Swine Arrival

So I have been following the swine flu like everyone else recently. I received a phone call from my sister who lives in Santa Clara and behold, she has been hospitalized for the pig flu herself. She was given Tamaflu and is feeling better but is still being held under observation. The pandemic alert status went to 5 today and now, schools are closing. One that I have heard of is in Chicago and one now in Santa Clara. Crazy. I keep seeing photos of people in Mexico walking around in face masks etc. and the news just says to wash your hands and eat at home. Really? That is the best advice so far? Crazy, Crazy world we live in. Yesterday I was reading an article that Mexico was closing down any non-essential government due to the pandemic. How in the world does that work? I was curious exactly how that was going to fair. I mean, how do you shut down a country? What really happens when it is attempted? My attention is definately on it right now and considering all of the countries that are in danger, it is a real worry and a true concern. I am a big advocate of WHO so I normally follow what they do in neglected countries. I have no answers, I just thought it was worth mentioning.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30471035

http://www.who.int/en/

Feeling at Odds

I have come to see that this semester seems to be really getting to people. I really feel bad sometimes for students that are so stressed out (even myself) that we end up taking our frustrations out on each other. Academia at its best I guess. So many students seem to be pushing themselves so hard that the frustrations seem to be shot off in all directions. This is honestly the strangest semester yet. I find it funny that because I keep my blogs simple (because everything else is not) that I am even getting rough feedback because of it. Hey, we all do what we do to get through life and through the day. You can't please everyone, so try with the self. I am ok with that. So, for the students that are stressed out and really feeling it....take a moment, breathe and keep swimming. (I will be taking my own advice too.)

Stuck

Don't you hate it when your brain just gets stuck? I mean really, we are students and when a person can't think of an issue (or anything for that matter) that is on the brain to blog about, it is really a frustrating experience. Maybe it is just end of the semester frustrations. So many classes and so little time to complete everything that is due so the brain just gets bogged down and then, gets stuck. So, that is where I am at right now. Stuck. I am trying to maintain my blog but when there is nothing coming from my brain to write about, then it just doesn't happen. Don't get me wrong, I have had important issues come up, but nothing I necessarily wish to share with the World Wide Web. So, here I go with meaningless trite bullshit in order to make sure that I don't leave my participation points, hanging in the breeze. Nothing would be more frustrating to me than to have worked so hard this semester and then blow it all off at the very end. Know what I mean?

What to Blog?

I have been sitting here since Friday trying to figure out what in the world I am going to blog about this week and quite frankley, the only thing that has been on my mind is everything involved with Law School. This is not a little thing for a person who worries as much as I do. For example, I have to worry about studying for the LSAT's, hoping they are good enough to get me into Law School. Now, will those scores be good enough to get me into the school I want to get into? Once you actually get into a law school I have to worry about the debt, as well as not flunking out. If you make it far enough to actually complete law school and not flunk out, well then there is always the BAR exam to thwart me. So, these are my current worries, along with making sure that I enroll in my next set of classes by the 22nd, and hopefully the classes I want are not all taken. Not to mention that I have finals for this semester and I have to apply for my graduation certificate by a certain date or I am not graduating. Are you kidding me? I feel like I am in some sort of rat race. This is insane.

Unpopular at Parties

I remember at the beginning of the semester that our Professor said that if we actually answered the statement at a party in regards to being founded as a Christian Nation, we probably would become, well, not so very popular. This Easter, well, thanks to Newsweek ( http://www.newsweek.com/id/192915 ) the subject came up and of course, knowing me, I had to answer the "Well the answer is both Yes and No and here is why...." I was totally entertained as I saw my family members' eyes glaze over, people got fidgety and then wandered off, changing the subject. I had to laugh. As a matter of fact I told my mother, "My Professor said that would happen". So, I wanted to enlighten everyone that it is true, people have a pre-determination of how our country was founded and if by some chance you try to actually answer someone about the subject, people don't want to hear it. I can totally understand that since the answer is so damn conveluded anyway that getting to the point is quite difficult to do in a short time frame. I just wanted to report back that the Professor is right, don't mention it at parties or holidays.

What Happened to Easter Break?

Interesting thoughts I am having this month. I have really noticed a complete "pull away" from Easter Break. That is what it was called when I was a kid, then again, we also practiced the Pledge of Allegiance every morning also. Things became really apparent to me this month because my son, my daughter, my husband and myself are all in school, and different schools to boot. Everyone but my daughter's break is called "Spring Vacation or Spring Break". My daughter's school is calling it "Easter Break" which is no real surprise since she attends a Christian private school. She even gets "Good Friday" off. The rest of us has had our breaks, each on a different week. It seems that not only are schools not calling it "Easter Break" but also seem to be moving it as far as possible away from the holiday to ensure that their is no possible connection made to the holiday. Really? Funny how you can go to the store and see Easter promotions everywhere, but now schools are totally afraid of connecting themselves with the religious holiday. Hell, for that matter, Christmas Vacation is no longer called that, it is called "Winter Break". I am a bit worried that the politically correct montage is going a bit too far. I don't really have any answers, it is just a topic that has been on my mind this month and I am definitely growing more concerned that are holidays are falling more and more into spending holidays and not remembering what the holiday in particular is all about.

WHY?

Honestly, I have been a little perplexed in regards to our school's latest holiday choice. I am curious that our school elected not to take the day off for President's Day (a Federal holiday I might add). The rest of the country took the day off, yet our University was in session. The day we did get off was Cesar Chavez Day. huh? I don't really like the vibe that this sends out and I am hoping that there is a good and valid reason for it. What is interpreted is that we are not going to celebrate the fathers of the country but we are going to celebrate the farm worker. Interesting. The way I see it, we wouldn't be able to celebrate the farm worker if we didn't have a country in the first place so the honor should remain for the fathers of the country, for better or for worse, to celebrate all of them that have taken on the huge undertaking of running our country. I am so at odds with this little issue it is crazy. It just got me thinking so ultimately, I was interested in what the reasoning behind it was.