Wednesday, October 19

-The Conclusion-

**Read "My Critical Analysis" below FIRST**

I have done the homework and finished the research:

They do have a reason. There is some logic to all the confusion.
By donating your shoes, you REALLY can help save someone from AIDS.

First off I visited one of the collection boxes to read all the signs:
“8500 People die a day from AIDS”
“Be part of the solution!”
“HIV Testing Available”

I then visited the Health and Wellness center in the basement of the Student Center. I talked to a lady named Tricia. She informed me about the shoe display happening at Library Square on Oct.22nd. She told me it was more of an awareness event than anything else. Many volunteers have been going door to door in the community asking for $5 donations with every pair of shoes. But Tricia explained that because we are all poor college students they weren’t ask for donations along with the shoes.

She then sent me up to the Thayne Center for more info. They plan to put 8,500 pairs of shoes outside to represent all those who die everyday. It sounds like it’s going to be a big party. They hope to raise thousands of dollars for aids research. Other organizations outside of the college are also involved. After the display they are selling the donated shoes. Here are the estimated stats:

--35 boxes/barrels distributed throughout SLCC campuses
--900 shoes have been donated so far
--that means 26 pairs per box/barrel
--700 donators
--1.29 pairs per donator
--550 $5.00 dollar donations
--which equals $2,750 total

Amazing! I had no idea this was so huge. They still need 7,600 pairs of shoes by the 22nd, so get donating. You only have four days! Then to further help the cause go buy your shoes back!

Tuesday, October 18

Deeply Grieved

It is with the saddest heart that I must pass on the following news:
Please join me in remembering a great icon of the entertainment community.

The Pillsbury Doughboy died yesterday of a yeast infection and trauma complications from repeated pokes in the belly. He was 71. Doughboy was buried in a lightly greased coffin. Dozens of celebrities turned out to pay their respects, including Mrs. Butterworth, Hungry Jack, the California raisins, Betty Crocker, the Hostess Twinkies, and Captain Crunch. The grave site was piled high with flours. Aunt Jemima delivered the eulogy and lovingly described Doughboy as a man who never knew how much he was kneaded.

Doughboy rose quickly in show business, but his later life was filled with turnovers. He was not considered a very smart cookie, wasting much of his dough on half-baked schemes. Despite being a little flaky at times he was still a crusty old man and was considered a roll model for millions.

Doughboy is survived by his wife Play Dough, two children, John Dough and Jane Dough, plus they had a bun in the oven. He is also survived by his elderly dad, Pop Tart.

The funeral was held at 3:50 for about 20 minutes.

Taken with permission from Crisco with Thanks!

Saturday, October 15

--My Critical Analysis--

Too Critical? –You Decide.

There have recently been a number of collection boxes around the SLCC campus. They are covered in brightly-colored paper, and they are plastered with pictures, statistics and large letters: “End AIDS, Donate Your Shoes!”

Would someone please kindly explain how donating my shoes will end AIDS!

Are the collections for me, the donator, or for the person receiving my shoes?

Donating my shoes would be a self-less service; a true gift from the heart…or my feet. Whatever. Anyways, would the feeling I get when I freely put my old shoes in this box somehow stop me from contracting the disease?

Or is the joy of getting my used shoes great enough to stop HIV positive people from spreading their own deadly disease? Are my shoes going to suppress someone’s urge to have unprotected sex with an infected individual?

How does giving my shoes to a poor kid in Africa do anything about the problem at hand? Are my shoes going to squander the African myth that having sex with a virgin will cure AIDS?

For discussion purposes, let’s just say donating shoes really can end aids. This means I ought to go out and buy a few new pairs today at Payless. I would donate them tomorrow in the pretty boxes and someone’s life would be saved. Many lives in fact, because curing one person would cure all those people that the individual would have spread the disease to. Are you following me? It’s truly astonishing how buying two pairs of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles shoes for $28.98 can save lives.

Please. Donate those old, worn-out shoes you have on those spoiled feet of yours. Don’t you have a heart? Do YOUR part to save someone's loved one:

“END AIDS, DONATE YOUR SHOES!”

