Facts on a Music Video

Well, I've written two, long, personal posts in a row now, and I'm a bit tired. It takes a long time to write posts, edit them, and make them the best they can be. (My posts could still have used some work.) So, today, I'll post a music video I came across a month or two ago.

I'd never heard of Sky Sweetnam before, and even now, I've not had time to listen to her other songs. But this song is inspirational. "We're only human, seperated by our thoughts." How true. We go around complaining about having to deal with other people and generally treating them not only as strangers but also as a completely different species. We don't know them, so we think they must be scary or weird and we avoid them or dislike them. Democrats and Republicans, rich and poor, and so on. We're very similar, very human, God's children, descendants of the first two people. We should treat each other like family, but because we THINK we're so different, every second of every day, other people seem unpredictable, unknown, and dangerous. We can't imagine what's going on in their heads, if anything. It's like they're robots or giant walking carnivorous plants or empty corn husks. It's like, "They don't have feelings like me, so who knows if they have any feelings at all?" Because of this, we treat each other with distance and coldness. Our thoughts separate us. The rest of the lyrics are meaningful too, about how media and marketing and such influence us. The music is enjoyable.

The video is delightfully dark. I like the futuristic, dystopian, time-machine, people-turned-animals feel of it. I like Sky Sweetnam's outfits too, except for the word A$$ on her pants. This is the only version I could get the Embed off of, so you have to wait through a short intro.

Looking to Cure or Prevent Emotional Sickness? Get the Facts Here!

but

The following documents provide evidence against psychiatrist Dr. Infectious in memos to his secretary, Mr. Communicable, conspiring to infect the public using his patients:


Mr. C,
Please call Sarah and confirm she made that Youtube channel I recommended to let out, in fun ways, her frustration at being bespectacled, freckled, a citizen of the United States, and so much less charming than everyone else. Remind her I said making fun of herself will help her overcome life's misfortunes. With luck, bespectacled, freckled U.S. Citizens will see her videos and begin down the path of self-hate, and we'll have scores of new customers.


Mr. C,
Please call my friends at the station and secure the prime time slot for our up-and-coming rock star friend to tell the world what he looks for in a girl: beauty as great as his. His fans should get the hint, and before you know it, they'll come crying to us about how they're not pretty enough or how they obsess over beauty only to tire themselves out, never feeling beautiful INSIDE.


Mr. C,
Please write the military base and tell them I recommend Mr. Jonson for a promotion. The more people that come under his authority, the more will come to us to "fix" their own abusive tendencies, which they acquired after meeting the superior that abused them.


Mr. C,
Please call Rich and remind him how important it is that he join the debate team, no matter how uncool he thinks it is. He'll confront even more people with his stubbornness, opinionatedness, and constant interruptions and insults. Once that happens, we'll be swamped with people just like him who complain that they're angry, unheard, and overly opinionated, wishing they didn't blow up over every little opinion.


Mr. C,
Please move up my appointment with Larry. I plan to emphasize that he must cope with his impatience by letting out his emotions, letting others know how he feels. By which I mean it's altogether fitting and proper that he should purposely knock over display stands while in line at Walmart because that will make his parents just as antsy to get out of line. They'll come to us about their nervous impatience.


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Script for Emotional Illness Insurance commercial:

*Man in park runs from sneezing man to scowling old woman, from angry woman to man flashing ultra-violet-white smile at himself in anything shiny, from vain man to boy hiding acne-ridden face behind hands, from self-hating boy to pole, INTO pole.*

Announcer: Hello. I'm here to talk about emotional illness. Emotional illness is a serious malady, costing the sick thousands each year in therapist bills. It can affect even the healthy with self-inflicted face-palms, running into poles, and of course the worst aspect of emotional illness - its contagiousness.

But. You can be prepared. The irrefutable fact is this: you are what you choose to be. You must build up your emotional immune system. You can do this by looking at examples of emotional health and by familiarizing yourself with types of emotional illness, seeing them in small doses from a distance. This vaccination will allow your system to distinguish the truth from the pathogens and exterminate them from within you, without needing to wonder if your physical looks are more important than who you are, if you should be ashamed of your looks, if abusive behavior is necessary, or if it's best to be stubborn and opinionated. It can still be difficult to ensure your system is not overwhelmed. It can be extremely difficult to CURE emotional illness when you already have it, but never panic. Once you recognize your sickness, you can do something about it, at least attempting to control your actions. Keep in mind that it's slightly easier to control your actions than feelings. However, you can control both your actions and your emotions best with a healthy helping God's influence in your heart, soul, and mind.

Or you could soften face-palms by gluing oven mitts to your hands and stay out of parks with poles.

That's EII's stand. Are you in good oven mitts?

Facts about People

I'm tired of people saying people don't change. They do. I know from experience. I've changed countless times, in both great and miniscule ways, and sometimes in a cycle that takes me away from what I was and back to it. One post cannot hold all these changes, and perhaps I'll do more posts on this. For now, however, I present one example: tolerance.

