biss479's Xanga

Miley Cyrus Vs. Vanity Fair Vs. Pop Culture

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 19:27:58 GMT

Monday, April 28, 2008

Miley Cyrus Vs. Vanity Fair Vs. Pop Culture

Annie Leibovitz recently had a photoshoot with Miley Cyrus. During that photoshoot Leibovitz took what critics now are calling a controversial shot that subsequently has embarrassed Miley Cyrus. If you'd look at the picture you might be embarrassed too, especially if you're 15 years old. The picture has Cyrus exposing her back and looking over her shoulder. Oh yeah, she appears topless.

Now little Miley doesn't want the shot going through the press and neither does her family. Vanity Fair is now trying to back up Leibovitz's 'artwork' and say that the shot is legitimate. Sorry Vanity Fair, but whether or not Miley Cyrus liked the picture at the time you should have been mature enough in making the decision to just delete the picture, no matter if you thought it was artwork or not. The reason being - Miley Cyrus is a 15 year old tv actress that is a big role model for pre-teens. Girls and boys grow up with her being an influence directly on them. This certain picture is demeaning to Cyrus and is the leading factor to destroying her career and making her into a naughty girl that she's not.

Let me tell you something Vanity Fair and to the rest of pop culture, leave Miley Cyrus out of this. You've already corrupted and destroyed the futures of role models such as the Olson twins, Lindsay Lohan, and most recently Jamie Spears. How about you let Cyrus out of ths and actually let her be a good role model instead of destroying her future? How about you quit pressuring her into making stupid decisions that you, yourself wouldn't do? How about you have a little integrity for once and quit taking away something from a generation that will help them to become better than our corrupt selves? Miley Cyrus isn't in this to do what you want, she's in it to do what she wants, and that's to be a good role model. And if you don't believe me how about you ask her father, Billy Ray Cyrus, who has been supportive of her the entire time.

Let me give you, Leibovitz, a personal shout out for being immature about this whole thing and claiming that what she did was 'art'. In fact, I feel sorry for you that you would convince a 15 year old girl that what she was doing was good even though she probably has no inkling as to what good photography is. I'm not saying that she's dumb and has no idea. I'm saying that she's young and has no idea. Whenever I was 15 I could honestly care less what I looked like in a picture. If someone told me I looked good then I thought that I looked good. Shame on you Leibovitz. You should be fired from your job because you failed to be professional about your job.

Let me give another shout out to the editor of Vanity Fair for being just as unprofessional. An editor's job is to make sure that the material being produced has nothing explicit and has no mistakes. If you ask me this is explicit and is a huge mistake. But you even went beyond the 'job' and decided to put this as the center-fold of the magazine and followed through by backing up Leibovitz. You are just as guilty if not more than the culprit who took the photo in the beginning.

America, you should be easily upset by this transgression as well as angry. You're 10- and 11- year old daughters, sons, brothers, sisters, neices and nephews are watching this and being exposed to this. If you'd sit down and watch Hannah Montanna (Miley Cyrus's show on Disney) you would probably be as content as I am with letting them watch the show. It provides great stories of growing up as well as a cast that doesn't have corrupt values. My sister watches this show and when I walk into the room when she's watching I know that I don't have to worry about changing the channel on her. I know I can trust the show that it will deliver a good message to her.

But pop culture is trying to continuously take this away. Look at what they did to Lohan. How many times has she been in rehab? Instead of trying to prevent a problem and making her look like a role model pop culture sucked her in and made her into another person. Instead of telling her to put down the beer when she first picked it up they took a picture of it and made sure that our parents and kids knew about it. Pop culture ruined Britney Spears when she first came out as well. In fact in her first video that was run on MTV they tried to picture her as a cute school girl wearing a mini-skirt and pig tails. She was 17 in that video and they were already trying to portray her as sexually seductive. I'm sure she didn't know, she was only 17 years old. Maybe if pop culture would have tried to help her instead of ruining her every chance they got then maybe she wouldn't be trying to hide from the media these days.

So here's my ultimate point to pop culture, to Vanity Fair, to Annie Leibovitz - lay off already and get a life. Maybe your lives absolutely suck right now, but quit trying to put successful stars down. You're all adults now. You should've hit that thing called maturity once you started your occupation. So instead of hurting a good cause why don't you help it. I don't want to see another good role model hit the gutter because you told her drugs, alcohol, and sex were ok. I don't want to hide another face from my sister that she once looked up to and make excuses as to why I won't let her watch that face anymore. I like Cyrus. She has a supportive family, a good career, and an even better future. Lay off of her.

The End of Days

Sat, 26 Apr 2008 23:01:17 GMT

Monday, April 21, 2008

The End of Days

I was talking to a friend earlier today and he started asking me about the end of times. His first question challenged me on whether or not I thought it was the end of times. My reply was that no one can predict the end of times. I told him the Mayans are more than likely wrong. Altruistically the media is hyping this up just to start something. It's what they do. But that's besides the point.

