32. Reporter in the War

I obviously have never been in a war, or a reporter in a war, so I definately do not know what it would feel like to be there, but I sure can imagine. It owuld be scary, most of all. I would probably not even want to do it. Actually, I definitely would not want to do it, but, for the sake of the blog, let's say for some reason I have to go. So...I am in a war zome...trying to get a good story, while trying not to die. Well that sure sounds like fun. Not... The only benefits of doing these things would be
1. If you knew someone there and get to see them while you were working.
2. If you as the reporter get paid really well.
Talking about number 1, say you knew someone in the war. Under the highly unlike circumstance that you got to go exactly where that person was stationed, you would get to see them after a while of not being able to see them. you could even talk to them for your story if you wanted to. So seeing someone you know would definitely be a good reason to go into the middle of a war to get a story.
Benefit number 2, getting paid well, is a major incentive for many people. They will do anything if you give them enough money for it, which is kind of sad really. I am not sure how many reporters die while they are in the war zone, but even if it is just one, that is one too many for me. Money would not get me in a trench with bullets whirling past my head. No way no how. But if some people want to risk their lives for a few bucks, that is their own problem. Needless to say, I would not want to be a reporter in the war at all. If I had to be, I would be scared out of my mind and probably could not even hold myself together. So, I sure hope I never get put in that situation...but it is a pretty safe bet that I will not.

31. Persuasion

So this blog is about persuasion. More specifically, a time I tried to persuade someone to do something that I really wanted to do. For me personally, the main person I try to persuade of something is my mom. I am sure I have so many stories of times when I wanted to do something and tried to persuade my mom to go along with it and she has said no. There is one instance that was not too long ago, and I am still working on. About six months ago I decided I wanted my lip pierced (I still do too). I just really like the way it looks and at this time is not a totally mainstream piercing like ears or bellybutton. I decided that even though I already knew the answer, I would ask my mom if she would let me. I planned out how I was going to ask, because this was something I was serious about, and if I was just like, "Hey mom, can I pierce my lip?" she would probably just laugh. So I made sure I had researched it sufficiently so I could show her all of the information before she just said no without knowing anything about it. Unfortunately, when I asked, she said that I could not do it. I was really mad because this was something I had really wanted for a long time, not one of those things where you think you want it for a week but then drop it. This was important to me and she said no. I found it sort of hypocrytical too, because I have my ears triple pierced on both ears. It is not like she is opposed to earrings, so what is wrong with a lip ring? Maybe that is just me, but a piercing is a piercing. It's not like I'm asking to get a tattoo which is permanent, you can take out a lip piercing whenever you want. The whole ordeal still aggravates me, and from time to time I still bring it up, hoping she's changed her mind, but as of now she hasn't. But that's okay, once I'm 18, I can do it. :)

30. Finding out your true self

There are many ways people can find out who they really are, their true self. For some people, if they are religious, they can go to church and stuff to find out who they truly are. If they are not religious, they can spend some time alone and reflect on what they enjoy and focus on that. I do not think I have ever tried to 'find my true self' but I think I have a pretty good idea. Finding out who you really are seems more like something older people do. When you are a teenager you do not really have time to just spend time soul searching or anything. It, for most people, would be a long process and would require a lot of focus, and while we are at school, all of our time and energy goes into our schoolwork. I think it would be pretty hard to find your true self without any help or guidance. It would be easier if you had help from someone. Not completely, they cant be totally involved, but maybe to push you in the right direction. I do not think I have found my true self yet. I am still working on it. I know a lot of people have life changing experiences where afterward they come out a different person, but I do not think I have had anything like that happen to me. I do not know exactly who I am as a person completely, but as of now I am pretty happy with who I am. I have a family and friends that I can count on and confide in, I know what my strengths and weaknesses are and I am trying to enhance my strengths and make then better, and work on my weaknesses so that I can fix them or come to be alright with them. So even though I am not completely sure what my true self is as of now, I am working on it and hope to soon find out.

29. Tested by Nature

I can remember a time I was definately tested by nature. Last spring, around March or April, Taylor and I went on a walk around Pleasant Plains. We ended up going to a spot in the woods where there was a creek. We needed to get to the other side of the creek and I saw a tree running all the way across it and thought we could cross over there. I told Taylor that I would go across the tree first. So, I held on to some branches from a tree that was solid and above ground to hang off of and step down onto the tree going across the creek. Well, I anticipated on it being very sturdy, so I stepped on it. Right as I did so, the tree stretching across the creek broke and I was left hanging over a moving creek by tree branches that were now way above my head. And in fact, LAND was way above my head! I was totally out on a branch looking up to Taylor several feet above me who was now extremely panicked. I was so not sure what to do, and Taylor definately was not helping at all. The two of us, in our particular situation, should have been acting as the other was. I was cracking up laughing, (I have no clue why, I was 10 fingers away from falling far into a creek) and Taylor was screaming things like, "What are you doing?!" and "Tareyn, GET UP HERE NOW!" (Like I could do anything about it?) I am not exactly sure but somehow, I got back up. For some reason I can not for the life of me remember how I got back up, but Taylor says she didn't help me so somehow I did it on my own. This whole incedent was odd and pretty scary at the moment. But it is a funny story to laugh at now.

28. Christmas Break

This Christmas break was not really that eventful. For Christmas, my family opened our 'santa' presents on Christmas eve. I got many things that I wanted, my favorite being an acoustic guitar. It is black and can be plugged into an amp and I really like it. I got a bunch of clothes and art stuff too. We had about five or six Christmas celebrations this year with different sides of the family and friends. Before Christmas and between Christmas and New Years were several days to just chill out at home or to go out with friends. Most of the time I was not at a family thing, I was hanging out with Taylor (Gorda). One of the days, we went to Wal-Mart. While we were there, I found an open skateboard, so I started riding around on it. We rode past the children clothes and we saw a kid's footie pajama set with iCarly on it, so Taylor tried it on. It was really funny. Then I found a little paddle in one of the aisles, and Taylor took a video of me skateboarding down an aisle, pretending to use the paddle. There were several other occasions when Taylor and I hung out and did stupid stuff like that. One night though she spent the night and we tried to watch seven pounds but we could not concentrate at all so we just gave up on that. The week after Christmas, I went ice skating twice. Monday I went with Taylor, Maddie, Morgan, Cori, and Ivar and we went to Subway afterwards to eat lunch. Then on Friday, I went again but this time with Taylor, Josie, Laura, Stephanie, Caitlin, Emily, Maddie, Morgan, Liz, Claire, and Sam. After ice skating a few of us went to Laura's house and watched Baby Mama (aka, one of the best movies ever). Besides all of this, I didn't do much else but hang out every now and then with friends and family, so it was a good Christmas break.