What to eat? What to eat?

The factors that go into my decision making process are quite extensive, or quite spare, it is usually one or the other. Sometimes I just decide without considering any possible ramifications. For more important decisions; however, I go through a lengthy process. I consider my potential happiness level after the decision. I consider the financial strain that it could impose or the gain it could bring me. I consider what I will do after the decision is made. I consider what other people think of the same decision.

Let's say that I was hungry. I will go into my kitchen and take a look at the food. I consider what I want. I consider whether or not to make what I want. I consider whether or not I will want to clean up what I want. I consider what I would do while eating what I want. I consider what I will do after cleaning up what I want. I consider if it is even worth it to eat now if dinner is coming up. After all these decisions I will usually choose not to eat anything at all and decide If I want a drink. After that decision process I will usually leave the kitchen empty handed and with an empty stomach.


As I continue into college, I plan to keep some the same decision making processes. It seems to have worked so far...

Recipe for Afghanistan

1200 Years of Islam
3 Anglo-Afghan Wars
30 years of Political and Social Unrest
1 Pinch of Taliban
5 Mountains filled with Caves

First, beat 1200 years of Islam until creamy. Then add in 3 Anglo Afghan wars and mix together.
Then mix in 30 years of Political and Social unrest and a pinch of Taliban.

Then pour into caves and let sit in the heat for 3000 years.

Spring Break

I had a very exciting spring break. I wasn't able to just sit around and do nothing like I had hoped. I started the break off with a visit to New York City. It was a beautiful day, and apart from getting lost....it was fun. After that, things took a turn for the worse as I became sick. On top of being sick, I had to travel to Pittsburgh (a 4.5 hour car ride) to visit my grandparents. I came home Thursday and caught up on all the TV I had missed. On Friday, I saw Adventureland with some friends. It was a really good movie. It was filmed at Kennywood, an amusement park in Pittsburgh where I have been many times. On saturday and sunday I finished up my homework and just relaxed.

Learning to Fly (4)

This will be my last post regarding Life, The Universe, and Everything. This project has come to a close with this post.

"There is an art, it says, or rather, a knack to flying. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss."(75). As Arthur Dent was sliding down the mountain as the earth was literally sliding beneath his feet, he tripped and fell. Right before he hit the ground he noticed a bag which he had previously lost. He thought about his bag until he realized that he never actually hit the ground. Upon looking down, he was hovering in the air. Arthur Dent was flying!

This was surprising. I had heard the book mention the ability before, but never did I think that Arthur Dent, the main character, could ever pull it off. He never believes anything is possible. Arthur Dent flew high into the sky and managed to slow down his chattering, thinking, brain long enough to save his life, for if you think too hard about flying, you will simply fall.

Then, Arthur realized and thought about this ability to fly and he came down to earth. Arthur then did the most surprising thing. He tripped, on the way down, he thought about a specific retsina in his bag. He never hit the ground. Arthur Dent had now managed to fly twice! It was unbelievable. Incredible. Magical. I was more surprised that Arthur had flown twice than I was that he had flown the first time. I thought for sure that it was a one time thing that would torture Arthur forever. Instead, he gained the ability to fly majestically among the birds, where he "discovered that their conversation was fantastically boring. It was all to do with wind speed, wing spans, power-to-weight ratios, and a fair bit about berries," (232). What a wonderfully surprising book.

My Love for Bistromathics (1)

Since I have finished the book, I am going to write about the most interesting chapter in the book and tell what I liked or disliked about it.

Chapter 5

"Bistromathics itself is simply a revolutionary new way of understanding the behavior of numbers...so it is now realized that numbers are not absolute, but depend on the observer's movement in restaurants," (47). With that statement Douglas Adams created a new technology and gave the otherwise unusual ship a sense of science. This chapter, despite being barely 3 pages, was one of my favorite chapters in the whole book. Adams creates several ridiculous mathematical terms and gives them all proper definitions and makes them scientific. He does this, of course, while still inserting sly humor into the book. "Numbers written on restaurant checks within the confines of restaurants do now follow the same mathematical laws as numbers written on any other pieces of paper in any other parts of the Universe. This single statement took the scientific world by storm. it completely revolutionized it. So many mathematical conferences got held in such good restaurants that many of the finest minds of a generation died of obesity and heart failure and the science of math was set back by years," (48,9). He manages to create a lot of prgress than take it all right away.

Bistromathics set up the Bistromathic Drive, the drive which propelled Slartibartfast's ship and allowed him to cross giant distances in the universe without danger. This explanation keeps the universe bound by science without using magic to propel things. The numbers created from Bistromathics also help explain other strange phenomenons in the Universe like the Somebody Else's Problem field, a field which makes somebody else's problem invisible to those who do not see it.

I did not like that there were so few chapters like this one. I expect it may have become overkill if there were more and perhaps the fact that it is only one makes it more special.

Character Motivation (3)

The impending destruction of the Universe brought the killer robots to feel a new emotion. They felt....unfulfilled. They were depressed. They were no longer happy about their deed. "The robots aren't enjoying it, sir." 193. In skirmishes they, "raise their weapons to fire and suddenly think, why bother?" 194. They just do quadratic equations and sulk. This robot reminds me of my favorite manically depressed robot, Marvin. As it turns out, Marvin is the one controlling these robots. He has since stopped them from harming the protagonists and Zaphod. All the robots took on his personality when he was hooked into the computer controlling them.

The Krikkits wanted to exterminate the universe because the space around the planet is filled with a dust cloud which provides the blackest possible night and the utmost feeling of aloneness. Once they discovered other people, they wanted to be truly alone so they set about killing everyone. They seemed to have changed their minds somewhat due to their wanting to play sports with other galaxys, but they ultimately decided that sports and politics should not mix and decided to just kill everyone.

Trillian, motivated by her desire to keep the universe intact, talked her way up the chain of command to Hactar, the Krikkits' leader. Ford has stopped being cowardly because the time has called for it. Arthur is being brave to impress Trillian. Together Arthur and Trillian manage to SPOILER ALERT: get Hactar to cancel his plan for world domination. He seems to not care whether he fails or succeeds. This was a ploy for later though when he tries to destroy the universe again.

The characters in this book are mostly static, which provides a good sense that you actually know the person because you can predict what he or she will do. All the main characters were motivated by their desire to save the universe or their desire to destroy the universe.

Douglas Adams Has Style (11)

Douglas Adams is one of the most successful writers of the 20th century. His style and use of language are exceptional and make his books extremely enjoyable. He has a satirical tone, mixed with a witty use of language, making for a hilariously enjoyable read.

He often takes breaks from the story to explain some foreign part of the book, such as the concept of "bistromathics" a branch of mathematics based around the fact that numbers act differently in a restaurant. The chapter explaining this concept was written in an informative manner but it was based on an imaginary concept. This dedication to creating his universe provides a certain inexplicable reality to the otherwise strange book. He also often states things matter of factly, especially when pertaining to the Guide. It is the authority on everything in the Universe. if one were to look up Earth in the Guide, they would find out it says, "Mostly, Harmless."

Adams' style is extremely effective. It makes the story enjoyable to read and leaves the reader wanting more. It adds to my enjoyment of this book. I would probably not enjoy this book nearly as much as I do if it were written by someone else with a different style. It is perfect the way it is.

Enjoy a video of Douglas Adams reading a portion of his book.