Dearest Diary,

I am reading William Faulkner’s Light in August. I hate it. The man views humanity and life as a garbage dump. Corruption and perversion here and there and not a trace of good old fashioned heroism.

He regards Tennyson as "gutless swooning full of sapless trees and dehydrated lusts" forgetting that his own writing is so painfully heartless as to be virtually unreadable. In other words he has contempt for the very thing which could save his horrible story.

I’m nearly done with this awful "Light In August"and the further I get in this story, the more I am thankful for nuclear weapons which give us the power to destroy civilizations such as these.

Better yet, the more I am thankful for mortality so that wretches like Faulkner are only momentary miseries that need only be tolerated by their own misfortunate generation.

If you ever come across a "soul" with such contagious woe as Faulkner, I hope you do the world a favor and put him- and us- out of his misery.

And that is all I have to say for "A Light In August".

Dear Diary,

Time for a mope.

I even want to talk about it. I’ll just embarrass myself. But I’m deeply miserable. I’m too sensitive right now. Maybe it’s cause of the flue. >.< I called Kenny to be sure he wasn’t angry with me. What a dope. I really should have yelled at him, but my voice is too horse. For insulting me last night. And I don’t think he’s even aware of it. Apparently he does this a lot to a lot of people. Actually I knew that already, but I just cant take it right now. I didn’t expect this. It’s so fucked up. I shouldn’t dwell on it.

I’m not making sense. Kenny is a bastard.

Anyway I had planned to bitch at him, but I just ended up inviting him out. WTF?

I’m so going to bitch him out. I have to, to regain my dignity. >(

Fucking low esteem bastard.

Oh my what happened today....

Not much. I got to go to anime club and see Gravitation! Man there’s this queer little pink haired dood who’s sexy. *snuggles him to death* It’s weird though, cause he looks and acts like a chick and then he’s all talking like a guy. Oo

Kenny made me sign up for a thingy. >.>Damn it Kenny I need my B-E-A-U-ty sleep! He was saying he had nothing to do after school, and he never finished that thought. *kicks him* I'm going to bed.

*falls on the bed*.

Naruto and Armitage shall sleep with me. *cuddles her action figures* Under my Pokemon blanky. ^_^ Happiness...

A Utopian

In Major Barbara, Mr. Undershaft’s Utopian society flourishes off of the sale of weapons. It’s a wealthy happy city because it is not held back by morality or principle. According to George Bernard Shaw this kind of society could only be instituted with money and passion, and could only be perpetuated if all the leaders devoted themselves completely to the city and abandoned their principles.

A city such as this could only prosper if it’s rulers were willing to abandon all desires for power, even over themselves. Undershaft, regarding the society, says "It does not belong to me. I belong to it."

Money is necessary to run any city. Because Undershaft belongs to his city, he also holds money in great esteem and believes it should be acquired by any means regardless of religion. Undershaft believes that only two things are necessary for salvation "Money and Gunpowder"

This kind of city could never be world wide because by it’s nature it is destructive to other cities. They sell weapons. Every weapon they sell, regardless of who they sell it to, is used against someone, meaning that someone is going to suffer in this system.

This system could never last because it creates enemies and then arms them. Cusins asks Undershaft, "What on Earth is the true faith of an armorer?" Undershaft replies "To give arms to all men who offer an honest price for them, without respect of persons or principles.." So Undershaft creates enemies by selling weapons that destroy cities, and then he is willing to sell weapons to the same people his weapons have just destroyed. Is this a world with out revenge? Unless it is, this system could never work.

Che; A Global Icon

Specific Point: To inform my class about Che Guevara

Central Idea: Che has become a global icon of revolution.

Intro:

You have most certainly seen his face on campus on T-shirts, carpets, even lunch boxes. Taco Bell has made numerous spoofs on him in their commercials, and the band Rage Against the Machine, uses him as their mascot.

The man is Che Guevara, a Cuban revolutionary.

Curious over his recent popularity, I chose him as my subject.

In my research, I have read his diary of his adventures in Bolivia, many of his lectures, and his personal letters to his family and friends.

Body

Che was a doctor.

Studied at a medical school

Graduated as a doctor

Traveled Latin America as a doctor.

(Transition: Through his travels as a doctor, Che became acquainted with a number of communist revolutionaries. )

Che willingly joined the communist revolution.

