When Obama and Biden Came to Mary Washington.

Roomie, roomie's friend, and I notice at about 1 PM that the line is getting really fucking long, so we scoot outside. The end of the line can't even be seen.


We find out later that there are 26,000 people lined up. This is how long the line was. It starts at the X, where the rally was held.

So we cut in line. Yes, we are severe assholes. But seriously, we stood beside people we knew, and there was no one there to tell us not to. Normally I would feel bad but in this case I didn't care. Again, asshole here. Anyway, we got in at about 3 PM (waiting for about 2 hrs in the sun), and got a good spot about 30 ft away from the stage. Awesome. Now all we had to do was wait.

And wait.

And wait.

Remember that it's hot in the middle of the field, and we had to give up our water at the gates. Then the fucktards didn't even bring enough water. So people were passing out, complaining about water, and the idiots running this thing only threw out about 6 bottles every 10 minutes. Because 6 bottles are really going to satiate 26,000 people. A friend finally just stole one from the press, who had cases upon cases of fucking water. We shared that bottle between six people, which didn't last at all, but dammit, it was the best 2 sips of water ever.

Then it started fucking raining. We had one poncho between the three of us, because in addition to being assholes, we are rock stupid. So we held the poncho over us, which did absolutely nothing, and I eventually just said "Fuck this shit" and stood out in the rain. Now of course I regret this decision, as now I am sick as hell. However, the poncho made a great water collection device, and we, being desperate, earned 2 more sips of water. Delicious acid rain water, but H2O nevertheless.

Then there was more waiting. We had also been standing in the best part of Ball Circle where it always floods and gets muddy whenever it rains, so this is what I had to stand in for about 3 hours:
My feet kept on getting stuck in the mud, and if I didn't keep moving my feet I'd have a hard time getting my shoes out. One cannot even convey to anyone who wasn't there how absolutely miserable everyone was. Whomever was running this thing had no fucking idea what they were doing.

It's now about 6 PM. The thing was supposed to start at 5:15. Needless to say, everyone is getting more pissed off by the minute. Although everyone had known that he would be late, it was obnoxious to continue hearing the same 10 songs over and over again, and without someone entertaining the crowd or at least giving us updates. Finally, some guy comes out.
It's a goddamned minister. Excuse my heathen mouth, but the last thing I wanted to hear was some bullshit prayer with clear political overtones. Thanks for combining the two things that annoy me the most. Also note the rain coming down.

There are a few other guys, but I put my iPod on because I didn't fucking care. Also, it was vastly entertaining to watch people try to energize a crowd whose energy was long gone while listening to Ben Folds. Ben Folds definitely boosted my spirits, though, so thanks Ben.

Then some people come out and start fiddling with the monitors and podium for 45 fucking minutes. At this point everyone's pissed, because these people are so concerned about getting the right angle for the monitor that they fool with that shit for nearly an hour. The audience finally starts booing. Can you blame us? It's about 7 PM, some people have been standing in line since 9 AM, and these fuckers are going to stand there and get frazzled over the damned monitor? Hell no! The only funny part was the state trooper, who I guess they got because he was the right height.
Finally. FINALLY. HOLY SWEET JESUS, SOMETHING IS ACTUALLY HAPPENING. Then suddenly...
AND the crowd goes wild. Yaaaaaay. So there's Joe. He was pretty awesome. He mostly did a lot of praise of Obama, cracked a few jokes, and called Mary Wash a great school (KISS ASS).
I hated the fucktards who kept putting their children on their shoulders. Not only are you blocking the view of people behind you, but the kids are too young to even give a shit anyway. I definitely heard the kid in the above picture whine, "Mommy, I want to go home."

Then the showstopper came on. And again, the crowd went wild. Yaaaaay.
He was as good as you'd expect. He did a bit more McCain bashing than I hoped he would, but he did talk about his own policies and plans about 50-50. And while I don't agree with everything he says, Obama definitely would be the better President.
It started to rain again, but Obama kept right own going. He even took off his coat and handed it to Biden, who was giggling because we were all like "OOOOOOHHHHHHHHHH" when Obama took it off. It was hilarity. Biden asked him if he wanted a hat, to which Obama replied, "I don't need a hat!" Again, everyone thought it was great. I was laughing my ass off.
Biden with his hat. You can't see it, but he's striking the most awesome Captain Morgan pose ever, with one leg up on a stool. He should totally win that pose-off contest, if it's still going.

