Moved to Tumblr

To the sighs of a few, I have moved my blog over to Tumblr @ solidrant.tumblr.com. Please view my new post there.

Insomnia

For whatever reason, I cannot fall asleep right now.  Maybe its because I did not take any melatonin tonight.  Whatever the cause, I do however feel like working on my talk, so I am going to do that and see where it leads me.

Spiritual Synthesis 1: The Path of Belief

While reading my book today, I came across two related striking revelations.  As the good Jesuit author says, there are many paths to finding God, and anyone can be on any path at any point along the journey.  My current overarching path is the Path of Belief.  I grew up in the Catholic faith, and never had a seriously doubtful time with God.  Oh yes, I've had plentiful opportunities to defect from religious institution but I chose to stay.  All in all, this is a relatively functional way to find God, IF (and that's a big "if") you know the negative attributes of said path.  There is one such negative attribute that I noticed today.  This informational factoid may seem like plain common sense, but do not underestimate its sly demeanor.  Here it is, big revelation number 1: sojourning on the path of belief may anesthetize the vagabond so much that the believing is wrongly done to an artificially fabricated god.  In essence, if your faith has been in God your entire life, it is quite possible for faith to become routine.  In this routine lull period (spanning a few days, months, years, or shamefully a lifetime), one loses their relationship with God.  God is many things: God of Infinite Wisdom, God of Eternal Judge, God of Seeking, God of Surprises, etc; but God is not passive.  God is not a set of purely dogmatic ideals created by a religious institution; this is the "artificial" god.  Some may know what I am describing.  You pray every night, but you are praying to an empty room with yourself, for you are "artificial" god.  You almost out right lose your ability to notice opportunities to act out God's will.  "Artificial" god has no will, he is complacency.  One cannot have a relationship with "artificial" god for he is the sole creation of a selfish human brain.  Those, such as myself, that have fallen into this trap must realize that God seeks a conscious relationship with you.  A relationship means spending time with God, aka. prayer.  Real prayer means letting down your defenses and allowing an intimate soulful connection from God.  Revelation 2 for today is that I have drifted down this path.  Although very bad if left unchecked, this path is not inescapable.  I have realized that I need to see God.  Not physically, but rather see Him in the right viewpoint.  God is not limited to dogma and morals.  God is too big for religion to contain.  Just remember, if you find yourself down this path, take the antidote right away.  Have a meaningful outside-of-the-box chat with God.

God in Everything

Today I had the opportunity to enjoy a large Alterra americano (nothing on Jenn's Java by the way.)  Now there are many aspects of this experience that vastly improved the quality of our venture through downtown Milwaukee, but I think the most exquisite was the connection to God that I felt.  Ok, so I probably looked like an idiot to the outside observer, but while I was strolling out of Alterra I noticed how lovely the breeze that cut through the foliage like an armored piercing round through a paper target (you thought that I was going to use the hot knife/butter metaphor).  In that moment I just knew that this was the kind of thing that the Jesuits talk about: seeing God present in all things.  There wasn't any one attribute of the setting that made the experience a glimpse at God.  Sometimes God just calls out to you where you are and says, "Here I am, working around you everyday."  Non-believers call it what you will, I don't care how daft I looked standing there admiring the breeze; take me as I am.

Enter the Jesuit

So as some of you know, I recently picked up a Jesuit book that I saw on the Colbert report.  I have no idea why I picked it up (maybe besides the Colbert report being awesome! or that Jesuits hit closer to home than anything), but The book is pretty decent.  I am currently 20% through the book and I have already seen it speak to me on multiple levels.  The various unexplainable intricacies in my life have been confirmed and given a logical purpose.   Whether it be the feeling deep down inside of me that aspires to become a saint, or the brief but satisfactory bursts of God's presence made known through numinous episodes.  I'll look forward to reading much more of it after mass today.

This is a Journey into Words...

