Chapter III: Rose Contemplates Cal
"Frummph." Rose said out loud to herself. She stared down at her watch, "My God!" She said, "it's time for me to go to class!" She got up from her table, and she walked to class. As she was walking down the hallway to her next class, however, her mind was spinning and buzzing with a multitude of thoughts. She felt very dizzy and confused. She felt so confused, that she could feel her neck muscles tightening, and the muscles on her forehead beginning to tingle, then it hit! "AAH." she screamed out in pain, she had a TENSION HEADACHE!
She walked into Biology class, the Latin meaning of the name was 'the study of life,' for her, it was more like 'an hour from hell!' Despite Mr. Drew's constant attempts to have her pay attention to his labourous description of the functions of the cell, which included DNA transcription by mRNA, Rose found her mind wandering, her thoughts consisting of her budding relationship with Cal. Rose figured she didn't need Biology anyway, she didn't like science, and planned on going to a junior college, whose admission boards were not nitpicky about grades and classes. Anyway, Mr. Drew gave Rose a dirty look, and he said, "Rose, I hope, for your sake, you GET YOUR ACT TOGETHER. I mean, next year, you'll HAVE TO TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF!" His words had no effect on Rose.
Rose still felt as though she was in a state of confusion, as she got up out of her chair. Mandy greeted her. Mandy walked with her out of the door. She said, "I don't get it Rose, how come you NEVER pay attention in class?" It was to this question that Rose replied, "Mandy, you don't get it, WE DON'T need Biology. I don't understand why you ALWAYS go ALONG WITH THE SYSTEM?" Mandy gave Rose a confused look, and she said, "But Rose, don't our futures depend on how well we do in school?" Rose replied, "My dear Mandy, we ALL make our futures in different ways. It doesn't depend on your grades in school. YOUR SUCCESS IN LIFE DEPENDS ON WHETHER OR NOT YOU LISTEN TO YOUR HEART! NOW THAT'S SOMETHING THAT MR. DREW, FOR ALL OF HIS SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE, COULD NOT TEACH US. I mean, come on, DO YOU REALLY THINK WE'RE GOING TO USE ALL OF THAT CRAP they teach us? The real lessons from life come from living, and NOT FROM READING A BOOK!" Mandy paused in deep thought for a moment, then she said, "You know.I think you have a REAL point there. I mean, the counselors always tell us that 'doing well in school is important because it determines your future', but I guess if you don't live and experience the real messages in your heart, you'll never get anywhere in life." Mandy's thought process was interrupted in mid-sentence by an enlightened phrase that Rose bequeathed to her, which would change the way that Mandy thought forever!
My dear Mandy, what we witness at our high school today is none other than an elabourate
Brainwashing scheme, on the part of the seniors and the authorities to try to mould us in 'their'
Image.
Mandy froze, the words 'their image enraptured her mind, now here was a concept that she, for all of her academic ability, had never thought of before! Rose continued her thoughts
You see, it is the design of the authorities to try to control the way the youth thinks, under the
Ostensible guise of 'preparing us for the life ahead.' Do you really think that, unless we take
Up a career in medicine, or we work in a lab, we will ever utilize the knowledge that is being
Imparted to us in Biology, or in other classes, for that matter. You see, many of the world's
Geniuses were failures by the standards of their nations' academic systems, yet their sense
Of curiosity prevailed, and they were able to use their own INTELLECTUAL curiosity to
Ask questions and find answers to them. School, for the most part, imparts a sense of
Obedience in the system, and nothing more. It attempts to pass along some of the skills
Students are perceived to need, but fails miserably. School teaches conformity and adherence
To standards, yet life is about none of this. An adept person who is capable of critical thinking
And analysis will be able to, quickly, imbibe the knowledge that is imparted to us in class. In
Fact, at this school, and at many others, knowledge is not imparted, rather, a lot of meaningless
Facts are bestowed upon us, which we are obliged to make sense out of, out of our own mechanisms.
Life is unscripted, and it is as much about gleaning information 'from tea leaves' as it is about
Reading between the lines. You CAN'T LEARN HOW TO DO THAT FROM READING A BOOK!
