365 Letters

Well everyone else seems to have 365  days of something so I think it is time I joined in. I came up with idea today after watching Sharkwater and I can't wait to get started. Basically it will be a letter every day to a corporation, political leader or something like that arguing against a policy. It will take a lot of preparation because I need to research who I want to write the letters to, their policy and then to actually write it. I think I will wait until school year next year to actually start mailing them but I want to start researching now. It will be hard to think of 365 people to write to so I would love suggestions! So far I am thinking... (if you want to know why I want to write them, ask me)
- Monsanto
- Coca Cola
-Old Navy
-Prime Minister
-NATO
-WTO
-Pfizer
-Nike
-Tommy Hilfiger
-Nestle

'Cause they said they'd stop the fighting

And they said they would bring peace

And they said they'd find a serum that can cure all our disease

And they said they'd house the homeless

And put black and white in tune

And they said they'd feed a hungry child

And I hope it's someday soon

-- Great Big Sea

****I thought a lot about doing this but it will be too much work and money. Instead I am doing 365 days of Activism, I will still research and write about their policies but I will post it here and not send it to them. I still want suggestions!

Is prostitution demoralizing?

I was talking to a friend today and one of her friends who I did not know was there. We somehow got on the topic of prostitution and her friend said that it's the most disgusting thing ever and demoralizing to all women. I disagree, unless it's not what the person chose.
In the world we live in people need to make money to survive, if being paid for a (sexual) service is what you have chosen then who is to argue? If it's the choice you made then it's your choice and no one should look down on you for it. I don't think it's disgusting, it's sex, one of the most natural things of the world. It's only demoralizing if you make it so and men can sell their bodies too.
It's a whole different situation if you didn't choose to be a prostitute or if you're underage, that I think is wrong.

Proud to be a Canadian?

The past weeks have been filled with pride for Canada due to the Olympics. I feel I must tell you that I did not watch the Olympics, I don't like very many winter sports and I don't feel the need to watch something I won't enjoy. However, all the drama over the Vancouver Olympics has made me think a lot about Canada and what it means to me to be Canadian.

I always used to be proud of my citizenship, proud of my country and proud of what it stood for. The more I learn about Canada's past, present and future the more I doubt my country. I used to brag that I was Canadian, that we were the best country and I would take offence if someone insulted Canada. I once got in an argument with a friend because she would not stand for the National Anthem. At that point in my life I believed in standing for Oh Canada! because of what it stood for, a country that fought for it's rights, that helped others and did good. Now I realize how naive I was, I don't have pride in my country.

To many, being Canadian means; freedom of speech, unity, multiculturalism, friendship, justice, safety, decency, honour, etc.

To me, being Canadian means; infringing rights, denying aid, turning a blind eye, racism, ignorance of heritage, secrets, etc.

The Olympics put Native Americans on everything, which should be done since it's their land, but was it for the right reasons? Are they trying to show the world that Native Americans are a huge part of Canadian culture? In reality Native Americans are a minority, the government shoves them in a corner and many people believe they don't belong here.

I think too many Canadians, and any other citizens in regard to their country, are patriotic for no reason, they do it just to do it. Should we really be proud of our athletes when we are not proud of another country's? Is it really our country that made them as they are? Could they not have turned out the same somewhere else? Could they not have immigrated here or there?

The land is breath taking, from coast to coast there is something to be in awe of. Is it the physical land that makes up a country? Or the people who fill it? I think it's the people who fill it, their decisions, actions and what they do with the land they are on. I think there are many beautiful people who are living in Canada and I do believe Canadians are very friendly but I think that trend is dying out.

What does being Canadian mean to you? And I want details "_______ because...", I want to know what has made you proud because I do think people should take pride in their country. However, I think they should do it for a reason and not because it is expected.

**I could go much more in detail of many of these things but I don't wish this to be rant.

I'm sorry I never told you all the things I wanted to say.

