Magic Shows

Magic shows have served as a kind of entertainment in the recent years and the number of people who attend such shows is growing. There has always been some rumors about these shows as to whether the tricks you see are real or just deceptions. They usually perform these tricks in a very skillful manner that you find it hard to believe they’re not real; however, the range of the performances is not very wide.

Magicians can perform production, vanishing, transformation, restoration, teleportation, escapology, levitation, penetration and prediction.

When they perform production they produce something from nothing; for instance, a rabbit from an empty hat, a fan of cards from thin air, a shower of coins from an empty bucket, or the magician himself appearing in a puff of smoke on an empty stage.

As for vanishing, they make something disappear. For example, they make an assistant disappear from a cabinet. Although they try to keep their methods secret, this vanishing method may use a similar technique as production but in reverse.

In transformation, the magician transforms something from one state into another like when a handkerchief changes color or a lady turns into a tiger, or an indifferent card changes to the spectator’s chosen card. A transformation can be seen as a combination of a vanishing and a production.

In restoration, the magician destroys an object, and then restores it back to its original state; for instance, a rope is cut, a newspaper is torn, a woman is sawn in half, a watch borrowed from one of the spectators is smashed to pieces and then they are all restored to their original state.

In teleportation, the magician causes something to move from one place to another; for example, an assistant is moved from a cabinet to the back of the theatre. Sometimes a single object is moved like the mentioned example and sometimes two objects exchange places, then this is called a transposition: a simultaneous, double teleportation.

In escapology, the magician or an assistant is placed in a restraining device such as handcuffs or a straitjacket, or a death trap and escapes to safety. Examples include being put in a straitjacket and into an overflowing tank of water, and being tied up and placed in a car being sent through a car crusher.

In levitation, the magician defies gravity, either by making something float in the air, or with the aid of another object (suspension). For example, a silver ball floats around a cloth, an assistant floats in mid-air, another is suspended from a broom, a scarf dances in a sealed bottle, the magician hovers a few inches off the floor. There are many popular ways to create this illusion of even the magician himself being levitated.

In penetration, the magician makes a solid object pass through another; for instance, a set of steel rings link and unlink, a candle penetrates an arm, swords pass through an assistant in a basket, a saltshaker penetrates the table-top, or a man walks through a mirror. This method is sometimes referred to as “solid-through-solid”.

In prediction, the magician predicts the choice of a spectator, or the outcome of an event under seemingly impossible circumstances; for example, a newspaper headline is predicted, or when a random card is chosen, the magician reveals he had known that certain card. Such tricks are called “Pick-a-card” tricks.

No matter what the method is, these shows involve a lot of tricks which make use of our optical illusion in order to show us things that don’t really exist or perform actions that can’t happen in reality. In the past, some people believed magicians had supernatural powers but nowadays, the audience enjoys the show despite knowing that they are only tricks. In other words, modern performers such as Harry Houdini and David Blaine have established the modern relationship between the performer and the audience. In this relationship, there is an unspoken agreement between the performer and the audience about what is going on. Unlike in the past, almost no performers today actually claim to possess supernatural powers. The effects in the performance are sleight of hand, misdirection, deception, collusion with a member of the audience, apparatus with hidden mechanisms, mirrors, and other trickery. Actually, the adult audience plays a role in which they agree to be entertained by something they know to be a deception.

The mid-twentieth century saw magic transform in many different aspects. Some performers preferred to renovate the craft on stage such as The Mentalizer Show in Times Square in New York which mixed themes of spirituality with the art of magic. Others successfully made the transition to TV, which opens up new opportunities for deceptions, and brings the performer to huge audiences. Most TV magicians perform before a live audience, who provide the remote viewer with a reassurance that the illusions are not obtained with post production visual effects; however, nothing would take the place of a live performance in which you see for yourself what really happens.

With the growing number of people watching magic shows, tricks become out-of-date very easily; therefore, in order to keep their business going, magicians need to invent new tricks. But how far can they go? Isn’t there an end to this? People have been entertained by such shows for a very long time, but can these shows entertain them any longer when their lives become more complicated in terms of modern technology in the future?

Revised version of: "What does writing mean in our system and what should it mean to involve? Why?

Generally writing assignments are given to us as students for the purpose of assessment. Professors want to assess our abilities of deduction and inference based on our own knowledge background, but unfortunately if you don’t infer or deduce the same thing they did or in other words, the same thing they expect you to deduce, you won’t be able to get a good score. In isolation a good score may mean nothing to you, and it may not be important for you if the professor didn’t like your piece of writing, but in the long run, getting poor grades could ruin your future. Therefore, you gradually adapt yourself to the attitudes of the professors and your creativity will vanish forever. After a while you find yourself having no idea of your own anymore but just a copy of your professors’ insight.

Basically in our system they give you a topic and ask you to give your opinion on it. Sometimes a list of topics is given and you need to choose one among them which I think increases your freedom of choice; however, even in the case of the list of topics you may find none interesting. You often find yourself imitating other people’s styles or thoughts, when it is meant to involve your own thoughts. I think the reason why this phenomenon often takes place is that you are not taught how to think properly in the first place, so that when you are exposed to a topic, your thoughts are so disorganized that you can’t put them together and write a whole piece. Different ideas seem to be scattered in your head and you find it hard to organize them. In my opinion, the ability to think about a subject and come up with its pros and cons and also logical reasons to support them is an art.

On the contrary, when you want to write about a topic, first you need to learn a way to organize your thoughts and that can’t be achieved unless you do a lot of reading and familiarize yourself with the styles and patterns used in other writings; however, you should bear in mind that mere reading doesn’t necessarily lead to organized thoughts since there are many people who do so but this doesn’t help them out. Another important point is that sometimes there is no thought to be organized. In that case I believe critical thinking would help, because when you start thinking critically, thoughts and ideas are formed in your mind.

In order to get to know different patterns and at the same time in order not to copy the ideas from the reading materials you’re exposed to, you need to keep a balance between these two which is a hard task. Therefore, first you need to read the material in order to get to know the writer’s point of view and then by thinking critically try to form your own thoughts and opinions about the same article. This reading involves a lot of unconscious thinking and analyzing, then without even noticing it, you acquire what you need.

Writing should involve a lot of research and this research gives you lots of useful information. There are some criteria that should be taken into consideration regarding research. Firstly, good and fruitful research should be done in the realm of valid sources; this way the information you acquire will be accountable. Secondly, one source is never enough. You should look through different sources and read them all thoroughly until you can come up with your own conclusion of the subject. Thirdly, research shouldn’t be done by means of a single medium such as books, but it should involve different sources; for instance, audios, books, articles, TV programs and even interviews with experienced people, etc.

