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Yup, we’re back with our Aero-riffic special! To recap, we’re discussing the fastest car in the world today: that’s the SSC Ultimate Aero for those who missed the first part of this entry. In any case, in part II we’d be delving a little more into the technical specs of the Aero; and with that we’d be trying to understand why this baby is the fastest and baddest sports car in the planet.

Alright. First of all, the SSC Aero prototype was built using a supercharged, G-64, 6-speed manual transmission Corvette ZR1 engine. This engine could also be seen in other sports cars like the Dodge Viper. However, the Aero’s engine is supercharged to 382 cubic inches, is rated with 787 horsepower at 6600 revolutions per minute and 736 ft·lbf (998 N·m) at 5800 rpm. On the other hand, the Ultimate Aero has an increased engine displacement of 387 cubic inches and an increased boost of 14 psi. This results in an increase of horsepower that measure up to 1,046hp—a significantly huge boost.

Yup, that engine packs a serious punch. But what adds more power to the Ultimate Aero is its weight to horsepower ratio. You see, having a huge level of horsepower don’t mean jack if you’re vehicle weighs like an aircraft carrier. And so, for maximum speed, a vehicle should have a high horsepower level as well as a relatively low weight. The SCC Ultimate Aero has a weight to horsepower ratio of 2.33, which is a very good example of maximizing horsepower amidst its weight of 2,750 lbs. Not only that, this ratio is a new record in SCC, so expect future vehicles to adhere to this standard.

However, if a vehicle has a very high horsepower rate yet is very light then that means the car might suffer from issues concerning maneuverability. There’d be not enough grip or traction for the vehicle to steady itself while accelerating, and with that the slightest turn on the steering wheel would yield a more dramatic effect on the turning capacities of the car itself. The Ultimate Aero’s proprietary twin-turbo V8 engine has a drag coefficient of just .357, and so when it comes to accelerating at very high speeds the vehicle is still aerodynamically stable.

And so, from the looks of its engine, the SCC Ultimate Aero has the capacity to perform to its intended task. That is, to be able to run at very high speeds as well as to be easily maneuverable at the same time. But what about its other aspects?  Is the vehicle design made for aesthetic or aerodynamic purposes only? Or is it both? And more importantly, what makes the sports car so damn cool?

We’ll discuss that on part III. :p

Take your foot off that pedal, because it’s already proven. Yup, the SSC Ultimate Aero is the fastest sports car on the planet. Running at a blinding maximum speed of 257 miles per hour, it’s the quickest (and expensive) ride that could get you from point A to point B in no time. And what’s great about it is that it’s readily available for your driving pleasure. Well, that is, assuming you’ve got the cash to buy it. Haha.

Anyway, it’s brought to you by Shelby Supercars Incorporated; an American automobile company specializing in the production of—you guessed it—the Aero only. Well, there’s nothing wrong with specializing in one make and mark, since that breeds an area of expertise. Which, in this case, SSC holds the throne in making the world’s fastest sports car. So don’t criticize them for manufacturing only one car type.

Going back, the SSC Ultimate Aero is the brain child of Jerod Shelby. He spent over seven years designing, testing, and eventually making the Ultimate Aero. But the time and effort spent in creating the car was obviously worth it. After all, it was able to break the Guinness Book of World Records’ standard back in March of 2007.

It was able to beat the Bugatti Veyron (max speed of 253 miles per hour) by only a few mph. But still, you really have to admire that this baby is something that most—if not all—speed freaks would want to have nesting in their garage. Knowing that this car could run as fast as a jet, you wouldn’t need an alarm clock to tell you that you’re already late for work. So thanks to Jerod Shelby, who could now wipe the sweat off his brow and enjoy a cool drink or two since his magnum opus has not only hit its mark—but also pierced through it.

But then, this wouldn’t be much of a car blog if we didn’t discuss the nooks and crannies of Mr. Shelby’s “interpretation of speed” now, wouldn’t it? And so, we delve into the more technical parts of the vehicle. And while we’re at it, let’s try to discover what makes the SSC Ultimate Aero the living standard for sports car speed.

