The Ultimate Questionnaire

The Ultimate Questionnaire:

(All questions asked are completely random. Some sites that helped to provide questions were Bzoink and gettoknowu.)

1. What was the last lie you said?

Instead of telling someone I had completely forgotten I had to meet her, I lied and said that the person who was driving me was "running late." In reality, the driver had also completely forgotten.

2. Have you ever cried during a movie?

Yes.

3. Have you ever been in a car accident?

I have been, but I wasn't the driver.

4. Have you ever made a prank phone call?

Twice actually. Both times were when I was ten and with some others. We called Domino's and my mom, but both times we were laughing too much to really stay on the line too long.

5. Do you believe in love at first sight?

No...but I do think that first impressions can influence a person in terms of emotion.

6. Would you ever get a tattoo?

Maybe. But it would be a small one, preferably on my arm somewhere. Oh, and it would have to mean something.

7. If you could see 24 hours into the future, what would you do with this ability?

Um...I would see 24 hours into the future.

8. What technology do you think you will never adopt?

E-book readers. I like books in hand.

9. What is your idea of heaven?

Sleeping on clouds, and eating the best free food ever.

10. What do you believe will last forever?

Time.

11. What would be your personal hell?

Having to go back to the eight grade and reliving every bad day I've had in that grade over and over again, for eternity. 

12. If you had to act your own age, what behavior would you change?

Every single behavior of mine. I act like a ten year old.

13. Have you ever seen a dead body?

Yup. Open-casket funerals suck.

14. Do you have a celebrity crush?

No. I probably never will, either.

15. How many piercings do you have?

Two. One on each ear.

16. Do you make wishes on shooting stars?

I've never seen a shooting star...but if I did, I would.

17. Are you a morning person or a night person?

Night person. The latest I've gone to sleep (ever) was 7:30 A.M. And no, I didn't have jet lag.

18. What is the worst song to get stuck in your head?

Friday, Rebecca Black.

19. What would you want your last words to be?

"Before I die, I just want to tell you--" And then I would die.

20. Have you ever been to the hospital? (Not including birth).

Yeah, once. I was in Italy and had gotten a million (okay, not a million...) mosquito bites. Got a shot right in my behind. Ouch.

21. Have you ever been in a fistfight?

Yup. You won't believe it if I tell you who it was with.

22. Have you ever gotten detention?

Yeah, but they were all for stupid, non-rebel things.

23. Have you ever liked an enemy?

Unfortunately. But that's one story I'll never tell.

24.  Are you a different person now than you were ten years ago?

Yeah. Changed from an introvert to an extrovert. Lots of reasons for that one.

25. Would you ever lie to someone to make them feel good about themselves?

Yeah. Only friends get that kind of treatment, and even that is very rare.

26. If you could have a drink with someone from history, who would it be?

Albert Einstein. Though I probably wouldn't have anything intelligent to say...

27. What is the last thing you lost and then later found?

A sweatshirt. I love my sweatshirts, though. So, yay me!

28. What makes a house a home?

If you love where you are, you'd always want to come back, and you'd cry if you learned that you have to leave: it's a home.

29. Is there such thing as too much chocolate?

NO.

30. What makes you lose hope for humanity?

All the political problems, wars, economical problems, and environmental problems. Basically, everything of importance.

~*~

There you have it! The Ultimate Questionnaire! I hope you could see a bit more as to what kind of person I am, and I hope that some of my answers amused you. I certainly enjoyed answering the questions.

Signing off,

~Banana Win

Facebook, Twitter, Google, & the Internet

[DISCLAIMER: I have nothing against social media sites, social networking, Facebook, Twitter, and anything related to social media.]

I have a cousin who's obsessed with Facebook. When I say obsessed, I mean he is on his laptop for more than half the day, and is on Facebook at least every five minutes, responding to whatever the hell goes on with his friends. That's a serious obsession.