At the end of the day you need to have learnt something from all the time and effort you have put into the process of writing; something that is useful in your real life. The good thing about writing is that although writing seems to be a boring task to many students, when you start, you can’t actually stop writing unless it is an uninteresting topic or you’re required to write a certain number of words for that specific topic. I think this uneasiness towards certain topics stems from the first writings you wrote. If the educational system makes this writing experience—I mean the first one—pleasurable for pupils, they will definitely wish to repeat such an experience in the future, and the more you write, the easier and more interesting it becomes to write. Writing must unravel the mysteries within you, so that at the end of a writing you come to know a new aspect of yourself that you weren’t even aware of before.

In conclusion, human beings search for reasons of each and every thing they do in life and writing is no exception; therefore, if they find a good and constructive reason for that and in fact if they find out how they can benefit from writing, there’s no doubt that they will commit to it. I believe writing is a part of education and if education makes sense, writing will make sense, too. You can’t weigh up its good and bad until you experience it at least once, or you need to ask others who have had this experience. By experiencing writing, after a short time, you will be able to notice the change in your way of thinking and it influences your everyday life. This can be a good reason for you to continue writing.

My mother never worked

Imagine a widower with three children who has just lost his wife. He needs someone to take care of his children and no relatives are around to do so, even if they were around, this wouldn’t be a long-term solution. Now he needs to hire a nanny to do the job and this will cost him a fortune if he doesn’t want to remarry. In addition, in the case of hiring a nanny again something will always be missing and that is the love and care of a mother for her children, the coziness she brings to home even by her mere presence and so many other unseen factors which are usually not appreciated while they are alive.
I agree that with modern technology and the new attitude towards having fewer children, it is much easier for today’s mothers to deal with the difficulty of children’s upbringing and housework in comparison with the difficulty mothers had in older times to cope with, however; the main struggles still exist and life has become more complicated in other ways.
Most people believe that the real job is when someone works outside the house and even husbands expect their wives to comfort them when they get home without considering that she has worked as well during the day. Although this attitude is changing and it has changed to a great extent especially for newly married couples, there are still some mothers and wives whose jobs at home aren’t appreciated the way they should. Still there exists a great number of housewives whose hard work and even their existence are taken for granted. If that is not a job, why is our answer to the question, “What’s your mother’s job?” is: “She is a housewife!”

What does writing mean in our system and what should it mean to involve? Why?

Generally writing assignments are given to us as students for the purpose of assessment. Professors want to assess our abilities of deduction and inference due to our own knowledge background, but unfortunately if you don’t infer or deduce the same thing they did or in other words, the same thing they expect you to deduce, you won’t be able to get a good score. In isolation a good score may mean nothing to you, and it may not be important for you if the professor didn’t like your piece of writing, but in the long run, getting poor grades could ruin your future. Therefore, you gradually adapt yourself to the attitudes of the professors and your creativity will vanish forever. After a while you find yourself having no idea of your own anymore but just a copy of your professors’ insight.
Basically in our system they give you a topic and ask you to give your ideas and opinions on it. Sometimes a list of topics is given and you need to choose one among them which I think increases your freedom of choice; however, even in the case of the list of topics you may find none interesting. You often find yourself imitating other people’s styles or thoughts, when it is meant to involve your own thoughts. I think the reason why this phenomenon often takes place is that you are not taught how to think properly in the first place, so that when you are exposed to a topic, your thoughts are so disorganized that you can’t put them together and write a whole piece. Different ideas seem to be scattered in your head and you find it hard to organize them. In my opinion, the ability to think about a subject and come up with its pros and cons and also logical reasons to support them is an art.
On the contrary, when you want to write about a topic, first you need to learn a way to organize your thoughts and that can’t be achieved unless you do a lot of reading and familiarize yourself with the styles and patterns used in other writings. In order to get to know different patterns and at the same time in order not to copy the ideas you need to keep a balance between these two which is a hard task. This reading involves a lot of unconscious thinking and analyzing because without even noticing, you acquire what you need.
Writing should involve a lot of research and this research gives you lots of useful information. At the end of the day you need to have learnt something from all the time and effort you have put into the process of writing; something that is useful in your real life. The good thing about writing is that although writing seems to be a boring task to do, when you start it you can’t actually stop writing unless it is an uninteresting topic or you’re required to write a certain number of words for that specific topic. I think this uneasiness towards certain topics stems from the first writings you wrote. If the educational system makes this writing experience—I mean the first one—pleasurable for pupils, they will definitely wish to repeat such an experience in the future, and the more you write, the easier and more interesting it becomes to write. Writing must unravel the mysteries within you, so that at the end of a writing you come to know a new aspect of yourself that you weren’t even aware of before.
In conclusion, human beings search for reasons of each and every thing they do in life and writing is no exception; therefore, if they find a good and constructive reason for that and in fact if they find out how they can benefit from writing, there’s no doubt that they will commit to it.

Why internet when you can’t manage?

Last year when we wanted to enroll, we went to Dehkade Olympic and everything was so organized that I did the whole procedure in less than 30 minutes, but this year there was a lot of advertising about the procedure of unit taking (I’m not sure if this is the right expression) happening in the cyber space. First I was so glad because this could save me lots of time; however, later on it proved wrong.
Since I have to pay for my units and it was mentioned in the site that all “shetab” cards are accepted, I decided to use my “sepehr” card for that purpose which didn’t work when it was supposed to. I hadn’t been able to deposit the amount needed; therefore, I only had 2000 tomans in my account (!). At the eleventh hour I managed to transfer the needed amount into my account. It was midnight and the procedure began right on time, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t deposit the necessary amount into the university’s account and therefore, I wasn’t allowed to take up any credits. I just kept refreshing the page and could see all the seats (vacancies) getting occupied—I had planned to take classes with certain professors and all my plans were going down the drain as time went by. The only bank we could transfer money through was Saman and I kept searching for someone who had an account there. Finally, at 12:20 I found someone—God bless him—who gave me his card number and password. I could take up what I needed at the very last minute—some of the classes had room for 2 or 3 when I took them! It was by the skin of my teeth that I took all the classes with my favorite professors. However, nobody was able to take up 4 of the required units and we had to spend nearly 4 hours Saturday to get away with the whole thing. I hope this doesn’t happen the next semester, because it was awful not knowing what to do and who to ask.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

