Author: xela

aka: Skyrien.
scientist, engineer, pursuer of knowledge, maker of things

A chase down University Ave

Ayyaaaa woooooow–groogggggy!!! ::rubs grogginess out of eyes::

I just woke up form my first nightmare-ish dream in months! I love how daytime nap can be so action packed and amazing in less than an hour! I don’t remember a HUGE portion of it, but the last five minutes are seared into my memory. I was Jack Bauer, and at someone else’s home probably protecting it, there was a golden retriever at the home, I was playing with it, when the doorbell rang. It was a sunny day, awesome to go outside in, but I wasn’t expecting any visitors.
I half-openned the door.

The dude was white, with long, pale blond hair. About 5’10” with a gray jacket, gray-blue eyes. “Are you ______?” (I couldn’t remember what he called me) “Yes,” I said–to which he instantly replied, “Thank you for your vehicle, sir!” and TOOK the car keys from the key rack by the door. (personal note, never put a key rack by the door).

This was trouble, that much I knew immediately. I picked up my cell phone (from a coffee table behind me) and kicked the door into his face, but for some reason, I felt incredibly weak and failed to knock him down. In the struggle that ensued, I managed to get the keys out of his hand, saw about eight armed guys in cars and motorcycles, in the road in front of the house. Needed to get out of there! Blondie didn’t cry out as I stomped on his body and got into my car (which was a blue Honda Odessey) and started the engine. Blondie scrampled up, just as I found the doorlock. “You’re not gonna get far Mr. Bauer.”

This didn’t seem an idle threat, he seemed very convinced. But I didn’t care, I backed a yard, and rolled over the lawn and got the car moving! Or at least as much as a minivan could get by the end of the cul-de-sac. The bikerboys got on their rides, and they were after me! Which way?! I didn’t know where I was or where I was going, but i had the distinct feeling that I was in southern Naperville. Large trees provided a canopy of shade, but just across the road (which read “University Ave”), large fields of tall green grass swayed in the pale golden sunlight. And the bikers were coming up fast. I got out of there.

Horrible acceleration on the minivan btw. Absolutely pitiful. I was stepping on the gas as hard as I could and waited a full 10 seconds to get to 50 MPH. I suppose I was more panicked than I am now I’m writing this because I remember barely being able to dial 9-1-1 before dropping the phone, and it was as straight road but something was nagging at me, saying that I was going the wrong way. I needed to turn the car around. The bikers and their cheap pickup was gaining in the rearview mirror. Up ahead, a road–much like 75th street was ahead. I needed to slow down to turn, but…

Getting closer… 400 ft… … 200 ft… 100…ah whatever! I slammed down the brakes, and made a WIDE angle, getting ready to make a big turn, praying that the stupid minivan wouldn’t go into a roll… JUST as I turned completley around, ONE biker dude sideswiped my car in a terrifyingly loud scraping of metal and glass…

That must have triggered my consciousness and I slowly regained control of my senses… the fear and sounds were still there, but I awoke and looked around. And was in Urbana once more…

Fear and Understanding

Fear. If it weren’t so inherently scary, I think I find it amusing that while most people probably feel fear when confronted with something real, tangible, or at least, immediate, what I fear most is usually far ahead of me. Things I fear are what I don’t (yet) have, or might not have. It is because of this that in the midst of my greatest successes, I most fear possible failure.

I fear with unending zeal the demise of the nanotech industry.
I fear the purposeless death.
I most fear purposeless life.
I fear the death of faith.
I fear becoming lost.
I fear losing what I have.
I fear not finding what I don’t have.

It seems that so much stems from not understanding myself as I am.

I don’t understand how I’ve come this far.
I don’t understand why I’m blessed with what I have.
I don’t understand why I seem to have so much control over my life.
I don’t understand how a confused soul like me could ever influence that of another.
I don’t…

It also seems that what I’m most not-understanding are the things that everyone else must face. Haha—I really should stop being so confused of myself.

What can I say… I’m a scared li’l kid, just looking out to the unknown petabytes of the Internet for some guidance… perhaps I’m looking the wrong way?

Wonderments!

Haha–im still trying to figure out how LiveJournal works–so many weird functions.. like “memories”? what good is that for? *sigh…* its funny how much fun i can have all by myself. i think i might have made a big mistake though–in challenging NG to go find this sacred journal.

oh well, perhaps all things sacrosanct cant remain so in public hands. haha–i’ll have to hijack her xanga if she does anything…

so what the hell do i want to be anyway? I’ve made so many changes to my college career since it started… I’ve been making changes all my life I suppose, but shouldnt there be some semblence to directino by now? let’s see… what have i ever wanted to do?

4th – 5th grade — computer programmer —
seemed like the logical thing to do, with me being so into computers

6th – 7th – game designer —
yea, a progression to something a little more creative

8th – 9th – marine biologist — this is definitely the most random, stupidest thing yet. Driven by my fascination with the supposed intelligence of dolphins, but it was the beginning of my interest in intelligence and cognitive science.

haha–at about that time, i remember i also started my drive to become a writer. AND haha–i became so troubled with the fact that there was so much to do out there and so little time in our lives, that i half-jokingly (and half-seriouly) considered career options that might have led to an immortality solution. I thoguht of genetic engineering, biochemistry, bioengineering, neuroscience etc… until i finally settled on just living my life as life is meant to be lived.

I also seriously considered trying out acting, but gave that up early.

10th – 11th… i dunno what the hell i was thinking here…

12th – college creeping up on me, and i realized that i had so many interests, in so many fields that i would HAVE to give up some stuff, sadly… but then, cognitive science popped out of nowhere as a compromise solution that seemed to be a progression of my interests. Being interdisciplinary, it seemed to encompass almost everythingthat i had ever been interested in… it’s what i applied to northwestern with…

COLLEGE! …and it was my continued drive for transfer to NU or WashU, and for the time being, formulating my OWN major at the U of I. Yet… now I’m jus confused. Weird things started happening in college… almost as if i was regressing… or maybe it’s just a rebound effect. It started with math. I had convinced myself that i hated math in the latter years of high school, and I thought i’d be happy not taking any more in college. But this semester, without a single math class… i seriously felt deprived. And almost, i felt a craving for the logical certainty of math. And… I’ve become kinda scared, that I’m forgetting all the stuff i learned in high school. Somehow biology sticks to my mind, but chemistry and physics, and most of all, math has been slipping from my mind with frightening speed. Anyway… it looks like I’m almost backtracking to math and chem.

I came into U of I as an English major, with a cognitive science major through IPS, but now I’m changing it around a lil bit. As of 2nd semester, my unofficial program is neuroscience through IPS, a bioengineering minor, with an intent to get into the Technolgy and management program at the college of business. Yes, I’m becoming more practical i suppose.

I just hope it doesn’t mean my dreams are going by way of my younger years.