The chickens have escaped

‘Big Gift’, why not make it harder?

entaletc — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 00:35:57 +0000

So once again Valentines Day is coming around. I think it can be equally depressing as it can be romantic, this of course depending on if you’re expecting a gift. You know I have always marvelled at those girls who get a gift from someone they are not in a relationship with, who actually have secret admirers. Now this slight jealousy I have comes on a few levels, but mainly because what I’ve come to realise is there is a huge issue in the buying of Valentines Day gifts, and I personally cannot take the inequality of the Gift giving market any more.
You see, it seems that when girls get around to buying a present for a boy; we are posed with more than a few problems. The fact of the matter seems to be that gift giving for males has been made easier by ‘Big Gift’, such as Hallmark, where girls are forced into thinking about exactly what to get. That’s right girls, we actually have to use brain power, and this severe inequality should not be allowed to stand.
When I sat on the bus to Teneriffe pondering what to get my boyfriend for Valentines day, I realised that it would be a lot harder than it seemed at first. For starters; he’s not the soppy type, so teddy bears are out instantly, although these would have once been viable perhaps for more romantic guys. I came to realise that in fact the issue to begin with was that the Stereotypical Valentines Day gifts were horribly sexist, and provided no alternatives of gifts for men. Teddies, chocolates, and flowers. These are all things that a girl would want to receive, but give a guy a bunch of roses, and they’re in the bin before you can even blink. Having said this, I am sure there are guys who are more in touch with their feminine romantic side, and would be happy with a teddy holding a heart. However the majority of the demographic of males would not appreciate these gifts, and this leaves us girls in complete despair as for what to give them. Although the sexist approach of ‘Big Gift’ gives us gifts we love; it leaves us out on a raft somewhere in the pacific, not sure where were going or even if anyone will help us.
This slide by ‘Big Gift’ means we actually have to put thought into our gifts, if we actually want it to mean something. It means we need to know our special someone enough to know what they may like, and also that we can’t just go down to the store, spend $100 on roses and walk out with our problem solved. I do want to know why ‘Big Gift’ has made the assumption we will put in more effort? Is it because we females have become so predictable that they expect us to throw our hearts and souls into creating the perfect gift? Or is it that they know guys aren’t going to want to put in this effort, and they can gain the most profit from them? Maybe it’s a combination of the two, the perfect way for ‘Big Gift’ to roll in the dollars from our love for one another that has been so carelessly materialised by expensive gifts, that either die in 2 days or get eaten. It just does not seem fair to me that we as woman must do all the work. The work that actually involves thinking, and not just money.
Although maybe its just that ‘Big Gift’ thinks its too much effort for them to create a more gender neutral range of gifts, especially when the stereotypical girls like me will make something anyway.

The politeness that overrules

entaletc — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 22:40:50 +0000

So I have been thinking for some time about what to write my next blog about. I was trying to think of something really clever, but in the end I decided I should just stop aiming so high and pick a not so clever topic and at least attempt to make it clever. So when you work at a Newsagent, I’m pretty sure you become more annoyed at the state of society. I mean you get everything in there, and unlike a Supermarket like Coles where you just beep the groceries and your done, in a newsagent you get a lot more contact, with many stranger people. Unlike Coles or a clothing store, you also get quite large lines, and our little newsagent doesn’t really have any mechanism in place to control this line. We also have a wide counter, with Scratchies and Lottery down one end. See the issue you have with this, is that people start forming a queue in an orderly fashion, which is fine, despite the fact most have papers and the right change to pay, which takes about two seconds, however then someone decides to push in from the side. And then they get angry at you for not serving them! My friend once got a magazine chucked at her by such a person.
Now there is one thing I really can’t stand, and that is people pushing in. Sure the people who wait in line correctly and are just waiting their turn, then suddenly their at the back of the line. Its incredible that people can still expect to be served when we have seen them push in, and I mean what are they in a hurry for? Do they have to do a bit of gambling before they go to that work meeting their late for? Its only gambling, and it’s always going to be there. Like it or lump it. I just can’t believe that people expect to be served when they didn’t queue. Its completely illogical in our society.
However, a friend did tell me that line queuing is an English tradition, and most other European countries don’t do it. That got me thinking. When we were in Turkey and our whole bus went for a toilet stop, I remember a Muslim woman just walked in and completely disregarded the line. It may have been because she was using different toilets but even so. I remember getting really angry. But at the same time I guess it was just her culture.
But doesn’t line queuing constitute politeness? In our society it is polite to let people who were there before you go first. It seems to be ingrained. We immediately assume that if someone doesn’t follow those rules they are not polite, and we don’t like them for it. But perhaps we are so wrapped up in being polite, we forget what really matters. Sure, its all well and good that we let someone go first. But if it gets to the point where we get so angry when someone skips in front of us, maybe we need a life. Myself included. I think line queuing, although it annoys me to no end, is quite a petty annoyance when we look at other things. In the big picture queuing doesn’t matter, in fact on a world scale, sure we might be queued up for food and coal, but what about the countries that don’t have that? Should we stop caring about our place in the line and let them go first? I think in the end queuing is something we have created to try and make order in our society, but instead it has got us so wrapped up in politeness we stop thinking about people other than ourselves, and how the hell are the little guys meant to survive with that? Sure the little guy might queue just like everyone else, but he’s at the back, and by the time he gets served, there’s nothing left.

