Inadequacy - Not a word anymore!

       Some of us wake up every morning with this idea that we have to fit in and be on par with something, or someone. There is this lingering idea that we have to be  "ADEQUATE" for people...their views... their lifestyles... We are especially reminded about adequacy when it concerns our jobs and/or our job searches.

"As long as your bulb still burns, you can shine. You will
always have a current running through you as long as you live
so you will always be capable."

 
       Film and Video. We went on talking and I told him how I had recently submitted about 2-3 applications to Turner for Internships but that I hadn't gotten a response back. I immediately told him, "Yeah, I guess I didn't meet the criteria for them..." and to my surprise, he responded with, "MAN! You let THEM tell you that!"
I remember a few months ago when it was normal day and  I was working inside of my store, GUESS Inc. I was talking to a customer about my major,

       Ever since that day, that quote has stuck with me. It was sort of a realization that we create these resumes and cover letters to submit to these big time companies only to sometimes be turned away...but does that necessarily mean that we can't fit the position or that we aren't adequate enough? That we will never be capable?  The man from my store was right... I did let them tell me that. I was convinced that since I did not receive a response as to why I was not selected, that I was inadequate. To this day, I have not gotten a response. It's been about 3 months. Does this mean that I am inadequate? I think NOT. I know that I am adequate. I know that with the right settings, the right professors, and the right materials that I am capable.

       Being capable is much different than being adequate. Being capable deals with "abilities/characteristics that can be gained" whereas adequacy deals with "You either have it (the ability/characteristic) or you don't." People like to say that athletes without limbs aren't adequate to do this, to do that. But if you give them the right materials (the prosthetic limbs), the right professor (a physical therapist), and the right setting (the track, the field, the court), then they will be just as capable as all of us...just in their own way.




"Every step represents a 'NO' and every
floor represents a 'YES'. That's how Life is. Every 'NO'
literally gets you one step closer to a 'YES'."

       Inadequacy doesn't just revolve around the workplace or in the area of job-searching. It applies to relationships. Friendships. It applies to any area in which you may not feel "good enough." Those areas can be public, or private. Only you know. I am not going to delve into the relationship or friendship aspects of being inadequate because everyone is different and the points given won't apply to everyone; however, The moral of the story is: DON'T LET ANYONE, not your family, friends, girlfriend, boyfriend, Boss or whatever have you, tell you that you are inadequate for something. As long as you are alive, you are capable.
      
       R. Kelly made a song many years ago called, "I believe I can fly", and it is still widely popular because of the truth within the song. Seriously, it's really motivational.

Be capable, DO, and achieve.

      

Don't Fret - Just Enjoy The Journey

    OK. You know when things happen in life, we tend to get annoyed, discontent. Obviously you've realized I'm talking about those things, the things that we ALL deal with. The things that make us FRET. Bills, car problems, house problems, relationship problems, you name it. But here is the thing--if you "fret" about all of these things, how does that make it any better? Point given.

       Fretting gets us nowhere. Well, I take that back. It does get us somewhere, but not anywhere that we want to be. It takes us into a mental state, a realm in which we can't even desire to be happy. Worrying and feeling annoyed over these things in life that we seemingly feel as if they only happen to us (which is not true by the way) only makes us feel sorry for ourselves. It gives us a reason to not enjoy the ride that life has to offer us. Just being able to wake up and read, to smell and have loved ones is extremely rewarding. Don't fret, please. No one said that you'd be stuck in this particular position forever. No one said that there won't be better times ahead. No one said that you wouldn't enjoy the journey... but enjoying the journey is only made possible if you change your mindset. There is a quote out there that I am sure you've read or have heard somewhere. I can't remember who wrote it, but it states, "When you change the things you look at, the things that you look at, change."

       Now that is a powerful quote. don't focus on the negative. I say that you should just enjoy the journey. Don't fret.  Be positive about everything. Change your thinking. Most likely, today, you will come into contact with someone who is "fretting" about whatever...be a positive influence on them and send your "non-fretting" attitude towards them. It will make all the difference, because if you are like me and believe in karma, then you have just set yourself up for someone to do the exact same thing for YOU.

