Formulating a Research Topic

-Research Question:

Advanced city planning techniques are conserving resources and providing stabler, more healthy communities, what are the benefits of living in and operating these modern cities?

 

Modern City Planning: New Pedestrianism

Research, explain and elaborate upon “New Pedestrianism”: persuade a general audience, and potential investors, to embrace modern design and technology.

 

SOURCES FOR RESEARCH:

Congress for the New Urbanism
https://www.cnu.org/

New Urbanism
http://www.newurbanism.org/newurbanism.html

US High Speed Rail Association
http://www.ushsr.com/ushsrmap.html

Congress for the New Urbanism, New Pedestrianism, Michael E. Arth,
https://www.cnu.org/resources/publications/new-urbanism-and-new-pedestrianism-21st-century-2008

New Urban Cowboy: Toward a New Pedestrianism [FILM]

Providence River, paved over

Downtown Fall River vs. Providence

The Earth from the Moon – Annotation – [Final Draft]

The mass of an object explains how much matter it contains, and the volume of an object explains how much space that mass occupies. Scientists generally write the measurements of massive objects like the Earth and moon in scientific notation to condense the account of this information. The mass of the moon is 7.3477 x 1022 kg, and it’s volume is 2.197 x 1010 km3. By comparison, the Earth’s mass is 5.9722 x 1024kg and it’s volume is 1.08321 x 1012 km3. This makes the mass of the moon “only 1.2% the mass of the Earth” (Cain) and the volume of the moon “only 2% the volume of the Earth” (Cain). It’s difficult for most people to interpret these massive quantities so scientists sometimes suggest metaphors that can relate the information for general human understanding. For example, if the dimensions of the Earth were the size of a nickel’s face, the size of the moon would be the size of a small green pea.

—

Scientists theorize all matter existing today is the result of the Big Bang, an explosion taking place 13.7 billion years ago. The four forces that scientists can demonstrate governing the universe, the strong and weak nuclear forces, electromagnetism, and gravity, transformed this matter as it was flung through space. Over time, most of this matter coalesced to build complex celestial bodies, like the Sun, the Earth, and the Moon, which are still in motion as a result of their functions through spacetime. The sun’s gravity anchors the Earth’s orbit, and the Earth’s gravity anchors the moon’s orbit. The size of the Earth’s orbit around the sun is about 1.4959826 x 108 km, or 1 Astronomical Unit. (A standard scientists use to measure inter-solar objects.) The size of the moon’s orbit around the Earth is 3.84400 x 105 km, or 0.00257 Astronomical Units.

—

The planet Earth is the only planet in the universe known by humans to produce and sustain life. The variety of species on Earth ranges in the trillions and through natural selection is constantly changing and evolving. Many different people throughout history have speculated on the origin and meaning of life, and through philosophy, religion, and science have tried to answer many questions about existence. Biology is the field of study concerned with understanding life as we can identify and understand it. Though scientists have many hypotheses about how life began on this planet, the most common theory today is known as panspermia, a process in which the ingredients for life are fossilized in an asteroid and then deposited elsewhere as the rock is manipulated by gravity, in this case, depositing the fossilized ingredients on Earth. Certain conditions on this planet are cited for making life possible while, according to modern understanding, making life impossible on other planets. The Earth’s abundance of water and carbon are the most identifiable elements sustaining life, and are fundamental to the development of every species on the planet. Next, is the Earth’s distance from the sun, which scientists believe regulates the planet with the light and temperatures perfect for carbon-based life forms with our protein systems. The final factor is gravity. Because life on this planet has evolved here for billions of years, all of the life existing today has certain ways of working with the force of gravity. Even at various pressures below ground or underwater, lifeforms have adapted to coexist within their environment. Humans, who are just beginning to explore space beyond the Earth’s pull, realize how necessary gravity is to our bodies’ natural functioning.

