Friday, March 28, 2008

Hooray for Mariela Castro

New Cuban leader Raul Castro's daughter Mariela is the head of the National Centre for Sex Education, and is trying to get new liberal sexuality laws passed in the country. "The proposed legislation would recognise same-sex unions, along with inheritance rights. It would also give transsexuals the right to free sex-change operations and allow them to switch the gender on their ID cards, with or without surgery," a BBC article said. If Cuba passes the legislation, it will be a great day for LGBT activists, and for personal freedom in general.

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Bats are neither rich nor beautiful. Discuss.

And yet, Alan Hicks, a government conservationist, said:

"I don't want my grandkids saying, gosh, what was it like to have bats flying around? I want them to enjoy all the wealth and beauty that we have."

I'm sorry the bats are dying. But at least they won't get in my room anymore.

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Election Coverage

This particular post is not going to be too political, I just want to highlight some of the media's coverage of the election, especially that of the Democratic race.

First up: Clinton's 'mistake.' Last week, she apparently talked of her terrifying experience entering Bosnia under sniper fire. But, oops, that never actually happened! Not only that, there is a VIDEO SHOWING HER ENTERING BOSNIA. Of course, she says it "proves [she's] human." We all make mistakes. They just don't usually involve completely making up something that never happened.

And then this. This is just pointless really. But people care about it, apparently.

Monday, March 24, 2008

What Sarah said

How I got to this: Flickr>jadydangel's blog>this

Instructions: Put the iPod on "Shuffle" For each question, forward to the next song and write it down IN THAT ORDER. No Cheatin'.

1. IF SOMEONE SAYS “IS THIS OKAY” YOU SAY?
"Cave" - Muse

2. WHAT WOULD BEST DESCRIBE YOUR PERSONALITY?
"Buildings" - Regina Spektor [doesn't really fit, but great song]

3. WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL?
"Lightness" - Death Cab for Cutie [yep, you better be shallow and only want me for my body]

4. HOW DO YOU FEEL TODAY?
"A Certain Romance" - Arctic Monkeys [why, I am feeling a certain romance today. after all, I am wearing the shirt Jeff got me in Japan]

5. WHAT IS YOUR LIFE'S PURPOSE?
"In the Springtime of His Voodoo" - Tori Amos ["honey we're recovering Christians", "I know she's not that foxy, boys", "you gotta owe something sometimes"]

6. WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO?
"37 MM" - AFI ["press me to your lips and I will suck the poison out", "fall into me"]

7. WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?
"I Think We're on to Something Here" - The Evening Raid [so... what does that mean about what they think of me?]

8. WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR PARENTS?
"I'm Sorry" - Flyleaf [wow... umm... no, it's not like that, unless I'm sorry I have such cool parents]

9. WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN?
"Dark Light" - Him

10. WHAT IS 2+2?
"The Green Fields of France" - Dropkick Murphys

11. WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND?
"Black Sweat" - Prince [this would totally work if Jeff was black... "I don't wanna take nobody on unless it's you", "I'm hot and I don't care who knows it"]

12. WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
"High Fidelity" - Regina Spektor [that's true]

13. WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?
"The Heinrich Maneuver" - Interpol ["you know it's a lonely ride"... how depressing]

14. WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?
"Worth the Wait" - We Are Scientists [something that will take a long time to figure out but be amazing? seems reasonable]

15. WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
"And It Rained All Night" - Thom Yorke [what's with this thing?]

16. WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?
"Kiss Me Like You Mean It" - Magnetic Fields [it's giving me the wrong answers for things...]

17. WHAT WILL YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING?
"The Hound (Of Blood and Rank)" - Coheed & Cambria ["come on, you've gotta give it to me" I guess that line works, but then "oh you've been a bad, bad boy" alludes to some wedding night S&M... woah]

18. WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?
"Devil in New Jersey" - Coheed & Cambria ["when sound asleep they'll find you", well that would be better than many things]

19. WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST?
"Custom Concern" - Modest Mouse

20. WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SECRET?
"Apocalypse Please" - Muse [apparently I want the world to end. not even I knew that.]

21. WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?
"I Caught Fire" - The Used [you can interpret this in a few ways. going by the title, perhaps they like to set me on fire. by the lyrics, well then I'm just passionately in love with them all, "we could... stay in bed, just make love that's all" OH YES]

22. WHAT SHOULD YOU POST THIS AS?
"What Sarah Said" - Death Cab for Cutie [an absolutely beautiful but sad and haunting song]

Saturday, March 22, 2008

scent


tree flowers, originally uploaded by marichica88.

I breathe the scent of a spring night,
freshly cleansed with rain,
the air is fine and clear and sweet.
Is that honeysuckle on its lips?
This I delight in until -
woe of most misfortune -
I pass cigarette smoke
and my lungs reject it.
Finally that dreadful second
is gone -
and my nose drinks in
the sweet spring smell again.
It happily remembers
other times I've smelled this -
and then all of a sudden
my mind brings up your scent again.
I'm struck by the fact that it has not left me.
I can conjure it at will.
And then a smile steals my features
and I want to bury myself in you yet again.

Some thoughts, a link.

First of all, head on over to dooce to get a nice, healthy dose of crazy. Heather Armstrong is a wonderfully amusing writer, and makes the most mundane occasions hilarious. Would that I had such talent.

Next of all, my roommate went home this weekend. Great, right? But last night I slept in Tal's room, because we had been telling ghost stories and I was a little creeped out. We ended up staying up til 5 in the morning talking. Sleepovers are good like that. We talked about lots of things, including ethics.

I got a voicemail from my grandmother after dinner yesterday that my package from Jeff had arrived. Apparently Japan is not kidding when it sends things. That was really fast - he sent it Monday, it got here Friday. I went over to pick it up and met her friends Chuck and Judy who were quite cool. They told me this horrific story: "A US woman on a boat off the Florida Keys has died after a stingray leapt up and struck her in the face." Officials called this a "bizarre incident", apparently. Really? Bizarre? No way! It's like that Dane Cook joke, only real. And therefore terrible.

Friday, March 14, 2008

Ah yes, foolish opinions.

This guy spoke at W&M today. While his speech didn't even approach the sensationalism and radicalism that he apparently embraces (seriously, read the Wikipedia article). He talked about how diversity is not a good thing; how diverse nations rate lower in studies on happiness; how historically integration hasn't worked; how it's natural to want to be with people of your own race. He clearly stated that he's anti-immigration (well, if those immigrants aren't white, that is). He had a couple of half-intelligent points based on shoddy, problematic arguments. He said race is biological (not true). He completely dismissed studies that have shown diversity to be positive. He ignored the fact that concepts of race and the reactions to it are directly linked to how we are socialized to see it, and the fact that there is evidence that those views can be changed. The overwhelming reaction was disgust and outrage. There were a few legitimate, respectful questions: he responded by repeating himself and respected no one else's opinion. It was really interesting that he was there at all. It was interesting to see a radically different viewpoint than my own at work. But his defense was not appropriate; his main argument was that he was right and that's all there is to it. Ah, the things people believe. Plus he founded and edits this lovely publication.

Saturday, March 8, 2008

More look-alike nonsense

I did Jeff on that thing. It says he looks most like Adam Sandler.

snazzy Jeff

Adam Sandler (via Flickr)

What do you think?

Friday, March 7, 2008

America beckons

patriotic

come back to me,
America says.
I have missed you.
I can't wait to feed you full of fat again -
if you get the runs,
it will be all the more endearing.
when the sun sets here,
she cries,
I wish you could see it.
marvel at my beautiful curves,
never mind that I grew several sizes
since you left.
I keep everyone safe.
Not literally -
only in the sense that they feel it.
I love you, I really do,
but at the same time -
I could care less.
So come back or don't.
Just don't leave me waiting.
I'm very impatient.

light up the sky with our fire

sunset seagulls

music videos, movies,
drilling the idea in my head:
I want to draw you into my arms
and kiss you like forever.
I don't need to draw a breath
if I can just breathe you.
In my mind,
let this never stop.
We will spread our love,
a blanket on the ground.
Laying on that blanket under the stars,
we will identify the constellations
and light up the sky with our fire.

Tuesday, March 4, 2008

Yay, some links!

Some places you should go.

The Story of Stuff - This has a 20 minute video about our consumer culture. It's really enlightening. Watch it!

Mental Floss - My favorite magazine's website is chock full of even more cool facts! Check out the blog, lists, and quizzes.

Conventional Stupidity - The blog of a Mental Floss writer. It is really hilarious.

The Best 19 Movies You Didn't See in 2007 - I'm using this as a what-to-see-next guide!

Eternally Cool - This blog often has references to classics! It's mostly about Rome... and other cool things.

Overheard in New York - Always funny, this site posts random things overheard in New York City. Also links to an 'everywhere' and 'at the beach' version.

iSketch - online pictionary!

Threadless - Great t-shirts.

Cute Overload - Yes. Go here.

That's all for now!

Sunday, March 2, 2008

Celebrity Look-alike

So my friends on Facebook have been putting up this myheritage.com celebrity look-alikes thing. I tested it out, it said I look most like Cameron Diaz. Agree? Disagree? See for yourself.


new haircut Me
Cameron Diaz (courtesy of Wire Image)

A Saga of Woe and Triumph: Applying to Study Abroad

Just a little story for you.
Once upon a time, a girl dreamed she would go to New Zealand to study abroad in the fall. She studied and researched and thought and thought and finally decided that the University of Otago was her destination of choice. She had a few options now: go through a program or directly enroll? She thought that going through a program would be much less stressful, and make it easier to meet people. So she looked at the programs. The top two were through a company called AustraLearn and through Arcadia University. The AustraLearn program appeared to be a bit cheaper, so she picked that one. She applied ridiculously early - the deadline was in April but she applied in January! It took a while for AustraLearn to tell her they got her materials, but she thought that was probably okay. Finally on January 31, and e-mail arrived! They had gotten all her materials and would let her know if she got accepted in two weeks! This seemed like a long time, but she spent it being excited and later, getting impatient. Especially when more than two weeks passed. At exactly 3 weeks later, a new e-mail arrived. But this e-mail was confusing, and was accompanied by a voicemail message. It said that AustraLearn had not received any of her application materials! This was indeed upsetting and frustrating. The woman at the office said the previous e-mail had been a mistake. This was unbelievable! The girl called her mom. Her mom said she could not go through AustraLearn anymore. The girl cried, and then doubted that she wanted to go to New Zealand after all. But then she thought some more. Then she realized she really did still want to go. And she applied to the Arcadia program. Shortly afterwards, a woman from the Arcadia office called her just to see if she had questions! This was a pleasant change. The application was due March 15 - about two weeks away. But she got everything in before the end of February, and her professor understood and wrote her a new recommendation quickly. Now she is simply waiting to hear from Arcadia, and is feeling much better about going to New Zealand.