River, side

So, for the first time, since I have lived here, I walked around my community, aimlessly. This experience was out of the ordinary for me, seeing that the only time people walk in my community is when they are in lack of a car, and will only walk long enough to thumb a ride. When I began my derive, it was a bit cloudy due to the previous rain storm. As I began, something shifted me to taking a "left" out of my driveway, instead of the normal "right". A big landmark of the "conference" building attracted me. It symbolizes the center of the community because a lot of sad and important events occur in that building. A lot of funerals and conventions and concerts happen there. As I continued to walk down my street, I came to my road sign. "Beaver road", its kind of funny because all the streets from the cape fear river have "watery" names. As I continued down the long, and moist street, I continued to follow the highway in direction of town, I saw beautifully colored leaves and large fields. The "Welcome to Riverside Community" sign is very significant to me. My mother is the president of the community, and she was motivator and biggest fundraiser to fund the sign. I continue to walk down the street, and I came to the sign, "ERWIN" city limits. I chuckled at that because Erwin is definitely not what one would picture when thinking of "city". As I continued my walk, I realized that I was following the flow of traffic. No one was walking around but all traffic seemed to be going towards the "city". The next significant aspect of my town that I saw was the Cape Fear River. I don't think I will ever walk over a river again. It was quite scary to me. But the river was very beautiful with leaves shinning in its slowly churning waters. After standing and gazing at the river for a while, I continued to march up a steep hill. In a car the hill seems like any normal slope in the road, but on foot, the hill seems enthralling. Not necessarily knowing what lay on the top of the hill, the walk upwards seemed mysterious in a sense. Upon topping the hill, I saw THE PROMISED LAND. Lol. No, I only saw a dinky dink gas station and a couple of horses in a fence. . Unfortunately after I reached the gas station, my derive was over.

Gobble Gobble

"I am Thankful for my family, I am Thankful for my friends, but the turkey is now here, so LETS DIG IN!" Corky little sayings my be said like that, in hundreds of home on Thursday for one of my favorite holidays. Thanksgiving is here and I am truly ready to be stuffed. I can just taste the stuffing and the mashed potatoes now on my tongue. Ooh. And let's not get started on the deserts, cheesecake and pineapple cake, wow wow, they are great. Yummy, I can't wait. Ok, yes there are more reasons why Thanksgiving is one of my favorites. It is a day when people just flat out say Thank you. Thank you Jesus, Thank you Mom and Dad, Thank you Grandma, for ALL the things you have done for me, for all the guidance, and for all the encouragement. The pilgrims started this day way back when they had a big feast with the native Americans. What a great idea. J Also you may get to see family members who you haven't seen in a while and catch up face to face about events occurring in his or her life. Of course, you may run into that one cousin of yours who no matter what, always seems to start something with someone. They can not control their attitude problem, and by the end of the day, there will be hostile comments and blatant anger towards some. Thanksgiving is Family. It should be a day where we can settle conflicts and join hands in unity over some warm delicious peach cobbler. I have always thought of having thanksgiving with my family and there is never a time where I would think that I wouldn't. Then I came to college. I met people from out of town who did not have the money to go home and see their families over the holiday. That situation really hurt my heart. I know how bad they want to be at home and enjoy being around family, rather than being stuck on campus with a couple of random strangers who are in your same situation. Well, I hope they still cook some delicious food and not rely on a pizza delivery or something of that sort. Happy Happy Happy Turkey Day! Gobble Gobble.

Team up

I can take over the world by myself. I don’t need you. I am so much more powerful and smarter than you. Umm I’m sure that several people have thought this same thought, but as you can tell, no one has yet taken over the world and If someone is in charge of something, they have to have the support of other people along with their selves. From way way way back, collective action emerged by hunting large mammals. Someone figured that if they work with more people, the easier it would be to hunt the large mammals and have more food. Howard Rheingold’s video on this topic, was very thought provoking. Personally, pretty much everything I want to accomplish comes along with the work of other. So you can’t study and make a great grade by yourself? Yes, I can, but if I have a study group, and call pull on their strengths to strengthen my weaknesses, my grade will be better. The tragedy of the commons kind of reminds me of the SAW V movie. No one trusts anybody, but all they have to do is work together to stay alive. Of course there are many problems that can arise with collective action. There will always be someone who thinks they deserve to be the leader in all possible walks of life. I seem to have the tendency of always getting stuff together, and I think It’s just a natural built in ability to lead. I have no problem following, but if I discover a better way of doing something, I will voice my opinion. I think It is amazing that some principles which were started thousands of years ago, still apply today, even with things in existence now which were not back then. The video also spoke about the prisoner’s dilemma and more up to date cases of that situation. All around the world, people have to accept the responsibility of teaming up with others if they want to successfully complete a task.

