The TRUTH About Marijuana

I support the legalization of marijuana 100% and in case you don't see eye to eye with me on the subject, lets make sure you have all the TRUE facts.

First of all, there are many people out there that claim that smoking pot causes brain damage. Studies have shown zero evidence that this is true. Another myth about marijuana is that the use of it will cause human brainwaves to flatten. "In reality, marijuana has the effect of slightly INCREASING alpha wave activity. Alpha waves are associated with meditative and relaxed states which are, in turn, often associated with human creativity."

Another misleading claim on marijuana is that it will permanently impair your short term memory. This is true only when under the influence of smoking weed. Once you're sober, the impairment on your memory disappears.

One of the most popular myths about pot is that it is a "gateway drug." This is completely false, in fact, marijuana actually tends to substitute for much more dangerous substances (alcohol, cocaine, heroine, etc). A perfect example is the affects on the drug abuse in Holland when the Dutch partially legalized marijuana in the 1970s. "Since then, hard drug use, heroin and cocaine, have DECLINED substantially. If marijuana really were a gateway drug, one would have expected use of hard drugs to have gone up, not down." Alcohol is far more harmful than marijuana. It is a poison, is physically addictive, and dulls your motor skills.

And did you know that one of the big motivations behind making marijuana illegal was actually because of hemp's potential for producing paper posed a threat to the timber and oil industries!

Here's a video you might get a giggle from ;)

Wedding Disasters!

I've been working as a photographer's assistant for Angela Ammons Photography for almost three years now. (American Eagle is for extra cash and a badass discount.) I'm so blessed to have a job where I can practice one of my main passions. We do family pictures, senior pictures, engagements, but mostly we do weddings. I've lost count of how many weddings I've been to by now, but I can almost recite a traditional ceremony perfectly. Because I've been to countless weddings, I've seen A LOT of disasters that might be a little amusing to you!

Last year, I worked at wedding with the sweetest bride I've ever met. But unfortunately for her, she gained a little weight after her fitting for her wedding gown. Her bridesmaids struggled to zip her up until one of them accidentally broke the zipper off completely! (I got the whole things on camera haha) The bride was in tears and they all began to freak out. So the mother did the only thing that there was left to do, she sewed her up in the dress. Bet that sucked for the groom when the whole thing was over! ;)

I worked at another wedding that was unfortunately during the time we have a lot of storms and tornadoes. This couple decided to have their wedding outside in front of their huge ranch and they decided not to prepare for bad weather. As fate would have it, it stormed the entire day. Not just a little sprinkle either, it was pouring! Luckily one of the storms ended a few minutes after the ceremony was supposed to start and we had about thirty minutes until the next one was about to hit. People ran our trying to dry off chairs and they poured sand in the middle of the aisle to try and get rid of all that mud. Sadly, the sand didn't help and the bride's dress was completely ruined before the whole thing was over. The wind was blowing so hard that they couldn't even light to unity candle!

My Own Experience With School Assessment

I've chosen to explore the issue of school assessment because of my own experience. When I was in elementary school, my teachers were more concerned about prepping us for assessment tests than teaching us more valuable subjects. For two years I struggled with things as simple as handwriting because my teachers didn't take the time to notice I was writing the wrong way. In the middle of my third grade year, my mother pulled me out of the city school to be home schooled. She saw that i was writing wrong and noticed other gaps in my education. During the four years I was home schooled I learned one on one with my mom mathematics, health, science, history, geography, spelling, reading, and even photography. By the time I went back to school in the eighth grade I was already way ahead of the other students. On my placement test, my reading score was higher than that of a high school senior. I was placed in the highest math and science classes that there was but even then I was ahead. I was shocked to find out that students didn't know how to do things as simple as add and subtract fractions and they didn't know how to solve any problems without a calculator. And my history teacher didn't know one thing about American history because he was the football coach! I went to a public school until my junior year of high school and then I chose to be home schooled me last two years. I couldn't take it anymore, most of my teachers didn't care which made me unmotivated. This time I taught myself and got into college without the help of anyone. I'm curious to see what I learn about this problem and if I can find a feasible soltion.

