~Love~
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Not what should be.....
I know it's been a few days since my last post and this isn't even a real post. I guess you could call this a phantom scrap book of sorts. It will fade in a few days so enjoy while you can. Think.
~Love~
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
When shoes Don't match
Have you ever left your domicile and realized about four hours later that you aren’t wearing the same shoes? It’s just one of those days. No one really noticed today that I was wearing different shoes unless I told them. I knew, but to be fair, I told myself out loud that I was wearing different shoes. This was actually a really easy situation to deal with as wearing two different shoes is something I might do on my own. But I couldn’t and wouldn’t claim that was what I was doing. It would have been easy but I don’t want to take credit for something I didn’t do. I physically did it, but mentally it was the exact opposite. It reminds me of what George Carlin said about people and their pride for their nationality. I agree with it. How and why are you proud to be, say Irish? You get that a lot, especially since we are still relatively close to St. Patrick’s day or any holiday/festival for a nationality. Now this has nothing to do with actually being Irish at all it is more of a question of how can you be proud of something you had nothing to do with? You had no say or bearing on the act that made you you, so how can you be proud of it? You might be happy that you are Irish or American, which I’m perfectly fine with, but proud? I believe you shouldn’t take pride in things you can’t control and should reserve pride for some sort of accomplishment of your doing.
Though not a direct correlation, I was reading my good friend’s blog, http://jessicakratz.blogspot.com/ (Check it out as she has a bit of fire to her words) , and it is about bullying. Now I’m not going to talk exactly about what she did but on something I noticed about some of the bullying I’ve seen. Why is it that often people decide to pick on or bully someone for something or some quality that is entirely out of their control? I witnessed this and was often pissed when people picked on or made fun of someone for being poor. Why? Picking on someone because of their finical situation that they have no control over is like picking on someone because they were born with black hair or because they are 5’8. That is also like the situation where someone does not like a particular building because it is painted blue. But the person starts yelling at the building for being blue instead of the person who decided to paint it blue. It is also as stupid and pointless as yelling at a dog for being a dog. These things have no choice in the things that are being questioned, so what’s the point? If you are to address someone on their faults or question them, it should be on their actions and choices they’ve made rather than the symptoms that are victim to that they can’t control. I’m not saying that people shouldn’t be called out, but it should be for putting a fork in an electric socket, not because they can’t afford to shop anywhere other than the Goodwill.
Im going to leave that at that because I honesty wanted to write this blog about something else and I’m drifting farther and farther away. Though this never has really stopped me, I don’t want to get too deep into anything just now. That and I think that sudden topic switches adds more of that original spice from my earlier entries. Though like when companies claim to be using the same recipe and methods in making their product for the past hundred or so years, this doesn’t mean it is a good thing. But it is what it is.
HI.
So I decided to do some cleaning about a week ago. And so I did. It’s back to messy but something happened in the few hours that it was clean~ Isn’t it funny how when you clean you find things you forgot about and you find things you haven’t seen in forever and you feel like a winner? But right before you pat yourself on your back you realize that you lost things that are ten times more important that the things you just found. So yeah, I lost my glasses. It’s not too bad because have a 2nd pair but…where are they? After cleaning, isn’t suppose to be finding things supposed to be easier? I mean, I had them before I started cleaning but they were lost when I had finished. I also lost my school ID in a similar situation where I was in two rooms and it got lost. I checked everywhere within the two rooms I was in (the rooms were next to each other [computer labs]) and everything I had with me but alas no dice.
The other thing that I did when I was cleaning was to try and clean up the path I was on. And I have to admit sadly that I’m finally declared. I’m now a studio art major with a minor in creative writing and Asian studies ( with a possibility of an art history minor as well). And you know what? I don’t like it. I don’t like the feeling. I feel way dirtier then when my arms and clothes are coated with paint from my art projects. It feels like an ugly nonphysical weight on my skin that is pulling me down. See I hate that I have to declare in visual art or writing art. I do both and will always do both, but we have to choose one. But that goes against a lot of my principles. I’m not one for labels and that is exactly what this is doing. Most people are happy when they declare but I’m not. It’s not like I don’t love visual arts, because I do, it’s the feeling I get. I do a lot of my art, both writing and visual, based on mood and feeling. It’s odd because I feel that, in order to transcend into something greater, you must release yourself from labels and titles and just be and to just allow, but the school is telling me that to be something great I must label myself and just follow. It’s a bad taste in my mouth that just adds another couple a meters on the track I’m running down with my pen and paint can. Want to run a relay with me?
And on a bottom note, the Fire Monkey and I are cooking up something special so look out for it and free your calendars for later in the month of April, it’s going to be Slaw. Take care everyone and remember to think and know that you got to keep going. If you need help just hit me up, I can’t do much, but I can do a little. And sometimes a pebble can move a river. Sometimes it can’t. But sometimes is can. And sometimes it can join the other pebbles to…..ok I’ll just stop. Thanks for reading, much love everyone, Zai jian.
