Banned Books Week

Hi all!

This week has been pretty killer - I had my first all-nighter of the semester and a bunch of quizzes, and I got all my paperwork in order for my on-campus job as a marketing intern.

Nothing too exciting has happened since my last post, but in English this week my teacher told us about something called Banned Books Week, a national week that celebrates free speech and free expression by bringing attention to censorship. Upon reading up on the list of books that were/are banned in various places across the country, I was shocked:

The Great Gatsby
Their Eyes Were Watching God (this is my FAVORITE book of all time, so needless to say I'm outraged)
The Catcher in the Rye
The Scarlet Letter
The Perks of Being a Wallflower
Fahrenheit 451 (Considering the plot, this is just plain ironic)
Moby Dick
Where The Wild Things Are
The Hunger Games  (I know not everyone likes it (I personally do!), but banning it?! It turns out that people see anti-ethnic sentiments in it. I don't understand it either.)

And all of these are only a few. It's truly ridiculous. Almost all of the ones I listed (and even more in the actual list) are novels that have shaped this country, and if a small group of people had their way, then we might never have had the opportunity to experience them. In my English class we're currently in the middle of a "banned book" - Vonnegut's Cat's Cradle, a fantastic piece of literature that has a lot to say about the human condition.

BB Week is officially September 30th until October 6th, but CNU had a read-in this past Thursday, Sept. 27th. People showed up to read banned book, and could even stand up and share their favorite passages. I was unable to attend at the very last minute, but have friends who went and loved it. Regardless, I'm glad that banned books week exists and that I know about it. I absolutely love what it represents, and I knew I had to share with you guys!

I was born in the wrong hemisphere...

Hello all!

I. Am. So. Sorry. Really, I haven't posted in an UNACCEPTABLE amount of time. I know this isn't an excuse, but the past few weeks have honestly been a blur of writing essays and naming organic molecules. It seems I tragically underestimated my work load this semester. :(

However, every now and again my classes remind me of why I'm studying what I am in the first place, and I get super inspired.

I was fully expecting my Religions of the East class to be a typical run-of-the-mill introductory class, full of freshmen and an absolute bore. I was quite happy to find that I was mistaken (minus the freshmen part :/ ) I'm actually learning a lot - not just about Hinduism and Eastern vs. Western spiritual themes, but about myself and my own spirituality.

My boyfriend joked last year about me being born in the "wrong hemisphere," i.e., fitting in much better in Eastern philosophies than in Western traditions, and I learn more and more how true that is.

I have more or less given up on an anthropomorphous God who is jealous, angry, and possessive. In my opinion, if there is in fact a Divine being among us, He/She/it must be more perfect than humankind. And how can a God who demonstrates the worst trait in man (with little to no redeeming qualities, might I add) be more perfect than man? Therefore, almost no Western tradition is welcoming to me.

Hinduism (the mother religion of many well-known Eastern religions such as Buddhism and Jainism), on the other hand, presents a god who is none of the above. The Hindu god, Krishna, is neither a loving nor a hating and condemning god; he is a transcendent energy and the maintaining energy in the universe through which all things are possible.

I would like to just plainly state that that last part is VERY in keeping with my Pantheistic worldview - a god that is in everything, not some third party floating around in the clouds. Even if I don't buy into all of the myths of Hinduism (which I don't), I love the general idea behind their god.

Anyway, we're reading the Bhagavad Gita (basically the Bible of Hinduism) for our lectures, and I just wanted to share a few passages with you guys that made me fall in LOVE:

"I am the goal, the sustainer,

the Lord, the witness,

the dwelling, the shelter,

the innermost heart;

The coming forth into being,

the going forth into

cosmic absorption;

the continuance of existence,

the cosmic receptacle,

and the everpresent seed." (9:18)

I love this; it sums up everything I think of when I think of something divine, something holy, something worthy of awe and reverence.  But that's not all!

"Those who serve divinities

go to the divinities;

those who serve ancestors

go to the ancestors;

Those who sacrifice for spirits

go to the spirits;

those who sacrifice for me

surely come to me." (9:25)

Another aspect that I love - no forced worship. Krishna - God - is literally saying "Do you; I'll be here waiting."

"Whatever you do,

whatever you enjoy,

whatever you sacrifice,

whatever you bestow,

Whatever austerity

you undertake - 

that, enact as an offering to me." (9:27)

In the same way that god does not care if you do not worship him, he also does not care how you worship him. Whatever makes you happy, you may do in his honor and he is pleased.

"I am the same

toward all beings;

no one is either hated

or dearly loved by me.

