♥•Skön Mara•♥

Twisted Outlook

Friday, 01 May 2009

Thursday, 30 April 2009

Wednesday, 29 April 2009

Saturday, 31 January 2009

  • Trafficking of Children

    Trafficking is a violation of fundamental rights.

    Trafficking in children is a global problem affecting large numbers of children. Some estimates have as many as 1.2 million children being trafficked every year. There is a demand for trafficked children as cheap labour or for sexual exploitation. Children and their families are often unaware of the dangers of trafficking, believing that better employment and lives lie in other countries.

    Child trafficking is lucrative and linked with criminal activity and corruption. It is often hidden and hard to address. Trafficking always violates the child’s right to grow up in a family environment. In addition, children who have been trafficked face a range of dangers, including violence and sexual abuse. Trafficked children are even arrested and detained as illegal aliens.

    Some facts:

    * UNICEF estimates that 1,000 to 1,500 Guatemalan babies and children are trafficked each year for adoption by couples in North America and Europe.
    * Girls as young as 13 (mainly from Asia and Eastern Europe) are trafficked as “mail-order brides.” In most cases these girls and women are powerless and isolated and at great risk of violence.
    * Large numbers of children are being trafficked in West and Central Africa, mainly for domestic work but also for sexual exploitation and to work in shops or on farms. Nearly 90 per cent of these trafficked domestic workers are girls.
    * Children from Togo, Mali, Burkina Faso and Ghana are trafficked to Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Cameroon and Gabon. Children are trafficked both in and out of Benin and Nigeria. Some children are sent as far away as the Middle East and Europe.

    Sexual exploitation

    Sexual activity is often seen as a private matter, making communities reluctant to act and intervene in cases of sexual exploitation. These attitudes make children more vulnerable to sexual exploitation. Myths, such as the belief that HIV/AIDS can be cured through sex with a virgin, technological advances such as the Internet which has facilitated child pornography, and sex tourism targeting children, all add to their vulnerability.

    * Surveys indicate that 30 to 35 per cent of all sex workers in the Mekong sub-region of Southeast Asia are between 12 and 17 years of age.
    * Mexico’s social service agency reports that there are more than 16,000 children engaged in prostitution, with tourist destinations being among those areas with the highest number.
    * In Lithuania, 20 to 50 percent of prostitutes are believed to be minors. Children as young as age 11 are known to work as prostitutes. Children from children’s homes, some 10 to 12 years old, have been used to make pornographic movies.

    ******This article came from http://www.unicef.org/protection/index_exploitation.html

Saturday, 03 January 2009

  • Some People Learn a Language, I Learn Teeline.•

    I decided of late (which translates into about 20 hours ago) to learn how to write in short hand. I specifically chose to learn Teeline Shorthand. It’s not used very often because it’s not a very fast type of shorthand. But I”m not learning it for the speed of it.

    I chose to learn how to write in Teeline because I would like to write without my snoopy friends being able to, well, snoop, while I’m writing or after I’m done. But now their going to read this and learn or make up a cheat sheet for themselves so they can read it.

    Then we could start a society where we only wrote in Teeline. And then we could like, like… Whoa! Got slightly off topic there, sorry.

    Really Teeline isn’t that difficult to learn if you want a simple shorthand to learn. In a lot of ways it is similar to the English cursive.

    Here’s an example of it.Teeline Shorthand

    There is, of course, other, more well known, but also, more complicated types of shorthands to learn. They consist of: Pitman Shorthand, Gregg Shorthand, and quite a few others.

    So that’s about it.

    This is going to be fun.

    ~Nikki

Sunday, 07 December 2008

  • Do I care what people think about me?

    If you asked me this question on any normal day, week, month, year, I would tell you the same thing, No. Normally I don't care about what people think of me. It's their opinion and their entitled to it.

    But...

    This past week I found out that this boy, that I may or may not have liked, was minorly upset that I was trying out for our school's musical because he doesn't like me. Now, he had never led to make me believe he had any problem with me, or so I thought.

