i apologise for my pessimism the other day,
i havent completely lost faith in humanity, i just think that if we keep heading the way we are heading, we are going to end up far worse than we are at the moment.
thats why i think that we need to start again. it isnt going to happen, but it's something that definitely should happen.
dont get me wrong, i love humanity, and almost everyone in it, but our society is becoming increasingly bloated and corrupt
debating is a sport... alright?
Tonight I watched a great school sporting event, our schools 1st III debating against another private Sydney boys school. It was the biggest turnout in the history of the competition, 150 boys came to support our school. The topic was "that privitisation is the way to go." our team, the affirmative side debated very well and won.
I think that debating is so important, as it gives you two essential skills.
Working with and against others, and speaking in public.
Being a very enthusiastic debater myself, I think that being able to come up with a convincing argument in such a short amount of time is such a good thing to practice for later life.
I think that debating is so important, as it gives you two essential skills.
Working with and against others, and speaking in public.
Being a very enthusiastic debater myself, I think that being able to come up with a convincing argument in such a short amount of time is such a good thing to practice for later life.
0
comments
Friday, August 29, 2008
improved relations with teachers
i used to be the golden child. up until high school i was pretty much perfect when it came to school...
come high school, everything changes and im out of my depth. i fall behind in work and ruin first impressions with teachers who are going to have me for quite a few more years. because of my lesser performance in high school, i have a few teachers who have disliked me in the past. my physics teacher, drama teacher, music teacher and art teacher to say the least.
last term i got the worst report card i have ever gotten. it was absolutely terrible, and the effects of not doing well even worse. because of my crap report my parents refuse to sign the contract for an iPhone!! (i would pay for it myself)
anyway, thats beside the point, the point is that because of my poor performance last term, i have made a concerted effort to fix everything this term.
this morning, talking to a member of staff (not a teacher) who works with my drama teacher, he was telling me that my drama teacher was very impressed with me, and added that it was the first time he had heard my teacher talking about my like that
this news is awesome for me. hopefully my parents catch wind of this and let me get a friggin iPhone!!!
come high school, everything changes and im out of my depth. i fall behind in work and ruin first impressions with teachers who are going to have me for quite a few more years. because of my lesser performance in high school, i have a few teachers who have disliked me in the past. my physics teacher, drama teacher, music teacher and art teacher to say the least.
last term i got the worst report card i have ever gotten. it was absolutely terrible, and the effects of not doing well even worse. because of my crap report my parents refuse to sign the contract for an iPhone!! (i would pay for it myself)
anyway, thats beside the point, the point is that because of my poor performance last term, i have made a concerted effort to fix everything this term.
this morning, talking to a member of staff (not a teacher) who works with my drama teacher, he was telling me that my drama teacher was very impressed with me, and added that it was the first time he had heard my teacher talking about my like that
this news is awesome for me. hopefully my parents catch wind of this and let me get a friggin iPhone!!!
0
comments
Thursday, August 28, 2008
on the nature of my blog
i just find it interesting how much this blog has changed, at least from my point of view, over two weeks.
it started off as a tech blog, now its just my rants and raves, thoughts and feelings...
sorry... i just find it interesting
it started off as a tech blog, now its just my rants and raves, thoughts and feelings...
sorry... i just find it interesting
0
comments
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
philosophy part II:relationships - the human archipelago
Labels:
Personal,
Philosophy,
relationships
I was going to write about the thought process and how i believe that affects behaviour, but when i look at it that can be summed up and better explained as the way we relate to others. I believe humans are the most social of animals and that our relationships are the most important part of our existence. i personally can not live without relationships.
in our world there are a limitless amounts of relationships, but they can be summed up into two different basic categories, good and bad. good relationships range from extreme (love) to mild (friendship) to basic (aquaintance). these relationships do so much for us as human beings, and not only bring us closer to other people, but closer to ourselves. this sounds incredibly cliched, but i only feel complete when i have another half to share everything with.
to those reading this who know me very well, i dont think you'll be surprised. when im in a relationship, im serious about it, but sometimes i get carried away and i completely fuck it up and thats a story im not sharing. i think that relationships are incredibly important because they link one person to another. this might not sound like much, but lets use an analogy. for example, think of each person as an island. self contained, able to do everything without anyone else. now think of a relationship as a bridge from one island to another. as you can imagine, this makes each individual island more efficient and able to do more.
another analogy is the internet. basically the internet is a collection of servers all linked together. to those who understand how it works, use that as an analogy for human relationships and you see what im getting at?