The things we overlook

entaletc — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 23:26:16 +0000

No, we don’t want to wake up to reality thankyou very much.

Ok lets get right back into it. Yes I know you’ve missed me, and I know I let you all down, but lets stop crying about it, cause I’m here now. Man I feel powerful.
So holidays have been boring so far; I spent all my money on Tuesday, and this means I have put myself on house arrest, and also means I can’t wear my new clothes. But when your bored, you find really odd ways to amuse yourself. When I could have been, making presents, doing my holiday assignment and revision, exercising, seeing friend, instead I have been watching tv, playing grand theft auto, finding sensless downloadable computer games which become oh so addictive, and have you searching for a different site to download your next ‘1 hour free trial’ from, just so you can finish your level. I also decided instead of playing the sims, I would relive my childhood. I found a game that I used to play back when I loved the movie “Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron”. I was so excited, because I remembered loving that game, what having to save all the horses from their humans, collecting carrots from a rabbit to run faster, and racing the eagle for pointless feathers that in the end did nothing. So I downloaded this game, and finished the whole thing in an hour, sadly. But as I was playing, I was thinking about just how strange kids movies are. I mean, we all love them, even today. However there were things in those kids movies that really we took for granted. There were things that we never bothered to find out whether they were true, we just wanted to be in our magic happy land, where everyone got a happy ever after, and animals talked, and we all had a pet tiger. But these movies were telling us lies, all lies! I mean have you ever seen a Disney movie about a kid who begs for money on the street, because his dad left him and his mum is at home with some other guys kid? No of course not, not unless you want to make it Disney! Where the kid finds out in fact he is a prince in a far away land, where everything is made of candy, and he never needs to worry again. They give us what we want. But to do this they need to give us some lies, and I for one think it is terrible that they lull us into this false sense of security, and then when we get into the real world we find that it isn’t like that at all. In fact even princesses don’t wear gowns, or go on magic carpet rides. They are just like us, only with a crown, power and money.
So I would just like to point out some of the misleading things in Disney movies.

Lion King: Frankly, I don’t think the lions would ever care about the ‘circle of life’. All real lions would really care about would be eating food, not about ‘when we die, we turn into the grass, and the antelope eat the grass’. Carnivores would not care about perfecting this great circle of life, I mean look at us, we don’t go around going ‘when I die, I get cremated, and I turn into the grass, and the cows eat the grass, regardless of whether I am scattered in a cow paddock, this is the great circle of life’. And if lions were really as hungry as they were under scars rule, why didn’t they eat timon and pumba? I mean they weren’t lions, yet they are always there, and they don’t eat them! In fact why did Simba eat bugs, when those two were right in front of him, singing ‘no worries’. They seem to have forgotten that lions like meat, and when they are hungry, they don’t care about perfecting the circle of life, they want food, and if they are friends with a meerkat and a wild pig, they are going to eat them!
That being said I do love the lion king, it makes me cry everytime.

