Of Shopping and Haircuts

I went shopping yesterday and managed to find all sorts of really cute trinkets. It's remarkable how much one can spend when one visits a shop that sells every single one of its items at a low fixed price. I managed to get a spot of garden fencing that could serve as a sword holder. Lovely, really, since I've not really got a proper place to put my swords. I got a haircut, too. Mom's crazy. Just 'coz she's got short hair, she expects me to keep mine short as well. Anyway, it was nice to get it trimmed some. Gives it more of a shape when I brush it all in place.

Time

Fenris has done it again. Got addicted to Adventure Quest for now. In fact, the main thing keeping Fenris at that silly game is the fact that Fenris has found a decent way to farm experience and gold at a decent rate whilst slaughtering lots of stuff with minimal inconvenience (except for time wasted) The game may be found at the Adventure Quest website What a way to spend time! Anyway, it can be seriously fun, so be warned! Fenris is currently trying to create a vampire Paladin. Fenris loves vampires, apparently, and the power of Paladins.

Dead Twigs

My neighbour finally decided to get rid of that infested twig stuck in a flower pot. Unfortunately, I believe the family's lazy. They pretty much yanked the twig from the pot, soil and all, and hauled it to the elevator landing. Unfortunately, the roots decided that they did not want to haul soil with them, and a great lump of earth was sitting on the staircase landing until it was cleared this morning. Well, at least the infestation will be limited...I hope. It's interesting how much a trail of soil from the pot to the landing, to that lump of earth and a further trail to the elevator can tell a person.

Jack In

We are all like users with limited access to the great cosmic database. Unfortunately, I don't know anyone with Root access. Anyway, what happens when one finally realizes that one does not have to log in to actually have a life? Perhaps one can attain a state of what some know as Nirvana. Me? I'm just more interested in accessing that great database. I bet there's all sorts of useful information in there. Who needs to log off when one can get...Root access.

Seeing Stuff

I see weird things. Why? Because I'm spaced out, drugged, my mind's flakey and I'm not blind. Oh and maybe it's coz I have a knack for associating almost anything to something that's stuck in my head. I do occasionally see strange things that disappear when I try to focus on 'em. Happy? No? Well...too bad. Anyway, I saw a bird and a hand in a cloud one day. Strangely Christian imagery, if you ask me. The hand appeared to be a hand of blessing. At least...I hope it is.

Parasites!

I've got a neighbour who keeps a dead plant in a pot. It wouldn't be such a problem if it weren't totally infested with some sort of weird fluffy white scale insect. The bug's spreading to the plants on our side! Best of all, for good neighbour relationships, my father elects to remove 'em as they appear instead of applying precise flames to the neighbours' dead twig to get rid of the horrible things. Ok. I admit, I do enjoy hunting those little bugs out and eliminating 'em, but I really would prefer to play Nausicaa and flame them to oblivion. I'm precise enough to handle it, but my father says...leave it alone. Well...it's his plants anyway. I'll be in my Mehve if anyone needs me.

Discussion

Wolf, why do you war within yourself when you desire peace? If one prepares for war to ensure peace, what keeps a war from breaking out just because someone wishes to ensure enduring peace? One can cool fire with heat no more than one can defeat war with war. Why is imagination so important to your mind? If you live less in your mind and more in the world, you become more aware. But what if I lose myself to the world? That is where you strike a balance between your self, and your perception of the world. That which is purifying in one instance may be corrupting in another.

Shit Jobs

One who has the ability to handle anything that comes by should take care lest one becomes required by the powers-that-be to handle tasks ordinary people would not be required to accomplish. A gifting is as much a burden as it is a privilege.

V-day came and went without much ado. I still feel kinda upset at having to spend the better part of my afternoon photocopying notes for the test and then sitting at home 'coz nobody asked me out. Anyway, I got a heart-shaped box of chocolates yesterday. Unfortunately, it was a product replacement for a rather nasty box of slightly stale chocolates. Feeling quite the bit of a loser about it, but at least I can still tell myself that I got a belated V-day gift. =p Hey! Fenris! Gimme a break already.

