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<title>Chosen Destinies</title>
<link>http://chosen-destinies.co.cc/</link>
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<description>The latest updates from Chosen Destinies.</description>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Jul 2012 06:59:25 -0400</pubDate>
<lastBuildDate>Tue, 13 Nov 2012 06:08:30 -0500</lastBuildDate>
<language>en-us</language>
<managingEditor>vanesa@chosen-destinies.co.cc (Chosen Destinies)</managingEditor>
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<item>
<title>Why I Hate Formspring</title>
<author>vanesa@chosen-destinies.co.cc (Chosen Destinies)</author>
<link>http://chosen-destinies.co.cc/?id=16</link>
<guid isPermaLink="true">http://chosen-destinies.co.cc/?id=16</guid>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Jul 2012 06:59:25 -0400</pubDate>
<description>A hastily-written blog post warning others not to use Formspring. Try Tumblr. At least you can permanently delete your account.


Even though I haven't logged in Formspring for months, I occasionally received emails from them. I was unaware of disabling their email notifications at the time. I received many unwanted emails, many of which were simply &quot;You have 1 question waiting&quot; or something along those lines. The few times I actually logged in, there was no such question. Maybe it was a glitch, or maybe it was some roundabout way of getting me back on Formspring.
Because of Adblock, I couldn't log into Formspring. I went months getting unwanted emails (I didn't want to mark them as spam, thinking I might get back on Formspring) and notifications about a supposed question waiting. This is actually pretty bad, and I don't know if it's just me, but I honestly couldn't log in.
I finally took the initiative to disable Adblock, log in, and delete all of my information today. And it was tedious. Why?
The main reason why I hate Formspring: You can't permanently delete your account. You can &quot;disable&quot;, but it's just a cheap way of saying, &quot;Oh, you quit? We can still keep your data&quot;.
I went and unfollowed and unsmiled at everything. Even when I deleted all of the people I followed, it still said I followed 6 people. Another glitch? (I still had Adblock disabled.) I still had 3 smiles even when I went and deleted every question. You know, manually. Was there a way to delete them all at once?
Even if there was, it wasn't clear. And I usually pick up on these things.
And then Formspring had the nerve to send all of the deleted questions back into my inbox. I deleted them for a reason. If I wanted to change my response, can't I just edit them?
</description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><em>A hastily-written blog post warning others not to use Formspring. Try Tumblr. At least you can</em> permanently <em>delete your account</em>.</p>
<ul>
<li>Even though I haven&#8217;t logged in Formspring for months, I occasionally received emails from them. I was unaware of disabling their email notifications at the time. I received many unwanted emails, many of which were simply &#8220;You have 1 question waiting&#8221; or something along those lines. The few times I actually logged in, there was no such question. Maybe it was a glitch, or maybe it was some roundabout way of getting me back on Formspring.</li>
<li>Because of Adblock, I couldn&#8217;t log into Formspring. I went months getting unwanted emails (I didn&#8217;t want to mark them as spam, thinking I might get back on Formspring) and notifications about a supposed question waiting. This is actually pretty bad, and I don&#8217;t know if it&#8217;s just me, but I honestly couldn&#8217;t log in.</li>
<li>I finally took the initiative to disable Adblock, log in, and delete all of my information today. And it was tedious. Why?</li>
<li><strong>The main reason why I hate Formspring:</strong> You can&#8217;t permanently delete your account. You can &#8220;disable&#8221;, but it&#8217;s just a cheap way of saying, &#8220;Oh, you quit? We can still keep your data&#8221;.</li>
<li>I went and unfollowed and unsmiled at everything. Even when I deleted all of the people I followed, it still said I followed 6 people. Another glitch? (I still had Adblock disabled.) I still had 3 smiles even when I went and deleted every question. You know, manually. Was there a way to delete them all at once?</li>
<li>Even if there was, it wasn&#8217;t clear. And I usually pick up on these things.</li>
<li>And then Formspring had the nerve to send all of the deleted questions back into my inbox. I deleted them for a reason. If I wanted to change my response, can&#8217;t I just edit them?</li>
</ul>]]></content:encoded>
<comments>http://chosen-destinies.co.cc/?id=16#comments</comments>
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</item>
<item>
<title>My quest for digital minimalism: Compiling Data</title>
<author>vanesa@chosen-destinies.co.cc (Chosen Destinies)</author>
<link>http://chosen-destinies.co.cc/?id=15</link>
<guid isPermaLink="true">http://chosen-destinies.co.cc/?id=15</guid>
<pubDate>Fri, 20 Jul 2012 21:52:00 -0400</pubDate>
<description>After having subscribed to r/minimalism and r/organization, I felt the urge to organize my digital life. I spent 2 weeks cutting things down (usually about 10 minutes a day, no big deal) and I decided to actually make this a full-blown project.

I'm pretty minimal and organized in real life - my room is always tidy and relatively easy to clean. However, digital clutter is still something that bothers me. I've decided to take it upon myself to be more minimal digitally.

Why do I want to do this? There are several reasons:

I find my attention span is getting much shorter due to the amount of digital media I consume daily.This is one of my more important reasons. I'm still in school. I'm going into 11th grade, and I can't even read an entire article online. I find myself unable to read most books paperback. I find myself skimming and not retaining anything. It's awful for me. I don't learn a thing and pretend I'm learning a lot because of all of the blogs I follow.
It's taking up unnecessary space on my hard drive. While I don't need the space, I find it unnecessary that I have so much stuff saved that I will never look through. I save things and put them away &quot;for later&quot;, only to never reach &quot;later&quot; because of the overwhelming amount of &quot;now&quot;.
I want to focus more on things that matter. I feel all over the place. One minute, I'm reading r/atheism, and the next, I'm reading a productivity blog. I read things I don't care about and hardly get to focus on things I've been meaning to get to for a long time, like computer forensics. 
I waste time consuming media. Especially considering I'm starting school in September, I really need to learn to manage my time. I want to find a system where I can find things I would like and finish looking at them in less than the hours it takes me. (Of course, I would be missing out on a lot, but I would rather spend a few minutes on quality content, rather than a couple hours trying to focus on something)
The clutter adds stress to my life. Its amount and how I feel overwhelmed at having to go through it all can really bother me at times, and I feel cutting out most of my media consumption completely would be easier on myself.


I first evaluated my social networking profiles and other media. I listed the purpose of each, their features (e.g. if it was a chat medium), what it emailed me, and how I use it as a backup online. This helps me focus on the importance of each in my life, and how much clutter they gave me. I can evaluate easily what to keep and what I should discard. Twitter, for example, is very similar to Tumblr and Reddit. It looks like something I could easily get rid of.

Next, I went through all of them and produced some numbers. To me, numbers simplify everything and provide an insight into my digital life. At a glance, I could see how many accounts I have (yes, I have 4 emails) and how much media I consume. 45k+ items from Google Reader in ~2 years was pretty mind-boggling. Did I really go through all of that?

After that, I decided to simplify everything and focus on what mattered: what I had to do. I outlined seven goals (I like the number seven) that I wished to achieve.

I'm an obsessive organizer. I have intricate folder systems for my desktop and bookmarks. I've read somewhere (will probably add the article link in later) about how minimalism is the end of organization. While I do wish to keep things organized, I don't need to click 7 times just to reach my favourite song:

I've written down my organization system for both my folders and my bookmarks. While writing them down, I've already found things that were unnecessary or over-organized. I plan on printing out the list and crossing stuff out until I come up with a better and much smaller organization system.

