The world is changing.
That seems almost ridiculous to type. The world is constantly changing. The plates underneath us are moving, the oceans are growing and shrinking. The trees are growing, babies are growing. The world is constantly moving, changing, growing.
And it's getting hotter too.
October 15 is Blog Action Day - where over 1000 bloggers from 140 different countries commit to blogging about a single topic - to inspire change.
This year, 2009, the topic is Climate Change.
I recognize that this is a hot topic. One that even the students in my preschool class were aware of. Last year, during Earth Day, we did a unit on taking care of our planet. And why its important.
"We need to take care of Earth because it is our home."
"If we don't take care of Earth, we won't have places to live."
"Earth is like our baby dolls. We have to share so everyone can have some."
"If the Earth gets hotter like my lunch, can we eat it?"
"We have to recycle so that we don't have to cut down more trees."
"That's why we don't waste paper."
"Is earth going to blow up like Transformers movie?"
The Earth is changing. The climate is getting warmer. Is it natural progression or are humans causing it? There's evidence that shows both.
But does it really matter what the cause is? Shouldn't we be doing everything in our power to slow it down, to save and conserve as many natural resources as possible, if only to preserve it for future generations?
If my three year olds can recognize the simplicity of it - SHARE - why can't we?
let's NOT use all the oil to power our cars so that future generations will have some.
let's NOT send the Earth into another ice age so that future generations will be able to enjoy the beautiful fall and spring weather.
And if all else fails, maybe the Earth will blow up like in the Transformers movie.
Showing posts with label blog event. Show all posts
Showing posts with label blog event. Show all posts
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Family.
When I talk about family, I could go in so many directions - my friends, who are like my family, my father's side of the family (who could be compared to My Cousin Vinny), actually, I could probably go on for a while about my father. Or, I could talk about my mother's family.
Growing up in my family was almost like growing up in a commune. . In my family there's no "second" cousins, or "great" aunts, (just GREAT aunts).... there's barely a distinction between cousins and siblings, or parents and aunts/uncles. There certainly isn't any difference between full siblings, half siblings and step siblings.
We pretty much had free run between our homes, weekends were definitely spent at Aunt Judy's, or Aunt Mimi's, never at home. Sometimes even weeknights were spent there. And believe me, if you acted up at Aunt Lisa's, you got in just as much trouble with her as you would have with your mom, if not more.
I'm the oldest by 2 years, and the only one who doesn't have a cousin my age. If you ask my brother Mikey who his best friend is, he will tell you my cousin Joe. Bex will tell you that her best friend is our cousin Ange. My brother AJ- his best friends are our cousins Ar and Kev.
It wasn't until I went away to college that I realized that my family is not the norm. Not everyone had Aunts, Uncles and Cousins within grabbing distance. Until I went to college, I never found anything odd about this situation. My college friends didn't and still don’t understand why it is that I am just as attached to my extended family as I am to the family I live with. Even when people ask me to talk about my immediate family, I still can’t help but talk about my aunts, grandmothers and cousins.
I was the first person in my family to graduate high school with out first dropping out, let alone go to college. My graduation, which in any family is a big deal, was a BIG DEAL in my family. Fortunately, Spring graduation doesn't require tickets and anyone can go. I remember marching out, Pomp and Circumstance playing, people all around clapping and cheering for their grads as they walk by.
I look over, and there is my family. Cheering. Mom, Dad, Suzanne, Mommom, Nana, Aunt Judy, Uncle Joe, Bex, AJ, Chris, Aunt Lisa, Aunt Mimi - Ar, Christian, Nellie, Uncle Bo, Angela, Ryan, Mikey. 28 people in all - there to watch me graduate and cheer me on. And that was just the family who was old enough - the youngest of my cousins were at home with the rest of my uncles. My friends laughed and called it "The Girl Fan Club." They were curious as to why my "whole family" was there.
I laughed and explained that it wasn't anywhere near my whole family. And then I explained the universal truth about them - they are just as much a part of my as my mother and sister are, they have done just as much to shape the adult I am becoming, have become. I can't even fathom who I would be without them.
Growing up in my family was almost like growing up in a commune. . In my family there's no "second" cousins, or "great" aunts, (just GREAT aunts).... there's barely a distinction between cousins and siblings, or parents and aunts/uncles. There certainly isn't any difference between full siblings, half siblings and step siblings.
We pretty much had free run between our homes, weekends were definitely spent at Aunt Judy's, or Aunt Mimi's, never at home. Sometimes even weeknights were spent there. And believe me, if you acted up at Aunt Lisa's, you got in just as much trouble with her as you would have with your mom, if not more.
I'm the oldest by 2 years, and the only one who doesn't have a cousin my age. If you ask my brother Mikey who his best friend is, he will tell you my cousin Joe. Bex will tell you that her best friend is our cousin Ange. My brother AJ- his best friends are our cousins Ar and Kev.