I had downloaded some movies from the internet when I had access to ADSL, but I hadn’t had the time to watch all of them. During last week I’ve had more free time and therefore, I’ve watched those I hadn’t seen among which was “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.” It’s the story of a man whose growing up is backwards, meaning he gets younger instead of getting older; however, this doesn’t happen on the inside: emotion wise and maturity wise he becomes older. It’s a paradox, isn’t it? It reminded me how blessed we are to get old.
The actor in the leading role was Brad Pitt and the actress in the supporting role was Cate Blanchett. I think they acted perfectly well, especially Brad Pitt. No wonder why these actors win the academy award or get nominated for that; they’re geniuses in their field of work.
The bulk of the movie starts in a room in a hospital. A very old woman who’s on the verge of dying is accompanied by her daughter because the nurse has to pick her child up from somewhere. The old lady could pass any minute, but for the daughter it’s a blessing to be beside her and to have a chance to say goodbye to her beloved mother. They start talking and the mother asks her daughter to find a diary in her suitcase and read it aloud to her. The Diary had been written by Benjamin Button: how he grew up, what his life was like, and the complete story of his life. While reading the diary, the daughter finds out that the woman Benjamin had been in love with had been her mother and that he was her father and had to leave them despite loving them because he couldn’t do anything else. He had been forced to leave them and watch his loved ones live with a stranger because he knew at the time his daughter would be a teenager, he would become a teenager himself. He had to sacrifice his love.
Although the story was completely peculiar, the movie was so real and it was depicted so beautifully that I couldn’t help myself crying at some scenes. I liked the part in which Benjamin and his love were finally together; it was moving and romantic.
All in all, I recommend this movie to you; it sure is worth watching.

My favorite song by Marc Anthony

ESCAPÉMONOS (con Jennifer López)
Escapemonos tan lejos de aqui,
distantes de todos, en la oscuridad
Donde no haya mas que ver en tus ojos.

Escondamonos de la multitud,
del absurdo dia a dia,
donde todas esas cosas que
perturben no esten mas en
nuestras vidas...En nuestras vidas.

Para que estemos solos amor
y el universo se nos quede en un
abrazo.... Donde se esfumen esas
dudas y esos miedos que nos
queden del pasado...

Para que estemos solos amor
en un dia sin fin sin preocuparnos
mas del que podran decir
donde durmamos abrazados y si
entonces nos sorprende el amancer
saber que estas ahi, que estamos solos
Escapemonos por necesidad,
nos debemos tanto
si el amor esta no hay porque esperar
el donde o el cuando.

Escondamonos de la multitud,
del absurdo dia a dia,
donde todas esas cosas que
perturben no esten mas en
nuestras vidas...En nuestras vidas.

Para que estemos solos amor
y el universo se nos quede en un
abrazo.... Donde se esfumen esas
dudas y esos miedos que nos
queden del pasado...

Para que estemos solos amor
en un dia sin fin sin preocuparnos
mas del que podran decir
donde durmamos abrazados y si
entonces nos sorprende el amancer
saber que estas ahi, que estamos solos

Para que estemos solos amor
en un dia sin fin sin preocuparnos
mas del que podran decir
donde durmamos abrazados y si
entonces nos sorprende el amancer
saber que estas ahi, que estamos solos

Escapemonos...
Escondamonos...
Escapemonos...

Ramadan

This is the second day I'm fasting and it's getting easier and easier each day, although days are long and when you reach the end of the day it's like it's not going to end. Do you also feel it in the air? The difference I mean. I myself think I'm closer to God. What makes this difference, I don't know, but I'm sure something has changed within me. The great feeling you have at the time of Sahar and Eftar can not be exchanged for anything.
I've started my Spanish class from where I left off and I'm enjoying the class very much, for I hadn't been in touch with Spanish for at least two months. We watch Spanish movies, read Spanish books and the like. Recently I've been listening to Marc Anthony's songs and I try to write down the lyrics. Later I check the internet for the correct version of the lyrics and then I try to memorize it. That's how I did with English and I hope it works the same way. In the meanwhile--I saw this expression in Sherlock Holmes series instead of using "in the meantime"--I keep on reading the old book of detective stories mentioned in between the dashes to keep my English refreshed. Beautiful descriptions it has; Holmes and his vast knowledge in poisons, different kinds of cigars and their ashes, tracing different footsteps and so many other things that amazes me to a great extent. His way of backward reasoning instead of forward is really interesting. He's described in such a way that you nearly think he had actually existed in some era. I've finished "A study in scarlet" and nearly through with "The sign of four". There's a long way to the end of the book, but I can't wait to see what happens next. By the way I'm getting pretty absent-minded I guess with all that background I have from the book, there are many parts I don't remember at all!

North

I went to the North of Iran this week; it was amazing. I needed a vacation for so long and I hadn't been to the North for five years; therefore, I enjoyed every minute of my trip. We packed our things on Monday and we hit the road at 11. It was quite hot during the first two hours until we reached Kandevan tunnel and from there after it was like heaven; foggy and cool so that I put on a rather warm cardigan. When we got closer to our destination, there was some traffic, but it didn't bother us at all since we were enjoying the view. We chose Chalus road and the scenery was breathtaking as you know. We stayed at a hotel in Namak Abrud region-actually right in front of the main door to Namak Abrud recreational facility. The premises of the hotel were green and very beautiful; full of life and colors--you could see the different shades of green there. The leaves were wet with dew. The weather was cloudy all the time and you know how romantic it is. I love the humidity despite the difficulty it causes, I mean with your hair and with your washed clothes not getting completely dry. I had taken my swimsuit but the sea wasn't calm and I couldn't go for a swim. The weather wasn't sunny and it was even quite cold; therefore, I couldn't get a sun tan either, but all in all it was so good that I don't regret not doing some of the things I had planned. We arrived there at 6 in the evening. Right after we checked in, we went for a drive near the hotel and found Laico-a big shopping center-very close to the hotel and as you know how shopaholic women are, we bought some bedsheets and a flask to preserve hot water.
I started the book "Sherlock Holmes" which I'm sure you're familiar with--The complete novels and stories in 2 volumes--during this trip. It's still startling to me although I've read the whole stories in Persian and I've seen the series on TV twice. It's a descriptive, detective book written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. I bought this one from the book fair and its English is helping me improve my writing and knowledge of vocabulary. However, I have to confess that there are a lot of words I don't know and at first this matter distracted me, but I eventually managed to ignore it except for some very interesting expressions or words that I intentionally look them up in the dictionary. Reading aside, I went bike riding twice in that wonderful weather, we went walking every night, but despite this exercise I gained two kilos(!). I'm much of a glutton and with that delicious breakfast of the hotel how could I resist. Today I was viewing the photos of our trip and I really missed it: it was good but not enough; I could stay another whole week.

