Apathetic Entities

Whether or not you like dealing with difficult, obtuse and uncaring people… you have to find the balance and establish a neutral middle ground where at least a stable, positive interaction can be maintained.

I usually step out and confront people whenever they are rude or callous. I do not do so for my personal benefit alone, but for those who work with me and are also affected by certain negative behavior. My confrontation is not aggressive or overly pointed, I simply encourage others to hold themselves accountable. No matter what position a person can have, I loathe people who allow themselves to hurt, insult others, and expect them to simply obey and say nothing in return.

I have a coworker who is a very bossy type of person, easily offended, sometimes even snippy, who also has a lot of issues in her personal life. I used to confront her with various issues we faced at work, but she would complain to my ex-supervisor, whining that I wasn’t her supervisor, when what I confronted to her had nothing to do with my position. I have grown to understand with time, that takes such suggestions offensively. But I cannot neglect her uncaring attitude when her own completely callous decisions impact everyone else’s lives. A young girl, who has recently joined our staff, one told me that this coworker is yelling at her and being rude to her. I encouraged her not to back up at this times, and be more assertive and not tolerate her behavior. This coworker has misplaced the supply places. She put the most necessary and essential supply on the bottom shelf. Seeing that, I suggested her to put it back as it is extremely uncomfortable to crawl every time and reach for the item, especially that it is so frequently used. She rejected and said that the rest of us are being lazy. She wanted her way, when 10-12 other people should be negatively impacted because she has no clue how things should be organized. Knowing her behavior it did not insist, but took the problem to the manager, so she can deal with her. The problem was solved, and I was glad to confront the careless entity.

The Unknown

Jim Carrey probably was the most suitable dramatic actor out there to play Andy Kaufman. When watching a video of Andy Kaufman, and then recalling how Carrey portrayed him in the Man on the Moon, it’s hard to find any similarities for a moment. But Carrey has his own weird artistic personality,  which makes him uniquely unmatched for this role.

I did not know anything about Andy Kaufman until a few days ago. The initial impression I had… and all the impressions following my initial one were… was he the strangest human being alive? He struggled to find what is funny(but isn’t funny relative, anyway?) as expectations of society, media and people fell over him. I think he was vastly different for his time, and he simply wasn’t able to see himself anywhere near everyday common humor that was easy to chew and digest, as it appeared on the screen every day, and that it was what others desired to see him as. I also believe that he was so unique in his makeup, that he struggled to understand himself. Everything truly began from that fact… he was not sure who he was and who he wanted to be… that he was perceived as bizarre by many people. I wonder way some people come in such forms… that they probably contain so much, that it’s so hard for them to sort out who they are.  Kaufman is the epitome of the unknown.

When you think how one little biological element can alter one’s cognitive performance… the outcome is staggering… it ranges from a mentally ill hospitalized for the rest of their lives, a genius, or a completely odd person that doesn’t know what is going on inside. I look at this with fascination… can you imagine what complexity can one little element, a chemical… structural subtle oddity can express in a person.

It made me sad that Andy Kaufman didn’t find a place to be in life. Most of his career was filled with the expectations of the popular demand. He was to be one to fit somewhere people wanted, without ever really caring to know who he was. He never had a place to be in life. I think of souls that come and go in life that forever remain unknown. It is lonely.

iChallenge

I heard an ad on the radio today, “Do you think, technology can be a bit too much?…”. It stirred numerous thoughts, stemming from the fact that I can’t even control the TV remote… and how many remotes and button options are necessary to pick this or that feature? I do not use any super modern technological products, and I’m very glad for the fact. If we allow, technology will completely consume our lives… and if we choose to stay away from it, it will completely absorb us in a TV commercial, or where people talk about it. Don’t get me wrong – I do not say that we may not benefit from it greatly if we use it wisely and moderately.

We hear occasionally about some new kind of technological product comes out. I look at it and think… “Oh, cool”, but it doesn’t even stir a little desire to explore it any further. Do you even really explore what features does your phone have unless you are completely bored? I don’t think anyone does, or that these features are so commonly used or are so beneficial that we can’t live without them on daily basis. WE are hoarders, and the idea that ‘something cool’ is in their pocket, hand, or in their back yard, means something to them, and they literally don’t imagine going anywhere without them. We love to get things to fit in the group of people their are around. If you are the type who doesn’t care about popular view… well? If you are not… well, most are not. Most will even change their behavior to satisfy what they find is expected of them or fit in the collective ‘coolness’. We love something that is a source of good distraction. We do not want to think, but want things created that will find solutions for us… without us even being directly engaged in the problem.