Next up, I'll be graphing the numbers I've gathered, just because I'm more of a visual person. And out of curiousity.</description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>After having subscribed to <a href="http://reddit.com/r/minimalism">r/minimalism</a> and <a href="http://reddit.com/r/organization">r/organization</a>, I felt the urge to organize my digital life. I spent 2 weeks cutting things down (usually about 10 minutes a day, no big deal) and I decided to actually make this a full-blown project.</p>
<p>I&#8217;m pretty minimal and organized in real life&#8212;my room is always tidy and relatively easy to clean. However, digital clutter is still something that bothers me. I&#8217;ve decided to take it upon myself to be more minimal digitally.</p>
<p>Why do I want to do this? There are several reasons:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>I find my attention span is getting much shorter due to the amount of digital media I consume daily.</strong>This is one of my more important reasons. I&#8217;m still in school. I&#8217;m going into 11<sup>th</sup> grade, and I can&#8217;t even read an entire article online. I find myself unable to read most books paperback. I find myself skimming and not retaining anything. It&#8217;s awful for me. I don&#8217;t learn a thing and pretend I&#8217;m learning a lot because of all of the blogs I follow.</li>
<li><strong>It&#8217;s taking up unnecessary space on my hard drive.</strong> While I don&#8217;t need the space, I find it unnecessary that I have so much stuff saved that I will never look through. I save things and put them away &#8220;for later&#8221;, only to never reach &#8220;later&#8221; because of the overwhelming amount of &#8220;now&#8221;.</li>
<li><strong>I want to focus more on things that matter.</strong> I feel all over the place. One minute, I&#8217;m reading r/atheism, and the next, I&#8217;m reading a productivity blog. I read things I don&#8217;t care about and hardly get to focus on things I&#8217;ve been meaning to get to for a long time, like computer forensics. </li>
<li><strong>I waste time consuming media.</strong> Especially considering I&#8217;m starting school in September, I really need to learn to manage my time. I want to find a system where I can find things I would like and finish looking at them in less than the hours it takes me. (Of course, I would be missing out on a lot, but I would rather spend a few minutes on quality content, rather than a couple hours trying to focus on something)</li>
<li><strong>The clutter adds stress to my life.</strong> Its amount and how I feel overwhelmed at having to go through it all can really bother me at times, and I feel cutting out most of my media consumption completely would be easier on myself.</li>
</ul>
<p>I first <a href="http://vanesa.tumblr.com/post/27655097651">evaluated my social networking profiles and other media</a>. I listed the purpose of each, their features (e.g. if it was a chat medium), what it emailed me, and how I use it as a backup online. This helps me focus on the importance of each in my life, and how much clutter they gave me. I can evaluate easily what to keep and what I should discard. Twitter, for example, is very similar to Tumblr and Reddit. It looks like something I could easily get rid of.</p>
<p>Next, I went through all of them and <a href="http://vanesa.tumblr.com/post/27657153228">produced some numbers</a>. To me, numbers simplify everything and provide an insight into my digital life. At a glance, I could see how many accounts I have (yes, I have 4 emails) and how much media I consume. 45k+ items from Google Reader in ~2 years was pretty mind-boggling. Did I really go through all of that?</p>
<p>After that, I decided to simplify everything and focus on what mattered: what I had to do. I <a href="http://vanesa.tumblr.com/post/27657549707">outlined seven goals</a> (I like the number seven) that I wished to achieve.</p>
<p>I&#8217;m an obsessive organizer. I have intricate folder systems for my desktop and bookmarks. I&#8217;ve read somewhere (will probably add the article link in later) about how minimalism is the end of organization. While I do wish to keep things organized, I don&#8217;t need to click 7 times just to reach my favourite song:</p>
<p class="center"><a href="http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh263/chosen-destinies/Blog/reaching-my-favourite-song.png"><img src="http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh263/chosen-destinies/Blog/th_reaching-my-favourite-song.png" alt="Clicking 7 times to get to my favourite song" /></a></p>
<p>I&#8217;ve written down my organization system for both my <a href="http://vanesa.tumblr.com/post/27658676721">folders</a> and my <a href="http://vanesa.tumblr.com/post/27659789763">bookmarks</a>. While writing them down, I&#8217;ve already found things that were unnecessary or over-organized. I plan on printing out the list and crossing stuff out until I come up with a better and much smaller organization system.</p>
<p>Next up, I&#8217;ll be graphing the numbers I&#8217;ve gathered, just because I&#8217;m more of a visual person. And out of curiousity.</p>]]></content:encoded>
<comments>http://chosen-destinies.co.cc/?id=15#comments</comments>
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</item>
<item>
<title>Disclaimer</title>
<author>vanesa@chosen-destinies.co.cc (Chosen Destinies)</author>
<link>http://chosen-destinies.co.cc/?id=13</link>
<guid isPermaLink="true">http://chosen-destinies.co.cc/?id=13</guid>
<pubDate>Wed, 27 Jun 2012 22:30:00 -0400</pubDate>
<description>This blog has not had a real major overhaul in about 3 years. Use this website at your discretion.</description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>This blog has not had a real major overhaul in about 3 years. Use this website at your discretion.</p>]]></content:encoded>
<comments>http://chosen-destinies.co.cc/?id=13#comments</comments>
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</item>
<item>
<title>People need to stop being so sensitive</title>
<author>vanesa@chosen-destinies.co.cc (Chosen Destinies)</author>
<link>http://chosen-destinies.co.cc/?id=11</link>
<guid isPermaLink="true">http://chosen-destinies.co.cc/?id=11</guid>
<pubDate>Sat, 21 Apr 2012 14:49:23 -0400</pubDate>
<description>Not everyone hates you. No, I can't trust you saying that, because I know for a fact that you're dead wrong.

Not. Everyone. Hates. You.

Now, you're automatically going to say, &quot;No, I know it, trust me&quot; but just consider what I have to say. For now, assume that they do not, in fact hate you. I guarantee that at least half of the people you think hate you do not.

How do you think they hate you? Do they pick on you, bully you, or what? Is it as simple as ignoring you? Because honestly, I used to think people hate me for everything. But not everyone is a hating type of person. Indifference and callousness does not equal hate. You're not in some unlucky situation where they automatically hate on this one girl, for what? Being fat and slutty and all those stupid lies? (Not to mention about things that don't, you know, actually matter.) In middle school/high school, kids can be stupid bullies. Key word: stupid. What they say can and does hurt, but

1. It doesn't matter.
2. You shouldn't care what they think.
3. They're wrong.

School can be the absolute worst. But that's because it's full of immature, insecure kids trying to deal with their own problems. I know it's hard, but you have to realize those three points.

Never take anything personally. Trust yourself for your own happiness. I know you can - you've done so already, and you're stronger for making through the hell you've been through. Forget about what people say about you.

When somebody picks on you, it's not necessarily because they hate you and want to make you feel miserable. Think about why they would do that. 99% of the time, they're insecure with themselves. They're bored. They want attention. That flaw you supposedly have annoys them when it shouldn't. And if anybody confronts you about your character, it's only because they care about you and know you can do better. 

Don't listen to what bullies have to say. Just don't. There's a fine line between fair criticism and being just plain mean, and I hope you learn it. Whenever somebody says something negative, take in account their situation.

Kids are selfish. When hate you - they're not telling you to die. They're not saying you don't deserve to live. They hate themselves. They hate what they think they see. They just personally don't prefer a trait you possess that isn't necessarily harmful. Whatever the reason, you're not in the wrong. You're not flawed.

Only criminal things deserve the hatred of character. And you can even make amends for that, be it community service, jail time, etc.

Nobody has any reason to hate you. Repeat that for me.

Nobody has any reason to hate me.

They simply don't. They may think they do, but in reality, they're pathetic for having to leech off negative energy. And if they're hateful - it's just their character. You shouldn't be so offended. I know you are, and I know it's difficult, but you have to start thinking more positively.

A person doesn't like you? It doesn't mean you're flawed. All it means is that they don't like you. Nobody can have everyone like them because everyone has unique tastes. Don't strive for the impossible, hun.

You don't need everyone's attention, everyone's love, everyone's compliments to know you're special and worth something. You only need one person to see that. I know for a fact you have more, and you WILL be surprised at how much people like you. It may be your low standards, but seriously, if people don't like you, FIND PEOPLE WHO DO. Hang around THEM. You may think that no one does, but that's because nobody knows you. Be yourself, and the brave ones worthy to be your friend will emerge. And they will help you see your own worth.

I want to say this again: not everyone hates you. I'd go as far to say as that people who think they hate you don't have any real reason to. If you've done wrong to them (and something reasonable, like betrayal, and not &quot;she offended me with her clothing&quot; or other nonsense), then it is UNDERSTANDABLE, and instead of moping around, thinking they hate you forever, YOU MAKE UP WITH THEM. And if you guys don't work out, you don't. You're incompatible. It says nothing about your character. It just means that person shouldn't hang around you, because you simply don't get along, and THAT'S OKAY.</description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Not everyone hates you. No, I can&#8217;t trust you saying that, because I know for a fact that you&#8217;re dead wrong.</p>
<p>Not. Everyone. Hates. You.</p>
<p>Now, you&#8217;re automatically going to say, &#8220;No, I know it, trust me&#8221; but just consider what I have to say. For now, assume that they do not, in fact hate you. I guarantee that at least half of the people you think hate you do not.</p>
<p>How do you think they hate you? Do they pick on you, bully you, or what? Is it as simple as ignoring you? Because honestly, I used to think people hate me for everything. But not everyone is a hating type of person. Indifference and callousness does not equal hate. You&#8217;re not in some unlucky situation where they automatically hate on this one girl, for what? Being fat and slutty and all those stupid lies? (Not to mention about things that don&#8217;t, you know, actually matter.) In middle school/high school, kids can be stupid bullies. Key word: stupid. What they say can and does hurt, but</p>
<ol>
<li>It doesn&#8217;t matter.</li>
<li>You shouldn&#8217;t care what they think.</li>
<li>They&#8217;re wrong.</li>
</ol>
<p>School can be the absolute worst. But that&#8217;s because it&#8217;s full of immature, insecure kids trying to deal with their own problems. I know it&#8217;s hard, but you have to realize those three points.</p>
<p>Never take anything personally. Trust yourself for your own happiness. I know you can&#8212;you&#8217;ve done so already, and you&#8217;re stronger for making through the hell you&#8217;ve been through. Forget about what people say about you.</p>
<p>When somebody picks on you, it&#8217;s not necessarily because they hate you and want to make you feel miserable. Think about why they would do that. 99% of the time, they&#8217;re insecure with themselves. They&#8217;re bored. They want attention. That flaw you supposedly have annoys them when it shouldn&#8217;t. And if anybody confronts you about your character, it&#8217;s only because they care about you and know you can do better. </p>
<p>Don&#8217;t listen to what bullies have to say. Just don&#8217;t. There&#8217;s a fine line between fair criticism and being just plain mean, and I hope you learn it. Whenever somebody says something negative, take in account their situation.</p>
<p>Kids are selfish. When hate you&#8212;they&#8217;re not telling you to die. They&#8217;re not saying you don&#8217;t deserve to live. They hate themselves. They hate what they think they see. They just personally don&#8217;t prefer a trait you possess that isn&#8217;t necessarily harmful. Whatever the reason, you&#8217;re not in the wrong. You&#8217;re not flawed.</p>
<p>Only criminal things deserve the hatred of character. And you can even make amends for that, be it community service, jail time, etc.</p>
<p>Nobody has any reason to hate you. Repeat that for me.</p>
<p>Nobody has any reason to hate me.</p>
<p>They simply don&#8217;t. They may think they do, but in reality, they&#8217;re pathetic for having to leech off negative energy. And if they&#8217;re hateful&#8212;it&#8217;s just their character. You shouldn&#8217;t be so offended. I know you are, and I know it&#8217;s difficult, but you have to start thinking more positively.</p>
<p>A person doesn&#8217;t like you? It doesn&#8217;t mean you&#8217;re flawed. All it means is that they don&#8217;t like you. Nobody can have everyone like them because everyone has unique tastes. Don&#8217;t strive for the impossible, hun.</p>
<p>You don&#8217;t need everyone&#8217;s attention, everyone&#8217;s love, everyone&#8217;s compliments to know you&#8217;re special and worth something. You only need one person to see that. I know for a fact you have more, and you WILL be surprised at how much people like you. It may be your low standards, but seriously, if people don&#8217;t like you, FIND PEOPLE WHO DO. Hang around THEM. You may think that no one does, but that&#8217;s because nobody knows you. Be yourself, and the brave ones worthy to be your friend will emerge. And they will help you see your own worth.</p>
<p>I want to say this again: not everyone hates you. I&#8217;d go as far to say as that people who think they hate you don&#8217;t have any real reason to. If you&#8217;ve done wrong to them (and something reasonable, like betrayal, and not &#8220;she offended me with her clothing&#8221; or other nonsense), then it is UNDERSTANDABLE, and instead of moping around, thinking they hate you forever, YOU MAKE UP WITH THEM. And if you guys don&#8217;t work out, you don&#8217;t. You&#8217;re incompatible. It says nothing about your character. It just means that person shouldn&#8217;t hang around you, because you simply don&#8217;t get along, and THAT&#8217;S OKAY.</p>]]></content:encoded>
<comments>http://chosen-destinies.co.cc/?id=11#comments</comments>
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</item>
<item>
<title>Hello</title>
<author>vanesa@chosen-destinies.co.cc (Chosen Destinies)</author>
<link>http://chosen-destinies.co.cc/?id=10</link>
<guid isPermaLink="true">http://chosen-destinies.co.cc/?id=10</guid>
<pubDate>Fri, 06 Apr 2012 21:30:49 -0400</pubDate>
<description>is just the beginning of 'goodbye'.

