Original Buddhism

Today's Philosophy lecture was about Buddhism, and it was actually pretty amazing. When most people think Buddhism and Buddha, they think another religion. What they don't know, is they are thinking of the (somewhat) modernized religion made from the original belief system of Buddhism.You see, Buddhism was originally a belief system (not religion really) pushing against Hinduism. In fact, according to Buddha, religion (prayer, gods, and everything involved with it) got in the way and was therefore found as a hindrance.

One of the really cool parts of Buddhism though, is the Four Noble Truths:

1. This is Suffering - The Knowledge of Suffering 
(And guess what - there are three types of suffering!)

a. Suffering of suffering: this refers to the most obvious aspects like pain, fear and mental distress. 
b. Suffering of change: refers to the problems that change brings, like joy disappears, nothing stays, decay and death. 
c. All-pervasive suffering: this is the most difficult to understand aspect, it refers to the fact that we always have the potential to suffer or can get into problematic situations. Even death is not a solution in Buddhist philosophy, as we will simply find ourselves being reborn in a different body, which will also experience problems.

2. The Causes of Suffering - Why we have it

The reason that we experience suffering comes ultimately from our mind. According to Buddhism, our main mental problems or root delusions are: attachment, anger and ignorance. Because of these delusions, we engage in actions that cause problems to ourselves and others. With every negative action (karma) we do, we create a potential for negative experiences.

3. Suffering Can End - Nirvana is Peace

This is the most positive message of Buddhism: although suffering is always present in cyclic existence, we can end this cycle of problems and pain, and enter Nirvana, which is a state beyond all suffering.

The reasoning behind this Third Noble Truth is the fact that suffering and the causes of suffering are dependent on the state of our own mind, so if we can change our own mind, we can also eliminate suffering. The reasons we do actions that cause ourselves and others harm come from our delusions. When we possess the proper wisdom (conventional and ultimate), we can rid ourselves of delusions, and thus of all our problems and suffering. When this process is complete, we can leave cyclic existence and enjoy the state of Nirvana, free of problems.

4. The True Path or The Eight-Fold Noble Path

The Buddha summarized the correct attitude and actions in the Eight-fold Noble Path:

(The first 3 are avoiding the 10 non-virtues of mind, speech and body:)

1. Correct thought: avoiding covetousness, the wish to harm others and wrong views (like thinking: actions have no consequences, I never have any problems, there are no ways to end suffering etc.)
2. Correct speech: avoid lying, divisive and harsh speech and idle gossip.
3. Correct actions: avoid killing, stealing and sexual misconduct
4. Correct livelihood: try to make a living with the above attitude of thought, speech and actions.
5. Correct understanding: developing genuine wisdom.
   (The last three aspects refer mainly to the practice of meditation)
6. Correct effort: after the first real step we need joyful perseverance to continue.
7. Correct mindfulness: try to be aware of the "here and now", instead of dreaming in the "there and then".
8. Correct concentration: to keep a steady, calm and attentive state of mind.

So yeah - HEAVY STUFF :D But if you think about it, it's pretty cool! (at least to me it is) Another cool part? If you have found your inner peace and enlightenment, you too are considered a Buddha! There is not just one, anyone can be if they do it right! The power lies in ourselves!

Enter: Dactylic

Hello! Busy times this week, tests and classes and all... BUT! I would like to give a short advertisement (the non-annoying kind!). I have been lucky enough to be given the amazing task to manage my friend's music publications, and we have just released his first album. For those of you who like electronic/dubstep, I urge you to check out his free album on Bandcamp. He has some skill (and growing, mind you) for the electronic side of the spectrum!

I also got lucky enough to throw together a pretty awesome album cover for him (midnight, yeah!). So seriously, please check him out and send over some cool feedback to dactylicred@gmail.com! And if you really like him, consider sending him over a donation to help him further his music career!

