Blog
Welcome to the main meat of this website! This is where I write about the insights I have in life, whether it be insights that many people can relate to and think about in life, or pop-culture-related insights. I also will post original mini stories involving "The Treehouse of Inspiration" crew that goes along with my insights for added entertainment, just so this blog doesn't become another cookie-cutter website about life. After all, we already have more than a bajillion of those, right? Expect regular updates on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday every week!
Blog Post #4:
The Importance of Team Project Synergy
So let's say that you're working with multiple people on some group project. It could be a project that's instrumental to getting a good grade at school. It could be a project that's simply part of a job. It could even be a simple passion project between your friends and others who share the same interests as you. With these projects, everything should be smooth sailing because after all, two heads are better than one, right?
...Oh wait, never mind, yet another disagreement just popped up in a group project nearby me.
It's no secret that group projects often face many obstacles, whether it be someone not doing their fair share of work, some unrelated drama outside of the project, or even a disagreement as simple as someone not sharing the same favorite pizza toppings as their fellow teammates.
These three factors are often the main issues when it comes to group projects, but no worries, I'm here to offer some solutions to these problems, all in the spirit of maintaining that peak team synergy in your group during a project. Personally, I believe these should work...at least, most of the time. You can never really tell with people, you know?
Anyways, let's touch on the first issue of people not doing their fair share of work. Obviously, most people want every aspect of life to be kept fair, and group projects are no exception. If you want to prevent slackers from being born in your team, just know this:
DELEGATION. IS. KEY.
In order to use the delegation strategy to the best of your ability, get to know others in your team. That way, you'll get to know how they would react in certain situations, especially when it comes to the unexpected kind. It's also a nice way of knowing your fellow teammates' motivation levels, so you can delegate tasks accordingly. With this strategy, everybody can do their fair share of AND in an efficient manner too!
Now, as for the other point, how can we deal with drama that's not even related to the project at hand? Oh, it's simple, really:
JUST BE PROFESSIONAL AND MATURE PEOPLE.
In other words, just don't bring these matters to your group project. What even is the point of doing that? You will only just keep fanning the flames if you do that, especially if you force others to pick a side in a conflict between other members. This is especially egregious if this happens during a work setting.
If the drama is THAT important, then why not discuss the issue and how to solve it OUTSIDE of the project? After all, there's a time and place for everything, and communication is key. Talk about the most obvious solution ever.
Now, what about the minor disagreements, such as someone not liking the same soda as you?
...Are you serious right now? Why are you even concerned about that? I would understand if it's about an important issue or something like that, but minor disagreements like favorite foods? Literally everyone in this world is different, so "fixing" the issue of someone having a different opinion than you is virtually impossible. Now, why don't you follow a certain snow queen's example and just LET IT GO already. Jeremy's over here struggling to lift a huge box and you're over here being more concerned about whether he likes the same video games as you.
Sounds pretty ridiculous once you hear it said out loud, huh?
Well, I believe that should help get my point across on how to keep the peak teamwork energy going in your team during a group project. Here's hoping that this helps you out guys, because goodness, these teamwork obstacles are happening at an egregious frequency.
What are your thoughts on this? Got your own advice to share? Well, I would like to share your thoughts as you enjoy the latest mini-story that I'm about to deliver!
Mini-story: The Most Pointless Argument in Existence
Pico Vamas stares at the group with utter disbelief. Today's the day where Pico is going to get the ball rolling with his "The Treehouse of Inspiration" business idea, so he and his friends had met up at their treehouse base in Pico's backyard. And it would have been a perfect day too. Sunny skies, reasonable temperature, cheerful ambiance...
Oh wait, what cheerful ambiance? That has been destroyed thanks to the arguing that the friend group is currently going through.
"WHY would you even like anchovies on your pizza?!" Terrence complains as he points an accusatory finger at Darnell.
Darnell simply shrugs in response. "I don't know, I'm just happy to eat anything. As long as it's edible, of course. Just get off my case already!"
Ricky shakes his head. "This is utter barbaric behavior, and I feel we shouldn’t participate in it."
