My "Research" Project

For my research project, I took a project I was personally working on and turned it into my final project. I have personally been researching myself, trying to see what I can and can't do and getting myself to do things that I never would have done before. As I was taking this class I realized that I had a hard time thinking outside the box, and to try and solve this problem I decided to look in the box and see what I had to play with. As I thought about whats in the box, I realized there were alot of things in there that made me comfortable, but still confined me. So what I did was bring an actual box to class and filled it with those things that make me who I am. It contained things like a Palestinian scarf to signify my heritage, a certificate of appreciation i received while living in Saudi Arabia for 10 years of my life, pictures of my family, and other self defining objects that you will see below. I explained how these objects, my life experiences, are what keep me in the box. Though, by the end of this class I still can't confidently say I'm thinking outside the box, but I'm can say that I am that much closer to breaking free.

As for my favorite presentation of the bunch, there is no way I could pick one. From the digital spray paint to the chewy dicks, to the gorilla advertising, and many more excellent presentations, I have to admit they were all my favorite and they truly showed what a creative and diverse class we have.

Gallery

I actually went and saw Bodies the Exhibition and I thought that was pretty freakin cool, but I have to admit it wasnt quite inspiring, on the contrary it was disheartening because as I exited the exhibit i realize that I just enjoyed a museum of mutilated humans and eventually came to the conclusion that I am, as well as everybody else that thought it was freakin cool, are sick twisted fucks. Just think about what we just saw, humans with no skin, humans dissected into many small pieces. Yes it was meant to be educational but lets face it, nobody went to Bodies to learn something.

What inspires me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t25AOSxZZkI

That man inspires me, as an aspiring musician, the skill level that John Petrucci (of Dream Theater) is at the level I want to one day achieve. I know people have disagreed but I feel that his guitar parts have so much emotion mixed with incredible technicality and musicianship. Every time I watch a new Dream Theater DVD, I have my guitar with me because alot of the time ideas pop into my head as I'm watching the DVD and i just start playing them, if I feel that im coming up with something special I pause the DVD and plug in the guitar to see how it sounds and If i like it after that I try and record it.

Bliss

For this assignment I do what I always do, and that is play 2 and half hours (actually close to 4 hours) of guitar. I didn't find this assignment difficult at all because I am a person who gives myself time to relax, I will drop everything I'm doing to play guitar and just get away from it all, I think its important to always have time to yourself and not to overwhelm yourself with work. But more to the point, I've never been able to explain how guitar playing really allows me to relax but its sort of like every fret, every note, every lick, every riff is just a different way of expressing all the different emotions I maybe feeling at the time. I tend to hold a lot of emotions in so the guitar allows me to let them out and a way that is productive and healthy. It puts me in a place where i feel relaxed and content, and when I come up with something I feel is special, its really a sense of satisfaction. Its' really one of the few things I do for myself and its the best way I know to express myself.

What the bleep do we know

Seriously, this movie has been stuck in my head all week but my mind just can't seem to grasp the way their mind thinks. I agree to an extent that if you set your mind to something that it can be accomplished but to the extent that you can do all these things that defy common logic and science and what not, I dont know if I can see that. Then again it could be because my mind doesnt work the same way theirs does. I also didnt like the idea that maybe love doesnt exist, I think everybody needs something to believe in and though I was never a huge supporter of religion I understood that some people believed in it because it was a place they found hope and I think everybody needs a little bit of that. To insist that love doesnt exist, to me, is insisting that we the people of this world can't love and care for one another because it simply 'changes' when it isnt reciprocated. I also disagree with that because I've seen people fall in love with people who dont return the favor and that love isnt fake, it isnt non-existent, its real to the person that feels it and I think thats more of what quantum physics is about.

6th and 7th sense

I grouped these together mainly because i failed to post the 6th sense yesterday also I as i have been thinking about it I don't really believe there are 6th or 7th sense. I dont consider a 'sense of perception', a 'sense of awareness' or anything along those lines to be actual senses, they just seem like a combination of all of our senses. If I really had to come up with a 6th sense that I feel I posses, it'll have to be...procrastination...and these blog posts prove it! YAY!

Taste (mmmm...bacon)

Today I focused on my taste buds and what a glorious day it was for them buds. Today my roommate brought some Calzones, which was pretty much pastries stuff with cheese...mmm..how I love my cheese, it was very good. There was a low point in the day as I discovered I was out of my beloved coca-cola but i had some diet pepsi...diet drinks bore the buds, so the buds were very disappointed...that is until we ended up trying this chinese resturant at Castleton mall called Stir Crazy, where I believe i had the best chinese food in indiana (after eating chinese food internationally, I found the chinese here to be rather disgusting) what made it that much more was that they actually served coca-cola so i happily downed two cups of coke along with my rather tasty cashew chicken with brown rice. mmmmmmmm

Hearing

I focused today on hearing, which was fun because I went to see Robin Williams perform at Purdue today and as well as listening to Mr. Williams amazingly hilarious jokes I also kept a close ear on the people around me. I'm usually someone who can focus on a show and tune out everything else, but this experience was very amusing because above the speakers (projecting Robins voice) and above the drunk girl obnoxiously screaming into my ear i noticed all the different laughs and whispers, that surrounded me. I'm usually very amused by the different types of laughs people have and I feel that added to the show.

Touch (wednesday post)

Well I can see I find this daily blogging to be quite difficult since it seems to constantly slip my mind. Wednesday I focused on my sense of touch which was a bit awkward because i just spent the day...feeling stuff...but it was really cool because I have all these different objects and I've never really touched before and it was cool to feel all the different textures that exist in such a small place, such as around my desk, or in my car.

