Happy Birthday Lady Gaga!

One of the Most Amazing Human Beings to Ever Walk the Earth
     If you know me well, or even know me at all, you know that one of my favorite artists in the whole entire world is a singer by the name of Lady Gaga. I love her for many reasons that have to do with both her talent and her message that she tries to send to the world. Not only is Gaga an incredibly talented singer and piano-player, but she also has an amazing heart. Her message that she advocates is that everyone should love themselves no matter what, and we should accept people just as they are and treat everyone with respect. She is completely against any kind of bullying or hatred and this is exactly why I love her. I had the privilege of seeing Lady Gaga in concert last year and that is when I really fell in love with her. She sang and danced beautifully and screamed out her message as if she was yelling at the whole world to love one another.
     Last week, an episode of one of Oprah's new shows on her network aired and Oprah was interviewing Lady Gaga and Gaga's mother. I finally got to watch it today and I was even more blown away by Lady Gaga than I already was. Along with a great interview, the show followed Lady Gaga and her mother as they launched the "Born This Way Foundation" which works to empower youth and inspire bravery through out the world. I am so proud of Lady Gaga for this huge accomplishment and I can't even wait to see how much this organization grows. 
     Well, the point of me admiring Lady Gaga in this blog so much is because today happens to be a special day for her. It is Lady Gaga's 26th birthday. Because she has been changing the world day by day, I feel that Gaga deserves to have the best birthday ever. So, this is my participation in praising her and I hope to make her happy by sending out her message of love, empowerment, and bravery to all of you reading this right now. To learn more about the Born This Way Foundation and to get involved, please please PLEASE visit http://www.bornthiswayfoundation.org/ Thank you for reading!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LADY GAGA, LOVE YOU!!!!!

Thank you for reading, I hope you check out the Born This Way Foundation, and stay tuned for the Born This Way Ball Tour- Dates to be announced soon!

-Brandon

Relationship Talk: Down On Your Luck

An Inspiring Story from My Friend for All of You Single People Out There 
     Today we had to take a state test at school, and since it was a practice test that didn't really count for anything, everyone finished early and we had a lot of extra free time afterwards. I am lucky enough to have one of my good friends in my testing class, and I am even more lucky to be able to sit right by her! So after the test was over, we just sat there and talked about (what else?), relationships. We don't really have tons of time to talk to each other on a normal schedule, so I told her to basically spill out her whole story to me, and she did. I want to share her story with all of you because I find it very inspiring, especially if you are single. 
     She started out by telling me that her she never had good luck in relationships through out her life, but finally had her first somewhat serious relationship during her Freshman year. While she was talking about this guy though, she made it very clear that it was not a serious relationship at all, despite what she may have felt in the moment. The relationship between her and this guy was one of those on-and-off-again relationships that go on for months and months and months. It got to the point where he didn't even want to be her boyfriend but he wanted to still "claim" her, meanwhile he was messing around with other girls! My friend told me that during those months that she was with this guy, she was not happy at all. She told me she would always be crying and just always so upset over the situation she had been placed in. I felt so bad for her because she is such a good girl and I hate to hear that one of my friends had once experienced a time where she was truly unhappy. 
     Finally, she told me that after months and months of relationship-hell, she came to her senses and tried to forget about this guy. He had hurt her way too many times. She told me that after him, she had a little fling with another guy, but it never really turned into anything so it's like it "doesn't count" as far as being defined as a past relationship. By this point in the story, my friend was a Sophomore and she was pretty down on her luck. She didn't really know what to do and all she could think about was her past experiences. However, there was something small that had stayed in the back of her mind since Freshman year. She always had a small crush on this one guy who was a grade older than her but was constantly being discouraged by people she thought were her friends. She was told "He's never going to like you!" and "Stop crushing on him because you are never going to be able to get with him!" Oh, how they were wrong...
     During her Sophomore year, the guy she had a small crush on decided to approach her and she was completely shocked. She told me that it totally came out of nowhere, and that she didn't even know if it was going to go anywhere as far as becoming one of those long-term relationships. Well, the two ended up dating for a few months and there was a little drama here and there with people trying to get in between them and stuff but they stayed together. She explained to me that they didn't fight too often, but when they did, it was never to the point where they wanted to call it quits. My friend told me that she never got annoyed by her boyfriend and she had always thought he was so much more attractive than any guy she had ever seen. Next month, they will have been together for one year.
     When her story came to an end, I became so happy for my friend. It's a great story: she was so down on her luck and not having the best experiences with relationships at all, until one day she was surprised and it ended up working incredibly well. So what was her secret? Patience. She said, "When you're not expecting it at all, it will come to you". 
     Let this be an inspiration to all of you single people reading this! Don't give up! Just because you have had bad luck with boyfriends or girlfriends in the past doesn't mean you always will. Enjoy life, and when the time is right, your perfect person will come along!

