The Observer

One trait that I really pride myself on, and I don't have that many, is the ability to observe.

Now, anyone can see. Anyone can hear. Anyone can perceive. The trick is first to do it, and secondly what you do with it.

I mean, how often do you observe your surroundings? What's the shape of the lights in your room? What was the last three people you were talking with wearing? How many windows are in the room where you work (if you live in a cubicle, it would be the number on of windows in the room where the cubicles are). Honestly, I usually don't know the answers to these question either, but that just goes to show how little we observe and log in our memory.

What I usually observe is myself. Constantly re-thinking what I said, what I did, the decision I made. I also enjoy observing interpersonal dynamics. Sounds weird, but observing the little quirks that show the situation between two persons is very interesting.

Now, what to do with it. With info on myself, I try to better myself. Maybe I'll log away that one liner for later. Perhaps I should start that homework earlier. I really should've handled that differently. Stuff like that. Self improvement is really important, in my opinion. Also, when I observe other situations, I can ask myself, what would I do in that situation? What can I gain from this experience?

Now, the weird part is when I do this for random things. For example, when I watch movies with fight scenes, I usually like to pick apart the fighting styles and try them out later. Except of course I can't to some things like Matrix-style jumps and stuff, but more times than not you can pick up a thing or two from the fight. When I watch Anime, I sometimes like to pick up Japanese phrases or perhaps think about the character development. Also, you can always ask yourself, what's the purpose of this? What was the maker trying to convey? What am I taking away from this? Do I actually even emphasize with these people, or is it just raw enjoyment? Also, that was a cool shot, I should remember that next time I film and edit movies. Stuff like that.

Now, for something even weirder. I also like to observe motion of people as they commute. Dynamics of people getting out of the way for bikes, pedestrians, etc. I mean, it's a fun physics problem if you wanna look at it that way, but I also use it so I can get to class extra fast.

See? Useful. I swear I'm not weird.

spellman23 scores a headshot

So, I said I'd explain a bit about the title, and here it is.

spellman23 is my gaming alias.

zomg, lolz @ gamerz poluting my interwebs!

Seriously though, I'm a gamer. Granted, I'm not a pro gamer as much as sometimes I'd like to be. And it's not like I'm sucked into the vortex of one game. I play all games. Card, board, PC, sometimes a bit of console (don't own one, so I have to use the ones in the dorm gaming cabinet). I also enjoy multiple genres from First-Person Shooter to Role-Playing and God Games like Civ4.

How does this all fit? Well, it's a great stress reliever. One of the awesome things is we get 24Hr access to computer labs, which of course we've figured out how to load games onto (of course we cleared it with the admins of the college first) and thus have cool LAN parties over the weekend. It started out with only Natural Selection, a Half-Life mod, and a bit of WarCraft3 custom maps my freshman year, but we've had some other die hards re-introduce things like StarCraft and Quake into the mix.

Oh, and did I mention I have setup a session for a 24Hr gaming marathon? Yup. 8 players last Spring Break gamed from noon to noon. Crazy, I know.

But, as with all things, I've made sure to take it in moderation. I selectively play games during the weekend when the workload is less intense. Well, correction, I can put off work for a few hours and still feel good about myself. But anyways, being able to mess around and frag friends is awesome. If you've ever had a LAN Party, you know how great it is to hear people random cheer as other groan by a wild play you just pulled off, or the electricity as you all work together by yelling across the room. It's pure awesome.

The problem of games comes up when you let it take control. There are people where things like World of Warcraft (WoW) have essentially sucked them dry. Now all they play is WoW and whenever they have conversations inevitably it steers into talking about WoW, or homework. Not my particular brand of fun, but apparently they seem to be enjoying it. So, just don't let games dictate your life. Heck, in general, don't let one thing dictate your entire life unless it's really worth it, like say your religion, but that's another topic for another post.

Anyways, if you see me on the webs pwning the noobs, feel free to drop a line and say hi.


And for your viewing pleasure, some cool game trailers of my favorite free mods:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=yJbR7wUoNBg
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2039778892352057276
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLcHtKcB0nI&feature=related
http://youtube.com/watch?v=-fTCO7ZE-uE (has some gory scenes, designed as a realistic game)

I'ma Eng-in-neer

If you thought of a game sound file reading that, well, I think enough said.

So, I happen to be an engineer. Cool. Not a railroad engineer, I mean the kind that builds stuff and optimizes things and figures out new applications for the latest and greatest technology.

At Mudd, we don't have Electrical Engineering Major, nor Aerospace Engineering Major, but instead have a General Engineering Major. Why? It's because of the idea that becoming a super specialized Engineer could be a bad thing. What if that area suddenly isn't useful? How do you cope with changing demands? Will you be able to communicate effectively with others in other disciplines? At Harvey Mudd, we try very hard to give you the breadth of knowledge to be a nimble engineer in the professional world, but there's also a commitment to allow you to specialize in your passion.

