Fridays with DaNte - 4th Post... or 5th? I forgot... hmm

FRIDAYS WITH DANTE!
28 - 9 - 2007

Well its another Friday! It's just another Friday until our first holiday! wheeeee aren't you excited? I'm pretty sure everyone is expecting the holidays after a term of arduous and abundant assignments. Anyway, I just want to tell you all about the new format of 'What Would Jessica Do Blog'. Our members will write a certain story, and the next day the other member will continue the preceding member's story. This change of format is temporarily, though, however we haven't decided the duration of this temporary change. I, Dante the mighty, will start the so-called 'chain story' and my dear blog members will continue the story!

Erratic Picture of the Day

The male brain...

Auspicious Quotes

"Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle." Plato

It's true! Especially for us IB victims T_T

Word of the Day

Folly - a stupid mistake

THE CHAIN STORY!

The Beginning...

I walked hastily through the empty hallways as time ticks it's seconds away. In a few seconds, I will be sentenced for a punishment. In a few seconds, I may ruin my fame. In a few seconds, my notoriety amongst the authorities will arise. Now I am sprinting to my limit, hoping that I will make it in time. I was breathing heavily and my heart was racing rapidly. The loud sound of my steps echoed throughout the hallways. I reached the somewhat ominous double green door and I abruptly opened it. It was too late. The people was assembled, sitting uniformly side by side and it was serene. "You're late," the huge person standing in front said.
"But it was only a few seconds! It doesn't matter!" I replied.
"No, you had your chances earlier, now you are not forgiven,"
"Oh please! Spare me! I've had enough punishment," I pleaded desperately.
"I warned you yesterday already! Today is your last chance. Today is your level 2 law violation and hence you will receive an extended punishment. Similar to the one you always receive, but this lasts longer,"
"Oh no..." I moaned.
"Now sit down and listen, do not interfere my session anymore,"
I am doomed. I have infringed level 2 rule twice, and I am on the verge of temporary abeyance. Well, I guess it's my own mistake. I should have woken up earlier every morning and slept earlier too. My colleagues near me laughed at me for receiving a temporary abeyance. I sat down quietly and tried to listen to the authority addressing his believes. However, time seems to much slower and seconds after seconds, my vision blurred and narrowed down. "Kwan! Wake up and listen!" the authority raised his voice.
"I've had enough of you Kwan McDonny! You have shown extreme tardiness, your performance dropped and all you do in class is sleep!" he said irately.
" Sorry Mr. Olwen," I said in an apologetic manner.
"You better," and he continued his speech.
Well, this is my everyday homeroom moments in the Shining Hope School. It is very gloomy, prosaic and unproductive. They kill you slowly with their so-called "International Diplomatic Intelligence Organization of Texas", or IDIOT for short. Most of the teachers bombard you with assignments and tests, without even thinking about your social life or your leisure time. The assignments are evaluated and graded by them with very demanding criteria and tests consists myriad of topics, stuffed together into a single test paper. The most sadistic and unmerciful of them all is the mathematics, led by two dispassionate gods of numbers named Mr. Ancient Edwards and Mr. Wheer Thomas. Oh darn, and the first period of the day is mathematics. I am screwed....



MY DEAR BLOGMATES! CONTINUE THE STORY :D sorry if the story was not interesting.

Joke of the Day

A Couple Of Blondies

A blond is driving down the road. She notices that she's low on gas so she stops at the gas station.

While she's pumping her gas, she notices that she locked the keys in the car. So when she goes inside to pay, she asks the attendant for a hanger so she can attempt to open the door herself. She goes outside and begins to jimmy the lock.

Ten minutes later, the attendant goes outside to see how the blond is faring. The blond outside of the car is moving the hanger around and around, while the blond inside of the car is saying, "A little more to the left...a little more to the right!"

Ms. Jess! Please do not feel insulted :D

Laudable Taste of Masterpiece

“Laudable Taste of Masterpiece”

Due to the fact that no issue is being perceived in my mind lately, added with no argumentations of theories and lifestyles, the blog below will not consist of critical thinking or intricate vocabularies. This is unfortunately due to the hectic days with unanticipated series of unfortunate events happening.

Last Friday, I was requested by a friend to aid her in her biology lab report concerning the rate of diffusion. This particular friend is quite incapable in subject areas of all sciences (physics, chemistry, biology and probably even other sciences such as aeronautical science and computer science) as well as mathematics. Even more, she claims to be having minute complexity in dealing with her fine English abilities. Nonetheless, this finicky academic failure ( --“ joking) has invited me to a late lunch on the following day in gratitude for enhancing her biology lab report.

It was a fine ordinary day on Saturday. I followed my routine in going to school to attend the badminton afterschool that is held from eight until ten in the morning. My first unfortunate event happens after badminton practice when I played the bicycle into doing drifts around the school paths. Yes, this is also to investigate circular motion pertaining to the subtopic of ‘Motion’ in Physics. As I tilt the bicycle on a sharp turn, the stand was flicked due to the friction of the ground causing the bicycle to leap towards the air and landed on my right leg leaving quite significant scars. Though there is no notable physical pain, it has become quite difficult to walk, when your other leg had just experienced muscle cramps.

I literally had lunch with goats. (The term ‘goat’ is used to identify a double humanities student; quoted from beloved Pak Wiryanto) It was somewhat a celebration in completing the biology lab report where all the rest of the people are students of a double humanity. Time flies when you enjoy eating authentic western food (with exceptionally high prices) By the end of the main course, the “skillet” was served.

Yes, “skillet” - few days before, this word was introduced by the same particular friend followed by the saying that “if one has not tasted skillet, one has not live” or the like. I on the other hand have no idea what “skillet” is. Is it fish? Fruit? Meat? Dessert probably? This was kept enigmatic until that very lunch.