—

The moon has been gazed upon by man and other animals of Earth for eons. It has been the subject of particular fascination and wonder by humans, whose sapience has bloomed within them a bizarre curiosity, along with a propensity for fashioning reality in their image, through technology and the general drive to leave a mark on everything they encounter. For thousands of years, man has dreamed of exploring space, and ultimately, the moon. Humans have explored space since birth through perception, language and the development of tools to prod and bend the elements to their will. In fact, even many radio waves on Earth now carry human information, in the form of angry commentators bashing local organizers or young men and women carrying tunes to the accompaniment of tone forming instruments being manipulated to produce mathematically harmonic sounds (usually). As the technology of humanity develops, older machines and systems are abandoned in favor of the next generation’s potential and development. The old tools are usually abandoned in the form of some non-recyclable garbage swept into the Earth’s crust, oceans, or atmosphere. To date, six manned missions to the moon have been accomplished, but the cost of these excursions is great and there are no planned missions to the moon in humanity’s future. Humans on the moon have to wear thick, insulated suits to maintain their oxygen and temperature dependencies, along with performing rigorous exercises to maintain the muscles that deteriorate without the stresses of Earth-based gravity.  There are no planets or satellites within humanity’s foreseeable technological future that could house life in a way that is physically or economically relevant. Not only are there many struggles on Earth that need to be overcome in the future, but the gravitational and atmospheric forces and pressures throughout space disincline human activity anywhere but on their home planet.

—

Between the six Apollo missions that landed astronauts on the moon, twelve of them walked the surface. The first man, Neil Armstrong, is known all over the world for making the famous first steps across the moon’s surface. Being on the moon gives astronauts a new perspective of Earth. For decades, satellites have been capturing images of the Earth and transmitting them back to surface, but only twelve men have been fortunate enough to really see the Earth from 384,400 kilometers away. The perspective is incredible and life-changing. Astronauts returning to Earth often report some form of concern or shame for our species, upon viewing this beautiful, fragile, “blue marble” floating in space. When they re-engage with their families, friends, coworkers, and friends many of them pursue humanitarian issues with a sincere sense of urgency, they understand all the conflict, disagreement, and misunderstanding on Earth, but know how young humanity is. They want to help. Edgar Mitchell, an astronaut aboard Apollo 14, returned home to found the Institute for Noetic Sciences, an organization studying consciousness itself. Astronaut Chris Hadfield may have summed it up best when he stated, about humanity, in an interview, “if they could see the whole world every 90 minutes and look down on the places where we do things right, and look down where we’re doing stupid, brutal things to each other and the inevitable patience of the world that houses us — I think everybody would be reinforced in their faith, and maybe readdress the real true tenets of what’s good and what gives them strength.” (Hadfield)

 

SOURCES

Picture Source: NASA Gallery
http://www.nasa.gov/vision/earth/features/bm_gallery_4.html

Earth and Moon Facts and Figures, NASA
http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/profile.cfm?Display=Facts&Object=Moon

Astronaut Experiences Interview, ABC News
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/Apollo11MoonLanding/story?id=8124267

Neil Armstrong Final Interview, the Guardian
http://www.theguardian.com/science/2012/aug/25/neil-armstrong-last-interview

Mass of the Moon, Universe Today, Fraser Cain
http://www.universetoday.com/19728/mass-of-the-moon/

Volume of the Moon, Universe Today, Fraser Cain
http://www.universetoday.com/20435/volume-of-the-moon/

Interview: Astronaut Chris Hadfield Brings Lessons from Space Down to Earth, NPR
http://www.npr.org/2013/10/30/241830872/astronaut-chris-hadfield-brings-lessons-from-space-down-to-earth#mainContent

The Earth from the Moon – Annotation [Rough Draft]

Picture Source: NASA Gallery
http://www.nasa.gov/vision/earth/features/bm_gallery_4.html

 

Questions:

-What are the sizes of the moon and Earth in the context of space?
The mass of an object explains how much matter it contains, and the volume of an object explains how much space that mass occupies. Scientists generally write the measurements of massive objects like the Earth and moon in scientific notation to condense the account of this information. The mass of the moon is 7.3477 x 10²² kg, and it’s volume is 2.197 x 10¹⁰ km³. By comparison, the Earth’s mass is 5.9722 x 10²⁴ kg and it’s volume is 1.08321 x 10¹² km³. This makes the mass of the moon “only 1.2% the mass of the Earth” (Cain) and the volume of the moon “only 2% the volume of the Earth” (Cain). It’s difficult for most people to interpret these massive quantities so scientists sometimes suggest metaphors that can relate the information for general human understanding. For example, if the dimensions of the Earth were the size of a nickel’s face, the size of the moon would be the size of a small green pea.

