Dear Mr. Global Warming himself,

Al Gore, come on. Washington D.C., South and North Carolina, Texas, Delaware and Arkansas all got a TON of snow a couple of weeks ago. GLOBAL WARMING DOES NOT EXIST!

I mean, don’t even regard the fact that the ice in the Arctic is melting causing a drastic change in temperature of the Atlantic Ocean which in turn is creating a shift in the ocean patterns creating greater, more intense storms.

Also, don’t pay attention to the fact that parts of the Northeast and Northwest, which are used to having pretty blustery winters, are seeing almost less snow than parts of Virginia and Delaware.

Most importantly, don’t pay attention to the amount of snow that’s melting from parts of the Arctic that’s submerging Bangladesh, which eventually might be completely underwater.

Listen, Al Gore, our children are out on our lawns in February creating igloos. Don’t worry, we’ve set one aside for you.

Snowstorms in D.C. = no such thing as global warming. Let’s put our money back into coal and unhealthy consumption habits because quite frankly, Copenhagen was a waste of money. The Kyoto protocol is just another way for the Chinese to try to take over the U.S. And, the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and increasingly Pakistan are just humanitarian, democracy-spreading wars and not battles over who controls the oil in the Middle East.

Us politicians here at the White House choose to side with Rush Limbaugh and Senator James Inhofe and tell the truth about global warming. It doesn’t EXIST. We still use the money that the oil lobbyists pump into our “public” accounts to buy ourselves nice vacations to the Caribbean and to add to the overall carbon footprint of humans. We would know if global warming was true because the oil companies would tell us that we’re polluting and destroying the earth and atmosphere. But, they’re not telling us, so we’re not going to believe the scientists.

GLOBAL WARMING DOESN’T EXIST, AL. Take your humanitarian realism out of here. D.C.’s only big enough for politicians who know the difference between winter storms and global warming.

Sincerely,

Global Warming Skeptics
A.K.A. All Republican Representatives and Senators and Lawmakers in D.C.

Are you serious? Are we really second guessing the facts? While I am not always 100% convinced by scientists on the latest genome discovery, I am extremely confident that what they’re telling us about climate change and global warming has a huge significance in our lives.

Michael Reilly said it really well in his article the other day, “Massive piles of snow in and around Washington, D.C. brought out the climate loonies.” Senator Inhofe was one of those “loonies” who immediately starting griping about how Al Gore was sensationalized and completely false.

I’ll admit that while Gore’s presentation was a bit dramatic; it did show us very important details. Humans are contributing to the processes of the earth, and we’re speeding them up! We’re putting more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere than ever before.

According to NASA’s Web site, C02 has never been at the level it is now in hundreds of thouands of years.

The problem with this “debate” (although evidence is very compelling to say at the very least that SOMETHING is happening to our environment) is that people don’t understand the facts. They’re going off of those who interpret the facts say, and in this case, politicians decided to be the ones to interpret. This, in Al Gore’s case, worked out for him in a good way because his name and face on the “Inconvenient Truth” gave it tons of publicity. But, in the reverse, the fact that he was a politician saying this gave other politicians the opportunity to use their celebrity to be muckrakers and ween out the “facts.” In truth, it’s all just sensationalized because no one knows for sure what is going on.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the U.S. puts it simply for us to realize:
– Human Activity Has Increased Greenhouse Gases in the Atmosphere
– The Climate is Warming
– Human Greenhouse Gas Emissions are Causing Climate Change
– Climate Change is Projected to Continue During This Century

Change is coming. We can choose to either change our habits and try to reduce the effects we’ve had on the environment. Or, we could choose to keep on keeping on, and follow the advice of Senator Inhofe and others, and say that we have no responsibility or accountability for the changing climate.

Once again, it’s your choice – make it.

EndangermentFinding_ClimateChangeFacts

Sometimes my posts aren’t long, sometimes they just are revelations 😉

This is quickly becoming one of youtubes next big hits.

