Eenie Meanie Mynie Mo...

Last night Kat spent the night, and we watched all the season premieres you can handle. ER was the craziest premiere I have seen yet, but its irrelevant to my discussion here (why did I include it then you ask? well, I felt as though it needed to be said). While we were channel surfing we saw some kids playing with this paper fortune teller finger games from when we were kids. You remember, they had 4 sides each with a number or color on them, and then you moved your fingers to produce more numbers or letters on the inside, until you finally got to the right number or letter and got a fortune or an antic that was funny when you were 12. And if you don't remember this game... perhaps you should meditate and try to remember. Remembering your childhood is fun. And if you never did this stuff - your loss.

So from seeing this, I decided to make one - which led to a flood of memories. Unfortunately everyone around me is either significantly older than me, or just a little too young - causing Kat and I to be along on our big-wave-bangs-spandex-wearing days. We then remembered skipping rope with our friends and the songs we would sing, playing hand-clap games and dying of laughter when someone made a mistake - four square, tv tag and frozen tag and kick the can. Neighbourhood hide and go seek. Of course it goes on and on. The music of the time was something to be relatively ashamed of. The first song to pop into our heads was "Pray" by MC Hammer (Please Hammer, Don't Hurt Them, Circa 1991).

The point of all this? We had no idea how good we had it. How easy life was at that time. Your in grade six or seven. It's 1991, 1992 - whatever. Your only responsibilities are to go to school and if you are like me, to unload the dishwasher (you complain about the little chores you must do, which in itself is ridiculous now). Your homework was composed of writing book reports and doing simple mathematics - usually drills. You had spelling tests once a week, for which you would study twice a week. There were Spell-A-Thons, Trivia-Thons, Terry Fox and Milk Runs. This was a time, that when someone used a "swear word" you were shocked at them and thought that they were either really cool because they weren't getting caught, or really dumb - depending on which side of the fence you were on and how your parents were.

We were the products of Family Ties, Growing Pains, Facts of Life, Diffrent Strokes and Silver Spoons. We were innocent in our own right - some more than others.

Now, these kids I am talking about are 22, 23, 24.. what have you. We look around and see all these young kids coming home from school, giggling and laughing. They don't have a care in the world. This is not to say that we have the weight of the world on our shoulders, or that our lives are difficult. This isn't whinning, it's the realization that we are no longer kids. We are no longer carefree - and I don't know ONE of us, that is innocent. And I am not saying I want to go back there. That would mean alot of things, some of which I would rather not relive. I'm just saying that it is great to remember, to cherish, and every now and then - to go back and be a kid again.

I Will Make Some Lucky Man a Great Wife...

How do I know these things? Well, I can cook, I can clean, and I love making people happy. Tonight I made dinner for my Mom and Dad, they were very happy. Did my Dad's secretarial work, and made him more happy. The only thing I didn't do today was the stuff I needed to do for myself. Oops.

Time to type philosophy out. Hope everyone is well...

Spamming, Studying, And Other Ridiculous Thoughts

How in the hell do people make money by spamming my fucking email. Yes, I swore on purpose. I am soo miffed. I went into my email today, at hotmail (which btw, I did take off the share my email option) and there they were, 500 spam emails. I think to myself, "Wow, those assholes wasted alot of time" because I don't even open them. I scan the titles and check to see if there is anything legitimate and then I move along.

I hate Spam. Stop Spamming Me. Go Away. Get A LIfe. Sheesh.

I have three midterms next week, which aren't really "Mid-Terms" They need to call them Chapter Tests or something. If something is a mid-term, it should occur once, and in the MIDDLE of the term. Nevertheless, 3 tests, one Tara. Lovely.

Today I will ramble. I have been doing alot of reading lately in my textbooks, in blogs, in all over really, and it seems to me that the only thing really going on in the world are as follows:

a) The stock market is lacking, seriously lacking
b) Bush wants to bomb Iraq (personally, I think he wants to take after his father, hoping that perhaps a war will take our attention off the real issues, like how they haven't really done F.A. about 9/11 cept catch a couple guys who aren't Bin Laden)
c) Bush REALLY wants to bomb Iraq. He wants to remove Sadam.
d) Did I mention about Bush

Note: This is my newscast, and it matches CNN and most other news stations. I am soo tired of hearing about how Bush wants to do this, and that. For the love of God, tell me when something IS going to happen please.

Anyway, my Mommy and Daddy returned from Italy last night (no, I don't normally call Mom "mommy" but Daddy is Daddy) and they brought me back some of the coolest stuff. They brought me a Crystal necklace and Bracelet (both of which are brilliant in their shimmer and sheen) a really sweet assed belt and shirt (which match!), and of course, themselves, which I am most grateful for.

