Thoughtful Meme
Seen this around my friend's list, wanted to do it myself. :-)
1) If there were any one wrong you have done and could re-write history to have not done it, what would it be?
This would have been an easy question a year or two ago, but Hermes is slowly getting through my head that you need your past to be the person you are today. Sure, there are a lot of things about myself I'd love to see changed, but I would probably lose a lot of the things that I like as well, and maybe be in a completely different place right now which I wouldn't want at all. I suppose I still do wish that I had been far less confrontational with people back then, that I didn't feel a need to get into everyone's face as much as I did. That attitude made things a lot worse for me than they might otherwise have been. Might have been a little better if I had known then the value of keeping your head down sometimes, just waiting for it to be over.
2) If there were any one historical event which you could change - along with all the consequences proceeding from that change - what would it be?
There are a lot of things I wish wouldn't have happened: The Holocaust, all the cultures that were destroyed and lost due to other people's ignorance, animals hunted to extinction, many others I'm probably not immediately thinking of. But I still don't know that I'd do it even if I could. Because you don't really know what the consequences would be. Even with the best of intentions, you could easily end up making things worse. Maybe the world will be robbed of a voice that it desperately needed to hear, maybe something even worse will end up happening in its place. What can I say, I watched far too much Outer Limits. But I do think its the same deal as above, the world needs its past to be what it is today and even if there is a lot you'd like to change there are things that were good too that you wouldn't want to sacrifice along with everything else.
3) If there was any one public figure you could see get their comeuppance for their misdeeds, who would it be, why, and what form would that take?
Its so hard to pick just one, there are so many people out there that deserve something. Fred Phelps is beginning to see things crumble around him, but I still hope for the day when him and all his lot just drop dead (doesn't matter how they die, natural causes, mass suicide, house falls on them, whatever), get to the after life and realize that they had things very, very wrong and the God he proported to serve doesn't want a thing to do with him. The look on his face would be something worth seeing, at least the way I imagine it (in reality, he would probably just start picketing heaven). A similar end for Pat Robertson would be nice, too.
4) If there were any three things you could make the entire world understand exactly as you understand them, what would they be?
A. Other people's opinions of you should not matter that much. Fitting in is not that important. There is no value in conformity. Be who you are, do what comes naturally to you, and learn to be happy with that.
B. People do not all fit neatly inside one of a set number of boxes. And that is a good thing. Diversity is a good thing. Just because something is different from what we currently consider to be "normal" doesn't mean that it is bad or something to be afraid of.
C. So many of the things we humans get ourselves so wrapped up in don't matter much in the grand scheme of things. if someone doesn't fit into your ideas of normal, so what? Someone believes differently than you, loves differently than you, worships differently than you, what does it all really matter? What does it effect? is the world really going to be that much worse off because of it all? Keeps things in perspective.
5) If there were any one creative person who you could make the entire world love and appreciate the works of, who would it be and why?
I don't think I'm that obsessed with the works of any one person (except Clive Barker, and he is popular among those who like that sort of thing), and besides I rather like having different tastes than the vast majority of people. Whenever the masses get attached to someone it always seems to ruin it somehow.
There is Tetsuya Takahashi, who wrote the story for two of my favorite video games, which are two of my favorite stories period. the man is a master at crafting very intricate, complex plots; the kind of stories that if someone were to ask you what was that about the explanation would probably take an hour and would be almost impossible to follow if you haven't seen it for yourself. But there are so many people out there that either don't play or think that nothing good whatsoever comes out of video games that will never see Xenogears and never know what a great story it really is. I wish I could expose more people to that story.
6) If there were any one creative person you could make the entire world forget and dismiss, who would it be and why?
Just one? You mean I can't get rid of all the boy bands and pop princesses in one fell swoop? Oh wait a minute, they did say creative people so I guess they don't count. :-P
Though I don't consider him creative either, right now off the top of my head I would say Rick Warren. And that's because the first time I ever heard of him (bearing in mind I grew up in Massachusetts, Catholic country, so I didn't hear about a lot of the evangelical types that everyone else in the states knew all about until fairly recently) was when I bunch of people were killed in Atlanta and one woman barely escaped with her life and Rick Warren decided it was because his book was magical, and he felt it perfectly appropriate to go out on a massive PR campaign for himself atop the graves of I don't remember how many people and that one woman's ruined life.
