A Dream Job

What is your dream job?

Doctor? Lawyer? Nah, those are the cliché ones. The ones that our parents want us to be. Superhero? Now that’s more like it, but we sadly don’t live in the Marvel universe.

But we can dream, can’t we?

Reality check. Everyone wants a job, but not everyone has one. As of May 2013, the unemployment rate in the USA is 7.6%. What can you do? Well, you can keep looking. Look for more ads, send out more resumes, and keep doing that until you land something. Something will come up eventually. The sad irony there is that looking for a job is pretty much a full time job in itself. Story of my life, and of millions of others.

But what constitutes a “job”? It’s basically doing work and getting paid, right? Reciprocality. But does all work result in a reward? Doing the 9-to-5 daily grind brings in money. Doing the chores at home keeps the house clean. Paying bills prevents your credit from going down. Taking care of the family makes for a happy household. Really though, once you start working, you appreciate the simpler joys in life a lot more. 9-to-5 is, in a word, exhausting, and returning home after work to relax feels so much better than returning home from school. That’s my reward at the end of the day. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.

Come play with us.

Anyways, I think that when one gets a job, it should be a job that he or she loves. No one wants to be stuck doing something that he or she hates. Jack Torrance, for instance, had a horrible job, as the above image implies. Working in a cubicle is also one of the most miserable jobs ever, in my humble opinion. No offense to those who do work in cubicles, but I worked in a cubicle once. I recall sitting there for six weeks doing nothing but watching dramas on YouTube. What did I get from that? Well, I gained about 20 pounds from a complete lack of motion for eight hours a day in a cramped space. The only exercise involved was walking to the cafeteria and back. The take-home message is this: Forget cubicles.

You’d be better off having your own office.

So what is your dream job? If you could have any job in the world, what would it be? I know mine. I would be a voice actor. We’ve all done impressions of cartoon characters or actors, but imagine doing that for a living. A voice actor is one of those professions that totally flies under the radar, and yet is able to have such a profound effect on entire generations. Many would be surprised to learn that only a handful of people are responsible for the voices of so many beloved cartoon characters. For instance, check out this AMAZING video.

The Star Wars Radio Play

Is this not the best video on the internet? At a simple table read, seven people recreated Star Wars and conjured up outrageous amounts of nostalgia and laughter using only their voices. You probably recognized most, if not all of those character voices from your favorite cartoons back in the day. The best part? I bet you couldn’t help but smile and laugh. That’s probably the best part about being a voice actor. The fact that it’s something that always brings happiness to someone. Seriously, if you’re feeling down, just watch this video and you’ll be cheered up instantly.

Yet, voice actors aren’t recognized nearly as much as other actors. Voice actors don’t get nominated for Golden Globes or Oscars, and it’s probably because no one ever gets to see their faces. They are heard, not seen. It’s a shame that they don’t get recognized nearly as much despite showing a lot more versatility than those one-note pretty-face actors on the big screen.

Unrelated picture of Keanu Reeves.

That’s why an awesome documentary is coming out soon called “I Know That Voice”. It features at least 100 voice actors talking about their careers. It’s an insight into a relatively unknown realm of acting that will certainly be interesting and entertaining at the same time.

Fun fact: Did you know that Mark Hamill, Luke Skywalker in Star Wars, voices the Joker in Batman: The Animated Series? Well, now you do.

Well, that’s my dream job. What about yours?

Flies in the Coffeemaker

“It’s the little things that make all the difference.” – A Wise Soul

Ever pour yourself a cup of coffee from the coffeemaker in the office and then see a dead fly floating in your cup? Then you open up the coffeemaker and see more dead flies in the coffee filter? That’s when you come to three conclusions: 1) You should not drink this coffee; 2) you should never use this coffeemaker again; 3) you should immediately invest in a French press or espresso maker and use that from now on.

By the way, the above is a true story.

The best part of waking up is no flies in your cup.

What I’m trying to say is that life is about the little things. A fly in your coffee cup is enough to make you not want to drink coffee ever again, thereby curing your insomnia. On the brighter side, a hug from mom always seems to make everything better. Why? Because mom always knows best, that’s why.

“It isn’t the mountains ahead to climb that wear you out; it’s the pebble in your shoe.” – Muhammad Ali

Sometimes we get preoccupied with the little things. That eyelash in your eye that’s irritating you while you’re taking an important exam is enough to make you lose your train of thought. What I mean is that you can’t ignore the little things in life. Rather, you should learn to deal with them and even appreciate them. The big steps in life are made up of many tiny baby steps.

Steps that would be easier if THAT PEBBLE WOULD JUST GO AWAY!!!

