Why do we have color preferences?

Clothes shopping, car shopping, a good pair of shoes, what to wear today, everyday we are surrounded by choice of color.

Now, I'm not gonna go into the science of why we see certain colors or the difference between color in light and color in objects and how it all works when we see color. Basically the light of the color is bouncing off our eyes and then we see that color. There's an episode about color on the Magic School Bus show and I'm pretty sure you can watch it on YouTube. Never mind you're not a kid if you're not. It's such a good explanation of how it all works.

Back to choice of color.

Why do we choose certain colors? Why do we like certain colors? Why do we have color preferences?

This gets into the psychology of colors. Why do I like blue? Why does my friend like black? Why do some people find certain colors appealing and others don't?

I often think when I choose a color for clothes or for items like a computer mouse, why do I always look for blue? I like blue but why do I like blue?

Why are black cats evil or bad luck?

Hey fam! (always wanted to say that) What's up?

We all know why witches are evil. They are witches. Witches are evil.

But why are black cats evil or bad luck?

Ooooo *ghost voice*

Because I'm a cat lover, every Halloween season (and every time I think of the superstition of black cats crossing your path being bad luck), I've always found it unfair that black cats are singled out from other cats and called evil. I mean, the poor poor widdle kitties! *kitty-cooing voice*

So in honor of Halloween (which is over but so what), let's take a look at WHY black cats are evil.

And I choose you, Wiki-chu! (Pokemon reference)

BUT BEFORE THAT, let's think logically and rationally on our own before relying on Wiki-chu's powers.

Black cats. Why could they be evil or bad luck? Here are my guesses:

1. Because they are black and black is associated with darkness and the unknown.
2. Because a woman who was thought of to be a witch, owned a black cat and because she was the first ever identified witch, it became known to all that black cats are evil, or bad luck.
3. Because shadows are creepy and darkness and associated with demons and possession, and black cats are kinda like shadows, they are then thought of as evil.

Let's see if I'm right at all, shall we?

Disney Family Tree: Mickey and Minnie have...what???

So, ever wonder where all the family of the Disney staple characters are?

Ever notice how we mostly see nephews, uncles, girlfriends of the same species, a few fathers and a few mothers?

Mickey Mouse has nephews and a girlfriend called Minnie Mouse, who he NEVER marries as far as I know.

Let's talk about that! (GMM reference)

So according to Wikipedia, Mickey Mouse has an older sister "Amelia Fieldmouse" or another name is "Felicity Fieldmouse". I've certainly never known about this. Did you guys know? Here's what she looks like.

Which name do you think suits her best?

Coke vs Pepsi: 1 Similarities and Differences

Do you wanna Coke?

*hands Pepsi*

I have never heard, "Do you wanna Pepsi?" The brown bubbly drink (that I don't like) has come to be called a Coke even when it's a Pepsi.

In Japanese supermarkets they sell Pepsi a lot so for some time I had thought, "Coke is an American brand and Pepsi is just the Japanese version of that brand." Which, I know of course it's not :P

But we all know about the Coke vs Pepsi wars between the companies and the customers (you guys!). This will be an article series where I will talk about:

Let's admit it. We Love Disasters.

We Love Disasters.

How could I say, er write, such a thing? It's utterly horrible, terrible, and absolutely inhuman! There is absolutely no way it's true. But think again. Think about it before you click the arrow to get out of this blog. I bet you one-hundred-ish percent that you can relate to this. You can because,

22 "Beauty and the Beast" Questions: What do you think?

Here are some questions about Beauty and the Beast. Some of them I had for a long time, some of them recently since I started practicing singing Disney songs and paid more attention to the lyrics.

1. Where is Belle's mother?

2. In the opening song, Belle sings "Little town, it's a quiet village, everyday like the one before. Little town with the little people waking up to say..." Sometimes when we say "little" we mean it in a "oh how cute" kind of way. But other times we mean it in a "oh, how little! itty bitty hahaha!" kind of condescending way. Which is it?

3. If Belle really grew up in that little town, why does everyone look at her like she is weird? Surely they would've gotten used to her by now. Why is Gaston thinking he would marry her? He knows she's weird and she is sort of an outcast so why should he care? And why now? Why not before? If she truly grew up there, why didn't he make a move on her before?

