Deux Mil Seize 2016

2016 has been a biiiiig year for many, many reasons.  Also, December has been a busy month for me and therefore has been no shortage of things to write about.  Inversely, there was a definite shortage of time to write about those things.

And so, beginning in 2017, I have a great line up of new and better content.  There's a lot of YUGE things to look forward to in the coming year on the Bithiyan.

Things to anticipate:

New Book Reviews
Movie Reviews
Interviews
Possible Short Documentaries
New episodes and Season 1 Finale of Zytroft
Season 2 of Zytroft
New York City
And much, much more!

Merry Belated Christmas and Happy New Year Folks!

Shema Humata: Tass Sheshco

Midnight Test Drive: S1:E17

Here we have it.  Season 1: Episode 17 of Zytroft

This, you could consider, to be my first Christmas special.  It's made so, mainly, if not completely, by the end caps.  

My cousin is a clever lad and made a makeshift go pro out of his iPhone and ductape.  Also, he's a natural in front of the camera and improviser. 

The night makes things non-visible but I don't mind since it adds an air of obscurity and mystery to the vid. And it's just hard to see. 

Anyway, enjoy this episode of Zytroft.

Do You Know Lindybeige?

I discovered this wonderful youtube channel a little over a year ago.  This is one of my favorite channels and have seen about every video on it.  Lindybeige has got around 350,000 subscribers (relatively small) and hundreds of videos.

Nikolas Lloyd presents his unique and quirky expertise on all things warfare, history, weapons, swing dancing, poetry, tabletop gaming, and much more.  He has a degree in archaeology and has taught swing dancing for years.  He's well read in history and gaming manuals, and has a graphic novel releasing next year.

Lloyd's youtube name reflects his fondness of the color beige and the Lindy Hop dance.  I could talk for a while about what makes this channel special, but I think it'd be better to let you explore that yourself.  Lloyd does that job the best.

Here we have 1) the video that got me started watching Lindybeige and also 2) his most popular video.

1)

2)

Also!  Very important!

If you like his work, you can support Lindybeige on his Patreon.

He has a website, too.

Please Comment Share Like Subscribe Email Spread vocally!

Shop Bith Store!

Shema Humata: Tass Sheshco

How to Write Correspondence

The Christmas season is a wonderful time of year to take up writing letters.  Once the gold standard of personal communication, keeping correspondence with friends and family is now a lost art.  In the world of the internet, we still send messages to people but it has become informal.  The instantaneous delivery and reception of email, text, and messaging has taken away the necessity to really think out and compose well what you want to communicate.  Hand writing a letter makes you think harder about what you really want to say.  It also makes what you say more meaningful.

Text messaging is the worst thing ever to happen to dating.  It has caused many many many communication misunderstandings and miscommunications.  It can kill relationships.  But, from personal experience I have found that introducing correspondence by mail can make being long distance so much more...survivable.  A well written love letter is far more romantic than a text message could ever be.  Letters build anticipation.  Albeit texts can still be romantic, much like an O'douls still technically has alcohol in it.

Writing letters can be fun for your inner artist.  There are endless designs and types of personal stationery you can use.  You can write in cursive, another lost art.  You can draw pictures, spray the letter with cologne or perfume, kiss it with lipstick, and send small gifts and photos.  An email can be saved in your computer or phones memory but a letter is a tangible keepsake for life.

Around Christmas time and other holidays throughout the year, it is still very common for folks to send cards, but let us not forget their origins.  The holiday greeting card is a devolution of written letters.  So yes, you can absolutely still send out your seasons greeting cards and I encourage it, but why not take the next step, rise to the next level, and write your own card.  Make it mean something to the person your writing.  Instead of letting Hallmark write a message for you, actually write it and then you'll never have the problem of not finding the right card at the store.  Also, it's okay be a procrastinator and wait until the day before Christmas, since you have the entire store at your pen tip.  Just don't forget that mailing a letter takes a couple days, so don't wait until the last minute.

Anyway, make this Yuletide more memorable for all go buy some personal stationery!

