Two of my friends and I started a blog last week. The blog explains itself, sort of, so I'm not going to here. But, if you want to check it out, here's the link: http://sharkbandages.blogspot.com
I hope you enjoy it! I'd love to know what you think. If any of the posts are confusing to you, that's probably because they're usually responding to the post(s) just before it.
4.23.2011
4.14.2011
Here goes something
I haven't had any specific lessons, axioms, maxims, come to mind that I want to write about lately, so I'm just going to write and see where it gets me. I feel less adequate to teach people how to live these days, but I'd like to think that there's still value to my experiences.
One thing that has been on my mind is how hard it is to honestly share feel about what's going on around us. Emotional reservation is good sometimes; a lot of what I feel in any given moment has little meaning and value. But I also get the feeling as if we're all just being emotional spies, pulling the wool over each other's eyes to keep our true emotional identities hidden. like I said: not always bad. I'm careful about before whom I cast my pearls... please disregard that I'm blogging my feelings for the wide, wide world right now. Then again, maybe you shouldn't. look at me, emotionally opening up...
Alright, here's the deal: I'm going to try to be more honest with how I feel. Not just here, but in the real, real world of people too. Maybe not so much what I "feel" about things, which is usually just an excuse for people to be critical and brutal, but how things make me feel. I'd like people to know where I stand emotionally.
Wouldn't it be nice if you knew what that one person was feeling?! Well, you can be that one person! Finally all your wildest dreams of being a one person can come true, and the power is in your hands... or tears? I don't know if that's exactly the type of emotion I mean, but you get the point.
One thing that has been on my mind is how hard it is to honestly share feel about what's going on around us. Emotional reservation is good sometimes; a lot of what I feel in any given moment has little meaning and value. But I also get the feeling as if we're all just being emotional spies, pulling the wool over each other's eyes to keep our true emotional identities hidden. like I said: not always bad. I'm careful about before whom I cast my pearls... please disregard that I'm blogging my feelings for the wide, wide world right now. Then again, maybe you shouldn't. look at me, emotionally opening up...
Alright, here's the deal: I'm going to try to be more honest with how I feel. Not just here, but in the real, real world of people too. Maybe not so much what I "feel" about things, which is usually just an excuse for people to be critical and brutal, but how things make me feel. I'd like people to know where I stand emotionally.
Wouldn't it be nice if you knew what that one person was feeling?! Well, you can be that one person! Finally all your wildest dreams of being a one person can come true, and the power is in your hands... or tears? I don't know if that's exactly the type of emotion I mean, but you get the point.
4.13.2011
If you write it...
Quite a few people have been asking me to blog again... I'm not sure if they mean it, or if it's just a nice way for them to let me know that they know I even have a blog. Well, either way, I'm flattered. Thank you. I'd like to say that I'm going to-- I do have plenty of time-- but I'm not sure if I have the patience with my own thoughts these days. by that, I mean that I used to think that what I thought was a big deal. I have since been walking the long road to the realization that few people care what I think about things. For, if I cannot inseminate the world's minds with my mind, what's the point?! The road to intrinsically motivated writing awaits.
Sometimes i wonder if the real reason I've stopped is that I've gotten all the thoughts out of my head, and there are no more to write. I don't know if anyone who talks with me often would agree. I do think a lot, but lately my thoughts have been about specific situations and people, which makes me hesitant to publish them on the wide, wide world of webs.
Another possible reason: I don't own a computer. ... yeah, that's probably the reason.
Anyway, I'm out of the habit of blogging and writing in general. I don't think I was ever that good, but I feel rusty nonetheless.
I started with a point... here it is: I'll try. But, here's another point: Words can be weapons, and in the recent past I have ruined (at least to some extent) friendships and relationships with words. The justification: "I was right". Stupid. being right is stupid sometimes. and what the heck does that mean, anyway? Being right doesn't keep you warm at night.
