Only To Thinking: Emily Spotts

The Tragedy of the Species, Part One

Emily Spotts — Mon, 24 Oct 2022 23:46:00 GMT

[Enter ME, MOTHER, BROTHER, DOG, and CHARLES DARWIN.]

MOTHER: What a nice meal! Chicken and eggs… I wonder which came first.

BROTHER: The chicken came first!

ME: The egg came first!

DARWIN: In fact, it was-

[Knocking is heard at the door. I walk towards the door to greet our new guests. Enter philosopher ARISTOTLE, Mortal Kombat character QUAN CHI, and particle physicist RICHARD FEYNMAN.]

ARISTOTLE: Aristotle is here!

QUAN CHI: Behold, the great sorcerer Quan Chi!

FEYNMAN: It is I, Richard Feynman!

DOG: [Growls.]

MOTHER: I don't think she likes you, Aristotle.

ARISTOTLE: Impossible! All like Aristotle!

BROTHER: She looks unhappy.

ARISTOTLE: Aye, looks; but the dog cannot feel unhappy, for an animal's soul does not allow for emotion!

QUAN CHI: No soul? What makes you think dogs lack souls? I know for certain you speak wrongly.

DOG: [Snarls.]

ARISTOTLE: Impossible! What purpose would a dog have for emotion?

The Speech I Can't Stop Watching

Emily Spotts — Mon, 10 Oct 2022 23:51:00 GMT

The speech is available here.

About a month ago, I was tasked with finding a commencement speech for my Principles of Communication class. The other members of my class all found speeches by celebrities they liked or the top results of a Google search for "inspirational commencement speech." They were all competent speakers, and I'm sure my classmates were legitimately inspired by them. I wanted something different, though, so I searched differently. I searched for “inspirational commencement speech” and then scrolled down for a few minutes. What I found was different, but it was more than that. It was incredible.

The video, titled “The Valedictorian Speech that will change your life,” begins with the speaker, West Hall High School graduate Carl Aquino, adjusting the microphone on the podium. The audience then laughs at the creaking sound the microphone makes. Upon seeing this interaction, I…

Some Bus Stories

Emily Spotts — Mon, 26 Sep 2022 23:44:00 GMT

The following paragraphs reflect my thoughts from various bus rides over the last month or so. They do not represent all of my bus rides, nor were they wholly written while on the bus. They do, however, consist entirely of the feelings I felt as I rode the bus that day.

I'm on a bus as I'm writing this. I've always found buses really interesting. There are a few people I know here, across the aisle from me or several seats in front of me. There are even more people I don't know at all, like the person sitting next to me or the person they're diagonally conversing with. All of us are trapped together in a metal box zooming down the city streets. We lack the safety of train tracks in exchange for the freedom to explore the city. Though, we don't have any true freedom because our bus driver has a predetermined route; and we're most likely safe because our bus driver wouldn't be driving us otherwise.

I'm on the bus again, this time next to a French girl. That might make it sound like she's …

Fighting Game Storytelling Sucks and I Love It

Emily Spotts — Mon, 19 Sep 2022 23:39:00 GMT

Mortal Kombat: Armageddon is epic. It does not hesitate to prove this fact. In the opening scene, as a vulture eats away at the corpse of some forgotten warrior, the narrator describes the impending apocalypse, detailing the “critical point” of the strength of the world’s fighters before those fighters appear and roar at their enemies. Two armies of powerful warriors from the franchise’s previous games smash into each other in a frenzy of violence, showing fan-favorite characters impale, crush, bludgeon, and shoot each other. Then, the pyramid erupts from the ground. As the narrator continues describing the world’s approaching end, the heroes and villains of the series climb and battle their way to the top of the pyramid. As Shang Tsung reaches the top of the pyramid, he is grabbed by the chains of his zombie nemesis, withering away as his life force drains and the camera pans towards the growing flame at the top of the structure. As the narrator announces that “Armageddon has begun,”…

Autism and Super Mario Maker 2

Emily Spotts — Mon, 12 Sep 2022 23:37:00 GMT

I remember coming home from school in 3rd grade, sitting down to begin my multiplication homework, and quickly becoming extremely frustrated with the distractingly loud voices of whatever television show my parents were watching. After solving a problem or two from my homework, my frustration became too much, leading me to ask my parents to turn down the volume. My parents, not wanting to sacrifice their enjoyment of their afternoon after a hard day at work, weren't eager to listen to my complaints. With only the living room table available for me to work on my school assignments, I had to crunch numbers and ignore the sounds behind me at the same time. Every equation became a grueling undertaking as I struggled to store the numbers in my head before they were torn away by what felt like a fiery noise that surrounded me. Math is already a forest that kids struggle to find their way in; adding fire to that forest certainly didn't help me. I don't know how long it took me to finish, bu…