So I'm reading about lucid dreaming.

...And the information I'm getting is blowing my mind. Not the fact that lucid dreaming is possible or that it's so amazing but the fact that not everybody can't do this. It's like if you found a bajillion websites that were like "Did you know there's this thing called smelling? It turns out some people have a sense of smell and you can train yourself to smell too!" something ridiculous like that.

Maybe the fact that I daydream constantly has something to do with it. Do other people not constantly daydream? Most of the time, though, I don't even actively think about whether or not I'm dreaming, I just do stuff I can't do in real life. I just kind of always thought that's how it worked. This isn't the first time, I mean I read a lot of stuff about dreaming back in highschool because of this story I was writing but it didn't really click how they're acting like basically nobody does this. It's like controlling your heart rate, breathing, blinking, or smooth muscle, you don't have to, but it's not that hard. Whatevers.

Also, I just downloaded this book called the artist's way
that I read about in a Jason Mraz blog a while ago and it's kind of like a text book with assignments and such in it. And it has these weekly check-in things where you talk about your experience with the lessons before and how well you've completed the assignments. My check-in day is tomorrow and I'm considering blogging it. We'll see.

Time

So I've always had sort of an obsession with time. And I'm not old, but I've been noticing that time's been passing faster the older I get and it's sort of creeping me out. So, I did what I do every time I think of something for a while and I googled it. Some people are calling it a subjective kind of increase based on having fewer new experiences but I know for a fact I've been having WAY more new experiences in the past 3 years than I did when I was 13, but the past three years and the one year I was Thirteen seem to have fairly similar time durations.

I know perception is inherently flawed, but I also know there's almost always something real driving perception. . .basically, time must be moving considerably faster than it was at the beginning of the universe. I mean this time shortening thing is pretty much universally experienced and every clock ever made (except for, atomic clocks), after a while, ends up minutes behind what it should be.

I don't know enough about physics or Einstein's relativity theory to explain this why this happens, maybe it has something to do with the accelerating expansion of the universe and how time is one of the spatial dimensions.

someone's gotta figure this out.

-maybe I don't know anything

I use the term obsession pretty frivolously.

sucralose

can suck my tit

reform

I'm thinking of developing a policy of not caring how I present myself to new people at parties and whatnot. I've tested it and I've been liking the result.

There's no sense in obsessing over giving the most accurate sample of yourself to people you wil probably never have deep, quality interactions with. Especially when it's probable that you're the most yourself when you're alone and if you're like me when you're alone, you don't really do anything external.

What I'm saying is, in most cases of social interaction the lulz tend to be more important to me than anything. Might as well be dedicated to entertaining myself instead of stuff that doesn't really matter in the long run. Besides it's not a lie if you don't intend to be believed; it's storytelling and maybe it'll kill both birds.

-eff rambling

Title?

So, I've been thinking about my 24 before 25 thing and how little time I really have to get it all done. And I'm thinking maybe setting up benchmarks would be the best way to go about it, for example focusing intensively on increasing skill in one instrument for two months, playing only that for the duration. On second thought, 8 times 2 is 16, plus, I'm trying to learn five more and spending too much time (like over a year) not playing an instrument will ruin whatever work I do to build my skill.

Also, I need to improve my focusing and time management by. . .a lot. I think each benchmark should have an element of that.

You know what I miss about xanga and myspace. . .and BEDA? there was more of a blogging community in those times. Oh well, time to figure stuff out myself.

OH! maybe I should do, like a P90X type deal for my MIND! . . .also, my body. I'm pretty flabby. maybe.

Also, Year 23 needs more Adventure. It's almost here.

Oh hi, BEDA Was I supposed to be doing you this year?

Whatevers. So what's going on right now?

Writing a short story in song form about how Gilligan goes maniacal and purposely sabotages everyone's chances to leave the island.

No phone, no lights, no motorcars,

not a single luxury.

We're all pawns in a sitcom

and the main character is me!

It's told from the perspective of Mary Ann, because my brain loves perspective songs. I don't know whether or not it has a happy ending yet.

Weird stuff happens when I write using instruments I don't normally write with. Also, when I write in the park.

Here's hoping I don't forget that harmonica intro.

There's a whole world out there too.

Been spending the majority of my life inside my own head.

Let's begin to venture outside.

extrospection.

CHALLENGE ACCEPTED!

