Interstellar and the Cosmos

"The Cosmos is all that is or ever was or ever will be. Our feeblest contemplations of the Cosmos stirs us: there is a tingling in the spine, a catch in the voice, a faint sensation, as if a distant memory, of falling from a great height. We know we are approaching the greatest of mysteries."
- Carl Sagan, Cosmos

Lately, I've been developing this fascination of science-fiction, astronomy and the stars, and sciences that are outside of my science, Sociology. Cosmos (the book), Cosmos: A Space-Time Odyssey (hosted by Neil DeGrasse Tyson), and even the recent Interstellar film have challenged me, to learn and grow and think critically of what I know and what I want to know. 

While I do understand the basics of astronomy and some basic ideas of the complexity that is astrophysics, it's all so beyond me, incomprehensible, and I'm struggling to grasp these ideas. I'm not discouraged at all, but rather remorseful that I didn't develop an interest sooner. Maybe it's just me, but it seems like astronomy, astrophysics, robotics, engineering, with some form of biology (perhaps microbiology?) and chemistry (o-chem?) seem to be associated with one another, as though if you know one, you're bound to know the others. It feels like I missed out on an awesome, intellectual party of sorts. 

I think anything futuristic has my attention at the moment - steampunk in art, industrial/post-industrialism in music, and science-fiction, robotics, and industrialism in literature. It all seems so imaginative, extravagant, and conjure such unique worlds and circumstances that you can't help but want to explore and discover. 

In the end, I want to know as much as I can, so that I can impart my knowledge onto my children, when that time comes. I want to have a relationship with my kids the way Cooper has with his kids in Interstellar: he's not just a parent, but also a teacher, challenging his kids to think critically, learn new skills, and learn as much as humanly possible. It's an inspiration to be that kind of a father figure when the time comes.

The City of Angels

All my life, I've always lived just outside Los Angeles. I was always about a 20-minute drive to the downtown area (which is what's usually portrayed in media). As a child, I went reluctantly - my parents would buy fancy perfumes/colognes/jewelry and sell them in the small towns we lived by. As a kid, I wasn't so aware of what was around me. I was often bored since I couldn't go off and explore and such (such is life of a kid in the 90's). As an adult, I made a string of excuses as to why I didn't visit the city - "I don't know how to get there; It's too far; I don't have any time/money; I have no reason to go..." Well, you get the idea. 

In another class (different from the one with the pretty lady), I was tasked to visit the downtown area: to survey the land (and how the land is used) and to take note of some of the history of LA and some of the currently existing landmarks in the city (I learned that some were demolished for more modern buildings). So, I had to go (this assignment is worth about 10% of my total grade! It's one of the bigger ones). 

So let me give you the TL;DR version of my trip (Too Long; Didn't Read - you can thank Reddit for that):

1) Everything's pretty packed together - you can see just about everything that's in LA in about 3-4 hours. Now exploring Los Angeles...that's a lifetime.

2) John Parkinson - the influential architect that helped shaped Los Angeles to be the magnificent metropolis that it is today. 

3) It's pretty awesome and interesting how we can just walk inside some of the buildings (like the Bradbury Building and Biltmore Hotel), but others are closed off to the public.

 Finally, here are some photos that I took  throughout my walk in Los Angeles:

A New Year and A New(er) Me... (Pt. II)

Now that I've reflected on my previous resolutions, here are my New Year's Resolutions for 2014! You'll notice that some goals are still the same from last year's and there are some completely new ones for me to accomplish!

2014 Resolutions:

1) Be happier (I've decided that this will always be a life-long resolution for me)

2) Be healthier, physically and mentally (also, another life-long resolution)
    -begin exercising
    -improve diet

3) Read 60% of books in my reading list
    -also, buy at least 10 e-books

4) Complete another CD collection

5) Learn to cook

6) Explore California
    -visit 3 museums
    -go hiking on 3 trails
    -try new food
    -go to 3 new cities

7) Learn a new language

8) Create 2 photo albums
    -one for the family to have
    -one for demonstrating my best photography

9) Find a spiritual calling (of sorts)

10) Learn to dance! (especially like nobody's watching ;-P)