.:GhOsTlY pOeMs:.

I found this on a gravestone in New York, I think. My family really likes to walk through cemeteries, looking at the names, shapes of the headstones, dates, etc. Sometimes we get ice cream and go around. It's calming, oddly. I know, weird. But anyway, here it is:

Remember me as you pass by

As you are now so once was I

As I am now so you must be

Prepare for Death and follow me

I thought it was pretty cool. Interesting, nonetheless.

.:ArE yOu Ok?:.

That is the question, isn't it? Are you ok? What is 'OK'? Two letters, sure. But it's used so much in conversation, it's almost annoying. You hear 'OK' and you think 'everything is fine'. But is it truly?

According to popular belief, the saying OK comes from one student misspelling 'all correct'. It's hard to believe that something we use all the time today comes from one child's mistake, a spelling mistake no less. And why these two letters? You would think that this student would at least know that all starts with an A and not an O. But it seems I have overestimated either the ability of this student or the teaching capabilities of his teacher.

And that is where this history is all wrong. Indeed, OK stands for "oll korrect" a misspelling of "all correct". However, it was not a child's mistake. OK is the results of a fad for comical abbreviations that flourished in the late 1830s and 1840s.

The whole story is here (courtesy of The Straight Dope website):

The abbreviation fad began in Boston in the summer of 1838 and spread to New York and New Orleans in 1839. The Boston newspapers began referring satirically to the local swells as OFM, "our first men," and used expressions like NG, "no go," GT, "gone to Texas," and SP, "small potatoes."

Many of the abbreviated expressions were exaggerated misspellings, a stock in trade of the humorists of the day. One predecessor of OK was OW, "oll wright," and there was also KY, "know yuse," KG, "know go," and NS, "nuff said."

Most of these acronyms enjoyed only a brief popularity. But OK was an exception, no doubt because it came in so handy. It first found its way into print in Boston in March of 1839 and soon became widespread among the hipper element.

It didn't really enter the language at large, however, until 1840. That's when Democratic supporters of Martin Van Buren adopted it as the name of their political club, giving OK a double meaning. ("Old Kinderhook" was a native of Kinderhook, New York.)

OK became the warcry of Tammany hooligans in New York while beating up their opponents. It was mentioned in newspaper stories around the country.

Van Buren's opponents tried to turn the phrase against him, saying that it had originated with Van Buren's allegedly illiterate predecessor, Andrew Jackson, a story that has survived to this day. They also devoted considerable energy to coming up with unflattering interpretations, e.g., "Out of Kash, Out of Kredit, and Out of Klothes."

Newspaper editors and publicists around the country delighted in coming up with even sillier interpretations-- Oll Killed, Orfully Konfused, Often Kontradicts, etc.--so that by the time the campaign was over the expression had taken firm root nationwide.

http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/503/what-does-ok-stand-for

.:CoOl QuOtAtIoNs:.

"Oh! Do not attack me with your watch! A watch is always too fast or too slow. I cannot be dictated by a watch." - Jane Austen

"The poetry of the Earth is never dead." - John Keats

"Do not worry if you have built your castles in the air. They are where they should be. Now put the foundations under them." - Henry David Thoreau

"A pure hand needs no glove to cover it." - Nathaniel Hawthorne

"The flower that smells the sweetest is shy and lowly." - William Wordsworth

And my favorite:

"Silly, I can't hate you. I could NEVER hate you. You're my Heather; I love you forever." - Melissa

.:JuSt FoR lAuGhS:.

.:NoT cOoL:.

So today, I saw something that really sickened me. I had to FORCE myself to watch it all. I mean, I didn't want to, but I wanted to make sure I knew all that had happened. It was a video on Youtube of some Chinese people eating a fish. (link posted at the bottom) What's so bad about that? I'll tell you:

This poor fish was still alive. The plate was covered in blood, it's sides were torn open and chunks were taken out of it. You could see the BONES. That poor fish looked mutilated. You could see the other side of it, where the skin was still attached.

As if this weren't enough, the people started provoking it. They poked in it's mouth, making it breath, or try to. AND they started eating off of it.

This kind of thing just sickens me. I have no problem with people eating fish, or any meat for that matter. But this pushes the boundaries between eating and torturing. Why would you do something like this? How can you get any enjoyment out of hurting a living creature? It's sad and seriously makes me sick of people.

The video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BYPuLnAscA&feature=player_embedded

.:A pOsT:.

This is a post about Davy. Happy now?

.:DiSsEcT a SoNg:.

So I decided that since we're doing it in school, I'd dissect a song. It's Fireflies by Owl City and even if you don't agree, you have to admit this is cool. It's basically a song about disaster and man attacking man, such as what happened in 9/11.

You would not believe your eyes

If ten million fireflies

Lit up the world as I fell asleep

Cause they'd fill the open air

And leave tear drops everywhere

You'd think me rude but I would just stand and

Stare

"Ten million fireflies" is 10 million people, about the number of people in a good sized nation. "If they lit up the world" is like bombing. He's asleep, so he's not going to know. "They'd fill the open air" means that they'd come over to bomb in planes or perhaps the shards of the bomb itself. "And leave tear drops everywhere" meaning they would leave broken pieces, broken lives, everywhere the bomb touched. "You'd think me rude but I would just stand and /stare". He's saying he would watch the destruction, in awe.