Che studied Marxism

Che became involved with politics.

Che volunteered to fight American backed mercenaries in Guatemala.

Che escaped to Mexico

Che met with Fidel Castro, and joined his small team of gorilla fighters.

(Transition: Che had quickly changed from a doctor, into a communist revolutionary.)

Che died in Bolivia

Che is eager to spread communist revolution around the world.

Che leads a troupe of gorilla fighters into Bolivia.

Che suffers asthma

The mental state of the troupe is questionable.

(Transition: Due to poor preparation for the harsh jungles of Bolivia, Che’s troupe decayed, and Che himself was eventually arrested and assassinated by American CIA. )

Che’s death remains a mystery.

Some say he didn’t die.

He was wax

It was a look alike

In Conclusion:

Che was a doctor, not uneducated.

He wasn’t brainwashed into Marxism.

Wether one shares his ideals or not, few would deny that he believed in his ideals, and eventually suffered and died for them.

Che’s death is surrounded by mystery. Theories persist that he didn’t die. Perhaps fearing his death, or thinking it too good to be true, people all across the world continue to deny the possibility. This is in the tradition of all great icons.

SP: To give my audience a few examples of Divination.

CI: Divination is a world wide practice that takes on countless forms.

Introduction:

There is one thing that is always coming and rarely here, and yet it is all around us. It is in the sky above us, at the bottom of our tea cups, in the cards we play, in the books we read, we always carry it in our hands, and we even dream about it. With out knowing what it is we ignore it.

There are people who say they can see it and know what it is through a time old practice known as Divination. The word Divination comes from the root word Divine which means to guess. For this speech, Divination denotes fortune telling. I have not known much about divination, but a friend of mine introduced me to it recently and I thought I’d share my new found knowledge with you.

There are 9 kinds of divination that are practiced globally.

MP1 Perhaps the most used form of divination is astrology.

1. Astrology in newspapers web pages etc..

2 Astrologists believe that our moods and health are controlled by the position of the planets.

A. Since the position of planets can be predicted, Astrologists feel they can also predict our moods.

3. Records of it date as far back as the Babylonian Empire, but countries all over the world have independently developed their own forms of astrology, later borrowing and mixing ideas from each other as communication between countries increased.

4. In America we use a system created by Ptolemy.

MP2. Another common form of divination is Tarot.

1. Tarot began as a card game in Italy.

A. The game was called Torocchi in Italy, but we have adopted the french spelling of Tarot.

B. Although the cards from the game were used to tell fortunes, Torocchi was a lot like bridge.

C. It isn’t certain when the game became a form of divination, but tarot were used to represent personality traits in song, and this combined with regular playing cards being used for divination, probably led to a combination of the two as we see in tarot.

2. Reading tarot is much like a ceremonious card game.

A. The way the cards are cut can effect the outcome.

B. The cards are then placed in a spread.

C. There are many kinds of spreads.

D. The meaning of the spread depends on what cards are drawn and the order they appear in.

MP3. Palmistry is another common form.

1. People who practice palmistry believe that the lines on our hands foretell our future.

A. Each persons hands are unique.

2. Palmistry is often called Chiromancy as well.

3. Although most Christian churches today consider palmistry a communion with the devil, Christians three hundred years ago used palmistry when witch hunting.

4. Palmistry goes way back.

A. A shrine to the god Hermes bears treaties on palmistry.

B. The oldest known book on palmistry is seven hundred years old.

5. The Most Famous Palmist is Cheiro.

1.Cheiro read the palms of Mark Twain, Osar Wilde and a number of rulers.

2. He accurately predicted the often tragic deaths of all the rulers he read for.

MP4. Crystalmancy, Hydromancy, and Pyromancy are all a part of a form of divination known as intuitive divination.

1. Intuitive divination relies most strongly on a persons psychic powers, with out which, Intuitive Divination is impossible.

2. Pyromancy is intuitive divination based on the actions of fire.

A. When the ancient Greeks read the behavior of sacrificial fires to determine the mood of the gods.

B. Later on, witches believed that salamanders represented the spirits of fire and used them to intemperate the messages of fire.

