No, not The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. This is the Sisterhood of the World Bloggers, and I was nominated by Amanda at byamandaleigh. First I’ll list the rules, and then I’ll follow through with what I was asked to do…
1) All recipients need to thank the giver
2) Post 7 things about yourself
3) Pass the award on to 7 other bloggers of their choice and let them know that they have been nominated.
4) Include the logo of the award in a post or on your blog
“Those who criticize our generation forget who raised it.”
For some reason, many adults like to believe that teenagers spend their days drinking, smoking weed, cussing, flipping their elders off, having sex, and playing video games. These same adults have come to the conclusion that my generation is useless, lazy, and will amount to nothing. Truth is, I’m nothing like that. I’ve never in my life done drugs or even had a sip of alcohol. I don’t cuss (okay, I might let out a minor bad word here and there whenever I stub my toe or fall on my face, but who hasn’t done that?) and I definitely don’t flip people off. I respect my elders as long as they respect me, and usually even when they don’t. I’m a virgin, and I don’t spend all my time chasing after boys. I don’t play video games, and I don’t sit on my butt all day, every day.
Guess what? I’m not the only good kid out there. I know dozens upon dozens of kids who are like me. Sure, I know a handful that do all of the things I listed above, but how is it that such a small number of people created a terrible stereotype that so many people jump on? It’s like people want to find a reason to judge others. Are people really so desperate to find the bad in people that they’ll look to pathetic stereotypes as justification? I think that’s completely and utterly pathetic.
I’m not saying that I’m not perfect, and I’m not going to lie and tell you that I’ve never judged someone. When I’m out for a run and a guy drives by, I instantly flip out and assume that he will a) rape me, b) murder me, and/or c) kidnap me. I know that the chances of every male who drives by being a murderer/kidnapper/rapist are slim to none. But still, I get a sick feeling in my stomach and turn back towards home. That’s a prime example of judgement right there. Why don’t I worry about women the same way? Why do I assume that every guy is a criminal who is targeting me? Who knows. Maybe I’ve watched too many crime shows. Whatever the case, my point is that I, too, have judged others.
But at least I don’t give those guys disapproving, judgmental looks like the ones I receive almost daily for holding my baby sister in public. Apparently the fact that I’m sixteen and holding a baby means she’s my child, not my sister. And apparently holding a toddler means I’m a horrible, nasty person, as well. Or at least that’s what I take away from those glares I get. I just want to slap the dirty look off their face and curtly inform them that I’m holding my baby sister. Emphasis on the ‘sister’ part. In other words, no, I don’t spend my time in the bed of some boy’s truck. No, I didn’t hold a kid in my stomach for nine months. No, my life is not going to go to waste. Because the baby I’m holding is my sister, not my child.
If I didn’t love her so much, I’d probably not hold her outside of the house.
My rant is coming to a close, but I’ve just got a couple more things to bring up before I hit ‘publish’ and go eat breakfast.
1) Not all teenagers do bad things. In fact, a majority make good decisions and avoid bad things. And even if they’ve tried something in the past, it doesn’t mean they’re doing it again.
2) Being a teenager doesn’t mean that a person has no goals or plans for their life. I’ve personally been looking at colleges for several years now and arranging my schedule in a way that will help me later on in life. SPOILER ALERT!: I’m not the only one. A good amount of people I personally know and know of have been planning realistically (and sometimes unrealistically too, but it never hurts to have big dreams) for years.
3) We’re not going to completely screw over the world. Actually, I think my generation has the potential to fix a lot of things that have gone wrong. Do a google search sometime for young entrepreneurs. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised.
4) Have a little faith. I’m a thousand and three percent positive that there isn’t a single perfect person on this earth. We’ve always believed in the capability of you adults, so how about we turn things around and for once, you believe in us.
5) I’m well aware that not every adult feels this way. I’m not saying they do. That would be judgemental, after all. 😉 But I’ve seen dirty looks cast my way on multiple occasions simply because I’m young. This is written as a rant, full of my opinions, not in any way to single somebody out.
Well, my stomach is growling. This whole rant is probably crap, but at least I got a good amount of what I wanted to say typed out. Agree with me, disagree with me, do what you please. For now, I’m going to go stuff my face and then head to work. Bye!
