Spending vs. Saving

If I gave you $50, what would you do with it? Most people would say they'd save it due to the condition of the economy. Me? I'd save it, too. Not because I'm that worried, but I'd rather spend big on one thing rather than spend a little on something of more value. I'm not saying more expensive products are superior, but it's the materialistic side of me that wants those Marc Jacob bags or that Chanel wallet. Of course, I'd never spend $1000 on a wallet, but the thought of having one is nice.

Nocturnal

Summer-- time to work, take extra classes or just slack off. I like the last option. Junior year, I spent my summer back in Korea with relatives and for some odd reason I took naps for hours on end during the day and couldn't get to sleep at night. That led me to have the opposite sleeping schedule of most people. I'd sleep at 10 AM, wake up at around 5 PM and do whatever I had to do, then go to sleep again at 10. I found myself doing nothing, really. I just wanted to push the envelope; I wanted to see how long I could go sleeping irregularly without passing out during the afternoon. That habit has unfortunately carried over to today. I still sleep at 4 AM and wake up usually around 10 AM for class. I know I should sleep earlier since I have nothing to do, but what can I say? I'm a night-owl and I enjoy it. Even if I'm exhausted by noon.

"Christmas is the Disneyfication of Christianity"

With the holiday season pretty much here and some people putting up lights and whatnot, I decided to post about Christmas. So...Christmas. It's probably the most popular holiday in the United States, as the majority of Americans practicing Christianity. As an Agnostic person, I wonder why Christmas is so widely celebrated, not only by Christians but by even by Atheists. Christmas is celebrated every year on December 25th as it marks the birthday of Jesus of Nazareth. During this time, people put up and decorate Christmas trees, hang wreaths and mistletoe, exchange presents and spend time with family and friends. And on Christmas Eve, children wait anxiously for sounds of sleigh bells and the footsteps of jolly ol' Saint Nick.
Don Cupitt once stated, "Christmas is the Disneyfication of Christianity" and I wholeheartedly agree. Christmas these days is mainly about two things: presents and holiday sales. This holiday, much like every other major holiday is so commercialized, the original meaning is lost. For example, Easter. Ask a few children what they think of when you mention Easter, and they'll most likely tell you Easter eggs and that Easter bunny. Well, what am I complaining about? It's not like the general ignorance of the history of holidays affects me, so I bid you adieu.

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Seasons Greetings, *generic wintertime saying*.

Switching Majors

So for the past few months, I've been pretty much set in my ways here at UMBC. I planned on taking a German class every semester as it's my major and a bunch of ancient history classes (a secret interest of mine). However, it's almost the end of the first semester and I'm having doubts. "Do I really want to be a German major?" "What will I actually do with it?" "Do I even like German anymore?" I began to question my interests in life. I've been learning German since freshman year of high school and got pretty good grades; my teacher even wrote my recommendation. I thought this was something I was good at and would come to enjoy. That's not the case. It's not that I don't like learning languages, it's that it bores me now. I don't know. Maybe it's because we're learning about topics I'd rather skip, or maybe I just need to study harder. Either way, I may just switch over to sociology with a minor in Chinese, or be an ancient studies person. Here's to not knowing the future. Cheers!

Taking Pot ...tery Classes

Since Spring registration is almost here, I took a look at the classes available for Spring 2010. Surprisingly, UMBC doesn't offer many "art" classes. Well, they do offer art history classes and beginner drawing classes, but that's just not what I'm after. In high school, I spent all four years painting, sketching, blending, pottery...ing and now there's nothing. My friend suggested taking pottery classes with her at HCC to fulfill the requirements and I just might. Here's hoping my teacher won't be like Collins...
Ah, that reminds me; I have start that charcoal sketch soon.

Ace of Cakes

Duff being his usual Duff-y self

The Ace of Cakes crew held a book signing earlier tonight at my local Barnes and Noble and my friend and I caught a glimpse of them (specifically Geof) through the crowd of people at 7:45-ish and then left to go shopping. We came back when they were finishing their two-hour long signing and fortunately captured a few pictures. Then, here's the best part... I walked towards the back and sat down at a table with my friend after the crew went into the back room. A few minutes later, they came out, and I saw Geof. I waved and he waved back! Awesome! This was the greatest day of my life. Just kidding... maybe not.

Geof doing what Geof does best

GLEEk

One of my favorite shows this fall is of course Glee. Back in August when I saw the first episode, I didn't like it. All the characters seemed like giant stereotypes and the plot line like a giant cliche (HSM anyone?), but after watching those characters develop week after week, I found myself becoming a gleek (a Glee fan). Although there are moments where the minor characters get shoved aside to make room for more Rachel and Finn centered tunes and episodes.

For those of you who don't watch the show, it revolves around a girl named Rachel. She has a tremendous voice, but because of her control-freak tendencies, is despised and ridiculed by her classmates. There's also Finn, the popular quarterback for the school's football team, with an unusual gift for singing. There's also Quinn, head cheerleader and, naturally, Finn's girlfriend; Artie, a handicapped kid who's part of the school's Jazz band; Mercedes, the stereotypical loud black girl with a powerful voice; Kurt the gay kid who gets bullied and Tina, the Asian girl with a stutter. Now to Mr. Shu. He's currently the school's Spanish teacher, but wants to start up a glee club after watching the kids' talents go to waste.