And here's the problem. To do both, you've gotta learn alot. Which is why the Engineering Major at Mudd is notorious for being a giant time suck. In fact, according to oral lore, once upon a time Engineers were required to overload at least one semester just to graduate. The Accreditation Board decided that wasn't good, and so told HMC to fix it. They did, by reducing the number of credits of certain courses. However, the class load remains the same.

It's not all bad, though. I mean, you get to build a processor chip in the VLSI class. Our new E80: Engineering Field Experience now offers you the chance to shoot off rockets and take the data from the flight for analysis (assuming it didn't blow up). And best of all, we get really cool Clinic Projects which let us as undergrads essentially work as if outsourced to some professional company. For example, Raytheon, DirecTV, and CIMIT all have Clinics going on at Mudd. Cool, huh?

Case File #0000FF: The Case of Missing Free Time, Part 1

DISCLAIMER: The names in this story have been changed to protect the innocent, the guilty, the neutral-based, the bystanders, those caught in the middle, the shooter, the bum down the road, the cleintel, the dead, the living, the undead, the vampire I keep in my closet, my imaginary friend, the next door neighbor, but most importantly, to protect you the reader.

It was a quiet day in the homestead. Well, technically it was the office, but I'd finally gotten kicked out of my other home, so a bed in my office made it my new home.

But that was past. On this hot and sweaty day, I was minding my own business. Just doing some paperwork that had to get filed next week and some other busywork on the computer. But the important thing was I was minding my own business. After all, getting mixed up in other people's business tended to get me in trouble, or shot at, or losing money, or a combination of any of the above.

You see, I'm a private eye, a freelancer, the guy people call in when they've got no one else alive to turn to or too scared of the officials. And while it doesn't pay off the loans, it's what I like to do and so I stick with it.

On this day, a dame came in. Not the usual kind, the kind that seems to eat, sleep, and breathe trouble. Sneakers. She was wearing sneakers. "I hear you can find things," she said. "Depends on what you're looking for, darlin', " I replied. She wasn't bad looking, but no fashion model. I was gonna guess guy problems, but then she blew me away with her next words.

"I want you to find my free time," she said.

I almost splotched the ink. Free time? Who the heck comes to me for something like that. Usually it's a person, or maybe an article of clothing. Worst case, it's a missing pet. Who in their right mind goes looking for something like time? And free time? I had loads of it. Spent most of it down the way grabbing a bite and chatting with old buds.

"Well, darlin', that's one unusual request," I finally said. "You wouldn't happen to be referring to the nickname of someone or something more, tangible?"

"No, I want you to find my free time. See, I've been very busy recently, and I think I've simply misplaced my free time. Time to relax. Time to sleep. Time to even check over my work." She stated. Her eyes looked dead serious, and one thing I've learned in my line of business is eyes rarely ever lie. Unless you're looking at a professional liar, but then you're an idiot for talking to them in the first place without first giving them incentive to tell the truth.

"Well," I said, "I can look into it. You know about my fees, darlin'?"

"Sure. I've got this check for the down payment." she said, pulling a check out of her purse. I held it up to the light, checked it out, it looked legit, and for exactly my startup fee. Looks like the gal was serious.

"I'm gonna need full access to you and your life, within state laws, of course. The moment you hide something from me, I'll find it and reneg on the case. Ya got that?" I said. "Of course, anything to help." She replied, then turned around and left, leaving me with a check in my hand, a reeling mind, and the scent of her perfume hanging in the air.

"Well, looks like it's time to hit the street," I mumbled to myself as I stood up, pocketing the check. First things first. Cash the check. I checked my pockets for all my usual gear. Keys, notepad, a few accessories, and of course Bernie. Good arguer Bernie.

Satisfied, I closed my eyes, collected my thoughts, then exited my little office.

First Post!

Greetings. I am Trevin Murakami.

Who am I? I'm an Engineering Major class of 2009, Male, Christian, Gamer, Eastie, Anime Watcher, Server Operator, Event Organizer, Ultimate Frisbee Player, Musician, Fun Friendly Dude, Observer, Martial Artist noob, Video Editor, the list goes on and on. And while I'm not doing homework, well, there's lots of options out there.

The key thing to remember is that I am but one person. Sure I'm a pretty cool person, well, at least I'd like to think so, but the fact of the matter is I'm but one of 700 students here at Harvey Mudd College. And while I'd like to do it all, well, maybe not EVERYTHING, but alot of things, I don't have the time. So, I pick and choose. I prioritize. And fortunately for you the reader, I tend to prioritize poorly. Which is why I'm doing more things than I should, and enjoying it.

So, feel free to keep reading this blog as I share experiences, thoughts, analysis, and perhaps a few run-on sentences from my life here at Mudd to you.