Last night I realized something. My parents had just picked me up from church and I was feeling hungry so I asked if they would take me to Jack in the Box. I was in the mood for 99 cent tacos. We show up and order. My parents pull out their wallets; my dad hands the cashier his last few dollars and my mom hands them change. 4 tacos, brownies, and a large soda. When we received the food I began to eat and talk to my parents. 2 tacos in I realize how big the tacos are. They've never been like that before. My parents saw me struggling and began to laugh.
My dad explained to me that it must have looked like we ordered 4 tacos to feed the 3 of us. Scraping for money didn't help, it just made us look desperate. As funny as my parents found it, I actually appreciated the gesture. Maybe there are others who are actually poor and can only afford to eat tacos. The people in Jack in the Box truly wanted us to eat, so they probably feed the poor well.
My dad told me that there was a Jack in the Box located near a Home Depot that sell 3 tacos for 99 cents. Normally it's just 2, but there are workers that can only afford to eat tacos, so this Jack in the Box decided to give them more for less. If only the rest of the world could be so generous. If only we could easily give up a little something to give to someone something much bigger than we think. A little gesture to say, "I'm here for you. I am your guardian angel."
People need to let go of material things and give up one the whole rich guy dream. Be humble and grateful and the world will love you the way you are. My challenge to you: give someone something no matter what the cost, I'm sure they will appreciate it.
Saturday, January 19, 2013
Nuclear War
Hello, my fellow readers! I apologize for not being so consistent on my posts, I've been pretty busy with school work and getting to bed at a ridiculous hours, but I'm writing now, right before I go on retreat. My topic today was brought to my attention during my AP Rhet class. My teacher played Obama's America 2016. The movie altogether was full of facts and quite interesting, the target, however, was ridiculous. I'm not going to talk about Obama, I'm going to talk about the nuclear weapons.
First of all, I am fully against any kind of war or violence or fighting. I despise it. In the video, they said that Obama is getting rid of a lot of our nuclear weapons "leaving us defenseless." Defenseless? To me, it's more like being the "bigger man." Here's an example I gave my peers in order to agree with me:
It's a Western duel. Two cowboys stand face to face, holding a pistol on each other. One man says, "let's drop our weapons and fight like a man." The two men stare at each other contemplating whether the other man will indeed drop his weapon. Once one man drops the gun it's like he knows that there's a chance he's the bigger man who knows he can win without a gun, and there's also the possibility that the other man is a traitor and wimp and shoots him anyway. Who's the bigger man?
Another scenario:
Everyone in a room is standing. One person decides that their legs hurt and they want to sit down, so they do. Once that one person sits down another sees and thinks that he too wants to sit down. Eventually everyone is sitting and it's all because of that one person.
Honestly, who need nuclear weapons if its only to be like everyone else? What does this teach the younger generation who were told that you should never fall into peer pressure and "just say no." If America is simply keeping these weapons "just in case" another country wants to attack, well, that doesn't comfort me at all. What comforts me is the thought that if someone wants to shoot at me, let them, I'm not afraid to die. The people in this world are just so caught up in living longer when life, once upon a time, had people dying at 30. Everyone is afraid to die.
The army. The army has volunteers willing to die for their country. Good for you volunteers, but if your going to war to protect me, don't! I'd rather be the one to die than have a perfect stranger to take a bullet for me. I've said this so many times to my parents: "if someone is shooting at me, it must be for a good reason."
Go ahead and think that America is defenseless and Obama's an idiot. To me, America is being the "bigger man." We are no longer following the crowd.
First of all, I am fully against any kind of war or violence or fighting. I despise it. In the video, they said that Obama is getting rid of a lot of our nuclear weapons "leaving us defenseless." Defenseless? To me, it's more like being the "bigger man." Here's an example I gave my peers in order to agree with me:
It's a Western duel. Two cowboys stand face to face, holding a pistol on each other. One man says, "let's drop our weapons and fight like a man." The two men stare at each other contemplating whether the other man will indeed drop his weapon. Once one man drops the gun it's like he knows that there's a chance he's the bigger man who knows he can win without a gun, and there's also the possibility that the other man is a traitor and wimp and shoots him anyway. Who's the bigger man?
Another scenario:
Everyone in a room is standing. One person decides that their legs hurt and they want to sit down, so they do. Once that one person sits down another sees and thinks that he too wants to sit down. Eventually everyone is sitting and it's all because of that one person.
