ranDom
Have you ever thought about how you want to die? Yes, it sounds morbid, but have you? How would you want to go? Slow and painful or dead-at-once? Yeah...Enough of that now; Come on! HAPPY THOUGHTS!!!!

What is up with the TV now? What is up with society now? Everytime someone turns a TV on it's either bad news or sex. For some of us, it's the same thing. For others, it's comedy. Aren't you just sick of seeing that stuff on TV? When Nick & Jessica's Comedy Hour was on TV I rather enjoyed that. (Even though Jessica Simpson is a complete DUMB BLONDE!!! She's what makes us look stupid!) There was no sex no violence no bad news. Just good family stuff. Another thing: she wasn't dressed like a sleaze-ball either. I appreciate that; especially when you're watching TV with a 3-year-old and she asks: "What is that?" pointing to body parts...Sexing up kids that young...that's wrong. Yeah I just had to get that out......

Are They The New Latest Crazes or Are They Just a Hint of Insanity?
Lately, people of all ages have been doing crazy things to mutilate their bodies. Why do they do it? Who knows. Is it a new fasion statement? Is it a sick thrill? Is it a way to stick out of the crowd: freedom of expression? Is it to make other people cringe? And the answer is...

Body modification, which includes piercings, cuttings, slicings, and dicings, is the new craze. Many young people are getting their bodies pierced, sliced, and diced in many places your mind doesn't want to go. Heads, shoulders, knees and toes; eyes, ears, mouth, and nose all get pierced and/or modified now. (Maybe not so much the shoulders and toes but everything else is a go!) CAUTION: THE FOLLOWING MAY NOT BE BEST FOR THE FAINT OF HEART!

A few years ago, ear piercing was a MAJOR thing. Then the eyebrows; the nose next; the tongue to follow; the belly button; and then other body parts that should not be mentioned. Those are all boring to many of us now and some are looking for a new statement: tongue splitting and eye jewels. (Personally, I'll stick to my ears which I have 3 holes in each which is good enough thank-you very much!)

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Tongue splitting: The New Wave of Body Modification
A very interesting way to express yourself but I wouldn't do it. Like I said before, I'm sticking to my ears and I'm done at 3. It gives people a feeling of being different; a feeling of power. For many, it gives them a sense of independence because I highly doubt that any parent or legal guardian would approve of their legal responsibility having their tongue split.

The process often does not include anestethic and those who get it done: more power to them. They must have a lot of ummm -- to get it done and I salute you. Many piercing parlors split tongues because most surgeons will not perform the procedure.

The procedure is very painful. A scalpel sterilized with a blow torch and two or three people is all it takes to get the tongue split! (Step right up and get your ticket into the newest fashion craze!! Only $800 or more if you would like anesthetic!) One or two people hold the clamps to hold the tongue out of the mouth and another splits the tongue. The tongue is then cauterized to stop the bleeding and help the healing process. Sounds yummy doesn't it?

I've heard it will....[get your mind out of the gutter!] :)

And yes, in case you are wondering, there is legislation set forth to ban this. It can be very harmful because most of the time, this body modification is done in unsterilized locations [although I would hope a piercing/tattoo parlor is sterilized] and is not preformed by a lisenced professional [a.k.a. a certified medical professional].

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Another new craze: Eye jewels. Yes, it does include a surgical procedure but actual medical personnel are performing this. (People who went to school 7 years of their life to be an eye doctor will perform this surgery.) It doesn't seem as painful or stomach-turning as the tongue splitting, but it does seem like something would begin to itch your eye after a while.

Eye jewels are implanted in the mucous part of the eye (look in the mirror and see the white part? That's the mucous part of your eye.) This procedure is very expensive ($1,232 to be exact) and only takes 15 minutes. The only place this surgery is being done (right now to the extent of my knowledge) is the Netherlands. So if you want to get it done, it will cost you another few thousand to fly over, get the surgery, and come back home. Have fun...

F.

Reality Check
Before you start reading this I would like to say something: I’m not here to give names and bash anybody imparticular because I think we all know who is being talked about here. All of us.
As this year has progressed, it seems as though it has gotten worse. I am not talking about the work that we’ve had to do or our teachers either. The maturity of the junior class is what I’m talking about. The class that is supposed to be a role-model for the lower class members-has digressed to that of the maturity level of my four year old cousin. Actually, the maturity level of my four year old cousin is probably higher than that of many of the people in our class. The incidents (a lighter way to put it) that have occurred are insane. We are members of the junior class and as far as I am concerned, I am almost embarrassed to be a member of this class. What has occurred should not be happening at our grade level. I can see in second or third grade a few of the things happening, but at the junior level? Come on now! We are one year away from graduating and I haven’t seen an improvement in the way people act. Yes, I will admit that I have had my share of being immature and I am sure I will have more. Last year, I saw light at the end of the tunnel for our class. It seemed as though people started to straighten up and fly right. This year, my hopes got shattered. Thrown on the ground like a piece of precious, antique china. Nobody is acting their age, mostly, their shoe size (which for some of you is a 12 or a 13, but that would just be degrading you to a 7th and/or 8th grader now wouldn’t it?). I do not, absolutely do NOT see a reason why the Junior class is acting like this.
Picking on people (which I know we all have done, even me) because of how they dress, who they do or do not hang out with, and how they are different is wrong. This school has no right to pick on people because they are being different. Everybody is the same. It’s a small school so there isn’t that much diversity. (I’m talking about how there are those who plaster themselves every weekend and those who don’t. It’s as simple as that.) Then, there are those few exceptional people who are stick out of the crowd, go against the flow, play chicken out in I-81, and voice their opinion. Those are the people that get picked on the most and I do not understand why. Those who are different should be praised. These are the people that will most likely suceed in life because they put up with high school and a lot of us know that putting up with this kind of “mental bruising” is like putting up with what life has to hand you later on down the road.
People need to dig their heads out of the sand and realize that EVERYBODY is the same in the way that we ALL have feelings. Picking on someone because they aren’t your friend or have no friends is wrong. I’m going to give a new definition to an old word, picker. A picker is someone who picks on someone else for God knows why. A picker chooses people who are different or not the most popular person in school (in this case, it’s the same thing) to pick on and make fun of because of their (the picker’s) insecurities. They have a need to try to rise above the others by making fun of people. Well, do all of us a favor and step back and take a look in the mirror. Walk in someone elses shoes for a day. Actually, an hour. That’s all it takes, from the time we step foot into the school until someone starts bashing someone else for the afformentioned reasons. Think about this: you aren’t oh so cool for picking on someone. It just makes you look like an imbecile.
I hope some of this registered in your minds and that some of us will realize what we have degraded ourselves too. Again, walk in someone else’s shoes for an hour or two. Take a minute to think, which most of us should really do.