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Thursday, October 30, 2003
A Conversation Over Dinner While eating a sub at Weg-head's... My friend: So... the Democratic candidates for President... Me: Uh-huh. My Friend: I was flipping through the channels and saw a bit of the debate the other day. Me: Uh-huh. My Friend: Where did the chick come from? Me: Carol Moseley Braun!? My Friend: Yeah. Me: I love her! My Friend: She seemed really great. Me: She IS really great. I LOVE her! So maybe as more people start to tune-in she'll get more traction... I sure hope so. | private feedback | (0) public comments Quote of the Day 'Honestly, it's a little tougher than I thought it was going to be. If we have to, we just mow the whole place down, see what happens. You’re dealing with insane suicide bombers who are killing our people, and we need to be very aggressive in taking them out.' Sen. Trent Lott's "unorthodox military solution" to the problems in Iraq, as quoted by The Hill. ['Mow the whole place down'!? Yikes!] | private feedback | (0) public comments Wednesday, October 29, 2003 The Pathological Liar in the White House... Dubbya continues to dig himself into a deeper pit of lies. At his recent press conference, when asked if he might have been a little premature to declare 'major combat operations' over in Iraq -- going so far as to hang a banner behind him that said, 'Mission Accomplished' -- he had this to say: 'Nora, I think you ought to look at my speech. I said, Iraq is a dangerous place and we've still got hard work to do, there's still more to be done. And we had just come off a very successful military operation. I was there to thank the troops. The "Mission Accomplished" sign, of course, was put up by the members of the USS Abraham Lincoln, saying that their mission was accomplished. I know it was attributed some how to some ingenious advance man from my staff -- they weren't that ingenious, by the way. Back in May, The New York Times wrote an article saying... 'Media strategists noted afterward that Mr. Sforza and his aides had choreographed every aspect of the event, even down to the members of the Lincoln crew arrayed in coordinated shirt colors over Mr. Bush's right shoulder and the "Mission Accomplished" banner placed to perfectly capture the president and the celebratory two words in a single shot. The speech was specifically timed for what image makers call "magic hour light," which cast a golden glow on Mr. Bush.' And Dubbya even said those words himself... From the speech: 'America sent you on a mission and that mission has been accomplished.' So what was it? A meticulously planned media event by Bush's staff to show Bush in perfectly framed shots and in the best lighting? Or was the whole event just a thrown-together affair with a banner hung by military personnel and didn't really mean anything? Judge for yourself... | private feedback | (0) public comments Monday, October 27, 2003 Debate Analysis... The nine Democratic presidential candidates debated in Detroit Sunday night... From Slate.com: Braun fired off one of the better lines of the early part of the debate, after moderator Gwen Ifill apologized to her and Dennis Kucinich for not asking them a question yet. In a reference to the back-and-forth bickering among the other candidates, Braun replied, "That's just because nobody's mad at us." She managed to elude a question about her unwise decision to visit Nigeria's dictatorial regime while she was a U.S. senator by appealing to her trailblazing status: "As the only African-American in the United States Senate, it was not inappropriate for me to visit countries in Africa." And she had the cleverest closing statement, calling herself the candidate who is "the clearest alternative to George W. Bush. I don't look like him, I don't talk like him, I don't act like him, I don't think like him." More important, however, Braun continues to be the candidate who best elucidates why it's coherent to have opposed the Iraq war but to support the country's rebuilding and the continuing presence of American troops. "We blew the place up; we have to fix it back," she said, echoing a theme she's returned to in each debate about the moral responsibilities of those who wage war. To my ear, Braun's dovish lucidity on this subject is a harsher rebuke to John Kerry and John Edwards (the two candidates who voted for the congressional war resolution but voted against the president's subsequent $87 billion request) than the similar critique offered by the hawkish Joe Lieberman. The author goes on to say... Braun doesn't have a prayer of becoming the next president of the United States, but the campaign she's waging to rehabilitate her reputation is proceeding nicely. Oh well. | private feedback | (0) public comments Saturday, October 25, 2003 All About Carol Moseley Braun... I'm sick of people telling me that I can't support the candidate that most reflects my views on issues because they just could never beat Dubbya. BS. Any one of these nine Democrats could kick Dubbya out of the white house... (Ok, maybe not Al Sharpton, even though he's very funny, but I digress from my point.) I spent some time this evening doing research on the candidates... finding out who matched my stand on issues the best... and my answer is clear... Carol Moseley Braun. Carol Moseley Braun is FOR gay marriage and 'supports' every HRC agenda item. Only two other candidates support gay marriage (Kucinich and Sharpton) openly. In her HRC questionnaire, she outlines the same argument that I do for why you HAVE to support gay marriage (if you give that right to heterosexuals)... 