'Tis the season (by that I mean for Sherlock Season 3)

Hello blog, how have you been? Good? Good.

So, you know, it's that time of the year again. If you are a child (and for some bizarre and unexplainable reason managed to find your way into the realms of my blog), it is the time of the year when an obese man with a beard squeezes his way down your chimney and leaves your presents under the tree for the exchange of milk and cookies. If you are an adult, it's pretty much the same except you realise you don't have a chimney because no one really has a chimney and your childhood was a total lie.

Have a good one!
Love,
Me.

Barpire (the blogpost where I lost it completely).

There is a (fictional) legend, surreptitiously whispered about a bar around the corner. The bar itself is not called 'The Bar Around The Corner' however contemporary the name seemed, due to the owner's fear of geographical inaccuracy when referring to the bar when the individuals aren't in fact around the corner.

"But what if they were on the same street? Then the bar would be just ahead. Should I call it 'Just Ahead'?" He had wondered to himself. Though the idea had an almost identical flaw and isn't really a solution at all.

 The bar wasn't special and remained unnamed, mainly due to indecisiveness. It bore a blank slate of varnished metal at the front that left enough space for when the indecisive owner finally settles for an appropriate and generally applicable name.

 The (fictional) legend about the bar around the corner was about the owner himself. Though the (fictional) legend remains unbeknownst to him.

 It was that he was a vampire. A life sucking creature of the night that frolics the dark alleyways in search of a prey. This rumour could be blamed on his choice of clothing (collared capes) and the fact that the bar closes precisely by midnight.

 To end this tragic tale, the (fictional) legend of the indecisive bar owner is finally clarified. No, he's not a vampire. He is just an owner of a crappy bar around the corner.

Thoughts on studying (a succinct and eloquently worded account on my feelings towards studying).

I hate it.
So much.

Halloween.

I'm still not quite sure about this festivity, but it is a good excuse to watch Tim Burton films. So, you know, have a good one.

Today's progress:

- almost nothing.
- planning to do one of those montages in films where super cool music plays while I stay up all night manically flipping through books and typing.
- Current essay word count: 252.

Here's one of my favourite short films, if you (like me) do not have the time to watch a 2 hour long flick today:

Continuation. (don't get used to this)

I realise I don't have the ability to focus on just one thing for extended periods of time. Right now, there are 5 tabs open in my browser and there's music from one of them but I'm not sure exactly where. But the music is good so this is not a problem. That was just a series of unnecessary information (aka a summary of my entire blog)

Today's update:

- Cleaned my room.
- Realised I didn't know how to reference correctly.
- Spent a good fraction of the day figuring out how to reference.
- Typed in reference.
- Called human people on the phone.
- Current essay word count: 252.

Will update later. (this is very unlikely).

IN-ESSAY-N (did you get the pun? Yeah, I felt cheap, too.)

Hello, it's been a while. Nothing much has changed. I started University, had 5 children, grew a beard, prevented a possible intergalactic war. Now you're caught on.

I am not a terrible person, but I am a terrible productive person. Meaning I am not a productive person. As a newly-started-University student, I am burdened with several written assignments that I am currently not doing because I am writing a post in my blog. So I thought I would (maybe) make a few regular (maybe) blog posts that update my progress in these endeavours.

Today's progress:

-Thought about writing research report.
-Wrote the word "Introduction"
-Felt it was enough progress.
-Realised it was not.
-Laughed upon realising the research report was on procrastination.
-Current essay word count: 131.

Will update later (maybe).

Questions (Is the ground slightly tilted or is my head tilted?)

It's 5.20am and I am yet to sleep. I feel like this is the time, for me personally, when my brain is at its very peak. It is when we (by that I mean my brain and I, as we are apparently two different entities) think of the real questions.

I know, you may sigh in exasperation.

Anyways, I was watching a Livestream at around 3am and they raised some pretty good questions. Like: "Have you ever peeled an orange so slowly... [then it just trailed off because they started laughing]".

 But it got me thinking... have I ever peeled an orange so slowly? Is there really a rate at which a person can peel an orange which could be universally considered "fast" or "slow"? Is it relative to the size/type of orange? Is a tangerine also an orange? (because there is absolutely no difference to me).

Is time just an illusion? Does the Earth revolve around the sun the other way when we don't sleep? I have so many questions. If anyone can give me some answers that would be very helpful.

Please prioritise the orange peeling question. That is the most important to me.

FRIENDSHIP (it's not that late yet, but my brain is already there)

I need to post more blog entries. I mean, I have the beginning of a few posts but never finished them. So this is a thing that I will finish and publish. And hopefully is not gathering dust in my drafts. Okay, wow, commitment (which brings me to my actual topic-- that's right, I use segways-- REVOLUTIONARY)

 For the majority of my school life, I've had the same few friends. From the same school. Which means that I saw their faces almost every weekday at least once (and even most weekends)

You may even ask: are you not sick of their faces? That's a lot of their faces.

To which I reply with: yes I am sick of their faces.

See, friendship is kind of a weird and wonderful relationship that is like a roller coaster ride, where there are ups and downs and in the midst of it there are doubts because why did I get on this ride? I hope that kid at the front doesn't throw up... I hope I don't throw up... shouldn't have eaten lunch before getting on this ride.

 Such a relationship is not dissimilar to one of a romantic nature. (From what I've gathered. From my extreme lack of experience. Life.) Except you don't kiss each other (not in my friendships at least...) or spend the majority of said relationship assessing them as a potential long-life mate. Despite this, one may argue friendship is more of a commitment because there is that implied and non-verbal agreement that you will be in that roller coaster ride and maybe get some McDonalds later because life is all about living on the edge and maybe this roller coaster metaphor has been stretched to its very limit.

So friendships are cool. I feel like this is the part where I talk about how we should all be friends like that girl from Mean Girls and drop the mic. Is this that part?

Feminism is a thing (a short post about something serious)

 So I find that I've been steering myself away from being labelled as a 'feminist' and the topic of feminism in general (apart from a few passive comments in class). And not necessarily for disagreeing with it but more due to the fear of the preconceived attachments that seem to go with it. A female feminist from what I've been presented with is assumed to be a person that overreacts and dramatically argues and disagrees with everything that portrays females as anything other than the superior sex or gender. In retrospect, this thought process is equally sad and frightening.

I am saddened that there is a potential that other people see feminism as how I (wrongly) saw it and frightening because sexism, chauvinism and misogyny are still very prominent in our society right now. Like, it's actually a thing that is frequently displayed by the media-- on those flashing screens right up in our faces. It's all over the internet and music videos and song lyrics (see 'Blurred Lines'). It's all over patronising individuals that point out the obvious while managing to overlook the actual meaning (see 'ambiguity').

 In conclusion to this short post about something serious, feminism is a thing that is very awesome. And even though the general perception and reputation often falls within a spectrum, at its very core it is still an ongoing movement for equality. And don't be scared to call yourself a feminist.

My thoughts on things. (a generic, yet accurate title)

As a human being with a fully functioning brain, I find that I think about things a lot. Maybe, not as much as I did before, but enough to make me think that I'm thinking too much.

For example, I was watching 'THE SOCIAL NETWORK'/ that movie about Facebook and was unable to finish the film because all I could think of was how Mark Zuckerberg seems like a massive douche. Super smart. But super douchey. And, maybe as it is a film, certain things have been altered about him as a person... I mean, he has brown hair in the movie, for one... which also bothered me (according to Google, he actually has brown hair... my whole life has been a lie)

Then I was being all productive and doing some Biology work when I started likening the idea of DNA transcription/translation to the long and complicated chain of drug trading-- which was really a ridiculous idea, because I found that I do not know enough about how drugs are manufactured and pharmaceutically produced to use it as a metaphor.

And now I'm thinking about the fact that thinking about a lot of things is not a very special trait at all, because as I have stated in the beginning of this blog, it is something that other human beings with fully functioning brains do. And to stop thinking would be for your brain to shut down due to death. And I'm obviously still alive. That was the point of this post. I'm still here (even though I feel like I haven't posted in YEARS-- actually, just a few weeks)

The stages we go through when we stay up late (it's 2am)

1. Heightened emotions. 
Alas, after roughly 4 hours of editing I finished my 19-second- video (granted, eating and reading a chapter from a Star Wars novel 'Splinter of the Mind's Eye' falls within these hours). But it is still 12 am then so I sob into my pillow as I proceed to watch the final product.

2. The urge to be productive.
As I smile at my 19-second outcome playing in a loop for the 143rd time, I catch a glimpse of the piles of coursework untouched. I must finish them now, I can do this. My brain is a monstrous and greedy machine, intoxicated by the rush of rewarding chemicals from the feeling of my previous accomplishment. I do 2 pages of work and watch a whole Season of THE GUILD.

3. Overcompensation for minimal work.
I plop down on my bed and read blogs to the point where I would have to wake up later the next day and have less time to do work.

4. Paranoia.
My bladder betrays me just as I am about to sleep. As I step out, the hallway stretches out into a bottomless pit of doom and I have never ran fasted from Point A to Point B that I remember of.

5. Urge to record experience. 
I wrote about it in my blog.

My revelation about laziness (a journey and self discovery and distasteful diagrams)

I think I may have cracked the code. THE DA VINCI CODE.

Just kidding.

So, as a person with a lot of spare time, I use a majority of this thinking about things like the meaning of life and our purpose as human beings-- basically anything to get my mind off studying for my exams. Whilst in this quest I came up with a reason behind my laziness-- not that I'm implying there is any deeper non-superficial explanation other than my lack of motivation and pure sloth-like characteristics.

Thus, I present a complex diagram:

Figure 1.

As you can see in Figure 1, I would generally not do anything until the very last minute possible. This leads to me overworking in a short span of time, thinking that I've done a lot = a higher assumption for the outcome. However, the outcome is actually very crap and disappointing for me (compared to what I expected) which could lead to thinking that working hard is not worth it.

But that way of thinking is clearly flawed.

(diagrams don't lie)

(especially beautifully articulated diagrams such as that)

Lesson learned. Hopefully.

A small post for my dying laptop.

My laptop sounds like it's dying.

 I don't mean that it's making some sort of terrifying scream of agonising terror upon it's inevitable death.

 For it to be literally dying it has to be a literal living creature (which it is not... that I know of).

 It saddens me slightly to hear what was previously the most quiet and unnoticeable hum has changed into an eerily unsettling buzz.

Late night thoughts (what 90% of my blog consists of)-- also hot people on trains.

My body is hurting although I did not do much other than get on a lot of trains today.

Which brings me to my next topic: hot people on trains. Bear with me, by 'hot' people I do not mean people who are exceeding the average human temperature as this would be a different matter entirely. Also, I feel weird using the adjective to informally describe someone as aesthetically pleasing. But I feel like I've gone far enough with this that I cannot be bothered to back out of my use of the word 'hot', nor do I feel like going back and replacing it with another word because that would just leave me with the first two sentences of this post.

Anyways. Back on topic: Hot  (or aesthetically pleasing) people on trains.

There are so many people on the train. But no one speaks to each other unless they actually know them. I personally do this because it's what everyone else does and I feel like it's some sort of secret unspoken rule. And there are so many hot (aesthetically pleasing) people on trains, but they are all so busy, rushing and/or late for something like everyone else. Which makes the train a difficult area to pursue anyone. The next time you get on a train, observe how guarded everyone is being preoccupied with reading their newspapers and books... avoid eye contact with the person looking entranced with a copy of '50 Shades of Grey'...


I just read back the entire thing and realised it sounds like I was out hunting for hot (aesthetically pleasing) people.

By the way, I was not out on trains hunting for hot (aesthetically pleasing) people...

Pre-Valentines Day Post.

I feel like in terms of the whole 'Valentines Day' topic there are predetermined (I realise I used this word on my previous post... I am very fond of it) responses:

1) I hate it- where I would talk about how this day is pointless and superficial because why would we only treat the person we are romantically involved with 'more special'? Rubbish.

2) I love it- It's a great day— nay, the greatest day.

3) Neutral. - I'm not bothered enough to discuss it.

But it is a thing that is celebrated around the world so avoiding the topic in general would be too tough. So here are some facts you could give people if they ever start a discussion about Valentines day:

- The term 'my/your Valentine' was based on a love letter that Bishop Valentine wrote to the jailor's daughter (while he was jailed) signed "from your Valentine".

- During the reign of Claudius II, 270 A.D he didn't want men to marry during wartime as he believed single men made better soldiers. However, Saint Valentine went against his wishes and performed secret wedding ceremonies.

-Valentine was jailed and executed from the order of the Emperor in February 14.

(source)

Have a happy Valentines day.

(tomorrow.)

(unless you're reading this during Valentines day, then, you know, happy Valentines day today.)

To the lady in Starbucks, who was very sad.

Dear lady in Starbucks who was very sad,

I apologise as I couldn't help but notice the sadness in your face.
Dramatically put, when I opened the door to the fine coffee establishment I caught a wave of sadness being emitted from your side of the room.
Perhaps you were just cold from outside, which resulted in the redness of your nose.

But isn't it kind of weird that it's generally socially unacceptable to approach other people who seem distressed?
 Maybe it's mostly in my mind, like, I had a predetermined assumption that we shouldn't approach random people because we will be shunned.
Still, I felt a sense of unease that people don't seem to notice that you were sitting there by yourself being sad.

  I also know that the chance of you ever reading this specific post and realising it is about you is very, very, very small.
But if you are another individual who feels sad like the lady in Starbucks I hope you feel better.

(also, sorry for staring creepily at you)

(I'm not creepy I swear)

I am :(

I like to think that all humans must somehow must go through these bursts of emotions. The feeling being similar to being randomly punched in the face. Is it called depression? And when I am not in this state of sadness I look back at myself and feel silly because I don't have the same sad feelings that I had at the time.

But it's not completely bad. It's impossible for an individual to be actually, genuinely happy at all times because if that is the case we wouldn't appreciate the feeling and take it for granted. Happy is a side of a spectrum. Unfortunately, the opposite would apply as well. If we were only sad a few times then when it does occur it will hurt like a punch in the face.

Have a nice day. 

Resolutions (another term for the list of modifications I wish to make about my personality but will probably ultimately not be able to)

1) Be more kind, maybe I'll try to do at least one nice thing to someone every day.

2) Be more open to opportunities.

3) Do more productive things other than schoolwork.

4) Be less judgemental.

5) Do atleast one thing that scares me (nothing that would lead to... death or physical/psychological damage)

6) Be positive. (not to the point where it crosses the borderline of being annoying, nor should that positivity be trying to force other people)

7) Swear less.

There! there's a list. Are you happy now? Do you feel satisfied that I've joined this bizarre activity which I don't feel benefits me that much although I do it and will probably continue to do so? Excellent.

 Have a nice day (see resolution number 1)