Lets cut the crap Jack and get down to brass tax.  I'm scared.  Absolutely frightened.  Terrified.  Wading in a sea of melancholy so deep in water that not even my own tears can bring me comfort.  Why? Books.  I have in my hands a book.  Scary shit right?  Today I sit down with Justice, What's the right thing to do? by Michael Somethingoranother Sandel.  One page impression... I haven't read one page yet... hold on...   Hurricane Charlie rules! At least this one did some damage unlike Irene, oh wait... its about price gouging... Ok, I'm interested in this book.  It's already got me angry at something. Stay tuned for more book reading.

Self-Improvement Month - Week 1

Yay. One week done.  So, this week was not good.  I haven't worked out at all, because of the immense amount of homework I had to do on Monday and Wednesday.  Also, the three tests I had on Thursday did not help at all.  Sleeping was going semi-okay with 6 hours at night and 45 minutes during the day, but Starcraft II sabotaged that with amazing efficiency.  Keeping a dream journal would have been okay, but I haven't been dreaming much (or remembering them) on the 6-45 schedule.  Therefore, no real improvement occurred.  Good news: I have not been eating as much (very little overeating), but I don't know if what I've been eating is necessarily healthy.  I had pizza on a few occasions this week :-P.  Oh, and also, my caffeine intake has come back with a vengeance.  I can't say that I was necessarily nicer this week socially, so I will try to improve that as well.

Improvements for this week:

• Figure out a decent sleeping situation: I need to solidify something for my summer job (awake from approx 4:30 am to at least 3:30pm) - I am not looking forward to going to bed at 8:30pm...
• Eat healthier foods (more vegetables and fruit)
• Cut down on caffeine and soda
• Find more mentally engaging things to do

 I appreciate any suggestions.

Self-Improvement Month (Plan)

Here is the current Self-Improvement Month Plan

• Physical 
• Work out 2 to 3 times a week for at least 30 min focusing on cardio
•  Limit my caloric intake to 2775 calories (lose one pound a week)
• May increase on days with exercise
• Adapt a strict biphasic sleep schedule
• Go to bed at Midnight
• Wake up at 6:00am
• Nap from 1:00pm to 1:45pm
• Mental
• Spend a half hour specifically for thinking
• Keep a dream journal
• Social
• Try to be less of an asshole
• Attempt to listen more than speak
• Logistics
• Follow up Self-Improvement Month with Goal Revaluation and Maintenance Month

Self-Improvement Month

Welcome to May everyone! I hope you had a wonderful rainy April.  Today marks the last day of my 2nd spring break (brought to you by Trimesters), and my body is in horrible disrepair.  No, I haven't been drinking, but I have been downing a lot of caffeine to offset my sleep deprivation.  I have also gained a few pounds due to Easter candy.  Therefore, I'm declaring the month of May a self-improvement month.  I have quite a few goals that I will be finalizing today, but the basic outline is as follows:

• Eat Less (little to no cafeteria food)
• Work Out (twice a week)
• Stabilize my Sleep (Sleep and wake up at the same time everyday)
• Improve Mental Clarity (Perform various mental tasks to improve memory and mental quickness)

Portal 2

This morning I forgot to mention that I indeed played and beat Portal 2.  I think that Portal 2 is worth the $50 on steam, because the single player is 3 times longer than the original portal, and because it has multiplayer co-op.  Now, I haven't played said co-op yet, but it seems like a blast.  The ending to Portal 2 is a bit crazy (why do games these days ending with a 2 end in a unbelievable fashion?) but still clever and funny.  If you liked Portal 1, Portal 2 will instantly have you laughing (seriously, they say like 50 funny things in the first 15 min).  Shut up, get it, VALVe is well worth the $50 you stingy bas****s!

Web Development

Happy Easter!  I've been quite busy with family and school lately, so I couldn't make another post until now.  Today I started learning PHP5 and MySQL.  If you visit my webpage (located in my links), you will see that I have a login page up and running.  Since I'm going to bed soon, I won't make a create user until tomorrow, so if you want to test out my login page, you may use the username "user" and the password "password".  One of the shortcomings of this login page is that it does not check for duplicate users.  Do not fret! I will of course add this feature tomorrow; after all, I only started this website about 2.5 hours ago.  If you are interested in learning PHP or any other web development language, I would suggest hopping over to W3CSchools.  They got me up to speed very quickly.  TTYL Droogs

Achievement Unlocked: Dragon Age II - Defeated!

