Oh, The Summertime.

Summer. Okay. I hate heat. Hate it. Loathe is more the word. So all of this humidity and blazing sunshine and such is really not my thing and I try to avoid it. But there is something I absolutely love about summertime. After a really hot, bright day, I love at twilight when it gets cool and dim and the fireflies come out but it's not quite dark yet. I don't know why, it just feels cool. It's relaxing, knowing that school is over and you have nothing to worry about and you can stay there with the fireflies all night if you want to. I like the atmosphere. I like not having to work, not having to go to school, having the only obligation of taking care of myself and enjoying my life. 23 days until I graduate and my summer begins, and while the heat is making me nuts already, I look forward to those summer nights with my friends, catching fireflies and enjoying life.

88 Days!

In the New York Times Article "Plan B: Skip College" written by Jaques Steinberg, Steinberg talks about college not being as 'worth it' as it seems. He talks about the fact that tuition is expensive and there are many people working in jobs that don't require a degree, who have wasted enough money to buy a house on getting the unnecessary degree. I wonder if he asked one of those people if they regret it. Both of my parents went to college and got degrees. Both of my parents are working jobs unrelated to their degree, and I've never heard them once say they regret it. I feel like college is a mix of so many things to shape a kid into becoming the person they want to be. A person learns just as much outside of the classroom as he does inside the classroom. I don't think it is a waste. I wonder if that mailman that Steinberg mentioned that has a 'wasted' bachelor's degree regrets going to college. I wonder why that wasn't mentioned in his article. Because it doesn't support his argument, that college is expensive and not necessary. I agree that college isn't for everyone. I believe that a person that wants to be a nail technician or a mechanic or a massage therapist could go to a tech school in a year and get certified and be completely happy. And if that's what they want to do, I say go for it. But to say that college isn't necessary in this day and age as for in the future is just incorrect. I will be arriving onto the campus of Gordon College in 88 days, and I will work hard, learn everything I can, and receive my bachelor's degree in Communication Arts. And it will not be a waste.

You Matter Very Much.

When facebook sends me an email about a cause or a group to join or a band to check out, I almost always delete it without reading it. For some reason, I read it this time, and this is what facebook sent me from a group called To Write Love on Her Arms...

"

You matter very much.

i hope you know you're not the only one who feels the way you feel. You are not the only one who struggles. You are not the only one with questions. You are not crazy. You deserve to be heard, to be known. You deserve love.

You deserve love.

You deserve a place that feels like home. You deserve some hands to hold. Hands to pull you past the broken moments, hands to catch you when you fall. Eyes to see you. To say you're there, that you exist, that you change a room, that your presence is significant. Ears to hear you - hear your stories, hear you laugh. Ears to hear your questions and to say they matter.

Your questions matter.

Maybe call a friend today or invite someone to coffee. Tell someone they matter or tell someone you could use a conversation. Write a letter or ask someone how they're doing. Like a song too much. Feel the drums or get lost in the chorus. It means that you're alive.

It's good that you're alive. Who else could play your part?

i hope you get to a place, wake to a day, where that feels true. You deserve to know it's true.

To Write Love on Her Arms is a community of people with questions and struggles. It is for broken people and it is led by broken people. Life is heavy and light. Life is both. Beauty and pain, aches and dreams... We are saying that it's okay to talk about those things. We are saying that we need to. We are choosing to believe that stories deserve better endings. That hope is real, that help is real, that people need other people.

You are not alone today. You matter very much.

Peace to you.
jamie

"

I like this.

Formspring

Formspring is an online bulletin board for people to post negative and sexual questions or comments about a person. I've read some different formsprings, and they're all the same. This person is a slut, this person's boyfriend is cheating on them, this person is on drugs. I don't pity the girls that get attacked on their formsprings with mean comments and such because they have the power to reject questions and comments and not have them posted. So maybe girls want the internet world to know that they sleep around or party or wear a certain size bra. It's not victimizing anyone, because people are deliberately allowing it. It's like Gossip Girl for the middle class. I think mostly formspring is directed to girls. I'm sure some guys use it, but for the most part, it's females. It's interesting because I've seen posts asking a certain girl if she was on drugs, and the girl answered the question because it was a popular rumor that she wanted to clear up and end. Does that mean the rumor will end? Of course not, but it may help. There's many reasons why people get formsprings. They want insight on how people see them, they want to clear up false accusations, or they're just bored. But be careful, because formsprings will tell you exactly what people are thinking. Personally, i wouldn't get a formspring, purely because I don't want to know what people think of me.

Prom 2010.

Prom tonight. It's weird- high school is coming to an end. It's a cocktail of emotions, really. I'm nervous because there is so much to be done, and I'm excited because it's going to be fun (i rhymed!). It's kind of depressing, because this is the last big deal I'm going to share with my senior class before graduation. It was a long ride getting to where we are today, and I'm glad to celebrate it...but I'm going to miss them.

Kyleigh's Law

Okay, so this article in the Philadelphia Inquirer has quotes from a mother saying how great Kyleigh's law is and how much it will help. That's just nonsense, that mother is naive if she really thinks that having a decal on her daughter's car will 'help other drivers be patient and understand she is a beginner'. New Jersey drivers are notorious for being flat out bad, impatient drivers. That little decal will just frustrate people because teenagers are assumed to be bad drivers. This decal is only good for giving NJ police officers something to do and letting pedophiles know that I am young and alone. I've heard of cases where people pretend to be police officers and pull people over and then assault them- and that was before this law. When my sister first got her license in 2007 she was pulled over by someone who was posing as an officer, and luckily she got away, and that was before there was any type of sticker identifying her as a minor. So now what? Am I supposed to be afraid everytime I'm driving alone with this sticker on my car? That's not right, and it's not safe, and I would rather pay the fine than risk my safety.
I'm glad that legislation is working to repeal it, it's just frustrating for now. My plan is to lay low and follow all the rules and try my best not to get pulled over, so that I don't get fined for not having the silly sticker. And honestly, the curfew thing is just annoying. I'm not really upset about it, because it just means I'll be going home a little earlier, but it is frustrating for the nights where I'm going out somewhere during the summer. My birthday is in august, so I'm going to be restricted up until I go to college. I hope that Kyleigh's Law is amended as soon as possible.