New Year's Eve Updates

I got a little sidetracked from my Tudor project due to the overwhelming amount of gifts I had to buy/make, and also because of the fantastic light box I got from Val for Christmas. On Monday I spent the day at Kristina's photographing Uvellire products (my jewellery) with her behind the camera and me setting up the displays. I will be posting up pictures as soon as I get them to shareable visual perfection, but in the meantime I'd like to share something else.

Here's my work station: as you can see, it's a sewing machine on a chair.

As I've mentioned before, I have presents to make. Emily got a wonderful pencil case which I didn't get a photograph of because I'm a silly goose. A bunch of people got jewellery. Dad got a sweater, mum got business cards, Val got a hat, Kristina and Nadia got makeup. Heather is getting a vest, which I will be blogging about because I am sewing it, and I finally remembered that I wanted to track my projects!

The inside of Heather's corsetted vest will be green (because I have a ton of that fabric), the outside will be black with a little bit of gold trim. So far, I've figured out the pattern for and cut the green parts. The reason I say figured out the pattern is because she's slightly bigger than me in the torso area (I have a very narrow back!) and needs a size 5 while I'm a 2. Hopefully my pattern expanding works. Anywho, the visual data pretty much accounts for it all. The green fabric used to be a sheet (which I bought at ValueVillage!). A King Size bed's worth of green fabric for two bucks = win. Just because my work conditions are somewhat depressing, here's a picture of my cats to contribute to the [myth?] that all seamstresses and costume people are also crazy cat ladies.

Here's a sexy posing Lucy, sleepy Shoura, and Sylvie in the Tree :)

Painting is like Riding a Bicycle

The title of this entry makes as much sense as "your face is like your mom". Essentially it is, because you share genetics, but the two joke-retorts form a similar structure to a double-negative: something you don't want to use. Unless of course you don't have full command of English yet, and you want to tell your friend that they look just like their mother. This blurb has nothing to do with the rest of my entry, but it was fun to write.

Today I realized that if you don't use it you lost it. Maybe not completely, but seeing my art skills wane, definitely made me lose it a little bit. It's really frustrating not to be able to imitate what I see onto the page in a close enough likeness, especially after my head grew so large from getting the Mona Lisa (almost) correctly. Out of my (re-) growing obsession with Tudor history, I decided to draw the Anne Boleyn miniature, and, while it's coming out not as bad as I'd thought it will, her neck is far too long and I'm terrified of starting the face. This is bad, ladies and gentlemen. This is what happens when you've neglected your talents for half a year. You get back on the bike, you fall, you feel stupid.

As inspiration, I've been looking a whole lot at the works of my favourite Renaissance masters, such as Hans Holbein, and the ninja turtles, need I say more. (Hans Holbein and the Ninja Turtles sounds like the name of a band. Maybe they play lutes and bang drums with paintbrushes? While eating pizza?) I find the use of colour particularly fascinating, just because of how lit the paintings look. From candle to face to scenery, everything is so vibrant almost like it emits light in itself. I should also mention the spectacular portrayal of texture in fabrics! I have never been able to reproduce a fabric so finely that you can tell at once that this one's silk, that's taffeta, and this one is the richest of velvets. I guess, though, that's why they're masters, and I'm the university student who forgets to paint because she forgets she's actually good at stuff.

ANYWHO, the whole point of this ramble is to remind myself to paint more often, and to remind anyone who reads this (not sure why I have a delusion of an audience but it's always a nice thought) not to forget to do what brings you pleasure regardless of the challenges in its way. If you say "well partying brings me pleasure" I say no it doesn't because you get drunk and then don't remember what happened. Also, it doesn't take skill. You feel better about yourself when you feel useful.

Tudor Musing

I have decided to get back into my wonderful wonderful obsession with Tudor history. With reading another one of Philippa Gregory's fantastic novels, I realized that I wanted to make a new gown, because the old one is not fit for wear in public, unless public = a photographer. While the last one was made with equally intricate research, the sewing was done on a whim, with fabric I could afford, and while watching (on a loop) the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, which no doubt had an effect on the appearance of my gown. Often I've gotten comments on its likeness to Elizabeth Swan's wedding gown, which is way forward in history, but I digress.

