Assisted Suicide

There was a story in the news recently about Sir Edward Downes. He was a famous orchestra conductor. He was going blind and deaf. His wife of 54 years was dying of cancer. So, they decided to commit suicide together. They flew to Zurich where there is an assisted suicide clinic and died together with their dignity still in tact.

A lot of people don't believe in suicide. They think it's morally wrong. I am opposed to killing, unless it's done in self defense (and even then, I prefer it as only a last resort). I believe this because I think it's wrong to take someone else's life away. However, if someone wants to take their own life, I think they should be able to. Don't get me wrong. I am not supporting suicide. I want people to get help for their problems and be at peace. What I am saying is, your life is yours to do what you wish. If you wish to end your life, you should have that choice.

I especially believe this to be true for the sick or elderly. If I have some awful disease which causes me unending pain or causes me to lose my dignity, I will want the option of ending my own life. And, I would prefer that there be an easy option. People shouldn't have to turn to shooting themselves or slitting their own wrists. Assisted suicide helps people go out on their own terms. With a little bit of dignity. And it's much easier to deal with. It's in a controlled environment under the supervision of a licensed professional.

I mean, for crying out loud, women can terminate the life growing inside of them, but people aren't allowed to take their own lives?? What sort of logic is that? We even kill our death row inmates in a humane manner (I do not agree with the death penalty, but at least they're going out with some dignity in a humane manner). And our pets; we take them to a vet and have them "put to sleep" when they are no longer able to live full and happy lives. But, we cannot extend this courtesy to our fellow men and women??

It just doesn't make sense to me. If I want to kill myself, I should be able to do so. If I need help, I should be able to ask for it. And the people I ask to help should not be persecuted for it. It's my life. I should be able to go out on my own terms; with dignity and peace. I hope that, should I ever feel the need to end my life, I will not have to go all the way to Switzerland to do so.

Strange Phone Call...

So, I work in an office. I answer phones all day long. Sometimes, the callers are jerks. Sometimes they're really nice. And, sometimes they're just crazy. Today, I got one of the crazies.

Me: Brooks Printing Service & Equipment. How may I help you?

Crazy: I need to speak to [insert name].

Me: I'm sorry sir, but I think you have the wrong number.

Crazy: No, I need to speak to [insert name].

Me: There is no one here by that name, sir.

Crazy: What do you mean?

Me: I'm sorry sir, but I've never even heard that name before. That person does not work here.

Crazy: I know he works there. He's worked there for 30 damned years.

Me: (I think, "We've only been in business since 1987, so I know that's not possible." lol) Are you sure that you have the right number, sir? This is Brooks Printing Service & Equipment.

Crazy: Yes, I have the right number. I'm telling you, he's worked at [insert company name] for 30 years.

Me: Sir, this is Brooks Printing Service & Equipment, not [insert company name].

Crazy: I know he works there. Well, I'll just call him on his damned cell phone. I think I've got the number.

Me: Ummm... thank you, sir.

I love the crazies. They make my day. :D

School? Maybe...

So, I've been giving my current situation a lot of thought. I really dislike my current job. It's completely unfulfilling and a pain. Most people probably know that I've been struggling to decide what I'm actually going to do with my life. Well, a while back I figured out what I really want to do: be a stay at home mom. But, since that's still several years down the road, I figured I should probably find something else to do with my life until then. lol

Joe and I spoke recently and we both think it would be a good idea for me to leave my job. He doesn't want me to be miserable either. :) The problem with that is that there aren't really many jobs out there that will allow me to pay my bills and still eat. :S Joe suggested that I go back to school. The problem with that was that I didn't really know what I would go back for. I mean, didn't I already say that I don't know what I want to do with my life for the time being??

Well, I've given it a lot of thought, and I think I may be decided. I'd like to go back to get my degree in Therapeutic Massage. It's something completely different from what I'm doing now, I'd actually be helping people, I would be working with lots of different people, and it would actually pay the bills. There are multiple different programs that I could do. They could take anywhere from 2 semesters to 17 months.

Okay, now for the problem with this: How am I going to be able to pay for this and afford to live?? haha... that, my friends, is my current dilemma. It's time to sit down and do some serious figuring. It's probably going to require a lot of sacrifice... especially since I'm currently pretty spoiled (I've had quite a bit of extra income in recent months because I had a downgrade in rent/utilities... due to the fact that my apartment is tiny and craptastic).

If I went back to school, I would have an odd schedule during the day, which would mean that I would have to find a job working nights/weekends. That also sucks, because it's pretty much the only time I see Philip. Also, those jobs tend to pay crap. Yuck.

So, I'm pretty frightened of what may be to come, but I'm also really excited that I may actually be stepping in the right direction to find some meaning in my work/life. :)

Harry Potter

Well, I finally finished Harry Potter last night. It took me a while to get through the first two books (they were really slow), but books three through seven were definitely exciting enough to keep me interested. :)

J.K. Rowling certainly doesn't have a problem killing people off. I spent quite a bit of time crying through books 5, 6, and 7 when she killed people off. Also, they were rather depressing. I know that book 7 ended on a happy note, but still, it was kind of hard to come back after how depressed it made me earlier in the book!

I've watched the first three movies, so far. Philip and I are watching movies 4 and 5 this weekend (I had never read the books or watched any of the movies before a few weeks ago... Philip wanted me to come with him to see movie 6 when it comes out next week, but I told him that I needed to read the books before I watched the movies). So, I will be caught up after this weekend. Number 6 comes out on the 15th, but Philip works nights and I work days, so we won't get to go see it until Friday the 17th. No biggie. Philip has no idea what happens. He just knows that I cried through a lot of 6 and 7 and that people are killed off. I'm interested to see how he feels about them.