Yet those who,

with an offering of love,

offer their love to me - 

they are in me

and I am also in them." (9:29)

This is really the icing on the cake.  This god does not play favorites and does not condemn anyone for their choices. This god is in and all around us, waiting for us to notice. 

(This is the version of the Gita that I'm quoting. It's a translation by my BRILLIANT professor, Dr. Graham Schweig. It's also available on Amazon for dirt cheap if you're interested.)

Now, don't get me wrong - I'm not converting to Hinduism or anything. It is still very structured and fantastical in its myths for me to truly buy into it. However, I can appreciate the beauty of its sacred text and its value in Eastern spirituality. Without it, there would be no Buddhism, which as you all know is a philosophy that I hold very dear to my heart.

So that's it for today, guys! I'm glad I FINALLY got to rant and rave about spirituality and all things religious which, let's be honest, I could do all day.

 I have a list of topics going, so never fear, I PROMISE I won't be absent this long anymore. 'Tis downright unacceptable if you ask me!

I'm very grateful for those of you who stopped by during my hiatus - views steadily climbed even while I was away!

Til next time!

<3, Ali

P.S.!

I found this on my pinterest, and I thought it seemed fitting to share:

HOW COOL IS THIS?! The Sri Yantra is a very common and very sacred symbol in Hinduism, representing the universe and its unmanifest source. It has been around for, say, a couple thousand years. On the right is the sound of someone meditating and saying the 'Ohm' - and what it looks like on a tonoscope. 

To me it's scarily telling of how in tune the ancients were with the universe. It also pushes me to meditate harder and try to focus deeper - maybe I'll be able to see what sounds look like too!

My first week!

Hi all! And happy September!

So ends the first week of classes, and I'm gearing up for another one. I miss highschool, when nothing really happened for the first few days. Already I've had two assigned readings for my English class, two short writing assignments for one of my religions classes, and I've had a quiz in my Bio class. -_- I've also had my start-of-semester scare session with the Pre-Med Scholars program, reminding me of the countless hours of research, service and shadowing that are ahead of me if I ever want to THINK about applying to vet school.

Just a side note, there are now 18 days until my 19th birthday! (Yes, I'm acutely aware of how young I am for my grade.)

This post I'll share some photos of my room with you guys! It's not perfect yet, but I don't want to wait too long to share. I figured I'd share while it was still relevant.

Anyway, just to get it out of the way, here's my room at CNU:

The front door to our suite. Inside is a sitting room and access to a shared bathroom and two bedrooms.
Inspiration for dry-erase board beside the door.

Front door to just our bedroom. The "Come Party" is sarcastic; neither of us are what you'd consider party animals.

My half of the room! :D My wall is so bare because I  had less wall space last year; we were tripled and I had top bunk. Note the dreamcatcher.

Where the magic happens. And by "magic" I mean paper-writing, pointless facebook browsing, and of course this blog!

There's the quick tour :) It isn't much, but it's my home. And, believe it or not, it's where I'd be year-round if presented the option.

Though I'm afraid I sounded whiny in the intro for this post, I actually love my classes. I'm taking a biology class that's divided into half botany and half zoology, where we learn about different physiological concepts in plants and animals such as reproductive systems, digestive systems, etc. Needless to say I'm very excited for the zoology part. I'm also talking organic chemistry, which I'm really excited for despite it's reputation for being really difficult. Organic carbon-based molecules are the basis for all living things; it's hard to NOT be awed by the concept. Or maybe I'm just a nerd. :)

Second-year English classes at CNU are themed based on the interests and expertise of the professors. I was lucky enough to find a slot in a class that focuses on satire and humor as a means of social commentary. We'll read things like Gulliver's Travels, and watch Colbert clips and analyze The Onion. It should be really fun!

My religions classes are by far the ones I'm most excited for. One of them, Religions of the East, is a comparative class where we'll learn the beliefs and traditions of religions like Buddhism, Hinduism, Baha'i, Sikhism, and others (Religions of the West is another class that goes over Christianity, Judaism, Islam, etc. that I'm taking next semester). Seems pretty simple, but the professor, Dr. Schweig, is brilliant and hilarious and I think he'll make it an exciting adventure. Although I have mad love for Buddhism anyways, so it's not like I wouldn't take the class even if it WAS boring.

The other class is what I think will be my favorite this semester; it's called Religion and Ecology. The course concerns itself with questions like "What is mankind's place relative to other species on Earth?" or "Do we have a responsibility to protect and coexist with the others?" explored through various religious outlooks. AKA, questions that I ask myself on an almost daily basis, that form the framework for what I base my worldview on. I. Can. Not. Wait.

