From Red to Blue

Dear Congressman John Campbell:

I am deeply concerned about the budget crisis that has been all over the media over the last few weeks. I am afraid that the arguments in Washington are going to lead to further economic agony for my friends, family, and fellow Americans. I was born and bred Republican right here in Newport Beach--I will always have sympathies with the Republican party; however, I can't help but feel that the party has grown immensely irresponsible over the last few years.

From a logical standpoint, it makes no sense for Republicans to blame President Obama for the national debt that was mostly incurred by President Bush. I do not blame Bush arbitrarily--I blame him because it was in fact Bush who incurred the debt through war and overspending in the first place. The debt increased to over 10 trillion dollars under Bush and only to 14 under Obama when he spent most of the money on fighting the recession and continuing to fight the wars started by President Bush.

Why should I support the Republican Party?

Both of my parents were laid off during the recession. Both educated, both Reagan loving Republican, and both used to making six figure salaries. Both of them have slowly begun to lose faith in the Republican Party during this time—they were forced to live off of unemployment checks from the government, and the Republican party doesn’t seem to be jumping through any hoops to improve the lot of the American middle class, but only corporations and the rich.

Why should I support the Republican party?

I lost the house that I grew up in. My Father is very responsible with money—he has almost perfect credit, has saved for retirement, and to pay my brother and I through college. If he had not sold the house, I would not have a college degree and he would not have been able to start a small business to help support the family and the local job market. He did not get trapped in the sub-prime mortgage bubble, but he was forced to sell anyways to insure that his family and his community would be taken care of in the long term.

Congressman, do you care that this man’s hopes and dreams for his family were crushed by this recession?

My grandmother, who lived with my mother at the time, is retired and lives off of social security, Medicaid, and Medical, also a former avid Republican turned Democrat. She has been sick for so long that she wasn’t even able to work long enough to save for retirement. If these programs were cut further, she would lose the care that she needs to survive.

Congressman, do you care about my grandmother?

Is it really a surprise that the Democrats are slowly making a resurgence when Republicans want to do nothing but cut spending in this time where the country is in great danger? The Great Depression reached its worst point in 1937 after attempts were made to cut back on spending—do you and your party really want to send us down that path again? We certainly can’t count on another war to fix our economy like World War II did—war is what got us into this mess in the first place.

Congressman, I urge you to rise above the bipartisan disagreements and do what’s right for America. While the middle and working class suffers, the rich continue to benefit from tax cuts that are at one of their historic lows. It is Obama, not the Republican Party who reformed Medicare to make it more affordable for U.S. citizens. It is Obama, not the Republican Party, who has reformed taxes to benefit the suffering middle class. It is Obama, not the Republican Party who wants to reform taxes to a reasonable point where everyone pitches in their fair share—including big corporations and the rich. We need to increase revenues and reduce expenses in the United States. This is the only way we will fix our nation’s debt in the long term.

Why should I support the Republican Party?

Tell me why Congressman—because I’ve turned from red to blue, and I’m proud of it. I dare you to prove me wrong by doing what’s right. Make me proud to have been raised Republican again—compromise with the democrats on a budget plan that is fair for every American.

Your time to act is running out.

Sincerely,

Ian Anderson

Also, Construction

Most of what I have been working on this summer is my Aunt's house in Palo Alto

I've always been pretty handy around the house, but I never had any idea the amount of physical pain I would endure doing a majority of the work on this remodel project.

This isn't like retail where I can go party and read about intellectual nonsense when I get off work. All I can think about after work is beer, TV, and maybe... MAYBE an occasional visit to the gym.

I left UCSB committed the idea that I would be entering the fashion design world--I don't think any more construction projects are in my future.

Great Expectations

I get really frustrated when people complain about not meeting their expectations.

So, after you tried for so long, you're just going to give up?

But it's true, you never seem to know what life will throw at you the next street over until you've turned the corner; however, this shouldn't stop us from continuing to reach for our highest goals.

At the moment, I'm working on and dealing with a few things I've never had to deal with before, and they all came at once. The life that I thought I had planned for myself this summer just got thrown out the window. For now, I'm putting off the things I've been meaning to work on, and am just taking life day by day--in times of great change, that's all we can do. But I know that I'm growing, setting myself up for success and much less pain the next time anything like this happens.

