Disrespect for our Country is never OK.

I believe as Americans we have the right to stand up for ourselves. I believe that if we see something we don't agree with, then we have the constitutional capacity to stand-up and protest. I do not believe however, under any circumstance, that it is ever acceptable to disrespect our country that we are lucky enough to have had provided us with the ability to express our freedom of speech. That is not OK. It is a gift that we are given these rights and in return, we owe nothing but respect to everything the United States represents. This Nations flag should always be a symbol of respect and gratitude and should ALWAYS be taken seriously. Recently I read about a group of protesters on a college campus who made an explicit point to dismantle our country's flag by stepping on it, ripping it out from under people's feet, and being excessively inappropriate towards something that should never be treated that way. A flag with that much honor and tribute towards our amazing nation should have never been in the hands of those who find a need to distruct it. When I first heard about this, I honestly assumed it was ISIS or a group that has already shown its disgust for our highly appreciated country, but for fellow citizens of the United States to be reacting with this much distaste? Seriously? I am all for protesting and standing up for our rights that we should be thankful to have; and that is a beautiful thing that we have the power to do. But the second you dishonor our country that you should feel blessed to be in, then I'm sorry, but get out of our country. Really though, if you don't like it then LEAVE. Because no one with that much disrespect for the ground that they walk on should even be here. They do not deserve it. If a veteran or a person in a position that is fighting to represent America saw them doing that, then you do not deserve any respect as a person. That is all.    

When will I be able to wear what I want without it defining me?

I cannot wait for the day that a woman becomes more than her body.

If it is hot outside, I as a woman have every right to wear shorts as short as I want to and a tank top as tight and as cropped as I feel comfortable in. If I feel beautiful in a little black dress, I as a woman should not have to worry about wearing it out and having men treat me as though I am not a person. If I want to wear an excessive amount of makeup, I as a woman should not have to expect to be called a "whore" or a "slut" behind my back. I as a woman, have rights. I have rights to my own body. I am lucky enough to live in America, where I can decide who I want to be with and what I want to do and I CAN be powerful. More people need to realise this. I am not defined by the number of boys I have been with just as a male is not classified by how many girls he has been with. I am a woman, equal to men, and equal to any other human being on this planet in every way. I am a woman, and that is not an invitation to be catcalled on the streets or to be degraded by anyone in any manner. I am a woman. I can't believe I even have to state that I deserve equal pay as a man who acquires the same amount of respect in a particular job as I do. I am a woman and if I want to shake my ass on TV or if I want to wear a turtleneck or a baggy t-shirt then I will, and I expect to be treated exactly the same no matter what choices I make, just as a male would. I am a woman regardless of how many men find me "attractive" because my worth in no way shape or form is in any way related to my looks, or my outfit, or what I choose to do whether you aprove of it or not. I am a person. I will make whatever decision in life that I want to make without fear of what others may of to say, because my gender does not decide who I am for me.
I am a human being. And I have the power to do what any other human being can do.