I'd like to make myself believe

That planet Earth turns, slowly

It's hard to say that I'd rather stay awake when I'm asleep

Cause everything is never as it seems

"I'd like to make myself believe/that planet Earth turns, slowly". He's saying he'd like to believe that life goes by slowly, but in reality, he knows it goes faster then he'd like. "It's hard to say that I'd rather stay awake when I'm asleep". He'd like to be awake, but he needs sleep to stay alive. Still, he'd like to stay awake because then the nightmares can't get him, as is evident in "Cause everything is never as it seems".

Cause I'd get a thousand hugs

From ten thousand lightening bugs

As they'd try to teach me how to dance

A foxtrot above my head

A sock-hop beneath my bed

The disco ball is just hanging by a thread

(thread, thread...)

"Cause I'd get a thousand hugs". This is reference to his nightmares and human nature to hug when someone is feeling scared, sad or in trouble. "From ten thousand lightening bugs" also talks about the people. In the case of the bombing theory, it would suggest people coming together, all at once. This runs in with the thousand hugs, seeing as a people come together after a tragedy. "As they'd try to teach me how to dance" suggests everyone's trying to relearn how to live, how to get on with they're lives. "A foxtrot above my head" is symbolizing how his thoughts are racing and are all jumbled because of what happened. "A sock-hop beneath my bed" suggests that he's trying to stay awake so the nightmares don't come back. "The disco ball is just hanging by a thread". The disco ball symbolizes his mind and how from all that's happened, his sanity is very close to becoming insanity.

I'd like to make myself believe

That planet Earth turns, slowly

It's hard to say that I'd rather stay awake when I'm asleep

Cause everything is never as it seems

(When I fall asleep)

Leave my door open just a crack

(Please take me away from here)

Cause I feel like such an insomniac

(Please take me away from here)

Why do I tire of counting sheep?

(Please take me away from here)

When I'm far too tired to fall asleep

(Ha-Ha)

"Leave my door open just a crack". This one is pretty explanatory. He's scared that the 'monsters' who created the disaster in the first place will come back, so he leaves the door open to keep them away. The repetition of "Please take me away from here" shows just how truly afraid he is that the 'monsters' will come back. "Cause I feel like such an insomniac/ Why do I tire of counting sheep?/ When I'm far too tired to fall asleep" This is basically saying that he can't sleep and nothing will work. He's stayed up too long being afraid of these monsters that he can no longer figure out how to fall asleep. Falling asleep is a metaphor for re-learning how to live.

To ten million fireflies

I'm weird cause I hate goodbyes

I got misty eyes as they said farewell

(Said farewell)

But I'll know where several are

If my dreams get real bizarre

Cause I saved a few and I keep them in a jar

(Jar, jar, jar)

This whole stanza is about how slowly, after time, the people that have come together after the tragedy are growing back apart. He keeps a few as his friends, but to the others, he is weird because he'd been so attached to those that are leaving.

I'd like to make myself believe

That planet Earth turns, slowly

It's hard to say that I'd rather stay awake when I'm asleep

Cause everything is never as it seems

(When I fall asleep)

I'd like to make myself believe

That planet Earth turns, slowly

It's hard to say that I'd rather stay awake when I'm asleep

Cause my dreams are bursting at the seams

This whole song is basically about tragedy and how even after it has happened, people have nightmares and grow close to others. Slowly, as the tragedy is fading from mind's eye, the people move farther away, but friendships were made.

If you don't agree with my thoughts, please tell me! I'd love to hear how you think of this song.

.:DoN't YoU hAtE iT wHeN:.

You had something you were going to say, and then you forgot what it was? I do.

I was going to write something all meaningful in this post, something that really got you thinking. And the WABAM! it's out the window. I really shouldn't leave the windows of my mind open like that.

.:PoWeRfUl PiCtUrEs:.

Let's .:ReCoNnEcT:.

Recently I reconnected with a friend I haven't seen in a while. And I realized something- for all her flaws, I really did miss her.

She's a good person and sure, sometimes I get annoyed with her. All friends get annoyed with each other. We had a real bonding experience tonight. One thing I can say for her, she always listens. She's never judgmental. I can talk to her about my problems, and I never have the fear that she'll make fun of me. It's so... liberating. It's not like talking to people my own age, who will just try and redirect the conversation back to themselves. It gets annoying.

But then, all people do it at some point. And I guess that's okay. But just once, I'd like to meet a person who doesn't. But let's be real. NO ONE is like that. And if you think you are, think again. You're lying to yourself. Because it's human nature to be self-absorbed. Instinct, almost. You look out for number one and that's how it always is.

And as for me? Well, I can't claim to think about others before myself. How hypocritical would that be of me? But I would like to. How amazing would that be?