why on earth

Why is it that my cellphone's predictive text always, and I mean always suggests G'd for 413 instead of I'd? I really don't understand. It doesn't make sense, I always correct it to I'd. It learns on other words when I switch them- case in point, i just texted someone and used "meal" twice, and the first time it came out as "neck." I fixed it, and the second time it came out as meal.

But it's never switched to I'd from g'd. I've never even used d'd. I can't even think of a case where I'd want to use g'd.

Why? I love my phone, I love texting, but this one little things frustrates me so much.

books

I've read a lot of books this summer

• Dante's Divine Comedy (about the 7th time through it all)
  
• The Master and Margarita
  
• A Man For All Seasons
  
• Survivor
  
• A Fighter's Heart
  
• The Dip
  
• The 4 Hour Work Week
  
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
  
• The Sound and the Fury
  
• Catullus (a book of Greek Poetry)
  

I really do like reading. Knowledge is power, knowing is half the battle.

woohoo

I'm going to be an uncle, again!

I still say this one will also be a boy.

weird

My parents are the weirdest. They're still convinced I'll marry this girl who I knew back before kindergarten (maybe earlier?) and apparently she's headed out to BYU this fall, so they want me to take her out.

Weird.

I've got a date for next Wednesday- not weird, in fact, awesome. The girl is way rad, and we're going to go on a picnic. Hoorah.

knee hurting

I hurt my knee.


It hurts a lot. A lot a lot. But I took 6 advil, so I should be alright.

Good news though, my beard is coming in nicely. I'll put a link to the facebook shared thing sometime soon.

And my back hurts. This sucks.


Work is going fine. I'm working on a big article on random stuff I've thought of. And my review of the Harry Potter book will be up next weekend. Maybe.

my beard

let me show you it. soon.



my beard.


it's going to be so cool. not like this cool, but I plan on being at least this cool.


you'll see.

i work out a lot

I work out almost every day, and generally that involves riding a stationary bike. I usually ride for about an hour, watching movies in two parts, or watching TV shows, and so forth. I go about 20-23 miles, depending on how high I set the resistance.

I like cycling. I really do. I don't have a bike of my own really, but it makes me comfortable feeling that if I get called to a bike mission I will be able to keep up. Or even a walking mission that I won't get tired as easily. Of course, the word of wisdom-keeping thing will help too.

The only problem I have cycling it that sometimes it hurts my knees, but I've mostly fixed that just on seating position. If you have the seat too low your knees to to high and it hurts. But I figured that out pretty quickly, and so I've corrected for it.

It's weird working out with a semi-beard. I like it though. I've got it for 36 more days. It will be sad when I shave it. I'll post pics soon.

i'm sick of china

I don't have a problem with chinese people, but I seriously think the chinese government needs to be destroyed. they have HUGE issues- overpopulation, devaluing their currency, trying to sue google, giving us poisoned trains, paints, toothpaste, broccoli, sending us cardboard wontons, defective tires, and so much more.

The worst part: I don't think these are accidents, especially the ones that we know aren't (devaluing currency). If these were accidents, I doubt I'd be as bugged. I have a sneaking suspicion they're doing this on purpose- and by government mandate.

but we'll never do anything. they're not like a huge trading partner or the cheapest source of labor we have. or, for that matter, ethical.

harry potter and the one bad scene in an otherwise great movie

The movie is awesome, except for what I talk about in the last paragraph. Harry Potter is great, but what freaked me out about this movie is how much it made me like Luna Lovegood. She really made a lot of the movie for me; I really liked her character And she was cute, in an odd way. I'm just scared that someone will IMDB her and she'll be like 12 (EDITShe's 15, almost 16, which is at least better than 12)and people will make fun of me, but I can't deny it: she was my favorite character in this movie, and, in my opinion, the best actor next to the guy who does Snape. You have to know he's a great actor for the kind of complicated role he has to play.

I think what really made this movie for me was the flow- it was fast, but done well enough that you didn't get lost like in Prisoner of Azkaban. Of course, Harry and Cho's kiss scene was unnecessarily cheesy, and making Fudge seem like "Big Brother," along with the marginalizing of Kreacher's role were some of the points with which I have contention; nonetheless, the movie is absolutely the best of the Harry Potter movies, which is saying something considering it comes from one of the more baseline books. The book wasn't a Chamber of Secrets, but it was no Half Blood Prince. Anyway, if you haven't seen the movie, don't read this next paragraph.
