The skillet is a very unique dessert. To elaborate, it is hot chocolate cookie dough with a scoop of cold vanilla ice cream and additional chocolate syrup topping. I asked this particular friend to feed me and this was the description as well as the impression of the first taste:

“The four centimeter curved diameter of the silver stainless steel spoon was first contact with the irregularly drooling tongue. Then on above it is the soft and tender burning cookie dough melting one’s tongue causing the silver stainless steel spoon to lose its taste and finally the shivering cold vanilla ice cream with lines of temperate chocolate syrup having intact with my sensitive back teeth, causing some brain signals of how excruciating it is yet the flavor is densely thick with chocolate that when swallowed, the throat experiences peculiar feeling of both hot and cold substances of densely rich chocolate flavor.”

In correlation to the movie Ratatouille where taste is identified through a single rhythm of an instrument, and when combined with another food causes what we classified as music. The skillet sounds like a dense elegant harmonious orchestra of both a serene feeling and agitated tempo; respectively. The taste of the skillet truly is wonderful…

This would probably sum up one of the events in my recent weekend, may the next blog return to be a critical thinking piece of writing. Thus, Tuesdays with Jesse

Of Life and Futility

7.57 PM. Here I am, settling down to my somewhat cushioned chair, typing on my worn out keyboard. Songs performed by singers and bands such as Sufjan Stevens and A Fine Frenzy quietly fills the chilly air, as though warming the room. It’s quite late at night, and I haven’t finished all of my homework. A scary thought, as I have 17 assignments to be completed over the next week. How I am going to survive IB, I still don’t know. I sip my coffee tenderly, letting the comforting drink run slowly down my throat. As sad as it sounds, coffee serves as my ultimate IB companion.

Despite the mounting piles of work that needs to be done, I don’t stop my mind from wandering away. I love reminiscing the “good ol’ times” - periods when homework wasn’t an issue to us students, when tag was the “it” game for lunch breaks, when sleeping early was still an option (although I rarely seize this opportunity; I was such a fool - these days I would die to obtain a decent night of sleep). Such memories lift my heart laden with tense and fearful thoughts of school, social politics, the future, and what not.

Reality sucks, does it not? I wish such a place like Neverland really do exist, for I would love to forever dwell in it. We all have to go through so many obstacles in our real lives. For example, IB is one heck of an obstacle I would never wish even upon my most hated enemies. All those dramas concerning friendship, all those issues we have within our family makes me wonder if life is worth it. As a melancholic person, I use to be a perfectionist. A single blunder on a school project can reduce me literally to tears. However, I have come to realize that none of the things I use to care will matter in the future. Will receiving the highest grade for a particular biology test matter in the future? Is being dubbed as “the most popular girl” in high school significant in a decade’s time? I think not. So why are we all striving for these futile and worthless goals? Who cares about IB, who cares about high school, who cares about life?

Random story: A friend of mine Edward and I had this conversation a while ago. I told him I was feeling suicidal, and would love to jump off from a bridge. He told me to call him if I ever decide to do such a thing. If he couldn’t persuade me otherwise, he’d jump off with me. Not a bad deal, huh? Kidding. Although I would love to disappear from all the crappiness this current world, I do still care about my afterlife, thankyouverymuch :)

(Note to Ms.Jess: Although this is Sunday afternoon, I wrote this blog around Thursday night. I’m sorry I had posted this so late during the week – I didn’t have the time to post on Friday and Saturday. Lame excuse, I know.. I’ll try my best to be on time next time!)

Fridays with DaNte - 4th Post 21-09-2007

Fridays with DaNte!
21-09-2007

It's another Friday! Time surely flows very hastily. Events occur one after another, creating an instantaneous kaleidoscope . Next week will be a very preoccupying week for me. A throng of homeworks and tests are due on the upcoming week. Anyway, let us begin!

Erratic Picture of the Day

WARNING! PG +13 CONTENT!

Auspicious Quotes

"Dream no small dreams. They have no power to stir the souls of men."

Victor Hugo

Word of the Day

Ineptitude (noun) - unskillfulness resulting from a lack of training

Topic of the Day

A Big Mistake!
Part 1

I would like to share with my respected audience about my personal experience. I do hope this can be beneficial for all of you. The story that I want to share with all of you is one of the biggest mistake I've ever done in my whole life. It was an aberration that I regretted. The remorse will remain in my memories until the last brain cell vanishes. I am hoping that all of you may not repeat the mistake that I did, and will do better than I do.

It was kindergarten. I was an innocent, cuddly and cute adolescent. I had not witness the pain and sorrows of life, nor the joviality and alluring sins of the world. All I could think of is meddling around and sit in front of the TV for hours, watching cartoons all day. As I was naive at the time and all I could think of is my demands, I often became irate and frantic when my demands are unfulfilled imminently. I would weep and scream to the top of my nose just to satisfy my needs. This would soon be a big mistake of mine. My selfishness, greed and ungratefulness will bring me notoriety and abasement.

As I walked through the gates of my kindergarten to go home, I saw a girl. She was a cute and attractive girl. I still could remember vaguely up until this present time. Her name was Jessica. I was attracted to her, somehow. I guess it's what people call 'puppy love'. Her looks attracted me and I had the intention to approach her. However, I was a bit shy at the time. But after jettisoning my fear and doubts away, I came and stood next to her.

I REMEMBERED THE CONVERSATION VERY ELUSIVELY... SO IT'S NOT 100% TRUE

"Hey, what's your name?" I asked.
"Jessica," she answered calmly.
"Want to be my friend?" I asked enthusiastically.
I waited for the reply.
"No,"

Her reply was firm and steadfast. She didn't say anything afterwards. I stood next to her in silence and my emotions stormed wildly. I didn't know what I was doing. Before I could think of what to do or what to say, my body reacted faster than my brain. It acted on it's own will. My fist was penetrating the air, and eventually collided with the girl's stomach. The girl cringed in pain, with her hands trying to forebear the pain in the stomach. A teacher saw my misdemeanor, but she prioritized the excruciated little girl. I went home quickly.

