Persian Word of the Day: Kale (head)

Persian Word of the Day: Heart (del)

Persian Word of the Day!

Aging

I feel like such a jerk. I've been getting depressed about my birthday because it's coming up. I feel like I'm getting older and basically hating it. I want to avoid my birthday altogether. I saw this picture on Pinterest just now.

How dare I take advantage of growing a year older. Young people, my age and younger, die from wars, fights, disease, etc, and here I am, being depressed I'm turning 25. I should be ashamed of myself. 

There are multiple things that will really put you in check: the Make A Wish Foundation website has stories of wishes of terminally ill young people. Here is one that is particularly heart-breaking: The First Wish. This boy died at age 7. 

I refuse to complain about my age anymore. I'm embarrassed that I ever was in the first place. Sometimes, a little perspective is what is necessary.

Day 13 - 15 - My 1st Day After Rebooting

Another blog entry is unnecessary for days 13 - 15 of the Reboot. They were great and normal. Though, my first day after the reboot is worth blogging about.

I get hungry MUCH less often now, I've noticed and I am very aware of my body's hunger needs when I actually am hungry. So yesterday, I decided I was going to eat sushi with my friend for dinner for my official first meal off the reboot. I didn't eat anything until dinner simply because I wasn't hungry for anything until then. We went to eat and I noticed everything tasted especially salty. I was eating my sushi with soy sauce at first, and after a minute, I couldn't do the soy sauce anymore. That was just way too much for me. I ate a good amount of sushi (which was delicious) and had some iced tea with it (oh how I missed you so!). Didn't feel gross that night.

BUT, I woke up this morning and had what I can only describe as a "food hangover." I felt. . . not sick, but. . . weighed down and - honestly, I don't know how to describe it. I didn't feel good. I didn't feel like I've been feeling for the past 15 days: fresh, light, energetic, all good things. The reason I choose sushi to break my Reboot was because it has a lot of fresh raw veggies in it, so I thought it would be a good transition meal. The cooked part was the tempura shrimp, salmon, and the crawfish (I only got one roll that was raw, which was spicy salmon), and of course the rice in the sushi. I can only imagine the suffering I would have gone through with something like a big veggie burger or some popcorn shrimp or something horrible like that! Night. Mare.

The only thing I could think about after my meal about eating the next day was some apples and carrots. LOL! I couldn't get my mind off of fresh raw fruits/veggies. I realize how much my taste buds have changed and how my body WANTS this raw, fresh food. It's not that I was CRAVING them, it was that it was naturally what my body wanted to sustain it. So I just came back from Target, got a bundle of apples, some grapes, and some dried fruit, pistachios and some oatmeal.

I am so happy I did this reboot. I also went to the doctor today and she took my blood pressure. Before the Reboot, it was 130/90-something. Today, it was 110/?? (I don't remember the second number). When she took my blood pressure, she said, "Wow!" LOL! So that was a nice reaction. Also, they took my blood to do blood work so I'm excited to see if anything has changed.

I HIGHLY recommend doing this Reboot. You don't have to do 15 days like me. You could do like a week or something. It was absolutely wonderful and I have NO DOUBT whatsoever that after Ramadan I will do another Reboot.

Day 9 - 12 Summary

Total weight loss: 8 lbs. If you're 5'1", that's significant. LOL!

It's to a point where I'm getting tired of raw fruits & veggies. But, at the same time, when I'm done with my Reboot, I still see them being the majority of my intake. My body knows in needs them now. I'm obviously going to slowly ease into eating cooked foods because if I just go crazy and eat a big meal, I am confident I will feel very sick.

So Day 9 - 12 have been all about perseverance, even when you don't even want to LOOK at another fresh plant from the earth. "Allah loves those that patiently persevere!" :-D

Sorry no vlog! I just simply don't have the time. :-(

Day 5-8 Summary

This weekend was ridiculously busy for me. I had so much to do, I had no time for blogging. Anyway, there really isn't a whole lot to say about Day 5-8, really. I've been feeling good, I have energy and I feel like I have on any normal day of my life. So far, I've lost 7 lbs since the beginning.

