Religous tolerance

For the longest time, I had little faith that there was a God. I went through many rough patches in high school and the first few years of college. During that time, my belief in God slowly began to diminish. Unlike most people who find God during their times of sorrow and regret, I pushed myself away from him. As I grew older, I realized how crucial religion was to my spirituality.

I was born and raised a Hindu, but found myself growing apart from it. I never took the time to understand this religion I was born into. However, I found that as I grew older, the more I needed my religion as a guide. I always believed that when it came to religion, it should be a guiding mechanism, and not as a control.

One of my associates is also going through the same thing with her religion Christianity. One day we started talking, and she started to question my religion, and I told her how much I knew. I was honest, and said I was still learning about Hinduism.

She then went on to tell me that America needed to go back to Christian roots in order to be saved by God, and the only way was through Christ. Inside I felt overly offended because for someone who is not Christian, I felt attacked. Because I did not believe in Christ, I was indirectly told that I would not be "saved" I kindly informed her that when the country was founded, it was found on the basis that church and state are separate (of course in today's political arena, we know that is NOT true). She retorted that the country was founded by Christian beliefs, and part of me knew that wasn't true. I remember reading somewhere that they were deists, and did not let the bible control what was written in the constitution. I realize that there was a chance I could be wrong. Still, even if they were true Christians, they were also free thinkers, and established in the constitution the separation of church and state. I felt the urge to debate her, but I felt it would have been a loosing battle.

The air between us started to get tense. Inside, I had so much I wanted to say, but I did not want to be disrespectful to her beliefs, even though I felt she did not show the same acceptance towards mine. I admired her strong beliefs in her religion, but I felt that she was intolerant to those who did not believe in Christ. I was always taught by my elders that it is a duty to respect your religion as well as other people's religion.

There are many paths to God I have found, and the path you choose is up to you, I believe. From that rigid conversation with my co-worker, I found the need to study other religions as well as my own. Religious tolerance is something I highly believe in, and in order to be tolerant, the first step is to first learn about those beliefs that are not similar to yours.

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Boom, Boom, KABOOM!

The past week has been quite interesting in terms of weather. It has been raining at least once everyday, and I have found an odd comfort in the violent rain and angry thunder. Yesterday my friend and I drove back from a convention in Perioa and saw quite a few drivers seeking shelter underneath the overpass and bridges. Sadly one truck decided to speed up on a ramp, and due to that thoughtless action, his truck flipped over on the side. Not a great idea to speed, especially when rain is coming at you really fast on the express way.

There have been days these past two weeks where the sky will be perfect, sunny and cheery, and just within a matter of minutes, the sky will turn dark and gray and release everything which has been held in the clouds. Sort of like someone who has been keeping all the anger and frustration in just to let it out in a violent fashion.

Despite the tornado warnings, flash flood warnings and other weather warnings, nothing treacherous happened around my area. Today the weather is really nice and sunny. I'm just waiting for the skies to turn gray and Mother Nature to finish venting all her frustrations. I really hope she waits till I get home, b/c I didn't bring an umbrella. Oh well, if its one thing I learned the hard way, its Mother Nature doesn't wait when things are convenient for others.

Did I mention I find thunder, lightning and the sound of heavy rain comforting and breathtaking. Here is something else I found that is comforting.

Lightning strikes three of the tallest buildings in Chicago at the same time! from Craig Shimala on Vimeo.

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Music Monday

So I decided that Monday is hereby declared "Music Mondays" Plus, it gives me an excuse to share some independent artists hardly heard on the radio. This Monday's artist is James Yuill. Yuill also called "the one man band" creatively mixes his acoustic guitar, laptop and decks to create some pretty amazing music. A lot of his songs are a fusion of folk and electronica, and Yuill is able to merge this combination beautifully. One of my all time favorite song by this artist in which you can hear a mixture of folk and electronica is "No surprise"

To check out more of James Yuill's music just visit his website

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Mmmmm. Relaxing music

Recently, I was looking for some relaxing music to play in the background while either cleaning, sleeping, or just reading. I was happy to find this AMAZING website called Dalishini. The music consists of a wonderful mixture of east and west, sort of like a fusion. The Dalishini home page is accompanied by a pleasant instrumental. According to the artists of this East and West Fusion, they ask their listeners "Are you interested in music that combines the best of Eastern and Western melodies, rhythms & instruments? At Dalishni, we have music that ranges from soft & soothing, through uplifting, to funky and even rocky."

The website has quite a few free downloads, and each song (mp3 format) is about a dollar. In addition, they have quite a few subliminal messages within their music, along with self improvement collections, mood music, nature sounds, fusion sounds, and Western sounds. If you're searching for something serene, calm, and soothing, check out this website. Chances are you'll find something suited to your taste. Below is a sample from one of their songs. Hope y'all enjoy it!




