#LoveWins And We Make History

A week ago today I was sitting at work, it was about 7:30AM and my phone went off. Loudly. It shocked me, because typically my phone is on silent and also, why the hell was anyone texting me at 7:30 in the morning?  That's early!

Well it wasn't a text.  It was this small, but important, notification from KSL:

I couldn't believe it.  I mean we'd been waiting on an answer from SCOTUS for months, and nearly holding our breath the past few days as they just kept saying "any day now..." But here it was, a little notification telling me what I expected and hoped for.  No more bans on gay marriage.  Marriage equality in all 50 states.

What did I do first?  Share to Facebook.  Second?  I texted Josh in Canada, and Shawn who is on vacation in Palm Springs.  Neither had heard the good news yet, and both were ecstatic about it.

It was amazing.  Sitting there all I could think about was that love did win, and how it was such a fantastic day to be alive while history was being made.  I thought about all of the women who fought for the right to vote and how they must have felt when the ruling was passed down, and how everyone who fought for race equality must have felt the day that decision was passed down... They must have felt like this.  They must have felt this surge in their chest.  They must have felt, for at least that day, proud to be an American.  As someone who's not terribly patriotic (I am grateful for everything I've been given and I support our troops-don't get me wrong), I sat there in complete awe and wonder, as I was immensely proud to be an American.  We may take a little longer than other countries trying to get these things fixed, but eventually we do, thank goodness.

No, this wont fix all of the problems, but it's sure a damn good start.  We still have so far to go.  There's still way too much hatred, bigotry, and persecution.  There are still so many states where you can be fired or evicted simply for being gay.  We still need so many non-discrimination laws put into place.  We still to deal with bullying, hate crimes, inequality of pay between the sexes, immigration, health care, war, etc.  There will still be bigots, homophobes, and racists out there.  But for today?  Today we can be happy that this one thing came to fruition so well.  That it was such a beautiful day in history.

One day, I'll tell future generations where I was on that historical day when we finally stood up against this small piece of bigotry.  That feels amazing.

Where were you when you heard the news?

Also, if you're anti marriage equality or you have something nasty to say, please just move along.

I don't want to get into any kind of debate or argument here, I simply want to celebrate loving one another.

STOP SOPA & PIPA

Today is blackout day around the internet world.
It's time to take a stand against SOPA & PIPA
I'm taking a stand today as well.

Let's stand up to Congress and let them know that we cannot be bullied.
We will not be silenced.  We will not allow our liberty to be taken away.
We are America, and we were founded on major principles that no lawmaker should be allowed to disarm.

Educate yourself.

What Are SOPA and PIPA And Why All The Fuss? by Forbes

Take a stand!

Join the Strike!

Sign Google's petition to stop SOPA & PIPA

Change your Facebook & Twitter badges.

Call your senator! (Will connect you with one click)

Tweet About It! Use #SOPASTRIKE & #BLACKOUTSOPA

See more: http://www.BlackoutSOPA.org/MySoCalledChaos

If You Can Read This...

Are you sick of highly paid teachers?

Teachers' hefty salaries are driving up taxes, and they only work 9 or10 months a year! It's time we put things in perspective and pay them for what they do - babysit!

We can get that for less than minimum wage.

That's right. Let's give them $3.00 an hour and only the hours they worked; not any of that silly planning time, or any time they spend before or after school. That would be $19.50 a day (7:45 to 3:00 PM with 45 min. off for lunch and plan-- that equals 6 1/2 hours).

Each parent should pay $19.50 a day for these teachers to baby-sit their children. Now how many students do they teach in a day...maybe 30? So that's $19.50 x 30 = $585.00 a day.

However, remember they only work 180 days a year!!! I am not going to pay them for any vacations.

LET'S SEE....

That's $585 X 180= $105,300

per year. (Hold on! My calculator needs new batteries).

What about those special

education teachers and the ones with Master's degrees? Well, we could pay them minimum wage ($7.75), and just to be fair, round it off to $8.00 an

hour. That would be $8 X 6 1/2 hours X 30 children X 180 days = $280,800 per year.

Wait a minute -- there's

something wrong here! There sure is!

The average teacher's salary

(nation wide) is $50,000. $50,000/180 days

= $277.77/per day/30

students=$9.25/6.5 hours = $1.42 per hour per student--a very inexpensive baby-sitter and they even EDUCATE your kids!) WHAT A DEAL!!!!

Make a teacher smile; repost this to show appreciation for all educators.

***Note: I didn't write the above, and I'm not sure who did.

It's been posted and reposted-if you know who the original is, I'll give them credit.

I think all the teachers should strike.

IF every singe one of them did it, and parents had to call in sick to work so they could come home and actually take care of their own children, and teach their own children-you can bet there'd be enough calls to the legislature to get things actually moving.  I'm almost afraid to have children with the way we keep driving their educations into the ground.

