TO LIVE MY DAY

I'm so happy because today I found my friends - they're in my head.

-Kurt Cobain

Never have I had a post that's based solely on the occurrences of my day. I never really thought my days were ever that interesting until I started to smile at all the "bad" things that actually do happen to me. I mean, instead of waiting for a couple of years to laugh about it, why not laugh about it then? That's life.

So, today morning my brother's alarm went off at 5.30. I could hear it because I chose to spend the night in his room. From what I could gather it was pouring heavily and I immediately decided to to go for my morning run. That was an easy choice that led up to a series of unfortunate events. You see, my morning run, however gruesome, is what gets me ready for the rest of the day. It gives me the psychological punch needed to get through with "it". So I went on sleeping with the idea that I would get out of bed at 9 am and head on to school at 1 pm. That was not going to happen. 

The previous night mother and I had agreed that we would go and check out an apartment that my brother and I are to move into next semester. 

Back to today morning. Mother got me out of bed all pissed at my laziness and decided that since she was ready she would not wait for me to take a shower. Oh god. It was bad enough that I had to miss my run but it had then been decided that I would spend the rest of the day under the stench of my overnight odour. Easy. I could deal with that. Yes, being in an all boys high school had taught me to survive with the pungent trail. 

Without the comfort of breakfast in my belly we were out of the house and headed towards the city when we were met with a week's worth of traffic. Mother was rather frustrated so she kept on saying, "it's your fault. Just sleeping all the time," and in all honesty it was rather funny. Being the "smart" driver that I am, I knew all the alternative routes one could use to avoid the traffic so I had her follow one. We avoided the traffic on the main road only to meet myriads of obstacles on the alternate route. Oh, the look she gave me was priceless. 

Eventually, we got to the city where she was to get some forms signed and pick up my brother who studies Chinese in the city so we could all go to and view the apartment together. Within the city things were as typical as they could be but mother decided that she was tired of driving and asked me to take control of the car. That I did but driving across the city was something I lacked knowledge to do but I popped up with my motto, "nitajua leo" which basically translates to "I'll learn today". 

The route to the apartment was quick and free of traffic. Mother and my brother got to see the apartment and she actually loved it.  It was decided that my brother and I would move in which is perfect. 

Lunch was great courtesy of mother's wallet and the cooks at San Marino but then the rain decided to wet me mercilessly. Masculinity and stupidity had me leave my sweater at home and carry nothing but an umbrella. My entire outfit got wet and I faced the threat of pneumonia. Everyone was either in class or off campus so I didn't have anyone to waste my time with. Droll. 

I tried to register for my classes next semester but I was side-tracked by a fine that I acquired without my knowledge. 

Later on in the day a friend of mine turned up and we completed some very creative work and just chilled under the clear sky (the rain had subsided) and talked about life. It was beautiful. 

That was a rough summary about my day. The last time I did something like this was at the age of 10 yet it feels so rejuvenating.

OPEN YOUR MIND

No matter how big the lie; repeat it often enough and the masses will regard it as the truth.
-JFK

I watched a documentary in which they spoke of marijuana not as a killer drug but an offspring of nature. It really opened my eyes. As a person of my age and stereotypical nurturing it would not be a falsehood to assume that I have taken a nibble of the forbidden fruit and it is clear that after ingestion the plausibilities are endless.
Well, that is not what I was trying to point out. According to the documentary marijuana has been illegal because of a myriad of political, racial, and empirical improbabilities. Whenever the question as to why marijuana is bad for you most people would either reply that it's bad or it kills brain cells.
Reality speaks of a sinister tale.
The first marijuana law was made in 1601 that ordered all American farms to plant the "weed". That was because marijuana is also referred to as hemp that was the largest and most profitable agricultural produce for thousands of years before. In the 1920s it was decided that marijuana smoking caused reefer madness that led to black men staring at white women twice, aggression, or stepping on a white man's shadow. However, during the war the American government decided to start producing hemp and there was even an infomercial advocated by the government- HEMP FOR VICTORY. This was followed by the win in the war and the coming of the Cold War. During this time it was discovered that the Soviet government was using marijuana to make American spies captured in the USSR passive. This led to the American government to make the drug illegal again however, this time it was a reason contradicting their earlier presumptions.
Today, we say marijuana is "bad" because of an experiment that has been proven to be empirically irrational. But everyone is so firm with the idea. The truth is out there but why do we choose to remain ignorant?
We choose ignorance because we have been indoctrinated- brainwashing man!!!
All through our lives we are given basic principles that we should live by: believe in a god, study hard to get a good job, you can only live with money, respect your government. These principles, however seemingly rational, do not have to stand to propagate our survival. But why do we live by them? It is because we have chosen to take authority as truth. Whenever our bosses, parents, teachers, religious leaders, our governments give us an order we take it as ultimate truth.
It must be hard for us,
those who take authority as truth
instead of truth as authority.
Take the time to think before you act on commands. 

HE YELLED, SHE YELLED....

I love argument, I love debate. I don't expect anyone just to sit there and agree with me, that's not their job.

-Margaret Thatcher

 

Today morning, my girlfriend and I were entangled in an argument concerning economics that sparked out of a simple question. Of course no argument is ever intended (when I'm not involved). This argument was heated and she was obviously winning. Oh, frustration was setting in fast and furiously. Why was I getting frustrated by her winning an argument?

In my effort to answer that question I realized that I was not frustrated because she was winning the argument but because I looked at the argument as a competitive intercourse. That is to say, her win was not the problem but the fact that I believed she had won was the problem. I only needed to see that it was not a competition but she was simply trying to elevate me to a new level of awareness.

Frustration and anger are a common emotion when entwined in any conflicting situation. But why do they result? The answer is a kin to what I had experienced. It is not the fault of the one who we assume caused the frustration but the on who opted to be frustrated.

However, the argument in the she and I sense is not what everyone else may term as arguments. We look to convince the other that our premise justifies our conclusion i.e. the first order argument as opposed to the everyday argument. Nonetheless, my theory of what our arguments are is not necessarily how I'd like to feel once I am done and I  have "lost". Now, that is the problem with society and the human behaviour. You are either competitive or not. It's a problem because we feel that anything as minute as an argument is a conquest for success or a lunge for failure. We have been raised to believe that if you "lose" an argument you lack intelligence, however, been proven wrong is a chance to gain knowledge.

Today morning I gained knowledge but society would have me believe that I "lost" an argument. Every location in which an argument breaks out is not a court of law for that is the only place in which you can "lose" an argument. 

Essentially, do not be frustrated by that "lost" argument but be excited by the gained knowledge.