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Shema Humata: Tass Sheshco

Six

The rings on my hands,
the ring on yours,
they turned my intentions
into a difficult question.
The isle is long,
not as long
as the years are wide.
A wide gap lies
between Nassau and the cape.

The Bith Store is Here!

The time has now arrived, just before Christmas too!  The Bith Store is here!  When you click on the store page tab, you will be able to see all the Bithiyan related items for sale, and be able to purchase them via Redbubble.

Your support as readers is important to us here and we want to give you as many opportunities to support the Festival of Ideas as we can.

The first thing in the store is the "Bithiyan Poster Campaign" poster, as a sticker.  Stickers are great because they can be stuck anywhere... Its easy to stick them on binders, notebooks, cars (with permission from the owner, don't be an idiot.  So your own car pretty much), city poles, iPhones, doors, anywhere.  Stickers get the Bithiyan name out there and gets it seen.  The more we shout it from the rooftops, the bigger the Festival of Ideas grows.

I don't know if I ever put it this way in any other post.  Remember, the Festival of Ideas is not only the Bithiyan itself, but a community and a movement to grow what is essential to western free societies: The Marketplace of Ideas.

More ideas, more voices, more free speech> less of it.  In the marketplace of ideas, may the best ideas win.

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Shema Humata: Tass Sheshco

Poem d'Amour

My first love is love.
Of all my endeavors,
off all my systems,
love I love the most.

Garius' Stool

           “Can we come to grips with this over-hyped plight.  We feel that our noses cannot be raised any higher at their egregious solitude.  For once, would the baskers emerge from their magnification domes?  For once, would they bring the wisdom they’ve absorbed out to the civil landscape.  I can’t express enough how much these sentiments would mean great joy for our people if they were realized by those ignorant in their wisdom.”

            Garius completed his diatribe and planted himself back upon the wood and canvas stool.  Much like the stool he had carried under his right arm to the assembly, Garius carried from his humble dwelling of thinking, to the public forum, his ready protest against the ruling wisemen and unfolded it.  He placed it where all men of reason were gathered.  Once his deeply considered sentiments were established, he sat upon them.  Garius rested upon the great logical analyses he so worked out for numerous years.

            His great folly was his failure to feel the soil beneath his placement, prior to setting his stool.  Garius was so convinced by his self-apparent cleverness that his arrogance was a disgruntled confidence. 

Treachery.  The ground beneath his argument gave way to the weight of his arrogance.  Upon his back, Garius laid.  His white tunic and silver grey locks were muddied by reality.  Garius perhaps had not estimated reality’s pull, but gravity cares not for one’s will and assured convictions. 

            When Garius arose from his tumble, the assembled assemblymen laughed at his folly and jested at his sincere foolishness.  He began scolding them, but he made the dissenter’s own arguments for them.  They beat him over the head with his own stool, laying him back within the mud. 

            Another assemblyman, Jonus, one who stood in the back, and with a voice no less deep, spoke. “This man we mock and ridicule in his folly, he built and tested his stool.  He sat it upon his domestic surface, by the comforting warmth of the hearth.  It supported him and he became confident.  Garius then came to the assembly and placed his seat.  Though a well-made stool, he did not have care enough to place it upon a solid rock, many which are scattered throughout this plain.  He made careless haste to set it in the mud, and now Garius lies battered in the mud.  Unable to argue what he holds true.”

            Jonus sat down upon a stool which did not lean or wobble.  It sat on a flat stone surface. 

*I wrote this a few months ago and never posted it.  After a second review, here it is.  I'm calling  a rhetorical allegory.  Maybe it's a metaphor.  I think it's actually a really long simile, with some allegorical and metaphorical elements.  Anyway, I hope y'all get a moral out of it, and enjoy!  If anyone has a better name for what this is feel free to put it in the comments!  

Peace out.  Shema Humata: Tass Sheshco

How to Save Something

Many financial, money, success, entrepreneur experts will tell you that the key to being wealthy, as demonstrated by those with wealth, is multiple streams of income.

Well this post isn't about income, but what you do with it.  The multiple streams principle can be applied to saving as well.