We’ll talk about that in part II. :p

Alright, here’s part two. Before you go on reading, I suggest you re-read the disclaimer written on part 1. Too lazy? Well, I’m more than glad to repost it here:

Disclaimer: The writer’s opinion is his own. So don’t get too riled up if you don’t agree with it. If you do, then F*ck it.

Continuing on...

Number seven, logically speaking, is absolutely an obvious choice. Since every man and woman and child in God’s green earth either has an mp3 player or a mobile phone, then making your car a part of that system is obviously a follow-that-logic choice. Anyway, Furecia makes the Attitude compatible with your mp3, cellphone, gps system, whatever.

Innovative air vents. That’s number eight. Well, personally, I’m already fine with a good A/C system and heating.

So, yeah, more luxurious air comes with your Attitude (yeah, pun intended).

Well this is a good one. The Attitude has what jet-fighter pilots call a HUD. That’s a Heads Up Display. Basically it’s just a screen telling you what’s “up”. The attitude has 3 screen modes: sport, city, and cruise mode. With sport mode, the screen only shows driving-related functions; such as your speed, gas consumption, parking tickets, etc. On the other hand, city mode shows you the nearest KFC or gas station with its GPS system. Yet on the other—other—hand, the cruise mode (which you may also call “the lazy mode”) only shows you what mp3 track you’re listening to, and maybe even what’s on on HBO (if you’re the driver, then this feature would probably have no use for you. Too bad though).

And lastly, comes number 10: an obsession for detail. Basically, it’s self-explanatory. But in the Attitude’s case, the brand has just put more attention to lighting effects inside the concept car. Meaning, you get the club-like feeling while driving—perfect with cruise mode. Umm, do I have to discuss that even further? It’s just sexy lights and sh*t.

Oh well, all in all, the Attitude is just a car that’s got a club inside it. Yeah, a lounge, club, disco, whatever you call it. The only thing that got me going is the HUD and the specially designed comfort features. Other than that, this baby isn’t something you want to be driving on a daily basis. Like, yeah, c’mon, it’s a club/car for God’s sakes.

What more, if the company is trying to put a lounge-like effect on the vehicle, then they should’ve known that a lounge isn’t worth sh*t if you can’t drink alcohol. And when it comes to driving, those two don’t mix. At all. So yeah, I guess lounging and clubbing don’t mix well with sobriety. But hey, I’m pounding on something that’s completely conceptual. And with that, this is only a battle on tastes and sh*t. So hey, you clubbers and metrosexuals out there might fancy this concept car. But for me, I’d rather do my driving and lounging separately.

Disclaimer: The writer’s opinion is his own. So don’t get too riled up if you don’t agree with it. If you do, then F*ck it.

Alright. I’d like to introduce you to this guy:

It’s Faurecia’s Premium Attitude. Well, I just happened to stumble upon it (since I was planning to make a blog that relates to cars and attitude), and then hey, there’s a car that’s named that way too. So, curiously, I checked this baby out. I found out that this concept car dates way back in 2007, which is relatively old, but hey, so what?

Okay, first thoughts? Well, personally, for me it looks like those old 1920s gangster cars. Yeah, even though it looks new—and Frenchy—it looks real old. Yeah, not vintage, but old. But that’s just me. In any case, it’s a concept car. So don’t think that you’ll be buying anytime soon. Well, I may be wrong—but still.

Alright, here are some visual presentations first, so you could gather your thoughts on the car before we start breaking it down and heading to the nitty gritty.

Seen em yet?

How bout now?

Oh wait.

Wrong pic.

I’m having trouble with my browser, so wait a bit.

