418. Essay "The Devaluation of Reality" (Economic Discounting) Inspired by Conversation with My Housemate Kyle (First Fan Letter to Malcolm Gladwell!)

Slideshow of Supplemental Imagery Affiliated with the essay "Devaluation of Reality."

From Supplemental Imagery with Essay "Devaluation of Reality: Thoughts on Discounting in Economics..."

PDF of the Fan Letter can be accessed below:
http://stokastika2.googlepages.com/fanlettertomalcolmgladwell.pdf

From Supplemental Imagery with Essay "Devaluation of Reality: Thoughts on Discounting in Economics..."

PDF of the FULL Devaluation of Reality can be accessed below:
http://stokastika2.googlepages.com/devaluationofrealitydiscounting.pdf
I am so braindead from working on this essay that I have nothing else to say, except that I am re-immersing in the context of the Santa Barbara Kinkos, with two very annoying kids right behind me pressing computer buttons and making beeping noises that are a little more annoying than a swarm of juvenile sqwacking (misp.) seagulls.

Notes, Conversation with Bub: The value of the dollar also this SYMBOLIC value of a currency arbitrary and in flux. Relative value of the resource may be the same, but not necessarily the currency. People do not value the future. Inflation means devaluation of the dollar. Galloping inflation (money is less important, demand for a raise, unions, strike). Inflationary spiral. Love, sex, death. Work, groceries, sex, watching movies. Economy of scale--mass production decreases price. Local--experiential doesn't necessarily mean valuable. Value--arbitrary fixation--on rocks or diamond rings. Tipping Point = Beer. I need to have everything now, even though I already have everything I need. People want certainty even though the world is uncertain--room for religion. Couple of word errors. Oops!

IMAGE CAPTIONS:
**Supplemental Imagery with Essay "Devaluation of Reality: Thoughts on Discounting in Economics..." Individual Spatial-Temporal Thinking. Drawn with my right hand (I am left-handed!) in Photoshop!
**Definition of Proximal and Ultimate Spacetime.
**Devaluation of systems with increased spacetime from frame of reference. Linear? Exponential?
**Thresholds of resource/information accessibility and resource/information hypersaturation--with a window of optimality (sanity and degree of manageability) in the middle.
**Eusocial Ecological Niche Space. Why do professors only have 5 grad students, not 500?

237. Pilot Season First Annual Santa Barbara Write-off Reality Show Competition, Day 4, Writing a Piece on Savory, Home Cooking, Greek Mother

Please visit the pdf file of the above story below.

http://stokastika2.googlepages.com/greekmothercookingriversideca.pdf

On the fourth day of the competition, we had a celebrity judge who was involved in writing about home cooking. Hence, the very difficult theme was "savory home cooking." Writing about home-cooked food that reminds you of a very special place. Try to tangle the landscapes of food and home all in one piece. Oh boy. For those who know me, food is not a very pretty subject. With my upbringing, food was anything but savory and inviting pleasant memories--except for maybe Mexican food at Don Jose. Unfortunately, that food was not-home-made.

I had told this story at Tabletopics Toastmasters before, so my thoughts were quite polished in my brain by the time I entered this competition. The essay I wrote was so funny that I had a hard time reading it, and many people laughed. I even had a judge from San Diego come up to me and state how she thoroughly enjoyed my piece!

The next time I am ever asked to write about food in a Reality Show Write-off Competition, I will write a piece called Envirochondriac, which is about an individual going environmentally psychotic about that food that is on his or her plate, not only in terms of the health and contents, but where it comes from, how it's made, carbon and calorie counting, obsession, just like those Weight watchers people. Carbon counting is weight watchers for the environment, etcetera. Looking forward to writing that piece. I already have a song/poem. So I'll start with that.

LOOK HERE FOLKS, VICTORIA MINNICH INVENTED THE WORD ENVIROCHONDRIAC IN FALL QUARTER OF 2007 IN AN ESSAY ON AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH. IF ANYONE USES THIS WORD AND DOESN'T GIVE ME CREDIT--ESPECIALLY WHEN THEY PUT THIS WORD IN THE ENGLISH DICTIONARY--I AM GOING TO HUNT THEM DOWN AND ASK THEM TO GIVE ME CREDIT FOR SOME CREATIVITY HERE. OKAY?!!

235. Essay Sent to The New Yorker, "The Tragedy of Celebrity"

I don't know how I got to be so inspired to write this essay on The Tragedy of Celebrity, of course, from my Biologically Incorrect point of view, but I did it. And not only that, I took a step further. I told my dad and a couple of people about the essay I was writing and I was recommended to submit this to The New Yorker. Wow. Straight to the top. That's a big leap. He he. Oh well. I did. Since my confidence is so low and the likelihood of being published is SOOO slim, I decided that I best not wait a response and already resume with my life, assuming rejection. But given the alternative hypothesis of acceptance--which is about 1/10,000 odds (I am formulating probabilities from my behind) I shall swiftly drop and unpublish this particular blog and let others enjoy reading via New Yorker format.

Here is the entire 5-page essay below. I just attached the first two pages above.

http://stokastika2.googlepages.com/tragedyofcelebrity.pdf

It's the first time I ever submitted anything to The New Yorker. I'm still in shock. I assume rejection, but success will dramatically improve with each attempt :-).

Now, I must get back on task!