Time to think.

Do you ever wonder if too much time to think is a bad thing?

It certainly is for me. Thinking leads to feeling, and feeling just leads to more thinking so it's this never ending circle that's quite consuming. Sometimes I wish I didn't have the need for more knowledge coupled with this innate passion for things. I get caught up in things so easily, I have to think about them to death and it's exhausting.

So, is too much time to think a bad thing?

I don't know, because things always seep into my brain whether I have time for them or not. So... we probably cannot escape it without hurting ourselves somehow. Maybe having too much time for thinking or having no time doesn't matter because we think whether we have time or not.

Huh, see... too much thinking.

hp

My beef with this, is not that people are protesting, but that they don't know WHAT they are protesting.

Students are loading up on buses and heading to our state's capitol to protest Governor Brian Sandoval's proposed budget cuts that the Nevada legislation will decide on in this 76th session. Here's an article about the students jumping on buses: http://unlvrebelyell.com/2011/03/10/student-rally-in-carson-city-planned-for-after- from the UNLV newspaper.

Here's the thing that I've noticed on campus. Students are riled up about budget cuts but most students don't know ANYTHING about the budget cuts. I'm not just being rude... I'm serious and completely frustrated with the lack of education (haha get the pun) so many students have about budget cuts and government spending in general. I almost feel like they're little lemmings just falling off cliffs one after the another because they assume they agree, not because they actually do. I couldn't help but day dream about each lemming stepping on to the bus, just following the person before them instead of actually knowing anything about ... well, anything.

No really, think about it... How many students do you think have actually read more than ONE or TWO articles on the cuts (and yes I mean the whole thing)? Where are they getting their information? Are the students involved in the bus adventure seeking out information or just listening to friends and teacher opinions in class? Or, even better are they just glancing at headlines or seeing their friends Facebook status suggesting the cuts are ridiculous. I'm frustrated because yes, voices must be spoken and heard for Democracy to operate, but the first step in speaking, is KNOWING.

How many of the students walking on to that bus have done any research on the subject beyond what their parents explained to them from the news, class discussion, a flier, or one news article?If they have done research, good for them, yay for Democracy! Unfortunately, I bet 95% of those students have not done any research beyond a class discussion, flier, or article.

I'm all about protesting and causes, even those that are opposite what I believe. HOWEVER, my beef with THIS specific issue (listening?), is that the students on those buses probably don't know why they are even going beyond "it's not fair... the Governor doesn't care." My response to those whose only argument is "it's not fair" would be: Life's not fair. I agree, the budget cuts suck, the economy sucks. But the government has to take the hit too! Like Chuck Muth said in the article above: "The private sector has been trimming down and making these kinds of tough but necessary budget cuts for more than three years now. It’s high time for government employees to start sharing in the sacrifice, as well."

If I could, I would make a pamphlet and hand it out to each of those students as they get on the bus and encourage them to READ it on their way there. My pamphlet would include the following and more:

1. The ACTUAL Budget proposal information

2. This article http://nevadanewsandviews.com/2011/01/31/sandoval’s-budget-proposal-adds-up-for-education/ which explains from a different perspectives what the cuts will look like, and the negative influence of UNIONS (yes, those heaven sent Unions- sense the sarcasm?) on teacher's jobs in Nevada. Worth reading.

It's funny, I've been told I'm a follower because of my beliefs. Yet... I'm not the one believing every word fed to me. I'm not the one getting on that bus because everyone else is. I know what a budget crises means. I know the economic state of not only Nevada, but the United States of America. I read, and not just one side or the other. But both. And I've made up my mind based on knowing both perspectives.

have you?

Yes, of course the Nevada Budget and decisions our Governor makes affect me. But this isn't about JUST ME. It's about the collective whole and what's best for Nevada overall.

Hop on the bus, but at least know why.

over and out.

HP

HP in TX: the last two days :(

I had so much fun being an Auntie to 5 in Texas! The last day I was there, we went hunting for leprechauns in honor of St. Patrick's Day! I gave the kids green hats and shamrock glow sticks and we were on our way!

Then we loved lil Hallie some more. Cass is LOVING having a baby sister to smother with love!

Then the glow sticks morphed into light sabers, of course.

Cassidy is such a good big sister!

We went to the park!

And rode bikes in front of the house.

It was the perfect Spring Break. I cried in the car and airport after I left. The mixture of family love and exhaustion is just too much to handle. I hate goodbyes. I sure do LOVE Cassidy, Cade, Luke, Jake, Hallie, Hill, Warren and Yoda. See you again soon!

