Why Can’t We All Get Along?

I started another (YES ANOTHER) blog.  This is the first post on it.  I really just can’t sit still anymore.  Also, behold the first blog post I’ve ever written that contains no profanity.  Now you know I mean serious business.

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I guess the reason I started this blog comes from the news that Rush Limbaugh was rushed to the hospital tonight with chest pains.  I  found this out on Twitter, which as you can imagine, is an infestation of everything wrong with the way we as humans think.  I was rather horrified to see people actually hopeful that this man would die.  Further, those who label themselves as conservatives or right-wing are taking the opportunity to generalize all those who may consider themselves liberals or left-wing.  WHY?

Because human beings, I have determined from 21 years of first hand research, are disgusting.

Seriously, let's all take a look at ourselves.  First we must categorize ourselves into completely ridiculous and arbitrary groups (conservative, liberal, religious, atheist, gay, straight, poor, rich).  Next, hate everyone who does not have the same views, ideas, and/or experiences as we do.  Bash the "other side" relentlessly.  And what does this accomplish?  Absolutely nothing.  This "us-against-them" game never ends.  Neither side will ever be able to get ahead, which in turn makes nothing change.

This is why I created this new blog.  I may only be 21, but I'm already sick of the way we think, particularly in America.  Seriously, try watching Congress or even one of the 24 hour news networks.  It's so reminiscent of high school it's not even funny.  Some of these people are 3 times older than I am and yet act less than half my age.  What happened to calmly discussing things like adults?  Cooperation?  Compromise?  Working together?  Respecting everyone around you just for being human, even if you didn't quite see eye to eye?  Maybe this never happened and I'm just ridiculously optimistic.

I honestly think we could change though.  With work and patience maybe we can start fixing things.  At this point, it's just me and a blog I've started out of anguish and frustration with the world, but I do hope there are others out there just as optimistic as I am.

The world just sucks right now.  I just see all of this fighting and bickering...and for what?  Nothing gets accomplished with screaming contests, insults, and violence.  At least, that's what I was taught in third grade. However, I don't see why that wouldn't work in the real world as well.  I have hope that we humans still have enough good in us to start viewing things in a different way.  Perhaps we'll learn that what we're doing isn't  working.  Perhaps not.

For now, all I can change is myself.  I'll be taking on the world though, one person at a time.  It's my 2010 resolution.  Game on.

Fuck yes, we can!

So there's this crazy rumor going around that Barack Obama got elected for President. It's almost like my friends threw an election party in their apartment during which we made delicious cakes,


then when the winner was announced we shrieked like fire ants were in our panties and jumped around like kangaroos on goofballs. Arriving back to campus at about 12:20, there was a mini parade going down campus walk.

I screamed "FUCK YEAH, OBAMA!" and received many a high five for my awesomeness. What a great time to be in college.

Roomie and I also kick ass at playing Damien Rice's "Coconut Skins" on guitar, and disturbed several neighbors who peeked out of their windows to see what herd of cattle were getting mutilated with out of tune guitars.

Sweater #2 is 1/4 done. And I realize now that I never posted pictures/pattern of the other one I made, but you shall have to wait.

Fallout 3 might be my new favorite game. Out of the way, Gears of War. Marcus Fenix, I know you and I have had some good times killing the Locusts. And I apologize for laughing when I allow you to take a missle to the chest and explode into chunks. But Fallout 3 lets me create my own badass character, Sunny, who looks sort of like me and is also severely badass. I've had good times consorting with ghouls, Wastelanders, and those kooky folk in Rivet City. My karma is so good my Pip Boy 3000 makes me look like Jesus. I've got to find my father, you understand. So until GoW 2 comes out on PC or I get an XBox, I think we need to take a break, Marcus.

I need to lay off the Mountain Dew. Anyway, it's 1940's Dance tonight, hosted by my Swing Dance club, so I'm stoked. I will party it down and probably get twirled around like a top, possibly thrown up in the air. Supposedly there will be people from the armed forces there. YAY! I love troops. The proceeds also go to Veterans of Foreign Wars, so it's a good thing we're doing.

