Putting Foo onto a background today (lesson 10). I haven't touched C++ in a real way in so long. More recently I've only made little programs here and there to process data, like excel. I know that scripting languages are preferable for that kind of thing, but I get warm and fuzzy every time I doubleclick a ".exe" file. I'm relearning how to deal with things like class files and header files, and I'm learning how CodeBlocks handles them. I used to use the Bloodshed editor, but afaik it's dead (and I can't verify because the website doesn't include the year in its recent update dates). Besides that, Code Blocks advertises a number of features that make it appealing. I have to say, right now my major complaint with Code Blocks is that I can't right-click a project in the Management tree and add "new>>file/class/etc"; I have to make the target project the active project and then do it from the window header menu, "file>>new>>...".

Chowon has a cold, and I have a scratchy throat. I hope this doesn't develop any further. I have to go back to Tesla after Thanksgiving. I'm praying for her health all the time.

I listened to some MeWithoutYou today, because I am in such a mood that I'm able to tolerate the sound, although I think I'd listen much more often for the lyrics if the music wasnt so harsh sounding... and more recently if they would just sit down and decide what religion they are. I forgot how creative the lyrics were for that band, and I guess I never realized how many of my favorite songs of theirs in highschool and college were about failed marriages. Now I'm stuck wishing they would point that awesome creativity toward some more positive topics, because I really don't want to sit around and meditate on doing bad stuff all the time. I feel so old saying that.

I firmly hold the belief that the things you listen to and watch regularly will affect your patterns of thought in general. The evidence for this should be plain enough -- some of my friends who play minecraft all the time will talk about little else. My friends who are fans of certain movies or dramas or comedians will quote those sources on a regular basis. I've noticed in myself that if I listen to, say, nothing but Iron and Wine for 3 weeks, then I will feel depressed at the end of the three weeks.

It only makes sense anyway. If you play chess all day, you'll find yourself more able to play chess well, because you're developing patterns of thought that smooth out the processes necessary for that activity. It's the same with anything else. If you watch South Park all day, what kinds of patterns of thought are you developing in your mind?

Now,, I love South Park. It's a sort of guilty pleasure of mine. Also, I really enjoy violent video games and violent cheesy Asian samurai/ninja flicks or anime. Chowon has limited my intake of that kind of media quite a bit. I don't think that we necessarily imitate the things that we see on TV or attempt to repeat the things we do in video games in real life. I think that we're able to detach ourselves from the things we see and do virtually. However, I think that there are behavior patterns involved in the game activities themselves (in terms of the themes, strategic considerations, and raw physical reactions to stimuli) which can carry over into a person's life.

Something about song, though, is that you aren't actively responding to it while you listen. You're just hearing the words. Maybe I'm being a bit esoteric, but I'm convinced that those words are processed by us subconsciously when we hear them. I think the same thing about sitting in a restaurant; the direction our conversation goes will be influenced by the way certain key words in nearby conversations will trigger memories without us needing to think about it.

"But you can't yet appreciate harmony."