I used to be incredibly tolerant of – even starving for – opinions different than mine. I used to immerse myself in IMDb reviews. "Ooh, that person thinks so and so. Isn't that fascinating? It's AMAZING!" said I to myself. True, I always knew when the reviewers were wrong or when I disagreed, but even then, I loved it. Those reviews made my life interesting, with all the different voices, the freedom to speak, the freedom to argue and disagree. Each reviewer was totally unique at every level. They would never exist anywhere or anytime else, and I'd probably never hear from them anywhere but in those reviews. Maybe it wasn't so much the opinions I liked, but the insight into the minds of God's most complicated creations. (I have always had an interest in psychology.) It was so colorful and varied, and variety is the spice of life. At least it was back then.

See, now, if someone has a different opinion than me, I'm react like this, "DIE! MORON! YOU HEARD ME, DROP OFF THE FACE OF THE EARTH! WHO DIED AND LEFT YOU LICENSE TO BE IDIOT OF THE UNIVERSE??" even when it's about something I don't particularly care about.

I have little idea what caused this change. I do know I used to be far more easygoing, and my attitude used to be: "Well, sure, if you look at it that way. I look at it a different way. To each her own, eh, amiga?" *Swings on hammock drinking pink lemonade with tiny umbrella in glass* For example, in one review of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, someone said the movie spent an hour lecturing on the unimportance of physical beauty and, at the end, rewarded the characters and audience by turning Beast beautiful. To that review, I smiled and thought, "Well, you could see it that way or you could see it as the movie's way of showing that, when you love someone, they turn beautiful." However, somehow I changed.

I remember another IMDb review. It may have been the first that bothered me. It called Beast a hostage-taker. It bothered me because I knew that was true, and it made me feel blind for not seeing it (I usually see that stuff) and guilty for liking Beast. The review also called Belle's love for Beast Stockholm Syndrome. This seemed true, but - although I'm no expert - I thought it probably wasn't since Belle fell in love with Beast after he turned good and let her go, so technically she was no longer a hostage and he was no longer a captor. I wanted to tell the reviewer that. I also wanted to tell the reviewer that it didn't bother me that Beast was so evil, because he was PRESENTED that way, in full honesty and without guile, and he CHANGED. What really bothers me is when a character is evil but is never called on his actions. Beauty and the Beast is a redemption story of "the change love can bring." You can't have a story like that if the character being redeemed isn't evil. Beast had to be evil, or he would have had no changes to make. That negative review may not have made me hate different opinions, but it made me want to discuss them. After that review, I think I started imagining what I'd say of my opinions to every reviewer I came across.

I think I began to hate different opinions when I actually did start discussing them, on the internet and in real life, defending what I found right against what I found wrong. People are wrong sometimes, okay? That will probably be a Fact of the Day around here sometime. Not everything is matter of opinion or preference. Anyway, once I started debating, I found people exceedingly stubborn and opinionated. Some were vocal. Others didn’t have the guts to defend their opinions out loud but also wouldn’t change them no matter what I said. (Alternatively, they would change opinions at anything, so they didn’t contribute anything to change my understanding and would forget anything I said if someone else said something different.) I was willing to be influenced by their opinions, but they were not willing to be influenced by mine. Nine out of ten wouldn't even give my opinions a chance. I think that rubbed off on me. I became angry and lost willingness to give their opinions a chance.

I lost respect for them because I thought anyone who clings to their opinions so desperately must have a tiny IQ. They refused to imagine that someone else might be right, and like Einstein said, imagination indicates intelligence.

Furthermore, after some experience debating people, I learned that a little stupidity was just the tip of the iceberg. If someone thought everyone should use recycled paper (which is not so bad), they almost definitely cried when trees were cut down (still not so bad), and they almost definitely supported abortion. Abortion is wrong. Not a matter of preference. Wrong. That's just one example of how what seems like a little Stupid can indicate a lot of Stupid. This phenomenon caused me to hate when people disagreed with me even on tiny matters, because their stupidity probably extended far beyond that.

I no longer go around thinking "each person just has their own magical contact lenses to see stuff with." Excepting a few things that really are just opinion matters, people come to different conclusions than me out of faulty reasoning. Let's face it. I am always right. Always...Except once or twice.

When I come across different opinions, I react by wishing them off the face of the Earth, as I said before, because the Earth does not need any more stupid people. It could use a few less. A lot less. And stupid people are probably spreading their stupidity to their children, students, staff, etc. Every day. Making the world a dumber place. The world could use less people who disagree with me. I know, I know, this is really harsh, and people who disagree with me are generally not so bad. But this is how I feel, and it’s quite a change from when I was younger.

Facts about Tentative Resolutions

Well, I've resolved to spend a whole lot less time surfing the web and a whole lot more time writing. You see, I wrote a proper post for today but didn't have time to edit it, and I am not posting it in that state. It's quite horrible at the moment. This is just another in a long line of signs, signs with meanings, signs that indicate I spend too much time doing nothing for no reason. I only have a month of summer left. I'd better start doing activities I CARE about, like writing. So, for my last month of summer resolution, I resolve to spend HOURS writing. Of course, this resolution depends on how well I can stick to it. And the internet is mighty siren-like.

