Drama Coasters.

When you're a kid, at least a normal one, you love roller coasters. The dips and climbs and crashes and turns are all so exciting, so invigorating. Even as we get older we still like them, until we reach an age where it's just too much. Perhaps emotions work on a similar concept. When you're young, the ups and downs and ins and outs of emotional relationships, be it friendships or romantic (or any other kind you can think of), none of it bothers you. You can go have fun with friends, then have it all come crashing down due to drama or what have you, then you're right back up there, and don't mind repeating the pattern. While there is something to be said for resiliency, once you get to a certain point enough is enough. So the theory is that perhaps, like riding roller coasters simply gets to be too much after a certain point in your life, maybe emotional roller coasters are the same way. That might be why people force themselves to level out, and not take part in the day-to-day drama that marks the lives of so many people. I know that's why I don't like to be around certain people, because I can't take it. Of course, I was never very big on roller coasters either. Maybe that's all that maturity is, realizing that you don't like the ride anymore, and forcing yourself to stop taking part in it. I've never understood people who love the drama of who said what to whom (grammar?), and who slept with Person X, cheating on Person Y, and put themselves through so much. It could be an emotional equivalent of an adrenaline rush, but it simply seems to me that they haven't aged to the point where they like balance. I remember my parents always having a nice, level life without all the extreme ups and downs. I rather liked it. Well, I could be wrong about all of this. Maybe some people are roller coaster people, and some are lazy river people. I was always partial towards the ferris wheel, myself... maybe that's why I'm drawn towards long relationships and repelled by drama... Just liked the slow cycle of getting better and having a view, despite the occasional dip, but you always climb back out... But then they start unloading it and it's just jerky and you're ready to get out of there. Ah, well... Who knows, I wasn't a psych major. Just more food for thought.

The 3rd is on 3's

Someone, a rather special someone, asked me what my thing is with threes. Now, if you were to ask me my favorite number, I would say four, but I (both subconsciously and consciously) tend to do things in threes. Three points, Three M's on the name of the blog, and so on. Like right there. I answered him, but I don't feel the answer was sufficient.

The number three has a built in balance. The central point flanked by the other two. Evens, while still technically balanced, do not have this pivot point, and thereby lack the balanced feel. Photography especially takes advantage of this in the rule of thirds. While not all photographers follow this, many strive to have a set of three objects in their photographs: three trees, three people, three beams of light. Arrangements also tend to follow threes. The half hour of Mamma Mia that I watched once was completely full of 3 groups. Noticed three, ironically. Main girl's necklace had three stars, there were three groups of three people, and people kept popping up on the screen in threes. Anyway, this balance is somewhat true for all odds, however with 1, it lacks the effect of having repetition, and 5 is

usually a bit too much.

There are also an abundance of threes in nature (we're going to skip over religion completely on this conversation, by the way). Three perceived dimensions, three primary atomic particles, three "normal" states of matter (yes, there are more than three, plasma and supersolids jump to mind, and glass might be considered a separate state technically, I'm not sure on that), and there are more if you care to look for them. I don't, and I feel I've made my point with just these three. See? I didn't even intend for that one.

This third and final point is the (in my twisted brain) psychology of the third. One point, you might just be lucky. Two points, and you know a bit, but it's still iffy. Three, you come across as knowing what you know and being confident about it. Four is just a bit too much, and five is just showing off. Of course, from time to time overkill on points is needed, such as the situation where you need to completely overwhelm a thought someone has that is completely wrong and immediately harmful. Such as the hypothetical "You're looking for someone else, aren't you?" conversation or the "I'm going to jump, don't try to stop me" talk. Then, the more reasons the merrier.

And now it is irking me that this is five paragraphs rather than three. However, grade school pounded it into my head that you HAVE to have an opening and conclusion when you write an organized paper. Paper, this is not, but it's too organized and structured to leave as it was. Plus it was an even number, and you already read what I think about evens.