Fat Turkey

Happy Thanksgiving Everybody!!!
(or whatever substitute holiday and or break you tend to be enjoying right now)

Well least to say I am stuffed. I enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner with my family at my Aunt and Uncles house and then continued the party into the night by hanging out with my Cousin and one of my favorite (and cute) friends of his. I slept over and then got up at 5am to shop on the infamous Black Friday with my Aunt, Mother, Sister and two other Cousins. I know pretty much everything I am going to get for Christmas this year...hehehehe.
Most importantly though I got to spend a ton of time with my family. After this break I have started to realize just how much of the stress I feel up at school can be alleviated by coming back home for a few days. I love my roommate and I love the program I am in and I love the crew team, they are all part of my family in one way or another; they all fill my days up with blood, sweat and tears (crew team) or laughter and happiness and stimulating debate (crew, friends, school), but they are no substitute for my family. With my family all of my weird corks and oddities are totally normal. My family has long ago accepted me for who I am and I no longer have to worry about losing social status, saying the wrong thing, or doing poorly in one way or another. It is the complete and total ability for me to be myself in this house and none other that makes it so relaxing to be around my family.
I think this is how people should look for a life partner. Is this a person that you can be around much in a way that you can be around your family? Is this a person who could move into your house and blend right in? Different parts of different personalities are brought out by different individuals; this is neither a good thing nor a bad thing. We spend time with the people who bring out the best in us. We talk about learning to "be ourselves," this is really a crock of shit; a "self" is composed of so many different facets and personalities that it might as well be an unexplored world all to its own. I know myself, I know how I will react to certain situations and how certain personality types will bring out opposing or agreeing personality types in me. It is in the choices that you make, in what people you choose to surround yourself with, in the activities you choose to engage in, and the lifestyle (in general) that you choose to live, that dictates whether or not you "know yourself." You know yourself but you must choose to let yourself be known by how you live your life.


May awesome turkey sandwiches, soup, stew and broth be coming your way,
~The Singing Ginger

Hoolihoo!

I am supposed to be writing a paper right now, but I think blogging would be such a better idea. Today went a lot better than the stressed out ickyness of yesterday. I had a tough, but not impossible, practice and a really good time with my acting class. I also got to have some impromteau bonding with some of my team mates when my coach didn't show up for a meeting I was supposed to have with him (he drove into a ditch, but it just fine.) It was fun talking with people I have been spending so much time with, especially since all we do it work out and compete together. My teammates/ coach are people! Who knew?
So anyways I have decided that after the huge fight with a friend of my suitemate's that i am going to apologize. I will not apologize for what I believe, I will not apologize for how I live my life, I will not apologize for stating these beliefs, but I will apologize for the manner in which I stated these opinions. My wonderful roommate pointed out to be that I can argue with people all I want but that I should not belittle their opinions. Her statement was that I shouldn't act like only my beliefs are the right ones and that there is no other way to see the world. My argument against this was that; though I respect other's beliefs on many different topics, the debate on homosexuality is not on of those topics because if you do not believe what I believe or some version of it that you have some version of the truth that tells you that some people are subhuman and don't deserve rights nor to be treated with respect. I think that the boy I was arguing with is wrong, I think he is ignorant for believing what he does, but that doesn't mean I have to be aggressive or demeaning to him. Thank you once again wonderful roomie for helping make me a better person. :D
Goodnight and good luck

~The Singing Ginger

My Minority

So I grew up hearing that the place I lived was a little bubble of acceptance and love surrounded by miles and miles of reality. I assumed that this is more of a dramatic interpretation and that most people I would encounter would be mostly similar to me. I was raised to believe that all people should be equal no matter what differences they had to myself or to the "norm." I was taught that those who had different views than me should still be respected. I learned yesterday that this is not the norm, nor the majority nor what should be expected of people. Most people are not accepting, most people are not similar to myself or those I was raised with. Most people will have the views they hold now and will not change no matter what they are presented with. Most people won't even want to change. They see nothing wrong with beliefs that would deny people their own humanity or rights as citizens. I am a minority in ways I couldn't even image and it has made me realize that things are going to get tough from here on out; and that growing up in my bubble hasn't really prepared me for any of it.

Love and Peace,
~The Singing Ginger

This Is What I Think

Mr. Obama asked me what I thought and this is what I told him:

I see an America greatly divided after a large scale terrorist attack, a war unwanted and an election that has put the hopes, dreams and faith of millions into the hands of one man. I hope that the future brings us together within the borders of our own home. I hope the future brings the equaity of rights to all citizens within this country no matter their race, gender or whom they choose to fall in love with. We must choose love Mr Obama. We must choose it not only for ourselves and those whom we accept as our fellow citizens, but those that we would defeat, who we would crush, and who we would speak out against. In a land so greatly free we have found ourselves in a time greatly divided. We will expect one man to move mountains when we would not lift a finger. Inspire us, emplore us, and open our eyes; you cannot move mountains alone. As a student citizen of this country I am more excited about the future than I have ever been. It is a bright new day and there is work to be done. Thank you and good luck.

