it's here

It's been over a month since my summer vacation started and I finally feel like it's summer.

After watching a classic romantic comedy like When Harry Met Sally, I can't help but reflect on my current relational status. With one year left of college, I can happily say that I am content with where I am at. I have been single for about a year now, and want to continue down that path. I used to be the woman that relied on what her boyfriend was doing, and planned around his schedule. I was dependent, lonely, and unsatisfied with myself. Knowing that I have had an amazing year and did not need any man to fill a void feels like an accomplishment to me. But I know that there is still a lot I need to work on with myself, and getting involved with a man will only delay that. 

Like I've been telling my friends... I'm single, not available. 

On a lighter note, here is one of MANY hilarious quotations from the movie:

"We're talking dream date compared to my horror. It started out fine, she's a very nice person, and we're sitting and we're talking at this Ethiopian restaurant that she wanted to go to. And I was making jokes, you know like, "Hey I didn't know that they had food in Ethiopia? This will be a quick meal. I'll order two empty plates and we can leave." Yeah, nothing from her not even a smile."

As politically incorrect as that joke is... wouldn't YOU at the very least giggle (and then scold yourself)? 

summer

Wow. Time has passed.

My previous post says that I had a lot to share that was going on... And at this point in time, those things have been forgotten in order to make room for all the new news.

I have completed my third year of college. Within the last month of this school year, I ran for A.S. President. After a month of non-stop campaigning and controversy, I was elected. I'm so so so excited about making what I campaigned about a reality and activating my campus!

Now that it is summer time I have lots to do:

Running, reading, cleaning, working, preparing for the school year, and back to blogging on a regular basis... and Adrienne and I have decided to take surfing classes this summer! One of the classes will be on my 21st birthday. I'm very excited.

So that's other news... in TWO months I will be 21! Now, the only reason I care to countdown is because from that day, July 26, I will be able to do Karaoke at any location in the world!!

God Bless America.

brain tumors

Times are getting frustrating... Based on Maslow's hierarchy of needs, I'm not too concerned with self-actualization. I need to pay bills, dealing with relational conflicts, and I'm overall worried about money. I think this is why I have not been posting regularly.

Lots of amazing things have happened over the past week, and yet, I have no energy to post about them here.

I do want to share with you, the viewer, my newest creation:

I made a teddy bear. For less than 5 bucks--OOOOOO, AHHHHHHHH.

A group of us made teddy bears (and someone made a yellow submarine) to donate to children. Is it bad that I want to keep mine? I have left over materials, so I'll just have to make another one.

Today I finally came to the conclusion that my cell phone...has to go. For the past month I've been interacting with persons that do not have cell phones or rarely use them, and I didn't understand it. Just yesterday I was talking to my friend and he was telling me that I don't really need it... It was hard to argue with it, but I was convinced that because I am so busy, that I am exempt from the reasons not to own one.

I came across an article however that blew me away. It actually wasn't anything new to me, but it just clicked. There have been studies going around saying that cell phones can cause brain tumors... and I finally realized that I don't really care to get one of those.

I'm looking into getting a land line and canceling my cell phone.

My mother said to me "Well, if everyone else is taking the risk of a brain tumor, why can't you?"

I think my mother thinks it is easy for me to just give up my phone... But I would hate myself if I got cancer later in life, just because I couldn't handle the slight inconvenience of using landlines.

I will have a cell phone for emergencies, but I'm going to need to get off using my cell phone for a while. I feel like it has alienated me from people in so many different ways.

Unfortunately, because of the whole "$" thing, I may have to wait before I make this transition.

poor farm animals

I cannot sleep...and yet I need the sleep.

My mother the yesterday sent me an e-mail :

Sofie mou,

I was thinking since you don’t eat ice cream, chocolate, once your favorite things; Are you going to make an exception and eat tsoureki for Greek Easter made the regular way, or shall come up with a recipe with soy milk and egg substitutes for you?

The poor cows will die if they are not being milked!!! And the poor chickens will be making eggs anyway that no one would eat if everyone was a vegan in the entire world!

Have you seen the Bee Movie? About the bees who won a law suit about the humans stealing their honey after their worked so hard to produce it?

