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.

Srsly u guise. Srsly.

I'm starting to realize that no matter where you are or what you're doing in life, you will come into contact with people who don't know how to deal with others, get problems solved and have a better life because of it.

So one of my chick friends for some reason, seemingly all of the sudden has this issue with one of my guy friends. Completely out of the blue, in my eyes. On Friday she said she wouldn't come to brunch with us because she didn't want to be around him. Note: I'd never heard her voice any issue with him until then, and we've all known each other for 2 years now. Later on she texted me saying that she would be at brunch because she didn't want her feelings to interfere with her friendship with the rest of us. But at this point I'm still like, WTF.

Yesterday I asked her to go into more detail about her problems with this guy. She said that she didn't like the way he "looks through you" while talking, like "he's better than you." This just made me even more confused, as in my opinion this is far from the truth. Dude also had a bad summer, and even if he did that shit before, he sure as hell isn't doing it anymore.

And this morning I was talking to him, and he mentioned that he saw her in the dining hall one day and she tried to avoid eye contact with him. He said, "I don't understand, it's not like I did anything to her, did I?" And from what she tells me, I don't think he did anything but be himself.

So I'm sitting here just shaking my head. I mean, I'm good friends with this girl and I know she had a tough time last year with a half-psychotic roommate, but why is she all of the sudden offended with this guy, whom I don't think she's even talked to since we got back?

To further the weirdness of it all, this girl continues to avoid my other guy friend, who I'll call B for ease. Last year and the year before she had a crush on him, but then hastily deleted him from her Facebook for some dumb reason (I know I shouldn't, but I still LOL to myself about the absurdity of this). Now she feels bad about it and thinks things are awkward between them, though I don't think they are. I think she's seeing things that aren't there. I also think she's jealous because B and I are quite close, so close in fact that multiple people thought we were dating, but we are not. Our close relationship probably gives her more stress, but I try to include her whenever we hang out. Then if we do hang out she claims it's "too awkward" though I doubt B has even realized the whole Facebook shit. So I mean, what am I supposed to do, stop being friends with B? I've told her multiple times just to add him back with a message like "OOPS LOL WRONG DELETION LOLOLOLOLOL" or something, and B won't know the difference because he's too concerned about XBox and whatnot. BUT NO. I guess that would be entirely too easy and much less fun than worrying about it.

Last year we all got kind of screwed up with a big breakup, with Crazy Psychotic Room Mate wanting everyone to choose sides. This girl claims she doesn't want that to happen, and instead is just isolating herself from the rest of us because she doesn't want to face her own issues. I guess I don't understand this, because I'm one to find solutions to problems before they escalate or I freak about about them, like this girl. Seriously, I think the only reason I see this girl as often as I do is because I call her multiple times in a day to get her out of her room. And I can't keep doing that shit, my AT&T plan is not fit to handle that. So as much as I hate to say it, I may end up having to cut this girl off too. I can't help someone who doesn't want to help herself.

TL;DR Crazy chick is pushing away everyone that likes her for stupid reasons.

Back at UMW.

And the place still fucking sucks. Seriously. The wonderful idiots at my college thought that, instead of using $5 million that was apparently just lying around for something that would actually help the university, its shittastic internet and barely edible food service, it buys a villa in Italy. SERIOUSLY, WHAT THE FUCK AM I PAYING FOR?! Clearly it's not for anything that's going to make my college experience better. Goddamn.

Regardless, my dorm and my room mate are awesome. Central air conditioning FTW. Plus my building is 100 years old. Living history, bitches. And my room is pretty big with lovely high ceilings.

So now I'm watching the Democratic convention, listening to Janis Joplin and procrastinating doing work (already, LOL). Basically I'm just waiting for Obama to speak, since I've missed every other part of the convention due to work. Might as well watch the last bit of it.

That's pretty much it. I'm too tired to write anything fascinating. LOL.

Bigfoot and other bullshit.

Bigfoot found?

LOL DOUBTFUL. From the Youtube videos of the press conference I've seen, they have some grainy images of something that looks like a Halloween costume. OH WOW! If these people had really found something, you'd think they'd take many more pictures and make sure they were of higher quality. Then again, these dudes seem to be some grade-A hicks, so who knows. And I could be wrong, it really could be bigfoot, and I'll own up to my mistake. But seriously, after all I've been through and seen of people through my worst of times, I've become ridiculously pessimistic and bitchy. So no bigfoot.

