Prompt: Voting Absentee?
Music: Jason Mraz – Lucky (ft. Colbie Callait)
And etc: ZAP (t)

Two weekends ago, my dad took me to Santa Clara’s voting office or whatever it’s called so I could vote early. Since I didn’t know much about most of the propositions and people running for local offices, my dad offered me his cheat sheet (aka his ballot, his opinions, and my mom’s instructions for local government positions). It was actually really cool sitting in the car discussing propositions with my dad; the car ride was extra long because he thought I needed ID but I left mine in my dorm because I thought I didn’t need it (turns out I didn’t), so we drove home and added 30 minutes round trip. XD

Of course, I’ve heard plenty on certain propositions at school, especially 4 and 8. What resulted was a really interesting discussion with my dad, where he just kept throwing thoughts and possibilities at me, but in the end let me make my own decision. I ended up voting roughly as follows:

1A – No. Based on my dad’s argument that with the economy in recession, we shouldn’t be borrowing money from the future.

2 – Yes. What’s it to me to pay a little extra for the expensive food? Personally I think the arguments that we’ll be importing from Mexico are ridiculous. I think I will purposely buy California produce, and so much of the country relies on us that I think there won’t be a choice.

3 – No. Again, because bonds are just a way to borrow money from the future.

4 – No. My roommate justified a no vote to me pretty well, plus my discussion with my dad made me think about the supposed consequences and actual consequences if it passed.

5 – I don’t remember how I voted on this one. I might’ve left it blank because I didn’t understand it.

6 – No. Again, because it’ll cost the state money that it doesn’t have. Basically, no matter how good an idea something is, the reality remains that we have to prioritize when we don’t have money. You should care less about whether your food is organic or not when you’re starving to death.

7 – Yes. Even though this costs the state money, I went for yes on this one because I believe the reliance on foreign oil, and on oil in general, is something that has to change. Plus, I might possibly end up in alternative energy research, so having money would be nice.

8 – No. Hell no. Does the phrase “Jim Crow Laws” ring a bell?

9 – I think I voted no, again because it costs the state more, albeit indirectly. Notifying victims –> fewer paroles –> more prisoners left in prison –> more money to maintain prisons.

10 – No. Not only is this about bonds, I also believe that the initiative to build alternative fuel cars needs to come from the car companies themselves. Current car companies need to realize the need to change their direction, and the pressure for that should come from us, the consumers. We live in a free-market economy (theoretically), so let that work itself out.

11 – Holy shit yes. Screw you gerrymandering politicians.

12 – No. Because of bonds, again.

I am proud to be a voting American.

Prompt: Your chance to explain why you are (or will be) awesome
Music: Incubus – Dig
And etc.: Grillz (t)

First of all, to all of you who have recently (re)discovered how to post, to single-space things you press shift and enter/return. Good times!

So what is my future job? Try this job title on for size: MD/PhD and novelist. Which means for now, Biology major (specialization in Molecular and Cell Biology) with a Creative Writing (Fiction) minor.

Basically it means I’ll be doing awesome medical research — probably in genetics (and how it relates to the rest of medicine), or maybe neuroscience or stem cells — and writing cool stories on the side. And while yes, doing medical research and saving/improving millions of lives is fantastic, I might pursue the plagiarism of Count Mein’s research to get to the velociraptors first.

I know for the most part people shy away from the thought of doing an MD/PhD because of the long time spent in school, but let me make you a diagram to help you understand.

Figure 1. Graph of Awesomeness vs. Years of Schooling Finished for MDs and MD/PhDs.

Then you throw in the fact that I will be writing amazing awesome novels, and factor in the exponential for being an MD/PhD, and my awesomeness cannot be matched. And I’ll be making lots of money and hopefully telling the president (or director of the NIH) (or Charlie Rose) what’s wrong with the world and what to do about it. And also why he/she should buy my latest book.

Remember folks: your rating on the awesomeness scale follows this equation:

Where
HS = -1 if person has not graduated from high school; +1 otherwise
G = number of graduate degrees held, plus one
7 = just because
PC = pineapple constant ≈ 4.253
I = imaginativeness rating (determined by separate equation); not to be confused with the imaginary number i
NR = readership of any publications (notice that a readership of 0 means an automatic AR of 0)
e = natural number ≈ 2.718
SpD = number of people who have you on speed dial
B = badass rating (determined by separate equation)(can be negative)
Q = 1 if person does not hold an MD/PhD; 94.827 if person has an MD/PhD

Clearly you will have trouble being as awesome as I, once I get my MD/PhD. I mean look at yourself — you’re struggling as is :p

That is all.

-Xan

P.S. I love you guys and all your future vocations.
P.P.S. Flying velociraptors count in the badass rating.

