August's Theme: Impressions

Finally, the month of smoldering heat (in most countries) has ended. After July, August became another drought month. An article pops up every now and then…it seems like everyone is starting to get busy around the late-summer and early-fall season.

Now, the summary:

Long Lasting – Everything will last…even if you might not know it.
100th Article Awards – Awards that celebrate our 100th milestone.
and he asked ‘how do you think of me?’ – Opinions of the other person.
Staring at Headlights – Going against your conscience.
Joy and Thunder – The greatest naturally invented exercise: laughter.
fiction is a form of symbolism, I believe – Anticipating the moment to come.
Blind Pursuance – Chasing after fantasized goals.
A Small Analysis – The many other definitions of ‘impressions’.
And you are…? – The glance you receive when you shake the first hand…
Right from Wrong – Separating what’s fair, and what’s unjust.
Broken Hinges – Metaphoric glory.
Locked Outside – Shutting out the reasonable.
Two-Week Unity – The glorious 2008 Olympics.
A Matter of Style – Impressing by dressing.

Since it’s already midnight while I am typing this, I’ll skip right to the conclusion.

Here’s to next month’s (September’s) theme: Hiding Beneath.

-the clam.

P.S. The September header banner won’t go up until later…sorry for the delay.

A Matter of Style.

Do you dress to impress? People say your appearance can really matter...that how you dress tells a lot about you. For half the people out there, it really does. If you look casual, it might seem like you are a simple, down-to-earth kind of guy/gal. If someone constantly wears vibrant colors, you might be under the impression that they are joyful and bright. One that dresses darkly may...I dont know, like dark colors?

On the other hand, appearances might tell absolutely nothing about a person. The other half of people may only dress (up or down) just because. Either it be to fit in with a group, or to look important...they're trying, but it's just not who they are. I prefer to dress casually, to feel comfortable, yet to look presentable. As long as I don't have bed hair or I'm not in my pajamas (not that there's anything wrong with pjs), then I'm good.

Does the way YOU dress call out "you"?
Don't judge.
-my.great.ESCAPE.

(photo credits go to http://www.deviantart.com/)

Two-Week Unity

Backtracking through my recent previous articles...the IOC has now commanded an official investigation on the age issue (jeez, I care wayyy too much on other people's business...[I can't believe I just insulted myself]). And no, I am in no way against China—I respect China. I just want things to be proper and fair, that's all. If China wants to save some of their pride, they shouldn’t be covering something as childish as this (no pun intended).

(Hmm...where has everyone else on the blog gone?)

It's hard to believe the Beijing Olympics are going to end in just three days (actually two days over there in Beijing). Such oxymoron—it felt short, but at the same time, it felt as if it took forever (Miss mourning glory, in the distance: "OXYMORON!" ...please ignore that). So many records were broken, so many dreams came true, and so many hearts were shattered.

What's my opinion of how the games went? Overall, excluding all the controversy, the Swedish wrestler, and the horrendous judges who scored the gymnastic routines...I think the games went very well. Many of us had expected a great display at the Opening Ceremony, but China exceeded expectations and absolutely blew us away with such raw talent. We all knew Michael Phelps would be able to accomplish his task (but hey, you can't deny having at least some thoughts that doubted he could do it). Some countries weren't able to defend their gold, but without new gold-medalists, how are we going to have new champions?

I've waited for four years since the 2004 Athens Games to watch the Summer Olympics again, and I have been totally satisfied. I ended up making myself stay up until 1 AM in the morning just to watch the late night competitions—with the thought in my head: "...it comes once every four years. I should make the most of it..." Yes, I care more about it than most other people, but that's just a personal preference :).

Okay, off to go do other stuff. I suggest you do that also, unless you prefer to stay right where you are and browse through other Acquired Minds articles...*cough*

-the clam.

Locked Outside

(thanks to kasport.com and vagabondish.com for the images, respectively)

As the Olympics progress, everything else doesn't seem to "progress". I shouldn't worry about the world's business, but I'm still irritated by it. The IOC is just trying to avoid embarrassing the host country, for the sake of peace and humility. I understand throwing an investigation itself is enough to humiliate China, whether it turns out good or bad (because if a situation is so bad to the point where an investigation is needed, it must be pretty horrible), but things still need to be resolved.