It wasn't until I went away to college that I realized that my family is not the norm. Not everyone had Aunts, Uncles and Cousins within grabbing distance. Until I went to college, I never found anything odd about this situation. My college friends didn't and still don’t understand why it is that I am just as attached to my extended family as I am to the family I live with. Even when people ask me to talk about my immediate family, I still can’t help but talk about my aunts, grandmothers and cousins.
I was the first person in my family to graduate high school with out first dropping out, let alone go to college. My graduation, which in any family is a big deal, was a BIG DEAL in my family. Fortunately, Spring graduation doesn't require tickets and anyone can go. I remember marching out, Pomp and Circumstance playing, people all around clapping and cheering for their grads as they walk by.
I look over, and there is my family. Cheering. Mom, Dad, Suzanne, Mommom, Nana, Aunt Judy, Uncle Joe, Bex, AJ, Chris, Aunt Lisa, Aunt Mimi - Ar, Christian, Nellie, Uncle Bo, Angela, Ryan, Mikey. 28 people in all - there to watch me graduate and cheer me on. And that was just the family who was old enough - the youngest of my cousins were at home with the rest of my uncles. My friends laughed and called it "The Girl Fan Club." They were curious as to why my "whole family" was there.
I laughed and explained that it wasn't anywhere near my whole family. And then I explained the universal truth about them - they are just as much a part of my as my mother and sister are, they have done just as much to shape the adult I am becoming, have become. I can't even fathom who I would be without them.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Friendship Part Deux: Bonding
I though my friendship with Missy was strong. She was my best friend throughout late elementary school right on until the end of my first semester of college. We only went to school together for half of one of those 9.5 years. We thought our friendship could survive anything. In the end, the circumstances that pulled us a part were so benign that now, 4 years later, neither of us remembers what happened - only the hurt.
It's safe to say that I was pretty much Missy's only friend, and while I had other friends, there were none that I trusted to the extent that I trusted her. She was a bit on the weird side, unashamed of who she was whereas I was trying to find my place and not really sure who I was or what I wanted. Ultimately, we did not have as much of a bond as we thought. Once we both had other close confidants in our lives (her bf for her, B for me) our friendship fell apart in a matter of months.
Then there's B - she's been my best friend since our senior year of high school. Specifically, since 11/26/03. It was the first time we hung out. My friend Elly and I had tickets to see John Mayer in Baltimore, a 3 hour drive away. Our friend Maggie was supposed to come with us, but backed out the morning of the concert. When I got to Elly's house after school, she told me. We didn't want to waste a ticket, and suddenly I had an idea. B was in my French class, and we'd exchanged numbers that morning for a project. I knew she was a big John Mayer fan and had been jealous of us going to the concert. I decided what the hell and called her to ask her if she wanted to come along with us.
We're been best friends ever since. Bonding over Come Back to Bed and Your Body is a Wonderland will do that to somebody.
I met Jule the second day of my freshman year of college - she lived downstairs and came to a "Get To Know You" party we had in K's room (where most of our significant freshman year memories take place.) It wouldn't be until the next semester that we became friends. We had French class together, and as a freshman, there is nothing worse than having a class where you don't know anyone. Jule sat down in the seat next to me, and we said hello to each other. I asked her if she lived in my dorm, and we've been friends ever since.
We have one of those friendships that is extremely annoying - our brains operate on the same wave length. One can say the craziest thing and the other will still know exactly what she means. We finish each other's sentences and live in our own little world. The only person who comes close to our mental planet is Ash. She usually runs the translations for others in the room. We were known to multiple people as "GirlandJulie" - one word. Our French teacher, who we had for a total of 3 consecutive semesters, didn't know one of us if the other wasn't there.
We're not as close now, but it's something we're working on. She is one of the few people that I know will always be there - we can go months with out talking, but once we can get the other on the phone, it is exactly like it used to be. It's like no time has passed.
It's safe to say that I was pretty much Missy's only friend, and while I had other friends, there were none that I trusted to the extent that I trusted her. She was a bit on the weird side, unashamed of who she was whereas I was trying to find my place and not really sure who I was or what I wanted. Ultimately, we did not have as much of a bond as we thought. Once we both had other close confidants in our lives (her bf for her, B for me) our friendship fell apart in a matter of months.
Then there's B - she's been my best friend since our senior year of high school. Specifically, since 11/26/03. It was the first time we hung out. My friend Elly and I had tickets to see John Mayer in Baltimore, a 3 hour drive away. Our friend Maggie was supposed to come with us, but backed out the morning of the concert. When I got to Elly's house after school, she told me. We didn't want to waste a ticket, and suddenly I had an idea. B was in my French class, and we'd exchanged numbers that morning for a project. I knew she was a big John Mayer fan and had been jealous of us going to the concert. I decided what the hell and called her to ask her if she wanted to come along with us.
We're been best friends ever since. Bonding over Come Back to Bed and Your Body is a Wonderland will do that to somebody.
