The Blogging Experience

"Why do I have to write a blog?" "Seriously Mr. Parker. Must we waste our time with useless exercises like blogs?"

That pretty much sums up how I felt when I was given my first blog assignment. I thought blogging was just going to be another pain in the you know where, homework assignment that I would have to dreadfully complete every other month. What was I going to write about? How was I going to go past that first sentence? What should the subject be or would anybody even care?

Me when I realized I needed to blog | Image Courtesy of 929theBull

As I tentatively embarked upon the annoying journey of fulfilling my duties as a "blogger", I began with random subjects that were less personal but easy to write about. Procrastination was the first thing that came to mind, as I find myself facing it on a regular basis, so it was easy to write about for my first post. My next two blogs were about soccer, yet another subject I am fairly comfortable with as I have been playing soccer since I was five.  The deadline for the second set of blog posts approached much faster than I had anticipated.  Why was I having such a hard time coming up with something to write about? My next few blog posts were less than memorable to say the least.   As I stared into space, sitting behind my computer, facing my fifth blog post, wondering what in the world I would write about next, it dawned on me that this experience wasn't supposed to be about what I know and feel comfortable writing about, but rather a means to delve more deeply into myself and allow myself to explore the areas I am less comfortable talking about.   It is at that moment that I decided to write about my sister Izzy and what she means to me.  For the first time my blog post was personal.  It was about a subject matter that was dear to me and close to my heart; something I cared about and took pride in.  It felt good to express myself on a personal level; quite cathartic to say the least.  The post about Izzy was followed with a post on gratitude and my relationship with my parents.  Not all my posts were personal in nature.  I also found myself writing about things that really crawled under my skin.  We are a fairly liberal family with a high tolerance level for most people and cultures.  Something about Donald Trump however, and his bigoted, biased, view of the world annoyed the crap out of me.  My blog posts became a canvas for expressing my disbelief and repulsion for his political platform and the reaction he was getting from the Republican electorate. It felt good to have an opinion on the state of our nation.

Looking back at my year of blogging, although I found it painful at first, I feel as though it has allowed me to grow as a person and develop as a writer. Despite my initial hesitation, it felt good to write what was on my mind.  I never thought that writing could be so fulfilling.

Shoutout To The Best Dog I've Ever Encountered

Imagine a dog that felt like just another human being when he was around you. A dog with a sole purpose to make you happy, and understood and could feel human emotions. Although everyone says that their dog is special and one of a kind, this was different. Out of all of the dogs I've ever encountered, there have been none like Storm.

My family has not had the best track record when it has come to pets. In fact, we've never really had any pets at all. The closest thing I've ever had to a pet were my sister's three goldfish from Petco way back when, but those poor little guys died in about four days. My family has just been too busy to give a pet the sort of attention it deserves. Although I've never personally owned any pets, Storm was the next best thing. He's been around ever since I was born. Every time I'd visit my aunt and uncle, whether that was when I was living in California, or when I was living here in Utah, I'd always have the pleasure of getting to be around Storm.

Storman Norman hanging out on the grass a few months ago

Storm never whimpered, barked, or whined and was the most polite dog you could ever meet. The only thing he wanted to do was make those around him happy, whether that was when he was in his prime six or seven years ago, or when he was an old fourteen year old man, panting as he sprinted up the stairs to greet you. Storm was a cuddler and was always in the mood to be pet. He'd walk up, smacking everything within a three foot radius with his massive tail, and would wait patiently to be pet or rubbed down. His personality was just a constant attitude of joy and love, and I don't believe there was any possible way to dislike him. I have tons of memories with Storm, even though he wasn't my dog, such as hiking for hours on my aunt and uncle's ranch, or just playing around with him in the house and backyard.

Unfortunately, like us humans, dogs can't live forever. A couple of days ago, my aunt went outside to look for Storm in the morning, as he wasn't in his bed. She found him laying in the grass and didn't think much of it at first, and called his name to bring him inside for breakfast. However, something was terribly wrong. Upon closer inspection, my aunt could see that Storm was shaking and he couldn't get up. My aunt rushed inside and grabbed my uncle, who picked up Storm and they took him to the veterinarian. Unfortunately, Storm's spine was in really bad shape, and there was nothing my aunt and uncle could do to keep him around. Although it was extremely hard and all they wanted to take that bundle of joy home and cuddle with him for one last time, he was suffering and in extreme pain, so they put him down.

Storm, you were one amazing dog and friend. You constantly made me and everyone else around you feel special. There is no doubt in my mind that you were one of the best dogs to ever live.

Rest easy pal.

How Can People Be So Dumb?

