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An argument for self love

Dear Jen: Switch back to TV

I know I do some of those things. I am a huge supporter of animals’ rights, but even I think that PETA is a bit extreme when it comes to getting their point across. And it appears that some of their members are taking that extremism even further.

PETA intern, Jennifer Thornburg, Cutout Dissection.com convinced federal courts to change her name to support Cut Out Dissection Month in October.

Now, I don’t know if it’s fame, pure insanity, or a real dedication to the cause, but this girl is making a bold statement. This is originality and creativity at its finest. All in the “name” of community service!

So why did this 19 year old intern do this? She wanted to raise awareness about the six million animals that are killed for dissection each year. The animals suffer painful deaths. She hopes to raise awareness amongst students and teachers to say no to dissection, and yes to alternative ways of anatomy.

Around PETA and to her fellow interns, she is known as simply Cut Out, but her parents still call her Jenny. She loves introducing herself as Cutout Dissection.com because it engages people in conversation about dissection efforts, thus leading to ways they can get involved and help the cause.

Although, I can’t help but wonder what strangers think when she introduces herself at the bar:

“Hey, pretty lady. I’m Jon.”

“Hi Jon. I’m Cutout Dissection.com.”

“What?”

Tell me what do you think: is this amazing dedication or just plain crazy?

But you know what?  I disagree with those stories.

I think life is what you make it. I think that if you want to be happy, you will find a way to be happy. I think that if you’re meant to be in college, you will study hard and learn and enjoy it along the way.

I’m 24 and my twenties have been my favorite part of my life so far. Granted, I’m constantly trying to have the best time of my life, so I’ll probably be bouncing off the same sentiments when I’m 40, too…but what’s wrong with that?

There are some things about being a twenty-something that have hit me hard. For example:

Unlike a lot of my friends, I had to work 2 jobs through college.

I didn’t sleep more than 4 hours a night while in college.

I spent my freshman year literally starving because I didn’t have any money.

Since college, I have lost jobs.

I have lost roommates.

I have lost childhood best friends.

I have been betrayed by people I thought were my friends.

I have had to take out loans.

I have had my heart broken. Repeatedly.

I have been sick and learned to deal with it without health insurance.

On the other hand, the great things about my twenties have totally outweighed those negative things.

I have learned the value of a good work ethic.

I have learned to value sleep, now that I have it.

I have learned to appreciate food, now that I can afford it.

I have learned to be grateful for my job.

I’ve learned to love my roommates.

I have made some new best friends that have changed my life.

I have maintained my loyalty to my friends, despite how it’s burned me in the past.

I have taken pride in my ability to pay back my loans.

I have learned to heal a broken heart. Repeatedly.

I have learned to take care of myself.

In conclusion, I’ve been having a blast. Sure, things haven’t been handed to me on a silver platter the last six years, but it’s all been part of the process. Over all, even during the hard times, I have had a blast and I have never stopped appreciating my freedom.

Your twenties will likely challenge and push you, but that doesn’t have to be a bad thing.

[photo from: bgccapo.com]

Suddenly in the dairy aisle you had the realization that teachers are people and all of sudden you stopped being such a godd*mn prick in your classes.

These days, it seems that there is equal amount of shock when teachers, GASP, use the Internet. Now I know most students probably already realize teachers use the net tubes to do research or write on the library message board, but what about when you find them on Facebook or Myspace? Should they even be allowed? I mean seriously, isn’t that where kids openly talk about their debauchery and then get all ‘you read my diary!’ when they get grounded for the pictures they posted of them doing shots of Jameson with underwear on their head?

Apparently, yes, and ALSO, according to people in Missouri, Facebook and Myspace are directly related to teacher/student sexual relationships. Genius.

In Missouri in particular, a rash of student-teacher sexual relationships have spawned crackdowns on social-networking friendships. Web site badbadteacher.com, which keeps track of teachers disciplined, arrested and convicted of inappropriate behavior with students, lists 11 such teachers from Missouri within the last two years.

Which is why state legislator Jane Cunningham is sponsoring a bill in the Missouri House of Representatives that would ban elementary school teachers from having social-networking friendships with their students. (Cnn.com)

Here are some tips for parents who think Facebook and Myspace are responsible for teacher/student sexual relationships.

1) Teachers have been having sex with students forever. That doesn’t make it right but don’t act the like Internet is the advent of some new age of sexual molestation.

2) You leave your kid alone with them for 8 hours a day. The Internet is not your problem.

3) The answer is monitoring your child’s use of these sites. Banning teachers won’t stop some 50 year old creeper from posing as 14/F/Cali/CUTEY and then totally getting their kidnap on. This is like making a law that allows parents to be lazy. It’s your job to be net savvy if your going to let your kid run wild on the web. You’re like 45, I’m betting if you just sat down and opened a f*cking book you could probably master all of your Dell’s ‘intricate mystery.’

THE MAGIC BOX ALLOWS EVIL PEOPLE TO SEXOR OUR CHILDREN. BAN THE BOX. BAN PEOPLE FROM USING THE BOX.

Take off your ‘The E in Email Stands for Evil’ crew-cut T and use cognitive thought. If the dumb motherf*ckers at Dateline can outsmart sexual predators, I’m betting you guys can probably figure out a way to avoid them all together.

Now, let me explain something real quick to you guys; teenagers scare the living shit out of me. No, really, they do. After being teased and taunted for years, a group of teenagers giggling and laughing anywhere near me automatically puts me on edge. But I was willing to walk through the halls infested with these loud cockroaches to see my old teachers.

I went to a school with a mild crime problem, so of course there was a security van parked in front. When I passed by, the guy honked at me, and I groaned to myself. I really didn’t feel like dealing with security, but I turned and went over to the car. Turns out it was one of my favorite guards, and he greeted me pretty happily before I went in.

I made the rounds to my favorite teachers. Two of them – two of the most important to me – weren’t there, so the chances that I’ll go back to see them before the year is up are pretty high. I was surprised how everyone remembered me so well. Probably the funniest reoccurring question was, “Are you seriously a senior?” Three years didn’t really seem like a lot, but it was. The auditorium and the music wing were both redone, and all of the kids had LAPTOPS. At the risk of sounding like an old grump, when I went to school, we didn’t get laptops. We had to crowd around one of the four computers in the room and share. Dang nabbit.

I know it’s weird to go back to a place that used to be home and isn’t anymore. I knew exactly where I was going at every turn, but I didn’t recognize any of the students and most of the professors. But after a pretty rough semester, it was nice to go back and see that really, not a whole lot has changed.

I’m visiting my junior high school later this week. That should be real kick in the face.

I understand that school systems all over the country are trying to fight back, but this could be a little overboard.

There used to be a point where teachers were a source of knowledge and wisdom that transcended their role of disciplinarian. Now, teachers are more sex crazed and mentally unbalanced than half the students out there!

In case you haven’t heard, in Murfreesboro, TN, a group of teachers turned an elementary school class trip into an episode of 24. These models for academia, yelled out to the scared 6th grade children, that this was not a test, and that they need to hide under anything they could find. Furthermore, these teachers never even informed any parents or chaperones of their planned festivities. To add the realistic allure of the shake-down, 2 teachers branded real unloaded handguns. Luckily, the Assistant Principal was in on it and thought it would be a learning experience.