Til Death Do Us Part

Have you ever owned an item or two that you absolutely loved to death? As in, you used it or wore it so often for so long that it was literally falling apart before you had the heart to finally put it in the bin? I definitely have. While I am somewhat of a material girl and have a large collection of stuff (as in everything), I still make the most of my things! That's why I have no problem splurging on expensive shoes every once in a while; I wear the heels down on my shoes, to the point where I've had them replaced so I could continue abusing them. I photographed a couple pairs of shoes that I have worn down, and also an eyeliner that I use every single day (pictured next to a full length, unused pencil). The solid black shoes I purchased as my choir shoes from Nordstrom Rack when I was fifteen (I am twenty now). They have served as my work shoes, at Nordstrom and Seattle's Best Coffee, where they took the most abuse in the form of coffee and milk spills. The snake skin (or rainbow trout) print shoes are from Urban Outfitters and have (and still are) my trek to class and wear-at-work shoes. Those I purchased two or three years ago. I still won't let these shoes go to the grave and I wear them at least 3-4 times per week. I love them so much I can't bear to part with them! Call me a pack rat, call me cheap, but I love my stuff.

Robots & Writing

Goodness, time flies when you're in college! I haven't written for quite some time now. This past Saturday, I took an IELTs exam (International English Language Testing). Though I am a native English speaker, I attend an international university and require passing results from said exam to be exempt from English courses. Now in the school system here in Thailand, there are very few opportunities to write essays, most of the grade you receive is exam based (35% midterm, 45% final, the rest on quizzes and possibly small assignments). While doing the essay portion of my IELTs exam, I realized how much I missed writing. I pretty much wrote a satire, and I hope whoever it is who grades my paper enjoys reading it. The prompt was something along the lines of, "Robots can be important in the development of human society. Do you think they are a good or bad thing, and why?" I will do my best to recreate what I wrote, and I had quite a good sense of humor about it despite the fact that I was freezing in that exam room for a good three solid hours.

Robots are an interesting creation, and fantasy. There have been many recent films made about robots, such as Wall-E, iRobot and Transformers. Now in all of these films, the 'good' and 'evil' sides of robots come out. But first things first, if robots are not human and therefore have no emotion, how can they have morals defining what is 'good' and what is 'bad'?

As a society, humans seem to have become lazier. Obesity levels are sky-rocketing all over the world. Sure, this can be attributed partially to diet, but also to the fact that with all of our tools and technology, our lives are not physically grueling as our ancestors were (not in developed nations, anyway. I am well aware that life in many third world is a daily struggle for survival). The introduction of robots into society for the purpose of doing mundane, every day tasks would make humans even less active than we are now. I mean come on, we already have dishwashers, car washes, washing machines, automatic doors, etc. Isn't life easy enough as it is? If we had more time in our day to do other things because we weren't throwing clothes into the dryer, would we actually be more productive? Doubtful. We'd spend more time in front of the television, eating or playing video games, or sitting at our computers. Most likely being inactive.

Worst case scenario, think about this one for a minute. If a seventeen year old computer nerd can create a virus that disables millions of personal computers worldwide, what could Steve Jobs do? Robots run on programs, they do what they are told to do, with no thought (because they don't think) as to what is 'right' and 'wrong'. Like I said earlier, a machine can have no morals, no emotions. So maybe Steve Jobs has a secret army of iApple-bots hiding underneath his garage, just waiting for the apocalypse, or just the right moment to launch a military attack on Bill Gates. The robots may not turn on you, but someone can program them to do their bidding. Okay, this is all a bit far-fetched, but like I said: worst case scenario, like in the movies.

Au contraire, utilizing robots to do tasks deemed perilous or impossible for humans to do is absolutely logical. How many mining accidents have there been in 2010 resulting in the loss or suffering of human life? 3 major ones I can think of off the top of my head: the Chilean miners trapped underground for three months. Three months! The mining explosion in New Zealand, in November, which killed every single person in that mine. And don't forget the blast in West Virginia back in April. Robots were sent in to mend the exploded pipes in the Gulf of Mexico (what a disaster, thanks British Petroleum*). Funding for research and development should be high for robots with such uses. Same with robots for scientific purposes, such as exploring Mars. Humans can't just pop over to Mars and take a stroll, so we send robots. Totally justified.

