the day after...

what did i learn from my 1st day of being 18? 1. if i do something illegal i will actually go to jail and be tried as an adult, 2. jury duty, 3. Tron: Legacy is an awesome movie, 4. ihop is still better that dennys, 5. never crash on the couch after getting soaked from playing in the rain.

i was gonna put that i have the greatest friends, but yesterday was more like further proof of what i already knew.

from one of the most amazing, brilliant, and awesome person in the world!! (the accent doesn't hurt either)

also i got the greatest birthday/christmas present in the whole bloody world :D (next to harry potter world or meeting the 10th doctor)

beware pure awesomeness ahead...

introducing... i haven't got a name for it yet Oo

my brand new and very sexy guitar :D

ill show you mine if you show me yours...

is it POSTmodernISM, postMODERNism, PoStmOdErN-ism, post-modernism or Postmodernism?

            Last night I got home from the play and was in a panic since I had forgotten about this blog and the fact that I actually had homework and other things I had to do. Luckily I realized that it was due Thursday night, and instead it was due tonight! So once again I find myself alone with a glass of water (that’s now empty) and my laptop to keep me company while randomly bursting out to songs. I might seem like I’m just rambling about pointless things, but in lieu of postmodernism I figured I might as well just say whatever is on my mind.

            I have to say that Cat’s Cradle is a pretty awesome book. I love its perceived randomness and short chapters. It makes me feel accomplished when I’ve read like 20 something chapters in a row in a short period of time. Also it helps with my short attention span and inability to focus on one thing for too long. Like that one Irish dude said in the Lyotard and Postmodernism article “Things fall apart; centre cannot hold; Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world.”  I think that kind of sums up the whole concept of postmodernism ( “is it POSTmodernISM, postMODERNism, PoStmOdErN-ism, post-modernism or Postmodernism?” which is also in that one article with the Irish poet guy), anyways… Moving away from the whole “decoration is sin” concept of modernism into the just-put-stuff-down-yet-make-it-confusing idea of postmodernism.

            So Cat’s Cradle… oh Cat’s Cradle how your seemingly random texts and short chapters amuse me. I really do like you Cat’s Cradle. Anyways, with the whole concept of postmodernism and its somewhat rough and self-gratifying edges is pretty much Cat’s Cradle. I like to compare it to Frank Gehry’s sketches, at first they just seem like random lines and squiggles, but instead they turn out to be this beautifully composed drawings of what will become a breathtaking piece of architecture… art, like Pablo Picasso once said “art is the lie that tells the truth,” it is misleading yet straightforward at the same time. Just what Bokonon says “all of the true things I am about to tell you are shameless lies.” Cat’s Cradle might seem like just a bunch of chapters strewn together that sort of fits, but upon looking at it as a whole the purpose of it comes across, just like Gehry’s sketches.

            Cat’s Cradle breaks away from the traditional methods of writing; it defies the norm of the literary works before it. It separates itself from the “normal” structure and dives into literary anarchy. Small nonsensical chapters make up this delicate work of literature. The whole book is pretty much the epitome of postmodernism, even the title itself takes upon the sort of disorder of postmodernism as a whole. There’s “no dam cat, no damn cradle,” it is all just perception and can in reality be anything we want it to be, just like Newt’s painting which was perceived as a cat’s cradle and as hell.

            Okay my laptop has been tripping out for the past half an hour and I’m getting slightly frightened so I’m going to stop before my laptop implodes on itself. I know it might seem like all I did was just write stuff down, but it’s all just cause my writing style has been heavily influenced my postmodernism.

            Nothing is random, sooner or later a purpose appears…

so psyched!!!!

haha getting ready for some harry potter midnight premier awesomeness!!!!!

 

absolute brilliance

a completely unexpected surprise on a bathroom stall. whoever you are random person who wrote on this sign, you are amazing!

the only perfection in the world is imperfection

Oh Brave New World how you haunt my dreams. Seriously you do, I had a weird dream about Brave New World, The Tempest, and 1984 all combined to create a monstrous creature of a dream… more like a nightmare, but that’s beside the point. After that traumatizing event I felt the need to have some soma in order to numb myself of the trauma and see nothing but rainbows and fireflies and other happy things like Harry Potter and David Tennant as The Doctor. Sadly, I’ve no idea what soma exactly is and it’s probably illegal and the process of getting it would just cause more trauma and I’d just end up in a never ending circle of fail, thus I would never ever again be “normal” and just be a messed up shell, so thank you Brave New World for nearly causing my life to go into a downward spiral of inner-conflict.

Anyways, back to the word “normal” what is normal? Is there such a thing? I don’t believe there is, I never have and I don’t think that I ever will. “Normality” is dependent on the person at hand and no one else. Each and every person has their own unique view of what is “normal,” what might be peculiar to one could be completely natural to another. It is all a matter of perspective. That’s all anything really is, just perspective.

In Brave New World there are a few types of “normal” one for those in the Brave New World and those in the reservation. What one world considers as being “normal” is considered savagery to the other world. The residents of the Brave New World consider themselves to be happy and satisfies, yet we may find it to be disgusting and against all sense of morality. All because we grew up with the perception that sexual promiscuity is wrong as opposed to monogamy.