Sam sighs, looking around his surroundings with much worry. "I know, right? We really shouldn't focus on these issues..."
Elizabeth huffs, crossing her arms. "How about we focus on the issue that Betty forgot to say 'hi' to me this morning?"
Betty rolls her eyes. "You do realize that's because I was wrapped up on trying to finish my college assignment, right? Perhaps you should fix your own issue of not listening to others."
"How dare you!"
Johanna glances around at the others with wariness. "Um, can you guys please calm down? It's not the right thing to keep this conflict going."
Unfortunately, her pleas fall on deaf ears, as Michelle says, "With this much conflict, I doubt we are going to get much work done on Pico's business idea..."
Alice glares at everyone present. "Pointless conflicts like this are literally the bane of my existence. Why can’t you guys take a chill pill already?"
Yep, literally every one of his friends are taking part in this conflict right now, even those who would wish said conflict to end.
Welp, time to take action.
Pico clears his throat SUPER loudly, easily catching everyone's attention and stopping their argument. With a raspy cough like that, it's very likely that people would forget what they were even talking about, just to focus on that ridiculous coughing that resulted from Pico clearing his throat too loudly.
Pico then clears his throat more gently after that, just to get some of his voice back. Then he gives incredulous looks at everyone involved. "Guys, why are you even arguing?"
"Workload concerns." Michelle answers.
"Drama." Betty replies.
"Pizza toppings." Terrence responds.
Pico sighs. "Oh, you have got to be joshing me, dude."
"Hi, I'm Josh!"
Everyone glances over at the apparent young man named Josh with surprise, as he is currently hanging on to one of the treehouse windows as if that's totally normal.
"...That's cool, welcome to the team, Josh." Pico replies in a rather deadpan way, wondering if he truly meant what he just said.
"Okay!" Josh replies enthusiastically as he lets go of the window, landing on the ground with no trouble or pain. Hm, Pico supposes he will nominate him as an honorary member later...
He then looks back at his friends. "Anyways, let me address your concerns. For workload concerns, we can simply delegate our tasks to each other. After all, we all have a common goal of helping others, right?"
Everyone else nods with agreement. At least that goal is still kept intact.
"As for the drama, why can't we just talk this out? Haven’t you heard of the good ol' saying that communication is key? No matter what, we'll do our best to solve these issues together. No one gets left behind in this organization...and business."
Everyone else seems to be pleased by this response, especially Elizabeth and Betty.
"Good. And finally, for the pizza toppings issue... I can literally just get different pizzas for you guys, no problem. Why is that even an issue?"
A loud applause erupts from the whole group, as if that is something they're most excited for.
"YEAH! Hooray for pizza. supreme!" Terrence cheers.
Oh well. At least that solution, along with other important solutions, has managed to stop what may be the most pointless argument in existence. Really, what could be more pointless than that?
Welp, time to move on from it. Pico glances at his phone to check the progress of his fresh new business. So far, it's a great start...
Now "Operation: World of Equality" can truly begin...
THE END
Blog Post #3:
Job Search Woes
Welcome to my first ever main blog post, i.e. the one blog post that is not just an announcement post in disguise. No, this is the one blog post where I will finally get started on showing you guys what the main blog posts would be like, and you better believe there will be a whole lot more of those coming soon from now on!
With that being said, I'm gonna use the "first main blog post" opportunity to show off my insights on the current job search and the job market, and basically criticize and complain about the current state of affairs on both fronts.
Why? Well, it's because it's flat out impossible to even get hired at McDonald's these days. Some people always like to believe (and make fun of) others who happen to work at McDonald's because of how these jobs are apparently easy for anyone to do, and now even that job isn't easily accessible. If that job isn't even easy to get into now, then what is?
The current job market seems to be the reason why the job search seems to be such a struggle these days. The employers seem to be pickier than ever, cherry-picking prospects as if they're picking players for a middle school kickball team, and somehow, I kept getting picked last despite my qualifications. Just saying, something doesn't seem right there.