That's why I absolutely hate humiliation (whose side am I on?). Humiliation for the right of everyone else—that's okay. Humiliation for one's miserable purposes—that's wrong. Who doesn't love seeing villains in shows and movies get mortified? Certainly, you wouldn't want the innocent person be the one that suffers.

My aunt (no, another one this time) once recounted to me stories of her teenage days. She was new at her high school—she knew no one, and no one knew her. Her English wasn't great, and she hardly could follow her teachers' orders. Then, P.E. arrived. It was time for them to run. My aunt ran, as they had supposedly instructed. Around they went, jogging around the entire block in the vicinity of the high school (which, may I say, is pretty giant). She started to lag behind, along with some other students. By the time she was on her last lap back, it was only her and another girl, jogging for their lives (more like grades). Suddenly, the door to the school closed, and once my aunt had arrived, there wasn't an entrance back into the school. Everyone else was already inside, and as they looked out, they held their stomachs and laughed and gagged at how stupid my aunt and the girl was. She was absolutely humiliated...and tired. She managed to gasp back all the air she had lost, but the girl next to her—well, she collapsed (no, for real). The school eventually had to call the ambulance to check on the girl, who was completely knocked out. Turns out, there was an additional instruction—run 3 huge laps within 20 minutes, or be locked out. For those who missed the memo, too bad.

I really cannot understand how the school can do such a deed. For one thing, pushing a person to run in a set amount of time (a very tight amount of time, that is) is ridiculous. Unless this was for the track and field team or cross-country team or something, this is unreasonable. Since it's a normal P.E. class, you should allow the students to run at their limits, and give them verbal support. Soon enough, they'll improve as they go on.

Secondly, closing the door in the failing person's face isn't going to help their self-esteem, or improve anything whatsoever. Your students are laughing at the humiliation of another student—does that seem human?

Anyways, my point is, being locked outside of yourself is going to make things worse. You're not controlling who you are, or what kind of person you are. And you know what—if the other people won't stop hurting you, they'll just get hurt themselves someday. Isn't that right, Miss Karma? ;-)

Aid the rest...and gain a lot.

-the clam.

Broken Hinges

All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.

That is half of a wonderful little poem by J.R.R Tolkien. I remembered the poem faintly from mind, but a part or two did strike me as oddly familiar. I really do think it’s magical, whether or not Tolkien intended for it to be allegoric or not. Every line in this poem speaks for itself, yet the meld together as one.

Sometimes the things that are most important, most valued, are not always so apparent and blunt. Sometimes you just have to look a bit deeper, and you’ll find a wealth of what you were seeking in the first place. But maybe we just get lazy, we get too carried away, and we don’t realize what those things really are.

If you wander, you meander, you search, it doesn’t have to mean you don’t know what you’re doing. Maybe you just have nothing to do, maybe you really are searching. The lost are distracted, desperate, despondent, those who wander are not always so. You wander, because you have yet to find what you want, what you desire, or what you need. You wander to grow, to learn, to mature, and etc.

What is strong does not break. It’s as simple as that, almost, kind of, definitely, maybe… But it doesn’t if you’re old, weak, broken, withered, the strong are strong. It’s like something that sounds nice, an instrument, or anything. It may look ugly, feel terrible, but it sounds good. It can apply to people too, if you think someone is a great person, then sure, they’re great then.

A person can kind of be compared to a tree, which is a terrible metaphor; it flusters me to use it, but oh well. You start with your roots. These are the morals, the lessons, the values, you gain as a kid. This is where you become, well, you. You roots are who you are, and while what’s above may affect those roots, you roots generally remain. When you get older, it will be your family, your parents you (many of you I should say) look towards, even if you don’t realize it, it won’t be the others around you, at least not as much. Blood is thicker than water? Your branches are everything else around you. You soak in everything else, and they do affect your base, who you are, as well. But, strong roots, shouldn’t be affected by storms above.

That was an odd and bad poem dissection…no idea what I’m talking about…

Ah… and the Olympics…a magical event

This one event can bring the whole world together and connect people more than anything else almost. Athletics, oddly, does better than music, art, and etc. in that category. The others still vary, people from different places will like different kind of music, different kinds of art, literature. But anyone, anyone, whether from Africa, North America, Asia, and the other continents I didn’t mention (no offense meant to them in anyway…), can marvel at their accomplishments, and try to mimic them. Anybody can try to run, or swim, as long as they have a pool, and some ground. The same goes for the Paralympics.

Go World right?

-digital delay