leg one:

Sunday (pre-departure night), we had a late night on the town with friends, then decided to come home and pack. start packing, that is. we loaded the truck, loaded the trailer, loaded my backpack, etc. we had plenty of energy, due to the extra large mochas we drank at about 10pm. yup, plenty of energy. until 4:30am we had energy, we did. and we had to get up at 5:30am. not the recommended way to begin a multi-state and -country journey.

we then drove 20 hours to LA. i had the world's worst case of salesman butt (you know, that really flat & numb feeling).

B. and I avoided conflict, and therefore passed the friendship test. the birds did not avoid conflict. never go on a road trip with two birds. never.

packing? what's that?

everyone packs a different way. there are the "Oh my gawd, we are leaving in 4 months! I need to pack today!" type of packers. there are the "I am going to buy an entire new wardrobe for this trip!" packers. also, the "I can just brush my teeth and change my underwear when I get back, right?" packers.

i personally am a professed, "Good things come to those who wait" packer. i am pleased to announce that i am thoroughly enjoying every day, hour, and minute of dicking around that i am doing until the fated question, "Are you ready to go?" is called to me from downstairs, signalling the start of frantic bag-stuffing, and the response, "Oh yeah, just give me a minute, I'll be right down!"

hey, i've still got a day and a half, right?!!

When will we EVER learn?!?!

i know, i know...i asked that just a couple days ago, but it is something i have been pondering almost constantly this week. for those of you who don't know, that line is the refrain of a song which was (i believe) written during the vietnam war, called Where Have All The Flowers Gone?.

last weekend at the jim page concert (see my post titled "today was a very good day"), he spoke before one of his songs about something he called "Vietnam Fever". he was referring to the masses, the THOUSANDS of people who flooded the streets and the nation's capital to protest the war. where are those people now? i mean, sure there are protests, demonstrators, marches, but not to the same degree. and where are the young people?? we see veterans protesting and engaging in the events of the election year, but honestly most people my age i know are passively waiting for election day so they can either vote for kerry b/c bush is a bastard, or for bush b/c he is prolife. so, HELLO!? young people! what the hell is our problem?! we have opinions; why aren't we doing anything about them?

do YOU oppose the US occupation of iraq? have you done anything about it?

do you oppose the national guard being shipped overseas? have you done anything about it?

talk helps, but mostly talk is cheap. discussing these issues amongst ourselves has not and will not get much done. we must back up our beliefs with actions. we have no actual power over our country's foreign policy, but WE HAVE POWER TO INFLUENCE THOSE WHO DO!!! now, you might say that they are trying to end the war and would if they could, therefore saying "END THE WAR" is not helpful. but you know what? even if we sit at home and figure out a plan to get out of iraq, this is not an essay contest. we cannot devise a plan and submit it to them. the government might be frustrating, but THEY are still the ones with the means and the power. they just need initiative. they need to be daily reminded that the majority of the people that they "represent" is not supporting them this time. so, SPEAK UP!!!

my mind has been full of these thoughts all week. i trim rose bushes and wonder where all the activists have gone. i am not angry but i am indignant, and i am desparately in need of a constructive means by which to change the times.

and then. i opened the paper during break and saw a picture of a very elderly man holding a sign on a street corner. i assumed he was homeless. but as i read the article i learned that he is a 98-year-old man who has been sitting in front of an abortion clinic EVERY DAY for over 20 years holding a protest sign. every day, folks. for 20+ years! he is NINETY-EIGHT. damn.

do you oppose abortion? have you done anything about it?

some of my friends prayed in front of an abortion clinic once a week for several years. then they stopped. they stopped because IT CLOSED DOWN!!! we can make a difference. we can stand up to things we don't support, and we CAN change them.

i did some research online last night. a man at work (actually, it was the aforementioned "water treatment dude") said something about being shot by the national guard during a protest. i asked my friends about it, but no one knew what he was talking about. i talked to my aunt and also found some sites on google with info. on may 4th, 1970, four college students were shot and killed. nine more were injured. by the national guard. while protesting the vietnam war. the very forces that are supposed to protect us from invasion instead killed some of us for protesting our invasion of others. of course i want to know why. but what i really want to know is: WHY DON'T PEOPLE MY AGE KNOW ABOUT THIS? we had an exchange student from china years ago. she knew nothing about the tienamin square massacre. we were shocked and disgusted by her government or whoever kept this information from public knowledge. now i feel the same way, however. whose idea was it to not tell me about the kent state massacre?? but i am going to tell everyone i know. we cannot be blind to the actions of authority. power is a dangerous weapon and the second that we, the people, are lulled to sleep by a false contentment WILL be the same instant that our rights will be swept away...swiped from us. forever.

