Jenny's blog

We’ve all heard of newspapers around the country flipping their ‘OPEN’ for business signs to ‘CLOSED’ forever at an alarming rate. But this is not to be regarded as the death of print altogether. Yes, no one is denying that the business model of print media is shifting and those who can’t adapt are doomed to shut their doors. It’s common sense that advertisers would prefer the free forum of the World Wide Web to paying for advertising in print – which is the financial livelihood of newspapers and magazines.

No, that's not a type-o. Movember can best be described as the movement that is changing the face of men's health. All around the world during the month of November, men grow mustaches and raise money for men's health issues such as prostate or testicular cancer. Here in Santa Barbara, there are many groups of mustached men proudly sporting the burly look to raise awareness for causes that can sometimes be overlooked. Pink Ribbons and Breast Cancer Awareness can be found everywhere, all the time, not just in October. Prostate Cancer Awareness month is in September but you hardly see blue ribbons in the media.

Racism can be defined as discrimination against someone based on their race. There are laws protecting people against racism because you can't choose what race you are, and we're all people in the end. Sexism can be defined as discrimination against someone based on their gender. And again, there are laws protecting people against sexism because you can't pick what gender you are when you are born. Fat-ism is defined as discrimination against people who are overweight. But weight is something that can be controlled.

According to this article, an Australian teenager who is looking at seven years in prison for using a version of RU486 in her own home. I was surprised because I had no idea abortions were illegal in Australia. Apparently, its laws are quite blurry as to which states deem it illegal, to the point where most states won't allow them for fear of persecution. Sadly, many seeking abortions are forced out the country to seek treatment. Is seven years in jail appropriate? Why is the Australian government making decisions for women in their country?

According to Wikipedia.com, the quarter life crisis is defined as “…a term applied to the period of life immediately following the major changes of adolescence, usually ranging from the early twenties to the early thirties. The term is named by analogy with mid-life crisis.” I didn’t know such a thing existed until it happened to me.

I remember exactly when it happened. I was 25, just a couple months after my birthday. I got home from work and was sitting around playing with the dogs and watching some tv. Then it hit me, like I was blindsided by a bus. I didn’t know what I was doing with my life. I mean, I knew what I was doing on a day to day basis. Wake up, go to work, go home, eat, sleep, etc. Then wake up and do it all again the next day. Except today, a million questions started pouring in, questions that were always there but tucked away in the back of my mind:

• What am I doing with my life?
• Am I doing it right?
• What if I’m doing it wrong?
• How come everyone else is doing fine, and I feel like a mess?