Me, ME, MEEEEE!!!!!!

I'm feeling quite self-centered today. I don't care about the needs of others; in fact, I don't even want to see others. I'm sitting in an office, using time in between some presentations for work, and it's nice and quiet in here. I have only been interrupted once, which would seem to provide an excellent opportunity for accomplishing a great deal, but somehow, I have not done that. Oh well.

Apparently, today is going to be all about me anyway, so I don't care. :)

I'm sort of puzzled by this turn of events, but I'm just going to go with it, because I think if I'm with people, I might mock someone or say something rude. It's probably better to be sequestered on a day like today.

ME MONSTER!!! MEEEEEEEEEE!!! (Tonight's plans? Watch a movie/play xbox with my favorite person - ME!!)

Hopefully, this passes, or I decide to suck it up and be a better person. I'm fairly certain that this is not an attractive quality.

Clarification

One of my old roommates told my new roommate that I was shy. Saturday night, I was sitting on my couch playing games, and I realized why the old roommate must think I'm shy--I really didn't have much to say, but that was because I had a whole day of busyness and stuff and was enjoying some down time.

Today is the same way--I was training at work today, so I've been talking/teaching/entertaining all day, and I'm tired! I just want to sit on my couch and be a bum.

So, I felt some clarification was in order: I'm not shy; I'm boring. :)

That should clear it up.

And So It Begins...

I have many things I can spend money on. They all, of course, are me-related (clothes, movies, car stuff, etc...). Tomorrow, I'll acquire something new to spend money on. I certainly don't need anything else to spend money on, but...

It's probably a good thing that I'm the only one that I have to spend my money on. If I had to buy stuff for anyone else, I'd be poor!! :)

Giving Thanks

In honor of Thanksgiving, here are a few things I am thankful for. This list is not all-inclusive, nor is it in any order or importance or lack thereof.

My Parents
My Brothers & Sisters
My Brother-in-Law
My Sisters-in-Law
TiVo
Warm Socks
Dishwashers
Education
Women's Rights
Human Rights
Saran-Wrapped Cougar
Books
Music
The Panama Canal
The Book of Mormon
My MacBook
Frozen Vegetables
Fluffy Pillows
Extended Family
Ice Cream
My Five Beautiful Nephews
Ice Cream Again
Flip Flops
Netflix
My Friends
Photography (see www.michaelkenna.com)
Continuing Revelation
Hot Chocolate
Contact Lenses
Soldiers Who Fight to Protect Me
Soldiers Who Return Safely
Living Prophets
Water
Clean Water
Running, Clean Water
Hot, Running, Clean Water
The Smell of Babies
Gerbera Daisies
Sleeping In


Happy Thanksgiving to one and all! Hopefully, it's a day when all of us can put aside our silly differences and just be grateful for life, for each other, and for our many, many blessings.

Oh Well

Today, my neck was a bit worse when I woke up. I went into work, but only for a bit. I came home and found a great way to prop my pillows that made me in no pain. It was fabulous.

However, it was not productive. At all. I did, however, read an entire book, reflect a bit on the very vivid dream I had last night, ponder the mysteries of life, and think about what to eat for dinner.

Of course, I still haven't eaten. I should make some food. Now that I've been out of bed for a while, I'm almost ready to lie back down...

All in all, it was a nice day. but I'm going to have to get around to more in the future if I ever want to...you know...accomplish stuff.

Confidence

Yesterday, I ended up in a strange conversation about dating with a few people. One fellow in particular, let's call him "Person" for the sake of anonymity, said he had was against dating.

Me: You shouldn't give up. It takes lots of dates.
Person: Oh, no, I've dated. Honestly, I've dated more than you could ever dream of.

A few thoughts from this conversation:

1-This is a very confident person.
2-What was that supposed to mean anyway?
3-I can perhaps see some reasons why the dating isn't working out for him...

As you can imagine, the rest of the conversation was moderately awkward. However, it made for a good laugh for the rest of the night.

Independent Confirmation

I got a hair cut last week, and my stylist told me that my hair is lots thinner than it used to be. I could've told you this, and I've probably actually told several of you that I thought my hair was falling out.

Apparently, it actually is. She asked if I have had any changes in diet, and I said yes, but now I eat much healthier than I used to. It makes no sense. I'm thinking that vegetables are making me go bald. It's just one more reason why I should eat more ice cream, I guess.

For the first time in as long as I've been getting hair cuts, she didn't thin my hair out when she was done. I guess it's thin enough now on its own...

I guess I'll just have to start shopping for hats if my hair keeps falling out!

The World is NOT Your Campus

There is a sign at one of the entrances to BYU that says "The World is Our Campus." I just wanted to clarify for everyone out there attending this school: the world is NOT your campus. Your campus is your campus. The rest of the world (Provo, Orem, everywhere!) belongs to the rest of the world. Please act accordingly. This includes, but is not limited to, such behaviors as: waiting your turn in line, following established traffic rules, using an "inside voice" in public, recognizing that the community is more than just students, etc.

When I was talking to my parents about this subject, they noted that some students seem to think that the campus is the world. This, of course, is also incorrect.

To summarize:

The world is the world.
The campus is your campus.
Your campus is a TINY part of the world.

Thanks for your cooperation.

Strike!