Back in October I found out that an old friend had died, we hadn't talked in five years or seen each other in even longer but it shook me up. I haven't had a lot of people die in my life, especially not people I've been close to and mean a lot so this really hit me hard. He had been my best friend for about four years when we lived near each other but when I moved from New Brunswick to Ontario we eventually lost touch.
One of the reasons I came back to New Brunswick was him, he had meant so much to me as a child and I wanted that back. I wanted it back more than I was willing to tell anyone. However, once I was here I got caught up in school and meeting new people that I kept pushing it away.
I was checking emails and Facebook one day when I saw that a friend from Frederiction had joined a "Remembering __________" group, his name is not overly common so I thought what are the chances? I looked at the group expecting to see someone I didn't recognize, instead I saw him. I must have cried for hours, I didn't go to half my classes because little things would set me off.
For a while now I've been doing really good, I hadn't thought of him a lot but I got a card from his parents a while ago. It was a reply to my condolences and I still haven't replied to it. I don't know how, I don't know what to say. 
About a week ago I started to dream about him, little memories of our childhood mixed up in the dream world. It's got me thinking about him all the time, thinking up all the memories I had forgotten. It's hard to sleep at night because I can't stop thinking about him, I find myself wishing I still had sleeping pills. I've cried myself to sleep three times this week already, I don't know how to deal with this kind of thing.
It's not just his death and that he's gone, it's that I had the chance to get back in his life and I didn't. I have always prided myself on not regretting things but I wish I had contacted him as soon as I got here. I wish I had more time with him before he was gone, I wish I could change things. I regret it in ways I never thought possible and it's tearing me up inside.

And I know you're shining down on me from Heaven,

Like so many friends we've lost along the way, 

And I know eventually we'll be together.

One sweet day.

--Mariah Carey

Life In The Fart Sack

This hyar is sumpin thet Bobbie-Jo came up wif a year o' two ago but we is only startin' it now. Basically it's our video blog an' it sh'd be mighty intertainin'. We haf a lot of videos of us doin' silly thin's an' we is a-gonna edit them an' explain them when we upload them, dawgone it. ah figgerd it was about time we started this hyar an' it sh'd keep us occupied until we see etch other agin.

Before each night is done 

Their plan will be unfurled 

By the dawning of the sun 

They'll take over the world

--Animaniacs

Haiti Hoopla

My University is having many fundraisers to donate to relief teams working in Haiti as are many other schools and organizations. Don't get me wrong, I think it's good and it's needed. My problem is a lot of people only put this much effort in when a problem is huge and the media is involved. Why not help all the time? Why not donate whenever you can and not just when you're asked? Why don't people react like this to help prevent Child Soldiers? How about all the violence that goes in DRC? And there's  the law that Uganda has passed that makes homosexuality illeagal and punishable with death. How many people know that more than 60,000 Somalis were displaced in 2010? I could go on and on forever but I doubt it would do anything. A lot of people will only see what the media chooses to show them and they are blind to the rest of the conflicts.
That being said, this kind of situation is exactly why I am doing what I am doing. With my BA in International Relations I can get a job with a Humanitarian Organization and then I can be the one arranging for relief teams to go to places in need. I wish I loved science enough to be a doctor, I wish I was strong enough to become a  construction worker, I wish I could do more.

I dare you to choose a website (suggestions below) and subscribe to their newsletter, I can guarentee you'll read about things you didn't know were going on.

War Child
United National International Children's Education Fund
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
Doctors without Borders
Not for Sale
Central Asia Institute

I need to be bold

Need to jump in the cold

--Joshua Radin

Home

I have been thinking about this for a long time and debating posting it. Today in my Intro to Cultural Geography we discussed it and it brought up some new things so I decided to post about it finally.


To me a Home has always meant a place where you are secure, loved and feel comfortable. You should always feel like you belong there and it should be your sanctuary away from the world. For the people who know me, they know that I don't feel that way about the house my parents own and I lived in. To me where I was living was simply a building in which I slept, ate and such. I was not emotionally attached to the building, and hardly to the inhabitants.


Ever since I moved out and started school I have been thinking a lot about whether I am homeless or if I have a home. The conclusion I came to was that my body is my home, and wherever I am at the time is my home. However, this would mean that even if i'm in a place I don't like, I am home. I am comfortable in my body, I am secure in my body, I am proud of my body and it is my home. I would love a home that is also a house but I will have to wait on that.


In class we were today we were told to draw a mental image of our home and then we were asked:
if it was where we slept last night (quite a few hands went up), the place we grew up (the majority of hands) and if anyone had drew something that was not a building. I was the only one to put my hand up, others may have not admitted it, but I was the only one to say that my body is my home. I can't help but feel jealous of all the kids in my class for having a place to call home, somewhere to be loved.


This has really made me wonder where other people call home; the house they grew up in, the house they're in now, a certain place...? I believe that home is a feeling and it can't be stuck to four walls and roof. What do you think?

No one's gonna make me
Nothing's gonna take me
I ain't ever goin'
Back there, again

--Blake Shelton

A weekend to remember...

