So, I officially got out of my last final a couple hours ago. I've been watching the annual event of the Project for Awesome. It's a Vlogbrothers event where everyone makes videos about charities and posts them on youtube and comments on all the other videos. I made a video for the humane society I volunteer at, and even though I spent a freaking long time working one it, the audio got completely screwed up and I have making videos. So I won't post the link.
But I will post my favorite video so far.
And here's another.
Duuude, I really wish I was rich. I want to donate to so many places now... I wish I could fund a clean drinking well, or help pay for a new school, or send food to people who need it. And I want to fly to those places and meet the people there and try to help them...
I will do that some day! Till than, I'll continue to volunteer and save up money to help decrease world suck.
~*~
Friday, December 17, 2010
Speed Reading
You know, I've never been very good at speed reading. I often try it with school readings, but I don't really speed read books that I'm reading for fun.
I can't get as absorbed in books if I rush through them. I like to go at a normal pace and get sucked into them. That's the way to go for me.
I remember a long time ago, I mentioned a book in one day and this rather obnoxious person said "I finished that book in, like, an hour." I don't know why she was so proud of that. How can you enjoy a book if you finish it in an hour?
I can't get as absorbed in books if I rush through them. I like to go at a normal pace and get sucked into them. That's the way to go for me.
I remember a long time ago, I mentioned a book in one day and this rather obnoxious person said "I finished that book in, like, an hour." I don't know why she was so proud of that. How can you enjoy a book if you finish it in an hour?
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Banned Books
So, some books are sleezy, disgusting, and horrible. And that may be why they're banned.
But so many books are banned that don't deserve it. Sure, I don't like reading stuff that's too... graphic. But that doesn't mean they have to ban them. That just means that I don't have to read them. Or they don't have to force you to read them in class.
I know Harry Potter was banned in some places because it has "witchcraft" in it. Oh my god. No way.
That's just another reason that people are too paranoid. Everyone's freaked out about everything. They take out all the fun rides at playgrounds because the parks are scared of getting sued if a kid falls off a swing or something.
Anyway," the vlogbrothers made me think about this, so I'll let John Green take it from here (although I just read "Looking for Alaska, but I like "An Abundance of Katherines" and "Paper Towns" better).
But so many books are banned that don't deserve it. Sure, I don't like reading stuff that's too... graphic. But that doesn't mean they have to ban them. That just means that I don't have to read them. Or they don't have to force you to read them in class.
I know Harry Potter was banned in some places because it has "witchcraft" in it. Oh my god. No way.
That's just another reason that people are too paranoid. Everyone's freaked out about everything. They take out all the fun rides at playgrounds because the parks are scared of getting sued if a kid falls off a swing or something.
Anyway," the vlogbrothers made me think about this, so I'll let John Green take it from here (although I just read "Looking for Alaska, but I like "An Abundance of Katherines" and "Paper Towns" better).
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Leather
So, at places like the Renaissance Fair and the Scottish Games, they have amazing and beautiful leather work.
I wish I had some pictures of it.
The problem is, it's all well over $100. It's not uncommon for it to cost more than $500.
Leather vests, jackets, boots with amazing patterns and fringes and textures.
So, remember when I had all those pictures I drew of Fern! And a couple with Ben? Well, Ben has a leather jacket. Not quite as ornate as the ones at fairs, but with an awesome pattern on the back. That's why Fern always pretends to steal his jacket from him.
Took a long time to get this right. I want a jacket like this!!!
Actually, I want a jacket with a feather-wing pattern on the back. But I can't come up with a pattern I like as much as this one. I gotta keep working on it.
So, here's a simplified jacket that Fern's using.
I wish I had some pictures of it.
The problem is, it's all well over $100. It's not uncommon for it to cost more than $500.
Leather vests, jackets, boots with amazing patterns and fringes and textures.