i read a statement by a man, a professor now, whose students asked him what he was doing during the vietnam war. luckily he was able to respond that he had been actively protesting and also wrote a book about it. how will we answer the similar question, "what were you doing during the war on iraq?"...by saying, "well, gee, i voted."? is that sufficient?

we are americans. are we still proud of that fact? i'm not. i am relieved that we still have the right to peacably assemble. but our rights, if not used, will disappear.

do you support our government? what are you doing about it?

tuscany.

The Odious Machine

The Odious Machine

"There is a time when the operation of the machine becomes so odious, makes you so sick at heart, that you can't take part; you can't even passively take part, and you've got to put your bodies upon the gears and upon the wheels, upon the levers, upon all the apparatus, and you've got to make it stop. And you've got to indicate to the people who run it, to the people who own it, that unless you're free, the machine will be prevented from working at all!"

Mario Savio,
Sproul Hall Steps, University of California, Berkeley
December 3, 1964

the more [jam-packed] the merrier!

well, i've decided that my trip was not exciting enough and have added several more adventures to my itinerary. firstly, i am going to help my housemates finish remodeling a bedroom. after that, i am having some friends from seattle over for the weekend. we are going to have a bonfire, go to saturday market, and explore the general area. the main reason we are going to saturday market is to find a hippy drapery for Ridley, whose barren Czech walls are longing to be enrobed with such decor. during this time i will be packing a bag (my sexy new backpack) which will contain everything i will need for the next month and half. hmm. we then depart on sunday night for CALI!! land of warm beaches and cheap sushi! i will spend a few days re-appraising That Anonymous College, after which time i depart (via aeroplane, no, not indeed over the sea) for my East coast tour. you know, gotta have balance in your life: you do one coast, ya gotta do the other!! i then will visit Christian Camp (a.k.a. Christendom College), and it is thus that i get from my home to my oct 1 concert. the long way is ALWAYS better. don't let the man tell you otherwise. and then. THEN the adventures really begin! hold onto your hats, ladies and gents, there are 22-year-olds on the loose! let loose on the world, i am. and i can't fucking wait! WHOOOOOHOOO!!!

single, white, female. looking for answers to unanswerables.

i have lots of unanswered questions. unanswered, perhaps unanswerable. there are some questions that cross my mind daily:

why is my dog so emotionally needy?

why does the cat think that "me, laying in bed all tucked in" is "me, ready for playtime"?

why do they have commercials on the radio? and why do all the morning show people just assume that everyone today is completely immoral, backboneless, and liberal like they are?

why do i continue to play the he-loves-me,-he-loves-me-not game? is he worth it? what do i see in him anyways? do i like him, or do i just find game-playing engaging?

why is sushi so expensive?

do i drink enough water?

are these jeans too crusty?

other questions cross my mind regularly, but with less frequency:

what do cavities feel like? am i getting one? how will i pay for it? will it hurt?

will i get raped when i, a lone white female, traipse about europe aimlessly next month?

is that anonymous college calling my name? could i survive 3 semesters without becoming violent?

why haven't more people read Walden?

why am i always late for work? why am i always late for church? actually, why am i late for anything that starts at a pre-arranged time? does it matter?

where is my water-purifier? i never did use the bloody thing, and now that i need it, it's nowhere to be found. i only have like 8 boxes of stuff and 6 of those are books. i'm never drinking iodized water again, that's for damn sure. think nose-hair-searing farts, then triple it. eww.

if i died, would i go to heaven? would i be lonely? is it possible to be lonely in heaven? is loneliness bad?

do i really have to moisten the frog? how long would he survive without me?

why do i get out of bed at 1am to blog? does anyone even read this anyways?

why is disorder more fun? why is having the window down better when its cold out? why is crazy mo-fo music more alluring on the way to church? why is smashing electronic equipment into the concrete wall at the dump enjoyable? why is cooking dinner more fun when things start on fire? why, i say?

what are pheramones?

what is fung shuy? is it true that spiny plants at the front door make visitors to your home feel subconciously less welcome?

why can we see heat? so, like, the heat waves bend the light waves? sounds like a hippy song.

