The Real Issue

As I turn on news, I am met with sickening stories of violence, murder, corruption and war. And as I take these images in, I can barely stay focused on them, as my mind is eternally set on a conflict whose scope and breadth far out measure anything you will hear from your news outlet. The conflict goes back to the beginning time. It overshadows Shi’a vs. Sunni, surpasses catholic vs. protestant, and can’t hold a candle to Harry Potter vs. Voldemort. I’m talking about innie vs. outtie. The innie-outie debate has pitted brothers against brothers, and has torn entire families in two. The distinction between the two has been defined since the dawn of man, and has caused every major conflict in our history. And yet, somehow, the issue has gone long overlooked history, and has been put on the backburner, in favor of more popular issues such as class warfare and AIDS. When I look into my own past, I can’t imagine life without the distinction, and how those with outties have faced persecution at the hands of the innies. On the schoolyard in my elementary school, the innies would laugh and play games, while the outties sat quietly and kept to themselves, not wanting to provoke the outtie children. Being an innie myself, I always wanted to invite them to play with us, but was afraid that I would be seen as a traitor and be excised by my fellow classmates. Even at my school today, I’ve seen vicious beatings being arranged by the innies upon the outties, simply because their belly buttons were oriented in a dissimilar fashion. I am proud to be friends with a girl named Haley, who straddles the line between in and out, and possess a belly button that goes both ways. My friend Haley is a half-button. She’s kept it a secret her entire life, and I can’t stand her to see her suffer the pain of having to keep her belly button hidden from the world. I can’t stand seeing stories in the news about soldiers in the war who have been dishonorably discharged because of their violation of the longstanding “Don’t Ask, Don’t Show” policy. And I can only think of the future, and how this will affect my children. What if I were to give birth to an “outtie”? How would they live their life under the circumstances that exist in our world today? I have a dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all belly buttons are created equal”. A dream that someday my children will one day live in a nation where they are not judged by the orientation of their belly button, but by the content of their character. Let freedom ring. And when this happens, and when we allow freedom ring—when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children—innies, outties, and half-buttons—will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old outtie spiritual: "Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!”      

Intelligence

CLOWNIN!!!!!
DOOOOOD''1111IRAKKKKCREWW COLONIZATIOON OF AMEERIICAN PILGRIMS AND GREEKSAND ROMANS. AGAMMEMNON DEFEATED TROY IN THE TROJAN WAAR IN 1234. AT THE END OF THE JOURNEY ACHILLES FELT GUILTY AABOUT KILLING GODDES OF SEX IN THE END. BUT NOW THAT ACHILLES IS BACK HOME HE CAN  HAVE SEX WITH ANY GODDES HE WANTS WITHOUT FEELING GUITLY

Country Music

Why does everyone hate country music. I think it's one of those things that a few people decided to hate on, and it just kept spreading until it became the cool thing to hate on. I remember hating on Britney Spears when no one liked her because she looked like a barbie, and why would anyone like something that everyone had something bad to say about?

Boys and Shoes

In American culture girls were always the ones who were "supposed" to be obsessed with what went on their feet, owning enough shoes to fill a closet of their own, but that is not the case at all these days. I quite a few guys who come to school almost every day with every piece of clothing coordinated around their kicks, and they might even have more clothing than I do, and yes that is saying something.

Why... does.. Drivers Ed Exist?

I hate this, hour upon hours of why not to drink and drive, have we not been taught this since 4th grade?I know not to get into a car with a drunk person, I know not to hit pedestrians while in a car (maybe on a bike, depending on how annoying they are). Sure we need a few hours of education, learning how to drive maybe? But 3o hours is a ridiculous requirement, wasting everyone's money and time.

11:11

I just realized that a year from today will be 11/11/11 and at 11:11, it will be 11:11 on 11/11/11, the perfect day for a surprisingly large number of my friends. How did the tradition of wishing on 11:11 start up? All these things are so weird but once I start asking questions I can't stop, like how did the English language come about, and who invented the word banana?

