Electron Beams, Birthdays, Dancing, and Blogs

Yesterday during Physics lab my class studied the mass to charge ratio of the electron. Usually physics is something most people get to experience on the macroscopic scale, e.g. rainbows, moving cars, and rockets. Today was a completely different type of lab, and probably one of the most beautiful. Granted, not that rainbows, rockets, and moving cars aren't as beautiful, but the scale of the lab we did was the likes of that you would usually see in chemistry lab, but with the jazz. I can't really say what an electron is, as to an actual definition, since the depth of my knowledge on it only knows that it has a dual nature - wave and particle; however, it's been really cool briefly studying how it behaves in certain situations. This picture I took during a part of the lab we did shows how electrons act in a magnetic field (and apparently, it moves in a circle).

Technically, electrons are colorless, but what makes it appear blue is its interaction with what I believe is argon gas within the crystal ball like chamber. If it was some other gas, it would be some other color. But still, beautiful.

Yesterday, it was also my dad's 52nd birthday! We ate at the Sunflower Chinese Restaurant. It was a surprise dinner my mom threw for him, and it turned out pretty well if you ask my stomach, lol. It's always nice to get in touch with family. And my dad really enjoyed it too. It sucked to me knowing he had work afterward (he works graveyard shifts), because if it was my birthday I wouldn't want to be working. But as he said, he needs to do it. I hope I can be that type of example to my kids, always hardworking but at the same time enjoying the time off work.

I'm looking forward to the rest of my weekend. Today I took a masterclass with Jojo at Sheldon High School in the morning. We're very lucky to have been able to go, considering we're not really Universal Rhythm Members anymore, lol. Press Play Dance Co. gladly came and taught a really fun piece, and I got to say I was dying. I'm not much the shape I used to be, definitely, but I tried my best to keep up and had fun :). It really reminded me that I should really start getting back into shape...Eww.

When I was at Sheldon, I had a short conversation with Mrs. Roberts, who heads the Universal Rhythm Dance Co. with Mrs. Hobgood and Mrs. Altamero. We talked a little bit about the concept of blogs with reasonable theories as to why someone might blog. She thinks that blogging emphasis a self-importance that causes one to overlook others. I honestly think there's somewhat truth to that, but only to a small extent. I thanked her for her opinion. I explained to her that I think that blogging allows one the opportunity to show other who are willing to read the truth about oneself. And that's why I blog.

I really encourage those to blog, because blogging allows me and other readers a chance to understand the way you think about things, in addition to see what you are going through, all in the lines of things that you would like to share.

Sincerely,
Aaron

Chillin! (With Pics)

There are some great friends that you keep that you talk with everyday or talk with very often. Then there is definitely another class of great friends that you seldom talk with, but when you get the chance to finally catch-up with them, it seems like the distance and time apart never matter, i.e. it's feels like it was just yesterday that you both last met up and/or talked. Both classes of great friends are a great blessing to me :).

Yesterday I got to chill with Cindy at Lollicup! And I can honestly say it's been a while since I've last seen her, but it was awesome being able to talk with her like that fact didn't really matter. There are some people who I feel so comfortable to talk with and she definitely is one of them! And I can honestly say that she is the most hardworking and caring soul of my age I have ever met. I'm very happy, and consider myself really lucky, to be able to have spent some of her time with her.

Usually when I go to Lollicup I get a Taro Snow, but I asked Cindy's recommendation for something new and she told me to try her favorite, the Milk Tea. I liked it! She was also really open and kind to try my favorite, so she got the Taro Snow and she said she liked it too. I definitely believe in the power of recommendations, and I'm very pleased to have been introduced to the Milk Tea.

One more thing me and Cindy talked about. I'm a very faithful follower of Cindy and other awesome bloggers, including, but not limited to, Minh, Jojo, Desiree, Cassie, and Mariann. Most of the time all of their blogs are on Tumblr (with the exception of Mariann), and very few are on Blogspot, or, like Desiree, were on Blogspot then switched to Tumblr (:p). For me, I favor Blogspot over Tumblr for one main reason: no "reblog". I think it's a nice feature for those who like it, but I really like how Blogspot doesn't have that feature, therefore I can really count on going to Blogspot to read what my friends wrote, and not reblogs. So that's why I stay with Blogspot :).

