Dear social science majors,
The natural laws of the universe are not subject to your interpretation, no matter how important a roomful of people listening to you makes you feel.
Also, telling me to shut up doesn't make what you have to say any less wrong.
Love, the (very) lone real scientist in the class.
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Friday, August 26, 2011
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Dear social science majors with whom I will be taking my "Human and Social Dimensions of Climate Change" course this semester.
I apologize in advance for any technical jargon I may use when presenting topics this semester. I apologize if the subjects are completely over your heads, and I'll try to bring my level of thinking down to yours. I'll also work on hiding my snooty engineer attitude whenever your topics of research are discussed.
I promise I don't think you're dumb. No, really. I even asked a few of you about your research. And, as an example, one of you is doing a topic for your Ph.D that involves understanding human emotions experienced when people recycle or conserve energy. Which is a legit topic. Totally worth the 6 years you've spent on it. It's not like I could write your dissertation in an hour or anything. And when people call us both "doctor," I won't be bitter about the fact that the classes and work that I did for my Ph.D were actually hard.
Love, your resident lone Mechanical Engineer.
I apologize in advance for any technical jargon I may use when presenting topics this semester. I apologize if the subjects are completely over your heads, and I'll try to bring my level of thinking down to yours. I'll also work on hiding my snooty engineer attitude whenever your topics of research are discussed.
I promise I don't think you're dumb. No, really. I even asked a few of you about your research. And, as an example, one of you is doing a topic for your Ph.D that involves understanding human emotions experienced when people recycle or conserve energy. Which is a legit topic. Totally worth the 6 years you've spent on it. It's not like I could write your dissertation in an hour or anything. And when people call us both "doctor," I won't be bitter about the fact that the classes and work that I did for my Ph.D were actually hard.
Love, your resident lone Mechanical Engineer.
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
For the sake of clarity. Because one thing I've learned today, among many, is that I need to work on expressing myself better and more clearly......
When I talk about the "midlife crisis" that I discuss several posts ago, I don't simply mean a passing mood. Or a phase. I don't mean that someone who has experienced what I'm talk about gets up in the morning, invigorated, wanting to achieve more. What I'm talking about isn't a New Years resolution. It's not even a realization. It's not something that just affects how you talk, or act, or see the world.
It's a complete and utter transformation. And it's not something that you can understand entirely, no matter how much you think you do, until you experience it yourself.
There are three steps in the process I'm talking about.
The first step is understanding that there's something missing from your life. Perhaps it's the reason you come home and cry when no one's around. Perhaps it's a dull ache in the back of your heart that never seems to go away. Perhaps it's noticing your own gradual shift towards being a bitter person. Perhaps it's that there is something you see in other people who look happy, truly happy, and you wish that you could experience something that good, even for a moment. Perhaps it's the moment of despair you experience when you deal with something you just can't quite handle, and you wish you had someone there to guide you. Perhaps it's a feeling that you can't quite place, but you know that you could be a better person, stronger, more capable of handling things.
Honestly, it's a big first step. Admitting that something might be lacking from your life is a hard thing to do.
The second step is a moment of awakening. It's a paradigm shift. It's when clarity hits you like lightning, and suddenly the whole world comes into focus. The way you see everything is utterly transformed. Every action you take, every person you interact with, everything you strive for, will also be utterly transformed by this moment of clarity. For me, it was possibly the most beautiful moment of my life.
"I was blind, but now I see."
The third step is perhaps the most difficult. It's realizing that everything discovered in that moment of clarity is now applied to every single action you take for the rest of your life. And it's making that happen. The third step never ends; it's something that will take work. Hard work. And there are no breaks. No places to "escape from your morals." Every thought you have, every person you meet, everything you do will be subject to a reevaluation based on what you've discovered is important, what's truly important to you. Yes, you will slip up. You will stumble. But never again will you feel utterly lost and hopeless. Never again will you wonder what's lacking from your life. Never again will you see others who are happy and wish you had the same thing. Never again will you question what is the "right thing to do." Because you'll know. It'll be clear. Everything will be clear..