So this past weekend was my family reunion, mother's side. It was fun. I babysat infants and tiny dogs. LOL. I also had to watch my grandmother, who has Alzheimer's and can't be left alone anymore. It's so weird to see someone who was once so full of life and energy and love just sit around like an empty shell. My other grandmother had Alzheimer's as well before she died a few years back, and it's not as hard to say goodbye when they die as it normally is. The way I see it, with this disease, you're dead long before your heart stops beating. It sucks.

Work has been, well, busy. Luckily I get to stop before I go back, but my last day of work is my fucking birthday! WAT. And I don't feel like trying to get someone to switch shifts with me, so whatevs. It'll be my last day, so it won't be that bad. Next Sunday I get to go back to school, which I'm quite ecstatic for. My hometown sucks, and brings back memories I'd rather not remember. Which is why I'm moving to Boston when I get out of school. Just like the Augustana song.

I'm going to finish my knitting. I've got the back piece of my sweater done (FINALLY). Pictures soon. Right now I'm working on the left front piece which hopefully won't take too much longer. It's already going faster than the back. Thank God.

Later.

Holy God what is wrong with American Idol fans?

Read here, here, here, and here. Or just check out Smartie's entire site.

Do you feel ill yet?

Yes, these people are obsessing over people they have never (and most likely will never) know. Just because some people showed up on their TV for a few months, they feel as if they are these Idol contestants' BFFs. Seriously, writing Mary Sue fan fiction? Stalking on contestants' Myspace pages and even stalking them in their hotels? Barricading the fucking hotel so the AI winner can't get past them? Then trying to justify their pathetic actions and arguing with anyone who points out that they are a waste of humanity?

WHAT. THE. FUCK.

I fully and readily admit that I was a huge NSYNC and Backstreet Boys fan back in the day. But I was like, 10. Some of these fuckers are 40. Besides, I never even saw either band live, nor did I ever sit down and write a bunch of tard letters or fan fiction. Why? Because even as a tween, I had a life. Hell, I ran a *NSYNC fan site, but even that was mostly for the music, not for the members themselves. Plus, that was strictly a weekend activity. I can't even imagine sitting on these message boards for hours on end talking to other people about what the object of our affection is doing at that very moment. Even when I was little that seemed like a pointless waste of time when I had music lessons, homework, and chores to do.

Fast forward to when I was about 15. I can't even remember what I was really digging then. Probably because again, I had a life. I was more concerned with my music lessons, school, friends, and home life. Yet some of these teenaged idoltards waste hours of valuable time online making ridiculous and embarassing Youtube videos that make no damn sense, arguing with other fans, and/or making the same fucking message board posts over and over. What the hell? If my kids ever start that shit I'm going to smack them. It makes you wonder if these kids are even having normal social interactions with others. It can't be healthy to do nothing but sit in front of a computer chatting about the same subject day in and day out. And these kids' grades must be plummetting.

But what about those old bags, the 30+ crowd fawning over people who are in some cases young enough to be their children? Absolutely disgusting. At least with the younger ones there's a chance they will grow out of it. These women should fucking know better. They have their own families, their own spouses, but apparently not their own lives. It also shows the double entendre in this society, because a man their age lusting after a young female in the same manner would automatically be accused of being a pedo. Yet, these women are simply "COUGARS LOLOLOLOL." No, these women are just as creepy as the men. We shouldn't let these stupid excuses go idly by.

But these people would argue until blue in the face that their obsessions are harmless. Bullshit. When it gets to the point where people are running down the halls of the hotel where the idol contestants are staying, banging on the doors so they can't sleep, and barricading the hotel so they can't get past them, it has become VERY serious and potentially dangerous. Just ask the family of Selena how far crazed fans can go. Not to mention that you can't know who's on the other side of the screen. These people are giving out entirely too much information about themselves, and it's very easy to find people from just a bit of information.

Looking back at everything, I kinda hope the world will end in 2012. If this is the way our society's going, we just need to end it now.

WAT

Not working is boring. I've been playing Spider Solitaire all day, just waiting for tomorrow. Sucks that I'm actually anxious to go work in a retail store whose managers are completely useless. Anyway, moar useless memes that are inaccurate and no one cares about.

