Textitis

I was watching the nightly news yesterday and a report came on about teenagers texting. Normally, I would've just flipped the channel because I'm so tired of hearing about how everybody uses their cell phones too often. However, the targeted audience caught my eye. Every single person they interviewed or talked about was my age. They didn't ask a single person over the age of eighteen any questions about texting. The news report claimed that our generation has become addicted to texting and that more often than not, the texting is about absolutely nothing. They also claimed that teens are losing sleep over texting and that our academics are starting to dwindle because of this. Some scientists are even going as far as doing studies about texting and publishing books. They've deemed addictive texting a disease of our generation. Apparently textitis is becoming an epidemic of "generation x".

Sure, there are many of us that text constantly, our fingers moving maniacally over a tiny keyboard. However, I would like to point out that by making news reports like this that show an overwhelming amount of people claiming one thing, the media is grouping every single teenager together and putting a stereotype on us. The media does this to every young generation. Even my dad was saying how they put stereotypes on him and his friends when he was young. Is this fair? Is it fair to say that our generation is doing "too much" of something? If you truly think about texting and Facebook and Twittering, aren't we really just finding new ways to develop a stronger relationship with those around us? If anything, I believe that communication is at it's strongest within our generation. The older folks are just seeing too many new things and are afraid that with all of this communication, we're going to ban together and start a revolution or something when really, all we're trying to do is see what's going on in the world.

Enlighten Me

If we let life pass us by each day and not live it to the fullest, what do we have to say for ourselves? I was stumbling one day (that's where most of my blog topics come from) and I found this image. I found the quote, "All that we are is the result of all that we have thought" very intriguing. I've always been interested in Buddha and his spiritual thoughts and encounters. To think about life as something that we build ourselves is to believe that we all have total control of the lives that we live. I believe that this is essential in living an entirely happy life. I believe in living life to the fullest each and every day. The idea of Buddhism is to become a sentient being and to transcend into another way of life. I've thought about practicing Buddhism but have never had the devotion to practice the everyday rituals and uphold the guidelines. I have also thought about trying to meditate each and every day and maybe taking the time to explore my creative side whether it be by writing poetry and writing these blogs. I think that when I finally go to college, I'll be able to have that alone time once in a while to do these things.

Back to the idea of "thoughts"... Now more than ever, we as teenagers and young adults need to begin having more pure thoughts. We need to learn to value what we have and to experience true happiness not only with others but with ourselves. What are the steps in becoming truly happy with ourselves? Perhaps meditation and reflection can lead to happiness. I believe that to be happy with yourself, you need to be comfortable with yourself and the person that you've become. I haven't quite reached that point yet and I still rely on others to keep me sane and happy. However, just writing this blog helps me discover my true being. I can only hope that when I'm ready, I will know who I truly am and I will be truly happy with myself.

To Do

With high school coming to an end and college about to begin, I've been starting to think about all the different things I want to do before I die. Whether they're little or big, each and every task is important. Here's what I've come up with so far:

1. Go skydiving
2. Be fluent in another language
3. Go on a road trip with friends
4. Go white water rafting
5. Meditate every day
6. Have a garden
7. Keep a consistent blog
8. Build a snowman
9. Redesign a piece of clothing into something new
10. Own one pair of designer jeans

While those tasks are somewhat surface level and can be accomplished easily, there are other goals I have set that could perhaps take a lifetime to complete.

11. Get married
12. Have a family
13. Own a dog
14. Graduate from college with a Master's degree
15. Make over $100k per year... after taxes
16. Build my own house
17. Have a closet full of clothes
18. Make a scrapbook of my entire life

More tasks will come as life goes on. Plans will change and things won't go how I want them to. However, I'd like to look back on this list and be able to say that I've done all of these things, at least to some point. We'll see how it all plays out.