The next day her mother came to the school. She saw me and she poured all her emotions on me. She showered me with wrathful statements, and reproached at me for my misconduct. I stood in a corner, crowded by the tumultuous crowd who were curious of the lady's contemptuous remarks. I thought to myself, "What have I done?" "What is wrong with me?". I regretted my actions and asked myself why did I do that.

I was dominated with my emotions, and as I said, I demanded for people to fulfill my needs. I was irate of the sense of rejection I felt. Since then, I became more docile and less demanding. I also learned to treat a girl in a gentleman manner. Fortunately for me, the girl decided to condone me for my misbehavior and befriend me. It became a tremendous turning point of mine, and I became an entirely new boy.

People! Please learn from this foolish mistake of mine. Do not be selfish, and be immature by demanding everything you want and becoming irate if you are rejected. And always remember, NEVER HIT A GIRL LIKE I DID!

Joke of the Day

A young man asked an old rich man how he made his money.

The old guy fingered his worsted wool vest and said, "Well, son, it was 1932. The depth of the Great Depression. I was down to my last nickel.

"I invested that nickel in an apple. I spent the entire day polishing the apple and, at the end of the day, I sold the apple for ten cents.

"The next morning, I invested those ten cents in two apples. I spent the entire day polishing them and sold them at 5:00 pm for 20 cents. I continued this system for a month, by the end of which I'd accumulated a fortune of $1.37."

"And that's how you built an empire?" the boy asked.

"Heavens, no!" the man replied. "Then my wife's father died and left us two million dollars."

DaNte

Inauguration of the Creation

Tuesdays with Jesse

“Inauguration of the Creation”

Ranging across human’s exponentially rising intelligence and reasoning comes across one of the most debatable topics obfuscated through their individual plausible thinking; the creation of the world. Both scientists and believers, the two most distinctive types of reasoning has sought higher into the realm of philosophy to obtain what is true, or more precise, what they believe is to be true. How can we be sure of which is true when both sides have immense proofs yet tenacious enough in not accepting others’ input.

From a religious perspective, as Christian, it is written in Genesis that in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Within the next seven days, he managed to give details and enhancements through his omnipotent supremacy. Questions then arises of why God wanted to create the world and humans followed by remarks such as an ordeal saying that God’s omniscient fixation would allow him to know that the would he created perfectly would fall into sin. It is blatant that we certainly do no know why God would create a world potential of having sin. Some say that it was due to tedium that brought God into creating the world. But some also cannot rebut this statement by saying that we should not question God’s authority; if he wanted to create a world, though he know there would be sin, then let him so. A simpler interpretation would be if we would like to cut something out of paper, even if we know it would not be perfectly straight, it would not stop our own authority in wanting to cut it. Nonetheless, this view is in contrast to what science should say.

Evolutionists, or generally scientists would likely reason the world through facts; plausible facts, of course. They presume that the knowledge they obtained through science would reveal the past itself. The innumerable laws contained in the realm of physics in account with the principles of atomic relationships in chemistry; all these were deduced to the “fact” that the world was created through the notorious “Big Bang” that ensues approximately millions of years ago. Additionally, with the assumption where the empty universe started with nothing but an unstable point of energy (stable for eternity, but then explodes) expanding filling up the everlasting space. This is of course, chemically impossible, for a chemical reaction would most likely react instantaneously. In accordance to the findings of Penzias and Wilson (1965), a static model of the universe was undermined by the ‘3k hum’ of an unidentified background noise and a hydrogen atom. Their finding and the correlation with the laws of physics and chemistry awarded them with an accolade of a Nobel prize. Referring to this, a hydrogen atom is chemically unstable where it needs to react with another element with opposing force of energy. Then what was the force of energy? It is concluded to be God himself; at least, for some religious scientists. Many other forms of science tried to reason the enigma of our world. Thus, still ensues the strives of human knowledge for the future.

To end the discussion, it would be quite reprehensible to be credulous in one of the two descriptions above or to ignore them. Take a moment to think critically and take there two, both plausible remarks into account. I myself believed partially on both. For I consider my truth to be that God created the would through the Big Bang that lasted seven days (Yes, this means that I believe that God intentionally created the Big Bang himself, but contrary to what scientists thought of being millions of years, the omnipotent God, would be able to shorten the time, or maybe even because his time adjustments are different than us humans). Whatever or wherever your truths lies, be ensured that you know you have the right to have the faculty of wonder of your whole existence; in this period of time, in this would, in this whole cryptic fixation.

“The only thing we require to be good philosophers is the faculty of wonder.” – Sophie’s World

quizzes - I AM BORED

You Are Somewhat Mature

You definitely act like an adult sometimes, but a big part of you is still a kid at heart. While your immature side is definitely fun, you're going to have to grow up sooner or later.

Are You Immature?

Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman

Inside you've got the passion and ideals of a teenager And your intensity for life is what attracts most of the men you date You also like to party - and quite often you're the life of the party You've brought the best of your younger years with you... at least most of the time.

Are You A Girl Or a Woman?

The Painter of Our Life: Our Friends!

If the memories of our life are visualized into a humongous library, I'm sure that one of the biggest section in our library is our friendship memoirs.

Everybody has a friend, even though he/she is good, bad, hyperactive or weird, there is always someone that God has destined to be our friend. Someone who can make you smile during your gloomy days, someone who will always protect you from the bitterness of life, someone whose hand is always ready to grab you when you almost tripped on the stony stairs, someone who will always there when you want to play badminton. In fact, without friendship no one can survive in this world - Even God created us because he was lonely! Come to think of it, the world itself forces us to have friends by not providing any works that can be done alone (even solving math problems requires more than one people to get better understanding).

Friendship is the strangest, the silliest and the sweetest thing that can happened to our lives. It is the reason why we and our friends set fireworks behind annoying adults and after so many years, we burst in laughter instead of feeling bad for the adults. It is also the reason why we know how to cry when someone we love are departing with us. Can you actually imagine our life's history without friend? Study, Work, and Die Young !

