I filmed a speech for the Badger Herald today and I’m slightly tired, so I’m going to keep today’s blog post short.

Also, in other random news, a random guy insisted on coming in to the Badger Herald office tonight to work on a piece of our website…

The Daily Post at WordPress.com

Topic #44: Have you ever lied about your age? Why? Do you think they believed you?

I don’t think I have ever lied about my age with an intent to fool somebody. I’m sure that when I was under the age of 13, I changed my birth year on some websites so I could have full access to them (because most websites don’t permit kids under the age of 13 to use all of their features). Of course, the website believed me because the website basically believes all the information that you submit, but I’m sure that if it was a person taking the application and not a website, they wouldn’t have believed that I was older.

So Far in 2011…

Number of Taco Bell tacos eaten: 15

Number of times I did my own laundry: 1

The Daily Post at WordPress.com

Topic #42: What is your favorite word? Why? What is your least favorite word? What word are you entirely neutral about? For all your word choices, is it how they sound, or what they mean that defines your opinion of them?

There aren’t any specific words that I prefer or would consider my favorite. If I had to pick, I would probably go with any words that relate to any themes, topics, or activities that interest me, because those words would act as a memory cue for those things that I like, and potentially make me think about them more.

Simply put, my least favorite words are any words that sound similar have multiple meanings. More specifically, I dislike words possessing secondary meanings that can also be expressed more accurately or precisely by a completely different word. For example, I dislike the word “too” because it sounds too similar to “two” and “to,” and because one could use the word “also” instead to completely avoid confusion.

I also dislike words that have gained a slang definition. For example, the word “gay” can mean “cheery” or “homosexual” (which are both more clear terms for “gay”), but it has also been given the definition of “socially unacceptable” or “something that is not desirable.” Instead of appending a definition to a random word, the little kids that come up with these new definitions should instead go learn more words. Instead of “gay,” they could say “annoying,” “unwanted,” “unappealing,” “troublesome,” “loathed,” “dreaded,” “distasteful,” “displeasing,” “scorned,” or any other abundant synonyms.

Excluding the types of words mentioned above, all other words are neutral. I believe my feelings for these words are determined more by what they mean and how they are used in society, rather than how they sound or my personal opinion about them.

So Far in 2011…

Number of Taco Bell tacos eaten: 15

Number of times I did my own laundry: 1

The Daily Post at WordPress.com

Topic #38: Describe your dream vacation. Describe your last vacation and compare your dream vacation to your last one.

I don’t think I really have what I would consider a dream vacation. I’m not really a fan of traveling, and I get carsick and airsick very easily, so it would have to be somewhere close enough that I don’t get sick getting there, or far enough that I would have to take a plane and I can sleep during the trip.

I also don’t find going to different and new places very interesting. When I go somewhere, I like to go there with a purpose; I find it difficult to roam around from place to place without having a goal. However, a goal for me can be as simple as taking pictures or making a video for my website – the goal being, creating better content in order to attract more readers. So, this place would have to be interesting enough for me to make good content.

With that in mind, I think the best way to describe my dream vacation is when I have nothing to do and I stay at home all day, able to do whatever I want to do. I would essentially be vacationing away from my normal schedule, and I would do things that let me relax.

I can’t think of my last vacation because I don’t go on vacations often, and I don’t like going to different places just to have fun. As of lately, the only reason I’ve gone to different states is to accomplish something or to participate in an activity where my presence was needed or expected. However, out of these trips, the times when I go to California seem more like vacations to me, even though I still might need to take care of things while I’m there.

On the other hand, based off my previous definition of a dream vacation, I take a dream vacation whenever I’m on break from school and I am able to stay home and not do anything pressing. If I manage to finish everything related to work and academics, I might be able to take a vacation over the weekends by staying in my room and not being bothered by anyone else.

So Far in 2011…

Number of Taco Bell tacos eaten: 15

Number of times I did my own laundry: 1

The Daily Post at WordPress.com

Topic #37: Could you live without the Internet for a week? For a month?

My answer to this question is highly dependent on how other people are affected by this Internet out­age.

If I was the only one that lost the Internet for a week or a month, I would have an extremely difficult time living a normal life because of how disconnected I would be from everybody else. My main form of communication and socialization is over the internet – the time a lot of people spend meeting up with people in real life is spent on the Internet for me. Even when I do actually meet up with people in real life, I usually bring some form of technology connected to the Internet with me, and once in a while I bring my camera so I can make videos to put on the Internet of the meet-up.

Life would be difficult not only for my social life, but for my education and work as well. A lot of information about my education is on the internet, such as documents that I have to read and emails about course updates, and it is important that I have access to those if I wish to succeed in my classes. As for my work, being the Web Director at the Badger Herald, almost 99% of my work is on the Internet. If I didn’t have access to the Internet, I would essentially not be able to do most of my job.

However, if the Internet disappeared for a week or a month for everyone in the world, I think that it would be much more manageable, and I would not be as strongly affected as if I was the only one without Internet. The things that I do on the Internet would come to a halt for everyone else as well, and the Internet would become a desolate place. There would be nobody to interact with, and nobody would be visiting my website, so I wouldn’t have to worry about doing anything on the Internet. People would probably use their phones a lot more because email is unavailable, and even though I dislike talking on my phone, I still have a phone number that people can reach me at, so I wouldn’t be missing that many important messages. As for mass announcements during school or work, people could relay that information when we see each other in person.

So Far in 2011…

Number of Taco Bell tacos eaten: 15

Number of times I did my own laundry: 1