Sooner Or Later God'll Cut You Down

Alright. Time to say it. Time to just go out and freaking say it.

It is not okay to just go around having sex "for fun."

It is not okay because A) It's stupid and B) It's immoral. On many, many levels.

1) 25% of people have Gential Herpes. That means if you have had sex with 4 or more people, you probably have Genital Herpes. That means, oozing genital sores. Yay.

2) There is no 100% effective prevention for anything sexual besides abstinence. And no, that is not too much to ask of people, if my freaking mother could do it, so can you.

3) Sex makes babies. That is the function of the act. Thusly, both bodies involved are trying to further this end. You may try to stop it, but it is trying to happen.

4) Babies are a serious thing. You do not probably think that the optimal way to choose a mother for your child is through getting drunk at a club. But that is what that kind of casual sex is.

5) Abortion is a nasty thing. No one likes it. Adoption in some what better. Raising a kid you didn't plan on is hard as hell. This is not a winning proposition.

6) Every freaking religion coaches people to keep their pants on until they have one reliable partner chosen. That's the collective 10,000 year wisdom of every civilization on the planet.

7) People get hurt by sex. It's an intense thing, yadda-yadda, and while I'm sure you probably are 100% clear it's just sex, and so is she, it's not, it can't be. Unless you've walled yourself off, in which case, you're pretty well lost anyway.

8) SEX IS BETTER WITH SOMEONE WHO KNOWS YOUR FREAKING BODY.

Thank you.

I Have Found The Future For You

Give me money.

Or become this man.

I'm Covered With, Microscopic Bacterium

I cannot speak persay.

When my mouth opens, some amorphous croak flaps past my lips, resembling language in the same way vomiting does. In fact, the auditory vomit I produce also feels the same as the real thing.

My throat has been liberally ground with sandpaper, or at least, so it feels.

So I'm really sick.

Hurray.

It's A Wonderful World

Best part of the global village.

The Best Ending Ever.

Political Truths Unveiled!

Cars!





Thank God for heroes.

You're All I Need, You're All I Need

Doing a new project for Visual Communications. Got a month and a half.

Goal:

A poster visually representing motion.

What motion did Mike pick?

Movement of the Spirit.



A poster visually representing the journey of the Soul.

I am in no way ambitious.

Yeah We Killed It, We Killed It All Night

This christmas, I have a rather unique gift request. It is something I very, very much want. Trust me, there is nothing you could give that could mean more.

I want you to describe me.

Clarifications:

I want at least one page.
You are describing me, not how I make you feel or how you feel about me.
I want faults/flaws/and blatant wrongs.
I'd also like my best features too if you could manage.
If you could, the more pages the better.
And another thing. Give at least a bit of thought as to how I see myself. Write about that if it seems worth including, since that's a pretty big part of me.

Please put a lot of thought into this.
I will appreciate it deeply.

-Out

I Miss You And No One Will Do But You

If you don't buy the new Say Anything CD it is incontrovertible proof that you hate happiness, America, and love, in addition to yourself. This is not hyperbole, it is a statement of fact. Doubt and be dubbed a pinko-commie.

So the truly mind boggling number of votes on the novel poll is overwhelming. I had no idea you all cared so much. Yes, I am a sarcastic little bastard.

My life has been thrown completely off by the loss of my car. I'm still trying to get on track.

Bah, back to schoolwork.

-Chow

You Will Take The Driver's Seat, And I Will Take The Captain's Chair

Happy Birthday (belated on the blog) to Zach. He is now 20. I'm sure he feels completely the same after this utterly arbitrary bookmark in his life, but he's one year closer to the willful debauchery I now know as 21.

Recently I have had an epiphany. I know what you're saying: "Mike, you have a new epiphany every g*dd*amn week" And you would be right, but this does nothing to lesson the impact these profundities have upon my consciousness!

Experience is the fundamental building block of the self. Our ability to draw upon our unique experiences is what makes us both sentient and individual. It is at the core of our closest ties and the vast gulfs between us.

I have very few experiences.

No wonder no one remembers me! No wonder I am so "normal!" I have little more than the most base experiences shared by most 21 year old over-intelligent young men! Nothing to make me individual! Nothing to make me stand out! I am little more than 21 years of avoiding developing a personality! My experience-poverty is what made me so miserable for so long! Lets use another exclamation point! More still!!!!!

But all enthusiasm aside, this is a huge realization. The reason I am changing so rapidly now is that I am gathering experiences. Ever since I met Kam and realized the source of her happiness was the way she lived life with open eyes, I've been experiencing like I never did before. Each moment is something I want to be rich, and full, and add to who I am. The side effect is that the human being I am is changing at an incredible pace. It's hard to reconcile with my core self... the identity I've held for so long. The foundation on which I'm built. I do not have skills to process change at this rate... and it's difficult.

And I'm only scratching the surface. I do here by declare I will experience more still. Life is not an elegant narrative. It is an act. You do not observe it, you live it. Living is a conscious effort. A decision is made. I will live. No more being scared of all that could go wrong. Because failure is an experience too... and experience is good.

