The Perks of Being a Wallflower- Finding the Right Person/People

"I just need to know that someone out there listens and understands and doesn't try to sleep with people even if they could have. I need to know that these people exist."(Chbosky 3) In the book "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" the main character says this quote at the very beginning. A lot of teenagers have this go through their head. They are trying to figure out life and the people around then yet all they see are the bad things. The news constantly tells them the and things going on around them. They have friends in bad high school relationships. Everything around them is negative, for the most part. They just want to know there are normal people out there.
When I first started to date I had a few bad relationships. I had a few that only cared about physical things, a few that cheated, and a few that all we did was fight. When I was going through all that I would say the same thing. Every teenager wants to know there are people out there that are good and just want to help others. It isn't easy going through high school as everyone experiences everything. Most things end badly.
For instance in my last post I talked about bad things that happen at parties. But there are also a lot of people that use other people, either for sexual favors or money or social status. Some people only get to meet those people and aren't lucky enough to see the larger world around them. They just want to know that there is someone out there that isn't just like everyone else. Someone that will be there for them. 
There are also people who look at others wishing they knew how they felt or that they could feel the same way. "I look at people holding hands in the hallways, and I try to think about how it all works. At the school dances, I sit in the background, and I tap my toe, and I wonder how many couples will dance to 'their song.' In the hallways, I see the girls wearing the guys’ jackets, and I think about the idea of property. And I wonder if anyone is really happy. I hope they are. I really hope they are." (24-25) In the beginning the narrator talks about how he needs to know there is someone out there to listen and understand him. Looking at other couples they can't help to think they have found that someone that is there for them and listens. There are people that sit there and wish they could find that someone that will listen and understand them. However, they feel the need to know if there is really someone out there for them. Most teenagers think they have to and will find that person by the time they graduate college. However, that is very rarely the case. They feel the need to find that person because they believe the people around them have found that. However, that isn't always the truth. From an outsiders perspective that how it seems though. Regardless, they ask the same question, is that person out there for me?
As teenagers that question is ringing in every teenager's head. The issue is when people get depressed and worried if they don't find that person while in high school. People need to notice there are more people out there than the few people in their high school and that they have so much to experience and people to meet. If they don't find that person in high school they will eventually. Maybe more than one person. However, some teenagers don't think that way. A lot of them get depressed and in a bad place because they don't see what the future holds. People need to be more open minded and see there is more to life than the people in high school trying to figure out who they are and the people they want to be.

Philosophy Essay

In my english class we have to write a philosophy paper that is about 23 pages long. My question is,

How does companionship help us and hurt us as humans? with the sub questions, whether or not we choose the people that we have companionships with, whether or not we allow people to influence us or does it just happen without control, Is it possible for someone to be without companionship? If so what position would they be in? Maybe this post should have been titled "Procrastination". Im usually pretty bad about procrasting but never as bad as I have been for this paper. Right now I'm in my English class and supposed to be working on this paper. However, I can't get myself to do it. It won't be hard once i get started, but with 7 days left of school a 23 page paper really isn't the first thing on my mind and doesn't sound too fun. Senior year is almost over yet it feels like i have another few month of school. I blame it all on this paper. If i just finished it I would feel better and like my year was complete. However, I just can't. I have now sat through 2 weeks in this class and only worked ont eh paper for 2 of those days. Granted I got 7 of the pages done, I still can't bring myself to finish it.

Part of the essay is to find a philosopher. I found the philosopher, Karl Marx. he is a history philosopher but has a lot of good quotes and ieas of companionship and people working together and against each other. I suggest everyone check him out.