Aladin: Ok lets get one thing straight. If you owned a tiger as a pet, it would eat you. It wouldn’t cuddle up to you like some cut little puppy. Tigers aren’t something that you tame. I know we all want one as a pet, but we just can’t. Its amazing Jasmine wasn’t shredded to pieces in her sleep. How very magical.

Pocahontas: Ok a lovely movie. I do really like this movie. However I just need to draw my readers attention to the fact that if Indians had someone like john smith to kill, they would just kill him. There would be no time for Pocahontas to consult ‘grandmother willow’. He would be dead, and that would be it. Oh and if you get shot in the chest, your dead. No amount of Indian remedies is going to solve that. I mean John smith seems to be invincible. And Pocahontas sure can run fast. And im pretty sure a bear would kill you if you picked up its young. John smith is amazing, the amount of times he cheats death. What a hero.

OK so only 3 movies. I decided if I kept going I would begin to get too picky. The fact is these movies we cherished as kids had things we overlooked, like the existence of magic. We overlook things like these that we think are little, to truly enjoy something. However although movies are a small thing, you know just a happy memory of childhood, when we overlook other things, more that something like the inability of animals to talk, we get serious problems. Can I say global warming? Drought? Ok so these are really really big things, however what about relationships? A friend was telling me about a couple who overlooked the little things, got married and found that they had nothing in common.
We like to believe we are in a happy land, like a Disney film, where we all live happily ever after, so we do overlook things that would destroy this, but this has serious consequences. We need to start looking now, before its too late. We can make our own fairytale, something more aware of the things around us.
Although we like living in our fairytale lands, what happens when reality comes crashing down, and we realise that all this time we’ve been living in an imaginary world, that has come from an animators pen. When it comes from ourselves, however, we control what happens and make it beautiful ourselves.
Then we can add some talking animals, a lonely princess and a prince to rescue her, copyright it and sell it to Disney. Oh, wait.

Upsetting the balance of the phonecall

entaletc — Thu, 09 Aug 2007 07:52:50 +0000

Well you know I have finally decided to write a blog. I know, you must have all been suffering without my insights into pointless arguments about everyday things that don’t really matter. But its ok, because I’m here now to feed you with more pointless words.
So I was on the phone the other day, well rather I was called up. Yes a phone call! I mean everyone always gets so excited when they actually get a phone call. It just is never the same when you call someone else up, and you know your giving them the joy of receiving a phone call (Well maybe that’s just me, I like receiving phone calls. I jump around and get all excited, and despite being able to look at caller ID I run through all the possibilities of who it could be! Doesn’t that just add to the excitement of it all?). So anyway im getting all excited, it’s a phone call! Someone is actually ringing to talk to me! Well, possibly to me. The fact is the majority of the phone calls that come to my house are not for me, and this dampens my mood quite rapidly, especially when I have to go take the phone like a messenger for someone else to get excited about getting the phone call. So I look at the caller ID, and it says ‘Private’. You know I love getting ‘private’ phone calls. I mean it makes you feel pretty special, like your getting this insight into this ‘private’ persons life. I mean they could be a spy, and now you know how they sound on the phone! Otherwise you just feel jipped because you can’t actually use the marvel that is caller ID, where you can pick up the phone and know exactly who is on the line, and instead of going “Hello?” you can go “Hello, Bob!” and they marvel at your physic powers, because you knew who they were! When really you just had caller ID on your side. Well anyway, I answer the phone, quite curious about who could be on the other line. It takes a few moments for them to come through. Which can only mean one thing. And then you here the accent.
I must say I love telemarketer conversations. We have such riveting conversations. I just love confusing them, asking them questions that they don’t understand because they only know a few set phrases. I remember one I had.

