#232: Procrastinating...

Ten things you do when you procrastinate.

1.  Watch a movie or a TV show. When I procrastinate, I even watch movies and episodes I've already seen so that I'm always occupied!

2. Sit and make little bookmarks for my best friends while they work. I work harder on these little bookmarks than my homework most of the time. Last year, I spent TWO hours making them little bookmarks with little stickers and quotes! I love making things when I don't have to make them. I always had trouble in art because we'd have to do an assignment and I always mess up on things that I HAVE to do. (art wise)

3. Read a book and comment on everything I'm reading. I like telling my roommate anything that I think sounds interesting. I think this habit was worst when I was reading a Chris Kuzneski book. Chris Kuzneski just has so many interesting facts in his book! I couldn't stop asking my roommate questions, especially because this particular book was set in Germany, and my roommate's German, and she'd been to almost all the places in the book! It was so cool!

4. Sleep. I like to sleep when I don't want to work. It helps me forget what work I have, even if it's just for a few hours.

5. Write in my journal. (Or read my previous entries.) I like writing about everything I've done, but that's only on special days when something really important's happened. I like reading my entries even more than writing them, because they're hilarious. I can't believe that I actually write such funny and lame things!

6. Make a paper crane for my roommate. Origami's fun, or just fun to look at it. I'm bad at origami, so the only things I can make properly are boats, airplanes, and paper cranes. I make paper cranes because they're more complex than boats and airplanes (and also because the way I make my boats is supposedly not the "right" way). Even making paper cranes can be hard for me, because I forget when I'm supposed to fold what.

7. Watch my roommate work while I'm lying down. Most of the time, I don't do much while procrastinating, so I just lie down and watch my roommate study. That way, I'm doing something productive (resting and observing), and I can always ask my roommate random questions about what she's doing.

8. Eat. I like to eat when I work because working makes me hungry. I still feel like eating when I'm not studying because it gives me something to do, and when I eat, my roommate eats too, and it's like having a whole meal again!

9. Do word search puzzles. I love word search puzzles. They're a good way to spend free time because they don't require much brain usage, and I like to believe that they help us improve our "searching" skills.

10. Cleaning. By cleaning, I don't mean cleaning everything. I don't have OCD. I just like sorting out my pencil box. I love stationery, and I like choosing which pencil or pen I'm going to use for the next day!

#218: NO super power

What super power you would choose

Can we make up a super power? Because I would want the ability to create new things from the original/initial form an object was in. I don't even know if it's counted as a super power, but I'm going to stick to this one.

Let's start off with a piece of garbage. If I did have my super power, I could turn it into food when I'm hungry, or a jacket if I was cold! It'd be so cool, and since garbage can be converted, we can turn garbage into food during famines and droughts, feeding millions and getting rid of garbage! We could solve starvation all over the world with this super power, and everybody will be happy! (Maybe not the people working in the disposal-type industry, but this super power could create a whole new industry!)

This super power could save lives! For instance, if there was a person falling from the top of a building and there was a car or any other object below, we could turn it into the big blown up cushion-type things, and the person would just fall on the cushion and not die! We reduce accidents and cases of suicides (that take place like this).

I'd be using my super power to save millions, maybe billions of people all over the world. Lastly, I'd be able to use the super power for myself. If I'm stranded someplace and I have nothing to eat but sand, I could turn the sand into some edible thing and I won't die! I would be able to use it if I'm so tired that I can't get up to get myself something. I could just create out of an object close to me.

While writing all this, I realized that this super power is actually bad, rather than good. We'd be able to create money, and if we always had an endless supply of money, I'd be a gazillionaire, and it'd be unfair to all those other people working to earn a living. I'm sure the world economy would suffer because of my super power too, and we'd have a great majority of the population being unemployed soon. In the end, the super power does not lean towards altruism at all, and I believe super powers should be used for the good of many people.
I'd probably use the power just for myself and become an evil mastermind.

I don't really need the super power, now that I think of it, and I don't want to use or choose ANY super power if it's just going to lead to bad results. (All super powers ultimately do.)

What do you do on a rainy day?