The Many Flaws in this World's Education System

For 12 years now I have been emotionally drained by unwillingly partaking in the governments version of what they call an "education system". It's almost humorous to me that we call it an education system, because that would imply that we are learning. If learning means sitting in a classroom for 6 or more hours a day blankly staring at a teacher drain on for hours on end about something we do not even see a point in learning about, then yeah I guess we're learning. But if you consider learning as expanding our knowledge and opening our mind to what the world offers us in a genuinely beneficial way, then there is no doubt that we are far from what our education system should be. I'm not saying that what we are learning about isn't important, because for the most part, it is. But they are not teaching us why we are learning; for the bigger picture. They teach us that a letter grade defines who we are as human beings and therefore we should memorize words on a paper until we are mentally exhausted only for the aspiration of getting a grade that won't make us resent ourselves. And honestly, teachers are senseless if they don't see that memorizing does not equal learning. Half the time, we don't even know what we are memorizing. We don't try to understand the information, because we do not care. It's as simple as that. We do not care, and we certainly do not have the time to want to care because we are constantly berated with homework, and tests, and assignments to the point where we barely have time to breathe. We don't have time to be teenagers, and they wonder why we feel as though we have grown up already. We're busier now than most adults are, so yeah, I'm going to talk to my friends in class; because when else will I get the chance? We work our asses off in school till our energy is depleted from our body, only to be sent home with homework and studying that will keep us awake with anxiety and panic over what might happen if we don't do it, which keeps the cycle continuing to the next day with 4 hours of sleep under our belts only to be an acceptable member to society- because in this world, if you can't prove yourself with a fancy diploma then you really aren't shit. The reality of it is, that we are way too young to be this worn out. We are way too young to hate ourselves this much for the amount of failures school has set us up for. We are way too young to fear the system that has worked us til we're no longer kids anymore, but merely puppets following this generations unrealistic expectations that quickly age our souls. We are kids. We are kids, and it is our job to use this time to be young and naive and ask questions and ponder the world and wander without concern of what life will bring us 10 years from now. This time for us is short, and we must use it to educate ourselves- not have the system tell us what to learn and what to do every second, but we must learn to be individuals to educate ourselves with nothing but full beating hearts and curiosity for the beautiful world we live in... School has taught us the opposite. It has taught us a set of guidelines to follow and obey and how to live and by learning only this for our entire lives, it has become embedded in our minds as a normality, when it is not. We must let the adolescents explore their adolescence, for that is how opinions are made and change can be seen. School is a gift, just not the way it is done now. Maybe the suicide rate for teens wouldn't be so high if teachers taught their students that a grade does not determine your whole life, and that it is okay to fail. Maybe the majority of kids these days wouldn't have been diagnosed with ADD if we didn't force them to sit still and keep quiet for hours and hours so they can stare at a whiteboard and try to retain unnecessary information. Maybe more kids would vote when they turned 18 if we were just simply taught that we have a say and our voice matters and we have the power to make a change. Maybe kids wouldn't drop out of school if they weren't told they're not good enough by one degrading report card.

I'd Love To Change the World.

Lately I've just been thinking about this world that we all live on and how we are treating our home. Instead of enjoying what's real in this world, we are obsessed with what is not real; which is everything we have essentially created. And by this I mean that the way we live our lives today has been reconstructed from influences such as the media and by generations and generations that have altered what is our normality. We obsess over ourselves and what we want in life, and show blatant disregard to the problems at hand happening around the world, because it's inevitable. We live by the golden rule: if it's not happening to ourselves or someone we know, then it might as well not be happening because we generally don't care. Sure, we'll hear about poverty and war and killings and feel sad, but thats it. We get over it and move on to the next fad. I can't blame this generation for how they are, however. We have become unlinked to the real world because of the society telling us what is acceptable. Everyone gets caught up in this routine way of thinking, because lets face it, it's all we're surrounded by. I know I sure as hell catch my self often times in life caring about the imprudent things I shouldn't, like the possession of pointless items and comparing myself to others... but am I the only one who comes to the realization that this society has lost the main idea of what living in this world is really about? I mean, no one really knows why we're here, and that's a fact. But the unknowing makes it easier to go through life to strive to help others and think selflessly. In the grand scheme of things, we were all put on this earth for whatever reason, whether we were merely organisms that evolved over time or something more, in the end we all share this home. So how can we not see that as a good enough reason to be kind to one and other, care about each other, and show concern for the things that are occurring on the same ground that we walk on everyday? I know it's hard. Like I said, I get caught up in it too. But it feels like now a days I am surrounded by people who obsess over how they are viewed over social media and their own problems... which is fine, but highschool drama is miniscule to the real issues that we need to educate ourselves on and concern ourselves with. The bottom line is we need to look out for each other and for this beautiful earth. It sucks, too, because I look at how passionate I am about changing things and cleaning up this world both literally and figuratively, and then I think about my future. I think about how many opportunities I would have to go out in the real world and actually make a difference, that is if I had the grades and the ability to earn a college degree. Let's face it- if you're not attending an Ivy league school and you have dreams that would highly benefit this world as a whole, then you might as well give those dreams up because in this messed up generation, no one will listen to what you have to say unless you prove yourself as better than everyone else. 

My View On Racism In America. Is it Really What People Make it Out to Be?

