Day 09 - How You Hope Your Future Will Be

Much like trying to say where I want to be in 10 years, trying to say how I hope my future will be is somewhat difficult. I want it to be good. I want it to be great even - really, who hopes for a bad future? The only problem is that questions like this make me reflect on where I am right now, because any question about the future requires some reflection on present circumstances. It is one thing to say "I hope to be an astronaut in the future"; it is quite another thing to see that become a reality when nothing you are participating in or plan on participating in leads down that road. I just don't know what is in the cards for me, and generally speaking I don't really take a rosy view on my future. I worry too much: about grades, about work, about relationships. And when things get down, I seem to get really down too. It is hard to hope for a happy future when you're worried about being placed on academic suspension from your school for crappy grades. But hey, that is why I have people around me to support me. And really, should I be worrying about things that are out of my hands? The past is dead and gone and there is nothing I can do to change it. The challenge is owning up to my mistakes and moving past them.

Maybe that is really what I hope to have in my future: the strength to stop worrying about things I can't change and the will to move past my mistakes.

Day 08 - Your Views on Mainstream Music

I listen to it occasionally.

Seriously, I really don't listen to that much music on the radio, and when I do it is either oldies or whatever the CBC has decided to play on Bandwidth or Vinyl Tap. When I get bored of either of those, I turn on country (which is new, ask any of my friends from high school and they'll tell you how much I hated country) or flip to one of my CD's. See, I hang out online quite a bit, and since I've become somewhat more selective in the kind of music that I listen to, I often only check out bands based on word of mouth (such as I Fight Dragons or Explosions in the Sky) or just random browsing through PureVolume, Grooveshark, or Slacker Radio. Of course you will occasionally come across more mainstream music as you got through these sites, and it is impossible to avoid in stores, on pop radio stations and hanging out with friends, and it isn't that I have a problem with mainstream music; my musical tastes just don't lend themselves well to mainstream music. I like instrumental music - in fact a custom mix of songs from the Battle Star Galactica soundtracks is my current driving poison - as well as electronica and chiptunes. Sadly there is not much of a market out there for these in the mainstream world. So again, I don't dislike mainstream music as a rule - though Ke$ha, Lady Gaga and Nickleback drive me bonkers - I'm just not overly exposed to it as part of my listening habits.

Day 07 - Your Myers-Briggs Personality Type

And if you think it fits your personality.

INTP
Introverted	Intuitive	Thinking	Perceiving
Strength of the Preference %
22	50	12	22

The Architect

Architects need not be thought of as only interested in drawing blueprints for buildings or roads or bridges. They are the master designers of all kinds of theoretical systems, including school curricula, corporate strategies, and new technologies. For Architects, the world exists primarily to be analyzed, understood, explained - and re-designed. External reality in itself is unimportant, little more than raw material to be organized into structural models. What is important for Architects is that they grasp fundamental principles and natural laws, and that their designs are elegant, that is, efficient and coherent.

Architects are rare - maybe one percent of the population - and show the greatest precision in thought and speech of all the types. They tend to see distinctions and inconsistencies instantaneously, and can detect contradictions no matter when or where they were made. It is difficult for an Architect to listen to nonsense, even in a casual conversation, without pointing out the speaker's error. And in any serious discussion or debate Architects are devastating, their skill in framing arguments giving them an enormous advantage. Architects regard all discussions as a search for understanding, and believe their function is to eliminate inconsistencies, which can make communication with them an uncomfortable experience for many.

Ruthless pragmatists about ideas, and insatiably curious, Architects are driven to find the most efficient means to their ends, and they will learn in any manner and degree they can. They will listen to amateurs if their ideas are useful, and will ignore the experts if theirs are not. Authority derived from office, credential, or celebrity does not impress them. Architects are interested only in what make sense, and thus only statements that are consistent and coherent carry any weight with them.