C. Some people still believe that the sudden extinction of a large flame foretells immanent disaster.

1. In hydromancy the behavior of water is used to tell the future.

A. Its very old

2. The oldest records of hydromancy were collected by the Jesuits.

1. Much like the Athen’s fire reading traditions, the spead with which a loaf of break was accepted into the fountain of Ino could tell of a gods pleasure or wrath.

B. The ways of deciphering the messages of water vary greatly.

1. Studying ripples

2. A ring hung by a thread in a glass of water stirred and count the number of times it hits the sides.

3. Color

3. Crystalmancy is famous.

1. You may know what to expect. In crystalmancy a fortune teller sits behind a crystal globe, counts down the colors of the rainbow in her head, and goes into a trance. She then opens her eyes and watches for symbols she sees in the crystal.

2. The history of crystalmancy is so fraught with superstition that it is impossible for me to tell you it’s history. While searching for crystalmancy, I’ll I encountered were tails of warlocks and witches and dragons, nothing real.

MP6. Perhaps the only form of divination practiced by Christians and Muslims is Bibliomancy.

1. In Bibliomancy one prays a question to God, or simply a request for guidance, and opens their book to a random passage in the Bible or the Koran. The passage is read as a divination from god.

2. The Chinese have a far more complex form of Bibliomancy involving the I Ching.

A. A number of methods are used to discover the page and passage meant to be read. Instead of randomly opening their book.

B. The oldest method involves heating a turtle shell until cracks form. The cracks or used in a hexagram that is read to lead them to a page in the I Ching.

C. Other more complicated methods exist.

MP7. My favorite form of divination in Dream Interpretation.

A. Oneironauts are explorers of the dream world.

B1. There are early biblical references to dream interpretation. Perhaps the most famous being of a boy who predicted his own rise of status.

B. Dream interpretation may be the most realistic as it relies not on Gods or Devils or Spirits, but on our own psyche. In dream interpretation we are reading our own subconscious mind.

C. The idea is that we dream what we dare not think. Every thought that is too silly or perverted, or unlikely for us to accept during our waking hours, runs rampant when we sleep. Since we refuse to accept many of these thoughts, they can not helps us make important decisions in our lives or give us clues as to what to expect, but if we examine our dreams carefully, we just may see what fortune tellers have told us all along; the clues to our futures.

Dear Diary,

A girl gave a speech on BDSM in class today. BDSM stands for Bondage Dominance Sadism and Masochism..

To quote Golden Boy... "This is very educational" *jots it down*

Anyway, I’d like to know how you people feel about BDSM. Gross? Tacky? Cool? Sexy? And since she said every one has fantasies about it, how many of you actually do have fantasies about it?

Apparently my mom has a roast in the oven which is more important than free ice cream and visiting Kenny. >.> I don’t even like roast.

Damn roast to hell!

*kicks her yucky dry roast* I'm going to mimic Anthy and just eat snow cones tonight.

^_^ So what have you been up to Chu Chu?

Yeah it's cool.

http://search.aimhome.netscape.com/aim/boomframe.jsp?query=depression" title="http://search.aimhome.netscape.com/aim/boomframe.jsp?query=depression" target="_blank"http://search.aimhome.netscap...+drugs&page=1&off set=2&result_url=redi r%3Fsrc%3Dwebsearch%26req uestId%3D330c5ec37325950a %26clickedItemRank%3D6%26 userQuery%3Ddepression%2B drugs%26clickedItemURN%3D http%253A%252F%252Fwww.intelihealth.com%252FIH%252FihtIH%252F WSIHW000%252F333%252F8014 %252F402877.html%26invocationType%3D- %26fromPage%3DAIMToolbar% 26amp%3BampTest%3D1&r emove_url=http%3A%2F%2Fww w.intelihealth.com%2FIH%2FihtIH%2FWSIHW0 00%2F333%2F8014%2F402877.html

Kissing...

Here’s my one million dollar question;

Can someone get sued for kissing someone else with out permission?

This question has been on my mind for years. Sometimes I just want to kiss people. I think it’s the Italian in me. But I’m always thinking... "Is it socially acceptable?"

Which results in a lot of weird pauses.

Anybody know the answer to this???

Bad case of PMS. I hope I can go to Akibiyori tomorrow.

Black is pissing me off. He’s an idiot. He has this bogus and oh so cliche Goth opinions that he thinks are original. He’s one of those fashionably unfashionable people who probably think the worlds against.

