The Next Rocky Balboa at Your Service

Remember how my last rambling post was about MMA fighting?  Well, I’m the idiot who decided it was a wonderful idea to act on that wish and replace her gym membership with a BOXING gym membership.  I’m starting off with a personal trainer for the first two weeks of training to get a feel for the basics, then we’ll see where it goes from there.  Personal trainers are expensive for someone like me who can’t afford them.

I realize boxing does not even come close to MMA, but Mixed Martial Arts take so long to learn and trainers for that are like fifteen times more expensive than boxing.  So boxing it is.  My boyfriend isn’t happy about it.  He says it’s too manly.  I told him to get over it and that’s that.

Mixed Martial Arts Please

I have been coming up with a lot of BS schemes lately because I’m trying to think of something – ANYTHING – to keep me from getting bored and depressed and going into remission because I’m tired of waiting for what I want.  My not-so-new desire is to learn MMA fighting.  I’ve always wanted to be a boxer and MMA is even better.  Also that kind of self-control and strength will give me more energy and will help me in the future since I’m working to become a state trooper and some martial arts, like Judo, are taught at the Academy.

The downfall to this is that I don’t have money.  I’m a broke college student.  No trainer is going to work for free if there’s no future benefit for him or her.  I’d like to be hopeful that I have a strange encounter with a random person like I do all the time (for example, the weird old lady I met at Walmart at one o’clock in the morning whose ride left without her and I wound up giving her a ride home with all her groceries) and this person would think I’m so cool and would train me for free at his awesome personal gym.  That would be sweet.  Everywhere I go I think I’ll just start doing nice things for people who are really jacked and hint that I want to train for MMA.

“Excuse me, you dropped your wallet.”

“Oh, thanks, I don’t know what I would have done if it were taken.  You’re awesome.”

“Yeah, I know.  I’d be even more awesome if I knew Mixed Martial Arts.  Do you happen to know any?”

“No.”

“Okay, well do me a favor and find me a free personal trainer and I’ll give you this credit card back that I ‘borrowed.’  Kthnxbye.”

I need to be like Kevin James on “Here Comes the Boom.”  I never would have envisioned him playing an MMA fighter.  I wanna be like him now.  It’s all about knowing the right person, I guess.  I’m not a big networker and I don’t see myself being one in the future.  But maybe someday I’ll meet that person that would be willing to help me out.  The probability of that is slim to none, though.  I can dream.

The Glamour of the Media

I’d personally like to know how many people paid attention to the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.  Yes, the media glamorized how the U.S. and celebrities and FEMA were all working so hard to help people.  News programs showed the military evacuating citizens.  But really, what happened?  Thousands of residents were shipped out to no less than 19 states and were put into camps.  One of those states was Utah.

First, I’d just like to point out that many people didn’t leave New Orleans during the hurricane, not because they didn’t want to, but because they didn’t have means.  New Orleans was full of poverty, and many people didn’t have cars.  What were they supposed to do, ride a bike hundreds and thousands of miles to evacuate?  These so called buses that were coming to “evacuate” people, weren’t letting anyone on them.  How were they going to leave?  The answer is that they couldn’t.  Try as you may to justify that these people were irresponsible, most of them just couldn’t leave, which is tragic because so many people lost their lives – more than 800.  Not to mention many believed that the “failure” of the levy system and the opening of the flood gates in the Lower Nine was to save the wealthy neighborhoods because those wealthy neighborhoods had hardly any water through the streets when the lower class neighborhoods were all flooded.

When the helicopters and planes came in to evacuate people after the storm, those citizens were not informed as to where they were going, they were just dumped in random states.  They hardly had anything left to claim as their own, some only arrived with a blanket.  In Utah, almost 600 residents of New Orleans were stuck in a military base called Camp Williams.  While the Red Cross and government officials were trying to help these people, they still did not feel welcome because they were in a state with a .08% black population; keep in mind that 80% of the population in New Orleans was black because of the history and the culture there, so the unfamiliarity was not welcome.  There were many residents of Utah who were not happy about the relocation because they felt that poverty stricken criminals were being dropped in to their homelands.

The truth of the matter is that there WERE criminals being evacuated to those refugee states.  In New Orleans, jails released criminals onto the streets because they couldn’t evacuate them for whatever reason.  The refugee camps set up background checks to identify criminals and frisks immediately as people were exiting planes and helicopters.  It was an outrage for those evacuees because they felt that it was a racial issue.  Imagine how it felt for those people finding out that they were having to live in the same camp with rapists and murderers.  How would you feel?

