More Rantings from the Teenage Mind

Yesterday my sister and me saw an interesting commercial for a new episode of 20/20 that talked about sixteen year olds sailing the world, children growing up with the Westbero Baptist Church, child pageants, and a soldier's dog from Iraq sent home to his family after he died. And yes, in that order.

I'm not kidding. Apparently there are teenagers who wish to sail the world by themselves at that young of an age. Crazy? Yes. And they had their parents' consent knowing the risks of months of isolation in the dangerous ocean. They even showed a video of one guy completely terrified for his life. Is it complete irresponsibility of the parents? Yes and no. Yes because a sixteen year old really shouldn't be doing such a dangerous adventure such as sailing the world on their own. No because the parents know the risks and so do their child so it's not like they didn't give a thought about it before their child set sail on the ocean. I mean if I was in that position I wouldn't allow it. It's really risky and I wouldn't do it at all.

Westbero Baptist Church. I'm sure everyone's familiar with these nut heads. What's the worst part of it? When children probably as young as two or three become a part of it. It's almost scary to hear them spout out hate at such a young age and a high chance likely says they really have no idea that what they're being taught is wrong. Because they're so young they'll assume everything their parents say is right despite the fact that they participate in protests that end in violence. These kids don't really know what they say until they finally have minds to think for themselves. And when they speak against these beliefs, they're rejected by their own loved ones. What's sad is that this is true for a young woman who spoke against the church and was kicked out of her own family who didn't seem impacted for banishing their own daughter who now lives a thousand miles away unable to see her growing siblings.

I hate how they're against everything. They hate homosexuality, Jews, people in the army, and America. I mean if you hate the country you're living in so much why don't you live somewhere else? And if God hates us so much then why are we still here? And if he hates Jews so much then does that mean he hates his own son, Jesus who was a Jew? Without Judaism, Christianity wouldn't exist. With the exception of the belief that Jesus is the Messiah, they're the same thing. I don't know why people have to make such a huge deal about it. What's the most irritating about these people is that they protest at funerals for people who supported homosexuality and soldiers who died in the army basically saying "Good riddance". My step-brother's in the Air Force and if he were to die in action, I would never ever stand for people protesting at his funeral. It's totally disrespectful and stupid. And do homosexual people go to hell? Of course not. I mean if you don't like the idea of two men or two women being together, fine. Quit being so overcritical over it.

Y'know everything would probably be better if everyone was Buddhist. It's not a religion, but a philosophy on how to live your life. It's nice and peaceful and there's no deities (Well save for Chinese Buddhism). It's the same peaceful teachings of other religions and there's no hate. I learned this stuff cause my sister's Christian and Buddhist and I listen to what Buddhism teaches.

Anyway...

So I've done my fair share of rantings about child pageants. I think many people realize how stupid it is to doll up your child past a certain extent. I mean it may be cute once in a while if it's at a moderate level but you go out of bounds when you dress up your kid like the hooker from Pretty Woman. It's even outside the catwalk and in real life. Clothing stores for children sell really questionable clothing, including padded bras for seven year olds. What seven year old wants boobs?? When I was seven all I wore was jeans and graphic shirts! Childhood's shifted a lot since I was young. There are even girls in salons as young as ten and eleven getting their eyebrows plucked and getting bikini waxes!! What eleven year old has that huge amount of raging hormones that they need a bikini wax?? What's even worse is the French Vogue magazines that display girls in lingerie. Sure French Vogue is a really messed up magazine but it's rather disturbing to see girls that young dress three or four times their actual age. I mean are you just opening these kids up for pedophiles to, oh I dunno, kidnap/rape/kill?? Do people like this actually understand that there are creeps like that in the 21st century? Clearly not. I don't have a problem with dressing up your girls to look cute but there's a word to not make your kids look like they're adults. It's called moderation.

Sigh.... Finally got all of that out.

