According to my senior year advanced English teacher, you certainly are. One afternoon in class, he said just that to me. I do not remember for what purpose, or if it had anything to do with that week's analysis of Act I, Scene III of Julius Caesar. The fact was that, I was around 16 or 17 when he said it - and it has stuck with me ever since.
"You are the same age your entire life."
Philosophy has always been a major part of what defines me as an individual. And when someone says something to me of a philosophical nature, I will analyse it to the core. It's just the way I have always found meaning for myself, and was able to understand certain things.
Now, when you analyse age scientifically, it is a process (or a series of processes) based on the effects of time on a person and is defined by chronological psychological, physical and social change.
And of course, these are facts. They are true, and there is no denying facts in their scientific nature. We see ageing every day. We see lives being born, and lives dying. We see baby's first teeth appear, and grandma's face disappear within a bed of wrinkles. This is only the natural, factual cycle of life.
But then - you also see peculiar things. Peculiar things which are brushed off by science as psychology or behavioural patterns.
I'm talking abut a child of five talking with an air about him of an eighty-five year old, for example. Or an eighty-five year old playing some childlike game such as hide-and-seek as if he had seen the world for the first time - a face full of young, youthful joy beyond the crinkles.
Scientific factors aside, I can see how the quote "You are the same age your whole life" comes into play.
That genius child who sees the world with the eyes of an analytical adult will most likely keep this characteristic through his whole life. In fact, it will probably be a major defining aspect of his personality. On the other hand, the eighty-five year old was probably youthful through the entirety of his life. Though he obviously would have had to mature, I am willing to bet that he enjoyed the childish things in life all the way through adulthood.
And perhaps science is accurate. Maybe these are just psychological factors, and people adapting to their environment, etc.
But to me, it goes a little deeper than that. These are examples which define human characteristics - human personality. And, in my opinion, they are what define age. Not an age based on physical numbers - but an age that is deeper than that.
I'm not trying to prove anything, or go against science. All I'm saying here is that everyone should consider what 'age' really means to them and define it for themselves. Though science is fact, it is not always meaningful for everybody. True meaning can only be created by you FOR you, and I definitely encourage all of you to take on the role of creator.
-Dahlia
16:25
Has Jason Russell lost his marbles?
It seems that Invisible Children's Jason Russell has been arrested for exposng his 'Invisible Children' to the world. If you get what I'm saying.
To be honest, I was a little shocked to hear of Invisible Children's frontman Jason Russell being arrested for indecent exposure and public disturbance. After all, my last blog was - if anything - glorifying his campaign, even if it pointed out a number of small criticisms about him.
Russell, 33, was taken into custody earlier in the week after reports reached the police, suggesting that he was 'pounding his fists on the sidewalk and shouting incoherently.' Other reports claimed that he had removed his underwear and...well, I'm not going to go into detail. He is now in a health institution on the road to recovery.
It seems that Russell -who was allegeddly interfering with traffic, screaming, yelling incoherently and prancing around the sidewalk in the dunny - has finally suffered some type of major breakdown. Perhaps he missed the natural lifestyle he had while in Africa.
The official statement from Russell's wife rode the incident off as a direct result of 'reactive psychosis' - a result of 'exhaustion' and 'dehydration'.
The statement read:
"Though new to us, the doctors say this is a common experience given the great mental, emotional and physical shock his body has gone through in these last two weeks."
To clarify, this is the type of behaviour that the majority of us here at TAFE excert when under overwhelming amounts of stress.
In fact, just last week I ran around the school grounds stark naked, pounding my fists on the sidewalk and shouting incoherently. This was a direct result of doing two week's worth of assignments in one night, chucking an all nighter - of course. The next day, I got scolded...and, well, there you go.
In all seriousnesses though, the entire episode seems a little excessive to me. I have heard of AND witnessed both dehydration cases and exhaustion cases - neither of them resulting in similar results as those Russell excerted. On the contrary, the primary symptoms of both dehydration and exhaustion include physical/mental weakness, excessive fatigue and lack of energy.
