Toony + Tuesday * 2016: Peg + Cat

Hello there, everyone.
The last time I reviewed a show for little kids, it seemed like a one-time-only thing.
Nope. I'm going at it again.

This series is probably the most fun you'll ever have learning Math.
I'm an adult, and I'm proud to relearn Math from this.

It's Peg + Cat.



Created by Jennifer Oxley and Billy Aronson, the series features Peg--a sweet, optimistic little girl with a feast for solving Math; and Cat, her talking feline friend with a love for circles. Together, they trek on amazing Arithmetic adventures to help their friends solve their problems--along with themselves solving their own--by using and solving Math problems and equations, and at the same time, help the viewers learn simple math as well.

But I'm not talking a bit about this series because of its use of Math. But because of how inventive and creative it gets with it's use of Math.
-Starting with the intro and ending with the episode ending chat with the title characters, the animation changes with each episode. See episodes where Cat does something while Peg sings or a different thing appears behind them or a variation of the theme song. It's something that'll just blow your mind every time with how things change while others stay the same.

-The animation is fuzzy (thanks to Flash), but actually works very well. The characters, locations, buildings and colors look simple, but are still likable to the eyes. And the changing elements work towards its favor.

-Also, the songs and score are super catchy and will stay in your head for days. "Problem Solved" and "Splashing Some More" from The Bathroom segment are the major examples.

-Now to the episodes. Each episode has a fun story and even fun(ner) execution.
Peg and Cat are going about their day, when a problem arises. A character tells them about that problem, and it's up to our young heroes (yes, Cat too) to save the day by using Math to solve their friends' problems. Sometimes, they also get into Simple, right? Wrong. Take a look at one of my favorite episodes, "The Highlight Zone Problem", where Peg & Cat get into a funk when their world isn't as colorful as usual.
(starts at 12:58)


Besides the brilliant nods to The Twilight Zone (including the black and white setting, the strangeness of the predicament, and Ramone being a great stand-in of the late, great Rod Serling), this episode features elements of that series to create a new

The characters are just awesome. Peg and Cat especially. But the other main characters, despite known from what little traits, they're just as memorable.
-Ramone, smart as a whip and cool as a cucumber
-Pig, a happy-go-lucky but shy-voiced pig with a singing voice big enough for opera
-Richard, a little alien from the Purple Planet who gets pretty glum when things go wrong, but is also very willing to help save the day when it happens.
-100 Chickens (your guess is as good s mine as to what they are)
-The Teens, three teenagers who are on good terms with Peg and Cat, and are there to help out in any way they can. That is if they are a part of the story. Plus, they're not mean or unlikable in the slightest, a plus for me.
-Big Mouth – A furry blue space monster who indulges in eating things that are little and yellow. (Like a walking Pyramid category)
-Beethoven, who is...Beethoven, of course. (Yes, even Ludwig himself is a character in this series...with clear hearing for some reason [I find no problem with this].)
All these characters, despite seeming like the producers are just picking them out their asses on the surface, really do bring the show its own flavor (along with its writing) and makes it stand out among the other PBS Kids shows.
And there are A LOT of great standouts here.


What also makes this series stand out is its unconventional formula. Despite the recognizable traits in a typical episode--Peg & Cat singing the theme song (itself super catchy), Peg & Cat in some random place, a problem occurring, Peg totally freaking out, Cat calming her, them (almost) solving the problem, the problem not being solved yet, they and their episode-picked friends doing much more to solve it, and problem is solved (AND EVERYTHING IS AWESOME!!), there are some creative elements that take place within that episode. The characters joining along in "Problem Solved" (a song that is catchy is heck even if I've heard it 100 or so times) and every song that is a part of each episode will be stuck in your hear as soon as you hear it.

Plus (heh heh), the characters are written and created really well. Peg is a bright-eyed girl with a big imagination and a bigger heart. Her charm and sweet wit grabs your attention and you just love her from second one. Cat is goofy but hilariously witty and his snark is balls-out funny. Their chemistry is as strong as Arnold Schwarzenegger and their friendship is a reason this show is awesome and a reason I watch with grin from ear to ear. Their voice actors, Hayley Faith Negrin and Dwayne Hill, bring so many layers of fun, humor, wit and timing to this show and (partially, but primarily) because of them and their characters, I am a fan of Peg + Cat for life. And you should be too.