XOXO,

Liz

Merry Turkey-mas

My family went to a friends' house to have a big dinner with family and friends. We made a lot more turkey than we needed and we had a lot of other food too. Along with the turkey there was ham, mashed potatoes (with cheese!!), sweet potatoes, rolls, gravy, salad, my mom's mlince which is to die for (Croatian dish that's basically tortillas burned a little over a flame and then has turkey drippings in it. Pure bliss), and pie. Prior to dinner, all I had was a piece of fruit and some Coca-Cola. No joke. I really wanted to save up for the mass amounts of food to come and it worked. Had room for seconds and two pieces of pumpkin pie. And sadly watched the 49ers lose their game against the Ravens but whatever.

Like sane shoppers my family is, we took no participation in Black Friday. I really don't see a point because people are crazy to get items for cheap at a small stock. It's nothing but pure insanity. People are trampled to death because other people want to get in the store first and I just saw on the news a woman used pepper spray and injured ten people for an XBox 360 at half price. I mean seriously?? You're gonna injure/possibly kill people for a stupid electronic for your kid? How stupid can you get?! It completely amazes me how Black Friday is still in existence to this day. People start fights and some are trampled to death to get some item of their desire for a super low price.

If there's something that barely exists in the 21st century it's common sense.

So the day of giving thanks is over and now it's the season of jolly and holly and other things ending with olly (Reference to The Hogfather for those who don't get it). My mom got me and my sister to get out all the Christmas stuff and now the tree is up, decorated, and giving me a headache due to the tremendous amount of lights; most blinking in crazy fashions. We have new stockings, multiple decorations chilling around the house, and eleven small trees, one of which has a Purdue University theme, are scattered about the house. Even the palm tree in our house has green lights on it.

I don't really want too much for Christmas. I mean just some sort of materials for writing and drawing, shopping money, and love from my family and friends is all I will really need. Not going anywhere during the Christmas season but on New Year's my family will be going out to Costa Rica.

Oh God I just remembered I have school on Monday. No biggie though. My only assignment was to get some books on a current issue for a report and I did so everything's peachy keen. But everything will be crazy in the upcoming weeks due to finals coming up in just a few weeks. Thank God the play's over so I can finally get some proper sleep knowing I got my homework done on time.

XOXO,

Liz

*Belch*

So far vacation's going great. Kinda boring since I really have nothing to do but I get to sit around and watch anime and random movies all day.

My sister's boyfriend got his wisdom teeth pulled yesterday so he's been chilling all day here with us. Amazingly enough he only needed anesthesia and woke up a little dizzy instead of being totally loopy. He's really limited to what he can eat cause of the pain and his gag reflex doesn't really help with his appetite. So before dinner he only had Jell-O and Jamba Juice. But he's doing much better.

We had an early Thanksgiving dinner since last year we had no left over turkey. My mom bought two turkeys: one for the party tomorrow and one for us. She cooked one of them for us, made stuffing, mashed potatoes and our cousin brought her amazing mac and cheese for us which is totally to die for. My eyes were a little more hungry than my stomach seeing as how I only ate half of my dinner. At least I got some left overs.

Now we have Thanksgiving tomorrow and my only food before dinner that day will probably be some toast since we have amazing cooks for friends.

Also today I went to the library and got some books for a report in English. Luckily I just have to bring them though I should start reading one or two of them now while I have the chance. We have to write a report about current topics to talk about since it's been done in literature over the years, including Shakespeare where we just finished reading Julius Caesar. Miss Ireland gave us a great range of topics to choose from and I got quite a few ideas what I wanted to do and when it came down to finding some books my choices were narrowed to one topic: Teenage pregnancy.

I think it'd be a fun topic to talk about seeing as how it happens way too often. What I really hate about teenage pregnancy is the media glamorizing it to make it appear that nothing bad will happen if you get pregnant at sixteen when in reality, your life really spirals out of control when it happens. Like shows such as Sixteen and Pregnant and Teen Mom. Do you think those girls are happy that they're sacrificing the joys of being a teen because they have to take care of a child? If I was in their position, it'd suck big time. It's because that stuff is scripted so these girls appear happy to have to care for a baby until it grows to a young adult. I mean movies it's obvious to tell that it's a movie and it's not real and some of these girls are having a really crappy time trying to go through school with a stomach the size of a planet. I don't know why some people get ideas from movies that it's okay but TV shows really mess with people's heads.

