Where do we learn things?

Where do we learn things? Where does it come from? Do some of us just have intrinsic knowledge that allows us to live day to day intelligently? That can't be the answer, because the things I'm thinking of are so not instinctive that there's no possible way that it could be wired into us as humans. What about the people who don't know things? Should I hold it against them, that they can't learn the proper forms of there/their/they're, or that they don't know how to cite a book (or a website either, they just think they do, but is it really their fault?), or that they don't know the Dewey Decimal system or how to cook or how to adapt? I'm sure that there are plenty of things I don't know or don't know how to do, and people don't seem to hold it against me too much, but I also feel like I catch onto things a little quicker than others and perhaps that is what frustrates me so.

The thing is, I don't remember not knowing a lot of these things. Certain websites, for instance; the library system, how to read a map. How to read. I don't recall ever learning these things, although I know that I must have at some point; I know that I didn't have anyone there holding my hand for me and walking me through, teaching me. So how did I ever get by? I don't ask this facetiously; I quite honestly can't remember. I can't remember being scared my first year at school, being nervous or lost or naive (although I know how nervous I can get, and what that feels like, I simply can't recall feeling that way my first years of college), wandering how on Earth am I going to find that class when I don't know how to read a map?!

I think I'm being unfair. I must be. How would the world possibly get by if everyone was as impatient with the younger generation as I am? It simply wouldn't do. On the other hand, I can't be the only one who feels an intense frustration and dissatisfaction with those younger than myself, especially taking into account what I knew when I was their age. "Their age." I sound so old. At 21 I have become old and cynical, immediately condemning anyone who is more than a year or two younger than I. "Stupid teenagers," I think. "Stupid teenage freshmen with their Silly Bands and their MTVU and their sexting and get off my lawn ya damn kids!" I think it's probably people like me who are making this world the intolerable, closed-minded place that it is becoming.

But I digress. Where do we learn things, and who is to blame for those who don't know them?

Apology

I'm trying really hard to update this but I can't seem to find the time. It takes a lot of energy to find smart things to talk about, especially on my time constraints. I've always been bad at sitting down and pounding out one whole post, even in my more complaining-oriented blog. I'll get this someday, I promise. It was such a good idea; one I was so excited about at the time. I'll get that back, dear readers (what few of you there are), and update regularly. Really.

I Heart Dinos [unfinished]

This weekend my THON organization went on a canning trip. It was my first experience canning, just as it is my first semester being involved in THON and therefore my first a lot of other things such as having a chair position (Kid's Mail Call) and dealing with Spirit Points and a THON child and cliquey capitains.

I guess it's technically not their fault that they think we're weird or have a slightly different sense of humor than we do or feel the need to leave us out of things like lunch plans and inside jokes. I would not disagree that I'm a little bit..."different" than some people, and I hang around people who are "different" too. So when I went on this first canning trip and the group immediately divided itself into two groups, I wasn't really upset when I gravitated towards the couple people who I thought were awesome but everyone else thought were slightly odd.

Photojournalism

I've been having some thoughts, with the help of some people that are close to me, and I'm going to start posting some pictures on here and...talking about them, I guess. Tell me what you think, but remember that it's kind of hard to put myself out there like this, so be nice at first. I'm going to try for once a week, but it might be more on the weekends and less during the week because of time constraints. Eventually when I have time and money and resources, the pictures will get better and more interesting. So....*deep breath* Here goes.

Lida Rose

I want to know how I looked, standing against that tree with the glow of the city lights on my face, tempting him to cheat on his girlfriend again. It's a guilty pleasure of mine, imagining what people think of me... I like having this site; it's less furtive than the other one, less dirty; yet I can express myself here, where no one truly knows me.

As I was saying.... I wish I knew how I looked, standing up a few inches, and still a half a head shorter than him, my hood up and my mittens on, trying to talk him through his dilemmas of the heart.

Something happened last night...I'm not sure what; it wasn't terribly different than any other time we've hung out. Only that he was taken and I was not, and we went to what is becoming our spot and walked and talked and kissed. He said today that in his mind, we didn't really do anything, it was just a kiss. I didn't -- couldn't -- tell him that there are two types of cheating: physical and emotional.