I loathe the idea that the world grows to be more and more computerized. You can find people everywhere sitting next to one another, and not even knowing each others’ name, and not even caring to to know. You can find people completely absorbed into their inanimate toys, virtually everywhere. You can see some plastic person advertising some product or service, that you wish never existed. And when you see too many of them you wonder if… “That’s it? They have nothing else to offer other than continaully pushing their products?” . It’s so sad that the sum of so many businesses is to make money, by investing money into some high-tech new worldy iPad creation. That’s all cool, it may even be pretty beneficial… but if that’s who we are… and that what we care about….? It makes me sad about where we are heading to collectively.

Foreign Mind-Lands

Educational setting is the most common area where children may have learning difficulties. Our make-ups are so different, that everyone is not going to learn certain way, and not everyone is going to be receptive to a same teaching method. Childhood is a very sensitive period in person’s life, where many changes take place… mainly growth. All areas of growth(cognitive, emotional, physical, social) occur at a very rapid speed, and not all of us adapt easily to the mainstream environment. If you observe preschool, or elementary school kids, most of them aren’t going to maintain their attention on one thing for a significant period of time. When it comes to one area of study, a kid may not simply have the desire or motivation in it. Let’s take math. If someone is not interested in math, it’s hard to stir the desire in that person to enjoy math. I personally think that it may change depending how the educator is delivering information. There are so many educational game activities that try to engage children in a particular subject in a way that may be more accessible to them. It’s like trying to explain something to a deaf person. Something that would come to your mind is to develop some way of communication that may be beneficial. If they can’t listen to you, then they may understand your gestures, or facial expressions? Same with children. They are not developed in a way to perceive information in direct, mainstream manner. I believe it helps greatly when we understand and try to use different approaches to help children develop their own techniques of learning.

Many kids give up on moving in areas of interest, as their and educators aren’t responsive to their needs. Many just conform with the rest of the kids, or simply learn to satisfy the expectations of the educator, without being genuinely interested in a subject or activity. I think that’s the most important part, as the grades are not the only area that show how satisfactory and stimulating the studies are for the kids.

Other group of kids struggle with learning difficulties. That is… not matter what is the expectation of the environment and the circumstances, they struggle with processing and learning the information. Some of it may definitely be biological, but majority of it is that the delivery method of information is not accessible to them, and they struggle… many thinking that they are stupid which begins to affect their self-esteem. Many children lose hope in themselves, thinking that they are different from others, are defective. I cannot imagine how they struggle emotionally, and in their relationship with others as they move forward in life, not quite sure what they are capable of, and what they should do to fit in the world. Some are luckier than others, when they have supporting parents, and involved educators who are willing to understand children’s needs and try to establish systems that may ease what is simply an easy part of others’ life.

Musica Nuda

Petra Magoni was having a tour in a small club. Her music partner unexpectedly got sick, and instead of canceling their performance, she invited Feruccio to cover for her sick friend. Feruccio, with his heavy, deep-sounding contrabasso has been inseparable from Petra ever since. It’s just it… contrabasso and Petra’s voice… which become to be Musica Nuda.

Unlike Petra, who was a amateur musician, Feruccio studies music for years. He first began playing bass, later participating in various jazz workshops. He has also played with Piccola Orchestra Avion Travel for 16 years, recording over 10 albums.

Initially, many people thought that this duo will not have any success and have no future, thinking that it is not possible to provide a lot of variety with just a contrabasso and a voice. However, they proved those disbelievers wrong. During their musical union, they have released 8 albums, have held various concerts and been very musically accessible to the public. Their music has ranged from rock to folk, and they have also made a number of covers of famous pop, rock, R&B songs. Being “musically limited”, as many thought, they have had more variety in their repertoire, than those having groups of musicians working for them. I find their music truly exquisite, and I love that in the era that many so-called musicians have completely distorted music, we are able to indulge in something really beautiful.

Million words will not describe music. I want to share a few links here so you can judge yourself.

