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[26 Jan 2005|10:22pm] |
I want people to like me. I want to be liked by, at the very least, 3 people in every individual way a person may be liked. Liked is such a bizarre word. I have an obsession with being liked, or appreciated. It isn’t an interest in receiving attention or being at the center of attention, but knowing that an attention, a value is placed on my existence. Constructions like the facebook make my problem worse. They seize my disability and project it on a screen that quantifies my number of friends, separated by college, clubs and “shout-outs.” How much longer until I get to rank everyone in order of value?
This thought stems from two separate events: my conversation with Evan and the arrival of a humidifier I ordered on amazon.
In the case of my conversation with Evan, he walked in my room less than five minutes ago and said, “Hey, I’m going over to Tasha’s room to drink my wine. You should come over when you’re done with your work and I’ll give you some of my wine.” The conversation made me laugh and, probably because I’m a bit tipsy from sipping two mugs of wine while reading “In Defense of Globalization,” reminded me of my first week at Sarah Lawrence last year. Every time I left the room I would tell Ben or Oliver where I was going, when I’d be back and what I was doing: “See ya Oliver – I’m going over to Kelsey’s at hill house to smoke some. I should be back by midnight or so. Bye!” That’s because prior to leaving for college I was required to tell my mom the above details; it became habit to always exclaim where I was going whenever I left my home, my domain. It was just nice to hear Evan tell me where he was going… and he does that often… and it makes me happy, really, really happy to have him as a suite mate because it makes me feel like I have a real *home* here. Awwww
As far as my humidifier goes, the thing brings me back to my childhood. My fancy to order it was because I repeatedly wake up with a dry nose and throat because the air in Gilbert is so dry. The instant I turned it on, though, the unique smell, the feeling of the mist hitting my hand, and the clarity in my throat reminded me of how my mom would always set up our big humidifier on a car table in the center of my room whenever my allergies were bothering me or I had asthma attacks and sit with me while the room was… humidified or whatever. If I remember correctly, I’d lie that my allergies were bothering me just to get her to sit with me. Nostalgia… with free shipping from amazon.
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[28 Oct 2004|01:14am] |
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mood |
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 recumbent |
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music |
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Expo '86, Death Cab |
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I always forget how incredible music is until I start listening to it again.
A truly fantastic October study days: Long Beach Island + beach house + 11 incredible friends + cable tv + climbing a lighthouse + getting stuck on the beach during high tide + fabulous home cooked dinner + fabulous fish dinner + smoking a j on some far off beach + kings = awesome.
Start building a fucking monument for his grave and let there be peace. If there was ever a better time for drudge to get it right.
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[13 Oct 2004|02:49pm] |
Back from hiatus. I need to write in my livejournal. It is therapeutic.
I just got back from a meeting with Preema Samuels about study abroad. London School of Economics and Government has been in the back of my mind since freshman year but I never thought I was ambitious enough to even consider it. She fished it out.
Classes are going well: modern Jewish history conference on Jacob Hagiz rocks; world architecture and urban design is incredible; political elections is just… part of my schedule. Friends are also good. I’m going to Philly next weekend for October study days with Amy and Katie and Heather will be here on Tuesday. Heather Salus will be here on Tuesday!
I like the way this year is shaping up a lot and I feel like I have serious, genuine friends on this campus as opposed to last year when I didn’t know most people well enough to allow my self to get close with them. A single in Gilbert… well that rocks too.
I need somewhere to write about pretentious liberal ideology-prescribed fucks and my pretentious liberal ideology-prescribed existence so the journal is back up. Fuck you.
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[16 Aug 2004|08:02pm] |
I miss school. I'm so done with this. GET ME OUT OF HERE
(more later)
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[06 Aug 2004|10:00am] |
I LOVE POMEGRANATE JUICE! Haddd to start with that yo except the stuff is too expensive and my mom won’t be buying it for me at SLC.
