Debra Baker

 Excited because I found this sweater in a free box? Like how cool is that? This is a nice freaking sweater for finding in a free box. It's a bad picture but it's super soft and well fitting and it's a nicer color than in the picture
     Anyways, I thought I'd talk about how much better it is for everybody to buy (or find) your clothes new.

    Whether you're talking about your wallet, the environment, all the people that the product went through to be made, conservation of all the resources in the actual product (I think you get the idea), buying used is pretty much always the better option. Not to mention thrift shopping is just more fun! You feel better ethically about your purchases, and it's more fun to sift through all the weird stuff you find.
    And, because I'm a lover of information: statistics.
   

     I must admit, my closet is overflowing with cheap mall clothes. I'm an incredibly hypocritical person. It happens. But I'm really going to try to stop supporting the cheap plastic world of fast fashion and consumerism. Isn't it kind of strange that we have to use effort for inaction? Self control is a hard one me for me. You kind of just have to keep the goal of a happier of world in mind. 

     Anyways, just remember, everything you do effects nothing else, so try to make your decisions wisely. Living a life with a smaller footprint doesn't have to be boring. You just have to have a little bit of self control and be a bit more creative!

***Buffalo exchange is boss though

Read More Here: 

•  http://www.care2.com/causes/how-many-clothes-do-you-throw-away-every-year.html#ixzz3XFRdzDMQ
• http://homeguides.sfgate.com/recycled-clothing-79332.html
• http://usagainblog.com/2012/07/10/eight-insane-facts-about-textile-recycling/
• http://usagainblog.com/2013/08/08/who-wears-secondhand-clothing/

     I came home ad got straight to my first English assignment. Everyday after school, I've had track or Acapella, and then felt obligated to train at home, so I left almost all of my homework for the weekend. Specifically all for Sunday. When I was done with the first assignment, which took way longer than it should have, my eyes hurt from staring at a screen and I took my dog for a walk. I never have been good at sitting all day. Since I couldn't jog, (I may have stress fractured my foot) I took pictures while I was out. None are particularly good, but I might as well share them.

(By the way, always take the time to care for your pets! I'm guilty

of not being a perfect pet owner, but I've been getting better.)

     As some of you may know, my Dad is currently not working. He was diagnosed with MDS, a type of blood cancer. The cancer is all gone now, but his health has yet to return to it's prime. In his time at home, he's gotten into all sorts of different projects, the most recent of which is knife making. Before you get all judgmental, I want you to take a look at some of these things. Have you seen an artfully designed knife? They're absolutely gorgeous.

    Ah yes, an A Day In The Life post. The most cliche of all the personal blog material. Today is a Sunday, which means tomorrow is a Monday, and I will start a new week. My use of the word new is quite arbitrary. I'm sure there will be nothing new about it. Maybe I'll have one or two conversations that I haven't had before. Perhaps we'll learn another song in acapella that I've never heard. If tomorrow goes as tomorrows usually go, it'll look something like the following.

     I usually wake up between 6:00 and 6:30 am. I'm lucky enough that I get a mom to wake me up instead of an alarm clock. Then I go downstairs for breakfast and tea. I accidentally spend half  an hour staring at the wall and eating too much. Then I'll prepare myself more food to take for lunch. I brush me teeth and wash my face. I'll use Say Yes To Tomatoes Face Wash, then witch hazel, then Aveeno acne control face wash. I'll run upstairs and get dressed and get my backpack together. We'll run out the door at around 7:35 with my mom screaming at me to hurry up while I struggle to get my eyeliner even and grab the last 5 things I need - wait, six! Can't leave without my earbuds. Or my journal. Or last's night homework. If my makeup's done, I'll drive. If not, my mom will so I can finish it in the car.

The foggy cityscape walking to school one morning. Portland can be beautiful sometimes.

And here's our chemistry class. As you can see we get a lot done. Just kidding. Maybe 10 other kids and I have a passing grade? Our teacher's on maternity leave and chemistry substitutes are surprisingly hard to find.

beautiful

    Since it's a dreaded Skinny Monday, I'll have all 8 periods. Last semester, my first period was Radio. I would spend that period arguing with my Baskin Robin poster friend group (We have a Black girl and a Mexican boy and an Asian boy and I'm the white girl - we're as colorful as a bowl of rainbow sherbet. I just think it's funny because it reminds me of a poster at Baskin Robbins that's always made me laugh.) We just started a new semester though, so I'll have digital media instead. It's quite a bit more boring. Next I'll have honors English. My teacher from that class will be reading this, so I suppose it's mandatory that i call it my favorite class, but I swear, it is. I suppose it's also imperative that I tell about how she's the most fantastic teacher around. The bell rings, I hustle upstairs and maybe take a piss before a chaotic 45 minutes of geometry. At 11:26 is lunch. I'll either sit with that rainbow sherbet group of friends or my nerd heard. History comes, then art, then robotics, then chemistry. Acapella is after school at 3:30. One of the more fun parts of my day. Very jazzy and perfect for valentines day, we're currently working on the "Just my Imagination" by the temptations. I'll put it a video for the original song since everybody should know it, but we sing it quite differently. We've got a lovely pair of bass singers who sing "doom doom baby" to keep the beat. Then the altos and sopranos harmonize with a higher pitched "doom doom baby, la la, doom baby baby". Add a soloist to sing the lyrics and it actually sounds pretty good. I mostly just like listening to the basses. I love deep voices. There is nothing better in the world than a good deep voice.
 I'll get to school at 8:15.

     I come home on the max. Portland is famous for public transportation, but it's hard to notice anything special about it when you ride it everyday. The max is full of crazy people. Most people would list this as a negative, but I love it. I love having conversations with those who are half delusional. They're more... exuberant.  On most days however, I'll simply get my homework done and listen to music.

     I've already written more boring words than anyone would likely want to read, so I think I'll cut this off here. I hope you all have productive days today. Or a relaxing one. Or a fun one. At least some sort of pleasant one. Just have a nice day. I suppose that's all we can ever really wish eachother. And I hope you encounter something new (of the good sort).

If you can't read, the hat says party