There:

Alright. Now that you’ve seen what the car looks like, any thoughts? Oh. Wait, you can’t give em coz I just blocked the “allow comments” section. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!  Just kidding. Anyway, my first thoughts on it, besides that it looks like a futuristic grandpa-was-an-old-gangster car was:

1. I like the black paint finish.
2. The color combination (red, black, hints of silver) was remarkable.
3. I didn’t like the vintage design
4. There’s a drawer in the back of the car.
5. I wonder what the interior would look like
6. As well as the performance

Okay, that’s just me. But let’s hear what Faurecia has to say about their concept car. Well, the brand emphasizes that their innovations on this Premium Attitude concept have been built on three key directions. And that is:

1. Intelligent product design & user interaction.
2. Magic experience & surprise in use.
3. Obsession for detail.

But for a more detailed version on what they have done for their Attitude, Faurecia enumerates these into 10 innovations. And, yes, they are:

1. Design that’s sustainable
2. Putting premium on space
3. Thinking out of the box
4. Comfort that’s intuitive
5. A lounge feeling in the car’s interior
6. Blurring product boundaries
7. An infotainment system
8. A climate control
9. Expecting the unexpected and
10. An obsession for detail

Alright, let’s go over these entire characteristics one at a time.

When it comes to intelligent product design and user interaction, the car manifests this idea by using wood (yeah, that’s right—wood) in the interior. Namely, the seats. But don’t worry, they painted it black so that it matches the car’s overall paint schematic. Now that I’ve said it, it’s kinda cool that the wood doesn’t look like wood inside the car. But then, I wonder what the texture would feel like.

Next comes space.

It’s true that most car manufacturers nowadays put constant pressure to put maximize space in their vehicles. After all, nobody wants a cramped interior without enough leg-room.

Well, take a look inside the Premium Attitude and see for yourself how Faurecia took this issue in their own hands. Personally, upon looking at the interior, these guys apparently made the interior look more spacious by compartmentalizing and hiding unnecessary bumps and nooks and crannies inside the car. Plus, they made the seats a bit more thinner. I don’t have any problems with that though. More space is good anyway.

Okay, time to tackle number three: thinking out of the box. Apparently, Faurecia has put a drawer on the rear-end of the Attitude. Well, logically speaking, that gives you more space to stuff all your toolboxes etc. but then, I’m just wondering, where am I going to put my spare tire then?

Next comes comfort. Personally speaking, upon looking at the sleek design of the car’s interior and all other features like its automatic headrests, armrests and what have you, it seems like comfort is the major selling-point of the Attitude. I mean, yeah, driving is supposed to be stress-free—so long as the car won’t make you fall asleep. But still, this car’s concept on comfort gets good grades from me.

Corollary to number four is this one. Putting a lounge-like environment inside your car surely would give you more poise, suave, and flirting points with the girls. Now with lounges comes drinks, and with drinks doesn’t come driving. You get the point? But hey, so is it really necessary? But still, it’s a concept car—and there’s no arguing with that.

Okay, number six is basically integrating the driver seat with a center console armrest—plus putting in slimmer seats. Nuff said.

Well this is entry is going to take longer. I’ll post some more in part 2!

(Yeah boiii)

            He found out that learning how to play wasn’t as easy as his friend told him. Although reading tablatures was—as his friend told him—easy, the difficulty did lie not on the articles, but rather on the student himself. His hands, some of his friends told him, weren’t made to play the guitar since they were a bit small in size and that gripping the neck of the guitar would only make things harder and less comfortable for him. He found out that his hands and fingers weren’t as dexterous as he thought they would be; that his pinky on his left hand was way too weak, his right hand didn’t have a sense of rhythm, and that all of his fingers lacked musical coordination. Yet, that did not deter him from learning the instrument.

            He would painstakingly fiddle his old steel-stringed acoustic guitar for about three hours everyday. When the fingers on his left hand would start to hurt, and that signs of calluses were already showing up, he would go to his family’s medical cabinet and put band-aids on his fingers and then continue on trying to produce a simple “G” followed-up by a much more simpler “E minor” chord. With this, fumbling and hurting was the two terms that would encapsulate his playing style, and sadly, he knew it.

