Thursday, April 29, 2010

Blog # 66: My Abortion Speech

**** Since I was not allowed to write my argument paper over abortion, I wanted to share a speech that I used for my Public Speaking Class: This was very important to me!

Melissa Drexler who became famous for the “prom mom,” gave birth to a newborn child in the restroom stall of her senior high school prom, strangling him to death, then putting the baby’s body in the trashcan before returning to the dance. She received 15 years in prison, but after 37 months in prison she was released on parole. Why is it such a crime to kill the baby after it’s born, but perfectly fine to have an abortion while the baby is still in the womb?
My goal today is to convince you that abortions and especially partial birth abortions are a killing of the baby and should be made illegal.
You may not think abortion is murder because the baby is not technically alive, but I have facts to prove to you that abortion is in fact murder and hopefully by the end of my speech I have persuaded you to become PRO LIFE and to never look to abortion as an option.
Being in the Catholic Religion, I have developed a huge passion for being against abortion under all circumstances. I even traveled all the way to Washington, D.C. in January 2007 and 2008 to be a part of the March for Life. For those of you who are unaware of what that is, it is basically a huge rally of Tens of Thousands of people who come together and march for what we believe that abortion is not right and needs to be stopped.
According to ABBORTION NO. ORG 42 million abortions happen worldwide every year. In the United States alone there are approximately 1.37 million abortions every year and 3,700 abortions every single day. 82% of all abortions are performed on single women, 18% of all abortions are performed on married women. 1% of all abortions occur if the women was raped or incest. 6% of all abortions occur of potential health problems. 93% of abortions occur due to the baby was unwanted. Among these abortions, partial birth abortions take place, a very gruesome killing of the baby. In one clinic alone, it was counted that 1500 partial birth abortions were done in the year 1996.
Many people have not yet been educated what exactly partial birth abortions are. The procedure is typically done between the 4th and 6th month of pregnancy, but also commonly done in the 9th month of pregnancy. I will tell you a brief but gruesome way in which the doctor performs a partial birth abortion. With forceps he basically reaches up and grabs the baby’s legs, pulls the entire body out except the head, and then uses a tool to suck the brain out of the squirming babies head.
Many young women are obviously becoming confused on what IS legal and what IS illegal. I think abortion in general is wrong, but partial birth abortion is extremely disturbing to me and should become a federal crime.
Raising a child is a huge responsibility and many young women are not ready for the commitment. In my opinion, if you are willing to lie down and make the baby, then you should be willing to stand up and raise the baby. However, there are many ways to prevent pregnancy and abortion should not be an option.
Pregnancies happen due to lack of responsibility. Contraception should be a must among young girls or for women who are not ready to raise a child. Generic birth control pills are very popular today. Also there are other ways to prevent pregnancy. Norplant is placed under the skin of the arm which prevents pregnancy up to 5 years. Depo-Provera is injected into the skin every 3 months that prevents ovulation. Morning after pill is a pill of a larger dose of birth control that tries to prevent fertilization after intercourse.
There are many risk involving abortions, and many women die trying to get abortions. According to pregnancycenters.org those risk include: heaving bleeding, infection, incomplete abortion (some parts of the fetus are mistakenly left inside the mother’s womb), sepsis, anesthesia complications, damage to the cervix, scarring of the uterine lining, perforation of the uterus (the uterus may be punctured or torn by the instruments involving abortion, and if that occurs then the removal of the uterus is done, known as an hysterectomy), death.
Having an abortion can cause emotional and physical effects on women. Some of these effects can last only a few days and some can last several years. These effects include: depression, guilt, eating disorders, stress, relationship problems, sexual dysfunctions, flashbacks, alcohol and drug abuse, and suicide. What is the point of getting an abortion if you could suffer from many health problems including death, and then possibly having all of these physical and emotional effects. The right thing to do is to have the baby. If you’re not ready, then there is always adoption available.
Many young girls who get abortions are just looking for a way out of their problem. They don’t realize the future, meaning that child they just aborted could have been the first person to cure cancer.
Every child deserves a chance in life. Even if you are not ready, you have to gain the responsibility and make the right decision. Your mother gave you a chance at life, now it is your turn to give your unborn child a chance. Everything happens for a reason and I am a firm believer of that. Hopefully by now I have persuaded all of you that abortion is NOT right and needs to be stopped.

Blog # 65: Yoga

I have always been interested in taking a yoga class. I thought my best opportunity would be to take it through Wichita State. I always stretch before I run, but I noticed I don’t stretch enough because my leg muscles always seem tight and sore. I have learned so many different stretches that are good for my body I was astonished. Some of the stretches we do are a bit painful, but I know the more I do them my body will get used to them and eventually be more flexible. I also didn’t realize how healthy stretching is for the body, but after hearing you talk about it made me learn a whole different meaning for stretching.
The main reason why I am taking yoga is to become more flexible and to relax my mind. I am always busy either working or doing homework and yoga has really taught me how to relax my mind and my body at the same time. I really have been enjoying this class so far and look forward to learning more and more every class.

I have been taking yoga now for approximately 8 weeks. I have seen results, but I think my results would be greater if I took the class more than just once a week. I still run a lot but don’t stretch enough before I do. So, when Tuesday morning yoga class comes my muscles in my legs are so tight that some of the stretches are unbearable. I still can’t touch my toes when both of my feet out directly in front of me, but I can when I have one leg in front. I think we need to do more back stretches. My back always hurts me no matter what time of day it is.
So far I really love this class and want to learn even more stretches. I think we should focus on the back stretches however. Also, I think another stretch we should try is to stretch our side called “side bends.” It would help get rid of those love handles!


I am really enjoying the routine we do every Tuesday in class. I like how we work every certain body part at a time instead of jumping around from the shoulders to the back to the legs and back to the shoulders again.
I have been having an extremely rough time sleeping at night. No matter how emotionally drained I am from working and being in class all day I can’t seem to stay asleep at night. I wake up approximately two to six times a night. I don’t know what it is or if I just can’t seem to relax my mind before I go to bed. I thought taking yoga would help me learn a special relaxing stretch that we could use before we go to bed but we haven’t had the chance to do a special sleep stretch because we are doing so much other awesome stretches for our body. Is there a stretch we could try doing in class that would help us sleep better? I need my sleep!

Blog # 64: Tragedy

I have a real life tragic story that I think needs to be heard around the world. I am from a very small town of 8,000 people called Wellington, Kansas. Everyone knows everyone and this was a very close community that had a huge heart for our high school football team.
On March 7, 2009 there was a tragic car accident involving 4 people. The car accident happened on a country dirt road and the driver lost control, over corrected, hit a ditch and ejecting all four passengers. They were all drinking and driving. The only thing left of the truck that the passengers were in, was the cab. One of those passengers was a very good friend of mine and in my class all throughout school. Her name was Brayden Popplewell. She was the most life-threatening and spent a total of 25 days in a coma. Her injuries included brain damage, and lacerations on her spleen and lungs I believe. She was in the hospital for approximately 2 months and then went to rehab. The other 3 passengers lived, but were extremely lucky. The driver of the vehicle only received a broken arm and no DUI charges were pressed because of insufficient evidence.
On June 4, 2009 Brayden’s older brother, Dustin was tragically killed in a car accident. He swerved to miss a deer and rolled his truck. According to police, alcohol was involved. You think the family has been through a lot already? Think again…
On October 4, 2009 Brayden was involved in another alcohol-related car accident on another country dirt road just 7 miles away from the accident that occurred in March. This time, she wasn’t so lucky. She was pronounced dead at the scene. There were a total of 7 people in the 2 car crash and Brayden was the only fatality. The driver of the vehicle’s name is Patrick (Ryan) Burr and he is 20 years old. He was driving under the influence and failed to yield. He was then struck by another vehicle killing Brayden. Another passenger in the truck was life-watched to Wichita, Kansas. The 2 passengers in the other car were fine and sustained minor injuries.
Patrick (Ryan) Burr can face up to 14 years in prison if convicted. Fortuneatly for Burr, he only received 2 years in prison. In my opinion, that wasn’t enough because he took the life of an innocent person, Brayden. She is now dead because Burr decided to drive when he was under the influence. According to another girl in the vehicle who was the person that was life-watched to Wichita, she said that the reason why Burr failed to yield is because he was in a hurry to get home. That decision will hang on his shoulders for the rest of his life.
To make a long story short, I just basically want to get across that this innocent family lost 2 children due to drinking and driving exactly 4 months apart from each other. I think their story needs to be heard so this kind of thing doesn’t have to happen again.
When tragedies happen in our small town of Wellington, Kansas it is a huge deal. The entire town was affected by it and my heart goes out to that family for losing 2 kids due to alcohol.
Brayden will always be remembered as a beautiful young girl who used to always laugh. She had a bright future ahead of her until she made the decision to get in a vehicle of a person who was drinking. She had a lot of friends and I truly think this story needs to be heard.