Whoever came up with the idea of Summer break for students is a genius--by the time summer is over, I know I will have dealt with everything going on in my life to face the new year with a fresh start.

Sounds corny, right? Yes, but it is as corny as it is true.

Full speed ahead, comrades.

The Cosmopolitan

Alright, I know the Cosmopolitan is the place to be in Vegas right now, and I am completely unoriginal for posting this, but:









Hmm, kind of reminds me of











So who's hosting my birthday party there in November? Any volunteers?

Tonight

Walls of glass,
Breaking at my feet.
I ascend,
And skip along the crests, effortlessly.

Shards, flying in my face—
I breathe them in;
They fill me up.

They turn and run—
I continue walking,
Breathing in the chaos.

The ground beneath me pulsates.
Walls behind me, tinted orange.
I keep walking.

The Guardians watch in silence.
I enter, they do not notice.
The eye of the storm: I have arrived.

I measure the wind.
My scarf unraveled as I turn.
I succumb.

The rage begins anew.
I’m swept up:
Carried away—
Into another world,
Where I am at peace.
They run, but I have won.
Torrential whirlwind surrounds me,
And I feel whole.

A blur of yellow
Joins me for a moment—
Watching,
Listening.
A guardian.

I lay on the ground,
Taking in the world:
Every whisper heard;
Every speck seen;
All is explained.

The world is a desert—
I am alone:
No one dare join me.
Dust devils encircle;
I am finally in control.

Two beams of pure white,
Shine from ahead:
They are on my trail.

Calmly, I retrace my steps.
The white fills,
Then empties.

I leave, unnoticed—
The myth of creation, solved.
No more mystery;
No more fear.
I am at peace.

Wisdom

This year has been very, very, very long

And it's not even over yet.

If it could be summed up in one word, it would be Wisdom.

This year:

I moved out of my old apartment in Santa Barbara and into a new one.
I decided to spend the Summer at home in Orange County.
I have learned a lot about my family.
I decided to help my dad start his new business.
I couldn't be happier about my dad’s marriage—Dean and Christine are perfect for each other.
I traveled up and down the coast of California and Oregon visiting cool people and seeing some of the most beautiful places on the planet.
I went to Big Sur for the first time.
I went to Yosemite for the first time.
I went to New York for the first time and I sense that that city will have an important part in my future.
I lost the house of my childhood and moved out of the neighborhood I grew up in.
I lost an important and close family friend.
I came closer than ever before finding out what I want to do with the rest of my life.
I've spent a lot of time alone, a lot of time with new people, and probably not enough time with old friends.
I have learned to trust my instincts more than ever.


More than anything else, I have spent a lot of time giving my mind a break and getting my thoughts in order.


I have learned to accept more that I cannot change, and changed much that I can, and I have gained more wisdom to know the difference.


As the year draws to a close, I can't help but feel that one issue remains unresolved. Why do some people allow the slightest things to get in the way of their relationships with their friends and family? I try very hard to balance everything in my life, and part of that balance is not taking sides in feuds between family members and friends. Isn't that the ideal? Of course I will always defend my friends and family if someone else were to come after them in any way, but when it comes down to it, I don't understand why some people are completely okay with living a life that's a lie. Honesty is important for any healthy relationship: secrecy and backstabbing will surely divide any family.

So why let all of the pain continue?

Somewhere down the line, we will all die. We do not know when this will happen, and we do not know how it will. We can die with a clean conscience or with a guilt ridden mind—the choice is ours.

So much conflict is based around people refusing to admit that they were wrong in the past. Pride can bring down any house. It's far better to be humble and admit and learn from your mistakes.

This is an ideal I am constantly working toward.

We are all guilty of making mistakes at times, but it is realizing them and learning from them that is a true sign of wisdom. Work towards our dreams, live honest lives, and surround ourselves with the ones we love and who love us. If we didn't, what would be the point of it all? Slothing through life day by day, we would never achieve what we wanted to, and go to the grave with the secrets that ruin our lives.

We have a limited amount of time on this earth.

Let's make the best of it.

Let’s make this next year one filled with achieving dreams and living life to the fullest.

That’s what I have scheduled in my planner.