-Chow

Eh?

She's Not Mobile She Just Watches Me

First: Might I Give "In Rainbows" the new album from Radiohead a hearty recommendation. "Reckoner" is a personal favorite.

Furthermore Big Team Battle on XBL with Halo 3 is fantastic.

I am a motha-frickin' grill master. I don't know if I could grill something not delicious even if I wanted to. Jokes.

November rapidly approaches... time to start laying out a plot for my book.

I'll let you all choose which plot... so yes... NEW POLL!

-Out

A Sample of My New Video Skills

I have been using this program less than 24 hours.

This is what the original looked like...

I Have To Do This For Myself

So I have a confession. It's an ugly one.

This makes sense.

That's a very uncomfortable fact.

In other news, there is a desperate need to understand why "Hard Sun" by Sir Eddie Vedder* is so endearing to me. But I freaking love it.

Now work at Best Buy.

More later?

-Chow

Was His Demise So Carefully Constructed

As a student of design, there are a few things that are drilled into you from the beginning. The first and foremost being that you are not an artists. You do not make art. Design and art are inexplicably seperated by the vasty seas of wanting to seem more professional than all the other wankers in the Art School.

At Herron, so pervasive is the cock-jockying that it is the Herron School of Art and Design. I am still an art student... everyone calls me an art major. Now I just sound pathetic trying to make the stupid distinction between the two. There is a definite distinction, and if you know anything about the two it will jump out and bite you in the face. (Designers are soulless corporate cum-dumpsters while Artists are self-important wastes of otherwise marketable water and carbon). But to the layman, that's like trying to explain the largely superfluous differences between AMD and Intel. The reply is always "Who gives a shit?"

So it is a hilarious irony that has us always describing things as compositions and pieces. I have to turn in 50 pieces by Friday or whatever. I could be in Drawing 35 for all I know. Except that my pieces are inane bullshit about balancing the use of light and dark and not about anything anyone else would give a shit about. An Art Student can take his Painting 2 shit home and mom and dad say, "Gee son, that's a beautiful bowl of fruit." I take my VC 1 stuff home, and everyone wonders why they are paying $20K a year for their son to arrange like... 15 colorful squares on a blank field.

Another problem is that even more so than art, non-designers don't know how we shit, let alone how we work. (and there is a very special designer shitting ritual.*) If I draw a dude, you can at least judge it based on whether it looks like a gremlin with down syndrome or a person. If you look at my page layout you don't really see the difference. If you can fucking read it, you call me a success and move on... which is like telling you that your food doesn't have botulism, there for you are a good cook. It's a nice feeling, but you clearly don't have a goddamn clue. (not that you should, this is the most esoteric , worthless field in creation, basically histories greatest con job, after philosophers).

Which takes me to the next problem: Designers like artists are a bunch of self-important, arrogant twats that want nothing so much as to have sex with themselves. That translates to dick in commradre and support for you fellow designer. If I get excited about my new design for my lead page of an art-book (for my not art), the only people who could even begin to understand why I have a boner will only tell me my dick is too small. Talking about design theory to designers is like talking about politics to guitar majors, they are quite sure you're an idiot and that you're just conforming to some one's stupid notion, when it's obvious the only reasonable thing is to conform to their stupid notion.

So this gives us a frustrated, twitchy Mike, who has a whole bunch of praise from people who love him dearly but don't know what he's doing, and a whole bunch of shit from holier-than-thou fellow design students quite sure they have solved the problems of the world with their newest san-serif font. All the while, I'm plugging away in various Adobe programs struggling to last through college and get to the other side where he can have the freedom to work from home away from all the assholes masturbating in front of their mirror.

-Chow

*there is no shitting ritual, I lied.

I Don't Know Why You Say Goodbye I Say Hello

For hilarity I give you:

Goodbye Beautiful Day

Topic for today's rant: Seasons

More specifically, Fall. It may be the worst season possible. I know, right, you're thinking "Mike, it's beautiful, it's wonderful weather, and it has halloween."

You are so very wrong.

I bring this up because the calendar is rapidly spiraling down into the abyss of winter, the last tatters of summer falling like autumn leaves on the trees. And there is the kicker. Fall sometimes pretends to be summer. But it lies. Oh does it ever lie. Because the next day it will be a hajillion degrees below too-f*cking cold. And that is unacceptable.

I wake up in the morning and I put on clothes. These clothes are chosen, primarily, on the weather of the preceding day. 75 degrees on Monday, I'll be wearing shorts Tuesday. 90 degrees Tuesday, I'll be wearing boxers and staying indoors with the air conditioning Wednesday. There is a progression here. But in Autumn, oh no... you see, in Autumn... Wednesday would be like... 55 degrees. And now I have hypothermia. It's not right! Damned be the temperate zones!

Another problem with Fall is the weather. It can't make up it's mind. One minute, sun. Next minute, Noah's Flood. And it's not the romantic kiss-in-me warm rain of spring and summer. Oh no... it's the icy daggers of want to be snow. And it lacerates my body temperature like I desire to do to so many Mac designer's tires.

