Now, she goes into a little side rant about cigarrette ads and smoking that I don’t really agree with. But the most important message is fairly clear. Now, nicotene is an appetite suppressor… but I certainly wouldn’t suggest anyone smoke to loose weight.

To see my opinion on the matter of the idea of “thin=attractive” check out this article.

This isn’t so much a rant, as it is a simple statement… but I’ll put it under rants because well… this is my site and I can do whatever I want with it. so :P

Type to you later,
~Nathaniel

If you’ve got ADD and can’t sit through reading all of this, scroll down to the bottom, I’ve got a nice summary for you. :P
In no other country in the world does ADD exist. Yep, it’s entirely American. How is it that only Americans are affected by this? Probably because the FDA and pharmacologists just made the whole thing up to sell pills. The teachers jumped on it because if they had any trouble students, they could always just suggest that their parents dope them up into becoming conforming zombies

I’m going to go through the symptoms of ADD really quickly:

* Often fidgeting with hands or feet, or squirming while seated.
* Having difficulty remaining seated.
* Having difficulty awaiting turn in games or group activities.
* Often blurting out answers before questions are completed.
* Having difficulty in following instructions.
* Having difficulty sustaining attention in tasks or play activities.
* Often shifting from one uncompleted task to another.
* Having difficulty playing quietly.
* Often talking excessively.
* Often interrupting or intruding on others.
* Often not listening to what is being said.
* Often forgetting things necessary for tasks or activities.
* Often engaging in physically dangerous activities without considering possible consequences.
* Being easily distracted by extraneous stimuli.
Obtained from here on 9.11.07

A glance over all of this shows that I could have easily stated “… symptoms of being a child…”
The fact of the matter is that everything that makes a kid a kid, is listed there. Kids are impatient, they are adventurous, they don’t like to sit still, they have boundless energy, and they aren’t going to understand or play by a great deal of the adult rules. That’s what it’s all about, people label a kid as having ADD when that child does not conform to the adult expectations that are being forced upon them. When we can’t brainwash or discipline the kid out of them, we decide to dope them up so we can control them. It’s just insane is what it is.

An Academic Excuse:
The fact of the matter is that yes, people with ADD are chemically different from “normal” people. However, I argue that this is a natural deviance. The brain simply operates in a different way than the average person. In fact, the so called “attention deficit” seems to only concern things that are boring. These same children could probably play video games for hours on end and name all of the Pokemon by memory… and tell you a little about each one. These are not children who cannot pay attention. They are simply bored with all the things we’re trying to get them to do. People with ADD learn a little differently, lazy teachers do not attempt to teach these kids as best as they can, they dope them up so that their flawed teaching methods will work on them well enough for them to pass standardized tests (another rant best saved for later). In other words, these teachers need to learn how to teach these children. Additionally, these children need to be taught how to learn. That’s about it. Also, I’ve found that the discipline found in martial arts is a great way to help teach these kids self control.

An excuse for bad behavior:
I have heard far too many people proclaiming “It’s not my fault, I’ve got ADD”. I was actually in a chat room once where someone was typing like a moron, being very rude, and when confronted they responded with “shut up, I got ADD. U cant descrimate against meh!” If I where able to reach through my monitor, through cyberspace, through their monitor, and slap them, I WOULD!

When I was young, I was diagnosed with ADD. After being diagnosed everyone let me slide through school without even trying because as everyone had pointed out to me “something was wrong with my brain.” So I did whatever I wanted to, caused a lot of trouble, and when they asked me why I was acting out, I told them that I forgot to take my pill that day.In fact, I rarely took my pills, I would hide them inside the water fountain. ADD became an excuse for bad behavior. The point is, I was capable of controlling myself, but I didn’t because I found a way to get away with it. I had no idea, at the time, what kind of damage this would would do to me.