Honestly, who need nuclear weapons if its only to be like everyone else? What does this teach the younger generation who were told that you should never fall into peer pressure and "just say no." If America is simply keeping these weapons "just in case" another country wants to attack, well, that doesn't comfort me at all. What comforts me is the thought that if someone wants to shoot at me, let them, I'm not afraid to die. The people in this world are just so caught up in living longer when life, once upon a time, had people dying at 30. Everyone is afraid to die.
The army. The army has volunteers willing to die for their country. Good for you volunteers, but if your going to war to protect me, don't! I'd rather be the one to die than have a perfect stranger to take a bullet for me. I've said this so many times to my parents: "if someone is shooting at me, it must be for a good reason."
Go ahead and think that America is defenseless and Obama's an idiot. To me, America is being the "bigger man." We are no longer following the crowd.
Wednesday, January 2, 2013
Relationships
Everyone knows a cute couple that have been together for a long time. Usually they're grandparents. And I tend to wonder how they stayed together for so long. My grandparents will be celebrating their 50th anniversary. However, they fight so much! I wonder how they've been together for so long, but then I look at my grandpa. He's adorable. He likes to hold on to my grandma and kiss her, and try to be funny. It's like he's not giving up.
My parents have been married for 26 years. They recently renewed their vows but it was the wedding they never got to have. They too fight a lot, but my dad is a lot like my grandpa. He's sweet with my mom, trying to make her laugh, doing and getting for her what she likes. I want something like that.
I've been with my boyfriend for a year and a half. We're comfortable with each other, he makes me laugh, and says the cutest things, but at times I feel like he doesn't try. It saddens me. I hear this a lot, "you don't know what love is" well, I think that I am in love because we definitely tolerate each other like my grandparents. It's just that when there's an opportunity for him to do something nice for me, he doesn't take the chance. Maybe it's our age and we're restricted by a lot of rules, but who says he can't do what he can.
I found out he was passing through the city I live in. Since he was so close I actually believe he would stop by to say hi. He didn't. I'm very disappointed. He also told me that his friends were coming over. That made sense. He didn't want to waste time saying hi to me, he just wanted to get home and see his friends. Who blames him? I want to see my friends too. Yet, if I could ever have the chance to see my boyfriend I would take that within a heartbeat. He doesn't.
What I'm trying to say, is that I wish sparks would never disappear. I thought he could be sweet with me the way my grandpa is with my grandma or the way my dad is with my mom. Or even the way my sister's boyfriend is with her. He doesn't do much but what he does is special to my sister. It's my only wish. My boyfriend doesn't like to read my blogs, or go to church with me but that all makes sense since he hates reading and is not religious. But when it comes to little things, I thought he was better than how he is. It would only take a few minutes for him to stop by and say hi then leave. It only takes a text message for me to feel happy. One long phone call to make me feel like I matter. He doesn't do that anymore. My challenge to you: if you're in any kind of relationship, do whatever it takes to make your other half feel special. Do it the way they like and you can't go wrong.
My parents have been married for 26 years. They recently renewed their vows but it was the wedding they never got to have. They too fight a lot, but my dad is a lot like my grandpa. He's sweet with my mom, trying to make her laugh, doing and getting for her what she likes. I want something like that.
I've been with my boyfriend for a year and a half. We're comfortable with each other, he makes me laugh, and says the cutest things, but at times I feel like he doesn't try. It saddens me. I hear this a lot, "you don't know what love is" well, I think that I am in love because we definitely tolerate each other like my grandparents. It's just that when there's an opportunity for him to do something nice for me, he doesn't take the chance. Maybe it's our age and we're restricted by a lot of rules, but who says he can't do what he can.
I found out he was passing through the city I live in. Since he was so close I actually believe he would stop by to say hi. He didn't. I'm very disappointed. He also told me that his friends were coming over. That made sense. He didn't want to waste time saying hi to me, he just wanted to get home and see his friends. Who blames him? I want to see my friends too. Yet, if I could ever have the chance to see my boyfriend I would take that within a heartbeat. He doesn't.
What I'm trying to say, is that I wish sparks would never disappear. I thought he could be sweet with me the way my grandpa is with my grandma or the way my dad is with my mom. Or even the way my sister's boyfriend is with her. He doesn't do much but what he does is special to my sister. It's my only wish. My boyfriend doesn't like to read my blogs, or go to church with me but that all makes sense since he hates reading and is not religious. But when it comes to little things, I thought he was better than how he is. It would only take a few minutes for him to stop by and say hi then leave. It only takes a text message for me to feel happy. One long phone call to make me feel like I matter. He doesn't do that anymore. My challenge to you: if you're in any kind of relationship, do whatever it takes to make your other half feel special. Do it the way they like and you can't go wrong.
