Just me

Before I officially start this post, I feel I should warn you. With a few exceptions, I don't really like to get too personal on this blog. That's just not my style. But in the post I'm about to write (although I must admit I'm still debating whether I should actually write it, and if so, whether I really want to publish it) I will be getting a little bit more personal. So, if that's not really your style either, if that doesn't interest you one tiny bit, you should probably run away... right... about... now!

Not too long ago, I finally joined Facebook. I had actively and persistantly resisted it before (you see, even though I have not one, but two blogs, I am in fact not very much - or not at all - into technology), but when a good friend of mine who is perhaps even more technologically challenged than I am, ventured onto Facebook, I couldn't very well stay behind. So, like the millions and millions of people who went before me, I now am the proud owner of my very own Facebook-page. Once I found some people who were actually willing to publicly admit to being my friends, Facebook started to throw all of these people my way, suggesting that I might know them. Some of them I know or knew, most of them I have never heard of. Of the ones I actually know or have known, most I like and if for some reason we haven't stayed in touch, I would very much like to see what they're up to these days. However, there are also a few I don't really care for and I would have been fine to have never been reminded of them ever again (thank you very much, Facebook!).  These few people (really, just one or two, I don't want you to think there are all these people out there that I don't like) I met in high school. Which kind of brought me back and got me thinking about my time in school (thanks again, Facebook!). I guess I was a pretty weird kid in high school. I was really shy. I never quite knew what to say. I was awkward and quirky. I wore cheap and often second-hand clothes, with which I desperately tried to create my own style (I failed miserably, if you must know). In short, I wasn't cool at all. Definitely not one of the popular kids. Don't get me wrong, I had some amazingly awesome friends! Still do! But there were also a few people who just didn't really seem to like me very much. Fortunately, I didn't get teased too often or too badly. But I did get made fun of every once in a while and especially when you're already a shy kid, that's not exactly doing you much good. So... I became even more shy and I desperately wished to be different. Cooler, prettier, less shy, more outspoken. Just anything but myself. And although I absolutely, more than anything in the world, wanted and tried to be different, I never really knew how. It actually took me the longest time (ok, this makes me sound kind of old, it might have just felt like a long time) to figure out why I wasn't very succesful at being different. The answer is actually quite obvious. Because you just can't be different. You just can't be what you're not (I know, this is starting to sound a bit too philosofical, but bear with me). This doesn't mean you will always be the same. You change, you grow, you learn, you evolve. And you should. But I believe this only concerns the nuances of who you are. The person that you are, your personality, your soul, that doesn't change. Nor should it. You just simply are who you are and you don't have to do anything about it. Now, realising that is one thing, accepting it is another. Accepting who you are, weird quirks and all, isn't the easiest thing to do (especially after having been teased for who you are and after trying to be different for so long). But personally, I like to think I've come a long way! Now I like that I'm a little different and that I have some weird little quirks. I like it when my boyfriend calls me his little weirdo (which he means in the nicest possible way, I assure you). Being normal is just boring anyway! I like it that I'm just me now. That doesn't mean that I'm never insecure anymore, but what I guess I'm trying to say is (I guess, because half the time I don't even really know myself what I'm trying to say): Just be yourself! Because there isn't anybody else you're going to be. And if you're a little bit different? Even better! And if people don't like who you are? That's their problem, not yours!

Oops, did I get way too personal here? Too much information? Well, I warned you. You should have run when you had the chance!

Loving day

I'm supposed to be working today, instead I'm stuck at home not feeling very well. Having slept untill about 1 in the afternoon already, I'm pretty much all out of sleep right now. But what is one left to do when one isn't feeling up to much else? Browse around the world wide web for random stuff. Look what loveliness I came across:

"This Sunday, June 12, is Loving Day; and celebrations and commemorative events will take place around the nation. Loving Day is the 44th Anniversary of the 1967 unanimous Supreme Court decision in Loving v. Virginia, striking down anti-miscegenation laws.

 

Richard Perry Loving (felicitously named) married Mildred Delores Jeter in June of 1958. Since he was white and she was black, and interracial marriage was prohibited in their home state of Virginia, they traveled to Washington, DC to get married. A few weeks after returning home, they were arrested, pled guilty, and were sentenced to one year in jail. The sentence was suspended for 25 years on condition that the couple leave the state. Appeals within Virginia (while the couple lived elsewhere) upheld their conviction as non-discriminatory because both the white and black spouses were convicted and sentenced equally. Nine years later, the unanimous Loving decision finally put an end to anti-miscegenation laws, and allowed the Lovings to return to their home state.

 

In 2007, a year before she died, Mildred Loving prepared a statement in commemoration of the 40th anniversary of the Loving decision. It concluded:

 

Surrounded as I am now by wonderful children and grandchildren, not a day goes by that I don't think of Richard and our love, our right to marry, and how much it meant to me to have that freedom to marry the person precious to me, even if others thought he was the "wrong kind of person" for me to marry. I believe all Americans, no matter their race, no matter their sex, no matter their sexual orientation, should have that same freedom to marry. Government has no business imposing some people's religious beliefs over others. Especially if it denies people's civil rights.

 

I am still not a political person, but I am proud that Richard's and my name is on a court case that can help reinforce the love, the commitment, the fairness, and the family that so many people, black or white, young or old, gay or straight seek in life. I support the freedom to marry for all. That's what Loving, and loving, are all about."

