Of administrators and Donna

I don't think I know anyone who doesn't or hasn't used the internet other than my grandmother. It's raged through society, threatened print media, enlightened the curious, and made life easier. But there are some risks associated with the internet. As many of you know, my name is Administrator. On this blog, that is my name. It's not an alias, it's an definition of the internet phenomenon that is sweeping the globe. The Administrator Phenomenon. In my first ten posts, I've covered things from Bolsheviks to fire-breathing cats. Several folk have approached me, scrutinized me, praised me, and even one has gone as far as to threaten a seizure of my intellectual property. My name, Administrator, is what it is to protect you (and me). Not only can I openly discuss my opinions and stories, but I can urge you to use such an alias for your controversial items.

The Administrator Phenomenon has the world in its hands.
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3S08vVaNiP13mmqNHPX6f7N6ULFXhBnOAtHBMTleIK3DQkauqZy1cCsesBr0hqGdApd6WpSg6Ke5quGwAiKANSViGaAzRUBt84ed6py8w7KNvIZOB8t5gdsC4meP-MzBkJ6nFizsPoPE/s1600/earth.gif

I have a disturbing but fictionally true short story of a writer who exposed her true identity on the World Wide Web. The story was originally a poem, but I have converted it to prose so it appeals to even the most illiterate.

Donna and the internet encounter

Donna was a prominent blogger. A legal resident of Tuskawawnee, New Jersey, Donna was more so a member of Blogger. Blogger is an internet construct and tool. Donna began blogging and constructive journalism when she reached her thirty-first birthday. She became an internet phenomenon in what seemed like an instant. Donna's blog, "The life story of Donna Robertson, the woman at 12 Milesview Lane, Tuskawawnee, New Jersey 02492," swept the globe, entrancing people of all ages and cultures. Her story was translated into twenty-four languages by a prominent linguist. It was a dream come true.

With Donna's dreams rapidly becoming tangible, she never guessed that so would death. It was the night of October 12, 2006, an eerily calm night when prominent psychopathic serial killer Charles Manson had just escaped out of a federal prison in New Jersey. Manson had become intrigued by Donna's blog after her butler became Manson's cell mate (he had be incarcerated on thirteen counts of bestiality), and upon his escape on that October night, he instantly began the trek to meet the one and only Donna Roberton. 

At about 12:31 AM on October 13, Manson sneaked into Donna's basement through a window that her cat had previously urinated on. 

Several minutes later, a blood-curdling scream shot through the Tuskawawnee neighborhood and, because of Donna's prominence, throughout the world. Manson had beheaded Donna for condescending psychopaths on her blog. He also ate her cats.

Donna's backyard in Tuskawawnee.
http://blog.nj.com/njv_bill_wolfe/2008/09/large_Delaware-Threat-2-156.jpg

What this means for you and me

We have to be careful on the internet. We can't talk badly about people in the open, especially if they have violent tendencies. I've developed a list of steps you can take to protect yourself when using nonprivate internet facilities, like Blogger.

1. Create an alias for yourself. Let this become your internet name and only tell your real name to people you know, trust, and see in person.
2. Stay away from dating sites.
3. Keep your distance from federal prisons.
4. Do not mention controversial topics like Donna did. These can range from cat hoarding to sodomy.
5. Keep your activities professional. Fools feast on error. 

Prison fights like these show how important it is to avoid federal prisons, both on the inside and out.
http://thenormanomicon.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/mag-1286198736.jpg

Now, to address the scrutiny that I've faced. My name has popped up on various blogs and live conversations. Why? What's wrong with having an identity? And what's wrong with not openly connecting it to my legal identity? Wouldn't that destroy the purpose? The Administrator Phenomenon would come tumbling down to the ground. Here are some things that have been said. Most offenses have been rectified by lectures from the Administrator Phenomenon Foundation on internet safety.