During their lunch-breaks and dismissal times, some of his classmates would bring their guitars and play—yet he’d be the only one enamored at them, awed by the dexterity of their hands and all the while fidgeting his own, red, sore, and hurting fingers. He always thought to himself that these were only some sort of growth pain, and that, for some weird reason, they were a sign of progress.

            He was only 14. Individuals at his age (obviously including him) were already experiencing that weird swing called puberty and everything that came with it. No, he didn’t want to learn just because he thought he’d soon be a rock-star or that everybody in his high-school would think he’d be “popular”. Besides, he wasn’t cut out for that, and he knows he’s far from being close to Prom-King material. But for the most part, he wanted to learn because he had an  innocent reason, that he finds simple happiness in it.

            He would sacrifice time, effort, and even comfort just to learn how to play simple songs. Songs that everybody knows and sings yet holds no value to them. He’d see that there is more to it than what is written in printed songbooks, in written notes, or in downloaded mp3s. He would start to realize that songs are composed and performed by an artist that has put his heart into creating such a present, yet most people do take such gifts for granted.

Not only will he learn how to play that beautiful instrument, he would also learn more about himself, and about life. He, in the near future, would realize the hidden lessons that were not readily seen on the tablatures that he printed while playing repeatedly his mp3s. He would see that things wouldn’t come as easy as they seem if you wouldn’t work hard for it. He would learn that the numerous band-aids and calluses were worth it since knowing how to play the instrument was not only for his happiness, but also for the happiness, comfort, and consolation of those people that are close to him. For if sadness was haunting him or his friends, there was something that could take that sadness away—even for the mean time.  He would see that what is essential is invisible to the eyes, inaudible to the ears, and untouchable by the hands and fingers—however they appear to start that way.

7 years have passed by, his old guitar has gotten a lot older; numerous strings have been broken and coiled, and that he already possesses a callused—yet strong—pinky finger, he is now able to dabble with the instrument as well as learn the more essential lessons that came with it. Yet, he is still learning, still a student, both in guitars—and more importantly—in life. With this, I would like to thank you, dear reader, for hearing and somehow learning (or re-learning) from his story; for his account holds a great deal in my heart. Thanks.

Anyways, this present article is about (for the lack of creativity and a better topic) friendship. Yep, that term wherein a person gets to find another individual who shares the same interests, hobbies, goals, etc. Yet, friendship is not all that and a bag of chips. It is something deeper, more concrete than that. And that is what we will try to discover in this article.

First, we should ask ourselves: “Why do I need friends?”

There are numerous reasons as to why an individual tries to get hold of another social partner. One might be from the fact that, as Plato–or was it Aristotle?–said that man is a rational and social animal. The latter, I think, takes on a more relevant side on this argument since man, being a social creature, needs another individual to survive in this world of ours. We need someone to express our interests, ideas, feelings, thoughts, and what-have-you. We need someone to fill that empty gap that we feel when we are alone and lonely. As for those who are isolated, however rational or enlightened he might be, life would be pretty shitty without having someone to talk to. Hermits and other individuals of similar nature might be excludable from this one.

Some people, on the other hand, have more selfish reasons. In today’s world, connections are the best things life has to offer. When you have connections with people that might be of use to you, then things could go a lot smoother… really smoother.

Yep, how sad.

Yep, how depersonalizing.

Yep, how utilitarian.

Nuff said.

Now, there might be some other reasons out there that did not fall unto these two categories. Or, since it has been a while since I last read any philosophy book, please do add anything if you happen to have an epiphany.

Then, we should ask ourselves: “How do I choose my friends?”

For the sake of avoiding brain-exhaustion, I resorted to Marcus Tullius Cicero for guidance. A great roman philosopher, Cicero provided–excuse the term–“useful” ways in determining good friends from bad ones. He said that “the right course is to choose for a friend one who is frank, sociable and sympathetic – that is, one who is likely to be influenced by the same motives as yourself – since all these qualities induce to loyalty;”

Now I am no philosophical genius, nor do I have any degree on philosophy, but if my understanding of the text is right, then he might be saying what I think a normal person nowadays might say; that our friends must be those who we feel comfortable with, those who share the same passion as ours, and those who are in “good vibes” with us.

