哈哈， 我真的好久没有在这里登过什么了。 我现在在成都了， 打算在这里上半年的课。 本来是打算要上一年的，可是我的生活现在很复杂啊。 我认识一个人。 可以说是我的另外一半吧。 你们可能会觉得很惊讶， 其实我也觉得很惊讶。 我的另外一半居然是个女的。 哈哈， 其实我有时还不敢说呢。。。。我觉得。。我还是有点怕被人知道。 我知道我不可能让我妈知道， 即使要让他知道， 我也要等到我回来以后跟她当面说。 -叹气- 我的人生啊， 复杂得很。



我现在也不知道我对她怎么样。。。我觉得我有时候是真的很爱她， 可是有时候就受不了， 想跟她分手。 我都要疯了。 Long distance relationships 真的太惨了。 如果我不是很爱她的话， 我觉得我一定不会干这种事的。 既然她愿意等我， 我觉得我应该试一试， 如果我想要什么的话， 我在中国也可以要啊哈哈。我知道这样想很不好，可是我觉得。。。我既然来到了中国， 就应该详尽这里的生活，但就因为我们在一起的原因， 我有点觉得我被选住了， 可是我却放不了手。 好了， 现在不说了。 等我回来以后再说吧。

Life?

今天是我第一天用中文写日记。我想永远记得怎么写中文。今天除了是我的朋友Chorvin的生日已外，我还看完了唐心风暴。真的很好看！我觉得那处细很好看。很惨也很棒！里面的actors真的演的很好。特别是Linda Chung 的character。她是一个新演员。好像是第3次做细。除了她以外，还有Raymond Lam 和Moses Chan。 Sigh。。。那处细真的包溶了很多的家庭感情和问题。看完了以后，我真的想知道我们的家像不像他们的家。又复杂又难享初。Sigh。。。不开心的事还是不说了。我跟那个男人真不知道怎么搞得。又时候我会觉得他很好，有时候又会觉得他很烦。可能个天想叫我找别的人了。

Undecided

Many may think that the hell scenario is inevitable, but not Jaron Zepel Lanier. He is totally neutral and does not believe in the heaven or the hell scenario. Lanier thinks that Kurzweil and Joy are both over stators. He judges them as paranoid people that build a cage around themselves to imprison them. Lanier doesn’t believe that technology can either lead to heaven or hell. He believes that there is a third path. Garreau calls these visions The Prevail Scenario.

In Lanier’s Prevail Scenario, he is talking about transcendence through an “infinite game.” He gets his information about infinite games and finite games from James P. Carse. A finite game is a game that is played for the purpose of winning; an infinite game is a game played for the purpose of continuing to play. I agree with Lanier’s thoughts about infinite games being the real transcendence games. All humans are basically living on a game board.

The game is being played infinitely. Unlike finite games, it will never end and it can never stop. In finite games, you can quickly tell which way the game will end up going. The heaven and hell scenarios are finite games. The finite games are set up to follow a path and let the user predict the next step. In these games, once a path is chosen, there is no way to surpass that. In infinite games, you can transcend that boundary. There is no definite path for infinite games.

There is always a way to transcend it. This is just how it’s like in the technology world. The outcomes of enhancing our current technology can go both ways. It can either be a finite game or an infinite game. For the infinite game, technology enhancing doesn’t necessarily mean hell or heaven. There are ways where you can transcend these scenarios. If we can create ways to enhance the technology and make or lives better, then maybe there are ways where we can create a different path for us.

Just because god or whoever gave us a road doesn’t mean we have to follow it. We can think of different ways that would suit us better. It’s just like the cuttlefish. Even though it is born with a soft and vulnerable body, it uses its wits to capture its prey with ease. The cuttlefish has a vulnerable body, but it still finds ways to survive. The cuttlefish doesn’t just live with its fate, it thinks of ways where it can prevail and adapt to what it’s given. Humans can also do that. Even after we messed with a little technology enhancements, we can still do different things to prevail.

Technology also serves as a way to connect ourselves with others. Lanier concludes his success of prevail with the third ramp of progress. For this ramp, he talks about the interpersonal connections. He uses a cell phone as an example. Cell phones can connect you in a matter of seconds and tell you what’s happening lately and give you all the insight. Lanier says that someone can text you and you would forward it to someone else and soon everyone would know what’s going on.

This would be totally different in 1962 because back then, if you wanted to find out any information, you would have to go to the strip or malt shop. Lanier calls this “swarming.” Technology brings people together to a face-to-face contact. Swarming later leads to “time-softening,” “cell dancing,” “life skittering,” “posse pinging,” “drunk dialing,” and “smart mobs.” The cell phones serve as a connectivity ramp for the prevail scenario.

Cell phones are not the only things that can connect you with others. Today, we have many different devices like the fax machine, the computer, the photocopier, and etcetera. All of these can transmit information quickly to others. When everyone is connected, it is easier to divert strategies to make the prevail scenario work. When everyone is working together, there is a higher success rate than just a couple of people working alone.

As I said before, Lanier is neutral in this scenario. He has different thoughts about technology. He wants enhancements and be able to avoid the hell scenario at the same time. He can’t wait for the ramp of connectivity to give him the communication powers. Lanier wants to be the first to be connected with all the powers of technology. The Prevail Scenario would be a successful ending to technology enhancements.