In the mad rush of daily life, the little things go unappreciated, which is sad since the little things influence the major events. Take college for instance. College is always touted as “the start of the future” or something like that. It’s not untrue. However, to earn that diploma (i.e. a really expensive piece of parchment), it takes four years of baby steps.

Graduating from college is a major life event, but if you think about it, the past four years have been comprised of many days involving making friends, making connections, and taking in little snippets of knowledge that can (hopefully) be applied to a future job.

In the case of making friends, sometimes all it takes is small talk while waiting in line to get coffee. A small and seemingly insignificant event like that could have marked the start of a lifelong friendship. Hey, you never know if you don’t try.

The lesson here is that if you don’t do anything, you can’t hope to get anything in return. That’s the rule for pretty much everything. If you don’t do the 9-5 daily grind at work, then how will you get a paycheck to help recuperate your losses from the Steam video game sale? Reciprocality. That’s the word I was looking for.

Time Flies: The Past, The Present, and The Future

Time flies when you’re having fun.

WOOHOO!!! As of today, I am a college graduate. My commencement ceremony was held this morning, and I felt so privileged to walk across the stage. To make it even better, I even got to sit in the front row! Ce-le-brate good times, come on! Truly, this personal milestone was worth waiting four years for.

Wait, which cap was mine?

And yet, where did those four years go? 1461 days is a long time, but my college years didn’t feel like a long time. Ok, sitting in lecture listening to the professor drone on and on about the importance of the molecular structure of glycogen made time practically stand still. Studying the molecular structure of glycogen had the same effect.

But I digress. Most every day in college was routine. Wake up, clean up, catch the bus, sit in class, go to next class, get food, go home, do homework, sleep. Rinse and repeat. It’s all so familiar. Yet, psychologists theorize that routine speeds up time, and that unique, uncommon events slow it down. This actually makes perfect sense. For example, driving to Lake Tahoe from the Bay Area takes a long time the first time you do it. During that road trip, there will certainly be many utterances of “Are we there yet?” as everyone becomes restless. However, each subsequent trip will feel like it takes less and less time. It’s the same idea as time flying because you’re having fun. Right now, you’re probably reading this and thinking, “Woah, this is true.”

Wait up! You just got here!

Hmm…maybe it’s time for someone to invent a machine that slows down time.

“If you don’t have time to do it right, when will you have time to do it over?” – John Wooden

As I reflect back on my four years of college…wait, quick side note. “As I reflect back on…” is such an overused beginning to something. Anyways, back to the point.

Sifting through my memories of the past four years, I think back to all the good times and all the not-so-good times. There doesn’t really seem to be a middle ground because those memories consisted of routine stuff. I cherish all the fun times I had in college, but for those less fun times, I always wish that I could go back and redo them to fix them. We all have this same feeling from time to time. I wish I’d studied for that exam. I wish I’d asked that person out. I wish I hadn’t gotten drunk that party. Unfortunately, we can’t travel through time. I feel like I’ve talked about this before…

But there’s something to be said for learning from your mistakes. No one wants to make mistakes, but there is no such thing as perfection. Mistakes are inevitable, and should be accepted as the natural order of things. The consequence of messing up is the lesson, and having the fear of making that mistake again means that the lesson has been learned.

“Maybe one day, we’ll find the place where our dreams and reality collide.”

I am a bit sad realizing that my time in college is at an end. I’ve grown so much, learned so much, and had so many new experiences and made so many friends. I don’t really want it to end, but like all good things, it must at some point. Those fond memories are now in the past, to be remembered and cherished.

It’s been fun, but time is flying by and I don’t want to be left behind. A new challenger has appeared. It goes by the name of “Real Life”. It’s going to be a long, difficult, but exciting experience, and I can’t wait to get started. And when better than right now?

With that, I leave you all with a quote.

“Yesterday’s the past, tomorrow’s the future, but today is a gift. That’s why it’s called the present.” – Bil Keane

Man, is it just me, or has this blog become really contemplative as of late?

The Meaning of Life

“You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.” – Mae West

Life is a multifaceted, dynamic entity that embodies everything about oneself. One is alive. One can have a life or not have a life, depending on the situation. One can create life or destroy life. Life can be measured in many ways; in terms of duration or in terms of personal achievements.

Life is about high points and low points; it is never “perfect”. We always have those moments where nothing seems to be going the way we want them to. I’ve had days where I sleep through all of my alarms and end up missing the bus to work or class. When I finally get there, there is more work to do or a longer lecture to suffer through. I usually find the rest of my day’s schedule to be completely thrown off thanks to this. Routine is hard, and so is waking up every morning.