So, with a little more reservation, I'll try to get back in on this deal.
I'm still trying to figure out what people even would be interested in reading. let me know if you have any ideas.
Sometimes i wonder if the real reason I've stopped is that I've gotten all the thoughts out of my head, and there are no more to write. I don't know if anyone who talks with me often would agree. I do think a lot, but lately my thoughts have been about specific situations and people, which makes me hesitant to publish them on the wide, wide world of webs.
Another possible reason: I don't own a computer. ... yeah, that's probably the reason.
Anyway, I'm out of the habit of blogging and writing in general. I don't think I was ever that good, but I feel rusty nonetheless.
I started with a point... here it is: I'll try. But, here's another point: Words can be weapons, and in the recent past I have ruined (at least to some extent) friendships and relationships with words. The justification: "I was right". Stupid. being right is stupid sometimes. and what the heck does that mean, anyway? Being right doesn't keep you warm at night.
So, with a little more reservation, I'll try to get back in on this deal.
I'm still trying to figure out what people even would be interested in reading. let me know if you have any ideas.
12.15.2010
3.26.2009
Eat a crocodile? I'll do 't.
I found another poem I wrote quite a while ago. When I was a sophomore in high school, my friend, Tyler Panian, needed a poem to critique for his English class, so I made this one up on the spot. so really, he wrote it; I merely dictated.
Watery Grave
These are some Valentine's Day Haiku's I wrote this year for a Family Home Evening activity, and they are called The Happy Valentine's D's:
Dejection
I think of your eyes:
They are blue like the river
rushing right past me.
Disquiet
My heart beats for you
Like an army of drummers
Just as annoying.
Watery Grave
by: Alexander Johnston Hale
A crocodile lives in my pool.
Some people think he's really cool.
But don't be fooled,
'Cause he's not nice;
He will bite your face off...
Twice!
Some people think he's really cool.
But don't be fooled,
'Cause he's not nice;
He will bite your face off...
Twice!
These are some Valentine's Day Haiku's I wrote this year for a Family Home Evening activity, and they are called The Happy Valentine's D's:
Delusion
So full of passion,
But I have no one to love,
So, what do you say?
But I have no one to love,
So, what do you say?
Dejection
I think of your eyes:
They are blue like the river
rushing right past me.
Disquiet
My heart beats for you
Like an army of drummers
Just as annoying.
3.25.2009
Didn't even knoet
I typed my full name (Alexander Johnston Hale) into Google to see if anything would come up, and to my great amazement and amusement, a link to poetry.com showed up with a poem that I had written more than 10 years ago!
While on an LDS mission in Nebraska, my brother, Ryan, told me about how obsessed everyone there was about Cornhusker football. I guess it was so silly to my 12- or 13-year-old mind that I wrote a poem about it.
without further ado, my poem:
While on an LDS mission in Nebraska, my brother, Ryan, told me about how obsessed everyone there was about Cornhusker football. I guess it was so silly to my 12- or 13-year-old mind that I wrote a poem about it.
without further ado, my poem:
Football in Nebraska
by: Alexander Johnston Hale
Once, while sitting on my bed,
A clock fell down and struck my head
As consciousness left me I fell to the ground
And laid there, no motion, not even a sound.
When I awoke I looked at the clock
It must have been broken, no more tick, no more tock.
Without any knowledge of how long I'd been out,
I left my room to go walk about.
I went to the window. something was wrong;
Not a child at play, and no birds singing songs
The sky looked so gloomy, the streets looked so bare,
I ventured to think that no one was there.
Was I the last person? was I the last soul?
Was it just in my neighborhood? or the world as a whole?
What would I do? how would I survive
If I was the last person, the last thing still alive?
Then it struck me, like lightning, like the clock to the head
I realized how long I had been in bed
I ran back to my room. how could I be so retarded?!
The Cornhuskers were playing and the game already started!