That was pretty much it. It was an entertaining night, and worth the waiting and misery, but I'm not doing that again. As I mentioned before, I feel like shit right now. Not to mention I drank about half my weight in water when I got home. Ew.

Obama/Biden Rally: Serious Business

So Obama and Biden are coming to my campus on Saturday. YAAAAAYYYY! However, check out all of the restrictions we will be under, and keep in mind our campus isn't big. It's going to be bananas.

The gates to the rally area - Ball Circle - will open at 3:00 p.m. on Saturday. Everyone entering the area will have to pass through metal detectors. No drink or food may be brought into Ball Circle. There will be water available, supplied by the Obama campaign, for those inside Ball Circle.

This is a rain or shine event and will NOT move inside in the case of rain. Umbrellas are not allowed through security so please plan to wear/bring rain gear if the weather forecasts call for inclement weather.

UMW will observe liberal parking on Saturday from 8:00 a.m. until 10:00 p.m. By 10:00 p.m., all security barriers will have been removed and campus restored to ‘normal.’

Special requests or needs must be addressed directly to the Obama campaign through their website: www.barackobama.com. UMW staff is not in the position to offer or arrange for special requests.

1. Lot 3 (Chandler) and Lot 16 (Monroe small lot) will close at 5:00 p.m. on Friday, 9/26 and remain closed until the event ends on Saturday evening at approximately 7:30 p.m.

2. At approximately 5:00 p.m. on Friday, 9/26, College Avenue between Brent and Rowe Streets will be closed for parking. No parking may take place and any vehicle violating the City’s no parking signs will be towed.

3. Chandler Hall will close at 8:00 a.m. on Saturday, 9/27, and not be accessible until the event is over. This means no access to offices, classrooms, or labs. All meetings that were scheduled to take place in Chandler Hall on Saturday have been relocated. Kaplan’s GRE/GMAT practice tests will take place in Trinkle Hall.

4. College Avenue will be closed to vehicular and foot traffic, between Brent and Rowe Streets, on Saturday from 1:00 p.m. until the end of the event.

5. Access to Double Drive off College Avenue from William Street WILL be possible throughout the day. Exit from Double Drive will be straight, along Brent Street, and then left or right on Stafford Ave to access William Street or Route 1.

6. Campus walk proper, running from George Washington Hall to Goolrick will remain open to foot traffic throughout the entire day/evening with the following exception: the portions of campus sidewalks running along Ball Circle at Virginia Hall, along Chandler Hall from Ball Circle toward Seacobeck, and along Virginia Hall from Palmieri Plaza toward Ball Circle will be closed from 1:00 p.m. until the end of the event. Please see the following schematic.

7. From 1:00 p.m until the end of the event:
- Virginia Hall will be accessed/exited from the Palmieri end of the building
- Ball Hall will be accessed/exited from the ‘rear’ door toward the Westmoreland lawn area
- Madison Hall will be accessed/exited from the ‘end’ door emptying onto Campus Walk

8. All windows facing Ball Circle must be closed and blinds/shades drawn by 2:00 p.m.

9. From 5:00 p.m. until the end of the event on Saturday evening, there will be no access into or out of Custis Hall unless an emergency situation exists and then will be done so under Police escort.

Basically, the entire midsection of campus is blocked off. I'm glad I don't live in Virginia anymore. It also sucks for the people in Custis Hall, which is a dorm. That must be where the dudes are staying before the rally.

But I shall bring the tale and related pictures after it happens on Saturday. Unfortunately it's supposed to rain so it'll be gross, but I'm going regardless.

EDIT: I just realized none of this makes sense to people not at Mary Wash. So here's a map, with my edits.

A Peek Inside the Life of Tinnerz.

Or, I got really bored last night and started taking pictures of my dorm room. They say you can judge someone based on their living quarters, so judge away.


My feet. And my ridiculously long and baggy, yet most comfortable pair of jeans. And they actually fit my delicious black girl hips! YAY!

Flamingo my roomie and I definitely stole from a luau thrown by one of the clubs on campus.

Monkey stolen from the same event, with a fucked up leg. We'll have to perform surgery on him one day.


The workspace, complete with attack llama to ward off crazies. Also, more MST3K then you can shake a stick at. And my beloved iPod Bartholemew.