How can we expect them to teach our children and shape their futures if we pay them minimum wage and shove 40+ students into an hour time slot?  How about with all the legislators screwing them over at every single turn?  

Goodbye DADT, and JM-It Get's Worse.

I love John Stewart.

I kind of want to marry the man sometimes.

Just sometimes...

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
It Gets Worse PSA
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor & Satire Blog The Daily Show on Facebook

It's a little long, but stick with it-the last minute or so is the BEST.

DADT is all but dead, and I feel like celebrating.

It's a step in the right direction.

So here's my little celebration.

Be who you are.

Let others be who they are.

If you follow

Jesus: Love one another.

The golden rule: Do unto others as you would have done unto you.

The Beatles: All you need is love.

If you feel like celebrating with me, wherever you are, raise a glass.

I love you all dearly.

Elections...

Did you?

I Was Labeled, but It Gets Better

Oh Mama Kat, you always know exactly which topics to pick to get us writing from the bottom of our souls and pulling from all of those memories we try so hard to repress.  I'm not sure whether I should hate you for it, or love you for forcing me to be a better person.  Forcing me to pour out my innermost pain right here in the blog.  Readers, if you want to link up with Writers Workshop, click HERE.

***

From an early age, I was a vibrant blonde-attention loving child.  I was normal sized at that point in my life.

Somewhere around the age of 8, I ballooned into a much larger-darker haired-less vibrant version of my younger self.  This earned me the label of "the fat kid."  A label I have been carrying with me my entire life.

(I'm on the left in the ugly denim dress.)

I was teased, I was picked on, and none of the boys liked me.  Between 4th and 6th grade, the elementary years, this didn't matter so much.  Kids would pick on me and I would retort with the phrase my dad had taught me to throw back at them.  "I may be fat, but you're ugly and at least I can lose weight!" It got me by.  I was smart, I had a lot of friends who really liked me, and my teachers seemed to adore me when I wasn't tagging along with the bad girls in school.

I was used to being chunkier, and it didn't seem so wrong at that point.  My grandmother's were soft and warm to snuggle into, and my mother was large AND the most beautiful woman I'd ever seen in my entire life (she still is the most beautiful, by the way) so what was so wrong with being big?  Everyone always told me how pretty my mother was, and if she could be big and pretty, I could too-right?

(Mom's on the left, holding my brother and sister.)

However, as I moved into those dreadful teenage years, it got harder and harder to be who I was.  Kids became more cruel, all mixed up in their own hormones and self-loathing, and the insults became harder to handle.  I spent a good chunk of my teenage years losing myself in my books.  My grades suffered, I chose friends who treated me horribly, and I convinced myself that it was my lot in life to forever be unloved.  How could any boy ever want this?  This chunk of human being all fleshy with mousy brown hair and acne?  

I'll admit it, there were days when I contemplated suicide.  Sometimes I felt like I would never come into my own.  I would always have friends that yo-yo-ed me, never real friends that actually cared.  I would never fall in love, never get married, never have children-all because no one would ever want to be with my lard-ass.  I felt worthless, and I had no hope for anything more for my life so I never tried to be anything more.  I never tried to get good grades, or go to college, or date; I was simply trying to survive.

 After high school things did get much better.  I learned how to dress, how to do my hair and makeup, and how to work with what I had.  Mostly meaning my cleavage, boy do I have some good cleavage.  But even with all of that, those words from high school still stick with you.

I tell myself I'm better off, tell myself it doesn't matter what people think, but as my roommate said the other day "We tell ourselves 'sticks and stones can break my bones, but words can never hurt me' but it isn't true.  Words hurt, they hurt a lot."  

Not only do they hurt, but they work their way into your brain like little burrowing worms; planting themselves there with no way for you to extract them without a full on lobotomy.  There are days, even now-over ten or more years later, that I still think to myself "Fatty fatty, two-by-four, can't fit through the kitchen door."  There are times when I look in the mirror and taunt myself, that hurtful little rhyme running on loop in the back of my mind.  Those teenage years are permanently branded in my brain, and now and again I still feel that old burning pain-all hot and tender and stinging as if that the iron, pulled straight from the fire, was once again pressed tight against the mark left by those difficult years.

***

I'm going to end this with something I feel is very important.  So many teens are bullied these days, during the hardest years of their lives for things they cannot change.  It is becoming an epidemic in our country; all of these suicides we've been having lately.  It's tragic.

I just pledged to help support the IT GETS BETTER project, because it does.  Even though the old familiar sting of those words still creep up now and again, and we should put a stop to the bullying and teasing-I am so much better off where I am today than I was back then.  I have people in my life that keep me going, that love me, and who I love more than I can possibly say.  It. Gets. Better.

