Childhood.....

We've all heard the saying; most likely from our parents or grandparents on one of our birthdays. The one that starts with "Wow, you're that old already?" and then "They grow up so fast...." or something to that effect. Even though every time we hear this we either role our eyes or put on a fake smile that says 'Yeah I know, I've heard it before,' if you think about it we really do get old pretty fast. I mean, do you remember when you were 8, and turning 16 seemed so far away? Now it's right around the corner. Truly, our childhood is coming to an end, if not there already. Time goes by extremely fast and you hardly notice it until its gone. I guess that's why living your life now is so important.

That was just something that I was pondering about, but actually, that's what most of these posts are. hmmm....... :)

~vanessa

Insight and connection to real world through a book

I wrote this earlier and it may sound a little rambling; sorry about that....

I have recently come into quite a different opinion regarding the, in my opinion, unexpected and, at the time, shocking news about one of my favorite characters in the HP series.
When I first found out, apparently a long time after everyone else, that Dumbledore was gay, I thought it was just another one of those stories that circulate about stuff that is usually just rumors. But once I realized the statement JKR made was true, I was flabbergasted. Unintentionally, my view of him started to change and did not like that. Then, trying to reevaluate, I started to think, well, so what? That certainly doesn't diminish the great things he's accomplished. Just because someone is different than you, doesn't mean they aren't as good a person as yourself.
So anyway, I read that editorial on MuggleNet and I found it very, very, well written and the defense presented was well said. It is true that most people who discriminate against others are generally influenced by the ones around them; just following the crowd (kinda like a herd of sheep) ;).
It's a bit disappionting because, right this moment, we're probably all being influenced in some way by society. Sometimes it's as if we can't have opinions of our own, we're too busy doing and saying what everyone else wants us to.
Anyway, I could probably say more on the issue of "doing things for other people and instead of for yourself," but I won't right now. But that editorial definately put things back into the right perspective for me. It's amazing how your views can be swayed without your knowledge of it.

Kid Nation on tonight! :)

~vanessa

Free Time (HA!, there's no such word)

I decided I wanted to change my layout, just for the sake of change, but I'm not entirely sure I'm satisfied with this one......hmmm.....I'll just have to experiment some more......

I really want to write about something important, especially since I have the time now, but up coming up blank. It seems to always happen like that; at one point you have so much to do, yet little time to do any of it and then other times where you have a little extra time, you can't think of a single thing to do with it. Funny how life works sometimes. Although, it might just be me. :)

It seems like it hasn't rained for ages. It's kind of sad.

Well, once again, hope you have a Happy Friday (and a nice life). ;)

~vanessa

P.S- (added later on) It poured the night after this. :)

Somewhat of the same train of thought.....

So, on Kid Nation the other night there's this one kid, the only Hindu kid there, and he was doing some sort of ritual/praying thing and someone asked him about the gods in Hinduism and how many there are. He says something like "Over 330 million, to be exact." I thought that was pretty cool. In my opinion, this was a really good episode. It showed how people, even kids who are influenced by adults constantly, are unwilling to accept, or even listen to, other beliefs that contradict their own. I'm not saying we should all go out and change our religion, but sometimes it seems people can be a tad narrow-minded (I'm not sure if I used that right). Right when the council said there would be just a big general prayer and worship time, people got defensive, saying it was impossible. It was the wrong approach and I'm glad how the one girl Morgan was able to come up with an alternative. And that Taylor girl is really annoying me! Hello, you're not there just to look pretty on camera, you have to work too; no one cares if you are a beauty pageant queen! Most likely, no one will know what I'm talking about, so sorry about that. Oh, and I didn't mean for this blog and the one before to be so long; they were actually originally combined.

