sadly, nanook died from either TB or starvation, depending on who you believe, just 2 years after the film made him a household name [even though his name was really Allakariallak]... The Ginseng Gang by maia Average age, 67 or 8 they amble along, gaits sedate, two by two like Noah’s crowd... singles are, it seems, not quite allowed. What happens to all the other halves left when partners “went south” leaving them bereft? They sure don’t stay out on the open road where none but I’ve always soloed. In RV parks’ and campgrounds’ sites all those I see are at the heights of their careers as living things but wasting the boons that living long brings. Instead of playing pinochle or gin all day long, day out, day in, they could be using all they learned--a lot... and giving back something for what they got. But no, they vegetate, let themselves grow old while all around them, our world grows cold, kids go hungry, wars are fought, blood’s spilled... our “elders” by their own webs, caught--& stilled. Why bother living longer, having more time? There seems to be no reason, no rhyme why no one bothers to share or give just a little of that extra they’re lucky to live. Long ago our elders didn’t rest just ‘cause with longevity they were blest... it didn’t give them the right to quit when wisdom-wise they’re the most fit. The older, the better in knowing what windows to open, what doors to shut, they made life work in rightful ways... right up until their final days. They didn’t go off on vacation trips that only end when the “Reaper” rips away their last chance to do some good... as if they care--as if they would! Retirement means, these seem to think, just time to sit & eat & drink... not a bonus with which they might help our threatened world overcome its plight. How can I get them to change their ways, show them how better they can end their days by paying back some measure of what they were given with Our Mother’s love? They could teach the youngest how to read, help the helpless, plant a seed of knowledge where none might grow... that is, if our elders decided to show that the older they grew... they became that much wiser, too [Dedicated to the elders of earth’s indigenous peoples who do use every drop of life alloted to them.]
Damn, this sure got detracted a lot. Sorry about that. Any further responses by me will be made in the Poetry section. Edit: That was a nice piece, mammamaia. I'll take it you're on my side.
This was going to be my question. I take it, by some standards, I'm not indigenous and never can be. Anywhere. Also, the implication is that I don't use every drop of blood, and indigenous people do. I'm working on it, though! When I die, I want tired blood. I'm going to just have to write more limericks ....
Don't be sorry! It was fun. There was a young poet named Dean As creative as any we've seen He took a stand Like a brave and good man It's amazing he's only nineteen. He told us a story of deer That to my old eyes brought a tear Though I still disagree He writes better than me And for that I now give him a cheer!
I've never had such an honor as having a poem dedicated to me. I honestly don't know how to respond. A simple "thanks" would be too mediocre, and we already know how I feel about that. I'll definitely return the gest.
Don't feel you have to. I just thought we were having a bit of a laugh poking fun at each other. Your story of the deer went a bit further than I thought we were going, and was more serious, so I thought you deserved kudos.
It was inspired by a Bulgarian folkloric tale. I just couldn't help but translate it into poetic verse, seeing as how we had moved to the theme of age vs youth.
Getting back to what we talked earlier about pressures teens feel about their looks. In today's newspaper there was an article by a senior high school girl; she opened up about adults doing nothing to ease the pressure they put on teens in the form of media (Nicki Minaj's fake butt) and products marketed to women/teens such as Bombshell-bra and panties with buttock paddings. The writer felt like whatever she looks like, it's not enough, there will always be someone who'll make you feel inadequete. Unfortunately the article's in Finnish, but I'll link it anyway. I'm quite sure people in the 80s, 70s, 60s, etc. also felt pressure, but I can also imagine it's even harder for a today's kid, especially a girl, whose body's only reason to exist, only function, is to look good in FB pictures, and if it doesn't live up to the expectations (as it rarely does), it's subject to ridicule. On the other hand, when I was in high school, the emo/scene sub-cultures were pretty popular, and it was trendy for the girls and boys be skinny, so if you happened to fit the bill there, girls wouldn't have to worry about push-up-bras and boys didn't have to muscle up. On the other hand, if the clothing and hairstyles appealed to you, but you had a ghetto-butt or muscles, well, again: subject to ridicule (though tbh, emos/scene kids were ridiculed anyway). Sigh. Okay, so there're good aspects to getting older and being an adult, too.