I’m sitting in the chair in my office for the lasssst time. Kiddush at 12 and then I’m bolting out of here like a mad man… at least until next week because for some reason I cant imagine not serving Kiddush as long as I’m in Chi-town for the summer. I got cookies from my uncle’s bakery for everyone – staff, clients and people on the street included – and a copy of Dara’s book “In the Image” for my bosz. Yesterday was the internship banquet thingy where all 26 interns got to sit next to their bosses and listen to speakers talk to us about the foundations of Jewish life on campus and why the Lewis family is so honored to provide the funding for the program. Do wippy. And a bunch of people that work for the Jewish Federation came in attempt to inspire us to pursue a role in Jewish Community leadership and all. Might be nice to fill in the undergrad to grad gap but otherwise no, thanks.
Andddd pomegranate juice IS wonderful and so will be “Garden State” tonight with Heather. I’ve been waiting for this movie since I first saw the trailer during a rainy night I think on Jessica’s deceased grandma’s TV in Poopsie’s room and OH GOD WHAT A WAY TO CELEBRATE. That makes 3 weeks of summer without a job. Saturday I’m hanging out with Hila before she goes back home to Israel on Monday and on Monday Heather and I are going to brave the Wisconsin State Fair up in Milwaukee for cream puffs and some republican/pro-life booth bashing.
Only sad thing is that everyone’s getting ready to leave. The U of I sorority girls, Haley and Hillary, only have one more week along with Michelle, Heather goes to Beloit for orientation in 2 weeks and everyone else, including Amy, are going to start trickling back around then too. Odd tidbit of the day – Yalena, an atheist libertarian/republican Jew from our internship is going to come up to SLC to visit when she’s in town for the Republican National Convention! Ah ha ha. Honestly though, I think she’s the first Republican I’ve met that I actually kind of like. Boo ya!
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[04 Aug 2004|01:44pm] |
Morning rush hour traffic lasted forever – Elliot Smith, Ugly Casanova, PJ Harvey. The roads were flooded but the cars still move. Today my work threw me a little going away lunch and I picked The Bagel for take-out in that this is a Jewish internship – deli sandwiches for all. I can’t believe I’m done with work on Friday. Eight weeks of my life well spent. Can’t say that about everything or much of anything honestly, I don’t know.
Last night – my last time serving dinner – our volunteers consisted of mayors and other government leaders from Israel and while they had trouble getting drink orders right they made the night a whole bunch of fun. And today was my last day helping out with job readiness training, a 3-day job-search preparation class led by Jewish Vocational Services. For the most part (not trying to sound like an a-hole here, just the way it is) you could tell why the majority of the clients in the course didn’t have jobs. But 2 of them – both college graduates – reminded me of myself. One guy majored in journalism and communications, masters and all, and after working as a field reporter and telemarketing supervisor was laid off and has remained unemployed for the past few months. I’m scared of the real world. Another guy who recently moved here from Bulgaria has been living in America for a few years now and still hasn’t been able to find work; the entire time he complained about how little sense the American system makes, how much bureaucratic bullshit he’s found in this country and how Bulgaria made more sense than America. He might be right.
I can’t get over how incredible this city is and how well it functions. Driving to work everyday, first through the bourgeois suburbs, to the outer boundaries of Chicago, along Lake Shore Drive and Sheridan Road past the gold-coast luxury condominiums and finally ending up at EZRA in uptown is truly a fantastic drive to make every single day.
I don’t remember where I was going with this. I’m just sad that the internship is ending.
For anyone that’s Jewish and either A) lives in Chicagoland or B) goes to school in Chicagoland you should definitely check it out: http://www.juf.org/news_public_affairs/article.asp?key=2743&source=gold_link
And why on earth is Alan Keyes, someone who has never lived in IL and wasn’t taken remotely seriously in hid presidential bid the Republican Party’s likely choice to lose to Barack Obama? Anyone?
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[28 Jul 2004|10:25am] |
So I’m driving to work today and there’s some republican strategist on the radio talking about Barack Obama’s speech, something this state, my state, Illinois, is still shitting its pants over. Apparently unable to find any faults in Obama’s speech, the Republican said something along the lines of “Barack Obama gave a wonderful speech, but if you analyze it closely you’ll see that he’s advocating more conservative, Republican values than the values of the Democratic Party and would make more progress leading the fight on our side.”
I guess you know you hit a home run if the other side is criticizing you for not being on their side where, of course, Barack Obama belongs. HAH!
; ) NOW YOU GET IT!!! (Thanks to all the non-Illinoisans who called last night to congratulate me on being represented by that man come November.)
