I stayed awake through the night again...

Replaying that night through my head...
I swear Letters & Lights songs get stuck in my head so often!! Well, I'm sitting here at sugarhouse coffee again... It isn't like I blog from anywhere else, you know... 24 oz iced americano with cream. story of my life. Anyway, SPA's prom was last night. It wasn't really last night but it feels like it since I didn't sleep last night... All right, so Saturday night was SPA's prom. We were out playing in the park at 10 am and prom ended at 11 pm. Then Sidni and Bobby and I went and took pictures with the city lights in the background up by Bailie's house if you know where that is... Good times (: Jeremy was my date. It was a lot of fun... I was exhausted afterward!! I took a ton of pictures, but unfortunately, I cannot find my camera cord ANYWHERE!! I searched for almost two hours straight... Oh well, it'll show up eventually; everything does with time.

Let's move on to books... I'm currently in the last section of Darwin's Black Box. It covers a lot of things that Darwin's Cathedral didn't. Most of the chapters go into excruciating detail on examples of theories or directly quote researchers' papers, so I don't really know how to summarize it. Let's just say that I've never been more glad that my blood clots correctly and that Bombardier beetles don't live in Utah.

Actually we'll describe those for a bit. Bombardier beetles are probably the most exciting bugs about which I've ever read. Not that I read about bugs very often, but you catch my drift. These bugs have developed a system in which they mix hydroquinine and hydrogen peroxide and then add catalase. The catalase causes the mixture to explode and heat up to a boiling temperature which is then released onto any threatening predator. Crazy right? I think so. I've probably learned more biology and biochemistry from this book than I have in all my years of school put together. Sad.

The other night I took the time to re-read Plato's The Symposium. It goes up pretty high on my all time favourite books list, right with The Republic and Candide ((by Voltaire... fellow coffee addicts unite!! Did you know Voltaire used to drink up to 70 cups of coffee a day? He thought it sparked his creativity.)). In The Symposium a lot of different arguments are brought up on the subject of Love, and Socrates' argument comes second to last. In case you didn't know, Plato always wrote in dialogue ((hence the term "Platonic dialogue")) because he didn't trust anything portrayed other than through speech. Each one of the men present at the symposium bring up different arguments, but I'm not going to describe them; you should take the time to read the arguments sometime yourself. However, I will throw in some mythology since it seems to be getting quoted quite a lot lately. It's an interesting twist on creation. Basically what Aristophanes, one of the speakers, describes is an alternative creation in which each human being was more circular and had two heads, four arms, four legs, etc. There were originally three sexes, male, female, and androgynous. Zeus was unhappy with their disobedience and their lack of sacrifice, so he struck each being in half with lighting bolts. Each being walked around bleeding from the center until Zeus took pity on them and had Apollo close them like drawstring bags, leaving only a small indentation on their stomachs as a reminder of their punishment. Each half-being wandered the earth searching for their other part, the males searching for males, the females searching for females, and the androgynous beings each searching for their counterpart. In this way, Aristophanes gives an explanation for homosexuality, which is later discussed by the men, stating that, "Those who are cut from the male gender go for males. While they are boys, because they are slices of the male gender, they are attracted to men and enjoy sleeping with men and being embraced by them. These are the best of their generation, both as boys and young men, because they are naturally the bravest. ... Here is clear evidence that this: men like this are the only ones who, when grown up, end up as politicians." Isn't it interesting how society has changed? Especially in Utah, where people get arrested for kissing on Temple grounds...

That's all for now, since I want to read more... Let's end on a note of jewelry shall we? My August birthstones are peridot, sardonyx, diamonds, onyx,& tourmaline. As a Leo, my Zodiac birthstone is onyx. I wear an onyx ring on my right index finger. Some of the powers onyx is said to hold include eliminating negative thoughts, relieving stress, promoting spiritual inspiration, and sharpening the wits. Sounds like a good plan right? I think so. You should go look up your birthstones too!!

Shoutout to Sara Best for reading my blog (: you're pretty dank.
Don't ask. Just know I love you dearly!!

audioventus.♥