Insomnia and Music

My roommate has mono... And for some reason, I'm having trouble getting him to LEAVE (he lives 2 hours away) so I can stay healthy(er?) and get some sleep. Actually the part that gets me the worst is his snores - not necessarily the loudness (although the lack of volume control does make it hard to block out), but it's the rhythm. 

Falling asleep to someone snoring? Pretty easy. Falling asleep to someone snoring off and on, faster and slower? Extremely hard... at least for me. But hey - maybe this is a good thing, because Insomnia is a good condition for thinking. That's how Owl City made his hit song "Fireflies", and it's where I think as well. 

Speaking of music, I just bought Magix Samplitude Music Studio 2013 for $20 (the normal price is $225!!). For those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about, it's a music mixing/making/recording program, covered in rainbows and unicorn sauce. Pretty amazing. Wanna check out the deal if you're interested? Here!

Coffee

I like coffee - hey, actually a lot of people do. Well, to be honest, the coffee that many people like (middle school - college) is really some coffee flavor with their sugar and caffeine. No, I mean I like coffee (the rich, unsweetened, black coffee).

I used to drink a lot of the sugary impostor because I enjoyed it's taste - I didn't enjoy the unhealthy aspect of it though, so I limited to how much I drank. Then one day I started paying attention to my friends who were ordering coffee, and it was mainly sugar. That can't be healthy. I mean, sure: I like mocha and caramel macchiato, but only once in a while. It's a desert.

After watching the ungodly sight of sugar consumption (daily, might I add) before me, I started searching the health benefits of coffee. And hey, there's a lot:

- Coffee can lower your risk for many common illnesses, such as heart attacks, endometrial (a cancer), prostate cancer, and breast cancer (BOY! I sure have to worry about this one...)

- Coffee lower's your risk of diabetes. This is cool, and apparently it's remarkably consistent.

- Coffee can help lower our chances of depression - actually by about 15%!

If you want to read the whole article I'm quoting this from, go ahead and read this.

Now, yes. I have done my research, this is just the most pleasant one to read. So go ahead and drink coffee! It's yummy!

Nostalgia

This weekend I've been enjoying older stuff - like the kind of thing I used to play when I was in elementary school. Ranging from Halo (yes, the original), to emulating Runescape in the good old days of 2006, to watching the original episodes from One Piece. All good stuff, and all good memories. But there are times when nostalgia hits, and hits hard enough to make you sad - just a bit. Sad because you miss what used to be, and it can't ever be completely the same.

I guess in the end to this short and simple post is: don't let go of your memories, but embrace them. Even more important? Embrace what you love now, because years from now you may wish you did so and will never have a chance to do so again.

Life as a Telephone Operator

At one of my workplaces, I used to be a Telephone Operator before being promoted to Server Administrator.  I was very grateful for that job, but I didn't like it one bit: answering phones for a living is NOT my idea of fun. Every now and again, when a few of our clients open the flood gates from hell, I get called in to help ease the intense call answering from my co-worker's shoulders. I grab my headset (rather the radio to the mosh pit), and march my way through the glass doors to the gates of hell. And it seems that it's only hell when I'm answering. 

This is the standard process I tend to go through when answering a call:

Good Morning - Thank you for calling ABC company! How can I assist you today? 

Now see, this is the part where you place your impossibly cheerful smile against your next victim. It's kind of like the devil, inviting people in for a seat with chocolate cake!

<Um... Yes - I would like to speak to Bob.>

Of course you do. I don't really care who - I will find the name that looks like the person you think I know, and then enter the screen.

Of course - one moment please!

I now automatically expect to take a message - because that's what you do 90% of the time.

I'm sorry, it appears they are not available at the moment. Can I take a message?

Again - think of the devil handing you cake with a wicked smile... It can be great to deny the customer when you are in a bad mood. This oddly reminds me of Garfield...

<Well, could you please send me to their voice mail?>

No, I'm sorry - they don't give me the authority to do that. But I can take a message!