It just makes me wonder whether or not there is more to the problem than the media - or Jason's family, for that matter - are letting on. It is not our personal business to know what Russell does in his spare time, however with fame come consequences - and a direct responsibility to the public. This would especially apply to Russell, who has gained a massive following for the cause which he is responsible for.
Whether or not Invisible Children and Jason Russell are genuine is another question. But the fact remains that the entire thing is turning into somewhat of a joke (as most over-popularized events do - eventually) and events such as Russell's public display are not helping.
To be honest, I was a little shocked to hear of Invisible Children's frontman Jason Russell being arrested for indecent exposure and public disturbance. After all, my last blog was - if anything - glorifying his campaign, even if it pointed out a number of small criticisms about him.
Russell, 33, was taken into custody earlier in the week after reports reached the police, suggesting that he was 'pounding his fists on the sidewalk and shouting incoherently.' Other reports claimed that he had removed his underwear and...well, I'm not going to go into detail. He is now in a health institution on the road to recovery.
It seems that Russell -who was allegeddly interfering with traffic, screaming, yelling incoherently and prancing around the sidewalk in the dunny - has finally suffered some type of major breakdown. Perhaps he missed the natural lifestyle he had while in Africa.
The official statement from Russell's wife rode the incident off as a direct result of 'reactive psychosis' - a result of 'exhaustion' and 'dehydration'.
The statement read:
"Though new to us, the doctors say this is a common experience given the great mental, emotional and physical shock his body has gone through in these last two weeks."
To clarify, this is the type of behaviour that the majority of us here at TAFE excert when under overwhelming amounts of stress.
In fact, just last week I ran around the school grounds stark naked, pounding my fists on the sidewalk and shouting incoherently. This was a direct result of doing two week's worth of assignments in one night, chucking an all nighter - of course. The next day, I got scolded...and, well, there you go.
In all seriousnesses though, the entire episode seems a little excessive to me. I have heard of AND witnessed both dehydration cases and exhaustion cases - neither of them resulting in similar results as those Russell excerted. On the contrary, the primary symptoms of both dehydration and exhaustion include physical/mental weakness, excessive fatigue and lack of energy.
It just makes me wonder whether or not there is more to the problem than the media - or Jason's family, for that matter - are letting on. It is not our personal business to know what Russell does in his spare time, however with fame come consequences - and a direct responsibility to the public. This would especially apply to Russell, who has gained a massive following for the cause which he is responsible for.
Whether or not Invisible Children and Jason Russell are genuine is another question. But the fact remains that the entire thing is turning into somewhat of a joke (as most over-popularized events do - eventually) and events such as Russell's public display are not helping.
-Dahlia
09:50
Joseph Kony is NOT a hamburger.
For those of you who might have been ignorant to the
campaign, like myself, and thinking that Joseph Kony was in fact a new type of hamburger at McDonald's - please watch this video for proof.
Joseph Kony is, in fact, a Ugandan warlord and leader of the
Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) responsible for abducting and indicting approximately
60000 young children to use as soldiers and sex-slaves.
KONY with his army,
the LRA
According to Invisible Children's official YouTube channel,
"KONY 2012 is a film and campaign by Invisible Children that aims to make
Joseph Kony famous, not to celebrate him, but to raise support for his arrest
and set a precedent for international justice."
And boy, have they succeeded in making Kony's name famous.
That name has not left my eyes or evaded my ears for the
past few week.
I came home from TAFE just the other day to check my
Facebook as per usual and saw KONY 2012 plastered everywhere. Most people had
the words 'support Kony 2012' written as their statues while others had more
in-depth analytical accusations such as 'issues like this have been going on
since forever - you must be ignorant if you're supporting Kony 2012 just
because it's viral.'
Or something like that (you'll have to excuse my bad paraphrasing).
Now, upon seeing these initial statements I did not give the
words 'Kony 2012' a second thought. But little did I know that I would be
seeing it for the entirety of the rest of the night; on every YouTube video I
tried to watch (that were mind you, completely unrelated to politics or
campaigns of any sort); on every news channel
I switched on - on every blog I was following.
