Posts (page 2)

Today was more gardening and planting. I really enjoy working outside in the dirt...apparently my grandfather did too, so it must be genetic or something.

Tried the apparently Colbert Report famous Spicy Sweet Chili Doritos. Now mind you...I'm a Doritos fan. I know they are bad for me. I know they are full of MSG and other evil ingredients. But damnit...I love those spicy nacho doritos. When I was in high school I'm pretty sure I ate a bag of them every day at lunch. So I always have to try any new Dorito flavor. And the spicy sweet chili weren't bad. They have a good kick to them, and they weren't overly sweet like I was afraid they were going to be. If you like doritos, and you're into a slightly sweet but spicy flavor I suggest trying them out.

Mmmm mmm tasty cheesy evil. :D

There's nothing like coming home and being reminded that it's still what it was.

Sweet tea that my dad had brewed in the fridge, my parents lovingly bickering with each other (although they seem to get along better than before), my mom scheming big ideas for the house, and some of the same old stuff in the same old places.

It's weird sometimes, having two homes. I'm still struggling to find that lack of "permanence" to Chicago, especially when I come to Kentucky. I think it's because I just don't feel quite settled into the apartment, and the lack of a car is so weird to me. Oh, and all the stuff I haven't figured out yet. Hah. But it still feels like home whenever I come back.

Well...off to help my dad in planting a bed. Bed as in where flowers go....we're not trying to grow king mattresses in the backyard or anything.

This is something I've been wanting to comment on for while.

When, oh when, did it become socially acceptable for men to SPIT anywhere whenever they want?! From my understanding, this behavior at one point was considered downright offensive and unacceptable. Spitting on the ground in front of someone or near someone was considered to be worth provoking a physical fight over. It was considered a challenge, like smacking them in the face with a glove. Or saying something about their momma.

Beyond that, it's just gross. I don't need to try and be side-stepping your expelled mouth cooties, and I don't need to listen to the horrifying noise you make to try and get every amount of mucus/water/parts of your brain into your mouth so you can spit. You sound like a dying animal. And I am tempted to shoot you to put you out of your (and my) misery. Really, what is so wrong with your spit that you need to projectile eject it every few moments?? If you desperately need to spit (and I'm assuming this is either because you've coughed something up, had a bug fly in your mouth, or eaten something horrifying) do it in a trashcan, in a napkin, or discreetely away from everyone else. Do not just go around spitting all over the place wherever you please!! It's gross. If you are congested, buy some Sudafed. If it doesn't help, you may have a more serious problem - outside of your excessive inability to be able to behave in public.

And just so the men don't feel shunned...ladies: stop chewing your gum with your mouth open. I'm glad your enjoying it, but I don't need to see and hear your enjoyment. You keep it up, and I'm going to start throwing crap in your gaping sticky maw. Most likely the man-spit off my shoe.

Grand Theft Auto IV dropped recently, and reminded me that there is still a massive desire for products that are incredibly racist and misogynistic. Violence aside (since I’m not one who always believes there is a direct correlation between violence in videogames and violent behavior) the game itself is problematic for other reasons. While the majority of news sources focus on the fact that the game is incredibly violent, they seem to look over the race and women-hating issues in the game. For example, all the African American characters in the game are gang-members fulfilling the angry black man gangbanger stereotype. Women are simply props in the game – they almost are all prostitutes that you are rewarded for killing after you have sex with them. There are no female leads in the game, and the black leads are all extremely negative stereotypes. All the minority characters are portrayed in a negative light (they are often the ones causing the corruption in the city). The game, consumed by mainly white middle class men, is clearly designed to promote certain beliefs or at least a certain ideology. It isn’t the violence that scares me, but that white men apparently need this “outlet” to get out their hate towards minorities and women. Why should this hate exist in the first place – and do games like this allow it to come out in a safe environment, or does it continue to promote the hate itself? Often times these companies go by the same rhetoric as insult comedians do, or insult shows – we are offending EVERYONE equally. But is it really equal? If you continue to lampoon minorities that are struggling, isn’t that different than a barb at the majority in power? And even though you are hitting on supposedly every group, does that really make it okay? And are you really hitting on every group equally? And what sort if impact do each of these insults or insinuations make for each group? Even if you shoot everyone, if you shoot someone with a BB gun and someone with a cannon, there is a difference in impact there. Do you simply poke fun at whites so you can get away with true racism? And from whom are the attacks coming from? The argument that “oh, everyone is attacked so it is okay!” is completely faulty – it is just a way to cover up and get away with being racist and misogynistic.