My friend Matt introduced me to the concept of a 22 before 22 list, and I thought it was great because I love giving myself numerical challenges with set deadlines. The problem is, I was already 22 at the time so I'd have to pick a new age and therefore a new number of things and try to make them all substantial an goal fulfilling. It's a really interesting type of challenge, because it's not a "what would you like to do now," type of thing it's more of a pick an age and decide what you'd like to have accomplished by that age and then seriously lay down checkpoints on that road.

I've sort of figured 25 is the age in which you're fully, solidly an adult. 18-24 is more of a transition phase from childhood, but 25, that's when you not only have the path laid out but you have all the equipment you need to make it down said path and have already reached your first landmark at least. Twenty-five is when Bruce Wayne decided bats were the best way to strike fear into the hearts of the superstitious and cowardly, when Clark Kent takes to the skies, analogously speaking, when Ted Mosby moves to New York, when Ash probably does catch them all, when Bruce Lee gets his role as Kato, and when Jimi Hendrix, Jason Mraz, Frank Zappa, Eminem, and like a hundred other people released their first studio albums . Jesus was about five years late on this one, but you get the idea, 25 is big. So in order to prepare for my life-defining landmark, I've compiled a list of skills needed and accomplishments to undertake before April 23, 2013; most of these cost money so a steady income flow is implied. It took a surprisingly long time for me to finish the list (the first 22 were easy) but I finished last night and here we are. I picked 24 because it makes more sense if 24 comes before 25.

24 before 25
(a marlon approved list of challenges to complete in a timely fashion)

1. Krump/Break/Tap.

   Knowing one or all three of these dance styles would make me unspeakably awesome in any setting that included music being played, clearly. Plus they look so fun!

2. Record an album.

   More specifically, write all the songs, record all the songs, make the artwork for, produce print and freely give away copies of an entire album.

3. Magic Tricks.

   Fact: Both of my favorite characters from both of my favorite TV shows, do magic. I wan to as well.

4. Publish book of haiku.

   (write, publish and illustrate) It's going to be a small small book I already have at least half of the haiku written. It involves dinosaurs.

5. Live on my own.

   "On my own" meaning "alone". No family, no room mates, just me and my cat.

6. Play a total of at least 13 instruments. (this requires getting better at bass, piano, and harmonica)

   The only ones I'm pretty confident in my ability to play are guitar, mandolin, clarinet, and bongos; I have a mouth harp, bass guitar, piano, and 2 harmonicas but my skill is marginal I must get better at these, then own and learn five more.

7. Build a PC.

   to improve my LEET status!

8. Own a drumset.

   May be included as part of challenge 6. It's something I've always wanted to do.

9. Learn how to fix cars.

   I don't know about you guys, but anytime I see someone on the side of the road with their hazard lights on, I want to stop and help them, but I'd only be able to if they need a Batery jump, and that's sad. Also, I'm a man.

10. Beat every Final Fantasy between 1 and 10.

    I own them, so might as well not only have 7, 4, and 9 complete.

11. Skydive

    I like falling.

12. Learn a martial art/get nunchaku

    I NEED this! NEEED!

13. Sculpture.

    I want to have a bit of comprehensive art knowledge so I need sculpture, dance, martial art, and photography checked off. I didn't put photography on the list because photography is boring.

14. Carpentry.

    I've always had a fascination with woodworking also, Jesus's step-dad did it.

15. Build an instrument.

    It's an exercise in taking skills learned and combining them.

16. Tend a bar.

    I want to be a bartender who doesn't drink.

17. Groundlings.

    I absolutely have to take classes there before I'm 25. Improv is pretty much what I want to do with my life, currently, I lack the funds to go though.

18. Get at least two degrees.

    College degrees.

19. Leave the country.

    To another country. ANYWHERE!

20. Go to coast of Maine.

    To be at the opposite side of the country.

21. Fly a plane/be a clown/a mascot/do something I've always wanted to as a child.

    Ok, most of this list is things I've always wanted to do as a child, but this one is like a bingo free space.

22. Beatbox.

    I want to be able to make music with my whole body.

23. Read the entire Bible.

    As someone who considers it the most substantial guide for living I think it's important that I at some point in my life read all of it.

24. Hunt.

    I want to at least once take part in my food's journey from living organism to meal, and farming's too gay, my people have been forced to do agriculture for too long, I don't have the patience for plants. Also I'd like to fire a gun and eat the meat of an animal I've not yet tried. It's a compound experience.

Things that helped me complete the list:

http://www.marcandangel.com/2008/06/02/50-things-everyone-should-know-how-to-do/

http://www.slideshare.net/andrei.semen/24-things-everyone-should-know-how-to-do

http://www.esquire.com/features/75-things-0808

This is not a new year's resolution.