A clock fell down and struck my head
As consciousness left me I fell to the ground
And laid there, no motion, not even a sound.
When I awoke I looked at the clock
It must have been broken, no more tick, no more tock.
Without any knowledge of how long I'd been out,
I left my room to go walk about.
I went to the window. something was wrong;
Not a child at play, and no birds singing songs
The sky looked so gloomy, the streets looked so bare,
I ventured to think that no one was there.
Was I the last person? was I the last soul?
Was it just in my neighborhood? or the world as a whole?
What would I do? how would I survive
If I was the last person, the last thing still alive?
Then it struck me, like lightning, like the clock to the head
I realized how long I had been in bed
I ran back to my room. how could I be so retarded?!
The Cornhuskers were playing and the game already started!
I have no idea how it got onto poetry.com, but I gave it a 10.
1.11.2009
My own wake
While trying to make the most moral decision, selfish farsightedness led to probably the biggest mistake I've ever made with a relationship. I lost what was more than a chance. Now in the emotional scramble of a second attempt, nearly hopeless for what could have been, a spiritual insight has made all my moral efforts free of regret: The victory is not in winning love, but in loving. I loved, and will continue to love.
12.08.2008
Donating my boomerang to science
One day in my psychology of humor class I jokingly made a side comment to a fellow student that the incongruity theory of humor was like the flight of a boomerang. It kind of made sense, but there hadn’t been very much thought behind it beyond the impulse. When a creative project was assigned, I told my colleague (it becoming a running joke) that I was going to whittle a boomerang. I don’t know how serious I was with the idea, but I had to “stick to my boomerangs” every time the creative project was brought up.I have always wanted to whittle a boomerang, so that’s what I ended up doing. I haven’t whittled anything since Pinewood Derbies, and I’ve only ever thrown a boomerang once before (it was one of those triangular Aerobie boomerangs), so I decided that it would be creative enough, and probably take far longer than the required eight hours of work for the project (which it did). I had to make two of them. The first one worked so well that I threw it around until it broke... three days before I had to present it. I was so upset about it breaking that I not only fixed it, but I made another one. Two boomerangs! I was so focused on making the boomerangs that I forgot about having to explain how a boomerang relates to the psychology of humor.
Incongruity theory explains that an important (and in the theory’s case, essential) aspect of humor is its incongruous deviation from expectation. A boomerang satisfies this criterion very well: When a boomerang is thrown, it is expected to move and act like any normal object of that size and mass—move straight for as far as the energy provided can propel it. However, a boomerang begins to fly differently from the norm shortly after it is released; it curves in an elliptical path until, if thrown correctly, it returns to the thrower. Now, the incongruity of any joke is merely confusing if there is no deeper explanation to the unexpected deviation; the intelligent, alternative explanation (wit) elicits a mirthful response (possibly laughter) indicating that the experience was humorous. This is satisfied by the understanding of Bernoulli’s Principle: As air on the top of each arm (or airfoil) moves a farther distance over a curved path in the same amount of time as the air moving in a straight path on the bottom, the increased airspeed on the top has lower pressure (the principle itself) than the unaltered airspeed on the bottom which creates lift in the direction of the low pressure. Therefore, a boomerang is pulled in the direction of the curved face of the airfoil. That sounds all smart n’ crap, and it completely satisfies the incongruous behavior of the boomerang! The result: humor. If you don’t believe that this whole process is funny, then why did everybody chuckle when I told ‘em I was whittling a boomerang?! (If you can think of anything, keep it to yourself, this isn’t about you)
Here’s the analytical rundown:
Incongruity theory explains that an important (and in the theory’s case, essential) aspect of humor is its incongruous deviation from expectation. A boomerang satisfies this criterion very well: When a boomerang is thrown, it is expected to move and act like any normal object of that size and mass—move straight for as far as the energy provided can propel it. However, a boomerang begins to fly differently from the norm shortly after it is released; it curves in an elliptical path until, if thrown correctly, it returns to the thrower. Now, the incongruity of any joke is merely confusing if there is no deeper explanation to the unexpected deviation; the intelligent, alternative explanation (wit) elicits a mirthful response (possibly laughter) indicating that the experience was humorous. This is satisfied by the understanding of Bernoulli’s Principle: As air on the top of each arm (or airfoil) moves a farther distance over a curved path in the same amount of time as the air moving in a straight path on the bottom, the increased airspeed on the top has lower pressure (the principle itself) than the unaltered airspeed on the bottom which creates lift in the direction of the low pressure. Therefore, a boomerang is pulled in the direction of the curved face of the airfoil. That sounds all smart n’ crap, and it completely satisfies the incongruous behavior of the boomerang! The result: humor. If you don’t believe that this whole process is funny, then why did everybody chuckle when I told ‘em I was whittling a boomerang?! (If you can think of anything, keep it to yourself, this isn’t about you)
Another aspect of humor is that it follows a basic, three-act pattern:
Act I: The Introduction of the plot—a boomerang is thrown. Off it goes, straight, just like everyone expected.