4. Could it be that Belle is actually from a different town? Because everyone STILL thinks she is weird after ALL THESE YEARS.

5. "Every morning just the same. This is the morning that we came, to this poor provincial town..." This sentence in the opening song, doesn't this show that she is actually from elsewhere???

6. Also she says "There must be more than this provincial life!" This can mean two things: She wants different because she reads books unlike other girls. OR She came from elsewhere so she knows there is more and wants it. She even says it again after Gaston makes a move on her. She's singing again and she says "I want much more than this provincial life!" On top of that, she wants to meet someone out in the wide open somewhere who understands her desire for more.

7. If Belle's father is so excited about the fair,

Are ghosts real? (maybe) Real Ghost Pics Inside!

Exactly 5 years ago I wrote about ghosts in my first ever article for this blog.

Here it is, if you'd like to read it, it's kinda short.

I wanted to sort of...rewrite that article just because it was the first one and I was...you know...a newbie blogger and a lot of the article doesn't make sense.

Apparently ghost sightings are pretty normal and even popular.

Sometimes the footage is good but sometimes you can't tell wha da heck you're supposed to be looking at.

Ghost smashes bottles apparently in this one.

I watched this thing twice but it's so blurry it could've been anything, really. Like a malfunction *raises eyebrow on one side and gives the "you're kidding me, right?" look*

I don't see glasses flying around. Or wine bottles breaking.

When you read the article, the only person that makes actual comments is the licensee Bradbury.

I'm suspicious of you, Bradbury. You sure you didn't make this all up?

He says "we saw bottles flying" but who is this "we"? Bradbury, Bradbury, and Bradbury?

And then the thing about locals...well, of course there are going to be some people who actually see ghosts breaking bottles in this super blurry video footage that isn't creepy AT ALL!

And a ghostly figure dancing in front of cameras? If a person moves fast, he can look blurry. If he is wearing all white, he can look ghostly. If it was Bradbury, he'll know exactly what to do.

And this was also still back in 2014. You can edit videos nicely so that they look creepy and look like "ghost footage".

When you go to Google Search and type "paranormal sightings" there are

What is Memory? (No science, so relax...a little)

What is memory? What are the ingredients for memory?

These are the two questions I want to get to. But like any good researcher, let's take a look at what experts and sort-of experts say. Just a little tiny bit. I don't want to bore you or boar you or pig you or cow-and-chicken you so don't worry. It's just a teeny weeny itty bitty bit.




Experts Say What?? (Miley Cyrus reference)

LET'S ASK THE EXPERTS! :D

Like...the Smithsonian! :D

This is in 2010 so it's not like crystalized new information but it'll do.

Here is a quote that jumped out at me:

Photographs: Do they talk to us? What are photographs and why do we take them?

"Carpe... Carpe... Carpe diem... Seize the day, boys. Make your lives... extraordinary..."

"Dead Poets Society" a classic movie with an iconic actor

 

The photos speak to them. Well, not really obviously but when you look into the eyes of the past, you might feel like the photos are speaking to you.

But why do we feel like that? And what is it about capturing the past or a certain time in the present? To preserve memories? I mean today, today is the Selfie Age. People take selfies ALL THE FRICKIN TIME. And not just to capture that memorable moment but to just take a picture. What is that need? Why? What how who when where why???

Scandals: Yoichi Masuzoe (to which Dr. Phil would say...) UPDATE included

Living in Japan gives me access to stuff you guys outside of Japan might not get to see or hear about.

There's this Governor of Tokyo called Yōichi Masuzoe (Wiki-ed him here) and he recently has been the center of many accusations concerning using government cash to do fun things with his family.

Now, it's actually not unusual for a political guy to be accused of using government money for personal enjoyment. I remember one political guy had to

asking THE question: Why don't dogs come in stripes?

SO CUTE :D
This is a Bengal cat. You're probably wondering why I'm showing you a cat when this post is about dogs. Well then,

Good King Wenceslas ONLY looked out. Nothing else.

