Prettyinpinks' Perception

Thank you for airing the follow-up story to the crash in April that killed a mom and her daughters Courtney and Sophia.  I was one of the people who simply moved on.  Yes, it's sad that a 3-time offender killed three innocent people, but I felt that if I grieved for every death I heard about on the news, I'd be in mourning for a long time.

I actually cried after the newscast was done.  The only time I've ever done that was following "Heroin in the Suburbs" when I saw a girl my age lying in a coffin with her baby doll by her head.

What made it for me was the baby feet . . . I still tear up when I think about them.  Doctors reportedly made imprints of Sophia's feet following the crash--Sophia was the unborn baby--and the dad had three of them tatooed on his arm; one for each of the lives lost.

It's so easy to forget and move on.  It's so easy to whine and complain about our seemingly nonexistent bills and restrictions on drunk driving.

I just wish there was something we could do about it . . . what can be an hour of sadness for us can be a lifetime of grief for someone else.  I usually end my posts on a positive note but it's hard to find anything good about this situation: destroyed families, a saddened community, and bills and resolutions that seem doomed to idle in Congress for . . . months, years, decades.  Something has to change and it has to change soon . . . pray to God it doesn't take many (if any) more deaths before a change for the better occurs.

I know, I know, I know.  Gas is ridiculously high.  It's bogus.  It's sad, disrupting people's lives.  It's bringing up the prices of everything else--food, air travel, etc.

But maybe long term this is what's best.

Not the suffering or the problems caused by the prices themselves, but the fact that people just aren't driving as much.  People are biking more and using more public transportation:

(The following was found on http://www.apta.com/media/releases/080602_ridership_
report.cfm)

The American Public Transportation Association (APTA) announced today that Americans took more than 2.6 billion trips on public transportation in the first three months of 2008.  This is almost 88 million more trips than last year for the same time period.    

“There’s no doubt that the high gas prices are motivating people to change their travel behavior,” said APTA president William W. Millar.  “More and more people have decided that taking public transportation is the quickest way to beat the high gas prices.”

(End quote)

Aside from ways to beat the high prices, there's been an increase in alternative fuel development research.  How great is that?!  With the bigger push, soon (hopefully) gas prices won't even matter, as our cars could run on water and our houses on solar energy.

Of course, not everything is positive.  Obama's pushing to drill in Alaska for more oil.  That only seems like it's going to postpone the bigger problem and create new ones in its wake--namely destroyed land, more oil spills in the ocean, and increased global warming.  Charming.

But for now I think high gas prices are good.  I don't smile when I see the $4.12 on gas signs but I think it's a twist in events that could mean a change for the better.  The environment is going to be our only lasting impact.  Not the big screen hi-def TVs or our vacation houses up north or how many cars we drove.  In 200 years when we are all long gone the only thing most of us will leave on this earth is our carbon footprint.  The high gas prices might make that footprint smaller.

This one's for all you pet lovers out there.  Have you ever really stopped to think how much your pet can teach you?

I used to have a bunny, but he died a few years ago.  Now I have a dog and a bunch of fish, and two recently aquired budgies (a type of parakeet).  We've had my dog for about 10 years, so she's trained to the point that you can't do too much any more.  Fish . . . well, they're fish.

These two budgies (who are yet to be named--I want to see their personalities first) have reminded me in the 4 days that I've had them how important it is to be patient.

They're extremely skittish and shy.  They're in a completely new environment, so it's understandable.  But I still have to reach in their cage and replace their food, water, and clean up daily.  I thought I had made some progress by Tuesday, when they let me reach in and didn't react to my presence.  But then this morning, it was like we were back to square one.  I slowly reached in to get their food bowl off the bottom of the cage and they freaked out, flying around, making squeaking noises, sending feathers (and food--I jumped really bad) flying everywhere.

Needless to say I was dissapointed.  I'd thought I was making some progress.  I'm giving them to my school in September, and I want to be able to work with them (clicker training) before they leave.  There are so many steps I have to take in order to get there.  They have to get used to my hand being in their cage, they have to get used to my hand being near them, they have to get used to being touched, then, finally, actually stepping onto my hand.  It'll probably take a solid month of work.  It's a kind of frusterating outlook sometimes.