Something that's been really getting on my nerves lately is the idea of racism in the 21st century. I'm gonna focus on the epidemic that is happening in the United States right now, which is the idea of African Americans still being treated as minorities by police officers and other people in a position of power. It seems like as each day passes there are more and more stories of police killing African Americans or giving them verbal as well as physical abuse when it is not needed. Now, heres my question: Do we really know the truth about these stories? The sources of where we find this information is in the media that exaggerates the truth to selfishly gain views from the people who eat their lies right up. So when it comes down to it, the general idea of what has been happening lately is that a cop shoots an African American. For the most part, the story or facts are not there for us to make a quick judgement on; even though that's what people have been doing. Take the Michael Brown case for example. I searched many news articles online to find at least a glimmer of truth, but every single story I found had a different chain of events. He pulled out a gun, or he was innocently walking down the street... nothing adds up. So when I hear about these riots breaking out (notice how I did not use the word protest) it really gets me annoyed. These people creating havoc on the streets literally have no idea what they are even protesting for! They heard a "version" of a story on the news and reacted to a fabricated story that has no evidence or factual statements. The worst part about it is they actually think they're helping the situation, when in fact they are making it worse. Burning buildings? Blocking streets so innocent people can't get by? Really!? They are fighting fire with fire and wondering why nothing is changing. Wake up people. And I'm not saying that protesting is wrong, in fact, I encourage it. We have a beautiful thing in this country called freedom of speech, and we have every right to state our opinions and beliefs in a NON-HARMFUL WAY. But this? This is not what our forefathers worked hard for. This is not what freedom of speech means. These "protestors" are destroying what we have worked so hard for, and to be honest, they are tearing down the diverse system the United States has created by putting more attention on the disrespectful and defensive way we think is helping this "racism". I commend everyone who has an opinion on this to respectfully approach this in a way that builds us as Americans up as a whole instead of tearing each other down, because that is all these riots irrational riots are doing. The other part of this that really grinds my gears, is that in most situations (granted, we do not know the full story) these "victims" instagate the situation. Like for example, there was a case where a boy pulled out a fake gun on the cop, and the cop reacted by killing him. The fact that the only thing people take away from these stories is that the boy was African American, and therefore it is considered a "racist act" is ridiculous. If I were a cop and someone pulled out a gun on me and I believed my life or someone elses was in danger, damn right I would react defensively. And let me just add, that this wasn't racism until those who resentfully overreacted claimed that because he was African American it was a hate crime; which in reality has no relevance to the case at all. And even if it did have an influence, so what? Look at the facts. The statistics of crimes committed by African American's is evidently higher than crimes committed by white people. So, if a cop is more cautious over an African American being a greater danger to society (if given a reason to be, of course) then who are we as citizens being protected under their honor to criticize them for essentially trying to keep us safe? Police know the statistics. They've seen it first hand. We literally have no idea what they go through on a day to day basis, so how can we take what they are doing and be angry that they have put their lives on the line to protect us all? I'm not saying that there are not hate crimes that have been committed by police officers and that it is not wrong; because it is and it is very much disgusting. But those cops give a terrible name to all police officers, who for the most part, do what they can to make this world a better place. I can guarantee you, they are not thinking about killing or harming a black man, but they are thinking about harming a human being. And tell me, how is it not racist to take a tragic story and only pull out the irrelevant detail of a mans skin color? When it comes down to it, some police officers should not be in that position of authority, but most of them do it because they love this country and want to make it a better place. An let me just add that white people are killed everyday by the police, and we never hear about it do we? No, because no on cares. But if an African American is killed, people feed off of it and turn it into something it's not, when in reality more white people were killed (based to 2012 statistics) than African Americans. So when we turn something that happens on a daily basis into a monumental deal and create a problem that is most likely not there, then we send those cops home with not only the weight on their shoulders that they have just killed an actual person unwillingly, but with the consuming idea that the world hates him for doing it. So all I'm saying is, that if we avoid this ignorant way of thinking then maybe we can focus on the real issues at hand.

