Thursday, October 18, 2012

These are a few of my favorite things

So I've jumped into the world of counseling, to try my hand at helping some college students. This is the start of a list of my favorite phrases that I've heard so far. Some are silly, some are really important.


"And what are the people in your class like?"
"TRIFLIN' MOTHAFUCKAS."

"But... where was he naked?"

"Counseling is often like an abscess. As it fills up with goo, things don't really hurt. Then, when you break it open, it really hurts. But that's also when the healing starts."

"The tan penis is too ethnically specific. Use the blue one."

"She is just a pumpkin full of PMS."

"You know how everyone gets cold when the weather gets colder? We get a seasonal sickness, and once you get over that sickness, the weather is really lovely and worth is. I feel like that's where I am now. This part is the sickness before the beautiful season, and if I can just get through this, there's lovely weather on the other side."

"Any penis that smells is problematic."

"Everyone has their Vietnam - someone they shouldn't have gotten involved with."

Thursday, October 4, 2012

My Political Campaign

I did something I swore I'd never do. I watched the Presidential debate last night. I was so confused and unclear on what either candidate was saying. And I'm disappointing that only the Republican and Democratic parties get to be a part of it. There are many other candidates. And the ones we have the chance to listen to are funded by the same exact corporations, Goldman Sachs being the biggest and scariest, in my opinion. We just plain don't have an actual choice here.




In addition, I really got the feeling like two people were just shouting political terms at me with no explanation of what they entail. Trickle-down government! Tax breaks! Big government! Raise the deficit! Doublespeak! Big brother is watching you!

Plus, my mother told me not to interrupt. Ever.

This is what my political campaign would hinge on:

1. Public schools would be required to incorporate "sufficiency seminars" into their curriculum. Teach children how to utilize solar energy, plant and maintain their own gardens, how to build wells, and crude, basic elements of survival that would help us not be so dependent. Private schools would be encouraged to also adopt these courses by a small tax cut to schools who do offer them.
2. Nationwide, an afternoon "breathing hour" would be adopted. As businesses are private, they would not be required to enforce or include these breathing hours. Individuals who were interested in practicing these hours could not be discriminated against nor lose their jobs. It is my belief that a spike in productivity would be experienced in business if this were adopted. If businesses so chose, they could extend their working day by one hour so that if individuals chose to participate in Breathing Hour, they would be required to make up that hour at the end of the day.
3. Free voter education courses would be supplied by and funded by the government. Voters would learn about the electoral college and how voting works. Included int he curriculem would be suggestions on how to spot biased information and how to find unbiased information. Teachers of this course would be required to be free from political influence. Endorsing candidates, however casually, would be strictly forbidden. These courses would be a requirement before voting.
4. Tax cuts would be given for green businesses and bicycle-related materials.
5. Tax raises would be put on all tobacco, gasoline, fried food, weight loss pills and supplements, and t-shirts with an oppressive amount of rhinestones or studs.
6. More strict protections would be implemented for historical monuments, lands, and buildings, including but not limited to nature preservations.
7. Miliraty members would be trained in descalation of mental health crises and multicultural competencies.
8. A small national healthcare system would be implemented, its size directly in relation to the precentage of Americans who do not have health insurance. Privitized health care would, conceivably, still make up a larger percentage of healthcare services offered. Tort reform would be implement, with the goal in mind of making it less expensive to become and to stay a doctor. Caps on how much a person can win in a medical malpractice suit would be implemented. Reward programs would be offered for doctors working in impovrished countries or programs within the United States focusing on the less fortunate, in order to aid in doctors paying off their student loans. In addition, insurances will be required to treat mental health service needs as any other specialist-required medical concern is treated.
9. Funding for teachers would be garnered from the above mentioned raises in sales tax. Colleges and universities offering Education Degree programs focusing on individualization, encouragement, and respect would receive significantly more funding than their counterparts not offering these things.
10. Funding would be given to the FDA with hopes of offering education through public service announcements and classes about the sideeffects of chemicals commonly found in meat and produce and ways to avoid unhealthy foods.
11. Political candidates and hopefuls would have a cap on how much money they may spend while campaigning. Donations from corporations will still be permitted, as long as the donations do not exceed the specified cap.
12. If states did not adopt anti-discrimination policies based on creed, religion, sexuality, gender expression, race, political belief, and and gender, they would lose all federal funding for transportation and road building.

It's nice to dream.

Monday, October 1, 2012

Grace Facebooks

I'm not sure if you have read something I posted a while ago, my list of things I like about my family. One of those things is that my mom narrates the dog's life for her. Grace is my dog.

Recently, my mom even thought that Grace would probably like to get on Facebook, and to like this picture of her swimming with my mom and I. She couldn't, of course. Being a dog and all. So my mom mentioned it for her.




I wasn't joking.

We love our dog.