Entry 11: Is Appearance that Important?

I was a couple of hours early to class the other day, and none of my usual companions were anywhere near the vicinity (and if they were, they were in class), and thus, I decided to head to the washroom to refresh myself a bit before my class started.
There, I met a girl (couldn't have been a guy, obviously, right?) and we started talking about uni and academics and stuff. She was pretty cool, dressed casually, really pretty and definitely not shy.
It was pretty weird at first because she was so open. She just started to talk randomly and there was no necessity to even do so!
Humans by nature, though they are social animals, have become more introverted here. They do not speak unless the occasion calls for you to be sociable, and even then many people choose not to.
So needless to say, this was definitely out of the ordinary.
After a while of talking about random stuff, a couple of my other friends showed up and after introducing her, we started to talk amongst ourselves. She had overheard me stating that I did not own a dress for the Masquerade Ball that my school was hosting, and after they had left, had inquired about the same.
"I don't like parties," I told her. I couldn't tell her that I was, in fact, 6 Julls already (which is approximately 90 years, Earth time) and that I was too old for all this. "I don't like music that's too loud, and I don't like the convention of merely dancing." 
"We have GOT to change that about you! Let's go dress shopping, I'll make sure you get one! Heck, you can even take my dresses if you want!" was how she replied.
I just smiled politely because I really didn't know how to respond to that.
"I can tell that you don't really put an effort. You could be doing so much with your hair," she continued, referring to my appearance. 
It was true. All I had on was a shirt and a pair of jeans, and my hair was up in a plain ponytail. I don't even apply fake goo on my face in an attempt to look prettier. "I am just too lazy to put in all that effort!" I said. And also too old, I wanted to add.
But this entire conversation got me to wonder if society here is so demanding of a female.
Must a female always adorn her best clothes while going out? Must I always look the best as well? Do I have to put up my hair in different styles and present myself well and really put in that much of an effort every morning even though I don't really have anything important to do on that day?
I know a lot of girls here also have the same idea as I do; not everyone dressed up like they're going someplace important when they come to uni. And yet, there are still others who do dress up really well no matter where they go and what they're doing. I don't quite know if that's important or not yet.
Whatever it is, I really liked her. She was an amazing person to talk to, and our conversation was better than most.
I felt like I could really connect with her and needless to say, that one hour passed by pretty quickly.

I love new friends.

Entry 10: Gloomy Sunday--Music and the Heart

Recently, when I was conversing with one of my more musically attuned friends at uni, she had told me about 'Gloomy Sunday', which was originally a Hungarian song, but which had later been translated into English as well.

It was composed by the otherwise unknown composer, Rezso Seress. The reason why this song gained so much popularity was because hundreds of people had committed suicide right after listening to this song. Well, no, the song is not ill-fated like a lot of people would like to believe. It had been published during The Hungarian Depression, during which time a lot of people were already depressed and suicidal. This song, with all its melancholy melody and lyrics, I suppose, had pushed them over the edge and made them take their own lives.
So the first thing I did was, obviously, listen to it.

Well, I did NOT commit suicide, so it is definitely not a 'cursed' song or whatever.

However, it did leave me in a very unhappy state. I don't know what it is that made this song so sad; was it the needle scratching against the vinyl that made me nostalgic about a person I've never met? Maybe just the mere idea of someone suffering so much?
If you think about it, it's not the lyrics as much as it is the music, and the singer who sings it, that have made it sound so spiritless and depressing.

Why, though? Why does music have the ability to tug our heartstrings so much? I mean, who gave it permission?

I could go on and on like the countless before me who have romanticized music in all its glory, but I will not.
I think just being able to appreciate each music piece as I listen to it is the best form of romanticizing. Stop talking, stop writing, and just listen. Listen to each letter in every word and each note in every line.
That, I think, is the right way of truly appreciating music. Let each one of us just listen and walk away in silence, lost in our thoughts about what a piece means. Sometimes, it does that to you; music leaves you in a meditative state.

Well, no more romanticizing, I swear.

Entry 9: What Occupies Most of Everyone Else's Minds

Warning: The following is going to be vague and weird and maybe you'd be able to relate to it or maybe you'd just want to shut this tab off of your browser. And now:

If it isn't work or entertainment, or health, or monetary concerns, then it's the most basic needs that occupy their minds. Naturally, it would be the most basic need for love. 

