Boredom is a dangerous state of mind. All it really is, is you avoiding other things or taking for granted that which you have available to you. All it really is, is a time you spend over thinking, over analysing, and over simplifying your surroundings. Boredom is a serious weapon that your mind uses against you, believe me, I'm bored a lot.
Did you know that people become more depressed when they are bored? This is not only because they have nothing to challenge them, or nothing in terms of hobbies to work on; that's not the most important element here. Boredom can increase depression because you spend your time in and out of your own mind and self thinking and thinking and thinking. Sure, you could be thinking about how to cure something, or how to fix something, but are you really doing that when you're bored? Come on, let's be real here.
When I'm bored I think back to the last stupid thing I said to someone and over analyse it until I feel guilty for having ever said it. When I'm bored I stare at myself in the mirror finding every flaw I can and trying to figure out how I can correct it. When I'm bored I think of people I miss and how impossible it is to have them here by my side. When I'm bored I drive myself insane, one thought at a time. And that's the problem with boredom, static state of mind. I'd rather have my mind racing about something I need to learn, something I want to do, some work to complete than have it unoccupied and turning on me with self destruction in mind.
Saturday, 18 May 2013
Friday, 17 May 2013
The Conference
For some months now I've been working on organising a conference here at university It all was a huge stress and tons of emailing about and running after people, calling people, making sure they are doing what they should be doing. What I thought was that people, being grown ups, would be able to actually realise that they need to shape up if they want to be a part of it. It was rather difficult but then when the day came it turned out to be fluent and nice and worked out well.
The morning of almost all the speakers arrived later than they had said they would. The first speaker arrived ten minutes before she was to present. Another speaker arrived during late lunch time to present right after lunch. Some of the speakers disappeared half way through the session when they were up next and all that still didn't ruin the day or cause trouble. it worked out well and that's all that matters.
The day ended with a drink with some of the speakers and a dinner with the organisers and it was really nice. I'm glad it got pulled through and the event turned out so good and everyone seemed to like it, at least that's what they said. And boy the peace of having it all done and successful.
The morning of almost all the speakers arrived later than they had said they would. The first speaker arrived ten minutes before she was to present. Another speaker arrived during late lunch time to present right after lunch. Some of the speakers disappeared half way through the session when they were up next and all that still didn't ruin the day or cause trouble. it worked out well and that's all that matters.
The day ended with a drink with some of the speakers and a dinner with the organisers and it was really nice. I'm glad it got pulled through and the event turned out so good and everyone seemed to like it, at least that's what they said. And boy the peace of having it all done and successful.
Saturday, 11 May 2013
Philosophical thought of the day
Recently I overheard a conversation that ended, essentially, with the woman furious and claiming the other lady was heartless. "Don't you have a soul?" she ended with and stormed off. I don't know exactly what was going on in the conversation but from what I gathered it was about putting down a family pet or something similar. Anyway, that got me thinking.
Do you have a soul? I don't think so. we don't have souls. How could we possibly? How could we be in possession of something that is not tangible? We already claim things such as intelligence and love but they are based on knowledge and love and such things. A soul is completely different. A soul is not only misunderstood, it's something we decide to apply to other, to remove from them, or to withhold from animals. A soul is a completely different concept to those as love and compassion. But still, although we may attempt to explain what a soul is we have yet to fully understand the concept's basic elements.
It's not about owning a soul or not owning a soul. We can't take it away from someone when they do something stupid or heartless, we can't deny it to other beings. We aren't bodies that may possibly have something like a soul inside us. Neither are other people and neither are other beings. But I think with some people it's like arguing at a brick wall because many still choose not to believe this.
What I choose is not to be a body with a soul.
I'm not a body and have a soul, I'm a soul and have a body.
I don't understand fully the meaning when people claim ownership over their bodies but decide they are unsure about their souls. To me its completely reversed and we should rethink entirely how we've been approaching the whole creatures have souls situation.