Act II: The Conflict or plot twist — to everyone’s shock and amazement, the boomerang curves (I bet you thought I was going to say it “twists”... or "conflicts")
Act III: The Resolution—the boomerang returns safely to its owner, unharmed, having learned a valuable lesson.
A Laugh is born!
Right now I'm thinking of a crying laugh... straight out of the womb... a paradox?
These are the figures I used in class during my presentation
Right now I'm thinking of a crying laugh... straight out of the womb... a paradox?
Sigmund Freud has an explanation for this just as he does for everything else. His Psychoanalytic Theory of humor states that the laughter and mirth resulting from this humorous experience is just the outlet for excess libidinal energy which built up in act II from all the suspense and tension (don’t deny it) when, to our relief, act III shows you that there’s really nothing to worry about anymore.
The Reversal Theory of humor explains that laughter and the feeling of mirth are a result of the psychological interchange between the telic (serious, goal-driven) and paratelic (playful, inconsequential) mindsets in even, moderate ratios… probably something to do with Pythagoras and the Golden Mean, I’m sure. And, because everyone knows that returning boomerangs are used for hunting birds (telic), the playful use of boomerangs in recreation (paratelic) is funny!
The final concept I want to use is known as “The Circle of Expectation”. If you will please revert your attention to the facet of Incongruity Theory about (and explanation for) the deviations from the norm. As incongruity needs to be moderated in quality by requiring a sound alternative explanation, the Circle of Expectation moderates the quantity of incongruity so that it is not just a random deviation devoid of any logical tether. If the boomerang were to disappear and reappear 100 miles away, that would just be baffling or confusing, not humorous. It is expected that a person of my stature would be able to throw an object of similar size and mass up to 100 yards. Thus, the physical area of expected possible flight of the boomerang is restricted to a 100 yard radius with the thrower as the focal point. The flight path of the boomerang stays within the confines of the Circle of Expectation and does not lose any humor to confusion.
So, I whittled a boomerang for my psychology class. That incongruity with expected course-relevant assignments has hopefully been resolved in an intelligent and creative way. Perhaps it pushed the limits of the Circle of Expectation, but at least Freud helped us all return to some sound, level ground just as a boomerang returns ever so faithfully to its master.
The Reversal Theory of humor explains that laughter and the feeling of mirth are a result of the psychological interchange between the telic (serious, goal-driven) and paratelic (playful, inconsequential) mindsets in even, moderate ratios… probably something to do with Pythagoras and the Golden Mean, I’m sure. And, because everyone knows that returning boomerangs are used for hunting birds (telic), the playful use of boomerangs in recreation (paratelic) is funny!