So, remember when I had all those pictures I drew of Fern! And a couple with Ben? Well, Ben has a leather jacket. Not quite as ornate as the ones at fairs, but with an awesome pattern on the back. That's why Fern always pretends to steal his jacket from him.
Took a long time to get this right. I want a jacket like this!!!
Actually, I want a jacket with a feather-wing pattern on the back. But I can't come up with a pattern I like as much as this one. I gotta keep working on it.
So, here's a simplified jacket that Fern's using.
Saturday, December 4, 2010
Tangled
That's right! I went and saw Tangled today. It was better then the commercials made it look. I liked it! Although I did predict some of it. Like the fate of Rapunzel's hair. Haha!
Back and Forth
So, a heckuva long time ago, Crystal asked me how I can write my stories in order. She likes to write different parts of different stories. The interesting parts, right?
Yeah. I write my stuff in order. Here's my reasoning. If I write all the cool parts first (which I have to force myself to not do) I would probably lack motivation to write the in-between stuff. Also There might me slight things that change as I write out the whole story.
But this is by no means true for everyone. Some authors like to write the end of the story first. Some jump around like Crystal. Everyone has different styles in that respect.
Ah, and in reply to Ellen's post.
I thought about it a little more, and I think that it's anime that makes girls seem really crazy sometimes. Like Yuki's fan club in Fruits basket and all that stuff.
You took me so seriously! Aah! I know you're right though. I read something about that recently. In China they have that one child policy, right? And they prefer male children to female. So women often get abortions if they find out they have a girl. But that means that there a lot fewer younger girls. And a lot of girls are getting kidnapped because of the shortage.
And in places like India where women don;t have many rights and have poor education, similar things happen. Except in India they have a lot of kids, whether the women want them or not. Again, male babies are preferred. But there aren't lots of available contraceptives, and the families of the mothers don't want them to get abortions lots of the time, so the women are forced to do horrible things to themselves to lose the babies.
There's so much debate going on about abortions. I recently saw this huge, horribly gruesome sign someone had attached to their bike about how horrible abortions are.
No, I don't like killing babies, but honestly what worries me more is overpopulation.
Here ya go.
The population is waaaaay too huge. Like I said in an earlier post, several million humans are only alive because of fossil fuels. Which are rapidly running out.
And there's 2 ways to decrease population. Reduce the birth rate, or increase the death rate.
Which would YOU prefer?
Yeah. I write my stuff in order. Here's my reasoning. If I write all the cool parts first (which I have to force myself to not do) I would probably lack motivation to write the in-between stuff. Also There might me slight things that change as I write out the whole story.
But this is by no means true for everyone. Some authors like to write the end of the story first. Some jump around like Crystal. Everyone has different styles in that respect.
Ah, and in reply to Ellen's post.
I thought about it a little more, and I think that it's anime that makes girls seem really crazy sometimes. Like Yuki's fan club in Fruits basket and all that stuff.
You took me so seriously! Aah! I know you're right though. I read something about that recently. In China they have that one child policy, right? And they prefer male children to female. So women often get abortions if they find out they have a girl. But that means that there a lot fewer younger girls. And a lot of girls are getting kidnapped because of the shortage.
And in places like India where women don;t have many rights and have poor education, similar things happen. Except in India they have a lot of kids, whether the women want them or not. Again, male babies are preferred. But there aren't lots of available contraceptives, and the families of the mothers don't want them to get abortions lots of the time, so the women are forced to do horrible things to themselves to lose the babies.
There's so much debate going on about abortions. I recently saw this huge, horribly gruesome sign someone had attached to their bike about how horrible abortions are.
No, I don't like killing babies, but honestly what worries me more is overpopulation.
Here ya go.
The population is waaaaay too huge. Like I said in an earlier post, several million humans are only alive because of fossil fuels. Which are rapidly running out.
And there's 2 ways to decrease population. Reduce the birth rate, or increase the death rate.
Which would YOU prefer?
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Re: Girls are Crazy
I should be doing my many projects but oh well!
