Also check out more here.
3 days ago
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Friday, August 21, 2009
Mexico legalizes drug possession
Mexico decriminalized the possession of small amounts of marijuana, cocaine, and heroine today. Despite being straightedge, I think this is great. I'm interested to see how it works out for Mexico.
Check out the article about it here.
Check out the article about it here.
Its Been A While
It has been quite a while since my last post. The summer was super busy, but I'm back!
Friday, April 10, 2009
Brain Researchers Open Door to Editing Memory
Read the article here.
If you are too lazy to read the whole thing, here are a few interesting quotes and my thoughts on them:
"Suppose scientists could erase certain memories by tinkering with a single substance in the brain. Could make you forget a chronic fear, a traumatic loss, even a bad habit.
Researchers in Brooklyn have recently accomplished comparable feats, with a single dose of an experimental drug delivered to areas of the brain critical for holding specific types of memory, like emotional associations, spatial knowledge or motor skills."
"Millions of people might be tempted to erase a severely painful memory, for instance — but what if, in the process, they lost other, personally important memories that were somehow related? Would a treatment that “cleared” the learned habits of addiction only tempt people to experiment more widely?
And perhaps even more important, when scientists find a drug to strengthen memory, will everyone feel compelled to use it?"
"'This possibility of memory editing has enormous possibilities and raises huge ethical issues,' said Dr. Steven E. Hyman, a neurobiologist at Harvard."
"Ethical issues"....understatement! Can you say mind control?! Or the possibility of erasing the wrong memories? Or how about being able to erase certain aspects of one's personality?? That could create the desire for everyone to be a "perfect human." Skynet, here we come!
If you are too lazy to read the whole thing, here are a few interesting quotes and my thoughts on them:
"Suppose scientists could erase certain memories by tinkering with a single substance in the brain. Could make you forget a chronic fear, a traumatic loss, even a bad habit.
Researchers in Brooklyn have recently accomplished comparable feats, with a single dose of an experimental drug delivered to areas of the brain critical for holding specific types of memory, like emotional associations, spatial knowledge or motor skills."
"Millions of people might be tempted to erase a severely painful memory, for instance — but what if, in the process, they lost other, personally important memories that were somehow related? Would a treatment that “cleared” the learned habits of addiction only tempt people to experiment more widely?
And perhaps even more important, when scientists find a drug to strengthen memory, will everyone feel compelled to use it?"
"'This possibility of memory editing has enormous possibilities and raises huge ethical issues,' said Dr. Steven E. Hyman, a neurobiologist at Harvard."
"Ethical issues"....understatement! Can you say mind control?! Or the possibility of erasing the wrong memories? Or how about being able to erase certain aspects of one's personality?? That could create the desire for everyone to be a "perfect human." Skynet, here we come!
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Out of Step
So instead of getting drunk on my 21st birthday...I got this:
cell phone picture about 2 hours after it was finished.
cell phone picture about 2 hours after it was finished.
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Amongst White Clouds
I just posted this on the Emergent Dharma blog but I figured I might as well post it here too.
Check out this documentary on Zen monks that are hermits up in secluded Chinese mountains. Its pretty interesting!
Check out this documentary on Zen monks that are hermits up in secluded Chinese mountains. Its pretty interesting!
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Fall of Efrafa
If you haven't heard this band, do yourself a favor and check them out now!
You can listen to a few of their songs for free on the website. I saw them last night in Richmond and was absolutely blown away. They are from the UK but are on a US tour right now, if you have the chance to see them then don't pass it up!
Monday, March 30, 2009
I Want To Live!
Lately I've been feeling trapped by my obligations and responsibilities. I feel like I'm somehow missing out on life. I'm sure everyone feels this way at some point in their lives, which is pretty sad if you stop and think about it.
We are "progressing" as a species by creating technology that supposed to make our lives easier, but is disconnecting us from each other. I sit at my computer on the internet and feel connected to the entire world...any information is at my fingertips. But at the same time I sit here alone and every minute that I'm here I could be somewhere else actually "doing" something.
