Currently Reading: World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War & Freakonomics
Currently Watching: Girl Meets World, The Legend of Korra (Book 3: Change)
On Zombies and Vampires
Since the zombie/vampire concept has transformed into a mainstream fascination, I've decided to jump on the bandwagon. There is so much good material to critically filter out from all Twilights of fiction (an unrealistic love story that holds absolutely no entertainment value save for how terrible it is - but unfortunately, I can't even say it's "so bad it's good" - it's just bad). For example, I read I Am Legend several years ago and, as a chemical/bioengineer, it was intriguing to think of vampirism as a viral infection originally intended as a cure for cancer. I decided to read World War Z upon inspiration from Ann and it has, thus far, been a fascinating work of fiction (I haven't seen the movie). Mostly, I love it because it's sci-fi. And sci-fi is my favorite genre because it combines imagination with the world of science. More than the actual horror/thrill, I enjoy the scientific ideas - viral mechanisms, pathways of infection, and inception. Then, I enjoy the "pseudoscience": the psychology of it all. My favorite excerpt so far from WWZ is on the organ transplant doctor from Brazil.
It's a world of theoretical possibilities, with the threat of apocalyptic endings in an increasingly overpopulated world without boundaries. I once read into a crazy theory that the Mayan civilization faced their apocalyptic end due to a zombie-esque epidemic. Among the arguments was: finding human bite marks on human bones and finding scattered remains from the same bodies, etc. etc. If you Google it, you'd find it interesting but realize that there's not a lot of concrete evidence. But when we have a world, now, that:
- plays with genetics and viruses in the realms of
- agriculture
- biotech
- healthcare
- biological warfare
- has so much traffic between countries and continents
- a growing population
- uncontrolled influence on our external environment leading to unpredictable or accelerated weather patterns (i.e. increasing global temperatures, rising water levels, nuclear fallouts)
How can we not fear a world where a crazy pandemic Prion-like virus sweeps the globe? WE CAN ONLY PREPARE OURSELVES FOR THE WORST.
Week to Week Update
My persistent knee problem is making me a very sad cookie. Physical activity is something that keeps me happy and motivated in life and when I don't have the knees to run a comfortable 5k, I get really ANTSY. Really freaking ANTSY. I can play Ultimate and basketball but not at the level I'd like to compete at. So on Monday, I'm gonna take steps to (finally) set an appointment with a GP to talk about my health. Something I've been avoiding. But since I have a lot of time (being funemployed and all), I might as well take advantage of the time.
Beside that, I feel like I've begun to mentally withdraw from too much social interaction while my general satisfaction with life is dwindling. I have to be there though. Present. Sometimes I just have to force myself... I never regret going out, though. Being able to talk to people and walk away feeling like we'd just had a good exchange makes me feel happy. ALSO - I am really trying to consciously incorporate wit and comedy into my everyday persona. I'm doing this by writing down funny things I think of or hear (using Google Keep on my Android and on Chrome) and then re-using the content in daily life. It's pretty difficult though. I'm pretty sure I operate on a different wavelength than most people (that's why I just can't win at Cards Against Humanity haha). Does it sound silly for me to do this? :o
As life happens, I've gained more experience/insights into the ways of this thing called dating. It's interesting, really. Here I am, this idealist, being brought to several realities - which have more or less been easy for me to ingest. For example, thinking about the long term health and genetics of an individual is actually something people think about... that blows my idealistic mind. Because in my emotionally idealistic world - I would probably not even think about that until after the emotional/romantic connection has been made. And at that point - it would be too late 'cause I'd be in too deep. So it is rational.... and it's something I have to internalize. As far as dating goes, though, it seems to be transforming into more of a distraction than anything - even when I consciously try to keep it as a separate thing in my life. Maybe because I'm starting to believe that there's more to work on that I previously thought. Andrea version 3.0 still needs release - and there are still several bugs to work out. I still need to install new software, get the latest OS, and ensure I have the best, most effective antivirus, etc. etc. "You have to be the one before you can find the one."
And then I'm going through a weird phase where my subconscious keeps bringing back residual, unresolved thoughts about H. I have these weird dreams of being in the same vicinity and not talking at all and just acting like strangers - sometimes before the dream ends, one or both of us try to reach out but then I wake up. We haven't spoken for more than four months now and it's a sore point to think he was once the person I talked to the most, and now he's just someone from my past that I'm supposed to burn bridges with? Sigh. Just sigh.... it's not me wanting to get back together... it's me being uncomfortable with the fact that we're not friends and I still care about him because he was such a big part of my life. After all that's said and done, even when I know we had changed and distanced ourselves into different people by the time we broke up, I still learned a lot about myself through our relationship and, when the relationship was going well, I aspired towards my ambitions with enthusiasm and conviction. -sadface-
Oh... also... I got a bangcut! Not sure how I feel about it right now but mrehhh! I was going for a very drastic change so it's taking some getting used to.
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