The Mag Lev Trains

Mag Lev is Dead

2008-03-29T06:58:00.000-07:00

Does anybody read this blog anymore?

I think I'm going to take it down.

I give it a week.

It's been fun, but it's over.

Psych Class

2008-03-14T06:43:00.000-07:00

This is your friendly admin Sharon speaking, bringing you this public service announcement:

YOU GET GET ONTO THESE SITES AT STOGA!!!!!!!!

HOW FUCKING RAD IS THAT!!!!!!

ITS NOT BLOCKED...

so instead of doing those notes... why not blog?

Resignation

2008-03-10T13:24:00.000-07:00

I, Ello, officially declare my resignation from this blog. I have no time for it. I hate blogs. I hate life. I hate human beings. I hate children. I hate people who say they're vegetarian but eat fish. I hate ignorance. I hate sluts. I hate cheese. I hate animal abuse. I hate Christianity. I hate religion. I hate journalists. I hate school orchestra. I hate wasting time. I hate when children are in choul. I hate pda. I hate uggs. I hate preps. I hate long straightened dyed blonde hair. I hate the death penalty. I hate pro-life. I hate graphing. I hate "In God We Trust" on their money. I hate high school. I hate myself. I hate.
The end.

If you want to argue against my decision, go ahead. But saying "oh Ello, don't resign!" will not help you at ALL. You want to argue, you make a good argument! I won't come back to this blog if you just TELL me to. No one owns me but ME.

Will You Be My Valentire?

2008-02-29T14:02:00.000-08:00

I wrote about this on my blog shinymasochism, please comment there.

Its a very MagLev type issue though....

http://shinymasochism.blogspot.com/2008/02/will-you-be-my-valentine.html

Life and some other random stuff.

2008-02-29T13:03:00.001-08:00

I really shouldn't be writing a post because I should be practicing. But I have plenty of time to practice today so I thought I'd write a post.

Life is pointless. It's annoying [that it seems to be pointless, as far as we can tell, that is]. It seems that the either you work hard so that you can have a good choice of jobs when you grow up, or you slack off and do nothing ever. But if you choose the former (which you're supposed to), life is boring and pointless. All you do is work hard and learn things so that you can do what you want, and then you work more. I don't get what the point is. I'm not saying I want to die or anything, but it just seems pointless. See, I practice and practice every day to get better, but to get better for what? I do districts and regionals and states so that I can what? And even if I find out what what is, would it really matter?

It all comes down to the question of life, the universe and everything. The answer is 42.

That's that post. Now for pointless thoughts flying around on broomsticks (besenreiten) in my head.

I hate it when a person says that he/she lives for a person he/she loves. I mean, is that person's life so incredibly shitty that he/she doesn't even care about his/her own self? It's pathetic and ignorant. And disgusting.

I'm afraid of what will happen to me after college. I think I will probably never marry or whatever, and so I'll live alone, but I'm scared of living alone. I will have to be the one killing the bugs because there will be no one else around to kill them for me. That's just scary. I can't even get near one of those stinkbug things, let alone take them and flush them down the toilet. And once in my dorm room at Bryn Mawr, a creepy bug came to attack me on my windowsill, and I just stuck my box of fabric softener stuff on it. So what will happen to me after college?!?! Eeek!

I'm so tired of big egos. The worst of it is that I have one.

Ah, here's another fun thing.

The other day, I said "Footloose sucks" about five times. I then told a kid I know to shut up (that was later though). So basically I was a normal kid for a day. It was kind of ok because I didn't have to care about whatever I said. But it was not cool because I know what it's like to be told to "shut up" by one of your friends, and I wince every time I hear the word "sucks" (or any of its derivations). "Suck" is a disgusting and bad word. I never use it. "Shut up" is an arrogant, demeaning, and hurtful phrase. I hardly ever say this to people (except for my sister).

So don't use those phrases.

Children are so vulgar and uncaring.