If you don’t know the song, look it up and then enjoy this parody. Sometimes we all just need to laugh 🙂

<a href=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wUUhkkFNhrE&feature=popular”>

SO it has been quite a while since I posted and a lot has happened since I went to Germany for Christmas. 

I had a wonderful experience while I was in Germany.  I was with the exchange student (Johannes) that stayed at my house for a year in high school.  His family was so wonderful and welcoming.  German’s a very loving people.  I felt at home as soon as I arrived in Koln (Cologne). I visited lots of awesome things in Koln, like the very famous Koln Cathedral.

 We spent the christmas days at Johannes Grandmothers house.  It was such a family holiday.   In Germany, they celebrate 3 days of christmas.  On December 24, they spend the day together and then go to church while Baby Jesus brings the presents for the children.  (Who brings the presents in Germany depends on each family. For example, some German’s  say that Baby Jesus brings the presents while others families celebrate Father Christmas bringing presents)  Anyway, after church we went back and had a nice big family meal followed by opening presents.  It was such a wonderful experience.  On December 25, which is called Christmas day 1, we had a very large brunch. 

I would say it was about 7-10 courses.  It was very delicious. The rest of the day was spent having fun with the family and drinking and snacking.  On Christmas Day 2, December 26, we once again spent the day with the family, had a very very large meal and relaxed.  For the duration of my trip to Germany we travelled around Germany like to Munster.

and even went to the Netherlands one day because it was very close to Lette.  I feel very lucky to have had such a wonderful experience for Christmas especially since I could have been all alone in Paris. 

When I got back to Paris I only had a week until I left and I spent the week running around to finish up all my loose ends.  For New Years I went to the Eiffel Tower with some of my French friends.  It was so crowded but it was a great experience.  I had a really fun time that night.  The only bad thing was one of my friends got pick pocketed.  🙁 

So my trip home was a very unforgettable experience.  I got to the airport and had them weigh my carry on.  It was more than the 8kg limit so I had to pay 160 euros for a 3rd checked bag.  Then my flight was 2 hours late leaving which made me miss my flight from Munich to JFK.  So Lufthansa’s earliest flight to JFK was from Munich to Frankfurt then Frankfurt to JFK.  By the time I got home it was 2am the following day and I had left for the airport the day before at 4:30 am after pulling an all nighter.  Needless to say it was a very long trip.

I was only home for 3 and 1/2 days before I had to head back to Oswego.  I got to relax again,  but I needed to pack for Oswego and see my family and boyfriend who I had just been away from for 5 months.  I was lucky because my family threw me a 2nd Christmas.  It was so thoughtful of them and I really enjoyed myself. 

The 3 weeks at Oswego for intersession were exhausting.  I played Hockey day in and Day out and all I did on my free time was sleep and eat.  That is a normal intersession but it was even more exhausting after changing 6 hours of time zones less than a week before. 

Classes have been going on for two weeks now.  I am student teaching and thus far it has been a great experience.  I love being back at Oswego.  I missed it so much.  I know that I am a student that will bleed green and gold for the rest of my life.  I love Oswego.  I am so happy with my choice to come here.  I have had one of the best college experiences and I have  enjoyed every minute here.  Though life has been very stressful and busy since school has started I really want to enjoy my last semester at Oswego.

I will be posting more often now that I am getting into a routine.  And I hope my blog is just as exciting when I am not in Paris 🙂

Americans are rich, selfish, greedy and unhappy. That’s the impression I get from my generation. It seems that if we think about other people we might lose everything we have, and we can’t let that happen. After all, status is determined from the money we have, the excess junk we can waste our money on, the selfish hoarding of our material possessions.

Ouch. That hurts. As an American, I’m lumping myself into this category. Although there are millions of people in the U.S. who care deeply for others and sacrifice on a daily basis for the greater good, overall the general feeling in society is to “look out for number one.” We live in a competitive world, so there’s really no time/room for charity.