"when will we ever learn? when will we ev-ver learn?"

why are hot and rich guys always so annoying?

how come mormons dudes can have lots of chicks, but mormons chicks can't have lots of dudes? and how come i can't get any dudes?

have i ever been to boston in the fall? and how does one go about getting the punk rock version of that song?

why can't i figure out how to link to my blog-buddies? (not butt-buddies.)

why do people get angry? is it fun? does it make them happy? is it the adrenaline rush?

what's up with persian rugs? i mean, EWW! tasteless!

what's the point of having a career? why does "that which allows me to have a life" become "that which is my life"?

the end. for now.

today was a very good day.

i texted that to a friend one day not so long ago. i didn't really have a reason, just KNEW that it was a great day. i remember what i was doing while i texted him. i was driving, and i had the biggest grin on my face for no reason. i was joyful. you know, full up with joy.

today also was a very good day. it's a bit different though, when i can actually recount the reasons why it was good. hmm. still good, but not inherently so? too intense for this hour of night.

work was slow, but too fun. it was K.'s last day so we dicked around alot and took her out for lunch. K. chose chinese food for lunch. unfortunately for all, the one chinese place in town is called Lung Fung. LUNG FUNG! what were they thinking?! we proceeded to make many creative sentences with words that rhyme with "lung" and "fung". the winner was, "we flung the dung and it hung on the rung." we went for a "drive" after lunch with another guy we work with...all the way around the river road. the hour-long drive was beautiful and relaxing (i'm sure our boss would be glad to know that we are relaxed and aware of nature's beauty, while on the clock). i threw an apple at B. and he caught it at the last minute, just before it flew onto a cop's lap thru his open window. we finished the workday with a footrace. it was close, but B. won. he was the only one not wearing 10-ton work boots. ok, maybe i'm a sore loser.

after work i bought tickets to europe!! non-stop from dc to london for $388! i'm down with that. so now i have to be in dc by the 4th, in addition to being in pa by the 1st. hmm. dilemma. i was so pumped i had to stop several places on the way home and show people my printed itinerary. they patiently showed enthusiam.

then i head for home to play noah, aka feeding the critters. yup, still got two of every kind. those damn sheep might not last too much longer if i have my way though.

after searching in vain for some companions, i headed to p-town alone. i met several interesting fellows at the army surplus store. we discussed currency and it's many varied colors. we could only think of one country that has blue money. hmm.

and then. the aforementioned "water-treatment dude" gave me tickets to his son's band. so i headed down to the "Meow-Meow". i ask you this: could there be a gayer name?? i drove up and down the street numerous times before spotting the joint, then after parking realized that it had once again disappeared. blast it all, where did the bloody place get to? it was just here! oh me, this alley is very dark and i am very alone. finally stumbled upon it again and handed my ticket in, asking, "Has Across The Sun played yet?" they were just beginning their first song. oh yeah. turns out that, A) i know half the band, and B) they are quite hardcore. again, hmm. let me explain something: i like hippy music. happy music. music that encourages peaceful swaying, rather than impulsive headbanging. but i enjoyed it, and was even smiling! their energy was catching, and the lead singer (he pumps my gas...man, i live in a small town) is a cutie-patooty.

after they played, i met a young married couple i know, at a cafe next door. they are wonderful and adorable. they, too, are playing zookeeper on a small farm, and we compared notes. it is always SO GOOD to see old friends! hint, hint. we hung out for a time, then headed for home. well, that was my intent.

i had originally planned to go to a 2nd concert, a Jim Page open house, but chose to spend time with my friends instead. as i left i decided to drive by and see where the concert had been. people were still coming out, so i drove around the block and parked. about a month ago i discovered jim page, a seattle musician, on a local radio station and fell in love with his song, Long Corner Turning:

Goodbye America,
I say I knew You then,
Well it's been a long corner turning,
Gonna be a long corner...turning back again.

