It seems silly and unorthodox to me that I haven’t approached this subject sooner. It seems completely unfair that my heart hasn’t bounced and pondered over this very incandescent, I feel. Everyone holds a torch for somewhere and my torch is elevated for California. As an English born-and-bred girl of the world, I cannot possibly speak of life in California, as I have no frame of reference. I can talk of love and hopefulness, that’s what us Brits do best.
When I was a wee gal, I enthralled in a stunning obsession with the WWF (now commonly known as the WWE), in which a strange fantasy about San Diego began. This was for the meaningless reason that ‘Rey Mysterio Jr’ originated from there. He was my favourite. Probably because of his mask. Probably because he wasn’t so hench. Probably because he was different.
Since then, the name has played on certain strings of my heart. I’ve yet to find a negative. So, after a lot of overtime at work, me and my friend headed on a quest to California where we visited: Pomona, we visited LA, we rode a tram in San Fran, we were inspired at Alcatraz, we were in awe at Beverly Hills, in love at Universal Studios, confused by the early morning heat in Valencia (Six Flags theme park) and taken aback by the Grand Canyon. Really, there aren’t enough boasting-positive-breath-taking adjectives in the world to describe it and the California deserts.
To anyone who lives in the Sunny State I am sure this is all very stereotypical of a tourist attraction.
Let me explain. Here in England we have do have beautiful landscapes like: the Valleys and hill tops in Northern Wales, the acres of countryside in the South west of England (Devon/Cornwall), the shimmering views of the Lake District and these are just to name a view. There are many beautiful places in our part of the world, none are comparable to the masses and masses I saw in the summer. Being in a theme park in Valencia and seeing mountain upon mountain, all sides, all ways for miles, this is just something I couldn’t get my head around. It’s the same way I couldn’t get my head around the fact that New York City is always alive, the height of the buildings, the flashing lights at 4am, at 6am, at midday….it’s a completely different culture. One that I want to indulge in and lose myself in and breathe in.
I’m keeping this short and sweet, because the feeling of love is not one that can be duplicated, it is not one people can fully relate to (as people experience feelings to different to everyone else), it is not one you can confirm a concrete definition for. Here I’ve dealt with the concrete land, a place that encompasses all my happiness, but of course, my favourite place to be is in the cuddlin-arms, and that is where we’re all happiest.
Thursday 3 November 2011
Life-Impact
How much of a life-impact do the things we ‘enjoy’ have on us?
People ask me on a regular basis because of the part-time job I have, what else I do. When I tell them I’m at University, they ask what I’m studying, why I am studying English Literature, what made me do so, what I want to be etc.
An obvious answer, I enjoy literature - I want to write. But, recently whilst in a mist of stress and confusion, as anyone who has been to University (or College) will know the feeling all too well, that there are no clear choices as to why I’m here.
I could date back to my childhood yet for simplicity, I’ll withdraw and I’ll backtrack only as far as the summer before I started University. I was working as a Marketing Assistant for a Language College, and I’d applied and successfully been accepted for a place on a Marketing Degree at a prestigious University. I was heavily into my music back then, not that my love has dwindled, (it has just been sidelined for more important responsibilities). I unfortunately cannot remember how, albeit the path of a British Indie-Rock band called ‘Maximo Park’ aligned with mine. Incase you’re interested in knowing more about them, all that is really important to know is that they are lyrically very good. Many of (if not all) of their songs being able to be read stand-alone as poems and very beautifully at that. I was in aw, I grew up with simple lyrics to simple music (pop-punk). This band single-handedly transformed my future musical collection, I no longer looked for one-liners or ‘fun and meaningless’ lyrics, I instead dominated my collection with romantic poems, songs filled with picture-perfect metaphors and imagery that left my jaw dropped. Of course, I still enjoyed music for the musical goodness it had and classical music remains my favourite genre, but something had changed and made an impact on my mind in a way that nothing ever had before.
A few months after this discovery, I was hit by some bad news, as I’d never really experienced anything negative in my life before, I did not know how to deal with this. I’m not one that could douse myself in alcohol or junk food, so I decided to write in a complex style, much more complex than I had ever written before. I decided to follow this project through to the end even when my melancholy sadness had evaporated.
Alongside my writing and the starting of my Marketing degree, I concluded in my mind that I was undertaking the wrong degree. In a rapid turn of events, I dropped out of the University and was very very fortunate to be accepted onto a course just a few weeks after the start (the degree I’m currently taking).
Two and a half years later and I still find the same thrill in writing as I did that day I tried to cure my unhappiness, and now write when in all variants of moods. This is hardly a biographical acknowledgement as my career has barely begun, though one silly YouTube search a few years has shaped how I’ve spent the past three years of my life, the people I’ve met and the interests I’ve made. I’m intrigued in myself to see how far those first three minutes I spent listening and watching that music video, can take me.
People ask me on a regular basis because of the part-time job I have, what else I do. When I tell them I’m at University, they ask what I’m studying, why I am studying English Literature, what made me do so, what I want to be etc.
An obvious answer, I enjoy literature - I want to write. But, recently whilst in a mist of stress and confusion, as anyone who has been to University (or College) will know the feeling all too well, that there are no clear choices as to why I’m here.