~Love~
P.S. I told you about my friend’s blog http://jessicakratz.blogspot.com/ , but you should also check out my other friends blog http://myblog.cynthiabateman.com/ . Both are amazing and they are also amazingly awesome people who don’t mind expressing their opinions and doing it regularly (much more frequently then my blog). Both are highly recommended. Thanks.
P.P.S. I'm super proud of all my pledges. You really make me happy. You make me feel my hours put in are worth something,thanks.
Though not a direct correlation, I was reading my good friend’s blog, http://jessicakratz.blogspot.com/ (Check it out as she has a bit of fire to her words) , and it is about bullying. Now I’m not going to talk exactly about what she did but on something I noticed about some of the bullying I’ve seen. Why is it that often people decide to pick on or bully someone for something or some quality that is entirely out of their control? I witnessed this and was often pissed when people picked on or made fun of someone for being poor. Why? Picking on someone because of their finical situation that they have no control over is like picking on someone because they were born with black hair or because they are 5’8. That is also like the situation where someone does not like a particular building because it is painted blue. But the person starts yelling at the building for being blue instead of the person who decided to paint it blue. It is also as stupid and pointless as yelling at a dog for being a dog. These things have no choice in the things that are being questioned, so what’s the point? If you are to address someone on their faults or question them, it should be on their actions and choices they’ve made rather than the symptoms that are victim to that they can’t control. I’m not saying that people shouldn’t be called out, but it should be for putting a fork in an electric socket, not because they can’t afford to shop anywhere other than the Goodwill.
Im going to leave that at that because I honesty wanted to write this blog about something else and I’m drifting farther and farther away. Though this never has really stopped me, I don’t want to get too deep into anything just now. That and I think that sudden topic switches adds more of that original spice from my earlier entries. Though like when companies claim to be using the same recipe and methods in making their product for the past hundred or so years, this doesn’t mean it is a good thing. But it is what it is.
HI.
So I decided to do some cleaning about a week ago. And so I did. It’s back to messy but something happened in the few hours that it was clean~ Isn’t it funny how when you clean you find things you forgot about and you find things you haven’t seen in forever and you feel like a winner? But right before you pat yourself on your back you realize that you lost things that are ten times more important that the things you just found. So yeah, I lost my glasses. It’s not too bad because have a 2nd pair but…where are they? After cleaning, isn’t suppose to be finding things supposed to be easier? I mean, I had them before I started cleaning but they were lost when I had finished. I also lost my school ID in a similar situation where I was in two rooms and it got lost. I checked everywhere within the two rooms I was in (the rooms were next to each other [computer labs]) and everything I had with me but alas no dice.
The other thing that I did when I was cleaning was to try and clean up the path I was on. And I have to admit sadly that I’m finally declared. I’m now a studio art major with a minor in creative writing and Asian studies ( with a possibility of an art history minor as well). And you know what? I don’t like it. I don’t like the feeling. I feel way dirtier then when my arms and clothes are coated with paint from my art projects. It feels like an ugly nonphysical weight on my skin that is pulling me down. See I hate that I have to declare in visual art or writing art. I do both and will always do both, but we have to choose one. But that goes against a lot of my principles. I’m not one for labels and that is exactly what this is doing. Most people are happy when they declare but I’m not. It’s not like I don’t love visual arts, because I do, it’s the feeling I get. I do a lot of my art, both writing and visual, based on mood and feeling. It’s odd because I feel that, in order to transcend into something greater, you must release yourself from labels and titles and just be and to just allow, but the school is telling me that to be something great I must label myself and just follow. It’s a bad taste in my mouth that just adds another couple a meters on the track I’m running down with my pen and paint can. Want to run a relay with me?
And on a bottom note, the Fire Monkey and I are cooking up something special so look out for it and free your calendars for later in the month of April, it’s going to be Slaw. Take care everyone and remember to think and know that you got to keep going. If you need help just hit me up, I can’t do much, but I can do a little. And sometimes a pebble can move a river. Sometimes it can’t. But sometimes is can. And sometimes it can join the other pebbles to…..ok I’ll just stop. Thanks for reading, much love everyone, Zai jian.
~Love~
P.S. I told you about my friend’s blog http://jessicakratz.blogspot.com/ , but you should also check out my other friends blog http://myblog.cynthiabateman.com/ . Both are amazing and they are also amazingly awesome people who don’t mind expressing their opinions and doing it regularly (much more frequently then my blog). Both are highly recommended. Thanks.
P.P.S. I'm super proud of all my pledges. You really make me happy. You make me feel my hours put in are worth something,thanks.
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Home at Home
I’ve commented many times on how much I love being at home and how much of a better mood I always seem to be here. And this return trip is non-different. This week was my spring break, yes spring break during winter. My school never fails me, unless of course it is a power failure. I think I’m at a problem though. My body has been getting a solid 8 hours of sleep a day, good meals, and a decent mix of excitement and relaxation. Having a room to yourself that is quite and has a bed in it ( opposed to my couch in the kitchen{which I still love}) is so nice. I’ve almost forgotten what it is like to sleep in a comfortable bed. But besides really falling behind in my work, I can feel my body softening up and is going to get a rather rude awakening call when I get back.