Whatever It's Only $80...

It has happened too many times, when I come across a coat that I fall in love with immediately, clearly too fast. Seems great doesn't it? Well it is until you get home and realize the maroon coat you bought also has a puke green trim, how do these colors not scream before i hand over my credit card?

Influential Literature

In a large emerging nation such as the U.S. in the 1800's, communication is key to advancement, and the United States did a satisfactory job of this. Prior to the American revolution paper such as the ones that appear in The Federalist and Common Sense convinced a nation to go to war with a few eloquent words. And now in the textbook we are learning about influential blacks wrote books (Uncle Tom's Cabin) and supported papers (The Liberator), to promote the abolition of slavery, and look where we are today? I love that some words on a piece of paper are capable of spreading such important messages.

Cotton

It surprises me that two parts of a previously identical country can become so drastically different through pure geography. The South had all the fertile land that could handle the brutal business of cotton growing, but both the North and the South benefited greatly from the industry. Even such a commonplace thing as tariffs will get entirely different responses from either end of the United States. The North would welcome a tariff with open arms as it would slow competition for manufactured goods and improve their sales noticeably. Meanwhile the South would hate the idea as now they have to buy their goods from their newly empowered northern neighbors with higher prices everywhere they turn.

Fascinating Old Things

I used to hate history, looking at it as useless dates and names memorized to fill up brain space, but my views have changed. Now that I actually put effort into figuring out how the political parties bind together, and how this war is the firewood for the the next, it all starts coming together for me and I suddenly find the subject fascinating.

The Cycle Never Ends.

History. Shouldn't we learn through the mistakes of others? Apparently it doesn't work that way, history just keeps on repeating itself. Especially in the economy, what about bad credit do people not get? The same things keep happening over and over again with the intense inflation of American currency; one time in 1837, which very closely resembles the one going on today in the United States of AMerica

The Early Bird gets the Worm

Staying up into the wee hours of the morning typing up late papers and trying to finish cramming for the test tomorrow is close to torture, I really wish I could be a morning person. Waking up with hours to spare before heading off to work/school is the key to getting tings done, without stress and without fail. The problem is the feeling I get when the sun has not even thought about getting up yet, and my covers are 20 degrees warmer than the rest of my room. Why would I want to trade this blissful situation for a painfully long essay due in 2 hours? But i want to so bad. I started! I have managed to rip myself from my bed before the clock hits 6 for the past 3 school days, and drag myself to the pool, early morning lap swim before English 101, what up??

TV

I don't really know what's wrong with me, I watch an obscene amount of television, isn't this supposed to be kind of hard for someone how does not own a tv? Not for me apparently, my laptop is just as evil a machine. It's noon and I just walked in the door to my bedroom and am headed straight for the laptop under my bed with nothing but that term paper in my mind. You would think the first thing I did was open word and start with my heading and plow right through that bare-bones outline i scraped out, but no. It's almost 5 now and I am no where near done with this paper. Modern Family, CSI, Gossip Girl and How I Met Your Mother all had to come first.

I Will Never Have a Baby

Every time I try to do something that others might label as stupid or reckless my souvenir/injury always ends up on my stomach. This last summer I jumped off the abandoned portion of the 520 bridge, as it has become somewhat of a tradition over the past few years. This time I decided to be especially intelligent and decided it would be a great idea to hold hands with my friend as we jumped off a highway bridge, and surprise surprise it didn't end too well..I ended up entering the water belly-first and 2 days later had a beautiful abstract art piece on my stomach, full of purples and blues. A few days ago i slid down the steepest hill in seattle, freshly catapulted from my tiny sled. My giant ski coat decided to slide up this time out of all and my stomach met ice. Yeah, it hurt.

Wait, they got divorced again?

Who cares? 