I hope we meet again.

</description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>is just the beginning of &#8216;goodbye&#8217;.</p>
<p>I hope we meet again.</p>
<p class="center"><img src="http://cdn.bulbagarden.net/media/upload/1/11/RSE_Lady.png" alt="RSE Lady" /></p>]]></content:encoded>
<comments>http://chosen-destinies.co.cc/?id=10#comments</comments>
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</item>
<item>
<title>Why I find Valentine's Day annoying</title>
<author>vanesa@chosen-destinies.co.cc (Chosen Destinies)</author>
<link>http://chosen-destinies.co.cc/?id=9</link>
<guid isPermaLink="true">http://chosen-destinies.co.cc/?id=9</guid>
<pubDate>Mon, 13 Feb 2012 16:22:00 -0500</pubDate>
<description>
Couples finding an excuse to flaunt the fact they're in a relationship. I don't mind people who actually act that annoying and romantic. (Though I'd appreciate it if you gain some awareness.) No, I'm talking about those couples who like the fact they're in a relationship and like showing it off. Those insecure people who would be groaning on Valentine's Day about not having a Valentine and needing a boyfriend or girlfriend to feel complete. If you're one of those people, please understand you don't need another person to make you happy. Thank you.
Those &quot;Forever Alone&quot; people who complain about being lonely and seeing couples everywhere. Couples are already everywhere, it's just a universal day where they act extra lovey-dovey for no reason. Dude, it's totally awesome to be single. I don't get why people are upset and feel they can't celebrate Valentine's Day... It's a free holiday to do whatever. Take it. Plus, you're saving money and/or time by not having a significant other. I love celebrating Valentine's Day, with or without a boyfriend. It's about love, not necessarily romance.
People like me who complain about hating Valentine's Day. I'm looking at you, Kingsley.
</description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<ol>
<li>Couples finding an excuse to flaunt the fact they&#8217;re in a relationship. I don&#8217;t mind people who actually act that annoying and romantic. (Though I&#8217;d appreciate it if you gain some awareness.) No, I&#8217;m talking about those couples who like the fact they&#8217;re in a relationship and like showing it off. Those insecure people who would be groaning on Valentine&#8217;s Day about not having a Valentine and needing a boyfriend or girlfriend to feel complete. If you&#8217;re one of those people, please understand you don&#8217;t need another person to make you happy. Thank you.</li>
<li>Those &#8220;Forever Alone&#8221; people who complain about being lonely and seeing couples everywhere. Couples are already everywhere, it&#8217;s just a universal day where they act extra lovey-dovey for no reason. Dude, it&#8217;s totally awesome to be single. I don&#8217;t get why people are upset and feel they can&#8217;t celebrate Valentine&#8217;s Day&#8230; It&#8217;s a free holiday to do whatever. Take it. Plus, you&#8217;re saving money and/or time by not having a significant other. I love celebrating Valentine&#8217;s Day, with or without a boyfriend. It&#8217;s about love, not necessarily romance.</li>
<li>People like me who complain about hating Valentine&#8217;s Day. I&#8217;m looking at you, Kingsley.</li>
</ol>]]></content:encoded>
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</item>
<item>
<title>Dear Everyone, this is how I translate you.</title>
<author>vanesa@chosen-destinies.co.cc (Chosen Destinies)</author>
<link>http://chosen-destinies.co.cc/?id=8</link>
<guid isPermaLink="true">http://chosen-destinies.co.cc/?id=8</guid>
<pubDate>Tue, 29 Nov 2011 17:28:00 -0500</pubDate>
<description>&quot;You're weird.&quot; Context: Insult
Translation: &quot;Wow, you're something different other than me. Obviously, my way is the only way things should be and I don't agree with you. This means something is wrong with you, because I can't be wrong.&quot;

&quot;You have a lot of time on your hands.&quot;
Translation: &quot;You spent effort doing something I find a waste of time. Hey, it doesn't matter whether you enjoyed or if it was productive, I would find it boring and because I find it boring, you do too and I can't believe you spent so much time doing something boring. Are you masochistic or something? Because I find whatever you did boring or a waste of time, so it is.&quot;

&quot;Hey! Everyone's entitled to their opinion.&quot;
Translation: &quot;I can contribute nothing to the discussion.&quot;

&quot;It's called freedom of speech.&quot; or variations
Translation: &quot;What do you mean opinions can be wrong?&quot;

&quot;Shut up!&quot; Context: In the middle of an argument
Translation: &quot;I can't think of a rebuttal to what you just said, but I know you're wrong! I am completely right! You don't deserve to continue your stupidity.&quot;

&quot;You'd never say that in real life!&quot;
Translation: &quot;I couldn't think of anything to counter what you just said, so I'm just going to attack you, regardless of whether or not that actually has an impact on my argument. I think your character has an impact on the truth. Ad Hominem Tu Quoque? Where?&quot;

&quot;You're so extra.&quot;
Translation: &quot;You put more effort into something than I would. I think that is a waste of time, so obviously you do too. I'm lazy and think any more effort than necessary it's just completely a waste of time. Only the minimum should be required, because hard work isn't a good thing.&quot;

&quot;I didn't even try.&quot;
Translation: &quot;I'm afraid of looking stupid and I conform to idea that hard work is uncool. If I say I didn't try and do good, it looks like I can do better. If I say I didn't try and do bad, I can blame it on my lack of trying. Win-win!&quot;

&quot;Make me a sandwich.&quot; Context: Male to a female, trying to insult her
Translation: &quot;I'm unoriginal and completely sexist. I find newspaper comics hilarious. And guys, did you hear that Osama bin Laden is dead?! Wow!&quot;

&quot;Suck my dick.&quot; or variations
Translation: &quot;Shut up shut up shut up okay I can't be wrong you're just being stupid la la la&quot;

&quot;It can't be a coincidence!&quot; Context: Describing the luck of a random event
Translation: Evidence of a human demonstrating their ability to recognize and create patterns. Also, it is.

&quot;[asserting that any urban legend is true]&quot;
Translation: &quot;I'll believe anything and will never try to verify facts.&quot;

&quot;Oh wow.&quot; Context: Sarcastically.
Translation: &quot;I can't believe you went the extra mile. I can't accept that my laziness is a bad thing, so I'll just insult those who do better than me.&quot;

&quot;I hate when people complain about good grades.&quot;
Translation: &quot;Grades are luck-based. My personal best is everyone else's. Anything surpassing that is really hard. No one should complain if they got higher than me because they couldn't have done better.&quot;

&quot;The Bible says so.&quot;
Translation: &quot;I've never really read the Bible.&quot;