I hate seeing kids "pda"-ing in the hallways. I just want to go up to them and blow one of those annoying horn thingies that people bring to graduation and then get in trouble for in the pdaer's faces. MOVE, YOU DISGUSTING SLUTTY BASTARDS! GO SOMEWHERE ELSE TO SLIME EACH OTHER'S FACES! OR DON'T DO IT AT ALL! The latter is better. I would like to scream that at them. I hate when kids hold hands. I want to chop them off when I see this. But I would never do that because of the obvious, and also because it's gross. I am not violent. I don't think high school kids should be in "choul" (see a previous post on The Artificial Flagman if you don't know what that means). Kids shouldn't go out on dates and have boyfriends/girlfriends. It's a waste of time and it is pointless. Talk about throwing your life away on another person! Really, you'll break up eventually, so how about just never starting it? What's the point in, uh, "loving" someone if you'll stop "loving" that person eventually? And if it's a waste of time? If it disgusts the world? If it is pointless?

BREAK UP. ALL OF YOU WHO ARE IN CHOUL. I URGE YOU TO BREAK UP.

But you won't.

Oh god.

I'm turning into Mr Decker.

That is NOT a good thing.

But I won't be a pedophile when I'm a high school music teacher. In that, you needn't worry.

I've had too much pressure lately. I'm really going mental. Regionals, Bye Bye Birdie, DCYO, and regular schoolwork is too much. Not to mention that Bye Bye Birdie and regionals perform back to back. It's making me go mental. But I enjoy being overly involved. It keeps me from getting bored or depressed. And the more violin, the better! (Also the more on my transcript, the better.)

I can't wait till college. I really can't wait. I'm excited. It's crazy.

So basically, high school children are disgusting.

A Child Called It

2008-02-23T14:35:00.001-08:00

Messo has been after me to post, so here it goes:

Lately, a lot of shitty things have been going on in my life. I, like many others, will tend to get annoyed by things that in the grand scheme of the universe, are trivial at best. Things like not having an ipod, cell phone, or a driver's permit. I'll get upset if my parents don't let me hang out with friends or won't drive me to where I believe I need to be. Even big things, things that I have a legitimate right to freak out about, things that will, cause any sane person to, as I say, "tip their rocker" [go off the deep end...]
I've been trying to ground myself lately though. Not in the sense of stay at home, no Internet, no fun - but ground as in center myself. I'm trying to look at things and see the bigger picture. In 10 years, will it really matter what brand my jeans were or if I had the latest piece of technology?
I always get mad at my parents when they things like "What about all the starving kids in Africa?" But what if they have a point....
I know I'm a really anxious person. I get really hyper and really stressed out, and everything in my life seems to be taken to an extreme. That's part of the reason why I'm trying to get a new perspective. I'm not trying to totally revolutionize myself, I just want to try to relax... to call down... to take a chill pill.

The fact that "things could be so much worse" is really true. In 6th grade, I read a book called "A Child Called It". The book is the autobiography of Dave Pelzer, and it is a story that completely stopped me in my tracks.
My family life is pretty insane, but I can say that I have never been physically abused. Dave's story is one of abuse.. severe abuse. A lot of his story was hard to swallow, but I couldn't let myself stop reading.
Dave was one of five children. His dad was a firefighter, and was not around a lot of the time. His mother was an alcoholic. She singled out Dave and took out her frustration with her life on him.
The book grounded me. It opened my eyes, it proved that there really was someone out there who had it worse than me. The worst incident in the book is when Dave's mother holds his arm over their gas stove, and watches as the boy's arm is severely burned.
I cried to the point where I wanted to throw up.

As horrible as the story is, A Child Called It is one of the books that I recommend to EVERYONE. EVERYONE should read it, not because its a good book [which it is], or because its well written, [which it is], but because everyone needs to see the example that Dave is.
That he was able to survive. That he was able to live through the worst things imaginable, and go on to be a husband and a father.

So this is my challenge to you all: Go read A Child Called It.

2008-02-23T12:21:00.000-08:00

All I have to say is that someone (SHARON AND ELLO) besides me needs to post on this blog.