It's hard to tell on reality TV if it is reality or if it's completely scripted so the audience will like it. My mom heard that on a show called Real Housewives of something she can't remember that a guy on there committed suicide and it was real. That's a big issue since reality TV screws with our perception on what's real and what's totally fake. It's why I never watch MTV because I know it's all fake and most reality TV I never watch because I'll assume it's scripted to the audience's liking. Sorry Jersey Shore but your show is really stupid and having your skin orange isn't exactly attractive.

I seriously have a tendency for going off on rants. Hahaha

XOXO,

Liz

What'd you do July 24th 2010?

I looked back in an old blog post and remembered on July 24th I went to a dentist to get my teeth cleaned.

While that was happening people all around the world were videotaping their daily lives in the documentary Life in a Day.

I wanted to watch this documentary because it looked like a really interesting documentary. As it turns out, I was right. Out of 4,500 hours of footage from 80 thousand submissions from 192 countries filmed, an hour and 35 minutes condenses and summarizes the day of July 24th 2010 from the eyes of many different people of different cultures.

It's really interesting to see what's considered normal for different people across the world. Whether it's living in the streets or a cemetery or a small apartment people go through their lives as how they see it and their views on certain aspects of life are. Like a guy travelling the world by bicycle from Korea who wishes for Korea to be united as one. A woman from India making offerings to the Hindu god Vishnu. And as shocking as this sound, riots in Germany. People even answer the questions of what's in their pockets, what they love and what they fear. You'd be amazed with what these people have to say.

I love movies like this because it really opens up people like us to different cultures and what they think on life compared to what other people go through normally. You see the hardships others have to face to make it through the day. Different points of view really shape our world to what it is now with how many cultures there are. I mean in America we really have no specific way to show that we're Americans. We're all just a bunch of different cultures jumbled together in 50 states. So I like seeing documentaries and stuff about different places around the world. I see things I never see every day and it fascinates me.

I remember when I first saw the documentary Babies which recorded the first year of the lives of four different babies from Africa, Mongolia, Japan and America. It's amazing the conditions the children from Africa and Mongolia live in are normal for them and they're fine with the conditions they live in compared to the clean lives of Japan and America. It opens the world to other ways of life. It makes people less selfish.

XOXO,

Liz

Thank God It's Over!

So the week has come and gone again, and now it's finally Thanksgiving break!!

The week went by so slowly. Extra crazy this week which included a lot of homework... Finished Caesar in English, took two tests on Friday, anything you'd expect off of a stressful week... On top of which Tara Romero's funeral was on Monday so you can imagine how silent it was in the morning. It's really sad cause I heard the church was filled with a lot of people. Even people who never really knew Tara. I got mad when I heard my friend commenting how stupid it was to go to someone's funeral if they don't know them. One, the service was open to any and everyone. Two, it doesn't matter if most of those people didn't know her. It doesn't change that she died in a brutal way and it scares everyone. What's really terrible about Tara dying is that no one really knows how gang violence can leave a huge impact on people until it actually happens. I mean if Tara was just injured then it would've been nothing, but she was killed and it changes everything.

Anyway, should get off the sad stuff...

I stayed at school until Wednesday until eight with the last dress rehearsals for Rumors. Doesn't help the fact I had a lot of homework each night and I was half dead doing most of it.. It was so worth it when opening night came on Thursday.

It wasn't really that full of a full house due to it being a school night but quite a crowd of people came. It was really great to see the actors in action after weeks of practice with a complete set. They really brought down the house and broke some legs! Ms. Brown got her Modigliani wine glass that she wanted (Though she doesn't drink wine but sparkling juice and stuff to feel fancy). Friday night went just as great and we all went to Denny's afterwards.