First of all, it'd be kind of late for that. Secondly, I don't believe in those, sure they're kind of good in theory, but they tend to stem from chronologically based guilt which is, from a long-term perspective, a terrible way to get things done.

I have to blog more, and little by little make myself a better person.

Dear Blogger,

Sometimes I'm not sure how well you have to know someone before making a horse penis joke.

Also, what's up with all these girls that would never talk to me in high school wanting to be facebook friends all of a sudden?

ALSO, what's up with some of them not remembering they actually did talk to me in highschool?

whatevers. I knew this would happen.

-Marlon

happy noises.

KWVNUOSDUOSVBASLAKJLCJBIUVHNLCNVMZNCKVDUAFUKGFIWEOWEOWEOJWEOEOEOWEOOSDOODFOYTOYOOOTYOTYIUUWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

-so what, it's not August

My name is Marlon

I make excuses

I don't have internet in my house.

I was recently on a slave ship; it was cold and uncomfortable and I'm still sore.

I'll be getting paid soon.

sometime after getting paid I'll be *hopefully* going to a voodoo glow skulls/great tortill heist concert

I'd like some people to join me.

I want to work more

I need a power cord

I want a ukulele, bnjolele, snair, high-hat, djembe, gong, vibraslap, lyr, small, jazz-sized bass drum and drum brushes.

My A key is acting up.

I need moar money.

I'm out;

-word to your mother

PiGGbot is officially back in business

Specializing in pwnage and mid-late game comebacks.

Yeah I figure the majority of people that read this blog (and 100%[both] of those who comment) are fellow fans of League of Legends, so here we go.

Normaly when a game has been going 3 minutes and I'm the only one that hasn't died yet (I usually specialize in early game deaths) I start losing faith in the success of the team I MEAN LOOK AT HOW MANY KILLS TWITCH HAD. But we made a big effing turnaround and luckily they were all physical attackers so I could stack the heck out of armor.

fun game.

while I'm at it, might as well post screen caps from before the losing streak.

first and only time I got the lead amount of kills.

If you play LoL, especially if you play as a tank, there will be guides telling you to stack sunfire capes. This time we played against a whole team who stacked sunfires (they changed their equipment some after we started owning them courtesy of mandog) and it was pretty difficult, but I have never lost to a sunfire stacker. (and, I reiterate, I'M NOT EVEN THAT GOOD)

That's probably the full extent of my League of Legends guide: one sunfire cape is enough.

-Marlon

PS. I CHALLENGE MANDOG TO CONTINUE HIS ANIVIA GUIDE.

dreadlocks.

Got my hair retwisted today. Dem dreads can now pretty much be shaken. It has these random curly, stick-outy parts from the hair clips that held it til it mostly dried, that should be going away soon. I'm happy with it.

meanwhile working on verbal clarity in text.

interwebs.

So it's difficult for me to blog now because my laptop's powercord died so I have to occasionally borrow my mom's. this led me to realize how incredibly dependent I am on my laptop. Seriously, everything I do ends up having a connection to this baby so I thought I'd discuss programs I use to do what it is I do and the saving grace for people with un-backed up files/unreliable computers or those who work on multiple computers, web-hosted applications.

Of course all of these are free because I DON'T BELIEVE IN PAYING FOR SOFTWARE.

Section 1. Music

One thing I do all the time is download music and that music needs to be played and tagged and whatnot also that music comes in various file forms and I use two programs to get that done

and Media Monkey

They're both pretty sweet in their own right, thus I use both, but I use foobar significantly more. I'm even using it now. I like its bare bones, highly customizable (but barely customized by me) format also, it's the least resource intensive media player I've heard of also it plays almost any type of music file you'll come across (m4a, flac, ogg, wma, etc.) only one I can think of off the top of my head it can't play is .shn files but the only player I know of that will play shorten is winamp and I don't like winamp.

I use it to listen to files, to rip cds, and conversion all of which it does extremely well and foobar does a really good job at not getting in your way. It doesn't monitor your files and add them automatically, which is a plus for me, personally. I don't trust too many automatic things.

Media Monkey on the other hand, uses more resources but is no iTunes and what it absolutely excels in, is tagging. When you get music that either isn't tagged at all or music that doesn't exactly have the most reliable tagging in the world (I get a LOT of those), Media Monkey will be your most trusted companion it has this sweet tag from the web feature, that you have to kind of help along, but it makes finding the name of the actual artist or album names, album art, full titles, etc so much easier than just googling part of the lyrics. (you might still need to use google sometimes though). Also in the tools>scripts section you can auto increment track numbers, basically this mofo has a lot of stuff to make mass tagging less tedious. another thing I love about it is it'll give you stuff like play counts and skip counts and a bunch of really fascinating ways to sort your music.