Yes girls are crazy, it's a given fact, although I think it depends on the context on which you see girls. If you're a girl yourself you'll probably think that girls are in general crazier than guys, especially now a days. I think that in more recent years (recent being the last century or so) girls have been allowed to be more open about what they think, women's liberation and what not. A long time ago (anywhere from forever ago to the 1800s) women weren't supposed to express their opinions as much. This all varies from culture to culture and from societal norms back then (although this doesnt mean that this doesnt happen today)
For example I'm going to take different time periods and cultures (Ancient China, the 1950s, present) and i'm going to compare them socially and culturally.
So obviously we all know the stereotype of Asian people being soft-spoken, nerdy, shy, and blah blah blah (and we all know i dont really fit that stereotype) Well this comes from years of Asian (especially Chinese ideology) of women being lesser than men. Now I know that all cultures have some kind of thing where men are better than women yatta yatta, but in China being a girl is tough and I mean really tough. If you thought corsets and being forced into marriage was bad consider this.
In China there's a certain hierarchy of importance in a family. I know every culture has a pyrimad like this but bear with me.
At the top of the pyramid you have old people, specifically old men. Then the old women, unless there is a son. In which they share almost equal power over the family. After that come the younger men, grandsons, nephews, what have you, but these men aren't considered children.
Then comes the group of kids (boys of course)
Then comes animals, livestock, pets, etc.
Then comes the women
Then comes the girls.
Yeah...and if that wasnt bad enough, let me show you where each group falls on the resource line. Where those on the + side are seen as a 'gain' in resources, while those on the - side are seen as a 'drain' on resources
+: old men, men, boys, animals
-: old women, women, girls
Say it with me now...WHAT?!??!?!?!
Yeah that's right. women/girls are seen as a drain on resources, you dont really get anything from them, and if they dont like it there's thousands of others who'd replace them.
Isnt that fun?
Anyway let's jump to America in the 50s...ah a time of peace, the Golden Age. Psh like it's ever that easy. Everyone was so worried about their reputation/appearance or whatever that nobody I repeat NOBODY could do anything against the societal 'norm'. No divorce, no fights, no airing your dirty laundry (figuratively of course, then again I'm not sure if the literal was smiled upon...), no scandals, no being unhappy, no nothing. Everything had to be perfect...
again WHAT?!?!?!
This idea of perfection stretched to men too, but of course women were lower than men anyway so it kind of got worse for them too.
I dont know know all that much about the 50s so I'll leave that for you to fill in.
Let's fast-forward to America today. Going back to Tara's post about crazy girls on the internet. They post...a lot...and not only that they post a lot of weird stuff such as 'please have my babies' and the like. Seeing that women have gained a lot more freedom from the double standard and that the internet is anonymous, I can see why it seems like girls today are crazy (I'm not saying that they're not crazy, just that it makes sense why they seems so much crazier than the old societal norms).
Now that bring the comparison with boys of today. I think that the...expressiveness of the male population has remained kind of stagnant...like the line of y=3. No rate of change (not to say there wasnt any change, just that overall there hasnt been much, especially because they had the most say/freedom of speech compared to girls, and now they're kind of limited because of it).
And the girl's expressiveness over time has kind of grown exponentially so their line is more like y=2^x, and if I'm doing my math right (and it's possible i'm not) it's kind of skyrocketed, especially if you compare it to the other line...
...and my internet died so I lost my whole wrap up bit about why guys talk with guys about girls and girls talk with girls about guys. But that girls also talk with guys about guys and that's because of the whole math bit up there. It was a lot more intelligent and witty the first time (and a lot longer) but that's the explanation in a nutshell.
Hope that answered your question tara. Rebuttals are welcome and encouraged (in no way am I saying that what I think is the absolute truth or whatever, it's just what I think, and I'm open to new ideas and stuff) Um...yeah I gotta go do my project that's due in...a few hours...fun...