1. "Since anyone with an alias has their identity concealed, they may be encouraged to put inappropriate things on the Internet, foolishly thinking they might not get caught." Last I checked, there's nothing here that's inappropriate.
2. "Please identify yourself...in your blogs. At least to me and others who may be following you. Who, for example, is 'Administrator?'" The Administrator Phenomenon was clearly not properly understood at the time of this comment.
3. "The only reason you would use an nickname is if you wanted to rape someone." I cannot openly criticize the person who said that, as chances are they'll see this post. But, to keep it brief, this is an incredibly false statement.
4. "Administrator is a selfish name choice." Can someone please explain this to me? An alias is a choice, and should not be shaped by others. I've seen everything from Alfred Tikzengreiber to Anus Poison. They're all good!
5. "Administrator is to harsh in his or her comments." The statement is nullified by the severe grammatical error: "to" should be "too."

Alfred Tikzengreiber, the operator of several prominent blogs.
http://www.alfredtikzengreiber.com/

I leave you all now in a final push towards safety. Protect yourselves, your families, your friends from the beasts of the internet. Create an alias now!

-Administrator

Of ignorance and bliss

I was recently motivated by the Wise Malini to examine a phrase we often hear, and we often hear abused. Ignorance is bliss, wrote Thomas Gray in his so attractively titled poem "Ode on a Distant Prospect of Eton College." But is it? Let me first disclaim the ability for this phrase to apply in our modern world. In today's society, at least our world (that applies to everyone who is reading this), we cannot remain fully ignorant, in a state like that which a newborn experiences. And without full ignorance, logically, "ignorance is bliss" is not true because while someone may be ignorant of one item, they are not ignorant of everything. Someone tell me how you can have a partial bliss...how you can be blissful despite other knowledge which, going along with Gray's proposal, is detrimental.

Newborn bliss

Is being a baby, with complete and total ignorance (I could still argue that it's not, but I won't) a state of happiness? Believe it or not, being ignorant of all emotions is encompassed by "complete and total ignorance." So, I ask you now, how can an ignorant be in bliss--supreme happiness--if they don't know what happiness is? They have no urge to know what happiness is. They have no urge to know was sadness is. This state of total ignorance is not bliss. It is simply a state of being, a state of contentment. 

Nothing seems good, nothing seems bad.  

When you search "bliss" this is what you get.
http://www.desktopas.com/files/2012/11/18/cow-bliss-1024x768.jpg

Some say in retrospect that they wish they were in the blissful time of infancy again. Perhaps it's blissful from an outside, superficial, perspective, but if one were to return to such bliss, they wouldn't even know it. They wouldn't feel happy or sad. They would simply be.

How good would it be to have people talk to you and be ignorant of what they are saying? Not good.

A broader view of ignorance

Ignorance as bliss has often been applied to various situations ranging from death to injury to the economy. Maybe it's bliss. But is it, knowing that we will know in the end? It's an extremely personal question, and all justification may come tumbling down, because everyone is right: ignorance can be bliss, or it can never be bliss. What do you think? But it all comes down to what ignorance is. With the exception of total ignorance, which I discussed above, small batches of ignorance can have no benefit! With the gamble of knowledge, you have a chance of benefit and a chance of detriment. If we live our lives being neutral, nothing is achieved. We have to take chances to prevent this, the chances of knowledge. Ignorance is lack of knowledge. Lack of knowledge, in today's society, is incompetence. It is socially unacceptable to be ignorant. This is especially true in today's world of technology, where if you don't know something, you tend to find it out another way or purposely find it with the ease of the internet.

There must be a reason why ignorance has a negative connotation.

http://www.cheatdiary.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Knowledge-1.jpg

Of cat lovers and sports agents

Today I will discuss some problems that are plaguing society in both a personal, a sarcastic, and a neutral perspective. There's an infinite number of societal problems so I'll only be touching upon a couple.

