Outward

Here's another personal update, and then I imagine I'll be getting into some more profound postings somewhat soon here.

I graduated high school at the end of May.  Anti-climactic seems to be the word for it, seeing as I forsook high school after my junior year and completed my first full-time year of college in mid-April.  I did feel accomplished when I had that diploma in my hands afterwards, but I'm afraid that what I'm always going to remember is a slight irked feeling at having to wear that silly square hat.

I got a job!  I start digitizing aircraft repair manuals on Monday.  My early college teacher was so proud of me when I told her that I got a job with an engineering company right after graduating from our engineering-focused high school.  I hadn't even thought of it that way.  I was just glad to have a job so that now I can pay for textbooks, video games and a good part of my mission.  I'm intending to make my career out of storytelling, not engineering.  (For all I know, I might end up spending enough time in the engineering department to call it a career.  I'm not picky as long as I get what I want in the end.)

Speaking of mission, it's getting more and more real now.  I still have about a year before I set off (give or take a few months, perhaps), but I've started attending a mission prep class, and I've talked to my bishop about moving up in the priesthood, and per his request I got my hair cut short.  (And since I'm sure some of you will wonder; I'm thinking England and Japan would be cool places to go, but what do I know?  I'm sure the Lord will send me to whichever mission he knows would be my absolute favorite.  That seems to be what happened to every returned missionary I've listened to.)

The oddest feeling I've experienced lately actually comes with the thought that I have now beat every released Kingdom Hearts game save one.  It's been easily less than two years since I picked up the first one.  Now I just have Birth By Sleep left before Dream Drop Distance comes out next month.  I love those games.

Oh, and I made that blog that I mentioned in my last post.  It's called Without Money, Without Price.  ^__^

Aaand that's all for now!

In the Beginning

I started my first blog... <scratches head> two years ago?  Six blogs later, I'm still wondering how to write a first post.  

I'll begin by talking about the purpose of this blog.  I'll post a permanent link to this post at the top of the site so that it'll be easy to refer back to.

In my ninth and tenth grades, I attended a teeny little school called Karl G. Maeser Preparatory Academy.  One of the big things that would catch people's attention at that school were the Socratic-style discussions.  We would discuss topics that ranged from metaphysical (what is reality?) to sensitive (abortion, healthcare, politics, religion, etc.) to befuddling (what do women want?).  And, especially with the sensitive topics, we would lay aside prejudices, examine our preconceived notions, and seek a deeper understanding of the issue.  No yelling and screaming, just pure intellectual discussion.  There are a lot of adults who haven't figured out how to do that, which is really sad, because our Socratic Seminar was really awesome.

Alas, it was only for ninth and tenth grades.  My dad got a job seventy miles away, and the commute was just too far.  After that I found myself in an engineering school that was, shockingly, more full of geek-nerds than even Maeser.  But that's beside the point.

In this blog, I am going to talk about all the deep thinking I do.  This may include, and is not limited to:

1. Ideas about existence itself, as well as the way people see it and how the way you see reality changes reality.  This could involve psychology, biology, and quantum physics.  I don't particularly like math, so I'll be keeping equations to a minimum, and I will do my best to explain everything so clearly that my seven-year-old brother can understand it.  Feel free to ask questions about anything I say.

2. Ideas about how we interact with ideas.  

3. Controversial ideas (religion, politics, etc.).  I don't intend to persuade anybody of anything.  I want to talk about these ideas so that we may all understand them more deeply and make more informed decisions.  BUT, I have drawn conclusions already, so I can't guarantee that I'll be completely unbiased.  Just know that I want you to draw your own conclusions, and don't hold those conclusions so dearly that they keep you from thinking about new things.

4. Ideas about how we think and feel, and how we change with time.

5. Thoughts on games.  I'm a very story-driven gamer.  This leads me away from a lot of mainstream stuff like first-person shooters (Halo, Call of Duty, etc.), MMOs (World of Warcraft), and anything on Facebook.  That's all I'll say for now.

6. etc.

Most of my posts will be like this one, but if you're lucky I might express some my ideas in the form of a story or poetry or a picture or something like that.  We'll see what happens.

Basically, if you want to understand life and its residents a little bit better, this blog is for you.

I hope you enjoy it!  ^_^