Later I logged onto my Xanga account and, to my surprise, someone left me a comment. It was a comment under my blog 'The ACLU is Taking Away My Rights'. He left part of scripture which I will share with you. I also will add in a little bit more of the scripture that he didn't add:

'But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God- having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.' - 2 Timothy 3:1-5

There's so many different things going on in this and I have witnessed every one of these acts being committed more than once. And you ask yourself the same question don't you? How many times have you seen some of these things happen? I bet if you have good enough memory you can at least think of one thing for each of these. It's really not that hard.

So I thought about my response to my friend again. It wouldn't surprise me if the end of times came tomorrow (at least for the Christians anyway.) These are laws that we're breaking. They're laws that we're breaking because we have become selfish. We've filled ourselves with so much determination to be ourselves that we've forgot about everyone else. Thus, we have broken God's commandments. You know, there's not a single person in this world who has yet to break a commandment. Argue with me if you'd like. But when you turn around and say to your friends how much you hate me because you think that I'm conceited, you, my brother, have killed me in your heart. That is sin.

And it's just as easy to say when you turn around that you have no self-control because you worked yourself up so much that you go so frustrated you had no where else to go. You were being rash and treacherous. That's three laws broke out of the scripture listed above.

And if that Sunday you still attend church with your family like you did last week, but deny what I have told you about the Ten Commandments, then you have broken another law in the scripture above.

And if later that Sunday eve you get into an awful argument with your wife because she thinks that you're being too rejecting about the situation with me, then you have been abusive, brutal, and proud. And when you sleep in different beds that night you are being ungrateful.

And Monday morning when you come into work and you see me but choose to ignore me, then you are being unforgiving.

My brother, you have broke nine of the laws listed in that scripture in less than one week's time. That is a sign of the end of times. True, I am not perfect and I too break these rules. However, if the situation would have ended at scenario 1 then only three rules would have been broke. Three is six less than nine. Which number is better to have?

There are many lovers of themselves or money in this world too. They are generally boastful about their worth and very prideful of it. The Bible teaches us not to boast or brag and it tells us to be humble. From a normal person's point of view, how honestly annoying is it when someone tries to show off stuff to you all of the time? I hate it. I'm sure you do too. But these people are breaking God's law again. Another signal to the end of days.

So I'm going to end there and let you think about the rest by yourselves. I don't acknowledge that the end of times are near nor do I reject the idea. I don't need to think about the end of times. I know where I'm going when I die. However, I gather this information for you in hopes that you may take it in and see for yourselves just how sinful of people we are. I know that I'm undeserving and I thank God often for loving me and sending His only Son. What do you think?

Where Has Parenting Gone?

Sat, 19 Apr 2008 19:05:45 GMT

Saturday, April 19, 2008

Where Has Parenting Gone?

Have you seen the videos lately? It seems that everytime I turn around I'm viewing a new video of teenagers beating up on innocent teenagers. It started out with the 16 year old girl in Florida who got hammered by another girl who was using brass knuckles. This was while a carful of other teenagers watched and filmed. Then there was the 13 year old girl in New York who got pummeled by an older teenager on the playground after school. It didn't stop there, however. Just recently one teenage girl got stricken blind and broke several bones because she got gang beat in a house by several other girls. Now I read a story of middle school girls who got in a tustle that was to represet what happened in Florida a year or so ago. My question to all of you - where has parenting gone?

In the first episode, the girl who got beat up in Florida went and told her dad. Her dad, being upset, called this other girl's father and told him what happened. Well, he denied that his girl would do anything like that. It wasn't until he caught his daughter with a pair of brass knuckles that he then believed. He didn't even question her to begin with. He just assumed that his little sweatheart was a perfect angel that wouldn't do anything wrong. Does this make sense to anyone else? I mean, that shows me that you don't care what your daughter does if you're not even going to question something that she does.

Now that first video circulated in the news. So I'm sure that most parents have heard about it right? The next step is to make sure that it doesn't happen with your child right? Wrong. A week later this girl got beat up in New York. Where was the preventive practice there? Grant it, the parent may not need to control and dictate what the child does. However, in a situation like this I think a little bell should go off that tells you that you need to at least pay attention to what your child does. It's called parenting. There should be no excuses either. You decided to have the child. That means you also decided that you were going to take care of the child.

Now these other two videos come out and there's still no excuse. You need to know where your children are and what they're doing. When I would go out when I still lived with my parents I usually told them where I was going. They set a curfew on me at first but then lifted it as they put more trust in me. They did that because I wasn't getting into any trouble. That's just the simple things too. That doesn't go into the whole spectrum of how you're supposed to take care of them and love them. I bet honestly that some of you 'parents' are forfeiting your love and care for them because you, yourself are selfish. You now haven't given them love or care and you now ignore them. And you think that you can be parents?

