mad4u689

some friends and I stayed in the Pocono's in Pennsylvania this past weekend, and we lit some fireworks and they were GORGEOUS :D Not because of July 4 though... just because we were in Pennsylvania and they were legal there :x But still! PRETTY :D

I used to read a lot more than I read now. I always enjoy reading for class, but without any pressure to read I rarely do. When I do, I prefer modern classics and "literary" works rather than some of the bestsellers. I made an effort to do some more reading this summer, and have read three and a half thus far. More to come, I hope :D Some recent books I've especially enjoyed: Lolita by Nabokov (disturbing, but amazing), The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Kundera (very philosophical, existentialist, post-modern, fascinating Czech novel), and Wicked (a bestseller that I thought was surprisingly well-written, and an enjoyable read!), and One Hundred Years of Solitude (purely beautiful, an amazing epic work)

You must be easy to please if you found that beautifully written. I don't have one favourite book, but a few of them. Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell. The Kiterunner by Khaled Hosseini. Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov. All excellent books in my opinion. Unlike books written by Dan Brown they have more than just a plot. Since I liked 1984 and Lolita (which I just finished; its very appeal is disturbing, and yet it is brilliant), I'm interested to pick up The Kiterunner then. Thanks for the recommendation!

That was cute :P the "your friends marry and divorce, not hook up and break up" is too close to home :P

That's a very good point. I believe in my concept of love as I described it, but everyone needs to define their own concept of love to fit it into their own life :o)

Since humans are social creatures by their biological nature, it makes sense that forming relationships will be very important to them and their survival. While everything we do may boil down to biological reasons (since we are, as it is, biological creatures), that doesn't mean we can't view it a level higher up, on the scale of our consciousness and the reality we form, complete with relationships with other people. On that level, I think love is something that develops between two (or among more, possibly) people which combines sexual desire, deep friendship (openness and understanding and playfulness between the people), and a third "romance" factor which I haven't quite worked out in determining. I don't think love is bound by the limits of heterosexuality or two-to-a-couple or one-at-a-time. I suppose I believe in polyamory... it takes a lot of time and mind to love someone, so loving more than one person separately at the same time could be difficult, I suppose, but I think definitely possible.

Look at the URL. Do you see a typo? Do you think that's what the URL is supposed to say?

Hahaha, that just cracked me up for some reason :D Lionheart: Yay nerd chicks and nerd dudes :D Nerds are generally hot. Well, in my opinion anyway :P

I'm on 73, meh, confused.... i guess I'll figure it out eventually :o But I've been "cheating" by using the semi-subtle hints on the official forums (for SOME of them, I try them on my own first :D)

Steppenwolf, by Hermann Hesse. It changed the way I thought about myself, the world, philosophy, and even literature. There's so much IN it and I found it fascinating. Also, I have to say: hopelesslyinsane, I didn't read "Wicked" for the longest time because I assumed it would be a poorly written book, badly approximating literature. But though I found it an enjoyable read, it was actually VERY well done - well organized and thought out, and interesting psychologically (both on the level of the characters and your own perceptions). I recommend it for anyone who wants either an adventure, or fairly decent literature :D Also, as far Orson Scott Card books go, I really enjoyed Songmaster intensely.

My dad wanted me to go to Yale like he did, do amazingly in school like he did, be into strategy games and the sciences and become a doctor like he did. My mom wanted me to be an intellectual, go to a good liberal arts school, be well-rounded and major in "what I was interested in" - which she thought should be some sort of social science, because that's "just what is interesting." I'm going to a liberal arts school for college, will be a math major and hopefully eventually a math teacher. One of those crazy math teachers who gets all passionate about algebra and advises the school's Animal Rights Club and such :D

I umm... went to nerd camp :x It was at a college campus, not out in the woods :P Ah well, I loved it anyway :D It was the best experience of my life until I got to college =)

Because when someone is speaking in only text, you can fill in the tones and in-betweens yourself, and thus you're less annoyed by people and less mean :D Plus, if someone tells an awful joke in real life, you might try to give a slight half smile, which is the equivalent of an "lol" really :P I don't know. Online, it's just easier to be nice. :D

I had probably a 3.4, which i wasn't that proud of, and about a 3.95 weighted (counting AP and honors classes for a little more :)) So don't feel horrible about yourself, and don't let your GPA define you... but there's always room for improvement!!

