Not Citizens, Not Legal--Still People

"...after working with these men and women, picking beans, packing corn, for hours on end, side by side in the unforgiving sun, I have to say and I do mean this sincerely, please don't make me do this again. It is really, really hard. For one thing...when you're picking beans you have to spend all day bending over. It turns out, and I did not know this, most soil is at ground level. If we can put a man on the moon, why can't we make the Earth waist-high? Come on, where's the funding?" - Stephen Colbert

“Not Citizens, Not Legal-- Still People”

They are savages bent on taking over the American Southwest for the creation of a new country called Aztlan, their sole purpose here is to engage in “competitive breeding” to decrease “white power,” and a movement to protect the civil rights of white Americans needs to begin as soon as possible--or at least this is what the leading anti-immigration hate groups say (“Anti-Immigration Groups”). While the radical propaganda spread by the National Organization for European American Rights and other extremist groups can easily be written off as ignorant, racist fear-mongering, there is still much controversy today about the large population of illegal immigrants--estimated to be around 12 million (Ewing)-- currently living in the United States. Whatever else is done regarding the issue, the evidence clearly shows that the population of illegal immigrants currently residing in the United States of American should not be deported en masse.

In Which I Realize My Priorities Have Shifted

"Writer's Block - when your imaginary friends won't talk to you." -a T-shirt

Characters have the most rotten lives ever.

We make all of the worst things happen to them to invoke empathy and create tension, and then we completely abandon them for months at a time, leaving their lives at a complete standstill.

I miss writing. I have no freaking idea where the time I used to give it went.

Next weekend. Next weekend I am going to bed early and waking up early and sitting down at my kitchen table and plowing through one or two thousand words. We have two days off from school next weekend. This is going to happen. The next month of my life is going to be utterly consumed by a massive AP English project and the next big debate tournament, and then April is another big English project and the debate team is going to States, and then May is AP exams, so if it doesn't happen now, it probably won't until the summer. 

Plus, you know, all of the smaller things. Like playing Free Cell while watching mediocre science fiction TV shows.

Conclusion: There is far too much I want to do in life for the time I actually have. No one has ever come to this realization before- I'm far too profound for that.

Spring Semester 2012 Day 1

"The true secret of happiness lies in taking a genuine interest in all the details of daily life." - William Morris


First day of the new semester. Kicked it off completely inadvertently at 3:00 a.m. and went to cook breakfast for my family at 5 just for something productive to do. Had it occurred to me, I might have gone out to buy some bagels, because I now have my driver's license and can therefore do that (legally, anyway- my parents have slightly different ideas).


Ridiculously happy all morning for no reason at all. This included twirling through the house and proclaiming that it was a beautiful day and the sun was shining. When it was pointed out to me that it was in fact cloudy/foggy outside, I insisted that the sun was still shining, and we just couldn't see it, and that was making me happy anyway. (This may have had something to do with the mug of coffee I'd had.)


1st Period: "Honors" US History. Notice the quotation marks, because he gave us a packet today (that I could easily complete in an hour tonight if I felt like it, even though I'd have to look things up online) that if we complete, we get 44 extra points on the final exam. Which means I could theoretically bubble (C) for all 150 questions and depending on how the actual numbers turned out, I'd still get a passing grade on the test as long as I turned in the packet. The General Knowledge Quiz included things like "how many states are there in the USA?" and "Who was the first president of the United States?" Which I'm pretty sure we covered in preschool.
I so would have taken AP, except it's a year long course.


2nd Period: Band. My embrasure sucks after not playing at all for several months, but it'll recover quickly enough and I've missed the class.


3rd Period: AP Calculus BC. Direct continuation of the past semester, with a slightly different set of classmates.


4th Period: AP English, which despite being the most challenging course I've ever taken, is basically why I'm willing to get up at 6 (on a non-insomniatic day) every morning. I love it so, so much. (Also, it helps that she decided to say nice things about my writing today...)
The principal interrupts halfway through and decides to teach us himself for about 10 minutes. (My principal is hilarious.)


After school: hanging out with one of my closest friends for an hour or so. Went to Target, which wouldn't be significant except she also recently got her license so it's exciting to drive around together.


Now: Listening to "Modern Love" by Matt Nathanson on repeat while procrastinating from the homework I don't actually mind doing.

Tournament Part 2

"The aim of life is to live, and to live means to be aware, joyously, drunkenly, serenely, divinely aware." - Henry Miller


First, just because you've been hanging around teenage boys all day doesn't meant you have the right to act like one.


Second, just because you're a teenage boy doesn't mean you have the right to be a sexist, objectifying, and completely inappropriate jerk. I should not be able to phrase the "first" like I did just now and still have all of you know exactly what I mean. /end rant


Third, a tournament anecdote:


I was up against first-timers for my first three rounds of debate, all of whom had written their cases the day before. Person 2 told me right before we walked in that her favorite show was Doctor Who, which made me immensely guilty about beating her.


The fourth guy, however, I knew absolutely nothing about.


I walked into the room, and my opponent stood up and asked, "Are you Olivia Wood?"
"Um...yes?"
"I heard your constructives are terrifying."