-How do the Earth and moon travel through space?

Scientists theorize all matter existing today is the result of the Big Bang, an explosion taking place 13.7 billion years ago. The four forces that scientists can demonstrate governing the universe, the strong and weak nuclear forces, electromagnetism, and gravity, transformed this matter as it was flung through space. Over time, most of this matter coalesced to build complex celestial bodies, like the Sun, the Earth, and the Moon, which are still in motion as a result of their functions through spacetime. The sun’s gravity anchors the Earth’s orbit, and the Earth’s gravity anchors the moon’s orbit. The size of the Earth’s orbit around the sun is about 1.4959826 x 10⁸ km, or 1 Astronomical Unit. (A standard scientists use to measure inter-solar objects.) The size of the moon’s orbit around the Earth is 3.84400 x 10⁵ km, or 0.00257 Astronomical Units.

 

-How does Earth naturally maintain life?

The planet Earth is the only planet in the universe known by humans to produce and sustain life. The variety of species on Earth ranges in the trillions and through natural selection is constantly changing and evolving. Many different people throughout history have speculated on the origin and meaning of life, and through philosophy, religion, and science have tried to answer many questions about existence. Biology is the field of study concerned with understanding life as we can identify and understand it. Though scientists have many hypotheses about how life began on this planet, the most common theory today is known as panspermia, a process in which the ingredients for life are fossilized in an asteroid and then deposited elsewhere as the rock is manipulated by gravity, in this case, depositing the fossilized ingredients on Earth. Certain conditions on this planet are cited for making life possible while, according to modern understanding, making life impossible on other planets. The Earth’s abundance of water and carbon are the most identifiable elements sustaining life, and are fundamental to the development of every species on the planet. Next, is the Earth’s distance from the sun, which scientists believe regulates the planet with the light and temperatures perfect for carbon-based life forms with our protein systems. The final factor is gravity. Because life on this planet has evolved here for billions of years, all of the life existing today has certain ways of working with the force of gravity. Even at various pressures below ground or underwater, lifeforms have adapted to coexist within their environment. Humans, who are just beginning to explore space beyond the Earth’s pull, realize how necessary gravity is to our bodies’ natural functioning.

-What tools have humans developed of exploring space?

The moon has been gazed upon by man and other animals of Earth for eons. It has been the subject of particular fascination and wonder by humans, whose sapience has bloomed within them a bizarre curiosity, along with a propensity for fashioning reality in their image, through technology and the general drive to leave a mark on everything they encounter. For thousands of years, man has dreamed of exploring space, and ultimately, the moon. Humans have explored space since birth through perception, language and the development of tools to prod and bend the elements to their will. In fact, even many radio waves on Earth now carry human information, in the form of angry commentators bashing local organizers or young men and women carrying tunes to the accompaniment of tone forming instruments being manipulated to produce mathematically harmonic sounds (usually). As the technology of humanity develops, older machines and systems are abandoned in favor of the next generation’s potential and development. The old tools are usually abandoned in the form of some non-recyclable garbage swept into the Earth’s crust, oceans, or atmosphere. To date, six manned missions to the moon have been accomplished, but the cost of these excursions is great and there are no planned missions to the moon in humanity’s future. Humans on the moon have to wear thick, insulated suits to maintain their oxygen and temperature dependencies, along with performing rigorous exercises to maintain the muscles that deteriorate without the stresses of Earth-based gravity.  There are no planets or satellites within humanity’s foreseeable technological future that could house life in a way that is physically or economically relevant. Not only are there many struggles on Earth that need to be overcome in the future, but the gravitational and atmospheric forces and pressures throughout space disincline human activity anywhere but on their home planet.