To get more music, just visit DALISHNI

Have a great weekend everybody! :)

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BP executives told by Rep. Cao to commit suicide

It's no surprise that there are many individuals who are livid at how BP executives are treating the oil spill fiasco. Rep. "Joseph" Cao from Louisiana received many responses when he supposedly indirectly implied that BP executives should commit suicide or "harakiri"

Samurai warriors back in the 12th century used to take their own lives to protest a decision or to support a greater cause. Later during the 15th century, the Japanese emperor used harakiri as punishment. Japanese officials would also commit this act to atone for a clumsy or poor deed or job that was done.

When watching the clip, it appeared that Cao was not indirectly or directly implying that the executive actually kill himself, he was giving an example of what his people did back in the day. I think the message he was trying to point out was that BP's acts have been shameless and would have been a reason why harakiri would have been committed a long long time ago. He then continues to explain that he and his constituents have not decided what should be done with BP because the truth is the BP executives have done a horrible job with stopping and handling the oil spill. It is very easy to twist someone's words around or to bring out suggestions which really aren't there. I admit that it probably was not a wise choice of words to bring up the suicide tradition to congress and the American public, however people need to stop taking things so literally.

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Do you have a thirst for knowledge?

Just several months ago, I saw that ChaCha was hiring for guides. I went ahead and applied for the expediter position, passed the test, did a simulation run, and in no time, was answering questions, or sending them off to different specialists to answer. For those who are not aware of what ChaCha is, it basically is an answering texting service like KGB. Only difference between ChaCha and other answer texting services is ChaCha is free. Users only pay the fees charged for texting by their carrier. They do place a limit on the number of questions people can ask in a certain time limit.

I started working for ChaCha in February and loved how I could work around my own schedule. I make an average of about 5 to 10 dollars a day, which is pretty good since I do this during my free time when I'm not working. The great thing about working for ChaCha is you can work whenever you want and for however long you want. There are different roles you can apply for depending on what you feel comfortable with. The pay rates are different for each role, and while I do not recommend quitting your day job, it is nice to work for ChaCha as a supplemental income. The only thing you will need is a decent internet connection and Firefox. Personally I've learned the most weirdest, random, and even the most interesting facts just by joining this service. If you are one of those people where you find delight in learning something new everyday, ChaCha is a wonderful service to work for. While it will not make you rich, it will help pay some of the bills, and who can complain about that.

To see a list of roles and qualifications visit GUIDE ROLES.
For specific information regarding working for ChaCha, visit FAQ

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Words of wisdom.... wear sunscreen

I love finding quotes, stories, or anecdotes on anything inspiring or uplifting. I believe that hearing words of wisdom, or taking in doses of encouragement can help us travel the difficult road ahead.

As soon as I heard Baz Luhrmann's wear sunscreen speech several years ago, I had to share it with everyone I saw. These words still resonate with me today, and with each day that I get older, I find his advice to be even more and more true. So with further ado... here is "Wear Sunscreen"

Edit: I forgot to mention that Mary Schmich, a columnist for the Chicago Tribune is the original author of this inspiring speech. According to research, this would have been the speech she would have given at a commencement. Wherever this speech is given, it can be agreed that it fits in well with all areas of life.

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Toxic pet foods,

If you're a pet owner, then you are probably aware that human food is not the best pet food. Sometimes we let this pass, and allow the dog to lick the left overs, or devour the remaining chicken bones. While it may be o.k. to feed our pets human food in small amounts, there are certain foods that we eat that should NEVER be fed to our pets. These foods include avocado, onion powder, chives and garlic, grapes and raisins, yeast dough, left over meat bones, chocolate and high caffeine, sugarless candy, and food with high salt and fat content. Foods such as these contain dangerous toxins and chemicals which can be deadly to pets. Left over meat bones present a risk to an animal because of the choking hazards. Feeding dogs grapes or raisins can cause kidney failure.

The following article gives the dangers of each food, and exactly how it affects your pet's health. It's important to be aware of this because we all want our furry friends to live a long and healthy life

Foods poisonous to pets

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Common interview myths that can cost you your job

Let's face it, in today's circus of an economy, landing a decent job, actually, even landing any job is tough. If you are just graduating from college, you are either continuing on to grad school (like me) OR you are sick and tired of school and immersing yourself in the real world. Interviews are unavoidable in almost every job application process, and knowing how to tackle them is always beneficial to your work in finding a job. Yahoo came out with the common interview myths that can cost you a job. Click here to find out more.

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GRE blues

Since it is about a week past new years, I believe a HAPPY NEW YEAR is long over due. I hope everyone had a restful winter break, whether it was several days to a month of vacation. I am back at work, and ready to start my LAST semester as an undergrad.

I notice that I have not posted since November. The past 2 months, I have been preparing for the GRE (graduate entrance exams) in order to apply to grad school by the fall time. My hope is to get into Northern, but I've got a few other back up choices just in case. My boyfriend and his parents can tell I'm extremely nervous about the exam, which I know is REALLY bad for test taking. The Barron's practice exams are ridiculously hard, specifically the analogies. I have took practice tests, bought several prep books, and I still feel unprepared.

If anyone has recently taken the GRE, I would love to hear your experiences with them, it would sure give me a better idea of the experience I should expect. It's been FOREVER since I've taken a standardized test.

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