So guys, since I started to get lots of views I thought
"OMG! I need to write things you'll be interested in and not the junk I usually write. I need to include more pics and more jokes and more memes and be on top of everything!!! GAHH!!!"
Suddenly blogging became a burden and I don't want that. Blogging has to be fun for me, too. If it's not fun for me, how can you guys enjoy it, right? :)
So, I'm gonna go back to talking about random things that I've wondered about for a while.

I know this is not the right season, but I've wondered, for a long time, "WHO IS HE?"

Him. This guy:

Mickey Mouse is NOT Disney's First Character

Everywhere you go, there he is:

Mickey Sourdough Bread

Mickey Blanket

Mickey Lady Gaga wearing Mickey Glasses

Mickey-shaped Watermelon earning his ears

Someone on Pinterest was creative

Mickey Chairs

 

 This guy created Mickey-shaped Pumpkins

and apparently Mickey himself congratulated him on it

There really doesn't seem to be anything you can't mickey (verb)



And I think this lady will agree.

EVERYWHERE, FRICKIN EVERYTHING OMG :0

But, Mickey Mouse, though very much iconic and a big ol'star,

is...

now get ready...

this is big news...

NOT DISNEY'S FIRST CHARACTER!!!!

Yep, that's right, buddy. Mickey Mouse in all his fame, pssh! He ain't even the first character that Disney created.

But, then,

is it? You say.

Then you think, because I'm letting you guess. Three chances.

Hmmm

Hmmmmmmmmmmmm? I give you the sly look.

Pete?

I laugh and say NOPE!

Well, well then...uh, Minnie Mouse?

NOPE! I laugh again and tell you you only have one last chance.

Uh,uh,uh, idk! I give up. Goofy's old form in The Karnival Kid?

The Karnival Kid is just the first show that Mickey talks but NOPE! It is not Goofy either!


It is...

drumroll please...

BADABADABADABADA BUM! SMASH! CRASH! GONG! BANGGGG!!

...very nice.

And it is...

Extended Thought: How Could Someone Kill Death a.k.a the Grim Reaper?

Assuming that the Grim Reaper is real, which I don't believe he is but based on folktales and such...

What if Death dies?

If the Grim Reaper dies, does he become mortal? Or an angel? Or, what? Will he evaporate?

CAN Death die?

If Death dies, can WE die? Can we EVER die?

In Greek Mythology, or from wherever the Grim Reaper comes from, what would happen to all the stories if Death dies? If he DOES die, will he go to Heaven or Hell or just evaporate?

Let's talk about him, first. Who is the Grim Reaper? Who is Death? What it is he like?

Different Types of Suffering People (Photographs and Hope Included)

When we say "I want to help those who are suffering" we usually seem to mean certain types of people.

War victims

Darfur refugees

The homeless

Homeless family

Those living in slums and other extreme poverty situations

Slums of India

Dense population of Indian slums

Those with life-long illnesses such as cancer or other horrible incurable diseases

Either the pictures were too disturbing to put here or I couldn't find a good one. So, I'll post this. Apparently it's a banner for a facebook page that may or may not exist yet.
Credits for the banner goes to the people who made it on this site CLICK

Those born with bodily deformities that prevent them from doing simple tasks (such as children born with hardly a face in rural villages in third-world countries)

Julianna Wetmore, Age 8 (left), and her sister in 2011. Julianna is known as the girl born without a face. You can find her documentary on YouTube. I'll have to admit her deformities were shocking in the beginning but she is truly a brave and remarkable little girl :)

Here she is in 2015, July 2. To come to this point, she's had over 45 surgeries apparently. 

Orphans

Street children of the Philippeans.
Credit of the photo goes to this blog. CLICK for more photos on iRetouch.

Extreme drug addicts

Credit goes to this deviantart user.

Those with suicidal thoughts or who believe there is no point in living anymore

Don't go to this link. You may get depressed. But I still need to credit the pic.

Extremely obese people who wish to lose weight but can't

I remember this guy. I saw him on a documentary on Youtube. If I have the wrong guy, sorry in advance. But he does look like this extremely obese guy who could not commit to losing wait and eventually died from it. Oh if only he could have seen that life is worth living.
Pinterest is so mean.
Look at the tags! Fat humor funny and LOL? Are you kidding me?! So mean.