Procrastination

Immediately we think of students. And with due reason. However, procrastination plagues the entire world, especially when considered under a broad interpretation. I was inspired by some students who have yet to begin an extensive English blogging project (hmm...) that was clearly assigned weeks ago. Again and again we are told how procrastination is bad. Unfortunately, in cases when it comes from a teacher who takes seven weeks to grade a math test, I find it extremely difficult to take seriously. But seriously, why stress over how close you can do a project to its due date while still completing it? I have yet to see the purpose of this tactic known as procrastination. If you have an answer, please enlighten me in the comments section below. This tactic fails in the business world, and the only solution is to be more productive. I see chronic procrastinators as lacking self-motivation and therefore as lacking the skills required to "succeed in life" (whatever that means). But we must ask ourselves, what do chronic procrastinators at the high school level do with themselves? I did some data collection and these are what I discovered as the top alternatives to doing work:

1. Playing video games, computer games, or other self-depriving gaming (I know how popular Gameboys are these days).
2. Watching South Park.
3. Watching other television shows, particularly mindless and vulgar ones.
4. Reading about "how to carve carrot flowers" on the Internet.
5. Spending excess time finding and stalking colleagues', bosses'/teachers', or subordinates'/students' Facebook or Twitter accounts.
6. Spending time on online dating sites, like PURRsonals.com. 
7. Making poor Photoshop compilations.
8. Viewing inappropriate media of whatever form.
9. Going shoe, clothing, and curtain shopping.
10. Finding the latest fashion trends or One Direction videos.

We all know at least one person who partakes in one or more of the above activities, whether it be for procrastination or for other reasons. It's detrimental to society.

Discussion Questions

• How can a high school student possibly spend more than three hours on homework per night? (I'd say more than one or two is unnecessary.)
• Why do professional athletes and sports agents make exponentially more money than the competents who actually help society?
• What is your favorite dating site? Does it target specific animal-lover groups?

A common dating site advertisement. http://mousebreath.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/purrsonals.jpg

Why kids waste there time watching this excrement is beyond me. http://www.dan-dare.org/FreeFun/Images/CartoonsMoviesTV/SouthParkWallpaper1024.gif

Lastly for this section is an interesting excerpt from the Wikipedia article "Procrastination" regarding the justifications for the disease:

Justification 

Individual coping responses to procrastination are often emotional or avoidant oriented rather than task or problem-solving oriented. Emotion oriented coping is designed to reduce stress (and cognitive dissonance) associated with putting off intended and important personal goals, an option that provides immediate pleasure and is consequently very attractive to impulsive procrastinators. There are hundreds of identified emotion oriented strategies, similar to Freudian defense mechanisms, coping styles and self-handicapping. These procrastinators include using the following:

• Avoidance: Where we avoid the locale or situation where the task takes place (e.g., a graduate student avoiding going to University). 

• Distraction: Where we engage or immerse ourselves in other behaviors or actions to prevent awareness of the task (e.g., intensive videogame playing or Internet surfing) 

• Trivialization: We reframe the intended but procrastinated task as being not that important (e.g., "I'm putting off going to the dentist, but you know what? Teeth aren't that important."). 

• Downward counterfactuals: We compare our situation with those even worse (e.g., "Yes, I procrastinated and got a B- in the course, but I didn't fail like one other student did."). Upward counterfactual is considering what would have happened if we didn't procrastinate. 

• Humour: Making a joke of one's procrastination, that the slapstick or slipshod quality of one's aspirational goal striving is funny. 

• External attributions: That the cause of procrastination is due to external forces beyond our control (e.g., "I'm procrastinating because the assignment isn't fair"). 

• Reframing: Pretending that getting an early start on a project is harmful to one's performance and leaving the work to the last moment will produce better results (e.g., "I'm most creative at 4:00 AM in the morning without sleep."). 

• Denial: Pretending that procrastinatory behaviour is not actually procrastinating, but a task which is more important than the avoided one.

