Fun links!

So, did anyone catch Obama's slip up on Jay Leno's late night show? He said he was awful at bowling, and compared his skills to "the Special Olympics or something". He later apologized to the Special Olympics, before the show was aired. He also invited some Special Olympics athletes to come bowl or play basketball in the White House with him. Here's an article about it.

Speaking of the Special Olympics, they have a new campaign against the R-word. Unfortunately, too many people believe that it's alright to describe something that they dislike as "retarded". The Special Olympics has started a movement to put an end to the ignorance. Here's their website.

Tomorrow is World Water Day! Help me campaign for Water for Life! Check out their site.

On a much different note, here's an interesting case of what appears to be extreme bullying. In my opinion, the school should have stepped in before things got to this point. See the article here.

Check out a new artist who's absolutely great: seanfournier.blogspot.com. He also has several free songs that you can download. :) Enjoy!

Have a great night! See ya!

Interesting...

Here's two very interesting editorials from the New York Times, one on Chief Justice John Roberts' flubbing of the presidential oath, and the other on what we hope the Obama presidency will mean for America. Check those out, and comment with opinions.

Also, I'm currently reading a book titled Coffee With Buddha. In it, Buddha is fictionally "interviewed" by the author. It provides an insight into the life of Buddha, and the concepts of Buddhism. Buddhism is much more complicated than I'd thought! I'm really enjoying learning about how to let go of things, which would be an excellent skill for me to have. Also, it teaches the basics of meditation. I've tried it, but have been unsuccessful so far. If anyone wants to try to meditate, here's a great link on basic stuff. Again - more complicated than it seems.

I play in my school's pep band, which plays at all the home games for basketball season. It's actually pretty fun, and we all joke around about being band geeks... fun times. Also, a really great thing about my school is that the athletes and cheerleaders don't consider themselves elite. In fact, many of them aren't the "popular people". So, yeah. B-ball games are pretty fantastic, hanging with friends and watching some really talented players. Always a good time!!!

Ah! I am definitely in the mood for some pizza right now, even though I had some last night! Oh well...

Well, I have a very busy weekend, and I have to study for midterms. But I think it'll get done alright. I hope. Wish me luck!
-Brianna

Simple Musings...

Seeing as how I've vowed to write as often as possible, and as how nothing extraordinary happened today, I'll share some general thoughts.

First, I guess something did happen today. Obama has already halted prosecutions at the torture center Guantánamo. Yay! Change is currently here, with much more to come. Here's the article.

Also, I'm a self-proclaimed technology addict. With the blogging, checking email, and scouring news sites, I'm hooked. It's so hard not to wonder what's been going on in the past few moments, knowing that you can check with a few clicks of the mouse. I seriously need to work on this. Right now, I'm currently wondering if I have any new mail in my two email accounts. Sure, computers and the internet are wonderful things, but in moderation. IN MODERATION. haha...

Thirdly, I've caught midterm fever!!! Geez, you think they'd go easy on freshmen, but not so. I have three exams that are major portions of my grade, all next week. I stayed after school to look at old global studies tests and record some of the difficult questions and terms to study... That took longer than I thought! A good 40 minutes, and 3 pages worth of notes!!! It better be worth it - I'm bringing home huge, paper-stuffed binders every day, wondering to myself, "When does the madness end???" Hopefully, soon.

Currently listening to the hit of the 2000s, "Stacy's Mom". How many people remember this song??? I heard a kid playing it in the lobby of my school during one lunch period, and since then, I've bought it on iTunes and played it nonstop. It brings back memories of elementary school, snack times, wasted nap hours, and being in one classroom all day. Good times!

Speaking of nap-time... Don't you wish we still had naptime? I miss it. A lot. As a kindergartener, I didn't understand the true value of something like that. Now, with exams, honors classes, and extracurriculars piling up, I'd love to fall asleep for a half hour in the middle of the day! Ha. Opinions on this? Maybe I'll set up a poll on this page about that... Hmm... :D

Well, back to studying for now. Thanks for reading!

-Brianna

PS - Thanks to Chris Iven at the Post Standard Voices page for the shoutout! I appreciate the compliments and publicity.

Inauguration Day

So, yes. Today was the long-awaited day when President Elect Barack Obama took the oath of office and was sworn in as the 44th President of the United States. It was a momentous occasion for many, seeing as how Obama comes into office during such tumultuous times. I had two friends at the inauguration. I remained in Central New York, enjoying the festivities from home. Before I describe my experiences, I'd like to discuss a few things...

Firstly, I am bothered by the fact that people feel the need to identify Obama as the "First Black/African-American President". Yes, based on skin color, this is something that is new to America, but is his race truly the important thing? I'd rather refer to him as the President that brought change and hope, who happened to be PARTLY AFRICAN AND PARTLY CAUCASIAN. Yes, that's right. He's not all African American! He's biracial, just like me. So therefore, he's not our first black president... That's not a bad thing, just saying. Besides, AMERICA STILL LOVES YOU! :)

Also, did anyone else notice that the invocation prayer leader happened to be an openly anti-gay Californian pastor? Offensive???

What did you think of Obama's speech? I thought that it wasn't his best, but it wasn't his worst. He is an extremely powerful speaker, and his speeches are extremely well-written. I was very impressed with his composure and eloquence, even if he does use teleprompters...haha.

We watched this in school, in an assembly in the auditorium. I expected kids to be rude and chaotic, but actually, I was pleasantly surprised. I was overjoyed to see the entire school stand and become quiet as Barack Obama was sworn in as our 44th President. It almost brought me to tears to see so many unique individuals unite for those few moments, all because of one man.

Thanks to today, I truly have hope and faith in the future. For Obama - time to get started on those campaign promises!

See ya!
Brianna