Bliss

If you were alive during the early 2000s, chances are you have seen the above image. The image, Bliss, is the default wallpaper of the default theme of Windows XP, which was the most popular version of Windows until the release of Windows 7.

Despite taking more photos since then, even making sequels to the photo, Bliss remains his most popular photo, and for the most part, he's content.

Such stories make me think that maybe chasing perfection isn't the best way to go. I've learned this as well on one of my temp jobs. The client wanted a presentation, and in the end, everything was a series of JPEGs.

Moral of the story: effort is everything, but don't waste it

- Ryan

The Current Agenda

I'm beginning to hate the word "agenda". It's just become shorthand for "thing that I can't describe but dislike intensely." "Agenda" is no longer an itinerary, a list of things to be done. "Agenda" is now a global conspiracy done by the faction and/or ideology of its preceding word.

Within our increasingly open world thanks to the Internet, more lines are being drawn. Humanity as a whole is tribalist in nature, and "us v. them" is becoming the most popular narrative nowadays. We don't open our minds anymore, we close them up. We are convinced in our righteousness, and we surround ourselves with people who agree.

It's a terrible system, and sadly, I feel that it's here to stay for a while.

- Ryan

Addicted to Stress

There are times in which I literally do nothing but goof off despite the fact that there's a deadline on my head, like a sword of Damocles.

This is one of those times.

It's an in-built function that runs in the rest of my family. Whenever something stressful happens, we do something else: me and my sister go online and shut the rest of the world out, my other sister does the opposite and goes out partying.

Really this is just one of the things that everyone else experiences, but I find it interesting to talk about: why do we do something else when faced with stress, when we know fully well that just walking up and dealing with it is a logical course of action.

It's one of those things, yeah.

- Ryan

A Sentence on Long Weekends and a Paragraph on an Ex-Girlfriend

Personally, long weekends are the worst. I remember back when I had 3 months of jack shit to do: nothing but sitting down on a chair and doing god-knows-what on a computer. Looking back, trying to remember that period of my life, one woman defined that period of my life: Rachel.

I met her by chance on Omegle (I was a really bored motherfucker at the time), we added each other on Skype, and for 3 months, it was pure marital bliss, so to speak. She was smart, well-spoken, a well open-mind, and she was a fiery redhead to boot.

Then it was over, just like that. We broke up, and we've never talked to each other since. I wonder sometimes how she's doing. I hope she's doing well.

 - Ryan