Did SNL Go To Far?

 Recently on Saturday Night Live there was a skit during their Weekend Update section that has raised a lot of controversy. The skit, consisting of Seth Meyers and Fred Armisen, mainly joked about New York’s Governor David Patterson and his being blind. While many found the skit entertaining, there are also quite a few people, including the Governor himself, seriously offended by it. Unfortunately in our society today everyone has to be politically correct, and I find that to be quite ridiculous, especially when it comes to comedy. From the beginning, comedy has always sought out the most uncomfortable of situations and made them funny. And comedians have always made fun of people, no matter who they were. No one gets upset when a comedian makes fun of someone who we as a society agree has some sort of crazy issue going on, but the minute a comedian makes fun of someone for either their inability to see, or maybe hear, everyone gets defensive. So this makes me wonder, what really makes these people upset? The fact that the said comedian is actually in the wrong, or the fact that they actually found it funny, but think that morally that is wrong? 

          Personally I think that political correctness is a bunch of bullshit. We shouldn’t have to walk on egg shells and watch what we say just because it might insult someone. Sometimes things just need to be said. Yeah, it might hurt, but you get over it. Doesn’t anyone remember the saying their parents taught them when they were younger, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me?” Yeah let’s start living by that. With all of the stress that we as a society are facing right now, we need a little laughter. Everyone is fair game to a comedian. Take what a comedian says or does with a grain of salt. Life is way too short to take anything too seriously anyway.

People Watching= Me Rambling

It’s the holiday season once again, and I’m sitting in the San Francisco Airport two hours early waiting for my flight back home. Sitting here, watching all of these people wander around looking for their gate, or something to do while they wait for their flight, I start to wonder about their lives. The old couple sitting across from me, the hippie chick across the room, the girl doing yoga, or the creepy guy who won’t stop staring at me. Are they going home to visit family, or maybe going to do some big charity job? And what makes them do the things they are doing? Obviously the old couple is just old and silly to me, but what a darling couple. Both using hand- sanitizing wipes munching on their little sandwiches. I wonder what they were like when they were my age. Considering that was probably a good 60 years ago, I bet they have some fabulous stories.

The hippie chick has been scanning the room like a paranoid schizophrenic. I think she might be doing the same thing as me, either writing about what she is experiencing or maybe drawing. She looks like she would be into drawing.

The girl doing yoga, well… what the hell? That’s all I can think. Who does yoga in the middle of an airport? Kind of odd if you ask me. And she can’t be doing it to relax since she is reading a textbook while doing it. This really makes me wonder what people are thinking. Is she just trying to show off her skills? Or does she have to do the moves every so often so that she doesn’t forget how to do them? Or maybe it’s a studying technique. Intriguing, yet odd. 

The creepy guy who won’t stop staring at me has a porn star moustache and a scar across his face. I can’t decide which is scarier, the moustache or the fact that he has a hat that could be a replica of Indiana Jones’ hat. Hmm, maybe he goes on crazy adventures like Indiana Jones, which would explain how he got that scar. Fighting someone in the desert while searching for a lost jewel or something.

People have stories upon stories to explain why they are the way they are. And every single one of them piques my interest to the point of starting random conversation just to find out a little about them. I’m probably the creepy one, looking for a reason to talk to someone. Like this lady on the shuttle, I noticed she had a military id and I felt a sudden connection. I mean, my dad is in the military, so we are connected sort of. I learned that her husband is ex military, and that she is heading to London. She was very nice too. She helped me find my gate and we got to talking about my photography. I love when other people take an interest in learning about someone they don’t even know. If more people were like that I think our world would be a little better. Learning little facts about someone on a bus, or train, or plane, really makes you humanize the world a bit more. We all get so wrapped up in our own lives; we don’t realize that there are a billion other people out there who do affect our lives in a way we don’t think about. It’s kind of cool if you think about it. Somewhere in the world there is someone doing something that not only affects his or her lives, but also potentially affects yours and mine.

Oh the things that come to me when I’m running on a few hours of sleep and I’m sitting bored in an airport people watching. 

Say No To Hate.

 As most Californians, and probably most of the U.S., are aware Proposition 8 passed. Now, I’m a firm believer in voting for what you believe, but to take away a human’s rights is just unfair and wrong. Most people who voted yes, which was surprisingly most of California, say that they are protecting traditional marriages. But how can we protect traditional marriages when hardly any marriage is traditional nowadays? A traditional marriage would consist of a man and woman who are of the same race, religion, and class (usually) and were virgins. Today we see many marriages that are biracial, different religious beliefs, and most people are not virgins when they get married. So technically traditional marriages was destroyed a long time ago. Using that as a reason is just hiding behind hate. I would think that after electing our first black president, we would be able to get passed discrimination and allow anyone the right to get married. Instead of taking a step forward, we took three steps back. 

