Stockholm Syndrome

Stockholm is calling. I am leaving Tallahassee with two things: a degree and some memories. I could have done better on both of the two. I could have done some really amazing things here and studied twice as hard. I took the Interstate instead of the mountain pass. I crossed bridges instead of wading flood waters. I am turning the page and ending this chapter on a high note. Stockholm is calling. Tallahassee is bidding me adieu as it welcomes its newest children in. They can have the high school mindset so prevalent in colleges across the country. They can have the cheap beer and hung over weekends, watching the most boring game imaginable to humans which the whole town is slow dancing with american football. They can have uncertainty and immaturity. Stockholm is calling. I am answering. I am living in Sweden long enough to speak English with an accent. I am the neverending traveler. Stockholm is calling. Adieu. Farval. God Natt.

The Sponge

I took an art class once upon a time. On the first day we were asked, for our first take home assignment, to paint a portrait of ourselves as an animal we identified with. I sat for three days in front of my bathroom mirror just staring at myself and wondering what animal I might be. Inspiration finally struck the night before the assignment was due, and I painted what I thought at the time was a masterpiece.

The next day we turned our paintings in at the beginning of class. Ten minutes before the end the teacher randomly picked a few of them and showed the class. Mine came up just before the class time was up. At first no one could guess what it could be. There were grumblings in the room about how we were not assigned to be plants. I finally told them that it was a sponge otherwise known as Demospongiae in Latin. When I was asked why I chose that animal this was my response.

"My whole life I've been stuck on an artificial reef, watching the fish and other animals swim by. I've soaked up every second of my life and analyzed everything I've seen. Its all up here," I said pointing to my head. There was silence in the room as time ran out. I was the first one to the door and no one had said a word yet. I turned and faced the teacher with one hand holding the open door. "Maybe someone will give me a squeeze one of these days and something interesting will come out. Today just hasn't been that day."

I haven't been back to class since...

Musings on Women(by a boy)

Don't think about this too much but at the same time...

I've spent a great deal of my conscious life thinking about the opposite sex for reasons that should be obvious. I can't say that any of my theories are really original or even true. If you ask your friend for advice about a woman(whether or not the friend is a woman) they generally give an answer that is very generalized and would work on them(a cliche answer essentially.)

The fact remains that every woman is different and that no matter what worked with one date may in fact have no impact on the next one. So I've spent a great deal of time thinking about relationships and what is the point of dating someone for an extended period of time if you aren't planning on something permanent? That isn't for me to answer.

So someone gave me this advice one time about how to pursue a female; be the bloodhound that chases the fox at a great enough distance so the fox still believes that it will be excited enough by the pursuit but still think that it can escape at any time. This is the generalized advice that a friend gives someone that while a nice illustration really doesn't mean anything.

I could be wrong and I'm not claiming maturity by any means in saying this but... I think that at college I have been pursuing girls when I really need to be pursuing a real woman instead.

Geography of the Mind

Geography is a field that deals with space and its manifestations in our planet, and for those interested in more than that, the universe. There is a significant amount of regionalism involved especially recently with the amount of local growth taking place. Florida is a great example of this growth which more often than not feels more like cancer than responsible urban planning. Take this local geography one step further and the individual comes into play.

Humans perceive their world around them in different ways. Do they think of the world as they think of themselves or is it the opposite? For example a person from Colorado who moves to Florida would perceive the land as different(mountainous to coastal.) Does a change like this alter his perception of self? If it is not possible to go this far then does it affect his day to day movements and thoughts? This is even more relevant when thinking about nationalism in relation to geography. New Yorkers for example who claim Italian heritage be it second, third, or fourth generation. The world cup brought this out more than ever with the cheering fans using a sort of sports related nationalism to associate themselves with a place(as well as the people who occupy it.) Most of these New Yorkers may have never been to Italy or don't even speak a word or two of Italian, but when asked they will still associate themselves with a self-perceived homeland and an allegiance to it which in reality does not exist or affect day to day events. Puerto Ricans are good example of this as well. This is a perceived mental geography of the mind that in reality shows no tangible evidence or connectivity.

More time should be dedicated to analyzing and interpreting this human characteristic.

Italy Vs.France

World cup, baby yeah! So imagine that Italy and France. Here's a prayer: Please let it go to overtime and end with fists flying. Something like 2-2 into overtime and then I don't really care who takes it. Nice to not have to hear the Germans go on about how they took it in their home country due to their superiority. Deutschland uber alles. Let's see Zidane and Totti punch each other's teeth out. Lets see tears and fans flipping the bird. Lets see victory bonfires burning into the early hours. Lets see the best(worst) actors in the sporting world have it out. Lets see Henry taking dives again(Puyol my heart is with you and your questioning arms). Lets have old men in pubs hugging each others sagging bodies and talking about the good old days when their country used to dominate. Lets remember that neither team really needs the 250 million victors pot. For all the europeans lets remember that Euro 08 is coming up and revenge is oh so sweet. Lets remember that we have only four years left until South Africa 2010. Lets look ahead for next World Cup champions Sweden. See ya there, suckers!