what happened to the "yes we can!" attitude?

i'm gonna be honest, i don't want to blog about politics, but i just can't help myself right now.

what's so effing bad about universal health-care system? if you are against this idea, then please, just for one second consider what you would do right now if you were one of the 47 million americans who don't have health-care [http://blogs.usatoday.com/oped/2009/07/america-cannot-afford-to-wait-on-health-care-reform-.html]. maybe you work a minimum wage job and your employer won't give you enough hours to get full benefits. what if you have kids that need health-care? a dentist? glasses? some like to claim or assume that people who don't have health-care coverage are just lazy. just homeless. just whatever. and it's simply not true. if you put yourself in the shoes of someone else who is actually in desperate need of some form of health-care, you may see that what Obama's trying to do is actually quite helpful.

i read this article in the seattle times a couple days ago and thought it was really interesting: "http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/health/2009506926_canahealth21.html it talks about the myths and truths of canada's health care system and there was a lot of information in there that i wasn't aware of. one thing i found interesting and quite disturbing was the fact that canada spends 10% of GDP on health-care and everyone, every where is covered. the US spends 15.3% of GDP and we still have millions of people with no care. there is obviously a major issue with the way our money is being spent.

let me make myself clear. i am not a socialist, by any means. and neither is obama, as much as people loooove to make him seem like one. lots of people are quick to judge that obama was the wrong choice, that he's done nothing to help the country since he's been in office. the state of our economy and other things - the health care system being one of them, provided obama with a country falling apart at the seams as he stepped into office. i'd say we need to be a little more hopeful and supportive of what he's trying to accomplish. no one would have been able to fix our situation in a few short months, no matter how much experience they had. what happened to the "yes we can!" attitude that we all (or at least Obama's supporters...) had when we was elected and then inaugurated?

my "friends" on facebook are not actually my friends.

i'm starting to realize that the majority of my "friends" on facebook are not actually my friends. they're mostly acquaintances from college or old friends from high school that i no longer correspond with. some of the people that i'm "friends" with that go to whitworth don't even say hi to me when they see me on campus (though, i'm just as guilty as they are). can i really consider someone i met one time and won't even wave at in the cafeteria a "friend"? it's a weird realization for me. i've never been the type that had a lot of friends. my phone was never ringing off the hook and my calendar was never jam-packed with social events. i usually have a small core group that i get to know really well and stick with them for a long time. of course, there are always people outside that group that i consider to be my friends, but they're no more than people to talk to or eat lunch with. i would not go to them for advice or even to hang out if i'm bored. and when i think about how many friends i actually have, there aren't very many. i guess that's just my personality. i can get along with pretty much anyone. i'm super welcoming and i really do like meeting new people, it just takes a long time for me to get to know a person well enough to consider them a close friend.

there's a part of me that wishes i was just friends with everyone - that my phone would be ringing off the hook with people trying to talk to me and hang out. but on the other hand, i am a pretty independent person. as much as i love being with friends, i need a good amount of alone time if i want to function properly. i need time to think through things and just be. or maybe i just hate feeling too busy and rushed. when you've got so many people to spend time with, how can you ever really focus on the person you're with, when you're only thinking about how you're seeing someone else in two hours?

or maybe it's a trust thing. maybe i don't get close to people for a long time because i don't trust them yet. while on the other side of that, if a friend breaks my trust after i've let my walls down, it's the worst thing in the world.

it's just weird to step back and look at my life. i have a hundred acquaintances and a very few good friends that i would trust my life with. and i think i like it that way?

it promises to be a good birthday.

my summer's almost half over. it's weird to think that i've been home for six weeks already. that's probably because without a job, i've felt useless. i applied to twelve places and have interviewed at two places, but didn't get the job at either. though, i'm almost glad the second place that i interviewed at did not give me the job because i would have died working there. they just seemed so concerned with appearance and style - more concerned with looking the part than actually having good qualities as an employee. a place that shallow is not a place that i want to be working. i'm still hoping that another store will call. at least i'm housesitting soon, which will get me a little money to tide me over.

this weekend should be pretty exciting. the fourth of july is on saturday, which i love! me and alissa are going to go watch the fireworks on the plateau. yes. i know that's totally lame, but at least it'll be fun to go together. i don't really know what i'm going to do the rest of the day, but something will come up, i'm sure. and then sunday is my birthday! in four days, i'll no longer be a teenager. that is weird. but, 20's not a very exciting age. i wish i was turning 21, but not because i want to drink. i don't care about that at all. mostly, i'd just like to be able to go to 21 and over shows! i don't know how many times i've wanted to go to a show and i couldn't because it was 21+. so lame. oh well, that's still only one year to wait. plus, i'm going to see nevershoutnever and the ready set on my birthday at el corazon! that should be a blast. there are rarely shows on my birthday because it's right after a holiday. boys like girls are also playing, but i don't really care about them. i saw them last summer with the maine. they were pretty good, i just don't really care about seeing them again. it promises to be a good birthday.

two more months at home, and then it's back to school. i'm so excited to go back! i can't wait to move into the brand new dorm. and honestly, i'm excited for all my new classes. when i tell people i'm taking physics in the fall - by choice, they think i'm out of my mind, but i can't wait! physics was my favorite science in high school. i just hope that i don't regret my decision to take it.

i'd really like to find a place to horseback ride while i'm home this summer. i miss it a lot. it's been almost two years since i've ridden on a regular basis. it's crazy to think that that part of my life was so important to me for so long, and now it's been absent from my life for two years. hopefully i'll find a place soon!

i got my hair done last week. finally! i hadn't gotten it cut since march and it had grown so much. i tried to dye my own hair before i got it cut, but just ended up messing it up so hardcore. so, i decided i would just get it colored when i went to get it cut. of course, when i looked up the salon online to find the number to make an appointment, i realized the guy who cut my hair last time (which was amazing) was not at the salon any more! so, i went stalker-status and googled his name! luckily, it linked to his twitter so i contacted him on there, which worked out perfectly. i got an appointment two days later. and now, my hair looks bomb. i got quite a bit cut off and it's the shortest i've ever had it, but i love it! and the color looks amazing. it took three hours to do, but it was worth it!