Perspective.

Hi all,

I've been meaning to write about some of the SPCA events I've been doing over the past few weeks, but today my ideas got stopped in their tracks.

I went to a funeral today.

I didn't personally know the departed, it was the brother of one of my mom's close friends. His family hasn't disclosed the details surrounding his passing.

When my mom told me a few days ago, I practically threw a fit. I had JUST gotten home, I had things I wanted to get done today, it's Christmas and I didn't want to spend a whole day at a depressing funeral.

But being there today made me feel absolutely ashamed for thinking any of those things, because I was suddenly surrounded by his close friends and family thinking the exact same thing. They don't want to be burying a loved one this Christmas any more than I wanted to attend such a burial.

How must they be feeling, his parents who are saying goodbye to their son only days before Christmas? Or his sisters who looked up to their big brother?

I'm ashamed that I complained about the funeral. Looking a little bit further back, I'm ashamed I complained at all about having to come home for Christmas and not spend it with Dylan's family, about having to deal with my family's signature drama, about being cooped up with my mother for a whole week and a half. There's people right this very moment who don't have a home or a family to come home to this holiday season, or who are missing their loved ones, like the family I saw today, clinging to one another to ease the hurt.

My message today is this: keep things in perspective. Yes, we all have things not go our way sometimes, but there's always someone who has it worse. Always.

WOAH.

So, two days ago my pageviews last week were around 390. A few days later they were around 418. And now THEY'RE AT 509.

I can't believe it! THANK YOU GUYS SO MUCH! It means a lot that so much traffic has come around these parts! And it also makes me feel bad that I haven't been posting!

Finals week was... awful. Just awful. But then, that's to be expected, right? I only JUST emerged today from post-semester hibernation. I'm pretty sure I did well in my classes, but I'll find that out sometime tonight. 

What all has happened since I last posted? For one, despite the animal mishandling controversy surrounding the movie "The Hobbit" I went to see it (I got to see it free, so it's not like they got my money, which is how I  justified it.)

I don't know if any of you heard, but 27 animals died stupidly and avoidably on the set of the Hobbit (Source, Source). Chickens were left unattended and to the mercy of dogs, sheep and pigs broke legs in pens riddled with potholes, horses broke their necks falling off of cliffs. Crew members reported the conditions and deaths to their superiors, and nothing was done. Ridiculous, avoidable, senseless deaths, all for a movie. 

Now, upon first hearing about the incident(s), I got nervous about "PETA freaks" getting angry about nothing and tried really hard to adopt an "accidents happen" mentality. But upon reading more, especially director Peter Jackson's reaction, I began to share in the outrage. Jackson, in a tone that suggested he was offended at being bothered with the question, brushed off the issue by saying that no animals were used in action sequences. Well that's nice I guess. Except, it's not answering the question, and it's doing nothing to try to right the situation. 

No, it's not exclusively Jackson's fault. Actually, it's not his fault at all - as the director he really isn't in charge of animals on set. What is his fault is how he's handling it. No, it isn't fair to bully him for the deeds of others, but he's a known name that's largely involved in the film, so people are inevitably going to turn to him for answers. And that's how he chose to respond. Despicable.

I still ended up seeing the movie, like I said. I justified it for a lot of reasons: a) boycotting is a stupid way to make a point b) we used a gift card, so I didn't ACTUALLY give them my money c) more than just the crew and Jackson are punished by poor box office sales d) I wanted to give Jackson a chance to right the situation by replacing the crew for the next film e) I was morbidly curious about whether there would still be the "no animals were harmed" spiel in the end credits.

It was there. However, instead of the usual "No animals were harmed in the making of this film" that we've all seen before, it was altered to say "No animals were harmed in the filming of this movie." More honest, but still deliberately misleading and attempting to sweep under the rug vile and unacceptable cases of animal mistreatment and cruelty. 

I tried really hard to give the movie the benefit of the doubt. And it is an entertaining film. But I regret giving it my business. The situation itself is awful, but the reaction of those who have the power to right the situation is even worse. You're not a bad person for going to see the movie, but please be aware of the situation to be sure that we can avoid it in the future. You can be sure if action isn't taken to replace the animal handling crew, this blogger will be boycotting, writing letters, and blogging up a storm.

I'm on break, recovering from my finals coma from last week. I'll inevitably post about more happenings in my absence, and chronicle my hectic holiday. Until next time!

<3, Ali

New Year's already?!

Hi all!

In response to the title: not exactly. I've just been idly thinking about some things that I'd like to have as New Year's resolutions. After all, we're going to be lucky to be alive after the apocalypse, so why not do it big?! (Kidding.)

Before I do that, clothes and self-obsession:

Please forgive my messy mirror. Any my messy room. And my messy life.
Top: Forever 21
Jeans: American Eagle
Scarf: Plato's Closet
Shoes: vegan TOMS

Because it matched, I borrowed Maurissa's red peacoat to go out in. It's from Target (Merona).
I usually despise the color red, but what works, works.

Closeup of sweatshirt. "Paris is for Lovers!" How cute is that?!
Please don't ask me why I didn't just take off the scarf. Sigh. Hindsight is 20/20.

