Things I am thankful for,
I barely question anymore.
I am thankful for the trees,
That blow in the breeze.
I am thankful for good food,
That brings up my mood.
I am thankful for my family and my car,
I like to keep them just as they are.
I am thankful for my boyfriend Roy,
Sometimes he can be such a joy.
And I am thankful for my cat,
And that is that.
Such a corny poem,
As I am heading home.
At Thanksgiving I guess too much turkey,
Cause me to be a little quirky.
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Thursday, November 17, 2011
"The Value of College Degree" written by Katherine Porter
The ideas in the essay, "The Value of College Degree" written by Katherine Porter, make a lot of important points. The one part where she says, "These statistics support the contention that, though the cost of hight education is sidnificant, given the earnings disparity that exist between those who earn a bachelor's degree and those who do not, the individual rate of return on investment in higher education is sufficiently high to warrent the cost," (Porter, 488) the problem is you end up paying years and years afterward just to pay off your collage degree, after you start earning any income. The availability of jobs are causing a lot of students not being able to find a job in their field of interest, and end up taking lower paying jobs and struggling to pay of their collage bills, which results in taking it longer to finally get the income that they went to school for. Where as if they start right out with a low paying job to begin with, and work straight through all those years, without going to collage, there income has increased through the years with raises, etc, and seniority in the working place. More than likely they probably at this time built up a considerable amount of retirement savings.
Also in the essay it says "there is a tendency for more highly educated women to spend more time with their children for the future," (Porter, 489) this can be the extreme opposite for quite a few. These women can become so into their field and making money that their job becomes their number one priority. It becomes all about making money. It also becomes all about their kids being extremely educated, and having degrees, and other recreation becomes not as important as education and making money. The familes "value" gets lost. I have seen this through personal experience, in my Aunt and her family. She was so into making money, that she traveled out of town for years, while her children were basically on their own. She would leave town for an entire week just to come home, do her laundry and get ready for her next trip out of town. There was no one at her home to nuture her children, or be there for them when they were in need. I remeber my cousin being so scared on her first day of school every year, that she would throw up, and there was no one there to tell her it would be alright. When her sister, my other cousin, was in high school, she would roam the streets all hours of the night. There was no one to ask where she was, until her dad came in late at night from doing farming. I just always felt like there should have been someone there for them. They all did turn out ok, but it could have been very bad without a parent to guide them.
Also in the essay it says "there is a tendency for more highly educated women to spend more time with their children for the future," (Porter, 489) this can be the extreme opposite for quite a few. These women can become so into their field and making money that their job becomes their number one priority. It becomes all about making money. It also becomes all about their kids being extremely educated, and having degrees, and other recreation becomes not as important as education and making money. The familes "value" gets lost. I have seen this through personal experience, in my Aunt and her family. She was so into making money, that she traveled out of town for years, while her children were basically on their own. She would leave town for an entire week just to come home, do her laundry and get ready for her next trip out of town. There was no one at her home to nuture her children, or be there for them when they were in need. I remeber my cousin being so scared on her first day of school every year, that she would throw up, and there was no one there to tell her it would be alright. When her sister, my other cousin, was in high school, she would roam the streets all hours of the night. There was no one to ask where she was, until her dad came in late at night from doing farming. I just always felt like there should have been someone there for them. They all did turn out ok, but it could have been very bad without a parent to guide them.
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Should Gay Marriages Be Legalized
Should gay marriages be legalized? This should be an easy question to answer, right? Two people in love should have the right to solidify their love by marriage vows. But for some reasons some individuals are dead set against it due to the fact that it's not a man and a woman getting married, so it is just wrong.
My standing is who are we to be the judges of what two people in love wish to do to solidify their life-long vows to each other? Some say it's in the Bible that a man marries a woman... My guess is that when the Bible was written, they didn't know they needed to be very specific on genders or expand to include two men or two women. It was just left up to our interpretation (beliefs) of what WE as individuals think is wrong and right. So if we think gay marriage is wrong, then "that's what the Bible meant by saying a man and a woman" and "it doesn't say a man and a man". My definition of a marriage, two people in love that want to bind their vows and commitments to each other. In the dictionary, "marriage" is "any close or intimate union". In the dictionary "marry" is "to get married; take a husband or a wife." Where does it state (other than in our OWN mind) that a husband can't unite with a husband, or a wife with another wife?
Further more, why would we not want two people to be committed to each other, instead of spreading whatever diseases come about because they are not happy in a relationship that is acceptable to society, and the one they want to be in is unacceptable to society. What they want to do behind closed doors is none of our business - EVEN when it's a man and a woman, so why is it for us to say it's wrong just because we do not feel a committment to the same sex.
When gay couples get married, they aren't asking us to join in the relationship, only to celebrate their unity as a couple. This is the same as a man and a woman getting married. They aren't asking us to join in the relationship, only to celebrate their unity as a couple. Many gay couples have better relationships and commitments than many married couples, and we don't ask them what goes on in their bedroom, so why does it matter if they are the same sex.
