Drunken Irishmen, War-Lovers, and "Solamente Amor"

Earlier today I met my friend’s Irish exchange student. (Don’t get carried away, he’s only 12.) Anyway, my friend told me about a discussing they had on stereotypes, both American (US) and Irish.
Naturally, she shared what she thought were classic Irish stereotyping:
-Red hair and freckles
-Saying “Top of the Mornin’ to ya!”
-They drink a lot
-They fight amongst each other (fist fights, you know)
Then it was the young man’s turn, what were some of the American stereotypes?
-“You’re all fat”
-“You eat McDonalds like, everyday”
-“…fat”
-His version of “American accent” was a country accent…so I guess we’re all too country
-“You like wars and fighting”
-“You think you’re country is the best”

Well, I think all of those stereotypes are reasonable, but it doesn’t mean I want them to be true or believe them all to be true. However, I do believe that we must be doing something to be sending this message to other countries. But they’re just stereotypes…right?

On a personal level, I will say that I’m embarrassed that I’m not as aware of other countries as they are aware of the United States. This doesn’t mean that I think we’re “the best.” I’m pretty certain we’re far from it, but we don’t know what else is out there…so that’s probably why the idea persists.

I have only been out of the country once, and my first time was this last spring.
Nicaragua. (Insert several small hearts and cute emoticons.)
I learned that we probably shouldn't refer to our country simply as "America" because we aren't the ONLY Americans. There are Central Americans, South Americans, and Latin Americans. This excites me because I know that, if we choose to accept it, we could all be so much more. We all share much more in common than we realize. Maybe if we all share our cultures, we won't have to worry about the stereotypes because we'll all be trying to defy them.

Solamente amor!

Spawn. Tied Tubes. The usual.

First of all, before I get into something crazy I heard this weekend, HOW in tarnation do I add a Profile picture? ahhh.

Second--
The other day I was out at Chicks Beach with a few friends celebrating their birthdays, (twins ftw). I met one of their friends who was a really cool girl. She was funny, very artistic and talented, and pretty chill. I'm not sure how we got on the topic, but she made this statement, "I hate kids. I don't ever want them. They're not cute, they're just discussing little people...I want to get my tubes tied."

Allow me to first make myself clear. I don't believe every couple should be expected to have kids. Not having children doesn't devalue your relationship, family situation, or your life. In fact, it doesn't even matter if you are married or not. Do whatcha waaaant.

Now, after the new friend said she wanted to "get her tubes tied," I pointed out that she's only 18 years old. She said that she wanted to get it done, and I suggested she just stick with conventional methods for preventing a lil' egg being fertilized. She insisted that the procedure could be reversed if for some reason she changed her mind.

Well, let's get informed! Woo!
Tubal ligation, a form of female sterilization (aka, Getting your "tubes tied"), is basically when the fallopian tubes are cut and (essentially) cauterized. At least that's how I understand it. This form of sterilization is meant to be PERMANENT. And very, very rarely does it lead to pregnancy, because the sperm can't reach the eggs via fallopian travel plans.

I'm going to end up beating this into the ground, and probably no one really wants to read this. haha. I don't blame you! Woooo

Pride and Some Prejudice

Normally when I have any sort of down time, I'll find a few books I've been meaning to read. This summer, I had a few books picked out...including Pride and Prejudice.

I have been told my several (emphasis on several) people that Jane Austen's work is a MUST read for "every young lady." I began reading a few days after getting home, and I have only read 60 pages. It's practically nil.
Two of the girls I work with asked me how I'm enjoying it. They were actually reading books on dear ol' Mr. Darcy. I explained how not-so-found of it I was so far, and then they were surprised etc etc and then discussed how much they LOVE Jane Austen. Wow.

So my question is... why? Is it the genre that I dislike? The writing isn't bad...
I suppose my main motivation for reading it is because I want to read Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. Yeah, young ladies novels ftw.

Whatever, I need to give it more of the chance supposedly.
I'm just not used to these stories. The best books I've read recently...

Sherlock Holmes, Volume I
The Invisible Cure: Africa, The West, and the Fight Against AIDS by Helen Epstein
The Woman with a Worm in her Head and other True Stories of Infectious Disease
by Pamela Nagami, M.D.

Those last two were amazing reads, regardless of your interest in medicine or health care.


So anyway, what's the big deal about Pride and Prejudice?

PS- I'm working on coherence. This blog might have been a fail.