Straw targets.

In arguments or discussions, I've found that it's almost always the case that the person making an argument - at any given point - misunderstands the point of view of the person they're arguing against.
As such, they're essentially making an argument against a figment of their own imagination. Which is often quite amusing.

They also seem to like doing the "one-size-fits-all" trick. Where the same illustration, or point, or argument is always brought in to what they say. If you're lucky, they might have two or three to vary it up a little.
Now, admittedly, sometimes that can be a good thing. Solidifies your perspective, gives it some common ground. Which is fine if that's good ground.
But if that ground's a bit shaky - then perhaps you'd better think again.

One of the many reasons I avoid arguments, and particularly online discussion boards and the like. They can be amusing at times, but they can also get nasty, confused and crazy; and often for simple misunderstandings.

Being able to walk in other people's shoes helps with these things. Quite a bit.

Touch.

Not too long ago, I put up the start of a story that I called "Empty". Link here. A bit further back, I also did a post on the five senses and how important I thought they were, rating touch as the most important. Link here. I've also put up a status before saying that everything has a reason to it, even if we don't know that reason.
Those three are all related.
Namely, "Empty" has a reason to it, which is linked to why I consider touch the most important sense.
I'll....expand on that a little. I did talk on it a bit in that post, but in a more impersonal sense.

Anyone who's seen me will know I'm a fairly shy person. I generally keep myself to myself. Been getting better more recently, but still generally true. I even used to avoid touch, sometimes to a ludicrous degree. I still have a bit of a flinch reaction sometimes, if I'm not expecting it.
And yet....I rate it as the most important of the senses. Not only that, it's my favourite one. (Don't take that the wrong way.) Handshakes to hugs, mateshakes to manhugs, and everything in between - nothing I like more. Seeing a person's face is fantastic; hearing their voice I always love; having a hug with them, I treasure.

So....how does that work? Loving touch, but yet - keeping myself to myself? Well, it comes down to really being quite insecure about this sort of thing. I've never been good when it comes to risk; I'm always afraid of the bad possibilities that could eventuate. As I've mentioned before, I can imagine them all. In a split second. And touch can quite easily turn into something that's misunderstood, or misinterpreted. Generally speaking, as coming on to someone, or something similar. Displaying some sense of attraction. Depending, of course, on the manner/nature of the touch, person it's with, etc etc.
A handshake is usually fine, though somewhat formal, hence the mateshake. (Term I invented to describe any of the random handshakes invented by people that are more/different to the regular.) Hug can be OK, depending on the person and situation. Generally speaking, the one I like best. Manhug, not as good, but some guys are more comfortable with it. Holding hands - usually means something a bit more. Or it's a game, or helping someone across the road, or some sort of dance. (Which is another thing again - perhaps something I'll do a post on at one point.)

And, of course, sometimes it can mean something more. But it isn't implicit in the method of touch itself, that's something added. A deeper level of meaning, which some are a bit better at picking up than others.

And, of course, each person is different. Some can't stand contact, some can't be without it. Some will agree with me and love hugs most. Some will prefer something else, maybe holding hands. (Wouldn't know, not really something I've done that much.) Then some might like kissing more. (Again, wouldn't know.) Some prefer a soft touch, some one that lingers, or is just as much as can be managed at once. And to each their own.

If you don't believe me about the importance of touch; let me relate to you the story of Cadmus Peverell. It comes from Harry Potter. (All the best metaphors do.) He received from Death a Resurrection Stone; that could bring back people from the dead. He brought back the woman he loved, who had died. And he could see her; he could hear her. But he could not touch her. She was immaterial, a ghost. And so he committed suicide, so that he could really be with her; be of the same form that she was. To hold her.

Now tell me that touch isn't important.

Why I Blog.

Today, one of my friends mentioned to me that they'd had a look at my blog, particularly the one on my Ten/Eleven Commandments. They said it was really good, and they'd been able to relate it to what they did already quite well.

And, in short, that's why I blog.

To help people.

Help people to smile.
Help people to think.
Help people to laugh.
And, every now and then, maybe even help people to live.

Though really, that's more my whole way of life that I try to live by, not just blogging. But it's good for here too.

And it really strengthens me to know that people are reading what I write, and agreeing with it - identifying with it, either with what they do already, or with what they think they should be. It really encourages me to know that people think of what I have to say as valuable - because after all, if I didn't think that, I wouldn't be writing. You don't write if you don't think you have something to say. (A little secret: everyone has something to say. Just between you and me.)

So thanks to everyone who has been reading, commenting, thinking, laughing, smiling. It helps me a great deal to know that I help you.

The difference of observation.