How could they do Sirius's death like that? I mean, I laughed. Not just me, the entire theatre was laughing. It was comical. I had the image in my head of him falling back into the gate, not being lifted all "crucifixion pose" like upwards. I really am very mad about this one scene almost ruining an otherwise spectacular movie. This is almost as bad as the NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!! from Darth Vader. In fact, I am going to directly compare those two scenes: they both sucked. But, Sirius at least sucked in a decent movie, and not a movie that ws already a flaming pile of poo.

recent music acquisitons

Okay, I went on a little wild the other day looking for new music. You see, I "obtained" a copy of the movie Thelonius Monk: Straight, No Chaser, and I just got a hankering for some jazz. So I went full out and got a copy of Monk In Paris: Live At the Olympia. It's so nice, especially "Epistrophy," which is just so easy to get caught up in and feel the music. I believe this is the first time I've ever used three different formats to indicate pieces of work- italicizing the movie, underlining the album, and putting the song in quotation marks. Anyone know if I got that right? I have a sneaking suspicion I could have underline the movie AND the album, or italicize both. I'm really not sure. Thank goodness for not being an English major.

Also, for my Dad's birthday, my oldest sister (the one with the terribly cute son, my awesome nephew), got my dad three Loudon Wainwright III albums- Album II, Attempted Mustache, and Strange Weirdos (which is the soundtrack for knocked up). I really, really, really like this music. Not only is it funny, well written, perfectly delivered and just a bit wacky, it's the exact music I would create were I a songwriter. The first time I listened to "The Man Who Couldn't Cry" I actually sang about half of the third verse in my head- during the first chorus. It was freaky how much I can predict these songs. Mainly it was awesome, because I've found more music in which I can delight (hah! I love grammar sometimes), and I really love falling asleep to "Grey in LA." Thanks older sister!

In other news: I'm getting ready to switch to typepad. I don't know if I will do it, but I certainly will after the mission. I just get so frustrated with Blogspot's image stuff. It's rather a hassle.

Chow.

okay, sorry

I know I'm doing the whole one post/day on each of my blogs, but, I went to San Antonio to pick up my brother. My dad and I went, that is- my mom wouldn't let me drive to San Antonio alone, much less let me go to Paris with my dad. Heaven forbid I go to the greatest city on earth for a week and have the opportunity to be culturally enriched while meeting high profile investment bankers (investment banking, for those of you who don't know, is the career path I am currently investigating). But no... I'm just 18. I can't do stuff on my own because I'm obviously not good enough to do that kind of stuff.

More posts later. I just needed to let off some steam. Hemmingway and Fitzgerald weep for what could have been, but alas, is not.

happy independence day!

Lets never forget our freedoms, or how much they mean.

topics i think about

Since my work is rather repetitive and formulaic, I am able to just set myself to auto-pilot and think. I've come up with a lot of things to think about, and so I though I'd share them with you. Some of these could go well on my personal finance blog, but don't quite fit.

-Urban finances: Their bank accounts- where they bank, how much they save, spending habits, anything they invest in, and what drives them to act. Also, the effects of advertising to urban culture and buying patterns from that advertising.
-Dilbert: it's scary how close Dilbert can come to my work life. I see it all the time, where I can almost pick out lines to put in thought bubble or word bubble. It gets really scary.
-Pokemon: I'm ashamed to say it, but I've been playing Pokemon Silver a lot lately. I'm to the final four, and will probably destroy everybody. I caught Lugia. It's so addictive.

Yeah, there's more. But I'm tired. Maybe later.

Update: I went through the final four and beat everyone, but lost to the Pokemon Master Lance. His dragon type are too much for me. But, I only had 5 pokemon, and one of them was eevee, who I'm trying to make evolve into umbreon. I'm also trying to catch Raikou, the legendary dog, because the one thing I'm lacking is a strong electric type pokemon, and I don't want to bother with raising one, I'd rather just get on that's already lvl 40. I have a master ball, and I've searched all over. Hopefully I'll catch him today. Soon... soon.

my obsession with moleskine

I have an unhealthy obsession. I cannot deny this. I love moleskine notebooks. I have, currently, three cashiers, a small sketchbook, a small notebook, a large notebook, and a small daily planner for 2007.

I use them constantly. I love taking little notes, drawing random stuff, keeping track of stuff. My most recent pickup was the large notebook- currently blank, but will soon be filled with lots of awesome things. My favorite one is the day planner- it's really thick, but it's saved my life on so many occasions. I can keep track of daily expenses, I can write down people's names who I meet and want to remember.

They're a bit on the expensive side, but I can't help myself. I have few things that I really obsess over, but moleskine notebooks are the exception. Occasionally I like really nice pens, but I buy those a lot less often than the moleskines. I plan to pick up one of the city ones for Paris, for the day when I do go to Paris. Of course I'm not picking it up right now, but whenever I do head to Paris I'm going to pick one up.

