Walablog

(Stephen G. Walasavage
Valedictorian Speech
NHS Class of 2001 Graduation Ceremony
June 1, 2001)

Well, here we are. On the stage. A pretty nice stage at that. Who’d have thought?

I’d like to start this address with a single question: Why are we here?

I don’t mean that in a metaphysical way. I mean: Why are we here, at the Tweeter Center, instead of the gymnasium of the Norton High School?

This question is perhaps easier to answer. We are here because of a few people who not only had the idea but took the initiative to follow up on it. And that, my friends, is what this address is really about: initiative.

This year has been the first year for most of us in which we are the oldest, wisest, undisputed rulers of the school – at least in our own minds…

For many of us as well, this has been the first year in which we have been expected to make decisions on our own. Worse yet, we have been expected to find decisions to make.

Albert Einstein once said that the ancestor of every action is a thought. This was true in the early twentieth century – and is just as true now, at the start of the twenty-first. If current trends continue, the society that we, the graduating class of 2001, will live in will be a thought-based one, and thus it will be an action-filled one. Everyone will be expected to take initiative.

And there is the crux of the matter: We need initiative, action.

Try for a moment this little visualization exercise to see more clearly what I mean. Close your eyes… *pause* Close your eyes!

Now recall a time, because there has almost certainly been one, that you have been on the edge of a pool or some body of water, and you have been reluctant to jump in. “It’s too deep” or “It’s too cold,” you think, and so you hesitate. For a long while.

Now freeze the scene.

Why are you hesitating? You know that it will undoubtedly be a refreshing experience. The reluctance comes, most likely, from knowing that you have to make a conscious decision on the matter. That’s something that not many of us like to do.

Unfreeze.

Now recall the moment when you decided you would jump in, just before you took the plunge. Remember the overwhelming feeling of freedom mixed with power? The feeling that you were just about to make a gigantic change toward something totally different, and you were leaving the past behind without any further hesitation?

That’s initiative. That’s also college.

It is my charge to all the members of the Norton High School Class of 2001, and indeed all the people in this facility, and in fact all of the people of the world, to live every moment of their lives as if they were about to jump into a pool. Always know about the consequences, but don’t be afraid to take chances. If you don’t jump in, you won’t know whether the water is *really* cold or *really* deep.

Life passes us all by. That’s a lesson we learn when we’re very young, and we still learn when we die. But the passage of time is not something to be ashamed of or afraid of. I see the fleetingness of life not as a limitation, but as a challenge. Life is telling me: “I dare you to do as much as you can with what little you have.”

Well, I try to take life’s dare to heart every moment of every day; I hope everyone here does as well. It’s important to remember that, according to most people, we’re only here and now precisely once in our lives. Pretty humbling, isn’t it? If your life is good right now, then you can be satisfied that this good moment will always be here, whether or not your future moments are as bright. And if your life is not good right now, then you can rest assured that it will leave you behind, as all moments do, in search of a better one. Either way, the glass is half full, or totally full, depending on how you look at it.

On that note, I’d like to end this little speech with one more thought, which we have learned should lead to an action in each of you: Why are we here?

Not here in a concrete, literal sense, but here in a metaphysical sense.

The title of Norton High’s yearbook this year is ‘Are We There Yet?’. And I think no more appropriate question could be asked of ourselves right now. Are we here to love one another and prosper in a world filled with peace? Are we here to learn as much as possible and gain valuable experience and credit toward entering a glittering afterlife? Are we here to be good members of a materialistic society, servants of the economy?

In the end, it’s up to you, the individual, to decide.

Think about it. And then take action.

Thank you.

A refreshing experience indeed.

Some of you know that I like to consider myself prepared for most anything that could ever happen; I’m an Eagle Scout, after all. I’ll often carry around items of extreme utility, but I was thinking recently that if nobody knows I have them, then they’ll never be able to ask to use them. So here we go:

Pockets

Apart from my usual pockets full of cell phone, wallet (including health insurance card with my blood type and a list of all the supplements I take daily), and keys, I always have this Craftsman 4-size flathead screwdriver.

Never breaks, never bends.

Jacket

My jacket pockets usually contain a few more useful items, many of which involve fire. Hooray, fire! First we have a miniature permanent marker (for scribbling upbeat and nerdy messages on bathroom stall walls), a miniature lighter (for helping out smokers in need), and some medicated lip balm.

Oh yeah, we're gonna have a party tonight.

I usually keep this utility necklace in a pocket, as it chafes and gets pretty darn uncomfortable pretty darn quick. As you see, it’s got some Swedish FireSteel (great for lighting a fire when all other options are off the table), a miniature pen (which actually extends to full size when assembled), a Utilikey (flat/Philips/mini screwdriver, straight/serrated knives, bottle opener), a Princeton Tec Pulsar II (really bright LED!), and a little plastic whistle I got in some cheapo first aid kit (this whistle is LOUD! great volume:weight ratio!). And of course, the whole thing is held together (painfully) by a single safety pin.

