9X9

The mid-season finale was definitely one that got people talking. Since season nine began people have been speculating if Ezekiel is indeed a bad angel or not. Well this episode we find out that not only is he not Ezekiel, Ezekiel is dead. Of course, given the history of this show pretty much nothing positive happens to the Winchester brothers so it's not a huge surprise. So who is this new angel? Well apparently he is Gadreel, the angel who had the task of guarding the Garden of Eden. Which he obviously failed at, the serpent got in the Garden and succeeded in tempting Eve. So, this whole time he had been heavens prison but when all the angles fell that didn't exclude the imprisoned. Now speaking of fallen angels, the con man of heaven, Megatron makes an appearance this episode. Of course Megatron was the one who caused all the angels to fall by tricking Castiel, but none of the other angels know that. Megatron finds his next victim, Gadreel, to do his dirty work. The first part of this dirty work includes killing the prophet, the loveable, innocent, AP student Kevin Tran.  Initially I was upset over the death of Kevin since he’s endured nothing but hell since he became the prophet, but you never know with this show. People come back from hell, heaven and purgatory all the time in this show. With the amount of rage among the fans and utter denial of his death I have a feeling we will see him again sooner or later. 

9X6 Character development?

Season 8 ended with Sam injecting Crowley, the King of Hell, with human blood. Alas, we see some humanity from the most devious demon alive. Although, Sam didn’t succeed in converting Crowley back to human, his ray of humanity was briefly visible. Come season 9, it seemed Crowley was back to him old self. Stuck inside a devils trap in Sam and Dean’s bunker; enabling him to run hell. Episode 5 of season 9 is the first time we’re able to see that there is possibly some humanity remaining in him.

In this episode, Sam and Kevin need Crowley to help the decipher some of the ancient writing on the Angel tablet. Of course, Crowley is only willing to help for something in return. Crowley requests to make a call to Abanddon (the demon who has taken over running hell). In order to make a call to another demon, a bowl of blood must be present. Kevin fills a couple syringes of blood leaving a few left over. Near the end of the episode when Sam is putting everything away, he notices a syringe missing.

Sam heads back to the dungeon where Crowley is being held but stops before Crowley notices him. Sam stands near the doorway and watches as Crowley injects himself with the missing syringe. Of course the episode ends there, leaving it open for interpretation. To me this could either the beginning of a very interesting character development, or a get ‘out of jail free card’. Does Crowley really want to become human? Or does he want to become human enough to escape the devil trap? I think it would be very interesting watching Crowley’s transformation back to a human being. Would his personality drastically change? Would he still be as confident and brute? Or would he return to the human who sold his soul to a demon for a couple extra inches down there…

9X3

After this most recent episode I don't know whether so scream or cry. Both are probably good. The third episode of the new season and I was really just been waiting for Dean and Cas to be reunited. And of course it does happen in the last two minutes of the episode, but it doesn't last long.

Now, Meg was supposed to be the one to have sex with Cas first; for numerous reasons. She is the demon, who took care of him when he was gaining back his memory and gave him the nickname Clarence. Clarence is also the name he is going by now (for safety purposes). Instead, it had to be the angel who killed him the next morning. How very lovely. Of course Ezekiel heals Cas, but that's not really the point. Poor human Cas, who has been homeless since he got his grace stolen endures nothing but trouble. Cas is part of the reason why all the angels fell from heaven and that’s why they all want him dead.

Now, the last two minutes of the episode when Dean and Cas are reunited, Ezekiel says Cas must leave. Even though Sam and Dean stay in a bunker that is supposed to be safe from anything supernatural; angels excluded, I suppose. Cas is too big of a target, so everyone will be in danger if he stays there. Not sure where Cas is going to go now, and if he’s just going to be attracting trouble consistently. Hopefully he catches a break so he’s not in danger the whole season. 

9X5

So, Dean turning into man's best friend this episode was interesting to say the least. Although, not physically a dog, he was mentally. With the added benefit being able to communicate with not only dogs, but every other animal as well. Of course the sassiest of all being birds. Not only do they enjoy pooping on cars, they do it for fun. I knew it. "bet your ride is going to look sweet in white" - birds. (they use the spell to communicate with animals because the animals are the only witnesses)

The most disturbing part of this episode wasn't the fridge full of hearts and organs. It was watching 

the monster devour a live cat. The irony is that the "monster" is a human, who went a bit crazy to feel powerful. Dying from cancer he found his own form of alternative medicine. By ingesting certain animal organs with a shamanism spells he's able to temporarily gain powers of that animal. The sad thing is, if this was possible I have a feeling people would actually do it.

