"Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that..." - Martin Luther King

My mom sent me this article today (I've put the site directly under the article). I think it took a lot of courage and determination for Dr. Alveda King to stand in the Democratic Convention (I've been watching it off and on in the Student Center at Hancock- it's intense!) surrounded by screaming, enthusiastic Democrats, and flat-out denounce a liberal "right." If she can stand in a crowd of that size with thousands of people who blatantly disagree with her, I for one find it extrememely encouraging to use her example and take courage to talk to maybe even one person.

MINNEAPOLIS - The niece of the Martin Luther King, Jr. has used the Democratic Party convention in Denver this week to denounce abortion, which she calls a violation of civil rights.

Alveda King, who traveled to Denver this week during the Democratic Party convention, notes that the party's platform does not recognize the life of the unborn to be a civil right. And she says while the Democrats have reached out to Christian voters, she wants to remind those Christians that the Bible supports the rights of all people -- and "that includes the pre-born," she adds.

Yesterday, King released a statement honoring the 45th anniversary of her uncle's "I Have a Dream" speech. She described MLK as a man of God, a man of great compassion, and a man of non-violence who once said "the Negro cannot win as long as he is willing to sacrifice the lives of his children for comfort and safety."

As King put it yesterday, "I know in my heart that if Uncle Martin were alive today, he would join with me in the greatest civil rights struggle of this generation -- the recognition of the unborn child's basic right to life. My uncle Martin would agree that we cannot end poverty, hunger, or suffering by killing those who might suffer. We cannot claim to guarantee equal rights if we deny the rights of the helpless. And we cannot feign ignorance of the fact that those who are torn apart, crushed, or left to die on an abortionist's table are just as human as we are."

http://www.onenewsnow.com/Politics/Default.aspx?id=232656

Hancock

So, the semester has officially started.

My first class was at 11 a.m. (Cultural Anthropology), and it went really nicely. Nice people, funny teacher. I'd say under 35, definitely a gamer, loves lecturing because he can say whatever he wants and everyone has to listen. He cracked mostly lame jokes but had a couple golden ones. Favorite quote of the day: "I don't like those Frappacrappalinos...but I do like World of Warcraft."

My second class was originally in the K building but was moved to the W building...how retarded is that?? Anywho, I met a guy who was also in Logic, so we walked together to the W building...I forget his name and feel so stupid...anywho, he works at Klondike's! That's cool already. So we get to class and most everyone is still coming in...and another guy from Klondike's is there too. Then the teacher gets there, and the first thing he says is, "This is going to be a hard class. Hard, do you get me?" So everyone has a shocked look on their face...he was just really realistic but said, "If you don't miss a class, if you let me help you, and you do the work, you will pass." So. I want to ace it. Favorite quote of the day: "I have a nasty habit; I should tell you all now. I will call on you. I will pick you apart and get in your face. I'm going to be nasty about it if need be." (This, I have a feeling, is going to be painful, but I imagine the amount learned will be worth it.)

After that class I walked to the Student Center and met Steff- she brought me a Coke Slurpee (what a nicey!)- and we talked for a while about our classes...it was really nice! Then she left, and I've just been sitting here on AIM and blogging here. Also, listening to this awesome new song Alek introduced me to (and I introduced to Jason, who loves it as much as I do...)! It's 80s-ish rock but instead of a singer, they have a yodeler. It rocks. Haha.

More later after my other classes!

~VL~

Veralynn's Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

I'm actally quite a big baby. This day could've been a lot worse in a lot of ways. But for some reason, it was all the little things that were really rubbing me the wrong way today. Like poor Alexander. It wasn't a huge event that made the day irksome, just a bunch of little stings and annoyances.
Emily had surgery today...she's been discharged from the hospital and is recovering at home with her parents tonight. The doctor told that she must stop smoking, or the issue will progress to a major issue in three years. (But when the nurse was wheeling her outside, the first thing she did was grab for cigarette...oy!)
Mom and I spent the day in and out of the hospital. This is when things got a little irksome. First, there was the most annoying "news" show I've ever seen in my entirely limited experience of news programs. Every story was magnified times a thousand (at least), an annoying panel of a psychologist, a lawyer, and some other guy yelled at each other and the host of the show (the only woman) with conflicting ideas. I almost wanted to call up those peeps (they had a number for viewers to call in and put their two cents in) and tell them to "shut their freakin' gobs" (a la Juno), because while the news itself was certainly interesting and thought-provoking, the commentary was obnoxious and absolutely pointless. No wonder lots of people don't want to watch the news. Three hours of that and I felt if I heard that woman's voice one more time I would punch a wall. I'm really glad we weren't there for much longer- the only upside to being there was to comfort Emily and be comforted by the occasional good-looking male nurse (speaking of which, my mom whacked my arm for having a look on my face when a McDreamy-esque nurse walked by. How rude.)
We stepped out of the hospital for a half hour to run to the college bookstore to grab some textbooks for my classes (I'm taking Cultural Anthropology, Theories of Personality, Logic, U.S. History 1865 to the Present, and Geography), only to discover that some of them were completely new to the bookstore and not available used, and that some were only available new due to a limited quantity of used books...anywho, it looked like I didn't have enough moolah for what I needed. I wound up being very stressed due to a couple phone calls and wanted to conveniently knock myself unconscious with my Philosophy textbook.
There's some other things weighing on my mind that I can't really share here either, but heavy they are, and contributing to my Day (capitalized for a reason). Hopefully tomorrow is better. For now, listening to some music and staring at my ceiling fan.

~VL~

Starbucks

I must be incredibly bored and/or tired to not come up with a better title for this...

Anywho, I'm sitting in Starbucks right now waiting for Cassie so we can have a great chat. Meanwhile, I'm sitting here laughing because a huge group of ladies from church just walked in and each have looked at me but none of them recognize me. I'm incognito! Oh darn. Never mind, I've been spotted...

I'm so bored! I think this is the most random blog I have ever posted. Ooh, I know what I can talk about: it's Deja's birthday. The big 2-0. What an oldie. I think we're going to Red Robin for dinner to celebrate. Yay. I hope it's a good one, for her sake. It's the last one she'll be able to celebrate without a little person to worry about...

Okay, packing up the laptop- Cassie's almost here and I want to be technology-free for our chat.

Ugh, there is a guy in here with a very spiffy Apple aqua laptop and he's giving me dirty looks. What's his problem?

~VL~