The Inevitable Future

The scientists who created these high tech things that lead to the heaven scenario never thought about what would happen if everything went haywire. They didn’t think of the consequences. Some of the people that actually thought about what would happen are Bill Joy, Francis Fukuyama, and Baroness Susan Greenfield. These individuals have all created their version of the hell scenario for us. I’ve read all and agreed to all of their views, but I think I’m most passionate about Bill Joy’s hell scenario.
In the beginning, Bill Joy was a person who helped developed all of these new technologies, but in the end, he became afraid of it himself. He believes that the things that he helped create may one day become so powerful that it can reproduce on its own and have its own mind. He says, “Nanotechnology holds out the possibility of the ‘gray goo’ end-of-the-world scenario, in which devices too tough, too small, and too rapidly spreading to stop, suck everything vital our of all living things, reducing their husks to ashy mud in a matter of days.”
I believe that one day, if humans really did create smart robots to do everything by themselves, they will become really smart and will not need human programming. They will be able to reproduce by themselves and replicate more and more. Eventually, when this happens, it will be the end of the world because robots will inevitably be smarter than us. “…the genetically engineered pathogens, the super intelligent robots, the tiny nanotech assemblers and of course the computer viruses could create trillions more of themselves, vastly more unstoppable than mosquitoes bearing the worst plagues.”
It is still not too late to avoid this hell scenario. We can still prevent this from happening if we cease developing new technologies. If we stop developing new technologies that are too dangerous for us, then we will not have to worry about the hell scenario happening. Joy says, “The only realistic alternative I see is relinquishment,” he concluded, “to limit development of the technologies that are too dangerous, by limiting our pursuit of certain kinds of knowledge.”
Humans today already have the best technology. All of the nanotechnology and other advanced things that are being created are pretty redundant. People do not need these things to survive. They are just like optional add-ons to life. I mean, who needs a programmed housemaid robot when you can just go hire a real human being to do the chore? Even though humans do make mistakes sometimes, at least they’re actually alive and they can learn how to change. These new technologies just make humans lazier. Having your child become super smart is cool, but is it really them? It’s not their true self. It’s just the added chemicals in their body that’s doing all the work.
“It’s like death and taxes. We have this problem. It will get us.” The scientists who created these things are even sure if it’s really safe. I’ve mentioned before that if the injected nanobots go haywire in your body, there would be a high possibility that you will die. If we stopped all of these undeveloped technologies, we still have a chance to avoid the hell scenario. If you told scientists to just stop developing, of course they wouldn’t listen because they think differently. “Scientists do not believe they can do their work if they have to consider consequences.”
Joy believes that scientists and technologists must take clear responsibility for the consequences of their discoveries. In his scenario, if any program crashed, hundreds of millions of people would starve to death. I agree to this because by that time, all humans would probably be used to not doing anything naturally. They have probably lost all their farming abilities and rely solely on technology. If anything went wrong, “he predicted that America and Europe would have to undergo ‘mild’ food rationing within the decade.”
There are also others that believe they can avoid the hell scenario. John Seely Brown and Paul Duguid believe that it’s possibly to avoid the hell scenario. They say it takes work for defense and offense to co-evolve. No matter what Brown and Duguid say, it seems that Bill Joy will always think that the hell scenario is inevitable. Joy thinks that whatever bullets that humanity has dodged over the years is pure “luck.” Brown argues that for hundreds and thousands of years, humans have successfully created their own luck to avoid these bullets.
After reading all of these different scenarios, I believe I’m for the idea of the hell scenario. I think this scenario is inevitable. If we do not stop doing technologies that might hurt humans and the physical state of the planet, we will all be doomed. Everything mentioned in the hell scenario would slowly come true piece by piece. Humans should stop before its too late to go back.

Analytical Response On The Frye Art Museum

What was my feeling when I first entered the Frye Art Museum? Well, I know I felt quite relaxed. The lighting of the museum gave me a soothing feeling that made me throw all of my worries away. It seemed like the only thing that the museum would let me do was enjoy the artwork that was displayed there and nothing else. I think the designer of this museum was really thoughtful about what they wanted the people to see when they came in. All of the little things that the designer put in there all represent something. Each little aspect has a special meaning that adds to what the designer wants the people to think.
For example, one of the things that the designer used was the dim lighting effects. The dim lights in the rooms set off a feeling of home. Lots of people at home don’t like to use bright lights because they want to relax after a long day’s work. If you have bright lights shining in your eyes all the time, it would make you feel uneasy because it would make it seem like you are being interrogated. In most workplaces, people use bright lights so that they can keep their employees working and focused all the time.
This museum uses the lighting effect to attract more people to come view the art. The extra plush chairs that are stationed around the room also help people feel more relaxed when they are in there. They set them in the middle of the room so people can sit down and enjoy the artwork at the same time. All of the paintings that they chose have vibrant colors and realistic effects. Furthermore, the artists’ know when to use rough edges and when to smooth out the paintings to make it more dazzling yet pleasing to the eyes.
The way that they painted it brings the images to life. For example, in one of the paintings, a painter portrayed a group of chickens in their coop. The artist’s uses of colors made the chickens appear real and stand out. If I didn’t know that it was a painting, I would have thought that the chickens were real. Even though the architecture of the building is quite plain, the contents inside is what intrigues me the most. The layout of the museum has many walls inside that are used for displaying paintings.
In specific areas of the museum, there are bright lights. The area of the bright lights is used for photographs instead of paintings. That area is full of Candida Hofer’s pictures. I think the designer chose to put bright lights in this section because all of Hofer’s pictures react greatly with light. The lighting enhances the picture’s look to be more flamboyant. If there were no lights, the photographs would probably look very gloomy. The designer knows how to manipulate people’s feelings by using the different shades of light.
To me, the art structure of this museum didn’t catch my attention very well. Maybe it was just the image of the art that it displayed. However, I did like seeing the pictures that were taken by Candida Hofer. All of his pictures were so full of colors. He had many pictures from palace looking places like the Palacio Real Madrid I 2000. The picture that he took there was amazing. It was nice and full of colors. He also took it at an angle that made it look like the person could walk right into the hall.
Like I said before, the lighting of that specific section enhances the pictures quality. It draws more people to it. When I first went into that area, I was so intrigued by all of the pictures because it all seemed so clear to me. I was able to see them clearly and lively. Some of the pictures had me standing there staring at it in awe. There was this one picture that caught my attention for more than five minutes. I forgot to jot down the title of it, but I do remember it was a picture of silverware and plates.
The photographer set his camera in the middle of the room and shot a picture of the table with all of the silverware and plates. He also caught the side image where you could see stands with pottery on it and reflections of the table. As for the artwork that was placed around the other side of the museum; I wasn’t really into them. I didn’t have that “feeling” when I was looking at it. I didn’t feel too drawn to it because not all of them had vibrant colors.
Most of the pictures gave me a feeling that said, “It’s just a normal picture with a girl in it, what’s so good about it?” Some of the pictures were really bizarre too. For example, one of the paintings showed a horse shed on fire. Maybe there was some sort of meaning to it, but I didn’t get it. If you ask me what kind of art I would prefer, I would probably tell you I like anime art. Anime art is a type of artwork that was discovered in Japan. It’s basically cartoon characters drawn with huge eyes and weird shades of hair.
I like this type of artwork because it is easy to draw and you don’t have to be so detailed about it. You can sketch up a drawing in like ten minutes while it takes like two days to draw something nice with pastel or paint. Anime art can be manipulated in
anyway you want. I like it because you can draw whatever you want and however you want anytime and at the end, it still looks lovely. I would prefer anime art over any other kind.