Given my current conditions: being broke, lack of space, upcoming lack of time, and rarely being by myself in any given room, I will have to compensate by taking forever to make it. Hopefully this time I won't fail to document the making of it, as I have wanted to before (before I realized that it would be an embarrassing documentation indeed. Also, hopefully, unlike last time, this gown will come out spectacular and crowd-worthy.

Word for the wise: It is not going to be entirely historically accurate. I am cheating in many ways, such as Velcro and sewing machines and all that jazz, because I am aiming for looks more so than technical historical accuracy.

What have I so far? A fair idea of what I want my gown to look like, am engineered design in mind, and a few cut-outs from muslin which will serve as part of the bodice. When I have a better idea of what I'm actually doing as well as some photos, I will update. When I have concrete research I will also update.

Here is a photo of the old gown for starters. The french hood is photoshopped, but is another part of the costume that I am hopefully going to get around making this time around. Because I am namesakes with Anne Boleyn, I added her signature for fun.

Ta

Three times the fat, five times the denial

“Let us welcome controversial books and controversial authors.” - John F Kennedy

Ladies and gentlemen, the few of you who read this don't normally flinch at politically incorrect opinions, but just in case you decide to show this to someone else, I would like to give a warning prior to beginning my ramble: The things I am planning to say here will be HARSH AND OFFENSIVE mostly due to the fact that I speak of controversial topics without sugarcoating, apologizing, or leaving out views considered taboo by the general public. If you do not agree with me, please challenge my opinion, but back it up with reasonable facts rather than saying "omg u r teh bitch, shut up ur probably an anorexic or something". I LIKE learning from my mistakes (should I make them). And now, on with the show.

North America, you and your kids are fat. *dodges some airborne rotten vegetables*

Aherm. Today's topic is childhood obesity. I specifically target children in this rant, because if successfully stopped in the wee ones, the adult obesity rates with follow in decline. According to statistics, the past 25-year period has seen a tripling of obesity rates among children and youth all over North America. What are the causes? I'll tell you many. Let's start off from what the government has to say:
"Weight gain results from a chronic energy imbalance as well as other factors, which include:
-Economic status
-education
-genetics
-social factors
-built environment
-culture and media"
All of the above are true, but they don't really elaborate on most of these. They comment mostly on economic status of the children in question, claiming that "The problem is magnified among poorer families, who may have difficulty providing healthy food choices and physical activity opportunities for their children". I disagree. As far as food is concerned, it is much easier to purchase raw ingredients with a small budget. Basic items such as rice, potatoes, vegetables and spices last a long time and provide many healthy meals in a variety of combinations. As it turns out (who'da thunk it?) home-cooked food (not home-style takeout but stuff you make yourself in your own kitchen) is a lot cheaper and a lot healthier, so get off the McDonald's, away with microwave dinners, and get cooking. As far as physical activity is concerned, I don't remember having to be a member of the financial elite to go for a romp in the park with your friends. Just because you can't afford to sign your kids up for a soccer team shouldn't mean that they have to restrict themselves to watching you watch soaps all day long.

Note how the rest of the causes are left unexplained by the article. Allow me.

Education: Valid point. Kids need to know that eating garbage will make them unhealthy. Yes ma'am, your child is fat. Education is important for both the children and the parents. This comes as a shock to most people, because even though they deny it, they do not consider that it's their job too, as parents, to be aware of and follow through with a healthy lifestyle in order to raise physically normal kids. That doesn't mean you have to run to yoga classes, become a vegetarian, and follow all the latest diet trends as well as purchase a treadmill. This just means that if you're going to the grocery store, put some cookables in the shopping cart, and leave the car at home if there's a plaza anywhere within a kilometer radius of you. At the least. We all need to be taught to distinguish bad from good and how to make choices. Otherwise we'll eat whatever the TV says is good, and trust me, as long as it gets paid enough TV will say anything is good. "Who knew that your old cellphone could be such a wonderful on-the-go snack? with only a bit of ketchup I have a ready meal in no-time! MMM-MMM!" Retarded? My point exactly.