well, as i pushed open the door to st. francis church tonite at 11pm (the concert was supposed to have ended at 10pm) those were the exact words that filled the air!!! i arrived just in time for one of my favorite songs in the world! it's right up there with Uncle John's Band, Hurricane, and Freebird. it was a small intimate audience, and he preluded each song with stories and history. as he started Over My Dead Body one woman stood up in the aisle and started doing a hippy dance! man, i hope that when i'm old i'll have the guts to do the hippy dance when no one else is! then one man in the front stood up and motioned for everyone else to do the same. we did, and began singing along:

They have all the power, that's what they say; But we will turn those tables, take their power away
We will not be dissuaded and we will not turn around; We will face the barricades and we will tear them down
They say they will incorporate the world
Over my dead body, over my dead body, over my dead body, over mine

too cool for words!!!

i got to shake his hand afterwards. i drove home, very happily. it was pouring rain and i blared my classical music and thought about good things. for example: life.

i took the back way home, along dark and wet and abandoned roads that i know better than the back of my hand. who looks at the back of their hand anyways? i usually watch the road instead. ok, i actually watch the scenery. i purposely drove right past my driveway and further into the hills, to where the road turns to gravel. once there i spun donuts and had a burn-off contests with myself until my hands were shaking from adrenaline.

time for bed.

i love games!!!

ok, so i'm totally down with this new guessing-game. also, i have no idea who it could be this time, so someone else win quickly so i can have a chance. the latest round is at tracesoftime.blogspot.com

good luck, all!

F-word.

good news: i found tickets to europe for $263!!!!

bad news: i promptly tripped over the computer cord (before i could buy them).

laundry day

i am wearing a pink wool shirt and striped overalls to work. i work for the city, so everyone in town (and the surrounding towns) sees me on their way to work. damn, i need to do laundry.

*Note: striped is a two-syllable word.

camping with a...teenager?!

i went camping this weekend. i randomly drove up and over Mt. H___ with two non-congruent friends of mine (non-congruent to one another, that is) and my dog. technically not MY dog, but i'm not worried about technicalities. she is a brilliant and beautiful australian shepherd. and she knows it. we drove around for a bit, then found The Spot. you know, perfect places for the tents, already has a fire ring, secluded, etc. well, the dog would not get out of the car. she got out briefly, got her feet dirty, and that was that. none of this Dirt shit. i was suddenly overcome with sympathy for my parents, and remorse for being that way when i was 13. for indeed, I was the one sitting in the car, "i don't know why we had to come here, this sucks, we have hot water/a roof/fun/other noun at home, why couldn't emily/marie/becky come with, etc., etc.". wow. after physically forcing the dog to abandon the car, we proceeded to enjoy the evening. after a time, tho, we noticed that the dog was now missing! we called her for several minutes, then she came sneakily slinking out of T.'s tent. his tent! HIS BLEEPING TENT!!!! she's a DOG!! disgusting. a canine valley girl. give me a pit bull any day.

ri-ide your bike

there is actually a song called Ride Your Bike by some random lady ( http://www.redemmarecords.com/ ) i heard on the funky radio station in P-town. it is beautiful. but, Maiden Arise wrote this recently:

There are orchards all along the freeway and tonight as I drove past I could smell orange blossoms in the air.It was beautiful.Why don't we notice things like that more often?
posted by talitha cumi at 11:33 PM

i respond: because you don't drive a motorcycle! all the sights, sounds, smells, etc. are much more tangible on a bike (motorized or otherwise propelled). get one!

one more thing...read the first chapter of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. i LOVE that book. donzilla and my sister both recommended it to me, and i have thoroughly enjoyed the bit i have read.

ride on.