Prompt: Take Action – On becoming vegan
Music: Eels – That Fresh Feeling
And etc.: but squirrels abound in trees (2)

I know this is going to sound really sick to some of you, but here goes.

When it gets down to it, I do treat some animals differently from others. However, I think it’s not that different from treating people differently. It’s not even on the level of, “I treat that guy differently because he’s a douchebag,” it’s more like… it’s the subconscious treatment or regard of someone who might be different from me. It sounds really bad, and it’s not like I’m saying being mean to someone is the same as wanting to butcher an animal and eat it. I’m trying to say that even though we try really hard to treat everyone and everything equally, there are differences between us that make it harder to relate to some things than others.

So yes, I have a pet dog and I probably would never ever eat her in my life. I had pet chickens when I was in middle school, and I even had a problem eating their eggs, even though I knew they were unfertilized. But I eat beef, pork, chicken, and sometimes lamb and other meats. How is it that I can do that? I guess it’s because I don’t really see a filet mignon as coming from a cow, even if intellectually I do know that. I don’t have a problem eating some animals while keeping others as pets, maybe in the same way I don’t have a problem knowing some people clean toilets for a living while others trade millions and billions of dollars in a hedge fund that’s so abstract that they can lose millions in a single day and not know where it went. Arg, this is hard to explain.

Would I go vegan? Probably not. Vegetarian? Possibly. From my current omnivorism, the leap to vegetarianism is probably what makes the biggest difference in the environment and in the well-being of animals. The veganism I see as a little extreme for me. Veganism also worries me because most of the vegans I know have malnutrition problems. While I recognize the idea behind the diet, I think it goes against fundamental human nature. First of all, we need certain nutrients from meat and other animal products. (Quick random question: if you decide your child is vegan, does that mean he/she can’t breast feed?) Second of all, much as we try to treat everything equally, I believe there’s an inherent injustice in the world. Choosing not to eat animals is a rare form of fairness that seems out of place in an otherwise unbalanced world.

Some people argue that we, as the intelligent species, are the ones who should go against our animalistic nature, celebrate the triumph of logic, and be the ones to demonstrate justice and fairness. But really, when I see my friend, skinny as a twig and trooping off to the doctor’s office twice a week to get more nutrition supplements in a pill, something in me knows that that’s not quite right. That’s not human living.

Prompt: Beauty is in the eye of the beholder
Music: Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2, 2nd movement
And etc: the apples are ripe (1)

Screw dictionaries and metaphysics — beauty is that feeling you get in your gut that you just can’t resist. Maybe it makes you feel good, maybe it makes you cry, maybe it needles at you like a nagging thought in the corner of your mind. Whatever the hell it is, some things I look at and say, “That’s beautiful.” And at that point I don’t really care what anyone else thinks.

Sure, I’ll be stubborn and try to defend and describe what it is exactly that makes something beautiful in my opinion, but in the end it’s just that — an opinion. Differences in human perception and analysis are inevitable, and maybe even what makes life more interesting.

Here are some things I find beautiful: the view from inside a volcanic crater in Hawaii, sunrise, Shakespearean sonnets (oh the hell I’m going to get for this one…), the smell of Burt’s Bees, watching bubbles rush past in the clear water when you jump into a pool on a hot day, shooting stars, the smells and sounds of a forest when you’re lying in the middle of it on a summer night, when the words fit together right so the idea you wanted to convey comes across just right, clouds, rows upon rows of sunflowers, driving on winding roads while blasting that song and not caring who hears, hair caught in the sunlight, the feeling of waves sucking at the sand under your feet at the beach, listening to Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2…

Hell, I could go on forever. I’m glad my life has so many beautiful things in it.

Prompt: When did society decide…?
Music: The Pinker Tones – Karma Hunters
And etc: [i'll deal with this momentarily]

I rewear my pants. In fact, I think it lengthens the life span of my pants because I’m not constantly washing them. Also, jeans are annoyingly expensive, so screw you, I’m wearing my pants multiple times a week. However, I only occasionally rewear shirts. I only rewear socks and underwear when I’m really really desperate and ran out of laundry detergent or something.

My clothes cover me and hopefully make me look okay and socially acceptable. If it’s not dirty, I’m gonna wear it. I mean, if it’s clean enough that you can’t tell that I wore it recently, then what’s the difference?

My rule of thumb is, if my pants are not-stretched enough to stay on my butt, then I’m wearing them.

Save the environment; wash your passably clean clothes less often. One washing machine in my dorm complex last year had a sign that said, “I only take full loads!” (That’s what she said.)

