The Art of Questions

This was inspired by one of my pastor's sermons.

In 1492, Columbus accidentally stumbled upon the Caribbean. But he didn't know that. He thought it was India. He DIED thinking it was India. He just didn't know.

In the middle ages, the people thought the world was, 6/7 water: a chunk of land with salty puddles in it. They just didn't know.

Before Copernicus, everyone thought the sun revolved around the earth. It was clearly moving around us. They were pissed at Copernicus's crazy new theory. They just didn't know.

And that was the fun of it. No one. Really. Knew.

Columbus, Copernicus, and just the ordinary people saw the world as one giant mystery waiting to be solved.

Is the earth really flat?
Who made everything?
What if the Earth were the thing revolving instead of the sun?
How do I know I'm really alive?
How do you cure the measles?
Why are babies attached to their mothers?

Questions. Endless, exciting, bewildering, dangerous, difficult questions. Who knows? No one? Alright then, I'll find out.

Just imagine. A world where you just. don't. know. Everything is new, exciting, mysterious. Like being a child, only better because you can grow up and things are still just that exciting.

Now come back. To our world, our time.

"No, it's round. Duh."
"'Science' says no one made everything, okay? Drop it."
*eyeroll* "The earth IS revolving. And so are the other seven planets."
"Hook yourself to a heart monitor if you're so concerned about whether or not you're living."
"Gah, I don't know, just get the vaccine. It doesn't matter."
"Just Google it, will you?"

We know everything now. We have Science, the Internet, and all the philosophers before us to figure things out. We've got it from here. It's all old news.

And I find that deeply troubling.

I think science is really important. It's good that we've figured things out and have vaccines and treatments. It's good that we've come so far. It wouldn't be right for us to sit around and NOT figure things out.

But...it's a little sad at the same time. All the wonder, the bright-eyed questions and thousands of little mysteries every day...they're gone. We've solved the mystery. Cracked the case. Finished the puzzle. We think there are no more questions. No more mysteries. We've resigned ourselves to contented boredom.

We've lost the beauty of Wonder and the joy of Discovery. I can't even imagine a world where people Just Don't Know. I would want to get out and discover things, find the answers, think my very own thoughts.

There's no way to go back to ignorance, and I'm not saying we should. I'm just saying that we're living in a World of Lost Mysteries, or at least that's the way we look at it. We can't forget the great art of asking questions. There are still mysteries out there, we just have to pry ourselves way from Google long enough to find them :)

o_o \>//stress\\

20 Things History Class Has Taught Me This Week
301. I hold my breath when I’m stressed.
302. “Sovereignty” is hard to spell.
303. It is completely possible—and not uncommon—to fight for the right thing in the wrong way.
304. Making 56 billion typos every 6 words makes me want to scream.
305. I love Wikipedia.
306. Politicians have always been this way.
307. The computer screen starts to hurt your eyes after 3 hours.
308. I still don’t like Lincoln that much.
309. It is the “Gadsden” Purchase, not the “Gadson.”
310. I seriously do love Wikipedia.
311. Cranberry Sierra Mist in a wine glass is really good.
312. I am really OCD.
313. I can actually work really hard when I try :O
314. What the Ostend Manifesto is.
315. I might marry Wikipedia.
316. I love computers.
317. Facebook is only distracting if you let it be.
318. Food holds even less of my attention when I’m stressed or busy.
319. I can successfully condense 52 of material into 6.
320. All things are possible with God.

Things I Think Are Stupid:
321. The law that you must wear a seat belt. That’s MY business. If I want to get killed in a car wreck, the government should let me. As long as I’m not hurting anyone else, let me make my own choices.
322. “Food may be hot after heating” warnings on microwavable lunches. Gee, it’ll be hot after heating? I pity the fool who needs that reminder.
323. When middle schoolers try to make everything into an innuendo because they think it’s cool. I have nothing against a good “That’s what she said” every now and then, but when you stretch “Ring Around a Rosy” to mean something bad, you’ve gone too far.
324. Professional wrestling. It’s staged. That’s lame.
325. Serving green beans without a slotted spoon.
326. People who don’t believe in Peter Pan (;P)
327. Weak fingernails.
328. Those strings on corn that get stuck in your teeth.
329. Hangnails.
330. Running out of things to say (which I obviously am…>.>)

~Kendra

P.S. This time tomorrow, I will be a free girl until January. (Well, not exactly, but freER :D)

P.P.S. If you click on this post, it'll take you to another version of this post.

And I have no clue why or how I did it... >.>

Culture Honor and the Civil War

I have a essay due on Wednesday. Anything from chapters 7-9 of my history book, which covers the years up to the Civil War, and the Civil War. I've chosen to do my paper on why the south decided to fight.

You may say the reason for fighting was slavery, and I agree in part, but I think there's a lot more to it than that. Sure, the south wanted to keep its slaves, but I don't think that was the root issue or why most southerners fought.