People with eating disorders who want to get better but find it hard to do

Those who have fallen into the wrong crowd of the deadly world of gangs, guns, and drugs and cannot leave

theguardian.com/world/2015/jan/03 Gangs in Rio favela

Am I missing anyone?

I don't think so.

And then, there are the other levels of suffering. Say, people who are addicted to something like shopping and go into extreme debt, people who have a traumatic time in their life such as childhood abuse by a parent, people who hoard, people who gamble and go into extreme debt, people who have anger issues or depression, people who have a job in a bad business that doesn't pay well. Or even just your average person can be a sufferer such as when we get sick or get hurt badly or even just a heartbreak.

Anything that is uncomfortable or hurts or causes emotional pain is a suffering.

Surely I'm not saying that all the things above are "just suffering what do we care". I'm saying that yes there are people who's suffering is more higher on the suffering scale then some other people. Say, even day to day stress can be a form of suffering.

When you think about it, just living on this earth is suffering. Whoa, hey, I'm not one of those people who believe dying and going to heaven is better. I'm just stating the facts. In the "Star Trek" series, with Captain Picard (spelling?) apparently no one suffers any more. There is no poverty and all diseases have been cured. But people still suffer on the trips and missions. Suffering can never be eliminated.

Now that I've made you guys all extremely depressed about life, here's some hope.

Even though we may not be able to completely eliminate ALL suffering, we can certainly seek out more effective ways to deal with each suffering situation no matter the level.

On a slightly lighter note, I purpose some medical genius hurry and find the cure for the common cold. That's one less suffering there :P

And yes, though the Internet is pretty convienient, sometimes it's a cause of suffering when you want to look for something specific but can't find it because there is TOO MUCH information on the web. Perhaps Google Search can be a little more...sorted out? Idk, anyway.

To send you guys off with a happy feeling, let me tell you a little something.

I once read this Japanese comic of a bullied girl who one day finds her way into an alternative world where there are only children and they are all fighting against some kind of enemy. She asks one of the girls, "Why do you keep fighting? Why do you keep suffering? Why?" The girl answers,
"To see the sun rise the next day. When I see it, I feel alive and I can push forward again no matter what happens."

I thought that was a really good reason to try to survive through suffering.

Have you guys woken up really early to see the sun rise? I used to when I was little. I'd wake up at 6am and see the sun rising...of course, it depends on the season. It could have been autumn or so. But when you see the sun rising, it makes you feel very fresh and hopeful and ready to go :)

Random Sunrise Wallpaper

Sunrise posted in National Geographic

Dubai Sunrise posted in National Geographic

Sunrise from National Geographic

Taken by Blogger Jessie
Click for more lovely photos by Jessie :)
Lovely picture, Jessie :)

Well, see ya later, alligators! :D

Human Beginnings: What are we doing again?

This might turn into a rant or something... we'll see...

So I checked my views today and it was 1003! OMG

Is that good or bad? Are people actually reading? Maybe linking this to twitter actually helps?

So, human beginnings. Let me get back to the basics of why I think we are here. I triple emphasized that "I" as you can see.

What did we want to do when we evolved into the gangly creatures that we are today?

Probably we wanted to be at the top of the food chain with little effort physically or in size. Because instead of getting larger overtime, we got smarter instead. We decided to use what evolution powers were given to us to grow our brains instead of our bodies. If we went the other way, we'd be giants with itty-bitty brains. I guess it worked out okay for us, eh? :D

What else did we want to do?

What I think about Gay Marriage

More likely, it should be "What I think about Straight Marriage", or "What I think about Marriage (in general)". When you think about it (we're thinking about a lot of stuff!) if the majority of the population were gay, straight marriage will be looked down on. But if the majority were straight, gay marriage will be looked down on.

It's this sense of the minority and this sense of a difference in society that gets us. It's this thing about something that's different that frightens us. Maybe not like we want to go hide under the covers but we are scared. We are scared about this different thing. Even though in reality, it's not different at all.

But in reality, we are all the same human beings. It's not like a cow and a human are trying to get married. There are only two genders in this world. Male and female. And one or the other finds love with one or the other. When did it become that men could only marry women? Who decided that? No one.

