Random facts of time gone by:

Random facts of October: In no particular order...

- Bill Gates' house was designed using a Macintosh computer.

- Santas image was created by Coke.

- Business.com is currently the most expensive domain name sold for $7.5 million.

- The first condoms were made of linen.

- A peanut is not a nut. It is a legume.

- Karate actually originated in India, but was developed further in China.

- More people are killed by donkeys annually than are killed in plane crashes.

- More than 6,000 people with pillow-related injuries check into U.S. emergency rooms every year!

- Most alcoholic beverages contain all 13 minerals necessary to sustain human life.

- The can opener was invented 48 years after the can.

- The cigarette lighter was invented before the match.

- President George W. Bush and Playboy founder Hugh Hefner are cousins!

- The are six fictional characters that have stars on Hollywood's 'Walk of Fame'. Although half the others are just as fake...

- Gloucestershire airport in England used to blast Tina Turner songs on the runways to scare birds away. They had to stop because too many gay employees were making requests.

- TYPEWRITER is the longest word that can be made using the letters only on one row of the keyboard.

If not me, then who? If not now, then when?

I was never one to make a stand. Sure I have strong opinions, but never enough outrage to liberally advocate a cause. Which is a shame because I feel I should believe in something. There has to be a message that I would feel compelled to voice, I am just yet to find it.

There are many groups at university I could join, but don’t simply because all they basically do is flap their chins. Nothing ever changes, things continue because the majority accepts it. And I don’t see how participating in some activist group activities that are only done to create an illusion of control for them, could really help the plights of others. Don’t get me wrong, when the activities are direct contact (eg: physically going and helping individuals on the streets, or giving back to the community) I can see the purpose. But rallies and discussion groups can only ever achieve very little, preaching to the converted just seems like an irrational waste of time. Obviously there point is to show strength of numbers, but this is irrelevant if the group in question holds no influential power.

I still hold faith in the system, it is not perfect, but is a system none the less. It is constantly changing and adapting based upon societies standards, and the sooner we condemn actions or practices the sooner the system catches up.

So here I am, a man without a cause.

To love and loose,

To live a loss,

To come to ones demise.

To make a stand,

To turn away,

The actions no surprise.

Till next we meet,
Paul

The verdict is in: (in retrospect to Blatant Misconceptions)

I would like to say that I don’t judge people, but that would be a lie. I am constantly judging without self constraint. We all do it, whether subconsciously or deliberately; we analyse, process and create a verdict within moments of the catalyst.

I’m a much worse offender than most, ill go out of my way to judge people and tend to let them know about it. Some people have hobbies, but I was never into tennis.

So the good thing is I have judged you all, like god I have evaluated your worthiness and labelled you appropriately. My judgements can be cruel but are never off the mark, and when my perceptive mirror is reflected upon myself I’m sure you would not be surprised with how truthful my evaluations are.

I considered listing how I perceive myself, but thought better of it, wouldn’t want to influence your observations.

The world is a fish tank.



Till next we meet,
Paul

Blatant Misconceptions:

How many times has your actions been misconstrued because someone has read too much into them?

I am constantly being misunderstood; I’m not a very complex creature. In fact it wouldn’t take much to summate me; a few poignant points about my numerous fascist and insurmountable flaws and where done.

There isn’t always an underlining reason for an action to take place, nor in some cases any reasoning what so ever. So why can’t people just accept things at face value?

Admittedly there are cases where I am acting with a slightly hidden agenda, not falsifying my intentions simply not divulging the entirety of my intent. This is why I get into trouble, simply because I have these moments doesn’t mean this is how I constantly act.

I will never tell you everything.



Till next we meet,
Paul

The night of the terrible two

I thought you may wish to know about how serious my condition has gotten...

Ok fair enough I normally I’m pretty lazy with assignments but they seem to get done within the time limit pretty easily. This was of course before the night of the terrible two..

As I’ve alluded to in past posts I’m at uni doing a double degree involving information systems. The two IS units I do are programming (java) and database, which I’m pretty good at.

Both of these units had an assignment due last Friday, and I’m sure we had two weeks to do both, so logically I should have started them then. But I wasn’t going to let logic get in the way of things so I left them for a while. In the mean time I had to do another assignment for management which I despised, which took the majority of my concentration.

Long story short it’s Wednesday night and I realise I haven’t done either of them, so offcourse I tell myself that ill set tomorrow to do them both. I get to uni at 10am on Thursday, set myself up in a lab and start to procrastinate. Newayz its 6pm, programming is finished but I still have database to do. So time goes on… (btw the students from my whole course are there working on these assignments, apparently my condition is contagious).

Despite some major problems like the database server being down because too many people kept trying to access it, I got through. Although by this time is 12:30pm on Friday..

And just when you thought it couldn’t get any worse for Paul, he turns around and tells you that then he needed to go to work from 3-9:30…

NEVER AGAIN!!! (But I can’t promise)

Living life in another skin

I often catch myself changing my personality to an extent when interacting with different sets of people. It isn’t much deviation, but when multiple sets are being interacted with simultaneously I believe both them and I can see the differences.

I believe my personality has a basis, and when I interact with others different attributes and characteristics are added on. This can be explained by my comfort levels and what I perceive maybe too much for others. I am never fake, just different.

This can relate to hiding information, but also to the way in which you connect with each group. I don’t believe (for me personally) there is any dependence upon how dominate the other personalities are, simply because of the fact that I’m not able to conclusively state whether I increase or minimise my outgoingness as a result (other mitigating factors must play a crucial role).

Soon I shall make a conscious decision to express the whole me to every group, yet I don’t know how such an act will be performed considering my inability to truly recognise who I really am.

Who am I, if not me?

Till next we meet,

Paul

What’s logic got to do with it!

