I really enjoy chess...but I am horrible at it. I lack foresight. I understand the most basic of openings, which files to put your rooks on, basically everything that you could learn from a book. I posted a year ago asking advice to become a better chess player, and one person said that I should get a chess program, and play it till I bet it regularily. Unfortunately, I played it, but always lost. I seem to be making the same mistakes over and over again, which would not bother me, because I ...
I have lived a very fortunate life. Most people would describe my lifestyle as Upper Middle Class: Spring Break trips every year, I am able to drive around a family car with no expense to me, large house, pets, cable, etc. Today, my mother was laid off from her management position at SBC, where she has been working for decades. She was still meeting her sales quota, and even broke records for the largest sales ever. However, SBC merged with AT&T and she has lost her job. My family is in a pos...
The snow was wet, and sticky like glue as I started my daily run around the house for a good half hour. I could see how easily it clumped together, and stopped my exercise to mold this cold magma to my own desires. Soon I had a large mound for the base, hard packed with the imprint of my hand upon it. It had been quite a few years since I had taken up an endeavor like this. Last year I attempted to build an igloo, using snow mixed with water in a plastic container to mold it into blocks. A sn...
As I sit in my classroom, pondering whatever it is that I forgot I was pondering before, I came to the startling conclusion of how truly blessed some women are. You may be rolling your eyes and wondering why have I not thought of this before, but I assure you, this has come to me many times, just never as solidified as it did today. Some contributing factors: many intelligent, beautiful, and rich girls/young women in almost all of my classes today, "The Folk of the Fringe" by Orson Scott Card...
Sonnet 1337 The squirrel's nostrils fill with the spring airs As it hops around the greeny grass ground. Squirrels are concerned not with human cares, And find materialism unsound. The squirrel is as happy as can be, As the wind blows in its fur and buckteeth, When it frolics from green grass ground to tree Hiding in the newness of nature's wreath. Squirrels nickname happens to be lucky, And as you most assuredly will see, Mainly there are just too many Bucky...
I am required to turn in my Senior High School quote this friday, and would really enjoy any reactions or ideas from the JU community. Here is my number one choice, followed by honorable mentions. If you know of a quote that you think I might enjoy, either just by reading it or possibly for my Senior quote, or If you would like to post your senior quote, feel free. In my experience, many quotes have been repetitive, not very interesting, not applicable to the person, or just plain dumb. As...
OK, so my Calc teacher gives the class this math problem, and I cannot figure it out. I have tried and tried, but each idea that I get can be reasoned away to nothing. Post your hints, ideas, or solutions(I'd rather you not, but feel free, I wont delete your post.) Two towns, A and B, are located along the Appalachian Trail. At sunrise, Pat begins walking south from A to B along the trail, while simultaneously Dana begins walking north from B to A. Each person walks at a constant speed, an...
As a gamer I have been through a lot of hardware in my time:peripherals, internals, basically everything. From overclocking, anger, and just plain stupidity on my part, almost every part of my tr1ck3d out system has been replaced at some point. I know I am a little biased, because to a certain extent I am a fanboy: ATI, AMD, Chaintech, Geil, and of course, Logitech. My first encounter with Logitech: A set of the cheapest headphones you could imagine: FREE! They came in my Unreal Tournament 2k...
"Tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms further…And on one fine morning… So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past." – Fitzgerald I sit here, pondering existence and purpose. The computer clock reads 12:44 A.M., and I am very tired. Tired not from lack of sleep, nor from pain, sickness, suffering, but from confusion. I am told that I have my life ahead of me, endless opportunity. Which is mostly true. I am 18, no major ailments, excellent phy...
I thought I would not post again, but this is something special. I posted a "How can God not Exist" article hoping to change a few peoples perspectives, but it didnt do any good. Many people on this site probably thought, "What a loser trying to prove God exists. He just does." I cannot prove to someone anything, but I feel that this is very interesting. An Intelligent Creator The idea of an intelligent creator of the universe has always sparked debates, but as science and learning inc...
I have not logged on JU in what seems ages, which I feel a little guilty about. Therefore, I am writing this article to help explain my abscence. I feel totally apart from everyone. No person has felt my soul in a way that has surprised or astounded me, except for maybe my parents because of my development in their household, which allowed them to understand me. Not only do people understand me, which everyone could say, but I am seperated from them, too. I have never felt close to anyon...
I love strategy games, like all the warcrafts and starcrafts, Age of Empires, Civs, etc etc. I had learned the basics of chess long before, and enjoyed the game very casually. I then learned the basics of Go, the ancient Chinese game that is said to have won Vietnam for the communists, and was inspired to get into chess again. I learned some of the opening moves, but after the opener, I cannot visualize where I am going with the game. I live a move by move existence, without any organization....
Do you know what really pisses me off? Some people, even Christians, fail to follow Jesus's law of unconditional love and acceptance. Myself included, but some people on this blog site make me very perturbed. In my short life I have been called a bigot, even by people I know who are on this blog site who I know personally, idol-worshipper, etc. Some people on this blog site have almost open hatred of everyone else besides themselves, including dead musical artists, homosexuals (I am not again...
Yesterday was the 10th anniversary of lead singer Kurt Kobaine's death from the band Nirvana. He committed suicide with a shotgun to the head, taking the fans down with him. It just shows how heroine slowly kills you off until you just kill yourself, which is a very tragic end for anyone, but for someone like Kurt, a marvelous waste of skill and ideas. When rock needed a revolution, Kobaine was there with all the counter culture he could muster. I ask everyone to learn from his mistakes, list...
By now most people might have guessed I am a slightly dense person that never was the brightest crayon in the box. I ask anyone who has ever meditated to offer insight and instruction. Once in a great while I will try to meditate at night to clear my thoughts and calm myself, which sometimes works. My method (can I call it meditation?) I found in a book, which is I concentrate on one finger of flame, like a candle flame, and imagine it burning away all feelings, fears and hopes. I try to imag...