no. 229: 11 o'clock and all's well

desperately needing the right music to fall asleep to and not getting it quite right with pandora, i went to a newer source: musicovery.com (interactive webRadio). it's pretty good. anyway, it provided me with "three o'clock blues" a collaborative tune with mr. B.B. King and mr. Eric Clapton-- two of my favorite guitarists. anyway, it's stellar and you should check it out.

obama was inaugurated today, as i'm sure you know if you're, you know... reading this. it was amazing and i will admit to a few tears. for the most part, though, i'm wondering how much MONEY was just like... thrown away... for that party. anyway. i was distracted with my symbolist poem which turned out not exactly right, and the fact that i just wanted to hug W. around the torso and sob, "you can go home now, you poor silly man". congrats to our new POTUS and co. don't screw us too hard.

two more classes, both workshops, in the intersession class. it was more work than i wanted to do but i'm actually glad i took it. i've been writing all day and the TA was most excellent, despite what seemed to be a need to overcompensate for her insecurity with arrogant authority-- but they're all sort of like that, i've found, and i am sure that if i one day serve my time i'll do the same thing. maybe.

now i'm going to bed. hopefully going to see rissa/abby/anna tomorrow. and greg comes back to charm city. carlos on thursday, which means my main chill unit will be complete. then the second, harder semester starts.

hs.

No. 202: Ask not what your country can do for you...

I voted today.
About four different people in my life called to make sure I was voting. I voted. Check. It was pretty neat, actually. Yay democratic process!

Anyway, aside from that the rest of the day was sort've crappy, although not without its own lessons. I guess being able to extract those lessons from the crap is what determines you an optimist or a pessimist.

This paper will not defeat me. I'm only a half a page into five pages and I feel like I'd rather scrape my nails against every chalk board in American than keep writing it. It's at least a little encouraging to know: a) everyone else in Aristotle is feeling the same thing and b) tomorrow it will be over. In fact if I crack down, it'll be over in two hours. It may not be great, but it'll be over. c) Obama is gonna take down that nut Sarah Palin tonight (and yes, I've totally stopped considering John McCain). also d) I have three more discs of Deadwood.

As I'm now a declared liberal (though a moderate one), people have been asking me if I'm pro-Obama or anti-McCain. Here is my answer:
A lot of dear friends have been voicing really serious concerns about Obama. Just weird feelings that permeate their being. Four different people who have little to no contact with one another who live in different cities have used the exact same words in describing how they feel about him. It was a little eerie to hear Kendall's words come out of Tess's mouth. And a liberal girlfriend of mine said them not a day later. Two elections of voting and a hard fast Democrat voted for McCain this morning b/c Obama makes her skin crawl for reasons she does not know. She's black, btw.
Honestly, to me, Obama isn't amazing. He doesn't wig me out like he does some people, and he doesn't impress me by being half black, although I'm glad America finally got its crap together enough to get a black man in the runnings. But politically he is uninteresting and his views on abortion are horrific. I'll tell you openly that I voted for him, but voted for him with a sort of melancholy, b/c honestly, Id've liked for a viable third option.
McCain almost got me. He almost got me because of his abortion views, he almost got me because of his small business plan, he almost got me b/c even if he was awful, the liklihood of him living through even four years is low and he couldn't have really threatened much of my way of life. He lost me with Palin.
I felt morally compelled to vote against him then. That woman is derranged and I cannot support a ticket with her name on it. It's like giving up on America for me and unlike a lot of my more skeptical friends, I'm not ready to do that yet. I know this is strong and I know that she's probably not evil, and she's probably not as stupid as the media has hyped her out to be. But the fact that that's something I had to say means I could not, would not vote for her. She fills me with anxiety about politics more so than anything ever in my life. Her lack of tact and intelligence isn't comforting (as it is to some) because it signifies she's down to earth, "in touch" with the people. It just means she has no tact or intelligence, something we don't tollerate in our personal relationships. Why should someone in charge of the country get away with being ignorant and embarrasing because they play it off as "woodsy" and "down home"? She's played dirty, along with McCain, and she's accused others of doing exactly what she's done in manipulating and contorting politics to her whim. I'm sorry guys, I couldn't.
I hope Obama's not going to screw us over, I really do. I voted for Baltimore because this is the city I love. I voted for his education plan, his economy plan, his health care plan. Despite knowing people that own their own businesses and are suffering in this economy, I voted for his tax plan, b/c the government for the first time since the Great Depression, I think, is really in danger and really does need our money and cutting taxes or even saying you will (I think McCain knows this is a lie) is impossible. We as a people need to take the hit for now, stop going to movies, stop shopping at Gap, stop eating out every night. Then, when we statrt generating some relief, and the deficit stops sky-rocketing, we can demand tax cuts and build policy. But for right now, the house is on fire, and McCain is saying that you can totally crash at his place. No thanks. I''d rather put the fire out first if you don't mind.