Let's help kids realize that even if they're being bullied, it isn't a reason to stop living; and let's help put a stop to the bullying by teaching our children to love and accept people.

Will you stand with me?

www.itgetsbetterproject.com

FCKH8

I love this video, it's totally blunt and you all know I like blunt. So in the spirit of CB's blog stalk friday-all mouthy and opinionated.  The little kid saying fuck?  Faboo.  Totally fucking faboo!   Love it or suck purple monkey balls.
I also want one of each of these shirts, they're fantastic! Learn more or get a T-shirt at www.fckh8.com  
I love CB, she has the mouth of a sailor and a heart of gold. 
If you link up over there for BSF, tell her I sent you!

Happy National Coming Out Day!

As most of you know (if you've been reading my blog for a while.) I'm a HUGE supporter of Equal rights and I have a lot of LGBT friends.  So, in the spirit of things:

Happy National Coming Out Day!

So in the spirit, I'm going to come out on my blog. It's kind of scary to do, even though I'm proud of who I am; I've avoided really talking about the matter before because I love all my readers and family.  However, I figure if a reader has a problem with who I am-and don't want to read anymore-let them be that way.  Also, if my family doesn't love me still, I don't want to stay close to them.  I'm still the same person, and my blog will still go on as it has.

I'm bisexual.

Yes, I prefer men in general (mostly I think because of the religious brainwashing I had as a child) but I am still very attracted to women.  If I found the right girl, I think I could fall in love and settle down and have a life with her.  I just haven't found that person yet, be it male or female.  I've been with women physically, but never had a lasting loving commitment with one... But hell, look at how terrible most of my relationships with Men have been-I could say the same for them.

So there it is, I'm completely out, which is both scary and liberating.  Do with it what you will.

I love and support you all, and can only hope for the same!

Have a great day!

I Am DONE with the Mormon Church

It's funny that one of Mama Kat's writing prompts this week was "What makes you mad, and what are you going to do about it?" As I have been trying to decide how to write about this all week.  I literally thought "I'm not sure what to say yet, so I'll distract myself by checking out what the Writer's Workshop is this week."  I'm taking it as a sign that this was the only prompt that hit home for me, and that it so obviously fits the issue I've been looking for the words to convey.

I am angry.  Furious.  Livid.  Saddened.  Fired Up.  

All at the same time, I'm not really that surprised.  It's so typical.

I'm not sure how many people outside of Utah have heard of this, but it's certainly the topic of much conversation around here these days.  I know most of you have probably heard about the epidemic of suicides among gay teens who are being bullied about it.  I know Kathy Griffin and Ellen have both talked about it recently.  (Watch Ellen's video HERE, and Kathy's HERE.)  There's no doubt that this is tragic, and that something needs to be done to enlighten parents and teach them to teach their children not to hate, and not to bully other children.

What you may not have heard of (unless you're Mormon, or live in close proximity of them) is that a leader of the Mormon church spoke out recently and said some very hateful things.  (Yes, it's normal for them, they practically paid for Prop 8, but they had pretty awful and hurtful timing here... Much like the Westboro Baptists protesting at soldiers funerals.)  I couldn't find the exact speech, but here are some news articles about it:

Apostle: Same-sex Attraction Can Change

Mormons Divided on LDS Apostle's Speech on Gays

HRC to Mormon Apostle: Your Statements are Inaccurate and Dangerous

Having grown up a Mormon in Utah (the headquarters of the LDS church/corporation) this has always been a subject that hits close to home.  I left the church at the age of 17 for my own disagreements with the way the organization was run, I have spent my life fighting the judgements and accusations of those around me.  As strange as it may sound, it is really quite difficult to be non-LDS in this state.  I have been lucky enough to have found like-minded friends, but my family still doesn't (and may never) agree with my choice to separate my religious preference from them.  Let alone sexual preference.  

I'm lucky enough to prefer the opposite sex sexually (most of the time) but I have so many friends and loved ones who battle with being gay in a state/country that hates them, and I ache for them every day.  I've heard my best friend say over and over how much he wishes he wasn't gay.  He would give anything in the world to stop hating himself, and to be able to just be a heterosexual and find a girl and settle down.  That right there, watching his pain and his hurt, tells me that this is NOT something that can be changed; because if he could change it, he would have.

Now I have many friends and family who are still LDS, and while I will always love them-I'm so tired of agreeing to disagree.  Mostly because most of them don't hold up their end of the bargain. (Some of you do, and this is not aimed at you) My dad and I fight about it all the time (though my dad likes to start fights, it's like his hobby) until my mother generally gets in and says it's enough.  I love them both so much, but I can't understand how someone who has had gay friends (he even roomed with his gay iron-worker buddy once) can look at said friend and think "yes I care about you, but I don't think you should have the same rights as me."  How hurtful is that?