Finally: halloween. Most vile of Autumn's sins. You know why?

I'm too old to do it without looking like a pedophile or a jerk-wad.

So all told, Autumn is good for pictures and little more. Give me summer!

Please?

~Chow

Got A Funny Feelin', You Don't Love Me Anymore

So Halo 3... that which moved me to tears in anticipation.

It is beat.

After a measly 5 hours of cooperative play. Wow. I was hoping for more. Given, we were rushing through at a break-neck pace. But even then... we really did it quickly. Normal: not hard.

For information on all the stuffs you can earn in teh Haloz: Here Thar Be Links!

My rundown on Halo 3:

The campaign is fast paced... like, blisteringly so. Within... maybe... 10 minutes of turning the game on, you start shooting... and the bullet casings never really stop falling from there. The plot is just as fast paced, and largely relegated to the cut scenes... it is quite possible to actually lose track of things really quickly. The interruptions from Gravemind and Cortana are interesting, but disruptive and annoying at times. The Plot is brought to a very final close, and there is no thirst for more like in Halo 2. I personally, was mildly miffed at the ending.

The new additions are incredible. The updated armory really makes the game-play a lot less predictable. The new Assault Rifle is right between the BR and the SMG in power, with enough of a clip to kill someone in one clip if you're a great shot. Most of the time, it gets reduced to grenades and elbows after the clip. The new vehicles really round things out, and I'm happy to see a UNSC flyer. The Brute sandbox is fun and different, almost a fourth culture of equipment (Human, Covenant, Forerunner, Brute).

Multiplayer looks to be shaping up interestingly. The game is so beautiful that it almost gets distracting, even in Multiplayer. I've only played a little, but the mechanics are still being laid down. The AR really shakes things up, on maps where it is the starting weapon. Sniping is still fun if you're doing well, miserable if you're not. I'm not that great at MP, but it looks to be fun.

All in all, I was let down some by Halo 3. That's because I had ridiculous expectations. It really is a great game, props to Bungie. I just wish it hadn't had the hype.

Atlantis How Does It Come To This

As always, Loving Pandora.

I'd like everyone to consider the links portion of my blog, to the lower right. It gets updated every so often. Good web sites, both about my causes and general thought provocation.

Been busy, BUSY, BUSY!

That's my standard.

Currently laying out an art book. Books and I are just always together.

Tomorrow I get Halo 3, that'll be fun. Should be at least a week of non-boredom.

Also, Tomorrow, 3rd Interview with the Best Buy General Manger. Good times. *gulp*

Need a break.

WARNING: Explicite Content

Drowning In The Darkness of My Mind

Job interview at Best Buy today. That should be fantastic. And by should I mean, I mean, oh please God let it be.

Fathers are truly terrifying entities. I described my life as a ball of terror enclosed in bars of fear. It was near to the truth.

Less than a week left before it's all over.

Had lunch with sir Tony Dewan this... lunchtime... and it was cool. Seems to be doing alright for himself.

In other news: neeeeeeeeeeeeed sleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep.

~Chow

Beneath The Wormwood Ooh, Love Me So Good

I am feeling splendid, for no other reason than I have work again! Finally I have something to eat my time up again! A pressing, difficult task. I have to do a bounch of work for class tomorrow, and it is wonderful. I need this kind of pressure, I'm realizing, to feel fullfilled... and to do anything worth while. This is a mental problem in need of tackling!

I have decided on the topic of this November's Novel, and whoo-boy, I'm biting off more than ever before. The working title? "Liberating America." And I can assure you, it's not what you think.

In other news, Saturday's Barbecue was fantastic. I am a master of the grill, whipping up delicious food stuffs to pleasure your palate. Seriously, come by some time, and feast upon my foods.

I have found a new, extremely liberating philosophy. I start off with this assumption:
"I Am Wrong"...

...and suddenly learning is so much easier.

Two Reasons To Have Children

T-Shirt Design Concept

What do you think?

Accept Your Life And What It Brings, I Hope Tomorrow You Find Better Things

Let me articulate for you the meaning of tired. That is where I am right now. It has become manifested as a locale. I dwell there, in a copse of wilted willows, a soft breeze singing a dirge of lament, for nascent dreams slain by lack of sleep. I crouch, eyes wild with exhaustion induced insanity, beneath the shattered remains of a statue. I sift through the rubble for a rock to use as a pillow for my addled head. This is where I am.

But anyway.

Spend time with me now while you can! The window of opportunity is closing rapidly as the 25th draws near! And I draw near to it, the vast black maw at the edge of reality is pulling me inexorably towards it's starved gullet. I can smell the fetid breath of disaster already. Oh Reason, why have you abandoned me?

In other news...

• I have a new poll. Fill it out or die the death of the forsaken.
• Barbecue with the ladies Saturday, huzzah!
• That's it really...

TTFN!

~Chow

That Boy's Got Woe, He Lives With Woe

Last night I got some amazing photograph's yesterday.

