Power Ball

   My Math professor stated a long time ago, that the chance for people to win the powerball, let alone the lottery, is close to 0 %. This is true. the chances are probably 1/178,145,688. This is quite impossible, but people get their hopes up. There's a quote in Spanish that says, " La suerte es loca, y a alguien le toca." Luck is crazy and someone eventually gets it. But,  that someone is probably not you. This is also true.

    My friends brother who works in Merry Linch basically collected 80 powerball tickets, since 80 people each played 5 dollars, so they had more than one set. My mother who works in Total Pack, and the manager did the same thing. He collected 5 tickets each from 18 people and e-mailed copies of it so as to know if they won or not. This was all useless. I played like 3, my brother 10 sets, and my dad 10 as well. Out of all of these numbers, which were probably close to more than 200, not even one had at least 3 numbers. The numbers were super small, and close to each other: something like 6, 22, 23, 29 and two others. This is even more impossible to win. I was surprised someone actually won the 500 million.

    Even if you win 500 million, or around 475 with taxes,it's still a lot of money. What exactly will you do with that? It's an insane amount. I would be nervous if I had gotten that much, so I would have probably left Florida, since the winners are required to confirm their address, and even have pictures taken. I would have changed my appearance, and left since anyone would kill for that amount.

   The chances of you dying from a coconut, from being eaten by a shark, are probably higher than the chances of you winning the lottery. But yet again, they could be saying this so you don't play and actually win. But, nonetheless, the chances are quite low. It's probably easier for you to work for a couple of millions, than to actually win them without blood, sweat, and tears. 

   Fiscal Cliff

   There's been so many news about the "incoming fiscal cliff" that it's been so redundant. They are stating that homeowners will get increased taxes, and that they are going through a crisis. This is not new but it sounds like it's the end of the world. Now, the GOP has been debating whether to break their promise of not increasing taxes, but the new talk of being bipartisan has obstructed with the negotiations. The left doesn't want to overhael entitlements, and the right doesn't want to increase taxes, so now we are stagnant in the middle.

   The whole fiscal cliff debate is actually very important because if we don't do anything about it, we will be heading towards the direction Europe is in, especially Greece. The fact that nobody is dealing with the tough issues, and setting them aside will eventually lead to the issue catching up with us. Then, that's when the real trouble will begin.

   I personally belive that the whole "being bipartisan" bandwagon is not really helpful. This country functions on having different interests that compete against each other- creating a "friendly" political atmosphere is unrealistic and defies what this country was built upon.

   Yesterday we went to Publix and my grandmother got lost. We looked for her for about an hour and still she was nowhere to be found. We went to the bakery aisle and nothing. Then, we started asking the employees and there was nobody there who had seen her. We got so worried. Not only was she lost but all of our grocery items were in the cart and she had them with her.

    An hour later, after asking everyone that was in the store, we finally see a  huge cart with a small lady with huge glasses. Yep, there's grandma walking around the store , desperately trying to find us. I run towards her and ask her were she was. She told me she was waiting for us near the entrance of the store cuse she thought we were done. She was even ready to pay.

   We laughed so much that our stomachs hurt, and that's when  grandma got mad at us. She gets grumpy whenever we laugh at her. Who wouldn't? Anyways, she never spoke to us afterwards., and we had to apologize. But, we were happy we found her at the end.

 Media Craze and Tim Tebow


  Tim Tebow is arguably one of the greatest college quarterbacks in the history of college football, yet there's people in his own team that are trying to savotage him. Some are even to cowardly to reveal their identity. One of the players stated that there's only one quarterback in the team, and he is basically Sanchez, and Tebow is just a "wildcat" and an "athlete" instead of a quarterback. This is quite ridiculous, and even though his coach doesn't want him to win, sitting him on the bench when he could be scoring points, Tebow still is Tebow. Being too nice like always, his response to the criticism was that he has been criticized all his life and he has no control over that. He can only improve himself and get better, thus stating criticism  makes him stronger. If he would have been a different person he would have gotten mad and told the coach straight up.