Genetics: Nothing we can do there. If you have the predisposition to become overweight, that's actually not your fault. The one thing you can do for yourself, however, is not become obese by allowing this inherited trait to become an excuse for an unhealthy lifestyle. "Bigger" shouldn't mean "can't fit through door".

Social Factors: If you have fat friends, you are more likely to become or remain fat, due to lifestyle observation. With exceptions of course, the majority of people have a mass mentality: ie. if others are doing it that must mean that it's good/ok. Let's put it this way - if you have a group of friends who are consistently spending their time on non physically challenging activities while consuming mostly pizza, pop, and other junk, how likely are you to say no? This is especially relevant if the adults that surround the children in question do nothing to make this behaviour appear negative to the kids.

Built environment: This has a lot to do with how we get around. In more compact cities such as Dublin, Ireland, and most other cities in Europe, one is probably a lot better off on foot or taking the public transit to get around, unless they are going on an inter-city trip. North America, however, is built on the assumption that we all have at least one vehicle. (Good on everyone who supports public transit as a green method of getting around, but the structure of our communities make that very VERY hard to sustain. More on that later.) Taking my hometown and its neighbouring communities as an example - if you live in or close to downtown Toronto, you most likely take the TTC (The local transit system) to get around. I live about an hour north of downtown, which made it quite a pain to travel to work every day when I used to work there. If I lived in Richmond Hill, say, or Maple (both are a part of the Greater Toronto Area but are suburbs, and thus far from the center), chances are I would be working in Toronto, which would mean I need a car. Suburbs do have their own little plazas with grocery and other kinds of stores, but you should consider yourself lucky if you live near one. Otherwise you need a car. Basically we're all commuters, most of us have vehicles, and who wants to walk when your car can take you there faster, even if your destination is close by? We'll drive to the nearest McDonald's, and hey - we don't even have to get out of the car. We just order in the drive-thru window, and keep sitting as we munch away on the god-knows-what we call food.

Culture and Media: Here's a good one! Kids, as I am sure you all know, have a great sense of how to tell apart real advice from marketing campaigns. I sincerely hope you understand that I am being sarcastic. How can kids keep away from fast food, say, when they are rewarded for making a purchase with a toy? How can one not want that delicious-looking sandwich that spins slowly on the screen, while the man we don't really get to see tells us how delicious it is, confirming our initial reaction? It's not only food, it's other things too. The TV doesn't automatically turn itself off at 2 pm for "do whatever else you want except watch TV" time. It keeps going, and there's an endless number of channels offering 24/7 broadcasts of anything you can possibly want. Each and every impulse targeting the me-here-now (the constant stimulation of pleasure and immediate gratification receptors). This makes lazy kids which grow into lazy adults.

Ahh, back to being otherwise opinionated. After a very long explanation of government-outlined causes (with a bit of digression), I would like to add certain things to the list. The biggest and the baddest one of all would be the "someone else will do it" concept. Our society relies heavily on this mentality. From good old playground days we are taught that we are not allowed to do something about it (whatever the mysterious it may be), but we must tell the teacher, otherwise we get punished. We grow up, and when the teachers are long in the past, we look for other people to complain to, whether it be the government, or a lesser authority, never really taking any steps to fix the problem ourselves. "MY kids are fat. What are you going to do about it?!" cry the multitudes of parents out there who don't bother to realize that it was within their grasp to prevent that, but they didn't acknowledge the opportunity when it was there. Newsflash - the majority of what happens around us is, you heard me, our responsibility. It is up to us to make sure our kids grow up healthy mentally and physically, which leads me onto the next point.

