Saturday, October 30, 2004
The future is here, our downfall is now.
promulgated by SWS2.1 at 06:15.
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Thursday, October 28, 2004
Just when all was going well...
Grades, great. Money, evening out and adding up. Health, sturdy and regular.
And then... a tooth on the bottom right side is periodically in pain and me and my co-borrower were denied my private loan for school.
So, I need to come up with $1800 (the figure is entirely my own fault - it's the cost of money added to my account for books and food and the meal plan) within the next month? By the end of the semester?
And if I manage to convince the school to let me pay over time, then I certainly will not have the money saved up come the summer to go to Reid Hall, should they actually let me into the program.
On the flip side, if the school lets me pay over time, then that's one less school loan I'll have to repay.
If I get into Reid Hall, it's entirely possible that I could win/would be elligible for scholarships.
promulgated by SWS2.1 at 17:51.
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I emailed my Major Advisor for the first time the other day, and he responded quickly and very warmly.
One of the more important things he said was that, from what he could discern, the F I received in a course three Spring Terms ago seemed mostly undeserved (due to depression and not due to inadequate achievement) and since I'm currently retaking the course and doing well, it might be possible to have the F removed and replaced by the newer grade. He mostly mentioned this because Columbia may have some rule about not being able to retake a course that you've previously failed and my new, better grade, might not be accepted if I cannot first have the lesser mark eliminated.
If it's possible and I can remove the failing grade, not only does my GPA shoot up, but I'd almost be guaranteed a spot in the Reid Hall Program. Bonjour Paris!
promulgated by SWS2.1 at 04:12.
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Wednesday, October 27, 2004
"Aristocrat" seems to be le mot du jour. I think it was used numerous times in each of my classes today. I don't quite recall how it factored into the discussion of residential segregation in my first class, but it definitely began to lose meaning from overuse in discussing the skill and meaning of the Qingming scroll in East Asian Civ.
And everytime I raised my hand to speak and tried to use the word, it came out "aristocat." Immediately succeeded by an apology and correction. I don't think anyone got it then, but I'm sure it's dawned on some of them by now. "Did SWS2.1 say 'aristocats'?"
WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALT!
promulgated by SWS2.1 at 17:53.
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Trials and tribulA+ions: I was saying to our Lady Tramp the other day that the problem with receiving an A-/A on an exam is the trouble of wondering what little thing prevented the grade from being a solid A, and what slightly less little thing prevented it from being an A+.
And so I met with my really cute and super cool (although a little too Williamsburg for my tastes) TA to discuss my exam. Not to change my grade, I'm not one of those. Only to find out what went wrong (since clearly it wasn't much that did) for the future. Apparently nothing. Two factors more or less external to myself (Durkheim would be proud) led to my simply achieving near-Excellence.
The first: I didn't use the "key terms" that the Professor wanted us to employ. My TA personally disagrees with the Prof.'s aim -- the point of requiring key terms is to ensure that students understood the work. Although key terms really only shows that kids were able to read her handwriting on the blackboard. My TA said over and over again that in each answer I clearly showed, explained, and developed each sociologist's primary claim. Whatever, no big.
The second: My TA says to me, "Hey, do you know, do they give A+'s here? At Chicago we didn't have any and I know [the other TA] didn't give any, but we heard some kids talking about getting A+'s in other classes?" I had just asked Kate this very same question last night. I don't know if Professors give A+'s for grades. I do know that Columbia allows the A+ in one's GPA (4.333). So then there's the question: If teachers only ever give out A's as what they think is the highest on homeworks/papers/exams, then what determines getting an A+?
So, in short, I wrote an A+ exam that was bumped down to an A-/A because I did not parrot the teacher and because my TA didn't know that A+'s exist here.
What's the opposite of a free fall?
promulgated by SWS2.1 at 17:39.
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"AND IT'S BUSH BY A LANDSLIDE! Sorry Mr. Kerry, better luck in 2008."
Kids says the darndest things, don't they?
promulgated by SWS2.1 at 17:35.
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Tuesday, October 26, 2004
It's fall.
I'm sure you weren't waiting for my promulgation of the season to believe what your eyes and skin readily proclaim, but I thought I'd let you know all the same.