If you honestly are that oblivious to what good parenting is, then you're in luck. I have a good example for you - the victim's father in the Florida case. He not only knew where his daughter was that night (unaware that this carful of other teenagers would come to her position and attack her), he also called the shots when it happened. He called the police. He called this other girls father. He even got this in national news. When stations wanted to interview her, he was there beside her at every interview if he could be. Do you know what that is? That's called love and care. If you are unable to see what this is, then you made the wrong decision to become a parent.

And as I say in most blogs, you can just tell me that I don't know what I'm talking about because I'm a single, 19 year old male that doesn't have any kids. Or, you look at yourself and see how unsuccessful you really are at parenting. You tell me when the last time you told your son or daughter that you love them and meant it. You tell me the last time you bought them something they needed. You tell me where they are at right now. Not only that, but tell me where they were last weekend. Chances are your son or daughter could be at the local party sucking down beer pongs and having unprotected sex with someone they just met. It happens. I've seen it. And that, my friend, you can listen to, because I am a teenager.

You know, when I was in high school I was pretty quiet. When there was down time in class I would sit and listen to what the other students were saying. Some of their stories were horrendous. These weren't just rumors floating around either. These are words that I've heard projected out of the mouths of the people who did these acts. There was one girl who would talk about sex story after sex story. All of these were with different guys too. Where's the parenting? How do you know that she won't become a porn star when she gets older. I'd be ashamed if I had a daughter that was a porn star. Could you imagine what you tell your friends and family when they ask about her? There were several guys and girls that would talk about smoking marijuana and forgetting what they did when they smoked it. You could just look at a few of these and tell that they were smoking a lot. How do you know that they won't become a drug dealer when they get older? Once again, think about what you would tell your friends and family. I've also heard other things like beer drinking, stealing, and doing very antisocial things. Once again, what would you tell your family and friends?

In closing, think about how you're raising your kids or how you're going to raise them. They directly reflect how good of a parent you are. And just for the record you chose the job. You chose to have children and to raise them. You didn't have to. There's no book of laws that demands that you have children. However, this job is a 24/7 job and goes beyond concrete actions. Raise your children properly before they hurt someone elses lives permantly. Because your children and yourself will have to live with that forever.

The ACLU is Taking Away My Rights

Fri, 18 Apr 2008 21:13:38 GMT

Friday, April 18, 2008

The ACLU is Taking Away My Rights

So here's the situation - the state of Indiana has been issuing specialty plates to drivers. One of these specialty plates has the words 'In God We Trust'. The state charges administration fees for all of these plates except this specific one. If you ask me, the state of Indiana can do with its money whatever it pleases. However, the all so glorious ACLU, that we should all get on our knees and pray to, thinks that this is being unfair and unjust.

I would love to kick Nadine Strossen in the jaw right about now. The only reason the ACLU is trying to attack this decision is because the ACLU is filled with bonehead atheists and agnostics that don't want to excersize our First Amendment Right (you know, the one about freedom of press, freedom of association, freedom of speech, and freedom of religion. It's under the 'About the ACLU' link found on the homepage of the ACLU. That's for just in case you didn't know.)

Nevertheless, an Indiana judge threw the case out of the window. Good for him. Not only is there bonehead atheists and agnostics, there's Christians who are looking for rights too. There's Christians out there who have put up with more trial and tribulation than any of you can possibly imagine. I find it sad that on the website it says that the ACLU is there to fight for rights for people who aren't getting them. Hello! Where is the guarantee that the Christians will get their fight? We haven't been. In fact, thanks to organizations like you, we've been suffering. Anything Christian related isn't allowed in public. No God in schools. No God in some workplaces. Easter is now a 'Spring Holiday' because it can't have any relationship to Christianity, even though that's the sole reason we celebrate it. Soon Christmas is next. After that God will be taken out of our community.

I have a better idea. How about we reinstate God into the public school system, make Easter back to the original way it was, and still have Christmas. How about this? How about if you don't believe in God then don't celebrate these holidays. They're for Christians, not atheists anyway. That works for me. The Christian's values sit on top for once.

Strossen, if I were to see you in person right now, I'd challenge you to this. I want to see what and who you're really fighting for. You're not fighting for the right cause. You want to pull this nation closer? Stop doing what you're doing. You're only tearing it a part more and just adding to the fire. Sure, we didn't start the fire, but that doesn't mean that we have to add to it. You, sir, just make the flames higher.

