My brother must be a liar

The following was written during a very confusing lecture in my Shakespeare class. I've been told by other members of the class that I'm probably better off for not having paid much attention.

I currently have four mosquito bites.

On. My. Face.

I've heard a little guy buzzing around my head while trying to sleep for a week or so. In mentioning it to my brother, I learned that I had nothing really to fear. I already knew that only females bite, but Jeff informed me that the way to tell the difference between the sexes is audible. There is a slight physical difference between the two that causes the males only to buzz when flying.

Well, either my brother doesn't know what he's talking about, or Mr. Mosquito has a girlfriend in my room as well. Or maybe he and I are both wrong and the males bite sometimes too. This definitely calls for some Wikipedia time.

Luckily these don't really itch terrible unless I touch them so I just have to keep my hands off of my face. I can tell you that's not the easiest tack while attending one of the most boring classes I've ever been enrolled in.



Wikipedia didn't have much to say about the buzzing, but it did say that females are the only ones who drink blood, and they are attracted to CO2, which is I guess why i flies around my dang face!

This site however does specify that both sexes make noise and explains that it's actually a mating thing.

Jeff, you have been proven wrong.

Story from an Etsy member

This was posted in the forums on Etsy today and I thought it was something that others should maybe read as well.

The seller who posted it is Vidrio

So I went to a Proposition 8 protest yesterday and it was crazy. Tons of people on both sides. The part that really got to me was the people of the No side were chanting about love and freedom which was great. But the people on the Yes side were just hateful. First they had tons of their kids with them. I'm all for kids observing the political process but what these "parents" had their children do was despicable. They had kids chanting "Fags go to Hell, Fags get AIDS". Many on the No side were crying at the site of this. This continued on and off through most of the protest.

In between the hate being sung out by children I talked to some Yes on 8 people about why they would support this amendment and one woman said to me "You people are always crying for tolerance, well now it's your turn to tolerate us and let this proposition pass." I explained to that her statement made absolutely no sense. She refused to listen as did just about every other person on the Yes side.

Then I met an african-american man on the yes side. He was holding a bible and was shouting that gay marriage is against god. So I went up to him and asked if we could speak for a moment. He said yes and I asked him if he had actually ever read the bible. he said he didn't have to read the whole bible to know that being gay was wrong. So I then asked him if he was aware that the main reasons given by whites to not free the slaves were direct quotes from the bible. I explained to him that if he really wanted to follow everything the bible said we would have to make slavery legal again. He got pretty angry when I said that. I then asked if he was aware that there are many laws in the bible that were written to be taken just as serious as the "man shall not lie with man" part. He asked me for examples and I told him that the bible also says we can not eat shell fish, work on the sabbath, we must stone our children for disobeying, not allow to women to sleep in the same home together when they have their periods even if they are family and yes have slaves.

He said "God bless you" and walked over to the chanting children and chanted with them.

It hit me then that I will never change anyone's mind about this. I truly believe this country is on the verge of becoming the next Nazi Germany. I don't think I can sit and wait for them to drag me to a concentration camp and make me wear a pink triangle.

I guess I agree that we are at a cross roads right now and if this amendment passes we just took the wrong road. If it does pass I guess I will start saving up to move to Canada or Spain. I guess there is no point in staying in a country that hates me so much.

I just thought I'd share my experience with my etsy friends. I do love you all even if you hate me for what I am.

For the love of God and all things holy...NO on Prop 8!

This was posted by a lovely man on Facebook by the name of Mike Yee. I don't think that I've seen it better put by anyone.


For the love of God and all things holy...NO on Prop 8!
Wednesday, October 1, 2008 at 5:24pm
A couple weeks ago, on an early Saturday morning, there was a stranger ringing my doorbell. I was still in my pj's, so I decided not to answer the door (when I looked out the window I didn't recognize who it was). The doorbell-ringer finally left something on the gate and left. It turns out that it was a flyer in SUPPORT of Proposition 8 (the proposition that would ban gay marriage).

