corner view "animals"

What would this world be like without animals? I don't wanna know. Probably empty. Probably dead. The human man is an animal, but we are more capable of certain things. We have hands and feet. We can put things together, we can invent. We can reason, we have free will. Animals live by instinct.

But we're not better. Killing some animals for food is part of the food chain. But killing animals for fur and oil? Killing elephants for their tusks? We can live without those things. If we can invent a computer or a light bulb, invent your own fur. Invent your own oil. Sculpt your own tusks!  

So many species are going extinct because of different reasons. But most of those reasons are caused by Man.

Cutting down trees, global warming, killing animals... Do we want to destroy these wonderful creatures and make this world unrecognizable to our children and grandchildren? No animals? No forests? No arctic life? We create that for ourselves. We cut down the trees. We pollute the air. Oh, we say, they'll take care of it. They who? It's us!

If we don't make a difference, our children and grandchildren will never see these beautiful creatures like I do.

All of the animals listed above are endangered. There will be none left on the face of this earth if we don't help them!

And the gorilla. There's only about 700 left in the entire world! I live by the ocean. I see whales swimming in the waters. I've been on a boat and seen whales up close. I've also gone scuba diving and seen turtles. These are wonderful, beautiful animals.

This beautiful creature is almost extinct. There are only about 30 Amur Leopards left in the world. This little baby might die in extinction. We have to stop this! We have to make a difference.

And there are none of these left in the wild! Only in zoos. 

The panda, the tiger, the rhino, they're all endangered. Help them. Look for somewhere you can donate to help save the animals. Don't buy fur coats to support people that kill animals. Let's make our difference while we've got the chance.

corner view "earth day"

Earth Day. A day to celebrate and respect the world we live in. To me, every day is Earth Day. There shouldn't be a day of our lives where we aren't aware and thankful to Earth. It gives us a home, fresh air to breathe, food and water to keep us alive. Some people don't care. They don't respect the earth. They don't realize that if we don't save our world, Earth will die and so will we.

Humans are selfish. Some more than others, but almost every human being, including me, wants good things for themselves. But at an early age it's important to develop awareness about our home. First there were the seas, the animals, the wonderful trees and plants and flowers. But humans came along and over time came cars, planes, factories, garbage, plastic, gasoline, oil, and guns and bombs. We cut down the trees. We pollute the air. We kill the animals for coats and fur. We throw garbage in the ocean and kill dolphins and whales. Drive cars too much when we could ride a bike for a short distance.

What about all of the important things in life? What about all of the other species, they have just as much of a right to be here as we do. But most humans don't care. We are lazy and careless and greedy. We want to have everything for ourselves. 

My little sister, Annabel and I did a video for a contest about saving the planet.

What we learned is that just doing little things can help. Turning off the water when you brush your teeth or taking shorter showers, or turning off the lights when you're not using them. Also unplugging things like cell phone chargers, TV's, computers and radios at night can help save a ton of energy.

I really hope that one day, if I ever get anywhere with my music, that I'll be someone who tries to help others and not just myself. Here's a good example of someone who did that. I'm sure he loved Earth Day. Even though he's no longer with us, he left this to remind us of what he stood for.

On April 22nd, I hope each of us find some way to help our wonderful home. And maybe, if we all try to make a change, every day can become Earth Day. Remember, it all starts with the Man in the Mirror.

~

For more suggestions about helping the earth, go to Jane's blog.

corner view "one year old!"

Happy birthday, corner view!

I haven't been in it as long as some others, but I'll post some of my favorite pictures from the corner views I've done.

Evening

Spring

To see the woman who started corner view in the first place, see Jane!

Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson was a celebrity and that can be difficult. Reporters and people can say things about you, things that aren't true, and everyone can get the wrong idea of who you are. Even if things are true, sometimes you don't want the world to know every ounce of your business.

Michael was one of those people that most people would look and say "wow." He was an amazing singer, dancer, songwriter, choreographer, entertainer, musician and person. And that's a lot of things for one man to be. I have obsessions. And when I get into something, I get really into them. I read books, get to know everything about them, talk about them constantly, and just think about them night and day. But, other than The Beatles, Michael is the biggest obsession yet. And I've never felt so connected to someone I've never met before.

There are so many reasons I feel connected to Michael. One, he was a child who was very different. He wasn't like other kids his age. Two, he got bullied. I got bullied by my peers, he got bullied by the world. People were and are still constantly misjudging him. And it makes me sad especially because I know how that can feel. It's especially hard for people who want to be themselves and aren't just trying to do what everyone else does.

My obsession all started when my dad saw "This is It." It's the movie that they made from Michael's rehearsals for the biggest concert in the history of the world. In these videos, he was 50. But man I'm telling you, this guy could move. It looked like he was 20 years old. And not only was he one of the greatest dancers in the world, he made up almost all of his moves and he choreographed it too. And on top of that, he wrote songs, sang so beautifully, and was the greatest entertainer of all time (in my opinion). Anyway, Dad kept going on about how great this movie was and how we had to see it. So finally it came out on DVD and we rented it. That night Annabel didn't want to see it. Shawn was a bit more open and I have to admit, I was kind of excited. I didn't know hardly anything about Michael Jackson and the only song I'd ever heard of his was Billie Jean and I loved it.

So, the whole family sat down and watched the movie and I fell in love with Michael Jackson and his music and his heart. In this movie, it shows who Michael truly was. And honestly, he's one of the sweetest people to ever walk the earth. Now I'm not saying I've met him or hung out with him, but I usually get a sense of people. And this is what my sense of him was. Michael was a very humble, sweet, sensitive person. He was in charge of this whole concert and created everything. But Michael never got frustrated. He was very calm and would say something like, "Could you make the bass a little louder? I couldn't hear it."

And they would reply, "Of course, Michael,"

And he would bow his head, and say, "Thank you, God bless you."
That was the kind of person he was.

But one of the things I admire most of all about him was his message. His message was very simple and had two main things. Number one, "It's all for love, L-O-V-E." Number two, "Heal the World." Those two messages are so powerful. And of all the famous people in the world, 90% of them make really bad choices of what to do with their fame. But 10% of them choose to do great things and help others with their fame and Michael is the person to admire most for doing that. And what makes me sad is that so many people believe everything they read in magazines and think he's some weirdo but he's not. He was an absolutely beautiful soul.

Michael could be sweet and soft, but he was so cool. It seemed like everything he did was cool. Every movement, every word. He loved animals and children because he said that they didn't judge you. They liked you for who you were.

And he was smart, but funny. He said, "Why not just tell people I'm an alien from Mars. Tell them I eat live chickens and do a voodoo dance at midnight. They'll believe anything you say, because you're a reporter. But if I, Michael Jackson, were to say, 'I'm an alien from Mars and I eat live chickens and do a voodoo dance at midnight,' people would say, 'Oh, man, that Michael Jackson is nuts. He's cracked up. You can't believe a single word that comes out of his mouth.'"

Michael had a real sweetness about him that was just amazing. He would say on stage in front of hundreds of thousands of people, "I love you." And some people have never had someone say, "I love you," to them.

Every human being makes mistakes and Michael did too, he wasn't perfect. But it's important for people to be able to accept people's mistakes and move on to love them.
I admire Michael for so many reasons - his compassion, his humility, his genius, his presence on stage. I wish so much to have those qualities like he did. And if there's one celebrity I want to be most like, with out a doubt or second thought, it would be Michael Jackson.

Michael, God bless you, I hope so much that you are happy wherever you are. And I hope you know how much so many people miss you, how many people you inspired, and how many hearts you touched.