Task or problem-solving oriented coping is rarer for the procrastinator because it is more effective in reducing procrastination. If pursued, it is less likely the procrastinator would remain a procrastinator. It requires actively changing one's behavior or situation to prevent a reoccurrence of procrastination.

It's been called a virus. Is it?

**Please note that the following section is inappropriate for the emotionally immature. Harsh realities are presented. Proceed with caution.**

Foolishness

Well, it has been said that chronic procrastinators are fools. I don't think I necessarily agree, but it's a plausible statement. Foolishness is most commonly associated with abuse of drugs and other toxins. There's the fools who come to school or work high on their favorite drug or hung over from the previous night's drinking parade. It's inappropriate, derogatory, insulting to the people who have to deal with the fools...it's utter foolishness. But, seriously, if you want to go ahead and destroy yourself, do it, I won't stop you. Maybe we'll see you on the news one day for owning six crack houses, maybe for overdosing on cough syrup, maybe something else. But always something bad. I reserve all my pity and empathy for those who are not fools, as should everybody. There are few exceptions to my rules. Chronically smoking exotic plants out of grapefruits in local nature preserves is not an exception. And yes, that happens. I saw it and didn't even get shot. Going on with my theme of lists, below is a list of some common foolish behaviors:

1. Smoking illegal plants out of a grapefruit in the local nature preserve (previously stated).
2. Snorting grape juice.
3. Yelling across public places about totally unnecessary information.
4. Shooting your neighbor because their dog defecated on your lawn or in the apartment building hall.
5. Showering in alcohol (like vodka).
6. Jumping off bridges into shallow water.
7. Driving recklessly, putting innocent children in danger.
8. Failed deception without reason.
9. Vandalizing public places.
10. Slashing the buttocks of strangers on the city streets in broad daylight.
11. Blasting music in the car to make yourself seem cool. (It's really just obnoxious.)
12. Getting drunk and urinating in public places, like off the roof of an elementary school.

A still cannot believe that this is a character in a new Nickelodeon show.
http://bigbudsmag.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/preset_originalwm/originals/article_img/bgprofessor.jpg

Kids have taken lovely necklaces like mine here and have turned them into drug holding container-necklaces. It's a shame. 

Beautiful fruits like these have been abused and turned into a means of drug introduction.
http://www.wallpapersdesign.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Citrus-Fruits.jpg

You can tell when an animal is being used for smuggling of drugs.
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqGnwvQOiW1eszDcAkGt1TLeQ4piqtPCBZ95Kx7PAh45InsG98Mc9DCkyEtg_JJFKIrnoYOgk6cTBo0YCeBEBLtLueAkH_jAMNqSArhIWZoI9uhwWk7yeFzGv-uRB3g19Uh5uLLF6C1bm-/s1600/furryzombie.jpg

That's that

There was something else I wanted to write about here, but I can't quite remember what it was. Perhaps we'll see an addendum in the days to come!

A short update: media access

As many students of an unnameable high school know (I can't give up my location on the abysmal internet), there will be some new rules going into effect in late February regarding access to the media center. I learned some highly troubling and saddening information in my socially askew art class today:

There is a group of students, mainly seniors, putting together a petition against the new rules. Needless to say, it was these exact kids who caused the decision to change the system in the first place. We must ask ourselves: how much more incompetent can these kids get? First they destroy all students' right to free, simple media access, and then they write a petition trying to get the rights back for themselves. It makes me highly amused yet highly disgusted. I could rant for pages upon pages about the foolishness, the idiocy, and not to mention the disrespect of these children, but I won't.

All we can do is hope that their petition won't go through. Oh, and discreetly ridicule.

Of blasphemy and car accidents

Disrespect: a behavior study

Junior or senior year is about the time when we see kids getting their licenses. Perhaps it's an exciting time, especially for those who have no other source of freedom, for those who want to go use illicit substances and destroy themselves, or for those who simply lack self-control. We see many seniors who walk around the school, the mall, and the hood with their two-foot long key "chain" hanging out of their pocket, as for whatever reason that's the cool thing to do. What has high school society come to? Pure disarray, pure superficiality, perhaps pure incompetence. I look at kids who somehow have managed to get their license despite not being able to write a grammatically correct sentence. Now that is scary!

