The Pain Caused by Hatred

I have noticed a destructive "my team/their team" mentality that seems to surround every difficult issue. It polarizes people, drawing them to such ends of an extreme that they no longer see those on the other side as even human. They criticize and punish and abuse and hate and destroy each other. Whether it's a political party, religious affiliation, or opinion on any myriad of subjects, we as human beings tend to do this.

Why? On one issue in particular I feel trapped in the middle. I look to the extreme ends of both and see violence and hatred. Why?! Why won't they listen to each other and acknowledge the concerns and struggles and pains and humanity of their fellow human beings? I KNOW that many issues are incredibly difficult, but we're never going to solve ANYTHING if we keep letting the extremes dominate the whole. We get so caught up in our own paradigms that we completely forget (and disregard) the realities of humanity and love and suffering that surrounds everyone else, especially those to whom we have a hard time relating. Stop the finger pointing!

You might wonder what has spurred this sudden outburst, and my answer is that these thoughts have ricocheted around my head for a while, particularly concerning a certain issue, but I think absolutely applicable to many.

This issue is gay marriage, and a recent facebook update reminded me of it. I LOVE my gay friends and I LOVE my church, and both people for gay marriage and against gay marriage are fighting for what they believe to be right, but the accusations and hatred proliferated by some people -though certainly not all or even most- from both sides deeply sadden me. I already went through the anger stage and it's over. Now when I hear someone say something hurtful I just want to sit down and cry because we as humans are destroying each other with our hate and I don't know what I can possibly do to fix it.

A Report on Irony

On Tuesday in lab around 10:45 I yelped at the sound of yet another Erlenmeyer flask shattering.
"Damn that!" said Eric. Grumbling, "Those idiots studying fluffy subjects like humanities have no idea what it's like to actually work or think." Dumping the crystal weapons into a container marked 'glass only,' he continued, "All they do is write papers about their thoughts and feelings where there's no right answer. What kind of an education is that?"

Today is Wednesday. I wish I could tell you what time this happened, but I don't remember. Couple hours ago maybe. After lecture Hannah swiveled on her chair to face Rachel. "I love intellectually stimulating discussions like this, don't you?"
"Yeah" said Rachel, "because we're finally in higher level classes that have weeded out the narrowminded scientists."

Must I choose?

Dear Sushi,

Dear Sushi,

So I don't want to beat around the bush or anything, but I thought before getting to the point I'd apologize for the whole wasabi/guacamole mix-up when I first tried you. It wasn't your fault, but I still cried. It scarred me. Thank you for giving me some space. The other night (as you know) was one of the most beautiful nights of my life. Your taste lit my soul on fire rather than my tastebuds. I just wanted to say... well... I'd like to continue our relationship because... this is tougher than I thought... because... I love you.

Yours, Aly

Oh Percy!

Today in lab we got to work with... hold your breath... concentrated hydrochloric acid! And we got to wear GLOVES and work in the FUME HOOD! It was pretty awesome. On another note, I think I have a celebrity crush on Percy Shelley who unfortunately is dead. Okay but seriously, listen to this (which by the way is from the book "Lofty Dogmas: Poets on Poetics" to which I give full credit and highly recommend if you're into poetic theory):

"Poetry is indeed something divine. It is at once the centre and circumference of knowledge; it is that which comprehends all science, and that to which all science must be referred. It is at the same time the root and blossom of all other systems of thought; it is that from which all spring, and that which adorns all... Its footsteps are like those of a wind over the sea, which the coming calm erases, and whose traces remain only, as on the wrinkled sand which paves it... There is an accumulation of the power of communicating and receiving intense and impassioned conceptions respecting man and nature... Poets are the unacknowledged legislators of the world."
-Percy Bysshe Shelley

Body Poetry

For my poetry class, our prompt this week was to write a poem addressed to (or about) a body part. We're workshopping our poems tomorrow and I haven't come up with anything fantastic yet. I don't think I will. But that being said, I think I'll use the poem I wrote anyway.

Consider the earlobe.
Poor, useless creature
clinging helplessly to substance and life
screaming in silent agony as a piercing needle
burns through its intestines
and soul.

I was thinking about continuing with basically a commentary on how women do these crazy things for beauty like poking holes in our bodies so we can adorn ourselves with sparkly things to feel beautiful or worthwhile, impress other women, and attract men. But I think I like it as it is. Especially considering that I like sparkly things.

Lab Blonde

Today I had my lab for quantitative analysis. We titrated... the ENTIRE time. For this one we had lab partners for making the calibration curve (oh yes, next time we get to do the titration with our own personalized unknown!) and we had a great time relative to what we were doing. Plus my lab partner is rather attractive, so that makes things a little more interesting. So anyway, at the end of the lab I was discarding the not-really-scary-chemicals-but-enough-so-that-we-use-the-official-waste-container-thingamajigs an instead of pouring one of the little cups of blue standard (no I don't know what it was except its pH was around 7) into the waste container, I accidentally poured it INTO THE 1 M HCl! It was a scarring experience. My TA said it would be fine since we have to standardize the acid anyway and my 5 ml of stuff really won't affect the concentration or reactivity or anything... and I didn't get smited. Smitten? But my lab partner saw me and gave me a high-five for my blonde moment. Then in lecture, he came and sat by me, and then this other really awesome girl in our lab came and sat by us. The greatest part? I actually stayed awake! The professor said something about the number "e", and my new friend turned to me and whispered (cause we were like in the fourth row so we had to be subtle) the first few digits of e which I found both adorable and annoying, so I kicked him- not hard I hope- and shook my head in exasperation. Anyway, I have two tests tomorrow but am I studying? No, I'm blogging! Hurrah!

Found! And some more...

I received a call tonight from the Marriott Library informing me that my wallet has been FOUND! My faith in humanity has been restored! Oh, AND I've decided that I'm crushing on a guy in my ward... which is good considering my other crush is off-limits on so many levels which reminds me... The other day I saw an old friend that I knew in high school who made me swoon. When I use to see him walk in the room I could feel my face going red, got dizzy, and almost fainted on several occasions. I was the definition of twitterpation! And I haven't felt that since then, but I've decided that I'd rather be able to carry on an intelligible conversation with someone than pass out every time I saw them. Though a little swooning can be nice on occasion. Ahh, memories...