Now don't go all BIBLE on me. I'm just stating my opinion. Besides, maybe even Jesus was afraid of people who were different. And I'm Catholic. Don't tell me I don't know what I'm talking about. I know what I'm talking about.

So, let's get back on track.

What I'm saying is that, it's all the same thing, really. Two people fall in love and decide to spend their whole lives together. So, they get married.

Marriage, according to the famous Wikipedia is "a socially or ritually recognized union or legal contract between spouses that establishes rights and obligations between them, between them and their children, and between them and their in-laws" (Wiki: Marriage).

Wikipedia: Marriage link

So, yeah, what is it? Well, basically it's a ritual to tell everyone, "Hey! I'm married!" In that case, why can't the same sex get married? And why does the word "same sex" even exist? How are we to determine they are the "same" sex? And why does "gender" exist? Who decided that we had to have two genders? Don't you think it's too few? I think there should be more genders. It's not fair to the people who weren't born in the genders we cut out of the cookie dough for them. Besides, when you go to the clothes store, you aren't just given two types of jeans to choose from! You're given a whole long rack of different types of jeans that make your body look different. Two gender "choices" is also a strange phrase. We don't choose what gender we are. We are born that way.

LADY GAGA BORN THIS WAY! Oh yeah :D

Why should their be only two genders? It's not fair. I'm a girl. I'm straight. And I think lesbian love is a wonderful beautiful art and gay guys make the best friends.

Anyway, marriage is just a ritual. Just to say "Hey! I'm married!" In that case, why can't ANYBODY get married to ANYBODY? Nothing's wrong with that. New things aren't wrong. Different things aren't wrong. Heck, are iPhones wrong? Huh? Are they? No? Well, they're new. Why shouldn't they be wrong?

Where did Valentine's Day come from?

I thought I should talk about it for all you single people out there (like me).

This is something I wrote for a creative non-fiction class when I went abroad two years ago to Oregon, USA.

"So the original Valentine’s, that, came from Christianity.  Turns out there were two saints, Valentine of Rome and Terni who were both honored on what is now Valentine’s
Day.  The former was a priest and the latter was a bishop, both martyred between AD 270 and 190.

Some people claim there was a third Valentine who was martyred in Africa.  However, it was Valentine of Rome’s head that was preserved in Winchester though nothing is said if he was an important figure or not.

Then, where did all the Valentine’s Day stuff come from?  In Geoffrey Chaucer’s poetry, the depiction of courtly love was seen.  From this poem, people said Valentine’s Day lied on February 14^th and men began to give flowers or greeting cards known as “valentines”.

An excerpt from the “Parlement of Foules” by Chaucer from Wikipedia:

“For this was on seynt Volantynys day
Whan euery bryd comyth there to chese his make.”

(Wikipedia: William S. Clark)

People interpreted “Volantynys day” to be the day Saint Valentine was honored; February 14^th.  However, skeptic people pointed out that the second line, “euery bryd comyth there to chese his make” sounded more like spring time when birds mated rather than in the middle of still cold freezing weather when the bird would likely be fluffing up their feathers instead.  Nonetheless, Valentine’s Day became February 14^th."


Ah, thank you young me for being so formal in a non-fictional piece or writing. But apparently, if we ARE celebrating old Saint Valentine, we are celebrating his DEATH????

What the heck???

Also, people feel lonely on Valentine's Day because of some people way back when misinterpreted Chaucer. Maybe they did. I don't know. But who knew "Volantynys" would be "Valetine's" where they heck did the "a" after the "V" come from. At least "euery" was "every" no doubt. And "make" is supposed to be "mate" I guess so that means that Chaucer and present English had the vowels in common.

Volantynys... maybe Volantines? Or it could be volcanoes for all we know :/

I need some language experts on this case.

Any takers?

So, the point of this post was to say that if you are single, you should be proud of it because that means you aren't being happy on a day when probably someone got their head chopped off.

Say it, I AM PROUD TO BE SINGLE!!! Say it! You, I didn't hear you! Say it louder! Feel good about being independent.

And, always remember to stay awesome :)

See ya later alligators!