My vision for this blog two years ago

Well let's start with the basics. Even before the blog, how was BiA created? I think Jon created an email group called Ballers/brothers in arms. We didn't decide what the B word was yet. And then we added "to cook huevos" so that it would be "biatch". I'm not sure how old we are exactly, but I know that we existed before April 2009. Because in April 2009, our An Phong doan camp had Vianney use our group name in his skit. So that's how we started.

How did the blog get started? I got the idea from my work at UCLA. There was a community blogspot for the computer lab workers who would post stories about utterly stupid users or douchebags or just people who would rage in the lab. Basically it was a way for us to vent and to entertain each other. After I left school, I missed that type of community and so I decided to start our blog in November of 2009. But we didn't really start blogging until January 2010. By February 2010 we exploded in usage because of our fun rivalry with Paper Planes. In fact, our high point was Feb 2009, with 45 posts for 28 days of February. That month was the only one to have Joe grace us with his blogging presence lol. The quantity has gone down, but the quality has gotten much better.

We all have a unique way of posting. Two years ago I thought I could bring traffic through entertainment via movie/food reviews and funny material. As time went on, I appreciate how Vianney and Vincent blogged about their emotions and beliefs, and I have heavily integrated that into my posts. I have also seen the value of Jon posting about what he did on a certain weekend. Although initially it may seem unnecessary to post about the present time, these tidbits are priceless when you read them years later. It brings back a smile when I read over the memories. I will also begin to do these summaries once in awhile. I miss Lisa's questions, which always got many comments and answers. In honor of Lisa's style, and my finishing my MCAT test, I will post a few fun science questions at the end of this post.

Anyway, the thing I wanted to say is that you don't have to be a writer or comedian to post on a blog. You just write about what you thought of today. This could be a dirty joke you heard, a crush on a celebrity or anime character (tentacle monsters anyone?), a picture of a dress that you thought was pretty, a story about politics that affected you, a funny youtube video, an experience with faith that fulfills you, or a racist/sexist joke (although we all know we aren't bias... right? lol). Whatever you want to post is good, because that fact that you wanted to post makes it a good post.

I told Jon that I've evolved from posting funny things to trying to show my personality through these posts. I'm certain that if I was to die tomorrow, my personality would be 75% captured in these posts. My views of politics, religion, morality, fighting and forgiving, humor, being a cheap basard, and yes racism (who isn't a little racist? come on) have been exposed on this site. The other 25% would be exposed through playing basketball with me: I don't like the spotlight, I can have confidence issues, as assist is worth as much as myself scoring (but insane assists are more beautiful than insane shots), and I like winning but relationships come before personal pride.

I would love to know what goes through the minds of the people in our group. As humans we are all the same: the thing that interests us most is other people. How we approach that can be different. Some people like to focus on gossip within their small network. Others like to read the newspaper and learn about whats happening in the world. I like both. This is why I read CNN and watch Jersey Shore. I hang out at the top and bottom of the TV IQ scale because that's the range that everyone needs to be at. It's all about understanding people. At the micro level and at the macro level, we need to strive to understand those that are different from us. And even if we can't agree, we need to understand why we think differently.

What better way to understand a person than through their blog? Even in a one on one conversation, you only talk about things you have in common or the issue at hand. A blog lets you see the side of a person that's under the surface. If people post about their dreams and inspirations, it helps me find out a little more about them. For example, I liked reading Nhi's posts back when she had a blog because it helped inspire my faith. I like looking at Judy's tumbler because it tells me the things that she likes, otherwise I can only guess.

The point is that my vision for the blog is to let all of us show our personality through. We're all equal yet unique, so why not let yourself shine? Our greatest asset is our variety of posters. Our downside is that only two people post consistently -_- If we all each posted only twice a month, we'd have four posts a week! (also, if you pay five cents a day, you can feed a hungry child in Africa) "oh hoh hoh yess!"

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Anyway, here are the questions I promised. I've made them fun by relating them to everyday life, and there's no math involved. Answer them in the comments, and I'll reveal the answers after a few days.

1) Two people are skydiving. One person jumps out of an airplane, and the other person jumps out a few seconds later. They are initially thirty feet apart. What happens to the distance between them as time passes?

2) How does HIV kill a person?

3) We know that water starts to melt at 32 Fahrenheit or 0 Celsius. What are the two things that compete against each other that makes water change phase from solid to liquid at this temperature?

4) Why is carbon considered the basic block of life?

5) Can males lactate?

6) A helium filled balloon is in a car. The windows are rolled up. The car accelerates quickly. What direction does the balloon go, forward or backward?

7) When a person dies, why do their muscles get stuck in a rigid position? aka rigor mortis?

8) Why is it advised for you to not go swimming until after thirty minutes of eating?

9) Why are white people more likely to get sunburned?

10) A husband is bald. A wife is not bald but had a father who was bald. What are the chances that their children will be bald?

11) Why do some people store their batteries in a refrigerator?

12) When a woman takes a pregnancy test, what "thing" in the urine tells you that you're pregnant?

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I hope you had as much fun pondering these questions as I did writing them!