"Her mind exploded once again, confirming that the more she knew, the less she actually knew."

For real though.  Especially since taking this class which, let's be real, none of us knew what it was about.  I assumed it would be my least interesting class and what do you know it's my favorite.  I've been feeling this push to be more aware and educated about the world around me, especially since this summer.  And this class is just another confirmation that this stuff is real, and whether I realize it or not it affects me every day.

Speaking of environment, which we started in class on Thursday OUTSIDE in the lovely SUN and BREEZE, I feel this issue is (or should be) our most pressing issue as a society.  We are running out of drinking water while sea levels rise because ice caps are melting because of global warming.  Which I mentioned on Tuesday and hardly anyone had any input.  That made me wonder, do you guys know what we're up against at this point in time?  Start researching, my friends.  It's scary.  Marine life is also in serious danger.  Whales, fish, birds, and other animals are washing ashore dead with bellies full of plastic garbage.  Pipelines are bursting in the ocean and killing marine animals that we cannot survive without.  The ocean is life.  And we are literally killing it.  People in China are having to buy bottled air.  That's right, AIR, because the air in China is too polluted to breathe.  And don't get me started on animal agriculture, because the mass consumption of meat is responsible for much of our water crisis, greenhouse gas emissions, and when you realize how many people all over the world are starving to death while we produce crops to feed to animals that we then torture and slaughter so some people can have a fucking steak that alone will blow your mind.

But we (the environmental optimists) feel there is still enough time to fix things to a certain extent that can postpone the catastrophic effects of our presence that are encroaching.  We talked about this a little bit on Thursday--pick up trash, recycle, reduce waste, etc.  And these are all super important things we need to do a lot more, but once you read No Impact Man, which I highly recommend, you're going to realize that we are in a cycle of environmental destruction and it's going to take an enormous collective effort to get ourselves back on the right track.  I actually recommend getting your hands on as much literature about environmental conservation as you can.  And if you've never heard of John Muir, get him in your life.  The more you read, the more you'll realize that you know very little.