I hope those who have Spring Break have been having a great time relaxing and chilling too. I get my spring break in April, and I think I have a good idea of what I want to do then too.

Sincerely blessed,
Aaron

The Phenomenon of the Unfit

It makes sense to believe that those with the most fitting credentials are able to take upon the task of which their credentials adhere to, the best, e.g.: An experienced painter with expertise in fine Baroque style can best create Baroque style masterpieces; An aged dancer who can breakdance can best perform a 1990; and a learned physicist can best derive mathematical constructs to physical phenomenon.

And although those may be true, I am obliged to say that such may not always be the case. Sometimes, there are special individuals who are unfit in credentials, fueled by sheer determination, passion, and divine providence, who create masterpieces despite their modest repertoire, lax background and experience. Most notably thought of as the phenomenon, the American ideal of the "Underdog", but that's not my main objective to address. What I want to emphasize is the fact that throughout history, even in my history, there are many times when the unfit is the one making the great masterpieces, accomplishing the dream, and leading the pack.

To me, it's so humbling and moving to acknowledge.

In other words, it is the novice and naive painter producing a masterpiece; it is the unpopular and not as seasoned breakdancer showcasing a 1990-air flair combination; it is the young college physicists that notices and is able to explain the before unexplained.

Granted, such phenomenons are far and few in between, but when it does happen, and it does happen, it just goes to further show how God purposely makes a certain individual especially made for that particular contribution - and that's something we cannot deny. In fact, that's something we just cannot even logically come to grips with. God just wants it that way, and it will happen that way, but of course will only come to happen, only if that particular individual trusts in Him and let's Him guide him or her in his or her actions.

Trust in God, know how much He loves you, and when you submit to His Will, and He will take you places farther than you or any other person can ever imagine in His great design.

Astonished, and rightfully set in place,
Aaron

Key to Peace

The key to peace is sincerely loving God and following Him and His Will.

PS: It is not easy.

With Love,
Aaron

"If I Ever Feel Better"

There are some songs that totally just enhances life, and the perspectives one can have on life. This song, in particular, does just that. This song, like the the other songs I've recommended, puts into words those feelings that one may have felt and could not put into words. I'll let this blog be short, only to acknowledge that this song has all the content that I want to convey to you. With that being said, I love Phoenix!

GRRRRR: Angry

I don't usually get angry at all. A lot of other words could usually describe how I would feel in a particular situation where most people would get angry, instead I would be, for the most part: upset, disappointed, and sad. With that said, there are special times when I do get angry.

It's not pleasant at all.

You can argue that anger could could come from hate; I do not think any of my anger spells came from that orgin. I believe, more than anything, that my anger comes from utter disagreement to a certain behavior or action that has no value or moral reasoning whatsoever to the nth degree - to the point where I would literally question to that particular person "What the HELL are you thinking, are you out of your mind?!". Maybe, then, it would seem fair to say that I hate what other people do that just doesn't make resonable or logical sense. Keep in mind that I have a wide scope of reasonings of others that are not just the beliefs I subscribe with - I only hate hate itself. There is no exception to hate; one speck of it is enough for me to hate it.

Today I had an unforgetable experience of intense angry, fury, moment of rage - just complete madness. The type that boils my blood enough for it undergo a phase change. And it happened because I was angry that one person was so inept to how he portrayed himself as to be received by me (and others) that it infuriated me. I couldn't even stand to stay in the same room as that guy - so I left.

After moments away and a thorough cooling through my nerves I realized that, in clarity, that the experience has taught me to get better in two valuable aspects of my character: I needed to further increase in my patience and understanding.

