Life According to Thayne

Birthday Climbing Pictures

Mon, 5 Mar 2007 15:24:37 -0700

Well today is my birthday and the love of my life is climbing, so I’ve put up some pictures. I climb at rockreation several times a week with my buddy Alex. I brought my friend Rachel along and she snapped some pictures! Check them out and let me know what you think!

~thayne

Today

Sat, 13 Jan 2007 11:24:29 -0700

we all have our internal tragedies. Those little stories of fear and happiness that are hidden inside all of us, sheltered away from the world. Sometimes we die inside, truly, and lose all hope. Then we have to go out into the world and put on a smile that is empty. Eyes don't lie. It's so easy to forget what we all have and should be thankful for. It has always been human nature to not miss what you have until it is violently stripped from your grasp, leaving you completely lost and bare.  I'm dying inside. A slow, unforgiving force has a hold of me now. It is forever patient and waiting. As I write this, even now, it will only appear to be a cry for help, a cry for attention. Maybe it is a cry for help because the emptiness inside me certainly desires to be filled. Maybe it's a retarded thought that was brought on from a chemical reaction as a result of the nacho cheese combos I ate last night. Maybe it's something more, maybe not.  I've always wondered if life is just truly random. If everything we say, think, or feel just truly has no connection to anything else in our existence. If the blank white canvas of an artist was never really meant to become jean grey, or if it has always been fate. It's a frightening thought, and one that we are all to quick to dismiss because of the fear that what we do is ultimately meaningless. That our whole lives we wander around in different sizes of circles, learning life's little lessons and such. But in the end we always come back to where we started. We will always go back to our first love. It was the most pure. It was the love we had when we didn't know what pain was. It was the love that makes us feel like we can live forever. It must be impossible to let something so deep go. Some of us never do. Some of us never want to because we don't think there's ever going to be something better.  However I know this is wrong. It's wrong because of the feeling inside when you know something was meant to be. When you know that a person has been put in your path for a specific reason, for them to help you, and for you to help them. You might think you know the reason for the brief rendezvous, but you never will until it's over. Perhaps after this short dance, the two strangers will depart into the world never to be seen again. But that short moment of mutual friendship, mutual love. That's worth something. That's worth everything.  To connect to someone, to look in someone's eyes and know exactly what they are feeling... you know they are looking back at you drawing the same thoughts. That is worth everything in the world. If I can make someone have a little smile, even if it's just blanketing the emptiness inside her, is worth everything. If the price of that smile is a candy bar, a pack of cigarettes, or a small paper bird tucked away hidden. A smile for $6. That is worth the price every fucking time. In fact, that is priceless.  The one person that I want to read this... I know never will. Her eyes will never fall upon these meaningless words. It doesn't feel quite right, ever, to think that you have just wasted time. To think that you've put your everything into something and to see you've had no effect on anything. To see that you have walked in a complete circle and learned nothing. I cling to the hope that I have done something. Even if it's just that one meaningless smile. I have given that. That's all I can ever truly give. But I know I have given that.  I once was sitting in a room with a girl crying so hard because she had lost everything. The love of her life had shattered her heart, her parents were split up and her mom was a raging alcoholic who truly cared only for herself. This girl would display her pain by coloring her hair, or making vivid, graphic art. Her sorrow made me feel so compassionate towards her that to break the spell sadness had cast on her, I made a funny face and started tickling her. She instantly smiled. Then she slapped me. She replied, "don't take away my pain. it is all that I have now." I realized in that instance that some people actually live only for pain. Only for disappointment. They give and give and give everything into something they know will only end in tragedy. In tears. How horrible to waste the time given to us in such a cold, brutal fashion. You must take what you can get these days.  I should take my own pill. My own advice. I know that I am the third. I am the C that is on the line between A and B. I think A is connecting only to me, but really, I'm just sitting on a line that has always been connected to that damn B. I was such a fool for blinding myself to that reality. Even as I think A and B are getting farther and farther away, no distance is too far for love. I was never deceived. I was never lied to. I hold no anger or hatred for what has happened to me. I only blame myself. I am my own demise. We all are.  Love is patient. Love is cold. Love is unforgiving. Yet love is what holds us all together. Love is forever.  If you've read this far, I hope that something I have said has inspired something inside you. For this is not random. It is not some accident that you are reading these words right now. You were meant to read them just as I was meant to write them. For a dead man walking, please grant me my one last wish. Promise yourself that you will make someone smile today. Promise yourself you will let someone make you smile.  Love like you will live forever. Live like you will die today. Because one day's tomorrow will be today.  natural. orgasmic. ridiculous. amazing. creative. lovely. artistic. I really think she's cool. really not dumb. energetic as fuck. nomadic. everything. linguist. sexier than Isabella Goulart. once she smile for the first time, I. never forgot her.