I was sitting on the sun dial yesterday, looking over my midterm. Something brightly yellow on my periphery caught my attention and I turned my head to look towards Broadway, my vision rolling down West 116th Street to the canopy of yellow leaves in Riverside Park.
In all honesty, I was floored. I then looked around me and indeed the leaves of trees on campus were red and orange and yellow - the fall color triumverate.
When? How? Before you've even read this post I'll already be writing a similar post about next year's fall having pounced.
promulgated by SWS2.1 at 19:18.
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Sunday, October 24, 2004
More emails.
From my Sociological Imagination TA:
"dear all, i just recieved an extra copy of elementary forms of religious life.
whoever answers the following question correctly can have the book:
generally speaking, what, for durkheim, is the difference between the concepts 'Religion' and 'Society'?"
(I received this email and the email announcing the winner at the same time, but it suffices to say that I knew the right answer. Well, I had a good idea and was about close.)
I emailed the following:
"... 4) Likelihood of exams coming back to us tomorrow? It's hardly vital (since I can't change my responses now) and I'm sure you've been swamped with your own work plus this same question from innumerable other students, but any response at all would be appreciated."
His response:
"sws2.1,
...in any case yours is either an a or a- i cant recall precisely, please dont tell other students as i dont want to recive a barrage of emails asking for the grade."
::gestures zipping of lips::
promulgated by SWS2.1 at 20:58.
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My roommate, of whom I'd grown tiresome and with whom I've become increasingly frustrated, seems to have disappeared.
I have not seen him since I left for work early Saturday morning, I have not spoken to him since I enumerated the many ways in which he's an unfit roommate (for the third day in a row) on Friday night.
When I returned home yesterday from work, his (read: my) bag was on his bed, which is striking because he can't even go to the gym without it. There was a key to our room resting to the side of my computer.
He cannot be at his girlfriend's because she is home for the weekend. He cannot have strayed far because, more importantly than all of his stuff being here, there is still food in the refrigerator. He cannot be locked up in the library because all of his book (and, again, my bag) are still here.
I'm upset to be happy that he is not around, yet I'm plagued by the questions of his whereabouts and when, if ever, he intends to return.
promulgated by SWS2.1 at 14:51.
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Stick a fork in me, ::swish claps hands:: I'm done. With gaie men. I say this a lot, and I'll probably say it a number of times to come. But events that have unfolded since school began have definitely come to something of a head in the past two weeks. It's almost as if rather than completely ignoring me, as they have always otherwise done, the gaies have kicked it up a notch and have been going out of their way to germinate pain, strife, and misery in my life.
I really don't know what it is about me that inspires such discord in them. I really don't know what it is about them that prevents them from according me even the slightest amount of decency.
There's a thing that I've signed up for (and get in for free as I've volunteered to help with the setup and the breakdown) that I'm obligated to attend. However, between now and then and thereafter, I'd really like to avoid them altogether.
If they want to fuck me over, let them come.
No puns intended.
promulgated by SWS2.1 at 01:03.
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Thursday, October 21, 2004
Ahh.. the power of collective action.
Someone finally got smart and realized how to motivate the under-30 crowd into political passion.
So, I'd like to pledge at the Patriot Level at the very least, but I am really concerned that I wouldn't be able to find someone with whom I could ring in the close of Election Day.
Can you help? Offer a shag?
promulgated by SWS2.1 at 01:49.
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Wednesday, October 20, 2004
This is my last post today, I'm almost entirely certain.
Regarding the midterm I took today that raped my ass, flipped me over, sat on my face, and cut one, my Professor emailed the class after the exam and had this to say:
"Sorry for the long exam..., we are aware that answers must be somewhat schematic in an exam format, and they will be graded accordingly. If you 'got' the main arguments in the books, you'll be fine.
Prof. W"
I responded to the last line of his email:
"> accordingly. If you 'got' the main arguments in the books, you'll
> be fine.
Yeah, I thought that prior to the exam. Although, not being late and remembering that it was open note might have been of some use to me. Although, actually, probably not really. I guess we'll see.