What is with the obsession with celebrities? Numerous websites following Miley Cyrus's every move and pies of magazines with this season's bachelorette allegedly cheating on her newly awarded fiance, how do they get enough hits to stay afloat? The most legitimate excuse I have heard for wasting hours every day on following a celebrity is from an 8 year old girl: "I need to learn Justin Bieber's schedule so I can plan our wedding around his concerts!"

Change of Environment

There have been so many hours when I have sat at home, in bed, multitasking like crazy. And I'm not exaggerating, on more than one occasion I have caught myself watching TV, playing Set online, talking to 8 different people in facebook and trying to write that last minute essay (or two). Somehow I'm surprised when one a.m. roles around and I still only have two paragraphs. I can blame the teacher, blame the school, blame the whole system, and trust me, I have. But really, it comes down to one person and that's me. I have a huge issue when it comes to studying, I just can't do it. Well yes I have done it before, but maybe, MAYBE, once every three weeks I will sit down and take part in a real study session that lasts more than an hour.

It's because I don't think of school work as an activity, but rather a side-task that is only meant to be done when the last episode of Bones turns into commercial for 45 seconds and I have nothing better to do. I got by with this mindset in high school because, honestly, high school doesn't really call for much more than that. I thought about changing my study habits before I started college but every time and opportunity arose I brushed the issue aside like it didn't mean anything. Now, after 2 solid weeks of stressing about my history essays I have finally decided something needs to be done about it. I am by no means a slow worker, and when I put my mind to something it will get finished very promptly but my mind just didn't want to be put anywhere, let alone in the middle of some 500 page textbook that interests me about as much as fried eggplant.

As I type this I am actually sitting in the reading room at Suzzalo library on the UW campus. I love this place, I have gotten more work done in the past 2 hours than I have all week. I think this is my new home. At this rate I could take on 20 more credits and still be fine. OK, maybe I'm getting ahead of myself but I'm so glad I have finally found a way to get my work done.

College

I really do not know where I want to go to college for my four year degree. The convenience of UW is almost overwhelming, yet I would love to travel to the unknown and give something brand new a shot. I just feel that college should be a very special experience and should be done far away from home. I just don't have the money! Maybe I'll go right next next door, to the UW and then travel every other quarter so I get all my life experience under my belt. I say this as if I have no obstacles either way, I guess my first step is do well until it;s time for applications. Why do I always get so ahead of myself?

Panting

I can't even walk up the stairs to my room without noticing my breath getting heavy, how I could've allowed myself to get his out of shape? I used to be the kind of girl that was always in sports, a day without at least an hour of physical exertion was a weird one. Now I have cut organized sports out of my life in consideration of all the other activities going on in my life, much to the dismay of my quickly disintegrating muscles. For a girl who completed a triathlon less than 3 months ago to not being able to walk up stairs without losing her breath, life is pretty rough. Of course, I'm blaming no one but myself, I easily could get up before school every morning and run these legs, but I simply lack the elf-discipline at the moment. There's this thing about organized sports that actually works and it's the organized part. Without being part of a team who relies on me, or so I like to think, I find it surprisingly challenging to actually pull off the exercise routine I have planned out in my head so many times.

Unreliability

There are many things I look for in friends, everyone is complicated and no one perfect. One thing I just cannot stand is unreliability in a friend. There's a difference between someone who just doesn't have his/ her shit together, and is always late to events and forgets his/her homework regularly, and those who don't invest anything into a friendship and have no issue lying or ditching plans. Yes, I am aware of really how angsty I sound right now and I'm not really trying to, I just get very touchy about a select few topics. 

Especially in high school friendship can be a very surface subject that never actually touches below the outside appearance, there simply to improve statuses and friend counts. The whole concept really makes me cringe, I hate the idea of fake friendships when only one party is in the know. I have witnessed some pretty nasty stuff involving blocking individuals out of groups and blind-siding girls who really have no idea about the things being whispered behind her back. 

What happened to honesty being a component in friendship? I shouldn't really say this as I do have some greta friends that I ma very grateful for and have no complaints about, but some others.. I just think friends should be able to trust each other and never have to deal with dishonesty. 

