We have no idea if what we know as real, is anything of the sort,
As children, what we think of tends to range from the tiniest grievance to things as vast as to what our place in the universe is. Now, this desire to muse and test the fabric of our surroundings tends to cling to the human psych, and as a result theories and stories like that of our entire universe being on a snowflake in another, bigger universe, or how we might simply be some elaborate hologram.
Personally, I found this rather fascinating!
The Idea,
Now consider, what if God is simply is some kind of master programmer, and our solar system is the center of a game he has created to amuse himself in his eternal God-dom. What if, just like in the typical video game, as they cannot go on forever, the universe has a barrier. This is normally seen as a mountain range or a distant horizon that you cannot pass in most games, something that appears, in all senses to go on forever. My question is, could our solar system have this type of barrier? We would never know, as it would, to our senses seems the same as if it went on forever.
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Lifestyle
The Great Christmas Movie Debate
"A Christmas Story" is the star on top of the tree.
8h
757
Mental Floss
One staple of the Christmas season is sitting around the television watching a Christmas movie with family and friends. But of the seemingly hundreds of movies, which one is the star on the tree? Some share stories of Santa to children ("Santa Claus Is Coming to Town"), others want to spread the Christmas joy to adults ("It's a Wonderful Life"), and a select few are made to get laughs ("Elf"). All good movies, but merely ornaments on the Christmas tree of the best movies. What tops the tree is a movie that bridges the gap between these three movies, and makes it a great watch for anyone who chooses to watch it. Enter the timeless Christmas classic, "A Christmas Story." Created in 1983, this movie holds the tradition of capturing both young and old eyes for 24 straight hours on its Christmas Day marathon. It gets the most coverage out of all holiday movies, but the sheer amount of times it's on television does not make it the greatest. Why is it,
then? A Christmas Story does not try to tell the tale of a Christmas miracle or use Christmas magic to move the story. What it does do though is tell the real story of Christmas. It is relatable and brings out the unmatched excitement of children on Christmas in everyone who watches. Every one becomes a child again when they watch "A Christmas Story."
Everyone has experienced the feeling of wanting one thing for Christmas more than anything else in the world. For the young Ralphie Parker, played by Peter Billingsley, this gift is the Red Ryder B.B. gun. No matter how much he is dissuaded by adults, with warnings like “You'll shoot your eye out,” Ralphie wants no business with any other gift. His eyes are fixated on the gun and anything less than that under the Christmas tree would be a disappointment. The way Ralphie feels about the gun is real and relatable. Watching this movie brings out the child in every adult who spent the Decembers of their childhood being extra nice to further entice Santa Claus to bring them the item at the top of their Christmas list. While "A Christmas Story" follows a nine-year-old and his Christmas dreams, everyone who watches struggles along with Ralphie in his quest to get a gun from Santa Claus.
If getting the top item on the Christmas list is the highlight of Christmas for children, getting clothes is the low point. No child wants to get clothes. Ralphie is not the exception. One of the first gifts he opens is a pink fluffy bunny suit from his aunt. The unhappiness is palpable. Under pressure from his mother, Ralphie puts on the bunny suit and smears a half-hearted smile across his face. After given permission to take it off, the nine-year-old sprints like no other up the stairs to put back on his pajamas and resume opening up other gifts. To children, ripping off the gift wrapping and opening the box to see clothes is the ultimate letdown. Kids, like Ralphie, want nothing other than
myriad different toys. "A Christmas Story" perfectly portrays this feeling. Kids watching pray that they do not find clothes under their trees, and their parents can sympathize as they were these kids years ago.
Finally, what makes "A Christmas Story" so great is that it shows that every Christmas cannot be perfect. While Ralphie did end up getting his Red Ryder B.B. gun, that might have been the only thing that went right for the family that day. Mr. Parker loved nothing more than a Christmas turkey. But when his prized possession was eaten by the neighbors’ dogs, all the light is taken from his eyes. He laments that, “The heavenly aroma still hung in the house. But it was gone! All gone! No turkey! No turkey sandwiches! No turkey salad! No turkey gravy! Turkey hash! Turkey a la king! Or gallons of turkey soup! Gone! All gone!” Instead of canceling Christmas, the whole family takes a trip to the local Chinese restaurant for a Christmas duck. This famous scene is what makes "A Christmas Story" so great. It does not try to sell you a perfect Christmas. It shows the reality that while everything may not be perfect, if you are together with your family on Christmas, that is all that matters. After all, family is what the holiday is here for.