I hate living this way. I’d rather give enough of my time and money a week to be uncomfortable than to spend that money and time partying it up before, during and after a hockey game. But, I’m not perfect, so I’m not quite to this point yet. I learned this coming back from Ghana, seeing all of the stuff that I have here and how I can forget to appreciate life sometimes. As this blog entry is titled, we can learn something from Ghana; I definitely have since my return.

• Be nice to everyone you meet, even if they are complete strangers. As Ian Utley says in his book Culture Smart! Ghana, “Ghanaians recognize the dignity of their fellow human beings and have a deep and abiding concern for human welfare and happiness.”  He says that “Human relationships are considered the most valuable of possessions” (41).  I definitely saw this in Ghana as people would inquire about how you were doing (e mefoa?)  and sincerely mean it.  I saw this in the people I worked with at the NGO Rural Action for the Poor (RAP).  We were tagging along as volunteers to do the grunt work, but they went out of their way to give us the best seats and the best jobs to do.  They truly respected us within five minutes of meeting us.Also, when you would meet people on the street, they’d invite you to their home or to church with them. When you did business with someone, you got to know them and know what they were doing.This isn’t completely unheard of in the U.S.; I saw it down in Arkansas in the small towns. But, in Ghana it’s different because of how simply everyone lives and how grateful they are for what they have. That brings us to the next point
• Be happy with what you have, even if it’s not a lot. I’ve made this point before, but in the U.S. people upgrade their phones every time a new one comes out. I can list off more than 15 people that I directly come in contact with on a daily basis who have gone through two or three phones a year. I know of many people who have enough clothes in their wardrobes to last them three months without having to do laundry. I’m guilty of it. I have more shoes than is probably necessary, but my stockpile is meager in comparison to other girls I know.We are so used to buying the latest trend – the newest gaming console, computer, phone, car, clothes, shoes, hair products, etc. – it doesn’t seem odd that we should hold on to what we have until it falls apart and then buy something new. Plus, things are really made to last that long anymore. Cell phone batteries hardly last two years. I had my phone for nearly three years but I had to finally get rid of it because I’d charge it two or three times a day. We’re a disposable nation with an insatiable appetite for consumption whether it be the aisles upon aisles of food in the grocery stores or the level upon level of department stores at the mall.In Ghana, you buy things because you need them. I noticed that because it is a poorer nation in some aspects, people still using pumps for their water, they go to the bathroom in the gutters along the road, they use a fire to cook their meals. Plenty of the people we drove by or met in the villages had to get up at 4 -5 a.m. to go into the fields to make money to buy food from the market for that day. Disposable is a word that hardly has any use in Ghana, at least in the more rural parts of the country. Everything can be re-used, and should be in order to budget properly.

  Although this comparison isn’t exactly parallel, what is good to take from this is that we have tons of STUFF that we’re not using all the time. Let’s cut down our consumption and just be happy with what we have. Let’s not pine after the latest iPad or iPhone that comes out. Let’s consciously try to think for ourselves and not just give into the groupthink which is consumerism at its best/worst.

• Stop stressing and start appreciating. Ghanaians operate on something called Ghanaian time. This means that whatever you get done in a workday is what you’ve done for the day. Tomorrow’s another day, and we’ll do what we can do as much as possible and then be done for the day. What this simplifies down to is being content with the work that you’ve done for the day and not stressing yourself out because you didn’t get everything done. Critics may say, well Americans didn’t become the biggest, richest country in the world with that mentality, but studies by the World Health Organization (WHO) and Harvard have shown that Americans are the most depressed people in the world. So tell me – is it worth be super rich and unhappy, or is it worth being poor and joyful? Ghanaians go to church often; they have community events; they invite each other over a lot; they’re cordial, friendly, and conditioned to be selfless. This doesn’t apply to everyone, but from my experience, a majority of the people I met acted this way – whether or not they knew that I was studying them. As Americans, then, let’s emulate some of what the Ghanaians have going for themselves. Let’s minimize consumption and maximize appreciation for the non-material things that we have – like friends, family, community.



