Health Care Reform part 2

The following is not meant to offend and is best read with an open mind. I have just found myself consumed by frustration today. These points are at the core of my thoughts:

1- Health care reform, with the inclusion of a public option, will not make people lazy. In fact, the hardest working people I know are the ones most in need of a path to medical coverage. Construction workers, small business owners and employees, single mothers left to support an entire house hold, these are the people who need help. I did not say a handout but simply the chance to buy into something, because right now they don't even have that. In the Declaration of Independence, our "unalienable rights" include "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness". A public option, along with other measures, would improve American lives as a whole, give the liberty to choose an option without being denied (at lower overall rates) and make happiness a more attainable pursuit.

2- One day, we will all need to use the system. You never realize how close something is until it hits you on the head. Unless money has never been and will never be an issue in your life, you will at one point or another need our country's health care network. How lucky we are to live in a place where medical advancements are being made at an ever increasing rate but what good is a fancy pen if the ink is too expensive to buy? Whether it is having a baby while in college, becoming injured in an accident or simply breathing some unseen health hazard, we all need the system to be there and thus be derailed from the broken path towards self destruction that it is currently on.

3- God is not a respecter of persons. He does not care if you are black, white, orange, poor, educated, whatever, He loves you. This life is a state of probation, a test of the extent to which we will love our Maker and ultimately, how we will love our neighbor, for when we are in their service, we are only in His. When a man lay dying on the road to Jericho, the Samaritan did the truely Christian act and gave of what he had to nurse the stranger back to health. In our day there are thousands of people along the paths of our health care system who have been shunned or pushed aside for belonging to a certain "demographic", risk group or tax bracket.

It is absolutely vital that those in need have the ability to access the care that is available in our country. Being "covered" should not be the decisive string holding our lives together. I am not saying it should be free, for work is essential to a good life but when someone you love is laying on that hospital bed, life is what becomes important.

At any cost.

Jake

It's a boy...

tomato.

Photoshopped.

As an assignment for one of my classes this summer, I had to read and respond to Sonnet 130 by William Shakespeare (which you can find here). I created my own version of the poem in a bit more modern terms. I thought I would share the finished product with you.

My lover has skin,
though void of a brown glow
Her legs aren't found at Gold's Gym
or in a Beyonce video
Her feet can clear the room
after her office job and high heels
and she's more likely to think of fruit
if you were to mention "appeal"
I don't think I would find her,
air brushed and bare,
in line at the grocery store
published in swim wear
Now if you think these are problems
then here's where you should stop
because love is with a person
and dream girls aren't made in Photoshop.

I wrote my poem based on an interesting video Dove put out (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFPGa0pKyTg) which shows how the "flaws" are taken out of the media images we are fed. A completely unattainable sense of beauty has been created, causing so many problems in our world. Coming from a family with 3 little sisters, it really makes me sad.

Love, therein, is the answer.

Jake.

Jellystone 2

Well, I was telling Jess tonight how I really enjoy the things we have done and preserved on our blog so I have decided to give you the low down on our Yellowstone trip before it's too late.

We went up with my family, both my sister's fiances, and two of my mom's sisters with their families. It was really fun having so many people up there with us. We stayed two nights in the Old Faithful Inn, which was great. It's like this huge-log-cabin-hotel-place that is over a hundred years old. Our third and final night was in Roosevelt, where Teddy Roosevelt stayed while on trip to the park. We had several cabins that we all stayed in and it was pretty fun, complete with wood burning stoves to keep you warm.

I think Jess had a good time, minus the dirt and bugs and cold and the random rotten egg smell. I know she likes the confidence that comes with completely prepping herself for the day so it was nice to have showers and such instead of a full on tent adventure (which is happening in Southern Utah come August). She's just great and full of more natural beauty than she lets on.

Anyway, for the most part we just hiked around and picnicked. We saw tons on animals, including some black bear cubs and a wolf, and enjoyed the green scenery spring run off leaves behind. We did get a flat but it was easily fixed while we walked around the Old Faithful Geyser Basin. It was just nice getting away, the minute we got into the pine trees, daily life seemed so far away.

Jake

Two is better than one.

So I played a show tonight at an interesting place called The Boing! Collective. It is an anarchist group living in a house together who often host shows for free. They were very nice. Anyway, during the duration of the evening, I had it reaffirmed again and again tonight that I am so much better with Jess than without her. Even sitting on a hard wood floor, sweaty from just having played for 25 minutes, and listening to a dude with a mustache and a nylon string guitar, is enhanced by doing it next to Jess.

I could not quite put my finger on this "two is better than one" thought until after the show. I had been feeling the emotions that went along with it but the idea was not articulated until we were eating a late dinner at Cafe Rio. We shared a drink, as usual, and Jess happened to spill the whole thing right after I had just refilled the cup. Now, spilling sucks, it is never fun to have sticky pants and sprite in your salad but if I would have been alone, the amount of sucking would have increase exponentially. Having someone to worry about more than yourself is essential for being happy. I told Jess not to worry, that it was about time for a spill and this means that it wouldn't happen again for a while. Reassuring someone that everything will be alright is equally as therapeutic as hearing it yourself, if not more. When I am aspiring to keep "everything ok" for Jess, and anyone around me really, it is much easier to see my own life and challenges with a positive spin.

Thanks Jess.

Jake.

Note to Jess- I know that evenings like these aren't too "normal" for newly weds in our situation but I am so grateful to you for letting me have this musical part of life.