Last week I was in Puerto Peñasco, Mexico. Puerto Peñasco, or Rocky Point as the American’s call it, is a popular destination for Arizonians. It’s about 3 hours south of Tucson, and sits on the northern shores of the Sea of Cortez.

On the way down, my family (including my sister, Sara, who flew in from Minnesota) stopped at a gas station north of the border. We found wine in suspiciously portable bottles:

There was also a beer soda bottle opener by the door.

Sara and I went right out the front door of the condo to snorkel and found all sorts of things. We saw a sea slug about the size of my hand:

A large school of fish:

And a flounder:

I thought that waking up at sunrise and taking photos would be a good idea. It was actually pretty lame. And to be quite honest, it sucked. I was huddled under blankets, taking pictures with a tripod, and looking like those photographers from the 1900’s. The pictures came out about as good as something from the 1900’s too. This photo is the only one that I liked, but I slathered on saturation heavier than my mom slathers sunscreen on my ears.

Down in Mexico, you are treated so nice. Everything is a “huppy hour especial, just for you my friend.” You feel special until you realize that everyone gets a huppy hour especial too. It was fun while it lasted.

Click here to go to my Flickr page to see more photos from the trip.

During the past two semesters, I have spent more than 40 hours looking online for scholarships. It’s ridiculous. I’ve been awarded scholarships, but only because I have in-road connections. Also, those were Central Arizona College specific.

So I’ve been searching and searching for scholarships for people that are a little above average, who have done some extra-curricular work, who have volunteered a little, and who are white. This is harder than getting George Bush to form a sensible opinion on something.

In Pinal County, Arizona, only 10.% of the population has a Bachelor’s degree or higher. This is 15.6% lower than the national average of 26.5% (source). Can’t I get some type of “Wow Your County Really Sucks At Being Smart” scholarship?

Pinal County is what is known as a “Minority-Majority District” (source). This means that the traditional “minority races” outnumber the traditional “majority race” (i.e. Caucasian with no Latino/Hispanic background). So, does this mean that I qualify for minority scholarships? No. I am still white.

I think that while racism will always be an issue, and certainly traditional minorities have less desirable statistics pegged to them, special “X-race only” clubs and “X-minority only” scholarships only serve to compound the racism problem in America. (more…)

Every single time, without fail, when a Protestant Christian woman asks me, “So, what are your plans now that you’ve graduated from high school?”  I know that I am in for a loooong lecture.

I always tell them, “Well, I’m going to the University of Arizona this fall, and I plan to major in Journalism and minor in Environmental Science.”  This is a problem already because:
1)  The University of Arizona is a pretty hard commute and that means I’ll be moving out of my family’s house.
2)  Environmental Science =  tree hugger

“Oh, what do you plan on doing with that?”

“I would like to work for a magazine or the Associated Press.  I love science and I feel that Environmental Science will become increasingly important in the future.”

“You don’t want to stay home and be a mommy?”

“…. well, maybe some day.”

“So the University of Arizona, huh?  Won’t that be pretty expensive?”

“It will be, but education is an investment, not an expense.”

“Wouldn’t it be cheaper to stay at home and go to a community college for 2 years?”

“It would be, but I’ve already spent 2 years at a community college and I would like to try something new now.”

“You need to think about the stress that this will cause your parents.”

“It’s not like I’m going to an out of state school that is known for its really good journalism program.”

“Once you become an adult, you can never be a child again.”

I find all of this disturbing.  Most of these ladies would not voice these concerns if I were a boy, but because I am a girl, they feel that I need to stay at home and focus on preparing for a family.  Boys need to prepare for a family as much as girls do, and what better way to prepare than to grow up a little and get an education?

My mom has been arguing these same issues for a while now, but she is partially excused.  She’s my mom.  Today my mom came up and listened in while one lady was arguing with me.  The lady said, “College isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be.  I flew out to ASU from Indiana and I was all alone in a huge school.  Looking back, it was a mistake.  Those big universities aren’t all they’re cracked up to be.”

To my surprise, my mom started defending my want to go to a university.  I just sat there, kind of amazed.  I think she understands now.  I’m so proud of her!

I am no longer master of the cameraphone. Why does it keep beeping at me, dammit!

Today I got a new Samsung t629. I love it already. It’s a nice, professional-looking alternative to the LG Chocolate.

The t629 has a built in music player and 1.3 megapixel camera. I don’t plan on using the music player for any reason– that’s what my iPod is for. I do use my cameraphone capabilities quite often, however.

The t629 can also record videos and is Bluetooth enabled. I’m not sure how much I’ll be recording, but the Bluetooth is handy. I think that Bluetooth should be a standard on all phones today. I can remember a few years ago, around my freshman year of highschool, when a friend of mine bought a really expensive phone with a built-in camera. She was also the one who got the iPod mini before everyone else. How hip was that!

But my point is this: Bluetooth, music players, camera, and video recorder are all staples on phones today. As of right now, I really can’t tell you why this phone is better than the next. All I can say is that I’ve never seen anyone else with one, and that’s reason enough for me.

See also: t629 virtual tour.

From the age 13 my family has lived in a small town north of Tucson. It’s a nice little town, perfect for stopping and robbing a gas station of beer on your drug run to Phoenix.

It has its freedoms, just like any other American town, but wearing some certain colors are to be avoided. Blue, red, and brown are not advisable. Wearing orange isn’t that great either.