Quantum physics is an interesting topic. I'm not a quantum physicist myself, but I do know a couple of things about it. One of the things I do know is Schrödinger's Cat. The idea proposed is that there is a cat, and a box. If you put the cat in the box with a radioactive substance and close the lid, two eventualities are possible. Either the cat will be alive, or it will be dead. Quantum physics says that both occur simultaneously while the box is closed. However, as soon as you open the lid, it resolves into one or the other.

And this actually occurs with electrons - if an electron is shot towards a card with two holes in it and is unobserved, it will go through both simultaneously. If it is observed, it will go through one or the other. The act of observation impacts what is being observed.

Observing something - paying attention to it - makes a big difference. I've found that, to a large degree, if I look at something enough, I can develop an interest in it. Anything from abseiling to zookeeping, really. Presently unsure if that extends to an appreciation of Rebecca Black's Friday.

Jokes, aside, people often judge things before they really take a good look. Most disputes are due to errors in either communication or understanding. If we can fix part of that by simply being more attentive and actively interested in things - is that so difficult?

Chaos of a good kind.

Tonight, I helped out at my church's Youth Group. It's something that I've been approached about helping out with before, but work commitments always made it difficult. At the moment, however...not so much of an issue.

Anyway. They made a massive glad wrap - well, they called it a maze, but it was more like a web. It wasn't like you had walls and there were wrong paths and right paths; it was just lines of plastic going every which way. And we played Sardines, Treasure Hunt, Poison Ball, and Back-to-back walkthroughs in that maze. We had about a dozen kids, and I got the impression that they all had a lot of fun. Oh, and we had one of the games where they had to make the biggest ball of glad wrap. Which was a crafty way of getting them to do the clean up for us. XD It was pretty good.

And next week, some sort of giant board game....I'm very interested, needless to say.

So yeah. It was pretty good. Tonight was the launch night, because we've just gotten a Youth and Young Adults Pastor at our church, which is muchly cool. So it looks like it's got some big things ahead :)

On money.

Money is an unfortunate fact of this world. As I believe I've mentioned before, I'd be very happy if I never saw another dollar, note or cent. But, that would make it somewhat difficult to get by each day.

At the moment, money seems to be running ridiculously thin. First of all, we just had a new kitchen hand come in where I work, so I'm now back to two shifts a week - which isn't really enough to get me through the week. Now, I did have a bit of money saved up before. However, I've recently been to Black Stump and Masterchef Live (both absolutely fantastic), and now most of that is gone.

Added to that, recently my car's been playing up a bit. Stalling on me. It's been...quite difficult. So I took it to the mechanics - nearly $300. And he said that by the time I get the rego done (which is December), another $1000 would need to be done. It's an old car.

So, essentially, that's a lot more than the car is worth. Which means we're thinking of getting a new car. Well, not a new new car. Probably a used one, as cheap as we can find that's not going to give us problems. I'm not very good when it comes to car maintenance :P

And I would like to get to this end of year mission that the Christian group at uni does, but that's more money that I don't have. Which makes things...difficult.

So yeah.

Looking for a job. Again. :P (Preferably, not one with the difficulties I've had with my current job.)

My Ten Commandments.

People know fairly well the Ten Commandments of the Bible. And, to a large degree, they're common sense. As Jesus once said, they can be summed up in two things: Love God, and Love each other.

Thought it would be an idea to put up my own things that I try to live by. Don't know if I'll come up with ten, but we'll see.

1. Love God, love others, love yourself.
That one's borrowed from my church. Think it's a pretty good thing to live by.

2. Be amazing.
Some people think that they aren't that fantastic. But the thing is, everyone can be amazing. Everyone. Perhaps some will be amazing more often than others, but everyone can be. Everyone can strive to be the best - and better - of themselves.

3. Forgive.
Because if you don't, you're carrying a lot of weight around that makes no. 2 slightly difficult. As I've said before, all feelings are made to multiply. Don't let ones like anger, resentment or sadness do that.

4. Be crazy.
Now and then, everyone needs to do a bit of crazy. And what that is will be different for different people. For some, it's doing drumming in a metal band when they're usually shy, or bungee jumping when they have a fear of heights. Me, I've worn a couple of clown costumes and Lycra. The latter was very nice, actually. Makes you feel very flexible.

5. Care.
Always. Now, that doesn't contradict no. 4; you don't worry about what people think when you're doing something crazy. But when people are concerned for you, or someone is hurting, don't ignore it. Care.

6. Be courageous.
Admittedly, this is one I'm still working on. Quite a bit. But bravery and courage in the world of today go a long way.

7. Tell the truth.
Relates to the previous. This doesn't mean attack people with the truth. But it does mean that you shouldn't be hiding the truth from people, or lying to them. Again, something I'm working on.