A hummingbird had landed on the sidewalk, and ignored people when they came near. My sister and I even touched it. Eventually I coaxed it to fly. Initially it went under my car... but I finally got it to fly off in a vaguely safe direction. Then I went downtown with Katie Stevens (Dustin's Girlfriend [read: functional fiance]) and took a few pictures of Indianapolis at night.


Indianapolis Skyline mk II by ~XavierMontague on deviantART


Hummingbird In Repose by ~XavierMontague on deviantART

There are more images at the DeviantArt site, of both subjects. Let me know what you think if you could. Perhaps a meatier update later...

You Bleed for Me I'll Bleed for You

Greetings. As per always, I am writing this under the influence of Pandora. And as always, I beseech thee to freaking give it a try. Eh?

I'm not a real dreamer... that's not my thing. Most nights I get through with nary a vision. Some nights, however, it happens. Last night was such a night.

They say there is no significance to dreams, but when you dream about freaking Halo 3... you've reached some critical point. Your skin begins to pale, you become myopic and need glasses, and braces are not far away. Might as well join the Chess Club now and buy a pocket protector. I mean seriously...

What's more is that in this dream, it was a Halo 3-reality cross over. I fought through Brutes... to get my copy of Halo 3. That makes no damn sense. That's like beating Voldemort's ass to get into the new Harry Potter movie.

What I'm getting at is this: my inner nerd is emerging. From the dark recesses of my soul, the quivering shade of my past springs forth. Who is to blame? Zach. Without a doubt he is the font from which my geekiness flows. I had largely forgotten Dungeons & Dragons before he reared his ferocious, maned visage. Now I am involved in two f*#$(**&@ campaigns, as well as another totally unrelated RPG. I am becoming... ridiculous.

God save my soul.

~Chow

Edit: Check the new Poll

In My Mind You Were Mine What Did I Know

So I really like Plain White T's. Good stuff, very good. Nice alterna-pop feel. Yes, I made that term up... but doesn't it fit? Fun and musically sound, love it, love it.

*****************************************************

Six years ago over 2,000 people died. Because of that over 50,000 more have lost their lives. Math isn't my strong suit... but, uhm...

When we will finally question the assertion that war is inevitable? When will we realize that it is the most inefficient way of solving a problem possible. When will people stop following selfish, power-drunk fools? When will we finally take responsibility?

I am personally responsible for the Iraq War. Why? Because I didn't try to stop it. I didn't speak out. You are responsible too, if you didn't. No, you alone are not responsible, but there is responsibility on your shoulders. If you let the wave of "patriotism" carry you too, you are responsible. Do not make excuses. Accept the truth.

Now.

Go fix it.

That sounds ludicrous, but it isn't. Barrack Obama isn't going to end the War. Hillary Clinton isn't going to end the War. And John McCaine isn't going to continue the War. We are. Until American's understand what this War is, nothing will change. So take responsibility. It's not that hard, the facts support you.

Whether you think we need to stay or you think we need to go, it's clear we need a change. Don't just petition your congressmen. Don't just attend rallies for you party. Petition your neighbor. Attend parties of your friends. What people don't understand is that in a representative democracy, the people hold the power. The politicians won't move an inch without public support, for fear of losing office. If you want change in congress, change in the white house, you have to institute change on the streets and in the homes of Americans. Until American's believe something, the politicians will believe nothing.

In closing, George W. Bush was not responsible for the Iraq War. Exxon-Mobile wasn't. Haliburton wasn't. A Republican Congress wasn't. You were responsible. I was responsible. We were responsible. Feel the shame, and let it motivate you to change everything.

You Were Meant For Me, I Believe You Were Sent To Me

So this was a relatively unusual weekend for me. Caught between an evening of half-grilled burgers and orange vodka* and a day of people gettin' married. It was interesting.

They do not read this, but congratulate Aaron "Ace" and Calli Cutshaw on their shared last name if you get a chance. They are young, yes it is true, but I really have no place talking about age as a contributing factor to anything.**

I would be so extremely happy if the printers at school had toner, but life being what it is, I do not have the luxury of that. So I print off projects that lose meaning because color was the whole @%$&*!#@ point.

I have made a new station on Pandora, and it is spectacular. It was based off "Hey There Delilah," by the Plain White T's. And it is fantastic. I say this, but Zach would prefer a blow-torch in his ears, I'm sure.

Probably likely to have something*** more later.

-Chow

* not to be confused with a screwdriver

** I do not condone infant politicians

*** This is a thing you should see.

And Did I Dissapoint You, Leave A Bad Taste In Your Mouth?

First, might I direct your attention to the right of this post? There is a poll there. I'd appreciate your taking it. Thank you.

In other news, I installed two gigabytes of fresh RAM in my laptop. You have to understand, this is an event. The world shakes, the foundation of the universe splits open and a cloud of fire is the only warning as a new kind of hell is born. I have never before modified the hardware of my electronics. Screwing with things I don't understand is fundamentally against standard operating procedure. But Zach, the bastard, has opened the door to my learning about the inside parts of a computer... and now... as I stated, a new hell is born.