Friendship is also unique for it occurred naturally and began with unexpected and unpredicted beginnings, just like a rain during summer. Some friendships happened because of similar hobbies, some happened because of serendipities, and some happened just seconds after they met. For instance, I became best friends with my friend just before the end of homeroom session in the first day of school. I also became best friends with my other friend because he (i think) was forced by Miss Renelyn to guide me during my first days in SPH...hahaha. It is quite weird, but when I think about it, I never regret these "incidents" for now it has blossomed into a flower whose petals give color to my life that once was monochromatic. Now think about your best friends and glance back to the first time you guys met each other...I'm sure that you'll be engulfed with laughter and will eventually remembered about all the silly things that you did - silly things that actually makes your friendship tighter and unforgettable.
At certain times, maybe things fall apart between our friendships. Yet, I think those times are when our friendship is being tested for true friends will always stick like a magnet. Misconception is compulsory within each friendship. When this happened talk about it nicely with each other; by doing so we can understand more about each other's feeling and will establish a tighter bond.

Stick with your friends as often as possible, smile, laugh, hug them every time you see them if you must! Do remember that high school years are the golden years of our lives and ours is nearly reaches its end (about 2 more years). Once we are graduated, separate paths will be taken and there is a very VERY low probability that we can spend our time with our best friends. After graduation maybe we could weep everyday whenever we take a look on our yearbook or high school pictures. So enjoy all the time in high school with your friends while you still be able to see their face at least 8 hours per day, make as many memories as possible (hangout, sleepover, study group, do sports, etc), don't just stay at your house and do IB homeworks everyday. Yes, your academic report cards will be outstanding but is it worthed to sacrifice your friends just for that?

Love your friends and get crazy or silly together - all actions are considered wonderful in friendship. Little by little these actions will produce lump of colors that will eventually burst and decorate our pale heart. Amongst the vibrant scenery, lies a subtle phrase in the middle of our heart - "Painted by: My Friends"

Fridays with DaNte - 3rd Post

Fridays with DaNte!!! 14-9-2007

It's another Friday! Time flows very quickly and impatiently. Somehow this week felt instantaneous... Maybe it's because I was preoccupied 24/7. For your information, I slept at 2:00 or 3:00 AM twice this week. I am suffering from lassitude and sleeping sounds very tempting now. However! I'd like to finish my responsibilities before I call it a day. So lets begin!

Erratic Picture of the Day!

That looks nice...

Auspicious Quotes
"Try not to become a man of success but rather to become a man of value" Albert Einstein

Word of the Day

Intangible (adj) - not definite or clear to the mind. Synonyms: impalpable, indiscernible, incoherent, subtle

Core Topic of the Day

Complete Absolution or Absolute Condemnation?
Note: I am only writing only for sheer interest and I do not mean to be so pious or devout.

Have you ever thought what real justice is? A complete absolution or an absolute condemnation of delinquents? Law departments in most countries of the world believe in absolute condemnation, which was to condemn and punish all the crimes of the antagonists of the society with death sentence. Some countries started to alter the policy, and condone the antagonists by giving them a life sentence, or an ephemeral prison life. Which one is better?
This thought was aroused after reading an addictive and alluring comic book called 'Death Note'. The story in this comic was about a lad who accidentally obtained a notebook from an obscure realm which instantly kills people if their name was written in the notebook. He believed that all criminals should be condemned to death in order to stop the crime spree in the society. Thus he started to assassinate the criminals one by one, casting fear in the minds of society. An aptitude, eccentric, erudite and prominent investigator with the initial 'L' was summoned by the law department in order to end the massacre of criminals. 'L' and the law factions believed 'Kira', or the killer, shouldn't kill those criminals, because some have done minor infringements. Many battles of acumen and wits occurred between these opposing characters, and finally it resulted in the death of 'L'. However, as a quote said that 'justice always prevails', a successor of 'L' named 'Near' continued the scholarly and strategic battle against the so called 'God of the New World'. The owner of the Death Note became so ambitious and obsessed, and even sacrificed his father to continue his streak as a god. In the end, the owner of the Death Note was killed with the ominous Death Note by the Death God, who originally owned the deleterious notebook.

From this intriguing comic book I was enlightened about facts of 'Complete Absolution or Absolute Condemnation'. In my personal opinion, I believe in complete absolution. As imperfect human beings all of us deserves a second chance. I also believe that God commands us to forgive each other and have compassion. Again, as human beings we all make mistakes. We are forgiven, yet we keep on repeating over and over again our old misdemeanor. Sometimes in the society, absolution will not work. If that happens, the last resort will be condemnation. With fear of death and fear of spending the rest of their poor souls behind the cold, ominous cells, criminals will subdue their malice and aversion. In this case, condemnation seems to be the dominating and effective way.
On the other hand, the Bible mentioned that we do not have the right to seize other people's lives. Only God has the complete control of the lives of His creation. We, as His creation, are made to collaborate with each other to glorify His name, NOT to seize and deteriorate each other's lives. This stipulates that condemnation is morally and spiritually wrong, if we set the Bible as the basis of our mindset. I also believe that we shouldn't take people's lives, and as mentioned, every single one of us deserves a second chance, no matter what misdemeanor and mischievous acts we have done. If they keep on repeating the mistakes they had done, let the higher beings, be it God or whatever god or goddess or deity (I personally believe God) up there to unleash their divine retribution upon the delinquents. Our job in this world is only to condone each other and aid them to be a better person.
Why bother forgiving when ending their lives are easier? Excluding the fact that all of us came from different cultural or spiritual backgrounds, all humans think that they deserve to live. Even atheists still defend another people's poor soul. In a morally correct and refined society, most of the times the higher authorities ensure the safety and equal lives of the denizens. This means that even criminals still deserve the right to live, ignoring their sins and malice. However, even mercy has its limits. Suppose the law-breaker did a stupendous nefarious act, the authorities will rescind their mercy and condemn the sinner to death.
Despite their efforts to devoid crime from the society, crime rates are still climbing its way to its orgastic hectic. Everyday newspapers emphatically display news about people dying, drug-addicts convicted, rapists captured, children abducted, and so on. The Georgia Crime Rate fluctuated from the preceding year. Sometimes they rise, sometimes they decrease. Australia's crime rate rose for about 50% in 17 years. Can our future generation and successors live in peace? Can our generation unbound us from this endless sanguinary tragedy? How can we eliminate the uncertainty of a protected and peaceful future?
My personal opinion is to condone law-breakers, for we all imperfect beings make mistakes. Only God has the power over humans lives. However, sometimes the world won't just appreciate the mercy and grace, unless death or life sentence is upon them. What do you think?