It hurts me to think that we live in a society who always thinks of themselves as better than everyone else based on something as stupid as gender, race, and personal preference.  If you don't like gay sex, DON'T HAVE IT.  It doesn't affect you.

“When women got the right to vote, they did not
redefine voting… When African Americans got the right to sit at a lunch
counter alongside white people, they did not redefine eating out. They
were simply invited to the table. And that is all we want to do.”

- Cynthia Nixon

Also, while I've tried to justify my friends who are LDS and say they support Gay marraige, but my friend Effinboy has said some things this week that remind me that it can't really be justified.

"If you're of the mormon faith, and support gay marriage... Stop kidding yourself... You're either an enemy to the Mormon agenda or an enemy of liberty."

"You can't preach tolerance, and in the very next breath preach that a person's very nature is 'wrong'"

He has a point.  With both of those things.  You can't be Mormon and support gay marriage.  You can't be Mormon and say the person you believe speaks directly to God is wrong and that you're just not going to follow one part of the ten things he taught that day.  It doesn't work that way.  You're in or your out.  If you're going to preach and say you are part of a religion, BE PART OF THAT RELIGION.  You can't support both the gay cause and the anti-gay agenda.

So what am I going to do about it?

I will be requesting my name be pulled from church records.  I've put this off for 6 years.  First due to not wanting to break my fragile great grandmother's heart, and second due to the sheer lack of desire to have to put up a fight with the Missionaries and old Bishops that come calling and trying to convince me I'm making a mistake.

But I am DONE.  I'm ready for the fight, and I will tell anyone who comes preaching exactly why I am done.

RTT: I'm Back!!

I'm back everyone!  It's been so long since I've done an RTT day!

$ - My job is finally working to hire me on full time!  I have an appointment with the guy from corporate tomorrow, and should be a full time employee with benefits by the end of the month.  I am soooooo excited!  I love my job!

:( - I am deeply saddened by the Mormon church and it's hateful hateful ways. They decided to make a statement about anti-gays and the kids who have committed suicide, at a time when so many of us are fighting to save these poor teenagers lives.  Read about it HERE.

:) - If you agree with me about the above and how sad and hurtful it is.  Please go sign the open letter. 

♥ - On a positive note, this is the BEST apple I've ever eaten.  It's a HONEYCRISP apple, and I got it at Whole Foods. Apparently they're the first of the season.  If you haven't had one, go get one!  It was the most crisp and sweetly-tart apple ever, and I'm not normally an apple girl.  I'm hooked.

@ - I have this coworker that completely drives me bonkers.  I mean, he's a nice guy but he sits and makes whiney baby noises, and dog whines and yelps all day long.  Then he'll sit and yell my name over and over and over to get my attention, without anything to say.  He just does it for attention.  The guy is probably as old as or more than my dad, so it's not like he's a child-though it may seem different.  Argh.

☮ - I'm going to the gym Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and running Tuesday and Thursday.  I'm also doing the Slim Fast thing.  I'm so tired of being fat, I want to be healthy and fit!

☼ - I finally got myself a new bed.  I love it, what do you think?  Cute, right?  So is K who's laying on my bed coloring and watching Up on my laptop.  I love that kid.

I ♥ you all, have a great day!

How I Was Rejected By A Conservative

So I was sitting there eating cheese....

No, just kidding. Ray recommended I start this post like that.  To be honest, I wasn't eating at all, but I WAS drinking at the time.  In fact, we'd just made a liquor store run, and stopped off for some really gory movies, which resulted in us popping Sorority Row in the Xbox and sitting down with our boozey beverages.

This is why people-like me-need blogs; there's just too much crazy stuff that happens in my life not to be recording and sharing it all.  Case and point, being rejected by a member of the Tea Party (yeah yeah yeah, we'll get to that.) or finding out one of my exes might be a PEDO (freak, that's another post for another day, but I will tell you it's the Pothead, and that I'm so disgusted I ever knew him.) or how about finding out that my army-boy was sleeping with multiple women all the while we were dating and I found out FROM THIS VERY BLOG!  See?  Crazy stuff.  Are you all thoroughly entertained by my hardships and utter frustration with dating?  Good.  I want you to be, otherwise I wouldn't post this crap.  Please enjoy, and please laugh heartily.

Perhaps you want a little background on this first, so I'll fill you in, my darling readers.  The job I am currently working in is one I'm returning to after a year and a half absence.  I worked here before, and we had a rambunctious little gang of coworkers (it's just not the same now, but it's still good) that generally had an amazing time together.  There were three of us who had a crush on one of our coworkers (the hot-nerdy type) and we'd all have a good time discussing it.  He's not gay (I can't decide if trying to date a conservative is better or worse than when I tried to date a gay guy-yeah, I did that-don't judge) so David was out of luck.  That left two, Sheena and Me.

