Oh, how times have changed.
I've been meaning to write about marijuana use for a while now, because I feel that the perspective I offer on the matter is one lacking from the public eye. Teenagers who use marijuana are generally portrayed in one of two different ways: the enviably cool stoners of Dazed and Confused or the drug-addicted "bad girls" of Thirteen (correct me if I'm wrong; I haven't seen the latter film and am basing this dichotomy on a superficial knowledge of the film's plot). The only time that I have seen anything comparable to my experiences with the drugs was in the "Chokin' & Tokin'" episode of Freaks and Geeks in which the main character, Lindsey, after getting stoned for the first time, proceeds to read the entry on "marijuana" in the encyclopedia. Let's just say that I read no less than twenty articles and research papers on the subject before finally conceding to myself that I was not going to get schizophrenia or kill all of my brain cells, never to see the light of conscious thinking ever again.
What I said in the old entry I linked to above is still my opinion on the use of narcotics and other "hard drugs," and while I do believe that some people may use marijuana as a "gateway drug," that number is small and depends largely on outside factors affecting the person (socioeconomic background, personal life, genetic predisposition to addiction, etc.). I have never made attempts to hide the fact that I occasionally use marijuana (occasionally meaning once every few months to twice a month), because I am neither ashamed of it nor displeased at the choices I have made. It was a wholly personal choice, uninfluenced by "peer pressure," and a well-informed one at that. Reading articles like Stephen J. Dunber's collection of opinions on the legalization of marijuana and watching documentaries on the war against drugs made me realize that many of the government's efforts to stem marijuana use in the teenage demographic are based on propaganda and, simply, a waste of money. In 1993 alone, the government spent $19 billion dollars on the "war on drugs." This money was reported as being largely spent on locking up people for marijuana possession-- people who were engaging in personal use of the drug, not even selling it to others. In a country in which healthcare and public education seem to be at a loss for money, why is this astronomical sum being spent on "crimes" that are, in many other countries, decriminalized, instead of spending it on the bettering of the public being? Has there been a drop in drug usage, particularly marijuana, in the last forty years that we have been fighting this war?
I'm not saying that the country should stop educating children about drug usage, it's just that, in my experience, all of the D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) classes that I was made to take in elementary school and throughout middle school didn't prevent me from doing anything. Whether or not I do certain drugs, and this seems to be a running theme amongst the teenagers that I know, is a personal choice. I have friends that do drugs because their home life is difficult, I have friends who do drugs simply because they would like to expand their consciousness, I have friends that don't do drugs because of bad personal connotations with it, and I have friends who don't do drugs simply because they just don't. I don't even hide my marijuana use from my parents, because I think that as the people who raised me, they deserve to know what I'm doing and to understand my reasoning for it.
When I first told my mother that I had tried marijuana, she was visibly somewhat upset. I think that she was accepting of my choice, and understood that it was almost inevitable for me to try it, but did not entirely see the reasons for a straight-A student to want to try drugs (although she herself had tried it a few times when she was younger). I explained my reasons to her, and we agreed that I was mature enough to make intelligent decisions.
I simply wish more people would talk to their parents about it. If they are resorting to drug use because of personal issues, this is of the utmost importance. Some parents will likely not be as accepting and understanding as mine have been, but some might-- and that makes a difference.
As for me, I'm going to a party. Time to be a teenager.
Well, I'm in the market for a new bike.
My bike has always been pretty stiff, it has always been a bit difficult to steer, and the brakes have always been real bad, but now the whole thing is practically unrideable. I don't know what the deal is, but turning the pedals takes serious effort even on level ground, and climbing any sort of significant incline is pretty much physically impossible.
This problem seemed to spring up after I got it to Pasadena, but I'd thought it was just that the wheels were low. So today I took it over to the bike shop (I had to walk it the whole 3.5 miles because by then the back tire was completely flat) and got the tires all fixed up. But then I went to ride it home and, shit o lord, it wasn't the slightest bit easier to move the thing. I still had to fight it like crazy and I actually just about fell over trying to ride through an intersection. It was like pedaling through tar. I dismounted and walked it home again.
The guys at the shop told me that unless I'm working on developing freakishly huge Incredible Hulk-esque leg muscles, I ought to have the whole braking system replaced. They let me ride around a few new city/beach-cruiser-ish bikes and I was Blown Away by how much easier to ride they were than mine. Pedaling, steering, riding in a straight line. All 1000000000x easier. And the brakes! I could actually stop when I wanted to! Amazing! I had no clue how stiff my bike really was until I got on one of those. And here I'd been thinking I was just pathetically out of shape or something. It's like a whole new world has opened up before my eyes.