8. Laugh. :)
In the grimmest of situations, in the darkest of places, in the most hopeless instances - a smile can get you through. A laugh can get you further. Even if you force it out, it's better than nothing. Also why I love the power of comedy.

9. Just hug someone.
Every now and then, you just need a good hug. I'm quite lucky in that I've got a little sister that absolutely loves to share them, so I'm never really short. But if you're feeling sad, down, depressed - a long, slow, quiet hug does wonders.

10. Music.
Listen to it, play it, make it. Music can do amazing things for you. It can change a mood, reinforce one, refresh memories, bring people together. Get into it.

11. Love someone.
I'll throw in an eleventh, because I think this one is well worth throwing in. Love someone. Even if it doesn't work out, even if they never know. Love someone. It's pretty amazing. Not nearly as amazing as someone loving you back, I'm sure - haven't known that yet - but it's still well worth it.

And that's it. Hopefully that's helpful to some people out there. :)

Getting Tired.

It's said here and there that people naturally lie. It's natural for people to tell lies and keep secret, and it takes more effort to tell the truth.

But you know what? Keeping secrets takes effort too. And I'm getting tired.

It's particularly hard when you've had things building up for a while. Which is generally the case with me. Talking about a fair few years, in some cases. And, of course, what makes it harder is that I want to tell people. I would love to tell people absolutely everything, and just not care about it.

But I can't. I can't not care. And that's a good thing, I know. It's just annoying sometimes when it creates these sorts of situations. When you really want to do something, but some other part of you won't let it happen. Fighting yourself is damn hard.

I wrote another post recently. Answering the sort of questions that I always ignore, or misdirect, or something. Then I didn't put it up. Because I wondered why I was doing it. I didn't want to think I had some sort of ulterior motive happening.

Well, too bad. I'm darn we'll putting it up. I'm tired. That's why I'm doing it. And there ain't no ulterior motive here. It got kicked off to Timbuktu. Seems to happen.

And yes, I'll be OK. I'm a bit tired, annoyed and such at the moment, but I'll be OK. And Mozart, this is the one I already talked to you about. Don't worry too much.

Falling On Deaf Ears.

Was at a talent contest last night with the uni that I go to. Got in the top 15 (which is what that night was) out of about 30ish. Most of them on the night were solo singers, with two groups, a few dancers, a couple playing and singing, a duet, and an actor. And me, doing What I Say/What I Play.

I played it fairly well. Mucked it up pretty bad at the end, which was annoying. But over all was pretty good. But afterwards, one of the other people (that I knew vaguely from school) mentioned that you couldn't hear all the words I was saying.

Grrr.

Unfortunately, one of the biggest problems with comedy is communication. If it's anything else, they can think, "Well, it sounds really nice, so it's good!" But if they know it's comedy, they expect to be laughing. If you can't tell what I'm saying, it's not going to be funny. There are only a very few exceptions to that, and then I would say they fall more under phsyical than textual comedy. But it is certainly a problem that I've come across a few times before - as you may recall, it was also what hindered me back when I tried for AGT. And it's also been mentioned once or twice when I've done more meaningful stuff, when again the lyrics are quite important.

It's a bit annoying, really. :P

Impressing.

There was something I found somewhat amusing that I experienced this weekend.

I was at a 21st birthday party of a good friend of mine. Now, as you may recollect, I'm not much of a party man. At parties, I tend to wander around aimlessly, doing squat. Particularly when I know next to nobody at the party. Which was the case here. (Funnily enough, actually met someone who had done my music course, but a year above me. But wasn't much else.)

So, strangely enough, I found myself drawn over to the piano. This has happened before at a few social events.
And I started tinkering away. You know, Piano Man. Good one to start off with. Someone else came in, asked me to play something else. I played Hallelujah. They said I was pretty good. They asked what else I could play. .... I said, pretty much anything. So they got a song off their iPod, and asked me to play that. Got it eventually - the hardest part is usually the key, the chord progression wasn't too difficult. Then they did that with a couple more. Then they said, OK, if you can do this one, you're amazing. It was the Four Chords sequence. :P Needless to say, I got it quite quickly. A couple of others gave me another song later with the same thing happening.

Needless to say, I find it somewhat amusing that people outside of the - music sphere, if you will - can be impressed by me recognising and playing along to the Four Chords sequence. That's not terribly impressive. Not saying that I didn't do anything impressive. I did teach a one-handed version of Fur Elise to someone who was half-drunk. At least half. She did pretty well, actually; think she might have a bit of musical aptitude.

But anyway. Think that's probably a general thing; when people don't understand what's happening, it's quite easy to impress them. After all, that's how most magic works.