&quot;OMG!!!1  Facebook changed AGAIN!&quot;
Translation: &quot;I'm not very good with computers, nor do I adapt to change. I never learn that I just get used to the changes. I'm unaware I bother the crap out of people like Vanesa.&quot;</description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><strong>&#8220;You&#8217;re weird.&#8221; Context: Insult</strong><br />
Translation: &#8220;Wow, you&#8217;re something different other than me. Obviously, my way is the only way things should be and I don&#8217;t agree with you. This means something is wrong with you, because I can&#8217;t be wrong.&#8221;</p>
<p><strong>&#8220;You have a lot of time on your hands.&#8221;</strong><br />
Translation: &#8220;You spent effort doing something I find a waste of time. Hey, it doesn&#8217;t matter whether you enjoyed or if it was productive, I would find it boring and because I find it boring, you do too and I can&#8217;t believe you spent so much time doing something boring. Are you masochistic or something? Because I find whatever you did boring or a waste of time, so it is.&#8221;</p>
<p><strong>&#8220;Hey! Everyone&#8217;s entitled to their opinion.&#8221;</strong><br />
Translation: &#8220;I can contribute nothing to the discussion.&#8221;</p>
<p><strong>&#8220;It&#8217;s called freedom of speech.&#8221; or variations</strong><br />
Translation: &#8220;What do you mean opinions can be wrong?&#8221;</p>
<p><strong>&#8220;Shut up!&#8221; Context: In the middle of an argument</strong><br />
Translation: &#8220;I can&#8217;t think of a rebuttal to what you just said, but I know you&#8217;re wrong! I am completely right! You don&#8217;t deserve to continue your stupidity.&#8221;</p>
<p><strong>&#8220;You&#8217;d never say that in real life!&#8221;</strong><br />
Translation: &#8220;I couldn&#8217;t think of anything to counter what you just said, so I&#8217;m just going to attack you, regardless of whether or not that actually has an impact on my argument. I think your character has an impact on the truth. Ad Hominem Tu Quoque? Where?&#8221;</p>
<p><strong>&#8220;You&#8217;re so extra.&#8221;</strong><br />
Translation: &#8220;You put more effort into something than I would. I think that is a waste of time, so obviously you do too. I&#8217;m lazy and think any more effort than necessary it&#8217;s just completely a waste of time. Only the minimum should be required, because hard work isn&#8217;t a good thing.&#8221;</p>
<p><strong>&#8220;I didn&#8217;t even try.&#8221;</strong><br />
Translation: &#8220;I&#8217;m afraid of looking stupid and I conform to idea that hard work is uncool. If I say I didn&#8217;t try and do good, it looks like I can do better. If I say I didn&#8217;t try and do bad, I can blame it on my lack of trying. Win-win!&#8221;</p>
<p><strong>&#8220;Make me a sandwich.&#8221; Context: Male to a female, trying to insult her</strong><br />
Translation: &#8220;I&#8217;m unoriginal and completely sexist. I find newspaper comics hilarious. And guys, did you hear that Osama bin Laden is dead?! Wow!&#8221;</p>
<p><strong>&#8220;Suck my dick.&#8221; or variations</strong><br />
Translation: &#8220;Shut up shut up shut up okay I can&#8217;t be wrong you&#8217;re just being stupid la la la&#8221;</p>
<p><strong>&#8220;It can&#8217;t be a coincidence!&#8221; Context: Describing the luck of a random event</strong><br />
Translation: Evidence of a human demonstrating their ability to recognize and create patterns. Also, it is.</p>
<p><strong>&#8220;[asserting that any urban legend is true]&#8221;</strong><br />
Translation: &#8220;I&#8217;ll believe anything and will never try to verify facts.&#8221;</p>
<p><strong>&#8220;Oh wow.&#8221; Context: Sarcastically.</strong><br />
Translation: &#8220;I can&#8217;t believe you went the extra mile. I can&#8217;t accept that my laziness is a bad thing, so I&#8217;ll just insult those who do better than me.&#8221;</p>
<p><strong>&#8220;I hate when people complain about good grades.&#8221;</strong><br />
Translation: &#8220;Grades are luck-based. My personal best is everyone else&#8217;s. Anything surpassing that is really hard. No one should complain if they got higher than me because they couldn&#8217;t have done better.&#8221;</p>
<p><strong>&#8220;The Bible says so.&#8221;</strong><br />
Translation: &#8220;I&#8217;ve never really read the Bible.&#8221;</p>
<p><strong>&#8220;OMG!!!1  Facebook changed AGAIN!&#8221;</strong><br />
Translation: &#8220;I&#8217;m not very good with computers, nor do I adapt to change. I never learn that I just get used to the changes. I&#8217;m unaware I bother the crap out of people like Vanesa.&#8221;</p>]]></content:encoded>
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<item>
<title>I should probably stop browsing atheist websites..</title>
<author>vanesa@chosen-destinies.co.cc (Chosen Destinies)</author>
<link>http://chosen-destinies.co.cc/?id=7</link>
<guid isPermaLink="true">http://chosen-destinies.co.cc/?id=7</guid>
<pubDate>Sun, 27 Nov 2011 10:18:21 -0500</pubDate>
<description>... but I can't help it! If you couldn't tell, I've been browsing them and r/atheism for the past few months. I am absolutely intrigued. 

However, I'm also mad at people who are completely prejudiced against atheism. 

Life Pro Tip of the Day! Google your questions about atheism instead of making them up.

Also, what inspired me to write this post: this Yahoo Answers Page. Someone asked if atheists make up the meaning in their lives. An answer provided on this page is, and I quote,

No, they don't believe their lives have any meaning or purpose. They think they are just animals and that love is just chemical. Sad, huh?

I actually agree with the first two sentences. We have no meaning. We are just animals. And I'm no expert, but love is all in your brain. I believe when we die, we will return to the Earth. I believe no one is watching us from a divine place. We're nothing in this universe.

Does that make me sad? Of course not.

Our very existence is amazing. Again, I'm not an expert and my understanding of science is still limited, but what I know about it so far is truly remarkable.

Can you imagine that all of us, everything you've ever known and seen, came from a star? We are all star dust. And from this star dust, our planet, and eventually life emerged. Now, life is already amazing. As far as we know, we're the only planet harbouring it. But that isn't enough. From a single-cell organism, we all have evolved until we became humans today. Self-aware, intelligent humans. I believe this is all just a coincidence, and anyone who thinks it's too amazing is just trying to draw a meaning where meaning does not exist.

The fact we can even love in the first place is amazing. We can take the original purpose of attraction to procreate, and use it to truly enjoy something special. (Loosely referencing Greta Christina's speech on atheism and sexuality at Skepticon.)

That is more beautiful than what any religious text can tell me.</description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>&#8230; but I can&#8217;t help it! If you couldn&#8217;t tell, I&#8217;ve been browsing them and r/atheism for the past few months. I am absolutely intrigued. </p>
<p>However, I&#8217;m also mad at people who are completely prejudiced against atheism. </p>
<p><strong>Life Pro Tip of the Day!</strong> Google your questions about atheism instead of making them up.</p>
<p>Also, what inspired me to write this post: <a href="http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20110919015515AAyDH5Z">this Yahoo Answers Page</a>. Someone asked if atheists make up the meaning in their lives. An answer provided on this page is, and I quote,</p>
<blockquote><p>No, they don&#8217;t believe their lives have any meaning or purpose. They think they are just animals and that love is just chemical. Sad, huh?</p></blockquote>
<p>I actually agree with the first two sentences. We have no meaning. We are just animals. And I&#8217;m no expert, but love is all in your brain. I believe when we die, we will return to the Earth. I believe no one is watching us from a divine place. We&#8217;re nothing in this universe.</p>
<p>Does that make me sad? Of course not.</p>
<p>Our very existence is amazing. Again, I&#8217;m not an expert and my understanding of science is still limited, but what I know about it so far is truly remarkable.</p>
<p>Can you imagine that all of us, everything you&#8217;ve ever known and seen, came from a star? We are all star dust. And from this star dust, our planet, and eventually life emerged. Now, life is already amazing. As far as we know, we&#8217;re the only planet harbouring it. But that isn&#8217;t enough. From a single-cell organism, we all have evolved until we became humans today. Self-aware, intelligent humans. I believe this is all just a coincidence, and anyone who thinks it&#8217;s too amazing is just trying to draw a meaning where meaning does not exist.</p>
<p>The fact we can even love in the first place is amazing. We can take the original purpose of attraction to procreate, and use it to truly enjoy something special. (Loosely referencing Greta Christina&#8217;s speech on atheism and sexuality at Skepticon.)</p>
<p>That is more beautiful than what any religious text can tell me.</p>]]></content:encoded>
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<title>We're not idiots.</title>
<author>vanesa@chosen-destinies.co.cc (Chosen Destinies)</author>
<link>http://chosen-destinies.co.cc/?id=6</link>
<guid isPermaLink="true">http://chosen-destinies.co.cc/?id=6</guid>
<pubDate>Sat, 26 Nov 2011 12:03:00 -0500</pubDate>
<description>

This image annoys me to no end.

What? Atheists have no basis for morality? You're joking, right?

We need an invisible supreme being to dictate and tell us what's right and wrong, apparently. We can't, you know, base our actions on things that are logical and pleasurable. (Note: Of course, it's not that simple. But I believe religion isn't the answer.) Nope. We can't figure that out for ourselves, and we need someone watching us all the time that will keep us from spiraling out of control. 

Are you telling me the only thing stopping you from doing immoral acts is the supposedly just creator of the universe, who will damn you for eternity if you do them? I'm sorry, but I'm more scared of you than supposedly immoral atheists.

Not to mention the Bible is immoral anyway.

P.S. Atheism is no belief.</description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p class="center"><img src="http://29.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ls32qdwW811r37oi8o1_500.jpg" alt="atheism as defined by people who don't unnderstand it" /></p>
<p>This image annoys me to no end.</p>
<p>What? Atheists have no basis for morality? You&#8217;re joking, right?</p>
<p>We need an invisible supreme being to dictate and tell us what&#8217;s right and wrong, apparently. We can&#8217;t, you know, base our actions on things that are logical and pleasurable. (<strong>Note:</strong> Of course, it&#8217;s not that simple. But I believe religion isn&#8217;t the answer.) Nope. We can&#8217;t figure that out for ourselves, and we need someone watching us all the time that will keep us from spiraling out of control. </p>
<p>Are you telling me the only thing stopping you from doing immoral acts is the supposedly just creator of the universe, who will damn you for eternity if you do them? I&#8217;m sorry, but I&#8217;m more scared of <em>you</em> than supposedly immoral atheists.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UsgeXubzhf4">Not to mention the Bible is immoral anyway.</a></p>
<p><em>P.S.</em> Atheism is no belief.</p>]]></content:encoded>
<comments>http://chosen-destinies.co.cc/?id=6#comments</comments>
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<title>The window</title>
<author>vanesa@chosen-destinies.co.cc (Chosen Destinies)</author>
<link>http://chosen-destinies.co.cc/?id=5</link>
<guid isPermaLink="true">http://chosen-destinies.co.cc/?id=5</guid>
<pubDate>Mon, 31 Oct 2011 18:29:33 -0400</pubDate>
<description>Found something interesting on Yahoo Answers, written by Queen of Sheba. The person asked for best arguments against atheism, and this was his reply: (took out quote I don't address at the end)
Look out a window.