Computer stuff be expensive. I am a poor college student eeking by at $400 a month, which covers eating and gasoline. I have money for nothing else. I am going to go hungry in order to pay for Halo 3. Which is okay. But I cannot go hungry in order to buy Video Cards and such non-sense. Stop this madness!

Other than that, though, life is good. Today is the end of the school week, hallelujah. I am very happy about this fact, let me say. It's been an odd week for some reason, and I'm ready for the fresh start next week is in my mind. Also, I'm going to be hanging with my main man Zach tomorrow. And Sunday, the wedding of Aaron Cutshaw and Calli Burton. W00t.

You can get an RSS Feed of this blog to keep track of it. If you need help, check this out.

In closing, I need a freakin' bagle. Come bring me one.

-Chow

Call It Aftermath She's Turning Blue

Let me recount to you a tale of heroism...

Ron and I are working at the Cumberland UPS Store this past Saturday. It's not terribly busy or slow, just... so-so. I have recently bought a bagel and a soda. All is right in the world. Then a woman enters. The words she speaks into her blue-tooth ear piece are, I will find, deeply ironic:

"Don't do this to me now, I'm in a public place."

The tone is set for some fun now. She is not speaking low, as the use of ear-pieces require audible vocalization for the ear piece, which is no where near the direction the mouth opens. So she's speaking at normal level or louder. Okay, not terrible, she's just having a conversation.

Wrong.

"I said I want to f*cking be with you forever, and I meant it."

That's good, now we have a domestic squabble. That's cool, that's... you know, alright. Some jerk boyfriend! But apparently he's hysterical, bawling and stuff, making a mess of himself. All the while he is driving. Except he doesn't know where he is. The large woman is very irritated with her ear-piece boyfriend. Then a pause.

"What? I can't hear you! Did you get in an accident! WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU!"

Yes, an automobile accident. And the initial reaction of "what's wrong with you" begins to echo through out what happens. Fatty gets off that line and calls "Jeff." Then we find something interesting out. The boyfriend is actually the girlfriend. Yes, lesbians. Fat lesbians yelling on the phone, hooray! And then, better yet, Jeff is gay. A deal is struck!

"You call her, and I'll call yours and calm him down."

All will be made right soon. The big lesbian calls her girlfriend back, and now she's conciliatory. Tells her Jeff is coming as soon as they drop off the Mercedes. Why drop off the Mercedes?

"The exhaust dropped off."

Now through out this event, the woman has been cursing, quite vocally. This has taken her over an hour to do. She's folding envelopes and packing at our counter through out. Ron and I are just standing in awe. Ron is extremely uncomfortable, and I am amused to an equal level. This is great stuff.

Finally, she approaches to make her transaction.

Her: "How has your day been."

Me: "Interesting."

Her: "Not as interesting as mine."

Me: "Yeah I heard you talking with someone..."

Her: "That was my wife."

Yes, we have a gay marriage, torn apart, come to find, because our land bound lesbian Shamu was not in the mood to cut her wife's hair. That is the root cause of this. As it turns out, I cannot help her. Seems The UPS Store charges too much. With that, she leaves, her only gift to us in return for the used space, a delightfully story, here recounted.

Poll

At the Bottom of the Page.

Building A Successful Society - Overview

In defining what the Goals of a society are, we must look at the common threads all members of all societies have in their hopes of that society. All members of a society hope to be given a good standard of living. They all look to have the potential for self-improvement. They all look to be given a say in the direction their society moves. They all look to leave behind a legacy of their achievements.

In looking at these Goals, we need to define them better. A standard of living, in its raw form can be broken into parts. Sustenance, Shelter, Health, and Safety. Sustenance means nutritional and chemical needs of the body to continue functioning. Shelter means a place that is protected from the elements. Health is the protection from disease, dismemberment, and the rehabilitation of injuries and illnesses. Safety is the assurance of protection both against human and non-human threats to any of the other three standards of living, in addition to protection of that members place in society. Improving ones self in this context means an improvement in material goods, in personal knowledge, in personal experience, and in personal happiness. Influence on the society is the manner and degree of voice the member is given.

When we say a good standard of living, it is not an entirely subjective term. Good does not mean “survivable.” Good implies above average, and certainly above minimum. Good sustenance does mean the bare amount of water and calories needed to survive. It is the meeting of all the nutritional needs optimal for personal health as dictated by modern science. This implies, at present, the availability to all of grain, fruit, vegetable, meat, and dairy products, in a variety. It also means the availability of at minimum, the equivalent of 8 glasses of clean drinking water. Good Shelter does not mean a lean-to or a cardboard box. Good Shelter means a living space that will stand up to all elements, maintain comfortable atmosphere regardless of outside influence, and has enough room to comfortably hold all occupants. Good health does mean just being alive. Good health means freedom from disease, treatment of ailments when they do occur in a quick and thorough manner, and the application of reasonable preventative measures towards the health of all members. Good safety does not mean merely having a police force. It means having an un-corrupt, effective and compassionate police force that is fair and just. It means having well maintained civil services with trained and proficient staff. It means a guarantee of safety for the member’s material possessions, bodily whole, and the place within the society.

