#CerealProbs

            The last thing I want to deal with when I get home and am hungry is going to the store to pick up a gallon of milk or box of cereal.  Invariably we will run out of them at separate times; never at the same time.  I mean… isn’t that the story of everyone’s life? 

Coming home and pouring my cereal into the bowl, I get enraged when I open the fridge and reach for the milk that decided to become invisible.  Who drank the last cup of gold… err… milk!?  I’m not joking when I say this is ridiculous and definitely a pet peeve of mine.  What is a girl with hormonal taste buds to do?  You can “best believe” I won’t eat “water cereal.”  #ewwwy

Another thing that really gets me is when someone thinks they are doing you a favor.  How could I be upset with that?  They are nice enough to do something nice for me!  It’s kind of a “you think that you’re helping me, but you’re actually hurting me” situation.  When someone else takes the initiative to pour my cereal for me… I lose it! 

This makes me think of a Facebook group that I joined a year ago.  It was comically named, “I hate when people pour my cereal. They don’t know the amount of milk that I like.  They don’t know how much cereal I want.  They don’t know me.  They don’t know my life.  They don’t know what I’ve been through!”  J (221)

"Poop Words" in Songs

            Vulgarity in songs is becoming unbelievable.  I mean… I’m not a “Language Prude,” but my lord.  Every other word is an “F-bomb.”  This is a considerable cause of our generation’s lack of respect and class… AT TIMES (before I get bulldozed in my comment box)! 

            These “artists” (mostly rappers… sorry, 2 Chainz) are taking the Freedom of Speech too far in their songs.  There is a thick line between singing your well-written, purposeful song and screaming every four letter obscenity out there.  Come on now!

            This is what our parents and elders talk about.  You know?  When they say our music is trash, and how different it is.  My parents tell me it’s nothing like the music they had.  Their music was REAL music is what they say.  Sometimes I have to agree.  Some of our music is downright trash.  Why is it so addicting though?  Maybe it’s the feeling of “being bad” and feeling “cool” or “gangsta.”  #holla  Maybe it just has a catchy beat. 

            Another thing I can throw in with cuss words in songs is song content.  Songs are supposed to have purpose and meaning, directly or indirectly stated in the lyrics.  The lyrics in today’s “songs” revolve around all the “big booty ho*s” someone can get.  Or how many “diamonds” someone has in their “watch.”  Not only are they all about materialistic objects such as: cars, clothes, money, and girls, but they are consumed with sexuality and sexual acts. 

            My mother has often times been in the car on a trip with me, and invariably the radio will be on.  I get so embarrassed and ashamed of what pop culture has done to music, that I turn it off/down or start up a really LOUD CONVERSATION!  The last thing I want my mother hearing is how trashy (insert famous rap star’s name here) is for putting down women in a degrading way.  You know?  Talking about a female’s thighs, hips, chest, or butt.  Or the horrid names they call them.  Like they are property to be “won.” 

            What we listen to becomes what we think and our views on society.  If young boys grow up referring to women as “b*tches,” they will have a warped view on what a woman should be like: how they should act, what they should do, what they should look like.  What kind of a girl would want to be a man’s b*tch? They should aspire to be respectable wives to their respectful husbands.  Young males should listen to music that would only praise women, lifting them up on a pedestal. 

            Bottom line is MOST (before I get bulldozed… again) of today’s music is offensive to a large portion of the population. “I will admit that I use rap and hip-hop to “pump” me up for a test or game, but I can’t help but wince if there are naughty words sung.  To all the hard working country and indie singers out there… #keeponrockin’  J (493)

A, B, B, B, D, D, A... #whynoC?

                Over the weekend, I woke up bright and early to a 6:00 am alarm clock.  You may ask, “Wow.  That is true dedication. She probably ran three miles or did laundry… you know? Something productive.”  Well… only some of that is true.  I do have pure dedication, and I did something productive… But it wasn’t running or household chores. 

                It was the Preliminary SAT… better known as the “PSAT.”  And it can be a challenging objective test… if you aren’t the greatest at bubble answer sheets.  When I say bubble answer sheets, I mean the ones that are run through machines.  The ones that require you to use a #2 pencil, and if you don’t fill in a circle all the way you get the problem incorrect. 