I have a sister that’s a year younger than me, and she’s seriously the funniest person I think I’ve ever met. She’s just so quick witted! In the matter of a second, she can come up with about six hilarious lines about one not-so-funny thing. And it never gets old! The girl could go on for hours about the same thing and have me cracking up the entire time.
The other day I was thinking about this, about how jealous I am that I’m the opposite of funny. It’s just unfair.
I mean, sure, I have better social skills than my sister. She thinks it’s perfectly acceptable to blurt out every single thought to anyone and everyone, no matter how offensive or embarrassing it may be. She thinks it’s okay to offer to smell someone’s armpits or feet for no reason. She thinks it’s okay to hold our baby sister in public, all the while mentioning in a loud voice that the child is hers. And so on. Me, I hold back to keep from offending people who are bigger than me and those who have the potential to cause me physical harm. I usually keep my nose and other body parts to myself. And I try not to earn judgmental glares from people who think my baby sister is my child. But whatever.
I also keep better grades than my sister, who recently has decided that school is worthless and will get you nowhere in life. Do smarts outweigh being funny? I doubt it.
Now don’t get me wrong, I’ve actually told a few jokes that got people laughing. The irony of those situations is that when I tell those funny jokes, I’m only repeating the jokes my sister has told me. Whenever I try to make up my own, I get blank stares and disappointed shakes of the head. People usually walk away, too.
I sometimes say something a little ditzy that gets some laughs, too. And since I’m a total klutz, I have a tendency to walk into walls and doors and poles and trip over my own feet. People laugh at klutz-happenings, also. But tripping and blurting out something dumb doesn’t make me funny. It just makes me look like an idiot.
So I guess what I’m getting at is that I’ve decided there’s nothing I can do about my lack of funny. I’ve accepted it and I’m moving on. Kind of. I still steal my sister’s jokes and repeat them to others, just so that they think I’m funny. Maybe one day I’ll gain some ability to tell jokes improv-style, but I doubt it. For now, I’ll stick to repeating jokes, tripping over my own feet, and asking why I can’t pull the push door open.
Later, taters!
Hey, guys. Guess who’s back? This girl! I finally have a little extra time to post and check out your blogs, since my seriously hectic week is over. I’ve also caught up on sleep a little bit, so hopefully I won’t sound quite so crazy in this post.
So to start, I should probably inform you that I’ve recently gotten a job, and so I’ve started earning some moolah of my own. I went a couple weeks ago and got a checking account, and a few days ago I finally got my debit card. I’m younger than practically everyone who reads my blog, and I’m sure you’ve all had your checking accounts and debit cards for ages, but since it’s all new to me, the novelty still hasn’t worn off. I try to play it cool around my sisters, but every time I open my wallet and see that shiny green card, I do a little happy dance.
I just feel powerful now, you know? Like I can do anything just because I’ve got a debit card that says my name on it. Anyway, yesterday, I was absolutely dying to try my new card out, so I went on amazon to search for some books.
Note: You should know that I’m an avid reader. I read basically every chance I get. I read more often than I write, which is definitely saying something. I’m a quick reader, too. I’m the kind of person who reads a thick book in a quarter of the time it takes the average person to read it, and then I wander around for the next couple days in a daze, still taking in everything that happened. Sometimes I throw my book across the room when I get angry. Sometimes I yell at the characters, like they can hear me or something. Occasionally I think about writing an angry email to the author, explaining how upset I am that they’ve ended their incredible book with a cliffhanger when the sequel hasn’t been released yet. I’m a little eccentric at times, I suppose. Anywho, do you get the point that I love books way more than any normal person should?
Back to the story. There I was sitting on amazon, adding book after book to my shopping list. (Did you know that there are like a bajillion books available for a penny + shipping costs?) As I was reading the book descriptions and deciding which books to blow my hard earned money on, I realized something. My heart was racing and I felt like I was flying. You know that feeling that surges through you when you get off a gigantic roller coaster? That crazy adrenaline rush that makes you feel totally invincible? That’s exactly how I was feeling while I bought several new books to add to my collection.
I have a feeling I’ll be buying a lot more books from now on because amazon is just so convenient.
I love books.
That is all.