    The coach has been trying to prevent Tebow from actually playing, not giving him a chance. Why then did they buy him? Is it to tear him down? What he needs to do is leave the Jets, but ostensibly, he is under a contract. It is so sad the way that the media raises people up, and when someone has values like Tebow, they try to tear them back down. He is a Christian and a genuinely good guy who is too nice to even get mad at his coach and the Jets. Perhaps, that is the reason as to why they hate him.

    Football has become too political due to the media, and what is the coach's response? Tebow is a "victim". Out of all the words in the dictionary, he uses "victim". This goes to show that one cannot eclipse the sun with one finger. There's people out there that simply hate him, not because of his abilities, but because they don't like him as a person. He is too big of a threat for them.

   PUK code

    Yesterday, I decided to change the password on my phone and accidentally went into settings> phone> Sim PIN. then, entered a code three times and entirely locked my phone. This was quite idiotic of me. I couldn't take calls, send calls, messages, or receive texts either. So, I called AT&T and their horrible service. A representative answered and put me on hold five times, since he was looking up how to unlock it through a PUK code. I hate the annoying songs they play when they have you on hold- they go centuries back. Anyways, he gave me two twn digit codes; one for automatic PUK code messages, the other one for the error that occurs after going into a certain function that gets blocked.
 
    I had to press those numbers 10 times because there was an error message, stating the PUK was incorrect. Then, the AT&T guy referred me to an apple representative, and he got all pissed. "Why would they do that?" They had nothing to do with the SIM lock. It was such a hectic day, I thought I would completely have to buy a new phone, or SIM card, which is free, but wastes time when going to the store.

   Finally, I decide to write down the code that the 4th representative gave me and tried again. I remember inputting certain digits before I locked it and I tried to remember the combination. At last, I entered the PUK code, followed by the digits that locked the phone, and the issue was resolved. I had to go through all that, even though the issue was quite simple to resolve.

   This all happened because they forgot to mention that I had to redial the code I used when the phone got locked. That would have saved the 4 representative's time, and apple's grumpy attitude. Thanks for not telling me. Now I know not to ever so that again. Lesson learned.

Response to Tequille's Essay

  Tequille's essay was amazing because it flowed seamlessly into each topic. It also highlighted the dual nature of her character, making her more dynamic. Despite being a premed student by day, she is a stripper by night. He could have easily stereotyped her as the regular stripper, but the fact that the essay also explored both sides, made it less biased and less stereotypical. This is effective when he mentions that being a stripper has given her time management skills. Thus, the essay is not static and has different perspectives.

   There's a common theme, reinforced by the detail of her wearing different wigs each day. This further develops the theme by exposing the different aspects or layers of characters. Moreover, the theatrical name of "Gold Fox" is connected seamlessly with her appearance, making the essay less genetic. He explains the name came from her golden skin color and the blonde wigs that she would wear. There's also an analogy with wonder woman. Thus, the connection between the wigs and her appearance is quite interesting.

  He also talked about a scene in which she was dancing, without being vulgar. The description enveloped the reader in the scene. But, perhaps it would have been better if instead of placing that scene near the end of the essay, he would have done it at the beginning so as to lure the reader in.

  The conclusion could be stronger despite stating that she is not put off by the degrading nature of her job, but by her teachers finding out. Maybe he should go back to the previous scene and connect the two.

 

   
        I am predicting that for the presidential elections, Obama will win with a slight victory over Romney. Romney will probably win Florida, Massachusetts, South Carolina, Texas and southern states while Obama might win the northern or northeastern states.

     It;s probably because although the economy is not at its best, Obama has rallied up voters, probably more than Romney and since he is the incumbent president, chances are he is more familiar and people tend to vote for him, especially young college students.

   I don't think Romney has made a clear contrast between himself and the president ideologically. In debates, they have been rehearsed, mostly talking about statistics, polls, and figures. Statistics have become a method for manipulating what the media wants you to believe. There are margins of error, but sometimes they discard that and report it as a win for either Romney or Obama despite being 3 points off, within the margin of error.

   Also, there might be a slight advantage for Obama given that he has Clinton who has been known for his great economic policies, which is a contrast to Obama. He also sets a contrast to Paul Ryan who appears as an "extreme right-winger" and who potentially wants to overhaul healthcare.

    People tend to say that politics is "dirty" or polarizing, which is true. But, there's also another side of it. Unfortunately, if one isn't into politics, ignorance will create even more problems after people vote. They should be making smart decisions about the next president, and stating, : I don't talk politics" paves way to misinformation and more ignorance.

     Me and my friend are going to go shooting on Wednesday and it's quite unnerving given that I have never practiced shooting with a gun before. But, hopefully the guy that we are supposed to talk to teaches us. I don't know which guns we are firing but it better not have recoil because if it does, then chances are it will bounce back on us. The costs are not bad actually. I believe the entrance is $12 and the rental for the gun is about $ 20 to $25.

    I am hoping I don't do anything stupid and that I get as close to the target as possible. For some reason I think it will be fun because it's not conventional and it adds to one's adrenaline. When you look at those TV shows with cops and guns you think of them as tough. But,  it's not that I want to look tough. It's just that it would be a new experience for us.

   After this, we are probably going to go horseback riding, which I have always wanted to do since I was little. In Cuba, we used to have horse riding in hotels like in Varadero, but I never rode the big ones, only ponies, which were quite annoying given their slow pace. It's also quite unnerving though how horses are twice my height, since I am only 5' 4".

   After this, we will set up a day for skydiving, which I am extremely terrified of it. I don't know how people can manage to think near-death experiences are fun. But, either ways, I want to try it in the future.

  For now, I am looking forward to going to the shooting range.

      Sometimes we take for granted how lucky we are Sandy didn't obliterate us given its effects in the Caribbean, especially Cuba. It destroyed houses, flooded the streets and the storm was so potent that it will take two years to recover from the damages. Electricity was ostensibly cut off, the water turned filthy and people were scrambling to look for food because they had none.

   Now Sandy is in the East Coast, destroying anything in its path. There were four men killed yesterday and reporters stated that in New York a man got killed by a tree that fell on him. The facade of an appartment complex got completely ripped off and there was a huge crane near a newly built skyscraper that looked like a snapped twig, dangling and bending with the wind. Billions of dollars have been spent in that building and each apartment costs millions.

   Lights have been flickering on and off. News reporters stated that people are not supposed to be driving: to get off the roads, and to not call 911 unless there's an emergency. Sandy is such a disastrous storm that not only is it affecting the people directly, but it's also affecting the economy. It will cost us 20 billion in damages.

    Obama stated that he needs not worry about the election because the lives of those inflicted by the storm are more important. People are worrying about voter turnout instead of what the catastrophe's effects would be. There was also  a report that a woman who was shipwrecked in the Atlantic Ocean and saved by the Coast Guard, later died because of the storm. There have been flooding in the NYC tunnels and there have been 50 houses set ablaze by Sandy.

  It is quite scary to know that in the blink of an eye the laws of nature can stack against you. It is also quite unnerving that in those situations pure luck is what can save you. You have to be in the wrong place at the wrong time to get hit by a tree, and if one is an unlucky person, there's not going to be a favorable outcome.

Reading:

  The reading feels like a report since it's very descriptive and informative, given the fact that the writer is a reporter for the Miami Herald. It felt like she was describing a forensics show or even Dexter.She gave insight into the pecularities and arduours of being a female cop- from being isolated from boys due to the fact that they carry guns, to inspecting her purse given the cops tendency to reveal all your secrets: lipsticks, her eye drops, etc.

    One of the most interesting aspects of being a cop is the intuition some have, like Buck Griscom, who happened to be at the crime scene without realizing it. He stopped a car in Collins Ave just due to a hunch that told him to follow him. He also killed a few people, but it seems that's one normal aspect of the police. There's going to be unintended shots in order to save lives.

   There's also the fact that some people wear items that are extremely ironic, like the girl wearing Rihanna's T-shirt: "sticks and stones may break my bones but chains and whips excite me." She wore that before her boyfriend killed her. The author also mentions that it's very important to obtain every single detail, from the Tv-shows witnesses were watching in order to remember the time of the crime, to the clothing they were wearing, given that if she doesn't ask then nobody will answer. Such questions, although petty can reveal important info. Discovering a piece of paper in the victim's wallet can be the difference between winning a case, and losing it.

   There's also a good point about the reporter's ways of describing the scenes. They use euphemisms, like "involuntary sexual buttery" instead of using the word "rape". These are quite annoying because everyone has their guards up, in order to not offend anybody. But this correctness, hinders the clearness of the investigation and sugar coats reality.

  There's also a theme of cause/effect relationships. One woman called the Miami Herald stating that someone wanted to kill her. Nobody answered until days later when she was actually dead. Then, there was another instance of a veteran that wanted to return to Key West, giving an appeal  but nobody helped him out. Days later he was killed while he was on his way. Also, there was a man who owned a shop and decided to stay later than usual. But, like the author states, " one man's act of kindness can cost him his life."

   Overall, the nonfiction story felt it was overloaded with so many action-packed details that oftentimes one forgot one was reading a nonfiction story. It felt like a totally made  up story bt simultaneously, some of the cases were familiar like the guy who was found in the asylum because he didn't know how to speak or communicate. Generally, it was extremely interesting because it gave information like a report, but wasn't boring or tedious like them.

Presidential Debate


Presidential debates are so hyped up to be so miraculously incredible, jaw dropping, the determining factor amongst undecided voters, when in actually, it is a simple act of "play the likable figure" and remain"civil" disposition. This is a bag of bolony because there's nothing more irritating than saying lies. The truth is what should come out of these candidates mouths instead of the half-truths which turn out to be more seriously conspicious than the whole truth. It is unbelievable how the whole "likability" question is more serious than substance. It's like saying a cnadidates mannerism when talking, the way they move their hands or the times they look at the audience, is what voters look for. What kind of dumb voter would that be?

People who vote for a candidate because he simply "didn't laugh the whole time" during vicepresidential debates, which was part of Biden's "un-likable behavior" and because he doesn't "speak right under the other guy's nose" is such a bogus answer. Why would anyone vote on a president solely based on how they behave instead of what they have to say?If it comes down to what they have to say you'd be surprised at how much time they spend talking rhetoric, hypotheticals and statistics that are so distracting. Talk ideology! That's the difference between Romney and Obama anyways. People don't want to listen to endless numbers and figures that make them confounded. They need to hear about the record, and about what the actual path America is heading towards is. There is no denying that the Democrats and Republicans have completely different ideologies. But it seemed as if one uses the other to tame themselves into acting like "moderates" in order to collect all of the undecided voters out there. This is a lie. They are not "moderates". Why would you even try to act moderate in the first place?

It is also so ridiculous how they are afraid of fully attacking each other. this is a debate. t's what makes debates exciting: to know you are not shaking the other's guys hand because you are forced to. They should behave like their honest selves- scream if they have to make their point across or do something besides fake smiles and fake responses. But one can lie as much as they want to. But, in the end, the truth is always conqueror.

Topic: La Carreta


   I am thinking of writing about La Carreta, which is a Cuban restaurant near 8th street where the Marlin's shop used to be. La Carreta is very important to Cubans given that it's been there for 40 years, and it's one of the few restaurants in Miami with a Cuban stamp or flair. There's so many interesting people there, Cubans smoking cigars, talking about politics, baseball and snitching about their friends that the whole place becomes a spectacle. These interactions or lack of interactions ( human-object superficial behavior) is quite important in the Cuban community.

 I could further elaborate on their dialogues, since they are quite funny and have hilarious things to say at times. They talk with their hands. They drink coffee all day and they always carry around their kids to public places, alongside the biggest family in the whole world. Then they stay in the restaurant to talk. They also wear "balsero" clothing with loose shirts and pants bought from el Pulgera, wich is a Flee Market and from Balsan, the most stereotypical Cuban "ghetto" store.

Overall, I think the analysis could be quite interesting because even the employees have things to say and to divulge in regards to their boss and the poeple that go there. My father also knows someone who works there, so we could talk to him and try to figure more things out.

Accident

  Yesterday I got stopped by a cop because I accidentally hit the bumper of the car when making a left turn in a crazy highway. I got so nervous I thought I was gone for a second. But, luckily they didn't give me a ticket because it was a minor scratch. Being female probably did play its role given that cops tend to fine males more due to stereotyping.
  
    Then, at 11:00 AM  there were 10 police cars parked outside the building where I had hit the cop's car. I was mortified after coming from UM. I thought it had to do with me so I thought I was dead again. But, the incident turned out to be more serious than that. There was a car crash off the express way between a truck and a green Nissan Sentra ( I happen to have a green Nissan Sentra to add to the coincidence). The accident caused us to lose electricity for a whole day- so no Tv, no computer, needless to say, it was quite mortifying. Then, a driver made a turn, and since the car crash had blocked the lane, he tried to turn and ran over a pedestrian. He was around 30 years old, perhaps Cuban, and I believe he was on his way to pick up his daughter or family member.
 
 On my way home I had noticed scraps of clothing and a car that was completely blown apart- just sraps of metals. Then, there was blood in the road. My heart sank. I think I was traumatized for a week after that. The poor man was crossing the street where I had once bumped into the police car, and was killed instantaneously. There were lots of people outside their windows trying to get hold of information. The cops were talking to my neighbors and that's when I figured out the guy was killed. But, it all happened so fast, and so hectic that it was so scary.

Coincidentally again, the parking lot in Miami Dade happened to collapse trapping a few people in the rubbles, and sending others to the hospital. This was such a brutal week that it reminded me to drive calmly ( ironically) and to never ever do what I did with that cop's car ever again.

Lesson learned.

Response to the Reading

Response to the book

The book is very descriptive, so much so that it talks about everything from basketball to tailgaiting to frat parties and even talks about the superfluous facade of working out. It covered so many topics reflecting the campus experience, giving one a sense of being part of the action. The use of sensory details: auditory, visual imagery, as well as dialogue provides a realistic feel. The writing style is formal, yet contains its own authentic style.  It also has great comic relief and good analysis throughout each observation. So, every observation is backed up by either an opinion, analysis or argument and serves as a good reference point for the observation essay.

The most interesting event depicted was when Charlotte talks about her family. Their quaint, southern dispositions set a stark contrast to Charlotte's lofty, intellectual behavior. There is a sense of comedy given the introverted dad who wears a mermaid tattoo that blushes during arduous labor. There's also a hint of criticism when her uncle or family member states that Charlotte's intelligence does not come from her dad's side of the family. These interactions are quite discordant and produce a sense of mockery that is impregnated in the authors observations.

The main point or theme seems to be the insecurities teenagers share and how ridiculous they can be. Every event, from the frat parties to the "cliques" ,entail how superficial and stereotypical students' behavior is. They put of facades and fake fronts to delineate a "tough" attitude in order to dissipate the fear of not belonging. Hence, the observations become cohesive in the theme of inferiority complexes, proving the universal theme of insecurities.

Transferring Last 4 posts from Notebook

Missing My Best Friend

 Sometimes life separates people from each other, like me and someone who used to be my best friend. We were like twins. We went to the same middle school and elementary together. We would shop at Dolphin and buy the same tank tops, jeans, earrings, and bags. We would trade bracelets and fight over the cute boys we saw in the corner of our eyes. Then we would fight some more about petty situations, like missed phone calls or our lack of support for one another when jealous friends would talk behind our backs. Ultimately, despite our clone-aspects, moving from one city to another, from Miami to Kendall shifted our lives entirely.

Looking through my drawer, I still find the eclectic items we used for our friendship bracelets: misc, dented, worn-out, rusted charms that we decorated into our own. We could have thrown them away- sometimes the annoying rattles would just remind me of the past- but for some reason we didn't. Although we didn't lose the tangible, we lost the instangible and valuable friendship we once shared. we stopped calling each other. Our trains of thoughts piled up into nothingness, our snitching remained mute, and our meeting dates for fun girl's night out remained unplanned.

Despite the distance, perhaps time tells what the future holds. Just like I have seen past friends in street corners, shops, even while driving and looking outside the window seeing my first crush, maybe one day I will walk into the same Dolphin stores and see my best friend's familiar Hermione-like face.  Maybe one day we will say "hey" instead of "goodbye".

09/20/12 Response to http://orianaenglishcomposition.blogspot.com/2012/09/time.html

I agree with your criticism of time and how there's not enough hours in the day to get everything done. I can also relate to you because I have been away from my hometown in Cuba, missing my family and the friends I left behind. But, like you mention, becoming independent is the best you can hope for. It makes you a stronger person and ultimately defines who you are. Your family and friends will always be there, and being away from them sometimes makes you appreciate them more.

It's always good to be organized as well and although I am a commuter, I know it sometimes is uncomfortable having a room mate if that person is messy. But, it's good to know everything is getting fixed. And you should feel lucky you don't have to drive back and forth everyday to class.

Buying food and realizing your fridge is empty is definitely exhausting. That really sucks. Not only do you have to study, but you have to take time to do the little things you took for granted when you had your parents there. But, once again, this makes you more independent and anything that makes you grow up fast is good for you.

Unlucky Test Taker

Don't you hate it when your mind goes blank on a test you studied for or when you start second guessing yourself? Or when you study the textbook material and nothing from the book comes out in the test? This is what happened to me for my first Bio test. I barely passed when I should have aced it. Not only did I make silly mistakes, but what's worse is that  when I looked back at the questions I got wrong, I knew the answer! Why did I get them wrong? This not only occurs to me, but to students who get nervous over an exam, which shouldn't even be considered that big of a deal. Knowing the information, or at least thinking one does, and then passing the test with a borderline grade is quite devastating. It makes one feel obtuse, despite knowing the answers.

I am so mad at myself because I need this for my major. I spent hours studying from the textbook, not using my common sense, because if I had used it I would have known to go straight to the review questions instead. On top of poor time management skills, not realizing the practice questions from Mastering Biology would come out was quite stupid of me. They were all there, word for word! This will certainly never happen to me again! The point is, that common sense sometimes eludes us and we just need to get it back. And, there's no such thing as a silly mistake. Mistakes will only seem silly if one doesn't fix them. So from now on, I need to stop wasting time, and go straight to the point. I need to make corrections on the test, scratch every distracting word that eliminates wrong answer choices, pay attention to the wording of every question, and to not read the textbook anymore! Actually, reading it after doing the Mastering Biology questions would be more useful.

So the point of this tedious self-critique is to evince how mistakes can often lead to good results. They strengthen us into learning from them, because that's ultimately life. Life is full of mistakes, and imperfections arebound to happen. When they do, one has to cling to their attitude of perseverance amidst the darkness and not become defeated. There's always a second chance, and like my mother says, " Everything in life can be fixed, except death." Getting a silly C will not be the death of my report card, but the beginning of effort, dedication,and perseverance.

Seeing My Grandma for the First Time

   Yesterday, my grandmother came from Cuba and we were all excited to go to the airport to see her. I left Cuba when I was 9 years old and since then I haven't seen her. So it's been 9 years since I spent time with her. My cousin and I would do pranks to her, like scare her to death at night after watching a scary movie, which would make her shoot up like a rocket. We would go to the grocery store and hide her bags, and even hide behind the aisles so she thought she lost us. We were impish creatures with her, even though she laughed afterwards. Those were great times we had once in a while and going to the airport to see her was really exciting. But, like the pranks, it was also scary because people tend to deteriorate through time. The image I left in Cuba was not at all the image I saw.

   She had dark hair, instead of her usual blonde. She had gotten chubbier, but simultaneously her sunken cheeks gave off the appearance of not eating right - it's Cuba, so that's what one usually expects. Her skin was darker than usual, with dark circles and bags around her eyes. In the her left cheek, she had a bite and it was swollen to the point were it looked serious. This struck me as sad because we remembered her as a lively person with her invigorating laughter rocking the whole house. But, although her image changed, I was more than exstatic to welcome her with a hug, a thousand flowers, and a million balloons.

She left my cousin and my aunt behind, but they are still planning on coming. This is even more exciting because all of my family will soon be here. We could hang out together and share our laughs with grandma, even though we will never stop pranking her. It's just nice to know that despite years of separation, through times, we can all be together again.

I still can't wait to take her shopping so that she becomes amazed at all of the fancy gadgets, clothes and the piles of food that she never had back home. And I am thankful that we can finally talk to her and see her again.

Sunsations Clinic

 

So my friend and I had a crazy idea of joining the Sunsations, so we went to the clinic yesterday and before we got to the Knight Sports Complex, the biggest "trolls" occurred.

 

First of all, we got there early- an hour and thirty minutes early and we couldn’t find a door into the volleyball court. The maze-like building resulted in us running around the track field, soccer field, football field, and tennis courts. We went through the Summer Olympics all over again. It was only after running around the periphery we encountered stairs, which apparently guided us into the boy’s locker room. We got out of there like lightning bolts.

 

After going through all that, we were about to collapse due to our dehydration. Thus, we looked for bending machines everywhere until a very nice security guard opened the Hall of Fame building, just for us so we can get Sprites or Sodas (there was no water there). We opened the door, and next thing you know it’s pouring. So we went to get water, but the water got us. No "sun" in sunsations.

 

Then, a random figure protrudes, with his sleek charcoaled-colored bike and a cryptic stare, into a roofed hallway to dry off. Definitely a creepy experience given that it was pouring outside, windy, dark, and we were alone- shivering and about to pass out. But it turned out the tough guy had a squeaky voice with a Spanish accent, so he wasn't fully intimidating.

 

What was intimidating was the running. That’s what we got, but backwards. Running backwards is not the most pleasant experience; let me tell you, given the slippery shoes and people’s tendency to bump one another. Not to mention some girls bumping one another on purpose, but that's to be expected given that we were all competing against each other. It seemed like a high-school dance rivalry: the newcomers(freshmeat) vs. the pros. The vibe proliferated given the two Russian girls who scrutinized the team's every move as if they were jealous. Not only was that awkward, but what was more awkward was the song they decide to use: Pop that. I absolutely, positively, despise this song content-wise. But, hey, it wasn't that bad.

 
 Anyways, despite the irony and the epic fails, we had fun. Unexpected events give life some “epic fail” moments, making it all the more interesting. The rain dries off, bikes eventually move, running is good exercise, and having a ‘bad day” is only temporary, because there’s always going to be a tomorrow.And although it went from “sunsations” to ‘rainsations”, and from a “clinic” into an “emergency- room-near-dehydration-death-experience”, we managed to make fool of ourselves and we managed to have a few laughs.

 
:p


 

 

 

 

Never accept the premise.

Never accept the premise.

Take these words and inspect them.

 “One who cannot love himself cannot love others”

This quote is half- a truth, and half-truths are worse than the lies.

First of all, whoever said that one who cannot love others if one doesn’t love himself, might be right if we fail to examine the true definition of love. Love, as I understand it, should not fall under the premise that it should be conditional. It is an oxymoron even saying “conditional love” because true love is unconditional, and is limitless. If we say that we can love X only if we love Y destroys the concept of love itself because it sets a limit on it, as well as destroys its independence/freedom. It enslaves the “self” with “others” when one’s own self is independent from the crowd’s. We live in a heterogeneous world so no two people are alike, yet it generalizes so that it seems to refer to all of mankind. And this premise makes the world seem static. It only stays true so long as people don’t change. What happens if one who is insecure about himself later grows up and finds that he can change and love himself even more?. All of my reasons may seem defensive, but believe it or not, it’s illogical to even say that “men don’t love themselves.” I say that if we didn’t love ourselves, then we wouldn’t even be called “men”. We wouldn’t exist. We would never pursue our dreams and we would never become great.  This may seem hypothetical and extreme but, if we didn’t love ourselves we would be dead. And it’s not just about us, but about love. You can argue love is like a greater being, or even what was there before the universe itself. It transcends matter (it is everywhere), it transcends time (it is timeless) and it transcends space (it is infinite). Perhaps the better premise might have been that man can love others despite being imperfect creatures because true love is infinite, timeless and ubiquitous. All men love themselves, but what is required of love is the deeper level of selflessness: to love not only yourself, but your neighbor unconditionally. We all have this gift, but not all of us use it. All of what I am stating might seem farfetched, but I am trying to prove the point to always question the premise. I view premises as an “established” theory, and like all theories they can always be changed because nothing in this world is static. If you beg to differ, then think of time. If everything were static, there would have been no beginning, no end and no life. Hence, I encourage you to always question bandwagons and popular statements because “popularity” is a form of bias that might have fleeting passions. Every widely accepted thing has a premise. Sometimes it’s deeper than you think and some of these quotes use fallacies and even psychology to ends that are not so pleasant. So make sure your values are built not on the premises of others but on your own so that one day you build your house on a sturdy surface, rather than a house built on sand.

Smoke and Mirrors

Smoke and Mirrors

There’s a red curtain in front of a silent audience in front of a stage in front of the world. Any minute now, you might expect David Blaine or Chris Angel to magically appear, but silence prolongs itself. Instead, a hooded man named Fear protrudes and begins his act, surveying the crowd for his next assistant. When the assistant volunteers his reaching hand, he is cowardly taken-aback for Fear had neither hands nor eyes. Hence, the insecure volunteer rests assured that his magic is safe, given that a handless and eyeless entity won’t deprive him of his possessions nor use his judgment against him.  Believing in the magician’s compassion and just demeanor, he surrenders to the disappearance act. As the fidgety crowd waits for the illusion, lights flicker and go out. Thereafter, Fear reappears with eyes and arms outstretched, clothed in the volunteer’s garments. Whatever happened to that man? Nothing happened. He was just an illusion- simply, part of the act.

The moral of the story is that Fear uses smoke and mirrors to deceive men into doing his bidding. He tricks men into believing he is part of the act, when the act is actually on them. Claiming he is compassionate and considerate, he deprives them of their possessions- metaphoric hands robbing not only man’s physical aspect, but their intangible self: their ability to act for hands help us carry out our purpose. Moreover, Fear prevents the audience from the ability to see for all “lights are out”.  Fear, being an emotion is incompatible with reason but morphs itself into men and consequently, men morph themselves into fear- a parasite/host relationship that inverts the outcome. The oppressed become the oppressive.  And so the curtain falls, the individuality of men dissipates and the cycle repeats itself as part of the next act.

History is the stage. Fear is the entity. Men are the players. All of mankind’s immorality - ranging from wars, holocausts, robbery and tyranny- stems from the traits of inferiority complexes derived from Fear. Fearful men become Fear itself. Not only does understanding the historic “magician” function for our understanding, but it helps us predict the future (although improbable as magic itself). The wicked acts that will come – be it 10 years from now, or a millennium- will always use smoke and mirrors to usurp men of their reality under the guise of benevolence and magic.

And the only way to prevent that Fear is by calling it as one sees it before one sees it not- before the curtain falls and we are all left wondering, “What happened to that man?”

 

Testing

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