Being Mexican S:

So... eventually, somebody's going to ask you how does it feel to be a Mexican and if it is something to be proud about. You'll probably end up digging through a lot of memories and trying to figure out what exactly is what makes you proud. Wanna know something? You'll never find such thing.
Ok sure, you can say it's a beautiful country with beautiful landscapes, beautiful traditions and stuff like that, but honestly, that'd be like trying to hide the sun with your finger.
The fact is, this country is so screwed, that in 200 years of "Independence", we haven't fully achieved the ideals of Hidalgo, Zapata, Morelos and other people that fought for a noble cause; they fought to free a country from its conquerors, they fought to achieve the liberty and Independence of a Nation, a Nation that is now rotten because of the corruption, the drug dealing, the insecurity that threatens the very lives of us citizens, and even the lives of those who swore to protect this nation like policemen and people like that.

I think the video below will explain everything in a clearer way.

Yeah, admittedly that's kind of sad, but you can't deny it's the truth, the truth that involves the fact that although we're at 200 years from the independence there's nothing to celebrate, everything has got screwed and the society is slowly collapsing to an everlasting abyss; right now, there's no cure, there's no salvation, this country is already rotten and will never change; we are the sad memory of a once great country, a country that later didn't appreciate the best president that could've ever taken power, that being Porfirio, and instead of that, it chose mediocrity and selfishness; and both, mediocrity and selfishness throughout history have contributed to corrupt the patriotism that people could come to have. Thus, until now, there's no reason to be proud about anything

So if anyone ever asks me if I'm proud to be Mexican, sadly, I'd have to answer that I am not. 

Impressionism and Creativity

Impressionism was a movement in French painting, sometimes called optical realism because of its almost scientific interest in the actual visual experience and effect of light and movement on appearance of objects.

Impressionist motto establishes human eye is a marvelous instrument. Impact worldwide was lasting and huge. The name 'Impressionists' came as artists embraced the nickname a conservative critic used to ridicule the whole movement.

Sunrise' by Claude Monet (I posted it above :D) fathered derogatory referral. Impressionist fascination with light and movement was at the core of their art. Exposure to light and/or movement was enough to create a justifiable and fit artistic subject out of literally anything. Impressionists learned how to transcribe directly their visual sensations of nature, unconcerned with the actual depiction of physical objects in front of them.

Two ideas of Impressionists are expressed here. One is that a quickly painted oil sketch most accurately records a landscape's general appearance. The second idea that art benefits from a naïve vision untainted by intellectual preconceptions was a part of both the naturalist and the realist traditions, from which their work evolved.

The central figures in the development of Impressionism in France, listed alphabetically, were:

• Frédéric Bazille (1841–1870)

• Gustave Caillebotte (who, younger than the others, joined forces with them in the mid 1870s) (1848–1894)

• Mary Cassatt (American-born, she lived in Paris and participated in four Impressionist exhibitions) (1844–1926)

• Paul Cézanne (although he later broke away from the Impressionists) (1839–1906)

• Edgar Degas (a realist who despised the term Impressionist, but is considered one, due to his loyalty to the group) (1834–1917)

• Armand Guillaumin (1841–1927)

• Édouard Manet (who did not regard himself, nor is generally seen, as an Impressionist, but who exhibited his work with theirs and was a great influence on them), (1832–1883)

• Claude Monet (the most prolific of the Impressionists and the one who most clearly embodies their aesthetic) (1840–1926)

• Berthe Morisot (1841–1895)

• Camille Pissarro (1830–1903)

• Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841–1919)

• Alfred Sisley (1839–1899)

Although my favorite Impressionist Painters are Alfred Sisley and Camille Pissarro, I'm going to post a very special pic to me, it's called "Rue de la Bavolle Honfleur", by Claude Monet (1864).

I chose this particular Painting because it reminds me of just how beautiful France can be in any circumstance or scenario, France is a gorgeous country, and its countryside town here is very well represented. If I saw this every morning, I'd have dreams of me leaving this country and going to live til my death in France, it's my impossible desire... :C

In fact, speaking of France, it just happens to have all the best stuff in the world!

Like fashion designers, food, wine, Historical characters, monuments...

Above: A small sample of French Awesomeness :)

And having the best stuff in the world requires you to store it in certain place isn't it?

