what happened to the year of innocence?

a group of seemingly fairly young teenagers arrived at the restaurant where my friend and i were pleasantly enjoying our dinner together.  at the sight of all these young girls lighting up stinky cigarettes, my friend noticed they were all actually ‘fake smoking’ just to portray that certain unwelcoming image.  with a quick glance towards their table, i noticed the huge louis vuitton purse from several seasons ago sitting on the chair with one of the girls, a chanel chained hobo bag on the floor next to the other, and all the heavy makeup, expensive clothes, and overly accessorized jewels these girls were proudly displaying.  despite their attempts to dress and act older and sex-and-the-city-ish, i would’ve still guessed they were only 14-15 max., but because they arrived in their own car, one of them had to be at least 16.  regardless, they were dressed way beyond their age.  while i think teenage girls today are very fortunate to be able to access and enjoy all the luxury and freedom they are given, but i also feel deeply sorry for them for looking up to irresponsible ‘celebrities’ and what overly young idols are reflected and heavily promoted by the media these days.  every teenage girls seems to turn herself either into a paris hilton, a miley, or make-believe characters of drama series targeting teenage girls.  they just grow up too fast, too soon.  why is the rush to grow up now when you have the rest of your life doing alot of growing up?  you will only be a teenager for this many years, and then no matter how much you wanted to go back being one again, you will never be.  you have the rest of your life to dress like an adult, your then age, but why the rush now when you can enjoy being young and being a kid?  i feel sad seeing these girls losing their innocence too quickly…and what’s even sadder to me is the choices they’ve made for themselves and are proud of them.  i had never given any doubts about having children, until now.  with all the peer pressure, and this heavily media-influenced society, i’m not sure if i ever had children, my guidance and love would be sufficient to let them understand and embrace the importance of being a child and being happy with it…

who would i had voted for?

i was never into politics.  in fact, the word “politics” scared me.  but this year is different.  i really wish i could vote…not only because of its historical memorandum, not because an african-american candidate is running, not because of the promised change, etc., etc., but because of hope, that anything is possible!  i was glueing to the tv, flipping between stations (cnn, abc, cbs, foxnews, msnbc) in the evening, waiting anxiously for the result (even though deep down, we all know what the outcome would be).  when i was on abc, and charles gibson made the announcement, every bone in my body felt the chills, and my heart so moved that tears started welling up my eyes and flowing down my cheeks…  words couldn’t eloquently described how i felt, but i was deeply touched and proud to be part of this historical moment in time.  i was really proud of and admire what barack obama has accomplished for himself, proud of the possibilities and how far it has come for african-american (or minority in this country per se…), but it wouldn’t be barrack obama that i would be voting for.  it is that child i wanted to vote for…the child who had a difficult childhood, the child from such a humble background… the child who has now given hope and inspired so many people, and proved to us that anything is indeed possible!!  that was who i wanted to vote for, and i’m so happy, touched, and grateful to be part of this historical day.  that aside, congratulaitons to obama!  we’ve all believed in what you said and inspired… now, let us believe once again, but in what you will do and in the power of hope and unity.  xoxo!