Monthly Archives: August 2002

eating

People always give me shit about the fact that i can’t get much food into my body and otherwise get annoyed by the process of eating. Well, studies might show that i’m bound to live longer! Of course, those studies probably don’t account for the large quantity of junk food intake, the sedentary computer-bound lifestyle, carpal tunnel, a broken neck and a few other maladies that make me Darwin’s nightmare..

phasing

Why is it that i never cleanly finish one thing before phasing into the next? Although this really reflects an absurd number of the aspects of my life, i keep thinking about school. I oozed into grad school from undergrad, taking forever to finish my thesis. And i’m definitely oozing out of grad school into everything else. Hell, this week has been this chaotic mixture of thesising, V-Day and preparations for travels.

Speaking of which, oh my god am i excited! Car chaos was a bit out of hand, but it is settled now. We were going to take Jon’s car, but then Catie’s mom was a little nervous so she offered her car (which is brand spanking new) and well, we just didn’t object. So, we’re driving my car out to Ohio where it will sit for the month, which is perfectly fine with me. I started getting little things (like Dr. Bronner’s.. mmm..) but most of the shopping is going to happen on route. Steph is bouncing uncontrollably and i just can’t wait. We have no idea where we’re going or what we’re doing and that’s just A-OK. We’ve started babbling uncontrollably in emails.. in those thinking aloud kinda ways… Latest one involved underwater themes and fishies…

Basically, i can’t wait for the absurdity. Outdoor festivals just rock my world. Everyone comes out of their caves and smiles and just gets ridiculous. Absurd ideas fly through the air and there’s such a magical feeling about the combination of earth fire water sky and music. ::bounce::

advisor meeting

My advisor and i sat down to go over my thesis. For three hours. I’m glad to see she has a lot of fabulous comments although i can’t help but be a bit grumply that she waited until now to give me feedback about chapters that i had given her one at a time starting weeks ago. ::sigh:: But oh well, i’ll deal. Now i just have a few days to incorporate them.

Oh, and i ran across a great little quote today: “The world was made for people who aren’t cursed with self-awareness.” – Bull Durham, screenplay by Ron Shelton

putting money where my mouth is

On various listservs and blogs, i keep seeing more and more discussions about the proposed RAVE Act. Of course, everyone always suggests writing to your congressman, and i can respect that and even encourage it. But i wished i believed that it did a damn thing. I don’t trust my voice nor do i feel like those messages are ever even heard from folks like me. I have more faith in large lobby groups and other organizations working to help people. Thus, rather than writing another pointless letter, i decided to donate money to help Dancesafe because i really do believe in their mission and their fight.

eminem

So, out of curiousity to hear what the rapper produced, i bought the new album. I had bought the last one after all the controversy erupted, in order to form an opinion. Listening to it was painful. Not only wasn’t it my style, but the lewd language often made me cringe and the hate that bubbled inside just make me depressed. So, i did my once through listening, read the lyrics and that was enough. Even in that one listening, i realized that the man was quite brilliant and talented. He was filled with hatred but he was also so aware of the violence, hatred and oppression around him. That made it interesting.

The new album is even more fascinating in that way. It’s calmed down, even if he pretends otherwise. He’s still cranky and angry, but he’s actually articulating some very sound thoughts recognizing his audience and arguing with them in his lyrics. It’s still harsh, but it’s much more coherent and he definitely has an argument to make. And one of the harshest songs is unbelievably catchy (video).

trade yous Safeway card!

I’ve always humored myself by putting fake names on my Safeway card, or at least names that humor me. Or, i use the names and addresses of people who annoy me so that they have to process all of my junk food habits. But, i really like this idea that appeared on Politech this morning: trade those cards. Every once in a while, trade with a friend or acquaintance and pass it on. Thus, the databases get entirely destroyed because they don’t even track one person, real or otherwise…

boardroom equality

Norway has put a law into place that requires at least 40% of all boardroom members must be women. Of course, meritocracy folks are outrage and i was temporarily on their side, until i read the responses by the government. Apparently, they’ve been demanding higher equality for a while, but the old boys network hires the old boys network and the only way that they see that change is going to happen is if the old boys network is forced to seek out, educate and hire women that they value. It’ll be rough at first, but it seems to be worth it…