Evolution Vs. Creationism: Bill Nye

WARNING: What I'm about to write has to do with a pretty controversial issue.
(It makes me wonder how Bill Nye got himself into it). Either way, if you are a strong believer in the bible, religion, and the traditional beliefs associated with many religions, just don't read this.

I will tell you outright that I do not believe in Creationism. Frankly, with how far that science has developed in today's world, "Creationism" cannot be explained by science, and there are just too many signs that point to evolution.

I don't believe that humans were created from dirt, mud, clay, whatever. Scientifically, would that even make sense? In most cases, I think the first part of the bible, Genesis, is often taken too literally. Who's to say that the meanings were not to be taken literally, but to be thought of rhetorically, as an example, or metaphorically?

So when this Bill Nye video came out, I'll admit: I whole-heartedly believed what Bill Nye said.

Let me briefly explain what he spoke of. The title of the video is Bill Nye: Creationism Is Not Appropriate For Children.  Nye spoke about how generally Creationism could not make sense, evolution was most scientifically accurate, and how society needs to evolve along with science. What this meant, was that if an adult believed in Creationism--it shouldn't be preached and engrained into a younger generation's mindset. The people who believe in Creationism can (I'm not saying will) see their world distorted, perhaps. The message was, children are the future of science, among other things. Having them believe in things such as Creationism will only set back scientific discoveries.

Now, while I believed in what Bill Nye was saying, one look at the comments proved to me that not everyone did. Skim through the comments section of the video, and what you'll find are various arguments, various lies, various spamming, and more opinionated people typing their own input.

I'll admit, some of those comments did irk me. Especially the things that were blatantly insulting, stereotypical, and lies. If someone is an Atheist, does that mean that they are any less than someone who is a Christian? If someone is a Hindu, does that mean their beliefs are void? If someone is Jewish or Catholic, and they believe in Creationism, does that mean that they are any less informed?

Well, no. Everyone has their own beliefs. No one knows what exactly happened billions of years ago. We can find stark evidence, but no one can rightly disprove that there's no god, just the same as they can't prove it.

I am not a religious person, but at the same time I am not Atheist. For this reason, I do not condone the belief of Creationism. Every person has a right to believe what she/he will. But that doesn't mean I will believe in it.

I'm with Bill Nye on this one. If we want to grow in the development of science, we have to put aside our religious beliefs. Science is based of off facts; no bias or opinions can cloud it. People close to me, in my family, who have gone on to become scientists, while remaining highly religious, believe in Evolution. While some people think that makes them less of a Christian, does it truly?

Evolution and Creationism are topics that I think will probably always be argued about. Because, honestly, there is no way to zip backwards and see for ourselves what truly happened.

To put it in the words of a Tootsie Pop: The world will never know.

~Banana Win

Teen Angst? Not Exactly.

Sometimes, I think the entire "teenage rebellion" phase is just a hoax. I think too many parents expect teenagers to go through this phase as well--and sometimes, that can just push a teenager to doing just that.

I don't know what it is about those merger years, when we go from that slightly pudgy twelve year old, to the slightly less pudgy thirteen-year old, to the acne-riddled fourteen year old.

But I noticed something very interesting about it. Sometimes, it's not about change. It's about the fact that in that transition from awkward preteen, to even more awkward teenager--sometimes, kids don't change, at least not that much. And it's the fact that they don't change that causes things to happen.

And this is where the parents come in. I think there are parents out there, who just seem to think that a year added to your age consequents extreme growth in maturity. My mother is one of those people.

And the truth? Maturity isn't counted in numbers.

I don't have the best relationship with my parents, either of them. Not going into specifics, my dad isn't really that great of a person, and my mom...well, my mom is just another story. Sure I admire her single-mom efforts. But our personalities differ so much, it doesn't exactly make for joyful family times.

Something must have happened on my fourteenth birthday, because one day my mom went from, "person I can trust with anything," to, "person to avoid talking to at all."

