Books over toys

Day 7: Your favorite childhood toys

I honestly don't remember having any favorite toys. I remember having barbies, but they were always put away. I remember having Polly Pockets, but they were always in my bottom desk drawer. My favorite toys were books. I loved my books. Dictionaries, encyclopedias, fiction, anything I could get my hands on.

Yes, I was a very strange child indeed.

I still am very strange. Half my moving out and moving back in when we were recarpeting involved books. I had more books than anything else. I was too ashamed to count how many boxes of books I actually had. Not to mention binders and notebooks...

I write. I read. I love words. I can't remember a time when this wasn't true. I knew how to spell hippopotamus in kindergarten. I was exempt from a spelling test in 4th grade because I was the only person in the class to spell chlorophyll correctly. I took pride in spelling acetylsalicylic acid correctly in the 6th grade, antidisestablishmentarianism in the 5th. In high school, I almost made it to state, but rendezvous kicked my butt, although I got flibbertigibbet, among other words (we didn't get those back). I've taken pride in learning hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia and pneunonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis.

I continue to search. My bookshelf hasn't stopped growing. My love for books hasn't, either. Even when college textbooks were abound, there was always an astray fiction book...I couldn't let go.

In that way, I'm still a child. I still play with my toys. In a way, I'm becoming more of a child, because I love stuffed animals so much more now. I'm attached to my sock monkey- he's even been featured here a few times. As for actual toys...I still haven't come up with any really. Are rollerblades toys? I went rollerblading when I was a tween, with my friend. I'd never go back there, though. Or maybe we could consider my laptop a toy.

OK, I'm sounding way too geeky now.

Deuces!!

Prompt Me: University of Choice

College/university: It's a major part of every student's life, whether they go or not, and if they go, the factors involved in their choice of colleges and universities are huge. HUGE.

When I was in high school, I was a starry-eyed believer in the dream college, which wasn't much, but was much different from where I actually ended up going. My dream college, my sights not set on Duke, Harvard, or Yale, was Baylor University in Waco, Texas, about an hour from where we actually live. I sent off my (incomplete, as I was still a high school student) transcripts, took my SATs, and did all the things a graduating high school student is expected to do.

Knowing that I was going for more than a "Community College," I involved myself in a number of extracurricular activities- enough that I had to "narrow the list" to which ones I wanted included in the yearbook & in the Who's Who Among American High School Students Edition the year I graduated. Colorguard, UIL, and Choir were my favorites, but there was also National Honor Society, Student Council, a brief stint on the Debate Team, all four years in the Who's Who records, class Salutatorian, and if you want to be specific, within UIL, I competed on the Spelling and Social Studies Team individually every meet, as well as a number of times on the Number Sense team, Math Team, Creative Writing team, once on the headline writing team, several times with each of the science teams in biology and chemistry (my physics skills were weak)...in other words, I was the top notch high school student.

I primed my transcript (106 grade point average, not too shabby!), and added the extracurriculars, certain that I'd be ready for the college of my dreams.

Then reality hit, and I got the paper that showed the tuition bill for a semester at Baylor University, as well as my awarded scholarship. I was only 1/4 paid for, and I was not able to commute an hour each way every day (even though in the end, that's what I essentially ended up doing).

My parents pushed for me to find something closer and less expensive, and so I (very apprehensively and not quite willingly) did. As the acceptance letter and scholarship to Baylor sat beckoning on my dresser, I applied to the University of Texas at Arlington, sent my transcript, scores, and whatever other desired materials.

March 11, 2005, due to the "10% rule" (and maybe the whole doing well in high school thing), I was accepted as a freshman into the University of Texas at Arlington. Quickie about the 10% rule- if  you are in the top 10% of your graduating class at a public high school in Texas, you are automatically granted admission to the public college or university of your choice granted there is room in their freshman class (cases like UT Austin call for further inspection, as their freshman class often is far too large to accommodate all the 10% graduates)

Needless to say, although the tuition was much more affordable, and I still had a scholarship, this was not my school of choice, and I was not happy. In addition, I wasn't able to participate in any activities- they all cost money. So here I was a college freshman, going to class for a few hours a day, and going straight to work. Not quite a way to adapt to college.

Four (or six) years later...I'm kind of glad I "chose" UTA. They have a really good school of social work...who knows what path I would have taken elsewhere? I did gradually accommodate myself to campus, although I never really found myself "fitting" on campus. It eventually became a place where I felt comfortable, and I'm kind of sad that I'm not there this semester, my first semester after graduation.

No, UTA wasn't my first choice, and it wouldn't have even been a choice had my parents not wanted me to go to a college "close to home" that was "affordable"...but nevertheless, I ended up going there, and you know what? I'm happy I did. I'd never take it back. The professors, the few people I did connect with, even though we lost contact, the experiences I had, they all had an impact on me. It wasn't my first choice, but it was a very good choice, indeed.

This weeks topic:  College

via

Today's Prompt:  I chose not to go to college....
or I chose the college I did.....

One Size Never Fits All

Have you ever felt pressure to conform to another person's beliefs or habits, in the blogging world, or anywhere else in life? Lately, there's been a lot of WordPress-Blogger disagreement. Those who use WordPress are insisting it's the "better" platform, but there are some diehard Blogger users (sorry, including myself) who won't switch, and it's really gotten me into this funk. I really don't like the disagreement. It's not an "I don't want to switch to WP because I want to be ugly and argue with the other side" attitude. It's an "I really think that every blogger should be able to choose their own platform, because different platforms suit different people, so this argument really shouldn't exist" type of attitude.