Hype

College students have the most spirit ever known to man. If there is an event at their school, you will be sure to know that they are going to support in as little or as much ways as possible. So its 10.30 am and I hear a loud parade outside my window, its for the game. Everyone is so excited and ready to beat NC State, the whacky wolf pack. I am not going to attend the game because I'm stuck studying Statistics all night, and all the weeks up until the final. L sad, I kno. Students today are going to be decked out in their Carolina blue and repping the Tar heels to the fullest. Seeing people so highly spirited about these events sort of make me want to be that way, but ummm it hasn't had a full effect on me yet. What I hate is standing beside a person who believes the more he screams and jumps the team is going to score! Wow. Those types can make your experience miserable at a sporting event. UNC is known for its fan base and they even have a fancy name, Carolina Fever. The members of that group have UNC spirit to the upmost extreme! You can not not feel a surge of energy when in a stadium with them. They make the game more exciting in my opinion. Today's weather can deter fans who are not extremely committed to supporting their school. That's why I am sitting in my dorm room right now. I am sure that the foot ball game will be packed today because there are lots of students on the search for tickets now. There are even some students who would pay up to $20 for a ticket that is normally free. Yea, of course that is illegal but hey, desperate times call for desperate measures. Today's football game is a really big one, we have been hearing junk from the wolf pack fans all year. Well today I believe that the game is not going to only depend on the players, but also how Hype the fans can get. TAR……HEELS!!! TAR…..HEELS…..will resound all around Kennan Stadium and I believe we will leave victorious.

Change

Before I came to college, someone told me that if I come back home the same person, then I did myself no justice in going to college. They were not necessarily meaning me gaining academic knowledge; they were meaning me growing emotionally and fundamentally as a person. College is a soil that you, a seedling, is implanted into for four or five years, rain and food is sprinkled upon you and you are beaten with storms. Once you are ripe, you emerge a beautiful and well rounded flower that has more abilities than ever imagined. Well maybe the situation is not that poetic, but everyone does change tremendously while in college. You learn first hand, different cultures, you make new friends and sadly, you cut loose some childhood friends. You view your world differently and you formulate opinions more wholly than once ever thought of. College has made me a more loving and articulate person. I reach out to others more and if I believe in something, I will try my best to make you see my point. I may not be an expert on proving myself yet, but I am getting there. Attire change is also a product of college. Once baggy wearing gym clothes wearing girl, could awaken from her fashion slumber and dress classy and sleek everyday. Interesting, I know. I'm thankful for this change in my life. I do not even notice directly some of the things that I have began doing until others point them out in me. Strange how you think you should know everything about yourself, because you are yourself. But you don't. Lol. We all should embrace chance. Why should we stay consistent? Is that benefiting anyone? If we are not faced with difficulties how will we know to appreciate things? If we are away from home and remain exactly the same whenever we return, why did we even leave the house? Even if it is not a large change, changes occur unconsciously.

Wrong

Being right is so important. If you are not right you are wrong, and if you are wrong, you are not right. Who set the standard of being right? Is it just an agreed theory which we have been forced to conform to? Who says that the facts that we all believe are even true. Maybe I am thinking to far outside of the box, but this world is quite odd to me. You only think like others think and you are ridiculed for thinking differently. Why cant we accept every thought in its purest form? Well Monique, what about thoughts of suicide and genocide? How can you justify that as being correct? Well reader, I can not. I just know that the society that I have grown up in does not accept measures such as that. I guess this goes back to Adam and Eve. I think all this correct and incorrect stuff came along with the eating of the forbidden apple. Once they figured that bare skin was "naked" and considered wrong, people just began formulating correctness and wrongness no matter how just the incorrectness can be. Right and wrong has been accepted. It is our way of society. Our system to keep the unwanted out and praise the wanted. If you are unwanted and what an in-dept analysis of why you are wrong, I'm sorry. You will only get the textbook answer and be told you're "wrong" because this is "right". Real weird. But that is the world we are living in. We have to accept policies and judgments that deep inside we do not agree, but will not be able to change the opinion of so many others for fear that they may become "outcast" of the society. Ha.ha. Well let me get back to "righting" my English paper. J

Tick Tock Ticking

This is a waste of time. Blogging. How dumb. Ummm. I kind of agree. A recent article that I read solidified my opinion. The article basically said that the blogging world is no longer for amateur because they are being taken over by the professionals. Once when you could instantly Google an event and bloggers opinions would come up, not when you look for things, you have to shift through several professional magazines or online newspaper writers. He states that your work will be left to read by the hecklers and the people who always find something wrong with information. There will be no one to appreciate it. I personally agree with him, because this blog has been read by no one other than the forced readers due to assignments. But then again, I do agree that some people actually just enjoy writing. Blogging is a way to express you. Some writers do not blog for the fame, they blog to inform friends or even themselves about views and ideas of a certain experience. For those who are not professional writers, blogging is their safe haven. If we deplete the use of blogging, what are they left to do? Even though it may take time and consideration of what to put on your blog, that goes hand in hand with accounts such as Facebook that he advocated. It takes time and consideration of figuring out what pictures to add to your Facebook and what personal information to show. I don't think that Paul Boutin was a blogger who enjoyed it. I think that he was more focused on the fame and the amount of views that he received. Once he realized professionals and etc. where crossing into the forbidden land of blogging, he felt that blogging was a waste of time. As stated earlier, I'm in agreement with Paul. Why? Because writing is not a way that I choose express myself. I only like writing when it is necessary and other times, it is a hassle. I am more of a reader. But for those bloggers out there, you keep it up….LETS BLOG!