NO WAY!!!!!

Hello everyone!
Long time no see!
(Sorry for being too informal)
I haven't been able to write any blogs as I was supposed to. A wedding party was on the way and you know how boring it is to search through different stores for a single piece of clothing. Just imagine after putting so much time and effort into this, I had to have a blouse tailored for myself because I couldn't find the one I was looking for. However, I have tried to go through the books I bought from the book fair and thank God, I've been quite successful to finish two of them. I'll comment on the books later. There were two other visitors from abroad and I was really preoccupied. Actually I haven't had the time to think about my plans at all. But something very exciting happened two days ago: a friend called me and said my grade for the reading course is 20. I was just waiting for this to happen but I somehow doubted it, because I knew I had mistakes. Although some students had told me that the professor would give us extra marks for the lecture we had given, I wasn't really sure this would happen. This grade was kind of vital for me, because all my other grades were 20 and with this one my average could be 20!!!
So I finally did it, I wanted to do this and I did it, still cant't believe it but it's done. I'm just flying high; so happy about this that I'm enjoying every minute of my summer. I hope I can do this again...

What would you do if you were in my shoes?

I consider myself a tidy and neat person. I don't know if it's good or bad, because most of the time it helps me a lot, but right now it's acting conversely. Let me start with my room: The books are usually tidy in the bookcase, my shoes are always clean, my clothes are ironed in advance when I want to go somewhere and each hung on a separate hanger, I always use my own bathroom, my own shampoo, and my own everything. I'm rather fussy about my personal belongings. But now that we're moving places, we've put all our things in boxes; therefore, I don't know where exactly my things are. We've piled the boxes in a temporary apartment until we find a suitable permanent one and that's why for every single thing I need to go quite a long way from my Grandmother's house--which we're presently staying at--to pick that thing up. I feel like I'm in the middle of nowhere; I mean I had so many plans for the summer, but I can't rest assured until I have my belongings tidied in a safe place so that they can't be harmed.
This election is becoming a hassle too. If it wasn't for the unstable situation, we wouldn't have to move twice.

7.4.87

Today is the 7^th of Tir—which I consider a lucky day—and I’ve just finished reading the book Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. I know you may have read it many years ago; I myself came across this book about 8 years ago, too, but I don’t know why I didn’t read it. Everybody talked about it those days and the writer had so many fans in Iran that he decided to visit Iran. He met his fans in the “Book City” of Niavaran. I went there with one of my friends—one of my classmates in the second grade of high school—and it was ridiculous, because I hadn’t even read one of his books. It was one of those events that everyone was excited about at school. As a matter of fact, I wasn’t in the picture at all.

Before I go any further about my findings, I’d like to tell you that I wanted to bring up this topic a long time ago; actually I wanted to write about this as my first blog post in the internet and that’s why I have named my blog “Karma.” However, each time I made up my mind and wrote a few lines of draft, when I reread what I had written, it sounded stupid to me and I thought no one would believe it; therefore, I postponed it to some other time and that some other time is now.

Some of you might think I’m superstitious, some might think I’m delusional, but it’s true; whatever I say has truly happened to me. The number “7” keeps occurring to me. I was beginning to doubt my judgment when I read the mentioned book and this was another sign. I see this number then I somehow know what I think of or what I have on my mind is right. At first I thought this was an accident but then the message became so obvious and clear that I couldn’t ignore. For instance, when something was wrong and I was unable to think properly and wondered what would happen, I suddenly saw number 7 as the number of an apartment meaning everything would be alright. I doubted it, but then quite immediately I saw 77 as the number of another house. Again I doubted it and thought to myself it was a coincidence, and then I saw a car with the number 77 ب 777. I was shocked to the point that I had goose bumps. Aside from number 7, other things happen to me, too. I think of something and I turn on the TV and see people talking about the very same thing I’ve been thinking about. I wish someone would say something and that person says the thing I have on my mind. Luck has been on my side ever since the signs started.

Don't know where to start

Right now, at the very present moment that everybody is burning the midnight oil to study the exam materials, I'm sitting in front of my computer thinking I'll start right away, but when I turn the PC off and try to read something I'm sure I'll look for an excuse not to do away with the studying. Have you ever felt like this? I'm positive you have, unless you're one of those book worms that are seen studying all the time. While a huge pile of work or books is waiting for you at your desk, you convince yourself that there would be no harm if you started tomorrow, or next Saturday, or on the 15th or any other round number! I always remember what Mr. Rakhshani said: "Never do today what you can put off until tomorrow." It's always like this rather than the other way round, isn't it? The story goes on like this until the night before the exam-that sleepless night-when you go above and beyond to finish reading all the materials once at least. On the day of the exam, stressed to death, thinking everyone else is ready but you, with those empty looks of yours when someone asks a question, you go to the exact place of exam, waiting for your executioner to show up and give you the test. You look at the questions quickly and you recognize you don't know some and the answer to the rest is so vague that you don't know what to write.

After the exam you promise yourself that next time you'll do better and that you won't leave all the hard work for one night, but when exactly that next time comes no one knows. It seems it goes on like this forever like a vicious circle you can't get out of. Maybe I'm too undecisive that I'm facing such problems....you tell me.

After 7 years

My uncle (on my mother's side) arrived on Monday from America. I hadn't seen him for nearly 8 years. You know, when it gets this long, you just think you don't miss them, but when you finally see them you can feel the sudden rush of sensations, which have been bottled up, overflowing. You suddenly think what you are going to do when they leave, and how you have managed to go on without them this many a year. The bonds become stronger and stronger and you want to spend all of your time together. In the case of my uncle, who listens to every detail of your everyday routine with patience and love, you will come to the conclusion that you don't want to let them go one more time.

Politics

It's getting harder for me to resist writing about political issues, especially with last night's so-called controversy. I'm gathering my thoughts these days to finally decide who to vote for but the harder I try to concentrate, the more difficult it gets to come up with a conclusion. What is politics after all? If we were to discover the politicians' true intentions, we would have been politicians ourselves and as far as we're not politicians, I believe a lot of relations will remain stealthy and undercover to most of us.