"Why are you fighting this war?" Union troops asked a captured southern soldier.
"Because you're down here," the soldier replied.

I believe that most southern soldiers fought not to keep their slaves, but out of loyalty, out of cultural honor. Someone challenges you, invades your land and threatens your way of life. If you are a southerner, what do you do?

Fight, obviously.

I'm against slavery. I hope everyone reading this knows that! It's unchristian, unfair and wrong. But if I had been a boy during the time of the Civil War? I would have fought for the Confederacy, no doubt.

It's difficult to explain my feelings, but I think a lot of my southern friends can understand. There's something that runs deep, really deep in southerners; something that makes us fight for our family and friends; something that rears up when someone attacks our character; something that will not stand by and let our land be taken.

Whatever "that" is, I think, was a bigger reason for fighting than slavery. But what is "it"?

That's what I've decided to write my paper on.
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Southerners Are...
121. Extremely competitive
122. Naturally rebellious
123. Intensely patriotic
124. Fiercely independent
125. Passionately loyal
126. Steadfastly honorable
127. Impressively good shots
128. Unfailingly polite
129. Proudly territorial
130. Always charming ;)

Strange/Crazy Things I've Done (thanks, Izori!)
131. Ride cross-legged on the top of a pickup truck.
132. Wear two kinds of eyeliner at once
133. Go out in public in my Wacky Tacky Day attire (It was for school, and I decided not to change so I could see all the weird looks it would get me.)
134. Wink at a random guy at the fair (He ran into a prize tent >.> My bad.).
135. Go up to a random guy and ask if he tried to figure girls out.
136. Ask the man who works the counter at the bowling alley if he could please blow up my ball, I thought it was flat.
137. Challenge a friend to a heated debate at a Christmas party
138. Feed the dog in the snow without shoes on
139. Fall off a cliff in the dark
140. Be a boot for Halloween.

Things I Stand For
141. God
142. Freedom
143. The right to speak freely
144. Equality
145. The right to bear arms
146. Justice
147. The right to challenge the government
148. Individuality
149. My country
150. And, of course, southern honor XD

~Kendra

"I'm southern and proud of it. I think all southerners are. I mean, if you're not proud of it, you're not really southern."

Washington DC!

Maybe you remember last year, my class went on a 10th grade trip to Washington? Well, we're going again. We are in 11th grade. We're not supposed to go. But, as usual, my class has decided that we are the best class in the world and are therefore allowed to participate in trips for any grade we've been through XD

It's kind of hilarious actually. You should see us crash 8th chili day...

Anyway, we're going to DC :) Today. I'm extremely excited. It's not supposed to rain EVERY DAY or be FREEZING every day, so that's a plus. Also, I don't have the worst sore throat ever this year. YAYAYAY.

The history will mean a lot more this year, too, since I'm taking American History. I'm actually excited about the history itself and not just spending time with some of my best friends.

I might post while I'm gone, but I dunno :)

Be back Saturday! Expect pictures!

~Kendra

P.S. The picture of Evil Inc. to the right is not how I feel about Washington or anything, I just wanted something with a big building/monument XD Just thought I'd clear that up.

A Not-Too-Bad-for-a-Monday Day

Hey! Please note THIS post :D It's about a Blog Scavenger Hunt. I think it'll be pretty awesome. We already have seven awesome bloggers who want their blogs to be part of the scavenger hunt!

If you want to be a part of the hunt, but just want to play, not have your blog involved, that's perfectly cool too! Leave a comment anywhere with a question or a comment and I'll add you to the growing list! I'm excited, y'all :)
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Today, I worked mostly on American history, and philosophy. This is the first real history class I've had since elementary school, and it's amazing. The book I'm reading looks like this:
Seriously, that's it. A Patriot's History. It's actually that huge. It starts a little before Columbus discovered America, and delves deep into the details of our history. It's so well documented and researched that even the critics can't say anything against it. I think it should be a history textbook for everyone in the US. It's an amazing history education.

Philosophy is really cool. I loved it more than anything in 9th grade (if you've been following a while, you may remember MY EPIC POST on it), and I love it all over again this year. I think the book we read in 9th grade, Sophie's World was more interesting and explained things MUCH better though. I'm glad I had Sophie's World first, or I might not enjoy this philosophy class very much.

Every week in philosophy class, one of the students has to lead the discussion. Explain the chapter, ask philosophical questions, get the class involved. The catch? The teacher doesn't tell you who's gonna lead the discussion until about 4 seconds before you have to lead it. You just have to be prepared for it every week.

This week, I prepared MAJORLY. I worked on this thing almost all day. Aristotle is my faaaaaaavorite philosopher, and we studied him this week. I want to lead the discussion sooo badly, but I guess we'll just have to see what happens on Wednesday...