Race

In all societies there seem to be racism. Generally, the form that is talked about most is racism against another's race or skin color. When I was younger, I really only thought that white and black people were the only ones who did not like each other, but I soon found that whites don't like Mexicans and blacks don't like Arabians and etc. The older I got, the more educated I was about different races in the world and the racism that is also shown towards them. As my knowledge on racism grew, I learned, shockingly, that there is also racism within the same race. Crazy huh? How can you dislike someone who looks just like you? I don't understand. Well it happens. It happened then, and it is still happening now. Racism was started in most places just to gain power over another group of people. Europeans took over the Congo and looked down upon the Africans who lived there, because they wanted to be more powerful. Even within the Congo, the Europeans turned some of the Africans against other Africans in order for them to assist them in gaining power. I know that I have jokingly said "I don't like black people!" but that was only said within a small group of friends and never meant actually to criticize my race. I love black, it's beautiful. I love white; it's my foundation as well. And what gets me; many of these extreme racist people are mixed with something other than their most obvious race. For example, my great-grandfather was white. So clearly that makes me related to some white people. Unfortunately, I do not know who they are but still, I know that I have white roots in me as well. The way that I look at it is, we are all God's children. Red, white, orange, purple, teal, or brown, I love them all. America needs to get over this idea of race and it symbolizing power. Hopefully with more diversity in the white house, our country can focus on ways to bridge the gaps between race even though the civil rights movement was years ago. Our country needs to GROW up.

Sput ….sputter

So. Have you ever been driving along the road in your car and it starts jerking and is on the brink of breaking down? Well, unfortunately that situation just happened to me. I believe the problem was this extremely cheap gas that was put into my car. It was the worse. I promise to never do my baby like that again. Well I had just left Durham and was driving back to the apartments to park my car. The car was jerking terribly and begins to make this awful smell. I have no clue what is going on but I notice that at a stop light, if I didn't press the gas, the car would abruptly stop and not crank. So at each stop light between me and my final destination, I attempted to inch forward little by little and keep my foot pressed on the gas and the break. Terrible situation, but as always, I remained positive and happy. Hey, what's the point of freaking out about it? So as I am approximately 1 mile away from my destination, the car cuts off completely. Now I am currently on 15-501. A road that can get extremely busy. I attempt to re-crank and press the gas so the car will inch its self into this driveway that I see a couple yards away. The car finally made it off the high way and into this driveway. Turned out that the highway was a small road leading up a hill. So as my car was attempting to chug its self up the hill. The car shut off. Begin smoking and it was just bad. Thankfully, the Lord made a way so that my roommates family had came up to visit her that day, and were following me back to the apartments. They had to them "bumper car" my car up the hill. Once we made it up the hill, my car coasted around a curve and into a dead in. So as the car stopped. I crank it up again, and started driving. Once we got back round to 15-501 again. My car stopped working at the stop sign. So now, we attempted the "bummer car" motion all the way down 15-501 until I made it to the apartments. After we made it there, I was so thankful and happy that everything worked out so that I was not anywhere alone and stranded with my car at night. I have contacted my family about my car, but I have no idea when they will be able to come up here and move it. I really hate that my car is breaking down so badly but I guess it gave me a great run. We got the car at a considerably low price and I have had possession of it for 4 years now, and I am proud of my "frogger". Yes, my car does have a name. This weekend was very interesting. Car trouble was a test and trial. Thankful that I made it through. J

Rimmed

My car has a set of shiny 15 inch rims. I love them. They are so pretty and great. But rims have a downfall, especially when you need to change your tire. It was raining, muddy, and just plan yucky all day Friday. Plans were to go to Greensboro and leave Chapel Hill at 3p.m. I left to go pick up my car at 2p.m. As soon as I got into my vehicle, I kind of felt it driving strangely but I did not think anything of it. I just kind of figured there were potholes in the road. After driving down the highway a couple of yards, I felt my car thumping and realized that my tire was flat. I had to drive about another mile until I found a place off the main highway to stop my car. I quickly jumped out the car to examine the tire and any damage that was done. I saw that my tire was off the rim, and that part of the time, I was riding on 3 wheels and one rim! Insane! Keep in mind that it is raining this whole entire time and I did not possess an umbrella. So I go to my trunk and get out all the materials to change a tire. Thankfully I was thought how to change my own tire and did not need the assistance of some random stranger to help me. I had to find the rim key to unlock my tires. After unlocking them, I tried to start taking off the other lugs. I noticed that none of the equipment that I had fit any of the lugs on the rims. I call my father and he tells me that I need a socket and a ratchet to remove the remaining lugs. So I call one of my friends for transportation to the nearest advanced auto parts. He tells me that he will be on the way but it will take about 15-20 min until he can make it to me. He finally arrives and whisks me off to the parts store. You know, auto part stores should have EVERYTHING that you need for your car. But how bout it just so happens that this one did not have any sockets when I primarily asked. So after pleading with the lady about making sure that she checks better, she finally finds one. That situation was handle. She rings me up and I reach into my pocket for my debit card. It was not there. My wallet was not in my bookbag. Why? Because during the week, I do not carry my wallet around campus with me. Thankfully, my roommate was in the car with me and she had money with her and she let me borrow some. I did not want to ask the guy who had already driven out of his way to take me to the store. We left the store and drove back to my car. The socket and ratchet fit the lugs perfectly. Did everything run smoothly after that? No. Of course not. We spent 30 minutes trying to get the lugs off because they were so tight. I had to jump up and down on the handle of the ratchet in order to try and loosen the lugs. It took forever. WE FINALLY got all the lugs off and put the spare tire in place. Drove the car down to a tire shop down the street and asked them to give me the diagnosis of the tire. They could not find ANYTHING wrong with it and suggested that It was maybe a slow leak in the tire. They blew my original tire up and put it back on the car for me. Of course, I still did not have my wallet so I was relaying once again on someone to let me borrow the money. But God laid it on the man's hear to let me have that service done for FREE. What he had done for me usually cost $15. But for me, that day was free. So thankful. But back to rims. On my next car. No. No. No. NO. No rims for me. J