SWS2.1"
And he came back with this:
"Given your general command of the material, I'm sure you'll be fine (though on time might've been a good idea...). I tried to write it so that notes and books wouldn't make a difference - broad brush answers are fine - I just don't want people to waste time memorizing stuff they'll forget in 24 hours.
Now if only I hadn't, to borrow a phrase from the president, misunderestimated how long it would take to answer the questions. Live and learn. At least it's the sort of mistake that can be corrected for after-the-fact in grading.
see you monday.
Prof. W"
I think he may be misoverestimating me.
promulgated by SWS2.1 at 20:01.
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Continuing from the above (below?) post, Carrie managed to draw the line between "good" guys and "bad" guys pretty clearly. In the post-post-it-note world of nightclubs with beds...
"You can all get over over your fear of looking like the bad guy, and have the uncomfortable 'break-up conversation,' because here is what...avoiding that, is what makes you the bad guy."
Sometimes drunk people vomit gems.
Quote courtesy of someones with too much time on their hands.
promulgated by SWS2.1 at 19:38.
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The other day I posted a rant to Craigslist. It was basically to say to all of the guys out there who consider themselves "nice," "good guys" (who are "just" looking for "friends" and "dates") and not like the guys just looking for sex that they aren't that different because they behave in exactly the same way. They are only looking for guys who they find "hot," the strong focus the gaie community gives to color seems to be just as prevalent in the choice of gaies looking for "friends," and, moreover, just like the guys who are looking for sex, the "nice" guys don't respond. And, honestly, what do you say to the guy who you don't find attractive who thought you were looking for friendship per your own admission? "Sorry dude, I'm a fucking lame-ass liar and am not actually looking for friends. Thanks for sending me your pic, though. Sucker." ?
I received a few responses. All of which were encouraging. I knew that I was only yelling at the rain, but like the guy who thinks he's funny who was never told otherwise, maybe these guys just need to be told they are jerks?
In any case, someone emailed me saying that it was a great post. I responded saying thanks. He got back to me saying that the world always has a way of working out in the end.
And now we get to the point of this post: Why I am widely considered to be a pessimist and why I don't agree with that view.
I responded to him saying how I think it's so funny people often say something like that, or very Christian persons saying, "God has a plan." How conceited are you to presume that God's plan (or the world's or the universe's, for that matter) has anything "good" in store for you? It may very well be the case that fucking you over is an essential cog in the Machine of existence. This is the jist of what I said, preferring not to call a perfect stranger, who was nice enough to respond to my CL post, conceited.
His response: *"Lol well after most storms there is sunshine and if you look hard enough there are rainbows. So storms are supposed to happen and disasters but possitives always follow. Its a check and balance system of the world. Im not crazy enought to think that everything is goign to be a bed of roses but sometime you will smell them and its lovely when you do. And when winter comes and they leave you can hope/pray. Have faith, trust that they will blossom again."
So I guess my point went right over his head? Am I crazy for seeing things the way I do? I'm not saying God has it in for you, but where's the logic in assuming that he doesn't?
*The original response was written all in caps. I "sentence cased" it, but made no other changes. I felt the caps were too jarring -- they nearly sent me right over the edge, who knows what might have happened to my dear readers?!
promulgated by SWS2.1 at 15:56.
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So much for my hubris...
My ass is still hurting from the exam I just took. And, tell me if you can, why did I arrive ten minutes late even though I was up 2hrs earlier (studying something else) and why was I the only one to forget that it was an OPEN BOOK exam?
Of course, having my notes and the books would not have been much use to me. After the first book (which took three weeks), he's stopped lecturing. We've done a book (and supplemental articles) a week and it's all been discussions. My notes are emaciated.
Maybe everyone else thought it was as hard as I did. It was his FIRST exam as a Professor. Hopefully that will be taken into account. And as we were drawing to the end of the exam, only one kid had already left, and he left so early that he couldn't possibly have finished the exam. He must have left because he couldn't answer the questions. The Prof asked if he'd made the test too long and the whole class nodded in unison. Yet another thing he will hopefully take into account.
The Midterm is only a 5th of my grade, and I'll go to class more often in this second half of the term, so maybe the Final won't be quite so merciless? This is where you nod and smile.
promulgated by SWS2.1 at 10:38.
