So I wrote a letter today...or maybe a couple...

    I honestly don't mind writing letters and I sometimes actually write and send legitimate letters to friends if I need to. However, I'm pretty sure anyone would agree that pen-and-paper letters are pretty much outdated. Since this classic mode of communication is so outdated, the cost of letters and postal services in general are increasing. Sure, people still mail packages, order packages and mail out immensely large stacks of wedding invitations. However, not as many normal letters are sent nowadays as they used to be say...in our parents' time, especially since the wonderful convenience of emails and AIM.
  
    There are plenty of other things that people might consider "outdated". Apparently physical CDs are getting outdated since the dawn of MP3s, itunes and other digital music sources. Furthermore, apparently I'm one of the few who still goes out to buy CDs...but that's just one of my weird  habits. Out of the past five or ten CDs I have recently bought, I have mostly only used the physical CDs once simply to rip it onto iTunes before uploading it onto my iPod. However, part of my weird habit is the fact that I like to be able to physically hold the music that I bought. Also, if my computer somehow crashes and wipes out all my music I still have the physical CD as a backup. Honestly, who can deny a snazzy album cover sitting on their bookshelf?

    Newspapers and magazines are soon becoming outdated, possibly followed by physical books since the set up of news sites on the internet and the invention of digital book readers. I'm, again, one of those weirder people who likes to physically hold certain objects, and books and magazines fit under that category. I honestly enjoy going out to buy books and being able to actually hold a book while I read it. I don't like the idea of reading a full book on a screen. With a book on-screen you have less of an indication of how far into the book you've read. What about the glare of lights? With a physical book, extra light helps you read...with a screen, extra light often makes it insanely hard to read.

So let's talk about feelings...

    There's this little feeling called guilt. Although it's only one out of many emotions, most people can agree that guilt is a miserable feeling to have. Knowing that you are a witness to, or the contributor to a wrongful event that compromises the ideals or morality of any individual is often a dooming ticket to acquiring guilt. Everyone has had their guilt trips, whether large or small. Either way, people deal with guilt in their own ways. Some simply distract themselves from their guilt, some wallow in self-pity because of their guilt, some people go out an apologize and some people go the extra mile to make up for their wrongful actions. I can't prescribe any solutions of getting rid of guilt, but a great way to help is to somehow let out some of that guilt. Keeping all your guilt pent up inside is not a healthy habit and could possibly drive one insane. Therefore, letting some of it out by talking to someone or apologizing will help relinquish some of that guilt.
  
     As bad as guilt gets, a worse feeling can be disappointment. In my opinion, depending on who you receive disappointment from, it can feel even worse than guilt itself. The feelings of disappointment against you especially hit home when someone close to you, say a relative or wicked close friend, reveals their disappointment in you. I'm sure many people have also had this experience before. The disappointment of a close friend or relative often inflicts guilt and leaves you thinking and most often regretting about the situation that has caused such disappointment. Disappointment is harder to relieve as it is a feeling felt by someone else towards you. Therefore trying to get rid of someone's disappointment in you requires wonderful social skills to apologize to that person and somehow make it up to them.

    This blog entry has actually kind of depressed me. However, as I sit in my room avoiding the rest of my statistics homework while listening to the Killers, I'm coming up with blanks for my third paragraph. I remember when I was young, around 4 or 5 years old, I thought that being a 10 year old was amazing and that you were taller and cooler. When I was 10, I thought being a 15 or 16 year old would be amazing and I would be one of the giants carrying around large books and doing whatever else we do. Now at this age, when I look at the younger kids I think: "I used to be one of those kids looking up at an older kid like me". A point I'm trying to express is that we don't notice how much older we are than we were before and how we are now the generation that the younger school children look up to.

So we talked about symbols today...

    There are just tons of symbols in today's society. There are trademark symbols, logos, artistic symbols, religious symbols and many other different types of symbols. Symbols are often used to represent different things or different groups. As I type, I am watching the movie Black Hawk Down. However, I do not intend to fully interpret all the symbolism in this movie. Although, this movie will probably include obvious symbols as it continues.
   
    Unfortunately this movie has been quite literal in symbolism. From what i have watched so far, most of the Africans represent oppressive African soldiers under the corrupt government. Then the American soldiers simply represent a supporting force brought in to restore order. Going off on a tangent, but there are a ton of symbols used in the military. Every ranking in the military system comes with its own symbol and every operation is given a symbolistic code name.
   
   I feel required to throw off every symbol in this movie that comes up. These multiple helicopters and humvees represent America's wealth and implied military power. At one point in the movie, a child-soldier who was with his father ended up accidentally shooting and killing his father. This could possibly represent the point that the African factions and militia in the country are tearing themselves apart and will eventually destroy themselves. However, the crashes of the Black Hawks also represent America's potential weaknesses.

So we're in the computer lab

    I guess right about now I'm blogging simply to kill time while I compose my essay in my head. I often find that a good hook takes a large amount of effort, especially the hook for the introductory paragraph. The hook is often desribed as the one sentence that is meant to catch and keep the reader's attention. As the hook for the introductory paragraph I often feel that this particular sentence needs to be especially strong and captivating. I simply wish our essays could be loosely formed with casual conversation. In that case I would probably end up submitting a blog-like essay.

    I don't think it's a good thing to have to wrack my brain when I'm trying to write my blog. I'm not sure if that's the correct spelling and usage for wrack, but it was worth a try. I see blogs as a place to write down my mind splurges without conflict or hesitation. As a random side note, although these lab chairs are made of hard plastic or whatever material, I really like the fact that you can bend backwards as far as you want. My desk chair at home is rather comfortable with a decent amount of leathered cushioning but it can't bend backwards nearly as far as these chairs. On another irrelevant point, I got my desk chair at Ikea.

    Ikea definitely has some pretty snazzy furniture and it's not necessarily as expensive as other furniture stores. However, I wish the closest Ikea was closer to Framingham. I forget exactly what town the Ikea is in, but I think it might be Reading. Last time I went to Ikea I was amazed that they had a small food court and that they put arrows on the floor. It had been a while since I had last gone to Ikea and I previously thought Ikea left you on your own to try and navigate the store. However, I bet so many people have gotten lost in their stores that they decided to put helpful arrows on the ground. Imagine living in a house as large as an Ikea store. I would definitely get lost in that house, even after living in that house for ten years or so.