I know I haven't posted anything in forever, so I apologize, but today I have something truly full of angst to rant about today.
There is a boy that I teach. He is about ten years old, and he is a joy to be around. He constantly smiles and tries to make everyone around him laugh. He loves to play with anyone, and he adores being the center of attention.
This boy is Chinese. He was adopted into an American family very recently, so he's still mastering English. On top of that, he has a slight speech impediment due to the shape of his lips that makes him a little difficult to understand.
Despite these things, he has made himself extremely popular with my other students. He is well liked, and genuinely gets along with everyone else.
Today, I learned that this student of mine is ostracized by his fellow students at school.
He does not have very many friends.
The reason?
He likes to hold hands with his friends.
Due to this, he has been labeled a weirdo, and therefore cast out.
It breaks my heart.
This kind, loving child, in an act to show his friendship caused him to loose what friends he had.
Apparently, American children now think that if a boy holds hands with another boy he's "gay" or if a boy holds hands with another girl he's "flirting".
These children haven't even hit puberty.
My student doesn't think of these things when he wants to hold hands. In China, hand-holding is a sign of friendship.
Oh wait.
It's a sign of friendship in Japan too.
And India.
And Afghanistan.
and BASICALLY EVERYWHERE.
Why is it a symbol of sexuality or romantic intention here?
Moreover, why in the world do these very young children view it as such?
I remember when I was in elementary school, girls would ask me "Which boy is the hottest?" as they pointed to the cover of an 'N Sync CD and I would be left with a blank stare. Frankly, I was far more concerned about dragons and spies than I was about boys. But even then holding hands between myself and my friends was a very innocent thing. We did it all the time.
I just don't understand how a very simple gesture has turned into something fairly taboo. How can children do that to another over something so innocent?
I'm honestly still struck with horror. I can only hope that my student will find someone who accepts him for the positive ray of sunshine that he is.
Sunday, October 13, 2013
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
Kicking science in the mouth
Getting bored at a computer is a fascinating phenomena to me.
Don't get me wrong, I get bored sometimes on the computer. I check my facebook, devaintART, Etsy, and my webcomics. When I'm done, I browse around for a bit, and then I inevitably get bored.
Of course after the fact, I then realize how incredibly, ridiculously, LUDICROUS it is to be bored at a computer.
The computer is an amazing thing.
If you wanted to, you could find a song for every moment of your life. You could listen to something new every minute of your spare time.
There are THOUSANDS of books available online. You could read about anything. Fiction, non-fiction, classics, brand new authors, science. You could learn so much.
But if you didn't want to read a whole book, there are thousands more articles about anything and everything.
Don't want to read? TV shows, movies, and short films are all easily accessible thanks to youtube.
There are games, social media, "how-to" articles, photo editing, video creating, music writing, all kinds of media available at your fingertips.
And yet - you and I are bored.
Can you believe it? We are so INCREDIBLY FUCKING STUPID that we choose to sit there watching videos of cats jumping into boxes with our eyes glazed over and think: "By god! This is the best use of the internet I could possibly think of!"
REALLY?!
We essentially have a portal to all knowledge we could possibly want and all we do is look at pictures like this?
WHAT THE FUCK.
WE ARE KICKING SCIENCE IN THE MOUTH.
Not so long ago, if you wanted to use a computer, you would have to leave your house, go to the nearest university, and access a computer THE SIZE OF A ROOM.
We now have PHONES with a higher processing capacity.
And yet, all anyone does with this phones is send pictures of "inspirational" cheesy quotes with blurred out backgrounds and sad looking dogs with signs tied around their necks!
I MEAN REALLY.
When was the last time you used the internet to actually LEARN SOMETHING?
Do yourself a favor. Look up a topic that you're genuinely interested in. FUCKING LEARN SOMETHING. Repeat this process every goddamn time you find yourself bored and staring at a computer screen.
....
and afterwards you can go look at lolcats.
Don't get me wrong, I get bored sometimes on the computer. I check my facebook, devaintART, Etsy, and my webcomics. When I'm done, I browse around for a bit, and then I inevitably get bored.
Of course after the fact, I then realize how incredibly, ridiculously, LUDICROUS it is to be bored at a computer.
The computer is an amazing thing.
If you wanted to, you could find a song for every moment of your life. You could listen to something new every minute of your spare time.
There are THOUSANDS of books available online. You could read about anything. Fiction, non-fiction, classics, brand new authors, science. You could learn so much.
