Fate...Again

I think I've talked about Fate before in another post, but I'm returning to the subject.  Anyways, in the before post, my belief on Fate was that either your actions and decisions lead to your Fate, or that your Fate has already been decided.  My Chinese teacher believes that your Fate has already been decided, and her conclusion was drawn from "palm reading".  She told us about the story of 2 of her friends, who have both done palm readings, and the result was frighteningly precise.  

One of the readings was "missing 4 limbs", or something translated close to that, and now, that man has lost feeling in his right side, and has had to cut off his right leg and arm because the cells are dying.  If he does not continue to cut off the dead cells, the disease will keep spreading.  Even though his left side is seemingly fine now, it is not known if perhaps his Fate will truly meet him.  

This is still not enough for me to fully believe that our Fate has been chosen.  Most people know that fortune tellers use signs that are present, such as the atmosphere we are giving off, or our appearance, to tell our fotunes, and if that is so, perhaps something he did in the past or is in the habit of doing now is causing him to have this disease.  I am not saying that I am entirely on the side of saying that Fate is entirely in our hands.  

Also, there is the 2012 crisis.  

Today, while my mom was watching the news, there was thsi one man talking about how the world will definetly end 2012, and that there are apparent signs of this crisis happening, such as the weather and the the decaying earth.  What some scientists believe is happening to the environment is that the polars are going to switch again.  It seems to have been shown that the most current Ice Age was due to a polar shift, so perhaps the polar shifts have something to do with changing the weather [and because polar shifts are really quite big events].  Maybe our strange weather and all the problems occuring on the earth is due to the upcoming polar shift. And maybe the polar shift is due to come in 2012.  

Is this crisis Fate too, by the polar shift?  Or is it due to our own choices, by our poor care for the earth?   

What is an American?

So this year in English, we're reading about American literature. One of the first questions the teacher asked us was, "What is an American?" This, I believe, is a controversial question. Honestly, what is an American? What is a true American? Because America is in truth, a melting pot, a collage of all different cultures...and what is American culture?

What I interpret for American culture is the mixed cultures and the fact that we have so many different cultures and not just one style. There have been Chinese styled rooms, Japanese styled gardens, Italian cooking, ..., and American culture just doesn't seem to stand out save the hamburgers and hotdogs and loads of unhealthy junk food.

Also, there is the sore issue of racism, which is inevitable, regardless of age in time. Of course we all know that racism is a horrible monster, yet, unknowingly even, each one of us will commit some sort of racist remark. For example, why do some people in American think they are better than the minorities? Is it because they are the "majority"? Unless you were in America since long before, I don't think anyone is truly an American. Everyone in America, is at one point or another, an immigrant; the only difference is how early you immigrated to the US.

Another point is the Pledge, which states that there is "justice and liberty for all." Is it true? With regards to the former stated, "unknowingly even, each one of us will commit some sort of racist remark," even if we do not know it, we tend to lean towards certain types of people. This is preference and opinion, liking and disliking. It's not a bad thing, but it is this self expressed opinion and idea that leads to a more serious racism. And so, it is with that, that I am assuming that not everyone is treated equally, and somethings that are obviously injustice, and still unseen by the government or law in general. All in all, what I am trying to say is that we may try our very best to protect the "justice and liberty for all", but that would make us idea-less and preference-less...basically, everything we might try would be hypocrisy.

I believe that that standard of being a true American is set too high for human reach. To be able to be fair to all people, even the kindest people might have their own preference [which does not refer to them being racist, but to be "equal to all" means to respect all...equally]. This does not mean we are allowed to stop trying to reach that standard just because it is near impossible.

So the question is: What do you think is a true American?

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Yesterday, I went with two of my friends to watch "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince". I thought it was really good; it followed as much of the book as possible. The effects were realistic [I still can't believe that the dragons and giants are animated].

But really, is Hagrid's actor also animated to his height? Because if he is, isn't it difficult to keep managing the height throughout the entire movie?

The landscape around Hogwarts is still as lovely. I think the first time the movie actually showed Hogwarts' school ground was starting from the third movie. In the first and second, I don't think we got to see the crooked bridge and the lakes.

[MOVIE SPOILER]
I actually felt kind of sorry for Malfoy and Snape in the movie. In the end, we find out that Snape was on the good side all along. But I feel as if in this movie, Malfoy was forced to become a Death Eater more to please his parents.