~vanessa

The Irony in Life

I actually wrote this last night and my computer wasn't on, so I had to use old-fashioned paper. My hand hurt a little afterwards. :)

Have you ever had something that just kept cropping up, that made you think "well that's ironic" ? Lately it's been like that for me with the subject of religion. Anything having to do with religion seems to keep surfaces at the most random times. First, I get assigned a project for WHAP on Hindu and when I told my mom about it, she says "oh here, I have a book on world religions" and it turns out there's 65 pages on Hinduism! Then, I was watching Kid Nation and the whole episode was about how the town should hold religious ceremonies and stuff, encompassing all religions (it was pretty interesting). Then during commercials, I tried to read ch. 7 ('tried' being the operative word), and the intro was talking about Rome and how it was split by religion. On top of that, lately I've been trying to go to church, but every opportunity I get, I end up not going for various (and sometimes not very good) reasons. I find that really, really weird and crazy and interesting, but mostly just ironic.

Also, (I wanted to mention this part a while ago, but didn't get a chance):
There's this club, First Priority, at our school. I knew of it from last year, but hadn't heard yet about when it would start this year or if it was something worth trying. I was talking to my friend, at lunch, who said she had heard from someone that it wasn't that great. Then at the end of sixth period, on the announcements came on, and right on cue, they say there was to be meeting that Wed. (I think it was Wed.). I just thought, "well that's cool, I was wondering about it." The bell rang and as I was walking down the stairs, ironically, I saw a sign: "First Priority meeting on Wed." That was just too weird to be another coincidence. Maybe it was a sign. You never know.

~vanessa

P.S. will be continued in next blog

While I'm on the subject of books.......

I was watching the news a little while ago and it was talking about the Kite Runner movie. They were talking about how its going to be delayed or something because the boy who plays Hassan apparently didn't know about a "certain scene" that was going to be shot and said he didn't want to do it. Of course in Afganistan that kind of stuff is really serious and also they said the two main lead boys are going to have to stay out of their country for a while, during the showing of the movie or something like that. hmmmm....... I'm not sure if all those facts are perfect, but that was the general gist.

I, myself just read that part and personally it made me sick to my stomach. I hope there's a really good reason for having us read this book. I'm not exactly sure if I like it or not. But I'm leaning toward not.

~vanessa

Untitled

It's raining now, and has been ever since I came home. I like the rain, its very calming. This afternoon I decided to catch up on my reading of Marie Antoinette and although its really good, I find it very sad at the same time. The poor girl is forced to marry someone she's never met and then become Queen of France, even though she's not even French. Every one is pressuring her and telling her that she must have healthy baby boys to eventually take over the throne. Not only does it take many years for her to get pregnant, but once she does, she has a girl. Her next surviving child is a boy, but he has horrible back problems and is very weak. Luckily she has another healthier boy afterwards and another little girl, but she soon dies, not even making it to a year old. Two years later her first boy dies. Meanwhile, the country has gone broke and commoners have united in order to overthrow the monarchy. Its terrible, especially because the book is based on her real life. The injustice is present everywhere in her life, so its quite sad. And of course, though I haven't reached that part yet, she ends up being sentenced to the guillotine.

Anyway, I was thinking about it, so I thought I'd write about it. I'm not sure if these entries are supposed to be more informative and stuff, because mine aren't exactly like that. Oh well, I think I'll make my own rules. Sorry if any of it is extremely dull to anyone.

Have a good Friday! :)

~vanessa

Procrastination

It happens all the time with me. I'll have something important to do that I'd really rather not and then I'll waste time doing something meaningless like playing solitaire or watching tv, and before I realize it, its like 6:30 and I haven't started anything. It really bugs me, especially afterward and I remember all the time I could have used but didn't, and I hate that. Yet, it seems I always end up waiting to the last minute because I can't not procrastinate. It's not like an addiction, more like an unconscious obsession. Anyways.......I really should do my research paper now.......and probably finish my math........and I'm sure there's something else too. Does anyone have suggestions for the time-management-impaired?

Oh, and I'm so glad it wasn't so hot or humid today; perhaps that means winter is coming soon. :)

~vanessa