Time Out

Mon, 8 Jan 2007 10:15:45 -0700

I’ve taken a long time out from blogging. Things have just been a little crazy for me for the past few months and I’m just sort of drained. I need a new change of scenery and some new hobbies. I can tell I’m entering a new phase in my life. I’ve come to really appreciate my friends as they are the key to surviving heartbreak. It’s truly time for me to start doing things only for myself and forgetting about trying to make everyone else happy. Although I don’t regret anything I’ve done, I have just given too much of myself to people who haven’t been able to give me as much in return, leaving me spread too thin to function.

To my friends and family, even though I suck at showing it, I can type the words: Thank you for all your love and support. Without all the little things that go unsaid, I wouldn’t be here today. Thank you.

`thayne

Chapters of my new book

Wed, 22 Nov 2006 14:56:23 -0700

Common Sense: A college student’s survival guide to life.

Chapter 1: Don’t Date, Loan Money to, or Cosign a TV With Someone You Live With

Chapter 2: The Woes of Subletting
 Chapter 3: What To Do When Roommates Walk Out on Leases Two Months Before Expiring

Chapter 4: MySpace - The Game and How to Play it

Chapter 5: Online Poker - How to Afford Gadgets You Probably Don’t Need

Chapter 6: Mocha Salsa, Del Taco, Scone-Cutter - The Three Food Groups

Chapter 7: How To Turn a Camera Into a Sandbox and a Laptop Into a Doormat In Two Easy Steps

Handy Quick Appendix: Stupid Things You Shouldn’t Do Because People Will Screw You Over

My Cool Levitating iPod

Sat, 7 Oct 2006 21:24:44 -0600

Here’s a golden little project I worked on during my Junior Semester (2005) at the University of Utah. The goal of the project was to stabilize a linear motor-control system that was adapted for magnetic levitation.

If you want to know how it works, it’s quite simple really. There’s an electromagnet fitted with a hall-effect sensor which basically detects magnetic fields. The iPod has a rare-earth magnet magnetically attached to its case. When the iPod comes into range of the electromagnet, the feedback loop of my circuit very rapidly adjusts the current through the electromagnet coil according to the strength of the magnetic field that is detected by the hall-effect sensor. As the iPod falls towards the earth, the feedback loop ramps up the current to the magnet, thus attracting it upwards. Then, when the iPod gets too close to the magnet, the feedback loop lowers the current to the magnet, thus allowing the iPod to fall downwards. This happens hundreds of times per second and causes the levitation effect that is observed! Cool huh?

After all of the time I spent working on this levitation project, I thought I’d throw together a little movie demonstrating the results of hours of laborious (but fun) math and engineering. The final result: a device that will levitate an iPod Shuffle! Apple, if you’re listening, I could use a job!

Check it out, let me know what you think.

Climbing Industrial Wall: 5.11c

Fri, 29 Sep 2006 21:14:08 -0600

I haven’t written on this blog for a week or so since I’ve been busy with school, but I put together a cool little climbing sequence taken at Industrial Wall in Little Cottonwood Canyon. I’ve been trying to spend most of my free time outdoors since who knows how long the warm weather will last. A 15 minute hike up an embankment off the canyon, this climb is rated a 5.11c and consists of hard pulls on very slabby granite. From the photos it appears that I’m just barely off the ground, but those sticks you see on the ground below me are actually very massive logs! That gives you an idea of how high up I actually am. I hope you can forgive my incredibly horrid hair-do also, he he. Thanks Eric for taking the photos!!

P.S. If anyone is good with a camera, I’ll be happy to take you rock climbing in exchange for some gnarley photo shooting skills. Be a pal, leave a comment.

Funny Fish Joke

Mon, 18 Sep 2006 12:48:37 -0600

Come on. I know you laughed a little bit.