I learned, years later of course, that my treatment and behavior caused a great deal of damage to my self esteem. Imagine this from a kid’s point of view:
1) there was something wrong with my brain
2) it made me stupid
3) I was so stupid that I had to take pills to fix me
4) people treated me like I was stupid
5) I came to the conclusion that I must be a mentally handicapped moron who would never amount to anything.

Yep, that’s the train of thought. Lucky for me, I snapped out of it. As soon as I learned that I could actually get help on my schoolwork I decided that I was not stupid and took it upon myself to do whatever I had to in order to get by. Yes, I had to DECIDE that I wasn’t stupid. It took years and years before I was able to think of myself as an intelligent person.

I have also heard people use ADD and dyslexia as an excuse for bad spelling and grammar. Now I actually do have both fairly badly. However, I have learned to work with my shortcomings. Right now I am using Mozilla Firefox, which has it’s own built in spell-check feature. I also read and reread everything to make sure my point comes across the way I intended it to. In other words, I’m not lazy about it.

Treatment: learning how to cope with ADD
One thing that really helped me was martial arts. It taught discipline in a fun and engaging way. I was able to pay attention to it because I had a man with a big stick threatening to hit me if I didn’t do what he said. Just kidding, it was fun and challenging and I really enjoyed getting to fight and not get in trouble for it… or have to be angry to do it. I also had to learn how to apply myself and I had to learn how to learn. I figured out, eventually, that if I wanted something bad enough, I had to do whatever it took to get it. If I wasn’t willing to do whatever it took, I just didn’t want it bad enough. I am currently enrolled in online classes with the Art Institute of Pittsburgh, Online Chapter. It takes quite a bit of discipline to apply myself and get my work done. But I do it. Why? Because I want to design games for a living, I want it so bad that I’ll overcome any obstacle, including the ones in my own brain, to get there. Pills only treat the problem, they do not solve or cure anything. There may not be a cure for ADD but you can learn to cope with it to the point to where it becomes second nature. Once I overcame my need for the pills, I was able to function as a somewhat normal individual.

Conclusions:
ADD is not a disorder but rather a natural deviation of the human mind.
ALL CHILDREN need to be taught how to learn
ALL TEACHERS need to learn how to remain interesting enough to keep the attention of these children.
Children can learn discipline well from martial arts
Treating children with ADD differently than normal kids will damage their self esteem
Treating children for ADD by medicating them will damage their self esteem and make them into zombies
ADD is a Fictional American Fad that is being used as an excuse to dope kids up so that we can control them

In other words, get them off the pills, be interesting, teach them discipline in a fun way, let them know they are smart and give them the chances to prove it, encourage intelligent/academic endeavors, but do not discourage so called childish behaviors, let them have fun, let the kids be kids and stop doping them up!

Type to you later,
~Nathaniel

First it is important to know the method through which the vaccine is developed. Scientist track statistical data to guess at which strain of the flu will be the most common the the next year. They then take that strain and culture it inside chicken eggs to mass produce it. So when next year comes, they’ve got a whole store of the flu virus that has been growing exclusively inside chicken eggs. They then neutralize these viruses by boiling, freezing, acids, and/or bases. These dead viruses are then made into the final product, the flu vaccine.

Some facts about immunity:
1) Our immune system produces and releases antibodies that attach to the protein sheath that surrounds the viral DNA.
2) The genes responsible for that sheath mutate so quickly that we cannot remain immune to it… it’s always changing.
3) The virus that the doctors thought was going to be the big strain is always different from the wild type strain (since it developed in people instead of chicken eggs under the strain of different environmental factors as well as an actual immune system).
4) The process that they use to kill the viruses isn’t fool proof. Some survive and they can still make you sick.

Alright, so I’ve established a few things:
1) The flu vaccine cannot give you an immunity to the current flu because the viruses are so different (due to mutation and genetic drift) that an immunity to one does not mean immunity to the other.
2) You might just catch the flu from a vaccine because it contains small amounts of live virus.
3) If you do manage to catch the flu from such a vaccine it will be from a virus that was cultivated in a laboratory, inside chicken eggs, without the hindrance of an immune system, and that survived being boiled, frozen, and/or burned with acid/melted with bases. In other words, you just caught some nasty bug.

