The turkey is really just an accessory...

I am starting to think Thanksgiving might be my favorite holiday. I do love christmas, this is true, but Thanksgiving manages to combine two wonderful things: family and food. Also, there really isn't a way to commercialize Thanksgiving (notice how we skip from Halloween to Christmas?) Thanksgiving is one of the only holidays where you actually talk about how grateful you are for what you have already, instead of talking about things you want. Plus, HELLOOOOO....pie? Pie is just great. Always.

SO...in homage to a lovely holiday, here are my favorite things about 2009 Thanksgiving
1. Cooking with my mother- I love this. I even took pictures.
2. Family walks- Mom, Dad, Me, Jackson and Thumpy (Haley is sadly in Nashville, but it is most of the family!)
3. Singing along with Dad while he plays the guitar.
4. Homeade whipped cream- seriously, this is good ALL THE TIME. it is better than ice cream. fo' sho'
5. Discussing politics and the economy with my parents and grandparents.- Three generations...we have the best discussions...Also, my grandpa's story about training his brother to fight Fat Schwartz...hahahaha.

So. I say up with Thanksgiving and Down with Materialism. Cause seriously, does anyone NEED to be at JC Penney at 4am??

Wanna know a Secret... Promise not to tell?

Here's the thing... I am generally a moral person. I obey the law, respect authority and don't cheat on my taxes (an easy thing to do when you don't make any money).

HOWEVER...last night...we ran out of toilet paper in my apartment. This is a problem when you live with three other people. My roommates and I all live pretty busy lives, and so there never seemed to be a good time to refill our toilet paper supply...until suddenly it was nearly midnight.

Perplexed and desperate, we resorted to an old trick I learned during my time at NUIG. We borrowed some from the library. This involved nonchalantly sauntering into the girl's restroom and filling a handy bag we'd brought full of toilet paper (after we discovered we couldn't actually make off with the entire roll).

Now before you leap to judgment calls, let me explain myself.
Number one: I pay lots of money to CBU every year, and thus I should be allowed to use as much toilet paper as I want.
Number two: The library denied me a job, and quite frankly, they weren't very nice about it.

Conclusion: I should be allowed my toilet paper.

The creamer and sugar packets I've been "borrowing" from the caf...I'm still working on excuses for those...

I'm on a Roll...

So here's the thing...

Sometimes I think I'm easily obsessive. Sophomore year of high school, it was Lord of the Rings. I seriously loved that series. I had plastic elf ears. And I wore them in public. It was, in short, a phase that involved far to many Gimli quotations and sighing over Legolas and Aragorn.

Then my senior year arrived and I was introduced to new friends and by association, Harry Potter. Wizards plus potential for unrequited love. Delightful.

I thought I was safe from obsessing when I entered college (we'll gloss over current boba tea phase...) but then came Saturday night, and ROLLER DERBY.

I think I am in love with this sport. Like, to the point where I am looking up skate prices online and thinking up derby names for myself. It was defs in the top evenings of my life. The sad thing is, when I try to explain to people who weren't there, they just can't understand the EPICNESS that went down. I just want to be friends with these people and skate all cool and knock people down and...*sigh* It was SO cool.

Being for the Benefit of Journalism

I am sitting here before chapel, enjoying my daily cup(s) of coffee and reading an article about the Berlin Wall in USA Today. I am also thinking about my journalism blog...specifically if the government should give money to papers (Which I know...whoa...heavy stuff for morning coffee).

So here is what I think. One: this outwardly seems like a good idea: Yay! Our tiny paper which could almost go out of business is now getting money and stays alive! We are happy!

HOWEVER...this leads me to think Two: Soon government may say "We give your paper money, and we don't like some things you print. RETRACTION FOOLS!" Paper suddenly has become like fascist state and therefore defeats purpose of journalism, that is, exposing truth to masses, especially exposing governmental secrets. For example...Watergate. Where would we have been without journalists? More terms for Nixon? No thank you.

Now, I realize this is probably a bit of an exaggeration. I mean, realistically, the government probably isn't going to keep tabs on every little newspaper it funds like some creepy Big Brother-esque organization and say things like "Well, the Fargo North Dakota paper is printing some pretty inflammatory things...let's get 'em!" BUT...the government could feasibly introduce a caveat of rules that is mandatory when accepting federal funds for a paper.

We read newspapers for opinions and facts the government won't tell us (even though admittedly there are some skewed papers and journalists...) Although the idea of government funds intitally seems like a good idea, the interference of government goes against the fundamental principles of journalism. The End.

In other news, I'm getting a fish. I am thinking of calling it Tina. Or Bubbles.