I really like rainy days. There's not really much you can do but stay inside. I like staying inside a lot. There's always so much to do! I like to sit or lie down next to a window and look outside. It's really fun, and with music, you fall asleep really fast! It's hard to watch television because you can hear the rain on the roof and any other sound is drowned out. I like reading on rainy days. It's actually very calming, and you can just alternate between reading and looking out the window.

I don't like studying on rainy days because rainy days are meant for relaxation. Studying is annoying and always takes up so much time! Reading does not count as studying because reading's fun.

I drink something hot when it rains. I don't know why, but I just do.

Lately, I've started watching movies and shows on rainy days. I've thought about it, and I've come to the conclusion that rainy days are the ideal time to watch things. You can't really choose to go outside, and you can just stay inside and watch something on your laptop. It works out well, and on sunny days, you can go outside and play!

Most importantly, I leave the window to my room open on rainy days regardless of what I'm doing. I like the smell of rain. You know how smells can remind you of something or someone? The rain reminds me of this one day, a long time ago. It was when I was in Delhi and it rained a lot. From what I remember, it rained up till my knees! Now that I think about it, I'm not even sure if it actually happened or if it was a dream, but it was fun. I stood on top of the slide in the park and watched and played with my cousins. I like remembering this day/dream.

Rainy days are basically days when I can be completely lazy and not be criticized. It's great. I'm glad it rains.

#226: a secret

When you had the desire to run.

It's ironic, really. The one time I truly had the desire to run, and I was wearing heels. I hate formal shoes, and heels, even more. I had the desire, but I didn't give in to it, so the shoes ended up being not as troublesome. This experience is a very embarrassing one, and one that I have not told anyone, so the whole incident will be very... general and unspecific.

It was a thing at school where everyone was dressed up, hence the heels. The event was just some small thing where a lot of people came and did stuff. I went for it, and I actually had fun through the first half of the event. I sat and talked to people, and it was fun. That is, it was fun until some very smart person decided to do something so that other people would do something, and it was awkward. I didn't like doing the thing, so I sat.

That was the moment I had the urge to run. I sat there and this very, very sad thing happened (it was sad for me), and I just sat there. I really couldn't do anything. It wasn't anything bad, but I just wasn't fine with it, and I felt the urge to run. I wanted to run far, far away until the whole thing ended. I wanted to go back to my room and sit there and watch something funny for the rest of the night, but that would have been wimpy, and not so smart of me.

I looked at everything after that. Everything that was far from the place I was previously sitting at (I moved). I thought about it while I watched people, and I realized that I had to be prepared the next time it happened. I sat and thought. I knew that the next time the thing would happen would be at a specific time (I can't say when, because you'll probably be able to guess the whole thing), and that I would have to leave before that.
I kept looking at the time and I finally decided that it was time to go. I ran. I didn't exactly run, but I walked away, very normally, if I may so myself.

I felt relieved after I left, but a little part of me was still sad because I could do nothing to stop it. I had no power over the situation, and I'd decided to run. I don't know if I regret running or not, because I avoided the whole incident, but I also lost out on a chance to be stronger than my impulse.

I had the desire to run that night, and I finally ran. 

#205: Second Grade

Describe how you met your best friend.


I met my best friend at the school gate. We were there before or after the new student orientation, I don't remember which. We were the only ones left. She was with her parents, and I was with my sister and a family friend. I still remember what she wore that day. It was really funny. She wore this purple t-shirt with a pocket on the side with Ariel (from the Little Mermaid) on it. She wore matching track-pants. She had really, really short hair (for a girl) which was completely different from mine since mine was really long then. I remember what I wore, but my best friend's description of my outfit would be a complete lie, so I'm not going to describe it. Since we were both Tibetans, the old people started talking to each other. I know the first thing I said to her. Actually, I don't. I've always found it hard to speak to strangers, and she was a stranger then. 


I then walked up back to dorms with my sister and a family friend who had come to drop me off. I had already unpacked (my sister did it for me, actually), and I sat on my bed as I watched my future best friend unpack with her father. I just watched them and replied to whatever questions her father asked me. She didn't say anything to me. It was dinner soon after they finished packing. Her father left soon after they had finished, and she was crying when I saw her again. I'm really no good at comforting people, but I did comfort her because I still felt bad for her and I was also the only person around. I sat with her as she cried on her bed, and I think I told her about how my parents hadn't come with me and that I'd had my sister (who studied here too) do everything for me. I think she felt better after that because her parents actually came. 


