I am not a pickle!

I would like to take a moment to say that I am not a pickle.

Yeah, that's a strange announcement.  But it has a purpose.

Every time we play the name association game in GS, I'm always "Pickle Paula."  Without fail, I am "Pickle Paula."  Every.  Single.  Time.

In Junior year 1, I was a pickle.
After a two new kids joined the troop, I was a pickle.
At the beginning of Junior year 2, I was a pickle.
At the beginning of Senior year, I was a pickle.

Why?  Do I look green and bumpy?  I understand the people who think I'm sour, but am I really sour enough to be called a pickle?  Oh, never mind.  At this point, so many times have I been Pickle Paula that I guess it's just meant to be.

And dill pickles aren't that great.  But the sweet pickles are.  Just going to throw that out there.

So apparently the Girl Scouts are evil, now.

Really, guys?  Really?
Girl Scouts Under Scrutiny from Catholic Bishops

Behind the Ballot - 3

So, ironically, the day I pick to post flyers around campus to motivate people to vote happens to be the day that the official voter's registration office sends people to my campus to do exactly the same thing.

I stuck up my flyers, which had information about the Motor Voter legislation and all that, and this young woman saw me doing it.  She asked me if I worked for the "voting places."

I told her "No, but there are some people in the K building right now if you want to register immediately."  She went on her way to do that happily, so at least I feel like my flyer efforts weren't completely wasted.

I picked up a voter's registration form for myself.  A lot of people take voting for granted.  Meanwhile, I've been waiting practically all my life to vote.  I want my voice to be heard.  It may only be one voice out of the entire population of America, but it's my voice and there's no way it's going unheard.  I'm glad I can finally register, and then I'll be able to vote in the fall presidential election.

This.  Feels.  Awesome.

Take a Hike, Haters!

Okay, let me get this straight.

We are repairing broken communities. We are fighting for equality in our nation. We are cleaning the rivers and removing toxins from the air you breathe. We are saving lives with first aid and CPR. We are sending care packages to orphans in Uganda and Peru. We are educating people about the dangers of distracted driving, substance abuse, STDs, eating disorders, diabetes, and Lyme disease. We are breaking rules and laws that have governed gender, class, race, sexual orientation, gender identity, special abilities, disabilities, religious beliefs, and every other social norm this planet has come up with. We are speaking out, dreaming big, reaching our goals, and becoming the leaders of tomorrow. And we can do all this while selling cookies and looking cute.

And you have the gall to tell me that Girl Scouts U.S.A. is an organization of sissies?

SWAMCITARTs!

In Girl Scouts, it is traditional to share SWAPS, which are Special Whatchamacallits Affectionately Pinned Somewhere.  They are small crafts made in bulk with pins attached to the back of them.  They are handed out at Encampment to fellow Girl Scouts as a symbol of good will.

This year, the troop I'm in is making taco-themed SWAPS.  We are making cheese, tomatoes, and shells.  So, based on their shape and size, I proposed a new name for these objects: SWAMCITARTs.

Small
WhatchAMaCallIts
That
Aren't
Remotely
Taco-like

They are pretty good for being made of Model Magic, I guess.  If I can get a picture of ours, I will.  But to be completely honest, they aren't really tacos.  Especially not the cheese, a fact that two people in my troop will be happy to argue over.  One edition of the cheese SWAP is said to look like a pile of bananas.  The girl who made that was going for shredded cheese, but whatever.  The other cheese is just a triangle, which I guess could be cheese, but who puts a triangular slice of cheese on their tacos?  A whole slice of cheese?

This is the nature of our SWAPS.  So may it be.  As long as they can resemble taco fixings in color, I should hope no other Scout troops will complain.

Behind the Ballot - 2

Welcome to the world of voting.  It's far from perfect, but it's a way for a voice to be heard.

So I stalked an election judge today and asked her all kinds of questions about who can vote, where they can vote, and how they can vote.  Thankfully, she seemed happy to answer my questions.  I found out that the votes are sent to an official counting facility.  People from different political parties watch the counting to be sure it's fair for everyone.  She described why my county no longer uses punch votes at the poll places: They're difficult to count, counting machines malfunction, and they take forever to count by hand.  The absentee ballots ARE counted, despite what many people think.

Oh, and I found out I can officially register to vote, and I can vote in November during the presidential election.  I'll have to take care of that, soon.

Cross Training, Anyone?

Irish Dancers Cross Train With Ballet for Flexibility and Poise

Hmm...  This could be useful.

Behind the Ballot - 1

So Mom was looking through my Senior GS binder and found the "Behind the Ballot" badge and was like "Hey,  primaries are tomorrow.  Why don't you do this badge?"  It's cool that she said that since she's made it clear that GS is my thing.  It's my job to manage it.  She'll drive me wherever, but I get to work out the schedule, the plan, and which badges I'll earn.  The fact that she's taking interest in my Scouting goals is nice.

So I've basically researched and finished step one, which is to find out more about elections by comparing political platforms for different political parties in history and today.  In short:

-Federalists believed that the government should have lots of power and should be manned by wealthy, educated people.
-Anti-Federalsists believed the people should have more power than the government, and that the government should just be there to kind of help the people along.
Cliff's Notes Edition: Comparison of Federalists and Anti-Federalists

I still don't get all the name changes that took place with the parties, but whatever you call them, these two parties, merged with others, renamed themselves, scrambled their core beliefs, swapped with others, and somehow turned into the Republicans and the Democrats.  Then in 2007, the Green Party and the Libertarian Party emerged as official parties.

And in short, today's political parties are too controversial to talk about on a blog about Girl Scouts.  Seriously, there is no place on the internet where bias is not rampant when explaining political platforms.  There is no short way to explain them myself without exhibiting my own bias.  Sure, I know what I believe and what I wish others believed.  Sure as heck I'll advocate for my beliefs and speak my mind.  But I'm not about to explain the beliefs of others on this blog, for fear of ticking someone off.

Girl Scouts and Squirrels

So I'm a Girl Scout.  Again.  And this is my blog.  Ta-da.

I was a girl scout for a year.  Then I wasn't.  Then I wasn't again; after being a girl scout reject for thirty-six hours (because someone at the GS headquarters must have been having a long day when I called and was told that seventeen is too old to join), I am now officially a GS, picking up somewhere from when I had to quit Junior GS at age ten.

It's a little weird how much has changed since I quit.  Like, now they have journeys, fewer badges, and badge books that have a serious design flaw (hint: try to fit all the skill-building badge booklets into the handbook/badgebook binder.  It ain't gonna work).

To be honest, I think the journeys were designed by a drunk squirrel for all the organization in my GIRLtopia book (my troop leader added on to that "a drunk squirrel with ADHD") but at least they're eye catching.  I'd think that navigability would be a little more important than catchy design, but I guess it's okay because I'm not lost yet!  I'm not sure if that means I'm on the right track or I have the same kind of mind as a drunk squirrel with ADHD...