Really??!

Infomercials have to be the most annoying things present on television. Infomercials are commercials which range from 2 minutes all the way to 30 minutes at times. They are basically to encourage you to buy a product or to participate in donating to a foundation. I recently saw an infomercial about a work out machine. Now of course on the commercial you will only see slim, fit, and tone people with baby oil all over their skin. They tell you all these great details and show “live” testimonials about how the product really made a difference in their lives. What I don’t understand is, if losing weight is as easy as they make it seem, why is there an increasing number of obese people in America. I know that people have to take their own initiative to begin to exercise, but even if you are not obese yet, losing weight is hard. It may take months before you even see your results. Basically I hate infomercials’ because they give watchers a false sense of hope and they win peoples trust on products that are shown bialys and are not guaranteed to give you anything close to the shown results. They are all about money. They make the product seem “risk free” to try and offer “money back guaranteed.” Regardless of what you do, you, the customer, are still losing money in this big scheme. That’s why I do not take part in this ruckus.

Thats not right!

Judging goes on regardless of how many times someone may tell you something is wrong or right. People will do what they want and think whatever way they deem best. No matter how “fly” or “flashy” or how nice and meek you are, people will judge you and talk about you. Jealously is a trait that we all seem to have. Many are experts on concealing it, while others blatantly show their jealously in their actions. I personally have standards in my opinion that I have set for society. When people act differently from my perceived thoughts and vision, I do find myself thinking more negatively of them. That is wrong. I admit it. I am working on my downfalls day by day. It seems so wrong for me to see two friends, best friends rather, passing judgment on each other. It seems so wrong, and the fact that they are friends makes the situation seem worse in my opinion. Then again, judging complete strangers has the same weight. No one should judge anyone because what you think is right, could differ greatly from someone else. There is only one set in stone way of how you should be or act, but it is not your judgment that decides if someone is acting according. “Judge or Be Judge” was a quote that I once heard. Made no sense then, and it certainly does not make sense now. Do you believe in that quote? How can we as a society become more united if quotes such as those are widely believed? Ridiculous

Praise me

Just for the record. I’m Christian. I believe there is one God. Religion is so fascinating to me. It’s really a kind of abstract thought. Regardless of what religion you consider yourself, it all has to do with belief and how committed to the pre-set guidelines you are. In Christianity your guide book is the Bible. In other religions, you have things such as the Qur’an. Which is a book with text of guidance for them. Which kind of parallels with other religions. Like I said earlier, religions are all similar. There is something that is not seen, which a group of people all believe in. In reality, how do we truly know which religion is the right religion. I know that from the Christian view, I have scriptures to prove that my God is the only God. Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." John 14:6. Therefore I am definitely not questioning my religion, and why would I if I faithful believe in it, but from the view of outsiders, It may seem me foolish or dumb to serve my God when they truly believe that their religion is the only way to go. How can you prove to a Islamic person that what they are serving makes no sense? How can you make an atheists believe that there is a God? Then again, that is what preachers are for. They are here to shine light on the “blind” of the world. But what, in each religion aren’t there leaders who try to convert people to their religion? Wow. Intense. For an atheists they just look at all religious people as crazy and as fools. They can make no sense of it because of course they probably hear how each religion is the “only way”. Religion is also a way of your family. If your family was Islamic, then most likely you will remain Islamic throughout your life. For those who switch religions, I wonder why? What do you see in your old religion as a downfall? What things in this new religion make you more apt to believe. I wish I could figure these things out. Until then, I’ll continue reading my Bible and worshipping God.