"Dog isn't really man's best friend. The real reason we were put here was to--" And the communicating with dogs spell wears off.

9X4 Halloween

There's nothing better than the Halloween special episodes. Although some people might say on a show about the supernatural "it's always kind of like Halloween", I can assure you it's not. Halloween is made to be fun, so the Halloween special episodes reflect that. The show itself is fun, but can tend to have serious themes going on. Thus, the Halloween episode is a brief relief from the serious situations. Of course my opinion may be a bit biased due to my favorite holiday being Halloween.

It made perfect sense for this episode that they included one of the most fun loving characters; Charlie. Charlie is basically the loveable nerd, who’s like Dean and Sam’s younger sister they never had. This episode they hunt the Wicked Witch of the West with the help of Dorothy herself.

The best part of this episode was how badass Dorothy actually is. Nothing like how she’s portrayed in the movie. Combat boots, motorcycle riding Dorothy likely isn’t what most people would have in mind. Of course she still had her red shoes, which actually contain poison to kill the Wicked Witch. She and Charlie made the perfect team; defeated the Wicked Witch and returned to Oz. Charlie gets to live her dream of living in a fantasy and nothing could suit her better. Even though Charlie is living in Oz I really hope that’s not that last we see of her. 

Writing differences

Differences in generations and person ability are huge contributions to skill development. Right now this generation relies on technology for almost everything. There are cellphones, tablets and computers that are capable of writing information, planning events and storing information. Accessibility  to these items help make life easier and more convenient but sometimes enabling us to learn things correctly.

Writing is a skill that we learn at a young age and develop over time. Helen Keller developed this skill although it was learnt in a different way then the majority of us had been taught. The two most vital senses I used when learning to write were the ones that Helen did'n't have; sight and sound. Verbally listening to instructions and begin able to observe is the easiest way for me to learn before physically trying.  Helen did not have the option of learning that way and had to rely on other senses. Although her alternate way of learning to write may have been more timing consuming, the result was the same; skill to write.

Writing by hand is less desirable for me because I find it to be tedious when the alternative of typing exists. Another factor why I prefer to type rather than handwrite is due to spelling and grammar. Technology  on a computer allows for mistakes to be recognized and fixed instantly. However, I will admit that such technology enables me to learn the words or take the time to correct them myself. Helen did not have the luxury  to press a button and have her errors corrected. Spelling and grammar were something Helen had to have correct to begin with when using a typewriter. There was no 'backspace' or spell check on a typewriter.

Race

      

     Social media sites such as twitter allow a person to reveal their identity, or remain anonymous by creating a screen name. When people are able to express their views anonymously they’re more inclined to be honest. This is because if what they say is not socially acceptable, or it’s hurtful to others, they’ll suffer no repercussions.  An example of this is would be cyber bullying. Cyber bulling can allow for the bully to remain anonymous, and get away with bashing others. Having no consequences for their actions only enables bad behavior, allowing it to repeat. People can be bullied for many reasons and when it involves race it can be viewed as racist. 

       
         Technology advances have created an accessible platform that allows the sharing of ideas and beliefs around the world while online. Problems surrounding race have existed for generations and it’s no surprise to see those problems evolving to the online community. A recent example with online anonymity and race was seen after the winner of Miss America 2013 was announced. Social media exploded after Nina Davuluri was announced the first winner having an Indian heritage. Following her victory she received harsh racist criticism’s and remarks through social media. That evening on twitter one of the top 10 tending topics in the world was ‘Miss America Terrorist’. There were numerous tweets of people expressing racist remakes by referring to her as a member of ‘Al Qaeda’, as well as expressing anger that an American didn't win. Not only were these claims ignorant, they also lacked validity. 

         Negative and hurtful remarks are easier to make online rather than face to face due to the fact that it’s less personable. So assuming that a percent of these people work, or attend school the question can be asked if they would make such blunt remarks in front of their peers or superiors? Some might, but the majority would not. If they did they would have to deal with the social consequences such as diffusing the conflict they created. Compared to online, when all they have to do is log off. For example, in Canada “improper conduct by an individual, that is directed at and offensive to another individual in the workplace” (Treasury Board of Canada) made to demean, or belittle someone could be considered Harassment. This is clearly stated under the Canadian Human Rights Act. Acts like this and laws against hate crimes exist in order to protect people in their social environment. 