I couldn't agree more. This is not what youth should be; it should be about rebellion, not conformism. When my mother talks to me about the fall of communism and the protests during '89, how students then stood for ideals, not for trends, I can't help but feel a little bit jealous and a little bit angered. And how can one not be furious, when it's a common sight to see a kid in 5th grade already smoking and cursing worse than adults; when you can hardly tell people apart, because they literally dress and style themselves identically. Where the hell is the inspiration to be young? When I was in Romania some days ago, I was told about their revolt against Ceausescu and how countless students payed with their lives to protect freedom and democracy. There's a grave dedicated to them in Bucharest. This is why I value youth more than anything - you will rarely find a passion more scorching than the idealistic, though often naive, heart of a young person. Don't get me wrong, I respect my elders, but I put my faith in my peers.
Kids and adults share a need to confirm, I suppose. So many women have one of those really quite silly-looking Luis Vuitton handbags -- I want one too! So many women walk around in just tights -- I must too! Every morning I bike to work, I see school kids biking to school. Safe to say something like 90 % of the girls ride the exact same bike model, just in diff colors (the Jopo). A few years ago most school girls carried the same basic Marimekko bag model (also in diff basic colors). When I was 13, all my female friends had to have that same Vero Moda jeans model (in hindsight, it was a good thing I only got second-hand clothes). That's how it always goes. Which tale, by the way?
Why must it be so extreme? Rebelling for the sake of rebelling holds no more merit than conforming. Youth is the time that should be spent growing and learning about yourself, becoming the best you you can be. If the thoughts you form on your own lead you to rebel, than, by all means, rebel. If your own thoughts make you like the same dress as somebody else, wear it. Just be true to yourself and a happier adulthood will follow.
Roses are red, Violets are blue; Gun or no gun, you'll never see me riding in a rusty 1987 Ford Econoline I have my standards. /threadjack
If that's all you gathered from what I said, then I must've not expressed myself clearly enough. When I said rebellion, I didn't mean the type of rebellion for the sake of "because it's cool" or "because, whatever", I meant it in the sense of having a cause opposite of the unjust part of the mainstream. I thought I made that explicitly clear when I mentioned the Romanian students - you don't give your life away just for the sake of rebelling. You grow up and learn about yourself all your life, whether you rebel or not, both are not mutually exclusive, and none of this can stop you from being true to yourself. However, you may not be the same 10 years, 20 years or even 60 years from now, you'll constantly be redefining and rediscovering yourself, growing in the process. You'll always be learning, you may even have your foundational beliefs shattered, but youth, that's when you have the time to show the world that you can walk upstream, because when you get older, it gets harder to do that. You suddenly have mouths to feed, other than yours; you have the responsibility to ensure your family's well-being. Nothing bars you from still rebelling even then, though it's sure not gonna be the same. And of course, no one's telling you not wear that dress, just because everyone else wears it, but true identities are born when you challenge the status quo and defy the social structure. This is not about anarchy and destroying conformism, this is about counter weighing its effects, which are inevitable in any kind of social order. To me, children and young people in general represent all that's worthwhile in humanity - innocence, curiosity, passion, idealism and the strong ability to change rigid norms, and if all one thinks about during their upbringing and youthful years is how to become a happy adult, then one destroys the very definition of being young. Take it how you will, these are my two cents.
Usually, Bulgarian fables are named either after the characters present or after the moral of the story. I think, though I'm not quite certain, that it's the latter case here, because I can't remember it having any particular name. The moral of the story is "Не питай старило, питай патило" (rough translation - "Don't ask the elderly, ask the ill-faring" (those who have experienced a problem at hand, not just experienced people in general).