Now back to looking at a blank screen for another 30 minutes telling myself I'm going to start now.

little food for thought to not be like me-  

"Know the true value of time; snatch, seize, and enjoy every moment of it. No idleness, no laziness, no procrastination: never put off till tomorrow what you can do today." Lord Chesterfield

The Perks of Being a Wall Flower- Drinking and Rape

In high school there are always stupid teenagers and bad decisions made. In the book, “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” by Stephen Chbosky the reader gets to see an insider view of a quiet and observant freshman in high school and their stories from high school and some from when they were younger and his siblings were in high school. A big part of high school for a good amount of people is partying. Of course the same goes for college but there are a lot in high school too. Most parties happen when parents go out of town and the kids want to be cool or rebel against their parents and have a party, “My parents went to Ohio… and they left my brother in charge of the house.. My brother used the opportunity to throw a big party with beer and everything.” (27) Even from my own high school experiences I have noticed that most of the parties that people throw are when their parents are out of town and don’t think they will find out. Some people say that if the cops did more to stop parties or catch them that more people would choose not to go or participate in the activities, such as drinking. However, this is not the case. A lot of people come over to the houses with parties and act without thinking. They get drunk or do drugs and it usually gets out of hand. In some cases people even get raped. In the book the main character, Charlie, witnesses a rape while hiding out in his room during his older brother’s party. The couple came stumbling in and asked if they could use his room. He agrees and then goes on to explain how the girl kept saying no, “the boy kept working up the girl’s shirt, and as much as she said no, he kept working it… He pulled his pants and underwear down to his knees “Please. Dave. No”… After a few minutes the boy pushed the girls head down… she was still crying.” (28) People drunk make bad decisions, especially high schoolers. They don’t think about what they are doing and don’t really care. They are also very impulsive which doesn’t help when a teenage boy is drunk and wants some from his girlfriend. The issue with rape when the people are in a relationship is it is hard to convince people that there was a rape that occurred. The issue with the situation in the book was that the couple was dating and still is and is very much in love. At least that is how it seems. Therefore, if anyone spoke up, especially the innocent 8^th grade bystander, they wouldn’t be listened to. This means the rapist never gets in trouble. They get away with everything with no consequence. Unfortunately this isn’t rare. There are a lot of people that get raped or sexually abused even by their loved ones because they are under the influence. This is another reason why they don’t speak up. They think that people will say that the person raped could have a messed up view of what happened that night because they were drunk or may have declined only because they were drunk. Either way they weren’t in their right mind. Parties in high school are common and a lot of the time they get out of hand and people get hurt. Most people will never speak up and the person that hurt them never get caught or given a consequence. Unfortunately that is how it is and probably will remain that way. There isn’t much anyone can do. When teenagers or really anyone is under the influence they make stupid decisions and in high school that happens a lot. There isn’t much the school, parents, or cops can do about it. It’s part of high school and can happen to anyone.

Crunchy

As you look at the green skin thinking of the delectable juiciness that will come shooting out of the nice sour apple. The smooth yet slightly gritty texture pressing against your tongue as the juice seeps out and you crunch on the skin. The apple has to be crunchy though. Otherwise that delectable taste isn't so great. That great texture changes to mushiness and make an amazing creation not so great. I really don't understand the people that only eat the mushy apples. My best friend only likes mushy apples and can't even sit next to someone eating a crunchy apple. He explains it as the equivalent to someone scratching their nails on a chalk board. He gets goose bumps all up and down his arm as his hairs stick up. To me the sound of the crunch is a nice relaxing sound of a delectable crunchy great apple, the sign of a snack not gone to waste. A sign that my stomach with be a happy stomach with a nice tasty, healthy snack. I guess everyone has their thing. If I ever don't like an apple or I think it has gone to waste I can just pass it onto my friend and then his stomach will be happy with a nasty mushy snack.

