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My best friend, my mom Amber
Tags: mother, father, family, love, laughter, essay, Amber, Star/Pal, hero, friend
Campaign: Who is Your Hero?
Added: 3/21/2009 4:24 PM PT
Last Modified: 3/22/2009 6:33 AM PT
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My mother is truly a hero to me.
I know that a lot of people say that, but my mom is special. She is a strong, confident woman who always encourages the best in me, whether I want her to or not.
When my parents were considering getting a divorce not very long ago, she was always there for us. She was a shoulder to cry on, a counselor to listen to my sister and me, our family's solid foundation. When it looked as though all hope for her marriage was lost, she switched gears to us kids, making sure we were fed and reasonably content even as her heart was breaking. All the time, she held her ground, never backing down or compromising her morals. I'm happy to say that her and my father have resolved the issue and are back together--mostly, I believe, due to her.
In happier times, she is the comedian of the family. We can count on Mommy to say the ridiculous things that will make us suffocate laughing. She could have been a Lucille Ball-type star if she hadn't decided to have a family early on. Who knows? She still has a lot of her life left....
My mom had me when she was nineteen and enrolled in college. I asked her if she had meant to have a kid that early, and she just grinned and said, "Well, you were a happy surprise!" She and my father dropped out of college and lived in a crappy, inner-city apartment in Allentown for the first year or so of my life, and then moved to a teeny town in Pennsylvania. My dad was a car salesman and she worked at a Turkey Hill, leaving me in the care of my grandparents. Looking back, she wishes she had been with me all the time in my toddler years, but the money she and my dad earned enabled her to quit her job and become a full-time mother.
Mommy is quite adamant about politeness. Growing up, my sister and I were taught always to shake hands firmly, look people in the eye, always say "please" and "thank you", and never to curse. We, my sister and I have noticed, have better manners than most other teens and preteens our age, something we attribute to the loving strictness they were taught with. Our household is also very open-minded. My mother decided early on to give us the best-quality education available. She didn't trust anyone else with her kids, so she decided to homeschool us. And she still does! With a house, yard and pool to take care of, three dogs, and narcolepsy to boot! I've often wondered if she's secretly Superwoman.
I could go on and on about how great she is, but I'll sum this pitifully inadequate essay up. My mommy is a great woman and a wonderful mother. I couldn't ask for a better one.
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My Family
Tags: family, North Face, conservation, recycling, essay
Campaign: none
Added: 2/28/2009 4:52 PM PT
Last Modified: 2/28/2009 4:52 PM PT
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I'm going to take a chance with this one and nominate my entire family--me, my sister Arianna, my mom Amber, and my dad Todd.
Together, we believe we can and strive to make a difference. We are steadily replacing our incandescent bulbs with fluorescent ones, recycling, and trying to lessen our environmental impact on the planet overall. We use our smaller car whenever we can to save gasoline (which has an economic advantage as well), remember to turn off lights when we leave a room, and buy locally grown food when we go to Wegmans. All in all, I'd say we devote 5-10 hours to these pursuits.
There is a bigger message in our joint effort, however. Conservation is always a team effort. To heal our scarred planet, we must band together and fight as one. Don't throw a plastic bottle in the garbage and vow you'll recycle "next time"--there will always be a next time. The right time to begin recycling (or stop littering, or replace incandescent bulbs, or walk instead of driving) is, more than ever, right NOW.
Together, we can make an impact. Together, we can change the way we treat our Earth. That is what I and my family believe in.
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THINGS TO DO WHILE I'M ALIVE:
Solve a Rubik's cube
Bungee jump (I'm terrified of heights, so this should be interesting)
Eat an insect (see above; replace "heights" with "insects")
Get published
Pilot a gondola in Venice, Italy
Name a dinosaur
Run a touchdown
Run
Become president (I'll have this country whipped into shape in no time!)
Meet a ufologist
Meet an alien
Voice an animated movie character
Walk the Great Wall of China
Own an uninhabited island
Finance a library
Win the lottery (to do above)
CHANGE THE WORLD
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My dreams
Tags: Kaitlyn, dinosaurs, paleontology, museums, robots
Campaign: What Do You Dream About?
Added: 10/16/2008 3:17 PM PT
Last Modified: 10/16/2008 3:17 PM PT
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Here is a basic timeline of what I'd like to accomplish with my life.
-In five years, I will be in college, hopefully at Cedar Crest, Montana State, or Ohio University. (not Ohio State)
-In ten years, I'll probably still be in college.
-In fifteen years, I hope to be starting my career at the American Museum of Natural History as an assistant curator/lab technician.