I think we really connected after that moment, because we stayed together ALL the time (along with this other Tibetan girl who was in a grade above us). I remember talking to her that night when I was homesick (but not crying, or not yet, at least). We talked about really dumb things (cartoons), and we still do.


It's hard to remember every single detail that happened that day, but I guess the important thing's that we became best friends then, and we've stayed best friends till now! =)

#222:Library

Where you go to hide and why.

I hide when I'm angry. Or sad, bored, annoyed, or just tired, and when you have to hide, you have to find the perfect place. It can't be too dark, because the dark is scary and just very gloomy, and you can't hide in place that's empty, because you really don't have anything to do but cry, or remain angry, and there's not really anywhere you can hide then. As I said before, you have to have a perfect place to hide, and the perfect place for me is the library.

I really, really like books. I like reading even though I haven't read a book in so long. I like the library too. It has books, and I like books, and it has so many shelves! I like the way the shelves are placed. They always remind me of a maze. They always have nooks and crannies between shelves and in all those other places. It's fun sitting in a small corner and reading, and I remember doing it when I was in elementary school. It used to be really fun then, because I'd always choose the same books to read again and again. I read Enid Blyton's books or this other book, which I loved. It was a picture book called Who Took My Strawberries?. The library teacher read it to us when we were in second grade, and I loved it. I liked how they had pretty pictures and how the book smelled really new. I loved reading books in the library.

The two things I love; books, and the library. When I hide, I hide in the library. It's comfortable hiding in there and you always have something to do. I like sitting on the floor and looking through the books when I'm hiding  for any reason. Most people don't talk to you when you're in the library and looking at a book, so I don't have to tell people about whatever is troubling me. I can look through books and find books that I would like to read in the future. I can look at books, but not really look at them either. I can have a book in my hand while I think about something else and no one will ask me whether I'm daydreaming or not. Most of all, books help me forget my problems. I can always read a book and rely on it to distract me from things happening around me. I like the feeling. Sometimes, you get so tired of everything that you have to leave it all and do something completely different. Reading helps me accomplish that. And sometimes, books can enlighten you. It's not only the books, but the whole act of reading. I find that solutions come to me while I'm reading about something completely different. It's wonderful!

I love books, and you will too! You just have to go to a library if you're happy, sad, or lonely, and you feel all better all of a sudden. It's possible for objects to be friends, because books are a perfect example! Books make great company whatever you're feeling, and there are no expectations or anything. You don't have to give anything to sit and read to feel better, and you don't have to expect anything from a book. You just come and go. It's the beauty of it.

#203: A. A. Milne!

How a person can get along with an enemy.

It's actually really easy. To get along with an enemy, that is. We have enemies, and we naturally tend to avoid them. That way, we interact with them a lot less. The problem with this approach is that we don't realize that these people might not be our enemies. We have enemies after just one incident. It shouldn't work that way, but it does. It's hard to not base our opinions upon one experience, and these opinions create enemies.

The easiest way to get along with an enemy is to spend time with them. There's most probably so much we don't know about this person because we've spend all this time avoiding them. Spending time with a person can help us know more about a person, and most people have more to themselves than they let on. Your enemy might like or dislike something, but it's still possible to like a person more after knowing such things. You might realize that you get along with your enemy because of your similarities, or even because of your differences. It's like the saying, " Opposites attract."

You're friends with a person most probably because you enjoy being with them. It's almost impossible to know if an enemy could be your potential friend if you haven't given them the chance to prove themselves as friend material. You can't know a person if you've barely met or spent time with them. In this way, humans are a lot like books, because you can't judge a person by his or her looks, the way you can't judge a book by its cover.

A. A. Milne once said, "weeds are flowers too, once you get to know them." We just have to know our enemies, because it's possible that they could very well be our friends. We get along with friends, and maybe, we can get along with our enemies then.

(A. A. Milne's can also be trusted because he wrote When We Were Very Young and the Winnie the Pooh books, and the Winnie the Pooh books are AWESOME!)