But I think it's fairly typical of every teenager or college student nowadays. It's just the way things are.

Hard to believe that fifteen years ago, "internet" wasn't even in a dictionary. But I suppose now we don't really use paperback dictionaries do we? Google is the first thing that comes to mind.

It's actually quite interesting to see how common phrases such as:

"Why don't you check the dictionary?"

Have changed to:

"Just Google it!"

When society changed to the digital era, it changed for good. Now if you want to learn something, you don't need to get off your butt and haul yourself over to the library. Just type in a few words, click a couple times, and the information is, quite literally at your finger tips.

Simple.

Social networking has changed the way our society works as well. Before, when people would meet up outside, maybe exchange phone numbers, addresses, and maybe send some heartfelt, old-fashioned letters, that was just the way things were. That was normal.

Ask for a hand-written letter now, and you'll get a blank look, a chuckle, a pat on the head and the words, "It's called email."

I'm sure the postal service isn't too happy about that.

But even email is being overridden by social media. Facebook and Twitter have taken over the mainstream. Most people, famous or not, have crossed over to the dark side, and been sucked into the websites.

Of course, for celebrities, social networking provides a way to communicate with fans on a scale and level that could never have been matched years ago. As for the awkward fourteen year old who excitedly gets an account, it usually just leads to a series of things that will be listed and sorted into an easy and manageable way:

1. Internet Drama

We've all heard of this one. The case in which some stupid person tells another stupid person some stupid rumor, starting stupid fights, and causing a storm of crap to rain all over your facebook page. Sounds fun, doesn't it?

2. The Superficial "Friends"

On Twitter and Facebook, it's just how it is. People always want to try and up the number of followers they have, or the number of friends they are. For teenagers, this is often the deciding factor for popularity. Never mind the fact that half the people that "friended" or "followed" you, probably aren't even your friends.

And last, but not least:

3. Cyber Bullying

I refer to this as the "new" way to bully others. The Internet gives pathetic bullies a new way to say mean things without having to say things to people's face. They can troll as much as they want, and hurt people as much as they want. After all, on the Internet, you can be a totally different person.

It's really no wonder that I have avoided social media for so long. Having gone through all the troubles of finding who I really am, and avoiding fakeness as much as possible, I just know that going to one of those troublesome websites will probably only get me into a personal identity crisis.

I know that not everyone who goes on those sites are like that, obviously. Of course I have friends who are all on those sites. Even I have involved myself on small scale social gatherings with my close friends; over the internet. But those are people that I've met. And anyone can be sucked into the superficiality that certain sites offer.

Of course Blogger is considered a type of social networking site. But it's nothing like Facebook or Twitter with the insanity and the crazy. I just don't feel the hype.

But that's just me.

#rantover.

(See what I did there? Typical Twitter move!)

~Banana Win

Bananas! How punny...

My blog is called "The World of Bananas," but I don't talk about bananas. So I must be bananas!

*crickets*

If you haven't guessed what this post is about...

It's about puns! Specifically, bad puns.

I think everyone has encountered a situation in which bad puns just seem utterly hilarious. I make it my goal to make those situations. The art of the pun is, that because it is so terrible, it is irrevocable funny. That's what makes  pun funny. Oftentimes, reactions to puns make them more funny than they actually are.

I've had my fair share of encounters with puns. I remember the days in which my friends and I were extremely cheesy, and spouting the worst puns known to man.

"I had a math teacher who liked to sunbathe. He often got distracted and veered off topic. He was a tan gent."

Or,

"Why do people become bakers? They kneed the dough!"

I don't know what it is about a pun that can make a person want to throw up, or roll over laughing. I usually find amusement in the most rudimentary of things. So I choose option B (rolling over laughing).

Usually, I don't like it when I come across someone who gives what I call "The Snooty Look." What does this look mean?

Definition of The Snooty Look: the look a person gives you, signifying that you are either way below their level of intelligence, or just dirt under their shoes.

I don't think anyone really needs to be given that look, but oftentimes, it is given anyway. If I say a pun, and someone gives me The Snooty Look, I can immediately be warned that: this is a person who does not take kindly to jokes.

Well I don't take kindly to people who don't take kindly to jokes! Phew, that was a mouthful. I honestly think that people do need some sort of sense of humor. I don't think I would be able to go through a day without laughing, and there have been days when things have been pretty downhill.

Yes, puns are the crudest and probably worst of all jokes, but I think that's what gives it the edge of humor. It's already blacklisted. What worse can happen?

You know that overused (understatement) phrase: YOLO. You only live once. Why don't you spend fifty percent of your time laughing? Have some fun? Tell terrible jokes about horses and bars, when you know that horses can't even fit into a bar.

Remember, laughing can't kill you. Okay, maybe it can. If you have heart issues. You know what, I'll talk about that later. *cough*

But remember, puns aren't as bad as society says. (That's a lie.)

But they're still amusing!

So I think that's where I'll end it. Don't be afraid to laugh at puns, YOLO, never give The Snooty Look, and always have a sense of humor. Oh, and don't tell jokes about horses.

~Banana Win

The Dream of My Subconscious

Have you ever just had one of those dreams that you remember so vividly in your head, but you just can't--for the life of you--understand what it means?

A few weeks ago I had probably the oddest dream I've ever had. In it, I was a maid (go figure; stupid subconscious), and I was in a huge, huge palace. The palace was pretty odd, and the kinds of workers in the palace were pretty odd, too. One portion of the palace had long wide tubes, similar to a gate at an airport, except instead of leading to an airplane, it lead to this large dock in which items were shipped (like export/import). It wasn't clear if all the tubes led there or not, however, because some tubes were more winding and curving.

Then to top it off, all the maids had these different codes that they had to follow. Surprisingly, in the dream, the codes pretty much stayed the same, with some occasionally being added. The codes were difficult to understand. I remember the most common one made no sense in real life (though I forget what words they were now).

Anyway, aside from the whole infrastructure of the palace, I was a newbie maid. So, a palace aide had me and a group of newbie maids led to a large, dormitory-like room. There were beds against one side of the wall, but on the other side of the wall, there were these portal-like holes. Each hole looked onto a different place.

So, the palace aide then explained to us that we would have to choose which portal hole we wanted to go into, and that would be the place where we would work. For a dream, this was pretty complex stuff for me. Each of the other girls go into these different portals (some lead to kitchens, etc.). When it came to my turn though, the palace aide just shoved me into a portal that basically lead into a field of tall prairie grass. After this, things got a bit blurry, but when my dream self (is that what it's called?) came out of her (I'm still lost on what exactly a dream self is...) daze, my dream self was elsewhere. I was instead in the castle, in a room with the "prince" of the place I was in.

The prince seemed pretty snotty, and he had the face of someone I pretty much dislike in real life. He used his codes to basically order me around some more. But while he had sent me out on some order, I was intercepted by some other high end, upper person. This person turned out to be the King. He sent even more orders, with even more codes. I returned to the King first, following his orders and codes. By the time I returned to the prince, with his orders, he was sitting there bored.

Oh, and it turns out that I forgot something. Just as he was yelling at me for forgetting something, the King walks in and scolds me. (Yay, more scolding! Sarcasm.) Anyway, I was already confused to begin with, so when the King started yelling, I was even more confused.

And here's the moment where I got more lost than ever. The "prince," funny, I never got his name, ended up offering to tutor me. The King was satisfied with this, and left. And then the prince proceeded to tell me what the orders meant, and actually encouraged me.

Now the way I viewed this dream was kind of weird. I knew what was going on, as I was "the main character" so to speak, but I was also viewing this a bit birds-eye too. So while I was experiencing all these things, I was also not understanding all these things. That makes for a very confusing dream.