Same old

Dr. Hill proposed the thought of deleting “authentic” from life. How would that change things? Well at first I was set on, that makes no sense. How can there not be something authentic? Something has to originate from somewhere. Then I began thinking that for some idea, it has to be derived from something. For example, the light blub. The thought of light blub probably came from someone wanting to light an area and wanted something similar to the sun’s light inside a building. There is no way we can say that the first light bulb is not authentic. But it could be stated that every light blub made after that, is not authentic. Even if the light blub is shaped differently, it is still considered a light blub. And in that sense, it would not be authentic, even if it was the first type of that blub. Many people today attempt to perform actions that are authentic and try to create authentic things. You could use the same old light blub philosophy and say if it’s similar to something that was done before it, it is not really authentic. But if you look at all things like that, motivation for acquiring new skills and thinking of new technologies would probably decrease. Who would want to labor and slave over discovering a new cure, if when they publish it, people would calm that it is not authentic or original because it contains other types of established drugs and etc. “Authenticism” is a way of life. Everyone wants to be authentic. They want to be genuine and original. They want to establish their own style and have their own personality without being compared to several others in the process. I personally strive to be authentic in acquiring my shoes. I recently ordered some sneakers from china, because I had never seen anyone wear them and they were name brand which was really popular, but me buying the shoe out of a regular store would not have done me justice because “everybody” has the shoes that are in the stores. That’s not authentic. Even though I know there has to be someone else with the same pair of shoes that I have, but I have not met them yet. So until then, my style and shoes are to be authentic and different than others. Being authentic gives you something to look forward to in this disappointing world. That’s also compared to religious beliefs. You have to be different than others around you if you are to be truly religious. Then again, you always have to remember that it is hard to have a product or lifestyle that is authentic. Many people will begin to “copy” and there is not real proof who started the trend. In the case of religion, copying others is great if you all are striving for the same goal. In other cases, people may be looked down upon. Intense topic. I kno.

Like this, Like that

“Culture grew out of the history which abolished the way of life of the old world, but as a separate sphere it is still no more than perceptible intelligence and communication, which remain partial in a partially historical society. It is the sense of a world which hardly makes sense.” (Debord). Debord has proposed some interesting quotes throughout his book. This one that I selected is referring to culture. Culture is said to have evolved out of history but is nothing more than a perceptible intelligence and type of communication. Basically culture is something that makes the world make sense. Even though it is an abstract type thought, culture allows us to understand why certain people act they way they act. Black people are said to have Hip Hop music as a founding part of their culture. I don’t know how much I agree with the hip hop part but I know that music has greatly impacted us as a race. Back in slavery times, our ancestors used songs and hymns to relay codes to each other that the slave owner knew nothing about. It’s interesting how Debord quoted that the world hardly makes sense. But who is to judge what “sense” is? How do we know that we act with “sense”, its so amazing at how we have such abstract forms of acceptance which are broadly accepted but there can be many interpretations and there is no proof on what is actually right. Culture is perceptible. So Blacks and whites can percept their culture completely different than someone of Hispanic descent. How strange is it to know that you act a certain way, but to a complete stranger you could be thought to act the entirely different from your perceived behavior.

Yes, Yes

WE CAN, YES WE CAN. I have just witnessed one of the most historical events that has happened in America. Barack Obama was just selected as America's 44^th president. I am speechless. There are so many emotions bursting from my soul about this exciting victory. I can only think of all the civil rights fighters and all our ancestors who made this incident possible. I am so overwhelmed and blessed to see history unfold right before my eyes. Even though African Americans supposedly have "equal rights" as other races here in America, Obama, is the first African American President that our country has EVER had. This is a major accomplishment that I truly feel that Obama deserves. The face of America is changing. The minority is now becoming the majority and will have more "say" in the way our country is ran. Celebrations and cheers are booming all over the internet and television. Americans, especially African Americans, have something to finally be proud of. All the years of hard work, with no results have finally shown itself tonight. We have done what should have been done years ago. I am disgusted that America, in the year 2008, has just selected its first black president. What was the hold up? Why did this take so long? This election revealed other things about our society. Racism is not dead. It is a living, breathing system, which we have attempted to chain, but tonight, a lot of it is breaking free. While I was on Facebook; I discovered what some people really think about black people. It was totally rude and uncalled for. There are hundred of angry quotes and statuses condemning blacks and exclaiming how this country is headed towards the end. How a "Black" man is not capable of leading this country. How does race affect your ability to lead? It is so sad that race continually divides us as a nation, as a people, as a family. Obama is going to have a lot on his hands. He has to unite this divided country and he also has to bring the US out of this economic recession. He is our symbol of change. Our bridge to the future. This election also forced many Americans to use their right to vote. There are thousands of able voters who exercised their voting ability for the first time in this election. No matter whom they voted for. They voted. This situation is so beautiful and monumental. We were once told that "WE CAN'T", now "WE CAN"……"YES, WE CAN!".

I pledge allegiance….

I totally believe In God. There is one God, one name. I try my best not to commit sins against his holy will and his name, and I will serve him with all my might. But wait. I want a jacket. I want some letters. I want a sisterhood. I want to be like "them." I want to pledge. I want to be GREEK. Since high school, I have always wanted to join a sorority. I thought they looked so sophisticated and beautiful wearing their letters and supporting their "sisters." I knew there was a monetary price to join them, but I did not know there was a price to pay eternally. Now this post is not to say that sororities and fraternities are bad. I have no say or judgment on that. But from a forum I attended on Saturday, I was told that you could not be a Christian and also be Greek. Even if you are in a "Christian" sorority, they said it would not work. Now whenever some one tells me something that is against something that I really REALLY want to do, Its always reassuring to have proof. I was provided with actual scriptures and a research report which proved the point well enough for me. Now a lot of people do like to turn and twist scriptures to fit them and their current situation, I know personally because I have done it on several occasions. But the argument that was presented to me was so sound, and evidential that I cant do nothing but believe them. Even if some of the scriptures didn't actually relate to the who Greek life situation, why take one scripture and argue that it doesn't relate, when there are lots more that do relate? Ok. Enough on that, because like I said, I'm not the one to tell someone it's wrong or right. Take that up with the man above. But even besides the Godly stand point on the issue, sororities no longer interest me because they go through so much PAIN and pay so much MONEY just to be considered part of this organization. It is not that serious to me. I would rather not pay someone to beat me up and tell me what to do. That can happen for free. It no longer makes sense to me. I'm so glad that I learned more about the process of becoming Greek before I actually pledged. My reason for pledging is definitely not worth displeasing God or paying hundreds of dollars to join a group of people. Seriously, I only wanted a jacket. They are slick. I dig them. But you know what, who cares. I do not any more. I will continue to live my life without pledging and I don't think I will feel any deprivation from my new decision and I truly believe it is a wise one. I will only pledge to GOD. The End. Chea!

