• The children fat epidemic in America is being blammed all on food and meal plans. What about those 7 hours a day children sit docile in seats with little to no physical stimulation. Do you really think we were made to be dormant and "learn" for half of our days for our childhood years? Am I the only one who sees this corilation?
• What is the difference between an emotion caused by a real situation and an emotion caused by the thought of a real situation? In my case nothing. I have learned that it is simply enough to think that something is going on and automatic emotional response takes over. Sometimes this becomes quiet annoying when, in fact, you spend an entire evening spent with emotions and learn the next day the subject of your outbreak was a figment of your imagination; a hypothetical situation that has yet to occur or may never happen.
• I am 18. Does that really mean anything? I find a common attitude of birthday goers to downplay the birthday scene. "Just another day older than I was yesterday. NOthing special here". To this I respond, hell it is okay to celebrate even if it is all man made. Celebration is necesary. Celebrate that 365 days have passed since you last doubed yourself 17 time measurements and now, you can change that big old 17 to an 18. And even if this number is something assigned to me, I can't help but be excited for the societal benefits that fall into place; I can vote, I can smoke, I can rent a hotel, I can call an infomercial, I can have legal sex....okay so maybe I won't be taking advantage of all these but I don't need to enjoy the fact that they are recognized, country-given rights..however much that is worth.

And now I write to you one of my biggest observations of the week. This may sound a little Ms. Denny, but life is full of symbols. Smaller systems representing larger ones, younger people living after the old, colors standing above and beyond themselves. One symbol, however, that I wish would not exist in my life is The Gym. Behold the all mighty Gym. After repeated phone calls from men with deep voices calling themselves "Bruce", I have decided that the gym is a mini-cosm of the large coorporate machine that resides in the USA. Now, don't judge me here, I have proof of my conclusion. First off, the gym sells unnecesary goods. If we really needed a gym to stay healthy, there would be would in nature...wait a minute, there is! It is called the great outdoors. AFter learning that the public will not go rent itself a canoe, run a triatholon, or even walk their own dog after repeated commercials featuring young athletic tan males sporting their six-packs, America has had to invent a way to sell fitness. Thus we have the gym. This mimics the functioning of our capitalist system, where countless items are made which are unnecesary. For instance, there are more kinds of hair-care products than hopstials in the entire US, when really all we need is shampoo. But where a need for smooth hair exists (or smooth thighs in our case), the producer responds with more useless products, and the invention of the gym. So, now we have the unnecesary gym selling itself as the key to a happy lifestyle. If the entire existence of the gym is not enough, then we have the marketing of it. For those of you who don't know, I do not belong to any gym because I dance each day, thus eliminating the desire to pump iron to stay fit. But occasionally, when the dance season momentarily subsides, I borrow a free pass or two and enjoy a recreational day of gym going. Necesary? No, but sometimes it is enjoyable. The catch to enjoying one "free" day at the gym is not when you find you are being watched by the creapy sweaty man on the elyptical machine, but rather when that waver you signed earlier becomes a permission slip for unlimited harrassing phone calls from your own personal sales men. I have now been contacted by the gym approximately 7 times about special memberships and have been encouraged to take advantage of the situation. The first few times I felt special, like as if the man on the phone genuinely cared for my health, but after call number 5, my suspisions began to change. No matter how friendly they seem, I have discovered that the men on the other end of my phone line do not care whether or not my membership will bring America one step closer to figthing obesity, but rather he cares about the commission he will receive when I sign my life over in check form. The gym today is opporating under the terms of capitalism: "Make them think you care about their needs and what is best for them because only then will you get the money you actually want". Car salesmen do it, healthfood companies do it, the gym is the mother ship of doing it. Selling something that could be had for free, promising you need it and they will give you the best deal, and then guilt tripping you into forseeing your premmature obese death, the gym has done it all.......ladies and gentlemen, I rest my case.

Well, I am feeling fat. I g2g to the gym. Later

¶ 5:04 PM