I am now face-palming. PLEASE leave a message and let me continue on with my death sentence. You have no idea how many times I've done this just today. The repetitiveness is killing me slowly, from the inside out.

<Fine. Tell them to call me back ASAP!>

Sure thing! Call back as soon as possible. Alright - and can I get your name and callback number?

<*click*>

Awesome. I get left without a name or number because they were too impatient to give me it in the first place. So I get to attempt caller ID for the phone number, and I will give them Carl A' for the name. NEXT?

Of course this is an exaggeration, but at times it can sure feel like this. But my favorite calls are the ones where as soon as you pick up you get a screaming banshee because they were put on hold for a minute. Loverly. Learn some patience please.

So yeah, Telephone Operator is not my desired job. I don't mind helping out too much, but preferably for a short period of time. I believe one can learn the standard intelligence level of the average human being by answering phones for 8 hours. By then you end up realizing that you probably spoke to a handful of smart people, and the other few hundred were dumber than dirt. Oh well - that's life.

Night

I lay in bed at night, the slight evening breeze flying past me in a tornado until going through the crack at the bottom of the door. It's dark except for my room mate's Scentcy, which melts quietly under his dusty, god-forsaken desk that who knows what inhabits. There's the ambiance of cars outside driving by the building, mixed with my room mate's snore that he stole from a giant (no joke - luckily not on weekends!). This is when I can think the best - when I can come up with what to write, or what I will end up doing on my minecraft project. Hell, I think about anything and everything before I go to sleep, because I'm a night bird, erm, owl.

Actually when it's not too cold out (and there's enough light from the moon to see where I'm going) I'll take a midnight walk. It's calming, the sort of calm that you get when you're in an empty house or you've just finished all your work for the day. You get the let go and enjoy, and eventually just think. You don't need to concentrate where you're heading or what you should do when you get there - your body knows what to do and lets you think about what you need to.

I'm not sure if this is what night was intended for, as there are those who seem to be against the night that claim it helps you grow... I don't know about that! But I do know that the night is my friend, and it's one of the only times I can completely be me - selfishly (but unselfishly, as there is only me), responsibly, mentally, and physically. It's like a moment of acceptance, where I don't have to approve to anyone's standards or expectations, because I'm fine just how I am and I could care less what others think.

The only downside of night? Day comes back to bite you in the ass, and when you see the sunrise on the horizon you feel a feeling of dread, because all this time that you should have been sleeping, you weren't.

Kids These Days

My boss and I talk a lot when the work is slow, so we get plenty of subjects covered. From the topic of guns and gun control to the stupid people who operate on campus, I get a pretty view on things! One of the things we talked about lately is how different things have been in the past compared to now, and how everything has changed during that process.

One of the points made was that most children and teens don't go outside during their free time, and instead they (should I say we?) stay inside on the internet or playing video games. Back in the 50's and 60's, kids would just run outside to their neighbors to go swimming in the local lake. Now you can't (or shouldn't) touch the water in the lake because there might be bad chemicals, or sharps, or god forbid something that might accidentally cut you. The world today has become too safe for our own good. Want to ride a bike? Instead of being able to hop right on and learn to ride the "old fashioned way", we have to go through hundreds of safety precautions before even putting petal to the medal (pun not intended...maybe). We now have the curse of helmets for everything, protection eye wear to prevent that 0.0000001% accident, and round edges on our phones to prevent us from slicing our technology developed, silky smooth hands.

But there's more to this change - this generation's attention span sucks. Simply stated, well said. Just to use TV as an example, many of us can't seem to watch TV from week to week - instead we watch the entire season in one or two sittings. And there's the "Reality TV"... I may sit and watch a season in a sitting, but you will never catch me (even dead, might I add) watching a Reality TV show on purpose. TV should have news or stories - not fake people leading fake lives to keep those who are too lazy to get off their ass entertained. But what can you do?