'The concept of "separate but equal" was properly rejected as inherently problematic by the Supreme Court in the landmark school desegregation case, Brown v. Board of Education. While I applaud the Vermont civil unions law, I am convinced that ultimately inequities will arise if there is one set of laws governing marriage commitments for heterosexuals and another set of laws governing marriage commitments for homosexuals.' Carol Moseley Braun is decidedly AGAINST the death penalty. Hooray for making such a stand. She recently predicted that the death penalty would be abolished within the next 20 years. We can only hope. Again, only Kucinich and Sharpton are in the same boat. Carol Moseley Braun is FOR a single-payer, universal Health Care system in this country. The biggest compliment I heard from some of the earlier debates is how eloquently she outlined her position on the topic. Carol Moseley Braun, as I've posted here before, was totally against the war in Iraq, but has also conceded that now that our dullard of a 'president' lead us into war, we certainly can't 'cut and run.' [Dullard is my word, not hers, of course... She's one of the few candidates that hasn't attacked any of the others in an attempt to get attention and climb to the top of the field. I mean, you gotta respect that.] Other candidates who voted FOR Dubbya to unleash war on Iraq are voting against the money for rebuilding... trying to have it both ways. And lastly, she's a woman... Sorry to say, but I'm over men running this country. Some good news... National Poll Finds Carol Moseley Braun tied with Gephardt Zogby International released this week its latest national poll of Democratic voters. Zogby found Carol Moseley Braun tied for fifth place with former Speaker of the House Richard Gephardt and ahead of several other hopefuls. The numbers from the Zogby poll: Dean 12% Clark 10% Kerry 9% Lieberman 8% Moseley Braun 5% Gephardt 5% Edwards 3% Sharpton 3% Kucinich 1% Graham 1% Undecided 38% And then there's her Web site ... which has been getting better and better as the campaign goes on. Check it out. | private feedback | (0) public comments Thursday, October 23, 2003 Quote of The Day 'It is absolutely critical that we not cut and run, that we provide our troops with what they need and that we not just blow up that country and leave it blown up; we have a responsibility.' Carol Moseley Braun, Democratic presidential nominee on the $87 Billion Dubbya wants to rebuild Iraq. | private feedback | (0) public comments The mysteries of the universe... Why do republicans claim that government has a very limited place in the private lives of citizens... and then in the same breath stand behind an entire republican-dominated state assembly who intervenes into whether or not a woman is kept on life support? Isn't that a decision best left to the family... and when the family is in conflict, the courts? How can a legislature and a governor even pretend that they know what's best for this woman that they have never met. What egos these people must have. And how can an entire assembly react so quickly to something like this which they have no business sticking their noses into and yet so many important issues go unheard or without debate in the halls of state government? Its complete insanity. | private feedback | (0) public comments Wednesday, October 22, 2003 Reading hand gestures... 'She has the most sophisticated gestures. They are intricate, rich in form, not prefabricated and fit exactly what she is trying to convey. It comes at the right moment.' Jurgen Streeck, president of the International Society for Gesture Studies, talking about Carol Moseley Braun in a CNN.com article about the body language of Democratic presidential candidates. | private feedback | (0) public comments Tuesday, October 21, 2003 Rant of the Day Even Dubbya's folks don't get the 'Quote of the Day' distinction... Who tops them? Republican Congressman from Tennessee, Zach Wamp. Anything in []'s is mine. Wamp has labeled homosexuality a "sin" and a "sickness" that must be "controlled." The Bible is "riddled with examples of how homosexual behavior is not just a sin" but "an aberration," he said. "That it is so unnatural and that it is a sickness in the sense that it's a sin and needs to be dealt with and people need to change their behavior and change their ways," he declared. Wamp, who is considering a run for the US Senate [Yay, cause we need more bigots there], said his "view of what policy should be is based on the biblical values from the Old Testament forward." [Yay, another victory for separation of church and state!] | private feedback | (0) public comments Harsh words from Dubbya's Momma and Daddy 'So far, they are a pretty sorry group if you want to know my opinion.' Former First Lady Barbara Bush, when asked about the Democratic line-up for the 2004 presidential election. Biased? Nah! But she is probably still angry that the 'sorry group of candidates' we had lined up in '92 ended up kicking her husband's ass. Like Father, Like Son... Dubbya's Dad had more to add... 