Neuro's Blog

The following are places that I have visited around this wonderful world. The reviews are purely from personal experience. In no particular order:

Sweden

This country is beautiful inside and out. And not everyone is blond. There’s a working class side and there’s a swanky side.  You can easily find the up-town feel in Stockholm. People dress it, talk it, walk it. The architecture is amazing with the cobble stones and yellow buildings. There are some awesome museums there and the boat ride is a must in the summer otherwise prepare to freeze. There are charming hotels located everywhere and things are walking distance, but transportation is fairly easy to navigate. Many Swedes tend to keep to themselves and their social circles most of the time. I notice this a lot in airports-you know it’s the right gate when no one is talking, but everyone is staring. The younger generations are more “outgoing”. Tourists are very much welcome in most parts of this Scandinavian country. Knowing the language can help when visiting smaller towns (obvi). The food is delicious, fresh, and healthy. There’s this fast food chain Sibylla that I drool for though. IKEA is IKEA. There’s this thing called “fika”! It’s like a coffee hour, where you relax and chat over some pastries and coffee. Happens everyday. Prepare to get fat. I think they love the color white because most homes I’ve seen have white everything. My favorite outer design is the Falu Red style. Financially, you’ll want to save up a great deal if you plan on visiting here. Language wise, english is widely spoken so you are in luck. I have seen the northern lights when I was young. I want to visit northern Sweden sometime and attend a reindeer race.

Norway

Crossing the Swedish/Norway border was fun. It all looks the same- green forests and beautiful people. Until you get to the coast. Fjords will blow your mind. A picture doesn’t suffice. I remember taking a car boat across a body of water. Never done that before. There are cute tourist friendly towns throughout parts of Norway. If you like seafood, this is a wonderful place to be. Financially, you’ll want to save up more than what you did for Sweden.

Thailand

Depending on how you plan your visit, you can really get in a lot of culture in less than a month. We all know the flight tickets are the expensive part. Once you get here everything is affordable. I’m not a pro on how to travel here as a tourist because I went as part of a group where I paid an amount for the trip and the itinerary was scheduled. There is an airline that flies you around Southeast Asia for very cheap though and I forget the name. The rural villages I saw were life changing. Riding elephants  near Chang Mai was amazing. The shopping here is fun and wallet friendly. You’ve most definitely heard about this country’s diverse selection of food. If not, you’re in for a piece of heaven when you visit. The people here are friendly and always smiling. Thailand isn’t called “the land of smiles” for nothing. Bangkok is quite the specimen. Aside from the smell, there is some beauty to see like the temples. You’ll find temples all over Thailand! Buddhism is very much prevalent here and like they say, it’s not a religion, it’s a lifestyle. I’ve heard Phuket is a place to visit. Never been. Also heard it’s fairly dirty. Can’t forget about the islands! There are many. The one I went to had resorts all along the beach as well as restaurants and bars. You’ll be sure to get whatever you need outta your system visiting Thailand.

USA

I may be a little biased, but California is the best state around. You’ll notice that it’s pretty diverse all around. All you need to do is follow the US 101 and you’ll see all the good stuff. Unless you want to see Yosemite and other inland places. San Diego has got a good vibe, LA has night life, and concerts. Santa Monica has an eventful pier. So does Santa Barbara which also has good shopping and farmers markets. San Luis Obispo has a cool college town. Obviously you have to see San Francisco, the city by the bay. Don’t forget to hit up the beaches as you visit. Venice, Carpinteria, and Santa Barbara are some good ones. Good food is found everywhere. Coastal towns will often have tasty seafood. Try the lam chowder in SF. I have yet to visit sea glass beach in northern Cali.

New York is also a big state. I spent 2 days in New York City and that was not enough. There is a lot to see here. Went to an art museum and saw The Thinker and some of my man Van Gogh (Starry Night is at the other museum). Walked the Brooklyn Bridge. Went to the top floor of the Empire State Building. The transportation is good as long as you’re paying attention. It was freezing and windy when I was here, but the sun was out so it wasn’t all that bad. Gotta visit the Statue of Liberty and Ground Zero memorial next time I’m here. The other part of NY I’ve seen is upstate. The Niagara Falls are a must see. Beware, make sure you have your passport so you can visit the Canadian side, it’s prettier.

I’ve spent some time in Seattle. Hip and busy city. There are some good outdoor things to do like a walk through a modern art gallery and shop the market. Don’t forget to visit the first Starbucks!