Architects often seem difficult to know. They are inclined to be shy except with close friends, and their reserve is difficult to penetrate. Able to concentrate better than any other type, they prefer to work quietly at their computers or drafting tables, and often alone. Architects also become obsessed with analysis, and this can seem to shut others out. Once caught up in a thought process, Architects close off and persevere until they comprehend the issue in all its complexity. Architects prize intelligence, and with their grand desire to grasp the structure of the universe, they can seem arrogant and may show impatience with others who have less ability, or who are less driven. [Keirsey.com]

o.0

Not a bad assessment at all. Typelogic's breakdown is also pretty spot on. I think I can safely say that I agree with this.

Day 06 - Write 30 Interesting Facts About Yourself

So apparently the blogging app on my phone has been posting my stuff as drafts, which is why my posts for the previous two days are only appearing now.

Now, in no particular order, 30 interesting things about myself:

• I love to travel. I've been to France, Jamaica, England and Tanzania, and I plan on going to more
• I play clarinet.
• I L-O-V-E books. This was really the reason I started this iteration of my blogging life, to write about books and graphic novels and comics and stuff, but I haven't really got to that yet.
• I have been in a relationship with my wonderful girlfriend for almost four years. She told me to put stuff like how handsome and dashing I am on my list, but I figured that would be a little too much ;)
• I used to write poetry. Some of it is still up on my old blog, but I haven't really written anything new in a while. Got out of the habit I guess.
• I'm a huge geek, especially when it comes to sci-fi. I'm not a Trekkie (or a Trekker, though I know that there is a difference) but I do circle around some of the fandoms.
• Firefly is one of my absolute favourite tv shows, and it was through that show that I've discovered much of the programmes that I watch today.
• When I was little I had a stuffed dog named Doggie (or Falkor, cuz he kinda looked like the luck dragon) and a stuffed bunny named Bunny. I was really imaginative.
• My dad's side of the family is from Jamaica. And yes, I am white.
• I have no idea what I want to be when I grow up, though I'm still banking on dragonrider.
• I love instrumental music. Movie, tv and video game soundtracks are absolutely phenomenal.
• I am increasingly aware of how great things were when I was a kid. Power Rangers, Sesame Street, Art Attack... kids tv these days sucks in comparison
• Doctor Who is pretty much my all-time favourite tv show and almost without fail I manage to get my friends addicted to it.
• I think British tv is far superior to American. Same with comedy and humour.
• My best time for reading the entire Lord of the Rings is 36 hours. That is 6 hours per book. Hmmm... I wonder if I could beat that now?
• I love exotic food, especially sushi and Indian food.
• Also, spicy foods. cf. Jamaican-ness.
• I had a pet fish named Seaking (I was really into Pokémon at the time) that I kept for three years.
• Silver > gold
• Not only was I in chess club in elementary school, I started my school's chess club.
• I also sang in my elementary school choir at a Toronto Blue Jays game.
• I'm not much for sports in general, but I love volleyball and soccer (or football if you prefer)
• I don't cry very often, but there are only three movie which have even got me close: Bridge to Terebithia (and I even knew what was coming!), Up, and Toy Story 3. Darn Pixar and its ability to tell such great stories.
• I laugh out loud when I read really funny books. Sometimes embarrassingly so. Good Omens, I'm looking at you.
• I have weird man-crushes on Nathan Fillion and Matt Damon. There, I said it.
• I love the stars and space. There is just something so romantic about them, not just in a lovey romantic way (though they are that), but also in the way they catch our imagination. 
• On that note, Pluto is my favourite planet (I'm still in denial). I played Pluto in a kindergarten play, and my mom recently found my costume.
• My favourite colours are green and blue, though I also really like black. Coincidentally, those are the colours of Seana's eyes.
• I have a lot of mannerisms which resemble those of a cat, especially when I am relaxing. Probably because I learned from one.
• I love the Arthurian legends, and ever since I was exposed to them as a kid I have tried to live my life as much to the Knight's Code as possible. Chivalry is not dead yet.

Day 05 - A Problem You Have Had

@#!

In the category of Most Vague Questions Ever.