Do you have a soul? I don't think so. we don't have souls. How could we possibly? How could we be in possession of something that is not tangible? We already claim things such as intelligence and love but they are based on knowledge and love and such things. A soul is completely different. A soul is not only misunderstood, it's something we decide to apply to other, to remove from them, or to withhold from animals. A soul is a completely different concept to those as love and compassion. But still, although we may attempt to explain what a soul is we have yet to fully understand the concept's basic elements.
It's not about owning a soul or not owning a soul. We can't take it away from someone when they do something stupid or heartless, we can't deny it to other beings. We aren't bodies that may possibly have something like a soul inside us. Neither are other people and neither are other beings. But I think with some people it's like arguing at a brick wall because many still choose not to believe this.
What I choose is not to be a body with a soul.
I'm not a body and have a soul, I'm a soul and have a body.
I don't understand fully the meaning when people claim ownership over their bodies but decide they are unsure about their souls. To me its completely reversed and we should rethink entirely how we've been approaching the whole creatures have souls situation.
Friday, 10 May 2013
Movie critic
OK I know what you're saying, doesn't she have anything better to do than watch stuff and moan about it on the internet? Well, yes, I do. But I don't want to do that now so I'm doing this. Leave me to it.
I just watched a movie and I absolutely have to write this because the movie was such an utter disappointment in every single way that I can't believe someone is responsible for writing the screenplay. Actually, it may have been typed up by the sheep in the film because quite possibly they were the most convincing story line of them all. The movie is called Dawn of the Dragon Slayer and don't even bother reading up on it because it's absolutely not worth your time. Let me explain what happened. The movie started with a man playing a flute and then gets barbecued by a dragon. This guy, I am convinced, has absolutely no other connection to the rest of the movie other than the dragon that is featured. OK, so it sets up that there is a dragon in this movie. But I think I could have guessed that not only from the movie title but also the poster.
Then the second short clip is a man playing with fire and there's some sort of chanting and magic. Again, this person has otherwise nothing to do with the movie other than fire is in the clip. So there are people that can control fire. Thank you, dear writers, for destroying that surprise element of the movie because now I know that the protagonist, which is surely to be a poor young white mail with a UK accent or something, or the girl who is likely a pretty girl with an authority issue, perhaps she's rich or something. So one of them has these powers and therefore will kill the dragon with them.
So now, we already know the two surprise elements of the movie, so basically the rest of the movie for a long time is just the other story line trying to catch up with the first part.
Eventually the protagonist, who is a young farmer looking for a job after his father was killed by a dragon, moves to the big life in the city, which is a castle and a hut with like five people in it, most of whom are mean. Anyway, he meets a young girl, technically she's something like a princess, or something like that, they are rich yet she is different because she does manual labour and doesn't want to marry the cocky other prince who wants her hand. It's a serious cliche. Who would have guessed that would happen in a movie about dragons and slaying and based in the past. Amazing twist there, creative.
Eventually, after a whole bunch of other stuff that really doesn't matter and hasn't impacted the story at all other than showing that the girl is rebellious and is the magician, while the young farmer is treated like crap but also isn't harmed by fire, so they're both so very special. We find out at some point that the dragon is near the castle and some stuff happens that once again has absolutely no point in being in the movie. It's amazing, maybe they had to fill the time with something, it all just leads up to the dragon attacking the castle once and not doing any harm to it while the relationship of the farmer and the girl evolves rapidly when he sees her naked and then nothing else happens. Additionally, the cocky prince attacks the young farmer and they battle to the death for about 15 seconds before the rich guy is killed. And the girl is accused of witchcraft but then that's totally forgiven when they forget because the next scene starts and the other people are no longer relevant.
The last few scenes could have saved the movie. Please notice here, it could have been but rather ti decided to fail absolutely and disappoint me completely. It ruined possibly the entire movie genre of dragon slaying for me. The final battle scene, so dramatic and epic, we've been waiting for it for so long. The dragon versus the young farmer. They face off, well, they only actually face each other for like 5 seconds. Then the dragon fires fire at the farmer, but the farmer is invincible! He has a special sword! He ca slay him! Suddenly the screen goes black and the entire fight scene is ruined by the incompetence of what I suspect the entirety of the crew other than the sheep. I can't believe they would even consider... how... how could tey cut the fight scene... how.........
