I have hated sports since the day I was born. I've never been athletic, but that's not the reason for my intense dislike of all athletics. It's more along the lines of I just don't understand the purpose. I mean, I get that it's about competition, learning to work with a team and pushing yourself to personal and worldly limits, but what do sports really accomplish? Nothing. Not a single thing except pride, money, and/or a trophy. I don't understand the emphasis that our world puts on the playing games, nor the fame that those players receive- especially when there are people, like doctors, who better the lives of millions of people, and yet they go through life unnoticed. WHY?! I mean, why is it that people willingly sit in front of a tv or carry on casual conversation about guys who can kick a ball into a net? Not to diss all the amazing athletes out there- it's great that you guys have goals and can become the best in the world at whatever it is that you love to do. I admire that. What I don't admire is the attention that it gets. Hundreds/thousands of years from now, when our species is fighting for survival, is it really going to matter who was the best football player in the 21st century? No- what's going to matter is the research or contribution of some nameless person who devoted their life to science, or charity, in one way or another, changing the world. So I guess my original statements are incorrect. It's not that I don't respect athletes- because I do! I just think that the things they accomplish are more personal than global- but that's not the way my fellow man sees it. Perhaps I should try a different approach...
In what way is it fair that Obama, the leader of our country, receives $400,000 a year for his service to our nation and the world, while Tiger Woods pockets $60 million for hitting a ball with a club??? I don't care what your political stance or personal opinion of our president is- I am not into politics in the least- but in my opinion, ANYONE who attempts to runs our country (regardless of the mistakes they might make along the way) in effort to better this US of A, deserves more recognition and reciprocity than any athlete. It makes me ill knowing that professional sports players have things handed to them on a silver platter while other people struggle to contribute money, manpower, and knowledge to this world.
On a slightly different note, I've been watching the Olympics the last few days- more so than ever before, and I must admit that I quite enjoy watching the swimming and gymnastics. Those people are crazy talented. But, getting to the point- I don't understand how countries across the globe can come together to play games like we don't have a care in the world, but as soon as the competition is over, we return to our normal states of warring and dispute. Why is that? Could we not apply some of this good citizenship and friendly competition to real world problems??? Just something to consider...
And I'd like to end with one of my favorite quotes, something from John Green's The Fault In Our Stars:
"I used to play basketball. But then one day I was shooting free throws
and all at once I couldn't figure out why I was methodically tossing a
spherical object through a toroidal object. It seemed like the stupidest
thing I could possibly be doing. And then for some reason I started
thinking about hurdlers- about them and their hurdle races, and jumping
over these totally arbitrary objects that had been set in their path.
And I wondered if hurdlers ever thought, you know, this would go a lot
faster if we just got rid of the hurdles."
Monday, July 30, 2012
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
Thinking
I recently spent a little time with my cousin and I was sitting on her bed when she asked me an absolutely phenomenal
question. Are you ready for this?
Why is it that we seem to only exist in our head? (sure, you're thinking, well duh- because that's where are brain is...) That's what I was thinking too. But my cousin inquired as to why we don't feel ourselves, in say, our foot. Why is consciousness only in the mind? Is it really our brain that makes us feel like we're in our heads- or is it our eyes? What if our eyes were on our stomach. Wouldn't that change our perspective? Would we feel like our essence of existence was then located in our core? Or would we still live in our noggins? And furthermore, is it because we know so much nowadays about our anatomy that we feel as if our existence is in our heads? Were people in the past more in tune with their entire bodies? Or did they too feel the obvious weight of our cranial appendage?
Just something to ponder...
Why is it that we seem to only exist in our head? (sure, you're thinking, well duh- because that's where are brain is...) That's what I was thinking too. But my cousin inquired as to why we don't feel ourselves, in say, our foot. Why is consciousness only in the mind? Is it really our brain that makes us feel like we're in our heads- or is it our eyes? What if our eyes were on our stomach. Wouldn't that change our perspective? Would we feel like our essence of existence was then located in our core? Or would we still live in our noggins? And furthermore, is it because we know so much nowadays about our anatomy that we feel as if our existence is in our heads? Were people in the past more in tune with their entire bodies? Or did they too feel the obvious weight of our cranial appendage?
Just something to ponder...
