I think listening to music while studying is subjective

Some recommend you NOT listen to music while studying. Some recommend you do. Some say listen to classical/instrumental/soothing music, others say you should listen to what YOU like.

Its all subjective if you ask me. What works for you may not work for me. I love classical music, new age music, instrumental music, so I have no problem playing it, thats where I get my thoughtful moments, thats how I get to my happy place.

But I am not sure if it will help me studying. For me, its both a distraction and escape from other distractions.

My roommate's blaring her tv loudly, so my music drowns it out, id much rather be distracted by something I like and have control over.

For me, if I do listen to music while studying it has to be soothing. I have almost every genre of music on my itunes, but the only one that is good for me to hear while studying is my classical/new age music. Pop music will make me want to dance or sing along.

Now the question is does listening to music really work? Some say it really doesn't. But some say it does. That is what makes it ultimately subjective, we all have our own way of studying. There is always an exception to the rule, there is always is always two sides to a statistic.

It also depends on the situation you are in...in any normal situation I wouldn't want to listen to music, but i need something to help me not get distracted by other loud noises that are out of my control.

Time to close the high school chapter of my life officially

Unofficially the high school chapter of my life ended when I graduated in 2008. But I never really let go. For years I wanted to graduate, and after graduating I wanted to go back.

As I said in a different post, "the present doesn't stop sucking until it becomes the past".

I am like the only person who really hasn't changed since high school. Not in looks or personality.

Everyone else has changed, this one girl who is uglier than me has had several boyfriends. She even decided to go republican (blech!). Everyone is changing.

I am constantly surrounded by people at my university who have spoken about how they have changed since high school.

I really haven't changed. Other than occasionally wearing my hair in a different style. Wearing a skirt every now and then, and writing more poetry, I am still the same misanthropic anti-social depressed person that I was in high school. I still haven't dated (and quite frankly I don't see that happening). I have no stories to tell really.

I am trying to find myself though....

but its time to close the high school chapter. its over. those people are out of my life. i shouldn't compare myself to them. Its time to start my own life separate from that of high school.

An interesting thought about time periods

When one gets fed up with the tech world of today and the misery its contributing to, one often starts feeling life would be better before all those inventions.

But as much as we sometimes vie for an older time. One should realize, that there is no such thing as an easier time period.

All time periods including today, are rough in their own respective senses. Sure if we go back 100 years we won't have to deal with computers. But we would have to deal with several different problems.

Each time has its own ups and downs. And besides that most of us are not reared to survive other times.

I remember when my 11th grade english teacher asked us the question when we were going into reading the book Kindred, she asked "Do you think you could survive slavery?"And all of us said no.

She explained that even the strongest probably couldn't survive. And considering those actually living it could barely survive, how can any of us, who are conditioned in our own time period survive that kind of period?

This corralates with my theory (mentioned in my other blog Questions of a Biracial Girl), that the present always sucks until it becomes the past. Meaning, when in the moment we focus more on the bad. But once enough time has passed by and that present has become the past, we will often look at the past in a more positive light because well its over and it doesn't affect us nearly as much anymore.

What REALLY made it the Golden Age of Hollywood

In a sense, its real reason is similar to that of Nickelodeon.

With Nick, the 1990s was its Golden era. The 1980s built it up and the 1990s was when everything was coming out.

But what made both that and the Golden age of hollywood, a golden age are the following:

1. New heights. When talkies came out they changed the movie industry, and then there was color. These new things to movies shaped it out. Likewise with Nickelodeon, a tv channel that broadcasted game shows, cartoons, and sitcoms all produced by the network brought it new heights.
2. New ideas. Today Hollywood feels repetitious. Constantly movies are remade, or rehashed in a lame sequel. But back in the 1940s, these were new ideas, new concepts.
3. Glamour. Old Hollywood was very glamourous courtesy of MGM.
   
4. Back in old hollywood, it was a big deal to be a part of a studio. These studios were reaching their first height in art.

It wasn't so much acting that made it a golden age, its the newness that was involved...not to mention we have the tendency to look at the past as a better time when we feel the present sucks. The present always sucks until it becomes the past.

Opinionated answers are not always the best ones

Right now I have to do a philosophy paper, and I am trying to choose which question I want to make my essay about.

One question is a right or wrong answer type. While the other is more opinionated. There is advantages and disadvantages to both.

Using the right or wrong answer question for an essay is easier because you dont have to support evidence as much. Yet the disadvantage is that it makes it harder to sometimes meet the requirement because there may not be enough answer for the question-essay.

The advantage to using opinionated answer questions is that you get to form your own answer. The problem though that makes it hard isn't whether your answer is right or wrong but how well you support it. You have to support it much more than a right/wrong answer question because well its an opinion and you have to be convincing, there are no barriers.

Both can be hard based on the particular situation and case of the moment.

Comfort in being alone

I am a big advocate in the "comfort in being alone" ideology.

One cannot begin to be comfortable with themselves, and even like themselves let alone love themselves, if they are not comfortable in being alone.

You see, when you vie for friends, and don't want to be alone or want to find happiness in being alone, you will often do whatever you can to have friends.