I was livid. My heart started to race. I began to fantasize about all the fantastic ways I could have handled this situation had I answered the door. In the end, unfortunately, I was only left with these fantasies. Two weeks later, though, this incident still remains on my mind, and I'm just as infuriated now as I was then.

One of the biggest claims from the Yes on Prop 8 folks is that in May of 2008 the Supreme Court of California reversed the "will of the people." This is such a transparent argument IF you consider the context of the election during which the proposition was voted upon. First of all, Prop 22 appeared during a Primary election, NOT a General Election. The 2000 California primary election took place when Al Gore was already the clear Democratic front-runner and there was a hotly-contested race for the Republican candidacy between Bush and McCain. As a result, there was less incentive for Democrats (read: more open-minded voters) to go to the poll. Opponents of same-sex marriage love to cite that 61% of voters supported Prop 22. This is HUGELY misleading. What they SHOULD be saying is that 61% of THOSE WHO VOTED AT THE TIME favored Prop 22. As it turns out though, those 61% only made up approximately 30% of eligible California voters; approximately 20% of eligible voters ended up voting against it; and 50% of eligible voters (sadly) never went to the polls at all. So the bottom line here: it is simply not true to say that Prop 22 was supported by "the majority of Californians."

My next beef: since when does an issue of civil rights deserve to be at the mercy of public opinion? It's tacky to bring it up, but I don't think a majority of slaveowners back in the day would have voted in favor of losing their workers. We already know that inter-racial marriage wasn't popular. There are simply some issues that don't deserve to be in the hands of the public.

Also (and now I'm addressing proponents of this ridiculous proposition), what the HELL is it to you or anybody else who somebody else marries? For every gay couple who weds, does a straight couple lose a diamond off their wedding band? Do they lose a year off their counted anniversaries? What? How does it affect you? Well, of course there's no answer because it simply doesn't.

What it ultimately comes down to is fear, ignorance and good ol' fashioned ego. The real reason that people oppose gay marriage is that it legitimizes relationships and lifestyles that, in their view, are immoral. Well, you see, the beauty of our country is that even WITH legalized gay marriage, you or any other closed- and/or like-minded bigot do not have to personally accept gay marriage. YOU will still have the freedom to hold your archaic, prehistoric and ignorant views while the rest of enlightened society gets to experience more love.

Proponents of Prop 8 love to say that they are not trying to discriminate against gays and lesbians, and that they have nothing personal against gays and lesbians. But let's face it, that's the only issue here. It's not about the "sanctity of marriage" (a phrase that, like "activist judges," invariably causes me to cringe everytime I hear it), nor is it about religious freedom (because churches will not be required to perform same-sex marriages). It's about ultra-conservatives being unable and unwilling to give up what THEY feel is their last legalized form of discrimination.

Please, I urge all my friends in California to vote No on Prop 8 in November. Maybe you could even urge your own friends and family to do the same.

A nice average?

Tonight was a long night.

Some really good highs, and yet also some pretty disappointing lows.

To keep it positive, I continued with my changing the world today. I had an interview, and though I was worried that I was running late, I decided to take my bike instead of my car.

Thinking about it that way makes me feel like today was much better than I felt it was before.

I should have more to write tomorrow, since I probably should be doing homework instead.

Continuing.

Today I continued my trek to change the world.
I didn't do much, but I saw an opportunity to help a woman and I decided to take it.

There was a graduate fair at school today, and a woman taking down one booth was having trouble getting a display into the box it stores in. She couldn't really see the edges and it would get caught (which I understand is a difficult to picture from text) so one of the times that she was trying the box fell over. I was reading on a bench in the surrounding courtyard, so I got up and held the box steady.

I don't think that she really needed the help. I think that she had figured it out the try before, but she seemed to have a better attitude than before. I hope that wasn't just my imagination.