Media monkey does automatically update your library with the folders you tell it to monitor and I just recently learned is great at ripping cds as well. also it plays all the file types foobar does except some weird obscure type of wav or something I read about online makes it crash.

media monkey can also be used to sync your ipod, if you use one of those devil machines and you hate iTunes as much as I do. You at least won't have your crap erased if you use the pod with more than one computer.

I'm sure iTunes is great if you buy all your music from itunes and you only listen to mp3s and aacs, and you own a mac and are retarded, but on a pc iTunes acts like a foreign body and tries to destroy your computer and everything you hold dear from the inside and if I ever see iTunes on the street it won't walk away without at least a black eye to match that stupid freakin mock-turtleneck. Eff that program. Stay away from it unless your last name is Stanley or Jobs. It really doesn't help that everything Apple makes seems specifically geared to destroy me.

As far as downloading music goes, a thousand or two of my 7000 song library comes directly from the free safe and legal archive.org they have this live music archive where thousands of artists/bands approve their shows to be recorded and uploaded. This includes ones I listen to semi-religiously Jason Mraz, Bushwalla, and Bob Schneider and ones you might know, Maroon 5, the Grateful Dead, and John Mayer.

You can see the full list and number of shows each artist has in the archive here:
http://www.archive.org/browse.php?collection=etree&field=%2Fmetadata%2Fcreator

most of them will be encoded loslessly in wav, flac, or shorten files, but you can find a good amount of mp3s or convert them with flac frontend or Mkw audio tool.

Another thing I do is make music. Since I broke my mp3 player, lost my camera, and bought a computer mic, I've been recording with audacity. but one online application I absolutely LOVE is called Noteflight



You can write sheet music on it and it's all stored online so your effed up computer can't ruin it all. It's not FULLY featured I guess unless you buy crescendo, but it's really great you can do so much with it. If you're into composing music with, like, actual notes I highly urge you to check it out. You can even compose with guitar tablature. I don't, cause eff tabs, but YOU can.

As far as listening to music online. I used to use imeem, until myspace ruined it. if anyone knows of a website that is what imeem used to be, let a brotha know. I miss that thing. I'm not too into last.fm or pandora. I guess, for those you have to be in the mood to listen to stuff similar to what you like but not exactly what you feel like listening to at that moment.

To be continued (hopefully)the sequel will be about writing.

-Marlon

Talking points

I was told that since I clearly intended on blogging today (yesterday) It would be fair for me to make it say i published it before I actually did, but I won't. I really did intend on blogging and did right a lot of words early in the morning but no blog today.

• I did go to two birthday parties for two people born 20 years apart though, and ad the second party there was a girl who may have been hot or may have been a subject of both the "prettiest girl in the room" and "it's dark in here" phenomena that totally wanted Mandogs neckdicks.
• I imagine Hell is a place both hot and sweaty that's just a little too dark with a lot of glowstick-like materials, animal print cloth stuck in random portions on the wall and much-too-loud techno music. And nothing interesting would happen there, just some of the people getting intoxicated and playing with glowsticks while the rest of us, the sufferers, sat and wished we were somewhere else.
• I've started 3 very extensive blogs but haven't finished or published them yet.
• Today seemed to be the day to ask me about things I have no plan to participate in in the near future, drinking, swimming, and marriage.
• I love lesbians. not just for obvious reasons, but with most girls there's this weird dynamic with talking to them, they either have the "I want you to like me romantically (whether I like you or not)" vibe or the "I really don't want you to like me romantically (most likely because I think you're gross)" vibe. With lesbians, it's like, "I'm a person, you're a person, let's be people together".
• Most of the songs I write tend to be from the perspective of someone/thing other than myself.
• I'm somehow very attracted to girls with little-to-no interest in romance.
• I'll probably blog again before the day is over.
• I appreciate the ability my best friend and I have to take things and make them fun.
• I'm currently writing a song about a dinosaur; this is the hardest I've ever worked on a song.
• I'm so glad I'm not going to Hell.

That's all for now. Gosh that was so focused on "I" I guess that's the way blogs are formatted though, maybe that's just the way my thoughts are formatted.

Until next time, blogger,

-Marlax

DELICIOUS EFFING FOOD

To day was apparently cooking day at Stanley's house and ish got pretty intense.

