Talent: Given or Won?

sometimes I wonder if the intangible thing of talent is a birth-talent, or if it's the product of years of hard determination.

I have heard of those studies, both of the autistic and not, who, at young ages, were able to master techniques usually unheard of until the high school level in visual arts. Yet, Divinci was not born with a pen, painting the mona lisa, or developing his air-crafts. He studied, and learned it through his hard work.

I, myself, have been always honored with a talent when it comes to art. Since elementary school I was always labeled the artist, and honored for the talent I seemed to have. I don't doubt I am a bit gifted- but I think, it is also because I love art that I grew as I did. If you are given a talent, but detest the area, you won't excel.

Yet, I am also a lover of prose. Stories, mainly fantasy (Yes, I'm a scifi nerd!) enthrall me to no end. I can get lost for days in the pages of a good novel, and find that until I finish it, nothing else can tempt me. similarly, I am an avid writer. But I was not always a skilled writer. When I began my love of words around sixth grade, I was, in most respects, a joke. But I grew. I practiced hard, I wrote endlessly every day, I split my imagination into text, and I grew. I became a somewhat-decent writer through this work, and through my constant reading.

So I wonder- is talent something one can conguer, or is it given at birth? Personally, I don't know, but the idea intrigues me.

Japanese Game Shows

I am, completely and throughly amused with Japanese TV-Game shows. In America our game shows often focus on the monetary prize, and the little skill it takes the contestants to get there. For example, I was watching that show Deal or No Deal, where contestants have to first choose a suitcase, which holds a dollar amount between .01$ and a million dollars. Next, they must slowly choose suitcases each round, and eliminate different amounts. Basically, you guess, hope you don't get the million, and at the end of each round the "banker" makes you an offer that you can either take, or keep going, with the hope that the case you chose in the beginning is the million dollar one. This game show, however, is so mindless. anyone can stand on a podium and choose suitcases to open. The only reason they pick the people they do for the show is for the simple fact that they wont stop when it's logical, rather keep going for a dying cause.

Compared to our asian counterparts, our game shows are seriously lacking. Here are some examples of what I mean.

1. This gameshow- (Title of which I don't know, but I've heard it called 'human tetris' pits people on the end of a runway, with a pool behind them. Then, a giant cut-out will slowly start comming close, and the people then have to jump/worm their way through it. If they miss, or get pushed into the pool, they loose. The show, however, is not centered around money, but rather entertainment.


2. On this show... well I don't really know the point, but from what I've percived, contestants run on a treadmill, try to jump over the hurdles, and make it to the end. It looks so terribly exahusting.



3. .....I have no idea what this is. But it's japanese and it's a game show.



(I apologize for their skin-tight outfits.)

Music Post

Now, I am not one to spend hours online browzing for new music; quite the contrary, I can get along fine with just a few CD's of intriguing tunes, but I feel like detailing a reviews for a CD I have just discovered.

Spiral Beach

Their music can best be described, in my limited musical capacity, as a mix between quirky pop tunes, techno effects, a soulful female lead directing the band on most songs. There are the occasional tracks which are sung by a male.

I have yet to listen to their new cd, so I shall review their older one, released in October 31, 2005.

Title: Sprial Beach

Publisher: Independent
Track Listing:

1. New Clouds, Hot Clouds 2. Matches 3. Voodoo 4. Strobe 5. Periscope 6. Philosophy Is My Cat 7. Day OK 8. The Warm Street 9. Gregory's Birthday Box 10. Spiral Beach Goes On Holiday

I found out about this band while going to see the movie "Charlie Bartlet" as they were the band playing at this party he throws in the middle of the movie. If looking for a comparison I'd say they sound somewhat like The Pierces meeting CSS with a slight pop influence.

Sprial Beach is composed of four members:

Daniel Woodhead Maddy Wilde Dorian Wolf Airick Woodhead

(Picture Not Available)

Their website is aviaible here, Go check them out, and take advantage of the free download-able music!

I never really expected to be as effected as I was by a single Japanese exchange student.

When encountering another human- one who, as mine, hardly speaks English- yet finding yourself bonding, is priceless. It is as if, in some ways, you transcend conventional methods of communication, such as speech. Since I am limited in Japanese, and she in English, we found different ways to communicate. Ways that were simple, but fun.

Through simple actions we found ourselves rolling on the floor with laughter, or awing at the other about a talent, or something from their culture. Either way, I found myself attached to her in ways I hadn't expected. I also found myself spurred to learn Japanese fluently.