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[27 Jul 2004|01:22pm] |
Ohhh hoo hooo – what a glorious day! Definitely time for a political/popular culture debriefing:
- First off, it looks as though the lovely Britney Spears is the next gentile in line to adopt some of the heavily sought-after Jewish values currently practiced by Madonna, Guy Ritchie and Demi Moore. According to This is London, she’ll be partaking in a Kabbalah wedding when she weds next summer. As a result, “Miss Spears’s parents are said to be horrified at the prospect and, as devout Baptists, are urging her to plan a ceremony reflecting their faith.” Dudeee, Jewish is so in and I don’t even have to fake it… like when Asians and Asian culture was in – that one was tough to pull off.
- A year ago Barack Obama was serving as a state legislator from a district on the south side of Chicago. Today he will address the Democratic National Convention as the keynote speaker. In short, I’m personally at a loss of words to describe my appreciation and love for this man with a funny name. And to see this mulatto Chicagoan rise to the top pillars of the Democratic Party in a year – muah!
- Did anyone catch Fox News Channel last night during coverage of the DNC? I did – four times or so, just to get an update on their reporting style for the democratic, “oh soooo liberal” convention. The first time I landed on the channel a reporter was live on the floor in-between speeches, and about three times during his briefing had a white piece of cardboard held in front of the camera until the reporter grabbed it and threw it on the floor. Then, the cameras switched to another journalist who had Kerry Edwards signs continuously being waved in front of the camera to block HER. Then I came back after Jimmy Carter’s speech to find FNC interviewing Barack Obama. After dodging “you’re too liberal” and “you don’t like Kerry, you said this 5 months ago, look” accusations, Obama closed the interview saying, “It is great to be interviewed by the real ‘fair and balanced’ news channel” with a big smirk. DO YOU NOT LOVE THIS MAN?
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Other stuff in regards to the convention:
Ø Carter’s recognition of Israel: W’s failed efforts to bring peace to the region, and Carter’s own protest for peace in Israel when he’s previously always been a tough critic of the Jewish state.
Ø When did the word “liberal” get such a negative connotation? It seems like all Republicans are saying these days is “Kerry is too liberal”, “Edwards is an extreme liberal”, “Obama is too liberal to represent Illinois.” First off, define fucking liberal if its your only attack weapon and, second, liberal = progressive = progress = WHAT THIS COUNTRY NEEDS. Progress was never a bad word, it still isn’t, so why is liberal a sticking attack?
Ø Clinton not only delivered a masterpiece, but he also set the bar for John Kerry. First off, why didn’t he deliver something similar back in 2000 for Al Gore? Second, while I know most democrats are concerned that Clinton opened a door too large for Kerry to enter through, I have enough faith in Kerry that he’ll stand up to the occasion and break past Clinton’s speech. Thank God there’s two days space in-between.
Ø Now I understand why Hillary originally neglected to talk at the DNC. Her husband overshadowed her X1,000,000. Hillary gave a bore – totally one dimensional, totally authoritarian, and totally dismal. Her current attention and celebrity-status in the Democratic Party is downright undeserved. Go climb into a rabbit hole.
Ø Bill Clinton is the greatest populist of our time. I want Kerry to replace him – not as a wealthy New England liberal – but as a man who served for the people of this country in Vietnam, and will continue to serve for the PEOPLE of this country, America’s MIDDLE class as president in 2004. It’s the only chance we have.
Last night restored my faith in the Democratic Party, and some sort of restoration or affirmation that the Democrats are a legitimate, competitive national party was long overdue. I’m thrilled. My smile only grew larger, and the evening was carefully calculated so that hope and admiration slowly grew throughout the night – starting off low with Gore, rising with Carter, reflecting during the 9/11 tribute (cigarette, food, bathroom etc break) and peaking like nothing else as Bill Clinton came to a close. We have our act together, and it’s been a long time since we have. Welcome back, Democrats.
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[23 Jul 2004|10:49am] |
There’s a slight possibility that the Campbell-Dollaghan sisters will be boarding a flight from Pittsburgh, PA to Chicago, IL in the near future, and that makes my heart smile. They’d be arriving just in time for the Q101 Block Party, Wisconsin State Fair, and the Cure concert @ Tweeter. Ahhhh it feels like I’m dreaming.