When I quit that job, he and I had a conversation and I told him how I felt, and that was that; we really didn't see each other until I came back in to re-interview for this position nearly a year and a half later.  At this time I was blissfully hiding away from the world of dating.  Okay, maybe blissfully isn't the right word... Let's try-bitterly, but I was content not feeling or caring about mushy-gushy love bullshit.  Yeah, that lasted right up until I saw him again.  I managed to cling to the fringes of it again until I started working with him (yes, I know what you're all thinking-BAD ANGIE, what happened to the no coworker rule?  I'm weak, and cute-nerdy boys with super-intelligence are my weakness, OK?) but then I'd decided I might as well enjoy liking someone again. 

This is where Sheena and her meddling came in.  She decided to have one of her friends that still works here tell him that I "dig" him.  I felt so humiliated over the whole thing-but life moves forward.

(This is the part where we get back to the drunken movie night-which was Josh's idea because he thought a nice movie filled with blood and ditzy girls getting slaughtered is the best remedy for his broken heart and my melancholy.)

The reason that is relevant, is because it was at this time the guy and I decided to sit down and talk about what had happened with the meddling.  To which I decided "what the hell" and said "To be fair to Sheena, I do like you."  Which he told me he already knew, since we'd discussed it a year before and I was fairly obvious (purposefully!) in my flirting.  Then he said "There are a few reasons that I've never pursued a relationship with you."

Now, before I proceed with his reasoning, you all should know that I'm sitting in a room with Matt, Jon, and Josh.  A Libertarian, a moderate liberal, and a HUGE liberal.  All of which were waiting to hear whether the guy I liked was interested in me too.

His reasons?  Religion (which to be honest, I expected) and politics (which I really hadn't expected.)  He's politically right-wing and aware that I am quite outspoken with my lefty beliefs (Hell, he reads this blog-everyone wave!) Now, since I like the dude, I proceed to say that I'm pretty open-minded and would probably be just fine dating a conservative, besides-hell-Ray (everyone wave again!) and I get along swimmingly and he's pretty conservative.

I wasn't prepared for the next statement.

"Are you aware that I'm politically aligned with the Tea Party?"

Shock.  My jaw literally fell open, and Jon (the bastard) upon seeing my disbelief at the screen in front of me and proceeding to check out why I was in shock, began laughing-which didn't stop for the next few days.  (It's ok, I still tease him about eating funny because that's the excuse his last girlfriend used to break up with him-she was crazy.)

Still, part of me actually considered it.  I'm aware it probably wouldn't have been the best move on my part, but I justified it with "But I really like him!"  He, however, pointed out that he reads my blog and has seen what I've posted about "tea-baggers."  (You know, now that I read that old post, it's not so much them themselves, but what a few members of that party were doing, that I was speaking out against) In any case, we agreed, it's great to be friends, but dating is probably not the best option for us.

That evening Jon, Josh and I poured our shot-glasses full and toasted always choosing the wrong people, and voiced our hope that the next person that comes into our lives, will be right for us.  The next morning, I woke up over it.   I'm content being friends.

Besides, can you guys see little liberal me trying to date a staunch religious conservative?

It'd sure as hell make for some funny blog material! :P

(Hope this made you laugh, rather than offending you)

(((Slurpees soon!)))

Sex With Ducks

THIS IS BRILLIANT! 

"It's a feeling I can't fake when sex with ducks and gay marriage are one in the same."

It's also HILARIOUS, check it out! 

Dear So & So: You're Acting Like Terrorists

Dear Utah Weather,

You just stay rain and don't turn to snow, and we wont have any problems.  Capiche?

I'm so done with snow!

Dear Work,

Please let me know whether or not you're going to hire me.  I'm a loyal employee, and I'd really like to stay, as I do a really good job here.  However the season is quickly winding down, and with only 3 short weeks until Tax Season ends, I'm starting to get nervous.  Do I start actively looking for something else?  Or do I hang on in hopes that you'll keep me on this time?

Please let me know soon!


Dear Coworkers Playing Brackets,

I really don't know anything about sports or basketball, so wouldn't it be kind of silly for me to pick teams and try to play long in this whole March Madness thing?

Just sayin'...

Dear Readers,


Please understand that the following letters are not really about the Health Care Bill, though they are related.  I'm not talking about support or not supporting, agreeing or not agreeing, but just the actions of some of the extremists out there.  I do not want to start a political debate, I am sick-to-death of discussing this.  I just want to express my frustration with certain citizens who are choosing to act like fools.


Thanks for all you do, and I'm so glad to have you all here with me!  Much love!


I love you guys!

Dear Tea-Baggers (and other extremists)

First off, I'd like to start by saying that I am so completely sick and tired of hearing about Health Care Reform.  I honestly can't say one way or another if this is the right thing, but guess what?  It passed, so let's move on.