Here is a story used by a rabbi.

A king goes to visit a rabbi and tells him he doubts the existance of a Creator of the Universe. He told the rabbi everything just happened, the entire universe is a huge coincidence with no purpose, just the result of luck and many throws of the dice.
He asks the rabbi to prove the universe was created by a intelligent design.

The rabbi says to plerase open up the window, and then that the king unscrews the top of the ink bottle but leave it on there, with the feather quill pen next to it.

He asks him to put a clean piece of paper next to it.

the king complies and leaves, told to reeturn the next afternoon and his answer will be explained.


Next day the atheist king returns, and sees the most beautifully caligraphed poem written on that piece of paper and the rest of the ink spilling onto the floor.

&quot;what a beautifully caligraphed poem, what a nice rhyme, who wrote this?&quot; the king asks the rabbi.

&quot;No one. I forgot to close the window last night. A cat or a bird or a rat must have climbed or flown in and knocked over the bottle of ink.

No, the kings insists, Someone wrote it. did you write it?

;The rabbi shakes his head, and says, &quot;its just a coincidence that the ink spelled into words, and which rhyme and make sense.

the king laughs, but the rabbi is serious.

&quot;No, someone had to write that poem.&quot;

&quot;Its just a piece of paper with spilled ink. One little coincidence, compared to the hills and trees and clouds and mountains you see out of this window,&quot; explained the rabbi.

Now, I see where this going. This universe is so wonderful, so intricate, so full of meaning. This couldn't have just &quot;happened&quot;. This is what people call &quot;intelligent design&quot;. Therefore, there needs to be a designer. That designer is God. How can the miracle of the very fact you're reading this right now come out of nowhere and be meaningless coincidence?

But we're simply looking at this backwards.

It's not that everything was created with meaning. We just make meaning out of creation. It can't be coincidence that us humans exist? It is. We're drawing meaning around patterns. The analogy used in the story is wrong. The ink would have spilled, we would have made sense of it, and then we would find meaning, when there isn't. Things that are too weird to be coincidental are pretty interesting and rare, but still stay at just that: a coincidence.

Everything is the result of the emergence..

will edit later and and add further evidence</description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20110509222213AANC6Tu">Found something interesting on Yahoo Answers</a>, written by <a href="http://answers.yahoo.com/my/profile;_ylt=AnDSLA78ZU9RTWtWl4kT5dXd7BR.;_ylv=3?show=Aqwzr7ikaa">Queen of Sheba</a>. The person asked for best arguments against atheism, and this was his reply: (took out quote I don&#8217;t address at the end)</p>
<blockquote><p>Look out a window.</p>
<p>Here is a story used by a rabbi.</p>
<p>A king goes to visit a rabbi and tells him he doubts the existance of a Creator of the Universe. He told the rabbi everything just happened, the entire universe is a huge coincidence with no purpose, just the result of luck and many throws of the dice.<br />
He asks the rabbi to prove the universe was created by a intelligent design.</p>
<p>The rabbi says to plerase open up the window, and then that the king unscrews the top of the ink bottle but leave it on there, with the feather quill pen next to it.</p>
<p>He asks him to put a clean piece of paper next to it.</p>
<p>the king complies and leaves, told to reeturn the next afternoon and his answer will be explained.</p>
<p>Next day the atheist king returns, and sees the most beautifully caligraphed poem written on that piece of paper and the rest of the ink spilling onto the floor.</p>
<p>&#8220;what a beautifully caligraphed poem, what a nice rhyme, who wrote this?&#8221; the king asks the rabbi.</p>
<p>&#8220;No one. I forgot to close the window last night. A cat or a bird or a rat must have climbed or flown in and knocked over the bottle of ink.</p>
<p>No, the kings insists, Someone wrote it. did you write it?</p>
<p>;The rabbi shakes his head, and says, &#8220;its just a coincidence that the ink spelled into words, and which rhyme and make sense.</p>
<p>the king laughs, but the rabbi is serious.</p>
<p>&#8220;No, someone had to write that poem.&#8221;</p>
<p>&#8220;Its just a piece of paper with spilled ink. One little coincidence, compared to the hills and trees and clouds and mountains you see out of this window,&#8221; explained the rabbi.</p></blockquote>
<p>Now, I see where this going. This universe is so wonderful, so intricate, so full of meaning. This couldn&#8217;t have just &#8220;happened&#8221;. This is what people call &#8220;intelligent design&#8221;. Therefore, there needs to be a designer. That designer is God. How can the miracle of the very fact you&#8217;re reading this right now come out of nowhere and be meaningless coincidence?</p>
<p>But we&#8217;re simply looking at this backwards.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s not that everything was created with meaning. We just make meaning out of creation. It can&#8217;t be coincidence that us humans exist? It is. We&#8217;re drawing meaning around patterns. The analogy used in the story is wrong. The ink would have spilled, we would have made sense of it, and then we would find meaning, when there isn&#8217;t. <a href="http://youarenotsosmart.com/2010/09/11/the-texas-sharpshooter-fallacy/">Things that are too weird to be coincidental are pretty interesting and rare, but still stay at just that: a coincidence.</a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36uAoe8e2dY#t=87s">Everything is the result of the emergence.</a>.</p>
<p><em>will edit later and and add further evidence</em></p>]]></content:encoded>
<comments>http://chosen-destinies.co.cc/?id=5#comments</comments>
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<title>Why I am an agnostic atheist</title>
<author>vanesa@chosen-destinies.co.cc (Chosen Destinies)</author>
<link>http://chosen-destinies.co.cc/?id=4</link>
<guid isPermaLink="true">http://chosen-destinies.co.cc/?id=4</guid>
<pubDate>Sun, 30 Oct 2011 02:13:00 -0400</pubDate>
<description>I identify as an atheist because I lack belief in a higher deity/deities. That is all. Atheists may seem to have general opinions on subjects such as homosexuality, abortion, or general issues of debate today, or they may be varying levels of anti-theism, but the only thing we all have in common is simple disbelief. Atheists can be homophobic or pro-life. I've personally met a couple of them.

Basically: not all atheists are the same. If I believed the same way about Christians like how people I know believe about atheists or even non-Christian theists, I'd think you were all homophobic con artists who preach about doomsday.

Personally, I will let you believe what you believe. I draw the line at you insulting my beliefs (or lack thereof) or trying to get me to believe what you believe. Unless we arrange to debate, I don't wish to randomly start an argument with you. I won't and have no interest in challenging your beliefs either. You are free to ask questions, but you're better off with a Google search and the atheism subreddit than someone who's barely scratched the surface of religion and is still researching philosophers and atheists. (Not to say I have little grounds for being an atheist - again, atheism is just a lack of belief. No strength or certainty is required. I have, however, spent many years suppressed and eventually opening my mind. I've claimed to be an agnostic until finally realizing that agnostic is not a middle ground for atheist and theist. A lot of thought and a good amount of research helped me make this decision.)

With that said, here is a list, mostly for my own reference, as to why I'm an atheist. (Note: I'm too lazy to add in sources right now. A good place to find where most of what I reference is at r/atheism.)