So I'm gonna go get ready to get my groove on.

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Now playing: Dir en grey - 24ko Cylinder

Oh, Mary Wash...

University of Mary Washington! My home! How I missed your leaf blowers at 8 in the morning! How I missed the maintenance trucks that creep along behind you when you're trying to go to class with your headphones on, and look behind you to suddenly realize HOLY SHIT THERE'S A TRUCK 2 FEET BEHIND YOUR ASS! How I missed the rabid squirrels that will sit on brick walls and make threatening noises at you, although a swift kick would kill them! How I missed the brick walkways that will trip you and totally wreck your shit if you're not careful!

Yeah, fuck that.

So my sweater is 99% done. I still have to weave in some yarn ends. But that's for a super special blog post, which will include my modified pattern. Fuck yes.

So I was on break. I had planned to do all this shit and get ahead in my classes, but I got home and said "FUCK THAT." I slept the entirety of the first day (I'm not even kidding), watched MST3K the entirety of the second day, and shopped the entirety of the third day. That third day was really productive though. I was probably the reason the economy did better that day.

Also, while I was home, I listened to entirely too much Jeff Buckley and The Who (200 and 169 plays, respectively). They teamed up and kicked Radiohead out of my number 1 on last.fm, when Radiohead was about 200 plays above both of them before break. Obsessive music listening. I am guilty.

I'm wearing a dress today and I realized why I never wear dresses. Because I can't sit in them. I mean, I can, but not in a ladylike manner. I usually sit with one leg tucked under me, and I can't do that in this dress. It's a good thing I'm wearing leggings because I'd be Lohaning everyone in my classes.

In preparation of the last debates tonight, Cracked.com had this article on what would make the debates more interesting. I, in my MST3K fantard biased opinion, think #2 should have totally won. But that's just me and my tardism. I want a Rifftrax and a Cinematic Titanic episode for the debates. Also, if I get back from swing dancing tonight in time, I may do a kooky live blogging thing for the debates. If I decide I care enough. And I don't forget its on. And I don't decide to go play Halo 3 instead.

Time for work that I totally neglected over break.

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.

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.

And...I still forget I have a blog.

So Valentine's Day is coming soon, which means old memories will be brought up. Ugh. You know how there are times that you forget 50 weeks out of the year, but then for about two weeks it hangs on you like a damn monkey on a tree? Yeah, that's my life right now. Not going into details, though.

Still playing on Vote for the Worst. I finally got a t-shirt too, but my timing was maybe not the best with all the election stuff happening now, haha. It's been sort of annoying trying to explain to people what VFTW really is.

Speaking of election shit, Bill Clinton visited my college today to campaign for his cyborg wife. I had the option of skipping class and going, but I really fucking hate Hillary. Bill, didn't mind too much. But her, GOD I hate her. Also, there's a cutie in my Greek class and I like my eye candy. So screw the Clintons, I'm waiting for Obama.

Also, Crysis is a fantastic game. I bought a new video card simply for that game. That's how much I love it.

Saturday night I went to this place in Maryland called Glen Echo with my swing dance club. It was a fucking blast, but my legs still ache. Hey, you try dancing in heels for 4 hours straight. However, my legs will look great if I continue such a workout. Basically in swing dancing, as the female, you are thrown all over the dance floor and have to stay on your feet and, if your lead sucks ass, figure out what the hell your partner is doing. Some of the guys were really fucking good, and for some odd reason the Asian men in particular. Dudes know how to get their swing on. On the way back we got coffee and chips, and listened to the Beatles. I can't wait to go again, it was so fucking awesome. I'm such a swing nerd, LOL.

Anyway, my typing is probably annoying my room mate who is trying to sleep, haha, so I'd better get off here. Adios.

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Now playing: Jeff Buckley - Dream Brother
via FoxyTunes