Neurosis Be Gone!

The older I've become, the more neurotic I've become. When it comes to making decisions from choosing a job or what food to eat, I've become more indecisive and more analytical all my decisions. The early jobs I've chosen in high school were chosen without much thought. I didn't do extensive internet searches about every little thing the jobs entail. I didn't look up the potential health hazards. I just thought, "I'm going to do this job to make some money." And that was it. Nowadays, choosing a job involves extensive research of various aspects of the job. I've essentially added many more variables to consider for nearly every decision. Part of this indecisiveness and compulsion to do extensive research stems from the expansion of information available on the internet coupled with past bad decisions that have caused negative consequences. Over the years, I've experienced certain health issues stemming from poor decisions in the past. From drug use damaging my brain, to listening to loud music causing tinnitis, I've come to a point where I don't want to damage my health anymore than necessary, as I know how compromised health can deteriorate my quality of life. Also, after having an appendectomy, I've become more aware about the fragility of life and how it's important to make health lifestyle changes in order to reduce the fragility of life.

It's good to do research and do one's due diligence when making decisions, but one can get overly caught up in the decision making process which can lead to great mental distress. I need to just do the research then make a decision without endlessly going back and forth between choices. Making a decision requires a degree of faith of a certain outcome, but there's no guarantee things will turn out as expected. I need to learn to let go of trying to have near-total control of my life and just accept whatever the outcomes of my decisions are. Life is too short to get bogged down in the decision making process.All this over-analyzing has caused mental distress, possible health problems and an overal unfulfilling life. When the mind gets stuck in analysis paralysis and gets bogged down in tedious decision-making , life feels like wearing a heavy cumbersome suit of armor that saps the enjoyment out of every moment. It's hard to breath and enjoy life when the mind is preoccupied with the endless variables of the numerous choices one can make. Neurosis be gone!

Negative thinking could be bad for your health

Negative thinking could be bad for your health. It could lead to physiological changes in the body such as releasing high levels of cortisol in the blood, increasing blood pressure, increasing fatty build up in arteries along with other physiological changes in the body that could compromise one's health. Also, people who are prone to negative thinking are less likely to exercise regularly and eat healthily; so they are likely to experience a double whammy from negative automatic physiological responses and decreased motivation to live a healthy lifestyle. So is it enough to just think more positive thoughts to reduce the risk of getting or worsening diseases? I'm pretty sure that may help a bit, but there's probably more to it than that. Exercising, eating healthily, meditating, living mindfully, yoga, achieving moderately difficult cognitive tasks with great meaning and having close meaningful relationships all help to assist people to think more positively, which could then lower their risk for certain diseases. If you are interested in the potential impacts of negative thinking on health, check out the links below:


Psychological Stress Impairs Early Wound Repair Following Surgery
Study: Negative Outlook Appears to Raise Risk of Heart Disease, Death
The Health Hazards of Pessimism
Skip the Vitamins, Use Optimism to Lift Immune System
LIFELONG HEALTH Unhappiness Is a Disease That Often Shortens Life

Overdosing on Self-Help

I've been on a self-help -- as in anything related to philosophy, psychology or personal development -- binge lately, and I think it's time to go on a self-help fast. The information overload I've been experiencing is making me mentally tired and confused. I need to focus on taking action instead of just thinking about what to do.

I've been addicted to self-help type books and websites for over tens years now, and I don't think it's really helped me all that much. I've come to realize that I've been co-dependent on external information to come up with coping skills; instead of finding ways to prosper from within, I've been constantly seeking solutions from outside myself without doing much serious self-reflection.

Self-help has become an addiction that has led me to voraciously seek eternal happiness. This addiction has a very poor success rate because I think I've been jamming my mind with too much self-help without proper reflection and action. Self-help isn't inherently bad and could probably help, but I need to slow down to allow myself to process things and be pro-active instead of passively ruminating and being so self-absorbed.

I'm going to refrain from reading, listening and watching about anything related to self-help for a while. I will also deflect self-help info that happens to comes my way. I will write about it from time to time, but in a more self-reflective manner by analyzing my experiences and observations with the intention to create solid theories on human behavior, especially my own behavior.