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Monday, October 18, 2004
So, no one asked about it. Although people have been consistently "asking" in general.
It was about this time of year two years ago when I really started to spiral out of control and the fact that I could not possibly take any of my midterm exams because I had not been to any of my classes drop-kicked me into the realization that I needed to leave school. Leave school, lacking job, income, savings, and home.
I've been very concerned coming into this midterm season that the same might be the case. Kind of like when you know there is a history of Huntington's Disease in your family and around your late 20s you start to question every time you forget your keys or misplace your sunglasses if it's already starting -- if it's too late to stop. Every time I've missed a class this term (more than I had reason to, although not for the most part) or spent all night looking for sex online rather than doing my reading, I immediately began to think that all of my work... the long fucking road getting back here may have been in vain. And that maybe I'm just not capable of handling this, of handling any responsibility, and unable to do what it takes to make my future a reality.
Today I took my first midterm and I say with little conceit that I did damn well. I won't be certain until next week, but whereas in the past (when I was sleeping all the time and never doing the reading or going to classes) I feared ID's because being told to "pick 7 out of 10 and write a short paragraph on each, noting the author and the text" meant "do the three covered in the only review session you attended and hope to god that SOMETHING, ANYTHING comes to you before the end of the hour for the remaining FOUR you have to pick!" But today, during my exam, I looked at the ID's, wrote down answers for everyone, and then chose the ones that showed the greatest breadth of the reading to actually put down in the blue book. And as of the end of the essay question, I still had ten minutes to spare in the hour.
And I received my first "paper" back this morning. Before handing them back (they are actually do weekly, but this was the first one), the Professor explained the grading. The grades range from 1 to 5, 1 being that you turned something in. While not believing in "only 2 A+'s and 3 A's" and that sort of thing, he does think that the 5's should be limited because 4's are for those who did really good work, but for the kids who go "above and beyond," they should get some sort of reward. He also said that they are only to be 1-2 pages and really emphasized this point. It was then it occurred to me that I did only 2 pages, but single-spaced. It's been so long since I had to turn anything in, so my 2 page paper was more like 3.5 pages. In any case, he handed it back. I turned it over. "Excellent. 5."
Excellent. 5.
promulgated by SWS2.1 at 17:30.
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Sunday, October 17, 2004
It's a damn good thing that I barely pay any tuition at all at Columbia, otherwise brunch would have pissed me off.
Well, not pissed so much as slightly irritated me enough to rant for quite a while, as opposed to the two minutes of rant (plus this post) which I did engage in.
They replaced all of the perfectly serviceable waffle makers with designer waffle makers that have the "John Jay Dining Hall" emblem wrought in the iron, so that your waffle comes out Columbia-embossed.
Two words: Awesome Possum.
promulgated by SWS2.1 at 18:09.
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Wednesday, October 13, 2004
In watching the debate tonight (live on my laptop thank you very much the future is here the future is portable!), it occurred to me that (and this may have been said previously by someone with much greater credentials than myself) Senator Kerry just doesn't look like a President.
You know that picture, every President has one, of him sitting in the Oval Office in a semi-casual state of affairs. He's probably still wearing a tie, but the suit jacket is slung over the back of his chair, if in the photograph at all, and he's leaning far back in his chair or perhaps he's in front of his desk. If in front of his desk, he's probably petting his dog. It seems to look, often, as if the President and his peeps were wrapping up the end of a long, arduous meeting and just when they were at the tippy-tip end of their policizing rope, someone (a daughter? a dog? something loveable to be sure) bursts into the meeting, disrupting everything. And the President probably says something like, "Looks like Buttons thinks we've had enough!" and everyone is laughing, politely and not too uproariously because there is a photographer just right in the room and overlaughing never looks good in photographs.
I can't put Senator Kerry's face in this photograph. I regret to realize that the sheepishly ignorant look of our current Mr. President fits in seamlessly.
Oh what does November hold for the fate our nation's hallowed institution of candid Presidential photographs?
promulgated by SWS2.1 at 22:52.