The Two Dogs

One day, a disciple asked the teacher to tell a story. The teacher obliged and told a tale.Two dogs were constantly fighting in a forest. One was full of anger and a general dislike for good order. The other was good by nature. Due to their inherent differences, they were constantly at war with one another. The disciple asked the teacher which dog won, since they were constantly fighting. The teacher replied, "The one I feed the most."

Groups

Groups. I hate groups. My father before me didn't hate them as much though. Guy stood me up, stuff that turns out looking half-baked despite our best efforts... I say we're better off going solo. But hey...they want us to be social, right?

Speaking of social, the neighbourhood tomcats seem to have taken a shine to me lately. If I stand still, they'd walk over and do a good bit of rubbing even without my coaxing 'em over. I must smell really fertile or something. Still, it's a spot of a disgrace to have a wolf being this attractive to cats. Ugh. Shoo~~...oh but rubbing's welcome, though...erm...go!

Alive

Am I alive? Yes I am. How do I know that I am alive? Because I feel. Do not disembodied spirits feel? Yes they do, but not pain. Disembodied spirits can feel pain in their own way. I breathe. Machines breathe. Are machines alive? No, they are not. Why? They breathe. It is because they do not think. Computers think. No, computers are programmed into how they think. Are people not programmed into their limited fields of thought, limited to the framework within which their learned language allows? People can learn as they go. As can computers. No, computers are taught what they can learn. Peopl can learn only some things because they are willing to learn them. What makes people more alive than computers? People eat. Machines eat, too. Gasoline is the food of many machines. Living things grow. Automated factories grow more machines out of the raw materials. I can be killed. And thus, are you alive.

Awareness and Self

Is it possible to entirely divorce awareness from self? If one can only become aware by saying "I am", one can have no hope of separating the two. Such a pursuit would require one to have an awareness of the reality as it truly is, without the constant gauge of reality in relation to the self. Absolute objectivity of observation may well be the ultimate goal.

Towards a Gender-Free Society

The greatest oppression that society imposes on its members is the fixed concept of gender. While some may insist on the link between sex and gender, it is a rather oversimplistic and skewed view to have. It may be that sexual differentiation is often binary. However, linking sexual differentiation to a strictly binary social construct known as gender has several problematic implications. For one, the non-conformity to a rigid set of standards can only breed discontent. Moreover, the imposition of gender norms will only serve to mold the members of the affected society into certain personas that often have no urge to transcend this social construct in order to improve themselves. An example would be gender stereotypes regarding technological apparatus like computers. Most importantly, the resultant gender gap can only lead to misunderstandings between the sexes. Even heterosexual marriages are bound to suffer in such arrangements. Granted, it may have been successful in less hectic times. However, the impact of the gender divide and hectic lifestyle together has a marked impact on the proportion of enduring marriages in the modern age. In fact, the modern people should have probably been able to divorce sex from gender by now, given the scientific possibilities that make sex completely separate from gender, and how women have sought equal rights as citizens. It is the status quo that keeps people from moving towards this ideal, though. What has always been cannot change without a massive shift in the power structure.

Bombardment

I had a dream of a strange bombardment in a shopping district. Meteors fell from the sky, screaming like tormented souls as they hit the ground. And where they landed, small circles of blue flame spread over the ground and incinerated those unfortunate enough to be nearby. Later on, more meteors came, screaming as before. These, however, burst on the ground and released swarms of fiery beings that chased people down and incinerating them before dissipating. By then, everyone was in a panic and dashing underground. Some tried to catch the meteors before they landed, but the building collapsed before they could succeed.

Of Greed and Government

The success of modern governments in controlling the population stems from the greed of the common folk. They are easily bribed by the meager stipends into doing their jobs, fooling themselves into thinking that they are doing a duty to the people by preserving "public order". In truth, there is no way that a government can maintain its hold over the people without the integrity of its pyramidal hierarchical structure. None are willing to give up their newfound wealth as dogs of the State just for the sake of human liberty and dignity. That is why even worthy opponents of the political regime are cheerfully put down by the very same citizens they seek to protect.