You sit in a taxi and the driver talks like he's an expert in political matters. They wouldn't call it politics if everyone could discover what goes on behind the curtains. Among all the people some intellectuals might be able to guess the real connections between people and events but that would only be a guess and nothing more. Only God knows what each candidate is up to. I think we should vote for the one who sounds more logical; how can someone who doesn't understand the problem itself be able to find a solution to it? Some candidates' solutions sound really ridiculous and I'm surprised why some people still insist on voting for them. It's disgusting how some candidates manipulate youngsters by nice but untrue mottoes and this is unbearable for me. I don't know, maybe if I were their age I would be as excited. It's still a long way till the election-which is 8 days form now-and I can't wait to see the results.

Definitely read this!

I came across this email a few days ago which I found funny and interesting but true. I try hard not to get involved in political matters but I couldn't help going through this one and again I couldn't help translating it into English for you. Please forgive my poor translation beforehand.

A senator dies and unlike many others he's sent to heaven. At heaven's door, the guard surprisingly says: " It's quite a long time we haven't had a senator here! God has ordered me to offer you two options; you can choose between heaven and hell after you've spent a day in each." He immediately answers: "I've made up my mind and I want to go to heaven." The guard replies: "I'm sorry I can't open the door for you. It's an order and you must spend a day in each place and then decide where to stay."

So he spends the first day in hell. He finds many of his comrades there. They play golf together, dance, drink, listen to music, play cards and have a really good time. To his surprise, he finds the weather very nice and cool and thinks what everyone had said about hell was wrong. By the end of the day he's had the best time of his life never wanting it to end.

The next day he's sent to heaven. He finds very few familiar faces but again enjoys his time the whole day. Nice weather and entertainment of any kind was available for him as he had expected; however, he's found hell more interesting and appealing.

At the end of the second day, the guard asks him where he wanted to stay and he answers "hell," with no hesitation. On the third day he's sent to hell to stay there forever. Disappointed to see that there's just a barren land with no food, no entertainment and no friends at all, he asks the guard: "What happened to what I saw yesterday? This is completely different." The guard replies: "That was before you VOTED for it."

Co-education

Imagine being asked to spend twelve or so years of your life in a society which consisted only of members of your own sex. How would you react? (Of course all of us have experienced such conditions!) You wouldn't feel too happy about it.
In my opinion no one can put up with that situation unless there was something definitely wrong with them. It is very surprising to me that parents or education authorities impose such abnormal conditions on youngsters.
Any discussion of this topic is bound to question the aims of education. To me the main aim of education is to equip young people with all they need to take their place in adult society. Now adult society is made up of both men and women, so how can a segregated school prepare young people for this purpose? Anyone entering adult society after years of segregation can only be in for a shock.
I believe a co-educational school offers children nothing less than a true version of society in miniature; therefore, it's comparable to real society on a small scale. Boys and girls have the opportunity to get to know each other; they learn to live together from earliest childhood, and they are put in a position where they can compare themselves with each other in terms of academic ability, athletic achievement and many of the extra-curricular activities which are part of school life.
Co-education disproves the theory that boys are cleverer than girls or vice-versa. In a co-educational school, everything falls into its proper place. Having classes together is an excellent idea and is successful in most schools. This way, boys become aware of girls' abilities and vice-versa; a spirit of co-operation and competition thrives in the co-educational system.
Girls and boys at a self-conscious age take extra care of themselves. Growing up together and sharing activities will widen the students' talents and a healthy atmosphere pervades in all co-educational schools. The spirit of co-operation that grows between boys and girls makes it easier later on to adjust in a mixed society. However, when boys and girls are separated, they feel they are poles apart. Boys and girls get involved in rivalry instead of constructive competition.
We know that adolescence is a critical age. Teenagers experience a lot of physical and emotional changes. Their characters are not stable yet; they need time so that their final characters take shape. Naturally if they are in a segregated school they might easily form illusions about the opposite sex; for example, boys might think that girls are mysterious creatures or girls might imagine that boys are romantic heroes. Such illusions can be dangerous when later boys and girls want to form relationships and work together. In my opinion the greatest advantage of co-education is that it prevents boys and girls from forming such illusions about each other. Under co-education teenagers are disillusioned very soon; as a result, co-education helps teenagers to form a realistic attitude toward the opposite sex and a healthy attitude toward life. Another advantage of co-education is that it prevents sexual deviation. If not exposed to a co-educational environment, there are will be some disadvantages. A male-only school has homosexuality rate of 63%, more than a public school open to all genders with a 14% rating. This is one of the faults with not having mixed schools.
Some parents prefer to send their children to single-sex schools in order to minimize their contact with the opposite sex, and therefore, to some extent prevent their children from its aftermaths (again, of course in our country there's no other choice, but let's imagine we were in a position that we were allowed to choose.) First of all, it's important to understand that just by sending your child to an all-girls or all-boys school doesn't stop them from seeking out the opposite sex. You can minimize contact when your child is in school, but you can't stop your children meeting others through extra classes, the neighborhood, or through friends. If your child meets someone with whom she shares chemistry, and if she makes the decision to contact such person, there's little a parent can do.
On the other hand, when you send your child to a co-educational school, your child will have exposure to the opposite sex from the outset; hence, your child will not only feel more comfortable in the company of the opposite sex, but will also be able to handle advances better. This way, boys don't grow up believing that women are airy goddesses , more like book illustrations to a fairy-tale than human beings. After all, there are no goddesses with freckles, pigtails, piercing voices and inky fingers, and there are no romantic heroes with knobbly knees, dirty fingers and unkempt hair.

In conclusion, when the time comes for young people to leave school and enter society, they are fully prepared to do so as well-adjusted adults. They've had years of experience in coping with the problems that men and women face.

On the other hand, if you examine the Western sociologists and what they have discovered through their research, their studies more or less negate the positive aspects of co-education. In fact, the increasing achievement level of female students has been attributed to the increase on single-sex classes. Single-sex classes along with a female teacher, provides a positive role model for the students, not only in traditionally female-dominated subjects like humanities, but also in subjects like science and engineering. The latter subjects, which were traditionally considered as "male domains" are now being characterized by increasing female achievement levels. Single-sex classes increases the confidence of female students, according to this interpretation, and results in a more positive attitude to science and technology subjects.