Obesity as an eating disorder. Don't think I underestimate that. I am fully aware that eating disorders do not only consist of the kinds where you diminish in size. Binge eating is a very common way for people to deal with negative emotions (ie anger, sadness or fear), just like binge drinking and other substance abuse. It, once again, triggers the pleasure receptor, because eating tasty things can make you feel good, whether through association (I remember eating this at grandma's, oh she was so nice. oh this turkey is so good. oh grandma. sigh.), or just because it's tasty and it's there, and it's something you think you can control (I can't make other good things happen to me, but this food is good and i have the choice to put it in my mouth or leave it there. Why would I say no). Before trying to fix the mistake we made (whether in our child or in ourselves) we need to consider whether or not the obesity is caused by unhealthy external habits, and/or whether it's coming from within. There's no point in treating binge eating with a diet, because that will only help the issue manifest itself as another eating disorder such as anorexia or bulimia nervosa.

NOW - let's look into what the government, to whom we're all crying out to for help, is proposing as a solution.

"The answer to rising childhood obesity rates lies beyond the scope of influence of any individual Canadian, any government or sector to address on its own"

I see. So what you're saying is that it's our job to work together and save everyone all at once through a long process but we can do it guys?
That could work. In a Utopian society. But unfortunately, those don't even work in literature. What we should focus on, instead is the individual ability of a person to change themselves. If everyone starts there, then it's a pretty damn good start. It's all in the individual, believe it or not. If the mayor came to my school and told my class that X and Y is good and A and B (which is what we are doing currently) is bad so stop, I wouldn't. I'm a kid and I don't care what they have to say. They're not around to yell at me when I don't follow their rules. My mom and dad are. But my mom and dad are special as is. They actually took the time to explain why X and Y are good and what makes them better than the A and B that I'm doing. Plus, they were always good role models. Not everyone is blessed with parents like that, but every child deserves it. We owe it to our kids to take on the responsibility of adulthood, to set a good example so that they can learn through observation, and can't catch us in our hypocrisy when we tell them than being a couch potato is a horrible thing and that they should go play when all daddy does is watch TV.

The government also has decided to encourage and promote healthy eating. Great. Awesome. A poster. To me, that sounds like codswallop, but for some people it's useful, I suppose. The only problem is that marketing campaigns for actually unhealthy foods can cater to the recommendations, and thus appear to be ok for consumption. If they really wanted to make a healthy choice they would ban fast food, or hand out monthly coupons which would limit the amount of fast food one can consume (the coupons being the only acceptable currency in fast food restaurants). If it is banned altogether and someone wants a burger, they're damn well are going to be forced to make one, and that will at least be healthier than purchasing a Baconator.
Providing accessible mental health alternatives for people who suffer from eating disorders would be nice as well. The diet trends in magazines also should go the way of the dinosaurs. It's not the thin image that's getting in the way as much as the advertised methods of achieving the skinny bod. Beauty isn't what you appear to be, it's what you are. But they'll never do that, because it will hurt the economy. Good job, government.

Finally, something that I do agree with, is an editorial in the CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) that cited some approaches to solving childhood obesity:
1. Increasing physical activity through unstructured activity as well as access to play equipment

I can't stress enough how important unstructured play is to everyone. It stimulates absolutely everything including the mind, developing imagination, conflict resolution and social skills, muscles (as kids run around and tumble on the playground or in the park), and most importantly, self-driven proactive behavour.

2. Parents acting as positive role models of an active lifestyle for their children.

You gotta see it to believe it.

3. Limiting TV and Computer/Video Game time to less than 2 hours a day, to reduce sedentary behaviour.

I once babysat a five or six year old who preferred her portable game system to playing with a ball. That is not normal.

4. Changing the entire family's lifestyle.

This is definitely the most difficult part, but it is tied in with the parent as a positive role model: if the family can't lead a good lifestyle, their children aren't likely to either.

Reproductive or counter-productive?

Greetings Earthling,

Today I will be addressing a very important topic which many of us seem to undermine in today’s busy-like lifestyle and mindset. This topic is something that you can make, but also something that you used to be. It comes in many shapes and sizes, but none of them too big. Can you guess what it is?

Ladies and gentlemen, I do sincerely believe that we’re encountering a very serious problem every day of our lives, and every day it gets worse. If that wasn’t bad enough, the only reason this problem exists is because of a self-fulfilling vicious cycle that we have created. Do you by any chance recall what a large part of the battle feminists are fighting is? They fight for women’s rights, yes, but that comes from women having been (and still largely being) treated as objects. Might I reiterate what I just said – objects. The only thing is that now they’re fighting back, so they’re no longer an easy target, so we’ve moved onto someone else to treat as objects: children.