Blog # 63: Dancing with the teachers

This past weekend I went down to my home town to attend a special event that is held every year at the high school. It is called “Dancing with the Teachers.” This event is held every November right before Thanksgiving and is a fundraiser for the upcoming prom that following spring for the junior and seniors. All the money that is raised the night of the show goes towards the dance, dinner, decorations, dj, prom queen and king crowns, and the after prom.
This event is extremely similar to the famous television show called “Dancing with the Stars” but instead of celebrities dancing with each other it is teachers dancing with students. How this works is that all the teachers and faculty members including the principle and vice principle of the high school are all included in a round of voting from the entire student body. The voting is taken place several months prior to the event to allow plenty of dance practice between the teacher and the student. Each student picks 10 teachers and after all the votes are counted the top 10 teachers with the most votes are the lucky ones who get to dance at the event. Now for the students who get picked for the event can only be juniors and seniors since the fundraiser is for the junior and senior prom. After the teachers have all been decided whether they are male and females determines how many male students and how many female students are picked. The students are picked by the teachers like how the teachers were picked by the students. After the teachers and students have all been picked determining how they are paired up is then determined. They are paired up by height. The male teachers obviously dance with a female student and a female teacher dances with a male student. Practicing for this event was very critical. They had to learn a 5 minute dance with their partner in about 6 weeks. Practice was during the schools study hour which was twice a week.
The main difference between the television show “Dancing with the Stars” and “Dancing with the Teachers” is the way the pair dances with each other. On the show you see a very connected sexual type of dance, but that would be a huge mistake for a teacher and a student to interact with each other on stage. The dance between the students and the teachers are very tasteful but still fun to watch. Everyone involved in the event is all dressed up in night gowns and tuxedos.
When I went to this event I thought it was presented very nicely and elegant. The lights were nicely dim with soft classical music as everyone was seated. I thought this event was well more organized than the Kansas Dance Festival. All we had to do was pay the three dollars and sit wherever we wanted to. This event lasted about an hour and a half with other entertainment involved. There were a lot of people to support the fundraiser. I had a blast at the event and hope my home town continues to do this every year to help out the prom.

Blog # 62: Kansas Dance Festival

At the Miller Concert hall on campus at Wichita State there was a Kansas Dance festival taking place on Friday night and Saturday night. I decided to go to the Friday night performance.
After the announcer said a few words the dance festival began to take place. The lights went completely dark and I heard the curtains begin to open. The first performance was called “Forward Momentum” and was performed by Wichita State University. This performance was a great opening for the entire show. It was very lively and put you on the edge of your seat. It all started out that all twelve dancers were sitting in chairs and when the music started they began to move like robots in their chairs. The males and females all wore the exact same outfit of black pants, white button shirt, and a red printed tie. It was a very odd performance and I am sure many people in the audience did not like it, but it gave me a whole new perspective about dance.
The second performance was performed by four dancers from Friends University. This performance was called “Pieces.” They were all four girls that wore very simple black leotards and ballet shoes. This performance was drastically different from the first one. It was very elegant and slow. The performance started out that only one dancer at a time had the spotlight. After all four dancers did their solo the lights were on all of them. This dance was great for people who love ballet; I however was ready for it to be over.
The third performance was named “Theme Slav Varie” and was performed by eight Wichita State University females. It was a lively dance that reminded me of watching girls from Scotland dance. They wore these matching dresses that reminded me of something that Snow White might wear. I personally did not like the costume because it was distracting and looked difficult to dance in, but it did go with the music. My favorite part of the whole dance is when the music would play a certain part, and then play it again in a higher pitch and two girls would dance to the lower tone and then the other 6 girls would repeat it behind them. They did that for several 8 counts and I thought it was very unique.
The forth performance was again performed by Wichita State University and named “triangles.” There were a total of twenty four dancers. This was my absolute favorite performance. Everyone was wearing red and black outfits. The guys had on black slacks and a red silk vest and the girls were basically wearing lingerie with fish net hose. This dance was very seductive and I think the reason why this dance was named “triangles” is because for every guy dancer there were two female dancers. While watching this dance it looked like the two girls were fighting over the guy dancer. This dance was awesome!
During the Intermission a big group of dancers walked up on stage to stretch. I think it was there way of trying to get the audience to quiet down for the next performance. The fifth performance was performed by Wichita State University and the dance was called “barrier.” The girls were wearing blue spandex outfits and the guys were wearing grey sweat pants and shirtless. I personally found the costumes weird. The dance was good but hard to watch. There were so many dancers it was hard to keep your eye on just one.
The very last dance was awesome! It was called “Constant Turbulence” and was performed by Wichita State University. This dance was very seductive and had a red glowing light behind them that made them look like shadows. The dancers really showed an attitude with the way they moved. This dance was a perfect dance to end the show.
I really enjoyed watching this Dance Festival. It was very unique and had many different types of dance. I was glad I went but I was extremely exhausted after sitting there for over 2 hours!

Blog # 61: Articles

I looked up some articles and came up with the following:

http://nutrition.about.com/od/foodfun/a/foodsandsleep.htm
The past four to six weeks I haven’t had a full nights rest. I think a lot has to do with being so busy with school and work and I don’t find a certain time to eat a balanced diet. I used to eat oatmeal everyday on my lunch breaks at work and was always alert and awake. After reading this article it was a great wakeup call on what foods I need to eat to have a full night’s sleep in order to be fully alert during the next day. I always thought that fatty foods made you more tired, meaning making you sleep better throughout the night. I like this article and would defiantly recommend this to someone who was having difficulty sleeping.
http://www.healthhype.com/category/nutrition
I always wondered why my stomach seemed to bulge after I ate. I never just gorge myself when I eat, but I usually eat a lot of bread and/or a diet pepsi which according to this article can cause bloating. I thought this article was interesting. I would recommend this article to someone who was curious on what foods or drinks cause bloating. I am glad I came across this article because I personally don’t like the feeling of being bloated and should probably stay away from carbonated drinks.
http://www.milksucks.com/more.asp
I completely disagree with this article. This article is basically stating all the bad things about milk and other dairy products, but in reality it is all based on the opinion on whoever made this article. The person that made this article wants everyone to switch to non-dairy foods like soy and tofutti and I completely disagree with that because Milk is very nutritional and high in calcium. If someone was trying to get nutrition facts about milk and/or other dairy products I would absolutely not recommend this article because in my opinion I don’t think any of these so called “facts” are true.
http://www.sparkpeople.com/resource/nutrition_articles.asp?id=1386&page=3
This article is very benefiting. If someone I knew who was trying to lose weight I would refer this article to them because it has so much information about eating healthier and eating less. Portion control is a major issue in obesity. People eat too fast and too much. Every time I go out to dinner, I cut everything I see on my plate in half and take the rest home to eat the next day. I think if more people did what I did, the obesity rate would lower dramatically.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2009/07/24/ST2009072402204.html?sid=ST2009072402204
This article is good for people who claim that they are “too busy” to workout. Whether you are cooking, doing laundry, or even watching the news in the morning you can do simple little workouts while doing other things hence the word “multitasking.” I liked this article because every time I watch television, I am either doing crunches or stretching my legs.
http://www.healthcastle.com/best-healthiest-foods.shtml
This is a great article to decide what foods that is healthy to eat. America is an extremely obese country because we obviously eat the wrong foods. This article states some food types that are extremely healthy. I would recommend this article to someone who was having difficulty picking foods that were healthy.
http://www.healthcastle.com/breakfast.shtml
Breakfast is said to be the most important meal of the day because it is the meal that jumpstarts your day and gets you going. But eating foods that are unhealthy is not a smart choice in starting your day. This article is great because it tells you certain food types to avoid for breakfast. I used to always toast a waffle in the morning before school and that was one of the food items to avoid for breakfast. I never put butter or syrup on my waffles, but according to this website the waffles contain refined sugar and Trans fat which is lacking nutritional value. Good foods for breakfast would be foods high in fiber!
http://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/grocery-shopping-9/sweets-treats-healthy-diet
This is a great article for people that are afraid to have snacks. This article basically states it is “okay” to have some sweets in your diet if you are putting physical exercise in your day. Children get 25% of their calories just from having snacks throughout the day and it is important that those snacks have nutritional value. I thought after reading this article was beneficial because sometimes I feel really guilty having cookies for a snack but since I am very physical active I know it is okay.
http://www.midwiferytoday.com/articles/nutritionpreg.asp
This article is great for women who are concerned about nutrition during pregnancy. I thought this article had a lot of information to it, but I think it needs more beyond the foods for pregnancy and have more information on what pregnant people can/can’t do and of course the vitamins that are essential during pregnancy.
http://lifestyle.iloveindia.com/lounge/benefits-of-strawberry-1515.html
This article is great for anyone! Strawberries are good for diabetics in regulating blood sugar. Rubbing strawberries on your teeth can improve tartar can even get rid of toxins in the body. I really learned a lot from the article and would recommend this to someone.