Well, that's why there are museums, and France, by the way, also happens to have the best museums in the world.

Above: Another small taste of why France is the best. :D

But the museum i like the most would have to be "Musée D'orsay" in Paris.

The museum building was originally a railway station, Gare d'Orsay; constructed for the Chemin de Fer de Paris à Orléans and finished in time for the 1900 Exposition Universelle to the design of the architects: Lucien Magne, Émile Bénard and Victor Laloux. It was the terminus for the railways of southwestern France until 1939.

By 1939 the station's short platforms had become unsuitable for the longer trains that had come to be used for mainline services. After 1939 it was used for suburban services and part of it became a mailing centre during World War II. It was then used as a set for several films, such as Kafka's The Trial adapted by Orson Welles, and as a haven for the Renaud-Barrault Theatre Company and for auctioneers, while the Hôtel Drouot was being rebuilt. 

The station's hotel closed on 1 January 1973 and inn 1977 the French Government decided to convert the station to a museum. ACT Architecture were the designers and the construction work was carried by Bouygues. The Italian architect Gae Aulenti oversaw the design of the conversion from 1980 to 1986.

The new museum was opened by President François Mitterrand on 1 December 1986.

The square of the museum displays six bronze allegorical sculptural groups in a row, originally produced for the Exposition Universelle (1878)

Of all of the sculptures found in the museum, i must admit that my favorite one is "La porte de L'enfer", by Auguste Rodin.

I like this sculpture because it depicts the gates to which Virgil guides Dante in "Inferno", the first part of three in the epic poem "Divina Commedia", by Dante Alighieri. I think Auguste Rodin figured those imposing doors perfectly according to what Alighieri would have thought, and that capacity for textual abstraction and eventual carving is truly remarkable. For me there's no doubt about who was the best sculptor in the world, I'd bluntly say Rodin.


But come to think of it, the fact that i liked that sculpture and that maybe other guy won't like it resides only in the subjectivity of the art, that also can explain several things like how does an artist transforms his reality into art. As art is as subjective as one thing gets, an artist can feel, touch, hear or see something and be inspired in a very specific way; thus, taking him to express what he experienced in another yet very specifical way. So summarizing, artists transform their realities by associating what they experienced with other memories in order to express a new desire in a way that may attract certain people and may not attract some others.

Above: This may be great for you, but for me this is worthless, i.e.


So when I think about creativity, for what i said earlier in this post, I think about: 

• Subjectivity                                                                              
• Novelty
• Innovation
• Dare
• Determination
• Spontaneity
• Causality
• Shift
• Immeasurable
• Unqualifiable
• Bizarreness

Well, hope you guys enjoyed this post
:D

Europe Trip

One day, when i was 18, some friends and I decided to go to Europe as a graduation trip, we were all very excited because of this, besides i had never been out of the country so i was eager to see how would it come out.

So, we organized things up, made the plan with some other friends, and after classes were over, we were on our way to europe (:
The flight was nice and everything and we arrived to Liverpool airport in  a cold  sunday morning. As the days passed, we moved from England to France, and then we visited a couple of days Spain, we moved later to Italy and stayed there for a while, and went to some parties and stuff in the midtime.

But suddenly, everything changed when Edu received a call from Stine, his danish ex-girlfriend, she told him she needed to tell him something now that he was in Europe. So Edu got a bit freaked out, but told her he would try his best to arrive to Denmark in time, before we had to return to Ags. At first, Edu didn't wanted to tell us why he was acting so strange and eager to leave so soon Italy and going to Denmark, But we all suspected, it surely had to do with her.

So we decided to let Edu do what he wanted because it was almost time for us to return to Mexico and we thought we had already enjoyed enough of Europe as to let Edu drag us up to northern europe because of his stupid teenage love affair.

Though I wanted to visit desperately Germany, Edu just wouldn't let us go because he said it was more important to reach Denmark in time. So I decided to leave from  Italy and go by myself and other 2 friends to Germany, which were Martin and Victor; while Choqo, Freddy, Akzel and Eve went to aid Edu in his quest to Denmark. We had arranged a final meeting in Prague, Czech republic, where everyone would be reunited after being to Germany and Denmark respectively, and then we would all aboard the same plane with destination to Mexico.

