April 1

O geez, April 1 has arrived. I remember back in November thinking just how far away it felt but now it is literally at my doorstep. For most people April 1 is just another day; the start of a new month, the secondary unofficial start to Spring, or just April Fools Day, but for me and countless other high school seniors, it's decision day. So far I've heard back from three of my seven schools and it's been good news so far; I've gotten into UVA, Georgetown and George Mason but the rest of my schools will post their decisions tomorrow.

So how does one celebrate such a day? Well, for me and a select group of friends, we have a massive Chinese Food party. It started last year when four of us got together when i offered to cook some authentic Chinese food for them and we ended up having a great time. Well, word spread about last year's festivities so this year it's been expanded. It should be fun, it's just a lunch get together at a friend's house and we cook and eat and hang out on a day that most people would be freaking out on.

Stress free? Yes, please.

Spring break is half over now :( I've been terribly lazy thus far and I've been so unproductive it's kinda sad but whatever. The procrastination monster was bound to hit and it has. I should get some work done so I don't get swamped this weekend so I better get a move on I guess. Real World D.C. has now ended so i guess that's one less distraction for me, I'll miss that show, it was such a guilty pleasure for me but it really did steal so much of my time on Wednesdays, but that's over now.

So, I'm on the cusp now, college is fast approaching, decisions are arriving, and Spring break has tipped over the half way point. What a time of change, no?

Talk to you guys soon,

JP

UVA, Regatta #1 and Spring Break!!

I got into UVA!! This is my second college acceptance and it's to my top regional school! They released the results online and since I was going to be at crew practice, I gave my friend my login and password so she could check my results for me when the time came around and text me the result. When I got the text, I jumped up and did an in-air 360 degree spin and then ran around in a circle cheering two times before finally calming down. Excessive? Maybe, but worth every stare? Hell Yes.

In crew news, we have our first regatta tomorrow. It's only for upper (varsity) boats so that way the novices can watch an actual race before they too participate in their first regatta along with us next week. The varsity guys will be racing two boats, a first 8 and a second 8. I'm going to be in the second 8 in 2 seat towards the bow this time. I just got back from carboloading and 5 intense rounds of air hockey at our first pre-regatta pasta party so I've successfully tired myself out enough so that I will sleep well tonight in preparation for tomorrow. I have to be at the boat house at 8:30 tomorrow morning so I have to get up early which is the only bad part. With all this positive energy, I hope we will do well.

Finally, I'm officially on Spring Break. Normally, my parents and I would travel down to our Florida home for the week but, this is Senior year, and that means college letters. Because I wanted to stay home, my parents and I decided that they would take my aunt and uncle down to Florida and take them sightseeing. They're leaving tomorrow so I'll be home to take care of Max, our dog and my grandpa. A few of my colleges said they will be posting decisions online but many others will be doing it only by mail. So, if you're looking for me, I'll be in the tent by the mail box. I plan to have plenty of relaxation time and time out with friends however so I plan to really enjoy my final high school Spring Break.

Such a great start to what hopefully will be a great week and a half.

All the best,

JP

Dear Matt,

You're unhealthy for me. You constantly plague my mind at all hours of the day, your step, your laugh, your everything. I shouldn't be preoccupied with something that I can't even have especially at a time like this. I shouldn't care whether you gave me a passing glace in the hall or whether we agree that the girls who sit by us in French really are crazy. There are more important things in life.

Sure, you find a way to work your way into my dreams, my refuge from the real world, and there you wreak havoc through a tender kiss or just holding me in your arms, but that too is just a mirage. You know I look forward to the next time you play a lead role in those delightful nightmares, and I'm sick of it.

You're causing more trouble than good. I've promised in the past that I would get over you, that you're just a phase. Maybe things will finally get better once college rolls around and we're forced apart. If that's what it takes, so be it. Until then, you're like a drug to me, I may need you now, but I won't be addicted to you forever. You will not control my life.

I'm stronger than that.

Fail!

Thought 1: "Whoops, I really effed that up."

Thought 2: "Tell me how calculus will benefit me in any realistic way in the future again?"

Thought 3: "Wow, that's one bad grade"

Thought 4: "I wonder how many tests are left this quarter."

So I failed. And I mean epic failed. I got back a calculus test I took a few weeks back today, and while I did not expect to do well, I didn't expect to get a 37% on it. It turns out a big chunk of my class didn't exactly perform up to par this round and I was no exception. Not to sound pompous, but considering I don't even remember the last time I failed a test, this was quite a slap on the forehead V8 Juice advert-style for me.

Weird thing is, I wasn't terribly upset like I expected myself to be. Maybe it's because I expected to not do so well from the onset, maybe senioritis is really influencing my "do I care?" sense, or maybe it's because it just hasn't sunken in yet, but for now, I'm trying to take things in stride.

