Sex Education

My male friend, Joey, and I have some interesting conversations. Today, we had a very adult conversation about safe sex. We got on the topic when Joey shared an Yahoo! Answers question with me. He likes to answer political geared questions on it and then read them to me. The particular question he brought up from Yahoo! Answers was "Who will be the first politician to apologize the the 1.2 MILLION unborn babies murdered each year in the name of 'choice'?" This was the start of the conversation.

Joey is pro-life. He doesn't believe in abortion. I am pro-choice. I really don't agree with abortion, but I believe it should be legal if it is needed. We got in a conversation about why we each feel the why we do, without belittling each other for why we feel the way we do. Believe it or not, I am the more liberal of the 2 of us. I believe that abortion needs to be legal if it's needed. I think I developed this thought when I saw the scene in Dirty Dancing where Penny is recovering, but Baby's dad has to come care for her because she's getting sick from the poor conditions of the place she had the abortion. I was 9 years-old when I saw that scene and it made an impact on me. If abortion was legal at the time the movie took place, Penny may still have had some complications, but she wouldn't have to have been to a butcher. By making abortion legal, there is no need to for poor conditions of many clinics.

I also told Joey that I agreed with him on some abortion topics. I told him I agreed with abortion not being used as a form of birth control. He wants it banned totally so it won't be used as birth control. However, if my teenage daughter was raped and didn't want the baby, she should have the option if she wants it. He said she could have the baby and adopt it out. Well, it's her body. If she doesn't want a child, she shouldn't have to carry it. He's like we shouldn't punish the child for how it was conceived. I got a little technical, and in a way, cold hearted. I said that a baby, in essence, in the first trimester is technically a parasite. Yes, a cold statement on my part. But, I agreed with him that it's not birth control. I don't agree with those people that run around not using any form of birth control, getting pregnant, and then getting an abortion as a way to solve an inconvenience. They should have thought about it before having unsafe sex.

That's where the safe sex part came in. I told him the way to end abortion as birth control is education about sex. The problem I see with today, is sex education is not making an impact like it should. Sex is not shown as being as dangerous and scary as it should. Now, I'm not saying sex is bad. Sex is a wonderful thing, if done in an safe and meaningful manner. However, I don't think people are truly aware of the consequences of sexually transmitted diseases and unwanted pregnancy. I remember talking about them growing up, and hearing about teen pregnancies and motherhood, but I wasn't really shown them. I didn't really see pictures of STDs until last year when I made a slide show in my Women's Health class on abstinence and safe sex. The professor for that class directed me to some CDC photos of STDs and let's just say they were graphic. I ended up showing Joey the slide show and grossing him out with some of the pictures.

I can thank my mother for being open with me about sex education. She was not afraid for me to learn. When she was pregnant with my brother, she had a home medical book and a small pregnancy pamphlet. Instead of shooing me away when she saw me read them, she let me read and learn. When I was 8-years-old and a Junior in Girl Scouts, she let me partake in my troop's "Girls Are Great" meeting about a girl's changing body. Later, when she became a troop leader, she did the same. She let me see Dirty Dancing when I was 9 and wasn't afraid to explain the abortion scene to me. As a result, I grew up knowing the consequences of unsafe sex. Sadly, there are many people out there that don't know the consequences of unsafe sex.

As for the abortion conversation with Joey, I told him I agreed with him on not using abortion as birth control, as well agreeing with the banning of partial-birth abortions. I also told him if I became pregnant, I personally wouldn't have an abortion. However, I also told him I wasn't ready to have kids and doing all I can to make sure I won't have a child until I'm ready. Thankfully, he listened. And the best part is he doesn't belittle my beliefs.

And to why I have a picture of a condom? Well, I took a few condom photos today and uploaded them under a Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike Creative Commons license. I had gone to the health clinic prior to my discussion with Joey and grabbed the condoms specifically to photograph. Last year, it was hard for me to find a picture of a condom for the safe sex slide show I made. I decided it shouldn't be hard for a person to find a condom photo in the effort to educate about sex. I just thought the picture went well with this topic.

[♪ Listening to: "Lincoln Avenue" - Train]

My Personal DNA

Taken for fun:

And I've got a new favorite song at the moment: "Her Eyes" by Pat Monahan.