Just five more minutes…zzz

Personal hardships or family drama are where emotion and stress hit a high point and morale hits a low point. We have all had rough patches in our lives, but I like to think of these hard times as turning points. My mom had a saying: “If life isn’t working out for you, make it work.” When life sends you falling to the ground, it is up to you to pick yourself back up. These are periods of personal reflection and growth, and realizing that all of this is just part of going through life.

Life is a balancing act. It is about balancing an ever-growing set of responsibilities. Many of these life tasks appear out of the blue. Paying bills? Doing taxes? Being in a relationship? Raising children? They don’t teach this stuff in school, but you better learn how to manage them or life becomes incredibly difficult. When life gets busy, balance becomes even more important. Chillax time is crucial.

Even Jack Torrance understood.

Perhaps a better analogy in this case is that life is a job. Brilliant comedian Don Novello, known for his famous role of Father Guido Sarducci, once explained the meaning of life. “Vita est lavorum,” he explained. “Life is a job.” Check out this awesome video of him explaining his reasoning with a good dose of humor thrown in. It makes sense to me.

Sometimes though, I feel like life resembles a game more than a job. It’s basically an RPG. Each new day is like a new adventure. You explore your environment, you interact with people every day, your personal attributes change over time, etc.

When you wake up, you have full health and energy. As the day progresses, work drains your energy and it is up to you to take breathers and conserve it throughout the day, lest you crash. Coffee provides a quick energy boost, but it depends on the type of coffee. For example, Peet’s provides 50% more energy than Starbucks does. Health drains due to strenuous activity, but food, rest, and social activity replenish it.

Mmm…coffee.

Achieving personal goals and overcoming struggles enable one to “level up”. Namely, major events like getting a job, getting married, buying a house, etc. would signify getting more out of life. By the end of the day, you are almost fully drained of health and energy, but a good night’s rest fills them up again. Rinse and repeat.

It is up to oneself to make the most of life. Pitfalls and mistakes are to be expected, but like in any other situation, one can learn from these experiences to avoid them in the future. That said, the good times will outweigh the bad times. Life is, at the core of it, an experience. You only live once, so make it a fulfilling one.

Everything is Connected

“Our lives are not our own. We are bound to others, past and present, and by each crime and every kindness, we birth our future.” – David Mitchell, Cloud Atlas

Cloud Atlas. What a majestic film. No, “film” isn’t the right word. Cloud Atlas is an experience that is so rich, beautiful, philosophical, and multifaceted that it can only be described as “epic”.

It begins with a simple idea: What if everything was connected? Well, it is said that history repeats itself, and indeed, there have been circumstances where history has done so. From the rises and falls of civilizations and empires to religious conflict, in a way, similar events occur periodically. Of course, not all historical recurrences are large-scale events; some recurrences can be little more than coincidences. For instance, the many similarities between Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy is a commonly cited example of this.

But is it a coincidence? Cloud Atlas doesn’t solely imply historical connections, but also an inherent familiarity that is inexplicable. Cloud Atlas explores the idea that people are destined to cross paths endlessly. Though they eventually die, they are reborn and somehow cross paths once more as if destiny is an endless loop. Events play out differently, but sometimes things happen that seem too familiar for some unknown reason. Sometimes you meet someone and you feel like you have known that person for a long time. I’ve had that feeling before, and you probably have too. Perhaps it wasn’t a coincidence. Perhaps it was meant to be.

There are those who fully accept the idea that everything is predetermined and that we are just going through the motions, but I find this to be somewhat of a depressing outlook on life. I personally believe the choices that we make ourselves are also a determinant of our future. For instance, I could choose to save up my money for a better place to live, or I could go to Vegas and gamble it all away. However, one of these outcomes is far more beneficial in the long run than the other. My future would be affected heavily depending on which choice I made. Think ahead, that’s the moral message du jour.

Despite all of this, we can’t see or predict the future. It’s one of those things that we all want to be able to do because it would be both awesome and helpful at the same time. It is also something that is theoretically impossible; I’m sure someone once said “That which we cannot obtain is what we most desire.” That said, people often don’t ask the most important question in this situation: Why do you want to see or predict the future? Personal gain would be the most common answer. But a part of me believes that not knowing what the future has in store makes life far more exciting and makes personal accomplishments feel far more worthwhile.

“My life amounts to no more than one drop in a limitless ocean. Yet, what is any ocean, but a multitude of drops?”  – David Mitchell, Cloud Atlas

Seeing the future would probably be as problematic as traveling through time to the past. By going back in the past, theoretically one could alter the present and future. But is history really so easily altered? If the future is an ocean, then making small changes to the past would be analogous to throwing pebbles into the ocean. From that standpoint, the future is relatively fixed in place; it could be difficult to actually change the future.

