Enlightening Thought #34

Life is what you make of it.

So stop wasting your life reading this blog.
Go outside and play.
It's summertime, bitches.

Enlightening Thought #33

Life is not an onion.

Enlightening Thought #32

Well, as of an hour ago, I am an official high school graduate. I've worn my cap and gown through the desert rain, received my diploma, and moved my tassel from the right to the left side of my cap. Whoopdeedoo. In the process, I was slighted throughout the ceremony a couple times. First, I wasn't recognized for having worked as a part of the Sounds of the Community Kids program, despite the fact that I was a member of the original group, before it branched out and expanded. Second, I was not listed as a member of National Honors Society. And the list continues... [Woohoo, being a petty little bitch!]

And that's when it hit me:

Nobody gives a shit about you. They're too busy caring about themselves.

Okay, so I guess the transition was kind of rough [And by that, I mean nonexistent. I kind of jumped straight from my sob story to the moral, with no explanation in between...], but guess what? I'm way too damned tired to explain it to you. Once again, I'm too busy caring about my pathetic life to make this thought more clear.

Once again, nobody cares about my pathetic life to help me, because they're busy bettering their own pathetic lives. And because I'm too busy attempting to better my life, I don't have the time to better your life beyond the point of writing the blog.

It is, quite simply, a production possibilities curve.

Imagine that Good X is "bettering my life" and Good Y is "bettering your life." We're somewhere on the curve between Point D and Point F.

And with that last tidbit of knowledge, I throw you to the wolves, for I am off to care about my stupid self.

Enlightening Thought #31

Otherwise titled as "Why This Blog Has Not Been Updated."

Recall the past few LONG, LONG, LONG weeks - the nights staying up, literally doing homework (this means no Facebook!) until 3 in the morning and the exhausting hours of that mindless activity they call "learning." Bring back that feeling of being awake for so long that feeling tired isn't even an option. Think about how terrible it was to attempt to type this entry when running on 2 hours of sleep. Picture the disgusting texture of fried brain cortex and the dark eye-circles resulting from a lack of sleep, falling up the stairs and hallucinating miniature alien invasions. Oh wait, that's just me.

So tonight, I am going to go to sleep.

Yes. Sleep. (Revel in the goodness of the word.)
And realize that

SLEEP IS GOOD.

So I'll weigh out my options (and you should too!):
1. Stay up all night studying for tomorrow's tests.
2. GO TO BED.

If we're going to fail anyway, why not be awake when it happens?

Zzzzzz...

Enlightening Thought #30

These were today's musical activities:
3:00 - 4:30 - Chamber ensemble rehearsal
4:30 - 5 - Practice cello for symphony orchestra.
5:15 - 5:35 - Practice violin for chamber ensemble.
6:00 - 7:00 - Chamber & Orchestra call time. More rehearsing.
7:00 - 7:20 - Chamber ensemble performance.
8:00 - 8:30 - Symphony orchestra performance.

That adds up to a total of 4 hours and 10 minutes of musical goodness today. Also, that's disregarding the additional 40 minutes of listening to other performers and ensembles. That's over 1/6th of a 24-hour day, and 1/3rd of my 12 hours of being awake! You know what I learned from this?

Too much of a good thing is a bad thing.

Yup, I said it. I love music and all... But today was overkill.

This rule applies not just to music, but for anything else you experience in life and every other action. Actually, you can't have too much sex. But be sure to watch your dosage for everything else.

Enlightening Thought #29

Time freezes as you hold your breath. Though your life has stopped, frozen in this moment, the rest of the world moves on without acknowledging your presence. Little papercuts dot your heart, but the pain is excusable in the presence of greater human needs. You bite your lip and fight the urge to collapse, the desire to wrap yourself up within the empty shell of your body. The triviality of the matter escapes the attention of those who pass by, but to you, it is as real as the cold concrete floor you stand upon. It's just a little prick and it's healing already, but an open wound is an open wound. The worst part is knowing you brought it upon yourself.