I hope this story inspired you!

-Brandon

Sex

Teens Risking Way Too Much, Way Too Early
   
   One thing I haven't really ever talked about on my blog is teenage sex, but I feel that as we get older, the topic is becoming more and more important for us teens to have a conversation about. Why though?
   I am a Junior in high school, and I'm not sure if it's just at my school (I have a strong feeling it's not), but it seems like every day I hear something about someone having sex or people I know interacting with each other by engaging in sexual acts. And why is this bad? There are several problems that can come from teenage sex:


   Sex should be something special that you save for someone special. Don't just go with what you feel. Of course, my obvious advice would be to wait until you are married or at least an adult and can make a decision only using your brain and no other feelings. But if you will not commit to doing that, then set yourself a time limit: months, not weeks or days. Once you lose your virginity, you can never get it back so don't just do it with someone who you know deep in your heart may not even be special to you one day. This is something you will remember for the rest of your life, so choose carefully.
   Diseases. There are so many out there that can be easily transmitted through sex. If you are going to have sex, please please please use protection. Do not ever allow anyone to talk you into having sex with out a condom. However, just because you use protection, you are not 100% safe against these sexually transmitted diseases. You CAN get an STD from oral sex. Some of these diseases don't ever go away, also. Some of them are deadly. Many teens think, "Oh that will never happen to me", and "My gf/bf would tell me if they had an STD!", but the truth is that you really never know. Your significant other may not even know if they have a disease; you cannot always physically tell. Just please be careful and always use protection, because failure to do so can cost you your life.
   Babies, babies, babies. Most teens are not ready to have children. I don't want to talk down on those teens who already have children, because I know it can be tough, and far too often those teens don't have a choice but to grow up. But what kind of teen wants to grow up in that aspect of life so soon? Life as a teen can already be so difficult, balancing school, work, and a social life- you don't need the extra stress of another life you have to take care of. You may think it is easy, but caring for another life is something that can change the whole course of your life, especially when it happens too early. Again, if you are going to have sex, use protection.
   Sex can totally ruin a relationship. If you do it too early, you can become far too emotionally involved and that's not healthy when a relationship first begins. If that relationship ends sooner than you expected, you will be way too hurt. You can have fun with each other and still be wearing clothes- It is possible. Also, when a couple has sex a lot, that can become all a relationship consists of. You and your significant other can both become emotionally detached and basically just use each other for sex. That's not healthy for you, don't give someone what they don't deserve.
   
   In pop culture, there are so many things that influence people to be sexy. Sex sells. However, that doesn't mean you actually have to have it yet. There is a difference between being fashionably, and artistically sexy and giving someone something that has the potential to change the whole course of your life. 
   Please just wait to have sex. And if you already have, please think about what you are doing. And if you continue to have sex (because I know many of you reading this will), please use protection. Not using protection is not worth dying or having to take on responsibilities way too soon. 
   Many people think it's the cool thing to have sex, but if enough of us discuss it, teens can start to become comfortable in admitting that the right thing to do is wait. Help me spread the word. 

Stay Smart, and Stay Safe,

-B

KONY 2012

Make Kony Famous

...And Then We Can Stop Him

KONY 2012 from INVISIBLE CHILDREN on Vimeo.

   If you have been on any sort of social networking website during the past week, I am sure you have heard about the new Kony 2012 campaign, initiated by the Invisible Children organization and made public by typical Americans just like you. Joseph Kony is a monster of a man who has been capturing and abducting thousands and thousands of children in Uganda, forcing them to become child soldiers. This has been going on for about 20 years and the time has finally come for it to be stopped. We can't allow these children to live in fear anymore. The United States has sent advisors to assist the army in Uganda, and we need to continue to do everything we can to help. In order for the government to keep spending money on helping Uganda and other affected countries, they need to know that people care about this issue. In order for us to show that we care about this issue, we need to get this story out. Invisible Children has brought people together to spread the word by putting Kony's face and name all over the United States. On April 20th, 2012, they will attempt to cover cities all over the country with posters and stickers displaying this as well. 

   So, what can you do? You probably think you can't do much, but you are wrong. Click here to go to the Invisible Children website where you can donate, order an action kit, and learn about this terrible issue. Also, if you haven't already, please please please watch the video above and share it with as many people as you can. 

Joseph Kony will be arrested and brought to justice in 2012, but this is only possible if we all work together to make it possible.

This video deeply inspired me to get the word out about Kony and the thousands of suffering children in Uganda and the affected countries, and I hope this blog and the video can do the same for you, thank you so much for taking the time out to watch and read.

-B