Discovery: Fascinating Phenomena of the Male Mind

November, also known as my favorite month, has flown by rather quickly. Naturally, interesting things have happened since my last post. Previously, I was committed to "winning" NaNoWriMo...that is until I didn't write one day, and then I didn't write the following day, and, of course, a pattern ensued. I have been writing a poem here and there, as well as adding small additions to my novellas I'm working on. I also took a part time job. I never expected to be working in the wonderful world of retail, but hey, it's temporary. Actually, everything is temporary. Dating is temporary, or so I make it so.

I dated a guy for two weeks this month, but I was never exactly interested. In fact, after the first time I met him, I was watching a Sex and The City episode where Carrie goes out with a guy that just isn't her type. She refers to dating him as if she's trying him on like a dress. As I was watching the episode, a light bulb, figuratively, of course, appeared above my head. Well, after a second date, I couldn't take any more so I promptly ended it. Phew. My special friend in Hungary, whom I'm not sure I've mentioned, has proven himself to be quite the animal. He has been exhibiting a complete lack of self-control, as well as possessing no morals whatsoever. As a stereotypical representation of the contemporary man, I have to say I'm kind of, if not completely, disgusted with his behavior. This guy isn't the first Capricorn (yes, I did just make an astrological reference) I've come across. From my observations, they prove to be shitty long-term partners and share similar characteristics that I find to be savage and downright annoying. They have a need for speeding things up, and from the two I've encountered, both contend with an incompatibility between woman and commitment. Honestly though, what's the point in a guy 'buying' when he can get so much for free?

I've figured out my friend's pattern of behavior, so kudos to me, right? Generally, we talk or text or video chat on a daily basis, but every so often, he disappears for a few days. Well, I've done some investigative reporting (I've won an award for this for real) and the results are fascinating. Alright, so there are a little more than four thousand miles, and a decade in age difference, between us, and he's single. Putting that to the side, I've discovered that when he ceases to exist in my reality, he's sleeping around. I asked bluntly to which he confirmed my suspicions. What's so interesting is that we're friends, maybe a little more than your average friend definition, but he disappears every time he has sex with some woman (the last one being old, according to his own words). It seems he experiences some sort of guilt or else he'd be talking to me, after he's finished with whatever woman he's used as a receptacle. We entered into an argument, well, I started it when I told him he uses women. He sees his behavior as a positive where I see it as the objectification and commodification of women. He doesn't care for or about these women--he just uses them. He complains the women he dates are not bright enough, not well-travelled enough, not sophisticated enough, blah blah blah... for him. Of course, I am all of those things (grin to self). He has no desire to know the women, be friends with them, just nothing outside of the sheets, yet he disagrees with my stance. He thinks he's living an authentic life as part of counter culture: not letting rules limit his options and or choices, freedom of sexual expression, etc. Naturally I told him he is the culture of our time, he is the contemporary man promulgating this era of sex with no strings attached. It's casual, he says. There is no such thing as casual, but we're talking about a man, and men, that don't enjoy feeling feelings. I think his argument is bullshit. Absent from his behavior and mindset are morals. He says he has values, but who knows. Seriously, luring a married woman into a potentially compromising situation, just because sex is natural, doesn't speak sainthood to me. Parasitic amoebae are natural too. I think comparing him to a potentially deadly single cell organism is actually a well fitting paradigm for his character. Still, I'm drawn to his charismatic, charming, extroverted personality. Is he a caring, kind, sweet guy? Yes, yes he is. Can he be faithful, committed or loyal? He says so, but he has yet to prove his abilities.

Do you think I'm right (I doubt I'm wrong) about his behavior being stereotypical for a majority of men in our society/culture today? I'm not going to generalize and say all men are like my friend, but I've come in contact with many who share similar traits. I do think many men view women as things to be used, as if a woman is commodity, and I think my friend is trying to spin his behavior in a positive light when in reality, he's as far from being a gentleman.

Most Amazing Essay Written As Part of An Exam

I promised the world, a few posts back, that I would post my Intro to STAC essay when I got it back. Well, I got it back. To give you the idea of the prompt, it's something like this:

"A producer wants to finance a suspense/action/horror film and must choose a concept A or B. Your job is to recommend A or B. Explain why your choice would make a better film. Include a general storyline." I chose A: The world is being overrun by self-propelled, self-directed machines - robots. They are fast, strong and violent. They reproduce by scavenging materials from the world around them and building more versions of themselves."

Here is my essay that is 100% original. DO NOT STEAL IT. Even though, I can totally see why you would want to - because it's awesome...and amazing. 

Think “Aliens” meets “I am Legend” meets “I-Robot.” That’s my pitch for a suspense/action/ terrifying horror film. Robots reproducing by scavenging materials, violently attacking everyday people, going to war against our human armies and eventually taking over the world, because after all, they don’t need sleep and food to keep them alive, only humans do.

            While a non-visual source of terror usually does instill more fear within the audience, we humans still have a great aversion and fear about nonhuman beings taking control over our world. We like to fantasize that aliens would ‘come in peace’ and robots would just be servants. But since the birth of the automaton, robots have been the source of inspiration for suspenseful films, novels and play’s, like Rossum’s Universal Robot’s.

            Although a virus infecting the digital network is really non-visual to the audience, it’s also an abstract image that would need to be represented in some visual way and that just wouldn’t appear as visually frightening in any way that an ultra-strong, vicious, unintelligent ‘mechanical beast’ would appear. This is primarily due to the fact that human fears are related to the unknown and to things that look like us, act like us, but would really prefer to kill off the human race instead of living within our world harmoniously.

            To really give the audience a jolt, a great move for such a film would be to take a rather pessimistic outlook on the situation. Humans love when humans conquer other worldly invaders (think ‘Marvel’s The Avenger’s’) and hate when humans appear to be the inferior race. This is precisely why we have more superhero action films than human’s are the losers films. So, the film would end with the entire human population massacred and heartless, fearless robots living all over Earth. That will surely have the audience leaving the theatre without warm fuzzies, and an intense fear toward beings that mimic some of our more negative qualities, physically and mentally. And it may be thought only subconsciously, but even the ruthless robots that dominate the film do share similarities, mentally, with that of psychologically disturbed human beings.

            By taking a wholly negative outlook at robots multiplying by scavenging, an act humans view as barbaric, and destroying humanity, a suspenseful horror film is born. Nothing is more terrifying and worse than seeing your own kind being destroyed.