Prompt: Spit Here for Medical Analysis!
Music: Ben Jelen – Stay
And etc: [i'll deal with this later]

Much as I appreciate Uncle Charlie’s offer, I probably wouldn’t do it. It’s too much of a gamble for me; I think I’d be more miserable sitting there thinking about what will probably happen to me. I think I have too much blissfully oblivous life left before me to ruin it for me now.

However, maybe in middle age I’d get myself tested (if Uncle Charlie won’t sponsor me). I feel like it’s more important later, when these long-term illnesses are more likely to affect you. I figure for now, I’ll just try to live a healthy lifestyle in general and deal with the complicated stuff later.

Ignorance is bliss.

Prompt: Universal Healthcare (for Mr. Dwyer)
Music: Varsity Fanclub – Complicated Girl (Remix feat. Jax)
And etc: [i'll deal with this later]

I think Mr. Dwyer has a point. He always started out with the example of a little kid in first grade who gets sick, misses school for a couple days because his mom can’t afford to take him to the doctor, and doesn’t learn how to add. From then on he’s just constantly having to catch up, and if he gets sick again, he’s pretty much doomed for life. As someone who gets sick a lot, I can see the point. I definitely do a lot worse in my classes and don’t properly learn things when I’ve been sick 6 out of 12 weeks in the quarter.

The other day I was listening to NPR (a new habit of mine — it makes me feel sophisticated). I was sort of half-listening to the news, but the next broadcast caught my attention. It was an interview/talk session with economist Jeffrey Sachs, a VERY familiar name to all of us who had Mr. Dwyer. He was discussing the ideals behind the Earth Institute at Columbia University, where he is the director. I mainly remember a segment when he was talking about inflation rates in African countries. Sachs is considered the father of the “shock therapy” approach to halting galloping inflation, but he rejected his own approach in these underdeveloped African countries. He said you can’t fix economic problems like inflation in a country where a majority of the members of an economic council might be dead from malaria in a few months. That makes a lot of sense to me — going to the root of a problem instead of just snipping at the tip — and as far as I can tell, providing medical care is the best way to fix the root.

Sachs viewed medical care as a priority in underdeveloped countries like those in Africa, but in the US, somehow it isn’t. I think it’s stupid that we champion ourselves as the most powerful nation in the world and act like a babysitter to other countries, yet we can’t even take care of ourselves. We have domestic problems, so what kind of hypocrites are we to go around saying we can fix the problems of other countries?

Prompt: The ever present “Disney channel effect”
Music: Vienna Teng – Recessional
And etc: meetings like fireworks

Unlike most in my generation, I did not grow up watching TV. There was a short-lived period in my life when I woke up early (literally 7 AM, earlier than I ever woke up for school) on Saturday mornings to watch cartoons and random terrible shows until my parents woke up and shooed me off to do something else. I was allowed to watch pre-recorded episodes of Reading Rainbow (yeahhh LeVar Burton!), The Magic School Bus, Wishbone, and Bill Nye the Science Guy. Not even Sesame Street for me. Apparently my parents didn’t know about the Discovery Channel, because otherwise they probably would’ve gotten cable. But these educational and mind-working programs were the basis of my childhood (and some people claim it’s why I’m at Stanford, but they have no idea what else my dad did when I was little), and the frivilous programs on Disney Channel were weekend morning indulgences that had to be stopped as soon as my parents woke up.

I think in general, that mindset has altered what I look for in TV shows now. I’m just as guilty as the next person of watching terrible TV, but my favorite shows — the ones I keep going back to — are the ones that still get me thinking. That’s probably why I love The West Wing, and even Chuck (which appeals to my nerdy, I wish I were a spy side). They’re the ones that I still think about even a week later.

Watching the Disney Channel has never done that for me. I love the Disney classic movies, but I get the feeling that Disney Channel itself is just a bunch of washed out family shows that tries (and fails) to achieve the awesome quality of the classics. I try not to judge when it comes to things I’m unfamiliar with, but I have watched Disney Channel (all thanks to Jinx). Some of the acting is overdone, but I don’t mind watching just for pure entertainment. The thing is, I would prefer to be watching something that gets me thinking, and I almost never get that way after watching Disney Channel. I’m not saying it’s a waste; I just don’t think it’s for me.

On the other hand, I think it’s great that some artists get the opportunity to start their career with Disney. It’s a jumping block, and from personal connections, I know how hard it is for musicians to get started. While some of them don’t necessarily have crazy musical talent, like some of the star musicians out there, I think most if not all of them are at least somewhat good. They appeal to their audiences, even if those audiences are younger or less mature. Many of them made a good transition to a more adult sound as they got older (Jesse McCartney included — his new stuff sounds nothing like his older albums and even less like the cute little boy on Dream Street). I just hope they don’t get stuck in their little kid sound, or get trapped by their fans who refuse to let them change and mature.