California

I went to California over the summer while I was still looking for a job which I have found by the way. I was a load of fun and I have been awakened to the Californian mentality.

July 4th- We drove to Charlotte NC, in a large van with my father, mother, sister, brother, and grandmother. We flew to Houston where we stopped for lunch. We flew from Houston to LAX where took a shuttle to Alamo car rental and drove to Calabasas where we checked into our hotel. We ate at In-n-Out Burger, a strictly West coast burger joint with a secret menu. My brother was sick this first day.

July 5th- We woke up in our hotel, grabbed breakfast, and drove in our Suburban to Hollywood. We got on a topless hop on hop off tour bus and drove around Hollywood seeing the sights and such. We got to see the Graumans theater, the Grove, the LaBrea Tar Pits, and we took a stop at Pinks Hot Dogs. My brother and I ducked out of the line to go to a comic book shop and I got to talk to some of the LA locals. We chatted a bit about what it was like living there. They said that living there was expensive but it was worth it for the chance of maybe becoming famous. Hmmm... After taking a connector, we got on a bus to see the downtown architecture of LA which was surprisingly very interesting. We also got to go see China Town and had churros. then we went down the highway on an open top bus! Then we got off and went back to the car and drove up to meet our relatives who lived there and after dinner we went back to the hotel

July 6th- We got up and this time my sister was sick and on our way to Burbank for a Warner Brothers tour. We got to see the Ellen show set and the 2 and a 1/2 men set as well. After 4 hours or hollywood magic, we stopped at Big Boy and ate and then went back to the hotel for some R and R. That evening we went to Santa Monica and Malibu and had sushi and pizza. We did the Hollywood walk of fame that night.

July 7th- We left LA on the Pacific coast highway and went through California's fertile farmland. On the way we heard that there had been tremers in LA and we also got to see where our lettuce comes from. We had followed the Andy Boy lettuce that they sell at Cost-Co back to the farm. We stopped at the home of John Steinbeck, Monterray! We spent a night looking for a good place to eat, Louie Linguini's. We went back to the hotel and wrote post cards to our friends.

July 8th- We drove down to Big Sur where strangely enought we found a bhuddist shop at the top of one of the mountains. weird. We drove to San Francisco

July 9th- We drove to fisherman's warf and saw the tourist trap of the century. We again did an open top bus tour or San Franciso. We saw the Transamerica pyramid which my mother used to work for, City Hall, Haight Ashebury, Golden Gate Bridge, Ghiradelli Square, Painted Sisters, and China Town. Then we had snack at Boudin's for sourdough bread. We then drove to China Town and had a dim sum dinner with the owner of the shop. Afterwards, we drove down Lombard Street in a SUBURBAN!!!

July 10th- Then we did the bus tour again and walked the Golden Gate Bridge with the Breast Cancer runners who gave us all dirty looks. on the way back to the car, my grandmother tripped and I had to carry her. We drove to Muirs woods to see the giant redwoods. they were trying to charge us $15 dollars a pop to see these trees. We instead skipped the line to just see it, and it was worth it. We then drove to Berkeley College and i had my picture taken and we ate at Xtreme pizza. definatly one of my college picks.

July 11th- We went back to fishermans wharf and took the alcatraz tour. it was awesome. we werent allowed into the cells anymore due to mechanical malfunctions. but we were able to hear about the legend and lore about famous escapes and murders. sweet. We ate at Boudin's and heard the uproar of the World Cup everywhere we went. We made some last chances to see some things like Haight Ashebury and other things. We left the next day.

I think overall, the culture of California is slightly more relaxed than others and is more tolerant of other cultures. Im glad a place like this exists for people who are ready to make the leap but im sort of glad the whole world isnt like it.

So im writing a book now. its actually kind of weird. I have been having so many dreams lately about so many possible books/movies. here is the one im currently writing on.

it involves Prince Fibonacci Giovanni Mussolini the 3rd of Morsael who escaped a military coup when he was 6 with his parents and is raised in new york city as an upper class citizen. he is 17 and his parents tell him of a arranged marriage that had been arranged for him and a princess from Terravida, Princess Roxanne Severo. the book will consist of love, betrayal, espionage, and the trials of modern day royalty.

the second one i had a dream about was a story that scared me to death when i dreamed it but i thought was freakin awesome when i thought about it.