Each person's journey is different and unique based on who they are; no two people will ever have exactly the same journey. What I described is only what I experienced myself, and the similarities it shared watching a person I love experience it too.
Ask any experienced minister or priest about what I'm talking about. They will know instantly exactly what I mean. There's a term in religion for everything I've described.
It's called "finding God."
Everyone has the ability to achieve what I just described, but so few people ever will. What I just described is more important than who I am, or anything I'll ever do.. and I'll actively work every day to show the people I love all of the things I described. I'll work every day to make every action, every interaction I have with other people, indicative of the strong morals I have. I'll never lose sight of the things that are important to me. Understanding everything I just described is paramount to leading a fulfilling life. Understanding how important it is to me is paramount to understanding me. Understanding my intentions in every situation is paramount to knowing my heart....
When I talk about the "midlife crisis" that I discuss several posts ago, I don't simply mean a passing mood. Or a phase. I don't mean that someone who has experienced what I'm talk about gets up in the morning, invigorated, wanting to achieve more. What I'm talking about isn't a New Years resolution. It's not even a realization. It's not something that just affects how you talk, or act, or see the world.
It's a complete and utter transformation. And it's not something that you can understand entirely, no matter how much you think you do, until you experience it yourself.
There are three steps in the process I'm talking about.
The first step is understanding that there's something missing from your life. Perhaps it's the reason you come home and cry when no one's around. Perhaps it's a dull ache in the back of your heart that never seems to go away. Perhaps it's noticing your own gradual shift towards being a bitter person. Perhaps it's that there is something you see in other people who look happy, truly happy, and you wish that you could experience something that good, even for a moment. Perhaps it's the moment of despair you experience when you deal with something you just can't quite handle, and you wish you had someone there to guide you. Perhaps it's a feeling that you can't quite place, but you know that you could be a better person, stronger, more capable of handling things.
Honestly, it's a big first step. Admitting that something might be lacking from your life is a hard thing to do.
The second step is a moment of awakening. It's a paradigm shift. It's when clarity hits you like lightning, and suddenly the whole world comes into focus. The way you see everything is utterly transformed. Every action you take, every person you interact with, everything you strive for, will also be utterly transformed by this moment of clarity. For me, it was possibly the most beautiful moment of my life.
"I was blind, but now I see."
The third step is perhaps the most difficult. It's realizing that everything discovered in that moment of clarity is now applied to every single action you take for the rest of your life. And it's making that happen. The third step never ends; it's something that will take work. Hard work. And there are no breaks. No places to "escape from your morals." Every thought you have, every person you meet, everything you do will be subject to a reevaluation based on what you've discovered is important, what's truly important to you. Yes, you will slip up. You will stumble. But never again will you feel utterly lost and hopeless. Never again will you wonder what's lacking from your life. Never again will you see others who are happy and wish you had the same thing. Never again will you question what is the "right thing to do." Because you'll know. It'll be clear. Everything will be clear..
Each person's journey is different and unique based on who they are; no two people will ever have exactly the same journey. What I described is only what I experienced myself, and the similarities it shared watching a person I love experience it too.
Ask any experienced minister or priest about what I'm talking about. They will know instantly exactly what I mean. There's a term in religion for everything I've described.
It's called "finding God."
Everyone has the ability to achieve what I just described, but so few people ever will. What I just described is more important than who I am, or anything I'll ever do.. and I'll actively work every day to show the people I love all of the things I described. I'll work every day to make every action, every interaction I have with other people, indicative of the strong morals I have. I'll never lose sight of the things that are important to me. Understanding everything I just described is paramount to leading a fulfilling life. Understanding how important it is to me is paramount to understanding me. Understanding my intentions in every situation is paramount to knowing my heart....
