Number of those I know who've died from cancer: 5

Nearly half of all Californians born today will develop cancer at some point in their lives. Wow. That is astounding but not unbelievable. The amount of people, unfortunately, that I know who have died because of cancer just went up by one last week. We just talked about in class how in the 1920s it was more common to know of deaths [due to disease] than it is now. But that seems to be changing with cancer. How prevalent is death in your life?

Later this year, Californians will vote on an initiative to provide more than half a billion dollars annually for cancer and medical research.

• reduce suffering and death from cancer in our state.
  
• entirely paid for with an increase in the tax on cigarettes.

Please sign this petition supporting this initiative to fund cancer research.

www.acscan.org/CApetition

Fact: This research funding will be controlled by a board of cancer researchers, doctors and other experts. They will ensure that 98 cents of every dollar goes directly to lifesaving work and not state bureaucracy.

• fewer kids will start smoking
  
• more adults will get the help they need to quit

Always chasing tail.

This is my puppy...

...oy.

Ed TV.

I had a movie moment yesterday.
I grade papers for a Kinesiology professor, and this week I have projects to grade. The projects are in binders so I brought my reusable Trader Joe's bag to school and filled it with projects. I put the full bag on the rack on the back of my bike and clamped it in. It wasn't very stable so I was being conscious not to make sudden movements.

Well that plan failed.

As I come up slowly to a red light, a loud honk startles me from behind. I turn to look for the source (as I obviously wasn't doing anything wrong waiting in the bike lane at a red light) and immediately am a foot away from a bus. The driver comes right up next to me and startles me so bad I lose my balance on the bike (which is already faulty because of the large mass of binders strapped to the back of the bicycle). I fall into the bus and catch myself with my hand against the side of the bus. The bus driver says,

"Sorry, I was just trying to let you know I was here."

What kind of driver HONKS AT A BIKER to just let them know they were there?!

Rude.

So unbeknownst to me, my bag full of projects had become unstable with the bus scare.
I soon take off when the light turns green and what do you know

the bag full of class projects falls off my bike in the middle of the intersection.

(The ending of this story is some what anti-climactic, as I quickly pulled over on the corner, ran out in the street to pick up the bag and binders, and make it back to the side walk safely before the light turns again.)

Another movie moment happened later, at night.
I just watched Donnie Darko in the theater for a class.
Last night, like in the movie, I slept walked. (The last time I slept walked was in middle school.)
I got up, went to the restroom, took off my sweatshirt and sweatpants, and grabbed my fan and put it by my bed (but didn't plug it in or turn it on).
EEeeeeee! Weird. At least I didn't burn someone's house down or break my school's water main.

Happy Valentine's Day!

That's right, I love love so much I have it tattooed on my body! (minus the color..that's sharpie :P)

It's much too easy to take a life.

I don't think anyone should have guns. Yeah, I said it!

Maybe the dying process should take 9 months as does birth. It will give people a chance to say good-bye.

omg she's so cool!

Colonists.

What is the difference between colonists and evangelicals? I think they are very similar.

The most unfortunate part of this article, in my opinion, is Schmierer's quote.

“Naturally, I don’t want anyone killed, but I don’t feel I had anything to do with that,” said Mr. Schmierer, who added that in Uganda he had focused on parenting skills. He also said that he had been a target of threats himself, recently receiving more than 600 messages of hate mail related to his visit.

“I spoke to help people,” he said, “and I’m getting bludgeoned from one end to the other.”

Of course you had something to do with that. Directly? Of course not. But spreading hate into others does not lead to peace. Helping others, as Schmierer aimed to do, what was British colonists also aimed for in the 1800s. No?

And on this note...I just bought a new shirt! hooray.