March 25, 2008

Keepin' the Faith

[I originally wrote this as a note to my Amanda, but I feel that it applies to
everyone and therefore, I am posting my thoughts and forcing them onto the
Blogging world.]

First of all- PROPS to William for posting "UBL" on my friend Amanda's
Facebook. FINALLY! Someone gets the guy's friggin name right. This is one
of my pet peeves. (Of which I have several.) The man is Usama bin Laden.
You may know him as Osama bin Laden. You would be wrong. The FBI and
the State Department have ALWAYS called him Usama, or UBL. For no
apparent reason after September 11th, 2001, the American Media changed
his name. Maybe it's because they (I mean "They") didn't want a terrorist
who took more American lives than anyone ever before to have a name that
begins with USAma, or maybe some intern at a news office messed it up
by accident and they just ran with it. Who knows? Either way, its Usama
bin Laden
. End of story. Don't believe me? Just ask the FBI. Go to the FBI
website, and on the middle right-hand side there's a link that says "Most
Wanted Terrorists" click it, He's numero uno. Look, I'll even provide you
with a link.
http://www.fbi.gov/wanted/terrorists/terbinladen.htm
MOVING ON>
Something I would like to say: you can't let the world get you down and I'll tell
you why. Did Bartlet let conflict between India and Pakistan get him down?
No. he immediately got the ambassadors in the white house and tried to
dissipate the situation. One man. and the guy has MS.

What did Josh and Toby do when they met Matt Kelly at that little bar? Did
they despair at the poor conditions of the economy? Or did they do
something about it? No one thought that they could, not even the President
of the United States, but they had an idea and they ran with it. That, my
friend, is going to be you (the people who are committed to the study of
history, politics, social justice, human rights, civil liberties, world events,
terrorism, and government) some years from now.

Just remember from 20 Hours in America, part 2:
JOSH: Campaigns aren't about the candidates.
TOBY: No?
JOSH: They're about the voters. How-how are we going to create jobs? how-
how are we going to get healthcare? How are we going to make the lights go
on? How are we going to protect ourselves?

The point is that it's not about the state of affairs, it's not about what has, could,
or will happen, it's about YOU. It's
about the future of politics. It's what we are going
to do to
fix the world. And you can't lose hope for change, because Faith that you
can change it is the only thing that will ever
change the world. And a little bit of
cynicism can be good.
It's what allows us to not simply accept the status quo, but
to
effect change. To demand change. The key is to stay just critical enough to force
a change, but not too much that you
lose the faith that you can.

JOSH: Learn things. Be good to each other. Read the newspapers, go to
the movies, go to a party. Read a book. In the meantime, remember
pluralism. You want to get these people? I mean, you really want to reach in
and kill them where they live? Keep accepting more than one idea. Makes
'em absolutely crazy.
Josh then, of course, reminds the students to refrain from stealing anything
before they leave :) I leave you with that my faithful reader.

March 21, 2008

The Equinox Is Usually Good to Me

This past week: Sunday I picked boyfriend up from the airport and saw him for the first time in almost two weeks, spring break ended, but hell, it's SPRING! St. Patrick's Day was Monday and I had some friends over, I got to talk to Dr. B (happy face), nothing has changed with Rebecca, but I don't think that anything can salvage that at this point, and I've stopped caring. Tuesday Dulé Hill(!) and Zachary Quinto came to Ship for an amazing Obama rally. I got to meet Dulé Hill (Charlie!) and Zach Quinto (Syler!) and had Dulé sign some pictures and it was absolutely one of the greatest moments ever. I joined the Ship College Democrats club and talked to the chair of the Political Science department about the issues I've had switching majors. We worked it out and solved the problem (!) another Yay! . I've been helping to register students to vote, I've gotten about 20 total new voters and changing party/address. So that was really cool. I got Skype and a cool camera/microphone thingey for the Lappy to use with it (fun new toy to explore!). Today was a great ep of my favorite show, and this morning's episode (2am boo) is Hollywood A.D. which is one of my absolute favorite eps ever! Also, today's my birthday AND Good Friday, and yesterday was Free Rita's Day. I get to go home tomorrow with boyfriend for birthday/Easter celebrations. So WOW. I'm really excited.

Well, I have been really busy and today's my birthday so I'm just going to post some photos that remind me of spring. Let me know what you think Amanda. (I say Amanda because I'm fairly sure that you're the only one who reads this) : )

This one always makes me think of hope. And the lyrics of a Matt Duke song about inner city violence: "One small bird flew away from this earth, with wings pushing so hard, hard but looking down on that once fragile ground, she's happy to be in the sky" I don't know why, but it just makes me think of that.


Like the first crisp days of spring: colorful, bright and full of excitement and anticipation for the months to come.

I thought that this one was pretty and suited my mood for the week.


I love this. I just love that face.