Theories

UCLA Professor of psychology Ben Karney likens theories to maps during a lecture on Theories and Intimate Relationships. Just like maps, theories are highly compressed explanations of phenomena of the world that help guide our behaviors. Theories are more than just a collection of facts, it's organized knowledge that helps reduce the complexities of phenomena into more manageable and simplified parts.

During the second part of the lecture, professor Thomas Bradbury likens theories to drawings of cartoon caricatures where certain features are exaggerated; they depict reality in a distorted and exaggerated manner by taking away certain details and exaggerating certain ones. Exaggerating certain features and doing away with other details allows one to clearly see certain regularities in nature.

I'm often dismissive of theories because they tend to be flawed and contradictory. But I need to realize just as there are no perfect maps or perfect drawings, there are almost no perfect theories especially when it comes to social, psychological and philosophical theories. If you were to create a massive 3d map of the world with a 1:1 scale with all the details of the actual landscape, you'd have have the world. But what good would such a massive and detailed map be with helping to navigate a city or Machu Pichu? Compressing and simplifying the world into a smaller map allows one to navigate the world more easily.

Human nature is extremely complex and can be interpreted in numerous ways. We can never fully understand every single little detail of human nature, but we seek out patterns, draw inferences from observing human behavior and create theories that help explain aspects of human behavior. This flies in the face of the adage to never generalize. But if we never generalize, the pictures on the screen are mere random pixels, climate doesn't exist because weather is completely random and text in a book are just random characters with no meaning.

With all the information that exists about human behavior, all I can do is, "Absorb what is useful. Discard what is not. Add what is uniquely your own." as Bruce Lee said. Our minds are finite in its capacity to understand the world and we are prone to errors, biases and all sorts of faulty reasoning. But we can have  general theories with elements of truths about the world that can help us navigate it. I'm going to be more observant of my and other people's behavior and create my own theories about humans keeping in mind to not take them overly seriously and allow the theories to be subject to change. I'll try to not fall for errors of reasoning but will refrain from trying to create perfect theories (or I'll end up creating no theories).

Mind Not Matter

Bart: Uh, Dad?
Homer: What.
Bart: What is the mind? Is it just a system of impulses? Or is it something tangible?
Homer: Relax. What is mind? No matter. What is matter? Never mind! Haha!

The Arizona desert is a hell hole inferno with a Martian landscape, or is the Arizona desert a majestically beautiful work of natural art? Both interpretations are correct and wrong depending on one's perspective. The Arizona landscape exists as something independent of the mind, but humans attach meaning to it with the filters of their minds. We experience natural automatic reactions to certain landscapes, and we use subjective words to describe how we feel about our reactions. The problem with language is it's often a highly imprecise mechanism for describing our thoughts and feelings. When I think about the Arizona desert, I alternate between feelings of hell hole inferno and beautiful art. I also think many other things. But I think I think too much about trivial stuff.

I often think about seeking near absolute truth about certain things such as the extremes of perception change. One part of my mind tries to prove or discount the idea that we can be in 100% control of our perceptions. If we are able to overcome most phobias by altering our perceptions, can't we alter our perceptions for nearly everything? Can't we just think of everything as wonderful? If happiness comes from within and is independent of external factors, why do anything at all? Why strive? Zen Buddhists strive for stuff those hypocrites! Why not just lie in bed all day if striving is so bad? But I think I am just thinking and analyzing way too much and getting bogged down in unnecessary details and repeating them over and over. Instead of taking certain philosophical theories to their extreme logical conclusions and pointing out inconsistencies of theories, I just need to listen to myself, experiment, and see what and doesn't work for me, then move on from there. Enough with this overthinking the same things over and over again. The absurdity of my over thinking led me to do a extensive Google search about overthinking, which made me overthink about overthinking to the tenth power! Agh!

From now on, I will just try to go with the flow and seek the middle way. If I think want something, I'll think about it for no more than a few minutes instead of hours, days or longer. I often ponder if I truly absolutely down to my bare bone marrow want something. I create long pros and cons list, think about the moral merits of buying it, ask myself if it's a want or need, coax myself into believing I'm being materialistic and can do without it, etc. My mind just spirals into a vortex that considers numerous factors over and over again. I just need to pause, stop overthinking and be more action-oriented and not live in my mind so much.