It's important for everyone to put money aside for rainy days/future plans/etc.  Everyone, no matter what you bring in and what you spend and pay in expenses, can save SOMETHING.  If you can even save only five dollars a week, great!  It's putting SOMETHING away and doing it periodically.  You must stick with it.

THEN FORGET ABOUT IT.  Your savings should not tempt you, because you don't have it ;)
Pretend you don't have it.

If you can afford it, having multiple spots to stick cash is a great way to diversify your savings.  Whether in a lockbox under your bed or in a separate bank account, you can set different rules for each spot on to how you contribute to it.

My method:
I probably go a little overboard but saving money becomes fun once you find a good way to do it.  With online banking nowadays, its even easier.

1.  Immediately after getting paid, I move 5% of each check to a growth account.
2.  I withdrawal a certain set percentage of one check and put it in a personal lockbox.
3.  Any other checks get 50% withdrawn and put into the lockbox.
4.  The remaining fifty percent gets split, putting half in a reserve account.
5.  Periodically, at the end of a set time period I put a set percentage of the lockbox savings into a safe.
6.  All pocket change goes into the lockbox.
7.  Before a pocketful of change goes into the lockbox, the biggest coin and smallest coin from the pocketful go into a jar.

This is fun for me, but I'm not saying anyone has to go this nuts.  What's important is that you ARE saving SOMETHING.

A few years ago I saw a image on reddit about a guy who saved every five dollar bill he got over a period and it added up quickly.  I thought it was a great idea and started doing it.  Over time, my savings method changed and evolved to what I have now.

That is what I wanted to hopefully spark with this post.  I had no savings method until I came across one guys method and got the idea from him.  Hopefully, I've inspired you to try out one these methods and it leads to your own effective method and BIG savings!

As always, please comment, share, put in a lockbox, safe, whatevs!

Shema Humata: Tass Sheshco 

Not What I Was Looking For- S1:E16

NOW SHOWING!

Season 1: Episode 16 of my youtube series is out now!

Please Like, Comment, Subscribe, Share, etc!

Shema Humata: Tass Sheshco

Come Together- A Wes Anderson Commercial

Wes Anderson has gained quite the following in the last few years, and after the Grand Budapest Hotel, fans have been eagerly awaiting his next film.  Wes' latest project has been reported as another stop motion animated film, like Fantastic Mr. Fox.   

But in the mean time, his restless fans were given an early christmas present.  

Wes recently directed an H&M commercial for the 2016 Christmas season.  It stars Adrien Brody as a conductor on a late running train, nearing Christmas.  The commercial contains all the hallmarks of a Wes production including symmetrical shots, pastel colors, boy choir soundtrack, vintage technology, distinct costumes, etc.  

Anyone familiar with his work will instantly think of Wes' film The Darjeeling Limited.  Because of the Christmas theme, one could also associate the story with the Polar Express (not a Wes film).  You could say Brody plays a quirky Anderson version of Tom Hanks' conductor character.  The conductor characters in both the commercial and the Polar Express are grown men doing their jobs and doing them well.  At the same time, they are kind figures who care about making children happy on Christmas, which is represented in both works.

Like his other films, theres a lot you can learn about the story by looking closely at details.  Wes is known for this.

A short list of things I noticed after five or so views:

-C. Ralph tears the calendar paper from the 24th to December 25th

-The black lady is reading an Agatha Christie Book (AG wrote Murder on the Orient Express, another train reference)

-The blonde lady in her silky shirt is reminiscent of Margot from The Royal Tenenbaums

-The child in the upstairs car is an unaccompanied minor according to the sign

-The Japanese fellow looks at the camera as he walks down the hallway 

-Fritz is holding a tray of all the ingredients to the "chocolate flavored hot beverage- with whipped topping."  Then the boy is seen eating the cream off the top of the beverage

I like the songs he chose for this story.  Both are boy/youth choir that keeps the with the story's theme of childhood innocence and wonder towards the Christmas holiday.  Also, I'm a big John Lennon/ the Beatles fan.  

Another thing that makes this cool is that my favorite director did a commercial for my favorite clothing store!