'The one who makes the most outrageous charges against the president gets his 20 seconds on the evening news. Hey, I did not ride in here on a watermelon cart. I know how it works.' Watermelon cart? What the...? Oh, he must be talking about the one his son rode to the White House in. | private feedback | (0) public comments I dragged my sorry butt into work today... I caught the flu that's been going around. I think it hit me late last week and I did a relatively good job warding it off... until Sunday evening. Yesterday, I ended up staying home from work and slept for most of the day... This morning I don't feel much better but knew that I couldn't afford to not come into the office. I just wish this Advil Cold & Sinus would kick in sooner than later... | private feedback | (0) public comments Friday, October 17, 2003 My Nephews From my recent trip to PA... 
 Sinking to the level of Republicans... I'm sad to see an article in the Charleston, S.C. Post and Courier that outlines a plan by S.C. Democrats to sell advertising on ballots and look for sponsorship for their primary. That's right, kids, a sponsor for an election... This idea is stupid, stupid, stupid. Perhaps the saddest quote was from State Democratic Party Chairman Joe Erwin, 'You do what you have to do,' he said, 'as long as you do it legally and with integrity.' Integrity, huh? I get angry at movie theaters for adding more and more commericals at the beginning of movies. Now you have more commercials in between trivia questions while you're waiting... and then commericals for products like trucks and soda... and then commericals for movies.... and then a plug for the theater you're sitting in... before you actually get to the movie a half-hour after the advertised start time. AND we pay more for a ticket!?!? That's why I don't go see trash at mainstream movie theaters anymore, I don't have the patience for it. Ads are taking over the world!! I would hate to think I can't even go into a voting booth without seeing an advertisement. Just because the Republican party is bought by corporate interests doesn't mean Democrats have to sink to that level. | private feedback | (0) public comments Quote of The Day "Arnold Schwarzenegger met with President Bush. It's amazing if you think about it. It was the Terminator and the One-Terminator." David Letterman on the Late Show. | private feedback | (0) public comments Thursday, October 16, 2003 Short on time... Well, as you can imagine, my time has been tight these last few days. I have looked at what seems like a million apartments (there are actually more than I would have thought)... I'll spare you the rest of the apartment horror stories, but it's amazing what people get away with renting. Only two seemed even remotely tolerable but sucked in terms of location. [OK, OK... I'll share one of the apartment stories with you, cause it was really funny. When I called about an apartment, the landlord asked immediately, 'How tall are you?' I was like, 'Huh?' and he asked again. I said, '5'6"' and he replied. 'Ok, then I can show you this apartment, the ceilings are only a little higher than 6-foot, so if you were 6-foot tall or taller, you might have a problem. For some reason, I still looked at the apartment but even I had to duck to get through the door to the bathroom. No thanks.] I was pretty much settled on taking one of those two 'less-than-ideally-located apartments' until the lease came in the mail. I looked at the terms, I was bound to this apartment through November of 2004, and I freaked out. All of a sudden, I felt like I was making a rush decision that I was going to be stuck with for a year. And I didn't like the way that felt. So, I immediately snapped to another decision which most everyone that I talked to agreed was better... I would ask to move in temporarily with my friend Cheri and ask Lori and Darlene watch my cat for a few months while I searched for a more ideal living situation. (Up until now I was resisting separating myself from my cat, which counted Cheri's place out since she is allergic...) Hopefully this plan holds water... Cheri has already said it would be fine... and Lori is checking in with Darlene. Keep your fingers crossed for me. Tonight I have to figure out what I would store and what I would keep for the next two months. More fun to follow... | private feedback | (0) public comments Short on time... Well, as you can imagine, my time has been tight these last few days. I have looked at what seems like a million apartments (there are actually more than I would have thought)... I'll spare you the rest of the apartment horror stories, but it's amazing what people get away with renting. Only two seemed even remotely tolerable but sucked in terms of location. [OK, OK... I'll share one of the apartment stories with you, cause it was really funny. When I called about an apartment, the landlord asked immediately, 'How tall are you?' I was like, 'Huh?' and he asked again. I said, '5'6"' and he replied. 