Anyway-- that was me procrastinating via political ranting (I really know not enough about politics). Also-- stop putting up crappy youtube videos, people. I love you all, but seriously. At least upload some high quality media and stop making a joke of your point.

... said the blogger.

Cheers.
H.

No. 198: ANGER

So, I was sucked into watching the debates by the facility provided by live internet television. I stoppped catching up on Season 2 of House to watch this. I'm pretty sure my heart rate is up to about the level it is after a half an hour of steady running. 

Neither one of these candidates are great shakes. I think Obama is pretty cool, but let's be totally honest-- if he wasn't black, there wouldn't be a fuss. I say that without any possible racial bias, being "of African-American heritage", so this isn't a race thing. It's a politics thing-- he isn't great, and he won't do any more than another decent candidate. He'll just be do less harm, I think.

But McCain....

If God wasn't a just and merciful God, and His great power and wisdom fell into my hands for just one hour, I would make sure every bird in a ten mile radius pooped all over John McCain's entire campaign space and on his badly coiffeured head. Watching this campaign without shouting at him while he speaks is like trying not to jump when a car backfires. He's such a miserable person. His politics are bad, his personal attacks are bad and he's got the most horrible running mate I can imagine. If he wins, I'm not really sure what will happen to our country. A theory I've heard and sort of ascribe to is as follows:

John McCain will likely die within the next four years. I don't say this as a wish, I wish the man the best of health. But he's 72 years old, he's got health issues, and he is signing up to do one of the hardest, most stressful jobs imagineable. His ticker will not hold, man. So sadly in a spray of white lillies, the grand old boy begins his eternal sleep and has to face the Maker and reconcile all his outlandish lies. So there's that. 

And then what happens? The darkness of the Palin years descends. When she was appointed to public office, the first thing she did was appoint officials. The officials she appointed all happened to have graduated from her grammer school class. So she'll probably keep up this trend, and appoint someone to be VP. He will be the anti Christ, and we'll enter into the end times.

Possibly I'm being ironical. This whole campaign feels like a sad attempt at an Alanis Morissette song. But possibly electing John McCain ushers in the Apocalypse.

I'm just saying.

Remember, take some deep breaths while you watch this. I know it's hard, but it'll all be over soon.

Cheers.

H

No. 175: Hmm

1. My car is a little busted. It's going to be expensive to fix. But fix it I shall. Have to go pick it up later today. It's weird to think about my poor little Betty VW all crippled. But it's a car. just a car.
2. History Channel sometimes ROCKS. There's a great special on Rome on right now. I miss Latin. .... I am a huge nerd.
3. I get to drive Mum's convertible while they're in Hawaii. RAD! It's such a gorgeous day, too. Hot, but pretty.
4. Vanity Fair is an incredible magazine.
5. I want to work for Michelle Obama.
6. Being twenty is pretty cool, I guess.

That's all folks.

Cheers.
H.

no. 132: we own... a horribly written script

Meredith, Geof and I went up to Baltimore for the St.Patty's day parade and Dad's big shindig. It was most excellent. Lots of food, lots of people, lots of people dressed up in ridiculous green clothing. Glad we made the trip.
Meredith and I watched We Own the Night last night and OH BOY was it awful. It's just hopelessly boring, and it tries to hard to be suspenseful, which just makes it annoying. Dunno. I felt bad for Marky Mark and Jaoquin Phoenix, b/c I like both of them. Eva Mendez is so gorgeous, but her character in that movie is sort of strange and not thought out very well. All in all: disappointing.

A while ago, Carlos introduced me to this guy, and his show, which is AMAZING. I highly recommend wiki-ing him and then beginning to watch all the episodes. Geof, Meredith and I killed about an hour and a half yesterday watching him. 7/31/06 is particularly excellent, in my opinion.

