Disneyland and Other Poisons

Today I want to talk about my aversions to a few things that bring many people joy.

1. Disneyland
I like to consider myself an open minded person, but good luck getting me to understand the significant difference between Disneyland and the DMV. I dare you to try. I'll even throw out my main arguments right now, so that you can cleverly craft your rebuttals. By all means, take all the time you need.

2. Christmas (at least insofar as it is celebrated in America)
Overrated. It's cold. Like my heart. You get gifts you don't want. You give other people gifts they don't want. Time must be spent with family. Depending on your family, this can suck or rock. For most people, I reckon it sucks. For me it would rock, but I haven't gotten to be with my family on Christmas in three years. Maybe I'm bitter. Or maybe Christmas is just lame.

3. Hugging (at least insofar as it is expected as a salutation)
I hate that this awkward activity has been so culturally ingrained and accepted much less EXPECTED. I don't enjoy it. I do it because you come at me with your arms outstretched. Somebody needs to think of a better thing to do to express affection. Oh wait! There are tons of things.




That's enough negativity for one day.


[End rant.]

Games

My first ever stab at a "free-writing" exercise. Five minutes of typing on one subject without stopping. No edits. GO.

I have always thought that the main point of games was to get people involved with each other. To get them to have fun. To start conversations up, perhaps. Many people seem to think games exist purely for finding out who can win and who can lose. I don't think so. Sometimes, when I'm playing a game, it will spark an idea and I'll strike up a conversation with my teammates and/or opponents. Sometimes my teammates and/or opponents don't like that idea very much, and they get irritated because I have interrupted the game. But why don't they understand that the game is designed to spur conversation? I don't get what is so bad about that. I just wanted to have fun with you and the game was a good way to break the ice. Board games, sports, running games, hiding games, chasing games. My favorite board game growing up was always Monopoly. You have so much power. I love real estate also. Not sure why. I think it is because everyone needs shelter of some sort and it seems like a practical and respectable profession to get into; helping people find homes, that is. Perhaps homes will be my next topic but until next time, I should not find out whether that becomes true or not. I often miss Australia. I'm not sure why I brought that up. They play games in Australia. Perhaps that is why. I played Cranium while I was there with my Australian host family. They got angry when the game was interrupted just like Americans tend to do. Silly people. Silly world. Why can't we just have fun no matter what we are doing? Time is not wasted when the game is on hold. I also played Disney Trivial Pursuit with my host sister while I was in Australia. That was pretty fun, also. I do say, I have played a lot of games in my life. Online games are addictive but not as much fun because you usually cannot play them with others. Unless you can. In which case, great! I have always wanted to invent a game. I have tried many a time to invent a card game but I lack the patience that such a task probably requires. If I were to invent a game, I wonder if it would ever become played worldwide. In Australia even. Every country has games. Love games. Card games. Sports games. Name games. Games have been played for centuries all around the world, you see.


Ahh. Gotta love stream of consciousness. Babbling. What fun. Oh, the ramble that is life.

Oh, Brother.

Like many people, siblings are an extremely important ingredient of my family unit. I only have two but I have the best of both worlds: a brother and a sister. I couldn't have asked for more.

Recently I was reading through an old book a teacher had given me for my eighth birthday. It was called "My Writing Book"... or something. It's made up of writing prompts followed by blank space on each page. I noticed that a common theme in my writing was my feelings of disdain towards my siblings.

One prompt:

Sometimes people use metaphors to describe things. One example of this is "It's raining cats and dogs." If you could have any kind of weather, what would you choose?

My response:

I would like the wind to be strong enough to carry away littel [sic] brothers and sisters.

Another prompt:

However old you are you KNOW a lot of things! THINK about some of the things that you know, and WRITE about them.


My response: That brothers and sisters can be a pain in the neck, and that moms are good cooks but I never knew why. I know about some wired animals.


What was I THINKING? Childhood would have been so bland without other little people to share it with.

Siblings are the spice of life!



Here I am shoving my brother, Kai, down a hill.

My sister, Alexis, and I with similar hairs exchange icy glares.

"Sibling relationships - and 80 percent of Americans have at least one - outlast marriages, survive the death of parents, resurface after quarrels that would sink any friendship. They flourish in a thousand incarnations of closeness and distance, warmth, loyalty and distrust."

--Erica E. Goode, "The Secret World of Siblings," U.S. News & World Report, 10 January 1994

Child's Play

My sister recently discovered an old journal of hers from when she was in grade school. Some of the pages were guided with “would you rather” questions and “favorites” sections, etc. Here are some of the highlights, without edits:



“my favorite sandwich is liversausag because live and bread taste good together.”





“on vacation i played video games and watched my hamster die.”




“my favorite character is the cookie monster because i like cookies too.”





“no i would not like to be a dentist because if i break there gums, ill be in trouble!”





“i would rather be tigger than winnie the pooh because hes not as werd.”




“i would rather be an ocean because you can be foamy.”





“i like snowboarding on my snowboard. mostly i wipeout but who cares.”







I admire her honesty.

I can't think of a smaller or heavier word than "no." So much power is held between two letters. I feel like this word sounds like it should be short for something- something much harrier.

Perhaps it is used so regularly that it is good that it be short.