(Source: Psychology Today)

Personality

Oops, it's been a while since I've written something for my cute little blog over here. I guess I've been a bit too busy with my other blog. I'm sorry, sweet blog of mine, can you forgive me? (I like to think it will say yes, but then again, it's probably not a very good sign of my mental health when I hear my blog speaking to me)

I like sunday. I think it's my favorite day of the week (but I guess that's true for most people). I like to do as little useful things on sunday as I can and stay in my pyjama's way too long. Today I found this fun personality quiz (found it via How About Orange) to waste my time with. I don't think the outcome was all that accurate, but I still like it. Here is what it said about me:

My personality

Mood: Go Getter

You're an adventurous soul (who sits behind her computer on a sunday afternoon in her pink bathrobe taking a personality quiz, very adventurous that soul of mine!) with a bit of a romantic outlook. You have a very creative spirit and love to search out new experiences that will fuel your imagination. Your choice of drink (I choose water, because I'm boring and that happens to be what I drink most) shows that you care about your health and make sure you're putting the right stuff in (does chocolate count as 'the right stuff' too?). When it comes to holidays you see them as the perfect chance to further yourself and to learn more about the world around you. You like to be immersed in a completely different world and would be really bored just sitting on a beach (ok, that's true, I like walking on the beach, but just sitting on it? No, thank you).

Fun: Thriller

As for the home you have an expressive personality (I do? I did not know that, it might explain the bright orange wall in my bedroom though). You like your surroundings to be simple and comfortable (does anyone really like their surroundings to be uncomfortable?) - with a really romantic feel. You love physical activity (I do??? That's news to me!) - you've got serious wanderlust. Keeping a clear head and healthy body makes you ready for whatever life throws at you. For kicks you like to indulge and treat yourself to whatever you like. After all you only live once!

Habits: New Wave Puritan

When it comes to art you tend to have a traditional approach (I picked out a painting of Van Gogh... what can I say, I'm a sucker for a crazy guy who cuts of his own ear, I did not realise that made me traditional). You are passionate about history (if only someone told me that in highschool, I might not have failed it) and true classics. Truly great art stands the test of time. As for music for you it's all about self expression. Nothing beats it to take you away from everyday reality. You love being a little bit naughty (yep, that's me, breaking rules left and right). Being good all the time is too boring - life should be about enjoyment. When you think of freedom - you think of living for the here and now. You're pretty (ah, thank you!) fearless and take any opportunity open to push yourself to the limit.

Social: Fun

You can never get enough attention or affection. You love to be touched. You love to touch others... And what turns you off: Vanity in a world gone mad. You favor a natural look. Fantastic not plastic. You have real passion for life and you don't like to take things too seriously (such as this quiz). For you friendship is all about enjoying yourself (no, I prefer to always have a bad time when I'm with friends) and seeing the funny side of life.

The story of stuff - summarized for your convenience

Earlier today I posted a great little 20-minute movie called The Story of Stuff. But I've been informed by someone who knows a lot more about this than I do, my brilliant knows-all-about-computers-and-the-people-who-use-them boyfriend, that this video is too long for the attention span of the average internet-surfer. Therefore, I decided to reduce it to a small summary and highlight some of the mindblowing facts that are mentioned in it. I still recommend you go see it though, because it is just so fascinating (to me, at least).

• Annie Leonard, who presents The Story of Stuff, spend 10 years traveling the world to research and track where our stuff comes from and where it goes.
• In the past 3 decades, 1/3 of the earth's natural resources have been consumed.
• 80 % of the planet's original forests are gone.
• The Amazon is losing 2.000 trees a minute.
• During the production of stuff, chemicals are added to the resources that have been extracted from the earth (for example: wood). There are 100.000 synthetic chemicals. Only a few have been tested for the impact they have on us. None have been tested for the impact they have on us once they had a change to interact with eachother.
• BFRs (brominated flame retardants) are neuro-toxins, which means they are toxic to the brain. These chemicals are used on all types of products, including matresses and pillows.
• The food with the highest level of toxic contamination is human breastmilk.
• 1 % of all materials is still in use 6 months after the date of sale. The other 99 % is trashed (in the US).
• Planned obsolescence - "designed for the dump": All kinds of stuff is designed to break after a while (not too quickly, so you don't loose faith in the product, but soon enough) so you buy more.
• Perceived obsolescence: The way things look is changed all the time (clothing, shoes, computers etc.) so you keep buying new stuff, because you don't want to look old-fashioned.
• National happiness (in the US) peeked in the 1950's and has been declining ever since. The 1950's was also the time that the consumption mania exploded.
• Dioxin is the most toxic man-made chemical that exists. The number 1 source of this chemical is the incineration of garbage (thus, the most toxic chemical ever is being blown into the air for us to breath in).
• For every garbage can that leaves our home, 70 garbage cans of waste was created to produce the stuff that ends up in that 1 garbage can.
• A lot of stuff is too toxic to be recycled or just cannot be recycled (since it consist of too many different materials that cannot be separated).

PS: This afternoon, I found a blog called The Zero Waste Home of an American family that strives to create zero waste (by refusing, reducing, reusing and, as a final resort, recycling). Very fascinating!