The last thing that I'd like to add is how unaware of our situation the ACLU really is. On the homepage you talk about how it was unlawful to neglect the prisoners of Guantanamo Bay. I want you to look at the situation again. They were going to kill Americans, just like their brothers who killed 3,000 innocent victims September 11, 2001. Honestly, those prisoners forfeited their rights when they decided to perform and partake in the action we all know as 'terrorism'. That's treason, outlawed by that thing called the government. Ask Robert Hanssen* about it. He spends 23 hours a day in solitary confinement because of it.

So there you have why the ACLU is incorrect in governing itself. They set a bad example for true American citizens who live daily doing the right thing and getting all of their freedoms. They stand to demoralize the US, not help it. Don't partake in any actions of the ACLU. What they do is treason.

*Hanssen was actually locked away for espionage, which is spying. He did it illegally to harm the US government, which is treason.

How Great is God?

Mon, 14 Apr 2008 00:50:55 GMT

Friday, April 11, 2008

How Great is God?

I as driving home from a friends house just now and I just had this compulsion to listen to Life in Your Way. I switched it to the song 'Making Waves' and just got the biggest chills down my spine. Basically, this song is about how secure the songwriter is about himself and his decision to become a Christian. The last two lines read as this:

'I'm standing firm.
It feels so good.'

It really woke a sleeping giant in me, which is what the CD is called - Waking Giants. This meaning that there is giants in all of us that mean good but most of them are sleeping because we've all forgotten what's important. We've all forgotten God.

These lyrics, though, they felt so good to listen to. When I devoted my life to God several years ago it was the best feeling in the world. I felt tall. I felt like nothing could knock me over. The reason being - God gives me the strength that I need to go day to day. I, in turn, know that I must fulfill the duties that God has set aside for me.

'And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose' - Romans 8:28

This verse means so much to me right now. You see, the past few weeks I've almost forgotten about God. I was putting other things before Him. I put my leave, my bonus, and my friends and family before Him. I felt the burn. I'll be honest with you, the past few days I have felt like total crap emotionally. Tonight is different though. God has a plan for me and in my hour of need He picked me up and carried me in His wings. He covered for me. He's made me realize that I don't need worldy lusts to live my life. I make it on the strength that He provides me.

Sometimes I think to myself that I need a girlfriend but I know that I can't have one right now. It's nearly impossible to have a good, healthy relationship with a girl when you're tied to the Army like I am. If I would have not been a Christian when I became a soldier, I would probably be hurting really bad right now. In fact I know that I would. To be frank, I don't know if I would even be in the Army. I would be so lost without Him. God has made this situation feasible for me, however. He has made me comfortable with who I am. He has shown me that I don't need the drugs, the sex, the money to survive. He has shown me life.

'You could have fled
and who could have blamed You?
but you chose to stay
and bear the weight
that I had placed upon You

Father I can't understand
how You could ever love me
when I'm so undeserving
and unworthy of anything.'

-And So We'll be With the Lord Forever, Here I Come Falling

Those are lyrics to an interlude by Here I Come Falling. They tie in to this next verse:

'For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life' - John 3:16

That is one of the most common verses in the Bible, but it means so much. God sent His one and only Son, who is perfect, to take punishment for sinners like you and I. He took our burdens so that someday we will have everlasting life. We will rejoice in the Heavens someday with Him. It's such a big sacrifice to you and me. I know that I am undeserving of this, just like the lyrics state. I just told you earlier in this blog that I forgot about God for a few weeks. Yet, I pray to Him once and He forgives me. It seems unfair. It's as if He should wait a few weeks before forgiving me. But he doesn't, because He is that great. He is so great that we can't even fathom at it.

I don't write this blog to convert you to Christianity. Instead, I write this blog to inform you of how much God has truly done for me. I'm 19 years old. I've stayed away from drugs, alcohol, and sex all of my life. I'm in the Army with a job that I love. I'm making quite a bit of money to include a large bonus that I originally wasn't even supposed to get. I'm getting benifits that a lot of people in my hometown area don't even get. I have loving parents and a loving Pap. I don't deserve what I have, but God has made all of this possible. My trust in Him only gets stronger every day. I know where I'm going when I die. I don't question it, ever.

'I will sing to the Lord all my life;
I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.
May my meditation be pleasing to Him,
As I rejoice in the Lord' - Psalm 104:33-34

You Wanted a Blog?

Mon, 14 Apr 2008 00:49:44 GMT

You Wanted a Blog?

So as most of you know I just got done with my school for the Army. It's a great thing to be done. I'm glad that I could come back to visit everyone for a while before I go to my duty station in New York. It was honestly great to see all of you and to see that most of you are doing well. However, some of you probably need to clean yourselves up some. From what I saw, it seemed like my close friends were doing pretty well. But there's always that mix of people that have trouble doing so. I won't mention any names.

