can we talk about north korea for a minute? {serious tuesday}

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EDIT: I actually wrote this over a week ago, and forgot to post. Oopsies. But I'm totes posting it now cause YOLO

I know that North Korea is sort of old hat to some, now that The Boston Marathon incident happened and Justin Beiber visited the Anne Frank House. And to be quite honest, this post is simply the result of ruminating on several melodramatic/snarky comments I've heard from some of my peers over the past few weeks. {I've everything from "OMG when are the Koreans invading" to "ehhhh, let's just nuke them all and get it over with".}

And on a side note, it is totally irrelevant that I am procrastinating big time by writing this. {My first college level final? In 6 hours you say? Pssh, details, details.} 

Anywho, I suppose it's best to start at the beginning. Like how Kim Jong-un is only 29, and struggling to establish his command over North Korea. And how does a young, inexperienced leader prove himself to his country? By threatening to bomb South Korea, as well as the world's largest superpower {America} of course. Duh. 

But in reality, it's most likely just talk. North Korea is teeny compared to the U.S.; we have the military power to completely wipe NK out, and Kim Jong-un knows that -- hopefully. That being said, NK still is a threat since it's such an unstable country, and possesses nuclear weapons. NK is like a child that owns a bazooka. A very young, violent, and angry child. 

 So why don't we just go ahead and bomb them? Wouldn't nipping the problem in the proverbial bud be easier than bothering to put an anti missile base Guam, and moving U.S. destroyers to the western Pacific to monitor missile activity? Well yes, it would.

 But it's easy for us Americans -- who are glued to our Apple products and big macs -- to forget that most of the North Korean population is starving, and well below what we would consider the poverty line. {It's so bad, that approximately 2,500,000 North Korean citizens have died from starvation. Seriously, how is this a thing.}

Currently 200,000 North Koreans have been declared "an enemy of the state" and are being kept in concentration camps. It should be noted that if you are declared an enemy of the state, your ENTIRE FAMILY is also thrown into a Holocaust type concentration camp. And that punishment carries over for THREE GENERATIONS. That means that your children and your children's children grow up in these horrible places, and there's a 25% chance that they won't survive. There are people that were born in and will die in the same camp, because their grandparents sympathized with South Korea during the Korean War. How incredibly insane and horrifying is that?

So is North Korea going to nuke the U.S.? It's unlikely. Should we just go ahead and obliterate NK anyway? Heck no. North Korea is, in simple terms, a nation at the mercy of a corrupt, pig headed government. We should, in my opinion, be trying to help the NK citizens -- not demonizing them.

This post was brought to you by a plethora of ignorant comments that ticked Abby off. Thank you for reading.

~ Abby

Sources {check 'em out, they're pretty cool}:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRTjHJ93UYg
http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=50136263n
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wm-tYxAwVO0
http://freekorea.us/camps/
http://www.businessinsider.com/life-in-north-korea-prison-camp-horror-kim-jong-un-2013-3?op=1

an open letter to coffee

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Dear Coffee, 

             I want you to know that I think you're pretty spectacular. You are delightful hot, chilled, or iced; with cream and sugar, or just plain black. You always seem to be there for me in times of need -- whether that's at 7 a.m. while I'm feeding the animals, or at midnight while I'm cramming for finals. I don't know what I'd do without you. Probably something stupid, like drive all of the way to Spanish class, only to to discover that I left my notes for the oral final at home. {Which has totally never happened to me. Wat.} 

           I know that my love for you is simply a chemical reaction. But even though it's all in my head, I still need you and your sweet, energizing nectar in my life. 

          So dearest Coffee, what say you? Care to stay for a while? 

                                                                                               With much love, 

                                                                                                               Abigail

p.s. if you like sci-ency stuff, you should totes check this out.   thank you Hank Green for proving that i can stop drinking coffee whenever i want. that's right, i am not addicted. at all. i just like the taste and whatnot. *ahem*

of dating and stuff {a very jumbled sort of rant. kinda.}

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I've noticed a trend in the peoples of my generation, and it's rather disturbing. 

No, it's not my peers' propensity towards knee high converse, Justin Bieber, or the incorrect usage of you're/your. It's something much more sinister. 

I'm talking about lack of self-esteem. 

We as teenagers {especially girls} are constantly told by the media how we should act, look, and dress. We're always being pelted with information on how to be "accepted"; a.k.a how to mindlessly obsess over the same cookie cutter music genres, movies, etc. And somehow being this strange kind of 'normal' involves finding true, perfect love -- in high school no less. 