I was going to wait at the end of the break to write this but tomorrow is going to be spent doing work and then hanging with family till I leave Sunday morning. I’m not writing this after I get back as I’m going to have to go right back into the full swing of things and probably won’t have time for this. So right now is a good time. I was going to do work but I’ve been messing with a new cheap Mp3 player. My Zune has been broke for awhile now I’ve been using my oldest/first Mp3 player. Though I love it and am proud of it, I need to be able to switch music (the old one has a permanent list). Now this new one is a 4 gigabyte generic brand and was only $30. I wondered why so cheap and I just found out. The software on it is very stupid. There is no sorting system and just runs through the songs by going down the list of artist alphabetically. Now there might be a save grace in the disk manager for the device. The only problem is that it is in Chinese. I know what you are thinking, “…but you take Chinese…shouldn’t you be able to read it?” The answer is probably yes. But I can’t. And it is sad. I’ve tried turning it into English but no dice. It is a rather big head ache and I wasted a lot of time so being quite in a bad mind frame I decided to write this instead of homework. I know, I just keep making smart decision after another.
I probably sound annoying ( I think so) so I’m going to stop talking about it. This trip back wasn’t anything really to crow about but it was very good. I’ve notice I’m seeing this in a slightly different perspective such as family and the situations my family/friends and myself are in. New thoughts and interests mingling with my old ones, I hope they play nice. I don’t know what I want to say. I guess I feel physically well, but I find myself mentally frustrated. I think this is due to my momentary ejection from school. I have many things that I’m trying to sort and deal with and although they haven’t really left me here at home, I’ve been allowed to relax and change the scene a bit. It reminds me of when I’m walking on campus. Right outside of Peck Hall there is a small “U” path that is seemingly pointless. It is right alongside the main path and it doesn’t lead anywhere special. It is just a momentary step outside of the stream of people. I really like it because it is almost like walking in a raging river. And just for a moment you pop out of the water and you get to look at the river itself while enjoying a slight eerie quite while you were out of the water. And as you hang you get a new perspective look and feel before coming right back into the river. But now that I’m about to head back into the river, school, all the problems that I had are coming back and I feel that I’m a bit weaken by my momentary relaxation. Like alcohol, this was but a temporary fix to my problems and though it may seem like they are gone, they were just waiting until my vision focuses again. So I think I’m just going to but some music on and go see if I can find queen Mab and have a chat with her. I’ve never been a fan of Shakespeare but I have to thank him for introducing me to her formally (we’ve known each other for awhile just only it’s been very one sided in her favor). Big day today and I hope everything goes grand. Well take care everyone and remember to think and keep warm. Gussuri Oyasumi .
~Love~
P.S. I finally, after about the 6th or 7th time trying, finishing reading the book “Parasite Eve” and it is great. I recommend people to read it as well as play the game. Both are very well made and I think you should all give it a shot and not allow school to get in the way as it has for me every time.
P.S.S. I finally got a copy of my second movie (it might or might not be “MY” copy) and I’m bringing it to school so we can all watch it. Contact me if you want to watch it!
I was going to wait at the end of the break to write this but tomorrow is going to be spent doing work and then hanging with family till I leave Sunday morning. I’m not writing this after I get back as I’m going to have to go right back into the full swing of things and probably won’t have time for this. So right now is a good time. I was going to do work but I’ve been messing with a new cheap Mp3 player. My Zune has been broke for awhile now I’ve been using my oldest/first Mp3 player. Though I love it and am proud of it, I need to be able to switch music (the old one has a permanent list). Now this new one is a 4 gigabyte generic brand and was only $30. I wondered why so cheap and I just found out. The software on it is very stupid. There is no sorting system and just runs through the songs by going down the list of artist alphabetically. Now there might be a save grace in the disk manager for the device. The only problem is that it is in Chinese. I know what you are thinking, “…but you take Chinese…shouldn’t you be able to read it?” The answer is probably yes. But I can’t. And it is sad. I’ve tried turning it into English but no dice. It is a rather big head ache and I wasted a lot of time so being quite in a bad mind frame I decided to write this instead of homework. I know, I just keep making smart decision after another.
I probably sound annoying ( I think so) so I’m going to stop talking about it. This trip back wasn’t anything really to crow about but it was very good. I’ve notice I’m seeing this in a slightly different perspective such as family and the situations my family/friends and myself are in. New thoughts and interests mingling with my old ones, I hope they play nice. I don’t know what I want to say. I guess I feel physically well, but I find myself mentally frustrated. I think this is due to my momentary ejection from school. I have many things that I’m trying to sort and deal with and although they haven’t really left me here at home, I’ve been allowed to relax and change the scene a bit. It reminds me of when I’m walking on campus. Right outside of Peck Hall there is a small “U” path that is seemingly pointless. It is right alongside the main path and it doesn’t lead anywhere special. It is just a momentary step outside of the stream of people. I really like it because it is almost like walking in a raging river. And just for a moment you pop out of the water and you get to look at the river itself while enjoying a slight eerie quite while you were out of the water. And as you hang you get a new perspective look and feel before coming right back into the river. But now that I’m about to head back into the river, school, all the problems that I had are coming back and I feel that I’m a bit weaken by my momentary relaxation. Like alcohol, this was but a temporary fix to my problems and though it may seem like they are gone, they were just waiting until my vision focuses again. So I think I’m just going to but some music on and go see if I can find queen Mab and have a chat with her. I’ve never been a fan of Shakespeare but I have to thank him for introducing me to her formally (we’ve known each other for awhile just only it’s been very one sided in her favor). Big day today and I hope everything goes grand. Well take care everyone and remember to think and keep warm. Gussuri Oyasumi .