TO KNOW HOW TO HANDLE LIFE, YOU MUST LIVE IT, BECAUSE LIFE IS THE GREATEST
AND MOST IMPORTANT TEACHER WE WILL EVER HAVE. I CAN NAME A LOT OF PEOPLE
WHO WERE SUCCESSFUL ACADEMICALLY, YET FAILED IN BEING SUCCESSFUL AT LIFE,
AND THUS, WERE RENDERED TO THE 'HAS BEEN' GARBAGE PILE OF LIFE, AND I CAN
TELL YOU OF NUMEROUS PEOPLE WHO DID NOT EXCEL ACADEMICALLY, YET BECAME
FAMOUS DUE TO THEIR ABILITY TO EXCEL IN LIFE. EINSTEIN IS ONE SUCH EXAMPLE!
Mandy stopped and a dumb founded look came over her face. She said in a very quiet tone, "I see what you mean, and I think you're right. For all of my academic ability, I have been missing out on the best of life!" Then Mandy looked at Rose with a gleam in her eye, and she said, "so, what were you thinking about in Biology class, I know it COULDN'T be DNA transcription."
Rose's brow became furled, as though she was going through a difficult time in her life. A look of concern appeared over her face, and she said, in a troubled voice, "well it's about Cal." It was at this point in time that Mandy's voice jumped up, and she squealed in delight, "OH MY GOD! You're dating Caledon Hockley? You LUCKY girl, I mean, I would KILL to date HIM. You GODDESS, you don't KNOW HOW LUCKY YOU ARE! Tell, tell." Suddenly, a lump formed in Rose's throat, and she looked at Mandy in disbelief, 'I don't believe it.' she thought, 'she's just as brainwashed by image and status as everyone else is! I mean, Cal's a jerk, he's no gentleman, I'd rather date JACK! But, I guess Mandy, and the other girls are too enamoured by status to look at the true quality of a person!' To confirm her suspicion, in much the same way that a scientist conducts experiments to confirm hypotheses, Rose asked Mandy, "Mandy, why do you think Cal's hot stuff?" Mandy responded, "Isn't it obvious? I mean, he's RICH, he's POPULAR, he comes from the WHO'S WHO OF SOCIETY, and he's WELL-CONNECTED!" Mandy shrieked in delight. Rose stared away at the buildings in deep contemplation, and she responded, "Oh.,. I see." Mandy looked at Rose in concern, "Is there anything wrong?" Rose sighed and she said, "nothing, it's just that.Oh never mind, you wouldn't understand."
Mandy grabbed Rose's hand in desperation, as though she wanted Rose to bear her heart to her. Rose glared at Mandy, and it was the look that burned in Rose's eyes that made Mandy take a few steps back. Mandy thought she was taking just 3 or 4 steps back, but she must have miscounted, because she almost fell off of the stairs. 'OOH.' Mandy exclaimed as she grabbed at the rail in a struggle for balance. Mandy was concerned, confused, and afraid! She had never seen such a burning glare in anyone's eyes before, let alone Rose's. Rose appeared to be such a cordial person, however, now, Rose's, normally, deep blue and expressive eyes burned with a very determined and intense yellow flame. Mandy couldn't quite put her finger on it, but she could sense that there was something spiritual about the flame that burned in Rose's eyes. Mandy knew that Rose was rebellious, but, Mandy could sense that there was something stirring in Rose, some sort of ancient and feral spirit, that was JUST WAITING TO ESCAPE, GIVEN THE RIGHT OPPORTUNITY! Rose's eyes were on fire now, and the intense yellow flame that was now burning in her eyes appeared to emanate from the depths of her soul? The light illuminated her eyes, and brought out a strange amber hue to them. Mandy had never seen such a look in anyone's eyes before in her life. If Mandy didn't know better, she could swear that somehow, Rose was not human, rather, she was some sort of SPIRIT!
Mandy may have been more academically inclined, but she was far from a geek. She said, "Rose, I don't get it, from the look in your eyes, I can sense that something's not up." Now Mandy was cowering, and she was looking at Rose with a very timid look in her green eyes. When Rose looked into Mandy's eyes, she could see that the flame of life that burned in everyone's eyes had been virtually extinguished in Mandy's eyes. Then Mandy, timidly whispered, "What's wrong, there's something that I'm not getting. For once, I don't want to be the one who's left in the dark!"