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Student Life
15 Thoughts Going Through Your Head Before Finals
Who isn't stressing out over finals right now?
15h
350
StableDiffusion
As this semester wraps up, students can’t help but be stressed about finals. After all, our GPAs depends on these grades! What student isn’t worrying about their finals right now? It’s “goodbye social life, hello library” time from now until the end of finals week.
1. Finals are weeks away, I’m sure I’ll be ready for them when they come.
2. Wait, we only have a week of classes left before finals?
3. When are my finals even?
4. I hope the schedule for finals doesn’t interfere with my Netflix time.
Photo by Jovan Vasiljević on Unsplash
5. Okay, now I’m stressing about finals.
6. When did we learn all this material? I wish I had been paying more attention in class.
7. Oh no, not another group project instead of a final.
8. I’ll just take a “quick” break from studying.
9. Why is that girl watching Netflix in the library right now? Isn’t she worried about her finals?
10. Ugh, I wish I was carefree enough to be watching Netflix in the library right now instead of studying.
11. I wonder what my final class grade would be if I didn’t do well on this final.
12. Is anyone else as stressed out as I am right now?
13. I need another chocolate bar. I wonder if i have enough quarters for the vending machine.
14. I can’t wait for this semester and for finals just to be over already.
15. Ugh, I hope I studied and know everything that I need to.
So as we're all studying (panicking) for finals, I wish you all the best of luck with your upcoming exams! And remember in a few weeks, we'll be back at home without a worry in our mind. The end is in sight.
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Librarian Lavender
It's the most wonderful time of the year! Christmas is one of my personal favorite holidays because of the Christmas traditions my family upholds generation after generation. After talking to a few of my friends at college, I realized that a lot of them don't really have "Christmas traditions" in their family, and I want to help change that. Here's a list of Christmas traditions that my family does, and anyone can incorporate into their family as well!
1. BAKE ALL OF THE COOKIES
Every year since I was a little girl, my mom and I would bake cookies for Santa on Christmas Eve. Here's a link to some awesome cookie recipes!
2. Make Gingerbread houses
This is a personal favorite of mine. My grandmother used to buy the standard Gingerbread kits but we would make our own icing and use our favorite candy as decoration. Of course, I would always end up eating a window or part of the roof off later when she wasn't looking (hehe).
3. Hallmark Ornaments
Okay, so I have to explain this one a little bit. There's a Christmas tree in my house dedicated specifically towards me. The ornaments are from my parents childhood, as well as mine. Every year my mom has bought 3-4 Hallmark Christmas ornaments of my choosing to add to the tree. It's really funny, because you can tell how old I was each year from the type of ornaments I would pick out (let's just say Barbie Princess was a big hit from 2000-2005ish).
Photo by charlesdeluvio on Unsplash
4. Watching Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer
It's my dad's favorite Christmas movie! This 1964 classic has been a hit in the James family for literally over 50 years. Honestly if you haven't seen this movie, I don't know how you could possibly have Christmas.
5. Christmas Eve Family Dinner
After the Christmas service at church, my family always comes over to my house to have a Christmas Eve dinner. We spend this time just enjoying each other, opening one present before Santa comes, and enjoying the true meaning of Christmas.
Photo by krakenimages on Unsplash
Although these traditions may not seem the most original, they mean a lot to me and Christmas wouldn't be the same to me without them. After all, Christmas isn't about how many presents you get or the long break you get from school. Christmas is about celebrating the birth of our Lord, Jesus Christ, and giving back to others. Merry Christmas everyone, and a Happy New Year.!
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Gurl.com
It’s here; that time of year when college students turn into preschoolers again. We cry for our mothers, eat everything in sight, and whine when we don’t get our way. It’s finals, the dreaded time of the semester when we all realize we should have been paying attention in class instead of literally doing anything else but that. Everyone has to take them, and yes, unfortunately, they are inevitable. But just because they are here and inevitable does not mean they’re peaches and cream and full of rainbows. Surviving them is a must, and the following five phases are a reality for all majors from business to art, nursing to history.