Talk to Me

I was stumbling the other night to avoid doing potential schoolwork (go figure) and I came across a very interesting page. There's only about a paragraph on the page but I found the general idea absolutely fascinating. This man, Steve Lambert, decided to set up a table near a park, offering to talk to anyone about anything. At first, this might seem like a simple idea and perhaps a bit boring considering the fact that he gives people such a broad spectrum of things to talk about. The thing that made me want to expand the topic further was the difference in reactions from people to the table. Some simply continued walking, some made small talk. Then of course there were the fanatics and the crazies shoving their ideas down someone's throat because their opinion needed to be heard. We all know those people....

It made me think about all those moments where you just feel like having a deep conversation with someone, anyone. I love those conversations where you just sit there, wondering what if? The best way to start one of those deep conversations that could last hours is have you ever thought about... I've had many of those. Which brings me back to this idea of the table. I've made a conscious decision that I will do this someday. I just think it would be really cool to be able to talk to a complete stranger about something random but thoughtful and insightful. Or be able to pour your heart out and just have someone from the outside be able to listen.

We all need that little outlet for all of our complicated human emotions. I feel like it would be really interesting to analyze the different reactions I got from the table. I would only hope that people would be able to confide in me and tell me things I've never heard before.

I Told You So

Why do teachers feel the need to say that we'll never see each other again after high school? It really bugs me when they tell us that none of this matters or that we won't remember each other's names in five or ten years. How do you know? Sure, you went through high school before. However, I would like to point out that most likely, you had a completely different experience than the one you would have had at Tech High. Instead of having sixty classmates, you had a thousand. You didn't spend the entire day with the exact same people for nine months out of the year. You didn't have those four years to get to know each and every one of those sixty kids.

I can tell you right now, that in twenty years when I have kids or grandkids or whatever showing me a cool picture of a tiger, I will be able to say, "Hey, my friend Nate from high school was obsessed with tigers." I'll still remember texting Frank, Shane, and Emma every morning telling them what I was wearing so that they could match me. Most importantly, I'll still remember that day we're all standing all that stage and I'm sobbing because I won't get to see these people everyday. I will remember every single inappropriate joke and every single coordinated, exasperated sigh I shared with my best friend.

So don't tell me nobody will matter in five years because to me, high school has been the best four years of my life so far. I know I have many more years to come but high school will definitely be a highlight. We're actually planning to have an informal reunion dinner every year and a formal reunion in ten years for sure. I just hope that at that reunion in ten years, all of you teachers that say we won't remember each other will be there so I can laugh and say, "I told you so."

Here I Am, Laid Down at the End of My Rope

Sitting here listening to my iTunes library on shuffle, the past three songs have matched exactly how I've been feeling. Say I'm feeling a bit down and I feel like I've been screwing up lately. The song Sorry by Buckcherry will come on. Or say I'm feeling happy and giddy. The song Such Great Heights by The Postal Service will come up. No matter what, the song lyrics will always somehow match or describe how I'm feeling or what I'm going through at the time. What is it that causes these random little coincedences in the world? This doesn't just happen with music. Even something like the weather can coincide with our moods. Or perhaps it's the other way around with weather, but that's another story.

Some believe in fate or destiny. I don't believe that there is a set plan for each and every one of us in the world. Life's too crazy to be able to predict things like what we're going to be when we grow up or how many kids we're going to have. Different experiences shape the people we grow to be. Even the most innocent of people can go through a tragedy and come out scarred and broken in the end. It works the other way too with the not so nice people. They might see some random act of kindness and have an epiphany in life. The message here is that nothing is certain in life. These little random coincedences when you're listening to the radio are simply coincedences. Whether you want to believe that it was meant to happen, it's up to you. I think it's more fun to leave a bit of mystery in things, even if it's just some song on shuffle.