Ehem. And Katieeeee. Ehem.
Yesterday’s internship meeting was one big blah. Rabbi Elder from a temple in Glencoe and the Jewish Council on Urban Affairs came to speak to us, bringing a hefty amount of baggage to boot. First there was the earth-shattering culture crumbling statistics about how Jews, despite being known as wealthy, mirror the country’s 1 in 7 Americans live in poverty statistics. No talk about how Hassidic or Orthodox Jews in America usually aren’t cyclically employed, need to buy Kosher meat that food stamps don’t always help out with, and pop kids out as fast as possible. Just the basic statistics. Then there was the poor family worksheet activity during which we split into groups, received a mock Jewish Family (“The Findelsteins”) and had to figure out how to budget the father’s income. Then the Rabbi ended his 2-hour gilt-trip-o-rama by telling his father’s holocaust story and then passing around an old portrait of his father and his 7 year old sister who died. “If you don’t go out there now and do something about homelessness and poverty, this could happen again. ::Cries:: Always remember. Never forget.”
Then the rabbi told a story about how he once saw a homeless woman peeing in a garbage can on State Street with a crowd of onlookers surrounding her and laughing. “What would you have done if you saw this on the street?” He asked. After a majority of the interns admitted they would ignore it and walk away, he connected the Chicago homeless woman to all the Jews in the holocaust: “What did everyone else do when the Jews were being killed? They looked away.”
Of course! That’s why I must do good deeds. Cover up the homeless woman and prevent her from humiliation or else SIX MILLION JEWS WILL DIE ONCE AGAIN. AHHHHH
Tip of the Day: If you hate Jews, don’t kill us. You and the 10 generations following wont hear the end of it.
SHUT UP ABOUT THE HOLOCAUST ALREADY. STOP USING IT AS A TOOL FOR EVERY DAMN POLITICAL CAMPAIGN, FUNDRAISING EVENT, TORAH PORTION AND MORAL STORY.
And then… I crawl into a hole for non-stop, 24 hour coverage of the democratic national convention to watch dream team Kerry and Edwards look cute and act dry: the winning combination to defeat bush. Wish I thought of it.
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[21 Jul 2004|03:03pm] |
Am I like really hard to understand over the phone? Do I not pronounce words correctly? Do I speak too fast? Maybe my voice is just overly flamboyant.
Or is my office phone just shitty?
I’m having trouble communicating today.
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[20 Jul 2004|03:47pm] |
Soooo does anybody want to go with me to a rally in Milwaukee with John and Elizabeth Edwards? Its on Saturday at 10:00 am – I figure we could drive on up around 9:00 or so and go to the Milwaukee Art Museum, Brady Street or something else afterwards.
Actually, it looks like Milwaukee is going to be crazy on Saturday – the American Cheese Society Conference is hosting a cheese festival including “free cheese taste testing for all enthusiasts as well as discussions and panels concerning cheese and cheese making issues.”
OR the LARGEST GERMAN FESTIVAL IN THE USA: “Six stages of continuous live entertainment including bands direct from Germany, specially brewed German Fest Beer, a Children's Pretzel Park, a parade on Saturday featuring marching bands, traditional German dress and new and vintage German cars. Attend a Catholic Mass at 10:30 a.m. in the Marcus Amphitheater and get in to German Fest for free at noon. Of course, there'll be plenty of mouthwatering Spanferkel and Westfalian ham, bratwurst, schnitzel, goulash and spaetzle to boot!”
So any takers for John Edwards + Cheese + German shtuff? Or, you know, just John Edwards?
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[20 Jul 2004|11:55am] |
So umm it’s about 5PM right now and I’m slowly drifting through my day at work. Drifting because my boss, Anita, is out of town for the entire week and only gave me a handful of responsibilities, all of which could probably be finished in a single day but I’m trying to stretch them out for the entire week in an attempt to feel like I have some sort of a purpose here. Also drifting because I have to stay extra late today – until 8sh – to serve dinner to the clients.
