Red Liquid of Life

picture courtesy of http://www.247donation.com/2007/August/Blood-Donations.htm

I gave blood on Monday for the first time in a while. I love to give blood because it is one of the few things I do that I feel actually makes a difference. I have been very frustrated because the last 4 times I have tried to give blood I have been thwarted. Mostly because I have too low of a hemocrit count. But this past time it was because stupid Purdue made me get a shot, so I had to wait an extra month before I could give. I was seriously irked.
But anyway, I gave blood so all is good again. :) I was amused because the lady stuck the needle in me and everything and then turned to do the next person and by the time she was done with him and turned back around my bag was about 1/3 full. She said, "Wow, you're really fast!" It made me giggle. I gave with my right arm, something I'm never going to do again because it is really inconvenient to avoid doing stuff with my right arm when I'm right handed. But anyway, I was a bit dissapointed that they didn't wrap my arm in the ultra-bright colored gauze like stuff. It makes me feel a bit more secure that I won't randomly start bleeding again. I have a bit of a fear of that because once I did start bleeding again. It was while I was still at the station so we applied pressure and put another band-aid on and I was fine, but it was a bit scary. Anyway, I encourage anyone who can to give. It helps a lot.

Rockin' Out

My Thanksgiving break was absolutely awesome! On Wednesday when I got home, I baked an apple and pecan pie with my mom, and my friend Amanda came over to help and hang out. Then, we watched Heros for the rest of the night because my dad got the season 1 DVD. Thursday, I helped make dinner, ate dinner, then hung out around the house hanging out with my family. Friday, I went shopping with my mom, at the decent hour of 9:30, and it was funny because we mostly did grocery shopping as opposed to normal Black Friday shopping. (Why do they call it Black Friday anyway?) But anyway, we got back around 4 and I went to my brother's house around 5. At my brother's, his friend Dan showed us Metroid for the Nintendo Wii, then Andy, my brothers roommate, came back and we all rocked out to Guitar Hero 3 for about 4 hours. When we got tired of that, we played Metroid some more and then I went home around midnight. On Saturday, my sister and her boyfriend came up to visit, and in the evening my brother came over and also the Jacksons came to visit. I got to play Scrabble with my brother and Justin, my friend Gen's boyfriend. My brother slaughtered us both because he spelled the word "munchies" and got the 50 extra points for using all your letters. Then Sunday, I went to church and then came back to Purdue.
I love going home for visits! ^_^

Home Cooking

Here's the prompt:
In Bich Nguyen's memoir, food is used to "make visible" the "invisible" cultural practices that define us as "American." Reflecting back on your own childhood, think of an example when a particular food (or foods) served to include or exclude you from a group of which you wanted to be a part. Describe the food, the situation, and how it made you feel.

I honestly can't remember any time in my childhood when I was excluded or included from some group because of food. It is possible it happened and I didn't realize it, I was a rather dense child, always with my nose in a book. However, I do remember how a certain food set me apart from other kids.
Before Christmas break, during elementary school, most of the kids would give the teacher a small gift, I guess to show our appreciation for being taught. Well, since my mother and I make chocolate candies around the holidays, I would always take the teacher a small "sampler" of the things we had made.
It always made me very proud that I could give my teacher something that I had made myself. Also, I loved that the teachers liked my present, they knew what it was because I have 3 older siblings who went through the school before me and my mom did the same thing for all of them. My sense of pride and accomplishment was increased because I knew that the teacher liked my present.

Documenting Morals

Here is my writing prompt:
In Zana Briski's documentary film, Born Into Brothels, she documents the lives of children growing up in Calcutta’s red light district. Her film reveals the most intimate details of their lives. Briski uses those details as evidence in an argument about the effects that living in the red light district has on these children. Write a blog in which you explore this. Is it fair that the children’s lives are “on display” for all the world to see? What about their privacy? Can a child “give consent” to be portrayed in this way? Do the “ends” justify the “means”? Is her documentary ultimately “successful”? How do you measure its success?

I shall first address the question of, "can a child give consent to be portrayed in this way?" I would say, of course they can give consent! These are not children as we would think of them in America. They are wonderful kids with hopes and dreams despite their circumstances and they still have a child's happiness, but they are much more mature than the typical child of equivalent age in America. This is due to their poverty, forcing them to work as well as go to school, as well as their surroundings in general. They have developed their own thoughts and ideas about themselves by now, because they have been forced by circumstance to consider these ideas. Therefore, they know what they are getting into when they give consent to be documented.

By answering that question, we can therefore concur that by giving consent to be documented they have put their faith in the documenter to portray their circumstances without undue invasion of their privacy. Yes the film shows their family lives, but the children, and their families, are certainly aware that the cameras are there, so if they objected they could just tell the visitors to shut of the cameras. So, yes, in this case the ends does justify the means because the means were not unreasonable.