-How have astronauts experienced the moon?

Between the six Apollo missions that landed astronauts on the moon, twelve of them walked the surface. The first man, Neil Armstrong, is known all over the world for making the famous first steps across the moon’s surface. Being on the moon gives astronauts a new perspective of Earth. For decades, satellites have been capturing images of the Earth and transmitting them back to surface, but only twelve men have been fortunate enough to really see the Earth from 384,400 kilometers away. The perspective is incredible and life-changing. Astronauts returning to Earth often report some form of concern or shame for our species, upon viewing this beautiful, fragile, “blue marble” floating in space. When they re-engage with their families, friends, coworkers, and friends many of them pursue humanitarian issues with a sincere sense of urgency, they understand all the conflict, disagreement, and misunderstanding on Earth, but know how young humanity is. They want to help. Edgar Mitchell, an astronaut aboard Apollo 14, returned home to found the Institute for Noetic Sciences, an organization studying consciousness itself. Astronaut Chris Hadfield may have summed it up best when he stated, about humanity, in an interview, “if they could see the whole world every 90 minutes and look down on the places where we do things right, and look down where we’re doing stupid, brutal things to each other and the inevitable patience of the world that houses us — I think everybody would be reinforced in their faith, and maybe readdress the real true tenets of what’s good and what gives them strength.” (Hadfield)

 

-What factors inspired man’s ascension to space?

 

-With what symbolism is the moon commonly associated in literature?

 

-What are the benefits to humanity of exploring space?

 

 

—

Sources:

—Earth and Moon Facts and Figures
http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/profile.cfm?Display=Facts&Object=Moon

—Astronaut Experiences Interview
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/Apollo11MoonLanding/story?id=8124267

—2007 Film: In the Shadow of the Moon

—High Flight Foundation

—Neil Armstrong Final Interview
http://www.theguardian.com/science/2012/aug/25/neil-armstrong-last-interview

—Mass of the Moon, Universe Today, Fraser Cain

http://www.universetoday.com/19728/mass-of-the-moon/

—Volume of the Moon, Universe Today, Fraser Cain
http://www.universetoday.com/20435/volume-of-the-moon/

—Interview: Astronaut Chris Hadfield Brings Lessons from Space Down to Earth, NPR

http://www.npr.org/2013/10/30/241830872/astronaut-chris-hadfield-brings-lessons-from-space-down-to-earth#mainContent

Salvia Divinorum Memoir [Final Draft]