Yes, there used to be a time where I'd have long talks about my days at school, my friends, my friends' friends. Those days are long gone, and might as well be forgotten. They're worth forgetting, anyway. It just seems, like the moment I truly entered teenage-hood, my mom suddenly became critical of everything. Whether it be the sports I played, the instruments I practiced, or the schoolwork I did, everything was soon micro-analyzed. I guess I shouldn't be too surprised--she is a scientist after all.

I'll admit, in that time frame, there was a lot of stress. We were moving for the umpteenth time, my mom was annoyed, and she took it out on me. Did I say anything? Well, no. For once, I kept my mouth shut, and let the woman blame me for all sorts of stupid things; whether it be how the house smelled, to why we got lost on the road.

And I think that was the time I reached a kind of breaking point. Soon everything about me was being analyzed. My performance in school, how often I practiced violin, how I used my time. Every simple conversation turned into an argument, no matter how hard I tried to be civil.

When it came to dinner, and she called me down. I would respond, but she wouldn't hear. What would happen? My mom would start raving about how I need to keep my bedroom door open, stop putting in earphones/ listening to music. And you know what's the killer about that? When that argument took place, guess what? My door was open. And I was quietly writing. Yeah, mom, it's all my fault.

Next came sports; tennis to be exact. And practicing. I love to play, and I would always ask to go practice. Of course, my mom would get irritated with my constant nagging, and let me practice. Then comes the one day when I don't ask. Was there a particular reason I didn't ask? No. I just had forgotten about it. I am only human. And she managed to start another argument. She began to rant about how I need to practice, because she "spends so much money on tennis," and I needed to practice, or else it's a waste. After one day of me forgetting to ask to go practice. Hm.

I had another common argument that ended up always exploding. Driving with a GPS. I was always in charge of it, and though it seems mean, my mom is a complete control freak when it comes to directions. Every few seconds, she'll ask how much longer we need to drive on a road, route-by-route directions, when exactly the next turn will be, what exactly the next turn is, and how many miles/feet it will take to get there. There isn't two minutes when she doesn't ask for a time/ amount of miles. She'd probably be perfect for the movie, "Are We There Yet?". But here's the issue when it comes to this. Picture me, trying to look at the GPS, then trying to relate it to the road in front of us; and trying to see which roads match up. Sometimes, roads can be pretty misleading. So if I don't mention a road, the minute it's coming up at 200 feet, I'm in trouble. Especially because my mom doesn't particularly listen to Ms. GPS Lady.

That's how most of our trips are ruined. Our last trip to the beach, ended up something like this (just to get there).

"I should never let you be in charge of the GPS, you don't pay attention at all. You're supposed to tell me when a road comes up. " Yes, mother, I'm supposed to tell you at exactly what point to turn, reciting when we've come closer a couple feet. Yes, mother, it was all my fault, because obviously talking GPS' aren't helpful at all, especially when they tell you to  turn here. Yes, mother, I'll take all the blame for a turn you didn't take.

No. But see, my mom isn't one to end there, and quite frankly, I'm always one to defend myself. And so I did. But she said some more bullsh*t excuses, which started to grate on my nerves. If she could call me terrible at "giving directions," then hell, I will call her a control freak. She even agreed. She said:

"Exactly, I'm a control freak, so I need someone with patience to handle the GPS, not someone as impatient as you!" Keep in mind the fact, that she is the one who impatiently asks how many miles are left every minute. But my mom is always a hypocrite, so there's no use pointing this out to her.

I'll give my last example, now. And it has to do with math. I had placed into advanced classes for math when I was in the eighth grade, and then was forced to take those advanced classes. While I'm not amazing at math, I'm not bad either, and I never give up. But, when eight grade was over, and summer began, my mom decided that since I "needed help" with math, she would get some math books. (She didn't have the patience to teach me). Of course, I think everyone knows that math books, aren't really that helpful. Or, they aren't as helpful as a true teacher.

I did a couple pages, occasionally. But what drive did I have? Everything was completely out of order in the books. And here's where the momster comes out.