Telemarketer: Yes hello madame. I am here to tell you about this amazing deal we have for you! Yes you will get a free phone!
Me: OH REALLY?! Omg that is awesome! Wow wow wow!
Telemarketer: …yes madame, if you sign up for this simple thing.
Me: oh ok…well are you signed up
Telemarketer: ahh…… ummm…… let me ask you, do you have a phone?
Me: Do you have a phone?
Telemarketer: Pardon?
Me: Pardon?
Tele: do you have a plan?
Me: Do you have a plan?
Tele: I am sorry madame, you worry me
Me: hahahahahaahahahahahHAHAHAHAAHAH….ha
*end of conversation as ella hangs up*

So as you can see I find great joy in telemarketers calling. So many people hate it, but I have so much fun. There are a few like minded people who love this art form of pissing of the people who are meant to piss you off. Someone once told me that their friend spoke fluent French to them when they called up. I wish I could speak another language.
And you know they always get so confused when you start pretending to be enthusiastic. I mean they must get nobody who gets excited about their deals, the way they pause in a confused manner when you tell them that their deal is fantastic in an overenthusiastic way. Poor people, you would think they would never be happy.
So you see there is such joy that can be found in doing this. I recommend it to anyone.
So anyway, this telemarketer rang the other day, the conversation went something like this

Tele: Hello madame, I wish to ring you to tell you that you will never have to pay call costs again on your home phone
Me: Wow no call costs?! That is awesome!
Tele: Yes, now which network are you on? Telstra, Optus?
Me: Now wait just a second. If you were offering no call costs on my home phone, wouldn’t you know what company I’m with? Huh? HUH?
Tele:……madame what network are you with?
Me: Read my mind…
Tele: Do you have a mobile?
Me: Yes a very nice one, it keeps freezing but I bash it up and its all good.
Tele: ………Yes, and are you on pre-paid or plan?
Me: Oh I am on a plan.
Tele: Right, thankyou
*End of conversation because…the telemarketer hung up on me!*

Yes that’s right. I was in a complete state of shock. A telemarketer hung up on me. I mean is that even legal? Are they allowed to hang up on you? WE ARE MEANT TO HANG UP ON THEM! Its not the other way around, that completely upsets the balance of all things right in this world. I mean they must have a rule book somewhere, and the only rule must be: never hang up on a customer. I mean if I knew what company she worked for, I would write them a very angry letter. They called me and wasted my time, why can’t I waste their time? I have an obligation to waste their time! I mean if they are selling me something, im allowed to annoy them until point of sale, where I hang up. The consumer chooses to hang up!
As you can see I am beyond disbelief. Completely beyond it. I cannot believe that they wouldn’t talk to me. I mean if I was a telemarketer, I would be extremely happy someone didn’t slam the phone down the second I said “Hello from India!”. I would talk to them for hours. I might even talk about the weather, how my dog was getting an operation on his right big toe, how I ate a hot curry on the weekend, what I think about uranium rights (hey, maybe the telemarketers have been reading up on their information) and other such pressing topics, like how you just saw an elephant cross the street. You could make a friend, and actual friend, from a distant country, and from what started as a mere telephone conversation, became an amazing timeless friendship, now a blockbuster movie staring Matt Damon and the random guy they found on the street eating a sandwhich. I mean people need to give each other a chance. If we did, the world may just be a better place. I don’t know how I got onto world peace from Telemarketing. Oh well. You know it’s a good idea, we don’t need to hang up on each other.
Although maybe this lady was getting her stab at Western civilization by hanging up on a poor girl, simply interested in annoying the shit out of her.

