Taking Candy from a Baby

I used to be really in to Halloween. The candy, the trick-or-treating, the decorations--I loved it all. Every year after I was about two, I'd plan my costume and get excited for Halloween. After sixth grade, I got even more into it because my best friend and I went trick-or-treating together around our neighborhood; it became a tradition we looked forward to every year, and we really had an imaginative collection of costumes. Then we started to wonder, how old is too old to go trick-or-treating? We had agreed beforehand that our senior year would be the last time we would go. Well, that year really ended my Halloween spirit. It was all going ok until I noticed how many little kids were out in force that night. I tried to just ignore that and enjoy myself as I walked from house to house with little princesses and Power Rangers. Then we came to a house that looked like all the others and rang the doorbell. Expecting to see a mom-type answer the door, we were very surprised to see a toddler reaching into a bowl to dole out the candy to the trick-or-treaters. Having to bend down so a small child can put candy in your bag is a great way to end your desire to go trick-or-treating really fast. That definitely answered my question. I was too old to go trick-or-treating.

One Light Two Light Green Light Blue Light

It's come to my attention over the past few years that cars are missing something very important to a polite driving environment. There's a serious lack of communication among drivers. I'm a very cautious driver, but when I make small driving mistakes, I wish I could apologize for them. I feel bad that there's no way to let other drivers know that I acknowledge that I've made a mistake, and I wasn't trying to be rude. Most of the time, I notice this lack of communication not when I want to apologize, but when I want to thank someone, maybe for letting me into the lane or for letting me go first at a stop sign. Instead, I sit there wildly waving my hand to try to thank them, but I doubt they ever see it, and the gesture goes unnoticed. That's why I think we need to make a few additions to cars' external lights for signaling: a blue light that would flash when the driver wanted to say, "I'm sorry," and a green light for "thank you." These lights would be right next to the turn signals and would be turned on pretty much the same way as turn signals. Think of how much more polite our roads would be and how much misunderstanding could be avoided if our cars were better equipped.

The Disappearing Picture

On Monday, October 5, I used a picture of Steve Jobs in one of my blog entries. A couple days later, when I went back to look at the entry, the picture was gone. All that stood in its place was a big black empty box. (I've fixed it since then.) Now, what I want to know is, where did Steve Jobs go? Is this like in Harry Potter when people can come and go in pictures whenever they want? Did he not like my idea, and so he decided he would leave so he could go "think different" somewhere else? I checked the original link, and the picture is still there, so why wouldn't it show up in my blog? Did someone steal him?

I want some answers.

Send It On

This summer, Disney Channel started a campaign called "Friends for Change" to get kids involved with helping to save the planet. They can vote online for which causes they'd like Disney Channel to support, and all of the proceeds from the "Send It On" song the Disney Channel stars made for this campaign will go toward charity. I think this is such a cool way to educate kids about the environment. If kids can learn early that little things can make a big difference, and that we all need to work together to reduce waste, I think it'll create a more environmentally-conscious generation. Disney Channel was also really smart by using kids' favorite Disney Channel stars to get them interested, so they'll want to go to the website and learn about saving the environment. I think it's really cool to tell kids that if we all work together, we can change the world. Keep sending it on, Disney.

Your Arts. Delivered.

I did a project last year on the Dallas Center for the Performing Arts, and I learned a lot about how it was supposed to help give Dallas a renewed interest in arts and culture. Because I had learned so much about it, I was surprised to hear the other day that it has now been renamed The AT&T Performing Arts Center. Is it just me, or does the corporate sponsorship seem to work against the whole artsy atmosphere thing? We have so many corporate sponsorships in Dallas, like the American Airlines Center, Superpages.com Center, and the Nokia Theatre. Do we really need another one? Yes, it will provide a lot of funds to the center, and it'll probably give us a lot of cool technological stuff, but is that worth compromising our integrity as a city? (Unless, of course, I can get some of the action. :-))

Singing in Plain English

I've always wondered why English people never have an accent when they sing. Sure, there are those few that have a really strong accent that comes through when they sing, but for the most part, unless you hear singers speak, you might not know they were from England. For example, Jay Sean, a British singer, has a really popular song out right now called "Down," but I had no idea he was from England until the radio announcer said he was. I'd never actually heard him speak until a few days ago when they played a clip of him talking on the radio. Then they played his song, and it was so strange to listen to his heavy British accent and then to hear his song. It seems to be a pretty general trend, though. The Beatles, one of my favorite bands, is from England, but their songs don't suggest their British roots. I wonder if British people think the same thing about American singers.

