Why I’m Glad I’m Not Folk and Myth

I have not written in forever. Hopefully this will get fixed soon. Seeing that I’m out of school. However, I’m also working 80 hours this week. So we’ll see. In any case, here’s an entry.

One of the majors that my school offers, and the first that I seriously considered (although not anymore) is Folklore and Mythology. This is pretty cool on its own, and also because as far as I know, it’s the only university that offers it. However, despite the fact that it would be a pretty awesome major, I think their world-view and mine would really conflict. This is from the introduction to a book on vampires I got out of the library:

“Not only is the vampire a creature which in the past was considered a genuine phenomenon, it is also a universal presence. The implication of the development of this myth in different parts of the globe, in so many unconnected cultures, and its ancient origins, is the fears that it arouses are deep-rooted in the human psyche.”

The emphasis is mine. So the fat that vampires show up everywhere and everywhen is because it’s a deep-seated fear? That’s what F&M people think I guess.

But I’d like to apply a little bit of an Occam’s Razor here (I think I’m using that correctly…)… Isn’t the easiest answer not that it’s a fear, but that something resembling a vampire actually exists? That’s what I’d like to think, and I think it’s simpler than analysing the collective fears of the world…

Sigh.

(The quotation is from “Legends of Blood: The Vampire in History and Myth” by Wayne Bartlett and Flavia Idriceanu.)

(Also, I’ve flipped through a bunch of these books, and every single one published in the past 10 years mentions either Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Van Helsing, or both. Mostly both.

Paper or Plastic?

I preface this entry with the fact that I am a college student. That is going to be where many ideas for this blog are going to come from, I’m sure.

Anyways, I was sitting in lecture the other day, and an interesting thought occurred to me. In terms of the environment, is it better to take notes in a notebook, or on a computer? It clearly takes up a lot more energy to power a computer than it does to write with a pen. But then again, every sheet of paper used is another tree cut down (well, that’s clearly an exaggeration, but you know what I mean). And the notebooks could be made out of recycled paper. Then again, the computer could be running from a renewable energy source (college campuses are trying to mek themselves greener every year, and that includes getting more electricity from renewable sources like wind and solar).

I personally split the difference by using a notebook about half the time, and using my computer the other half. This is not on an ecological basis but rather just that sometimes it’s easier to use one, and sometimes another.

So this doesn’t really have an answer, that I can think of. What about you? Which do you use most often? And which would you think is better in the long run for the environment? Comment with your answers!