I'm sorry that this post was so short. I've been trying to sit down and write about my spiritual path and Pantheism like I said I would in my intro post, but there's so much to think about. I honestly haven't had to sit down and delineate everything I actually believe in one sitting. I have an outline going, so don't worry - I won't leave you guys hanging.

Thanks for reading!
<3, Ali

Cruelty-free beauty.

Hello everyone!

Today is the first day of classes! Luckily for me, Mondays and Fridays only consist of an 8am Organic Chemistry class and a 9am Biology class, so I've had a pretty leisurely afternoon! I'm still working on getting my room just so, so I'll post about that later, but for now I wanted to do a topic that I've been trying to get done for a while.

Now, you all know that I am an animal lover to the core and a tree-hugging hippie. Though I'm not a full vegan (I'd love to one day, but... cheese... ), just a vegetarian, I still try to be a responsible consumer and keep my purchases as cruelty-free as possible. For example, I try my absolute hardest (and mostly succeed) to avoid leather, suede, and down in my clothing and accessories. Wool is not do or die for me, since it CAN be obtained ethically (though tragically that is not always the case), but I will still avoid it just for good measure.

Another thing that is a biggie for me is animal testing. I am, now and forever, passionately opposed to animal testing in any form and for any reason. Yes, I include medicine in this, because there are people willing to volunteer for medical trials (and, really, why are they putting things in medicine they're afraid might hurt me anyway?!). I am aware that many animal activists tend to look the other way in the case of medical testing, using the tried and true "If one person can benefit medically from the suffering of 1,000 animals, then it's worth it." Well, no, no it's not. Because one living, breathing being is benefiting from the suffering of 1,000 other living, breathing beings. Seem fair?

Tragically, when it comes to medicine, you really have no choice but to take what a doctor gives you when you're very ill. I try to avoid medication as much as possible and let my immune system fight it out (natural medicine is something I want to get into someday), but when you're that sick, there's not much else to do. :/

Anyway, tangent aside, this post is more about cruelty-free cosmetics and beauty items. I made the decision to try to eliminate cruelty from my beauty regimen about a year ago, not long before I first came to CNU for my freshman year. I'd like to take you through some of the brands/items I use, and talk about how to not be mislead by labels.

First of all, I just want to give you what has been the most valuable tool out there in terms of having a concise list of cruelty free brands that all live up to a specified standard, the Leaping Bunny Program. They're independent of PETA and are instead sponsored by the Coalition for Consumer Information on Cosmetics (CCIC), which I think is important because a lot of people are mistrusting of PETA due to their extremism. Don't get me wrong though, if PETA says something is cruelty-free, it is. Anyway, a company can take a Leaping Bunny pledge, a promise to eliminate animal testing in ALL phases of production. By taking the pledge, said company can print the bunny logo on their products and you, the consumer, can know for sure that you're buying quality stuff.

I'll lay it out right here that not EVERYTHING I use is Leaping Bunny, though I've been trying to move in that direction. Some of this is for financial reasons (a lot of hippie stuff is more expensive), and some is for idealistic reasons I'll get to later. So, without further adieu, some of my go-to cruelty-free brands:

Burt's Bees: Completely cruelty free and bearing the Leaping Bunny logo. I turn to these guys for EVERYTHING. I use their lip balm, moisturizer (pictured), shampoo/conditioner, face wash, you name it. Also pictured is one of my new (and now favorite) purchases, their herbal blemish stick. It's got willowbark, tea tree oil, eucalyptus and other ingredients. I put it on problem areas after removing my makeup before bed and they're usually gone by morning!

Alba Botanica: Again, excellent all-natural brand that is Leaping Bunny approved. I've been known to get lotion, shampoo/cond., body and face wash and more from these guys. Pictured is a papaya enzyme facial mask that I try to use once a week or so (when I remember!).

Yes to Carrots: This is a line that I'm just now trying out for the first time. They use all-natural ingredients and highlight the natural beauty advantages of various healthy foods (not just carrots, as you can see in the picture). Carrots are invigorating and brightening, tomatoes are acidic and good for clearing breakouts, blueberries fight aging, and cucumbers are refreshing and good for sensitive skin. Yes, they make products with all four! The only product I've had the pleasure of using is their make-up remover wipes in cucumber. Honestly, had I had the money I would have sprang for tomatoes, but alas I am just a poor college student. :( They are not Leaping Bunny, but are certified cruelty-free by PETA (who are still VERY strict).

Tom's of Maine: I actually very recently started buying their toothpaste, and I love it! I can't even use normal brands now because to me they taste like chemicals. Tom's was actually bought by Colgate in 2006, which stirred up some concern that they might change their stance on animal testing, but to this day they maintain their PETA bunny logo.