I also need to stop trying to find near-absolute truth and near-absolute consistency. Life is messy and unpredictable with lots of gray area. I can't absolutely know with the precision of the atomic clock what my true feelings and perceptions are. Humans are complex creatures who do a lot things and say a lot of things, but oftentimes what we say and do not mesh. That's okay. Humans can't be absolutely perfect and know precisely what we want and obtain all they want with ease. I just have to accept that fact and stop trying to understand myself as some predictable and easily understandable robot. 

Occupy Semantics

Businessman, author and financial commentator Peter Schiff wore a sign at OWS that read along the lines of: "I'm a part of the 1%. Let's talk". Schiff told a protester he pays half his income in taxes and how he has around 150 employees. He also asked a protester if she would like to be a part of the 1% and if she wanted more money. She didn't respond but I'm sure she wouldn't mind it. Then there are those, such as Piers Morgan, who try to paint Michael Moore as a hypocrite for being in the 1% yet protesting against corrupt corporations. Too bad Michael Moore constantly denies being a part of the 1% and often tries to change the subject; he should just own up to being in the top 1% and explain that not all 1%'ers are evil. Ron Paul said it best when he mentioned he isn't against capitalism, but he's against corporatism. I'm sure most people are against corporate corruption, but their political ideologies compel them to react a certain way; generally economic conservatives arguing against OWS and economic liberals arguing for it.  This has led people to argue past each other while they actually agree that corporate corruption needs to end. Instead, conservatives feel the need to defend free-market capitalism while liberals feel the need to decry it. Most agree capitalism is a good thing but differ in opinion on how it should be regulated. Many arguments are about the minitae of capitalism and turn into arguments of semantics.

People are also intent on blaming one or a few entities at the exclusion of others. Conservatives tend to blame 'the people' for acting irrationally. They also blame gov't regulations for impeding on the free market. Liberals tend to blame corporations for being greedy. The Tea Party and OWS have a similar goal of ending corporate corruption, but the Tea Party scapegoats the government while the OWS scapegoats corporations. Corporations, the government and 'the people' are all to blame in varying degrees with most of blame placed on corrupt corporations and gov't while the people are also to blame.

Not all 1%'ers are evil and greedy tax evaders and not all 99%'ers are do-gooders who diligently pay all their taxes. Dividing people into the 1% and 99% has led some to have an us against them mentality that looks down on their opponent. But that's the nature theories; they are intended to rough and condensed guides like a map. Unfortunately, many people have confused the map for the terrain and have taken the 99% versus the 1% greedy argument too literally. Often when a person demonizes the 1%, someone counters by mentioning the do-gooders of the 1% to demonstrate the benevolence of the 1%. Or when a person praises the 1%, someone will counter by mentioning the corrupt members of the 1%.

Occupy Wall Street

Summary of my thoughts on Occupy Wall Street (OWS)
- Not all 99%'ers are good and uncorrupt
- Not all 1%'ers are bad and corrupt
- All corrupt entities should be held accountable for their corruption and should be punished accordingly

Urge to Purge

I am not referring to bulimia but referring to my constant urges to purge the various the contents I have produced on the internet. I've deleted all my Xanga blogs, which had material spanning from 2001 to 2007. I've deleted one Facebook account only to restart another one. I've deleted hundreds of reviews on Yelp and gone incognito.  I just have a constant desire to purge whatever I put out on the internet. Oftentimes when I re-read what I have written, I think about how stupid the stuff I've written and just feel the need to delete it; I'm constantly washing myself of my dirt (or stupid writings) and attempting to start afresh, only to repeat myself over and over again. I do regret deleting a lot of the stuff I've deleted, which is why I've started blogging again. So much of my history has been erased. I would love to re-read my old Xanga entries to see how much I've changed over the years. From now on, I will resist the urge to purse and keep whatever bits of text I throw out into the cyber world. I will try to choose my words as wisely as possible but at the same time, I will not take myself too seriously. I just need to find a good balance between just throwing nonsensical noise out there and spending hours trying to compile ingenious works of art. I think part of me constantly becomes ashamed of the persona I've created online causing me to constantly attempt to recreate a better version of myself, but I need to just accept who I am with all my flaws.

