Yes, I know it's been two months. But being a sophomore is stressful, especially when you're applying to be an RA and to go to PROFESSIONAL SCHOOL NEXT YEAR. Wow. I really can't believe I'm already applying to pharmacy school...where has life gone? Oh, right...I've had my head down, buried in books and papers and MasteringBiology, so I haven't noticed life rushing past me on all sides.
Anyway. The point of this post: where is life going?
Huh? What do you mean, Ali?
Well. For my Honors course this semester (HRS 200: The Modern World, with Dr. Stafford of CU's English department - she's awesome, btw - I had her for Rhet & Comp freshman year), we just began reading Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451. WOW. I'm amazed that I've never read it before. I'm a pretty big fan of Bradbury's work. All Summer in a Day, The Martian Chronicles, etc. I enjoy his stories because they terrify me. They're frightening because the futures he describes are so possible, and I can actually visualize the world becoming those sci-fi freaky realities.
This is especially the case with F451. A world without books because we don't want to offend anyone and we want to learn trivial facts rather than THINK about issues. We want "a nice blend of vanilla tapioca." It's faster to learn facts, cramming them into our minds and pushing real thought out of the way. We'd rather be contestants on trivia shows than intellectual students. Bradbury predicted all those shows where contestants win prizes because they can remember lyrics to a song. He predicted it over 50 years ago. That's scary.
So what are you going to do about it? I'll tell you what I'm going to do. When they offer me that vanilla tapioca, I'll push it away and demand chocolate, butterscotch, and banana. Will you?