Just kidding! That title is complete sarcasm. Let me start off by saying that I did not have a good day. At all. The only positives are that I had subway and my sunburn has turned into a nice tan. A farmer’s tan, but still a tan. At least that leaves me looking a little less like a vampire and a little more like a normal human being, right? Right.
Back to the negative stuff. Any of you guys ever dealt with someone making obligations and then not fulfilling them, so you had to step in and do their work for them? That’s my day in a nutshell, but it didn’t just happen once. No, it happened several times, and mainly by the same person. I have a really good work ethic. I can be lazy about starting something, but once I get into it, I work hard and the result is great. That being said, I kind of expect everyone else to be the same way.
Unfortunately, there seems to be a very small percentage of hard workers near me. That’s probably the most frustrating thing about my situation. I worked hard today (and I’ll continue to do so the rest of the week), but I had a little fun. It’s just that I was doing all the work while everyone else sat around and socialized instead of just finishing things up so they could go home. Grr. That’s my biggest pet peeve.
Whew! Anyway, now that I’ve let out an itty bitty rant for ya, I’ll get to what I wanted to end this post with: unfortunately, since this entire week is mondo-super-extremely-exceedingly-excessively-immensely busy for me, I probably won’t do much posting until Sunday. Maybe even Monday, since by the end of the week I’ll be so exhausted and frustrated that anything I post won’t be worth reading.
And so, I have a challenge for anyone who reads this and anything else I post! Using the contact form on my page or via comments below, give me ideas for future blog posts. It can be whatever, and I’ll try my hardest to write on it. Give me topics, ideas, questions about me or something else… whatever! I’ve got a page of ideas to write from already, but those are getting a bit boring, and I’d rather write off of a suggestion.
Anywho, I’ve gotta be up nice and early for yet another stressful day!
This kid might look adorable, but in reality, it’s plotting your death.
Some people my age coo over little babies and small children, gushing over how much they want a kid of their own. Me? I avoid kids like the plague. I never want to have any. Here’s why: Continue reading
Yesterday was Independence Day, as anyone in the United States and probably outside of the US knows, I spent the entire day outside.
For those of you who are unaware (this should include just about anyone who reads my blog) I have very pale skin. Very pale skin. If I hold up a piece of printer paper to my stomach, they blend together. Alright, that was a complete exaggeration. But you get the point, yes?
Back to my first sentence. I spent the entire day outside. And, naturally, I forgot to apply sunblock. Usually I’m obsessive with sunblock, but yesterday, I was in one of those “ah, screw it!” moods that teenagers tend to always be in, and I left the sunblock in the car while I ran around in a short pair of shorts and a tee shirt that left my arms almost entirely exposed.
Unfortunately, yesterday was not an ideal day to be in an “ah, screw it!” mood, as the UV index was classified as “very high,” a fact I did not learn until after I was transformed into a lobster. Continue reading
“Waiting for the fish to bite or waiting for the wind to fly a kite. Or waiting around for Friday night or waiting perhaps for their Uncle Jake or a pot to boil or a better break or a string of pearls or a pair of pants or a wig with curls or another chance. Everyone is just waiting.” -Dr. Seuss
Bad news, dear followers: I’ll be gone for a week, starting tomorrow. And when I return on Saturday, I’m going to be completely and utterly exhausted, and for that reason, I’ll probably hibernate for as long as my mom allows. But, fear not! I’m going to leave you with one last post (or maybe more, depending on whether or not I can sleep tonight) to enjoy. While I’m gone, I’ll be doing plenty of brainstorming for new posts. Actually, that’s a bit pointless, considering I’ve got two notebook pages full of ideas that need written. But I’m getting off topic here.
Tonight, I’m going to be revealing the reasons that I both love and hate packing. It’s been one of my projects for the last week (and I’m still not done–surprise, surprise!) and so I’ve got a bit to say. Since I want to leave this post on a positive note, I’ll begin with my negative opinions and end with the more positive ones. Here goes… Continue reading
I lied before, when I said I was going to bed. Who was I kidding? I thought I would go to bed, but then I decided to open up Pixlr, and all my plans went downhill from there. Anyway, the reason I’m posting is to show you guys something I made. It doesn’t match the blog, and it’s not well done, but I thought it looked kind of cool. Especially considering I only spent a few minutes on it. Anywho, here it is:
Author Ashley 