Yeah um I'm pretty sure this isn't ok


the main page is here
Well I trust someone will take care of this.

So I was thinking earlier, my mistake I'm sure, but I came up with something intelligible. Well intelligible-ish, I'd like to hear your thoughts, especially since the people here have so much talent.

What exactly makes up talent? Do you have to have a specific talent to be talented? Why do we feel the need to define ourselves by our abilities rather than our person?

For example, I feel I can write well, well enough to write an interesting email, a pointless blog here and there and possibly a moving letter. However I would not consider myself a writer by any means. I can also draw, not to an extremely amazing extent, but I can create fairly accurate figures and images from a model. I do graphic design for work, so I must have some knack for it, but I'll never be the next Glennz, Ste7en or Somni. I can sing, I'd say pretty well, better than most, but I'm not trying out for American Idol anytime soon. I play the guitar and piano, and I've even written a few songs, but I'm not going to perform anytime soon. I can play basketball, offering a heavily defensive game, but I'm never the first to be picked. I don't mind public speaking, and I would venture to say I'm fairly good at speaking extemporaneously and improvising. I've even tried my hand at stand up comedy, writing a set that was good enough to make some of my classes laugh. I'm going to stop here to limit my narcissism, but the point is although I'm decent at many things that are typically considered to require talent, by any of them on their own I may be above average at best. Does that make me talentless or a Jack of All Trades?

They say that those who can't do teach, which I've been doing more of lately. Is there a measure of truth to that? Is my ability to teach sprouting from my inability to do anything else?

So now I ask again: What exactly makes up talent? Do you have to have a specific talent to be talented? Why do we feel the need to define ourselves by our abilities rather than our person? Do people have a quantifiable amount of talent or is it a thing that lives and grows with time?
Discuss

Has everyone seen this design? It's delicious.



Also Jim Gaffigan gives an entire set on bacon

Enjoy

but I'm supposed to do it. This is now the official blog to remind me to do my job so I don't waste all my time blogging like I did today. I've gotta do some major catch-up this weekend now.

WIPs are all he knows
he stays where the ideas grow
trolling through the critiques to find
something we should keep in mind

whether the nose is too big or he has no chin
quister will tell us through thick and thin
we trust his words and value his eyes
even when a disagreement should arise

quister is the one who I trust
to tell me my design is winning or bust
you don't have to feel the same
but don't post hate, which is lame

In venice in a restaurant we found a canadian girl's passport. We looked outside for her but to no avail. The passport didn't have any contact info for us to reach her with, we only knew her name was Jessie Speers from Toronto, she's 16, and she's also been to St. Martin. Oh yeah, she also came in to europe at Frankfort and is passport less. So my parents went on the gondola and I waited in the restaurant in case anyone from her family returned and kept my ear open for english or french speakers. I met some american girls and a whole class of english students but no canadiens. Poor girl is going to have serious problems when she decides to leave Italy.

I just wanted to know if any of you Torontoans might happen to know her or the family. I know it's a long shot but I figure its worth it. Her name again is Jessie Spears she has brown hair, she's 16 and passportless.

Just my story through venice. Wasn't sure if you all wanted to know but here it is...
WARNING THIS IS LONG

Well the day was eventful to say the least. It started out rather lazily, as I didn't exactly want to get out of bed, even for free breakfast. I was forced out regardless, and the hotel's breakfast was your typical continental breakfast, so we as any good americans would do went back and forth between the table multiple times making sure we had our fill. After breakfast I felt like a nap was in order, so we rested for another hour or so, then we hit a little patisserie.

The patisserie (bakery) I speak of deserves it's own paragraph. The amount and variety of sweets there was amazing, and each of them were a sugar coated masterpiece. There were little cheesecake things, chocolate mousse things, apple tarts, strawberry-kiwi cups, chocolate and coffee filled cream puffs, normal creampuffs, and a menagerie of other sugary confections that I can't possibly describe or know the name of. The absolute best of them was called a baba, and was basically a rum soaked sponge-cake topped with cream. In addition to their amazing baked goods they offered a coffee and hot chocolate bar in the corner. The hot chocolate was literally melted chocolate, not really anything else. I'm not really sure how they kept the chocolate at that consistency, but it was drinkable cocoa, no doubt about it.

After we left the bakery we took the vaporetto (water metro/bus) over to murano. The boat was unbearably crowded, and we were stuck in a stairway. Regardless, it was a pretty ride over. I didn't get to take any pictures since we were in the middle of the boat. There was a large crowd of english speakers when we got on, from westminister college in england. We got to talk to one of them, Alex, most of the ride over. Alex and his girlfriend were originally from Boston and were taking a semester abroad to be able to travel and experience europe. We got to share a number of travel stories, and it made the cramped ride a bit more bearable.

In murano we spent most of the time shopping. We didn't get to see the glassmaking process, which greatly saddened me, but we did get a number of great glass pieces, some for an exceptional price. My parents got to reminisce a bit, since they loved murano the last time they visited and we actually ended up in some of the same shops as their last trip there. After we left murano we stopped by the rialto bridge for some pizza and a gondola ride.

When we went in the restaurant we found a canadian girl's passport. We looked outside for her but to no avail. The passport didn't have any contact info for us to reach her with, we only knew her name was Jessie Speers from Toronto, she's 16, and she's also been to St. Martin. Oh yeah, she also came in to europe at Frankfort and is passport less. So my parents went on the gondola and I waited in the restaurant in case anyone from her family returned and kept my ear open for english or french speakers. I met some american girls and a whole class of english students but no canadiens. Poor girl is going to have serious problems when she decides to leave Italy.

Well that is my venice story.
I have more to say but I'm a bit tired of writing and I'm not sure you want to hear it anyways, so if you want to hear about the alps or france or the amazing pizza man just ask.

Hey all!

I'm in switzerland. Going snowboarding tomorrow for my first time. Hopefully I won't break anything. Wish me well.

I just got an apartment in barceloneta. It's a little beach community here in Barcelona. It's not a bad price at all, and it's within walking distance of a major park, the zoo, the beach, and the metro. The metro can get you almost anywhere in the city so the location is almost perfect. I'm on the 5th floor and there is no elevator, but I'm not gunna complain because it's awesome otherwise. The internets is only dial-up though so I'll be making myself comfortable at an internets café or two.

I was really stressed out about it for a while there, but it seems things have worked out quite nicely. Just thought you all should know.

Here's some of the pics...






sorry the img tags weren't working for some reason
I'll figure that out later.

Greeting from spain to all. I just got here to barcelona yesterday and I'm in the process of looking for an apartment. I just got a cell phone (for here anyways) yesterday, and it's even unlocked so I can still use it when I return to the states. Gotta love europe sometimes.

The down side is I won't get to appreciate my new threadless shirts for a while. Hopefully I'll have more time to work on some of the ideas floating in my brain though. I might post some pictures later on, but I don't have many yet.

¿Comó estaís?
(how are you all?)