La Cuesta

…you always find the best stuff to read!

(Guest-starring my hand)

Not really, actually. I haven’t updated in a long time because my beloved laptop broke due to a hardware malfunction, and I still have yet to re-install everything. I was then subsequently hit with second trimesters…of which I am still studying for.

So, here’s a sample of my hard work:

And yes…I did actually put that on the test. Just not the answer line!

I take Environmental Science, and I have to say it’s made me more aware. However, no matter how much I nag, I can’t get my parents to comply with the much-needed changes. But there is one thing that they have followed through on: re-using our plastic bags.

As many people know, numerous chain stores are starting to offer reusable bags in hopes of lowering the amount of plastic bags produced. In class, I learned that plastic bags are not very recyclable at all, and that they pollute the environment horribly, especially since they are also not biodegradable. By recyclable, by the way, I mean that a plant has a hard time re-processing the used plastic bag for future use, unlike paper or aluminum. A plastic bag will stay a plastic bag, and people really only give thmselves the illusion of recycling by re-using one as a trash bag. Another thing I learned: many opt, then, for paper, but actually, paper takes up more energy to produce and recycle than does a plastic bag.

People sometimes don’t realize that even the production of every day products, such as plastic bags, can contribute to global climate change (I hate saying “global warming” because, in reality, it’s not just warming). To manufacture these goods, machines need to work, things need to get melted, and all of that uses energy and fuel–which, as we all know, is then released into the air as CO2 and other lovely greenhouse gases.

 Well, I was at Whole Foods this weekend (yesterday, on Sunday, to be exact) grocery shopping with my parents. My family follows a strict organic diet, so we dish out the extra dollars for more quality, and we trek over to Whole Foods. There, at the checkout, I saw that most of the bags people piled their groceries into were the reusable bags! I even saw a couple of Trader Joe’s bags in there (I’m sure Whole Foods didn’t mind).

Of course, we forgot to bring in our plastic bags. In our defense, it was right after church, and an impulse thing.

I was pleasantly surprised, because I had never seen so many people springing into action at once. Later that evening, I watched NatGeo’s “Six Degrees Could Change the Earth,” and was promptly scared and depressed to death.

But I still retain hope because of what I saw. As a perk, Whole Foods offers a 10 cent discount for every plastic bag you reuse. I know Ikea has a reusable bag system, as, obviously, does Trader Joe’s. I highly suggest that you all participate. It’s so easy, and it’s cheap, and, really, if it doesn’t hit home, watch NatGeo on the weekends. You’ll be so scared for the future generations, you’ll be compelledto adopt more eco-friendly habits.

I have just come back from voting in my state’s primary…well, actually, my father literally voted, as I am not of legal age. But he voted my choice (for good purposes, I will not say who!). It was very simple: go inside the both, flip all the delegates’ tabs for your choice up, and walk out. I was a bit flabbergasted as to why some people spent nearly ten minutes in the booth, but, hey, if they need to do some pre-voting soul-searching, that’s their own decision.

Right now, Fox News has projected/reported the following results:

• McCain has won Illinois, Connecticut, and New Jersey
• Romney has won his home state of Massachusetts
• Huckabee has won Alabama and West Virginia
• Obama has won his home state of Illinois, and Georgia
• Clinton has wonTennessee and Oklahoma
• The Democratic races were too close to call in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Delaware, Alabama, New Jersey, and Missouri
• The Republican races were too close to call in Delaware, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Missouri

There’s a great buzz on the Democratic side, that Obama is “picking up more white voters” and that he has had “problems” with Hispanic voters (obviously, both have tended to lean towards Clinton). He and Clinton are literally neck and neck in the statistics, and it is looking like there may be no clear winner from Super Tuesday. Next week are two sets of triplets, including the Potomac Primaries where voters in D.C., Maryland, and Virginia will go to the polls.

For the Republicans, it seems that McCain is keeping his strength as the front-runner. Romney might just have to pick up scraps, and Huckabee seems to be looking like the Ralph Nader of the Republicans. Speculation is that he’s looking for a veep bid. Conservative commentators such as Sean Hannity and Mark Levin don’t seem to like McCain (Levin calls him “McLame”) because he, like Giuliani, is a liberal-ish Republican. Even the super-right Anne Coulter said that she’d back Hillary Clinton for the presidency of John McCain takes the Elephant nomination.

I also thought I’d put this little treasure in. I found it when I went to Chinatown this past weekend, and since New York tends to be a Democratic state (Hillary IS our senator, after all) (although you’d never think we lean to the Donkey side if you lived on Long Island long enough)…well, you’ll see the amusement in it.

