April 28, 2019: The Day of the Best TV series show episode ever? Game of Thrones Season 8, episode 3: The Battle of Winterfell. Cinematically and on a minute level certainly one of the best episodes of TV ever, time-wise and epic battle-scene wise nothing short of a movie, but from an overall story arc level, looking at it from 8 episodes worth of television that I've started since EIGHT years ago (2011), I've put in so much energy and devotion into this show, but (SPOILER ALERT!) the main villains of the entire show get wiped out in just one episode, the crucial blow dealt by a tomboy girl who couldn't wield a knife at the beginning of the show, didn't reveal more answers about the White Walkers because now they're wiped out, and few main characters died after 2 episodes of goodbyes building up to their likely demise. I feel, unfortunately, kind of disappointed. Not necessarily as bad as I felt after the last episode of LOST, but there's certainly a bit of feeling that this ending of the villains was a little cheap, that they died too easily, that the end didn't justify the means.
Anyway, I have a running joke with MJ about parasites, mainly because she gets attached to me (emotionally and physically) and won't let go, kind of like parasites attach to their hosts and drain the hosts' nourishment, etc. for their own good. Apparently, though, there are some parasites within the human body that are ultimately beneficial for the human body, in that they survive inside the body off of eating germs and other harmful substances, so in a "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" kind of way they do help humans. So parasites can have a good relationship with humans, and MJ can be a good parasite!
I do feel, in a more sobering thought, that I am part of a parasite of society, in that I take more than I give back. Many lawyers probably feel this way, but there is a good reason society views lawyers as "leeches," or "parasites...." lawyers in general feed off of others without really contributing much to society, at least litigation lawyers who handle cases, etc. Some lawyers turn into lawmakers, get deals done between organizations, etc., sure, but I'd say in most cases lawyers are just trying to get paid from clients' cases, and get a cut out of whatever the legal problem is, but at the same time pulling down society as a whole. For the amount of money that lawyers do to contribute nothing to society (or at least how the theory goes for me), they better contribute in other ways to society, but I don't think that lawyers do in a proportional manner, at least for the most part. Certainly there's some lawyers that are very benevolent with their time and money and put in pro bono and legal services hours, but not that many do, including myself. I need to give back to justify my parasitic ways!
But then again, if we're liberal with how we use the term "parasite," babies all begin as parasites too, as babies start in their mother's wombs and drain the mother of their resources. Babies start without any contribution to society (other than cute baby pictures and giving people hope!) and then gradually turn into excellent creatures. MJ and I are at the age where many of our friends are having babies and becoming pregnant, and we just found out today one of our close friends is pregnant! It is very inspiring to take that bold step of bringing a parasite into your home, one that won't have any contribution and can only be a cost for at least 10 years, but has infinite potential value. It's one of the things that separate humans from other creatures: our capacity to love, to sacrifice present value for future value, and to see value in parasites that eventually turn into butterflies (or productive humans, at least).
Fantasize on,
Robert Yan
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