Two To Tango

                                                                                                    Two To Tango

        a thought short story by Makayla Baker

Dorothy Parker calls it "Unfortunate Coincidence."  I call it "crap out of luck."  The wondering what goes on in a man's mind or when a man wonders about a woman's mind.  Curiosity is too big of a word to cover it.  

     The constant mystery lies in our minds because of this nameless epidemic.  Is he thinking of me?  Why would she even think that?  Is it just miscommunication?  Or is it too much communication?

     I met this boy once, and since he's a real guy, I'm changing his name to Howard, even though he knows who he is.

     It wasn't love at first sight, heck no, I never go for that.  It was more like "here, you guys dance together."  Okay?  And then it began.

     "Aren't they so cute together?"

     That's the other epidemic.  I never really like a guy immediately unless he's Johnny Depp's look-alike (in which I would probably fall on my knees and automatically ask for his hand in marriage), but then someone says something.

     "Do you like him?"

     "You're such a cute couple!"

     "You mean, you're not together?"

     "Where did you bag such a hunk?"

     That's when the butterfly effect (not the movie) happens.  That's when the "crap out of luck" begins. 

     "Does he like me?"

     "Why is he with her?  She's not attractive at all!"

     "Why isn't he talking to me?"

     It's like paranoia except people like to use an euphemism for it by calling it "puppy love."  Sure, we're all guilty, so it's okay to admit it, but dude, seriously?  Who came up with that phrase?  Puppy love?  But it's like admitting that you really don't the Beatles because, believe me, there's a lot of people that don't like the Beatles, myself included.

     Back to my story, I tried to be stealthy.  You know, doing the girl stuff where we ask around, steal glances once in a while, play our little cat and mouse game.  

     But I'm tired.  I'm tired of this game.  How many times have we played this game in our lives?  Five, six, maybe more?  We like someone, we dance around a little, we finally admit to liking each other, we date, we're happy, we're mad, we're bored, and then we're done.  So begins the cycle all over again.  

     So, this is my story to girls and boys alike.  To the boys in this world: just explain what you're thinking.  Make it simple, you are all good at that.  Make it sweet.  To the girls in this world: don't dance around, acting like you don't know the steps.  You know the steps, so tango.  You have one chance, and if you get shot down, there are others because he's just not a worthy dance partner.  

    So, Howard, are you going to tell me what you're thinking or are you going to leave me in the dark?  I know my steps.  Tango with me.

Cultural Consideration: Elders And Obsession With Youth

How Society Treats The Elderly 

     I just recently wrote a paper in my AP Literature class about Cultural Considerations: Ill-Treatment Of The Elderly, and I thought, what a great topic to write on Live Journal!  Yeah, I know, I can have my moments.  Anyways, I'm just going to start out with this: WHAT ARE YOU THINKING?  There.  That was great.  Okay, moving on.
     I have always had respect for my elders.  They're the best people to know to take advise from, great or small and they always have the best stories whether they are true or not.  So, I just don't understand why here in the United States, we send our elderly to the nursing home and only visit them occasionally.  I'm sorry, but I am NOT looking forward to a nursing home, and I'm sure you aren't either.  So why do we stick them in there?  You wanna know why?  Because we're too busy.  Yeah, seriously.  That's the answer.  We're too busy to take care of the person who helped take care of me when I was little.  Have some compassion, people.  It is so sick to think that parents sacrifice so much for their children, and then they end up being dumped in the death camps (because that's seriously what they are) to be forever lonely and treated like a child.  Majority of the problems like Alzheimer's and such are caused by medicines and the things that we put into our bodies.  Even so, if the person has such diseases without the cause of medicines and the foods we eat and such, then you need to realize that the best place in the whole world is with their families.  Putting them in a nursing home is just like sending a kid off to an asylum.  And of course, I have heard rumors of abuse happening in the nursing homes.  The nurses abuse their patients which if we hear about a child being abused, we'd all be hopping mad (which we should be), but if we hear about an old person being abused, eh, who cares, right?  WRONG ANSWER, SPANKY!  My grandma was telling of her sister (my great-aunt) and she is in the nursing home, and nothing has been seriously wrong with my Aunt Evelyn except that she has diabetes and a few side troubles with remembering things, but since she's been in the nursing home, she can't remember who died, who hasn't died, who is alive, it's just crazy.  And grind up all of her food.  She does NOT need her food grinded up and yet, they do it anyways.  I'm sorry, but if you grinded up my food and handed it to me when I know that I am capable of eating it, I'm going to be throwing some stuff across the cafeteria there.
     The other reason why society avoids the elderly is because of the obsession of youth.  Since the 1950's, media has hit the teenage world majorly which media affects everyone.  So, naturally, this obsession with being young came about.  I was just watching an episode of Castle on the Internet when a commercial for a surgery came on.  Now, if you get this surgery done, you could have no wrinkles and look ten years younger, though the side effects include, and I quote from the website: "Complications of laser surgery can generally be divided into short term and long-term side effects. The short term side effects include transient erythema, pruritus, milia formation, acneiform pustules, transient scarring, and long-term problems, such as hypopigmentation and, occasionally, permanent scarring."  I don't know about you, but I would NOT risk my skin even though I have oily skin, I would not risk it just to get the wrinkles off my face.  Personally, I believe that's why there's an obsession with vampires because of this obsession with youth.  To stay young forever, that's the new American dream.  And then, I saw on Time magazine, this:

    Not even kidding.  It's the Matrix all over again.  Who wants to be immortal?  Dying is only a small part of what the journey lies ahead.  If you change that, then you have steered destiny waaaaay off track.  It's sick to think that our world is turning into things like the Matrix and Brave New World.  All because of the "little" obsession with being young.  Treat the elders the way you want to be treated and love yourself no matter what age because no matter where you go, good honest people will only love you for being you.

Housewives And The New Age Of The Female World

Housewives And The New Age Of The Female World

     I had an......interesting conversation with my friend, Rachel, while we were in Italy about housewives.  Rachel was raised in a home where it was just her and her mother so obviously, she feels the need for females to dominate.  I, on the other hand, have been raised in a house where my parents equally share everything.  And yes, my mother is a housewife, and you know what?  I'm not against them.  I believe being a housewife in its self is a job, a hard job, too.  I don't have a problem with it at all until the man demands it.  Then you have some problems, but in any relationship, if you demand anything, you're not going to have very good results.   So, I've come to realization that the housewife's duty is a lot different from the 1950's.  When you think of housewife anymore, I'm sure you think of the Real Housewives Of Beverley Hills or New York City or whatever.  Anyways, these shows make me so hot under the collar.  I hate them so much, you have no idea.  All they do is provide the rest of the world an image what a "typical" housewife in America does: argue, bicker, and plan parties.  Really, they're terrible role models, mother wise and wife wise, and they're just bad news.  My mother should be in the reality tv shows to come kick their butts because my mom can do anything.  She can cook, clean, mow, grow, make soap, can, play the piano, sing, decorate, and she doesn't even have to break out in too much sweat.  A woman has to realize (especially a working woman) that her family comes first.  They are to teach their children the good things in life.  Career should always be last in both a man's and woman's world because if the wordly things disappear, what do you have left?  The man and woman are to be equal in everything, and I believe that's the way it should be.  Men should not bow down to their wives nor should the wife bow down to their husbands.  The point of marriage is to SHARE a lifetime together.  That's all you're really doing.   The role of the woman should not be dissed, but embraced.  If females keep rising and rising from where we are now, we will no longer have marriages, pregnancies, and men will be quite the lonely creatures and then they'll soon have to fight for their rights.  I am a feminist, but I believe men and women need to share their level of power.  Human beings are extremely dependent in their nature to begin with, so why try?  It just boggles my mind of how this society is so obsessed with "independence" that it makes my stomach do flip flops.  

One Day Without Shoes

     

One Day Without Shoes

So, a couple of months ago I received a request to do this "One Day Without Shoes".  When I typed it in, I watched the video and pretty much was not impressed by it.  Then, my sister sent me the link just today telling me she was doing it.  So, this is for you, dear sister, on why I believe "One Day Without Shoes" is completely POINTLESS.

     This "idea" of "One Day Without Shoes" is that everyone not wear shoes to promote awareness among people about the millions of people who get diseases from not wearing shoes in third world countries.  Well, let's point out some major flaws in this idea.   You are promoting an idea by not wearing shoes about people who can't afford shoes.  Number one, if I was a person in a third world country, I would probably laugh at this idea.  If you have shoes in those countries, you WEAR them.   Promoting awareness is WONDERFUL, but the way they are doing is not the way to do it.  By not wearing shoes, you can contract the diseases that are all over our streets and in turn, you'll receive the diseases that you are trying to promote awareness of.  Not only that, by doing these things, you're not helping the people at all.  All you're doing is not wearing your shoes.  Heck, I never wear shoes around my house, so does that mean I'm promoting awareness of diseases in third world countries for feet diseases?  Not likely.  I believe if you really want to help those people out, you would go down to those countries and buy shoes for them.  Why not promote awareness by BUYING shoes?  Good idea, eh?  So, that's my opinion on the "One Day Without Shoes".  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BitShRujoeA

Tuck Everlasting (Why It's Brilliant)

 

When I first read Tuck Everlasting, I realized that this book was one of a kind.  Natalie Babbitt knew that people's obsession with everlasting life is insane, and it needed to be fixed. "If there's one thing I've learned about people, it's that many will do anything, anything not to die. And they'll do anything to keep from living their life."- Angus Tuck (Tuck Everlasting the movie).  I was so glad when I got to watch the movie because it was exactly the way I pictured it in my mind.  Unfortunately, not everyone agrees with me.  I was extremely upset to read some of the comments I found on the website that I watched it on.  

