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gunslingersai
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read my profile
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Interests: Nobody cares. Like seriously.
Expertise: I'm 24 and I work at an elementary school. So I'm qualified to give all kinds of advice. Just put a Post-it on your forehead detailing all your problems and I'll walk by with a Sharpie and put a giant X on it. That's my solution to everything.
Occupation: Computer Lab Manager
Industry: Elementary Education
Message: message me
Member Since:
9/1/2005
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| How sad is it when you have a blog, it gets blocked, you find a new blog and actually like it a bit better after time only to have it blocked?
::double sigh::
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| For anyone who doesn't know (or for anyone who may remotely care), I have moved my blog to Wordpress due to the filter restrictions at work. You can get there by clicking here.
Sorry, no one-liner.
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| Yeah, yeah, it's taken me as long as Jon to update my Xanga. Here's the reason: work filters. It sucks, especially since the filter isn't all that good to begin with. For example, it'll block anything beginning with xanga.com, but not search.xanga.com (however it should be noted that once you try to access someone's page, it is blocked). Anyway, this part is for Joseph. As far as good DS games go, you pretty much have everything I've ever played or wanted to play. I can recommend Animal Crossing: Wild World, but it takes a bit it's weird. Anyway, you could always check Gamespy's or IGN's DS channel. I tend to trust GSpy more than IGN, but IGN reviews more titles overall. Hope this helps somehow. Uh...see you when I see you? | | |
| I was strolling through the hallways where I work and couldn't help but notice all the ghoulish decor that has been posted on the bulletin boards. Skeletons, witches, black cats, and the like festively adorn the walls, each of them wishing the kids a happy and safe Halloween. I couldn't help but wonder what someone from my church would think about all these decorations. I don't believe I am wrong in assuming they'd blow a proverbial gasket.
Now, I wasn't raised in a Crazy-Christian household like some of my friends. I was allowed to play video games, watch Ninja Turtles, keep my action figures, and go trick-or-treating on Halloween. This was pretty much the norm until around the time I turned eleven or twelve. Then I read this. For those too lazy to click, it's a tract by Jack Chick entitled "The Trick", wherein a satanic witch taints some halloween candy and ends up hospitalizing a little girl (I think). The "trick" aspect of it comes when the witch has a heart attack out of nowhere and (surprise) goes to hell. Chick tracts are somewhat famous for being mini-comic books and for advocating an extremely Conservative-Christian message. While the subject matter is somewhat relevant (tainted candy), I don't really take these too seriously anymore. As a result of my reading this in my younger years, my impressionable self found Halloween to be a horrid and disgusting thing and should not be celebrated by anyone, much less myself. I suppose that this was okay, considering how old I was getting, but it left me open to Chick's influence, which ended up damaging my views and occasionally relationships, but that's not what this article is about so I won't go into it here.
Most really Conservative-Christian homes don't allow for Halloween. Some churches offer "safer" alternatives to Halloween by means of a type of fall festival. Our church offers such an event, dubbed Hallelujah Night. This is a good thing, but I have to wonder what the big deal about Halloween really is. Yes, I know that it's inspired by a holiday that used to be celebrated with human or animal sacrifices and all that, but is your child doing that? If so, then run, and run fast. Just because they have little legs doesn't mean they can't book it.
Kidding aside, I submit to Christians everywhere the following reason why it's okay for kids to dress up as ghosts and whatnot. It's something I like to call the "commercialization effect". Ask yourself: "Do kids get worked up about the history or the candy?". In case you don't know, the answer is CANDY!!! It's the same thing with Christmas, only substitute "candy" with "presents". Just because some yahoos celebrate it all screwed up doesn't mean the normal folk can't make it something harmless. If you want to celebrate via your local church, that's fine. If you want to take your kids to houses you trust so they get the trick-or-treat experience, that's fine too. In the end, as long as your child is safe and remains unwarped by any influence other than the one you want them to be warped by, it's all good.
Steal this line, Marty.
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| Hey Arnold!
Running from October of ‘96 through July of ‘04, Hey Arnold! chronicled the adventures of the students at P.S. 118. It has the distinction of being one of the longest running Nicktoons of all time, coming in second only to Rugrats. In a world that, at the time, was full of talking babies, retarded animals, and an introverted preteen, Hey Arnold was a charming departure for Nickelodeon. It’s firm grounding in reality struck a chord with me and helped to teach me that there are good stories to be told outside of the fantastic.
Arnold, as a character, always appealed to me. He was always respectful, yet never hesitated to call someone on a bad decision. While he may have been a reluctant hero at times, he always came through wiser and better for his experiences. The fact that he remained oblivious to Helga’s constant pining always made for good comedy, as she tried to find ways to make him love her (including several shrines made out of odd materials such as chewed bubble gum). I never did see the end to this series, so I don’t know if Arnold ever found out about Helga and her obsessiveness.
Craig Bartlett created a wonderful show and it’s a shame that Nickelodeon won’t release anything Nicktoons on DVD. Nevertheless, you can still catch Hey Arnold! on either the Nicktoons network or whenever they occasionally run it as part of Nick Rewind.
So begins what will hopefully be something of a running feature.
For God's sake, brush your teeth.
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