I will tell you this though. I've really wanting some cooked foods right about now. Remember: for the past week, I've only had raw fruits & veggies, drinking only juiced veggies/fruit, water, and I can have tea if it doesn't have caffeine. Honestly, I think I just want something WARM. That would be nice. Oh well. I really only have 7 days left.

I do feel like when I'm off my Reboot, I will have made permanent changes to my diet. I'm probably going to have my majority food be raw fruits or veggies, and have everything else sparingly. I WANT it that way. It's amazing how delicious and satisfying these things are, and we're never told this. Our American taste buds are not trained on raw fruits and vegetables. But doing this Reboot, my body is changing and I want these things.  I can imagine my normal day after the Reboot to be something like this: fruits/veggies (raw) all through the day and maybe 1 small cooked meal a day. Something like a small piece of fish and some rice. I want 80-90% of my intake to be raw fruits/veggies, and doing what I'm doing, that is not only possible, it's probable.

This Reboot has seriously change my outlook on food. I'm so glad I'm doing it.

Today, I had watermelon, a banana, coconut water, carrots and avocados.

Day 4 Summary - Juicing

Day 4 was much like Day 3, feeling-wise, only with less juicing. I only made 1 juice in the morning.

Pear-adise
2 pears
1 small handful blackberries

Word of advice: blackberries are incredibly difficult to juice because the seeds get stuck in the juicer (until you wash them out), but it was difficut, nonetheless. I suggest you just eat them instead.

Cleaning my juicer is getting faster and easier for me, seeing as I clean it after every use. I ate squash, tomato, and mushrooms throughout the day. At night for dinner, I went to On The Border with my mom and order the Guacamole Live (no chips, please). I didn't juice for dinner at all.

I felt good all day. No headaches, no pains, no anything-bad! So it was good.

Goooodddddd, I love mushrooms. FRESH mushrooms. I was talking to my mom about what my "first meal" would be after my juicing ends. And you know. . . I honestly don't feel deprived in any way right now. I'm not *dying* for this to end and I feel great. What I'm mainly thinking about is when I do have my first meal, will it make me feel sick. LOL! Because it most likely will. But I decided on sushi.

Day 3 Juicing

My veggie juice drink was the following:

3 stalks celery
3 carrots
1 apple

It was actually good! I'm ready to make more veggie juices. As of Day 3, I'd lost 4 lbs. I have had no cravings whatsoever and never felt deprived so far. 

Day 2 Summary - The Juicing

So Day 2 was a unique case. Unfortunately, I did NO juicing at all. I woke up at 4:30 AM and had no time to juice before I left home for the day. I took 3 bananas with me on my mini-road trip and ate 1 of them. I wasn't really hungry because I was still naseous from the veggie drink I attempted Day 1. I tried to drink a lot of water, but I was on the road and really only drank probably. . . 6 total?

All day, I was sooooo tired. I had a headache the entire day. I was lethargic, restless, but I really had an overall bad consumption day. When I got home, I ate 2 avocados. So my entire day consisted of 1 banana and 2 avocados. :-( I actually had to force myself to finish the avocados, too, because I wasn't feeling it. I felt so bad that day that I didn't have any desire to eat.

Sorry no video for Day 2. I had no motivation at all so I compeletely skipped the video.

End of the First Day!

I'd Rather Eat Shit

3 stalks of celery

2 collard green leaves

3 carrots

7 radishes

1 apple 

This is the most absolutely horrible, disgusting mixture ever. I had to force myself to even drink half of it. I don't know what exactly made me nauseous: either the taste of that juice, or that my body isn't used to all this raw fruit and vegetable.

Update later on in the night: I am very tired. This is unusual for me, as I usually go to sleep no earlier than 11:45 PM. I feel nauseous and basically, like shit. This is normal because apparently, my body is pushing out all of the toxins and bad stuff from my body. It's 9:48 PM and I'm thinking about going to sleep, like now!

The Juicing Has Begun!

So Day 1, morning. I've made my very first juice combo, a creation of my very own! I am not going to be mixing up my own veggie juices (making my own recipes), but I thought fruit should be fairly simple to do myself. So here is this morning's creation:

Kiwi-kidink!
1 red apple
2 peaches
2 kiwis
10 oz cantaloupe
2 key limes (squeezed into the drink - not juiced)

LOL! I made that name up, too. ;-) It's delicious! I'm drinking it now, actually.