Let’s begin at the beginning – pregnancy. Today, the mere idea of pregnancy is treated like a horrible illness. “Oh no, you’ve got Malaria? That must suck for you but hey look on the bright side - at least you’re not pregnant! And hey, I bet you just saved a whole bunch of money too by switching to Geiko!” Then there’s the trophy pregnancy – “I have a standard North American home with a standard North American wife, a standard North American dog, and two standard North American cars, because my neighbour only has one. I think it’s time we had some kids, because every other standard family has a couple.” Last but definitely not least on the horrible crime against society scale, is the stepping-stone pregnancy, also known as the “I’m too lazy to get anywhere in life the normal way but I hear that freaks get lots of money and fame just by being freaks so I’m going to take fertility pills and have a litter of humans so that I can feel like a celebrity” pregnancy. I’m not discounting the good old “I’d like to be a responsible parent and help bring a functional extension of my race into the future” kind of pregnancy, but those are not the ones causing trouble so let’s move on.

Every society has its ups and downs in child rearing traditions, depending which external culture’s perspective you regard them from, but I’m going to focus on North America, and particularly Canada, because I live there. In my opinion, there should be some kind of intensive test that 90% of our population should be forced to pass before they are allowed to reproduce. This test should include things like reasons for reproduction, strategies for maintaining the child once it’s born, throw in a few logic-testing questions, a few essay-format questions regarding a hypothetic situation and how to deal with it that will test the potential parent’s ability to deal with early childhood psychology, so on and so forth. It must be a big deal and a big hassle, so that anybody who does decide a child would be forced to do their research. “I was drunk and got knocked up, but don’t believe in abortions because I’m such a good Catholic” doesn’t count as adequate reasoning. No offense “good Catholics”, but abortions are against your religion because you’re supposed to keep it in your pants until you get married anyway. On the other hand, if it is an accidental pregnancy and the parents prove to be ready for parenthood, then all the power to them.

In today’s mindset children are highly overlooked as an integral part of society. As soon as possible they are either stuck into a public care facility or left to their own resources at home with a parent ‘attending’. Now, I’m not a big fan of extremes so I will not advocate one thing solely on its own basis without other contributing factors. Children do need to be left to themselves, don’t get me wrong, but not too early on, and not all the time. Especially in the early years children need interaction and attention from their parents so that they do not develop a host of psychological complexes later on. The whole point of playing is to go through motions that are similar to ones that a person will be doing when they are older to develop motor and perception skills that are universally applicable in adult life. If a child is not taught how to go about playing, they will not learn anything except the bare necessities of movement – and keep in mind, today’s toys tend to do everything for the child; you push a button and everything happens for you. How can you learn from that? Answer: you can’t.

So you have a six-year-old that is very curious and always wants to know what you’re doing. You sit him by the television, tell him to stay out of your way, and magically, he does! Problem solved, right? Wrong. You’ve just created a much bigger problem. You have just stunted the child’s development by a mile by showing him that it’s more rewarding not to search for information, and that curiosity is a nuisance. The child internalizes everything, and slowly but surely develops into a mentally lazy individual that prefers to keep his nose out of things, doesn’t ask questions, and enjoys forms of further mind-numbing entertainment that he remembers from his childhood. This is where you wonder why he’s getting such bad marks in school, or why he’s becoming a disturbingly unmotivated youth, or why he shows no interest towards anything that doesn’t bring him immediate gratification. Instead of asking yourself “what shall I ever do with my unruly teen”, ask what you should have done with your curious kid, and maybe follow through with your next one.

To be perfectly blunt, the child in question [from the previous paragraph] is all too likely to grow into an adult with a ‘someone else will do it for me’ attitude as well as all the other problems I have mentioned. He will be a burden on society that doesn’t see a problem with what he’s doing. Of course you might just get really lucky; your kid might get involved with a wonderful group of friends who will be able to help him learn some life skills and he will become a determined and driven adult with a successful career. If that’s the case its no thanks to you so don’t dare take any credit. Most people aren’t that lucky. Chances are he will grow up to be an adult human being with a survival rate of 0%. Lack of curiosity will result in inability to find creative ways out of situations because they will never have bothered to look for alternatives.