Now, I don’t know why they are trying to sell this stuff so much. It doesn’t work, it could get people sick, and they’re suggesting that all people with “weakened or compromised immune systems” get the shot. To me that sounds a bit fishy. I would argue that ANY evidence of the flu vaccine having a beneficial effect is rather the effect of “working out” the immune system and giving it some practice rather than any actual immunity. It would be much easier, and cheaper, if we just occasionally ate some dirt… or just use less sanitizing cleaning products and antibiotics.

If I where a conspiracy nut I would be all over this mess. However, I’ll leave such musing up to the rest of the overly paranoid population. I’m more than happy just to let everyone know that I am never going to have a flu shot and that everyone should think very long and hard about whether or not they will either. I have actually wanted to argue this point with a doctor for a while… (but I rarely go to the doctor) There’s no getting around it though. The logic and the science back me up. They are only backed up by hype and fear.

The next time someone tries to tell you that you should get a flu shot, stop, think, and remember that it makes no sense. If it’s your doctor, question their motives immediately. They may have been dazzled by numbers and charts, forgetting their basic biology lessons… or they may be getting money from the pharmaceutical companies that develop , distribute, and sell these vaccines.

I hope that I have opened some eyes. The flu vaccine is a scam, don’t be fooled, get all the information. Just because your doctor has a medical degree doesn’t mean they have your best interest in mind.

In case you’re interested, I’m no the only one that sees this mess for what it is. Check out this article for a bit more information.

Type to you later,
~Nathaniel

There is also the issue of the gothic fashion genre. These kids wear mostly black and often have elaborate costumes and makeup that must take hours to prepare. Yet these kids say that they don’t care about their appearance or what people think of them. Now, I live in Texas and it is fairly hot down here. When I see a “runny goth” (my phrase for a goth whose makeup is running from all the sweat), I know that they don’t suffer through that heat in all that black because they enjoy it. Trust me, if given the choice between walking to work wearing all black, or wearing bright pink, I would pick the bright pink because I would rather not have a heat stroke. One of the most amusing days of my life was when I went to Edgefest. There where a ton of borderline goth bands there and there was no shortage of “runny goths” I just found it HILARIOUS that these kids where so vain that they would risk heatstroke under piles of black leather and metal studs so that they would look “cool”. Well, let me tell you, there is NOTHING cool looking about a runny goth, it’s actually quite pitiful.

What’s more funny is that these extremely vain kids want to turn around and bash the “preps” for being so vain and caring about their looks. That’s just hypocrisy. I would argue that the goths that spend hours putting on their makeup and “costume” are MORE vain than the prep that spends 2 minuets putting on his Tommy Hilfiger outfit.

Lets recap:
The things I don’t like about SOME goths are as follows: Exclusion, forced conformity to gothic stereotypes, limited and impractical wardrobe, vanity, and hypocrisy. I think that pretty much sums it up. If you consider yourself a goth, or rather, if you identify with the gothic subculture, please, don’t do these things. Not because I don’t like them, but because it makes you look like a stupid jerk kid. BE YOURSELF!!! if that includes wearing all black, listening to death metal, having tattoos/piercings, being fascinated with death, etc… then more power to you. If you’re vain, that’s you’re problem, I’ll just laugh at you when your makeup starts running from the heat. It’s not healthy to dress in all black in the southern states, if the heat doesn’t get you, the rednecks will. For those of you in the northern/colder areas of the US and the world, go for it. I would wear black every day if it wasn’t so damn hot. Also, if you are depressed, seek help. If you want you can even contact me and we can talk about it. I also suggest http://www.samaritans.org/ they’re a free, non-judgmental non-profit organization that specializes in emotional support. You can call someone up, or email them 24hrs a day, 365 days a year. They’ve actually helped me through a few rough spots.