"i hate how she just like forgot all about him and went and got married and had kids he told her he loved her she diddnt even answer i meen yeah in some ways it would suck to live forever but when you get to spend it with someone you truly love its worth it dont you think. expshally the way the tucks spent eternty i meen wtf jeeze wonderful movie up untill the very end."

     Well, I'm here to prove you wrong.  You see, this is no Twilight event where boy meets girl, they fall love instantly (another reason why it  really makes me mad because Edward and Bella barely knew each other and yet, magic.  -.-), and it turns out that the boy's immortal so he turns her into a vampire.  Then happily ever after in immortal world.  AH!  WRONG!  When you fall in love, you say the words "Till death do us part."  Death is a complete natural part of the world.  Without death, the world isn't what it was made to be. 

 "Time is like a wheel. Turning and turning - never stopping. And the woods are the center; the hub of the wheel. It began the first week of summer, a strange and breathless time when accident, or fate, bring lives together. When people are led to do things, they've never done before."- Narrator (Tuck Everlasting the movie).  

Natalie wanted people to realize that being immortal isn't what it's all cracked up to be.  Yes, Winnie truly loved Jesse.  No one was upset at Rose when she got married and had kids after Jack died (Titanic).  Winnie only did what Jesse couldn't do.  She grew old for him.  She lived for Jesse.  She never forgot him.  You live your life, and when it's time to go, it's time go.  

"“Look around you, it's life. The flowers, and trees, and frogs, it's all part of the wheel. It's always changing. It's always growing. Like you, Winnie, your life is never the same. You were once a child, now you are about to become a woman. One day you'll grow up. You'll do something important. You'll have children maybe, and then one day you'll go out. Just like the flame of a candle. You'll make way for new life as a certainty. It's the natural way of things. And then, there's us. What we Tucks have, you can't call it living. We just are. We're like rocks stuck at the side of the stream...Your life is never the same, you were once child and you’re about to be a woman.  I don’t wanna die, is that wrong?  No human does, but it’s just part of the wheel, it’s part of being born, you can’t have living, without dying. Don’t be afraid of death, be afraid of the unlived life.”- Angus Tuck (Tuck Everlasting the movie).

Nicholas Sparks and Twilight Ruin Teenage Fantasies

 Nicholas Sparks and Twilight Ruin Teenage Fantasies 

When you're watching anything that's been based on Nicholas Sparks' books or the Twilight movies, have you ever sat back and wondered, is that what real love is like?  Do they  really obsess over each other like that?  Do they really think about each other all the time?  In real life, the answer is no.  Real love is not like that.  Unfortunately, for other teenagers, they don't have parents like mine to teach what real love is.  What they see on tv is what they get.  Teenagers that walk around in my school dream about having an Edward to carry them away into the sunset, and even worse, sometimes they dream of having vampire boyfriends.  So, is Twilight really healthy for the brains of teenagers?  It teaches that obsessed love is okay, vampires are gentle loving creatures, and that love is more important than her own family.  

     Though, I will give credit  to Meyer who added some morals that I'm sure she learned from Brigham Young University.  She writes that Edward and Bella wait to have sex until they marry which is an important moral aspect.  She also writes that Bella could have Renesmee aborted or something in that aspect, but Bella refuses.  

     Nicholas Sparks, on the other hand, is not as great as he seems, in my opinion.  His writing developement is weak, but his story lines are fantastic.  If only you can mix William Faulkner and Nicholas Sparks, you could have a fabulous book.  Nicholas Sparks, though, teaches that no matter, love conquers all.  And he is right, but not in the lighting that he shows.  Loves means to care for that person no matter what the flaw is.  The girls in my school break up with boys for no apparent reason and say that he has a funny quirk they don't like.   Sometimes that is something to look into, but normally, it's the personality that should shine the brightest.  When he wrote Walk To Remember, he did such a good job showing that Jamie and Landon shared an actual love.  He loved her despite her disease.  He stayed by her side.  That could happen.  When The Notebook came out, I was extremely disappointed.  When you fall in love at the age of 17 or 18 and you had a summer fling, in real life, you would forget about that person or move on and find someone great.  Noah didn't move on though.  He stayed on that same girl and, in a way, that's a bit strange.  Allie did move on, but after one visit, she was in love all over again.  Honestly, it doesn't work like fireworks.  Maybe for some people, it works, but normally it doesn't.  I know I'm a stinking pessimist about writings, but I believe if you're going to write a romance novel, write the truth.  

    So maybe the next time you walk in the hallways watching the couples making out, stop and pause.  It's high school.  It could work, it couldn't work.  Just remember that love should be true and honest, not roses and sparkly vampires.