it's just me.

For me this is exactly what the debate boils down to… whether it’s about a chicken sandwich, Boy Scouts, the right to marry, etc. etc. etc. This is incredibly well-written and should definitely be read.

My friends are moving to India. They are ditching everything about their lives to follow their dreams. They’d like to turn this into a reality show about GOOD things, not glorifying drunken madness and hooking up with random people. In order to do that… they need our help!

All I’m asking from you is to reblog this. Tweet it. Post it on Facebook. Spread the word. I see the silliest things reblogged by thousands of people. I really want to see this - this amazing dream - supported and reblogged, too. Please just take a quick second to spread it like wildfire.

And if you can? Donate. Support. 

I heard this on the radio yesterday and it haunted me - specifically the very last line. There’s a lot of conversation right now (or a distinct lack of conversation, really) around gun control in the wake of the Aurora shooting. I have mixed views on a lot of it but this statement from Mayor Bloomberg of NY really helps me come to a more sturdy position. I don’t know that stripping guns away from people in general is the right answer. Taking away a citizens right to protect themselves after following the right channels to get there may not be the way to go. What I DO know is that stripping military grade guns and armor piercing bullets ARE. Getting guns out of the hands of people who have no business having guns is the right answer. We all think about this in terms of the individual’s rights. But this goes a step further into that area I never even considered. What about the people who are sworn to protect us? What about their safety? This statement just really, really hit home.

I don’t understand why the police officers across this country don’t stand up collectively and say, we’re going to go on strike. We’re not going to protect you. Unless you, the public, through your legislature, do what’s required to keep us safe.

After all, police officers want to go home to their families. And we’re doing everything we can to make their job more difficult but, more importantly, more dangerous, by leaving guns in the hands of people who shouldn’t have them, and letting people who have those guns buy things like armor-piercing bullets.

The only reason to have an armor-piercing bullet is to go through a bullet-resistant vest. The only people that wear bullet-resistant vest are our police officers. And that’s true across this whole country. So we should — at some point we have to understand this as our children or our grandchildren or us. But for the police officers, it’s much more immediate. Because when you or I hear shots, we run away. They run towards it.  

I hope this makes you smile, warms your heart, brings some wonderful tears to your eyes and maybe even inspires you to do things worthy of being lumped with these photographs. Amazing, amazing people do exist.

HAFEZ

We Bought A Zoo

I recently announced that I am making a big change in my life - quitting my great job at Microsoft, renting out the house I just purchased a year ago, moving back in with my parents and going back to school full-time. It’s huge and terrifying but also pretty damn exciting. I’ve got things in motion now and any doubts or worries have to be ignored in favor of the bigger picture.

Today I met with my adviser to discuss my academic plan. I’m only 38 credits away from graduating with my Associate of Arts degree for transfer to the University of Washington (hopefully) in the summer of 2013. Unless I get bit by a new passion during this journey, my plan is to pursue my Bachelor of Arts degree with a major in journalism and a minor in anthropology. After that I’m torn between pursuing my Master of Arts in the communication program, my Master of Arts in the anthropology program or my Master of Library and Information Science at the iSchool. I’m looking forward to exploring each path when I get to the UW so I can figure out which path to follow for my graduate studies.

But let’s not put the cart before the horse. I’m just excited to be registered and ready to begin this new journey in the fall. My course load for Fall 2012 is…

HIST 255: BOND…JAMES BOND
Examines the history and politics behind the spy with a “license to kill” that has thrilled readers and moviegoers since 1953. We will examine both the literary Bond, as portrayed in the writing of Ian Fleming, and the movie Bond from Sean Connery to Daniel Craig.

HLTH 100 - Contemporary Health Issues
Research and exploration of social and personal health issues. Behavioral influence and individual decision presented in written argument and group discussion. 

PHYS& 100 - Physics for Non-Science Majors
One quarter course in physics designed for non-science majors. Students learn how physics explains their world. Class activities include learning about experimentation, measurement, and simple mathematical modeling. Four hours of lecture and two hours of lab weekly.

I have moments where I feel like my brain is about to explode from the sheer insanity of doing this. I’ve been called crazy by a couple of people but even those people have been excited for me and enthusiastic about my next chapter. When I get too caught up in thought or toss and turn because my brain won’t shut off at night, as it runs through a long list of things-to-do between now and September, I have to remind myself of this exact sentiment right here:

(photo credit: thoughtsoff)

I’ve been reading so many posts on Facebook lately by people who seem to be desperately seeking happiness and seem to be failing in their mission. I see people who seem resigned to the fact that happiness is out of their reach because A, B, and C didn’t come together or because Jane Doe/John Smith doesn’t love them or because < insert reason here >. I’ve seen so much of it lately and it’s been weighing on my brain a lot.