So naturally, I became interested. I hated the feeling of
the world knowing something that I was completely unaware of. And this was
worse: it was much like being left behind in a supermassive black hole while
the entirety of the mass media world was participating in some type of digital revolution.
So the question I
began to ask was - What the f*** is Kony 2012?
Well, I finally found my way to the official film and
watched it for myself. And you should, too.
The film as a whole really is something extraordinary. From
a filmmakers perspective, the documentary has a slick Hollywood production feel
to it and I could tell instantly that it is targeted towards young souls. I was
reminded of a Woodstock type event as the film celebrated young people of the
world standing together - proud - for the one cause. Modern indie music makes
this film very 'in,' featuring songs from Kiwi hipster band The Naked
and Famous and dubstep producer Flux Pavillion. And I can almost guarantee
that, because of these reasons, the film was as successful as it is.
The fact is, our young generation aren't going to find
Michael Moore interesting anymore (I still dig your style, Michael!) They don't
want old issues presented in an old way. They want old issues presented in a
new way. They want new, and they want modern. Many of them want only that which
encapsulates their own, young, free and rebellious souls - which is perfectly
portrayed in Invisible Children's documentary. And I'll give Invisible Children
100% props for that.
Now, artistic analysis aside I was blown away by the
documentary. To think that something like this has been going on in another
country for 25 years (under Kony - and for way longer before him) and only was
it now surfacing in a movement directly attributed to the people of the world. Ironically,
it really made me think about how ignorant those of us living in western
countries are. Before the explosion of this campaign just last week, I bet you
less than 1% of the young population could tell me who Kony is. And that's not
accusatory either - I would be a definite part of that 1%.
World issues are everywhere. They have always been
happening, and they always will be happening. However, if this documentary exemplifies
anything it is the fact that there is power left in people. Whether or not the government listens and responds
is another story - but if the people care, and they show that they care there is an almost 99% chance that the
government will NOTICE. And that means something.
The thing is, for almost every situation there is going to
be people gunning down the integrity of its purpose - no matter what the
intentions.
There is an online blog that exists called 'Visible
Children'.
This blog was started as a response by Grant Oyston after
initially publishing an article entitled 'Kony 2012: Why I'm opposed to the
campaign.'
Here is a link to the article:
Basically, he criticizes the Invisible Children campaign
'Kony 2012' - and not the actual issue. He suggests that the answer to the Kony
problem lies not with the campaign, but with more direct means of taking
action. He claims that 'Last year, the
(controversial) organization spent $8,676,614. Only 32% went to direct services...with
much of the rest going to staff salaries, travel and transport, and film
production.'
Oyston assails to the fact that Invisible Children are
working with the Ugandan military who themselves have committed crimes which
may equate to that of Joseph Kony.
The founders of Invisible Children posing with
weapons and personnel of the Sudan People’s Liberation Army
Oyston mentions an array of problems with a campaign like
this. One of them is that there has been repeated efforts of the U.S. African
Command (AFRICOM) to capture Kony over the years - each of them failing and
encouraging retaliation on Kony's side. His issue is that many of Kony's
bodyguards are children themselves, and to get to Kony could result in mass
slaughter of children.
Oyston writes that while awareness is good, people should be
aware of exactly what they're
supporting. He writes that 'these
problems are highly complex, not one-dimensional and, frankly, aren’t of the
nature that can be solved by postering, film-making and changing your Facebook
profile picture, as hard as that is to swallow.'
Invisible Children's campaign will culminate on one day
which they have labelled as 'Cover the Night' - when those who are aware will stay
up until the sunrise, working discreetly to plaster Kony's face in every street
corner they manage to reach.
On April 20th, the sleeping world will wake up to hundreds
of thousands of posters demanding justice in every part of the world.
So keep an eye out for this date. If you're slightly sceptical,
then just think of it as a human experiment.
If this campaign succeeds: if it means that the entire world
will witness the result of Kony 2012 on April 20th, this will finally prove that
there is power in the people. We will be able to say that we have control, and
that we can make an issue known and,
more importantly, make it matter. This
can be applied to countless issues in the future. Thanks to the incredible
power of social media and the Internet, we have finally been able to come
together for one purpose and stand together - transcending physical
borders and the necessity to travel.