A Nobel Cause

Today the Norwegian Nobel Committee announced that President Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize. While many people are skeptical about whether or not he deserves the award, others consider it an honor not only for the president, but also for America. Both arguments went through my head when I heard that he had received the award.

He doesn't deserve it. He's only been president for nine months. He has a lot of plans, but usually to get an award you have to have done something. Yeah, he's made a lot of great speeches, but that doesn't mean he deserves the Nobel Peace Prize. Look at all of the people around the world who say it's too early. He even said he doesn't deserve it.

It's such an honor. How cool is it that our president won the Nobel Peace Prize? It's not just about him. It's about our country getting something right. It's about the message we're sending to the world. He's only had nine months in office. He can't do everything he said he's going to do in nine months. This is a "call to action" to make sure that he knows the world is behind him. I think they made a wonderful choice.

I think both points of view have their merits, but whether or not people think he should have won, he did win the Nobel Peace Prize. I think we should congratulate President Obama for his award and start working on the problems he wants to address. I like what the chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee told the Associated Press: "Some people say — and I understand it — 'Isn't it premature? Too early?' Well, I'd say then that it could be too late to respond three years from now. It is now that we have the opportunity to respond — all of us."

Sign Here

The other day when I was driving to school, I saw a small sign on a stoplight. It was too small to read, and I wanted to know what it said, so as I drove into the intersection, I slowed down to look, and I saw: "Do Not Block Intersection." Wow, really? That's one of the most useless signs I've ever seen. It's actually counterproductive. You have to drive into the intersection, possibly blocking it, to see what the sign says.

I started thinking about it, and now I wonder how many things in our society are meant to do something, and actually make the opposite happen. Maybe we need to take a step back and look at the larger implications of our actions, and not be complacent in just doing something and moving on. Because if we don't, we may end up with a lot of people in the middle of the intersection.

Room for Interpretation

To me, a person's house says a lot about them. Ever since I was little, I've enjoyed getting to see people's houses because I feel like it helps me understand them better. It gives me a glimpse into how they were raised, what they like to do, what kind of taste they have, etc. To me, knowing where someone comes from makes it easier to understand who they are now.

Even more so in college, I love to see people's dorms. A dorm is like a compressed view of a person's style. From that small room, I can tell the resident's cleaning habits, their favorite colors, and sometimes even what they like to eat (but that relates back to cleaning habits). How they get along with their roommate, how their furniture is arranged, whether or not they have a TV, and whether or not they've coordinated colors all give hints as to what they're like outside of class. The best part about dorms is that they're all different.

Watch This

In a world where sports players receive some of the highest salaries, people care way too much about movie stars, and reality TV shapes the way some people view society, it seems to me that society has some misplaced values. When Keeping Up with the Kardashians creeps its way into conversations and the media, a lot of meaningful conversation gets shoved aside. Kids may even grow up thinking that's the way they should live their lives. Reality TV just seems to be a waste of airspace. It might be different if the networks offered a more beneficial set of options, but they don't.

What if we could change people's perception of reality TV? What if the networks created shows that were entertaining, but they showed people in society who were helping to change it in a good way? I think a really cool idea for a reality TV show would be to show the everyday lives of famous inventors and innovators: the revolutionaries who are positively impacting the world on a daily basis, like Bill Gates and Steve Jobs. I think their lives would be interesting enough that people would want to watch, and it would also create a more productive interest for society. Just think: If these people were our role models and were the topic of conversations and the media, less attention would be paid to the Kardashians and more effort might be put into innovation. This new emphasis might encourage more kids to pursue careers where they could be a part of the innovation too. I think that's a much better reality than one filled with overpaid reality TV stars.

Esperanto, Why Don't You Come to Your Senses?

