Stop Yelling

Last night I went to a good friend of mine's apartment to have a ladies night. When I arrived it was just the two of us and we talked about weight issues, embarrassing youth stories, and my smelly feet. I asked her if I could borrow some mayonaise for a BLT that I was planning on having later that evening and she was more than happy to let me have some.

After a while another one of our good friends came to join in on the fun. We turned on The Real Housewives of Orange County, one of the characters had just received a new chin, it looked horrible and I guess  a lot of drama that came with it. I don't actually know, I have never watched a Real Housewives of any variety and we weren't really watching this episode either.

I had control of the remote and so once the show was done I realized it was just about time for Parks and Recreation to start. I flipped to the channel and promptly began ignoring my two friends and their conversation. That was until their voices started raising. They both claimed they never "yelled", but let's just say neither of them were using inside voices.

They were arguing about gun violence and gun control. Two good friends were arguing. It was horrible. Mostly just extremely annoying to me, I couldn't hear what was going on with my show.

I know the issue of gun control is important, but I for the most part stayed out of the dispute. Every now and again I would raise my hand and wait for one of them to acknowledge me and I would mention that so and so raised a good point. I made sure I noticed and brought attention to both sides reasonable claims and arguments. After a few inserted comments, I even started feeling smug that I was easing the tension between them! Look at me being an amazing mediator! Finally my being the middle child is paying off, I could even start a career mediating conflicts.I could change the world! 

But my efforts weren't appreciated at all. There was never a, "gee whiz Emily, you bring up an excellent point, maybe I should lower my voice!" There were only hands jeered in my direction and more loud exclamations, "See! She gets my point!  Let me continue smearing my beliefs into your face!"

This went on for too long. I had missed Parks and Recreation. I wasn't having fun.

Anyone who knows me well, knows that I could have sat there all night enduring this mess of a discussion. Instead, I thought about how much I wanted to have a BLT and my homemade greek yogurt orange cream-sicles with my boyfriend. So I stood up, went to the kitchen and made myself a Ziploc baggy of mayonnaise for my BLT, and went to tell them I was going home.

They refused to let me leave and they ended the argument for my sake. We then turned the channel to Glee, which happened to be on the topic of gun violence and control.

I made them turn it off.

Becca's Proud to be an American

Driver’s Education Paper

I deserve a driver’s permit because I have waited 6 long months to take this class with a friend, but at the last moment she bailed on me, therefore in order to get new friends I need to be cool and be able to drive. In order to drive I am required by law to obtain a driving permit, since I pride myself in being a law abiding citizen I would like to continue being so. From a young age I have done my part to lend a helping hand in my community, not only have I delivered the local newspaper to my neighbors and friends but I have also been actively involved in my church’s youth group by serving in leadership positions there.

In my free time I enjoy being responsible and caring for my two dogs and bunny, as well as my Grandma who is ill and living with us. I enjoy listening to her stories about growing up during and after World War II. When I am not busy I enjoy reading about America’s history as well as reading biographies of those who have done their part in bettering this great country. When I have the spare time in between school and my extracurricular activities which include my school’s key club, a service organization, my favorite television show to watch is Parks and Recreation. A show about how a dutiful woman is helping her local government improve her city. I someday wish to be like Leslie Knope and in order to do so I must continue living within the confines of the law. I also must continue being responsible in caring for my community by being involved and getting a job which will be much easier to do once I am able to drive first with driver’s permit and a responsible adult, and then on my own with my driver’s license. Also, I am really looking forward to becoming an organ donor.

My Dirty Little Secret

Every so often I think painting my nails is a fun idea, but 30 min later I am just reminded of my anxiety disorder.

I get so excited picking out the color, my family is one hoarding spectacular but it works to my benefit. Whenever I get

bored I go what I term "Treasure Hunting" I find amazing things, over forty dollars in change, a onesie pajama, old 90's

clothes that I just pair up with a sweater and a belt and it is good as new, enough lotion and shampoo to last a lifetime.

Surprisingly it is impossible to find conditioner, my parents must not believe in moisturizing their hair.

But i also find nail polish, bright fun neon colors, classy nuetral colors, and shiny dark sexy colors.

I bring my sister's in for help. They help me choose a color, then since I am terrible at painting my own nails,

I still have yet to discover the secret behind not getting the polish all over my fingers, they paint them for me. one base

coat, 2 layers of color and finally a top coat. I am always proud of myself at this point, my sexy dark red finger nails are

a sign of triumph, I have long enough fingernails to paint, and the color really brings out my tan.

Then trouble begins, inevitably there is still polish that gets on my fingers, even if it is just a little, and I just can't

walk around with messy fingers. So i find a sharp object, tweezers usually do the trick, and I start picking the paint off

of my fingers.

This is succesful for about 10 seconds. Until I find that I can actually peel off my 4 layers of polish off of my nail all at once if I

do it just right. It is fun to peel things off, especially paint. I peel loose paint off of anything. When I went door to door

on my mission in Idaho, so many people had untreated doors and door frames, they were lucky I had come and was willing to help peel off all the horrible loose paint. I was constantly being scolded by my companions

to leave the loose paint alone. I was doing them a favor, the paint NEEDED to come off, and I helped it along by peeling it off.