Also, I would like to say this: I totally had Snape figured out. I knew I wasn't wrong. :)

And, now that I'm finished with Harry Potter, I can read the next installment of Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series: Finger Lickin' Fifteen. I'm so excited. I've been waiting for it for months! :D After that, I think I will be starting Charlaine Harris' True Blood series, since I now watch the show. I'd like to see how they differ. And, I bought a few books at Books-A-Million a few weeks ago... a book about a woman who grew up in a LDS polygamous cult, a book about a man who's family was in concentration camps during the Holocaust, an Agatha Christie novel recommended to me by a friend, and a Wonder Woman graphic novel written by one of my favorite authors, Jodi Picoult. I shall be busy! :)

A Gypsy Soul? Apparently...

So, a few weeks ago, when I was moving into my new apartment, I started thinking about something. I have moved A LOT in the past few years. I'm starting to feel like a gypsy.

1. 1985 -- When I was born, my parents were living in an apartment in Plymouth, Indiana. We only lived there for the first month or so of my life.
2. 1985-2004 -- We moved to Rose Road in Plymouth, Indiana. I lived there until I left for college.
3. Fall 2004-Spring 2005 -- I lived in Woodson Dormitory at Catawba College.
4. Spring 2005 -- I moved to Stanback Dormitory at Catawba College for my second semester of my first year.
5. May-Jun 2005 -- I went home for a few weeks after my first year at Catawba, but then, after a few problems, I moved in with Joe's mother in China Grove, NC.
6. June 2005-July 2006 -- Joe's mom was a tad on the insane side, so Joe and I got an apartment in Salisbury on Woodson Street.
7. July 2006-May 2007 -- We moved right across the street from Catawba to Dr. Clapp's basement apartment on Summit Avenue.
8. May 2007-October 2008 -- We moved to Gastonia after Joe graduated to be closer to his work in Dallas.
9. ~Overlap~ August 2007-December 2008 -- I lived at Dr. Fuller's loft to house-sit/cat-sit for her while she was teaching at Harlaxton.
10. October 2008-May 2009 -- We moved to Shelby, North Carolina.
11. May 2009 -- When Joe and I broke up, I stayed in Charlotte for a few weeks before I found an apartment.
12. June 2009-Present -- I have an apartment in Belmont, North Carolina. I'm not really there very much, but it's my current address.

So, I started off slow. I spent the first 19 years of my life at the same address. And since then, I've moved A LOT. I've had a total of 12 addresses. Ten of those addresses have have occurred in the past 5 years. That's insanity. The funny thing? I'll probably be moving again in about 5 months when my lease is up. I will probably move to Charlotte and get a roommate. And then, after that lease is up, I will probably move again. And, in a few years, I plan to move to Colorado where it will be nice and cool in the summer and I will get lots and lots of snow in the winter. Like it should be. :D I guess I can't sit still for long... That will hopefully change in a few years. Then, I will hopefully be ready to settle down and start a family. :) I don't think my family would appreciate having to move every year... ;)

Goings on...

WARNING: This blog post is going to be completely random. :)

If you haven't seen Transformers: Rise of the Fallen, you need to. It's incredibly awesome. Philip, Joe, and I all agree, it's better than the first. And the first, it was awesome! :)

I'm going to see Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs on Friday night. :) In 3-D. It's going to be incredible (In case you didn't already know, I am a HUGE Ice Age fan).

I'm going to go see fireworks in downtown Charlotte on Saturday night. :)

Philip and I will be making the journey to Plymouth, Indiana on the weekend of July 24th. And, Philip will get to, officially, meet my parents (they met once for a few minutes at my graduation). But, he talks to my mom about as much as I do (the wonders of Facebook), so that meeting will probably be anti-climactic. ;)

People continue to make too much of our situation. Joe and I are still really good friends. I think he's crazy (he's aware), and we are completely incompatible in a relationship (we've discussed this topic quite a bit... how did we ever stay together for over 4 and a half years?), but we are still close. We still work together and we still talk outside of work (sometimes for hours on the phone). And, Joe and Philip are still friends.

However, people still imagine that there is some sort of hostility between us. They're trying to pick sides or egg on drama. It's completely ridiculous. I don't understand why people think it's any of their business. I was angry earlier this week over some stupid crap that was happening, but I've decided just to let it go. If people want to be crazy, I can't stop them.

How is it that some people can love drama so much?? It hurts me. I can't handle drama. Some people seem to feed off of it, though. Even if there is drama which in no way involves them, they find a way to make themselves a part of it. And there are people who want to be miserable. I don't understand it! The more bad things that happen, the happier those people are... It's disturbing. How do people live like that?

I'm looking for somebody to go with me to the Aerosmith/ZZ Top concert on July 9th at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater in Charlotte. Is anyone interested?? If so, give me a call or send me a message. I really want to go, but I don't want to go alone (there will probably be a lot of creepers there and I'm not very scary... lol).

I've finished reading the first five Harry Potter books. I'm on the sixth. And I've watched the first 2.5 movies. :) Philip and I are going to see the sixth movie when it comes out.

I'm going to see Coldplay in concert for my birthday. :)

I will be 24 years old in about a month. Damn, I'm getting old.

I miss Heroes/Sylar. I'm going through withdrawal. I can't wait until September 21st when season 4 will start back. :)

Well, I think that's enough randomness for now. :)