Her documentary is successful in that she does portray the effect of growing up in brothels on these children. She shows their worry about their situation and their struggle to rise out of their circumstances by gaining an education. She also displays the difficulties for children like them to rise out of the red light district because good schools don't want their reputations tainted by the stigma associated with the illegal activities.

Quality vs. Quantity? Maybe not.

So, in English class we have been reading a whole slew of material about the scary truth behind the food we eat. US food has unlabeled GMOs (genetically modified foods), the US foods are being boycotted in some areas because they are unlabeled, Monsanto and other companies are patenting genes in plants that spread and then they sue farmers who have been contaminated. Then there is the fact that much of what we eat contains some derivative of corn. All this is pertinent and useful information, but it isn't going to change what I eat.
I do believe that GMOs should be labeled. It would not be that hard to do, and it would make people happier. It may even make people less suspicious of GMOs if they were being "hidden" by the government/food companies. But, I am a college student. I don't have the time, resources, or inclination at this point in my life to track down foods that are GMO free, or corn free. Now, I do go through some effort to exclude certain things like high fructose corn syrup in a lot of my food, but that is about it. I will continue to buy the stuff that is relatively cheep because it allows me to possibly escape college without a lifetime's worth of debt.

The College Dilemma

So, most people in college have come up against this all important question by now, "Who am I going to room with next year?!" As of a couple days ago, I have finished my quest for the answer! *and there was much rejoicing* (two points to whoever gets the reference)

So, in practice for our Memoir assignment, sort of, I shall relate the saga of the roommate debate. Originally, my friend Carmen asked me if I would want to rent a house with her and 4 other people. We would have at least 1 dog (a big one) and around 4 cats. Now I wouldn't mind this arrangement, but after thinking about it, I just don't know whether I would be able to handle the responsibility of pitching in to care for the cats (the dog is the responsibility of the owner, I don't do dogs) while also doing school and working. Then, I was supposed to room with my friend Lizz from my hometown. We would be really good roommates, the only problem is that she really wants to room in an apartment, and I really don't. Hilltop has captured my heart and I really wanted to room in a 4 person 1 bedroom apartment next year. The other factor going for Hilltop is that with a 4-person room and no meal plan, it will be between $2,000 and $3,000 dollars for the whole year. So, I started sounding people out for this plan. The first person I recruited was actually Lizz's roommate, Brittany. She is driving Lizz up the wall (though she doesn't really know it) but I think we would work out ok. The second person I recruited is my friend Katie. That is gonna work out really well because not only is she awesome, she loves to cook as much as I do and makes really killer pizza, so we can split meal planning and cooking. Then, Katie asked her friend Corinne (pronounced Kor-ene) and she agreed. So we have our 4 people ^_^. I hope that at the very least Katie and I, but hopefully everyone can work out a system of communal food. We could all pitch in a certain amount and have a group grocery list so that we don't have to do the awkward lable-who's-food-is-who's thing. If we have to it would be ok, but I would really prefer not to.

Creativity

When I first got to Purdue I met this absolutely wonderful person named Katie. Since then I like to think we have become pretty good friends. But anyway, on the first or second day we hung out, she asked me what my creative outlet is. She claimed that everyone has one, but the question just sort of dumbfounded me. What do I like to do creatively, I asked myself. Well, I draw every once in a while, but it is mostly doodles and I wouldn't really call it an outlet. I make jewelry every once in a while too, but it is still sort of an idle hobby. At the time I had no answer for her. Then came the advent of cold weather and I pulled out my coat. All of the sudden it dawned on me, my creative outlet is sewing! I love to sew, though it isn't something I indulge in often. Mostly I make pillows. Of the 9 pillows on my bed, I have made 4 and my mommy made 1. I have 1 maybe 2 more at home and I've made a couple for friends' birthdays and such. Other than that, I have a pair of boxers, a purse, a pair of bright ORANGE cargo pants, an obnoxious plumed hat, and my coat. My coat is by far the most awesome thing I've ever made. Originally, I made it so I could cosplay as Vash the Stampede for Halloween, but it is actually a really good winter coat. The high collar acts like a built in scarf and it is lined. I love the reactions I get for it. Most people are like, "You made that?" O.O and it makes me proud. Once, while I was at the academy I had a BSU student comment to me, "That is bad a$$." The other day, when the wind was really bitter, I was walking to class and as I passed two people on the sidewalk I heard one say to the other, "Oh my god, it's Vash's coat!" It made the sew-er in my feel all warm and fuzzy inside. I love when people actually know what the coat represents, both because they have actually seen TRIGUN and because the coat is recognizable despite obvious, or perhaps not so obvious discrepancies.


This is my friend wearing my coat and also the hat I made. Yes, I am aware the combination brings to mind Carmen Sandiego. This is a screenshot from the opening of TRIGUN (created by Yasuhiro Nightow) and is one of the very few pictures where you can sort of see all of his coat. There are better ones, but I don't know how to capture screenshots for myself, so I have to work with what I have.