    But I think that's the problem. I thought, and I've thought so much about what I could have done to make him dislike me that it made me upset. Not only that but I've thought about the signs, or what could be percieved as signs, as to him taking a disliking in me. Thinking about those signs, and seeing that most of them were obvious, made me feel like I was naive and could take a hint. I felt stupid for thinking that he might think of me as friend.

    If I look back on the time I thought we were fine, I was always trying to impress him. It just doesn't feel like me. He best friends with a couple of my friends and I guess part of it was if I'm not friends with the whole group I tend to get pushed away when I'm with them. Not literally of course, but while we hang out I slowly get pushed away from conversation until it's like I'm not there anymore.

    Yesterday I decided it wasn't worth my energy to care about it anymore. It's done, and it's over. I just felt that writing it out, and blogging about it, might help me get over it better. I just can't figure out why it bugs me so much that he doesn't like me.

    Oh well, his loss I suppose.

    ♥Nikki♥

  • Is Christmas, Christmas Anymore?

    Christmas has changed so much, some people don't even know the meaning of it anymore. If you ask some children what they think Christmas is they'll tell you it's a time when Santa comes and leaves them gifts under the tree.

    Christmas is the day chosen to celebrate the day of Jesus' birth.  December 25 is also the day of the Winter Solstice. Christmas is also an adapted version of Yule. Yule is an old Pagan holiday that the Germanic peoples celebrated.

    Christmas is the time of year for "giving". It's a time for being with your family and friends. It's a time for spreading joy, happiness, and having making great memories to share with generations for years to come. At least, this is what it's supposed to be.

    Modern day Christmas is a time for buying and selling products to distribute between friends, family, co-workers, ect. Isn't that giving? Yes of course it is but that's all we get out of Christmas now.

    When we talk about Christmas it's always about what we want to have. It's about getting all of the shopping done before it's too late. Everyone's so busy all the time running around, doing this and that, no one really sits down to relax and sit down with the family.

    The Christmas season seems to start the day after Thanksgiving on Black Friday. From then on there's no rest until the day after Christmas.

    What do you think? Has Christmas changed a lot? Has Christmas changed for the better or worse of our now very materialistic world?

Saturday, 22 November 2008

  • Twilight Movie

    I went and saw the Twilight Movie tonight. Here's my review.

    I give the makers of the film and E for Effort.

    It was a really good movie and my friends and I enjoyed it a lot.

    But...

    The producers really did butcher it quite a bit. They mixed and matched scenes together and it worked I suppose. For an avid Twilight fan though, I think it was a little weird having things mixed up like it was.

    All in all, a very good movie. It really didn't disappoint me.

    So an "E" for effort.

    That's the end of my extremely short, really no insight on the movie, review.

    ;)  ♥Nikki♥

Friday, 14 November 2008

  • Currently
    Who I Am
    By Alan Jackson
    Gone Country
    see related

    It's been a while (Updates of all my stories)

    It really has been a while since I've posted anything here. Well we're going to go in this order, Xanga stuff, School, events coming up for me, and dreams.

    Really, it's hard for me to be posting everywhere at once. Lately I've only been able to update my stories in school, which means I can't get on to Xanga. I've been posting my stories on to a site called Booksie. Both of my stories are update.

    XANGANIAN NEWS:
    Vampryc Moon:
                             Chapter nine is now up of Vampryc Moon. If you're interested in reading it, here's the link. http://www.booksie.com/young_adult/novel/nikki_nightmare/vampryc-moon/chapter/9

    Undead Objective:
                                This story has actually been updated several times of late. Here's the link. http://www.booksie.com/young_adult/novel/nikki_nightmare/undead-objective/chapter/1

    You should be able to look at my other work there but my site is really messed up. I'll tell you now that you won't be able to see my profile.