1. Musica Nuda – Complici

2. Musica Nuda – Caruso

3. Musica Nuda – Over the Rainbow

Strict Absolutes vs Individuality

I recently completed MyVirtualChild for my college class, and there are thoughts I’d like to share here. If you are not familiar, MyVirtualChild is an interactive web-based simulation that allows you to raise a child from birth to age 18 and monitor the effects of your parenting decisions over time. I really enjoyed many aspects of this assignment, mainly because it was thought stimulating. However, I did not like the formulaic part of it.

Just like other social sciences, psychology is delivered to a learner in a theoretic manner, in which I am not very interested. I am more interested in contextual concepts that involve individuality, or a specific case. Then, I find the theory part of any study really useful. For example, if we state that something [always] yields a positive outcome, it is not significant beyond being an academic material, if there are cases that prove otherwise. Sure, there are exclusions. But, if I study about some concept then learn that there are limitations,  constraints about what we learn as a base theory, then that theory is easily adjustable, and is may be altered depending on various factors. To display my point, I’ll give an example: Abusive families negatively impact children’s development. Though the degree of negative impact depends on child’s resilience and coping techniques. Same child in a more abusive environment may not respond as she/he did in a previous setting. 

I earlier mentioned that I found the simulation somewhat formulaic. A child is not a plant growing in your backyard, that you give plant food, enough sunlight, water regularly, follow all the directions… and it will grow to be a good plant. I definitely agree that parenting is very influential when it comes children’s development, but it cannot be guaranteed that enough of something will produce good/bad of anything. I am not a parent, and do not want to sound knowledgeable in this area, but what I am saying is merely based on life observation. How many people have you encountered that had good parents, fairly stable home environment, but didn’t seem to be doing even OK? What about siblings in that family that had so many differences in their biological makeup, seemed to vary greatly in motivation and direction in life? What if one of them was very loving, and the other aggressive and belligerent? The answer is probably is that in some individuals, the aspects of their biological makeup greatly surpass any love or warmth given from others. This was my biggest struggle while focusing on the assignment. I didn’t like that it was so concentrated on environmental factors, as if trying to establish certain absolutes for my virtual child’s individuality.

Scandal

Queen has a song called “Scandal”, which was recorded in 1989. The inspiration was media’s very intrusive attitude to band’s relationships, and Freddie’s illness. I remember watching a portion of a documentary, where Freddie had closed all the windows, so the media would not intervene in his life. But the press was so intrusive that they had set a cameras near Freddie Mercury’s bathroom… in effort of trying to gain some information about him. They were intrusive in so many ugly ways… knowing how Freddie was going through very difficult times negotiating his illness and life, but they still kept intentionally invading his life.

I absolutely dislike intrusive people. Whether it’s the media or your neighbor Joe, people should be respectful of other individual’s privacy. Famous people who are more vulnerable to the intrusiveness of the world, have much more private life style. In many cases, it’s not that they are desirous of hiding away their life, but that the very ugly world around them makes them to grow more and more cautious about what information they let be out there. And I can totally relate. It’s very hard to have a celebrity status, establish relationships and have a stable life. Many times, there are in different parts of the world, with different people, away from their loved ones. The world around those people is more filled with distractions. We live in a world of distractions, and invading someone else’s life keeps certain busy and interested. Or the distracted people that post every little hour-by-hour life agenda on some social network website.We are human therefore we are fallible, but the dismissal of that fact is not going to make us less fallible. We cultivate our laziness by not recognizing and addressing our laziness.

People do not bother to think. Even blogging these days is filled with idle blog posts about how someone didn’t like the recent clothing store they visited… and others are jamming on that! People are bored… and more sadly, they do not want to think deeper and beyond what is in their world of stupid and foolish exposure. I suppose that’s the reason that media people so strive to put themselves where they do not belong, stepping one’s feelings, life and privacy. In the end, who cares about your “hot news” about some stupid actress getting a new makeup, or wearing a new dress? I so hope our world could transfer being a better place of genuine relationships, support and encouragement. We never would reach there the way we live, the bad and evil and cultivate daily. This cold world more and more substantiates the reality of our laziness and idleness. Everyone is busy doing something, writing little blog posts… but no one looks to speak, reach out… When the technology advances each year, we grow farther apar…