Eventually many of the evacuees decided they didn’t want to leave Utah, they wanted to stay because they had nothing left in New Orleans and the memories of crime, loss and death were too painful to move back.  It was a struggle for many to reestablish their lives.  The media portrayed black Americans in a terrible light due to the fact that everything those news crews filmed involved violence.  For people to judge those who went through such tragedy, they should be ashamed of themselves.  Help those people who need help, they’re humans just like you and me.  Wouldn’t you want someone to help you?  Think of Hurricane Sandy.  What will we find out about New York City?  You would think that any person would learn from crises such as these to help his or her fellow Americans instead of judging them so harshly just because of their race or class and what is portrayed in the media.

I highly recommend anyone watch “Desert Bayou,” which is where this entire rant came from.

 

 

 

Unwanted Leadership

Only one man in a thousand is a leader of men – the other 999 follow women. – Groucho Marx

Leadership is a characteristic that some people possess and some people do not.  Some wait forever for a position where they have the opportunity to take charge and dictate until everything is exactly the way they like.  However, others, like myself, possess leadership qualities, but prefer not to use them unless absolutely necessary.  I would rather not be the initiator, if you will.  My preference is to just sit back, observe, and play devil’s advocate.  It always seems to be the case where I HAVE to play the role of leader, though, especially in school.

With that being said, I hate group projects for reasons stated above.  I always get the shittiest group, and every time I have to force myself to initiate the project.  I am in the process of participating in two group projects for two different classes.  The first one is for my Criminal Justice 101 class.  The group is comprised entirely of Freshmen and they all stared at each other for a good three minutes before I decided to pipe up and throw some ideas around until they started participating and coming up with some brilliance on their own, which made me happy because then I could melt back into the group, instead of being a lone subject.  The second group is for my Investigation project, and these guys are beyond hopeless.  Everyone single one of us are Upperclassmen, this should be something that we all jump into and get hands on with.  They were worse than the Freshmen.  All of them just sat there, when I – again – had to start throwing ideas around hoping that one would stick, they all stared at me and expected me to come up with everything, they didn’t even tell each other their names.  This irritates me beyond all belief.  I do not want to manage the entire project.  That’s not who I am, and that’s not what I like.  Not to mention it makes me look like a micromanaging asshole.  All I want is a good grade that I’m paying for, and to learn something that might pertain to my future career choice.

Investigations is a pretty important class to those who are criminal justice majors.  At some point in our future careers we will have to do some investigating into some kind of situation, whether it’s has to do with social work, corrections, or if someone is a regular patrolman.  Investigating techniques are very important, especially if the incident being investigated has to go to court – the information acquired has to be accurate, otherwise evidence could be subject to the exclusionary rule.

 

On another completely unrelated topic… someone dropped a crab leg in the walkway through the apartment complex.  It still has a pincher on it.  Kind of weird.

9:00 in the Morning and the Tears Start Pouring… From Facepalming too Hard

Two things are infinite:  the universe and human stupidity; and I’m not sure about the universe. – Albert Einstein

There are a few different things I want to touch on today that I observed this morning within the space of an hour (actually less, but I’ll give these idiots the benefit of the doubt).  First, I just want to say that Albert Einstein and I would be great friends.

Stupid people driving smart cars:

When I was walking back to my vehicle this morning from class, I witnessed some hippie in his little white smart car trying parallel park; by far one of the most embarrassing displays I have seen when it comes to parking.  To those of you who don’t know what a smart car is, I would just like to say: get out of Mom’s basement once in a while.  It’s probably the tiniest car made.  That’s not official because I haven’t looked it up, just a personal observation.  This guy was trying to park in a normal sized parking spot, not some itty bitty space that cars weren’t meant to fit in, and he had to restart FOUR times.  Really?  Come on.  You are driving a car the size of my thumb and you can’t just whip that little thing in there?  There was enough room to fit two of those ugly piles of mechanic waste in there.  He could have done donuts all day in that parking spot.  Clearly this person wasn’t meant to drive.  Better start taking the bus, it probably costs the same.  Another thing: take a bath and cut your hair.

Airing dirty laundry on TV:

After I stopped laughing at hippie-boy, I went to Wegman’s to grab yogurt and a muffin for breakfast.  I sat down in the cafe and watched whatever show was playing on TV.  Of course, it was a talk show.  And of course, it was some white trash girl and her mother-in-law fighting about the daughter-in-law’s lifestyle.  I just want to start this one by saying: DO NOT TALK ABOUT YOUR PROBLEMS ON TV.  The only people who do that are people desperate for attention to the point of stupidity, or idiots who can’t seem to keep their mouths shut.  The only people who watch it are forced, have no life, or are waiting for something better to do.  Do we ever see smart rich people on talk shows?  No.  Keyword:  smart.