Blog # 60: Dance Con't 2

When I became a sophomore in high school I tried out for the varsity cheerleading squad. The mascot was the Crusaders and the Dukes. I made the team and was ready to start learning our dance that summer for cheerleading camp at Emporia State University. There were 12 extremely talented girls on our squad and by the time we had our dance all made up I knew we would win first place for the “home-routine” at cheerleading camp that upcoming July. Our dance had many different types of movements from hip hop to jazz including jumps, turns, and gymnastics. Every year when I was a varsity cheerleader we always won our home-routine at cheerleading camp.
Our high school had a dance team called the crimson dancers. They would perform during our pep assembles and during half time at either a home football or basketball game. After they were done performing their dance, usually the cheerleaders would follow by doing one of our routines. I almost felt embarrassed for the dances because when we would walk out before we performed the audience would scream and applaud us because they felt like we would always have a better dance than the crimson dancers. In our high school the crimson dancers and the varsity cheerleaders didn’t exactly get along because the crimson dancers were somewhat jealous of our dances.
My experience with dance has been basically my whole life. It started when I was doing gymnastics at the age of six to being a cheerleader in high school at the age of eighteen. Since I am no longer involved in gymnastics, tap, jazz, and cheerleading I started being a “social dancer.” When I go out with friends I dance with them on the dance floor to mainly the new hip hop songs around. It’s always a blast because I can let loose and I know I am not getting judged on my dance moves.
I personally think dance should be in every young girl’s life. Not only does it keep you busy, but it lets you express yourself and make friends. I wouldn’t change a thing about my childhood. I was really glad to have experienced the different types of dance that I was involved in. However, I wish I would have done ballet, because it looked so elegant and peaceful when I would watch my friends perform.

Blog # 59: Dance Con't

The best part about jazz dance was performing in front of an audience. Every year in my town of Wellington there would be one huge dance recital for the whole town to see. It was held in the junior high school auditorium. It was a very competitive time of year when we performed. We would all get ready in the empty classrooms getting our hair and makeup done. I remember one year there was a bag of candy in the 8th grade teacher’s desk and being the obnoxious little girl that I was I decided to have a few suckers before I performed my jazz dance with my fellow dancers. When it was time to perform, my entire mouth including my lips and teeth were stained blue from the sucker I had just ate before. I drew unnecessary attention to myself. After performing our dance I got lectured by my dance teacher, but I thought it was hilarious.
When my grandmother was younger she took tap dance lessons. She told me how much she loved putting on her tap shoes and tapping away at lessons. I begged my mom to put me in tap lessons because after 2 years of doing jazz I was pretty much tired of it. My mom didn’t care what type of dance I did, she just wanted me to be involved in something other than gymnastics since that was only once a week. However, I had to choose between jazz and tap, and I obviously wanted to try something new and picked tap dancing. So when I was about 10 years old my mother enrolled me into tap. I enjoyed every minute of it. It was quite different from jazz but in a good way. I liked the fact that tap was still dance, but it was a form of music too. In my opinion I was a much better tap dancer than a jazz dancer. I think one of the main reasons why I wanted to take tap dance lessons was because both my sister and I were gymnast and then my mom put both of us in jazz dance together and I wanted to do something that was completely on my own without my sister by my side.
I did tap until I was 12 years old and a seventh grader in Junior High. Every since I was in elementary school I knew I wanted to be a cheerleader throughout my junior and high school days. I wanted to try out for cheerleading and knew I couldn’t be a cheerleader, gymnast, tap dancer, and a full time student, so I dropped out of being a tap dancer, even though I was sad to leave. I used my skills of being a gymnast to get bonus points at cheerleading tryouts. I made the seventh grade cheerleading squad along with 7 other girls, because only 8 were allowed on the squad. I was so excited to cheer for the “Blue Knights” football and basketball team that following fall and winter. During the summer is when we would learn all the cheers and dances for the upcoming year. We would learn dances so we could perform them during halftime at either a football or basketball game. I remember one dance either my seventh or eighth grade year we did it to “hey Mickey.” Cheerleading dances are very different from a jazz or tap dance. The movements of a cheerleading dance are more stiff and choppy than the elegant moves of jazz. Also, in cheerleading dances we might yell words occasionally like “GO BIG BLUE, BEAT THE BULLDOGS,” which you would not hear that in a jazz or tap dance.

Blog # 58: Dance

It all started when I was just six years old. My mother put me in gymnastics because I was constantly bouncing off the walls. She thought that the exercise from the gymnastic class would wear me out so I wouldn’t be so hyper at home. She obviously didn’t realize that my class was only once a week. The gymnastics class was held in Derby, Kansas on Tuesday evenings called “funtastics.”
I consider gymnastics as a form of dance. There are movements in gymnastics that involve dance-like rhythm, such as when you do a routine. When I became older and significantly became a better gymnast I started to do “show-team”. Show-team was basically an individual made up routine showed in front of an audience to music involving gymnastic moves, such as back flips, back hand springs, aerials, front or back walkovers, and cartwheels, and then the dance-like moves such as elegant arm and leg movements, wrist and ankle pops, running straddle jumps, and down on the floor movements. I really enjoyed doing show team because it was a very competitive sport for me and I won many trophies.
In my small home town of Wellington, Kansas there was absolutely no dance studio for young girls to do ballet, jazz, and tap. When I was about 8 years old our town turned an old shoe and clothing store into our very first dance studio. It was gigantic in size and would accommodate many rooms to dance in. Upstairs in the balcony was a huge room filled with mirrors that held tap and jazz classes. Down stairs underneath the balcony was a huge gymnastics room filled with a tumbling floor, uneven bars, vault, and a trampoline. Another area downstairs was a room for ballet classes that included mirrors and poles. This building was an odd building for a dance studio, but it seemed to work out greatly.
After the dance studio was finally opened my mother decided to put me in jazz dance lessons. There were only about 12 young girls in my class, but that was plenty for me because I had no clue how to “dance” like a real dancer and needed all the individual help as possible. At first, I didn’t really like jazz because I felt like an outcast. All the other girls in my class have taken jazz before elsewhere, but I was obviously a newbie to the sport. I was the only gymnast in my jazz class and every time I had the chance I would try to sneak away downstairs to get on the trampoline and do a bunch of back flips before I got caught because I would rather bounce around than be instructed what dance moves I had to learn. I just learned the basic jazz dance movements because my heart was more towards being a gymnast than being a dancer and I didn’t really focus on becoming a really good jazz dancer.

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Blog # 57: Audie

An innocent baby, who entered life in the year of 1990, never knew that she would have such a short, difficult life. Her name was Audra Benge and she was born on March 7, 1990; barely 3 months older than me. She was the youngest of four children.
When she was only two years old, she was diagnosed with leukemia. Her parents wanted to fight for her life so they put her through chemotherapy. An ordinary toddler probably wouldn’t have made it due to such an underdeveloped immune system. Audra on the other hand overcame her disease of cancer, and the doctors had gotten all that there was; so they thought.
Audra was a healthy little girl for the time being. She happened to relapse at the age of five, again diagnosed with leukemia. Since she made it through the first time, she probably would be able to beat it again. She overcame cancer once again. Everybody was just praying that was going to be the last time. This was only the beginning of her strenuous struggle for survival.
I remember playing on the trampoline when I was about seven years old just wondering why my cousin was so much smaller than me. As Audra was sick, the chemotherapy took toll over her growth. I was easily six inches taller than her, but I still always looked up to her. I didn’t quite understand why we always had to go to the hospital to visit her when I was younger. She was always laughing and making jokes around us, even while she was at the hospital under the care of doctors. She truly had a huge heart, and didn’t seem bothered at all while she was sick.
Audra lived a pretty normal childhood after she beat cancer for the second time. Soon after she turned twelve she was again diagnosed with cancer. This time it wasn’t leukemia; it was bone cancer. Bone cancer is extremely hard to treat, and a lot of my family had lost hope at this time, but not Audra. Audra’s older brother, Jason did a bone marrow transplant for her. He had saved her life this time. I think Audra’s hope throughout her life of becoming healthy has kept her going this long. Doctor’s were extremely confounded why this beautiful little girl kept relapsing. It wasn’t over yet; it was far from over. Audra had a few more years of being healthy, and routine checkups to doctors. Doctors noticed a tennis ball size tumor on one of her lungs. It was cancerous. She was fifteen at this point. Teenagers should be able to enjoy their young life; instead Audra was spending her teenage years at the hospital with other cancer patients. From when she was about the age of fifteen and sixteen, the lung cancer never went away. Chemotherapy just didn’t seem to work this time. Instead, the cancer started to spread throughout her whole respiratory system. It even reached her tongue, where the doctors had to remove a portion of it. During the summer of 2007, Audra had completely stopped taking chemotherapy. She was extremely spent from the years of the constant struggle for her life, but she wasn’t entirely giving up. She came to the lake with us on my birthday in June, and I have never seen such a tiny and thin little girl. She looked like she could have been in the third grade, at the age of seventeen. She never was able to do the fun things as a normal teenager, like attend her high school prom. I never understood why God picked such a sweet individual to put through misery. I guess everything does happen for a reason.
Doctor’s estimated that Audra wasn’t going to make it till Christmas, but this miracle child started to get better and she kept trying to fight. Audra made it through the New Years. Doctor’s then said she had about four to eight weeks left.
On Tuesday March 4, 2008 Audra Benge lost her battle with cancer in her home with her family. She was only three days away from becoming an adult. The funeral was in her home town of Conway Springs on March 8, 2008. She has inspired my life greatly for the fact that she kept fighting for her life even when everyone else was giving up. She never seemed scared to die, even when she knew she only had days left. I completely look at life differently now and no longer take life for granted. I try my hardest to live my days to the very fullest. I guess everything really does happen for a reason. I will miss her very much but God had a better plan for her.