I encourage everyone reading this to do your own research on
the issue and come to your own conclusion. After all,a knowledgeable world with
the right intentions can only ever do good and it helps to know exactly what
you're supporting and why. So to activists and sceptics alike - let's keep this
about world peace and a better future. And in Oyston's words, let's keep this
about Kony, not necessarily KONY 2012. Perhaps then we can all find common
ground.
You can visit the Invisible Children Kony 2012 website at
www.Kony2012.com
You can visit the Invisible Children Kony 2012 website at
www.Kony2012.com
-Dahlia
09:08
It's never too early for a bucket list.
A couple of months ago, a friend of mine told me he had made a bucket list. I was a little shocked and, naturally, thought that something was gravely wrong with him. My panic was settled when he assured me his health was 100% and that the list was just something he made to live his life by.
So, essentially, what he made was a bucket list based on no time limitations. What an awesome, awesome idea.
People today are so caught up in their busy, round-the-clock lives of work work work. When asked the question - 'what's the one thing you want to do before you die?' a lot of us have trouble answering it. The fact is, we should all know the answer. We should all know what we want out of life.
And I'm not talking about religion here. I'm talking about us here, as humans, living in this massive world. It is our world, and we have the gift of free will and a right to do what we want (I hope I'm not encouraging a mass-murder rampage here - please keep it safe).
My friend's bucket list comprised of the simple things in life. Taking a walk at the beach at night, skinny dipping at the beach at night and gazing at the stars at the beach at night. Well, okay, there was more than just the beach at night but I don't want to embarrass him.
Following in his example, I decided to make my own. I found a handy little Android app called The Bucket List which you can find at this link:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.metosphere.bucket&feature=search_result#?t=W251bGwsMSwxLDEsImNvbS5tZXRvc3BoZXJlLmJ1Y2tldCJd
My bucket list ended up being slightly more extravagant than my friend's. It involved such things as:
1. Visit space
2. Visit space with aliens
3. Visit space with aliens and time travel
Well okay, the first one is true. Space travel is becoming a possibility in our modern world and, with the rate at which our technology is advancing, it may just take off in our lifetime. If I were to accomplish such a thing in my life, then I could truly say that I found meaning in my life and lived a happy life.
So, ultimately, the bucket list for the living is a simple yet deeply significant idea. It allows us to put in words what we really want to achieve out of life and to aim at ticking these things off and accomplishing them, one by one, while we can. It brings us that one step closer to making our dreams exist, and making them happen. And you are the only person who can do that - so I encourage you strongly to do so.
In other words, don't wait until you are literally kicking the bucket to make a bucket list.
So why not write up a list? It can only benefit you. Please feel free to share your number one idea with me. Or your craziest or something.
Thanks for reading, and I'm off to watch - you guessed it - The Bucket List.
-Dahlia
So, essentially, what he made was a bucket list based on no time limitations. What an awesome, awesome idea.
People today are so caught up in their busy, round-the-clock lives of work work work. When asked the question - 'what's the one thing you want to do before you die?' a lot of us have trouble answering it. The fact is, we should all know the answer. We should all know what we want out of life.
And I'm not talking about religion here. I'm talking about us here, as humans, living in this massive world. It is our world, and we have the gift of free will and a right to do what we want (I hope I'm not encouraging a mass-murder rampage here - please keep it safe).
My friend's bucket list comprised of the simple things in life. Taking a walk at the beach at night, skinny dipping at the beach at night and gazing at the stars at the beach at night. Well, okay, there was more than just the beach at night but I don't want to embarrass him.
Following in his example, I decided to make my own. I found a handy little Android app called The Bucket List which you can find at this link:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.metosphere.bucket&feature=search_result#?t=W251bGwsMSwxLDEsImNvbS5tZXRvc3BoZXJlLmJ1Y2tldCJd
My bucket list ended up being slightly more extravagant than my friend's. It involved such things as:
1. Visit space
2. Visit space with aliens
3. Visit space with aliens and time travel
Well okay, the first one is true. Space travel is becoming a possibility in our modern world and, with the rate at which our technology is advancing, it may just take off in our lifetime. If I were to accomplish such a thing in my life, then I could truly say that I found meaning in my life and lived a happy life.
