Right vs. Left: Can't we just get along?

I have an interesting idea concerning the definition of art. I was listening to a classmate in my English class talk about how he didn't like how the teacher told us we couldn't expect to get perfect in the class because the probability of us meeting all the requirements are pretty slim. He said that he was a math major and that in his courses you either got the equations right or you didn't and it was a lot easier to get perfect on an assignment.

This started bouncing around in my little mind for a while because I still like English regardless of whether or not I get perfect in the assignments. I've always liked art over science as a rule and even Astronomy, which I had to take as a science for my degree, I took because I really just like to sit out at night, look at the stars and dream. I have always been of the mind that there are two clearly distinguishable groups of intelligent people which I identify as right-brained and left-brained. For those who don't know, the right side of the brain is usually associated with creativity and the left side is associated with logic (not being a biology student, I don't claim to know the details but this is my idea.)

Getting back on topic, I believe that these two generalized groups of people can both look at the same piece of art and come up with completely different opinions. The left-brained person might look at the art as a magnificent piece of technical achievement in which the artist was able to use the brush, camera, chisel or whatever to create an artwork that mirrors efforts of past masters to a degree that is awe-inspiring. The right-brained person looks at the same piece and says that he can see the emotion radiating out of the art in an aura that makes him want to swoon and reminds him of past visits to art with similar emotional effects upon the viewer.

Very dramatic I know, but the point is that while a left-brained person thinks of the piece as being technically perfect, the right-brained person is more perceptive to the emotional side of art. He or she can look at a piece and appreciate the qualities that can't be measured with a ruler or any other scale. My classmate was upset by the fact that he was not likely to get a perfect and that is why he is in a math course. Similarly, I am not looking to get a perfect as much as I am interested in exposing myself to incredible literature and drama because it "takes me away"; that's why I'm in English.

As a final note I should mention that I do believe that people can be a mix of the two sides and so I don't mean to say that you are either one or the other. All I am saying is that depending on the ratio that your brain is divided by, you are going to look at the world through slightly different eyes than those of the people around you.

And now for something completely insensitive!

Political correctness be damned! I have a beef with unattractive people.

It's not the fact so much that they are unattractive which is not a shortcoming in and of itself. It has more to do with the fact that I believe they could be attractive if they wanted to. Also I should clarify that I am not necessarily talking about physically ugly people because alot of people who count as overweight, plain-looking, etc. are still happy and great people and I have no quarrel with you.

My beef is with the people who are unattractive in spirit. The ones who spend their lives going from one day to the next avoiding eye contact, being self-centered, walking with their heads down and other such anti-social behaviour. These people make me think of prisoners in the Gulag with the way they either hide away from society or despise it in it's entirety. You don't need a degree in anthropology to spot these people. You can usually spot them after only a few seconds of close examination. They are the people who go from class to class (or day to day in their job) without saying much to anyone and you would never have noticed they were there if you weren't looking for them.

Perhaps the main reason I am upset by their presence is because they remind me of my deep dark past. As I mentioned before, I spent a large part of my life as a bit of a social outcast and when I look at these people, I see myself as I used to be. It took me a lot of effort to climb out of that hole and I could never have done it without the support of good friends; but I had to take the first steps and actually try to make friends. I had to start washing my face, showering regularly, learn social cues, and many of the more subtle nuances that are involved in becoming a outgoing person. Anyone who says "it's easy for you to say" can think again; it took years to learn all the things I needed to know to become a socialite but as they say at AA, the first step is acknowledging that you have a problem.

Memo to Cupid...

Well if I plan to hold any interest in readers I suppose I should keep my topics interesting to my audience. I suppose that something that young adults would be interested in would be relationships with the opposite sex. Well since I'm going into some rather personal territory, I might as well open up with my own story.

I have known all my life that I am a hopeless romantic with particular emphasis on "hopeless". For the greater portion of my life, I remained rather ignorant of the subtle nuances of relationships as I was considered a bit of a social leper for quite a long time. When I got to high school it didn't get much easier but I was able to find a circle of friends who were able to educate me in the rough terrain of adolescence without guiding me by the hand as that was my responsibility. I remained single as I simply didn't see the point in complicating my life further than it was. From what I gathered watching budding relationships as they bloomed and either withered or struggled to survive, I figured that though I never experienced the heights of joy enjoyed by those around me, I was able to take time for myself to savour the little solitary joys as well as those I shared with my friends.

However, in the time that I spent in Alberta coming to grips with adulthood, I finally feel that I have the mature mentality needed to cope with the strains of a loving relationship though I am still not quite ready to support a family which is ultimately the point; in short, I am ready to date. Some may snicker as they read this (yeah I can hear you) but I don't give a fig because as far as I'm concerned, my ideas make sense and if you thought about them, they just might make sense to you too.

Well, for starters...

So this is the first in a series of blogs with the express purpose of enlightening you, the reader, with my opinions and experiences arising from the University life.
In order that you can understand my opinions, you should really learn a little about me and my reasons for coming here in the first place as I believe context is all important. I came here after a two year tour of Alberta trying to establish myself in a career with a two-year degree in Theater Production and wide-eyed innocence found only in those who have never paid for their living accommodations. At the beginning, I was eager, confident and believed that I would get a career for myself before I had a chance to unpack. Two years, three moves and five jobs later, I had a slightly more realistic outlook on my future. I have learned the value of appreciating how young I truly young I still am while acknowledging that I am not getting any younger and with this in mind, I took the money I saved in the high paying jobs of the western boom economy and applied for an English honours degree here with hopes of becoming a teacher.
However, I also realize the folly of over-structured plans and so I am not setting any ideas of a career in stone just yet. Already I have been talking with a professor in a psychology course about some of my ideas about childhood development and I am starting to develop an interest leaning toward counselling more than teaching; but as I am still in my first year, I still have plenty of time to decide on such things.