Letting go

entaletc — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 00:47:21 +0000

You know, today I just felt like writing a blog. Finally had something to talk about. Its not the best thing, but its better than nothing.
I’ve realised lately just how stupid it is to be living in the past, to not move on from something. Now, this has not been from my personal experience. No, this is me looking at another person, wondering just how they live their life if they’re so caught up in the past. Now, people may be getting the wrong idea already. I am not saying that I think it is completely wrong to remember the past, and alter your life because of it. It is completely healthy to learn from your mistakes, to remember the past. Healthy. Its like the fresh fruit for the soul. However, some people have been having too much junk food.
I think you reach a certain point when years later, you still cannot get over such a small thing, that barely could have had impact on your life. Sure, I could understand if it was a large thing, having trouble getting over it. That I would accept. However when something small and insignificant gets in the way of you living your life, and you just can’t move on, I think there’s a problem there.
Especially if you make it a problem. Some people won’t realise they can’t move on until in a movie like moment, the faithful friend makes them realise in a swell of theme music, that they have shaped their lives around one moment, and this is where they change, and live happily ever after. However, some people decided to feed off this moment, and force themselves not to live on. Call me a bitch, but I think this is the height of stupidity. I mean, its one thing having a miserable life, its an entirely different thing when you make it miserable. For one you get different sympathy from me. If you’re an idiot and feel like making yourself miserable, don’t expect me to put a band-aid on your boo boos. Seriously, I have no tolerance for people who make themselves miserable, especially if they are doing it purely to make me feel bad. It doesn’t make me feel bad, it only makes me realise there even more stupid than I thought they were.
People just need to learn to move on. Leonardo Da Vinci may have made a mistake on the Mona Lisa, but he moved on. Alright, so he started cutting up dead bodies, but that’s ok. At least he moved on. I understand it can be hard, trust me, I myself find it hard to move on. But I don’t let it interfere with my everyday life. When you do, you have a problem. Lots of problems.
There are certain things people can’t move on from. There are shades of grey to my views. I understand that a lot of people can’t move on, and some people have had tragedies in their lives that are perfectly good reasons for me to chuck this rant out the window. I don’t have a problem with people who legitimately have a reason to be miserable, to alter their lives because of an event. However when, for example, your girlfriend of 2 dates breaks up with you, and 2 or 3 years later your still moping about it, causing yourself to be miserable, not moving on, then you really have a pickle. That’s when I suggest seeing someone about your problems. But in fact, I have no sympathy at all for these people. None, because its stupid. It’s the epitome of stupidity. Because while your trying to make other people feel miserable, your not realising that your making yourself miserable in the process. And I guess it does make me feel sad. Not sorry for you, but sad that there is still that kind of stupidity in a world where were meant to be advanced. Shows my expectations of the human race are a little too high.

the type that sip out of good china

entaletc — Fri, 16 Mar 2007 12:37:02 +0000

So I have had writers block. Get over it. I know I have. And instead of coming back with some fantastic story to write about, I don’t really. Its such a pointless topic, I will be surprised if anyone reads it. but you know, I have been told I’m quite good at talking to myself.
You see, I have grown on this obsession with tea. Last year it was coffee, and I used to drink it all the time, keep myself awake (although some would claim that my amount of coffee could keep no one awake, but that’s only because they have enough caffeine to keep a bear out of hibernation in their cups, yeah you know who I’m talking about, I’m looking at you). However then I heard stories about people getting headaches from not drinking it, and getting addicted to it and everything, and decided it was not for me. So now, since I have been getting increasingly tired thanks to assignments, stress and a social life, I have needed some caffeine from somewhere. So I went on a hunt.
Now I would have turned to coke, however do you know how bad that is for you? The good life? Well enjoy life with coke, and an absence of teeth. I have never really got back into coke after not drinking it for a few years under dentists orders. Best thing I have ever done, well not really. Best thing for my teeth.
Now there are only so many places you can turn for caffeine. It’s a pity that on lack of sleep there are so little options; coffee, where you seek addiction for the rest of your life, soft drink where you end up awake, but your teeth are always a little yellower, I suppose you can go to caffeine tablets if you’re into the hardcore stuff, but I’m telling you, that’s not me.
So that left me one option. Yes, I turned to tea. I have now become a tea addict. As weird as it is, tea is really enjoyable for me, and what’s better, less caffeine! Which means it doesn’t really wake me up, but even so! The fact there’s something there makes it all better.
I never realised the beauty of tea until my time of need. Like a lost friend, which I had pushed to the back of the pantry, it waited until it was needed, until I was in complete crisis, and showed its glowing face to me; a sign from up above!
The good thing is that it comes in so many flavours. I used to think there was only one type, but really there are so many. I would have to say my favourite is Earl Grey, however due to a lack of it in my pantry, and my friends for that matter, I have turned to English breakfast, which is almost as good. It also caters for my laziness. I don’t have to do anything, but switched the kettle on, get a cup and put a tea bag in. The only annoying thing is milk and sugar. You have to get it exactly write, because when its too milky, it isn’t as good as when its just right.
Now I know what you’re all thinking; she’s off her tree. Well, I probably am. I mean, tea is for grannies, right? No one else drinks tea?
Well I think that’s the sad thing. We assign certain things to certain groups, just stereotype them together. Grannies are the one’s that sit around eating cup cakes and sipping tea, with there little pinkie out drinking from the good china. It seems so strange for someone young to drink tea, and enjoy it. I must be destined to be old and boring before my time. Well, I highly doubt that. Its sad that we have stereotyped these sorts of things into such tight groups, where only one certain type of person can do this.
I am telling you now, that I am going to drink tea no matter what people say. I am going to wear my tea drinking granny label with pride. I might even put it on a badge, knit a doily. Whatever works.