The judge just laughed and said "Your reputation precedes you."


We got started, and he actually knew what he was doing, which made it lots of fun. Afterwards, we shook hands and he said "You know, your constructive really was terrifying. I was just going 'oh God, I'm about to get my ass handed to me.'" So that was exciting.


End results: a beautiful 1st place trophy for me, 5th place in the same event to someone else on the team, 3rd and 6th in two of the speech events, and a ton of honorable mentions (3/4 wins, but not enough points to place) for various different debaters.


Then my car got confused on the way to Panera Bread for dinner, so we ended up eating at a different Panera than everyone else, which was sad. :(

Debate Christmas Carols

"One of the greatest joys known to man is to take a flight into ignorance in search of knowledge." - Robert Lynd


"Truly great madness cannot be achieved without significant intelligence." - Henrik Tikannen


Somehow managed to win first place in my event at the debate tournament today. It helps that 3/4 of my opponents had never debated before, but hey.


That's not terribly important, though. The thing that actually matters is that we spent  a couple of hours before rounds started writing alternative versions to Christmas carols on the tables (which were graciously covered with paper specifically for that purpose). Later we ripped the sections off and placed them into our smuggling tubs (which are mainly used for food): The Millenium Falcon, and Serenity.


No, they're not supposed to have the right number of syllables or necessarily rhyme. If you are amused, that is wonderful. If not, just ignore this.


"Oh Holey Logic," written and then sung by me and Josh Williams (for the probably two of you that means something to).


Oh, hole-y logic
Your fallacies are blinding
They make my brain
Hurt as if it's being hit by rocks
The joys of pain- 
Your case just simply crumbles
It falls on the ground
In a heap of useless nonsense
Oh logic
So flawed!
In the round that I just won.


"Hark Harold the Union Worker Sings" (in reference to the debate topic "current economic disparities threaten democratic ideals") Written by me, very late last night. The sad thing is, I went to bed at midnight and got up before 6 and there were tons of people there who had gotten way less sleep than I did.


"Hark!" Harold the Union Worker sings
"I'd like more collective bargaining!
Peace on the floor, and hours mild
Wages to feed my newborn child"
Angered, all ye workers rise
Join the protest to get the prize
When the CEO proclaims
"Perhaps we can agree on something"
"Hark!" Harold the Union Worker sings
"That's what I call collective bargaining!"


Then, in reference to the topic that I was actually debating ("individuals have a moral obligation to assist people in need,"), there is "Grandma Got Run Over By A Bus (and I don't have a moral obligation to help her)" Written by my other friend.


Grandma got run over by a bus
Jogging home from our house Christmas Eve
You may say I have a moral obligation to help her
But as for me and Grandpa, in Con we believe.


"God Rest Ye Merry Bourgeoise" Kind of a conglomerate of authorship. 


God rest ye merry bourgeoise
Let nothing you dismay
Democracy was founded to rich, make you stay
To save you all from poverty when the money goes away
Oh, tidings of tax cuts and joy
Tax cuts and joy!
Oh, tidings of tax cuts and joy!


There were a few more, but those are the best and most complete.


I'll probably write up a few more anecdotes about the actual tournament tomorrow, but these are for either your enjoyment or "god, she's insane"-ment for now. :)

Lying: To Put Up A Wall, or Not to Put Up A Wall?

“We have to create. It is the only thing louder than destruction.” - Andrea Gibson


The following is an essay I wrote for English two weeks ago, being posted as a response to Kenny's post about honesty.


     Most of us believe that honesty is a good thing, but most of us lie anyway--every day, all the time. This is because our primary value is not honesty, but openness, and every time we lie, we put up a wall. Judith Viorst says in her essay "The Truth About Lying" that "the truth is always better." However, while it is true that there are some walls that should be torn down--or better yet, to have never been put up in the first place--there are still some walls that we prefer to exist, and some whose presence we simply don't care about.


     WRAL News recently published an article detailing the story of Jasmine McClain, a 10 year old who committed suicide after suffering from extensive bullying at school. Her parents hadn't any idea-- the police only found out after viewing her Facebook page and talking with some of her friends. This is an example of what Stephanie Ericsson, in her essay "The Ways We Lie,"calls a lie of omission. If Jasmine or any of her friends had spoken up, the bullying might have been stopped, and she would have at the very least received support. This tragedy could have been averted. In this case, the truth definitely was better-- without question. 
      Even in less extreme examples, habitual honesty with one's parents minimizes conflict, promotes trust, and strengthens the family. Open relationships with close friends consistently lead to increased happiness and better mental health. When between romantic partners, it's the difference between "You're a great singer!" and "So you're not the greatest at singing, but who cares? I love you anyway." It's the difference between being loved as a person you know yourself not to be, and knowing you are loved for who you are-- warts and all. When it comes to personal relationships, the truth really is always better. After all, it's kind of difficult to talk to someone when there's a wall between you.