But if you didn't want to read a whole book, there are thousands more articles about anything and everything.
Don't want to read? TV shows, movies, and short films are all easily accessible thanks to youtube.
There are games, social media, "how-to" articles, photo editing, video creating, music writing, all kinds of media available at your fingertips.
And yet - you and I are bored.
Can you believe it? We are so INCREDIBLY FUCKING STUPID that we choose to sit there watching videos of cats jumping into boxes with our eyes glazed over and think: "By god! This is the best use of the internet I could possibly think of!"
REALLY?!
We essentially have a portal to all knowledge we could possibly want and all we do is look at pictures like this?
WHAT THE FUCK.
WE ARE KICKING SCIENCE IN THE MOUTH.
Not so long ago, if you wanted to use a computer, you would have to leave your house, go to the nearest university, and access a computer THE SIZE OF A ROOM.
We now have PHONES with a higher processing capacity.
And yet, all anyone does with this phones is send pictures of "inspirational" cheesy quotes with blurred out backgrounds and sad looking dogs with signs tied around their necks!
I MEAN REALLY.
When was the last time you used the internet to actually LEARN SOMETHING?
Do yourself a favor. Look up a topic that you're genuinely interested in. FUCKING LEARN SOMETHING. Repeat this process every goddamn time you find yourself bored and staring at a computer screen.
....
and afterwards you can go look at lolcats.
Thursday, January 3, 2013
Goodbye 2012 - Hello 2013
13 has always been a good number for me.
I was a miserable 12 year old. Really. I had a lot of bullies, I had to practice the piano far more often than I wanted to, and not that many friends.
But thirteen?
Thirteen was magical for me. I dreaded my fourteenth birthday. I wanted to be thirteen forever. So once I turned fourteen, I decided that thirteen was going to be my lucky number.
And it was.
The thirteenth day of the month was always a great day. Whenever I had to pick numbers I would pick thirteen, and it tended to get me a pleasant outcome.
So here's to hoping 2013 will be a good year.
Actually wait.
Screw that.
2013 will be a good year. Because it's my lucky number. And because I said so. And because I'll make it so.
On another note, here's my apology for the total lack of writing since September of 2012.
College ate my life.
In one fell swoop, music theory consumed all my waking hours.
So: sorry.
Well...
That's only half true.
The other half is that I have been writing.
But not a blog.
Since August of 2012, I have been working on a novel.
It's been a long process, but now I can officially say:
It's still in its beginning stages. I mean really. This novel is going to take freaking forever. But once things are more concrete, I'll be using this blog to update you readers about where that novel is going, or to answer any questions about it that you may have.
But that's all I have to say about it for now.
So see you soon dear readers. Maybe next time I'll have something more interesting to say.
I was a miserable 12 year old. Really. I had a lot of bullies, I had to practice the piano far more often than I wanted to, and not that many friends.
But thirteen?
Thirteen was magical for me. I dreaded my fourteenth birthday. I wanted to be thirteen forever. So once I turned fourteen, I decided that thirteen was going to be my lucky number.
And it was.
The thirteenth day of the month was always a great day. Whenever I had to pick numbers I would pick thirteen, and it tended to get me a pleasant outcome.
So here's to hoping 2013 will be a good year.
Actually wait.
Screw that.
2013 will be a good year. Because it's my lucky number. And because I said so. And because I'll make it so.
On another note, here's my apology for the total lack of writing since September of 2012.
College ate my life.
In one fell swoop, music theory consumed all my waking hours.
So: sorry.
Well...
That's only half true.
The other half is that I have been writing.
But not a blog.
Since August of 2012, I have been working on a novel.
It's been a long process, but now I can officially say:
It's still in its beginning stages. I mean really. This novel is going to take freaking forever. But once things are more concrete, I'll be using this blog to update you readers about where that novel is going, or to answer any questions about it that you may have.
But that's all I have to say about it for now.
So see you soon dear readers. Maybe next time I'll have something more interesting to say.
Monday, September 3, 2012
An almost philosophical conversation with a 4 year old...
...without words.
This happened to me several weeks ago, and I meant to blog about it but life got in the way.
I was running between the flute lesson I had just taught and a dance class, but I had just enough time to catch lunch. I wasn't super hungry, so I stopped in Panera and got myself a bagel.
