Inopportune Blogger

The last two weeks of the fall semester begins now. It is always an absolute crazy grind because the Thanksgiving break really throws off your groove. This year is no different -- although, I was little bit better than years past at getting work done. I have about a million + one things to do. And yet on the brink of all this, I decide to blog. That's who I am I guess, an inopportune blogger. Part of the reason I do it is probably just to procrastinate on more important work.

Currently, I have Everglow by Coldplay stuck in my head. It's off their new album A Head Full of Dreams. I've never really been a fan of Coldplay but I like this song. It's simple and quiet and just there. I've yet to listen to Adele's full album but the four performances I've saw on YouTube have been good. And I really like 3/4 of them. Mainstream music is on a good note right now. Even Bieber is sounding good . . . (Yes, you read that correctly.)

  

It's been busy and eventful and good since I last blogged. I got to hear some cool people talk: Amanda Palmer, Junot Diaz, to name a couple. I did sort of make a decision on something I've been contemplating a lot this year, mostly offline, but I'll get into that on a later post maybe. 

I was able to make my annual trip to the Arboretum though!

Happy fifth!

I almost forgot to wish my blog a happy fifth. That's all I have today. Happy fifth blog. Thanks for listening. Thanks for encouraging me to write semi-regularly. Thanks for holding onto my thoughts and memories. Maybe we'll have five more years! It's been real. =]

Quotations Through the Years

It's been three years and some months since I've last blogged a series of quotations (the ones on my Facebook and favorites from Angelina Jolie). And in many ways, inspiring words have kept me going. Back when favorite quotations was easily accessible on Facebook, I would read each friend's favorite quotations when I we became friends with them on Facebook. I always liked learning what motivates people. So here are some new favorites (pulled mostly from my Twitter because I can't remember things off the top of my head).

"All the changes in the world, for good or for evil, were first brought about by words." -- Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis

“There is an expiry date on blaming your parents for steering you in the wrong direction; the moment you are old enough to take the wheel, responsibility lies with you.” -- J. K. Rowling

"You can't be 'good for your age' anymore. You have to be GOOD." -- Emma Coats

"Inspiration is for amateurs; the rest of us just show up and get to work. If you wait around for the clouds to part and a bolt of lightning to strike you in the brain, you are not going to make an awful lot of work." -- Chuck Close

"If you can't explain it to a six year old, you don't understand it yourself." -- Albert Einstein

"Imagination, not intelligence, made us human." -- Terry Pratchett

"Stories are light. Light is precious in a world so dark. Make some light." -- Kate DiCamillo

"I was not inspired by old science fiction as much as I was inspired by how the future used to be seen in contrast to how it’s seen today." -- Brad Bird

"The biggest problem with Twitter is that I'd be in a taxi and I'd be on Twitter and it would keep me interested. I realised I wasn't getting bored enough and [that I needed to get bored] to start plotting things and coming up with ideas." -- Neil Gaiman

"Stay Hungry. Stay foolish." -- Steve Jobs

/shrug, pictures and stuff

Because I haven't blogged in a while, and to get things rolling, I thought I share a couple trivial photos.

I moved across the river to Cambridge, MA. So I get to check out the Boston skyline on my way to and from BU.

Kinetic sculptures are cool! I guess South Station is pretty cool too. These are by Theo Jansen.

Downtown Portland. There's a heck of a lot of locks on this fence.

Nothing is more ominous than looking up a rocky, fog-masked, mountain cliff (Acadia, ME).

I apparently now deal with stress by shopping at Whole Foods and eating an apple on the walk there . . .

Post Script: The "G+1" icon is beyond hideous.

As If It Were Already Here

It's been awhile since I've blogged. About two months. And I still don't really feel like blogging. I think since graduating undergrad and now, I've become less concerned about my future than I used to be. There's less of a desire to chase and more of a desire to exist.

My current favorite thing about Boston right now is this giant net sculpture by Jane Echelman appropriately called "As If It Were Already Here" -- I love the name. It lights up at night and shimmers in the wind all day. I think I like it so much because of its scale and presence and passiveness. I enjoy sitting underneath it. I'm comforted by it.

What is Life?

Recently, I read an article about a kickstarter wearable for teenage girls. What I really love about this idea is the lack of a screen. It's a social and fun way to use technology to engage youths. Screens aren't always needed. It's important to remember when to not overindulge.

There's also this talk I truly would love people to see by Neil Stevenson. He talks about the general opinion toward science through the years including very recent trends and how storytelling has impacted it and what he sees for the future. Neil is passionate about this topic and I think the way he presented it was fantastic. His views also line up pretty closely with my own, just more eloquent.

Here's a cool shoe-making process video: