Tuesday, August 31, 2004

Ow!

Throat hurts. OW! Caught cold from Kelly and Abby. OW! Can't talk, hurts to eat. OW!

Monday, August 30, 2004

OMG TEH KUTE!

Edit: OK, crappy quiz exceeded bandwith on the picture, so here it is!



There. Innit cute?

Sunday, August 29, 2004

RNC Protest Coverage

The Independent Media Center reports a number of mass arrests of peaceful NY protesters. So, what's the big deal, right? Chances are that some of them were trying to be arrested, right? A news update from the Portland IMC indicates that actor Rosario Dawson was arrested in the middle of the big, sanctioned protest for wearing a mask. She was probably not trying to be arrested.

Do I really care who's arrested? Not really, as long as the cops don't beat the shit out of them, though in those news updates there is the suggestion of police violence. This brings me to my real concern: none of this is being reported. On the two national newscasts that I have watched tonight, I have seen one broadcast claim that only "perhaps a dozen" peaceful arrests had been made, and another claim that the march ended "with three arrests." These informal, in-person accounts indicate that there have been at least three mass arrests, and that they were more violent than the networks let on.

So, right now we have a clear "he said, she said" between independent media and mainstream media. More troubling, we have a blatant demonstration of the lengths to which "legitimate" media will go to protect the reputations of those who finance their legitimacy.

And while I'm bitching, The Olympics. I'm really ticked that the IOC expects Paul Hamm to clean up the mess a bunch of addled judges made, but is unwilling to swallow its own pride and award a second medal. In any given sport, titles have been won and lost on the incompetence of officials; we do not ask the athletes to take it on the chin in order to smooth over their incompetance. And now the poor Brazillian marathoner who was pushed off the track by some Christian nutter has come in third by just over a minute. No mention has been made of the possibility that this is due to lax security on the course. Jesus people, watch the video; it's not like security couldn't have tackled the nutjob before he got to the guy -- he had to run across yards of open space. And yet, no one is calling for the gold medalist to abdicate or even share the honor. After all, the Brazillian is simply happy to have placed, leaving the IOC conveniently off the hook.

In short, the various "authorities" (ha!) annoy the fuck out of me, and I am in a crap mood. Go away.

Cranky edit: Now my spell check won't work. If something's misspelled, fuck off. I don't want to know about it.

Grouchy neighbor of edit: The IOC has given De Lima the "good sport/thanks for not holding us accountable" medal. The IOC will next be asking the athletes to organize the schedules for their own events. Fucking overgrown teenagers.

>:-O

Dear Hotmail,

You suck beyond words. You have sucked within verbal limits for some time now, such that I have used you for little more than a spam-catcher, but this "account de-activation" thing that you just did? Where you got rid of all of the emails I received after freshman year, including the one with contact email for my entire studio group? Pure, mind-blowing evil.

Go to hell,
CJ

Thursday, August 26, 2004

New York bans rally against Bush

They might ruin THE GRASS? I miss the good old days of invented threats and paranoia. Now all we have is a Supreme Court that's fanatical about the lawn.

OK, OK, I'll go back to my (failing) hiatus now. But how was I supposed to resist that?

Tuesday, August 24, 2004

We Interrupt This Hiatus...

... to bring you word that I went out and got myself a job.

Woo Hoo!

Saturday, August 21, 2004

Extended Vacation

I discovered during my trip to San Francisco that staying away from the computer really does do wonders for the wrists. For this reason, this blog is going on extended vacation until a) after Labor Day or b) I become so bored that I can do nothing but whine to you folks about it.

This means I will also not be around on IM very much. I will check email and answer my phone, though, so if you need me (unlikely, I know) or are exceptionally bored (more likely) feel free to get ahold of me one of those two ways. If you don't have my email, click on the "My Profile" link at the right. If you need my number and don't have it, email me and I'll send it to you. Unless I have no idea who you are. Then I'll just laugh at you.

Oh! I suppose you could also comment here if you need to tell me something. You could also use email, phone, or comments to tell me what I've missed this week.

So. What's new with you?

EDIT: Tentatively, it took three days less than a year. Pathetic, but good.

Sunday, August 15, 2004

There goes my heart...

Hellow from San Francisco. I'm exhausted from conferencing and walking... conferencing and walking... lather, rinse, repeat...

Am bursting with love for sociology... oh, wait, that's exhaustion. Will be locked up in Azkaban Alcatraz on Thurday. I look forward to multiple care packages with concealed lock picks from all of you.

Toodles!

Thursday, August 12, 2004

Flowers? Check. Hair? Check.

I'm leaving on a jet plane tommorrow. Off to a conference in San Francisco, then staying for a bit of R&R, some of which will take place on Alcatraz (which I keep accidentally calling Azkaban, dammit). I'll have WiFi access at the hotel, and might even remember my Palm, so you all might hear from me.

Now, I'm off to sort ut last minute details like kitty food and depositing checks. And packing. Forgetting that would be bad.

Wednesday, August 11, 2004

D&D book reader on ferry hassled by security morons

You're a diamond in the rough...

I can't decide if this is creepy or cool.

Tuesday, August 10, 2004

Riiiight...

It's a "Banana Guard." *snickers inappropriately*

Dumber than a Box of Rocks

I have another plagiarist. She figured I would never figure out that she took her final book report from the book's publisher's website. Because, obviously, I've no experience with teh intarweb.

Dolt.

Monday, August 09, 2004

Student Follies

I emerge from the depths of intro papers to alert you to a new pet peeve: disturbing. It's the interesting of a new generation. Yes, with either of these words you can indicate a vague positive or negative impression of any given subject without having paid attention to a single lecture or reading.

I learn something new every time I TA for intro.

Progress, or catch-up?

Regardless of which side wins this year, Illinois will elect an African-American senator. The race is historic, as evidenced by this sentence: "America has elected only four black senators in its entire history."

Gotta love "representative" democracy.

Saturday, August 07, 2004

Rumbly in my Tumby

My mother is having a party upstairs. This means that I have not been able to eat all day, as she has been preparing. When asked, she replied "I'll have plenty of leftovers." I mean really, how dare I be hungry when she needs the kitchen? I can just hold it until eight o'clock when everyone's gone.

Additionally, I'm locked in the basement with the cat. Oh well. at least it's not the cupboard under the stairs.

I wonder if she'll let me use the bathroom...


EDIT: OH MY GOD I JUST WALKED UPSTAIRS INTO A DEN OF BITCHY MOTHERS!!! Ladies and gentlemen, directions to hell in these parts include the unusual phrase "go UP one flight of stairs." All I wanted was to fill my fucking water bottle, but no! They were in the middle of an "all of our children are evil" bitchfest.

I came so close to telling them I hadn't eaten all day so they could sit there and call me an ungrateful bitch. Shit. The least they could do is wait until I can't fucking hear them.

H2G2 Teaser!!!

Thursday, August 05, 2004

>:-O

Dear allegedly well-educated individuals who have yet to comprehend the meaning of the word "confidentiality,"

God damn you to motherfucking hell. May the forces of evil find a map that leads directly to your house. May your children discover the joys of perpetual adolescence. And for fuck's sake, may you develop selective amnesia and forget to pass on stigmatizing private information about students, you moronic fuckwits.

Fuck off and die,
CJ

The New York Times > Opinion > Op-Ed Contributor: Chords for Change

The New York Times > Opinion > Bruce Springsteen rocks me.

"Like many others, in the aftermath of 9/11, I felt the country's unity. I don't remember anything quite like it. I supported the decision to enter Afghanistan and I hoped that the seriousness of the times would bring forth strength, humility and wisdom in our leaders. Instead, we dived headlong into an unnecessary war in Iraq, offering up the lives of our young men and women under circumstances that are now discredited. We ran record deficits, while simultaneously cutting and squeezing services like afterschool programs. We granted tax cuts to the richest 1 percent (corporate bigwigs, well-to-do guitar players), increasing the division of wealth that threatens to destroy our social contract with one another and render mute the promise of 'one nation indivisible.'"

I don't agree with him completely, but I'm completely impressed with someone who's willing to criticise a system that benefits him in favor of change that would benefit everyone.

Wednesday, August 04, 2004

"In the Sahara, marriage is built on love."

This is a breath of fresh air in a time when most news coverage involving Islam focuses on the extremist fringes of the religion. It serves as an important reminded that most local culture and social structure shape religious practice, rather than religion shaping them.

I am an idiot.

Who the hell thought it would be a good idea to let me in to grad school?

I've been doing some of the reading for my fall classes in a futile attempt to avoid the panic inherent in taking three graduate courses at once. Today, I ran into the professor for one of those classes. She asked if I was in the class, and I said yes. And then began my idiocy:

Prof: It sure is coming up fast.
CJ: *nods agreement* Makes me glad I've started in on the reading already.

(note: this is utterly sincere, and I've said it to numerous folk already. This does not keep it from sounding like I'm brown nosing worse than a horny mongrel.)

Prof: Really? Which Book?
CJ: *tells her*
Prof: What do you think of it?
CJ: I've got some nagging issue with it that I've found I can't enunciate just yet. *goes on to babble in a vain attempt to look relatively smart; fails utterly*

Note: all of this is true as well. Are we beginning to see the problem here? That's right: I now look like a brownnoser who's LYING about having started the reading.

For the record, now that I have been awake half the night trying to figure out how to reverse time and not get on the elevator in which this conversation took place, I've got a lead on what my problem is with the fucking book. I promise not to bore you with that discussion here.

I'm going to go try to crawl in a hole now.

Monday, August 02, 2004

iPod Redux

Gacked from the QOW LJ, "... one thing we just found out is that in order to count, your bid on an item has to go through the freeiPods.com site. This is a little non-obvious, because to register on eBay you have to wait for a link to click on in email. After that, you're supposed to go back to the site and continue from there. It's the way they track it.

Anyways, the easiest way to get this done is to go to the freeiPods.com site, login as an existing member, and go to the Offers page. Click on the eBay link, and login to eBay in the window that comes up. It will probably take you to the seller registration page. You do NOT have to do this. Just click on the eBay icon at the upper left, and you'll go to the eBay main page. Then put in a non-winning bid on something..."

That would explain why nothing was happeining in the iPod department. That's two obscenely priced bits of movie paraphenalia I've bid obscenely low on now. It's really obscene that I give enough of a damn to keep plugging at this. But really, I didn't dig boy bands, I'm not installing video screens in my car, and I couldn't care less what brand of clothing I'm wearing, so I suppose some damn fad was bound to capture my attention sooner or later. Dammit.

Target... for all your Kabbalah needs

Whiskey. Tango. Foxtrot. Wow. This is even funnier than their cheap gaudy crosses. Because nothing says "mysticism" like buying your Kabbalah bracelet at Target.

EDIT: Ooo... Lookit! Bert and Ernie, together at last in my sidebar! Bless those folks at the Department of Homeland Senility, and their little matchmaking hearts.

Sunday, August 01, 2004

Free iPod?

So, if you're like me, the idea of free stuff is something that appeals to you. However, if you're like me, the spam that comes with this type of promotion would drive you insane. Which means that you, like me, probably have that spam-specific yahoo account set up already, and you can freely CLICK HERE and sign up to see if these folks are for real. Because, more than I want a free iPod, I want to see if they really DO send you a free iPod. It's completely perverse; I have no real attachment to the idea of owning an iPod. I have an mp3 player that I use sporadically, and a CD burner that I use to back up data. But the minute someone says "we'll give you a free one if you give us five referrals," I say "prove it, buster." Yup. My inner teenager makes me a marketer's dream.

I fully admit that I chose the ebay "special offer" because it involved spending no money. I created a new ebay account, bid, and lost. The last thing I need is to be spending money just to find out that these assholes aren't really gonna send me an iPod -- my gullibility curiosity only extends but so far.

Fuck Freud

Freudian Inventory Results
Genital (63%) you appear to have a progressive and constructive outlook on life.
Latency (70%) you may be using learning as an escape from living.
Phallic (53%) you appear to have a good balance of sexual awareness and sexual composure.
Anal (46%) you appear to have a good balance of self control and spontaneity.
Oral (53%) you appear to have a good balance of independence and interdependence.
Take Free Freudian Inventory Test
personality tests by similarminds.com


Yeah, well, Freud was coked out and lusted after his mother. I'm clearly doing better than that.

Hijinx: Papal and Otherwise

Yeah, the biological difference between men and women was never much to shout about anyway. A penis is really just a dildo that creates an unfortunate mess.

And if the pope really thinks my uterus ought to be the focal point of my lifecourse, he can go screw (every single, posible pun absolutely intended).

I've just spent thirteen hours on the road, and ended up right where I woke up this morning. Mom, DD (Other Mother), and I went to see my "Baby Brother" Andy in a musical review in Wisconsin Dells. Andy is a very talented performer, and absolutely cracked my shit up with his performance. It's amazing to watch someone who you can remember holding as a baby live one of his dreams.

That's enough sap for one entry. Now on to the hilarity of the drive. The drive down was not eventful, but on the way back we were all a little loopy. First, my mother wisely decided that her Honda Civic was too big for the "autos only" side of a rest stop, so she parked next to all of the semis and RVs. Thus began references to her "rig" that lasted for the next two hours.

Second, as we pulled out of the truck stop it started to rain. Now, there was a pretty fabulous lightning show for most of the ride, so the rain was not unexpected. In fact, as we pulled into the rest area, I made the observation that it would soon start raining, as it was almost my turn to drive. My mother seconded this premonition, as she had repeatedly forgotten to change her wiper blades. Sure enough, it started raining...

... And would. Not. Stop. The highway was flooded, and I could feel the complete lack of traction beneath me. I slowed way down just as the HAIL started. We pulled off at the (mercifully close) next exit, where I ran in to see if the gas station there stocked wiper blades. Stroke of luck number one: they did.

So the problem was, I couldn't get the damn things on. See, I've done it before, but I was lacking in eyesight tonight. Having to make the choice between wearing the glasses and seeing nothing or not wearing them and seeing poorly, I chose the latter. Stroke of luck number two: the guy at the next pump offered to do it.

So the wipers were changed, and I was soaked. My mother had an extra shirt in the car, so I changed into that (yes, in a parking lot crowded with people. I am a girl. We know how to change in public without exposing ourselves). After that, DD offered to drive again. I was only too glad to let her, but none of us wanted to get out of the car to switch. So we did the only possible thing we could do: we rotated places all at once within the car. It really was a funny as it sounds.

Finally, finally, FINALLY we made it into Minnesota, when suddenly one of the wiper blades does a funky dance and rotates iteslef around the arm. Not five miles from our destination, we pull off to the side of the road, I put on my sopping wet shoes and get out to fix it. Stroke of luck number three: it has stopped raining enough that I could wear my glasses to do it. We were back on the road in two minutes.

I fear I have run out of luck for today. I'm exhausted, sore, and cold. I'm going to bed before anything else happens. Today's lesson: check your wiper blades before road trips. Or: you can never have too big a parking spot for a Honda Civic. Your choice.