Five things meme, part two

[mari4212]

celtic_sky asked for two.

Five Days Elizabeth Weir Wants to Forget
5. Freshman year of colledge, she had to do an in-class presentation on the causes of WWI. She had been so anxious about speaking in front of the class that she hadn't been able to eat. She fainted two minutes into the discussion of Western Europe's imperialism, in front of four-hundred other students. Not one of her finest moments.

4. The day her father died. Every moment of that day is etched into her mind, down to the fact that her favorite red blouse had been too wrinkled to wear that morning, so she'd had to wear the yellow instead. To this day, she still hates yellow.

3. June twelth, the one summer she'd done Girl Scouts. She'd been shy and awkward and geeky, making her an irresistable target for the other girls in her cabin, and that's the day they moved from ostracism into all out war on her. Looking back, she can understand how the other girls might have felt, but she still can't forgive them for how they hurt the ten-year-old her.

2. On Atlantis, and it was just one of those days where everything is a minor disaster, no one wants to listen, and nothing works properly. She was about ready to borrow Teyla's fighting sticks and start smacking people upside the head until they started behaving like the adults they supposedly were instead of children.

1.The day the Storm hit Atlantis. She never wants to be that helpless again, never wants to see her people cut down in front of her eyes, one of her best friends tortured, a madman holding a gun on her to force her other best friend's hand. She's never been that helpless before, never so unable to do anything to change the situation. She still wakes up screaming at nights from memories of that day and all the things that could have gone even worse.

Five Things Mari Will Never Understand

5. What the point of sports is.

4. Horror movies. I don't get why you'd want to terrify yourself/gross yourself out for fun.

3. Why people purposefully make themselves more miserable than they have to be for no good reason.

2. Why people think that being religious and being interested in science has to conflict.

1. Using religion as an excuse to justify hatred.

Comments

Proof Mari is most certainly a girl

[elvisvf101.livejournal.com]

5. What the point of sports is.

I believe I promised a journal entry on this at some point. I'll work on it as soon as school and commuting stop beating me with a nerf bat.

Re: Proof Mari is most certainly a girl

[mari4212.livejournal.com]

I think part of the problem is that I lack a competative drive. I don't care if others do better or worse than I do, as long as I can do what I need to do. Or, I do care, but only in as much as they might need my help to do it or they are available to help me.

But I'd love to see what your take on sports is.

Re: Proof Mari is most certainly a girl

[hermionesviolin.livejournal.com]

Hey now. I know plenty of sports-oriented girls :P

Re: Proof Mari is most certainly a girl

[elvisvf101.livejournal.com]

I know plenty of sports-oriented girls too. We treat them like one of the guys! ;b back atcha.

In seriousness, yes it is an unfair generalization, but athletic competitiveness tends to be a male trait. Mind you, my two best male friends have no inclination to watch professional sports, but, I call 'em like I sees 'em. More info in my post...after I do homework...grrrrr.....why did I go back to school...

Re: Proof Mari is most certainly a girl

[hermionesviolin.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I figured unspoken was "stereotypically" -- as in "Proof Mari is most certainly a stereotypical girl (at least in some respects)."

Re: Proof Mari is most certainly a girl

[mari4212.livejournal.com]

I tend to fit a lot of the feminine stereotypes, at least those that don't deal with clothes or the stereotype of the 'girly-girl'.

[pikacharma.livejournal.com]

What the point of sports is.

SECONDED! Okay, I can understand why people might enjoy *playing* sports, because sports are (IMHO) a game plus a workout, so if you enjoy playing games and enjoy working out, hey, why not kill two birds with one stone - pastime of choice for the competative adrenaline junkie, so rock on. But why people enjoy *watching* sports? I do not fucking get it. At all. What's the appeal? Why is watching a bunch of sweaty guys throwing around a ball, running in circles, swimming back and forth, etc. so damn enthralling? Nothing against people who *do* enjoy watching it, I just do not understand it!

[mari4212.livejournal.com]

Ranting to the choir.

I mean, I enjoy watching things like gymnastics or ice-skating, where part of the aim is to produce an aesthetically pleasing result.

But watching ordinary sports definitely does not make my top one hundred things to do. I'll clean the house before I'd watch sports.

[seraphtrevs.livejournal.com]

THIRDED LIKE WHOA. Whenever I'm in a situation where I'm forced to watch sports (like at Superbowl parties - why do I go to those? WHY?), I always make up a story to keep myself interested, like they're all gladiators in a post-Apocolyptic future playing for a sadistic overlord and their very lives are at stake OMG!

And what I really don't understand? Why being a fan of sports is normal and healthy, but being a sci-fi fan makes you a kooky nerd. Well, okay, I AM a kooky nerd, but still. : P

5. Using religion as an excuse to justify hatred.

[hermionesviolin.livejournal.com]

Given how vengeful the OT God is oftentimes, I honestly don't find it that difficult to understand. Certainly it gets more problematic when it comes to Christianity (though even then there's the moneychangers in the Temple, "I come not to bring peace but the sword," etc.). The idea that one is Right (esp. when one thinks God is on one's side) is a powerful thing, and most religions include some history wherein God supposedly called them to use force against those who were Wrong.

4 seems the easiest one of all to me: Hearing so much from/about people who claim that religion and science contradict (evolution vs. creation, for example). I've never had any problem reconciling the two, but I can certainly see where people get that idea from.

Oh, and as for 3... I think I read somewhere that fear produces an endorphin/adrenaline rush, so horror movies really can give people a pseudo-high.

Re: 5. Using religion as an excuse to justify hatred.

[mari4212.livejournal.com]

4&5: I've seen enough people do both, but it still does not make sense to me on a fundamental level. I've heard several of the justifications and intellectually I can sort of grasp it, but it's never going to be something I can intuitively grasp. Or really want to understand on that level, aside from the fact that if you know why someone believes something, you know how to frame your discussions with them more easily.