I'm going to write something more later.. I'm going to go check the business news or something, see if there is anything out there that will be of interest to you all. We shall see, for now, this rambling must end.

FOH's and Their Effect On Campus Life

Where FOH = Fresh Outta Highschool

Ahhh, fall semester. The freshmens are running around, giggling with their friends about how cool Post-Secondary education is, about how their classes are 'sooo haaardd' and all the girls feel the need to play 'I go to the club and where these clothes, therefore, I should wear them to college' and try to out-do eachother on a regular basis. And hidden within this realm of immaturity and ditzyness is a gem. A gem that I, being 22 can not touch. This gem is a constant reminder that I am getting older and the FOH's this year, are my brothers age.

So as I prance around campus, going to class, chillin in the courtyard, whatever it is I am doing, and I spot a hottie, I must take that moment to realize that I could be his older sister. That he, is 18. 18 years old. Chad's age. Oh my.

The funny part of this? I do NOT remember the boys lookin like that when I was that age. There was NO way they did. At least, not at my school, and somehow, someway, society has evolved to bring us... the super-hot-18-year-old-stamina-prince. Thats what us old Cougars see. We see 18 year old 'peaking' boys. Ahhh. (funny thought, wouldn't it be nice by the beach boys is playing in my head... and as I think, yeah it would be nice, but they wouldn't know this song!)

Alright. FOH's effect? Utter bliss and denial. I am not old. I am not old. I am not old. They are not Chad's age (worse though, if you knew Chad's friends and could say, that they are Chad's friends age, it would further disgust you. Therefore, I will stick to my guns and say "they didn't make them like that when I was a kid")

9/11 One Year Later

9/11 for me was a hectic, heartbreaking, emotional day. My boyfriends father worked in the North tower, luckily enough, he was not yet at work, and realized that he didn't need to work when he saw the building on fire. He caught the last train back home to safety. There obviously is more to this story, and there was alot of prayer and emotion in between those lines but that is the gist of what I need to say at this time. The funny thing is, that while each day over the past year, 9/11 has popped into my head at one point or another, and I remembered all the tragic deaths and how that must have affected so many peoples lives - I never really got it until 9/11/02. I watched television all night with Kat, about the babies who have since been born fatherless, and the struggle for the children who are teenagers - daddies who are missing proms. Daddies who are missing everything, and all because of some hate and misunderstanding of one another.

As a Canadian, I do not agree with the way that the United States has marched into Isreal expecting to fix a fight that has been going on for thousands of years. While I understand and see the need for resolution, I do not believe that one can pick sides, one can only mediate. Even though I feel this way, I do not think that the events of 9/11 were called for. I have also been continually disgusted with the way people assume that one Muslim's actions reflect those of the whole group. Just because America has citizens like those seen on Jerry Springer, does that mean every American is like that? While I admit that there have been some nervous times when I have seen overtly Muslim men in the last year, I constantly am telling myself the above serum.

What I found interesting this week for you all to read up on (buy the magazine if you can, its a great business magazine if your interested in it) is from Fast Company's September issue. It contains people who were in New York in relatively prominant positions (and sometimes not) but how they were affected by 9/11 and they way they change what they think. While it is not the most emtional piece that I have read/seen, it is the most relateable. Some people lost people they loved, some didn't - all were affected. Which leads me to my final point. Just because you weren't there, you aren't American, or someone you know didn't die, doesn't mean you weren't affected. While it hits more close to home for those people, 9/11 fucked with everyone. Thats why we all need to band together and continue to remember, and to fight for what is right. Equality on all fronts, religion, class, race, sex, culture - whatever it may be. And of course, there's always the old serum mom and pop used to use "Keep your nose where it belongs"

You can read the Fast Company article here, your comments are welcomed, and the guestbooks is always open for those who frequent the site, or just stopped by. Thanks for reading.

Heading up the KUC Homework Overload Committee

Ahh back to school - when I just got out are you kidding me? Yesterday sucked because it was the first day back and I hate the first day back. But alas, it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be. Since I have soo much reading to do, I thought that today I would give you some.

Regarding Sept. 11 and how teachers should teach the kiddies about this tragedy, this article caught my brothers eye, and then mine. Anyway, if you wanna make a comment regarding this article, hit me up on the comments button, and if not, at least it gave you guys something to think about and read while I learn about Philosophy, Negotiations, Psychology, and Mathemetics.

I don't feel the need to write a commentary, I think the article said it all. Teach our kids TO think, not WHAT to think.