I'll start out with my expedition to my favorite greasy-glob restaurant - McDonald's. I went there today to grab something to eat because I had not eaten all day. The double greaseburgers are magnificent. Anyway, this isn't about how bad McDonald's food is for you. This is about you. I ordered my food and I took a seat in the back to observe people (I'll probably be one of those creepy men someday). I noticed to the right of me there were four people sitting there - two girls and two guys. I noticed that both guys were crawling all over these girls and the girls kind of used it for their insecure ego. The girls sat there and basically had the expression on their faces like they were better than everyone because of their boyfriends. Fine, whatever helps you feel better about yourself. The only problem was that these two girls were actually very pretty and the guys, well there was a couple things that I observed about them. First of all, blood-shot eyes, waltzing the store, and talking on a maturity level of a 12 year old. Yeah, these guys were stoned out of their mind. Not to mention that one of them was wearing a college shirt. The shirt and just how they looked led me to believe that they were in their 20's and had some college done. Hmmm, can anyone say loser?

When I say loser I really mean it. Don't get me wrong, at some point we all have tried drugs (except me, but I'm abnormal anyway). Some of us have used them more than once. Some of us have used them throughout high school, but have since then quit because, you know, we grew up. Now, I can see using drugs up to the age of 18. But once you hit the age of 18 and you haven't even cut back on the marijuana, there's something wrong. In fact, you need help. These two guys looked like dopes walking around the store. If I weren't abnormal I probably would have went up to them and started making fun of them. It was pathetic to see that someone who could grow a full beard was acting like someone who couldn't grow any facial hair. But even then, the girls are just as stupid because they think that these two idiots are macho. Here's the point I'm basically trying to make - you're all adults now, act like it. These four kids (and yes I stated 'kids' because of their maturity level) embarrassed themselves today. They should be better than that. Unfortunately they're not. Unfortunately they're still stuck in the high school epidemic. Don't bring yourself to that level. It's not worth it.

I had to go to my alumnus today for hometown recruiting. I was in the cafeteria during all three lunch periods and let me tell you, some of you teens have some strange styles. But that's besides the point. Haha, I used to wear Ecko and Jnco in 9th grade so I guess I can't blame you. Nonetheless, towards the end of the third lunch I was talking to one of my former teachers. She was talking to me about all of the kids that she has had over the years. One of the things that really stuck out to me was that she told me how she hated how some of them acted (known to the student body as 'drama'). I agreed. Then she went on to tell me that some of them will never grow out of it. They stay locked up in their own cage for their whole lives. I know exactly what she's talking about. There are some people that I've met in the Army that are the same way. They try and force around drama like there's no tomorrow. Most of the people quit taking them serious. That's what happens when you stay in this immature shell. You can't keep yourself padlocked into your own little mind. Grow up. Otherwise you'll just end up embarrassing yourselves like those four kids did at McDonalds.

But I digress. Most of you I have been happy to see where you are right now, some of you I'm impressed with. A lot of you have turned your lives around and I think deserve the title of 'young man' or 'young woman' because that's what you are now. Keep in mind, that represents a whole new philosophy of living. However, I'm confident that most of you will exceed to and beyond the expectations thrown before you.

Back to the main point, however. There are still people out there who might end up waking up in a trash can someday. I don't write these blogs so that you can argue what I think. I don't write these blogs so you can point fingers. I write these blogs so that someday you find yourself waking up in a nice house with a family that loves you. You can argue the point that I don't know what I'm talking about because I'm the same age as you. That's fine. Don't read my blogs. And if you ever do wake up in a trash can, sorry, but 'I told you so.' Aside from that, just keep your head up and keep going. If something is pulling you down, don't let it. Instead, bring it up with you. Don't let yourself be weak like these other four kids did. Don't let it happen. You control you.

Nice Guys Finish Last

Mon, 14 Apr 2008 00:48:21 GMT

Saturday, February 16, 2008

Nice Guys Finish Last

We have all heard of this term before. It's nothing new to us. In fact, I'm sure that all of us know what this term means as well. There's no hidden meaning either that I'm going to preach to you about. But I wonder, do all of us know how it really feels to be the nice guy? Maybe I'm going a little soft but it's really something that we should look into. Because last time that I checked we all treated the nice guy like shit when he never did anything to us.

There's this guy down here that is probably the true definition of a nice guy. I won't tell you his name because, frankly, it's not that important. However, he does have an important story to tell that I'm about to let you in on. I will also expose to you how it makes him feel whether or not he claims it.

So I'll just name this guy 'Marty'. He truly is a thoughtful human being, even to me. He's always looking out for people, giving them motivation, helping them out in times of trouble, and also avoids getting stuck in the drama that happens here (yes it happens in the army too). It honestly looks like he's completely emotionally stable. The problem is, he's not. He's not terrible, but he's no better than you or I. If anything he might be a little bit worse than the rest of us. But I'm going to tell you of things that make him feel terrible and you be the judge and tell me what really should have happened.