Whew!  I finally beat Dragon Age II.  Steam says I logged in 21.5 hours into the game.  I honestly don't know what fans of the Dragon Age series are complaining about.  Maybe I am just a shallow gamer, but the story was almost more epic than the first game.  Sure, the blight was pretty epic, but Dragon Age II's storyline repercussions are much greater than Dragon Age Origins.  Also, from the game's epilogue, I felt as if the warden did not really do much.  This is not the case in DA2.  I will not spoil the ending of DA2, but I will say this.  The only complaint I have against DA2's ending is that it is blown a tad bit out of proportion.  Yet, having said that, I think that the game is justified in doing so because, last time I checked, Dragon Age 2 is a FANTASY game.  So, there you go.  Play Dragon Age 2!

On a side note, here are the games I would like to complete in the next few weeks:

• The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (Many side quests completed, very little main story)
• Fallout 3 (Just started)
• Borderlands (Just started)
• Bioshock (Half-way through)
• Then possibly Bioshock 2
• Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City (Just started)
• Super Meat Boy (At Salt Factory)
• Battlefield: Bad Company 2
• Portal 2 (Comes out this Tuesday)

Happy Day, Consumerism FTW

Several packages arrived at my dorm today, all from Amazon.com.  The first packaged contained Dream Theater's CD Black Clouds and Silver Linings.  This CD is epic, but not for the faint of heart.  The shortest song on this album is 5:25 minutes.  I know what you are thinking: Solid, that isn't that bad!  Well, I'll put you in your place: the other track times are 8:36, 12:49, 13:09, 16:10, and (last but not least) 19:16.  If you were keeping tally that adds up to a whopping 1 hour 15 minutes of straight music spread across 6 tracks for a total of 12.5 average minutes per track! But, what can I say, I'm becoming a progressive head!  Make sure to check this album out.  Its lyrical content varies widely, so don't let the metal riffs discourage you.  There is no satanism to be found.  Also, I love the album art!  Yes it has black clouds and sunny skies, but its also got elephants, mice, little children, scary pictures of the band, and a lighthouse!

The next package was the Diablo II battle chest.  Inside is Blizzard's (now Activision-Blizzard) classic 2000 game Diablo II and its 2001 expansion pack Diablo II: Lord of Destruction.  I've only played a little bit of it at my best friend's house for a small lan party, and I didn't really like it that much.  However, I think that is only because I wanted to play Age of Mythology way too much that day.  The graphics take a bit of familiarization (it was made 11 years ago), but I heard that its re-playability is amazingly deep.  I'm going to play it as soon as I can.  I just hope I don't start buying Starcraft or World of Warcraft months...

Lastly the third package contained the Logitech G110 Gaming keyboard.  Now, I've always been cheap when it came to keyboards, but this time I decided to splurge a bit.  So, $64 later, I now own a back-lit keyboard with 12 macro keys.  I don't use macro keys, but I might start using them, who knows?  Additionally, I just realized that the media controls are compatible with media monkey, so no more switching out of game just to change the song or mute it!  I think I've typed enough today, so I'll see you later gents and dolls.

P.S. Make sure to check out Steam today and tomorrow, they have several 2K deals.  Today's is All Boarderlands  stuff is 75% off ($7.50 for game and all DLC!).  I already got that and Bioshock 2.

A Very April Update

Time for an update to my life.  Its officially been April for 10 days now, so approximately 3 weeks of spring has passed.  There is a HEAT WAVE in Milwaukee!  The dorms are having a thermostat competition with hell itself!  In other news, I spent the majority of the weekend hanging out with friends and working on a Linux server.  Being a geek is fun, but becoming a super-geek is more fun! (A geek is good at computers or video games, but not outstanding with networking.  A super-geek will get into networking and let you know how to set up your network with a subnet mask, port forwarding/triggering, VPN, VNC, SSH, etc.)  Right now, the webpage for our server is underconstruction and will be accessed by http://solidserv.dyndns.org.  If you want to become a part of our Minecraft server, comment on this below or email me.

