I just came back from watching Criminal Minds--which was pretty freaky tonight--but I still can't help but think back to president Bush's address to the country about our economy. (Right now, I really feel the need to put this down somewhere that can do it quick and hopefully get some feedback on it.)
This was really my first time bothering to listen to one of our president's speeches all the way through; the reason why I didn't do it with the other ones was because the way he delivered those other ones sounded rather incoharent to me. (That, and I've never been all that interested in politics.) Toninght was rather different. I think, for the first time, I actually see him as human. I know that sounds a little weird, but I say that because I've always viewed people involved in Congress as nothing more than "puppets" to whomever is sponsering them. While I was hearing him talk, I payed close attention to the look he gave in his eyes and, more importantly, the tone in his voice. (I can usually pick up on tone a hundred times better than most other signs of behavior.) Yes, he was definitely reading right off of the screen that was in front of him, but there were a few times when it sounded like he really wanted to cry (or at least pause for a few moments to recompose himself). More importantly though, I actually picked up an earnest concern for the situation at hand.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that his speech tonight was spectacular or anything; but, to me, it was comforting to actually hear directly from him that he is actually acknowloging what's going on in our country today. His speech became even better when he mentioned, breifly, what events led to where we are now. I still remain a little frustrated because he didn't formally announce that we're in a freaking recession right now, but at the same time glad that he didn't. (If he had formally announced that, as my father pointed out, there probably would've been quite a few incidents involving hesteria happening around the country similar to what happend on Black Tuesday.)
This is the part where I'll be completely honest--I'm a little scared right now myself. We've almost always been known as "the land of opprotunity" throughout our history, and it's been encouraged through countless generations to always look forward to a brighter tomorrow, and I definitely want to continue believing in that philosophy. However, I can't help but draw to question how long it'll take us to recover from all of this. If history serves correctly, past efforts to help whatever crises we were in generally never lasted all the way through due to people just giving up. (I'm particularly pointing at the latter years of WWII, if anyone's wondering.) I really do think we could, but that's only because I value myself as an optimist. Realisticly, does anyone else think we could if the situation gets really bad?
(Please forgive me for any and all errors on this page: I wanted to jot down my thoughts before I completely forgot about them like I almost did with 9/11, and I'd rather not have to go through living with a mistake like that.)
Thank you for your time.
I was just driving on home as usual one day, listening/singing along/jamming out to the Hairspray soundtrack, when this thought came to mind: How would the YYH crew react if they were suddenly forced to cast themselves in that musical? Then I got to contemplating who would be cast as whom. (Mind you, I was already giggling to myself at this point. When I got to that last thought I started cracking up--you'll probably see why in a bit.)
This is the cast list that I thought up of:
Tracy Turnblad- (?: I'm thinking of leaving this one for any fangirl of "Link" 
)
Penny- Botan
Link Larken- Kurama
Seaweed- (?)
Corny Collins- Hiei
"Motormouth Maybelle"- (?)
Amber Von Tussle- Keiko Yukimura
Velma Von Tussle- Shizuru Kuwabara
Edna Turnblad- Kazuma Kuwabara
Wilber Turnblad- Yusuke Urameshi
Thank you for your time, and let me know what you think. Later! 
(And in case you're still wondering why I was laughing, take a gander at who I casted as Tracy's parents. )
This is for my fan-fiction Tides of Fate:
I've been in the mood lately to change up the site a bit by adding a personal background. However, I've come across a huge snag: I have no knowledge/skill whatsoever on how to make what I have in mind! I've tried going to other sites to splice certain images together to make a personalized one, but it just doesn't sound appealing to me. (Keep in mind--I definitely would've marked down which sites I used images from. What turned me off was the fact that it just didn't sit right with me to edit someone else's hard work for my own personal use. That, and I'm lazy. )
So here's my challange to anyone who feels up to making a personal background for me: The background image that I'm looking for has to have-
- A full red moon in either the top left corner or the top center
- A clear sky with it so the moon is completely visible
- An image of the ocean with no land in sight
- And possibly (if you feel up to it) an image of Atlantica at the bottom
If there are any questions, comments, concerns, or even suggestions on the matter, feel free to PM me. Otherwise, I would like to lay this to rest no later than October 3rd. (I'll push the date back further for anyone willing to rise to the challange.)
As for the picture I select, other than presenting them my thanks, I will also give them full credit for the background in the introduction to my world and present them with a gift of their choice. ^-^
Thank you for your time and best of luck!
(Finally, a history post! )
Today in my history class, we had finally finished watching an informative (and bloody 
) documentary of the French Revolution. After aquiring this information, since most of the these details definitely weren't covered at the public high school I attended, I've come to this conclusion: the French are wack!