• Taking care of our environment is important.While Ghana has leaps and bounds to go before they’re optimizing the use of the environment and its sustenance, they do have one thing right: living closely with the land is best for the environment. Ghanaians live off of the land, especially the villagers in the Volta Region. They utilize bamboo for everything, which is great because bamboo is plentiful, can grow nearly anywhere, replenishes rapidly and is very sturdy and versatile. Huts, gates, baskets, carts – you name it – everything’s made out of bamboo. They use everything of anything – meaning that they don’t just kill an animal for its fur and leave the rest of it, instead they utilize everything for something.Although they live closely with the land, the more their markets open up to the rest of the world and the more demand there is for the cocoa, bananas, mangoes, pineapples, coconut and coffee beans – the worse they treat their environment. I noticed that because of the demand for these products in other parts of the world, Ghana has begun what every other developing country seems to be doing, and that’s clear cutting forests and overharvesting lands. It’s because of OUR consumption patterns in the West that Ghana and other similar countries are killing their environment at a rapid pace.

  We as Americans need to take a proactive stance in our consumption to make sure that the products we get are coming from sustainable resources. Fair trade and organic products are much more sustainable for the earth. We as first-world consumers should realize that it’s our obligation to make sure that these countries are protecting their land, which we need to do for our own as well. We need to live more like the villagers in the towns – living with the seasons. We should be more aware of how our consumption patterns directly affect the lifestyles of people in the developing world. I think a majority of Americans have yet to realize that, making it harder for developing countries to develop sustainably. Let’s try to buy organic and fair trade. Let’s try to recycle more or use bamboo for everything. Let’s optimize use of products rather than just minimize them.

I’d like to think that what I’m writing in this blog is going to impact someone to change their habits. To live more sustainably. To care for their neighbors. To take a chill pill and enjoy life around us. I’d like to challenge anyone who reads this blog to take this to heart. I’ve personally have started buying mostly organic or fair trade food. I’m dabbling into cutting my spending (which wasn’t that hard, seeing as how I don’t have money), and I’ve started to focus my mind around being less selfish and more selfless. It does wonders for you.

If you take anything from this blog, take this: stop, examine your life, see how you’re living and figure out what you can change to be happier.

Actually, no such thing as killer ostriches but made you click!

It has been a great nine days since we have been back to oz. I got a new cool roommate, classes are rolling, and I have been super social.
It is weird when you come back to college your home life falls away so fast. You readapt and you love it so quickly that it feels like you have always been there. Independence is a unique feeling that I love to get used to.
I love it so much I am moving out of my house. As a junior, I really feel like I am coming into my own and I just can’t go back anymore. Home is now Oswego and it is too weird to have restrictions. It feels silly, just silly is the best way to describe it.
I will be leaving to live in the Roc (Downtown Rochester) for the rest of my summers now. I am super excited and have made some important financial decisions.

Good Things to Do This Week:

Bill Pullmen, the name sounds familiar? Besides his theatre credits, he appeared  in several movies including, “Spaceballs”. Not a movie fan? Maybe you had heard his name as a punchline of  a joke on the TV show “American Dad” or “The Simpsons”.

The entire festival was excited to hear that actor, Bill Pullmen, was going to be our keynote speaker. Not only was he speaking to us, but he was to be teaching us as well. Mr. Pullmen made appearances in workshops, and to our fellow Oswego Theatre Majors surprise, he responded to the directing scenes as well. To have a professional actor give advice and feedback to budding artists was truly an amazing opportunity.

Keynote Speach

The SDC Competition was a new addition on the festival this year. We had two students from Oswego who participated in the Stage Directors and Choreographers Competition. Keegan Bushey and Kevin Hollenbeck, along with Oswego actors (6 in total) presented their scenes to professional directors (and Bill Pullman). Once the actors heard that Bill Pullman was going to be watching their scenes, nerves set in knowing they were to perform for a professional actor. All of that aside, Bill Pullman did indeed like their scenes, and our students learned a lot during the competition.

Stage Directors & Choreographers