We can also look at their lives to be one of an obscure nature and completely horrible. This is because we see their lives to be nothing but the lives of monotonous puppets under complete and absolute control and having no idea of their sufferings from their lack of “freedom.” However, how can one group of freedom know the meaning of such a word when it does not exist in their society, not really. All they live by is the methodical world of Ford. It’s a world of factories and assembly lines. A system so thought out and well oiled that even those within its confined walls have no realization of it. They have been brainwashed since the moment of their births to live a life that was made for them and no one else. They were conditioned to be “happy” and always “satisfied” with their lives. It was their “normal” yet it is our “abnormal.”

Despite the perfection of their factory lines “It is this combination of the initiative of the workmen, coupled with the new types of work done by the management, that makes scientific management so much more efficient than the old plan,” as stated by Frederick Winslow Taylor. However, despite what may seem to be absolute perfection and efficiency is actually just a system that leaves many holes in its mechanism, like that of the factory line organization of the school system, as stated by Sir Ken Robinson, despite what may seem to be a “perfect” system it is inevitable to crumble. Whether it just is a single cog in the system, or the factory as a whole.

But keep in mind that what may seem like the smallest imperfection, what may seem to be insignificant today, can lead to your entire world crumbling.

education is killing my creativity

After watching Sir Ken Robinson’s lecture on changing education paradigms, complete with animation, I found myself a bit lost in the absolute brilliance of it. Not only was his accent amazing, but what he said with his awesome accent was just as equally amazing and awesome. Granted, I always tend to focus more when there are British accents involved but that’s beside the point. I even decided to give some of his other lectures a go, thank you Youtube.

In this video he explains how education is being reformed based on economic and cultural reasons. How we “educate our children to take their place in the economies of the 21^st century,” while maintaining “cultural identity.” Yet instead of progressing, the educational system still works according to its structure that was created in the period on enlightenment and during the industrial revolution. Sir Ken Robinson believes that “schools are still pretty much organized on factory lines, ringing bells, separate facilities, specialized into separate subjects. We still educate children by batches… we put them through the system by age group… why is there this assumption that the most important things kids have in common is how old they are… it’s like the most important thing about them is their date of manufacture.”

This reminds me so much of Brave New World, where the entire system is pretty much based on industrialization, on factories, on assembly lines. The people are no longer created but are instead manufactured and drown according to the expectations of the leaders. There are eggs “on a very slowly moving band a rack-full of test-tubes was entering a large metal box, another, rack-full was emerging. Machinery faintly purred.” They were being manipulated to fit the expectations set out for them. They underwent the Bokanovsky's Process, “bokanovskification consists of a series of arrests of development. We check the normal growth and, paradoxically enough, the egg responds by budding.” Similar to Sir Ken Robinson’s explanation of educations, people in the Brave New World were created in batches and this was what defined them they were created into Gammas, unvarying Deltas, Epsilons. The person lost their significance; it was merely the title that was important. They were like toys being assembled, easily manipulated and dispensable and easily replaced by the next batch. There was absolutely no guarantee of one’s importance, since they could be replaced.

Sir Ken Robinson’s tells us how “we are getting our children through education by anaesthetising them,” we “shut [their] senses off and deaden [them] to what is happening.” To allow them to get through things we simply shut off all distractions by trying to minimize the senses. Just like in Brave New World infants are conditioned to hate books and nature so that they would not deter from society’s basis on consumption or fight against their designated position in life. And as they grow they take soma, a drug with “all the advantages of Christianity and alcohol; none of their defects” it was “euphoric, narcotic, pleasantly hallucinant… one cubic centimetre [of soma] cures ten gloomy sentiments.” Instead of dealing with issues and all negative thoughts, they instead turn to soma in order to desensitize themselves and shut off all of their senses with the exception of a perceived “happiness.”

Now I’m going to end on a happy note, back to the British guy. I really liked what Sir Ken Robinson had to say. I find his arguments to be very logical and very truthful. I also agree with him when he says that education kills creativity. Education is not bad, far from it, education is actually brilliant; however, when education decides itself to be superior and in turn disregards the importance of creativity then we will fall into a downward cycle. Without creativity there really isn’t much knowledge in the world since knew knowledge comes through innovation and creativity. Without the ability to be creative, then how can knew knowledge come about?

“If a man speaks his mind in a forest and no woman hears him, is he still wrong?” - Sir Ken Robinson

im like a pressured water pipe... unstable

Now I was totally expecting to have a very easy day with absolutely no homework at all. I was planning on sleeping early and actually getting a proper night’s sleep. Then I was reminded of this blog post, to say I’m a bit bitter would be an understatement. So thanks for the short notice on the blog Mr. D, you should definitely poke a few more holes in the water pipe, ie. Stop all these blog posting homework things for a while; we should all go on that field trip.

