Wendy Davis

Dear Friend,

If you were awake last night around 11-2am PST, you might have been in on the chaos that involved the Texas senate, a woman named Wendy Davis, a livestream, over 370,000 people, and a pair of pink Mizuno sneakers.

What Happened:

Normally, the two of us aren't ones to get excited over parliamentary processes, but yesterday was pretty big. (Please don't just skip over this post because you think it'll be boring.) Tuesday, June 25th, the Texas senate was set to vote on "sb5". If voted yes, 69 of the 74 abortion clinics in Texas would close, and a woman would not be allowed to legally get an abortion after the first 20 weeks since fertilization (which Wendy points out is ludicrous since there really is no way of knowing the exact day of fertilization).

To have her voice heard, senate woman Wendy Davis attempted a 13 hours filibuster. If you don't know what a filibuster is, essentially a member of the senate can talk for 13 hours straight (previously 24) about the topic (in this case, abortion in Texas). She was allowed no breaks including but not limited to: drinking, eating, bathroom beaks, sitting, or leaning against the podium. If this isn't inhumane, we don't know what is. Anyways, after 11 hours, someone else in the senate claimed that she broke the rules, because she went off topic to talk about a previous bill (use your own discretion to decide if that is truly off topic or not). The senate follows the three strikes and you're out rule. Her second strike had been receiving the aid of a back brace. Again...really?

Not to mention that during the 11 hours, 19 male senators were trying to get her off topic, yelling, and trying to rip her apart. Rose Parks wouldn't stand up, Wendy Davis wouldn't sit down. Earlier, Davis had reached out to girls and women in Texas via social media to send her stories of how abortions had really saved their lives. Many of the 11 hours were spent hearing these stories from strong females like herself.

So, at the 11 hour mark, she was cut short. This is when chaos really broke out. By this point, a livestream of the inside of the Texas Senate was posted with over 200,000 viewers (including one of us). Over 170,000 Texas citizens had come to the capital and were essentially rioting against the passing of sb5. Twitter and tumblr were exploding, and everyone watching was so rilled up. The energy was contagious. But through this all, major news sites such as CNN, NBC, and Fox had yet to post anything regarding the events.

In fact, CNN was tweeting about muffins.

So with only a while left to go, some senator started making a big deal about her back brace, and the filibuster was halted. At this point, things started to get really bad, and basically all the men were just yelling at each other (don't forget that 200,000 people are watching all of this online). Someone started to make a commotion about how she had gone off topic earlier as well to talk about another bill. Let's not forget that filibusters in the past have featured men literally reading phonebooks.

Now, the crowd started to chant "Let her speak! Let her speak!" and everyone was pretty much in revolution mode. Senator Wallace talked for a good half hour about how Davis' points were completely valid and on topic (go Wallace!). Then, with 15 minutes to go, the men were yelling at each other again and it was getting bad. Not to mention the crowd's chanting, cheering, yelling, and singing. At this point, a woman named Senator Van de Putte got real mad and tried to call a motion to adjourn the meeting, which, by their rules, should be heard above everything else, but because of the patriarchal society we live in, was overlooked. Finally, after having to literally raise her hand, she said "At what point must a female senator raise her hand and her voice to be recognized over her male colleagues in the room?

At this point, everyone watcing did a collective "OH, SNAP!" This was the tipping point. The crowd was so passionate and rilled up that they cheered and made so much noise for 15 minutes straight that they couldn't take the vote. Watch the 30 second video HERE.

At 12:02 on Wednesday, a vote was taken.

But here's the thing. It was taken on Wednesday. If you were paying attention earlier, a vote taken on any date other than TUESDAY was illegitimate. So does it end there?

No. Because some moron decided to change the timestamp on the law, effectively throwing those 370,000 people into even more of a tailspin.

And CNN was still tweeting about muffins.