~Love~
P.S. I finally, after about the 6th or 7th time trying, finishing reading the book “Parasite Eve” and it is great. I recommend people to read it as well as play the game. Both are very well made and I think you should all give it a shot and not allow school to get in the way as it has for me every time.
P.S.S. I finally got a copy of my second movie (it might or might not be “MY” copy) and I’m bringing it to school so we can all watch it. Contact me if you want to watch it!
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Color me Criminal
Do you like to take walks? I know I sure do. In fact I’d go as far as to say I love walks. They are like mini adventures where so much can happen in such a small period of time. Well I went on one of those adventures yesterday. It is my typical walk I go on almost every Saturday for about three years now. It started 4ish I believe, I forgot my phone and none of the clocks on me work. The walk was nothing special to begin with though I was rocking out with my oldest Mp3 player, the most trustworthy one I own as all the other ones have broken. So the farthest my walk takes me is to the Goodwill (it used to be ‘Slackers’ but ‘Slackers’ moved from the right of Goodwill to the left recently) and I finally got to see my friend who works there. This semester I haven’t seen her there but yesterday was lucky. She said she got off at 5:30 (in ten minutes) and for me to wait for her and she would come collect me. So I did my usual intake of the inventory and decided to rest on the couch. I saw a baby book and I decided to read it. It was called “Colors”. It was ok, only a five page book with babies and objects. I reread it. It was kind of interesting; my friend still didn’t come get me yet so I decided to analyze it and ask myself questions about it. Like, how does one become an author for a book like this? How does one pitch this to a publisher?
“Hi I got an Idea for a book. It is 5 pages long, six if you count the cover, and it has a few babies and random items in it. You know, colors.”
So I started to break it down page by page. Each page was a think piece of colored cardboard the correlated with the color it represented (Red for red, yellow for yellow) Now the front of the book had a picture of a little Asian girl with a yellow background that had a colored flower pattern like wall paper. On the back of this was all the information about who wrote the book and the copyright jargon. It was made in 2005. Now I saw “Make Believe idea limitations” and I was rather confused. I’m not sure if it was a company name, a slogan, or what. It sounds weird and I don’t like the taste it leaves in my mouth. It was also made in the U.K though assembled in China.
The next and first is red with a little black baby wearing red pajamas holding a red cup. On the back there was a strawberry, an apple, a chair, pens (one which was orange and one that was pink), and a few other things. The chair was a little weird but ok. The next page was blue. It had a little Asian girl (not the same as the cover from what I can tell) in some blue overalls. On the back it had a hat, a ball, some other things, and a trowel. Yeah a trowel. The next page was Yellow. It had a naked white blonde boy with nothing but a towel on. On the back was a duckling, banana, building blocks, and one other thing I think. The next was Green. It had a white boy in green overalls as he lay in a toy wheelbarrow. On the back was a picture of a frog, a beetle, a cat doll, and a few other things. The last page was orange. This had a white girl in an orange dress and by far looked the oldest out the babies in this book. She was also playing with a block or something. Now she gets shafted because on the back she only got 2 items. A Giraffe doll that looked nothing like a real giraffe, save for the long neck, and an orange. The bottom third had more legal jargon on it.
Now one thing was odd was that on the back side of the cover page the background was 5 stripes of the other colors backgrounds. Other words, the background pattern for the back side of the cover page was made up of the 5 color backgrounds throughout the book. A stip of red, blue, yellow, green, and orange. But what was strange was that the yellow stripe was not exactly the yellow background pattern for the yellow background that was used on the yellow’s page. It was actually the background for the front of the cover. Now to be fair, the background pattern for the front of the cover and the background for the yellow page are the same but in the cover the flowers in the back ground are colored, the ones in the yellow are not. So the stripes on the back of the cover are of all the colors except yellow because that strip was taking from the background of the front of the cover.
I also wanted to think about the cost of making this book. Like I’d wager that the person making this knew these kids or at least the parents which would cut down costs. Also I looked at the items that were used. The wheelbarrow defiantly had some show of wear and tear so it was defiantly not bought solely for this book. And if it was it would have been bought used at a store probably similar to the one I was waiting in. I also wondered if the food was bought just for this book or did someone just bring in food. As they were babies, I’m sure a lot of the toys were theirs to begin with so I doubt much money was spent there. Even if she did buy them all new it could not have been over $100.
