Let them be.

I'm a supporter of letting other people do whatever the hell they want.

I'm sure we all know of the extreme case of the Danish cartoons depicting Muhammad. (Mmmm... did somebody say Danish Butter Cookies?) Anyways, even some intelligent people I know believe that those cartoonists should have been punished.

Maybe they should. But I've got more realistic ways in which I want to change the world. And those ways doesn't include wasting my time boycotting excellent Danish cheese in the defense of (dare I say it?) a 1500 year-old man.

I'm sure a lot people have said this, but I remember my dad talking about picking your fights. Don't get stuck fighting battles which won't change the scheme of things. Each person has his own views on what the 'scheme of things' actually is.

I'm not going to tell an 8 year-old on the street to go take a dump somewhere else besides the middle of the road (it has happened). I'll just move away and try not to look. It's times like those when I 'zoom out' and look at the big picture. I could go to everyone in the world and teach them about being respectful to other human beings. Or I could fight to educate the masses of Pakistan. That, for me, is the scheme of things. And that's one of the things I'll be fighting for.

Who knows? Next time some 8 year-old decides to drop a bomb in the middle of the road, somebody may come up with a plan for universal plumbing.

My First Company

I've been trying a lot of hobbies over the last year. Ranging from electronics to writing articles to my newest one: business ventures. I highly recommend trying out as many things as you can. It helped me find my strengths and now my future is slightly more focused.

About a month ago I organized, with a friend, a concert where we donated the proceeds to charity. I made a monetary loss in the concert but learned a lot, most importantly it gave me the confidence to start my own non-profit company. More info about that company can be found here.

And now I believe I'm doing something that I want to continue for the rest of my life.

The problem for me, however, is that I've grown up in a family of scientists.

I remember the first time my dad took me to his lab, I was looking at my coloring books under the microscope. Since then I've always wanted to work on cutting edge research in a small university town.

I don't know, I guess I'll have to compromise.

I hate compromising.

My Plans

As cryptic as the last line of my first post was, this time I'll try to explain the purpose of my blog.

Over the last couple of months I've been pushing the worry of what I'm going to do in life to the back of my mind. I've looked at career options and successful individuals, at content grandfathers and religious aunts.

But I don't see myself in their shoes.

I'm a young individual with above average intelligence, quaint fancies, rebellious ideas and ambitious goals. I'm trying to make the choices I need to right now so that I can be where I want to be 50 years from now.

And yes, I believe Harper Lee used "quaint fancies" to describe Dill in To Kill a Mockingbird.

The First Post

I remember the first important decision (to my 5 year-old-self) that I had to make. It was between a birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese or a Nintendo 64. I remember discussing the benefits of each with my brother.

That decision seems trivial and artificial now. My musings now may see the same fate in the eyes of my 26 year-old-self. But that decision changed me.

I remember spending countless hours in front of the tube trying to beat the next boss on a harder level. Hours I could have spent outside, making new friends and what not.

Do I regret choosing a Nintendo 64 over a social life? No.

Because I am happy with what I am today.

It's my future that I'm worried about.