Randomly, and when I mean randomly, I mean randomly, my mom would say something about math, and how I needed to practice. And then she would start with the criticizing again, on how I needed to practice math, and do those math books. Yeah, because it's just so simple to do math with no direction whatsoever. I think it's time to mention that my mom is close to genius at math, while I'm...not so genius. She expects me to understand things immediately. But I don't. And then she'd get mad.

So what to do? Well, I ended up holing myself in my room, trying to avoid her as much as possible. The plan kind of backfired, because she started yelling at me for that, too.

But that's my relationship with my mother. If there's anyone to blame as to why I was depressed while growing into my teenage years, it's her. Will our relationship ever be fixed? Doubtful. I know that as soon as I truly grow into a full-blown adult, she can expect that I won't be calling her that often. Or at all. But, you know, discrepancies.

I've tried time and time again to fix issues with her; time and time again to be civil with her. I've tried to make conversation, tried to tell jokes, tried to talk about my feelings--and learned that that's just a big no-no. It's best to just avoid my mom when it comes to those things. When my mother pushed me away, I changed. I became more sarcastic, more skeptical, and stopped believing in a lot of things.

So maybe I'll never understand anything about that time in my life.  But I do understand this.

Sometimes, a teen is pushed into doing things they don't want to do.

This Is For All You Writers...

So today's post is a bit narrowed down in terms of demographic, I guess.

It's really only for writers, and maybe some readers who want to go to one of these websites to read.

So I think every writer knows just how hard it is to write a novel, edit a story, or figure out just how to go about proofreading.

And then comes along the internet.

There are tons of writing websites, and I've experimented with a bunch of them.With some, I ended up leaving, with others, I am still a member.

But this is a list of websites that you should/shouldn't go to if you're a writer. So you don't have to the whole experimenting business like me!

www.wattpad.com {☆ ☆ ☆ .5 stars}

Okay, this website isn't the BEST out there, but it's decent. I started out on it, as my first writing website. It's definitely a good place to start. If you're just beginning to write, and maybe you're not the best (yet), I'd say to start here. It's rare to get a really harsh "review" or "critique," unless you specifically ask for it. One good thing, is that you have all copyrights--so no copy and pasting will happen. There are lots of features, too, including fans and reading lists.

Some cons include the "popularity" factor, and voting system. Sometimes the books that are at the top, with one million reads, aren't that good. So if you're an excellent writer, if you're storyline is not popular, or romantic, chances are this isn't the site for you. But, if you're just writing for fun, I'd say to give it a visit. Great starter website.

www.authonomy.com {★ 1 star}

This website is a big no-no. If you're familiar with the former website "Inkpop," then you might have heard of this one. While the website is owned by Harper Collins, the best way to describe it, would be a massive slush pile. See, they have a "bookshelf" system. If you can manage to get your book on many others' shelves, you'll go up the "charts." If you make it to the top five, you get your story reviewed by a Harper Collins editor. However, many of the books that make it to the top five...got there because they spammed other people, forums, etc. and made their way to the top. It doesn't have copy and paste, but the system in which you get stories up is a bit annoying.

There aren't many genuine people on that website. Most people might give a half-hearted review, just so that you'd return the favor and put their book on your shelf. Everyone there just wants to get to the top, and there are some serious spam issues. This is definitely not a website I would ever recommend.

www.figment.com {☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ 4 stars}

Ever wondered what happened to inkpop? It merged with Figment. I think this website is actually one of the most helpful writing websites. It also doesn't have copy and paste. While it has flaws, it definitely tops most writing websites. The "Heart-ing" system isn't that great, but the reviews can be really awesome. If you're a serious writer, looking for feedback, chances are, you'll find it here. While you may have to "swap" your story, and review another person's story in return, a lot of times you'll get a really helpful review.