Second, I cannot believe that you are acting like a  bunch of immature little assholes.  You didn't get your way so you're throwing a huge temper-tantrum that is getting severely out of hand.  If you were a child, and I was your mother, I'd bend you over my knee and give you a good paddling!  Yes, you have a right to disagree, but you DO NOT have the right to cut the gas line to someone's house or threaten to kill their children with sniper rifles just because you disagree with the way they voted.  This is America, and THEY HAVE THE RIGHT TO VOTE THAT WAY just as you have the right to vote the way you did.

I'd just like to point out to you, that YOU ARE ACTING LIKE TERRORISTS, and in my opinion I hope you are tried as such.

There's an adult and legal way to go about this, but it's apparently slipped your mind.  Grow up, and start living by the laws that you voted for (you know, the ones that say you can't vandalize or murder people) and stop being complete and utter fucktards!

This has to stop.

Dear Sarah Palin,

I think you're a total moron, and it just keeps getting worse and worse.  You have pictures of Democratic politicians with their faces in the cross hairs of a scope on your Facebook page?  Not to mention you're then giving out their addresses?

HOW CAN YOU CONDONE THIS KIND OF ACTION?  When someone gets killed, their blood is on your hands.  I don't care whether you pull the trigger or not, you are responsible.  You are encouraging some half-cocked individuals to go out and do what you are showing them publicly, and you are being stupid and imature.

The world would be better off without you.

Dear Conservative Talk Show Hosts 

(Sean Hannity in particular)

So you are trying to justify the way members of your part are acting by saying that the Democrats shouldn't be "whining" about the death threats they're receiving?  What. The. Hell.  

You shouldn't be justifying it!  You should be encouraging your fellow Americans to act with reason and logic.  By excusing their behavior, you're just as much at fault.

Grow up, and stop acting like this is acceptable behavior!

What's On Facebook This Morning

Really Quick...

Health Care Reform just passed!  

I feel like celebrating, except I haven't figured out what exactly I'll be celebrating.  However, maybe soon I'll be able to see a doctor when I need to, or afford the dentist.  Please god let this be a good thing.  I'll have to do a bit more research before I truly get excited though.

On another note...

If you have a Twitter or Facebook, let me know, I'd love to add you! 

Also...

I'm loving this song by Ke$ha... It's called Backstabber.

So I'm sharing it, and dedicating it to all those fake friends out there, not just mine, but those of others as well!  The funniest part is, the whole "sitting alone, bored and stoned" as well as "All I ever did was drive your broke ass around" really fit the whole thing with Amber, so it's extra dedicated to her.  

Plus it's catchy, I was totally dancing to it!

 Hope you totally grooved out to it too!

It gave me a good giggle.

WW: With a Fiery Burning Passion

I was prompted by Mama Kat this week to write about 5 things that I am passionate about.  Things that "light my fire" so to speak.

#1: Equal Human Rights.

This closed minded way that society views love really needs to stop.  It's unconstitutional to limit any lawful U.S. Citizens rights, so why do people think it's okay to prohibit homosexuals from the same rights they enjoy? A minority right should not be subject to a majority vote.  It's this simple: If you don't like gay marriage, don't marry a gay person.  Enough said.  I am boycotting marriage.

#2: Comprehensive Sex Education.

Yes, I agree; it is the parents job to teach their children about this stuff, but too many of them don't and their poor children get STDs or get pregnant at 15.  If all we do is tell children "don't do it" they're liable to be rebellious (teenage rebellion?  No way, that's a myth! /sarcasm)  and go do it anyway.  It's dumb, but teenagers can be pretty dumb.  (We were all teenagers once! I had 4 friends get pregnant in High School.) Let's teach them what to do if they mess up.

 

#3: Universal Health Care.

I cannot say this enough.  "I WANT HEALTH CARE."  I don't have insurance because I can't afford it.  I am one of the 46 million American's without health insurance.  That's a HUGE number people.  I'm not saying it's perfect how it is, but something needs to be done.

#4: Proper Grammar.

People really write like this.  I cannot count the number of emails I've received like this.  What's worse, most of those emails have been on dating sites!  If I open an email and see grammar such as this, I don't even bother to respond.  It get's promptly closed, and never looked at again.

#5: Fixing Our Education System.
My best friend in the whole wide world is a teacher, and it astounds me the stuff he goes through.  He makes less than I do, and he has degrees and many years of schooling.  Also, they changed the law on him this year and screwed him out of insurance.  No wonder we don't have enough people going into this profession anymore. Teachers are shaping our future, we're trusting our child's minds to these people, and not giving a damn about them.  It horrifies me.

Let's make change people!

What lights your fire?