The New Type of Warfare

While researching for class I found the new type of warfare. This is warfare through technology. Most people think, “oh the war of robots.” However, this is much more dangerous and scary than that. This is a program that someone can carry on their USB and create tons of damage. For instance the first attack, Stuxnet attacked a penetrated an Iranian nuclear power plant making them remove 1000-2000 fuses that were malfunctioning. People have no proof that Stuxnet was the reason and aren’t able to find that proof. However, when they look at the code there is no other explanation for the malfunction. Part of Stuxnet that was alarming was that the malfunctions don’t show up right away. The Iranians weren’t able to figure out what was going on for a long time. The person that planted the worm in the system had to know the plant better than the Iranians. The code was highly sophisticated and hard to analyze. No one knows who made the worm but a lot of people think the worm should never have been planted. It now gives a lot of countries new ways to destroy each other. They can attack power plants, government computers and plans, or directly attack the citizens of each country. 60 Minute video on Stuxnet
There was another worm made after Stuxnet to gather information from every computer possible from, “a limited number of organizations for their specific assets.” (Researchers warn of new Stuxnet worm) The worm was gathering their information about the manufacturing of industrial control systems. This worm’s name was Duqu. This worm had parts of it that were identical to Stuxnet. Meaning that more worms are being made based off it and therefore creating a new type of warfare. It becomes easier for countries to get information about each other and destroy each other subtly from the inside. The affects can be huge and create more problems than we have ever had before. The issue is there isn’t much anyone can do about it. They are high sophisticated worms that show no trace and don’t allow the person being affected that they are being attacked. The worms prevent operators to see that the equipment was malfunctioning and gathers information without anyone knowing. Whoever made the original Stuxnet shouldn’t have actually used it. It has grown into something more and more dangerous than anything we have found before. However, people don’t believe the worm was meant to be publicized. It was just made to do damage and die. Once it was made public it became dangerous. If it weren’t made public by Symantec we wouldn’t have as much of an issue. We now need to somehow find a way to protect ourselves from any attack that is like this because it could potentially ruin a country more and faster than anything has before.
To learn more about Duqu read this article: BBC Article

I Am Always Responsible for My Actions

I am always responsible for my actions. No one else makes me do something. Just because I am pressured by the people around me doesn't mean they MADE me do it. I never give into peer pressure however some people do. I have a friend that gave into peer pressure and got in trouble and blamed it on peer pressure. They got the same response as I would give them. No one held a gun to your head and said do it. Acceptance is not an excuse to not take responsibility for your actions. You did the action on your our just take responsibility for your mistakes. Mistakes also help us grow as people so if you come to reality and take responsibility for your mistakes you can grow more as a person. Some other people use the excuse that they were under the influence and didn't know what they were doing. However, they need to take the responsibility for being under the influence and therefore take responsibility for their actions while under the influence. People are always responsible for their actions. Only they can make do those actions and only they can be held responsible for doing those actions. Actions aren't always bad though. Some people are modest when they are rewarded for something good that they did. However, they shouldn’t be too modest. They did the good dead/action and should take responsibility for them and be rewarded.

Neo-Nazi Group is a Civil Rights Group?

Fox News did a story on a Neo-Nazi group being in Sandford, Florida where Tryvon Martin was killed by a "neighborhood watchman", George Zimmerman. The main issue in this case became gun control and the Florida law, Stand You Ground. This law states that anyone that feels like their life is threatened can use deathly force on the person they feel threatened by. However, The Neo-Nazi Group, National Socialist Movement, one of the biggest Neo-Nazi groups, found the need to come and "patrol the area". They call themselves and Fox News calls them a "civil rights group".

After this story was published the editor put out a not saying, "The report originally published Saturday inadvertently referred to the National Socialist Movement as a civil rights group. We intended to refer to them as a “self-proclaimed” civil rights group." However, they still see themselves as a civil rights group. What kind of civil rights groups' ideology is, "Neo-Nazi; NSM calls for a “greater America” that would deny citizenship to Jews, non-whites, and homosexuals."(The National Socialist Movement)? This group is affiliated with multiple clan groups and are anything but a peaceful civil rights group. They believe that they are fighting for the white race's rights because no one else does so. However, there are plenty of white Jews and homosexuals. They are the exact vision on the Third Reich and should not be called a civil rights group. They do nothing but go to places and have rallies to promote the Fascist's views and to try and create a "better America". They aren't fighting for people's rights. Some people may say they are violent but they don't use violence unless they are acted upon violently first.I don't agree with what they have to say or what they do but in that sense I have to stick up for them. However, I don't believe that a group who strongly believes in the Third Reich like in Germany during World War Two and what they stand for can not be considered a civil rights group. Especially in a place with so many people effected by it and with so many people that escaped from and live through it. I don't think that a group that's goal is to purify an area by ridding it of certain groups of people can be called a civil rights group.