Debra Baker

   

Devoting this one to the oil paint stains on my bedroom carpet. Yep. It's a rental. I can't have nice things.

    
     Art. It's weird. Barely logical. Unexplainable They say humans are the only animals to make it, yet we train elephants and dogs to do it. We train ourselves too, I've never seen someone pick up a paintbrush without guidance, or write a lyric or a line without having ever listened to the radio or read poetry. So, what sets us apart from them? What primal part of a human being knows art? I like to imagine that we like music because it sounds like a heartbeat. Or a birdsong. We've been programmed to find birdsong relaxing.  If the environment is prime for birds, it's probably prime for us as well. Did you know that birds cannot sing if it's too hot? As the planet warms, what will take it's place? I hope we never forget the sound of a bird call. In a sense, it is music at it's earliest form. Beaten only by the beating of a human heart. 
    
     And why do we love paintings? Is it the thought of the artist toiling and perfecting and creating something on their own accord? Is it the chalkiness? Or the blur of brushstrokes? The ponderous miracle of the illusion of a 3D world on a 2D surface? Or is it the color? We know that blue and green are calming colors. But is it instinct or because they are supposed to be calming. Is it nature or nurture?  When the planet warms and the trees die and rivers warm up, will we desire more green and blue paint? I hope it doesn't run out.
And dance. Oh how beautiful is dance. Why do we find so much joy in shaking our hips to that heartbeat beat and to watch others wave their arms to the vibrato of strings. When the planet warms and crops dry up and animals die and food prices rise, will we be too hungry to jive, too tired to tap, too sad to leap for joy. I hope not.
     Art is weird. Barely logical. Unexplainable. But it is necessary. it's been planted in our blood and it flows through our brains. Art may not make sense, but it is just as driving as sex or food or comfort. The most vital things are often the hardest to understand. Understanding is useless. Art is not.

https://www.change.org/year-in-review/2014?utm_source=action_alert&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=218876&alert_id=cbUonqdWoV_qU54jY%2FDdpuR8Hufy15AUs%2FDCvkzWHVFL1QKwIu6beQ%3D

     This is a short video. Unfortunately, it's not on YouTube so blogger won't support it, but I put in a
screen shot so you know what you're clicking on. The video's an ad for Change.org, but I thought that it touched on some really important things. Change.org is website for online petitions, and it's the biggest of it's kind. Last year, 5,000 petitions made on the site were successful, or one every hour. A 27 year old cancer survivor stopped a hazardous coal plant from being built. Two girls started a movement to prevent female genital mutilation. Journalists were released from prison. Libraries and Bison alike were saved. Businesses from  Coco Cola to Barbie agreed to change they're practices and the NYPD launched a body cam project.  I've seen many people saying that these kinds of sites don't make a difference. This proves that these websites are actually really helpful, that one person can make a difference; that thousands of simple signatures can make a bigger one.

     One of the things that has always annoyed me is people saying that they have nothing to do. (Though I have done this many times.) Being bored is fine. Everybody get's bored, and when there's not enough outside stimulation to keep our brains happy, it can be hard to motivate yourself to get up and do something to un-bore yourself. But please, do not say that you have nothing to do. Half the world is starving and without functioning toilets and sinks, the ice caps are melting, schools suck and like, a lot of other terrible things that could use your help. You live with at least a million other people in a hubbub of different tastes and sights and scents, and, most likely right in front of you, is a magical box with 99.98% of anything you could ever want to know. There is ALWAYS something to do. Not only something to do, but there are always worthwhile, productive, people helping, and exciting things to do. You just have to move your butt. Anyways, if you want something easy and worthwhile to fill your time, go to a petition site. Look for things that you care about. Educate yourself about what's happening in the world. Add your signature to a few causes that catch your attention. You'll be helping to change the world, I promise you it's a good use of your time, and "I was helping to save a starving family in Mongolia," is more likely to get you an extension than "I was whining to my friends on Facebook."

   

     Turns out BBC, everybody's favorite network, has a contract with Netflix; everybody's favorite binge watching platform, that is set to expire soon. On February first, a myriad of favorite shows will be cut from Netflix. Doctor Who, Torchwood, Fawlty Towers, the original House of Cards, Black Mirror, Top Gear and other BBC run shows are all likely to be removed. If you're like me, and panicked thinking that Sherlock would be removed as well, don't worry. A few shows such as Sherlock, Doc Martin and Merlin will stay up. We can all rewatch Benedict Cumberpatch being smarter than everybody else for as long as we want. Or as long as our lives and sanity will allow. Everybody reading this, please cross you fingers that BBC renews it's contract! We're Americans. We have a sense of entitlement; we should be able to kill boredom when and however we want.

Source: http://sourcefed.com/watch-up-many-bbc-shows-to-leave-netflix-by-end-of-month/
               Pictures
               http://www.videomotion-tv.net/sport-xtrem/topgear/tomcat-vs-super-kayak-top-gear-series-8-bbc.html

     Okay, so managing a blog that's being graded by your teacher is slightly harder than I thought. It's a creative assignment, which I was excited about because I usually consider myself a pretty creative person. But my creativity comes in problem solving....maybe. When I'm giving an assignment, or a problem or a set requirement. I figure out how to change it just enough to make it somewhat original. When I'm given a blank slate though, that's a lot harder. Sure you can do anything you want, but, what do you want to do. There's no requirements to hinder you or keep you from making something perfect, so there's not really an excuse to turn in anything less than perfect. I suppose it all comes back to the fear of being wrong. The more I think about it, and my actions, and thoughts, the more I realise how much the fear of being wrong affects me throughout the day. It would be horrible to live without it though. We'd all be running around acting like five year olds. I suppose the embarrassment wouldn't be there since we wouldn't have fear, but it would still be utter chaos. Though, now that I'm thinking about it, would that utter chaos even be a bad thing? Sure it'd be hilarious, but bad? I don't know.

And here is a cheesey inspirational video for you. Always a fan of those.

 Friendly reminder that in 2008 we grew enough to feed 11 billion people, but 45% of child deaths are still caused by malnutirtion. Anyways, you should all watch this video I found on upworthy. It's really short and rather interesting.

     Hello, I've made this blog for my high school English class. I'm actually pretty excited for this assignment, I have at least four blogs on tumblr so but it's mostly mindless reblogging. I like the idea of having place for refined thoughts, where I have some actual motivation to be creative. I've always considered myself an independent thinker, and I'm glad to fave a reason to share these thoughts. Hopefully I can provide some insight of the world, and just maybe, it will be something new.

     I have a million different interests, and I'll try to post about a little bit of everything on this blog. It will basically be a refined 'painted' view of the world through my eyes. Hopefully it's not too lame...