AHA!

I have found inspiration for a new post. THANK YOU CNN!

OK, so I was getting a glass of water in the kitchen, which is sort of conjoined with my living room, and the TV was on. So I think 'Hey, I'm standing here, drinking water, I could watch some TV WHILE I hydrate.' (I know, I am a genius or something.)

And the CNN lady is talking about a recent medical study involving milk. And she was talking about how this medical study had showed that people who drink more milk, and get more vitamin D, are less likely to die.

I am serious, folks.

And then she went on to say that "And people who do not get enough vitamin D (the picture on screen flashes to a list of foods that give you vitamin D) are more likely to die."

What is the world coming to? Now I have to worry, because I don't drink milk. Which means I will eventually die. Now, for all you milk drinkers, this is not an issue, but for me, this is huge. For god's sake, I AM GOING TO EVENTUALLY DIE! OH NO!

I just love moments like this in the media. The ones where you, the average Joe/Jane go "Um, well duh." And I wonder why more people don't look at this, realize that the media, in all truth, is a very imperfect system, and stop relying on it for everything. YOU HAVE EYES, so you can know what looks good, fashion-wise, and what doesn't. YOU HAVE EARS, you don't have to sit around on your butt, watching TV to get updates on everything. Take the chance, and take a risk, and go out there and actually DO something. Experience things first hand. You don't have to rely on word of mouth, you can find things out for yourself.

I shudder to think what the world may someday become. Really, in all seriousness, I see a future in which we do nothing, all day. Everything is digital, we just have to sit still, and instant gratification will be so instant, all you have to do is think, "I wish I had a hamburger," and it will be so instant, you won't have to eat OR digest it, but you will have had the satisfaction of eating and digesting it. A friend and I discussed this while I was at camp, and I think that that is such a sad, pathetic idea of the future. But the way things are going, it could, again- in all seriousness, be the future we are destined for.

UNLESS- we actually start, here and now, going out and doing things for ourselves. Obama coming to your town? Rather than sitting on your butt, and watching him talk on TV, be one of those thousands of people in the crowd, experiencing it first hand, not the cut up version the media will offer the next day.
OR- rather than scoping out dogs Petfinder.com, (I know, it's a hard habit to kick, I'm a total addict)actually GO TO A SHELTER. I know, I know. I am suggesting that you get off your butt and drive the half hour to go look at dogs that you know NOTHING about, and have the possibility of going home petless. BUT you might find the perfect dog, without having read a sad, three paragraph description that really just says "She's sweet and needs some hardcore training!"

If you know me very well, you are probably sitting here, reading this going "What the hall? Jessica does like, nothing. Why is she talking about this?"

BECAUSE I REALIZE I NEED TO HELP MAKE A DIFFERENCE. I don't want my kids to live in a world where they don't get to experience all of the things, good and bad, that I have. I want them to communicate face to face, more than they do through texts or IM or email.

In the fall, I will be writing for a NEWSPAPER, which is like, an endangered species of press. Yeah, I know, it's MEDIA, but it's still a truer form of media. It's not Wikipedia where god knows who can write god knows what. It is an article with an author, stating facts or opinions. If you have a question about it, you can ask them. Of course, I know this isn't true of all papers, or possibly, not of any. But that is how I see it. And I have never been more glad that I can have an opinion, than I am today.

I can have an opinion on the sheer stupidity of the fact a news team thought it was important to state a study found that by drinking milk, you are less likely to die.

And I am so thankful that I can.