Dragon Intoxication

As many of you know, I am a gamer.  And, as all the gamers know: a gamer has to do what a gamer has to do!  And I did.  I've been playing through Dragon Age 2 as fast as I can.  Yet I'm only 2/3 through.  Great Game!!! I think it is a fine successor to Dragon Age: Origins!  Don't knock it because it was streamlined or has a less epic story than the original.  Bioware just decided to take Dragon Age in a different direction, and you know what?  It works!  I like DA2 partly because I like Mass Effect 2 (btw, if anyone wants a free copy of Mass Effect 2, I have a code for it, read: its legal).  If I would compare Dragon Age: Origins and Dragon Age 2 to another pair of video games, I would compare them to The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and Majora's mask.  These were both excellent games that took two different takes on the series.  Ocarina was the standard Zelda much like Origins was the standard RPG.  Epic quest going against unbeatable odds, there is little to hate.  Majora's mask was a developer challenge: how can a game be based on one city with surrounding areas over the course of 3 days??  This challenge led to a huge step up in writing and it was AWESOME!  Dragon Age 2 is much in the same.  It happens in one city Kirkwall and a few places outside of it.  While I don't think its writing is better than its predecessor, I think for what it aims to be, it is an example to be followed.

Lots of Stuff to Attend to

Last night I bought Dragon Age II (sooooooo excited!), so I have to sink my time into that.  I heard that DA2 is not as good of an RPG as DA:O, but who cares?  This is Bioware we are talking about.  They don't make crappy games.  DA2's problem is that it sucks in comparison to near perfection, ergo DA2 should be a decent game.  Additionally I have to write up a formal physics lab report, read/watch A Clockwork Orange, and finish off my cancerous Steam library of games (like 50 or so games).

Goodbye Droogs

You Learn Something New Every Day...

Today I accidentally discovered how to better tie shoes.  The alteration is on the first (arguably universal) step in which you "criss-cross" the laces.  Well, after crossing them but before tightening them, loop one around again.  This leaves a 2nd cross for stability.  Its a shocking development in the field of Shoe Tieing!

Its Monday...

Ever wake up from a slumber that began on Sunday night only to realize that its now Monday morning? Yeah, me too, and it sucks.  I didn't even have that much stuff to do today and it just sucks.  Just the thought of waking up sucks!  Not to mention the first thing you have to do in the morning is lug a heavy backpack down a 10-floor elevator ride, then 3 blocks, then up 3 abnormally long flights of stairs.  UGH!  At least I'm done at 11:00AM  That's a plus.

Blog Improvement

In an effort to increase blog traffic / awareness, I've added a poll to the right hand side of your screen.  Please vote for what kind of content you would like to see on this blog (i.e. what would make you read this blog on a regular basis).  If selecting other, please comment on this post stating what you would like to see.

Big Post: Goals and Sleep

First, I would like to start out by saying that I cannot do Uberman until Fall Quarter of 2011.  Having recently been hired for a respectable high paying internship, Uberman is not compatible with my summer.  However, I have a game plan for next year's Uberman.  It will start off by a caffiene assisted 2-3 day stretch without sleep.  I feel that the caffiene will make the long nights much more bearable.  Then, I will adopt a napping schedule.  Having gone without sleep for 2-3 days, I should be able to go straight to REM, accelerating the process.  So... there... no more Uberman (I may pickup Everyman-3 though).

Second, I have several goals this week.

1. Pick up PHP scripting and all the HTML related stuff that comes with that.
2. Become familiar with the .x (Direct X) object format so that my *heavily delayed* video game development can get back on board.
3. Consider buying Dragon Age 2
4. Finish the Ubuntu-based image for my solidcraft minecraft server.
5. Design a webpage hosted on said server giving information and links

Here's to Spring Quarter Week 5

Nevermind Uberman

I'll talk about it later.

Uberman Revisited

I am now back on Uberman Adaptation.  Instead of regular posts about Uberman, I will update the ticker at the top of the screen.  I will post any major changes or advances in my Uberman schedule.  All that is important right now is that I am almost done with Day 1, and the nights are already hard.