Considering I got these birds through a church auction, they could have gone to anyone--sure, it could have been a good home, but what if it was to a 8 year old who thought they were some sort of toy that, once he tired of them, he could simply disregard?  Or an adult who rushed them into doing what they wanted, not realizing that parakeets are emotional and intelligent.  I wish there was a way for the church--and pet stores--to know that the pets were going to a good home.

If pets are in a good home, however, I think they can be one of the neatest things that nature has to offer.  They teach kids responsibility and respect and patience--and maybe even some adults, too.

Let's not overlook our furry/feathered friends!  : )

At my church's silent auction, there were two sets of budgies up for sale--food, toys, cages, birds, and all.  The birds in our biology room at school ended up being kept by the kids who watched them during the summer (they liked the birds so much that they didn't want to give them back).  I didn't want the birds to go to some random kid who wasn't going to take good care of them--e.g., not being patient with them, not taking care of their food/water, etc--and the bid was only around $25, so I decided to go for it.  The plan is to keep them for the summer, get them used to people, and then donate them to the biology room at school.

So a few days passed and I continued to bid on them.  The auction was going to close at 4 pm, and I had volleyball practice that afternoon.  So around 3:45 my dad and I drove back to the church.  I pulled the car over, he got out, went in, and bid again.  I parked the car and went inside.

On the sheet I saw my last name and a $50 bid in my dad's handwriting . . . and above it, I saw another bid by us, that looked like this:

I asked my dad why he outbid himself.  He said that he didn't--while I was parking the car, a girl had changed our bid.  I thought, "maybe it was a mistake."

So we hang around the area, keeping an eye on things.  A girl comes back and bends over the sheet.  She's holding a teddy bear and looks like some average innocent 9 year old.  My dad said, "That's her."  He asked her, "did you change someone's bid on here?"  She said "no."  She walked away.  Five minutes later she was back again, looking nervous, watching for people left and right.  She picked the pencil up, put it back down, looked at the sheet.  When she walked away again, I saw that her bid was above our two (the right one and the one she'd "fixed") and that it said $41.  Anyone looking at this would have known in a second--the numbers were reading something like $35, $36, $41, $40.

Time ran out and I ended up getting the birds.  They're chirping away right now in my room.  I just couldn't--and can't--believe it!  What kid comes up with something like that?  Seriously?  I didn't even think of that and I'm almost twice her age.  My dad thinks she had a $45 dollar limit or something like that.  I'm just stunned.  A 9 year old . . .

I sure hope she changes her ways.  If I were to guess where she'd be in 20 years, I'd say on parole.

It's weird.  I've noticed that when the weather forecasts look like this ^

< And when local parks are flooded to the point that bridges become swallowed

When people could potentially sit back and whine about the bad weather . . . we don't!

I mean, sure, we flood the Fox 6 chatrooms (pun intended) and gripe a bit . . .

but we also make arrangements to load two of every animal except mosquitos.

I don't want to get too cheesy but I've seen some really nice things happen.  This past week we got some really heavy rain that brought down tree limbs in the middle of the street.  I saw a guy, in the middle of one of the downpours, run out of the passenger side of a car and drag it off to the side of the road while the driver kept the hazards on and made sure his buddy wasn't going to get hit.

I don't know what it is.  It's like this in the winter too when we have really bad storms.  When the power shuts off it's like people switch on their good sides.

Well, it was really sad.  The other day as I was driving to summer league, I look over and see some kids--black and white--walking together up a sidewalk.  I smiled and thought about how racism seems to slowly decline, generation after generation.  At least, in my perspective, it does.

Then, oh boy, the game.  My team's mostly white, the other team's mostly black.  I heard less than nice things said from team-to-team.  The girl I was guarding was staring me down, smiling, not the oh-this-is-a-fun-friendly-game-of-basketball, but that kind of sneer, that sheer belief that she was utterly better than me because our skin is different colors.  Or maybe it was just because I'm short and she was tall, and she thought she had the upperhand.  Either way, my height or my skin, it's nothing I can control.

The game ended badly.  I'd really rather not go into details.  By the time I left the gym, I was so frusterated--I don't know what from.  It might've been from the fact that I didn't play particularly well.  It could have been the fact that it was late and I was stressed out.  Or it could have been from a girl I didn't know at all instilling a belief in me that, even if racism is dying out generation by generation, it apparently isn't dying out in mine.