Palacio Real Madrid I 2000

Have you ever dream about being in a royal palace? Have you ever thought about actually going in one? I know I have. After seeing Candida Hofer’s “Palacio Real Madrid I 2000,” I can stop dreaming now because I have just seen it. I was completely mesmerized by the color and how realistic it was. The vibrant colors of the image made everything look so real. I almost thought that I was wandering around in the palace myself.
The picture had many things in it. One of the things that I would always remember about it is the seven shiny chandeliers hanging in the room. It was so bright that I almost felt blinded by it. The chandeliers had numerous shiny pieces dangling from its sides. Even though the chandeliers weren’t lit, the light from the angle made it shine. Towards the middle of the room, there was an arc on the ceiling with engravings on it. The engravings were engraved on top of a green marble surface. The engravings were gold and took shapes of vines, emblems, and many other patterns.
Through the picture, you could also see that the room had five viewable doorways. Each of these doorways had red and gold color patterned curtains hanging above them. Both sides of the curtains were tied neatly to the pole near the wall. All of these additional aspects made the room appear more luxurious and pretty than it already was. In the middle of the room, there was a long table covered with a white cloth there. If the table was round, I would have called it King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, but unfortunately, the shape was rectangular.
There were nearly over two hundred or more chairs around the table that were tilted to the right. Some chairs were also stationed around the walls of the room. It seemed like the room was an assembly hall for the king and his subjects to discuss some big issues. I predicted it to be an assembly hall because all the chairs were tilted to the right so that the king’s subjects could clearly see him talking when he is announcing something.
Whoever designed this room had every single thing planned out. The green marble walls sent off this strong sovereign feeling, making it seemed like this place was fit for an assembly hall for a king. Moreover, there were countless paintings surrounding this room, but the work of art that stood out the most was the two large paintings that portrayed different locations in a royal palace. To finish off this beautiful room, gold children, adults, vines, emblems, and other unique patterns were engraved on the wall, making this place more pleasing to the eyes, but yet thought-provoking.
If you went to the Frye Art Museum yourself, you might mention that there are various other pictures out there that are better than this one. I know that there are many different pictures that are more striking than this, but this was the one that caught all of my attention. I think one of the main reasons I like this picture best is because of the angle it is taken at. By taking the picture at this angle, I can see the end of one table and see all of the chairs that are lined around the room.
I can see the textiles of the wooden floor. At this position, it almost feels like you can walk through the painting and enter the room. I think the photographer took this picture at this angle so he could give people that same feeling that he had given to me. This picture makes me fall into this intense and nervous mood because of what this image was holding. Since I believe that this room was used as an assembly hall in the olden days for the king and his subjects, I would be frighten to enter this room due to the fact that I might see a stern king sitting there.
I would be very scared to see him because he has the power to have my head cut off. I don’t want to say something wrong by accident and then have him tell his soldiers to take me to the guillotine. How the room was set up gave me a chilly feeling that the king will arrive quite soon. Since everything is already set in an orderly fashion, I would expect the king to come in with a group of old people in their weird looking suits with fake curly hair. The men would all take their seats and remain quiet until the king finishes talking.
One of the other main reasons that I chose this picture was because of the vibrant colors. I know Hofer has a lot of other pictures that use more colors than this one, but I like this one better because of the scenery. Even though this picture doesn’t use as much colors as some of the other pictures, all of the colors match up. They’re not just mixed around randomly. It actually has some coordination in it. All of these colors can keep you interested in this picture for a long time. If I have the chance to see this place in the picture for myself, I know I would be awe-struck.

Cupid Outbreak

It was a bright sunny day and Edison was doing what he was usually doing—lounging on his cloudy couch with his cupid bow. Edison was busy trying to mend some of the strings that broke off the other day when he was sent on a mission to earth.

“God! This stupid thing is pissing me off! It’s even harder than shooting the arrow through the targets!” Fussed Edison.
“Calm down,” Said Kenny as he walked in and sat down on the other couch.
“Hmph, easy for you to say. It’s not your bow,” Retorted Edison as he went back to mending the bow.
“Whatever. Matchmaker Steven has another mission for you.”
Edison looked up in surprise and bolted, “WHAT?! Can’t he see that my bow is messed up? Geez, I can never get a decent break here.”
“He doesn’t care about you. You better hurry up and fix that bow of yours because your mission starts tomorrow,” Said Kenny as he stood up and prepared to leave.
“Tomorrow??!! Man! That old man is crazy!”

Edison continued to fume and rant on about Matchmaker Steven being unfair, but Kenny just walked off, dismissing his friend’s distress.

“Man, I’m going to go kick his ass one day if he keeps giving me these dumb missions,” complained Edison as he slowly walked to the door to check if Kenny was close by.
“Sigh...I’m really tired of acting like this all the time. I guess breaking a couple of strings on my bow purposely doesn’t do anything. I should just fix this and get ready for tomorrow,” Said Edison as flicked back the strings on the bow.

“Bye Edison! See you in a week!” Charlene screamed while waving frantically.
Edison quickly murmured his goodbyes and jumped down to earth.

He opened up the scroll that Matchmaker Steven gave to him.
“Let’s see…Match Gillian Chung with Shawn Yu.” He scratched his head and stared at their pictures.
“Wow, she’s beautiful.” He gazed at her with awe.
“This guy looks a little mean though….Oh well...it’s my assignment and I have to do it! Time to go to work.” Edison shoved the scroll back into his pocket and got ready for landing.

