the Hidden Daily

Today was very busy right from the start of the day. I'll be heading to Bakuriani on Saturday... I had a few setbacks today but I took care of everything. I had to be in my neighborhood for a couple of hours so I came home for a break, had some food here. I couldn't talk to Geden earlier today... but I can now.
My new coworker and I are getting along really well. I wasn't happy about someone sitting next to me at first but I have no problems with it now. I definitely have more laughs during the day than I did before.
I saw my friend when I went to one of our office buildings. He works in there. I was taking care of something but we had a few minutes to chat...
I helped my dad out with a few things.
I just got home... I'm tired. My friends wanted to come over for the first time today but I don't think that's gonna happen. No complaining though. There are very few people right now that I would like to see or talk to. I want some alone time...
My friend passed an important exam... congrats to him.
I finally downloaded Dessa. I'm gonna listen right now.

Just a random song:

^This song is used by Fatboy Slim

The Uncut

And the test approaches...

If you looking for something fun, then go on youtube and watch the videos under "scare the trashman". This was actually suggested to me by a doctor. We also watched this video under "don't scare black people".

I have been trying to get my network going lately. I would say that it is definitely getting me more comfortable with reaching out to doctors and establishing relationships. I am not looking for recommendations or anything, more so advice & getting my face familiar because that's always a good thing....I may see them my 3rd year on clinicals. My roommate is a 3rd year and he's on a clinical in Columbia, SC (been gone for a month now & I've enjoyed having the apartment to myself).

I continued to keep my exercise habits going. I think I should set a goal. Do some "before & after" pics and see what kind of shape I can get myself in. I feel good. I look......like I have a test coming up (no time for a hair cut). I know I place for a good price but its on a hood-ish street and I've been advised not to go back.

Beth gave me some ear plugs to use this past week and now I must go get me a whole pack. They do suck a good job of blocking out a lot of background noise, allowing me to focus more! Thanx Beth!

I have 5 things to attend today, outside of our last two lectures which won't get much of my attention. So, around 5 o'clock today, I will be moving fast. I'm looking forward to playing Trivia after this test, seriously.

the Hidden Daily

I talked with T.R.I.V.I. after I was done with the daily and got on skype. We had a good conversation, I got some important updates.
I got nice instrumentals in my mailbox. We'll see what can be done with them. I definitely like the idea.
Today was a pretty good day. Didn't really have a lot of work.
Tomorrow will be much busier though. I'll probably have to go to Bakuriani this Friday or Saturday. It depends on everything being done tomorrow. I'll try to allocate some time and go skiing. I gotta arrange a lot of things there and supervise everything. I'm excited.
LOST... I downloaded the season premier. It was hard to wait until I got home. I started watching but got interrupted by a nosy neighbor. She wanted something, came inside, went through every room, asked too many questions... she interrupted me when I was watching LOST!.
Then as I was almost done my friends did the same thing.. :D. They came over for a little while... Well, it was my friends and then people who started to hang out with me after I moved :|.
I'm done with watching LOST and I'm more confused than I ever was. I loved it.
Time to talk to someone on Skype and go to bed.
That's it for today.

Picture This

the Hidden Daily

Amazing weather today... nothing but sunshine.
Said bye to my friends leaving for Lithuania.
I've listened to this track for too many times today.

New Music

DOWNLOAD
(code: www.mp3tera.org)

DOWNLOAD
(enter the code & its takes you to the download link)

Givi might like these

the Hidden Daily

Final season of lost is airing tonight for you. I won't get to watch it till tomorrow. I can't wait.