Episodes are available on Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, YT and the PBS Kids video app.

I know it's a kids show. ...But I. don't. care. I darn well love this series, and if you give it a try (whether with your kids or by yourself), I think you'll love it too.

Thanks for checking in, and I'll see you guys later.

"The Loud House" Features Married Male Gay Couple. I Damn Well Approve

Hey, Everybody.
Andrew here taking time off not posting and doing anything else (sorry for that) to publish an emergency post
in response to a growing epidemic in Western Animation:
open homosexuality in children's television.

It's been around for the past few years and has only strengthened ever since. We've seen in a lot here:
-the well-known and less-subtexty-as-time-went-on relationship of
Sheriff Blurbs and Deputy Durland on Gravity Falls,


-Korra and Asami becoming Korrasami on the final episode of The Legend of Korra


-Jeff revealed to have two moms on Clarence


-the couple seen in the background on We Bare Bears

-the lesbian couple in Finding Dory


-every gem character (fusion or no) on Steven Universe


-(other examples I didn't mention here)

-plus a rare example on live-action kid's TV, courtesy of Disney Channel's Good Luck Charlie--in which the titular character has a playdate with her friend of the week, with her parents being a little unconventional)



-and of course, a personal favorite I've discussed before,
the handsomely-dressed male gay couple from Clarence.


So now, today, we have another example finally coming out (;-)) in the open--and since you read the header, I'll get straight to it--another male gay couple brought to us by Nickelodeon's The Loud House.

Time to make history indeed! First married gay couple on a Nickelodeon cartoon!https://t.co/CI5NPmd7JU

— juno 🐓 (@harryetIouis) July 16, 2016

This couple, Harold McBride and Howard McBride, are the parents of main character (and best friend of MAIN main character Lincoln Loud) Clyde. And what makes this even more awesome is that the two in an interracial relationship. And...they're married. That's right; the McBride men are together hand-to-hold, sickness-and-health, death-do-they-part, ball-and-chain married. And it's a glorious thing.

When Lincoln said "History in the making", he really meant it. In a way different from expected.

Here are my thoughts. Quite a doozy here:
Throughout the series' infancy, I usually thought (subconsciously) that Clyde's parents were a black man and woman, meaning a mom and a dad. So this was a legit shock (as shown in the video above, and by extension, the article from Entertainment Weekly's website) for me to see two guys (and one of them even NOT black) in front of the Loud House door. Now, I'm not being racist or homophobic or anything (I really am not), but that's what I thought.
(I previously also have some similar thoughts about Lincoln's eldest sister Lori's boyfriend Bobby being white, only to learn later on that he's Latino). This show is really good at destroying subconscious expectations upon first contact, while at the same time, making a great multiracial community of characters that make me love this show twofold.

Now for the situation involving Mr. and Mr. McBride, this came out of nowhere to me. It would seem like Loud House is taking advantage of the newfound acceptance of gay characters on kids cartoons of the decade, but it's not. (Either way though, in that front, I'm really cool with that.) Yeah, it seems so forceful and jammed into your brain until you hemorrhage, but I'm enjoying what I see here. It's all part of the progression. (Believe or not, the general progression of kids cartoons has happened for the past couple decades. Gross-out humor, saying "pissed" casually, double entendres, open violence, characters undergarments being shown freely, suggestive humor and moments, and lots more have been found more increasingly in cartoons across North America and Europe for many decades (especially since the 80s), and most have found under the radar until the mid-90s. So it's no surprise that The Loud House is joining in with everyone else.) The scene also feels organic yet surprising. While this is their first appearance (and feels like we're meeting a new main character to hang with for a long while before he'll disappear forever), it feels like we've known them before (and shamed for not doing so). There's no big hip-hip-hooray, break-out-the-streamers-and-poppers, J. Fred Muggs-welcome-like thing. Just a simple scene progression to make the episode continue to what's important--Clyde sleeping over at Lincoln Log's, only for Lincoln to get screwed over and learn something meaningful yet again. Just something that just happened in part of the episode. And like everyone and everything else, I'm cool with it all, as long as it's tasteful and funny. And this here was very tasteful and funny.