~Kendra

Monumental Monuments

Hey! I'm in DC!!

Can't talk long, really tired, really sickkk!! It feels kind of like a knife is stuck in my throat :(

We looked at the Lincoln and Jefferson memorials! WOW; not to seem, like, country or anything, but they are SO HUGE!! Way bigger than I thought they were going to be. The quotes written on the walls are amazing, but I actually don't agree with some of what Jefferson said... :O It feels weird disagreeing with one of the founding fathers...

There is already drama between some people. *sigh* I haven't figured it out yet, but Kendra is on the case...

Not that I'm nosy or anything.. ;P

Well, super tired, talk to you later! No promises about tomorrow.

~Kendra

WARNING: Political Post (Please Don't Hate My Dark Side >:D)

FIRST: Lostie's Art is now following Carpe Diem!! Awesome! Thanks, Lostie!
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Character Day! I'm doing one of my own today.

As I was reading through some older (from summer '08) story bits of mine, I came across something that astounded me. (Just in case I ever finish this, no taking the horrible idea XD) I had started a story titled "The New America". One of the most important characters is one that you never meet or see, but just gets talked about. I called him Alexander Williams.

Let me quote from my story idea folder:

"Alexander began to see that things were going badly in America. People were losing jobs, inflation was up, global warming was taking over (bite me), people were looking for somewhere to turn. Alexander stood up and said, "Hey, follow me. Listen to me. I can help you. I can make everything all better. I'll give you jobs, homes, stability, someone to count on and look up to."

"With the help of a couple of friends, Alexander led the American people slowly to change their thinking. Alexander rose to power, eventually becoming the leader of America. Most people loved him, and anyone who didn't was labled "old-fashioned" or "against change". Alexander promised change, good change, and people believed him.

"After a little while in power, he began to lead the American people to change their faulty ways. He made new laws that, although they were completely against the Constitution, gave Americans less responsibility, and allowed them to lean more on the government, giving them peace and stability. Alexander made laws and regulations that covered so many aspects of life, that things were just plain easy for the people! No one had to take responsibility for anything anymore! It was a dream life.

"Even when Alexander's laws began to restrict things like what you could say, whom you could talk to, and how you could treat sick people, everyone loved him because he would make life better for them.

"Eventually, Alexander had laws governing almost every aspect of life. He had been ruling longer than most other leaders, but no one seemed to mind. Children were taught that Alexander had saved America, and everyone must love him. Alexander had complete power over the people, and no one seemed to care."

There's Alexander for you, just as his character sketch from my notes from summer/fall 2008 depict. Funny isn't it? How personal freedoms and the republic died at the hands of the most popular man in America? Isn't that funny?

Yea, I'm not laughing either.
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I know this is not my political blog, and I normally don't like posting this kind of stuff here, but it's been preying on my mind all day, I wanted to say that.

I don't understand. I really don't. I don't understand how someone could swear an oath to uphold the Constitution, and then say in an autobiography that he thinks the founding fathers have no place in today's society, and the Constitution is a joke. Why would you swear an oath like that if you believed so the opposite? And why haven't people seen that?

How can you try to pass a health reform bill that restricts freedoms and is completely unconstitutional?

How can you promise to give better health coverage, to more people, and swear that it will cost LESS?

How can you peddle all these paternalistic ways of thinking and call this America? A Constitutional Republic? America is not about the leaders patting people on the back and saying, "There, there, I'll take care of you. You don't worry about a thing, I've got it covered." Give a man a fish, feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, feed him for a lifetime.

America is about teaching a man to fish, not giving him the fish on a silver platter and then telling him how to eat it.

Big government is what we ran from in England. Small government, power to the people, "give me liberty or give me death", stop taxation without reprsentation. Has America really forgotten all of this? Has America forgotten that people, good people, fought bravely and DIED so that we would never have to live with the kind of government our president is promoting? Have we forgotten, America?

The American people are one of three things at this point:

1. Against the direction our government is heading
2. Ignorant of the direction our government is heading
3. In support of the direction our government is heading

You can't really believe that this is heading a good direction. If you think it is, or you think it's at least not heading in a BAD direction, then you are fooling yourself. I'm sorry, but these kind of laws and ways of thinking lead to only one thing (socialism), and that is NOT what America is all about.

Do you support where this is going? If so, fine. Support it. If you are ignorant of it, please, open your eyes.

I am a strong believer in people chosing their own beliefs, thoughts, principles, ideas. Don't let yourself be indoctinated. Think. Look at history. This story we're living has been told hundreds of times in many different eras and civilizations. Time and time again governments do this. This leads to one thing, and one thing only: socialism, loss of freedoms, and destruction.

I understand that this was a very passionate and political post. I'm still debating on whether or not I will hit "publish" or transfer this post to Carpe Noctem.

Hmm. I have nothing left to say except, "Think." Think, America. What do you want?