Pirates: Old and New

     I decided to take a break from all the heavy philosophy and write about pirates. Pirates have been around for a long time, I'm not sure how long, maybe ever since there were ships. They're famous for stealing things from ships using swords, pistols, brute force, or anything else at their disposal. Legends revolve around their skill in battle and the huge amounts of treasure that they supposedly accumulated throughout their plundering years. Blackbeard was one of the fiercest and toughest pirates ever to sail the seas. One story says that he once tested his men's mettle by literally creating an artificial hell below decks, complete with burning brimstone, and holding a contest to see who could endure the intense heat and blinding smoke the longest. The story says that before long, every one of his crew members had given up and fled the torturous prison, while Blackbeard's maniacal laughter reverberated from the smoke and ebbing red glow. Those were the pirates of old.

    
     Pirates are still around today, but they've changed drastically. The most common pirates today don't sail the seven seas, but instead surf the World Wide Web. They wouldn't know what to do with a sword or a pistol, and as far as fighting ability goes, they usually rank around the "zilch" level. Instead of stealing priceless gems or gold and silver, they pillage movies, music, and video games. The closest they come to obtaining riches is to download an illegal copy of the Gold and Silver versions of Pokemon games. Compared to their predecessors, these sorry excuses for pirates are nothing more than an ill-told joke. They would probably faint at the mere mention of enduring fire and brimstone. Blackbeard would hang his head in shame.

    Needless to say, piracy has lost a lot of the appeal it used to have to adventurous souls. Perhaps this is a good thing. Maybe the way to fight piracy isn't to go after the pirates themselves, but to make internet plundering seem so uncool that people can't stand to be associated with it.
     Those are my thoughts, anyway. Next week it's back to serious stuff. I've had an entire week off of school, so my brain is kind of lazy right now. Until next time.

Where Do You Belong in the Hundred Acre Wood?

For English, we're writing a "Division/Classification" essay. That's an essay where you break people, processes, or other things into different groups and label them. For my essay, I chose to write about personalities, and for the different categories, I chose characters from the Hundred Acre Wood. I had a lot of fun writing it, and I was pleased with the way it turned out, so I decided to share it with you. Enjoy.

Personalities from the Hundred Acre Wood

            People have always had their own ways of looking at things. It’s generally referred to as personality, and it’s the sort of thing that determines whether someone would rather play a game or a read a good book. There are all sorts of people in the world, and therefore all sorts of personalities. Generally, though, personalities can be classified under four distinct categories: Pooh Bears, Rabbits, Tiggers, and Christopher Robins.

            The first of these categories consists of Pooh Bears. Everyone loves Pooh, which is mostly because he loves everyone as well. Pooh is simple in everything. He likes to eat honey, and spends much of his time either eating it or looking for some to eat. Similarly, Pooh-people like to simplify everything. Sometimes they have difficulty understanding complicated ideas and the people who think of them. Although Pooh doesn’t always understand exactly what’s going on, he doesn’t really mind and continues to do the best he can. Pooh’s greatest quality is his kindness and concern for his friends. When Pooh is not eating or looking for honey, he likes to visit his friends and say hello. He never has anything but kind intentions, and is therefore loved by everyone in the Hundred Acre Wood. Although Pooh may not understand the plans that Rabbit continually devises, he is happy to perform whatever role is assigned to him. This makes him somewhat gullible and sometimes places him in undesirable and even dangerous circumstances. Despite this, he continues to have a positive outlook on everything and never holds a grudge afterwards. Although Pooh’s simple nature can sometimes get him into trouble, his continuous kindness ensures that there is always a helping hand to get him back to stable ground.

            The second category is the Rabbit personality. In his own way, Rabbit also cares for his friends and tries to look out for them, although his well-intentioned plans sometimes go astray or end up overlooking the welfare of people he doesn’t consider to be his friends. Rabbit is known for always having a plan. Although he is skilled at thinking of solutions, he usually needs the support of others to carry them out. He is the most intellectual of the four, relying on his wits to help him solve problems. Rabbit feels lost when he can’t think of what to do. Rabbit is a hard worker and likes to be organized, and becomes easily frustrated when someone disrupts or destroys his handiwork. Rabbit’s detail-oriented mind can sometimes lead him to over-examine problems and split hairs. Although his reasoning ability is top-notch, he has a hard time understanding other people’s feelings and perspectives. Even though Rabbit can sometimes become insensitive and frustrated, he is loyal to his friends and is usually the first one to pitch in and offer a solution.

            The third personality category is Tigger. Tigger is all about having fun. He’s always full of energy and likes to be around people he can have fun with. Tigger enjoys playful pranks, and is the most mischievous personality of the four. In addition to his playful nature, Tigger is also known for his endless optimism. He loves adventure because of the potential for thrills and fun. He leads a carefree life with little thought for the next step. Tigger’s no-worry philosophy severely hampers his foresight, which often leads to him being stuck in a problem he can’t seem to get out of. Fortunately, Tigger is a magnetic personality, so his friends are always there to help him out of his latest pickle. People are attracted to Tigger because of his positive view of every situation and his fun-loving nature. Ironically, those same qualities usually put him at odds with Rabbit, whose insistence on order and realistic assessment are aggravated by Tigger’s antics. Tigger isn’t interested in improving the situation. Instead, he irritates Rabbit even more by making him the recipient of his practical jokes. Although Tigger’s lifestyle is somewhat self-centered, his boundless energy and positive outlook make him an invaluable friend during life’s tough times.

            The fourth and final category belongs to none other than the Christopher Robins. Christophers are natural leaders, because they care deeply about their friends and have enough understanding to help them with their problems. They can connect with almost anyone because they possess a more or less balanced mix of all the other personalities. Christophers, like Tiggers, love adventure, but for a different reason. Christophers like to set out on expeditions to accomplish ambitious goals, like being the first person to discover the North Pole. Their goal-oriented nature and level-headed approach also allows them to identify with Rabbits. Their most special bond, however, is with Pooh Bears. Both personalities operate on a love for people, so these two latch on to each other immediately. In addition, Christophers always take their friends’ problems upon themselves, in order to understand and help them. This makes the Pooh personality even more special to Christophers, because of their innocence and light personal load.

            We can learn a lot from these four friends from the Hundred Acre Wood.   Each of them is very different from the others, but they manage to work together while always putting their friendships first.  It is difficult to understand someone whose personality is different from our own, simply because they don’t look at the world the same way we do.  But what we have to realize is that beyond the difficulties, there is great richness to be found when we can appreciate and enjoy the perspectives and talents of our differently oriented friends.  When we learn to focus on the synergy rather than the conflict, our own horizons are broadened and we discover much joy.