Tuesday, January 1, 2013
Music
It's been a while, I realized. There hasn't been much excitement in my life right now. Everything's been going normal, the people who love me still love me. The people that hate me still hate me. There hasn't been any real drama or altercations. No debates. No entertainment. Today, however, I got extremely bored. I cleaned my room, but I was bored again. I sat at the edge of my bed, contemplating what I would do to fill the gap. Writing? Reading? Then something popped into my head. I haven't played my violin in a long time.
I got off my bed and went to my closet where my violin was buried. The last time I picked up my violin was a while ago, and before that, years. Throughout my middle school years I was lucky enough to join my school orchestra. I had the best teacher in the world. Going into 6th grade I knew next to nothing about violins. When I came out of middle school, I could play effortlessly. I wasn't professional, but it was better than how I started. No lessons. No clue. Best teacher. Best three years of my life.
After another three years I pick up that violin, and prepare myself. Turns out, I suck. That's okay, I thought maybe after playing a few songs I could play the way I use to. That wasn't true at all. I played a few songs, several times in fact, but no matter how many times I played I kept thinking, how the hell did I do this so well before? I played for hours, my arm ached, my back ached, my head hurt, I was frustrated, so I put my violin away, but just hearing the sound of that violin took me back to my middle school years. Those hours spent practicing and playing. The friends I made in orchestra. The performances we had. Inspiring elementary kids to join.
We were a huge orchestra, over 100 kids. One teacher. One amazing teacher who never gave up and pressed us to be as good as we could be, if not better. This teacher didn't take away my love for music, he only made it better. He enhanced my skills. Without any lessons, this man taught me everything I know about violins and music. The orchestra is the best memory I have. When I was going into high school, I didn't want to continue. Selfishly, I refused to audition and have a different teacher. Now, I regret that decision.
The teacher may not be the same but I should have continued in orchestra. It's too late now, but I still appreciate the music we played and what I hear now. String instruments just have a way with my soul like any other instruments. Which reminds me, does anyone want to buy a clarinet? It's in great condition. A Suzuki. Still has a case and everything else needed. Reed isn't included, unless you want to use one that I did, but that's gross.
Anyway, it's hard to appreciate music because it's almost like nothing is special anymore. Everything is about sex, or trying to get laid, or drinking. It's hard to find inspirational music. Classical music helps me release any pain, it helps me focus, and it's just a beautiful mesh of different octaves and types of instruments. My challenge: listen to classical music as much as possible and write down what you feel when you hear it. Who knows? Maybe classical music will bring out a side of you you never thought you had.
I got off my bed and went to my closet where my violin was buried. The last time I picked up my violin was a while ago, and before that, years. Throughout my middle school years I was lucky enough to join my school orchestra. I had the best teacher in the world. Going into 6th grade I knew next to nothing about violins. When I came out of middle school, I could play effortlessly. I wasn't professional, but it was better than how I started. No lessons. No clue. Best teacher. Best three years of my life.
After another three years I pick up that violin, and prepare myself. Turns out, I suck. That's okay, I thought maybe after playing a few songs I could play the way I use to. That wasn't true at all. I played a few songs, several times in fact, but no matter how many times I played I kept thinking, how the hell did I do this so well before? I played for hours, my arm ached, my back ached, my head hurt, I was frustrated, so I put my violin away, but just hearing the sound of that violin took me back to my middle school years. Those hours spent practicing and playing. The friends I made in orchestra. The performances we had. Inspiring elementary kids to join.
We were a huge orchestra, over 100 kids. One teacher. One amazing teacher who never gave up and pressed us to be as good as we could be, if not better. This teacher didn't take away my love for music, he only made it better. He enhanced my skills. Without any lessons, this man taught me everything I know about violins and music. The orchestra is the best memory I have. When I was going into high school, I didn't want to continue. Selfishly, I refused to audition and have a different teacher. Now, I regret that decision.
The teacher may not be the same but I should have continued in orchestra. It's too late now, but I still appreciate the music we played and what I hear now. String instruments just have a way with my soul like any other instruments. Which reminds me, does anyone want to buy a clarinet? It's in great condition. A Suzuki. Still has a case and everything else needed. Reed isn't included, unless you want to use one that I did, but that's gross.
Anyway, it's hard to appreciate music because it's almost like nothing is special anymore. Everything is about sex, or trying to get laid, or drinking. It's hard to find inspirational music. Classical music helps me release any pain, it helps me focus, and it's just a beautiful mesh of different octaves and types of instruments. My challenge: listen to classical music as much as possible and write down what you feel when you hear it. Who knows? Maybe classical music will bring out a side of you you never thought you had.
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