I LOVE MY PACK!!!

i bought the sweetest backpack yesterday!!! no, i'm serious. it is THE ALPHA PACK!!! it totally and completely rocks. i went to P-town Outdoors Store, expecting to spend around $400 but hoping not to spend over $200. now, mind you, this is after i was 45 min late for work this morning, then trimmed bushes in the pouring rain all day. not the best day ever (i did get 2 guys' phone numbers over lunch. too bad i knew both of them already. not in the biblical sense.). anyways. so i walked in with my buddy and started looking around, was approached by a long-haired, long-bearded, patchouli-smelling worker named Solomon who inquired whether he could assist me, and i then asked, "Um, yes. Could you please help me find the perfect pack?". And he did. he showed me several around $200 that were decent, THEN he showed me one with a type of frame that "they ran over with an F350 for three hours at 19 below and it was fine afterwards" and i knew i had encountered my soulmate. my friend L says, "Ooo, where do i apply for a job to do tests like that?!" i balked at first b/c it was $230. $30 will go a long way in europe. but i finally gave in and took it to the register. the rather larger man there, also long-haired and long-bearded, asked whether i had been a girl scout. my answer: Hell no, should i have been? well apparently they give a 10% discount to girl and boy scouts. my friend T is an eagle scout and he spoke up so we got the discount anyway, bringing the total to $207!!!! it is way, way sweet. life is good. no, life is way better than good.

good ol' redneck fun

ok, tonite actually wasn't as boring as i expected. we had a rather impromptu goodbye party for S. (aforementioned housemate). we made our own tacos with a smattering of scary leftovers and fresh ingredients. think black enchilada meat and fuzzy sour cream. the rest was good though!

then we started a bonfire. now, mind you, out west we have "burn season" and "non-burn season". burn season means things don't burn easily. non-burn season means that things burn readily and nature doesn't need our help in starting any new fires. this time of year is NON-BURN season. we burned anyways. well, we personally weren't on fire, but we definitely started one. we extinguished the *ahem* less-than-desirable portion of the fire with ease, and proceeded to enjoy the evening. we put bets on whether the legs or the center of the flame-engulfed picnic table would collapse first. we played flaming teeter-totter on one of the boards. we had "jumping-over" contests, if you get my drift--there are only winners in that game, you know, not a lot of room for error. fun, fun.

we fought over/played the guitar around the campfire (if such an eyebrow-scorcher still falls in the "campfire" category). we banned kum-by-ah from the event. then we made milkshakes. one part ice cream, one part milk, one part whipped cream. oooh baby.

now i have to wake up in 6 hours. hasta la vista.

exciting.

nothing really exciting is happening to me, but everyone else i know is doing something cool:

my housemate S. is going back to Cali to become a graphic designer, leaving me all alone with the dog, the sheep (plural), the cats, the birds, the rabbit, and the plants, for i don't know how long. i hate sheep. especially when that word is plural.

my good friend J. thinks she is pregnant!...it's ok, she's married.

my friend E. is going to montana.

my friend L. started a band and is going to be famous.

my sister A. is in miami for the third time this summer.

my family lives in the jungle.

half my friends live in europe.

half my friends are finishing a college degree or are starting their careers.

i went to a bluegrass festival and a cheese factory yesterday. the bluegrass festival was over, and the cheese factory was closed. it was a two-hour drive each way.

i'm going to the post office today, then the grocery store. i also went to the bark dust place today. 5 times. woo-hoo. slow me down, somebody.

but next weekend i have plans. a sauerkraut festival, a housewarming party, a graduation party, and a combine demolition derby! COMBINES!!!! DEMOLISHING ONE ANOTHER!!Alright!!!

one more thing

for those of you who like sassy right-wing posts:

http://moxie.nu/blog.php

moxie is a crazy girl, but pretty damn smart. gets a load of interesting feedback from readers, too.

cool people

the singing lady is here today.

she uses the internet and sings. that is cool.

she has long, black-lady dreadlocks and she argues loudly with the mormons. that too is cool.

i admire the freespirited and strong. i admire the humble, yet not timid. i admire the adventurous but grounded. i admire the loving and not-afraid-to-admonish.

i especially admire those who are mature beyond their years, but are children of GOD.

i strive to imitate those whom i respect...and in this way i thrust myself into adulthood.

beware.

phrase of the day

joe, the water-treatment-dude at work (yeah, that's his job title), coined the phrase of the day:

multisyllabic shit.

i texted this information to my old friend rick. he texted back: i can only pronounce the second word of that phrase.

more election thoughts

i asked my sister, a political science major who was an intern in DC this summer, to post some of her thoughts about the war and the election. she tried to post the following response, but for some reason it wasn't working. rather than hide it as a comment i am just going to post the whole thing here:

hey, couldn't post this w/o an account.
random political thoughts
this isn't very coherent right now, but you can pick and choose what you want to post.
A

congress was the branch of government that officially declared war.