'Ok, then I can show you this apartment, the ceilings are only a little higher than 6-foot, so if you were 6-foot tall or taller, you might have a problem. For some reason, I still looked at the apartment but even I had to duck to get through the door to the bathroom. No thanks.] I was pretty much settled on taking one of those two 'less-than-ideally-located apartments' until the lease came in the mail. I looked at the terms, I was bound to this apartment through November of 2004, and I freaked out. All of a sudden, I felt like I was making a rush decision that I was going to be stuck with for a year. And I didn't like the way that felt. So, I immediately snapped to another decision which most everyone that I talked to agreed was better... I would ask to move in temporarily with my friend Cheri and ask Lori and Darlene watch my cat for a few months while I searched for a more ideal living situation. (Up until now I was resisting separating myself from my cat, which counted Cheri's place out since she is allergic...) Hopefully this plan holds water... Cheri has already said it would be fine... and Lori is checking in with Darlene. Keep your fingers crossed for me. Tonight I have to figure out what I would store and what I would keep for the next two months. More fun to follow... | private feedback | (0) public comments Monday, October 13, 2003 Can we trade-in this holiday? I have a real problem celebrating a holiday that claims the 'discovery' of a continent that already had other human beings living on it. I think that's just plain rude, and institutionally supports white- and euro-centrism which should have gone out of fashion a LONG time ago. I'm working today (I'm the only one... and it's eerily quiet)... and I'd like to make a suggestion. I propose we trade in 'Columbus Day' with all its racist baggage for 'Voting Day'. Or maybe we call it 'Democracy Day' or something like that... a day to celebrate the basic fact that we are a democracy and that as such, we have certain duties... like voting... and let's say it falls on the first Tuesday of November (normally election day) every year. I think it's a shame that we don't support the basic responsibility for voting by giving it an official, government-sanctioned holiday. Other countries do just that, and I imagine that doing something as simple as this could increase voter turnout and combat voter apathy. Not only would we give lip-service to the fact that voting is important, but we actually back up our rhetoric. 'Voting is so important that we're going to give you a holiday so that you take the time to educate yourself and get to the polls.' What a statement that would make right now, when citizens are beginning to doubt their influence and even the importance of their basic voice in government! We wouldn't be adding one more holiday if we canned Columbus Day. It could be a flat out trade, and then folks who complained about the 'cost' of holidays could be persuaded. Sure, some Italian-Americans might get upset, but someone ought to have the backbone to say to them, 'Look, this has nothing to do with how much we value YOU and your contributions to America. We made a mistake declaring that Columbus 'discovered' America. We gave a holiday for a fundamentally racist reason.' How far do you think I'd get with a proposal like that? Some folks are already on the abolish Columbus Day warpath... but there has to be a different or better approach to this. | private feedback | (0) public comments Newspapers around U.S. get identical letters from many soldiers in Iraq The Bush administration plans to push the message to Americans that everything is just fine and dandy in Iraq. Luckily for the administration, letters from soldiers stationed in Iraq detailing great progress have been showing up in local newspapers all over the country. But here's a funny thing - they're all identical. Oh, sure, they're signed by different soldiers, but strangely the wording of each letter is exactly the same. And not only that, but when Gannett News Service contacted several of the soldiers who supposedly authored the letters, none of them had any idea who wrote them. Gee, that's weird. I wonder how these optimistic missives, all identical, all apparently signed by soldiers currently serving in Iraq, managed to end up in the mailbags of American newspapers? I mean, surely the Department of Defense wouldn't go around forging soldiers' signatures on fake letters, would they? Would they?  