Well without the bees doing their job, the flowers died and the whole world died. It was a good movie with a deeper moral of the story… everyone in this world has a function, so the world goes around.

I love you,

Mommy

You're right mother--the poor cows and chickens! What would they do without us? This e-mail makes me smile like no other. And makes me laugh like an idiot.

There's more I could write about what's going on in my life and the world...but my apathy is in full effect at this moment.

Kala Nikta.

milk gone wild

Let me preface this post with the fact that I appreciate the principles that PETA stands for. I myself, am a vegan. Along with eating no animal by-products, I have avoided buying animal materials for quite some time now and do my best to choose products that do not test on animals.

Despite my appreciation for such a large organization that works for animal rights, I have to say they are quite ineffective, and well, offensive.

I think the obvious criticism of PETA would be about their videos exposing the disgusting and horrible treatment of animals. And while I think these videos are ineffective, their other tactics of "persuasion" only condone oppression and exploitation.

I understand the intent of PETA's fur campaign. Fur has been a status symbol for years, and they are working to break that by having attractive, young, and influential celebrities tell us that it, well, isn't anymore. As I have brought up in an older post, the absent referent is the issue. “Metaphorically, the absent referent can be anything whose original meaning is undercut as it is absorbed into a different hierarchy of meaning.” (Carol Adams - Feminist Vegan) The original purpose of this campaign was to raise awareness about fur and how it shouldn't be sexy to wear it--hence going to the extreme of nakedness to avoid it. However, the way the campaign has been framed, it has taken the initial purpose and molded it to fit into a patriarchal culture.


Another campaign that I just discovered today was the "Milk Gone Wild" campaign. It is meant to play off the "Girls Gone Wild" phenomenon that shows young women stripping and flashing men. Whether or nor this campaign is meant to be completely satirical, I don't understand the point. By showing women spreading their milk all over men, how is this supposed to encourage the viewer to think twice about milk? I know that milk also comes from women, and so they may be attempting to show the parallel. But all I see are sexualized images of women "topless" with udders. The imagery is very odd and disturbing, but sexual nonetheless. Emphasis on disturbing.

As a woman, I recognize the relationship between oppression of animals and females. We are objectified for another's benefit and therefore, lose our identity. I think if one can understand the exploitation of women in our media-hungry culture, then there can be an understanding of the exploitation of animals. “The experience of women thus becomes a vehicle for describing other oppressions," as Carol Adams says so eloquently.

Instead of using the feminist movement as a tool for explaining animal oppression, PETA has chosen to use the sex imagery of women to sell their moral values. Doesn't it seem a bit counter-productive to use a tool of objectification in order to prevent the objectification of another marginalized group? Well, it is.

The general public doesn't appreciate the work that PETA does for animals, and the organization faces constant criticism. While many people are in opposition based on their animal consumption guilt, I think more feminist vegetarians and vegans should be standing up and pointing out the discrepancies.

disney

May I just say... I am flipping EXHAUSTED.

Was in a car for 8 hours Sunday driving back from Portland's debate tournament.
Drove to Sacramento Monday evening. Drove to Los Angeles Tuesday morning.
Wednesday: Disneyland!
Thursday: Drove back to Sacramento at 9:30pm. Arrived at 4am.
Friday: Drove back to the 'Boldt after 5 hours of sleep. Bought rice cooker. Made funky rice.

My goal for my spring break was to enjoy the "happiest place on earth". Yes, I could spend hours ranting about Disney being a horrible media conglomerate, perpetuating gender and racial stereotypes, and basically robbing people with the admission price of $66. There's more that I could come up with, but I have to face the facts...

Disney is the official staple of my childhood. I went to Disneyland every year with my family as a kid, owned all the Disney cartoon feature films, and pretended to be the Little Mermaid whenever I went swimming.

I can't help but experience a sense of comfort and home in the teacups spinning, the anticipation of Pirates of the Caribbean, and the chlorinated water soaking my pants after a 50 foot drop.

After all the excitement of Disneyland with my friends (Anondah, Kady, and Taylor) though, I am blessed to be home:

Sunset somewhere off the 255 tonight.
It's funny to think there is a factory/pulp mill (I think it's a pulp mill) right across the street...