My guitar <3. It is delicious. I've had it for about 5 years. I have 2 acoustics but given the space limitations at college I always choose to bring my electric axe. Its name is Pepper. Yeah, I name all of my gadgets for maximum confusion of others.


TV and window. Also notice what DVD is sitting on the dressers. If you can't read it, it's MST3K. I'm such a tard.


Remember the fail knitting I displayed earlier? Well look at that shit now! All I have left to do is finish the left sleeve, knit the hood, and sew in the zipper. Hot damn I'm good. Also notice how Herodotus sneaks his way into the picture.


TARD WALL!!! This picture was actually taken today because I just bought the Monty Python and Radiohead OK Computer posters this morning. So this is what it currently looks like. Last night it was bare and no one wants to see that sadness. Now it is pretty and filled with...holy shit that's a lot of testosterone on my wall. In my defense, I was actually looking for a poster of Janis Joplin this morning but ultimately failed. The search will continue.


The best thing about my dorm room is that the building is 101 years old, so it has these awesome high ceilings, walk in closets, and pipes that are perfect for hanging shit. Roomie and I keep coming up with new ideas on how to decorate, and especially given the fact that our room is one of the largest ones in the building (being in a corner) we have a lot to work with. I'm quite pleased with us.

Music that is severely underrated.

I was thinking about this topic earlier today when I was supposed to be reading Herodotus, and now that I need something to procrastinate from US labor history reading, I'm going to provide all 4 of my loyal readers with...


TINNERZ' ULTRA-AWESOME AND SOMEWHAT BAFFLING MUSIC LIST!!!!!!1!!1!!11
Anyway.

Blues Creation

70's Japanese hard blues rock? FUCK YEAH. This shit makes me dance like my inner whore. Besides, look at how fucking gnarly these dudes look. They could kick your ass and you'd be like, "Holy shit, I got my ass handed to me by some somewhat effeminate 70's Japanese blues rockers." And I have no idea what I'm talking about, so let's move on.

SOIL&"PIMP" SESSIONS

Sticking with Japan, we have these dudes. They're a jazz band. And they wail. One of their last.fm tags is "death jazz." Fuck yes. My fucking face melted the first time I heard them. Besides, when they have albums entitled "Pimpin" and "Pimp Master," you know you're in for some fucking awesome shit. And check out the cat in the middle. He's like an Asian Don Corleone. He'd wreck your shit.

The Black Keys

And now back to the grand ol' US of A. To Ohio, to be exact, where these two dudes are making the blues hot and spicy, Texas...no wait, I mean, Ohio style. At first I was like, "Wow, this black guy from the south is really good!" Then I realized it was two white guys from Ohio, and was even more impressed. I have serenaded my room mate more songs by The Black Keys than should ever be allowed. But that's what she gets for her goddamn Coldplay.

Portugal. The Man

HOLY GODDAMN I love me some P.TM. Every single album they've put out sounds different, but they still manage to be amazing. They can be all ambient and light, then sound slightly Motown-ish, then go electronic, then go folky AND IT ALL ROCKS MY FACE. It's like sex for the ears.

Free The Robots

Now I normally don't listen to rap or hip-hop. But this shit is good. The samples are amazing and totally unexpected. I swing dance to "Jazzhole" with my friends. It's so damn addictive and definitely gets my blood going. And because it's instrumental, I can study or read without stopping to sing along. I do, however, have to bust a move. Again, I apologize to my room mate.


Part 2 coming soon, as well as more Persian Wars battle history. It's time for work.

Two album reviews.

Portugal. The Man - Uncensored Colors
Best album of 2008.

The Sound of Animals Fighting - The Ocean and the Sun
Second best album of 2008.


Discuss.

I rawk at MS Paint.

Okay, so it was actually Paint Shop Pro. Same damn thing though.




This is what reading nothing but shit about the Greco-Persian wars for about a month will do to you.

And I can't believe Smartie put them on Idletard. Though I do need to get ready for my exhibit at the Louvre.

The Battle of Marathon, OH SHI-

^That's actually how I titled it in my notes, too.