Anyway, the next day when I reported for duty, the prince was being nice, and happy and all that junk. And the King wasn't too happy. He had just expected "me" to learn and not for his oh-so-beloved son to be nice to the oh-so-lost maid. Yeah. That resulted in the prince grabbing my arm and running to those aforementioned tubes. It was a full on chase. Why were we running? I'm not exactly sure. Maybe to escape the devil King that was on our tails? Because that makes sense. When we reached the tubes of course, I had no idea what the "prince" wanted me to do.

Turns out, he wanted to slide down the tubes and to wherever the hell either one ended up. And so we jumped in a diagonal tube, shaped much like a large slide, and zipped down. I remember we passed some utterly confused woman carrying some boxes too. And it was on this mini-joyride that I woke up.

I'll admit, that this could make for a pretty interesting story-line, but I just thought I'd share that with you. The most odd things in the dream, was the fact that the prince looked exactly like someone I hate in real life. But then again, the entire dream was odd from start to finish. [I'm still surprised I remember the dream, even though I had it weeks ago.]

I hope I amused you in some way.

But as you can see, subconsciouses can be so odd. Although I have no idea what my subconscious was thinking, it's clear that it was a result of an overactive imagination.

Well, anyway. Enough rambling.

Maybe tonight, you'll have as awkward of dreams as I did.

~Banana Win

The Not So Famous Songs

Sometimes, I just can't agree with the Billboard charts. Some of the songs that are at the top seem so generic. So, I decided to post my top five songs, that aren't so famous. I consider "famous" to mean they've cracked the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100. These songs are a mix of genres, ranging from pop to rap, to a more indie style. But I think all of them deserve their placement. (Placement is in order).

#5. Chasing the Sun by The Wanted

I usually abhor the songs that boy-bands make, because to be honest, most boy-bands only specialize in pop. But, I feel like this song is not just pop, but dance as well. Remember that awkward prom, you went to as teenagers, where you needed a song to get the bravery to dance? This is that song. Of course, it helps that this song is featured in Ice Age 4: Continental Drift, and "Glad You Came" is still stuck in the minds of many. Either way, though it may not be a tear-evoking, deep, meaningful crescendo of music, I'll give it props for getting me to sing along.

#4. Settle Down by No Doubt

No Doubt just has a style that no other band will ever be able to pull off. The whole song is just laid back and smooth, similar to reggae, but different at the same time. And it still has that catchy tune stuck in the middle of it. Like a true band, there aren't only vocals, but you can hear all the instruments. The beat just makes you want to bop along, even if you do look like a lunatic when you do. And of course, the vocals just sound too cool, courtesy of Gwen Stefani. Definitely a top pick. 

#3. One More Night by Maroon 5

A lot of fans don't like the new direction in music that Maroon 5 is going in, but I understand: ten years of the same thing can get tiring. "One More Night" just reminds me of the kind of light reggae and spot on vocals that you just have to sing along too. What first caught my attention was the unique "ooh"-ing that Adam Levine pulls off in the beginning (and through out the song). Though it may sound weird at first, it grows on you--and not in a bad way. It's different from most pop songs because of this. 

#2. Both of Us By B.o.B. featuring Taylor Swift

This song did make a decent hit on the Billboard Hot 100--but I have never heard it, not once on the radio. Unfortunately, no one I know has either. But this song is probably one of those rare gems you find in pop music--where you can find a deeper meaning to a song. And it actually is obvious. B.o.B. uses his usual rap magic here. This time, you can hear the personal lyrics. It delves a bit into society too, which is always a plus to me. Taylor Swift's portion just makes for the icing on the cake. But in total, this is the song you listen to when you need that hope.

#1. The A Team by Ed Sheeran

This song is just absolutely beautiful. I don't understand how Ed Sheeran was able to write something that just makes utter sense, while managing to sound poetic. And the guitar alone is a song in itself. But on the Billboard Hot 100, the song has been hanging out in the "top" nineties. Either way, this song is one of the few that proves to us that music other than pop music is still alive, running, and going strong. It takes real talent to get a song like this, one that you can listen to over and over again without getting tired.