Saturday.... The matinee wasn't the strongest show cause it was a lot earlier, some forgot their cues, lights weren't working at the beginning of the second act and on top of which my sister was high off of Benadryl and Excedrin because she was having an allergic reaction to the make up and Benadryl's supposed to make you pass out and it was all we had. So to keep her awake she got caffeine in her system from the Excedrin and a Monster energy drink.... Not the best combination in the world because she was just shaking and feeling really crappy. Luckily by the end of the matinee she was feeling so much better. In between the end of the matinee and the beginning of the last show we played a lot of improv games including a new one called Objection. Objection was a really entertaining one to do.

The last show ended brilliantly with broken legs and all (Metaphorically speaking). Best night ever! Well... Guess it would've gone better if the kids at the concession and working in the house were doing their jobs. Apparently two of them were making out during the second act and someone (that wasn't the manager) had to break them up. This makes me mad that I hear the house kids not doing anything and the manager isn't doing his job to keep them occupied. So a likely chance says some of those kids ate some concessions without paying. So keeping my fingers crossed we get this situation handled and it doesn't happen again for the musical.

Oh and we've already started discussing (sort of) of what musical to do in the spring over Facebook. It's really hetic with everyone having different ideas and tastes. It all really focuses on something relatively well known, the ability to do it (talent, resources and budget), hasn't been done recently, and something EVERYONE will agree on.

So far the only plays we have a focus on are The Boy Friend and Once Upon a Mattress... Neither of which are actually really known that well. Everyone's throwing down other ideas that would be really great to do like Beauty and the Beast and other popular plays that'd be fun to do. Ugh... Which we would be able to come to some sort of conclusion and soon.

Anyone have suggestions for plays? Any at all? Feel free to comment.

XOXO,

Liz

I want it to be Thanksgiving already..

So a three day weekend has passed and the next vacation won't be until next week when he have the entire week off for Thanksgiving.

Thursday went by ending with a bunch of homework, of all days before a three day weekend.. By the end of this week we have to finish talking about the industrial revolution and finish reading Julius Caesar. And drama had their Chile's night which was sooo filling. Nothing like a bacon cheeseburger to end my night.

With Veteran's day off and nothing to do, I decided to have my movie party. Got help from my step dad to set up an old VCR he had cause I seriously wanted to watch The Thief and the Cobbler. Look it up cause it's an awesome animated movie. Along with that we also watched The Producers (2005 version) and Hetalia: Paint it White! My friend Jamie got it on that day and was able to come over so we could watch it. Everyone got their fill of Hetalia for the day making a bunch of happy otaku girls.

Weekend went by uneventfully with really nothing to do. God, I don't even remember yesterday. Oh yeah... I helped finish building the set for the school play that's coming out this Thursday. The set looks just great and made Mrs Brown so happy. It looks like my great grandmother's house and we love it! My sister and I even got a hug too she was so happy.

I feel kinda bad she can't be all bubbly like that in my first period class because she has to put up with a bunch of obnoxious kids who can't shut up. She had to give a girl a referral to the office because she lost all of her participation points for the day. Sounds harsh but I can't blame Mrs Brown if I was in her position. I'd be losing my mind. Heh, actually I'm losing my mind because I have to be in the same room with these people. It really annoys me when people just stop caring about their grades and would rather fail than try at all. And it sucks cause it happens in Algebra 2 as well. I swear I'm gonna lose my mind the next time I hear someone say "When are we gonna ever use this later in life?" Is it really THAT difficult to just do the stupid homework? You need three years to graduate so deal with it! Math is used for pretty much EVERYTHING. Without math, the human race wouldn't exist right now and neither would all the technology we use. So just use the brain God gave you and think before you say crap like that.