As far as my frustration with these supposed goths goes, I decided to create a piece of artwork that pokes fun at this particular type of goth. We’re all PINK on the Inside! is a direct stab (pun intended) at this particular facet of the gothic subculture. If you’re a goth and don’t like “skin goths’ or if you’re anyone who just doesn’t like goths you’ll get a kick out of it. Also, if you’re not against wearing a bit of pink, you can buy these as t-shirts (in a variety of colors and styles).

Let me reiterate: I am not against goths, I do not hate goths, I am against conformity, labels, exclusion and vanity.

That about covers it for now,
Type to you later,
~Nathaniel

Lets break down exactly what is needed for 2D animation to occur:

1. In animation, there are 30 frames per second
2. In 2D animation we animate on twos. This means that we’re actually only working with 15 frames per second.
3. That’s 15 Drawings for every second of animation.
4. The average cartoon show is 15-20 minuets long (once you cut out commercials)
5. That’s 13,500-18,000 drawings for your average cartoon show.
6. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (the first animated full-length English color film) is 83 minuets long
7. Thats 74,700 drawings. To save time these guys actually traced stills from video of actual people. That’s why the movement and proportions look to realistic.

This brings me to my conclusion. Based on the experience I have had with making short 3-5 second animations, and judging by the amount of work needed to produce such things, I have decided that EVERY SINGLE SOLITARY 2D ANIMATOR IS INSANE! Yep, they’re all crazy, every last one of them. I’m actually so certain of this that I would bet that every last 2D animator would agree with me completely. These people must really like punishment… not that this fact makes them crazy, but rather that it doesn’t help things at all. These facts are backed up by pretty much everyone in the same art program as I. It’s fairly unanimous, not everyone thinks it’s evil (although most do), but we can all agree that it sucks your soul out through your finger tips. This is likely the cause of the severe cramping that results from drawing thousands of pictures of the same thing over and over and over and over again.

Just keep in mind, next time you’re watching a cartoon that it was created by a bunch of raving loonies.

Type to you later,
~Nathaniel

My mother taught me a very important lesson about mortality when I was about seven years old. One of our dogs had just recently had puppies. One of the puppies had a larger head and smaller body than the rest and just generally didn’t act the same as the others. It died after being alive for only three days. I was a curious child and I wanted to know. So I asked my mother “Why did that puppy die?” She told me that she had seen the same thing before (she worked at an animal care clinic as a veterinary technician), the puppy had water on the brain.” I knew that couldn’t be too good and I accepted this as a reason for the puppy’s death. A few days later another puppy died, but this one had appeared to be perfectly healthy before. When I asked about this one my mother simply said “Sometimes… puppies just die.” This one phrase pretty much sums up my view on death. I learned in that instance that death can come at any time, to anyone, it is never fair, and rarely makes sense, and you will never be ready for it. I credit this conversation with my being able to handle my own mother’s death when I was nineteen. I cried, I was very upset, but I got to the point to where I could function again very quickly. I did not dwell on her death or ask questions like “why her?” because I already knew that there are no answers.

I honestly believe that excessive mourning is selfish. We mourn because we will no longer enjoy the person’s presence. We do not mourn what they lost, but rather what we lost. Soon after a death, this is expected. It is important to have a small degree of selfishness in order to survive. However, one day, we will be visited by death, and it is best not to spend our time suffering over the inevitable. In short, focus on life, not death. Don’t focus on your own death, or the deaths of those around you. Focus on your life, the lives of those around you, and the lives of those we’ve lost. Life is what is important, death is only a small part of it.

I will end this post with one of my own quotes:
“Fear not death. Fear that you never truly lived.”

~Nathaniel

Also, in celebration of our mortality, and in memory of my departed mother, I am now selling Dead Puppies Merchandise.