30 Day Challenge: day 5- favourite quote

He sewed his eyes shut because he is afraid to see 
He tries to tell me what i put inside of me 
He’s got the answers to ease my curiosity 
He dreamed up a god and called it christianity 
Your god is dead and no one cares 
If there is a hell i will see you there 

 

For the 5th day of my 30 day blog challenge, I am to discuss my favourite quote. Typically I am not one to put quotes to memory but there are a handful I had to choose between to be my favourite.  If you are a Nine Inch Nails fan, you may recognize the quote I posted from one of their songs, “Heresy”. The album the sang comes from, The Downward Spiral, is by far my favourite Nine Inch Nails album, but this isn’t about my favourite album, is it? No, I love the lyrics of the song, the very first line in particular.

He sewed his eyes shut because he is afraid to see.

I have a tendency to take lyrics and poems to have meaning a little deeper than they are probably meant to have. I have loved this lyric since I was 13 and even considered getting phrase tattooed on to my body.

I interpret the lyric to mean that often people will refuse to see facts that are blatently obvious because they are scared of  the possibility of their views being proved wrong or because they hate hearing what they don’t want to listen to. People often take extreme measures to protect their beliefs. Granted, if this is what the lyric means, Mr. Treznor was obviously discussing Christianity, but truthfully this conscept applies to other religions as well as personal morals and political standings. Anything that I person can be passionate it, really.

For instance, one person is pro-life and is debating with someone who is pro-choice. The pro-life person will become angry if the pro-choice person devalues potential life and refuse to listen to anything invalidating how serious murder is. The pro-choice person will become angry at the suggestion of a person losing rights over their own bodies and will get refuse to listen to what the pro-life person says if they even mention religion as a reason to take away a woman’s choice.

Obviously, both are very set in their view points. If this is something you are passionate about, so much of you becomes invested in strengthening this belief and when someone degrades or opposes your viewpoint, it becomes a personal matter.

 

This is actually a huge problem and it hurts people’s ability to gain perspective and they do not allow themselves to be challenged in their beliefs because it disables them from possibly finding a way of life or belief that makes them happier people. People become to rigid in their ways and this often causes strain in relationships or extremists. I suppose I am saying being eclectic is better for people than adhering to one strict set of person guidelines. I’ve seen many athiests make claims that Christians are constantly “shoving religion down their throats” and refuse to listen to logic, but more often than not athiests are their logic to the same extreme. They are unshakeingly skeptical of spiritual or supernatural events and are quick to tell Christans they are wrong at the very mention of faith (even if  the Christian is not actively converting others) . No group of people is innocent. Where ever there is an Us and Them situation, this behaviour will be found on both sides.

If more people just allowed themselves to see things at other perspectives and actually listen to each other, we would be more open-minded people as a whole. Imagine how smoothly the goverment would run if politicians would stop fighting and get something done.

 

Anyway, that’s pretty much how I interpret the lyric. I love the meaning behind the interpretation because I consider this concept all the time and use it to live by.

How I Discovered that I’m Slightly Allergic to Bees…

Just the other day I began on an adventure of sorts that came with me discovering that I am somewhat allergic (or at least highly sensitive) to bee stings. It’s a rough thing to learn in any situation, and this is an especially scary thing to discover. The anecdote is somewhat amusing mostly because of the concern other people had for me despite my lack of worry I had.

 

To make money I often work for my grandmother, whom is disabled and has a trucker husband who is not home long enough to be able to manage all that needs to be done at their farm. My significant other, a friend of ours, and myself were assigned the job of going out to the cow pasture, long abandoned by the cows that use to live there, and we were to ethnically cleans thistles out of the fields. We were armed with a weed whipper, a corn knife, a scythe, and a hoe and we fought the enemy long and hard. You see, to make the job less boring we opted to pretend the three of us were at war with the purple-flowered menace in a literal sense. Shortly after we entered battle, the thistles ally, deer flies, came at us with full force in an effort to distract us from the mission at hand. They hummed around our heads and bit at us if we gave them an opportunity to land. We were quick to bat them away if their numbers grew too great, unfortunately a more neutral party became involved when I mistakenly struck a local honey bee. It retaliated by becoming a kamakazi agent and stung me right where my armpit meets my underarm.