The day goes on,

Well I’ll skip Chinese tomorrow. There’s a test, so it would just be a waste of time for me. I already know I’ll fail. This teacher is terrible, all she does is show us her home movies of visits to China. It’s because every other student already speaks Chinese so they don’t need to be taught. But I don’t. I don’t know anything, my family doesn’t even speak it. When I ask what a word means she won’t even answer me, at best she’ll make fun of me.

At least I’m doing well in my other classes. It takes nothing to get As in classes where the primary language is one I already know...

So thought I’d say "hi" on Halloween.

I’m just sitting here typing... yeah. Handed out candy earlier. Couldn’t wear my Zidian costume because too many people tugged on the tail at the anime club Halloween party. ^_^ Not that I minded... And it was too cold. *br* Sat outside half the night giving candy to strangers. Played with dry ice... um... and all the stuff I always do on Halloween.

Finished my Alien 9 AMV and I’m uploading it as I type.

Thinking about my future again... I don’t know what I want to pursue. Maybe journalism.... That would give me an excuse to die heroically which is really my only aspiration. And I’m a good photographer... I always wanted to be a writer but I don’t know if I have any creative talent for writing novels, so I think journalism suits me alright. Now that I think about it, it could be really exciting. I love telling stories, and I think I’d do alright in foreign countries.

Dearest Diary,

I drank some of the punch at my neighbor’s Halloween party, and now I’m going to vomit. That’s what I get for crashing a high school party and drinking the punch. See I need to puke really really bad, but dad’s in the bathroom taking a bath, and if I’m all "Hey daddy, I need to vomit just after coming from a party", that won’t look good. So I’m holding it in. *sways* uuuuuuuhg. Damn highschool brats.

I could murder all of them. And their stupid punch.

And I ate too much of the food.

See, I have this hobby, it’s called, "Crashthepartyeatthefooda ndleave". Which has gotten me into worse scrapes, but I don’t think I’ve actually run into the notorious spiked punch before. Yep, this would be a first, and considering all the parties I’ve crashed that should tell you something about the spiked punch myth.... It apparently does happen, but rarely. And only with highschool brats who are bored enough to think it’s really exciting.

I, on the other hand, think that if you are going to be mixing drinks, you should do it properly so they taste good. This punch was so wrong. I probably should have known better, I mean it occurred to me but I thought "that’s too stupid. No one would actually do that." Guess I was wrong.....

>.< And I really need to vomit.

Cusins...

From Major Barbra is bishy. I want his plushie...

Not much more to say for today.

.....

Looking for good Halloween romps/parties in LA. E-mail me with suggestions. Kupopops@gmail.com

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Nyo,

I made Carmie depressed by mentioning her old crush. T_T

Hey but last Saturday I got to see Team America! It was so good! Best movie since the South Park movie! And Kenny went. ^-^ *humming*

Oh I have my Cosplay list...lalala

I want to do

Manta and Kororo -Shaman King

Zidian-FFIX

Hinata-Naruto

and the Mad Hatter from EGL style.

Good nighty.

Nyo,

Have you had one of those days that starts out high and ends low? Well it started out high because, I dunno, I was feeling good. But as the day progressed I felt worse and worse. First I was supposed to return Han’s paper work to him, but he never showed. Then I went to Kawaii to wait for my mom, and the first thing any body says to me is "You look sick as Hell." Oh thanks. Carmie was there, and now she’s avoiding me on aim I think, guess she doesn’t want to see Team America. I’ll go on my own. It’s not my fault I look like crap.

Instead of mom picking me up, dad picks me up, which wrecks my schedule since mom was going to pick me up to buy a microphone so I could record my voice on the computer so I can try out for an anime Dubbing. Ok so scratch that. We go to the mall to find pants, ok we went to the mall, need I say more? I felt even worse. We arrive at the bank just before it closes so I can create a checking account for Ebay. Looking forward to my Ebay account, I skip happily to the Bank and hum, and I get mocked by some dip shit air headed yuppie spawn blonds who were younger than me. I can over look it, I get my Ebay account today! but I forgot my passport so I get home with one pair of pants, no microphone, no checking account.

A day well wasted. Not totally, I got sun block, some homework, and a pair of pants accomplished. Damn, and why are people such jerks?

I’m going to read yuri now. *sniffle* Good night.

