ready? shooot. || G O A L ||

Being a SENIOR who cant wait to graduate soon, I have set out several goals for myself this year. I plan to follow those goals and strive to achieve them to the best of my ability. Not all the goals are ones that are too hard to reach, they are mostly rules that I have put for myself.

First and foremost, my main goal for the year is to Boost my GPA. Every other 'rule' is a way to reach that.

This year, I plan on completing all my assignments on time. That could be a weakness for me at times, because I wouldn't take every assignment as seriously as I probably should. The way I plan to do that is to divide the work up into sections for separate days, in which I won't get bored of all the different projects and assignments given to us by our teachers.

Another thing I plan on doing is to separate "business" being the school work, from pleasure. At many times, I tend to find myself very distracted when it's time for me to be working on school assignments. The lyrics of the songs would be memorized instead of the vocabulary words, or the names of Grey's Anatomy characters would go into my writing instead of the novel. I have set out a clear schedule for myself, which I will hopefully follow, which allows me to complete my work, but have a few breaks in between in which I could use whichever form of entertainment I please.

Now if I was to get into detail about which areas I would want to improve in school subjects, I would have to say that I would like to -

1. Develop my writing skills.
2. Develop my vocabulary.
3. Learn how to approach mathematical problems effectively.

Ways in which I plan to achiever those goals would be to read more books and novels, proof-read my work, use resources such as dictionaries and thesaurus', and practice writing at home; such as stories, or keep a dream journal. As for the math, I bought several books which would hopefully help me get through.

Aside from those goals, I would like to take my SAT's at least twice before I graduate.

*PS, I am aware that the goals were supposed to be only relevant to English class, but I kept going.

Muse vs. George Orwell

 The lyrics to the song The Resistance by Muse are very much similar to the events that occured in George Orwell's 1984. It mostly focuses on the idea of rebellion and disobeying the law.

 To begin with, the first line of the song, "is your secret safe tonigh? And are we out of sight?" creates an image of secrecy and privacy, which relates back to the novel. At first, Winston was constantly trying to hide what he was doing, including his thoughts, ideas and writing. Winston was always trying to look for ways and places to hide from the telescreen which was constantly watching everyone. Which also relates to the second stanza, "Will they find our hiding place? Is this our last embrace? Or will the walls start caving in?". Also, relating to those lyrics, is the fact that Winston and Julia were always looking for quiet and private places in which they could do whatever they pleased all the time.

 Next, the 3rd and 4th stanzas are connected to the fact that the people of the brotherhood WANT to do whatever they please, worrying about getting caught, and HOPING that its the right thing to do. The next three stanzas are related to the book because they all tie back to the connection and relationship that Julia and Winston had.

 The same three stanzas also speak of the way that most people, if not everyone, are worried and scared of the telescreens and viewscreens. Any wrong move would lead to a tough and severe punishment.

 Finally, the last two stanzas speak of the end of the rebellion basically. Winston and Julia eventually got caught, which was the end of their attempts. The whole process was a "resistance" of the law.

War is Peace

A phrase that was frequently brought up among the characters within the novel 1984 by George Orwell was "War is Peace". Now, how is that possible if the statement is contradicting itself?

Within the dimensions of the novel, the world has been split up into three big states; Oceania, Eurasia, and Eastasia. These three states are constantly at war, only the irony behind it is that there is no definite reason as to why these states would be fighting in the first place. There is no material or ideological difference that is really driving these states to perform such foolish acts. By war, physical fighting isn't necessarily the issue, its the mental thoughts and the ideas that might cause some conflict.The main aim of war within the Inner Party was to use up the products of the machines without raising the general standard of living. Considering the fact that the technological areas were developing very quickly within the stare, it was thought that the machines could take away hunger, illiteracy, diseases, etc. But then it was thought that the increase in health would also destroy this equal society that has been created. That idea led to the Party creating short work hours, giving people enough to eat and live in good conditions, would give people the desired equality, and there wouldn't be any difference between people anymore.

War was also needed to keep the industry up and running without increasing the wealth of anyone in the world. The products should be made, but not distributed to anyone. In order to get that done, continuous warfare was necessary. War was generally a way to keep the people under control.

Valentine's Donkey (:

There was no point of this post really..

just wanted to get some giggles outta you.

Ooh la-luxury!

I find it strange how people choose to spend their money. Whether they were rich or average, people almost always seem to aim for the things they want vs. the things they need.

There are many ongoing studies on this certain topic, considering that it amazes many. Money is being spent on items that are useless or pointless. People are spending their money on things that cost hundreds or thousands, that can be found elsewhere with a few cons, for a MUCH cheaper price. The thing is, the business out there take advantage of the fact that people are so interested in luxury, and they launch high priced products and tempt the buyers to purchase them.

Lets take the fashion industry as an example. I mean okay I get the fact that there are big fashion designers, and that people, especially women, love the feeling they get when they wear these big names. I mean come on, who doesn’t like brands and luxury? Some of the things are worth it, because they’re different or something, but what about those simple, UGLY dresses you find, with a cost of 2000 kd? What about shoes, Louboutins perhaps, my personal favorite. The shoes are gorgeous there, I mean its like heaven on Earth. But come to think of it, what makes them so expensive? Is it really necessary? Why buy something that costs hundreds, when you can find it somewhere else for much cheaper, and you can use the rest of the money for something useful. I bought a pair of Louboutins a while ago, then, while shopping in Avenues, I ran into the EXACT same shoe in Nine West for only 34 kd! Another shoes example would be the Swarovski covered Reebok shoes! With a price of 1035$..is that necessary? What’s the use of your casual shoe being covered in crystals! Its not even pretty.