I am, mind you, surrounded by teenagers (with all their raging hormones, like I said), so do not be surprised if this topic keeps popping up again and again.

Their vocabulary is not limited when it comes to the ways of expressing the type of affection they have for another person; but the amount of value that they attach to these very words differs from person to person, and thus they always end up conveying a different meaning than they want to. Sometimes these words come off as stronger than what you want them to be, and sometimes, because you use the strongest word you could use SO much, you simply don't know what to say when you actually have to express that same level of affection.

For instance, you do NOT love a person you just met, you merely deem them to be tolerable and/or find pleasure in their personality and way of expression.

You do NOT love a person you have decided to go out on dates with, and share a romantic interest in. What you have, is just that--a romantic interest.

The kind of epic stories and music that depict what love is "really" about, set the standards REALLY high for people who've never been in love and I think that's what the first bummer is for young hearts who yearn for such affection. I'm not saying that it's not possible for people to feel such emotion; it must be, else we wouldn't be able to write about them. Such stories and music should not be able to invoke such emotions, either. But they do, so they must be possible, right?

What is love then?

It's when you understand the person completely and know what they're shortcomings are, and know how rude and/or selfish they can get, but you care about them anyway. It's when you've seen them at their weakest and you start to understand why they do the things that they do, and you still want to be their friend, that you start to love them.*

When you can have intelligent conversations and really silly ones, and engage in productive activities and still do random, fun things with each other, when you really start to see what a person is actually like.

Sometimes, that's all that love is. A really strong friendship.

And that's why you can love your mom, love your dad, love your (best) friend(s) and even love your pets. So therefore, I feel, 'love' should only be used when you really want to convey such strong emotions for someone, and not just when you think that you love them, but when really, you just like them or find comfort in their presence. You might even say you love a person simply because they make you feel good about yourself (which is important in any relationship but not enough to state your undying love; for if this is the case, then it will soon wither and die).

What I'm trying to say is, don't rush into something and then be disheartened when it doesn't work out.

Don't have too many high expectations, because the person you are falling in love with, is just human. They will make mistakes, they will make selfish choices.

And most importantly, ensure that YOUR idea of love is what the other person's idea of love also is.

It's no point if what you think is love is merely a romantic interest for the other.

And, as corny as it sounds, do not be expecting to fall in love.

All advice is free, so take the above if you wish. Just remember however, that I have not been as successful in this field as I might hope. (Really, ask my exes! ...Or don't).

Pain is inevitable and, well, it sucks. If you've ever experienced heart-break because of a romantic interest that you thought you were in love with, then

So I am still obviously in love with all these moving visuals.

Until next time, friends.

*You'd still want to travel across the galaxies to find them. (HINT, HINT; NUDGE, NUDGE) You guys at Mission Control CLEARLY do not love me enough to search harder for me.

Entry 8: What I Do With My Time

So a large part of the activities that I participate in constitute of watching TV shows and engaging in university work.

Is it fun?

Well, sometimes some of my favorite characters get killed off on TV and sometimes I feel like I would get killed off if I did any more uni work, but it goes on, I guess.

I don't understand this ONE thing though. Why do people who are passionate about something, get so ANGRY about it? I mean, it's great that you love a certain kind of (insert appropriate noun) but you don't have to get defensive when someone doesn't like it too. You don't have to force them to like it, either. Not everyone is like this, but some of them are, and that's what fuels more pop-culture "wars" than people would like to admit.

That's the thing; we always look outward when something doesn't go our way. We should start looking inward too. 'What did I do to start this thing in the first place?' and 'What can I learn from this?' should, ideally, be the questions we ask ourselves.

But 'Why ask such questions when dealing with morons and imbeciles?' is the question I keep asking. So well, don't work with me if you won't agree with me. That's all I'm saying. At least I'm admitting to it, unlike you people out there, with your judging eyes.

Well, no, I'm joking. I am actually a pleasure to work with, ask anyone.
(Or don't).

(Aren't these GIFs just lovely? They don't have audio though. They're essentially REALLY short movies. Or like moving pictures. How fascinating!) 

Entry 7: Uni Life

It is good.
It is complicated.

It.
Is.
Dramatic.