***

This post brought to you by:

This weeks prompts:

1.) Write a letter to yourself from someone who has passed on. (ie: parent, grandparent, famous person, friend, pet, etc)
2.) Create and share a Whrrl story.
3.) Write a Haiku that describes what you love about an ordinary day.
4.) What lights your fire? Describe five things you are most passionate about.
5.) Share some photos and stories as well as what you love about spring.

Join in the fun, and choose a prompt that inspires you.  Then link up so we can read them!

RTT: More to Love & Sex Ed Bill

It's Tuesday!  So you know what that means right?  Beautiful Randomness! 

 

♥  I feel totally in love with a blog I found  yesterday, and I found it because it was featured on SITS.  It's called More To Love.  Basically, she draws these adorable illustrations of real looking women, and writes about body issues and loving yourself for who you are.  She talks about  how no one really cares about your pants size, how even Goddess' have cellulite, and many many other things.  As a girl who's struggled with weight and body issues, I highly recommend this read to anyone, and I feel inspired after having read it! 

© Elizabeth Patch 

 ☠ I am so very sick today.  What I thought were allergies yesterday, ended up being a head cold that was sneaking up on me today.  By the time I woke up this morning, I was miserable.  Please let this go away soon!

☺ Although I'm sick and "under construction" (my aunt-flo is in town, if ya know what I mean) my mood has dramatically improved from last weeks depressive madness.  I spent most of last week bawling, and curled up on the couch watching my comfort show (Grey's Anatomy) and feeling sorry for myself.  This week?  Well the sun is out and the PMS is gone, so I'm in much better spirits.  As long as the sickness and cramps don't kill me, I should be fine for a little while.

★ I made homemade Egg Rolls, Sweet & Sour Chicken, and Lettuce Wraps for dinner Sunday and then again last night.  They were so ridiculously good, that we enjoyed having them two days in a row!  I didn't take pictures (sad I know) but you can find the recipes and the original pictures over at Little Birdie Secrets!   They're seriously full of win, and I highly recommend them!

 Egg Roll Recipe

Sweet & Sour Chicken Recipe & Lettuce Wraps Recipe 

♂ The Sex Education Bill was voted down in the Utah Senate yesterday.  Here's the kicker, those bastards didn't even discuss it!  Senate Bill 54 would have modified the way sex education was taught in high schools, allowing the teachers to discuss healthy relationships, human development, and the proper uses of contraceptives; rather than Utah's "Abstinence Only" policy.   

This frustrates me because I've seen first hand (among many of my friends) that this doesn't work.  So many of my friends got pregnant in high school, because a continuous "Just don't do it!" mentality not only doesn't prevent anything, it pushes the defiant teenagers to do it.  I'm a firm believer that we should teach them that at that age they really are too young to be engaging in sexual acts, but if they do-hey here's how you use a condom so you don't have a baby or get herpes.  How hard is that?  

Basically, our conservative lawmakers didn't really discuss it, because it had the word contraceptives in it.  One lawmaker even admitted that!  They say it's the parent's job to discuss that with their children, which I agree with-except-they forget that a lot of parents aren't really doing their job.  For example; my friend's sister and brother-in-laws didn't teach their kids ANYTHING.  They're very neglectful parents (not being home for a week straight, alcoholic, etc. That's a story for a different day) and their oldest just began having sex.  When she discussed it with my friend (her aunt) and was asked if she was using protection, she said "Kind of... Sometimes at the end..." We were astounded!  My friend drove her to Planned Parenthood to get birth control, and the girl (age 19) said she would have never even known to do that.  She would have ended up with an child she couldn't take care of at her age (no job, living with the boyfriend's parents, etc.) and not only would it have changed her life, but it would have been a drain on our Welfare.  So isn't it smarter all around to teach kids that even though they probably shouldn't be doing it, how to be safe if it  happens?

Well, I'm going to end here because we're super busy at work today, and my head cold is killing me, so I've run out of random.  Head on over to Keely's and get your random on!

Dear So & So: Mr. President

Dear Obama,

I think I love you again.  Really, I wasn't sure if you would live up to the hope I had for you when you were first elected, and by all means I didn't see much happen this past year.  However, your State of the Union (read the transcript here) renews the faith in me that if you so wish, you can do great things to re-shape this country.  Thank you for owning up to some stuff, and for leaving me with a little encouragement that all hope is not lost.  Sometimes it's hard to remember that when I look at the hundreds of thousands who are now jobless, homeless, and lost in the bad economy.  That being said...

I WANT HEALTH CARE REFORM.  I want to be able to drive down the road without fear that a car accident will send me into Bankruptcy.   Do you know how terrible it is to live your life under the thought that if you were to become terminally ill or involved in a serious accident that you might just tell them "Let me die, I can't afford the ambulance ride"?  It's horrifying.  I need to be able to visit a doctor when I fear I have pneumonia, instead of just buying a bottle of nyquil and hoping it will magically go away.  I don't have insurance; I can't afford insurance, and I live in fear that I will lose my job and no longer even have the money for the bottle of cough syrup.