Well there you have it! My Top Five! (Click on links to see videos in new tab; the links are the names of the songs). A bit diverse, considering I had some slow songs, some pop songs, some rap songs, and some dance songs, mixed with pop/reggae. But I tried not to be biased, and picked songs that I thought didn't have so much recognition (because that just takes the fun out of it all). Regardless, those songs were some of the coolest.

Hate it, love it, or care less!

~Banana Win

A Collection of Pet Peeves and Real Time Happenings

There are just certain things about people that can make me want to wring their necks.
Well, not literally.

You see, you know those small things that just get on your nerves? Pet peeves? I have a few.

Okay, maybe not a few.

But I'll just name a few.

#1. Say it, Don't Spray it!

I absolutely hate it when people blab on and on (oftentimes about something I could care less about) and to top it off, what do they do? They spray their spittle all over my face. That isn't enjoyable. You know what makes it worse? When they don't even realize they're like a sprinkler over there with their mouth.

#2. I'd rather not smell you.

I think everyone has encountered someone, at least once in their life, who needs deodorant--and doesn't use it. I have met some of these people. One of them went as far as to say that she doesn't need deodorant, because her "sweat smells nice." In what demented world does sweat have a sweet aroma? No, to me, sweat is sweat, and it is stinky. And say that someone did have odorless sweat? I would love to meet that person. It's a rule teenagers learn from the time they hit puberty: if you want to keep everyone happy, put the deo on.

#3. Drinking from other people's cups.

Okay, now this one might sound a little prissy. It's not like I haven't drank from other people's cups or bottles before. But those were desperate times. And desperate times call for desperate measures. But sometimes there are those people who just slobber all over the top of a bottle, so much that you can see their spit. And then all I can imagine is "oh my good lord, I am just ingesting more and more saliva." Ew. It goes the same with cups. I am a clean freak, and I repeatedly drown cups in water till they smell clean. Let's just pin it on a minor, minor case of OCD.

#4. Having the toilet seat up/down.

So this pet peeve goes two ways. When a guy just leaves the seat up, I get irritated. Is it so much to ask to put the seat back into its proper position? Same with those seat slammers. When you're in a rush, and you need to go, it can get annoying to do all that shifting. Lesson learned.

 #5. People who chew with their mouth open.

This one I am pretty lenient on. I mean, certain things just don't fit right in your mouth. But when it gets to a point where it's beyond disgusting, I put my fork down. (Never use that pun. It's terrible). We're all glad that you're enjoying your food, but we don't need to see tht process.

#6. The Fake Friends

Don't know who I'm talking about? I'm talking about those people who are always "nice" to you. "Nice" in quotations because they act nice, and then say things that have double-bladed meanings. Example: "Aw, you got an A minus on the math test? That's too bad." And that's after that "A minus" was your best grade in the class. Cue the death glares. Or maybe "That dress is really pretty, but did it shrink in the dryer? That's why you have to air-dry those kinds." Now that's a double whammy. Insulting someone's weight and laundry skills! But I think you get my point. I've come across my share of fake friends. Unfortunately, if you're mean to them, you get the same treatment, so I'd best say to keep calm and go with it.

Interlude

The rain just had to interrupt my lovely reminiscing. I would say it were raining cats and dogs, but that would be a lie. All I see are leaves falling everywhere, wind whipping everything, and random attacks at my window, courtesy of the wonderful rain. Not. My window is a blurred mess right now. Anyway, enough rambling about the annoying sprays of water (maybe that could be another pet peeve of mine? random water attacks?) Let's go!

Alright, I have one last pet peeve for all you random readers who can probably care less about what some even more random person has to say.

#7. When someone thinks it's just fine to take your things.