Rose replied, "Mandy, you may express desire for change, but you wouldn't understand what's going on. Don't ask any more questions, just leave it at that." With that, Rose determinedly walked away from Mandy in a 60 degree angle, and in a vector whose direction extended towards the North East. Rose was, geometrically speaking, walking away from Mandy into a different plane. Plane geometry, and Multi-variable calculus tell us that the world is divided into many planes. Everything that moves on this Earth, according to both of the disciplines can be described as a variable, or an object, whose movement can be described as a vector with magnitude (movement that can be measured) and direction (that can be measured on an abstract numerical line). Different objects move in different pre- determined directions. An object can move in vectors whose paths extend according to the dimensions of height, width, and length, and sometimes, an object can move in more than one direction simultaneously. Those of us who remember plane geometry will know that the movements of vectors are actually angles, and that different objects can move in a variety of different angles, which are known as angle sets. Every object has different angle sets, which are predetermined by the maker, which it moves in. Also, every object moves in certain sub planes. A discipline, called chaos theory, which is a part of quantum physics says that every moving object (living and non-living) in the universe behaves in ways that can be modeled by calculus. In other words, every moving object's movement can be described by equations. Sometimes, certain constants, which we know as 'unforeseen events' and as actions by other moving objects, can enter into the equations, that both describe objects' movements, and influence their movement and growth and development (in the case of living organisms). These can change the nature of equations, and thus, they can change the development of living things. In the 1960's, the noted physicist, Edward Lorenz, discovered this phenomena, and used the phrase, 'a flap of a butterfly wing in Mexico can start a blizzard in Russia' to describe this phenomena, which stated that seemingly unrelated phenomena, no matter how small in origin, can affect many systems at once, reverbrate off of them, and cause huge unforeseen events. This was happening between Rose and the rest of the student body, both emotionally, and spiritually. Cal had been the unforeseen event, and the constant, who by meeting, and spending time with Rose, had served to affect the equations that could model the patterns and frequency (read probability and mathematical modeling here) of Rose's emotional and spiritual thought processes. The result had been that Rose's spirit and emotional frame set were changing, and hence, so were the equations that would describe the behaviour, in relation to the rest of the student body, whose spiritual and emotional frame sets were not changing. This was putting Rose on a different spiritual and astral plane, as well.
As Rose walked away, she could feel a milleu of thoughts whirring in and out of her mind, which served as the locus for these seemingly varied and unrelated thoughts. For Rose, one thought served to spawn another controversial one. Though Rose did not realize it, she was witnessing chaos theory at work, because every thought served to change the way Rose thought forever! Here is what Rose was thinking, 'I DON'T get this! I mean, I THOUGHT Cal WAS HOT STUFF. There was something about the way he looked at me, the way his eyes met mine, which told me that he WAS mine, or so I thought. I just don't get what's going on. I mean, on the one hand, I FEEL as though I'm in LOVE with him, but something DEEP DOWN inside tells me that HE IS NOT THE ONE FOR ME! This is very confusing for me, and it would help if I could get SOME support from MY friends, but none of them SEEM to understand what I'm SEEING. They're too smitten by Cal's outward and supposedly gentlemanly appearance to understand that DEEP DOWN INSIDE, HE'S NO GOOD! I mean I DON'T UNDERSTAND WHO I CAN CONFIDE IN for THIS EARTHSHATTERING MOMENT. IT IS MOMENTS LIKE THESE, and NOT LEEWONHOEK discovering bacteria cells that are REALLY IMPORTANT IN LIFE. YET NO ONE SEEMS TO UNDERSTAND THAT! Who can I tell my thoughts to?'
It was chilly, because it was late in the fall, and Rose was huffing. Her cheeks were a bright pink colour, to signify health. It was then that she felt a tap on her shoulder. Startled, she turned around, and she saw that it was JACK! "Why, Jack," she spat out, startled, "what brings you here?" Jack looked at her with a genuine look of concern in his deep and mysterious blue eyes, as he said, "I sensed you were in pain and needed help, what's wrong?"
Rose sighed, this phenomena was blowing her mind, she wasn't quite sure how she could relay her problems to Jack, but, she thought to herself, 'I guess there's a first time for EVERYTHING!'