I went grocery shopping yesterday at Sprouts and bought all of my veggies and fruit. I'm not sure how long they'll all last me, and I bought a shitload. I'm fairly confident that it will last me at least 2 weeks, but after juicing a couple of times, I'm not so sure. When you juice an apple, you get about 1/4 cup of juice out of it. My entire refrigerator is FULL. For the first time in YEARS, actually. It's pretty nice to open it up and have food in it. LOL! Especially fruits and veggies only. So I was expecting to spend probably about - at LEAST $100. When the cashier told me the total, it was $66! Sprouts it the BOMB, guys! Always cheap and delicious stuff. My friend & I were shocked! It's cheaper than anywhere else when it comes to fruits and veggies. Love this place.

Also, I bought some coconut water that I can put in my juices as well. It's not anything extra, it's simple coconut water only. Love it. When I was a kid, my dad used to buy coconuts and drill a hole in it and we would drink the water out of them.

I bought my juicer on Saturday, and it was about $49. I did my research before I actually bought one, but it I think I made a good choice for my price range.

GE Juice Extractor

It's incredibly easy to assemble, it's easy to clean, and it gets the job done. What more could I want! It's awesome. It sounds like a vacuum cleaner when I turn it on though. LOL! That was unexpected, let me tell you that. 

I play on vlogging the end of my days when I do this fast. I also plan on extending my fast to 15 days instead of just 10. We'll see how it goes. I'm excited, guys!

10-Day Reboot

I am going on a juice fast inspired by the movie Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead. I'm kind of WAY excited about it. My aunt actually told me to watch the documentary about a year ago, but it really didn't come to mind until I was browsing Netflix and recognized the name.

I'm going to be doing the 10-day reboot, otherwise known as the Quick Start Reboot. Here are the details:

Basically, I'll be on a 100% raw, vegan diet for 10 days. I'll be juicing - a lot. The good thing about this particular reboot is that I can actually still eat food (as in chew things!). The man in Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead (Joe Cross) went on a 60-day juice fast that was specifically juice. I'm taking baby steps, guys. 10 days is plenty of time for me. I'm planning on having most of my intake stick to actual juice. Of course, I won't restrict myself from eating (read: chewing) fruits and vegetables, but juicing gets the most amount of nutrients to your body effectively.

The great thing about the reboot website is they basically give you every resource you need to have a successful juice fast. So much useful information! Anyway, I'm hoping to blog my fast and see how it changes my health for the better. It's a short fast, but I will see results. Also, I have a wonderful lady in my corner to help my (my aunt) and also the reboot website has an awesome community as well. Also, Joe Cross has a Twitter account, and he's always such a sweet, motivational guy.

During the first few days, they tell you to expect to feel crappy: dizzy, lethargic, grumpy, constipation or diarrhea, maybe even nauseous. They definitely emphasize staying very hydrated and drinking tons of water. They don't restrict calories, they tell you to eat/juice whenever you want. They tell you to plan to eat about 5-6 times a day

Anyway, wish me luck, guys! I'm starting my juicing June 11th and completing it June 21st.

If you're interested, you can watch the entire documentary here: http://www.jointhereboot.com/

Stila One Step Skin Tone Illuminating Serum

Now, I never believed in illuminators. As a matter of fact, I HATED them because I felt their existence was a way to make money without actually selling anything. To me, illuminators were like the Emperor's new clothes. There wasn't actually any results at all to them.

My mom and I went into Ulta one day and were drawn to the Stila area because of the awesome look this product had. After taking a moment to talk sufficient amount of shit about illuminators, I decided to demonstrate how useless they are. I applied the product to exactly half of my face and showed my mom. She said, "Your face looks great!" I replied, "What?! Of course it doesn't because this stuff makes no difference!" I looked in the magnified, lighted mirror beside me and there wasn't a difference that I noticed. I decided to apply it to the rest of my face in case there WAS a difference that appeared later on and I didn't want to look like an idiot the rest of the day with half my face illuminated.