this one probably doesnt have as much meet in it as the last one, but i promise the next one, on existence, will be very fleshy... unless you think im going on a bit too much... let me know
in our world there are a limitless amounts of relationships, but they can be summed up into two different basic categories, good and bad. good relationships range from extreme (love) to mild (friendship) to basic (aquaintance). these relationships do so much for us as human beings, and not only bring us closer to other people, but closer to ourselves. this sounds incredibly cliched, but i only feel complete when i have another half to share everything with.
to those reading this who know me very well, i dont think you'll be surprised. when im in a relationship, im serious about it, but sometimes i get carried away and i completely fuck it up and thats a story im not sharing. i think that relationships are incredibly important because they link one person to another. this might not sound like much, but lets use an analogy. for example, think of each person as an island. self contained, able to do everything without anyone else. now think of a relationship as a bridge from one island to another. as you can imagine, this makes each individual island more efficient and able to do more.
another analogy is the internet. basically the internet is a collection of servers all linked together. to those who understand how it works, use that as an analogy for human relationships and you see what im getting at?
this one probably doesnt have as much meet in it as the last one, but i promise the next one, on existence, will be very fleshy... unless you think im going on a bit too much... let me know
huge thoughts, big impact
damn i wish i could be like these guys...
my two heroes, who have completely shaped the world we live in.
shakespeare - our language, our literature and our look at life
einstein - the way we think, how we see our universe
these two guys were so influential, because they didn't accept what had been given to them. they went out and started fresh. did it by themselves. einstein looked past the accepted way that the universe works, and found new things. shakespeare wrote so many plays, shaped our language. how? he created words! he created over 20,000 new words. before Romeo and Juliet, romance wasn't seen as a suitable theme for a tragedy and his use of soliloquies to explore characters minds was not something really done much in his time. before him there was no standardization of the english language, but after his plays became popular, it led to a more standard way of speaking and writing.
these guys are amazing. i wish i could be like them. to be recognised for what you have done in the highest possible way. and i dont mean an oscar, a nobel prize, a pulitzer or any other reward... i mean to have every single person on earth know exactly who you are and what you did. that is the best reward of all...
my two heroes, who have completely shaped the world we live in.
shakespeare - our language, our literature and our look at life
einstein - the way we think, how we see our universe
these two guys were so influential, because they didn't accept what had been given to them. they went out and started fresh. did it by themselves. einstein looked past the accepted way that the universe works, and found new things. shakespeare wrote so many plays, shaped our language. how? he created words! he created over 20,000 new words. before Romeo and Juliet, romance wasn't seen as a suitable theme for a tragedy and his use of soliloquies to explore characters minds was not something really done much in his time. before him there was no standardization of the english language, but after his plays became popular, it led to a more standard way of speaking and writing.
these guys are amazing. i wish i could be like them. to be recognised for what you have done in the highest possible way. and i dont mean an oscar, a nobel prize, a pulitzer or any other reward... i mean to have every single person on earth know exactly who you are and what you did. that is the best reward of all...
Turn over a new leaf...
We are screwed. Society is so screwed. We have too many rules to break and so much inequality. If only we could return to the ways of the past. Nomadic lifestyles, living off the land and sharing everything with each other.
I know this isn't possible and probably not ideal in some ways, but I think our society has become bloated.
I know this isn't possible and probably not ideal in some ways, but I think our society has become bloated.
2
comments
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
the race continues
I talked yesterday about the rat race, the human race, and I feel like some poetry so here's an Evans original.
The Race
On your marks. Get set.
GO!
The race starts as you exit the gates. Everything is a blur, a rush of confusion,
You try to stop but it's too late, you have too much momentum.
After a while you settle into the groove, running and not even thinking about it.
For the first time you notice your competitors, all around you, running the same race.
You pass several checkpoints, each one more important than the last.
After a while you slow down, lower the pace. It's easier, but takes more effort.
You tire slowly, as you approach the final stretch.
You can see the finish line. You approach and cross it!
The final irony is that by winning this race, you have lost another...
The Race
On your marks. Get set.
GO!
The race starts as you exit the gates. Everything is a blur, a rush of confusion,
You try to stop but it's too late, you have too much momentum.
After a while you settle into the groove, running and not even thinking about it.
For the first time you notice your competitors, all around you, running the same race.
You pass several checkpoints, each one more important than the last.
After a while you slow down, lower the pace. It's easier, but takes more effort.
You tire slowly, as you approach the final stretch.
You can see the finish line. You approach and cross it!
