Friday, March 20, 2009

Debate, Aristotle, and the Weirdest Paragraph EVER (haha, now you're gonna read it just to hear the weird paragraph :D)

Okay, I know this sounds crazy, but I actually forgot about this blog for a few days... Haha, sorry!

Well, this week has been okay. Definitely have had worse, definitely have had better. Debate is moving right along. I finally got my butt in gear, and I think my partner and I can win this!! w00t w00t! :) We're debating whether or not the US should call a constitutional convention. My personal oppinion is strongly NO WE SHOULD NOT, but we won't know if we'll be arguing for or against it until we get to class Tuesday, so we have to prepare for both sides. Yikes! I'm kind of nervous, mostly excited. After all, this isn't SUPPOSED to be a huge competition, I just feel like it is. It's really just friendly practice, haha! But when it comes to debate, for me, it's all business ;)

I started (sort of...) my philosophy project this week. I found out it's due a little earlier than I expected...yikes again...I'm doing an oral report (*cough* boring report *cough*) on Aristotle and his philosophy. Aristotle is my favorite out of the famous trio of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. Socrates is best known for "inventing" the Socratic method, which is getting someone to understand something by asking questions. He believed that deep down, everyone has all the answers, it's just a matter of digging them out.

Plato believed that there was/is another "realm" where all the ideas for creations come from. He believed that in the Realm of Ideas, there is a perfect copy of everything, and all the things we see on Earth are just duplicates that are sometimes not quite right. For instance, if you look at six black lab dogs, they aren't all going to look exactly alike, are they? But you can tell what all of them are, because their Idea, or their Mold, is the same. Plato thought that in the Realm of Ideas, there exists kind of a "black lab dog mold" and all black labs are made from that mold, they just don't all come out exactly "right." Like when you're making cookies. You use the same gingerbread mold, but each cookie looks a little bit different, right? Same idea.

Aristotle, who was tutored by Plato, disagreed with his mentor on almost every fundamental point possible. Aristotle believed that THIS world, the physical world is the real world. Not some dreamy "Idea Realm." Aristotle was a huge realist. Not many people really got along with him. He was sort of a know-it-all.

I know you're probably wondering why I picked the boring, physical world know-it-all instead of the cool "true insight comes from within" or Mr. "Realm of Ideas." You'd think that someone as obsessed with fantasy and weird opinions and "kooks" would go for Plato. But the reason why I like Aristotle is that he argued with Plato. Really. That's my "big" reason. I just like the fact that he had the guts to stand up to his mentor who was universally known as a genius. Plato had his own SCHOOL, of which Aristotle was just a lucky pupil. And he still stood up to Plato and had the courage to buck him. I admire that. Don't know exactly why, but I do.

Now, if you aren't asleep already, this will surely do it for ya! ;) I'm going to talk about my book. Before you run screaming, I just want to get in one exciting annoucment: I HIT SEVENTY THOUSAND WORDS LAST NIGHT!!! I've got seventy-one thousand now. Oh, yeah! Lol! The story is beginning to wind down. A lot of semi-crucial events left, but we're getting to the end. (Haha, I say "we". I. I am getting to the end. You have to remember, Kendra, YOUR BOOK IS NOT STINKIN' PUBLISHED YET. You are a NOBODY at this point.) Haha, anyway, I'm estimating I have around forty to fifty-ish pages to go before my rough draft is done. I'm so excited! This is the longest thing I've ever written/stuck with/tried to finish/come up with that's actually interesting-ish. Yeah, all of those! YES! I may actually finish this!

Okay, so one more small random thing: I think about all the negative stuff (like, SERIOUSLY), so I've considered the possibility that I could potentially die/get killed before Creepy (Er, The Mirror) is finished. So (haha, this is possibly the weirdest paragraph I've ever written), if I do die, Ellie B, Gabrielle, Kyle Hendricks, and Lizzy are in charge of finishing Creepy for me. Okay? Haha...just thought I'd say that. And now I'm thinking I shouldn't have because that was REALLY weird. (I am considering backspacing this...)

Well, if you're reading it, guess I decided not to. :D Have a great weekend, and remember,

Carpe diem!

-especially if you have an unfinished novel going.

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