Okay, that's all.

ode to a laptop bag

My laptop bag is nice
It really is quite great
If it were an attractive lady
I'd take it on a date
But that's be kinda awkward
If she just held my laptop
People would look at her funny
And I'd ask her to stop
Oh my laptop bag has pockets
It really does have much
I put lots of things in them
Like pens and paper and such
It's even got a bottle holder
And a case for my laptop too
It hold my awesome laptop
Better than other bags do



Thank you.

the reasoning behind impulse

(Note: this post isn't funny)

When a certain action elicits a reaction of an instant nature, we view that as a natural reaction, one that cannot be controlled. But, to do this, we must concede that we lack control over our body as a whole. Indeed this is true, but we have a great amount of control- we can force our heart rate higher by exercising, we can slow it down by sleeping. We can breathe fast or slow, we can blink quickly or go to a certain point without blinking. There is very little we can't control, so why do we cede the natural reactions?

Perhaps the most evident argument is that we cannot control this natural reaction because it is unexpected. I agree, it is unexpected, but I disagree, I say it can be controlled, but not instantly, and not without will power. Impulse, reactions, they are the beast in man- they are things we must overcome because we are, indeed above the beast and unwilling to return to the lows, as said John Stuart Mill. Many say that we live in a society in which everyone is allowed to thrive, but truly they are not- we can easily see the swine, who roll in mud because they know no better; even if they did, they do not understand what better truly is. But we can also see the elegant homo sapiens, those who do because they can, and know that they are on a higher plane from which descending would be truly shameful. They have overcome the beast, they no longer cower at the proverbial lightning, indeed they expect it.

I cannot accept that it's impossible to avoid natural reactions because I know of some I can control. I have total control over my entire being in most situations because I strive to be conscious of myself in relation to everything around me. I could simply lay back and take it, reacting as I wish, letting myself be carried by the whims of nature, but I refuse because I am one of mankind. We have stopped reacting to nature, instead we control it, manipulate it, learn its patterns and use them to our advantage. If we then allow certain aspects of nature to overcome us, we have failed to understand the level to which we must rise.

This is not to say impulse is bad, for in our early years, we all have impulse we have not learned to control ourselves, we have not learned enough to react to every situation as would perhaps do us the most good. But, as we grow and learn, we can string together experiences and learn how to react in a new situation by assimilation of past experiences, a balance of what works in one situation and another based on how this situation by which we are faced compares to those previous situations, this is how we grow. This is how we exceed our expectations. We do not have to rely only on our personal experience, that is why we learn history, is to learn and be able to draw on past experience, not simply to know what happened, but to know what will happen. More importantly, we learn it to know how to stop or react to what will happen, we will know what worked, what failed, we will be better than our predecessors, and our progeny will be yet greater.

I have considered it, and I see impulse as simply the beginning- we start by reactions, we control those reactions, we adapt these actions to new situations and thus we survive. In this wise, we are no better than animals, but we are uniquely capable of creating to solve problems as no animal is. We are able to not just use tools, but use the best tools available, we are able to further our understanding through research and simulation, something animals lack. At the base we do share the learning process with animals, but we are humans because we take this learning process and kick it in to overdrive, going beyond what should be capable. That is how humankind wins. We exceed nature's expectations, and in doing that we can learn to control it, use it, and facilitate it for our own uses.

i'd like to dedicate this post

To styx's "Come Sail Away" because that's what is playing right now. I've got to be free... free to face the life that's ahead of me. Very inspiring.

My nephew is about the cutest baby in the world, even if he cries more than anything else. He has a lot of squeaks and hiccups and occasionally an almost-giggle, but generally, he's crying. Or about to cry, but this morning he was smiling a lot. he does this funny thing where he just sticks his tongue in and out like a snake- I really don't know why but it's something I haven't seen in any other baby.

It's nice to have him over because I miss playing with babies. The last baby I really got to play with was Emily's niece and that stopped when Emily and I stopped dating, which was one of the big disappointments for me. I know it's like.. four years at least until I might be a dad, but I think I'll do a good job, if only because I'll let my wife take care of all the gross stuff. Hahahaha... yeah, my wife is going to hate me. I actually wrote a letter to my future self (seven years older- that's 25) and I'm giving it to this guy who will mail it to me in seven years and I'll read it. I wrote a lot of funny stuff and left some money and my expired license and BYU ID card. I guess I'll have to get a new one this fall.

Little Bro gets in today, as does G-Ma Mississippi. Exciting stuff. Uncle B and Aunt R came over yesterday, as did cousin J, and we had a nice big lunch of burgers and dawgs and sun chips. Man, I love sun chips. I got a haircut, unfortunately, and went and got groceries for my experiment on my personal finance blog. I'm really satisfied with what I bought, and I'm sure I'll be able to surpass my wildest expectations in terms of how long the groceries last.

being a working man

I remember the days of yester-semester, right when everything started to go right and I felt fulfilled and a bit overwhelmed by everything, but it was okay because I knew and believed in what I was doing. This is kind of how I'm feeling now. I love having a job, though not necessarily the job I'm at, but I don't dislike it. It's good experience, and I'll have contacts to add on my resume now that will be solid contacts. Not that my dad wasn't a solid contact, it's just nice to move beyond the apparent nepotism.