    SCHOOL NEWS:
    Well I guess the most amazing news I have for school is that I made the bowling team. I was so amazed when I found out, seeing as I bowled completely horrible. Nothing really exciting is happening in school lately. I just got my report card back. 95s in all my computer and business courses and ranging from 84-92 in the rest of my classes.

    EVENTS:
    So as we all know it is holiday time. My most dreaded time of the year, but that's a story for another time. Devastating to my Grandma but a God send to me is the fact that part of my family will not be joining us in celebration of Thanksgiving and Christmas. I know, I know, it's not a very good attitude but, it's going to take a lot to forgive them for how they've treated me and the rest of my family.

    In January, I have the Winter Ball, the Inauguration of the new President, and Convention. All things I'm going to need a dress for. =D January is definitely going to be a fun time.

    DREAMS:
    I'm going to start typing one up now, after I post this, and I'll probably finish typing it when I get home from babysitting tonight. It was a very strange dream for me... everyone was human. :] If you've heard some of my dreams, you would understand that, but since most everyone who will see this hasn't, most of my dreams contain very supernatural creatures, not just humans.

    Well I'm going to start typing now.

    Bye-bye loves,

    ♥Nikki♥

Saturday, 18 October 2008

  • Currently Listening
    Riot!
    By Paramore
    see related

    Birthday Number 15

    Yesterday was my 15th birthday and I must say that it had to be my favorite birthday thus far. I had almost nothing to worry about and everything went really smoothly.

    It started out just like every other Friday does; I woke up early and went to school. My friends had decorated my locker beautifully with awesome quotes and stuff on it. All my classes went awesomely. After school James and I stayed after school in a teacher's room and watched a movie until four. It was a good movie but I can't seem to remember the name.

    Once we (James and I) got home (my Grandma's house) we just sat around for like two hours until people started to come to my Grandma's for my family birthday party. The only cousin that showed up was my eight-year-old cousin. The rest of the people my age were my friends. I guess my other cousins had better things to do.

    After dinner we (Mac, Mike, James, Me, and my lil cousin) just hung out in the living room until the adults we ready for presents and stuff. During that time we romped around with my lil cuz. Once we were done opening presents and stuff we went down to the football game.

    We won ultimately. We pretty much killed the opposing team. In the beginning I was wandering between two to three different groups, socializing and avoiding Hannah with impeccable skill. Once I found a good group of people I new I wouldn't have to put up with Hannah around I found one of my cousins who had something better to do then come to a family dinner. We talked for a little bit and then I went back to my group.

    At one point during the game we played keep Amber's cell phone away from her. It was horrible but so funny. (:

    After the game we (Mac, Me, James, Karrah) went up to the football dance. While there we did the impossible... we got... James to dance. We had so much fun.

    Once Mac and I got back to my house last night we pretty much crashed we were so tired.

    All in all, a very good day.

    ♥Nikki♥

Wednesday, 08 October 2008

  • Fiery of Fire

    All eyes on the fire
    while it spits its orange flames;
    beautiful, majestic.
    Dad closes in
    a stick in hand.
    It roars next to us.
    Now the fun begins.
    He drops it in the center,
    the fire sputters a moment
    then it morphs before our eyes.
    Tongues of blue and green
    start shooting for the sky.
    A complete take over it would seem
    but soon, too soon
    orange and yellow make a comeback.
    Filled with rage
    they chase any other color out
    then mesmerize our minds once again.

  • Loss of Words

    Under the stars
    I sit and I wait
    for it all to come back to me.
    I breathe a sigh
    touch my pen to my paper
    and will it to start to write.
    Refusing again,
    I close my eyes
    clearing my mind of distracting thoughts.
    The crickets chirping
    the wind howling
    all music to my ears
    so why won't my pen write these down
    coherently, simple, extravagant.
    Perfectly placed
    thoughtful,
    meaningful,
    for anyone to read
    why won’t my thoughts come back to me?