Which leads me to Harold and Howard themselves. I like them a lot, and they've only appeared in under a minute in that clip alone. They're not too gay, which gives us all a sigh of relief from the jump. They're also funny, charming, classy and very loving and caring of their son Clyde (which, in another funny thought, gives me this--Clyde McBride. Clever, rhyming and funny). And in the case if White Mr. McBride, a bit too caring. And their voice actors Wayne Brady and Michael McDonald (you figure out which H. McBride they voice) add the humor, timing and charm to them and the scene. And it works amazingly. (Fun factoid, Brady also gave his talents to another gay character: Barney Stinson's black (don't ask, just read along) brother from-the-same-mother James on How I Met Your Mother. So this adds a bit of familiarity to this new role. Plus, the line about "letting go" was hilarious.

While not all-the-way groundbreaking, it's groundbreaking in that the couple in question here are a married couple, which has to be a HUGE deal, and all the more palpable and worth watching.
All of this makes Mr. Harold McBride and Mr. Howard McBride side characters I'll love to watch on The Loud House from here on out.

Their first episode, "Overnight Success" (heh) airs this Wednesday at 5pm on Nick. Please check that out, and by extension, The Loud House itself. It's worth watching, especially if you're in a large family.

Cheers to creator Chris Savino and the crew, along with with Nickelodeon for making this bold leap to pay off in positive responses and praise, and to the viewers and fans with a heart and open mind for accepting this development with open arms and love.

That's it for now. I'm Andrew. Good day!

My Weak Gamer-Boy Thoughts on Pokemon GO

Hey, everybody.
I'm Drew and I'm here to lighten the load after last week. Now...

Pokemon GO! The big phenomenon sweeping the country from the gaming world.

Before I get to the game, a quick history about the Pokemon franchise in my eyes. It all started in 1998 when the anime series debuted and soon become a worldwide sensation (you know, during the anime boom of the 1990s anyways), spawning the card game, the movies (and there are many), the toys, the video games and many other examples to make Pokemon one of the biggest, strongest and most everlasting franchises of any medium in any medium in history. And I myself have a bit of a history with it. The Movie was the first movie I (along with my dad and siblings) got to see in theaters when it was released in 1999, and my family played a few games on the Nintendo handhelds when we were growing up. Then in the late-2000s...it sorta faded to the obsure. It hasn't been as memorable (at least in my case) and wasn't a thing everyone played with or to for a long while.

Until now. When Pokemon GO came around, it already became huge. And that's just in the US and Canada alone. After its release on the App Store and Google Play, it already became a top selling free app and went on to rival TWITTER. That's impressive. Everyone was talking about it, and I mean EVERYONE. I couldn't go a minute on my FB news feed without a single mention of this app; whether it be news, gameplay, jokes or memes-it was inescapable. And I felt like I wanted to rip my hair out go off the grid forever [or at least until the popularity dies down. ...so forever]. That is until after the horrible events of last week when two black men were shot to death by two white police officers in two different states, triggering national outrage. My blood boiled and my heart ached from hearing this news. And because of that, I needed something happy to offset this terrible chapter of racial tension and divide in this nation. And I found some in this app.

After my friend talked about it and even told me that it's fine to not care about it (in a seemingly sad tone), I finally decided to give it a try. And I couldn't be happier to have done so.

So what are my thoughts are on the game? Well...it's AWESOME! But before it's release, I almost didn't think so. Hell, I never even knew it existed until a good friend of mine told me about it on Facebook after it's opening bow. I didn't care about the app and even had the decency of telling everyone about it. And now I can't go a day without telling everyone about the Pokemon I've found and what quirky nicknames I've given them.
Here are the cute creatures I've been catching so far and the names I've given them. One of them is just brilliant.


Oh right, how to play.
It's pretty simple. If you've watched thr original anime series, you know the gist. You (as the player/Pokemon Master-in-training) must catch Pokemon to train and fight with against other's players. The twist is with a kickass feature, you can see the Pokemon in real time in our real world. You can see random creatures pop up in random places. And when you catch them, you then can go to Poke-gyms to train them; these gyms are in random places near where you live. There are also random markers across your town to give you extra stuff, like more Pokeballs or a Poke(?)egg to hatch into a baby Pokemon. And the cool part is that you can do all this whenever you want for free.