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Tuesday, October 12, 2004
Uhm, why the fudge has 10% of Iowa already voted? There is debate over whether or not early voting is a good thing. Are you kidding?! SWS2.1 screams "No!" I'm blinded by all of the obvious reasons why early voting (excluding absentees who have proved their potential-absenteeism) is a horrible idea. I'm as amazed as you are that I was able to finish this post. But, trust me, it wasn't facile.
promulgated by SWS2.1 at 10:18.
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So, uhm, listen to this. If you don't get why that's post-worthy, then read this. Expect the first "this" to become a regular feature. Take that (!), Sir William.
promulgated by SWS2.1 at 09:44.
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Sarah Mc really knows how to pull (jerk and tear?) at the heart strings, doesn't she? Thanks for the link, FMD. You, you reading this post, go watch this. It may be slow to start, but it, like X3, is well worth the wait. Don't mock me if this is all old hat -- I possess neither television nor radio, so I'm always behind the ball on these things. What, you can't watch it again? I'm probably watching it right now.
promulgated by SWS2.1 at 02:42.
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Monday, October 11, 2004
My kingdom for a gaie man who values honesty and directness over deception and avoidance!
promulgated by SWS2.1 at 01:28.
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Sunday, October 10, 2004
I may blog too much. Most seem to do it once a day. Oh well...
In more primary colors, I wanted to say that I (Heart) waking up.
I never feel bad first thing in the morning. I feel luminous, like I'm that guy on that episode of Star Trek: TNG who was being hunted down by his people for being "different" (the obvious parallels to racism, as are often noted in ST, need not be remarked upon, save in this way right here), who was actually just literally ascending to a new and rather "awe"some step in the evolutionary destiny of his people (we're going to ignore what is currently understood to be the fact that evolution happens in generations, not people).
Yeah, that's how I feel in the AM. And I'd feel even better if Whole Foods would start carrying those 2lb boxes of blueberries again.
promulgated by SWS2.1 at 10:53.
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Saturday, October 09, 2004
So maybe Bush is a genius.
Last night at Michyale's Bday Bonanza at the so-straight-it-must-actually-be-gaie Chelsea Brewing Company, Adam and posse arrived late, having stayed at home to catch as much as they could of the second Bush-Kerry debate. They noted an especially funny moment was when the venerable Mr. President labeled America as being "more facile." I do not pretend to know how to say this word in English, although in French it is "faa-seal" and means "easy."
So one's natural response is to say, "Mr. President, you're such a douche!"
But, wait a minute, the 3rd listing in Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary for "facile" is, "ready, fluent, poised, assured."
Surely a graduate of Yale undergrad and then Harvard Business school might not be unaware of this more esoteric use of the word, so esoteric that it is listed inferior to the "archaic" definition of the word: pleasing in manner or disposition.
Perhaps more credence should be given to the Bush-as-Genius theory that's become so popular?
promulgated by SWS2.1 at 19:18.
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Every now and then, the ubiquitous and often insidious and commonly overbearing State throws you for a loop. Like having public schools open until 9PM the Saturday after the Friday that was the last day to have Voter Registration forms postmarked, and a hotline that you can call to find out the locations of the public schools nearest you where registration can be done when you get home to find that the advertisement alerting you to the presence of these in-person registration locations has been replaced with an ad by someone named "Jim" looking to sublet his studio on Riverside Drive for the next six months.
And now I've done my part to perpetuate the hopes of innumerable dreamers. I'm thoroughly engaged in the body politi(c)(k).
promulgated by SWS2.1 at 19:09.
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Former (?) English law: By marriage, the husband and the wife are one person in law: that is, the very being or legal existence of the woman is suspended during the marriage, or at least is incorporated and consolidated into that of the Husband.
You can paraphrase that, apparently, as "the husband and wife are one and that one is the husband."
Ahh... the good olde days.
promulgated by SWS2.1 at 01:44.
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Friday, October 08, 2004
I am often asked the questions, "But why do you have no self-esteem? Why don't you think anyone sees or is aware of you?"
And I can let loose with a litany of examples ranging from my family going on whole vacations without me, the planning of which I would only find out about because I would happen to walk into a room when they were discussing it, to the fact that no one ever remembers my name immediately (something I've said before, but "James" and "Eric" seem to be the preferred choices).