Let's also not forget that 170,000 people are filling the capital to shout for their rights, while 19 senators are literally voting for the exact opposite...democracy, anyone? Also, 200,000 people had watched the whole thing happen online, and you BET that video was timestamped.

Note: if you're going to go against your own law and commit a federal crime, don't do it infront of 370,000 passionate people fighting for what they believe in, and try to convince them that you can literally warp the time dimension  and don't prentend like a camera of a livestream that you voluntarily set up isn't timestamped.

So the republicans had now voted, and both sides were claiming victory; democrats claiming (correctly) that the vote was unlawful since it had taken place after midnight, and their votes had not been counted. Around 3am in Texas, the bill was finally pronounced dead.

This isn't a blog post about abortion. This isn't a blog post about feminism. This is a blog post about basic human rights, and the people. When you start to lose faith in humanity, because people do stupid things like illegally changing a timestamp on a vote to make it swing their way, try to focus your energy on the good people. Focus on the ones who show up in pink mizuno's, because they know they will have to stand for 13 hours straight to be heard. Focus on the ones that wait to have their hand called on like they're in kindergarten, only to throw a curveball back at the men in the room, after coming from your father's funeral. Focus on the 170,000 people who showed up to stand with Wendy. Focus on the thousands of people across social media joining together in solidarity. Focus on the people.

"It's 2am but I have so much energy I could freaking dismantle a horse who wants to go to ihop with me and talk about Wendy and feminism and stage a freaking revolution this isn't just for women this is for the PEOPLE" -Tumblr

Yours truly,
Kylie and Catherine

We're Back!

Dear Friend,

Wow, long time no blog! Sorry we haven't written in nearly 5 months, but we're back!

Exciting things that have happened while we've been away:

1. We both decided on a college: Saint Mary's College of California
2. We graduated
3. Catherine bought more J-Crew swag
4. Kylie passed biology
5. We were officially deemed the "Middle School Social Committee"

We have re-evaluated our blog, and we're going to go to a more sporadic posting schedule... We'll post as much as possible, but hopefully this way 1) Our posts will be a bit more meaningful and 2) We won't feel the stress or pressure that comes from a daily blog.

"Find something you're passionate about and stay tremendously interested in it." -Julia Child

Yours truly,
Kylie and Catherine

8tracks

Dear Friend,

You probably know by know about our love (or rather, obsession) over music. We love, love, LOVE  music. We enjoy almost any genre of music, and we love sharing our music with people. We've made a variety of CD's for our friends, and many of them wonder how we discover songs. We usually hear about songs from other friends, movie soundtracks, and internet radios.

8tracks is perhaps one of the best internet radios out there. We love this internet radio because it is very personal. Members pick at least eight tracks to form a playlist to share with other members. As a listener, you are able to listen to music according to the mood you are in. The categories include: study, happy, feel good, dance, sleep, summer, indie rock, etc. You can listen to basically anything. You may find a mix with some of your favorite songs or even better- you'll be introduced to new music!

We highly recommend 8tracks, so next time you are in need of some fresh mixes, check out this internet radio. Enjoy!

Yours truly,
Kylie and Catherine

Favorite 10 Things: Purple

Dear Friend,

We noticed that we skipped purple as one of our favorite ten things posts (we went straight to black). We can't forget purple! Purple is a mix of our favorite colors combined. However, fun fact: Kylie cannot deal with the colors purple and green together. Anyways, here's our top ten favorite purple things:

1. The OneNote icon
2. Grapes
3. Orchids
4. Eggplants
5. Dora's backpack
6. Yams (yes, there are such things as purple yams)
7. The Purple Heart medal
8. Fuchsias
9. Lavender
10. Bishop's robes