After about a minute, I went back to the mirror, to prove myself right, and lo and behold, my face looked amazing! It was flawless and smooth, beautiful! I was shocked, to say the least, that an illuminator actually made any difference whatsoever! I was completely blow away. I later came back and purchased it and wore it last night. Ummmm. . . . Wow. My face looked phenomenal through the ENTIRE night, even after being moist and hot in an non-AC'd bar. This product is a work of God. I swear, this is the best makeup investment I've ever made ever. I don't know how it would work with people who wear foundation or anything else on their face like tinted moisturize, etc, but on bare skin, this is amazing.

Also, Stila does not test on animals. :-)

Evolution vs. Creationism

Are We Sliding Backward on Teaching Evolution?

Tennessee enacted a law giving teachers the freedom to question evolution and teach creationism. To be honest with you, I don't remember being taught either in school. And if we actually did get taught anything, it was evolution and it was barely skimmed over.

Honestly, neither side can prove they're right 100%. Can we not just teach evolution as a theory? We teach all the other scientific theories, so why is evolution so controversial? There are controversial things in school all the time! I mean, whatever happened to separating church and state? Teaching creationism should be up to the parent, because religious and spiritual duties should be the parents' job, NOT the schools'.

Yes, I think evolution should be taught, but as it is: a theory. Evolution is a theory, there is no argument among anyone on that. So what is the problem introducing the theory? Not every religion thinks of creationism the same way, so how would a school teach it?

It sees like such a simple solution to me. . . Thoughts?

Oppression by the Oppressed

The Kurd, the oppressor of Kurdistan

It has always been intriguing to me when a person of a certain minority group, be it race or ethnicity, etc, is intolerant of another group. It's mind-boggling, actually! How could one possibly be oppressive and intolerant to another group when she/he knows exactly how it feels to be on the receiving end? To me, it makes zero sense. 

The Kurds have suffered so much at the hands of, well, everyone. They understand how it feels to be judged by simply being you. What sense does it make that they would be intolerant of the LGBT community? 

I know that every society/group has the in-group and the out-group. SOMEONE has to be the out-group, period. That's just how we are wired. But why not focus that out-group energy to ones who deserve it, like the limitless oppressors of Kurds? 

Rest in peace, Ahmet Yildiz. 

No Ruz Resolutions

So as you all know, No Ruz is coming up in a couple of days! No Ruz = Iranian New Year. It is the first day of Spring every year. So, being as I'm Iranian and American, I can mix and match my cultures. So this year, I will be making No Ruz resolutions! I actually did not make New Years Resolutions in January, so I'm glad to do it now.

• Less (much, much less) cussing. I cuss entirely way too much, to the point where I'm cussing around my parents. NOT a good look. . . AT ALL! That's not cute, glamorous, graceful, or ladylike - which are things I admire. I mean, there are times and places for cussing. All the time is not one of them. LOL! But really, did Audrey Hepburn cuss like a sailor? Perhaps, but not constantly. Even in Breakfast at Tiffany's,  her rough, raw way of talking wasn't cussing, it was just inappropriate. Haha! Anyway. . . 
• Learn more and more and more about Kurdish culture and history. Let's face is, Kurdish blood runs through my veins. I need to know MUCH more than Wikipedia and Google search results have to offer. I know there is a Kurdish community in Dallas somewhere, so I'm gonna try to hook up with them, get some cultural knowledge. 
• Try to get my name change official. I'm ready to get this over and done with, period! I wish it was easier/cheaper, but it's not, so. . . 

Alright, so that's all for now! SALE NO MOBARAK, everyone! ("Happy New Year" in Farsi) ;-)

My Review of "A Thousand Splendid Suns" by Khaled Hosseini

Disclaimer: I cannot judge this book fairly because I hated a lot of what the author wrote about in the story as far as domestic abuse.
So this is the same author who wrote "The Kite Runner," which is an incredible book. He has a good writing style that is very easy to read, and his stories are incredibly easy to see in your mind's eye. The way he describes his characters and settings is vivid and amazing. The story itself had a lot of husband beating the shit out of wives and sometimes daughter. This marred much of the book for me to where I actually hated it. Like "The Kite Runner," the story itself is very upsetting, so beware!

Female Hate in The US

The US likes to think that we're progressive and equal and happy and perfect. As we all know, this is not true. Ask any minority.

Now, this post is about how we as a "progressive" society still, to this day, hold women at a lower level than men. There is still a difference in pay for men and woman (small, but still different), women are still in less positions of power than men hold, but also, women are blamed for more faults.