It's not perfect though. The contests (whose winners actually end up being evaluated by real authors) are flawed. You have to earn hearts to get a chance to win. And there is a lot of "heart-swapping" that goes on. A person may just heart a story to get their's hearted in return, which means that they didn't really read/review it. It still needs some work with bookshelves and such, but it's definitely getting there. The forums can be really helpful, whether you're looking for encouragement, critiques, or how to create queries.

www.fictionpress.com {☆ ☆ 2 stars}

Now, I won't deny that there are a lot of good stories on fictionpress. It's almost a little sad that all the good writer's flock to this website. There are serious problems with this website though. Plagiarism. Copy and paste happens a lot, and it is very easy to get your story stolen, if you put it up there. So, I wouldn't recommend joining the site. I also think that the reviews don't really help that much. More often than not, it is just people praising your story; not much feedback involved. It's a very simple website right now, as well. The one plus, is that there is no popularity system; at least not much (a reason why they got 2 stars). They do have a kind of reading list, however. Not bad, but not good at the same time.

Okay, so I don't have a lot of websites, but I do have the most helpful, and worst ones up here.
Hope it helped you hopeful writers!


~Banana Win

Promises, Promises

There are a lot of things that I don't like about society, but if there's one thing which gets me every time;  it's breaking promises.

"Oh, I PROMISE I'll call tonight!" And then no call is received.

"I promise we'll meet up this week!" And then no meet up is planned.

"I promise to come over Saturday for the project!" And then you're stuck alone finishing the project.

I think that gives you an idea. There are different kinds of promises, but I think overall, unless you were blackmailed, or too young/ inebriated/ high to make sense of a promise, promises should be fulfilled. And yes, I said inebriated instead of "drunk."

You don't just say one thing and do another. It's not right.

Remember those pinky promises that we'd all make when we were six? What happened to the sincerity in that?

You can see unfulfilled promises everywhere. From gimmicks on advertisements, to lies from people. When does it stop?

I particularly hate it when there are two sides to a promise.

Example:

Amy and Beth are doing a partner project due in a week. Amy promises to write everything onto the poster and Beth promises to research everything. Wednesday comes around and Amy asks Beth if she finished the research. Beth says she didn't. Come Thursday, Amy asks again, and Beth apologizes and says that she's still not done. Beth then promises to go over to Amy's house to finish the project. Amy waits till eight, calls Beth a couple times, but receives no answer. In the end, Amy is forced to research everything and write everything onto the poster by herself. 

In stories like these, people like Beth get the grade without doing the work. I've been in situations like these, but one time it was taken too far. (This was also the last time I let someone take the advantage.)

I was doing a project with a girl. It was a creative project, in which we had to create a comic strip. We decided that I would draw and she would color and trace. We planned a little bit together, but I thought up most of the comic strip. Then came the day it was due, and my partner hasn't colored anything. I had spent some of my own time coloring, and expected her to at least do so much. But no. In a free period, I saw her and told her to come help me color. She never showed, and I ended up finishing it. And rushing it. In the end, as I ran to my class to hand it in before the day was over, the teacher reminded me to put my name on it.

I did. But I only put my name on it.

When my partner for the project was confronted, I said nothing. And when she asked me about it, I simply said she didn't help me. Which was completely and utterly true. Why should she get any credit if she didn't do any work? She didn't get the grade, either.

Revenge is a dish best served cold...really, really cold.'

But as you can see, I have strong feelings when it comes to promises, or keeping ends of deals.

So the next time you decide to ignore a project, or your partner decides to ignore a project; just remember: you never know how much it'll cost you.

Cue the evil laughter.

~Banana Win

A Case of Overplayed Songs

[A Short Rant]

If you haven't heard of Carly Rae Jepsen's "Call Me Maybe," you are probably a bit too antisocial. Or maybe you're just an old lady with a million cats living in a spooky house, getting your groceries delivered to you, that surfs the internet.

But what do I know?

Anyway, it's not like I have anything against the song. Definitely not my favorite, but I'm not going to mean for the heck of it and pound on the lyrics or the tune. It's just a song. Albeit, a very teen-girl focused song.

The only reason I'm posting about it, is because I'm sick of it. Remember that one song that was played on every radio station, and played five (million) times in a week. No? Well, this song is probably the number one most overplayed song. It's ridiculous.