So you walk outside as the breeze sweeps up your hair, and the wind whispers in your ear that it's okay. That everything will be alright - though the frost bites and the leaves fall, Spring will return again. And you sit down on an empty bench, bringing your knees up to your face. The sun glares angrily into your eyes and you feel the rush of tears burning behind them.

A swirl of leaves wraps you in its embrace and you fall prey to your weakness. The air stirs and says to you that

It's okay to let it all out.

And the sobs take over as the streams of tears fall down. They are endless, flowing for what seems to be an eternity. You finally run out of air and the droplets come to a stop. Opening your tired eyes to observe the world before you, you once again realize its intense, radiant beauty. The icicles reflect brightly, the sun shines warm. Wind whistles happily through the empty branches and the grass peeks out from underneath a thin blanket of snow.



You smile, because you know:

You are free. You are forgiven.

And you are alright.

Enlightening Thought #28

Okay, so I'm going to break out of the typical format for a change, and present the following ideas in list format!

But first, the advice is this:

Don't pretend to be cool if you aren't.

Thus, the following examples are some banned activities:

1. Play beer pong with apple juice instead of beer. If you're not actually playing with alcoholic beverages, the entire point of the game is absent. (This is not to say that the writers of FailThoughts condone underage drinking. To be honest, we discourage you from doing so.)



2. Dance in public if nobody else is dancing, especially when you're a shitty dancer.
3. Talk about people as if you knew them really well, when you really don't.

Actually, those prior three examples can all be condensed into an entire new piece of advice!

You won't impress anybody if you're not acting like yourself.

Well, it may work for a while, but like Merope and Tom Riddle, Sr from Harry Potter 6... But ultimately, you're doomed for failure.

And for those fools who are unfamiliar with the story, the gist of it is this:
Merope loves Tom Riddle. Tom Riddle doesn't love Merope.
Merope gives Tom Riddle a love potion.
Tom Riddle loves Merope.
Merope fools herself into thinking that Tom's love is genuine.
Merope stops giving Riddle the potion.
Tom leaves Merope.
Merope is left single, dirt-poor, and pregnant.

Don't be like Merope. Don't try to be cool if you're not.
Just be yourself.

Enlightening Thought #27

Recently, headlines have spilled out that have sparked some controversy. The focus is centered around the problem of obesity. Considering 40% of people in the United States are morbidly obese, you are probably one of them. And you better stop eating and start running, now.


The Golden Rule: If it looks good, don't eat it.

According to research and some common sense, and to put it bluntly, fat people are destroying the planet. Food production is a major contributor to global warming. If you shut your mouth once in a while and stopped stuffing it with unhealthy junk, the polar bears (along with the rest of us) would definitely appreciate it. Studies have also proven that since fat people breathe more heavily, they generate more carbon dioxide. When the amount of CO2 generated by fat people is greater than the amount of CO2 inhaled by trees, the rest of the world has to deal with the leftover shit. Think about it - fat people actually overproduce green house gases. This calls for a "wtf" moment. Wtf?

The moral of the story is:

Don't be a fatass.

So unless your obesity is actually a result of a hypothalamus defect, please, just stop eating so much. Think of the children and the future generations of people who could be living in a dire world of pollutants that are a result of fat people emissions. Please consider their health.

Thank you.

Enlightening Thought #26

As a graduating senior, I've been thinking more and more about my years in school, about the relationships I've built up or torn down, about the people I never got to know, the things I never experienced...

But then I realize that I have seven more days of high school. Thinking about what I have missed out is getting me absolutely nowhere at all. It is, quite simply, too late.

So don't bother with regret. Don't think or dwell on the past. Thinking about your shitty life will only make your life more shitty.

Just live your life and don't look back.

Enlightening Thought #25

Have you heard the story of the paper bag princess? If you haven't, here it is in all of its glory. (Actually, this is a re-telling from my memory, and possibly not completely accurate.) The paper bag has also been replaced with an IKEA bag.