 Really, is there anything in this world that is truly "one size fits all"? Electronics are made differently to suit people's different wants and needs- think Apple versus Windows. How many different supermarkets are out there to fit different shopping habits, or different department stores? What about different types of food? Even hats, gloves, and socks that are made in only a small number of sizes fit their population differently. A hat that I wear will fit my sister differently than it will fit my mom. Gloves made to fit a medium sized hand will fit different medium sized hands differently.

The world is made of versatile people with different needs and wants, that's what makes us all unique! When this Blogger-WordPress argument goes down, and each person states their side, I don't even like to be involved, but being on the side under pressure to "switch", it's hard to avoid. The only reason I'm even writing this is because I've really seen enough "Switch to WordPress, I'll even show you how!" blogs, or "Blogger is better, I'll never switch!" blogs. I don't like seeing them, and the reason why is because.... 

Honestly, I think that some people are just better suited for one or the other. Some people are a better fit for WordPress, while others are a better fit for Blogger. Some people will always use Apple products, while others will completely reject the Apple platform. I'm a diehard non-Apple user, although I love Instagram, and wish they would create a non-Apple app for the Droid market. Even if they did make Apple phones for Sprint, which they don't, I still love my Evo. As long as there are multiple platforms, there will be competition, and likely arguments over which platform is better. Why are some people a better fit for Blogger or WordPress? Well, they just are. The setup, the amount of time they've been using one another, the way that the platform works, sometimes it's just easier for someone to navigate one or the other. Having actually used both, I have figured out which is the better fit for me. Inserting objects, alignment, text, setup, design, it's easier for me here. Interface is easier for me here. Some people find it easier there. That means they like it better there, and if that's what is a better fit for them, I think that is what they should use. If this is a better fit for someone, they should use it.

People have different wants and needs, and in pushing them to do something which is uncomfortable, they are totally being ignored. Stop pushing! You can still read the blog, either way, so why does it matter? I would never push a WordPress user to switch to Blogger. I like for people to use what fits. That will vary from person to person. My purpose in writing this is to say...well, one size doesn't fit all. We will never all agree on which platform is better, no matter how many blogs you write on which platform is better. We will never all use Apple or Droid, no matter how much you plug each product. We will never all eat at one restaurant, no matter how many commercials you make. We will never all fit into the same shoe, or the same dress. We're versatile people, and that's what makes the world go round, that's what makes a job market, advertising jobs, that's what makes us different.

Keep doing what you do, but most of all, keep doing what suits you, because that's what makes you who you are. I don't want to try to convince you one way or the other- after all, one size doesn't fit all. If another mold fits you better, then that's where you belong, but if this is the mold that fits you, then you should wear it proudly, without being intimidated by others who wear the other mold more comfortably. There is no "right" or "wrong" platform, and as such, there should be no pressure, from anyone to use one or the other. One size, it may fit some people, but it never fits all.

 

Plants have feelings too!!

I begin this post with an explanation as to how my fake plant died- I forgot to pretend to water it :( poor plant suffered from my neglect, and died of dehydaration. I am not writing this to convince anyone to switch to my opinion, but simply because it's an interesting topic :P so don't be offended by anything I say, and if you don't want to, you don't have to read it. However, I'd still like it if you read, just cause I like to be listened to.

Now onto the topic at hand. This isn't to upset anyone, but the object of vegetarianism and veganism is a bit strange if you look deeper into it (unless there are certain physiological or religious reasons to not eat meat). Now I can understand, after seeing some of the grossly inhumane videos posted on the Internet would make one not want to eat meat; however, they must realize that these videos only depict the extremes, and are not representative of the population as a whole. There are even regulations on how animals must be treated. The few that are immoral and treat the animals horribly are the ones targeted by the media and animal rights activists, while those abiding by the laws are merely ignored; therefore, the statistics are grossly skewed.

If you think about it, though, being a vegetarian does not deter farmers and retailers from making and distributing meat products. Even if this were to happen, many farmers, as well as butchers and anyone involved with the use of animal byproducts would suffer a dramatic increase in job loss and poverty. Our economy is already bad enough, and this wouldn't help. Even entry jobs, such as those at restaurants and supermarkets, would be affected.

Furthermore, the argument that animals have feelings too, because they have vascular and nervous systems is an invalid response, for plants also have these systems, they just aren't as complex as those of animals. Plants are also rooted to the ground somehow, with the inability to run, as well as the inability to communicate fear or pain. So how do we deduce that they feel no pain or fear? Furthermore, they suffer through the application of pesticides as well as modification of genes to produce more, fuller, bigger plants to increase profits. Isn't that a bit immoral as well? However, there are no statistics to back this up, simply because it's not considered to be as large of an issue.

Humans are meant to be predatory by nature- hence the development of our teeth. Our ancestors hunted and ate meat, but now it's inhumane to kill animals? We are a part of the food chain for a reason. There is a reason for the creation of a food chain!! Animals are meant to eat plants and other animals as part of this system; plants are at the bottom because they are photosynthetic (make their own food) as compared to the animal kingdom, made up of beings that are consumers and cannot create their own food. It also helps with population control.

Other animals eat other animals, so how is it wrong for humans to do so? Yes, we are moral beings for the most part, but by defining ourselves as such, are we inferring that other consumers are less morals or without morals because they eat other animals? This is a bit absurd.

I realize, however, that people have the freedom of choice, and I will not discard those choices