In digression, I feel that I am already making a paper that is waiting to be submitted in my English or Philosophy class. Also, you, dear reader, might be thinking “why is this f-----g asshole wasting his time on a blog that’s supposed to be light and bubbly?!” Now, with all that taken note of, let us continue.

Ehem.

Going back to the topic, friends ought to be–well–honest towards each other. There is that famous saying by Cato that “some men are better served by their bitter-tongued enemies than by their sweet-smiling friends; because the former often tell the truth; the latter, never.”

Having said, I think it is alright if friends try to use euphemizing words like spin doctors do. Yet there is a limitation to that. When a situation that needs undying honesty arises, we should learn how to differentiate white from black. The truth is sometimes ugly, yet it must shed its light.

Okay, okay, okay!

Let's get some car tips back in action!

Alright. Hmm... where do you want to start?

Hmm.. how about car washing?

Yeah, that sounds good.

Nothing looks like one hell of a father-son bonding experience when you get you and your son (or your father) to wash the old automobile. What more, it keeps your car looking nice and shiny--which is obviously the end-product of the car being washed. And so, get those buckets, sponges, and hoses ready. Coz we're in for an auto-hygenic ride!

Alright, let's start with some basic tips:

First, if it is possible, try to wash your car in the shade or indoors. After all, you wouldn't want falling leaves and dirt on to your vehicle while washing it don't you? Not only that, if you wash your car under direct sunlight chances are the water would evaporate too quickly and you would end up having waterspots all over your vehicle.

Now that you've placed your car inside your garage (again), and that you've already dipped that sponge into that foamy soap-water mixture. You might already be asking yoursef: "So where do I start?"

Alright, you should start with the wheels first. Okay, you might be asking "Why? Can't I start at the top so it's more systematic?" Well, sir, you should start with the wheels first because you wouldn't want that grime, dust, dirt, and sh*t on your wheels to be splattering on the "already-cleaned" part of your car.

Get it? Got it.

Alright.

Now, here’s some good car cleaning tips:

1.      Clean one wheel at a time (obviously)

2.      After cleaning each wheel, pre-rinse the entire car. That’d remove dry dirt and other fragments even before you start swabbing that sponge.

3.      After emptying that bucket of water, mix in some of your favorite (or appropriate) car shampoo and some water together. Now I’ve heard that some people use human-shampoo for their cars, but I wouldn’t suggest using that either.

4.      Start mish-moshing that sponge to that water-shampoo mixture and begin cleaning the body of your car. Start from the top and work your way downwards. And yeah, don’t use sponges that are hard to begin with. Chances are your car could suffer from a scratch or two. I use either a natural sea sponge or those soft yellow ones that looks like that cartoon sponge who live in a pineapple (under the sea).

5.      And finally, do rinse often after cleaning a certain part. With that you could prevent soap rings from forming over the body of your car.

6.      After doing all that, we’d then go to the drying part. Again, start at the top and work your way down again.

And that’s that! Though it may seem obvious, but most drivers don’t clean their vehicles properly. Just remember, clean your car like you clean yourself. Start with the most messy part, then work your way from top to bottom. Alright?

Alright.

Oh yes, the good old days of high-school...

Puberty.

Adolescence.

Pimples.

Acne.

Hairgel.

Rock Music.

and... Science Projects.

Yep, you heard me. Those godamn science projects.

I’m sorry I wouldn’t be discussing much about cars today, me and my friends got a little get-together a few days ago and we decided to reminisce about the old times.

Yep.

The old times.

And that science project of ours.

Well, here's how it goes. Back in highschool, me and my friend got an assigned chemistry project. We were supposed to do something productive with a "natural and indigenous substance" that could be found in your own little garden. We didn't really want to do shit like that since, c'mon, it's highschool, everybody's lazy and smitten with all that puberty shit going on.