Overall, robots are great to do work that is deemed dangerous for human beings. But the R&D for robots and technology for convenience (how the hell are the Jetsons in such good shape if they don't even walk across their living room?) is a frivolous waste of time and money. What do you think about having robots as part of your every day life?

*The IELTs exam is curated by the British Council, I hope they got my joke and weren't offended for taking a stab at BP. Hey, they deserve it, to say the least.

Last but not least, I can never bring myself to write without posting photos as well, because I am such a visual person. Photo one: It's me! On the balcony of my dorm room. Photo 2: the bracelet I was wearing. Photo 3: My obsession, Ferrero Rocher! Delicious.

Allergic to the counterfeit, impartial to the politics.

Actually I'm not impartial to the politics at all. I won't say I'm up to speed on everything happening, but I do cast my vote when my civil duty is requested. Unfortunately, as I am not currently in the U.S. to sign my ballot, I won't be able to vote for Kitzhaber for Governor. I was raised a democrat, though my grandmother is a right wing, Rush Limbaugh kind of lady, along with the rest of her sisters. I am young, and a lot of young people are liberals. In the German film, the Edukators, one of the characters talks about how he used to go to protests when he was young, hot headed and rallying for change, truly liberal. But, he got a job, got married, had children, and the next thing he knew, he voted conservative. I think age has a lot to do with political stance. Older people are set in their ways, they don't want change, they want to keep all the money they've worked so hard to earn in their lifetime. Young people could pack up and move away to a foreign country and not have obligations such as mortgages, and elderly parents to care for, or children or even high paying jobs they'd be afraid to leave. (Okay, I'm saying most young people, not all.) Just some food for thought I suppose. Oh and the Edukators is a brilliant film, watch it.

A few images I found entertaining posted below. Just because.

Fashion at its Finest

A year ago, my father returned from one of his trucking trips raving about a pow wow. Well, what comes to mind when you think "pow wow"? Native Americans howling and dancing around a fire in feathery head dresses, feasting and enjoying themselves? Close, but not quite. This year, my father insisted that I attend the once a year pow wow in San Bernardino, California. Hundreds, if not thousands of people of native American descent gather from the far reaches of the contient, some all the way from Saskatchewan, Canada. In the parking lot I noticed license plates from Alberta and British Columbia too.

The regalia was absolutely immaculate. It is very difficult to put into words: bright colors, endless strands of tassels, feathers and beautiful beadwork. The most impressive part, though, is that they are all made by hand, pieced together by the natives themselves. Not a single costume was the same as another. So much time and labor is invested into the making of these costumes, formal wear, if you will, and no doubt the tradition has been passed on for generations upon generations. Mothers teaching daughters how to do beadwork, fathers teaching sons to do the dances. Not only were there dancing contests, but singing and drumming contests as well. It was an incredible experience, gratifying, and heartwarming to know that though most of the natives of this contient were slaughtered or given disease, that somewhere, someone is still preserving their culture, passing on what has always been passed on, before any white man ever set foot on the shores of America. The children dancing in their regalia were absolutely adorable. (Swoon over photos below.)

I also managed to pick up some jewelry (okay, how could I not pick up some jewelry. It's me, after all.) The jewelry that was being sold, like the regalia, was one of a kind. I tried on a few rings that caught my eye, but finally was drawn to a beautiful silver ring with two enormous white turquoise stones intertwined by silver feathers. I tried it on, and alas! It fit my finger! My mother purchased it for me as a going away gift, and I've only just now taken it off for the first time since then.

The very best part about the San Bernardino annual pow wow is that it is absolutely free! It is held in early to mid October every year on Cal State's San Bernardino campus. So really, if you want to say you've been to a real pow wow, go. It will blow your mind and you'll be glad you did it.

Ladies, we should clean out our purses.

I found: lipsticks, sticky notes, lotion samples, napkins, tons of receipts, hair clips, a lighter (for some reason I carry one around, I don't even smoke...), money, jewelry, etc etc.

Faux fur and stacks of bracelets

Photo credit (all but the indoor one): Sarah Mottershead.

Just for aesthetic pleasure.