Stage Fright

Glossophobia is the irrational (or is it?) fear of public speaking. I have several close friends with an intense problem of stage fright, and I also at some points in my life have been scared to death of crowds and public speaking.


Stage fright is a completely understandable fear. Here's a a good video, with some decent original music. The point that the video is trying to make is that public speaking can really turn somebody into a different person. The guy that wrote the speech and the guy that delivers it are often different people, even if they inhabit the same body.

The thing that we really ought to take from this video, and the message we can learn from my brief discourse on stage fright, is really not to worry about stage fright. Literally everybody has at least some form of anxiety when speaking to a large number of people. Its so common. Everybody understands your plight when you have to stand up like that in front of a group.

Don't worry. Be happy. We understand.

The Walking Dead

The last image in this series is of a scene in the zombie series, "The Walking Dead" that airs on AMC. I enjoy zombie movies greatly, and feel that they are a great satire of some of the characteristics of our culture.

Image from blowthescene.com

In fact, zombie films, in a lot of senses, can be considered as making an incredible commentary on our culture. They depict hordes of mindless drones making their way from resource to resource in search of a temporary sustenance; a literal cheap fix. I feel that when one gets past all the cheesy and unrealistic gore, blood, and decades-old special effects, there is a small gem to be found in the "Zombie Horror" genre. Indeed, Zombie Horror is in a class of horror all its own.

Laughter

Third in this series of images is one that represents one of my favorite hobbies: laughing.

Image credit: news.softpedia.com

Laughter and comedy have a way of making life a lot easier on everybody. Even the tensest of situations can be diffused with a little laughter. Ever since a young age, I've enjoyed making people laugh, and being entertained in such a way myself. A good sense of humor is also an incredibly useful tool to have when trying to negotiate with somebody. It's always easiest to get on a person's good side if you can make them laugh. A sense of humor also helps with the ladies.

I've always been a big fan of stand-up comedy, and I still follow some of the latest and greatest comedians. There's just something about the art of making people laugh that strikes me as an incredible way to make a living. To think that a person can make enough money doing shows and making people laugh to stay more than meagerly fed, and in some cases even make a person a millionaire, is pretty awesome.

Hubble Space Telescope

Second in this series of images is one that is especially important to me. This image is called the Hubble Ultra Deep Field.

Picture credit : nasa.gov

The Hubble Ultra Deep Field was taken by the Hubble Space Telescope for several exposure periods from Sept. 24, 2003 through Jan. 16, 2004. NASA often describes it as "The deepest portrait of the universe ever achieved by humankind". This photograph contains about 10,00 separate and distinct galaxies that are visible, and that fact in itself is pretty awesome. The Hubble Ultra Deep Field means a lot to me, because it represents the place that science, astronomy, and astrophysics have influenced my thinking and my life. I still spend much time in awe of this great and vast universe that we exist in.

It's important to note that among all these galaxies exist between thousands and billions of light years away from each other. Light, when compared to the incredible size and scope of this universe, travels relatively slow. It may take us millions of years to reach these places in the universe, assuming that our young species even manages to even make it that far into the cosmic ocean.

Genghis Khan

Genghis Khan is surely one of the most incredible characters in all of human history. He was a conqueror, an emperor, a statesman, and a military philosopher. To this day, militaries are still using tactics and strategies that he pioneered, and his name continues to evoke images of destruction, fear, and all-around winning. Genghis Khan was a winner, and don’t you dare ever doubt that.

Picture from The Daily Galaxy (dailygalaxy.com).

The reason why I used this image is because I am some sort of history buff. I have considered, and still am considering, being a history professor someday. History defines who we are as a species and as a civilization. We must know the past so that we might make sound judgments for our future. This image is especially significant because it represents that even in a period of civilization and social order, the top dog is often the one who wields the biggest stick. While that concept may not hold true for long, it would be ignorant to say that it certainly does not apply to the present. Also, winning.