Album Debate: Six Degrees or Black Clouds

My sister told me awhile back that she would buy me an album.  I could not give her a definitive answer as to what album I wanted.  Now, I am seriously considering taking her up on her offer.  I want to get a Dream Theater Album, but, do I get Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence? Or, should I get Black Clouds and Silver Linings?  Listening to Black Clouds right now, very good opener (A Nightmare to Remember).

Edit: FYI, I don't do April Fool's

Dragon Age: Orgins is the S***

I just beat Dragon Age: Orgins as a dwarf noble rogue, and I must say, EPIC GAME.  I also feel epic, because I am one of the few gamers that actually beat Dragon Age: Orgins.  PLAY IT! PLAY IT ALL THE WAY THROUGH!  That is all.

Searching for Something...

I don't know what it is.  It's elusive, that's all I know for sure.  Normally when people say there is something missing in their lives, they end up finding religion.  The problem is that I already have that and on a religious high point (in terms of faith and happiness).  So why do I feel like there is a missing link (in my life, not religion related)?  Today I hung out with some of my friends from high school, and it was an enhancing experience.  Yet, I find that my relationship with women is *challenged* to say the least.  On one hand, I respect my friends from high school, yet... on another hand, I can't put up with the women I've met in college.  I know that a dating relationship is not in the books at this time.  I also know that this is not what I am looking for (it's illogical and is totally out of my character).  I'm grasping for an answer, but for what answer and why?

LAAAAaaaggggGGGG

So, good idea: create a server "testing area" to keep shenanigans to an isolated area.  Bad idea: setting off 4 stacks of TNT at once.  I love this server, but I hate the lag.  Oh, and I'm staying up late tonight

Cartz

Just spent the last 3 hours adding onto my Minecraft cart system.  I love building cart systems, because it feels like I'm both playing a game and doing real mental work.  Right now I have 2 fully functioning stops as well as a half-functioning 3rd stop.  Hopefully I will finish that stop today.  Thinking about jumping back into programming.   I will do this as soon as I install Ubuntu again (Fedora 14 just started giving me a black screen on bootup).  L8rs

Fung Shui

I cleaned my room today, most of it atleast.  I think I'm going to rotate my desk 90 degrees so that I am facing toward the center of the dorm room.  This way I will have visual access to outside, and I can mount my speakers on my cork board (it actually does work).  Also in the vein of spring cleaning, I'm going to do some well needed vacuuming (of the floor) as well as some repartitioning of my hard drive.

Dragon Age: Origins

I love Dragon Age!  I forgot how much I liked it when it got going!  So yeah.  If you asked what I'm doing outside of this blog right now, I'm Dragon Age: Origin-ing.  (Dwarf Nobel Rogue)

Over-Ranting

It has come to my attention that I have been talking too much about sleep, so I will only mention it when something significant happens.  I may switch between Everyman 3 and Everyman 4.5, just because I don't want to take forever to adapt.  Thats the last I will say about it for awhile.  Hopefully I'll find something to blog about, though this is more of a personal journal / time sink.

Day 1

It's currently 7:23am and I am a bit tired but awake nonetheless.  I just got done sleeping through my 4.5 hour "core" sleep.  That is approximately 4 complete normal (1.5 hr) sleep cycles as opposed to 5 complete cycles in normal monophonic sleeping (8 hr).  Research seems to suggest that its not the length of time we sleep that matters.  What matters is how many cycles we complete.  So, the whole idea of polyphasic sleep is to convert long and wasteful 1.5 hr cycles into efficient power naps of 20 min cycles.  Thats why when I'm adapted to Everyman 4.5, I'll be more rested than most other people, because I will complete 6 complete cycles each day (4 in the core and 2 in naps).  Talk later, have to give a speech.

Plans

Now knowing what effort Uberman requires to adapt to, I'm going to reserve Uberman for Summer 2011 if I don't get a job.  For the time being, I'm going to switch to Everyman with a 4.5 hour core.  That means sleeping from 2:30am to 7:00am, napping from 4:00 to 4:20pm, and napping from 10:00pm to 10:20pm.  I figure this schedule would be viable for summer work as well (or at least easy to shift around).  So that is the plan,  I'll start tonight with the 4.5 hour core.