Joke of the Day!

One Hump Or Two? A very respected Captain in the foreign legion was transferred to a remote desert outpost. On his orientation tour he noticed a very old, seedy-looking camel tied out behind the enlisted men's barracks. He asked the Sergeant leading the tour, "Why is a camel tied to the barracks?" The Sergeant replied, "Well sir, it's a long way from anywhere, and the men have natural sexual urges, so when they do ... uh ... we have the camel." The Captain said, "Well, I suppose if it's good for morale, then I guess it's all right with me." After he had been stationed at the fort for six long, lonely months, the Captain simply couldn't control his sexual angst any longer. He barked to his Sergeant: "BRING THE CAMEL INTO MY TENT!" The Sergeant shrugged his shoulders, looked at the other men, and lead the camel into the Captain's quarters. Within a few minutes, the Captain emerged from his tent, fastening his trousers, almost beaming with pride. "So, Sergeant, is that how the enlisted men do it?" he asked. The Sergeant replied, "Well, sir, they usually just use it to ride into town."

DaNte

The Letdown

In the midst of the secluded yet bustling city, a poor, barefooted boy toddled lightly towards the morning local market. Step by step, he cautiously entered the crowded place. A gust of dusty, hot air blew in against the dirty site filled with goats, cows, and the occasional monkeys. The dust and humidity merged into a sickly paste on the little boy’s face. He wiped it with the back of his hand as he continued to head toward the stalls which sold an assortment of wheat and bread.

He halted. Gazing around his surroundings with a pair of empty and hollow eyes, he knew that he was invisible among what seemed to be hundreds of market visitors. They came to sell, to buy, or to trade various products ranging from food, live animals, to household goods. To the far left, exotic silks and beaded fabrics from abroad were hung vibrantly by merchants to attract potential customers. But the little boy was not interested in those. Instead, he faced the other direction, slipped quietly behind a cluster of storage barrels, leaving no trace behind.

As the little boy crouched in hiding, his bones conspicuously stood out from his ribs and spine like daggers longing to stab through his flesh and skin. His limbs were so frail and thin, that it may snap at any moment. Peering through the gaps of the storage barrels, he observed the stalls with great intensity. From his brief inspection, he mentally selected a specific stall, and waited for the best time to steal a few ounces of bread.

For you see – his poor family had perished due to a fatal disease he himself could not comprehend. All he knew was that his parents were burning feverishly along with painful coughing that spewed and splattered blood. The next thing he knew his parents had sprawled lifelessly across the straw mattresses, their bodies cold as though the burning fever had left and carried their lives away with it. The same fate had also fallen to the lives of his siblings. The only remaining kin was his sister, who was now bedridden and suffering from the tormenting symptoms. But at least she was alive. And all that matters now was to keep her alive.

He focused his view towards the bread stall again. A loud din can be heard as more and more customers are heading towards it, bringing along their donkeys and what not. He knew it was the right time. Steadily, he crept out from his hiding place and quietly began to carry out his plan. There he was, determining to go against the wave of death that might swallow his sister or himself. He was alone, but he was not afraid.

(What do you guys think about the little story I made up? I have not actually finished it yet. This is just the first part of the story. I obtained the inspiration from a piece of news I read a couple of years ago which I still recall. Even though I read this event a few years ago, it still haunted me to this very day. I would tell you what happened, but I plan to continue this story for next week, and it wouldn't be interesting if I spill to you all the plotline! I guess I was motivated to create this writing piece because I really felt moved by the news. I was then inspired to write a story that depicts a theme of desperation yet determination to overcome the struggles of life. Constructive comments and criticisms (though not bashful ones intended to trash talk) will be appreciated :) )

The Boundless Craze of Fear

Tuesdays with Jesse

The Boundless Craze of ‘Fear’

As one of humans’ compelled constituent since the beginning of time, fear has governed mankind throughout the globe; keeping our lives constraint under many circumstances. But what is fear? How does it initiate in one’s life? And could it be overcome? It has been one of life’s mysteries of how we became bound to fear and became somewhat a part of a lifestyle as life proceeds.

Fear is an emotional response of panic or distress to impending danger as well as expectation of pain. Acrophobia (fear of heights), claustrophobia (fear of confined spaces), arachnophobia (fear of spiders) and necrophobia (fear of death) are widespread types of fear with one of the highest rates among humans; though there are still some with uniquely peculiar fears. (The word “-phobia” comes from the Greek root word of ‘phobos’ which means fear).

Although fear is considered to be an instinctive response for each individual, objects of fear can be learned through one’s own judgment. Though there are many sources of how fear initiates in our own lives, one of the very most common one is that it is acquired through a traumatic accident. This will then leave consecutive instances of the accident in regards to sensing a similar situation.

According to Wikipedia, “In instances of fear, one may go through various emotional changes as well as its behavior. A good example would be a cornered rat, which will typically run away until it is finally cornered by its predator. Then will change its behavior becoming belligerent and fights back with heavy aggression until it either escapes or captured. Similar to animals, humans also can become very intimidated by fear, causing them to go along with another’s wishes without caring about their own input. This is followed by behavioral changes as to become equally violent, or might as well become deadly; it is an instinctive reaction caused by rising adrenaline levels rather than a consciously thought out decision.” This may result in the perception that it is being threatened. This technique is used by swimming coaches in Australia, to release crocodiles in spite of desiring his or her students to swim as swift as possible.