Spooky

Trick or Treat. Halloween is in a couple of hours and I have ZERO plans for the "big dance". Franklin street, the traditional Halloween throw-down, has changed drastically since the past years. This year the festivities are shutting down at 12a.m., the usual time for visitors to arrive. Due to the early closing, I do not think that the atmosphere will be as exciting as in past years and the attendance will be greatly reduced. Chapel Hill wants to make this years festivities more "home grown". The reason for the early closing is a tactic to decrease violence and drunk driving. Even though I know this will prevent a lot of trouble, I am still against the sudden change of the event. It's not like there has been shooting or anything fatal to occur on Franklin Street. I don't understand the problem. With this situation at hand, I may choose not to venture to Franklin Street and just stay in my room and watch some scary movies. That plan can never fail. J

Stop Snitching

So, as I was wasting time, avoiding my academic work, a friend of mine posted a link to an article which he acclaimed was so interesting. So of course, me, avoiding school work that should be in the process of completion, went and read the article. Now my desk is lined with wet Kleenex. The article I read was so touching. Entitled, "Honor Thy Father", this article has to be one of the most touching and inspirational piece that I have read all year. Basically the story is about a young girl, who is a great basketball player and her father. Her father is extremely supportive of her basketball career and is her "Number 1 fan". The girl's father is shot and killed during halftime of one of her basketball games. They still have no evidence on his killers because he is from a community where, "snitching", most times is punished with death. It amazes me how serious people take snitching. Snitching is the same principle of being a tattle-taler. Just like little kids get picked on in kindergarten for telling on people, people in the community are abused and sometimes even killed, for giving evidence on crimes. Even though the father in this piece was a very prominent man in the community, no one will reveal who they believe killed him or even give any clues to the authorities because of the "snitching" rule. It is so mind boggling. How can crime be stopped, if evidence will never be revealed because there is fear that more crime will happen, after the conviction of the initial trouble-makers? The system is ridiculous, but in most black communities, its one that everyone abides by. I just don't understand. I don't get it.

Wait or Weight

It still amazes me how many Americans actually get the gastric by-pass surgery, rather than actually attempting to diet and exercise on their on. The risk involved with the surgery, don't seem worth it to me. I know there are certain cases where the person has reached weights well above 300 pounds, and diet and exercise can not help them because their weight is outrageous. The surgery in itself masks the problem of your obesity. It only fixes your outer appearance, and not fixing the unhealthy mentality which you were suffering from. The best way to lose weight is to make a complete change of your lifestyle and eating habits. Going on diets, never work, because in most cases, you end up gaining the weight you once lost, back. Therefore creating an unhealthy cycle of unhealthiness. Once you go through that surgery there is a possibility that you will gain that weight back immediately if you don't change your eating habits. If that is the case, why waste money and risk your life on a surgery, which will result to you having to change your lifestyle and eating habits? Why not just start eating right and exercising now? I don't get it…..

Profile

It is still shocking to me when I hear of current accounts of racial profiling. I know that It is a bit naïve to think that no instances of it should still exist, but c'mon. Haven't there been enough years since the end of segregation to but an end to this madness? The reason this issue is bugging me currently because just last night, a friend of mine was harassed due to an incident of racial profiling. Him and two other young men where walking from their apartment on campus to a nearby fast food restaurant. A Caucasian police officer pulled alongside the young men and asked them to show their ID. The police would not accept their valid driver's license, but insisted on seeing a school ID card. After showing the officer proof that they actually belonged on the campus, the officer stepped out of his vehicle and proceeded to search each fellow, head to toe. The officer accused the young men of carrying weapons In the meanwhile; an African American officer came and assisted the Caucasian man in his un-lawful search. After the men were searched, the officer began to have a casual conversation with the young men, and acted like nothing just happened. As they were leaving, the officer yelled out to the men to have a fun and safe night, and continued driving on throughout the campus.

That incident was extremely uncalled for. Why were the young men, walking minding their own business, singled out and accused, out of the blue, of carrying weapons? Events such as those should not be occurring in the year of 2008. That is really an outrageous and I can't believe there was a black officer in the mist of this drama. That really makes no sense at all. It is really sad that we as a whole have not reached out and linked arm in arm with our other "brothers" regardless of race.....
But hey....not all people really care.

