Socialism

      Now, this title may have scared a few of you away due to our ever populous die-hard capitalism fans out there but I promise I'm not talking about the ideology of Socialism. I am speaking about the social aspect of our lives. Genuine interactions with real people in a real setting using real words. Not some computer babble over a mobile network with all kinds of acronyms blotted across the message. I'll even be generous and throw in phone conversations because without those I would not be able to stay in touch with my friends and relatives that live so far away.

     Our generation depresses me. With the luxury of email, texting, BBM, Skype, Gchat, Facebook and the many other things we use to keep "in touch" with our "friends" we really have done the opposite of what we have intended to do all of these years. We've lost touch. I'm not saying you aren't aware of what your friends are doing at any give moment. I'm well aware that you check your Facebook over 5 times a day and read what people are doing. I'm mainly saying we have lost touch with reality. Since we are doing things differently now, human interaction has changed and I fear it is for the worst.

     One of my all time favorite things to do in life is make others laugh. I love the raw sound of someone simply losing their minds with uncontrollable laughter. One of the reasons my friend and Alex are such good friends is because every time we get together, we are bound to touch on subjects that many people don't ever talk about and we are bound to both laugh our asses off. It's one of my favorite activities and I'm sure many people share the same opinion. In today's "modern" world, I still attempt to be "that funny kid from this class" and constantly joke with friends. Since Nextel's push to talk system never really caught on, there is no short simple way to send a voice message to a good friend. Now the punchlines of my jokes are simply answered with a "lol" or a even crappier "haha". Another reason Alex and I are such great friends is because even when I send her a short text message, I can just tell when she's laughing her ass off. Although it is easy and eliminates the problem of just trying to run into people on campus, I really do hate text messaging and all the other crap I mentioned earlier in this post.

     Ever since I really found out who I was, I've become quite a social creature. I've made a whole bunch of friends and met plenty of great people through the awesome friends I've made in my time being single. Now I don't preach that everyone should be single to find themselves, although it would make college life pretty interesting if everyone was single, but it definitely changed my life. Being free of inhibition and doing crazy shit I would never get away with in a relationship definitely helped me become who I really am. Flying across the country to visit friends I haven't seen in forever, getting way more drunk than I ever should be on a week night, laying in my front lawn after doing the former really helped change my life and open me up to this beautiful world that I really do harp on and on about. 

     My challenge to all of you this weekend is to actually meet up with a real person, have some coffee or some cocktails and just talk to each other like real humans. No lol's and definitely no haha's, laugh at real jokes and connect on a level that you definitely won't able to connect on over a stupid text message. It really shouldn't be that hard, I'm just challenging you to do more of it.

P.S. - Sorry for the absence yesterday guys. School is getting more and more hectic as the weeks fly by but I'm in it as long as you guys are. I'll keep the posts coming if you guys keep eating them up. It's been great hearing the kind words you all have to share about my writing style and philosophy and I can't thank you enough for help keeping my dreams alive. 

Talent

      I can't tell you how many times I've heard people say that they aren't good at anything. Contrary to popular belief, I firmly believe that all of us have a hidden talent. Something that we absolutely shine at. Something that makes us utterly happy while we are doing it. This is simply what I like to call a talent. Sure not all of us can be six foot six and soar to heights that would make Issac Newton rethink his theories about physics but we're all good at something, no matter how much you want to deny it.

      I think the real problem that we all face in finding our talent is not being fearless enough to take the risks we need to discover our talent. People today are obsessed with going to college to find a great job after they graduate. Little do they know that any job is considered a good one in this economy and they also don't consider how much they don't like what they're studying. Most people think, well it doesn't matter because I'll be making a ton of money and I'll buy really nice things. I agree, the sound of a V-12 engine surrounded by the classic Rosso Red paint sure makes me smile but money does not buy happiness. Waking up every morning knowing that your about to make a commute to a job that your absolutely hate doing is really no way to live. 

      A ton of people have offered statements about how many shots you miss if you don't take any but i can't stress enough how true they ring. People always offer me the same advice, like "how am I going to make money doing this?" or "what if it doesn't work?" Another lesson I learned from "His Airness" other then what shoes I like best is that no matter that he got cut from his high school basketball team, there is no doubt that he was the best player to play the game. Not only was he good at the game, he would step on the court with missions to dismantle players that he was up against. Dunking from previously unreachable heights, playing above the rim and doing what he needed when his team needed him the most. You can never realize your full potential until you actually get after it and make the best effort you possibly can.

