55 - We could learn a thing or two from animals.

Humankind sucks.

We are afflicted by money. We scam, exploit and blackmail people. We spend prolifically and worse yet, unequally, and worse yet, insatiably. Basic necessities such as food, shelter, sanitized water and health have a price? Even if we have money, we are trapped by our finances in that we must shape our lives’ paths within the limits of our pecuniary ability. And it breaks your heart to know that you cannot devote all of your money to worthy causes, even though people out there are impoverished and undernourished, dirty and suffering, even though you are not a callous person.

We, as humans, commit the sin of cupidity. We have the liberty to waste our days away sitting on a couch, stare at a useless contraption known as a television all day, and eat nothing but greasy takeaway pizza. We adorn our homes with non-biodegradable plastic ornaments and toxic paintings. Decorations… jeez, we are vile.

We can never agree upon anything, because humans are a bad species that are cursed with the ability to admire, to envy, to fight, to harm each other for reasons other than survival, to cheat, to lie, and ultimately, to hate.

And that is why I admire animals.

Squirrels are clever planners in that they save their food, selectively, so no food is leftover and wasted. In the same way, camels are able to survive happily on their own in vast, expansive deserts with a mere storage of water in their humps. A potato bug, although is mildly depressive, seems to function pretty well living where they live. A cheetah, copes with its environment by being fierce and speedy, and hunts hard to earn their food, unlike us, who lazily input numbers, regurgitate our literature, and press buttons, and push and pull joysticks for our daily bread.

Although a turtle is slow, it is self-reliant, well protected and peaceful. Dogs are known for their loyalty. Cats don't need environmentally unfriendly soaps and shampoos to be fastidious self-cleaners. Birds know how to be free. Elephants are wiser. Pigs are humbler. Monkeys and gorillas are better communal primates than we are. Ants are more hard-working. Dung beetles actually make use of feces, while we just throw all our crap into landfills.

Boy, why can't we be like them? We shouldn't lose some of our animalistic qualities. With a little inspiration from the animal kingdom, I think the world would be better managed, and better lived.

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Oh, by the way, Dad's postponed until Sunday.

51 - Alphabet Meme

So I volunteered to do this alphabet meme (link here). AV gave me the letter 'H' for Hong Kong, and I'm supposed to write about ten things that begin with the letter 'H' that carry significance to me.

This was incredibly easy for me, so thank you AV, for picking such a wonderful letter that I wouldn't think would suit me so well at first glance.

Humor - I used to use humor as my defense mechanism, but now, it really is just for entertainment purposes. I love being funny, telling jokes, laughing, and I love it when others can display some wit too. I'm not really a fan of particular comedians, though. They're intentionally being funny to earn money, and I feel it's too unnatural. Everybody knows the true comedians are our hilarious friends.

Hell - I have a fascination with Hell. Even though, I do not believe in the place, I love the concept of it, and the prose, poetry and art that has been produced because of such an ideological place astounds me. I've nearly finished writing a 4000-word essay on the depictions of Hell in literature. If anyone has time to do some reading, (especially those of you who are younger than me and should count themselves lucky to not be in the homework-packed graduating year,) I suggest you find an English translation of Dante Alighieri's Inferno and appreciate the intricacy with which he conceptualized Hell.

Hatred - Even though I have more than one hundred posts dedicated to this one emotion, I do not seriously hate anything or anyone. The word 'hate' is just used for dramatic effect, I'm sure we all know that by now.

Hamburgers - I love food, and in some cases, I just have to have the most basic or classic forms of food. My favorite hamburger would have to be a classic cheeseburger, where the buns are perfect, the meat is the right temperature and softness, and the cheese is melted just right.

Hot dogs - In other instances, I love it when there's a whole lot of flavors mushed into one. I regard a hot dog is best when it is adorned with every additional topping available. I once had one with ketchup, mustard, honey mustard, relish, mayonnaise, corn, melted Swiss cheese, onions, tartar sauce and sour cream. I'm telling you: oh. my. God. So delicious.

Hair - I used to have a very bad obsession with having clean hair. Do you know what agar is? It's basically this jelly-like substance that allows bacteria to grow. Our biology class had to put our nails, or hair, or saliva, something, into some agar, to see if there was any bacteria. My hair, of course, demonstrated no bacterial growth.

Hollywood - I want to be a writer for television and film one day, or perhaps a tabloid writer. Something in the entertainment industry there would delight me ever-so-much.

Hold 'em - I play online Texas Hold'em Poker quite frequently. I'm quite good at it.

Horror - I'm a horror fan, and I end up sweating by the end of horror films, not because I was scared out of my wits, but because I was laughing the whole time at the cheesy dialogue, the fake-looking ghosts, and the other people at the cinema who scream.

Humans - Humans never cease to amaze me, confuse me, delight me, surprise me or influence the way I think. Aren't we just so fascinating? I can't wait to study anthropology this fall.

If you want to play, just give a holler and I'll assign you with a letter. :)