Dreams and Reality

The other night I had a VERY brief dream in which I was panicking about whether or not I would get into the L.A. program. So I was freaking out with worry that I wouldn't get in and then I open the email (and I DID reflect on the sadness of opening emails in my dreams) and I DID get in. But the wave of relief never came. I just continued my line of panic in another direction. But... despite the dream, I do feel like I've been getting braver. Sometimes I have waves of optimism. Which leads me to this:

I DID get into the L.A. program! I just found out today. Good lord.

Instead of talking about that, I'd rather mention that I am also INCREDIBLY likely going to graduate with a minor in Anthropology. When I say "incredibly likely" I mean... I'll have to actually die or get amnesia in the process of doing the paper work for it to not happen. So... that's cool, albeit a little useless. But... I also thought taking AP tests was useless when it was actually the opposite. So you never know what good can come from a minor in anthro. At the very least, it tells people that I'm a half-expert on humans.

I didn't watch any late night TV this week because The Daily Show and The Colbert Report were on hiatus for the week (it WAS torture, yes). So... it turns out that if I don't have the impetus of Jon Stewart, I don't need to spend the whole night with Letterman and Conan and Ferguson. Instead, I've essentially watched 3/4 of the entire series of That '70s Show, which is my 15-year-old sister's fave. It is pretty golden, but not enough for me to fall head first into obsession.

Bob Casey, our (PA's) junior senator, wrote me back (/his interns did). He's already for health reform but I did learn some stuff. In my first draft of this blog (yes... I may have drafts...), posted an excerpt from his reply, but then I realized that no one would read it. Basically, he mentioned a HELP committee bill, which I hadn't really heard of, that had a lot of great things INCLUDING a public option, although it said that it will NOT require everyone to have insurance. I thought all public option bills were killed though, so I need to do some research on what he's talking about.

Also, a while ago, I watched Citizen Kane, which I wasn't looking forward to because it seemed really Joni Mitchell. Well... I gotta say it was pretty great! It wasn't a snooze-fest like 2001: Space Odyssey or Lawrence of Arabia, both of which I actually couldn't finish because I was fighting unconsciousness... and lost.

Lastly, Claire frequently writes about a site called etsy.com, which is all handmade stuff. Well, the other night when I was writing faux journal entries in my notebook, I realized I should buy a new diary on that site.

ETSY.COM IS AMAZING!!/ I don't know how I'll ever EVER be able to choose!!!

I shall be frequently updating on this dilemma.

Also, I passed my 300 entries mark on this blog!!! Crazy.

ALSO, I ACCIDENTLY ERASED MY FREE CELL HISTORY!!!! I was REALLY upset before I decided that I was a little TOO attached to it, and erasing it is probably healthier in the long run. PLUS, it'll give me a chance to win more than just 59% percent... after I'd played SOOO much, there was basically no hope in improving my stats. If I go back to 59% though, we'll know that it's a very accurate representation of my free cell skills.

More for Reform

Today I decided to write to my senators and congress guy about health care reform. It was pretty cathartic and of course I urge you to do the same if the mood strikes you. Also, I'm not sure how casual you're supposed to be in your letters to congress, but I figure they MUST get tons of emails from people who sound as stupid or stupider than I.

Here's my letter:

Dear Senator Arlen Spector,

My name is Blythe Wolber and I am twenty-one years old. I am writing to implore you to vote for President Obama’s health reform.

My entire family has always had quality health insurance because my parents are young nurses. Until recently, I never realized our country had a health care crisis. Now that I do, I am frightened by my generation’s future. I am going to graduate college in the spring and I know that I am likely going to have no insurance for several years. I know that if anything terrible happens, my parents may go bankrupt in order to help me. I know that if I develop a condition, I may not know about it for several years, giving it a chance to worsen until it becomes a terrible burden financially and physically.

More importantly, I am a part of a generation of people that assume we will get cancer at some point in our lives, an assumption that I consider reasonable. I feel like I learn about a new cancer-causing agent every few weeks-- teflon, vaseline, nutrasweet, bottled water, deodorant, hormones in milk, most cleaning substances. The list goes on forever. It will take a long time for us to track down everything that gives us cancer, even longer to make everyone know about it, and even longer to actually diminish the use of these things. After all, we’ve known about the effects of cigarettes for decades, yet at this moment we are still imposing new laws to diminish their effects on the public. That’s not even counting the sun, who’s presence every morning is partially beautiful and partially a daily reminder of the gloom it will be imposing on my near future.

The point is that if most of my generation gets cancer in the next twenty years, and nearly 20% of us have no insurance, that will be millions of people who have no way of catching their cancer early. They will go to the hospital when their symptoms are so overt and any doctor they see will know that they have no chance. Nevertheless, they will have to try and save these people using incredibly expensive procedures that won’t even work most of the time. The hospitals will then cost shift all the bills of the deceased to the people in the hospital who do have insurance. The insurance company will pay the bill but raise premiums to make up for their loss. When premiums raise, health care becomes more of a burden to people and almost more importantly, more healthy people refuse to enter the system because they don’t think they can afford it, thus taking money from the system and placing that burden on the sick-- a vicious, terrible cycle. That doesn’t even include the millions of people who’s health insurance won’t cover them when they get sick, an incredible scandal that makes me ashamed of my country.

I know that the death panel rumor was crazy and completely false, but I honestly believe that the reality is even more frightening. I would rather know that as a senior citizen I would have to defend my life in front of a panel, then live through my seemingly doomed near future that I just described. Plus, my generation is already going to have to live through the effects of global warming. Give us a chance.

I am positive that health reform will happen at some point. I see no other way for our nation to go on. Please help make this happen sooner than later. Please brighten my future and allow my nightmares to go back to alligators under my bed instead of my parents losing their health insurance.

Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,

Blythe Wolber

Also, if you didn't watch Obama's health reform congress speech... it was pretty great. Consider yourself urged.