Smell

Today I decided to focus on my sense of smell, and I have to admit that it wasnt very easy, especially since i follow similar routines everyday, my nose doesnt get introduced to many new smells, only the smells its already used to smelling. I did however, go to my aunts house today, and on route there is a fantastic waste management plant and my god did that get my sense of smell buzzing. That had to have been the 'highlight' of my nose's day, smelling the incredible stench of Carmel's shit.

Sight (what should've been posted yesterday)

Monday during class seemed like serendipity yet again, as we were asked to focus on one of each sense everyday of the week, coincidentally recently I made the switch from glasses to contact lenses, so for the last 6 days I've been going through my trail to see if i really want contacts. Let me be the first to say, I enjoy the contacts, but getting used to them after wearing glasses for a a year is a bitch! I get dizzy alot and i seem to go in and out of focus every now and then...not sure if thats supposed to happen, good thing i've got the appointment with the doctors.

Class Last Week

Last week, class was like no class I've ever had before and it was great. First rolling around the IT building in a chair was lots of fun, the most amusing part was seeing the expression on peoples faces as we rolled passed them...just priceless. And soon after I ended up rolling down a hill at the canal which was also surprisingly fun and it allowed me to do something outside of what I would normally do in public, it was a great experience for me, and allowed me to break out of my shell.

Bringing Life to What If

I don't know if this constitutes bringing life to a what if question but I thought this question would be fun to 'answer'.

What if America was never discovered?

I saw this question and my interpretation of it was...'what if Columbus didnt get lost?'

And here is my predication as to what the world may have been like today.

50 'What If' Questions

1. What if you like big butts and cannot lie?

2. What if the moon was made of cheese?

3. What if the moon was made of cheesecake?

4. What if you push it to the limit?

5. What if your girlfriend was hot like me?

6. What if your girlfriend was a freak like me?

7. What if you had scissor hands?

8. What if you were married to a cow?

9. What if God was one of us?

10. What if Chuck Norris appeared in your bathroom?

11. What if the sky did fall?

12. What if pigs could fly?

13. What if you were attacked by Manbearpig?

14. What if you were cereal?

15. What if you had a gold member?

16. What if it was raining men?

17. What if you made the devil cry?

18. What if Oreos ate you?

19. What if you could eat your own face?

20. What if time wasted you?

21. What if there were no ‘What if’ questions?

22. What if you bathe in a tub of hot acid?

23. What if it was butter?

24. What if cocoa pebbles didn’t exist?

25. What if everyone was blind?

26. What if dreams where real?

27. What if you could lick your own elbow?

28. What if the earth stopped moving?

29. What if you were a gummy bear?

30. What if girls went wild?

31. What if Canada went on strike?

32. What if Santa did exist?

33. What if you could Hassle the Hoff?

34. What if the world ran out of manatees?

35. What if the Vikings ran Zimbabwe?

36. What if M&Ms came to life?

37. What if Freud was right?

38. What if TVs watched us?

39. What if Pluto was still a planet?

40. What if time ran backwards?

41. What if LOST never finishes?

42. What if Hitler decided to stick to painting?

43. What if the Universe was held within a Ziploc Bag?

44. What if Kellogs Frosties weren’t Grrrrrrreat?

45. What if Britain wasn’t Great?

46. What if you could touch this?

47. What if the Pentagon had 6 corners?

48. What if the White house was Green?

49. What if Pythagoras didn’t make his theories?

50. What if I didn’t come up with 50 questions?

Favorite Egg Assigment

My favorite egg assignment had to be Egg & Zachly because I enjoyed the comedic way it portrayed the frustration most of us felt during that project, I always enjoy laughing at myself so this was a fun project to look at and just laugh because its one of those "thats just how I felt" moments. Nice work.

http://neo-volition.blogspot.com/2008/09/egg-zachly.html

Time.

Diving in the bible with a pair of goggles and speedos

I managed to open up the "bible" to page 128 which pretty much talks about how the mind is not only in the head but travels around the whole body. It was quite the philosphy lesson, and since philosphy tend to fly right over my head so i had to read it over a few times, but eventually I managed to grasp the concept and I agree with it. The author said he tried to close his eyes and concentrate on exactly where his mind is, but he couldnt seem feel that his mind was cruising, he felt it was stationary at the top of his head. I tried this exercise and I felt that my mind was also stationary, but not in my head, but in my heart, I can't explain why but thats where it seems to be hovering at the moment, it is a very interesting feeling to have after you've read this page and I'm sure I will be tracking my mind more often than I have been. I'll close with a quote on page 128.5, because I thought it was perfectly true:

"Two monks were watching a flag fluttering in the wind. One said, 'it's the wind that moves.' The other said, 'I disagree, it's the flag that moves.' But a Zen patriarch standing nearby, said, 'it's not the wind nor the flag...it's the mind that moves.'

Come out little Birdy! (The Egg)

When I first brought this egg home, I had no freakin clue what to do with it. The first day I stared at it for hours (ok...fine...a couple of minutes) and I even took the class name literally and tilted my head sideways hoping for a new perspective but alas no ideas...and then it came to me...i thought I have the egg sit on this nice furry cup coaster my cousin made for me and lay my arm over it to keep it warm...why you ask...to see if it would hatch of course! We had a fantastic week headbanging to some metal and downloading some...uh...adult entertainment...but as the week comes to a close the poor little birdy did not come out of its shell. So I feel the only thing left for me to do is to enjoy the taste of a well cooked sunny side up!