When he landed, he changed into his earth clothes and walked into the village.

“Tetsuya Village….This place looks pretty nice.” He walked a little farther in and frowned when he started to see many bars and casinos. “Whoa…Never mind.”
When he was deeper into the village, he heard screams from a distance. He didn’t start worrying about it until the screams got closer and closer. Within a minute or two, he saw a beautiful girl running towards him with four men chasing her. He looked a little closer and noticed the beautiful girl was Gillian Chung.
“Crap, I have to do something!” He looked around frantically and saw his bow.
“Oh! Gillian! Follow me!” He used one of his skills so that only Gillian could hear him.
She looked up by the sound of her name and saw Edison waving his hand and running into the right corner.

“How does he know my name?” She glanced behind her and saw the approaching men. “It doesn’t matter. I have to run away from these freaks first!” She turned at the right corner. At that exact moment, Edison pulled her to the side.
“Shhh. Stand back a little.” He pointed his finger to the right side and hinted her to move there.
Edison took out a small arrow and blew at it. Almost instantly, the small arrow transformed into a huge golden arrow. He muttered a few words and shot straight to the other side.
Edison turned to Gillian and said, “Ok, they won’t be chasing you for a while. Let’s go!”

Edison grabbed Gillian’s hand, but she flung it away.

“NO! I don’t even know who you are and you just …you just shot something over there!” screamed Gillian as she slowly backed away.
‘What’s with women these days?! You play the hero and the next they think you’re one of the bad guys. That’s gratitude I tell you.’ Edison thought.
“Come on! I’ll explain later! I just saved you! I won’t do anything to harm you now!”
Edison grabbed her hand again and this time, she followed him quietly. He led her to the quiet side of town and sat down on a crate with her beside him.
“Sorry for scaring you earlier I guess.” Said Edison as he let go of Gillian’s hand and scratched his head.
“I guess it doesn’t matter now, but who are you? And what was that arrow thing that you shot?” questioned Gillian. She still felt uneasy towards this mystery man. She never did believe in magic, but somehow, she had a feeling that after meeting this strange man, she might be a believer this time.
“Well, this may sound unreal, but I’m a cupid.” Gillian raised her brow in disbelief at the mention of cupid. “That “thing” I shot earlier was called the Illusion Blow. If I shoot it straight towards anything, anyone that sees it straight ahead will be affected by it. Those guys earlier probably saw an illusion of you running straight down the street. It lasts for about 2 hours. So we’re safe for now.”
Edison looked up from his bow and saw Gillian starring at him in awe.

“…What?”
“You’re a… cupid?” She asked.
“I know it sounds unreal, but yes.”
“But if you’re a cupid, then where’s the diaper and the short curly hair?” She searched around him.
His brow furrowed. “That’s a lie!” He was offended by such imaginary appearances. “When you say cupid, they usually think of small babies with diapers with an arrow. Truth be told, cupids don’t wear such ugly things.”
“Okay, okay. You don’t have to be that serious.” Gillian bit her bottom lip, thinking.
“What?”
“Nothing…So if you really were a cupid, what are you doing down here in earth?”
Edison took out a couple of his small arrows and started to polish them. “Well, I’m set on a mission to make two people fall in love.”
“Really? Who is it?” Her eyes started to shine in excitement.
“I’m not supposed to say, but…” He continued to polish as he smirked inwardly.
“I won’t tell anyone, so who’s the lucky couple?”
“Well if you insist.” He glanced up at her before going back to the task at hand. “It’s you and a guy named Shawn Yu.”
“WHAT! YOU’RE HERE TO MATCH ME UP WITH THAT GUY?!” revolted Gillian.
Edison was so startled the he dropped the batch of arrows on the ground.
“What’s wrong with that? You don’t like him?”
“Of course I don’t! He has 12 wives already. Shawn Yu is nothing but a perverted pig with some money. He forces all of those women to marry him.”
He solemnly asked, “Did he force you?”
“Yes. That’s why I was running earlier. Those were his henchmen.”
“Wow, I never knew humans could have more than one wife.” said Edison in disbelief.
“Are you still going to match me with him then?” questioned Gillian.
Edison doesn’t know if he should still do his mission or not because of what he just heard. He doesn’t like the fact that this Shawn Yu guy is forcing women to marry him. He finally decided not to match Gillian and Shawn together.
Edison stalled for a second before answering. He liked to pause for a dramatic effect.
“Most likely not. I don’t like guys that force girls to marry him. Besides….”
Before Edison could even finish his sentence, Gillian was so happy that she jumped on him and gave him a hug. It was pretty much one-sided since Edison was too shocked to do anything about it.
“YES! THANK YOU SO MUCH! I OWE YOU ONE!”
He could feel his face turning red. His heart is racing. He can even hear his own heart thumping faster and faster every second. Edison didn’t know what this feeling was, but he knew he likes it.

“Can I stay with you for three months?” asked Edison.
“Of course you can! You just helped me!” squealed Gillian.
“Thanks a lot. After three months, I’ll have to go back to heaven and report.”
“Okay! Come on! Let’s not waste any more time. I’ll take you to where I live.”

Before Edison could say anything, Gillian already ran off.

“She’s so carefree. I wish I could be like her.” said Edison as he ran after her.

After running for about five minutes, they arrived at a small little house with a little forest near by. They both stopped near the front porch.
“Wow. Nice place.” said Edison.
“My mom left it for me,” replied Gillian as she went inside.
“I’ll help you do your daily chores while I’m here.”
“No. You’re a guest here. Just sit tight and relax.” ordered Gillian.
“But I want to do something. I can’t just sit here and do nothing while you work your butt off.” retorted Edison.
“But…”
“No buts.” He waved his index finger at her and smiled.
Somehow, that smile caused butterflies in her stomach and by the increasing temperature on her cheek, she knew that she was blushing.
Not noticing her blush, Edison turned around and tidied up the place by just using his magic power. Being a cupid does have some benefits.