       Just remember that life is a mixture of many things. Think of life as a bag of trail mix. Not everyone likes everything that comes in trail mix. We tend to choose what we want to eat by picking out the almonds, the nuts, or the fruits. Let the bag of trail mix be...let life be...and enjoy everything it has to offer, even when some of the things that it offers isn't what you particularly enjoy.


Don't fret...just enjoy the journey!

Fulfillment

       I don't know what it is, but today I woke up and I felt alright I guess. I was happy to have my Sunday off after working about 32 hours this past week and working out at the gym about everyday. Then my Sunday passed me--it was gone before it really even started. When I came home, all I kept thinking about is working this week...the gym... and all the things that I have to do (and want to do, of course) and I started to get disappointed. I felt like the things that make me happy are not tangible a lot of times for a number of reasons. Then I realized that I wasn't fulfilled because I didn't feel like the person that I want to ultimately be.

       Fulfillment. That is a BIG word. What does it mean? How do we obtain it, and most importantly, is it lasting? You see, I want to be fulfilled. I know that writing, filmmaking, and photography fulfills me. There may be other things that fulfill each and every one of us, but the fundamental fact remains that we all need to be fulfilled in some way. Fulfillment is feeling full. Full of energy, of love. You are comfortable and happy. You are everything that you ever wanted to be when you are fulfilled. Fulfillment means that you ARE. (Fill in the blank).

       The only thing wrong with fulfillment is process on how we make it "tangible." How does one become fulfilled? Well, it depends. We are all different and there are a number of ways to become fulfilled so it is completely up to a person' however, one fact remains that no matter who we are, we need to set time aside to allow ourselves to become fulfilled. For example, you can't complain about working 50+ hours a week and say that you aren't fulfilled. You just have to make a sacrifice somewhere. You'll still have to work those 50+ hours a week, but you need to find the time in and out of the crevices of your schedule for the things that fulfill you. The only way you can "find time" is to bargain with your body.
       There needs to be a sacrifice. UH-oh, some people have already caught on. What are we going to sacrifice? Nine times out of ten it's going to be sleep that we have to sacrifice (amongst other things).When you sleep you lose time but gain Z's, but how many Z's do we actually need? 8 hours worth? or 4-6 hours worth? Train your body AND mind. When you don't have time, you lose the opportunities to do the things that you want to do. Right now, as of this writing, I am losing sleep. I have to wake up at 6 a.m. tomorrow morning; however, this writing is fulfilling me. Tomorrow, I may have to sacrifice sleep again to begin developing a narrative for my documentary that I am planning. But you know what? I'll be on my way to fulfillment. The process of making fulfillment tangible can only exist once there has been a sacrifice made. Again, that sacrifice usually involves sleep.

       Now, how long does Fulfillment last? Some people don't want to give up all of this sleep only for something that lasts for a few days. Well, my simple answer is that it lasts as long as you want it to. there are so many sayings that correlate with my answer but here are two familiar ones, "You get what you pay for", "You get out of it what you put in." As long as you keep taking away the sleep and putting in the work for the things that make you happy, then you will continually fulfill yourself.

Remember, there is nothing that you can't do...
you just have to remember that it all starts with you.
I feel better. You should too.

Today is The Day - Planning My New Documentary

Today is the day that I am beginning work on my new documentary, and perhaps, my first film. In the Fall (2013) I plan on taking Documentary Studies at Georgia State University. I haven't studied documentaries formally, but I have watched them growing up which has ultimately shed light on my interest in documenting. Documentaries have always provided me with an alternative way to grasp and understand information without having to resort to a textbook. The information was quicker and the amount smaller, but I liked it better. I am all about visuals! Reading is cool too, but c'mon, who wouldn't be interested in the same material in video-format? Exactly.

We may not know it, but documentaries are always in our lives: We see commercials with documentary-like traits. We watch documentaries in all levels of education. Most importantly, our lives are documentaries, and our memories are the scenes that we create and replay. Documentaries will always provide us with an interesting and specific way to engage a subject that only film and video allows us to do.

The idea for my documentary was given to me by my mother, and I will not be able to share the idea until the film is actually being produced. As of now, I am a bit nervous in doing this film, because after all, I will need participants that don't mind being interviewed and companies that don't mind being exposed.

For now, that's all you get. :)

Like NEO, It's The ONE. HTC's Best Phone, So Far.