Phase One: The “I got this” phase
It’s a few weeks before finals, and you’re the good living life. You say to yourself: “Hey dude, let’s starting studying early and kill finals this semester.” For a few days you think it’s all good, and study a little here and there and are proud of yourself for starting early. Starting early is a great idea, but let’s be real; this stage is short lived.
Phase Two: The “I have time” phase
It’s maybe two weeks before finals and you think to yourself: “Hey dude, it’s two weeks before finals! We have time. Don’t panic. Relax. There’s so much time left!” All of the studying you started before stops, and late night Netflix binges have resumed. Why stress yourself out more than you have to now? Let’s just wait a little longer. It will so be okay.
Phase Three: The uncontrollable sobbing phase
It’s now the last week of classes and it’s hitting you hard. Your professor starts prepping you for the final and it’s like time stops: “What do you mean I have a week before class? WHAT DO YOU MEAN?” The anxiety starts to set in and life gets real, real fast. All those late nights watching Netflix are now catching up with you and while finishing the entire series of "House" in record time is impressive, it won’t get you a 4.0.
Phase Four: The “help me, I've fallen and I can't get up” phase
IT’S HERE. THEY’RE HERE. Late nights in the library become early mornings, and eventually the librarians know your entire life because you never leave that one table in the back and you’ve claimed it as your land. The copious amounts of study guides overwhelm your life, and at one point you start to question of your education is really worth this. But alas, you push through because...
Phase Five: The rejoicing phase
As you sit down to take your last final, you are praying that your brain does not turn to mush halfway through the exam. You scribble your last answer in the blue book and try not to run to the professor’s desk. You almost trip over countless backpacks and the nasty looks being shot at you from the poor souls who are struggling are burning a hole through the back of your head. This is it: the last exam of the year is in your hand, and you drop it on the professor’s desk and mutter “thanks, Satan” and practically skip out of the room. REJOICE! IT’S OVER. Congratulations, you’ve officially made it through finals. Until next year…
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Student Life
How To Prepare For The Library: Finals Edition
10 ways to prepare for finals week—beginning with getting to the library.
15 December
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Photo by Clay Banks on Unsplash
It’s that time of year again when college students live at the library all week, cramming for tests that they should have started studying for last month. Preparing to spend all day at the library takes much consideration and planning. Use these tips to help get you through the week while spending an excessive amount of time in a building that no one wants to be in.
1. Get to the library early. Everyone knows that if you roll up to the library in the late afternoon, there will be no tables available. Wake up early and get there before 10 a.m. This ensures you have all day to study and if you're lucky, you might be able to leave before midnight.
2. Don’t forget your books. Double check to make sure that you aren’t forgetting the books you need to study for your tests. Having to get up and go the library is tough enough, but realizing that you forgot your Biology book at home makes it even worse. Hopefully you either live close or have nice roommates that might bring it to you.
3. Snacks snacks snacks. The best part about finals week is being able to eat any food as a reward for going to the library. Pack snacks that won’t cause everyone to glare at you for the loud crunching noise that you’re making.
Photo by Denny Müller on Unsplash
4. Bring extra note cards. Don’t underestimate the number of notecards you will need because chances are you will use twice the amount of what you expected. Also, if you leave the library to get more, you probably won’t come back.
5. Make sure you have both your laptop charger and phone charger. Considering that you will most likely be there all day, you wouldn’t want to run out of power on any of your electronic devices.
person holding black smartphone on white textile Photo by I'M ZION on Unsplash
6. Go with friends. Make it a roommate outing but make sure they won’t be too distracting.
StableDiffusion
7. Make a schedule. Plan on studying for each subject for a certain amount of time. Switching subjects every so often keeps your brain interested and prevents you from dozing off.
8. Have some kind of motivation. Whether it is a lunch break or thinking about something fun that you are doing over break, keep that motivation in mind to get you through the rough patches of studying.
Photo by Danielle Bailey on Unsplash
9. Coffee. Caffeine will give you the energy you need to get through the next couple of days but be careful with this one—too much coffee may result in you bouncing off the walls and messing around.
Photo by ian dooley on Unsplash
10. Make a playlist. Everyone listens to music while they study. Make a custom "Finals" playlist that will keep you focused and eager to hear the next song.
These 10 tips will help get you through the week while ensuring some sort of motivation. Good luck and keep your head up.
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