The Wide World

Wow, talk about an impossibly post. Which country do I want to visit? I guess the main problem with this is that part of the interest in traveling is going to lots of different places. It seems so limiting to choose just one. If it was another country to live in I'd say the U.K., no question, but I've already been there...

I guess if I have to choose, I'll say Italy for now. Italy has Rome, which is a plus. It's full of history and it's just beautiful. Also, it's in Europe which is always a plus. For the most part I don't really know much about Italy, which actually adds to the attraction. Part of traveling for me is the exploration, which you don't get if you know the place backwards and forwards.

So finals are coming up, which is always fun. Or not. I'm pretty sure the purpose of finals is to find out how mentally stable you are. They put you through a whole semester and then give you a giant test at the end. If you pass, then you were strong enough, you endured. If you crack, well you were unworthy, better to have you out of the gene pool. At least there's only seventeen more days of school left. It's been fun, but I'm kind of over freshmen year by this point.

Well, I guess that makes this my last blog too. It's been pretty cool, and I actually figured out how to blog. (well, sorta. I can make sad, limping posts anyway)

Later Y'all

Angela

Over Population

Wow, this post is just like the lecture we had in biology on Friday. You have to wonder if they plan this... Basically, the problem is simple, while we may be sentient, humans are just as much a part of the planet as every other living thing. This means that we take up stuff. Whether it's the basic nutrients that make up living things, or simply the space we need to survive, people take up space. Which leaves less room for other things, like food. Simply put, super concentrate the human population and you get a lack of food and living spaces, you get slums, you get misery.
Now here in America, this doesn't seem like that big a deal. I mean, look around, sure in some places its crowded, but its not THAT crowded. Course it's a different story if you live somewhere like China or India. Too many people, not enough space, not much fun. There's many ways to go about solving this problem. China for example has a one child policy. On the surface, this plan seems simple and efficient, families have one child and then stop, the end. Problem is, things don't always go as planned. Your kid's too sick or stupid or violent or you just get pregnant again, by accident. Then all of a sudden, there's a government official at your door pressuring you into getting an abortion you don't want for 'the good of China'. Then, there's the fact that every family wants a boy. Your children, oops child, is your life insurance, this is it, your nursing home cradled there in your arms. Aww, cute right? But if baby is a girl.... Well, that's risky, women aren't as reliable, as self-sufficient, better just to dump the kid and try again. Sure, China's going to run out of girls soon, but hey, that's not your problem is it?
So if cutting off the fountain of youth at the roots isn't the answer, then what is? How do you stop the exponential growth of this planet's human population. The answer is simple, except for the fact that it's something we've been trying to do for ages anyway. End poverty. I know right? Simple, impossible, and totally off topic. Except it's not. Remember, in happy shiny countries like America we don't have much of an overpopulation problem. Why? Because at some point of success, we cross a line and kids go from an asset to hard work. When your kids are going to be out there plowing the farm, having seven or eight is a good idea, when you're going to have to pay for their clothes, and doctor's bills, and day cares, and toys, and educations... Well, suddenly it seems a lot less in your best interest and more for your simple pleasure and joy.
Basically, overpopulation isn't the thing we need to focus on. Poverty, and the things that cause it, are the root of the problem. We fix that, and much of the rest will simply fall into place, fixing itself without us ever lifting a finger.

Genocide

Darfur. It has been called the first genocide of the twenty first century. A brutal massacre led by the Sudanese government, through the Janjaweed. While the world has more or less stood by 400,000 civilians have been slaughtered, and 2.5 million have been forced from their homes. It's Rawanda all over again, but this time it's taking place on a larger scale. Darfur, the area in turmoil, is roughly the size of the entire country of France. But more importantly, while Rawanda went on for about a hundred days, Darfur has been happening for years.
While it is true that individuals have learned from past mistakes, governments themselves seem to remain blind. What we saw with Rawanda, we see again with Darfur. Governments and important officials who could end the bloodshed turn a blind eye. Meanwhile the UN sits debating and rewriting the definition of genocide over and over again. All the while, innocents, from terrified women, to sobbing children are murdered. However, grass roots movements sprang up and defended these forgotten people. After a while, even the world on a larger scale began to at least acknowledge what was going on. Stopped bothering to deny the fires, refuges, rapes, bodies. They even, slowly, considered considering doing something about it.
Of course none of this would have ever been necessary if it weren't for the Sudanese government. If the body of people endowed with power hadn't felt it was necessary to turn on their subjects. Honestly, that is the most disturbing thing of all. The people who were supposed to protect the innocents of Darfur instead fund the murderers who cause the destruction. At the heart of the problem, lies a small group of people who are cold hearted enough to inflict death upon a group of people who has no one else to protect them. While it is horrible to watch and stand by, it is ultimately up to the people doing the killing to put a stop to it.

Billy Joel

Hmm... This post is a hard one. I guess I'd have to say that my favorite musician is Billy Joel. Basically, he's a bard. His songs don't sound like the same thing regurgitated at different tempos. He addresses real people, problems, and emotions. More importantly, he does it in a really interesting creative way. Billy Joel's stuff talks to you. It makes you feel things you have never experienced and explains why you feel the way do about things you have experienced. In short, his music is REAL. All that aside, its just really good. It all very different but it all sounds really good and its nice to listen to. It's comfortable and makes you feel safe. Billy Joel has reached across generations because he's brilliant. I love him.
Last week was Spring Break. It was fun, but kind of uneventful. I spent most of the time in Austin and no one else was here. For the last few days I went to Dallas and visited people up there. It was okay, I guess. All in all it was kind of anticlimactic. Oh well, maybe next year... On the upside there are only 46 more days of Freshmen year.

