Whatever. It's been more than 3 years, and I posted this 3 years ago.
You certainly have no understanding of what neuroscience, and science in general is like. Working in a lab 9-5? Really? Try travelling the world to go to fascinating conferences with interesting people, working long hours on things no one else has ever done or even considered doing before, doing research collaborations with some of the smartest people currently alive, running businesses based on scientific discoveries, developing inventions, giving talks on things you're completely passionate about to huge crowds, pushing the boundaries of humanity's knowledge, and generally making the world a better place. To me, that sounds infinitely more fascinating than painting houses. I bet you can list at least 10 famous scientists. How many famous painters can you name? As if I'm not living my life free of compromise or doing something big. I'm currently co-running a company that is developing a portable EEG device for the purpose of medical diagnostics, working with 23 engineers in Ottawa, and 82 in China. Is that not big? Bigger than running a small painting company IMO. I am in control of my life. I for the most part do make my own schedule, and I certainly make my own schedule far more than I did in College Pro.
Also, I'm not in any debt. In fact, I have savings. My school is entirely paid for by scholarships and research grants, and in fact, I turn a profit on them. My life is anything but safe and risk-free. On top of my business, research, and graduate school, I adventure travel, play multiple extreme sports, collaboratively write short fiction, go to raves, play guitar, DJ, and tutor. I don't even watch TV. So honestly, screw off, you know nothing about me or my life. All you've got is a small amount of contact with me, 3 years ago, during the most non-functional period of my life (medically termed a "mixed manic episode"). I'm glad you're happy with your lifestyle, but I think it's unreasonable for you to attack mine and make such insulting assumptions about it. It's not as if I attacked the way you live: I simply stated my own experience, the way I saw it.
As for chanting, it's not as if the speaker said "time to chant everyone!" - it was the speaker asking the room questions, and everyone answering in unison, as some way of drilling their points home. That's definitely chanting, I don't see any other way you can describe that.
Also, I never stiffed anyone out of money. Those painters on that particular house were way, way, way overpaid. They were well over double on their hours. 2 other painters I put on that job repeatedly reported that they were not working on the job. I inevitably fired them.
As for the cut cord, how is that paranoia? The cord was cut and shorted out. Simple as that. Plain as day. It's not like I hallucinated a cut cord. "Never had a power washer explode" - yeah, because your power washer cord was never cut.
And sure, it was fault on my part to 1) Hire those people, 2) Not fire them earlier, and 3) Not manage them properly, but it's not as if everyone was terrible. Out of everyone I hired (about 14), 4 I knew to fire right away, and 6 were fantastic. That's 4 slips, which is not bad for a first company. I'm in fact still friends with 4 of my ex-painters to this day.
BTW, I generated more revenue in that area than was made there for several years previous - as you know, and can easily go check on CPOWER.
As for working 130 hours per week, I probably shouldn't count time in which I would pull over and pass out for a few hours. I did. That's a bit unfair. I did take some breaks on certain weekend days. At the very end, however, I had been awake for several straight days.
And I had a 94% customer satisfaction rate. That's pretty good, I'd say.
I'm exceedingly offended that you think I was "the last person who should have been given a franchise." There were a large number of other franchisees that did considerably worse than I did. Shouldn't whoever was at the bottom be considered "the last person who should have been given a franchise?"
As for failing anything I did at that point, I managed to maintain straight As during that period, get a scholarship, maintain a long-term relationship, and get a lucrative laboratory job shortly after exiting the company. You seriously have no idea what you're talking about.
My memory of that period is so blurry, and my personality so utterly different from what it was then (meds and therapies, and wild life experiences), that it's not possible for me to talk about it accurately, so I can't respond to everything you've said. I don't even really remember much of what I wrote above. I would have to re-read it to respond to you properly, and I don't feel like dredging that period back up again. I've moved on.
Also, I have no idea who you are, or when I had contact with you, or how it's even possible that you were observing me that whole summer.
I would really be pro short film - because then I could view it :P. Speaking of that, if you're going to adapt it into a play, would you mind recording it and sending me the results?
As for the ups and downs...hang in there! And work on it actively. And don't discount the power of the right medication regimen.