Sometimes for me it is when my patience is challeneged that I'm able to be more tolerant; apparently I haven't had my patience tested in that magnitude for a while. My understanding, however, inceased ten-fold: now I am newly taught and reminded that there a few select others that do not share in the same morals as me - that there are others who have no idea how to act respectfully to others so they do the only thing they know how to do - egotistically babble and harshly degrade thinking that they are justified and right! Those special few that cannot differentiate between their naivity and perceived experences; those who believe "my good is best and my worst is other's good"; those who believe that they are empirically and foundationaly on righteous ground and others are not! When in reality, those people are just misguided souls and an undeveloped conscience.

My reception to those people are enhanced in the awareness of being in their prescense. I will act accordingly in response, and I hope that my tendency to feel anger has been raised by today.

Now, I'm upset, disappointed, and sad.

Respectfully yours,
Aaron

Reciprocation

"Treat others the way you want to be treated".

I'm at a loss with the phrase. Ideally, it would be an awesome thing if everyone I had a relationship with honored the same phrase; however, such isn't the case. Aside from being ignorant, I give it the benefit of the doubt that appreciation, care, love...etc that is not returned is done so sincerely - as in time or circumstance didn't allow for it.

And again, as an old friend pointed out to me, "Not everyone wants to be treated the way you want to be treated", so subsequently there is the reasoning that sometimes no reciprocation is returned to me because it wouldn't be sincere in the receivers sense.

It's hard to find others who reciprocate to you the care you show to them; it really does show a great testimony of how truly awesome those friends are who do that. Don't let them go.

As for those who don't treat me the way I want to be treated, I continue to try my best to treat them the way I want to be treated, with respect, kindness, and understanding. And when they don't offer the same courtesy back, I admit I grind my teeth, take a deep breath, and hope they could see that I at least tried.

Then I do the same process with another in hopes that what I hope for would come true.

Affectionately yours,
Aaron

Uncensored Post Exam Feelings

Aw. :(

Today I took my second physics exam; my first exam I mustered a B out of, of which I am not particularly thrilled about however I was happy. Unfortunately, I don't think I did as well the second time around. And now I'm feeling down..down..down....

I studied a good amount of time for this test, and felt confident prior to receiving the packet - the first set of questions were easy, middle set was doable, but the final couple were awful. The worst part is that the final part was worth half the exam in points (seriously). I did the best I could, filled in whatever I could with what reasoning I had. I didn't even have enough time to finish the last half of my last question (I wonder who shares this opinion, but I don't think 1 hour and 20 minute lecture periods are enough time for unit/midterm exams).

It really sucks having to leave a test feeling bad after you've studied hard for it. In fact, all I wanted to do right after the test was attack my physics book and just re-study the whole chapter! Does anyone feel like this after they've felt bad after an exam?! But of course, doing that won't change what happened to the test I took... (maybe for the final it may help).

I have two more exam midterms for my World Literature and Critical Thinking and Advanced Composition class. Hopefully I won't have to blog about those tests in this same context.


Darn it.

Sincerely,
Aaron

Exams

To all the college students experiencing Mid-Terms...

Good luck and study well! :)

Always,
Aaron

Love and Loneliness

It is unusual for me to write blogs this early, even in my own history of blogging, so seldom of my blogs are published in the morning. So in honor of this event... Good morning :).

I woke up with a wonderful song resonating in my head. Another artist who I have come to simply love and adore is the wonderful Misty Miller who recently debut her self-titled album in the UK about two weeks ago. She is a young sixteen year old song writer with fantastic skill. Her voice ranks among Adele, in particular, and is sublime.

I purchased her album and I'm thoroughly enjoying it! I recommend it! I love pretty much all of the tracks. The one I would like to talk and reflect about is called "Hope". Unfortunately, I cannot link a song to you in this blog for you to listen to, but I can direct you that song here on her Music Myspace which you can get to by clicking here.

The song "Hope" is a soulful and emphatic, yet reverencing and appreciating, and, of course, hopeful ode of a past love and the effects of it. To me, I find it a beautiful message to the audience of the human heart. What is striking most about this song, at this time to me, is laced and woven in the feeling and singing of the words in the second verse:

I loved it last night when you held me so tight
but then you let go and I was alone

Maybe you may have had the experience already, but if not I am without certainty that at one point in your life you may have to leave and let go of a relationship, idealized or not, and move on, and in the process of letting go I believe that the understanding and richness of the presence of love in your life will increase invaluably.