It was even in simple things- such as me taping a big origami dog head onto a fox's body, or eating cookie dough (something that apparently is unheard of in japan, which is strange because I absolutely adore it!) even consecutively falling at the skating rink.

It was amazing, those 18 days, and I can't wait until I go on the trip in a year and get to see her again. It was just a short time that she was here, but I was moved to tears when she left.

I can't help but realize how lonely it is in the morning now that she's left.

There is something though, something nearly unconscious, that created a bond between us, and that's amazing. Had someone said a random Japanese girl would of come into my life and touched me so, I would of laughed, but I get it now. I only wish she could of stayed longer :(

In school they love for us to read. I inturn, love to read.

But often I find I have such mountians of homework that I do not have the time to read. I want to read, sure, but I don't find time to do it. Recently I checked out the book "Dress Your Family in Courdory and Denim" by David Sedaris. This short, simplistic book took me a month to read because all the times I found I could read, I had to read either an Essay for APLA or another chapter from my never-ending History Book. (I know it's not physically possible, but I think as I read that thing it expands. It's all 'Hey look, someones reading, lets torture them!) It's not fun.

However, on the same note, i cannot read a thriller at this time. I did a few weeks ago with some books by Brandon Sanderson, and every free moment I devoured it- and in turn, didn't get to my homework. It was great, sure, but it caused me to procrastinate. Not out of choice, but out of that fact tht i couldn't put it down.

I'm just nervous for next year when I have to read a ton for APLIT at night. Not only a lot, but from long, boring books. :(

I just want to graduate now and go on a week haitus to read constantly.

First off, I would like to make a point that is bugging me; a point that I think effects people beyond me. It's more than a personal peeve; it's a topical complaint.

For those of you who don't know, a new proclamation has been made in lieu of a few disrespectful individuals. This is, anyone who is not "enrolled" in band cannot sit in the band hallway at lunch. This, to me, is ludicrous.

First of all, it is a HALLWAY, one cannot ban a kid from standing in the hallway. I could see if it were the band room, but it's not- its the hallway.

Second, it's simple segregation. (Which I know sounds lame, but bear with me,) Say your in science, you love science- your an ace at AP Chemistry. However, they don't let you eat in the science hallway. The only way to get out of the Lunch-room Nazi's gaze is if you say your eating in the band room. How then can they say "only band people" when people of other classes don't have a place they can go? At the very basic level, it's unfair. At a higher level, it's discriminatory. For me, all my lunch-mates are a member of band. I'm not. Because of that small detail I can't sit in a hallway?

Third, there is no room in the lunch room! If given the choice to gather with friends, in a slightly quieter space to enjoy lunch, wouldn't you take it? I can honestly say If I'm forced to leave, I'm not afraid to start anything to counter this. Petitions, a group sit in, whatever it takes. It doesn't make sense. I have only thirty short minutes a day to enjoy with my friends, and The Dragon Of the Hobbit is attempting to take that away from me?

I won't stand for it. It's a freakin' hall way.

Research, part two

This is my second post on my research topic. As I stated before, my first topic of self-cannibalism proved a dud. There was very little to be found on it, so I've decided to change my topic to that of the Nazi's "Human Experimentation" or their medical research in the death camps.

As of yet I have a few questions/paths I could use with the the idea. I thought of the popular topic of if we can use these documents as legitimate sources of research, considering how they were found. Yet, it seems there are MANY papers that address this issue, so I don't particularly want to do it.

I started my research of this with Wikipedia- rather, I got a broad idea of it though it, and used it to link me to other useful sources. However, my initial interest in this topic is due to my project for National History Day in 6th grade when I studied the holocaust- unfortunately, I never read much on the experiments seeing as I was both young and it was a broad topic to cover.

WHen beginning my investigation into this study, I was fascinated by the man Josef Mengele, and his infamous study on twins during the holocaust. The brutality of these, combined with stories of the survivors of this man's torture- how he killed over 3000 twins in his time at Auschwitz- are truly fascinating, and I think I might want to focus on these.

However, I have also looked into other methods of "human experimentation" during this time. These range from the terrors at Dauchu, both the Low-Temperature Experiments, and the High-Altitude Experiments, both of which were used to further investigation on how to keep the German soldiers alive better on the field.
One of the most interesting topics to me is both the idea of the T-4 program that dealt with killing/sterilizing the mentally ill, and using similar techniques in the concentration camps. The Nazi's used such horrific practices to get these results... but at the same time, they make break throughes in the area of hypothermia.