I sat at a table by myself, and began one of my favorite activities to pass the time. People watching.
To my left were two ladies, both of which describing their vacations to each other in explicit detail. They were quite loud, and evidently jealous of each others destination choices. To my right were a mother and daughter, neither of which seemed to be very happy about anything.
Since neither of which people were altogether that interesting, I proceeded to just focus on eating my bagel. I then heard a very loud shout from the mother. "Heey!"
At this moment, a man, white, blond, and about the age of 30 stopped by the mother/daughter table. The mother seemed to know him quite well, but he didn't seem to be very sure of her identity. At his side was a little boy, whom the mother was told was the age of four.
My attention immediately switched to the child. He had mud brown hair, olive skin, and just slightly almond shaped eyes.
Oh yeah, I knew those traits. I have those traits. I realized he must be half-asian like myself right as his mother walked up.
100% Korean. Yup.
As I was about to ignore the group and get back to my bagel, the boy locked eyes with me.
Seriously, he was staring at me. I wasn't really quite sure what to do, when he got the biggest grin on his face I had ever seen on a child.
At this moment I realized that I was probably the first half-asian he had ever seen in his short life. It also occurred to me that he was in fact four, and could be just being ridiculous and four.
As his parents were talking to the mother/daughter pair, the boy proceeded to have a conversation with me, without talking. It went like this.
First, the boy, who was also eating a bagel, raised his bagel slightly, took a large bite, and smiled.
Two could play this game.
I raised my bagel slightly, took a bite, and wiggled my eyebrows.
The boy started giggling. He tugged at his dad's shirt, but his dad couldn't care less. He attempted to push the boy behind him, but to no avail. The boy first poked his head around his dad to look at me, and then found his way back to his dad's other side to continue our conversation.
At this point the child just pointed at me. His grin might have actually gotten bigger. At this moment I wondered if anyone else had noticed our interaction, but they seemed too enthralled in their own conversations. The boy attempted to direct his father's attention at me, but again, his father did nothing except attempt to push him behind him again.
Finally, when I had decided that the boy was probably just being silly, he did something curious.
He tugged at his hair.
Then he pointed at himself.
And then at me.
The intent was clear.
"You are like me!"
This happened to me several weeks ago, and I meant to blog about it but life got in the way.
I was running between the flute lesson I had just taught and a dance class, but I had just enough time to catch lunch. I wasn't super hungry, so I stopped in Panera and got myself a bagel.
I sat at a table by myself, and began one of my favorite activities to pass the time. People watching.
To my left were two ladies, both of which describing their vacations to each other in explicit detail. They were quite loud, and evidently jealous of each others destination choices. To my right were a mother and daughter, neither of which seemed to be very happy about anything.
Since neither of which people were altogether that interesting, I proceeded to just focus on eating my bagel. I then heard a very loud shout from the mother. "Heey!"
At this moment, a man, white, blond, and about the age of 30 stopped by the mother/daughter table. The mother seemed to know him quite well, but he didn't seem to be very sure of her identity. At his side was a little boy, whom the mother was told was the age of four.
My attention immediately switched to the child. He had mud brown hair, olive skin, and just slightly almond shaped eyes.
Oh yeah, I knew those traits. I have those traits. I realized he must be half-asian like myself right as his mother walked up.
100% Korean. Yup.
As I was about to ignore the group and get back to my bagel, the boy locked eyes with me.
Seriously, he was staring at me. I wasn't really quite sure what to do, when he got the biggest grin on his face I had ever seen on a child.
At this moment I realized that I was probably the first half-asian he had ever seen in his short life. It also occurred to me that he was in fact four, and could be just being ridiculous and four.
As his parents were talking to the mother/daughter pair, the boy proceeded to have a conversation with me, without talking. It went like this.
First, the boy, who was also eating a bagel, raised his bagel slightly, took a large bite, and smiled.
Two could play this game.
I raised my bagel slightly, took a bite, and wiggled my eyebrows.
The boy started giggling. He tugged at his dad's shirt, but his dad couldn't care less. He attempted to push the boy behind him, but to no avail. The boy first poked his head around his dad to look at me, and then found his way back to his dad's other side to continue our conversation.
At this point the child just pointed at me. His grin might have actually gotten bigger. At this moment I wondered if anyone else had noticed our interaction, but they seemed too enthralled in their own conversations. The boy attempted to direct his father's attention at me, but again, his father did nothing except attempt to push him behind him again.