I have an interview tomorrow. I'm not sure yet where I stand on wanting the position, so hopefully I'll have some awesome questions about it before 3 tomorrow and after the interview I'll know precisely where I stand!



**EDIT** Tomorrow I will also make the phone call to my landlord to get the sink fixed. It's more important to stop wasting the water than to get my roommates to take responsibility.

Oh, and I also put everything in our living room and my bedroom that I didn't need plugged in all the time on a power strip. I'll now be turning them off whenever not in use. I'm kind of excited to see how it effects our energy bill. I let my roommates know what I did for the living room so they knew what was up if the TV wasn't working, but I'm not expecting them to do the same. I'm definitely interested in the next few months electricity bills!

I saved a life today.

I'm pretty sure the turn around time isn't that fast, but I did donate blood today!

It was my second time doing so. My first time it was really fast, like 4:30 to fill the bag. This time I'm pretty sure that the blood pressure arm band was on too tight because it took almost 11 minutes! The needle also burned a little, which I was warned about by a co-worker 2 months ago when i donated, and since I thought it would only be few minutes, I didn't worry about it too much. I was very glad to have it out of my arm though.

I also signed up and swabbed my cheeks to get on the marrow donation registry. They really need minorities, and males tend to be better matches, but you never really know, right?

These two simple things are just the beginning of my new goal.

I've decided that I'm going to change the world.



I found Ben Jelen again the other day, and well, he's cute so I follow what he says. Not really. But his lyrics and the video for Pulse definitely make me want to get off of my ass. (I would have posted Pulse here, but it's got some things like starving children in it. I encourage you to watch it though, it should be one of the first suggested after Wreckage is done playing.)

I realize for now that getting off my ass is going to consist of some very small things, but it's more important that one does what they can than uproot their lives for something, right? So when I get the chance I'm going to do things like donate blood. (Apparently if I do so in the actual clinic my O- can be used for babies and more specialized things than it can be when donated through a blood drive location.) I think I might try to pick up trash a little when I'm out walking. I'm not sure what else, but I'll definitely have my eyes open for opportunity, and I will always love suggestions.

Maybe after I graduate I'll look into the Peace Corps!

I should be reading

I should really be either reading or sleeping.

I have 13 pages to write before 8 am on Tuesday. It is currently 3:35 am Monday. That gives me just under 28 1/2 hours in which to gather my information and write.

I'm pretty sure the writing will not take too long.

Getting me to do the reading however, that will suck.

Hopefully you will not see another post from me until at least the afternoon on Tuesday.

How Rude!

I saw Jodie Sweetin give a lecture on Thursday night. If you're not currently familiar with her, you probably were 13 years ago.



I actually really enjoyed the lecture, as well as the time spent with Kristine. Jodie (we're totally on a first name basis I decided) seemed rather nervous, with lots of hair touching and deep breaths, but she kept it together and I thought she was cute. She even said, "How rude," for us!

I've been told a time or two that I look like her (I don't really see it) so I brought my camera in hopes of getting a picture with her to actually let people decide. The line for the meet and greet was crazy though, so Kristine and I just went to Chipotle.

It was a good evening.

I got a treasury!

So, I have a treasury on Etsy right now, you should all check it out.

I'll add a nifty picture of it tomorrow.

School Woes

I don't like Midterms. I also don't like having a lot to do at the beginning of a term and then feeling behind the rest of the term. I think that this semester is going to be more of a learning experience than actually for a lot of credit.

I got a degree assessment today and it seems that I will probably graduate in the summer of 2012.

W.
T.
F.

What was all the time that I spent doing things at community college if it's now going to take me this long? I really don't like the idea of summer school, but since I have to take a foreign language I think that might be when I do it. If I'm actually in the country and all. I mean, if I've got that long to go I might as well do at least one of the semesters abroad, right?