"Frummph." Rose said out loud to herself. She stared down at her watch, "My God!" She said, "it's time for me to go to class!" She got up from her table, and she walked to class. As she was walking down the hallway to her next class, however, her mind was spinning and buzzing with a multitude of thoughts. She felt very dizzy and confused. She felt so confused, that she could feel her neck muscles tightening, and the muscles on her forehead beginning to tingle, then it hit! "AAH." she screamed out in pain, she had a TENSION HEADACHE!
She walked into Biology class, the Latin meaning of the name was 'the study of life,' for her, it was more like 'an hour from hell!' Despite Mr. Drew's constant attempts to have her pay attention to his labourous description of the functions of the cell, which included DNA transcription by mRNA, Rose found her mind wandering, her thoughts consisting of her budding relationship with Cal. Rose figured she didn't need Biology anyway, she didn't like science, and planned on going to a junior college, whose admission boards were not nitpicky about grades and classes. Anyway, Mr. Drew gave Rose a dirty look, and he said, "Rose, I hope, for your sake, you GET YOUR ACT TOGETHER. I mean, next year, you'll HAVE TO TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF!" His words had no effect on Rose.
Rose still felt as though she was in a state of confusion, as she got up out of her chair. Mandy greeted her. Mandy walked with her out of the door. She said, "I don't get it Rose, how come you NEVER pay attention in class?" It was to this question that Rose replied, "Mandy, you don't get it, WE DON'T need Biology. I don't understand why you ALWAYS go ALONG WITH THE SYSTEM?" Mandy gave Rose a confused look, and she said, "But Rose, don't our futures depend on how well we do in school?" Rose replied, "My dear Mandy, we ALL make our futures in different ways. It doesn't depend on your grades in school. YOUR SUCCESS IN LIFE DEPENDS ON WHETHER OR NOT YOU LISTEN TO YOUR HEART! NOW THAT'S SOMETHING THAT MR. DREW, FOR ALL OF HIS SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE, COULD NOT TEACH US. I mean, come on, DO YOU REALLY THINK WE'RE GOING TO USE ALL OF THAT CRAP they teach us? The real lessons from life come from living, and NOT FROM READING A BOOK!" Mandy paused in deep thought for a moment, then she said, "You know.I think you have a REAL point there. I mean, the counselors always tell us that 'doing well in school is important because it determines your future', but I guess if you don't live and experience the real messages in your heart, you'll never get anywhere in life." Mandy's thought process was interrupted in mid-sentence by an enlightened phrase that Rose bequeathed to her, which would change the way that Mandy thought forever!
My dear Mandy, what we witness at our high school today is none other than an elabourate
Brainwashing scheme, on the part of the seniors and the authorities to try to mould us in 'their'
Image.
Mandy froze, the words 'their image enraptured her mind, now here was a concept that she, for all of her academic ability, had never thought of before! Rose continued her thoughts
You see, it is the design of the authorities to try to control the way the youth thinks, under the
Ostensible guise of 'preparing us for the life ahead.' Do you really think that, unless we take
Up a career in medicine, or we work in a lab, we will ever utilize the knowledge that is being
Imparted to us in Biology, or in other classes, for that matter. You see, many of the world's
Geniuses were failures by the standards of their nations' academic systems, yet their sense
Of curiosity prevailed, and they were able to use their own INTELLECTUAL curiosity to
Ask questions and find answers to them. School, for the most part, imparts a sense of
Obedience in the system, and nothing more. It attempts to pass along some of the skills
Students are perceived to need, but fails miserably. School teaches conformity and adherence
To standards, yet life is about none of this. An adept person who is capable of critical thinking
And analysis will be able to, quickly, imbibe the knowledge that is imparted to us in class. In
Fact, at this school, and at many others, knowledge is not imparted, rather, a lot of meaningless
Facts are bestowed upon us, which we are obliged to make sense out of, out of our own mechanisms.
Life is unscripted, and it is as much about gleaning information 'from tea leaves' as it is about
Reading between the lines. You CAN'T LEARN HOW TO DO THAT FROM READING A BOOK!