#thisisnotanadplacement

#theshirttoo

The drop of this commercial I completely did not expect, and was thoroughly pleased.  Still I, like the other Andersonians, await his next feature length work.  Thanks and Merry Christmas Wes.

If you liked what you read, please subscribe to the Bithiyan and comment on/share this article! 

Oo-de-lally! Question of the Day November 26 2016

Was Robin Hood a libertarian?

A Review of Disney's "Moana"

Crossing Reality Plains

Video games have been a staple escapist activity for 30+ years.  In this day and age the number of people who have never played a video game is ever declining. Before long, virtual reality head sets will become part of the norm and revolutionize the art of escapism.

I'd like to argue briefly that video games, when immersive, become another plain of reality.  They're a reality you can turn on and off, even though what one does in that reality isn't real since you're still looking at a screen.  But while immersed in that world, video game reality is reality.  What you see in a video game is a real place that you're peering through a window into.  You exist as whatever avatar is in the game and you live according to the games physics, rules, and storylines.

In a way, real life is your own piloting of an avatar fully immersed in first person perspective.  You have full sense perception and mental faculties.  You live according to physics and the rules of society.  The only difference is you create your own storyline.  Although, many videos allow you to do that to.

Another plain of reality, which many people dismiss as unreal and give no more thought than they do to video games, is the dreamworld.  Despite being able to wake up and have the whole dreamworld vanish like a...a dream...I would say that this is a far more immersive and real reality.  You can have total freedom of physics, laws, rules, and bodily limitations, if you luck into lucidity or know how to do it.

Imagine crossing over these two plains of reality.  Twice this week I've had dreams that have Minecraft settings.  Not only that, I crossed between the regular world and Minecraft world within the dream.

So in the first dream a few days ago, I was exploring a Minecraft (MC) style cave when I came across a MC house.  Upon entering, I found two twin women who were champion tennis players.  Like me, they were not made of blocks.  The told me if I went out the back door I could enter the real world (RW) hills of Pennsylvania.  I followed their advice and voila!  I was back to RW and stood amongst the brown leaved trees on the side of Mt. Penn.  It was a glorious transition from video game to RW while staying within the dream.

Then last night, this one was even more surreal and fun.  I was walking down a RW valley on a bit of an escape.  The back story of this one is, in waking life I play Minecraft as a thing to do while I catch up on my podcasts.  And so over the weeks I built a pretty impressive city and then I built another city later.  The second one was under-developed and needed quick resources.  So, I implemented my own story line, thus sacking and razing the first city as a member of city two.

Back to the dream, I was presumably a person fleeing from the destroyed city number one.  My waking story influenced this dream.  As I mentioned before I was fleeing within a RW mountain valley.  Somewhere upon my journey, a horse I think, told me if I went through a certain forrest, I could find a new sanctuary.

I got on and the horse took me to the tree line of the wood.  He urged me to hurry up and run through as quickly as I could or I may not find it.  He must have been a very convincing horse because I trusted him and did what he said.

It was midnight and I ran straight in among the trees.  It was very hard to see where I was going, I got hit by a lot by tree limbs and pine needles.  Eventually I came to a wall.  But since I had picked up so much speed as I ran, I was able to clear this seven foot wall by jumping.

From here forward I'm going to start a dream log short hand notation to make these things easier in future posts.
dreamrun- when you run in a dream and get progressively faster to superhuman speeds
dreamjump- superhuman type jumps

Anyway, after a bit further I had to jump a second wall.  Once beyond it, I began to see the glow of light through the trees.  I was getting close.  As I exited the forest, I emerged on the outskirts of the destroyed MC city I had fled.  Except, the new city was fully intact and had an air of peace.  The replica was brightly lit in the night.  The only difference was that it was empty.  The city was a melencholic skeleton that was perfect for display, but was not alive.  A city's people is what makes it alive.

I walked the streets a bit and climbed the city tower.  After a little while I decided to leave the city for a better place.  One not frozen in time.  

Simon and Sushi

Last night I had a dream that I went to a convention down somewhere by the sea.  The only part I remember of the convention centre was the cafeteria.  Any food you'd want to eat, they had it!  But I ended up purchasing $26 sushi some how.  It still tasted quite good for dream sushi.  