Intro

       So, on April 24th, I bought the T-Mobile HTC One. It's May 28th and and I can honestly say that I am in love with this device; however, I've been in love with it since Day 1, mainly because I am BIG on the aesthetics of a device and believe me, the HTC One is INSANELY GORGEOUS.  I sold my Samsung Galaxy Note II and its S-Pen, which is also a nicely crafted phone, err, phablet--that lacks in the premium materials department. I never felt like the device was worth the $700.
       Before the Galaxy Note II, I was rockin' the iPhone 5, the famous contender to virtually every other flagship device. smartphone and out of the hundreds of iPhone 5 videos that we've all seen, we know that not many devices come close to the top notch quality and design of the iPhone; Well, not until this One.
       This review has nothing to do with the markets in which the HTC One is sold, the carriers under which it is able to operate, or the data speeds in which it is capable. This is a freestyle review aimed at the daily consumer who cares about a quick (ha!), non-scripted review (hence the term, freestyle.) I have a limited concern with tech specs; I'm more focused on how those specs are transferred into common-lingo so that you are able to understand how they are applicable in daily use.

Design

       The HTC One as I've stated is insanely gorgeous. I can't think of a device before the iPhone that matched this build quality and design. The anodized aluminum, the Corning Gorilla Glass 2, and the zero-gap aluminum unibody screams sexiness from all angles. Sexy, or sexiness is usually used to describes things that, umm... well... make you feel good inside (and possibly others too). The One does just that; it makes you feel good inside, and it feels good inside the palm of your hand with its curved back (no pun intended). It makes others feel good if they plan on buying the One, or bad since the device that they are using probably isn't sexy like yours. They wonder what device you have and since it's so sexy, you don't mind talking to them about it. Who doesn't like talk about sexy? This is the first  device that you can actually brag about without any doubt.

Specs For the Daily Man:

• 4 Ultra-Pixel Camera & Front Facing 2mp Camera
• Images are half the size of an 8 Megapixel camera, but they absorb 300% more light. This means that if you are in the club, at a bar, or just enjoying the night life in Savannah, Georgia (or any other city for that matter) then this camera is going to be pleasing.  However, lower light means it takes a longer time to focus and slight movements can cause image-blur. However, shots do look great when you are able to have still-subjects and an adequate amount of light. Now, the front facing camera is pretty good too--but it does not have the "extra light absorption" that the Ultra-Pixel Camera has. It actually contains a wide lens as well so about 4 people can get into the photo pretty comfortably, but since it does have a wide lens, I noticed that pictures taken vertically look almost distorted, as in the person's bodily proportions look elongated. Both cameras present the Rolling Shutter Effect, meaning, that if you are recording video, and you pan the camera rapidly, then the video image is going to look like a layer of Jell-O trying to play catch up. YouTube "Rolling Shutter" and you'll see what I mean. No need to worry though because even some DSLRs have this effect. It is not like you are trying to record sports events, cop chases or "Fast and Furious" things with your HTC One, and if you are, then sadly this phone is not the One to do so, or any phone for that matter.
• Corning Gorilla Glass 2
• Who really knows how strong this stuff is? Well, I've seen hammer smacks, knife scratches and dings and drops all applied to the One's screen; more or less, some results were pleasing but others were disappointing. I read a review on XDA where a person drop his phone face down and the screen was literally shattered. He didn't have a case. I don't recommend trying to figure out how strong this glass is because while it may be strong, you still have to take that everything with a grain of salt. Just enjoy your phone and put a screen protector on it with a nice case that has a lip aka lay-on-table-design.
• Screen Quality
• The HTC One's screen quality makes me want to keep my eyes glued to it all day long--it's that beautiful!(There's another one of those terms that we attach to phones). Get a load of this: There is a 4.7 inch, 1080p screen with a pixel density of 469 PPI - if You've seen the iPhone 5 screen quality then you know that it was something outstanding. Take it to the next level, and you have the HTC One's screen. It's not by a landslide though. The HTC One's screen is capable of outputting the same amount of detail that your 1080p television outputs in terms of getting everything on the screen. When you watch a movie, you are getting the entire image. When you are reading things or browsing the web, you are not getting those pixels, meaning that you can't even see them because so many, 469 of them, are packed into one square inch of the screen. This means you have magazine-like quality It's so nice not being able to pinpoint individual blocks of RGB on your screen. Colors are vibrant, and you can read the phone in direct sunlight when it is maxed out on brightness, but everyone's eyes are different so results of course with anything in life, varies.
• BoomSound Speakers Hardware/Beats Software
•  I remember when the Beats headphones came out - everyone wanted them. Then Dr. Dre signed a deal with HTC to incorporate the Beats software into HTC devices. To me, It was sort of a win,  but to this day, I still don't see an adequate amount of HTC devices with Beats Software. Heck, I don't even see the HTC Sensation or the Sensation XL around. Nonetheless, the Beats software teamed with the BoomSound speakers are phenomenal; I can hear my text message alerts and my ringtone from across the room with no problem--and that's at half level, which really means full level since there are two front facing speakers. The sound is crisp, and voices sound clear. Music playback is great--the hi and low pitched sounds of songs along with the basses are easily heard since there is an incorporated on-board amplifier. However, sometimes when watching YouTube videos or streaming movies from Netflix, there are occasionally "pops" or clicks in the audio--as if the volume is too loud and is rupturing the speakers. I believe this problem is addressed in the 1.29 software update that T-Mobile users have yet to receive, or if not, then it will surely be addressed in subsequent updates. But don't fret, because it's not like this happens all the time; it is only occasional.
• Call Quality
• Call Quality on the HTC One is great! People hear me clearly and  there are few "Huhs?" if any from the other caller. The noise cancelling microphone on the back does its job well, but like the iPhone 5, movement and holding the phone in certain positions after it has gotten accustomed to the ambience in a given setting can sometimes interfere with how well the caller hears you. The two microphones are constantly working to provide for the best possible hearing and speaking experience for both parties. Don' feel like you have to be a robot and stiff when you are speaking to someone though. Talk normally and move normally and you shouldn't have any problems.
• HTC Sense
• HTC Sense 5.0 is pretty cool. Everyone will have their opinion but to settle things down with a straight up answer, I will tell you that the UI (User Interface) looks more professional than Samsung's  Cartoony TouchWiz UI and less professional than Blackberry 10's QNX based operating system (obviously). It's not as personal as Windows 8 because Microsoft's operating system is colorful and more oriented to sugar coat people's personal appeals.
• Battery
• Hmm...the battery life for the HTC One is unfortunately, TERRIBLE! Ok, ok, slight joke there just to get your heart to drop. I can see faces now glued to the screen in utter disappointment as the last line was read. However, if you are coming from a Galaxy Note II or a Droid Razr Maxx then you will probably align your opinion with my earlier joke. On average, I can get a days use out of the phone. we are talking about being up at 7 a.m. and searching for a charger around 9 p.m. One thing that I have noticed about the phone is that the standby time is outstanding--a 3-5% loss in about 6-8 hours untouched, screen off, power saver mode-off. This is really good, but battery life balances out considerably when you start to actually use the phone. Touching the screen, playing games, calling, browsing PhoneDog.com, texting, getting un-lost, etc. all have a dampening effect on the bat-juice. If we learn to be humans instead of making our phones and devices extremities of ourselves, then maybe we will see a jump in battery life. The device also takes a long time to charge, so make sure you plan ahead and carry a charger if you are one of those people that are always out and about in the wee hours of the night trying to capture glorious photos with your Ultra-Pixel camera. Number wise, a person should be able to squeeze 14-16 hours out of the HTC One with moderate use. Then they'll hear the "BEEP BEEP"  warning that there is 15% left, and then the device automatically switches to Power-Saver mode which clocks down the CPU, turns off vibration and haptic feedback, reduces screen brightness and turns off data when the screen is off.

Outro

•  All in all, the device is a wonderful device to use. I have no problems with the UI, or the build quality with the device. People's opinions may vary, as will their devices that they use and prefer on a daily basis. There is also an IR blaster on the device which works great, but it is a software feature that you'll find that you won't use very often, unless you want to show people what your phone can do when you are having a get together at your house. But I am pretty sure you'd rather show them all of the other great things that the HTC One offers. I recommend the HTC One, and I don't have a star rating system, but for the sake of it, I give this phone a solid 9/10.