Good People

Don't ask me why, but I've been doing a lot of thinking as of late. Now, don't crack jokes - it really makes my head hurt sometimes. Yesterday I found myself doubting my own confidence in the people who make up our society as a whole. I would like to know where the hell have all the good people gone. I understand that "good" can be defined many different ways and almost always depends on who you ask, however, I feel as though the amount of people who are aware of others as well as themselves is an exponentially dwindling number. I nearly had myself in tears considering this. A while later while discussing the idea with my friend Jacob I realized something. Is it possible that people are programmed to be self interested? What is it that made me assume we are naturally aware and considerate of others? If I were to ask mothers if "mine" was one of the 5-10 first words of their child I'm pretty sure a majority of them would say yes. Is this a demonstration of this self-absorbedness at a very young age? Beats me.

What do you guys think? Give me some feedback on this one because its genuinely bothering me.

Occupy Wall Street Movement

As of late I find my mind consumed by the movement that began in New York. This Occupy movement has spread to hundreds of cities in the U.S. and has even taken off in cities over seas.

I am shocked on a daily basis through conversation with my peers to find that many people still have no idea about the occupy movement.  This movement does not pertain to one specific age group, gender, race, or tax bracket. It applies to all who are affected by the decisions our government makes every day.

I have been frustrated because, even though there is a great deal of info out there about the movement, there is not many places that compile different sources or places to go so that individuals may educate themselves on the movement and the issues being addressed by the movement. On account of that frustration I decided to compile a few things here myself.

I have done my best to post mostly objective information. I have left videos of police brutality and etc out, not because I think its unimportant (I think its very important that the public is aware of police brutality upon peaceable protesters.), but because I feel like information like that holds its best impacts when you discover it for yourself. These links will take you to aspects of the story and if you take the time to explore these and then some you will find the light and the dark sides of the movement.

Educate yourself. Wake up. You are a part of the 99%. Demand a government that is By the People and For the People.

http://www.occupytogether.org/
Welcome to OCCUPY TOGETHER, an unofficial hub for all of the events springing up across the country in solidarity with Occupy Wall Street.


http://occupywallst.org/
This site is updated by individuals on the ground at Occupy Wall Street in NY. News about the movement (outside of NY as well as in NY), photos, videos, a livestream of NY, various maps and other information are provided on this site. I compel all to take a look at this site.

Occupy Imagery and Background
Great images of the first few weeks of the movement as well as background information for those wondering what the heck is going on.

Occupy Washington DC
My favorite part about this link is the summarization of the key issues that the majority of Americans are expressing in this movement

• Tax the rich and corporations
• End the wars, bring the troops home, cut military spending
• Protect the social safety net, strengthen Social Security and improved Medicare for all
• End corporate welfare for oil companies and other big business interests
• Transition to a clean energy economy, reverse environmental degradation
• Protect worker rights including collective bargaining, create jobs and raise wages
• Get money out of politics

Obey Occupy Posters for Print - - Support the Movement
I have this exponentially growing love for poster art and am working on designing some of my own, so this was a must share after finding it. Print and stick 'em up or go make a statement downtown.

This is a grassroots movement that is based mostly in social network sharing, so if you support any aspect of the movement at all please please share this via all of your social networking sites. Tell all of your friends, urge them to go home and do some research. It's as simple as turning on your computer, opening some form of the internet, and typing "occupy movement" or "#occupy" or "occupy wall street" or "occupy enter city name here." There are hundreds of occupied cities in the U.S. that are looking for more to join them. If you cannot join support them by sharing the message and educating all you know. These groups are also taking donations of any supplies you may be able to provide (especially with the cold weather nearing/beginning in many areas). Support democracy. Help us to end the over involvement of corporations in our government.

Lack of Awareness

Today, as I sat in my Graphic Design class, I asked a few of my peers if they were aware of the protests in New York that are currently taking place. All of them said no. What the hell?? The only thing that was said was, "Damn hippies." Really people? I have one thing to say to people with this mindset: wake up. 


Surprisingly enough these unaware individuals also had no clue as to why hundreds are occupying the streets of New York. They are protesting the conduct of our own government and its abuse of the economy (that's my own interpretation of why in short). This is key to our society. Protests and public unrest is how we the people can voice our disgusts in a time where those in charge refuse to listen.