Going back over the comments made by Barack Obama about the working middle class, I think there is something that is being overlooked. Sure, there is a problem with him making the overarching generalization that the working class is a set of bitter, gun-toting, hate mongering bigots. I mean, plenty of rich upper class are hate-mongering. Plenty of college-educated people are hate-mongering. I think it has more to do with lack of education and exposure to other people who are different from them, or exposure to the situations going on that cause them to have negative viewpoints. But the most interesting thing is that these comments about the working class are so clung to and harped upon when the meat of the speech is ignored - that he can supposedly enact change without telling you what he is going to do! That he can make things better without causing a noticeable change in your life. "But the truth is, is that, our challenge is to get people persuaded that we can make progress when there’s not evidence of that in their daily lives." He mentions people being bitter in these towns because they haven't had jobs in a long time and the government keeps them down, but he doesn't say anything about helping them! I would be less concerned about him calling them bitter, less concerned about their supposed obsession with guns and religion, and more focused on the fact that he doesn't have any solutions for these people! Sure they may hold these negative viewpoints because they are tired of being run-down all the time, but why does that matter? Why does that need to be pointed out? What are you going to do to improve the situation now that you have recognized it? What are you going to do to try and educate them about these problems that you want them to care about? How are you going to help them so they don't need to blame others for the bad things that are happening to them? It is a very sad state of our politics today that we are more focused on who is name-calling who, and who is using the wrong words, instead of who has the best solutions and ideas. It is convenient that Obama calls for change - but in a very vague, round-about way. Who knows if the change he wants is the change I want too?

Recently Congress just voted to ban discrimination based on genetic predispositions for illnesses.

What?

So I can be predisposed to cancer and you won’t fire me but, but if I’m gay you can?! Don’t get me wrong, I understand that this bill is important. But it IS true that you are going to cost your company money paying your medical bills for your illness, when being gay harms no one and costs nothing to the company. I think it just goes to show what a grip the Fundamentalist Christians have on our country when it is so impossible to give people basic human rights. I can understand not wanting us to be involved in marriage, a institution largely considered to be religious based, but to not provide us with just basic human rights?

In addition, what if you believe that being gay is in your genes? I am then predisposed to be gay because of my genes – I mean, it may put being gay in the realm of an illness or disease, but at least then I won’t get fired or discriminated against! Some people say that if we try to line up being gay with genes that they will try to “fix” it. Well the day of gene therapy is far ahead in the future, and being gay is such a complex mix of genes and environment that it will probably never be “fixed” by gene therapy. So, maybe this can be used to the advantage of pushing forward the GLBT ERA, considering that most of the evidence leans towards there being a genetic predisposition to being gay. It seems like a double standard to me – if you are predisposed to an actual physical illness then that is okay, but if you are predisposed to be attracted to a certain gender, then that isn’t and you’re still going to be fired because of it. Are we going to pick and choose which genes are “okay” and which are “covered” by this law?!

So my sleeping schedule is all kinds of messed up. I've been going to bed at 1:30 or 2 am and then basically unable to get up until 11 am. I almost NEVER sleep in that late - usually I can't sleep much later than 10 or 10:30. But even after getting roughly 9 hours of sleep, I still am tired. My lymph nodes have felt a little swollen lately, so maybe my body is trying to fight something off.

It's nearing the end of the semester. I have a take home final to do, and a major paper left to write. I've been slowly making my way through the paper, but now progress has halted as I found out I didn't get the internship I was hoping for. So now I have to scramble to find one before the end of the month. It's getting to be that all my good news is consistently paired with or outweighed by bad.

Also, newspapers please stop calling the democratic nomination race over before it is actually over. Both candidates still have a fair chance, and I think it is a race that should be decided by...I dunno...the voting populace instead of smart-ass know-it-all political pundits who are often wrong.

But...that's just me. I've been unimpressed with Obama lately, and I don't know if he has the gumption or the ability to stand up against McCain....and I do NOT want to see McCain in office, people! I dunno if Obama can win over enough of the working class or on the fence republicans to win the overall election. So yes, for me it is more about making sure that a republican is NOT in office, as opposed to having the best possible democrat in office.

I'm not much of a TV fan. I haven't been since my sophomore year of college and I made the wise decision not to pay for cable. Since then, I've looked upon most things that come upon the TV with disdain. Personally, I'm more of an Internet and book fiend.