Yes, I Do Run out of Titles Containing the Word "Facts"

I spent hours today on Derek Landy's blog, bringing the comments up to 200 so that his friend, Laura, would agree to be interviewed. Now I find myself lacking energy and resolve to write a serious post (or a funny one, which is just as hard and often turns out worse as I'm not terribly funny).

I'll merely take a moment to comment on Bristol and Johston's split. While I sympathize deeply with Bristol, I'm glad this new split came, again, before she married him. Now she's seen his True Self again and can find someone better.

And now, on a lighter note, put your hands together for the greatest theme song of all time!

Swear Facts

Fustard trats!

Did those bisting words add awrking anything to my wilicing post? Not yashing at all. They nitting may have sounded absurd as qap and therefore raclat funny, but piving only because they're dassing nonsense words that ening mean leling nothing. (I hope.) If they tanding meant something, something panring dirty or reewing dreadful, they twering wouldn't have been so jat funny.

I oppose swearing, but it doesn't bother me as much as other offenses. For example, I enjoyed the movie Phone Booth even though some people I know hated it for its language. For such a movie, though, it kept the violence and suggestive content, which I can't stand, to a minimum, and I didn't mind the language that much. I hated the reference to THINKING about adultery more, and even that added to the movie when the main character realized it was wrong. All the same, I oppose swearing.

They say that words only have the power you give them. This is true. Even swear words are essentially just words, not worth worrying over most of the time. They're still unsavory though. Why? Well, why do people swear?

When used for their actual meanings, swear words are meant to shock people by sounding extra vulgar, mean, or angry. How unpleasant. You shouldn't try to shock people or make the world any angrier, meaner, or more vulgar than it is.

When not used for their actual meanings, swear words are meant to add emphasis. You shouldn't need extra emphasis, though, if your statement is strong enough to be said at all. The statement should stand on its own. Swearing only adds unnecessary words, defying the first rule of quality writing.

When used for acquired meanings, swear words are often at their worst. Dick, cock, and prick take harmless words and turn them into vulgarities, opening the door for tormenting people named Dick and poking fun at harmless uses of "cock" and "prick." "Bitch" is likely my most hated word. When someone calls one woman (or man) by that word, it seems to spew insult and hate at all women. That word says women must be docile or risk being called a hateful name that compares them to dogs. It's a way of oppressing all women, discouraging them from being spunky, fierce, strong, independent, grumpy. Discouraging them from arguing and generally from having any emotion or acting HUMAN. It's a way of making feisty girls look horrendous. It's a horrendous word.

Some people swear just to sound cool, which is just stupid. Nothing is cool about intentional conformity.

Sometimes, swear words are meant to let out pain, anger, or frustration. But why must you use words that stand for vulgarities? What's wrong with "ouch?" Or even just "My toe hurts. I stubbed my toe?" Why use words at all? Why not scream or let out gibberish groans, as seems to be the most natural response? How about "arrgghh?"

Swear words sound ugly and denote ugly. Each one literally means something repulsive. People say them all the time. There's no need to talk of repulsive subjects every sentence of the day, and when there is a need, there's no need to use words any more vulgar than the technical ones. There's no need to punctuate statements with vulgarities if you have anything worth saying. If you must use expletives to give your words oomph, you're probably not saying anything worth saying. Swear words are also used to oppress and hurt, as if we need any more oppression or pain in this world. This renders swearing pointless and cruel.

Facts' Fears Three

Greetings, traveler, on this, the first of August. All hail August, Monthiest Month of the Year, as voted on by readers of Year Magazine. Congrats, August, on winning the honor!

Well, I've made it through one (partial) month of blogging. Here's to month number two.

Remember when I said I was afraid of everything and nothing? I said I'd explain in a later post. Well, I'm actually not sure what I meant. I guess it had something to do with my knowledge that every morning I get up, every person I meet, every action I take presents a window for danger, for pain, humiliation, or death. I know this too well, and it scares me. Sometimes, though, I can forget it and enjoy myself. Sometimes, I can push it back in my mind, not all the way, but at least halfway, and it sticks in the thick of that forest of twisty grey matter. I try not to be paranoid, but I can't help it sometimes. My life is good. I shouldn't expect danger everywhere, but because of stories I've heard and unpleasant memories I have, I do.

I'm even scared of this blog, in a way. I'm scared of getting too personal in my writing, of caring too much, of being attacked for my beliefs, of being stalked. I hope to do a longer post on this.

Anyway, I'll now give more concrete examples of fears. I'm afraid of frying bacon, a.k.a. Hot Oil Splatters of Death. That's all bacon is essentially. I'm afraid of parasites or other types of nasty creatures that get INSIDE you and cause damage. I saw a video of a parasite thing that could take over grasshopper bodies and cause the poor grasshoppers to go insane. I'm deathly afraid of haters/mean people (very scary, and they're all over the place too). Who ISN'T scared of them? They probably scare themselves.