The energy, the enthusiasm, the hormones, the bright ideas, the insecurities, the questions.

 It's all so very... tiring.

I (evidently) no longer keep my records of my Human Research here anymore. I keep a log of it all in a safe haven, away from all human hands.

I tried reaching out to you guys again, by the way.
It turns out that the local laws here do not allow me to connect to a satellite communications device from the Burj Khalifa. Something about national security. Frankly, I don't get it. All my RemoteComm can do is send a few beeps to you guys from that pathetic height. I don't know what they're afraid of.

No, I am not going to dissect literature and no, I am not even going to start to TRY to understand their music. I shall not try to understand, I shall try to appreciate. Because Culture is something that people are essentially born into, not something that a few people just create. Culture is years and years of traditions and practices and all of those things can be interpreted differently by different people. Culture is, essentially, an art form.

But does any of it matter much? I have spent so much time here, I feel like I'm one of them. I feel human. I feel like I'm able to connect to the most alien part of myself because of what these people have done to me.

But anyway; my point of this post is this; I shall henceforth make this what it is SUPPOSED to be; a blog. I shall blog about my human activities and my human friends. I have a large enough collection about their behaviors but none of them are all too concrete enough for me to understand how they would react in a given situation. There are simply too many variables for me alone to recreate.

Ah, Nature. How much it loves to complicate things.

Entry 6: Religion and Tolerance

Entry 6

I started browsing The Internet at random today, and I found that one of the most controversial topic here is Religion.
Did I study their religious beliefs immediately to understand it more?
I wanted to. I really did. But there are SO MANY. With SO MUCH CONTENT. And people who follow the same religion TOO seem to have to make up their minds on the finer details of their religious accounts!
So I gave up.
But what I HAVE been able to figure out is this: religions can get so good, that humans feel closer to each other than ever, and yet, it can pull them apart so much, that it can lead to war. Wars between territories and within territories.
In a nutshell, some people like it (to the point of violence), some people oppose it (to the point of violence) and some people question it (to the point of violence). But all religions seem to have the basic rule of inflicting good unto humanity. I really don't get where the violence comes from. I really think that these people just want to fight, for fighting's sake.
And don't THEY love a good fight! As much as they seem to be of higher intelligence, they are still primal in several senses; this being one of them.
Instead of finding common grounds on religious beliefs (which are MANY) they like finding differences, and they stick with those differences like Glaasi when it comes in contact with Blæk.
Humanity has a lot be ashamed about and a lot to celebrate. They choose to ignore the things that shame them and KEEP repeating those things.
Some of these people can get very prejudiced too. A whole group of them can hold a grudge against another group for generations!
They find accepting things that aren't of the usual norm very difficult. Some of them actually welcome a change or a shift in the social order; others, oppose it with a passion (this we have already been through in reagrds of their historical accounts).
The most recent social issue that many find difficult to come in terms with has something to do with sexual orientation.
The younger humans more or less welcome change and are able to embrace it more than the older humans, who have lived by a certain social structure and thus wish to stick to it at all costs.
I don't know what they wish to preserve or hide away.
The truth lays bare for all to see but I guess for the ones who are less flexible-minded (if that's a phrase), it's too much to bear.
But what is truth but a figment of our own understanding, anyway? What is religion, but an attempt to understand the world around us which is otherwise quite tragic and meaningless? And is it right for people to fear, and eventually hate the unknown behind the mask of "religious beliefs"?
That is what they fear, right? The mighty unknown?

Therefore, what we must remember is that every human is an individual and that every human has his/her own thought processes.
Do other humans have a right to judge or disallow another human of exercising his/her freedom?
They keep calling and asking for "freedom" but how are they free if they're always bound by social structures and norms?

This is not to say that we Kalekrits live in utopia where everything's perfect, but humans are still learning and they are still trying to perfect their social systems.


A social issue that they had faced not so long ago was that of differences in skin. The fairer "race" of humans held a superior position over the darker "race". After speeches and protests and wars, they finally decided to celebrate equality.
And now, the same people who were okay with the darker race being given equal rights as themselves, are protesting against humans who are of a different sexual orientation than themselves; just like I said previously, they blame religion to cover up what is just their own fear of the "unknown" or what's different from them.