Retail Rant Part 2

I've noticed when I work as a cashier that customers tend to be more rude checking out than they are browsing for clothes. For instance, when you come and pick my cash register you'll find that I'm always smiling and friendly. But somehow, I seem to attract those of you who love to piss me off by having an attitude for absolutely no reason! I once had a lady who was exchanging a pair of jeans for a pair of shoes. Each item cost the same amount, so obviously the woman wasn't supposed to get any change back. The whole entire time I was completing the purchase, this lady was nothing by rude to me. I smiled at her when she came up and asked if she found everything okay and all she did was roll her eyes at me. This immediately changed my mood, so I chose to go about my business and ignore her when I could. The exchange was complete and the lady went on her way. Unfortunately for me, she decided to come back only five minutes later yelling in my face that I didn't give her any change. After about ten times of me trying to explain over her angry moose-like antics, she finally looked at the receipt and said, “oh.” Are you kidding me??? I first had to sit there and deal with this lady's complete and utter rudeness and then endure her yelling in my face for absolutely no reason and all I get is “oh.” So the next time someone is ringing your purchase up for you, be friendly. You'll make someone's day so much happier without spreading you're negative energy.

Keep In Mind The Next Time You Visit A Retail Store...

I've been employed at American Eagle for a couple of months now. The people I work with are awesome, it's the customers that come in to shop that I can't stand. As soon as someone walks through that door they are transformed to little children set out to wreck everything in sight. For example, when you're looking through a stack of shirts trying to find your size and it's not close to the top, please for the love of God let someone who works there get it for you. And you're probably thinking, “Well golly gee Macon, that seems silly to bother an employee just to get my shirt.” First of all, it's our job to work with clothes, we don't have some secret ulterior assignment. If we're working on the floor, it's our job to serve you and if we're charming, convince you to buy a whole bunch of crap you really don't need. Secondly, chances are more likely that if someone hasn't already asked to help you, they're watching you just waiting for you to destroy the table they just made perfect. Also, keep in mind when we come and ask you for help with anything it is our job to do so! Don't be rude, we're just doing our job and trying to help you find everything you want and need. If we don't ask everyone in our designated area of the store, we'll more than likely get chewed out by a manager in the little walkies we wear!

My Manifesto

My life manifesto is first comprised of graduating from college with a degree in psychology. After I obtain my bachelor's degree I plan on going to graduate school to further my education and receive a doctrine in my current major. With my doctrine I'd like to become a psychology professor at a university while researching new theories that will end up helping others. I want to make discoveries about the mind and unlock the answers to psychological problems that are still a mystery.

It's extremely important to me to become my own success. I don't want to be dependent on any one, especially when I get married. I've watched my parents have financial problems that eventually contributed to a divorce and I learned how important it is to be able to support yourself before making that sort of commitment with another. So after I'm financially independent I'd love to consider marriage, hopefully to my boyfriend of almost three years, Jacob. If I'm lucky enough to find someone crazy enough to marry me, I'd like to travel to Europe with my significant other. However, even if I don't get married that won't stop me from experiencing the world for myself! I was always bored when it came to American history, but European history has always fascinated me. Before I die I want to see for myself where all those historical events took place. Just to name a few, I want to see the England, France, Greece, Egypt, and Italy.

One cause I have always been passionate about is the fight for women's rights. Even though there are a lot of people who view being a feminist as something negative, I've seen the importance of it. Without any sort of feminist movement women would hardly have any rights that we take for granted of today. Even though we have come a long way already, there still remains a great deal of sexist degradation against women. I'd like to get a minor in women's studies to use that education to do something great for women's rights.

All throughout my life the one person who has always been there for me is my dad. To this day, even though he doesn't have a lot, he always helps me with so much. When I'm making my own living I want to give back to my dad all that he's done for me. I want to help him be able to retire and enjoy the rest of his life comfortably. No matter how much my salary ends up being, I will be there to take care of my father.

After I accomplish all of my goals and traveling the world, only then do I want to to start a family and have children. At that point, I will be ready to settle down and experience the joy of having kids. When I become a mother, I still want to be able to work but it's still very important to me to be an active parent. My mother never once put me after school care when I was growing up and I want to do the same for mine. When my significant other and I become parents it's also crucial to me to be able to overcome any problems together that we may face. I will never let my children experience the heartache of a divorce unless I have no other choice. I want to always keep it a priority to maintain a close relationship to my kids, like the one I had with my parents. I want them to always feel like they can come talk to me about anything and know that I will do everything possible to take care of them. While they're getting older, I want to give them something I never had. I want to continually set aside money towards their college education because I know personally how hard it is to pay for school without any help.

Once I reach retirement, I hope to have enough money in my retirement fund to buy a nice little home and some land in the country with my husband. I'd like to see other places of the world I didn't get to see before and maybe visit some of my favorite places I've already seen. I want to spoil my children and later my children's children. But most of all I want to spend the rest of my days enjoying the company of my future husband and doing the simple things in life together.