...at least I hope it will be. Bobbie-Jo told me that she was interested in going to the CCMA's this year. My first thought was "Oh no", it's not that I think it's a bad idea but it's her going alone. She's never been out west and Edmonton is a big city. I immediately realized how funny this could be, of all the stories she would have of getting lost, meeting strangers and all that. I decided it was a good idea and I should encourage it.

However, my sister informed me that there was an au pair opening near her in Vancouver. I have applied to that position and if I get it I will be out west for the summer. The CCMA's will be Sept. 8-12 and school starts Sept. 7. I will sacrifice 4 days of school to spend a weekend with my best friend listening to country music, Canadian country music!

At Bobbie-Jo's 17th birthday dinner, her cousin and I decided that for her 19th birthday we would take her out to a bar/club and get her a lil tipsy. I was planing on going home for the weekend in October to celebrate her birthday but if we're in Alberta we can celebrate then. The drinking age is 18 there and we could have a lot of fun. We're going to get all dolled up and find a bar with an electronic bull.


I CAN'T WAIT

lets go following whatever way the wind blows
flying with our hands out of the window

--Paul Brandt

Songs

So i'm going to take a page out of The Bestie's books and post a list of the songs I love most. When it comes down to it most of them are Paul Brandt songs, he is an amazing singer/songwriter and I relate to pretty much all his lyrics. I'm just going to put my favorite by him on this list because I want variety. I'm going to link YouTube videos to all the song titiles so you can hear them :)


Amazing Grace by John Newton
Can't help myself by The Kelly Family
Don't be shy by Cat Stevens
I'd rather be with you by Joshua Radin
If you only knew by Shinedown
Losing my religion by REM
New way to fly by Garth Brooks
Nobody says no byJessie Farrell
Paradise by Deca Csazm
Risk by Paul Brandt
Someday Baby by Bob Dylan
Student Visas by Corb Lund
Top of the World by Dixie Chicks
True Colours by Cyndi Lauper
What about now by Lonestar
What's up? by 4 Non Blondes
Wild at heart by Glorianna

Thursday's Child Has Far To Go

I have always prided myself on living for the moment and trying to get the most out of life. However, this time spent at University has allowed me to slip into an inactive lifestyle. I think I am finally acting like a teenager. I sleep until noon on the weekends, I play on my computer all day, I hardly exercise and I don't eat properly.

There's a part of me that wants to get my ass in gear, to get back on top of things. To excel in school and be active in the things I am passionate about. There's another part of me, that's winning, that wants me lay back and experience this aspect of life.

I'm torn on which side to let win because I know I probably won't have another opportunity to act like this. However, I feel an emptiness because I'm not doing what I am passionate about.

They say that Thursday's Child Has Far To Go, and I always planned on going far with my life. I never let myself act like everyone else, I never went through the lazy teenager phase. And now that I've slipped into it, I can't find the courage to pull myself out of it.

The only thing I've really stuck with, in fact I've done more for, is CHD awareness. I'm throwing myself into that instead of spreading myself around.

I'm through accepting limits 

''cause someone says they're so 

Some things I cannot change 

But till I try

--Wicked

Ignorance is bliss?

The other day I got in to an argument with some friends about modern slavery. They denied the existence and said sex slaves do not count. There are currently 27 million slaves, and how do sex slaves not count?

Being as interested in the world as I am, the fact that there still is slavery is well known to me and many of my friends. However, not everyone knows about it which leads me to wonder about the old saying ignorance is bliss. Are the people who deny slavery happier? Does the world appear a pretty place if sex slaves are not real slaves? I can't really answer that, since i'm not ignorant about it. I don't know if anyone would really answer that question.

Another thing that really bothers me is when people admit there is still slavery but don't admit it is in their country. Slavery is a thing for underdeveloped country, third world countries and not countries with a well established justice system. The truth is that there are slaves everywhere, right under our noses. Diplomats will bring youth back to their home country, when their visa expires they do not get them a new one which leaves the youth under blackmail. They do not get paid and yet they can not go to the police because they are now in the country illegally.

This ignorance is bliss, does not only go for slavery, there are so many things out there in the world that people deny are happening. But does this denial accomplish anything? No, awareness needs to be raised for these issues. How can we stop something from happening when people won't admit it is happening?

The Abolitionist Hymn

We ask not that the slave should lie
As lies his master, at his ease,
Beneath a silken canopy
Or in the shade of blooming trees.

We ask not "eye for eye," that all
Who forge the chain and ply the whip
Should feel their torture, while the thrall
Should wield the scourge of mastership.

We mourn not that the man should toil;
'Tis nature's need, 'tis God's decree;
But let the hand that tills the soil
Be, like the wind that fans it, free.

Facts: www.un.org