New Order: Age of Consent

I was out blog-hopping again (I am beginning to really hate this word) and reading Leeza’s post, Misconceptions About Being An Asshole, was like reading something I wrote myself. It reminded me of a reflection paper I wrote for an Education class this semester. Something I have noticed in these courses is the constant emphasis on group work and activities where kids essentially teach themselves by teaching each other. This is complete bullshit, but I’m not getting into theory right now. I wanted to share a piece of how I explained to my professor the trouble with being an introvert in an extrovert’s world, and how important it is for teachers to consider all personalities when designing lessons:

Most of my experience with group work is as a student, not a teacher. Group work always appeared to favor the extroverted students. Extroverts learn through speaking – they don’t know if they “know” something until they try to explain it to others. Introverted students need a quiet place to think and formulate ideas before sharing them. Due to this, introverts are often better writers than speakers. Group work favors the speakers. Extroverts are energized by being around others, while introverts are energized by being alone – people “drain” introverts of energy. It is exhausting trying to work in a group as an introvert.

Though teachers defend group work by saying that there are “jobs” for writers and readers as well, the truth is that introverts can’t concentrate around loud extroverts, even if their “job” is to take notes, write on the board, etc. This is a glaring problem with modern Education classes which I have experienced. Methods and theory strongly favor the extroverted, despite the fact that around 30% of people are introverted. My conclusion is that in college, Education attracts extroverts the way Business or Communications attract extroverts, therefore the people debating and creating these methods are overwhelmingly extroverted.

So, if you didn’t actually read all that, this is my point in graph form:

I was blog-hopping the other day (the straight edge equivalent to bar-hopping?) and I read this blog post where this girl was listing things she’s thankful for, and although my thoughts are not at all related to Canadian Thanksgiving, the thing on her list that inspired this post was:

4. Music

Who has ears and dislikes music? I love music! Don’t we all? =p Lalala.

You know, I used to think the same thing about music. I mean, who the hell doesn’t like music? I used to laugh when people would act like listening to the radio was a defining characteristic of their personality. I found it really annoying and obvious, like those people who list their interests as “hanging out with friends” and “having fun”.

But then… well, you get a little older and meet a greater variety of people and find that there REALLY ARE freaks out there who hate music or are simply uninterested. I don’t know if being a teenager or college student keeps you in this youthful bubble where everyone you know is blasting their iPod every second of the day or what, but you really start to run into the weirdos once you’re in your mid-twenties. Maybe we stop being so self absorbed at this age and take notice of the previously unnoticeable people (I’m taking another psych class this semester, so forgive my analysis).

Have you come across any of these musically illiterate people? I know they are not all culturally retarded home-schooled kids who grew up without MTV or social interaction, because my boyfriend’s uncle is one of these anti-music people and he had a typical American upbringing. His own sister absolutely loves music yet he is seemingly immune to its charms. What the fuck, right?

Ever since H&M opened up a store here this summer, Justin wants to go to the mall. Prior to this, the nearest H&M was in Rochester – which isn’t that far away (a little over an hour), but alas we are bicycle people.

Justin and his H&M-induced madness

I’m fine with his renewed interest in the mall because when I drag myself along, I get a free movie out of it (this mall has a Regal Cinema). On Tuesday we went to the late-night showing of The Lion King 3D and it was magical. We took the best seats in the house and were sure we’d have the place to ourselves, but eventually 2 other couples wandered in. One guy wanted our great seats and acted a little playfully dramatic about it.

Before we had decided on The Lion King there was this 20-minute deliberation where we tried to convince ourselves we shouldn’t waste money on a movie we’d each seen 100 times as children. Luckily we came to our senses because it was absolutely wonderful and us two emo kids teared up at the beauty and nostalgia of it all.

It was also our very first 3D movie ever! Can you believe it? I always though 3D was gimmicky, but now I think it’s kind of cool to spice up an old movie. I think it would be distracting though in a movie you’re seeing for the first time. What do you think? Are you a fan of 3D?

Remember all those disks AOL sent out in the 90s? I used to put them in the microwave, make mirror collages, and do other stupid shit with them. Anyway, if you’ve ever been bored enough to put one in a CD player back then, you know how it makes an annoying/creepy high pitched sound. Well that’s what the background sounds like in this song I’m listening to by An Albatross. It’s awesome.

The real inspiration behind Blessphemy's cover art?