own happiness, you should not have to marry and "love" someone who you do not even like. You cannot help who you fall in love with, why go through such deep secrets and pain to keep certain people happy? Your happiness should come first, especially if it is not causing harm to anyone else. Why can we not be free to love and be loved? Why do we keep putting others happiness above our own?

Picture Three.

Steamy hot chocolate to warm a cold day.

Day Two

Why the do girls feel the need to wear no clothes to impress guys?
Guys have imagination, they can think about what you look naked, so why do you basically do all the work for them!?


Picture Two.

 

 I thought they were cute.

Photos for a month.

To get myself started I am going to take my friend's idea and put it in a smaller version.
She is posting a picture every day for a year. I am going to try and post a picture everyday for a month. Since it is not the start of February yet, I will be doing this until the end of February, a bit more than a month.
Hopefully it will get me into doing this every day.
First picture.

 

Ribbon, I took it last night.

Why start a blog? What do I want out of it? Why do I care?

Many people make blogs, why?
Some believe it is a way to post their feelings and thoughts, others to self promote themselves. Everyone has a reason, what is mine, you might ask. I believe it is to express my thoughts, maybe not for people to hear/read them, but just to give me an outlet to rant or question things. I think it is important for people to talk about their thoughts and to have a place to release them; whether it is music, poetry, dancing, writing, etc. It is away to get things off your chest. If you want to comment then do, maybe we can learn something from each other. But do not just write a statement about how you do not like who I am, or what I am writing about. You always have the option of NOT looking at my blog.

The end, but the start of something new...