     Proposition 8 passed, and Proposition 2 passed. We gave animals rights and took away a person’s right to marry. How does that make sense? Yes prop 2 needed to be passed. I am glad that the people of California could agree on that, but how did they allow for Prop 8 to pass? How could you allow a law to take away a human being’s right to marry who they love? They are just the same as everyone else. We are all born to love, some are born to love the opposite sex, while others are born to love the same sex. These are things that can’t be stopped, and we shouldn’t be allowed to take away their rights. It’s just wrong. 

      So for all of you people who voted yes on Prop 8, just remember, one day you may have a son or daughter, or maybe even a grandson or daughter, who wants to marry the love of their life, but can’t because you voted yes on Prop 8. How will you feel when they are so torn apart because they don’t have the same right as you do? Just think about that one.

Are You Voting?

   So the election is tomorrow. We all are going into the polls to vote and some of us, especially people my age, are quite uninformed. All we know is what the media tells us, and lets be honest, the media isn’t the best source to make an informed voting decision. Their mission is to make one candidate look like an ass while making the other look better than God. So how do we become informed and make a good decision based on what we believe? We can start by ignoring the media and going straight to the source. Look at each candidate’s websites and read what they have to say. Yes, each candidate is going to make their ideas sound so great, but you will be able to relate to one of the candidates and know who you agree with more. Also, read up on the propositions and look at which candidate agrees with your decision on the propositions. Some of these are very important, especially prop 8 and prop 4 (at least to me). 

      Prop 8 is all about marriage and whether or not same sex marriage should be legalized. In my opinion I fully believe that it should. By voting yes on Prop 8, you are saying that gay and lesbian couples are not allowed to be married. Marriage is a sacred thing to be shared between two people who love each other, we shouldn’t be allowed to turn a couple away because of their sex. Being gay is not something you choose, its something you feel. Just like being straight. We can’t choose to be straight, we are born straight, so how can we honestly believe that someone wasn’t born to love the same sex? We can’t. No one would choose to be put through all of the harassment, pain, and fear that gays and lesbians are put through. It’s all about feelings and emotions and who you feel them towards. So say no to Prop 8 because everyone has the right to legally marry the person they love, whether it be same sex or opposite sex. 

Prop 4 is about abortion and whether or not the girl’s parents should be notified at least 48 hours before the procedure. Now I know that we all want our children to be able to speak to their parents about anything, but in certain cases we just can’t. It’s hard to tell yourself that you’re pregnant, or even a friend, and it’s 20 times harder to tell your parents. If this were to pass, many girls would stray away from going to a safe and licensed clinic to somewhere shady or do it themselves. They might even consider suicide. Now suicide already has a high rate, and if this prop were to pass it would get higher, but that’s a different subject. The fact that these girls would resort to self induced abortions, or unhealthy acts to abort the child is way more upsetting than knowing that teens are going behind their parents’ backs to get an abortion. Voting yes on prop 4 would lead to more dangerous situations for these girls.

Now there are quite a few more props to vote on, but to me those are the most important. Like I said before, please read up on all of them, and do some research on the candidates. Don’t go to the polls tomorrow blinded by the media. Think for yourself and vote for who you think can make this country and this economy better.

Why Men Cheat.

So I just read an article titled “Why Men Cheat” and let me say I am quite disappointed. I thought this article was going to be about men truly manning up and explaining why they cheat. Instead it was an article full of excuses about how men feel emotional voids because their wives don’t show enough appreciation, pushing them to cheat. While I understand that feeling that way can lead to thoughts of infidelity I honestly don’t believe it is 100% the woman’s fault. And that is what I got from this article. It named the reasons as to why men cheat and then gave examples of how women can keep their man from cheating. Instead of men finally accepting responsibility for their actions, they once again blame women. 

Yes women also cheat, I am in no way say that women have never cheated and blamed the man, but for there to be an article completely blaming the victim for the crime, that’s just ridiculous. Not only are women expected to be a great mom, wife, cook, maid, chauffeur, sex kitten, and business woman, we now are expected to control our men and make sure that they don’t act on hormonal urges. How are we expected to do all of this? It is a completely ridiculous demand. 

Maybe I misread the article, or took it out of context, but to me it sounds like it’s the woman’s fault, and it is her responsibility to make sure her husband does not cheat.

Here is the article. Interpret as you will. And correct me if I misread this.

http://lifestyle.msn.com/relationships/articlerb.aspx?cp-documentid=11290632&page=1

The Skinny On Hollywood

  Hollywood has always been a huge influence on our society. When it comes to Hollywood stars, all eyes are focused on every little thing. From fashion to weight, the public is constantly aware of what the stars are doing, but are the pressures from being under the microscope finally affecting our celebrities? Nowadays women are constantly pushed to be the perfect woman. We need the perfect measurements, the perfect looks, perfect style, perfect everything. And for young Hollywood this can be stressful. Many young actresses are ridiculously skinny. From the stars of 90210 to Miley Cyrus to runway models, the girls are all looking quite unhealthy. It makes sense to be conscious of how you look, especially when you are in the public’s very critical eye, but these girls are giving off unrealistic images for young, vulnerable girls.

