THANKSGIVING

It's more than a month away, but this quote struck me as I read it from Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass a minute ago: "...this living word of faith and spirit of hope departed not from me, but remained like ministering angels to cheer me through the gloom. This good spirit was from God, and to him I offer thanksgiving and praise," (19).

I get caught up with everything that's going 

to "terribly" in my life that I forget to be thankful for what I do have. If Freddy D can live as a slave and still find time to be thankful and to assure himself that he will always be thankful, I can too.

So, I'm just going to throw random things that I'm thankful of out there. PLEASE join me! It's cheesy, but that's okay. Off the top of my head, I'm thankful for...

laundry machines

rainbow suspenders

xbox

blue pens

Frederick Douglass

panda express

good books

taylor swift

doctors

grey's anatomy

funny people

memories

...freedom

foreign languages

gypsies

kind of embarrassing,  but worth it.

Community College

I just read something on Obama's plan to invest $12 billion dollars in American Community Colleges. I think it's a great thing - I definitely have made jokes about how "I probably can't even get into Oakton - ha ha," but these two-year institutions do help a lot of people out.

The only bad thing is, these community colleges don't want to stay "community" colleges. Many of them have changed their names and institutions - becoming universities that give Bachelors' degrees. It's great that they're becoming more prestigious, but that's not necessarily what they're here for, at least not in my opinion. 

Being a student who is stressed about college, knowing that these $12 billion dollars can possibly make admission to any college, community or not, more difficult, is not the easiest thing to hear. It begs the question, if you aren't "good enough" to get into Community College, where do you go?

Should these institutions be REALLY REALLY good ones now that cater to anyone that needs them? Or should they grown to be up-and-coming, competitive universities?

What do you think?

Anorexia is Aspirational

"The websites don't cause the eating disorders don't cause the eating disorders, they just make them aspirational."

I watched this video and was shocked to see what it said. Apparently, there are websites where girls can post pictures of how thin they've become in order to gain support from other people suffering from eating disorders. I feel like it allows members to think of anorexia as a trend rather than a serious problem. I've also read about websites that encourage people with depression to commit suicide -- they code words that won't expose the message they're going for in chats.

I wonder how much say the government will have in this issue. This kind of censorship is interesting to me; should these people be allowed to show the world what makes them feel beautiful? Do you think it'll go on for much longer?

What do you think?

Megan Fox. Nuff said?

Before Transformers, no one knew who she was. Okay, so I did watch Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen, so I knew who she was, but that's not the point. She is probably the most lusted after actress in Hollywood today, but does she really want to act? Being a student at New Trier, I know a group of kids who would die to be in a film with Shia LaBeouf or under the direction of Michael Bay. They are known as Theater Kids.

"He’s like Napoleon and he wants to create this insane, infamous mad-man reputation. He wants to be like Hitler on his sets, and he is. So he's a nightmare to work for but when you get him away from set, and he's not in director mode, I kind of really enjoy his personality because he's so awkward, so hopelessly awkward. He has no social skills at all. And it's endearing to watch him. He's vulnerable and fragile in real life and then on set he's a tyrant. Shia and I almost die when we make a Transformers movie. He has you do some really insane things that insurance would never let you do."

I was checking out Perez Hilton's latest daily posts today when I came across an article about her. Apparently, a group of crew members that have worked with Bay for years defended him after Fox compared him to Napoleon and Hitler, defended him and trash-talked Megan. I'm not here to jump on the bandwagon and egg them on, but some of the things they said about her work ethic, along with the ungrateful/disgusting comments she has made (above) have just made me so angry.

It makes me wonder, why do people praise actresses that aren't taking their work seriously? Is it because these comments she makes are funny? Is it her looks? Has the quality of actresses/actors decreased recently? Why do I care so much about what she has to say? 

A part of me wishes we didn't know this much about people we watched on screen or TV.A large part of me hopes that the kids around us today that really want to be in her shoes make it, but are more grateful people. Thoughts?

Obama's Prepared Remarks

I came to class on Friday not knowing what the topic of discussion would be-- that President Obama would be streaming a message about education and schooling live to students across the country. We did not know where he would be speaking, or which students he would be speaking to. There is a link provided by an article on CNN.com to a copy of the remarks he will have today.

I eagerly clicked on the 4-page link, scanning to find scandalous new plans for high school teens, etc. There was absolutely nothing I could personally find that would infuriate parents so much. People are taking their kids out of class and schools are refusing to broadcast this message.

I can't figure out why. Can you? If I was a parent, I would definitely want someone else telling my kids to try as hard as they can. He mentions people who have grown up without money going to Brown University and becoming doctors...but he also mentions the value of just graduating high school. He even wants kids to wash their hands more to prevent the flu from spreading around school this Winter and Fall. He's not pressuring everyone to become rocket scientists or professors with a countless number of degrees. Parents obviously have control over their kids, but I wonder, if it was anyone other than Obama telling their kids to follow their dreams, would they be this upset? Is their argument that the most powerful man in the country should not be telling my kids what to do valid because someone else could have the same exact beliefs?

Crimes of Passion?

While browsing through the latest news reports on CNN. com, I half-reluctantly clicked on "Death row woman: They can take us at any time" on the home page. I had no idea where the woman being described in the article would be from until I saw that the title of the article: "Iraqi women fears execution, can't stop thinking of gallows." President Jamal Talabani, torture, murder by accessory. These were all words I scanned through quickly, thinking to my ignorant self "Yeah, yeah, whatever," until a particular part of the story struck me. A man walked into Samar Saed Abdullah's home. He locked her in the kitchen, shot her cousin, aunt, and uncle, and pointed a gun to her head. Fortunately, he left without hurting a hair on her head, but had taken almost $1000 with him, as well. He threatened to kill her and her family if she ever went to the authorities.

Sound like a jerk?

He was her fiancé. This woman fell in love with this man after knowing him for about two months. Her family opposed the romance, but wanted to ensure Samar's happiness and gave in. There is a reason why families, particularly in the Middle East prefer arranged marriages over preconceived romances. Indian families also have the same sort of thinking; my parents had an arranged marriage. They believe that the relationship created after the marriage will grow with better intentions. Whenever I tell them about my happily-arranged-marriage-parents, they are astonished. I personally prefer the idea of a not-so-arranged marriage but I wonder how Samar is feeling...

Are romances too dangerous today? In the U.S., I feel that arranged marriages are nonexistent. The dating scene is rapidly changing; stalkers and online predators are terms being thrown around much too often today. Maybe we think that arranged marriages are outdated and too traditional. Do young people today have too much of an agenda to go through with a marriage?