It smarted quite a bit, but I was fast enough and extracted the stinger and venom sack from my skin before it was there too long. The pain felt a lot like pressing a lit match to my skin. I took the pain like a champ despite how little it let up for hours. Ironically, the first thing I said was, “Thank god I’m not allergic!”

At that moment, I jinxed myself terribly. As I continued working I began feeling some nausea and light-headedness and frequently needed to take breaks from the bloody battlefields in order to recover from my wounds. All the while I felt guilt for accidentally provoking a civilian honey bee to attack me and killing it in the process. I am probably the only person in the world who genuinely feels guilty after getting stung by a bee. Anyway, by the end of the night the pain had subsided and the swelling and redness remained fairly small, about the area of a baseball. The next morning I awoke because of an agonizing itch where the bee had stung me and the swelling and grown to cover an area from my armpit to halfway to my elbow. Dizziness and nausea remained as well. By the end of the night my upper arm had swollen to be about 50% bigger than my other arm and the swelling/redness covered the area between my armpit and elbow as well as encircling over half of my arm.

At this point I got a little worried and did some research and found that I was suffering from a large local reaction, which happens to about 1/10 people who get stung by bees. I figured I should keep a closer eye on the swelling’s progression and marked the outline of the redness before I went to bed. Again, I woke up early in the morning to terrible itching. When I was finally ready to get out of bed, I looked at the marks I made and saw that the swelling had continued to get beyond the marks I made. Even more concerning, my dizziness and nausea had gotten worse and I also lost fine coordination skills and my speech suffered greatly from my slurring and stuttering. My significant other was already worried about me and it only made things worse when I told him how things had progressed. He as well as a good chunk of my friends who had seen my arm gave me a resounding “GO. TO. THE. HOSPITAL.”

My best friend’s mother happens to be a nurse and they told me to go to the clinic later in the day because it would be cheaper for me. So I called the hospital…

Family medical center, how may I help you?

Yeah, hi. I need to make an appointment.

Alright, what is your name?

Shawn Edin.

Okay, and what is the appointment concerning?

I, uh, think I’m having an allergic reaction to a bee sting.

Ohh…. *mumbles in the background to another person* [heavy with concern] Well there will be a doctor available at 2:30 and 4:30, what time should I set you up with?

Actually, could you maybe schedule the appointment later? Like, after six?

No, you cant go to the regular clinic for your issue.

This is when I started getting nervous. I didn’t see the sting as that much of an issue, more like an itchy annoyance. Until I was told I needed to see a serious, highly paid doctor to check it out.  My sister and her boyfriend took me to the hospital (but not before stopping at the pawn shop to look for a specific game) and we picked up my SO to accompany me while I saw the doctor. When we got there I got the standard, “Name? Number? Address? Year of birth?” but then I got a few questions I wasn’t use to… “Do you have a photo ID? Do you having a living will?” At this point I’m getting close to panicking. A living will?! I’m 19 for God’s sake! I expressed my worry to my SO and he did a fantastic job comforting me and assuring that the doctors would fix my problem and I would be fine.

After a good solid 20 minute long wait, I got to see a doctor whom told me that while my reaction was severe, I was not dangerously allergic. The problem is I can expect a very similar reaction if I get stung again in the future and now need to be extra careful when I’m around bees and my swelling and discomfort will persist for up to a whole week.

 

So, I’ve got that lovely new development to add to my list of Uncommon Ailments. Look up some pictures of Large Local Reaction to bee stings. I did, and my swelling was far worse than anything in those pictures!

30 Day Challenge: day 4- Favourite Book

Oh, the favourite book topic. I’ve been excited to talk about this. Books have been a large part of my life for as long as I can remember. When I was a kid I had very few friends and was frequently rounded, so I entertained myself with books. I taught myself how to read at a young age and always loved reading. In Kindergarten I was absorbed into chapter books and particularly loved Goosebumps books and I still have most of my Goosebumps collection to this day. I even started reading books aimed towards adults when I was in fifth grade, which was the first time I read a Stephen King book (The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon popped my Stephen King cherry). As you may have observed, even as a young child I had developed a taste for horror. So it is no surprise that my favourite book is also horror. The book is more well known in the internet underground and horror fanatics. That book is called John Dies at the End.