For example: You like R&B and Pop, a group of people you are often around prefer country music and don't like r&b and pop whatsoever. In order to be friends with them you hide what you like and do not make mention of it. The fact that you did that can open up the doors to allowing yourself to be walked all over by them because the fact that you would change what you like to fit their needs allows them to do whatever they want to you because you vie not to be alone and vie for friends.

In the end, they are not truly your friends and so you gave up being you for people that don't like you and you come up losing.

Now, the thing is by being you, yes its possible to make enemies. But if you can accept being alone and find happiness and fun in being alone, then you will become more solid in being you because the fear of being friendless and alone isn't painful or scary anymore because you know you can still have fun and happiness alone.

Its true, that if you can't find happiness in being you, then you are not going to find happiness at all.

Opinions matter to an extent, based on who it is coming from and the grounds of which the opinion is based on.

But we can't live by those opinions all the time. There is always going to be someone who disagrees...one just has to become firm in what they want and not what others want. It is too easy to fall into the trap of people pleasing.

Girly Girls, Sporty Girls, and Tomboys

There are several types of girls. But these 3 particular types of girls get confused for one another.

Here is what makes each type different:

1. Girly Girls: This type of girl is flat out girly, mall shopping, loves makeup, looking perfect, has no athletic abilities whatsoever, and are often considered physically weak.

2. Sporty Girls: This type is just like the girly girl except unlike the girly girl they are athletic and are not physically weak. But while they dabble in the arena of sports, they dress and maintain themselves just like a girly girl.

3. Tomboys: This type of girl is like the sporty girl in the fact that they are not physically weak and like sports. But the difference is that they do not maintain themselves like the girly girl. They often dress and act/behave like boys. They do not care to look like the sporty or girly girl.

So those are the 3 types of girls. Of course there are subgenres and other genres of types of girls. I myself am partially a girly girl, while being low maintenance and laidback.

Why romantic love isn't real.

Love for your family, that is one thing. Love for God even is something different. Neither are examples of romantic love. Romantic love is well, romance.

Romantic love can't possibly be real. Why? Well, how can such a "great feeling" exist, if its way too possible for someone to never get to experience it?

How do you explain the fact that some people romantically crush or fall in love or lust for others...but no one ever returns the feelings or feels the same about them? Especially when the feelings are not returned.

I just find it hard to believe that love like that can even exist considering it is so limited to the lucky. The fact that some if not most will never find or experience love just convinces me that love can't possibly be real...

I mean, that has to be a record, to like so many guys and not one of them returns the feelings? How does that even happen unless the only true explanation is that love doesn't exist? I mean, for that many to be incapable of liking let alone loving you, well that just doesn't make much sense....but it happens.

Progressively Traditional

Progressively traditional is a name I coined for someone (such as myself), who holds traditional views about things, but also holds progressive (liberal like) views. In other words, its a more appealing name for "moderate".

I am a firm believer in moderation...the in between. If that were an actual political party, that would be the party for me (but you have two types of independents, left of center, and right of center).

But progressively traditional thinking goes beyond politics, its more of a way of life. For example, the progressively traditional mother/wife believes that a woman can have a job and help support the family (and even make the most) but at the same time, the wife should tend to her household duties such as cooking dinner and taking care of the kids and the household chores.

Some though have a view slightly different such as whomever has the most time or is at home most should take on some of those chores. Different families have different ideas.

But this philosophy is rooted in the fact that many working moms today are not taking care of the household, and the husband isn't either, so you end up with kids who are addicted to video games, internet, fast food, and many other things because no one is regulating it, in fact, parents are encouraging it because it can serve as a babysitter.

Progressively traditional also means that in matters of love, women are often traditional....the man should ask girl out, propose, etc.

But the progressive part in this is that women should pay if SHE initiated a date instead of him...(something she should NOT do until they are girlfriend and boyfriend).

Another belief is no premarital sex. Yet, you can kiss, hold hands, and maybe even do kinky things as long as the pants stay on.

Another view is abortion. Abortion is okay only in matters of rape, incest, and medical reasons (such as the life of the mother). Yet if you consensually have sex, take responsibility.

Progressively traditional is the best way in the end because its not extreme in either end. It makes a balance and is actually a pretty reasonable way of living.

James Bond

I am not a fan of James Bond, I do not have the attention span to watch those movies, although I have seen bits and pieces.

The hottest James Bond in my opinion was Pierce Brosnan.

but the best James Bond will always be Sean Connery...he is the original.

Why religion in school is impossible.

There are some religious freaks out there (you know those who believe in forcing others to do their religion) that believe in bringing God back in to school. Their whole "notion" is school went downhill when it was taken out. School did go downhill, but not due to religion, its due to lack of responsibility of the parents, and the gov't making it harder for teachers to teach and to actually punish immature disturbances you call naughty children. When spanking was taken out and replaced with a 2 hour detention, people realized they could get away with so much more cause the punishment wasn't horrible (at least for the repeat offender).

I am not an atheist, in fact I despise Atheists because they are hypocrites who do the same crap as Christians that they claim they hate Christians doing to them.