#199: Public speaking and Prunes

Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? People should sometimes do things that they do not enjoy doing.


I do not enjoy oral presentations. Public speaking's not my forte, and I get really, really nervous. A few days earlier, I had an oral presentation. I didn't choose to do it. I had to do it if I didn't want to fail English. So, I practiced hard, though that wasn't so obvious when I was actually presenting. I practiced for a long time, and I realized that I got nervous even while practicing alone! On the actual day, I went up and did my presentation and it sucked, but I finished it, and oral presentations didn't seem so bad afterwards. I enjoyed oral presentations, but just a little (about 0.05 percent). You can learn to enjoy something that you do not enjoy doing.
It was like prunes for me. I hated prunes. My mom made me eat them because they were healthy, and I came to school with prunes one year. I tried to eat one every day because I didn't want to waste it, and then I couldn't stop eating them! The school food was really bad and the prunes really tasted good, so I ate them all the time. I like prunes now. 
We don't enjoy a lot of things because we aren't used to doing them. You know how people say, "Don't judge a book by its cover"? It's just like that. We can't base our decisions or opinions on first trials. Doing things can become fun if we do them more than once, though we make assumptions after doing it just once.
Virgil Garnett Thomson once said, "Try a thing you haven't done three times. Once, to get over the fear of doing it. Twice, to learn how to do it. And a third time to figure out whether you like it or not." The things we don't enjoy doing could be because of our fears, or just because, but we have to do it again. We can learn to do it, and then decide whether you like or not. It makes sense, and though it won't work for everything, it should work with most.

#91: the 30-300-30 challenge

Please write about a life experience that has influenced your intellectual and personal growth.


Does blogging count as a life experience? I don't know, but I'm still going to continue with this idea. In November 2011, I decided to take up a 30-300-30 challenge for my English class. We basically had to write one blog post everyday for thirty days with a minimum of 300 words, spending 30 minutes on each post. I took this challenge because I like challenges. Challenges are fun, especially when you accomplish them. So, I was writing blog posts everyday for a WHOLE month, and I had a lot of difficulties writing my posts. This was because all the questions offered were a lot about ourselves, and I haven't really written much about myself for assignments, or in general. My first posts were surprisingly hard to write and I spent way more than 30 minutes on them. I didn't know if what I was writing was too personal, and even though my English teacher told me to write spontaneously without worrying about editing and things like that, I couldn't do it. Most importantly, I couldn't do it without worrying about my posts because I've hardly let anyone ever read what I write. I find it awkward. This task was obviously really, really hard for me, and this time, I would have a lot more people reading what I wrote. It wasn't just my teacher. It was a lot of people all over the world. 
After around seven blog posts, I realized that I couldn't keep writing like I was. I was taking too long, and I really was overthinking about every little thing! I finally decided to take my teacher's advice. I wrote what came to my mind and it was actually fun. What I wrote after that was really truthful and probably told people more about me than usual. I even learnt to write faster, think faster, and be less awkward about sharing what I wrote.
Other people weren't the only ones who learnt about me. I learnt about myself during this experience. Doing all different types of questions ranging from making a mosquito catcher to falling of my bicycle showed me what was possible if I just spent time thinking about things I didn't think about usually. There were so many things I had learnt from so many different things, and so many funny and not-so-happy memories ( I wrote the funny ones because they're more interesting).
I really got to realize what was important to me and what I wanted to do. While answering all these different questions, I started thinking different from the usual me. Instead of thinking about the next episode of Vampire Diaries or what I was going to do after study hall, I started thinking of the whole world, and more importantly, my place in it. I wanted to make a change, and I still do. I thought about issues that I'd never really thought about before, like providing college-level courses prison inmates. This experience really got me thinking about everything, literally. 
During this experience, I changed. Actually, I didn't change. I just became the person I could be, and I had fun through it all. 
I remember wondering how people became philosophers. What did you have to do become a philosopher? The answer is that being a philosopher can mean being yourself, freely, because you can't have any restrictions on anything, especially your thoughts. A philosopher exists in all of us. 

A philosopher really exists in all of us because during my 30-300-30 challenge experience, I think I unconsciously became one. 


(Observation: The word "philosopher" sounds so serious and professional!)