In this first scenario we see Marty trying to help another person out by simply giving them motivation and letting them know that everything is alright.

This girl, Cheryl, has trouble concentrating in class. She's getting poor grades as a result of it. Part of the problem is that she can't stay awake because she's not getting proper amounts of sleep. She goes around complaining of this all the time and doesn't know what to do. She tells this to Marty. Well, being the nice guy that he is, Marty figures out a solution. He tells her that the very next day she has to sit beside him in class. That next day in class she does. After about a half hour into the lesson she's already dosing off. Marty notices this and bumps into her to wake her up. It happens again fifteen minutes later and Marty does the same thing. In fact, he kept doing it the whole way through class that day. Cheryl thanked him at the end of the day for his help. She doesn't see the need for him to do it anymore, but he does. He claims that she's not used to it yet. So, Marty sits beside her for the next week doing the same thing. Eventually Cheryl is able to stay awake on her own and give her undivided attention to the instructor. Marty then tells her that there's no need to sit beside her.

About two weeks later Cheryl's grades begin to incline. She does so well that she gets off of academic probation is allowed off-post to celebrate. Marty gets word of this and congratulates Cheryl and ask her if she wants to go out and celebrate with him as just friends. Quickly, she snaps back at him and claims that he didn't help her accomplish anything and she did it on her own. She jumps into the cab and drives off, ignoring Marty indefinitely.

Now you may be thinking, 'Wow, she is really arrogant.' Honestly, that's what I think about it too. I asked him how he felt about the whole thing. He responded saying that he didn't know why she acted that way and it made him feel a little depressed because he had thought that he made a new friend. It turns out him trying to help a person in need wasn't good enough for a friendship. It was taken for granted. A friendship was too hard for Cheryl to maintain. If you ask me, it was pathetic.

The next instance involves Marty actually trying to date a girl. This case may be sensitive but it's sadly true.

I was standing outside the class on break when Marty approached. He pointed out this girl in another class and told me how pretty he thought she was. I just shruggingly agreed with him not thinking too much about it. He then continued and told me how he wanted to talk to her. I told him to go for it. Well, I hadn't thought about it at all the next few days and honestly forgot about it until I saw him talking to her in the gazebo one night. I thought to myself, 'Hey, he's actually getting hooked up with this girl. He needs someone. He deserves it.' The next day I saw him and asked him about the situation. He told me that it seemed like things were going great. He said that they were actually getting ready to go out. It sounded like he had actually found someone he really liked.

I hadn't seen Marty for the rest of the weekend. I did see him Monday morning at pt however, but he didn't look happy at all. In fact he looked terrible. I asked him what he was so down about. He told me he'd tell me later. Well, later came that night at chow. We had a true heart to heart about what had happened. It was about this girl he took out. We'll call her Sharon. He said they went out the first day and had a blast. They got really close that day and bonded. They decided they'd go out the next too. It went well in the morning when they had breakfast. He really thought that they'd be dating status by the end of the night. It never happened. They went to the mall later that day and he was about to make it official with her when she interrupted him. She was looking at dresses and found one that she liked. She then began to tell Marty how her boyfriend would like something like that on her. Marty was stunned. And even for the next hour she talked about her boyfriend and how great he was. When I asked Marty how it made him feel, he told me that he was in utter amazement that someone would lead him on so badly then talk about her boyfriend as if none of what had just happened ever actually happened. To my recollection, Marty stayed depressed for the next week.

Now I'm not sure how this is possible, but I've seen it happen a lot. In fact it's happened to me as well. Maybe Sharon became arrogant about the way people feel and thought about herself only or maybe she was looking to cheat on her boyfriend. Either way you put Marty in a terrible situation. He just wants things to go normal like they should but they don't. I'm sure guys do this type of things as well but it really does disturb me when I see something like this. I felt worse after hearing about it from Marty, even though it didn't even directly affect me. Think about the way you treat people, especially undeserving people.

I'm going to finish off with the story that actually made me come here and write this today. It's about the time that I took Marty for granted.

In the morning's we have to make sure that our rooms are spotless. Our beds have to be made to standard; there can't be any dust on the floors; there can't be any soap or hygiene products sitting in the bathroom; most importantly there can't be any trash in our trash cans. One day I was running behind on getting my stuff clean. I was going to be late to formation. As I ran to the supply closet to grab a broom I saw Marty. I asked him if he'd give me a hand getting my stuff clean. He said that he'd be right over. He came over and together we got my room up to standard while making it to formation on time. Later that day our platoon sergeant said that our rooms were good. Well, the very next day the same thing happened, but only to Marty. He had a lot of trash and needed someone to help him take it down. He asked me as I was walking downstairs and I, being arrogant, made up some cheap response and basically told him to find someone else to help him. A little distraught, he said 'ok'. Later that day when we were hearing how our rooms were our platoon sergeant called out Marty's room number. He then told him that his room looked like crap because of the trash that was in it. He then took his phase badge for the weekend so Marty couldn't go off-post or do anything. I felt terrible. Later I found him and apologized and even tried to beg him to take my phase badge. He told me not to worry about it.

