Sassy

My silly, adorable pug. She's figured out how to "laugh" with me! I was just now reading something on hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com, I started laughing and Sassy ran in, looked at me, and started howling. It's so cute and hilarious at the same time, I guess she thinks I'm howling too, so she just does as I do (she thinks I'm her mama). Anyway, it's adorable, but it makes me start laughing even harder, resulting in more Sassy howling, resulting in more Meridith laughter, resulting in....well, you get the picture.

Please accept this post as a make-up for yesterday's lack thereof. I actually had started one, but it wasn't very well thought out. So yeah.

Love you all! Have a terrific rest of your Tuesday!

Apologies

Strange though it may seem, I really like it when people apologize. If you're in an argument or discussion with someone and you (at some point) realize you're in the wrong, don't keep that to yourself. Let the person you're talking to know and then apologize, especially if you've hurt their feelings.

Not apologizing can make others think you're arrogant and don't care about their opinion. Just saying.

Side note - my friend (really my "little sister" from middle school cheer)'s mom gave birth to a baby boy yesterday! This is their eighth child, I'm pretty sure (yes, EIGHT kids). And all of them have A names. There's Addie, Andy, Adam, Aidan, Alex, Annie, Aren, and now Abraham. 6 out of the 8 are boys...the Y chromosome is strong in this family. I love them all to death, though; the 7 I know (I haven't met Abraham yet, obviously) are the most well-behaved kids I've ever met.

I think maybe I can do this whole blog-every-other-day thing. It seems to work pretty good, right?

Have an awesome Saturday!
-Meridith

The National Day of Silence is Tomorrow!

My school rocks. I need to say that right now. We're allowed to participate in the GLSEN (Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network)'s National Day of Silence tomorrow, April 20. It is designed to bring to everyone's attention the silencing effect anti-LGBT bullying and harassment has on schools.

How do you participate? Just wear a red shirt tomorrow and make a conscious effort to not talk at all. Of course, if you have to talk during an emergency (like there's a fire and you have to let other people know by shouting FIRE!!!!!!) then that's okay. If you're a student, like me, you should probably let your teachers know before tomorrow that you'll be silent all during class (maybe even explain why, get them interested in the gay-straight alliance stuff too). I know my school's saying that if a teacher directly asks you a question, you MUST answer them.

We can and will make a difference, guys. One person is just a drop in the bucket; imagine what thousands of American teens can do!

The link to find out more, if you're interested, is www.dayofsilence.org.

Wishing you a blessed, happy Thursday,
Meridith

NOT ALL CHRISTIANS ARE HOMOPHOBIC!

Hey y'all. I need to make something clear, all right?

As you can tell by the title, this is what today's post is about. It's that simple. You guys know I'm a devout Catholic, but I accept homosexuals just the same as I do everyone. And a lot of gays think that Catholics, Christians in general, hate them because they're gay, so they judge us based on that without even giving us a chance to say hello! How is that fair? That's like saying a lesbian tries to "do it" with every girl she sees. I'm not a Bible-pusher. I don't go around in public shouting how homosexuality is a sin, because it's not! So please don't glare at me and stop our conversation if I mention to you that I'm Catholic.

I love you all equally! Y'all mean a lot to me because you read my blog (which is where most of my inner thoughts go now, I can reach more people this way than by just writing in a diary) and I want to let you know that you're all loved no matter what your sexual orientation is.

Have courage if you're having trouble coming out; if your parents are the kind of parents everyone should have then they'll love you anyway. It shouldn't matter to them if you're gay; they should just want you to be happy. Love is love.

Peace,
Meridith

P.S. If you have a Twitter, I'd be so happy if you followed me @anotherworldMAP. I've only got 7 followers...I promise I'll follow you back :) but seriously, I'm desperate.

Universal Remotes, One Direction, and Illness

So yesterday my dad bought our family a NEW UNIVERSAL REMOTE for our entertainment center!! Yay! It works splendidly; now we don't have to use 3 different remotes just to watch "Toy Story 3" or anything. It's really awesome, honestly, and it's kind of simple to operate. There's been a few problems when I try to watch TV, but all you have to do is press Help and it sorts out the bugs almost by itself.

And yes, I'm using it to listen to my CD of One Direction's album "Up All Night." Get over it. I must say, the sound bar makes it sound even better...it's like Harry, Louis, Niall, Zayn, and Liam are all standing in my living room singing to me. They're not, of course. But a girl can fantasize, can't she?

Friday afternoon, just after lunch, I started feeling kind of sick. I felt really cold (I described it to David as "feeling like my blood has been replaced with ice water") and I couldn't understand why. Anyway, now I'm at home with a bad cough, a sore back, and these waves of feeling cold, then hot. It's really not fun at all. The skin on my back is really sensitive, too. I couldn't even put on a shirt this morning without wincing (it felt like I was scratching myself with nails).

So yeah. Today's definitely not my best day ever. What makes it worse is that I haven't seen David since Thursday at orchestra rehearsal. I miss him like crazy!

Anyway, I'm going to stop writing now and maybe go find something to eat; I still haven't had breakfast. I wanted to make some toast but we're out of bread. Which reminds me - I need to start cooking again! Well, maybe not need, but I do like cooking.

Love from your dear friend and David's girlfriend,
Meridith

Easter, Milk, Vegetarianism and Whatnot...

Firstly, I promise I meant to wish y'all a happy Easter yesterday. Sorry!! I hope it was awesome for y'all, it was a good day for me too especially since I'm Catholic. You non-religious types were just celebrating a rabbit coming and laying eggs around your yard, while we Christians were celebrating Christ's victory against death.

When I was a kid, I LOVED milk. Couldn't get enough of the stuff, actually. Given the choice between water, soda, juice, or milk, I would choose milk every time and I have no idea why. Anyway, I grew out of that for a while. I think it was partially thanks to my choice in seventh or eighth grade to become a vegetarian. I learned that a cow actually has to be pregnant with a baby cow in order to produce milk in the first place, and that after the baby is born it has to be kept separate from its mommy cow so she doesn't try to nurse it. They're kept in tiny pens within the mother cow's sight, and she hears her baby's frantic and scared moos. Then I learned that you can get calcium from other natural sources besides milk, like from broccoli, nuts, etc. And THEN I found out that after infancy humans aren't actually supposed to be able to digest milk. A mutation makes that possible, so technically people with lactose intolerance are normal.

I've started drinking milk again, though. I'm such a hypocrite. Anyway, bye y'all!

Love from your dear friend and David's girlfriend,
Meridith

YOLO - You're Doing it WRONG!!!

Some people may have already seen this on my Twitter and Skype statuses, but whatever. It needs to be heard.

So recently, there's been this saying going around: YOLO (You Only Live Once), which isn't really that bad come to think of it. But people have been using it to justify doing stupid stuff like car surfing, getting stoned or drunk, just basically stupid $#!+. THAT IS NOT YOLO, PEOPLE. That is a disgrace to YOLO and everything it truly means!!!

The real meaning of YOLO? It means that you only get to live once on this earth, so leave an honorable legacy. Be the person you'd want your grandkids to look up to and fondly remember at family reunions and such. Be the kind of friend you'd love to have. Love like you've never loved before, and accept everyone for who they are and not by appearances. Be prepared to die at any moment and live with no regrets, because you don't get a do-over. Yeah, there's gonna be times when you screw up. Big deal, you're human, it happens. The true test is what you do to overcome your mistakes.

That's what YOLO means to me, at least. If you don't agree, then please, keep doing what you're doing. Just don't expect me to join you in your stupidity. Have a nice day!

Love from your dear friend and David's girlfriend,
Meridith