How to do winged eyeliner

Winged Eyeliner can seem tricky and intimidating at first, but with a simple technique of going about it, it becomes easier and faster. Whether the look you are going for is big and bold or long and thin, with these steps you can have the ability to change it up to fit your style to achieve the look you want.
Step 1: The first thing you want to do before approaching this is to apply an eyeshadow base as well as your eyeshadow first, if desired. This was the eyeliner won't smudge and the lines will be crisp instead of getting a blended look.
Step 2: Next, you want to choose an eyeliner. For me, what works best is a liquid eyeliner pen. Pencil eyeliners have a tendency to not be sharp enough to create the wing, and also do not draw well. Liquid eyeliners create a dark and bold look which is essential for a winged look. In some cases, depending on the eye look you are going for, a pencil may work better, but for the most part a liquid eyeliner does the trick much easier. With this being said, liquid liners can be tricky to control where the tip draws on, because they are most of the time flimsy like a paint brush. Liquid eyeliner pens, however, give you more control when it comes to drawing and filling in spaces. A couple that I like to use is the Urban Decay 24/7 eyeliner pens, and the NYX skinny eyeliner pen.
Step 3: Now it is time for the scary part- drawing the line on your lid. The trick with this to keep your lines even, is to first create the outline so that you have a base of where to color in, as well as to make sure the lines are even. First, you want to start with the top line. Start at the inner corner at the base and gradually go higher up (as high as you want your eyeliner to be) so as to not create any harsh lines. This comes more naturally than it looks- you want to almost make like a wave and go thicker at the beginning, then right before where the wing begins draw a bit lower so that the wing is defined (like a wave going up and down) the wing it out as far as you like by going higher up. Remember that you want the tip of the wing to be sharp, so careful with how far out you make it because you may want to extend it out further on so as to make the wing appear sharper. Then do the other eye, and inspect it to make sure it is even on both sides.
Step 4: Once you have completed the outline, it is time to color in! Stay inside the lines of course, and this step should be easy and fun. Remember though to be very careful when coloring in the winged part, because that can easily make the wing appear thicker instead of a sharp line like you want.
And then you are done! Curl your lashes and apply mascara, and you're good to go. And don't forget to have fun with it, and make the style your own :)

So today I'm just going to go on a little rant of something thats been bothering me a lot lately. So I'm very much aware of the lack of knowledge that is presented within the media addressing the topic of animal cruelty being such a big part of our everyday lives. It's hard for me to get genuinely upset about the ignorance that most people have towards this subject when the reality of it is that no one really gives a shit. I'm not saying that if you buy makeup that is tested on animals that you are satan's child, but what I am trying to say is that although it is wrong (and that is universally agreed upon for the most part), it is not represented as an important issue or topic that give us as humans a reason to get passionate about making a change. If you look at the topic of gay marriage for example, you will see 2 distinct sides that people stand on of how they believe things should be. On one side you have the activists who protest and stand up for everyones right to be able to love and marry whoever they want, regardless of their gender. On the other side you see the conservative old fashioned way of thinking that homosexuality is wrong and should be stopped. This is just one of the important issues being constantly followed through media, which shows how black and white issues like these are when it comes to who stands for what. Don't get me wrong, thats great. I love to see Americans of all ages actively participating in bettering our society by standing up for what they believe in. But unfortunately, with issues like homosexuality playing such a big part in the evolution of our generation, many (also important) issues like animal rights are overlooked. Maybe its the fact that it doesn't directly affect us, and thats why we turn the other cheek, or maybe it's that if we did stand up it would affect us and how we shopped, making it harder to simply buy a product without worrying about how it was made. To be honest, this is a selfish way of thinking. I'm not saying that to be rude, but I'm saying it because I know how it is first hand. I have always had a strong passion for makeup, and therefore I loved to shop at MAC and other big makeup companies. When the cruelty of animals used to produce these products was brought to my attention, it affected me greatly. At first I mostly just thought about how wrong it was, but I didn't change where I shopped right away. I thought about how hard of a transition that would be, and just decided not to think about it. It then got worse, and I couldn't stop thinking about how awful the conditions where for these innocent animals, and I knew I had to do something. Once I made the change, I felt so much better about myself. I know this is a lot to ask of people at this day in age, just because of all the other things there are to worry about in this world, but I do ask that this issue is brought to attention. Spread the word, increase awareness, and make this problem known. After all, it's 2015 people, come on.