[♪ Listening to: "Her Eyes" - Pat Monahan]

If Only They Hadn't Shown Up.

So today, in Meteorology class, this guy that was in my Chem 1 class asked if we could get extra credit when it looked like half the class was going to skip today. The professor looks straight at the ones that did the crossword puzzle in class a few weeks ago and have skipped a few classes, and said since they showed up, we couldn't have any. Those of us in the back that haven't skipped a class just laughed. It was a joke, but it showed the professor at least watches to see if they are there or not. We also got our tests back. The score I saw last week did not take into account the extra credit question. I got that one right, bringing my test grade on test #2 to an A from a B. We also got another homework assignment given to us, but it's just a worksheet.

I had a crash lesson in subnetting today. Seems the 4800 class this semester has a test Monday on the topic. I was open to learning about it since I never did it in any of my networking classes. This morning, Joey went over it with one of his professors and then went over it with me. Later in the day, Charles and Mike had Derrick help them with it. I was in the ACM room as they went over it, so I stuck around and listened. I got some of it. When I wasn't in class, I worked on my senior project. It is almost over with. However, I found a snag in a database I needed to change. That added more work than I needed, but that's okay.

I stopped at the Writing Center today and spoke to my old boss. There is a picture of a baby in the tutor lounge. I saw the baby's last name and wondered if I had worked with the baby's dad at the Writing Center. I had, but I didn't really get to know the guy. When I went in to ask the question, she asked me if I was dressed up for a special occasion. I told her I had dressed up because I just felt like it. If I had the nerve and the wit, I probably would have said I was dressed for a hot, fun date after class. But of course, with my life, that's not in the master plan at the moment. Right now, I wonder if it will ever be.

I guess I should do the Thursday Threesome before getting farther depressed.

Onesome: A--round this time of year? What's happening with the weather where you are? Ch-ch-changes? ...or are things still 'Summery'? It's hot. And I had to take dumbass Joey home yesterday before AASU Day started because he wore jeans and was sweating. I razzed him about checking the weather before school.

Twosome: to-- inventory your place for insurance coverage, what would it take? Too much work? How about ideas for the gang: is video taping with a voiceover the way to go? I have no clue. I guess that's another thing I'll have to start worrying about when I move out on my own. Don't get me started. However, I can think of one thing I wouldn't dare share with the insurance company.

Threesome: Z--one coverage? ...better than "man"? Are you following any football teams this year? How are they doing? Titans still have a winning record.

[♪ Listening to: "Someone To Call My Lover" - Janet Jackson]

"That Bloke Was All Mouth and Trousers Until He Nicked Your Kit in the Loo"

What did I just say? I had to look it up myself.

Today was Celebrate AASU Day (2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006). This was my last one. I had fun. I helped with the ACM and the Wesley Foundation booths. I mainly did set up. We sold boiled peanuts at the ACM booth. Snow cones were sold at the Wesley booth. I did check in at the booths from time to time and helped for a few minutes. At the Wesley booth, I got in a discussion with Dr. Kilhefner about the chain rule. I spent the rest of the day running around the Quad and going to class.

I had took much Coke today. And I don't know what got into me, but I made mention about being short of actually having sex today in a discussion with Wes. I had 2 sausage dogs, rode a bull, and blew on some instruments. Oh, the double entendres! I wasn't the only one making them, that's for sure. I took a chance and rode the mechanical bull. It was free again this year. Jack took the photos as I rode it. The music department had instruments on display to try out. I had Hai take pictures of me playing the sax and the trumpet. I never played them like I did my flute and Nicki's clarinet. I have got to find my flute.

I also had a "fortune" given to me today. The fortune was "That bloke was all mouth and trousers until he nicked your kit in the loo." The fortune was given by the Library's booth in an attempt to encourage students to browse the library and figure out their fortunes. Mine wanted me to go through a dictionary for British slang for Americans. This translated to roughly being "That man was all talk and no action until he stole your clothes in the bathroom." Like I said, I wasn't the only one making double entendres. As I quickly browsed it, I saw this one slang phrase for beans and rice that included a very offensive word to refer to the beans. I had to do a double take to make sure I saw what I saw.