Finally, when I had decided that the boy was probably just being silly, he did something curious.
He tugged at his hair.
Then he pointed at himself.
And then at me.
The intent was clear.
"You are like me!"
Friday, June 29, 2012
The Truth Behind the Wizard of Oz
The Wizard of Oz seems like a fairly innocent story. Filled with magic, rainbows, flying monkeys, and a rather strong desire to go back to the dirt-hole known as home. However, if you look past the lollipops and pink bubbles, throw away Dorothy's naivete, you have a tale of politics and corruption.
First - lets look at the start of the movie.
The witch gets squished.
that would just ruin your entire day
The rest of the movie revolves on the shiny, red, shoes (that weren't supposed to be red according to the book) - and ignores the real truth.
A person just DIED. And her poor sister is driven mad with grief.
But who really caused the house to fall and KILL a person?
This person:
First - lets look at the start of the movie.
The witch gets squished.
The rest of the movie revolves on the shiny, red, shoes (that weren't supposed to be red according to the book) - and ignores the real truth.
A person just DIED. And her poor sister is driven mad with grief.
But who really caused the house to fall and KILL a person?
This person:
Pink, sweet, murderess.
Now why would the Good Witch of the West kill a fellow, also very powerful and influential witch?
Lets continue.
We know that at the end of the movie, Dorothy finds that she always had the power to go home. So why is it that Glinda decides to send Dorothy after the dead witch's sister to kill her, rather than just saying: "click your heels, and go home". At the start of the movie, Dorothy doesn't say: "I wanna go kill a witch!" She wants to find a way home.
So Dorothy kills the witch. She melts.
Guess what? That means that Glinda is the only witch in the area of importance.
So what?
Well, killing apparently isn't the only way to get people to leave. The Wizard leaves too, to go home.
Which leaves pretty, sweet, Glinda to rule all of Munchkinland.
So yeah.
The story of the Wizard of Oz is actually a very complex plot in which Glinda kills off or gets rid of all her political adversaries, and ends up the sole dictator.
Not so rainbows and bubbles anymore huh?
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Summer Ruminations
It's been a while since I last blogged. Summer has gotten to me - a mixture of lethargic-ness on hot days and being freakishly busy, downtime sandwiched in between hours of running from place to place, person to person. It's almost like being on two different clocks: one that speeds up, one that slows down.
I feel like I've gotten a lot accomplished.
I probably haven't.
I thought about what currently keeps me busy this summer, and I nearly broke out laughing.
Besides working on the flute, and teaching martial arts, my other "job" this summer is teaching a fitness class.
Let me back up.
If someone told me that I would be teaching a fitness class four years ago, I would have looked at them like they were crazy.
I'm the girl that couldn't lift 10 pounds.
I'm the girl that vomited every time I finished running a mile.
I'm the girl who got B's in gym class - when all my other grades were A's.
Fitness was the last thing on my agenda. I figured I'd never do a physical class again once I hit college. (Well, besides martial arts. But I was only vaguely good at that while in high school.)
I was not SUPPOSED to teach this class.
But I am.
My life is awkward,
And I like it that way.
I feel like I've gotten a lot accomplished.
I probably haven't.
I thought about what currently keeps me busy this summer, and I nearly broke out laughing.
Besides working on the flute, and teaching martial arts, my other "job" this summer is teaching a fitness class.
Let me back up.
If someone told me that I would be teaching a fitness class four years ago, I would have looked at them like they were crazy.
I'm the girl that couldn't lift 10 pounds.
I'm the girl that vomited every time I finished running a mile.
I'm the girl who got B's in gym class - when all my other grades were A's.
Fitness was the last thing on my agenda. I figured I'd never do a physical class again once I hit college. (Well, besides martial arts. But I was only vaguely good at that while in high school.)
I was not SUPPOSED to teach this class.
But I am.
My life is awkward,
And I like it that way.
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
A Perfectly Logical Argument for the Existence God by an Atheist Using Homosexuality
Yes, you read the title correctly.
Look at it again. It hasn't changed.
Most of the time, a statement like that would be considered a complete oxymoron. It most certainly is blasphemy. But I promise, it is perfectly logical.
First, a disclaimer: I am an atheist. What does this mean? I do not believe the argument in which I am presenting. It is just something that occurred to me that should make a perfectly logical argument for the existence of God, but I do not necessarily BELIEVE it. It's just humorous to me.