Dear Diary,

Yay, thank you Kenny for the Clandestine day! ^_^

Before the clandestineness, I went to Anime Club and we played Hentai Trivia! Boy was that fun. I was in team Yuri and we won against team Yaoi. Ah, good old fashioned school activities...

I’m thinking of going to Yaoi Con with Antonia. That might be cool, although to be honest, yaoi isn’t my thing THING, but I like it. II don’t know about all those yaoi fan girls though. Some of them scare me. *hides*

By the way! Some people, who’s names shall remain... unnamed were drinking rum in school today! Stinky rum, and they mixed it with cherry sprite! My cousin would be so embarrassed for them. I’ve never smelled a drink more obnoxious.

It looks like Carmie’s sick so she may not be able to take me to see Team America. T_T Poor Carmie... We need a car anyway, so if you can drive, you’re not male, and you want to see Team America, contact me! I don’t have anything against male drivers, but if you’re male and want to drive us, then you’ll have to talk with my dad. :P Sorry.

To Apply: Kupopops@gmail.com

In other news,

Yesterday at the URA I was attacked by a raging mad Takiyuki! That’s some scary shit. He gave me his flower and then tried to take it back. Unfortunately, it was in my hair. I was forced to subdue him with a fancy wrist lock that I learned in Jujitsu. It was cool....

Ah yes,

Dear Diary,

I watched Kill Bill 2 with my dad just now. I should have been doing home work, but screw that. Educated people don’t believe in systematic evaluation of one’s intelligence. None the less, my grades aren’t bad, Chinese is the only threat to my GPA. I think I’ll ask Cheng to grant me an incomplete, so I can continue the class and take it again next semester, or something. God ,I’m starting to hate Chinese. After two and a half years, it doesn’t seem so romantic any more, sure it still impresses my dad’s friend’s, but that doesn’t do me any good.

On the bright side, I was feeling very flirtatious until just yesterday. That’s such a wonderful thing. Trally lalalalala. It’s a rush, I hope it kicks in again, so I can meet someone nice, and stop blowing off potential lovers. My last excuse was that I didn’t have time to date, but I’d like to. Still, it was a little odd. I’d just met the boy and he asked me out, that’s too strange. I haven’t been on a date for almost two years, that’s two years of blowing people off. ^_^;; Now I’m lonely and a little desperate, I better watch myself.

Dear Diary,

I have resolved to do things more completely from now on. That implies I’ll have an idea of how they are going to end. So next time I start a website, I’ll actually have an idea for what the stupid site is going to be about and plan it like I would a school essay. This way I’ll sound more professional, and my overall coolness rating will go up a notch or two.

A note on my sorry typing skills, I actually have carpel tunnel. Or at least I have the symptoms, and considering my history of week long romps on the internet, I shouldn’t be surprised. Now I ask myself "Was it worth it?"

"Er, Hell yeah."

Another note, in order to be cool, I must stop having online chats with myself.

"Sunny days are rotten days for executions. When the sun is glinting off the calm waves of a blue sea, and the air is thick with the scent of exotic spices ready for trade, one only wants to enjoy the peace around himself, lie back and swing in his hammock. This weather hardly sets the proper mood for an execution."Said Captain Bly, thoughtfully pacing across her ship. One of the crew, who had grown awfully pale since the spy was discovered, raised his hand and offered "Might we wait for better weather? Perhaps it will rain soon." Bly shook her head. "Unfortunately an informant is too much of a threat. Say he escaped and returned to Ithaca with all he has learned about us since we left port? We won’t give him that chance."

The "informant" was a man of about 30 years who’d called himself Richard. His name ,however, was Chrysostom. He had a fearful haggard appearance, which wasn’t unusual for someone who had just been tied up and beaten. The pale man contemplate him with deep distress. This other man, called himself Eric and he also was a spy, although an as yet undiscovered one. Her name was Berdine.

The two of them had been recruited simultaneously by Bly, although neither of them knew of the other’s intentions. Berdine was searching for her little sister, Adelpha, who had been kidnaped by corsairs while on her way to elope. There were many suspect pirate gangs in Ithaca, but Bly had been selling medicine and herbs on the black market in the area for a few years now . The family became acquainted with her through her sale, and Bly had known Adelpha quite well, both being young women, and foolish Adelpha may have confided her plans to elope with Bly. Berdine had suspected her from the day her sister went missing, and rumors that she’d worked as a corsair had strengthened that suspicion. Chrysostom, as it turned out, was searching for the same woman.