Non-vegan Brands: When I'm in a pinch and LB products are out of my reach, I turn to more "normal" brands, ones that are usually more affordable. Such brands are St. Ives and Tresemme, shown above, and Almay, shown below. Here, though, is where this gets tricky. MOST of St. Ives' products are not tested on animals, and all (that I've seen) of Tresemme, though they shy away from calling themselves cruelty-free and cannot qualify for Leaping Bunny because their parent company, Unilever, is pro-testing. The same goes with Almay; it's hypoallergenic and non-animal tested, but is owned by Revlon, who is actually very notorious.

They still put "not tested on animals" on product labels and on their websites, but they are not "cruelty free." To be truly cruelty-free, there is NO testing on ANY animal at ANY stage of production. Who's to say that just because the finished product isn't animal tested, all of the ingredients weren't? The parent company gets to make such decisions.

Is this cheating? Is this still okay? The answer depends on the person. It does not make me happy to have to buy something when I know someone somewhere is profiting from suffering. Also, until recently I was completely in the dark about Leaping Bunny and had no idea that I could even find half the products I use that were produced ethically. But sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.

Also, and I've been called wrong and idealistic by many fellow animal lovers on this one, I hold onto the notion that if a parent company like Unilever sees that cruelty-free products sell better, then maybe they'll try and head more in that direction. It's far-fetched, I know, but I'm an optimist. :)

I'm ALWAYS on the lookout for new cruelty-free brands and products. Do you use any? Do you have any recommendations? Will the Leaping Bunny logo be helpful? Comments always welcome :)

A week of creativity.

Hi everyone!

First of all, I'd just like to say, I GOT 100 PAGE VIEWS WITH MINIMAL SELF-PROMOTION! I've seriously only told one or two close friends about this blog, and now my views are in triple digits! Maybe that means I'm not too terrible at this after all!

Anyway, sorry about not posting very much this week (and by "not very much," I fully admit that I mean not at all). It's been crazy trying to get everything ready to move back to CNU. There was my last shifts at my job, packing, etc. However, it wasn't all bad, as it was also a week of making some pretty awesome stuff.

For starters, there was the completion of a project I've been working on for a while (sewing is hard!).

My nerdy (adorably so) boyfriend got me absolutely addicted to Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series last semester. Seriously, I cannot put them down. There's too much awesome in the books to fully describe, but I highly recommend looking into them. Anyhoo, my obsessive personality got the best of me, and I decided that I wanted to make a costume from the series.

Without need for much deliberation, I decided that I wanted to be an Aes Sedai, the powerful characters in the series who are capable of wielding WoT's version of magic. I decided on the Yellow Ajah, the one dedicated to Healing, and the Ajah of my favorite character, Nynaeve (although I'm not supposed to know that yet).

To be an Aes Sedai, one needs a shawl fringed in the color of her Ajah and a Great Serpent ring. I'm asking for this ring for my birthday, and I'll be talking about making my shawl in this post.

So, for starters, sewing is a completely foreign discipline to me. Thankfully, I had this post from a great sewing blog called Sew Skate Read as a guide and my mother's expertise in this area to help along the way. I'll take you through the journey in pictures:

 Pinning on the Flame of Tar Valon (Aes Sedai symbol) before attaching it.

^

 After sewing and ironing. At this point I was still waiting for my fringe to arrive in the mail*, so this was as far as I could go.

 ^ Sewing on fringe by hand was rather tedious. 

 VOILA!!! 

You may now call me Alexandra, Aes Sedai of the Yellow Ajah!

Or Ali Sedai for short. :)

* - Though the Sew Skate Read post I mentioned earlier warned me about how hard fringe was to find, I didn't listen and wasted countless trips to various fabric and craft stores trying to find some. In the end, I ended up getting mine from the same source she did - Crazy Crow Trading Post. 

And that's not all! Wednesday of this week, my very close friend and the best roommate ever, Maurissa, and I had a Pinterest craft day. It was so fun!

Yes, I painted a perfectly good mirror. No, it did not turn out perfect. But it was fun, and I still like it :)

Inspiration

Instructions

 And here's the ever-lovely Maurissa. Her mirror turned out much better than mine, and to her right is a cookie sheet-turned-makeup holder.

Inspiration

At the end of the day, we went and got our nails done. I figured, why not keep the Pinterest theme going?!

Inspiration

Well, that's it for my week of creativity! Just so you know, all the links go to my Pinterest. Please check it out sometime! Sorry if this was kind of a long post, but I felt the need to make up for leaving you guys for a whole week.