This is what I mean:
Why when the Chris Brown/Rihanna story JUST came out (that Chris beat the shit out of Rihanna and photos were leaked from the police reports), a very LARGE amount of people immediately started defending Christ Brown with statements like,

"But what did SHE do?"
"She probably deserved it."
and my personal favorite,
"If a woman was on me like that, I'd do the same thing!"

First off, when the story just broke, all we knew was Rihanna was badly, badly hurt and it was Chris Brown who doled out the beating. Nothing more. But I find it very interesting how many people were on Chris's side so immediately. Why is this? Why are we quick to demonize Rihanna, all 5' 8", 130 lbs of her, instead of listening to the police report that blames ADMITTED Chris Brown, all 6' 2", 180 lbs of him.

Then, when he goes and publicly admits this part in this terrible event, everyone is like, "Oh my gosh, we forgive you! How horrible this whole thing must be for you." WHAT?? No one was running to Rihanna with that reaction as ferociously as they were running to Chris Brown. I mean, I was actually listening to a morning radio show and the host was talking about the incident. He was RELATING to Chris Brown and how bad he felt for him. No mention of Rihanna. At All. This can't be right. It really can't.

Why are we blaming her? Why are we blaming her??? We do we take the man's side? I know someone whose husband cheated on her, so she divorced him, and her own FAMILY blamed her and was on his side through the whole thing. Now, you can say the family is demented, but how many people do you know who do this same type of thing: quick to place blame on the woman? It's more common than you think.

An interesting thought as well:

A blogged asked about this same incident - how would the public react if he beat Taylor Swift instead of Rihanna? Hmmm. .

By the way, for Chris & Rihanna's incident, the full police report was recently leaked, and here it is:

“Brown was driving a vehicle with Robyn F. as the front passenger on an unknown street in Los Angeles. Robyn F. picked up Brown’s cellular phone and observed a three-page text message from a woman who Brown had a previous sexual relationship with.

“A verbal argument ensued and Brown pulled the vehicle over on an unknown street, reached over Robyn F. with his right hand, opened the car door and attempted to force her out. Brown was unable to force Robyn F. out of the vehicle because she was wearing a seat belt. When he could not force her to exit, he took his right hand and shoved her head against he passenger window of the vehicle, causing an approximate one-inch raised circular contusion.

“Robyn F. turned to face Brown and he punched her in the left eye with his right hand. He then drove away in the vehicle and continued to punch her in the face with his right hand while steering the vehicle with his left hand. The assault caused Robyn F.’s mouth to fill with blood and blood to splatter all over her clothing and the interior of the vehicle.

“Brown looked at Robyn F. and stated, ‘I’m going to beat the sh– out of you when we get home! You wait and see!’

” The detective said “Robyn F.” then used her cell phone to call her personal assistant Jennifer Rosales, who did not answer.

“Robyn F. pretended to talk to her and stated, ‘I’m on my way home. Make sure the police are there when I get there.’ After Robyn F. faked the call, Brown looked at her and stated, ‘You just did the stupidest thing ever! Now I’m really going to kill you!’

“Brown resumed punching Robyn F. and she interlocked her fingers behind her head and brought her elbows forward to protect her face. She then bent over at the waist, placing her elbows and face near her lap in [an] attempt to protect her face and head from the barrage of punches being levied upon her by Brown.

“Brown continued to punch Robyn F. on her left arm and hand, causing her to suffer a contusion on her left triceps (sic) that was approximately two inches in diameter and numerous contusions on her left hand.

“Robyn F. then attempted to send a text message to her other personal assistant, Melissa Ford. Brown snatched the cellular telephone out of her hand and threw it out of the window onto an unknown street.

“Brown continued driving and Robyn F. observed his cellular telephone sitting in his lap. She picked up the cellular telephone with her left hand and before she could make a call he placed her in a head lock with his right hand and continued to drive the vehicle with his left hand.

“Brown pulled Robyn F. close to him and bit her on her left ear. She was able to feel the vehicle swerving from right to left as Brown sped away. He stopped the vehicle in front of 333 North June Street and Robyn F. turned off the car, removed the key from the ignition and sat on it.