But there must have some money issues as they left out violet. The colors that were used were the 3 primary colors, yellow, and blue. They also used two secondary colors green and orange. Why not violet? Did the publishers flip shit because the already lengthy book was going to get longer? I think they realized this because the cardboard color of the cover was actually violet. Also, some of things on the blue page looked like they could make a home in the violet world. But why not green or orange? What did Violet get the bump?
Another interesting thing was the shape of the pages. They were curvy and what not. But three of them, the cover, page one, and the last page all were the same shape. Why? The other pages were different why can’t these three?
One last thing I noticed, the green and orange kid (the two oldest by the looks of them) wore saddles a lot. You can tell because their feet are colored as if they wore sandals a lot. Also most of them still crawled as their knees showed signs of use.
Now I understand this probably sounds creepy but I was curious, wanted to know what it took to make a baby book, and what else am I suppose to do while I wait? But after analyzing it for the 5th or 6th time I started to look for my friend. I couldn’t find her so I went to the cashier and asked for the time. It was 5:56 and my friend had left me. -_-
But my adventure didn’t end there my friends. No no. After coming out of Best Buy unsuccessfully looking for a cheap mp3 player I was walking in the parking lot of Dierbergs (grocery store) I saw a hockey stick. I wanted to take it but there was a car there so I left it thinking it might be theirs. I went into Michael’s picked up some Micron pens and went back to the stick. Now there were two trucks there so I went to Dierbergs to get some food. When I came out I saw this kid on a unicycle. We talked a bit, he offered a ride but I was on a walk and a ride would defeat the purpose so I said no. Now I went back to the hockey stick and there were no cars. So I went and got it. It looked nice, not top quality or anything, but a nice find to cap my adventure. So I start walking and I run into the unicyclist again. We talk for a bit but then I leave to get back to my apartment. Now I’m a decent way back when I notice the lights on me are constant. It is dark by now and typically car lights stay on you for a few seconds then past. This was a constant light so I turned and sure enough there was a cop.
WOoT!
So I approach the cop and ask what is wrong. He said something I couldn’t hear. I ask for him to repeat and in a stern voice he tells me to stand in front of his car. I wait for like a minute and he gets out. He tells me the put the stick down and asks if he knows why I’m stopped. I assume it is because I’m carrying a hockey stick but I wasn’t sure. I said no. He says theft of property. I almost laughed but I kept my cool. He asked if I had any knives, anything illegal, any guns, drugs, or bombs on me. To me this is me is funny. But then another cop pulls up behind him. Now I really want to laugh because I know that I’m getting stopped for….walking but they are treating this like something serious went down. So I’m about to explain how I found the stick when they tell me that someone from “Borders” called them and said I was stealing books. That really threw me for a loop as I haven’t even been in a Borders for about a month or so. I said “Really?” I told them I haven’t been in Borders. They asked about the hockey stick and I explained how I found it. I explained how I’ve been making the same walk for about three years now almost every Saturday and that if I was going to steal things I probably would want to make myself less recognizable. Walking around in a Serape (poncho) and carrying a hockey stick while walking on the side of the road isn’t exactly low key. The second officer try to give me a hard look even though I could tell what I was saying made sense. So they looked through my bag and found my hot pockets and juice. And if you think that is slang it isn’t. It was just Hot pockets and juice. So they talk a bit, run my name, and keep looking at the hockey stick. They eventually said I could go. They asked why I didn’t call the cops when I found the hockey stick. Really? Why didn’t I call the cops when I found the hockey stick? I said, “because it is a hockey stick”. They said unless it is in a ditch I shouldn’t take anything I find. It is also stolen property. Though they let me take it anyways.
He also didn’t give back my license at first but luckily he did. Now during my walk I had some thoughts going through my head. Why was I stopped? Is it true that someone called the cops saying I was stealing from Borders? Maybe. Except the fact that I didn’t go into Borders. Now I can think of only really two ideas. That damn unicyclist who pretended to be friendly was really just a jerk and wanted to have some fun at my expense. OR the cops wanted a reason to search me. Now I’ve been stopped by the cops before (10 times my freshman year =) ) but it is always for the same thing. Walking. Now I had a hockey stick so admittingly I look more suspicious. But see their story was a bit confusing because I never completely knew what I was stopped for. Stolen property ok. But the books from Borders or the hockey stick? At first I thought it was the hockey stick because they said found objects like that are stolen property. But then they brought up Borders and it seemed like they didn’t even care about the hockey stick, they just didn’t want me to hit them with it. It really felt like, stop him for hockey stick, let’s search him for “stolen” books from a place I wasn’t in, then back to the hockey stick when we don’t find anything. It was like they were casting about looking for things. I told them to ask all the store people who see me every week, check back on Saturday because you’ll probably find me walking there as well. When I told the second cop how I found the hockey stick he was like “That’s weird” almost to try and imply that it is too weird to be real. So I just replied “Yeah it is weird.” I realize I stand out a bit compared to majority of the people around here, plus the fact I walk everywhere when most people just ride, but is that reason to search someone? Are we that sick that we have become suspicious of people just because they walk? Now I realize it could be a simple misunderstanding and maybe the unicyclist is really just a prick, but right now I’m still wondering what I was stopped for. I didn’t know things that appeared to be discarded and lost automatically become stolen property. I guess all the hats, dollars, loose change, and anything else you have found that was not in a ditch is a stolen property. Though they said if it is in a dumpster it was ok. Though I thought that things in a dumpster are still technically the property of the people who threw it out, maybe not. I don’t think I’m mad because I’m laughing at some of the absurdity of it all. If it is stolen property why did they let me keep it? Why did Borders seem like an afterthought through most of the encounter?
