Zen

My boss told me at work this evening that I was Zen. I have never considered myself such but I'm willing to that the simplicity of the Eastern religions has always appealed to me, regardless of my staunch conservatism. She gave me this title after I told her I didn't want to make a lot of money because it gave me the option to possess material possessions and would prefer to keep the clutter out of my house.
This is not because I do not value money. I do. I understand the necessity of an equalizer in our society. But it is a tool and not a goal.

Craziness?

What is wrong with people!? Why do individuals lose all logic, self restraint and dignity when the presidential election is brought up? I don't ever remember (yes, I don't have a lot to go on, but bear with me) people becoming as irate or vocal about any previous election. This is rediculous. Is it because of the race factor? The war? I sometimes think it may be because the country is becoming more polorized as we speak about ethical and moral values and Obama and McCain represent those view points.
Regardless of what it is we need to calm down. If you are a republican you need to realize that the country will still be here if Obama is elected. We survived Franklin D. Roosevelt, Jimmy Carter and Clinton, surely we can survive Barack. But if you are so upset about it you need to become more involved. There is not a lot of visitibility of the Republican party. Actually, when I do think about the Republican party I think old white rich man, which doesn't bode well for the party image. Maybe that's why the liberals hate Sarah Palin so much.
In contrast to the Republicans we have the Democrats. STOP SHOUTING AT ME! I don't care how much you hate Bush, the war or the restrictions put on homosexuality. I know your stance without you making me deaf. Also, having a black president isn't going to change anything. We need to stop focusing on the fact that he's black and look at his values. If it does matter that Obama is black you might want to think about why it means so much to you. If this presidential election is going to made a difference in how you view yourself as a person because of what skin color you have, you need to reevaluate your priorities.

I feel unprepared for this debate because I did not grow up with a television and my parents didn't have magazines or other forms of print media in the house. However, in regards to advertising towards females I sense two main categories. Let's take the Old Navy sweater ad. Although the women are completely dressed and there is only a slight undertone of sexual content, the overall theme is that women have to live a certain way to be beautifull. Oprah magazine is a larg proponent of this idea. Regardless of the large amounts of "self-love" she promotes, you're only alloud to be okay with yourself if you fit within the guidelines of what constitutes the modern woman: thin, dressed stylishly but unassumingly, with understated makeup. Heaven forebid someone put too much makeup on or dress in something that doesn't flatter their figure. Now, don't get me wrong, I think a lot about what I put on in the morning, but I wear what's comfortable to me. I also have been trying-once in a blue moon-to wear something that doesn't match to make sure I don't get too caught up in striving to meet other people's expectations. How are we supposed to educate the young women of this coutry to be comfortable with who they are when we aren't comfortable with who they are?
The other side of the spectrum is the anti-femenine woman. I am extremely femenine. It's a trait in myself that I've always felt comfortable with. I enjoyed playing dress-up as a child and I love to wear make-up as an adult. However, there is an aspect of female society today that criticizes women who wear dresses, shave their legs or the completely unforgiveable bear children. Again, the message that we're sending to the young females of our society is that we're not comfortable with who they are. We have to change them. They have to mold into what society expects them to be to be accepted. No wonder we have problems with teenage pregnancies. Instead of living under the pressure to live up to society's expectations they simply completely rebel and live in shame. Good job America.