Just kidding! Actually, I made some comparisons between that and the Salem Witch Trials, since the both of them have quite a few things in common. To try and keep things short and sweet, I'll share this information with you list-style. (I'll start off with some things that some people might find painfully obvious, then work on from there)
The French Revolution VS.
The Salem Witch Trials
Happened in the 18th century France (about ten years after our Revolution)
Happened in the 17th century USA (well before our Revolution)
Started as a means to create a better government ruling the country due to an incompetent monarchy
Started as a means of punishing those who were supposedly practicing witchcraft
Main city involved: Paris
Main city involved: Salem
Both spiraled out of control
A regime of terror would grip them for a time (France's being much longer)
Unjustified accusaitons/bloodshead would be a result of mass paranoia
Execution preferance: beheadment (via the Guillotine since it was deemed "humane" for the time since it was a quick way of delivering death)
Execution preferance: lynching (via the Gallows; this was mainly because this style of execution was popular at the time)
Trials would usually be quick and heavily one-sided
(in other words, you were guilty before you even took the stand)
It wouldn't end until after the death of a powerful and influencial figure leading the Revolution (at the guillotine) and five years of having no official ruler of the country
It wouldn't end until after there was a change in public opinion
After that, Napoleon would emerge as the ruler of France
After that, prisoners who were still in line to die would be released
Death toll: estimated at 25,000
Death toll: 19 total
Both events still effect us in one way or another today
Hoped you enjoyed!
This is something that took place in my Rhetoric and Composition class back on Monday:
After we turned in our first essays, our professor--I'll be refering to him as "Prof. D" from here on out--pointed out that we still had lots of time left in class (mind you, he's extremely sarcastic in a funny sense, so needless to say we were amused XD). Prof. D told us then that, to pass the time until he had to release us, we had to tell the class what our favorite food is and, in detail, describe it.
Some of the people that talked had some pretty decent descriptions at their disposal. (Especially the last one who out-shined us all in his description of this seafood dish he makes himself, which took up a minimum of ten minutes.) Others, although hilarious to listen to, barely had enough to cover three minutes worth of material.
As for myself? Well, I started off by telling them "Now don't get me wrong, I like a lot of different types of food..." (Sadly enough, and I might have to turn in my Otaku badge for this, pocky was not one of the first things that came to mind when I was called. 
)I then proceded to tell them about my obsession over Cajin boils. Simply put: I LOVE MUDBUGS!! 
Given the chance, I could probably eat my own weight in them! What I adore about mudbugs in Cajin boils is the rich flavor in those little morsals. When cooked right they'll taste almost like crab (not the artificial variety), but will be much firmer in texture and have more juice in them. Depending on what seasoning you put in (and when) they'll either have that harsh zing lemons possess or that stinging sensation from pepper. (The ones I prefer are a fine balance of in-between that spread in your mouth and have you licking your fingers for hours trying to obtain more, regardless of the plesant-yet-kind-of-fishy aftertaste.)
Anyway, after everyone was done Prof. D told us the real reason why he had us talk about good food around lunch-time (as he noted sometime in the middle of this) to begin with. In truth, not only was this an exercise to expand our usage of detail in our writing, it was also a way for us to identify how many times we used the word "like" in our descriptions without realizing it. (While we were talking, Prof. D actually took tally marks on how many times we did.) He told us that, unbeknownst to many of us in America, the word "like" tends to be way over-used to describe things in our speech, thereby affecting our writing in a seriously bad manner. (Mind you, this issue started up back in the 1990's, but it's gotten worse in today's time.)
In almost the same fashon as before, he called us down the rows to tell us our "score". At first the average was about five until, that is, he got to the guy second to last in the first row; his grand total was seventeen. Before he even got past the third word his protest he used the word "like" (producing even more laughter then there already was in the room). About two rows down a girl sitting close to me managed to beat this number by one point--to her dismay and his delight, I might add. (By the way, in during my presentation in class I only managed to use this word twice. :g_smile) The Summa Cum Laude of all the users of the word "like" (both past and present, apparently) in the room was this guy sitting in the row next to me who left us all in the dust by using it (*drum-roll*) thirty-three times. (He was going to protest like the first guy, but he ended up stopping almost immediatly because he kept true to his title by using the word "like" first. We were released from class sometime after that.)
Please note: I didn't write this with any intention of insulting anyone. My only real reason for writing this is was to try and share my amusing time in class. Hoped you enjoyed!
As a side note, I'm also going to start using this as a means to announce when I have updated my story Tides of Fate or anything else related to it.