I'm not sure. I love today, with all it's technology and advances in Science and Culture, but there are some things I wish didn't change - or at least they could have waited until I was older. I think the mid to late 1900's did a lot of things right, and now sometimes we have the need to "fix what doesn't need to be fixed".

Family

Hope everyone had a great (extended in many cases due to President's Day) weekend! In fact, I just realized (as in 10 minutes ago) that I even forgot to post yesterday. What a weekend.

It seems that the majority of the people on my campus went out of town for the weekend (to visit family or friends), where I was stuck here because of the roads. But that's not a bad thing, and instead I enjoyed myself because I build my own family. I know I'm not alone: I have the family I was born into, and then there's the family I make through close friendships and relationships. And it's a close knit community - something I would definitely label as a family.

Over this weekend, I've been thinking a lot how lucky I am to have found such a great group to call my friends. I've seen many people make interesting choices on who their friends should be (because they're "cool" or "have money"), and it can negatively (or positively for that matter) effect who you are. And then there's the situations where people don't have much of a choice anyways, where the field of work or their area of living has them fall into a rut. And based from owning a car, 4x4, and dirt bike, I know that ruts can be a pain in the ass to be in.

So I recommend to thing about your friends, and who you associate yourself with. What kind of person are you, and are they beneficial to you? But most importantly - appreciate your friends. More than half the time, they are the ones who can help the most in a hard spot.

Happy Singles Awareness Day

Yep - it's February 13th, the day before Valentines Day. My college likes to celebrate Singles Awareness Week (the day before National "Wear a condom day") during Safe Sex Week. Awesome. For couples, it's fine getting bombarded by condoms and lube that could very well be used. For us single people, it's like the walk of shame. Free condom? Too bad it won't be used anytime soon :D

ANYWAYS, being serious again, it is Singles Awareness Day. I wouldn't say it royally sucks, because you are still you and in (generally) 100% control of yourself. You own you, and today's the day to show it! And if you're not wanting to be single, today is also a great day to see who's in the same boat as you.

So yeah, short and sweet. Thanks U of I for making me remember I'm single.

The Theory of Realms

Theories: They come and go, where some hold and others crumble as soon as spoken. But they are all there, and all made sense at some point. Plato is an interesting guy who developed the theory of realms - an interesting concept of how our world works today. In his theory, there are two realms: The Realm of the Forms (Being), and The Realm of the Physical (Becoming). 

In the Realm of the Forms, everything is perfect - this is not on earth, but rather a celestial plane (like a heaven like existence). In that Realm, there is the perfect form of everything: the perfect book, phone, chair, tree, and even drop of water. You can think of it as the perfect Google Image search - whatever you type in to the search engine, you will get the perfect (ideal) image of that item.

The Realm of the Physical is our earth, and the things that reside on/in it. Nothing is perfect on this Earth, and everything ranges in many different appearances (a redwood and an oak are both trees, but they don't look the same). And here's where the realms connect - we know what something is (what a tree is for example) because there is a perfect copy in the Realm of the Forms. We can see that, and therefore we know what it is.

I'm not saying this Theory makes a ton of sense (well, back then it did), but it is an interesting concept at the least - we know what something is because there is the "perfect" or "ideal thing" out there for everything. It would be interesting to be able to go back to when this Theory was proposed, see the way people reacted, and understand the different eras easier. Unfortunately, we don't have the Time Machine yet - however there are some good Deloreans out there!

A Poem

I have absolutely nothing going on in my head today that should be written about - I can't even decide on a good topic to explore. So today will be short and simple, and I apologize if some people are a tad disappointed.

In order for there to be content, I am pulling a poem I wrote a while back from my archives. I wrote this for a class project my Sophomore year of high school for my Advanced English Class.

Travels

The blue aurora shines from the sky,

The hum of modern days complies.

Yellow lights blink from in front,

Red compliments away if you want.

Signals blur past gates to other world’s wreath

And the crusty surface reverberates beneath.