The saddest part is that hundreds, even thousands, are out there on the streets (not just in New York) trying to compel the public to demand changes, but their work may yield no positive results because of the millions who sit at home watching that Glee garbage unaware and content with their own little world.

Wake up before your little world collapses and you have no choice but to face reality.

Consumed by Everything

My head is swimming with an infinite number of thoughts each in a different realm of level of importance. Why???  It hurts. I can literally feel every little s-o-b hit the back of my eyeballs whilst bouncing around in there. 

Wearing the PDA (scanner) holster around my waist, scanner at my hip and walking at an obviously important fast pace makes me feel like a bad ass.

After politely asking if a fellow student and I could take pictures of textures in Wal-Mart what I assume was a manager informed us that they've been in legal troubles because of photos of their practices being taken. Wait. What? You're worried I'm going to snap shots of you abusing your employees/product/customers when all I really want is a close up of your taters? High five on confirming why I despise that establishment to be true manager guy. Wal-Mart is evil.

Anyone interested in trading Ramen noodles for maid services? (aka cleaning my room)

Sketchbook

This past Labor Day weekend a couple friends and I made an excursion to Denver, CO. We went shopping, saw some local sights, and went to the Denver Art Museum. Now, when I started my art classes here at Casper, I was told by nearly every instructor "Take your sketchbook everywhere with you. An artist always has their sketchbook with them."

Welp, I was a dunce and I forgot to take it anywhere with me. Yes, I even forgot to take it into the ridiculously vast Denver Art Museum. I'm still frustrated about it. Maybe I'll begin to learn my lesson. Maybe not. We did go trekking through the alleyways of downtown Casper last night and....I didn't have my sketchbook. It doesn't fit in my pocket, though, and I do not carry a purse. I might have to find a smaller sketchbook...

(Mis)interpreted

As of late I have been pushing myself to utilize self control more. Purchasing "needs" only and leaving those "wants" on the shelf, pushing myself to finish assignments and leave the xbox off, eating out less, and getting to bed at a reasonable time are ways that I've been implementing this control of my often irresponsible self. I'm working on this to better myself for myself. It has nothing to do with my outward appearance or what others think of me, it's just to help keep me from going crazy when life gets stressful.

In one particular situation, however, I found myself utilizing this self control in an attempt to avoid emotional conflict (or whatever the hell you wanna call it). This self control was (mis)interpreted as inexperience because my actions were hesitant and calculated. I'm borderline insulted by this to be completely honest. It's disgusting that our own social norms contain negative expectations of how people (men and women alike) should behave in a situation. 

For instance, a woman utilizes self control whilst in the company of a man she doesn't know very well. This man views it as inexperience. He has become programmed to interpret this situation in such a manner due to the "loose" expectations he has for women. (This is a general example, stop making assumptions about my personal life weirdo.) Now, I understand that there is no one to blame for this other than women themselves and in order to avoid a lengthy, possibly never-ending rant, I'm not even gonna go there. This conflict has just been bouncing around in my nogin and in attempt to help it rest, I'm sharing it with all of you.

Shuffle

I, as many other members of the general population, am often plugged into my music via my headphones. More and more I see people of all ages with earbuds or headphones stuck in or on their nogin. Studying, exercising, zoning out, and driving (this is dangerous and illegal folks) are a few things I see members of the public doing whilst their ears are plugged in.

Now when I'm jammin' (cuz that's what I do when my headphones are in) I believe there is no other way to do so than with the playlist on shuffle. I've yelled at friends for disrupting my shuffle with their unknowledgeable, selective-ness.

Last night I put the good ole' 'pod on shuffle and did something a little different for this post. (I also found a brand new reason to love shuffle.)

With clay on my headphones
I listen to Tropicana beats
attempting to cypher
the previous eve's delusions.
Sitting up
scrawling on a notepad;
the beginning lessons of Insomnia 411
are proving to be taxing.
Life is a lot like The Ocean
in the way that it often crashes about, 
jolting calm into confusion.
As Soon As I Wake Up,
be it literally or figuratively,
will I only face greater obstacles?
Frustration is What I Got.
It's noticeable in the scribbles
clawing through something 
simple as My Notes.

To explain a bit, there are six song titles in this little ditty. I am rather proud of this accomplishment. Especially since it encompasses the days that have recently passed quite well. (Mental high five for Tessa.) If you can tell me the artists of ALL the songs hidden in this (it's easy to pick the titles out...they're capitalized) then I'll buy ya a cookie next time I see ya.