Anywho, just like with my reading challenges (one of which only half-worked :/ ), I feel like I'll feel more pressure to actually stick to my resolutions if you all know about them! Here are some I've dreamed up:

1) FORGIVE. LET THINGS GO. Probably my biggest personality flaw is that when I feel really, truly wronged, I have a tendency to hold a grudge. These grudges can last years. Don't get me wrong, generally I'm very forgive-and-forget, but sometimes people cross a line and I have a really hard time moving on. I need to learn to stop burdening myself with anger. (I actually have a tattoo plan for this, but I'll save the details for if/when it comes about.)

2) Counseling. I've been thinking about it for a while. It's been almost a year since life imploded on me, but I'm having a really tough time healing. My relationship with several members of my family are injured or outright broken, and it's caused a lot of stress and pain. I think counseling will help me get rid of some of the anger and hurt, at least enough to talk it out with my family. 

3) Read classic novels!

4) Hobbies. Ever since college, I've had a hard time finding and staying committed to things I enjoy. I'm leaning towards yoga and getting back into horseback riding. 

5) Study "A Course in Miracles" (description linked). I've had it sitting on a bookshelf since over summer, so I'd like to finally get into it.

6) Take proper care of myself. This includes yoga, as I mentioned above, starting to exercise (maybe), eating right. Also mentally (see #2) and spiritually; I'd like to actually start meditating or taking some kind of quiet reflection period every day. I'm a really anxious and wound-up person naturally, so I feel like only good things can come from that. (I'm asking for a cute mini Zen garden for Christmas, lol!)

7) Learn time management. My goal spring semester is NO ALL-NIGHTERS.

8)All A's (we'll see). 

Also, though it's too tentative to get a number, I'm thinking about phasing out eggs. Chickens are treated so horribly in factory farms, and they go through hell to produce eggs regardless. I don't eat them very often as it is, so it's not a HUGE issue, just something that's been on my mind.

Have any of you thought about your resolutions? Or do you, like many, find the whole thing to be dumb? :P

<3, Ali

My holiday playlist!

Hi lovelies!

Ugh. Why aren't there 25 hours in a day again? I have an annotated bibliography (done) and a short paper (in progress) due tomorrow, my organic chemistry lab final on Wednesday, offsite event training for SPCA on Thursday, an ochem exam in lecture on Friday, a rough draft for one of my final essays due Friday, Hanukkah with Dylan's family on Saturday, an SPCA adoption event Sunday, a 10-page paper due Monday, and finals all the rest of that week, including ANOTHER paper and all my logs for Religions of the East due. WHERE DID THE TIME GO?!

Anyway, because I'm drowning in stress and desperate for something to be cheery about, I thought I'd share some of my favorite holiday music! It's by no means a complete list, but it's a good start! They're also in no particular order, just ones that are on my mind currently.

(Yes, some of them are religious. If that offends you, don't listen to those and enjoy the others.)

1) "It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas" - Bing Crosby

(Seriously, if you don't love this song we aren't friends.)

2) "Believe" - Josh Groban, from The Polar Express soundtrack

4) "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" - Amy Grant

Infinitely my favorite religious Christmas song

5) "Happy Hanukkah" - Matisyahu

I don't celebrate Hanukkah (though this year I will be with Dylan's family who's Jewish), but this is seriously SO catchy. Honestly, regardless of WHICH holiday it's about, it's impossible not to get pumped for the holidays listening to this song. 

6) "Christmas Eve/Sarajevo 12/24" - Trans-Siberian Orchestra

I've always wanted to see them live.

7) "Do You Hear What I Hear?" - Carrie Underwood

There are a LOT of great versions of this song, but this one is currently my favorite. I'm not usually a huge fan of hers, but she does really good Christmas music.

8) "Simply Having a Wonderful Christmas Time" - Paul McCartney

Duh.

9) "O Holy Night" - Josh Groban

Can't argue with a classic.

10) "What's This?" - Fall Out Boy

This is FOB's cover of a song from Tim Burton's movie The Nightmare Before Christmas. It's so fun! Shown here re-synced over the scene from the movie.

11) "The First Noel" - Carrie Underwood

Again, one of many great versions. And I want that dress.

12) "Dominick The Italian Christmas Donkey" - Lou Monte

If you don't find this hilarious, you need to reevaluate your life.

13) "Feliz Navidad" - Jose Feliciano

Classic, awesome, any list is incomplete without it.

And, finally, quite possibly my favorite Christmas song everrrrr. "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas." I've included several versions, including Judy Garland's in "Meet Me In St. Louis," a version by Coldplay, one by Luther Vandross, and one by the one and only Frank Sinatra.

Enjoy them! And happy holidays everyone :)

<3,Ali

Church finally!

Hello all,

I'm sorry for my angry rant of a few days ago. Actually, that's a lie; I'm not sorry for reacting to hate, though I'm not used to speaking while so fired up. I'm actually kind of proud of myself for staying so calm (in writing) with so much psychotic b*tch rage coursing through my veins (forgive the language).

Anywho, today a few other members of FOCUUS and I went to our local UU congregation for Sunday service. It was lovely! Though they do things slightly different then BRUU (which is to be expected), they seem like really great people, and I had an awesome time. I'm excited to go again next week!

Now, after that and meeting up with my boyfriend, Dylan, for lunch before he went off to do marching band stuff all day, I'm in yoga pants writing my million papers due over the next two weeks and watching ABC Family's 25 Days of Christmas.

This is the life.

I think I might actually just start saying "I'm a Unitarian Universalist" when asked. It's much simpler than explaining Pantheism.