The secret is, is that waking Zytroft has never had sushi.

Also, the price is dream exaggerated but convention food prices are jacked up in real life.

Back in the dream.  Acquiring chopsticks was hard.  I had to climb three ladders to three different platforms to find chopsticks that weren't shaped like long screws.

After my lunch, I ran into Paul Simon and we sang a duet of Kodachrome.  He was impressed by my pipes and asked me to join a duo with him and tour around.  I accepted.

In the final chapter I found myself on a beach, having walked away from the convention.  I needed to swim to a sandbar to reach my lost shirt.

How'd I lose my shirt? I don't know.  

Did I lose it partying?  Perhaps that's why I don't remember any other parts of the convention.

Did Paul Simon steal it?  Maybe with help from Julio.

Was it the Japanese sushi chef?  Nah, he already got my $26.

Regardless, I got it back!  Celebrate by please sharing and commenting.

Keep dreaming Bithiyanites.

Meta-Meta Thinking

Sometimes I'm aware that I'm aware.  I find myself from time to time in Meta-Reality.  This is great when I'm in an amazing place like Washington, DC or NYC.  It's also no so great when I'm in the middle of a conversation or giving a presentation.

In the places of awe, it's a convenient thing, being meta, because you can really take in where you are and reality becomes fictionalized.  I get that feeling of, "Am I really here, like, is this reality actually a thing.  Existence exists and I'm in it."

Like I said, in a fun place, thats a cool thought.  But during a conversation, it's horrible because I then lose all train of thought.  The topic is lost in space, followed by my responding, "yeah" "totally" "right" to whatever is being said.  It's even worse in a public speaking sort of situation.

That's probably why I fear public speaking so much.  I'm afraid I might go into Meta-Think.  Then because I'm worried about it, I do.  Ugh.  I my presentation game in university was par to sub-par, mostly because I was usually un-prepared for them.  Then that helped cause Meta-Think to kick in.  My most successful presentation senior year was when I did it in character.

The topic was Cromwell in Ireland, done in a fantastic Irish accent.  I think I received a B- on it, but got an A+ for my performance.

Anyway, I was reading Scott Adam's book, How to Fail at Almost Everthing and Still Win Big, today on my lunch break.  I don't want to give away much of the book, because I recommend you read it.  But there was a chapter were Scott described himself about to go on stage, and he described the feelings and build up.  That moment when you're being introduced and about to go up and take the stage is the worst butterfly ridden nervous moment, for me at least.  And therefore, as I sat in a cafe reading a BOOK, my heart started to beat and my stomach fluttered.  It was as if I was about to go on stage, good grief.

So back to the idea of Meta-Thinking.  Later on, on my ride home today, I caught myself Meta-Meta-Thinking.  I was thinking about how I Meta-Think too much.  "Jeez, he doesn't even have a chance" I thought to myself.

Let me paint a picture of what you just read above.  In the paragraph above I wrote about how I reacted to myself in third person, thinking about Meta-Thinking.  Now you're reading about me explaining that you're reading my description of third person reaction to thinking about meta-thinking.

This is quite Meta isn't it.

Share, comment, comment about yourself commenting, go on stage and present the Bithiyan if you'd like, just don't Meta-Think while up there.

My Frank Sinatra Mix

I love all the well known Frank songs and most of these are well known too, although not quite as popular.  These are my favorite.  I wanted to leave you with some good listening for a late Tuesday night.

All I need is the girl
I'll be seeing you
Nice and easy
All or nothing at all (this version too)
I've got you under my skin
Witchcraft
Just one of those things
Something Stupid
The Tender Trap
Luck be a Lady
The Lady is a Tramp
Sunny
How About You?
I won't dance

I could have just made a youtube playlist and linked to that, but this was more fun. Plus you can see the list.  Enjoy.

The College Lanyard Cycle

When I was at university, I started carrying keys for the first time.  Over my four years a peculiar thing happened.

Typical freshman:

I'm a cool sophomore:

Practical junior:  Can't lose my keys now!