A psychologist working on the study of individuals, Michelle Stanworth, who carried out her study "Gender and Schooling," discovered that interaction in the classroom affected the female students in a very negative way: they got less attention of the teachers, were discouraged from class participation and lacked self-esteem considerably. Her conclusion was determined by interviews with teachers. When asked about whom they give the most attention to, the teacher named a male student two and a half times as often as a female student. Most of the teachers felt that it was much more difficult to remember the names of the female students of the class. Discouragement in class participation was determined through the response of the pupils who reported that the male students were four times more likely to join a class discussion, twice as likely to seek help from the teacher and twice as likely to be asked questions. And finally, girls' underestimation of their ability was discovered when the pupils were asked to rank themselves in terms of their ability, and teachers were asked to rank their students accordingly. In 9 out of 24 cases in which there was a discrepancy between the two rankings, girls had placed themselves lower than their teacher's estimate and all but one boy placed themselves higher than the teacher's rank (!).

The above mentioned studies do point towards the fact that mixed-sex classrooms are disadvantaging female students in many ways. Of course the above studies have been criticized as well. But we can't ignore the fact that if the wider society is characterized by patriarchal relations, such relations tend to reflect themselves in the classroom as well, which, as I said in the beginning, is considered as a miniature form of the society as a whole.

Children's Upbringing

About a hundred years ago the common attitude to bringing up children was the Victorian attitude: children were treated harshly; they were punished for their mistakes. If they made a mistake, they would get a good spanking, but the modern attitude toward mistakes is different. Nowadays a mistake is a sign of learning and gaining experience; in other words, you learn and gain experience by making mistakes. Therefore, these days mistakes are regarded as something constructive.

On the contrary, those days children weren't allowed to express their views freely. They weren't allowed to question their parents' decisions; let alone argue with them. Parents were relaxed and confident because they knew where they stood. To cut a long story short, children were totally dominated by their parents. Toward the end of this period, Freud introduced modern psychology.

According to modern psychology, children must grow up in a relaxed atmosphere. They shouldn't grow with anxiety and fear. Freud revolutionized the theories about children's upbringing and parents have been puzzled ever since. Nowadays there's no balance between parents' authority and children's freedom. It seems that children's happiness is important even at the cost of parents' suffering. Modern parents suffer from fear and guilt all the time. They fear their wrong treatment might cause their children to form complexes. Apart from that, when they're harsh to their children or when they happen to punish them, they have a sense of guilt for a long time. Certainly a child needs love and a lot of it, but modern parents' permissiveness is doing more harm than good. Psychologists have succeeded in undermining parents' confidence and authority. Parents aren't as decisive in treating their children as they used to be. They have lost their self-confidence regarding this matter; their situation as parents is shaky, compared with the past.

Unfortunately children have realized this quickly. These days parents are hesitant; they don't know how to act in problematic situations, so from early childhood the children are in control and parents' lives are regulated according to the needs of their kids. When these little children grow up into teenagers they take complete control.

These days children are more rebellious, more aggressive and more demanding. They take their parents for granted; they don't appreciate anything and have become thankless. If the young people are going to give a party; for instance, parents are asked to leave the house. Their presence merely spoils the fun. What else can the poor parents do but obey?

Strict Parents Vs Children's Reaction

Some parents still believe in being strict. They strongly control and supervise their children. They dictate what they think is right to their children. At times, they're extremely hard on their children. Some of these parents are very picky toward their children. They sometimes humiliate or ridicule their children, especially in front of other people.
Another group of strict parents are dominating parents who try to dominate their children. They make decisions for their children. They even think for their children. Of course such parents mean well, but their approach is wrong.
The other group are possessive parents; parents who think they own their children. They always try to keep their children dependant on them.
Different children show different reactions to these attitudes. Some children become rebellious; they rebel against their parents, teacher, etc. Rebellious children become aggressive. They don't approve their parents anymore. On the other hand, some children lose their self-confidence and become timid and inhibited. They might form some inhibitions such as shyness, lack of self-confidence, lack of courage and the like. Such children will not be able to communicate with other people very well. They may not be able to express their emotions and feelings freely. They won't be able to form mature relationships with others. Some of these children can be very demanding, sensitive and impatient with other people.

Total Freedom

There are two contrasting attitudes toward children's upbringing. Some parents believe it's good for children and youngsters to be allowed to run wild without any control or supervision. They claim this approach can help children to achieve their full potential. If children aren't limited too much, their talents will flourish better. They also believe that children or youngsters who are free to try everything will build up stronger personalities because their characters take shape naturally. Such children won't become timid or inhibited; they will be able to express their opinions and emotions freely. They'll be able to form mature relationships with people. Of course children who are given freedom to do everything without guidance and supervision will certainly make mistakes.

The positive point is that when these children make mistakes, they have to take responsibility for their mistakes. They won't put the blame on others and won't hold other people responsible for their mistakes. This way they'll grow up to become mature, responsible adults.

Total freedom approach has disadvantages, too. One disadvantage is that if there's no control or supervision, children might make big mistakes. We know that children are inexperienced. Most of them can't distinguish between good and bad; therefore, they might make mistakes whose consequences can be irreparable. Sometimes one gross error can make you suffer for your whole life.

Another disadvantage of this attitude is that quite a lot of children and youngsters don't have the capacity for freedom. They can be quickly spoiled by freedom. Some of them might turn to crime. This can increase juvenile delinquency. Others might become self-centered and inconsiderate; they show no consideration or appreciation for others; they always put themselves first. Such children usually become thankless. They often take their parents and teachers for granted and they don't appreciate their efforts.

My sister as a teenager

It sometimes gets really hard to get along with my sister; she's 19 and still a teenager. I must have been like her when I was her age, but to tell the truth I don't remember being like that at all. My mother says everybody goes through this: the state that you don't know where you truly stand. Sometimes you imitate your friends and sometimes you try to act independently. You don't know where you're going and what it is that you really want. It's a kind of crisis I suppose. Meanwhile, I believe the hardest job of all is the parents' during this period.

Teenagers are going through their adolescence. Teenage is a formative stage of their development because their final characters begin to take shape at this stage. Teenagers undergo a lot of physical and emotional changes; their character isn't stable yet. In most cases their emotions overshadow their wisdom; they can't make sensible decisions in difficult situations. Parents must treat teenagers very tactfully; otherwise, the consequences might be irreparable.

