0.7 Final Exam Blues

Ok, right now I’m taking a short little break from studying.  I feel like I don’t have time to read everything and know everything for tomorrow afternoon.  I know it’ll all be ok.  It has to be.  I’m not freaking out quite yet.  I think everything will be fine.

As for what’s going on in the world outside these walls, I really don’t have much of a clue what’s going on.  I haven’t watched much TV or read much of anything (not like I really believe anything on the news anyway).   So, I cannot comment on anything like that.

Well, back to studying.  Oh, and Sufjan Stevens has an excellent X-mas album.

Look out for an awesome worldly-viewish post on Wednesday.

0.6 Back To Business

Well, back after a long, long layoff. I’ve had so much to say but no time to say it. Now, I can start doing it again.

So, what am I going to talk about? Well, after my experience today, it has to be crazy Christmas.

The roads become slick, icy and dangerous. People can tend to become careless and reckless and just crazy at this time of the year. Due to these circumstances, it’s almost hell driving. Just tonight, driving to pick up someone, we nearly hit a lady who decided she was going to cross the road, and seconds later some idiot in a truck nearly slams into the side of us because he was a little impatient and decided to pass on the non-cleared lane.

I understand what time of year it is, but, people, please just relax and STOP rushing. Things will get done in due time. This time of year people think that if they don’t get their stuff done in a certain time the world will end. This means people are stressed unnecessarily and that causes worse things to happen. Tempers start to flair, attitudes explode and one big mess ensues. Just calm down people. Life will continue.

I’m keeping this short. I’ll see you on Sunday.

0.5 Life and Death

Today a tragic accident occured in New York.  Yankee pitcher Corey Lidle crashed his plane into an appartment complex killing himself, another person on board and possibly other people in the building.

Now, there was conversation that all the baseball games should be cancelled today due to this incident.  It doesn’t look like any of the games will be cancelled because of Mr. Lidle’s death.  Should the games be cancelled because a player died or should they continue on?  I think we have to go with the “he/she would want us to continue” cliche.  I don’t think the death of a single person should shut down a whole league.  It would just be like if someone in a large business were to perish.  Would the whole place shut down?  Of course not.  There would be a moment of silence and recognition of that person and their life, as well as therapists to help certain people deal with the death.  I know that death is a big deal, but life must go on.  People will obviously mourn but their lives will continue on.

The topic of death is always a hard one to deal with.  It could happen to any one at any time.  Still, death is a part of life.

0.4 My Canadian Identity

I know this is a little late (or a little early). This post is to make up for the missed one on Wednesday. It’s about time, ha.

What I’ve come to talk about tonight is the Canadian Identity. We say that we are Canadian, but that we’ve also come from somewhere else. No one is purely, 100% Canadian. You’re always 10% one thing, 25% another, 5% something else, etc., etc. This is clearly relevant when it comes to sports, especially soccer. No other sport brings out your heritage than the sport of soccer. Everyone from all the “little” cities come out in full force to support their soccer teams. Canada plays a soccer game? Barely any huff or puff made about it. Italy is playing? Portugal is playing? Well, it’s time to get the face paint and flag all ready.

I’m not saying that anything is wrong with this. I just find it sort of interesting that we always have another place we identify as “where we came from.” Where our ancestors came from is where we identify. Some people feel stronger about this concept than others, but it is, nonetheless, widespread. Even Natives don’t completely identify themselves as “from Canada” as it’s almost always from the band that they are from.

Could this sense of a real Canadian identity be that Canada is relatively a new country? I believe so. But, how long is it until those born and raised in Canada purely Canadian? 5, 10, 15 generations? Will it ever happen? Who knows. Could it be that Canada really doesn’t have that rich a history? We haven’t even been around for 150 years. Yes, there has been people living here for thousands of years, but they’ve never been a unified country.

