Supersize Me

With the holiday season in full swing, I could think of nothing better than cuddling up in a pile of blankets with friends and family to watch a movie. Supersize Me caught my eye. I had heard about the premise of the movie from others, but I never really had enough interest to pick it up. Well, after viewing Alexander on last week, and a string of various other unsuccessful films, I decided a documentary was in order.

This documentary is rather simple, it follows Morgan Spurlock as he goes on a 30-day "McDiet" where he consumes nothing but fast food from McDonald's, breakfast lunch and dinner for 30 days. Sick. He came up with the idea after law-suits were filed against the fast food industry claiming their food made people fat. Duh. I was unsure about what this movie could tell me about fast food that I didn't know, but I was quite surprised.

After having doctor's check his health before, during, and after this experiment there was a great decline in the quality of his health. In 30 days he gained 25 pounds, had heart palpatations, and basically destroyed his liver. He lacked energy, became irritable and even found himself craving a McFix at times.

Weaved into this narrative of a man surviving 30 days on nothing but McDonald's are segments shedding light on the obesity pandemic in America, deceptive advertising of fast food companies, and the history of fast food. These segments help explain quite a bit, and really add to the case against consuming fast food.

I would recommend this movie to anyone. It was interesting, intellectual, and will serve as an eye-opener to anyone that watches it. Before watching "Supersize me" the idea of consuming McDonald's or any fast food for that matter was gross, and now I find it slightly appalling. Does this mean you will never find me in a McDonald's or Dairy Queen looking for a cheap and easy meal? Of course not! Just not as frequently.

Poetry Perhaps

From time to time I hope to post poetry on my blog. I was really introduced to poetry by my Junior Honors English teacher, but have not had the chance to write anything lately. Here is one I penned this afternoon.

Because Of You Not I...

A chance acquaintance not long ago
Your innocent laugh that caught my eye
That one moment seemed to spell forever
Shattered by you not I

Hope dangled on for weeks, even for months,
One question exists, which could have changed it all
From heaven you fell, into my life
A gift from God himself

Because of you my life was changed
Our friendship grew like spring
It was I that held back the one true thing
I wanted to tell you most.

Harbored inside, it killed me to wait
But not knowing killed me even more
Then he came along, he entered your life,
It appeared I could Be no more

Because of you my heart was broke,
Torn all up inside.
I waited and watched to see if it was true
Perhaps it was just a lie

Though short lived it was, it still made a point
On that List I was not meant to be
For if it had been, you’d see me as I saw you,
a person to be with me

Only God will know what could have been,
Only time will tell
Until that time we meet with him
I hope we can exist as friends.

Protect Yourself

There are few times in school, that a tedious discussion in the classroom will insight rage, create anger, and provoke questions as to the validity of the subject being taught. Despite this, I found last Tuesday in Family Health a prime example of this.

For the first nine weeks of school I've found myself content in Family Health, satisfied with sitting in a hard desk for ninety minutes, falling into a zen-like trance, zoning out Mr. Ringo, and still maintaining a near perfect score in the class. I don't particularly enjoy talking about the ideal family, my future partner, or the different types of love, but I realize I must in order to graduate. I was content until last week when a lady from the Jackson County Health Department, Toni Drew, entered our classroom.

She came to discuss STD's (sexually transmitted diseases) and pollute our minds with worthless propaganda about "safer sex" and protection. While I don't consider myself adamantly opposed to that message, I found the way in which she presented herself appalling.



Certain phrases touted by Ms. Drew, that I found unnecessary or disconcerting were "I'm not here to tell you not to have sex, I hope you have GREAT SEX", and "There is no safe sex, but there IS safer sex". Obviously, these are not outrageously vulgar or gross, but they do send the wrong message to teenagers, in my opinion. Kids don't need to be encouraged, or told that sex is some exciting mystery that they should try and discover. While I realize that sex is a GREAT thing, I also realize that its a GREAT thing created by God for a man and a woman in a marriage, not a relationship many Juniors and Seniors in high school find themselves involved in.

What I found most discouraging and disgusting about her presentation was the infamous slide show of STD's. While I can understand talking about STD's, discussing symptoms, and even showing appropriate methods of birth control, I don't find showing STD's on peoples genitals or faces educational in the least bit. I managed to divert my site while this occurred by writing a note to a friend. Unfortunately I glanced up once when the class erupted into laughter when Ms. Drew showed a slide of a male penis with barnacle like growths protruding from it. I am extremely upset that I looked up, but at the same time I realized the classes reaction was appropriate, as it symbolized the message of the whole class period. Toni Drew and what she had to say was a joke.

I realize that STD's are a pandemic, especially among people in our culture, and especially the high school and college ages. Regardless, the methods used our school to teach kids how to avoid contracting STD's and getting pregnant is abysmal. While I can't suggest any miracle cures for this, I can testify to the ineffectiveness of the way it's taught right now.

Senior Year Part One- Recap

Despite a few bumps along the road, and myriad road-stops taken, the first quarter is over, finished, Ya Termina! I have conflicting feelings about this, as I've enjoyed many comforts and new experiences recently, but have also suffered pains as well.

I suppose that like anything in life the positives and the negatives will balance out. Here is a list of what I loved about the first quarter, and things I'm happy to say goodbye to.

things I loved about the first quarter
homecoming with Sarah
football games
Spanish 4 with Bleicher at North
Anna, Jenna, Sammie, Tom, Court, Mayer, B-shaw, Carly, Wags
Saturday Night Worship with my favorite people
Doing my first SMHS drama play, "Wanted: One Groom"
muchas gracias for lunch
Getting into the Youth Symphony of Southern Oregon
anatomy study group :-)
b-shaw, nick, and me = girls soccer team fans for life
FIERCEness
hmm, bush re-election
can you say text messanging
Friday night Red Robin's
THE BURB
playing guitar and rocking out
shorts, a shirt, and my reefs

things I won't miss about first quarter
my bro being in colorado springs
everyone and their stepmom leaving for college or New Zealand (haha Preston)
Two Words: Family Health
not exercising for nine weeks because I'm a lazy bloke
Almost every other class I have- AP Lit, AP Stats, Orchestra
missing the season premier of The O.C.
Brain Bowl Tuesdays at lunch
re-injuring my knee
girl drama (developing)
SAT's: the sequel
My car getting hit with $1000 dollars damage, without knowing who hit it
not knowing what to do sometimes
college applications
playing guitar and crying
the political season in general