When in doubt, go to TED. That’s my motto. Granted, with the discovery of Pinterest, TED and I had a rough patch, but I think we’ve gotten through it. I love TED conferences because of how incredibly simple they can be. For example, in this talk, Joe Smith shows us all how to use a paper towel. I know that it’s hard to believe that it’s even possible for their to be a right way to use a paper towel. Maybe it’s better to say that there is an efficient way to use a paper towel. There’s also a better way to tie your shoes. Every time I see a talk like these, it makes me think. What else do we do every day that we could be doing better? It’s something to consider as we continue to move forward as a society, isn’t it? Innovation doesn’t just have to be inventing new, but can also be going back to something that we’ve always had, and making it better. In fact, I think it is even more amazing to see things like these, because it takes a greater imagination to reinvent something that already works. I applaud these guys, because they aren’t ones to stick to the status quo, and I think we could all learn from that.

So I suppose I’ve been waiting a bit to do a post about this… But with Day of Silence right around the corner, I feel like now is as good a time as any to do it. Let’s dive right in:

On the 20th of April 2012, I will be completely silent from the time I leave my home until 4:15, when the last bell rings. To be honest, it isn’t something that I find that hard, but to others it’s a challenge. I know of a few others who will be joining me, and I assume that there are many others on our campus as well. To me, the Day of Silence is one of the most important school events that we have. In concept, it is similar (though much less dramatic) to the Shattered Dreams program. Students go through out the school day “in silence” as a way of bringing attention to the anti-LGBT bullying that occurs in schools.

The point is that a study has found that nearly 9 out of 10 LGBT students report having experienced harassment at school, but an overwhelming majority of these kids do not report it. The Day of Silence is meant to expose this silence to the rest of the student body. For more information about the Day of Silence itself, and it’s history, I highly suggest visiting the GLSEN website. Read the rest of this entry »

This week, while in a flight of fancy, I decided to take an hour to do some research, and actually plan out one of my many dreams: backpacking across Europe. The result of the planning was somewhat depressing as I realized just how much it would cost, as well as how much time the entire trip would take. So, for lack of the means to take this trip, I decided to outline it here and see what people think. While I realize that this isn’t necessarily a contemporary “issue”, I do believe that trips like these have become unpopular, and I think that we have lost something because of it. Just from sitting in my classes, I have come to realize that there are just so many people who really have very little idea what other cultures are out there. I strongly believe that the basis of diplomacy is mutual understanding, and what better way to understand a culture than living a few days like them? Secondly, I feel that there are an incredible amount of practical life lessons that can be learned by taking a trip like this. Now, there are some places that I undeniably want to visit, but other than those few, I really want the chance to just live a few days like a native person. Visit street vendors and family restaurants. See what they do for fun. Go to a football game, etc., etc. And so now that I’m done justifying this post’s place on the website, here is the trip that I have planned out:

Pre-trip:

Important to plan things out before you find yourself in Europe. First thing that you will definitely need is a passport ($110). Second, there are lots of train passes that you can buy for the Eurail, the best deal I saw was about $540. Depending on what you already have, the rest of the supplies you need for travelling will vary. Since I personally haven’t done much travelling, I anticipate clothes, supplies, shoes and backpack to cost around another $400. Finally, you have the airline ticket to actually get you to and from Europe (~$500 each way).

Pre-trip total:$2,050 Read the rest of this entry »