     However, close personal relationships are not always the highest priority--and why should they be? Sometimes the fate of the world depends on it. In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows* by J.K. Rowling, Harry discovers that his mentor, Professor Dumbledore, has not been entirely honest with him. Due to a fluke in a piece of dark magic, Harry must die if he is to save the world from Lord Voldemort. Harry struggles with Dumbledore's betrayal of trust throughout the book, but ultimately comes to realize that the old professor's decision had been the right one. Even at seventeen, Harry was still tempted to shirk his responsibilities and go chasing after the deathly hallows--powerful weapons used to conquer death--rather than continue tracking down the remnants of Voldemort's soul. Both Harry and Dumbledore would have preferred a closer relationship, but that wall between them was necessary for the greater good.
     If pieces of a sorcerer's soul trapped inside bits of old jewelry seems a little out there, consider the debate over openness online. All concerned parents warn their children not to give out their personal information or post pictures of themselves on sites with questionable privacy settings. Some aren't allowed to have online profiles at all. This prevents children from ponding with their real life peers, and from making new friends through the internet, but often times those opportunities are sacrificed-- and a wall is put up-- in favor of safety. While Jasmine Mcclain should not have built a wall between herself and her parents, if she had protected herself through more lies of omission, she might not have been bullied to the point of such desperation.
     Furthermore, there is the lie that most of us use the most often: the white lie. Many of us have acquaintances or relatives with whom we don't exactly agree on certain issues. We pretend to agree or simply keep our mouths shut to keep the peace; we'd rather get along than develop a close relationship. This is yet another example in which our priorities make putting up a wall actually preferable-- in which the truth is not better.


      Finally, there are the times when it simply doesn't matter if there is a wall present or not. There are some people who we just don't care about being open with. We say "I'm fine" when someone we've never met before and never will again asks us how we're doing, even if we've had a completely miserable day and just want to go home and watch TV with a package of Oreos sitting beside us. We never think twice about these lies--and again, why should we? It doesn't hurt anyone. It doesn't matter. Even when the person in question is someone we see every day--maybe a classmate or a coworker--unless he or she belongs to the circle of people we care about being close to, we lie without an ounce of guilt.
     [Personal example omitted]
     Maybe it is wrong to respect one person more than another, but that is irrelevant, since everyone does. Whatever the reason, there are some people and some instances in which we don't care about the truth. If the wall is small and built on land we're just passing over, truth vs. lies does not ultimately matter. Someone's personal convictions might lead them to choose the truth in such a case, but outside of that, a rose by any other name would smell just as sweet.


     When it comes to cultivating close personal relationships, Judith Viorst is right in that the truth is always better. However, there are many instances in which close personal relationships are not our highest priority, and some in which they are not a priority at all. This is not wrong; it is only a choice of values. Lying, then, is not an issue of good vs. bad, but rather a matter of where we want to erect our walls, and how high we decide to build them. Some walls--like the tall, electrified fences surrounding a concentration camp--are bad. Others--like those encircling a city to keep the barbarian marauders from raping and pillaging everything inside--are good. And the rest--the walls that sit all alone in what used to be a farmer's field but is now overgrown and forgotten--don't matter at all.


*My English teacher specifically mentioned that I did a good job with the Harry Potter example because even though she's not an HP person because she "doesn't like science fiction," she still understood the point. **facepalm** She's a fantastic teacher, but that kind of drove me crazy.
It also makes me happy that Google spell check does not register "Dumbledore" as a misspelled word.

"I'd Like To Fold"

"Consistency is the last refuge of the unimaginative." - Oscar Wilde


I'm not going to post my cases again, but our second debate tournament of the season was yesterday, and the resolution for my event was "Individuals have a moral obligation to assist people in need."


First, the judge and I waited 20 minutes for my opponent to even show up for the first round. The judge went out into the hallway to ask some people what was going on and kind of wandered off, because then my opponent showed up and we waited for the judge to return.


I gave my first speech. He cross-examined me and gave his first speech. I cross-examined him and gave my second speech.


My opponent organizes his papers, looks at the judge, and says "I'd like to fold." The judge and I look at each other, and then we look at him, and the judge says "Um, are you sure? You don't want to continue?" And he says "Yes. She completely destroyed both of my points so I'd really rather not."


I didn't even know that was allowed.


Round 2 went less well, but at this tournament all of the varsity and novice kids were lumped in together, and I was up against a girl who had gone to nationals last year. So that was fine. But the judge said later that I had the more compelling argument, so I have no idea why I lost. My round 3 opponent was from her same school, and we talked for nearly an hour before we were supposed to start, and he said she'd thought I was varsity, which was exciting. I won that round as well.


For round 4 I was up against one of the people who had originally taught my entire team how to debate at the beginning of last year, and she's consistently in the top 6 (although I don't think she was this time). So I don't mind having lost to her, either.


I managed to write a whopping 50 words for NaNoWriMo between rounds (whooo), and the next tournament is in four weeks from now on the same topic. It might be one of my last for the year, though, since I'll be busy with the school musical in February and March. So it'll just be December and then the State Championship in April.

"I'm Not Dead Yet!"

