The Social Network.

So it occurred to me last night in the shower (yes, the shower), that social media--America's latest obsessional vice-- (blogs, Facebook, twitter, etc..) are so appealing and practically viral because of the  post-modern shortage of recognition, love, and human-need of individual expression (unless you happen to be a celebrity.)
It's no wonder--as I look at the population in general--barreling to lunch or commuting to work--people don't even wanna look at you--much less hear about what you had for breakfast, who wrote on your Facebook wall last night, or you that you're against Obama's latest foreign policy.  These sites--these modes of expression--are no more than a desperate, and to some degree--even narcissistic method of giving us a false sense of being wanted, connected, popular and loved (hey, obviously I'm guilty of it too.)
 The funny thing is--is even though I know all this is true--I still can't help but like to think every time I put up a new blogpost--someone out there is avidly hanging on my every word ( practically drooling over a computer screen, waiting to hear about my life as if  I'm some sort of fictional misunderstood-hero of a best-selling novel ha.)  The truth of the matter is--no one actually cares--save a few. It's funny, because I realize my blog has really just become a therapeutic diary-of-sorts..something that I can look back on and say"oh, yeah...I remember when that happened and I felt that way.."

"The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool." 
— William Shakespeare (As You Like It)


I also realized that all I really wanted out of life was to love and be loved (as cheesy as it sounds). All the adventures along the way are just taking joy in experiencing the world and all it has to offer..but it doesn't mean anything unless I can share my wonder/experience/feelings with someone. And so ( from all this deep-soul-searching stuff...naturally I started googling ha.) What I found were a couple of chilling quotes from some pretty cool people...

"When a poor person dies of hunger, it has not happened because God did not take care of him or her.

It has happened because neither you nor I wanted to give that person what he or she needed. 

 Everybody today seems to be in such a terrible rush, anxious for greater developments and greater riches and so on, so that children have very little time for their parents. Parents have very little time for each other, and in the home begins the disruption of peace of the world.

If we really want to love we must learn how to forgive."

While I'm on my cheese-puff soap box...check out the YouTube clip featured below (if you haven't haven't already)--for some reason it's become an inspiration-of-sorts haha..plus the song is bomb. ("Got Nuffin"- by Spoon) 

NOTE: I'm not saying I have (or ever will/am supporting) ramming one's car into suburban homes unannounced...I just like the vibes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=roI-IkEUWhM

Sheeple and Maroons (Mah-RUNEs)

I am sick and tired of people who have so much sorrow for their own struggles (yet a total lack-of- empathy/sympathy) for anybody else. FOR EXAMPLE...

 EXHIBIT A: an email I received this morning.

"Hello blahblah,

While this is a nice cause and everything and I might normally be interested. This is not appropriate for the cuwomenstrack email chain. I don't mind getting all the cross country emails even when they don't pertain to me because they are track related, but I do mind getting spammed.

-  Sheeple McSheepster"

--> I am tired of attempting to be there for other people-- only to discover over and over again, that the carelessness of mind that led to their problems will affect me in the end as they exercise their carelessness with me. I am tired of being unperceivable ----yet having to navigate the endless projections of others concerning who I may be.

--> I am tired of being interpreted through my performance of self-- rather than being judged by my potential to be responsive to everything that effects me.

--> Most of all, I am tired of being used and worn down by obligations to the people I love. I am angry that I must constantly toil without peace, while surrounded by overwhelming social stupidity and protectionism.
--> I am perhaps most angry that I was not more confident about myself earlier in life and able to figure out a way to live alone, and have a decent life at the same time.

  At this point, I'm so angry that my own ethical disposition - only after finding out I'm better than being a capitalist stooge. Sometimes I feel frustrated by the sheer stupidity of the world (in general), and --am sad to say--- enjoy my own company more than anyone else's sometimes.
GREAT.
Now, I'm even angry at myself for the horrible things I wish upon stupid-people everywhere who insist on being either a sheeple or maroon--OR BOTH.

V-Blog ReVamped.

V-Blog will now be called "The UnVectorious". Due to the recent unrelenting-monolistic nature of V-Blog--the site will be under-going a bit of reconstruction for a couple of days. No worries. V-Blog will still have the same element--but, like water  being poured into a different-sized mug--it's filling it's new environment (which is still pretty unclear at this point)-- but, whatever.