I also took a chance to climb the wall. I got like 3 feet off the ground. I "dragged" Joey to the wall to take my picture. He's one of the few I can trust with my camera and know I can get a good shot. He saw I had trouble, so, of course, he had to show me how it's done. I got my t-shirt, as well. It was eerie that I had no wait for my shirt. Last year, there was a long line for the shirt. I wore last year's shirt. The President of the school remarked I had the wrong shirt on today. I explained that last year's orange shirt was more comfortable than this year's black shirt. I had the same conversation with Dr. Reed later in the day.

Yeah it was all fun. I'm sad that I may never partake in another one. However, it's time for me to start to move on and grow up. Well, I wouldn't say grow up entirely. I just need to look like I grew up.

[♪ Listening to: "Who's Johnny" - El DeBarge]

How Exciting Is My Life?

The most exciting part of my day was discussing the creeps that hit on me online as I made paper maché peanuts. Yeah. After classes tonight, Cherelyn, Joey, and I worked on materials for the booths we're working on for tomorrow's AASU Day. I was telling Cherelyn all about Joey's cooking and how people think we're dating, including my own brother. As part of this discussion, we got on topic about the creeps that message me on MySpace, because that's the only way guys ever hit on me now. Seems I get all these guys that can't take the time to spell out words, like this message:

hi there. how r u? listen, ur beautiness just caught the corner of my eye & i wuz hopun' we can talk sometime. sorry, i don't have a face, yet. u have a very beautiful smile and if u're interested, just gimme a holla.

Kind of depressing. Joey then decided to investigate (and mock) these guys that messaged me on MySpace.

[♪ Listening to: "Love Song For No One" - John Mayer]

Usually, It Would Be…

A guy wanting to pull a girl's pants down. No, today, I got told to pull my pants up by Joey. Well, it only took me until now to get told to pull my pants up. I never wore baggy clothes in junior high. Baggy pants were all the rage then. However, in a way, my pants are baggy now. I'm so used to always buying a size 16 for my pants. I guess I've lost enough weight since this semester started that a 16 is baggy for me, again. Joey also made a comment about we're going to have to do something to get me out of my Georgia Tech gear, like what I was photographed in on Saturday. Excuse me? We? And there is nothing wrong with my Georgia Tech gear. I may not have gone, but I was accepted it. I've always been partial to Tech. I'm keeping the Tech gear.

My day, school wise, was slow. I did go to Wesley lunch. Our speaker was the minister at Grace Monumental United Methodist Church. The ministers visiting us seem to have a certain theme this year: looking for yourself and knowing where you're going. I know they mean well, but it's starting to get to me. I'm about to graduate and I don't know what I'll be doing. I can't envision my life after 10 AM on December 8^th. I didn't cry, but the rest of my day has been blah as a result. I worked a bit on my E-Commerce group project today. I threw together a layout so we can start some PHP backend coding. And, I did go to Digital Photography. The professor liked my photos for today's assignment. I submitted 2 pictures from my Seattle trip, since he said we could submit old photos. The other 2 I submitted were from Ft. Pulaski the other day. He remarked they were a mixture of a landscape and a seascape, and that one had a rule of thirds used in it as well. I hope I get a good grade on that assignment.

During my free time, I was hanging out in the IT lounge. A few of the other seniors stopped in before there departmental exit exam. We got in a discussion about having graduation practice and the butchering of my last name. My last name, Latta, seems to be more difficult than it should be. The pronunciation in my family is LAT-TA. The LAT rhymes with hat. TA is like in ta-tas. Well, growing up, it has been butchered some many times. I've had it pronounced Lotta, Latté, Lottay, Latter, Ladder, Ladda, Lattatay, and other butcherings that could only make me wince. Later, Twiddledee and Twiddledum, came in after the exam and asked for my help. At this point, the use of Twiddledee and Twiddledum is an affectionate nickname for the 2 of them. They had to report back to their advisor that they had taken all the classes needed for graduation. They asked me, knowing I'm studious and on the ball about graduation, to help them with the checklist. Between now and when we took some required classes, the department changed the class numbers. They asked me to tell them what our old classes converted to in the present checklist.