Blog # 56: Abstinence-only Sex Ed

http://www.avert.org/abstinence.htmhttp://www.itsyoursexlife.org Abstinence - only sex education is a form of sex education that emphasizes abstinence from sex and often includes many other types of sexual and reproductive health education, particularly regarding birth control and safe sex. These types of programs promote sexual abstinence until marriage and talks about using contraceptives that count as birth control and the use of condoms. This program also talks about ways to avoid sexually transmitted diseases that are caused from intercourse. Many young teenagers fell invincible when having sex at such a young age. They think they are unable to get pregnant and they will never get a STD from their partner. Many religions, such as Catholics believe it is morally wrong to have sexual intercourse before wedlock. I am catholic and I believe this “belief” is pathetic and wrong. It is extremely unlikely to get married before losing one’s virginity because TIMES HAVE CHANGED. Maybe a thousand years ago this was likely and I think the religions belief need to be updated. There is a new popular television show called “16 and pregnant” that airs every Tuesday night on MTV. I think this shows has some good points to on how being pregnant and a teenager is hard to deal with, but this show clearly glamorizes the whole meaning of teenage mothers. It makes other girls think “those girls are getting attention and paid a great deal of money to share their story on television because they got knocked up, maybe if I got pregnant, I could be on television too.” This statement is ridiculous because this show makes it seem okay for young girls to have sex and get pregnant at a young age. In contrast, this show clearly states how to prevent pregnancy by the use on contraceptives- birth control and condoms. There are many different types of birth control drugs that include oral pills, liquid shots in the arm, and a female “condom” that is placed inside the vagina that is supposed to prevent pregnancy for 5 years. Anyways, do I agree with having Abstinence - only sex education programs within school? Absolutely yes! The reason why I agree with this programs is because some young teenagers live in a house that is so conservative that they do not learn about abstinence inside their own home, which is a place where most learning of life is taken place. I think when a child ask about sex, a parent should be straight up with them and tell them the truth instead of lying about the birds and the bees talk. Some places do not allow sex education because they think it is promoting sexual behavior. No, in reality sex education just tells the truth about it all. Teenagers are going to have sex if they really want to. No one in their right mind is going to be able to stop them unless they are locked up for their entire teenage years. The only right way, is to be completely supportive of their child’s decisions and to have open discussions about sex.

Monday, April 26, 2010

Blog # 55: KFDI

Recently on the Wichita, Kansas radio station KFDI, my brother whom is currently serving his third deployment in Iraq as an United States Air Force security forces called the popular station to ask an important question for the entire world to hear- to ask his Girlfriend, Robyn Koehn for her hand in marriage. It was on Monday, March 8, 2010 when he called the radio station via skype. This proposal was actually video recorded because my brother was unfortunately on a secret mission that did not allow him to call the United States to talk live that day. He actually called to station weeks before Robyn’s birthday, because he knew plenty of time before the “taped proposal” that she was “the one.” Anyways, he called KFDI and had the radio station “record” his proposal via skype. Skype is basically an internet operating tool that allows you to video call or phone call or BOTH to someone who also has skype. He e-mailed KFDI and told them what exactly what he wanted to do and for them to call Robyn on her birthday at exactly 8:10 AM to release the recorded phone call from my brother because he knew for a fact that she listened to KFDI every morning on her 30 minute drive to work. He did not want KFDI to automatically call her with the question from my brother because that would have been weird for both Robyn and the listeners. My brother came up with an amazing plan for KFDI to have a “reason” to call her.Since my brother has been deployed several times, he knows what life is like over there for the Iraqi children. Every time he drives by the children in his Humvee they all have on dirty clothes, no shoes, and are holding their hands out expecting something. What was it though? All they wanted was a soccer ball to play with. As my brother was analyzing the Iraqi children, he came up with a plan to get the community involved to help these children live a better life. My brother and his girlfriend Robyn invented the “Soccer Ball Drive” for Iraqi children. This drive came well know all over Wichita and even made it all the way to California. Since it was impossible to have him develop this drive, his girlfriend helped out by making fliers. She was interviewed by several news broadcasters. To make a long story short, KFDI called Robyn to again interview her for the Soccer ball drive.The whole KFDI radio station that interviewed Robyn was really legit. She just thought she was getting yet another phone call for an updated story on how the soccer ball drive was going for the Iraqi children. She explained briefly how many balls she has collected and how my Brother was documenting a video of him actually giving out the soccer balls. The story really is touching in many ways.To Robyn’s surprise, KFDI then said “we actually have something to ask you.” Robyn hesitated for a moment then said “ok…?” MY brother’s heart warming recorded phone call then came on the air. He basically said how much he loved her and that he wants to spend the rest of his life with and then finally came to the terms “Robyn, will you marry me?” She gasped with excitement and said “Well yea! I will marry you, Derek!” Since this was recorded, my Brother had no clue if she said yes or no. For him to find out, was obviously her relationship stated on face book. It was such a touching story that listeners called in to give KFDI their input. It was the first ever live proposal on KFDI. Congratulations Derek and Robyn!!!

Thursday, April 22, 2010

Blog # 54: Teens and Texting

I think the age that teenagers are now receiving cell phones is ridiculous. Why does a 12 year old need a cell phone? They can’t drive and they are not even close to being in high school. In my personal opinion, I think teenagers deserve the right of having a cell phone when they have a car and are in high school. I did not get a cell phone until I was 15 years old and a sophomore in high school. I was one of the last kids in my class to finally get one.
The reason why I think kids need to have cell phones if for security and safety. If something were to happen that they needed direct assistance- such as, they ran out of gas, or they got in a car accident. But the reason why teens are using cell phones today is absolutely ridiculous. Some teens are reported to send over a few thousand texts a day. Which means, they are obviously not paying attention in school and are on the verge of getting carpal tunnel.
I do not think that Schools should be allowed to “ban” cell phones from school. To see a student texting in class is one thing, but in the halls and at lunch is fair game. I remember one time when I was in high school that my teacher walked by my desk and head my cell phone vibrate. She immediately asked for me to give it to her. Being the stubborn person that I am, I felt like I had the right to refuse to let her confiscate it because I was not disrupting class and I was not on my cell phone. If a school bombing occurred, or a fire occurred, then students could easily whip out their cell phones and call the authorities much faster than a teacher calling down to the office to report the incident because in most cases, it might be too late.
In addition, texting completely ruins the meaning of “being social.” I personally rather text than talk on the phone because it is easier because talking via text messages, you can delay your responses rather than having to immediately respond when you are on the phone. Teens that over-text are losing the ability to become social by talking face to face. At this age is when teens learn how to be social, so is texting replacing this whole meaning? Talking on the phone is much more personal, real, and sophisticated. When calling in for work, people are more likely to call their boss, rather than text them because it is more believable to call them on the phone that they are sick than text them.

