Staying politically informed?

Guess what? As of today, this blog has had exactly 200 views! It's not near as popular as my other blog, and I'm honestly okay with that. Though I get happy when people vote on my polls...

So, in honor of my 200th view, I have a new question for you: are you paying any attention to the presidential candidates? The next election day is in less than a year. Which means (ugh) it's time to peak into politics again... I really should hop on that.

Ever Had a Car Accident?

This past Sunday evening, I crashed my car. Ugh. I'm about to post about it in my other blog, Annalyn's Thoughts.

Anyway, that was my first car accident, ever. And it was made worse by the fact that I was the driver. Then again, I'm thankful no other people were involved. And I'm a-okay. Just a little sore.

What about you? Have you ever gotten into a car accident? I'm only talking about if you were the driver, not if you were the passenger. Give me your answer in the poll to the left, and comment away!

Ever Heard of Wattpad?

I love to read and write. My friend, Firecat057, introduced me to this great site called Wattpad, where people post their stories and read other stories. I've come across some great amateur books on this site. Some of them are complete, and some of them are works in progress.

At first, I just read other users' work. Then I decided to start uploading my own story, At His Whim. It's a mystery/suspense/fantasy book. Posting it one chapter at a time on Wattpad keeps me accountable - I just uploaded my tenth part!

What about you? Have you ever heard of Wattpad.com?

Tired of All the Celebrity Hate?

Okay, so I've noticed something over the past few years. When someone becomes famous, it's suddenly okay to bash them.

I mean, seriously. What's up with all the "I hate Justin Bieber" stuff? Sheesh, you don't even know him! Just because you don't like his singing doesn't mean you should go around bashing on him. Moreover, I'm willing to bet that most JB-haters are just jumping on the bandwagon - if it weren't for all their friends, then they'd love his singing.

No, I'm not a big fan of his. I don't listen to much music, and I'm not the fangirl type. I'm just a little annoyed.

The same thing with the Twilight books. If they weren't so popular and didn't have so many fans, then people wouldn't care enough to go around bashing them. Personally, I enjoyed the books. Sure, they weren't masterpieces, but they did their job - they pulled in an audience of teenage girls. Somehow, they even pulled off the movies (I've heard the newer ones are better than the first).

But that's just my opinion. What do you think? Are you okay with all the celebrity hate? Or are you getting pretty annoyed? Don't worry. If you turn out to be an obsessive hater, my opinion of you probably won't go down. At least, I'll try to keep a positive opinion of you.

Vampire Knight or Twilight?

I'm speaking strictly of the anime and movies here, folk. Not the books or manga.

When I talk to other girl anime fans, Vampire Knight often comes up. In my opinion, Vampire Knight beats Twilight by a long shot. So far, all the otaku I've asked agree with me. But what about you? I'm not a Twilight hater, so don't be afraid to say the truth.

I'm just curious, so I hope you'll vote in the poll to the left. Comment, too, if you like. But no hate comments. Those are just plain annoying.

Girl Scouts Support of Planned Parenthood (and related ideas)

New Poll: What do you think of the Girl Scout organization's support of Planned Parenthood? Votes and comments welcome as always!

I just discovered the site "Speak Now: Girl Scouts". It's a site founded by two teenage girls who decided to leave Girl Scouts after 8 years of commitment because they found out Girl Scouts supports things they don't - namely: Planned Parenthood and abortion, thought it doesn't stop there. Even if you agree with the pro-choice cause, I encourage you to check this site out. I think it's important to know what some of the most respectable organizations in our nation are teaching our kids (yes, yes, I realize I count as a kid depending on the situation).

I found some of the information on this site shocking. I understand if an organization like Girl Scouts gives a little, um, misguided support of the pro-choice cause (count the euphemisms; I'm being nice). However, I did not expect them to undermine the family values I consider so important in as many ways as Speak Now: Girl Scouts lists.

Anyone know of some yummy cookies that taste like thin mint Girl Scout cookies?

What is anime?

I love anime, and sometimes forget that not everyone knows what it is. I usually assume the older generations don't know about anime, but think that it's universally known among teens. Silly of me, since, two years ago, I had no clue myself.

So, here's a new poll. Not that anyone actually visits this blog to participate...

Did President Lincoln Overstep his bounds as President?

During the Civil War, President Lincoln took swift, decisive action to preserve the Union and the public safety. Some believe he acted outside of his Constitutional power. His controversial actions included the suspension of the writ of Habeas Corpus and the Emancipation Proclamation.
Do you think his action was just right for the times, or did President Lincoln go a bit too far?

Change in Design

I've made some pretty big changes to how the blog looks, and I'd love to hear your opinion on it. Please poll and comment!

Rallying vs. Immature, Useless Words

I don't mind discussing, debating, or even arguing politics. In fact, I love it! And rallying, joining together with like-minded people is great. However, some people take it too far. On Facebook, I became a fan of "Being Conservative." With Reagan for a profile picture, you'd think the group made distinguished posts and warrant good discussion. Unfortunately, that's not usually the case.
A recent post by the "Being Conservative" group stated, "Dear Obama: take 2011 off and don't come to work. 'Like' if this is one of your New Years wishes." This post turned into an outlet for my fellow discontented conservatives to voice their... disapproval of our president. I understand the need for an outlet, but got fed up with the seeming lack of thoughtful, issue-related comments. So, I thought I'd post my comment here, and create a related poll: Do you get fed up with political "discussion" that's just immature insults and unfounded arguments?

Look, I don't like President Obama either, but my friends and I have more mature discussions about him and other politics... and we're teenagers! If I were a liberal, I'd look at these comments and think, "What argumentative, insulting, broken records these conservatives are!"
Obama is liberal, and the most pro-choice president we've ever had. But he's still the president, and comments like these help no one. The American people woke up a little during the last Congress election, and we're not helpless. Let's use our passion towards something useful - like research, writing, intelligent discussion/debate, protests, letter writing... something more productive than showing a nasty face to our fellow facebook users.
I know I'm younger than most of you, and I'm sorry for the lecture. I just get frustrated when I see a bunch of unproductive, immature comments on political issues. I get even more frustrated when the comments are coming from my fellow conservatives, since they hinder our cause more than help.
Oh, and this comment doesn't apply to those of you who are just happy to imagine a world without the negatives of Obama and aren't supplying useless immature comments. There's a difference between rallying and spouting unintelligible words. Sometimes that difference is a fine line.

Maybe I'm taking it all too seriously, but I think most of the other people who commented weren't thinking enough.