America blackened

Well as we all know, the 2008 Presidential Election is only weeks away. This election will be historical because we, as Americans, possibly may elect the first ever African American President to office. We all know that Obama’s campaign slogan is CHANGE. I agree that when he is in office, there will be changes made. But one thing I highly doubt is that Obama will be able to keep all the promises to Americans right away about incredible change. I think this because America is clearly in a recession. The economy is horrible right now, and low and middle class Americans are suffering. Once Obama is in office, the changes he promised will not be immediate because there is only so much he can do right now with the conditions at hand. Yea, he may have great ideas, but when it is time to act upon those ideas, Obama may not have the money nor resources available for change. How can he fix the health care system when the US is “filing bankrupt”? It’s outrageous. I point out all these things because many Pro-McCain voters will bad talk Obama if he is unable to make the changes that he implied. They will ignore the current state of the US and the conditions he has to work under, and point his lack of improvement or greater economic problems to the fact of him being BLACK and “not ready” for this job. As sad as it may seem, the “black” card, standing for uneducated, and dumb, and not responsible, will be played on him. Even though Bush has put us in this mess, if Obama gets into office, I’m pretty sure, a lot of Bush’s mess will be placed under Obama.

So why do we plan things again?

Why do we always plan, when our plan, always seems to go “unplanned”. That is so ironic to me. For instance, this weekend, my plans where to go to my high school football game, go to NC A&T University’s homecoming concert, and to end the excitement with a trip straight from Greensboro to Chapel Hill. Unfortunately, when I reached my home county, my car, apparently, had other plans. I attempted to start my car, but umm….I didn’t answer me back. It was terrible. I mean, I know the situation could have been worse, like me knocking off in the middle of nowhere, in a big four-lane highway, but hey, who likes not having a car. Well now, I’m sitting here in my house, wondering how I am going to get to Greensboro and enjoy the rest of my weekend. Or maybe I should not plan this out. We don’t want this to fall through. As odd as it may seem, most of the people I know, who always has to change their plans at the last minute, they seem to plan the most events. I wonder why people do that. I think it’s odd, but then again, It kind of seems that I am heading down the same path. Well, I didn’t plan on that….

Racer Eraser

If all of mankind would suddenly go blind, that would be the ultimate race eraser possible. Until a couple of days ago, I never really thought that our “eyes” have caused the most drama throughout the world today. We use our eyes to separate what we think looks good and what we think, looks bad. Our ours tell us who to love and who to despise. Without eyes, can you just think of all the things you would not have to worry about? How you could truly as someone how they are feeling, and be fully attentive on what they were saying, rather than being distracted by what they are wearing or the size of their belly. Why have we let such a luxury, be the thing that deprives us from so much. We are limiting the possibilities that we never will know that we have, because we chose not to look with our soul. We use our eyes just to see, see what society has told us to believe and not what we think or really feel. I’m not saying that I want to be blind in order to experience those unseen joys, I am just saying that it would be beautiful to be in a world with no eyes. There would be no big “I’s” and little “u’s”. Everyone would be equal. No “white”, “black”, or “in-between”, why? Because those are things that only our eyes see. Our soul can see so much more. Kind of ironic huh? Being that our soul is inside and will never see the light of day.

Black needles

On Saturday, I volunteered my day at North Carolina Central University at a conference geared towards encouraging more black students to go into health fields. This conference was inspiring and also bursting with valuable information which the young minds of the middle and high school students soaked in, word for word. At the conference, I learned some information also that I was unaware of. The keynote speaker was Dr. Lois Sullivan, also member of the Sullivan Commission Alliance. He was a great speaker with informational slides presented through is slideshow. (I helped present it!) Did you know that minorities only make up 9% of the nurses, 6% of physicians, and 5% of dentist in or nation? Those percents where shocking to me, realizing the amount of people in the world.

I wonder why many black people are running away from the health fields? A point in the presentation was that many students encounter a particular subject in college and it deters them from achieving their goals. For example, many hopeful nurses and doctors, hit Chemistry or Biology 101, fail it, and quickly change majors. What can be done to encourage them to move on? How will this cycle end?

Step up? Declined….

Last month, I attended a forum about the documentary, Black in America. There were several different aspects of the documentary that interested me, but the one that I thought about the most was the education of the youth. The education gap is widening now, more than ever. Drop-outs rates are rising left and right, and the desire for further education, in the black community, is getting slim. Most people in college today(all in general), are following a trend set by their mother or father, or even aunts or uncles. If someone in your family went to college, sometimes it is a requirement for you to go. But of course, that trend, has to start with someone. Many of my classmates, graduation year 2011, are first generation students. Meaning they are the first one in their family to attend college. That is great. Those people have not finished their work to the family yet though. They must go back, and reach out in their community to reach other students, and encourage them to attend college. On the flip side of that, there will be many people in the community looking down upon the bright college student. They may think that the college student thinks he or she is "better" than the others who decided not to attend college. And that creates a divide in the community and even in the black race as a whole. A lot of educated blacks, tend to have nice cars, and live in upscale neighborhoods. And in those neighborhoods, most times, your neighbors are white. The discrimination from the 'lower class' blacks will continue even further after your move. Why is that? Why cant we learn to appreciate the success of others? I don't understand.