I honestly felt terrible about this. He's always doing things right and is helping others. He didn't deserve to get his weekend taken away because of me. I never asked him how it made him feel but I knew that he felt terrible over it. In some ways I wish I could go back and reverse it for him, but it's over now.

We all have taken advantage of that nice guy before too. I just admitted to you that I did it. How about yourself? Did it make you feel bad when he helped you and gave you a push but you just turned your back on him? I can honestly say that I felt like crap and still do. But do you think that those other people apologized or even felt bad? I'm guessing not. He never talks about them to me because he always tells me 'what's done is done'. If that's the way that he copes with it then so be it. But I know for a fact that it wrestles inside of him. So, with that being said, go out and make a nice guy (or girl) feel good, even if it means making yourself feel bad. They really deserve it.

It Feels Great!

Sun, 27 Jan 2008 17:18:15 GMT

Sunday, January 27, 2008

It Feels Great!

It feels great to be alive doesn't it? I really mean that. I mean, I have a 'depressed' mood right now and have for the past few weeks but I still feel great. I still have the right don't I? Regardless, you should feel great too, no matter what your mood is. It's really a good thing to be living right now.

Before I left for the Army I was getting sick of working in fast food restaurants, my best friend left for the Army already, and I wasn't getting anywhere except frustrated. I really became arrogant in my own way the three months before I shipped out. I wasn't being challenged anymore and I wasn't learning anything new. In fact, my life was sort of depressing. I had been losing friends and I had been losing interest. I had also just become single and lost part of my heart at the time. It really sucked and you might agree that a situation like that might suck.

I left for basic and throughout basic training my attitude changed to something that it never was before and it stayed that way for a little bit. This was a good attitude and all but it was too forthright to live my whole life. Well, during Christmas break my normal functioning attitude came back again. The same attitude I had way before I left for basic and the same one I had back when I was a senior in high school who actually stayed away from the bad things and pushed to do the right thing. It was the old me back again. Let me tell you, it feels great to know that I'm back to who I was before. I have the same level of thinking and I'm just a little bit wiser this time. I feel great.

But you know, there's no reason that I should've stopped being that way. Ok, you can throw an excuse in for basic training because that was something of its own nature, but there's no excuse for the way I acted for the months leading up to the Army. I was a senseless and thoughtless pig. Let me tell you, it sucks to live that way. You should be happy that you don't live that way.

Could it be the fact that I wasn't being challenged enough before I left? Could be. Is it the fact that I was just being stubborn and unsupportive of myself? Yes it was. I could have been out there doing things to better myself or even better other people, but I didn't. The best that I did was write senseless blogs that barely anyone reads. They may have made a difference in someone's life but I generally write these for my own satisfaction. It's my way of putting my extreme thoughts in writing or in this case typing. It helps me get whatever is on my chest off. The point is that I should've been out there doing other things - making new friends, reconnecting with old ones, finding love. Any of those things would have worked.

I never did that. I turned down the other path. It's a path that you should never find yourself. You should never have to question the integrity of your friends or of your loved ones and that's where I found myself. It's gone away now. I have other things to worry about such as getting good grades and getting to my next duty station on time and in one piece. I have to keep good bonds with good friends that I have made since joining the Army. I'm searching for a new love because I accepted and got over my last. I'm trying to reconnect bonds with old friends that I haven't seen since early 2007. During that period before I never did these things and that's what makes it so great to be living right now.

You should also feel this sense of loving life. Even if you feel down like I did before you should feel it. Go find a new friend. It can be anyone. Go find a love. It doesn't even have to be a boyfriend or girlfriend. It can be something simple like a new puppy or a hobby. Right now in America it really can't get any better. I know they say that the country is bad but is it really? I was taught that things are only as bad as you make them to be. I made them bad during that period before I left for the Army. Honestly, the situation isn't any different now but I've learned to love where I'm at and what I'm doing here. It feels great!

Subconsciously Written?

Sun, 27 Jan 2008 17:17:36 GMT

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Subconsciously Written?

This blog isn't really a serious blog and there's really no meaning to it. This is something that I apparently wrote in class, sleeping. Believe it or not. I wrote the first paragraph and woke up to see what I wrote. Then I tried concentrating on the lesson but ACG killed me last night and I had only got four hours of sleep. You may be able to tell me if this means something or not. I'm pretty sure that it doesn't mean anything, but it's pretty funny:

Examinee A

Withdrawn, loneliness, anxiety are all f i ot had tonite. Did not have equipment (Sanders) most of the time. Kept up Kaleta and Knight.