What a tool.

Last but not least, a 5-Hour Energy drink in my inside pocket, in case I (or anyone else around me) need(s) a pick-me-up. Some people claim they don’t work, and some people claim they’re dangerous, but I think they’re awesome. Excess b-vitamins aren’t absorbed by the body, and they’ve got as much caffeine as a cup of coffee. Basically, it’s a Red Bull in a tiny bottle, except it tastes disgusting (amazingly, pomegranate is my favorite flavor).

Is half a bottle only 2.5 hours?

Backpack

Obviously, a backpack has the advantage of being able to carry much larger items then a jacket or jeans pockets can; not listed here are the many pens, notebooks, umbrella, and (often) drinks I also carry. I’m particularly proud of my travel first aid kit, which consists of gauze, tape, solar blanket, non-latex gloves, sting/burn relief ointments, Tylenol, aspirin, antibiotic ointment, gauze pads, and Band Aids, all compiled into a handy little traveler’s waist pack designed to protect travel documents under clothes when abroad. I’m too classy for that, so I repurposed it.

I'm not a doctor, so I can't dispense medicine.

I've got you (and your wounds) covered.

My backpack usually comes to work with me, so I often have the need for storage space, and lots of it. Normally I have at least 24gb of thumb drive space, along with a couple spare SD cards for my little point-and-shoot camera (used to take these very photos!) and an SD-to-USB adapter, all of which I am always more than happy to lend.

How much gb could a Savage gb if a Savage could gb gb?

Finally, good old-fashioned folding knife. Gerber brand, I believe.

You call that a knife?

So there you have it. Most of the things I carry around with me on any given day. Do you have any recommendations for other stuff I ought to lug around with me? Any changes or additions to what I already have? An elegant, non-chafing solution to my damn utility necklace? I’d love to hear them! Please leave a comment!

So I haven’t updated the Walablog lately; this is a bad thing. I promise my updates will be more frequent from now on.

Here, for your amusement and perusal, is my standing desk setup at work. I’ve got the laptop on its dock at eye height (in a cabinet), keyboard on a cardboard box, and mouse/mousepad on an elaborate wrist-high stand. Second monitor is down to the left, facing up. Supposedly, being on your feet for portions of the day has great health benefits (burning extra calories, having better posture, avoiding all the side-effects of sitting on one’s ass all day), so I’m trying it out. The keyboard’s in a great spot for shifting back down to a seated position at the larger secondary monitor if I need a break from all that extra work!

There’s something that scares me about the Singularity… It’s not the idea of the human race being extinguished for being inferior; I actually approve of this because it’s pretty efficient and a superior intelligence deserves to win. What I’m worried about is that an intelligence greater than ours would in all likelihood (almost by definition) be better at things other than intellectual pursuits, like art and music. I’m worried that the human race would be immediately put to shame by the works and accomplishments of an intelligence greater than our own; this is why I advocate the gradual transition (augmenting our cognitive faculties bit by bit until we *become* the greater intelligences that futurists predict).

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2009/07/high-sierras

It is my personal opinion that all of these stupid assholes need to fry. Preferably at the hands of the friends and relatives of the innocent civilians and law enforcement officers they’ve killed. Gunshot wounds to all non-vital body parts before pulling the lever for the electric chair. That’s just about as cruel and unusual as going out for a hike and winding up dead because you walked into the wrong field. Capture the pot farmers, burn their crops, and hold some public executions to make their fucking evil brethren wet their pants. This isn’t a state or nationwide problem, it’s a war.

(8:18:32 PM) Nancy L: my dad once trapped an entire flock of birds in chiang kai shek’s foyer.
(8:18:57 PM) savagegonewala: ……
(8:19:00 PM) savagegonewala: is that a restaurant?
(8:19:03 PM) savagegonewala: or some state official?
(8:19:04 PM) savagegonewala: or both?
(8:19:08 PM) savagegonewala: i don’t know how these things work
(8:19:12 PM) savagegonewala:
(8:19:12 PM) Nancy L: chiang kai shek was the first president of taiwan
(8:19:20 PM) savagegonewala: wow! so i was right the second time

I was just sitting here, contemplating my own navel and the like, and I realized: Death is the one mystery we all have in common. Some people see ghosts, some claim telepathy, some ride the Loch Ness Monster wearing naught but some leather chaps and a lasso… But even if you live the most boring life of them all, you still get to experience one “mystery” by default: death. Crazy huh?

9/08 - 3/09

Interesting screen capture… Katie was living with me from September to December of 2008. I’ve lived alone from January to March. Thus, a bit of vague correlation here. What’s even more interesting to me is why November was so low compared to October and December.

I assume that having another person in the apartment (and corresponding laptop, lights, appliances) adds up roughly to the difference shown, though there are probably hundreds of possible reasons.