Cheddar biscuits, pizza..somethings and soon to be brownies.

also there's a video game with Tits.

and apparently we're about to watch the worst movie ever.

What?

No I didn't fail the last two days of BEDA, YOU failed the last two days of BEDA! I'm sick of your accusations, blogger; sick of them!

I watch this youtube channel called vlogbrothers in which my now favorite author and his brother communicate with eachother (and the people that watch their videos) via. . .um, video and John (the author) made this one about college and his advice on getting through.

I know no one's asking, but, if I were to give someone my collegiate advice, it would be this in addition to what John Green says:

I've been going for four years now and there are a lot of things I love and am grateful for. The people I've met, the discoveries, the adventures, oh, the adventures, skipping a day of school to go see a concert my friend agreed to pay for and trying to hide the fact that I was running out of gas cause they already bought me oil too (and making it home like a badass), the parties, the open mic nights, the classes. So many things. But there are two things I regret 1.Not passing English the first three times. 2.Not going to a residential college.

I've mentioned (and demonstrated) before that I am sort of an expert at not writing things, in fact I'd estimate 94% of my time is spent not writing DON'T BE ME! When you have a teacher and that teacher assigns an essay or research paper, don't put it off with "I don't know what to writes" or writer's block excuses or "this isn't good enough so I wont finish/turn it ins"(God, that one's such a dumb excuse THAT'S WHAT THE CLASS IS FOR).

Look, to be honest, the majority of teachers don't grade that harshly, you see, their expectations have dropped due to how much the California public school system has failed. So many students don't even know there are 3 "theres" and certainly don't know how to use them, so if you, unlike them, know..like, words... can form coherent sentences and put them in MLA format, you'll be leading the curve (seriously, I've proofread some peoples stuff and it's not pretty).

I don't remember who said it, exactly, it may have been John Green who said something to this effect.

Writer's block doesn't exist, it's just an excuse lazy people give for not being writers. There is no such invisible force that keeps you from putting words on paper, only yourself; so write. The only way to be a writer is by writing. You may not want to write because nothing good is coming out, but you have to get all the crappy stuff out to make way for the good stuff. In short, you're the one in control not some imaginary writer's block.

So advice number 1 is, do your work.

Second, is embrace your sense of adventure. Adventure is a word I don't like using for reasons I CHALLENGE MANDOG TO DISCUSS IN HIS NEXT BLOG, but it's immensely important there are things that will happen that you never would have expected to experience once you decide to take some risks, and go to another state on a whim or into an abandoned building, or just drive into the desert or something. There are things I can't even explain in words, but adventure, friends, and you'll see.

Third, tied into the adventure is to do things that are unconventionally fun. There will always be opportunities to get drunk if that's what you want to do and let's face it, beer pong gets old. You go some place, you've never been, play instruments in an empty parking lot, sing, dance, write, fly kites, play foursquare, make up a game, something to that effect. The it'll be infinitely more memorable than... getting to drunk to remember what happened. DO things.

4 LEARN! This is the perfect opportunity, seeing as how there's never before been so much information readily available to you not just new things, but things you think you know. Like you may think you know what "your" means or how to correctly punctuate sentences, but probably not. Whatever it is, learning it will feel good.

Fifth, take any class that includes the word "improvisation" truly life changing things are learned and life changing people are met in these classes I doubt any advice I'll ever give will not include this.

as for the residential campus thing, I imagine so many more vital experiences are had when you're not living with your family and you're getting used to fending for yourself. But there's so much I've had here that I'm glad I didn't miss out on.

and now, I need to (TOTALLY LEGALLY, I SWEAR GUYS) watch animal house. Even though i have this problem where it's hard for me to sit through a whole movie unless I'm in a theater.

-Marlon

Why is it

That no one is concerned about robots the way I am? I mean, these things are like level seven terrifying. Ebola is level 9. Level ten involves robots using biological warfare among other things simultaneously going wrong.

I've been working on a longer entry discussing the horrors of robotics/artificial intelligence/how technology ALWAYS has to follow science fiction.

Maybe another time.

grrr

well, still playing league of legends.

After a series of completely awesome games, yesterday, I started losing every single one I entered today. It's ridiculous, I don't even know how I'm messing up. Wow, all these "things I'm currently doing that no one has a reason to care about" blogs are really lame. I wish I didn't write them.

I also wish I slept at regular hours THIS IS WHAT YOU DO TO ME SUMMER also I missed possible the greatest concert my home town has ever seen five days ago. I'm really bummed about that.

-Marlon