I absolutely LOVE this commercial from Discovery Channel!  It really makes you smile and think about what a cool world we live in.  It's easy to forget sometimes amid all of the bad things.  Sometimes you just have to look on the bright side : )

GITRDONE wrote a post about the horrible conditions she'd witnessed in a nursing home and it made me feel simultaneously furious and helpless.  Who wouldn't get upset when reading about abuses that happen to Senior Citizens?  Can you imagine someone you care about--an friend, your grandma, father, uncle, mom--in a nursing home, being physically or mentally abused?  I hate thinking about it.

But apparently it's all too common.  According to a survey taken over a two-year period, one out of every three nursing homes has issues with abuse.  There are around 1.6 million residents living in nursing homes, with about 34% being abused.  That's around 550,000 people.  That's more than the population of Wyoming.

Okay, so why do I feel helpless?  Because these people are getting away with it.  The nurses and caregivers that work in these nursing homes are protected by unions.  The residents are experiencing "untreated bedsores, inadequate medical care, malnutrition, dehydration, preventable accidents, and inadequate sanitation and hygiene"* and the people responsible for them aren't getting punished or reprimanded for it? 

There has to be something.  I mentioned having Fox 6 investigators do something on it, but can't unions ban the use of video cameras?  In which case, even if something was caught on tape, the judge or courts wouldn't be able to use the tape as evidence.

So what's the solution?  Anyone?  This is a huge problem.  Someday many of us will wind up in a nursing home or assisted living center.  We all know someone who is living somewhere like that now.  This isn't something we can just turn our backs on and ignore.  If we do, and the statistics are correct, 1 out of every 3 of us will be abused one day.  This can't keep happening.  There has to be something we can do.

*http://abcnews.go.com/us/Story?id=92689&page=2

No, I'm not saying I'm lucky, personally.  I'm living in one of the hardest hit-communites.  The flooding is horrible.  Obviously.  Between the radar, radio, newscasts, pictures, videos of houses being washed away, and seeing streets in my community disappear and having bridges flood over makes it kind of hard to ignore.

Thinking about all of the mosquitoes that will be flying around in a month doesn't help either (they lay eggs in stagnant water, and . . . well, look outside).

But I realized the other day.  We're lucky.  I know it sounds weird.  But think about it.  Yes, FEMA always somehow manages to show up days too late, basements have raw sewage in them, and the flooded streets are affecting people's workdays.  But at least we have help and neighbors or family to take us in if our houses become uninhabitable and the Red Cross and canned goods and access to fresh water.

Who has died here?  No one, thankfully.  Think about the people in Myanmar. 15,000 people died there.  People were lucky to have a fraction of the help we can expect to be given here.  The heaviest rainfall was around 23 inches.  The worst we have is 9.

I guess that if we want to be positive and look at the bright side of things, we can consider this a good soaking dose of reality.  Hearing about the cyclone became too much for some people, so they tuned out of events happening across the globe by hitting the "power" button on their remote.  Not saying that everyone was ignorant and no one cared, but I'll admit to being faulted myself.  I was interested, I prayed for them, then I powered off the TV.  But now, when the power goes off in my house, the streets have become canals, and walking across the yard is like walking through a swamp--I'm happy to say I have a greater appreciation for things happening across the globe.  I hope this holds true for others as well.

Statistics found at www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/05/05/myanmar.cyclo
ne/ and at http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natura
l_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=14819

I found this on youtube.  Just had to post it.  Enjoy! : )

All info and pictures found on either myfoxmilwaukee or myfoxboston.

This just made me simultaneously furious and sad at the same time.  On May 30, Angel Arce Torres crossed the street in a neighborhood in Hartford, Connecticut. 

First, Torres is hit in the side by a right side mirror of a car that swerved out of its lane.

Then he gets nailed by the car chasing the first car.

This guy walks across the street, glances at Torres like he's a mildly interesting sculpture, and continues to cross the street.

This guy just circles around before chaning his mind and pulling away.

This guy looks like he's going to go help before just turning around and walking away.

 The whole nightmare finally ends when a cop shows up--but according to the article, the cop was responding to something else.  No one had called the police to help Torres.