So, ultimately, the bucket list for the living is a simple yet deeply significant idea. It allows us to put in words what we really want to achieve out of life and to aim at ticking these things off and accomplishing them, one by one, while we can. It brings us that one step closer to making our dreams exist, and making them happen. And you are the only person who can do that - so I encourage you strongly to do so.
In other words, don't wait until you are literally kicking the bucket to make a bucket list.
So why not write up a list? It can only benefit you. Please feel free to share your number one idea with me. Or your craziest or something.
Thanks for reading, and I'm off to watch - you guessed it - The Bucket List.
-Dahlia
08:25
Please, Google, stop cramping my style.
I mean it.
Why must Google
feel the need to constantly - to continuously update and 'modernise' their
sites?
I logged onto
YouTube today and did not know how to find the comments on a user's channel. In
fact, I did not even know how to find the list of their videos.
What's the
difference between 'Video', 'Feed' and 'Featured' anyway? This is where the
videos are located - but what is the necessity of categorising them into three
sub-menus? Isn't it enough to have one Videos tab, and put all the videos in
the one place like the old YouTube?
What was wrong with the old YouTube?
It seems these social media giants feel a nagging pressure on the backs of their necks to consistently 'stay with the times' and make their sites look fancy-schmancy with millions of different features. Perhaps it's one big competition on whose got the most technology. And brains.
It seems these social media giants feel a nagging pressure on the backs of their necks to consistently 'stay with the times' and make their sites look fancy-schmancy with millions of different features. Perhaps it's one big competition on whose got the most technology. And brains.
And I'm not trying
to be slanderous here. I'm simply making known the frustrations of a social
networking user to be continuously adapting to these types of changes. Websites
should fulfil the purpose for which they were created. Leave Google as a
search engine. Leave YouTube as a video-sharing site and leave Facebook as a
social networking site.
Now, I may be
wrong, but surely the simplicity of these sites when they first started out was
what made them so globally successful.
Does anyone
remember Myspace?
8 out of 10 could easily say we had one some four or five years ago. And what about now?
8 out of 10 could easily say we had one some four or five years ago. And what about now?
Myspace has 30
million users worldwide.
Facebook has 845
million users worldwide.
Back when Myspace
was at its height, Facebook didn't even exist. In fact, when it came about only
a couple of people that I knew had gotten it. And I refused to make the switch.
Why should I, when Myspace was so awesome? And simple.
It only took a
year or so for everyone to abandon their Myspace accounts and jump to the new
fad which was Facebook. Facebook became like a virtual human magnet.
Now, the reasons
for this have been widely argued by professionals and business-people alike
time and time again. Many of them cannot answer their own questions and come to
the conclusion that Facebook is simply the 'in' thing to have.
As a personal user
of both Myspace and Facebook, I can add some analyses into this equation.
Just as Facebook
began beating Myspace in the march to the finish line of popularity, I noticed
that Myspace began changing rather radically. The entire site got an
overhaul, and your profile was now able to be customized in an array of ways -
from personalization of theme, to personalization of the song you had displayed
to personalization of core layout principles which made up your page.
Facebook, at the
time, was basically a piece of ugly white canvas through which people could
communicate.
If you ask me, no
friggin wonder Facebook overshot Myspace by almost 100%.
Myspace later went
on to add sub-Myspace sites which included Myspace Celebrity, Myspace Fashion,
Myspace Movies, Myspace Television, Myspace Games, Myspace Twats, etc. That
last one was a joke if you hadn't noticed.
Myspace used to be
known as the prime social networking site, and is now known as a 'social
entertainment destination'.
On that note,
Facebook's piece of ugly white canvas is not so ugly anymore. They, too, began
adding features of astronomical purpose to their site. And I don't blame them;
advancement is advancement. Facebook now has many features, the most
significant of which may be the new Timeline. This feature allows posts to be
categorized by time and date, much like blogging sites. It also allows users to
personalize the theme of their page, and how it looks. Sound familiar?