Thursday, 25 September 2008

  • Tragity In Fire

    Just last Sunday one of my neighbor's house burned to the ground. The cause of the fire might have been candle luminaries on their front porch. The horrid fire claimed the lives of two young boys: one wasn't even kindergarten age yet. My sister's friend was burned and got a broken arm and leg from when him and his mother leapt out of the second story window. The mother suffered bad burns and broken bones. The father just suffered burns.

    When I found out about the tragic death of the two boys a hard wave a reality hit me and knocked me to the ground pretty hard.

    All I could think about for the next to days after was how everything important in my life could be taken away from me before I could even blink my eyes.

    First I thought about how horrible it would be to lose my sister to a fire. As obnoxious as she can be I love her. I don't know how I could survive knowing that I lived and my sister didn't. I know I would blame myself for not tying harder to get her out. I would blame myself for not being the one to die in her place. But after the intense counseling I'm sure they'd convince me that I lived for a reason and blah, blah, blah. Personally, when counselors tell people that they didn't die for a reason, it annoys me to no end. What does that mean? Does it mean the person you're grieving over didn't have a reason to live any more? Oh well...

    The second thing I thought about was what it was like to lose a friend to a fatal fire. One of the boys was my neighbor's best friend. If I lost my bestests to a fire I would be just as unstable as I would be if I lost my own sibling. The only difference would be that most likely I would have no way of blaming myself.

    Another thing I thought about was how bad as a parent it must feel to lose two of your children because of most likely carelessness. I can't even imagine how much guilt I would feel at all. I'm sure I would wounder why it wasn't me instead of them. But I'm not a parent so I'm not sure how I would react.

    I feel really bad for this family. The oldest son was the one who lived. He's in my sister's grade. She was so worried that he might have been hurt when we saw the house before we knew the details. Later she told me that if he had died too she would be crying right now. I know I would have cried a lot if one of my friends died. That Sunday I cried just because my sister was upset and crying and I couldn't handle the fact that she could lose one of her friends.

    Anyway, I'm doing everything I can to help the family get back up on their feet. I can't do much but I can help and I know this.

Friday, 19 September 2008

  • Currently Listening
    Ballroom Blitz & More Sweet Hits
    By Sweet
    Ballroom Blitz
    see related

    Tonight {Randomnessness 36}

    Tonight was amazing. We(Me, Mac, James, KC, and Mike) went bowling. I don't know it was so amazing. We took three hours for three games. Everyone was so hyper and everything, well except for Mac. She listened to my iPod the whole time. Mike beat me in all three games. The last game he tried to let me win and ended up beating me by one point. So yay me, I had an Epic Fail. Well that's all I have for the moment.

    Bye Loves,

    ♥Nikki♥

    P.S.: I really am trying to post more.

Saturday, 13 September 2008

  • Writer's Block to All Extremes

    So, I haven't been posting anything lately because I really can't think of anything to post about. I have taken a long break in all of my stories because I just can't think to write or something like that.

    haha. so basically I have a pretty bad writer's block going on which isn't making most of my friends happy. I don't like not feeling my little tiny bit of creativity flowing through me.

    Mac says if I just write random little stories it should help but really I can't think to write those.

    Anyways, I'm working on it people.

    So here's to some short posts here and there until I unblock my brain.

    Loves,

    ♥Nikki♥

  • Visit Novakana's Xanga Site
    • Name: Nichole
    • Birthday: 10/17/1993
    • Gender: Female
    • Member Since: 5/5/2008
  • “I like villains because there's something so attractive about a committed person -- they have a plan, an ideology, no matter how twisted. They're motivated.” ~Russell Crowe

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Chatboard (5)

  • Novakana
    Ahhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!! The Sun!!!!!!!!!!!!! It Burns!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
  • Novakana
    @Fierce_Grace - Oh! I know them. I think they were put in an insane asylum yesturday... on the island...
  • Fierce_Grace
    You sure???? Someone told me the floor was left, not up....
  • Novakana
    @Fierce_Grace - The floor... :D
  • Fierce_Grace
    Heyy!!!!!! What's up?