But that's such a lie. Perfect love doesn't exist. And I think we can all agree that the majority of teenage relationships amount to zilch. But if we all recognize that, then why do so many of my peers go looking for it anyway? 

They do it because they need someone to need them; someone to love them unconditionally. But that's not a quality found in a typical high school relationship, which is why most of them crash and burn. This is because most teenagers initiate relationships for all of the wrong reasons. A relationship built on pure feelings {lust, selfishness, and a desire for a particular social status} will not last long. 

And let's face it, many of us date just to date. Or because we have a huge, angsty black hole in us that {we think} can only be filled by the attention from a member of the opposite sex. But that kind of thinking is extremely damaging, and can lead to a series of broken, painful dead end relationships. 

So is there any hope for a teen to actually have a positive relationship? You bet! 

But first you have to fix your self-esteem. I know, easier said than done. But you are of infinite worth, shaped by an amazing Creator -- so really, there's no need to feel insecure! *insert cheesy Bruno Mars song lyric here* 

Lastly, you need to be a friend. Instant attraction is thrilling, but it usually fades as quickly as it comes. And when it does fade, how will you ever relate to that person again if your 'love' for them wasn't built on a solid friendship? 

And I know this all sounds very preachy and boring. But can you imagine all the awkward situations, confusion, and hurt feelings you'll be saving yourself if you don't date needlessly? Especially if your boyfriend/girlfriend/love interest gets together with someone else. o.O

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What's that? Psssh, no, I totally cannot relate to the above image. Haha. lol. *whistles innocently* 

~ Abby 

p.s. the above opinions come from the mind of a cynical 17 year old who has had very bad experiences with boys and 'love'. therefore this post may be very biased. therefore you should probably just ignore it. yeah.

of summer and cat fur

Yesterday was one of the first truly warm days of the year. To celebrate, my little sister and I went to a little small town book store; one that smells like sunshine and old books. I bought an SAT study guide, and she found a treasure trove of old Nancy Drew mysteries. The picturesque-ness of the moment was only *slightly* ruined when I opened a box of old records, and a cloud of cat fur flew out. Which subsequently caused only a *slightly* embarrassing sneezing fit, as well as our premature departure from the store. #catsareevil

To redeem the situation, we bought lemonades and found a nearby bench to sit on. We sat and smelled the freshly cut grass, counted passing pickup trucks (18,) and watched cute old couples walk their dogs. And I didn't think about my upcoming finals even once.

okay so maybe i did once but then i watched the new Catching Fire trailer to forget my troubles #yolo

How was your weekend?

~ Abby

monday odium: the last form of acceptable discrimination

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"Ugh. Tomorrow is Monday." 

"Weekends should be three days long. Going straight from Sunday right into Monday is just ungodly." 

"If Lady Gaga and Ronald McDonald had a love child, I'm pretty sure that it's name would be Monday." 

These may or may not all be things that have come out of my mouth at some point. I used to hate Mondays. They were the Green Goblin to my Spiderman. The Mr. Wickham to my Lizzie Bennet. The toothpaste to my orange juice. In a nutshell, I hated them in all of their early morning and school work-bringing glory. 

But my opinions have somewhat shifted recently. 

My ill feelings toward the beginning of the work week began to change when I stumbled upon this gem: 

                                                                                      

"This is the day that the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. "

                                                                                  -- Psalm 118:24 

And I just so happened to read it on a particularly bad Monday morning, when I was in a particularly bad mood. Ouch. That's pretty convicting. 

But really now, let's think about this; today is a day that the LORD has made. Like, he made it. Which in it of itself is pretty darn impressive. I can't make a perfectly round circle, let alone an entire day. So it's really quite selfish and ungrateful of me to not rejoice and be glad in it, simply because I don't feel like "getting back into the swing of things". What really needs to change is my attitude. 

So with that perspective in mind, I'm starting down the long hard road of no-more-Monday-bashing. And so far, it's going pretty well. I'm settled in with some coffee, the Train station on iHeartRadio, and my Spanish homework. Plus, I've only checked Tumblr ONCE so far today. {Now if that isn't productivity, I don't what is.} 

My name is Abby, and I've been Monday Hatred free for two weeks. 

And on a side note, I should totally start a support group for this. I could call it "The Monday Lovers" -- TML for short. Yes? No? Maybe? 

Okay, perhaps not.

~ Abby