I'm not advocating that Hillary go to hell, just that she doesn't send our country there while in office.

Bush did not lie. Last week I was at an exclusive congressional luncheon. Senator Zell Miller from Georgia, a democrat, nonetheless, and a member of the classified senate intelligence committee said that when he read the report, he believed it. Everything made sense. What lead the CIA to make these erroneous assumptions was a long process of assumptions and mistakes that were easy to make beginning in the early 90's [the Clinton era]. In addition to that, England had the same conclusions, France had the same conclusions, Russia had the same conclusions, Israel had the same conclusions, and they all had different spies. This was a mistake on behalf of the worldwide intelligence community. Bush did the best possible thing with the information which was given him. There was no reason to question the information, and even if extensive research were done, it was all backed by seemingly good logic and sound evidence.

Next, the loss of life was phoenomenally low compared to what it has been in all the other wars. [A little over 1000 Americans at this time.] The united states conquered the whole country of Iraq in 20 days. We all cheered by the sight of the toppling statues in such a short time with relatively few deaths. War necessarily entails loss of life, but this one entailed less death than is doled out on the DC streets every year.

I don't like the concept of war either, but Iraq is already a self-governing power. Wow. How amazing is that? From Saddam to independence in less than a year. Shit.

let's go to Washington with Pete Coors (Colorado Republican candidate for US Senate) to repeal the drinking age laws - I'm all for it!

Getting "stuck" with Bush for another 4 years is not ideal for me either, but it's a hell of a lot better than Kerry who is renowned for his flip-flopping on issues. A guy whose life says "whatever you believe, I believe it too" is definately not the type of strong leader that our country desperately needs to continue holding the reins.

I don't hate Democrats. I think they have some good points as far as social justice and environmental issues go. I am wary of a party that sees no problem with chaining themselves to a tree to spare its precious life, but have no problem killing millions of babies a year. I don't fully support Republicans either. I agree that Bush looks like a dumb ass and has made some sketchy decisions. But when I look around at my other options, he somehow looks a hell of a lot brighter.

my poli-sci prof. swears that if Kerry is not elected this year, Hillary will run next election and win, enslaving the nation for another 8 years. let's face it, this woman once in office will never let go. this is something that has been in the works for a while. no one minds if Bush wins again because next election, there will be no strong candidate that could have a chance next to Clinton. for this reason, even the washington post is somewhat low key on their praise of kerry. if he wins, hillary can't run next year. she's had this nice little plan on track for some time. she got elected (promising she wouldn't run for prez) by NYC. now she's established her own reputation, hiding behind a slightly more conservative veneer and is raring to go for the white house again. she had the book all planned to keep press going and will lay low for a while. secretly, she wants kerry to lose b/c then she'll have her turn in 4 years. she probably has a plan for chelsea to run later on too. Now, not only do i not really support bush, but kerry seems almost to be the good option to keep hillary away. political games are far too complicated. maybe it's best to just vote for the "good" guy and hope god brings a savior for our next election.
A

Legality alone is no guide for a moral people.
- Walter E. Williams

boogyin' AND jammin'!

i have discovered the virtue of the guitar strap. now i can dance AND play at the same time! yay!!! i am learning All Along The Watchtower and it is so much easier to keep the beat when you can SHAKE IT! however, the version i have been strummin' to is by the Dave Matthews Band. it is 12 minutes long. when it is over i start it again. i hurt. but i smile. and i dance and i play. rockin'!

to vote or not to vote, that is the question.

upon discussing whether to vote for Not-Bush or Not-Kerry with my friends' father, we decided that it would be mighty humorous if we boycotted the voting booths. i mean, clearly someone is going to win, but it would drive home the popular disgust with politicians and their profession if HE won by oh 10% of the vote. hehee. "you both suck and only a few rich people and some feminists actually voted for you so have a fun 4 years!", we would silently declare!

but.

my aunt and uncle pointed out that in voting we exercise a RIGHT. in not voting we deny that right. if we do not vote, we say to our government, "we do not care if we have a say in this.", and that's not good. use 'em or lose 'em, we all learned from our cell phone companies. so it is with our civil liberties.