Monday, October 10

100 things you may or may not know about me –Vol.11

Today is my “I have never...” day:

1…driven a four-wheeler
2…legally or properly been taught to drive a manual
3…been kissed not yet at least ;)
4…been caught while speeding
5…watched more than one R-rated movie
6…liked cats I down right hate the creatures
7…gone snowboarding
8…failed a class My Politics-I failed my fav.class
9…flown in an commercial plane
10…held a grudge for very long

Thursday, October 6

Lex: My could-have-been Husband

Two Thursdays ago I met a really amazing guy, his name is Lex. My other guy friend Dane introduced us after our institute class. In moments we were laughing together and chatting politics. We debated about illegal immigrants, the downfall of the American education system, and the issue of over-crowded prisons. Right off we meshed well together. We talked about our past difficulties and our plans for the future. Time flew by so quickly when I was talking with him. At some point Dane wandered off without my knowledge to play pool. After talking for an hour or so, we joined in the game. With his arms around me he showed me how to hold the stick, and he really encouraged me although I was not doing so hot. It sure had been a long time since I have felt so comfortable being so close to such a complete stranger. We played two games and then I went to pick up a friend at a tennis game. The feeling I left with that day was almost, well magical…

So last Friday, eight days after our first meeting I saw him again. He asked if we could go on a walk together, I consented. Being a gentleman he carried my bag and opened all the doors on the way out. He began by telling me that he recently had a dream. About me. At this point I was slightly confused; however I was thirsty for more details. He told me how he went to the temple the night we met. He read his patriartical blessing and his scriptures while there. He then went home and had an amazing dream about me. He views it as some type of revelation or answer in his search for a companion. Okay on the outside I am doing a great job taking all this in, yet inside I am quite freaked out. He interprets this to mean I am very mature for my age and considers us to be on the same maturity level despite our age difference.

He then goes deep into detail about this vivid, romantic dream he’s had with us in it. It took him almost an hour to tell me about it. He was very descriptive. He explained the smells in the air, and the things we said. He even described what we were wearing and what we ate. It was a long dream with a complex plot and a million minor characters. We became King and Queen in some magical land of mermaids. We waltzed, flew around clouds, and even visited Lagoon during winter. Lex is very observant while awake and asleep! He contemplated telling me for a week before he finally decided to. At this point he has been extremely in love with me because of this relationship we supposedly developed in this dream of his. He proposed to become more than friends. He said he wanted to simply skip the casual dating stage and become a couple right off. He talked about going to the temple with me and eventually marrying me! After a long silence he said "No, I do not want to wait that long. What's the point? Gc, we were ment to be, we need to get married...and SOON!"

Now don’t get too weird on me. I decided to with hold some important information from you. Fact: he has been married before, for eight years. He was divorced in February after discovering his wife cheated on him. He has never met his father and hasn’t spoken to his mother for a year. And lastly, he is 32 years old! And the terrible thing is that he is convinced that I am the One for him. My goodness, and that’s when he asked me what I was thinking. I did not freak out, I did not rudely march off, and I didn’t scream curses. I held it all in, and I somehow suppressed my urge to flee. As sweetly as I could, I explained to him how things would never turn out. I could never marry anyone that old because the world around me would freak. I couldn’t marry someone who has been married for so long before.

I terribly crushed him. He gave me his heart and I threw it back. I can not even explain the crap I have been going through. But I justify by saying that there was no other way. Our relationship had to end then and there. If he ever sees me again, he is going to be reminded of the romantic dream he had with me. Every time I walk by, his heart will be re-bruised.

Eight days. It only took eight days. This must be some sick, twisted new record for me. In that short of time he fell in love with me, and just as quickly I burned him…

At least this time I wasn’t confused or blind about my feelings. I knew. I knew with every fiber of my being that he wasn’t the right guy. And I am glad that I didn’t know him longer, because the rejection would have hurt him so much more. However….despite all my justifications…..

I still continue to feel so unworthy of any persons’ love. Don’t give me your heart, because I will not know what to do with it. I am shamefully good at hurting the men that like me. Don’t risk yourself. Take back all those sweet words; you must leave while you are still intact. I cannot endure seeing myself hurt someone again….especially a someone that I love

Wednesday, October 5

8% TreeHugger

The breeze rustles through the tops of the trees in a small wood, as the brook below winds through the lush undergrowth. A small American family has escaped their chaotic lives in the busy city to enter this lovely haven. The sound of birds float on the wind, feelings of security and belonging surround the beholder.

Although the surroundings appear unchanging, they can drastically differ in only moments. This beauty is not always peaceful and calm. Nature is a deadly murderer, yet at the same time a refuge. Every year millions of people die from causes of nature. Tornadoes, hurricanes, sandstorms, tsunamis, mudslides, volcanoes, avalanches, floods, earthquakes, and drought, just to name a few; these have claimed lives of our loved ones and friends for centuries. Is this why we have begun to fear nature itself?