What Your Taste in Music Says About You

Your musical tastes are intense and rebellious. You are intelligent... but in a very unconventional way. You are curious about the world. You love doing something new. In fact, you enjoy taking risks and doing things most people would shy away from. You are very physical. It's likely that you're athletic, but not into team sports. You have the soul of an artist. Beauty and harmony are important to you.

What Does Your Taste in Music Say About You?

Athletic? I dance and jump arounda lot, does that count?

You Should Play the Accordion

You are eccentric, funky, wacky... definitely one of a kind. People have trouble putting you in any one particular category. You definitely have your own thing going on. You are a born entertainer. No wonder you'd be perfect as an one man (or one woman) band. Your musical influences likely cross all genres - and blend together in a very unusual way. While you are definitely offbeat, you also enjoy tradition and influences from the past. It's just your style to take an old fashioned instrument like the accordion and make it uniquely yours. Your dominant personality characteristic: your total inhibition Your secondary personality characteristic: your interest in obscure activities and subjects

What Musical Instrument Should You Play?

That's my true calling in life. The accordion. I'm going to play metal though. \m/

You Are Punk Music

You've thought long and hard about what mainstream society has to offer... And you've pretty much decided that most normal things aren't for you. You're creative, expressive, and likely to do things yourself. You are a rebel and a fighter. You'll defend your point of view to anyone.

What Kind of Music Are You?

Uh huh.

So anyway. Next weekend I get to go to NC for my cousin's wedding, then to the boonies of Southwestern VA for a family reunion the following weekend. So basically, I'll be seeing both sides of my family in two weeks. Kind of odd, seeing as to how I hardly ever see either side of my family, then suddenly everyone has something going on. It's funny too, because my dad's side and my mom's side are so vastly different from each other. I'm always surprised that my parents have lasted this long without killing each other yet. LOL.

Last.fm changed its look this week, much to the dismay of thousands of whiny users. I myself don't like it that much, but then again, I don't subscribe (in other words, pay for a few extra services that I would never utilize), nor do I actually sit there and stare at the website for hours on in, so I don't really care. But DAMN are some people bitching. It just kind of makes you wonder. People freak out over the oddest things and I ask myself, "Does the new layout of a website really affect people's lives in the long run?" Probably not. So why worry? I can semi understand the subscribers bitching, since all of them were in the beta and there was much dislike even then. But oh well. As I said before, it's a website. There are much more important things in the world, or at least there should be something more important in their personal lives. I hope.

I've almost completely given up on my sweater. Though I'm sure the conversions are correct this time, the pattern itself keeps fucking things up. Instead of just straight knitting, I'm supposed to work in seed stitch. But I may have to try it in regular stockinette so that the pattern doesn't keep getting fucked. ARGH. I should picked a less frustrating hobby, like scrapbooking or gardening or watching paint dry.

Whatevs.

SERIOUSLY?!

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/afp/20080718/tuk-britain-police-crime-a7ad41d.html

Okay, seriously people. As a black person this absolutely disgusts me. If we want to get ahead and stop being seen as subhuman, STOP FUCKING ACTING LIKE A BUNCH OF ANIMALS. What the fuck is wrong with the black culture that makes this acceptable? Biting and attacking police officers because your fucktard ass didn't want to pick up your damn trash? You've got to be fucking kidding me. What the hell did MLK fight for and die for if this is how you're going to act?

It's upsetting for me because I try so hard to defeat these stereotypes and show that not all blacks are like that, and I know many other people who do the same. Then some group of fucktards comes along and pulls some shit like that, then wonder why racism is still so prevalent and holler about stereotyping. Act like the fucking human beings you're supposed to be and we might have a chance of getting rid of most of it. Goddamn.

And yes, I know part of it's the pack mentality mindset that all humans have, but seriously, this violent shit happens way too often in black communities. What is wrong with us?

Shit I'm bored.

I'm just sitting here listening to Opeth and waiting to go to work. I hate working closing in retail. You would never believe how messy people are in stores. You really wouldn't think it'd be that hard to move a shirt that's medium 1 foot to the left or right to place it with the other mediums, so that a store associate such as yours truly doesn't spend an extra hour at the store putting everything back where it's supposed to go. What the fuck is wrong with people? Are they just that fucking lazy or retarded? FUCKHEADS. I swear, if I see someone I know doing that shit they're going to feel my wrath.

Anyway. Fun meme time.

9 Layers

A meme to peel aways the layers of you.