Dichotomizing Common Sense

The US is the land of dichotomizing common sense. Issues such as circumcision, universal health care and water fluoridation are 'hotly debated' here while such issues are non-issues in most other countries. It just seems we waste a lot of precious finite time and energy on distractions. This has led to a great stagnation culminating to the current horrible state we are in. I suppose this is a result of a corporatacracy that has greatly influenced the public's perception of the world to favor the few wealthy corporations. Perhaps our bickering about distractions isn't so much the cause of our stagnation, but is a result of having been ruled by corporations whose quest for money leaves many of us in horrible situations.

For-profit medical care has made circumcision a lucrative business for doctors, hospitals, pharmaceutical companies, cosmetic companies, etc. The amount of money to be made from foreskins is too much to pass up, and those in a position to profit from foreskins are either blinded from the realities of circumcision or are aware of them but just don't care. The same can be said about companies who make lots of money selling toxic waste aka fluoride to municipalities, health insurance companies who act as middle men and siphon money away from people and numerous other entities who are in the position to make lots of money in unscrupulous ways.

The pursuit of money makes us all more sociopathic. We are often more willing to look the other way or willing to suspend our belief of reality to make more money. If one is making millions from installing asbestos prior to it being banned by the gov't, of course the asbestos companies will do all they can to justify continuing profiting from selling asbestos. It took a law banning the sales of asbestos after many years of the known links between asbestos exposure and cancers to stop companies from selling it. I'm sure many things that are currently known to be hazardous to one's health such as BPA, teflon coated cookware, etc will eventually be banned, but only after many people have suffered all sorts of health issues for many years. It is unfortunate that banning toxic substances takes many decades while numerous untested potentially toxic substances are constantly introduced to the market. Trying to ban toxic substances is like trying to damn Niagara Falls with pebbles, but I suppose it's better to throw pebbles than do nothing.

So here we are in America where circumcisions, fluoridated water and privatized healthcare are the norm in spite of their known drawbacks which have prompted many countries to ban such things. Since these things are so normal for us, many of us have just accept them as good. It's amazing how corporations in America have convinced many people that the things that are harmful are actually good for them. It's hard to not be cynical of Americans as many have been socialized to believe in certain things that are go against their best interest. All I can do is act in my best interest realizing the world has set parameters where people will act a certain way and events will pan out as they will.

Bad Habits

Just saw an episode of 'My Strange Addiction' featuring a lady who's really into bodybuilding and a lady who constantly sucks her thumb. I'm not sure I'd consider their habits addictions, but it makes me think about the human drive, and our rationalizations for and against the habits we form. We're good at lying to ourselves about our habits we don't like because they are just so comforting and hard to undo. When we do come to terms with our bad habits, the unconscious mind clings to the habits while the conscious mind tries in vain to overcome them. I'm going to compile a list of habits I'd like to overcome ranked according to level of detriment to my life then do all I can to overcome the ones most detrimental to my life first and work my way down. I do suppose that being overly obsessed about breaking bad habits can be a bad habit in itself if the obsession becomes a compulsion to be nearly perfect and free of bad habits. Moderation!

Shortcuts to Happiness?

According to various studies performed by psychologists, human brains produce happy brain chemicals while experiencing 'flow' or while being 'in the zone' while and after achieving goals of moderate and above difficulty. Humans seem to thrive on overcoming obstacles, but I wonder if there are shortcuts to happiness that don't require having to continuous overcome obstacles? Is it absolutely necessary to continually overcome obstacles to be happy? It just seems so convoluted and bizarre that humans have to engage in certain pointless activities such as climbing Mt Everest or running marathons to experience happiness. I suppose there's no way around the fact that I have to continually overcome obstacles just to remain happy. Being naturally lazy myself conflicts with having to do stuff in order to be happy. Also, my brain often rationalizes certain pointless goals all for the sake of achieving certain pointless goals as being absurd (see my post about the Effi0-Absurdity Paradox). I suppose I must tell my brain that for the sake of my well-being, I have to yield to my human need to achieve in order to be happy. I suppose one shortcut is to pursue things that pique my interest without over-analyzing the meaning behind it and without thinking if it's absurd. I already know eating well and exercising promotes happiness, so I should continue my pursuit of obtaining optimal health through eating well and exercising. Perhaps taking legal happy pills is another viable shortcut to happiness that I should investigate? Transcendental meditation and eastern philosophy may provide some answers?