The effects of fear can be extreme up to the point where one could absolutely isolate them from society or from the objects itself. This traumatic situation would usually never be overcome and has become a lifestyle for them. Those who fear confined spaces might spend their lifetime never entering an elevator, and takes escalators or stairs as alternatives to achieve satisfaction in thinking they are safe.

Proverbs 1:7 writes: “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom”. This is an act of submission and obedience that fearing a higher being is the basis of being wise. This is because a higher being such as God has power over you, just as the example of the rat being cornered by the predator; (in which case, this time the predator is known to be a compassionate being).

Uniquely, statistics show that there are more people who fear spiders than the do fear death (though both cases are common fears). From a personal point of view, one must fear death. Again to emphasize, one ought to fear death. Why you may ask? What if we have a mindset which consciously tells us that dying means coming before God without any more dilatory, or simply, just do not fear death because we know there would be everlasting life? As I think about it to myself, the fear of death means that we value the life given to us. Not fearing death means we are not valuing the life, the only life, the opportunity given to us by God.

Conclusively, the factor of fear is unique, broad and limitless. Fear is a common thing and would very much differ in each individual. There is nothing wrong in having a unique fear; there are cases where one ends up with hydrophobia (fear of water) or sesquipedalophobia (fear of long words) or even bibliophobia (fear of books). Nonetheless, it is possible to overcome fear, especially those that are childhood traumatic accidents (for it was a minor acceptance of judgment). The only thing required is to have the courage to overcome it. With the mindset “if others can do it, then why can’t I” is one of the most effective way of thinking towards overcoming something. This is because others are able to do it successfully without pain or panic that makes the one feared gain the knowledge that it is safe.

“Do not be afraid of life. Believe that life is worth living, and your belief will help create the fact.” – Henry James

“One should fear death. If one is not afraid of dying then it is not valuing being alive.” – Jesse Lybianto

The Beginning of the "Orgastic" week

This is it...the week that I have NOT been waiting for. It's 6 days before my birthday and yet, so many painful tests that I need to do before getting older *sigh*. Maybe this is like a warming up to prepare me with the judgment day later on in my afterlife. I think it's a trend within the grade 11 teachers to give their students relentless submission and test date during this week, particularly on the 13th of September! Why do I say this? because I got 2 science HL test on September 13!

Maybe you think that it's only me who is panicking, and maybe you think that I'm just exaggerating this double science dillema. But if you see the other 11th graders, you will always hear them gossiping or panicking about their tests as well. And when you ask them what date is it, most of them will answer: September 13...

The beginning of this painful week welcomed me with another depressing news: I'm going to have another math test on Friday (more like a re-test). Turns out that my class' math result was not so "above average" and the inner tantrum of the teacher have caused a re-test to be held this Friday. This test is actually okay for me, but to realize that it's going to be held this week as well makes me depraved.

To be honest, I'm actually okay with two science test in one week, but not in one day! What's worse is that the topics for both sciences is one of the longest and extensive topic ever! Just imagine, for the biology test I need to learn about cells, bacteria, virus and friends, while in chemistry I need to learn about stoichiometry - a topic filled with simple formulas yet countless sub-topics. I really wanted to have the chemistry test postponed because biology is not an easy thing to learn, especially about cells; tons of vocabularies and knowledge are need to be understood and MEMORIZED. Even I, who have started studying this test materials since 2 weeks ago have not fully memorized and grasp the concept thoroughly - I even haven't finished learning all the topics!!! This plus chemistry test? I think I will lose all of my mind and spirit by the time it is my birthday...

Anyways, aside from this unpleasant welcome from this vile week, it is also a happy day because me and Ina have been officially approved to be Personal Project Supervisor's assistants!! We are also told by our supervisor (Ibu Frida) that our job is to help the PP people with their difficulties. What makes it fun is that they are the one who will be chasing us !! hahaha Together, me and Ina shall torture them and make them feel the pain that we felt last year: super visible panda eyes, doing Personal Statement until 5 o'clock in the morning due to computer problems and go to school afterwards without sleeping, and sleeping in class unnoticeable. hahahah!! just kidding. (but maybe a little pain won't hurt them...hahaha).

Conclusively, it is only the 1st day of the week and it's already filled with treacherous news, extemporaneous tests, as well as devilish intentions as well. And this is it - the absurdity of my life...

-donny

Fridays with DaNte - 7th September 2007

Fridays with DaNte!

Well, more like Saturday EARLY EARLY morning...

Well, ok here goes Fridays with DaNte! *yawn* Guess what... this is 12:10 AM already and typing this blog feels like somnabulatory. However! Due to my faithful and indomitable commitment to my "What Would Jessica Do Blog", I refuse to indulge into the mollifying temptation of sleeping. What Would Jessica Do? She'll be savoring each moment in her dreamland now (I'm kidding!). Anyway, Lets get this over with so I can go to sleep!!!

Erratic Picture of the Day

Awww... this is so cute!

Auspicious Quotes

"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power."

Abraham Lincoln

Word of The Day

Conflagration (noun) - A destructive fire

Yay! The Core Topic of the Day!

For now, I feel like doing something different. My innate male insticts have alerted me that I should help my fellow gender in their lives. I do hope that this blog could be lucrative for all you MAN! So, the topic for today is WHAT GUYS SHOULDN'T DO TO GIRLS!

F.Y.I.: I am not a feminist. I just want all you male with frantic hormones and urge to date girls to have a better relationship with the opposing gender.

Rule No. 1

Whatever you do, wherever you are, whoever you are, whoever you're talking to, and whatever position you're in, never NEVER NEVER EVER call a girl FAT and MEAN IT!!! For all you testosterone-producing creatures never break rule no. 1. As a male myself, I sometimes find this hilarious and amusing. However, the person whom I mock will not tolerate this and most female will take this seriously. You can see her a week after you state the debilitating word, and she will be anorexic or bullemic. I'm currently restraining myself from utilizing this killer word. I am being honest. Girls will despise you for the rest of your life for this small matter.