As far as I am concerned, however, the most glaring proof that not only am I justified in my view but that it's being enacted by a force far greater than myself is the fact that, with the exception of Joan who wrote checks from her own bank accounts to me, I have never had a job where I was paid on time. In every case payday has arrived and there's nothing for me. I take the issue up with the proper authorities and, oh, someone didn't file my ppwk in the right location, someone didn't give my ppwk to the correct administrator, some administrator did not sign this line or cross that 't'. Not once has the failure of my getting paid been attributable to something I have done, with the exception of persisting on existing.
And today, as noted in the previous post, I called work about my Direct Deposit and they said it would not have gone through yet and that around noon or 1PM I could go to my boss and ask for my check. I was there at 12:45 and the checks were all there. For my boss and his boss and their underlings, for the work-study students, for the non-work-study students, and the paystubs of those with Direct Deposit. All the checks, except for mine.
I calmly elevatored up to the fifth floor where I met with the same kind girl who told me that my Direct Deposit would not have gone through yet. She tip-tapped on her keyboard to find that my timesheets were turned in and that since there's no DD, that a check should have been cut for me, but being fairly new to the office she would have to wait for her supervisor to return from lunch to explain to her how to determine if a) my check was cut and b) where it is now.
Every case.
promulgated by SWS2.1 at 13:01.
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It's only just nearly 10AM and I'm already disgruntled. I woke up this morning with horrible knots in my stomach (read: I was doubled over and could barely get out of bed) and had to call out of work (which means a quarter of my pay not being there next Friday), but it's good that I had to call out because also when I woke up this morning I checked my account to see if Job #2 at the Library had deposited like it should have. Nope, still just $0.02 in my account.
I've just gotten off of the phone with the Library. Evidently there are a few things they choose not to tell students (all employees?) when they are first hired. 1) Your boss is probably a prick. 2) Even though you start at a time appropriate for the upcoming pay date and your time sheets are turned in properly, being new and them having had two weeks to process your paperwork, you won't be fully processed until the next pay date. That's four weeks you'll have been working for the Library without any income. Luckily for me it's not my sole source of income and luckily for my roommate he only has the job because Father says he should learn the value of a dollar. 3) When that fourth week comes and there are no funds in your account and you call to find out why that's the case, you'll be told that it usually takes a few weeks to process the Direct Deposit ppwk. You'll point out that it's been four weeks already that you've been working, five weeks since you gave them the ppwk. And then they will correct their former statement and say, "Sorry, not a few weeks. A few pay cycles." 4) Choosing to make the best of a bad situation, you ask when the physical checks usually arrive to campus. "Oh, they get here around Noon or 1PM." And your response may go something like, "Oh, so just in time for me to not get to my bank and have depositing it count as this business day as opposed to it counting as being deposited on Monday because I got to the bank just an hour too late today?" And the reply will be something like a very firm and affirmative, "Right." And then you'll thank the lady on the other end for all of her help, bid her a nice day, hang up the phone, and silently breakdown in the dim morning light of your studio-double dorm room so not to awaken your roommate who has perhaps only just fallen asleep since he had a paper due this AM by email to his professor.
And then I realized that, having counted on Direct Deposit, I definitely told ING that it would be alright for them to take out money from my account yesterday so that it would actually clear Monday and then all would be good. Only now ING will try to take out $25 (yes, just $25) and, if my bank honors the request, that $25 will cost me $55 ($25 + $30 = $55) because the Library could not have told me how getting paid works in ways far more mysterious than them handing me a pay schedule sheet and just saying "These are the days on which you'll get paid." And, no, my bank won't allow me to tell them to not honor the request because when I authorize a company to take money out of my account, there is nothing they can do about it without four days advance notice (but the process itself only takes three days, so whenever I initiate the transfer manually it will never be possible to give them four days notice).
And I have to spend the money to go downtown and deposit my check, hoping that the checks will get here early today and that my boss will go and get them from the mailroom early as well, so that maybe I could spend the remaining three $1-bills that I have and a collection of my change to get me down to the bank and back up to campus. And then borrow $4 from my roommate tomorrow to get me to and from work.
