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This is a personal Challenge to write 500 words a day. Join me on my Journey. |
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The Challenge: Write 500 words every day for a year.
Can I do it? Join me and find out! |
 ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** Prompt: Have you ever had a red carpet moment? Not like an actor but a Wedding, Prom or something that made you feel important or special? I would love to hear about it. Getting married was a red carpet moment, I suppose. We got married in Las Vegas, but it wasn't one of those thrown together things. It was planned in advance, we had a beautiful wedding, and the whole thing was videoed live so family members who couldn't make it to Vegas could still watch. One of the cool things was that the makeup crew came to our hotel rooms and did the makeup there. That felt like star treatment to me. My husband almost didn't make it. He and the male group got lost trying to find the place and I almost had a heart attack when he was fifteen minutes late. One of the funny moments was that he almost passed out. I could see him starting to get wabbly kneed, and gave his hands a hard squeeze to bring him back. The second red carpet event was quite wet. In high school, I was tricked into being a part of the synchronized swim team. I know that's hard to believe, but it's true. When signing up for classes I had to have a PE credit. I'm horrible at sports so when I saw water aerobics, I thought that would work well. I signed up, and the first quarter was exactly what the class claimed to be. The second quarter was the bait and switch. Suddenly, we were the swim team. There was nothing about that when signing up for the class, and I was kind of pissed about it. So, my second red carpet moment was me strutting out in a swimsuit, and trying not to drown in front of the whole school as we put on performances of our routines. Craziness.  ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** July 23 Prompt - What huge gathering you had reluctantly attended? How were you motivated to attend? Did you enjoy it? How was it? In high school, I had a religious friend. She convinced me to go with her to her church lock in one weekend. My family's never been religious, so I wasn't religious in school. However, Ashley was a good friend at the time, and she managed to talk me into going. For those of you who've never heard of this, (I didn't have a clue what she was talking about when she asked me to go) a lock in is where all the youth of the church go to the church and are locked in for the night. They stay up all night and play games, talk, eat snacks, that sort of thing. So I agreed to go because she wasn't one to take no for an answer. I thought it was going to be a bad situation. After all, I was a non-believer surrounded by those who believed. It was logical to think that I'd suffer a whole night of people trying to save my soul. In the end, I was pleasantly surprised. No one cornered me to preach at me, or tried to make me into a believer. Instead, we had a lot of fun. There were a couple of awkward moments. At one point, we all stood in a circle and were asked how often we'd read the bible. I had to admit that I've never read it before. Still, I wasn't laughed at or scorned for that. They moved on, and the games continued. Over all, it was a pretty fun night, and I'm glad I went. Word Count: 543 |
| ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** Why are athletes on drugs worse than writers on drugs? Athletes that use performance enhancing drugs are condemned while artists who do the same thing are not. Why is that? Does this double standard make sense? I think one of the major reasons athletes are targeted for drug use is because they are competing in public against other people. It might be different if there were international author trials where writers had to go and write against each other for the amusement of the masses. Writers don't have that though, even if there are charts like the New York Best Sellers list. The problem is that writers can succeed without depending on anyone else, or beating anyone specific. If I write a great book, that doesn't mean Megan's book has to fail so mine can succeed. Does that make sense? In a foot race, only the winner wins. Everyone else lost the race. If the winner used drugs to win, all of those people will be furious that they lost. They'll feel cheated. If a writer succeeds and uses drugs, it isn't as big of a deal because no one else lost out due to the one writer’s success. That, and most writers know that using drugs often leads to far more problems than success. Another factor is the type of drugs used. If I started using coke tomorrow, it might make me a better writer. But probably not. If an athlete uses performance enhancing drugs he might suffer a whole host of side effects, but he will have his performance enhanced as well. There's a lot of differences, but I think those are the major ones that make athletes targets, and not writers. ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** Prompt: Family History - Rip out a page from yours and share some a story or two. A lot of people come from broken families. Today, a child having both original parents throughout their whole childhood and into adulthood is becoming rare instead of the norm. My situation is...odd. I come from one of those rare families where my parents are still together and I'm 29. However, my brothers come from broken families. Alex is my mother's son from her first marriage. Joe is my father's son from his first marriage. After they split up, my parents got together and had me. I'm related to both of my brothers, but they aren't related to each other. I think that stability and lack of stability had an impact on all three of us. Alex has two sons, but he's no longer with the mother. Joe kind of went nuts and decided it's his role in life to repopulate the world with children. He's got at least 5 children with three different mothers. I think he's finally managed to settle down. Right now he's married, and he has two of his children with her. She has one son from someone else. The other kids live with their mothers. His oldest is fourteen or fifteen now, and the youngest was just born. For me, I'm with my husband. He's the only man I've ever been with and we were high school and we have one son. Shane is the only child for both of us and this is the only marriage we've had. I don't know if the fact that my parents stayed together played a part in how my life is now, and how my brothers lives are, but I do think it's interesting how we all turned out. Word Count: 528 |
| ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** Prompt: Pick a headline from your local newspaper or favorite on-line news source and share your feelings about it. Be sure to include the headline somewhere in your blog. Here's a story that resonated with me: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/22/us/johns-hopkins-settlement-190-million.html?_... Last week, I had this same exam done. It makes me glad that I chose a female doctor to get it done. It might sound bias, but I doubt a woman would ever do something like this to other women. Crimes like this are usually committed by men. Reading over the story, I was bothered most by how long he was able to get away with videotaping women during their exams. He was a doctor for 25 years, started taking his dirty videos in 05, and recorded at least 7,000 women and possibly more. It boggles the mind. How could a doctor ever betray the trust of their patients like that? I feel terrible for the women. Some of them were so betrayed by this that they refuse to go to any doctor, and don't even take their children. This is going to lead to serious health problems, but the mental trauma makes potential health risks secondary. Worse, the man killed himself instead of face up to his crimes. That will make it even harder for the women to move on. There will never be a sense of closure. The only good thing seems to be that he kept the videos to himself. They weren't able to find evidence that the videos were shared or uploaded. It is a small silver lining, but at least the woman don't have the knowledge that other men are looking at them hanging over them as well. ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** I think it is Monday Music Storytellers Day. I feel this particular song is one of the best examples of a modern storytelling song. It is based on a true story. The Wreck of Edmund Fitzgerald by Gordon Lightfoot. [Embed For Use By Upgraded+] The prompt is find another example of a modern storytelling song you think is better and convince me you are right. Please include the link so I can hear it while I read your blog. This prompt turned out to be a lot harder than I thought it would be. A lot of the songs I thought about using turned out to be more fiction than fact. Some had even been made of whole cloth. I guess it is a sing of a great song that makes me believe completely that it's based on a true story. After searching around for a while, I found one that works. [Embed For Use By Upgraded+] The true story part of this song is in the first set of lyrics. They talk about a school shooting and it's based on the Columbine Shootings. That tragedy added a new layer of danger and outlet for rage to the turbulent years of teen and early adulthood. As much as we'd love to turn the hands of the clock back and remove that knowledge from the world, we can't. We've seen a number of copy cats over the years, showing how this single moment in time changed life for all of us. Youth of the Nation is the perfect title. As the song continues, it explores further trials and dangers today's youth are forced to face. It explores teen sex, and suicide. The last half of the song is beautiful in its philosophy. Though the song dwells in the darker aspects of growing up, I think that it does represent the pain and loss the youth of today are forced to endure. I think this is a better song because it is full of the painful passions of youth. While listening, you are drawn back into the life of high school, remembering the past and the way everything from those years seems so big, so vital, and end of the world important. It's so hard to have perspective in that world, and realize that in a few years, all that foolishness will mean nothing in the bigger picture of your life. One of the saddest truths is that so many teens never make it out of those years. They are destroyed by those turbulent years and even if they don't take their life, they still end up ruined inside, never able to move out of those years and into adulthood. Word Count: 542 |
| ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** 1. What one blog from your peers really caught your attention this past week. Why? Tell us about it. First, I agree with Charlie ~   . It's hard to choose just one post for the week. Each person did well on different prompts. This week, I thought Prosperous Snow celebrating  's post "Creation Saturday: The A B Cs of Snow"  was a great read. In this poem, we got a clear view of who she is, and a window into her day to day life. We even learned a great new way to drink coffee. What I liked best was how she didn't only show us the shiny outside of her world, all dressed up and smiling. Instead, she gave us more. We saw how stress impacts her life, and how she copes with it, and learn the depth of her faith. Thank you for sharing yourself with us Charlie ~ .2. Plus, I would like you to choose one of your own blog entries this week and tell us why it totally rocks! This is your chance to blow your own horn. "Invalid Entry" was my favorite this week. I thought the poem turned out all right, and I was pleasantly challenged by writing the story. While writing it, I wanted to get the alphabet in order, so that added another layer of difficulty. During the writing process, I learned the unique challenge of singing the alphabet and writing a story at the same time. Once I was done, I had to go back twice to make sure I caught all the letters. X was an evil little letter. I have no idea if the copy machine at work was of the xerox variety or not...actually, I'm not really sure what xerox means. It has something to do with copying, I know, but I don't know if it refers to a specific brand, or if making copies in general are called xeroxing or what. V was also a tricky one. The go to word was very, but I've been trying to nix that word from my vocabulary so I refused to use it, and poor little Y was almost forgotten all together. I liked this prompt because I had to think it over and explore it, instead of writing whatever came to mind. Sometimes I think I don't give the prompts as much time or thought as they deserve. I need to work on that. 3. Finally, I would like to know which prompt you found the most challenging to respond to in your blog in the past week? The most challenging prompt for me was the animal testing one. This was hard for me because I knew my answer would go against the grain of most replies, and I was surprised by how strongly I felt when others denounced all animal testing. Here's a link I shared in a few comments: http://www.livescience.com/32860-why-do-medical-researchers-use-mice.html When it comes to animal testing, I'm in full agreement that they shouldn't be used to test frivolous things. But the truth is, white mice are heroes. They truly are. These tiny creatures play a vital role in developing both treatments and cures for diseases and genetic disorders. I know that people don't believe mice can be of much use because they're so different from people, but the link shows how we're able to use mice in our effort to cure people of horrible disorders. My father has MS, and I've had to watch him deteriorate over the last decade of my life. It's a merciless disease, and perhaps one of the cruelest things about it is that it doesn't kill you. Instead it eats you up, body and mind. Like Alzheimer's, it hollows you out but leaves you alive. Even worse, it destroys your body too. The disease is a terrible one, but I my dad is on a number of medications, including a few that are still experimental. They can't stop the disease,but they are able to slow it down. He can still walk, though not well. His mind is damaged, but he still knows us and is still able to function. I know these treatments wouldn't have been developed without the aid of those mice and other creatures. Yes, animals are innocent, but so are children with incurable diseases. So are young mothers with breast cancer. So is my father. I'm sorry that the mice have to suffer for us to find treatments and cures, but I honor their sacrifice and accept it in the hope that someday no one will have to sit by and watch the people they love suffer and die. Word Count: 682 |
| ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** Prompt: The English Alphabet has 26 letters...therefore using all 26 letters write a poem that describes you. If you would rather write a short story, describing yourself to us then highlight each word which begins with that letter. Changing eyes of green and blue, Skin pale from lack of sun, Holed up in the basement, Quietly zoned out on work. Yet, on I work for writing, Dreaming, dazed, and distant. Body round, From lack of exercise, But not too plump to please. Not too short, nor too tall. Long puffs of veiling hair, Curly, crossed between, Blond, brown, and red. Meh, it's just a mess. But such is life. Reading over the directions, I'm not sure I did this right. Perhaps I needed to have each line begin with a letter of the alphabet? Well, I'm not all that great at poetry any way and I'm not feeling up to giving it another go. *Sigh* I still have words I need to write, so I suppose I'll give it a shot with prose. All at once, I leap from my bed. Curse it all! I forgot to reset the alarm! Dashing out of bed, I slip into the bathroom. Eyes that can't decide if they're blue or green flash with grim exasperation at myself. How could I forget? Just a mistake, it happens to the best of us. But not often to me. Grabbing my brush, I kept from scolding myself as I brush out the crazy mix of brown, blond, and red hair. It's long, and curly. If I'm not careful it will turn into nothing more than poodle fluff. Now that I've finished with my hair, I dress. An old t-shirt and shorts do the trick. I love working at home, no more playing dress up. Straightening out the quilt on my bed, I leave the bedroom and head down stairs. Running down the stairs, I get to work. Hours pass, and I work until it's time for break. Then I glance over at the tiny trampoline with vague dislike. Well, there's nothing for it. I'm overweight, and know I need more exercise. My mind wanders back to the days of xerox copies, and wistfully wanders back to my once cozy cubicle, where no trampoline waited for my attention. I bounce around for five minutes or so in a pool of yellow sunlight before losing my zest for exercise and return to my work. ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** Prompt: How do you feel about genetically modified food? Should companies be made to label their food if it contains genetically modified ingredients? I'm of two minds about this. It would be great if we could create food that doesn't require as much space or resources, but there's also a risk in it. There's a fictional book series by Kim Harrison called the Hollows series. It deals with the idea of genetically altered food. In it, there was a brand of tomatoes that was altered, but something went wrong. Because of the alterations, there was a gap in the genetic information. This gap was the perfect home for a virus that spread to humanity and wiped out a good portion of them. From there, all the things living in the shadows rose up and took over the world. Vampires, werewolves, witches, all of it. It was a great twist on the fantasy realm, and one that lead to a lot of fun complications. Because genetic engineering killed off a huge portion of the population, science became outlawed. Scientists were killed, and all tomatoes banned. A lot of the old diseases we cured came back, but the people accepted that because the fear of genetics was too great to ignore. I'm not saying this will happen, but the risk exists. Humans are brilliant at tinkering, and equally brilliant at botching it up. Word Count: 639 |
| ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** Prompt: Do you think stress undermines empathetic abilities? Is it different for men than women? "The soil of a man's heart is stonier; a man grows what he can and tends it." - Stephen King, Pet Sematary. This isn't true for all men, true, but I felt this quote was apt for the prompt. Empathy can be hurt by stress. When we become wrapped up in our own affairs, it's difficult to remember that others are around us and might be having trouble of their own. It is harder to share ourselves when we feel too stretched out. It might be better for us to focus on others while having our own difficulties so that we don't get too lost in trouble, but it's very hard to do. I don't speak for all men, but I think that empathy is more a female trait than male. The addition of stress will further impact that balance. The only thing I have to base this opinion on are things like movies and books. I feel deeply for the characters, and often cry. My husband teases me for it, and I've never seen him cry at a movie. Actually, in the 10 years I've been with him, Paul's only cried a handful of times. I don't know if this is true for most men, but it seems to be the trend. Stress might draw men deeper into their shell, but I think it is the reverse for women. More often than not, we show our emotions, and that draws others into it, sharing our struggles, and inspiring empathy in our friends. July 18, 2014 Prompt: What completely silly fad have you fallen victim to? Most of the silly fads I fell for were when I was in grade school. During that time, It was the end of the eighties and beginning of the nineties, so I caught the tell end of the oddness. Back then, in my little part of the world, crimping hair was the height of fashion. On top of that, was the poofy bangs. Not a little fluff, mind you, but a giant ball of crazily teased hair. I cringe now to think how silly I looked. Another thing that was popular back then was layering socks. You'd badger your parents into buying you multi-packs of bright colored socks. Then, layer by layer, usually three or so, you'd fold them down so you'd have three layers of different colors. To make this fad work, you'd have to by shoes a size or two too big and you'd suffer sweaty feet throughout the day. Oh, there was an awful fad going on in my high school. They tried to get me to join, but I refused. For about two years, it was popular for girls to pluck every hair of their eyebrows out and draw them on. I've heard that doing this too often can lead to eyebrow baldness, and can't help but wonder how many former popular girls are now forced to draw their eyebrows daily. ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** Funny Friday: IF HISTORY repeats itself, I am so getting a dinosaur! What are you getting? Be humorous, show me your comical side! If history were to repeat itself, I'd find me a prince, get a grand castle, and my own dark knight to guard the moat! Then I'd become board with the life of a spoiled Queen, take a fleet-footed stallion, and go on a walkabout. It probably wouldn't turn out well, but I'd have a grand time while doing it. Word Count: 534 |
| ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** Opinion Thursday - Do women talk more than men? There is a new science study on this topic, what do you think? Don't be shy, say it like it is. In general, I'm willing to agree that women talk more than men. This is often the truth, and I've had to deal with an exasperating number of chatty women who never seem to stop talking. While this might be the truth in many cases, it isn't always true. For me, it's not. I almost never speak, loath talking on the phone, and have zero interest in gossip. There are days where I can go a whole day without saying more than 100 words. It might be true that as a whole, women talk more than men, but there are exceptions to every rule. I'm the strong silent type, and I've known men that could out gab the chattiest of women. I've heard that women think more than men. This might be true in my case. Every moment of the day, I have an inner monologue going on. It never stops, and if I said all the stuff I think out loud, it would be a never-ending stream of words. How do your thoughts flow? Is there a different between the male/female thought patterns and processes? That would be an interesting study to explore. ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** I'm not sure what's going on with all the Blog City prompts lately. The first day, we were told the double prompt was in error. So the second time we got two prompts, I assumed it was an error again and only answered one. Later I found I out the reason we shouldn't assume and made an ass of you and me. So, today there are three prompts, and I'm going to answer them all even though I'm not sure why the number of prompts keep going up. Prompt 1: Which old fashioned monster do you find the most frightning? Frankenstein, Count Dracula, the Mummy or the Wolfman? I'd have to go with Wolfman. Dracula often had that morbid air of dark romance so even if he did bite you, it's usually not horrible. Frankenstein and the Mummy suffer the same problem. They're slow, clunky, and seem like they'd be easy enough to get away from. The Wolfman is different. He's an animal, mad with bloodlust, and fast. There'd be no outrunning the Wolfman. On top of that, when he does catch you, he's going to eat you alive. That would be an awful way to go. Give me Dracula's bloody kiss any day as opposed to the tearing fangs and claws of the Wolfman. Prompt 2: Which fictional character would you like to be for one day? I would love to be Anita Blake. Laurell K Hamilton series. She's one of my favorite characters and lives an exceptionally complicated life. Things are often hard for her, but she's powerful enough to meet and defeat each threat in turn. I like how strong she is, and how she refuses to give up even with the odds are so far against her that it would be easier to simply die than continue. All the yummy men wouldn't hurt either. Her evolution was a fun one. Anita went from a near nun when it came to sex, to a succubus. A large part of the plot deals with her having to learn to except herself, and the things she has to do to live. It explores our preconceived notions of sexuality and how a woman who adhered to those unwritten laws all her live suddenly has to deal with all those rules being shattered to bits. There's nothing easy about this process, but it is realistic and satisfying. Prompt 3: What are some things you think will become obsolete within the next ten years? It can be sayings, trends, websites, fads, or anything else you can think of. I think that driving is going to become obsolete within the next ten years. Right now, they're working on cars that drive themselves, and the streets that are made out of solar panels. It won't be long before driving for yourself becomes a thing of the past. We'll key in our destination and settle back into a nap while we wait for the car to get us there. Word Count: 624 |
| ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** Prompt: If you were going to an art museum, would you rather see paintings or sculptures? Do you like older ones or modern ones? I'm not a big art fan. If invited, I'd go to an art museum, but it isn't something I'd go out of my way to do. Though, there are some exhibits that I do find enjoyable. My tastes run less towards art and sculpture and more towards nature/science exhibits. One of the ones I saw last year in Las Vegas was The Body Exhibit. This one isn't for the faint of heart, as real bodies are used. But, if you ever wanted to get an amazing look at the human body, from bones to skin and everything in between, then I'd suggest you check it out. The amount of knowledge in this one exhibit is astounding. When I was there, there was a class of medical students who had to fill out a number of worksheets based off of what they saw. One of the coolest parts was where they showed all the damage caused by smoking. They had a big clear box, and asked people to quit smoking and put their cigarettes into the box. It was over half full. I don't know how many of those people followed though, but I bet having a visual experience of what smoking did to your lungs might have helped them down the right path. I also love zoos and aquariums. If you're ever in Vegas, check out the Shark Reef in Mandalay Bay. It's not the biggest aquarium I've ever seen, but it does have a touch tank with little sharks and stingrays. That's always great. My favorite zoo is the Omaha Zoo. If you're ever in Nebraska and get a chance, go there! If you do, make sure you give yourself the whole day to explore. The place is huge. They've got the world's biggest dome desert, as well as an indoor rain forest/swamp and a beautiful aquarium. So I sort of strayed far afield of the prompt, but I like zoos much better than art museums. ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** Confucius say "To go beyond is as wrong as to fall to short." Do you agree or disagree? I agree with this. Think about that person you know who always tells you way too much information. Say you ask them how to create a folder in your e-mail, and then they spend the next three hours telling you how to use every feature in your inbox, as well as who first came up with the idea and the history of the internet. I'm sure we've all had to deal with someone like this at some point, and if you're like me, you just want to put your hand over their mouths and tell them to please just answer the question. One of the problems with going too far, is that you might forget what you were going for in the first place. Right now, I'm learning how to be a copywriter. The program I'm using has a whole host of other programs you can get. It would be very easy for me to lose the path, start buying program after program, and completely forget that I'm trying to start a business. If you go too far in your goals, you end up forgetting what the original am was in the first place. Workaholics fall into this trap all the time. Originally they wanted to make enough money to support their family and live a great life. Instead, once they find success, it's never enough. They keep chasing after more money and end up working themselves to death and never spending any time enjoying the money they've made. If we fall short of our goals, we can become depressed and not want to try again. If we overshoot our goals, we run the risk of losing ourselves in a maze of our own creation. Instead, we need to keep our eye on what we want to accomplish and not forget the true reason we set ourselves on the path to begin with. Word Count: 640 |
| Brave Baby Moment: Yesterday was Shane's last big round of shots for a while. The next round won't be until he's 12. This time, it was four big shots, two in each leg. Instead of screaming, or fighting, he took it all like a champ. He only almost started to cry once, but the nurse distracted him with questions and he was fine. I'm amazed. It used to take several adults to hold me down and still long enough to administer shots. I'm so proud of him! ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** Warchest Tuesday Tell us about a time you had to choose between two options. Against the opinion of your family and friends you chose the unpopular choice. Why? What were you hoping the choice would provide? When I got out of high school, I started taking college classes. About a year into it, my husband's sister needed help with her business. She cleaned buildings, and one of the girls that helped quit unexpectedly. I agreed to help, and started cleaning insurance buildings. While doing that, I learned that you didn't need any special training to get a job there. So, I decided to apply. When I got the job, I decided to stop taking college classes. My parents were paying for it at the time, and weren't happy with my choice. I liked my new job and thought that I would be able to make a living doing it. Looking back, I see now my parents were in the right. It would have been best if I'd finished college instead. I think we all have moments like that, where we can look back and see the big forks in the road and wish we'd taken the other path. Sadly I didn't. I'm still with the insurance company but my love for the job has died. I'm in that rather demoralizing place in my life where I want to get a new job, but staring positions anywhere else would require too big a pay cut. Right now, I'm trapped in a dead end job. That pretty much sucks. But, I'm taking steps to try and get out of it. We'll see how it goes. ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** Prompt: Let's go hardcore issue. Animal testing - yes, no, maybe. Let me hear your opinion. I'm torn on animal testing. When it comes to inconsequential things like make up or shampoo, stuff like that, I'm completely against it. In cases like this, I see no reason why companies can't pay people to test the products. Odds are pretty good that a new brand of lipstick isn't going to have deadly side effects. But, there is one are where animal testing is vital. That's in the medical industry. When new drugs or treatments are developed, they need to go through animal testing before human trials because of the high risk of adverse affects. That's not even the most important part. What's more important is the breeding of the animals. Rats and mice are specifically bred for animal testing so that they are as close to identical as possible. This is important because it reduces the number of variables the scientists need to take into account during the research process. An example would be if they were trying to test a drug without going through animal trials first, they would have to get a group of say 10 people. However, they will not know what the background from birth until now is. Even if they do interviews, the subject might lie or not know. This becomes a major factor when one of the test subjects has a negative reaction. With the mice, they know that each of the group have the same background, the same diet, habits, etc. With people, there's no way to know that. So, if subject A has a bad reaction it might be because of something completely unrelated to the tests, and the scientists would have a difficult time figuring out the cause. By using the specially bred mice and rats, scientists are able to remove most of the dangerous side effects before they begin human trials. Word Count: 628 |
| ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** Vacation or Staycation: which do you prefer and why? I prefer vacation to staycations. My favorite vacation destination is Las Vegas. We go every year, though we won't be able to go next year. My husband is a dart player and he's on the same team as his mom. Every year near the end of April, dart leagues around the country come together to play the Nationals. I've seen other countries there, so I don't know why it isn't the internationals. Anyway, we've been going every year for the last eight. In 2008, we even got married there. That was a hectic vacation. It also convinced me that if Paul ever dies, I'm not going to remarry. That's a hassle I don't ever want to go through again. Even a Vegas wedding was a pain in the rump. We didn't do a cheep drive through wedding, and it still involved family and friends. Thankfully, it wasn't a huge event, but it was still more planning and pain than I want to go through again. I have no idea how most women plan these huge weddings. *Shudders* I hate weddings, mine and everyone else's. With all the griping about gay marriage, and all the silliness of the whole thing when most end in divorce, I think we should nix marriage all together. In the book Stranger in a Strange Land they didn't have marriage any more. Instead, they had different contracts. You could get a 30 day co-habitation contract, and a bunch of other things. It didn't go into it in detail, but I remembered that, and think we should look into something like that. It would make a lot more sense than the cycle of marriage and divorce. ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** Prompt: Do you think suicide should be legal? Yes. I also think assisted suicide should be offered in every state. Why do we make death such a painful and degrading ordeal for ourselves? If you are diagnosed with an incurable cancer that will eat you alive, you should be allowed to have a dignified and painless death. I don't understand why people are so against this. There is potential for abuse, but if you make it the same as a non-resuscitation order, I don't think there would be a problem. Right now, we can chose not to be brought back to life if we are in a situation where we might die, why can't we choose to die if we're dying anyway? To me, this is a personal choice, and one that people should be permitted to make on their own without the government getting involved. I don't think other people should be allowed to make the decision for you. So if you're not in your right mind, or unable to decide, then you shouldn't be killed because the government or your family don't want to take care of you. But, I think people should be able to stipulate in their will if they reach a certain point that their lives should be ended. A great example would be people suffering for advanced Alzheimer's disease. If, prior to getting sick, they have in their will that when they no longer remember anything of their lives they should be euthanized, then we should respect that. Word Count: 525 |
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