I just irritated when people think they know everything when they don't and it annoys me and I'm sure a lot of other people too. Not just in academics but in the music we listen too as well. Like Lady Gaga and Marilyn Manson. I just get so mad when people bash on music artists for the stuff they create. If no one has seen Lady Gaga's music video to Judas, you can imagine how many people would go berserk to someone portraying themselves as Mary Magdalene. I gotta admit that when it first came out, I was really shocked that Lady Gaga went that far with her music career but hey, it grew on me. I like her music and that song because it's about FORGIVENESS. Take a few minutes to let the song go through your head and you'll understand. It has nothing to do with her bashing religion, or being stupid and a slut which she isn't. People, she went to Julliard for God's sake! Lady Gaga is actually a smart person. She's just different because she wants to be an idol that says "It's okay to be yourself" and that's what she is doing and is proud of it.

It's the same thing with Marilyn Manson. He's a unique guy and I just feel like bashing someone's head in every time someone blames him for contributing to violence and murders which he DOES NOT. My friend Maribeth loves Marilyn Manson (She even has a sweater that she was wearing when she hugged him) I have not seen any violent behavior out of that girl. Marilyn Manson grew up in a rather messed up childhood which led to a rebel phase when he was in high school. He makes music so kids who're like him feel that there's one in society where they will be accepted instead of feeling like they're freaks. It's all going back to being yourself and proud of who you are.

Wow... I did not expect this rant to come out..

XOXO,
Liz

Argh...

Ugh... Hate slow weeks.. It's cause we have a three day weekend this week isn't it?

Monday was the worse day of the week due to everyone remembering the shootings on Friday night (and still are). It was a Facebook event to wear black in memory of Tara Romero. It started off super terrible cause a fourth of my dance class had to sit outside because they wouldn't stop crying. I can't say I blame them cause I was close to tears too. These people knew her. Sweet, sweet Tara. Gone. But y'know you pick up the pieces and move on... some people more slower than others. That's what sucks about death is that it gets in the way with our daily lives. There's no time for emotion or it just ruins other plans. Stupid modern life... But whatever. Sometimes you just got to deal with it and live life how it's given to you. By the end of the day, most everyone's tears dried and we just went on with life.

Tuesday: Anime club day. We finally finished our game of Jeopardy and watched some anime clips online. Another stress filled day with school work and more school work.

Wednesday: Same but with GSA today. We made bracelets and T-shirts special for the club with fun paints and glitter. In Advisory we talked about whose responsibility it is to help students succeed and what not which I kinda found really stupid since I feel like we should have talked about how not to be affiliated with gang violence seeing as how one of the students was shot on Friday. But whatever... I think it should be common knowledge to never get involved in that stuff.

In fact, I'm watching the news right now and earlier they were talking about the shootings and raising awareness for gang violence. As it turns out, the suspected gang members were out looking for rival gang members and just opened fire on a bunch of teenagers. This just makes me more upset and angry at the people who took Tara's life and put two others in the hospital, fighting for their lives. I mean what gets people into that crap? What are they trying to fricking prove?! That the human race has no intelligence?! Well congratulations any and all gang members rotting in prison. Hope you are proud of yourself! All that getting involved in a gang gets a person in life is behind bars and hate. I don't care what stupid reason one has for joining a gang, it doesn't exactly end well for anyone. You wind up fighting other gangs over stupid differences and end up getting yourself killed or getting innocent people killed. Are you that stupid to not see that? Open your eyes before you hurt yourself. You're not cool or whatever for acting like a jerk and hurting innocent people, because it just makes you stupid. No one has a real reason for being a part of that crap, so just don't.

I just needed to get that little rant out of me.

Anyway...

Also drama's been doing a lot of set building and rehearsing and what not. We open up the play next Thursday which is pretty exciting. Been helping building the set and it just looks awesome. So anxious for opening night. And tomorrow we have a Chile's fundraiser night to help get the club some more money.

And this Friday is no school for Veteran's Day.

XOXO,

Liz

If I die young

Will explain title later.

So week's gone good. Just more work in academics and drama club. I got to help lead a Socratic Seminar in World History about the Occupy protests in Oakland. It's a pretty interesting subject seeing as how it's getting a bit out of control because of people being idiots and getting tear gas in their faces.