So why would homosexuality make God exist?
(no amount of men wearing rainbows is going to bring about the "all-knowing")
Well, we have to look at evolution.
The definition of biological evolution is:
According to evolution - Homosexuality shouldn't exist.
Why? Well, by nature of being homosexual, gay people can't reproduce. Yes, yes I know technically due to surrogates and such, homosexual partners can have a baby. But its a difficult, and not exactly natural process. So in short, without medical procedures, it is impossible for two men or two women to have a baby.
This would be moronic for evolution. Evolution is designed to propel the species to the next best generation, not to STOP it altogether. For lack of a better word, evolutionary speaking - homosexuality was a mistake.
*Disclaimer: I am a HUGE supporter of the LGBT community, being bisexual myself, so I'm not saying that I think homosexuality IS a mistake, I'm saying that it doesn't make logical sense according to the theory of evolution*
But hey - homosexuals are here to stay (whether the religious-right likes it or not). But why?
Well, if you can't have babies and you want one, what are you probably going to do?
Adopt.
As of right now, the amount of orphans in the world are approximately 16.2 MILLION.
Heterosexual couples tend to have their own children, and only the wealthy few who decided that they could afford to adopt tend to house and raise these orphans.
There are still millions of children who deserve to have healthy, happy homes, with loving parents that can support having a family.
The solution?
These wonderful couples provide perfect homes for children that no longer have heterosexual parents, and get to grow up in a loving environment to become successful adults.
Evolution couldn't have thought that far.
Yes, the logical solution is this:
God made homosexuality in order to create the perfect parents for the rising orphan population problem.
If the church decided to take this idea and run with it, stop slandering the homosexual lifestyle, and decided to call homosexuality a "gift from god" - They'd be doing much better than they are now.
And they could reeeaaaally easily do so.
The only thing stopping them right now is Leviticus.
But hey, that's their problem.
Look at it again. It hasn't changed.
Most of the time, a statement like that would be considered a complete oxymoron. It most certainly is blasphemy. But I promise, it is perfectly logical.
First, a disclaimer: I am an atheist. What does this mean? I do not believe the argument in which I am presenting. It is just something that occurred to me that should make a perfectly logical argument for the existence of God, but I do not necessarily BELIEVE it. It's just humorous to me.
So why would homosexuality make God exist?
(no amount of men wearing rainbows is going to bring about the "all-knowing")
Well, we have to look at evolution.
The definition of biological evolution is:
Change in the genetic composition of a population during successive generations, as a result of natural selection acting on the genetic variation among individuals, and resulting in the development of new species.Quite simply, according to evolution, the population reproduces and takes the best qualities in order to create a stronger, smarter, healthier species.
According to evolution - Homosexuality shouldn't exist.
Why? Well, by nature of being homosexual, gay people can't reproduce. Yes, yes I know technically due to surrogates and such, homosexual partners can have a baby. But its a difficult, and not exactly natural process. So in short, without medical procedures, it is impossible for two men or two women to have a baby.
This would be moronic for evolution. Evolution is designed to propel the species to the next best generation, not to STOP it altogether. For lack of a better word, evolutionary speaking - homosexuality was a mistake.
*Disclaimer: I am a HUGE supporter of the LGBT community, being bisexual myself, so I'm not saying that I think homosexuality IS a mistake, I'm saying that it doesn't make logical sense according to the theory of evolution*
But hey - homosexuals are here to stay (whether the religious-right likes it or not). But why?
Well, if you can't have babies and you want one, what are you probably going to do?
Adopt.
As of right now, the amount of orphans in the world are approximately 16.2 MILLION.
Heterosexual couples tend to have their own children, and only the wealthy few who decided that they could afford to adopt tend to house and raise these orphans.
There are still millions of children who deserve to have healthy, happy homes, with loving parents that can support having a family.
The solution?
These wonderful couples provide perfect homes for children that no longer have heterosexual parents, and get to grow up in a loving environment to become successful adults.
Evolution couldn't have thought that far.
Yes, the logical solution is this:
God made homosexuality in order to create the perfect parents for the rising orphan population problem.
If the church decided to take this idea and run with it, stop slandering the homosexual lifestyle, and decided to call homosexuality a "gift from god" - They'd be doing much better than they are now.
And they could reeeaaaally easily do so.
The only thing stopping them right now is Leviticus.
But hey, that's their problem.
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