Adrian Gray is called to italy to assist his Uncle Raffaello who suffers from a severe new kyphosis called Quasimodo's disease (due to its severality)and is around 65. Adrian has never seen his uncle before and all he knows about him is that he is a painter. when he meets him his art students are working on a portrait in a cathedrale and they point him out as the man in the wheelchair. his legs are very frail but his arms are massive. one of the students messes up and Uncle Raffaello flips out and smashes a can of paint amongst the wall and the course of the book involves Adrian and Uncle Raffaello working on the paining. there will be a love interest but im not sure what the names or relation will be. maybe a art student under him. possibly with postural kyphosis.

BTW: kyphosis is the disease where hunchbacks are named from.

update on life

IB program is getting annoying now. In one weekend alone, i worked on 5 different things. Oral Presentation for TOK, Capozzi's project, EE outline, IA paper, and IDS. (I HATE IDS).

my EE topic question is "What influences did George Berkeley's Immaterialism provide to the fledgling world in the 1700's?"its an OK topic for a philosophy paper.

My IA topic is "In what ways does mary shelleys Frankenstein exhibit aristotleian entelechy towards an answer to the question what does it mean to be human?"

my love life hasnt gone any further if not slid farther back. i dont really care tha much though

i have been so busy it doesnt matter. i have noticed other appealing people besides the girl i mentioned in one of my earlier blog entries. the only issue is that i dont thing they have seen me or acknolwledged my advnaces. oh well.

my interest in music has picked up significantly. i have been listening to some Billy Joel and Queen. they are pretty good, but all i want to do is to have someone ask me to play a little bass with them. playing bass alone is boring.

i fear that i might be kicked out of IB. i hope not. i dont want to go to western.

what do you guys think i should write about? post a comment on this one and i will write about it.

Help to the Speaker

Ill get back to the other thing later.

so my life has been a little bit crazy. I have started school, become the vice president of Model United Nations, i have a drivers license, and so much more.

Ok. has anyone ever listened to a song and thought it would make a great scene in a movie musical scene? i have that happening to me a ton.

for example, i was riding the bus at 4:45 this afternoon and i was listening to "March of the Black Queen" by Queen. good song. but for some reason my mind quit reading the book i was reading and went on a musical journey. I was in a lunch room and people were talking to me like they were tryingto set me up on a date and all of a sudden Malika was walking in the room wearing an all black dress and the guys were telling me to follow her and pick up a spear and a sheild and fight for her. weird.

I met a girl. well met isnt the right word. Typical boy meets girl story. Boy meets girl in geometry freshan year. ignores her. sees her everyday on the way to class sophomore year. thinks he should of said something last year. Sees her this year and cant stop thinkingabout her. He talks to her this year. Her best friend hates him. The girl talks to him and they get along well. they get along so well they talk to each other till 2 in th morning in facebook but rarely speak to each other in public.

Yeah. like i said. typical. its an odd thing. everytime i listen to The Police, i think of her. i have no idea why. any way.

If you guys want me to have a musical vision, post a comment with a song title and the artist.

I often find myself being the hopeless romantic. i have all the skills but have only a problem starting. but im getting better.

The beatles apreciation day has passed and i celebrated by only isteningto beatles music and wearing my abbey road shirt. currently i am into the police. its all cool for now.

Thoughts on the Existence of God

Most people live their day to day lives not thinking of their being or meaning of existance. They let others people do the thinking for them. Nowadays, i find that thru television and video games and even music, our meaning of life is driven into us and we simply accept their word for truth. and not only the meaning of life is given to us, but what to believe. Is evolution the only way i can come to be? What happened to god?
I had an interesting conversation with an old middle school aquiantance on facebook. He sadi he was going to school for spirit week on character day as Satan. i asked him why and he said that he didnt believe in god and so he doesnt beleive in satan either. Since ihad been studying the socratic method in my IB Philosophy class and i decided to continue the conversation. I asked him some questions in a supportive manner and he answered that he was atheist (a up and coming religion of the modern world). our discussion moved on to how the earth was created and he answered the evolution theory. but in the end the overall agreement was that it takes just as much faith to beleive in the evolution theory as it takes to believe in a god (i have to give credit to my father for this one.).
I have come to the conclusion that god must exist. Why do you ask? just pick a position.

Here are my thoughts, not to be considered truth to anyone but myself. I believe the judeo christian god created the heavens and the earth with order and terms for man to undrstand in complexity. He created one of every species, including humans. As time progressed, continental drift occured spreading out the animals, whom dinosuars were among, but the dinos died due to the flood according to noah. with continental drift, the animals were subjecgt to adaptation/evolution and formed new species according to their needs. I personally am a christian deist. I believe that god was once involved in the affairs of man and constantly withdrew himself due to corruption amongst humans. he sent jesus as his last physicall/visual time amongst humans. he left the HS to help if asked for. BUt he left the world alone after that. This results in my belief that christians need to stop praying so much and not doing anything and start trying to make a difference without coming off as jerks.

