Grand Canyon
This last weekend I got bored and decided to do something different.
I tend to be somewhat random at times, so I suggested to Samantha that we should go to the Grand Canyon. Neither of us had ever seen it and we figured it was about time. Technically, it's only a 3-4 hour drive from Phoenix, so there wasn't much of a reason not to. 30 minutes later, we were in the car and on our way!
While we were there, I attempted to take a couple of panoramic photos using the Autostitch method (see the apartment image in one of my previous entries for more details).
I ended up snapping a grand total of 300 photos, which I then pieced together to form the following larger photos. Click on a photo below to view the larger version.
And last, but *definitely* not least... A 360 degree panoramic image which I took while standing at the edge of the canyon. This is a must-see!
I also took a bunch of other photos, which I will attempt to put online in my photo journal here soon.
Dallas Roads vs. Phoenix Roads
This is why I used to get lost in Dallas.
Compare in sharp contrast to Phoenix, which is all about roads going either North and South or East and West.
Riddle
I just came up with a riddle. First person who figures it out gets a dollar:
In this very room I see
something that appears red to you
but black to me
I stare at it every night
before I sleep
Animated GIFs
So ten years pass and this morning when I woke up, it hit me: Animated GIFs are dead.
It really just snuck up on me. Man.
Lifetime Memory Snippet Linkage
I have decided to undertake a massive experiment unlike anything I have ever seen or heard of before.
I call it "Lifetime Memory Snippet Linkage".
Here's how it works. Take any memory in your mind. Doesn't matter which one. Simply take it and think about it and let your mind wander. Re-live the memory. Where does your mind take you next?
Pull up a scene from your childhood. That time you played hide and seek with your friends. Who were your friends? Can you remember anything about those people? Where do those memories take you next? How did you feel in that memory? Hurt? Angry? Happy? Let one memory lead to the next. They don't have to be big memories or have any significance whatsoever in the great scheme of things. A memory of your toy fire truck may link into an untapped memory of the time you saw a building on fire. That building on fire may remind you of the time you went camping with your grandfather and he had you build the campfire.
Now, get a pencil and a notepad or open a Word document or something so you can quickly write/type out "thought snippets" as they flow through your mind.
Write in short phrases, one line at a time. You will find that you can fill up pages and pages really quickly.
Example:
toy fire truck
building on fire
excited
sirens
camping with grandpa
christmas at grandparents
candy canes
santa claus in mall
worried
sitting on lap
Don't worry about writing this list so that it means anything to anyone other than yourself. The idea is that you will be able to pull it up later on and when you read it, it will re-trigger those memories. Over time, you can constantly add onto it. Every time you open your memory snippet document and re-read it, you will remember more details and new memory trails will appear. Just keep adding on to the list.
I've found that memories seem to lie passively in your brain and slowly fade from your consciousness over time from lack of recall. This technique will rejuvenate those memories, bringing back the color to your life.
My plan is to create a list like this and pull as many memory snippets out of my mind as I possibly can. Then I intend to create a computer program that will allow me to chronologically order the memory snippets, while still maintaining the linkages formed from typing the phrases out one by one. Then I will create a graphical interface that will allow me to link even more of the memories together.
The final goal is to be able to navigate my memory snippets in a chronological interface and see how my own mind links them across time.
I will essentially have the entire structure for an auto-biography.
What do you all think?