Why oh Why I do not know why. But I got a decent story out of it. I don’t know my friends. Whatever. I hope to be back soon with something interesting. Till then, stay warm, stay safe, and think.
~Love~
“Hi I got an Idea for a book. It is 5 pages long, six if you count the cover, and it has a few babies and random items in it. You know, colors.”
So I started to break it down page by page. Each page was a think piece of colored cardboard the correlated with the color it represented (Red for red, yellow for yellow) Now the front of the book had a picture of a little Asian girl with a yellow background that had a colored flower pattern like wall paper. On the back of this was all the information about who wrote the book and the copyright jargon. It was made in 2005. Now I saw “Make Believe idea limitations” and I was rather confused. I’m not sure if it was a company name, a slogan, or what. It sounds weird and I don’t like the taste it leaves in my mouth. It was also made in the U.K though assembled in China.
The next and first is red with a little black baby wearing red pajamas holding a red cup. On the back there was a strawberry, an apple, a chair, pens (one which was orange and one that was pink), and a few other things. The chair was a little weird but ok. The next page was blue. It had a little Asian girl (not the same as the cover from what I can tell) in some blue overalls. On the back it had a hat, a ball, some other things, and a trowel. Yeah a trowel. The next page was Yellow. It had a naked white blonde boy with nothing but a towel on. On the back was a duckling, banana, building blocks, and one other thing I think. The next was Green. It had a white boy in green overalls as he lay in a toy wheelbarrow. On the back was a picture of a frog, a beetle, a cat doll, and a few other things. The last page was orange. This had a white girl in an orange dress and by far looked the oldest out the babies in this book. She was also playing with a block or something. Now she gets shafted because on the back she only got 2 items. A Giraffe doll that looked nothing like a real giraffe, save for the long neck, and an orange. The bottom third had more legal jargon on it.
Now one thing was odd was that on the back side of the cover page the background was 5 stripes of the other colors backgrounds. Other words, the background pattern for the back side of the cover page was made up of the 5 color backgrounds throughout the book. A stip of red, blue, yellow, green, and orange. But what was strange was that the yellow stripe was not exactly the yellow background pattern for the yellow background that was used on the yellow’s page. It was actually the background for the front of the cover. Now to be fair, the background pattern for the front of the cover and the background for the yellow page are the same but in the cover the flowers in the back ground are colored, the ones in the yellow are not. So the stripes on the back of the cover are of all the colors except yellow because that strip was taking from the background of the front of the cover.
I also wanted to think about the cost of making this book. Like I’d wager that the person making this knew these kids or at least the parents which would cut down costs. Also I looked at the items that were used. The wheelbarrow defiantly had some show of wear and tear so it was defiantly not bought solely for this book. And if it was it would have been bought used at a store probably similar to the one I was waiting in. I also wondered if the food was bought just for this book or did someone just bring in food. As they were babies, I’m sure a lot of the toys were theirs to begin with so I doubt much money was spent there. Even if she did buy them all new it could not have been over $100.
But there must have some money issues as they left out violet. The colors that were used were the 3 primary colors, yellow, and blue. They also used two secondary colors green and orange. Why not violet? Did the publishers flip shit because the already lengthy book was going to get longer? I think they realized this because the cardboard color of the cover was actually violet. Also, some of things on the blue page looked like they could make a home in the violet world. But why not green or orange? What did Violet get the bump?
Another interesting thing was the shape of the pages. They were curvy and what not. But three of them, the cover, page one, and the last page all were the same shape. Why? The other pages were different why can’t these three?
One last thing I noticed, the green and orange kid (the two oldest by the looks of them) wore saddles a lot. You can tell because their feet are colored as if they wore sandals a lot. Also most of them still crawled as their knees showed signs of use.
Now I understand this probably sounds creepy but I was curious, wanted to know what it took to make a baby book, and what else am I suppose to do while I wait? But after analyzing it for the 5th or 6th time I started to look for my friend. I couldn’t find her so I went to the cashier and asked for the time. It was 5:56 and my friend had left me. -_-
But my adventure didn’t end there my friends. No no. After coming out of Best Buy unsuccessfully looking for a cheap mp3 player I was walking in the parking lot of Dierbergs (grocery store) I saw a hockey stick. I wanted to take it but there was a car there so I left it thinking it might be theirs. I went into Michael’s picked up some Micron pens and went back to the stick. Now there were two trucks there so I went to Dierbergs to get some food. When I came out I saw this kid on a unicycle. We talked a bit, he offered a ride but I was on a walk and a ride would defeat the purpose so I said no. Now I went back to the hockey stick and there were no cars. So I went and got it. It looked nice, not top quality or anything, but a nice find to cap my adventure. So I start walking and I run into the unicyclist again. We talk for a bit but then I leave to get back to my apartment. Now I’m a decent way back when I notice the lights on me are constant. It is dark by now and typically car lights stay on you for a few seconds then past. This was a constant light so I turned and sure enough there was a cop.
