bemoaning the popularity of Twilight

More than ever, I'm shocked and a little bewildered at the popularity of Twilight, both the movie and the books. As someone who wasn't able to make it through the first book, I don't feel qualified to make judgements about it, but I have seen the movie, and therefore this video and article really hit home with me, and embodies the reasons for my disgust with the series. 

sorry, mom

Last night I had a really, really weird dream. 

I dreamt that I was about seventeen, and I was planning my own funeral. It wasn't because I was sick or anything like that, I don't know why I was thinking about my own funeral at seventeen, but I was. 

The main thing that happened in my dream is that my mother and I argued about flowers, because she wanted to have roses at my funeral, and I said absolutely not. It's kind of funny, because that's exactly what would happen in real life. My mom loves roses and I can't stand them. 

Just throwing this out there: no roses at my funeral. 

Right now I think I want a combination of any of the following: 

• violets
• jasmine
• lilac
• tea olive
• royal paulownia
• wisteria

in which I give unsolicited advice that you are free to ignore

Quick disclaimer: I don't have very much experience with learning Chinese as a second language, seeing as I picked the basics up when I went to kindergarten, as it is infinitely easier for a child that age to learn languages. However, here are my two cents on learning Chinese, which you should feel free to ignore, since I'm not a linguist, a Chinese expert, or anything of the kind, and the following information is merely based on my own experiences and observations. 

• If you want to learn Chinese in order to function in that language, i.e. be able to hold conversations of medium complexity, order food at a restaurant, read signs, maps and general announcements in Chinese etc., then I would suggest to begin with studying Chinese primary school curriculum (available here, but only if you read enough Chinese to navigate the website) with a Chinese speaker. Not only will studying a first-grade book humble you in the face of the great Chinese language, it will also give a certain unique appreciation for the Chinese culture. I don't know whether Xinhua Bookstore ships internationally or not, but if anyone comes across this and would like assistance in ordering books or would like me to forward them internationally, you can contact me at soggyspaghetti at gmail dot com. Just throwing that out there. 
• If you simply would like to become familiar with the language, i.e. have an intellectual understanding of the various linguistic elements of Chinese, I suggest you look for resources online or at a library. 
• If you are more interested in the Chinese culture, THIS PAGE is fantastically accurate in its representations. This also looks useful, but I can't say I've taken that long of a look at it. I'll probably also post some entries on Chinese culture (maybe in the not-so-near future), so you may want to look out for those. 

on government

It seems to me that many people are under the impression that America is a democracy, and I don't understand why. America is not, and never has been a democracy. It is a republic, meaning that instead of people making the decisions, they choose people to do it for them. 

Do I believe in democracy? No, not really. 

Let me explain myself. I don't believe that the average person should decide how to run a country. I don't believe that the average person has enough time to devote to making informed decisions on every single issue. And I believe that people are generally kind and compassionate, but I don't trust them to make objective decisions when it comes to issues that affect themselves, even if they are well-informed. I think everyone should vote for someone smarter and more compassionate than them, whom they can trust to have the best interests of society at heart. 

The end of opinionated post. I promise to get back to water buffalo and illegal satellite dishes soon.