Twilight Garbage

Just thought this was an interesting picture to take. I saw it on my way to the studio the other night.
It must have been all the trash from Unofficial St. Patrick's Day at U of I which occurred on Friday the 5th.
They say that 18,000+ students from other schools came to party at U of I that day. What a holiday.

The most amazing SWITCH ever.

(c) Zachary Rodheim 2010

In an Ally Way by my apartment in Champaign, Illinois, I came stumbling across this switch one day on a usual walking routine. I found it to be the most curious, funniest, most red flagged thing I had ever seen. I started showing it to people and referring to it as the Giant Red Switch. I think that the switch references cartoons and such from childhood, coyote and roadrunner, things of that nature. I am so curious to know what it does.

Stripping an iMAC

E-Waste Design Competiton-Havin some fun.

Evolution of Video Games

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Lets talk about the Crinkly Little Portrait of the President

Money is the subject of today's idea.
I could not possibly have imagined how important money, or even the word money would be when I was 10 years old.
You come to a point in high school when it is time to get a job, not much, just something to keep the parents off your back.
Then you get a little older, and its time for a summer job. Still this job is not full time, and you are saving, but not that much.
Then you get a little older, and its time to find a 40 hour a week job for the summer. Now its time to 'save for college', which you do, and if you are lucky, you may just find the right job to hold you over for a couple years. Save, Save, Save.

You get to college and realize, you can make one of two decisions. Get a job, and blow it all on a regular schedule, or save, save, save. In my college career, I have gone through several monetary phases. I have split the road when it comes to the two options. Sometimes you get trigger happy and end up with nothing. That is when you really appreciate the value of a dollar. Or there are times when you simply have to say no to all temptations and save every cent. Oh yes, I have reached this stage in college many a time. Especially now when my spring vacation is coming up. Of course, this could have been avoided by the all mighty OPTION 3. Budget, and limit your funds. Well thats no fun, unless you simply do not have the time to be spending money/ you are not a moron.

Next time you reach for your wallet. Think, is this actually worth it? Can I get by without it? The answer is usually yes.
I have learned the hard way, that time is money, and money you probably do not have, especially if youre a student.

This of course does not apply to the wealthy. Screw you.

Thought this was funny-

Until a child tells you what they are thinking, we can't even begin to imagine how their mind is working..
Little Zachary was doing very badly in math.
His parents had tried everything...tutors, mentors,
flash cards, special learning centers.
In short, everything they could think of to help his math.

Finally, in a last ditch effort, they took Zachary down and enrolled him In the local Catholic school. After the first day, little Zachary came home with a very serious look on his face.. He didn't even kiss his mother hello. Instead, he went straight to his room and started studying.

Books and papers were spread out all over the room and little Zachary was hard at work. His mother was amazed. She called him down to dinner.

To her shock, the minute he was done, he marched back to his room without a word, and in no time, he was back hitting the books as hard as before.

This went on for some time, day after day, while the mother tried to understand what made all the difference.

Finally, little Zachary brought home his report Card.. He quietly laid it on the table, went up to his room and hit the books. With great trepidation, His Mom looked at it and to her great surprise, Little Zachary got an 'A' in math. She could no longer hold her curiosity. She went to his room and said, 'Son, what was it? Was it the nuns?' Little Zachary looked at her and shook his head, no.. 'Well, then,' she replied, Was it the books, the discipline, the structure, the uniforms? WHAT WAS IT?'

Little Zachary looked at her and said, 'Well, on the first day of school when I saw that guy nailed to the plus sign, I knew they weren't fooling around.'

Communication Breakdown

When I was in 7th grade, I got me an AOL Instant Messenger account. From around that time in 1999/2000, technology has taken massive steps to make things quicker and easier for the working man/woman. Today we can have a whole conversation with the screen of a computer or cell phone. This is desensitizing human beings. Remember when we used to pick up the home telephone and get out our address book, or piece of paper with phone numbers on it?

Today, I know people who do not even have home phones any more. They have eliminated it from full in their household. Just cellphones and internet grace the homes. I didnt get a cell phone until I was 16 years old, three years after my AIM account was made. Today, I see 3rd and 4th grades carrying cell phones. I see my siblings talking their lives away on the internet, via keyboard and mouse. What is this doing to their communication skills? When you aren't looking someone face to face, it is easy to say just about anything.

This is dehumanizing. Destructive. Is technological incline good for the human race? or bad for communication, and sensitivity. Ever find it hard to look someone in the eye when speaking to them in person?

Think about it. Next time you want to send someone a text, you ought to dial them up instead.

Details

Today I want to talk about details- Memorable ones.

Things in your life that stood out. They can be things you heard that someone told you, things that you have seen, things that have happened to you. Yesterday I started a list of details that were extremely interesting to me. These things could be used in a book one day, or in a screenplay. Who knows. Start writing these types of things down. You will be able to look back two, three, ten years from now and have more colorful memories, more detailed ones that are more satisfying.

Or if you are a writer, you will have these to fill your stories with imagination, and wonder.

i.e.
'my friends dad rounded all of the corners in his house so no one would ever receive injury'