But what if every stone thrown into that hypothetical ocean displaced a great amount of water? Is there only one fixed timeline that gets altered with every action? But every action has an equal and opposite reaction. Does this imply that with every action, there is a parallel universe that is created in which the opposite action occurs? I mentioned before that the choices we make in life can radically affect our future. But some choices have more than one alternate option, and with every second that goes by, one has the opportunity to make so many different choices. Perhaps there are an infinite number of choices, an infinite number of parallel universes.

Or, perhaps, everything is based on chance.

Geez, no wonder time travel movies always have plot holes.

Random Access Memories

Why do we remember the most random things?

When I think about the past, there are parts that I remember so vividly that they feel like they just happened yesterday. Other parts are simply blacked out; I can’t for the life of me recall them. But it sometimes seems like we remember the most random things from the past. Like, I can remember what I had for lunch when I hung out with my friend two summers ago. I can remember a conversation I had with a friend when we were training for cross country back in high school. I can even remember my 4^th birthday party. Yet, I can’t remember what I had for dinner last Wednesday.

Sometimes, I feel like I remember these things for a reason. Maybe these were crucial life events that had a more subtle and less profound effect on my life, but affected it nonetheless. The whole idea of memory is to store information that is “relevant” to us in some way. This info ranges from simple things we have to do or say, to more complicated, abstract things like life-changing events to highly emotional moments. That said, I’m not sure how remembering what toppings I had on my frozen yogurt last spring is important, but who knows? It must have been relevant somehow, right?

Researchers believe that strong memories are associated with strong emotions felt during those events. For instance, one would most definitely remember his or her 21^st birthday. It is a time of extreme happiness and excitement, and there is also the inexplicable feeling that one has finally “come of age”. It’s a moment of realization that almost feels mystical; one can suddenly do things that they weren’t legally allowed to do before (drink, gamble), but more importantly, one suddenly realizes that from this moment on, he or she will be treated differently and be expected to act differently. Intense emotion is often something that won’t be easily forgotten.

Stress is also a key factor since it correlates with high levels of emotion. We’ve all had those moments where we’ve nearly collapsed under pressure; all those stressful exams from school, all that drama in your household, and all that pressure from finding a job or a home in this crummy financial situation. It’s hard to erase these memories.

Alas, life is difficult sometimes. That’s why I prefer to just listen to Random Access Memories, the new and aptly-titled album by Daft Punk that was released recently, in order to de-stress. I think it is probably the best album I’ve heard in ages now. I can say that it evokes strong feelings of joy; there’s nothing like discovering new music that caters to all of your tastes. Listening to instant classics such as “Get Lucky” and “Doin’ It Right” is quite relaxing. I suppose it’s appropriate to say that this is an album that won’t soon be forgotten.

Now go and reminisce on the good times.

Brain Farts and Nightdreaming

A Typical Conversation:

Person A: “So yeah, whose idea was it to make it “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon”? Why not make Harrison Ford the celebrity?”

Person B: “Who knows? Oh, I’ll be right back.”

Person A: “Sure.”

(SOME TIME LATER)

Person B: “OK, I’m back.”

Person A: “Sweet! Um…uh…what were we talking about again?”

Person B: “I don’t know, you tell me.”

Person A: “Oh my god, this is going to bother me. Like, it’s right on the tip of my tongue. Brain, whyyyyyyy now???”

We’ve all had this happen to us before. We have little brain farts and we forget what we were just talking about moments ago. Sometimes, at least for me, it happens right in the middle of a sentence I’m saying. It’s a frustrating experience.

Scientists have actually studied “brain farts”. The actual scientific term for them is “maladaptive brain activity changes”. That’s for those who want to sound intelligent. Anyways, the reason they called them that is because they believed lapses in memory are caused by the brain taking a break in order to conserve energy. In theory, this makes sense because the brain actually consumes up to 20% of the body’s energy, more than any other organ. It could use the break.

It’s probably the same idea as when one starts to daydream. Our brain is probably taking a break because we’ve spent so much time and energy focusing on the task at hand. When we perform a repetitive action over and over, it literally becomes mind-numbing and we start focusing on other things. Really, our brain is just resting; it’s not really “being lazy” unless you’re aware of it. Sometimes, you tune out and you don’t even know it until something snaps you back to reality. Like if you were sitting in the classroom listening to your boring professor drone on and on while reading directly off of the handout, and you begin to think about something else. Then someone next to you drops her notebook and you snap out of your daze. We’ve all been there. Brain farts and daydreams are just a way to help you spend less energy. They’re annoying, but in a helpful kind of way.