7) If you could bring back from the dead any one person with no personal connection to you, who would it be and why?
I don't think I'd bring back anyone famous; they live more than a lot of the rest of us get to and in a very real sense they don't ever really die. I'd probably find someone who didn't get a chance at life, someone who died young. Let them have a chance to do something.
8) If you could make any one change to the physical geography of the world, what would it be and why?
More islands. So I can get away from everyone. :-)
9) If you could make any one work of fiction true, what would it be and why?
Imajica. I'd like to visit some of those worlds, they sound like fun places to be. :-)
10) If you could have any one law rescinded, what would it be and why?
I would get rid of the safety police. I can't stand laws that try to force adults to be safe or healthy (assuming they aren't hurting anyone but themselves). Get rid of state wide smoking bans, let restaurants decide for themselves to allow smoking or not (and if that means non smokers can't eat there, so the fuck what? go eat somewhere else, just like smokers will have to as well. the world doesn't cater to you and you can't have your own way all the time). Get rid of seat belt laws (except for children), if you're an adult and you know the risks involved you should be able to choose whatever you want. And the government trying to get rid of certain unhealthy foods in some places, fuck you I'll eat what I want and suffer the consequences. Big brother doesn't need to be holding all our hands and nagging at us like an overprotective mother.
11) If you could have any one law established, what would it be and why?
I'll echo what others have said, I would legalize gay marriage because there is no reason whatsoever why it should have to be outlawed.
12) If you could share any one joy of yours with the whole world, what would it be?
Just being myself. Not worrying about cultural standards, not worrying about how acceptable I might be to other people. Not trying to impress others that wouldn't like me anyway. People spend their whole lives worrying so much what other people think, changing themselves around to fit other's expectations. Its such a waste of effort. Learn to be happy with who and what you are.
1) If there were any one wrong you have done and could re-write history to have not done it, what would it be?
This would have been an easy question a year or two ago, but Hermes is slowly getting through my head that you need your past to be the person you are today. Sure, there are a lot of things about myself I'd love to see changed, but I would probably lose a lot of the things that I like as well, and maybe be in a completely different place right now which I wouldn't want at all. I suppose I still do wish that I had been far less confrontational with people back then, that I didn't feel a need to get into everyone's face as much as I did. That attitude made things a lot worse for me than they might otherwise have been. Might have been a little better if I had known then the value of keeping your head down sometimes, just waiting for it to be over.
2) If there were any one historical event which you could change - along with all the consequences proceeding from that change - what would it be?
There are a lot of things I wish wouldn't have happened: The Holocaust, all the cultures that were destroyed and lost due to other people's ignorance, animals hunted to extinction, many others I'm probably not immediately thinking of. But I still don't know that I'd do it even if I could. Because you don't really know what the consequences would be. Even with the best of intentions, you could easily end up making things worse. Maybe the world will be robbed of a voice that it desperately needed to hear, maybe something even worse will end up happening in its place. What can I say, I watched far too much Outer Limits. But I do think its the same deal as above, the world needs its past to be what it is today and even if there is a lot you'd like to change there are things that were good too that you wouldn't want to sacrifice along with everything else.
3) If there was any one public figure you could see get their comeuppance for their misdeeds, who would it be, why, and what form would that take?
Its so hard to pick just one, there are so many people out there that deserve something. Fred Phelps is beginning to see things crumble around him, but I still hope for the day when him and all his lot just drop dead (doesn't matter how they die, natural causes, mass suicide, house falls on them, whatever), get to the after life and realize that they had things very, very wrong and the God he proported to serve doesn't want a thing to do with him. The look on his face would be something worth seeing, at least the way I imagine it (in reality, he would probably just start picketing heaven). A similar end for Pat Robertson would be nice, too.