-In twenty years, I'll be Head Curator of Vertebrate Paleontology at the AMNH, working in countries like China, Mongolia, and Argentina. I hopefully will have been able to name a dinosaur or two by now. (some possible names: Michaelmooresaurus or Stephencolbertsaurus)
-In thirty, forty, and fifty years, the same.
-In sixty years, I'll win 200 million dollars from the lottery, retire to Venice, Italy, and donate the remainder of my fortune to charity.
-In one hundred years, I will kick the bucket and have my body cryogenically frozen.
-In three hundred years, I will be reanimated by the hyper-intelligent, fully sentient race of robots that wrested control of Earth away from their human masters around the year 2150.
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PICK ME FOR PRESIDENT AND STEPHEN COLBERT FOR VP
Tags: Kaitlyn, Stephen Colbert, elections, votes, gun rights, healthcare, Prince, alternative energy, education, Iraq, war in Iraq, USA, America, United States of America, president
Campaign: Brickfish Political Dream Team
Added: 8/16/2008 2:37 PM PT
Last Modified: 8/18/2008 3:54 PM PT
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Hi. My name is Kaitlyn.
I want to be your next president.
Why? Frankly, our country isn’t doing so well at the moment. Foreclosures are up 55%. Millions of Americans struggle along without adequate health insurance for them or their families. The Iraq war is taking a grave toll on both the economy and our daily lives. Vicious Washington gridlocks bar progress and working solutions for ordinary Americans.
I firmly believe I can help solve America’s problems. Even though I consider myself a liberal, I promise to listen to EVERYBODY’S opinions. Our nation was founded on conservative values, and I promise to honor and preserve them as we create new answers to the new problems we face.
I SUPPORT:
Ending the war in Iraq–One of my first actions when I take office will be to establish a definitive timetable for pulling our troops out. The Taliban have so many Iraqis on their side simply because they portray the U. S. as a dictatorial force bent on controlling their government. If we show them that we certainly are not–withdrawing our forces while appealing to the U. N. (a neutral alliance) for theirs–the Taliban will lose their hold over the Iraqi people. I’ll admit the surge worked, but it won’t hold forever.
Leaving behind No Child Left Behind–NCLB has failed our nation’s students. Schools are cutting out arts, sciences, even physical education to make time for tests. I say out with it, and replace it with more diverse curriculum and merit-based pay.
Furthering alternative energy–Cars should be required to get 25 miles to the gallon, minimum. We need more affordable solar panels and animal-safe wind energy. Nuclear power (especially hyper-efficient, totally clean nuclear fusion) will be advanced in my administration.
Free, universal healthcare–It’s that simple. Coverage for all. It’s definitely not impossible; plenty of nations, including Canada, France, and Cuba, have already mandated it. The system we have in place now is unacceptable. Under my plan, you will never be turned down.
Support of Second-Amendment rights–Don’t mess with the Constitution. If people really want guns, they’ll get them off the black market. How will law-abiding citizens defend themselves? Certain types of firearms and ammunition will be banned, but basic gun rights are a given. Each purchase will be entered into a special government database to track who’s buying what, and free training lessons will be offered.
Of course, no presidential bid is complete without a vice-prez. My first choice would have been Michael Moore, but I decided that, to truly reach across the aisle, a conservative would be best. Even though we’d be at considerable odds regarding things like gays’ rights and abortion rights, it would only push us harder to find bipartisan solutions.
My choice is...
STEPHEN COLBERT!
Think of it! "Live from the White House, I’m Stephen Colbert and welcome to the Colbert Report!" He has prior experience in politics; he would have run for president in South Carolina (albeit as a Democrat) but his bid was voted down. His hit book "I Am America (And So Can You!) Was a New York Times bestseller. Long story short, he has and will inject fun into politics.
Yes, I never said my administration would be all work and no play. Video games will be recognized as a legitimate sport. Our national anthem will be changed to Prince’s "Rock You." (Imagine getting a stadium full of people to sing that!) Free dessert days, both in schools and in the workplace, will be mandatory. And you know how summer vacation is set back if you had snow days during winter? It will be a federal offense. School STOPS when summer STARTS.
Together, we can make our country stronger. Not just Stephen and I, but all of us.
To quote a famous politician: "Yes we can!"
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Moore & Colbert 08!!
Tags: moore, colbert, elections, dream team, politics, paleogirl, democrats, republicans, huckabee, documentary
Campaign: Brickfish Political Dream Team
Added: 7/13/2008 9:48 AM PT
Last Modified: 7/13/2008 9:48 AM PT
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The best political dream team?
The two brightest minds in the biz.