So, I need a new bike. I am sad about it. My bike has served me well this past year. I rode it around all last Summer and loved it like a child. Thomas gave it to me. I like that bike.
But it just isn't doing its job anymore. And after almost wiping out in the middle of an intersection and being bashed in the shins repeatedly by its pedals during our 7-mile walk today, I've lost most of the affection I once had for it. It is time for it to go.
Here. Hit the play button and do a little bit of feeling good today.
Grab your helmet, check the air in your tires, and hop on your bike because in many U.S. cities, May 12 - 16 is Bike to Work Week! Six Apart has a lot of biking enthusiasts, so we're very excited to support this event by encouraging all of our employees to bike to work this week. San Francisco's Bike to Work Day is tomorrow, Thursday, May 15th, and New York's is Friday, May 16th.
Six Apart is helping out its employees by providing maps (shaded according to steepness - a must in SF!) to help everyone plan out his/her route, as well as finding first-time riders buddies to commute with. We're also supporting ALL SF riders who pass the front of our office by handing out coffee, juice and snacks from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. tomorrow morning. If you're in our neighborhood, look for the sign that says "Six Apart Supports Bike to Work Day" and stop by to say hi and get energized!
Improve your health, financial status, productivity, and happiness by joining thousands - maybe even millions - of commuters around the country who are hopping on their bikes to get to work. Visit the Bike to Work Week website to find out more about events in your area.
Support the two-wheeled way of life with the "Passing Left" theme found in "Photo-Based" in the Design Area. Planning on cycling to work this week? Let us know in the comments!
Someone had gone piled up a bunch of trash that accumulated on Morse Mt. beach over winter, mostly lobster traps.
OK, so, if we’re to condemn Barrack Obama because the pastor of his church said some inflammatory things, how much more upset should we be with John McCain for selecting as his convention chief a man who was a shill for the Burmese regime?
If Jeremiah Wright shouting “God damn America” during some overblown sermon somehow bruises Obama’s presidential electability, then doesn’t McCain employing as senior counsel and spokesman a man who has made millions working in cahoots with the likes of Ferdinand Marcos and Ibrahim Babangida render him unelectable?
Last time I checked, human rights violations were bad and freedom of speech was good.
Life is full of tough choices. If you’re currently stuck in a quandary, consider the fact that you could be faced with much harder options from which to choose. You might’ve, for example, unknowingly disturbed a sleeping Djinn and then found yourself having to make really terrible choices such as these:
♠ Would you rather swim naked through a city block of sewage or keep a severed fish head in your underwear for a week?
♠ Would you rather eat bumble bees or poison ivy?
♠ Would you rather have teeth made out of chalk or a bellybutton that continually seeps a black, oily discharge?
♠ Would you rather have nerves in your fingernails or no nerves in your happy place?
♠ Would you rather brush your teeth with a used toilet scrubber or wipe your ass with 60-grit sandpaper?
♠ Would you rather smell strongly of cat piss or wear a sweat-stained maternity bra on your head the rest of your life?
♠ Would you rather spontaneously belch whenever anyone says your name or end every sentence with: “So sayeth Plumpy the Wet Booger!”
♠ Would you rather be the corpse-eating sidekick of an immortal serial killer or Ann Coulter’s sex slave?
Yeah, your silly dilemma doesn’t seem so tough now, does it? So pick already!
As we mentioned last week, we had to postpone the maintenance that was due to occur on Thursday, May 8th.
We have rescheduled the maintenance for tonight, Tuesday, May 13th, starting at 6:00 P.M. Pacific Daylight Time (that's 1:00 A.M. UTC/GMT). We'll be taking Vox offline for a bit in order to move the service to a brand new home in some bright, shiny new server racks. We don't expect to be offline for more than an hour or two, but we apologize in advance for any inconvenience this may cause.
Again, thank you for your patience as we continue to invest in Vox's infrastructure!
The weather doesn't matter, Morse is always a good trip. This is looking down from the 'mountain,' about half way to the beach from the parking lot.
I am back in school / school is back upon me. I am really glad, actually. I can feel like a real human again instead of a sea urchin. I was playing The Sims 2 so much that my brain is still working in sim-mode. I feel compelled to micro-manage all the tasks in my life and figure out the best way balance my different wants and needs in order to keep my health bar in the green as I race against the clock of life. Luckily, in real life it does not take me 5 minutes to walk across the room and I seldom wish to be abducted by aliens or throw sport parties or buy rugs costing at least $600 or make out with 6 different people or see ghosts or be saved from death.
sigh. I don't know any Sims 2 players. No one will get my geeky references.
Anyhoo (anywho?). I really liked my Materials class today. The two instructors are highly entertaining and interesting and I think it's going to be a great class.