I say, we never let humans know about our existence. Some will celebrate us perhaps, but most will probably kill us before we even get a chance to explain our purpose.

Entry 5: Economic System(s)

Greetings, Mission Control!

I had promised in my last entry to bring you information on Earth's economic system.

Studying their economic system(s) has only made me uncover another reason why developments in science and infrastructure are slowed down here.

Every territory makes a choice on what kind of economic system they wish to follow; and from what I can see, the countries or territories  that choose a 'free' or 'capitalistic' market are considered to be far more superior than the territories that have adopted other economic systems. However, a capitalistic territory is not protected from economic downfalls. In theory at least, the most safe and the most well-planned system seems to be the socialist system, where the government or the ruling party takes possession of almost all the property. But as all animals, humans have a strong sense of ownership and territorial power.
What they consider theirs is their territory alone, and in this regard, they are quite sensitive. They wish to be the best in every aspect: the smartest, the richest, the most powerful.
What drives them is the want, no, the need to be the most respected, the most approved. Of course, there is nothing wrong with being driven by a motivation to be better than everyone else; it is this drive that has obviously lead them to achieve so much in the recent years.

For the most part, though their economic systems that the territories follow seem to be similar enough.

But getting into the details--the form of currency that they use are notes (mostly made of starch, cotton, linen and small amounts of paper) and small metallic disks which are usually circular. They use these forms of currency for most of their economic transactions. Some other methods of payment include what appears to be a plastic card--easily breakable, but much more convenient I suppose, as this card seems to hold a lot of money in it, without them actually having to carry that many notes or disks (yes, it's electronically monitored. They find simple solutions for life's bigger problems). Again, there are vast differences in the currencies that humans use between territories; the currency, in terms of design and validity varies in EACH and every one of them (see what I mean by "slowing down"?).

Transactions between nations are, of course, a common sight--a necessity, in fact. The amount of money to be transferred between the countries and the value of the product that the money is being exchanged for in terms of the buying country's currency is determined by something called an 'Exchange Rate'. It's a medium of measuring the value of one territory's currency against another's.
It is, however, a very fragile system; the values keep changing. Almost every hour in some cases!

Their economic systems seem to be concrete and very simple in its rules, but as you add more factors and parties to it, it gets complex. It's a perfect example of Sir Kesj's words: "Complex in its simplicity and simple in its complexity."
The number of humans and organizations involved in the economic system is of course, large, and thus laying down more rules or laws in the already existing system can be prove to be a tiresome task and even disastrous in some cases.

Well, that is all for now! I don't want to get into social commentary just yet--I think we'd need my entire Study of Life department to accomplish a task so gargantuan.
So er... send more Glorjaei!!

Entry 4: History, Change and Monotony

Entry 4


Hello again Mission Control!


I had initially tried to grasp as much of history as I could and I tried (in vain) to compile all of it as a single entry but everything's so vast and some parts of it are again, conflicting. Some parts of history are mixed with popular legends and even, what appears to be, bedtime stories! Thus, drawing concrete conclusions from them seem nigh impossible. However, the people's history, for the most part, seems to be concrete and solid enough.
I am sorry to say that I haven't made myself aware of every detail of their history--it all seems so vast as it happens; and all that groupism really doesn't help. At one point, while researching Asia, I didn't know what was real and what wasn't.





It all seems so fascinating, nonetheless.
After reading through whatever I could, I instantly realised that what people were scared of was change. For a species so well-adapted to change, it's the one thing that they absolutely detest. It's astonishing, really--they also seem to hate monotony! Everytime they seem to be politically stable, or politically under the control of a single person for more than an "acceptable" amount of time, they start protesting and waging wars. Similarly, if there was any change brought into the existing political system or even social or economic system, they protested again!


         
   


I don't know what they prefer--change or monotony.
Their political systems is what defines most territories. Some countries (and the loudest ones) choose their leaders; they call this democracy. They don't seem much too happy about the leaders they choose, either. They elect a new one after a set number of years.
It IS something like what we have; except that we also have a Council that has Veto power lest our stately leaders get carried away.
Other countries are ruled over by royal families or royal members, in what looks like dictatorship. Still others, seem to have both! They call this a constitutional monarchy. This seems more like our system--here, the monarch, or the highest member of the royal family alone, has Veto power. In most cases, anyway.