And what's more is that if Malfoy's dad would probably hesitate in killing Dumbledore, why would he even bother have joined Voldemort in the first place? In that perspective, I feel as if Malfoy didn't have a choice to become a Death Eater or not, and that being the "Chosen One" as a honor was to please his parents.

The flashbacks for Snape were especially depressing, but they never showed the Lily part, or was that in the seventh book? I don't quite rremember [it's been a while since I read the books]. I feel that maybe if Snape had a happier relationship with Harry's dad, maybe Snape wouldn't hate Harry so much.

It still twists my mind, the whole plot. How Snape managed to perform the Unbreakable Vow and still end up on the good side.

Killing Dumbledore, too!! I was extremely depressed when Ms. Rowling killed off Dumbledore in the book, but I guess there must be tragedies to make up a well-rounded novel as well. But in the movie, it was a tear-jerker, I think. There were actually sniffles in the movie theatre!!

All in all, the movie felt like a roller coaster of emotions. There were funny bits, followed by sad parts, then faded to happy sections. Really. But it's a good movie, and I loved it a lot!!

Also, I heard that the seventh movie is going to be split into two parts because it's simply too long to fit into one movie. As well. They should make a good ending to a overall, generally well-liked series. Can't wait for the seventh movie!!

Choice or Fate

Is there really fate in the world or is it just the choices we make that lead to our future?

Even though we may be seeming to make our own decisions, how do we not know that it's really fate controlling our minds?

Or if we think it's fate, how do you know that it's not just your own choices that lead you to the future?

If you believe in fate, you would think that there is a destiny that every person must follow, and the result of that is that fate decides for you subconsciously. However, if you do not believe in fate, you would think that all the decisions you make are based on yourself and it would only be natural for certain events to follow. If fate is really existent and all our decisions are made by a higher being, then what is the point of living if we can't make any choices?

But this leads to the question of whether or not you believe there is a higher being controlling our lives? It depends on your faith and if you believe that there is a heaven and a hell you go to after your death, where heaven is a place of eternal rest and hell is a place to purge your lifelong sins [yet there are places high and low in hell based on the level of your sin].

If I were asked this question, I'm not quite sure how I would respond but with both sides defended. There could be fate, but what would be the point of life if we're not the ones living it [when people say, "Live life for yourself. Don't let other control you," but that refers to other humans; does the quote go the same way as to defy fate?]. I believe that we decide on our own actions, but maybe fate plays a small part in our lives as well.

Happiness and Death

This topic might sound a bit...depressing, I suppose. Ironic, isn't it? Haha. "Happiness is blindness," is the same as "Ignorance is happiness," isn't it? Or one quote is, "No one is really happy." Which made me wonder, "Probably the happiest time in one person's life is when they're born." Which is true, I believe.

When you reach elementary school age, there's school, then there's junior high, which the stress of grades. High school is stressed by getting into college, and in college, you worry about getting a job or your future degrees, or just grades, once again. After school, there's getting a job and the difficult world of occupation. At retiring age, you worry about your health or maybe if you have enough in your retirement fund. Then, there's death.

Here's the question: Why would people live if life was so hard? Is it for the small gaps of temporary happiness? Or being able to find friends? What is the point in living if most of life is hardships? And if there were suicides, what makes other people be able to NOT suicide?

I've also been thinking, maybe it's not really that I'm scared of death, but more that I'm scared of the process of dying and the painfulness. I'd rather be shot and die quickly than be stabbed in the stomach and die slowly. Think, dying slowly means you have more time to reflect on your process of dying and experience more pain.

To think that everyone will die one day is depressing, but true. It's a bit cliched to think, "Well then, just live your life to the fullest. Live for today, and not tomorrow." True, how do you know you'll be here tomorrow? Doesn't it depend on the situation? If you keep living for the present, what becomes of your future? What about life savings and retirement? Indeed, if you know today's your last day, it's the better deal to live today to its extent, but if you don't, what's the best choice?

Sharpies

This is random as the first post, but I've been wondering. Aren't Sharpies just like the more professional form of markers? Markers seem to be the stationary of choice of "elementary school children".

My outlook is that people might think, "I'm in Junior High/High school/College/...I'm old enough to stop using markers and start using Sharpies!!"

The reasons why Sharpies probably aren't given to children because they're known as drugs [if you purposely inhale it, but why would you? O.o].

But are Sharpies really better than markers? I'm more of a Sharpie person than a marker person, but I don't really see a difference [which just totally contradicted my former statement].