The WGA is on strike, if you haven't heard...I know that most people know about it, but I did have to tell my sister (she just doesn't pay attention to those kinds of things) so I thought I should let everyone know.

I'm really at peace with the whole situation. I am firmly behind the writer's guild, although I don't know what this will do to them in the future--they may wish they hadn't done this later--but they definitely are justified in their demands.

That said, I'm sort of relieved. Apparently, I have no self control, so I need them to just stop making television so I don't have to watch it, and now they have! Most of my shows just have two or three weeks left, and then they'll be in reruns. This will be great--more time for homework, socializing (or not), sleeping, etc. Of course, the problem here is that now I'm going to want to buy an XBox even more...that would be bad, because then after I get hooked on gaming all the time, then TV will come back and then I'll REALLY be hosed.

My life is so hard, clearly...

Relaxed

My doctor has declared that nothing specific is wrong with me, but he has given me a muscle relaxant.

At this point, I have no idea how I will react to said medication. A woman I work with gets REALLY fun when she takes muscle relaxants--her speech slurs, she says things that are highly inappropriate, and remembers very little of it later.

So, for my sake, let's all just forget anything that I do or say over the next 48 hours, just in case.

Wahoo!

Unofficially, I'm quite delighted. For the first time ever, everyone and everything I voted for in the recent election won! Of course, I can't be officially delighted until the results are all official, especially since some of these races don't count. One of the people I voted for won by like 92 votes. Municipal elections are nice, because then you get to feel like your vote really counts.

I am excited about choosing the winner.

Then again, there were only 3 things on the ballot. But still--I did get my way in all three. That's got to count for something.

I'll have to remember this next year when I will definitely vote for all the losers. I always do.

Soapbox

I try to keep my political views to myself. (My family is thinking, no you don't, but I mean when I'm not with them.) However, I feel the need to express a political view today. I will then take my soapbox and put it away for a long time--I promise.

Tomorrow, there is an important vote taking place in the state of Utah. Last legistlative session, our legislature voted to approve a very flawed law which gives funds to parents who want to send their children to private school. Those who are in favor talk about how they're in favor of parents being able to choose. This is a strange argument--I'm in favor of parents being able to choose too, but I think that if they choose to send their children to private school, they should finance it.

Utahns have an important democratic opportunity to vote and decide whether to let this bill become part of Utah law. It is very important that people get out and vote against this bill.

Here are a few key flaws:

Those in favor of this legislation say that it will help poor people send their children to private school. This is simply not the case. Even the poor families who qualify for the highest dollar voucher ($3000) will still not be able to afford private school--the tuition is much higher than that on average. Additionally, even if they could afford the tuition, they would have to find a way to get their children to school--buses don't run there. Many of these children also use a government subsidized free breakfast, free lunch, and after school care program. None of these would be available for children at private schools.

Public schools will lose money. We can all agree that education is essential and that we need to be working to make it better and better. This is not the way to do it. Pro-voucher groups say that public schools will not lose money, but this is not true. Even the impartial voter information pamphlet reveals that after a few years, millions of dollars will be diverted away from public schools. This is unacceptable.

Vouchers will further exaggerate the class system. Children should be going to schools with people who are different from them. We all need to learn from each other. Private schools can choose who to accept and who not to accept. This is a very dangerous practice which shouldn't be funded by the taxpayers. I don't want to pay for prejudice.

Voucher law has very few requirements for the private schools where the money is going. Teachers do not have to be certified--in fact, they don't even have to have a college degree. Private schools won't be held to the same No Child Left Behind requirements as public schools or any other government standards, but they will be receiving government money.

Some people think that the money that they pay for taxes SHOULD be returned to them as vouchers if they don't want their children to go to public schools. This makes no sense. I pay the same taxes everyone else does. In fact, I pay a higher percentage because I am single. My tax dollars fund public education, public roads, all kinds of government stuff. I don't directly use the public education system. By pro-voucher arguments, I should be getting my money back too! I don't want my money back. I want to fund good education.

Pro-voucher arguments would like to make anti-voucher groups evil by association. Many of the commercials talk about how anti-voucher work is being funded by the NEA, by "liberal east coast agenda," etc. We should be worried about the issues, not about who is on which side of them.


There have been excellent articles in the Deseret News (www.desnews.com) in the past few days. You should read them. There have also been articles and editorials at ksl.com. Read those too. Read the impartial voter information pamphlet. Get educated about the facts. Then get out and vote tomorrow.

I'm for education. I'm for parents being able to choose. I'm for great schools. I think that educating children is one of the highest callings anyone can aspire to. I am for continuing to work to improve public education.

Because I am FOR all of those things, I'm AGAINST Referendum 1.

Dear World

Dear Future Husband:

Howdy. Just wanted to touch base and update you on an important issue.

Since I've moved into my new apartment, I've been sleeping in a full size bed. This has been FANTASTIC, and I've adapted very well.

Sadly, this means that there is no bed in existance that is large enough for me to share with another person, since a king size bed is just the size of two twins.

Anyway, we can share the same room, but apparently, I'm going to need my own bed. I'm sure it'll be fine.

Thanks!

Liz

I'm okay, you're okay...

We're all okay.

Sometimes, people ask you how you are, and you tell them that you are okay, and they insist that you aren't.

I'm okay.

Don't let the neck brace fool you.