C'est L'Hallowe'en...boo!

Sometimes I wake up and I feel so great. I don't know why this is happening today because I feel so gross, but at the same time I feel good. Does that make sense?

I was thinking about the discussion we had in class yesterday about being as aware of your sexual health and drug use as you are of your political views. It makes so much sense actually. Youth always blame our apathy on the fact that the government doesn't pull us in enough to vote, and etc. What we don't realize is that we should approach voting as we do alcohol, illegal drugs and sexual activity - we should be exploring. Well, in order to make a proper judgment, one should be exploring all aspects of life, including politics. Youth have NO excuse for why we're not involved in politics..saying that the government doesn't advertise to youth enough to vote = a bogus excuse.

I checked out www.yourmedia.ca and www.thenation.com earlier this week. On Your Media, I found that my opinion was just confirmed: everything is owned by big businesses. Internet, advertisements, products, places, movies...all are owned or supported by corporations that own other things. One could compare media ownership to a messed up, super-extended family: There's the mom and dad, there are divorces, there are marriages or remarriages, there are adoptions, and there are births. But no matter what, the father is always at the top of the chain a.k.a. the man of the house. I thought it was a pretty accurate analogy.

I don't want to go over all the stats that we learned in class, the ones I wrote down, the ones I didn't write down...all I have to know is that the world is messed up. Everyone is a tool to mega-conglomerates. Actually, everyone is a tool to..well, everything. Hallowe'en is a perfect example.

Raised in a Christian family where my mom was VERY against the devil's day, I was never allowed to go out for hallowe'en. Besides dressing up, (only during my high school years since I was on Student council and lead by example) I have actually only celebrated it once, last year, and only because I went to a party. This one costume that I had worn was made out of clothes that I already had. It was pretty sweet, I was a queen bee. I wore a bright yellow sweatshirt and put black electrical tape on it for the stripes, a black skirt (It was actually my sister's) legwarmers and some little antennae. Everyone LOVED it, and what I liked about it was that I wasn't contributing to the girl world Hallowe'en (In the movie Mean Girls, Hallowe'en is defined as the 'one night of the year that a girl can dress like a total slut and get away with it')

I was always annoyed by the fact that my parents wouldn't let me engage in this classic kids paradise. The one night where there was loads of candy, running around at night, and staying up past 7 p.m. ...that was the life that I never had. But when I look back on all the money and time that my parents saved by not participating in this commercial event, I'm actually sort of proud. For whatever reason, they weren't tools to that tradition that is enforced by the 'man of the house,' which one could also refer to as 'the man.' So in a way, my parents stuck it to the man. Sick.