          Since the online community is another form of social environment, laws protecting the wellbeing of others should be implemented there as well. Not only does the use of anonymity give people the confidence to express hate and bully others online, but it gives them the right. It gives them the right to do it because there’s nothing stopping them. Without holding people accountable for their behavior there’s no way to control it. That’s the whole purpose for laws; having punishments and consequences for breaking them. 

Rant

In order to show your respect for someone while in their presence you do so by showing them your undivided attention. That being said there is nothing that annoys me more than trying to have a conversation with someone who is on their phone every five seconds. I have heard the “I can multitask”, and the “I still heard everything” justifications for rude mannerisms and that only heightens my irritation. I don't care if you think you can multitask, it doesn't change the fact that what you're doing is rude.

Last week for example I was out for lunch with my mom, but she was out to lunch with her phone. As soon as we got to the restaurant the constant phone interruptions began. We were looking over the menu for a fair amount of time, or I suppose only I was because when it came time to order my mom hadn’t even looked at it yet. That annoyed me because the whole time I was telling her about items on the menu she would like, or that looked good. She admitted to not hearing a single word I said as she was a bit “busy” were her exact words. As far as I’m concerned the only thing that you should be “busy” doing at a restaurant is ordering your food and acknowledging who you’re there with.

Once we were done eating we were having a conversation about the new cast of Dancing with the Stars, I was particularly excited about Bill Nye and telling my mom a bit about him. At this point in the conversation my mom had been on her phone a multitude of times and I could tell I was having a conversation with myself. Not only did she refer to Bill Nye as “some science guy” but she thought I was talking about one of my professors.

Those were just a couple of examples from my lunch experience and it was something that irritated me more than usual because the only reason I even watch Dancing with the Stars is because it’s her favorite show. Also, the only reason we went for lunch is because she wanted to try that restaurant out, so an hour and a half is a reasonably small amount of time to sacrifice I would say. I just don’t understand the point in spending time with someone if you’re going to be on your phone the whole time. I would almost expect that sort of behaviour from some of my friends, but not from my mother.

Fear

There was a time when everything frightened me. Getting anxiety over anxiety basically. Eventually fear was hovering over every aspect of my life. It affected me daily. I was slowly being  devouring by fear. One day I finally decided I was sick of being afraid and letting fear control my life. In order to let go of fear I had to become reckless. I had to live as if there was no consequences. I truly believed to let go of fear once and for all I had to become the opposite of what I was. 

I decided to go on a vacation by myself which honestly scared me. Being alone in a different country, no one to rely on or comfort me. What if I got sick? What if I got lost? These were fears that the old me would have so they were pushed aside. 

Doing things I considered to be reckless, attending dangerous places, getting involved with strangers who were involved in all sorts of things. Drugs, stealing were considered just regular activities. I began to only develop more fear the more reckless I became. I started to wonder how these people could ever live like this. 

Then one day on vacation I met the most alluring and charismatic person. They embodied everything that made fear cease to exist. From their body language to a face that invited you. They embodied   everything that I admired and aspired to be. It had seemed as if nothing had tarnished their spirit. Yet they weren't reckless or dangerous in any way shape of form.

One day while at their house I stumbled upon something that altered my view of This person. It was a new paper clipping of a family that had been murdered with one survivor, my friend. My friend had survived, my friend had lost the most important thing. My friend who acted as if everyday was a blessing. How could someone lose everything and be so fearless?

I decided to ask about what I had found. My friend explained to me that fear was leached on for a very long time after the horrific event. Then as an adolescent living reckless to prove that fear wasn't an obstacle proved nothing, it was only over compensating for the fear. (Which made me think back to the reckless people I had met, they claimed to be fearless yet they carried guns and weapons). Soon my friend came to realize overcoming your fear had less to do with being reckless and acting like you're invincible. Overcoming it had more to do with realizing accepting that fear is inevitable but not acting off of that fear was the key. But the one thing my friend said that resonated with me the most was "how can you fear something that hasn't even happened yet? Or something that has already happened, what is there to fear then?" 

Thoughts

Why is Miley Cyrus the most talked about celebrity in the news? Why do we care what she doing? Why do we care what any celebrity is doing? Why is are even obsessed with this? Why do we consistently judge people we have never met? 

Although I must remain anonymous this is an indication of my personality. Questioning everything, although I prefer not to aloud.