LAYER ONE:
-- Name: Tina/Tinnerz/Tibbz/T/Dumb Bitch
-- Birth date: August 21, 1988
-- Birthplace: Shenandoah Valley, Virginia
-- Current Location: Still there sometimes, otherwise at the University of Mary Washington

-- Eye Color: Brown
-- Hair Color: Blackbrown. Yes that's a color. LOL.
-- Height: 5'7"
-- Righty or Lefty: Righty
-- Zodiac Sign: Supposedly a Leo, but I think that's wrong.

LAYER TWO:
-- Your heritage: New Guinese/Irish/Native American/African/English/everything under the sun
-- The shoes you wore today: Chuck Taylors
-- Your weakness: Animals of any kind
-- Your fears: Spiders, death, clowns to an extent
-- Your perfect pizza: Every type of meat available
-- Goal you'd like to achieve: Long marriage with a bunch of kids and pets, hopefully be a stay at home mom

LAYER THREE:
-- Your most overused phrase on AIM: "LOL"
-- Your first waking thoughts: "AHHH FUCKK"
-- Your best physical feature: My physical features are all awesome.
-- Your most missed memory: Thanksgivings at my grandparents house, down in the boonies of southwestern VA

LAYER FOUR:
-- Pepsi or Coke: Pepsi
-- McDonald's or Burger King: BK
-- Single or group dates: Single
-- Adidas or Nike: Converse
-- Lipton Ice Tea or Nestea: Whatever's there
-- Chocolate or vanilla: Chocolate
-- Cappuccino or coffee: Cappuccino

LAYER FIVE:
-- Smoke: No
-- Cuss: Like a motherfuckin sailor
-- Sing: All the time
-- Take a shower everyday: Yes
-- Do you think you've been in love: Probably
-- Want to go to college: Already there
-- Liked high school: Only the last year or so
-- Want to get married: God yes
-- Believe in yourself: Sure do
-- Get motion sickness: No
-- Think you're attractive: I'm the hottest bitch around
-- Think you're a health freak: HELL no
-- Get along with your parent(s): Now I do, lol
-- Like thunderstorms: Sometimes
-- Play an instrument: Four of 'em

LAYER SIX: In the past month...
-- Drank alcohol: No
-- Smoked: No
-- Done a drug: No
-- Made Out: No
-- Gone on a date: No
-- Gone to the mall?: Yes
-- Eaten an entire box of Oreos?: No
-- Eaten sushi: No
-- Been on stage: No
-- Been dumped: No
-- Gone skating: No
-- Made homemade cookies: No
-- Gone skinny dipping: No (GOD, I FAIL AT LIFE!)
-- Dyed your hair: NO
-- Stolen Anything: NO

LAYER SEVEN: Ever...
-- Played a game that required removal of clothing: No
-- Been trashed or extremely intoxicated: No
-- Been caught "doing something": No
-- Been called a tease: Haha, I plead the fifth
-- Gotten beaten up: No
-- Shoplifted: No
-- Changed who you were to fit in: Briefly in the oh so malleable days of middle school

LAYER EIGHT:
-- Age you hope to be married: 25
-- Numbers and Names of Children: We'll figure that out when we get there
-- Describe your Dream Wedding: Not something I'm concerned with yet
-- How do you want to die: In my sleep, or in some awesomely brutal yet quick way such as an explosion
-- Where you want to go to college: Well I'm already at Mary Wash...
-- What do you want to be when you grow up: A mom
-- What country would you most like to visit: Greece

LAYER NINE:
-- Number of drugs taken illegally: None, because I'm not stupid
-- Number of people I could trust with my life: 7
-- Number of CDs that I own: Too many
-- Number of piercings: None, so far
-- Number of tattoos: None, so far
-- Number of times my name has appeared in the newspaper?: Possibly once
-- Number of scars on my body: At least 20
-- Number of things in my past that I regret: Absolutely nothing

Because baby birds are awesome.

I was supposed to be helping my father put a new screen door up a few days ago, but how could I resist this little bundle of cute? This is the one closest to me, and the only one I could ever get a decent picture of. It looks like it's giving me the stink eye. Probably is.



You can see the others' mouths in this one. My tiny friend is like, "Oh shut up and get that camera out of my face, I'm trying to sleep, dammit."

"MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMM!!! The human won't get out of my face!"

FYI, these are baby robins. Mama Robin didn't seem to mind me at all. She kept a close eye on me, but as soon as I backed about 5 feet away from the nest she returned to her youngins. I'm glad I didn't get my brains pecked out.

