Last One...

This is actually the view from the ground looking up through the treetops. I really like the effect the fog and dark had on the way it looks, though.

The Octapus Tree

To The Lighthouse

Welcome to the Oregon Coast...

This is from one of my favorite beaches on the Oregon Coast...Twin Rocks. I love it here...it's not crowded and it's beautiful.

The Blahs

I've got 'em. Tired, worn out, flirting with the line between feeling so-so and not feeling well...fun, fun.

Useful: YES...Social: NO

Everywhere I go it seems like people are talking about how great technology is. Walk into about any room anywhere and someone is probably on the computer or a cell phone, ipod, or some other technological device. I have to admit that I do enjoy being able to keep this blog and express my thoughts and technology certainly is valuable. Having said that, I can't say I'm ok with the idea of technology replacing face-to-face communication as the norm for social relationships today. Technology seems to take away from that one-on-one experience we all take for granted. I get so frustrated when I try to talk to someone and they are too busy texting to look at me. If I wanted an experience like that, I'd turn around and talk to the wall. Even for the people texting, the communication simply isn't the same. It's easy to spew junk to a computer or phone, but over half of communication comes from facial expressions or tone of voice or body language or a million other tiny little signals we pick up on when we are in the same room as another person. Technology is great, but at the core we are still social creatures. Social: living or disposed to live in companionship with others or in a community, rather than in isolation. It seems to me that you need more than words to have companionship; talk is cheap, so tell me again how sitting alone typing on the computer is social...

Demotivation

So I was checking out one of my friends' favorite websites, despair.com, when it hit me out of nowhere. I love this stuff. There is something about the pure honesty in depressing statements like, "Failure: When your best just isn't good enough" and "Dysfunction: The only consistent feature of all of your dissatisfying relationships is you" that makes an impact. Maybe it's the fact that for a brief moment, we feel like we are not being patronized. Sure, we all need motivation, and I am one of the first people to feel thankful for inspirational words of wisdom, but the hard truth is that failure is a very real part of life. Often times, we want to believe that if we just give our best it will be enough, and it may be most of the time. The rest of the time, though, it isn't. We all have those moments when we come to see that the result of all of our hard work, our best so to speak, is just short of the cut off line. It sucks, it hurts, but shit happens. The best part of failure: you learn. You learn to laugh about it. So even though we don't celebrate how crappy we may feel, we have the choice to walk away laughing rather than crying. Life will throw you down, but you have to get back up and realize that failure, like success, is temporary.

Inspiration's opposite...

You know what they say...every action has an opposite and equal reaction. :D

Inspiration

Bucket List

Most of us have tons of things we want to accomplish before we die, but we rarely take the time to recognize what they are. For this reason, I have decided to write my very own bucket list. Yes, this was inspired partly by the movie, but it has also been on my "to do" list for a long time (long before the movie came out). Anyways, these are just a few items I want to be sure to add.

In no particular order:

Visit the Eiffel Tower
Go sailing
Find my life's passion
Change someone's life for the better
Write a book