Two Months later…

Gillian and Edison were both sitting at the table eating lunch.

“So Edison, how come you can only stay here for three months? Is there a time limit for when you’re supposed to go back or something?” asked Gillian.
Edison abruptly answered, “No, I’m just here because of you.”
Gillian dropped her spoon and bread.

“What?”

Edison finally realized what he said and tried to change the subject.

He tried to sound casual, but it ended up sounding weak. “So…is it your turn to do the dishes today?”
“Don’t change the subject.”
“What are you talking about? Anyways, I’m done eating. I’m going to take a walk outside.”

He started to leave but Gillian stood up and pulled him to a stop. She stared at his eyes and he stared back. Strangely, their lips were just a couple of centimeters away. Gillian slowly started to inch towards Edison.
‘This is not good! Stop this Edison before it’s too late!’ His mind screamed, but yet his body wasn’t willingly to obey their command. In fact, he couldn’t think straight any more. All he could think about was ‘How soft is her lip?’
Finally, Gillian locked her lips with Edison’s. The kiss started out slow but started to become passionate.

“Can you tell me what you said earlier again?” questioned Gillian softly.
Edison gazed into her eyes again and whispered, “I’m just here because of you.”

They both fall into a warm embrace.
Edison was no guardian angel, no chivalrous cupid, and love had taken hold of him like it did with many others.
Love was a beautiful and awful notion, and the most awful yet sweetest thing of all about it was that no one has any control over it, even for cupids like himself.
“What are you going to do about the heaven Edison?” She asked softly as she moved a strand of his hair away from his eyes.
“We’ll deal with it when they come.”

Nine months have now passed and the couple has finally given birth to a baby boy. They named him Jerico.

“We finally have our own child now Edison!” squealed Gillian.
Edison laughed and said, “Yes Gillian, we have finally given birth to our first child with your hard work.”
Before Gillian could say anything, the couple heard a loud bang outside.

“What was that Edison?” questioned Gillian.
“I don’t know…I’ll go check it out.” said Edison as he went out the door.

When he went outside, he saw Kenny in his cupid uniform waiting for him.

“Kenny?” said Edison in disbelief.
“Yes Edison. I’ve come to pick you up since you’ve been doing everything else except getting your mission done.” answered Kenny.
“I can’t go with you Kenny. Sorry, I have a family here to take care of.”
“That is not for you to decide Edison. I have orders to bring you back whether you like it or not. You’ll just have to talk it out with Steven.”
“No Kenny. You’ll have to use force if you want me to go back with you.”
He rose up his bow and said, “Then force it is.”

Edison was getting ready to fight but Matchmaker Steven suddenly showed up.

“Stop it now.” ordered Steven.

Kenny and Edison both stopped.

“Edison, you cannot do this. Now come with me.”

“Wait Steven! Is there no other way that I can stay down here with her?”

Steven thought for a moment before answering, “Yes, there is. You both have a child now, correct?”
“Yes.” Answered Edison.
“When he is able to fly, send him up here and I will take him and let you go. After he has worked for me for about two years, I’ll send him back to you guys. There is a special way to help him fly. Your wife must be there with him and they both must be naked. Your wife must sit next to him while he attempts to fly. She must support him by praying that he will fly safe and high.”

Edison wasn’t sure if he wanted to do that. Giving Jerico to him seemed dangerous. He was not sure about what he wanted to do.
“Well, its time to go now.”

With that, he waved his arrow and swiped both Edison and Kenny with him up to heaven. Just before Edison flew too high, he scribbled everything Steven said on a piece of paper and threw it down on the ground.

“What’s taking Edison so long? Maybe I should go check on him.”

She put down Jerico and went outside and saw nothing but her front porch.

“Edison? Edison? Where are you!?”

She felt the sense of intenseness running through her veins. She knew that Edison had been taken away from her. She knew that the people from heaven must have taken him away. She knew that this would come someday, but she didn’t think it would happen so fast. She walked around and stepped on something sharp.

“Ow!” yelped Gillian.

She looked below her feet and saw a sharp golden arrow with a letter attached to it. She quickly opened it and read the letter quietly.

After she was done reading the letter, she screamed, “I’ll do it Edison! I’ll do it so we can all reunite as a family again!”

About two years later, Jerico is finally two years old and Gillian brings him to the little forest. She looked around just to make sure that no one was near. When she was assured that no one was around, she slowly took off her and Jerico’s clothes.

“Jerico, try to fly for Mommy and Daddy ok. If you can fly, then you’ll be able to see daddy again.”
“Ok mommy.”

With that, Jerico closed his eyes and Gillian started to pray. As she was praying, she could feel a sense of happiness flowing through her. She stopped praying when she heard Jerico screaming.
“Mommy! I’m flying! I’m flying!” screamed Jerico with joy.
“Yes! My son! Fly! Fly as high as you can!”

While Gillian was watching Jerico fly, she could see something approaching him. She didn’t now what it was and she was afraid that it will harm Jerico.

“WATCH OUT JERICO! THERE’S SOMETHING COMING TOWARDS YOU! COME DOWN NOW!” Screamed Gillian with all her might.

When Jerico heard her, he quickly tried to fly down but he felt something clutched onto his back.

“No! Get away from me!” squealed Jerico.

The figure slowly came down and landed next to Gillian. When he landed, Gillian was awe-struck. It was Edison!

“Edison!” She was so happy that she flung her arms around him and hugged him tightly.
“Edison? Is that daddy?” questioned Jerico.
“Is this my little boy?”
“Yes it is honey. I’m so glad your back.” Answered Gillian.
“I am too honey. Let’s go back now. Waiting for two years can actually be really tiring! Let’s go all home!”
The three of them all screamed in unison. “Okay!”
“Um… honey.” He gazed at her, realizing that the woman that captured his heart away was naked in front of him. Somehow, those two years were worth the wait if it meant seeing the love of his life like this.
She blushed at the lust in his eyes. “Turn around you pervert!” She shouted.
Edison turned around with his son in his arms. “Son when you grow up, I will teach you a thing or two about a woman.”
The son only frowned in bewilderment.
While they were walking back, Steven said only a few words that Edison could hear. Those few words were: “Edison, go live happily with your family.”