This morning, iGoogle ("Google is our dear and glorious leader") music brought me this Rolling Stone article about Obama. It's pretty well written and actually pretty interesting. I don't really know that I'm for Obama yet. I mean, I'm more for him than any of the other candidates, but I don't know enough about any of them to be gung-ho about it. I used to be really excited about the vote and about this campaign. Not I care in as much as I hope Hilary doesn't win b/c she terrifies me. And she has no idea what to do about war-- which is sort of my big issue anyway. I feel like Obama is a great campaigner, and really accomplished at speaking and being personable. I just have no idea if he'll do anything with the Presidency. Not that I think there's going to be a drastic change either way. This Congress has YET to pass the Farm Bill after two extensions. Meanwhile farmers are being gypped out of money and time and lobbyists, the ones who aren't crooked, are having their souls sucked out of them by maneuvering and in-fighting. Lord love the U.S. government, they take their sweet time.

Anyway-- I forgot to do the 7 yesterday, but it was a busy day so even if I hadn't forgotten, I probably wouldn't have gotten 'round to it anyway.
Today is a BIT slower: reading, writing, watching season 2 of West Wing and possibly hanging out with Nick. I really want to go see the Bank Job or In Bruges, but I don't know if that's going to happen. We'll see. I still have to figure out how Kendall and I are getting to the airport on Wednesday. Rah.

1. "My Lover's Prayer" by Otis Redding: This was featured on the two episodes of Season 2 of the Sopranos were Christopher gets shot and is in ICU. I love Adrianna sitting beside him holding his hand while this plays, especially b/c of their problems in the past few episodes. Very touching, but just a generally gorgeous song.
   
2. "Guns and Cigarettes" by Atmosphere: Uhm, so I know I've already done an Atmosphere song on this playlist, but I was listening to him the other day and realized he's awesome (although Michael likes Sage Francis better-- to each his own). It's the lines "I need ot start writing rhymes about other peoples' problems/ cause the strangers are starting to get worried" that bring this song to List level.
   
3. "Christina" by Patty Griffin: So sad, but SO gorgeous. "Liars can say it all just as well." Patty Griffin's voice is unparalleled and so worth it. I made a great mix of her songs @ Jenny's once and have been listening to it with regularity for the past few weeks. She's great. Also check out "Rain" and "Peter Pan".
   
4. "Fresh Feeling" by Eels: Talked about this song already, last blog. From the Scrubs soundtrack, and really excellent. I'm partial to Eels anyway, though they sometimes tend to be crass, but the musical production is great and his voice is incredibly soothing.
   
5. "Margaritaville" by Jimmy Buffet: I have a great memory of this song from Beach Week, about three or four years ago. Chris Pittman, me, Beth Powell, Brian, Casey Grey (who I randomly saw in the Denver airport when I was there over X-mas break but did not say hi to b/c he intimidates me by being so gorgeous) on the bus coming back from the last beach day. Chris had his acoustic out and we were all singing this song. When we were done we kind of looked at each other Chris says, "That's probably not the best song for church camp." I just laughed and concurred. Man, I miss that kid. Anyway-- this song is great. "He Went to Paris" is another great one, though tragically sad.
   
6. "Books from Boxes" by Maximo Park: I found Maximo initially on the Stranger Than Fiction soundtrack, when "Going Missing" was on there (another great song-- also good is "Girls Who Play Guitars"). This song is the perfect mix of great music and story telling in lyrics. It makes me happy b/c it's got a great driving beat, but his voice and the general gist of the story is kind of melancholy.
   
7. "Sleep Tonight [Junior Boys Remix]" by Stars: Uhhhm, if you haven't heard of either the Junior Boys or Stars, you need to get on that immediately. I've loved the Stars for a LONG time, and was maxi excited when In Our Bedroom After the War came out. I found this remix on hype.com a while back and listened to it again today. Turns out it's off an album called Do You Trust Your Friends, in which the premise is Stars turned over Set Yourself on Fire to their rockstar friends and told them to remake the album. It's amazing. This is my favorite though.
   

That's all for today, kids, unless something fun and exciting happens.
This is the palindrome, inanely blogging so you don't have to.

H.

PS. Apparently my roommates hate me. This came as sort of a discomforting shock. Makes me even more centered that I'm living in the Marylander next year by myself. Apparently I cannot keep friends I live with.