Flowers and Soggy Cookies

entaletc — Sat, 10 Feb 2007 22:03:45 +0000

Well, Valentines Day is coming up. I have always always wanted flowers, more then anything. It has always been my dream to get them. Finally, this year, I am getting some! I must say I’m ecstatic, especially because I’m getting them from someone special.
However, as much as I would love to, I won’t write a complete blog about how cool getting flowers is, as I don’t want to make people jealous. Haha. Well, not really, I think people would get bored, and stop reading! So this will not be purely about how awesome getting flowers is and how awesome and fantastic the person is.
A good friend, lets call her Sally, was someone I told how excited I was. Now she does have a special someone, lets call him Fred. However, Sally and Fred do not see the point in flowers, or Valentines Day. Sally said to me “What is the point of getting flowers? They cost a fortune, and then they just die.” Now, being relatively shocked and offended (not really), I replied defensively “It’s a tradition, and its romantic!”
Its true, flowers don’t last forever. I suppose the reason I get so excited about them, is that there something special. We send flowers on Valentines Day to show our feelings for one another. It’s meant to be a special thing. People don’t get flowers often, so when they do its meant to renew feelings and so on. I suppose I’ve always wanted to be part of that tradition. At least once.
It is just funny to see the differences between Sally and me. Myself, with my romantic views, and mushy comments that resemble the stuff you find at the bottom of your coffee cup after dunking cookies in there. In other words, highly soppy and mushy. It is lucky I find myself with someone very similar in the romantic and mush department. Highly lucky. I love little things, surprises, romantic things, notebook moments, all that jazz. Sally on the other hand. Well Sally and Fred laugh about me and, lets call him Bob. For Valentines Day, Sally doesn’t want flowers, and Fred doesn’t want to send them. Something about Valentines day being to commercialised and set. It’s a good point, but being a romantic like myself, I still love it. We have a lot of difference, Sally and I. She came shopping with me for Bob’s present, and decided it was nice, yet too romantic for her. Too soppy, and resembling the dredges of a soaked cookie. (not literally of course, My present isn’t going to be some soggy cookie in a box). Instead, she got Fred something a lot less romantic, but something he should like.
I suppose that’s it though, everyone has their differences. Not everyone likes Valentines day. Not everyone likes Easter. Not everyone likes, well actually im pretty sure everyone likes Christmas. But because of our different views and ways of doing things, we all celebrate holidays differently. Not everyone has to like Valentines Day. Just because I am obsessed with it and a complete romantic, doesn’t mean that Sally has to be. Sally can celebrate Valentines day by doing things completely un romantic, yet still spend time with Fred. I suppose that’s what Valentines is about. Getting closer to those you love or like, you care for. There I go getting soppy again. The truth is, there is no set way to celebrate Valentines. You can do it the traditional romantic way, or you can do what is most comfortable for you, or not do it at all. I find the most comfortable way the romantic way, cause it seems to suit. Not everyone else would agree.
But I suppose, if everyone agreed, florists would be millionaires by now.