The soft murmur of voices flows around me -

My world that I control is protecting me.

I hope you liked it - I did, but again, I wrote it a few years ago. I'll be back tomorrow with something more of substance.

Music and Memories

Memories are pieces of life you remember that were exciting, fun, sad, or anything that is really of importance. I tend to associate many songs with memories, specifically what I was listening to during the event or what I listened to the most while I was in that space and time. The mix CD's of somewhat obscure, funky, and amazing artists that my Sister in Law and Brother made for me when I was young? Makes me remember them, and Seattle - before I moved out to Idaho. 

I attended Monterey Bay Academy for my Junior and Senior years of High School - the experience was wonderful. However glad I am to get out of there and into the real world, the environment was great and relaxed. During my senior year there (my favorite year, and where I have the most memories) I listened to a lot of music, and Imagine Dragons happened to be what I really liked. Ever since I've left that school, Imagine Dragons gives me great memories of the place I used to be at - specifically the song "Demons"(not sure if it's some dark coincidence either ;) ).

You see, MBA wasn't just a boarding academy. It was a school, full of people from around the world on the most peaceful piece of beach right off of the Monterey Bay. Not only the students were nice, but the teachers were too (well, some I didn't get along with, but they weren't bad...). It wasn't just a school where you go and get your assignments and participate in classes, but it was a home for you to experience your remainders of pre-college life with your friends (many of whom you would continue to keep in contact with). It was a deep school - not shallow like any other school I've been to. You built your life there.

Let me explain more: MBA was where I'd wake up in the morning with Big Zach (who really wasn't supposed to be in my room, as we are different hall RAs), but we wanted to hang out a lot. And there would be little Zack (in which the nickname "Squirrel" was later assigned by a mutual friend) who would be one of absolute best friends, and we'd nearly always be together when possible. There would be Bacon who would be the muscle guy of the group - the definitive jock, who was in love with a girl from the other dorm until he FINALLY decided to do something. Monita would be fun to be around, but there were times she annoyed the hell out of me - still miss her none the less. Asia - the big orange character who could make anyone happy just by being around. PJ - the best youth councellor/pastor in the world, and one of my favorite friends - definitely like a second dad. And there's more - Dean Nate, Dean Matt, Dean Ronny, Pastor Gregory, Philpot, William, Coby, Bell, Jeremy (redhead - you know who you are), Asa, E... everyone. They were great.

So when I hear Demons come on, I can close my eyes and be back at the campus that I spent two year of my life investing in. I can say hi to everyone I miss and hug and laugh with them. With that less than 3 minute window, I can revisit the past and remember so much, and look back at it and say, "Yeah - I don't regret ANY of it." The only downside of some memories like that? My face tends to conjure strange streaks of wet - like now. 

Horror

I'm not an overly huge fan of the horror genre of movies or TV, as I generally tend to find them stupid. I mean, more than half of them are beyond fake or completely unrealistic, and usually have some really bad story line that makes you want to hit your head over and over wondering why you just wasted an hour and a half of your life. Few actual (meaning real people) movies can capture true horror, but luckily the Walking Dead is one of them - I love it, and it's mainly suspense... not too scary.

The two things I enjoy, and find that can be truly horrifying are books, and anime. Not sure why anime - they just tend to suck me in with good story, and then the horror hits, and it's pretty amazing. But there are two things that I find "truly" horrifying: the unknown and people.

When it comes to the unknown, I'm talking about mysterious happenings and curses. Recently I watched a twelve show series called "Another", where there's a curse that happens every year, and once it starts, at least one person (of the class, or blood relation) dies each month for the remainder of the year. This is caused by a new person added - there's never enough desks for that other person, but they are on the roster. That extra person is someone who's dead, and no one knows who they are - not even themselves. And the catch? The only way to stop the happenings once they start is to kill the extra person. That's what I call fear - you have the unknown pitted against you.