Three Poems Inspired By Artwork

“Flight of Love”

The young flying up in the sky
The earthling mother sending the child up high
With a bow in one hand
And an arrow in the other
The shot of love is created
The forest and the sky
The leaves and the bushes
Creates the great environment the child was raised in
The love of the mother
Has sent the child flying into the sky with love
You can see the unity between the two
The mother has finally sent him up.

“The Shepherdess”

The gloomy eyes give a sense of sadness
The dark background show signs of death
The girl portrayed in the painting has no shoes
Giving her a poor beggar look
She sits on the floor barefoot
Her hands are holding extra clothing
It seems that she has been rushed out of house
This painting delivers a feeling of unhappiness
Looking at this painting almost makes you cry with it
Because she is so mad and sad looking
The clouds added in the background show that the sky might rain
She seems homeless.

“The Picture Book”

The bright lights in the room
Create a happy environment
But the expression of the girl’s face
Shows a sad look
The picture book she is reading may be her source of sadness
Judging by her clothes
She seems like a person of the medieval times
The shape and design of the chair also helps us
Determine the period
I’m entranced by the lighting of the artwork
How the artist made the light shining
Through the curtains so real
She is about to cry.

The Super Bowl Frenzy

I was sent down from planet Droids to check out the spectacle of planet Earth. When I first arrived on this planet, I saw many earthlings running each other over just to get to a stadium called “Qwest Field.” My reaction was “What the hell are those crazy lunatics doing?” It was intriguing because I usually see earthlings communicating happily with each other. I went into the stadium myself to see the whole place jam packed with over 60,000 people. I quickly took the nearest seat I can find and sat down. I asked a fellow that was next to me what this was all about. He stared at me like I was some stupid idiot and said, “This is the Super Bowl XL you dumb loser!”


I was shocked, the Super Bowl XL? I didn’t know what that was. During the whole game, I just saw people running each other over because they were trying to get a brown thing called a “football.” Before I knew it, the game was over and the blue team won. I didn’t think it was anything because I didn’t know what was happening, but some of the people that were sitting in the next row were crying in joy. The crowd was still cheering and going crazy over the victory for more than an hour. I even saw some guy with a sign up that said, “Now I can die.”


Now I realized what their spectacle was. It was media. Everyone went crazy for the Super Bowl XL. To me, the game was nothing but a bunch of big muscled men fighting over a “football.” To the earthlings here, it was worth everything. The tickets were over $100.00 dollars per game. Lots of people bought the ticket and sold it for a higher price to bidders. The face value of a normal ticket is $600.00 dollars. Some are even willing to pay up to $5000 dollars for it.


As you can see, this may seem worthless to us, but to some earthling fans, it’s everything. After the grueling game with Carolina, the blue team (Seahawks) prepares for the next game in Detroit. Many fans were buying plane tickets early so they can catch the game live. A lot of people were anticipating this event. Many advertisements of the NFL were being shown everywhere. Flyers were posted on public areas to let fans know when the next game will air. A very smart lady bought a hotdog during the game and is now selling it on eBay as collection item. You would be amazed at how much the hotdog is going for now. The current bid for the item is $10,069.69 dollars.


This was truly a game to be remembered. The Seahawks have not won a single game for 30 years. Now, they have finally got a chance to enter the Super Bowl XL. After this amazing experience, I decided to fly to Detroit to see if the Seahawks will win or not. When I got there, Detroit looked like a mess. Everything in Downtown looked pretty nice and modern, but everything on the other side looked like it had nothing but worn old buildings and vacant lots. I hear some residents say “They spend all that money on the Super Bowl… but they ain’t doing nothing for here.” It seems like the U.S. it self only cares about the Super Bowl and not the city that hosts it.


The only reason they even fixed up Detroit’s Downtown was because the Super Bowl was going to be hosted there. Media meant more to people than how bad a city looks. I think the government is only willing to spend money on Detroit because they wanted the visitors to see how nice “one” part of the city looks. The government will only react to media and not the people. Thank god that in planet Droids, the government cares about us. They will not care more for media than they care for the people.


After I saw all the ugly surroundings of “Fort Field,” I wasn’t too excited about the game. I thought that the stadium was going to be old, rusty, and dirty, but to my surprise, the stadium was nice, shiny, and new. They also projected many different pictures of football players up on an old building. It seems that the earthlings have found ways of technology to beautify their planet. Before the game even started, the fans around me were cheering so loud for the Seahawks and the Steelers that I felt my ears would go deaf.


When both teams finally came out, it was worse. The fans were absolutely uncontrollable. People were screaming like crazy and I saw lots of yellow rags go up waving in the air. It seemed like the city I was in was rooting for the Steelers. It felt like the Seahawks had to fight against the crowd. The game started out pretty normal. I still see men in bulky suits running each other over and over again. The Seahawks were in the lead for the first quarter. They had 3-0. However, during the next couple of plays, the Steelers scored a six. Though I don’t believe they deserved that point. The referee must have been blind to believe that the Steelers actually made the shot. The judges replayed that part over and over again to make sure they were right. To me, I clearly saw that the player from the Steelers’ side did not make it. By the time he got near the goal area, one of the Seahawks players has already blocked him. The ball already landed on the ground but the player from the Steelers’ side lifted it and placed it on the goal area.


The referee couldn’t decide whether or not they should keep the score so they had to let the judges from the top decide it. In the end, they decided to keep the score any ways so the Steelers’ were allowed a chance to kick the football over the fork. The score by the end of the first quarter was 3-7. Everyone had a good view of the scene no matter where they were sitting. The stadium had installed big screen TVs to allow everyone to have a good view of the game. In between the plays, there were many commercials. I saw a lot from bud light. It seemed like all of the commercials were encouraging people to drink.