Drama's going great. We got Chile's to get us a fundraiser night to get us some money before the show. My mom came in to help paint a few flats with awesome burgundy paint which the teacher loved so so much. She even painted a Modigliani painting for the set which made her ecstatic from what I hear.

Now here's where it goes from happy to super depressing.

This past Friday, a young 14 year old girl was shot and killed by a bunch of psychos who wounded a bunch of other kids. It happened around where my sister's boyfriend lived and he didn't leave until one in the morning out of fear. The thugs that shot these kids were taken into custody, thank God. This whole shooting has just made me so depressed because this girl was a student at my high school...What if that was one of my friends? Or my sister? Or me? It's terrible to hear that a teenager's life ended so abruptly especially when it's so close to home. The news article said the girl's name was Tara and that she was a sweet young girl. It just hurts so much because a person that age has an entire life ahead... and it just ends within seconds. Tara will never go to prom, graduate high school, go to college, marry, have kids, or grow old. All of it, taken away by a bullet. She never deserved to die; no child does. And I hope those thugs rot in prison for what they did. I may not have known Tara but she should never had died...

Tara Romero, may you rest in peace.

XOXO,

Liz

Everyone Hail to the Pumpkin Song

So Halloween has come and gone and I'm filled with joy. I dressed up as the Mad Hatter on Monday which was awesome. A lot of people dressed up in cool costumes. Even my English teacher dressed up as Lady Gaga! One of my favorite costumes of the day including my friends Travis and Lovisa's freaky clown and jester. That's why I like this school cause they let you wear your costumes at school for Halloween as long as you follow dress code.

After helping a bit with some drama set building after school, I quickly finished my Algebra 2 homework to go, you guessed it, trick or treating. It's a little awkward seeing two teenagers still willing to go out to get free candy. Got a lot of comments that me and Jamie were the tallest trick or treaters that they saw. But hey, it's free candy on a yearly basis. Who wants to miss out on that? Not me! Lots of adorable little kids and nice people that live in my area. And a lot of dog people too. Went over to Jamie's neighborhood for trick or treating which was practically almost over but we were able to get quite a few houses before nine. As a result... Well you can see the picture of how much candy I got. Anyone interested, those are four one quart bags. Contents: Reese's, Milky Ways, Snickers, assorted chocolates, gum, marshmallows, Tootsie Rolls, and all that sweet stuff that helps dentists pay for their bills and the toothpaste companies to keep making money.

So the night of monsters and sweets has passed so now people will begin planning big dinners with families and soon will be setting up crazy decorations for the yuletide season.

Today wasn't the best day in Dance for me or my teacher. So we have to turn in an outline that was due today of what basic idea we have for our final choreography and apparently some people are mentally incapable or something to take less than thirty minutes out of their life to do something so simple. Or there's of course the whining and complaining that they shouldn't do it because it's dance class. Reminder guys: It's high school. In case you've been in a coma for the past two years you've been here, they're gonna expect more work from you so you'll be prepared for college. Get with the stupid program, put on your big girl panties, and stop acting like you're the center of the universe when you're not. Sorry the teacher's not like the old dance teacher so deal with it. And it sucks cause a lot of kids give her so much crap and disrespect and she doesn't need or deserve it. She can be really nice if you don't act like a snob and actually do what she tells you to do. Sorry if you hate tap dancing but suck it up cause you signed up for dance for the year and good luck trying to change your class to regular PE.

Yeah... I just had to rant cause I'm kinda irritated with some people in that class. Not naming names but I think I got my point across. I just hope the rest of this week goes better.

As for the rest of the day, just same old school work except today I actually went home without any homework which makes me feel really happy. And I helped a bit today with more set building which included painting (and getting paint on my shirt) and seeing the actors/actresses go through part of scene two. Oh and we were able to get Chile's to give us a night of fundraising some money before the show and I believe we get 15% or something like that. But yeah, really nice for us to get money since we're already spending a lot more than we expected on Rumors alone. We still have money but we could use more for props and stuff.

XOXO,

Liz