Meanings
In my boredom, I decided to research the meaning behind my first
name. The description I found was so eerily accurate, I began using the
same website to look at my parents and sisters names. When the
descriptions of my entire family fit each of us flawlessly, I knew I had
to share! (even our dog, Cody, fits his profile haha)
According to http://www.first-names-meanings.com/
Crystal is…
Self-motivated, efficient, resourceful, active and courageous, these are powerful personalities. They need to shine, want to impress and love attracting attention to themselves indirectly. They are original, scorn all that is ordinary and are not made for subordinate roles. As bad losers, failure can drive them crazy. Luckily, they know exactly how to grab hold of the opportunities that life offers them.They can be exclusive and have difficulty sharing, such is their need for privacy.
They are also drawn to the spiritual dimension. They appreciate moments of solitude, peace and quiet, which they can spend far away in thought, meditating or cultivating their minds. They are fascinated by the supernatural. In matters of the heart, you´ll seldom catch them blushing or flushing, and they will never expose their deepest feelings. They are particularly mysterious and quite out of reach. In a potential partner they look for a similarity of interests and values above all else, and are extremely selective when it comes to choosing their lovers and friends. As young women, taking on the roles of wife and mother are far from being number one on their list of priorities. Crystal intends, first and foremost, to succeed in her personal and professional lives.
WOW. I mean, even the people I’m closest to couldn’t write a more accurate explanation of my personality. Creeeeeeeepy!!!!!!!
According to http://www.first-names-meanings.com/
Crystal is…
Self-motivated, efficient, resourceful, active and courageous, these are powerful personalities. They need to shine, want to impress and love attracting attention to themselves indirectly. They are original, scorn all that is ordinary and are not made for subordinate roles. As bad losers, failure can drive them crazy. Luckily, they know exactly how to grab hold of the opportunities that life offers them.They can be exclusive and have difficulty sharing, such is their need for privacy.
They are also drawn to the spiritual dimension. They appreciate moments of solitude, peace and quiet, which they can spend far away in thought, meditating or cultivating their minds. They are fascinated by the supernatural. In matters of the heart, you´ll seldom catch them blushing or flushing, and they will never expose their deepest feelings. They are particularly mysterious and quite out of reach. In a potential partner they look for a similarity of interests and values above all else, and are extremely selective when it comes to choosing their lovers and friends. As young women, taking on the roles of wife and mother are far from being number one on their list of priorities. Crystal intends, first and foremost, to succeed in her personal and professional lives.
WOW. I mean, even the people I’m closest to couldn’t write a more accurate explanation of my personality. Creeeeeeeepy!!!!!!!
Just Do It
Like a lot of people, I’ve always thought that starting anything is
the hardest part. Once you get going, you have the momentum to carry on…
but generating the energy to begin with is seemingly impossible. Now
here I am with this snazzy blog, and nothing to talk about. Actually, I
have a million things I want to talk about- it’s just that I’m not in
the mood to talk about those things. Go figure.
______________________________________________________________
So, after Googling (<which, by the by, I m surprised the computer doesn’ t recognize as a word yet) “things to blog about”, and reading through lists of mostly stupid, boring and un-relateable subjects, I made some self-discoveries that I think are worth sharing.
I wrote one of my UCLA application essays on identity- about how I think life is a combination of discovering who you already are and creating who you want to be. Self discovery and self creation. I ’m a firm believer that people are born a certain way, we just don t always understand ourselves or develop to our true potential. I don’ t know why this whole thing suddenly popped into my head, but I just realized, that the person I am currently working so hard to become… is the very same person I have been all my life. Let me explain.
It kind of all comes down to college. That point in our lives where we make these crucial decisions, trying to find our way. Three years ago, my decision to study architecture felt somewhat forced- I knew had to chose a field, and I knew that I was good as drafting, and I wasn’ t interested in any the other majors I saw listed on college websites. Today, I study architecture, not only because I want to, but because I truly believe, it’s what I was born to do. By now, I bet you’re wondering where this is going- but it will all come together, I swear!
When I was in second grade, my dad went on a business trip to France and he sent me a postcard with the Eiffel Tower on it. That, combined with my childhood love of the show Madeline (did any of you watch that?!), and the bits of French I picked up in ballet class, sparked my lifelong desire to go to Paris. As soon as I have the money, that’ll be my first international travel destination. But, just now, I was wondering why I really want to go there. And there’s really only one answer… to see the Eiffel Tower. Sure, it’s an iconic, (and, as you’re probably thinking, overrated) landmark made of iron lattice (that the French living in 1889 found incredibly atrocious), but there is just SOMETHING about that tower that captured my heart the instant I saw it. It’s a 1050 foot work of art, every bit as impressive as the Mona Lisa siting in the Louvre.