Religion and retail:

A commercial came on while I was watching this oh-so-intriguing show (I’m pretty sure it was the Ricki Lake show).  The commercial was for Christian Flooring.  The kicker was that “Christian” had a giant red cross as a “T.”  So they weren’t implying religious activity or anything like that.  What happens if you say that you don’t want to buy from Christian?  It’s blasphemous and he tells God to strike you down because you didn’t choose the right path, obviously.  He probably remodels church floors all the time, so there’s only one person for the pious to hire to replace their flooring material.

Find a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life. – Confucius

Working is essential to be able to support yourself and any others who come along.  We all know I complain profusely about the position I currently occupy; it’s a job, nonetheless.  While I am always on the search for an occupation more fitting for my schedule and school requirements, when asked for a specific job title that I’m looking for, I’m completely stumped, as if I just started to take my Managerial Accounting final over again for a third time.  I know what I would like to do in the future, but currently, I have no idea what to even look for.  I would simply like something full-time that pays more than $11.00 an hour simply so that I can pay my bills and live comfortably and that caters to my school schedule.  Is that so much to ask?  They don’t offer than in the “keywords” box, though.

Classroom Menace(s)

Education is a progressive discovery of our own ignorance. – Will Durant

I’m back!!!  I know these posts were missed severely… by, like, one person – you know who you are =].  After the end of the world, the holidays killed my motivation.  But, working past that, I’m removing my blog from the “intermission phase.”

Those of you who don’t know, it’s time for all the wonderful college students – who aren’t obnoxious to the rest of the world at all (sarcasm here, guys) – to be back in college.  Yay us!  I am currently finished with my first week and proud to inform those of you wondering that I did indeed survive, and, surprisingly, I enjoy my classes immensely now that I’ve changed my major to Criminal Justice.  Personally, I’m shocked.  15 years of solid dislike of school will do that to a person.  I don’t even mind getting up at 07:00 every morning to go to my 08:00 class, which I’m sure will give my mom a heart attack since she’s had many lovely experiences trying to get me up that early in the past.  HOWEVER, since I changed my major I have to take a few beginning classes in which the student populace is 95% Freshmen.  It’s like working with a bunch of 2-year-olds, I swear. Here is an actual quote from a student today, “Police need to respond faster.”  Oh, yeah?  They can only respond as fast as they can drive, dumbass.  What do you want them to do, teleport?

I’m taking a 101 intro class and my professor is of Asian decent.  He has a very thick accent and his words are sometimes mispronounced, which doesn’t bother me because of all the business classes I’ve taken with professors of Asian and Arab decent previously.  I’ve come to acquire a good understanding of the mispronunciations that are common.  I understand that learning English is probably frustrating; I could barely get through grammar with Spanish because it’s different than English grammar.  I can only imagine what it would be like to learn Mandarin, for instance.  By far, the hardest person to understand was my Financial Accounting professor.  It was really only difficult to understand her because of the fact that I was struggling to grasp the content and her pronunciation of technical terms at the same time.  When I passed the class with a B, I almost fainted from relief.

With that being said, I notice more, now than before, that people (especially Freshmen) always make fun of professors who mispronounce words, and they do it very rudely and loudly in the middle of class.  It really irks me because American citizens expect everyone in the entire world to speak English.  I understand that it’s a common language across the globe, but really?  Most countries try to adapt and teach English as a secondary language.  We don’t even have a set language, which is why I don’t understand the tension over the fact that many people who live here do not speak English; technically, everyone in the U.S. can speak whatever language they choose, which would make things very difficult, but that’s how it is.  People don’t seem to understand that, and instead they choose to disrespect others.  I couldn’t even hear my professor over the chorus of “whats” and “huhs” and the people mimicking him.  One girl that sits next to me is a complete bitch, remind me to move my seat on Monday because I might explode next time I hear her complain about him.  Sorry we can’t dumb down the syllabus for you, sweetheart.  Better go back to beauty school.

The End of the World as We Know It (or Not)

I don’t use the Mayan calendar.  I use the Garfield desk calendar.  According to it, every Monday is the end of the world. – Ron White

 

Well, people, tomorrow is the end of the world, apparently.  In my personal opinion, it was the end of the world earlier when I tripped and did a faceplant on the concrete stairs walking to my apartment.  So to be honest, my life already started anew.  Way ahead of all of you.  See you tomorrow!