Once upon a time, there was a princess who lived in a galaxy far, far away. She was destined to marry a very, very, very good-looking prince, who had never read Enlightening Thought #1 and thus did not understand that there was much more to life than just being really, really, ridiculously good-looking. So one day, while they were sitting around doing nothing, because that's what people in fairy tales do, a very angry dragon (we aren't sure why he was angry, but he was) swooped into the kingdom and destroyed everything, including the clothes they were wearing. The princess had no choice but to wear an IKEA bag. The prince was devastated because all of his material possessions had been burned to ashes. The dragon locked him up in the dungeon, where he wept tears of sorrow and pity and felt sorry for himself. The princess, on the other hand, came up with some amazing tricks and outwitted the dragon by having him fly around the world a couple of times and do other outrageous things. When he finally finished all of her tasks, he dropped down into an exhausted heap and fell into a very deep sleep (and possibly into the same realm that Sleeping Beauty dwells in). The princess, exhausted and weary and covered with dragon breath, went to rescue her prince in distress. The prince, still bleary-eyed and upset about his losses, took one look at the princess and turned up his nose, announcing that he shall not be rescued until she looked more princess-y and better suited his tastes. At this point, the princess realized what a jerk the prince was, and ditched his sorry ass. She lived happily ever after with her best friend, Jennifer.

The end.

The moral of the story? (There are two!)

1. If he's a materialistic jerk, don't waste your time.
2. Don't use paper or plastic bags - get reusable ones from IKEA!

Paper bags are actually worse than plastic bags when it comes to the environment. They generate 70% more air and 50 times more water pollutants than plastic bags, and take 84 times more energy to recycle than a plastic bag. The best thing to do would be to avoid both plastic and paper bags, and opt for a reusable bag!

Do your part to get rid of the superficial idiots in the world, and help save the environment too!

Enlightening Thought #24

After partying it up at the prom last night, I was thinking today of just how much I wished my date would've kissed me. Nothing over the top or passionate or anything, but it still would've been nice! I mean, we're not dating, but, it would've been the perfect ending to a perfect night...



But no...

Also, after talking to a guy friend about his prom experience, he mentioned that he thought that his date was expecting a kiss from him. But that he didn't think he had the balls to do it. He said that he was too busy debating whether or not to kiss her that by the time he figured that he should... the moment had passed.

That said, the point of the story is this:

Don't wait for opportunities. Make them.

And of course, this doesn't merely apply to such trivial matters as kisses and dances, but to subjects of far greater importance. You know, college, careers, serious relationships, all of those things.

You see, by the time you realize that you have an opportunity, it'd be too late.

Enlightening Thought #23

Like Jennifer said, sorry for the delay.
(As if people were dying for us to update, right?)

So, the Swine flu epidemic has reached Canton, Michigan. Swine, because Pig flu just sounds silly and would never be able to cause a media sensation. So is that all it is? Just a huge breakout of hysteria? News reports from CNN suggest so. More people die from the normal flu every year than the number of people who have died from Swine flu thus far. The hysteria caused may actually be worse than the flu itself.



Use your judgment and don't flip out too much.

So do you have Swine flu?
http://doihaveswineflu.org/

Enlightening Thought #22

First things first: Sorry about the delay in posting! Both Juliana and I have been loaded with shit to do lately.

Now, on to the actual blogging:

I was a second violinist for an Arizona regional orchestra. It was a great experience to play with fellow high school musicians who were as talented (if not more) and as passionate about music as I was. We rehearsed through all of Friday and the first half of Saturday and performed Saturday evening. Our repertoire - Suppe's "Poet and Peasant Overture", Bach's "Sheep May Safely Graze", and Nelson's "Jubilee".



Anyways, something our conductor and clinician said has still remained with me:
He directed us to "leave a little bit of our soul behind in every orchestra hall we perform in."

Being the cynical pessimist that I am, the first thing that came to my mind was, "But... what if I perform in so many places that I become soul-less?! I need the little bit of a soul that I have!"

And then after performing, I realized the power behind his words. Why half-ass your way through life when you can put forth your best effort? Why live life with apathy when you can have passion?

So, my latest bit of advice is this:

Put your soul into everything you do, no matter what it is.

Live with purpose. Live with passion.