My standing is who are we to be the judges of what two people in love wish to do to solidify their life-long vows to each other? Some say it's in the Bible that a man marries a woman... My guess is that when the Bible was written, they didn't know they needed to be very specific on genders or expand to include two men or two women. It was just left up to our interpretation (beliefs) of what WE as individuals think is wrong and right. So if we think gay marriage is wrong, then "that's what the Bible meant by saying a man and a woman" and "it doesn't say a man and a man". My definition of a marriage, two people in love that want to bind their vows and commitments to each other. In the dictionary, "marriage" is "any close or intimate union". In the dictionary "marry" is "to get married; take a husband or a wife." Where does it state (other than in our OWN mind) that a husband can't unite with a husband, or a wife with another wife?
Further more, why would we not want two people to be committed to each other, instead of spreading whatever diseases come about because they are not happy in a relationship that is acceptable to society, and the one they want to be in is unacceptable to society. What they want to do behind closed doors is none of our business - EVEN when it's a man and a woman, so why is it for us to say it's wrong just because we do not feel a committment to the same sex.
When gay couples get married, they aren't asking us to join in the relationship, only to celebrate their unity as a couple. This is the same as a man and a woman getting married. They aren't asking us to join in the relationship, only to celebrate their unity as a couple. Many gay couples have better relationships and commitments than many married couples, and we don't ask them what goes on in their bedroom, so why does it matter if they are the same sex.
Sunday, November 6, 2011
Readers Choice
I saw on another blog that they chose “The Glass Castle” as their favorite book, which truly amazes me, because I honestly thought the book was so blah. The last few chapters were the only parts that kept my interest. There are better stories out there. When I was at the book store getting this book for school, an older lady there told me how much she enjoyed the book, and how good of a book it was. Was I disappointed when I started reading it! I just went online and looked at some movie trailers people have made. The National Review had a comment on one of the trailers that said some parts of the book were “exhausting”. This is exactly how I felt right up until the last few chapters, when the kids started saving money to move to New York. I thought “there…we’re finally getting somewhere. An actual story is coming together. There is a purpose to all the gibberish.” She could have done without half of the boring stories, and still kept you up on what happened. Jeanette described fights that happened in one of the towns for one and a half pages…who cared about THAT much detail…we got the gist of it in a couple of sentences!
Honestly, I think “The Glass Castle” would make a good movie, just not a very entertaining book. Some of the movie trailers were proof of that. I will have to admit, I do not like reading books at all. I like reading magazines a lot, if to read anything. If I were to choose an inspiration book, it would be “Little Girl Lost”. This book is the younger years of Drew Barrymore’s life. She was just a young child when she made her first movies “Firestarters” and “E.T.”. It tells about going to Hollywood “after production parties” with her parents. She eventually grew bored, being the only child at these parties, and started drinking which lead to drugs. Look at this girl’s life today! Talk about inspirational! Now THIS was a book I could not put down. Even though some of things that happened to Drew were repetitious, the writer did not drag on and on and on about each episode.
Honestly, I think “The Glass Castle” would make a good movie, just not a very entertaining book. Some of the movie trailers were proof of that. I will have to admit, I do not like reading books at all. I like reading magazines a lot, if to read anything. If I were to choose an inspiration book, it would be “Little Girl Lost”. This book is the younger years of Drew Barrymore’s life. She was just a young child when she made her first movies “Firestarters” and “E.T.”. It tells about going to Hollywood “after production parties” with her parents. She eventually grew bored, being the only child at these parties, and started drinking which lead to drugs. Look at this girl’s life today! Talk about inspirational! Now THIS was a book I could not put down. Even though some of things that happened to Drew were repetitious, the writer did not drag on and on and on about each episode.
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Caffeine Crazies
I was so unaware of possibility that bottled water could be taken straight from the tap. How could this be!? What have I been paying for all these years when I could have been saving money and taking it straight from my facet at home, for free! I say this now because I am shocked, but yet you will probably find me at Walmart next week or Kwik Trip, buying bottled water. I guess what I was paying for all this time was for that "cool bottle" that it comes in, and for the convenience of not having to bottle it myself. How lazy have we become, we can't even bottle our own water! And, now were hearing on the news that these "cool bottles" aren't even good for us, they contain all kinds of cancer causing agents.
In Mark Penn's essay, Caffeine Crazies, I was able to find out a lot of information that made me feel how ridiculous of a society we have become. We don't want to fry up a burger at home, when we can head to a convenience store or fast food place, where it is already fried for us. We don't want to brew our own cup of coffee when there is a coffee shop right up the street. Want to be more alert? Lets just drink a bunch of high caffeine beverages. Not many families are able to sit down together, have quality time while eating a good home cooked meal. Its go, go, go grab something quick, move on to the next activity, with a fast food and energy drink in our hands...this CAN'T be good for us! Penn mentions that there are some (probably those with monetary investments) that defend "caffeine's impact on health". "Lower Alzheimer's rates, less diabetes, fewer gallstones, lower rates of Parkinson's, and less colon cancer" where are these statistics coming from? Penn says there have been studies done, but every time there is a study done, out comes a new and so called "better ingredients", you would think the study would have to start all over, which makes these studies not very "long term", I would think. All I know is I am going to "try" to bottle my own water in a "BPA" free bottle.