This had become evident over dinner a night ago in the mess hall. Bly was recounting her adventures abroad, as she did every night, when she brought up a batch of girls she’d sold to an Arabian Sultan. "They all whine, you know how priggish upper class women can be, but this one wouldn’t shut up. I told her it was her own fault for trusting a pirate and that she should be happy to be sold to a sultan. After all, she’s living in better luxury than she’d ever know in Ithaca. She wouldn’t listen to me! It was on a forest road on the way to her lover that I caught her. I knew she’d be alone than, because she’d off and told me about it just the day before. ‘Off to elope!’ she said. Well, I though, she won’t be having her family with her for a journey like that. And I was right! So I told her she’d been foolish confiding in a pirate, and she’d gotten herself into this trouble. She just kept whining about some fool Chrysostom."

Richard leapt to his feet, spilling his chair and exclaimed. " Adelpha!" Berdine felt her heart leap to hear her sister’s name, but she kept her excitement to herself.

Bly smiled. "Yes! Adelpha, do you know her?"

For reply, Richard flew across the table to grab Bly around the throat. "Taking advantage of a young girl! You Witch. She trusted you." He shouted this in Greek, forgetting his English. Four of Bly’s men lifted him by his shoulders and flung him to the ground. Rubbing her bruised neck, Bly ordered them to restrain him. "Who do you think you are, attacking me over dinner?" she asked, smoothing out her shirt. "I am Chrysostom. I’m Adelpha’s fiancé, and I’m going to save her!" He said with gallant idiocy.

Berdine gnawed a lemon, watching the scene unfold with a look of apathy. "So this is my sister’s secret fiancé." she thought.

And so Chrysostom, who had been called Richard was to be executed on this sunny day. Berdine felt a little empathy towards him now. She attempted again to delay the execution. "What about a preacher? There’s no preacher here. We can’t bury a man without prayers. We’d have to keep his body on ship until we reached Tahiti!"

"Then it’s perfect timing! We reach Tahiti tomorrow." said Bly wrapping a lead bullet in a grease soaked cloth before ramming it down the barrel of her gun. It was useless, he probably wouldn’t make a good husband for Adelpha anyway. Berdine gave up and retreated to her room for the evening to brood over what she should do next. Now that she knew Bly had kidnaped her sister, and who her sister had been sold to it- Her thoughts were interrupted by a gun shot and a splash followed by cheering- it was only a matter of finding a way to return to Ithaca and negotiate a ransom with the sultan. Maybe she’d resign her post at Tahiti and board another ship for Ithaca.

In the early morning, Tahiti’s shores were sighted and Berdine groggily dressed herself for the day. Men’s pants, men’s shirt, every day since she’d left Ithaca. She’d like to be a girl again, but Bly had known her before and she’d be recognized. So she buttoned her shirt and stumbled out of her cabin as Eric. Today was the last day of her charade. She announced her resignation to Bly first thing. Bly shrugged and nodded. She could go.

When they docked she skipped into the throng of waiting naked Tahitians and was very excited to be free of Bly until she noticed the strange looks the men were giving her. She paused mid bounce and checked herself. Nothing was showing. Why were they looking at her that way?

Captain Bly waved to the Tahitians as her men carted spices off the ship. They quickly gathered around her and began bidding for something. Berdine stood on tip toe to watch Bly’s confused reaction to their offers of money. "Do they need medicine that bad?" She asked.

Bly raised her eye brows. "No. They think I’ve brought fat white women." Bly shook her head to the Tahitians. "Sorry. Not this time." They only yelled and pointed at Berdine. Berdine began to notice something. She’d never been in the company of so many nude people before, but now she was, it occurred to her that they weren’t accustom to judging people by their clothes. They had learnt to perceive gender regardless of the what a person wore.

Bly shouted "They’re saying you’re the fat white woman!"

"I’m not fat!" Berdine snapped.

"Are you a woman?" Bly asked looking in her direction with perplexed suspicion. Too late, Berdine was off and gone into the heart of the island. Bly never saw her again, but her sister Adelpha was ransomed and quickly found a replacement husband for the one who’d been shot and they all lived happily ever after.