4) If there were any three things you could make the entire world understand exactly as you understand them, what would they be?
A. Other people's opinions of you should not matter that much. Fitting in is not that important. There is no value in conformity. Be who you are, do what comes naturally to you, and learn to be happy with that.
B. People do not all fit neatly inside one of a set number of boxes. And that is a good thing. Diversity is a good thing. Just because something is different from what we currently consider to be "normal" doesn't mean that it is bad or something to be afraid of.
C. So many of the things we humans get ourselves so wrapped up in don't matter much in the grand scheme of things. if someone doesn't fit into your ideas of normal, so what? Someone believes differently than you, loves differently than you, worships differently than you, what does it all really matter? What does it effect? is the world really going to be that much worse off because of it all? Keeps things in perspective.
5) If there were any one creative person who you could make the entire world love and appreciate the works of, who would it be and why?
I don't think I'm that obsessed with the works of any one person (except Clive Barker, and he is popular among those who like that sort of thing), and besides I rather like having different tastes than the vast majority of people. Whenever the masses get attached to someone it always seems to ruin it somehow.
There is Tetsuya Takahashi, who wrote the story for two of my favorite video games, which are two of my favorite stories period. the man is a master at crafting very intricate, complex plots; the kind of stories that if someone were to ask you what was that about the explanation would probably take an hour and would be almost impossible to follow if you haven't seen it for yourself. But there are so many people out there that either don't play or think that nothing good whatsoever comes out of video games that will never see Xenogears and never know what a great story it really is. I wish I could expose more people to that story.
6) If there were any one creative person you could make the entire world forget and dismiss, who would it be and why?
Just one? You mean I can't get rid of all the boy bands and pop princesses in one fell swoop? Oh wait a minute, they did say creative people so I guess they don't count. :-P
Though I don't consider him creative either, right now off the top of my head I would say Rick Warren. And that's because the first time I ever heard of him (bearing in mind I grew up in Massachusetts, Catholic country, so I didn't hear about a lot of the evangelical types that everyone else in the states knew all about until fairly recently) was when I bunch of people were killed in Atlanta and one woman barely escaped with her life and Rick Warren decided it was because his book was magical, and he felt it perfectly appropriate to go out on a massive PR campaign for himself atop the graves of I don't remember how many people and that one woman's ruined life.
7) If you could bring back from the dead any one person with no personal connection to you, who would it be and why?
I don't think I'd bring back anyone famous; they live more than a lot of the rest of us get to and in a very real sense they don't ever really die. I'd probably find someone who didn't get a chance at life, someone who died young. Let them have a chance to do something.
8) If you could make any one change to the physical geography of the world, what would it be and why?
More islands. So I can get away from everyone. :-)
9) If you could make any one work of fiction true, what would it be and why?
Imajica. I'd like to visit some of those worlds, they sound like fun places to be. :-)
10) If you could have any one law rescinded, what would it be and why?
I would get rid of the safety police. I can't stand laws that try to force adults to be safe or healthy (assuming they aren't hurting anyone but themselves). Get rid of state wide smoking bans, let restaurants decide for themselves to allow smoking or not (and if that means non smokers can't eat there, so the fuck what? go eat somewhere else, just like smokers will have to as well. the world doesn't cater to you and you can't have your own way all the time). Get rid of seat belt laws (except for children), if you're an adult and you know the risks involved you should be able to choose whatever you want. And the government trying to get rid of certain unhealthy foods in some places, fuck you I'll eat what I want and suffer the consequences. Big brother doesn't need to be holding all our hands and nagging at us like an overprotective mother.
11) If you could have any one law established, what would it be and why?
I'll echo what others have said, I would legalize gay marriage because there is no reason whatsoever why it should have to be outlawed.
12) If you could share any one joy of yours with the whole world, what would it be?
Just being myself. Not worrying about cultural standards, not worrying about how acceptable I might be to other people. Not trying to impress others that wouldn't like me anyway. People spend their whole lives worrying so much what other people think, changing themselves around to fit other's expectations. Its such a waste of effort. Learn to be happy with who and what you are.