I am in no way opposed to the idea of advancing social networking sites to keep up with technology. I think it shows great innovation and allows us all to move forward in the digital age.
I am in no way opposed to the idea of advancing social networking sites to keep up with technology. I think it shows great innovation and allows us all to move forward in the digital age.
But for God's
sake, keep it simple. Not all of us are computer engineers.
Perhaps we should
be thinking in Leonardo da Vinci's words,
"Simplicity
is the ultimate sophistication."
It goes something like this:
It goes something like this:
-Dahlia
07:36
Greetings, Earthlings.
I've never had a blog before.
I've always wanted to make one, but up until now lacked major guts to do so. To be specific, I've never felt that I was 'expert' enough on any one topic to actually be able to blog about it without coming off as unknowledgeable. Or a tool.
But a newborn blogger's gotta start somewhere, and this is my start.
I'm a 19-year-old Media and Communications student with a specialisation in filmmaking and sound design. I am a massive technology nerd and love anything digital. I enjoy documentary film, philosophy, politics, classical music, English literature, video gaming and science. And I love alien-talk and ufology.
So why, you ask, have I chosen the name 'The Déclassé Life' for my blog?
Well, the answer is simple. The above interests have made me an outcast among many people my age today. While the things that I enjoy appeal to some, they do not align with the interests of the majority from my age group. And instead of hating my life-long stereotype of 'nerd', 'geek', or 'social outcast' I have learnt to embrace these terms and have really grown into them. It took me a lifetime to learn that there is nothing wrong with liking things which are seen as 'outdated' or boring.
I'm going to be blogging about the things that matter to me and the issues that I care about, whilst hopefully appealing to an audience of some sort. I hope others can see my example in utilizing the blog as a free tool to enhance and encourage free speech - or what's left of it in our mirage of a society.
I absolutely love the idea of being able to have people responding to your posts and sharing their views with you. It's the digital age, and it's about time humanity made one very large network of free speech and togetherness..ness..I think that's a word.
So I'm officially 'cutting the ribbon' as they say. I could ramble on about myself in this post but I'd rather have my readers learn about me as I go instead of cramming it all into one post. Because that post would be never-ending.
So please, take a seat and get comfy. I welcome you to the blog of a proud outsider.
I hope you all enjoy The Déclassé Life.
-Dahlia
I've always wanted to make one, but up until now lacked major guts to do so. To be specific, I've never felt that I was 'expert' enough on any one topic to actually be able to blog about it without coming off as unknowledgeable. Or a tool.
But a newborn blogger's gotta start somewhere, and this is my start.
I'm a 19-year-old Media and Communications student with a specialisation in filmmaking and sound design. I am a massive technology nerd and love anything digital. I enjoy documentary film, philosophy, politics, classical music, English literature, video gaming and science. And I love alien-talk and ufology.
So why, you ask, have I chosen the name 'The Déclassé Life' for my blog?
Well, the answer is simple. The above interests have made me an outcast among many people my age today. While the things that I enjoy appeal to some, they do not align with the interests of the majority from my age group. And instead of hating my life-long stereotype of 'nerd', 'geek', or 'social outcast' I have learnt to embrace these terms and have really grown into them. It took me a lifetime to learn that there is nothing wrong with liking things which are seen as 'outdated' or boring.
I'm going to be blogging about the things that matter to me and the issues that I care about, whilst hopefully appealing to an audience of some sort. I hope others can see my example in utilizing the blog as a free tool to enhance and encourage free speech - or what's left of it in our mirage of a society.
I absolutely love the idea of being able to have people responding to your posts and sharing their views with you. It's the digital age, and it's about time humanity made one very large network of free speech and togetherness..ness..I think that's a word.
So I'm officially 'cutting the ribbon' as they say. I could ramble on about myself in this post but I'd rather have my readers learn about me as I go instead of cramming it all into one post. Because that post would be never-ending.
So please, take a seat and get comfy. I welcome you to the blog of a proud outsider.
I hope you all enjoy The Déclassé Life.
-Dahlia
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