Probably the biggest thing that tends to be a problem for me is my time management. I may have mentioned this already, in my celebration of procrastination. But it isn't all rosy and nice. Time management is a serious problem. I failed two courses last year at school as a result of poor time management and it is taking quite a bit not to go down the same road this year. For whatever reason I tend to prioritize less important things in order to leave off on the things that I really need to get done. This is why this challenge is important to me: it forces me to do something I have traditionally put off and forced me to get into the habit of writing, which is a Very Good Thing. It is something which I am going to really have to challenge myself with, especially since my poor time management has also had a very detrimental impact on my spiritual life. So, if I were to be making a New Years resolution it would be to better my time management.

Day 04 - Your Views on Religion

So this is a big topic. Everybody has their own opinions on religion and what it means to be religious, which means that I am most certainly not alone in the opinions I have and that there are just as many people who would agree with me as would disagree.

Beating around the bush, whoo!

My views on religion are primarily informed by the fact that I am a Christian. What that means exactly for me is the subject of another day (Day 17 actually), but it is useful for now to serve as a starting foundation to understand where some of my ideas come from and what I believe religion's place is in the world.

I believe that everyone subscribes to some kind of religion or another. Atheists would probably like to bite my head off at that statement, but I believe that the term religion can be applied beyond the systems of faith - such as Christianity, Judaism and Islam - that it is traditionally associated with. Science has rapidly evolved into a kind of religion, a central hub for explaining the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe, with the greats in their fields evoked much in the same fashion as the Catholic saints. Whereas people once reached for the supernatural to give them hope and direction for their lives, people adhere to the tennants of Science. It even has its own zealots; people like Dawkins who evangelize the virtues of Science. I don't want to come across as a science hater - in fact I love science and try to get beyond the false barrier put up between science and faith - but it does provide a very good example of a modern, non-spiritual religion.

Religions can be tricky things. Much of what we find wrong with religion happens when it is separated from its core set of beliefs, when the practices and the rules become more important than the heart of the practice. This is the case in Christianity anyway. We often get a really bad rap because of some crazies in the States who are trying to prove a point by being as controversial as possible. Honestly, I get a little disgusted and ashamed when the news reports on groups like the Westboro Baptist Church. Much like the Pharisees of old,  these groups miss the point - that we are all imperfect beings in need of love and grace - and fill the void with legality and hate. This is religion without faith, religion gone wrong.

I believe that religions can be a powerful force for good in the world, just as long as they are on the right path.

Day 03 - Your Views on Drugs and Alchohol

The nice thing about this challenge is that some of these questions are good and open ended, meaning that I can interpret them any way I want. In this case, I can assume that this question is more in regards to the use of, or abuse of, drugs and alchohol.

The short version of the story is that I am straight up against the overuse of drugs and alchohol. End of story. I don't believe in getting plastered, smashed, pixilated, crunked, or wasted. I don't see the pleasure in spending time with my head in the toilet or forgetting my weekend entire (though if I spent said weekend with my head in the aforementioned toilet I might). That just isn't my idea of fun. I'll enjoy an alchoholic beverage or two with a meal or with friends, but that is it. That said, if you like to imbibe I won't say anything as long as you're smart about it. No drinking and driving on my watch.

Drugs get a similar ruling. Recreational drugs are out. No question there. I don't need anything entering my body to alter my state of mind. Medication on the other hand is a bit more tricky. If a doctor prescribes it, I'll take it; I tend to trust the judgement of medical professionals. But honestly, for the most part I try to avoid things like Tylenol and Advil. If I've got a cold (which doesn't happen too often) I'll take the minimum medication recommended, as I also do when my seasonal allergies hit. But for the most part I figure that we were created with an immune system for a reason, and if I am proactive in keeping myself healthy by eating right, getting sleep, not stressing out (ha! yeah right) too much and engaging in physical activity (which I've been working on), I should come out all right. Plus, all that talk about superbugs kind of freaks me out.

So there you have it. Pretty simple from my end: too much booze is bad, and drugs can be too.