But speaking of daydreaming, why is there a term for “daydreaming”, but no term for “nightdreaming”? Like, a red squiggly line is popping up under the word “nightdreaming” as I type this because it’s not technically a word. Also, is it daydreaming if you’re daydreaming at night time? Wouldn’t it be more accurate to say that you were nightdreaming? But then what would dictate when it would be correct to call it “nightdreaming”? 7:00 p.m.? 8:00 p.m.? After midnight? Whenever it gets dark?

Oh forget it. What were we talking about before we got sidetracked? Oh, right! Brain farts.

This is where backtracking comes in handy again. When I forget where I left off in a conversation, I think back through the whole conversation. By retracing my steps, I can probably see the transitions leading up to where we were and jog my memory. Also, repeating my physical actions works too. Like, if I were pacing the room before I forgot what I was doing, I would pace back and forth again to see if that jogs my memory. No need to really resort to something as drastic as Guy Pearce in Memento, what with all of his tattoos.

Speaking of Memento, I think I should watch that movie again. It’s pretty awesome and kind of brilliant. Fun fact: If you rearrange the film into chronological order, it’s like watching a completely different film, and plot holes form from the gaps in between the memory lapses. It’s pretty trippy.

Now where’s my copy of Memento?

Six Degrees of Separation

The best kind of conversation is one that takes you on a journey.

Sometimes, when you begin a conversation, you don’t know where it’s going to go. One thing leads to another, and by the end, the topic of discussion will be way on the other end of the spectrum. This is the point where someone will chime in with “Wait, how did we end up talking about this?” From my experience, it is inevitable that someone will ask this question or some variation of it.

Then begins the process of what I like to call backtracking. It’s like someone hits the rewind button on the conversation and everything goes “Memento”. It goes something like this.

Person A: “Why are we talking about Star Wars?”

Person B: “Because we were talking about Star Trek Into Darkness and how J.J. Abrams was picked to direct the next Star Wars movie.”

Person A: “Right! You wanted to know what good movies were coming out into theaters because I mentioned that I just saw Iron Man 3.”

Person B: “Yeah, you said you thought it was all right, you being a comic book nerd and all.”

Person A: “Well, you don’t read comic books. I was just educating you.”

Person B: “Just like you were educating me on video games right before your comic book lesson.”

Person A: “Video games might as well be considered an art form now, man.”

Person B: “I remember how this all started now. You were telling me about your trip to France, and how you spent time at the Louvre. Then we started talking about the evolution of art.”

Person A: “We have the best conversations.”

Person B: “I know, right?”

It’s fascinating because it’s so true. We’ve all experienced this “backtracking” phenomenon because it just happens. The best conversations are just a random mishmash of randomness that somehow makes sense by the end.

Backtracking is like taking the whole concept of “six degrees of separation” and reversing it. For those not familiar with “six degrees of separation”, it’s basically the theory that everything in the universe is connected by six or fewer steps. A simple example would be having a friend who is a friend who is a friend of President Obama. This would mean that you and Obama are four degrees of separation apart. It’s a small world, isn’t it?

While all of this is simply theory, it has become increasingly useful in our social media-infested culture today. With Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, etc., it is easier for people to make connections and start up friendships than ever before. Met someone in class or at work? Add them as a friend on Facebook. As you get more friends, you begin to notice that many of your friends have mutual friends. Like I said, it’s a small world.

Social networking is the norm nowadays. Everyone has a Facebook or a Twitter, though I don’t know anyone who has a MySpace account anymore. But I digress. Six degrees of separation and the whole notion of a “small world” are important enough for people to have actually developed algorithms for calculating degrees of separation. According to Wikipedia, this stuff is used in social networking sites such as Twitter for optimizing search techniques. Pretty insane, eh? #toomuchtimeontheirhands

And everyone’s heard of “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon”, which is challenging others to link Hollywood actors and actresses to Kevin Bacon. I guess someone (who was probably inebriated) decided that it would be funny to connect people to Kevin Bacon (why Kevin Bacon, I have no idea), and it took off. Wish I thought of that, because then I could be famous like Kevin Bacon (hey, a connection!).

I think Kevin Bacon is underappreciated. Sure, he’s won a Golden Globe and everyone knows him because everyone compares everyone else to him in six degrees or less, but really, the guy is an excellent actor. Give him bigger parts, Hollywood.

You also got to wonder if Kevin Bacon actually likes to eat bacon. Mmm…bacon…

Wait, how did we end up talking about this?