Dude, rules are NOT meant to be broken

The law enforcement in Kuwait is an amusing topic to me personally. There are so many uncertainty's as to which ones are the ones that are really being enforced vs. the ones that are just there for no reason. Personally, I am sick of being the victim of all the chaos. Whether it was law enforcement from the government and police; or whether it was the individuals simply following the rules.

A daily routine I would go through personally is this. As i get dressed and prepare to leave our parking lot in the morning to go to school, the first incident would be the hectic rattling of all the women working in the kindergarten facing my house. One can easily see the evil look on each of their eyes as they discreetly plan to attack the other for cutting her off, or simply not waiting their turn. Then, as we pass that area, we come to a U-Turn we would have to take, as we patiently wait in line to get to the turning spot, a Yukon immediately, and with all simplicity cuts us off from the side, and gets to turn to the other side without having to wait in the long que as the rest of us did. On our way to school, (by our i mean my siblings and i), we see a bunch of boys driving their Nissan Patrols to school, and I'm pretty sure that none of them have a legitimate license. After that we would get to the school's parking lot..where the honk-ing sounds are everlasting, coming from all kinds of different cars and all kinds of drivers all fighting and struggling to get the ideal parking space. Ok, so i finally run away from that, and enter a whole other world, school. A world where teachers suppose that they can play around with the official school policies just to avoid being proved wrong - not all teachers ofcourse. :) As i walk into homeroom, tardy as usual, my homeroom teacher insists on knowing the reason behind my tardiness, and says that she must know or else there will be consequences..umm, how about its my business not yours? Not to be rude or anything, but rules are meant to be followed; not ignored or manipulated.

And oh my god the hypocracy! The people who are the ones setting the roles or being motivators, are the ones breaking them! I know this girl, who's brother is a police officer. Tinting car windows is illegal, and yet he has his personal vehicle tinted 100 degrees. I find that sad. You often find police cars parked in no parking zones with no one inside, im also pretty sure that its not ok for them to do that either.

It's A Boy Girl Thing

Its funny how the different ways we get entertained thorough media have such a huge effect on us. The stereotypes that are embedded into the different available media have such a big influence on the way we act and behave, and they enforce our lifestyles. Whether it was through movies, or advertisements, or music, and so on.

Why do men always appear as the superior gender and women are always expected to be the calmer more delicate ones.

The biggest evidence of that would be all the different existing advertisements. Why is it that women are always the ones cooking and cleaning? Are the men incapable of that? Why does the media decide to show only the women that do those things? What about the stay-at-home dads? Or the man that cook or clean? What is the purpose? Take a look at the Kelly Ripa advertisement as an example. They portray the women as a pretty, multi-tasked mother who is taking charge of everything around the house. When the advertisement is simply to show off the Electrolux Appliances. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDBMHz1Dthw]

Also, in an advertisement for Glade, why is it that the father had to be shown as the one going to work while the mother "enjoys" staying at home and cleaning. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntHoj7bdRtg]. Finally there is the pizza commercial, where the woman is shown as the weaker gender as the man bosses her around. Is that how it really is? Or is that the media's way of delivering it's message that people should in fact be that way. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQT6zHgiOoI]

Another example would be the car commercials. Why is it the men that are always shown driving cars? Women are equally as interested in cars, and are capable of driving a car as well. take the G-Class commercial as an example. They show men struggling and working hard, just to advertise a car. Which is also my favorite car. There you go, I'm a girl, and I'm very interested. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6s2ju_Qih1g]. Another thing i noticed in commercials is how they portray the perfect man as tall, handsome, muscular and tanned. What difference does that make? How shallow are these things making the people! :o [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Aj55sgudlc] PS. notice how they portray men as having chest hair. how funny.

Personal Bubble

I turn right, there it is. Left? again. Up, down, everywhere. We have reached a point in our lives where media and technology is what keeps us living, and up and running everyday. Will it remain this way? What will change? Its killing me. Too much.

Okay, that might have been a little bit of an over reaction. But really, what has become of this world where everywhere we go there has to be media? It comes in different shapes and sources, whether it was the world behind the internet, or the thousands of channels on our TV's that we go through everynight looking for some sort of brainwashing entertainment.

Think of it with me for a second, when was the last time you guys did anything without some sort of device that helped you? Let us take communication as a huge example. Years back, the only means of communication were letters and written messages. Soon after that, there were telephones -made life SO much easier- . Being in year 2010, we take a look at the telephone as such a funny thing, how lame right? We keep developing. Blackberry's, Facebook, iPhone, SMS, MMS, IM's..need i say more?

Its a whole world thats consuming our minds and lives. But what about MY world? What if i dont want that? Privacy? Secrets? What are those odd things i speak of, right? It is as if the media is purposely creating different things that encourage people to intrude on other peoples personal issues.

F A C E B O O K

Thats a whole different story. I call it a stalking device. Magnificent.

What about my own personal bubble?

Everyone is up in everyone else's business. Its entertainment. Take the latest scandal that happened in Kuwait. The so called "Gossip Girl Kuwait" group on facebook. The girl behind that went ahead and dug deep to find gossip about people, and went ahead and sent it out to the world to be amused by other people's personal business, what an outrage. The result of this chaos? Anger. They track her down.

Will media have that effect on people once they cant take any more? Or will they be deceived by all the fantasies lying behind this world of media?

You cant run, you cant hide. It's there, its your life.

Picture from: leecannon.blogspot.com/.../ personal-bubble.htm