So anyway, we decided to make ink out of an organic household substance. I already forgot what kind of plant we used but apparently it did the job... well... if the job was to smell like chicken shit mixed with a little bull crap that is. Yet, even though our "ink" smelled horrible, we couldn't find a way to make its tint dark enough to write properly on a piece of paper. So, we added Quink(TM) to our already smelly concotion...

Eureka! We found out that Plant Piss could write!!!

Fortunately, our professor was gullible enough to give us a score of B+.

What a dumbass...

A year afterwards, we did another project. This time, it was for our Physics class. We were supposed to do an "invention" of some sort. So, me and a couple of my friends (including my old buddy I told you a while ago) decided to make an un-electric-powered-oven-that-could-bake-dough-in-5-minutes. Unfortunately, the muses of invention wasn't on our side. Also, we had a few complications that needed attention:

First, the heat wasn't hot enough.

Second, the oven was too big.

Third, it couldn't bake dough in 5 minutes.

Fourth, we were all getting frustrated.

And...

Fifth, the deadline was on the following day.

So, being all hysterical with our wannabe-nifty-but-you-got-your-ass-fecked-gadget, we made a few "minor" alterations with the machine. So, we ended up with:

(Qeue Drumroll)

The "Improvised Home-Made Bomb/Oven Complete With Detonator-Timer/Thermometer"

Better known for its code name: IH-MB/OCWD-T/T Ver. 01

THE PERFECT TOOL FOR THE TYPICAL TERRORIST/AIRLINE COOK

Yep, we didn't know ovens could explode when you put huge amounts of paper drenched in gasoline (if memory serves me right, we inserted a small gas tank inside the oven, so as to "raise" the heat). We also didn't know that lighter fluid, gasoline, kerosene, and a dash of isopropyl alcohol was quite hard to extinguish with a pale of water. And we also didn't know that you couldn't eat unbaked dough that was splattered with car-fuel.

Come to think of it, it was my grandma's new charcoal oven that we used... Good thing she didn't know what happened to that poor little object...

Anyway, we could've sent the whole blueprint to Al Qaeda and we could'ved probably earned a few bucks...

Oh well... (sigh) those were the good old days.

Now back to writing about cars.

Okay, you've probably done it once. And yes, your passengers always do it whenever it's available. And yes, sometimes your the one who cleans it up. Still don't know what I'm talkin' about? Well, i'm talkin about eating inside your vehicle. Yup, there's nothing like eating that glorious take-out food while driving to work, or home, or wherever you are going to. Personally, eating while driving is such an incumbent and guilty bliss.

Well, two things can happen when you mix the two. Either you drive while eating, or, you stop your car and then you go on munching your burger, fried chicken, sandwich, pita, taco, shawarma, or whatever it is that you bought a while ago. Obviously, eating on a stationary object is much easier, if not convenient, rather than a moving one. Also, it's kind of hard to go multi-tasking, which is, in our case, eating and driving at the same time.

Oh, don't you get that envious feeling when all your passengers are eating that take-out lunch/dinner while you're still driving? I get that all the time. Haha. But hey, i guess it takes real good hand-to-eye coordination as well as some great reflexes so you could do both things at once.

In any case, here's some tips if you'd ever find yourself doing those two things at the same time:

Okay, most cars nowadays have built-in beverage holders. So it's kind of nifty to have them since you can place your cans or bottles or tumblers or whatever on it. If your car doesn't have one, and you do take-outs regularly, it's pretty much an obvious choice that you get a beverage holder for your car. And oh yeah, they're cheap too.

There are these beverage holders that you can clip on to your airconditioning system. However, i don't suggest you buy that because chances are it'll just damage your airconditioner's fins. What more, if it ain't sturdy, then your drink might just get to know your upholstery a lot better.