Next scene, the dragon's dead and the young farmer, perfectly fine, is laying on the ground. He lay at a different place from where they fought so I can only assume the fight was amazing and dramatic, but I guess we'll never know because they are all horrible people.
I just watched a movie and I absolutely have to write this because the movie was such an utter disappointment in every single way that I can't believe someone is responsible for writing the screenplay. Actually, it may have been typed up by the sheep in the film because quite possibly they were the most convincing story line of them all. The movie is called Dawn of the Dragon Slayer and don't even bother reading up on it because it's absolutely not worth your time. Let me explain what happened. The movie started with a man playing a flute and then gets barbecued by a dragon. This guy, I am convinced, has absolutely no other connection to the rest of the movie other than the dragon that is featured. OK, so it sets up that there is a dragon in this movie. But I think I could have guessed that not only from the movie title but also the poster.
Then the second short clip is a man playing with fire and there's some sort of chanting and magic. Again, this person has otherwise nothing to do with the movie other than fire is in the clip. So there are people that can control fire. Thank you, dear writers, for destroying that surprise element of the movie because now I know that the protagonist, which is surely to be a poor young white mail with a UK accent or something, or the girl who is likely a pretty girl with an authority issue, perhaps she's rich or something. So one of them has these powers and therefore will kill the dragon with them.
So now, we already know the two surprise elements of the movie, so basically the rest of the movie for a long time is just the other story line trying to catch up with the first part.
Eventually the protagonist, who is a young farmer looking for a job after his father was killed by a dragon, moves to the big life in the city, which is a castle and a hut with like five people in it, most of whom are mean. Anyway, he meets a young girl, technically she's something like a princess, or something like that, they are rich yet she is different because she does manual labour and doesn't want to marry the cocky other prince who wants her hand. It's a serious cliche. Who would have guessed that would happen in a movie about dragons and slaying and based in the past. Amazing twist there, creative.
Eventually, after a whole bunch of other stuff that really doesn't matter and hasn't impacted the story at all other than showing that the girl is rebellious and is the magician, while the young farmer is treated like crap but also isn't harmed by fire, so they're both so very special. We find out at some point that the dragon is near the castle and some stuff happens that once again has absolutely no point in being in the movie. It's amazing, maybe they had to fill the time with something, it all just leads up to the dragon attacking the castle once and not doing any harm to it while the relationship of the farmer and the girl evolves rapidly when he sees her naked and then nothing else happens. Additionally, the cocky prince attacks the young farmer and they battle to the death for about 15 seconds before the rich guy is killed. And the girl is accused of witchcraft but then that's totally forgiven when they forget because the next scene starts and the other people are no longer relevant.
The last few scenes could have saved the movie. Please notice here, it could have been but rather ti decided to fail absolutely and disappoint me completely. It ruined possibly the entire movie genre of dragon slaying for me. The final battle scene, so dramatic and epic, we've been waiting for it for so long. The dragon versus the young farmer. They face off, well, they only actually face each other for like 5 seconds. Then the dragon fires fire at the farmer, but the farmer is invincible! He has a special sword! He ca slay him! Suddenly the screen goes black and the entire fight scene is ruined by the incompetence of what I suspect the entirety of the crew other than the sheep. I can't believe they would even consider... how... how could tey cut the fight scene... how.........
Next scene, the dragon's dead and the young farmer, perfectly fine, is laying on the ground. He lay at a different place from where they fought so I can only assume the fight was amazing and dramatic, but I guess we'll never know because they are all horrible people.
Working nicely
The last few nights I have been working diligently and successfully on my dissertation, on the research and reading lots and lots of articles about human trafficking. Big bummer topic but the more I read about it of course the more I understand it. that's the point, of course. But I'm not really here to write about that right now.