New Goals

Uberman is not viable for my schedule at this time.  I got paranoid about oversleeping, so I'm going to switch to something less harsh.  I don't know what that is (Everyman 2-Nap?).  I want sleep.......Uberman, this is not the last time we will meet.

Day 1: Halftime Show

This morning sucked!  Like really really sucked!  I was fine from 3:20am to 5:30am, but then I just hit a brick wall.  I had to fight a uphill struggle with sleep for 1.5 hours.  After my 7:00am nap, I woke up pretty groggy.  Thankfully that disappeared within a half hour.  I hit another brick wall at 10:30am, but I only had to stand my ground for a half hour.  Right now I feel like I could really use some sleep, but I'm not in an active fight for consciousness right now.  Updates later.

Happy Uberman!

So! I feel much better after my first nap (3:00am - 3:20am).  We will see how long that lasts.  Right now the plan is to get Physics, Drafting, and General Studies Homework done.  Hopefully I can stay occupied until 7:00am, then everything should go better from there.  Also, today is Ash Wednesday.  For me, that means only one meal and no meat.  This will truly be a test of faith.  Time to get stuff done!

T - 20 Minutes

Really really tired now.  Can't wait for my first official nap!  Wow... its only the first nap.  Well whatever, the end justifies the means.  More updates to come.

T - 5 Hours

I'm a bit tired right now.  I have not started the schedule yet, but I only had 4.5 hours of "regular" sleep today.  This quarter is turning out to be quite a bit harder than expected, only because the workload is bigger.  Yet, this doesn't bother me too much since I need all the work I can get.  On my brief 2-3 day demo of this schedule (for gauging the degree of sleep deprivation), the time between 3:00 AM and 8:00 AM is by far the worst time cycle ever. No one is up at that time, and I find that I struggle to find a reason to stay awake.  The longer this drags on, the more caged you feel.  Nevertheless, the end goal is totally worth it, and the fruits of your labor start appearing around the 5th or 6th day.

T - 26 Hours

Time for an Update!

I had my first set of classes today and they went well. I like my schedule so far, yet I'm scared to see what today brings.  Anyway you cut it, 5 hours of straight physics completely blows!  Yesterday I slept 6 hours and took 2 "practice" naps.  I plan to get 3 hours tonight and then start off tomorrow strong.  I am a bit worried about Friday though.  I will have to get up in front of our class and present a small talk.  That said, I am not too deterred, because I will be waking up at 7:20 AM so the sun will be up.

More About my Sleep Schedule:

Everyday except Tuesday:
20-min Nap at 3:00 am, 7:00 am, 11:00 am, 3:00 pm, 7:00 pm, 11:00 pm

Tuesday
20-min Nap at 3:00 am, 7:00 am, 11:00 am
30-min Nap at 4:00 pm, 10:00 pm

T - 64 Hours

Big plans lay on the horizon. Lifestyle changes that only hermits can be successful at are coming fast. Today is a day of preparation and celebration. The Spring term of MSOE (Milwaukee School of Engineering) starts tomorrow at 8:00 AM sharp. At that time, an 11 week stretch, 18 credits deep, commences. Yet, the hardest week will not be the last ones. No, the hardest week will be these next two weeks. On Ash Wednesday 2011, I will be no longer sleeping 1/3 of my life away. This fraction is going to be reduced to 1/12. I will be adapting to the Uberman sleep schedule (with one twist).

For the uninformed, the Uberman schedule is a type of polyphasic sleep. In normal sleep or monophasic sleep, a person sleeps for one chunk of time (around 8 hours). Polyphasic sleep splits this up into several chunks. Uberman sleep consists of 6 20-minute naps spaced 4 hours apart. (More information can be found at http://www.puredoxyk.com/index.php/polyphasic-sleep-portal/) It IS possible! It just takes super-human willpower to become adjusted. I will write more on this later.

In addition to adjusting how I sleep, it is also my Official Unofficial Facebook Addiction Rehab Week.  This was mainly poor planning on my part, but I like a good challenge.  During this week (March 6th through March 12th),  I will not be on Facebook.  Facebook has become too routine and meaningless lately, so I have decided to abstain from it.  I may write more on this later as well.

This new blog is intended to be a daily blog, so stay "tuned" for more banter.