09.29.08
Skydiving is awesome!
Dennis and I went skydiving. It was awesome. Maybe I’ll get more detailed later. Or maybe not.
09.25.08
I don’t like blogging!
So why do I have a blog? It’s not fun to write about things that only I care about. I’m not really using it as a diary because it’s completely public.
So what the hell?
I don’t know. I’m getting tired of this thing. I really just wanted to own the domain “BryanSimonson.com”. I am master of my domain. 
08.30.08
Philosophy: For Fun and Profit
Do you have a philosophy? If not, you may want to pop down to your local 7/11 and pick one up.
Oh wait, philosophies aren’t for sale. You can’t go shopping for them. You can’t try them on and see how they fit. You can’t go to Amazon and find the highest quality philosophies at steep discounts.
And yet some believe that philosophy is a fashion accessory for only the most discerning customer. “Yesterday I was Buddhist, but I’m feeling Muslim today. Doesn’t it go nicely with my self-righteousness?”
Those who believe philosophy is nothing more than a subject in school have missed out on their free copy of the roadmap to happiness.
It’s one thing to study philosophy, and know the names of philosophers. But unless you yourself adhere to a basic set of morals, you will never know what motivates those driven to set the higher standard. It is the same as children who laugh at a joke that is beyond their compehension– they laugh, but only because everybody else is. By definition, you must be ignorant of such distinctions.
Anyway, I’m sleepy. If you failed to acquire a set of beliefs, you should read Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand.
08.27.08
At loss for words
I’ve had the pleasure of experiencing many moments of clarity this year. Sometimes those moments are so deep and overwhelming that I can’t really put them into words. Luckily there’s artists out there for that. These words no doubt mean something different to me than to anybody else reading them at this very moment.
Suffice it to say that I have seen evil incarnate, and survived largely unscathed. While pitiful in many ways, one must never forget that it is the evil itself that spawns pitiful circumstance. Giving into pity only breeds more evil.
I pity the person who sees what I saw, and taints himself.
—
At loss for words by Dark Tranquillity
In waiting for..
Waiting for the signs to bring.
The first to sing.
Felt in between these fears.
Set to unknown tunes.
So tempt these fragile fiends.
A grace gone dark.
You’ll never know.
You’ll never feel.
You’ll never taste,
The depths of your defeat!
Break into the hearts and minds of man.
Never one to tell. Never one to tell…
Sucking on a lie that never ends.
Found at loss for words. Found at loss for words…
Locking on…
Locking on to faith gone bad.
Sweet touch of sin.
Not in the sleight of hand.
Can facts be lost,
So never understate your case.
Deny our weight.
There never is.
There never was.
There never can be,
A break from binding chains!
—
I went to Bhy Kracke park tonight to see a great view of Seattle. Let me tell you, the iPhone doesn’t do it justice, but my oh my, while I was there, I could see everything in perfect clarity.
07.26.08
I’m not a lazy bum any more.
That’s right. I have been for awhile. Since about May 16th, my last day at iFLOOR.
But those days are now over. I decided that jobs weren’t only for suckers after all. Starting (I think) next Wednesday, I will be working for Microsoft, as a contractor.
Have you ever heard of Live.com? No? Well you have now (so I’ve done my job)! It’s a search engine, and I’m going to be helping advertising clients spend their money more effectively.
I know what you’re thinking: “Bryan, haven’t you already been there, done that?” Sort of, but this time I’ll be helping out a bunch of different companies. It’ll be fun– how many more companies will get to benefit from my brilliance now? (Hey! I never said I was humble.)
Anyway, good times. I’m excited.
07.08.08
Just finished my homework
Who are you, and why do you care? You’re me (because I get no other traffic), and you don’t care for that reason. Just had to clarify that point before going any further.
Yeah, I just did a bunch of quadratic equations, and I’m feeling pretty proud of myself. Sure, it’s a review of Algebra 2, Trigonometry, and College Algebra back in high school, but I was foolish and slept through much of the two latter. As for Algebra 2, I was afflicted with memorization of techniques for solving problems, without really understanding.
Luckily, I now have a pretty good professor who has clarified things. The crazy thing is that whenever I start thinking about the real world applications of this type of math, there’s too many to count.
One thing very applicable to my past life at iFLOOR was curve fitting– taking observed data and fitting it to a curve. (Example: price point, units sold, revenue) If you graph the data, it will create a parabola (aka: bell curve). But here’s the cool part: You can take the equation for that bell curve and use it as a pricing model in order to price for maximum profit.
And I always figured that “pricing model” was just a buzzword…
05.16.08
Monochromatic Stains
by Dark Tranquillity
There is this face in the still water
I can’t remember ever wearing
Like fingerprints on your heart
Reading out the last lines of code
To the untrained eye a secret
I bled away the last of you
Sought trust in shapes of combined results
That trickles from a less than solid case
Fought off attacks of resurfaced lust
Burn the grazing grounds
What will give in first?
The body or the lash?
Monochromatic stains
Who will cave in first?
The leader or the fake?
Monochromatic stains
This pile of ashes of a soul
Informant pokes abound
These sickly little fingers
Get away from me
Tread not the path of least restraint
Each piece of evidence a lie, a lie
The body, the face, all items in place
I don’t remember a thing
What will give in first?
The body or the lash?
Monochromatic stains
Who will cave in first?
The leader or the fake?
Monochromatic stains
A sacrifice made to the loss of a mind
Folly, a man’s demise
Track now the stains that allow my fall
Sickening, the sight of it all
Never shall I claim my innocence
I just wasn’t there
What will give in first?
The body or the lash?
Monochromatic stains
Who will cave in first?
The leader or the fake?
Monochromatic stains