"When unhappy, one doubts everything; when happy, one doubts nothing." - Joseph Roux


Nothing was set on fire today, but that was probably only because our principal came on the intercom at about 12:30 to announce that we were entering a Code Yellow Lockdown due to a bank robbery across the street. We stayed in 3rd period an extra 30 minutes before the police said it was definitely safe to go outside.


My principal is having an awesome week.


Prevailing rumors on the fire:

• They caught the person who did it Monday
• Monday and Tuesday were the same person (possibly a sophomore no one I know actually knows).
• Five people made a pact to each set a trash can on fire on an assigned day of the week
• Monday was a smoking accident, and Tuesday was just a copy-cat who thought it was funny

I guess it sounds like I go to school in a really bad neighborhood, but that's not actually the case. We just have a mall filled with businesses across the street and apparently one or more immature people who think arson is amusing. They're wrong--the only thing that's funny are the jokes we make about it while waiting for class to start.

Traditions

"A person who can bring the spirit of laughter into a room is indeed blessed." - Bennet Cerf


I just found the blog of someone I met on Monday who has just moved here from Utah. Her most recent post is about the insane amount of school spirit my school apparently has. I read this and thought "...aren't all high schools like this?"


Kids wear school T-shirts all the time, apparently the local Rite-Aid sells a ton of school merchandise that the SCHOOL ITSELF doesn't actually sell, our speed bumps are painted school colors, and the seniors were all told to wear "senior crowns" on the first day and some decorated their cars for the occasion. Oh, and the water tower across the street reads "Class of 2012." (I feel like this water tower is a countdown to my simultaneous doom and freedom. I've watched the number rise my entire life, and soon it'll be painted with mine.)


Those were some of the things she listed, and when put like that, I guess it is a bit unusual. And yes, some kids take it to an extreme (there's a guy who wears a school-themed RUG as a cloak on the last day of spirit week. We have no idea where he got this rug.) I just never thought about it that way before--this is all I've ever known.


You read in books about kids going "Blech. School sucks. I just want to be done with it. This is boring. I have no school spirit." And the thing is, my school has plenty of those kids. We just...keep them well-hidden to outsiders or something (or maybe the spirited ones are just louder).


Some of it's all tradition, though. This school has been around for over 100 years, after all, so a lot of kids' parents (or even grandparents) went there. We have a road named after the guy who was the band director in the 70s. One of the town's two biggest events of the year centers around our marching band, and the other's a massive craft fair at which the band also plays.


You can see the depth of the tradition just by driving downtown (it's just one street):

• Train station
• Library
• Methodist church
• Baptist church
• Drug store
• Bank
• Post office
• A couple restaurants with "through the decades" murals
• The building that used to be my high school up until the 60s, now a Performing Arts Center

See? Everything a small town needs (although it's grown explosively in the past 20-30 years).


I may have blogged a long time ago about an elderly couple I once saw on a bench outside the drug store enjoying ice cream cones together: I bet they walked down the street to go get ice cream when they were teenagers.


My parents grew up in a (different, and even tinier) small town, so even their stories make the fading vestiges of those days around here seem familiar/normal. This might be the early 21st century, but in some small respects, my town (although it's big enough now that I don't know if that word applies anymore) has yet to grow up.




I can't wait until homecoming week when this girl sees the guys running around campus with giant flags yelling "GREEN! WHITE! GREEN! WHITE!" Ha.

Rant Under Guise of Fiction

Today in Civics my teacher was still out sick, so we watched a movie about how horrible Walmart is for America. This after watching one that may as well have been called How Bush Screwed Up The Country yesterday (ha-- this one particularly vocal Republican guy in my class was not happy).
One woman in the video said "I may as well have my social security check mailed directly to Walmart, since I buy everything there anyway." This bothered me significantly more than it should have, and I was bored, so I wrote a rant poorly-disguised as a dystopian monologue. I don't share much of my fiction on here-- despite talking about it constantly-- so I figured I'd let you read it.

"Rant Under Guise of Fiction"


By Me (or possibly indirectly by rock4ever95- you'll have to ask him if he's perfected his Jedi mind tricks yet.)


Someone once told me that people used to pay taxes to the government.
You'd have to file them and report them, and if you didn't, they could lock you up.
I don't know if I believe that, though. I mean, what would be the point? And how would they enforce it? It's not like anyone actually listens to the politicians anymore. It's the Center that makes all of the decisions; it's the Center that gets all of our money.
You'd think that some corrupt higher-ups decided one day, "Hey, let's take over the world and plunge everyone else into poverty so that if they leave us, they die." No one would want to put their very lives into the banks of one huge company that was faceless but for that grinning yellow mask, right?
Except they did.
One day, some brilliant citizen said "Hey, why don't we send our paychecks directly to the Center, since we buy everything there anyway?"
Yeah, that sounds like a fantastic idea.
But people lapped it up. "Wow," they said, "That's a great idea! We don't want to be responsible for our own money anymore!"
Petitions were signed. Meetings were held behind closed doors. Pep rallies were held behind open doors.
There was singing.
There was chanting.
There were T-shirts.
All in the name of efficiency and simplicity, the American worker ceased to have a say in his own finances-- as long as he was forced to do what he would have done anyway, what was the problem?
The Center got paid for the work I did, and I and everyone else were rewarded with various forms of free mass-produced plastic-- in the color of our choice!
So maybe I do believe we used to pay taxes to the government, but only because there's no way that people this stupid could have made it this far without someone else to spend their money for them.