Back in sixth grade, my history class was learning about Egypt, and we had to do a (pretty darn extensive) project on a subject of our choice. I remember doing my research, and nothing seemed to interest me- not the mummies, not the geography, not the Pharaohs… I don’t remember the details, but somehow, I ended up choosing to do my project on the pyramids and the Sphinx (aka Egyptian architecture). Thinking back to it, that is probably the one and only segment of my elementary education that I remember finding absolutely fascinating. But of course, as a sixth grader, I wasn’t thinking about how to apply my interests to a career.
Later, in eighth grade, I remember having high school students come and give a presentation on the different electives offered at SYVHS. For some reason, drafting sparked my interest, but at the same time, it sounded a little to technical and overwhelming for someone just entering high school. So I ended up taking art instead. Two years down the road, I was looking an elective to fit in my schedule. But I remembered back to eighth grade, and how drafting sounded like it could be good for me. So I gave it a try. I was the only girl in that class my last two years of high school- and I didn’t like having to endure an hour and forty minutes, every other day, of stupid little freshman and sophomore boys and their shenanigans. And to be completely honest- it was pretty darn boring. All we did was create the technical drawings for existing objects- very engineer-oriented. But, the spring of my junior year, my teacher entered me in a county architecture competition. At first I was like uh, hello, I don’t know the first thing about designing a house, because all I do is sit around draw schematics of car parts with a bunch of little boys all day… but it obviously worked out for the best, because I ended up winning first place that year (which, by the way, I still don’t fully understand). And it wasn’t until the moment they handed me that trophy that I even considered the possibility of someday being an architect. That’s also when I found out that my dad had started out as an architecture major at USC (before supposedly switching to engineering because he anticipated the higher salary- but we all know he ended up as a spy so…). Anyway, the only reason I signed up for drafting a second year was so I could do that competition again. I placed seventh the second time around. By then, I’d already decided to study architecture, but there were still some doubts lurking in the back of my mind.
In my senior year of high school, my family went on a trip to DC. We did all the typical tourist sightseeing, but my parents didn’t seem to enjoy it quite as much as I did. I LOVED DC… there’s just something about all the classical white buildings and the stories behind them- I can’t even come up with words to describe it, but I loved it! It’s elegant, and exciting, and old, yet so clean and modern and beautiful!
Now, after actually having studied architecture for a year, I know I’m in the right field. The idea of designing the very world we live in, and having the power to manipulate human behavior and emotion with, essentially, a large-scale art project, BLOWS my mind. It’s kind of like being the indirect puppeteer of humanity… okay, now I just sound like a nerd.
My point is, that I think I was born to be a designer… and there were all these clues in my childhood- I just didn’t see them at the time. Even to this day, I’ll be watching TV, and I’ll think to myself, you know, I could’ve been an Olympic ice skater, or a dancer, or a scientist… but then I quickly realize why I’m NOT any of those things. It simply wasn’t meant to be. Sure- I could’ve trained/studied/striven to become anything I wanted… but it wouldn’t be natural. It’s weird, it’s like, I just now put all this together. I feel like I’ve finished the straight-edge border of a puzzle, and now I’ve got the rest of my life to fill it in. Like, all the stress of the last few years, trying to “find myself” was so unnecessary, because I was there all the time, just looking in all the wrong places…
______________________________________________________________
So, after Googling (<which, by the by, I m surprised the computer doesn’ t recognize as a word yet) “things to blog about”, and reading through lists of mostly stupid, boring and un-relateable subjects, I made some self-discoveries that I think are worth sharing.
I wrote one of my UCLA application essays on identity- about how I think life is a combination of discovering who you already are and creating who you want to be. Self discovery and self creation. I ’m a firm believer that people are born a certain way, we just don t always understand ourselves or develop to our true potential. I don’ t know why this whole thing suddenly popped into my head, but I just realized, that the person I am currently working so hard to become… is the very same person I have been all my life. Let me explain.
