Fear, Hope, etc.

Fear. What is it about it that so fascinates people? There's a word for every fear, from Arachibutyrophobia; the fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of the mouth to the fear of long word; ironically called Hippopotomonstrosesquipped

aliophobia. All emotions; passion, joy, sadness, anger and vengeance atleast seem uniquely human. Yet fear is an emotion that permeates through all creatures. A surprising number of decisions seem to at some basic level have grounding in fear. Even extremely motivated decisions are sometimes beset with the fear of failure. Fear is what makes the M.A.D. (Mutually Assured Destruction) concept so very effective. Fear seems to make any situation worse. The ancients prayed to their gods for fear of divine retribution. The fear of fear is a device that moves forward many a movie. And speaking of movies, one doesn't often pause to think why the gun is never loaded. The gun is pointed to the head and the next thing to happen is not for the gun to go off, but for the (wo)man to slowly wrap the thumb behind the pistol and cock it. Death; formerly staring at you in the face, now stares you right in the eye. That is the power of fear.

And then there's courage. Courage, people say is not the absence of fear but the ability to face it. The primal instincts leave no room for courage. The first instinct is to fear, to stay away, the second is flight, to run and only the third is to fight. Yet courage seems almost the polar opposite of our basic survival instincts.

What motivates this instinct? Is it to break away from that which seemingly ties us to our "animal" roots? To be courageous is to be noble, to be human. It also symbolizes to some extent hope; in the words of the great Architect of the Matrix "The quintessential human emotion; simultaneously the source of your greatest strength and your greatest weakness." It really must be quite some emotion to be described as the quintessentia of humanity, and indeed it is. After all, it is the last thing to come out of Pandora's Box; the metaphorical box that was the cause of all suffering and disease also contained hope.

Nobody embodied hope as much as did Robert Krueger, a man I met while on my way to India from GYLC. Flying to Canada on an emergency Visa, he was imprisoned for eight months in Nigeria when someone stole his identity. A millionaire, he was forced to undergo brutal treatment at the hands of the authorities, yet he lost not hope and was eventually rescued.

Indeed, it is as much a strength as it is a weakness. It's what keeps people going when all seems lost. It's also why people risk so much in their attempt to gain something, when they know they could lose everything.

All other emotions seem to follow; love, courage, ambition and happiness, and it seems to answer why hope is so essential. It's a key to the other emotions; including happiness. If we never hoped and treated everything as mere fact, then none of the other emotions would exist. And if happiness is the reason to live, then we couldn't afford to lose emotion. After all, it isn't possible to feel happy without feeling anything at all. Is it?

The best of Sweeney Todd

Wanna buy a bottle misses?

Sweeney Todd:
What is this?

Mrs. Lovett:
What is this?

Sweeney Todd:
Smells like piss

Mrs. Lovett:
Smells like, ew!

Sweeney Todd:(said with Lovett)
What is this? This is piss. piss with ink

Mrs. Lovett: (said with Sweeney)
I wouldn't touch it if i was you, dear

There's a whole in the world like a great black pit
and the vermin of the world inhabit it
and its morals aren't worth what a pin can spit
and it goes by the name of London.
At the top of the hole sit the previlaged few
Making mock of the vermin in the lonely zoo
turning beauty to filth and greed...
I too have sailed the world and seen its wonders,
for the cruelty of men is as wonderous as Peru
but there's no place like London!

Now we all deserve to die
Even you Mrs. Lovett...even I
Because the lives of the wicked should be made brief
For the rest of us death will be a relief
We all deserve to die.

No one's gonna hurt you,
No one's gonna dare.
Others can desert you,
Not to worry, whistle, I'll be there.

There's a hole in the world like a great black pit
and it's filled with people who are filled with shit!
And the vermin of the world inhabit it!

I will have vengenance.
I will have salvation.

AT LAST! MY RIGHT ARM IS COMPLETE AGAIN!