And hate myself because I cannot go to Michelle's Birthday Bash. And, yes, I do realize the stupidity of this link. But it's a pretty Evite and I wanted you to see it.
And between the knots this morning (which have started to subside) and finding out that I am not only poor, but will be further in debt by $30 come Monday morning around 2AM, I was woken up by Apple calling to inform me that my year warranty is about to run out and that maybe I should invest in the Apple Care Protection Plan and that, should there be any problems with the iPod now and I were to take it to the Apple store in SoHo or send it in to service to get it fixed, that my first 6-months of the warranty is up and with that goes my free tech-consultation (now $49, which I knew and was not going to bother with since I do not need someone to tell me it's malfunctioning [which I can clearly see for myself] nor why it's malfunctioning because unless it's my direct fault I don't give a damn) and also that I'd be charged the S&H fee of $29 (which I did not know) and that then it would be in my best interest to invest in the ACP Plan as it only costs $20 more and I would have everything free and covered until December 30th, 2005.
I had already been planning on getting the ACP Plan, but needed to wait until I could afford it. But now I'm severely pissed at the absurdity of the fact that six months into my year of parts and warranty protection and, unlike every other company in the world that covers parts and warranty, they are going to charge me for the S&H? You gotta be fucking kidding me.
It's going to be a zany day of knotty-stomach-bank-trekking-on-last-dime-suicide-research-paper-writing fun.
promulgated by SWS2.1 at 09:47.
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Thursday, October 07, 2004
promulgated by SWS2.1 at 13:42.
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Wednesday, October 06, 2004
Everything is coming up roses?
a. I cannot figure out how to change the color of the background that I currently have to match the banner I've chosen to go with.
b. My boss at the library told me that if I write the name of a patron (student) on a book incorrectly again (note this was the first time), then I'm fired. His exact words were, "Do it again and it will cost you your job." Oh, did I mention he's gaie?
c. A gaie with whom I had plans cancelled on me last night, although something tells me that had I not called him to find out where he was I would never have heard a thing. He suggested tonight. And, well, I'm here writing this as opposed to having coffee with him, so... He was the one who suggested meeting up at all in the first place, yet last night when I called to find out where he was as he was not here, he thought it important tell me that he'd rather not make solid plans which he'll have to break 'cause right now he just really needs to focus on school and work. Okay.
d. I realize even with the school having given me a lot of money, I still owe them more than I can afford to pay. I cannot get a loan on my own and have no one in my life who could co-sign for me. I am not certain, but I think this pretty much negates the possibility of saving up to go to Paris next year -- hell, the possibility of even saving up so that I could afford to live somewhere during the summer.
e. I had two hours to copy pages from a book this evening because there is no point in my stressing to afford to buy the book because we only read maybe 100 pages out of it, only that not a single copy machine on campus would read my card, even though I have plenty of money on the card and even though people before and after me had no trouble swiping their cards.
f. I am not going to be in this year's Village Halloween Parade as a Dallas Cowboy's Cheerleader because the company that CNY was going to go with has just told us that they can't guarantee as many costumes as we'll need and I don't have time to find one on my own and I called Abracadabra and they quoted me $95.
g. We have mosquitoes in the room 'cause my roommate cannot close the window when he comes in from the fire escape after smoking. We have flies which were maggots in the room 'cause my roommate does not really know how to clean ANYTHING. I have had two destroy to roaches so far.
promulgated by SWS2.1 at 19:45.
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Sunday, October 03, 2004
This just in: There's no fish in lesbian hell.
promulgated by SWS2.1 at 23:27.
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En route to head from the porn star guy again, I ran into Lex Luthor. Not Gene Hackman, but John Shea from "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman" with Dean Cain and Teri Hatcher.
And Mr. Shea was dressed in what I would call "Lex Luthor on Holiday in Metropolis" Casual. Very Esquire meets Town & Country.
promulgated by SWS2.1 at 18:21.
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Saturday, October 02, 2004
Still thinking about the debate on Thursday night, I decided that I wanted to post my two favorite fictitious presidential speeches.