            So what can we do to change this problem? For one, we must discard this idea that beautiful is skin and bones. A century ago women who were full figured and shapely were considered beautiful. And in my eyes they still are. Women are naturally built to have curves. We have hips, we have breasts, we shouldn’t hide them, and we sure as hell shouldn’t try to make them disappear. Second, we need to stop analyzing every little flaw we can find. Quit standing in front of the mirror trying to find that little piece of cellulite, or that one roll. If you look hard enough you’ll find something, even if it’s not bad. Women have enough pressure as it is, why add more to yourself buy obsessing over your weight and looks? Yes, being beautiful is a great thing, but confidence and self-love is way sexier than any skin and bones model you see on the runway.

            It’s not only women however, who feel the pressures to have the perfect body; men are feelings the pressures now too. They have to be buff, cut, and have six pack abs to be good looking. More and more men are hopping on the plastic surgery train, altering their looks to be chiseled, buff and tighter looking.

 Liposuction and implants have become a huge trend in our society. Nip this, tuck that, add a little more here, take some from there, we all want to alter our looks to be more pleasing. But who says we aren’t pleasing already? Who has decided that our looks just aren’t beautiful? While Hollywood is not the only one to blame, it is the most influential. 

Nothing Can Compare...

I’ve always been a little afraid of love, and not just the love of a boyfriend, but also the love of a friend. I think because as a child my family moved around so often I learned to not get too attached to anyone besides my family. It was hard enough to get to know someone and get close enough to call them a good friend, then have to say goodbye a year or two later. As a child it’s not so hard. Friendships come and go. Your best friend is the kid who shares most with you, but as you get older and have to say goodbye so often, you learn that having a best friend is impossible. So when I finally ended up in Wisconsin for good I thought everything had changed. I thought I would have that one great group of friends that is always portrayed in television and books. You know the group where everyone is so close, but everyone pairs up and has a best friend. And to be honest I had that for a while. But when we all went to different high schools, that group changed. We grew apart, found new friends, and once again I had to say goodbye. It’s hard, but it’s something we all have to go through. The same thing happened when college came, and by then we had already developed such strong bonds, that I thought nothing could tear us apart. Even relationships were stronger. Yet change brought distance and distance brought heartbreak. Now that I’m in my 20’s and finding that love is real, at least to the people around me, it’s even scarier. You have to put your trust into someone completely and hope that they won’t rip you to shreds. I once read a quote that said, “Loving someone doesn’t mean just giving them your heart, it means giving them your heart and trusting them to not tear it to pieces.” That scared me. I thought I knew what love was, I had the boyfriend in high school that I loved dearly, and still do. But I could never trust him not to do that. So then what did I experience with him? Many would say puppy love, or even first love. But if that quote is true then was it love at all? Were those four years just infatuation, or was it a shallower form of love? I’ll never be sure, but I do know that I envy anyone who can fully trust someone with his or her heart.

I think I fell in love again, at least close to it, but with that came absolute heartbreak. With a whole country between us, I knew it would never work, but for some reason I can’t get over him. I try and tell myself that he doesn’t care, that it was just a fling to him, and it works most days, I just can’t let him go. And I know why, he did something that no one has ever done for me before. He put himself completely out there, and showed that I could trust him. He would say things that you would assume were only being said to get me in bed with him, but they were said after. I could hear the sincerity in his voice; feel the truth when he touched me. A connection like that was scary, but it felt amazing. However, I let that amazing and scary feeling take over and bailed. I hurt him so I wouldn’t get hurt. Because I knew that with him, things could and would have gotten serious. And to be honest, that scares the hell out of me. Knowing that I could love someone so much that I couldn’t say goodbye ever is one of the scariest things in the world to me. So after I hurt him, and got away from that connection, I thought I was fine, yet slowly what I did started haunting me. Everything reminded me of him, I constantly thought about him, and I couldn’t go to the mall without having to hide so I wouldn’t see him. It was ridiculous and pathetic and I finally came to my senses and wrote him an apology letter. I figured my apology would mean nothing to him, and that he would just discard it, but one day I got a letter back. It took me awhile to read it, my stomach doing flips, but when I finally did that amazing and scary feeling I got came right back, but it wasn’t as scary. It was nice and comforting. And it grew as we hung out more. When I was with him, I was truly happy. That’s a big thing for me, to be truly happy. But as fate would have it, we both moved away to pursue our dreams, his music, and my photography. I told myself we would stay in contact, even though I knew that was a lie. After the move I didn’t talk to him for a while, and when I finally did our conversation was distant and cold. That’s when I started telling myself he didn’t care and that I was just fun for him. And then I think back to that one night when he said he would never hurt me and sounded so sincere. How can someone go from caring so much to distant in such a short period of time? Maybe it was revenge for what I did to him, or maybe he is just as scared of love as I am. I may never know, but what I do know is that love is the scariest and most amazing thing to ever experience. I may never experience it again, but as scared of it as I am, I am so envious of everyone who has it.

The whole point of this is to tell you that being in love is worth it. It’s worth the heartache and pain, but also worth the happiness and bliss. Don’t hold back like I did. Don’t ruin it because you’re scared. Being scared makes it all the more better in the end.