So when we last left our Greeks, the Ionian city-states had just gotten their shit wrecked by the Persians while the mainland Greeks sat back hiding under their blankies. Dareios in 491 decided it was high time those mainland pussies got theirs, too. So he sent some messengers to the major cities, such as Athens and Sparta, to demand them pay homage to him in the form of earth and water. (Well played, Frank Miller.) Most of the Greeks (Athens and Sparta, most notably) finally grew some balls and were like "NO U," and executed the poor messengers who were simply doing their job (those messengers had families to feed, you animals!). And yes, Sparta really did throw the messengers in a well. No idea if "THIS. IS. SPARTAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH" was shouted though. Probably not because they, you know, spoke Greek.

But I digress.

So King Dareios was like, "Oh you fuckers." He gathered up an army of about 25,000 soldiers and put them under the command of his nephew Datis and his son-in-law Artaphernes. Tweedledee and tweedledum take their army to try to establish a bridgehead on Greek's eastern coast. They also got naval help from the Ionian Greeks, who knew better than to fuck with the Persians again. Datis and Artaphernes took their dudes over to Euboia, where the Eretrians, who had helped their Ionic kinsmen, lived. At this point the Eretrians were probably thinking, "Oh shit, we're are so fucked." And they would be correct. Although they were able to resist the Persians for nearly 7 days, not everyone was against the Persians. In fact, on the 7th day of fighting, Persian sympathizers opened the gates of the city for the Persians. Seriously. Needless to say, the Eretrians got their asses handed to them, especially after getting involved in the Ionian revolts. Most of the citizens were enslaved while the city itself was burned down. That's why you didn't fuck with Dareios, bitches.

Feeling pretty damn good about themselves, the Persians split up, Artaphernes staying behind in whatever's left of Eretria, and Datis taking Hippias, a tyrant they wanted to restore to power in Athens, and less than 20,000 me toward Athens. Hippias, thinking he would have some sympathizers in Marathon, told them to land there. Of course, the Athenians figured the Persians would pull this shit after Eretria's battle. So the Athenian army of about 9000, plus about 600 from the nearby town of Plataia, gathered on high ground to decide how to make their move. They also figured, "Hey, let's get some help from those kooky Spartans." Sparta agreed to help, but were in the middle of a religious festival and couldn't send anyone until the next full moon. Thanks, Sparta!

After a few days of arguing amongst themselves about what to do, the Athenians decide to go on the offensive, maybe because the Persian disposition was shifting. The Persians were like, "Oh, what the shit?" as the Greeks suddenly start attacking after not doing anything for several days. Or maybe the Greek strategy was to confuse the hell out of the Persians by sitting there staring at them from a mile away doing jack shit. Regardless, the wings of the Greek assault were able to push the Persians back across the plains, while the middle, well, not so much. Because the sides were getting closed in, the Persians realized that the Greeks could easily surround them and totally wreck their shit. They had to choice but to retreat back to their camp, getting chopped up by Greeks on their way.

All in all, the Persians finally got theirs. They lost 6,400 in comparison to only 192 on the Athenian side. Datis was forced to report his Blake Lewis-level of failure to Dareios, who probably handed him his ass in a handbasket.

Meanwhile, back at Marathon, the Spartans finally arrive. WAY TO GO, SPARTA! They are impressed with their fellow Greeks and praise their victory, the first a Greek force has seen against a Persian army. Then the Spartans probably went back to their festival.

The score was now tied, 1-1.

The Ionic Revolts: Epic Failure

Though Herodotus claims the hostilities between Greece and Persia started with a series of woman snatching, which then evolved into a bunch of "NO U STARTED IT U POOPIEHEAD!" whiny crap, the first fighting started around 499 B.C. These were the Ionic revolts, in which the Greek city-states currently under Persian rule tried to throw off the tyrants. Sounds really cool, but in actuality, it was a pretty epic failure.

So the king of Persia at this time was Dareios, presumably a kooky bastard, whose father had previously conquered the Greek city-states on the Ionian peninsula. The Persians had installed tyrants who answered to Persian governors, or satraps, and collected tributes to the citizens. These tributes were usually used for things that didn't help the conquered Greeks at all, so needless to say the Greeks were like, "Dudes, WTF."

In 499 Aristagoras, the tyrant of Miletos, caused some aristocrats to BAWWWWW when he exiled them (possibly for being cuntbags, but I dunno). The Persians sent some of their navy over to lay the smackdown on Aristagoras, but Naxos, the island on which Miletos was located, sucessfully held off the Persians and forced them to retreat due to lack of good l00t. Thus, Aristagoras was like, "Holy shit, I'm AWESOME!" and gave up his position as tyrant to help his citizens throw off Persian rule and install a government based on isonomia, or equal rights for all citizens. Soon other Ionian city-states were throwing off their tyrants as well, but knew that they would be pwned out of existence without some aid.

