Goodbye to Everything.

the problem with the human psyche is the thought that we should be exempt from consequence.

At what point does government intervention become too much? Laws are designed to protect us… but what should they protect us from, ourselves? Or others around us? I think the government should definitely have laws which protect us from injustice and maltreatment at the hands of others. There are situations where you simply cannot protect yourself against someone else, and they can take an unfair advantage of you. Thus, our safety and well-being should not be left in the hand of others. This is why we have laws against drunk driving, wielding a firearm without a permit, serving tainted food, and the like. These laws make sense. But should we really be protected from ourselves? We are presented with choices every day regarding our own safety and health. Should I wear a helmet while riding my bike? Should I buckle my seatbelt? Should I eat donuts or fruit? Does the government have any business stepping in and telling us what those choices should be? The first two internal examples I presented are, in fact, laws. And they make a lot of sense. We really should wear a helmet on our bike (when you’re under 18) and buckle our seatbelts when we drive. But should they be laws? Or just common sense?

Maybe we shouldn’t be required to do the smart, safe, and healthy thing, but instead expected to do it. As humans, we have the freedom of choice. No institution of any kind should tell us what those choices should be. If those choices do in fact cause us harm, then so be it. We must be held responsible for our actions, and face any and all consequences associated with them. As the great Dumbledore put it, “it is our choices that show what we truly are”. We cannot expect others to have control or be responsible for our own choices. We can’t even expect to be educated about the correct choice. That is left to the individual as well. I think all we should expect is to be protected from deceit and unruliness. Besides that, it’s all on you. You should respect yourself, and protect yourself, but you must be given the choice to do so or not. The government has no business in that.

those eyes.

my insane fury towards inanimate objects could be directed towards something useful.

The most sensible, smart, and well-rounded minds don’t have an affiliation at all.

20 mile bike ride in the morning,
ordered some Oakley’s,
90% on my final Linear Analysis midterm,
5.5 mile run,
half a pizza for dinner,
and a Midnight 5k fun run.

I smashed my old 5k record by 40 seconds. I’m as happy as I am exhausted. If I’ve gained anything in college, it’s a sense of accomplishment.

Goodnight world.

my roommate Mike cooked up some of the giant bag of frozen chicken we have in our freezer. I helped him out, making giant quesadillas out of it. Man they were good. Since Mike did most of the cooking, I cleaned up the counter and did half of the dishes. “The rest are for you, Christian,” I told my other roommate. Next morning, of course, none of the dishes are done. Christian and I both get out of Linear Analysis at 2pm, so I figured I’d heckle him about it then. “You going home right now?” I asked.
“Yeah I don’t have class till four. Why?”
“Cuz the dishes are waiting for you.”
“Yeah I know. I’ll do them later though, I just had a midterm.”

Uh, what? You have two hours to go home, and you’re just gonna sit there because you’re “tired” or whatever from a midterm? Don’t gimme that BULLSHIT. Holy fuck. When you came back from your class at 10:20 this morning, you crashed on the couch and took a nap. It takes TWENTY FUCKING MINUTES TO DO THE DISHES. DO THEM. What’s worse, the last time we had dinner, I cooked it and asked you to do the dishes as well. It took you two days to get to it, and you half-assed it, leaving the big pans still in the sink. I asked Mike to help with the dishes on Saturday. He was about to go to a party. “You don’t have to do them right now, it’s cool,” I said. So what did he do? HE DID THE FUCKING DISHES. Yeah, amazing right? What a novel idea. This wouldn’t be such a big deal if I didn’t feel like I do the dishes the majority of the time. I cooked you dinner for fuck’s sake! Twice! Can’t you have the courtesy to do the fucking dishes? I shouldn’t even HAVE to ask! And all your bullshit excuses about just taking a midterm, not feeling like it, just waking up, etc… even if they WERE legitimate excuses, what kind of fucking person makes excuses not to do the dishes? Are you THAT pathetic?

Yes, I know, it’s just the dishes. But I am definitely doing my share, and this shit is just disrespectful.

I may have my standards set too high for both friends and partners. Hardly anyone lives up to them, and I don’t know how to be okay with that yet. Everyone has their own flaws and inadequacies—myself included. In a lot of cases, it’s tough for me to look past them, especially my own. Thus, it’s near impossible for me to really love people. Including myself.

How the hell do I stop holding things against people and accept them for who they are, flaws and all? Where do you draw the line between flaws that should be overlooked, and flaws that pose a real conflict? Then again, what is a flaw? I guarantee there’s things I see as an issue that someone else has no problem with. So then, is it a problem? Or is my perception the problem? This is just another great example of the relativity of the human mind and our world. Everything we perceive, think about, and form opinions of is all relative to each individual. What is right? Is there even such a thing? Perhaps in math and science, yes. But otherwise? Anything that depends on human opinion does not have a “right”. That’s why numbers and facts are so crucial; they are indisputable.

Take, for instance, a car. “This is the best vehicle ever made,” writes one automotive journalist. At first, this is only a flimsy opinion. Now, if the car has been recorded to have the best gas mileage, and somehow (work with me here) laps every track faster than any other car, then that gives some credence to the original statement. But even then, the statement is still relative to the journalist! A farmer may find a giant pickup truck to be the “best vehicle ever made”, because it saves them so much time and effort and never breaks down. Someone with a long commute may find a big, soft luxury car to be the “best vehicle ever made”, since it gets them to work in the most comfort. So then, what actually is the “best” car? There isn’t. What we should realize is that the “best” of anything is determined by how well it serves the needs and desires of an individual. Considering there are now seven billion of us, these needs and desires often align with many others, which creates a sort of “standard” for an opinionated matter. This is why manufacturers often brag about their number of users or sales. That’s probably the greatest representation of the “best” of anything: how many people’s version of “best” it satisfies.

This goes back to my original idea: perceived “flaws” are unique to the individual. If we all have our own rulebook, what does it matter if they don’t match up? How do we accommodate other views without sacrificing our own? Should I continue to identify as many things as I do as flaws, or should I back off? It’s a tricky situation. No one should have to lower their standards, but we shouldn’t shut out the world with intolerance either.

in less than 12 hours.

omgomgomgomgomgomgomg

4 hours of sleep.
7 hours of class.
45 minutes of running hills.
Taking 18 units.
Got A’s on my last two midterms.
and I’M the one getting the groceries and doing the dishes.

Excuses are for the weak.