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6 . 2 2 . 9 9 Summer is about a third over, says the pessamist, 2/3 remaining, says the optimist, and summer just is, says the realist. Today at the beach there was this shiny fish floating near the shore, it looked like it was dead. I tried to scoop it up and it darted away from me a couple feet in front of me, and then it started floating on its side again. I figured that it had hurt it's tail or something, so i tried to scoop it up with a hat to no avail. Apparently its a stickleback fish, my dad used to see them in the Ala Wai floating along in schools, they do it so they look like floating leaves to avoid predators. This is all new information to me. I found this kind of odd that something simple and natural like this is unknown to myself, and not unlikely unknown to more than half the people my age in Hawaii. Maybe I should go fishing more often. I have to keep reminding myself about the somewhat dualistic existence that college students take on, confronted with the barrier that sometimes seperates between the mainland and the Hawaii me. Many familiar faces and voices become fuzzy letters on a computer screen, or lines of ink, barely recognizable at first but in spirit, legible. It seems strange not seeing and hearing a person in front of you, but instead, having written words as a surrogate. I think I like postcards and letters better, it takes a lot more effort than email, but sometimes that can be a lot of effort to ask today. And in many ways, thats all that it really required in many friendships: effort. I've had to recommit to memory everyone's pager numbers back home, not to mention everyone's new cell numbers. I get a trip out of the fact that I still haven't memorized my own address for the fall yet. 6 . 1 5 . 9 9 Today I found out that there is a virus that activates on the 14th of the month and attaches to your word program and displays a "big jerk" insult to the username when you close an application. I thought it was odd that when I closed the page I was typing, the computer said that my Dad was a "big stupid jerk". I looked it up on the webferret and it turns out its a well documented virus. Also on the site was a bunch of articles about other well-known viruses like the melissa and the worm one. Makes you wonder about the future of the information superhighway doesn't it? I spent a large part of the day at Hamilton library, while I was riding in the elevator I had to remind myself that I was back home, instead of in Memorial library up in Madison. I got lost someplace in the East Asian collection, as the call numbers were identical to the regular stacks. I have forgotten how much you can really learn from just reading books and articles, I'm tempted to argue that you don't need to go to class, provided you spend the time to carefully and regularly read. I'm starting to wonder when it really is that a student becomes unreachable through formal instruction and has to go on his/her own in order to further their education. Lately I've been wondering how much of a degree is truly the result of critical thinking vs regurgitation of the reading and text lectures. I've been spending a lot of time online lately. What I see lacking in the internet is the resources of a college library online. I believe in free speech and in keeping the web regulation-free, but what I would like to see eventually is the internet being used for more educational and informational uses rather than what it has been dominated by......there is a lot of potential, but not much incentive taken. 6 . 8 . 9 9 Today was a nice day for the beach, I tried swimming to the reef at concessions and I got winded half way. I think I miss salt water while I'm up at school, something about the ocean brings back memories of childhood, like Oroku picnics and going fishing. Plus it smells a lot better than lake Mendota, and it never freezes over. I've started going to the wrestling room again ever Tuesdays and Thursdays, I'm out of shape. The younger guys are getting older and stronger. I'm going to try and make it a point to get in the room more often, at least twice a week. I saw one of the old wrestlers at the weightroom, he's working there for the summer. I have a test on thursday I need to study for it. Probably go to Barnes & Nobles or Starbucks or something. Lots of reading. I'm not sure when they close. My brother rented Kentucky Fried Movie, it was pretty funny. I liked the fistful of yen flick especially. I ended up watching the whole thing. 6 . 1 . 9 9 So I'm starting another journal with the intention of keeping with it and making a seious record of the random events that make up my sometimes crazy life. I think if I shoot for one entry a week it shouldn't be that bad. I can handle that. Writing an entry every other day would be another story. Today I got three letters. Real ones now, for me its a trip since everything nowadays seems like it's online and digital. Email is so much easier and it takes a lot less effort, it makes me think that maybe this raises the value of actual letters now, being that they are becoming old fashioned and obsolete. I'm taking half a regular semester in a summer session, and I'm feeling a lot less stress then I should. School is much easier than I anticipated. I'm taking this as a blessing and am going to spend more time enjoying home and going to the beach. Today in class we talked about Freud and the different instincts, although I don't totally agree with Freudian Psychology, I do see some truth in his theories, especially in the belief of different entities existing in the mind. I'm realizing that going so far for college puts a strain on my self-identity. It isn't nearly as bad as last year, but I do feel out of place and anomic in certain circumstances and in certain frames of mind. The "Dan" in Wisconsin and the "Kano" at home need some time to converge as one. They came together in Seattle, I don't see why they can't here either. Time is on my side. |