The final irony is that by winning this race, you have lost another...
high school drama
Two of my best friends in the world have had some 'relationship' issues recently. One of them, my ex girlfriend who is one of the nicest people I know, has liked the other for quite a while (couple of months). The other guy found out she liked him and asked her out. She said yes and they were both happy, or so it seemed...
The next day, the guy rings her up and says it's too hard and breaks up with her. In my eyes this is incredibly unfair both to her, and to me in a way.
I mentioned before that she's my ex girlfriend. She called our relationship off before it could go anywhere, but this was after 5 weeks of my absence (long story) so it was for good reason. I'm not angry or upset over that because it was my fault, but I think it is so unfair for my friend to give up what I missed out on for no reason. I may sound stupid, but that's because I am stupid when it cones to this.
If any of the people involved are reading this, I'm sorry for putting your story out there. I don't have a good reason, I just write about what's on my mind. Another thing, everything I write about is true. All events abc thoughts are real.
The next day, the guy rings her up and says it's too hard and breaks up with her. In my eyes this is incredibly unfair both to her, and to me in a way.
I mentioned before that she's my ex girlfriend. She called our relationship off before it could go anywhere, but this was after 5 weeks of my absence (long story) so it was for good reason. I'm not angry or upset over that because it was my fault, but I think it is so unfair for my friend to give up what I missed out on for no reason. I may sound stupid, but that's because I am stupid when it cones to this.
If any of the people involved are reading this, I'm sorry for putting your story out there. I don't have a good reason, I just write about what's on my mind. Another thing, everything I write about is true. All events abc thoughts are real.
1 comments
Monday, August 25, 2008
race resumed
Well I had a very fun weekend, it was great to have a weekend with no worries.
I've been so stressed lately, and while skiing I had none of that on my mind, so I felt fantastic.
Now I've returned to the rat race, and I'm not winning just yet... I still have ages until the final sprint, so I'm pacing myself for then...
I've been so stressed lately, and while skiing I had none of that on my mind, so I felt fantastic.
Now I've returned to the rat race, and I'm not winning just yet... I still have ages until the final sprint, so I'm pacing myself for then...
philosophy part I: religion... is there a god? it doesnt matter
Labels:
life,
Personal,
Philosophy,
Religion
ive decided to write about my personal philosophy
this is fairly complex, and inspired by a friend of mine who has written his personal philosophy down, albeit in a completley different medium, and not for all the world to see, but written it down nonetheless.
i think alot. alot. im always thinking. the problem with this is that i've never written it down before, so this is going to be very interesting for me, and hopefully for you too. it is also going to be fairly long, so im going to do it in parts.
i'll start with religion. i believe that the universe we live in may or may not have a god or higher being. what i definitely think is that it doesnt matter if there is or not. if there was a higher being how created all that we now accept as reality, it would most likely not be a conscious being as we know them. it would be an unknown force guiding the way everything works. what this means for the average human is that you live for yourself. this force (different concept from star wars) doesnt care whether you screw your wifes best friend. it isnt going to send you into some place filled with brimstone and fire. this does NOT mean i believe that wrong is right, i just dont believe that we should use god as a judge, especially as we dont know what hes thinking, but he knows what we are thinking. we should use society as a judge, we have come up with all these rules, so lets stick by them and take the credit instead of giving it to some guy in the sky who gave us two huge stones with do and donts.
the problem with not believing in god is that there is no certainty. you cant ask someone whos seen him, because you only see him when you die. this means that the most important part of religion is faith, which i have plenty of, but not in a mere concept. the afterlife is also a very hard thing to talk about when your an atheist/agnostic/whatever the hell i am, but again, i don't think it matters. Christianity talks about 'Judgement Day,' the seconf coming of Christ to judge the earth. i believer that we do meet god (or my idea of it) and that there will be a judgement day, but it isn't in the distant future. for somepeople its right now infact! the ultimate judgement in this world is death, and everyone is ultimately judged when they die. this concept may sound at odds with my previous ideas about the nature of god, but the point about my belief is that they are open. it is just a string of concepts, meaning that it is incredibly flexible and changeable.
sorry for that fricking essay, but its something i wanted to get out of my system. in part II i may talk about how i believe people should live. so life in general.
and thanks to lost for my first comment on this blog! please feel free to comment if you read this, i cant tell how many unique views i get from the built in stats...
this is fairly complex, and inspired by a friend of mine who has written his personal philosophy down, albeit in a completley different medium, and not for all the world to see, but written it down nonetheless.
i think alot. alot. im always thinking. the problem with this is that i've never written it down before, so this is going to be very interesting for me, and hopefully for you too. it is also going to be fairly long, so im going to do it in parts.