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Blog # 53: Meditation

I am taking a meditation class this spring semester for many reasons. I am the type of person who is always stressing and worrying about school. I work two different jobs to support myself and I attend Wichita State University as a full time student. Since I am double majoring, my classes are extremely hard. My day-to-day life consists of waking up at 3:30 in the morning for work and then I am on campus in class for around 8 hours a day. I am also taking this class so I can cope with my insomnia that I was diagnosed with. I sleep approximately between 2 and 4 hours a night a week because I am constantly thinking about my next day’s festivities. My brain can never relax so I am unable to get restful nights of sleep.
My favorite meditation that we did in class was when we used a stone. I placed the beautiful colored stone on top of my forehead as I laid back onto the blue mat for meditation. I was surprised at how quickly I drifted off into my meditation. It usually takes me at least five minutes, but this time it was only a minute or two. As I was meditating I saw some neon colored lights behind my eyes. These colors ranged from a bright aqua blue, deep purple, sea blue, and a lime green. The color then began pulsating and appeared hypnotic. The feeling was indescribable and felt amazing during this time of meditation. After I brought my awareness back to the room I was instantly awake and felt like I received a full night sleep.
Another meditation I want to talk about is the last meditation we did in class. This meditation dealt with listening to a soft drumming sound. I particularly did not like this type of meditation for many reasons. I am the type of person that likes complete silence. I thought the sound of the drums was really distracting. However, I surprisingly went into a deep meditation stage quickly. I was uncomfortable throughout the entire meditation because I laid in fetal position on the mat and lost feeling in all of my limbs. Halfway through the meditation, I bit my tongue! This meditation was not for me, but I am sure it would fit other people’s desires for meditation. I did feel better after I came back to my awareness, but I just did not like the constant sound of the drums beating.

Monday, April 19, 2010

Blog # 52: Stress

Today I am struggling on a topic to talk about for my blog entry. What in the world shall I talk about? There are thousands of topics I could easily stumble upon as I free write, but what topic really would interest me today. Okay, I figured it out. Lets talk about stress. Stress is my worst enemy. I hate everything about stress, and I am beginning to think it is a mutual relationship. Stress has consumed my everyday life this past semester. I cannot seem to venture away from it. My sleep patterns have been devoured by stress. Take last night for example, I laid in bed around 8:30 PM, expecting to fall asleep quickly just like every other night. I laid in bed forever it seemed like. After about TWO hours of tossing and turning I said to myself- screw it. I got out of bed and got on the computer. I figured out why I could not sleep. I had so much going on in my mind it was keeping me awake. My body did not want me to go to sleep because I still had something I needed to do before Monday morning. But what was it? I completely forgot to turn my hard written analysis essay into Safe Assignment. Thank goodness I noticed this before it was too late. After I turned it into Safe Assign on blackboard, I noticed I mistakenly forgot to cite and important source in my essay. I retrieved some of the information off this website to help me understand them meaning of what exactly high school cliques were. I pretty much had to basic idea of what the definition was, but I just wanted to have a real definition and not something made up from myself. Anyways, to make a long story short, I basically forgot to site this source. I used some other information in my essay from this source and I did not want the Safe Assignment to accuse me of plagiarizing because that is something I would NEVER do in a million years. I was nervous because I already turned my essay into Safe Assign and I was not able to go back and put those citations in. What did I do? I e-mailed Ms. Rawls to bail me out. I knew I was not going to be able to sleep peacefully until I received a response from her. To my surprise she e-mailed me right back! She came to the rescue and said I could upload the updated file. She made a good point- “when in doubt, always cite.” That phrase said a thousand words to me. I was not necessarily in doubt, but I wanted to make sure that I gave credit to the webpage I retrieved information from. It would have been such a shame if I ended up forgetting to site the source and was accused of plagiarizing! Honesty is the best policy!

Blog # 51: And the Pursuit of Happiness

The article that our class was to read about how Americans live their life was interesting. I personally thought it was confusing and difficult to read. I did however understand that the article was talking about ways in which we could consume food. Many Americans live their day to day life fast and furious. People do not actually have time to cook a healthy meal at home for their families. Many people rely on the extremely unhealthy fast food restaurants at every corner in a big city. How are Americans supposed to remain healthy if fast food is the only answer for people? Instead of having an ice cream or McDonalds joint at every corner, why not have a fruit and vegetable stand? If Americans were given the chance to easily buy healthy food then I am sure people would!
However in contrast to this, people make their own decisions about their own health choices. If a McDonalds is the “only” choice for lunch, then you are obviously not searching hard enough. People in America make the poor excuses to blame fast food restaurants as their “only” option for something quick and easy for lunch. You know what is even easier? Packing your own “healthy” lunch would be much easier and safer because you know exactly what you are consuming. Unlike McDonalds for example, they use harmful preservatives in their meat. I was watching this video online some time ago and a McDonalds quarter pounder with cheese did NOT decompose over a 4 year time frame. Yes, I said a FOUR year time frame. Isn’t that just absolutely insane? Gross! If an ENTIRE cheeseburger is not decomposing in a four year time frame, what is that doing to your body? How is your body supposed to breakdown something if four years outside in stale air cannot?
The importance of this article was to state that farming in America needs to be glamorized more than fast food. No wonder America is the most obese country in the world! I have not yet seen an advertisement commercial about fruits and vegetables grown from our local farmers. All of the commercials on television are about Fast food- McDonalds, Wendy’s, Dairy Queen, ect. Is being fat starting to become a trademark in Society of Americans? That is not something that I am willing to try because everyone else lives off of fast food. People always are complaining that aging causes you to become fat. Who’s justifications is that? Or maybe women blame their extra pudge from having children. What people eat and what people do is what makes us fat. You could work out all the time and still be considered obese if you do not eat healthy! It all depends on diet and exercise!

Blog # 50: Men and Masculinity

My sister and I had more structure and a stricter curfew than my brother who was the middle child. My brother was allowed to go to girls houses and he was able to have girls in his bedroom. My sister and I were not allowed to go to our boyfriend’s homes, but we were able to let them come over only if both of our parents were present so they could keep an eye on us. My sister, who was the oldest wasn’t allowed to date until her senior year. With myself being the youngest, I was privileged to date when I turned sixteen.
My brother ended up getting his sixteen year old girlfriend pregnant. My parents didn’t want that to happen to me so they immediately put me on birth control. I wouldn‘t want to change what my parents did by putting me on birth control after finding out my brother’s shocking news. I do think my brother should had the same strict rules as my sister and I did. It wasn’t fair for me to have to come home hours earlier than my brother or had a set dating age. Maybe if my brother had the same rules as my sister and I, he wouldn’t be a dad.;
I learned from my family rules that just because we are female don’t automatically mean we won’t get pregnant by eliminating our much deserved freedom. My sister and I were smart by the decisions we made. My brother on the other hand never thought about contraception with his girlfriend, which ended up in a very preventable pregnancy.
The most important thing that I learned during the discussion was when Matson was explaining that respect is more important than love. I never really thought about it that way until Matson went into depth on how during a relationship, if there is not any respect, then how could there possibly be true love? Another important thing that I learned during the discussion was that stress is a choice made by you. I never thought about stress being a choice until I made the decision for myself to live a stress-free life.

The reason why I think learning that respect is more important than love is because when I was a young sixteen year old girl, I was in my first long term relationship with an older guy for two years and our relationship was based on constant disrespect. Looking back at our relationship, I thought I was in love with him, but in reality I was fooling myself. He constantly disrespected me, but I would never leave him because I was too afraid of being alone. I was one of those girls who would rather be in a miserable relationship than be alone altogether. The reason why I think learning that stress is a choice is important, because I was constantly living my everyday life as stressed. I do believe it is impossible to live your life completely stress-free, but the way a person deals with stress has a huge impact on their life. I was so sick with living my life as stressful, so now I just take a deep breath before I become stressed. Making the choice of not living my life stressful was the best choice that I have ever made in my life. This class has been nothing but a learning experience and I completely recommend this class to everyone

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Blog # 49: Bachelor 5

The last episode of “The Bachelor” I just knew that Tenley was going to win! I am disappointed in Jake for keeping Vienna this long. What does he see in her? She is so ugly and fake! She is the drama starter in the entire show and he wants her to his wife? You have got to be kidding me!
Anyways, Jake still has to choose between Tenley and Vienna. I really wanted him to make the right decision. To my disappointment, he went with the scum bag, Vienna. I was extremely angry at Jake. What was he thinking? I knew Tenley was hurt because she was recently hurt by her husband before joining the show. Her husband cheated on her and left her heartbroken. Tenley was a tiny, but mighty girl with personality at all angles. I honestly thought she fit Jake’s profile better than the fake blonde and fake baked girl, Vienna.
On a further note, Allie was going to be the next Bachelorette for the television show. I was happy for her considering her situation. She was forced to leave Jake just a few weeks before the final rose ceremony due to work orders. However, I personally do not think she is a good match for the Bachelorette because she has an attitude issue. She was always bickering back and forth with Vienna, making Allie appear to be stooping down to Vienna’s level, in other words, immature. I personally think that either Tenley or Gia should be the next bachelorette! I really liked Gia, but I think Tenley deserves being the next Bachelorette than anyone because she was the last standing girl. She probably was asked to be the next bachelorette, but she most likely turned down the offer because she was extremely hurt by jake.
Even though I completely disagree with Jake’s decision on choosing Vienna as his future wife, I truly wish him the best of happiness. I have a feeling that Vienna is going to do something stupid to mess things up with Jake like she did with her other husband AND fiancé! Anyways, I will continue to tune into the Bachelor shows and enjoy every moment like I do in the past

