“It’s a sad fact that most people can’t even spot a story when they see one. Most people don’t know that stories aren’t confined by the covers of books or by half-hour slots on TV. The world is made of stories. The world is driven by stories. When a sunburned friend tells you about their holiday, it’s not a straight list of everything that happened to them - it’s a story, an anecdote with a plot, a beginning, a middle and an end. Each one of their holiday snaps is a story too. When you’re making a decision, and you imagine the possible outcomes - what are you doing if not telling yourself a story? History is a story. Society is a story. Countries are stories. Your plans are stories. Your desires are stories. Your own memories are stories - narratives selected, trimmed and packaged by the hidden machinery in your mind. Human beings are story engines. We have to be - to understand stories is to understand the world.”
—Steven Hall, The Unwritten Volume 3 introduction
April 2011
You sound like you need a hug.
Yeah that’d be nice =)
Someone's standing behind you, looking at what you're doing on the internet.
bitch can I help YOU!?
All the time at the USF library as people are waiting for their computer to log in or boot up, get a fucking book asshole.
Family
What a coincidence that the 30 day challenge happened to be “talk about your siblings” today because we just had a full scale global meltdown at the Francisco household. I don’t know… I REALLY hate my brother sometimes. He just does not understand how easy he has it and just how hard life is for so many people. He argues over petty shit that shouldn’t even matter. I wasn’t the one fighting with him this time, but it just makes me really sad/depressed when I hear my family fighting =/
Day 27: Talk about your siblings
Should be “sibling” because I only have one, one brother. Uh… what can I say about my brother. We haven’t always been on the best terms, especially later in life. When we were kids we used to always play games and play with our toys, but as we got older… I wouldn’t say we drifted apart as much as we started to not be able to stand each other. It’s kind of weird how you can treat your friends better than your family… I’m not saying that my brother and I constantly avoid each other, I mean we live in the same house. I would say that we’re more than just civil but we’re not exactly friends who can talk to each other, we sort of just do our own thing.
I really dislike the way that he treats our parents, and at times our grandma. There’s this certain tone and annoyance in his voice that really pisses me off. It’s like oh yeah just talk down to our parents, you know, they only paid 25 grand for your LVN program, paid for your 5 years of community college, paid for your car (twice, after totaling two different cars), put a roof over your head, put clothes on your back, and put food on the table, no biggie.
But then, there’s also the way that we kind of just joke around with each other. I think sometimes it gets a little annoying, but for the most part we’re just playful. We’ll throw little slaps at each other and dig each other’s ribs. I think the thing with my brother is that I cannot be around him all the time. When it’s in small doses or short stretches of time, I think that he can be pretty fun and that we get along great.
At times I wish that we were closer, that we could be the type of brothers who could talk to each other about problems we’re having. That he could be the type of older brother that I could look up to and go to for advice. But alas, it is what it is. While there are times I can’t stand him, for the most part I do like him and I love my brother unconditionally, no doubt.
“The worst is when you go to see a movie and there’s these jerks that are talking during the movie… and the jerks are the people that you came with.”
—Dave Chen, After Dark Ep. 36
March 2011
Calling it right now
Arnold Schwarzenegger is going to be in the sequel to Avatar. I mean think about it, he’s best buds with James Cameron (T1, T2, True Lies), the sequels don’t hit until 2014 and 2015, you could put a mo-cap suit on him to make him younger, it just fits!
"Nothing matters more than the stories we tell ourselves to explain the world." - The Unwritten
Man I got to this line while reading The Unwritten and I can’t help but think that it’s so on point. One example I could think of where it would apply would be religion. Religious people base their lives and how it should be lived on the scripture. I’m not trying to get into a religious debate here, but it’s kind of amazing how a single book can influence the lives of so many and we have no idea how the book actually came to be. And this is what millions of people are following and leading their lives by. The opposite end of that would be science. If you think about it, the big bang theory and evolution are rational explanations for existence and how we came to be, but you could also look at it as another kind of story. It just makes me think about how stories affect our lives and how we live in general. Whether it’s the Bible, a scientific theory, or even just a children’s story like the boy who cried wolf, what effect does that have on us and our humanity?
Day 26: Talk about your religious beliefs
I’m Christian. I pretty much go to church every Sunday, but I suppose other than that I don’t really get too involved with my religion. I pray, not everyday but NOT just when I need something, sometimes I do it to just show appreciation to God for everything. I’d be lying if I said that I never questioned my faith or didn’t have my fair share of doubts. It’s something that I’ve been working out for myself over the years and I can say that it’s made me stronger. If you ask me if I do believe in God, the answer is definitely yes.