And the sad thing is, there really were pep rallies and singing and chanting and T-shirts in the video. About Walmart. I wish I could take credit for that part, since I think it's particularly funny, but I'm not making it up.

A Roman Dinner Party

There's this thought I have at approximately 8:30 p.m. every other Wednesday. It goes something like this: "I love writing group I love it I love it I love it."


But that's not what tonight's post is about.


Today was our Latin class' Roman Dinner Party/Fashion Show Day (which is ironic, since I have the class first period).
We learned that Roman women would pin their sleeves instead of having them sewn together, so I figured I'd destroy a shirt I hated and pin it with my Nerd Buttons (of which there are 14*). Mainly it was an excuse to wear the buttons, but my justification was that Roman women probably wore pins that they liked, so I wore the pins that I like.
Then, since it's International Week (whatever that means), we swapped classrooms and played an old Aztec game that's a bit like Sorry.


And since I think about humanity a lot, all of this plus some of the other things we've been learning in Latin made me realize that people as a whole really haven't changed much in the past few thousand years.


We still like food. We still choose which clothes to wear. We still play dumb games that take forever to get a marker out of the Start position. We still want. We still hurt. We still love. We still die. We still use gross generalizations to make a point, and we still stay up later than we should to write blog posts about Deep Things.


And I don't know whether that's a comforting thought, or if it's just really scary.


But there you have it. My Random Thought of the Night, when I should be doing my chemistry homework instead of talking to you or editing the current draft of my work in progress...

Money or Mind?

"Dreams are today's answers to tomorrow's questions." - Edgar Cayce


Yesterday I happened to overhear part of an interesting conversation. I assume that one person had expressed a desire for a job, and the other suggested that he become a waiter.
The jobless one is someone I have known for 4 and a half years now, albeit not terribly well. We've had a lot of classes together, at any rate. 


At the suggestion of taking up waitering, he said "I could never be a waiter--No, you don't understand. I need to think. I need to think all the time."


Now, me and this guy are pretty much total opposites. Opposite political views. Opposite religious views. He's a huge extrovert. I'm a huge introvert. You get the idea.
But that? That has my name written all over it. That is why I shudder inside every time my parents suggest that I work in a fast food restaurant. (I reject that it's snobbish of me-- it's not because I think I'm above that kind of work-- just that I really, really, don't want to do it).


It's interesting that such different people can have such a fundamental similarity.


This is the same guy that I really, really, really, really want to stick in a room with rock4ever95 and see what happens. They're both incredibly similar, I think: just with opposing views. And neither is afraid to talk about them.
That would be a fascinating and entertaining conversation. It's too bad they probably won't ever actually meet in an environment suitable for debate (as in, they could both go to the same showing of my school's spring musical).


Also, is it strange that the best piece of literature I've read today was my dad's Facebook profile? Not to diss the other stuff I read today: it's just that he's a fabulous writer.

"If you need to be reminded to like your romantic partner...you're doing it wrong" - John Green

I'm too exhausted from the debate tournament that took place all weekend to provide much interesting insight on that quote, unfortunately.
Yeah, it's Valentine's Day and I'm single, but since all I feel like doing is sleeping, I can't be bothered to care about that right now either. HA.

The tournament was utterly amazing, though, and Duke's campus is gorgeous and so, so cool. We spent most of our time in THE GREAT HALL. I didn't make finals in my event, but I didn't expect to due to the abstract and totally bizarre nature of my piece. I had a fun time doing it, but I'm ready to move on to a new, more sensical bit of literature. I'm thinking Looking for Alaska.


One of our Public Forum (partner debate) teams made it to semi-finals despite one member throwing up half an hour before it started (we're not sure why--we don't think it was nerves), and probably would have made it to finals too if not for a desperate-yet-effective move on their opponents' part regarding one of their sources. It was a valid source, but they didn't have a print-out with them, so they lost. The topic was whether or not Wikileaks is a threat to U.S. national security, and each team has to argue both pro and con over the course of the tournament.


Everyone keeps telling me that I should enter a debate event instead of speech, and I've told them that I was waiting for the right topic. I found my topic.


The Policy Debate (still trying to figure out what that is, but I know that it's also a two-person team thing) topic for the 2011-2012 school year involves space exploration. That's something I'm interested in. 


So there you have it.

Civil Unions vs. Gay Marriage

Thoughts on Life is divided into three sections: Poetry, Short Stories, and Non-Fiction.
In the third section (although it's not listed in the Table of Contents for some reason), there is a speech that I wrote last year for my English class. I would like to share it with you.


For more really good articles on the subject, check out here and here.

Civil Unions vs. Gay Marriage: Which is the Better Option?

