Monday, August 31, 2009

Most of my many thoughts this week have been about love. Not the silly boy-meets-girls-they-kinda-fight-but-eventually-fall-for-each-other-because-they-were-made-for-each-other stuff.

I mean love for fellow beings.

Tolerance isn't good enough.

What the world needs now is love.

Pathetic, isn't it, that even though I believe this more than anything, I can't find it in myself to get past petty high school arguments and love the people around me. It's easier to love people half way across the world than to love your super-obnoxious co-workers (or super creepy ones, for that matter).

There's far more stuff in my head on that. But you wouldn't want to hear all that.

But if you want to make the world a better place, think of the person in the world that bothers you the most and love them.

None of this activism crap.

Monday, August 24, 2009

Brushfire fairytales
Itsy bitsy diamond wells
Big fat hurricanes
Yellow bellied given names
Well shortcuts can slow you down
And in the end we're bound
To rebound off of we

Well dust off your thinking caps
Solar powered plastic plants
Pretty pictures of things we ate
We are only what we hate
But in the long run we have found
Silent films are full of sound
Inaudibly free

Slow down everyone
You're moving too fast
Frames can't catch you when
You're moving like that

Inaudible melodies
Serve narrational strategies
Unobtrusive tones
Help to notice nothing but the zone
Of visual relevancy
Frame-lines tell me what to see
Chopping like an axe

Or maybe Eisenstein should just relax

Slow down everyone
You're moving too fast
Frames can't catch you when
You're moving like that

Well Plato's cave is full of freaks
Demanding refunds for the things they've seen
I wish they could believe
In all the things that never made the screen
And just slow down everyone
You're moving too fast
Frames can't catch you when
You're moving like that
Slow down everyone
You're moving too fast
Frames can't catch you when
You're moving like that
My brain has been feeling turmoil-y since Friday. I'm really sure as to the cause of this. Actually, I'm aware of some causes, but not all I think. One I think is that school is starting soon for everyone but me and now I'm starting to second guess my decision to take time off, but now there's nothing I can do. Also, I'm worried about my $ situation. I'm working so much and I don't seem to be able to get ahead of the bills and my compulsive money spending habits. Ugh. It will be easier in the fall when i don't have a car and my friends can't bum rides to everywhere off of me. But they will also be far away (in Guelph and KW. All of like 30 mins max...).

In spite of, or maybe because of all this, I feel like my brain is moving again. Stress makes me think better. Also the mad amounts of books I've been able to read. Here is a list that I think is mostly complete of the books I've read at work this summer.

-Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand (love!)
-Many Waters by Madeleine L'Engle
-Coraline by Neil Gaiman
-The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
-The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Edwards
-The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
-A Brief History of the British Monarchy by (I don't remember!)
-The Art of War by a bunch of different people
-The Cosmic Trilogy by C.S. Lewis
-The Lord of the Rings Trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkein
-Fairest by Gail Carson Levine

I think that's it. I'm currently working on A Short History of Russia. I'm at about the 13th century. The book starts in around the 9th century. I like reading history books because every once in a while the author will throw in some nerd humour and it makes me giggle.

My spellcheck is telling me I spelled humour incorrectly. I KNOW HOW TO SPELL! YOU DON'T. GO FLUSH YOURSELF DOWN AN AMERICAN TOILET!

In other news, I'm having a baby.

*EDITED TO ADD* I forgot that I also read Call of the Wild by Jack London and Manalive and The Ball and the Cross by G.K. Chesterton and that I'm not having a baby.

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Believing Something

I'm always impressed by people who believe stuff. Someone who can say without any doubts that they stand for a cause or against something specific make me wish I wasn't so generally apathetic (I'm like a plankton in that respect).

Here is why I thought of this:
"Albania 1982: under the Communist dictator Enver Hoxha, Albania held elections in which all adults were entitled to vote. However, they were only allowed to vote for or against the Communist nominee, no other candidates being allowed. Furthermore, the ballot was not secret. Only one voter voted 'no', giving a 99.99999% majority."
-BBC Knowledge Magazine

The point the magazine was trying to make was about how decisive the election vote was (highest support in history) but that doesn't matter much to me. I want to shake that person's hand. And give them a hug and a million dollars. It's likely that they died, because that specific dictator, although he advanced the literacy and health systems of the country, was also know for injustice to individuals. I'm guessing everyone else who didn't want to vote yes just didn't vote. One person went out and said. "I don't care that you'll kill me and that you know who I am and where I live. I think you're wrong and I'm going to say so."
Can you imagine that news broadcast? After that person voted no, they would have had to find out that they were the only one.

I think that's spectacular. And I heard cool new music today on CBC Radio 2. Here!

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

ahem...

I'm working on a bigger post, but I had this to say:

I'm reading a book called the Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky (I want to be Russian!) and it's making me sad. I'm worried it's gonna turn out like french novels in which every one ends up either dead or miserable. I really like the main character, Alyosha (aka Alexander or Alexey). He's so sane in a family of douchebags. They all use him and trust him and love him but only for what he does for them. I want to give him a hug. Or rather, I want him to get a hug at some point in the story. If the Russians are at all like the french, he's gonna turn into a prick (Dorian Gray style) and then get himself killed (which would be very Victor Hugo-esque). I think I sometimes take books too personally...

Jack Johnson can make it better. And it turns out I love parentheses. Hmm.

Sunday, August 2, 2009

Things that make me absurdly happy

I'm compiling this list because I've actually been thinking about it a lot recently. I've been having violent mood swings (fairly normal for me) but some things have helped me stay on the brighter side. Have I blogged about this before? I think I might have. Oh well, you can't really have too much happy....

1: My horse/ the barn. I love being there because I'm usually just by myself and it's super relaxing. Working with Jemma makes me feel like I'm not necessarily wasting my life on youtube.
2: Youtube. All you people who think this constitutes life wasting have never discovered its joys.It has all music ever imagined, all comedy ever imagined, and a lot of just plain weird stuff. Type "Benny Lava" into the search bar and watch the first thing that comes up. I dare you.
3: Comedy. Especially british comedy. If I feel stressed out, this is one of the best ways for me to just release all the anger and whatnot and feel good. Along with this are such shows as Family Guy, That 70's Showw, Scrubs, and Arrested Development.
4: Music. This has always been a bit of a difficult balance to find. If I listen to to much my brain gets all cluttered up and I don't hear any of it. But I love good music. Usually I go in spurts, kinda. Recently I fell in love with Beirut. Actually, I fell in love with the bass player. He has the coolest hat.
5: Friends. That's what they're for. Some more than others though.
6: Caffeine. This is a little sad, but here's the thing: it just makes me feel so at ease and genial and happy. I know that it's a drug rush and all, but that really doesn't matter to me when I'm happy.
7: Food. Especially ribs or steak or ice cream or pie or whatever. Mmmmmm....
So that's that. I'm a little bit annoyed just now because I was thinking about the fact that it's a couples world. Not that I want a boyfriend, but I don't like showing up at events where everyone is all paired up. Makes it awkward(er) for me.

Anyway, this afternoon I'm going sailing with my dad and sisters and my older sister's boyfriend who is visiting from Alberta. Tonight I will prolly go to the drive in in Guelph with a few people. Funfunfun.