Academic Decline in Universities (4): Social Factors

There have been certain remarkable cultural changes in our society during the past few decades. Our society used to be education-oriented. An educated person with even a moderate salary was able to support a family and put some money aside ,too. But these days our society is more money-oriented than education-oriented. People don't give much credit to education. Success is measured in terms of the money you earn; the more money you earn, the more successful you are. As a result of this, more and more youngsters give up the idea of higher education and decide to enter the world of business, but since they don't have any expertise, they don't set up constructive businesses; therefore, they become dealers.
Another consequence of this social situation is that young people go for the majors that lead to higher salaries; as a result, the ultimate goal is not self-perfection or gaining knowledge for the sake of knowledge. Almost every university graduate wants to get a well-paid job and those who are not accepted in these fields take up science, social sciences, humanities and arts. That's why we don't have many good scientists, artists, poets, etc.

Academic Decline in Universities (3): Job Prospects

     Another demotivating factor is poor job prospects. Quite a lot of university students don't see promising job prospects ahead of them. They see that thousands of university graduates are jobless and thousands of others are not working in their field of study. Therefore, they see no point in studying hard or doing research. They only learn by memorization. They cram too many facts into their heads; as a result, their knowledge is superficial and they can't put their knowledge into practice. They are only concerned about obtaining a degree. They become degree-oriented and their main concern is to get a degree and enter the job market as soon as possible, but when this happens they are bitterly disappointed. They realize they have neither the qualifications nor the practical experience to work effectively.

Academic Decline in Universities (2): The Role of Professors

     The second factor which contributes to academic decline is the professors. Nowadays some professors don't take their jobs seriously, they do a cursory job and in some cases they whitewash the whole job. Some professors never update their information; as a result, their knowledge is not up-to-date: it is usually out-of-date. Unfortunately some of them do not have a deep sense of responsibility. Several of them have to handle several jobs at the same time. This is because their future is not secure. They don't do a lot of research and don't keep up with the latest developments in their fields. They don't put the students under pressure and they don't give their students proper assignments. In fact they set a bad example for their students.
     However, I don't put all the blame on professors. Maybe they cannot swim upstream. Higher education in Iran suffers from mismanagement and lack of planning and needs fundamental changes. Learning strategies in Iran are mainly based on memorization. Students don't usually learn through practice and experimentation; all they do is to cram their heads with facts and figures. 

Academic Decline in Universities (1): The Role of the Students

     In my opinion in recent years there has been a remarkable decline in the academic level of universities in Iran. Most universities don't enjoy a high academic level. This academic decline can be attributed to four factors.

1.The role of the students:
     Quite a lot of students who pass the university entrance exam have to take up their majors according to the rating they get. Most of these students have to take up a major they're not interested in; in other words, they take up their majors out of force not out of choice: naturally they soon lose interest in their studies.

     

A friend is someone who knows you and loves you just the same

     I agree that in general you should accept people as they are-I mean with their positive and negative qualities-but in the case of friendship I think it depends on the type and depth of friendship.
     In superficial friendship maybe you only want to fill your free time with somebody, so you don't get very fussy about your friend's behavior; you mainly try to enjoy the time that you spend together, but things can be very different in deep friendships.
     In my opinion, real friends must somehow influence each other. They should help each other to develop spiritually. What's the use of friendship if you don't show any reaction to your friend's wrong behaviors and big mistakes. What's a friend for then?
     Therefore, in my opinion, if you realize that a friend of yours has a bad quality which is harming your friendship, you should tactfully deal with it. I believe the best thing to do would be to show each other the right attitude or behavior by your actions and not by giving direct advice. I strongly believe that in most cases advice is counter-productive.

Spanish

     I have studied English since I was eight. Attending English classes has always been my favorite extra-curricular activity. I remember myself longing for the day of the class to arrive. Today this has changed into a voracious desire for language learning; any language.
     I started Spanish last year, and I still study it whenever I have time. There was a time when I couldn't even think of any other language but English, for I was in the midst of it, and now I'm amazed how attracted I am to Spanish. Whenever I listen to Marc Anthony's songs my eyes start glowing because now, not only do I enjoy the music, but also I understand the lyrics to a great extent. 
     When I decided to study Spanish everybody around said French would be a more suitable choice as a second foreign language; however, ''como siempre" (as always) I did what I wished and chose Spanish. Who cares if all so-called intellectuals know French? I'm completely satisfied with the decision I've made because later I found out that in terms of culture Iranians and Spanish people have a lotin common.
     At first it was rather difficult for me to try to speak a language other than English; I wasn't able to see the connections between the two languages and Spanish was totally weird for me. Whenever I ran out of words or phrases and I couldn't express what I meant, automatically the English version would come to my mind. At those times I had started to be very grateful towards English-my beloved English. How easier it was to produce a past verb in English than to do the same in Spanish, but when you get used to it and you're able to somehow connect it to your everyday life, it becomes pleasurable. What's more pleasurable than learning anyway? let alone learning a language.

Who am I?

     For every being cursed with self-awareness there remains the unanswerable question: Who am I? We struggle to find meaningful connections to one another. We are the caring friend, the loving father, the doting mother, the protected child. We fight and we love in the hope that somehow together we can understand our significance in the universe. But in the end no one can share our burden. Each of us alone must answer the question: Who am I? What does it mean to be alive? And in the vast infinity of time, how do I matter?
     There are nearly seven billion people on this planet; each one unique, different. What are the chances of that? And why? Is it simply biology, physiology that deters this diversity? A collection of thoughts, memories and experiences that carves out our own special place or is it something more than this? Perhaps there's a master plan that drives the randomness of creation; something unknowable that dwells in the soul and presents each one of us with a unique set of challenges that will help us discover who we really are.
     We are all connected: joined together by an invisible thread; infinite in its potential and fragile in its design. Yet, while connected we're also nearly individuals and the vessels to be filled with infinite possibilities and an assortment of thoughts and beliefs. A collection of disjointed memories and experiences-can I be me without these? Can you be you? And if this invisible thread that holds us together were to sever, to cease, what then? What would become of billions of lonely, disconnected souls? There lies the great quest of our lives to find, to connect, to hold on for when our hearts are pure and our thoughts in mind, we are all truly one, capable of repairing our fragile world and creating a universe of infinite possibilities.

