You may've seen the message floating around...

If we could shrink the earth's population to a village of precisely 100 people, with all the existing human ratios remaining the same, it would look something like the following.

There would be:

57 Asians
21 Europeans
14 from the Western Hemisphere, both north and south
8 Africans
52 would be female
48 would be male
70 would be non-white
30 would be white
70 would be non-Christian
30 would be Christian
89 would be heterosexual
11 would be homosexual
6 people would possess 59% of the entire world's wealth
      and all 6 would be from the United States.
80 would live in substandard housing
70 would be unable to read
50 would suffer from malnutrition
1 would be near death; 1 would be near birth
1 (yes, only 1) would have a college education
1 would own a computer

This isn't exactly correct. I found a site that disputes the figures. Update: Here's a better one. A more correct version would go something like this:

60 Asians
12 Europeans
15 from the Western Hemisphere, both north and south (9 Latin Americans/Caribbeans, 5 North Americans, 1 Oceanian)
13 Africans
50 women
50 men
73 non-white
27 white
67 non-Christian
33 Christian
97 heterosexual
3 homosexual
Those from the U.S. would own 23% of the world's wealth
33 would live in substandard housing
16 would be illiterate
33 would suffer from malnutrition
3 or more would have a college education
3 or more would own a computer

So this is where I'm going. I'm a little nervous, but I'm mostly excited. I can't wait to travel, and fly for the first time. I also love beaches, and Pensacola Beach is supposed to be a good one.

My uncle Charlie died last night. He had to have his stomach removed a while back and he just went down hill from there. Um, I don't know what else to say about that.

I'll be in Florida in 36 hours.

My trip was awesome.

Alrighty, well I'm going back from August 3 to the 12th. I wonder when school starts back.

I think one of the biggest problems people have is that they limit themselves. Communists were communists because they went with what they knew, with no or little exploration beyond their usual line of vision. If you only listen to one band for a long time you will begin to only like that band, or like it much more than anything else and listen to it more frequently. If you only read one sort of book for a while, you're more unlikely to be open to reading different types later on. If one gets oneself on an action movie kick they will probably be less likely to want to watch comedies. Not around Black people or Mexicans much as a child? You'll be more intimidated by their presence later.

These are horrible examples, but I'm just saying that to be a better individual one should try to be not so individual. Or was that more confusing (defeating). It's the whole concept of being "well-rounded." All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. Variety is the spice of life. These things are true. I need to do different things sometimes, and consciously break from routine every now and then. Walk on the grass beside the sidewalk; take the backroads; listen to Beethoven and Jazz and Japanese Rock and Roll; learn about opposing, different, strange, and foreign ideals, standards, customs, and life; eat different things, write a haiku, take pictures of ordinary places, read the classifieds.