A pictoral adventure in knitting successes and epic failures

I, being the knitting fiend that I am, love trying some new things every once in a while. Sometimes these new endeavors turn out astoundingly awesome, boosting my ego to new heights, while other times...well...I'm reminded about how much fail still exists within me. Let's start with the good, shall we?

This of course isn't my first hat, but it is my first working from the top down. It was an easy knit too. I probably knocked this bitch out in a couple of days. You can't see it well in this picture, but it has a nice rib along the bottom that I quite like. Plus it fits snug (because I mean...it's a beanie) which I love. I'll definitely probably be using this pattern again, but hopefully using some different colors so I don't look like such a goth all the time. It's the one problem I have with my knitting: I'm always using dark colored yarn, which of course allows for more fuckuppery by me. The original pattern also had some stripes, but I wasn't feeling quite daring enough to attempt them. Onward...

Arm/wrist warmers. Yes, so I can be a scene kid when I'm not being goth. LOL. I'd always liked the look of these things, but I never found any that really fit my fancy. So when I found this pattern during the last few months of the last semester I knew I had make some. These were also very quick to make; I knocked out the long warmers in about 3 days, the shorter ones in about 2. The yarn is 100% wool so that shit is warm, much too warm to wear here in the summer but when fall and winter roll around you can bet I'll be rocking these bitches.

And now...all aboard the fail boat.

This is supposed to be the back section of a jacket/sweater I'm attempting. I had to convert the original pattern due to my needles and yarn choice, but sweet Jesus did I fuck that shit up. The thing that sucks the hardest is that I've ripped out and restarted this fucker at least 10 times by now. Which is why it is currently sitting on a pile of books and DVDs, looking sad and like a 5 year old with ADHD made it. I'm waiting until I can think clearly about it without wondering why I'm such a fuckhead. It's obvious it has something to do with my gauge conversions and my general knitting abilities. And I mean, look at the top part:

SRSLY WTF DID I DO? I must have forgotten to take my meds that day, or something. And I remember thinking, "Oh I'll just finish it, maybe it'll look right when I'm done." FALSE. It looks more retarded finished than it did while I was working. So soon I need to sit down and go over the original pattern and my converted pattern to figure out what I'm doing wrong. I think the main problem is that I have to do a shitton of math for it. And it's a well known fact that math and I just don't get along. I think I chose the wrong fucking hobby. LOL.

But see, the left front piece doesn't look as bad. The main problem I have with it is that it looks so damn small. I mean, I'm not a big girl, but I'm not anorexic either. Again, something with my math was way the hell off, causing everything to look either extremely retarded or as if it were made for someone half my size. This piece can probably easily be salvaged and fixed. Plus this would only be the third time redoing it, not the eleventh, and my patience hasn't completely worn out with it yet. YET.









And those are my current adventures. Hopefully, I'll get this shit worked out and I can say that I'm fabulous again.

All faith is gone in humanity.

Basically, over the past few months or so, my faith in humanity has declined at an astonishing rate. Finally, it hit rock bottom. In my eyes, humans officially suck. I include myself in this group, being human of course, and having severe moments of fucktardism. But Christ on a bike, I'm not the only one being a fuckup.

