19 Year Old College Professor

I recently came across an article entitled, “World’s Youngest Professor Can’t Legally Drink.”

I was rather interested in this article, because at the age of 19, I was more concerned about just being in college rather than teaching people that were my own age.  Alia Sabur is now a college professor in history.  She was talking and reading at 8 months old, she completed elementary school at age 5, she jumped to college at age 10, and at age 14 she was working towards her bachelor of science degree in applied mathematics summa cum laude.  This is a rather large accomplishment just for people that are of the right age, and she was able to accomplish it way ahead of everyone else.

This would be quite the accomplishment to complete at such an early age, but I wonder if you would ever regret not taking part in what everyone else in your age is doing.  Looking back on my life, I don’t think I would regret accomplishing all of those things early.  I would be too focused on what I have already accomplished, what I am currently trying to accomplish, and all of the things that I have yet to accomplish.  This could be due to the fact that at this point in time I already wish I was in career position.  To me, it seems like I have been in school forever, and that I am not really accomplishing that much.  I am learning, which is a plus, but I am not really making that much money at the moment.  It seems like I spend more money that what I actually have coming in, but I guess that is all part of the college life.

Dr. Phil – He May Not Be In Touch Anymore

Dr. Phil was not anyone that I really cared to watch while he was on TV.  The only times that I have ever watched him was that was the only channel of TV that I had.  One was bound to watch him just to break up the sound of silence.  I also found him to either be rude, be on a power trip, or just there to earn his money.  To me he never seemed to give advice that was useful.  I found that out after watching his show for the first time.  I had seen a preview of what was going to be on his show, and they made it sound like he was going to give advice on how to solve the problem.  I sat there for the entire time that it was on, and he never once came close to giving advice to help solve the problem of why these people were on his show.

I came across the article entitled, “The Doctor Is Out (of touch).” This article shed a whole new light on Dr. Phil that I did not know of.  From what I ever gathered of him from his shows, and what I also from what I would see of him in the news, he seemed like the type of guy everyone liked and believed.  This article covers the not so bright side of Dr. Phil’s life.  It talks of his relationship with a 19 year old client, him being against porn but being the best man in his son’s wedding when he married a Playboy, and the list goes on and on.  I was amazed to be reading all of the lawsuits, and the things along those lines, that he has been involved in.

I haven’t watched any of his shows for quite some time now.  This would have to do with the fact that I no longer have TV at all, but now after reading this article, I plan on not watching, or reading, anything that has to do with Dr. Phil.  I would encourage people to check this article out.  At least glance at it.  Some people may have already known about all this stuff, but I was one that did not know about all of it.

HOLLYWOOD Sign May Not Be So Private Anymore

There has been much debate over the recent purchase of the land by the HOLLYWOOD sign.  Recent developers have bought the land, and they have put it up for sale.  The article entitled, “For Sale: Land Next To HOLLYWOOD Sign,” was rather interesting.  It presented both sides of the argument very well.  They talked of how many people did not want mansions built by the HOLLYWOOD sign due to the fact that they believed that it would take away from the post card picture that this place was known for.  That is a rather good argument on their part, but as they stated later on in the article, a mansion will look like a little dot up against the HOLLYWOOD sign.  There are also a lot of tourists that hike up to this area, and if the land starts developing around the sign, that sort of traffic will be stopped.

The other good point that was brought up was the original idea behind the HOLLYWOOD sign.  It was intended to help sell development.  This would have remained a very good point if they had not stated right after it that in 1945 they chose to say that iconic symbol of Los Angeles.  I can see both sides of this argument due to the fact that something is built for one purpose, but then they find another better purpose out of it.

If the land does get sold for the high price that they are asking, $22 million, then maybe this will be another bad idea that has turned into a different better idea.  People may find a way to not take away from the sign, but to add to it.  We’ll see if anyone has the money to come up to buy this piece of land, and if they do, it will be their choice in what they do with it.

The Art of Lying

Today was another interesting morning.  I got to deal with a person that I would rather never see again.  I know that sounds harsh, but all that he has pulled in the last year, a person would then understand why I made that statement.  I would rather not go into all the juicy details, because that would take way too long, and plus I have this new philosophy that I need to forget about the past and live in the future.  I cannot change what has happened in the past, and the things that have happened I am now glad that I did not do things differently.  If I had done that, I probably would have still been with that person living a life that no person should live.