As for India, I visited New Delhi, Rishikesh, Menali, Amritsar, Srinigar, Jammu, Dharmsala, Agra, McLeod Ganj, and Haridwar. I visited a border town in Pakistan, Khatmandu in Nepal, and several unnamed villages in Tibet, mid-Himalayas (around the Langtang Pass). Great trip, I'd recommend it to anyone.
Yep, I considered it. In fact, a friend put it up at a local college for the final project of his drama degree. I wouldn't at all mind if you also put it up, so long as I got a writing credit under my real name.
For sure - but that can be said of any emotion. Emotions are (mostly) inherently irrational. In fact, I'd argue that emotion is the opposite of reason. Some are inherently useless, but I think love serves its purpose, and is the glue that holds monogamy together. Of course, I also agree with polyamory - I think love, like all positive emotions, is something to be enjoyed under the condition that it hurts no one. This is obviously easier said than done.
As for the saving your son or the stranger: one of them has to die. That's the condition of the hypothetical situation. It's not exactly akin to kicking the doctor's face in to save your son, it's more like...having both your son and a stranger dying of an illness that can be easily cured with a particular medicine. However, you only have one needle, and you can't access any more within the timeframe you need to, so you can only inject one of them with the medication. I think the rational - and moral - choice is to choose your son, and I don't think it's callous, cold, or extreme individualism. The situation requires you to choose one of them. One could argue that you know your son is a certain type of person - probably good (most of us are) - but you don't know what the stranger is like. He could be a sociopath for all you know. Even from the standpoint of what's best for society based on the knowledge you have, saving your son is (usually) the right choice, unless he's a psychopath or something of the sort. Still, you can never know that the stranger wouldn't be worse.
Nice, I'm glad you liked it.
I'll have to check yours out, I haven't been following dubstep for a while. Anything you'd recommend from this year?
Whatever. It's been more than 3 years, and I posted this 3 years ago.
You certainly have no understanding of what neuroscience, and science in general is like. Working in a lab 9-5? Really? Try travelling the world to go to fascinating conferences with interesting people, working long hours on things no one else has ever done or even considered doing before, doing research collaborations with some of the smartest people currently alive, running businesses based on scientific discoveries, developing inventions, giving talks on things you're completely passionate about to huge crowds, pushing the boundaries of humanity's knowledge, and generally making the world a better place. To me, that sounds infinitely more fascinating than painting houses. I bet you can list at least 10 famous scientists. How many famous painters can you name? As if I'm not living my life free of compromise or doing something big. I'm currently co-running a company that is developing a portable EEG device for the purpose of medical diagnostics, working with 23 engineers in Ottawa, and 82 in China. Is that not big? Bigger than running a small painting company IMO. I am in control of my life. I for the most part do make my own schedule, and I certainly make my own schedule far more than I did in College Pro.
Also, I'm not in any debt. In fact, I have savings. My school is entirely paid for by scholarships and research grants, and in fact, I turn a profit on them. My life is anything but safe and risk-free. On top of my business, research, and graduate school, I adventure travel, play multiple extreme sports, collaboratively write short fiction, go to raves, play guitar, DJ, and tutor. I don't even watch TV. So honestly, screw off, you know nothing about me or my life. All you've got is a small amount of contact with me, 3 years ago, during the most non-functional period of my life (medically termed a "mixed manic episode"). I'm glad you're happy with your lifestyle, but I think it's unreasonable for you to attack mine and make such insulting assumptions about it. It's not as if I attacked the way you live: I simply stated my own experience, the way I saw it.
As for chanting, it's not as if the speaker said "time to chant everyone!" - it was the speaker asking the room questions, and everyone answering in unison, as some way of drilling their points home. That's definitely chanting, I don't see any other way you can describe that.
Also, I never stiffed anyone out of money. Those painters on that particular house were way, way, way overpaid. They were well over double on their hours. 2 other painters I put on that job repeatedly reported that they were not working on the job. I inevitably fired them.
As for the cut cord, how is that paranoia? The cord was cut and shorted out. Simple as that. Plain as day. It's not like I hallucinated a cut cord. "Never had a power washer explode" - yeah, because your power washer cord was never cut.
And sure, it was fault on my part to 1) Hire those people, 2) Not fire them earlier, and 3) Not manage them properly, but it's not as if everyone was terrible. Out of everyone I hired (about 14), 4 I knew to fire right away, and 6 were fantastic. That's 4 slips, which is not bad for a first company. I'm in fact still friends with 4 of my ex-painters to this day.