1) Peter Griffin, "
The Family Guy,"
running against his wife, Lois Griffin, for Quahog School Board President. His opening statement:
"Uh, no, uh, this is it. This is life. The one you get, so go and have a ball. Because the world don't move to the beat of just one drum. What might be right for you, may not be right for some. You take the good, you take the bad, you take them both and there you have my opening statement. Sit, Ubu, sit. Good dog."
2) Incumbent President Andrew Shepard (played by Michael Douglas) as the American President, finally giving his Republic contender, Bob Rumson (Richard Dreyfus), the what-for after getting his nads recharged from being humped and dumped by the vivacious, fire-haired environmental lobbyist, Sydney Ellen Wade of Virginia (Annette Bening):
"Good morning. For the last couple of months Senator Rumson has suggested that being President of this country was, to a certain extent, about character. And although I've not been willing to engage in his attacks on me, I've been hear three years and three days, and I can tell you without hesitation being President of this country is entirely about character.
"For the record, yes, I am a card-carrying member of the ACLU. But the more important question is, 'Why aren't you Bob?' Now this is an organization whose sole purpose is to defend the bill of rights, so it naturally begs the question: Why would a Senator, his party's most powerful spokesman and a candidate for President, choose to reject upholding the Constitution? Now if you can answer that question, folks, then you're smarter than I am, because I didn't understand it until a few hours ago.
America isn't easy. America is advanced citizenship. You've gotta want it bad, 'cause it's gonna put up a fight. It's gonna say, 'You want free speech? Let's see you acknowledge a man whose words make your blood boil who's standing center-stage and advocating at the top of his lungs that which you had spent a lifetime opposing at the top of yours. You want to claim this land as The Land of the Free? Then the symbol of your country cannot just be a flag! The symbol also has to be one if its citizens exercising his right to burn that flag in protest.' Now show me that, defend that, celebrate that in your classrooms! Then you can stand up and sing about 'The Land of the Free.'
"I've known Bob Rumson for years, and I'd been operating under the assumption that the reason Bob devotes so much time and energy to shouting at the rain was that he simply didn't get it. Well I was wrong. Bob's problem isn't that he doesn't get it -- Bob's problem is that he can't sell it! We have serious problems to solve and we need serious people to solve them. And whatever your particular problem is, I promise you, Bob Rumson is not the least bit interested in solving it. He is interested in two things, and two things only: making you afraid of it and telling you who's to blame for it. That, ladies and gentlemen, is how you win elections. You gather a group of middle-age, middle-class, middle-income voters who remember, with longing, an easier time, and you talk to them about family and American values and character. And you wave an old photo of the President's girlfriend and you scream about patriotism. You tell them she's to blame for their lot in life. And you go on television and you call her a 'whore.' Sydney Ellen Wade has done nothing to you, Bob. She has done nothing, but put herself through school, represent the interests of public school teachers, and lobby for the safety of our natural resources. You want a character debate, Bob? You better stick with me, 'cause Sydney Ellen Wade is way out of your league."
::pauses::reflects::
"I've loved two women in my life. I lost one to cancer, and I lost the other 'cause I was so busy keeping my job I forgot to do my job. Well that ends right now. Tomorrow morning the'White House is sending a bill to Congress for it's consideration. It's "White House Resolution 455,' an energy bill requiring a twenty percent reduction of the emission of fossil fuels over the next ten years. It is by far the most aggressive stride ever taken in the fight to reverse the effects of global warming. The other piece of legislation is the crime bill. As of today it no longer exists. I'm throwing it out. I'm throwing it out and writing a law that makes sense. You cannot address crime prevention without getting rid of assault weapons and hand-guns. I consider them a threat to national security and I will go door-to-door if I have to, but I'm gonna convince Americans that I'm right and I'm gonna get the guns.
"We've got serious problems, and we need serious people. And if you want to talk about character, Bob, you better come at me with more than a burning flag and a membership card. If you want to talk about character and American values, fine. Just tell me where and when and I'll show up. This is a time for serious people, Bob, and your fifteen minutes are up. My name is Andrew Shepard and I am the President!"
promulgated by SWS2.1 at 18:15.
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So, uhm, whatever happened to Howard Dean?
promulgated by SWS2.1 at 02:11.
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