WOoT!
So I approach the cop and ask what is wrong. He said something I couldn’t hear. I ask for him to repeat and in a stern voice he tells me to stand in front of his car. I wait for like a minute and he gets out. He tells me the put the stick down and asks if he knows why I’m stopped. I assume it is because I’m carrying a hockey stick but I wasn’t sure. I said no. He says theft of property. I almost laughed but I kept my cool. He asked if I had any knives, anything illegal, any guns, drugs, or bombs on me. To me this is me is funny. But then another cop pulls up behind him. Now I really want to laugh because I know that I’m getting stopped for….walking but they are treating this like something serious went down. So I’m about to explain how I found the stick when they tell me that someone from “Borders” called them and said I was stealing books. That really threw me for a loop as I haven’t even been in a Borders for about a month or so. I said “Really?” I told them I haven’t been in Borders. They asked about the hockey stick and I explained how I found it. I explained how I’ve been making the same walk for about three years now almost every Saturday and that if I was going to steal things I probably would want to make myself less recognizable. Walking around in a Serape (poncho) and carrying a hockey stick while walking on the side of the road isn’t exactly low key. The second officer try to give me a hard look even though I could tell what I was saying made sense. So they looked through my bag and found my hot pockets and juice. And if you think that is slang it isn’t. It was just Hot pockets and juice. So they talk a bit, run my name, and keep looking at the hockey stick. They eventually said I could go. They asked why I didn’t call the cops when I found the hockey stick. Really? Why didn’t I call the cops when I found the hockey stick? I said, “because it is a hockey stick”. They said unless it is in a ditch I shouldn’t take anything I find. It is also stolen property. Though they let me take it anyways.
He also didn’t give back my license at first but luckily he did. Now during my walk I had some thoughts going through my head. Why was I stopped? Is it true that someone called the cops saying I was stealing from Borders? Maybe. Except the fact that I didn’t go into Borders. Now I can think of only really two ideas. That damn unicyclist who pretended to be friendly was really just a jerk and wanted to have some fun at my expense. OR the cops wanted a reason to search me. Now I’ve been stopped by the cops before (10 times my freshman year =) ) but it is always for the same thing. Walking. Now I had a hockey stick so admittingly I look more suspicious. But see their story was a bit confusing because I never completely knew what I was stopped for. Stolen property ok. But the books from Borders or the hockey stick? At first I thought it was the hockey stick because they said found objects like that are stolen property. But then they brought up Borders and it seemed like they didn’t even care about the hockey stick, they just didn’t want me to hit them with it. It really felt like, stop him for hockey stick, let’s search him for “stolen” books from a place I wasn’t in, then back to the hockey stick when we don’t find anything. It was like they were casting about looking for things. I told them to ask all the store people who see me every week, check back on Saturday because you’ll probably find me walking there as well. When I told the second cop how I found the hockey stick he was like “That’s weird” almost to try and imply that it is too weird to be real. So I just replied “Yeah it is weird.” I realize I stand out a bit compared to majority of the people around here, plus the fact I walk everywhere when most people just ride, but is that reason to search someone? Are we that sick that we have become suspicious of people just because they walk? Now I realize it could be a simple misunderstanding and maybe the unicyclist is really just a prick, but right now I’m still wondering what I was stopped for. I didn’t know things that appeared to be discarded and lost automatically become stolen property. I guess all the hats, dollars, loose change, and anything else you have found that was not in a ditch is a stolen property. Though they said if it is in a dumpster it was ok. Though I thought that things in a dumpster are still technically the property of the people who threw it out, maybe not. I don’t think I’m mad because I’m laughing at some of the absurdity of it all. If it is stolen property why did they let me keep it? Why did Borders seem like an afterthought through most of the encounter?
Why oh Why I do not know why. But I got a decent story out of it. I don’t know my friends. Whatever. I hope to be back soon with something interesting. Till then, stay warm, stay safe, and think.
~Love~
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
The Human Eating Chinese Characters Machine!
