What do you read?
What books/writers do you read? Do you prefer certain topics or writing-techniques? For example: I love that fictional-diary style of writing you might know from Arthur Conan Doyle or Lovecraft. Reading their works makes me feel like uncovering a real mystery.
How about you?
The Importance of marriage equality
What it means to prohibit gay-marriage is simple. The message is: "your lifestyle is invalid to us. We may not put you into concentration camps, but you´re still less then human."
This kind of thinking, the stupidity, apathy and intollerance behind it affect and diminish all of us on every level and there´s no way we´ll overcome the bigger challenges ahead of us if we can´t even establish equality over something as basic (and presumably insignificant) as gender, race or sexuality. Ongoing globalization, overpopulation, climate change, the need for alternative energies and an impending food crisis if we keep using pesticides the way we do – all of these topics demand openess, engagement and a willingness to look deeper. The very same things that so many of us lack on the topic of homosexuality.
But we need this kind of energy. Desperately, so wherever we get in touch with it and get to train it like a muscle so it can grow stronger, that´s very positive and it gives me hope for our future.
The way I see humanity, we´ve matured quite a bit over the past century. It´s true that only a few of us are progressive on a personal level, but if you look at the bigger picture, progress is the only true constant about our species, be it in terms of technology, medicine or culture. Cultural change is a slow process, happening over generations and it´s clearly heading towards liberalism, no matter how much people are trying to hinder it´s course.
Compare all of humanity to a single person. A teenager who has only just begun to take responsibility. Every now and then he might relapse into a more infantile state due to his insecurities (as embodied by fundamentalists like the republicans party in the U.S.) but for the most part he has realized that fairytales aren´t real, that his actions have consequences and he has just begun to develop a real sense of empathy.
He might die in an accident before he gets to unfold his full potential or maybe he isn´t strong enough or he lacks the support it takes, but these are just negative possibilities. Likewise, even though nothing lasts forever, a society is just the same: If you give it a chance and create a fitting environment it can grow and mature into something beautiful. Just like individuals can.
Marriage equality is a huge step in creating such an environment.
Ive been tagged
I was tagged right back by:
Rules:
1. You must post these rules.
2. Each person has to share 10 facts about themselves.
3. Answer the 10 questions asked by the person who tagged you and make up 10 questions for the 10 you tag.
4. Choose 10 people and put their icons in your journal.
5. Go to their page and inform them that they have been tagged by you.
6. Not something like "You are tagged if you read that".
7. You have to legitimately tag 10 people. (I probably won´t and I won´t expect you to )
8. No tag-backs. (to hell with this one!)
Ten (more) facts about me:
1.) I´m currently learning how to play the guitar. So far I´ve mastered 4 major-chords and the major-scale. I´ve been trying it for years, but never really kept going until I saw this: www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MgBik… (very inspiring for anyone who plans to learn anything)2.) I´m a very intuitive person.
3.) I love cooking, especially preparing stuff like cutting vegetables.
4.) I´m a fan of Astrid Lindgren, a famous swedish author. Due to her global engagement for deprived children she was said to “love all kids” to which she replied: “I don´t even love all kids but I respect all kids” – which, I believe, is the best way to approach people in general. Aside from that, I´ve grown up with her beautiful stories.5.) I hate competition. I can´t stand it when people are fighting or when they argue which band, soccer-team or actor is better and stuff like that.
6.) At first glance when you enter my apartment, you´d think I´m an alcoholic until you realize it´s all “dunkelbier” (dark-beer) which is an alcohol-free kind of children´s drink - although it´s bottled up and tastes a bit like actual beer. I´m addicted to that stuff, which is kind of pathetic in the eyes of my fellow germans (germans take a good amount of pride in drinking real beer) 
7.) I´m trying to see every human being I get to know as a totally new and unique kind of creature.
8.) I´m a little afraid of spiders, but I never kill them. It´s like a contract between me and them: I don´t harm them and in return, they have to stay away from my bed and are not allowed to jump at me. So far, it works!
9.) I don´t believe in astrology, but here we go: I´m a Taurus Sun, Libra Rising, Pisces Moon... my Mars is in Aquarius, Mercury is in Gemini and... I´m not sure about the rest but my chinese Horoscope is a little cooler: I´m an Earth Dragon! I only know these things because my parents analyzed my horoscope in detail when I was born.
10.) Above all other things I do (like music or art) I´d like to be a writer. Nothing else comes as natural to me.
Questions I was asked:
1.) If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go?
Scandinavia, England and America because most of the People/Things I love and admire come from these places. Pretty much anything in terms of music, books, movies and if I´m fascinated with someones Work, I´d love to know how they live...
2.) How long would you stay in that place if money didn't matter?
I can´t see the point of sightseing-trips. You can see 30 historical buildings in 2 days, take a picture of each and then be gone in one big rush. I´d rather explore these places on my own and participate in day to day life to see how it feels and how it affects me... therefore I´d like to stay as long as possible.
3.) Do you like cats or dogs better?
Cats... I don´t like dogs any less but I´m way more comfortable with cats. I feel bad about keeping an animal on a leash and being dominant. I realize dogs need this and it doesn´t hurt them, it´s just not in my nature...
4.) Could you become a vegetarian?
I think so... I never tried but I do care about free-range systems and most of the meat I eat is Chicken. It´s not so much the fact that we´re eating animals but the way they are kept and bred that worries me, so I do avoid companies such as McDonalds and rafrain from buying (cheaper) animal-products from factory farming.
5.) Do you like snow?Yes, very much! I love the sight of snow-covered cities and forests... I do enjoy cold weather in general cause the cold is easier to fight than heat.
6.) Are you interested in learning any languages?Yes, but I don´t have any preferences except for english. I wouldn´t mind learning italian, spanish, japanese, russian, ... anything really!
7.) Favorite flower?
Huge Sunflowers!
8.) Favorite season?
Spring! Especially that timespan when it´s barely warm enough to go out without a jacket at day and a little too cold at night...
9.) Are you patient?I´m very patient... I only tend to finnish tasks that involve (a) spending time among big crowds of people or (b) maneuvering through big crowds of people as quick as I can (in a military fashion, as I was told). I´m really patient with individuals though, as well as with things I´m working on.
10.) Do you like long train rides?I do. I´ll spend the entire time gazing at the passing landscapes, drawing sketches or writing a few lines into my notebook every now and then. Either that or I´ll spend my time talking to a friend...
My Questions:
01.) If you had the chance to master one skill, just by snapping your fingers, what would it be?
02.) Are you scared of infinity in any form (time or space for example)?
03.) What are your favourite and least favourite foods?
04.) What´s the first thing, person or scenario that comes to your mind when you´re thinking of magic?
05.) Did you ever create some kind of fiction? Like writing or drawing comics?
06.) Who, aside from your parents, was your biggest influence as a child?
07.) If aliens were approaching planet earth and you had the chance to send them a message, to prepare them before they arrive, what would you tell them?
08.) Would you rather become a Vampire or a Werewolf? (We´re talking Underworld, not Twilight)
09.) You can change one thing about our society, what is it?
10.) What´s the strangest thing you ever saw?
Tagging:
Mad Max - Fury Road
The movie takes itself serious!!! No meta-level humour or superficial depth and no needless explainations to make up for some viewers lack of imagination. It´s just a fucked up world, filled with equally troubled characters, mutants and weird cults built around the remnants of a long gone civilisation. With no compromise, you´re simply thrown into this wild rollercoaster ride.
Action (and filmmaking in general) doesn´t get any better than this:
www.facebook.com/pages/Unlucky…
Does anyone one of you guys have an Artist´s Profile on Facebook?