From DemocraticUnderground.com | private feedback | (0) public comments Sunday, October 12, 2003 Hell is... Apartment Hunting I can't imagine looking for an apartment on short notice is ever 'fun'. It certainly isn't for me... 19 days and counting until I won't have an apartment of my own... in a small city housing market which is driven by college-students (leases tend to be from August to August). I'm without car which means that I'm geographically limited... And I have a cat who is very important to me. As of Wednesday, there were only four apartments listed in the classifieds that would be options. I have looked at two, left multiple messages for one and found out the last wasn't opening up until January. The first apartment that I looked at... eerily enough, had the same house number as the apartment of the ex-bf that I would have been moving into. It had ample space but a lot of the ugly furniture would stay. It was a bit grubby, and wouldn't save me any money to move there. But perhaps the weirdest thing was that the landlord's apartment (which he stayed in for a few weeks at a time every few months) was a floor above and could only be accessed through what would be my living room. Meaning at any random time, this guy would be going through my apartment to get to his own. Now, I'm sure this guy is nice and all, but that's a little strange... next! The second apartment that I looked at was in a great neighborhood... I've lived there before. Again, I wouldn't save any money living there and there would be ample space... but pets are a problem which would mean I'd have to get rid of Chrissy. And, the eighty-year-old man who rented on the first floor was 'sensitive to sound.' That sounds like a recipe for disaster knowing how much I like to listen to music while I'm in the shower in the morning. Also, the landlord was absentee (lives in Virginia) and the best feature was the lame white faux-wood panelling throughout. *deep sigh* | private feedback | (0) public comments Bookend Weddings... Last week began and ended with a wedding... The first was the last significant thing I would do with the now ex-bf, and the second was a bonding experience with Lauren. Yesterday's wedding was absolutely beautiful... at the Fontainebleau Inn in Alpine. The wedding was held on the shore of the lake with the fall foliage as a backdrop. The weather was perfect, the groom arrived by boat, family members and friends read selected poetry, the food was good (even though they ran out of stuff before we got called to the buffet), they had a live band and Polaroid joycams that people used to take goofy pictures. I'm a sucker for weddings, I cry at every one... and I wanted to share this poem that a friend of the bride read at the ceremony. It's by Oriah Mountain Dreamer... The Invitation It doesn’t interest me what you do for a living. I want to know what you ache for and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart’s longing. It doesn’t interest me how old you are. I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool for love for your dream for the adventure of being alive. It doesn’t interest me what planets are squaring your moon... I want to know if you have touched the centre of your own sorrow if you have been opened by life’s betrayals or have become shrivelled and closed from fear of further pain. I want to know if you can sit with pain mine or your own without moving to hide it or fade it or fix it. I want to know if you can be with joy mine or your own if you can dance with wildness and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes without cautioning us to be careful be realistic remember the limitations of being human. It doesn’t interest me if the story you are telling me is true. I want to know if you can disappoint another to be true to yourself. If you can bear the accusation of betrayal and not betray your own soul. If you can be faithless and therefore trustworthy. I want to know if you can see Beauty even when it is not pretty every day. And if you can source your own life from its presence. I want to know if you can live with failure yours and mine and still stand at the edge of the lake and shout to the silver of the full moon, “Yes.” It doesn’t interest me to know where you live or how much money you have. I want to know if you can get up after the night of grief and despair weary and bruised to the bone and do what needs to be done to feed the children. It doesn’t interest me who you know or how you came to be here. I want to know if you will stand in the centre of the fire with me and not shrink back. It doesn’t interest me where or what or with whom you have studied. I want to know what sustains you from the inside when all else falls away. I want to know if you can be alone with yourself and if you truly like the company you keep in the empty moments. Friday, October 10, 2003 Quote of the Day John Kerry, at the Democratic Candidate's Debate last night in Phoenix... 