the love of a skunk and a cat

entaletc — Sat, 03 Feb 2007 11:01:32 +0000

Well I went back to school this week, and realised that grade 11 really is more of a workload then I thought it would be. Meaning that with an hours worth of maths homework, and tonnes of other stuff, I have managed to find time to have a social life, work, and write a blog. Now during my social life, I was watching over the hedge, and I am assuming some people have seen it. Now in it, the skunk, Stella, is talking to the Persian cat whos name I can’t remember. She got pissed off at him and he says something like “no one has ever spoken to me like that! I like it…”. Now as we were watching this part of this movie, lets call the person Fred, who I was watching the movie with said “So basically it means it turns him on.’ It really got me thinking about how we seem to talk down to children. Although the thought of a cat-skunk creature crosses my mind as I think of this is probably not something to get into the generation of the future’s heads, we seem to sometimes take it a little to far.
There are sexual undertones in almost every kids movie. Its probably because the animators who create them find it hilarious to ad these little extras in for the parents to understand, and the kids to wonder why there parents are laughing so hard. All the sexual undertones in this movie, and many others, would go straight over there heads. Why? Well I would say number one is that kids aren’t meant to know about that kind of stuff until they are a little older, and two, we seem to sugar coat the truth when we talk to children, put it into terms to make it safe for their innocent minds.
Sure, really they would have implied that the cat was turned on by this sentence. Children would take it as a little romance, a nice ending with a skunk finding her true love, in a different species. However, we as more learned people of society, with more corrupt minds, immediately think that really he’s just turned on, and also that the idea of cross species breeding is rather abnormal. Although for kids, we sugar coat something like this enough that it goes right over there heads, so they can continue on in their innocent state.
I wonder though, how long this innocence lasts for. I’m no parent, but I’m sure parents would dread the day their kids grow up. The day their kids ask them where they came from, and don’t believe the stalk story anymore. This would be the turning point in the minds of children, where they realise not everything is like they were told. I remember hating my parents when they told me santa wasn’t real. It was the worst day of my life.
The truth is, we sugarcoat everything for these kids, so much that they miss out on important information. Now I’m not talking about the sex talk, cause they can have that when their older. What I mean is, how many kids know about global warming? Not many. We don’t tell children stuff that might scare them. We seem to believe that by keeping certain things from them, that we might save them from troubles, if only for a little while. Let them believe in santa, or the tooth fairy, cause when they grow up, there isn’t gonna be any magical fairy leaving money under their pillow.
Reality seems to harsh to tell children. However they have to face reality at some point. Even now children are becoming more aware at an earlier age about whats going on around them. I know when I was my sisters age, I didn’t know nearly as much as she does about sex. Kids are being introduced to things earlier.
But is this a good thing necessarily? I personally think that it was better for the children to believe that two animals could have the brain capacity to love one another, at least until they were old enough to realise that a skunk and a cat would never be interested in something as complicated as love.

Estimations of want and need

entaletc — Sun, 28 Jan 2007 10:10:22 +0000

Well by the power of whatever force that governs my mind to write new blogs, I have decided to write a new blog. Anyway today I was walking around this parklands thing, and I just so happened to walk past this couple on the grass, fully on top of each other and most certainly not worried about people seeing their affections towards one another. Now myself being terribly hypocritical, thought this was shocking and appalling. Well, maybe that’s too strong a word. Anyway, it wasn’t something I really wanted to see, and was continuing on my way at a fast strolling pace. Now the person I was with, being in a highly philosophical mood, said something about it to me as we sat down at a bench not too far away. Now I won’t be able to quote it completely, so I am sorry if this comes out differently to how it was told. He’s going to get offended if I call him a colleague or something, well I think he will, anyway, to be safe, lets just call him bob for now.

Bob: You know, its funny, how we do stuff like that
Me: Like those people?
Bob: Yeah, I mean, we just can’t help ourselves, I guess its cause were humans and there are just some things that we cannot get across using words, so we have to use actions instead. I mean you can say you trust someone, but its another thing doing it. Wow, even that sounded philosophical.