The Sting of Loss

Don’t be ashamed to weep; ’tis right to grieve.  Tears are only water, and flowers, trees, and fruit cannot grow without water.  But there must be sunlight also.  A wounded heart will heal in time, and when it does, the memory and love of our lost ones is sealed inside to comfort us. – Brian Jacques,Taggerung

December 14, 2012 marks a day of tragedy around the world.  The loss of a child is one that I can never begin to imagine, not having any children myself; nevertheless, it is devastating for a light, from a being so innocent and pure, to be stolen by a world of darkness.  My heart goes out to all those involved.

As a result of this catastrophe, people are now calling for school staff to carry guns and blaming the shooting on the fact that God is no longer introduced in the educational system.  We need to stop trying to push our own selfish hidden agendas into the light because of this cataclysm.  This is a time for mourning, not a time to advertise your political and religious beliefs.  If you’re religious, pray for those who have been afflicted by this time of adversity; if you’re not, take a moment of silence.  This is not a moment for you, this is a moment for those affected.

I would like to address these agendas that everyone is so keen to speak their minds about.  To address gun control first, I would like to start off by asking why everyone is all psyched up for gun control now?  Where were all the advocates when previous shootings occurred?  Below is a relatively small list of notable violent events caused by firearms in the United States dating back from the 1980’s:

• March 26, 1980:  Ferris State College in Grand Rapids, MI – A student shot and killed a professor because the professor failed the student on an exam.
• July 18, 1984:  San Ysidro McDonald’s Massacre in San Diego, CA – A man started shooting people of Mexican heritage at a McDonald’s in the San Diego Zoo.  He had a history of domestic violence, and was insistent that the breakdown of society was near.  21 were killed.
• May 16, 1986:  Cokeville Elementary School in Cokeville, WY – David and Doris Young, husband and wife, took 150 students and teachers hostage in ransom of $300 million.  Doris accidentally set off a bomb, killing herself and injuring 78 of the hostages.
• December 16, 1987:  Mayde Creek High School near Katy, TX – An enamored 15 year old boy shot himself in front of his class while the teacher was taking attendance.  The girl he had affections for was also in the room.
• January 17, 1989:  Cleveland Elementary School in Stockton, CA – A white supremacist drug addict who grew up in the area and had a bad home life as a child, shot at children outside in the schoolyard with an AK-47.  He killed 5 and wounded 30.  His victims were predominantly Southeast Asian refugees.
• October 16, 1991:  Luby’s Massacre in Killeen, TX – A man drove his pick-up truck through the front window of a Luby’s Cafeteria and started firing upon customers.  He wounded 20, killed 22, and committed suicide.
• April 19, 1993:  Waco Massacre – A dangerous religious cult called the Branch Davidians killed 76 members when a fire was started during a firefight with the FBI (most likely intentionally as they were holed up because of a predicted apocalypse caused by Jesus Christ’s return) in the building in which they were residing.  The leader of the cult practiced polygamy by ordering all marriages in the sect dissolved so that he could have all the women in the group to himself, he had taken multiple underage brides, warred with a sect that had broken away previously, and possessed an arsenal of illegal firearms because of the religious “war.”
• November 27, 1997:  Conniston Middle School in West Palm Beach, FL – One student killed another over an Adidas watch that the murdered student had taken from the shooter.
• March 24, 1998:  Westside Middle School in Jonesboro, AR – Two students shot at their teachers and fellow students from a wooded area during a fire drill killing 4 students and 1 teacher and wounding 10 others.
• May 21, 1998:  Thurston High School in Springfield, OR – A student, who had been expelled from school the previous day for bringing in a stolen handgun, killed 2 students and wounded 22 others in the cafeteria.  His parents were later found dead, shot to death by their son.
• April 20, 1999:  Columbine High School in Columbine, CO – With intent to murder 500 people and blow up their school, two students killed 12 of their peers and 1 teacher, injured 21 others, and killed themselves.  They had a small arsenal of weapons, including bombs.  This was one of the biggest controversies involving bullying, gun control, and social cliques.
• February 29, 2ooo:  Buell Elementary School in Flint, MI – A six year old boy found his uncle’s handgun and fatally shot a classmate after telling her “I don’t like you.”  The boy was not held accountable because he was “incapable” of intent due to his age.
• May 26, 2000:  Lake Worth Middle School in Lake Worth, FL – An honor student shot and killed his favorite teacher using his grandfather’s gun because he was sent home by the assistant principal for throwing water balloons in school.
• July 20, 2012:  Colorado Movie Theater Massacre in Aurora, CO – A mentally unstable man fired upon a crowded movie theater killing 12 and wounding 58.
• November 29, 2012:  Bennion Junior High School in Taylorsville, UT – A student shot himself because he was bullied for being gay.
• November 30, 2012:  Casper College in Casper, WY – A faculty member was killed by his 25-year-old son, Christopher Krumm,  who stabbed him and shot him with a bow and arrow in front of his class that he was teaching at the time. Mr. James Krumm’s girlfriend was stabbed by his son as well.  Christopher took his own life with the knife immediately after killing his father.

