Never Too Extreme

One of the things that I really dislike is lack of enthusiasm. When asked about my passion for the things I do, my friends may reply with a string of expletives that roughly translates to “insane fervor.” Because of my own, well, obsession for things, I often feel that others waste their time with pursuits that they are neither qualified for nor enthusiastic about. Why should anyone waste his time on these things? In my personal experience, I find that many people reply to that question with an exceedingly vague explanation about how it will help them reach their even more nebulous goals. A common goal in my high school, for example, is rooted so deeply in our minds as competitive students that we need only one word to express it: “college.” The struggle to get into a “good college” has reduced so many talented young people to none more than suckups that swarm teachers and youth volunteers who donate time grudgingly to hospitals and political campaigns in order to get signatures and hours to fulfill some phantom requirement that they believe their dream school seeks as a part of their repertoires. I simply despise that little rat race that so many of my peers lock themselves into. I am not trying to be a snob: some purist that looks upon unwashed masses with disdain. Instead, I see myself as a rational person who sees his friends (and enemies) waste their talents and interests so that they could pad their résumés. Now, of course, seeing myself as rational is a dangerous route to go down. Next thing I know, I'll be calling everyone “phonies,” which I sort of am, already. But, I'm not some basket case; I'm just bitter.

To simplify, these are a few of my favorite things:

• Typography For some reason (probably pedantry and “showoffmanship”), I really like typography. Though I'm never the type of person who can be creative or artsy—robots and such aside—I think typography is closer to the sort of “art” that I would be into. It is a rigid set of rules that emphasize form, usage, and design, but at the same time lets you get across your own meaning through those same elements… and of course the content of your text. I am quite fond of fonts, getting my documents to look nice (yay for LaTeX), and going to extremes for typographical correctness.



• Pen spinning
• Timekeeping