What they've done to themselves for the sake of "advancement" is ironic--while they try to get rid of, (in essence) themselves, for whatever reasons, they only seem to be slowing actual advancements (in science or philosophy) that may have any actual value.
It reminds me of our own Dark Age. When we were driven by our primary instinct of fighting to be the best, when in fact, we, as advanced life forms, were already the best.
What they don't seem to understand is that they've already won against nature; they have proven to be the most capable and most intelligent life forms on Earth. They must realise though, that they will only gain strength in numbers and if they chose to work together. Not against each other.


But I suppose they must go through such times as our own to come to this conclusion.
Humans appear to be slow learners. Our Dark Age had one war; one long war that had left a lasting impression on everyone. These people have had TWO wars! TWO wars when EVERYONE on the planet was involved in some form or the other.


     
   


And yet, they don't stop. And it doesn't look like they will anytime soon, either. They are most likely to start more wars, actually.**
I'm afraid that there is almost a 90% chance that the humans will wipe themselves out in the coming years.


**I've arrived at this conclusion because a lot of defense organisations in several territories seem to be spending a lot of time and energy on new and more destructive weaponry. Weaponry and strategy. Why are they readying themselves for war if they have resolved, on the surface at least, to refrain from it?
Distrust.


These people will be the end of themselves.


I guess I shall try to get a grasp of their economic system next! Only seems logical.


And yes--they're life span really is less that 4.5 Julls. Amazing how little they live!

Entry 3: Schooling, perhaps?

Entry 3


Good day, Mission Control!


I have decided to attend University. 
I have taken the form of an 18 year old human; female of the species, seeing as how I was female previously as a Glörjak too. I suspect that a learning environment would be perfect for interacting with people my avatar's own age and would blanket any suspicions anyone may have about how curious I am about them. If one can't be curious at school, where else can they be curious at?


Humans seem to have three stages of education: primary, secondary and tertiary. University is considered tertiary education in most parts of the Earth. I thus am expecting to interact with a young, but slightly more mature species of the humans.

It seems to be the perfect base for social interaction as I expect a variety of humans from different territories and holding different beliefs to attend along with me.
In the meantime, I am still learning and absorbing as much as I can about human culture and history.
I shall get to you with History as soon as I'm done studying and compiling it!


On another note, regarding my previously unanswered question about groupism in my previous entry, it turns out that humans cannot really choose where they're FROM--they can simply move to a different territory and adapt themselves to living there. Some humans even prefer to change their beliefs and/or rituals if they find another set of beliefs, from their own, to be more convenient.


More soon!

Entry 2: Territories and Diversity

Entry 2


Hello, Mission Control!


It appears as though we were mistaken to think that the most POPULARLY spoken language was the same as the most spoken language; I know it makes no sense right now but let me explain:
It appears as though that the language that is most acceptable to communicate in is English, and not Mandarin. Our data IS correct; the language that is most spoken IS Mandarin, but this is solely because a large and only a single group of people seem to use it. 

Humans who solely speak Mandarin

I know this still seems confusing, but bear with me; you may remember my previous post about how humans, though they all are the same biologically and anatomically, like to group themselves into different groups. Each group seems to have its own set of rules or basic guidelines within which the humans belonging to the group operate. These categories seem to be based on a lot of things---the colour of their exterior shells, for example (though calling it a 'shell' hardly captures it; it is very soft and quite honestly, serves absolutely nil protection from weapons and/or violence) or which territory (they call it a 'Country' or even a 'Kingdom') they're from.

These are just the few of the "races" or "groups" that humans are categorized on;

the colour of their exterior shell.

Every country, kingdom, territory or whatever it is that you choose to call it, again seems to have it's own culture. They almost exclusively speak a certain language, decorate themselves in certain ways and perform rituals (some morose and respectful, others, colourful and loud) that seem to fully make sense only to those belonging to its culture!

The map of the Earth--each of these lines indicate the borders of every territory

The above picture is, of course, merely an art I found on The Internet (or The Great Database, as I like to call it) depicting the various ways in which humans decorate themselves in different territories across the Earth. This picture does not, obviously, cover all the territories of Earth, seeing as how there are 260 territories in total, out of which 6, are 'disputed'.