It kind of all comes down to college. That point in our lives where we make these crucial decisions, trying to find our way. Three years ago, my decision to study architecture felt somewhat forced- I knew had to chose a field, and I knew that I was good as drafting, and I wasn’ t interested in any the other majors I saw listed on college websites. Today, I study architecture, not only because I want to, but because I truly believe, it’s what I was born to do. By now, I bet you’re wondering where this is going- but it will all come together, I swear!
When I was in second grade, my dad went on a business trip to France and he sent me a postcard with the Eiffel Tower on it. That, combined with my childhood love of the show Madeline (did any of you watch that?!), and the bits of French I picked up in ballet class, sparked my lifelong desire to go to Paris. As soon as I have the money, that’ll be my first international travel destination. But, just now, I was wondering why I really want to go there. And there’s really only one answer… to see the Eiffel Tower. Sure, it’s an iconic, (and, as you’re probably thinking, overrated) landmark made of iron lattice (that the French living in 1889 found incredibly atrocious), but there is just SOMETHING about that tower that captured my heart the instant I saw it. It’s a 1050 foot work of art, every bit as impressive as the Mona Lisa siting in the Louvre.
Back in sixth grade, my history class was learning about Egypt, and we had to do a (pretty darn extensive) project on a subject of our choice. I remember doing my research, and nothing seemed to interest me- not the mummies, not the geography, not the Pharaohs… I don’t remember the details, but somehow, I ended up choosing to do my project on the pyramids and the Sphinx (aka Egyptian architecture). Thinking back to it, that is probably the one and only segment of my elementary education that I remember finding absolutely fascinating. But of course, as a sixth grader, I wasn’t thinking about how to apply my interests to a career.
Later, in eighth grade, I remember having high school students come and give a presentation on the different electives offered at SYVHS. For some reason, drafting sparked my interest, but at the same time, it sounded a little to technical and overwhelming for someone just entering high school. So I ended up taking art instead. Two years down the road, I was looking an elective to fit in my schedule. But I remembered back to eighth grade, and how drafting sounded like it could be good for me. So I gave it a try. I was the only girl in that class my last two years of high school- and I didn’t like having to endure an hour and forty minutes, every other day, of stupid little freshman and sophomore boys and their shenanigans. And to be completely honest- it was pretty darn boring. All we did was create the technical drawings for existing objects- very engineer-oriented. But, the spring of my junior year, my teacher entered me in a county architecture competition. At first I was like uh, hello, I don’t know the first thing about designing a house, because all I do is sit around draw schematics of car parts with a bunch of little boys all day… but it obviously worked out for the best, because I ended up winning first place that year (which, by the way, I still don’t fully understand). And it wasn’t until the moment they handed me that trophy that I even considered the possibility of someday being an architect. That’s also when I found out that my dad had started out as an architecture major at USC (before supposedly switching to engineering because he anticipated the higher salary- but we all know he ended up as a spy so…). Anyway, the only reason I signed up for drafting a second year was so I could do that competition again. I placed seventh the second time around. By then, I’d already decided to study architecture, but there were still some doubts lurking in the back of my mind.
In my senior year of high school, my family went on a trip to DC. We did all the typical tourist sightseeing, but my parents didn’t seem to enjoy it quite as much as I did. I LOVED DC… there’s just something about all the classical white buildings and the stories behind them- I can’t even come up with words to describe it, but I loved it! It’s elegant, and exciting, and old, yet so clean and modern and beautiful!
Now, after actually having studied architecture for a year, I know I’m in the right field. The idea of designing the very world we live in, and having the power to manipulate human behavior and emotion with, essentially, a large-scale art project, BLOWS my mind. It’s kind of like being the indirect puppeteer of humanity… okay, now I just sound like a nerd.
My point is, that I think I was born to be a designer… and there were all these clues in my childhood- I just didn’t see them at the time. Even to this day, I’ll be watching TV, and I’ll think to myself, you know, I could’ve been an Olympic ice skater, or a dancer, or a scientist… but then I quickly realize why I’m NOT any of those things. It simply wasn’t meant to be. Sure- I could’ve trained/studied/striven to become anything I wanted… but it wouldn’t be natural. It’s weird, it’s like, I just now put all this together. I feel like I’ve finished the straight-edge border of a puzzle, and now I’ve got the rest of my life to fill it in. Like, all the stress of the last few years, trying to “find myself” was so unnecessary, because I was there all the time, just looking in all the wrong places…
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)