Things to Come

Tue, 12 Sep 2006 09:08:01 -0600

Just wanted to let you all know of a few things I am planning for this blog over the next little while. First, I am working on a fantastic compilation of video clips called “Baby Milo.” I will be posting this when I am satisfied with the editing. Secondly, I am going to start a section dedicated to engineering projects. As you might have noticed, I now have my résumé online because I have had a lot of people request to see it. I am constantly changing it, so I figured I might as well chuck it up on here. Lastly, I am planning of redoing my “Photos” and “Movies” section to illustrate more than just my powerbook assembly video. I will let you all know when those changes take place, so be sure to keep an eye open!

A few site changes

Sun, 10 Sep 2006 16:05:13 -0600

Hey, I decided to make the music on my main page auto-play. If you get sick of this feature, leave me a comment or something and I’ll disable it. I change the music periodically, so hopefully you won’t get too sick of it.

Also, I added a few friends’ blogs to my main page so be sure to check out their stuff!

Cool Mac Tips #2 - Dictionary Quick-Key

Fri, 8 Sep 2006 01:50:55 -0600

#1 - Exposé How-To
#2 - Dictionary Quick-Key
#3 - Click-and-old Dock Icons
#4 - Two-Finger Scrolling
#5 - Screen-Zooming
#6 - Capturing a Quick Screenshot
#7 - Inverting the Screen
#8 - Making Mac Speak Anything You Want
#9 - Save Anything On Screen as a PDF
#10 - Quick and Powerful Touch-Ups With iPhoto
Today’s tip is one of my all-time favorites. Did you know that every Mac has a built-in Oxford American Dictionary and Thesaurus? And accessing it is only one button away? In the tutorials below, I’m going to show you five different ways to take advantage of this wonderful yet very commonly overlooked feature of Mac OS X.

Now let’s dive right in to the five methods for using the dictionary and thesaurus. If you are already familiar with one of the methods, I bet one of the others will be even more handy for you. From the beginner Mac OSX user to the most seasoned Mac-head techie, there is a tip here that you will find useful.

Method 1) The Dictionary Application.
This is the most straight-forward way to look up words, but the least “handy” in my opinion. Simply open the spotlight window (⌘-space) and type “dictionary.” Click the Top-Hit as shown in the picture to launch the Dictionary application.

Method 2) The Dashboard Widget.
Open Dashboard by pressing F12. Click the small “plus” in the lower left corner and drag the dictionary widget to the dashboard.
From here, you can look up words very quickly any time you want just by bringing up dashboard (F12) and typing a word into the widget. This is my favorite way of looking up words which I hear in a lecture, but if the word I want to look-up is in an e-mail or web page, the next method is even faster than this one.

Method 3) The “ctrl-⌘-D” shortcut (my favorite!!).

This shortcut always amazes people when I show it to them. Suppose you’re reading an e-mail or a web page and you read a word that you don’t understand. Instead of launching the dashboard to type in the word, simply move your mouse cursor over the word (no need to actually select it) and press ctrl-⌘-D. Voilà! The definition pops up right there in its own little window. You can even keep holding down the keys and move your mouse over different words to see the definitions instantly appear! Now there’s no excuse for having such an exiguous vocabulary. Sorry PC users, you’ll just have to get out that old Webster’s hard-back. (As a note, this quick look-up trick will not work on this page because this text is formatted as an image to preserve my layout, but it will work in almost any mac application).
As an added tip, I recommend changing the shortcut to the F8 key so you don’t have to remember the key combination. To change shortcut keys on your mac, open the system preferences, then click on “keyboard and mouse.” From here, click “Keyboard Shortcuts” and find the “Look up in Dictionary” entry (see the picture). Click on the shortcut to define a new one for yourself. And while you’re at it, take a look at all the other cool stuff your mac can do!

Method 4) The “option-esc” auto-complete trick.

Suppose you are typing a letter or leaving Thayne a comment on his blog and you can’t remember how to spell “annihilate.” Just start typing as much of the word as you can remember, say “anni,” then press “option-esc.” The Mac will display a pop-up menu of words that start with what you have typed. Simply click the word you are looking for and you’re all set!

Method 5) “ctrl-click” on those red underlined words.
The Mac has a cool feature that auto-checks your spelling as you type. If you misspell a word, a red underline appears beneath it. This is great and all, but what if you forget to hit the spell-check button before you send that very important e-mail to your writing professor? Get in the habit of learning the correct spellings of words right as you type them. “ctrl-click” (aka. right click) on a misspelled word to display a pop-up with the correct spelling.