The lives of the V-Bloggers are changing and diverging onto different directions...with unknown destinations. So, embracing change--and the hands holding us, V marches onward into unknown territory. 

So Why "UnVectorious?"

- A Vector is a straight line.

- Life is not a straight line.

- The new direction of the blog is quite branched-out and experimental (rather than promotional with a unifying theme.) 

-  T. Roosevelt's "man in the arena"speech is epic. 

- It's my experience that winning isn't everything. Mistakes are more valuable.

- Sometimes a goodbye is a second chance in disguise.

...I'm not angry, I'm just sayin'--  even "The UnVectorious" are welcome.

Vocabulary Enrichment.

Our technology-wired population is constantly creating new dimensions to reality. Even armed with an iPhone-(an almost essential "portable-portal"- to the invisible (but omnipresent) force of the Internet), it's difficult to keep up with today's lingo. Here's a couple interesting ones I came across today....

“cherry-blossoming”

- Following Twitter feeds and liking Facebook pages for pay. Taking it’s name from the Japanese slang for professional fans--”sakura”, or cherry blossoms--the technique lets companies buy social clout.

“Proofers”

-People who demand that Osama bin Laden is dead. Like “birthers”, proofers insist on evidence-- yet find their conspiracies more believable than evidence.

“macaroon-technique”

- He used PowerPoint to impart what he calls the “macaroon technique,” referring to the sandwich-like French macaron pastry. This can be applied to most any product (including, presumably, a Xerox machine) and goes something like this: “Madam, this timepiece (or diamond or handbag) comes from our finest workshop and it has a value of $10,000. If you buy it, your children are sure to enjoy it for generations to come.”

“Seagan”

- As for food Kelli is what she likes to call a, “Seagen.” A vegan that eats seafood.

“Dittoism”

-There is a tendency in favour of what is called “dittoism,” i.e., everyone thinking the same thought without a healthy tendency to break the uniformity of thought.

“broccoli-journalism”

-Collective responsibility. Socialized journalism. This is the ultimate in broccoli journalism: You are not only forced to read what journalists say is good for you but you are now forced to pay for it through taxation.

Plus One me?

GOOGLE + GUIDE

In capitalism, no corporation can survive as a monopoly for long. Just like the Android market emerged to compete with Apple’s dominion over the smartphone industry, Google’s has introduced “Google plus”-- a new online social network initiative directly aiming to redefine how social sharing works. With new practical concepts like organized “Circles”, “Hangouts” and other innovative features, Google plus is definitely here to stay and not afraid to compete.

.....So You Want to Setup a Google Plus Profile?
Before you respond to a Google + invite...be informed!!!


- Google + only works if you own a Google account with an active “Google Profile”. So if you  wanna sign up for Google Plus...make sure you have a working profile!
- For all you appsters--be informed that only regular Gmail accounts are supported by Google  +, so you can’t use your Google apps account to setup a profile. (So if you asked your  buddy to send you a Google + invite and give them your Google Apps email address---you  won’t ever receive it in your inbox!)
- If you happen to have a Yahoo or Windows Live or Hotmail account, DON”T WORRY! All is  not lost--just use your existing address to sign up for a Gmail account (if haven’t done so  already.) Once you’ve signed up-- you’re good to go! ( But don’t forget to create a google  profile within your Gmail account and make sure it’s visible to the public.)
YAY! So you’ve got a Google + Invite! Now what?
Calm down. Just click on the invitation link delivered to your email address and you’ll be transported to the magical world of Google +. Now sign in with your Google account username and you’re official.

The Power of Vernacular: The First Official Publication.

Long-time-no-updates.sorry. I've been busy writing other stuff. Here's a glimpse at some of the stuff I've been doing. (Below is a posting I wrote for the company I'm interning for this summer:)

Unveiling the Gender Gap.

"Our wildly capable intern Leila reviewed “The Male Brain” and “The Female Brain” by Dr. Louann Brizendine. "

Have you ever wondered why women are more verbally fluent or how females seem to recall details of arguments that their male partners don’t seem to ever recall? These, (along with countless other gender-gaped conumdrums), have finally been answered!