Senioritis: Lanyard no longer necessary

How to Play Good Music

Sometimes it's hard to learn an instrument.  It also takes a long time, and a lot of practice to master it. If you have a healthy and well fortified creative bone, then I have a secret shortcut for you.

If you want to walk into any room, sit down at the piano, and play like the pianissimo you know you could be, then this tip is for you.

As I mentioned before, you need to meet the creativity prerequisites to pull this off.  My trick involves, not learning to read the music off the paper, but composing it.

Certainly, no one can play a piano without ever doing it before (normal people).  And so, you also need to meet the musical/piano prerequisites of having a foundational understanding of music notation, notes, chords, etc.  You need to know how to play the piano.

What? I thought this was a shortcut!

It is.  But there is a difference between knowing how to play a piano, and actually playing one.  I know how to read music and play the keys, but it takes me a long time, note by note, to learn a song.  Instead of reading the sentence straight up, I have to sound each word and memorize the whole sentence.

Some people can read and play, some people play by ear and have everything memorized.  That's me.  I'm a little impatient, and to bypass all the endless practicing, I write new songs.

But, don't you still have to memorize them?

Yes, I do, but writing a song doesn't take five minutes.  It can take hours, days, weeks, even months.  During the composition process, I sit at the piano, messing around until I hear something I like.  I play around until I've created a decent melody or hook.  Then I build off of that with other melodies and hooks, all improvised and played over and over.  During composition I play the same little bits repeatedly and I replay the song multiple times each time I add something or change it.  I play with the pedals, and the octaves too, making endless variances.

I am able to save time because writing and memorizing are combined.  I write the song and learn the song all at the same time.  I write my pieces down by hand as I go, too, to help codify it in my mind.  Also, I don't have to worry about forgetting it.  It's written down.

So, by composing your own songs, you can walk into the room and WOW your friends, family, coworkers, colleagues, and don't forget love interests.   They will think you know what you're doing and they get to hear a piece they've never heard before!

Get out there and show Mozart how it's done!

Please comment, share, compose, etc!
(but don't give away the secret)

President-Elect Donald J. Trump

I took a bunch of these a month ago as stock photos for my 2020 presidential campaign, had Hillary won Tuesday night.  I've since suspended my campaign, for now...

I'll just leave this here...plus this was how me and many other patriots felt on Wednesday.

Anyway, the American People have spoken.  We wanted change and hopefully President-elect Trump can fulfill the promises of his campaign and Make America Great Again.

Now back to regularly scheduled programming.

Please Comment, Share, Meme, etc.

Danke

Question of the Day November 10, 2016

What would be the Pros and Cons of a "Calexit"?

Today's the Day!

Today's the day.  It doesn't seem real that today all this ends.  It's been such a show, and we've all been caught up in it.  It's surreal imagining that all this ridiculousness ends tomorrow with a real decision and outcome.  The immensity of the situation is hitting hard.  And the fate of the world depends on this election.

What a wild and historical ride this has been.  No matter the outcome, there will be countless amounts of political and historical books written on this election cycle.  Whatever the American people decide, the political system, parties, media, etc. has been irrevocably changed, for the better I feel.  Trump's campaign has changed the rules of the game for the conservative side.  He's put the rules in line with the stakes.  Clinton's campaign has shown just how desperate the establishment elite are desperate to hold on to power.

However this turns out, the American people have been awakened, not woke, and will not cede anymore freedoms to those wishing to take them.  This is the latest great shift in American political history; the succeeding events of the 21st century will likely be traced back to today.

Get out there and vote! Let's...

*Make America Great Again!*

Attenborough, Wes Anderson, and Biology Class

Three years ago, I was sitting in my university biology class.  It was 9am, I had just come from my 7:45 french class.  So I was still sleepy as can be.  My biology class didn't do anything to keep me awake either.  We sat in the dark and looked at power pointed lectures given by my ornithology specializing professor who was known as Birdman.

The semestre progressed and we worked our way up life's levels of complexity.  I had just seen Wes Anderson's Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, just in time for our chapter on marine biology.  We talked about everything from zooplankton and sea squirts to cuttlefish and the giant squid.