I WANT EQUAL RIGHTS. So you're finally going to do something about the "Don't ask, don't tell." policy?  Awesome!  But what about everything else?  Yes, that's a step in the right direction, but how about telling states they don't have the right to restrict the rights of their members?  I live in Utah.  This is the home of the Mormons, and they basically run everything here.  Their religious leaders tell our Politicians that gays are an abomination and should not be allowed to marry.  How is that not in direct contradiction to the Constitution which governs all 50 states?  How can we allow the rights of a minority to be subject to a majority vote?  This ignites a fury within me, and I could go on, but I'm not going to address the hypocrisy that I see in the religious teachings and the love of Jesus on this matter; rather the political and constitutional rights of your citizens, regardless of their sexual orientation.

I have hope, President Obama, that if you really try you can make some much needed changes in this country.  I want so very badly to be proud to be a U.S. citizen, but instead I find myself wishing I lived in Europe, where they have much better Economies (England is officially out of the recession) and a greater sense of love and equality for their people.  Show me, Mr. President, that our country can truly live up to it's great name so that I can stand with my hand over my heart and say in all honesty that I am proud to be an American.  Renew my faith in this nation, the faith that was brought over by our founding fathers and the pilgrims when they tried to create a "free" nation. 

Show me hope,
A Citizen of the United States of America.

Dear Readers,

Head on over to Kat's by clicking the button above, and check out other Dear So & So letters! Oh, and I love you all!

Signed,

Miss Angie

Pre-existing Condition

I want Universal Health Care! 

A Day In The Life of Joe

**Copied this story from Nerdy Jess! I think people really fail to think about this!

Joe gets up at 6 a.m. and fills his coffeepot with water to prepare his morning coffee. The water is clean and good because some tree-hugging liberal fought for minimum water-quality standards. With his first swallow of water, he takes his daily medication.

His medications are safe to take because some stupid commie liberal fought to ensure their safety and that they work as advertised.All but $10 of his medications are paid for by his employer's medical plan because some liberal union workers fought their employers for paid medical insurance - now Joe gets it too.

He prepares his morning breakfast, bacon and eggs. Joe's bacon is safe to eat because some girly-man liberal fought for laws to regulate the meat packing industry.

In the morning shower, Joe reaches for his shampoo. His bottle is properly labeled with each ingredient and its amount in the total contents because some crybaby liberal fought for his right to know what he was putting on his body and how much it contained.

Joe dresses, walks outside and takes a deep breath. The air he breathes is clean because some environmentalist wacko liberal fought for the laws to stop industries from polluting our air.

He walks on the government-provided sidewalk to subway station for his government-subsidized ride to work. It saves him considerable money in parking and transportation fees because some fancy-pants liberal fought for affordable public transportation, which gives everyone the opportunity to be a contributor.

Joe begins his work day. He has a good job with excellent pay, medical benefits, retirement, paid holidays and vacation because some lazy liberal union members fought and died for these working standards. Joe's employer pays these standards because Joe's employer doesn't want his employees to call the union.

If Joe is hurt on the job or becomes unemployed, he'll get a worker compensation or unemployment check because some stupid liberal didn't think he should lose his home because of his temporary misfortune.

It is noontime and Joe needs to make a bank deposit so he can pay some bills. Joe's deposit is federally insured by the FSLIC because some godless liberal wanted to protect Joe's money from unscrupulous bankers who ruined the banking system before the Great Depression.

Joe has to pay his Fannie Mae-underwritten mortgage and his below-market federal student loan because some elitist liberal decided that Joe and the government would be better off if he was educated and earned more money over his lifetime. Joe also forgets that his in addition to his federally subsidized student loans, he attended a state funded university.

Joe is home from work. He plans to visit his father this evening at his farm home in the country. He gets in his car for the drive. His car is among the safest in the world because some America-hating liberal fought for car safety standards to go along with the tax-payer funded roads.

He arrives at his boyhood home. His was the third generation to live in the house financed by Farmers' Home Administration because bankers didn't want to make rural loans.

The house didn't have electricity until some big-government liberal stuck his nose where it didn't belong and demanded rural electrification.

He is happy to see his father, who is now retired. His father lives on Social Security and a union pension because some wine-drinking, cheese-eating liberal made sure he could take care of himself so Joe wouldn't have to.

Joe gets back in his car for the ride home, and turns on a radio talk show. The radio host keeps saying that liberals are bad and conservatives are good. He doesn't mention that the beloved Republicans have fought against every protection and benefit Joe enjoys throughout his day. Joe agrees: "We don't need those big-government liberals ruining our lives! After all, I'm a self-made man who believes everyone should take care of themselves, just like I have."