Yours truly,
Kylie and Catherine

Be the Miracle: Lesson 1

Dear Friend,

We could explore Barnes and Nobles for hours. From the best seller's list to the classic novels, there are so many books you can choose from. There is nothing like the feeling of opening a new book and reading the very first page- with a cup of tea by your side (of course). The two of us are making the effort to read more often because we believe you can learn so much from simply opening a book. The most recent book that Catherine bought is called Be The Miracle: 50 Lessons for Making the Impossible Possible by Regina Brett. In the intro, Regina talks about miracles being extraordinary actions that people take and that it's okay to not be perfect. All she says that we need to do is "make a beginning" in order to make a difference in this world- or rather, be a miracle. So that's what the two of us are going to attempt to do. Along with our Being Peace series of posts, we thought it would also be fun to share our perspective on these fifty lessons on our blog as well. We don't know where these two books will take us, but hey, we'll probably learn a thing or two. It doesn't hurt to gain new insight on life, now does it? So let's begin...

Lesson 1: Start Where You Are 

In the first few pages of this book, Regina tells the story of a little girl being kidnapped while she was a newspaper reporter. Thankfully, the police were able to find this girl and her kidnapper with the help of Regina's coworker (who wrote about the missing girl), a convenience store worker (who first saw the girl and the kidnapper), and a gas station attendant (who called the police to arrest the kidnapper). These three people were just doing their jobs, which lead them to saving a little girl's life.

Regina continues to say that the way she looks at people she passes every day has changed because this story has taught her that anyone has the ability to make a difference. The two of us definitely agree with this idea- you don't need to be well-known or have all the money in the world to impact someone's life. There will be times where you may never even know you were a significant part in someone's life. One little daily action can yield a huge effect and the best part is that we don't have to wait around for opportunities to come to us because there are already so many around us. We just need to take the time to recognize these possibilities and act upon them.

"If you want to change the world in a big way, you do your small assignments with greater love, greater attention, greater passion." -Regina Brett

Yours truly,
Kylie and Catherine

Reasons to Love Kate Middleton

Dear Friend,

If you are not a fan of the Duchess of Cambridge, we suggest you stop reading because this post sends lots of love to her. Let's face it- Kate Middleton rocks. Here is a list of reasons why she's one of our favorite people ever.

Reasons to Love Kate Middleton 
-She is absolutely stunning
-She is the epitome of class and grace
-She is actually the perfect princess
-Her real name is Catherine
-Her sense of style exudes confidence and poise
-She always takes time to greet crowds
-She is an ambassador for Britain's Olympic and Paralympic teams
-She is domesticated and enjoys cooking
-She has lived in Amman, Jordan
-She is very charitable

"He's so lucky to be going out with me."- Kate Middleton

Yours truly,
Kylie and Catherine

Being Peace

Dear Friend,

This semester, the two of us are taking a World Religions course. Well, in Kylie's case, she has an independent study where she's watching videos through an online course (due to a class scheduling ruh roh). But in Catherine's class, in order to introduce the unit on Buddhism, a class period was devoted to beginning the book Being Peace. 

Being Peace is a collection of teachings on peace and meditation by the Vietnamese Zen Buddhist monk and peace activist, Thich Nhat Hanh. After reading the first couple pages, you are immediately captivated by this book's message. While the book itself is easy to read, the many lessons intertwined on each page hold concepts that can lead to great reflection. The two of us have always been interested in Buddhism- in fact, Kylie considers herself a Buddhist (she went through this whole conversion process awhile ago- we'll save that story for another time). We consider many Buddhist teachings very valuable and relevant to the way the two of us want to live each day.

So as we continue to read Being Peace, we thought we'd share our experience in hopes that we are able to make sense of complex ideas as well as share some meaningful messages. In upcoming posts, we'll be sharing what we've learned- chapter by chapter. We have a really good feeling about this book, and we hope it turns out to be just as eye-opening and special to all of you as it already is for us.

"Enlightenment is always there. Small enlightenment will bring great enlightenment. If you breathe in and are aware that you are alive—that you can touch the miracle of being alive—then that is a kind of enlightenment." - Thich Nhat Hanh 

Yours truly,
Kylie and Catherine