I met Jule the second day of my freshman year of college - she lived downstairs and came to a "Get To Know You" party we had in K's room (where most of our significant freshman year memories take place.) It wouldn't be until the next semester that we became friends. We had French class together, and as a freshman, there is nothing worse than having a class where you don't know anyone. Jule sat down in the seat next to me, and we said hello to each other. I asked her if she lived in my dorm, and we've been friends ever since.
We have one of those friendships that is extremely annoying - our brains operate on the same wave length. One can say the craziest thing and the other will still know exactly what she means. We finish each other's sentences and live in our own little world. The only person who comes close to our mental planet is Ash. She usually runs the translations for others in the room. We were known to multiple people as "GirlandJulie" - one word. Our French teacher, who we had for a total of 3 consecutive semesters, didn't know one of us if the other wasn't there.
We're not as close now, but it's something we're working on. She is one of the few people that I know will always be there - we can go months with out talking, but once we can get the other on the phone, it is exactly like it used to be. It's like no time has passed.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Blog Event - On Friendship
PurpleGypsy is holding a blog event on life evaluations, and today's topic is friendship.
Friendship is a constant theme on my blog. It's something I talk about on a fairly regular basis.
That being said, I've had multiple people that I've referred to as my "best friend" over the years. My Best friend forBFF. We can go back to preschool - Tara, or even early elementary school - Ari.
Then there were the groups of friends - the FGS (fourth grade sensations - gotta love Judy Blume or upper elementary, the Llamas of middle/high school. The Fab4 of senior year.
It must be a girl thing to name your group of friends. One group, however, seems to be a constant.
I'm a pretty shy person, normally. It takes me a while to warm up to a situation, to be comfortable and let my real self show.
In the Fall of 2006, my best friend and roommate, K, wanted to pledge a sorority. I had no interest, but agreed to go with her as moral support. What I found was my 4 best friends.
I made many close friends in the sorority, and have quite a few outside. But none of them have been like my pledge sisters. We have a bond that I don't have with any other friends. This time, 3 years ago, we were getting to know each other. Who knew the bonds that would form between us at the time. We're all extremely different - the Nerd, the Slut, the Drama Queen, the Prissy Bitch, the Ghetto Girl - on the outside there is nothing that links us together. In fact, there are probably more differences than similarities.
The only thing that I can think of is that these girls have seen me fall apart. They've seen me a crying mess on the floor, they've seen me euphorically happy and laughing, they've seen facets of me I don't realize exist, and everything in between.
They're the people I run to when I’m having a bad day, when I need help, when I have a funny story to share. They're the girls who, at our formal, yelled at my date for being a jerk. The girls who when my car broke down on the PA turnpike at two a.m. drove the hour and 45 minutes to pick me up, no questions asked. The girls who picked me up when my heart got broken, and put the pieces back together. I can say a million things about them, how they’ve helped me, what I’ve done for them, and I still wouldn’t be giving it justice. I’ve often heard it said that college is when you meet the people you don’t know how you ever lived with out. And I have yet to find any truer words.
Friendship is a constant theme on my blog. It's something I talk about on a fairly regular basis.
That being said, I've had multiple people that I've referred to as my "best friend" over the years. My Best friend forBFF. We can go back to preschool - Tara, or even early elementary school - Ari.
Then there were the groups of friends - the FGS (fourth grade sensations - gotta love Judy Blume or upper elementary, the Llamas of middle/high school. The Fab4 of senior year.
It must be a girl thing to name your group of friends. One group, however, seems to be a constant.
I'm a pretty shy person, normally. It takes me a while to warm up to a situation, to be comfortable and let my real self show.
In the Fall of 2006, my best friend and roommate, K, wanted to pledge a sorority. I had no interest, but agreed to go with her as moral support. What I found was my 4 best friends.
I made many close friends in the sorority, and have quite a few outside. But none of them have been like my pledge sisters. We have a bond that I don't have with any other friends. This time, 3 years ago, we were getting to know each other. Who knew the bonds that would form between us at the time. We're all extremely different - the Nerd, the Slut, the Drama Queen, the Prissy Bitch, the Ghetto Girl - on the outside there is nothing that links us together. In fact, there are probably more differences than similarities.
The only thing that I can think of is that these girls have seen me fall apart. They've seen me a crying mess on the floor, they've seen me euphorically happy and laughing, they've seen facets of me I don't realize exist, and everything in between.
They're the people I run to when I’m having a bad day, when I need help, when I have a funny story to share. They're the girls who, at our formal, yelled at my date for being a jerk. The girls who when my car broke down on the PA turnpike at two a.m. drove the hour and 45 minutes to pick me up, no questions asked. The girls who picked me up when my heart got broken, and put the pieces back together. I can say a million things about them, how they’ve helped me, what I’ve done for them, and I still wouldn’t be giving it justice. I’ve often heard it said that college is when you meet the people you don’t know how you ever lived with out. And I have yet to find any truer words.
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