I could date back to my childhood yet for simplicity, I’ll withdraw and I’ll backtrack only as far as the summer before I started University. I was working as a Marketing Assistant for a Language College, and I’d applied and successfully been accepted for a place on a Marketing Degree at a prestigious University. I was heavily into my music back then, not that my love has dwindled, (it has just been sidelined for more important responsibilities). I unfortunately cannot remember how, albeit the path of a British Indie-Rock band called ‘Maximo Park’ aligned with mine. Incase you’re interested in knowing more about them, all that is really important to know is that they are lyrically very good. Many of (if not all) of their songs being able to be read stand-alone as poems and very beautifully at that. I was in aw, I grew up with simple lyrics to simple music (pop-punk). This band single-handedly transformed my future musical collection, I no longer looked for one-liners or ‘fun and meaningless’ lyrics, I instead dominated my collection with romantic poems, songs filled with picture-perfect metaphors and imagery that left my jaw dropped. Of course, I still enjoyed music for the musical goodness it had and classical music remains my favourite genre, but something had changed and made an impact on my mind in a way that nothing ever had before.
A few months after this discovery, I was hit by some bad news, as I’d never really experienced anything negative in my life before, I did not know how to deal with this. I’m not one that could douse myself in alcohol or junk food, so I decided to write in a complex style, much more complex than I had ever written before. I decided to follow this project through to the end even when my melancholy sadness had evaporated.
Alongside my writing and the starting of my Marketing degree, I concluded in my mind that I was undertaking the wrong degree. In a rapid turn of events, I dropped out of the University and was very very fortunate to be accepted onto a course just a few weeks after the start (the degree I’m currently taking).
Two and a half years later and I still find the same thrill in writing as I did that day I tried to cure my unhappiness, and now write when in all variants of moods. This is hardly a biographical acknowledgement as my career has barely begun, though one silly YouTube search a few years has shaped how I’ve spent the past three years of my life, the people I’ve met and the interests I’ve made. I’m intrigued in myself to see how far those first three minutes I spent listening and watching that music video, can take me.
How is maths important in our lives?
I want to start off by saying that this is not going to be a long fragmented piece about how you-need-to-learn-maths-at-school-kids because one day you may have to do some simple adding and subtracting. Y’know, when you grow up and get a real job and have incomes/outcomes and budgets and life to deal with. No, this is going to be an article about the real maths we encounter. The - how many minutes in an hour, how to tell the time on a 24 hour clock (which to my horror is still a major task for some of the population, how? I’m not sure either.) The real Maths in our lives. The schedules. Do you make schedules? Yes of course you do. And, do you stick to them? Perhaps sometimes, depending on what you do for a living, I suppose?
As soon as you mention the word timetables or schedules, an instant groan appears across the sweat-drenched acne-ridden teenager in the corner who now has to slave away from his Warhammer for a night. Or, the middle-aged bearded man who has to peel himself off his rotten sofa, drop the weed he was going to smoke and concentrate on a given task. I may be a bit harsh here, though it’s the lack of freedom which is the main contributor as to why many object the idea of scheduling.
Infact there are several kinds of freedom and usually a misunderstanding between two of them leads to a confusion.
First: the freedom to choose, to perform a free act.
It means that a human person cannot be forced to perform any free act against his/her will. This a negative form of freedom, because it is freedom from external necessity (such as physical coercion)
Second: the freedom to determine oneself to form oneself and one’s act. This is a positive freedom for one’s goal.
According to: The Augustine Club, at Columbia University.
Apparently a common understanding of the latter explanation can lead you to believe you’re not free at all. Let me explain with an example we’ve all experienced once or twice before. It’s a sunny day, so one might be tempted to enjoy a day at the beach or the park. There is nothing freer, in my opinion than being at one with nature. Although if you spend the day have fun then it could result in failure in your exam. Therefore, if you study then you become “free” to pass the exam and the new (or revised) knowledge could enable you to pass and better fulfil your goal in life.
Schedules are important because they me the: “ability to do what I want with my life as a whole”. In a mixed up kind of way, Maths is essential in our life, and no, I did not take Maths further than the compulsory.
As soon as you mention the word timetables or schedules, an instant groan appears across the sweat-drenched acne-ridden teenager in the corner who now has to slave away from his Warhammer for a night. Or, the middle-aged bearded man who has to peel himself off his rotten sofa, drop the weed he was going to smoke and concentrate on a given task. I may be a bit harsh here, though it’s the lack of freedom which is the main contributor as to why many object the idea of scheduling.
Infact there are several kinds of freedom and usually a misunderstanding between two of them leads to a confusion.
First: the freedom to choose, to perform a free act.
It means that a human person cannot be forced to perform any free act against his/her will. This a negative form of freedom, because it is freedom from external necessity (such as physical coercion)
Second: the freedom to determine oneself to form oneself and one’s act. This is a positive freedom for one’s goal.
According to: The Augustine Club, at Columbia University.
Apparently a common understanding of the latter explanation can lead you to believe you’re not free at all. Let me explain with an example we’ve all experienced once or twice before. It’s a sunny day, so one might be tempted to enjoy a day at the beach or the park. There is nothing freer, in my opinion than being at one with nature. Although if you spend the day have fun then it could result in failure in your exam. Therefore, if you study then you become “free” to pass the exam and the new (or revised) knowledge could enable you to pass and better fulfil your goal in life.
Schedules are important because they me the: “ability to do what I want with my life as a whole”. In a mixed up kind of way, Maths is essential in our life, and no, I did not take Maths further than the compulsory.
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About Me
- Tash
- I'm not religious, I beleive in equality, karma and supernatural existence.