“Brown did not know what she did with the key and began punching her in the face and arms. He then placed her in a head lock positioning the front of her throat between his bicep and forearm. Brown began applying pressure to Robyn F.’s left and right carotid arteries, causing her to be unable to breathe and she began to lose consciousness.

“She reached up with her left hand and began attempting to gouge his eyes in an attempt to free herself. Brown bit her left ring and middle fingers and then released her. While Brown continued to punch her, she turned around and placed her back against the passenger door. She brought her knees to her chest, placed her feet against Brown’s body and began pushing him away. Brown continued to punch her on the legs and feet, causing several contusions.

“Robyn F. began screaming for help and Brown exited the vehicle and walked away. A resident in the neighborhood heard Robyn F.’s plea for help and called 911, causing a police response. An investigation was conducted and Robyn F. was issued a Domestic Violence Emergency Protective Order.”

My Review of "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini

GREAT BOOK! Two thumbs up, 5 stars, however you want to say it, this book is incredible. It is heart-breaking and intimately depressing. This is the author's first novel, and he did an amazing job. He is Afghani, so he captures the culture perfectly. He uses some Farsi words in here sparingly and most of the time, he'll tell the meaning, but sometimes he doesn't. You might need to look these words up (or ask me), because they are essential to the story.
The story follows 2 boys in their childhood growing up, from the point of view of one of them. You will feel an array of emotions with this book, and I think that if an author can make you feel this deeply, he did a great job. :-)
Also, if you haven't seen the movie, I actually recommend you see it first. I saw the movie first, then read the book, and it was so much more powerful to me.

Mexico's Danger & US Immigration Laws

Dangerous path to legal status for some immigrants - CNN

Let's talk about this. The gist of the article is this: a girl was brought into the US illegally when she was 7 years old. When she turned 18, she got married and had a son. This somehow did not make her eligible to become a US citizen, so through her attempts to become a legal resident, she had to move back to Mexico to file an appeal. Her husband (a US citizen who does not speak Spanish) moved down there with her to keep his family together and support her. The very dangerous city they were basically pushed into has numerous, numerous deaths happening all the time. Her husband was shot 80 times and is now dead.

Why is the danger of modern-day Mexico not considered when looking at cases like these. US immigration laws are not the same thing for everyone, and a case-by-case basis should be the way this is all handled. First of all, her husband was a born-US-citizen. Why was this not simple for her to become a resident at least, though him? Also, why did she had to file an appeal in the most dangerous city and not in her ACTUAL home, the US? She came when she was 7 years old and had NO CHOICE in the decision. Children should be grandfathered in as residents because they did not choose to come to a country illegally. 

A US CITIZEN died due to the horrible immigration laws and through the "punishment" the US was attempting to give the woman because she had lived here illegally (through no fault of her own). Thoughts?

My Review of "The Last Testament" by God (with David Javerbaum)

This is a very funny book. You have to have some type of working knowledge of most of the major religions to get the jokes and hilarity, but even without it, it's a silly book. Study up on Islam, Christianity and Judaism to get the full hilarious effect of it all. Someone without a sense of humor about religion and God will hate this book. I really liked it, and at times, I laughed pretty hard at the jokes. I do recommend it, but wait until paperback because I think it's only offered in hardback right now.

My Review of "The Chimps of Fauna Sanctuary" by Andrew Westoll

Don't read this book if you don't want to cry. It's not sad the whole way through, but you will cry, guaranteed. This is about the Chimpanzee sanctuary in Canada, that houses chimps who lived most (if not their whole lives) in labs being tested on and otherwise mistreated. These chimps are incredible beings. You have no idea how similar they are in behavior to human beings. This book tells you the story of the chimps, their lives in the sanctuary, and their lives before it. Incredible, touching story that gets you thinking about these chimps and how amazing they are.

My Review of "The Enough Moment" by John Prendergast with Don Cheadle

This book is important for a few reasons. First of all, conflicts in Africa are generally overlooked by Americans unless it concerns N Africa (part of the middle east). Second of all, the lessons in this look does not just apply to Africa. Basically, the human rights crimes that are addressed are rape as a weapon of war, child soldiering, and the like. Many rebel groups use this against communities to break them down. A powerful way to destroy the backbone of a society is to target it's most innocent, helpless, and or defenseless. The stories in here that some survived are so bad, you can't believe a human being could commit them. But the same person who suffered each of these turned their life into something helpful to their community. This book is endlessly inspirational and forces you to think about when your "enough moment" is: when will you come to the point where you are done with sitting there, letting atrocities happen and finally ready to do something about it.

