Weather

Much as one hates rain, one should refrain from manipulating the storm just to stay dry. I'd say...go with the cats. Cats know how to stay dry. They move into shelter when the rain comes. Even slightly directing a wind can have far-reaching effects on the weather that one may not be aware of. That's why one should not be using the abilities for frivolous reasons. There are always consequences to actions. Hell, there are even consequences to inaction. Anyway, it's a rainy day today. I like rain because it cools the surroundings. The ground seems so clean after a rain. Beats the road sweeps.

Unity

The word for the Rite of Awakening is "unity". The union of past, present and future. The fall of the veil that keeps the three separate. One needs to bring mind, body and soul together, to know what one truly is, was and would become. It is the new bond that shall be forged once the old ones are shattered. Knowledge of all the three parts will unite, and there is nothing that one knows that remains alone. The three struggle as one, as the troubles of each are mirrored in one another.

The art of casting one's will forth

There is a technique for casting one's will forth, but different people have different ways of doing it. For those who have sufficient focus to project their intentions, merely thinking of it will suffice. For others, though, a focus may be necessary. Some use implements and aids to help amplify and focus their intention. For others, the thoughts may be concentrated and directed by using words, usually poetry. Poetry is especially useful when getting thoughts to flow.

Lies, Intended or Otherwise

We are often brought up by our parents to tell the truth at all times, even when it hurts. Yet we are also told to tell white lies from time to time, to ease others' passage through life. The main problem, however, is how people often try to convince others despite not knowing the truth themselves. They may try to tell others that some things in life are "impossible" and that people should just not even bother aiming for those goals. To the best of their knowledge and intentions, that may be true. The reality, however, is likely to be very different. The spread of misinformation can be devastating. Sometimes, people even develop their own sort of sweet poison by telling others what they think is true, even they are aware that alternatives exist. I think people are just not ready for the truth. They are literally unable to handle it. Tell someone the bitter truth, and you may feel that it is better to have lied and kept the truth to yourself.

She's Got Issues

Yep yep. Went to the repair guy's with my motherboard, processor, RAM and his wonderful card. Once again, his system performed flawlessly (how the @#$#$% do they do that!). Anyway, he was perceptive enough to note a high pitched sound coming from the video card and volunteered to swap it again. I nearly turned him down, but figured that there was no harm to it. It turns out that that was the magic trick. The new card is working fine despite the load on it from the benchmark software. I guess the loan card was faulty after all. There was nothing wrong with my motherboard or drivers. Why, oh why, do you repair guys always get stuff done right when my stuff can go so wrong? Technology hates me.

Terrible!

It turns out that the graphics card was probably not the issue after all. The card the repair guy lent to me has a similar problem when I ran the benchmark program on it. I installed a fresh copy of windows on a separate harddisk and it did not help one bit. I do not think the card was faulty, so perhaps it is the motherboard. Looks like it's time for a major operation. *puts on surgical mask* Relax, Navi. This won't hurt one bit...

Vid Card Issues

My video card has decided to show up all sorts of horrible screen distortions. When I ran any sort of 3d game on it, the screen would corrupt for no apparent reason, yet would not hang. Being the suspicious one that I am, I brought it to the repair shop to get it fixed (it was still under warranty). Instead of acting up at the shop, the card performed perfectly well! Murphy...I'll wring your neck for this! Fortunately, the repair guy figured that I looked sufficiently pathetic and my card appeared to be damaged (some strange coloration at some part of the card), so he agreed to send it for servicing. The strangest thing was that the card ran without load at an average of 70 Deg C at my place, with the casing open, yet ran at 50 Deg C at his place. Take note of that, Fenris.

V!

V is for Valkyr. V is for Vendetta. I liked Vendetta a lot more than I liked the Valkyr (which I like a great lot). Anyway, Vendetta had exactly what I sought in a movie. Some dagger violence, Natalie Portman, stuff being blown up to the 1812 Overture and a revolution against the corrupt powers that be. Besides, the creators had deemed fit to provide a nice Agent Smith moment when masked citizens dressed as V. *nods to Hugo Weaving* On the whole, this movie has less emphasis on action than it does on intrigue and little plot twists. It has exceeded the expectation people may have of Hollywood flicks being mindlessly violent (drat you, History of Violence). V also had some interesting references to real-world icons, such as Hitler and the A for Anarchy logos. Whether this was intentional in the original graphic novels I dare not say, for I, regrettably, have not read them just yet.

On the whole, I'd give V a heavily biased 5/5 on account of Natalie Portman and the explosive Overture. Oh, and I really liked it when V had his little alliterative barrage. It's amazing, how many relevant words starting with V that you can chain in a single coherent sentence. Kudos to the script writers! The ending was exactly what I would like to see in a movie that involves a fanatical hero, though I shan't spoil the fun of others by revealing exactly what that is.

Ignorance

I was on the train today and noticed that it was nearly empty. Turns out that today is a part of the school holidays and the train was devoid of children. How strange it feels, to detach so easily from what was once familiar. I once bemoaned my parents forgetting that my school holidays were starting. It turns out that it comes as easily to me, when I've reached the stage where I really wasn't bothered. Perhaps this is why the plight of the marginalized is seldom known by those in mainstream society.