In order to meet these Goals, there are certain things the society must have in order to be successful. The presence of multiple sources of accurate, up-to-date information is the key to making informed decisions for the benefit of all. If several routes of delivering this information are provided, then there is a much higher likelihood of members being properly informed.

Another key to meeting these Goals is the necessity of enforcing the equality of all members. In order to ensure this, all members of the society must have an equal education. This means a full breadth of learning, all the way from kindergarten to college. This ensures all members the same knowledge and skills for pursuing their personal goals. All members need to have equal rights in the eyes of the society. This means rights in everything, from rights to own property to the right to vote, from the right to free speech to the right to choose a partner. Finally, all members need to have equal protection of these rights. All members should have their rights defended with equal vigor.

Further more, for these Goals to be met, all members of the society need to be integrated with it. In order for their voices to be effectively heard, they must feel as though they are truly a part of the society, not just administered to by it. Integration means active and passive participation, and an understanding of what the society is and does to the member and others.

Additionally, the society must co-exist with other societies around it to successfully meet the Goals. War is one of the most disruptive forces to a society, and one that almost guarantees a fall in standard of living, a lowered ability to improve ones self, and destruction of vital infrastructure. Unless a society can peacefully co-exist with its neighbors, it will not be able to ensure meeting of the Goals.

To meet the Goals, the society will have to provide means for the effective utilization and distribution of resources to all members. This means providing equal access to everyone, regardless of any other factors. It also means using the resources in an efficient and non-destructive fashion, and maintaining them in as renewable a fashion as possible.

All members must have input in defining these principles for each Society, so an open forum to all members is essential to meet the Goals. Not only must members have the ability to access information, they must have the ability to share their thoughts and ideas on the information. The society must have a reliable means for sharing ideas and desires if it is to meet the needs of all members.

Finally, in order for all the Goals to be met over a long period of time, the society must be capable of adapting to changes. Not only changes in the world, like climate, technology, or ecology. It must also adapt to changes within itself. As new ideas make parts of others irrelevant or contradictory, a consensus must be reached to create an understanding.

I Never Ever Meant To Hurt You, I Only Did What I Had To

BBC Headline: FBI Tries to Fight Zombie Hordes
Somewhere there is a British Editor who desperately needs to write more headlines.

Salutations! I pray everyone had a splendid Labour Day (British spelling of course) weekend. Mine was wonderful. Highlights:

• Facing three people at once in Chess and losing
• NOT having much homework
• Sleeping In
• Feeding someone's pony

Rented Gray Matters. It's a cutesy Romantic Comedy with a twist... turns out the male lead's sister is a lesbian with a thing for his honey! Hijinks ensue! It's a fun movie, though there are a couple glaring editing errors. My only real beef with it was a moment that turned into a huge political stump speech. I know I shouldn't have been surprised, given the political climate visa-vis homosexuality, but I was disappointed none-the-less. If you are going to make an activist movie... then do it. Don't ruin a romantic comedy with it! Oh well, I suppose one's agenda will emerge with or without one's support.

In other news, it is obvious that gas prices need to go down to like... a nickel a gallon. Am I right? I think so.

~Chow

Note: I do not know who's pony it was. Also, ponies have ridiculously large teeth for their mouths, and even more ridiculously over-sized heads for their bodies.

Won't Back Down, Really Can't Turn Around

Spitalfield is a very awkwardly named band that none-the-less makes good music. Something like a Sugarcult/Jimmy Eat World mash up. Really interesting, some good mellow songs, quite a few poppy songs, and a few harder, alterna-punk songs. I enjoy them enough to buy one of their albums (though it wasn't the one I intended to buy!)

In other news, I have been introduced to the concept of the "T-shaped" person. Someone with one major branch of skill (the vertical line of the "T") and then from there can branch out to everywhere. Apparently they are in high demand, which makes me happy, because I am quite the T-shaped person. I always thought I was wasting my time dabbling in everything from psychology to geo-politics, but apparently, it's a good thing.

That's a relief.

Some things I'm thinking about:

• A Guide to Romance for the masses, just to help some of the people who don't even get the basics.
• A design for a new Mass-transit system for the USA
• A piece on the duality of being American
• My wonderful girl friend who said "I love you" to me in 65 different languages
• The delicious chocolate-mocha swirl bagel I just ate

It's a good day.

~Chow

You Know I Want To Do It Again

So I have made a terrible, terrible mistake. I have done... a terrible thing. Never should I have strayed to Newegg.com. That was... that was a bad decision, and now I'm reaping my dark harvest of suffering. It's like I was trying to bring down a scalding rain of misery.

I need a new computer. My mom is going to order some RAM to make my Laptop functional, however... this is not enough. This is enough that I will be able to run Photoshop without turning my motherboard into a pool of molten silicon. However, as a not-so-closet nerd, I am very likely to need some Gaming performance, and you don't get that in a Laptop. You just don't.