There are certain situations/events in life where logic is simply thrown out the window. Not that I rely on logic for stability, but it is nice when you can see a basis for reasoning. Now these events are normally on a whim and will usually eventuate, if at all, with very minimal consequences in relation to the course of progression of your life. Yet still on reflection, feelings of stupidity seem just as painful as when first experienced.

There are a lot of different factors that effect ones logic; emotions, situations, people and to an extent life itself. There sadly is no remote control to ‘reverse’ such events and so we must accept/suppress these memories and move on.

I have many events that I mortally regret, these are common knowledge and became a great pass time for a section of my friends to bring up during one of there favourite games “Hey Paul, remember that time….”

- Softball

- Leep Frog

- Chair isn’t there

- 3D

- Balls (interesting choice of word; just imagine a montage of events where sport balls would hit me in the face, over and over and over again)

- ect…

Long story short, my high school life was merely a serious of unfortunate events, separated briefly by very little education. Which although topical and entertaining to others, has led me to the drink on more than one occasion.

Question: (Off the topic, but on the subject)

What’s the point of logic if it’s not logical?

Some people hold onto their notions of logic even when they know it’s no longer true. Just because they have had that concept for an extended period of time doesn’t give validity to its argument. – This person knows who they are and should change their point of view.

Till next we meet,

Paul

Word of Mouth

Well I’m not all that surprised it has taken me a while to get back to you, the neglect is mainly caused by the incomprehensible amount of assignments that I just happened to put off for far too long ~ I didn’t get extensions even after I explained my condition (Lazieitis), stupid lectures! I should have just said I was an alcoholic.

"Have you heard...."

Have you ever really considered how powerful ‘word of mouth’ really is?

I’m sure we all remember the day Steve Irwin died; mainly because their not letting us forget (who they are is not important, for the moment…). Well I was in a lecture, and simultaneously around me five people got messages explaining what had happened (I felt sad I didn’t get one so my friend next to me forwarded it on, she is so nice lol).

This got me thinking, what sort of topics causes such an excessive use of the ‘word of mouth’? What would make YOU exert effort to tell another individual?

Till next we meet,

Paul

Food

Just a quick question:

Why do we change the names of animals when they are prepared for consumption?

Cow = Beef
Pig = Pork
Sheep = Lamb

And why is chicken still 'chicken'? (or are they hens)

Prefect application due

(Below is an extraction of what was sent to my principle when requesting the position of prefect, written in the year 2004)

Why I would like to become a prefect:

When I first contemplated about becoming a prefect I asked myself, what does the term prefect mean to me? I see a perfect as a passionate reliable individual who has leadership qualities, but also as a person who is responsible and in control. They must present themselves in a manner befitting their position and be able to persuade others to do the same. They must be approachable yet be able to command the respect of their peers. They must be meticulous in their actions and have strength and faith in themselves. But most all they have to have a dedicated desire to excel in everything they do. Once realizing this I had a look in the mirror. I imagined myself as a prefect and began to see these qualities in me. I see myself as the sort of person to which people respond well. I have a calm caring nature yet am able to control a situation with demanding authority.

I see becoming a prefect as a way of proving myself to not only my peers but also my teachers. I furthermore see this as a great opportunity to give back to the school for which I have taken so much. I wish to become a role model to the younger generations, a pinnacle to which they can aspire. I believe that becoming a prefect will not only help me grow as a leader but also as an individual. I thrive in stressful situations and acknowledge that compounded on the regular stresses of year twelve I will gain a multitude more as a result of being a prefect. I believe that I am ready to take on the extra reasonability’s of being a prefect and I hope that you will believe so too.

(There is more but it relates to my outside activities and where I wanted to go after high school)

What a crock of shit! The only reason I wanted to become a prefect was so I could get the gold braiding around my blazer (the irony is not lost on me). Hmm and I think I read the word ‘prefect’ too many times, although I may have just been trying to create a greater association between the word and myself…

I’d like to think I have some of these above mentioned qualities, although there are a choice few that would need to be added (I’m sure your thinking of some now). In case you were wondering I did become a prefect, house captain in fact. I went on to win the cup with my egotistical sidekick (me and Michelle what a team).

Till next we meet,

Paul

Successful regret

Throughout our lives we have constantly been told that:
You need to get good grades to get a good enter,
You need a good enter to get into a good course,
You need a good course to get a good job,
You need a good job to have a good life,

And if at any point in this process you stuff up your going to die poor and lonely :(.

Understandably this is a very simplistic view upon the measurement of success, yet this is exactly what is driven into our heads all throughout high school. Although I logically understand that this is not the correct way to view the situation, I have based my life decisions upon this very conception. For without this conception, my life would have even less of a tangible direction.

As some of you may know I made the decision to commit myself to 4.5 year of study to complete a double degree in both business and information systems. This decision was made out of fear, petrified that a single degree would limit my options I opted for as broad a field as I could possibly make. Apart from the loss of an extra year and a half I do not regret this decision, nor the appropriateness of its formation. But on reflection it started to make me think about how many regrets I really have.

A regret is a horrible thing to hold, but inevitable none the less. We are constantly making decisions that can never be fully informed, mainly because life is not predictable. There are many mitigating factors that will effect any given decision that we make simply because of unforeseeable circumstances. The aim is to minimise your regrets and be mindful that there are real consequences to all our actions.

Life is the ultimate game, except its not as simple as rolling some dice. No one is ever prepared for it, and each time it’s played is never quite the same. The game can be deceptive, you can always tell when your winning, but never when your about to hit a wrong turn. The pieces are constantly moving so the game must go on, whether you wish to play or not. So take a deep breath and cross your fingers, because it’s your move.

A life with regret, is a regretful life

Till next we meet,
Paul