Inauguration Day

Today I saw a shirt that said "I think...therefore, I'm Republican."

Are you serious?

I mean seriously. Seriously?!

Political soapbox for just a second. This is your warning. If you don't want to hear my spoutings, stop reading immediately.

Hello to the rest of you.

My bottom line about politics: if it was all as simple as some people make it out to be, we would have figured it out a long time ago! That's the point: politics is complicated. It involves all kinds of moral, economic, and social issues that don't have clear "right" or "wrong" answers-how can you possibly claim that your mere "intelligence" is going to solve age old questions people have been mulling over and discussing since the beginning of time? You're telling me that any intelligent, mentally sound person would come to the same conclusion you have if they just "really thought it through"? Munch on that for a while.

I would have been just as upset if the shirt would have said "I think...therefore, I'm Democrat." Don't insult people's intelligence by claiming that "your way" is the God-given "right way" and should never be questioned. I could go on about this forever, but I think that should suffice for now.

Despite that ignorant kid's T-shirt, Barack Obama became the president of the United States today. I don't care who you are, this man is inspiring. But moreso than that-he is our president. It doesn't matter if you agree with his policies or not-your time to speak was November, sweetheart. He's the 44th president of the United States of America, so you better support him with all you've got.

In his speech today, he hit on things I believe in deeply.

"Now, there are some who question the scale of our ambitions -- who suggest that our system cannot tolerate too many big plans. Their memories are short. For they have forgotten what this country has already done; what free men and women can achieve when imagination is joined to common purpose, and necessity to courage."

"For as much as government can do and must do, it is ultimately the faith and determination of the American people upon which this nation relies."

We didn't get to be the most powerful nation in the world from piggybacking on a perfect system. Wow, we already know about the holes we can and have created in that. We got here because of the faith and determination of the American people. That has to be the bottom line.

We have to be committed to the belief that we make the difference. We can't depend on our parents, our friends, or Obama to solve our problems and change America. We have to do it.

I don't agree with all of his ideologies. I voted for him because I agreed with his policies moreso than any other candidate.

There is one other reason I voted for him, and it's what was confirmed to me tonight watching his speech. I believed he could inspire the hope that is necessary to help America. We've got to have hope to change-hope in ourselves, hope in the ideals of this nation, and hope-God forbid-in our leaders. And already, he has! He's gotten people interested in politics again. People have started to care again. How many people my age watched Bush's inauguration speech? How many people wore Bush's face on a shirt on January 20th to show their support? All the T-shirts and buttons and musical interpretations may be hype and popularity, but for every person that supports him because of his popularity, there is someone who supports him because he symbolizes something more than our individual petty lives. He symbolizes the realization of the American dream, the beauty of our melting-pot nation coming together under God.

I believe in hope. It's what makes this nation great, and I stand by anyone who can inspire that in America.

The Seed.

The seed.
Class assignment worth test weight: Grow a seed.
Not just any seed-no, no. A seed that is approximately the size of a pinhead. A seed that will be given to you at 9am in said class, to be hauled around with your plethora of junk ALL DAY without being smushed, crushed, powdered, or otherwise obliterated. A seed that will, promisedly*, grow into something wonderful and beautiful with vigilant care.

Well, I suppose I should admit at this point that I already took a seed.
And crushed it.
It was hard, okay?! Where was I supposed to put the dang thing? I had three other classes to go to, bus, work, and home-can you imagine the peril for a pinhead size object amid the chaos of bustling BYU students, clamoring UTA patrons, and impatient Alphagraphics customers? Jeopardy.
So that seed was history. Today, I admitted to my teacher that I am a loser/seed-killer and received another. Which I have been cautiously transporting all day-the saga unfolds.
Hug with Kaylie: I had to half-hug to shield it.
Study food buying: I had to make Kaylie fill up my baggie with Swedish Fish because my hands were full of seed.
Study food eating: Stupid Kaylie almost smashed it while trying to forcefully close my baggie so I wouldn't eat any more.
Studying: It required a stupid, stupid arrangement of seed on scriptures, scriptures on lap, ugh. It was stupid.
*I know promisedly is not a word. But it should be.



Oh, man! I started this post and it was going to be so clever and wonderful. But then I got distracted.

Anyway, amid all the obstacles and trails my seed survived and came out stronger because of it.
It now lives in a mug in the window sill.

I don't know what it's supposed to grow into.

please?

I need more musings from the following:
1. Kendra
2. Claire-
3. Katie-i KNOW you write. so please just type your diary and allow me to read it. thank you.

c'mon baby, won't you please?

I've never grinned so much in my life.

"Our schools were designed to transmit our cultural heritage to succeeding generations. And what manifestation of that heritage is more powerful, or more compelling, or more glorious, than the arts?

It’s not the purpose of education simply to prepare students for jobs. Jobs are important but they’re a by-product of a good education. A narrow-minded focus on jobs makes our young people merely pawns on the gigantic chessboard of international economic competition and ignores the very skills that tomorrow’s graduates need most: the ability to think clearly, to communicate effectively, and to solve problems by working with other people. Those are the skills, together with a thorough preparation in the basics, including the arts, that today’s employers seek.

The purpose of education is the pursuit of truth and beauty, and the development of human capacities, and the enhancement of the quality of life. And nothing in a curriculum does that better than the arts.

A nation is judged by posterity not by the size of its gross national product, nor by the destructive capabilities of its military arsenal, nor by its SAT scores, but by its contribution to the arts and humanities. It is the achievements of a people in the arts and humanities that remain when everything else is swept away by time.

…The arts exalt the human spirit. They transform the human experience. The arts are the chocolate chips in the cookie of life…"

Paul Lehman
Former National President, MENC
Dean, School of Music, University of Michigan

Doesn't this give you tingles??!
I absolutely cannot WAIT.