so take Nomikkh's advice and vote for someone you actually do admire. it accomplishes the same purpose as the first idea, but doesn't deny our rights. how about mr mclean for president? or mr kaiser? or my sister? oh, she's not old enough. billy idol? charlie daniels? ansel adams? oh, he's dead. just someone who can beat HILLARY in the next election.

about civil liberties: what's up with over 2000 people being arrested at the RNC? true, there's always the punks who get a little out of hand, but many were violently arrested and held in inhumane quarters for merely exercising their right to peaceably assemble. not cool.

my definition of fun

first, a man update: so i've thought for a bit now that i have indeed found where THE man is, but gave up on him several weeks ago when he rather suddenly stopped contacting me. my pessimistic self assumed that the bastard had finally gotten it thru his head that i was NOT indeed going to sleep with him. but then: i discovered that he actually thought i was leaving town forever, never to return, and was trying to not be attached or something. ok, now when people leave our town most of them do not return, this is true. but, i told him, people DO NOT move in and out of my life. they move in with frequency but rarely out. he says, "well, i guess you just have a lot of things to do." what he doesn't realize: i'm doing things because i'm not going to sit around and rot waiting for a man! sure, marriage is first choice, but until that pans out i'm going to keep busy and do things that i couldn't if i were married. like buy tickets for a concert on the other side of the country. hmm. i have to somehow be in state college, pa by 4 pm on oct 1. oh, and i have to pick up my sister in front royal, va first. which means i have to give my 2 weeks at work, buy plane tickets,...car rental? but worrying about details is what takes the fun out of things. seriously!!! unless you are traveling with A. R. people, planning just gets in the way of fun.

my definition of fun: any mostly-moral noun or verb. that's right, all persons, places, things, and activities, as long as all parties involved have the right attitude, are fun.

yes, i have had fun in the ER. we said, "hey, at least there's heat here (unlike at our apartment), and free cable too! and they're open all night and you don't have keep buying things in order to stay!" here, have some more painkillers, D.

i've had fun getting a ticket. we took pictures of the officer handing them to us, and did the "oh, thank you for the gi-normous check, sir" hand shake, you know, like he was the donor and we were CEOs. he just warned that he'd better not see us laying on the train tracks ever again. uh, hey mom and dad, i was being careful...heh heh....

i've had fun sleeping in the train station. the philadelphia station is beautiful and well-patrolled, just look out for the birds! ie. don't look up with your mouth open.

i've had fun being lost in pretty much every major city in the country. hey, you get to see new places and use adventurous restrooms. and it's ok to stare at people when you're from out of town. not in the restroom though. oops, ill-timed sentence placement.

i made it from LA to ontario, canada in two days...one leg of the journey at a time, never knowing what the next leg would be. think: ridley and i on the train from philly to NYC making phone call after phone call, but we succeeded and it was the highlight of the summer! well, if you don't count the 14hour drive that we turned into a 4week, tri-state adventure!

spontaneity is a virtue. i am an advocate of safety and of not having to sleep in a whore house out desperation. but that is easy to avoid. make friends along the way. don't trust them too much at first, but do converse with them. Every person you encounter changes you in some way. a friend told me that, and it's true. so talk to people you are attracted to (not like that) because you will come away with something new.

don't be hesitant of new or different things. don't forsake your morals, but do be open to new ideas and lifestyles. our culture is not the best thing that ever happened to man. actually it is probably sending more people into Hell unawares than any before it, except maybe the vomitorium Romans.

so, anyone wanna travel with me?

Take me to where the men are!!

Lleva me donde los hombres...is the first line of a beautiful spanish song i know. those words actually are only one half of a whole sentence. it took me months to realize that fact. i mean, i always wondered why we were heartily singing in Mass, "Take me to where the men are...", but it took me a while before i actually thought to ask. come to find out, it actually goes, "Take me to where the men need your word." hmm, far less exciting.

anyways, i'm hoping that where the men are tonite is U-Develop. cuz that's where i'm gonna be. i mean, don't all hot, young, single men hang out at the local develop-your-own-film place on Friday night? i'm not picky: he just has to be a serious christian who is one part country boy, one part hippy, one part world traveller, and one part intellectual. with blue eyes and dark hair. and a guitar. and a fast motorcycle. and a sexy dog (pitbull or rottweiler). and...ok, i think i'm gonna go look into a convent. actually, why do women settle for men when they can have JESUS CHRIST as a spouse?! hmm...food for thought. maybe i will die a virgin.