Maybe, even, in the process of letting go you would have to leave the other person alone. So at this point I would like to ask you to put into perspective the other person. This blog isn't dedicated to you. This blog is dedicated to the person who you left by leaving, this person who loved you and you left him or her. Whatever the reason of why you left, my point is that you did leave, and my aim is to consider how the other person may have felt in this certain scenario.

I'll try to put to words the feelings that I've received from Misty Miller's singing of the words in her second verse:

I loved it last night when you held me so tight
but then you let go and I was alone

Alone. My goodness, it's such a huge challenge to equivocate what my heart speaks to me in the hearing of the word. If someone you loved left you, and, in the result, has left you alone - coping is just...doesn't seem doable. The one who you loved was the person...you loved. That one special person who was your stronghold, your understanding, your comfort, your person deigned by God to apparently have not been the one for you, but on to who you have put in place of the one who you felt, to the best of your existence, God placed for you to love.

But Misty Miller, extraordinary in her talent, sings the following lines:

I loved it last night when you held me so tight
but then you let go and I was alone

...with dual emanating emotion - sadness and hopefulness. The sadness on which I've propounded about, and the hopefulness which seems to take into consideration a reverence of the event AND a calmness perpetuated by a solace. When I hear her sing those lines, I don't get awfully sad, even though the words read alone seem so awful. Instead, in hearing her singing of those lines, I feel partially sad, and I feel, in all calmness, okay. It's like she's able to sing the feeling of being okay, while even though the most devastating thing has happened.

The point is that it's hard to feel "okay" when you're left alone. That is what's so revolutionary about what I've come to gain from the song.

Sincerely,
Aaron

Higher

Recently, I've been listening to some really talented artists, and I think of all the ones I've listen to right now I'd like to share one in particular.

B.o.B has been captivating me with his music and his range of talents from rapping fresh lines to singing his own hooks. And off his No Genre mixtape (which I highly recommend), there is one song that I can never get tired of - honestly. It's called "Higher"

The chorus goes like this:

I’ll take you higher
Higher than you’ve ever been
See things you never thought,
You thought would never exist
Higher, higher than you’ve ever been
Where we go we won’t fall
We’ll stay there
Cuz there’s a place
With no walls
It’s been ages
Since we’ve gone
Get away
So long
Levitate
Higher than you’ve ever been, higher

I would be hard-pressed to not consider that he may be talking about drugs. However, I don't think it's so clear; if you listen to his other songs, in addition to this song, he has, I think, very complex and profound wordplay, cleverness, and wit. Nevertheless, he could be talking about drugs that give him that "high", but I still think it's more than that.

In my last blog I blogged a little about the moments that made me extremely happy. In fact, just thinking about how happy those moments made me feel makes me hopeful that one day I can be in that state of mind again. And this hook by B.o.B. does just that.

When I sing the hook to myself, I find it incredibly cathartic and therapeutic; essentially, the hook puts into words things I can say to make me happy just thinking about happiness!

"Cause there's a place...No walls...It's been ages...Since we've gone" Metaphorically, I think he could be talking about Heaven in some intricate way. That would infer that he would have been to Heaven before, which couldn't be technically true (Unless he was Catholic...But that's for another blog). But haven't there been times when people would say, "Oh, I'm in heaven!"? He doesn't necessarily have to talk about Heaven.

I think that's what makes the thought so appealing to me because it reminds me about the times when I thought I was in heaven. And it's been a while since I've been in a situation when I could say "this is heaven"; truly, such experiences are far and few in between. "Cause there's a place...No walls...It's been ages...Since we've gone"...

Here's a Youtube where you can listen to it. For the record, the first verse is so envigorating - it really makes me want to really stive harder and succeed in whatever I'm doing. He even mentions a little physics in rhyming about "gravity" and "relativity" which makes me incredibly happy.