• Idletard.com: If you don't hate middle-aged American Idol fanatics who have long lost grip on reality already, you sure as hell will now.
• A girl (name withheld) with whom I used to be best friends with in elementary and middle school, sent me a Myspace message out of the blue to call me, among other things, a "butch dyke" because I had apparently said something not-so flattering about her. In all honesty, I don't even remember thinking about her since I left high school. So I figure, it's some shit from high school that this chick is bringing up. But no, I apparently said this about a month ago. I'm thinking, "Who the hell have I even talked to that she talks to? No one." So bitch is crazy. And I laugh. Yet I have to wonder, why is it that she was so bothered by the idea of me saying something when we haven't spoken to each other in years? Hell, if it'd been the other way around I probably would have forgotten it within the hour. I was done caring what other people thought or said about me quite some time ago. If you live life constantly concerned about what other people think of you and fighting unnecessary battles, you're never going to get anywhere in life.
• SecuROM. This shit royally fucked up my computer, part of the reason why I haven't been online as much. EA Games maintains that this shit isn't malware, yet TWO of my anti-malware programs caught it as a rootkit. Shit started screwing up my CD and DVD drives, my anti-virus, and even caused some memory leakage. Furthermore, Sony, the company who makes SecuROM, got into trouble a few years back because they were putting anti-piracy software that fucked up computers on music CDs. I had to send several CDs back to them so they could be replaced. So I've been buying EA's games, mostly Sim games, since the mid 90s and what I get for my years of support and money is a nearly ruined computer? Fuck you, Maxis. The bitch of it all is that SecuROM is hacked as easily as any other anti-piracy software, and with pirated games you don't get malware shit on your computer. So EA Games can suck my ass, I'm pirating games from now on. ARR.
• Youtube comments. Seriously, have you ever tried to read them? It's like jamming an icepick into your urethra whilst having lemon juice squeezed into your eyes. I've never seen such idiocy nor raping of the English language in one place. What is it about the Internet that turns so many people into total fucktards?
• This dumbass kid. Or, Darwinism at its finest. At 17 years old, he should've known better than to scale 2 safety fences for a fucking hat. The funniest part for me, morbidly of course, is the fact that my friends and I have an ongoing joke using the phrase, "Oops, I forgot my hat." This is said when we say goodbye, but are still present 5 minutes later and/or had to come back for some reason. Thus, when this first hit the press, my inbox was filled with links to the above and "FORGOT MY HAT." Morbid humor. Always grand.
• The fact that someone felt this needed to be studied. I hate the prejudice, racism, sexism and homophobia that still proliferates in the world. People are people, and when people get over petty differences and trying to label everyone things could be much better.

Rant over. I need to sleep.

Long ass week.

So much to say!

Tuesday, my favorite band, The Receiving End of Sirens, broke up. I'm still in a state of shock and depression. Bitches were my anti-anxiety and anti-depressants when I needed them the most. I feel like their music was such a big part of my life, especially the last half of high school when I was really going downhill mentally, and while I was learning to deal with my anxiety problems. So while I'll still love them in whatever they do next, it feels sort of like a chapter of my life is over.

Wednesday, VFTW lost our awesome pick, Amanda Overmeyer. She seemed happy about it though, which is why I wasn't too upset. Plus I know she'll be fine with whatever she decides to do. However, American Idol totally blows now. Best season ever my ass.

I found out today that LiveJournal users are striking for some ridiculously retarded reasons. It reminds me once again of why I got rid of my LJ and the ridiculously stupid drama that the users create. "OH NOES I'M REMOVING U FROM MAH FRIENDS LIST BC U DON'T UPDATE ENOUGH." Seriously, I had that happen at least three times before I decided "screw all of them." Now they're all up in arms because of a technical difficulty ("oh noes I can't have 'slashfic' as one of my interests, PROTEST") and because they decided to get rid of basic accounts, which if I remember correctly were the free accounts without banner ads. Seriously though, LJ users are some of the biggest drama-llamas I've ever seen in my life.

People protested outside of my class last night, which was a lecture about Margaret Sanger, the woman who advocated birth control. These crazy douchebag Christian fundies tried to say that Sanger was a racist. The speaker completely shot down all of their statements, showing how most of the statements they were using were taken completely out of context or simply completely fabricated, and it was beautiful and completely epic. I lol'd so hard. After the lectures they allow the audience to ask questions, and the protestors had nothing to say. Absolutely hilarious.

I met my room mate for next year today and it's definitely going to work out really well. We like a lot of the same things and agree on pretty much everything, so it's going to be a fun year. I was a bit worried at first, but now I think it's pretty fantastic. So yay for that.

MST3K has really brought out the bad movie lover in me, so I'm on a quest to watch some of the most awful movies ever made. The hardest part is finding free copies of them online so I don't have to pay for that shit! Just a few of the movies I need to see: The Blob, Plan 9 From Outer Space, and Starcrash. Starcrash basically because apparently it has David Hasslehoff IN SPACE. Like, holy shit. That has to be absolutely amazing.

So I just got caught up on LOST and holy shit, the Jin/Sun episode made me cry so hard. I partially blame PMS, but goddamn what a sad episode. Tore my ass up. It was beautifully done though, and I seriously loved it. That one and the Michael episode restored my love of this show, which you have to admit kind of went downhill in season 3. I'm glad it's picking back up and once again reminding me of how much I love this show and why I was so obsessive over it during the first 2 seasons.