Now to get back to why I have the title that I do, would be due to the fact that every word out of this person’s mouth that I have to see, is a lie.  I think he would honestly die if he ever told the truth.  Back then I know realize everything that he told me was a complete lie.  I believed him at the time, mainly because I didn’t know any better.  Plus I have rarely been lied to.  Plus it also annoys me that when you catch him in a lie, he just continues to tell one lie after another.  I mean what kind of parents does he have to have raised a child that only knows how to lie?  I guess they should be proud.  I cannot wait until I never have to talk to this person again.  I should not be saying this, but the level of lying that he has finally reached has pushed me to that point.  I guess if you have been lying your entire life, you would have it down to an art form by now!

Ashlee Simpson In The News Again

I shouldn’t have been surprised when I was looking through the various news articles again today, just in case one of those caught me eye, instead of blogging about something in my life. I came across the headline, “Pete Wentz Calls Ashlee Baby Rumors ‘Crazy’” I usually would just glance over this article to see what they had to say. I decided to blog on this article, because yesterday I found an article and those two being engaged and blogged on that. I shouldn’t have been surprised to find this popping up in the news article, because just like stated by Pete himself, if there’s news in Hollywood that you are engaged, then that must mean that a baby in on the way. This is so true though. It seems like any young couple that gets engaged, is due to the fact that a baby is on the way. This is true sometimes, but it seems that rarely that is the case. Getting engaged isn’t going to hide the fact that an individual got pregnant without planning it.

I found it also interesting in this article how at the end of the article they try to put a positive spin on this article, when both Pete and Ashlee say that they are not expecting a baby. They get a quote with Ashlee’s sister Jessica saying how happy she is for the two of them being engaged. What Hollywood needs to do is just be happy with the news that they have to report, and they just need to stick with that. They should not just jump to whatever headline they think is going to get the most readers. I know that is what there business is all about, getting the most readers, but what they are really doing is just spreading rumors about people that are not true. They need to wait until they actually here it out of the mouths of the people that it is happening to.

Ashlee Simpson Engaged to Pete Wentz

While looking for something to blog on again, I came across a title that I would never seen in the news headlines. The title was, “Ashlee Simpson Engaged to Pete Wentz.” This was not something I thought I would see due to her dad. Whatever I have seen about Jessica or Ashlee’s father is that he seems to be more overprotective of his daughters than anything. It also seems that as their manager, he was wanting to have them single as more of a marketing ploy. It seemed as if he thought they would be more marketable that way.

Most of this stuff I had seen when Nick and Jessica had their show on MTV. To me it seemed as if her dad was not totally happy about losing his daughter. He accepted Nick as part of the family, but you rarely seen much interaction between the two of them. It seemed as if he was more interested in seeing what the next thing he could get his daughter’s to do to make him money.

I also remember earlier in the news of Ashlee’s father talking of how they thought that Ashlee and Pete were getting too serious to fast. He didn’t think that his daughter’s should get married early. He thought that Ashlee should wait until she was older to get married. I am happy that these two are engaged, and I hope it works out for them.

Some Impacts the Internet Has on Society

It did not take me long to find a news article to write on today. I quickly came across the title, “Teens Videotape Beating as Revenge for Online Posts.” I could not believe that our society has reached this level. The Internet, it seems, has taken turns for the worse. Programs that were designed as social network sites seem to cause more problems than good. Sure you meet people, but all of these sites are just drama filled. This girl was beaten over things she had written on her MySpace page about them. Sure there is the idea of free speech, but I think we as individuals need to realize what we are writing. Would we like it if somebody was writing stuff about us on the Internet for other people to read.

It would be nice if we lived in a society that we did not need to resort to these types of things, but with the Internet it just makes it so easy. You can take the example of that you are having a really bad day, and now the person that has been your life so horrible has gone even farther, you decide to write about it on the Internet. Sure at the time it made you feel better, but you have not stopped to think about the long term effects of it. If you are angry about something, you should just write about it in a diary. That way you are able to express your feelings, you have gotten it out of your system, and then it will not cause an incident such as this girl being beaten for what she wrote.

