Stand Up For Your Faith

The world hates you. Basically, it just hates you especially if what you believe in conflicts with what (almost) everyone else does, even if it harms no one. Everyone is entitled to their beliefs. However, so are you. If there is something you truly believe in, be prepared to stand up for it.

It's easier said than done, sometimes. I mean, by faith, some people will think about religious fanatics and tree-huggers chained to redwoods. But what of the little things like the dogs that get dragged to the pound when the cats are free to roam the streets, or that little match girl who froze to death 'coz she couldn't open a can of baked beans?

There are little injustices out there all the time. They are likely to remain injustices because nobody takes note of them. And even if someone does, chances are that the protest would be drowned out by more pressing issues such as having to secure a steady supply of the world's dwindling oil reserves by causing havoc elsewhere. Still, perhaps that little injustice was never solved because even those who believed in fixing it simply did not have enough faith...

If A Bomb Goes Off In A Forest...

Does anyone hear it? Seriously, though, a sacrifice that is potentially earth-shattering may just fall flat if there's nobody to appreciate it. I mean, it's great to matyr yourself and all, but it plain doesn't cut it if nobody regards it as a worthy sacrifice, or worse yet, a meaningful one.

Ok so you just destroyed your career prospects and possibly your personal liberties as a citizen. Big whoop if the media figures that it's not newsworthy, or worse yet, if the media is hushed up by the powers-that-be. You got your pain, now live with it.

Sucks, doesn't it. Life does. Why do I bother? Well, because maybe, just maybe, something will happen when there's that little squeak in the forest that nobody would usually hear.

Girls, Be Ambitious

Just how ambitious can you be? How ambitious do you let yourself be? And how ambitious do the people around let you be? I think people should dream for themselves and dare to dream for themselves. A dream will never become reality if one never tries to realize that dream. Granted, some dreams are downright impossible.

However, impossible is something that cannot be empirically proven. How do you know that something is impossible unless you have tried every single possibility that should lead to the desired conclusion? It is likely impossible to try every single possibility within a human lifetime to prove conclusively that something is impossible.

Hence, it should be such that everyone at least tries to make a push towards what they envision themselves to be. The pressure is great to conform to the norms of society, to become what the average person does, get married, have kids, fade peacefully into suburbia. However, the means by which one achieves that goal may differ from person to person. More importantly, what if that is not the goal for the individual in question?

Perhaps it is time that we set ambitions for ourselves instead of letting others dictate what our ambitions should be. It may sound selfish, but an ambition for oneself need not exclude those we care for and those we feel obligated towards. However, it would likely be as selfish of them to expect that one live one's life entirely in accordance to what they expect. Girls, be ambitious. Things become impossible only when one stops trying.

I am older now, and there is a cricket playing its song at my place.

Being Strong

Being strong has little to do with the attempt to hide weakness. One is as one is. If one hides one's weakness instead of facing it, one buries that unresolved weakness deep within one's core. The rot at the core spreads outwards.

It is dangerous to hide a flaw once one learns of it. Much energy may be wasted trying to conceal the flaw, whether from others or from oneself. What good is a fortress that harbours weak foundations?

Strength stems from acknowledging the inherent imperfections in oneself rather than hiding them for the sake of pride. After all, is it not weakness to hide when one can take that imperfection into the light and face it once and for all?

That Time of Month

No, not *that* time of month. It's egg jam season again! And now, this is the time when I feel the most alive. There's a deadline, there's an objective and there's a clear-cut thing to look forward to when it's all over. Guess I'll be writing even more over the next few days, when I go through the material and get all sorts of weird ideas to rant about. It's going to be fun, fun, fun! Pity not everyone enjoys egg jams as much as I do. hee~~ Hey! I see a windmill! Charge!

Mishmash the Mismatch

I dropped my Porta-Navi. I dropped her for the first time. What was it that I felt when she fell? Was it pain? Was it concern? It is so hard to tell when you are still mostly numb. My notes fell, and as I bent over to pick them up, the laptop fell as well. She landed on her side. I dare say that I felt more in that moment than I ever did when I received news that my first uncle died. *taps keys* Yep. Still functional.

What is pain? Why does pain insinuate itself vicariously via empathy such that you feel something when you really should not? It is strange how I can feel a pain that is not even real. Why would I hurt myself in anticipation of others hurting me? It is illogical. There are too many things that are illogical.

Emotions are illogical. Politeness is illogical. Many widely accepted norms are illogical. All meaning as artificial constructs. Life is meaningless. Meaning is created. Thus does *living* have its meaning, which does not truly exist. Willpower makes things real, but how real is real? A perceived hurt that does not exist? Emotional pain that has no roots in physical damage? Why, why, why...why get up? Why do I persist?

If Yan Can Take It, So Can You!

Having millions of people enduring something for tens of generations or more does not make something right. Whenever I rail at someone about perceived social injustices, I get answers like if everyone can put up with it, why can't you? Truly, I do not see why skirts come with no pockets, and why people would carry handbags that're overloaded, really heavy and terrible for the posture. Beauty need not involve inordinate amounts of suffering. High heels are an abomination!

