Be afraid, be VERY afraid....

      "Only the dead fear nothing, for they have truly nothing to fear". This quote was, as far as I know, made up by me about eight years ago, when some random boy was teasing me about my fear of skeletons; as it turns out, he had many more fears than I did. There are many reasons for fear, and many things that people fear. Many of these things are psycological, inflicted upon us due to some event that has happened in our past.
      Some people fear things which might harm them, usually arachnids and serpents, this is mostly due to exageration by the media. Others fear new things, because they are strange and unknown to them. Still others fear exposing themselves and performing in front of others. Me, my biggest fear, I'd say, is failure. Since as far back as I could remember, my family has emphasized the importance of success; doing well in school, getting into a famous university, getting a high paying job and having a huge house, basically, the typical asian parent's dream. Because of this, I've always strived for success; failure is not an option. And because of this, I get extremely nervous whenever marks come out.
     My other fear, perhaps my only other fear, is of skeletons. This stems from when I was about five. My parents were really into Chinese dramas, and I had the misfortune to watch a few episodes of a certain drama with them. From what I can remember, the drama involved supernatural forces and humans who were transformed into the living dead. Needless to say, those few hours of television scared the living hell (no pun intended) out of me. Although I dare say I've mostly gotten over my fear of skeletons.

Quotes from The Kite Runner

        Finding quotes in my book, The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini, is a simple matter. Finding  important quotes, is just as easy. But taking just three quotes which I think are the most important, however, is quite difficult, as it is quite difficult to judge what is and what isn't important. The following three quotes might not be the most important quotes, but they are quite important nevertheless. The first important quote is found on page twelve; Amir reflects on his and Hassan's infant days and says that "Hassan and I fed from the same breasts. We took our first steps on the same lawn in the same yard. And, under the same roof, we spoke our first words. Mine was Baba. His was Amir. My name". This is a very significant quote as it shows who is most important to these two main characters; this also foreshadows events in the future, because it shows Hassan's devotion to Amir, and Amirs love for his father.
         Another important quote is found on the first page of the story: "it's wrong what they say about the past, I've learned, about how you can bury it. Because the past claws its way out. Looking back now, I realize I have been peeking into that deserted alley for the last twenty-six years". This quote is important because it shows Amirs guilt for what happened to Hassan, and how he just stood there and let it happen. This is also the main reason that drives Amir to go back to Afghanistan to bring Hassan's son to America, the guilt of what happened to Hassan.
        The final quote is found near the end of the book, where Amir says that he "looked down at Sohrab. One corner of his mouth had curled up just so. A smile. Lopsided. Hardly there. But there" (page 391). The smile shows that Amir was starting to make amends for what he has done in the past, and that his conscience is finally starting to clear.

The Future of Language

     I never thought it would come to this, never thought that slangs and colloquialism would actually be an accepted part of formal works of writing. But, alas, I was wrong; they're made their way into our writing, and, worse of all, they've made their way into great works of literature, Shakespeare's works being the most obvious and most discussed. However, it would appear that society has done one better, and implemented abbreviations into such works of literature as well. Although this may not be rock bottom, I truly believe that we can hardly sink any lower.
     Scientists who have analysed our society would agree that society as a whole is becoming less and less intelligent and more and more impatient; I see people on a daily basis who are angered if somebody prevents them from walking up an escalator, or people who don't know the geography of their own country. However, instead of raising the bar and attempting to increase education and teach patience, we're simply dumbing things down and lowering ourselves to their level. I really despise the idea of converting such great works of literature such as Shakespeare into short lines of "textisms" just so those who are impatient or not as well educated. To deface literature as great as Shakespeare's should be a crime; to condense his works is to rob the reader of the beauty and elegance that is his work and to remove all the intricate details and witty puns that Shakespeare has woven into his tapestries.
     Throughout my life there have been numerous events which people have claimed will be the end of the world as we know it, like Y2K, SARS, and the avian flu. However, all of these events either failed to become reality, or failed to bring the world even close to the brink of destruction. I do not believe that the world will end as a result of new strains or viruses or the failing of our technology. In fact, I didn't think the world would end at all. However, I am starting to have doubts; while I know for a fact that Earth will not be destroyed for a long time, I believe that civilization as we know it could very well be deteriorating. A well educated population is one of the keys to a strong and flourishing nation, and right now I'd would say that much of our population is anything but educated, globally as well as nationally. And despite this, we choose not to slow it down and stop it, but instead to speed it up. The Earth is like a fine china store, and we are putting its future in the hands on five year olds.