I'm simply too lazy for religion, and don't see the need in having one. I just don't and can't believe. And no, deluding myself with faith does not count.
I've ruled out Christianity, though I was raised Catholic until I decided to stop believing. I don't believe in Heaven or Hell. In fact, I wish to do some more research to see if there's evidence of Jesus' existence. The Bible is full of crap, with gems picked out by religious figures (see the Skeptic's Annotated Bible and the numerous reference lists of the Bible accepting slavery, murder, rape, and sexism). I think it's absolutely arrogant of us to believe we are created and meant to be above animals, never mind the fact we are the image of God, and we are absolutely special in the vast, incomprehensibly large universe. However, even if I didn't have these opinions, I'd still rule it out. Claiming to be all-loving and forgiving, yet still send those who lack faith, maybe without a choice in the matter, to eternal suffering is ridiculous. Persecuting the innocent is wrong. The very fact Hell exists contradicts God, supposedly love. Warnings of Hell kept me as a Catholic as a kid. I find it ironic that people shelter their children from the evils of the world (like, apparently, swearing), yet instill fears of Hell with no problem. I was once told that people in Hell have a &quot;bus to Heaven&quot;, but refuse to board it. At first, I would question why and just assume they're stupid. Now, I truly question why they wouldn't. And I realize that they wouldn't. They'd leave immediately. Who wants the worst torture imaginable? And since God is all-knowing, he knows there are people who will never have a fair opportunity to convert to Christianity, or will be born in the completely wrong culture. Instead of providing undeniable evidence of his existence, he chooses not to. And because they lack faith, they go to Hell. God is knowingly sending people to Hell and doing nothing about it.
I want empirical evidence of a higher power. No, the fact that the Big Bang had to come from somewhere doesn't count. If there had to be a creator, this creates the paradox of &quot;Who created the creator?&quot; and so forth. It's better off using that same logic (&quot;God just exists&quot;) with the universe (&quot;it just exists&quot;). Science is still looking for answers.
The notion of a higher power or fate has me baffled. Why condemn criminals, if they had no choice in what they did? And if this power existed out of time and knew all that ever was and be, what's the point in prayer? If we all have a plan, I find it cruel people are sacrificed or even treated with anything less than pure comfort and bliss because it was purposeful. If everything is because of God, He is sending people to Hell on purpose. Do I want to worship that God?
I disagree with Pascal's wager. There are numerous religions out there that only want you praising their religion. You have a chance of picking the wrong one. A very high chance. But I refuse to worship a deity/deities that demand it, with promises of a heavenly reward afterwards and a threat of eternal torment if I don't. If they do, the gods are unjust and deserve no such worship. (Cookies to anyone who knows the quote I just referenced.)
Even if there was a god/gods, I doubt they want worship. Or care about us insignificant humans. Or maybe they're interested in us. I don't know.
If there was an afterlife (though I find it hard to believe more and more each day), I think a truly-loving deity would bring you to heaven, regardless of your stance. And people who have done bad will pay for every &quot;sin&quot;, and then are forgiven when they truly make up for it. And people in heaven who don't want to be with those who abused them will eventually forgive. Also, I don't have enough information on reincarnation to have a proper opinion on it.
I don't want to be part of something based on fear of the afterlife,  or based on fear in general. As a child, I would accidentally scare myself into thinking I worshiped Satan or wanted to go to Hell, and I could hardly sleep. I chanted, &quot;I love you, God&quot; and promised myself to believe in God no matter what. As I reflect on it now, I find it silly, yet sick that what is supposed to &quot;save me&quot; gave me nightmares. Now, I realize Hell is a horrible thing to threaten people with. My ninth grade religion teacher brought up what I think is one of the best points for why God just doesn't reveal himself - He is giving us a choice to believe in him. However, where is the choice with practically pointing a gun at our head with the consequence of Hell? Where is the choice if you were born in the wrong culture? Where is the free will if we use it the way he wants us to? If God were truly just, I would simply live a good life and know he would judge me based on my actions, rather than faith. Testing our faith and having us lose it because we demand evidence, then damning us for eternity is unreasonable. My religion teacher also said that he let humans do what they wanted, because he could've easily made us do exactly what he wanted to. So wouldn't it be reasonable of us to be doubtful? Why let us do what we can if you'll only punish us if you disagree?
I don't believe in the concept of souls. I think humans are highly intelligent and developed animals. You know what? Animals sometimes do it better than us. I find it terrible that people use &quot;animal&quot; as an insult and believe humans only have souls.
Despite the absolute wonder of the world and the universe, I believe nothing as meaning and seeing things that seem too much of a coincidence to stay just a coincidence is just a result of the Texas Sharpshooter fallacy. Our very existence is astounding when you realize we are created of stars. It's beautiful. But I believe there's no special, divine meaning.
I'm anti-theist to a degree, usually when religion is detrimental to science. Science is modern, fair, and constantly challenged and improved. That is the kind of human progress and place to go for answers we should be looking for. We shouldn't rely on religious fairy tales that hindered human progress and scientific discoveries because it is contradictory to what they were taught, which has no basic evidence.
Evidence is everything. Just ask Phoenix Wright. Your scriptures don't count, because they use circular logic.
I believe in being a critical-thinker. That kind of approach immediately dismisses the Bible and even the concept of God/gods. (TheraminTrees on YouTube has an excellent video describing the logical impossibilities.)(Also, his brother, QualiaSoup, has wonderful, insightful videos.)
I don't believe in needing a religion to be moral. If you need a promise of eternal bliss where you'll see everyone you've ever lost and a threat of eternal damnation to be a good person, I'll find it difficult for you to be a good person. I know plenty of Christians and Catholics who don't, but it's those few who say they would go on a murderous rampage if God didn't exist I worry for. 
I've read a quote somewhere that was about something along the lines of someone asking God why He didn't do anything about something and being afraid He'll ask the same question. Excuse me, but who is the all-knowing God who can do everything? Not to mention if this is all a part of your grand design, then you have a pretty crappy design if so many people are sent to Hell.
I don't like prayer. Prayer, while done with good intentions, does nothing but make you feel like you did something for those you prayed for. Even as a Catholic, I saw prayer pointless. (Don't even get me started on the rosary.) Yes, acknowledge the victims of a natural disaster. But at least donate if you truly care. I only have respect for your prayers if you follow them up with action. Praying for a sick grandmother? Remember to visit her in the hospital. Praying for those to get good grades? Help them study and encourage them before tests. Praying to win a football game? Motivate the team.
I'm for truth. Science constantly looks for the most current truth, and challenges it to avoid bias and mistakes. Science acknowledges uncertainties and accepts them gracefully. Science changes and evolves, which is necessary for the progression of our species. It should be no surprise that I want to pursue a career in science. Religion requires you to keep the same supposedly perfect beliefs and deny scientific evidence, possibly as the &quot;devil's work&quot;. Religion needs blind faith, which seems to be unacceptable in everything but religion. (And your close family and/or friends.) If we were to judge people without evidence, courts would be a disaster. We need evidence. It's only fair. A God that conveniently doesn't leave evidence but requires you to believe anyway? Sounds fishy to me.


Edit November 26th, 2011: Fixed some typos.</description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I identify as an atheist because I lack belief in a higher deity/deities. That is all. Atheists may seem to have general opinions on subjects such as homosexuality, abortion, or general issues of debate today, or they may be varying levels of anti-theism, but the only thing we <em>all</em> have in common is simple disbelief. Atheists can be homophobic or pro-life. I&#8217;ve personally met a couple of them.</p>
<p>Basically: not all atheists are the same. If I believed the same way about Christians like how people I know believe about atheists or even non-Christian theists, I&#8217;d think you were all homophobic con artists who preach about doomsday.</p>
<p>Personally, I will let you believe what you believe. I draw the line at you insulting my beliefs (or lack thereof) or trying to get me to believe what you believe. Unless we arrange to debate, I don&#8217;t wish to randomly start an argument with you. I won&#8217;t and have no interest in challenging your beliefs either. You are free to ask questions, but you&#8217;re better off with a Google search and the <a href="http://reddit.com/r/atheism">atheism subreddit</a> than someone who&#8217;s barely scratched the surface of religion and is still researching philosophers and atheists. (Not to say I have little grounds for being an atheist&#8212;again, atheism is just a lack of belief. No strength or certainty is required. I have, however, spent many years suppressed and eventually opening my mind. I&#8217;ve claimed to be an agnostic until finally realizing that agnostic is not a middle ground for atheist and theist. A lot of thought and a good amount of research helped me make this decision.)</p>
<p>With that said, here is a list, mostly for my own reference, as to why I&#8217;m an atheist. (Note: I&#8217;m too lazy to add in sources right now. A good place to find where most of what I reference is at r/atheism.)</p>
<ul>
<li>I&#8217;m simply too lazy for religion, and don&#8217;t see the need in having one. I just don&#8217;t and can&#8217;t believe. And no, deluding myself with faith does not count.</li>
<li>I&#8217;ve ruled out Christianity, though I was raised Catholic until I decided to stop believing. I don&#8217;t believe in Heaven or Hell. In fact, I wish to do some more research to see if there&#8217;s evidence of Jesus&#8217; existence. The Bible is full of crap, with gems picked out by religious figures (see the Skeptic&#8217;s Annotated Bible and the numerous reference lists of the Bible accepting slavery, murder, rape, and sexism). I think it&#8217;s absolutely arrogant of us to believe we are created and meant to be above animals, never mind the fact we are the image of God, and we are absolutely special in the vast, incomprehensibly large universe. However, even if I didn&#8217;t have these opinions, I&#8217;d still rule it out. Claiming to be all-loving and forgiving, yet still send those who lack faith, maybe without a choice in the matter, to eternal suffering is ridiculous. Persecuting the innocent is wrong. The very fact Hell exists contradicts God, supposedly love. Warnings of Hell kept me as a Catholic as a kid. I find it ironic that people shelter their children from the evils of the world (like, apparently, swearing), yet instill fears of Hell with no problem. I was once told that people in Hell have a &#8220;bus to Heaven&#8221;, but refuse to board it. At first, I would question why and just assume they&#8217;re stupid. Now, I truly question why they wouldn&#8217;t. And I realize that <em>they wouldn&#8217;t</em>. They&#8217;d leave immediately. Who wants the worst torture imaginable? And since God is all-knowing, he knows there are people who will never have a fair opportunity to convert to Christianity, or will be born in the completely wrong culture. Instead of providing undeniable evidence of his existence, he chooses not to. And because they lack faith, they go to Hell. God is knowingly sending people to Hell and doing nothing about it.</li>
<li>I want empirical evidence of a higher power. No, the fact that the Big Bang had to come from <em>somewhere</em> doesn&#8217;t count. If there had to be a creator, this creates the paradox of &#8220;Who created the creator?&#8221; and so forth. It&#8217;s better off using that same logic (&#8221;God just exists&#8221;) with the universe (&#8221;it just exists&#8221;). Science is still looking for answers.</li>
<li>The notion of a higher power or fate has me baffled. Why condemn criminals, if they had no choice in what they did? And if this power existed out of time and knew all that ever was and be, what&#8217;s the point in prayer? If we all have a plan, I find it cruel people are sacrificed or even treated with anything less than pure comfort and bliss because it was purposeful. If everything is because of God, He is sending people to Hell <em>on purpose</em>. Do I want to worship that God?</li>
<li>I disagree with Pascal&#8217;s wager. There are numerous religions out there that only want you praising their religion. You have a chance of picking the wrong one. A very high chance. But I refuse to worship a deity/deities that demand it, with promises of a heavenly reward afterwards and a threat of eternal torment if I don&#8217;t. If they do, the gods are unjust and deserve no such worship. (Cookies to anyone who knows the quote I just referenced.)</li>
<li>Even if there was a god/gods, I doubt they want worship. Or care about us insignificant humans. Or maybe they&#8217;re interested in us. I don&#8217;t know.</li>
<li>If there was an afterlife (though I find it hard to believe more and more each day), I think a truly-loving deity would bring you to heaven, regardless of your stance. And people who have done bad will pay for every &#8220;sin&#8221;, and then are forgiven when they truly make up for it. And people in heaven who don&#8217;t want to be with those who abused them will eventually forgive. Also, I don&#8217;t have enough information on reincarnation to have a proper opinion on it.</li>
<li>I don&#8217;t want to be part of something based on fear of the afterlife,  or based on fear in general. As a child, I would accidentally scare myself into thinking I worshiped Satan or wanted to go to Hell, and I could hardly sleep. I chanted, &#8220;I love you, God&#8221; and promised myself to believe in God no matter what. As I reflect on it now, I find it silly, yet sick that what is supposed to &#8220;save me&#8221; gave me nightmares. Now, I realize Hell is a horrible thing to threaten people with. My ninth grade religion teacher brought up what I think is one of the best points for why God just doesn&#8217;t reveal himself&#8212;He is giving us a choice to believe in him. However, where is the choice with practically pointing a gun at our head with the consequence of Hell? Where is the choice if you were born in the wrong culture? Where is the free will if we use it the way he wants us to? If God were truly just, I would simply live a good life and know he would judge me based on my actions, rather than faith. Testing our faith and having us lose it because we demand evidence, then damning us for eternity is unreasonable. My religion teacher also said that he let humans do what they wanted, because he could&#8217;ve easily made us do exactly what he wanted to. So wouldn&#8217;t it be reasonable of us to be doubtful? Why let us do what we can if you&#8217;ll only punish us if you disagree?</li>
<li>I don&#8217;t believe in the concept of souls. I think humans are highly intelligent and developed animals. You know what? Animals sometimes do it better than us. I find it terrible that people use &#8220;animal&#8221; as an insult and believe humans only have souls.</li>
<li>Despite the absolute wonder of the world and the universe, I believe nothing as meaning and seeing things that seem too much of a coincidence to stay just a coincidence is just a result of the Texas Sharpshooter fallacy. Our very existence is astounding when you realize we are created of stars. It&#8217;s beautiful. But I believe there&#8217;s no special, divine meaning.</li>
<li>I&#8217;m anti-theist to a degree, usually when religion is detrimental to science. Science is modern, fair, and constantly challenged and improved. That is the kind of human progress and place to go for answers we should be looking for. We shouldn&#8217;t rely on religious fairy tales that hindered human progress and scientific discoveries because it is contradictory to what they were taught, which has no basic evidence.</li>
<li>Evidence is everything. Just ask Phoenix Wright. Your scriptures don&#8217;t count, because they use circular logic.</li>
<li>I believe in being a critical-thinker. That kind of approach immediately dismisses the Bible and even the concept of God/gods. (<a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/TheraminTrees">TheraminTrees</a> on YouTube has an excellent video describing the logical impossibilities.)(Also, his brother, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/QualiaSoup">QualiaSoup</a>, has wonderful, insightful videos.)</li>
<li>I don&#8217;t believe in needing a religion to be moral. If you need a promise of eternal bliss where you&#8217;ll see everyone you&#8217;ve ever lost and a threat of eternal damnation to be a good person, I&#8217;ll find it difficult for you to be a good person. I know plenty of Christians and Catholics who don&#8217;t, but it&#8217;s those few who say they would go on a murderous rampage if God didn&#8217;t exist I worry for. </li>
<li>I&#8217;ve read a quote somewhere that was about something along the lines of someone asking God why He didn&#8217;t do anything about something and being afraid He&#8217;ll ask the same question. Excuse me, but who is the all-knowing God who can do everything? Not to mention if this is all a part of your grand design, then you have a pretty crappy design if so many people are sent to Hell.</li>
<li>I don&#8217;t like prayer. Prayer, while done with good intentions, does nothing but make you feel like you did something for those you prayed for. Even as a Catholic, I saw prayer pointless. (Don&#8217;t even get me started on the rosary.) Yes, acknowledge the victims of a natural disaster. But at least donate if you truly care. I only have respect for your prayers if you follow them up with action. Praying for a sick grandmother? Remember to visit her in the hospital. Praying for those to get good grades? Help them study and encourage them before tests. Praying to win a football game? Motivate the team.</li>
<li>I&#8217;m for truth. Science constantly looks for the most current truth, and challenges it to avoid bias and mistakes. Science acknowledges uncertainties and accepts them gracefully. Science changes and evolves, which is necessary for the progression of our species. It should be no surprise that I want to pursue a career in science. Religion requires you to keep the same supposedly perfect beliefs and deny scientific evidence, possibly as the &#8220;devil&#8217;s work&#8221;. Religion needs blind faith, which seems to be unacceptable in everything but religion. (And your close family and/or friends.) If we were to judge people without evidence, courts would be a disaster. We <em>need</em> evidence. It&#8217;s only fair. A God that conveniently doesn&#8217;t leave evidence but requires you to believe anyway? Sounds fishy to me.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Edit November 26<sup>th</sup>, 2011:</strong> Fixed some typos.</p>]]></content:encoded>
<comments>http://chosen-destinies.co.cc/?id=4#comments</comments>
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<item>
<title>Teachers, please stop discouraging Wikipedia.</title>
<author>vanesa@chosen-destinies.co.cc (Chosen Destinies)</author>
<link>http://chosen-destinies.co.cc/?id=3</link>
<guid isPermaLink="true">http://chosen-destinies.co.cc/?id=3</guid>
<pubDate>Sat, 29 Oct 2011 03:04:31 -0400</pubDate>
<description>Unnecessary? Disclaimer: This is an opinion piece spontaneously written at nearly 3am. I may come back to edit and cite sources.