The final concept I want to use is known as “The Circle of Expectation”. If you will please revert your attention to the facet of Incongruity Theory about (and explanation for) the deviations from the norm. As incongruity needs to be moderated in quality by requiring a sound alternative explanation, the Circle of Expectation moderates the quantity of incongruity so that it is not just a random deviation devoid of any logical tether. If the boomerang were to disappear and reappear 100 miles away, that would just be baffling or confusing, not humorous. It is expected that a person of my stature would be able to throw an object of similar size and mass up to 100 yards. Thus, the physical area of expected possible flight of the boomerang is restricted to a 100 yard radius with the thrower as the focal point. The flight path of the boomerang stays within the confines of the Circle of Expectation and does not lose any humor to confusion.
So, I whittled a boomerang for my psychology class. That incongruity with expected course-relevant assignments has hopefully been resolved in an intelligent and creative way. Perhaps it pushed the limits of the Circle of Expectation, but at least Freud helped us all return to some sound, level ground just as a boomerang returns ever so faithfully to its master.
These are the figures I used in class during my presentation12.04.2008
I finally whittled a boomerang. I'm supposed to do a creative project for my Psychology of Humor class, so I decided to hit two birds with one boomerang: 1. Complete my creative assignment. 2. Fulfill my dreams.
It's kind of a lame video that I took with my phone, so I'll try to get a better one up soon.
It's kind of a lame video that I took with my phone, so I'll try to get a better one up soon.
10.14.2008
8.24.2008
I choo choo choose you.
Sometimes, I guess you have to care about someone enough to let them take themselves out of your life. You can't force somebody to care about you, because that's their responsibility. True love is the love that Jesus Christ has for us. It is a Spiritual Gift that cannot be attained by the natural man, but only through the power of the atonement, as a gift from our Savior. We are incapable of truly loving others without first loving Him. Through loving God, we are filled with the Spirit, and become capable of loving other people. That's why He commands us to love Him: Because otherwise, we wouldn't be able to truly love each other. Thus, any righteous, loving relationship is merely an extension of the relationship we have with Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ loves us because he chooses to, not because we earn it. Our love can only be real and true if it is a choice as well, otherwise, it is just lust and infatuation. The difference between love and lust is agency. You don't have to choose to lust; that's natural. Love is harder than that, and because Christ has chosen to love everyone, there isn't anyone that doesn't deserve our love. If love is a choice that you are in control of, and everyone deserves your love, then I guess the selection of who you choose to be in relationships with (all levels of true friendship and relationship) depends on the trust you have that that person will be able to choose to love you. Maybe it takes some hard, rough, uncomfortable introspection to decide to be worthy of that trust. But if not, any love that was learned and chosen, even if not reciprocated, was worth your time. There is no better indication of the quality of our character than how much we choose to love those we can trust.
Without the ability to choose, water takes the path of least resistance, sometimes only to the ends of being dammed up in stagnant pools before ever reaching its goal. Our gift of agency allows us to choose things that are hard-- paths full of resistance-- so we can overcome our natural instincts and inclinations to take the easiest way. What it means to be an agent is to have the faith to choose what you know is right even and especially when you don't want to. It is good to make hard choices and risk our own comfort in order to reach our destinations. People are more than the way they make us feel. One of the hardest choices for me is to forget the way that people make me feel, and worry about the way I make them feel. That sounds a lot like love.
Oh, let the rain fall down and wash this world away. Oh, let the sky be gray. 'Cause, if it's ever gonna get any better, it's gotta get worse for a day.
Without the ability to choose, water takes the path of least resistance, sometimes only to the ends of being dammed up in stagnant pools before ever reaching its goal. Our gift of agency allows us to choose things that are hard-- paths full of resistance-- so we can overcome our natural instincts and inclinations to take the easiest way. What it means to be an agent is to have the faith to choose what you know is right even and especially when you don't want to. It is good to make hard choices and risk our own comfort in order to reach our destinations. People are more than the way they make us feel. One of the hardest choices for me is to forget the way that people make me feel, and worry about the way I make them feel. That sounds a lot like love.
