"The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the ways its animals are treated" ~Gandhi

I've loved animals since I was very little.  For a few years, I was sure that I was going to become a veterinarian.  I wasn't grossed out by or scared of (most) bugs and I didn't have a favorite animal because "I love[d] all of them!"

My love of animals was the reason I became a vegetarian, initially.  The first time I went vegetarian, I didn't go cold turkey.  I went free-range, warm turkey first.  Literally.  That Thanksgiving, we had a free-range turkey for dinner.  My mum remembers being in the kitchen, hearing me talking, looking over, and seeing me laying on our kitchen table, staring at the turkey.  I was saying something like, "You had a good life, didn't you?  Yes you did!  You ran around and played with your turkey friends and ate good food.  And now I'm going to eat you."  I later went the full vegetarian, but stopped for sabbatical since I knew that I would be trying new foods.  Then, at the beginning of this school year, I took it up again.  It's not as bad as most people imagine it, especially since there are so many types of good veggie-meats.  I do miss bacon, though...

The older dog, Maggie.

The younger dog, Gabby, with a derp face.

The reason I love animals so much is hanks to my family.  We have had an average of two dogs at any given point in my life, and all of the individual family units on my dad's side have at least one dog.  (When we squeeze into a small cottage for our annual family reunion, it gets pretty hectic.)  We now have two, Maggie and Gabby, although Maggie is getting pretty old.  Gabby has a pillow in my room where she sleeps every night.  I'll slide it under my bed when I need to clean up my room, and if I forget to take it back out, she'll stare up at me and make a quiet, whining sort of noise until I realize what's wrong and bring her bed back out.  Unlike the picture, she is usually really cute, and sometimes bears a striking resemblance to Dobby (from Harry Potter).  I love dogs, and plan on having (at least) one for the rest of my life.

When I was in middle school, I became obsessed with a series called His Dark Materials.  In it, each person has a shape-shifting, animal-like creature that they are connected to and which follows them around.  I decided that I should have one to, so for a majority of my sixth grade year, I imagined that there was an animal (that could be any animal I wanted it to be) with me all day, every day.  Needless to say, people thought I was a freak.

Even though I don't plan on becoming a veterinarian and I don't love ALL the animals anymore, I still really like animals.  I hope to be able to interact with them somehow more in the future, and if all else fails, I can always become a crazy dog lady (I hate cats).

Meme overload?  ...Yeah, probably.  

Idiot! ...right?

Many people who are renowned as geniuses, were thought to have or were found to have some sort of mental handicap.  When Albert Einstein was little, his parents and teachers thought that he was mentally challenged because he wouldn't pay attention in class or do the classwork.  It ended up that it was because he was so bored.  Antonin Artaud, who came up with theatre of cruelty, was thought of as a genius in his time.  However, it turns out that he had schizophrenia, was diagnosed with psychosis in his later years, and was put in various sanatoriums throughout his life.

Some incredibly smart people are that way because of a disorder; psychopathy.  It is most commonly thought that psychopathy is caused by dysfunction of certain areas in the brain.  The most well known symptoms of this illness are lack of empathy, narcissism, limited range of emotions, impulsivity, and antisocial behavior.

"But, why are you calling psychopaths 'incredibly smart'?" you may wonder.  Well, many psychopaths go through life without knowing and/or revealing that they have the disorder.  You have to have a significant level of smarts to be able to blend in so well with society when you are dealing with such a mental illness.  Most of the time, psychopaths are "found out" only when they commit a crime.  However, not all psychopaths are violent criminals (which is a common misconception); some of them are CEOs of successful companies, while others are fathers of happy families.  As much as I should fear violently inclined psychopaths, I have a certain amount of respect for those people who are able to overcome problems that their mental illness may create, and instead create for themselves a prosperous and happy life.

So, don't underestimate people you may look down on for being different, socially awkward, or mentally handicapped, they might be a genius in disguise.  Next time you pass Choo-Choo (the one of famed flatulence, a.k.a. Jacob Rajlich) in the hallway, you may want to respond to his greeting with less exasperation and more awe.