What doesn't help is that most of the job applications and resumes are being screened by AI these days, and they are so dependent on scanning for keywords on applications and resumes. In other words, if your application or resume doesn't have any particular words that one AI likes to hear, say hello to automatic rejection!
Another thing that doesn't help is the blatant nepotism in the current job market. I get that building connections is important, especially when it comes to getting a job, but when you have more qualifications, and yet you get rejected over someone who happens to be the employer's friend, then you know there's some shenanigans going on with the hiring process.
Overall, the current state of the job market and the job search is not looking bright these days, in more ways than one. What do you guys think? While you guys are processing my thoughts and insights on this post, here's a little story for you guys to enjoy!
Mini-story: The Job Market Game
Pico Vamas glances around what seems to be the manager's office. Today's the day for a job interview at a local fast-food place called Tastes Like Chicken. And yes, they do have dishes with that authentic chicken taste.
It's such a simple, perhaps even goofy name, but Pico doesn't really mind that. After all, he wants this job for a cooperative and friendly work environment, which sounds quite promising to him. Therefore, he has taken great care to arrive just in time, hoping that his punctuality earns him a few points with the manager.
Now, he's sitting at the desk with the manager, who's sitting across from him. The manager - whose name is Clark, according to his name tag - scrutinizes every detail on Pico's resume, which he has taken great care to make it look as neat and organized as possible.
"Hmm... So I see you graduated from college?" Clark asks as he takes a quick glance at Pico before looking back at the resume.
Pico nods, showing full attentiveness to this conversation between them. "Yes, sir. With a creative writing Bachelor's degree, no less!"
"Hm, that's impressive, I suppose." Clark replies in a somewhat dismissive tone. Pico's not sure why, but hopefully, that's just Clark's general demeanor and not an indication of how this interview would go.
"...Any other notable things, sir?" Pico asks.
"Well, I noticed that you only have one year of experience as a freelance writer. And you certainly don't seem to have any experience with this job type before." Clark points out.
"Well, that's because this would be my first part-time job here. I do have more than ten years of experience on cooking though, especially chicken dishes, sir." Pico answers with an air of genuine confidence in his voice.
"...I see. That's impressive, I suppose." Clark responds with the same dismissive tone.
"...Is there any issue here, sir?" Pico questions with much concern.
Clark gives Pico a judgmental side-eye. "Well, I'm not seeing any keywords I like in particular, so you're no different from any other average Joe to me."
"...What is that supposed to mean? That job seems quite simple to do, sir. Why would some keywords matter in this case?" Pico replies with one eyebrow raised.
"And on top of that," Clark continues, conveniently ignoring Pico's question, "You don't seem to have any worthwhile connections."
Pico scratches his head while looking down in thought. "Well, I do have my friends who help out around town every day-"
"And do they even work here?"
"Well no, but-"
"Then your connections don't mean anything to me. You don't seem like a worthwhile employee to have."
Pico looks at Clark, flabbergasted. "...Huh? How?"
Just them, Malik kicks the door open, barging into the manager's office with a resume of his own. "Hiya, manager dude or whoever you are! I haven't applied for the job, but who has time for that? My resume can do the talking instead!" He boasts as he hands his resume off to Clark.
Pico grimaces while glancing at Malik. After all, Malik is the leader of The Troublemakers organization, which is the organization he created to spread harmless pranks all over the town of Huglan. Needless to say, a workplace would literally be in danger with him around.
However, Clark pushes Pico's resume away while inspecting Malik's own.
For starters, Malik's resume seems...disorganized, to say the least. Words are everywhere with no particular order to them. They're just miscellaneous stuff about how Malik is good at everything in life, even though that's obviously not true.
Despite that, Clark's eyes start to brighten up as he reads the resume. "Graduated with every college degree in existence... Having 1,000+ years experience in operating a stove... Having every connection in town..."
"Ha! I'm just that amazing, aren't I?" Maliks gloats with an overconfident smirk.
Clark stares blankly at Malike. For a minute there, Pico can't tell if he's in disbelief about Malik's blatantly false and over-exaggerated resume. After all, there's no way he can be hired just on his word alone, right?
