Fog

Has anybody ever gone outside at night when it's foggy? What do you see? You obviously don't see too much, but if there is a light nearby, that stands out in the fog. And yet the light looks different from normal. It's not as concentrated - it's more dispersed. I guess that's how I'd describe it. It's difficult to describe, but let me tell you. It's beautiful. Fog gives our world a whole new perspective. Sometimes I feel like it hides all the normal stuff and brings out only the beauty. Don't get me wrong - I know there is more beauty than just what we see in fog, but with the fog, EVERYTHING we see is beautiful. Everything has a mysterious, whimsical, magical quality to it. It is as if it is unreal. It's almost like entering a whole new world. It's a good time to get a new, better perspective on life.

Myths and Legends

Where do myths and legends come from? How much truth do you think there is to it all? How much is imagination? Most myths and legends are really old stories. Back in the days where everybody was in search of the truth and did not encourage developing imagination like we do today. Today there are fiction stories all around us, and they keep getting more and more out of this world and impossible. However, back in the day many people were determined to learn more and discover the truth. But did they really believe some of the myths and legends? Did they just make it up? Where do these things come from?

Vampires

Why are vampires so popular today? Vampires mostly, but then there's werewolves, zombies, witches/wizards, fairies have even propped up. All of these fantasy books are getting turned into tv shows and movies. Don't get me wrong, I love it. Although I wasn't a big fan of the Twilight movies, I love the books. I love almost all books that include this paranormal romance and whatnot. But now it's seen everywhere. The bookstores are exploding with new stories in this genre, and more and more tv shows are propping up that include vampires and werewolves and love stories between humans and the supernatural. It's the ultimate "want what you can't have" thing. But I think it's more than that. We are in a recession, life is becoming difficult. We want to escape. We want to believe in the impossible. Notice how almost all of this takes place in modern time and at the beginning of the story, people think vampires and the supernatural are all just ghost stories? We want to believe that even in our world today when it is all myths and stories, that it still can be possible that there is excitement, love, a wonderful life out there that we can experience.

Entertainment fascination

Why do we pay millions of dollars to athletes or movie stars? Being an athlete is hard work. I will give you that. You have to work out, and keep up with your mental game as well as your physical game. You have to really give it your all when some people have jobs that require minimum effort. Movie stars is a little iffy... acting classes cost money, so I would hope to make more money than they cost. There's also a hell of a lot of competition for that. And movies and tv shows help us escape from life especially if we're suffering from this recession or something else. But, why do we put more stock into entertainment than firefighters or policemen or teachers? The people who save lives and mold our lives? Don't get me wrong. I respect athletes and movie stars, and I know they help mold our culture, but sometimes I wonder where our priorities are.

Colors

You know what amazes me? Colors. They liven up an object or person or whatever else. They can make some things look good and other things look bad. Colors are also associated with different things - red usually means anger or death or something not great. Pink means love. Green means envy or money. Blue means sadness. Yellow means happiness. Etc, etc. And my favorite color is constantly changing. It used to be red, then green, then orange, then pink, now it's blue, although purple is starting to look nicer and nicer. Yet it's all just the way a light reflects off an object, right? So, how do we know we are all seeing the same beauty? I know some people are color blind. I'm sorry if you're one of them. Our sight and our ability to see color is fascinating. It really does make life less boring, more exciting, and more beautiful. But if you are color blind, don't feel too bad because black and white photographs are still the most beautiful of all.

Memories

Don't you wish you had perfect memory? I know it would suck if something bad happened to you. That is a definite drawback, but I have sooo many fond memories and people I want to remember forever, and everyday the memory fades. It's a sad part of life. But on the plus side, as you go through life, you can create more and more memories to cherish as long as your brain allows. Memories are the best part of life. Something to learn from, something to remind you of who you are. They're priceless.

The miracle of music

I know nothing about music except that it is always comforting. It fits every mood imaginable. If I want to dance, there's a million songs to choose from. If I'm sad, music makes me feel better. If I'm happy, music keeps the good mood going. Music is like a miracle. It can be funny, thoughtful, shallow, truthful, etc. And it's always comforting. I don't know how songwriters can keep developing new types of music, but it's one of the amazing things I love about life.