For some reason, my professor decided not to teach this segment and instead elected to show us a David Attenborough film.  I have no idea which film it was.  All I remember is that it had a '60s/'70s vibe.  David was rather young still.  For some reason it took two weeks of class to get through this movie, although I didn't mind.  I really enjoyed the movie and, lets be honest, no lecture.

The film had beautiful visuals of reefs and fish.  It followed every type of swimming life imaginable.  The two scenes I remember most clearly are:
1. David Attenborough squatting on a rock in start beige shorts getting hit by a giant wave.
2. The mating dance of Cuttlefish.

Early morning memory is very weird in what it selects to preserve over three years.  I talk about my memory like it's some separate entity.  Anyway, Wes' movie and this D.A. documentary imprinted themselves on me.

Often times during those weeks, I would doze off whilst leaning head on hand.  It was a strange thing, but at times I felt like I was in the documentary.  As if I was one of the rays or cleaning shrimp.  I floated around in the surreal sea surrounded by sharks and sand dollars.  I passed in and out of my subconscious dream state, but never leaving the oceans.  And whether I was in or out, David Attenborough narrated.  I usually woke up when my prof would pause the film to point something out.

Still, the glow of blues and greens washed over my fellow merstudents and I.  The classroom was like a scientific fish tank.

Why do I tell you all this?  Because I watched a VSauce video today, where Michael interviews none other than Sir David Attenborough about Planet Earth II.

One of my film ideas, this one, that I advertised open crewing/casting for, is at its foundational level inspired by this biology class documentary and Life Aquatic.  I say foundational because without these influences, my love for the sea and marine life wouldn't be nearly as strong.  That love is why I want to make a nautical themed film.

After biology I went to political science.  I would barely make it through, even when I'd brought coffee with me to get me through.  Wow, that was when I seriously started drinking coffee, I now realize.  What a formative time of my life!  Man.

Anyway, please comment, share via internet or message in a bottle, etc.

Having Fun with Scheisse

I'm gonna take a line from Jay Wilde here and say, "No matter what, you always gotta have fun."  This is true no matter what you're doing or where you are in life.  When bad things happen, unless you die, it isn't the end of your life, and you gotta keep living.  And life is always better when having fun.  Whatever that means to you.  Fun is one of those things in life that creates happiness.  On a biological level, when you enjoy something, your brain releases endorphins making you feel happy.  

When scheisse hits the fan in your life, it's always good to have a few contingency plans in place.  Of course you never know when things may happen.  Life events are often unexpected.  Life likes to surprise us.  Throughout life, many things are likely possibilities, just as a result of living.  Deaths, illness, financial problems, job loss, break ups, divorce, etc.  These things often surprise us but they aren't things that you can't plan for.  For example, the election is in three days.  The result could go either way.  Depending on what the new administration will likely do, you can begin to plan your life according to likely effects of their government.  This is a crazy example.  Better yet, let's just talk about careers.

Many people have the main thing they are after.  I for example want to write and direct films.  This is Plan A.  But what if I change my mind or don't make it or realize I'm not as skilled as I think I am?  Well, my life isn't over.  I have contingency plans ready to be put into motion.  If I don't make it in film, I will still write.  My blogging isn't going away.  I still plan to self publish a novel(in progress) within the next year or two.  I'm not gonna stop after one.  Theres so many other possibilities, I can't even think of them all, let alone list them.

Career is only one half of life too.  The other is family.  While pursuing my career, I'm simultaneously pursuing some one to spend my life with.  If a relationship or current interest doesn't work out, you are not doomed to live life as a hermit.  The contingency plan for a break up is the simplest one their is.  If a relationship doesn't work out, there will be another one.  You'll find another person.  You got this one didn't you?  Plus every time you date someone, or marry them, you learn more and grow.  You further hone what will make you happy in a relationship and you get better at relationshipping.

Failure is a big part of life.  It's common and likely.  The thing is, it's what you do with it.  Failure is a learning experience for next time.  What can you take out of this shitty event?  Look at a failure as an attempt at X.  In a video game, if you quit after you died the first or second time, you may never beat the first level.  Perfectionism is a trap.  Failure is practice for your eventually success.