Within the same domain is the terribly disrespectful behavior we see every day. One of the most prominent of these behaviors roots from smartphones. I become perpetually infuriated by the children who feel the need to text in the hallway while walking. Why? Can not you wait for 30 seconds until there's a place where you won't be in anyone's way? This disrespect is nasty, and kids who partake in it simply belittle themselves into small, useless blobs of nothingness.

Chances are that this girl's been hit by a car by this point. http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/assets/120525065444-texting-while-walking-story-top.jpg

While this sign has a marvelous purpose, most people who it applies to are most likely too foolish to even read it.
http://media2.abc2news.com/texting_walking/do_the_math.jpg

Learning to idiocy

In high schools where wealthy incompetent students feel a sort of social elevation, like in Niskayuna, this disrespect grows. I have stopped going to the media center this year as it is simply too loud to do anything! Kids throw stuff across the room, they scream at each other, they set fire to books, and they even seem to have fashion shows of sorts. As I've said so many times, it's disgusting. I'm a full supporter of a one strike system. But then, you ask, how do you enforce that? The answer is not in excessive paper slips signed by teachers. Doesn't the school have a comprehensive database of student identifications? And plenty of computer processing abilities? Yes. Simply require a student ID to get into the library, then after the one strike banishment, their database ID will be tagged so they can no longer enter. It's simple, better for the environment, easier for the respectful and properly behaved students, and less of a hassle for teachers. My question is, has anyone thought of this?

We might as well just have this...
http://www.impactlab.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/Crazy-Library-Grl-287.jpg

As I sit in the Mac Lab now, kids are shouting and arguing blasphemously across the room. If a similar system were set up in the computer labs (because we do know that many the kids who can't get into the library will flee to the computer lab to talk), the fools would be confined to the social areas where foolish behavior is actually accepted, and the school would be an overall better place. People have every right to be obnoxious, but only if they can appropriately control it! And most kids can't. But what valid administrator cares what I have to say about their inefficient policy?

This is what a library should look like, and what most school and public libraries do look like!
http://www.skgproject.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/6706-Harvard-library1.png

I'm pretty sure a motorcycle gang would behave better in a library than these high school students.
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3103/2784865435_e3476d96d8_z.jpg?zz=1

Of dresses and horrorproms

Induction into Horror

Prom: it's what's on practically every incompetent and even competent high school junior girl's mind right now. And some reactions that I see on a daily basis not only disturb me, but they sadden me too. How can one child become so disappointed over something so small? So what, you don't have a prom date yet? I didn't even know people were asking... Here's a short list of what I've recently learned:

[Update 6:30: 2 girls post their dress pictures to the Prom 2013! Facebook group.]

1. Not getting a prom date by early February can lead to hysterics and depression.
2. Getting a prom date is the most important part of high school.
3. It's not kewl to go in a group.
4. Alcohol severely affects retinal vein behavior, which is why kids incompetents die each prom from drunk driving.
5. You best choose your dress ASAP and post a picture of it to the junior girls' Facebook page so everyone can whine and gossip about how bad it is.
6. Everything has to be set in place so prom goes down like that movie. If not, you might as well drop out of high school.
7. Limos are the bomb diggity.
8. If you don't get a prom date by a certain point, you're ugly, an outcast, nasty, not kewl, nonconformist, worthless, etc.
9. If you, like, have a dress that's, like, too weddingy and modest, you're, like, so weird.
10. If you, like, have a dress that's, like, too skanky and open, you're like a whore and a b***h.

