Something Else You Really Ought To Know

You are a Social Liberal (76% permissive) and an... Economic Liberal (16% permissive) You are best described as a: Socialist Link: The Politics Test on Ok Cupid

The Patchouli Was Thick In the Air

joan baez

It wasn't a bad protest at all. A touch unorganized, but what do you expect from hippies?

People of the District: Cut it Out

Seriously, this one is for the ladies. Please just stop it. It is no longer ok to wear your white sneakers with your white socks over top of your hose with your business suits. It's just not OK any more, and I'm ending this practice now. You aren't being practical. Practical is buying a pair of shoes you can freaking walk in. They exist, and they can look stylish too. I know. I have several pairs of this sort of shoe and I wear them every day to and from the Metro, my apartment and work. So please, for the love of god, only wear shoes that are in the same genre of outfit: no more athletic + business = ok to wear, ok?

Feliz Cumpleanos, Mexico!

Just saying hello to Mexico. Good job, guys, Spain sucked anyway.

http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independencia

It's What You Think It Is

I sat cross-legged on my bright yellow bedspread in my bright yellow room in the second floor of my parents bright suburban home, staring at all of the tchachke (magazine clippings, like the word drugs or of Leo DiCaprio grabbing his crotch, some ribbon from a play I was in, a post card, etc.) and cried for a while. It was the first time life had felt just really overwhelming. I was in high school and back then, was very active in everything. It was my Senior year, I was in two choirs, a musical, two plays and was playing softball. I also wanted to get into college. On top of that, I was battling this overwhelming feeling of sadness. I had everything that I wanted, was healthy then, and aside from the faint hint of my parent's marriage falling apart, I was for all intents and purposes doing just fine. But regardless, I felt sad; dissapointed.

It had come down to softball. We were only about 3 games into the season, but already I was feeling the dissapointment. I was tottering between 2nd and 3rd string pitcher on a team where the 1st string pitcher never went out, even during double headers. I had worked so hard during conditioning and enjoyed my teammates and the game so much. It was a fun thing to do, but at the same time, I worried that I wasn't making time for myself; for my potential college education. I was tired and dissapointed, and while I wanted to want to stay, I wasn't sure if it was the right thing to do.

I sat in my room that afternoon after practice struggling very hard with the decision to stick with the team and remain "under durress", or to let it go and give myself something for once: a break. Ultimately, I ended up sticking with softball, but my life never really changed. I made it through, obviously, and got into a college that I liked, but the dissapointment in life in general never really goes away. There are always times when I feel completely overwhelmed and depressed about life, despite my apparent good fortune. By nature, I am not a happy person (it makes me funnier, I think) and so in spite of a mostly good life, the tiny struggles like too many extracurriculars, or not enough attention to myself add up on me. Perhaps I am abnormally weak to the pressure, or perhaps it is my disposition (which I cannot improve) that creates a self-fulfilling prophesy for my life. I have made it this far in my 26 years, and perhaps will go on to do another 26 or so more, never quitting softball, but constantly wondering if I should.

Made for Real People

It's true, it really is. It's all there. What infuiates me most about this person, is perhaps the fact that his head really does not look like it belongs on his body. That and I also think that rather than being helpful to people like Billy Blanks or Richard Simmons- they truly care about the fatties, not the money- he's all about the bling.

Maybe I'm not infuriated by him, maybe it's the nausea, combined with disgust, combined with terror that's bothering me. Maybe it's the website with the very long page of pictures of John Basedow without a shirt on. Maybe it's the ambiguous "tip" of the month, which is really just a sort of uplifting string of words with an elipsis thrown in for drama. Maybe it's the fact that some of the products he sells contain whey.

Oh well, all I know is that when I receive my FMS Motivational Music CD in 6-8 weeks, all the answers to the questions of life will suddenly become clear. In the mean time, I have a call to make...

This Is A Concern

I'm now part receptionist at my new job. Each morning from 7:45-9am I answer the phone and greet visitors, offer them coffee and so on. This is perhaps my busiest time of day (yeah, work is still flipping boring- am I not challenged enough being a secretary?) and one of the tasks I get to do is listen to the voice mail of what accumulated from 6pm the day prior. On Friday, I received a message from a gentleman running for the president of the Democratic Republic of Congo, which as you know, has been on my mind before. Turns out, the elections, the first in, oh I don't know, probably history, were supposed take place back in June, but one thing lead to another and they just couldn't get around to it. So they've given themselves an extension (how does this work? Iraq does this too, why can't we do this?) until the end of the year. Needless to say, the man who called was hoping our little Fourtune 500 would give him some money for his campaign. I'm guessing the answer is no, but it was a very interesting message to receive. Anyway, I have very little hope for a fair election out there in the DRC, as getting to a polling place will be, oh I don't know, impossible for most people. I hope things work out for the best.

I'm also a touch concerned for Colombia. Apparently, in Colombia it's ok if you want to break into your neighbor's house and hold them hostage for a given period of time and for no apparent reason. If you'd like to blow something up very near to where people live, this is ok too. And if you're a cop, it's alright if you want to accept bribes to turn the other way. Living in Colombia is no piece of cake, even if you're theoretically successful. Georgie has been chatting it up with Presidente Uribe to get the drug thing cleared up and a bit more attention is being paid to the South American country. Hopefully people will start noticing that civil war.

Thirdly, I have not lost track of Afghan and every single other Middle Eastern country where women are being treated unfairly in the name of religion. Islam is an endlessly intriguing religion, and I don't blame it fo the cause of the troubles so much as I do the men who are constantly, in every religion, interpreting it incorrectly. Let's not forget the Afghan women.

Lastly, and perhaps most obviously, I'm freaked out by this country. Apparently it has become acceptable to stay on your presidential vacation for a few days while things take care of themselves down south. I could go on, but it's late, and my list of things that make me cry at night is growing ever longer (anti-choice justices, exhorbitant healthcare costs, anything having to do with immigration and national security, and so on). It's important that if any of this intrigues you, that you Wikipedia it, or Google it, or cnn it. Knowing what's happening outside of your little social circle of the couch, the tv, and yourself, is inherently important. So do it.

Not as Bad as "No" Not as Good as Progress

The FDA is at it again.