THE SHREK SOUNDTRACK hard to complete, You can start simple, By listening to “The Circle of Life” on repeat, Because, once the NAAAAA SEVENYAAA hits, You know this life is pretty sweet.
by brittani langland
langland.brittani@wsspaper.com
I
am invested in the idea of positive thinking, An idea where everyone finds a silver lining, Just imagine a place where you no longer have to hear, People constantly talking about what they hate, What if all that negativity would disappear? But don’t fret my dear friend, Switching your outlook is not
As only with positive thinking You’ll find the will to get you through It’ll be easier to wake up Knowing the negativity withdrew.
Next, it’s also key that you learn to love the, Passionate and wonderful person you call “me.” Take care of yourself, hydrate yourself, and Treat yourself, please, And NEVER be ashamed of taking millions of selfies.
Buy a rad planner, get in the zone. On the track to being positive and content, Being kind to others is an important segment, Because it’s easy to forget, That everyone has a story, Everyone’s cried, or felt insignificant, No one’s life is only glory. Stop focusing on a person’s bad traits, Strive to find some you admire. And always remember that your kindness, Can spread around others like wildfire.
Carry snacks for YOURSELF, everywhere you go, And “like” your own social media posts, Because you’re the coolest person you know. Participate in memes, take some time alone, Clean your room, mind and body
Flood people with compliments, Look them in the eye, Listen to them intentionally, Talk to those who are shy, And as an icebreaker, Discuss hairless bears, or legless pugs! And never be the first one, To let go of a hug.
Starting today, right now, this minute, this instant Strive to think and act positively, NEVER say “I can’t” Focus on doing this, don’t slack or EVER look back, And if all else fails, Listen to the Shrek soundtrack.
others like it, began to show up through out my news feed, over and over again. I caved and give the article a read, expecting a huge overreaction to an extremely irrelevant proposal (It’s the internet, after all). To my horror, this was not some neckbeard freaking out about something miniscule. This was huge. At the time, SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) and PIPA (Protect Intellectual Property Act), seeming well and good from their titles, gave the Justice Department the power to shut down any website at the whim of an owner of IP (intellectual property), from as small as a startup to as large as CNN. There was no real process involved, just a notice you’ve infringed copyrighted material (which in the eyes of this law, could have included any form of search engine, namely Google), a time frame to remove said material, then a website takedown. It was a blatant attack on freedom of speech. But the internet
would not stand for this atrocity. “Call your senator! Call your congressmen! Email them, write to them, contact them in as many forms you can think of and make them hear you out,” screamed each nerd. It was beautiful. A group of people so well known for their shittiness came together in order to save the platform in which they can continue to be little shitty assholes, and more. On January 20, 2012, the internet won as lawmakers shelved the proposed bill after hearing millions of their voters threaten their vote in the next election cycle should they pass this bill. We celebrated in the only way we knew how, by going straight back to pictures of cats, sharing extremely politically biased articles on Facebook, and feeding internet trolls, and it was awful. But it was also great. I had never seen a group of people so apt at hating each other come together to save the space in which they do so. Because that’s really all the internet is to a
You’ll become aware of the little things, Like when your favorite sweatshirt is clean, Or opening the internet and not seeing Bing, Oh it is truly amazing what this world can bring, When you no longer care, About the words that used to sting.
NET NEUTRALITY
W
inter of 2011, blistering cold. Many a little nerd sits at his computer, hiding from the frost, browsing the internet, being happy. One little boy plays a nifty game on pbskids. org. A high schooler works on college essays. A middle schooler discovers reddit and watches their life disintegrate around them into procrastination. But one day, these children of the tech happen across this post, whether on Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, or Reddit: “Lawmakers introduce SOPA and PIPA. The end of the internet as we know it?” As a 13-year-old at the time, I definitely would describe myself a child of the tech, and after stumbling onto this link that seemed rather click-baity, I decided to move onto the next cat picture. “There’s nothing they could do to destroy the internet, it’s beyond that point,” I thought to myself. But after a while, the post, and many DESIGN BY KELSEY KERANEN
by avery smith
smith.avery@wsspaper.com majority of people: a place to put out your ideas and let others see and react to them. To me, that’s all it needs to be. The issue of Net Neutrality has come up more and more since 2012; with nameless rebirths of SOPA and PIPA and international trade agreements like CISPA, even today the fight for internet fast lanes by internet service providers threatens our beautiful beast. You may just see it as an issue for neckbeards and not for super hip you, but it really does affect us all. Keep your eyes and mouth open, children of the tech.
wsspaper.com february 2015 opinion 45