So definitely, I hope you can take a look at the first verse and, especially, the chorus into a deeper analysis for yourself...See where the words, beat, and feeling of the song take you. Maybe, one day again you can be there again - you're own earthly interpretation of "heaven".

**I only recommend B.o.B's first verse and all subsequent chorus parts. The other rappers aren't worth to much to talk about in comparsion to B.o.B's presence on the song.

Lyrics:
You may not know my name,
But by the time I leave you’ll
Remember the B to the O to the B
And every single dot that’s in between.
And every time I hop up in the scene,
I’m feeling like I’m better than before.
I’m ready for whatever,
If you feel me let me know,
Cuz I just wanna flow.
I got up in this game trying to prove that I’m better than before,
But I don’t even sweat it anymore.
I get up in the zone,
as I coast,
As I take flight,
Gravity better hold me tight.
Your relativity don’t mow me right.
On every single kick, every snare, every line
Please don’t compare niggas to me cuz I’m hell on the mic.
I’m down for the gamble like a red pair of dice,
You scared of the fight,
When you lay down and prepare for the night,
I’ll be in the air on the flight.
I don’t even care with the time
High in the days of my mind.
Every single face that’ll say ‘hey Bobby Ray’
I say ‘Hi’.
You’re living the craziest life,
In a pair of shades ima bathe in a spot like Rays
Making every nightclub jump like raves,
Braves, braves,
Home of the Braves,
Eastside Atlanta that’s where I stay

I’ll take you higher
Higher than you’ve ever been
See things you never thought,
You thought would never exist
Higher, higher than you’ve ever been
Where we go we won’t fall
We’ll stay there
Cuz there’s a place
With no walls
It’s been ages
Since we’ve gone
Get away
So long
Levitate
Higher than you’ve ever been, higher



Always,
Aaron

Ideal

Is anything ever ideal?

No. Of course not! I don't think I can recount any experience I've had that was ever ideal. Unfortunately, and sadly, I think I have the talent of finding a flaw in every experience. Sure I remember moments of pure happiness; however, I don't think those situations were in any way ideal.

I always get my blood pressure checked at least once a month. I actually have a consistent monthly account of my BP readings for the past year and half. There were some months where I was considered pre-hypertension, but I usually plummeted back down to a normal reading the month after. What's more interesting is that the same nurse usually takes my BP reading, and she would always ask the question "How are you today? I'm about to take your BP so try and release every stressing thought you have"....

Last month I had the same BP check-up, and she asked me the same question again, as she always has asked me for the past year and a half, and it never occurred to me until now that I always had something going on at the time to excuse whatever BP reading I got. And then it struck me..

"Is anything ever really ideal?" No!

The realization was incredibly simple and powerful. I always had an excuse to a bad (or good) BP reading regardless of the outcome of the test. Granted, the excuse was probably substantial, but the point is that I don't think there was ever a time when I said, "Okay, today's reading will be great! Everything is okay".

In fact, everything is not okay. Unfortunately, the moment I'm writing this blog right now I'm having problems. Rank them however you want in severity - it does not matter. Let's disregard the possibility that "I make things a problem that aren't really a problem" - perhaps maybe I do do so - and consider that my problems are really problems. Is it even realistic to hope that one day I will actually have "no problems"?

The life I've lived has taught me that, sadly, I don't think I'll ever be problem-free, and I'm forced to believe so. I don't believe this makes me a pessimist; it is just an axiom of life. After first-hand realizing that my naive idealist perspective that someday "everything will be okay" and "I'll have no more problems" is invalid, it would seem that I would have no gain from the revelation, but thankfully I have attained a humble bit of solace in the experience that I would like to share.

I think the lesson I need to apply to my life is a bit of Yoda-wordplay:

"Is everything okay? No, but I am okay with everything"

I think that's why, thankfully, life has been good to me with some of the most memorable and happiest experiences one could ever had lived through. That's why I can say I've known happiness. And therein lies the answer to the pursuit of it - being okay with everything.

"In the acceptance of whatever happens, lies perfect joy". - Mother Angelica.

Sincerely,
Aaron