To take this back to Jay's quote, you just gotta have fun with it.  Pursuing the goal is fun, the failure is shitty fun, the contingency plan is fun, a couple cycles of this is fun, and then success is even more fun.

Please comment, share, verbally recommend!  And have fun with it!

One More Pizza Slice

So a few days ago, I had pizza before bed for a third time.  And I had a third nightmare.  I forgot to mention the second one.  Number 2 was very psychological in its nightmarishness and I'd rather not describe it.  The third one is impossible to describe.  I awoke from it wide eyed, full of terror and not wanting to return to sleep.  I feared I'd might fall back into it.  This nightmare was one of those classic types, where I was in a dungeon-esque setting and was near trapped with other persons or beings.  Those persons or beings were heavily threatening to do flesh-from-bone type things to me.  At the same time, the demonstrated they were serious about their threats by doing those kinds of things to the others present.  I eventually escaped, but shaken, thus waking up.

I initially declared the nightmare-via-pizza theory to be true, but then later considered the placebo effect.  Perhaps in this scenario it would be considered the nicebo effect.  Nonetheless, the experiments were successful in producing the hypothesized outcome.  Whether that outcome was  actually caused by the delicious bedtime snack or my mind anticipating nightmares in leu of eating pizza, you can still reason it out to pizza'a fault.  

Either
a) the consumption and digestion of pizza directly caused the induction of nightmares
or
b) the knowledge of my consumption of pizza influenced my subconscious to induce nightmares because I thought pizza would cause them

Either way, the pizza still caused the nightmares.  This is true because if I hadn't eaten the pizza, I would not have had any nightmares, scenario a) or b).

For the record, I very rarely have dreams that can be considered nightmares: one every one to two years.  Having three in one week does not follow this trend.

Science isn't perfect and there is still more testing to be done.  But, I will make the statement that sounds as though it's straight off a prescription drug commercial: Consumption of pizza before bed has been found to increase the risk and likelihood of experiencing nightmares.  If you have a heart condition, please ask your doctor before starting pizza.

Podcasts!

I made my first podcast part of the Jay Wilde's Fantastic Voyage series. Hope you enjoy this video reflecting on the Otakon convention as well as the general convention experience. Podcasts are always fun to listen to whether you're resting or going about your daily tasks. Either way I hope you take a listen and enjoy!

How to Celebrate Halloween

It's that time of year again, folks.  It's time for candy, jack-o-lanterns, and embracing the Macabre.  Halloween is one of my favorite seasons, not only because it is the hight of fall and two days after my birthday, but it is the one time of year that people openly celebrate the non-living.  They indulge in that which they avoid throughout the year.  It's the most surreal of the holidays, plus we all get to live in a Tim Burton movie for a day!

Death of course is something we all avoid like...like death.  As we should.  But, it is a normal part of life that everyone will encounter throughout their days.  And all living beings must eventually dance in the gazebo.

Knowing this fact, it should be a motivator to each one of us to live the most fulfilling lives possible.  You don't know if you'll get another one.  Even if this is your most recent reincarnation, do you have memory of your past lives?  I don't.  

Halloween is a day to celebrate all things scary and dead, as well as remember loved ones past.  I think it should also be a reminder of mortality.  It's a motivation reinvigoration of the the darkest kind.  And there's nothing wrong with that.  If one lives life as if they're already dead, what does one have to lose in trying to live their dreams?  Embracing the inevitability of death is in itself liberation from that inevitability.  

Here are some quotes that I came up with, that I'm sure people have said before.  They sum up this article easier than a conclusion paragraph.  Feel free to use these as daily/personal mantras.

"If I'm gonna die one day anyway, then what's stopping me from living?"

"Dying is inevitable, and so is living!"

"If nothing can stop me from dying,  nothing but death can stop me from living!" 

Carpe Diem usually, this halloween, Carpe Noctum!  Happy Halloween, Samhain, Dia de los Muertos Comment, share, etc!