I'm one step closer to graduation. I went ahead and ordered my cords and stoles tonight. My father is so proud of my Phi Kappa Phi membership. I decided the stole I wear at graduation would be the one for it. I decided that Omicron Delta Kappa would be represented by a cord. I've gone ahead and ordered my cap and gown, so it's set for the outerwear for my graduation. Next, I'll have to get something to wear under my robe.

[♪ Listening to: "Heat It Up" - 98°]

Busy, Busy, Busy Fall Break.

I had a busy fall break.

Friday afternoon was spent out at Ft. Pulaski with Joey. I had asked him to go with me out there. I didn't want to go alone. I hate doing things alone. So, he agreed to go with me. He got to run some errands at the bank he needed to do while out. He also told me my brakes on my car will need some work. I feared it, but he just confirmed it. I got my digital photography assignments completed; he got a a quick lesson in photography.

The trip Lindsey and I took was a little more crowed the we originally planned. We took Joey and my brother along. They didn't go to Six Flags with us. Joey wanted to see his family up there. He drove half the trip and paid for half the gas. That was helpful. Matthew went to visit his girlfriend. Lindsey wasn't too happy about the my brother thing, but the way I saw it with my brother was it wasn't too out of our way, we ended up going in my vehicle, and it made made Jessica happy. Yeah, it didn't help that I had a panic attack on the way to pick up my brother this morning and took it out on her. I HATE driving in Atlanta. Half the time, I don't know my way and the way the lanes are up there, it scares me. I'm just glad I didn't have my car. I wouldn't have survived up there.

The time at Six Flags was fun. Some of the ride worked didn't do there job, and thus, after 40 minutes, Lindsey and I weren't allow to ride Georgia Scorcher. Lindsey was not happy with the inconsistant polacy about what could and could not be allowed on the ride. We went to Guest Relations to complain. As a result of her complaint, we got a pass to bypass the line for Goliath and any other ride of her choice. She chose to bypass the line for Superman: Ultimate Flight. We also ended up riding the Dahlonega Mine Train, Mind Bender, the Scorcher, Gotham City Crime Wave, and the Georgia Cyclone.

The Dahlonega Mine Train, when I got on it, I realized was the very with roller coaster I've ever ridden. I went to Six Flags one over time before yesterday. I was 9; it was 1988. At that age, I would not have wanted to ride too many scary things. The Mine Train would have been pretty scary for me back then, thus probably the most severe ride I rode then. The thing that stuck out of my mind the most from my 1988 trip was a canopy covered in ivy. That's my only really real memory of that trip. Man, I thought I was going to remember that trip forever. We were going to get on the Great American Scream Machine, but after 30 minutes in line, it broke down. We waited another 15 or so minutes before giving up on it.

I will never ride the Georgia Cyclone again. Thankfully, I wasn't wearing a bikini top on the ride. I had a wardrobe malfunction on the ride. When the ride first started, Lindsey and I bumped heads on the ride. Later on the track, my chest bounced. My boobies popped out of my bra. Now, I had a shirt on and a hoodie over my shirt when this happened, so no one saw the flying boobies. However, I couldn't believe I had that happen to me.

This morning, I drove over to the Big Chicken. It wasn't too far from our hotel. I got some shots of it. Then, we went and got Matthew in Buckhead. After the stop in Buckhead, I drove through Atlanta on I-85, without being killed, and got to Fayetteville to get Joey. He ended up driving the rest of the trip, by-passing 30 miles of Interstate from his mother's home to where he got on I-75. He ended up showing us "the ghetto" of Fayette County, GA. Lindsey and I remarked that it that was the ghetto, sign us up! The house were nice! I wish I had one. The 4 of us ended up stopping in Macon for lunch at Cracker Barrel. We got back to Savannah just around 5.

So, I'm Here at a Comfort Inn In Smyrna, GA.

I'm trying to transfer photos from one digital camera to another using the hotel's computer. I left my computer at home. But, we have 2 digital cameras, so I can use my camera's card as storage for the others.

You're probably wondering why I am in Smyrna, GA. Well, to make a long story short at this point, I spent my afternoon at Six Flags. It was an interesting trip up and and interesting time at Six Flags.

I'll post more when I get home to Savannah late tomorrow. Let's just say tomorrow, I'll be driving from Smyrna to Lenox Square to Fayetteville before getting on I-75 back home via Macon.\