I also have one more question. If the Nazi's were so bent on exterminating Jews, why didn't they just kill them all? Why did they subject so many to a half-life of work and little food? It's hard to imagine that the work they did truly did much help in the end, considering their state.

ANyway, thats my research topic, and now I have the task of narrowing it down to a specific category, though I'm leaning towards Joseph Mengele's twin studies.

Research

When Fall trimester ended, the very afternoon I got home, I was flipping channels and found a three-hour segment on Cannibalism. Now, most people would probably turn away from this, but I was completely, and totally, intrigued. I sat there lifeless for those three hours, watching as it went into the history of famous cannibals (The urgagray soccer team, the donor party) and how it had others I hadn't heard of too (Some men at the bay of pigs that got stranded, A ship headed for America that got lost for some two months- In this one, they first shot the slave, stating he was "part of their cargo" and next had to choose lots on who would be shot and eaten next. This guy got picked, but seeing as the whole crew liked him, gave him one night. That night they were rescued, but their "intended" target went mad from the sheer thought- and was mad until he died. This show, which runs on the history channel, is what first got me interested in the idea of cannibalism for a topic of further research. (You can find a description of the show here)

Now I don't merely want to do the history of it- I learned that from this show, and it'd be boring to research it again.

I thought for a bit I'd do Self-cannibalism. Or Autocannibalism, given the name you assign to it, but there is very few sources available out there. when looking, I started with Wikipedia as my jumping off point, and found a link to this story about a man who served his own fat to guests for dinner. Ew. I also tired Ebsco host a bit, but there was very little on it- what I did find, they didn't even have the full text, just the title- basically, it was pointless.

This means, I can't do my original idea of self-cannibalism, and instead I am contemplating keeping with cannibalism, and trying to research the physce of what these people go through when they eat/after they've eaten people, or, if that too is fruitless, go with my next topic: Nazi Medical research in the death camps.

I realize these are both gross topics, but they interest me. Mainly because they are disgusting.

I won't just detail what the Nazi's did, but seeing as I spent hours researching a dead topic, I'll have to start over. When I do compose a good topic, I'll post again... May I could do an ethical question about it, like if the research is- while being collected in a horrible fashion- beneficial to the medical world?

Japanese Girl Part 2.

So she's here. My Japanese girl. In some ways it's compeletly and totally awkard. I'm afraid too, once we've finished introductions like "Hi, look at this, look at this" I'm not going to know what to do with her. I mean, I showed her my anime, which she loved, and I showed her my "Seventeen" magazine which she enjoyed looking at the pictures in. She's also amused watching me play my DS, "Pokemon Diamond" to be exact. According to her, the music/and scenario is the same in Japan. Though all the Pokemon have different names.

Such as. The Pokemon above is called, in the English version of the game, Cleffa. (Then Clefairy, then Clefable I think, as it evolves) But in the Japanese version it's name is Pi. So, when my Japanese girl said 'I love Pi!" it kind of threw me for a second. But it's also my favorite Pokemon too! Yay for cross-continental likes!

It is fun though. I'm really glad we chose to do this (host a student). The only downside is that at this moment my moms in a hospital with her gallbladder out. Which, I learned in Japanese is "ShuJuzu" Like Shoe, Juu, like in Juice, and Zu, like Zoo.

I also learned how to make origami swans. Only they kind of come out retarded because I can't fold anything straight. I get the first few folds correct, and then blggth. I mess it up a little and it comes out with an uneven head. Poor crane.

I also introduced her to sledding, which was fun, and we made a snow dog, though it's face has fallen off. :(

A Theory and a Movie

It is said that people only use about 10% of their brains at their maximum. This means that when Albert Einstein was developing the theory of relativity, he was only using about 10% of the total amount he could use. It makes one think that, if people were able to harness that last 90% what we might be able to accomplish. Some have said that if we were able to use all of our brains, we could levitate.

Now, I don't think this theory is wrong or right. I don't know if it is or not. I do though, think I know part of the reason that we don't use our whole brains. It is simply, I think, emotions.

How many times have you been unwilling to finish homework because you were sad, or depressed at something that had happened? What if you were continually always happy? And that emotion wasn't a block for your logical output- couldn't it be that then one might be able to better harvest the potential of their minds?

