Tempus Fugit

. . .Time is indeed of the essence, wouldn't one say? Ah, where's my Latin textbook when I need it. Then again, I should be working harder at Chinese, shouldn't I. I have such a great idea for how I might improve my Chinse essay (which is to be presented tomorrow), but the problem is, I sorta lack the proper vocabulary and literary exposure that a normal Chinese person would have in order to implement the idea that I have. In short, I wanted to write in the style of which I'm critizising. The idea is that people will think that my ideas are less valid because I'm imitating someone else's work, until they realize that that's exactly what I'm speaking against -- making them almost instantly agree. Ah, the joy of writing. But alas, I don't think a satire is entirely possible at this point in time. I need to know too many more words in order to be able to write with the freedom and agility that I do with the English language. (not that I'm a sequipedalianist or anything...)
. . .For the first time in my life, I finished a homework while in front of the computer -- meaning I get more play time when I get home tonight. ^_^
. . .I think I'll talk about the etiquette of expression one's opinions today.
. . .What is the difference between "I hate jazz" and "Jazz is the worst"? The former is a mere subjective statement of one's opinion -- the speaker is expressing his taste (or lack of taste, to some people) in music.
. . .But what of "Jazz is the worst"? This, I find, to be a most foul, offensive and unjust statement that should be shot. (Similar to Alison's attitude towards Confucius.) I think it's quite unforgivable when someone back-handedly dismisses an entire genre of music (in this case), or movies, TV programming, animation, novels, etc., simply one cannot or does not comprehend or appreciate its artistic value. Admittedly, each genre has its greater pieces of work which push the limits and challenge the norms of itself and pre-existing genres, as well as less-than-remarkable examples of why other genres might be prefered.
. . .I find this typically to be a careless form of speech (found in most youths in English-speaking North America -- Canada and USA), in which the speaker seems to somehow have convinced that his or her opinion is God-given fact, and is as thus stated.
. . ."Romance novels are nothing more than pornographic literature!" is something that is totally inaccurate, as well as being offensive to any young lady with dreams and imagination. If the speaker really felt that way about romance novels, one would be forced to question what kind of dull life has the speaker been leading.
. . .However strongly one feels for or against a certain genre, one should always be most careful to never state these opinions if possible, and at the very least, state them in such a manner that is in the least, unoffensive to enthusiasts of said genre. After all, were I to say "I think romance films are the best!" cannot offend anybody, since I have not said as if it were fact that romance films are in any way superior to any other genre. At the worst, someone might think less of me for not liking another 'better' genre. But nobody's truely offended by such statements that are expressed personal opinion. After all, tacit expressions of personal desires and tastes are firstly hard to distinguish, and secondly incomplete, as far as communicational etiquette is concerned. Whose etiquette? Mine, so to speak, but really, it's more of a quantified acumulation of my years of observation of human interaction. (another reason why I find etiquette so important -- my sensitivity picks up on pretty much everything.)
. . .Not to say that I'm the most sensitive there is when it comes to these matters, but apparently, I'm more easily offended and injured than most people. And perhaps, if everybody were a little more attentive and a little less careless, we might all end up living in a better world, because (and I realize this is a bit of a stretch) war might just be avoided. ^___^
. . .To such individuals beyond saving (Chen, for example), I can only pray that God gives them the mental agility and intellectual malleability that only the youth possess for the ability to change and adapt oneself to any particular or prefered situation.