~Messo

PS: Every one else read the post/comments below if you haven't already.

English Class

2008-02-10T06:00:00.000-08:00

English. Oh, English, I miss the days back in 6th grade when you were simply on grammar and writing creatively. I loved you back then, English.

But then in 7th grade, you combined with a monster.

READING CLASS.

Reading class certainly had its benefits back then. Back before the two of you combined, that is. We read cutesy little stories about cutesy little animals, or cutesy little kids going on cutesy little adventures.

However, it was when the teachers quizzed us on stupid things like "What was Barry the Bear's eye color?" that I hated Reading class. To be honest, what significance does Barry the Bear's eye color have to do with the rest of the story?

When these two classes combined, English became hell. The stories we read weren't so cutesy anymore. In fact, they became more and more depressing as the years went on. Then, in 7th, we were introduced to something new. Not every type of writing would be obviously classified into one of the main three groups-informative, persuasive, and one other which I can't remember what it was called, but it was creative writing, basically.

Let me share something with you faithful (or not as much so) readers of The Mag Lev Trains.

I LOVED creative writing as a young child. I used to write up accounts of my day. Around 7th grade, I was typing them in emails and sending them out. I would comment sarcastically to lists I would recieve in chain emails, or just find online. This continued into 8th and the beginning of 9th grade...there's an obvious trend between when I got gmail and when I stopped writing out these detailed reports of my day.

But I digress. Back to 7th grade English. We were told that we would now be writing essays, which we had been exposed to before. However, now, these essays would be not on something we cared about, such as getting a new bike or, as an essay I wrote back in 6th grade, the importance of a pencil (I'm not kidding. It was a fairly good essay, too!), but rather, on a book we read in class.

I wish I wasn't kidding. But as you all know, I'm dead serious.

To be honest, writing about the importance of a pencil is a lot more helpful to real life than writing about how certain events in certain books connect. If you're going to go into marketing, you have to show why people need your product, as I showed back in 6th grade why you need a pencil. But showing why those books connect-especially if they connect in depressing ways, as many books we read in English class do-are not going to help sell those novels.

I think Paul Graham, creator of the Don't be Creepy Powerpoint, and my new hero, put it the best:

When I was in high school I spent a lot of time imitating bad writers. What
we studied in English classes was mostly fiction, so I assumed that was the
highest form of writing. Mistake number one. The stories that seemed to be most
admired were ones in which people suffered in complicated ways. Anything funny
or gripping was ipso facto suspect, unless it was old enough to be hard to
understand, like Shakespeare or Chaucer. Mistake number two. The ideal medium
seemed the short story, which I've since learned had quite a brief life, roughly
coincident with the peak of magazine publishing. But since their size made them
perfect for use in high school classes, we read a lot of them, which gave us the
impression the short story was flourishing. Mistake number three. And because
they were so short, nothing really had to happen; you could just show a randomly
truncated slice of life, and that was considered advanced. Mistake number four.
The result was that I wrote a lot of stories in which nothing happened except
that someone was unhappy in a way that seemed deep.

I think what he's saying is fairly self-explanatory. Perfect example: Nectar in a Sieve. What happens in this novel, which any student that took Honors World Lit hopefully remembers? (To any freshmen/not yet freshmen that have yet to read it, SPOILER ALERT) Basically, Ruku, who comes from a fairly well off family, marries Nathan, who isn't as lucky. They have a ton of kids and most of them die. One becomes a prostitute and has an albino baby. One leaves to get a job or something? I forget the reason, but he leaves, so Ruku and Nathan go off to search for them. They take in a boy with an odd disease, and then Nathan dies.

Now, why the hell would you want to write an essay on that? And as exciting as that seems *coughs sarcastically * copying that writer whose name I can't remember's style of KILLING OFF ALMOST EVERY CHARACTER IN THE NOVEL is totally something worth copying.

On top of all the crap essays that we write, we have to ANALYZE these novels. Meaning, we have to find symbols and foreshadowing and read into the novel, as opposed to just reading it.