I suggest you grab those beverage holders that uses adhesive tapes to stick to your dash. Most of these drink holders are stable, and, if ever the adhesive tape starts to wear out. A good strap of double sided tape will do. Now the only problem with this drink holder, as well as all other drink holders, is that whenever your car rolls over a puddle, a bump, or a pothole chances are you'd have a little squirt come out of your drink. Well, I guess the only way man can solve this right now is to put the lid back on after you use it. But then again, there are such a thing without lids such as soda cans. With that, I don't think man has invented a drink holder that covers the top part of your soda can. And so, the lesson here is, try buying the bottled ones.

But then again, there is such a thing called laziness. You'd wonder: "Putting back the lid on my bottle takes me precious time when I'm driving, what can you say about that?" Well, Mr. Smarty Pants, it's called gluttony. Drink your beverages prudently. But then again, we don't put that lid back on all the time, don't we?

Alright. Now on to the solid products. First tip, DON'T BUY THE CHINESE TAKE-OUT. Not only would you need to use your fingers with the chopsticks, you'd also need to use the other hand to hold up the box. Now if you've been born near a nuclear reactor and you've got an extra pair of hands, that wouldn't be much of a problem now would it?

Try sticking to sandwiches and burgers. Try buying those meals that you can eat with one hand. Avoid the pasta, the rice, the steak (who sells take-out steak anyway?), and the roasted chicken. Oh, wait, I guess you can make the chicken an exception. Just pass on the mashed potatoes and gravy.

Hey, you know what? You can use that beverage holder for your gravy! Now isn't that neat?! I just thought about that right now, I'd have to remind myself to do that next time I go to KFC's.

Hmm… what else? Well, you can buy those food tray/holders if you want to. But that won’t do you any good while driving. After all, those things can only work properly while your car is stationary. Well, if no object can help you, I guess it’s time I give out some techniques to eating while driving.

First, you can just munch on whatever you have whenever you hit a red light (now ain’t that obvious?) Or, if you really are that hungry (or are you just gluttonous?), you can just have another person spoon-feed you or something. Still won’t work? Well there’s only one solution I can still think of.

Stop.

Eat.

Then drive.

Yeah, that’s about it. I hope you’ve learned something—or at least—have been entertained by whatever I wrote here. Anyway, I’d post some more driving tips for the driver soon!

The following essay was inspired by the writer's colleague's photo album title: "Take Dem Pics B'fo I Busta Cap On Yo Ass!" as well as another colleague's course on Photography. (You guys know who you are)

True enough. Why do we?

Man, I believe, invents out of necessity. He invented the door so as to provide protection from outside forces--may it be the weather or malicious intruders--as well as to create a sense of privacy from the outside world. He then created the doorknob in order to make the operation of his previous invention a lot easier. It appears that man never did made anything that wasn't put to good use, even stuff like Spam and forwarded quote messages. Annoying and painfully irritating as they are, they seem to serve a purpose; in a not so purposeful way though.

With this, the question then turns on the contraption that captures reality and immortalizes it.

The camera.

Why, as said earlier, do we take pictures of each other?

I believe we do take photographs because we put value on something that, on a superficial level, might not be of much value to begin with. We cherish another person's smile, a friend's laugh, a loved one's warm embrace. With that, we want to remember those memories. Even though we may not be able to re-live those events again, we try to capture even a small millisecond of it--since we believe that that speck of a moment was worth immortalizing.

A camera does not only capture what is physical and visual. It also captures the emotions of those people in the photograph. Though it may not be explicit, and that the eyes are not able to see it, the sentiments are thoroughly embedded in a piece of 300x400 pixel photograph. The heart takes over what the senses cannot process. Upon seeing a photo, we not only see what it portrays, but we also feel; especially if we are in it.

We take pictures because we want to remember. We want to remember that certain giddy feeling, may it be a simple class picture, a lively party, or an intimate photo with our significant other. We want to remember because, sooner or later, we may take those memories for granted--or even worse, forget them altogether.

Photographs are a part of our lives. The primitive Neanderthal painstakingly created cave drawings, artists laboriously drew paintings of families, and--most importantly--we preserved time with just a click of a button. Hence, I ask, my dear readers, are photographs just a simple, superficial, "want" or a well-invented "need"?