Christendom College Update!

so, according to my sister (a current sophmore at Christendom), it is pretty and the people are nice, as is the swimming pool. however there is a slight security problem--as in, girls being followed in the dark by creepy mexicanos and the college not taking ANY extra precautions. yikes. the classes seem to lack substance, and do not cultivate independent thinking. also, dress code is worse than that at That Anonymous College (so dubbed by P. T.). my sis was dress-coded for wearing a "too sporty" shirt. the definition of "too sporty" apparently is: that which has a hood and a zipper and is not a sweater beacause that other girl's shirt is a sweater and is ok but yours isn't so go change this second and leave your friends and your half-eaten lunch sitting here.

the lovely women's assistant dean, a woman whose name is Bower (i mistakenly thought for a time that everyone was saying, "Miss Power"), sees the need for women to be lifted up in our society, and helps prepare them for their useful roles in our future by personally enforcing a strict "Beds Must Be Made Daily" policy. This is very helpful for college-age young women, because they are in the formative stage of their lives. Little things make all the difference, she has learned; small tasks must not be overlooked and it is most effective to have them enforced by an authority figure. Of course, this is not as important for young men so they are exempt from the "Beds Must Be Made Daily" policy. Cleanliness is not important for young men, because half of society will already know how to clean! How time efficient!!! Thank you, Ms. Power...ahem...Bower, for so ingeniusly training the young members of our society!

No offence.

ok, question:

now i don't want everyone to jump on me...this is an honest question. why are people going to vote for Bush? i mean, the only reason i can think of to vote for him (besides The Onion article "Who are you voting against?") is that he is more conservative and will hopefully get some people into positions that will benefit the pro-life issues. but people say, "ok, so we save some lives by getting rid of abortion, then HE sends them all off to war to die anyways." my instant response to this is, "well, at least they got to CHOOSE to go." but if HE starts drafting then service will no longer be voluntary. i'm seriously confused. AND what's up with everyone saying that there is all this stuff HE lied about? did he? help! i need info, but can't stomach the news. i'm sure he means well and all, but DAMN!, couldn't he like join Toastmasters during off-election years? it would sure make us look better!

also, interesting tidbit: we far-righters are always saying that the media is so left-wing and biased, but i've been listening to far-left radio on the way to work and they think that the media is right and biased against THEM!

some dummies, er, friends

if anyone is wondering why i am the way i am, you can meet a large part of my past at
www.stuntdummies.com
click on the videos and enjoy! these guys have been my buddies/adopted brothers for about 10 years. there: i admitted it to the general population.

oh! why, hello! uh, how was the trip?

you know what i hate? i hate it when i'm housesitting and the people come home early. i've only housesat three times and it has happened every time. the third time was like a half-hour ago. because inevitably not everything is done. either the crusty chili-dip dishes from the movie party last nite are laying around, i haven't figured out what to do with 2 dozen eggs i was supposed to be collecting all week, the bare roots on the tomato plants are still showing b/c of my vigorous and thorough watering, and/or the stalls aren't clean, etc, etc. ugh. can't win. but hey: everything was still alive, right?...Right?? also, there's always the hmm, why ARE they back early? are they speaking to one another? yikes! good times.

chimmers.blogspot.com

just found an old classmate's blog! here's a sample:

...the ***jacks started talking about my new grandmother-in-law. Here are some intriguing facts:
1.) 89 years old.
2.) alzheimers
3.) moves around faster than Mr. ***jack
4.) once drove to the store, walked home, looked in the garage the next day, then reported her car stolen
5.) ran into a plexy-glass window going full speed (cf #3) and then bounced right up
6.) walked out in front of a motorcycle going 40mph and fell on the pavement. got up like nothing happened
7.) likes blackberry brandy. but the alzeimers prevents her from being moderate (i.e. one glass, forgets, one more, etc. etc.) blackberry brandy has hence been conviscated by Mr. ***jack.
8.) goes thru 2 gallons of ice cream and 24 mountain dews a week