Aristagoras, being totally awesome, travelled to mainland Greece to appeal to the city-states there for help. Unfortunately, most of them were fucktards and refused to help because they were preoccupied being douchebags to other city-states (I'm looking at YOU, Sparta and Argos), warned by the Oracles that it was a bad idea (the Oracles should've seen that they possibly could've stopped Persia from invading the mainland, but noooooooooo), or other equally pansy excuses. Only Athens and Eretria agreed to send some troops, out of diplomatic, cultural, and economic ties, or they had nothing better to do.

So in 498 Athenians and Eretrians joined with the mostly Milesian army at Ephesos, and attacked the Persian strong-hold of Sardis. They threwdown pretty good on the Persians until Dareios sent some reinforcements their way. The Greeks were utterly defeated, and the mainland Greeks, being bitches, ran home bawwing to their mommies about how the Persians were mean and they didn't want to play with them anymore. Now the Ionian city-states have to rely on each other.

King Dareios was getting tired of these whiny Greeks at this point. Because I mean, tyranny is totally awesome, why couldn't they understand that? Bastards. Anyway, Dareios decided it was time to show these bitches some tough-love oppression, and launched a massive land and sea campaign against the stronghold of the revolt, Miletos. The Ionians, now all alone in the world, only had 353 warships and their awesomesauce leader Aristagoras had been killed by political rivals, and zombification had not worked out well.

So there were 353 Ionian ships against 600 Persian ships. Herodotus says the Ionians let out a collective "Oh shit, we are FUCKED." (Okay, so I definitely made that up.) Samos and Lesbos (tee hee hee...the Lesbians. BAWAHAHAHHA) deserted first, knowing that there was no way in hell they would see victory. That pretty much ended the battle right there. Miletos was pretty much anihilated, and the other city-states were forced into submission and punished severely for their backtalk. We're talking killing men, forcing women into harems, castrating boys...Dareios didn't fuck around.

However, the Persians felt kind of bad for all of this after the raping and pillaging was finished. In 493 the Persians reaccessed the amount of tribute the city-states had to pay, mediated any inter-city disputes, and removed tyrants and allowed the Greeks to install democratic governments. So in a nutshell, Persia cooperated with the Greeks, but they wanted to kill a few bitches first, just to show how awesome they were.

But then Dareios saw all these other nice Greek city-states on the mainland, and got to thinking...

Oh, come on now.

So aforementioned antisocial friend is now ignoring me. WAT. Like I haven't even seen her in over a week. I was smuggling a cat into my dorm this afternoon (more on that in a moment) and I saw her on campus walk. She looked right at me and didn't say a damned thing. Like, seriously?! I haven't heard or seen anything from her in ages, it's not like I've done anything to her.

And I just got a text message back from her saying she's stressed about a research project. Sure, because that always makes me look right through people. Oh well.

I've got a fucking cat in my dorm. Like, who fuckin cares about people, cats are far superior. A friend of a friend is letting my friend down the hall take care of her 19 week old kitten. His name is Peking and he's pretty awesome. I gave him a ball of yarn to play with and he is having a grand time. We're actually not supposed to have any kind of animal other than fish in the dorms, but somehow these people are keeping this cat. LOL. So that's the excitement of my weekend.

Nothing else going on. Room mate's gone home so I can walk around naked now. YAY. I think I'll watch 300 for lulz.

Ready for 300 to be ruined for you?

As a nerd for Ancient Greece, and a history major to boot, I am writing my History 299 (seminar) and my 485 (senior thesis) papers on the Greco-Persian Wars. Exciting? FUCK YEAH, if you're me at any rate. I also find great bemusement in the movie 300, partially because of how hilariously unrealistic it is. (But I honestly can't watch it anymore without the Rifftrax. I guess that's the MST3K-tard in me.)

So since this is my blog and I can do whatever I want, and there's nothing else of great excitement in my life ever, I'm going to report my findings as they come. Not to mention it will probably help me organize my thoughts.

Basically all this post is saying is, enjoy the new tag!

"Pulling a Tina"

Last night I was re-introduced to an interesting phrase.