     “Good morning, Hank. It’s Sunday, June 28, 2009, and I’m angry!” That is how Printz Award winning author of young adult literature and prominent video blogger John Green began his video entitled “Gay is Not an Insult." He then went on to explain that in order to insult someone, you must “paint them with character traits or identities that are bad," and therefore “gay” is not an insult because being gay is not a bad thing, and neither are the two other popular YouTube insults of "nerd" and "virgin" (“Gay”). However, some people disagree with this statement, saying that homosexuality is indeed bad, and that such people can't stay commited to a relationship. They believe the institution of marriage should be reserved for straight couples only, and therefore have created a "separate but equal" institution known as a civil union as a perfectly acceptable alternative for them to be joined in. This commonly held belief is incorrect, as civil unions are not equal to marriage, and gays deserve the right to marriage even if civil unions did give the same benefits.

     The point of whether or not homosexuality is a sin, when it comes to the issue of gay marriage versus civil unions, is completely moot. Even convicted felons are not denied the right of marriage, so the moral status of it has nothing to do with the legal matters of allowing it.

     Some people insist that gay couples can’t uphold the same standards of commitment and legitimacy to the marriage that straight couples can, and use that as an excuse to deny them their right to marriage. This mantra, in addition to being a falsehood, has no grounds in relevancy. These individuals do not take into account the statistically higher rates of illegitimacy present in certain racial populations: marriage is not denied to them either (Sullivan). In fact, lesbian couples have one of the highest commitment rates (Gannon) because of the naturally higher and stable levels of the hormone oxytocin in the brain. Oxytocin promotes emotional love and strengthens such bonds between people, while also creating the desire to “nest” and settle down. Men, on the other hand, have very low and tempermental levels of this hormone compared to women and therefore are more likely to break the commitment of marriage (Grundy). This fact, degrading to the cause for equality as it is, is tossed out the window when it is considered that due to their long, draining, and dedicated fight to gain the right of marriage, when the sun dawns on a new day in the history of gay rights, those couples will treat their new option with a respect and seriousness far greater than that given to it by their straight counterparts who take it for granted.

     Now let us explore exactly why civil unions are not an acceptable alternative to marriage. According to Yale Law School, there are 1138 federal protections granted to married couples, but not to spouses joined in a civil union. In addition, employers are not required to give benefits such as insurance to such people, whereas married spouses automatically receive them (Ayres). This shunts unmarried couples joined in a civil union into an unfair and disadvantaged situation. They can legally be kept out of hospital rooms while their spouse is on his or her deathbed, and suffer many other kinds of pain due to this lack of protection. Public officials, such as judges, have the right to refuse to officiate a civil union between people of the same gender, while they are required to marry heterosexual couples if asked (Ayres). This is a gross injustice, as now not only has equality been removed from the marital system, but so has security. There is no garuntee any given official will consent to facilitate, since his personal views may interfere with his decision. Should gay judges be allowed to deny marriage to straight couples because of their views? Furthermore, lesbian and gay couples can only choose to be in a civil union, or settle for nothing at all, while straight couples can choose either (Lambda). This restraint on options begs for discrimination by implying inferiority where none exists.

     Our country’s Declaration of Independence declares that “…all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, [and] that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” (U.S. Declaration of Ind.). Being martially joined with the person you love certainly falls under “the pursuit of happiness”, as well as liberty. By creating an alternative to anything for a minority (in this case, gays and lesbians), the government violates this constitutional promise of equality.

     Other than strictly legal matters, there are social effects from being in a civil union that are rather undesirable. “Without the word ‘marriage’, other people ‘have to wonder what kind of a relationship it is, or how to refer to it, or how much to respect it’…Those couples lose the respect and dignity they deserve for their commitment to be responsible for each other” (Lambda). Respect is a commodity in the world, and it is one many people fail to give to those who deserve it. Why should gays lose what little they do receive over a meaningless squabble of terminology and religious versus legal definitions?

     Some may say that marriage isn’t at all important, so why bother fighting for equality within it? The answer is simple, and Lambda Legal puts it very nicely: “if access to marriage weren’t a big deal, there would be no effort to restrict it in the first place” (Lambda). Regardless of whether or not homosexuality is “sinful,” people falling under that banner are humans just like the rest of us and deserve equal rights, as promised by our country, ironically known as a “land of equal opportunity”.

     All of you may be thinking something to the tune of "I'm straight: this doesn't affect me. Why should I bother to help?" The same thought once traveled the synapses of my brain. It was then that I realized that that was exactly the sort of thing going through the Germans' brains as they watched Jews march past them to their deaths. It was then that I took my stand. It is estimated that around 10% of the global population is at some level (conscious or unconscious) of homo- or bisexuality, and 1% have some sort of intersex condition (Green “Sex”). This means that the outcome of this battle could have a significant impact on as many as three people in this room right now. Even if you're not one of those potential three, how would you like it if you weren't allowed to religiously or legally be joined to the person you loved? This isn't a personal matter; it's a matter of principle. If we compromise our belief in equality in just one instance, what's to stop us from doing it again and again?