It’s an early spring day. I’m walking along the beach with three of my best friends. There’s a wind coming up over the sand and the waves creeping up the shore slowly trickle back toward the ocean. There is a sense of promise in the morning that I can feel in my chest, and it radiates around us. Light permeates the air, and the vast blue sky is speckled with a few tufts of bright, white clouds. I lift my head to watch Ed and Jenny begin climbing a small hill toward an embankment of trees, and I can’t hide my smile. Cote and I trudge behind them, lifting our knees high as we begin the final stretch of our trek into the woods.
There’s a slight anxiety that I linger over for just a moment. I know the risks and had done some research online, but I had never tried drugs before. For all of my yearning to be creative and think outside the box I was so sure my boundless curiosity about the inner-workings of the universe would somehow be quenched, and insight revealed to me, by inhaling the burning embers of this plant, Salvia Divinorum. It was legal, and the hallucinogenic state it created would only last ten minutes. I was positive that I wanted to explore this experience and to see the world from a perspective unlike anything else I had consciously perceived or imagined.
I am fifteen years old. Cote and I are stepping over thorns and branches up a mound of rock, earth and moss to a little clearing in the middle of some trees just beginning to bud. We’re safely out of view, in a private clearing in the woods. I look to my friends and their presence is encouraging. I’m ready to begin my journey. I’m the first to try.
Ed hands me a pipe and after a few seconds of instruction I hold it to my lips and light the bowl. The smell is remarkable, and similar to burning leaves. The taste is so bitter. I hold in the smoke and look to Ed as I exhale, frowning. “I don’t feel any different.” Ed leans over and lights the bowl for me, “Now hold it in as long as you can.” But already I feel something tugging on the back of my flannel.
There’s a deafening strike of humility that trembles down my spine. I stretch out my legs on the ground as I’m pulled further and further away from my friends. Everything feels like it’s folding unto itself. “I’m so sorry.” I moan. Drool is dripping from my lips, but I don’t notice because all I can remember is the expanse between my friends. We are so far away from each other. I try to stand and fall. I have no motor skills.
For a moment I’m against a tree, with eyes patterned up and down its trunk. They look at me expectantly and with distrust, like I’m an intruder to this place. I look down my body which has begun to merge with the tree in some dissociative frenzy. I watch as my feet, legs, and stomach are pulled apart, and I flail to collect my disembodied limbs. Grasping for the back of my head and neck all I can think about is how my entire being is contained in my mind and I don’t want to lose it. My memories and capability of speech are long gone. I am convinced I am dying, or more likely, I have already died and am now passing through reality to an underworld or overworld.
Mental cognition itself has become like staring into the sun, blinding and futile. I am overwhelmed and powerless to the might of a chaotic entity that exists far beyond the mortal plights I once recognized. Nothing feels safe, and everything I witness has an identity of its’ own that is sacred and improper to move. I have lost my family and friends, and all the splendors and achievements of mankind. I have moved on and am returning to the womb of a recycling and conscious Earth.
Jenny rolls into view. There seem to be an endless array of her, dropping off beyond the horizon, and as she raises her arm to touch my shoulder I see her movement in two dimensional frames starting from the end, and collapsing backward toward the beginning, until suddenly her arm is where I knew it would be. I pull away so she doesn’t get wrapped away with me. She has a smile on her face but there is a concern in her eyes that I feel awful and responsible for. I hope nobody else has to experience something akin to this.

Tugging backward, I fall down a hill through several pricker bushes. I’m not cognizant of this. Internally, I am struggling to find justification for this barbaric endgame. Knowledge is dead. My body is being tucked back into the ground. With what little mental reasoning I have I fumble to make amends in hopes I can bargain a return to life. I am so sure everything is connected and if I could just prove myself worthy, I’d be allowed back.
The ground is littered with faces. I know they are leaves but I also know they are deceased human faces. They are the ancestors of our species stretching all around me, long since moved on, and now revolving in an echoing stasis, perhaps waiting to be secured to a new body, perhaps just waiting. There is no contentedness to their fate, but also no trepidation. Even acceptance requires a willing mind. There is only servitude to the living and a commitment to the deeds they enacted in their time. It’s silent here and overwhelmingly bizarre. I know I am still alive.

I try to get up.

Struggling to my feet for a final time I look up to see Ed tactfully thumping down the hill. He crushes the world beneath his feet, and pays no mind to the thousand streaming delusions around him. Standing upright against the pull of gravity, his ignorance to this world is the justice of his. He appears as some great Pagan deity, moving freely between realms to make changes as he wills. He takes me by my shoulder, and pushes me back on the ground.
I wonder if I’m being subjugated back to the Underworld for a moment before submitting to time and confusion. I’m in no state to exert my presence. Accepting this, some pressure is relieved from the world around me and there is a short, subtle consensus. I am no longer a trespasser, but a frightened and unexpected visitor. I observe the faces and the trees and the sky until it all becomes a bramble of dead and living matter. Life is a short, incredible burst of energy and experience; there is only so much our senses will ever allow us to be aware of.
There is wind through the trees. While I was gazing out from this planet, peering through the opaque blue sky, the eyes closed. The faces were just dead leaves. And I saw Cote, crouched over and checking on me one more time.
I was home, but it was different now. It felt like I had glimpsed eternity. Consciousness, and this evolved state of being was some explosion of change and activity that I could develop and explore but is altogether a short, momentary excursion.
Thankful to slowly slip back into a confined sense of self, I flip over onto my back and hold my hands on my stomach. Watching my friends question me and being unable to answer yet, I smile and admire their exuberant, innocent faces; so full of life and all its potential. I begin to remember my family and school and oh crap, I have homework due tomorrow.
Staring out into the sky above and knowing there is so much endless space beyond this rock, I decide my brain is too fragile and sensitive. I shouldn’t do drugs again, and should instead appreciate sobriety and cognizance the way humans have adapted to thus far. My curiosity about drugs is mostly gone, but my curiosity for life has only changed. I want to learn all there is to know about life, and accept that death may be more traumatizing the more attached I am to this perspective. I want to end suffering and create lasting covenants between humans who can sustain this plane.