In Mark Penn's essay, Caffeine Crazies, I was able to find out a lot of information that made me feel how ridiculous of a society we have become. We don't want to fry up a burger at home, when we can head to a convenience store or fast food place, where it is already fried for us. We don't want to brew our own cup of coffee when there is a coffee shop right up the street. Want to be more alert? Lets just drink a bunch of high caffeine beverages. Not many families are able to sit down together, have quality time while eating a good home cooked meal. Its go, go, go grab something quick, move on to the next activity, with a fast food and energy drink in our hands...this CAN'T be good for us! Penn mentions that there are some (probably those with monetary investments) that defend "caffeine's impact on health". "Lower Alzheimer's rates, less diabetes, fewer gallstones, lower rates of Parkinson's, and less colon cancer" where are these statistics coming from? Penn says there have been studies done, but every time there is a study done, out comes a new and so called "better ingredients", you would think the study would have to start all over, which makes these studies not very "long term", I would think. All I know is I am going to "try" to bottle my own water in a "BPA" free bottle.
Sunday, October 16, 2011
"Dysfunctional" and "Functional" Families
I believe every family has some sort of dysfunction within their family. The difference is that most families are willing to talk about it with others, and the "ideal" family keep their "dysfunctions" more private. You can read the newspaper or watch the news daily and see how many of the tragedies involving families are quoted as saying "They were the ideal family, they lived normal lives from what we could see." And the news report says "Father murders entire family.....". "From what we could see....", that phrase right there shows you that obviously this little "ideal" family probably went on their daily lives as if nothing was amiss, yet the dysfunction was kept under wraps until the tragic event took place.
The Walls family in The Glass Castle, on the other hand, had obvious dysfunctions that everyone was able to see, yet their dysfunctions were a daily living to them. Sometimes the family members made it a point to blurt out their dysfunction with pride. There are different degrees to how dysfunctional a family is, the Walls family to me seemed extremely dysfunctional, yet who are we to judge other family dysfunctions just because it's not what we consider "functional".
The Walls family in The Glass Castle, on the other hand, had obvious dysfunctions that everyone was able to see, yet their dysfunctions were a daily living to them. Sometimes the family members made it a point to blurt out their dysfunction with pride. There are different degrees to how dysfunctional a family is, the Walls family to me seemed extremely dysfunctional, yet who are we to judge other family dysfunctions just because it's not what we consider "functional".
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Dreaded Winter
I was just sitting here thinking about what to write for this weeks blog when I looked out the window. I thought, "what a beautiful day". Instantly another thought came to mind, "Oh my gosh, there won't be many of these beautiful days left". Winter is just around the corner so I am thinking bundling, shoveling snow, trying to get the car out of the driveway, and blah, blah, blah! The list can go on and on when it comes to winter.
Last February I was in a scary situation. I was driving to my job in Plainview when I hit some slush on the road. My car shot sideways into the other lane, hit some dry tar, and rolled over. My first big car accident and let me tell you....it's not something I EVER care to do again. I was hanging upside down in my car, seat-belted in for over 30 minutes until the ambulance came. I was lucky to have many people stop to help including a nurse! The nurse checked me all over before she would even consider unsnapping the seatbelt. I was scared to death, laying there in the emergency room in a neck brace. They asked me how much I liked my coat, because they were considering in cutting it off. I said "I would rather you not because I just bought this coat." The poor EMT's had to carefully take my coat off, while I was strapped on the stretchboard.
I did learn some valuable lessons last winter though, make sure your tires actually have a tread on them, don't carry a wad of cash on you, get a job closer to your home. This winter my tires will HAVE a tread, I no longer carry a wad of cash, and my job is now very close to my home. I still can't wait till NEXT SUMMER! The only good thing I can see with winter is the arrival of my ugg boots in a couple of weeks!
Last February I was in a scary situation. I was driving to my job in Plainview when I hit some slush on the road. My car shot sideways into the other lane, hit some dry tar, and rolled over. My first big car accident and let me tell you....it's not something I EVER care to do again. I was hanging upside down in my car, seat-belted in for over 30 minutes until the ambulance came. I was lucky to have many people stop to help including a nurse! The nurse checked me all over before she would even consider unsnapping the seatbelt. I was scared to death, laying there in the emergency room in a neck brace. They asked me how much I liked my coat, because they were considering in cutting it off. I said "I would rather you not because I just bought this coat." The poor EMT's had to carefully take my coat off, while I was strapped on the stretchboard.
I did learn some valuable lessons last winter though, make sure your tires actually have a tread on them, don't carry a wad of cash on you, get a job closer to your home. This winter my tires will HAVE a tread, I no longer carry a wad of cash, and my job is now very close to my home. I still can't wait till NEXT SUMMER! The only good thing I can see with winter is the arrival of my ugg boots in a couple of weeks!
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