     In conclusion, gays deserve the same rights as straights based on the equality supposedly ensured by U.S. Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. All arguments against this are proven worthless by either other groups sharing similar traits yet receiving the same rights as everyone else or by the separation of church and state. Civil unions do not provide a suitable alternative for marriage, due to both legal inequalities and social disadvantages. One day, homosexuality and gay marriage will be taken in stride just like a person’s possession of dyed hair or tattoos—that is, it will be recognized as not the majority, but perfectly normal. Until this day comes, I will continue fight alongside John and Hank Green and the Harry Potter Alliance, as I have been actively doing for the past few months, in favor of marriage for all. After learning about these disgusting acts of discrimination, I hope you will too. In the words of John Green, "Ultimately, gay will never work as an insult because gay is not bad. So you want to call me a gay nerd virgin? That's fine."

Works Cited

Ayres, Ian. “Separate, Unequal: How Civil Unions Fall Short of Marriage”. 2005. 17 Nov. 2009

Gannon, Heather Ann. “Same-Sex Marriage Should Be Allowed.” 2008. 28 Nov. 2009 .

“GAY is NOT an INSULT” (video recording). 29 June 2009. Indianapolis, IN. John Green. 28 Nov. 2009 .

Grundy, Benjamin. “Episode 209—Mysterious Universe.” Mysterious Universe. 31 Oct. 2009. 8 Nov. 2009 .

Lambda Legal. “Civil Unions are not Enough”. 18 Nov. 2009 .

“Sex, Sports, and Caster Semenya” (video recording). 13 Sept. 2009. Indianapolis, IN. John Green. 19 Nov. 2009 .

Sullivan, Andrew. “Marriage or Bust: Civil Unions are not Enough.” 15 Oct. 2008. 18 Nov. 2009 .

A Post That's Actually About Writing

“Creating things because you think they’re awesome is always a good thing to do for your future. That is undeniable, because if you think they’re awesome then other people are going to think they’re awesome too… There’s nothing wrong with doing stuff just because it’s awesome. In fact, there’s everything right with doing stuff just because it’s awesome.” - Hank Green


Today I was flipping through the college emails (they're still coming 1-3 per day), and I found one that actually seemed different from the others in a tangible way-- one that made me go "OOH!"
Then I looked at the estimated price per year...and it doesn't look like that's going to happen.
However, there's always scholarships and stuff, and I don't actually have to worry about it for another 1-1.5 years! 
I'm just thinking about it now because, well, my inbox is full of it.


But today I received my first writing-based check (still can't publicly announce what it's for yet, unfortunately-- hopefully I can tell you later this month), which brings my total amount of money made from my writing up to an amount that is more than the six bucks I've made off of Thoughts on Life (now there's a product that's brought in a lot of revenue).
By the way, if you're one of those people-- or if you just borrowed a copy from me-- which pieces did you like the best? I won't pretend that they're my best work, as again, it was just created as a present for my grandma, but I'd still like to hear your Thoughts (That's a pun. I'm funny.)


This check was a one-time thing, though-- more of a commission rather than royalties. 


However, that's still pretty freaking awesome.


The Agent Whose Name I Am Afraid To Mention Out of Fear of Jinxing It still has The Clockwork Experiment...and I may be semi-stalking her on Twitter...


I'll see some of you at the concert tomorrow. **excited** 

I Went To A Lock-in

Rule # 3 on my Latin "Rules and Policies" sheet (3 after Being Respectful and Coming to Class Alert and Sober): "Leave your bigotry at the door. Feel free not to retrieve it when you live. There are plenty of mean people out there in the world, but in this class we will contrive to be kind to each other. That includes blacks, whites, browns, yellows, gays, straights, bi's, confuseds, Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, animists, atheists, Wiccans, southerners, northerners, easterners, westerners, talls, shorts, fats, skinnies, preps, socials, gothics...basically everybody except Duke fans."


Saturday night, I went to a lock-in at my friend's church (a term which I use since it's one people will recognize, since they call it Meeting). We watched a movie about energy conservation and green power, and then hung out and played Settlers of Catan and did random stuff for the rest of the evening.


We had these things called FAPs (Friendly Adult Presences) who hung out and supervised us and whatnot. Two of them left around midnight and it was just the 6 of us and the youth leader for another hour until someone else showed up so the youth leader could get some sleep.
This other person, according to what I heard in the morning, stayed with us for most of the night while we slept. A woman who I think was his wife came at around 5 to open up the building and cook us (and her, and a few other people) breakfast.
How awesome is that? All of these people sacrificing so much of their time (and sleep) just for a bunch of teenagers spending the night in a little room in the basement.
I felt so loved.


After breakfast, we washed the dishes and then went to the first 15 minutes of Meeting (the non-adults always leave at that point), which entailed us sitting on benches in a room full of other people sitting on benches in total silence.
It was an incredibly powerful experience: all of us, sitting in a room together, yet being totally ourselves, and just ourselves. Not talking to each other or anything. Just...being. I don't know if I've ever been inside such a populated room that is simultaneously so absent of sound.
It was amazing.


