Yes, quite literally what the title says.

I was out biking the other day, figuring I should get some exercise, fresh air, and sunshine, instead of being cooped up in the house playing Harvest Moon: Tree of Tranquility all day long. (Though I have to admit I still long for the days when I played Toontown. I did broach the idea of a month's subscription to my mother, which she immediately struck down. I'm already computer-addicted enough as is, I suppose.) So I decided to stop by the nearby park.

A very pressing matter in the town I live in is the bird population. We have astounding numbers of ducks, seagulls, geese, and pigeons. There are now signs at various bodies of water, such as at the reservoir and at the park I just visited, telling visitors not to feed the birds so that they'll continue with their usual patterns of migration instead of staying here permanently to gorge on bread crusts.

In fact, they've gone so far as to provide brochures in three different languages - English, Chinese (Mandarin), and Spanish, to "educate" the citizens about why we shouldn't keep the birds around. Something about how the birds poop in the water, which in turn makes the water dirty and gets them sick. (But wait...If they don't want the birds around anymore, shouldn't they just let the birds get sick and then die of their own accord? Oh, right, they wouldn't want to spread bird flu or some other disease. Or tarnish their reputation with the blood of several thousand innocent birds. Reminds me of the passenger pigeons being driven extinct.)

I saw some of the Canadian geese who have taken up residence at the park, and notice that they'd had their children (they're called goslings, right?). I thought it'd be nice to get close and take some photos of them. Here's a few shots...Sorry that they're a bit on the blurry side. Aren't the goslings so fuzzy-looking?





But while the goslings went on eating the grass (that's what it looks like, though they're actually eating the bugs), one goose stood guard. He stood there looking around suspiciously. Whenever I made a move he opened his mouth and hissed, showing his tongue. One time I tried to approach quickly and he ran towards me, flapping his winds and hissing like crazy. I hastily retreated until I was far enough that he decided I wasn't dangerous. It was actually a little fun, in a twisted way, taunting the goose. I don't want to risk getting bitten, though. I've heard goose bites are quite painful. But it would be nice to have animals that don't run away, growl, or try to bite me when they see me and actually meet an animal that likes me for a change.

Labels: animals, bird, birds, canadian geese, disease, geese, goose, hygiene, migration, park, pollution, sickness, wild animals

Remember, if you will, the post Money Can Make or Break You. (Or read it for the first time.) My teacher called us students germ factories. I am really and truly getting to see how this is true. Lately, the weather has been rainy and cold, and sickness has been spreading like wildfire. Unfortunately, those few who got sick originally did not stay home like they should have, and thus spread germs further and further. I have been fine up until now, and actually in relatively good health considering my lack of sleep and deteriorating eating habits, but now I'm starting to feel a lot of discomfort in my throat. Although I haven't lost my voice or started coughing yet, it might be only a matter of time. I am as steamed as can be. Unless this is a late punishment for something I did, I feel as if I am being hurt for something when I didn't deserve it, if you catch my drift. I mean, I as well as the healthy students were just attending school like good children until we were cursed by those who insisted on not staying home.

I know there are many reasons for students not staying home from school. This became clear during French class, when my teacher even said, "You should be at home, not here." The kids cried out, "It's our Asian parents!" (Very stereotypical, but I guess it makes sense to them.) The teacher said, "You must make your...Asian parents understand that by going to school, you spread sickness to other perfectly fine people. We are all stuck in a small, confined space with the windows and door closed. There is nowhere for your germs to go."

Then a classmate presented a different argument. "Both my parents work," he said, "so I can't stay home." The teacher didn't find this to be a problem. "You are old enough to stay home by yourself." I think this is true. I just saw a young boy (I am guessing maybe somewhere from five to seven years old) riding his bike, by himself. He seemed fine. What a nice independent young man. XD

And then there is another category of people, such as myself, where it is the student who really didn't want to stay home. One of my friends fits in this category since she went to school despite her mother saying she could stay home if she wanted. But she, unlike me, is more dedicated, which is admirable. For me, it would be nice to stay home, but I think it is too much of a hassle. You have to make up tests and PE and other junk, and it's just not worth it unless I'm very sick.

It's bad enough that there's a bug going around (two of my teachers are ill and one is recovering). But it's even worse that there was a CHICKEN POX warning. My teacher asked a student to run to the office to get some papers to pass out to us. When the papers arrived, he asked us to raise our hands if we had ever had chicken pox. There were only a handful of students who did (perhaps five? Six?) and they were all male. My teacher seemed surprised. "More of you should've gotten it." (Hey, is he suggesting that we're bad for NOT getting it?! Nah, that can't be :p) When I told my mom later, she said, "Of course we wouldn't, there's a such thing as vaccination." (But if that's the case, did those victims of chicken pox not get properly vaccinated? Or did the vaccination fail to work?)