Monday, August 22, 2011
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Saturday, August 20, 2011
Friday, August 19, 2011
My old boss comes to Arizona sometimes to visit his daughter, and we get together for lunch and fantastic conversation. The last time he was here, we ended up talking for hours. In the end, I was giving him advice about everything from life to religion to relationships. What is more remarkable, I wonder.. the fact that I can give advice to someone 25 years my senior, or the fact that he takes every word of it to heart?
I possess an incredible amount of clarity regarding my own life and the world around me. Looking at others, from people my own age to people twice my age, it seems that such a quality is not typical.
I was told once that most people go through a "crisis of faith" in their mid 40s. It doesn't have to be related to your religion; you can call it a midlife crisis, you can call it a parenting crisis, you can call it anything you want. The truth is that what people experience is directly related to all of the above. Typically, the crisis comes from a wake-up call in the form of either a realization that your kids are growing up and it's your responsibility to shape their lives, or a realization that you're not young anymore and you might not be leading a fulfilling life. No matter what triggers the wake-up call, the conclusion is the same: you begin to have a different perspective of life. Drastically different. A perspective that life should have a deeper meaning.
More and more I'm seeing that many of the people with whom I surround myself have reached this point already. Even more astounding is how young we all are. We're having our "midlife crisis," just 20 years early. The most remarkable thing about it, however, is seeing that they have come out of it with a clarity of purpose and understanding of life. I see it in them because I've found it too. And sharing that level of understanding with someone is breathtaking.
I possess an incredible amount of clarity regarding my own life and the world around me. Looking at others, from people my own age to people twice my age, it seems that such a quality is not typical.
I was told once that most people go through a "crisis of faith" in their mid 40s. It doesn't have to be related to your religion; you can call it a midlife crisis, you can call it a parenting crisis, you can call it anything you want. The truth is that what people experience is directly related to all of the above. Typically, the crisis comes from a wake-up call in the form of either a realization that your kids are growing up and it's your responsibility to shape their lives, or a realization that you're not young anymore and you might not be leading a fulfilling life. No matter what triggers the wake-up call, the conclusion is the same: you begin to have a different perspective of life. Drastically different. A perspective that life should have a deeper meaning.
More and more I'm seeing that many of the people with whom I surround myself have reached this point already. Even more astounding is how young we all are. We're having our "midlife crisis," just 20 years early. The most remarkable thing about it, however, is seeing that they have come out of it with a clarity of purpose and understanding of life. I see it in them because I've found it too. And sharing that level of understanding with someone is breathtaking.
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Things are different now. They will never go back to the way they were before. But I wouldn't want them to.
Every word, breath, touch.. every interaction, every outcome is another step. Some might be a step back. Some might be a plunge forward. But every bit is important and necessary. Innocence lost, experience gained.
Things will never be the same. All I need to do is close my eyes and breathe in your scent for a firm reminder of that fact.
Every word, breath, touch.. every interaction, every outcome is another step. Some might be a step back. Some might be a plunge forward. But every bit is important and necessary. Innocence lost, experience gained.
Things will never be the same. All I need to do is close my eyes and breathe in your scent for a firm reminder of that fact.
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Sunday, August 7, 2011
WTB sleep PST
Oh, and Unix software and coding are DUMB.
If anyone can translate this page into english for me, I'd be eternally grateful....
http://www.gnu.org/software/wget/manual/wget.html
Oh, and Unix software and coding are DUMB.
If anyone can translate this page into english for me, I'd be eternally grateful....
http://www.gnu.org/software/wget/manual/wget.html
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
I realized that what I feared was completely different from what I had thought. But I'm not scared anymore.
I am unbridled passion, and only you have the power to tame me. This is your one shot; make it count. Blow my mind. Rock my world. Because I'm about to turn yours upside-down. And I'll settle for nothing less than extraordinary.
Aim for the moon, because even if you miss, you'll land somewhere among the stars.....
I am unbridled passion, and only you have the power to tame me. This is your one shot; make it count. Blow my mind. Rock my world. Because I'm about to turn yours upside-down. And I'll settle for nothing less than extraordinary.
Aim for the moon, because even if you miss, you'll land somewhere among the stars.....
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