There is a point where you have to ask yourself, Did the author intend that, or is my teacher making it up? I mean, some things are obviously intentional. Others, you just think to yourself, this is ridiculous.

And then...theme. Oh geeze. Theme is okay, and sometimes very easy to pick out. For example, Slaughterhouse-five. "Life is fatalistic." "War is bad."

REALLY, REALLY OBVIOUS.

However, take another random novel. Say, Gossip Girl. What the hell is the theme of Gossip Girl? Don't be supreme I-Want-It-All bitch? Being rich is the best way to get by?

Okay, so although it's beyond shit, Gossip Girl is a habit I just can't quit.

I'm a poet and I didn't even know it.

As a closing note, if you want more Paul Graham, http://paulgraham.com/articles.html for his essays, which are absolutely amazing, and http://dontbecreepy.com/talks, scroll down to the box labeled October 30th, and click on the link that says Powerpoint...it's the DON'T BE CREEPY POWERPOINT.

From shinymasochism.blogspot.com

2008-01-31T16:28:00.000-08:00

Sharon posted this questionnaire on her other blog, and I love it so much, and she said that she would love if someone actually answered the questions...so here it goes! BTW, if you haven't done so already read the original questions without my answers.

1. What do you think caused your heterosexuality? Um, the fact that almost everyone I know is heterosexual, and that there is a general fear of non-heterosexuals in the nation, so...I don't want to be feared...

2. When and how did you decide you were a heterosexual? Probably before I knew there was such thing as not being attracted to the opposite gender. Probably as a result of good old Disney.

3. Is it possible that your heterosexuality is just a phase that you may grow out of? Probably not

4. Is it possible that your heterosexuality stems from a neurotic fear of others of the same sex? ...Well, considering the number of people I know/am friends with/am not afraid of that are the same gender as me, I doubt it...

5. If you have never slept with a person of the same sex, is it possible that all you need is a good gay lover? I have never slept with a person of the opposite sex either!

6. Do your parents know that you are straight? Do your friends and/or roommates know? I'm pretty sure everyone I know is well aware...

7. Why do you insist on flaunting your heterosexuality? Can't you just be who you are and keep it quiet? Um, well...I don't see why not...and I don't flaunt it like some others do, as in, I don't make out in the halls...

8. Why do heterosexuals place so much emphasis on sex? I wouldn't know...I've never had it...

9. Why do heterosexuals feel so compelled to introduce others to their lifestyle? Most people that I know already are hetero, and I don't try to change anyone that isn't, so...

10. A disproportionate majority of child molesters are heterosexual. Do you consider it safe to expose children to heterosexual teachers? *cough cough DECKER* scuse me...

11. Just what do men and women do in bed together? How can they truly know how to please each other, being so anatomically different? I wouldn't know

12. With all the societal support marriage receives, the divorce rate is spiraling. Why are there so few stable relationships between heterosexuals? I've never been married. Can't explain that one

13. Statistics show that lesbians have the lowest of sexually transmitted disease. Is it really safe for a woman to maintain a heterosexual lifestyle and run the risk of disease and pregnancy? There are some women out there that actually want to get pregnant, so for them it's probably better to remain hetero. As for the std question...well, the only thing you can do is go for condoms and be open to your partner about anything you might have that they'd want to know about. Geez, I feel so health-class-y right now.

14. How can you expect to become a whole person if you limit yourself to compulsive, exclusive heterosexuality? You know, I've actually been questioning this myself recently. I mean, isn't America supposed to be open to everything? Aren't we supposed to have an open mind? If we're able to love people of the same and different race or religion, why not people of the same gender too? Yet, as a straight girl, this is so hypocritical of me. It's probably morally right to be attracted to both, but I just...couldn't do that.

15. Considering the menace of overpopulation, how could the human race survive if everyone were heterosexual? You have to have at least some people that are hetero, or at least bi, if you want the human race to continue. I mean, you need the 2 different parts to make a baby, so...

16. Could you trust a heterosexual therapist to be objective? Don't you feel that (s)he might be inclined to influence you in the direction of his/her own orientation? I think everyone is going to try to influence you to see their point of view on anything, no matter what their occupation is.