None of the advertisements were good things that could be added to the human body. I also saw advertisements from places like Pizza Hut and Burger King. All of the food that they showed looked very greasy. I suppose many earthlings like their food oily and juicy. I also overheard some people talking about the price of putting an advertisement on during the Super Bowl XL. They said that back in the 1970s, the price to put up an advertisement during the Super Bowl XL was $42,500 dollars. Now, the costs went dramatically high. It now costs $2.4 million to have a thirty-second commercial on.


After watching the many bud light commercials, I think I’m fully convinced that earthlings love to drink. There were about eight commercials that had to do with alcohol. I rarely saw any commercials that had anything to do with the body or your health. There was only one that had to do with hygiene. That advertisement’s main target seemed to be teenagers. Another advertisement that was shown a minimum amount of times was the T-mobile commercial. It showed a woman and a child talking nonstop on the phone with a timer running. T-mobile was advertising their new phone plan which allowed more minutes for people to talk each month.


So just by looking at all of the advertisements that were shown, the one we see most is alcohol. Since the cost to put up a thirty-second commercial costs $2.4 million dollars, the company itself must have a lot of business to do so many commercials. Many companies take the chance of airing their commercial during the Super Bow XL in hope that they can receive benefit from it. After the 2nd play of the game ended, there was a special half time show. I went in the crowded room and saw some old people singing. It was shocking because I usually see a young band performing for the crowd.


However, before I saw the performance, they had a flash back that showed the previous bands that performed in the old days. I think the band they showed in the flash back was the band that performed for the half time show. The songs they chose to sing all had loud banging beats. Everyone in the stadium seemed to be enjoying it because they were jumping up and down and waving their hands. After the half time show was done, the crowd went back to their yelling and screaming for the teams. When the Steelers made another touchdown for their team, many people were cheering and rooting for them while some carried a mad face.


Towards the end of the third quarter, the Seahawks managed to make another touchdown and scored a total of ten points. So the score between the two teams now was 10-14. This was getting very intense for the fans. The third quarter was coming to an end and the fourth quarter was coming up. If the Seahawks made another touchdown, then they can turn the tables, but if the Steelers make another touchdown, then it’s over for the Seahawks. When I was staring in the earthlings’ eyes, I could see the intenseness in them. They all look very anxious to know the result of the game. In this quarter, there were many failed passes and missed catches for the Seahawks. They weren’t doing so great. It seems like they were so anxious to beat the Steelers that they did not concentrate enough on the game.


During the last ten minutes of the fourth quarter, the score was still 10-14 until an earthling by the name of Hines Ward made a touchdown for the Steelers. All of the fans for the Steelers cheered as hard as they can when they saw this. The Seahawks’ fans seemed to have lost all of their energy to do anything. The games result seems to be clear now. It was too late for the Seahawks to do anything. The new score for the game was now 10-21.


All of the Seahawks fans already knew that they were not going to win. With only three minutes left in the quarter, it’s impossible to have a comeback unless a miracle happened. The players in the team seemed to have lost the will to play too. They were not throwing good passes. It seems that the Seahawk’s glory with the Carolina Panthers made them go easy on their opponent. Finally, the three minutes remaining in the game ended. As I was about to leave, I saw many Seahawks’ fans with gloomy faces. Some were even crying.


The loss meant may seem like nothing to us, but to the Seahawks and their fans, it means a whole lot than just a game. The Seahawks were never able to play at the playoffs since 1984. The win against the Carolina Panthers gave them the ticket to the playoffs in “Fort Field.” All of these events lead to the “Media Literacy” that McLuhan was talking about. “All media work us over completely. They are so pervasive in their personal, political, economic, aesthetic, psychological, moral, ethical, and social consequences that they leave no part of us untouched, unaffected, unaltered.”



Media can link everyone together as a community. One big example of this is the Super Bowl XL. Without this event, do you think that any earthling can start talking to each other about football? Without this event, do you think that any earthling would be able to share the joy that the Seahawks actually won? Media links us all together. It brings us closer to each other. It forms a big circle and lets the humans talk and meet more friends. With media, we can all know the same thing at the same time. It’s just like the news. When you see a crime being broadcasted live, you might not be the only one watching it because there might be millions of others watching it with you. With media, you are all connected in some way. There is always a way to communicate with others if you are connected with the media. It has the power to make you feel a specific way. Just like how the Super Bowl’s result made some of the fans cry. Media will always play its part in Earth’s society.

It may seem like heaven now...

I have finally found an answer to all the questions that inquire about what our future will be like in just a couple of decades. Human kind will all be highly advanced and have the knowledge and power to operate robots. A man named Ray Kurzweil has made many predictions of how the future will become like. Ray is the founder of Kurzweil Technologies and he has thought out how and what technology is going to do for humans in the near future.

For the coming 2009, Kurzweil predicts that “People are successfully working together despite living in different places. The average household has more than a hundred computers—which is to say chips—most of which are embedded in appliances, entertainment and telephone systems, automobiles, and even key chains. House hold robots have emerged but are not yet fully accepted. Intelligent roads are in use, Kurzweil predicts, primarily for long-distance travel.”

Some of these sound like great advancements, but I’m not really sure about the Household robot thing. I still have doubts about what is going to happen if they malfunction. If those household robots start to malfunction, they can cause danger to the people in the house and destroy things. For me, I would never really trust any robots to do my everyday chores because they don’t have feelings or thoughts. One of the main goals of Kurzweil is to have robots understand humans and act like them.

If you think Kurzweil’s prediction for 2009 is weird, you wouldn’t even want to know what he’s going to say for 2019. In his 2019, he predicts that the blind, deaf, or the paraplegic will have computers in them to camouflage their disabilities. The household robots will also be fully accepted by the human race and commercial transactions will include a simulated person with high-quality animation and understanding of language. I’m kind of anticipating for this year to come because I would want computers that are largely invisible to be embedded in walls, tables, desks, clothing and body.

Since I have seen many movies like “Minority Report,” I would like to see how these computers really work in real life. In this decade, everything will be safe. There are fewer crimes because of tiny cameras everywhere. Car accidents have also been significantly reduced because the intelligence of automobiles and highways. War or battles will be fought with tiny little flying weapons the size of insects. Kurzweil later imagines himself having a conversation with a 2019 person, Molly.