During this time, since it's dull to just read in silence, I've been doing two things, one of them is a little more cultural so I'll lead with that one. I've been listening to lots of classical music so that I can read faster and with more focus. The second thing, slightly less sophisticated, is that I have been watching lots of movies about zombies and stuff.
With cannibal humans rotting from their bones completely fresh on my mind I spent about an hour working in the student union today between babysitting my friend's baby and the fitness classes. That's when I heard a woman shriek somewhere outside. She shrieked again and then screamed. It was sunny outside so they were probably playing volleyball or something and being childish. However, I immediately looked around and thought to myself in sheer panic: "Oh my God, the zombies are coming." Then for about five minutes I just sat staring at the door and waiting for dead people to storm in.
Telephone challenges
There is a good reason why I don't use my phone a lot. I'm rubbish at it.
I prefer email because I don't need to talk and if you were to ever speak to me on the phone in a professional setting you would completely understand where I'm coming from. Imagine this, I had anticipated to make this phone call for the past 12 hours now, I knew it was going to happen and so I played the conversation off in my head.
The plan was this:
"Good morning, this is X calling from Y University about the Conference taking place on May 15th. Am I speaking with Z?" They would respond yes because I know it's their phone number, Google never lies. "Am I calling at a busy time or would you have a couple of minutes to talk about the last details of the conference and what will happen on the day?" They would then likely say one of two things. They have time or they don't and present me with an alternative. Either way, it went well because from there on out, whether it is yes or know, I have had the details in mind for so long it's like a well practiced ballet.
I just wish what I thought and what I actually did had more connection. With this plan in mind, look at what the reality was of the situation:
He says hello and I am slightly caught off guard. The first silence pursues. "Hello, this is X calling from Y University, am I speaking with Z?" I finally say. "Yes" he says. I think to myself, 'excellent, on a good roll now. Time to recover from being weird.' and I say. "Hi, how are you?" The most awkward thing between this part and the previous was that as I was thinking to myself, I remained quiet, allowign for another awkward silence over the phone. However, he quickly responded with that it's not a very good time and if I could email him instead. This was fine by me, as I explained, I prefer email. But the phone call was overall traumatizing and I plan on never calling anyone ever again.
In hindsight it was probably better to ask "How are you?" than to just go off on the information on the conference as he would have had to interrupt me and that would have been worse. However, I could have made it all a little smoother by not being so incompetent at social life.
I prefer email because I don't need to talk and if you were to ever speak to me on the phone in a professional setting you would completely understand where I'm coming from. Imagine this, I had anticipated to make this phone call for the past 12 hours now, I knew it was going to happen and so I played the conversation off in my head.
The plan was this:
"Good morning, this is X calling from Y University about the Conference taking place on May 15th. Am I speaking with Z?" They would respond yes because I know it's their phone number, Google never lies. "Am I calling at a busy time or would you have a couple of minutes to talk about the last details of the conference and what will happen on the day?" They would then likely say one of two things. They have time or they don't and present me with an alternative. Either way, it went well because from there on out, whether it is yes or know, I have had the details in mind for so long it's like a well practiced ballet.
I just wish what I thought and what I actually did had more connection. With this plan in mind, look at what the reality was of the situation:
He says hello and I am slightly caught off guard. The first silence pursues. "Hello, this is X calling from Y University, am I speaking with Z?" I finally say. "Yes" he says. I think to myself, 'excellent, on a good roll now. Time to recover from being weird.' and I say. "Hi, how are you?" The most awkward thing between this part and the previous was that as I was thinking to myself, I remained quiet, allowign for another awkward silence over the phone. However, he quickly responded with that it's not a very good time and if I could email him instead. This was fine by me, as I explained, I prefer email. But the phone call was overall traumatizing and I plan on never calling anyone ever again.
In hindsight it was probably better to ask "How are you?" than to just go off on the information on the conference as he would have had to interrupt me and that would have been worse. However, I could have made it all a little smoother by not being so incompetent at social life.
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