Whenever I hear a teacher answer someone asking why they can't use Wikipedia with, &quot;Because anyone can edit it&quot;, I cringe a little inside.

Yes, anyone can. Yes, you went for yourself, clicked &quot;edit&quot;, and saw the text box with the article. You may have deleted the text and typed a sentence. And yes, Wikipedia has been vandalized. But obviously, you haven't done enough research. And maybe lack some reasoning here.

Wikipedia is widely popular. Usually, an article on a general subject appears as one of the first results for that subject. If Wikipedia is as vandalized and unreliable, it wouldn't be so credible. Of course, this is saying &quot;it's popular, therefore it must be good&quot;, but if Wikipedia was full of unreliable information, it wouldn't be so commonly used. It wouldn't show up on the front page of Google results.

There may be many Wikipedia trolls out there, but you can't deny that those working to refine Wikipedia are there and, judging by simply looking through some articles, winning over those trolls. Pages are locked because of excessive vandalism. People who vandalize too much are banned. Disclaimers are put on the top of each article to indicate if an article needs polishing or more sources. &quot;[citation needed]&quot; helps make sure that any fact stated on the article is backed up. Wikipedia is improved and updated every day.

I can say for certain Wikipedia is not low-quality when it comes to factual information.

I do agree with not using Wikipedia as a source for school assignments. Besides looking unprofessional, as my sixth grade teacher said, I think it's just not the right type of source. 

&quot;Wiki&quot; means &quot;quick&quot; in Hawaiian. I interpret Wikipedia as &quot;quick&quot; encyclopedia that excellently summarizes information on a topic, linking to other articles to help better understand the topic. It's something to quickly refer to, whether it be a certain episode of a TV show or the basics of computer science. If you ever want to learn more, you do independent research or start with the citations on the article. But if you want a quick definition of a subject, Wikipedia does the job.

School assignments require more detail. Usually, students who want to use Wikipedia only use Wikipedia. If I were a teacher, I'd rather have a student have a book about their assignment than an article in an encyclopedia. Wikipedia doesn't focus on one topic. 

Rather than discourage Wikipedia altogether, teach students how to use Wikipedia to their advantage. Some examples:


A quick overview of facts
General knowledge of a subject
A way of how the subject's information can be organized
A place of potential sources for a topic
</description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><em>Unnecessary? Disclaimer: This is an opinion piece spontaneously written at nearly 3am. I may come back to edit and cite sources.</em></p>
<p>Whenever I hear a teacher answer someone asking why they can&#8217;t use Wikipedia with, &#8220;Because anyone can edit it&#8221;, I cringe a little inside.</p>
<p>Yes, anyone can. Yes, you went for yourself, clicked &#8220;edit&#8221;, and saw the text box with the article. You may have deleted the text and typed a sentence. And yes, Wikipedia has been vandalized. But obviously, you haven&#8217;t done enough research. And maybe lack some reasoning here.</p>
<p>Wikipedia is widely popular. Usually, an article on a general subject appears as one of the first results for that subject. If Wikipedia is as vandalized and unreliable, it wouldn&#8217;t be so credible. Of course, this is saying &#8220;it&#8217;s popular, therefore it must be good&#8221;, but if Wikipedia was full of unreliable information, it wouldn&#8217;t be so commonly used. It wouldn&#8217;t show up on the front page of Google results.</p>
<p>There may be many Wikipedia trolls out there, but you can&#8217;t deny that those working to refine Wikipedia are there and, judging by simply looking through some articles, winning over those trolls. Pages are locked because of excessive vandalism. People who vandalize too much are banned. Disclaimers are put on the top of each article to indicate if an article needs polishing or more sources. &#8220;[citation needed]&#8221; helps make sure that any fact stated on the article is backed up. Wikipedia is improved and updated every day.</p>
<p>I can say for certain Wikipedia is not low-quality when it comes to factual information.</p>
<p>I do agree with not using Wikipedia as a source for school assignments. Besides looking unprofessional, as my sixth grade teacher said, I think it&#8217;s just not the right type of source. </p>
<p>&#8220;Wiki&#8221; means &#8220;quick&#8221; in Hawaiian. I interpret Wikipedia as &#8220;quick&#8221; encyclopedia that excellently summarizes information on a topic, linking to other articles to help better understand the topic. It&#8217;s something to quickly refer to, whether it be a certain episode of a TV show or the basics of computer science. If you ever want to learn more, you do independent research or start with the citations on the article. But if you want a quick definition of a subject, Wikipedia does the job.</p>
<p>School assignments require more detail. Usually, students who want to use Wikipedia <em>only</em> use Wikipedia. If I were a teacher, I&#8217;d rather have a student have a book about their assignment than an article in an encyclopedia. Wikipedia doesn&#8217;t focus on one topic. </p>
<p>Rather than discourage Wikipedia altogether, teach students how to use Wikipedia to their advantage. Some examples:</p>
<ul>
<li>A quick overview of facts</li>
<li>General knowledge of a subject</li>
<li>A way of how the subject&#8217;s information can be organized</li>
<li>A place of potential sources for a topic</li>
</ul>]]></content:encoded>
<comments>http://chosen-destinies.co.cc/?id=3#comments</comments>
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</item>
<item>
<title>My Hypothetical Wedding (Unless I prefer cats.)</title>
<author>vanesa@chosen-destinies.co.cc (Chosen Destinies)</author>
<link>http://chosen-destinies.co.cc/?id=2</link>
<guid isPermaLink="true">http://chosen-destinies.co.cc/?id=2</guid>
<pubDate>Thu, 01 Sep 2011 15:38:00 -0400</pubDate>
<description>I want to be able to draw my layout, but I don't have a tablet and drawing with a mouse is sort of like trying to outline small letters with a really thick, broken crayon. I had to make that up right now - I don't hate mouse-drawing enough to create similes of my hatred of it in my spare time.