i'll start with religion. i believe that the universe we live in may or may not have a god or higher being. what i definitely think is that it doesnt matter if there is or not. if there was a higher being how created all that we now accept as reality, it would most likely not be a conscious being as we know them. it would be an unknown force guiding the way everything works. what this means for the average human is that you live for yourself. this force (different concept from star wars) doesnt care whether you screw your wifes best friend. it isnt going to send you into some place filled with brimstone and fire. this does NOT mean i believe that wrong is right, i just dont believe that we should use god as a judge, especially as we dont know what hes thinking, but he knows what we are thinking. we should use society as a judge, we have come up with all these rules, so lets stick by them and take the credit instead of giving it to some guy in the sky who gave us two huge stones with do and donts.
the problem with not believing in god is that there is no certainty. you cant ask someone whos seen him, because you only see him when you die. this means that the most important part of religion is faith, which i have plenty of, but not in a mere concept. the afterlife is also a very hard thing to talk about when your an atheist/agnostic/whatever the hell i am, but again, i don't think it matters. Christianity talks about 'Judgement Day,' the seconf coming of Christ to judge the earth. i believer that we do meet god (or my idea of it) and that there will be a judgement day, but it isn't in the distant future. for somepeople its right now infact! the ultimate judgement in this world is death, and everyone is ultimately judged when they die. this concept may sound at odds with my previous ideas about the nature of god, but the point about my belief is that they are open. it is just a string of concepts, meaning that it is incredibly flexible and changeable.
sorry for that fricking essay, but its something i wanted to get out of my system. in part II i may talk about how i believe people should live. so life in general.
and thanks to lost for my first comment on this blog! please feel free to comment if you read this, i cant tell how many unique views i get from the built in stats...
1 comments
Thursday, August 21, 2008
let it snow... let it snow... let me go...
im not going to be in sydney this weekend, im going to go up (or is it down? im so bad at geography) to Thredbo, one of Australias most popular ski resorts (not neccesarily the best though...). As I told you the other day, i'm a boarder at a private school in Sydney, so what would I be doing going to thredbo in the middle of the term? I'm very lucky that the school organises a boarders ski trip, so while the rest of the school will be stuck at home studying, i'll be on a mountain skiing! i love skiing, but that doesnt neccessarily mean im great at it... i like to think i can ski fairly well.
and yes. im going to wear a helmet, and im proud of that. firstly because i know im going to be safe, flying down the helmet with my head incased in a hard protective helmet, and secondly because i have the coolest helmet! its totally jet black, with two flames on the side. i swear they make me go faster! (but is that good for a safety implement?) who cares!
so the moral of the story kids, is that i'm not going to be around for the weekend, so for the imaginary people im writing to, dont give up on me!
in the words of his excellency, the governor of california, i'll be back
and yes. im going to wear a helmet, and im proud of that. firstly because i know im going to be safe, flying down the helmet with my head incased in a hard protective helmet, and secondly because i have the coolest helmet! its totally jet black, with two flames on the side. i swear they make me go faster! (but is that good for a safety implement?) who cares!
so the moral of the story kids, is that i'm not going to be around for the weekend, so for the imaginary people im writing to, dont give up on me!
in the words of his excellency, the governor of california, i'll be back
About Me
I've told you it's coming, now here it is. About Me.
My name is Tom Evans. I am 16, and go to a private school in Sydney where I board. I have been going to this school since I was 8 but I only started boarding last year when my family left for Hong Kong. I like to think I'm a nice guy, and I know exactly what type of person I am. I know who I am which is a very important trait in my opinion.
My biggest interests are technology and theatre, an interesting mix. So I'll be writing about those things in the future.
If you want to know more, just ask for it in the comments.
My name is Tom Evans. I am 16, and go to a private school in Sydney where I board. I have been going to this school since I was 8 but I only started boarding last year when my family left for Hong Kong. I like to think I'm a nice guy, and I know exactly what type of person I am. I know who I am which is a very important trait in my opinion.
My biggest interests are technology and theatre, an interesting mix. So I'll be writing about those things in the future.
If you want to know more, just ask for it in the comments.
1 comments
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
rant #2
Labels:
censorship,
internet,
Personal,
rant
I'm still in a crappy mood... I had a shit day at school today, and I have 5 assignments due this week. Grrr... Also, the friggin boarding house Internet (which is finally back) is
A) too slow to download a movie from iTunes in under 2 days...
B) only works from 6-11pm on weekdays (12-11pm on w/es)
C) doesn't let me on wordpress.com to edit this blog so I have to use the iPod touch app...