Every Man Has a Molly

Capture the Moment

What if a camera existed that could take pictures exactly how you see them through your own eyes? Imagine the possibilities of photography. What if you could take a photo as your dog is trying to shake off water in the bathtub? Or what if you could capture those little squiggles that go by when your eyes are shut tight? It's true that there are some high resolution cameras that can capture each line in your fingerprint or the different pores in a plant's surface but wouldn't it be much more effective if a camera was somehow planted inside your head? Think about all the different things you could capture. Then there's always those moments when something happens and you say to yourself I really wish I had a camera right now. That would never happen if you always had a camera on you.

Of course there are the different precautions to take when actually putting something inside your body. Other people with similar ideas have come up with the idea of creating a contact lens that can act as a digital camera. This seems like it would be the perfect solution but then again, creating a camera that small that can still take high quality pictures would be extremely difficult. It also doesn't address the different things we see in our mind's eye. You still wouldn't be able to take a picture of the different lines or dots you see when you rub your eyes or when you're just about to fall asleep at night.

And then again, perhaps this wouldn't be the best idea. Think about being able to capture exactly what you're thinking in a photograph. It could easily incriminate people or get people into trouble with their close friends or family. It would basically be a "diary" of your thoughts, printed out on sheets of paper. While this idea seems really cool in theory, there are many different things that have to be considered before beginning to build a prototype of a "mind's eye".

Dreams Become Reality?

Have you ever had déjà vu? It's the weirdest feeling in the world. You're doing something and you realize haven't I been in this exact situation before? You could just be sitting around with a few friends and someone says something and then all of a sudden you feel like this happened before. It's almost as if you had a dream about something happening in real life. I've always wondered what caused déjà vu but I've never had the motivation to actually look. My friend Allison reminded me of it today when she said that she was having that feeling. It's funny how even the littlest things can remind you of something big.

By definition, déjà vu is "the experience of feeling sure that one has witnessed or experienced a new situation previously (an individual feels as though an event has already happened or has happened in the near past), although the exact circumstances of the previous encounter are uncertain" (Wikipedia.org). Although much research has been conducted around the idea of déjà vu, there is no certain cause of it. Scientists believe that it is an anomaly of memory due to the feeling of recollection, although the brain can't actually identify the event's occurence at a specific point in time.

The most common explanation for déjà vu however, is precognition or dreaming. Many people believe that the moments of déjà vu can be explained by having previously dreamed the occurence. Research, however, shows that it is most likely caused by the brain "malfunctioning". I thought it was interesting to find out that nobody actually knows the real cause for déjà vu. Think about it next time you have one of those moments. You'd be surprised by what you think you can remember and what actually happened.

Coming to an End

I know it's extremely stereotypical to write about the end of high school and the beginning of college but I'm going to do it anyway. Did you know we're graduating in thirty two days? THIRTY TWO. THIRTY TWO?! Where's the time gone? It feels like just yesterday that we were sitting in Dr. Immel's class, being assigned our senior projects. Just yesterday we were given the "This I Believe" project in Mr. Smith's class. Now here we are sitting in a classroom, screwing around without a care in the world. By now everyone's gotten their acceptance letters and turned in their prototypes for the senior project. So what's next? What comes after we're handed our diplomas and step off that stage?

For some of us, things won't be much different. Some of us will still live at home and go to the junior college for a little while. Plus there's always that security blanket back at Sonoma State where our friends and teachers dwell. Unfortunately, the rest of us will be going away. Maybe only an hour or two, but it still means leaving our friends and family and starting somewhere new, all alone. We're going to have to learn how to get to class on time without Mom banging on our door. We're going to have to budget our food instead of scrounging around in the fridge at one in the morning. We have to learn how to be adults. I guess that's what scares me most about going away. I've never actually had to be self sustaining for more than a few days. I've always had my mom or dad there to pay for my lunch or serve me dinner. I have no idea how to plan dinners for a week. I have absolutely no idea how to set up a budget so I can pay all my bills on time and still have enough money for savings. I know my parents will be there to help me get set up. I also know that the first couple weeks will be scary as hell but after that I'm going to have the time of my life.


