Drawing again, maybe

     Every so often, I get bored with myself and start something new. Recently, as I've mentioned before, I've had a desire to start drawing again. After a couple days of self-critique and debasement, I went back and looked at how I was drawing when I stopped doing so regularly (back in Dec of 2011, if you can believe it's been that long), and you know what? I'm kinda proud of what I was doing. I pulled out all my old drawing stuff, and found a sketch of this:

I have less than no idea what I was thinking or feeling when I drew it, but I figured I'd finish it up so as to make room for new drawings.

     My randomness of output isn't just in drawing, however. When I first started my current job- which entails scanning old documents for hours on end- the thought crossed my mind: I wonder what would happen if you put one end of a massive roll of paper into a scanner? Would it just feed forever and make the longest scan in history, or would it eventually realize that something is amiss and stop? Naturally, I wouldn't do so to an active, well-working and necessary scanner at a jobsite, but I'm curious.

     So standing at the scanner again today, another thought wandered across my mind: If you were to put a taser up against an electrical machine and fire it off, would it a) fry the circuit boards (most likely), b) ground itself out on the frame (not as likely, but possible, depending on the machine), or c) set the plastic on fire? Obviously this is another idea that I wouldn't put to the test unless I had lots of safety precautions and an old, beat-up, not-in-use machine to try it on, but I'm curious. Perhaps it's best to just not let myself get bored...

Cheers!

FTP 38 - Chasing dreams

Since I was young, I knew I wanted to work with languages.

When I was let go from my job five years ago and decided to go back to school, I knew it was the first step to making those dreams come true.

When I sat in my first language class and realized how much I had to learn, I knew it wouldn't be easy, but hoped it would be worth it.

When it hit me that I only had one semester left before I would have to go out and prove myself, I won't lie, I panicked a little.

Tipping points

     When I was in elementary school, I remember there being this huge push to get people to realize that littering wasn't cool. We had special speakers come to our classrooms and talk about how throwing your trash out the window of your car wasn't good for the environment (a word you rarely heard used back then), and that the government was making effort to increase the number of trash cans around. After a little bit, though, it wasn't enough to have trash bins around, and we were educated on how to use recycling bins. Everyone felt big and important because we were doing our part to help save the planet (also a new concept back then).

     I didn't really connect what was going on in school with the real world though, until one day I realized that something was wrong. I'd become accustomed to watching the trash on the side of the road while my parents drove, and seeing what interesting items I could identify out as we drive past. This was a pretty common sight back then:

It wasn't that people didn't see it, it had just been such an integral part of the scenery for so long that they forgot (or didn't care) that it was important. It was a fact of life: people threw trash out the window of their cars because that was more sanitary than keeping it within the vehicle, right?

FTP 37 - False motivation?

     Is a lie still a lie if the telling of it makes it true?

Now, I'm not talking about lying to get around things or get out of trouble, I'm talking about those little white lies that you tell people to motivate them to improve themselves. If someone is really struggling with a concept/ move/ routine/ whatever, and you say things such as, "I know you can do it!" or "You're really improving!" (even though they may have hit a plateau), or "I have faith in you!"

     Even if you don't really believe those things, if saying them makes the person more positive and self-motivated, and they do break out of a rut and start getting better, is it still a lie? Is it a white lie, in that it does no one any harm? Is it a justified lie, in that you got done what needed done with no negative consequences? Is it not even remotely a lie, because by saying it, it became true?

     Regardless of the answer, I'm still going to keep doing it, because helping others succeed is a wonderful goal. Every now and then, though, in the small hours of the night, I feel guilty for being not completely truthful...

Re-entry

     Coming back from a vacation is always an interesting time. You never know what surprises await you, because of course it can't be as easy as simply taking up the reins of responsibilities again. Not only is it the case that you have changed, in your time away, but also, inevitably, something will glitch and require attention before everything going smoothly again. It is simply a fact of life.

     I got pretty lucky on this trip, to be honest. Setting aside the sadness of leaving my gentleman behind, I came back to a reasonably warm, un-broken-into house, a car that was dirty but unharmed and still runs well, and a job that has plenty of work for me to do. Astonishingly, the financial aid department at college even managed to get everything correct, so for the first time in 4 years, I don't have to go in and fight with them. All-in-all, that's pretty amazing.