This book combines horror and comedy beautifully into an amazing, elaborate plot.  It stars two underachievers who, after trying a mysterious drug only known as Soy Sauce, are sucked into a world of  terror and confusion. The drug enables it’s users to transcend time, space, and the dimensions and grants the users the ability to see Hell on Earth; provided they survive. The horror in the book is profound and plays on revulsion and disgust (a basement fills with human shit while the two protagonists fight a monster, a humanoid beast composed entirely of a community of cockroaches, swarms of flying rods exploding out of human bodies) which is a brand of horror I deeply appreciate and rarely find. The comedy is rooted more so in the personality of the characters themselves, particular the character of the book’s namesake.

 

I read the book online years ago while it was still just part of a series of blogs and was ecstatic when I found out that the story was going to be published. Of course, I pre-ordered the book and was able to snag a copy of the first edition of JDatE. I was quick to pass this book along to my friends to expose them to  this amazing story. At one point the book was in such high demand that a first edition copy cost over $400 on Amazon. Since then the book was handed off to a different publishing company and more editions have been printed (Get your own copy now!)

Even more exciting, this book is also being adapted into a movie and is currently finished filming and the book sequel is also in the process of being edited.

 

Anyway, I HIGHLY recommend reading this book. Buy, it, check it out from the library, borrow it from a friend. I don’t even care, just read this book.

 

 

 

 

30 Day Challenge: Day 3- Favourite TV Program

One sad fact about me is that while I have a deep appreciation for the Arts (visual,  performance, musical…) I have only dabbled in each and never really furthered any skill I may have. I love painting and drawings, but am not particularly skilled at either. I love dancing and acting, but haven’t performed in years despite actually showing some amount of skill (I scored the lead role in The Secret Garden!).

But there is one area or arts that I both love and have a natural skill for, and that is Culinary Arts. Culinary Arts is unique in that it is the only art form that has to appeal to all of the senses, taste especially. I collect cook books, research cooking technique, I’ve even bought video games that are designed to almost be like person cooking instructors. Despite this, there are still fundamental resources I lack to expand my experience and knowledge regarding culinary arts. Cooking is a passion of mine, and for a short while I even seriously considered making it my career before deciding that I would keep my passion just as it is instead of pursuing a career as a chef.

For Day 3 of my 30 Day Challenge (Woo! 1/10th of the way done!) I was suppose to post about my favourite TV show, which is Chopped on the Food Network.

Chopped

 

Chopped is a series exposing chefs, anything from chocolatiers to personal chefs, to challenges involving a strict time limit and combining obscure ingredients.  There are three rounds and each round one chef is eliminated and the judging is based on taste, creativity of the dish, and presentation. I always pick out one favourite chef to root for the episode and watch in excitement as the stress builds for each chef. I love seeing other people display their culinary skill in ways I only wish I could both in person and on shows like Chopped. Chopped is my favourite show and I watch it whenever I can catch it on TV.

30 Day Challenge: Day 2- Favourite Movie

For day 2 of my 3o day challenge I’m to talk about my favourite movie.

 

If you know me at all, this favourite will come as something of a shock. My favourite movie? It’s a 411 minute long movie from the Hallmark Channel. The 10th Kingdom.

The 10th Kingdom

 

With 411 minutes of movie, it is so hard to really share the details of this movie. “But Shawn!” you say, “I thought you liked horror movies? Why would a movie like THIS be your favourite?”

Well, that is a good question. While it is true that I tend to favour movies of a darker nature, I couldn’t help but fall in love with this movie. It combines midevil fantasy with modern characters that are thrust into a world of magic. Trolls, werewolves, evil stepmothers, it’s got all of the elements made for an old-school fantasy story.  The movie also has a healthy dose of camp that I cannot resist in a movie. It takes a good amount of free time to be able to watch this movie in one sitting, but it is worth the time spent. Look it up some time for a full explanation of the plot that I cant describe. I know, I’m lazy. :p

30 Day Challenge: Day 1- Favourite Song

In my previous post I mentioned my participation in a 30 Day Blogging Challenge. This is day one, the day of my Favourite Song.