Blog # 48: Analysis

Writing the Analysis paper, I had a difficult time in starting it. I knew right off the bat that I wanted to write the paper over- high school cliques. I was well aware of high school cliques from my high school because I went to an extremely judgemental, gossipy, and diverse high school. I went to a small high school with approximately 300-400 students throughout the entire school. There were so many different cliques involved in my high school- jocks, preps, gothics, emo, hippies, guitar heroes, and of course, the geeks.
I enjoyed writing this paper because it felt so natural to write. I knew how each individual clique was stereotyped by my own personal analysis from high school. On the other hand, I was in the prep stereotype because I was a cheerleader and popular but I also hung out with all sorts of different people. I was the type of person who could get along with everyone. I had several friends that did drugs and people automatically assumed I did drugs too. I was a concert junkie in high school but didn’t have the “rocker” appearance like the other students did.
I also had some difficulty writing this essay. The most difficult part was of course the actual analysis part. I had no problem whatsoever when defining each individual clique. That part was easy! The hard part is getting deeper down into the smaller parts of analyzing the cliques. I thought I did a great job analyzing the different groups but after work shop I realized that from what Ms. Rawls said, I did not truly analyze the cliques. She said I did a great job defining them, but isn’t that the same as analyzing? Another area I had a difficult time with was the thesis statement. I honestly do not think anyone will be able to explain what a thesis statement to me is in great enough detail. I know it is what the paper is going to talk about, but what else? I think I am looking too much into it when referring to the thesis statement. I wish I could just write my papers how I want to instead of following a guideline that does not mean anything to me.
I went to the writing center to receive some extra help on my thesis statement and it was the biggest waste of time. I felt like I was helping myself. I am glad I went, but I could have told myself what the young gal told me. I am not degrading the whole writing system, but I was really disappointed with the help I received. Hopefully I will have a better understanding of analysis in the near future.

Monday, April 12, 2010

Blog # 47: Bachelor 4

After Rosaline was eliminated, I immediately decided in my own mind whom my favorite four girls were: Allie, Tenley, Gia, and Corey. The person I was most interested in was Gia, because of her beauty and she seemed the most real and kind-hearted from all of the girls.
After many weeks and weeks of eliminations and more intimate dates with Jake, it became to get down to the final straw. Vienna was still in the group which made me sick to her stomach because I hated seeing her fake face all over Jake. I knew Vienna was not in for it for the right reasons and that infuriated me. The final four girls were Allie, Tenley, Gia, and the fake blonde- Vienna. I thought the odds were against Vienna because Jake had 3 other amazing girls that he had the chance to spend the rest of his life with.
In one of the final episodes where Jake went to meet the four girls’ family in their hometown dates, Allie received a disturbing phone call from her work in San Francisco. She was told that if she stayed on the Bachelor with Jake that she would lose her job. She was given the decision to either take the chance with Jake or lose her job forever. She ended up leaving that night to go back to her job. I honestly do not blame her because she only had a 25% chance of being picked by Jake. She either could have gone back to her job, or she could have lost everything. I would have done the same thing that Allie did. I do think it was really low of her job to call her while she was attempting to find love and threaten her with her job that if she did not come back that she would be fired.
Since Allie left that night to return back to her career, there was no rose ceremony. The other 3 girls were extremely relieved because they did not have to worry about getting eliminated by Jake. Tenley, Gia, Vienna, and Jake’s next stop for the Bachelor was St. Lucia in the Carribean!
All four enjoyed an entire week in St. Lucia along the beautiful beach under the sun. The three remaining girls each had their one-on-one time with Jake. At the end of their vacation there was yet another elimination and I had a feeling the blonde bimbo that I hated was going to be long gone by tonight. To my surprise, Jake eliminated Gia. I was devastated! I really wanted Gia to become Jake’s fiancé by the end of this season. In honesty, Gia was the most conservative out of the group and she never let her guard down. I had a feeling that Jake was going to eliminate her because he had a stronger connection with the other two women.
The second to last episode was the “Girls Tell All”, and I knew this was going to be a very interesting episode. After the girls tell all, the final rose ceremony was going to take place between either Tenley or Vienna.

Blog # 46: Bachelor 3

One of my favorite ladies from “The Bachelor” received a rose on a group date. It is very hard to receive a rose while on a group date because all the women on the date (approximately 5 girls per date) are trying to gain Jake’s attention. Rosaline was the lucky girl who received the rose on her group date with Jake. I think the reason why Rosaline received the rose is because she is so aggressive. When Jake and her were alone in their swim suits, while their bodies were all wet and touching, she grabbed jakes face and started aggressively kissing him. Of course Jake, a man enjoyed every minute of this. After they shared their passionate kiss he left her so he could go back down to get his rose that he was about to give out to Rosaline. He did say that Rosaline was out of his comfort zone because she was so beautiful. At this point I could tell that Rosaline had a dark side to her by the way she looked at Jake.
After the group date was over with all of the ladies the rose ceremony was soon to take place. I do believe four women were going to be eliminated this round. Before the rose ceremony took place, Chris Harrison, the host of “The Bachelor” waltzed into the room of all the ladies and said he needed to speak with Rosaline. I immediately knew something was up because stuff like this never happens. As Chris and Rosaline were alone on the patio he confronted her about some inappropriate actions that took place between Rosaline and a producer of the show. She didn’t deny anything that Chris was confronting her about. According to Chris, Rosaline and a producer has some physical contact between each other, such as, kissing, holding hands, and hugging. Those actions are prohibited between the workers of the show, and the contestants.
Chris then told Rosaline that it was best for her to leave immediately without talking to Jake. Rosaline then stormed up to her room to pack her belongings. While Rosaline was packing, Chris informed Jake was just happened. He was shocked to say the least. I really think Jake was disappointed because I could tell Jake started to really feel intimate feelings for Rosaline. I felt sorry for him because he is the one that is not supposed to get hurt.
I really think that was a low thing to do from Rosaline. She came on this television show to find love. She wasn’t supposed to find love with the producers of the show. I think she is a conceded liar and I really hope she learns from this mistake. According to Chris, Rosaline and the producer are still seeing each other. Maybe she did find love, but in a different way.

Friday, April 9, 2010

Blog # 45: Bachelor 2

The show “The Bachelor” gets more entertaining by every episode I watch. There is a girl names Michelle that has some serious self-esteem issues. On the very first night of the show, she was crying like a baby because hadn’t had the chance to talk to Jake yet. I personally think she is unaware of what she had gotten herself into. She has to compete with 24 other beautiful women and getting Jake’s undivided attention is very difficult.
The night of the very first rose ceremony Jake chose some girls that I disapproved of. However, he did keep my favorite three girls: Gia, Allie, and Rosaline. I know it was only the first night of the many rose ceremonies to come, but what does he honestly see in Vienna? In my own opinion she has the word “fake” written all over her face.
The very first week of the show, Allie was given the opportunity to have the very first one on one date with Jake. The look on Michelle’s face was priceless. She was super mad that she did not get the first date. I think the reason why Jake picked Allie for the first one-on-one date is because she made a very good first impression on him. She was so cute in her own way. On the first night, she ripped her bright yellow dress and handled it really well which might have made an impression on Jake.
Their date was absolutely amazing. It was the fairy tale that every girl wants. She is terrified of flying. Since Jake was a pilot, she flew inside his plane for him and I thought that was really big of her to overcome her fear like that just for a guy she was interested in. She wore another bright yellow dress and at first I thought it was the same one! However, this one was different because it was shorter and it was made from silk. After they went on an airplane cruise and landed safely, they had a candle lit dinner under the stars. They had their first kiss at this dinner, and I gasped with excitement. I was so excited for her! After dinner, Jake had another surprise for her. There was a band playing just for the two of them. I cannot remember who the band was, but they did play some great tunes. While the band was playing, they had their first dance followed by many smooches on the lips.
I really think Jake likes Allie. We will just have to see who he is really into throughout the season of the bachelor. By this time I hope he ends up with either Gia or Allie because I think so two girls really fit him well.