Now, of course, I would disagree with pretty much every one of these points, but the general high school girl population wouldn't. And that's what's repulsive. I keep asking myself, "Who really cares?" and the answer is nobody (besides them of course). If a girl comes up to me whining about one of the aforementioned points, chances are I'll pretend to be sympathetic, compassionate, and affected, but in reality I couldn't care less. Well maybe I could, since I still pity them. I'm not saying that I automatically hate the woman who says this, as several of my acquaintances seem to have too fallen into the abyss, but my temporary intellectual respect reading on them is severely lowered.

[Update 6:55: 5 girls post their dress pictures to the Prom 2013! Facebook group since 6:30.]

On with the horror

After some intense research and behavioral analysis, I've established an image of what the standard high school girl expects prom to be. The following pictures and videos function to materialize this.

The vibrant colors of these dresses and the glimmer of the illicit alcoholic beverages really catch the eye. http://airportlimousineseattle.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/seattle-prom-limousine.jpg

What a lovely automobile! It must be like a night in a fairy tale!
http://www.americanlimousine.net/photos/specials/71prom.jpg

The all too typical obscene 21st-century dance. No wonder so many of these kids look stoned.
http://cookphotoworks.com/Albums/2012%20Crawford%20Prom/Dance%202/slides/IMG_0847.jpg

The typical high school boy with his two prom dates, going about their pre-prom activities!
http://newnownext.mtvnimages.com/2013/01/macklemore-thrift-shop-review.jpg

Some high schoolers posing for their prom photo. Prom dresses and tuxes are nowadays pointing more and more in this direction! Unfortunately, Niskayuna has a strict prom attire policy.
http://www.diamondheadtheatre.com/rentals/images/costume.jpg

A video on how to prepare your body for that prom dress! Rumor Has It (#lolz see what I did there) that this workout is actually quite popular among teenage gurls! Oh, and to add to the fun, there's an introduction discussing the best kinds of dresses!  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-JSUWpNTVk

Some more stories

Another thing I consistently hear about is these girls who have had their prom dresses chosen for many years. And then when one finds out that another girl was planning on the same dress...well, let's just say that the cat fight I witnessed last summer in the hood would be deemed far worse. You know why? You probably do, as it's the first tenet of prom dresses. But I'll make it nice and bold so you all can see it perfectly:

No two girls can have the same dress.

What a shame, a disgrace, a distress, a homicide it would be if two girls out of 350 had the same dress!!! You might as well just cancel the prom right then and there.

The instances of having a dress chosen more than half of a lifetime in advance also applies to many of these "preselectors" when it comes to wedding dresses. Hopefully, though, they will have matured by their weddings to realize the senselessness in this.

Culmination of facts

I think it would be fun to dress up in costume.
I think it would be fun if people calmed down.
I think it would be fun if everyone got a temporary boost of competence when it came to prom.
I think it would be fun if prom weren't a date-mandatory occasion.
I think it would be fun if prom could be turned into a big do whatever you want thing.
I think it would be fun if there were little soaps from the hotel being distributed for free.

But what does it matter what I think at this point? The drama queens will dominate the occasion, the incompetents will dominate the occasion, the entranced smarter girls will dominate the occasion. I assume that one day they'll all look back on prom and ask "I had a lot of fun, but was it really worth getting my anus in a twist about?"

With that I leave a hoyhehe--a snicker at the intellectoclasm--and hope that there will one day be sense in the high school class again. Below are some final outfits that have been chosen already by some girls or couples or have been worn at proms around the country recently.

Some trending outfits

Made from mermaid skin, this dress is hand-sewn by a homeless Vietnamese boy. (Sad but true.) http://img.xcitefun.net/users/2010/01/139416,xcitefun-prom-dress-funny-1.jpg

He looks like clown! http://www.wackyowl.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/funny-prom-outfit-0.jpg

I guess she couldn't find anyone her age. A brother will always do.
http://fotozup.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/funny_prom_020.jpg

The new, popular, bird dance. I don't know about you, but I think that coat is far better than a tux.
http://thissongissick.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/Macklemore-Ryan-Lewis-thrift-shop-Music-video.jpg

Goodbye kids!