While it seemed simple, no one would have ever imagined what was going to happen in the following days.

Turns out, Stine had been forced by Commander Marcos to kidnap all of us on ur trip, because Marcos was seeking to obtain the "Tri-Skills" in order to become TEH SUPREME RULER OF THE WORLD!!1!. Those "Tri-Skills", as everyone knows, flow through the veins of Martin Magagna, Akzel and Freddy; this is because they were violently exposed to a powerful cosmic radiation in the moment they crashed below an underpass in Ags city. The tube that pierced the car, transported them all to a dimension where powerful energy traveled through the time and space, thus, affecting each of the passengers' physicall and spiritual characteristics. Martin got the "Skill of Luckiliness", Freddy got the "Skill of Sexual Impotence", and Akzel got the "Skill of Immortality".

So Stine called Edu, hoping that everyone of us would go there so that she could pay her debt to Marcos, but when she realized there were only 4 of us instead of 7, she quickly knew she had messed up the plan. She hadn't choice, but to deliver them to Marcos, who was expecting the 3 skills carriers, but only got two of them. By the look of the circumstances, Marcos chose to threaten the lives of the non-carriers so that we would deliver him Martin. And the worst part was that there were only 2 days left for us to reach Ags in time to start College.

So there we were, stranded in the middle of Europe, with our friends kidnapped by a mad mexican militar. We reviewed the situation, and we could:

• Forget about it and just return the 3 of us to ags so we could start college.
• Go to aid everyone over there in Denmark, uncertain if we could make it out
• Not going to Ags, but not going to aid everyone there in Denmark, instead, enjoying an extra year of vacations as we would never reach Ags in time. :)

We thought and we thought, and then decided what was the best option. We headed towards Denmark in order to save our friends' lives, it didn't matter though, the fact that there was a chance of not making it out alive from there, but we didn't care (:

So when we got there, we faced Marcos, he asked us if Martin was with us, as he was there, he immediately attempted to use the power of the "Tri-Skills", he said "when i'm finished with you, i will become TEH SUPREME RULER O' THE WORLD!!!1!!1!"

As he tried to unleash the mythical power of the "Tri-Skills" he made clear his objective: "when i rule the world, i'm going to win every dance contest with my ZOMG AMAZING dancing skills, starting with Dancing with the Stars!!1! mwahahahahaha!  >:D"

But then Akzel replied to him saying "your own cat dances better than u!!! so your argument is invalid!!! >:("

Marcos, faced with this undeniable truth, couldn't do more than admit defeat ):

So as he gave up upon his dream of being a professional dancer and ruler of the world, we all gathered with joy and gladness, we had defeated Marcos in his own game! :D

So then we took our things and got as fast as possible to the Sakskobing airport, we only had 10 minutes left to go out on the last flight to México, if we didn't get it, we wouldn't be able to assist to the first day of college D: !

So Martin, Akzel and Freddy used their combined "Tri-Skills" to slow time so that we could get to the airport in time; sadly, we didn't arrive in time and the flight got away ):

So then we thought "hey, now that we won't be going to college any time soon, why don't we stay here for a year?"

Yeah, so that's how we lost 1 school year but enjoyed in the midtime the best from Europe!!! (:

Now that i've told you all of this i just want to tell you some advice when you eventually go to Europe

When you find yourself wondering where should you go, just think of this:

1.-Is the food any good?

2.-Is the weather all right 4 u?

3.-Are women hot there?

4.-Cowboys ruled that country in their ancient extremist empire?

5.-Does it have beaches and shores?

If it's a yes, throw in 5 points, if it's a no, give it 10 points. Then, get the score of every country and apply it to this formula.

The lowest score should be the perfect decision for you! :D

Now to some other stuff regarding the trip...

You  may or may not apply rules and principles to your trip. In my personal experience, it's pretty lame and boring, so what i did was simply do whaterver the hell i felt like doing, having fun, don't worrying 'bout tommorrow (it'll eventually arrive...), but most of all, NEVER! leaving your friends behind (:

cause y'know...