Why is overcoming certain obstacles more noble than others? Why is the brain buzz a gamer experiences considered lesser than the buzz an avid reader of literature experiences? I don't know, and I shouldn't care. We all draw happiness from doing different things for different reasons; from one person's perspective, the things we derive happiness from may seem totally absurd while from another person's perspective it may seem like a no-brainer. However, we shouldn't have to justify the 'lesser' activities that provide us with happiness. Society attaches all sorts of stigmas and ennoblements to everything, but we should ultimately ask ourselves if deep down we truly enjoy the things we engage in.

Luck

According to studies performed by Richard Wiseman, lucky people tend to be open to new experiences, which leads to a wider range of opportunities. Unlucky people tend to be rigid in their thoughts and habits and often have very specific ideas when searching for what they want, which leads to a reduction of opportunities. Essentially, lucky people see the world with few preconceived notions and assumptions while unlucky people see what they want to see in the world that confirms their notions of the world.  Wiseman also mentions that lucky people tend to listen to their intuition and consider how they will feel if they pursued a certain option while unlucky people tend to dismiss their intuition and just look at the rational side of options.

Keeping an open mind allows one to become more adaptable by providing one with more opportunities, which leads to more good luck. Being rigid-minded makes one less adaptable by causing them to overlook other opportunities, which leads to more  bad luck. If I am intent on buying a pre-WWII 3 bedroom 2 bath single family house for under $300,000, yet most 3/2 houses sell at $500,000 and very few pre-WWII houses even exists in the area I am looking, I am setting myself up for disappointment or bad luck, as my chances of finding that one house that fits my criteria is low. However, if I am willing to buy  a place with fewer rooms  and/or something built after 1950, I will be more likely to fulfill my criteria and thus be more lucky.

Effio-Absurdity Paradox

The effio-absurdity paradox (EAP) is a term I coined while thinking about how some people consider enjoying watching football games as being absurd because it’s just a bunch of guys running around tackling each other and blah blah blah. EAP refers to the reduction of enjoyment derived from certain things due to realizing their absurdity and/or due to being unable to explain why we enjoy them. For example, one may be enjoying a game of golf only to realize that swinging a tiny ball with a stick into holes is absurd, which leads to a reduction of enjoyment of playing golf. Cynical and analytical people seem to be prone to experience EAP.

Anything can be considered absurd. People often complain about how most TV shows are shallow and mindless. Do all shows have to be full of deep meaning and be highly intellectually stimulating? Actually, so called mindless shows can lead to great intellectual stimulation if one analyzes the show in a way that leads to great insights about human behavior. But that’s beside the point. The point is we all enjoy certain activities mostly because the chemicals in our brains compel us to do pursue certain activities and humans have a tendency to defend their absurd preferences while declaring others’ preferences as absurd. EAP constricts one’s world and can lead to depression because it’s a buzz kill mindset that seeks reasons for not liking things on the basis of it being absurd, but what in life isn’t absurd?

Blog

I feel compelled to maintain a consistently updated blog, as my life has turned into blankness that will mostly be forgotten when looked back upon. But what has been holding me back from writing is the lack of things to type about. I suppose I can type all sorts of incoherent gibberish without worrying too much about publishing mind blowing entries. I have lots I can type about, but I often tell myself most of it just boring noise that's not worth projecting out into the world or even just to myself. I think I'll just type whatever without being overly conscious about it now on. If what I type is on the same league as some of the world's most popular bloggers, then so be it. If what I type is the opposite of that, then so be it. I need a written record of my life to see how I've changed throughout the years. I can also possibly learn a lot from reading past entries by reminding me how stupid I was at certain points in my life and remembering to not make those same stupid mistakes. I can also be reminded of great thoughts I've come up with that I would have otherwise forgotten about. Writing will also allow me to declutter my mind and make better sense of my thoughts. It's really difficult to hold so many words in the mind and being able to see the words from my mind in a readable format will allow me to back track and switch between thoughts with greater ease than just mentally juggling them.

Emotions

Emotions are tricky rascals.  They sometimes seemingly appear from nowhere while other times they appear from seeming known reasons.  They sometimes can be controlled.  Sometimes they can't.  Sometimes I don't know what emotions I'm feeling.  Sometimes the emotions I think I am feeling aren't really what I am truly feeling.   Emotions are imprecise guides for life the help guide me towards acting in certain ways that are in my best interest.  But what about people with really screwy emotions?  Or people with schizophrenia, brain damage, or other weird brain?  I have to remember that emotions are imprecise guides for life.  Knowing how faulty the brain can get, it's important for me to preserve my brain to prevent myself from experiencing faulty ideas, thoughts, and emotions that steer me towards self-destruction.  I must learn to listen to my emotions and allow them to guide me toward a prosperous and joyous life.

Interwebz has replaced my brain

My ability to memorize and to think independently has deteriorated with my constant exposure to the Internet.  No longer do I need to memorize what I've just read and arduously search for the information.  I can now just enter some key words relating to what I forgot, and in seconds to minutes, I can pull up the forgotten information forgot.  With such a massive wealth of information at my fingertips, there is very little incentive to remember much things. 

My ability to think independently has also been compromised by the Internet.  Whatever viewpoint I wish to choose, I can find countless argument arguing for it.  Anything can be rationalized, and the innumerable rationalizations that can be found on the Internet has caused me to become intellectually amorphous -- I have no strong beliefs about anything -- and since anything can be rationalized, nothing is really worth believing in strongly.  I do have certain whims of ideas I loosely ascribe to, but those whimsy ideas fade away as new whimsy ideas are acquired.  Perhaps my everchaging whimsy mind is a good thing?  It keeps on my toes and constantly wondering about the world?  I don't know, I just feel that I am just becoming more mindless and zombie-like because I just don't have strong beliefs and every viewpoint seems plausible.

Steve Jobs: Connecting the Dots

"Again, you can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life."


- Steve Jobs at the Stanford 2005 Commencement speech 


Steve dropped out of college and dropped in classes that seemed impractical at the time.  One class he took was calligraphy.  This is where he learned about the subtle intricacies of Serif and Sans Serif type-face.  Fast forward 10 years.  While developing the Mac, Steve decided to incorporate what he had learned in the calligraphy class. The type-face you see before you in this blog is a result of Steve Jobs dropping out at Reed College and taking some seemingly impractical calligraphy class. Looking forward while taking that calligraphy class, Steve could not fathom that what he was learning would later be a ubiquitous part of these things called blogs.  Looking back, Steve is able to clearly connect the dots from being a  college drop out, to the present time where the serif and sans-serif type-face are as ever-present as the stars in the sky.


From where I currently stand, I can look back and see how the dots connect, but absolutely not in such a revolutionary and dramatic manner as  Steve Jobs' dots.  I can see how some of my minor achievements have been a result of events in the past. At the present though, I am a stagnated body of water accumulating waste.  Perhaps someday I will be able to connect the dots from this stagnant point in time to another point in time of goodness. All I know is that I need to dredge the waste  from this stagnant body of water.  If I allow the muck to build up for too long, I'll look back and will connect the dots from my currently horrible life to another horrible life.  I seem to lack dots of much significance and am trudging through life as a zombie.  It would be sad to have one dot for this prolonged chapter in my life with another dot representing the death and a loooooooooooong line connecting the two dots.

Adieu Coco

"All I ask of you, especially young people … is one thing — please don’t be cynical. I hate cynicism. It’s my least favorite quality, and it doesn’t lead anywhere. Nobody in life gets exactly what they thought they were going to get. But if you work really hard and you’re kind, amazing things will happen. I’m telling you, amazing things will happen."

- Coco - Conan O'Brien


I've pretty much been a cynic all my life.  My cynicism, I believe, is partly inborn and partly due to my hectic environment growing up.  Never mind the details of the environment that caused my cynicism, from this day forward, I will endeavor to become less of a cynic.  I'm often going way beyond seeing the glass as half empty, and seeing it made of lead, chipped, and filled with raw sewage waste. Drinking from the half empty glass then causes my lip to bleed profusely, and the raw sewage then causes my cut to become infected leading to a flesh eating virus to kill me.  No more of that though.  It's time for me to quell the pangs of cynicism and to engender a more positive outlook on life.  I've been imprisoned for way to long by my cynicism, and today is the day that I am a free man.


Yes there are rotten people in the world, and yes there is a lot of figurative and literal chemical sludge in the world; nevertheless, there is a lot of good too.  I just need to recalibrate my mind to focus in on the positive aspects of life.


Anyhow, Conan, thanks for the nearly 2 decades of humor and inspiration!  I've been watching your show since the beginning.  I must admit, I thought the show was going to flounder shortly when you first did the Late Night Show.  But what did I know, I was only 10 years old.  Over the years, I gained a great appreciation for your comedic genius and your gift of being a great interviewer.  All good things must come to an end, but I suspect this is only the beginning.  Adieu Coco.

Real Estate Time Machine or Hate to Burst your Bubble

By Bertha Coombs

Reporter

CNBC

updated 12:12 p.m. HT, Thurs., April 7, 2005

He’s a roofer and she owns a hair salon, and now Paul and Caren Matera are applying their entrepreneurial skills to New York’s red-hot housing market.

After attending a $3,000 real estate seminar, last July the Materas bought a little bungalow on Long Island. They sold it two months later and made a 50 percent profit. Since then, the couple has taken equity from their own home and invested in a half dozen properties now worth over $1 million — much of it pre-construction properties in red hot Florida developments...

Hard statistics are tough to come by, but one in six purchasers surveyed by the California Association of Realtors in 2004 said they were purchasing a home as an investment or for tax purposes — that’s a record 16.2 percent.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7405028/

________________________________________

VH1 needs to do a real estate “Where are they Now” show that showcases people who got caught up in the real estate frenzy of the mid-aughts and have lost lots of money after the real estate bubble popped.  I am truly curious to what happened this entrepreneurial couple and others.  Did these flippers become floppers who are flapping to stay afloat?  Did they sell at the right time and rent at the peak?  Where are they now?

The Blog Entry about Nothing

Yada yada yada.  Wah wah wah.  I'm feeling uninspired with nothing to write about.  I've been in a mental smoggy haze these past few years.  Freud would be speechless about my mind, he'd be without speech about my mind.  The chapter of this mental smoggy haze phase of my life has been dull.  I've been all over the place from San Francisco to Amsterdam, but I carried my empty dull mind with me during my expeditions.  Carrying this mind dulled what could have been a vibrant technicolor experience into a limited 4 color CGA blandness. Now here I am, in the place I was born and raise with my empty mind without much about to write about.  Perhaps technology is partly to blame.  Google does nearly all the thinking for me and is like an external brain substituting for my actual brain.  I don't have to memorize much, as I can always use Google to help me to remember who the prime minister of Australia is, or what the US constitution amendments are.  I don't have to think much about politics, philosophy, religion, ethics, or whatever, I can just passively and mindlessly read people's responses in forums or some other person's blog while I shut out any critical thought of my own.  And if I try to look for a refutation against what feels wrong, I can use Google to find articles to refute it.  Or if I am looking for info to support a position, I can find confirmation on Google. Whenever I have a question or curiosity about anything, I  have an overwhelming number of information at my disposal on the internet.  Perhaps I'm experiencing technological information overload?  Perhaps the DSM-V should add this as a psychological disorder.  Perhaps I should take a permanent break from the computer, start reading books ,and start writing my own ideas instead of this skimming high amounts of information.  My level of thinking is becoming progressively shallow and dull  causing me to become a useless brain-dead piece of jellyfish.  I wish myself luck on my journey to becoming mentally inspired.  Is this blog entry even a portrayal of reality?  I'll find the answer on Google.