A question of ethics

(one more post to bring February up to the 4 posts a month quota)



Lately I've been feeling sort of guilty about somethings.

First, I took some songs from my friend's itunes when I plugged my ipod into her computer. She was fine with it, but I felt like I was stealing them afterwards. However, they are still on my ipod and I probably won't delete them. Apple made it very easy to 'steal' songs.

Second, we were taking a math test a few days ago and someone whispered to me "is the answer for this one 3?" I shook my head and made a bouncing motion with my finger, indicating that he should think about the fact the the graph bounced off the axis. He got it and started writing. Now that's cheating. But I didn't feel bad about it. Until later, when I thought about how it was cheating.

I feel like I'm trying to draw lines, this is OK and this is not. But I know that drawing lines is not going to get me anywhere, because I'm just going to keep trying to cross them. I know that I need to head in a direction of honesty. But that's so much easier said than done.



Also, I want things to be just and what I consider fair. For other people, I want punishment, I want guilt. But I excuse myself from doing these things.

Some random tidbits

Recently I have read lots of books, heard lots of lectures, and just had a lot of really potent quotes in my writer's notebook. (Which is a tiny notebook I carry in my purse to record writer's thoughts, an idea from Ralph Fletcher's book, A writer's notebook. I highly recommend it and will loan it to you if you ask me).



Anyways, I wanted to share some of the good stuff in there. It's not always stuff I agree with, per se, but it makes you think. Oh, and it's not all recent stuff either. Have Fun!



~ "Something is wrong when our lives make sense to non-believers"

(I believe I heard this from Navs, but I'm sure it came from a book)

~ "What if ... God took away the things we rely on so we rely only on him?" (Dave)

~ "We live in a culture that expects the basics and nothing more." (DHT)

~ "become a student of your friends, your culture, the Word ... it helps when we communicate to have the receiver in mind." (Dave)

~ "Satisfaction includes pleasure but pleasure doesn't guarantee satisfaction." (Julie)

~ "pleasure is not bad - it's just that worldly pleasure is incomplete." (Julie)

From Carrie

Hey all, I'm home alone on a Friday afternoon, finally getting a chance to post a ton of stuff that I've been thinking about but haven't been able to sit down and type out. But first, a really good thought from my friend Carrie.

"So I'm a teenager. Pretty crazy. I'm one of those notorious citizens that are known for getting on everyone's nerves and causing a ruckus being hoodlums. Time has flown by since freshman year. I'm in a constant state of unawareness because I really can't tell if I feel like a freshman or a 25 year old. I believe that teenagers are crazy, dramatic, irrational, unstable people, for the most part. But really, do we ever get over any of that? Probably not. As much as I'd like to think when I'm 24 I'll be living in a chic apartment in Miami with my marketing job, perfect finances and convenient relationship, I might not be. Despite how unaware of reality I am at the moment, I still need to cherish every moment I get to spend in this state of nonchalant relaxation- living at home, traveling, having easy classes, spending time with friends almost every day, having nice stuff, having a stable life, having unconditional love. The future doesn't scare me as much as it confuses me. I really don't understand it at all. I know I'll be fine and I don't have much to be scared of, but trying to understand this mess is a whole different story. I guess it's good I don't have to understand it. I just need to live my life in baby steps. I've been dating a guy for over 2 years. That is about 10% of my life so far. WOW.That is one area where I feel like an adult and then I realize that I'm just a kid graduating highschool. Then I realize I'm leaving high school and I feel like I should be graduating 8th grade. My emotions are all over the radar. I used to hate the cliche that said "You just need to discover who you are." I've found myself doing this lately. I'm not worried about who I am because I know that God knows me so well. But sometimes I'm at a loss for words to describe myself. It just surprises me because I've changed so much so I don't really know what I'm like. I know my tendencies, but does that mean I know my personality?I just think it's important to notice what a remarkable, unique, significant stage of life we're all at."

Which I, Emily, totally agree with. Thanks Carrie!

Off for a while

Hi guys.
I normally post here during my visits to the media center. However, I have recently started to do my quiet times during these visits, and haven't found time to post at home.
My new plan is to post on Saturday mornings, that way I can still post and not be using homework times. But that's the explanation for the weeks without posts.

My thought today is about plans. I'm in the middle of my junior year. And I don't know where I'm going to be in two years.
So why do grown-ups ALWAYS ask kids where we're going to be in the next few years?
I think it's because they don't know. And they don't like not knowing. As a kid, you can sort of have a plan, because you will have to go to school. Adults, on the other hand, really have no way of knowing where they're going to go, no way to see their future. They are waiting.