I walked into the room for bed-check (random scribbles)

WTF? What was I writing? I feel like I'm on drugs this how tired I am. Maybe I can write more crazy stuff book accident. Anyway, keeps to herself and rarely buds into what's going on. Sort of mature but not so much. Followed my lead. Went where I went with tone and volume of voice and conversation content. Have to dig deep to open rapport but it's possible. I'd like to work with this person because they know what's going on. They have an attitude like I used to. Kind of weird because I never was the bitch before. Oh well I guess I can hit up the car wash.

Yo! Car wash detail! I can't wait for a ride. The examinee is strong physically but not mentally. They can't be assertive although random spurts does come. Only when someone is wrong. Cause SSG Canty said they're wrong, just like you. OMG, what am I writing?! I feel weird or something. Like $3000.01. flight of ideas

What's with turkey fly? A has seen their fair share of the past. I'm expecting abusive relationship because of failure to be assertive. It's rare to be normal. It's emotional abuse. I'm serious. It happens.

I swear I wrote that word for word in class today. The funny thing is that we were talking about some of this stuff in the lesson. I noticed it when I looked back to see what I had missed writing this. We were talking about how we can get a client to sort of mimmick us with our tone of voice and stuff. It's funny and it's unexplainable. I have the original too if you really don't believe me.

Politics blah blah blah. . .

Sun, 27 Jan 2008 17:16:53 GMT

Friday, January 11, 2008

Politics blah blah blah. . .

I feel that since I joined the Army I haven't been very political at all. The truth is that I haven't. I've been following the polls some but not too much in the news. I finally got my AKO up and I get up to date stories about the war. These stories are probably ones that you won't find anywhere else. The reason being - they're positive. They express something positive that has happened about the war generally. So now that I am somewhat in the loop again I've got to blog about it. It's just Biss nature to express my bigotted conservative ways.

Ok. Since the conflict has started in Iraq we have almost lost 4000 troops. Mostly they are from the Army and Marines. That goes to show you that this is already a land type of battle. What these soldiers are going to battle are Muslim extremists. The extremists believe in Allah. They also believe that Allah will grant them eternal life if they give up their life to destroy the Americans. That's what they do. They won't stop at any means. They won't sit and talk to negotiations like most of you think. It's not that easy. They are so solid in their beliefs that they will kill themselves to kill us. We've seen it happened. The attacks have been unprovoked so you know that they just want to harm us. There is no peace talks here. In fact the only time we communicate with the leader of Al Qaeda is when he decides to send us little videos of himself telling us how much he hates us.

I didn't come here to talk about how we have no choice but to fight them. I came here to talk about how good of a job President Bush is actually doing. You see, George Bush is my boss. I have to respect him either way. Even though he's getting my brothers in arms 'killed' I still have a deep respect for him. Do you know? It's because he's not afraid. He's facing very low approval rating right now and has been the past few years of office. Many Republicans have turned against him. Has he changed any of his strategies due to popular opinion? No, he hasn't. Instead he kept pushing on with the mission. Everyone was calling for a recall of troops (under the dumbest circumstances nonetheless). He said no. In fact he sent 30,000 more over. You know what? It has actually worked. Since they have been deployed there has been a lot less violence and there has been a lot less troops killed or injured. Violence is actually down 60%. That's not all. A piece of news that I just saw on my AKO that you probably won't see anywhere else is how one of the plans has worked. American forces contained some Al Qaeda members near south of Baghdad. The Air Force came in and dropped 40,000 pounds of bombs in about ten minutes over Al Qaeda forces. Muslim extremists dies for Allah alright, just with unsuccessfully taking American lives.

So that may not be enough to convince you that Mr. Bush is actually doing a great job with these terrorists. So I've got more news for you. Remember the Anbar province? You know, it's the place where the most violence came out of during most of the conflict. Gates has just reported that American forces have almost cleared it out. They are actually almost ready to hand it over to Iraqi government forces. Iraq security forces have also boasted that they may not need any American security for any of Iraq in 2009. Hmmm, I think that leaves only one year of us left over there. So a Democratic president may not even get the chance to submit paperwork into pulling troops out early. They'll be done over there by that time.

I want you to tell me that President Bush is doing a bad job in Iraq. I want you to tell me to my face. In four years in Korea America lost 56,000 troops. In almost seven years of being in Iraq America has lost 4,000. In the time we were in Vietnam (I want to say eleven years, but I'm not completely sure) we lost 76,000 troops. I don't think we are really risking that many soldiers. Not to mention, by the way, 20% of American losses are due to accidents and suicides. That's not a good number to shout about but it goes to show that maybe 3,500 soldiers were actually killed by insurgents. Not that many soldiers have died compared to other conflicts and wars. In fact it's not even comparable.

I ran out of time to finish this. I will finish it ASAP.