Just for reference, “school post” means that I posted this sometime while at school (completely following the rules, I must add!). 

My lunch table (which is comprised of me and Bob, the seniors, and Corinne, Kevin, Ryan, Hunter, and Will–who I just call “GIDDENS!”–the juniors) is not the usual lunch table. Everyone around us talks about what is going on in their lives. We talk about Ron Paul, why Walt Whitman was delusional (”BECAUSE HE HEARD AMERICA SINGING!” Ryan says), and today, what we would give up for Lent.

We talk about Lent because we all go to a Catholic school, and this Wednesday, which is Ash Wednesday and thus the beginning of Lent, our school will start encouraging fasting. Our teachers also encourage us to give up something that we can deal without for forty days. Of course, my lunch table (and I instigated this) talked about the “funny” things that we would give up for Lent: our sanity, personal hygiene, homework, and so on.

Hunter said, “I can give up Mass for Lent but still go on Sunday!” (The rule is that you give up your “thing” but then you can indulge in it on Sunday)

So after lunch, Bob and I cut through the courtyard to walk back to my locker, which is on the way to his next class.

“I mean this in all honesty and seriousness,” I say. “I think I’m going to give up dating unattractive men for Lent.” He laughs and responds with:

“I’m going to give up talking to unattractive men for Lent.”

“Would that be every guy at our lunch table?” I joke.

“That would be everyone in this school,” he responds.

“You know what would be funny?” I suggest. “If you really followed that, and when you wanted to talk to a guy, you’d pull out a mirror and start talking to yourself. Then, next Lent, you can say, ‘I’m going to give up narcissism.’”

I have always believed that Americans should be multi-cultural, and that goes beyond having a black friend. I recently was accepted into my first college (Elon University in North Carolina), and in their list of “Important Upcoming Events” they listed a special multi-cultural experience weekend for accepted freshmen. From my various college investigations (which are always necessary for a high school senior), I’ve seen the phrase “multi-cultural” dropped numerous times per college. I, personally, think it’s great that the universities of our country want to open our eyes to the world around us. Look at it this way:

• They know we (the youth) don’t watch the news (by this, I mean the majority),
• They know we all harbor slight prejudices, no matter how nice of a person we are
• They know that these prejudices are instilled through our upbringing
• They know we’re young, spoiled, and interested in, primarily, ourselves

Now, don’t me wrong, I’m not blasting my generation. I’m just saying that the generations before mine are noticing some things, and I’m glad they’re doing something about it.

A perfect “cultural” segue (or maybe not. I’m bad at them). Chinese New Year is fast upon us, and yesterday (Saturday), my parents and I ventured to Chinatown in Manhattan to get a jump-start on the festivities.

Why? Well, it’s primarily because my mother is intrigued by feng shui (said “fung-shway”), the arrangement of not just furniture, but everything in your house to promote the flow of chi, energy. Practitioners of feng shui often buy various “tools” during the Lunar New Year to prepare for the year ahead. For my mom, this means traveling to Chinatown to buy carved figurines, funky pendants, and little red signs to hang up in the house that none of us can read (the woman at the store said they mean “prosperity,” etc, but for all we stupid white people know, they could be saying, “*bleep* you, jerk.”).

I love going to Chinatown (and, when the parking situation is too crazy, Flushing, Queens, which has a Chinatown-esque section). I even find it enjoyable when I ask the waiter at a restaurant what “chow mein” is, and the other waiters subsequently (in Chinese) laugh at me. Chinatown is the ultimate test of a Long Islander’s patience, with the people to whom traffic regulations never apply, and the constant rush of people around you, pushing into you, trying to buy something before you can. The food, of course, is wonderfully authentic. I will always recommend 69, on (you guessed it) 69 Bayard Street. And I fail as a New Yorker, because I have yet to eat at The Original Chinatown Ice Cream Factory. I don’t think anyone will blame me…it was February 2nd. ‘Nuff said.

There are some things people cannot deny simple things they enjoy. In the world-renowned bestseller Tuesdays with Morrie, Morrie tells how the perfect day for him would be a simple one. Coming from New York (and, as some say it is a seperate state, Long Island), I know that there are people who just do not like “simple.” Simple means that your cell phone doesn’t have a keyboard, and can’t take pictures, download and play music, or access the web; simple means that, while you do have an iPod, you don’t have five different accessories for it.

There are some simple joys in life that we should take advantage of. One of mine is just doing the macarena with my good friend Amanda.