[Update 7:40: 2 girls post their dress pictures to the Prom 2013! Facebook group since 6:55.]

Of robber barons and artificial competence

Artificial competence within students

As many people know, the college admission process at this point is more so controlled by business than by anything else. The SAT. The ACT. And more. I must admit, it's good business--The College Board is making tons of money. However, time and time again I see kids fall into a sort of SAT trance. I can define the "trance" essentially as over the top preparations for the test, and general obsession.

There's the kids who take standardized tests so many times but fail to make significant improvements. It's been said multiple times, but kids fail to process it: the SAT is not a judge of "scholastic aptitude" but rather of how well you know the test. I don't know about you all, but not once have I taken a test in school like an SAT, just tests that judge actual competence. There're innumerable kids who spend extreme amounts of time preparing--taking multiple review classes, taking practice tests every weekend, getting a tutor, getting a college counselor (whatever that is). Half the time, it's parents forcing their child into such situations. Even so, it makes me sick to my stomach. It's one thing taking a class to acclimate oneself to the test, but going to such an extent creates a sort of artificial competence. No parent should create this for their child and no child should create this for himself or herself.

What good will spending all your free time preparing for a test do? None. None at all. Even if it does get you accepted into a desired college, the artificial competence will soon come clashing down, as you find that college exams do not in fact require intense test-taking "skills" preparation specific to the SAT or ACT, but rather require knowledge of actual material. I always pity the child who has struggling grades, struggling sleep habits, and other detriments merely because they're trying to get a good score on an SAT. There are countless activities that would benefit academically far more than "studying" for an SAT all the time.

I still don't understand how colleges know this and (for the majority) use SAT's as such a key part of the admissions process. It must be for the money. But even so, when there's the kid who goes around saying "Hwah hwah hwah I have a 2400 on the SAT," when meanwhile they have a 2.99 GPA, it's extremely unsettling.

Richard C. Atkinson, the president of the University of California, said:

Anyone involved in education should be concerned about how overemphasis on the SAT is distorting educational priorities and practices, how the test is perceived by many as unfair, and how it can have a devastating impact on the self-esteem and aspirations of young students. There is widespread agreement that overemphasis on the SAT harms American education.

The whole trance about it is what annoys me, as I've said. The test says nothing about your academic competence or scholastic aptitude. So, please, you don't need to talk about your 2350. Especially if you're actually not one of the most competent of the competents.

Media

The resemblance between the Gilded Age robber barons (monopolizers) and the College Board and SAT supporters is overwhelming.

(Click for source image.)

Conclusion

Now, to calm you down from that terror, here are some nice pictures of a lake that I took.

Of ushankas and matryoshkas

Машины. Introduction.

I began to study Russian several months ago in my free time, which has been pleasantly plentiful during the bowels of the winter. There's no purpose in sitting around doing nothing when I could be doing something productive, such as this. Language, as the most basic means of communication, is never a tool that could go to waste. The possibilities are quite interesting--from traveling to being a spy like the one in that movie (hoyhehe/хойхихи), but more so being able to talk about people without them understanding...

The language is more interesting than some of those offered at this school (although Russian used to be offered), not including English of course. Latin is practically useless because everyone who spoke it is dead (is not the purpose of a language to communicate?), and unless you're going to be reading the works of Virgil (which are all translated into English), then chances are you're never gonna use Latin. Then there's Spanish and French, which are both useful, but practically every competent American understands at least a little of one or both of these (click here to view a post that touches upon the incompetent American downview upon Spanish).

Здесь нет кошек, есть царевич и рестораны. Some pictures of lovely Russian things.

