Bristol Palin?

04Jun09

Here’s a quote from the dear girl from a recent cover of People Magazine:

“If girls realized the consequences of sex, nobody would be having sex. Trust me. Nobody.”

Oh. Really? Because I know the consequences of sex, and I have it. Regularly. Wanna know what they are, Bristol, since you don’t seem to have any clue?

1. Pregnancy (no duh)
2. STDs (ORLY?!)
3. There is no three

Here’s the deal. PLENTY of people (teenagers included) realize the risks of sex. They know there is the possibility of getting pregnant and there is the risk of getting a disease. However, they are EDUCATED about these things. Thanks to Bristol Palin’s mom, all she knew was God was gonna kick her ass if she didn’t wait. Well, she didn’t wait, and you know what? No repercussions from God, unless you count her baby (who is very cute, by the way).

Except, that baby could have been avoided if Bristol ws educated about the available options in the ways of birth control, body rhythms and alternative sexual activities. Babies don’t come from God; they come from the joining of egg and sperm, which is allowed during this thirty-six hour window during a woman’s menstrual cycle. It’s all about timing. There’s no miracle behind it.

My mom said what Bristol meant was, if girls knew that sex leads to crying, screaming babies, then they wouldn’t have it. Well, I know that unprotected, unregulated sex causes crying, screaming babies… so that’s why I don’t have unprotected, unregulated sex. I’m in a monogamous relationship (which is protection within itself) and I use birth control regularly. So I have safe sex. And so do plenty of people. EVERYONE is having sex. The difference between the people like Bristol and people like me is that we know about methods of birth control and when we’re most likely to get pregnant.

Bristol Palin is a prime example of why we need TRUE sex education in this country, not abstinence education. When I took Sex Ed in 9th grade, I was basically told that if you have sex before you’re 18, you will get pregnant, your baby will have a horrible deformity, you will get AIDS, your parents will hate you, the baby daddy will leave you, you will be poor and then you will die. And that’s why you shouldn’t have sex. Know what? Didn’t stop me or my friends. Scare tactics don’t work. People are going to have sex. We’re hard-wired like that for a reason. If we didn’t have sex, there would be no more people left. Sex is a GOOD thing, not bad. I’m tired of adults vilifying the act, because with the right knowledge and tools, everyone can get their freak on with little risk of any negative effects.

And even if you do end up in an OOPS situation, there are still things you can do. Unprotected sex? Meet Plan B, the morning after pill. Pregnant? Research your options… there’s abortion, adoption and, of course, keeping the baby. STD? Most are curable or, at the very least, treatable. And for god’s sake people, HPV is NOT a dirty disease. 80% of the sexually active community have HPV. You aren’t gonna die.

So here’s the deal, all you young readers. Have your regular exams with your physician. It’s important. Read EVERYTHING about sex you can get your hands on. There are people out there who want to help you learn about your bodies and your options, but they seem to be silenced by the overbearing majority who want you to think sex is something dirty, bad or evil. Educate yourselves, people, because it looks like the previous generation of baby boomers isn’t keen on helping their children out.

Filed under: Life, Rants   |  13 Comments

Wilted Spinach Salad

01May09

I’m officially home from college for the summer to work and, well, take a break. I’ve kicked my butt for a 4.0 this semester; I’ve now a 3.6 cumulative.. a few more semesters of this and I’ll get to graduate magna cum laude, which looks all sorts of good for graduate school and those other silly things that I’m SO not going to worry about until next semester. I can’t believe I’m already having to look into grad school… it seems a bit ridiculous.

Anyway, the whole point of this post is to give a recipe, which you’ll find below. It was borne out of the fact that my house kinda doesn’t have any food in it. Well, that isn’t true… there’s food, I suppose, but nothing, really, I want to eat. My father has been on that nutrisystem diet for a while now, so all he eats is their silly fiber-enriched food, and my mom basically eats lean cuisine because it’s easy. Which I don’t begrudge her, of course. But I was raised that we ate together as a family and well, ever since I left home, that hasn’t been the norm.

So yesterday I was searching for food for dinner… ended up with buttered pasta. This morning, no cereal or eggs for breakfast. Ended up with cinnamon toast with the questionable white bread that I found in the bottom of the bread basket. Lunch time has just rolled around, so the hunt for food resumed. Needless to say, I’m going to the grocery store this afternoon once my mom finishes her radio show (don’t ask) and getting some basics so I’ll be able to cook for myself. Thankfully.

But this recipe was thrown together based off what was in the fridge. It was light, delicious, fresh and satisfying. I’m very much a fan. In fact, I’ll be buying some fresher ingredients so I can have this more often!

Wilted Spinach Salad
Ingredients:

• Raw spinach
• Cherry or grape tomatoes, sliced into quarters
• Goat cheese
• Olive Oil
• Raspberry vinaigrette dressing
• Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

1. In a medium sauce pan, heat olive oil over medium heat. I don’t really use measurement… I suppose about one teaspoon would be sufficient.
2. Once the oil is warmed, add handfuls of fresh spinach into the pan. Remember it will wilt down, so add a little bit more than you would add to a bowl if eating fresh.
3. Lightly sauté spinach until it is wilted. It will take on a dark green color, but won’t lose its firmness. Remove from heat and put into a salad bowl.
4. Crumble the goat cheese over the salad and add tomatoes. Drizzle the raspberry vinaigrette over the salad and toss. Salt and pepper to taste.
5. Enoy!