Molly and Kurzweil’s conversation got to the point where technology will go wrong. Molly says, “It’s true that the century so far has seen much less bloodshed. But the other side of the coin is that the technologies are so much more powerful today. If something did go wrong, things could spiral out of control very quickly. With bioengineering, for example, it feels a little like all ten billion of us are standing in a room up to our knees in a flammable fluid, waiting for someone—anyone—to light a match.”
She mentions that if anything were to go wrong with the robots, then everything would just go haywire. So in this decade, people aren’t really sure that the robots they have created are fully functional. Molly says, “Yeah, I just hope they work.” After hearing what Molly said, I’m not sure that I want to advance into the future. Maybe it isn’t as safe as it seems. My uncle doesn’t really like technology because of something that happened to him a while back.

He was working all night on this computer typing up his work. His computer was old and on for too long so the fan stopped working. Since there wasn’t a fan to cool down the chips and processor working in the computer, it kind of exploded on him. He wasn’t injured, but he was traumatized and vowed never to use a computer again. Things like this might happen in the near future when technology and computers are everything to mankind. This is just like how Molly pictured it.

If the robots were to somehow burn out and explode, it might actually injure people because of their size. I think the robots would be pretty big because they need to resemble human beings. After 2019, Kurzweil advances to the 2029. He claims that by this year, many areas of the brain have already been decoded and understood. People will have amazing memory because networks modeled on the brain’s neural activity are now faster.

There will be many different implants for the body. Some of these include Ear implants that provide communication both ways to the web. Mind implants allow people to trade thoughts with computers. The automated agents are now capable of learning on their own. It’s also really hard to tell if a person is handicapped or not because nerve stimulation makes all of the disabilities quaint. This is a very good thing for disabled people because now they can live normally like others.

People will no longer laugh at them because they are different. Another remarkable discovery that was made in this decade is nanobots. Humans have successfully created bots that are injected into the body to patrol and maintain it. “…if anything goes wrong in a person’s body, it can be caught extremely early.” A lot of people wouldn’t have died if nanobots were invented earlier. Sicknesses like cancer and other incurable diseases will finally be cured.

Technology seems to have advanced dramatically after just ten years. However, Kurzweil does not stop predicting here. He strives deeper into the year 2099. In this year, humans are no longer flesh and blood. Kurzweil later introduces the idea of MOSHs—Mostly Original Substrate Humans. He explains that MOSHs are people that insist on using their own flesh and neurons to live and think. They are honored and protected by the “grandfather legislation,” but they are not as smart as the other humans that choose to be “software-based.”

Many different ideas were formed from the curve. I believe in Kurzweil’s curve scenario. In the next couple of decades, life will probably be just like how Kurzweil predicted it. Technology will experience a great leap and many other things will be invented. Humans will no longer be normal humans. They will be half machine and half flesh beings that are smart and advanced. Things may seem desirable now, but eventually, the hell scenario will come. Life wouldn’t look too great then will it?

Real VS Fake

What is real and what is not real? That is indeed a hard question to answer.If you ask me, I think mostly everything in the world is not real.In our society today, there are many things that aren’t natural.Some of the very obvious unnatural things are technology related stuff. Things like computers, palm pilots, electronic translators, and many other things are not real.They are things that were invented by humans.In other words, if you were to go out in the forest or anywhere in the country side to look for a computer, you wouldn’t be able to find one.

Humans today live in a “hyper reality” world.“Hyper reality is a concept in semiotics and postmodern philosophy.”We have many things that are simulated to our likes.For example, one simulated place and person is Disney Land and Mickey Mouse.Disney Land is a place created for children to have fun in and enjoy their lives as a kid.It has been simulated to be an “Enchanted Wonderland.”We all know that this place does not exist in real life though.

Mickey, a made up cartoon can not be found outside of the television.Some kids might argue about that with you though because they see a “walking” Mickey in Disney Land.When I was a kid, I thought that Mickey Mouse was real too because I saw him pacing around and taking pictures with kids.Now, I know that he is not real because my friends told me that they were just normal people walking around in a costume.He is just a character that is simulated from a cartoon.

Despite the simulation of the places and characters, they are all still part of reality.Reality to me is anything that exists in the world that I can see, touch, taste, and smell.People are constantly trying to create their own reality.In the movie “Synthetic Pleasures,” Gurland says, “…You know, you can create not only an indoor environment that replicates this, but you have a kind of virtual reality where you sit yourself down in your chair and somehow or other you're strapped in ...”

All of us are constantly trying to make our own realities that we can control.We could already see some of the works done in Japan and Germany.In Japan, there is an Indoor Beach called the Ocean Dome.It is a simulated beach with real water, real sand, real sun, and real people. Some of you may be thinking that it is pretty weird to create an indoor beach, but I think the people who created were just trying to “control” reality with technology.

In the beach, there would sometimes be alerts of typhoons and tsunamis.When the people in the beach hear this, they would leave the water and go for land.I think the reason for this was to be safer.With the alert, more people are likely to be saved.If you were swimming in the ocean one day, and a typhoon wraps you up and kills you, you wouldn’t even know what happened because it was so fast.With the alert, you would have a better chance of surviving because you can run early.

I think the objective of this place is for humans to learn how to control their own reality.Even though things like this are unreal, but it is part of reality.I think these things are cool to create, but I would still prefer real natural things.The technologies used to create these things are great, but I think that humans are relying too much on it now.Technology cannot be used to solve every single problem we have.I would rather swim in a natural beach than a simulated one.

In our world now, humans are slowly changing with technology.As new inventions keep coming out, we keep changing our original ways to adapt to the new ones.I know that technology is supposed to make our lives better, but at the same time, they are making humans stupid.People are starting to rely solely on technology and not themselves.My friend would rather use her calculator to calculate the simplest addition and subtraction problems than to use her head.

If we keep relying on technology to help us do everything, the world might become a mess.If people were to invent robots that can do everything a human being can do, employers might just choose the robot over a human because they think that humans might make mistakes.If this spreads around, then a lot of people in the world would lose their jobs and the world’s economy would break down.Technology might not always change the world in good ways.