Somewhere in-between the defeat of the defensive marriage act and an incredibly distasteful episode of “Six Feet Under” I spent the majority of my weekend in the city with Ashley. Thursday night was the Cubs game and then on Friday we went to Oak Park to tour Frank Lloyd Wright homes and Navy Pier for a river architectural boat tour, followed by “I Robot”, deep dish pizza, and Jordan’s party, after which I puked 1, 2, 3-I’m-done-with-liquor-for-a-while times. Saturday included Wicker Park, Lincoln Park, Grant Park, and Old Town + “Coffee and Cigarettes” and then real-life coffee and cigarettes with Heather at Denny’s. Sunday was uneventful with a family party celebrating the engagement of my cousin, picking up Ashley from the “L” station and watching the aforementioned episode of “Six Feet Under”.
Whew. So now I’m at work, Arnold Shwartzenager is still standing behind his labeling of Democrats as “Girlie Men” and Ariel Sharon wants me to relocate to Israel “as soon as possible”. Thank God I’m not French or else I “must” leave. That’s because the best way to combat the “alarming” Anti-Semitism now present in this world is to run away to Israel. That way those crazy, violent Anti-Semites can kill all the Jews with one big bomb instead of a couple dozen.
Yea, I’ve reached a plateau of self-discovery: I’m tired of being home. I think it was during the Madonna concert. On the video screen, a bunch of Jewish and Palestinian kids were playing games together in the desert while the different Hebrew words for God scrolled across the screen and suddenly became engulfed in flames as Madonna broke into “Holiday” and I thought “darn, wait ‘til I tell the kidz at SLC bout dis.”
3 more weeks of my internship + 3 weeks of saying goodbye to Chicago(ans) = SLC
;)
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[08 Jul 2004|02:34pm] |
happy that I’m going on a summer retreat tomorrow with the rest of the interns. Ok, that’s an understatement- I’m not exactly happy about it, but I’m relieved, and there’s a degree of anticipation mixed with hesitation but, all in all, I don’t think I can complain. Yea, the itinerary is a bit obnoxious, a bit redundant from our past gatherings: Candle making and lighting, Kaballat Shabbat, Oneg Shabbat, a Kiddush, G-d concepts and spirituality, Jewish Communities Around the World and, of course, Sex and the Jewish City right before the Havdallah. But there’s also the other interns and some of them are cool, some suck, but for the most part they’re all intelligent, interesting kids and while I may not care exactly how Israel is represented at Brandeis, Washington University or Northwestern, I’m interested to hear what they have to say. And then there’s refreshments – it appears as if half of the interns will be bringing whiskey, vodka, rum and the like, and I’m not really going to complain about that one either. So ya- no complaints except that I’d like to have a cigarette once in a while, but I should be able to deal.
On Sunday there’s the Madonna concert – my dad surprised me with tickets – and I think I’ll be going with either Haley or Meredith. And then Ashley lands in Chicago at 8:00 pm on Tuesday from Ft. Lauderdale, as do my woooonderful Bubbie and Zadie from the same airport on Thursday. Fun times ahead. The other night, Amy and I saw “The Clearing” (Robert Redford, Helen Mirren, Willem Dafoe) which was really kinda good.
I wish I had something interesting to say, but I don’t. I think I need to try writing at night more often; at school it isn’t a problem, but when I’m home I get far too lazy to sit and write about the state of our country, economic systems or Anti-Semitism etc. But that brings me to something else: for the last, I don’t know, 5 or 7 years of my life I’ve tried to be something I’m not, or don’t enjoy. I’ve tried to be a creative writer. I mean, I have the whole “creative thinking” part down, but not the poetry reading or fiction writing. I’ve tried so damn hard to be a fiction lit freak, taking courses like Postwar Japanese Literature. In all honesty, though, the only time I enjoy reading fiction is when I can pull at least a hint of honest representation out of a book. You know – like how hard life is in rural America in “Nickel and Dimed” or how life has lost a tremendous amount of meaning for those living in intifada-Israel in Amos Oz’s novels. And while I enjoy reading the stuff to some degree, I’m usually not excited. I’m excited when I read Milton Friedman, or Karl Marx, even Noam Chomsky and most definitely the book currently on my desk, “After the Empire” by Emmanuel Todd.