Well it wasn’t exactly that, but I can’t remember how it exactly went and there was also a large pause while he found the right words. Anyway, it got me thinking about it. We do all interact on a physical level as well as a emotional level. Actions speak louder then words. For example, a kid can say they will never take a cookie from the cookie jar; but for what they do to be true they must not take a cookie. If they took a cookie, they would have been lying. We use actions to justify what we say, and often need actions for people to believe us. You can’t say something and mean it without justifying it with an action.
Now anyway, back to this couple, and back to what “Bob” was saying. This couple were simply expressing how much they needed each other, or how much they loved each other, depending on what stage of the relationship they were in. Relationships should have 3 levels; emotional, mental and physical. All of these should be satisfied, and if there isn’t some form of balance, it’s not usually the best relationship. Mental and emotional can’t really exist without physical. With some things you need an action to speak for you, as sometimes we cannot communicate what we really want. We need the action to speak for us. For example, it is not enough to say you want someone; this couple had to show they wanted each other. Sometimes we just cannot get something across with words, as actions do a much better job.
However, I would also like to address another issue, mainly to make this blog longer. You see, although this couple showing each other how they feel is nice and all, you know expressing emotions to each other instead of using words, the fact that I have just gone and written a blog about them is another subject. I have automatically assumed something about them. Automatically assumed they are expressing deep emotions. However I did not go and ask them if this was true, nor do I know for a fact this is correct. I am assuming from their actions that what I am saying is correct, though for all I know they could be casual fuck buddies, getting into it before they reach a room. This might also be incorrect, I just don’t know. The thing is, I am just making estimates as to what they are doing.
We as a society assume everything about everyone else. We don’t know if its true, we just seem to all know from one glance at someone exactly what there all about. People see a teenaged guy, for example, and see him with a girl. They immediately assume this guy only wants her for one thing, and is going to completely take advantage of her. The fact of the matter is this may not, and is most likely not true, in most cases, however this older person has given this boy a stereotype which is simply one size fits all. We really need to stop and think, and stop giving people these stereotypes, and assuming things about people. I mean, some people may have gone past this couple and thought the girl was a complete slut. However, she most likely isn’t. However, because we assume this, it immediately becomes true about the person to us. Now she has gained a reputation, which is based simply on the way people saw her in this one moment of her life. We need to stop assuming and start asking. Not always in a literal sense, just that we really need to stop judging before we know the evidence.
Although, I may just be judging everyone too early. Maybe we all just wish we were confident enough to be like that couple. Maybe were all just too jealous to realise.

The solution to global warming

entaletc — Fri, 26 Jan 2007 09:15:17 +0000

Well, today I draw inspiration for another blog from something that happened a little while ago. I can’t be bothered to think about how to change something that happened recently into a comment on society, so I picked something easier. You see not long ago I went to a festival, where there was this novelty called the feet bus. Basically it was this structure in which people could get on and move throughout the festival by walking, however it was much more than walking, because we were on a bus. Well before my friend and I got on, the people running it were asking questions to the kids on the bus. Now it went a little like this.

Feet bus organiser: So Kids, how can we help stop global warming?
Kid one: Air conditioning?
FBO: …no…
Kid two: Winter?

Well this was quite hilarious, and my friend and I laughed a lot. They eventually got some form of right answer out of them, however these two answers though funny, got me thinking. You see, these kids obviously didn’t have much of a clue about global warming. They weren’t that young, and I had thought such an important issue would be something they would know about. However, now I realise that they don’t really. It’s not something that is overly talked about in our society, probably because it scares everybody so much. I know it scares the shit out of me, some of the facts about it. Though it may also be that no one wants to do anything about it, so they ignore it completely. No one wants to change their lifestyle to save our planet. So they don’t talk about it, and hope that someone else will fix the problem, when it’s obvious that to solve the problem we can’t pray the problem solves its self. It’s a serious issue, and unlike extreme poverty, it affects each and every one of us. Although poverty is an issue, global warming should be of higher importance. However people seem to go towards poverty, as it seems a lot more manageable, as it involves basically giving some money away and going on with your life, feeling like you’ve done some good. Solving global warming takes a little more then money.
Anyway, I’m rambling. The truth of the matter is that people do not seem to know enough about global warming, and this means that the children must not be being taught about it. This problem is going to be up to my generation and the next generation to solve, and I think it is a little bit of an issue if kids don’t know enough about it to know that something like air conditioning or winter isn’t going to solve this problem. A pity really, wouldn’t an answer like that make life so much simpler?