I'm thinking of trying to view this as a learning opportunity. Failure in moderation could be a good thing; it keeps one in line, from getting too high strung and cocky. Also, you find out what you need to work on in a hurry, so that next time you won't make the same mistake again.

So, you know what, I failed; and this time, I won't let it get me down.

Anyways, 20 years from now, will I really care about how I did on one high school Calc test?

Enjoy the rest of your week,

JP

Liar, Liar

The idea of psychological and ethical egoism states that we as humans are all naturally self-serving and generally unconcerned for the welfare of others. If this were true, it implies that any true acts of charity or selflessness could be simply acts attributed to guilt and a need for repentance or due to the pressures of society to conform and put on the face of moral riotousness.

Sounds pessimistic, doesn't it? Well, I'm not a subscriber to this set of beliefs but I will play the devil's advocate for just a moment because a belief of mine that I've held for a few months might have just been confirmed.

Most people have probably heard of the relatively recent waves of Toyota recalls that have dealt a hard hit to the company's sterling reputation for quality. The problems of sudden acceleration, faulty floor mats, steering problems and braking software issues became all the news would seem to cover for quite some time. When this news first came out, I was just as concerned as anyone, we own two Toyota products (none covered by the recall however) and could only imagine the damage this was going to do. As recall after recall rolled in and the news continued to jump on any tiny issue a Toyota developed, I began to notice a trend. You see, the news and it's watchers love numbers and there was one particular trend which caught my eye. Whenever CNN or NBC or whoever announced some problem with "X" number of complaints in the evening, the next morning, suddenly that number is 20x bigger than it was the night before. Suddenly, many more consumers suddenly have the same complaint. Maybe I was just in a negative mood that day but I remember thinking, "I wonder how many of those complaints are just the plans of selfish bastards trying to make a couple thousand off a troubled corporation?" That thought, however cursory at the time, stuck.

That thought perplexes me to this very day, I mean, how many people really would lie about something as serious as their car going out of control so they can make a few bucks. My belief? Many, there isn't to exact number, but many. All the ingredients are there, the economic recession has made people more desperate to find some source of money, big corporations are increasing made to look like the world's biggest evils, and they just happen to have a car that fits the description of such a recall. It would seem then that some, extra desperate or simply morally corrupt individuals would readily pounce on such a true golden opportunity.

The beauty of the plan is that those who do file a complaint are almost completely safe in terms of just telling their story as is. It can be as elaborate as they want and the government will listen. Big Bucks Car Company can't do anything about it either for the most part, sure a playground type dispute between two parties could be solved with a simple "prove it", but if Big Bucks Car Co. tried this, all hell would break loose as the Big Business bully is now picking on the little guy and making him or her cry.

So, what's big business supposed to do in the mean time as complaints continue to pile up? Hope and Pray that something comes up that will finally work in their favour, and for Toyota, this may have just arrived. According to recent news a man who had claimed to have been in a runaway Prius, reaching 94 mph on a San Diego highway (is that even possible in San Diego?) had called 911 and spent 23 minutes on hard braking, being afraid of shifting into neutral and before coming to a stop, may have lied about the entire thing. Apparently, a joint investigation by Toyota and NHTSA found that his story could not be replicated and that brake wear patterns did not match up with his story.

This is where things link back up with the initial claim. Are we as humans motivated by self interest and greed? Well, according to the wife of the man involved, the answer is "no". Money and publicity were not a goal of this media frenzy, that the couple has even received death threats (yes, the death threat card), and that their lives have been ruined because of this incident.

So, how should this whole debacle be interpreted?Well, I've held my beliefs from the start that one day someone would eventually be caught in the act of lying and that day might have come. Have I lost all hope for humanity? No. If anything, this incident just goes to show that karma can be a bitch if you don't proceed with caution. I'm all for the little guy, but by planning to study business, I realized that sometimes the little guy doesn't win, and rather, just like in the playground reference earlier, the little guy just gets his @$$ kicked.

Wasn't that such an uplifting story? haha. Well, just some food for thought. I haven't really delved much into my personal life in quite a while so I'd thought I'd provide a few updates. First, my posting regularity has gone down quite bit, it has to do with me becoming more busy with homework and now on-the-water crew practice and feeling less of an obligation to post quite as regularly for now. Hopefully things will pick up again in the future however and the blog world as a whole will liven up again as the Northern Hemisphere at least sees Spring get into the swing of things. I recently had another 2K and set a new personal record of 7:30.2 which I'm more than happy with. Hopefully I'll break the 7:30 mark if there is one more this season, that would be very exciting. Finally, it's only two more weeks until college letters start coming in!! I'm excited yet terrified since I have no idea how things will pan out, but hopefully it will be for the better *fingers crossed*

Alright, that's all for now folks.

All the best,

JP