There are two roads to walk down, one road to choose

[Thinking Over, Dana Glover]

Today we talked about Africa in my class. Not an easy topic to condense into a day, believe you me, but I was able to explain to them problems with famine, civil wars, AIDS, orphans, etc. It was really good to explain to them what AIDS is and how it works. One kid actually thought that people with HIV / AIDS drink Clorox to try and kill the disease. I explained that this would actually kill a person. Also, some kids thought that the virus dies as soon as it hits the air. I was able to explain that it can stay alive for hours afterward, and that they should NEVER handle blood without special equipment and precautions. So all of this was good.

I was also able to tell them that I will be sponsoring a child from Africa and that as soon as his information gets here I'll bring it so they can see his picture and learn about him and such. This was really exciting, because some of them thought it was a cool idea. Others think that we only ever see the worst of the situation and all it does is make them feel bad. I was reminded how crucial it is that I not only teach them about the truth of what's happening there but also that I empower them to help. Sponsoring a child is one example that shows them that normal people can make a difference.

Tonight I enjoyed watching American Idol with Bec and Liz. It was really fun to not watch it by myself for once- and Becca agreed with me that Kat does not have an incredible voice. When people say they love her voice I think to myself, "Do they actually hear her sing?". She seems like a nice person, and I hope her all the best, but I still do not think she should win AI. Taylor also wasn't amazing tonight, but I do think he's the better singer of the two. Also, I really appreciate that he's unique. There's no one out there right now that's like him. That could make or break him... he might be too different. But I see him appealing to more than just the tween crowd. I can see my mom buying his CD. I can't really see any mom buying Kat's CD unless they're like the mom on Mean Girls- just trying- in an absolutely disgusting way, ps- to impress her daughter. Anyway... tomorrow I'll actually watch LOST and then flip back and forth to Idol to see who wins.

Lastly, I know that like 98% of my pictures are of sunsets, but the sky was ON FIRE tonight. It was literally breathtaking. I ran- ran, I say- out to take pictures once I noticed it. Then, when I was putting pics on my comp so I could post them here for you guys I realized that I took a few equally amazing pics last weekend, only they're more purple than red. So I'll get to that soon enough (the posting, that is).

Random note: Did you know that there are only four commonly used words in the English language that don't have any rhyming words and three are colors? They are: orange, purple, silver, and month. Interesting. I told you this entry would be stupendous.

Pictures now. Don't forget that you can click on them to get a bigger version.

...

Ok, nevermind. Our flippin' $103 a month internet is FREAKING RETARDED and won't load the pictures. I'll try to load them at school tomorrow, though my school blogs all jpg/gif/png files, so we'll see if it will work.

Lame.