one of the things you have to deal with coming back from south america after a year:

dry skin.  it’s october and my knuckles look like they normally do in february.  most all of the other vols and I are battling dandruff, we’re using lotion like it’s the middle of winter over here.  after a year of living in humidity, our bodies just aren’t used to this weather anymore.  I didn’t have split ends all year last year, not once, but now my hair all dries out. also, my skin is all pale now which looks totally weird to me, and the hair on my arms isn’t all blond anymore.

WE WILL HAVE A PROBLEM if America continues to think that my RIGHT to see my dying partner in a hospital equates with a vote on:

• Tax limits
• Transportation
• Estate taxes
• Car tabs
• Gas tax
• Performance audits
• Property tax limits
• Transportation funding

Having my family and children’s safety and security decided by a public vote is reason enough to bear arms and confront those who think they can bully and harm my family at the ballot box without serious repercussions. If the LGBT community were doing the same to their families I would expect a similar response….but guess what?

We do no harm.

We didn’t start this war, but some of us WILL resort to defending ourselves, especially since government refuses to protect us while it empowers the religious bullies and haters by allowing these ballot measures.

As I previously established, the new entertainment media is subject to classification and restriction. This is used to protect those who are unable to form their own judgement, for example children. The problem however exists when the classification system is in fault and becomes inefficient and overly restrictive, as seen within the “fundamentally broken” Video Games classification system.

Film and Videogames employ the same standards and classifications, however what is acceptable differs greatly. As explained in the Classification (Publications, Films

and Computer Games) Act 1995.

Video games are subject to the strictist classification in comparison to other media forms, including unrestricted news. But what does this entail for the public?

“Games that are only suitable for adults must be pushed into the 15+ category or be banned” creating an overall weak system. This provides two options for video games intended for adults:

• Younger audiences to access inappropriate material intended for adults through lenient classification (in comparison internationally), as explained on R18Games

“…long and the short of this unfortunate system is that games which have been classified as MA15+ can and do have strong impact violence, sexualised content, drug use, and all the sorts of things that should be kept out of the hands of people under 18”

• Video games are banned, whereby Australia has banned over 32 videogames, America, None. Therefore Australia only may gain access to the games illegally, as “software piracy is the only way for people in Australia to play games that are denied to them”.

I find the classification system within Australia, in regards to video games, is not keeping up with the continually evolving media-scape. What does this entail for the future?

How will the industry be effected?

What needs to be done to ensure a future?

Signed Blair_arg

Every week I emulate my favorite late night talk show host, David Letterman, and countdown from ten. And then, last week, my favorite late night talk show host shared with us his story of being blackmailed for fooling around with some of his staff.

Whether you think his announcement was noble or unnecessary, whether you care where Letterman puts it or not, the scandal brought me to this week’s topic: the top ten people you should avoid sleeping with unless you want to suffer some serious aftermath. Maybe not a mistake that warrants a $2 million extortion, mind you, but still pretty scandalous repercussions.

10. The Bartender and/or Bouncer
Especially not at your favorite bar or club. One mistake with a bouncer equals embarrassment strong enough to keep you out of the doors of your favorite sports bar forever.

9. A neighbor in your dorm
Do you really want to worry about running into your fling when you’re in the dorm hallways wearing Powerpuff girl pajama bottoms?

8. “That Guy”
Collar popped underneath his Ed Hardy shirt with a sideways hat and a Lance Armstrong bracelet. Spare your dignity.

7. Ray-J
Unless you want a sex tape on the internet. Although it did kick-start Kim Kardashian’s career, so I guess this isn’t such a bad idea if that’s the direction you want to take your life.

6. Your BFF’s boyfriend
You’ll definitely lose a bestie and have other friends questioning your loyalty. Not cool.

5. Co-Worker
Particularly a boss. As hot as it would be, it violates some serious company policies <cough Letterman cough> and could also jeopardize your future with the company. Leave that one in your fantasies.

4. That foxy professor
He has kids. Stay away. Do not fantasize about showing up to his office hours in lingerie or your old Catholic schoolgirl uniform. Just. stay. away.

3. The R.A.
Enough said.

2. The cabbie giving you a ride home from the bar at 4 AM
I’m not even going to comment further.

1. Your roommate
Living with guys totally rules. Sleeping with them is a guarantee to screw up a great living situation and force you onto the streets or, worse, back into the dorms.

…today was a really busy day….dont know but somehow in the back of my mind this something kept on going and rather has never left me……these memories keep on coming back and again …unfolding my past in some or the other way…i dont want to think about it..

….an ocean of emotions resides….but somehow have realised that there is no one who can understand me ; perhaps i should say havent met many people who can really understand me…………When i want to fall;i fall on myself…sometimes feel that having a very good memory is bad…emotional turmoils can leave you in such a state that you just sit ;look back on the past ,think , tears roll down and next moment you are up again…bringing together all your broken selves into one again…….

why are there just two solutions to a  thing.. yes or no……. “I feel, i really have failed myself on emotional front big time and i somehow feel that eventually i can never really win…somehow i crave to find a way to come out of such ways”…..believe you me Emotional Turmoils can leave you shattered…. well i came across a beautiful status

“White or black, Real or fake, Fortune or misfortune, Destiny or coincidence, Human or beast, Dream or hallucination, Wise or mad, Conscious or subconscious, Angel or demon, Breeze or storm, Love or momentary affection, Surrender or control -> Why answers are not in binary language “… strong thought….

if yes or no was as simple;why does it have Repercussions?

