http://failblog.org

I wish there were ways to quantify really abstract ideas. I want to be able to substantiate or allay the the theory I'm about to pose with some convincing statistics.

So yesterday I was studying for a test with a girl I had never really talked to before. She, like almost every other person in that class, had put much more effort into studying and preparation than I had and  I wanted to make sure that she would be able to get in contact with her if I needed to. So I did an action that triggered an equally introspective and outside world analysis a few minutes later. At the moment that could have proved potentially awkward if I had asked for her number, I realized this situation for what it was or could be, and I did NOTHING. Well, ostensibly I did nothing, but at that moment I realized that I could just facebook friend her as soon as I got home. Wow. Through technology I was able to cop out. The very loaded action of asking for a phone number was averted through a simple click.

My theory is thus: we well connected Americans are constantly compromising depth. The thing is, I do not necessarily think that there is any less depth out there. I just think that it's being spread out all around us. A good illustrating parallel to this would be our generation and knowledge. We know a lot about a little. Using things like Wikipedia, we can easily find out a detailed summary about almost anything we want. And we often do.  I'm not sure if it's for better or worse either, but that's my theory. QED?

Song of the day: Golden Age by TV on the Radio

just listen

Is that...Harry Potter? Harry, what do we know about the business cycle?

This is a formal challenge for Rubin to keep up with his blog. I'll be damned if I become the guy who is made fun of all the time for being nostalgic and blogging.

GOD DAMNIT RUBIN! Those words mean a lot to me because they sum up everything I want out of life. Here's how:

A few falls ago Rubin and I embarked on a journey and that journey was called Grim's econ class. I'm really glad that I chose to take that path because now I look at it with a sort of fondness, those were the days that I had the privilege of suffering through econ. The thing that made it so fun, and this is the reason for this anecdote, is that Grim hated Rubin. And although he never said "God damnit Rubin," we always assumed that those words were forever in his mind whenever he would ask Rubin a class. Now, partly because I truly enjoy reflecting back on those days and partly because I feel this claim needs some anecdotal evidence, I will share with you one of my favorite Grim-Rubin moments. 

It was parent's weekend at Loom Chaff and everyone's parents were in attendance for our econ class. The audience, needless to say, was one that was very impressionable, proud, and in their own respective rights, quite successful. In fact, this was in the Goldman Sachs era of sheer dominance and we happened to have a VP in attendance. The stakes were high. Most of the kids in the class were spending the day with their parents for the first time in months and were trying to impress them with whatever knowledge they could muster up about economic issues. This was also probably Rubin's first day with his parents in months- despite his day student staus, but that is just a normality of the household; I digress. I also should mention the fact that at Loom Chaff, on parents weekend, there was sort of a tradition of teachers asking nothing but easy questions so that we students would look good  in front of our parents. Teachers were known for having you raise your right hand if you knew the correct answer and the left if you didn't. Either way you had the opportunity of looking good. And the same was in Grim's class. Everyone that day got easy questions, and although he did not do the hand thing, if you didn't know the answer- unlike every other day in class- he wouldn't call on you. But for some reason, fuck that, we all know the reason, Grim decided to single out Rubin on one question that he hadn't raised his hand for. The usual "umm umm umm" mixed in with the classic reddening of the face ensued; I think some random boarder bailed him out, but the message sent was clear:

Grim wanted Rubin to feel embarassed. Grim did not like Rubin.

While this story may illustrate an extreme extent of Grim's cruelty, it would definitely suffice to say that we were worried every day we entered that class. Sitting through those classes was rarely fun in and of itself. What makes me able to look back on that experience with such fondness is the fact that there were so many things that became funny for no real reason. It became a joke  how late Rubin and I could show up to first period. Maybe this was because it wasn't me and I wasn't ever really worried about not passing, but probably the most entertaining part of econ was the fact that Rubin was convinced he was not going to pass the class spring semester. The funny thing was that our response wasn't to study harder, it was to just joke about and to contemplate what would happen if Rubin did, in fact, receive an F. Many a conversation was devoted to this. And i guess now that everything has ended well, we can look back on it and laugh. 

This kind of stuff is all I want in life. I don't mind working hard and going through shit to get to where I want to be, I just really want to be able to look back on it and smile. Just like this blog post, even now I'm looking back on it and laughing at how cheesy this overall message is, but I don't care. I kind of feel like Zach Braff and that end of a Scrubs episode.  Tsall good tho, I'm smiling right now and that's all that matters.

interesting night. 

Hackneyed, Banal, and Trite

TODAY...is the first day, of the rest of my life.

Daily Routine by Animal collective

What are we going to do with all of this information? If by some miracle I continue this blog for even 5 years, when will I be able to read it? Since a lot of people blog or keep online journals for the sake of documenting history, I just wonder when we will be able to view all of it. And if we, as I'm sure will turn out to be the case, realize that we will not be able to play back all of these memories, are these private memories going to be for public viewing, just so that there can be eyes to witness what has been documented? 

The purpose of this article in the Onion was to make fun of people's obsession with Barack Obama's historic presidency. In so doing, I think it touched upon a rather important idea that is the central theme of this blog post, which is the accessibility of information storage with this generation. Maybe this isn't an attempt to keep everything on record, it's just like having a life ipod- which is to say that you have the accessibility to all of your memories even though you will most likely never view them, similar to the way that no one listens to most of the songs on their ipod. I just wonder what will become of all this stuff. And as much as we think it may, this stuff will not last forever- that show Life After Humans on the History Channel (an interesting network choice) shows that after humans these records won't last that long. 

Song of the day:

9 Crimes by Damien Rice (the live youtube version from Abbey Road is the best)