Stepping back and looking at things in a different perspective, these next six months are going to be a big deal. Prom is in two weeks, graduation in thirty two school days, possibly moving to Walnut Creek for a few days during the week over summer. My main concern right now is having fun and enjoying the end of this part of my life. I'm so scared of losing the friends I've grown to love over the past four years. I know that we'll all keep in contact but I won't be able to go to class everyday and see my friends making inappropriate gestures with their hands or yelling about Burning Man to our economics teacher. I guess it's time to grow up into the mature adult I know I have potential to be. For now though... let's enjoy some craziness.

Life Coming At You At Seventy Miles An Hour

This morning I was driving along the 101 going northbound to school. After getting on to the freeway, I was trying to move to the left and pick up speed. As I looked back to check other lanes, a ladder came out of nowhere. I didn't have time to go all the way around it and ended up running over the ladder, doing a 360 and another 180. By the time I stopped, I was facing the wrong direction in the left most lane of the freeway. Shaking, I got out of the car, looked around and almost fainted. Luckily, a fire battalion chief happened to be driving by on his way to work, stopped and called in the accident. Four CHP officers total showed up to the scene, stopped all traffic, and moved my car to the side of the road. The only damage to my car consisted of a flat tire and possibly damage to the front suspension.

Wow, what a great way to start off the day. Although I wasn't injured and my car had minimal damage, I'm still shaking, four hours later. Whenever I'm driving, I always try my best to be a safe driver and be aware at all times but even the most prepared driver will run into (literally) little things at some point in their life. The moment I started losing control of my car, it was like time was moving ten times slower. Forget the stereotypical life flashing before your eyes moment. During those few seconds that my car was spinning uncontrollably, these thoughts went through my head:

1. Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god.
2. I really hope I don't hit anything. I really, really hope I don't hit anyone or anything.
3. If there's damage, my mom's going to kill me.

The real question is why did these particular thoughts go through my mind at that moment in time? Thought #1 is obvious and expected when you feel like you're going to die. I don't even know how I had the time to think Thought #2. You'd think that there would really only be time for Thought #1. Thought #3 is based off of my past accident and the type of person my mom is. As soon as the car stopped, my mind went blank and I was in shock. I want to know why my life didn't flash before my eyes. Was it because I knew I was going to be okay? If that's the case, how did I know that? For all I know, another car could've hit me or I could've went flying into the freeway divider. I could've ended up seriously injured. With all these possibilities, I want to know, why was I not scared of being hurt? The weird thing about my little "360 trick" was that I don't remember what I saw. I can't recall what I was looking at or if I was still watching out the window. All I remember is those three thoughts going through my mind and then being jerked to a stop. If you had been me, what would've gone through your mind? Would you have similar thoughts? Or would you have actually had that "life flashing before your eyes" moment?

All I can say now is that I am so thankful that I'm okay. I have a new appreciation for firefighters and police officers. Everyone who helped me this morning was kind and understanding. I'm especially thankful to the fire chief who just happened to be driving by at the same time. Also, I now am deathly afraid of ladders...

Starting Fresh

And here we are again. This year's going by quick and we have another opportunity to blog about our thoughts, ideas, views, etc. The objective this time is to create a "digital footprint". Basically, we want to create a persona online that encompasses our creativity and originality. I've always tried to get into the whole blogging fad but have never actually taken the time to express my feelings through written word.

The goal for this particular blog is to make you, the reader think about the little things in life. Those little "what if" questions that have always popped up in the back of your mind. It's also just going to be a place where I can post random thoughts so that I can go back and expand on them later. Have you ever had one of those moments where you thought "gee, this would be a great thing to write down"? I have those moments all the time! Especially with song lyrics...

"Futile, the futile, it outweighs the beautiful"

So here we are with an objective and the freedom to do pretty much whatever we want with an endless supply of tools. Let's see where this takes us...