But what isn't cool is this: when playing the game outdoors, you might get a little engrossed with the app. So much so, that you could bump into things, like a wall, a pole, a fire hydrant, other people or even a car. Yep, people are so addicted to Pokemon GO that they won't mind their ways of public safety. Also, because of the HUGE popularity of the game, some people will take advantage of it to find random people and rob them blind.
So please, be careful out there. Be aware of your surroundings and watch out for dangers to avade while playing. That's a sad testament to the huge popularity of this app.
A good testament, on the other hand, is how it brings people together. Since its release, millions upon millions have downloaded the game and have since played it for hours upon hours of the day, (again) putting on par with TWITTER for the most user-generated free app on the app stores. AMAZING. And I'm happy to say that I'm a part of it.

So, all-in-all, this is one kickass app filled with fun, excitement and amazing gameplay, and I highly recommend it.
Please, play it--but be very vigilant while doing so.

Don't act like this...
...or this...

...while being like this.


Thanks to checking in, everyone. I'm Drew and I'll catch you guys later (well, not like that). I need to get more Pokeballs for more Pokemon. Eugene, Rick, Bernie and DJ RazzyTeff seem to be feeling a little lonesome.

Serious Post: I'm So Sick and Tired of This (#AltonSterling #PhilandoCastile #DallasShooting #BlackLivesMatter)

I can't stand it.

It's this time in our country's history where one too many black men are harshly and unfairly treated and then killed by the people that are hired and paid to protect them and everyone. Everywhere I go, I always hear of a black man (and not just any man) being shot and killed by a white police officer (and not just any police officer).

The latest to lose their lives to unjust excuses of public defenders are Alton Sterling (of Baton Rouge, LA) and Philando Castile (of Falcon Heights, MN). Because of their killings, the number of black people unjustifiably killed by white police officers has risen to 136. That's more blacks killed than there are days in a year. It's shocking, disgusting and even confusing.

Alton Sterling was selling bootleg CDs at the parking lot of a local convenience store. Sure, bootlegs are illegal to some, but he didn't do anything wrong there; just what he wanted and need to do. Then someone called 911 and reported it.
Police arrive and, as shown at the start of a video taken by a costumer in the lot, quickly threw Sterling to the ground. One officer then drew his gun and shot the man four times, while the other officer still held him down forcefully.
Here is video of the traumatic and tragic incident (IT IS GRAPHIC).

What hurts me at first is that the officers didn't hesitate to read him his rights, or even let his raise his hands. They just took him down, because they already believe that he's armed. Yes, he is armed; but read this: the officers didn't know or prove Alton was armed until after they took his life. One of the officers took his weapon out of his pocket after the blasts. Also, even if he does carry a weapon, what's the problem?? In the state of Louisiana, a citizen is permitted to carry a weapon without a permit. He was within his legal right, and yet the police still killed him.
And the worst of the significant reasons is this: Alton Sterling is the father of five children. Five children who will no longer, forevermore, have their dad in their lives. And will now live in contempt, loathing and fear of the group of people who were PAID to protect them.
I can't wrap my head around this. I lost my father years ago, but that was from a natural illness, and I said "I love you" to him. This kids will never spend a day saying the same phrase to their now-slain father because he was taken away from them. And the fact that his eldest son cried his eyes out mourning his dad's passing during the press conference drives it all home.

--

The latest (and sadly possibly not the last) death-by-police victim is Philando Castile.
He and his girlfriend Diamond "Lavish" Reynolds were driving to a location in Falcon Heights, MN, when they were stopped by police during a traffic stop for a broken taillight.
What happened next was unspeakable. His girlfriend recorded a video stream on Facebook Live revealing that Castile was shot four times by the officer Jeronimo Yanez (who was actually Hispanic, in case you're wondering). He died at the scene.

There's so much here that grabbed my attention.
First off: There was a little girl in the backseat. That little girl is Philando's daughter. She is no older than 6. And she doesn't understand what's happening. My heart aches for her; now that her father is now gone.
-Reynolds' reaction and behavior throughout all of this situation was calm and quite nuanced. She revealed everything during the Facebook Live broadcast while keeping her composure and exposed the cop for the scum that he is. If I were there, I would lose it while recording.
-In the exchange, the cop clearly was the opposite. He was manic, unethical and clearly tried to justify his actions, but knew his intentions were god-awful and unfounded.
It's here that the officer did wrong, but didn't know he would get himself into a live stream on Facebook.
Admittedly, when I learned Yanez was Hispanic, I was shocked. I didn't see his face in the video, and I wouldn't make out a dialect if I tried (or think of trying), so this was a different turn-out than I thought. But the end is still the same.