I think that may make me a boring person. But my goal is to critically yet at the same time creatively (thanks to my Sarah Lawrence education) read economics or political science books, and then creatively filter it or something and give it back. I don’t know. I’m trying to figure things out right now – like what the hell I want to do with the rest of my life.
I’ll be gone Friday Morning – Sunday afternoon. Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend while I’m gone, especially Heather W (Happy Birthday!!!)
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[01 Jul 2004|02:52pm] |
For starters I don’t like bitter old lesbians. I don’t like bitter old people in general. And Heather: if you ever actually do become a bitter old lesbian I think we’ll have to question our friendship, okay – so don’t ever become a bitter old person. We should all just die the day we become bitter.
I haven’t posted in a while and that’s because I’ve actually been…busy. Ya – total change from the first 3 weeks of summer. The internship is going extremely well. I don’t like the way everyone’s friendly in an office environment even though they may loathe the person sitting next to them in the lunchroom, but I think that’s my only complaint, which means I’m on a pretty good streak. The internship program as a whole has its ups and downs. Today we met downtown at the Federation Building for a lecture on Jewish Genetic Disorders, which included workshops on how couples can manage relationships and families if they’re both carriers of the same uniquely-Jewish-in-their-abundance genetic disorders. Last Monday, though, we listened to a very talented professor from Boston talk about Jewish Politics over kosher pizza, which was awesome. (Well not the kosher pizza part – that’s just silly).
(Cigarette break)
So I’m standing outside of the office having a cigarette (mind you this is in the heart of Chicago’s north side) and a cross dresser decked out in a robe with maybe two or three teeth and flowers in her/his lets just say their hair harassed me for a cigarette: “Give me oneee. Come on, kid, give me oneeee. GIVE ME ONE! Just oneeeee. Whyyyyyy cant you give me one? Ughhhh.” But this was followed up by a wonderful lesbian couple that are clients here. That’s the thing about working 9-5 in a neighborhood I would normally avoid – everyone’s here – Jews, gays, Arabs, Mexicans, White people, black people etc etc etc and every single minority and majority group is represented in a section of Chicago that suffers from extreme poverty. Its sad – no doubt – because poverty isn’t a good thing, but in some strange way also uplifting because I really think there actually is some kind of community here beyond racial or religious lines.
And then on to my sheltered, ideal-community suburban life, last weekend was fantabulous. Fahrenheit 9/11at Deer Park’s grand opening, Noodles & Co with Heather, Heather, Joey and Sara, followed by Michelle’s grand pride weekend party and a 2:00AM trip to a Wisconsin trucker’s diner because I accidentally thought that the onramp to the Wisconsin-bound expressway was the entrance to Krispy Kreme – don’t ask. Saturday was even better: dyke march with Heather, Heather, Sara, Joey, Alana and Jica followed by dinner in Hyde Park with Meredith and then a trip along lake shore drive with her wayyyy cool I-wish-we-could’ve-spent-more-time-together friend Greg. Of course, I can’t leave out Haley’s lovely little party featuring Blue Razz (some strange blue-raspberry and vodka concoction) which made me just slightly – ok, incredibly – pukey.
On to politics, last night Heather and I went to Chicago’s 20th CityPAC anniversary celebration at the ultra trendy Hotel Allegro. CityPAC is Chicago’s very own Pro-Israel Political Action Club and in addition to honoring the work of past presidents, Barack Obama (Senate Candidate IL – Democrat) spoke as the night’s keynote speaker. He’s an incredible man with a lot to say – and he looks good saying it, too. If you don’t believe me visit http://www.obamaforillinois.com/ and see for yourself. I honestly couldn’t imagine a more ideal candidate. The dude is a Columbia + Harvard grad + U of Chicago professor and member of the Illinois Senate – a Hyde Park native. I love this man.
And somewhere in between all of this hoopla drudgereport decided to post on its site that Hillary Clinton will be Kerry’s likely running mate. Fat chance and if you ask me it’s going to be either Edwards or Vilsack – but I’m rooting for Edwards. Yea, I would prefer Clinton, but I don’t think there’s much wrong in choosing Edwards. I think that’s it. I don’t want to get into anything else or I’ll be here all day – and I have work to do, and work to take home to make up for this 10 min lj spree and I’m well beyond doing homework so I think I’ll end it here.