My Review of "Bossypants" by Tina Fey

This book was written by comedian Tina Fey, and it's not necessarily a memoir, but. . . it kinda is. It's basically a comedy book, but she does tell about her life, including childhood, teenage years, and adulthood. She tells these stories through short stories and they are hilarious.

I was never a big fan of Tina Fey as far as her Saturday Night Live work and didn't think she was great in movies, but she is a fantastic writer, that's for sure. Her tone through this book is so easy to understand and she gets her sarcasm across very easily.

This book is very worth the purchase. It had me laughing so hard I had to put the book down quiet a few times to enjoy my hearty laughs. She's very relatable and is very talented. If you want a fun read and a good time, buy this book!

We Have A Problem

Does it sound cold and calloused that I am SICK of seeing a middle eastern country making headlines every single day on CNN.com? Now, let me clarify something: I am not annoyed by any means that there is disruption and riots and protests in these countries. Not at all. What I'm angry about is that there are problems HERE that need IMMEDIATE attention and IMMEDIATE remedies, but are simply being ignored or put on the back burner.

Media is responsible for relaying news to the masses about what is important, and unfortunately, many rely on these mediums to tell them how to feel and what to care about at any given moment. I do not blame people for this, and I am guilty of falling prey to the influence of the media, as well. So to the people, I have no problems. "With great power comes great responsibility," and that is what the media has.

As in-the-know as I like to believe I am, I knew close to nothing about the goings on in Mexico. Sure, you know there's corruption due to the drug cartels, but what else do you know? Do you know about the public gutting on display or the decapitations? What about the rolling heads at the local stores during business hours, or the harassment of citizens to the point of poverty and starvation? Are we told about the constant danger that citizens are put in on a daily basis from the cartels? I know this simply because I have many Hispanic friends with family currently in Mexico.

It's funny, as worried as the politicians and local people are about illegal immigration, there is never any coverage on the reason or anything even relating to life in Mexico right now. Is it that Americans just don't care because "it's not their problem?" Because if that's the case, then why is the middle east being constantly covered? Is it due to gas prices?! That's ridiculous and I don't believe it for a second.

I am positive, positive if more people knew about the goings on in Mexico there would be more action and more care on the subject. Things would be very different here in reference to opinions if there was education on the atrocities. What happens in Mexico directly affects Americans, way more so than what happens in Syria.

. . . What about media coverage on things in the US, like poverty, prejudice towards Muslims and other minority groups? What about our education system or our PRISON system? Don't even get me started on our prison system. . . I'll save it for another blog!

As Tupac Shakur eloquently said, "We have money for wars, but can't feed the poor." Like him, I will never be able to grasp that concept. Could anyone, really?

My Review of "Life in Prison" by Stanley "Tookie" Williams

I just finished reading "Life in Prison," by Stanley "Tookie" Williams. It's actually a non-fiction book for teens. It's very short: 80 pages long and is in medium print. The point of this book was for Stan to let young people know the real deal about prison and prison life, not what people on the streets or movies tell them, hyping prison up.

He goes through the steps of the thorough and constant strip searches that inmates experience multiple times a day. He addresses the subject of solitary confinement and the extreme loneliness of prison life itself. Stan tells of how prison breaks you apart mentally, and that many people lose their minds while incarcerated. He speaks of the imminent danger that is constantly around inmates, in fear of each other.

Stan takes that "cool" image that so many young people have in their minds about prison and smashes it into a million pieces. This book is real, but age-appropriate enough for pre-teens and young teens as well. The point of this book is to make young people realize that prison is not what they want for their lives, and nothing is worth going to prison for.

Stanley Williams has written many books for young people that have been incorporated and available in many schools across the country. He has also written a memoir called "Blue Rage, Black Redemption" that is most definitely one of my favorite books ever. He was nominated for multiple Nobel Peace Prizes and is an incredible man, period. I strongly recommend anything he has come out with.