I want to confirm the opportunity to experience life in peace.

Curiosity Video

This video was created by our group, highlighting and exploring curiosity.

 

 

Curiosity Memoir [Rough Draft]

It’s an early spring day. I’m walking along the beach with three of my best friends. There’s a wind coming up over the sand and the waves creeping up the shore slowly trickle back toward the ocean. There is a sense of promise in the morning that I can feel in my chest, and it radiates around us. Light permeates the air, and the vast blue sky is speckled with a few tufts of bright, white clouds. I lift my head to watch Ed and Jenny begin climbing a small hill toward an embankment of trees, and I cannot hide my smile. Cote and I trudge behind them, lifting our knees high as we begin the final stretch of our trek into the woods.
There’s a slight anxiety that I linger over for just a moment. I know the risks and had done some research online, but I had never tried drugs before. For all of my yearning to be creative and think outside the box I was so sure my boundless curiosity about the inner-workings of the universe would somehow be quenched, and insight revealed to me, by inhaling the burning embers of this plant, Salvia Divinorum. It’s legal, and the hallucinogenic state it creates would only last ten minutes. I was positive that I wanted to explore this experience and to see the world from a perspective unlike anything else I had consciously perceived or imagined.
I am fifteen years old. Cote and I are stepping over thorns and branches up a mound of rock, earth and moss to a little clearing in the middle of some trees just beginning to bud. We’re safely out of view, in a private clearing in the woods. I look to my friends and their presence is encouraging. I’m ready to begin my journey, I’m the first to try.
Ed hands me a pipe and after a few seconds of instruction I hold it to my lips and light the bowl. The smell is remarkable, and not unlike burning leaves. The taste is bitter. I hold in the smoke and look to Ed as I exhale. “I don’t feel any different.” Ed leans over and lights the bowl for me, “Now hold it in as long as you can.” But already I feel something tugging on the back of my flannel.
There’s a deep strike of humility that trembles down my spine. I stretch out my legs on the ground as I’m pulled further and further away from my friends. Everything feels like it’s folding unto itself. “I’m so sorry.” I moan. Drool is dripping from my lips, but I don’t notice because all I can remember is the expanse between my friends. We are so far away from each other. I try to stand and fall. I have no motor skills.
For a moment I’m against a tree, with eyes patterned up and down its trunk. They look at me expectantly and with distrust, like I’m an intruder to this place. There’s still a force pulling me, now it seems it’s in all directions. I look down my body which has begun to merge with the tree in some dissociative frenzy. I watch as my feet, legs, and stomach are pulled apart, perhaps by the tree itself and I flail to collect my degenerating limbs. I try to hold my head and the back of my neck together. But my memories and capability of speech are already long gone. I think I am dying.
Mental cognition itself has become like staring into the sun. I am overwhelmed and powerless to the might of a confusing and delirious visual stimuli. Nothing feels safe, in fact I believe I have stumbled into some Underworld, a place that exists simultaneously to waking reality, but is unseen for ominous reasons that mortals are incapable of dreaming of. I have lost my family and friends, and all those splendors and achievements of mankind are useless to me. I have moved on and am returning to the womb of a constantly recycling Earth.
Jenny rolls into view. There seem to be an endless array of her, dropping off beyond the horizon, and as she raises her arm to touch my shoulder I see her movement in two dimensional frames starting from the end, and collapsing backward toward the beginning, until suddenly her arm is where I knew it would be, and I pull away so she doesn’t get wrapped away with me. She has a smile on her face but there is a concern in her eyes that I feel awful and responsible for.