      Take it from me. I originally went to college to study engineering which I was good at but utterly miserable while at practice. Although it offers a lot of room for creativity, I could not let my full potential shine due to all of these rigid rules people called physics. Now that I'm studying Photojournalism, there is literally no limit to my creativity other than the law and common things we call ethics. Even those are bendable. 

      Lastly, learn to take your time through life. There is no rush to figure out anything. When I hear people talk about youth and when people tell me you have your whole life ahead of you, I simply reply with so do you. If you really think about it no matter how old you get, you'll always have your whole life ahead of you. So what are you waiting for, Live.

Look into my Eyes

     Everyone ought to know by now how much I love house music. It's the music that sweeps through my soul and makes me want to dance like an idiot. Although I love a whole bunch of DJ's there is one solid favorite that's been with me since high school. Going by the stage name of Kaskade, Ryan Raddon has literally torn up the charts this year by dropping some of the hottest songs of 2011. His two brand new singles, "Eyes" and "Turn It Down" have become favorites for all those deep in the house scene. Even some of his older songs have made major play on top 40 radio stations and it couldn't make me any happier. 

      I've been into House music since high school when my buddies of the crew team would blast the infectious beats out of the "erg" room in the basement of my school. Getting hooked on artists such as Deadmau5, Kaskade, Tiesto, and so many others. A few of them I decided to stick with and still follow to this day.

      Although my tastes in music have varied over the years from obsessions with death metal to hardcore trap rap phases, house music has always stuck with me. I guess it's just the beat that my soul moves to that keeps me coming back. 

      Kaskade has become the premier DJ out of the US today. Although many other countries have their superstar DJ's like the Dutch have Armin Van Buuren, the Swedes have Avicii, us Americans live for Kaskade. No one really has blown up to the level that he has in today's scene. You really can't blame him with the beats he drops and his utterly beautiful vocals he plays over them. 

      All in all, music is what moves all of us. It can move us to tears, give us goosebumps, make us scream and dance like we never have before. I enjoy a wide range of music because the writer in me is completely obsessed with lyrics but the musician in me will always flock to house music. Being personal, you should find the music you truly and deeply form an incredible connection with and scream like I do when it comes on American radio for the first time. It's been a pretty wild 8 years and I only imagine it's gonna get wilder. 

Miracles

     Ask anyone who has gotten to know me within the past few years and they will probably tell you that I have such a weird view on the world. Frankly, one of my best friends and surrogate older sister, Aimee Nucci, tells me that I'm crazy. Most of the time I don't believe that statement but looking back on it, Yep, totally crazy. People who really sit down and talk to me about the world and happens that go on in a day, always look at me with the most puzzled expressions. With my unique view on the world, I tend to turn even something stupid like the way coffee tastes into a miracle. 

     If you really factor everything, and I mean everything, into human existence; it really is a miracle that all of us are here. One out of a billion or so, give or take, sperm decided to make it to a specific egg and they mated with no problem. Then our mothers carried us for nine months as we gestated and most of us come out problem free. Sitting and thinking about that really blows my mind and it's crazy to think of the slim chance that we all had at existence. Thinking about how lucky we are just to live, breathe and exist to view the world around us really makes a stupid fight you had with your sibling utterly pointless.

     I saw this video circulating the internet a few days ago but I decided to wait until I really had a quiet moment by myself to take the time to watch and really take it all in. After about my fifth time through the video and finally finding a tissue to dry up my own tears, I once again found a reason to affirm my philosophy that miracles happen literally every minute of every single day. 

     Watching this woman simply overcome with joy at the simple fact of hearing her own voice for the first time in twenty nine years is nothing shy of a miracle. Quickly bursting into tears of joy all due to the fact that she could hear. Most people are so miserable about their lives because they don't own a Mercedes-Benz, they hate their job or they are a little overweight and this woman is crying her eyes out in ecstasy over hearing her own voice. Take notes everyone because this should teach us we all have so much to celebrate in our lives.

     When people ask that oh-so-interesting question "what are you most thankful for in life", I always come up with the same answer no matter what my circumstance. I am always going to be thankful for life and the fact that I was put here to witness one of the greatest stories ever. Human life. Life is magical and inspires me every single day the more that I witness it. This small video was simply proof that life is so much better than any story ever written, any movie ever made and any song ever sung. Life really shows you how marvelous it is, every day. Do yourself a favor and get out there and just take it all in.