Then the message came in saying that four students in my grade at my school had gotten chicken pox and that we may have been exposed to the disease. Within 2-3 weeks, infected people would start to show symptoms. I was immediately scared because one of my worst fears is disease (particularly something like chicken pox that would really, really force me to stay home from school, and it would cause trouble for my parents since they would have to stay home from work to take care of me). Then again, if I did actually get chicken pox, then it would protect me from getting it again. (Apparently, if you have chicken pox once, you're safe from it, because your body can recognize it and exterminate the virus quickly)

I guess now is the time to quote Thomas Paine's work called "The Crisis"... "These are the times that try men's souls." (And women's, and children's.)

Labels: asian, chicken pox, danger, disease, germ factory, immune, infection, make-up, parents, quote, school, sick, sickness, sore, the crisis, thomas paine, throat, vaccination

Uh, no, I haven't been trying to mix blood and water together in a glass or something like that, don't worry. I'm not one of those people who does things at home when they were told "don't try this at home".

What I mean by blood is heritage. Genes. Posterity. The person or people that will carry your torch when you no longer can. For several years, I have thought that if I decide to raise children, I want one of them to be an adopted child. I once said so to my grandmother, and she reacted in a way that I found strange. She seemed repelled by the idea, even a bit angry. Back then, I didn't know why. But earlier today, my mom gave me some information.

My mom said she didn't understand why I wanted an adopted child. "If you want children, couldn't you have some of your own?" she asked. (She thinks it's reasonable for people to adopt children if they are unable to get pregnant.) Personally, I think adopting children is good because...

1. I read somewhere that siblings that aren't related by blood get along better. (That means I could have one child of my own, and adopt one child.) I think that's good, if it's true, because kids often feel unhappy or underappreciated if they are compared to their siblings. One of my friends says she feels her mother is easier on her sister. I don't want my children to treat each other badly and resent each other.

2. It is helpful in reducing world population. If I had a child, I'd be adding to it, but if I adopted one, the population wouldn't change because that child is "already there". I'm really upset about overpopulation. In fact, I sometimes think of drastic schemes to reduce it. (Like researching diseases and creating or finding one that could just infect people I don't like, and not hurt others. This way criminals and people with irksome personalities could be removed. But I guess then someone would say, "You have to give them a second chance! They can change!")

3. Orphans seem more exciting. Probably actual orphans would find this offensive since it is not a good thing to lose your parents (unless they were really terrible ones). But still, you see orphans in books and movies and all, and that is because they're more interesting. Imagine, if I had an adopted child who was orphaned, they could write something dramatic for their college application.

Then I asked my mom what my grandma found wrong with adoption. My mother responded that it was simply the old beliefs of China. Bloodline is very important (such as having sons to pass on your last name) and so having an adopted child isn't good since they have, really, no relation in genetics (unless you were to adopt a relative, or something?). Also, my mom said that sometimes adopted children lead troubled lives. She knows someone who adopted a child who sometimes gets very angry and needs to be taken to the hospital to be calmed down.

The problems started with acne. The boy reached the age where he was going through puberty. His mother figured it was okay to let it be since his father had acne when he was that age and had grown out of it. However, although his parents didn't mind his face because he was, after all, their son, the boy feared that his classmates would keep away from him because of the acne on his face. He grew very sensitive about it and resented his parents for not taking him to a doctor (I mean, then he could've gotten some medicine. I heard his acne was pretty bad, worse than average) and even struck his mother. Sometimes he would get into a real frenzy and he'd be taken to the hospital to be electrocuted or some other cruel and unusual thing to calm him down. But such effects are only temporary, after all, and so he also grew to hate the hospital because of what was done to him there.

This did make me a bit more wary, but I still will not change my mind about wanting to adopt a child. I think this kind of situation can be prevented if you are very aware of what your child is thinking. I know probably even if a mother asked her child what he or she did at school, he or she might still respond, "Oh, nothin'," or "the usual". Even if it makes you appear bossy and annoying, you should try to worm it out of your child. You should keep everything out in the open in your family. But don't tell your child's problems to other people. Otherwise, I bet anyone would feel like they have to keep things to themselves if they don't want the whole world, or at least the people whose opinions they care about, to know.

Hmm, I haven't decided where to adopt a child, though. Maybe I'll go to China and adopt one of the young girls there. (There are more girls in orphanages and stuff than boys, because you can only have one child in China unless you pay the fine or something, and people prefer to have a son. Especially in the countryside, because sons will stay and work, but girls will marry off) I mean, I might even be able to find someone who looked like me. (But then it would be harder to explain to them that they are adopted since they'd be saying, "What? But I look like Mommy" or "I don't remember any other parents")

Labels: acne, adoption, blood, children, china, daughter, disease, family, lineage, orphan, parents, population, pregnancy, problem, relationship, relatives, rivalry, secret, siblings, water

Do you have any guess what it is? (Yes, I know, the last time I used a French blog title was pretty recent, but eh, I heard about "faire la bise" recently and I wanted to talk about it before I forgot) Well, it's a gesture in French. Have you ever seen French people kiss each other on the cheeks as a greeting? (Maybe in a movie, or you've actually seen people do it?) That's basically what faire la bise is. My French teacher explained about it and also told us something mildly amusing.