Such a Californian

My roommate and I found ourselves shivering this weekend. It was in the 60's and we were kind of bundled up, but I think the fact that we could hear the wind outside made us think we were colder than we were. Today it's actually colder inside than it was, but not so much wind and we feel perfectly fine.

I have a test tomorrow that I should have spent a lot more time preparing for, but I hope that I will still be able to do ok, I just have to remember to stay calm and be willing to read through and back up my points in the essay portion. Those are the notes that my cute TA gave me on my essay before, so watch out now! There is no advice i take better than advice from a cute boy.

We also had a house party this weekend, it was a lot of fun and I can't wait for the next one! It will be a bad sweater and cookie party!!!

I'm going to head to bed, but after my test tomorrow I should be good on getting to updating again!

Second Saturday?

In talking to DennisAnderson in chat Wednesday night he mentioned doing a show on Saturday for Sacramento's monthly art walk and he said that he thinks that they still have spots open, so I should attend as well.

So I'm thinking about it. I need some extra cash this month, and it's a very small table fee, so it's not too much of a gamble that I would make the same back. I still need to call tomorrow to see if there are open spots, but I think that if there are I'm going to go for it.

I'm supposed to be having a party that night, but oh well. My friends can come visit me and go to the party afterward, or come and party without me until I get home!

I went in for the second part of my root canal this afternoon. It was quite an olfactory experience.

During the initial topical ointment application I smelled something like banana, but since I don't like banana and it didn't make me want to gag, it confused me. It was really more candied than banana, so I think it was more the sweet that i focused on.

After that there was bubble gum, thought I don't remember what was happening when I smelled that.

When they put the rubber around my tooth to make sure that none of the bacteria gets into the rest of my mouth I smelled a public pool. Not in a bad way, I liked the smell.

The bubble gum continued throughout the procedure. When it was done I was looking around and noticed that the box of gloves that the assistant was using said they were bubble gum flavored! I thought that was kind of crazy, but it very much explains my constant smell of bubble gum.

It's 4 and a half hours later, and I am finally not numb.

Now that there's no danger of biting my tongue and not knowing about it, it's time to make some food!

Getting back on track.

Today is the last day that I am house sitting for the bfff's parents. I've enjoyed it quite a bit. Her cats kind of make me want one, though the way that things are in my house makes me not really want to be the only one taking responsibility for one. But we shall see, I have floated the idea to the roommates and if they pursue it a bit more we may still go for it.

I should be getting the supplies that I ordered on Etsy any day now, and I really can't wait. I really need to reorganize my whole room before really getting into more creating, but if I have the supplies there maybe I'll be able to motivate myself to get my shit together so I can work with them!

Along with the house sitting being over, Laura gets back into town tonight!!! She and I do a really great impression of getting really sick of each other sometimes, but dang have I missed that girl. I can't wait to hear all about Italy and her favorite parts.

I am currently looking for a job, and I think I've found something that sounds pretty awesome, so I hope that I can do it. Sylvan Learning Center is hiring Teaching Assistants for nights and weekends relatively close to my house. It's further than I'd wanted to work from home because it will mean driving instead of biking at nights, but it sounds pretty awesome. (For those of you who don't know I'm an English major hoping to teach middle or high school English and I've often been told that I should teach math, so I'm hoping that not only would I be a great teaching assistant, but maybe there would even be room for growth!)

I'd rather not leave you without something fun to look at in this post, so let me find something!

I hope that you already know of the Llama song, otherwise this is definitely not as fun.

Please bear with me.

I'm trying to mess with my layout and i'm not having the easiest time. If you know what you're doing I would love the help!

...From Outer Space

For anyone who isn't aware, which would be most people who read this I believe, I have recently started listing on Etsy again.

I'm hoping that I will be a little more successful this time around since I think I'll be able to focus better on it.

I'm still not completely organized in my new place, so I plan on getting organized soon and being able to have a decent workflow, and therefore keep up with the site better.