My town is really boring, so I'll post pictures of my love, nearby New York City, that I took instead :D Central Park: More Central Park: I suppose I could find better pictures on the internet, but I like my own :D

Vodka sauce (Like, as in penne a la vodka) is AMAZING :D On salads, I like to mix honey mustard and blue cheese :D

Infinity isn't a theory, it's a mathmatical concept. Its also a theory... its impossibel to reach infinity of anything. Yeah, but it works in math using calculus. So mathematically, it's alright. Math is something humans created, so in nature, its not real. :P math is perfectly real. it represents objects that are real. for example you have a square that is 4 cm on each side. math represents the square, which is real. But is it real... the math itself? no, it only reperesents, therefor not real. If you say its real, its like me saying my avatar on a video game is real because it represents me. That's like saying that my consciousness isn't real; it only represents my bodily and corporeal form. Of course it's real, or as real as any subject or discipline, but it just doesn't take corporeal form most of the time. Whoever mentioned the Fibonacci sequence was probably trying to suggest that there are mathematical concepts that take form in nature. For example, the spiral of a seashell follows this sort of mathematical pattern. It's not a coincidence... it's just that mathematics is a way to describe the world and then better understand it (and can also be interesting purely in its theoretical uses!) Infinity is not a number. It is not a theory. It is a mathematical concept, and a very real one that does have real world applications, and one very important for calculus and much of mathematics beyond.

Also, NOT all infinities are equal. It's quite interesting... Cantor developed the concept of infinity fairly well. Two sets that are "infinities" are the same if there is a one-to-one matchup; that is, each term in the first set corresponds to a specific term in the second set. So in the set of all odd and even natural numbers, each doubled corresponds to a specific number in the set of all even natural numbers. Thus, there is a one to one matchup, and the infinity of the set of all natural numbers is the same as the infinity of the set of all even numbers. That said, there are infinitely more irrationals than rationals! The set of real numbers is a different "level" of infinity than the set of rational or natural numbers. Here's a fairly easy-to-read description of the infinities, if you're interested: http://www.mathacademy.com/pr/minitext/infinity/

Like Phil said, I still have contact with this "Leza." She's a wonderful woman, and her kids are getting older (she had another baby recently!!), and if you want to get in touch with her just let me know! We tried to do a Runescape Trivia revival a few years back, but it fell through, hehe. Also, for pride's sake: RS came out in january, and I started late that february or early that march, don't remember. I know it's fairly worthless, but for some reason I'm still proud of it anyway. Sigh! :D

That's not really cheating - the people you see who complete it in 29 seconds (Yup, I had a friend who did that :P) have just memorized and practiced that very same instruction strategy ^_^

I have a friend named Holly Wood. Her brother's name is Drift :x I guess I won't post, because the names I'm going to choose aren't THAT uncommon and unique. Names with z's in it are nice. Also, Seth, for a boy, or -yn sorts of names, like Ethan and Dylan. :D

No, I can't say I really believe in gut feelings. I have gut feelings that turn out to be right... but I probably have gut feelings that turn out wrong just as often, and just don't remember them, because I have nothing to pleasantly remind me of their significance. :D I believe in thinking about things.... and going with what feels right in that it will make you happy, not what feels right in terms of premonitions.

Similar in theory... hugely different in actuality. Second Life is designed to be extremely programmable and intelligent, whereas Habbo Hotel is corporate garbage.

I'm so sorry :( Make sure to surround yourself with family members - it helps, really :D And it may sound trite... but be grateful that she's still going to live a wonderful, relatively normal, and probably long life... I have a friend who has type 1 diabetes AND is a vegan! Now *that* is difficult!

Hehe, I actually joined from a link from a link on the dw forums a bit back :D It's quite awesome. The individualization features - for appearance and programming your own everything - are incredible. I've actually tried to steer clear, because it really does feel like it could become a second life. Far more powerful than The Sims. Though it also has kind of a lot of potential for... naughtiness :oops: