Driving and Walking

As a driver now, I have noticed a few obvious similarities between driving and walking that I have found highly humorous.

The first being that when it comes to walking in a very crowded area, people bull their way through and impatiently swing wide to go around. The same is true in driving, obviously. Anyone who has been in a horrific traffic jam knows this. People will switch lanes desperately in hopes that is will move faster, and some idiots will even go on the median just to get that extra few feet.

Another one that makes me laugh is the utter confusion at all way stops. You're taught when you start driving that you go in order that you got to the stop -first going first and so on. But no one remembers that if you get there at the same time there are rules too. It's just the same in walking. because of the many little patches of sidewalk we have all over campus, there are many such stopping or almost-collisions. People will come to the same intersection of sidewalk paths and they stop, not knowing what to do next. But a public service announcement - when you're walking, you are NOT required to stay on your side of the sidewalk, nor do you have a two ton vehicle under you - so you CAN maneuver AROUND somoene coming head on!

The funniest connection I have made is that pertaining to snow. As it's November in Northern Indiana, it's snowed a few times. Not much, but enough to carpet the grass and pavement with about half an inch of the white stuff. Where I'm from, in Baltimore, people literally shut down when it snows, even a little bit. They drive terribly in it, either too fast and wrecking (which only succeeds in scaring people even more of it) or too slow, which causes accidents too. There's such a thing as being too cautious, and if you slam on your breaks on a slippy road, you're gonna have problems. This last time it snowed, I was walking to class via one of Manchester's many sidewalks, and ended up following a girl, being about five feet behind her. Since it was the outside sidewalk that runs along Oakwood, the Administration building and Helman, there are points where you cross a small stretch of blacktop. On this morning, the snow wasn't too bad, and traction was pretty good, especially on the concrete tops of the sidewalks. But as we continued down the sidewalk and hit that stretch of black top, the girl in front of me nearly stopped, and started shuffling her feet in a painfully slow manner. I quickly caught up with her, slowing my stride so I wouldn't have to run around her or crash into. Instead of walking brickly around her, I decided to fall back and watch her some more. As soon as the treads of her tennis shoes hit the concrete of the next portion of sidewalk, she began walking at a normal pace and stride again, so I followed suit. Another twenty feet, the other part of the "U" of Oakwood, she slowed down considerably and began her shuffle step again.

I'm not in people's heads, but I don't really think such actions are necessary, considering that most of the time they reap more problems than they avoid.

Sunny Zachariah Paul

This is my cousin's youngest child, Zachariah. Zachariah just turned three years old in May, and as he runs around the living room jumping on the carpet and laughing at just about anything and everything, I can see that he's all boy and a bundle of energy.

But as funny as it is to watch him and listen to him in a normal sense, Zachariah has a very humorous, albeit completely innocent, way of talking. Poor little Zach can't say his "f" sounds or "th" sounds. Well, I take that back. He can say words containing the letter "f" and sound "th" but they come out as an "s" sound.

Sor example, Zach at se moment is sitting at se piano, playing the keys very loudly, until Grandma tells him to play with one single singer at a time. He taps his little soot along wis se music, which is so cute and so sunny sor a child of sree years old. While he sumbs away at the keys, he sings softly to himself a song sat he apparently had been singing earlier sat morning while I slept, sat goes like; "We can be anysing, anysing we want to be! We can be anysing, snysing we want to be!" Quite a young Mozart, this one is.

My favorite Zacahriah-ism, however was last year when we were playing doggies out in the living room with him and his sister. At one point I asked Zachariah what sound a doggie makes, and he stands up, puts his hands on his hips, and belts, "WOOS WOOS!!!" I almost died.

4 a.m.

It's 4 in the morning. I'm not able to sleep thanks to my medicine from being sick all weekend. That and I'm extremely pissed off, saddened and confused all in one. I don't understand human actions. I don't understand thought processes. I don't understand how people think that what they do isn't going to get caught up and complicated even though they are deliberately hurting someone. I guess it's the peace-maker in me that is always so cautious about what I say around other people, but I can't even imagine doing something like that, especially someone within such close proximity. Someone that there is supposed to be an innate trust and understanding with.

I don't understand how people can be so judgmental, even hypocritical. Even if they have thoughts, why would you ever voice such hurtful things? There is a filter that should have been acquired from life that everyone should have, but apparently not everyone does.

It hurts. That people do such things. It hurts, that people don't actually think. It just makes life harder for everyone else.

Me:

I might be naturally stubborn but I am naturally supportive. I can't watch people self destruct or watch them hurt themselves. I would do anything for anyone. If I care about someone a lot, I would be their number one fan and help them through anything. It bothers me when I can't help people. I'm very dedicated and devoted.

Yeah...

Remember Remember - ALLITERATION!

Today, being the Fifth Of November, (ironically the day after our election) reminds me and the rest of the relevant world that political ruin can happen, and that our government is supposed to be for the people by the people.

BUT - one of my favorite and probably less appreciated part of V for Vendetta is the genius use of alliteration. Not many people pay attention to such a thing, but me being an English major and Journalism minor, I do.

"Voilà! In view, a humble vaudevillian veteran, cast vicariously as both victim and villain by the vicissitudes of Fate. This visage, no mere veneer of vanity, is it vestige of the vox populi, now vacant, vanished, as the once vital voice of the verisimilitude now venerates what they once vilified. However, this valorous visitation of a bygone vexation stands vivified, and has vowed to vanquish these venal and virulent vermin vanguarding vice and vouchsafing the violently vicious and voracious violation of volition. The only verdict is vengeance; a vendetta held as a votive, not in vain, for the value and veracity of such shall one day vindicate the vigilant and the virtuous. Verily, this vichyssoise of verbiage veers most verbose vis-à-vis an introduction, and so it is my very good honor to meet you and you may call me V."

New Year - New Feelings

There's an over-used phrase that with new beginnings, comes new people.  I absolutely hate trite sayings, but I've found that it's true in most instances.  This school year, 2008-2009, has come with many new twists and turns that I didn't see coming at all, and I'm far-sighted!

I consider myself a strong person.  I've been through a lot that not a lot of people can say that they have and survived without so much as a one tear shed, but this year has been different.  I have been more human, some would say.  I'm not nearly as cold hearted as I have been in the past, and it kills me when I think about it.  Not that I particularly like being that, but I like the fact that very little affected me. This year, I find myself moved by the smallest things.  My mother says it's the woman in me finally surfacing after nearly twenty years of being a rambunctious tom-boy, but I'm not sure.  Gradually, however, I'm gaining my old self back, and it feels good to be able to smile and know that it's not fake.

Anyway.  I've decided that I need to update this thing a whole lot more.  I completely forgot about it since "The Happening," seeing as the summer got crazy after that, but I think that I can take a little time out of my busy week to write and be a little creative.   Beware the return of Clutzy McGee.  I've been falling a lot... and sliding down stairs.  ;)

The Happening - SPOILER ALERT

The Happening

Well, it certainly “Happened.” With the pressure of previous box office hits of M. Night weighing on the back of his newest production, people flocked to the movie theatres. As is Night’s way, there is very little known about the film as people walk in. One might argue it’s the only reason there are so many numbers to theatres, but either way, it works.

The film itself was a patented twisted and spiraling thing that most expected it to be. But who would have thought biological warfare – but isn’t manufactured and therefore pretty much unstoppable? Yes, that’s right – mother nature is out to get us. The trees and other plant life want us off their land, and it seems they’ve tired of our antics.

Overall, the film wasn’t anything to completely boo and hiss, nor anything to write home about. Like other famous movie makers, Night turned to blood and gore to get a point across. His show of fit, however, is not a pissed off stalker or a family with a blood thirst. The blood serves as a poignant realization for all those watching that, “Hey, we are maybe overstepping our boundaries a little on what we’re doing with our planet.” No doubt Al Gore will love this film. With this realization in mind, the beginning of the movie brings up the problem of the disappearing honeybees. No bodies. No real understanding of why their numbers are decreased. Scientists say that it could be anything from a temperature change to lack of flowers to pollinate. Either way, this is something REAL that is really “Happening” in our world. Perhaps things outside of our concrete jungles aren’t running quite as smoothly as we all think.

All this aside, Night’s writing style is becoming more and more predictable. There are fewer and different twists in many of his films. Other than following into the blood bath culture, he uses such over written play on life and death as having new life at the end of the movie when everything is regenerating. As if many people who actually can understand the movie couldn’t see that coming. Honestly, he needs to pick up his game a little.

Reviews of People

Standing outside the theatre, however, the populous gave it a different review. “That was the ‘gayest’ movie I’ve ever seen. Don’t see it.” “That lawn mower scene was wicked awesome! The blood when that guy was run over – AMAZING.” “I don’t ever want to see another one of his movies again.”

It amazes me that people are so damn dense. I’m not saying that it’s going to be one of my favorite movies, or that I will MAKE or FORCE my friends to go see it, but I certainly don’t think it was bad. There is so much more to writing a movie (as in most writing genres) than people seem to understand or appreciate. It’s all about instant gratification with most people. If they’re not instantly pleased with something, or come out of the movie theatre with a warm sense of bubbly satisfaction and satiation, then it’s not worth the $10 they paid to get in.

Personally, I like to think about it. Let it seep in as I think about the movie as a whole. Relive parts of the movie with things later on and make them make sense. Also, to talk to someone about the whole thing and get their input on it opens your eyes even more. A movie like this that is so seemingly far fetched, yet almost completely plausible is a mind numbing experience to take in. There’s so much that you can think about. Like – “What set off the plants?” Throughout the movie different theories are thrown around, but none seem to be right since it keeps changing. I have my own theories after thinking about it for about half an hour as I sit in my room doing nothing, but there’s so much more.

In my opinion, if something can make me think and dive deeper into the story line and the mind of the writer, then it’s good. I guess that’s a problem with our society today – people don’t want or have the time to actually open up their mind and think every once and a while.