So yeh... Well my next post, I promise will be an about me post.
Please comment!
A) too slow to download a movie from iTunes in under 2 days...
B) only works from 6-11pm on weekdays (12-11pm on w/es)
C) doesn't let me on wordpress.com to edit this blog so I have to use the iPod touch app...
So yeh... Well my next post, I promise will be an about me post.
Please comment!
0
comments
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Grrrrr....
I am angry!
There are two reasons for my anger:
I just lost a debate to a team of arrogant pretentious wanksts who quoted historical quotes to prove us wrong AND at the time of writing, the Internet is not working in our boarding house! This is especially infuriating seeing as I just spent $50 on a now useless iTunes voucher to buy movies (on a lighter note... MOVIES in the friggin' iTunes store!)
There are two reasons for my anger:
I just lost a debate to a team of arrogant pretentious wanksts who quoted historical quotes to prove us wrong AND at the time of writing, the Internet is not working in our boarding house! This is especially infuriating seeing as I just spent $50 on a now useless iTunes voucher to buy movies (on a lighter note... MOVIES in the friggin' iTunes store!)
0
comments
Friday, August 15, 2008
Monday Update: back...
Sorry about the lack of updates over the w/e, I went up the coast to visit my grandparents with my mum who was in town for the week. I guess this means nothing to you yet, as I haven't written an about me post yet, but all in good time my friends... Coming up soon: theatre reviews ( Gallipoli & Monty Python: Live at Cranbrook School), more iPod troubles, the possibility of a new writer an about me post, geography excursion and even more iPod troubles... Please comment, it's a great tool for me to gauge my audience!
0
comments
Monday, August 11, 2008
Monday Update: back...
Sorry about the lack of updates over the w/e, I went up the coast to visit my grandparents with my mum who was in town for the week. I guess this means nothing to you yet, as I haven't written an about me post yet, but all in good time my friends... Coming up soon: theatre reviews ( Gallipoli & Monty Python: Live at Cranbrook School), more iPod troubles, the possibility of a new writer, an about me post, geography excursion and even more iPod troubles... Please comment, it's a great tool for me to gauge my audience!
Note the title says Monday Update, I'm sorry for the lateness, but I forgot to post this after writing it last night...
Note the title says Monday Update, I'm sorry for the lateness, but I forgot to post this after writing it last night...
Ipod touch troubles...
Labels:
bugs,
iphone,
ipod touch
My iPod touch is screwing around.... Only one of my apps is working... And that's this one, wordpress. Last night none of my apps would even open, so I deleted them and reinstalled them from the app store. They still don't work! Infact not even wordpress works perfectly, just then as I opened it up my whole iPod crashed and restarted! Tonight, i'm going to update it to 2.0.1 and unjailbreak it.
EDIT: As soon as i tried to show someone how it wasnt working, it fixed itself! I hate it when that happens!
EDIT: As soon as i tried to show someone how it wasnt working, it fixed itself! I hate it when that happens!
0
comments
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Wordpress for iPhone
Labels:
iphone,
ipod touch,
Review,
Software,
Technology,
wordpress
I write this thought from my iPod touch. The wordpress application has been a seamless experience so far, all I have had to do is put my blog in, press new, tag and categorize and now write. I have screenshotted the way, so if images come up I have either figured out how to insert images from my iPod, or I've edited it later... If you are a wordpress blogger, and own an iPhone/touch, you no doubt already have this app, but if you don't, I reccomend you give it a shot!
Edit: as soon as I wrote the above and went to put photos in, the app crashed and I returned to the home screen. I have noticed this with multiple apps, but be warned!
Edit: as soon as I wrote the above and went to put photos in, the app crashed and I returned to the home screen. I have noticed this with multiple apps, but be warned!
a big thought
you might have noticed the title of my new blog, 'Big Thoughts, Little Impact'
this blog is going to be my new personal blog, i am going to be writing about my life, but also reviewing a number of things, movies and plays i've seen, software and hardware i've used, and i will be commenting on the technology industry. im no valley insider, but god i wish i could be...
so let me know what you think of my blog, for my next post i'm going to review the wordpress for iphone application (i will be writing the review from my ipod touch, so only if it works...)
this blog is going to be my new personal blog, i am going to be writing about my life, but also reviewing a number of things, movies and plays i've seen, software and hardware i've used, and i will be commenting on the technology industry. im no valley insider, but god i wish i could be...
so let me know what you think of my blog, for my next post i'm going to review the wordpress for iphone application (i will be writing the review from my ipod touch, so only if it works...)
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