My good friend Christine came to me last night upset with her boyfriend and his insecurities. She had walked out of his room because he had ruined a perfectly good night with sudden moping. (And they say girls are the only ones with mood issues. Like HELL.) As this wasn't the first time it had happened, Christine just got sick of it and told him she was tired and going to bed. Instead she came to me and cried, upset with him.

When she felt better she felt proud of herself for "pulling a Tina," or standing up for herself. This isn't the first time I've heard this phrase, and it confuses me every time. How did I become associated with sticking up for oneself and not taking bullshit from other people?

So I was pondering this last night. I guess it all starts, as most things with me do, during senior year of high school when my mental and physical wellbeing were taking a nosedive. Being diagnosed with panic/anxiety disorder and having to go to therapy is really where I started to grow into who I am now. I'm glad I went through that hell, because it made me stronger as a person and I get way more respect for it now. Fuck the one or two people who think I'm a major bitch nowadays, because I'm actually happier and feeling better than I ever have before.

But being through all that bullshit really made me realize I have to look after myself first and foremost. Yeah, people used to love me before for being so selfless, so caring, so motherly, but doing that also made me ignore warning signs that I needed help. I was so busy trying to take care of everyone and make everyone else happy that I forgot about myself. And seriously, I don't ever want to do that again. If someone really needs it, like Christine last night, I'll help, but people have to be self-reliant as well. I push them in the right direction instead of trying to solve their problems for them, letting them figure out things themselves. I had to stop trying to live other peoples' lives for them, and enjoy my own. Selfishness is not entirely a bad thing.

It still disturbs me when people say they want to be just like me. I still kind of fail as a person, honestly. Aside from all the health issues, I'm pessimistic, bitter, foul-mouthed, psychotic, lazy, and occasionally mean. I can hardly stand myself sometimes, I don't want to be around other people just like me! I guess I have more good qualities than bad, but still. I'm far from the most outstanding role model one could chose.

So don't pull a Tina. Do whatever the fuck you have to do to take care of yourself. You can't make everyone happy, and you'll only destroy yourself if you try.

Perfection.

So I love the band Portugal. The Man really hardcore. So when the lead singer John Gourley posted this on their Myspace, that love increased exponentially. A view of Sarah Palin from Alaskans. I'm reposting the blog in its entirety because it's just so gorgeous. Whether a blog post or a song, these dudes have a way with words.

Palin, Because We Don’t Need It

Here is a story from the younger pages of John Gourley (going by Johnny at the time)…
My first hunting trip.

All through my smaller years, from a boy through to a man, I have known true Alaskans. People who hunted for a living. By "a living" I should be sure to mean "for survival" or "as a necessity… Something along those lines… It was just a part of life growing up here in Alaska. People hunt, people work, people live, and fish and sleep and work and work and work and so on.

One of my earliest memories is also one of the most influential lessons of life in my later years. My first hunting trip.

I must have been around 6 or 7 at the time and the setting is Alaskan winter at my childhood home in the small town of Knik. My parents were both dogsled mushers* and we lived in a house powered by generator alone. (*purely out of the adventure and experience. Not necessarily our main form of travel… though there were some points in my life where it became our most available source of transportation.) Our nearest neighbors were a couple of miles away, give or take. This, again, is not needed in this story but only here for you to understand the place in which the story is set… We happened to be sitting in our living room when, outside our massive picture windows, we spot a moose. I will say, to a young boy, this animal was a giant. I can't honestly tell you in any way how large it actually was, but to my eyes there was and will be nothing bigger. My family and I were sitting around watching it mill about minding its nature and peeling bark from the young birch trees. After a few moments my father turns to me "Hey Johnny, you want to go hunting? You want to go get a moose?" My mind went running. I had never been hunting before. EVERYONE I knew had been hunting and hunted. They had gone out with their fathers and now it was my turn. I nodded my little head and ran to throw on my snowsuit while my dad went to get his gun.