This summer I helped my parents by peeling off old paint from their fence. I would sit there for hours just picking at it.

My mother told me it was easier and faster if I just sanded it, but where would be the joy in that? Not only did I have an activity to

keep me busy while unemployed, I also started my awesome summer tan.

There is something euphoric about peeling things, whether it is paint, skin, glue, paper, wood, fabric, anything that wants

to be peeled. I see an end that is no longer stable, just sitting unattached from what somebody thought would be a grand

idea to stick it onto, and i pick at it, I free it from conventional beauty, the original wood is free to breathe, the dead

skin no longer clings onto the body that is tyring anyways to rid itself of it, tacky wall paper removed, dead wood broken

off, I release the layer to unearth the original and to help it heal. Sometimes my peels are small and seemingly insignificant,

other times though, I hit the jackpot and I am able to peel a huge piece off. Those are the best moments.

2 minutes after I start picking at my nails I get to the point where I need to start thinking creativly if I want to get

the rest of the polish off of my nails, the polish that is more stubborn than the rest. So I bring out the nail clippers,

and I clip the difficult nails hoping that if the starting point is disrupted it will peel. It works for one or two nails, the

rest are just ugly, short and red until I can find nail polish remover the next day.

Life is a Highway

Cars 2........

I worked at Disney World in the year of 2006, which is also the year that Cars came out. I wasn't a huge fan of Cars, but as a film it worked.

When people think of Disney, they think, Castle's, Princesses, Mickey Mouse, and Tinkerbell. A little girl's dream. The folk over at Disney have been trying to create things that little boys can and will be excited about. So far they have come up with Pirates of the Caribbean, and now Cars. Both were good to begin with, but Disney has to do more than create, they have to push, and I feel as though they have pushed too hard for little boys approval. They are doing this at the expense of all of their other audiences. No one liked the sequels to pirates, and a lot of people didn't like Cars 2.

Unless you are a little boy who loves hot wheels, or a grown up boy who used to love playing with hot wheels, you will not love this movie, nor will you probably even like it. I also didn't like the theater filled with little boys, especially the one sitting behind me kicking my seat the whole time.

Last words?
A little Larry the Cable Guy goes a long way, and this movie centers around him. Enough said.

Eye of the Tiger

Everyone!

I ran 5 miles today! That is the longest I have run without stopping since my surgery. If I'm honest with people, it is probably the longest distance I have EVER run without stopping. I am pretty stoked with myself.

Also, Green Lantern. Have you seen it yet? If you haven't, well then you're not missing out, but if you did see it, it definitely wasn't a waste of money. In my book is was an O.K. summer super hero movie, and much better than Thor. True it wasn't amazing, but it wasn't awful either.

Today my sister's and I go see Cars 2.... I didn't like the first one much, in fact it is my least favorite Pixar film. So far I have read mixed reviews about Cars 2... So it will be exciting for me to throw my 2 cents in the ring once I have seen it.

Also, it is my Birthday in 6 days....

Bein' Green

Hello Folks,

It is June 15, and we are smack dab in the second month of Summer Blockbuster Season, a season I take very seriously. That and Oscar season which is, in case you don't know, in December.

I love summer for multiple reasons, sun, heat, tans, outdoor activities, pools, lakes, barbecues, bare feet, lime popsicles. Everything! Even with everything I love, if someone were to ask me what I was most excited to do each weekend, it would be seeing the summer blockbuster that is coming out.

I take things to the extreme, I wake up just in time to see morning shows and stay up late enough to watch the film's actors be interviewed. I have seen every single movie preview that is out, and I have watched them multiple times starting months ago when the preview debuted at imdb.com. I research storylines, directors, actors, reviews, just about everything. I know which movies I am STOKED to see (curse you Disney for making me tear up every single time I see the Winnie the Pooh preview), and which ones I would rather pass on, but for some reason can't and wont.

Last summer I attended these movies at their midnight premiers, but we mustn't dwell on the past. This year I have a most excellent movie buddy, my sister Autumn. We see the movie's Friday afternoons, and then we often attend the less popular movie that came out that weekend Saturday evening.

This summer has been similar to past blockbuster seasons thus far. A surprise great funny movie, an action flop, a satisfying prequel, and dreadful sequels. Tomorrow is Green Lantern. Million dollar bomb? or a summer success?

Stay tuned.

Until then, enjoy.

I Will Survive

Happy finals week!

I have successfully spent all day working on 10 poems.

I call them, My collection of inspirations.

Here is one.

Inspired by a boy

She sat on her blue fabric couch

Engrossed by the television.

Before her green eyes,

Grand, dramatic lives were lived

Yet her body remained untouched

Her heart unharmed.

Drama proved once and again that

Life is possible.

Unannounced he crashed through the door

into her vision.

In one fell swoop his lanky arms found the power button

Her false reality blinked from the screen.

Glee no longer existed in the room.

There are nine more where that came from.

Pray that my professor will at least give me a passing grade for these.