Please visit the page, rate it and comment on it

Hey all. I am featured on the following page: http://www.globalyouth.net/science-and-technology/avinash-chandrashekar.html
It would be really nice if you could comment on it (on that page and here). And tell your friends about it by giving them the following snipped URL
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Global Youth Awards

How polite rejections are!

Dear Avinash,

The Admissions Committee has completed its review of your application, and I am so sorry to tell you that we are unable to offer you admission to MIT.

Please understand that this is in no way a judgment of you as a student or as a person, since our decision has more to do with the applicant pool than anything else - most of our applicants are not admitted simply because we do not have enough space in our entering class. This year we had almost 13,500 candidates for fewer than 1,600 offers of admission, from which will come our 1,000 freshmen. Since all of our decisions are made at one time and all available spaces have been committed, all decisions are final.

I am very sorry to bring you this disappointing news, and I wish you the very best as you continue with your education.

Sincerely,

Stuart Schmill
Interim Director of Admissions

I replied, so I reposted

Just for fun people, dunt take it too seriously! Leave a comment if you want!


1. Who are you?
2. Are we friends?
3. When and how did we meet?
4. Do you have a crush on me?
5. Give me a nickname and explain why you picked it.
6. Describe me in one word.
7. What was your first impression?
8. Do you still think that way about me now?
9. What reminds you of me?
10. If you could give me anything what would it be?
11. How well do you know me?
12. When's the last time you saw me?
13. Ever wanted to tell me something but couldn't?
14. Are you going to post this in your notes and see what I say about you?

The gun is never loaded

Ever wondered why the gun is never loaded? Have you thought about that one moment where the gun is pointed to the head. The next thing to happen is not for the gun to go off, but the pistol to be cocked. The (wo)man with the gun puts his thumb across the back of the revolver, and slowly cocks it. Ever wondered why?

Valentine's Day

So today is Valentine's Day, and I'm not going to wish you, now because I am a spoilsport or I don't have a Valentine, I couldn't care less especially with my finals round the corner, but because I think the whole concept sucks. Don't get me wrong, I'm quite a sucker for celebration, but I think the concept sucks. Here are a few reasons why.
1) You're supposed to give gifts, and these are the kind that no one would accept at any other time of the year ( chocolates as always are an exception, i'd take them anyday)
2) It's a bad excuse to make good money
3) It makes you look bad if you don't have a "valentine"
4) It makes it seem like this is the only day in the year when we can celebrate "love"


Call me weird but I don't think today is the day to tell your friends and sweethearts you love them, its everyday. Why can't you just go and tell them the same thing that you would today? because today is "the day"?

Instead of wishing people a "happy valentine's day" why don't you just tell them you love them. Your friends may not be around forever, and today is a "good" day to tell them you love them, you might as well do that. Thats precisely what I'm going to do.

Thank you for being who you are, thats just the way I like it.
I love you. I hope you don't think I'm weird. Even if you do, I still love you.

I don't actually believe I could be asked all this ... but

I don't actually believe I could be asked all this ... but
Next time you get asked an annoying Indian question, answer it like
this...read on, it's funny!

Q. What does that red dot on women's forehead mean?
A. Well, in ancient times, Indian men used to practice archery
skills by target practicing by aiming at their wife's red dot. In
fact, that is one of the reasons why they had many wives. You see,
once they mastered the art of archery and hit the target....

Q. You're from India, aren't you? I have read so much about the
country. All the wonderful places, the forests, the snake charmers,
the elephants. Do you still use elephants for transportation?
[note: This one we were actually asked in August '93 by a real
estate agent when house-hunting in Boston.]
A. Absolutely. In fact we used to have our own elephant in
our house. But later, we started elephant-pooling with our neighbors,
to save the air. You see elephants have an "emissions" problem.....