Anyways, I want to experience life! I want to paint something unique, write songs that everyone sings along to, and travel the world. I want to meditate every day. I want to read every book on every rooftop in every city. I want to experience new things with old friends. I want to sit on the highest mountain and watch the most beautiful sunset. I want to learn every language. I want to completely live my ideals. I want to stop reading about everyone else's adventures and start having everyone read about mine.
"And we should consider every day lost on which we have not danced at least once. And we should call every truth false which was not accompanied by at least one laugh."
There are two things that scare me about this: 1. that I will never actually experience everything that I want to and 2. that even if I do, it will never live up to the image that I have created in my mind.
Every single moment is real, and is what it is supposed to be. I guess I need to be more mindful of what my life actually consists of instead of always wishing that I was doing something else.
We are "progressing" as a species by creating technology that supposed to make our lives easier, but is disconnecting us from each other. I sit at my computer on the internet and feel connected to the entire world...any information is at my fingertips. But at the same time I sit here alone and every minute that I'm here I could be somewhere else actually "doing" something.
Anyways, I want to experience life! I want to paint something unique, write songs that everyone sings along to, and travel the world. I want to meditate every day. I want to read every book on every rooftop in every city. I want to experience new things with old friends. I want to sit on the highest mountain and watch the most beautiful sunset. I want to learn every language. I want to completely live my ideals. I want to stop reading about everyone else's adventures and start having everyone read about mine.
"And we should consider every day lost on which we have not danced at least once. And we should call every truth false which was not accompanied by at least one laugh."
There are two things that scare me about this: 1. that I will never actually experience everything that I want to and 2. that even if I do, it will never live up to the image that I have created in my mind.
Every single moment is real, and is what it is supposed to be. I guess I need to be more mindful of what my life actually consists of instead of always wishing that I was doing something else.
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Converge - Video teaser for new album
To my knowledge, there has been no release date announced. If the rest of the album is anything like the teaser, then I am pumped!
Blogspot wont let me embed the video, but you can see it here.
Blogspot wont let me embed the video, but you can see it here.
Monday, March 2, 2009
Monday, February 16, 2009
Friday, February 13, 2009
New Layout
I changed the layout because that old one was starting to get played out.
Let me know if you hate it.
Also, I added tags on the right side there, beneath blogs that I'm following. There are so many of them, I just ordered them in descending order starting with the most used labels. This allows you to click the labels and see a list of blogs that I have tagged with that same label. I don't know if anyone will actually use them, but its cool for me to keep my stuff organized and to see what topics I talk about the most.
Let me know if you hate it.
Also, I added tags on the right side there, beneath blogs that I'm following. There are so many of them, I just ordered them in descending order starting with the most used labels. This allows you to click the labels and see a list of blogs that I have tagged with that same label. I don't know if anyone will actually use them, but its cool for me to keep my stuff organized and to see what topics I talk about the most.
Emergent Dharma: Young Buddhist Blog
I am now a contributor to the Emergent Dharma: Young Buddhist Blog. You can check for updates on the right, under "my blog list". Feel free to follow that one as well as this one.
I have only made an introductory post on there, however I will be posting as regularly as I can. There are about 10 other contributors to Emergent Dharma. Check it out!
Don't worry, I won't neglect this one.
I have only made an introductory post on there, however I will be posting as regularly as I can. There are about 10 other contributors to Emergent Dharma. Check it out!
Don't worry, I won't neglect this one.
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Thursday, February 5, 2009
KnowMore.org Firefox Extension
If you have not heard of www.knowmore.org then you need to check it out. It is a website that profiles hundreds of corporations and rates them on a variety of issues including workers rights, environmental practices, ethical business practices, political power, etc.
If you use Mozilla Firefox, then definitely install the KnowMore add-on. For more info about the add-on, go here.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Friday, January 2, 2009
2008
A good year. I made some new close friends, lost a few, got a new member of the family (Monty, my dog!), finished my first year of college and started my second, switched majors (a few times), got a job and lost a job, went to a bunch of good shows all over, backpacked Costa Rica, planned and re-planned my future, smashed my finger, lost a lot of money, discovered lots of new music, am still straight edge, and am still in love with my awesome girlfriend!
Resolutions: meditate and continue to work on my temper.
Resolutions: meditate and continue to work on my temper.
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