Science Fair

This week is a free week so this post will probably be pretty random...

So our Science Fair Projects are due next Wednesday. Basically you do this giant project and turn in to be judged and advanced if it's good enough. Although this year we didn't have to actually submit it, we just had to do one. Unfortunately, it had to be a BIOLOGY project, aka living things, aka requires forethought, aka I am going to fail. Science Fair, along with Geometry, is the cause of all evil in the world. While I think Science Fair has it's place it isn't as a torturing device for the entire student body. Science Fair works really well if you are seriously interested in your topic and the experimentation process. It provides a framework for students to do serious research on topics they're interested in. It also allows them to be acknowledged and is a great opportunity for scholarships. In short it's a brilliant idea when it isn't being used as a requirement.

However, at my middle school and now here at Anderson, Science Fair is REQUIRED for everyone in Pre-AP classes. This does a number of things. First of it puts a lot of unneeded stress on students already under a lot of pressure. It also warps student's concepts of how actual experiments go and how discoveries are made. But the main problem this requirement causes is that many students take less advanced science classes then they would otherwise. Ironically, this project makes students lose interest in advanced science rather than boost science skills at the school. I know many people who never even think twice before dropping a level in science classes. This not only makes are school less competitive but, in a small way, makes the nation as a whole less competitive.

Okay stepping down from my soap box now... Sorry about that... See you next fortnight.

I think that it is better to fall in love than to learn to love. However, I think that almost all relationships are a combination of the two. When you fall in love you really are learning to love that person, but in a much less pressured way. If you marry someone before you love them, love can feel like a duty. While many wonderful relationships have come about in this way, but many such marriages have led broken, awkward relationships. Without the pressure of the knowledge that you will spend the rest of your life with a person regardless of how you may feel for them, love becomes more natural. Falling in love is really just becoming close to a person, wanting them to be there and wanting them to feel the same way about you. Simply put falling in love is learning to love, if in a slightly gentler way.

A couple weeks ago we got our choice sheets so we could decide what classes to take our sophomore year. We're going to block schedule so we will have eight classes rather then seven. I'm pretty okay with it, although I've heard that they are trying to split our lunches into thirds. Not by grade or anything, like we have now, but by what part of the building you are in during third and seventh periods. This would also mean that some people would be eating lunch at eleven while others would be eating at like one or two. Not only that, but it would vary from day to day so you wouldn't ever be able to get used to it. This seems very stupid. We should all just eat at the same time. Everyone but the freshmen already eat at once. There isn't room in the cafeteria so they already let people wander the halls. It's not like the freshmen would make things all that much more crowded...

Sorry getting off soapbox now. Yeah, other than choice sheets, I haven't really done anything special the last two weeks.

Global Warming

Global warming affects everyone whether they believe it exists or not. Over the past several years I don't feel that the United States has worked as hard as we ought to have to fight global warming. Austin, however, tends to be a fairly green town, at least by our standards. Many people own smart cars (small cars that use less gas and therefore pollute less) and lots of people have been cutting back on their driving. Our city has also recently implemented a better recycling program. It is now possible to recycle a greater variety of things. Our dinky crates have also been replaced with larger bins about the size of our garbage cans. My family has cut our trash output in half. Our school recycles as well.

Last week our school put on Grease. I went to see it and it was really good. I also saw Legally Blond with my uncle, which was brilliant. It's about this valley girl who chases her ex-boyfriend into Harvard Law School. I think it was a movie originally but they made it into a musical and it was amazing.
I'm still on my Lost kick and am now half way through the fourth season. I'm also rereading the Harry Dresden books in anticipation of Turn Coat in early April. Wise Man's Fear is actually coming out on the same day which is not cool...
That's about it, I guess....

Technology

Like most American teenagers, technology is a big part of my life. At school we use computers a lot, especially in this class. We use them to make movies, write blogs, do research, ect. I use technology a lot at home as well. I have an ipod nano and share computers and televisions with my family and use all of them on an almost daily basis. I listen to music, watch my favorite shows, talk to friends... I'm fairly dependent on technology for entertainment. I feel that the modern technological innovation that belongs in the same category as fire and electricity would be the ipod.
Over the three day weekend (we got Monday off for Martin Luther King day) I discovered Lost. Its a show about people who get stranded on an island when their plane crashes, and I love it. Lost quickly took over my life and became my latest obsession. I'm hoping to catch up but I'm only on the second season (I think the show is on season five), and I don't know where I can get my hands on the third season.
Two days ago, we got a new president. I've supported Obama since the very beginning and am very excited the he is now in office. They screwed up our schedule that day at school so that we could stay in class and watch his speech. Obama's election was a great step forward for our country, and fit wonderfully right after MLK day. I'm really excited about the changes that should be coming in our country's near future.
Other than that my life has been fairly normal. I go to school, do homework, hang out with friends, do homework, go to church, do homework, play with my dog, and do homework. I'm reading Harry Potter to my grandmother, Kathy and we're a third of the way through the seventh book. I'm pretty sure she knows who Ron is now, so we're making progress!