Books

Does anybody else realize how amazing books are? You are able to be in two places at once. On your couch/bed reading plus in a whole other world where you're able to be somebody else. When I read a good book, I am taken completely into that world. And it is a whole other world. Just by reading a story somebody shared. Books will never seize to amaze me. They can teach us, show us different scenarios, help us feel things we wouldn't normally feel, etc. Books are just amazing.

Cuss Words - If you don't like them, don't read this

You know how it's inappropriate to say certain words? And some words are worse than others. When I was really young I couldn't even say "This sucks!" Now I'm afraid to cuss in front of my parents. I can't say words like "shit" "fuck" "damnit" or even words like "asshole" or "bitch." Then there's the really bad words like "cunt" that hardly anyone says. I've heard of "C U Next Tuesday" to stand in for "cunt" but they mean "cunt" so why not just say it? Why are some words worse than others? In reality, it's a word. If someone called me a "cunt" or a "bitch" it really doesn't do me any harm. It's just a bunch of letters put together that someone a long time ago decided was going to mean something bad. And now people get offended when you hear a cuss word. Sometimes, people use them to offend. "You're such a bitch" Sometimes people use them just to make a point that things are not all well. "This fucking sucks." That way we understand their anger better. But in reality, it's just another word that usually expresses anger. So why are people afraid to hear them? Whether someone calls you a "bitch" or a "really bad person" they mean the same thing - they don't like you very much. It doesn't really matter how they say it. And it doesn't even matter what they think. Certain words shouldn't be prohibited... it's just a word. It shouldn't cause harm. In the end it's just a bunch of letters put together, right?

Language

Have you ever wondered about languages? How did so many come about? How did we even develop words? I understand gestures to communicate... which leads to sign language I guess. Then we learned to speak. That started with drawings, right? So, how did we get to letters and words? I am typing this, and you are understanding what I am saying. If I were to say I watched tv today and saw a commercial with a girl washing her hair. You would probably understand what a tv is, what a girl is, what a commercial is, what the act of washing is, and what her hair is. You'd probably also understand that she was using shampoo. You could probably even picture it a little bit. All of this because I put some letters together to form words. Does anybody else realize how amazing this is? Sometimes I feel like languages are one of the many wonders of the human population. Speaking and writing and simply communicating really is taken for granted...

Blogs

Hello. My name is Amanda Halter. I have recently graduated from college and have decided to write a blog. I'm not going to talk about my life because it's not that exciting and I'm sure you don't care if you're reading this. I am simply starting a blog to get some thoughts off my mind. I often wonder about life's mysteries and question certain aspects of life. I wonder who else thinks this way - maybe people have answers, maybe people agree, maybe people disagree. I'm curious. Feel free to comment and give your opinions and whatnot. I haven't told anyone about this blog so chances are I don't know you and that will make things more interesting. :)

So I guess for this first blog, I'll keep the subject obvious - blogs. Haven't you ever wondered how they started? It used to be diaries, right? Then those kinda died down for a lot of people. When I was younger I had a diary for about a month before I gave up on it. As far as I know a lot of people don't keep diaries very long if at all. Yet, those are the best ways to preserve memories. I'm a big fan of making memories and my memory isn't great, so you would think I'd want to keep those memories stored somewhere before I forget, right? But I don't. Pictures have helped. Facebook photo albums are my favorite... during college, that was definitely the best way to keep track of time. Yet, I didn't take a lot of pictures - I relied on my friends. Even then, we didn't have a camera with us during some of the best times of my life. And I still didn't keep track of those times except through my memory which fades over time. Why not? I think it's because I was lazy, I decided I could spend my time doing other things, I felt awkward writing to nobody, diaries have a weird stigma attached to them. So the blogs emerged? That fixes a lot of those problems. But do you want to share your secrets with everyone? I doubt it. And do you really share everything? No. And now blogs have evolved to who can have the best blog, and who can give the best advice and who can pretend to have the most interesting life. And then there's people who spend hours reading blogs. I bet there are a lot of interesting blogs out there. But how do you even find them? Why? Why have blogs become so popular? What will be next? Blogs have obviously evolved from diaries, but is that good? Is it still the same as a diary nowadays? I think in some ways it is, but not in other ways. It depends on how you use the blog... and there are quite a few ways to use it. Just something to think about.

Sorry that was a long rant, I'll try to keep my other blogs a little shorter I guess. But feel free to comment. :)