                While I think that this test is great to prepare you for your ACT or SAT test, I am a little critical.  The reason that these are scheduled exactly one Saturday before the REAL test is to prep the students and give them a sense of the time frames for each of the sections. (The PSAT takes about three hours.) I believe that it should be scheduled to where the students take it and get their results (that take a ridiculously long amount of time to come back in) before the ACT or SAT. 

                The PSATs aren’t beneficial to the students if they have no way of knowing how they did or what they missed right away or at least before the actual test.  This being said, I propose a solution.  I say that SAT employees should go around the country (providing jobs for more Americans… go me!) giving the tests to schools.  As soon as the kids are done with their practice test, the worker can run them through a portable grading machine.  This is so the children can get a good idea of how they will do, or how much they should study before their ACT. 

                Instead of doing this, students get their pre-test results in December… a week before they get their report that will determine their future (ACT score)!  “Wow… I missed almost every question on the Grammar and Writing section…  That really helps my ACT score NOW!” 

At least with the PLAN test I could get my results before I was allowed to take the actual ACT.  The PLAN test is an ACT prep exam taken by Sophomores in high school.  They give kids an idea of what field they should consider for their future, what subjects they know well, and what subjects they need to work on before their ACT test their Junior year. 

                This is possibly the only “beef” I have with the ACT and SAT organization.  After I was done with the PSAT, I went to a prep class offered at my high school for the Mathematics portion of the test.  My school also provided me with additional packets of information about the two tests and gave me two booklets to quiz myself on.  Wish me luck!  J (502)

SAY IT; DON'T WEAR IT!

            Ever heard about dressing to make a statement?  Lady Gaga, famous pop star, is a perfect example of that.  Her full body “meat locker” costume is a flashy wardrobe piece.  Bold, yet classy would be her personality/dress style. 
            Getting to the real part: BILLBOARD T-SHIRTS!  This is what grinds my gears.  They may have been a trend a few years ago, but no one wants to read what you have to say on your garment.  Shirts that state: “Call me…” (on the front) “maybe…” (on the back) make me want to barf just as much as the shirts with litter monsters storming the Empire State building.  #gagme 
            “Here comes the walking billboard” is what I think whenever someone is coming up to me.  And to top it off, you can’t even read everything there is to read on their camisa!  #ikarumba 
            Don’t even bring up the baby bibs… “Like father… Like son!” “If you think I’m cute, you should see my mommy.” Or “Don’t you wish your mom was hot like mine?” 

(Following up my last blog)  Kids should have a right in deciding if they want to wear that crap or not.  They didn’t ask to be used as a pick-up line for their parents!  And who is so physically confident in themselves as to buy their child that bib!  Give me a break! 

People do it for the “shock value,” but what I’m saying is… SAY IT; DON’T WEAR IT!  J (242)

Right to Oxygen - 2012 Campaign

Being an election year, people tend to be very vocal about their opinions and beliefs regarding a wide range of topics.  Topics that vary from healthcare to schooling.  I understand that many have made significant sacrifices for my right to even have my opinions and beliefs; and for that I am forever grateful. It is important to respect that by being tolerant of others and their views. In no way, shape or form, do I want to judge someone for exercising their right to specific lifestyle choices such as smoking.

However, today, as I stopped at a red light near one of the busiest intersections in town, I looked to my right, and what did I see?  A mother lighting up in an enclosed Pontiac with her two precious children in the back, strapped to a car seat.  This sparked some questions in my head: “What about the rights of our youth?”  “Don’t they have a say?” 

The law clearly states that you must be 18 before you can purchase cigarettes or any other tobacco products, and I am assuming it is because the government wants to protect children from the harmful effects of the cleverly hidden nicotine until they are physically and mentally mature enough to decide for their own wellbeing.                        

While the Constitution stresses many rights like “Freedom of Speech.”  Children don’t have a voice solely because they can’t communicate?  Sadly, the little kids in that car had no choice, as the decision was their mother’s.  The guardians or parents should be entitled to the right to decide if they want to harm their body through firsthand smoke… but they should not be entitled the right to just “assume” that secondhand smoke is fine for their offspring to inhale. 

Children are completely dependent on their parents or guardians for their welfare.  Kids rely heavily on their caregivers to make the right decisions for them.  They don’t understand the complications that can come from the recreational activity “smoking” like grownups do nowadays with the enhanced research and technology. 