BTW, I generated more revenue in that area than was made there for several years previous - as you know, and can easily go check on CPOWER.
As for working 130 hours per week, I probably shouldn't count time in which I would pull over and pass out for a few hours. I did. That's a bit unfair. I did take some breaks on certain weekend days. At the very end, however, I had been awake for several straight days.
And I had a 94% customer satisfaction rate. That's pretty good, I'd say.
I'm exceedingly offended that you think I was "the last person who should have been given a franchise." There were a large number of other franchisees that did considerably worse than I did. Shouldn't whoever was at the bottom be considered "the last person who should have been given a franchise?"
As for failing anything I did at that point, I managed to maintain straight As during that period, get a scholarship, maintain a long-term relationship, and get a lucrative laboratory job shortly after exiting the company. You seriously have no idea what you're talking about.
My memory of that period is so blurry, and my personality so utterly different from what it was then (meds and therapies, and wild life experiences), that it's not possible for me to talk about it accurately, so I can't respond to everything you've said. I don't even really remember much of what I wrote above. I would have to re-read it to respond to you properly, and I don't feel like dredging that period back up again. I've moved on.
Also, I have no idea who you are, or when I had contact with you, or how it's even possible that you were observing me that whole summer.
Perhaps not, but this list is outdated anyway, and not really worth editing at this point. It's trancey enough, I suppose.
I would really be pro short film - because then I could view it :P. Speaking of that, if you're going to adapt it into a play, would you mind recording it and sending me the results?
As for the ups and downs...hang in there! And work on it actively. And don't discount the power of the right medication regimen.
Thanks for the congratulations :D
I'm glad you enjoyed reading this. :-)
As for India, I visited New Delhi, Rishikesh, Menali, Amritsar, Srinigar, Jammu, Dharmsala, Agra, McLeod Ganj, and Haridwar. I visited a border town in Pakistan, Khatmandu in Nepal, and several unnamed villages in Tibet, mid-Himalayas (around the Langtang Pass). Great trip, I'd recommend it to anyone.
Haha, great tagline indeed.
Cool, thanks.
Let me know how it goes, and I'd also like to take a look at the final script before you present, for interest's sake. :D
BTW, you were saying earlier that you wanted to see one of my manic writings: this is one of them :P
Cool, thanks.
Let me know how it goes, and I'd also like to take a look at the final script before you present, for interest's sake. :D
Yep, I certainly would. I don't find even his earlier work funny anymore. I'll probably remove him now, in fact.
Sounds good. Although in the latter case I'd appreciate a "based on" or "concept" credit or something. Let me know how it goes :D
I need to make a "to-listen" list here. I'm going to do that now.
You're right about "Chill Out" - I should add that.
I don't like Big Men Cry very much (I find it bland). I'll check out the others
Yep, I considered it. In fact, a friend put it up at a local college for the final project of his drama degree. I wouldn't at all mind if you also put it up, so long as I got a writing credit under my real name.
Glad you like it, thanks :D
Sounds good, I'll check it out. I like Gong already, so I'll probably like Green.
For sure - but that can be said of any emotion. Emotions are (mostly) inherently irrational. In fact, I'd argue that emotion is the opposite of reason. Some are inherently useless, but I think love serves its purpose, and is the glue that holds monogamy together. Of course, I also agree with polyamory - I think love, like all positive emotions, is something to be enjoyed under the condition that it hurts no one. This is obviously easier said than done.
As for the saving your son or the stranger: one of them has to die. That's the condition of the hypothetical situation. It's not exactly akin to kicking the doctor's face in to save your son, it's more like...having both your son and a stranger dying of an illness that can be easily cured with a particular medicine. However, you only have one needle, and you can't access any more within the timeframe you need to, so you can only inject one of them with the medication. I think the rational - and moral - choice is to choose your son, and I don't think it's callous, cold, or extreme individualism. The situation requires you to choose one of them. One could argue that you know your son is a certain type of person - probably good (most of us are) - but you don't know what the stranger is like. He could be a sociopath for all you know. Even from the standpoint of what's best for society based on the knowledge you have, saving your son is (usually) the right choice, unless he's a psychopath or something of the sort. Still, you can never know that the stranger wouldn't be worse.
Agreed, it's amazing.
FB7 was OK, but not top 20 worthy - too many weak points, and sub-par mxing.