But, I do have to confess that my friend got me addicted to Lost when the second season came around. I borrowed his DVDs of the first season and basically had a marathon of watching them. Since then, I've been hooked - no other show has kept me this engaged! Sure, there have been other shows I have been a fan of. Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Xena, Family Guy, Futurama, The L Word. But no show has consistently kept me interested, and very actively engaged. The L Word lost me midway through this season and I still haven't caught up on the episodes. I also like Heroes a lot, but haven't been able to figure out if/when it is coming back on air (or on the Internet, since I don't have cable), which kind of turns me off - I like to know when my shows are coming back!

But Lost is incredibly engaging for me. I love the complex character analysis, the interwinding storylines, the confusing puzzles, and the labarynth feeling to the show.

However, I do have a complaint. Stop the extreme focus on the Jack/Kate/Sawyer triangle. It's getting to be tedious. We know she can't choose. We know they are pissed about it. But for serious, it's getting exhausting to watch episode after episode that seems to be focused on their dysfucntional-ness.

I will forgive you, writers, for this annoyance. But only because the Jin/Sun storyline is so good.

Sorry if you aren't a Lost fan and are totally confused by the above rant, but I just had to get that out. If you haven't gotten into Lost, I would seriously recommend you check out the first season. It's probably some of the best stuff on TV. Great acting, fantastic writing, and very excellent cinematography.

Also....all the cool kids are watching it.

My schedule, as per usual, is going into "crazy stupid ridiculous" mode.

I think for the past 6 years I have been consistently called "one busy girl".

Which I love - don't get me wrong - being busy is important to me. I like to do stuff, and I like to have a lot going on. But what I do NOT like is being overwhelmed. Something has gotta give! Oy.

Today is trying to get props for the drag show, mail some stuff out, write a paper, meet with a professor, turn in the paper, do a presentation, get home to snarf down some dinner, go to a late-night drag practice, come home and pass out. And tomorrow is work, throwing a few last minute things together, and drag show. Saturday is early morning class, and then FINALLY some time to myself to work on homework and schedule working out. Sunday is work again.

At least I am finally organizing my life - I now religiously use my Google calender to plan. If you have ADHD, or a poor memory (which I have both) but are a little tech-savvy let me recommend two things to you:
1. Start using Google Calenders. It can integrate into your gmail (which is super nice) and it's a very friendly and simple interface.
2. Download firefox and install the google calenders add-on as well as the gmail add on. The calender add-on will let you see events for the day and future days, as well as give you a quick link to your calender when you need to update. The gmail add-on will show you new emails (which really means the number of emails you just haven't dealt with yet) and also alerts you when a new one rolls in.
Used wisely, these tools can be very beneficial. I also have begun organizing my surfing activities to begin limiting them more. I have a folder of "dailies" as well as a folder for my "webcomics" and once I've clicked through them, I try to leave it at that.

Getting organized is HARD if you are not a natural at it. But with determination, it is possible. But you have to want to  be organized first - nothing will follow if you don't have the drive.

When I was walking home today, I heard a sound that always takes me back to my childhood.

Instantly I am transported back into the body of a scrawny pale red-headed girl with an easy smile that seemed out of place under intense brown eyes. The sound would creep into the red brick of our suburban house, past the blue shutters on the windows, and the wood door. Sometimes it would drift around the house all together and sneak into the backyard where I may have been swinging or telling stories. Sometimes it would drift to me playing in my room or in the back of the house. At first it would cause a head tilt - a questioning of if the sound was actually there or only imagined. As it slowly grew in volume, thoughts would be confirmed. I would scramble to my feet, which were probably bare, and stuff my hands into my pockets. I would run, trying to find the first parent I could to beg for change. After the appropriate amount of quarters, dimes, and nickles were counted into my small reaching hand, I would clutch my fingers around the shining round pieces and bolt off. You never knew if it would come down our cul-de-sac, or just sit at the top of the road for a bit. Skinny legs with knobby scarred knees would pump, as I burst out of the house towards the sound. A large, colorful truck that the other kids were already streaming towards as well. Then it would be time to come to a decision - a rocket pop? A push-pop? No, today it would be a Good Humor Chip 'n' Dale Fudge Bar. I would push the coins into the hand of the vender, who would grin at me and hand me my treat. In the burning Kentucky heat, a good majority of it would be melted on my hand half-way through eating - but it didn't matter. My friends and I would sit around, faces covered with blue syrup, fudge, and a variety of other sticky residues - which would be quickly transferred to whatever clothing we were wearing. And then it was time to be off again - to bike races, sprinkler runs, or water gun fights.

Oh, summer.

Now if it was only 20 or 30 degrees warmer in Chicago....