The police are abusing their power to protect the innocent and take down the guilty. Every time a police officer crosses paths with a black person (man, woman, even child), it almost never ends well.

Of course there is a pattern here; a pattern where a black person dies a "criminal" and the white police officer is a "hero".
-Black person caught doing something
-White police officers respond
-It goes very bad, very fast
-The black person is treated horribly
-White officer abuses power
-Black person almost immediately shot and/or thrown to the ground
-Black person also possibly taken into custody; most likely then killed in custody
-Victim falsely (or-if true-foolishly) claimed as a victim to alleviate the shooting situation
-White officer calls it a job well done and is celebrated
--It continues on as an endless cycle

Some say that they were just doing their jobs. I need to ask you this: Is taking down someone without giving them a chance to speak their defense or peace "just doing their jobs"? Is drawing their guns at the wrong time, if not at all, "just doing their jobs"? Is racially profiling black people (and maybe other people of color too) for no other reason than because they're black "just doing their jobs"? Maybe you'd answer that if you take a deep breath and think about what you want to say next.
And back to the "he was a criminal, so he must be shot" argument. I bet you know what crimes these black men have committed to deserve looking like a second-class citizen and be treated like one, right?? Of course you don't. Even if a black man committed a crime (like it was revealed that Sterling really did commit a few crimes in the past), your argument still simply boils down to "Hey, he's black so he has to be a criminal. And if he's a criminal, he deserves to be shot and/or killed". It's terrible, poorly-created and very clichéd.

There's a reason Jesse Williams gave that powerful, brilliant and very deep speech at the BET Awards. He wanted our people to stop living the disgusting misfortunes and consequences of racial profiling, wrongful arrest and inhuman treatment of all other people (and not just police). He knew that what he said would and should be spoken to give this nation the wake up call it needs to stop the bullshit and become a more racially blended and emotionally and mentally sound nation. And yet, racist and/or ignorant idiots refused to listen to Williams and tried to take him down. They failed, and Williams' words have still resonated deep and hard many days later. And after these two injustices/abuses of power, it needs to resonate harder to separate the powerful from the truly weak, the smart from the stupid, the bridge menders from the bridge burners.

There are always people who don't AND won't get the message and still sand behind their ugly words.
Like Fox News' resident coon Stacey Dash, whom called Williams a "Hollywood plantation slave".
(He may be a "slave" to you, but at least he knows to stand up to horrible and unintelligent, speaking the real truth that people like you (or people you pretend to be like), you near-brain-dead hypocrite-ass coon. This is why all of the African American race disowned you for a reason)

Also, there's The Blaze's pretty blonde dimwit Tomi Lahren, who made a retarded rant about the shooting, turning the story to herself and what her ancestors did to free our ancestors or some shit.
And if that wasn't enough, she also released this tweet that makes me wanna uppercut her to Venus.
"Meet the new KKK, they call themselves "Black Lives Matter", but make no mistake, their goals are far from equality. #Dallas #bluelivesmatter"
(I'm sorry. When you mean by "#BlueLivesMatter", who are you referring to? The Smurfs?? [I'm sure they can handle themselves against Gargamel any day] Skeeter Valentine?? Lapis Lazuli?? Blue?? Bloo?? Whom?! Keep them out of this!)
Of course, she means the police officers, in reference to the officers who lost their lives in the tragedy. But even they wouldn't want to be reffed here.
(Listen. You need to shut up. Forever. Being the protégé of that dumbass loudmouth Glenn Beck somehow isn't enough is show how much the word fool is illuminated across your pretty little head. It's not that you don't know what you're taking about, but that you know what you're saying will only go over with the old and wildly unwilling to understand. Do us all a favor and please speak in public when you have something smart and constructed to say [which is probably never].)