TO KNOW HOW TO HANDLE LIFE, YOU MUST LIVE IT, BECAUSE LIFE IS THE GREATEST
AND MOST IMPORTANT TEACHER WE WILL EVER HAVE. I CAN NAME A LOT OF PEOPLE
WHO WERE SUCCESSFUL ACADEMICALLY, YET FAILED IN BEING SUCCESSFUL AT LIFE,
AND THUS, WERE RENDERED TO THE 'HAS BEEN' GARBAGE PILE OF LIFE, AND I CAN
TELL YOU OF NUMEROUS PEOPLE WHO DID NOT EXCEL ACADEMICALLY, YET BECAME
FAMOUS DUE TO THEIR ABILITY TO EXCEL IN LIFE. EINSTEIN IS ONE SUCH EXAMPLE!
Mandy stopped and a dumb founded look came over her face. She said in a very quiet tone, "I see what you mean, and I think you're right. For all of my academic ability, I have been missing out on the best of life!" Then Mandy looked at Rose with a gleam in her eye, and she said, "so, what were you thinking about in Biology class, I know it COULDN'T be DNA transcription."
Rose's brow became furled, as though she was going through a difficult time in her life. A look of concern appeared over her face, and she said, in a troubled voice, "well it's about Cal." It was at this point in time that Mandy's voice jumped up, and she squealed in delight, "OH MY GOD! You're dating Caledon Hockley? You LUCKY girl, I mean, I would KILL to date HIM. You GODDESS, you don't KNOW HOW LUCKY YOU ARE! Tell, tell." Suddenly, a lump formed in Rose's throat, and she looked at Mandy in disbelief, 'I don't believe it.' she thought, 'she's just as brainwashed by image and status as everyone else is! I mean, Cal's a jerk, he's no gentleman, I'd rather date JACK! But, I guess Mandy, and the other girls are too enamoured by status to look at the true quality of a person!' To confirm her suspicion, in much the same way that a scientist conducts experiments to confirm hypotheses, Rose asked Mandy, "Mandy, why do you think Cal's hot stuff?" Mandy responded, "Isn't it obvious? I mean, he's RICH, he's POPULAR, he comes from the WHO'S WHO OF SOCIETY, and he's WELL-CONNECTED!" Mandy shrieked in delight. Rose stared away at the buildings in deep contemplation, and she responded, "Oh.,. I see." Mandy looked at Rose in concern, "Is there anything wrong?" Rose sighed and she said, "nothing, it's just that.Oh never mind, you wouldn't understand."
Mandy grabbed Rose's hand in desperation, as though she wanted Rose to bear her heart to her. Rose glared at Mandy, and it was the look that burned in Rose's eyes that made Mandy take a few steps back. Mandy thought she was taking just 3 or 4 steps back, but she must have miscounted, because she almost fell off of the stairs. 'OOH.' Mandy exclaimed as she grabbed at the rail in a struggle for balance. Mandy was concerned, confused, and afraid! She had never seen such a burning glare in anyone's eyes before, let alone Rose's. Rose appeared to be such a cordial person, however, now, Rose's, normally, deep blue and expressive eyes burned with a very determined and intense yellow flame. Mandy couldn't quite put her finger on it, but she could sense that there was something spiritual about the flame that burned in Rose's eyes. Mandy knew that Rose was rebellious, but, Mandy could sense that there was something stirring in Rose, some sort of ancient and feral spirit, that was JUST WAITING TO ESCAPE, GIVEN THE RIGHT OPPORTUNITY! Rose's eyes were on fire now, and the intense yellow flame that was now burning in her eyes appeared to emanate from the depths of her soul? The light illuminated her eyes, and brought out a strange amber hue to them. Mandy had never seen such a look in anyone's eyes before in her life. If Mandy didn't know better, she could swear that somehow, Rose was not human, rather, she was some sort of SPIRIT!
Mandy may have been more academically inclined, but she was far from a geek. She said, "Rose, I don't get it, from the look in your eyes, I can sense that something's not up." Now Mandy was cowering, and she was looking at Rose with a very timid look in her green eyes. When Rose looked into Mandy's eyes, she could see that the flame of life that burned in everyone's eyes had been virtually extinguished in Mandy's eyes. Then Mandy, timidly whispered, "What's wrong, there's something that I'm not getting. For once, I don't want to be the one who's left in the dark!"