I often say that I think religion should be a completely personal experience, and therefore we should all just worship from home. This began as an attempt at an argument for getting out of going to church (which failed), but then I came to realize that I actually believed it but for the fact that a lot of people turn to religion for a sense of community as well as spiritual fulfillment.


This matched up my views and the need for community. The actual spiritual bit was theology and liturgy-free, but there's still lots of social things both just-for-fun and to make the world a better place.


After we went back downstairs to listen to and talk with a representative of their environmental concerns committee (you read that correctly. They have a committee in their church for that). We discussed ways to cut back on energy consumption both in our personal lives and in society as a whole, and I realized: these people meant business. It wasn't just a "yeah, we should save the Earth. Go green and stuff. Yay." They were serious. I was/am awe-struck.


When we first sat down, the man from the ECC told us that he thought of the high school youth group as a group, and was genuinely interested in getting to know each of us/them personally. Every time he asked us a question, I felt that he really did want to know the answer, and had thought about the question beforehand.


Which brings me to the final major thing I was surprised-in-a-good-way about: all of the adults I interacted with over the course of the lock-in acted with phenomenal respect towards us young people. 


How much better could a weekend get than spending it with my best friend and other awesome people discussing things that matter, yet having fun at the same time, in such a caring environment?

Spring Semester

I'm sure I've mentioned on here before that my sisters and I eat breakfast by the light of glowsticks on the first day of school. Unfortunately, today was the start of the new semester (all new classes for me, and two new ones for both of them), and I couldn't find the package my parents gave me for Christmas. :(


I had a really great and interesting topic to discuss today, but I have absolutely no idea what it was, so you're going to have to either exit out of the window or read about all of my new classes. Sorry. Really. I would have preferred to write about the other thing.


Started the day off with my first-ever semester of Latin. We have a fish pond in the middle of our classroom. I'm serious. We learned vowel and consonant pronunciation. We have to pay 25 cents to use the bathroom, but he takes the money and throws us a party at the end of the year. While other language classes are based around speaking and listening, ours is mostly about reading (so you see why I'm glad I'm taking it- ha).


Then I got to run all the way across campus to band, and I was surprised at how much I'd missed band class, having barely played my clarinet since June. We didn't actually play any music until about 5 minutes before class was over, but...it was fun. And my new mouth-piece makes my embrasure sound much better than it actually is.


Next was Civics and Economics, which I've heard a lot of conflicting opinions about. It seems like a lot of interesting discussions take place, but I've also heard a lot of complaining about all of the dumb guys in certain classes...(sorry, that's sort of an inside joke-- not that I want to keep it  secret-- you guys just wouldn't find it funny). 
The Honors and Academic-level students are all mixed together, so we have different grade break-downs (tests & quizzes count for more with us Honors kids and classwork more with them) and have to do more of these things called Citizenship Credits-- which are basically mini-projects due at certain times throughout the semester. 


Last was AP Chemistry, the review packet for which my teacher forgot to give me before exams. Fortunately, I'd done enough of her review packets for the Honors Chemistry exam that I'm not too behind except for the memorization of solubility rules and ions and such.


I have to watch the State of the Union Address (one of our main Presidential speeches of the year, for those outside of the U.S.) for C&E tonight, so I'll probably type up some thoughts on that either as I'm watching or tomorrow. Or Thursday, since I'll be baking stuff for you lot tomorrow.

An Abundance of Quotes Part 8

"I never imagined myself being a writer. I always imagined myself actually being smart or something." - Christopher Paolini


"The truth resists simplicity." - one of the vlogbrothers. Hank says it in a recent video, but the context hints that John said it at some point before.


"Each day provides its own gifts." - Marcus Aurelius


"It is the nature of all greatness not to be exact." - Edmund Burke


"Know or listen to those who know." - Baltasar Gracian


“It is very sad to me that some people are so intent on leaving their mark on the world that they don’t care if that mark is a scar” - John Green


"The crux... is that the vast majority of the mass of the universe seems to be missing." - William J. Broad


"You have to dream before your dreams can come true." - Abdul Kalam


"The joy of Alzheimer's: I can always make new friends, and I can hide my own Easter eggs." - my math teacher, who does not have Alzheimer's.


"You look like someone peed in your cornflakes." - Also my math teacher


(Guy in my math class): "Dude, are you racist towards Asians?"
(Another guy in my math class): "If by 'racist' you mean 'sexually attracted to,' then yes."


I'm cleaning out my binder and found some things I made note of, the conversation above being one of them. It's too bad I don't have any novel ideas that need a lot of modern teenage boys. Perhaps The Clockwork Experiment's eventual sequel can use them. 


Did I ever tell you guys that my mom has traced our lineage back far enough to know that my great x25 grandfather's name was Grimbaldus? He lived in the 1500s, and didn't have a last name.
We're also directly descended from John Alden & Priscilla Mullins (they came over on the Mayflower), closely related to Winston Churchill, and distantly related to John Adams, Princess Diana, and Sarah Winchester (of Winchester Mystery House fame).
I just thought that was an interesting bit of information for you to know.