But I think people are scarier because of the way they react to things. If you tell people that the only way to guarantee their survival is to kill the intruder, expect bloodshed. Insanity. When people are scared, thinking tends to be one of the last things on their list - they generally do what they want or have to do without thought in order to survive. It's natural to want to survive, no matter what the cost. And what's worse? Even though the mysterious might not be realistic, when you factor in people to the equation, it tends to become the perfect blend for horror.

More things you've learned about me:
- I enjoy horror that shows ^ true horror.
- I recommend watching Another if you are an anime fan. It was truly amazing.

Cold Snap

It's freezing outside here - like 1 degree (with windchill of -100, give or take) when I wake up, and doesn't seem to get above 10 during mid day. I'm actually surprised that school hasn't been closed - by the time you walk from one building to another, you are nearly frozen and have the potential for frostbite. In fact, several schools both north and south of us are closed too - because they have to wait for their bus. We have to WALK. 

The funny part though, is I like the cold. Just preferably not this cold. But I abhor heat. With low temperatures, you can at least put on more clothing until you are comfortably warm. With warm temperatures, there's only so much you can legally take off. In fact, my ideal climate would be one that gets the highs of 76 in the summer, and lows of 24 in the winter - perfect temperatures! I could easily ski during the winter without freezing my face off, and walk during the summer without being turned into a puddle (an no, I'm not a witch - I'm a pinball wizard!).

More you know about me:

- I don't like overly cold.

- I abhor heat (mainly over 78 degrees).

Note: Even though I can generally come up with some decent topic for my posts, I am ALWAYS open to suggestions. Feel free to leave a topic or idea via email, g+ chat, or comment on my post!

Definition

Before English class was started today, we had a short discussion regarding how a purge would benefit/hinder society. One of the people in the class suggested that it would be good to take all the people who weigh down on society (ie: those who intentionally live off the system), and remove them from the plane of existence - annihilation. After explaining how the plan would form and execute, the end result was a dystopia, entering into the realm of 1984, A Brave New World, and The Island.

One of my issues with the overall annihilation of laziness from society is that laziness helps to define parts of society, and feats therein. We, as the human race, generally define virtue and meaning based off of the opposite: cowardice vs bravery, war vs peace, and dull vs intelligence - just to name a few. The same stands for laziness, where the opposite tends to be hard working and prosperous. Just as there is no true meaning to good without evil, there is no work without laziness.

My feeling is that the end result would lie in a cold, bland, monochromatic world, where the only true escape from reality would be death - the only real freedom. There would be little difference between people, as errors in development would be fixed or eradicated during a child's early growth. The end result would be a product with very little variation from the rest of the line, living a life with similar interests and dislikes as the rest of it's world. Each person has some form of laziness, and it's what defines who they are.

What you learned about me:
- Laziness is good: a little.

Locked Out

6:50 - Roommate being noisy, and I still have 10 minutes until I have to wake up!
7:00 - Alarm rings, I grab my phone, and I read my emails.
7:05 - Roommate leaves, I get ready for shower.
7:06-7:15 - Ah, shower. And the wonders of life.
7:16 - LOCKED OUT.

Needless to say, I had an interesting morning. Not once before this school year have I been locked out of my own room, and worse off, nearly nude. I know my roommate isn't the smartest person in the world, but really? I think some people should pay attention - my pants, wallet, phone, and KEYS were in plain sight, yet he still locked the door. Only question being asked besides the keys in the room part: "Why would I leave my pants in my room?"

But that was only the beginning of my troubles. I stand there thinking for a minute or two of what to do (as I now realize my phone - means of contact - is in there too), and decide to walk to an open door and ask for help. He runs down to the help desk only to find that I have to talk to the building supervisor (surprise, is unavailable). I then call the 24 hour help desk to see what I can do, where they say that they are unable to help - only the RA can. I eventually find my RA, who is sleeping due to his messed up schedule, where he tells that he cannot help and only the 24 hour help desk can.