Tomorrow is a full day- helping someone move, getting groceries, taking care of recycling, getting a hair cut, writing enough blogs to make up for lost time and enough that I'll be able to post once every other day and not feel guilty. I kind of plan on switching between this blog and my personal finance blog so that if you go to both, you'll never not hear from me! Except on sundays, I'll use those to write more content and to rest. I feel like I really want to become a full-fledged blogger, unfortunately, in about six months, I will be on a mission with no access to blogger, unable to hold on to my amazing posts. A two year hiatus, highlighted by me coming back and posting ridiculously long stories. I hope I don't turn into that. I want to be this blogger- this blogger intrigues me, because it is me in so many ways, but at the same time it is simply a projection of me, somewhat distorted by the medium and lack of personalization.

My main concern is my gmail account. I have two, and I love the names. I don't want to lose that just because I've been away two years. Though, I might be able to check email- it really depends on the Mission President where I go, though by then, computers might be standard. Maybe missionary blogs will be too- giant blog rings of missionaries sharing stories and tips and, ah who am I kidding. It would be really hard to pull that off. Turns out google will delete my account after 9 months of inactivity. So if I can't use it on the mission, I will have to give my parents the password and make sure they sign in and jiggle the mouse periodically. I really like my emails- d.n.m***** at gmail and dan.theman.m***** at gmail are by far the only addresses I'll ever need, in my opinion, one personal, the other professional. I don't know if I need the asterisks, but I'll take it like I typed, so deal with it.

To be fair, this isn't my main concern, but it's the main concern I want to blog about because it's somewhat relevant to the blog itself. I'm actually more concerned about being financially and mentally and spiritually prepared, but a lot of that is just personal and I'd feel really weird giving that out in a blog. But not so much in real life, with friends, I think it's easier to discuss that kind of stuff. it'd be weird to talk about my gmail accounts with kids I usually hang out with.

Working is nice though. I am really a guy who enjoys work, as weird as that is.

the sweetest thing

I'm a working man, working 8-5 figuring out everything I need to do, and overall I'm enjoying it. Though, admittedly I am working at Greenspoint which is at times a bit scary, but overall it's not too bad because the office I'm working at has plenty of places for lunch right next to it, and soon I'll probably just bring my own lunch.
The only thing that I could really ask for is my own car, but even that isn't too important because I'm able to ride with my dad or mom. As soon as every who's over goes back home, I'll probably be able to take my mom's car to work. I do love having my sister and nephew over- he's so adorable, everything he does just makes me smile. He's really entranced by lights and fans, and we have plenty of them for him to stare at.
At my work they have these amazing coffee machines- they have built in packets of different kinds of coffee, but also they have hot chocolate and a milky way based hot cocoa. I've come to be addicted to the milky way based cocoa, because it's just so good. I might have to get my own mug, because when the door opens up for you to put these packets in, if your styrofoam cup is too big, it will crush the edge.
I should be getting my new laptop bag by this weekend, which I am super excited about. It's gotten rave reviews at apple.com and I'm very impressed with all the technical specs- everyone says it's big enough to hold a lot of stuff, but it never gets too bulky. Sounds like the perfect bag, but I'll be the real judge of that. I'm obsessively tracking it at FedEx because I'm a little too involved in delivery sometimes. But I also love tracking things- watching stock trends, shipping orders, migration patterns, and os much more. There's so many interesting things, mostly I get my maps and trend diagrams from kottke.org but I just go with whatever my Google Reader is giving me at the time.
I also obsessively read The Consumerist because it intrigues me, but I really want to start reading The Economist because I love economics with an unholy passion and it seems to be the highest quality magazine with the best written articles widely available for a reasonable price. That was a rather long sentence, I cannot deny that, though this one might turn out longer because it is, in fact, an observation of the former, which observation must indeed exceed the observed lest such observation becomes null and is simply a restatement of the previous sentence when in fact the observation must observe the previous sentence as well as itself. I love being intelligent.

i'm really enjoying my wiki

dnmeehan.pbwiki.com.

I've added an FAQ, and dating application, and have fixed some of the formatting issues that existed previously. That page just fits my sense of humor so well- something about it is just so me.

I'm trying to get more people interested in this blog. That and my Echo Boomer Finance blog. I really enjoy blogging, and I wish more people would read them- I've posted facebook listings, I import notes to my facebook, and I just try and get my name out there, in hopes that people will recognize me and like what I say.

I'm going to try and move more towards writing- long articles, reviews, advice (for the finance blog) and so forth, in hopes that moving away from the journal-entry style of my posts will make this blog more... viewable. But I won't be moving completely away, don't fret. I'll still have witty insights and lifetime updates.

Pictures of my nephew to come.