From Tribes to Nations

Humans are pack animals that seek to band together in groups far larger than any pack. This is unusual, since any human group that has a followers numbering more than an average pack under a single leader invariably falls into disarray and becomes dissolved with time. Interestingly enough, large numbers of humans choose to deceive themselves into following their leaders by assigning symbols that they believe that they can look up to. A piece of cloth with paint on it becomes a flag that represents the nation-tribe they hail from. A piece of paper with numbers on it becomes more valuable than life itself, even when it cannot be traded for anything that is truly valuable. And then they assign symbols against other humans so that those humans are demonized and taken to be something even less than human. With both sides believing the same thing of the other, they gladly charge to their deaths waving a piece of cloth. Interestingly enough, humans are incapable of uniting against non-humans; they are only capable of effectively banding against other humans that they believe to be dehumanized. The only difference between a tribe and a nation is the number of humans involved. After all, a hundred million engaging in the same foolishness is obviously more acceptable than thirty indulging in the exact same stupidity.
Humans: The most gullible animals since lemmings.

Islanders

The next time someone rebukes you for having self-pity by saying that you're not the only one suffering, just punch them in the face before responding. After all, even if everyone has to endure the nonsense bureaucracy tosses at them, not everyone is smart enough to recognize that they're being oppressed and exploited. Most humans just learn to accept their lot in life and get on with things by the path of least resistance. So yes. It is entirely possible that you ARE the only one suffering, mainly because others choose to lie to themselves that they're doing OK and that EVERYONE goes through it. A whole tribe of lemmings deciding to drown themselves in the sea does not make it a "right" or "smart" move for them.

Strange Dreams

I've had another dream regarding snakes. I seem to be dreaming about snakes a lot. The weirdest thing is that even though I've slain a great snake in a dream, I still harbour a fear of the dream-serpents, even when they are not hostile to me. There is a great evil that yet haunts me, and there must be a way to eradicate it. I'm not supposed to fear, because they are weaker than I am. Yet I do, which should not be the case. There is more to the world than meets the eye.

Privacy

My friend made an interesting comment today. He claimed that those who insisted on having privacy have something to hide. If one were to accept his argument, one would be inclined to believe that the government and corporations' monitoring of the people are justified if they do not use the information in ways that are adverse to the peoples' interests. However, such information can be irritating, at best, for others to have. It can be downright harmful at worst. For example, people may receive unsolicited spam and "personalized" advertising. That would be rather unpleasant most of the time. However, something that is apparently trivial may come back to haunt someone if that piece of information were to come to light at a later date. That person may not feel that the information needs to be hidden, yet may come to regret releasing or allowing others to acquire it. Knowledge is a double edged sword, and privacy is often more desirable than not, even though many try to convince others otherwise.

Of Soulmates

How does one know when one encounters The Soulmate? Does one tingle all over and just "know"? What if one just happens to really really like someone else, but is unaware that that particular someone is just a very good friend and not really The One? It's a big world out there, and there is probably only one person who can qualify as The Soulmate. Perhaps most people never have the fortune or misfortune of ever finding their soulmate. For all we know, The Soulmate could just be one's worst enemy, for the two are so closely linked that the feelings cannot help but conflict, with both sides acutely aware of the other's inadequacies. It's a scary thought. Then again, I do believe that someone has someone else out there who would be the perfect partner. The only thing one needs to do is to find that one.

Accounting for Luck

There is no such thing as luck. In fact, even if luck exists, it would be a rather bizarre concept in itself. The fact that that I have survived this long is probably indicative of a huge pool of luck. Considering the myriad possibilities of my getting killed in various ways every single second of every single day, I must be pretty lucky to even be able to write this.
Luck is seldom accounted for, and even if one can try to account for it, one may never know how lucky one really is. For example, the car that rolled past the traffic light could have a major internal problem that could have caused it to run someone over. But the fact that that someone was so lucky helped prevent the problem from acting up at that precise moment, resulting in another piece of yummy roadkill. However, when the car does skid and plaster roadkill all over the road, that person is deemed to be extremely unlucky. I think that if luck exists, it is grossly poorly accounted for. Plus, if luck can "run out" and winning the lottery takes lots of luck, that person could well have been run over by that car because that person had expended the lucky surplus winning the lottery. Hence, gambling wastes luck. Stop gambling today.

The Fearsome Stare

Fenris has successfully used the Fearsome Stare(tm). A true Fenris can make a man back away with a single stare. Fenris was rounding a corner when Fenris saw a man. Fenris gave the man the Fearsome Stare(tm) and the poor guy moved back a single step in surprise. Fenris is ready.

It would appear that my father's plants are in order now. In fact, it appears to have a couple of little plantlets sticking out of the soil near to the mother plant. Wonderful sight, really. It would appear that the little white scale problem is subsiding after the removal of that horrible infested twig. Oh, and the bonsai pot is interesting. Some of the mosses aren't faring too well whilst one patch of dried moss (that I rescued from school) appears to be thriving. I see the sporangia sticking out already. It's a cheerful sight.