* When talking about music, people often mention sound quality. It is an important piece of information when you are looking to buy headphones or speakers. As I was listening to some vinyl records recently, it just came to my mind that crystal clear sound quality is so overrated. Those records have a certain magic that just cannot be replaced by modern technology.

* During finals, I somehow got into a conversation with a girl that I had not really spoken to in years. We were never what you would call 'friends,' but at the same time, there were no negative feelings between us. We were just classmates who would probably say, "Hi, how are you?" if we met each other on the street, and the conversation would stop at that. I never really got to know this girl, but I did know that her closest friends in junior high school were very immature, rude, tactless, and self-centered. That image kind of stayed with me even as we all grew up and became high school students. But as we talked a few weeks ago, I realized my mistake in grouping her together with her friends. From our short talk, I understood that she was actually quite mature (for an eleventh grader, at any rate), and we had some common goals in life. I doubt we will ever become close friends, but I am glad to see I was mistaken about her personality. One of the things I realized after that incident was that many people do judge you based on your friends. The people you spend time with do, in a certain way, reflect on you.

* Most people have had, at some point or another, that nightmare in which you try to escape and you tell yourself to run, but you are paralyzed. Something holds you in place (perhaps it is even your fear). You find that it is impossible to flee, because your feet refuse to cooperate. You feel helpless, rooted to the spot like that as you sense some danger steadily advancing on you. Sometimes you have that same feeling in real life. You can physically run, but mentally and emotionally you cannot escape.

Are any of these things something others experienced too? Feel free to share and discuss.