"Malik, you're hired."
"YES! I knew I'm the best!"
Pico looks at Clark with disbelief. "Huh?"
"Malik is hired. Sorry, Pico, but you're not who we're looking for. Here's hoping you find future opportunities or something like that. It doesn't matter anyways, you should leave now." Clark waves Pico away.
"Well, now that just sounds disingenuous when you put it like that-"
"GO. NOW."
At this point, Pico just decides to leave the office and the restaurant. It''s a waste of energy to try to talk with managers once they made up their mind like that. Instead, Pico simply watches the restaurant from a safe distance, having a feeling that hiring Malik in ANY job is not going to end well.
A few minutes later, the windows around the restaurant suddenly break into pieces, revealing an explosion of chocolate frosting all over the walls. Ah, it seems Malik's present bombs has struck again.
Pico shrugs after witnessing that atrocious display. Frankly, that's what they get for hiring someone with dubious qualifications AND morals over someone who is clearly qualified and passionate for the job.
He then looks down at his phone. Oh well, maybe he can start his own business with "The Treehouse of Inspiration" organization that he and his friends built up over the years... Sounds like a better use of his time, in all honesty.
THE END
Blog Post #2:
Boomerang Blog
So.
Life's funny, ain't it?
You think you won't even take a passing glance at one old project, much less try to revive it from its dormant state. And yet, here we are, reviving this blog created from a college assignment two years ago.
In other words, life is a lot like a boomerang: You throw one idea away, thinking it won't come back, only for life to make that idea fly back into your face with its circumstances. Painfully.
The world still seems to be doing just as bad as it was last time I posted here (if not worse). And of course, I'm still sad about the strife and pain people have to suffer through, but I'm not making this post to complain about it. Rather, I'm making this post to bring a huge update and revival to this blog.
I have my reasons for doing this, of course, one of them being that I'm actually going to give the whole "regularly updated blog" thing a try. After all, making and writing my own blog has always sounded like a fun thing to do, even back when I was a wee little child. And now here I am, about to do it for real this time.
As for what this blog is actually about? Well, I have made lots of observations throughout my life, all the way from childhood to my current adulthood, and I thought that perhaps now is a good time to crack open my head in public (metaphorically, of course, I'm no sicko) and show off my thoughts and insights in life. I'm well aware that loads of other people have done the same, but here's the thing: My thoughts tend to be rather...unique, and I'm pretty direct with my thoughts too. If you need straight-up insights in life, I'm your guy.
Oh, but that's not all though! In order to add more colorful variety to my blog posts (as well as making them more unique), I'll be sharing my mini stories that relates to whatever topic the blog post may have. And each of these stories involve "The Treehouse of Inspiration" crew, no less!
...Although, I imagine only a few particular people (who have heard of them before) will ever be excited about this specific piece of news. Either way, you all will be getting a free story in a blog post, so there's that!
With all that being said, this blog will now be rising from the dead, thanks to me planning to regularly update it on Mondays and Fridays every week.
Now that you know (and that the blog is finally revived), I'll be going now! See you on Friday, where you'll finally be getting the first proper blog post from me after the sudden two year wait. See ya!
P.S., have a picture of Pico Vamas staring right into your soul again. If you don't like that, imagine how he feels after having to stare like that for so long. Dude probably needs some serious eyedrops right about now.
Blog Post #1:
My Writing Goals
I'm just going to be honest straight out of the gate and say that I'm pretty sad with how the world is doing right now. Needless to say, lots of pain and strife is happening in all sorts of ways. Lots of people are suffering, to say the least.
I want to fight back against the pain and strife. I simply want to do my part and help the world out by writing fun and creative stories for the world. At the very least, these stories can help the world take their minds off of whatever is going on at the moment. These stories could also help give courage for others to make the world a better place themselves!
That is all I hope to achieve with my fun and creative stories. Hopefully, these writing goals will do well in helping others. And with that, I'll see you guys in the next blog post!