"i got this" - Kenny Wyland
This isn't where I thought I was going to be when I looked forward into my life, but here I am....
Yes We Can
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5 questions! (no not Craig Kilborn)
Jenn just passed me the 5 Questions ball and so now it's my turn. Here are the five she asked to me, and instructions for getting your own (asked by me, not Jenn) at the bottom.
1. What's the best thing you took from being raised as a Jehovah's Witness? What's the worst?
That's a toss up.. but the two are inherently related: Individualism and Confidence. Growing up with such a glaring difference from everyone forced me into a Thrive or Die type of situation. I became very at one with myself, this is how I am, take it or leave it. We also had to give speechs in front of the congregation and we had to go door to door preaching the religion. You need to develop a level of self-confidence to pull something like that off... but that's also the quality that I'm sure helped me to comfortable with myself.
The worst is easy. My friendship gene is weak. As a Witness, you aren't supposed to fraternize with people outside of the Church. You have to interact with people at work and school, but they don't let you spend any extra time. After all, they are bad, you don't want to spend more time that you have to with them, do you? I'm trying to overcome it, but I find that it's hard for me to maintain relationships with people at a distance. The high school friends, college friends, work friends.. unless they are there in front of me, I don't neccessarily give them the time they should. It's something I'm working on, but I think it's the last scar I have to heal.
2. What's the one college class you wish you took, but didn't?
Hm... probably the Databases class. When all of my CS buddies were signing up for it I thought, "gawd, that must be the most boring class in existance." But now, just about every thing I do in programming deals with databases and I find the work fascinating. :) Like JournalScape. :)
3. Compare and contrast Dar Williams with Rage Against the Machine?
heh.. this question is born of a conversation we had many years ago. I'm a fan of both Dar Williams and Rage Against the Machine (but, no I'm not a fan of Audio Slave, for what I think are obvious reasons).
The thing that Dar and Rage most share is passion, which was the center point of the aforementioned conversation. The thing I love about Rage are the emotions and drive that it arouses with me. After listening to Dar for awhile, I realized she shares the same quality. Her lyrics are very moving when they are paid the proper attention.
This brings us to the essential difference, subtley. Rage has none, Dar does. When you listen to your first Rage song, it's passion is right there in your face, blasting our of your speakers and annoying the neighbors. On first listen to a Dar song, you might not catch everything she's saying because she isn't always coming right out and saying it (sometimes, just not always).
Another difference between Dar and Rage is the focus. Rage's energy is focused at societal problems and change, while Dar's energy is focued more at a personal level.
4. What will JournalScape be like in 10 years?
Hmm.. JournalScape in 2014. I'll be 37 by then. That's probably the hardest of all of these questions.. 10 years ago I would have told you that the Internet would be completely different in 10 years.. and it's really not. It is essentially the same. The browsers have gotten better, but things aren't that different.
I imagine JournalScape will have become a distributed system by that point, even though it will still look and feel like your own little home. It actually won't even feel like it is out on the net somewhere. There will be better integration between your desktop and the internet, so you won't really even notice the difference.
JournalScape will be written in a different language by then, right now I'd say Java, but most likely it will be a language that hasn't been invented yet. Let's call it "javelin." :) If I read this in 10 years and there is a programming language that exists called javelin, I promise to write JournalScape in it.
People won't consider JournalScape (and things like it) to be frivolous, they will consider them something that everyone does, an everyday thing.
The last predication is that JournalScape will receive world-wide attention because of the exceptional people who live here. Writers, Pundits, Inventors, etc.
5. What three pieces of advice would you give a Democratic candidate in order to help him defeat Bush?
I don't know if it would actually help defeat Bush, but the single bit of advice I would give to politcians is to be a real person. I don't want a politician, because a politician is just interested in my vote. A real person reacts like a real person with feelings and often logic. Admit mistakes and don't be wishy-washy.
It looks like Kerry is leading the polls right now, but I don't like him because of things like his response to Iraq. He voted in the Senate in favor of the resolution to use military force against Iraq. When questioned about it during one of the debates, he back-peddled saying that the resolution didn't mention use of military force. The "short title" of the resolution was: Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002... COME ON. So, when Kerry says this, it makes him look like he's lying. If he had said something like, "At the time, the Administration was telling us they had proof of WMD in Iraq and it was vital for National Security that we invade, so I supported it. It has since been shown that they misled Congress and the public and so I have to change my stance on the issue."
There are lots of answers... I just need the person to be real. The public will sense insincerity and/or stupidity. Usually we have to choose between the lesser of two evils. Be the good choice and not the lesser evil.
RULES:
1 - Leave a comment, saying you want to be interviewed.
2 - I will respond; I'll ask you five questions.
