The Shopping Cart Hack

Ever been in a situation when you return home from a shopping spree, crawl into bed and wake up the next morning wondering why you brought all that stuff; most of which you wont even need?

Some French dude once said,

"人間は弱いんだよ。"
"Humans are weak."

It's funny to see that guy in the movies who manages to survive great perils like jumping off a building, surviving a car accident, listen to Justin Beaver sing and what not; only to die by a misplaced nail, piercing him at a vulnerable spot. This is just physical weakness.

The more dangerous form, I believe, is mental weakness. Inability to think or make rational decisions is like a debuff that limits your vision allowing you to see only the center of your monitor. Or should I say, allowing you to see only what is in front of you. There is always more to anything, than what meets the eye. That's why, even though it seems wasteful, be sure to carry a Pokemon who can use HM05 in a dark cave.

Going back to the example we started with. It's a regretful morning and you are stuck with an empty wallet and stuff you don't need. Studying the human species and the human side of myself, I realized, "人間は弱いんだよ。" Without a goal, purpose or motive, it's easy to be lost, it's easy to forget WHY you are doing WHAT you are doing. Add money to this mix and voila! You have an adult; a kid with money. Being humans, we like those shiny things. You see that cute girl in the subway and it somehow pleases you. Even without knowing her mentality, mindset or anything about her, you somehow like her. Hell, she might just be a psychopath killer! Who knows. My point being, shiny things make simple minded humans happy and let's be honest, no matter how perplexed your mind is, everyone has a simple side to them. The vulnerable one.

As if this level of happiness isn't adequate, the consumerist world today, adds another thing to this explosive mix. VARIETY. When I was at the grocery store today, I realized the amount of variety we get. The fact that we have choices has a very liberal feel to it. Nothing wrong that.

THIS is what was wrong - 

Locking the door to my apartment before heading for the supermarket, my intention was to buy something to drink that is healthy, cheap, thirst-quenching and can be had in surplus without major side effects. That itself was enough to cross beer and soda off my list. The first thing that came to my mind was Orange juice. 決めた。(decided) Orange juice it shall be. At the supermarket, practicality kicked in and I realized, Ice Lemon Tea would be a better and cheaper alternative. At the end of my spree, I asked myself, what is this bar of Snickers, this HUGE can of Milo, shitload of Pocky sticks and a two cups of cup ramyun (Korean Ramen) doing in my basket? Do I even need this? Are they essential to my survival? THIS is what was wrong.

Humans are weak. I had let my humane side do the shopping. As I looked at all the junk in my basket, I felt stupid. The fun part was picking stuff off the shelf and throwing it in my basket. What was not fun was about to happen in a few minutes at the cashier. That was when I saw myself waking up in the morning, just the way I described at the beginning of this post. As much as I had enjoyed 'sliding things in my basket', I hated the fact that I'm gonna have to 'wake up to that sick feeling'. Promptly, I placed those things back on their shelves.

They say, some of the greatest discoveries are made by accident. It was only by this accident that I ended up with this crazy idea of satisfying your wants by 'sliding things in your basket' and being practical about it by 'placing them back on the shelf' after a moment of realization. Productive? Definitely not. But if you are a small time schizo like me, it's amusing to avoid the 'regretful morning' scenario while still pampering the kid in you. Thus, I present to you, the Shopping Cart Hack; the joy of shopping and the joy of not feeling like an idiot.

Nem and nem,
signing off

Dinosaurism

Living your life by a set of rules, in a way, gives meaning to it. A life without a purpose is not much different than that of a wanderer. Personally, I think, Life is more about Time. Think of it this way, we are allocated a particular amount of time in this world and we are all gonna die someday. So what truly matters is what we do in this stipulated time period. How we spend this time or with whom we spend it with is actually spending a part of your life with that person or that subject.

Learning is a life long process and there are many things that we learn; actively or passively. One of the fastest ways to learn, I believe, is learning from mistakes. This statement doesn't exactly promote the more misinterpreted meaning to MAKE mistakes so you can learn from them. It can also mean learning from mistakes made by others. Another approach is to foresee mistakes and to avoid them completely. But that's moving away from my point.

Well so here I am, trying to learn from the wisdom left by some of the most ancient species known to mankind - The Dinosaurs. It's amazing, how simple their life was, yet so systematic. Fascinating creatures, they were and shall be. Following are the commandments that I have learned from them.


The Ten Commandments of Dinosaurism

1 - You are free to be ANY dinosaur, anytime you want. Hence you can follow behavioral patterns of any other dinosaur depending on the situation. For instance, Kids love Barney.

Observe closely the expressions of the kids.

2 - You are free to eat anything. ANYTHING. Even other Dinosaurs. However, that also means other Dinosaurs can eat you too. (here, eating can be a metaphor to 'messing with')

Like. A. Boss.

3 - You are to follow the laws of your jungle. If you are to go to a new jungle, learn the rules; follow them to ensure survival. Knowing the rules tell you what NOT to do. If you know what not to do, what you CAN do is only limited by your imagination.

Unrelated picture; but she is really cute.

4 - You must take care of the jungle you live in and ensure it is fit for yourself, other Dinosaurs and the future Dinosaurs to come.

and the environment.

5 - You are allowed to suffix your nickname with -saur/-osaur in informal and -saurus/-osaurus in formal situations. Every Dinosaur has a right to have an awesome nickname.

"Dear no! It's SIR Tyrannosaurus!"