 

Should not only these, but all crimes involving firearms ignite passion in people?  It’s appalling, the lengths that we will go to in order to hurt our peers.  Those who reject gun control should bear all firearm-related crimes in mind when stating that “the only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.”  Where do you think the bad guys get guns?  Where do you think the good guys get guns?  All from the same place.  We do not need AK-47s in every household.  There are so many factors to take into account when you propose that all Americans have the right to carry a gun.  You have to think about criminal record, mental stability, intent, wariness of the consequences of using a gun, etc.  A harmless weapon hidden away can quickly become dangerous when a curious six year old boy finds it, takes it to school, and shoots a classmate.  I have nothing against those who use firearms for hunting, but when a gun is pointed at a human being, then it becomes wrong.  There’s a fine line between safety and danger when one is in possession of a weapon.

Next, I want to address religion.  Religion has absolutely nothing to do with the devastation of the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting.  Just because of the fact that religion is no longer introduced in public education does not mean that those who practice religion are not welcome to do so.  Certain religious holidays are given to those who practice that particular religion.  The reason evolution is now taught as opposed to creation is because Christianity is no longer the only religion out there.  We have to respect others’ boundaries as they should respect ours, which means we have to create a happy medium.  As long as the religious activities being practiced are not dark or harmful to others, then I say more power to those who wish to practice their constitutionally given right to any religion they please.  This is the United States of America, people.  We are the melting pot.  I think many would do well to remember that.  We have no set language.  Our everyday habits include practices combined from a multitude of cultures.  We may practice religion as we please – again, as long as it’s not harming others.  We may speak freely.  We are a democratic republic.  The people speak.  Our country is one of the greatest because of the freedom we have, and we, as a people, ruin it for each other because of biases and hatred.

The last thing I need to address is that although the loss of those on Friday is heartbreaking to say the very least, there are more out there fighting every day for their lives.  Some are nobodies who wait in their hospital beds, dying of cancer or some other fatal affliction.  Some are nobodies who are victims of violent crimes and genocide, lost and forlorn.  Some are nobodies on the front lines, unnamed, fighting for their country.  Most of these victims are not publicly announced, but they are always there, fighting to be heard and to be helped.  While the children and staff brutally slain on December 14th will be prayed for and grieved over immensely, they are but a small fraction of those who have been dealt this hand.  And while we won’t ever forget them, we should bear those in mind who aren’t brought to the light of the media.  Those who are silent and invisible to the world.

Ke$ha Don’t Give Two F@*#s

We are the people our parents warned us about. – Anonymous

Kesha’s new album cover.

I recently purchased Kesha’s new album on iTunes.  I won’t lie here, I love her music.  The more I listen to her, the more I realize she must be a crazy, alcoholic sex addict. Being a college student, I know how parties are, but the way she makes it sound, that is her life every day/night.  Who has the energy or the time to participate that much?  Not me.  She probably keeps that nose candy in her pocket to keep her awake for a few days.  After all, she dresses and acts like she’s living in the late ’70s and early ’80s.

If I had the chance to hang out with her for one day, I’m sure I would be the only one done by 8:00 PM, passed out flat on my back covered in that ever-present glitter that she has.  We probably would have gotten up at 3:00 PM and started the day with Jack (obviously we would be brushing our teeth with it) and breakfast – which has glitter in it..  We would have proceeded to get shwasted from there.  Of course, I would have been dressed in denim with stars and stripes head to toe, a nose ring, a bandana around my head, glitter eyeshadow, gold glittery lipstick, glitter nailpolish, and, of course, feathers in my hair.  We would ride around in her oh-so-famous gold Trans Am (I really am jealous of that thing).  Glitter would come out of the tailpipe instead of smoke.  We would drink Goldschlager for the rest of the night because it has gold flakes in it.  We would eat, drink, fart, and vomit glitter.  That’s all I would remember, I’m sure.