When I'm confused by an aspect of the world/God/humanity, I tend to spend all of my moving time (walking between classes, exercising, walking down the stairs, etc.) trying to come up with an answer. It's made for some profound breakthroughs in my life and walk with God.

Anyhow, I've had the following question as my moving time question on and off for a few years now: "Why do guys throw themselves at the cheerleader-type personalities?" Saying that they're prettier and whatnot is not entirely valid, because I've seen some pretty oog-lay chearleaders that got the same amount of attention, as well as some absolutely gorgeous girls get less attention.

Today, Esther solved my question for me while we were in the middle of a conversation about the maturity levels of our peers. I think that her point is completely valid, and while every statement can use some refining, it is pretty true.

Premise: Guys mature slower than girls do (mostly due to their maturity being related to their ability and drive to provide for their family).

Esther's Point: When girls are less mature, they tend to strive for attention, seeking to get it from everyone around them. Obviously, this attention-seeking will attract male attentions. While it is probably true that these immature girls can never be satisfied with the attentions of one guy, guys will see them as easy to please. If guys give them attention, then they will be pleased. Since the girls are easy to please, they are also easy to date, because they require less effort. It happens the most earlier on in life, because the guys have not matured yet, and they will perceive the easy-to-please girls as at the same maturity level as themselves. Conversely, the mature girls intimidate guys, because the guys know that they will have to put forth an effort to please them and capture their hearts.

Thomas's Point: The other day, Thomas mentioned that some of the guys he has been talking to (guys my age, because he's a bit older) see women as second class citizens. Then he brought up the point of how a husband and a wife are equals, even though the wife is to submit to the loving leadership of the man. With the same thought in mind, "Who wants to be married to a second class citizen?" he asked. "A good friend of mine married his wife because she was the first person that said 'no' to him. I married mine because she is my equal and I know that I can count on and trust in her opinion, and she counts on and trusts in mine."

Ending Points:
Boys, grow up.
Girls, grow up.
Boys, be careful with girls' hearts.
Girls, be careful with your own heart.
Boys, look for someone that you can treat and who will treat you as an equal.
Girls, look for someone that treats girls with respect and dignity.

Virtual Detachment

Disclaimer: Yes, I do realize the irony of my posting such a topic on a blog... The truth is that I will talk about it with people in real life as well.



Today, Justin pointed me to the following article:

http://www.pluggedinonline.com/read/read/a0004580.cfm

It comes in three parts, and was written by a woman who was living in Africa and Asia for the last five years. She talks about how she is experiencing reverse culture shock. It's really good. An easy read. You should read it yourself. Have I made myself clear?



Anyways, the issue is that in an age with such advanced means of communication, we are actually having trouble communicating with people.



"'As a wise Englishman once said—100 or so years ago—'The more elaborate our means of communication, the less we communicate.' "



In a way, our methods of communication (cell phones, texting, Facebook, Twitter, etc.) have become a means of avoiding communication with the people that are actually, physically with us.



Sometimes, I wonder what my little sister's generation will grow up to be like. They are growing up with almost no knowledge of a world without the internet. They will know very few years when they did not either desire or own their own cell phone. (I was actually very against cell phones until I put my car in a ditch, but that's another story.)



My sister's generation is constantly bombarded with unoriginal hip-hop music (although, I will admit to enjoying some of it), formulaic television shows, movies whose humor requires nothing more than bathroom humor, and an underlying desire to escape it all.



So the problem comes to where everyone goes to escape from the constant bombardment of technology and media. The ironic thing is that they turn to technology and media.



Honestly, answer me this: what was the last book that you read? Schoolwork does not count. Neither does Twilight. Okay fine, maybe Twilight counts, but only if you read it for the story, not to imagine that Edward is going to sweep you off your feet and whisk you off to Forks at any moment. Not going to happen. There's nothing in Forks anyways.



We do not escape our daily lives by reading, or by having deep conversations with our friends and family. Instead, we sit down and turn on the TV. We turn on the TV, and we tune out our loved ones.



Today in class, my teacher mistakenly said that a famous playwright had died of "TV." While she meant TB, her response was not all that surprising to me. Excessive amounts of TV lead to the death of creativity, the death of strong relationships, and the death of conversations.



Furthermore, we find ourselves creating our reality from the virtual. I think this shirt speaks to the mindset of many:

Thus, we have people living in complete fantasy worlds. Although, they may not be as drastic as constantly expecting to find Edward or Zac Efron around the next corner, we are constantly thinking about some form of media.

It may be that the best thing we have to talk about with friends is the latest episode of The Office, or how great the baseball game was that was on last night. Don't you find more enjoyment in things that are real? Like playing catch with a friend, having a dance party with your housemates, or listening to someone talk about their day.

I would take any of those moments over any TV show. What about you?

First Blogger transfer from LJ

http://www.digitaljournalist.org/issue0309/lm_intro.html

It's really interesting to see how deeply impacting a photograph can be. These are the ones that changed the world, or so they say. They at least changed the worlds of many.

MEMORIES

Sometimes, I really wish I could hear what people say about me to each other. I remember one time in high school when there was meeting of the Japanese club, and it was one of the few that I could not attend. Later, I asked Chris McLam (?) what they talked about during the meeting. It was at a time when there was a dispute over who was going to be the president the next year. At the time, I was the Secretary/Treasurer. He told me that they ended up talking about me, but that they only had nice things to say. I've never admitted it before, but after all these years, I still wonder exactly what was said during that meeting.Man, I've almost forgotten about all these things... Time to go back through the old LJ and relive some stuff.... But not other stuff... Like some of the sadder days of DMF.

GMAIL

So, I have this gmail account that sits there, unused for the most part. However, each time I go back to it, there's some new e-mail from someone that thinks I'm some youth pastor named Mike or Chris... One time I got a letter that was entirely in Spanish. The only time that I used the account, really, was when talking to Andy from Hoquiam. I was curious about how ridiculous that whole thing had been, so I peeked at some of those old e-mails. He totally led me on. Also, for a smart guy, he was a bad speller.

MUSIC

I'm listening to Switchfoot's The Beautiful Letdown. It has this knack for moving me to tears. Even when I went and saw them in concert, I teared up. No wonder I usually listen to it in the shower.