Volunteering for the Future.

You probably aren't aware of this, but on May 12 I am walking in the Rotary Clubs Walk-a-thon which will benefit Phoenix Youth at Risk (PYAR); a non-profit that I volunteer with. I just wanted to take a moment and tell you why I volunteer.

    My friend Natasha was not your average 20 something. She was a few days away from receiving her Masters in Urban Planning, she was from Northern Ireland and she loved life. She wanted to change the world and knew that one individual person could make a difference. Her personality was bright, and you couldn't help but be drawn to her. A few days before her graduation she found out she received an internship which would allow her to stay in the US. She went out with a friend to have a few drinks to celebrate. While walking home a man approached them from behind and without warning slammed them in the head with a baseball bat. Natasha stood 5 feet tall, if that. The man took their purses and left them for dead. Natasha was in a coma for days, part of her skull was removed and the doctors were fearful that she would never wake up, much less walk or function again. She lived, but she will never be the same. She sits at her home in Northern Ireland where all she can do is stare out the window. She spends many days crying but she cannot communicate so whatever is going through her brain is a mystery. The light that burned so brightly within her has been reduced to a flicker and she will now never be able to better the world as she so passionalty wanted to do.

 

    I am not telling you this story to tug at your heat strings but this is why I volunteer with PYAR. The man who attacked her was a known gang member and so far it seems that he is hardly remorseful for his actions. I hate him. This part of me wishes everything bad in the world come crashing down on him and that he will live a terrible existence forever full of pain. But, hate doesn't get anywhere, nothing can be changed now. So my way of honoring Natasha is to volunteer. PYAR is a program that pairs Phoenix kids of all ages with adult mentors. I don't need to tell you the benefits of mentoring you can google that yourself. I mentor because this man who I so despise was once just a kid. A kid who probably witnessed things I can't imagine, who may have had terrible role modles and never knew that he had the power to change the path his life was taking. Who knows, maybe if he had been in a program like this and had an adult who gave a shit, his life would have been different and Natasha would be out making a difference. It is too late for him now, but it is not too late for thousands of kids across the country who are living in unstable environments with undesirable role models.

 

One on one connections can make an unbelievable impact in a persons life, and that is what Phoenix Youth At Risk does. It makes an impact. One less gang member means a safer community for you, one more kid who realizes the potential in themselves means a more productive tomorrow for our country, todays kids are tomorrows adults. Let us take an interest in our youth today rather than complaining about what a selfish, worthless generation they are becoming. 

If you would like to donate to PYAR or sponsor our walk-a-thon please go here. Or better yet if you would like to volunteer please go here. Or volunteer with an organization in your local community! 

YOU'RE ugly. Bitch.

Yesterday I was having an off day. Nothing was happening quite as smoothly as I assumed it would. I was outside in the 113 degree weather for far longer than anticipated, and was just generally having an off day. Fine. It happens. I decided to go to Ikea to pick up a table that I wanted, I found a cool lamp in the 'as is' section and had it on my cart when I figured out that I am not the Hulk and could not lift this giant box on my own. I wonder to the next aisle to find someone to help me, tell him what aisle I'll be in and he says he'll meet me there. I get back to where my cart and awesome lamp once stood and they're gone! I turn around and this girl walks up to me and yells, "you have muffin tops AND you're ugly!" She then proceeds to run away while her boyfriend pinches her ass and tells her what a funny bitch she is.

I stand there, not sure how to respond and realize the only response I had was tears in my eyes, and a sudden rush of total self-consciousness. I probably would have just thought she was a total bitch on every other day and dismissed it, but I hadn't eaten in 7 hours, was hot, and pretty much just done with the day. Yesterday I let this bitch make me feel suddenly so uncomfortable in my own skin. Every shinny thing I passed I had to make sure I didn't have a muffin top.

A half hour later it was just sort of funny, but I still think there is no room in the world for that sort of blatant rudeness. It's just hurtful and does nothing to make life better for everyone.

Also, I hope she gets terribly fat and muffin tops like crazy over her jeans :)

The Office

I watched The Office last night for literally 5 minutes, and I fell asleep watching Golden Girls.

Then I started dreaming and in my dream I was working at The Office. Now I cannot remember everything that was happening but I do remember that when I was going through security I saw Michael dressed as a female mechanic of some sort. Anyway he came into the office and was pretending to fix our photocopy machine, except that all of us knew that it wasn't actually broken. Apparently he thought there was some sort of afterwork gathering going on that he was not invited to but he wanted to know about it. Clearly, no one was fooled by his disguise. We all gathered in the break-room next to the room where all the copiers were and started coming up with a fictitious gathering. Betty White was also employed and she threw out that we were going to a strip club, and which point Blanch said she was too pretty to be seen in a strip club. We decided that all of us, even the men were going to dress in burlesque. Michael was laying on the floor writing down everything we said, and next thing in my dream he's all dressed ready to go to the strip club we're not going to, in a costume that no one else is wearing.


I also think I dreamed that my mom told me I needed to take my dog to the vet because his ears were too itchy... I don't think that's actually a vet visit :)

Also I was dating a blonde kid from elementary school named Kyle.

Fear. Irrational Fears.

We are all afraid of something. Heights, crowds, birds, cowboys. I am 24 years old and I am still figuring things out about myself. This fear isn't so much something that I'm just now discovering, but something that I'm just now actually thinking very hard about. Once I had a brainstorm about this fear it just cemented how very goofy I really am. My fear is..