I've decided that I need to order pizza online. LOL. I'm on my period and I really feel like just relaxing this weekend, as this week has been very long and very stressful for me. And I want to try out the online ordering, and I haven't consumed an entire pizza by myself in a long time. It's a good feeling. Haha.

Anyway. I really need to lay down, or something. Cramps really suck. I'm also going to watch some movies tonight, as my roommate is home this week for Easter. Violent movies can now commence! Later.

I am having a shitty day.

So it's rainy and nasty outside, and I used to have 2 umbrellas. One got stolen at the dining hall, and another was snapped by a mean gust one wind. Therefore I trek to the bookstore this morning to pay TWENTY FUCKING DOLLARS FOR A GODDAMN UMBRELLA THAT FUCKING BREAKS 4 HOURS LATER.

I AM STEAMED.

I'm going back tomorrow and getting them to give me a new one or give me my money back. Goddamn thing broke when I was simply closing it! I mean, what the fuck?!

I guess I'm more pissed about my old one being stolen a couple of weeks ago, because that thing was awesome. And now I just have shittastic overpriced bullshit umbrellas that are broken. Ugh. I need to go to Target this weekend and get a new one.

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

I'm not dead!

Yeah so I completely forgot I have a blog until this morning. Go me. Unfortunately I have nothing exciting to report, other than I'm done with final exams and I never have to see Computer Science again! LOVE IT. So anyway, I'm going to meme-spam. Because I've been home for 8 hours and I'm already bored to death, and I can't decide which MST3K to watch. So until then...

23

Looking for payday loans?

This cracked me up when I saw it on the first page of Digg. I HAD to take the quiz.

You Were Nice This Year

You Were 35% Naughty, 65% Nice Okay, so you weren't *entirely* nice this year But Santa doesn't expect a modern girl to be perfect You were good enough - and you'll be rewarded for it

Were You a Naughty Girl or Nice Girl this Year?

You Should Be a Social Worker

You are deeply caring and empathetic. You are able to take on other people's problems as if they were your own. Sensitive and intuitive, you understand human emotions well. Helping others gives you the most joy in life. You feel like it's your purpose in life. You do best when you: - Have a lot of responsibility - Greatly impact someone's life with your work You would also be a good philanthropist or stay at home parent.

What Should You Be When You Grow Up?

Works for me, I want to be a stay at home mom.

Yeah whatever. LOL. Hopefully this break will be very relaxing and stress free. I've already broken the towel rod in the bathroom twice, and I'm hoping that's not a sign.

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Now playing: Jeff Buckley - Lover, You Should've Come Over
via FoxyTunes

Radiohead fucking kicks ass.

So, my fandom for Radiohead increases everytime I listen to them now. I just got their new album (and yes I did buy it, giving them 7 U.S. dollars, although I would've given them more if I knew it would be this fucking gnarly) and I love it. Seriously, it's fantastic. I encourage everyone to buy it, or at least download it for free because it's amazing.

Someone on Digg.com gave this astoundingly awesome comment about Radiohead:

This is how I interpret Radiohead's albums and what they've meant with each release.

Pablo Honey - "Hello. We're Radiohead. This song is called Creep"
The Bends - "FUCK OFF, critics. We're not a one hit wonder, assholes. This album proves we're a million times better than that yet-to-come faggot Chris Martin"
Ok Computer - "FUCK OFF, mainstream rock. We're going to produce an electro-computerized-guitar-rock album that blows your fucking mind and sets off the alternative craze for generations to come."
Kid A - "FUCK OFF, commercial success and radio/mtv outlets. We're sick and tired of being so damn glamorized that this album will be so experimental and radio-unfriendly that we're hoping to shed off a bulk of our bullshit fans, and yet it will still kick major fucking ass."
Amensiac - (same as "Kid A" but part 2)
Hail to the Thief - "FUCK OFF, George Bush for stealing the elections. And fuck you if you thought we didn't have it in us to produce a more commercially sound album, again."
In Rainbows - "FUCK OFF, RIAA! This album kicks insane amounts of ass and you will not make a penny off of it, you dirty money-hording grimy lil' bastards."

And THAT, my friends, is why I have so much damn respect for Radiohead.

Pretty much sums up my feelings as well.

Anyway, I only have one class tomorrow, but I need to read a bit before then. Fall break is on Friday, and I'm stoked to go home and play with my gecko. Later.

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Now playing: Radiohead - House Of Cards
via FoxyTunes