Example:

Me in the car going to Wal-Mart: *turns the radio on*

"Hey I just met you...and this is crazy!...But here's my number! So call me maybe!"

*reaches Wal-Mart*

Five minutes (and a bag of assorted items) later...

*turns the radio on*

"Hey I just met you...and this is crazy!...But here's my number--"

Me: ARGH!

*changes radio station*

"It's hard to look right...at you baby! But here's my number...So call me--"

Me: *mutters under breath*

*turns radio off*

I then proceed to go home in silence.

See? Isn't this just annoying? I just want to listen to the radio in peace.

And if it's not Carly Rae begging us to call her, then it's Maroon 5 cursing about love--no matter how much I like that song, I don't want to hear it every time I get in the car. Or then again, it could be One Direction calling girls insecure--and out comes the feminist side... Or maybe it'll be Gotye crooning about some person in his past.

But come on, really? Really? Variety is not a crime!

It just seems that whenever a catchy tune is discovered...it will be played...over...and over...and over.

And I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one suffering from a case of overplayed songs... Looks like I'll just have to resort to Pandora. Unless they too have succumbed to this incurable disease.

#rantover

~Banana Win

 

The Grammar Monster

If there is anything that I have a pet peeve for, it's grammar. I must have forgotten about it when I wrote my post on pet peeves, but it's one thing that never fails to annoy me.

And not in the way that you think.

I am a serious stickler for grammar. Yes, I'll let grammar slide by a couple times, and I almost always let it slide in casual emails. But when a person blatantly ignores all rules of punctuation, I get annoyed.

See, I know emails aren't meant to be edited and written all prim and proper. Hell, even I use the most atrocious spellings known to man. But at least I use proper punctuation!

I have a friend who emailed me recently, and I could not understand a word she wrote, because she just couldn't take the two seconds to put a question mark. Is it so hard to take the time to inform your reader whether you wrote a sentence or a question? Yeah, yeah, everyone makes mistakes, but this friend of mine had been on her bad grammar roll for most of the entire email. So I had to say something about it. In the end, it sounded more like a rant in which I asked her not to mock the English language and to use question marks when appropriate.

But oh no. The response was even worse. Up came another "question" that was even more confusing, because a "sentence" was added after it.

It looked like this:

"What do u mean don't mock the English lingo cuz I don't remember doin so????????"

Yup, after I confronted her about her bad grammar, she had to go on and continue using bad grammar. And then add a million unneeded question marks.

I'm pretty sure she meant something like: "What do u mean "don't mock the English language?" [She couldn't even use the right word!] Cuz I don't remember doin so.

See? I wasn't harsh. I didn't change her spelling (aside from lingo to language). Because it wasn't the spelling that bothered me. It was the punctuation. All I wanted her to do, was separate her sentences with a period or two, and put a stupid question mark at the end of a question.

When I got the response to that email, I was just about ready to scream at the world.
The response to my whole explanation on how she didn't use her english properly, and that she just needed to add punctuation marks was this:

"?"

This was me when I saw it: ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME? AFTER I SPEND TWO 

EMAILS EXPLAINING HOW TO USE THE FREAKING SHIFT KEY AND QUESTION MARK KEY, YOU SIMPLY GO "?" WHAT THE FREAKING HELL IS CONFUSING ABOUT PUTTING A SQUIGGLY LINE AND A DOT NEXT TO A QUESTION?
Accompanied by this:

Yeah. Of course I didn't write that to her. I mean, I virtually yelled just a little bit. But how many times can a person take repeated offenses?

I told her once, I told her twice, if I needed to tell her a third time, I wasn't going to play nice.

So I went ape on her. If she doesn't understand why I was annoyed I will explode. 

But getting back to my whole grammar pet peeve, I am lenient. I'm not some crazy psychopath who goes insane whenever he/she sees a sentence with bad grammar. I have bad grammar sometimes, too.
But when it comes to punctuation...I can (and will) go crazy.

So there you have it. One of the things in this world that can make me yell/scream/curse at the sky.

#rantover.

~Banana Win

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