I am prosing a movement to make smoking while in an enclosed area with present children under 18 ILLEGAL!  The law should consider it child endangerment, if not … child abuse!  Fines should be issued and warrants and arrests should be made.  It is unconstitutional and wrong morally and ethically.  How would you like to be “death sentenced” in a “gas-chamber” on your way to school every day?  J (407)

"Eight cups a day keeps the doctor away!".... Or Something Like That

                Not trying to be all “Mama Bear” on you, but… we all need to consume more water.  It is essential to our health.  I advocate to this.  You will see in a minute what I am talking about.

One of my dearest and truest friends, Jared, had a run-in with the clear substance.  Jared is tall and very thin, and every time he sat up in bed or got off the couch, he would blackout and get dizzy.  You can imagine how worried and upset this made his parents, so they took him to their family doctor.  After the doctor measured his height, weight, and wingspan, also checking for any abnormities, he came to the conclusion that Jared possibly had Marfan syndrome. 

                People that had this syndrome, from what he told me, were tall with long wingspans and had flat feet, superflexible joints, nearsightedness, narrow faces, or a chest that sinks in or sticks out (funnel chest or pectus excavatum).  This was frightening to his mother as well as him because it also meant that he could have a heart defect. 

When they asked the doctor what they should do, he said that he would try St. Louis Children’s Hospital in St. Louis, Missouri to check out his heart and to ask an expert on Marfans.  By the time they got home, an appointment was made at the hospital, and in a week they would be off to see the specialists three hours away. 

When they finally got there, the nerves were kicking in.  After an expensive, overpriced lunch in the cafeteria and two hours of waiting, they got in to start their scans of the heart and brain.  More sitting around and waiting for more news followed.  They were finally called back in to wait some more for the cardiologist to give his report. 

                The doctor came in and shook hands with Jared and his family.  Once he explained what Marfan syndrome was and the causes and effects, he revealed to them that Jared did not, in fact, have the syndrome.  A sigh of relief came over him and his parents.  But in Jared’s mom’s mind, she was torn.  She was happy that her son didn’t have this horrible affliction, but she was also livid that the family doctor put the scare into her and her family when it was a “false alarm.” 

What made it even worse was the fact that the doctor’s solution to Jared’s blackouts and dizziness was the result of dehydration or lack of water.  He also needed more table salt in his diet to retain the water he drank (which was preferably two two-liters a day). 

When my friend came home and told me this, I was shocked.  Water and salt?  Is that really all you needed?  After all that money spent to go down to the Children’s Hospital and for what?  To find out that you need to salt your french-fries a little more?  Very nice.  Good to know.

So the moral of the story is that H2O is extremely vital to your well-being.  We all need to drink more.  I can’t say that I know one person that drinks enough or too much.  The reason that we get sick or tired most of the time, is that we are rundown and don’t have proper nutrition.  So drink up! J (556)

Diary of Teenage Mutant Feet

                What I hate about my feet?  Everything!  Usually I’m not the type to complain about what God has given me, but He really messed up on my feet.  He must have, like everything else, had a plan for them.  Maybe I was destined to become a foot model for a shoe brand catering to extra-large women with even bigger feet. 

                Like I said.  My feet!  They are huge.  They are size 11.5 men’s and size 13 women’s!  Very long.  And I am told on a regular basis that they are ugly due to the fact that they look like they belong to a raccoon.  Ouch.  My toes aren’t that bad… are they?  My “tooties” (as my dad used to call them when I was little) are also very wide.  I have a “Tailor’s bunion” or “Bunionette” which is basically a skinny heel with an extremely wide metatarsal bone set (or inflammation of the fifth metatarsal bone).  Just call me duck foot.  Which brings me to how flat they are!  Wow!  I have no bridge at all.  Let’s just say I make the Gateway Arch disappointed. 

                With all of this being said, I have a heck of a time finding shoes to fit properly!  Let’s face it… as much as I would like to, I can’t wear basketball shoes my whole life.  What about my wedding or prom?  This is tricky.  The shoes that are totally adorable are women’s shoes and only come in sizes six through ten.  Or they are men’s shoes, but still aren’t wide enough.  Here comes the “moolah.”  Specialty shoes cost extra wads of cash to buy which is annoying because you can never just walk into a store and buy a cute pair of heels on sale.  Clearance racks suck! 

                When I get older, I am definitely coming up with that extra-long, extra-wide shoe brand.  Female volleyball and basketball players will love me!  I can make a fortune.  I can see it now: “Pumps with Bumps” (referring to my bunions…yuck!)  And no… I will not offer size seven! #getlost  J (343)