:D

So always try your best to make your journey the best EVAR!, don't ever let it miss the unpredictability, the freshness, the innovative, do everything "creatively". Cause creativity, after all, is what makes the world a better place to be, far from the lame routine that destroys eventually a spirit. ):

Y'know, for me, thinking creatively is like thinking out of the box, rebelling against conventional rules, seeing everything from a different, maybe unique, perspective; by reasoning this way, everyone can pull out their lives and anything surrounding them, from the daily routine, the boredom, the monotony, simplicity, and eventual feeling of tastelessness and tediousness.

California State University says "Creativity is defined as the tendency to generate or recognize ideas, alternatives, or possibilities that may be useful in solving problems, communicating with others, and entertaining ourselves and others". Although it's a good definition, Wikipedia says that "Unlike many phenomena in science, there is no single, authoritative perspective or definition of creativity. And unlike many phenomena in psychology, there is no standardized measurement technique."

Creativity is a way to think, and according to Psychologist Robert Brahmson, there are five different types of people regarding kinds of thinking, which are:

Synthesists:The creative thinkers who perceive the world in terms of opposites.  When you say black, they think white, when you say long, they think short. To connect with Synthesists, it's suggested to listen appreciatively to their speculation and don’t confuse their arguing nature with resistance.

Idealists:Thinkers who believe in lofty goals and standards. To connect with Idealists, it's suggested to associate what you want to do with these goals of quality, service, and community good.

Pragmatic Thinkers:People who are flexible and resourceful, people who look for immediate payoff rather than for a grand plan that will change the world. To connect with Pragmatists, it's suggested to emphasize short-term objectives on which you can get started with resources at hand.”

Analyst Thinkers:People who equate accuracy, thoroughness, and attention to detail with completeness.  They are likely to gather data, measure it, categorize it, and rationally and methodically calculate the right answer to any problem you come up with. To connect to Analysts, it's suggested to provide a logical plan replete with back-up data and specifications.

Realist Thinkers:
Fast moving doers who know that reality is what their senses – sight, sound, taste, smell, and touch – tell them it is, and not that dry stuff that one finds in accounting ledgers, or the insipid pages of manual of operations. To connect with Realists, it's suggested that if you communicate with Realist bosses as if they were Analysts, you will never get their attention. Rather than gobs of computer-printouts and other detailed information, Realists want a three-paragraph “Executive Summary” which tells briefly what is wrong and how you propose to fix it. For rather complicated reasons, they will often take you at your word if they see you as a qualified expert. You become an expert in their eyes when they know that you’ve assembled a store of facts in which they are interested, and you have proposed a set of actions that they already believe are the best things to do.

It's good to know what kinds of people exist and how do they think, so you can know how to treat them, and how to move things during the conversation so that you will obtain something desired throughout it.

As creativity improves everything near it, it's highly recommended to do everything thinking about how can it be better, how can it be unique, be special an so on. In fact, with creativity, the making of decisions is more effective; one good idea to make decisions if it's found to be difficult to some people, is to do what Benjamin Franklin used to: 

Take a lined pad, write the question to be decided at the top of page, and below, divide the remaining sheet into two vertical columns. The left is for the negative consequences of your action and the right is for the positive benefits. Assume for the moment you are undecided about buying a new car. You have selected the model but you are not sure this is the right time. Pose the question on the top of the pad; in the left column, list your reasons to wait, on the right side, list your reasons to buy now. In a sense, the side with the most reasons wins. The “Ben Franklin” system forces you to think about what you are about to do. It does not let you sweep under the rug what will happen if things don’t work out. And it does not let you see the promises, but the perils of your choice.  This decision tool is not limited to business choices, it is helpful in most areas of daily living. It works to keep you irrational “I want it now” acts, by discouraging them. (:

There's also another very interesting decision making tool known as the "Decision Tree", it is basically a decision support tool that uses a tree-like graph or model of decisions and their possible consequences, including chance event outcomes, resource costs, and utility. It is one way to display an algorithm. Decision trees are commonly used in operations research, specifically in decision analysis, to help identify a strategy most likely to reach a goal. Another use of decision trees is as a descriptive means for calculating conditional probabilities.

A decision Tree consists of 3 types of nodes:

1.- Decision nodes: commonly represented by squares
2.- Chance nodes: represented by circles
3.- End nodes: represented by triangles

Drawn from left to right, a decision tree has only burst nodes (splitting paths) but no sink nodes (converging paths). Therefore, used manually, they can grow very big and are then often hard to draw fully by hand.