'There are two ways for you to have lower prescription drug costs. One is you could hire Rush Limbaugh's housekeeper ... or you can elect me president.' | private feedback | (0) public comments From Lauren... ~Comes The Dawn~ After awhile, you learn the subtle difference between holding a hand and chaining a soul, And you learn that love doesn't mean leaning And company doesn't mean security, And you begin to learn that kisses aren't contracts And presents aren't promises, And you begin to accept your defeats With the grace of a [gay man], not the grief of a child, And learn to build all your roads on today, because tomorrow's ground is too uncertain for plans, And futures have a way of falling down in midflight. After awhile, you learn that sunshine burns if you get too much. So you plant your own garden and decorate your own soul, instead of waiting for someone to bring you flowers. And you learn that you really can endure... That you are really strong. And you really do have worth. And you learn and learn... With every goodbye, you learn. ~Veronica A.Shoffstall~ P.S. Of course, it didn't really say 'gay man' in the original... it actually said 'woman' but Lauren crossed 'woman' out and wrote 'gay man' on the version she gave me. Awwwwwww. | private feedback | (0) public comments The #1 Reason I Hate Having a Web Site When great things happen to me, like being able to write about moving in with the bf, I feel compelled to share... I mean, who doesn't want to climb the highest mountain and scream at the top of their lungs when things are going well? But then I feel equally compelled to share things that don't go as planned... and its times like those that I hate having a Web site... because I can't be brutally honest here about the bad times. Times like this... This last weekend, the bf and I went to a wedding near Boston. It was for a high school friend of his, and so because it seemed super important to him, I wanted to go along. I'd get an opportunity to meet his friends (all of whome I really liked), I'd get an opportunity to have him show me some of his old haunts in Massachussetts, and I was sure it would be an all around good time. I shopped for new clothes, I told a friend of mine that I couldn't make her wedding because we were going to another one, and was genuinely excited about the trip. The wedding was beautiful, the reception was great. I had a splitting headache but managed to take the edge off with some tylenol. By the time it all wrapped up (10:30) I was exhausted. Some of the guests were hanging out in the hotel, drinking and reminiscing about the past as old high school friends will do. I decided that I'd rather go lay down and let the bf go do that on his own... after all, they're his high school buddies and I didn't want him to have to worry about making sure they included me in the discussion that I really couldn't contribute to. This didn't sit well with him. And even though the next day was great (a driving tour of Northcentral Massachussetts)... that hour-and-a-half that he spent with his friends, without me, apparently planted a seed in his brain. But of course, he didn't say anything until a few days later when I asked him why he was acting a little distant. At first he tried to say he wasn't being distant at all. But then the truth came out. He was having second thoughts about us moving in together. Apparently, my not going to the room to hang out with his high-school friends after the wedding was the last straw. This signified to him that I didn't want to spend time with him... and that a boyfriend of his should 'want to do everything that [he] wants to do.' The immaturity of that statement aside... he also made it clear that he hates the fact that I don't like going out clubbing all the time and this is apparently a deal breaker for him. He feels that I judge him for liking to go out so much, and that living with me would be like, 'living with his mother'. (I'm also 'lame', 'boring', and 'uptight' as well as apparently having a 'stick up my ass' because I enjoy spending quality time in rather than out of the house. At some point he threw in my love of political telivision shows as one more reason why I'm 'lame'. Pretty, right? He gets downright mean when he fights.) All of this is not new information, by any stretch of the imagination. We've had discussions about how I don't like going out frequently for months. But apparently the wedding incident just reminded him of all the times before that I also didn't want to go out drinking with him. Obviously, my lack of interest in partying is enough for him to end our relationship over. So, no, we will not be moving in together. Which would be fine and well... except that he tells me this the day that my apartment gets rented for Nov. 1st. So, not only do I now not have a boyfriend, but I also don't have a place of my own to live come Nov. 1st. Of course my friends will come through for me, they always do... And life has its way of working out... And change is good, right? Lauren, my rock for the last few days, has convinced me this is so. When your life gets shaken up this much, the good that results HAS to be equally as positive. I need to go read some Pema... | private feedback | (0) public comments National Marriage Protection Week In the newest show of ridiculousness at the White House, Dubbya has declared this week, 'National Marriage Protection Week'. | private feedback | (0) public comments Wednesday, October 08, 2003 The California Recall Aftermath... I have only one wish for those of you that voted for Ah-nold... That you get what you deserve. Not only have you elected someone who can barely speak English, you voted for someone who didn't talk in-depth about any issues of importance. (This I don't get, according to exit polls, 57% of CA voters said positions on issues mattered