What happened last night against that tree? He's never been this to me before.

(Love) Food for Thought

Real life, as I'm sure we've all figured out, is nothing like the movies. Or the books, for that matter. In the books, love is wonderful. Life is wonderful. I mean, not all the time...but most of the time. A very good percentage of the time, all the problems are worked out and life is wonderful. In the real world, it is SO not like that. Some examples:

In books, love is wonderful. It might not be fun, or easy, or make any sense at all, for that matter. But it certainly is wonderful. Love is described as being that good kind of pain, the kind you like...like after you work out. You know how the next day, your muscles scream every time you move, but it's in that good way that makes you know that you're using your body? Love is kind of like that in fiction. In real life, love sucks. All it really is is a pain in the ass that you can't get rid of. Don't get me wrong; I think that love is the most beautiful and important thing in the world. But...seriously. Sometimes you just wonder, could it really get any worse? There are so many freaking kinks that you never work out. And I'm way too young to know if it ever actually works out or not, but I've seen my parents, and damn but my dad loves my mom. So I'd say it's out there somewhere. But I also know how much they fight and how many problems they have, and how hard it is. I know that's real too. So get ready.

Along the love lines... In a book, sex is great with the one you love. Everything is perfect. The guy just adores the girl, doesn't he? Can't get enough of the broad. Every time she speaks, every time he looks at her, everything she does....he just adores every second of it; every move she makes takes his breath away. Sure they piss each other off, but it's just because they love each other so much and just can't handle it. Ever notice that? Every time a guy and a girl get into a fight in a movie, it's because they're too proud or too misunderstood or too in love to see through the mist until after two hours in the theater have passed. When you have sex in a movie, it's like for real fireworks. The brush of her hair on her chest sends tingles down his spine, the sight of his erection sends her into a frenzied passion, and everyone orgasms at the same time, just from good old missionary position. See, life isn't really like that. Here on Earth, guys and girls in love just don't roll like that. You get sick of each other pretty darn quick, and everything you do doesn't make the other fall more in love with you. Every breath, every move, every word...usually after a while you just want a break from their breaths and moves and words. You just get sick of it. After a while everything they say exasperates you instead of making you ga-ga. Fights are for real, about real things, like money and jobs and feelings and cheating and time management and not having enough sex because you're both too busy or not in the mood. When you're in love for real, the brush of her hair on his skin just pisses him off and makes him itchy; erections just look weird, like some freaky alien sticking out of a vagina that doesn't exist; she only orgasms clitorally, and only after a half hour of being eaten out or fingered, not from actual intercourse.

There is no soundtrack in life. When you're outside with the love of your life and it's snowing and he's holding your face between his hands and kissing you and you feel like you should be in a movie...there's no love song. No strings and piano and cheesy guy singer going off about how grand the world is. Seems like there should be, doesn't it? But no. There's just the sound of trucks on the road beside you and construction down the street, and kids screaming in the building next to you and someone's punk metal from the window above you. Like soundtrack guy took the night off or something. Or like when you do something great, like get an A on all your finals, or your team wins the championship; there should be that Remember the Titans victory music going down, but for some reason, it's nowhere to be found. Shouldn't we all be like Peter when he wishes for his own sound effects or whatever, and every step he takes is accompanied by the tuba in the background? Yeah, I think so. That would make everything so much more exciting. It would make me want to do stuff, just so I could hear what music God decided to pair with my actions.

So who writes these books and movies, and why? I think they should all be fired for falsely portraying the world. Or...maybe not. Maybe we suck it up to escape from the harsh non-musical drugery that is life, and pay these people to write about what life would be like if everything had a happy ending. Now there's a novel thought.

Blue vs. Red

So I've been thinking about politics. Of course I have; who hasn't? It's election day. I haven't been thinking too much about it; I'm really kind of sick of the whole thing. But I have to wonder: aren't the colors of our country red, white, and blue, not red or blue? People are so concerned with their side winning that everyone ends up losing. The problem with democracy is that everyone votes, even the stupid people.

I dunno, just a thought.