It was a great day yesterday. The weather is great this week. The sun is shining and it got very warm for February. I like it a lot. I had problems with software yesterday, I was unable to work. Then electricity was shut down. They were repairing something. After it came back, we had problems with internet connection. All of this last for several hours.
I had to do a few things outside of the office so I took care of that.
I worked on some designs later that day, made some changes and left.
My dad came back from Batumi. I spent some time with my parents, Took a few bags and boxes to the new apartment.
Then I called up my friends. One of them is leaving for Lithuania tomorrow morning. He'll be there for 5 months. We met up and went to get some food, we were fooling around a lot. That put me in a great mood. You'd think I was drunk or high... I was neither. My friend had this song stuck in his head. I knew some of the lyrics but didn't remember the name of the song. I googled it as soon as I got home.
 
Then I got a call from my friends and I moved on with them :). They came over. We had a lot of fun, more silliness was involved. I got sit on the rooftop (which I love to do). It was a little chilly but the sky was beautiful... so was my company...
I kept signing in to Skype last night. I accidentally clicked on the icon for couple of times.
I listened to some music when everyone left and went to bed.

the Hidden Daily

I talked to Travis for a bit yesterday. I got him. He got me. it's always good to share a few words in a live chat.
My friend came over and we watched NY, I Love You. It was lame. I dind't like it except for a few scenes that were somewhat funny.
My friend and I are obsessed with Avatar. We turned our pictures into Avatar characters. She found a guide to learn the language from the movie. I now know a few words... too lazy to study all that though :).
I had a good sleep.
Woke up in a great mood. Stayed at home for a while, watched some videos and browsed a lot of pictures. Posted here as well as FB.
I went to see my mom and now I'm back.
I'm not doing anything interesting tonight. I'm about to watch a video in 20 seconds. I'll watch a movie later... possibly with my friends if they do come over.
I also need to get some bread.
That's it for Today.

P.S. We Can Always Be Better. I don't think we should ever be like: "this is it"...
There's always room for improvement. We should be forever evolving, moving forward, climbing up.

I actually bought the original "Out of My Mind" album a few yrs back by the Neptunes front man. Some good tracks and some not. This might be worth a listen. The album had good beats and with ?uestlove adding some assistance, it might make for some good remixes. I'm going to listen when I get the chance, so should you.

Pharrell & the Yessirs

DOWNLOAD

thanx & credit to 2dbz

Vanishing Point

Amazing. I wish it was much longer.


Vanishing Point from Bonsajo on Vimeo.

Denis Darzacq

Documentary film shows French photographer Denis Darzacq working with street dancers in the suburbs of Paris. Together they create images that give the illusion of people flying or falling through space. Video courtesy of the artist, www.agencevu.com, and www.lensculture.com

The Rules of Realist Thought

The beauty of realism is seeing things for what they truly are. Another cool thing about it is it allows you to give equal credence to fleeting emotions and the reality of the circumstances around you. Realists don't place their hopes in the impractical (idealists), nor are they ignorant enough to believe they have no control over their own world (pessimistic victims). Bad things really do happen...alot...so no optimistic illusions, and as for cynics? Well most of them are right. With that said, my type of "realist" thought provides ample views for all points on the spectrum, but with the ever present awareness that there are exceptions to every rule, solutions to every unanswerable question and a probability for any real event. Like any philosophy, it is one to be constantly modified and adapted to personal experience. That modification process could also be considered an application, since it takes place through self evaluation and a cataloging of possible solutions, along with their probabilities, usually mentally or .....as is the case with me.....through any and everything that I write.

now ON TO THE NEXT ONE.......................

....

As a realist, I have to operate with certain foundational principles

RESPECT THE EFFING MAJORITY, NO MATTER HOW MUCH YOU HATE IT

Under a given set of circumstances, one of the more simple indicators of what will happen at any given moment is what happens the majority of the time. As I previously stated, there are exceptions to every rule and the majority in no way is always correct. But what is REAL is that majority probabilities dictate likely events. Thus an understanding of how things work most times is invaluable to the realist. That includes how people think and work as well.

