Hey

No time for anything more than a quick hello right now, I'm afraid, but a quick hello is better than nothing at all! My laptop's still messed up, but I'm probably going to start using it again soon anyway, which means I'll be able to post more frequently. Also, I am aware that my monthly book review post is late. However, my reviews and stuff are all on my laptop, so I've been unable to access them! Look for the review post soon.

I played hopscotch with my siblings yesterday; it was very clear and hot outside, but in a very different way than in Hawaii. The sky was more white than blue, and the air was very dry. We also blew bubbles and drew chalk pictures. And Lathspell and I both speedily drew our own versions of Faquarl the djinn from the Bartimaeus Trilogy; mine's better, of course. Maybe I'll post it later, haha.

Also, I still want to post photos of my artwork that I did over the course of last semester! All the pictures are, you guessed it, on my laptop. So expect a flood of posts in the near future; I have a lot of catching up to do.

Christmas Holiday So Far

"Let me explain. --No, there is too much. Let me sum up."
-Inigo Montoya, The Princess Bride


My Christmas Holiday (Thus Far) 'Sum up':

1. Watching “(500) Days of Summer” on the plane and coveting a little boy’s jester cap
2. Eating my dad’s amazing pancakes for breakfast
3. Realizing my baby sister’s vocabulary is a million times more advanced than I had imagined it to be
4. Realizing I lost all my Mario Karts Wii skillz over the past semester
5. Baking chocolate chip cookies and then scoffing them
6. Typing, printing, and then decorating menus for my little brother’s play food café
7. Tossing frisbees at the park
8. Eating carrots and watching “Star Trek” with Lathspell at two in the morning
9. Staying up until four in the morning writing a chapter of my novel with my quill pen and inkwell
10. Singing Christmas carols at the family Christmas party
11. Running around outdoors blowing mist from our mouths and pretending to be dragons
12. Attending dance lessons again
13. Trimming the tree with plastic leis
14. Reading The Pioneers, All Things Bright and Beautiful, The Mark of the Horselord, and Eagle of the Ninth all at once without getting too confused
16. The promise of Rollercoasters and Rembrandt
17. Dancing a silly sibling dance to “Cat and Moon”
18. Finalizing the menu for the Second Annual Tolkien Birthday Feast
19. Taking a nap on the sofa with Elhendur
20. Looking forward to “It’s a Wonderful Life” and mochi on New Year’s Day!

Men are Stupid

This semester all my professors are male. I don't mind this; they are all knowledgeable in their fields, hard but fair graders, easy to get along with, and, frankly, I couldn't care less the gender of my teacher as long as they teach well. But I have noticed something which strikes me as strange. Each professor (at least once; one practically every class) has told us students in one way or the other, in one context or another:

"Oh, yes, and men are stupid."

Which gets an appreciative giggle from the class, male and female students alike, and then the lecture continues.

I find this oddly irritating.

I am not by any means against the empowerment of women; it is true that women have traditionally been given poorer education than men, something which I, as a bookworm and knowledge-hungry nerd, see as nothing but deplorable. But to me, empowerment is equal opportunity, not using obsession over equality as an excuse at belittling others, not only of the opposite gender, but of your own. I find this sort of extreme feminist sort of talk aggravating enough when a woman is doing it; why do men now seem to be jumping on the bandwagon in bashing their own sex? I mean, good for all those females who are now seeking careers in science and math and all--they have a right to it-- but does this necessarily mean, in the words of one of my professors, that they are 'triumphantly breaking free of the chains of tradition and taking over the scholarly world, which is only fair because women are smarter than men. Sorry guys, but we're idiots.'

I think not. Men are people too. Men have the same rights as those women clamor for. Why can't we just accept that both women and men can be intelligent and successful and worthy of each other?

Perhaps I'm just living in the past, but I don't think that by glorifying women and knocking down men we can create a more perfect world.

And so, sitting in my classes--most particularly the one where I get subjected to jokes about male inferiority every week--I find myself pondering, not the lesson on the board, but instead other questions whispering in my mind.

Why, in our modern educational culture, do we think it fine to class men as 'stupid' in an attempt at pumping women's egos higher? 

Why, in our efforts to 'break down barriers', do we think the proper procedure is to swap which side of the wall we stand on and then build the barrier stronger?

Why do we pursue equality not simply by giving those who are lower a hand up, but instead by dragging down those who have been higher and then trampling on them?

Spring Break: Day 2

No time to summarize at the moment. I am busy writing a story, am really tired, and have glorious music running through my head.

But hey, I suppose that itself could serve as a summary, couldn't it? I wish spring break lasted forever. Or at least until I could take the plane home for summer break.