17. There seem to be very few happy heterosexuals. Techniques have been developed that might enable you change if you really want to. Have you ever considered aversion therapy? I am proud to say that I am a happy heterosexual.

18. Would you want your child to be heterosexual, knowing the problems (s)he would face? If my child was heterosexual, or wasn't heterosexual, I honestly wouldn't care. It's their preference, and I'm not going to change that, ever.

Many thanks to Sharon for the idea for this post!

another side?

2008-01-23T13:14:00.000-08:00

Perhaps people should be themselves instead of trying to conform, which perhaps those conforming people are doing. Because it could be that the conformists are actually NOT being themselves, while the people who aren't like them ARE being themselves. But the conformist peoples are TRYING to be like the rest of the majority, but in doing so they are not being themselves.

It's the opposite from what I said before. So perhaps this makes more sense. I, for one, think it makes more sense. But then the question is, why do people want to be the same? I suppose it's a sociological matter. (I <3 sociology! I will take it next year, because 1. it is interesting and 2. in honor of Nate! Ok you have no idea what I'm talking about. Sorry.)

Yeah.

I don't get it

2008-01-17T12:24:00.000-08:00

Today I was really out of it, I don't know exactly why. I had spaced out at lunch and I wasn't feeling well. So eighth period I visited Liz and Megan in the caf. Liz knew I wasn't feeling well, and so she was rubbing my back. I was leaning on her and Megan, and we were all talking.
One of the two supervision ladies was watching us, and she told us to "stop petting each other!" Only, it wasn't really a "told" it was more of a "IF YOU DON'T STOP BAD THINGS WILL HAPPEN TO YOU" kinda thing. Liz, Megan, and I gave her a kinda WTF look.

At the table next to us, there were 2 kids making out! Yet WE get yelled at for doing NOTHING? I don't get it!
Its not like we were having a mass orgy in the middle of the caf, but the lady was upset because we weren't "12 inches away from each other."

I'm pretty sure its not a law that students have to be 12 inches from each other, but somehow we pissed the lady off enough to have her request this of us. 2 friends innocently helping me cause I didn't feel good get yelled at, while the couple not 5 feet away are sucking face.

Not that it surprises me, this is just the kinda thing I'd expect from such a lady. But still.. such discrimination should not be allowed. "Petting", as she called it, is nothing compared to some of the stuff I've seen go on at Stoga. The only difference was that it was 2 girls, I really have to wonder, if Liz had been a man, if the lady would have said anything.

Title?

2008-01-11T13:54:00.001-08:00

I'm not completely sure if this is consistent with the whole concept of this blog, but I'll put it here anyway.

On Monday, I wore a flat cap to school, as well as a bowtie. I recieved a countless number of stares, mostly from the underclassmen (probably because the upperclassmen are used to high school and are used to seeing people who intentionally look weird). People noticed that I didn't look the way everyone else did, and therefore found my appearance weird and stare-worthy. (I typically do not enjoy being stared at, by the way. But sometimes I don't mind it because it makes me feel like I have some power: the power to make people look at me; and this is helpful if I'm trying to make a point.)

Most people, though striving to be different, do not succeed. (This opinion may differ in other peoples' minds; I don't really find outstanding people very easily, even if they try to be outstanding, because I understand what is different and what is same.) Those who succeed in looking different than the majority have a heck of a time trying to get people not to stare at them. This is because the majority is so closely knit and unoriginal that even small differences make them turn their heads and stare in ignorant incredulity.

When I was 7, 8, or perhaps 9, I was outside in the front yard of my house playing with my sister, and my mother was there too. Two high school or college aged kids walked by, each with bright green hair. Being a small child (and seeing how small children hardly know what non-conformity means) I stared. I asked my mother why people make themselves look weird, and she said something along the lines of "kids think that making themselves look weird is cool. I don't really understand it." I didn't understand it then, either. But now I do.