Still, a pen tablet would help me at least outline scans of my drawings. Then again, they might not be so helpful either. People think I'm artistic but I'm too interested in other things to really practice. The result is very, very messy artwork. Hell, I can hardly draw a straight line. With a ruler. (I'm not even exaggerating. That was a very sad art class, believe me.)

I was supposed to work more on this website today, but I helped my mom instead. She's a wedding/home decorator and florist who runs a business with her sister and brother-in-law. Apparently, this weekend is the most popular weekend for getting married (for them, at least) and they were incredibly busy. 

As a daughter of a wedding decorator, I can't help but think of weddings and even plan them. My mom doesn't really want me thinking about my wedding right now and focus on my education, but I can plan, right? Not that they'll ever go into fruition. I think that's the saddest part of this. 

So my ideas of it so far are as follows:
Well, ~obviously~ the colour scheme is rainbow. That's not really a good scheme but shut up, you're not the one getting married. 

It'll be underwater, but like in a dome underwater. That'll be possible in the future when I get married, right?

It will take place in the middle of winter, because weddings are usually before holidays or during the summer, and it'll spare my mom's sanity.

The money box will be a monster (like, a really big monster) riding a monster truck (not actual size.) Its mouth will be open to deposit the money and every time money is put into it, it will roar, &quot;OM NOM NOM NOM&quot;. As you can see, I'm putting a lot of faith that this sort of technology will be commonplace in the future. (I have a lot of faith in science.)

A zombie drill will take place to assure no killing of loved ones will be forced to take place on my happiest (epicest?) day. Actually, it can add as a warm-up for when the zombies actually do break out, and the day I finally tie the knot is also the day I get to kill hoards of zombies.

The wedding cake is going to be Futurama-themed or a rainbow cake, so it matches my colour scheme. I can be fashionable, really.

I'm going to RickRoll my future husband, sort of like how LittleKuriboh did. It'll be incredibly old and unfunny but I don't care.

The wedding entrance will be like this because duh.

Instead of the priest saying, &quot;I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss the bride&quot; (actually, is that what the priest really says? Also, I'm an atheist.) he will say, &quot;I now pronounce you man versus wife.&quot; (here he sort of chops between us like a referee right before a sparring match) &quot;Fight!&quot; and then instead of kissing, my husband and I will duel. Possibly to join forces later to defeat the zombies. Then we kiss, movie-style, after all of the zombies are destroyed. Brownie points goes to whoever got the reference here.

You know what? Now I'm starting to wonder if Mittens will match up to this awesomeness.</description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I want to be able to draw my layout, but I don&#8217;t have a tablet and drawing with a mouse is sort of like trying to outline small letters with a really thick, broken crayon. I had to make that up right now&#8212;I don&#8217;t hate mouse-drawing enough to create similes of my hatred of it in my spare time.</p>
<p>Still, a pen tablet would help me at least outline scans of my drawings. Then again, they might not be so helpful either. People think I&#8217;m artistic but I&#8217;m too interested in other things to really practice. The result is very, very messy artwork. Hell, I can hardly draw a straight line. With a ruler. (I&#8217;m not even exaggerating. That was a very sad art class, believe me.)</p>
<p>I was <em>supposed</em> to work more on this website today, but I helped my mom instead. She&#8217;s a wedding/home decorator and florist who runs a business with her sister and brother-in-law. Apparently, this weekend is the most popular weekend for getting married (for them, at least) and they were incredibly busy. </p>
<p>As a daughter of a wedding decorator, I can&#8217;t help but think of weddings and even plan them. My mom doesn&#8217;t really want me thinking about my wedding right now and focus on my education, but I can plan, right? Not that they&#8217;ll ever go into fruition. I think that&#8217;s the saddest part of this. </p>
<h3>So my ideas of it so far are as follows:</h3>
<p>Well, ~obviously~ the colour scheme is rainbow. That&#8217;s not really a good scheme but shut up, you&#8217;re not the one getting married. </p>
<p>It&#8217;ll be underwater, but like in a dome underwater. That&#8217;ll be possible in the future when I get married, right?</p>
<p>It will take place in the middle of winter, because weddings are usually before holidays or during the summer, and it&#8217;ll spare my mom&#8217;s sanity.</p>
<p>The money box will be a monster (like, a really big monster) riding a monster truck (not actual size.) Its mouth will be open to deposit the money and every time money is put into it, it will roar, &#8220;OM NOM NOM NOM&#8221;. As you can see, I&#8217;m putting a lot of faith that this sort of technology will be commonplace in the future. (I have a lot of faith in science.)</p>
<p>A <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g05OlRa0vzE" title="The Funniest Woman of the Internet (according to me) speaks at Ignite Evo">zombie drill</a> will take place to assure no killing of loved ones will be forced to take place on my happiest (epicest?) day. Actually, it can add as a warm-up for when the zombies actually <em>do</em> break out, and the day I finally tie the knot is also the day I get to kill hoards of zombies.</p>
<p>The wedding cake is going to be <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/alanosaur/sets/72157624966370955/" title="So gorgeous ;-;">Futurama</a>-themed or a rainbow cake, so it matches my colour scheme. I can be fashionable, really.</p>
<p>I&#8217;m going to RickRoll my future husband, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKRvtf6CIio" title="Never gonna give you up~!">sort of like how LittleKuriboh did</a>. It&#8217;ll be incredibly old and unfunny but I don&#8217;t care.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kav0FEhtLug" title="EVERYBODY... EVERYBODY IN THE HOUSE OF LOVE~">The wedding entrance will be like this because duh.</a></p>
<p>Instead of the priest saying, &#8220;I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss the bride&#8221; (actually, is that what the priest really says? Also, I&#8217;m an atheist.) he will say, &#8220;I now pronounce you man versus wife.&#8221; (here he sort of chops between us like a referee right before a sparring match) &#8220;Fight!&#8221; and then instead of kissing, my husband and I will duel. Possibly to join forces later to defeat the zombies. Then we kiss, movie-style, after all of the zombies are destroyed. Brownie points goes to whoever got the reference here.</p>
<p>You know what? Now I&#8217;m starting to wonder if Mittens will match up to this awesomeness.</p>]]></content:encoded>
<comments>http://chosen-destinies.co.cc/?id=2#comments</comments>
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</item>
<item>
<title>This might look a bit wonky.</title>
<author>vanesa@chosen-destinies.co.cc (Chosen Destinies)</author>
<link>http://chosen-destinies.co.cc/?id=1</link>
<guid isPermaLink="true">http://chosen-destinies.co.cc/?id=1</guid>
<pubDate>Wed, 31 Aug 2011 13:23:00 -0400</pubDate>
<description>...but I've finally gotten around to installing a decent commenting script. I may actually downgrade back to my old installation of FanUpdate just so it'll work with this layout, but I may even be too lazy for that. Besides, I should probably stay updated with FanUpdate 3 and modify it with a new layout.

So I don't think anybody will be reading this. Ah well. All three of my religious followers probably don't visit anymore. I'm going to try to start out fresh. I still have yet to make a new layout. The only thing really stopping me is my graphics skills. I suppose they're pretty good. Limited with Paint.NET, but I can make something look pretty. I hear GIMP is a great Photoshop clone, but I'm only skilled at Paint.NET. I would love to have hand-drawn designs. I asked for a Wacom tablet for my birthday and ended up getting my laptop instead. While incredibly useful, I still don't have a tablet. I haven't even used one yet, so it'll still be limited. Combined with high school (being in IB and all), it'll take a miracle for me to get a new layout and feel motivated to add more content.

I suppose I'll blog more, here. No one's listening, but whatever.</description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>&#8230;but I&#8217;ve finally gotten around to installing a decent commenting script. I may actually downgrade back to my old installation of FanUpdate just so it&#8217;ll work with this layout, but I may even be too lazy for that. Besides, I should probably stay updated with FanUpdate 3 and modify it with a new layout.</p>
<p>So I don&#8217;t think anybody will be reading this. Ah well. All three of my religious followers probably don&#8217;t visit anymore. I&#8217;m going to try to start out fresh. I still have yet to make a new layout. The only thing really stopping me is my graphics skills. I suppose they&#8217;re pretty good. Limited with Paint.NET, but I can make something look pretty. I hear GIMP is a great Photoshop clone, but I&#8217;m only skilled at Paint.NET. I would love to have hand-drawn designs. I asked for a Wacom tablet for my birthday and ended up getting my laptop instead. While incredibly useful, I still don&#8217;t have a tablet. I haven&#8217;t even used one yet, so it&#8217;ll still be limited. Combined with high school (being in IB and all), it&#8217;ll take a miracle for me to get a new layout and feel motivated to add more content.</p>
<p>I suppose I&#8217;ll blog more, here. No one&#8217;s listening, but whatever.</p>]]></content:encoded>
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