Now I'm not saying that emotion is bad; in fact, without it, life might be very unfulfilling. Emotions drive art- without it, someone of the greatest masterpieces both of pen and paint may not of been constructed- but I think, in some ways, they tend to hurt us. Love is grand, people continually say that, but how many people truly have a perfect relationship? And if it's not perfect, then there's sadness, and with that downtrodden emotion, people are less inclined to function to their potential.

Under emotion one may also classify spiritual beliefs. I'm not about to rally against believing in something, nor try to disprove it- I am merely making a point I thought of.

During the dark ages, when the world was suppressed by the Catholic Church, growth in science was severely limited. What if we had started the snowball of technology then that we did 2000 years later? What if we had taken away those years of repression by an intangible thing and used to create something tangible? Where would we be in technology? Would we laugh at our grandparents for boasting how cool their iphones were, for we have microchips just implanted at birth? No one can say, but I think one could label such a block as emotion as well.

Religion is good for some people- I realize that- but at the same time, where would we be if we all focused on science?

On a complete side note I watched the Darjeeling Limited this weekend with Owen Wilson, Adrian Brody and Jason Schwartzman. It's amazing. I'd recommend it for anyone who wants a quirky comedy. It's not really a laugh-out-loud comedy like Juno or anything, but it makes you just kinda laugh and smile on the inside.

Japanese Girl

On Sunday my family will receive a Japanese Girl (Her name's Yurika) to live with us for the duration of two weeks. It's nerve racking! I'm freaking out about small things I never used to think about.

I wake up every morning and I usually eat, and then spend like 30 minutes in the bathroom, either getting dressed, doing my hair, etc, and I just realize I'll have to share it with her, which will totally disrupt my way of life. Now, I'm pretty flexible. When our plane to Washington DC was delayed for twelve hours this summer, I was fine. If my friend suddenly cancels plans, I don't view it as the ultimate end of the world.

But I've never lived with someone who doesn't really speak English. Well, she does, but only "moderately". And I don't speak Japanese. At least not much.

I do think it will be fun- I love to meet people- but it's also just so nerve racking to think about. My family eats such picky, odd meals. I'm a huge picky eater, my dad's a vegetarian, and my mom then has to cook around that, which only gives her a few meals to make.

My teacher also mentioned Japanese people, if you tell them to "help themselves to the kitchen" they wont. I'm somewhat the same, sure, but I'm wont go as far as to not eat because I don't want to get food from the kitchen...

SO much for people gaining weight here!

In other news, my mom's friend dropped off her dog to stay for the day/night when they go to the football game. And, it seems, her dog has teached mine how to... do certain physical activities involved in reproducing.

What fun.

Research Topics

For the research essay we are doing in APLA, here are my purposed three topics.

+ Plastic Surgery - The effects, and consequences that come from the implantantation of silicone
+ Human Slave Trade- How it is still going on today/ polices, problems, ect. of it.
+ Cannibalism- Self-Cannibalism/as a weapon, or through starvation, ect. Basically, just humans eating humans.

Right now I'm most interested in the third topic, mainly because I once watched a 3-hour long segment on cannibilism on the Discovery Channel. :)

A Grapefruit's Introduction

I have never before started a blog. I had, at one time, a live journal (but then again who didn't?) But I rarely, if ever updated it. I can remember of the three posts I did in the last year, one was continually listing a person's name (mainly because he was coming to town and I was excited), one detailed my exam reports from the AP test I took, and one was simply an excerpt of creative writing I did for fun.

Basically, when it came to actual blogging, I was a horrible criminal. I ignored it often, and never found the idea of posting my feelings online for the world to see as appealing- in any way shape or form.

I also don't have any real shockign feelings to share.

SO this blog is not a journal of my emotions. Rather, it will probably be a space for me to rant. Or brag, or glorify something that happened to me. It may also, very possibly, be a canvas for me to relate my dreams.

Once, I read this study on how cheese effects yoru dreams. It's crazy! These people gave their human-guneia pigs cheese about ten miniutes before bed, and then recorded their dreams they had. To sum it up, if you want interesting ones, then chedder's your choice.

I have yet to try this, but I will someday soon. I love cheese. And I love dreaming. Infact, a dream of cheese might very well be euphoria for me.

Anyway, this is not a blog for comfort. If you need someone to hold you, I'd buy a hooker, because I'm not going to run on about fluffy emotions. I may detail my life a bit, here and then, but that's about the whole of it.

I just hope this blog turns out better than my last. I don't think my teacher would appreciate me writing a 600 word entry with one person's name. No matter how cute I thought they were.

Also, P.S. I guess, if you havent noticed, I love grapefruit too.