However, saying that you won't find a particular human belonging to a particular territory, settled and living at a completely different territory, would be very, very wrong. The situation is complicated as of now, but like all even *slightly* advanced life forms, they have documented all of their movements. 

I think.


Or maybe these stories of migration and nomadic living are popular legends passed on from the previous generation to the next, and they all individually CHOOSE where they wish to be from and likewise indulge in those cultures and rituals.


I have, for now, decided to use The Internet to learn as much about human history as possible. I don't know if learning their history would be of much use or not, seeing as how forgetful** these creatures are, and thus theoretically, won't act according to their past actions. But how does a life form adapt itself to think, if it can't remember?
Maybe that's why they've made such little scientific progress; because they simply lack the *individual* TIME to make more discoveries and inventions. They're so busy trying to bring change because they weren't comfortable with the previous change!***
I shall conduct a more thorough study an let you know, Mission Control.


Ah, yes. Mandarin.
Well:
It seems as though a territory, called The Democratic Republic of China, is the most populated; it thus has the most number of humans and they all speak the same language which is Mandarin. However, Mandarin is spoken almost EXCLUSIVELY in China. The language that every human ensures that it knows at least a little of, is English. Even the China Humans have learnt it. Thus, I shall report to you in English.
As a result, I have translated my previous entry to English as well.

I no longer feel edgy about not being able to form a more stable means of communication.
I figure that if you ran a search on any of the files or any sort of Database on Earth, at least ONE of the various results will point to this page. This page, one among trillions. Still, it shouldn't take long to find it.




**I would call them forgetful because everytime they wished for stability, they seem to have forgotten what they did the LAST time something was "stable." See Entry 4.
***See Entry 4.

Entry 1: Greetings, Mission Control!

Entry 1




Greetings, Mission Control!

This is KPL47358 reporting in from the third rock from the Sun, of the solar system on the left arm spiral of Milky Way a.k.a BLM667 Galaxhie. Solar System #JJK7654VANU. I understand that you all at home base want me to report on Planet 'Earth' (that's what the humanoid and most advanced species of all life forms here, call Planet 3. Please do pass on the following information to Dr. Kljorsf: The most advanced life forms, are, as he predicted, humanoid. However, they aren't the only life forms here, as expected. There happen to be a lot of other four-legged movabiles and other non-movabiles).

Human Circulatory Anatomy

A Human and his 4-legged movabile. They domesticate some of the movabiles as in this picture.

But HOW IN ZORNIEK'S NAME AM I SUPPOSED TO CONTACT YOU IF COMMUNICATIONS ARE DOWN?!


You said you wanted me to use Earth radio waves to contact you.
Well, GUESS WHAT. IF Earthlings possessed that sort of technology to radiate signals all the way to our homeland, THEY WOULD HAVE.
All their instruments are pointing the WRONG way!! I would sooner send signals to ~Retd950/ than our own planet. These life forms' attempts to communicate with other "aliens" are both laughable and pretentious. An infant's hobby is what it looks like.
Coming back to commuications; I have opened this page on something called the "Internet." It's like a database that one can access from anywhere (within WiFi network--WIFI network!!), containing everything about anything regarding Earth, including what these humanoids think of Space. Based on how far they've progressed into the field of Space and space travel, I'd say that they'd discover us and our planet in the next 15,000,000 years or so.


If they don't kill themselves first.


For an above averagely advanced species, they sure are confusing.
Every humanoid is different and all of them seem to have different beliefs and different wants.
There are certain groups which strongly oppose the belief of another group of humans, and based on their historical encounters, it is this intolerancy that they bear against each other, and the fight for power, that has resulted in wars, pain and general depression.

The internet is filled with a lot of confusing and conflictng data. I suppose the data conflict because of the people that hold power over such data and the beliefs that such people hold.
Before I start socialising with the humanoids here, I have decided to learn as much from this database as possible.
Humans appear to be highly sociable creatures, and if I must make contact with them, I must have something to talk about without making it too obvious to them that I am, what they would call, alien.


And so, I come to you, with my reports in the most spoken language on Earth, Mandarin.**


And no, I really don't care about how much time you may take to find this webpage (called a blog).


**Now, has been translated to English in the best of my abilities. English doesn't seem to quite capture Mandarin, though. See Entry 2.