Anyways, I feel like “water under pressure in a pipe… pierce it once…what a jet!... [pierce] it twenty times [and there is] twenty piddling little fountains.” The concept is clear, simply relieve the pressure and it will no longer be pressure, just add more outlets. The simple manipulation of people’s experiences lead to extraordinary results where the population has succumbed into nothing but experimental successes. All they needed was stability for there was “no civilization without social stability [and] no social stability without individual stability.” When desires were repressed strong emotion came about, thus along with it, came instability.

From the moment of creation the embryos are manipulated in order to fit society. They are then conditioned to feel or desire certain things. They needed to get rid of unnecessary feeling because “feeling lurks in that interval of time between desire and its consummation. Shorten the interval, break down all those old unnecessary barriers.” By giving the people their desire in almost an instant, they are able to repress feelings from harboring. Whether it’s an immediate bottle when hungry during infancy, or to fulfill a sexual gratification, it is always within easy reach for “every one belongs to every one else.” They have all been conditioned so well that even the slightest gap would lead to a “horrible” emotion.

The thought of monogamy or family connections was eradicated, considered to be unspeakable and completely horrendous. Promiscuity was encouraged for it was not encouraged for anyone to form a bond that was anything more that temporary or casual. “It’s such horribly bad form to go on and on like this with one man.” It was promiscuity that was the social norm, as opposed to monogamy which has a greater emphasis in our culture. Even from childhood it was encouraged, if not necessary, to be involved in “a rudimentary sexual game.” Thos who did not want to fully participate were sent to see the Assistant Superintendant of Psychology in order to assess their fault and rectify it.

Normal human experiences were molded into necessary forms in order to fit the expectations of the social norm. To go against it would suggest a deep physiological problem.

I’ve now been up past midnight again, it’s been like this for the past months, this is getting really crazy, not to mention tiring. Maybe if I write it down then it will not occur again… but that’s just wishful thinking really. My blog postings have been becoming progressively shorter as each one passes by, it’s a bit disheartening. School is significantly draining my ability to process and communicate, funny how that works. Alright I’m done now, it’s time to turn in.

my heart is heavy

another four fall victim to suicide
How many more need to die before we start taking action?

why all the hatred?

Within the past month four teenagers have ended their lives because they were senselessly bullied by their peers simply because they were gay. The most recent victim being Tyler Clementi, 18; California's Seth Walsh and Texas' Asher Brown, both 13, and Indiana's Billy Lucas, 15, also ended their lives because they mistreated for their sexuality.

It is sad that we live in a world where people harass other people because they are different. Just because others might not share the same values and beliefs, it doesn’t give others the right to put them down. It saddens my heart to know that these teenagers felt the need to end their lives because they were being bullied so much that they could no longer endure life. These four teens are just a few of many others who fall under the same unfortunate circumstances. How many have ended their lives because they were terrorized for who they were? How many more need to die for us to do something?

At the end of the day we are all the same, we are all just people trying to make the best of our lives and live life to the best of our ability. Just because someone is different it doesn’t mean that they are less human. We all have flaws and no one if perfect, no one even comes close. People shouldn’t be afraid to be who they are. They shouldn’t be susceptible to bullying because of who they are. They shouldn’t have to prematurely end their lives because they can no longer cope. Imagine if it were your brother, your sister, your friend, would you want them to lives their lives in fear? If they were gay, how would you feel if they were bullied every day? If they were bullied so much that the only way they felt they could cope was to end their lives.

Imagine if the roles were reversed. Imagine if you were the one who isn’t considered “normal” based on other people’s dictations. How would you feel in their position, to be bullied for being who you are?

We need to do something about this tragedy before even more lives end. If we don’t do anything then it’s never going to stop. We must take a stand and fight for those who are too afraid to fight. We need to realize that our words are as sharp as knives and thus they must be used with care. Think before you judge someone because they are different.

Do you want to live in a world where you hear about innocent people ending their lives due to bullying? Do you want to live in a world filled with hatred? If you want to live in a better world then do something to fight against the cruelty that so many people face every day of their lives.

Today I turned on the television and the news comes on and the first thing I see is a sign claiming that “God hates faggots” and shouts and jeers by grown men and women. They shout their words filled with hatred and interrupt something as sacred as a funeral. They have no remorse but instead sing songs of people going to burn in hell because they are gay.

I just felt anger and I was thoroughly upset. I despise how people use Gods name to condemn others. A name that should be associated with love and compassion is instead being used for hatred. It is a sad world when people hate others because of their sexuality, and even more so when they are adults who are supposed to be logical.

Instead of spreading words of hatred, why can’t we spread words of love?

I myself am a Christian. I grew up in a Christian household and have been going to church since I was born. I can say with confidence that God loves everyone whether they are gay or not. Some argue that being gay is a sin and thus they are hated by God, but all sins are equal in the eyes of God, thus if those who are gay are hated due to their sin, then so is everyone else because everyone has committed sins in their lives. In the bible, 1 John 4:20-21, it says that “If someone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should love his brother also.” So by hating those who are gay, they in turn, lose all credibility in their love for God and are disobeying his commandments and thus sinning.

Do something, before it is too late. Act now, before more people fall victims of suicide due to bullying.