So it would appear yet again that I’ve slacked off more than a lot a bit you namtambout? Any who, we be on this same ol’ Chinese wrap so I’m going to lay down some phat ones and you should holla if ya feel me ya hear? Great! (I’m writing like this so when you compare it to my Chinese it doesn’t look so bad)
1. 我丢失的条裤子！
2. 我要喝伏特加，她要啤酒。
3. 那这双黑的呢？
4. 我想买一件夹克。
5. 你什么时睡觉？
What I hope these translate to is
1. I lost my pants!
2. I want to drink vodka, he wants to drink beer.
3. How about this pair in black?
4. I want to buy this jacket.
5. What time do you go to bed?
So to conclude this latest and greatest blog entry I want to talk about a cute little group on the web called the “Human Flesh Search Engine”. For everyone who doesn’t know what the “Human Flesh Search Engine” (H.F.S.E.) it is a Chinese online group/community that partakes in “vigilantism”. The basic concept is that the community watches people, mostly government officials or someone of power, and judges them on what they are doing. If they are found to be corrupt or deserving of wrath, the group digs up as much personal information about that person and makes it easily available to the web. Though the information that they get is normally public, the H.F.S.E. gets phone numbers, addresses to the victim and the Victim’s family’s residences, work info, pictures, and any other details the might expose/embarrasses the victim. From what I’ve read, one of the starting points of the H.F.S.E. is when there were videos of a lady killing cats with her stiletto heels, later to be known as “Kitten Killer of Hangzhou”. Eventually, over much analyzing from the videos, the lady was found out and harassed. Harassment takes many shapes in the form of different attacks. Email addresses are flooded, online messaging accounts are attacked, threatening phone calls are made, and personal threats are issued. Though it may sound like a good thing, having a watchful eye on the corrupt and naughty, there have been cases where innocent people or people who did something very minor having felt the wrath of the H.F.S.E. Many people have lost jobs, had to go into hiding, been attacked, and have been arrested due to the actions of the H.F.S.E. This is a good ol’ lynch mob of the modern ages.
Is it wrong or is it right? Again, it is good to know people are not just accepting cruelty and corruption but at the same time it is a scary thing to see personal privacy torn to shreds. This is truly mob action with little deterrence. Most people don’t complain when “justice” comes down upon someone who seems to take immense pleasure in other’s pain and misery but it is another thing when someone gets caught for something minor and they are treated like a rapist. It like trying to push in a thumbtack with a sledgehammer, it is overkill. I don’t know how I exactly feel about this except I find it very intriguing.
I hope everyone enjoyed that and I might write more on China’s romp in the online world as they seem to be having so much fun with it. But for now I must go but I do leave a promise with more. How can I promise you ask? Well it is part of my grade so there will be more. Keep warm, stay safe, and think.
~Love~
1. 我丢失的条裤子！
2. 我要喝伏特加，她要啤酒。
3. 那这双黑的呢？
4. 我想买一件夹克。
5. 你什么时睡觉？
What I hope these translate to is
1. I lost my pants!
2. I want to drink vodka, he wants to drink beer.
3. How about this pair in black?
4. I want to buy this jacket.
5. What time do you go to bed?
So to conclude this latest and greatest blog entry I want to talk about a cute little group on the web called the “Human Flesh Search Engine”. For everyone who doesn’t know what the “Human Flesh Search Engine” (H.F.S.E.) it is a Chinese online group/community that partakes in “vigilantism”. The basic concept is that the community watches people, mostly government officials or someone of power, and judges them on what they are doing. If they are found to be corrupt or deserving of wrath, the group digs up as much personal information about that person and makes it easily available to the web. Though the information that they get is normally public, the H.F.S.E. gets phone numbers, addresses to the victim and the Victim’s family’s residences, work info, pictures, and any other details the might expose/embarrasses the victim. From what I’ve read, one of the starting points of the H.F.S.E. is when there were videos of a lady killing cats with her stiletto heels, later to be known as “Kitten Killer of Hangzhou”. Eventually, over much analyzing from the videos, the lady was found out and harassed. Harassment takes many shapes in the form of different attacks. Email addresses are flooded, online messaging accounts are attacked, threatening phone calls are made, and personal threats are issued. Though it may sound like a good thing, having a watchful eye on the corrupt and naughty, there have been cases where innocent people or people who did something very minor having felt the wrath of the H.F.S.E. Many people have lost jobs, had to go into hiding, been attacked, and have been arrested due to the actions of the H.F.S.E. This is a good ol’ lynch mob of the modern ages.
Is it wrong or is it right? Again, it is good to know people are not just accepting cruelty and corruption but at the same time it is a scary thing to see personal privacy torn to shreds. This is truly mob action with little deterrence. Most people don’t complain when “justice” comes down upon someone who seems to take immense pleasure in other’s pain and misery but it is another thing when someone gets caught for something minor and they are treated like a rapist. It like trying to push in a thumbtack with a sledgehammer, it is overkill. I don’t know how I exactly feel about this except I find it very intriguing.
I hope everyone enjoyed that and I might write more on China’s romp in the online world as they seem to be having so much fun with it. But for now I must go but I do leave a promise with more. How can I promise you ask? Well it is part of my grade so there will be more. Keep warm, stay safe, and think.
~Love~
Thursday, December 31, 2009
A Glorious Day
Since it has been awhile since my last post I thought I would wait till something amazing and or grand to happen before I post again. So yesterday fulfilled those requirements so I'm going to tell you. Yesterday I spent the entire day without pants on. Isn't that great? Well you cats keep warm and stay cool.
~Love~
~Love~
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