Rose replied, "Mandy, you may express desire for change, but you wouldn't understand what's going on. Don't ask any more questions, just leave it at that." With that, Rose determinedly walked away from Mandy in a 60 degree angle, and in a vector whose direction extended towards the North East. Rose was, geometrically speaking, walking away from Mandy into a different plane. Plane geometry, and Multi-variable calculus tell us that the world is divided into many planes. Everything that moves on this Earth, according to both of the disciplines can be described as a variable, or an object, whose movement can be described as a vector with magnitude (movement that can be measured) and direction (that can be measured on an abstract numerical line). Different objects move in different pre- determined directions. An object can move in vectors whose paths extend according to the dimensions of height, width, and length, and sometimes, an object can move in more than one direction simultaneously. Those of us who remember plane geometry will know that the movements of vectors are actually angles, and that different objects can move in a variety of different angles, which are known as angle sets. Every object has different angle sets, which are predetermined by the maker, which it moves in. Also, every object moves in certain sub planes. A discipline, called chaos theory, which is a part of quantum physics says that every moving object (living and non-living) in the universe behaves in ways that can be modeled by calculus. In other words, every moving object's movement can be described by equations. Sometimes, certain constants, which we know as 'unforeseen events' and as actions by other moving objects, can enter into the equations, that both describe objects' movements, and influence their movement and growth and development (in the case of living organisms). These can change the nature of equations, and thus, they can change the development of living things. In the 1960's, the noted physicist, Edward Lorenz, discovered this phenomena, and used the phrase, 'a flap of a butterfly wing in Mexico can start a blizzard in Russia' to describe this phenomena, which stated that seemingly unrelated phenomena, no matter how small in origin, can affect many systems at once, reverbrate off of them, and cause huge unforeseen events. This was happening between Rose and the rest of the student body, both emotionally, and spiritually. Cal had been the unforeseen event, and the constant, who by meeting, and spending time with Rose, had served to affect the equations that could model the patterns and frequency (read probability and mathematical modeling here) of Rose's emotional and spiritual thought processes. The result had been that Rose's spirit and emotional frame set were changing, and hence, so were the equations that would describe the behaviour, in relation to the rest of the student body, whose spiritual and emotional frame sets were not changing. This was putting Rose on a different spiritual and astral plane, as well.
As Rose walked away, she could feel a milleu of thoughts whirring in and out of her mind, which served as the locus for these seemingly varied and unrelated thoughts. For Rose, one thought served to spawn another controversial one. Though Rose did not realize it, she was witnessing chaos theory at work, because every thought served to change the way Rose thought forever! Here is what Rose was thinking, 'I DON'T get this! I mean, I THOUGHT Cal WAS HOT STUFF. There was something about the way he looked at me, the way his eyes met mine, which told me that he WAS mine, or so I thought. I just don't get what's going on. I mean, on the one hand, I FEEL as though I'm in LOVE with him, but something DEEP DOWN inside tells me that HE IS NOT THE ONE FOR ME! This is very confusing for me, and it would help if I could get SOME support from MY friends, but none of them SEEM to understand what I'm SEEING. They're too smitten by Cal's outward and supposedly gentlemanly appearance to understand that DEEP DOWN INSIDE, HE'S NO GOOD! I mean I DON'T UNDERSTAND WHO I CAN CONFIDE IN for THIS EARTHSHATTERING MOMENT. IT IS MOMENTS LIKE THESE, and NOT LEEWONHOEK discovering bacteria cells that are REALLY IMPORTANT IN LIFE. YET NO ONE SEEMS TO UNDERSTAND THAT! Who can I tell my thoughts to?'
It was chilly, because it was late in the fall, and Rose was huffing. Her cheeks were a bright pink colour, to signify health. It was then that she felt a tap on her shoulder. Startled, she turned around, and she saw that it was JACK! "Why, Jack," she spat out, startled, "what brings you here?" Jack looked at her with a genuine look of concern in his deep and mysterious blue eyes, as he said, "I sensed you were in pain and needed help, what's wrong?"
Rose sighed, this phenomena was blowing her mind, she wasn't quite sure how she could relay her problems to Jack, but, she thought to herself, 'I guess there's a first time for EVERYTHING!'