Oregon has two halves, the dry farm country, and the hipster west coast. There’s more I promise, I haven’t seen it all. The country side, atleast where I was, there are a lot of hardworking, pro-gun, farmers, and Republicans. Portland has got a mix, and I’m pretty sure there’s a majority of tree-huggers, and Democrats. It rains a lot here like Seattle so prepare for that. I went on a few outdoor runs in Portland and the houses are beautiful. There’s also this really awesome ice cream shop that has the random-est flavors.  

Can’t forget about Hawaii. Kauai is known as the Garden Island of the chain. It’s beautiful here. Again ABC stores are pretty pricey so save up folks. Jurassic Park was filmed here. Lots of beaches to snorkel and lounge at. Some are less touristy. The big island, Kona, has the volcanic parts and green parts. Take a helicopter ride around to see it all! Be sure to buy a good tourist book that will help you find your way around these islands.

Well folks, I’ve been to a few other places (Australia, London, Germany, Poland) but I was too young to remember all of the details. One day I’ll add photos of my travels to my gallery. Hope you enjoyed this! Let me know what you think. Where have you been?

You may not see many rants from me and I may not be the best writer despite english being my first language! Well Swedish kinda is too. I’m sure many of you have feelings regarding this so comment as you wish. Anywho, I just wanted to write something about a topic I hold dear to my heart, and that is selfishness.

I assume you all are familiar with the term. If not here’s a brief definition from dictionary.com: “devoted to or caring only for oneself; concerned primarily with one's own interests, benefits, welfare, etc.” See the thing is, many times it goes unnoticed. We often times get caught in the cycle of work, home, maybe a gym visit, hobby, home, eat, game, sleep, whatever. We go about our day to day lives not realizing that we are being selfish. This is completely normal for every human. If we weren’t selfish we would be dead by now, extinct! This is the first rule for many EMS providers- Is the scene safe? Before caring for another individual they check if the scene is safe. They wait until it is. Then they move in and respond. Does this happen to you often in your daily lives? Is this how you respond to a stranger before conversing/reacting? What if you didn’t worry if the scene was safe; just make a move? Anyway now I’ve gotten off topic. Maybe I’m losing myself here. Maybe you can get some ideas from this. That it’s not selfish of you to do what you need to do, to save yourself from further harm, even if that means you have to avoid and leave some people. That it’s ok to be selfish. But maybe we're missing out on something greater.

I want to confess that I’ve been selfish. I’m going to avoid personal life and just focus on life online with FA. I was looking for an outlet, perhaps a separate world, from real world things. And thanks to the internet you can be in some way social. You can chat, voice chat, observe the virtual physical character of others, and last but not least get promoted. I fell back into the hands of ET after some years away and found FA. Recently I was accepted into the clan. This was due to work done not only but myself as well as many members that noticed me, encouraged me, and helped me. I couldn’t be more grateful. Perhaps things moved too fast! But I guess I deserved it. Nevertheless, I was joining, recruiting, and socializing out of my own selfishness. I wanted to be accepted. And there’s some excitement to getting accepted somewhere based of everything but looks. Now I’ve confused myself a little. Been drinking some wine. Surprised if you’ve lasted this far.

I haven’t been around FA long enough to truly grasp what is going on with who and where. All I can say is that it mimics the real world pretty well. You know why, because there are real people behind these users. People get sick, have accidents, vent their issues, ask for help, get mad, get crushes, make friendships. It really sucks to see people pulling some major troll business. Ultimate selfishness. You see, I don’t have any issues with people being selfish, but I do when their actions start affecting others. What about lack of action? Same thing there though because some major issues can occur if someone decides to back down and not stand up for what’s right. I’m glad to have joined a clan with similar tolerance levels. There seems to be a lot of good morals in the roots of this FAmily tree. There are a lot of unselfish people looking out for one another. And this is what keeps a community thriving.

We all have our selfish and unselfish moments. Notice them, work on them! Look out for your own safety. You are priceless! Help someone everyday. I’m still growing up. I have a lot to work on. I’m asking you to remember that there are lives behind each of us here. So please remember one another if you can, if you want to be a productive member of this community. Remember your recruits and recruiters. Reach out and keep contact with one another! I get it that sometimes we may think, “Keep up or get lost.”, but also keep in mind that we shouldn’t let one another fall behind or get unnoticed when there’s effort.

Well there’s my first blog. Hope it made sense and that you enjoyed some piece of it.
Neuro OUT.

"I like nonsense; it wakes up the brain cells." - Dr. Seuss