Rule No. 2

Never forget to call them. This simple mistake (for us testosteron-ers)is a fatal one. Their heart is a very enigmatic and unfathomable sensitive existence. It is tolerable if you infringe this rule once or twice, however it is a different problem if this occurs everyday. Girls will think you no longer care about them. Always spare 15 minutes or more everyday to call and give them a little "I love you and I missed you". It means a lot to them, even you're very preoccupied.

Rule No. 3

Never be possesive! I have seen girls who abhors possesive guys. What does possesive means? It means that when you have a feeling about them, you hamper them from doing something and feel like she is obligated to you. THIS IS A BIG MISTAKE!Some girls may like this, however that is if you are their other half, boyfriend or their crush! If you are just a friend (I do not mean to offend you) to them, you CANNOT CANNOT CANNOT NOT NOT NOT be POSSESSIVE. Girls find this very agitating and contemptuous.

Rule No. 4

Do not mention about your ex-girlfriends nor engage in any conversation about your ex-girlfriends in front of your girlfriend. Girls take this solemnly and it will worry the $#*(! out of them. After all, girls tend to be more sensitive and possessive than guys do. Girls will think you still have feelings or serruptuous relationship with your ex-couple.

Rule No. 5

Never ever show your unhygienic side to the females! In short, girls like clean and hygienic guys. Showers twice a day, brush teeth twice a day, clean their face, shave regularly, and etc. FARTING, BURPING, PICKING NOSE may not be so impressive to them. Learn this by heart.

Rule No. 6

Never hang up on your partner. I've tried this once. Only girls do this. Yes, you will assume that I am gay (I am actually). The result? An irate, furious, enraged, ferocious, enmity girl. Well I'm pretty sure you have the big picture now.

That is all to end today's Friday session with me. I'll probably continue this later on in the future. I hope this is educative and you all find this post entertaining! Let us improve ourselves and equip ourselves with gentleman-manners to prepare ourselves for our unity with our other half!

Joke of the Day!

Yo momma so fat even Bill Gates couldn't pay for her liposuction!

Well, see you all next time friends!

DaNte

Double Science War Starts NOW !!

Many 12th graders told me that to take double science is like living in hell, and to take double science HL is even worse. But since pre-IB have begun, my life as a double science HL student is considered fun and happy. What makes it better is that most of us are in the same double science class (Ibu Virna's Bio, and Mr Owen's Chem). A bond suddenly established among us as we always laugh as a class, and we always cooperate too; leading into the making of our customized lab coats (we attached numbers and names just like the ones in basketball jerseys')!! It was a pride to have them for these two years!!

But!!! The happiness starts to be overlapped with the reality of IB double science HL: Innumerable lab reports start to cover our youthful minds. It all began last Thursday when Mr Owen announce us the unfortunate news: "We are going to have a test about Stoichiometry next Thursday." Hearing this news, the whole class suddenly covered with black clouds. The reason is because we don't want to have test, but it's because we also have biology test on that day (the test material for bio is 3 or 5 topics, and it's like 20 or 30 pages or so). Nevertheless, some also have business and economic test on that day also, and we also have two lab reports from chemistry and another lab report from bio! The painfulness is starting to show its devilish behavior.

Guess what's the date of next Thursday ??? 13 !!! such a perfect date for this rancor.

Just like the Spartans said...

"My double science friends....next Thursday we will dine in hell!!" hahahahaha

-that is all folks =)

Itsy Bitsy Notice...

hmmm...sadly, both of our blog poster for Wednesday and Thursday (Agnes & Dita) are flying off to Bangkok for the Harvard Congress. Thus, they are unable to post any blog and the rest of us will try to fill something...(but we cannot promise anything haha). That's all~~

"The Wonderful World of God"

“The Wonderful World of God…”

In contradiction to the given title, one might refer back to reality that this contemporary world encloses innumerable injustices, substantial corruption, iniquitously towering poverty, perpetual racism and copious assortment of immorality. In accordance to the Holy Bible, it initiates with the fact that God created a perfect world with absolutely no sin until the fall of man under the temptation of the devil. The world is then filled with infinite sin by the exponentially growing populations of constrained sinners. But why would the world then be wonderful? All those immense amount of sin as well as the hardships encountered by the world, one would think that this is certainly an absurd topic. Yet this discussion will reveal the very basis of how much wonder there is in the world and would probably change the perception of how you view the world.

First, imagine if the world is perfect. Everything is justified (for there are no injustice), corruption does not exist, everyone is as rich as everyone else (thus, no poverty), the fact that everyone is exactly the same as everyone (basic concept of how racism commence is the thought that races are different) and no sin is present in the face of humanity. The world can be assumed to be boring.

In accordance to Taoism and the law of the infamous ‘Yin & Yang’, the world is balanced and that one cannot exist without the other. Examples would encircle around oppositions such as: tall and short, smart and unintelligent, health and sick, tall and short, strong and weak, rich and poor, right and wrong, good and bad as well as life and death. To elaborate, how can we distinguish tall from short if everyone is equally tall? Or is it equally short? To put it more simple, if everyone is tall (yes, a paradox because not everyone is tall, but assume everyone is) can that also mean everyone is short? In the past, people are shorter, but we could say that because we are taller now. We cannot distinguish one without the other. A more critical situation issue would be between good and bad? If only good exists in the world, it can be said that everyone is bad. Why? Because we would not know what is bad or what is good.

There is a significant effect of both coexistences in the world, so that one can be distinguished from the other. In detailed, because there is rich, there is poor. Because there is wrong, there is right. Because there is good, there is bad. Additionally, their coexistence in the world gives them the opportunity to have an affect on the other. The rich giving to the poor; and as we know ‘giving’ is a good thing. Referring back to a perfect world, say everything in life is going perfectly well: in academics one can achieve perfection with as well as without studying, true love or the term ‘soulmate’ can be achieved without hard work or the needs of whatever needs necessary, relationships can be perfect without arguments and differential thoughts, any sickness can be healed instantly and many other factors. If the world is as stated above, it is dull.