With this backward tug I fall down backwards down the hill through several pricker bushes. I don’t notice. I am struggling to find some justification for this barbaric turn of events. Knowledge is dead. My body is being tucked back into the ground. It’s like I turned the wrong corner and was murdered. With what little mental reasoning I have left to apply to this scenario I fumble to make amends in hopes I can bargain to return to my life. I am so sure everything is connected and if I could just prove myself worthy of returning I’d be allowed back.
The ground is littered with faces. I know they are leaves but I also know they are dead human faces. Ancestors of our species stretching all around me, long since moved on, and now revolving in the Underworld, perhaps waiting to be secured to a new body, perhaps just waiting. There is no contentedness to their fate, but also no trepidation. Even acceptance requires a willing mind. There is only what there is, and that is death. It’s the finality of senselessness. It’s silent here but even that is deafening. Because I am still alive.
Struggling to my feet for a final time I look up to see Ed carefully thumping down the hill. Standing upright against the pull, and looking just and acceptable to do so. He appears to be some great Pagan deity, moving freely between realms to make the changes needed to sustain the natural world. He takes me by my shoulder, and guides me safely back to the ground.
Is he killing me? I wonder if I’m being subjugated back to the Underworld. But no, Ed stays by my side and guards my weathered limbs. I am no longer a trespasser, but a frightened and unexpected visitor. I just observe the faces and the trees and the sky until it all becomes a bramble of dead and living matter, which I was lucky enough to experience through an evolved species for a time.
There is wind through the trees. And perhaps while I was gazing out from this planet peering through the opaque blue sky the eyes all closed. The faces returned to dead leaves. And I saw Cote, crouched over and checking on me one more time.
I was home, but it was different now. It felt like I had glimpsed eternity and now this evolved state of being was some explosion of change and activity that I could develop and explore but that was altogether a short, almost momentary excursion. I’ll never look at reality again. And I will never do drugs again.

Curiosity, Creativity, Persistence [Brainstorm Topics]

Curiosity—
-Finding God
–Exploring the mind
–Exploring nature
–Developing myths, finding correlations in scripture

Creativity—
-Being an actor
–Getting into a role, developing traits and behaviors
-Designing a robot
–Understanding it’s function, building it to suit its purpose

Persistence—
-Maintaining a faith
–Walking in line with tradition despite opposition or doubt
-Growing through struggle
–Facing hardship in the present knowing the burden may be lessened with time, patience, and hardwork

 

Who I Am as a Writer and Reader

An avid reader at a young age, language and it’s potential has always occurred to me as a crowning characteristic and achievement of the human race. In it’s potential for expression and communication, it is unmatched. In this new age of information and sharing, writing has again emerged as the predominant way to transfer ideas. I’m excited to live in a time when the internet allows our democracy to flourish in new and invigorating ways; to be on the front of analyzing how information is consumed and digested by a young and struggling generation.

Though I’m not the writer I used to be, I do have an enormous propensity for it, and I’m excited for both this class and the opportunity to work and engage with others my age. I think with time, this generation can redefine communication and have a better understanding of themselves and their audience than any generation before it.

When I was younger I would write constantly, usually realistic fiction, but sometimes science fiction. I prefer to write creatively without restriction or prompt, mostly novels and stories utilizing characters my own age. I think it’s important to have a rich understanding of the topic one is writing about, or a thorough imagination to manage that knowledge which isn’t readily available.

With all of the media and information that is made available to the public everyday, it will be unequivocally thrilling to participate with others, and watch what practice, and patience can do to connect and evolve our time.