Blog # 44: Bachelor

The television show “The Bachelor” is really entertaining this season. Jake, the bachelor was on last season’s “The Bachelorette” but was unfortunately eliminated towards the end. He is now the lucky bachelor of 25 beautiful women.
The first night of the bachelor, I already picked my favorites and already had the girls that I got a bad vibe from. A girl named Christina, who I thought wasn’t exactly “gorgeous” informed the camera man that she was going to be the last woman standing. She also brought a bag of jelly beans for each of the girls and told the ladies it was for them while they were leaving the mansion and going home. Another girl I didn’t like right off the bat was a young 23 year old fake blonde bimbo named Vienna. I didn’t like her for many reasons. For one thing her name was Vienna, and I thought that is just a gross name because a sausage brand is named Vienna too. The main reason why I dislike Vienna so much is because she flat out said she was in love with herself. Someone who has the guts to say on national television that they are in love with themselves really has some serious issues in the real world. It sounded like to me that Vienna was very self centered and spoiled. I got all of this information before I actually even knew her. I will admit that I did judge her. I know it is wrong to judge people, but Vienna doesn’t deserve my respect if she is going to go on television and make herself appear like that. I know my opinion means nothing to her in reality.
The girls that I did like right away were Allie, Gia, and Rosaline. Allie was an all American type of girl with blonde hair and a beautiful face. She seemed like she was really fun to be around and had a bubbly personality. Gia was an extremely gorgeous petite young lady. She had dark brown full body hair and a body of a devil. She was a swimsuit model, which I wasn’t surprised. Her personality was very sweet and she seemed really conservative. She looked like she was a perfect match for Jake. Rosaline was an absolutely gorgeous model who had a face like I’ve never seen before. She almost looked unreal because she was absolutely gorgeous. I couldn’t tell much about how her personality was, but I really liked her at first.
The remaining of “The Bachelor” will continue throughout this week. This show is very interesting to talk about and I wanted to share it with everyone else. I will talk about girls he rejected and drama that Jake will later encounter.

Thursday, April 8, 2010

Blog # 43: Sublime Sun

Sublime is a punk-rock band from California formed in the late 1980’s. Sublime means supreme, or not excelled. Therefore, the sun is sublime. One can quickly realize the extent of detail within the sublime sun. The large mushroom structure is in place of the sun’s forehead, signifying drugs among the band members. The skeleton is coming down from the magic mushroom because those are “Psilocybin” mushrooms, which is a poison. The skeleton signifies poison within the body by using the magic mushroom. The left side of the cheek also clearly shows skeletal parts within the sun that appears to be related to death. Underneath the forehead mushroom are depressing slanted eyes. The right eye is in the shape of a fish with its own skeleton directly above it. Above the left eye is a dead flower. These two objects signify the poison in the Ocean of California, related to death. On the right cheek is a devil, which obviously means he can kill you or your dreams. Next to the devil is a worm from what it seems to be from a tequila bottle, which if ingested creates psychedelic effects just as a magic mushroom does. If you look extremely close, you can see a small needle which clearly identifies more drug usage. The band was well known for the amounts of heroine usage among the lead singer, Bradley Nowell who unfortunately overdosed on Heroine. To the left, which creates the jaw-line of the sun is a knife. The knife is a silent but deadly weapon popularly used in California crimes. Finally, at the bottom of the sun, which is located on the chin portion, is a small peace sign which signifies there is still peace even though there is a large portion of death and drugs within the sun.

The sublime sun signifies several different derogatory meanings. The symbols within the sun clearly states death and psychedelic drugs. However, one could easily argue the meaning behind the different symbols within the sun’s appearance. The artist of who created the sun, most likely the lead singer of the band sublime, could have wanted the items in the sun because it meant something directly towards him or the entire band. The mushroom could easily signify nature and earth instead of psychedelic drugs. The skeleton could signify human structures instead of death. The dead fish and the dead flower could signify qualities of life instead of death. The knife could signify protection instead of violence. The needle could signify health instead of shooting up drugs. All these symbols could completely mean the opposite of what they are entitled to mean, to give us more thought about what our opinions are supposed to be.

Monday, April 5, 2010

Blog # 42: CANCUN 10

Thursday was our last “full day” in Cancun and we all wanted to make the best of it. After our morning walk to the Starbucks downtown we headed back up to our resort room to jump into our swimsuits. It was only 9:30 when we headed for the beach and the last thing on our mind was protecting our skin from the sun by wearing sun screen. We had no idea what kind of disaster was headed our way.
Before we walked out to the beach, we stopped at the ice machine to fill our cooler so we could keep our bottled drinks cold. As we were drinking and enjoying the sun rays we took many pictures of us on the beach. I even decided to hand craft a massive sea turtle in the tan sand. It took me approximately 30 minutes to create this masterpiece. I started with the huge shell and then created his head, fins, legs, and tail. This turtle was adorable. By passers walking by even took pictures of the creature. I decided to name the turtle sandy.
We were out on the beach for approximately 6 hours straight. We were drinking nothing but alcoholic beverages which means we were dehydrating ourselves. I started to feel my shoulders and back begin to burn from the dangerous sun rays. My sister and dad showed signs of early sunburn. By this point, sun screen was going to do us no good but we all decided to cake the lotion on our body.
It was getting to be about 4:30 PM and we decided to go upstairs to our room to clean up for dinner. We had plans to go to an authentic Mexican Restaurant and Mexican show that night with Max. We were excited because Max told us that it was like a Mexican Luau.
After we all got ready and waited in the lobby, my sister, dad, and I begin to start shaking with chills. We soaked up so much sun that a normal room temperature was frigid to our body. We were to the point of being miserable. My sister and I were dressed in evening dresses and we both ran upstairs to grab a jacket. I was relieved to have something on my shoulders because I was freezing and uncomfortable.
We traveled on a long bus ride to a horse stable where the show was going to be located at. We all ate dinner that consisted of Mexican tamales, enchiladas, tostadas, rice, beans, and everything you could think of a Mexican would fix. It was delicious! The Mexican show was somewhat boring. It really wasn’t my thing. We were all miserable from shaking with cold chills that we forgot to enjoy the show.
The show lasted an entire 4 hours! I thought I was going to die because I was to the point of hyperventilating. After we finally got to the room we all rushed to the aloe vera that was in our room so we could lather it on. We didn’t want to be miserable on the flight home so we did whatever we could to eliminate our chills.

Blog # 41: CANCUN 9

During our Cancun trip, unfortunately we had a stormy day. Wednesday poured down rain the entire day. We expected that the rain would die down after our morning walk to the nearest starbucks location. After we drank our hot steamy lattes, the rain was still coming down harder than we had expected. To kill some time we went shopping at the gigantic mall that the starbucks was located in. We shopped, shopped, and did some more shopping. We were almost sick of shopping by this point because we have been there for almost 3 hours just going inside all the stores and blowing our money away.
The rain decided to finally calm down right around lunch time. We decided to walk back to our lovely new resort that we were staying at to grab some lunch. We ate at the all inclusive area of our resort. I wasn’t super hungry, but since it was free I decided to pig out! We then went to the travel agents desk to attempt and book a scuba diving excursion for Thursday since that was our last full day there. I knew I did not want to scuba dive on Wednesday since it was stormy and a bit cold. I went to the desk and was disappointed by the news I was told. The young Mexican man said that due to the inclement weather, all the activities were going to be pushed back to Thursday. I was upset because I knew if I did not scuba dive on Thursday, then it would not ever happen. I left disappointed, but my dad reassured to me that since he bought a timeshare the day before, that we would be traveling back to Cancun and that I would be able to scuba dive then! That reassurance from my dad made me super excited, because that meant he would be taking me on another vacation!
We did not do much on Wednesday because of the weather. It was almost a waste of a day! Since we couldn’t go to the beach and lay out on the sand, we decided to hang out together and spend some time with each other. I still had fun with my sister and dad by sharing old funny stories and laughing with each other. That is what a vacation is about, right?
Since Wednesday was St. Patricks day, we all decided to go downtown for dinner and some fun. We walked down to Margaritaville because we heard that was a fantastic place to go, especially for the green holiday. It wasn’t as fun as we expected because everyone was laying low and not being as obnoxious as I expected. Then I realized it was only 5:30. The real fun probably didn’t start until around midnight when all the party hoppers come out. We all were served a bright green margarita on the house and we all enjoyed that. After we ate dinner we shopped around that shopping area because we haven’t been to it yet.
It was getting late and we decided to head back that way we could get up early and head to the beach if the weather was going to allow us to.