But why is it impossible to bring religion back into public school?

1. Different religions. So because chrisitianity is the majority religion, they have the right to trump the religions of others? Ask yourself this, if another religion or atheism ever became the majority, would you, the Christian, subscribe to having your religion trumped by them because you are in the minority? If not, then why do it to others? Your religion is no more wrong or right than anyone elses. You claim yours is right, so do they. So how will you accomodate for other religions? What about the Westboro Baptist Church (the pinnicle of what many Christians in reality have become these days, especially the conservative ones)? Would you be okay with them coming to YOUR schools? Because if you allow Christians to talk with your school, by law, you would have to let any religion come to your school otherwise you would be discriminating.

2. What about different Christian beliefs? There is a reason you will see different types of private Christian schools and Catholic schools. Its because people subscribe to different types of denominations. In a public school setting, your not just facing different religous beliefs as a whole, but different religious beliefs within the same Christian sector. So how do you stay unbiased? There are liberal (aka Democratic) Christians and then you have your hated conservative (Republican) Christians (the ones I find to be the most unchristianly of all), how will you do the religion and prayer just right to fit the standards of all religions?

3. Why should one be FORCED to pray? How is pushing a religion someone going to make them more religious? It actually made me turn away when I was younger...I do not like being forced to adhere to things. So is it really worth pushing more to become agnostic or worse, atheist?

In the end, there are more problems than there are solutions to how to deal with bring religion and prayer back into schools. Remember these schools are no longer segregated by race to the point that you could get away with these kind of things back then.

If you so badly want religion taught to your child, why don't you pay for them to go to private school? Tax dollars should not be wasted on trumping others relgious beliefs in school.

The Great Depression is why....

Often people bad mouth things like welfare, food stamps, any form of gov't aid even financial aid for school. They talk about the thousands that abuse or take advantage of these programs...an amount that surely is in the minority but only made to appear worse than it is by the media.

They feel these kind of Gov't involvings is wrong.

Well blame the Great Depression, it changed everything.

Did you know back in the 1800s, the federal Gov't got involved only very little back then, when a financial crisis occurred, there was no aid of any sort to get them out. There was no expectation from the people to get them out.

But when the Great Depression happened, Gov't had no choice but to get them out, some way or somehow. They could have just kept doing things the old way but they decided to get involved, why? because it would have been cruel not to. Things would have gotten even worse had they not.

But the costly part of this is that it left the lasting effects of people expecting the gov't to fix all problems...it has caused our society to shirk personal responsibilities...the same people that grump about gov't aid are the same people that expect the gov't to solve all these financial solutions.

Should we go back to pre Great Depression ways? Or keep with them? History always repeats itself...the only way to prevent that is to figure out exactly all the things that played a role in the problem.

2 Work philosophies of mine

1. Why do it later when you can get it done now?
2. As long as you get it done on time, what does it matter if you do it later?

Both philosophies work pending on the situation. Sometimes its just easier to hold things off til a little later. But with that comes the fact that you will be thinking about how much you don't want to work on that assignment in the time that you are not working on it.

As much as we dread doing something when we don't want to do it, we must remember that eventually we have to do it, and pushing everything back only means more later.

Case in point: You just ate macaroni, now your bowl is dirty, you can put it in the sink and let it stay dirty and just get to it on another day. Lets say its finally Sunday, you look in the sink and realize you have lots of dishes to clean now because you had let it all pile up. Now if you had washed your dish when you finished then by Sunday you may have very little to none to have to clean.

But when you do decide to procrastinate til later, the problem isn't just thinking about it when your not doing it, but the problem that you may have even more to do later...so its best to be strategic about what stuff you put off til later and what stuff you do not.

The tricky thing about history

History can be tricky. To most history is just remembering dates and taking a class required for the sake of being required. If you asked, most would say history is not important, at least not important enough to need to take a class over it. If you asked most, many would say they don't care for history at all. Most will say its boring and useless.

But there is a problem with history. One that most of us may not notice. Its a conundrum.

The conundrum that if you teach history, it only breeds more hatred because you just planted an idea in their head. Having to learn history may keep certain issues alive. But if you do not teach history you then run the risk of repeating it and that could be much worse than before.

History is a tricky subject not just because you are trying to find answers where there is no one alive to tell you them, on top of the fact that you may just never know what really happened because you were not there.

History is exactly what they say..."his story" in other words, history simply is "he said she said" it all comes down to trying to figure out the facts followed by the opinions of those who were there, the hard part is that one may only have those opinions to go on.

But history is troubling in the fact that one is damned if they do and damned if they don't.

Some people refuse to be pleased

There will be many people in your life that are going to always find a problem with you just for the sake of bitching and giving you a hard time. In most cases you will be outnumbered. The problem is what do you do? There is only one answer to most social situations in life and thats do you and you only, just be you. worry about yourself and focus on yourself.

That is all you can really do in life. The want and/or need to be accepted is enough to keep some people cowering down afraid to be themselves because of the fear of being rejected. But if you accept being alone or accept that you will not be accepted by them or others, then being you is much more easier.