HP in TX Part 3 Team Hess includes Jimmer Fredette and Michael Jordan

The little boys LOVE basketball! Cassidy jumps on too, and it makes quite the team!

Jake (2) is obsessed!

Here is Cade (aka Jimmer) dunking! He really got some air!

Here goes Luke (Michael Jordan) going for the dunk... he's catching MAJOR air. Must be those soccer cleats and jersey he wears for the occasion.

Look at Luke's form! I was amazed! He shoots with one hand! Look at that wrist, right in the cookie jar!

Here's the team photo! Don't you love how I said "Let's take a team photo" and they all automatically got on one knee? LOVE IT

HP in TX part 2: Soccer Aunt

It was so much fun to go to the kid's soccer games! All three of them played at 9am, so Warren and I were running around the park trying to catch glimpses of each game! Cassidy's team lost, but put up a great fight to their rivals the Dixiekicks. Cade's team one, and he played well on Defense, and Luke's team won and he scored!

Cass (9) is charging toward the ball!

Luke (4) scored his first goal!!

The soccer padres. It was a fun feel to see all the parents and kids swarming the fields!

Cade (7) is head to head with his competition!

HP goes TX Part 1

I jumped on a plane with hopes of beating Hallie to Dallas, but she won. Ohwell, I made it there a few hours after the blessed event and the whole trip was well worth it! I'm glad I made it when I did, I've never been with a little darling so new! This was my first experience with a baby four hours old, and I loved it! She is so tiny!

Welcome to the World Hallie!!!

Her brothers and sisters are LOVING her. This was at the hospital where we all held Hallie and welcomed her into the world by watching Despicable Me. Hallie LOVES her daddy! Word on the street is that she looked at him first thing!

This picture should have been first if this were chronological, however I can't seem to move photos on this computer, so here it is, last but certainly not least as this picture is documentation of my first rental car experience! yeah yeah, I've shared rental cars multiple times but I've never reserved it, picked it up, drove it there and back and shuttled to and from the airport ALL BY MYSELF! All I have to say is, "I AM SO BIG!!" In this picture I was in a hurry to see my little dumplings, but my GPS wanted to take the scenic route...

Aw see... presh.

Guess Who's coming to dinner

While watching Spencer Tracy, Katherine Hepburn, and Sidney Poitier (classic amazing actors I know) in "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner"... I realized how cool it would be to write a piece about the influence of movies and television on social issues in our country, for better and for worse (considering the influence on media on people today when it comes to glamorizing teen pregnancy, the use of illegal substances, and especially the lack of consequences when it comes to sex). In this situation, for THIS movie, I think it was definitely for the better...but I know you're wondering "what the heck is hp talking about?" Welp, the story line of "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" is that a young girl falls in love with a black man in 11 days and brings him home to introduce him to her family, announcing they're going to get married. THENnnnnnn HIS parents come to dinner. Neither families knew their future in-law was of a difference race!

Whatever will happen? Watch it.

You're thinking, "yea ok, big deal" but it IS a big deal, or excuse me I should say WAS a big deal. The movie was made in 1967. Do you remember 1967? Many of you weren't even alive, but remember Martin Luther King Jr? Yea, that dude that was uber important during the whole civil rights stuff? Welp, remember his famous speech "I have a dream"? He gave that speech in 1964, only 3 years before this movie came out. Does that put the social importance of this movie into perspective? Well it should, and because of it you should watch it. Yea yea, so African American's have been in American movies since at least the thirties, but think about the critical context of this movie. This young girl wants to marry this man, not just accept him as a friend, or give him the right to vote, but to marry him. It represents the steps that had occurred to even get to this point, and a movie that represents the real life issues of it's time.

The coolest part about the movie, is the complexity of those involved. The parents of the white girl are Liberal and had always been accepting of those of other races... in theory. But then when they come face-to-face with the situation at hand, things are very different. I love that the movie can package so many of these underlying and complex feelings into one 2 hour movie, while emphasizing the context of the late sixties. It was only 2 years later that MLK was assassinated. Interesting to think, eh?

So you may scoff, look at this old movie that is archaic and "so racist" but it was important in moving things forward and representing issues of importance to our society at the time, and helping people realize sometimes it's easier said than done, but that it can be done (overcoming an inner battle with oneself when you know the right thing to do), and watching now in 2011, helps me think how far we've come, and yet how much farther we have to go.

Best lines:

"you think of yourself as a colored man, I think of myself... as a man" & "you and your generation believes the way it was for you, is the way it HAS to be"

think about the importance of this movie in it's time. Man, why don't they make movies like this anymore?

Watch it,

hearts,

hp