Now the computer I built on Newegg for $1,097.96... that could work. That would work. That would be freaking amazing. It would have... a lot of very nice things. And at the prices Newegg offers, I could actually keep it up to date. This is terrible. This is a very bad thing that has happened here. I am going to be miserable for at least 4 hours thinking about this.

In non-nerd news, I'm getting run ragged here. And I have to admit, I may be loving it. I'm challenged... really challenged, for the first time in a long time. This is hard but it's exhilarating! I'm liking learning again, and it's intense. Experimenting and not worrying if the result is total shit. This is really building up my confidence, helping me loosen up. I'm always about a minute away from passing out... but for peace of mind... I'd stay this way for ever.

~Chow

I Never Asked For Ordinary

I'm about to begin the recovery period from today. It has been a long, hard day, but a rewarding one, I must say. Art, Love, Work, Love, Art. It plays out the same in both directions.

I was exploring Spray Paint as a medium today, for my class tomorrow. I am so woefully low on options that I can really use, so this is what it comes to. It has been interesting, and the work sucks, but it's about learning the media, not making a masterpiece. If I can add this to my repertoire then that's one more solution to a potential problem.

Today was a good day for telling people I love them, in a meaningful way.

I learned a lot today, hopefully tomorrow will be as good.

Exhaustion claims this post.

~Chow

If You Talk Too Much My Head Will Explode

August is in its last leg and I'm panting along side it. Just got to get over this hump and into the Brave New World of September. Hopefully I'll get more used to running again soon. Hopefully I'll have a new stinking job.

Visual Communications 01 was a marathon of wasting time today. There was an hour and half long discussion about the philosophy of mark making. Let me explain to you... we were making a philosophical issue of making marks... I... how... do... I... It was like a sophist's wet dream.

I'm about four minutes away from Image 01... the class that makes staying conscious so difficult. It's not that I'm disinterested in the subject matter, it's not that at all. It's that it seems to drag on at times, and I don't want to over run conversation, so I sit there fuming behind closed lips. Joy of joys!

I'm slowly picking through music on Pandora to buy on iTunes. I have about $12 left for songs. That's twelve songs. Competition is so very stiff, but make it I shall. Class beckons, so to it I meander.

~Chow

When I Like You It's Total Revenge

So our project today in Type 01 (Typography 01) was to create a monogram and a new letter for the alphabet. I have already made three letters and four monograms (we have a week and a half to create one of each). I am a linguiphile.

My first letter was "cha." It replaces the "ch" sound in English language (ie: change, charge, chicken, chumbawumba... etc). It's an easily replicated form, that is fairly distinct. It might be mistaken for an "m," but only if you have really poor penmanship.

My second letter was "tho" and it replaces, you guessed it, the "th" sound in English language (ie: that, them, thick, thin, thunder thighs, etc...). It is also an easily replicatable and yet distinct form. It could be mistaken for a "T" but only, again with bad penmanship.

My third and final letter is "Shu," and this time it's "sh" that's getting the ax (ie: shrimp, ship, shoot, shallow, sh*t, etc...). The form is that of an "O" with an "I" in the middle (two letters which are often used to make the "sh" sound anyway). Once more easily replicated, and again only poor penmanship will get it confused with other letters, this time an "O".

Also, now anyone can comment on the blog, so feel free to comment. What do you think of these designs?

~Chow

Mike's Webcomic's Shit-straveganza!

In the past decade, something amazing has happened on the internet. No, I'm not talking about blogs, Myspace, Facebook, or free porn. I'm talking about webcomics. These little jewels are separate from comic books and newspaper comics.

There are a ton of different types of Webcomics. The most common are gaming comics, like Penny-Arcade ,which averages 55 million pageviews a month, and PVP which really isn't too much of a gaming comic anymore, but is still fun. There are also roughly twenty-seven quadrillion knock offs of Penny-Arcade, half of which have been drawn by yours truly.

Another type is the quirky, romantic nerd comedy comics. The most well known of these is the immensely popular Questionable Content which is also good for music buffs. Another nerdy sometimes romance comic is XKCD which is perhaps the most indecipherable to the layperson comic I read.

An additional genre is the fantasy comic. The most popular of these is The Order of the Stick, which shares a site with Erfworld. Order of the Stick is good, but is updated only sporadically. Looking for Group is another comic I really enjoy in this group.

There are other comics, ones that are just funny without unifying genre. Two of my favorites there are Star Slip Crisis and Indexed. Both are hilarious and don't fit the other groups.

If You Talk Too Much My Head Will Explode

Sunday is the Sabbath, a day of rest. That has nothing to do with my not blogging then, but it's a nice sentiment. People always laugh at things like not working on Sunday, calling it stupid superstition. I happen to believe God knows us well, and knows we all need a break, but the only way to get us to take it, is to make us.