Okay, you may be a little confused here. But I've had family and friends who think that because they are just so close to me (and that doesn't necessarily mean personally--I don't think the term blood is thicker than water applies to me), they can randomly come in and use something of mine. Usually it is something electronic, say a tablet or something. And no, I'm not some uptight rich, snooty patootie person. It was a gift. Moving on. I just hate it when people waltz into my room, take said item, and proceed to use it. Or ask oh so innocently if they can use something of mine. It would just cause some stupid argument if I said no. I guess what my point is, is that I don't like when people touch/ use things of mine, and think it's perfectly fine. Because it's not.

Well there you have it, a few of pet peeves that makes this girl tic. Okay, that was probably my worst pun yet. Oh well. If you didn't notice, I posted a short "article" of sorts about paradoxes, so if you're interested, scroll below. I wouldn't mind a comment or two about what you think of my blog, but it doesn't matter to me either way.

Have fun, drink lots of water, and eat junk!

~Banana Win

Schrödinger's Cat?

I'm going to be posting twice today! And here comes the infinite silence in place of cheers and whooping.
...
But yes! This first post is going to be something a little special. This past week, I created a newsletter, creatively (not) titled "OPINION." It's about what it says. Opinions on various things. But I did throw some fun things in there, such as this next piece that I will share with you.

SCHRÖDINGER'S CAT? Paradoxes have been pondered over for centuries.  From physics to logic, there are some things we just can’t wrap our head around.

Schrödinger’s Cat is just one example of the many paradoxes that plague today’s world.

The situation describes a cat in a steel box. The cat is put inside either with some poisonous gas. In one minute, the poison will either be leaked, or nothing will happen. There is a fifty percent chance of either situation happening. However, we don’t know which outcome will occur.

In the end though, once we open the box, only then will we learn of the cat’s fate.

Here is where the paradox lies. While the cat is in the box, there are two outcomes. Once the box is opened there is only one. So, while the cat is in the box, it will either see the poison being leaked, or it will see nothing. Regardless, however, until the box is opened, we cannot be sure.

Quantum physics wise, it is said that the cat is a sort of equilibrium, in which it is neither dead nor alive. Only when the box is opened does one disposition have to be chosen. Confusing, right?

Of course, there have been many theories about this cat. Some say, there could be a parallel universe, one in which the cat is dead, one in which the cat is alive. Others stick with the previous theory: a state is chosen when the box is opened.

In the end, though, this is one of the biggest paradoxes that still elude us.

THE GRANDFATHER PARADOX

The Grandfather Paradox is a bit easier to understand (as it is not physics); but still is a brain twister nonetheless.

In this paradox, we have to use our imagination a little bit.

A young man travels back in time (of course, we have to imagine that this were possible). When he reaches “the past,” he murders his grandfather. How is it then, he is born in the future to go back and murder his grandfather?

This paradox is all about time. If the young man did manage to kill his grandfather, then how is it his father, and eventually he himself was born? If he were never born, that would mean he would have never travelled back in time, which would mean he would never murder his grandfather. This circles back around to the logic that if his grandfather never died, he still has the young man’s father, who still has the young man who started this mess.

THE TWIN PARADOX

Albert Einstein was the one who thought of this paradox. His idea started out with two identical twins. One of the twins travelled into space (in a spaceship travelling near the speed of light). The other stayed on Earth. The twin that went into space continued travelling at the same speed for a while, and then decided to turn back home. However, when he arrived back, he discovered that his twin had aged significantly more than him.

Here is where the mind twister comes in. Because the twin in space is travelling so fast, time is dilated. Meaning, that for him, time goes slower than for his other twin. Therefore, when he comes home, more time has passed than he has recorded.

So much for being identical.

~*~

So that was my little bit. I hope I interested you (though I seriously doubt that, considering I was talking about quantum mechanics at one point), and even if I didn't, I just proved that I am more of a geek/nerd than anyone first thought.

~ Banana Win