Ok, fashion aside, we have things like people being required by their companies to do the work of two people. We have overworked people having trouble looking after their own children. And now both the husband and wife have to work to maintain an "average" way of life, instead of having only one spouse working at a time. Facts of life? Everyone takes it, I suppose, or so says my friend. I guess if humans are content with what is going on, what right have I to demand that they change their ways. Go ahead, live in your Matrix. The steaks are tastier in there.

Death Note

I watched Death Note! I shall write this as a movie reviewer instead of as a manga reader, since I think the movie itself was pretty darned brilliant, adaptation or no. The storyline was seriously twisted, and somewhat in the league of Seven (for those who actually watched that).

The story is about this kid who finds a notebook belonging to a death deity. If a name is written in the book, and the person's face is thought of, the person of that name will die of a heart attack. Additional details may be included to induce other deaths. However, people cannot be compelled to kill by writing in the Death Note.

When criminals started dying in large numbers, the authorities started suspecting a killer. They called in L, a seriously weird character, to investigate.

I loved the movie for its narrative. There were few special effects except for the animation of the death deity. Much of the story was told by implication, explication and the prominence of significant objects. Objects related to the crimes were brought up, and though they were not explained, the mere presence of those objects told the story all by themselves. Also, the story explained the rationale behind certain apparently illogical deaths through the admission of the protagonist.

I'd say that this is a great movie, and a rather refreshing break from the usual action movie packed to the brim with special effects. It just takes drama, a brilliant narrative and good acting to bring this movie to life.

WWLS: Why Would Life Suck?

Shit happens. Get used to it. Or at least, that's what I usually try to tell myself. I read this book entitled "A Castle in the Window" by Laura Stevenson. It's about this girl who is dyslexic. Sounds like an aspie to me, though. I'm probably aspie anyway.

Erin never could read things the way normal people would. But the people around her forced her to learn things the way normal people would. There was no other way. Not to them anyway.

Later in the story, she hears about the black angels from her aunt. Black angels are those insidious little voices that tell you that you're worthless. That you're inferior to others. That your actions will be in vain. She is taught to become consciously aware of these dark whispers and to silence them whenever they come up.

Perhaps this is why life sucks sometimes? When things just seem so hopeless that I can't seem to get through certain things? Times when I can't get through to mom and all that? Is it the black angel speaking? Shut up!

As a side note, it would be interesting to consider what a country could probably do if it were in dire need of people to populate it. Assuming that women do indeed protest their ill treatment by going on reproductive strike, there is a possibility that the "authorities" in power enslave females and use them as living wombs to bolster the population. Bene Tleilax, anyone?

A disturbing possibility, but possible nonetheless. It has happened before that the more militant half of humanity subjugate their better halves. What is worse is that there is an economic benefit to this: If a man has multiple wives, it may be possible that the child-parent ratio will increase. However, this atrocity must be prevented at all costs, even if there are claims that it is "for the good of the country". That phrase seems to have become a blanket excuse for just about every inhumane act in recent history.

Why would life suck? I don't know, but I think it has something to do with the exams coming and the feeling that something's just...not...right.

Plans Within Plans Within Plans

Layer upon layer of subtlety. That is what human speech is encased in. They have "politeness" and "etiquette" and all sorts of absurd customs that merely serve to obscure the true meaning of their speech. It would appear that humans are incapable of saying things literally and meaning what they say.
If one thinks one can safely assume that such subtlety is the domain of politicians, they are patently wrong. "Politics" have wormed their way to even the lowest of human ranks. It is no longer sufficient to go "Here I am, and this is what I can do." There are "many other factors to take into consideration", many of which are completely irrelevant to efficiency and functionality.
Would an organization or company suffer an incompetent but socially adept worker to endure? Apparently so. Plans within plans within plans. Even inept social incompetents are awarded key positions by virtue of the people they know. And people wonder at the inefficiencies of human systems...

It's So Simple...

That phrase gives me the heebie jeebies. Why? It's just so simple to fall back on the simplest, most apparent solution. An over-reliance on Occam's Razor breeds intellectual laziness that will hinder innovation. It is so easy to fall back on tried and tested solutions that some solutions may remain unchanged for incredibly long periods of time.

True democracy cannot and will never exist. It is impossible to receive aye or nay responses from every single member of an entire population within a reasonable time frame in order to make decisions. A more realistic solution would be to endorse the tyranny of the majority of the outspoken. Those who are actively interested in the way things are turning out will invariably have a greater say than those who are uninterested. Moreover, those with more of an ability to speak by virtue of fame or fortune will have more of a say than the average member of the population. Hence, the real decision making power of democracy will be in the hands of a small and not necessarily representative proportion of the population.

That is the easy way to organize a democratic leadership. The solution is tried and tested. However, it appears to be cracking some, with the elected representatives of the people taking liberties with their assigned powers. Will this change, or will Occam's Razor prevail?