Q. Does India have cars?
A. No. We ride elephants to work. The government is trying to
encourage ride-sharing schemes.

Q. Does India have TV?
A. No. We only have cable.

Q. Are all Indians vegetarian?
A. Yes. Even tigers are vegetarian in India.

Q. How come you speak English so well?
A. You see when the British were ruling India, they employed Indians
as servants. It took too long for the Indians to learn English. So the
British isolated an "English-language" gene and infused their
servants' babies with it and since then all babies born are born
speaking English.

A variation to the above is a compliment ---
"You speak very good English."
Response: Thanks. So do you.

Q. Are you a Hindi?
A. Yes. I am spoken everyday in Northern India.

Q. Do you speak Hindu?
A. Yes, I also speak Jewish, Islam and Christianity.

Q. Is it true that everyone there is very corrupt?
A. Yes, in fact, I had to bribe my parents so that they would let me
go to school.

Q. India is very hot, isn't it?
A. It is so hot there that all the water boils spontaneously. That is
why tea is such a popular drink in India.

Q. Are there any business companies in India?
A. No. All Indians live on the Gandhian prinicples of
self-sufficiency. We all make our own clothes and grow our own food.
That is why you see all these thin skinny Indians -- it is a lot of
hard work.

Q. Indians cannot eat beef, huh?
A. Cows provide milk which is a very essential part of Indian
diet. So eating cows is forbidden. However in order to decrease the
population of the country, the government is trying to encourage
everyone to eat human meat.

Q. India is such a religious place. Do you meditate regularly?
A. Yes, sometimes I meditate for weeks without food and drink. But it
is difficult to keep my job, because I have to miss work when I
meditate like that. But the bosses there do the same thing. That is
why things are so inefficient there.

Q. I saw on TV that people there walk on burning coals. Why do they
do that?
A. We don't have shoes. So we burn the botton of our feet to make it
hard so that we can walk.

Q. Why do you sometimes wear Indian clothes to work?
A. I prefer it to coming naked.

Q. How do you celebrate Thanksgiving day in India?
A. By roasting an American....

Stupid/Sensible

Sometime somethings actually make a lot of sense, but come from places you'd never expect . Check these lines from Kenny Dies
Man: [from the Make-A-Wish Foundation] I know! I'll bet you wanna meet Madonna, huh?

Kenny: [muffled] No. Fuckin' Madonna... [his words trail off and become unintelligible]

Man: What was that?

Kyle: He said Madonna is an old anorexic whore who wore out her welcome years ago, and that now she suddenly speaks with a British accent she thinks she can play guitar and she should go fuck herself. [the Foundation reps are stunned]

Madonna: [appearing in the doorway] Should I come in now?

Man: Um, not quite yet.

* Chef: Stan, sometime God takes those closest to us, because it makes him feel better about himself. He is a very vengeful god, Stan. He's all pissed off about something we did thousands of years ago. He just can't get over it! So he doesn't care who he takes. Children, puppies, it don't matter to him, so long as it makes us sad. Do you understand?

Stan: But then why does God give us anything to start with?

Chef: Well, look at it this way! If you want to make a baby cry, first you give it a lollipop. Then you take it away! If you never give it a lollipop to begin with, it would have nothing to cry about! That's like God, who gives us life and love and health, just so that he can tear it all away and make us cry. So he can drink the sweet milk of our tears! You see, it's our tears, Stan, that give God his great power.

The meaning of F*CK

Saddam

Why is there so much hesitation in awarding Saddam the death penalty. I would probably be sentenced to it for a few murders, or be convicted much quicker if I killed Saddam right now. So why this double standard?

The Greatest Idea - EVER

How about a deodorant, not just any deo, but a pot deo. It would be so good that people would actually want to be with you just to get a whiff of you - no jokes. Hahahaha

Cheated

I was cheated today, swindled of hard cash and talktime

Memories

Its funny, how you slave day and nite to "mug" some chem, physics or, heck it doesn't matter. But do you remember ever having to memorise, what are now memories.

Leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

i'm confused

im thinkin who my real friends are, and what i'll do abt chemistry and college and life and time and, heck does it really matter when im really sleepy?

thoughts running thru my hed at 12 last nite