Dream Highway

     The dream highway is a place many people find themselves on in the wee hours of the morning resting comfortably in their bed. Scientists say that everyone dreams but some people forget what they dreamt about before they wake up. Unfortunately I am in the small minority that happens to remember their dreams. Frankly speaking, I can remember certain dreams I've had almost two years ago and even further. Dreams can be a great thing and inspire people to do great things but dreams can also be one of those things that can be, at least for me, crippling to your productivity during the next day.

     Last night I had a strange dream about getting surgery. I can't distinctly remember why I was getting the surgery but It was a delicate one and my family was upset because they were unsure if I would survive the surgery. I was supportive and kept telling them that I would be perfectly fine until someone from the past showed up a complete emotional wreck. Have you ever been in the spot where someone from your past shows up and you are completely unprepared to deal with the situation? Multiply that feeling times ten right before you about to go into surgery. I remember the feeling I had when I woke up and it took me all day to try and figure out how to deal with that feeling.

     Normally, dreams tend to inspire me to create things. Things like artwork, care packages for friends I've fallen out of touch with and even whipping up a new dish in the kitchen. Kind of like the Michael Scott peanut butter and tuna fish sandwich dream he had when he opened Michael Scott Paper Company. Dreams tend to work in my favor. Although sometimes my dreams work against me and take me out for a day. 

     Listen to your dreams kids. Dreams tell you exactly what your insides are thinking and your insides are never wrong. True happiness is about following what your heart is telling you to do. My philosophy on the whole "Brain vs. Heart" argument is that you should never stop listening to your heart. If you end up in a jam, your brain will help think you out of it but your heart never lies. Your brain on the other hand is, well at least I'm convinced, is sometimes wired to lie. Lying helps us get out of sticky situations that sometimes we would rather not be it. Your heart will truely lead you down the road you want to be on. Take it from me, never do the so called "smart thing", always do the "Heart thing".

Flagships

     So it's finally October and I say that like I've been waiting for this month all year but it's just another one on the calender. I've decided that I've kinda let you guys down in the sense that I haven't been a good blogger in a while but October is a whole new start. DAILY POSTS ARE GOING TO HAPPEN ALL THIS MONTH. That's right, I said it. This is going to be our most productive month here and it's a promise. To start this month off, I'm going to talk about a topic that I've been thinking about for a while and the subject of this post is going to be about flagships.

     Now I'm not talking about those kind of ships because the good lord knows I could probably write a blog about ships themselves. I'm taking about the top of the offerings presented. A company makes their flagship model the best they can offer without an compromise. If we were to look at it with cameras, Canon's flagship model is the monstrous 1Ds Mark III. A twenty one megapixel beast of a camera that produces the highest resolution images in the Canon line to date. Not only does it offer high resolution, the feel and the way the camera works allows professional photographers and Canonites to work effortlessly since they know exactly how the camera is going to work and how the images are going to come out on the other side. Seamless adjustments made on the fly and productivity skyrocket when the right tool is used for the job. This is a perfect example of what a flagship product is.

Photo Credit: Joey Lawrence on a Canon 1Ds Mark III

     Although it may be tough to say, we should all strive to be flagship models of the human race. Being the best at what we do and making what we do look effortless. Practice definitely does make perfect and when it comes to executing nothing helps more than previous practice.  Looking flawless doing what you love is no doubt one of the best feelings in the world. For example if you were swimmer and someone came up to say how great you swam in your last race, would you have any problem with that? Even if you were just speaking at your best friend's wedding and your friend came up after and said "Bro, you totally killed that best man speach". I challenge you to frown after that compliment. Who seriously doesn't like being told they did an awesome job.

      Life takes us all in different directions. Finding your direction and flying the course is what it's all about. Sure, we all get a little lost and drift off course at times but we seldom realize that these little offshoots actually help us in the long run. Teaching us what we really need in our lives and what we really need to stop wasting time on. Ask any of my friends and they will tell you one of my most famous sayings it that life definitely gives you a lot of room to fuck up. I know this because I sure have lived it. Don't take life too seriously, people tend to shy away from those who do. Even if you're not super successful, you might have friends that are and would be willing to share the wealth.

      As for me, school has pretty much invaded my life to the fullest extent. On campus 5 days a week and at work 5 nights a week is something I wouldn't wish on anyone but you have to what you need to do to get by. If you know me though, don't think I've factored fun out of my life completely. It sure has been pretty fun meeting a whole bunch of new people and learning new things from my teachers. It's gonna be a short two years, I know that for sure but I'm going to do what I can to enjoy it and really live this thing they call life. For now, its just the old saying. Keep on keeping on.