• PROP 8 HURT MY FAMILY – ASK ME HOW
• P.T.S.D. ~ My Five-Year Saga

You’ve already crashed

You’ve spun off the track

You said what you said

You can’t take it back

It’s already heard.

It’s already done.

It’s not easy.

It won’t be fun.

You chose to have it this way.

That’s all there is to say.

Live with it.

You’re not on a cloud.

You’re not on a plain.

You’re not happy.

You are in pain.

You chose to have it this way.

That’s all there is to say.

Live with it.

You can’t hope it never happened.

You can’t start to think like that.

It’s a harsh reality.

It’s what you chose.

You chose to have it this way.

That’s all there is to say.

I would be remiss if I did not broach the topic of change, or rather how difficult it can be to accept.

HELLO Again

“The wisdom to know the difference”, well this is a quagmire because “knowing” the difference is not about what you want to have happen; it is about accepting the reality that is.  Simply put, you cannot force feelings/emotions/events/desires “into” and “out of” existence. As it relates to human beings, you cannot force an adult to “do what you say”,  feel the way you want them to feel or erase thoughts and feelings that are present, no more than you could force it to rain or snow. 
The truth can be difficult to absorb, yet necessary for reproving…setting things straight and moving forward. Unfortunately, the truth is typically distorted in order to avoid repercussions. The illusion being safer and less difficult to manage.  Remember, when you seek the truth, be ready for it. Can you accept and respect the truth?  Rarely do you hear of situations where adults are able to come together calmly, settle business in a peaceful way and then move forward wishing each other a good life.  It is instead a potpourri of rage, threats, criticisms, judgments, suffering and ultimatums. It gets ugly. It becomes a fight, which is unproductive.

“Becoming mature means learning to accept what you cannot change, facing unresolved sorrows and learning to love life as it really happens, not as you would have it happen.” – Barbara Sher

Circumstances can be less than ideal and I regret that but they are still ever present and real.   It is…what it is.  I have found that you don’t have to “chase” the change, whatever or whomever it is…..it (or he/she) materializes and comes to you.

Don’t be a stranger.

That’s the message of a 45-year-long study according to US News and World Report in “Job Loss Has Long-Term Impact on Social Lives“.

Once someone in the prime of life suffers a layoff or is otherwise displaced from the workforce, community connections — anything from a PTA meeting, charity involvement, sporting team or church attendance — are severed for good at least 35 percent of the time, study results show.

Perhaps this comes as a surprise. It shouldn’t. How many of us have grown distant from someone simply because they left our school, workplace, club or church?

And how many of us, by the same token, have isolated ourselves because we fear that others will judge us when the chips are down?

“Social engagement often involves an element of social trust and a sense that things are reciprocal — that you give some support if you get some support, and you benefit from society if society benefits from you,” UCLA sociologist and lead study author Jennie E. Brand said in a university press release. “When workers are displaced, the tendency is to feel as though the social contract has been violated, and we found that they are less likely to reciprocate.”

Translation? Feeling ashamed, embarrassed or fearful of judgment causes far too many of us to retreat into our proverbial caves.

To extrapolate beyond the scope of employed vs. unemployed, any number of crisis — say a voluntary decision to become a full-time caretaker of an ill or disabled family member, or a medical condition that forces you to retrain for a new position or scale back career or social commitments — might be expected to produce similar, if not greater, impacts on one’s sense of community. These are the life circumstances where fair weather friends and superficial partners flee, where the tough keep on going — but too often go it alone.

Life is a journey meant to be shared.

Studies show that people who have safety nets and support systems tend to fair better mentally and spiritually, which in turn may translate into a longer, healthier life. If this latest study proves anything, it is that reaching out to others, whether we can personally relate to them at the moment or not, is no small gesture. It’s the reaffirmation that relationships are more important than circumstances; people are more important than things; connection is more meaningful than a fat bank account, and that real people are not put off by the twists, turns and upheavals of real life — theirs or others’.

Each of us are infinitely more valuable than our job titles would suggest. We are more than a parent. More than a spouse. More than a sister or brother. More than a student. More than a degree. More than a fancy car. More than a pair of designer jeans. Social barometers are just that — snap judgments that shouldn’t confine intelligent adults to narrow little boxes in which there is no room for new friends, different experiences and a broader sense of connectedness. To surround ourselves with people who are exactly like us is to find camaraderie in one sense, but with it the stress of competition (“keeping up with the Jones’”). More importantly, it is difficult to appreciate how truly blessed we are when we avoid those who no longer reside on Easy Street. Similarly, it is difficult to regain a sense of normalcy when we presume we are alone in our challenging circumstances and no longer make an effort to “reach out and touch someone”.

What can those of us who find ourselves or someone we know in tough circumstances do?

Don’t wait for someone else to meet your needs and expectations. Don’t be too proud to ask for help. Be the change you want to see in the world: Model what it looks like to be mature, compassionate and committed. And never let anyone or anything convince you that it’s too late.

From a distance, those who are too artificial to care and those who isolate themselves out of fear of rejection appear deceptively alike. Community, by contrast, is the understanding that both halves form a whole. In reality, the distance between two people is merely a phone call, email or “How are you?” away.

It took over 45 years for sociologists to gather enough data to confirm what we already know.

Don’t let a valuable reminder go to waste.

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