Yes girls are crazy, it's a given fact, although I think it depends on the context on which you see girls. If you're a girl yourself you'll probably think that girls are in general crazier than guys, especially now a days. I think that in more recent years (recent being the last century or so) girls have been allowed to be more open about what they think, women's liberation and what not. A long time ago (anywhere from forever ago to the 1800s) women weren't supposed to express their opinions as much. This all varies from culture to culture and from societal norms back then (although this doesnt mean that this doesnt happen today)
For example I'm going to take different time periods and cultures (Ancient China, the 1950s, present) and i'm going to compare them socially and culturally.
So obviously we all know the stereotype of Asian people being soft-spoken, nerdy, shy, and blah blah blah (and we all know i dont really fit that stereotype) Well this comes from years of Asian (especially Chinese ideology) of women being lesser than men. Now I know that all cultures have some kind of thing where men are better than women yatta yatta, but in China being a girl is tough and I mean really tough. If you thought corsets and being forced into marriage was bad consider this.
In China there's a certain hierarchy of importance in a family. I know every culture has a pyrimad like this but bear with me.
At the top of the pyramid you have old people, specifically old men. Then the old women, unless there is a son. In which they share almost equal power over the family. After that come the younger men, grandsons, nephews, what have you, but these men aren't considered children.
Then comes the group of kids (boys of course)
Then comes animals, livestock, pets, etc.
Then comes the women
Then comes the girls.
Yeah...and if that wasnt bad enough, let me show you where each group falls on the resource line. Where those on the + side are seen as a 'gain' in resources, while those on the - side are seen as a 'drain' on resources
+: old men, men, boys, animals
-: old women, women, girls
Say it with me now...WHAT?!??!?!?!
Yeah that's right. women/girls are seen as a drain on resources, you dont really get anything from them, and if they dont like it there's thousands of others who'd replace them.
Isnt that fun?
Anyway let's jump to America in the 50s...ah a time of peace, the Golden Age. Psh like it's ever that easy. Everyone was so worried about their reputation/appearance or whatever that nobody I repeat NOBODY could do anything against the societal 'norm'. No divorce, no fights, no airing your dirty laundry (figuratively of course, then again I'm not sure if the literal was smiled upon...), no scandals, no being unhappy, no nothing. Everything had to be perfect...
again WHAT?!?!?!
This idea of perfection stretched to men too, but of course women were lower than men anyway so it kind of got worse for them too.
I dont know know all that much about the 50s so I'll leave that for you to fill in.
Let's fast-forward to America today. Going back to Tara's post about crazy girls on the internet. They post...a lot...and not only that they post a lot of weird stuff such as 'please have my babies' and the like. Seeing that women have gained a lot more freedom from the double standard and that the internet is anonymous, I can see why it seems like girls today are crazy (I'm not saying that they're not crazy, just that it makes sense why they seems so much crazier than the old societal norms).
Now that bring the comparison with boys of today. I think that the...expressiveness of the male population has remained kind of stagnant...like the line of y=3. No rate of change (not to say there wasnt any change, just that overall there hasnt been much, especially because they had the most say/freedom of speech compared to girls, and now they're kind of limited because of it).
And the girl's expressiveness over time has kind of grown exponentially so their line is more like y=2^x, and if I'm doing my math right (and it's possible i'm not) it's kind of skyrocketed, especially if you compare it to the other line...
...and my internet died so I lost my whole wrap up bit about why guys talk with guys about girls and girls talk with girls about guys. But that girls also talk with guys about guys and that's because of the whole math bit up there. It was a lot more intelligent and witty the first time (and a lot longer) but that's the explanation in a nutshell.
Hope that answered your question tara. Rebuttals are welcome and encouraged (in no way am I saying that what I think is the absolute truth or whatever, it's just what I think, and I'm open to new ideas and stuff) Um...yeah I gotta go do my project that's due in...a few hours...fun...
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