This just pulls at you.  One witness said that he wanted to help, but Torres was bleeding.  I just can't believe no one thought to go into a nearby store and get a first aid kit, no one stood by him and waved traffic away, no one even checked his pulse.  Looks like the Red Cross needs to offer more classes in New England . . .

Okay, here's that commercial I talked about awhile ago in a blog. Now that I've finally figured out how to post with a video in the blog, I think it'll be more effective.

**I'm not promoting Liberty Mutual, I'm just posting these videos for the message**

Do something good today! Something easy I found is just to put a few coins into an expired parking meter. Hold doors for someone. Say "hi" and smile. Who knows, you might just make someone's day. : )

This is a poem that was handed out to us in English back in November that I found when digging up stuff to study for finals.

Disclaimer--I know they mention the colors white and black, that's supposed to mean good vs. evil, not skin color, absolutely not to be taken in a racist mindset.

I added the colors/bold/italics/different fonts/highlights.  I did not re-order the structure or the order; that's the way the author intended it to be.

Okay, all that said, here's one healthy serving of my ideological visions for the world, comin' right up:

The Wings

By Denise Levertov

Something hangs in back of me,
I can't see it, can't move it.

I know it's black,
a hump on my back.

It's heavy. You
can't see it.

What's in it? Don't tell me
you don't know. It's

what you told me about--
black

inimical power, cold
whirling out of it and

around me and
sweeping you flat.

But what if,
like a camel, it's

pure energy I store,
and carry humped and heavy?

Not black, not
that terror, stupidity

of cold rage; or black
only for being pent there?

What if released in air
it became a white

source of light, a fountain
of light? Could all that weight

be the power of flight?
Look inward: see me

with embryo wings, one
feathered in soot, the other

blazing ciliations of ember, pale
flare-pinions. Well--

could I go
on one wing,

the white one?

What if we could all go on our one wing?

~Peace~

How many of these do you remember?

In 2007

 | Funny Jokes at JibJab

Lyrics:

Global warming, terrorists,
Oil prices, Michael Vick,
Al Gonzales, Lindsay's blow,
Dennis saw a UFO...

Baby toys, poison lead,
Rudy, Mitt, McCain, and Fred.
Clinton, Edwards, and Barack
Darfur
Iraq.

Don's nappy headed h***s,
Coverage of Anna Nicole,
Blackwater USA,
Britney at the VMA!

In 2007,
Barry got indicted,
Malibu ignited.

In 2007,
Humans went insane!
They built a bigass plane!

Bob quit, Rove rapped,
OJ took his BLEEP back.
Pakistan, Al Assad,
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad!

Beauty queen, Beef recall
Senators in bathroom stalls.
There's trouble everywhere worldwide
But let's look on the brighter side!

Ladadadadadada,
Ladadadadadada,
Ladadadadadada,
Ladadadadadada!

Facebook, Red Sox
Halo 3 for XBOX.
Awesome gaming on the Wii,
Marty won one finally.

Another babe for Ang and Brad,
So much good among the bad!
Knut (the cub) safe at home!

Steve Jobs invented iPhone!

In 2007,
There was famine, fire,
Don't forget Sanjaya.

In 2007,
Things were far from great,
But there's still.....'08!
(Still '08, yeah.)

Video found at JibJab.com

Lyrics found at http://www.chargertek.com/smf/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=1
730

No, really, they do.  Every time we have one I have a very brief period where I feel like I came down with a flu.  I also feel that way before a big storm comes.  I thought I was just weird, but my friend said that she felt it, too.  It's annoying!  My mom asked me if I had a barometer in my stomach.  Ha ha.  Not.

When the one moved through Memorial Day evening, my mom said she didn't believe me--or Vince, actually.  I don't know why, she's lived in Wisconsin her whole life--maybe she's just never heard of one before--but she was watching the weather segment and Vince said temperatures were dropping from 80 degrees down to about 50 and she said "What?  No way."  I'm lying facedown on her bed and she goes and opens the window and a gust of freezing air blows in.  "WHOA!  He's right!"

"Yeah, Mom," I said into the quilt, "I think he knows what he's talking about."

Thankfully these "flu"s only last for about ten minutes.  But every time there's a big change in weather?  Don't expect me to be looking bright and chipper.