We also need to consider the concept of many such kids growing up and taking over the future job market as well as just being the adults that other kids look up to. If these kids grow up to be the general public then they are not capable to provide future generations with a better example, which only contributes to the exponential deterioration of society. If we encounter any issues [ie pollution today] these aforementioned individuals will be too focused on existing with minimal effort, resulting in (and I repeat) the ‘someone else will take care of it” attitude which they will pass on to their offspring, so on and so forth.

To sum it all up, from the moment you decide to have a child, make sure you already have an idea of what this child will become, and I don’t mean a doctor, lawyer, or any other career-oriented goals for your kid. I mean the generic life skills you want your kid to have and then work towards developing them. Yes, this means you will actually have to be involved with your child’s development. YOU will have to listen, advise, and participate. If you’ve been doing nothing all this time, realize that your parents screwed up, even if they are/were wonderful people, and take your life from this point onward into your own hands. If you can see what a good example is, you can be a good example too. Don’t be a selfish contributor to an already sick society. Don’t be the parent of a stepping-stone child. They are not objects, you can’t use them as a staircase for your own personal gain because that is stupid and cruel. Don’t have kids that you are planning to neglect either. If you want to neglect something, buy a lamp. Even plants come with a responsibility to be taken care of.

That’s all folks.

The Big Bang

Hello and welcome.

This is how my blog begins - with a big bang, like everything else does, if you think about it. Like you did, to make a crude sexual reference. Slowly but surely the particles that are hereon forth identified as letters will come together to form one whole and will the evolve entry by entry from primitive nonsense to either something superior, or a mess that will destroy itself with advancements it's not ready for. Either way we can't tell the outcome until we reach it.

Here I will use the liberty of the fact that nobody is telling me to shut it (yet) and, from lack of better term, blog about topics I feel passionate at the moment. If you are looking for celebrity gossip, pre-teen hormonal rambles, or poorly written haikus this is probably not the best place to look, but then again never say never. Currently, I feel like telling people what to do, so I will proceed to do so at my leisure starting with the next paragraph.

I think a lot in my spare time, I have a lot of spare time, and thus, I think a lot in general. Some things I've been thinking about today included the government, change, the environment, money, and greed. If there's one thing I learned in the relatively small number of years I'd spent on this planet it's that the government wants us to change so that it can help the environment, but they really want money because they're greedy so they say the stuff mentioned prior to the coma as a reason to take the money. Also that if you want to find a fully functionable communist society you should proceed towards the nearest anthill, but I digress. Day to day we are fed these storie about how if we do this and this and contribue thus and thus we will all be part of some kind of solution to some sort of problem. We all eat it up with a spoon of course, because guilt trips are probably the best weapon anyone's ever used. Your mother knows, ask her. What we fail to understand is that everyone out there has some sort of personal interest in some sort of gain, with very very few exceptions, if any at all. People will seldom question reasons of famous people for doing or saying something because if they have fancy charts and quotations then clearly it's completely non-biased and beneficial - nobody questions famous people unless it's regarding their fashion sense or some kind of politically incorrect act/statement that makes the general public say 'well I never'. God forbid a movie star forgets to wear makeup and/or gets an abortion.

A common misconception we make as a species is forgetting the fact that humans are the most developed, highly evolved race of idiots ["Well I never!"]. Pardon my language, but it's true. On the whole we ignore important stuff and focus on irrelevant details. How else do you think computers, telephones and money would have gotten invented? Not if we were focusing on food, water, and shelter. By no means am I suggesting that all that stuff is bad, I am currently enjoying a wonderful piece of technological advancement as we speak, I'm just pointing out facts. On the whole we like to believe information that sounds appealing to us without making any effort to consider other possibilities, perspectives, or playing out alternative hypotheses because we're a bunch of lazy pro crastinators too. A simple example would be to skip a class because at the time when you are offered free booze that seems like a more interesting alternative, but without the consideration of possible motivations of the second party or how that class may affect your scholarly future can possibly lead to a grave error in judgement, resulting in potentially catastrophic results. ie, you could potentially get killed by the offerer of free booze, or just miss something important in the lesson that interferes with your pristine record later on during exams. Which option you choose highly depends on your paranoid tendencies, but you see what I mean, I hope.