EMOTIONS ARE ACTUAL AND THUS SHOULD BE ACKNOWLEDGED FOR EVALUATION--HOWEVER, THEY ARE ABSTRACT--THAT MEANS THEY CAN BE DISMISSED THROUGH WILLPOWER AND PRACTICE

One of the advantages to realism is the positive effect it can have on personal resiliency. For the most part, our initial reactions to problems are emotional. We get mad, sad, confused or bitter about some things. Other times we can be exceptionally happy, hopeful or motivated. Bottom line is most emotional decisions are bad ones. so when I face a problem these days, I have my moments, but then it's time to focus on the situation at hand and what can be done to fix it.

However, realists know that although reacting emotionally or dwelling in emotions is dangerous, those reactions are indicators of our person, and thus should be recognized, cataloged and interpreted later objectively.

THE REALIST APPROACH VALUES SOLUTIONS THAT ACCOUNT FOR WHAT'S REAL--DUH.....THE SOLUTIONS TO MY PROBLEMS RARELY, IF EVER ARE IDEAL....BUT THEY REFLECT THE REALITIES OF MY CURRENT PERSPECTIVE AND ANY GIVEN SITUATION

Here's where I bump heads with a lot of people, but it really doesn't matter. Once I evaluate a situation and have, what I believe at least, to be a pretty accurate understanding of the probabilities, I craft solutions that account for four things mainly:

my willingness and ability to do something in the short term

my ethics, personal beliefs and convictions

the likelihood of reaching my long term goal, given I follow through on the short term aspects of my solution

when other people are involved--their most likely action/response in a given situation

After this filtration of sorts, the solutions/actualities aren't always ideal (especially that last one) nor might they support any conventional stream of thought, but it doesn't matter. My goal is to come up with solutions/conclusions that account for these factors and any others that may prove relevant. I do this in the way most appropriate to MY understanding of a situation.

Another thing: probabilities are indeed assumptions and can lead to conclusions interpreted as generalizations.....No f*cking sh*t sherlock!!! Generalizations are the way of the world, our personal shortcuts. The difference is a realist recognizes the possibility of anomalies, exceptions and just flat out being wrong. So we always maintain an open mind. However, those assumptions can be good things


Exhibit A

People are fickle and emotional in most situations. It's upon that premise that most times, I choose to maintain personal independence....Realists travel their own path, think their own thoughts and respect everything on the outside inasmuch it gives them perspective from which to draw.

WHAT'S DONE IN THE SHORT RUN, DETERMINES THE LONG RUN---SO PROGRESS MEANS TAKING STEPS

Understand this---the way to affect the long term probabilities in your life is by making the smaller, short term decisions. In most cases (some people get lucky...or unlucky), a specific set of actions will create a desired result. The possible combinations of those actions are limitless, and some might not even be necessary given some other factor, but it is the responsibility of the realist to get their probabilities (and subsequently priorities) in order.

the Hidden Daily

Yesterday was a really good day. Things were crazy at work the first half of the day, I was asked to do too much in too little time... fortunately it didn't get to me telling them that the right thing would be to postpone everything until Monday/Tuesday. The info i collected was enough for them to make that conclusion. So the second half of the day at work was more chill. I had to take care of a few things like fix a broken locks and get new keys. That was it.
Then I went home for a bit, got ready to go out and went to a Vera Steak House. There was a networking event of exchange program alumni. It was really good. A lot of new faces this time. Had a few interesting and funny conversations. Sipped some Jack Daniels. The food was alright, I expected a lot more. Then my friend and I took a walk before she left and I went to the Movies with other friends. She had an exam tis morning and I'm sure she handled it :).
Now for my other friends; Mostly same people from the party pictures on FB. As for Avatar; I loved it, it is beautiful. I wished there was even more action there but it was still amazing. 3D made it even better. I was excited and loud during several scenes... most of the people there were just... watching. Screw that; I was into it... no, I was OWT. I'm thinking about watching it again.
Then we went to a cafe near were I live, I haven't been there though. It's a 24/7 place, it was really nice. We just talked for a bit and then I went home. I got there at 4am. I turned the computer on and then I realized it was not the best idea... so I went to bed.
Had a hard time getting up and going to work today but I managed. I got home an hour ago. Ready to have a diner with mom.
Not sure what's gonna happen this evening. We'll see.