Move-in was supposed to be today, but campus had some flooding from an all-night monsoon of a rainstorm (you'd think I went to school in Seattle for all the rain we get here!), so I'm holding out until tomorrow. I'll be sure to update you guys either tomorrow or the next day about my classes and share photos of my room!

'Til then,

<3, Ali

Quick Post About Akin Comments

Things like this are why I made this blog in the first place.

Today, a Republican named Todd Akin made some remarks about abortion in a rape scenario. He claimed that because women's bodies can shut down during "legitimate" rape, it's not an excuse for abortion. Needless to say, I have a few issues with these comments.

Now, in my intro post, I confessed to having liberal tendencies. And I do, to my core. But, and this is a shock to some, I am also pro-life. Very much so. In my opinion it is not (as some claim) a contradiction with my beliefs, as I see liberalism as being about compassion and equality for ALL. I do not exclude the unborn from the "all". That being said, Akin embarrasses and angers me as a fellow pro-lifer.

Anyway, as a woman, his use of the word "legitimate" is downright frightening. What constitutes "legitimate" rape? The truth is that rape takes many forms, and all of them are equally legitimate, equally awful, and equally serious.

He is somewhat correct in that biological processes can freeze during a traumatic event, but the key word is CAN. There is no reason whatsoever to assume that that deals with the problem of pregnancy through rape and treat it with a "good enough for me" attitude.

My point is this: if Akin and other Republicans want to stop abortions by rape victims, the answer is NOT to tell women "Well, you must not have REALLY been raped if you got pregnant." That's saying that there's something wrong with HER, which is absolutely not okay. Here's a hint: stop shaming women who get raped and making them scared to come forward and seek care and emergency contraception (which prevents abortion). Don't limit the availability of such care, either. If you don't want to see abortions happen (like I don't), don't make them necessary.

Happy Sunday Everyone! A surprise topic.

And by "everyone", I obviously mean the 26 very nice people who have viewed my page. THANK YOU! That was such a surprise, and it's especially awesome because I haven't done any advertising for the blog yet (I've been working up the courage!).

I'm sorry it's been a while. I've been trying to come up with something worthwhile to write about. Believe it or not, my life tends to be excruciatingly average sometimes.

I was going to spend today talking about cruelty-free cosmetics and share products and brands, but then I went to BRUU (Bull Run Unitarian Universalist in Manassas, the UU church I mentioned in my intro post), and the message today really resonated with me and made me feel inspired. So why not share?

Today the reverend talked a lot about how we as human beings create lots of unnecessary dividers in order to classify ourselves and others. Things like religion, race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, and even things like clothing choice and preferred genres of music are all things that divide people who should otherwise get along and be harmonious.

Not that it's a bad thing (at all) to be yourself and take pride in what makes you unique. What's important is that we do not allow petty labels to overshadow the most important label  - homo sapien. Human being. We are all people that are entitled to give and feel love and live a fulfilling life.

He said that even among UU churches, which are SUPPOSED to be open-minded and accepting of the fact that everyone is different, there is sometimes conflict and butting heads over small differences in belief.

The solution is very simple: replace but with and. Instead of saying "I think this but you think that," or "I believe God is ______, but you think god is _____," or "I'm from _____ but you're from _____," we should say "I think this and you think that." Plain and simple.

It works for a number of reasons; linguistically, the two statements flow together because "but" is harsh and "and" is smooth, and psychologically that means that you will equate the two thoughts with each other on an equal plane, as if they're the same thing.

The message today really resonated with me, mainly because this is one thing that I believe to my very core. It's also really interesting how well that one simple linguistic change works! I recommend trying it the next time you have a disagreement, it will really change the outcome.

Now, because I can't resist, and because I'm proud of myself, I shall bore you with my outfit choice of the day:

Nothing too crazy, a lot of basics thrown together. Literally thrown together - 5 minutes before I had to get out the door, I realized it was too cool and cloudy to wear my original outfit, which was more fun and colorful. So I had to put it together fast. But I'm pretty proud of how it turned out :)

Cardi & Leggings: Forever 21
Tshirt: just a plain white v-neck
Flats: Target
Necklace: Charlotte Russe
Bag (can't really see it): Marshall's (only $35 for Steve Madden! Normally $90! Obv. faux leather)

Thanks for reading! Why not comment on how the solution provided above worked for you in a conflict? Did/does it help you gain insight and keep calm when confronted? And, as always, leave feedback!! This is for others to learn from as much as it is for me to express myself. Want me to talk more or less about myself? More or less about issues? Any topic suggestions? I'd LOVE to hear from you!

I'm trying to get on a schedule for posting, but with the semester about to start, I'll probably get into one that's based around my classes and such.

Until next time!
<3, Ali