--

Another thing that strikes me is this: Many pro-gun supporters are always speaking up to protect gun use and ownership against people who want tighter gun control to protect innocent bystanders. This is after when a mass shooting happens. Yet when they learn that the black person was taken down had a weapon and a permit, they immediately keep quiet.
I'll just let this comment I wrote on Facebook speak for itself:
"It's very clear that bias at the NRA is at work. [And] it's sad that not only did a white dude get away with killing nine black people, he also got a fucking meal as a treat.
I can't get more furious from here."
(That last part is in reference to the Dylan Roof shooting)

And speaking of Dylan Roof, there are true criminals out there who are white. They deserve as much as the Blacks who didn't commit major crimes, and yet because of their color of their skin, they essentially walk away technically unscathed.
-One of them, Brock Turner, sexually assaulted (fingering) and almost full-blown raped a woman behind a dumpster near a campus party at Sanford while unconscious. He got six months in county jail (not prison, county jail), and half should he leave on good behavior.
-Another, Roof, shot nine African Americans in a local church in Charleston, North Carolina. All the victims did was welcome him with open arms, and he returned the favor by taking their lives. Not only did police not treat him like the shit he is, they also gave him a meal at fucking Burger King (I AM SERIOUSLY NOT MAKING THIS UP). A picture of him brandishing a Confederate flag is enough to make him despicable.
-George Zimmerman. Enough said.
-And all of the police officers who got away with murder with the deaths of innocent people via the constant abuse of power, horrible judgment of character and distressingly deplorable level of violence throughout. It's disgusting.

So whoever say that those killings and that "All Lives Matter", you all need to shut the fuck up. You not only don't know what you're talking about, you also don't care about what you're failing to talk about. Saying "All Lives Matter" is just a way of saying "I don't care about this national issue or enough to lay my arms to show care, solemn or support for this race of people looking for true equality in this country. But I care about bolstering my image to mention this get me in the news or social media feed."

And of course, some of them are eager to paint these men as criminals.
NEWS FLASH:
Martha Stewart was a criminal.
Robert Downey Jr. was a criminal.
Charlie Sheen was a criminal.
Lindsay Lohan was a criminal.
Justin Bieber was a criminal.
Phil Spector was a criminal.
George Zimmerman was a criminal. (and you know this)
Hell, even Charles fucking Manson was a criminal.
But you won't shoot any of them for just being at a convenience store and carrying a licensed weapon. But you wouldn't want to start stroking like Bob Ross, right?

The reason for all this rambling of mine is this: I wanted to get in my thoughts and sleep tonight. Because I'm sick and tired of seeing and hearing about something that's sadly becoming more and more commonplace in this country. Since when should "shooting black men" become as American as Apple Pie and Baseball?? And since when should instances of such come closer to each other than pregnancy contractions?? There's nothing black men have done to deserve this. And yet, here we are.

And yet, it seems to get even worse--from the other side, because as of the release date of this post, 12 police officers were shot in Dallas. Five of them were killed. The shooter was killed by police hours later via a bomb robot after a long standoff filled with taunting, singing and creepiness.

Let me please say this; those police officers did not deserve to die. They only did their jobs (and I really mean this) and did indeed protect the people protesting the deaths of the black men we've lost. These guys (assumed-ly) served their city well and some of them have families as well. And the killer's plan to take them out (because he's furious at white people--and especially white police officers--for killing black men) was disgustingly horrifying. What he did is the epitome of what is wrong with Black Lives Matter. Black people not peacefully protesting, instead ravaging an entire city, stealing things from businesses and destroying police vehicles, stores and buildings like an 8-year-old kid throwing a temper tantrum because he's not getting a trip to Chuck E. Cheese's. It's disgusting and pathetic. And this man took it further by killing cops because he's tired of white people (from different states) killing black men (who are not related to him). If you want racial equality in this country...don't do that. It makes you look just as racist as the cops you're furious at. And it not only doesn't solve a damn thing, it erases every good thing we've tried to come closer to racial equality.
My condolences to the families of the 5 deceased officers and the victims who survived the tragedy.

So in recap, I'm sick and tired of Black men getting shot and killed by police for little to no reason, and getting away with it to faint praise from ignorant idiots. And I'm sick and tired of police getting hurt or even killed by black people just because one of their own (who isn't even related to them) is killed by a police officer (IN ANOTHER STATE).
You cannot have it both ways--and that's because you're not supposed to have it either way. It divides racial equality in this country even more and makes us look like savage laughingstock to other countries on Earth. And that is the opposite of what is supposed to happen in the name of Black Lives Matter.


I want to end this post with this:
I want you to please do something, when you're done reading this...please hug you family. Hug your family long and tight, and tell them you love them. If you're away from your family, call them or message them or tweet them, and tell them you love them. No matter what situation you're in with them, at least know that they're there for you and need to show it back.

This nation is going through so much crap from this week. And I cannot deal with it any longer.