MICHAEL MOORE FOR PRESIDENT, STEPHEN COLBERT FOR VP!!
Why not? Michael Moore has already weighed in favorably on the idea of fusing the Democrats and Republicans together and creating a true second party. His documentary "Fahrenheit 911" is the highest-grossing documentary of all time. This year's "Sicko" is credited with making healthcare a major issue in this year's elections.
Stephen Colbert would bring in votes from those who may be put off by Moore's extreme liberality. Mike Huckabee (an awesome dude) had repeatedly said that his success in Iowa was the result of the "Colbert Bump." Colbert also has experience in politics-he WOULD have run in South Carolina (albeit as a Democrat) but his bid was voted down.
Both of these fine, funny men have the tools and the followers at their disposal to win the White House.
MOORE & COLBERT IN 08!!
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Rock You
Tags: surfing, surfer, surfboards, kelly slater, ocean
Campaign: "Slater Sez" Photo Caption Challenge
Added: 4/24/2008 12:29 PM PT
Last Modified: 5/27/2008 8:11 AM PT
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WE WILL, WE WILL, ROCK YOU!!
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Respect Yourself
Tags: health, advice, health advice, healthy, respect
Campaign: The Gift of Giving
Added: 5/5/2008 2:11 PM PT
Last Modified: 5/5/2008 2:11 PM PT
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My mom gave me the best health advice of my life. She told me to RESPECT MYSELF. Gaining self-respect taught me that:
SKINNY DOESN'T MEAN HEALTHY.
All women are different. A combination of genes and hormones determines your ideal weight, not glitzy weight-loss ads and fad diets. What's too heavy for one person could be completely normal for another.
EATING RIGHT IS THE BEST THING YOU CAN DO FOR YOURSELF.
In my opinion, it's more important than exercise. A healthy diet forms the foundation for a healthy lifestyle by ensuring you get vitamins and minerals your body needs to function properly. Besides that, certain nutrients, like "good" carbohydrates, can actually help you burn MORE fat when you exercise.
SAFE SEX IS KEY.
Std's and diseases like HIV and AIDS are easily blocked or prevented by using condoms. Monogamous relationships lessen the risk even more. On top of that, who has the time or money for an unwanted pregnancy? Too many kids end up in adoption agencies simply because their teen parents were unwilling or unable to take care of them.
TAKE A CHILL PILL.
It's that simple. Stress directly or indirectly causes depression, unhealthy weight gain and loss, high blood pressure, headaches, insomnia...
Relax. Take a walk, read write, knit, play your ukelele...anything to blow off steam. Numerous scientific studies have consistently shown people without much stress in their lives live longer than those that do.
Respecting yourself is the best thing you can do for your health because it helps you put things in perspective. You know what you CAN'T do (be pressured into sex, let others negatively influence how you look at your body), and what you CAN do (skip McDonald's for a salad, creatively vent your stress). No exercise or calorie-counting necessary. Just hold your head high.
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Can't Live Without Literature
Tags: books, reading, literature, novels, Treasure Island, Great Expectations, Around the World in 80 Days, Ipod, Ziploc, Florida, friends, Stephanie Myers, J. K. Rowling, R. A. Salvatore, Erin Hunter, classics
Campaign: I Can't Live Without My...
Added: 4/7/2008 8:15 AM PT
Last Modified: 4/21/2008 2:25 PM PT
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When most of my friends talk about their favorite authors, they speak of modern ones. Erin Hunter. Stephanie Myers. R. A. Salvatore. J. K. Rowling. Not once have I heard any of my favorite authors mentioned: Robert Louis Stevenson, Jules Verne, and Charles Dickens. Don't get me wrong; I love contemporary writers as much as anybody, but classic works are the ones that really speak to me. Want to take a tour of the world in Around the World in 80 Days, battle mutinous pirates in Treasure Island, or travel back to Victorian-Era England in Great Expectations? Now you can. Often forgotten, these classic gems still hold their own more than 100 years after their initial publication.
Books are my lifeline. I honestly don't know what I'd do without them. On days hormones are in full swing, I feel trapped in a boring life, and I'm basically sick of reality in general, Long John Silver and Phileas Fogg spirit me away to excitement and adventure.
You can literally learn anything through books. Are dinosaurs ectothermic or endothermic? What is the average surface temperature of Mercury? What really happened in Florida in that fateful election year of 2000? How does an Ipod work? Who invented Ziploc bags? All these answers and more can be found-you guessed it-in books.
In short, books are my teachers, spiritual mentors, therapists, but, most importantly, friends. Why? Pick one up and see for yourself.
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