Oh, let the rain fall down and wash this world away. Oh, let the sky be gray. 'Cause, if it's ever gonna get any better, it's gotta get worse for a day.
4.01.2008
2.15.2008
To whom it may concern:
As you all know, yesterday was Mr. Cupid Valentine's birthday. We regret to inform you that despite our efforts of elevated awareness, we have not had any success in locating him. We strongly advise you to continue dismembering rose bushes, cutting out paper hearts, and purchasing chalky candies to support the cause. We appreciate all previous donations of monies and gift cards, and gratefully accept any further contribution (we accept Visa and MasterCard). Thank you for your support.
Regards,
Commercialism
Regards,
Commercialism
2.13.2008
All I know is that I don't not know nothing.
Politics is funny to me. It doesn't take a lot of effort to realize that what you thought yesterday isn't necessarily what you think now even when yesterday you thought that you would always think that way, so tomorrow you probably won't think the way you do today. Yet, everyone is so sure they know what's right for themselves and everyone else. I think that the biggest proof that someone isn't sure of what they claim to believe is stubbornness. How better can one try to convince oneself of correct conclusions than to ignore all other perspectives and react hostilely to new ideas.
Even in situations where there is an Ultimate Truth (not politics), few people are honest enough with themselves and/or focused enough on legitimate self mastery to want to find out what it is. Most people don't want to discover truth; they want to discover that they knew the truth all along. just like nobody wants you to be completely honest with them; they only want you to be completely honest about the good things you say about them. It's worth secretly being wrong today to avoid openly admitting you were wrong yesterday, especially if your stubbornness allows that secret to keep even you in the dark.
We're so afraid of being (or having been) wrong that instead of pursuing what's right, we'd rather convince ourselves that we were never wrong in the first place. We're so busy trying to persuade ourselves that we're right, that it seems the only defense we have against opposing opinions is to rile ourselves up in the polarized, irrational, mob mentality: that anyone who thinks differently is stupid or evil. If all of that is based on your initial thought that you've been working so hard to convince yourself is right (that was probably imposed on you by circumstance), then people just like you in different situations are probably thinking you are just as evil and stupid as you think they are. Think of school and sports rivalries. What are those based on if not thoughtless, random affiliation. What about Road Rage? How can getting angry at someone you don't even know improve your situation with them. When people get angry at you and think you're stupid, does that make you want to think they're right and justified in any act of aggression toward you? The more you hate, the more you become like those you hate so much. The more you think about it, the more you know. Do you want to?
Even in situations where there is an Ultimate Truth (not politics), few people are honest enough with themselves and/or focused enough on legitimate self mastery to want to find out what it is. Most people don't want to discover truth; they want to discover that they knew the truth all along. just like nobody wants you to be completely honest with them; they only want you to be completely honest about the good things you say about them. It's worth secretly being wrong today to avoid openly admitting you were wrong yesterday, especially if your stubbornness allows that secret to keep even you in the dark.
We're so afraid of being (or having been) wrong that instead of pursuing what's right, we'd rather convince ourselves that we were never wrong in the first place. We're so busy trying to persuade ourselves that we're right, that it seems the only defense we have against opposing opinions is to rile ourselves up in the polarized, irrational, mob mentality: that anyone who thinks differently is stupid or evil. If all of that is based on your initial thought that you've been working so hard to convince yourself is right (that was probably imposed on you by circumstance), then people just like you in different situations are probably thinking you are just as evil and stupid as you think they are. Think of school and sports rivalries. What are those based on if not thoughtless, random affiliation. What about Road Rage? How can getting angry at someone you don't even know improve your situation with them. When people get angry at you and think you're stupid, does that make you want to think they're right and justified in any act of aggression toward you? The more you hate, the more you become like those you hate so much. The more you think about it, the more you know. Do you want to?
1.17.2008
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