Thursday, April 1, 2010

Blog # 40: CANCUN 8

My sister and I did not stay at the beach for as long as we had planned. We had some “girl stuff” that we needed to talk about that we were saving especially for Cancun on the Beach when we were alone because we hardly ever get to talk anymore since we do not live together like we did last year at this time. We thought we were on the beach for what seemed forever and finally decided we better go to the room to get ready for the yacht ride with Max.
We got to the room and it was only 5:00 PM! I was upset because we could have enjoyed another hour of fun in the sun. Since this suite was so massive, I was able to get completely ready in one area of the suite while my sister got ready on the other side. I took a thirty minute shower because I knew I had plenty of time to get ready.
My dad was scheduled to get back at the room at 6:00 from playing golf with Manuel. I looked at the clock and it was already 6:30 PM. I went to find my sister in the massive suite to see if she knew why it was taking so long for dad and Manuel to play golf. We were a bit scared because for one thing we were in a different country and dad was with a guy he barely knew. Of course we thought the ultimate worse. I even called Manuel’s cell phone to try and reach them. To our luck, there was no answer on Manuel’s end. I was starting to freak out because it was getting closer and closer to 7:00 and our shuttle bus was going to be picking us up at 7:45 so we could be at the dock by 8:00 for our yacht excursion.
Five minutes until 7:00, I heard our door open and a man’s voice saying “hola!” Thankfully it was my dad! He walked in stumbling with a huge grin on his face. I knew he had fun, which was a relief for me. He said “wow that guy can drink”! I laughed in response. My sister and I nagged at how he was late. Now I know what it was like for them when I was always coming home late from parties.
When 7:45 rolled around we went down to the lobby to wait on our shuttle bus to take us to our destination of the yacht dock. We met Max there was as always greeted with a kiss on each cheek. It always catches me off guard because as Americans that is not how we greet each other. Since he is French, I just let him do his greeting the way he was raised to do it.
We arrived to the dock and were immediately given a servant. The short Mexican man asked what I wanted and I replied “Dos Chervezas” I knew that was what my dad was going to drink too because he is a huge beer drinker.
The yacht ride was extremely relaxing! We were hungry by the time we finished, so after the ride was over my dad, sister, and I walked downtown to find a delicious place to dine at.

Blog # 39: CANCUN 7

Since my dad bought the timeshare, Max decided to invite my sister, dad, and I on a yacht ride that evening. It was only 1:00 PM and the sun was still shining, so we all went out to the beach to soak up the blistering sun rays. We all walked out to the bar to get some free drinks, and as a group we walked to the beach close by. This beach is the nicest beach in Cancun. Just before we headed to the beach, Max’s boss, Manuel stopped us and said that we should go back to our other dinky resort, pack our bags and head over to the Sunset Royal for the rest of our stay since my dad bought the timeshare. We couldn’t believe our ears! We were so happy that we were able to come to the Sunset Royal because in my own personal opinion, this was the nicest resort I have EVER been to in my whole life! I have traveled all over the world and we were asked to stay at the Sunset Royal for FREE because my dad bought a timeshare. How cool is that? I was so excited that I chugged my drink and headed over to hop into our awaiting taxi. I felt like a celebrity at this point! Before our cab had time to drive away, Manuel told all three of us that if we needed anything, all we had to do is tell the bartender that we were with “The Martin Family” and then we were golden!
As we arrived to our other resort to pack up our belongings, all three of us raced to our room to hurry as fast as we could. The faster we packed, the sooner we were able to be located at the nice resort, and the sooner we could go back to the beautiful beach of Cancun. I bet we were not at our resort for 15 minutes before we had everything packed up and ready. I just threw everything I owned in my huge suitcase and bolted out of the door ready to leave for the Sunset Royal.
We arrived at our new all-inclusive resort and was placed on the 4th floor. We had a beautiful room as expected and we quickly unpacked. Manuel showed up in our room to make sure it was okay for us. Then he asked my dad if he wanted to go golfing! My sister and I quickly answered for him and said “of course my dad would love that”. He deserved to go out with his new buddy. Besides, my sister and I wanted to lie on the beach and we both knew that wasn’t my dad’s “cup of tea.” He felt bad for leaving us, but we did not care because we knew we were going to soak up the sun in our bikinis with a umbrella drink in our hand.
After the fun in the sun was over, we all knew we needed to come back to our beautiful resort room to get ready for our luxurious yacht ride.

Blog # 38: Song analysis

Our English class visited the local museum on campus to discuss in greater detail about to analyze a photograph. Honestly, I do not think the trip to the museum helped me necessarily on my essay, but could easily have helped a different student on their essay if they were in fact writing their essay over analyzing a photograph. Since I am writing my essay over high school cliques, I do not think the trip to the museum was significant for me.
Anyways, our class was assigned to make a play list of ten different songs that we liked and only pick one of those songs to analyze. There are millions and millions of songs out there to choose from and I am only allowed to pick ten? Oh my goodness this is going to be tough. Music is my life! I do not go a single day without listening to my iPod or to the radio. I listen to music to lower my stress levels, do homework, and I listen to music even when I drive my car.
The ten songs that I choose from my iTunes play list is as following: “Heavy” by Collective Soul, “Before Tomorrow Comes” by Alter Bridge, “Pokerface” by Lady Gaga, “Walk with me in hell” by Lamb of God, “Enter Sandman” by Metallica, “Pour some sugar on me” by Def Leppard, “It’s my life” by Bon Jovi, “Stairway to Heaven” by Led Zeppelin, “Dark side of the moon” by Pink Floyd, and “Badfish” by Sublime.
Out of those ten songs we are supposed to analyze in great detail. We are supposed to pick the song that represents us the most. Sublime, Collective Soul, and Def Leppard are my favorite bands, but which song can I choose from? I guess I will decide to analyze the Sublime song since I know more about sublime than any other band I have chosen from.
The song is titled “Badfish” because that is another named used for someone exposing someone else to heroine for the first time. Bradley Nowell battled drug addiction when he invented the band Sublime. He was the lead singer and a guitarist for the band. Unfortunately the band did not survive very long due to Nowell’s overdose on heroine.
If you really listen to the lyrics, you will quickly notice the song is about Nowell and his drug addiction. There are lyrics that say, “Lord knows I am weak, wont somebody get me off this tweek?” That section of lyrics quickly implies that the song is trying to kick addiction, with the “Big Blue Whale” being the actual drug in this song. The Big Blue Whale, is the “badfish.” Unfortunatley, for Nowell, he was not able to kick addiction from heroine by releasing this song.
The reason why I love this song so much is because it reminds me of my high school years. I would listen to this song while I was with my friends and it put me in such a great mood. I loved sublime so greatly that I inked the sublime sun on my ribs. It hurt, but it was well worth it!

Blog # 37: CANCUN 6

My dad was not sure at this point whether or not he wanted to buy a timeshare. I did hear him mention as we were walking to this room that he would want to do something like this because after his brother passed away it opened up his eyes that life is short and when you die, you cannot take your money with you. My dad makes good money at his job, but he never spends it on himself. I nodded my head completing agreeing that he needed to make his life as enjoyable as much as he could. My sister and I knew my dad loves to travel and buying a timeshare would make you want to travel even more.
The package that my dad was interested in included 10 free weeks in Cancun throughout 3 resorts. The two resorts that Max showed us and another resort that was an hour drive away. In addition, the timeshare included 5 free vacations anywhere in the world. All my dad and whoever went, would have to pay for the plane ticket and the rest was free because these resorts are all-inclusive, meaning that all food and drinks are completely free. After my dad used up those 10 free weeks in Cancun, he could still travel to Cancun but would have to again pay his airfare and the all-inclusive fee ($77/day). My dad would still get the suite because he would be a client. This deal sounded almost too good to be true. My dad mentioned that buying this would be really great for my brother who wants a destination wedding next fall. The entire wedding party would only have to pay their airfare and the all-inclusive fee. I thought that would be a great deal, and would allow more guest to come to the wedding because it would not be so expensive.
Max told my dad the price and he wanted $13,000 for the timeshare. That is a really good deal for all of the benefits included. My dad, being the stubborn man that he is, shook his head no and said “that’s too much.” Since Max’s income is based off of commission, he tried to work out a deal with my dad. After about an hour of negotiating, my dad finally came up with a price that suited everyone. They shook hands and made a deal. A champagne bottle popped and the entire room was clapping because “we made a deal.”
I was really excited for my dad that he bought a timeshare. This timeshare is for life. There is no deadline on when to use the trips. Once the trips have been used, we could still travel in the family down the line. My dad said that his children will inherit the timeshare. His wish was for us is to never sell it and it to be in the family forever. I am excited to travel with my dad in the future because of the all-inclusive resorts and the amazing suites we will be staying at.