Hope everyone has a great 3-day weekend. = )
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[22 Jun 2004|04:12pm] |
“So he’s just a little bit kinky.”
That’s what my mom said yesterday after Jack Ryan’s divorce records were released to the public. Yup, the Republican candidate for Congress here in IL apparently forced his wife to visit “sex clubs” with him, and often pressured her to perform sexual acts in public to the point where she became physically sick. And that’s only half of the records with the other half remaining sealed by a judge’s orders. So then where does that leave us? Well, Obama (da democrat) already had a 20+ point lead and it’ll only increase. Ryan lost this election because of policies and ideas the first time around, and now he’s going to lose it twice as hard because of his moral flaws. I’m not saying that visiting sex clubs presents a moral flaw, just that you don’t frickin force your wife into sex clubs, especially when you want to run for political office, which Ryan says he’s been planning his entire life.
And how about Bush? Has everyone read up on the “New Freedom Initiative” that he plans to completely introduce next month or something? First off, drop the word freedom –apparently in America if you staple the word freedom or patriot onto any piece of legislation it is guaranteed to pass. What will the program do? None other than make medications treating mental illnesses more readily available (in the community, not “institutions”) and start diagnosing mental illness in children so they can become pharmaceutical-dependant, healthcare corporation-supporting FREE AMERICANS at an even younger age. Remember the lice check when the teacher gave you shampoo if you had lice? Now it’ll be the droopy eyes and upside down smile test accompanied with prescriptions for paxil, Zoloft, prozac or whatever else they’re prescribing nowadays.
But I love my country. And I think I’ll seriously consider going back on Zoloft – so that I can be a freer, better American.
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[18 Jun 2004|09:40am] |
but he wont announce it until early next month. I’m worried he’ll pick Gephardt, which, in my opinion, would be a complete bomb. Well not a bomb, but I can’t really see Gephardt helping Kerry anywhere other than Missouri, and we need the South more than the Midwest. My pick? First off it would be McCain for a unity ticket, but that won’t happen, so I’m hoping for Edwards or Clark as a distant third. I’d personally be ecstatic with Vilsack, but his name recognition doesn’t leave Iowa and the VP should be at least slightly recognizable on a national scale.
Ohhh – So I should mention that I’m at work now. Ezra Mutli Services, an organization of the Jewish United Federation. My internship is technically with the JUF and I meet at their main building weekly for seminars as well as at Northwestern University’s Hillel, but my direct placement is in Uptown, which rocks. Right now I’m observing social workers interacting with their clients, and hopefully by next week I’ll start taking on clients of my own. Rock Rock Rock. There’s also a Russian/Jewish Senior Citizen Center downstairs, and today I’m leading the Kiddush. They’re really big on opera, and every once in a while you’ll see everyone singing in Russian.
Beyond that, this is the first Friday in about 3 weeks where I’m absolutely ecstatic that it’s Friday, and that’s a goooood feeling to have again. My only complaint about the job is the commute – 1-2 hours depending on the time, but usually closer to an hour and a half because I drive during rush hour.
Ohhh and I’ve also seen a bunch of movies the past few weeks so I should at least grade them, because that’s fun:
- Young Adam: B+
- Day After Tomorrow: B- (I wasn’t expecting anything beyond Independence day dialogue and plot wise, and I was happily surprised that you actually left with something other than “what if Aliens attack Earth!?”
- Goodbye Lenin: B+ (Good, but I was expecting better)
- Fog of War: A
- Mean Girls: B
- Saved: B-
- Stepford Wives: C+ (Sooo much wasted star power I wanted to barf. Broderick, Kidman, Glenn Close, Cristopher Walken, and Bette Middler could’ve made something truly brilliant… but whatever, right?
- Ladykillers: C- I’ve all but given up on the Cohen Brothers after this and that movie with George Clooney and Catherine Zeta Jones
- Colene and Carlete: C (I don’t know if I got the title right – some drag queen comedy with Nia Varlos, Toni Collette, and David Duchovny)
Movies opening this weekend or still playing that I reallllly want to see: The Mother, Control Room, Coffee and Cigarettes, Alila, dodgeball-kinda, Napoleon Dynamite. There’s also the health care for all rally on Saturday at Lincoln Park with Howard Dean, Jessee Jackson, and a few congressmen, so I think we’ll be going to that as well.