I know that I, personally, refer to myself as Canadian, with Slovak, English and a variety of other nationalities that make up who I am. I think without acknowledging that history I can’t truely identify my whole heritage and those that have brought me to where I am, my family, present and past.

Maybe that’s why you don’t find a true Canadian. We all have a history. I’m sure when countries were starting to form all those thousands of years ago, people didn’t always identify themselves as being from that country. It seems a nation needs an entrenched history for people to truely identify with them. Many will say that immigration is a huge part of what makes up Canada and that may be why people refer to themselves as something else. But, immigration occurs all over the world, yet people still identify themselves with a certain group.

Maybe we don’t know what a Canadian really is. There is no true definition for it. We don’t have an ethnic culture. We are a mish-mash of different people. We are just a land with people.

We are all Canadians, but we all came from somewhere else. History will make us one.

0.3 The Superficial World

Well, here I am. This will be a regular update day for me, as well as Wednesdays. These days I’ll do a post about something in this world that affects me one way or another. Any other day, I will reply to any questions and whatnot.

I’m going to just briefly touch on how this world has become so overly superficial. I know that I personally can be superficial at times, but I do realize this and I don’t feel very good about it. You don’t have to go very far in this world to see just how superficial everything as become. Turn on the TV, open a magazine, walk down the street. Everywhere. In advertising, in shows, people on the street. Superficiality has become the norm in today’s society. If you are a woman and you’re not slim, slender, skinny and drop-dead gorgeous, you’re considered to be ugly. If you weigh a little over 100lbs, you’re fat and gross. If you’re a man and you’re not buff, ripped and a model, then you’re no good. It’s sick how this is all protrayed all over Western culture. Television and movies just perpetuate this whole ideal of a perfect person, and anything less than perfect is bad. It’s all because sex sells.

I’m sure if sex didn’t sell so well than we wouldn’t have such a problem with superficiality. Sadly, it does. And, sadly, that’s what we will continue to see. People will continue to see so called “sexy” as being what’s right and so called “ugly” as being wrong. It’s just not right. People cannot live up to these standards. People get sick trying. People die trying. Everyone just needs to step back and see that this is all horribly wrong. I mainly blame advertising and the sorts as the reason to this world being so overly superficial. If not for them, the norm would be everyday people like you and me, not some photoshopped model you see all over ads.

It’s up to you and me and everyone else to realize and let the world know that it’s ok not to fit some unreachable ideal. We have to be able to see others as being normal. Being superficial and looking at outer beauty is something that’s wrong with this world. It’s something we can change though.

I’ll talk more about this issue at a later date.

0.2 First Answered Questions

From Chandra: do you think Terrell Owens really tried to commit suicide? What’s your opinion of Marilyn Manson?

i) Do I think Terrell Owens tried to commit suicide? I don’t think so. Reasons being? Well, first off, Terrell Owens loves Terrell Owens too much to even contemplate suicide. I also think that his publicist made it all out to be a lot worse than the situation really was in the first place. The police went by her report of what happened and that’s why it was called an apparent “suicide” case. Also, I think the media took a little thing and made it the next big thing to report. So, no, I do not think Terrell Owens tried to commit suicide.

ii) What do I think of Marilyn Manson? I think the man is a genius. He makes music that he enjoys and also tries to make a statement at the same time. It’s only by pure coincidence that some of those that have listened to him have gone on to commit horrendous offences. I think Marilyn Manson is one of the few people who really sees what is going on in the world. He expresses those views via his music.

I hope this answers your questions.  What kind of person do you think they make me?

0.1 Welcome To My World

I am now here.  This is my first post.  Beware that all that I will post is purely my mostly educated opinion.  I do not intend to intentionally offend any reader, but if that does happen, I appologize in advance.  Still, these are my views, opinions, thoughts, etc. about this world I live on.  Posts will be about how I see this world, my world, under the stars.

If you would like to hear my opinion on any subject, please ask and I will try my best to do so.

Enjoy!