In “Life in the woods”, a man named Henry Thoreau goes to live alone at Walden Pond. He leaves his former life behind him as he starts fresh without anything but the woods. While in solitude, he learns a lot about nature and life. He develops a love for the world surrounding him. Through struggles, he survives and gain understanding about how alive and un-wild the wilderness is. It is my opinion that we should all escape to nature and its healing powers from time to time. Most of our comforts of life are indispensable. The wise learn to live without such luxuries. The more we have does not mean we will be more happy. The wealthy are killing themselves by separating themselves from the growing experiences of real life. Such vacations help renew our physical, mental, and spiritual beings.

While reading “Landscape of spirituality” I began to wonder what I myself was doing to protect God’s many creations. Although wilderness has been characterized as a fearful place, we still retreat there during confusing times. “The love of wilderness represents a powerful homing instinct we will never relinquish.” It is the window to creation. The place where Jesus went to fast for forty days and forty nights is a colorless bland place; yet the Savior loved it.

Anti-environmentalists say that earth will be destroyed before Christ comes, so why preserve it. The Mormons believe God mourns when even a small bird dies, so they do their best to preserve life. The wild can bring us strength and vitality. The extraordinarily beautiful places in our state need to be preserved. We need to protect nature and build our big, land-hogging homes in urban areas.

Because man enjoys the relief nature gives, we try to capture some of it to save it for later. We usually do this through a variety of art forms. Taking photographs, painting, composing, and writing is just a few techniques we use. To reach the vital experience we each need to grasp for ourselves, we enter nature and create art within the art of nature. We need to do this rather than believe we are masters over it.

We must take care of the nature we have so our children may enjoy it as we have. Collectively, Americans need to take better care of our world. With practices such as recycling, using solar power, picking up trash and not wasting water, we can do our part in saving beauty.

My Freedoms and Responsibilities

America is the land of the free and the home of the brave. We all as Americans have duties and obligations we must perform in order to earn our freedoms. If we all neglect these responsibilities, our nation will quickly begin to crumble.

We must fight for our rights. “Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.” America’s goal is freedom and we must continually strive to reach for that goal for everyone; not just other Americans, but every person, everywhere. Many past ‘freedom leaders’ have fought persistently for our freedoms. We should not throw them away carelessly.

Our nation’s people seem to have a problem keeping promises. Empty promises fill many aspects of our country, especially the presidential debates. Why is it that so much of our media is filled with lies? It is my responsibility to always tell the truth. My duty to others is to hold true, and keep promises I make. If we all did this, doubt would not always linger in our minds.

Many of our freedoms are taken from us everyday without us even knowing. They are able to do this because many people do not understand what all their freedoms consist of. I have the responsibility to my country to educate myself about my freedoms. We must also utilize our rights with caution. If we do not we may jeopardize or lose them all.

Thanks to the establishment of the first amendment, we have the freedom of speech, religion, press, ect. Because I have the right to speak out, it is my responsibility to so. If there is something happening in my community that I think is wrong, I would be right for me say something; even though it may not affect me directly.

Why do we as humans tend to blame others for our mistakes? We know it was us, we know the truth, so why do we deny it? It is my responsibility to everyone to tell the truth, and to take responsibility for my actions. Whatever I do, there will be consequences. Sometimes bad, or sometimes good, we cannot control the effects of our choices.

Have you ever been driving to work and seen someone in need? Although you are in a hurry, did you stop to see if your assistance was needed? This situation has occurred to me several times. Once I saw two boys riding their bikes, one of them fell and got hurt. I stopped to comfort him, and to see if he was okay. Other times I have witnessed accidents, I have stopped to see if everyone was all right. This is my duty as a citizen in our country.

I have the obligation to respect everyone. Their opinions and ideas must be valued; it matters not if you agree, you must show consideration for them. We would all want the same kindness. I have the duty to respect, and assist my elders when they need it. I should sacrifice for them whenever I can.

Were I old enough it would be my duty to vote. Although I am not, it is still my duty to voice my opinions, and stand up for whom I think would be the better candidate. I should speak my values and educate myself about the campaigns. Until I can vote, I should encourage others to do so.

Ultimately, it is my responsibility to ensure every American’s freedoms. If I can fulfill my duties, America will be a better place. I need to help others and treat them like I want them to treat me. It is my responsibility to live the golden rule, and to be the best American I can be.