To go even further on that topic, the educated blacks tend to send their children to private schools. Not because they think their children are 'better' than other kids, just because they believe a private education is better than a public one. Now the discrimination is upon their kids and the cycle will continue… The education gap widens, the discrimination continues, the black community is constantly divided.

Flakey Fake

Currently the value of friendships today is decreasing in value. The people who you think you can trust the most could be the very ones who scandalize your name, and create rumors about you. An incident that I witnessed a couple days ago was, this girl walked up to a group of her friends, apparently wearing some new, shiny shoes. Her friends sent continual comments of how great she looked in her new shoes, and how "fly" she was. As soon as the girl walked away, her "friends" started talking about how ugly and how dumb their friend looked in those shoes. I was completely disgusted in their actions and was speechless at the display of friendship that they showed their friend. That situation is not a rare one. I, myself, was a girl who talked badly about a friend one time. I learned from that experience, and never had done anything of the sort lately.

Friendship is something that takes a lot of work from both people. Love has to be shown to each individual or else, the friendship will not be complete. If you examine your personal friendships right now, you may discover that you have a lot of fake friends. Fake friends are the worst, but they happen to everyone. Hopefully the couple of fake friends you have, will not hinder you from achieving your personal goals and one day you will learn to gradually release them from your 'world'.

Wiki Wiki Wiki

I believe that Chapter 5 of Shirky promoted some great information about Wikipedia that I was once confused about. Wikipedia is a website where anyone can post information about certain topics to inform others about it. Wikipedia gives you an overview of one topic but also includes lists of links to direct you towards other information that would be beneficial to your inquiry. I believe that through this website people can be informed of information almost instantaneously. He noted that when the London transit system was bombed, a Wikipedia page was created extremely quickly, and as more users discovered more information about the incident, the page was updated to give the most up-to date accurate information available. I like how Wikipedia does not have a big group of fancy business people in suits, handling all the operations for this website. I like how the websites operates by a spontaneous division of labor. They start with a 'stub'er', which is a person who starts the original post, and then they have a numerous amount of 'contributors' who improve the existing data. Therefore, making a Wikipedia a process not a product. It is never finished.

Blogs are evidently similar to the foundation of Wikipedia. People can continually post information under blogs, enriching the original thoughts of the user. I like being helped. I strongly believe in, the "more the merrier!"

Only how many walked?

The drop out rate of high school students is unacceptable in my point of view. Barely 2/3 of students who started high school as a ninth grader, completed all four years of high school. I knew that dropping out did not benefit the student nor the society any, but I never thought of it effecting the job industry as it has. As of 2003, North Carolina has lost more than 200,000 jobs in manufacturing. What is the reason behind so many drop-outs in North Carolina? I know from personal experience that 395 students entered into high school with me and only 249 students walked the stage with me on graduation night. I know that a couple students moved here and there but majority of my class mates just dropped out. I know this one girl in my community who dropped out 3 months before graduation because she became pregnant with her second child. I believe pregnancy had an effect on a lot of students in my class and also the lure of the drug game with the "get rich quick" scheme. There should be more programs and counseling done in order to push students to stay in school. At my high school, we had more counselors who only cared about students wanting to go to college, and if college was not in your "game plan", then they pushed you aside until you changed your minds. Several students didn't want to 'change their minds', so they just dropped out. I think more focus should be placed on unstable minded children who are not really concerned about the future, rather than full attention placed on students who are set on college no matter what. As in the linked article, Richard Moore explains a plan about making community college tuition free. I think that would be a great idea and would give children from low-income families the opportunity to achieve a degree.

The article also speaks on how the mandatory school attendance should be raised from age 16 to age 18. I whole heartedly agree on this notion. I have not idea why the cut-off was originally set at 16 anyways. At the age of sixteen, students can easily become un-motivated by sex, drugs, and peers, and could rashly drop out of school if they have no concerned family members. I do not think that the power of their future should be placed in a 16 year olds hand. Teenagers make a lot of mistakes and I do not feel giving them the opportunity to drop out is a wise choice.

Wild Card

So as I was walking to class today, I suddenly saw a plastic face of McCain, standing around, greeting students. I was totally shocked at the lame attempt that was used in order to promote his campaign. But then again, since he is somehow amazingly ahead in the political polls in North Carolina, I guess that this little jester he pulled will benefit him greatly. http://www.usaelectionpolls.com/2008/north-carolina.html.
Economically, I really do not understand the need of another republican president, under the current leadership in the United States today, we are lead by a republican which has driven this country into a recession. Prices are inflated at a all time high and there looks like there is not going to be a end in sight. If McCain was to win the presidency, how would that benefit our nation? I am still clues to that point. Change is what is needed in our society today. The reason that the 22nd amendment was passed was to eliminate the possibility of having a communistic nation. If we re-elect a republican party, wouldn't that kind of be putting our country in the communist view point. The one political party of republicans would be governing our nation continually, making their point of views more prominent, and not allowing others to express their opinions.

Drizzle Drop

Well today, unfortunately, it is raining outside. :(
I forgot my umbrella in my room so now I am wet, with many more tasks to complete today.
Personally, I only like rain when I have nothing important to do, like school work, or working at my job. The rain is extremely soothing and makes you feel more calm. Most times I feel extremely sleepy during the rain. Currently, my bed seems like my only friend.