~The Singing Ginger

It's Why They Call Me Drama Mama

"I am a man of constant sorrow; I've seen trouble all my days!"
I love this song. If you don't know it look it up and then rent the movie. Afterwards you will be able to get a corn cob pipe and a floppy hat with some overalls and feel perfectly content. I am so ready for break at this point. I feel like I will enjoy the time to clear my thoughts and flush out the drama. Don't get me wrong I love every person in my life (or try to, at least) but people can cause so much crap for themselves. I know I do for myself, but I have started to notice that some people really do make choices that cause drama and do so knowingly. STOP CAUSING DRAMA FOR YOURSELVES! I should be yelling this at myself. I think the best drama is caused when we are trying to hang onto something that should have moved on and through our lives. The holding on is what causes drama, be that a person, a habit, a place or some other thing. Drama is the friction of life.

I should have skipped work today. I got a call for a person I had the chance to shadow and said I couldn't go because I had work, and I should have skipped it. This must be what it feels like to work a job you don't like, or live in a place you don't like living in. Some choices should just be made no matter what the consequences. Normally I am the person to do that, today I wasn't and I felt what it is like to be on the other side. I think that half the time I am as sane as I am is because I make the constant choice to put my sanity over other things like school work, or cleanliness, or my job. There have been very few times where I have had to stay up till all odd times in the morning, not because I plan ahead and am a responsible person (because surely I am not) but because at some point I will choose to go to bed and suffer whatever consequences of my actions.

This is what I have learned sometime between high school and college. Everything in life is a trading game. You trade your degree for a job, sleepless nights for a paper, a relationship for a chance at something better, or money for any numerous amount of things. It is the trades we are willing to make that define who we are. I am not willing to trade the possibility of a relationship for sex. I could get a lot of sex right now (I have had three offers in the past couple of weeks) but I want something real and something more important than sex and I am not willing to trade that goal for sex. Many would argue that I could get both but in that case I would argue yet another trade I choose not to make. I choose not to get physically entangled with someone because I know, chances are, that I will get emotionally entangled with them. I am choosing to not risk heart break for sex...go me.
I am not trying to make this sound like I am some all wise saint, I am far from that, but I feel like I have figured out something that a lot of people haven't gotten yet. YOU ALWAYS HAVE A CHOICE! It may seem like you are being forced into something but really you aren't. A woman may believe that she can't get around her families expectations for medical school but she can. She must trade some of her families respect, or in some cases all of it, for the chance at something better. I realized this the day I choose to stay up until 3am with some youth group friends that were graduating. I knew my parents would yell at me and that I would get grounded but it was worth it. My Father's reaction to this was "What are you going to do? Just decide that you don't have to listen to us if it is worth your while?!?" and my answer was yes, I will. I traded getting grounded for spending time with my friends, one for the other, it was my choice.

Drama happens when we feel that we have no other choice, and we feel the need to hold on to what we know because we know it has worked well in the past and therefore it must work well now, whenever or wherever we are existing. This is truly not the case, life is wide and expansive and we have only the obligation to do what makes us happy as long as we aren't tramping all over someone else's happiness in a permanent way (I say permanent because in fact there are times when tramping on another's happiness is warranted, otherwise everyone would be trapped in their first relationship forever and ever.) People can choose to be happy assuming they can overcome the obstacles that will always be springing up to prevent that. Life is not stationary, life is not solitary and life is not miserable. Life is an adventure if we so choose.

For all your life advice
always yours,

~The Singing Ginger

Addiction

Okay I have a problem...I got yet another piercing. I went with my suitemate and my roommate and decided on the way that I was gong to get my eyebrow pierced (they got their noses done.) I will post pictures later. :) I am so ridiculous!

~Claire

Truck Incident

A note to all you future coaches, if you want your athletes to respect you, don't disrespect them. Here is the inciting incident description:

My coach is always running around and really never sits and is able to talk for more than a matter of 2 or 3 mins. The only real way to get him to talk to you is if you ride in his truck on the way to a regatta, because that way you have him cornered...unless he jumps from a moving truck that he himself is driving...I am not that scary.
Anyways so I send him an e-mail two days before our regatta, requesting that if he is going to have a student riding in the truck with him that it be me so we can talk about some issues I have been having with my stroke. So he ends up driving by himself on the way up because there are some issues with our trailer that is carrying the boats. After the regatta during the team debrief he mentions how he would like to have a student volunteer for the ride back. I walk up to him after the meeting and mention how I would like to ride with him. He says he is going to try and get an assistant coach to do it so he can go over unloading procedures with them but that I can sit there if thats doesn't work out.

We all load our stuff in the vans and I assume that coach got one of the assistances to ride with him because I haven't seen him around. I hop into the van that drove me up in the first place. Then I see coach with another rower named John. Coach catches my eye in the van and yells back that John and I will have to fight it out for however gets to sit with him. I jump out of the van and tell John how I asked first and how I sent an e-mail to coach two days before. John just looks at me and says something like "I am riding with coach, too bad" he of course is carrying all of the equipment that goes in the truck, and I end up whining and sounding like a child while trying to explain to him while he is walking to the truck that I deserve to sit there more than he does. I lose, but all the while coach is just ignoring the conversation and walking ahead. I understand that the other rower really should have just stepped down and not been such a jackass, but you would also think that a coach would have the respect to his athletes to just make a call. I was sorta pissed to say the least.

Lesson learned for the day: be a good coach if you are going to coach at all.

~The Singing Ginger