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[20 May 2004|08:55pm] |
I’m tired and sad and happy and confused about everything.
– I’m home. I don’t know if I want to be home, but I’m home. I think I like being home, but I don’t really know….yet.
– Why am I always confused?
– My evaluation was posted for Postwar Japanese Lit. I called the registrars office to check my grade. My GPA remains the same as last semester. I can definitely get used to this.
– Saw “My Architect” last night with Heather W. It was incredible. And only cost $4, too.
– I love my car soooooo much, but I think I like my friends more.
– Dude. Cedar Point fucking rocks. Top Thrill Dragster is insane. Front row, and last row. Kick assz.
– I’m gonna read The Odyssey because Troy put me in the mood. Sad, I know, but whatever. Any other summer book recommendations would be marvelous. I also want to pick up a few more Kenzaburo Oe books. If you don’t know who he is, hit up Barnes&Noble stat. I know, your local bookseller, but globalization and mass consumption makes things so much easier.
– I forgot how boring TV is. Every time I watch something, like Daily Show or The Critic, I think the voices aren’t properly matched with the sound.
– All my clocks are on different times. My car is an hour earlier than central time because I was at school during daylight savings. My computer and cell phone are both on Eastern. Everything else is central. I’m too lazy to fix everything; leaving all the clocks different and getting by would prove that I’m not dictated by time, but I’m having trouble getting by.
– I cant wait to finally see Heather S. Two more hours!
– I miss Sarah Lawrence. A LOT.
– I want more than one God. I like the idea of creation and humanity being a group effort.
– These “Nice’n Clean” computer wipes don’t do the trick. How do you clean a computer screen? I mean really clean it?
– I want to go to the airport tonight with the Heathers and park the car and watch the planes land and eat krispy kremes like last year.
ARGHHHHHHHH. I have a feeling I'll be deleting this entry soon.
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[15 May 2004|07:58pm] |
I’m done. Been donee for a long time. I came back to the room at like 7:30 or something like that because I need to pack and that’s frikign me out because now the room is all empty and shit. So before I pack the computer I figured I should post about coming home. Because that’s what I’”’m doning monday.
aT some point I nade the decision that this would be a drunk backinala. I guess that’s because everyon else is drunk or sotnoed or something and hass been for the past few days. Well since thursday or something I guess because before thursday I was working on mty conference papers.
I don’t want tl leave!! I’m going to so find him jarretttt on the lwan and djust relax because packing makes me sad.
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[09 May 2004|01:07am] |
So, um, ya…strange weekend so far. I’m in the library at 1:00am on a Saturday night. That’s because last night included Japanese food, Evan’s play, and lots and lots of smoking. I think I’m pretty much on target as far as work goes, though. One more week. I don’t want to leave, I want to leave, I don’t know if I want to leave, whatever. I’m leaving in a week.
Days left of school: 6
Race and Democracy: 16 pages
Post War Japanese Lit: 30 pages XFINISHEDX
Understanding Capitalism: 5 pages
I also want to add that I love so many people here its ridiculous and I cant stand the fact that I’m going to be going 3 months without seeing the half of them. Mike just called me stoned off his asz. The fact that Mike gets stoned makes me happy. The fact that Katie, Kelsey, Nick and Amy are upstairs watching GEM in a film viewing room while I’m down here (working?) with Laura makes me happy too. The fact that there’s a bunch of people outside of the library on Andrews lawn dancing in a massive circle of rose petals playing the drums makes me happy. My throat hurts and I wish *you* could be here because I miss *you* so much…already. I love you. Don’t forget that – how much we *all* love you. Please call me. I don’t want to go home without seeing you again. Its so beautiful here tonight, even though it got really cold all of a sudden, even though I’m in clogs and my feet feel like icicles and my roommate is behind the front desk of the library and that kid I’m always talking about is here but not near me and my throat still hurts. But I’m sucking on a jolly rancher and that should make it feel better.
The finger of God is above my head. I think I’m ready to stop doing work for the night. I wonder if there’s still a bird flying around the library. Why don’t I ever understand myself but think I understand everyone around me even though I know I don’t?
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