Somebody pinch me. Please tell me this is just a nightmare and I'm going to wake up and it will all be over. Donald Trump is the presumptive nominee for the Republican party? REALLY? How in the world did that happen? I'm still flabbergasted at the fact that more than 1/3 of the Republican party electorate, actually believe this man is qualified to be the President of the United States. Why is it that a narcissistic, sexist, racist, macho bigot with little to know knowledge of the key issues facing our country, continues to rack up votes. Could it be that we've become a generation incapable of depth with short attention spans, addicted to 140 character tweets and therefore content with idiotic one liners such as "I will make America great again." Why doesn't stand up in these rallies, look this guy in the face, and pose the simple question, "How, Mr. Trump?"

Image Courtesy of Business Insider

"Can you believe Crooked Hillary blah blah blah blah." "Oh wow, lyin' Ted Cruz really went wacko today." Are these childish remarks the type of behavior that dignifies the office of the Presidency? How can a man who calls Mexicans rapists, who views women as arm candy, and all Muslims as terrorists and opens his mouth and pretty much says whatever he feels like without thinking of the repercussions be qualified to be the leader of our great nation?

I still have hope, however, that the majority of Americans (the 2/3 that are repulsed by him), will realize that the only way to determine our destiny, is to go to the voting stations come November, and make sure that ANYONE but Trump is elected. I have faith in the ability of moderate Republicans, Democrats, and Independents alike to see past his ludicrous one liners, and to do what is best for America. Mr. Trump, you are not dealing with first graders, the American electorate is far more sophisticated than you think.

If you want to read about more idiotic things Trump has said, there are entire websites dedicated to those quotes. Here is one of them.

Oh No! I've Been Shot!

"I'm not going to school, I'll de darned if I risk my life." "Stay home, be safe." "Don't go to school, there is going to be a shooting." "I am NOT dying today." These are only a few of the freaked out posts that I woke up to on Tuesday morning, but let's rewind to the night before. On Monday night, at approximately 10:30 PM parents received an unfortunate email by the school board stating that in October of last year the school had received a message announcing a possible threat on May 3rd . The email informed parents that there would be an increased police presence at school and not to worry.

How I Imagined My Peers - Image Courtesy of BlackSphere

Given that the warning was issued at 10 pm the night before, it was only natural that a wave of panic arose amongst parents and students who assumed the worst and decided to stay away from school fearing their lives. It goes without saying that my family also engaged in discussion on whether or not to attend school. As for me, although I wasn't personally scared, I wasn't going to pass up a free excuse to not go to school. My mother, however, didn't buy it. She argued that there is a risk of something happening at school every single day, and that today was no different. In fact, since the person had made the announcement months in advance the school and police forces had been given ample time to prepare.  My mom stood in the kitchen and confidently declared that Tuesday was probably the safest day possible to be at school. I wasn't scared in the slightest and agreed with her but I didn't want to go to school so I played the "But Mom! I'm scared that I'm going to die" card and after much deliberation, mom conceded and said we didn't have to go as long as I focused on my AP Geography test from home. Besides, red days were one of those days where I would just sit in class doing nothing, so I'd be way more productive at home.

As it was still 6 AM, I sprinted up the stairs, but just as I was about to jump back into my pajamas and go to sleep, my dad arose from his deep slumber and yelled, "Not so fast." He explained that a second email had been sent out by the superintendent explaining that all students attending school were one hundred percent safe and that those involved in the potential threats were under direct adult supervision at their homes. Although this was fortunate in the sense that nobody was going to die, it unfortunately meant that I would have to go to school.

My sister and I reluctantly got in our father's car and drove to school. When I arrived, the school was more than half empty and in my first period there were only seven kids including me. To be fair, the superintendent said that students were safe at 6:45 AM, and although some parents probably knew that, they thought it would be better to be safe than sorry and TMJH can't expect these bewildered parents to know that their child won't die forty five minutes before the first bell. Although there was a slim chance of some person coming and killing everyone, it obviously didn't happen. Everyone panicked for nothing. That begged the question, what would happen if social media didn't exist? One of the main reasons this whole ordeal got blown out of proportion was because of the countless amount of people posting on their Snapchats and Instagrams about how you could potentially die at school. If ten years ago, when social media platforms didn't exist, would we have all gone to school? Sure, the school communicated the threat poorly and that scared people, but if we didn't blow it out of proportion, would everyone have been that frightened?

This entire incident made me think of life in general. Each and every day, there is a risk of danger and death. Hell, you can cross the street and get hit by a bus for all we know.  I get that some people were afraid to attend school on Tuesday because of some potential threat, but what if the shooter came on Wednesday, or the day after that? The point I'm trying to make is that life is too short and panic is not the best strategy by which to live our lives.  I guess the moral of this silly story is to live life to the fullest, because you never know when you might get shot during your Math test or get hit by a car on your way to school.  We can't let fear rule our lives. If we do we have given up control and conceded to those whose only goal is to instill fear.