I have also had personal experience of this in some sort. I had a girl writing facts that were not true about me, my daughter, or her father. It would be nice if people were mature enough to see what they are doing to others, and it would be nice if they could get a life of their own. Hopefully things like this do not keep happening, and that one day the use of social networking sites will stay in a positive light instead of a negative light.

Quote of the Day

Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved.   Helen Keller

Today I was again at a loss for finding a worthy news article for me to blog about.  I was also tired of blogging about the same old things that are happening in my life.  I instead chose to search out a quote to inspire me and to reflect upon.  This quote pretty much sums up what has been going on with my life recently.

This quote can sum about everyone else’s life also.  If we reflect upon this, we are able to see that the things that we have gone through in our life, are what has made us the person that we are today.  If nothing happened to us, we would have a boring life, and we would have no experiences to grow and develop from.  Some experiences in life most people wish they would not have had to go through, because there are certain experiences in life that are very painful at the time.  These can range from the death of a loved one, something related to a relationship, and any other painful experience that one may encounter in their lifetime.  Once an individual has gotten over the pain, they are able to see the lesson that was trying to be taught to them.

9/11 Victims Still Being Found & Identified

While looking through different news articles to write on, it took me quite awhile to find one that was at all interesting to me. I didn’t have any other ideas to write on, and I finally found a title and an article that finally caught my eye. The article was entitled, “Remains of 4 More 9/11 Victims Identified.” I was interested to see what else they still had to say on it, and I was also interested to know that they were still finding the remains of victims that had not been identified yet.

Ronald Keith Milstein’s remains were found beneath the road that was built to carry cleanup and construction trucks in and out of the World Trade Center site after the 2001 terrorist attacks, the city medical examiner’s office said. More than 400 human bone pieces have been recovered from beneath the road, which has become known as “Haul Road” because of the hauling of debris. Also identified was Alejandro Castano whose remains were found in the Liberty Street area, the medical examiner’s office said. He was in the area that day to deliver pens and paper to a brokerage firm on the 97th floor of the south tower, his family told The Record of Hackensack, N.J.

The search at Haul Road began in October 2006 when utility workers found over 80 bones in a manhole in the service road. Since then, other manholes, a highway and nearby rooftops have been searched. The city identified the first victim from remains found in the road last July. More than 1,800 of the 21,000 body parts recovered from ground zero have been found in the last two years in and around the trade center site. The remains of more than 40 percent of the 2,749 people killed at the site have yet to be identified. The city has been using updated technology to try and re-extract DNA to make new identifications.

This news article just goes to show that the job is really never done there. There is always something being done, or something new being found to take care of. I wonder what the families reactions are after so long of not really knowing what exactly happened to their family member. It would probably be nice to finally have that closure, but then you would wonder if the family members would be upset that it took so long for the remains to be found. I’m sure that they get over that shock, and are finally glad that they know exactly what happened.

Chocolatology

This was a rather interesting weekend yet again with all the snow. I could write yet another blog post on the wacky weather in the state of MN, but I’m sure we all have had enough complaining about the weather. I mean we should be used to warm weather, and then being dumped with just enough snow as we have pretty much had all winter. I chose instead to look for another news article that would catch my eye. I found a short, but interesting one on chocolate entitled, “Chocolatology.”

I have always been a big fan of chocolate, and I have heard before that chocolate has an ingredient in it that makes you happy. Upon reading this short article though, I have even more reason to think chocolate is a great thing. Cacao (also called cocoa) is the seed of a rain forest tree, so it’s good for the environment. Growing it helps support endangered rain forest areas. The more trees the better for the environment. If you seek out the chocolate products that are labeled, “fair trade certified,” you will be ensuring that family farmers are benefiting from your dollar that you spend on those products.

Just those two little added facts about chocolate, now makes me feel less guilty about eating it. I can now pass it off as I’m saving the rain forest. I will not think about how it is probably making me fat, I will think of all the little animals that I will actually be saving! So on that note, everyone should eat as much chocolate as they can. It is good for you, and now you know that it is good for the environment.