Election 2012

It's that time again. In one week, people all over the nation will head to polling places and casting their ballots. Now before I get on my soap box, let's be clear, voting is not only a privilege that many are denied but it is your civic duty. It's like taxes; it is the price you pay for being a citizen. That being said, no matter for whom you are voting, please vote. Most states are already allowing people to cast their ballots early and almost every state allows absentee voting if you are not able to make it to the polls for ANY reason [in IL they didn't even ask for a reason].

My Endorsement: President Barack Obama
After doing the research and watching all of the debates, including the VP debate, I am decided to vote Obama/Biden 2012. I agree with his foreign policy and diplomacy, as well as his plan for clean energy and most of his plan for education reform, the higher education part. I believe his k-12 plan focuses too much on testing, which is horrible. Most of all, I believe that the President is always fighting for the middle class and that's extremely comforting to me.

Last week, Colin Powell, republican and former Secretary of State, also endorsed the president. He stated that he agreed more with his foreign policy than that of Gov. Romney. He also noted that Romney changed his stance on many issues as the campaign season progressed. This election is obviously no longer about
 party lines.

UPDATE: In light of his response to Hurricane Sandy, both Governor Chris Christie and Mayor Michael Bloomberg have also endorsed President Barack Obama for re-election.

I don't know much about Mayor Bloomberg but I love Gov. Christie. Although he is a republican, he is a really good governor who cares a lot about everyone is his state. He is forthright and not the type to play politics. However, it is hilarious to me that Gov. Christie was the keynote speaker at the RNC in August and I watched him say in May [I was sitting in the counselor's office trying to get cleared for graduation.]that he would do everything he could to see that Obama was not re-elected; yet, yesterday he had such a drastic change of heart. It becomes very clear who has America's best interest in the wake of a national disaster. Apparently, both Christie and Bloomberg have seen and now understand.

*climbs off soap box*

Alrighty, I'm done. That is my take on it. Feel free to disagree but please do so on a ballot.

I have included the links to various news outlet's endorsements as well. (Not all for Obama)

The Washington Post

The Chicago Tribune

The Detroit News

"To Read" List: Desdemona by Toni Morrison.

I'm so used to not having free time on my hands. Without school, my evenings and weekends are pretty much free. I do a lot more reading than I've done in the past. For a while now I've been working on getting through, "The Complete Series of Oz." It's a lot though. I've only gotten through like five of the thirteen books. Not to mention the, literal, stacks of newspapers and magazines sitting on my floor at home and on my desk at work.

Today I learned some very exciting literary news via Goodreads. Howard University alumna, Toni Morrison, has written a new novel, "Desdemona." Yep, that's right. The Nobel Laureate has re-imagined the heroine from Shakespeare's, "Othello." In this novel, Desdemona speaks from the grave on issues of race, class, and gender. "Desdemona" is the second novel from Morrison this year; "Home" was released in May of this year.

The cover of Toni Morrison's new novel, "Desdemona."

I, for one, am very excited about "Desdemona." As I get older, I appreciate her work more and more. Now both of her new books are on my "to read" list. Hopefully, I'll get through them before the year is over.

October is all about PINK

October is breast cancer awareness month. Really, that's enough said. So for the next 31 days I'm painting the town pink. I'm not even sure how much pink clothing I have but I'm about to find out. Breast cancer has recently hit very close to home for me so now I'm all about awareness and prevention.

So many all victim to breast cancer every year and it is so tragic. There is so much we can do to protect ourselves if we just are a little more aware and go to the doctor regularly. So, lets take care of ourselves, raise our awareness, and remember to wear you pink.



I Was Feeling Crappy and This Helped

This week my first bill from the Department of Education arrived in my mailbox. My only response was instant depression. It just got me to thinking about all the things a don't enjoy about this phase I'm going through.

A long while later, I remembered a post I recently saw at the Thought Catalog, one of the sites I frequent. They always have cute lists and responses to pop culture that are awesome.  The Dos And Don’ts Of Becoming A Grown-Up  by Chelsea Fagan is one of those great things that helps you put this transition into perspective.

My favorite on the list was:
"DON’T be consumed by jealousy. Even though modern technology has basically served to bombard us with endless photographic and text-based proof that our peers are more successful, more beautiful, and more well-adjusted than us, we have to let it go to some degree. If we spend our time immersed in social media, over-analyzing every new detail about how much more fruitful the life of that dude from high school is than ours, we will literally go insane by the age of 25. We can’t let this happen."

Most of y'all know how badly I suffer from envy. I did a post about it during the #AugustWritingChallenge; you can find it here if you missed it. This little tidbit helped me picked myself up. Just thought I should share.

I saw this later on Pinterest; it spoke to me.

Source: beutifulmagazine.tumblr.com via Katie on Pinterest