 

My own musical taste is incredibly broad. When anyone asks me “what kind of music do you listen to?” my response is “Good music”. From virtually every genre there is at least one musician or song that I genuinely enjoy. This fact makes it quite difficult to pinpoint only one favourite song. My tastes also go through phases and my more specific musical interests change. One week I may listen to nothing but Strapping Young Lad, the next week I will devour anything that is Frank Sinatra.

One common theme I have found in the songs I grow to love is that they all have memories attached to them or evoke feeling from me. For example, while the song “I Get a Kick Out Of You” by Frank Sinatra has a prettier sound and lyrics that I like more, the song “Fly Me To the Moon” by Frank Sinatra is more special to me and therefore it is my favourite song by Frank Sinatra. The song is special because probably over a year ago I found myself stunned that my Significant Other not only enjoyed music like Mr. Sinatra but he was able to sing along word-for-word to many of the songs. My SO’s taste are usually more of the pop/punk nature (My Chemical Romance, Fall Out Boy, PANIC! At the Disco), so you can imagine my surprise when he began singing along to Fly Me to the Moon when it came on the radio. A few days later I was feeling sad about one thing or another so he began singing “Fly Me to the Moon” with all of the lyrics replaced with the word “wunderbar”, one of his pet names for me. Since then this song has maintained as one of my favourite songs.

An example of a song that becomes my favourite because of a feeling it evokes is “Nothing Left” by Psyclon Nine. Try looking up this song and compare it to Frank Sinatra for a true taste of my diverse musical interests. This song reminds me very much of the concept of  past lives and the negative memories that can come with them, my own in particular (maybe when I’m more comfortable discussing the topic I’ll reveal details about past lives). The lyrics are dark and spooky in a way and fit beautifully with the sound of the music itself. The song brings back deep feelings for me and I love it for that reason.

 

Now, because I am simply unable to choose a single song to be my favourite, I chose to simply discuss how I choose a song to be my favourite.

30 Day Blog Challenge!

I am a person who appreciates memes. I am a person who appreciates blogs. As you may have noticed, I haven’t written a new blog in some time. Mostly this is due to not being sure what to write about or finding an idea and deciding it isn’t worth writing about. I know, I should be less picky. But I am using this 30 Day Blog challenge to bring me back to the rhythm or tending to my blogs. I’ll do my best to maintain the transgender theme to my blogs, but I don’t guarantee it won’t branch out just a little. Besides, a little variety is nice.

Anyway, this meme originated on Tumblr which is generally considered a photo sharing blog. I’ve modified the rules to fit my own blogging style. Instead of simply posting topic of the day as it, I must present it as an actual topic to discuss. Each day in the 30 Days I am to discuss the assigned Topic of the Day as I would any other blog. For the next 30 days (provided I actually keep up with the challenge) I will have a new blog posted. The next 30 Days of topics goes as such:
Day 01 — your favorite song
Day 02 — your favorite movie
Day 03 — your favorite television program
Day 04 — your favorite book
Day 05 — your favorite quote
Day 06 — whatever tickles your fancy
Day 07 — a photo that makes you happy
Day 08 — a photo that makes you angry/sad
Day 09 — a photo you took
Day 10 — a photo of you taken over ten years ago
Day 11 — a photo of you taken recently
Day 12 — whatever tickles your fancy
Day 13 — a fictional book
Day 14 — a non-fictional book
Day 15 — a fanfic
Day 16 — a song that makes you cry (or nearly)
Day 17 — an art piece (painting, drawing, sculpture, etc.)
Day 18 — whatever tickles your fancy
Day 19 — a talent of yours
Day 20 — a hobby of yours
Day 21 — a recipe
Day 22 — a website
Day 23 — a youtube video
Day 24 — whatever tickles your fancy
Day 25 — your day, in great detail
Day 26 — your week, in great detail
Day 27 — this month, in great detail
Day 28 — this year, in great detail
Day 29 — hopes, dreams and plans for the next 365 days
Day 30 — whatever tickles your fancy

If the mood strikes, I may even blog about something other than assigned to me in addition to my challenge. I’m starting tomorrow, let’s see how well I do!