Perhaps the most notorious of Soviet attire, the (pashka-)ushanka. This one's made from the soft fur of a slaughtered rabbit--how warm! http://www.ushanka.com/media/products/black-rabbit-ushanka.jpg

The frigid but very nice looking destination: TUNDRA in the summer. https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqlt1BbOPI5ldbUcVRIUW-bQK9YTMTNRKeLblIvhl_jo8Os6Uo4cWLwIvR38G9MXVxJVKz1D9xWm4OyTYipiHEEMBlCLkGCLSMDYnooxiio-iPnE9B4Pu3PAE5l1X69XTeElW2lMw6ugEo/s1600/siberia-valley.jpg

If I lived in St. Petersburg, maybe I'd go to this church, the Church on Spilled Blood. Oh wait, I'm not Orthodox. But this church still looks nice. http://good-wallpapers.com/wallpapers/21917/Church%20on%20Spilled%20Blood%20-%20St.%20Petersburg,%20Russia.jpg

The aesthetic appeal of this Moscow is overwhelming. It looks like a sugar candy fairy land of sorts with all of the places of worship and colors. http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/10/17/article-2219137-01AA0E3E000004B0-403_964x716.jpg

Пирожки - Conclusion

So, now, I urge you all, go do something productive. Learn a language. Play an instrument. Learn how to dissect a cat. Do whatever you like, but as long as it can easily be deemed productive by society.

А сейчас я иду. 

Extra: why ‘barbaric yawp’ is such a disgusting phrase

Now, kids, I'm not any linguistics expert, but I can tell you a little something. The word barbaric has two distinct free morphemes which both have somewhat negative connotations. They are bar (a place where people get drunk; historically a place where men get drunk and shoot each other) and bar, but pronounced as bear (a large animal capable of eating you). What a grotesque combination. That's why I prefer to use the word savage. Ah, listen to how that word just flows off the tongue, how it lacks that nasty unique English rhotic phoneme. . Unlike the semantic result of barbaric, that of savage is left as the listener's discretion; I give savage an even harsher connotation than barbaric. Then there's yawp, which I have no protest against.




Now, ask yourselves, would you rather insult someone by calling them a barbarian or a savage? (If you want you can answer in the poll to the left.)

A barbarian

Or a savage

But savage yawp just sounds awkward (that extra syllable in barbaric really makes a difference), so we can stick with barbaric yawp.

Of Incompetents and Vixen-Gargoyles

A Brief (Rather Unrelated) Introduction

Day after day we see it: the ever-dwindling competence levels of high school students, a trend closely correlating with the disgusting appearance of these kids--an appearance that can only be tangibly compared to that of vixen gargoyles. So I took some time to ponder what has been causing this trend. And I can't seem to figure it out. Is it the mere lack of any desire to do anything other than sit on a couch eating processed American food and play games on a smartphone?

Alas, I'm not going to continue talking about the general incompetence of high schoolers, as, chances are, I'd unintentionally end up offending many of you. So, below I have a number of photos that may serve as inspiration to more productive activities.

More Interesting Items

Here are some lovely pictures that have recently captured my attention, which you may also . I'm exploring the photoshopping work that can be done only by competents.

This cat looks much like my cat, except, unfortunately, my cat can't breath fire.

(http://www.zastavki.com/pictures/1920x1080/2012/Creative_Wallpaper_Cat_in_Fire_034916_.jpg)

What a beautiful old man. Such beauty can only come with Photoshop.

(http://whatthehayell.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/old-man-mask.jpg)

Another cat--they seem to be excellent animals to graphically design!

(http://fc08.deviantart.net/fs27/i/2008/124/e/9/water_cat_by_Artelfic.jpg)

I always find it especially pleasing when a graphic, such as those above, can fool people into believing in a paradoxical reality, perhaps where cats breath fire. The rapid pace at which technology changes (the rate of change is an exponential function, in case you didn't know) makes such graphics more and more believable. The next step is to get cats to breath fire.

With that and a 'hoyhehe' I leave you. Enjoy your day and refrain from competence-draining activities.

Welcome

Welcome to my blog!

Here you will find a place in which you can enlighten yourself. But make it fun. However, if you lack competence or effort, I urge you now: leave. Once again, welcome! And be productive!