Harry Potter

As you might have gathered, my competition is fairly into the Harry Potter series. As I write this, I believe that she is at the premier for the latest, and last, movie. Now I've never read any of the books, and I've only watched tiny pieces of the movies. Although my experience is meager, I will try to explain why I have refrained from getting into Harry Potter. After this, I would like to challenge my competition to refute my argument in a post in a unbiased way. Note the emphasis on unbiased. If you agree (and if you don't want to, you don't have to) it should have both pros and cons. And please correct any errors I have here, as I said, I don't know that much about the series.

The Harry Potter world is built on a foundation of sorcery. Witchcraft. Magic. Now that may or may not be a bad thing. For example, there is magic in C.S. Lewis's The Chronicles of Narnia. But in that work it is presented in such a way that I believe is agreeable to the Bible. Partially because it is a Christian allegory. What about magic in Harry Potter? Is it occult magic, or fantasy magic? That is really the main thing that dictates if Harry Potter is acceptable or not.

From what I gather, in the series they denounce "dark magic". Now what this all implies, I have no idea. Is the occult the dark magic, or is all magic occult-like, and dark magic is simply a strain? I would say that all of it is wrong. Here is one section of the Bible that has to do with sorcery (trust me, there are plenty others).

“When you come into the land which the LORD your God is giving you, you shall not learn to follow the abominations of those nations. There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire [an ancient occult practice], or one who practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. For all who do these things are an abomination [detestable] to the LORD…”
—Deuteronomy 18:9-12a

Witchcraft, check. Sorcerer, check. Conjuring spells, definitely. Notice the language here: Abomination, or detestable. Pretty strong words.

Again, I don't know too much, but there seems to be some life after death in Harry Potter. At first glance that is good, but it seems to be a "by works" mentality. The good guys have a great time, the bad, not so much. There is much more to say about this, but I cannot due to my lack of knowledge.

Money

Money. Currency. The stuff that keeps our economy (more or less) afloat. As a child it seems to have so little significance. But I guess that will change as I (hopefully) mature.

When I go to fast food restaurants, the price for a small hamburger is usually one dollar. Thus, the price cemented into my brain for the price of a hamburger was one dollar. So now I can't stand eating at "real" restaurants, when it seems acceptable to them to have a hamburger for seven dollars, even if the quality is a tad better. It's still overpriced. Life is like that in many ways. Often "almost best" is a better option than "best".

People

While in my den of solitude and self-imposed exile from society, I started thinking about people. Homo sapiens. Friends, acquaintances, the inhabitants of this big ball of wax we call home. As you probably know, over the summer I've gotten bored of people. Socially overloaded, one might say. It simply isn't worth the time, energy, and stress I get to deal with them. But when I think about it, I don't recall much of my past few days of solitude. It seemed to pass so quickly. This means that it was either a waste of time that could have been spent doing something productive, or I was having fun. But when I think about previous encounters with people, I remember them so clearly. So would I have more valuable memories if a larger percentage of my time was spent with people?

Despite popular belief, I do have friends. Plenty, in fact. Cool people that I enjoy hanging out with. In fact, many activities (such as the play and Mock Trial) are fun largely because of people.

We've passed the golden years of socializing, I believe. A lot of the current generation is immature, and even though it will be outgrown soon enough they'll get boring when adulthood is reached. Ah, to be a little kid again.

Language

So, this year I will officially be taking Spanish. It's one of those subjects in school where I try... and meh. As school busyness hits it just ends up being impossible. But apparently to graduate from high school I need at least two foreign language credits. I wonder if Canadian or Sarcasm count. But different languages, just like cursive, I haven't had too much use for (don't tell anyone, but I seriously don't know how to read cursive. I should probably do something about that). I don't know, I'm just not too excited about learning a new way of doing grammar and punctuation when my current grip on English's is so weak. But perhaps, it will be good for me to learn a new language. Although I really would prefer learning Japanese instead of Spanish...

Why I Blog

Blogging started as something to do because I had some time to waste and I was sure that I had new, exciting ideas that the world would be deprived not to know about. When the blogging contest began it was something that would FORCE me to write, whether I felt like it or not. Except for a few isolated occasions, I have been blogging every day since sometime in April. Blogging has been great for me, as I have had a chance to be creative.

 But now it is slightly feeling like a obligation. I plan my day trying to fit in time not to blog, but to think up of ideas that I can blog about. When at the last minute  I finally get an idea I'm usually so out of time I can't give it justice. Yeah, not always a lot of fun. But, it isn't necessarily supposed to be about fun. I write for myself, sure, but now that I have a reader or two I write for others as well.  I suppose that one of these days I'll have to lower my standard for what an acceptable blog post is.

Using it as a vehicle to force me to write is no longer a issue. Partially thanks to the blog I'm now regularly writing every day with Ryan in attempt to co-author a novel in preparation for NaNoWriMo. Still, I don't see how I could concede defeat now. I am of course, a very competitive person. If it is remotely in my power to accomplish my goal, as long as I have motivation, I'm going to do it. I would hate to look back at this competition and see that I gave up when I could have done more. So, I will continue to blog

Yes, I realize that I have repeatedly blogged about blogging. Forgive me.

Dogs Driving Ice Cream Trucks

I was a bit desperate for a post idea for today. So, the illustrious Ryan gave me a long list of suggestions, many of them humorous, especially one in particular, writing why dogs shouldn't be allowed to drive ice cream trucks. I have no idea where to go with this, but an idea is an idea :)

I am here on behalf of the COICTPA (Canine Operation of Ice Cream Trucks Prevention Agency) to inform you of a very real danger on our roads: dogs driving ice cream trucks. Many ice cream truck employers do not require employees to present information that they are not canine. Because of this, there have been multiple instances of unlawful mutts driving these trucks, and presenting an unsanitary environment.  Not to mention that sales go down because  the children are afraid of the dog in the drivers seat, thus hurting the economy. Don't ask me why, it just does.

Dogs that are part of the criminal element find ice cream trucks a prime target, going to great lengths to steal them, perhaps because the trucks are inconspicuous and are easily sold on the black market.

Studies have proven that dogs, on average, have slightly slower reaction times than humans. Thus, it is safe to assume that all dogs, as a whole, are unsafe drivers (the studies also proved that they have better judgment, are less likely to text while driving, and are less likely to be under the influence of alcohol while driving. Not that that matters or anything). Upon news of these startling results Congress revoked all driver licenses issued to canines. If you ever see a dog driving a motor vehicle, in particular ice cream trucks, I assure you that it's license is not valid. Please inform your local police department as quickly as possible.

The Internet

We live in a modern world. I am continuously amazed by all of the things made possible with technology. Yet, it seems to be taken for granted too often. Yeah, you can say that easily, and many people do, but just think about it. Take for example, the internet (or Interwebs; whichever you prefer). We use it so often, and the idea has become commonplace in our minds. But just think about the internet for a second. Not only can we communicate with people THOUSANDS of miles away, but we can do it instantly. In ancient times that could take weeks, or even months of extended travel. And yet with a click of a mouse, boom. Instant communication. And it is not limited to a single sentence, or even a paragraph. Entire books can, and are being transmitted via the internet. Not to mention video chatting, actually being able to mimic talking with another person face to face. Wonderful.

The amount of raw knowledge on the internet is staggering. Detailed information on literally every subject, no matter how obscure. And again, it can be found in no time at all. Type anything into a search engine, and you instantly have a chance to discover all there is to know on the subject.

Some say that the world was made small with the invention of the car, or the airplane, but I say that it was with the invention of the internet. Of course, the world never actually will be small. But, with the wonder of the internet we can be made to think otherwise.