Giving

Giving the topic of today's journal. I am going to assume this is because we have just come back from winter break, and the question is mildly inspired by Christmas.  Christmas is supposed to be about giving.  This is most likely because the wise men gave Jesus gifts.  Similarly, Easter could be about giving, as Jesus gave his life for our sins.  Giving is usually considered a good thing by society.  We see people as being nice when they give objects and services to others.  This is an interesting idea that society holds.  I wonder how society may be different if we held neutrality and possession above "friendliness" and giving; or yet still if we held aggression and conquer in high regard.  Societies have held the former in high regard before.  The Assyrians and Kush cultures were like this.  General ability to conquer was good. Then all of history, even today is viewed like this.  We call the ability to attack and conquer is usually know as power.  Power is a function of respect. This is because, without acknowledgement, authority does not exist.  In turn we can logically deduce that we do, and always have, appreciated and desired the ability to not give, but instead to take, from others and keep for ourselves.  Yes, this is selfish, but under no circumstance do I believe that is bad.  General thought of the masses is a social construction, and mass opinion is something that simply only ever contradicts itself.  Giving is certainly an action which does and doesn't happen, but the opinion with which it is held is a confusing subject which is probably determined by motive.  It also depends on moral outlook.  Are you a Gandhi/ Mother Teresa/ caring individual? If so, you probably like the idea of giving anything and everything.  Are you more like a Spartan/Hun/ or any ruler before 1950? If so, you probably thing taking is not so bad.

Different ending.

Sometimes, things do not end in the way that I expect they will. I am occasionally surprised by how my blogs go.  In one of my recent blogs, I found myself explaining why giving to others was looked down upon.  I don't disbelieve that, but I was surprised to find myself writing about that. Sometimes I just start rambling in my blogs, and this results in my blogs not fully pertaining to the original subject.  I truly have nothing else to write about this. I am absolutely stumped.  Its been a while since this has been assigned, so I'm just here finishing it up.  I don't believe I have any regular readers, but if I do, I apologize for this blog.  This is just being pieced together to reach my word limit of 325 for class.  On an interesting note, this is doing a wonderful job of demonstrating what I am trying to discuss at the same time that I am not discussing it.  I had no intention of having typed all of this, it was just kind of me trying to get a good grade.  Is it paradoxical that this is happening to my blog? Is it ironic?  This is a difficult question which I don't know the answer to and probably never will because I am choosing to address it.  Me knowing about it makes it not ironic, at least not most forms of irony.  This isn't sarcasm because I really had no intent of doing it to make a point, I am typing this as it comes to my head.  Gosh this is turning out to be just an awful blog. I honestly hope no one reads this.  This is the worst of the worst.  If I were to find and read this blog, I would probably just get really mad at whatever sleaze wrote it. I'm kind of getting mad at myself for writing this too. There are some really good and insightful things in some of my literary blogs, but this is just an in class blog which I am only doing because I have to.  For good bloggage please read some of my stuff from mid and late 2012.  And that is how things sometimes go in a way that I don't plan them to.

Defending the Homeland

I think it would be terrifying to be hundreds of miles from defending my country.  The isolation would probably be the worst part.  More likely than not, you would have to leave behind everyone you knew and cared for.  All of your friends and family are hundreds of miles away unaware as to your condition and you to theirs.  Serving in the forces would sever the umbilical cord of the familiar.  On a similar note, you would have no clue as to where you were.  Many people know the land near their home quite well, but almost no one knows the lay of the land hundreds of miles away.  Soldiers in the American Army know the land around their house, whether it be Cleveland, Ohio or Lincoln, Nebraska, but they are usually unfamiliar with the Arabian deserts. I can not imagine how it must feel to be left so alone.  Truthfully, I have no clue what it would be like to be that isolated or that far from home.  The farthest I have ever been was New York with the Boy Scouts, or last year when I went to engineering camp with the Army Corps of Engineers.  I, personally, had fun at both.  Maybe it isn't too bad for some people who join the services and go over seas.  I think I may like the spirit of adventure, the idea of experiencing new things to me.  I love playing Dungeons and Dragons, and these feelings are probably why.  I can encounter new things through the avatar of Isaac Metalmeld, the dwarfish  fighter.  The major difference between this and fighting in the army is how real it is.  There are really no real repercussions if my dwarf dies, but you can actually be killed in the military.  However, I also have no clue how bad that is.  I don't know what it is like to die, and it is you own call if there is any form of afterlife.  In all, there are goods and bad from joining the services, but you have to decide which side is heavier.

Out of the Element

Being out in society is out of my element. My "element", my habitat, is alone.  I like to be by myself, or with close friends.  I enjoy myself under these conditions.  When I am alone I am able to enjoy my imagination.  I use my imagination quite heavily when I am by myself.  I run circumstantial scenarios through my head for the next time I am forced out of my element.  I plan what I will say to things other people might say to me.  However, this never seems to work.  Whenever I talk to people, I never know what to say. I stumble over my own tongue and can't form coherent sentences, let alone paragraphs.  Part of my inability to form paragraphs comes from my imagination and thought process.  My mind runs quickly; it can seldom be followed.  I may be talking to someone about my thoughts on a physics lecture, and then, while I am speaking my sentence about physics, my imagination comes with an implementation of the science.  I am suddenly talking about something crazy like bumble bees.  But then again, what are the chances of me listening to one of the physics lectures.  I learned it all two years ago and now I just sleep through class.  I go back to my own element in this time.  I just pretend interesting things are happening and dream of things I enjoy.  This is how most of my time is spent, either being engaged and uncomfortable or dreaming in my head.  This is how I like to be; alone with my thoughts.  I know some might ask if this means I am reclusive. Well, no, not really.  I enjoy spending time with people who aren't myself.  I have friends, and I do spend time with them.  Its just that I tend to say unintelligent things sometimes, and I'm apt to be clumsy.  Not stupid or uncoordinated, just, not exactly all together. Anyhow, to recap, my element is where I am alone.  I can handle myself just fine most of the time, but I like to be alone.