I'm sure a lot of you have heard of the swine flu scare not that long ago. As a measure to try and prevent the further spread of H1N1 virus, the French people were told to try and do less faire la bise, what with it being easy to spread disease with your mouth. Some people were pretty huffy about this. They consider faire la bise a part of being French, and I guess it's offensive being told not to do it (even if it's not outright forbidding faire la bise). Yeah, I know writing it down doesn't make it sound very funny. Oh well.

In history class, we were watching Youtube videos. I guess some things don't change. I mean, my history teacher last year showed us quite a few Youtube videos. Today, we watched some of the speeches of Taylor Mali, a poet/teacher. They were kind of funny, but they were also meaningful. I liked the one called "What Teachers Make" the best. I did think it was a little odd that the speeches are called poems, because I'm used to reading poems which are all mysterious and sometimes don't make sense. But I suppose there always a lot of different versions of the so-called same thing.

My mother has been staying home because of something to do with her health. I'm not really supposed to talk about it (and it's not like her life is threatened! So no worries) but my dad stayed home as well. And they both seemed to be lazing around. I used to think it was good for people to relax once in a while but now I'm not so sure since my parents seemed more lazy than usual. I suppose I'm probably kind of like that too when I have a day off, but it still seemed weird.

Since my mom has been staying home the last two days, she was watching a movie called Though None Go With Me. I watched some of it as well, enough to get the story, anyways. It's about a old lady who tells about her life to her granddaughter. The old woman, Elizabeth, had promised to follow God, but much happened to her, and she suffered from the deaths of people close to her. The movie was often rather cheesy and cliched but at other times it was touching. Apparently it was based off of a book, though I have not read the book.

Labels: break, caution, disease, faire la bise, french, gesture, lazy, meaningful, movie, poetry, staying home, swine flu, taylor mali, though none go with me, tradition, youtube

This question plagued me because I went to Trader Joe's one weekend (we were entertaining guests at my house and needed some dessert to feed them). By the entrance to the store were some plants for sale. The little white sign next to it said oriental lilies, but they looked plenty like tulips to me...Maybe it was the wrong label, or the tulips label had fallen off or was stolen. Here are pictures comparing the two kinds of flowers.

Oriental Lily


Tulip


See, not really like each other, hm? At least different enough to be able to tell them apart. I had been planning to ask about it (since some of you may have gardener friends or relatives) but I guess a simple image search did the trick here.

We are still going on with Human Growth and Development education in my class...It is getting a little old now, having to watch videos of developing fetuses and little cells which look like either tadpoles or some part of an onion. We have moved on to hearing about HIV/AIDS. This part of the year always freaks me out. I have a strange tendency to be frightened by the mention of any dangerous disease. See, HIV is especially bad because 1) It has no known cure, only medicine that can "slow down" the spread of the disease. 2) It can be passed on without knowing about it, if someone didn't realize they had HIV. 3) It can be passed on from parent to child! How horrible, if you're a child with HIV, having to eat many pills a day, and you'll probably die anyways after some years. 4) It hijacks your immune system. 5) It is a virus, not a bacteria. (I mean, viruses aren't even living organisms... I wonder how they came into existence in the first place)

My teacher showed us an amusing book that is teaching people about the importance of commas. I'm sure you have some idea of how to use them: When listing things in a sentence, or separating parts of a sentence (like taking a breath if you're saying it out loud, sort of?), or right after saying Dear so-and-so in a letter...You get the point. Except people tend to misuse the comma a lot. So an author wrote a book called Eats, Shoots, & Leaves. The author is Lynne Truss, the illustrator is Bonnie Timmons. Look at these two sentences. (May not be exactly the same as in the book)

Panda - A bear-like animal originating in China. Eats shoots and leaves.

Panda - A bear-like animal originating in China. Eats, shoots and leaves.

The meaning is drastically changed depending on whether you put a comma at all and where you place it. The first sentence is correct, since pandas do eat shoots and leaves (bamboo, to be more specific). But the second sentence means the panda should eat something, shoot with a gun or bow and arrows, and leave wherever he/she is. (I hope you got the joke. If not, the author has failed)

Labels: AIDS, comma, comparison, disease, flowers, grammar, hgad, HIV, humans, immune, language arts, oriental lily, panda, sickness, trader joe's, tulips, virus

Top ↑