Before going to Spanish class last week, I ran into a friend who's taking Chinese. We started talking about all of the different rules that are in Chinese and Spanish, among other languages, that make no sense. For example, in Chinese, the same word can mean many different things depending on its tone, not to mention that the written language is also incredibly complex, and the different dialects within Chinese are mutually unintelligible. While I find Spanish easier than Chinese, it still has its fair share of irregular verbs and strange idioms. Why are languages so complicated? You'd think that after all of these years, people would have come up with a better system. What about Esperanto, you may ask? Esperanto was intended to be a universal language that would be easy to learn. It obviously hasn't become a language for trade or one that is considered simple enough to be widely used.

Then I started thinking about English. English might be a top contender for the strangest language. I can't imagine knowing another language and trying to learn English. It has so many strange rules about spelling and pronunciation, and a lot of the time, it doesn't even follow its own rules. Even some of the very first things we learn in the English language don't make sense. Think about it: Our numbers sound nothing like they're spelled. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten. While this is supposed to be simple, if you spelled them phonetically, you'd get a completely different-looking set of words. But before I criticize English too much, I have to say that I'm really glad it's the language I learned. It's constantly evolving, and it's full of new things to discover all the time. Plus, its complexities are what allow us to play with words to create just the right meaning. That's where the fun is.

But I Digress

The other day, I had a really interesting conversation with two of my good friends. It was one of those discussions that keeps going because there's so much to talk about. I find that those are the most interesting ones, filled with tangents and digressions. You know, the kind that change from subject to subject, and then at the end, you try to remember how you made such a great leap. I find tangents amazing. It's strange how you can transition from one topic to the next without even realizing it, but it does pose a problem if you didn't finish your original story, and you can't remember what it was.

It kind of reminds me of a mind map, starting with one idea and then branching out in different directions. If conversations can be thought of as being creative, they seem to include both convergent thinking, where there's only one right answer, and divergent thinking, where there are many right answers. Usually, convergent thinking is the default, and it's considered easier than divergent thinking. However, if these concepts are loosely applied to conversations, it's almost as if in conversations, divergent thinking is easier because you're free to take the conversation in many directions. When you try to think convergently to get back from the tangent to the original subject, it's a lot more difficult. Maybe communication is the key to creativity. In that case, we should start having a lot more conversations.

A Matter of Taste

Today, when I was on the phone with my friend, a lot of the discussion focused on how tired we were. His advice to me was, "Drink some coffee." I explained to him that I've never really been that fond of coffee. It's ok, but I'd much rather have a Coke to get my caffeine fix. "Coke doesn't have as much caffeine. Coffee's a lot better," he continued, "I guess it's an acquired taste."

An acquired taste? That phrase has always bothered me. Why would someone want to acquire a taste if they don't like it, especially if it's bad for you? Why would I want to repeatedly ingest things like coffee and alcohol to make myself like them? I'd much rather grab a Coke or some juice.

Something's Missing

I've always been fascinated by computer-animated movies. The more realistic the animation, the more I appreciate the movie. One of my favorite computer-animated films is The Polar Express, a "live action" movie that uses performance capture technology. Every time I watch this film, its amazing visuals make me think about the power of computer animation. With the new motion capture technology available to filmmakers, animated human characters are more realistic looking than ever. However, there's still something missing. Sometimes I look at the animated inanimate objects on the screen, and I forget that they're not real. Then they show a person. As amazing as the animation is, I can still tell that they were created by a computer. What's the difference between the inanimate objects and the people? Why, with all of their own complexities, are the inanimate objects and animals so much easier for me to accept as real-looking? What is it about people that makes it impossible to make them as realistic as their surroundings for right now? Most of what I notice as definitely being computer animated is the characters' movement. There's something too smooth about it. It's too perfect. Maybe that's what's wrong with the animation in general. The animators don't incorporate enough flaws. I still applaud them on their efforts. They create freckles and hair that are incredibly convincing. I just don't know if we'll ever be able to get to the point where computer-animated characters can be substituted for people like other objects can be for their real-life counterparts. Nor should we necessarily try to. That's kind of what makes people cool. That something that's missing from the animated characters is what makes us unique.