Wanna relocate?

So just got this random message on Gayromeo, from a guy from the Philippines. He says 'Interesting profile, who's planning to move to Boracay? '

How staggeringly direct and brutishly upfront about being a spam message. I like him already.

"I don't care, I just want the world to know Kony"

With the Kony hype all the way through the ceiling, an alumni of a famous school in Hong Kong is starting a campaign called 'I am Joseph Kony'. They changed their fb names into Joseph Kony and changed their profile picture as Joseph Kony, so as to raise awareness. When the host of this campaign quoted the below link from the Guardian, which actually interviewed Ugandans and expressed their concerns of the high profile campaign of IC, he commented 'I just want the world to know Kony, who cares' .

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/reality-check-with-polly-curtis/2012/mar/08/kony-2012-what-s-the-story?fb=native

I am largely put off by this 'champion' and I sincerely doubt how he could suddenly claim to be a great herald of the movement while explicitly ignoring information on this issue. Anyways, above is the mentioned Guardian article. it has pretty extensive information on both the pro and con side of said campaign. 

My stance is to donate to a charity that is proven to be legit and doing something helpful in Uganda. There are more ways to help people in need, don't hop on the Pro or Con train just yet.

And back to the school campaign thing. Dude, helping people is not just a feel good thing u do to prove yourself  ighteous. If you really want to help people, first thing first, learn to pull away from your adrenaline driven emotions and do some research. Or at least don't be so blatantly retarded and tell people you refuse to know more about the issue.

New Computer

My favorite bit from last night's bar chatter:

Guy: I am gonna buy a new computer.
Me: Why, is it broken or...?
Guy: I was watching porn when my mother came into the room, I tried to alt-tab away but the screen froze.

Literary Gibberish

Doing my writing stylistics assignment and I have to identify the rhetorical devices found in the materials. When I started working on it I immediately felt drowned in an ocean of pretense.

Exempli gratis, the words Anaphora, Anadiplosis and Onomatopoeia each accordingly means: repeating the first word of each sentence, starting the second sentence with the last word of the first, and words that reads like the sound it meant. You damn pompous literary asses have nothing better to do than making 5 dollar words?

Besides boasting of one's class superiority or identity as an academic I fail to see the reason of using these words when you can just say: repeat the first word.

I am late for school

Sometimes priorities in life would be: Guilty Naps>Breakfast>Wrapping self with blanket and lounging>Education.

 Edit: At school. Just want to add that in my Comparative Cultural Studies lesson my professor put on a 3 hour long movie and walked out. Can't believe I am skipping snuggling for that.

Everyone asks a lot of how, they don’t ask why - Paulo Coelho

Just feel like sharing this article by Paulo Coelho.

Everyone asks a lot of how, they don’t ask why

Reposted from Paulo Coelho's blog.

College culture

There is this cultural custom in my college: When it is promotion period for student societies, the candidate committees will raise banners and shout slogans all over campus. They are literally omnipresent. Students dressed in funky clothes and accessories will parade around and yell in your ears, and when two student societies meet they will compete to see which one yells louder. The process lasts for two weeks until each and every one of these committee members lose their voice and exhaust themselves.

As a spectator, I dislike it. Every time I want to buy a muffin from the cafeteria there is bound to be a hoard of colorful people yelling unrecognizable slogans. I know Astronomy Club is fun, but I am quite sure star-gazing is not like being on steroids. Why the over-excitement? If I am interested in an activity, I will join in; if not, I do not see how screaming and spitting in my face would pique my interest.

Whenever someone ask 'Why do you want to join the student society committees?' It is always the same answer: To experience college life.  Some people enjoy the feeling of achieving something in a team, and the good ole' sharing of sweat and tears; I am all for it. However is this parading and shouting really 'college life'? Or rather, is that really the college life you want? I asked some of these energetic members and turned out they are just doing this because the ex-committees tell them to. Some hopeful new committee do not see the meaning of such activities but since it is a tradition they are doing it.

Of course there will be college activity enthusiasts who enjoy every bit of this. Honestly, if that is what you truly like, it is within your rights just fine (Although it pisses me off, but hey pissing people off is part of the beauty of democracy and liberty). But how many actually enjoy doing the yelling parade? I did not conduct an in depth research but I do know quite a few who find it exhausting and unrewarding. 

And then there is this another tradition called Consultation. The candidate committees of all the societies will be confronted by ex-committees. Candidates would be challenged in every aspects: from their yearly planning to how well they remember the school policies. While the original purpose of this consultation meant well, it often turn into some ugly showdown and personal insults. Questions like 'Why is your year plan full of crap?' or 'Recite all of last year's slogans of the English Society' would pop up and this painful grill last for a ridiculous period of 18 hours.

I understand the importance of traditions. But, like showbiz, if the audience and the performers both loathe this show then why bother running it? Shouldn't an ideal college life be doing what you like? I am not condemning the concept of college life immersion, but I do urge my fellow freshmen to think again when some seniors tell you to go perform some shenanigan tasks. If you are doing it just because they tell you 'it is part of college life', think: is it part of your college life, or theirs? I know that in my case, I only take crap like that when I am paid.