Now, leaders come in two extremes - those that assume responsibility and those who pretend to assume responsibility. Within this bellcurve chart, the middle bulge contains the rest of the public who avoid any mention of responsibility. What is interesting is that the pretenders are more likely to be followed, because they sound more convincing. Because people are, as I have previously mentioned, biased and self-centered, everything can be calculated as a priority. Even altruists can be put in with the rest; they only appear selfless because acts of kindness, charity, or whatever else that can be thrown in there give them satisfaction, and is thus a personal priority - like income to a corporation. Again, I'm not against it, I'm just pointing out a vital part to understanding human nature and using it for the processing of information.

To get back on track of what I originally planned to do, that being telling other people what to do, I would like everyone to spend some time thinking about themselves and before they do something, think about why they're doing it, what their motivation is, and what the motivations of the contributing parties, if any, might be. If you want to be successful, start by learning to play chess. There are skills used in that game that translate directly into anything and everything you will ever do. The ability to think rationally is probably the most useful skill ever learned by a human being. It helps make decisions, deal with problems, sustain relationships, and many more amazing, helpful things. Once you have learned to do that, then you can start analyzing information all around you properly, and stop seeking gratification, but feeling it.

Some information that is currently a floating all around us regards saving the planet. Not a bad topic, but most people don't realize what it is that we're trying to save it from . There's too much choice - are we saving the Earth from terrorism, poverty, illness, pollution, or UFOs? Tell me please, I'd like to be given a direct answer. Different leaders say different things, but as far as I'm concerned we're saving the planet from "not me". While some claims are entirely reasonable, others are ridiculous fancies of people who don't know better. These are the leaders that pretend to assume responsibility. In reasonable cases such as illness, leaders that actually assume responsibility for the task at hand - doctors, say, and nurses, commit to doing as much as they can to address and fix the problem. In other cases such as ethnic cleansing, leaders come up with a problem, which they then find a solution for that appeals to the masses, and then get them to do the dirty work as they stand by and supervise. This is oh-so relevant to this whole save the world campaign, because in order to tell the difference between a pretend leader and a real one you need to learn to think rationally. When that's done you will stop sitting around waiting for a pretend leader to come and motivate you off your la-z-boy, or admit to yourself that you really don't want to get anything done all that much at all, else you'd be doing something to help achieve your goal.

On the topic of changing the world, I'd like to bring up pants. You don't contribute to putting on your pants in the morning, you put them on. You don't wait for the government to begin taxation for time spent pantsless before you (collectively, as a community) put on your pants, you just put them on. You may wait a bit before you do it, but you know you must, so you put them on. The same applies for any form of change. Let's pretend that the global problem is your bareness waist-down, and that needs to change. Will you wait for a council decision? Probably not, because you can just take the pants and put them on. This is also done in the process of trial and error, despite the high success rate of getting dressed. If you are in a hurry and you accidentally pick up your wife's pants and find that they just don't fit, you will remove them and go find your pants, then put them on. Now I may speak in metaphor, but it's true and applicable to 99% of all human functions. If you didn't try to put the pants on, even though you may not have succeeded the first time, you would not have gotten any pants on at all, which would most likely result in embarassment at the workplace or something similar. Sometimes a little failure is acceptable, and that's another fact you learn to come to terms with rational thinking - if you try and never fail, you're probably just lucky. If you never fail by default, you never learn what not to do, you never get anything done, but hey - at least you have a clean record, right?

To draw a conclusion after all those seemingly unconnected ideas: if you want to be a part of a movement - move! Don't wait for superman to come and do it for you. Do your own research, form your own opinions, come up with a rational action plan, and for the love of some sort of higher entity, put your pants on!

So long and thanks for all the fish.