3 - You'll update your journal with my five questions, and your five answers.
4 - You'll include this explanation.
5 - You'll ask other people five questions when they want to be interviewed.
1. What's the best thing you took from being raised as a Jehovah's Witness? What's the worst?
That's a toss up.. but the two are inherently related: Individualism and Confidence. Growing up with such a glaring difference from everyone forced me into a Thrive or Die type of situation. I became very at one with myself, this is how I am, take it or leave it. We also had to give speechs in front of the congregation and we had to go door to door preaching the religion. You need to develop a level of self-confidence to pull something like that off... but that's also the quality that I'm sure helped me to comfortable with myself.
The worst is easy. My friendship gene is weak. As a Witness, you aren't supposed to fraternize with people outside of the Church. You have to interact with people at work and school, but they don't let you spend any extra time. After all, they are bad, you don't want to spend more time that you have to with them, do you? I'm trying to overcome it, but I find that it's hard for me to maintain relationships with people at a distance. The high school friends, college friends, work friends.. unless they are there in front of me, I don't neccessarily give them the time they should. It's something I'm working on, but I think it's the last scar I have to heal.
2. What's the one college class you wish you took, but didn't?
Hm... probably the Databases class. When all of my CS buddies were signing up for it I thought, "gawd, that must be the most boring class in existance." But now, just about every thing I do in programming deals with databases and I find the work fascinating. :) Like JournalScape. :)
3. Compare and contrast Dar Williams with Rage Against the Machine?
heh.. this question is born of a conversation we had many years ago. I'm a fan of both Dar Williams and Rage Against the Machine (but, no I'm not a fan of Audio Slave, for what I think are obvious reasons).
The thing that Dar and Rage most share is passion, which was the center point of the aforementioned conversation. The thing I love about Rage are the emotions and drive that it arouses with me. After listening to Dar for awhile, I realized she shares the same quality. Her lyrics are very moving when they are paid the proper attention.
This brings us to the essential difference, subtley. Rage has none, Dar does. When you listen to your first Rage song, it's passion is right there in your face, blasting our of your speakers and annoying the neighbors. On first listen to a Dar song, you might not catch everything she's saying because she isn't always coming right out and saying it (sometimes, just not always).
Another difference between Dar and Rage is the focus. Rage's energy is focused at societal problems and change, while Dar's energy is focued more at a personal level.
4. What will JournalScape be like in 10 years?
Hmm.. JournalScape in 2014. I'll be 37 by then. That's probably the hardest of all of these questions.. 10 years ago I would have told you that the Internet would be completely different in 10 years.. and it's really not. It is essentially the same. The browsers have gotten better, but things aren't that different.
I imagine JournalScape will have become a distributed system by that point, even though it will still look and feel like your own little home. It actually won't even feel like it is out on the net somewhere. There will be better integration between your desktop and the internet, so you won't really even notice the difference.
JournalScape will be written in a different language by then, right now I'd say Java, but most likely it will be a language that hasn't been invented yet. Let's call it "javelin." :) If I read this in 10 years and there is a programming language that exists called javelin, I promise to write JournalScape in it.
People won't consider JournalScape (and things like it) to be frivolous, they will consider them something that everyone does, an everyday thing.
The last predication is that JournalScape will receive world-wide attention because of the exceptional people who live here. Writers, Pundits, Inventors, etc.
5. What three pieces of advice would you give a Democratic candidate in order to help him defeat Bush?
I don't know if it would actually help defeat Bush, but the single bit of advice I would give to politcians is to be a real person. I don't want a politician, because a politician is just interested in my vote. A real person reacts like a real person with feelings and often logic. Admit mistakes and don't be wishy-washy.
It looks like Kerry is leading the polls right now, but I don't like him because of things like his response to Iraq. He voted in the Senate in favor of the resolution to use military force against Iraq. When questioned about it during one of the debates, he back-peddled saying that the resolution didn't mention use of military force. The "short title" of the resolution was: Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002... COME ON. So, when Kerry says this, it makes him look like he's lying. If he had said something like, "At the time, the Administration was telling us they had proof of WMD in Iraq and it was vital for National Security that we invade, so I supported it. It has since been shown that they misled Congress and the public and so I have to change my stance on the issue."
There are lots of answers... I just need the person to be real. The public will sense insincerity and/or stupidity. Usually we have to choose between the lesser of two evils. Be the good choice and not the lesser evil.
RULES:
1 - Leave a comment, saying you want to be interviewed.
2 - I will respond; I'll ask you five questions.
3 - You'll update your journal with my five questions, and your five answers.
4 - You'll include this explanation.
5 - You'll ask other people five questions when they want to be interviewed.
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