So, what if a young person doesn't care about fighting the man or showing up to school in the same outfit as another? What if they just want to go fishing and have a good time? Is that a youth wasted? Either stance you take, whether fighting rigid norms or falling into the herd, your thoughts are the direct result of someone else's actions. That's why I said to just be true to yourself. It is not a matter of planning a happy adulthood, that is the outcome of an honest (to yourself) life, a continuation. Nobody wants to look in the mirror at fifty and wonder who the fuck they are because they exist as a byproduct of somebody else's ideologies
You again missed my point. Doing what makes you feel happy has nothing to do with anything I said. People should live however they choose to, and it would be anything but a youth wasted if they live the way they truly want. However, all of that changes when you live the way someone else suggests or tells you to, simply because that's the way things are set up. Of course people are influenced by other people, we're social animals after all, it's our thing to pass down ideas and trends through the generations. But it's a youth wasted when that does become who you are; you're no longer true to yourself, you're true to whoever they want you to be. This is the type of mentality I'm opposing - the das man; the excessive conformist; the type of person I meet more often than I'd like. It's not about going fishing like everyone else and being happy, it's about going fishing, because you're trying to make everyone else happy with the "you" they expect you to be. Believe it or not, there are many people who do look in the mirror and wonder who the hell they are, simply because society has pressured them to become someone they don't want to be, or even worse, made them believe that they want to be that someone, which leads me to the notion of "Bill from accounting". Nobody wants to be Bill from accounting (unless you really do enjoy accounting, in which case you can disregard this comment), but somehow people feel it's an inescapable part of reality. Why should it be so? Is that really what most folks who work in crowded offices hoped their happy adulthood would be? Stuffed in a cubicle like a sardine, coming back home with the only wish to have a nice hot bath, a meal, watch some TV and get a good night's sleep. Then what, start all over again tomorrow? Because I personally know such people, far too many than I dare to count. People who were convinced by their peers that they should spend their time getting good grades in school and graduating from university, so they can get a good job and have a normal life. Any deviation from the norm was scared away by the prospect of being poor and miserable. I have a friend of mine whose dream was to become a footballer. He's now gonna be an undergraduate in pharmaceutics. His dream took a permanent backseat, because in his mind, only people with connections managed to make it into professional football, and he was right. I remember when he'd skip classes just so he could practice, and despite his failing grades he was getting really good at what made him happy, but ultimately reality crushed him. He chose that field, because he wanted to have a good bet at getting a paying job. Screw being happy, screw dreams, he wanted to pay his bills, and no one can blame him for that. Ironically, this choice was him being true to himself, though by force of others. He didn't want to disappoint his mother, he didn't want to deal with bad peer pressure, so he just gave in, but is that life, I ask you, or is that mere existence? Where's the dignity in all of it? Sometimes people think that they're being true to themselves, but in reality, they're being true to what others define them to be, whether deliberately or subconsciously, which is why I said that true identities are born when you challenge the way things are, even if it means challenging your very perception of yourself. That is when you realize what part of you is really "you" and what is just a parasite bred out of social pressure. This is what it means to rebel.
I agree with your post completely until the last line. I believe you and I would reach the same destination although different roads would be followed. I do not see societal pressures and norms as a force to oppose; I don't see them as a force at all. I wish people would reach a level of enlightenment that allowed them to ignore the pressure. We would still have people buying the same clothes, though; only it would be out of coincidnce, not peer pressure
Sadly, I don't believe this force, or whatever it may be, can be ignored. It's a fundamental part of society, like the sort of pressure that an elephant would put on a ramp. Some endure, some break, some manage to get that Dumbo off their back, but you can't change physics. It's not a black and white thing, for sure, but it can't be ignored. That's how I see it. Agree to disagree, I suppose.
Unfortunately, for most people the qualities you listed are transient, and, in a sense, not real qualities, but merely passing symptoms of youth. What happens is, most young people will go through "phases," that really just boil down to insecurity. The hemp skirts and picket signs are nothing but desperate attempts at establishing an identity. You can cry about being different or changing the world, but essentially, all you're really doing is getting the teen angst out of your system. Most people are genetically programmed to take the path of least resistance. That's why escalators and elevators are so popular. Our species likes comfort. This is why you will find most people in cubicles or doing accounting, not because they are forced or manipulated, but because it works for them.
Elevetors and escalators aren't cool anymore. Now everyone takes the stairs 'cause that makes you look sporty and active.