TM=TRIVI & Meadsadzanck

Free Flowin Fridayz (Week 44)

I am ON TIME with this post! Finally :)

Consider the following scenario:

It is winter 2006 and you just had a falling out with a friend. They lied a really bad lie to you, lied some more and did stupid stuff to try and cover for their lie. After things simmered down a bit you made it clear to the other person that the doors were open for them to rebuild the friendship they ruined they only had to find the correct key and right their wrongs. The other person proceeded to apologize for his/her mistakes and things slowly got better. You went from a non-talking relationship to talking a bit more. The tension between the two parties began to ease and over the next few years you maintained contact to check up on each other to see how things were going-like friends usually do.

Fast-forward to the present, Jan 2010.
This friend sends you a very random message apologizing for the situation that occurred a few years back and how he/she still regrets how the situation was handled and is humbled that through it all you are still a friend.
You reply to them and say something along the lines of "As long as I've had some kind of positive influence on the lives of those people I have interacted with then I am, for the most part, rather content."
They proceed to apologize yet again about how they hurt you and how if they had been more mature things would not have played out the way they did.
You tell them that "[they] didn't exactly handle the situation with finesse and that any conflict leaves scars, but both of us have grown up and learned from that experience. The experience may have left a wound, and wounds heal, but it left a scar. Without scars, how can we learn not to repeat stupid things we do in life?"
They once again express their regret for having ever scarred you in the first place by lying and handling this old situation in such a bad/immature way.
You tell them "It is what it is...the scar will probably never go away, but scars fade with time and you learn from every scar you get. Every scar just serves as a reminder for you to not repeat old mistakes and as a symbol for lessons you've had to learn the hard way."

1. What do you make of this situation?

2. Of the characters (the one who is apologizing/the one who is on the receiving end of the apologies)?

3. What would you do in a situation where you were lied to, hurt, or otherwise had a really huge falling out/argument with a friend where people would tell you "it's not worth it" "why are you still maintaining a friendship with that [insert profane adjective here]?"
{and lets say this friend you've only known for 6 months, but were growing close to and considered them a "good friend"}

Just some food for thought :)

The UnCut

This was a rough week for me. Wednesday was the worse day of my New Year so far. Even after a 3 mile job, I still felt frustration (some internal and others external). Small things can really build up but usually not with me. This time, it got me, I guess I am human. I will reflect and just try to be a better Travis. I can't make others be better but also can't ask anyone to improve when I'm not doing the same. Anyway, I made it through the week. My mom's and sister's birthday were bright spots. Happy Birthday to them both!

I think I am going to apply to be a part of this Scholar program, just need to check and make sure that I meet the qualification. I hope my (potential) letter of recommendation from a well know Dean will help [remember Dr. Wong from my White Coat Ceremony pictures on FB?]

There have been some up and downs with a few friends. Givi, you're the up, bicho :-) As far as the "downs", I will just be positive and say that those people have plenty of room to improve & I look forward to it. While they work on that, I'll just work on me. Two week from this moment that I'm typing this.....I will be in my 1st test of the young semester. And (just maybe) headed to MARDI GRAS. (I think that is spelled correctly). I might go to a birthday dinner tonight, a classmate has the same birthday as my mother. Other than that, this weekend will be about studying and there is no football to distract me, unlike last Sunday.

Time to workout, typing this while my Zune charges on a public computer at the Wellness Center. What should I listen to while doing some cardio? We shall see....

and cut

oh, here's the official TM status: (if HS confirms it...TM= Trivi & Meadsadzanck)

We can always be better