Now I Understand

Do you have any friends who were or still are infatuated with horses?Well I sure do, the real deal, with the sparkly horse stickers all over every folder and binder, the posters on the wall and the frequent comments about how she would rather be riding horses. I never really understood the obsession with the great burly animals until this afternoon. Earlier today was a party for the major donors for the Rainier Valley food bank and a select few of the volunteers, held at a FARM right of of Rainier down south. The hosts' neighbors are the proud owners of 5 large owners and a pair of smaller ponies. 

I started out on the miniature ponies as it was my first time ever bareback riding and I was thrown off on the first attempt, how was I supposed to know not to bother them during their many feeding times? Clearly that didn't faze me enough for I was right back up 5 minutes later telling the lead to walk faster. The owner's son, 11, found great joy in educated us clueless 16 year olds in the way of horse-riding, sparing us no degrading laugh at every whimper and cry when the horses decided to buck of shake. By the end of the evening we were taking jumps and cantering at quite an impressive rate if I can say so myself. It was both a liberating and exhilarating experience, and I cannot wait until the next time I get a chance to ride. I finally understand the obsession and envy those who have possession of such great creatures. 

Technology

I know many resent the advances technology has made in the past few decades, but the discoveries have given many people second and even third chances. A very good friend was recently  admitted into Children's Hospital for an extreme case of meningitis,  complications arose and she ended up with serious amputations. When I first heard the news I was completely devastated, I could hardly focus on anything else while stuck on the unbelievable news that I would never go out and party with her again, 16 short years of dancing and running, and then she was done? After my hysterical phase I began talking to people who actually knew about cases like this, and I realized her situation could have been a lot worse. Thanks to technology, her legs would be relatively easy to make functional again, ruling out a wheel chair burdening her for the rest of her life. Now every time I look around on the bus at the 90% of people who are staring intently at the lit-up screen of an ipod or cell phone my first thought is still, wow this world was better before, but then I think about my friend and the debate begins. 

Puppies

Puppies are so much work!
Let's just start out by saying I love dogs, I just love the way they depend on you, and always save enough energy to jump up and down when you walk through the door. My family has always been a big one for the canines, in possession of three even with a household full of four children, don't ask how my parents managed it for I have no idea. When the idea of a puppy was stirred up I volunteered my time with absolutely no hesitation, I would have done anything to get my hands on that explosion of fur and energy.

Even with the aid of my family, this baby has taken up ridiculous amounts of my time, I cannot even imagine trying to handle it by myself. You always here people warning you not to take on full time jobs while  in school, but they should really be warning you about the time it takes to raise a puppy. In no way am I trying to say it isn't worth it, every time I start questioning my decision I simply take a look at this adorable being and all doubts disappear immediately.

Scheduling

When I feel the overwhelming feel of stress coming on, there is only one visible solution: writing a schedule. Sure, it's another method of procrastination, yet another topic I get to joyfully cross of my to-do list, but it helps believe it or not. Though it may take up to half an hour on a fast day, my mind focuses itself magically after looking at that single piece of paper full of times and tear-inducing activities. Organization. Key to succeeding in life. Well i guess it blows that that's not exactly my biggest asset.

Another Day on Broadway

Pushing open the door from King’s Teriyaki on Denny I am caught off guard by a sudden attack of air propelled by the route 9 bus. Staggering along, attempting to appear unperturbed, I catch a glimpse of my reflection following me in the mile- high windows, reinforcing my existence on this hectic street. As my mind becomes acquainted with the avenue, the rancid odor of residual cigarettes creeps inside my defeated nostrils. The distant cry of sirens approaching from the south mercifully interrupts my internal defeat, while sacrificing the mornings of those late risers for a shot at salvaging a life. The remnants of the piercing spearmint circle my gums while the depleted wad of gum splats on the sidewalk, the beginning of another day on Broadway.