So if you don't want to conform, and you want to look different than everyone else, you really have to make an effort. Because there are many people who think that they look different from most but who really aren't.

Across the Universe

2008-01-08T16:09:00.001-08:00

Words are flowing out like endless rain into a paper cup...

Okay, so what I really wanted to talk about was a little discussion I had with someone in Latin class today. His favorite movie (along with one of mine) is Across the Universe. He commented on the difference between a girl's idea of the movie and a guy's.

Unfortunately, this view is completely right.

A guy's view of the movie: "I like the way this scene was filmed, and I thought the visual pairing with Strawberry Fields Forever was great, and Jojo was my favorite character..." etc.

A girl's view of the movie: "Like, OMG! Jim Sturgess and Joe Anderson are sooooooo hot!"

Okay, these are generalizations. Unfortunately, a lot of girls did react that way. And, yes, J&J are cute, but come on, the strong point in a movie-especially not Across the Universe-is rarely the looks of the lead (or both lead) men. In fact, I'd say the strong point in Across the Universe is the music, but that's just me.

This leads me into another quite controversial topic lately. The topic of...the much dreaded "L-word."

You know what? I'll just come out and say the word. The topic of looooove.

The reason I make this seemingly random transition is that Ello recently posted on her other blog (http://themarchingbandfreak.blogspot.com/) that she dislikes the fact that books (see her post for specifics) give girls the idea that they can get any guy they want whenever they want him. I mean, I guess in the movie it's more that a guy can get any girl he wants, but still, the point is, you see girls going all gaga over J&J and thinking that he's sooooo hot and crap.

My point is, the idea that a girl can get a gorgeous movie star is partially put into their heads by books suck as Twilight, Gossip Girl, The Clique, etc.

To be honest, I am completely against the idea of a celebrity crush. What's the point of crushing on a celebrity if you don't know how they really are? Okay, so maybe that's just the Messo-ness talking. After all, I'm the girl that likes people solely on personality, and looks mean shit to me. And a celebrity crush is all about the looks, yes?

Don't argue. You know the answer is yes.

Now, love has been a highly debated topic lately. It is my mission to make sure that my view of love is clear. If you can't take corny shit, go away. If you can, stay.

Love is:

Based on a combination of friendship and lust. Without lust, you're just really close friends. And without friendship, you're basically just f*** buddies (censored so I don't offend anyone). I mean, you'll need to trust the person you love, and you can't really trust someone that's not your friend.
Something that everyone needs. Whether it's love between friends, family members, or someone you're in a relationship, you crave some kind of love, whether you want to admit it or not.
Possibly the scariest thing that will happen to you. Come on, even when it's just a crush, you think about him all the time. Take that to the extreme-that's a little piece of love. And while love may be beautiful, I don't want to have a guy on my mind nonstop. Because honestly, that's slightly creepy.
Never-ending. I believe that romantically, the only kind of love is true love. Corny? Extremely. Otherwise, it's really just a crush.
Great to be in. This is the part where Ello debates me. What makes you feel better than someone that only compliments, rarely criticizes (but when they do you know they're right), loves you for who you are and wouldn't change you for the world, helps you out in any times of need, is an amazing source of comfort, and now I'm going to shut up.

I also believe that there's someone for everyone, another corny belief of mine. I do enjoy the corny, in case you cared. If you've had bad luck with love (or what you thought was love) you just have to keep looking...one bad experience doesn't mean they'll all be bad. It just means you had one bad one. Don't be discouraged.

That's the Messo view on love. Debates are encouraged, as always. Meaning, Ello, comment as sarcastically as you please. Glen too.

Mission Statement

2008-01-07T14:13:00.000-08:00

Not so long ago, in a galaxy not so far far away...

It is a period of war on the Main Line. Three rebel girls, striking from inside the enemy, are working on changing the evil inside.

During the war, the three girls are trying to convert other Main Liners to their point of view.

Pursued by the sinister agents of young, preppy main liners, the three girls are now confronting the worst of the worst, blogging to save their town and restore unsluttiness, originality, and cultural awareness to their town...