I appreciate the comments, keep'e coming. i like a working brain

Fitting into a Stereotype

my favorite song this time is "I've got my mind set on you" by George Harrison

For most people, they dont have trouble fitting into roles modern-day televison has set for us. The nerds can only be interested in RPG's, comic books, and Star Wars. The jocks can only be obsessed with sports, scool rivalries, and beating up the dorks. (I want to be clear about something first, nerds, geeks and dorks are completly different. Nerds are smart, geeks are obsessed about one subject, and dorks are somewhere in the middle). Those are a few of the major stereotypes but here are some more now found in highschool.

Cheerleaders- preppy girls and sometimes gay guys who are self-centered and often date the jocks
Jocks- sports-oriented and beat on the rest of the stereotypes and date the cheerleaders
Otakus-the group mainly focused on all things japanese. manga, anime, video games from japan. you name it
Band Geeks- not to be confused with orchetstra geeks. these people focus on music classical.
Orch Geeks- not to be confused with band geeks. thes peole are focused on classical music
Nerds- these people focus on all acedemics and nothing else
Geniuses- not to be confused with nerds. thes people are smart but still have time for ohter activities
Metalheads- thes guys not only like metal music, but live and breath metal. Not punks although very similiar and friendly to each other
Goths- May lik metal music but not focused on music. dark and gloomy due to terrible experience
Punks- anti-establishment and for rebellion, but fun to hang with. cigarettes, alcohol, and sometimes pot are present.
Artists- spend their time drawing in class andare friendly to otakus
Rockers- Rock and roll all the way. not hard core like metalheads but more open to aother forms of rock. generally anti rap
Skaters- close to punks minus the music and add some boards
Gays- i dont want to talk about it but they are there
Rappers- generally made up of blacks but white guys can be present.

those are the basics but there are a ton more.

But why is it some of us cant fit into these stereotypes. for example, me. I dont really fit in with any of these groups (especially the gay category), and yet they all get along with me. I am an artist, rocker, otaku, genius, and yet i can appreciate the other groups. I appreciate the intricate art of metal, the rebellion of punk, the spirit of the cheerleaders, and pessimism of the goths. but how is it that people still have such a hard time fitting in?

most people put themselves in stereotypes and clubs so they have a sense of acceptance. Others to have a place where they arent criticized by others for their gifts and talents. But most people and myself wonder, where do we fit in?

Sorry for the wait...

Hey guys sorry for the wait. It sure has been awhile. As some of you know, I have been in Europe (England and France) and I havent said anything becuase i have been processing it all.

Just for clarifacation, this picture was taken by my friend Beau @ the Eagle and Child in Oxford, England. The Eagle and Child was a pub that CS Lewis and Tolkein often visited. I am in the back and center, in the shadow drinking an alcoholic beverage.

To keep the story short here is what i did all in one sentance and in one breath.

"I went to england after visiting Hillsdale college, toured Winston Churchill's key places, saw museums, went to France, toured all the D-day beaches, went to Paris and came back home."

It was a load of fun and I hope I can do it again. However, while I was gone I did meet some one who I hope and pray I will meet again for an extended time. It was great but it couldnt last due to some distance trouble.

The real purpose of this post is the recent discussion over the new healthcare policy. I would like you to keep in mind that I am only 16 and have been recently in contact with extreme conservatives.

The Republicans and the Democrats have both been acting like children. The republicans complain about Obama's proposed policies saying that everyone is going to die. The Democrats are also to blame due to them calling conservatives unamerican. I would like to point out that the conservatives generally live like americans have lived in the last 40 years and the democrats shouldnt be calling them unamerican and Nancy Pelosi is majoritively at fault for the unamerican comment. The conservatives have made a big fuss over everything which they are entitled to. However, the conservatives I have come in contact with dont have all the facts and yell at Obama for "killing the senior citizens". I sympathize with neither party and being an independant justifies this. I have a personal message for both party readers out there.

For Conservatives: Since most conservatives tend to be christians, according to the bible we shouldnt be too caught up in the goings on of this world. You may have lost the election but dont give up on fighting for your beliefs, but that doesnt mean that you can make a big fuss over everything.

For Democrats: Please use power reponsibly, you do have control of the government but you need to be more representative of the people. and then you will have the approval of the people.