Male Chauvinism

     Yesterday in the "Listening and Speaking" class we listened to a conversation in which 4 people were involved: two women and two men. One of the ladies, whom I assumed to be older, believed that we still live in a male-dominant society and that men are chosen over women applying for the same job. 
     There's no doubt about the fact that we live in such a society; however, I argue for it and not against it, unless the ethic changes which I believe this hasn't happened yet. Of course to some extent it has, but not to a level that allows society patterns to be changed. There are families in which both husband and wife work to make a living, but still the man is the breadwinner of the family and the bigger expenses are on him.
     I admit that there are women who can make more money than men but what is their more serious duty? Shouldn't women spend most of their time bringing up children? Who will be held responsible if a child is not well-adjusted in the society? The man or the woman? On the other hand if a family is not economically successful it's the man who has to answer,  isn't it?
     In my opinion running a family and bringing up children is a job itself; one of the most important jobs ever. I will be committed to it; otherwise, I will have betrayed my own society in the first place by not caring for its well-being. 
     At the end of the mentioned conversation there was an interesting hypothetical question: "If you were to come to the world again would you prefer to be a man or a woman?" My own answer is: "I'd definitely choose to be a woman again." What would your answer be?

Driving

     You're well aware of the fact that these days most youngsters apply for their driver's license as soon as they turn 18. I was born in Mehr; however, in my identity card the date of birth is Shahrivar, therefore when I went to enroll in a driving class they told me I couldn't start the classes unless I was 18 and although there were only 6 days left to my birthday I had to wait. What a long time to wait! For some reasons I hadn't been able to do away with it until this year-I'm 24 now. I took the classes in Bahman and my progress was quite satisfactory. I was able to take the driving test two weeks before Noruz hoping to receive the license before the holiday so that I could practice my driving during Noruz when the city would be less crowded. 
     The day of the test was like a nightmare to me. After finishing the theory classes I hadn't even looked at the book, in which the necessary rules and regulations are written, so I had to study it the day before the test. In the morning still 40 pages containing the most common traffic signs were left untouched. However, I was so sick and tired of it dragging so long that I preferred to fail than to wait another week. So I took the test and with two mistakes I could pass on the skin of my teeth. Then there were two options: I either could take the practical test in the same day (I mean the one in which you actually have to drive) or I had to wait until the week after to take it. Because I was lucky enough to pass the morning test I thought it would be better to take the other one in the same day and ger rid of the whole thing.
     A police officer-a woman- was driving and I was in the last group who sat in the car. After watching so many girls and boys fail I had started to panic and was very nervous. From others I had found out that the person first sitting behind the wheel was the luckiest because the place she would be asked to park the car wasn't steep and it would be easier to manage it. The officer stopped the car in front of us and called the last three names. Unfortunately I was the last. When we sat in the car the first girl to take the test found out that she had forgotten to bring one of the documents needed, so the officer shockingly asked me to take her place, even though it wasn't my turn. 
     I adjusted the rearview and the side mirrors. Then I adjusted my seat. I put on my left indicater, pressed the clutch pedal and shifted it into first gear. I was too nervous that I let out the clutch all of a sudden and the car jerked forward. Hopefully I made no other mistakes and finally passed. What a close shave.

Changeling

     Last night I had a hard time sleeping. My sleeping hours have changed and because I had slept four hours in the afternoon I didn't fall asleep when I went to bed at midnight. When I figured it was useless to change position and roll from side to side, I decided to get up and take a shower and when I did so, I was fresh enough to stay awake for another 2 hours. I was wandering around the house thinking what I could do, when I came across this move named "Changeling" beside the television. I was tempted to watch it and I did. I'm so pleased I chose to watch it because the story was really moving.
     Changeling basically means a baby secretly exchanged for another, especially a stupid ugly child left in place of a beautiful clever one, supposedly by fairies. The movie was based on a true story. Some police officers were trying to convince a mother, who had lost her child, into believing that some other child, other than his boy, was hers. She was so courageous that despite all their efforts to persuade her, she didn't lose hope in looking for her own son. "Never start a fight but always end one," she said.
     Has it ever happened to you when everybody around you denies what you believe in? While you know you're wise enough to make decisions they go on trying to prove the only important thing is what they believe. The same thing happened in the movie "The Flight Plan," again, people were trying to deceive a woman into believing she was delusional. Such movies motivate me. I come to understand that life is worth fighting for and I strongly reprimand being so stubborn and inflexible in one's beliefs and thoughts. 

You look different from what you think

     When I was in high school I thought I had a very good voice until one day this feeling was shattered. The answering machine was on when one of my friends called and because I was too late to answer the phone, the machine had started to receive a message before I picked the receiver up, therefore the first part of our conversation was actually recorded. I didn't believe my ears when I played it back. I couldn't believe that ugly voice was mine.       
     The very same story happened dealing with a handycam. I had thought I was stylish until my thoughts were totally ruined when I was filmed.
     The question is: why is that? I mean are there people who think the other way round? That they think they have a bad appearance ,but  accidentally they find out that the reality is the opposite and they're really good-looking?      
     I hope your case is not similar to mine in terms of contradictions in what you think and what you really are. I think appearance has a lot to do with what we think. It's important how to dress suitably for different occasions. After all, appearance is the first thing you pay attention to when you meet new people and it plays a great role in forming first impressions.
     Although most of the time that's the case, there are some exceptions. How many times has it happened to you when you thought someone was very elegant and had etiquette because he/she had dressed perfectly but later you found out they were exactly the opposite? Conversely, quite often you meet someone dressing shabbily or improperly and that makes you form a bad impression but later they become your best friends or even inspirations in your life.       
     In addition, you should be very careful ,because sometimes certain appearances convey certain messages that we might not be aware of. You think you're being fashionable without knowing that the kind of clothes you're wearing may display a different image to public from what you actually are.   

Routine

     Before starting the main body of the blog I'd like you to know that I haven't started reviewing my grammar pamphlet so right now it's really hard for me to punctuate as I write. Dear readers, if there are any (!), bear with me until I get the hang of this set of punctuation rules.
     There are times in my life I feel so satisfied with the way I behave. Not that I have good manners that nobody else has or I'm somehow special, but being a quite normal person in the society makes me happy especially when I see some people acting so strange in public. I'm dead set against the restless effort people make in order to look unique while there is no uniqueness on the inside. What's wrong in being like everyone else anyway? I don't understand. Such people are overly self-confident. Every behavior has its place and time and I guess they lack enough intelligence to first monitor the situation and then take action. Nobody thinks you lack knowledge if you stop airing it so confidently when you yourself are not sure how correct your ideas are.
     I like harmony and these people interrupt the harmony I've built around myself by looking too flashy or too plain. The plain group is less harmless, because people who belong to this group don't try to force themselves and their ideas into other people's lives. However, acting so neutral is no good ,either. On the other hand, people in the flashy group always try to impose their attitudes on others without thinking for a single second that they might be wrong and that there always happens to exist wiser and more knowledgeable people. This stems from stupidity don't you think so?