6 - You will be nice to little Dinosaurs. You, YOURSELF, will not indulge in activities you don't want THEM to do. However, you must not hamper evolution. Dinosaurs would've never taken to the skies if their parents had prohibited any attempts to fly.

You really don't want kids to do stupid things just because they saw you do it first. That would only result in devolution.

7 - You will leave your nest once you can hunt on your own. Don't be a burden to your creators. They can manage on their own, just like they did before you existed. You must be grateful to them for everything they did and didn't do for you, for those are the very things that make you the Dinosaur you are.

What's a post without cutesy artwork. So there, dawww all you want.

9 - You will prioritize the evolution of your species. If you are required to, a mate must be chosen with utmost care, prioritizing factors that you would want to see in the future generations.

Apparently, large eyes and long legs are still hot.

10 - You will one day go extinct but you must leave behind something that will baffle the humans for centuries to come; only then shall you be a true Dinosaur.

A human, baffled at what you left behind.

Thus I conclude my findings and studies. The path shown to us by the dinosaurs is a very harsh one, indeed. Even though we, as individual Dinosaurs, WILL, one day be extinct, it's this limited amount of time we have that makes life so important and interesting.

Nemosaurus,
Signing off.

How not to be Forever Alone

Have you ever known that one guys who is actually a genius and knows how things are done but is stuck in a miserable situation? Yeah, this post is for that guy or girl. For that forever alone guy or girl who encounters rejection and gives up hope.

It's often when you do something you enjoy, you lose track of time. This simple statement has evolved into a concept in psychology called the Flow. Immersing yourself into a task or process might seem simple but for some it is a fairly challenging task. Some might even fool kids into thinking that they have ADD (attention deficiency disorder) thereby scarring them for life. But I've known someone who was classified with ADD and had to grow up with that label on his head. The guy's a freaking genius (and no, he is not a character in the fast and furious series). It's often when a person is handicapped with a label, they get this intense urge to outperform. The reason why I like to be around these people is because they emit a certain positive aura, despite all odds. Optimism, hope and faith are very strong driving forces.

This chart indicates the emotions you might experience when you encounter a tasks of a certain challenge level with your expertise at that task (simply put, during flow). You can test it out with yourself while performing some tasks and seeing if the emotions displayed are true. Do let me know in the comments below.

Over the months, I've been promptly following Rule 32 of the Rules of the Internet. Amidst my lurking sprees, it's hard to avoid the rage comics and adventures of Forever Alone. Every time I look at Forever Alone Guy, I won't lie, I did find it amusing. Reflecting upon certain situations, I must admit, there are a few to which I can co-relate to. These are the times when one can't help picturizing himself/herself as forever alone guy.

But the question is - is it really that bad? Personally, I need some time where I need to be left alone. It helps me think better; gives me the space I need. There is a saying in the ancient Indian language of Sanskrit, which goes something like this, "ati parichayasch avadnya". Literally translating this makes it a mess, so I would prefer to convey the meaning behind it. It means, 'if someone or something has always been there, that presence gets taken for granted'. It's closest to the English phrase, "Distance makes the heart grow fonder". Being alone helps you relish the company of people. You learn to appreciate them further.

But if you really don't wanna be this forever alone character, what should you do? How do you stop yourself  from making a rage comic about the funny things that happen to you and later feeling miserable. The thing about not being forever alone is being social. It is by being a contributing member to whatever you are a part of that you can interact with people and people interact with you.

I remember watching Fight Club, a long time ago. What started as a small hobby group ended up becoming a HUGE organization. That truly illustrates how someone can start something and get things rolling. Even if this genius is not recognized or entertained by someone else, they can always start their own jig and get something going. This 2006 movie that I recently watched, Accepted, joins the dots for my hypothesis. Didn't get into a college? No problems, MAKE ONE. If you need it, then there are people out there who need it too; probably, just as bad. If you can't get it, then there are people out there who want it but can't get it either. If you feel lonely and rejected, there are people out there who feel the same! So if you feel that way, try to search for these people and support them with a goal that you share. Coz together, you can't be alone :p

Modes of Life

One reason why I am writing here is because people don't generally read my blog. It helps me get things off my head by writing about them. So whatever I write will remain a mystery for the onlookers but those who are truly interested in taking a different view at the common things we see in life (and who are interested in me, of course) go that extra mile and visit my blog. It's more like yapping and ranting without having to torture someone. But if that someone is interested in being subjected to this torture, then continue reading.

Commoners say, "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade."

However a great man (in a fictional universe) has rather... different opinions,

When I was a measly teenager, I used to think that living alone away from your family (maybe in a different city) would be fun; I was right. But I must admit, now, I have a new-found respect for my parents and the way they raised me over the years. It's only because of that kind of tough upbringing that I can survive on my own without submitting to follies common muggles might make. Although unlike my teenage days, I love and respect my parents now. 

From the way I'm getting all sentimental about this and reminiscing the past, it can't be more clear that I'm in trouble. For the simple reason of keeping this post short (which I assure you it wont be), I won't be ranting about those; at least not right now. This tale, I will leave for a day when we will be drinking at a table and then we can laugh at the whole thing. But yes, things are under control now and the explosion has been contained. Extensive personal experience with them has improved my skill of disaster management.

But honestly, when life gets hard it means that you have been playing on easy mode for too long and it's time to play hard mode. So face this situation like a boss. Screw the hard mode and set it to veteran |-_-|

Dimensional Explanation

This video has been bugging me for such a long time now. Hence here I am sharing it with you. A seat and an open mind are required to watch this. This might be a bit disturbing to some, entertaining to some but certainly thought provoking. Have fun ^_^