So I am armed and ready, thanks to certain males in my life who care.

Here is a picture of my knife and pepper spray. The pepper spray doubles as a key chain, and the knife doubles as a box opener. Or throat opener. Whatev.

I’ve been practicing my self-defense skills on my little brother. Let me tell you, I am getting really good here.

p.s. Arizona ranks #17 in the state list of crimes per capita.
p.p.s.  Tucson is between 1.19 and 2.26 times higher than the national average for crimes per capita.  Lovely.

A couple weeks ago I got a Joost invite. I won’t tell you how I got it (it involved ninja skills), but I have it installed on my Macbook.

Joost a little different then what I thought it would be. I suppose that I need to keep in mind that it is still in beta. I thought that prime time networks like NBC, FOX, etc., would be streaming things on there. I guess I really didn’t read what it was all about.

I like choosing to watch whatever I want, whenever I want. I don’t watch that much t.v. (about 45 minutes a day), but I do watch some sitcoms on TV Links whenever I’m doing light homework. On Joost I mostly watch the IndieFlix channel. I LOVE Indie Movies. Thing is, they’re hard to come by. Especially short films. Joost provides the opportunity to watch great, I mean GREAT, films that I couldn’t normally see anywhere else. I think it also helps out the budding producers/writers/actors. It is a win-win.

I also watch National Geographic on Joost. I know, I’m a nerd, but it’s good programming to have running in the background when I’m supposed to be studying Spanish verbs.

Alright, I’ll pop the question:

Would you like a Joost invite?

If so, leave an email address in the comments.

p.s.  I think it would be really great to have the 2008 Summer Olympics on Joost.  I’m going to be working all summer, and I would like to watch as much as I can.  Or whatever I can.  I don’t really want to watch the running.  Except for the hurdles.  But I would like to watch the Summer Olympics online, even if Joost doesn’t give it to me.

When I was younger I did a lot with Awana Clubs. It was fun for a perfectionist like myself. I memorized scores of Bible verses, always trying to be the best on the sticker charts. I completed my workbooks–multiple times (yeah, I know…). And the other day, as I was cleaning out my closet, I came across these:

Why, look at all those trophies! And you can’t see it, but that one in the back is particularly large. It has a cup on top. What glorious pay off!

Every year, near the end of the school year, there is a pine car race.  The older (as in like 50+ years crowd) leaders really get into this.  It’s not just a race– it’s a design competition as well.  Those old people spend months preparing their little blocks of wood for this one special day.  And they are sore losers too, let me tell you.

So as you can see, I made a rock concert on a moving car.  I painted and adjusted my brother’s little 2-inch plastic construction workers.  I crafted the guitar out of clay and the guitar’s neck was made out of staple-gun nails.  I also made a drum set with drummer (the big bass drum even had a tom–because I am that knit-picky), but you can’t see that in the picture.  I don’t think the church folk liked the whole rock concert idea.  It is, after all FROM THE MOUTH OF SATAN!

The other car is the Partridge Family Bus.  I hand painted that sucker.  I don’t think the judges really got the joke, because I lost 1st place in design to a rolling Kleenex box.

Someone should make earbuds and an iPod mod that monitors your pulse.  That way, when your pulse gets to a certain level, your iPod shuts off.

This is useful for listening to music/recorded books at night.  Once you fall asleep, the iPod shuts off, saving battery life and frustration of trying to find where you left off at.

Despite the fact that my phone rarely is not on roaming, does not have an antenna, and is more moody than a PMSing woman, it does take pictures. And that is all I use it for.

Today, as I sat the Diamondbacks vs. Mets baseball game, I started thinking about how American that game was.

I spotted the owner of the Diamondbacks team, and as I was walking out after the Dbacks lost (6-2) I saw all of the expensive cars in the valet parking. That game is a game for the rich as well as for the not-so-rich.

The 7th inning stretch is to honor the 27th American president– William Howard Taft.

Hot dogs, cotton candy, and Budweiser– you can’t get any more American than that.

“Take Me Out to the Baaaall Game” is pretty much the most American song ever. As a kid, you learn that song before you learn the Star Spangled Banner and America the Beautiful.

But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that American classic cultural symbols ain’t what they used to be. Today, as I walked into the game, I was given a margarita glass (that was made of plastic). It is, after all, Cinco de Mayo.

Cinco de Mayo is a Mexican-American tradition. Cinco de Mayo is celebrated more in America than in Mexico. And, whether the American Public likes it or not, Mexican traditions are hitting main-stream America.

When I say, “American Public” I usually think of white, middle-class, business people. The “American Public” as refered to on the news is the same. But actually, the “American Public” where I live is much more Hispanic than Caucasian. I am white. I am a minority.

Where I live, Mexican culture is much more celebrated than American culture. That was kind of an obtuse statement, because (most) of the people where I live are Americans. Mexican culture is now American culture.

When I look around, I see red, white, and green.  I rarely see red, white, and blue.  In my family, we eat more Mexican food than American food, and no one even speaks Spanish.

I participate in Mexican-Catholic celebrations almost every month, and I am neither Mexican nor Catholic.

So as I sat there at the baseball game, surrounded by Mets fans singing the Jose Reyes song (it’s actually the “Ole” song, substituting “Jose” for “Ole”), I realized all of this.  And it hit me like a bat hitting a pinata.  Mexican culture is American culture.  Mexican culture is my culture.