The 24 Hour Help Desk is in another building. It's below freezing outside and snowing a little. I only have a tower and my sandals.

But being a nice guy, my RA lets me borrow some of his clothes.

While I am not exactly the "perfect" image for fitness, I am not fat (with exception to the little on my stomach). My RA on the other hand, is a twig. The clothes were VERY tight.

I assume the super hero pose walking out the door, in sandals (with snow!!!), tight sweatpants, a s/m shirt (I like XL, because I have broad shoulders), and my towel. Eventually making it to the help desk, I ask for help to get back into my room, where the lady behind the desk asks for my ID. *facepalm*

My ID was in my room - something she apparently didn't think about. So then she had me guess around for my ID number, eventually caving in and just asking if the number was mine. I told her yes, signed some papers, got back into my room, and started preparing for my day with nearly frozen hair - at 8:00.

I find it astounding how little help people can be at times, and then there's those who just don't think. My roommate is one, but I don't dislike him - he just doesn't think. Sein Gehirn ist nicht da. It's okay, I can pretend his face is those of my enemies in video games if I need to relieve stress. And hey - if it wasn't illegal, I would probably walk over to the help desk almost nude with exception to my towel. It would be a nice breeze at least!

Something new you know:
- I'm comfortable with mehself.
- People can be stupid.

Note: I recommend never getting locked out of your room - even though it can prosper into great stories, the experience at the time can set you back. Hence, I was late to work.

Dark Humor

Today in my English class, we were discussing dark humor - a rather heavy subject. It's amazing to me how serious people are today, and how little they can let themselves go and just enjoy life. I've noticed that there are those who must follow the rules, and if rules are stripped away, they are lost and destroyed. Then there's others, like me, who prefer to use rules as a guideline.

Dark humor definitely has it's place and time, but there remain those who cannot laugh at something. I'm not saying something's wrong with them because they're not like me (actually... yeah I am!), but I think some people need to learn to lighten up a bit. Sure, most anyone can tell a poorly timed "dead baby" joke and completely ruin the mood, but other times it can add a bit of flavor. Ever joked about strangling somebody because they're annoying? Yeah - that's dark humor.

Now I'm not sure why, but whenever I think of dark humor offending someone (which those who cannot laugh are normally offended - sorry), I imagine talking about playing video games on Saturday in my parent's church (that'd be SDA). It would be instant crucifixion. And am I scared? No - I will tell people what I think, though I do know that timing and strategy is good. That's why I like Game of Thrones: politics.

So in the end, my recommendation to everyone who can't laugh? Lighten up :D

More things you know about me:
- I'm light-hearted
- "Why so serious?"

Note: I do not apologize to anyone whom I have offended - this is a message to you. If you cannot laugh, or do not enjoy my writing, then please - by all means, bugger off. For those of you who do like to read my writing and I have offended, I apologize - I will try to offend better next time!

Scholarships

One of the most pressing parts of college is scholarships - everyone "wants you to apply", "few people apply", and "you need to apply to pay". Well there are a reason why few apply, and why they "want to give money". Have you ever tried to find any good scholarships? It is far from easy to find them, and even those you find you don't end up qualifying for.

I wish people made scholarships more accessible - write essays for money? Sure! One of my biggest problems though seems to be that I'm white. Apparently, there are plenty of scholarships - for races that I am not. That? I find it unfair. I don't choose to be white, and I like who I am. But because you're Native Amerian, African American, or Hispanic, you get tons of money! In a country that seems to be so obsessed with racism and the like, we sure are being racist against whites.

I mean, sure - if you want to be fair, either get rid of the race only scholarships, or have white only scholarships. But why? I'm still at a loss to why for a lot of things, and this is one of the bigger ones at my attention.

More that you have learned about me:
- Finding Scholarships suck

Note: I apologize for not posting over this weekend, but I have decided that six posts a week is just too much. I officially change posts for Sunday-Thursday.