The beauty of the world lies in the fact that everyone strives and struggles to achieve the better. Finding love is not beautiful, but the struggles in achieving it causes love to be beautiful. Having a good relationship is not beautiful, but solving the problems in a relationship causes relationship to be beautiful. Scoring perfect on an exam is not beautiful, but knowing all the effort you put in obtaining the perfect score causes it to be beautiful. Thus, being rich is not wonderful, but seeing that the rich offers the poor, it is wonderful.

On the other hand, one could see that the ratio of pain to pleasure in the world is very much large. There is drastically more pain in the world as there is to pleasure. Due to this, we as humans value pleasure higher as it is scarcer. This is also economically proven that the less the supply, the higher demand and the higher the price as well. If we see that there are equal ratios of pain and pleasure, one, people will not value pleasure for it has been distributed in a 50-50 manner and that we would have the same amount of both happiness and sadness, and two, people will not seek pleasure or pursue happiness for they know one will or the other will appear in a systematic manner.

To end this topic, it is to be reminded that this topic does not have any means in seeking the so-called “silver-lining” or the optimistic side of life. But to value the life given in which we are able to strive and struggle, to know what is good and what is bad, and to pursue the better; and it is that act and effort that makes it beautiful. Thus, it can be concluded that an imperfect world is more beautiful than a dull, perfectly consistent world.

“Nothing's perfect, the world's not perfect, but it's there for us, trying the best it can. That's what makes it so damn beautiful.” – Roy Mustang, Full Metal Alchemist

Thus, Tuesdays with Jesse - What Would Jessica Do?

Positivities and Negativities: Just a matter of perspective

When seeing a filled glass, some people say that the glass is half empty, some people say that the glass is half full. But even though it's half filled or half empty the glass is actually filled !
Says who that pessimistic people cannot be optimistic ? and vice versa ?
Says who that negative events can only give negative effect? and vice versa too?

below I will give you a story that can prove my rhetorical question above. Maybe the story is quite strange and the grammar would be a shipwreck, but I hope you guys will understand the point that I want to tell you....

Here Goes NotHing !!~~~

A little bird is flying to the south during a cold winter. The sheer coldness of the winter have caused it to froze and fall to an open field. While the bird cannot move its wings and body, a cow is coming near it and poo on the bird. Under that cow dung, the bird started to feel the warmth of it and is rejuvenated from its freezing condition! The bird feels very happy and chirping joyfully. A passing cat heard that tweet and decided to check what it is. Following the harmonious sound, the cat found the bird under the cow dung, and agilely the cat flick the bird from the poo and eat it.

from this story we can actually see that even a sick thing like a dung can actually give a positive effect - even saving a life. Conversely, a happy and positive thing such as a joyfull tweet can lead us into unpleasant condition....

So there you go!! Behind every negativities lies positivities, vice versa !!

Depressive Students...

It is very palpable that when we see most students around us we can actually sense the amalgamating aura of various feelings. Some people have overflowing youth spirit within them, some have the thirst of knowledge, and some have the valor to stand up and participate in innumerable committees. These types of people are such clichés for many generations. But in this epoch of eccentricity, a new type of student arises out of nowhere and suddenly becomes the dominance in a global scale - a type that is well known as “Depressive students”.

Clearly indicated by its name, depressive students are students who are very solemn in nature. Basically, this type occurred when students’ excessive effort doesn’t reach their expected result – perfectionism. Hearing the word “perfectionism” we usually pictured that person as someone that is intellectual and omniscience, but the thing is that it is very infrequent for depressive students to feel contentment upon their achievement. When they get 80/100 in a test, they will say they should’ve got higher, and when they get 100/100 they just stay silent and expecting to be more scholarly in the next assignment. Their daily performances are applauding, yet selfish from another angle.

Having the ability to analyze and to foresight many cases, depressive students tend to use this capability to predict their lives’ possible worst scenarios and sometimes they become terrified to their own “hypothesized” futures which are mostly just the results of their melancholic imaginations. A goal that most depressive students have in common is to pursue their truest life’s intention. They wanted to be good at something, but before they searched it they are always thinking that they don’t have any; making them to give up before the actual sighting

Unlike other students who are enjoying every moment of their high school life with what we usually known as a “happy-go-lucky” characteristics, depressive students are acting similar with their own parents to themselves (but stricter and meaner, literally!). Developing into a purer depressive students each day, they are unceasingly diligent and always head to the sunshine with passion and eagerness but once they fall too much, their mental irreversibly shattered into pieces and blown by the pessimistic wind. When this happened, they become too hard to themselves; a looping sequence of self-mockery words revolves around their brain (making their broken mental even worse). Once they have reached the “truest” depressive students, they became super sensitive and very pessimistic in nature: they easily haunted with the littlest remarks from others because the take those comments skeptically with thoughts that they might be insults or sarcasms. Seeing these lugubrious personalities, depressive students are actually people who needs extra care; equivalent to the care that we gave to sick people.

Perfectionism is a wonderful habit and diligence is even more wonderful, but does it have to be sprinkled with negativities just like these? I’m sure that everyone of us possesses negativities within our hearts and it’s actually normal for us humans to have such emotion, but it is very unhealthy to let this pessimism floating to the surface of our consciousness and dominate our life. Furthermore, mental breakdown should be suppressed for it didn’t give us any benefit and only harmed us – making our life trembled with fear; disallowing us to explore our bright, youthful life. As for the critiques’ responses, to be mad about criticism is necessary ONLY if it is VERY VERY rude or is inappropriately delivered. However, we should accept all kinds of remarks – positive and negative – with open ears and hearts because they are actually one of the keys that can lead us to success. Through hearing and thinking about people’s advices to us, we can actually fixed our limitation and weakness; turning us into a better person.

All of you; look at the mirror and glance the life that you currently live in. Are you one of these so called “Depressive Students”? If yes, you should keep the perfectionism and diligence up and throw away the glumness for by it you can be a much better person. (I know I am one and I'm striving for a change =3 )

Yours Truly, Donny

P.S: What Would Jessica Do ? =)