Don't get mad, get...well, yeah, go ahead and get mad

Tampa teenager Carlie Slack died yesterday after fighting leukemia for over two and a half tears. She was 19 years old.
That news will undoubtedly make you sad but it should also piss you off, a young life full of so much potential (she was an honor student at Plant High) snuffed out like that for absolutely no good reason whatsoever. What a waste.
I know it makes me mad. The problem with cancer and cancer related illnessess is that they don't respond to threats of violence or insults or curses or any other means through which we traditionally express our anger. To rant and rave is wasted energy. So we have to channel that anger and use it to motivate us to take action and make our statements in other, more productive ways. If you're even an occasional reader of this blog, you know I participate in Relay For Life and am on a constant mission to raise funds. If you want to contribute to that effort, you can do so here. If you don't have money to spend, that's fine; this isn't really about making yet another fundraising plea (although, there will be more of that kind of thing coming very soon), it's a call to action that's bigger than that. Get mad at this disease that has taken so much from so many and continues to do so. And more than that, do something about it. Start or join your own Relay team. Get involved as a volunteer. Drop off some old books at a local hospital. Cripes, just quit smoking and eat some blueberries (they're loaded with antioxidants; cancer hates antioxidants). Whatever it takes. This crap has got to stop. Right now, get good and pissed off and make it happen.