Perpetual motion machine.

I was going to take this in a different direction, but then I read Dr. Carroll's blog about the Obama administration's 500 million dollar "donation" to Solyndron. It outrages me that my so many of my friends and loved ones work so hard to fund companies like Solyndra, when schools, libraries, and many other public establishments are seeing more and more cuts in their budget.

The library by my house is my main access to internet connection, and they are at risk of losing most of their funding. This means that, not only do I and many of the members of my community lose access to the web, we also lose access to new books, and inter-library programs which allow the library to find books in other libraries across the state.

Students in Keller ISD were required to pay to ride the school bus this year due to tax cuts. There are other schools who had to follow suit, and some schools are having to take money away from certain departments to fund other areas.

The unemployment rate for the United States is at roughly 9%. Until recent years, the rate had not reached 8% for quite some time. The last time that the United States has had such a high rate was in 1983.

Americans are struggling daily just to afford to pay bills, eat, and still afford to drive back and forth to work, assuming that they arn one of the ninety percent that has a job. Instead of trying to work on these problems, companies like Solyndra are recieving government loans at outrageously low interest rates.

It is unacceptable that we should struggle while companies strive, whether we buy their products or not.

Spitting Venom

I try to see the best in people. Sometimes, however, people just let me down.

While serving my time at the wonderful Shell gas station I call work, I discovered this week that lying, cheating, and all-around immoral activity are all working their way into being accepted behaviors.

One of my regular customers came in and was buying scratch-off tickets this week, and had run down to counting change to buy dollar tickets. This went on for a few minutes, then she approached a man right in front of my register, telling him that she was out of gas and would pay for his drink with her lonestar (food stamp) card for a dollar so she could get gas.

The man, seeing how his saving fifty cents to help her out was beneficial to both parties and agreed. The very instant the man left, however, she tried to purchase a scratch-off lottery ticket from me. When I told her that I could not sell her the ticket because she fraudelently obtained the dollar, she gave me a horrible look, turned around, and stormed out.

This was just one incident in the many that I've seen where someone insulted my moral values. Maybe it's just because I try my berst to do anything for someone in need, and hate to see someone get taken advantage of for just trying to help.

The world is falling apart.

don't let books die.

All this week at school, I realized more and more the negative affect that technology has on us as readers, as writers, and as a society in general. I am not saying that all technology is bad, or that there aren't upsides that counter the downsides. But there are a few problems with technology that have been weighing pretty heavily on me this week.

It seems that, with each new upgrade to the i-pod and book e-readers, hard copies of books become less relevant. This is convenient for today, sure, but think of the long-term effects that it is having. People have shorter attention spans, more books are being published online only, and within ten years, we may not have any hard copies of books at all. All it would take is a well-planned virus to wipe out all of the books written in the computer age that we've entered into.

Also, it is detrimental to our health to sit in front of a screen for such extended periods as reading a book requires. It impairs vision, and over time could cause irreversible damage. So, basically, we are promoting a pandemic of illiteracy and gradual deterioration of sight.

It's time we went back to the way things should be. Go to the bookstore and BUY THE BOOK. Sure, it's heavier than it's e-book counterpart, but everyone could use a bit of a workout anyway. :)

Time Management

In my previous years at school, I have always been a full time, on campus student. This semester, however, I am commuting from Alvarado on Tuesdays and Thursdays for my twelve hours, on top of working 40+ hours a week at my local gas station. Unfortunately, this drastic change has left my time management skills lacking desperately.

Since I know I have so many school obligations, I know that I have to work on this skill. Here are a few things that I've learned so far in the past two weeks of school.

- If you have multiple assignments from multiple classes, MAKE SURE to do the least exciting, most time-consuming assignments first. This way, the assignments you are looking forward to doing are sort of a reward for finishing those assignments you don't particularly want to do.

- If your work schedule, like mine, is uncertain from week to week, the best thing to do is to plan to wake up for the early shift (which means out of bed by 5 am for me) whether you're working in the morning or the afternoon. This way, you have a full work shift to study/do homework and a full shift for work. In the same respect, if you are working the morning shift, dedicate the time for the afternoon shift (2 - 10 in my case) for studying, reading, writing, assignments.

- The most important thing i've learned so far is, ALWAYS do your work before you have fun. I love playing guitar, but I realized after the first day of classes that I will absolutely have to finish homework before I start playing guitar. Otherwise, I could be playing for five hours, start my homework and not have time to finish.

I am not sure if anyone else will benefit from these tips, but they help me in my daily struggle to maintain sanity in work, the classroom and at home. "_"

Well I'm not sure

Hello! My name is Jesse Upchurch! I am an English major at Texas Wesleyan University in Fort Worth, Texas. I love reading, writing, music, and skateboarding. I am absolutely disgusted by potato salad and barbecue potato chips. I think the world would be a better place without them.

Let me say a few more things about myself, and I'll be sure to give something a bit better than an introduction on the next go-round. I live in Alvarado, Texas. I have a cat named Delila, after the Dresden Dolls' song with the same name. I have two brothers and a sister, and although I love them they are very parasitic and cannot seem to support themselves, though I work and go to school full time and one of the three has a part-time job. I get angry when I cannot figure something out on my own, but don't let my pride get in the way of finding the answers I need.

I do not care for movies or television, so I don't waste my time watching. Instead, I read, play music, practice skateboarding, or play board games with my girlfriend in my free time. I normally don't spend time in front of computers either, unless for school assignments or online shopping.