We walked outside in the cold and the snow, him in his bunny boots and winter coat and myself waddling out like a small scale Michelin man to meet our Moose and our dinner for the next few months. I remember the snow being very deep. Realistically, a foot of snow was deep to a small child. For effect and in the spirit of adventure and Alaskan winters I will say it must've been the wildest winter I can remember. Meter upon meter of snow. The naked birch trees blending with the white now, leaving little blotches of black and grey at the knots and branches. There was our moose. We had run right into its path. Right where we wanted to be. My father crouches down to my already shrunken size "Are you ready Johnny? Should we get it?" I again nod my head. My father raises the barrel and looks through the scope. We were less than 20 yards away, if that. He pulls his head away from the scope and looks to me again. "Are you sure? Do you want me to shoot it?" This time I am confused. In my mind I am thinking, "Of course I want you to shoot it! We are hunting! This is what we do, isn't it? My friends have done it and I know you have as well! What are we waiting for?" But again, I nod. The nod was more out of fear of the moose hearing me. Normally I would have spoken my thoughts out loud. At the very least I would have questioned the hesitance. My dad looks through the barrel one last time. He turns off the safety and readies the rifle. He sights the moose and sits there for a moment. All the while I am looking from him to the moose then back to him then back to the moose. I hear the safety come back on and a turn back to see my father lowering the gun and resting it by his side. At this point I am about as confused as a small boy can be. Dad is looking at me and he says, "We're not going to get it." I ask him why. What he said has stuck with me throughout my entire life. "Because we don't need it." We simply stood up and walked back to the house, leaving the moose to its dinner of baby birch.
"Because we don't need it." Possibly the best lesson a man like this could have taught me. He moved up to Alaska in 1970, 2 years after he graduated. He lived in the deep woods in the mountains of Chase. He has run one of the most intense races in the world, The Iditarod, he worked as a potato farmer, lived off of 300$ for an entire year out in these woods… This man is as Alaskan as anyone I know. The lesson he handed to me was a respect of the world we live in. A respect for the animals we live with and the people we deal with. He has traveled around the state working in construction. Building homes for the people and buildings for companies and upon entering these small towns for work always insisted we hire within the community and support their way of life and living, despite what these companies felt to be the most economical. He has handed me so much, all of my family, really.

"Because we don't need it." My mother, Jennifer Gourley, is much the same. While my father was away working she would take care of our dogs and run the house. She would fix the generator when it would break down. She took us to baseball and hockey and gymnastics. She took on foster kids that needed help. Gave them good meals and a family setting. She volunteered as a firefighter when there were forest fires threatening the areas. When Big Lake and Knik were being evacuated. She has since, in the most recent years become a fire fighter, an ambulance driver, a rescue technician, part of the dive rescue team, and Willows firefighter of the year. She is a part of her community.

"Because we don't need it" was something that has been taught to me every day of my life through these amazing people and to watch Sarah Palin get so much attention based on what? 2 years as Governor of the State of Alaska? Or is it based on her time as the mayor of Wasilla? The town of 5,000 at the time.
"Because we don't need it."
We don't need drilling in some of our most beautiful and untouched land. We need to work towards options. We should be investing and working towards clean fuels. We don't need to be draining our planet of every last drop before moving on to the next. Sarah Palin disagrees
We needed votes to add the polar bear to the endangered species list. (I know, I know, that polar bear rug would really bring the room together!). Sarah Palin disagreed
We don't need aerial hunting… Again. We do NOT need this. I don't know of any true Alaskan that feels it is good sport to shoot an animal from a plane. Sarah Palin disagrees
We don't need book burners and censors. Sarah Palin pushed to get the librarian of Wasilla fired when certain books were not removed from the public library. Who else in history has banned books? Not very good company is it?
We don't need more debts. Palin spent 15 million on a new sports center in the valley, leaving the small town of Wasilla, Alaska in debt to the amount of 22 million. (That's 22 million more than the debt she took on when taking on this lovely playtime as mayor.) 15 million just for a new sports center.
We don't need family feuds interfering with duties. I know you feel your ex-brother-in-law was a dick… but trying to get him fired based on this may cause a little trouble. Sarah?
We don't need another vote against gay marriage. This is just standard every day equal rights being overlooked. Sarah Palin disagrees.

We don't need to overlook global warming. Science can now tell us "Yup. That is happening." Not my words, that is science speak. Sarah Palin disagrees.
We don't need a wolf in sheep's clothing… or a sheep in wolves clothing, depending on how you look at it. She has billed her self as this overly average "hockey mom" and it is just not what I see. I see the sport hunter, the censor, choice taker, the revelations reader, and the high school cheerleader. It is endlessly embarrassing to watch people fall all over this idea. This is not my Alaska. The Alaska I know.

What we do need is love and respect for one another and respect for the world we live in.