One character you can't forget is Sue Sylvester, the egotistical coach of the "Cheerios."

She honestly makes the show with her nicknames for the Glee kids, i.e. Wheels, Aretha, Asian, other Asian, and Gay kid.

Glee, you are a amazingly hilarious!

Auto tune, you need to go AWAY.

Auto tune's been around for a few years and started with rappers, but it has now reached halfway around the world.

I've never been a fan of singers/rappers using auto tune mainly because it's absolutely pointless. There are so many "rappers" out there that use this and make money off it. RIDICULOUS! Now, legitimate singers like Mariah Carey are incorporating it in their songs. This useless program disguises actual talent and completely destroys credibility in music.

So I've been following Korean music for some time now, and it's honestly like a carbon copy of mainstream American music. However, rabid teenage fan girls and boys seem to have a fancy for boy and girl groups with 6+ people. These groups are coming out with the most auto tuned, generic, mainstream, pointless, redundant, repetitive, redundant, repetitive, redundant songs I have ever heard. Oh, and shocker-- some of these songs are either covers, samplings or blatantly ripped off of American songs. Can you guess which ones?

What happened to actual talent? You know, songs where the voice on the CD is really yours. What happened to composing your own songs? Auto tune killed all that. That's right. Thank you, auto tune, for ruining music!

Sweet Sweet Procrastination

Ever since senior year I've noticed that projects and assignments take me a lot longer to do than it would have taken during sophomore year. Reason: I love being lazy. Even if I have absolutely nothing to do except that assignment, I'll find a way to leave it to the last minute. I'll sleep, constantly browse Facebook or even watch obscure videos on YouTube. I mean, I know it's entirely insane to do nothing during the day and spend my entire night and morning doing work, but it still doesn't stop me. It's a sickness, really. I wonder if they have a 12 step program for overcoming laziness. If there is, I'm guessing I just finished stage 1-- admitting my problem. Now, to figure out the other 11 steps.

Response to Ch. 5&6

I found these two chapters a tad bit more interesting than previous chapters. I've always had troubles beginning an argument and voicing my distinct opinions on a matter, and the templates surely helped. I completely agree when Graff writes about how writing in the first person can get monotonous, and that using "I" doesn't have the same effect when making arguments.

The beginning story Graff included in chapter six definitely caught my attention. I know that I stay up several nights a semester writing papers only to find out the last minute that I completely rambled on in a circle or wrote the paper incorrectly. This chapter helped me understand that I need to view both sides of the argument in order to write a well-rounded paper, not a paper full of holes and fallacies. Not only does representing the opposing side give me a place to start, but it also gives the illusion of an unbiased paper.

Vampire Obsession

Twilight, Vampire Diaries, New Moon, True Blood, Vampire Knight (for those of you who watch anime), and now The Vampire's Assistant. These are movies and tv shows revolving around vampires and their roles in modern day life, and either have been released within the past year or are coming out within a year. Some are tailored to suit the flavors of teenage girls, and others are suited to a more mature audience. As much as I love watching show that aren't just about a normal teenager's life, I can honestly say this is too much. With the success of the Twilight movie, it seems as if Hollywood is milking the idea of "vampires who fall in love with normal girls," and it's extremely tiring hearing of a new vampire whatever coming out. There are other mythological creatures with the same history as vampires, but I hardly ever hear of them. Not only that, but it seems a certain author can't get her stories straight. "Sparkling" vampires? No. I'm all for creating new creatures by mixing elements of other creatures, but vampires don't sparkle. Fairies sparkle.

This blog post is definitely targeted toward my hatred of Twilight more than anything because of the insane amount of attention it garners when the books are so crudely written.

Now onto the good. The Vampire's Assistant is a movie I actually might want to watch because it's not a boy meets girl, they fall in love, their relationship can't work out since one's a vampire, blah blah blah movie. It's about a boy who gets pulled into a world full of side-show freaks, and two warring factions of vampires. Finally, a movie coming out that doesn't revolve around "love."

9/9/09?

The number nine is said to be both a lucky and unlucky number. In Chinese the number sounds much like "longlasting" and in Japanese it sounds like "suffering." I see and read about classmates and anyone with internet access acting as if this day will bring something significant. My own mother tells me that this day, September 9, 2009, will only happen once and to not let worries trouble me today. My question is why? Why is there so much emphasis on days like that when they're no different than any other? Just because a number sounds "lucky" doesn't mean it is. Do they expect a fairy to float down and grant them a wish or is it just something to believe in? An idea that no one can disprove or take away from them; one last string of hope to cling on to in these times when almost anything can (and will) go wrong. Maybe it's just the pessimism in me trying to bring down any chance of optimism. Maybe it's the Agnostic side of me that wants cold, hard facts before letting myself believe. I'm guessing it has to do with faith. There are those who choose religion and believe that a deity is watching over them. I'm just not one of those people. I applaud those who choose to believe, I really do, but I can't allow myself to be like that. I can't believe that this is the way those deities left this world in the state it's in. Our world is engulfed in crime, violence, greed, suffering... but we did all that. Humans. As a result of our desire-- scratch that-- voracity for power we have ultimately destroyed ourselves. Again, that's the pessimism inching its way back into my mind.