nathan jara

It sounds a little silly, because who isn’t, but I’ve always been fascinated with people. In particular, the way people think. And to be particularly particular, the way two people can arrive at the exact same idea in two completely different ways.

While I didn’t pursue it any further than taking two or three classes in college, one of my favorite ventures outside of my 1′s and 0′s and getting covered in paint in the art studio was sociology. The study of people is how I like to describe it. Understanding how and why people react and behave the way they do based on their social influences. Understanding why one person believes something and another person believes something completely different, all because the first person had this experience or the second person had that experience. You can look at how a person grew up and where he or she grew up and have a pretty good idea about what type of person he or she can become. Obviously there’s a little more to it than that, but these simple things can shape personalities in a big way. These simple things can shape the way he or she sees the world.

Have you ever had a conversation with someone and you know you’re talking about the same thing but you can’t get the other person to understand? Sometimes you just can’t get the process to compute in your brain or their brain. But at the same time, you know you’re both on the same page. I had that experience tonight. It’s so interesting. It can be very frustrating at the time, but you can learn so much from understanding a different perspective. I think it’s fascinating to think about where the other person is coming from and why they thought about it that way and you thought about it your way.

So I’m not sure if I’m making any sense, because you may not get where I’m coming from, but I bet we’re getting to the same idea anyway, just differently.

In somewhat funny fashion, the clothing company GAP has switched their company logo back to its original after a short-lived redesign this week. The company, who has for a long time, sported a blue rectangular logo with a white classic typeface (right image), recently displayed on their website a new logo (left image), which honestly, seemed almost a joke. A quick Google search for “gap logo” will get you caught up on all the hullaballoo.

What’s probably more amusing is this website, Crap Logo, which allows you to create your very own, uhh “gap-like” logo. Enjoy :P

If you like to blow stuff up and enjoy American Eagle clothing ; ) check out the website today. Just add “?mode=asteroids” to the end of the URL in the address bar or click here for some space ship fun :) Use the arrow keys and space bar on any page of the site and check your high score. It’s for a limited time only, so get your blastin’ in soon! :)

The other day, as I came into the house, I grabbed the mail as usual. As I leafed passed the junk mail, I found a letter with my name on it. I then glanced to the top left of the envelope and found the AARP logo. Confusion was my first reaction. Then a glance back to the recipient address to double check it was for me and not my roommate :P Opening the letter found that, yes, indeed, they sent me my very own AARP membership application and card. Now, this wouldn’t have surprised me if this was the year 2040 or so. However, it is 2010, and I’m 24 years old! I can say I’m just a bit surprised that a little more research wasn’t performed to ensure I was eligible for the program in less than 26 years from now. Just think how much money these organizations would all save on postage! Now obviously there’s no harm done. I don’t plan on filling it out, but I think it warrants a little chuckle at least. I guess it’s nice to know I’m getting a heads up!

Over this weekend I showed my car some love by doing a nice wash and summer time wax. But in between the wash and wax, I tried something new by using a clay kit. Meguiar’s Smooth Surface clay kit comes with two clay bars, detailing spray, micro-fiber towel, and a sample bottle of cleaner wax. The clay kit is used by first making sure your car is squeaky clean, then spraying the included detailer over a section of your car. Next take the kneadable clay bar and rub the bar over the sprayed area, once smooth, wipe dry with the towel. Repeating this process section by section over the whole car picks up and rubs away all the contaminants (dirt, tar, debris, general yuckiness) that get stuck to the car body. The result is well, amazing. The stuff leaves your car as smooth as glass. I followed up the clay bar with a new coat of cleaner wax to seal in all that glassy goodness. Take a peek below and you’ll see why I think it was worth it. :)