This salad is delicious because the sweetness of the dressing complements the bitterness of the cheese very well. The tomatoes taste excellent with it as well, and the pepper adds a bit of bite to the salad.

Filed under: Life, Recipes   |  3 Comments

I’m a terrible blogger

29Apr09

But that’s ’cause I have this thing called life. Which is, actually, GREAT if you have a blog. However, when the most interesting thing that happens to you in your life is having your professor showing you a YouTube video in class of little kids dancing to Low by Flo Rida… well, you get the point.

But I s’pose I could let you know that my sophomore year in college is officially over. I guess that means I need to change all my about me pages in which I state I’m a sophomore at Clemson University, ’cause I’m NOT. Hurrah. Most people would be a little sad that they’re moving into upperclassmen-dom, but really, it doesn’t faze me. I have six more years of this college thing with my plans to go to grad school. And by the time I get near the end of that, I’ll probably be weeping with joy. As far as finals went, I only had two and scored pretty much perfect on them. I do believe I should have 4.0 this semester, but we’ll see.

This summer I plan on working with my mom’s company, doing various Human Resources sort of things. All of my interviews from this semester’s career center were cancelled because evidently absolutely NOBODY is hiring, “due to economic calamity,” as one email said. FML to the max.. I’d rather not work at my mom’s company (not because I don’t like her or the company, hah) because I feel like I should “branch out” and have experiences beyond the ones I can easily get. I like having to work for things. But honestly, in this economy, I s’pose we should all take what we can get.

In internet news, I have a Flickr Pro account. I’m slowly putting all my photos onto it, so you’ll eventually get a taste of my mad photography skillz.

Filed under: Internet, Life, School   |  2 Comments

I know this is an old topic…

13Apr09

…but after receiving an anonymous blog comment on my last entry, I felt like it should be addressed here, because no blog is complete without this sort of entry.

It should be apparent that I withhold personal details of my life from this blog. There is a lot more to many of the personal stories I write about than what I let on, for my own privacy and that of the people involved. I find people who assume that a single post includes all of the dirty details to be incredibly close-minded. It should go without saying things are left out. You, anonymous poster, do not know the full story, and frankly, I don’t care to tell you. It’s none of your business.

People who assume they know everything there is to know about a person because of a few blog entries or even a thorough perusal of a website need a head examination. What we as bloggers and webmasters display on our site is a very watered down version of ourselves (at least, for the most part). There are plenty of bloggers who don’t show pictures of themselves, give their real names, give the names of their fellows, talk about their jobs/schooling and are completely vague about the life they lead. This should point to the glaringly obvious point that people on the internet are not who they are on their website. That is to say, who they display is not their whole self. It’s very presumptuous for a reader to assume they understand all circumstances of a post or a page. If I’m ever leaving a comment, I am sure to preface it with the knowledge that I am going off of the incomplete information given because there are obviously more intricate dynamics going on than what’s displayed.

I am not my blogging persona, and nor am I my website. I am all of the things you see, but I am also so much more. Assuming I’m nothing more than the words on your screen is ignorant at best and a bit hurtful (on my part) at worst. Nobody is one-dimensional. Don’t treat people that way. Give them the benefit of the doubt that there’s more to the story than what you see before jumping down their throats.

Filed under: Internet, Rants   |  2 Comments

Seeing red

03Apr09

I am incredibly angry right now.

For those who aren’t aware, I am a member of a professional sorority on campus. It’s an engineering and science sorority, with the goal of uniting girls in a predominantly male field. I joined it when I was a computer science major; now that I’m a psychology major, it’s pretty much irrelevant to me. But, I like the girls, so I was active in the organization for two semesters, serving as the philanthropic chair for one.

This semester, I was too busy with my job at the school newspaper, my biology lab, my research and a seventeen hour course load to be active in an organization that I’m involved in for a nonacademic reason. I was stretched entirely too thin last semester. I said I would try to be active, but it ended up not working out. I went to no meetings, I did not participate in the recruitment process, I will not participate in the upcoming semesterly trip, I won’t be involved in Ritual Week, and I will not be attending the Formal. However, against my knowledge, shirts were ordered for me and they were basically counting on my money.

However, seeing as how those dues serve to pay for the costs of me participating in various activities that I did not and will not be involved in, I see no reason why I should have to pay. I told them at most I would pay for the t-shirts because they were ordered for me (and I’d get three nice shirts out of the deal). But I pretty much categorically refused to pay dues for activities I did not get to participate in. I hope they don’t force me to pay, because I do like the sorority, and I would be very embittered towards them if I do. If they force me to pay, I suppose I will.

But they better not expect me to be active for the rest of my college career. I will not be inducted as an alumni, and I won’t be paying the required $300 “gift” to the sorority after I graduate.

Edit: They are forcing me to pay. Their loss.

Edit Two: Please kindly remember anonymous comments will be deleted.

Filed under: Life, Rants, School   |  3 Comments