Five years ago I got divorced. It was a choice that I made because the situation simply wasn’t right for me. There are other reasons I can pin it on but at the end of the day, my happiness wasn’t there. I’ve spent the last five years ago realizing that my happiness isn’t in anyone else but me. I say it a lot and I get a lot of skeptical comments or glances, as though people think I’m just offering up platitudes. It’s like the people who know me have forgotten that I don’t just say it to say it. I have a history. I have experience. I’ve been through the ringer and have been stretched beyond my limits. I’ve been at my lowest, with no money, a broken home, a bad job and very few options. When I say that happiness is deeply internal, it isn’t just lip service that I read on some website. It’s a tried and true, very tested truth. 

Sure, other people can help contribute to your happiness. Sure, good circumstances can make you happy. I don’t deny either of those things. But even in shitty situations, even when you’re not in love and not floating on cloud nine, you can be happy. It’s about finding a peace within yourself and rolling with the punches as they come. Happiness isn’t a situation; it’s a state of mind. Even when I worry about how the next bill is going to get paid, I can still smile and laugh and feel content. I stopped giving so much importance to the things that I can’t control and on that day, my life improved ten fold. Sure, some days I forget my own advice. One those days I let myself dwell and feel sorry for myself but when I get my perspective back and STOP giving those things importance, I immediately feel better. I feel happy. I feel happy because I let myself feel happy. I feel happy because I deserve it. Just like you do.

I found this today and it’s another example of people saying what I’m thinking better than I can, so I’m going to go ahead and shut up and let them do just that.

The Secret of Happiness

We all know it, but we don’t get it.  The secret of happiness it that it comes from within us, not from outside us.  But we twist this knowledge into something it should not be.  We pervert it. We constantly run back to money, people and possessions.  “I would truly be happy inside if “I could just get a man/woman.”  “If I can just get this job, I will be happy inside”.  If I could just possess this one thing, I would be happy inside”. Six months.  Six months at the outside is the time that happiness will last if it is solely based on exterior circumstances.  Then your brain will say “enough of all this high intensity” and will regulate back to a normal level of satisfaction”.

We have to CHOOSE to be happy.  We can CHOOSE to not let circumstances effect our lives.  Remember circumstances are neutral. We have the choice as to what value we place on them.  We have the choice to see problems or see solutions (even opportunities).  We have the choice to play the victim/martyr or the one who is tenacious (hanging on never quitting) or even the hero.   We have the choice to be calm and content in all things, or anxious and discontent in all things.

As far as relationships go, this is very important.  Until you can love yourself and be happy without a mate, then you will never find happiness in a relationship.  You put too much emphasis on the other person to bring you happiness.  When they don’t, you will blame them and want to try someone new.  Or, you will pressure them to bring you happiness and smother them looking for happiness and will drive them away.  Again, until you can be happy and content on your own, you are poison to another and they are poison to you.  It will bring you even more heart ache then you already have.  I will write more about this at another time.

Happiness is found in the day to day small things.  A good cup of coffee.  A good conversation.  A job well done.  A sunny day.  A rainy day.  Finding the beauty around you by being awake and observant. A comfortable bed.  The breeze on your skin.  Relizing that everything does not have to be more than it allready is.  A lot of things are good just the way they are. We don’t need to add to them to “make them even better”. The list of little things to be happy about in a day is endless.  Again as I often discuss, we can train our brains to think differently if we discipline them consistently.  If we CHOOSE to look for all the little things that make us happy hour by hour, then we will end up happy at the end of the day.  If we do this every day, we will end up happy at the end of the week.  Do this every week; you gain a year of happiness.  Do this every year; you gain a life time of happiness.

The choice is ours.  Me included.  I need to follow my own advice as much as anyone.

http://howtotrulylive.com/the-secret-of-happiness/

Oh, that sweet, sweet Matty Barr. I’m finally watching Hatfields & McCoys and, as suspected, he’s pretty damn perfect. Oh yeah, that whole Costner/Paxton thing ain’t too shabby either.

herquietplace:

Date a girl who reads. Date a girl who spends her money on books instead of clothes. She has problems with closet space because she has too many books. Date a girl who has a list of books she wants to read, who has had a library card since she was twelve.

Find a girl who reads. You’ll know that…

(via determinismm-deactivated2012123)