For the Procrastinator

Sooooo...this weekend I went home to visit the family! However, since I'm taking a summer class, a good portion of that time was spent doing homework at Starbucks. Certain locations have had free Wi-fi since July, so all of you Starbucks goers should probably take advantage of that! For those who are unaware, I am taking Engineering Part II Ideas, Innovations, and Matlab programming (yeah rah! (sarcasm)) this summer. The course has been pretty intense thus far, and I know these next few weeks are going to be tough. Anyway that's not the point of this blog entry tonight. As I sat attempting to complete my homework, I couldn't help but continually get distracted. For those of you who often sit staring at your work in hopes that it will magically complete itself, this entry is for you. I am going to attempt to compile a list of all the best ways to occupy yourself while your work is busy completing itself. As suggestions come in I will update the list and/or write another entry at a later time containing the new procrastination technique discovered.

Youtube
We've all done it. I don't know how many times I've looked up random videos on youtube. Here are a few videos that I find particularly entertaining.
Barats and Breta- I find most of their videos very funny. This video is definitely their shortest but never fails to make me laugh.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bn1-M5Ze0p8

Greyson Michael Chance and Nick Pitera- Okay so I saw both of these guys on Ellen. I love Ellen and her show, but I really love/admire these two guys. Greyson is this totally impressive 12 year old who sings, writes music, and plays the piano. His cover of Lady Gaga's Paparazzi is awesome. Nick Pitera...well...at first you will be confused and think there is nothing special but just keep watching.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxDlC7YV5is (Greyson's Video)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9-CS2v8wcc (Nick's Video)

My friends and I quote this next video quite often. I'm really not sure how to introduce it. Let's just say Tracy will prep you for meeting Peter. Peter at the Perk (Park).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtkU2ch0sRI

For those of you who are frustrated with BP and the tragic oil spill in the gulf, here is a video spoof of how BP would handle a coffee spill in the office.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AAa0gd7ClM

Alright so the last video I would like to share with you was shown to me by my roommate last year. There is some debate as to whether or not it's real. Personally I think it's hilarious either way.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzRTEJo9YYI

So this next website is my good friend Elizabeth's favorite. It's a good one to check out when you feel as though you have been loosing faith in the world.
http://www.givesmehope.com
Gives me hope is a more uplifting version of F my life.
http://www.fmylife.com
Some people prefer the average life over hearing about inspirational or tragic stories.
http://www.mylifeisaverage.com
Others just want to hear about what exactly did happen last night...
http://www.textsfromlastnight.com

For those of you with a secret, a man named Frank Warren might just be your perfect outlet. He is the creator of the PostSecret Project. Frank receives thousands of anonymous postcards everyday from people all over the world. These postcards contains thoughts and feelings these people have never shared with anyone. Frank gives them an outlet by letting them tell someone. Frank posts new secrets every Sunday on http://www.postsecret.com Some secrets are funny, others are silly, yet some are extremely serious. Those who go to the website can comment on the weekly secrets. You'll be surprised to find out just how much you might have in common with someone random in the world. It's a nice feeling to know that you aren't alone. Warren is helping the world discover this. He also has published a few postsecret books. The books are simply a bunch of the complied postcards.

If you miss the good ol' days when people played Tetris and Pacman, you are in luck! I myself am completely addicted to Tetris. My mother is a HUGE fan of Ms. Pacman, but I think she would settle for just Pacman if she had to.
http://www.freetetris.org/ (TETRIS!!!)
http://www.freepacman.org/ (Pacman!!!)

Some other classic ways to procrastinate include calling all of your old pals and seeing what is going on in their lives. I'm a gifted talker/listener, so calling to chat with friends or close relatives is a popular choice for me. If the friends aren't far from you, you can always make a play date if your due date allows you to procrastinate to that degree.

If politics are your thing, you just might like The Onion, or you just might despise The Onion. Regardless of the political stance, I find this comedic newspaper and it's satirical articles hilarious.
http://www.theonion.com

For your viewing pleasure here are two websites which really know how to capture some lovely moments- Awkward Family Photos and People of Walmart
http://www.awkwardfamilyphotos.com
http://www.peopleofwalmart.com

It is very possible that you all may have heard of everything I have just typed. If you are one of those people, I apologize. You are obviously a far better procrastinator than I, and I would appreciate some comments or messages informing me of some procrastination tools which I have forgotten or simply do not know about. Even if you have found all of the above completely boring and a waste of your valuable procrastination time, I hope this website turns that all around. My sister just recently showed me this website, and it is addicting. Stumbleupon asks you to check boxes of topics which you are interested. Based on the topics checked, Stumbleupon directs you to random websites. Once you are done looking at a particular site, simply press the 'Stumble' button to move on to another choice. Based on what websites you like and dislike, Stumbleupon will continually find websites to thoroughly entertain you. This website has the ability to keep you occupied for hours.
http://www.stumbleupon.com

Of course the ultimate tool for procrastinating these days is Facebook. I avoided mentioning it until the very end since it's one that most people know about and use an unhealthy amount. I often refer to Facebook as "Creepbook." If you have a Facebook, you know exactly why the title is fitting. Most college students are crazy addicted to Facebooking or "Creepbooking" as I like to call it. You can literally find out anything and everything about some people on Facebook, but you already knew that. = ) I figured an entry about procrastinating would not be complete without mentioning the website that side tracks us the most.
http://www.facebook.com

Well it's bed time for me! Happy Procrastinating!

All my love,

Koya = )
P.S This is for all of my fellow Engineers/people who program with Matlab. When programming I often get frustrated or stuck. To relieve some stress type into the command window 'shower.' It shows you a diagram of how a shower regulates water. If you type 'why' in the command window a shocking result will emerge. Keep typing in the command 'why' to see exactly how far the ridiculousness goes. It made me like the creators of Matlab slightly. Other words or "commands" that make Matlab do interesting things include 'image,' 'penny,' 'life,' and 'spy.' If you know of any others please let me know! I've looked up some things online regarding these secret code words in Matlab, but not all of them worked. I'm not sure if that's because I'm using Purdue's version which is constantly updated or what, but not all of the commands you find on the internet produce the result they say it will. Most will just give you error messages, but I do think it's worth it to try a few. I feel like it makes your time programming slightly less stressful. It may add some time to the length of your assignment, but I mean, come on! The title of this entry was For the Procrastinator, so you were well aware what you were getting yourself into. Good luck with whatever you are programming! Stick with it! All this hardwork will be totally worth it when you graduate = )