most in making up their decision of who to vote for and then 63% of voters said that Ah-nold didn't talk enough about the issues. How does one square that corner?) You also voted for someone that you don't even know if you can trust considering he may have groped half the women in California including Dr. Joy. You handed republicans another election that they couldn't win fair and square. Following a recount in Florida, a redistricting coup in Texas, and now a recall in California... the Republicans have a new platform in California from which to divert attention from national issues, a new campaigning buddy for Dubbya in 2004, and a new celebrity to prop-up on stage at their 9/11-themed nominating convention in New York City next year. And they're already talking about amending the constitution to allow Ah-nold to run for President. *deep sigh* Thanks, California. | private feedback | (0) public comments Reason #1,256 why I love having a Web site... ... because long lost friends get in touch with me after finding it. Picture it... I'm in 8th grade at Cohocton Central School. My science teacher thinks I'd be a shoe-in for the Young Scholar's Program at Alfred University. For a week (maybe two?), you get to study whatever topic you want with faculty at the University and take an experiment back to your school, collect data, and report your findings back to the Young Scholars conference the next spring. Sounds like fun, right? (Yeah, I was a nerd in high school, what can I say? I chose to study the effect of slow-release glass fertilizer on field corn. Uhm... yeah.) Well at some point during that week I met this girl. She was a little older than I was... I think she was a Sophomore (a Junior?)... and we started hanging out the last few days. I'm pretty sure I had a little crush on her. It probably scared the shit out of me that I thought some girl liked me. After our time at Alfred, we talked on the phone, wrote a few letters, and played with the idea of my going to her prom with her. Nothing really ever panned out and we lost touch. I've thought of her, usually spurred by driving through Alfred, or thinking about the Young Scholars program. Just the other day, I was looking at a map of New York, saw Alfred and wondered what she was up to... And then I got an email Yesterday that I almost deleted. (One might reasonably be skeptical of a strange email address at aol.com with a subject line like, 'Is it really true?' Right?) It follows... Shane- I believe we met at Alfred- Young Scholar's program when I was a Junior in high school. Do you remember me? I was thinking about you, and have looked you up before- but it wasn't until now that I found you!! Do you remember that last night before it was over? I was so sad- I wanted to make out with you and soak you up all at the same time- but I was too shy to make a move. Anyway- I am surprised that you are gay- not to mention disappointed- as I am now single again. I would love to hear from you, and to know if you remember me at all. I have often thought about you and what you were doing- I am glad to see that you graduated- too bad about your job- I am looking for a new one now too. Look forward to hearing from you!!! Cool & weird at the same time, right? We've emailed a few more times. In a subsequent email, she sent a link to her Match.com profile but I can't get to it without signing up. Ah, the twists and turns of life... | private feedback | (0) public comments Friday, October 03, 2003 Independent Eye For the California Guy Even though Arianna dropped out of the CA Governor's race... she's still making silly internet movies... catch this new one, a spoof on Queer Eye. | private feedback | (0) public comments Thursday, October 02, 2003 A strange thing happened in the elevator today... I had just stepped into an elevator for what I hoped would be a short four-floor ride, when I heard a phone ringing. At first I assumed it was one of the offices on that floor but then realized that the ring was actually coming from the emergency phone in the elevator. I thought, should I answer it? Just as I had decided to ignore it, a voice was saying, 'Hello? Hello?' [Apparently, our elevator has a dedicated line which answers itself after a few rings... and then allows folks to have a conversation over a crude intercom system.] The very bizarre conversation went something like this. ME: 'Uhm, Hello?' THEM: 'Hello. Is this [some company name]?' ME: 'No. I think you must have the wrong number.' THEM: 'Is this [some telephone number]?' ME: 'I don't think so.' THEM: 'What do you mean, you don't think so?' ME: 'Uhm, this is an elevator.' THEM: 'An elevator?' ME: 'Yes, an elevator.' THEM: 'What building is this elevator in?' ME: 'Does it matter? You didn't intend to call an elevator, right?' THEM: 'I guess not.' And then a click. I'm still scratching my head from that one... | private feedback | (0) public comments |
Hey! I'm Shane... a proud gay progressive Democrat who has recently relocated to New York City from Ithaca, NY. As I am no longer in Ithaca, I haven't quite decided the fate of this blog. Drop me a line!
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