Dr. Louann Brizendine’s literary masterpieces :“The Male Brain” and “The Female Brain”— work gently to unveil the once-elusive shrowd of illogical mystery behind female-wiring without compromising the basic-blueprinting behind a more jagged-edged jigsaw puzzle that is the male brain. In her “Male Brain” book, Dr. Louann effectively demonstrates through every phase of life, that the “male reality” is actually shockingly-different from the feminine one. Without forgetting to address even the latest psycho/nuerology breakthroughs— Brizendine uses her witty and refreshingly simplistic dialogue to reveal simple laws of nature—such as: a male-brain is mostly like a comprehensive problem-solving vat. For example, when men are confronted with a personal issue, they facilitate their analytical brain structures (rather than the more emotional ones of women), to devise a quick-effective solution. In addition, males also tend to feed off of competition—-males are, by nature, physically rough and instictually-consumed by personal rank and hierarchy. Also, (unsurprisingly) we learn that men’s cranial region devoted to sexual-pursuit is two and a half times larger than their female counterparts. (Also, due to the massive increase of testosterone in the male brain at puberty, men perceive others’ faces to be more aggressive.) Impeccably researched and at the cutting edge of scientific knowledge, this is a book that every man, and especially every woman bedeviled by a man, will need to own.

Now New York Time’s Best Sellers, Dr. Louann’s books offer two new comprehensive looks at the biochemical roller coaster that rules men’s and women’s lives down to the cellular level. They prove again and again to be user’s (and non-users) guides to new insight on the research about female vs. male brains and the neurobehavioral systems that make us unique. Even though the books are referenced like works of research, Brizedine’s down-to-earth writing style is fully comprehensible. While Brizendine provides fascinating looks at specifics—like the complex life-cycle of a woman’s brain from birth to birthing (“Motherhood changes you because it literally alters a woman’s brain-structurally, functionally, and in many ways, irreversibly”) to menopause (when “the female brain is nowhere near ready to retire”) and beyond; it’s refreshing to know that at the same time, Brizedine proves she is not above covering the basics.

Although Brizendine establishes that males and females are starkly different on a cellular level— we still prove quite capable of possessing both male and female qualities. For example, I’m willing to bet that you have no shortage of personal examples of women you know who would start world wars over coffee or would have no quams over slitting a few throats in a boardroom. And believe it or not, there are also plenty of examples of men who are gentle and nurturing and care more about the environment and poverty for the earth and its inhabitants.

Interestingly, for the first time in history, more women occupy the working world than their male counterparts. Currently, females make up fifty-three percent of the professional /managerial positions. So what’s causing the shift? Recent studies prove that if women’s values were more widely accepted, the world would be a far kinder place. We would understand our profound interdependence, and know that the good of one is inextricably bound to the good of all others. It’s completely understandable considering humanity’s sick of an ego-based environment that always leads to testosterone-spurred warfare leaking with old money and dirty politics. For years the majority of the female population is aware of the fact that these manly-values have inevitably driven our society into the dirt (eventually making life unlivable for future generations.)

For example, did you know that over ninety-percent of incarcerations are male? As Bezentine proves, males are programmed to act on behalf of their aggressive nature. The male hormones, androgen and testosterone combined with physical strength and toxic male-cultural mandates such as the societal conditioning of men to avoid tender feelings creates an evolution of an economic system that rewards competition rather than co-operation. These factors, along with others, have fused in such a way that muted aggressors translated from a patriarchal society has ultimately atrophied humanity’s skills of relations, spirituality, and emotional perspective that would facilitate actualisations of productive communication and problem-solving practices.

So what would the world look like if the world was run by women? Well, for one thing, world leaders might open conferences with peaceful questions instead of antagonizing accusations. For example, we might hope to mimic the peaceful Masai tribes of Africa and greet each other with one of their simple greetings—“How are the children?” Interestingly, most of these Musai leaders are mothers, so their ambitions were centered around the well-being of their “children”—rather than personal gain and political “ladder-climbing”. If a Musai leader could not answer with the expected response: “The children are well,” she would start formulating a plan during the conference in which the world where her “children” lived would be suitable for their needs.

While it remains to be said that the world still needs both male and female energy (both yin and yang) to remain a whole personality. We need the male courage, power, protection and frankness to balance out the female nurturing, listening, feeling, taking in and holding. With that being said, the world still has been extremely overwhelmed with aggressive energy for too long. What is happening now in the global power shift—is more of a strive for balance. Either way, Dr. Brizentine’s books are inspiring and more than informative (while still incorporating cutting-edge scientific knowledge) making these books a beachside read that every man, (and every woman bedeviled by a man), needs to read!