The story goes that Adam and Eve lived in the Garden of Eden up until Eden was convinced by a snake to eat an apple from a tree. She wasn't supposed to, so she and Adam were thrown out of the Garden of Eden. (Well, I'm no expert, so if you really want to learn more about the "first humans", ask someone else.) But it looks like such a thing could happen for robots too.

I've heard that artificial skin that can actually feel is being developed. That's all well and good, but then I was watching the Colbert Report on TV, which is something rare, considering that my dad has not watched either the Colbert Report or the Daily Show for a long time, and because I myself hardly ever watch TV, at least the channels (I do watch anime on DVDs, but that's about it). He was saying that if robots could have skin, then that would mean they could be naked, which would then me they could feel shame, like humans do.

There are some stories out there about things that aren't human but which are similar to humans or want to become humans. For instance, there's Chobits, in which there are Persocoms, which are designed to be like humans but aren't human. And then there's Eureka Seven, which I just finished last week (good anime, by the way, although 50 episodes is a bit longer than I prefer, but it was worth it). Skip to the next paragraph if you haven't watched it and don't want to see a spoiler. Eureka, one of the main characters, isn't human; she's actually a Coralian, made by the Scub Coral, an intelligent life form which is not human.

I wonder if we're ever going to make something that is so close to being human that we can't really tell it apart from a human. Anything is possible. I wonder if that would actually happen in my lifetime. Or if it would happen many years from now. Or maybe never, after all.

Anyhow, when I was watching TV, I was pretty bored. I don't really understand how people can watch a lot of TV. It seems too passive. I hate sitting there doing nothing and then getting annoyed by the commercial breaks. I mean, even at school, I have to keep my hands busy. I often do homework in class, which I don't advise that you do, because sometimes the teacher will actually teach something and then you'll miss something important.

But anyways, TV was such a bore. Maybe I'm not watching the more interesting channels; I kind of left it up to my dad. The only channel that I like a lot is HGTV, mostly because of the interior design shows.

I watched some Friends, and Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? (which apparently I'm not, since I don't know which Great Lake bordered three specific states. But then I'm not sure if knowledge of facts is necessarily the right way to judge someone's intelligence. People use the word "smart" pretty loosely.) and Don't Forget the Lyrics. When it comes to game shows, I'd prefer to watch Deal or No Deal, but my dad says it might not even be airing anymore. If anyone knows whether it's still going, please let me know.

I have, however, started watching the Korean drama Boys Over Flowers. I don't usually watch dramas, because they tend to be long and cliched (it's quite common to see a rich person fall in love with a poor person in dramas :\ ). But since I recently finished Code Geass and Eureka Seven, I had nothing to watch, so I figured I might as well give Boys Over Flowers a try.

I'm on the second episode now. It's been pretty entertaining actually. I didn't expect much. (The person who said that if you expect nothing, you'll never be disappointed, is quite wise. I tend to keep my expectations low so that I'll only have pleasant surprises...Unless something is really terrible.) That curly-haired guy is such a jerk, but I guess that's what makes it funny. Especially when the protagonist goes and kicks him in the face. I'd like to do something like that. (But then, instead of being cool, it would land me in trouble. C'est la vie...)

Labels: adam, artificial, boys over flowers, chobits, colbert report, drama, entertainment, eureka seven, eve, garden of eden, human, korean, lifespan, original sin, shame, skin, television, time, TV

I'm wondering about this since I am always saying odd things to my friends, and then they stare at me, make a comment, or laugh. And sometimes they are scared of me. Such a thing happened today.
Me: *says something disturbing while trying to coach people on push-ups*
NC(initials for her name): Whoa. I can imagine you with a chainsaw.
Me: Well, yeah! I have one in my backyard. (It's true. I have one in the shed or garage. At least, it's a saw of some sort. I actually have no idea what kind. I only know crosscut, back, and hack saws from Woodshop class)
NC: *eyes widen and backs away*
...Don't worry, I don't bite anymore like I used to do in fourth grade, and I couldn't kill someone, I'm not aggressive enough for that kind of behavior. (But who knows. People can turn out...different when they're older).

It is truly almost the end of the school year. School seems the same, yet different. We're on the last study guide in history class (we do a "study guide", which is a worksheet with questions and you have to write down vocabulary definitions, every chapter of the book. There is a total of 35). I feel like we're finishing too quickly. Then again, my teacher says it is because the superintendent thinks all kids are the same, like cookie cutters, so he expects us all to lower our book standards to match the rest of California. I am upset since we are not learning about the south African kingdoms, like the Congo kingdoms. (I mean, I have to say I don't particularly like Africa because it seems like people are dying and starving there right now from lack of food and medical treatment and clean water, but still, I'm curious.) So my history teacher and the district superintendent don't get along too well. Whenever the superintendent comes to our school and goes by Mr. Blair's classroom, then Mr. Blair talks about something scary to drive away the superintendent.

Also, in math we are on the last chapter out of 12 book chapters. I am both happy and unhappy. I look forward to being finished but that means we'll be doing projects instead of regular homework, I think. I don't like projects since you have to work in a group (and as Shiroi Hime says, if your group won't get along well, then you're in a trouble). You might have to give a speech. Even though my mom signed me up for debate class last summer it just made me lose my self confidence even more. And that means that Geometry in eighth grade is looming not so far ahead. I don't feel prepared. I mean, I don't remember what I learned in Algebra that well.

In science, it is THAT TIME OF YEAR. Nope, not Christmas. Not my birthday. Not Friday the 13th. It's "Human Growth and Development". They don't talk about how babies learn to walk or anything. It's about people going through puberty. Mr. Brown didn't say this out loud but the speech he gave before we really started implied that some families and cultures wouldn't like what we would talk about in class. I read on a sheet of paper sent to our parents that they'll be talking about homosexual people this year. o_O;; Well, I'm pretty sure that's what he meant, because my mom said she knows a person who came from China and then had a child in the USA. The son became a gay when he grew older so his parents were embarrassed of him. I know it must seem unnatural and shameful to the parents since they grew up with different values, but apparently in the USA we are all wild animals in a democracy and it is accepted. I heard there was a fun parade for gay people in San Francisco or something. And you may have heard of someone called Harvey Milk, who was gay but was killed by some spiteful person. (This happens to everyone...John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr., and some other people.)

Labels: africa, algebra, chainsaw, conversation, culture, gay, geometry, hgad, history, homosexual, projects, saw, school, shame, south, study guide, superintendent, textbook

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