Today is Monday the Twenty-Seventh of August, 2007. Today, for the first time in near ages, nay eons, I ran in the morning. Zachary accompanied me, and we must have made for an amusing couple. I was in athletic shorts and a high school diversity t-shirt, with some nice running shoes. Zach was clunking along beside me in black pants and shirt and large semi-athletic shoes. The two of us were joking all the way till the last fourth, when we started feeling the oxygen deprivation in our wee little legs.

In other news, Bioshock is an excellent game, with very interesting dynamics. I don't know if it has the much lauded replay value everyone speaks of, but it was definitely a fun experience the first time through. I will say that it is possibly the most disturbing game I've ever played. When you see a man using death and human flesh as his media, you know you have reached a new level of depravity.

I just finished the workload for today in Visual Communications, which was surprisingly easy. But that was because it was hand made, and I do much better drawing than I do cutting out thin strips of news print and meticulously applying them to six and a half inch squares.

-Chow

You Brought Me To My Knees, Your Art

Lets talk about Herron. I was wrong, lets get that out right now. The in class stuff is interesting and even engaging at times, even if some of my class mates do make things drag out beyond all limits of reason. The work load is incredible. More than I've ever had before in my life. I have to make 55 pieces of art by Monday, write a 4 page paper by Friday, and have something for Tuesday that hasn't been assigned yet. May we call that intense?

So lets look at my assignment for Image 01. That's a course that is focused on making an image, and all that goes into it. Our assignment was to compose fifty 5 1/2 by 8 1/2 inch compositions. Each composition was to be composed entirely of a mark. Each mark had to be very different from all the others, in as many ways as reasonable. 30 of the marks had to be "natural." This was defined as meaning something I made with my hands, either directly, or by some hand held implement. 15 were to be mechanical/alternative, which was defined as any means that was not by hand or computer. Finally, 5 were to be by computer.

For the natural ones, I initially used as many "traditional" media as I could. Mechanical Pencil, 4B wooden pencil, vine charcoal, charcoal pencils, acrylic and oil paints with a variety of brushes. Then, when I had exhausted the traditional media in my apartment, I went to the stranger things. Ketchup, toothpaste, mustard, and the ink from a shattered pen. I even used the coloring from mashed plants.

For the mechanical ones, I have burned them, stepped on them and stamped them. I'm working them out as best I can. These ones are more difficult for many reasons... mostly involved around finding non repetitive mark making. It's only possible to make so many stamps, and finding things that actually make marks and aren't really media is hard. So it's a struggle.

The computer marks will be extremely easy. I have been using computer media for a long time. And I only need 5 different kinds.

The idea I've really taken hold of on these ones is to try to show as much of the potential for each media I use as possible. I vary pressure and density on every mark, as much as possible. I'll load up some pictures later, so you guys can see how it goes.

Everymorning There's A Halo

A looming issue is emerging for me. That is the release of Halo 3 in about a month's time. I have purchased and X-box 360 Elite ($700) and a 32 inch LCD HDTV ($600) for no better purpose than to make this game ridiculous for me. I am accutely aware, in my rare lucid moments, that $1300 is a fairly ludicrous amount of money to spend on a game. (For the record, I went halvsies with Zach on all this stuff, I don't think he knows it's all for Halo 3, and am paying him back in both things purchased, and services rendered)

My first year at my first college, the illustrious Vincennes University, was nearly ruined by Halo 2. X-box Live made it possible for me to blow other people into steaming hunks of garbage at any hour, and I took full advantage. There were seriously nights were I was playing at... 3am... and I had class at 9am the next day. I was not... shall we say... aware of moderation.

So now we have this third one coming, promising to be as good as the first two combined. And I have to ask myself, should I just drop out now? Is that how this is going to go? I hope not, and I doubt it. It's just something that is worrisome. I know I would not be the first to succumb to Halo's enthralling nature.

Lets Start This Off Right

At 8:56am, Wednesday the 22nd of August in the year (of our dear blessed lord) 2007, I started my tenure at the prestigious Herron School of Art and Design. HSAD is a part of the not so prestigious Indiana University-Purdue University of Indianapolis, affectionately dubbed by the locals "IUPUI" (which is often phonetically pronounced "oo-ee-poo-ee").

I am a "Visual Communications" major, which is a very special way of saying I will make pictures that say things. I have found that people in a certain field will do anything to obfuscate their profession, because we tend to have a healthy respect for that which we do not understand. Thusly, we give "artists" more respect than "painters", even though, in the grand scheme of things, they are same. (also: more respect for "philosophers" than "thinkers", and "politicians" than "bullsh*tters") But as I am wont to do, I digress.

I came to Herron with the full expectation of being completely unprepared, out of my league, and bound for years of uphill struggle. Despite my nervousness, I was looking forward to this. Thus far... I have been disappointed. I am dissapointed because I am every bit as prepared as my peers here, and entirely within my league. I may be bound for uphill struggle, but it will be at my own prodding and not because of some sort of institutional might.

I say thus far, because it is now 8:35am on Thursday, August the twenty-fourth, year (of our dear blessed lord) 2007. And so, I am roughly 25 minutes from starting my SECOND day at Herron. With hope, it will be at least as satisfying as yesterday, and hopefully more.

-Chow