Political SHIT.

This will be one of those rare posts of mine where I'll truly vent.

I fucking hate American politics, particularly from my position as a no-party-enthusiast. I'm in this craptastic position where I HAVE to declare hatred for one side or the other, or I'm considered a drain as a person.

"Why won't you vote, Julia?"

Because I hate shitheads. I'm not about to elect one. Nobody speaks for me at all. I'm a gray-area person, and that's not allowed these days. You have to hate the president or love the president; you have to hate the democrats or hate the republicans. But nobody represents me at all.

There's a reason why it's called "knee-jerk." If you react with smugness and assholery, you're a smug asshole JERK. Making jokey little jibes at people who you don't agree with is just a dick thing to do, and my respect-o-meter's needle has completely fallen off for those who would rather make a snide elbowing-aside remark than express your feelings in a sane, adult manner. Political arguments make me physically sick, because I know that the maturity level is almost certain to drop to an 8th-grade level.

So I'm not going to vote because I don't want to, and your stupid little asides make me hate you, liberal or conservative.

The week is over

Listening to: Elton John - Philadelphia Freedom

My first week of school hath drawn to a close. And you know, it hasn't been too rough. The undergrad class has been extremely easy to follow, which I kind of anticipated (I know that there are kids in that class who were born in '88... KIDS!) and my workshop went well - there are three new kids in it, and I'm excited to see how they write. Maybe it'll be a nice change from what I'm used to. Some new material, that sort of thing. I made a new friend yesterday, a first-year poetry guy named Joey, who, thank dog, is a baseball fan, so he didn't mind me screaming at the tv in the bar yesterday.

My work schedule's not as bad as I thought it might be - I'll be working three days a week. Monday and wednesday nights, and tuesday afternoons (admittedly, the tuesday scheduling was based entirely around the Genesis concert that's coming up in a couple weeks, but it's fine. I don't do anything on tuesdays anyway) and a shitload of meetings in the next couple weeks.

I'm getting my work done, my writing's flowing for once, and I'm going to New York this weekend to see Steve and my folks.

Life? is good.

It begins... redux

Listening to: Maroon 5 - Makes Me Wonder

Well, today, I step into my first undergraduate class since spring of '06. I'll be the lone grad student in a huge lecture, but I've got the prof on my side. I just need to figure out how to actually enroll in it, in spite of my grad-student status. It's not going to make my schedule very flexible - looks like I'll be going to school a lot more than I thought I'd be this semester, plus scheduling in work-time... I'll be lucky if I have any spare time at all. Like a normal student.

I'm going to have to work my butt off, and I don't really know how. This could be trouble.

I have to get a SEPTA pass. That's the only way I'm going to be able to afford this. I guess I could walk to work, through the terrible neighborhood, several blocks away.

Swiped from Kimmah

Listening to: The Fixx - Saved by Zero

Alright. I suppose I have enough strong feelings about things to do a love/hate list (thanks for the idea, Kimmah! Sorry I'm so lame and unoriginal...) These are in no particular order:

The Love:

-castro hats
-asparagus
-cat noises
-fake wood paneling
-metallic/aerodynamic diners with coughing old-lady-waitresses
-gravy fries (fries must have crisp exterior)
-The New York Mets
-tom-heavy drum solos
-diet Pepsi wild cherry
-Long Beach with Steve
-sexy baritone voices
-muttonchop sideburns
-tattoos of random/stupid shit (flying tacos, televisions, Abe Lincoln, etc)
-early 20th century sensationalist handbills
-PlinkO
-70's ragtop hoop-ds
-scraping all the dust/gunk out of my computer
-pineapple juice that doesn't taste like the can
-Benihana fried rice

The Hate:

-black socks
-preachy mcpreachers who think they know what's good for me
-mayo
-most of Chattanooga
-The New York Skankees
-spilling iced tea on my keyboard
-jam bands
-regular Coke (I don't mind diet)
-the Del-Mar-Va peninsula
-babysitting drunk friends
-the Septa Subway
-canned tuna
-pants that cause muffin-tops
-cat-vomit (and stepping in it)
-plain chapstick

Sand in the what, now?

Listening to: Dead or Alive - You Spin Me

Wow - exhilirating weekend in LI. Went to the beach not once, but twice. I even made it through wearing the bikini not once, but twice. As predicted, I had the usual boob-poppage, but that didn't end up being a problem. I survived my first real swim in the ocean in almost a decade without any issues, although sand ended up in the usual places. It now lines the drain of Steve's bathtub. Dog-willing, there won't be any major plumbing upsets as a result (I doubt I mentioned this earlier, but his toilet more or less exploded in... July or June or something - I was home for the entire ordeal).

I didn't realize how much I missed being buffeted by the admittedly short waves of the Atlantic. I had such a bad scare from being sucked under a massive Maui wave when I was 11 that I barely went into the Ocean at all thereafter (I did go snorkeling in some calmer waters when I was 15, and I did a little sea-kayaking when I was 18), and having Steve there with me definitely calmed what fears I had. I know how much he hates being in the sun, so it was especially awesome.

So I'm home now, with no real work for about a week. School starts soon, and I really don't want to think about it, although the prospect of no longer being the department's BABY (man, I hated that - my first semester's creative writing prof called me that and I hated her for it) is something I do look forward to. I just feel kind of bad that they'll have to deal with that beastly woman now.

Just say the word... ohhhhh

Listening to: Phil Collins - Sussudio

((side note: man, does that song permeate your whole body when you hear it... you sing along, you dance like a fuckhead, and you momentarily find Phil Collins to be awesome.

Although it's no In the Air Tonight.))

Well, off to LI today. To the first event this year which has me in a bikini. I'm scared. Very, very scared. I've put on too much weight for most of my old board shorts (my one "fat" pair still fits very comfortably, but that hardly makes me feel better), half my tattoos haven't been displayed in public, and I have a legitimate concern about my boobs popping out should I even consider entering the pool. It's awfully difficult to find a bathing suit that fits an ample-chested woman without it being either a Speedo or something with a skirt that is meant to be worn with a bathing cap studded with daisies.

Steve's response to my fear was pretty kind - he did remind me that he's going to be "the hairy guy." Still, nobody wants to be the chick with the gunt whose boobs fell out.

Man... all this insecurity after Dr. Weiss tells me I'm losing weight. But I did use the restroom five minutes before I weighted myself yesterday, so it could've been a fluke.

Why can't they make exercise more fun? If there was a lap pool around here, I'd be in it daily, but such is not the case. I'm not even sure where the pool at Temple is. I should probably ask about that.

The Boot

Listening to: Kenny Loggins - Heaven Helps

Well, I've officially been booted out of a forum (one of my illegal botany forums). The reasoning? I've apparently been "too negative." As in, I express my opinions, either political or regarding mass media, and the overly aggressive mod decided he didn't like what I had to say - particularly regarding Miami Ink, and I got dumped. Oh, and because I offered a favor to another poster. Apparently those are both grounds for a PERMANENT BAN.

Alright, I don't understand what's wrong with strongly disliking Miami Ink (I think it's doing a disservice to the tattooed community) that merits a ban, but that's the way the ball bounces. I guess I'll just have to find another online forum to "destroy."

What a fuckhead that mod is.