1.29.2010

School-day dreaming

A friend, Matt, is playing World of Warcraft in front of me in class. I feel as if my eyeballs will roll out of my head if I have to listen to this lecture another minute... I'm driven to fantasize about becoming a fiery elven creature in his game. The sea green world Matt's playing in looks peaceful and welcoming and very non-medical. Full of freedom and conquest. Ahh.

Ahem. Back to lecture...

Oh wait, nevermind...

I WANT THIS


It's shiny and big and beautiful. It's a glorified iTouch with the capacity to be oh so much more! A crystal clear photo/video viewer, a full size touch-screen keyboard, and great reader capability! Thousands of apps are already available! Sure, in six months to a year there will be one a better one for a cheaper price... but for now I can't contain myself from lust. 

Speaking of lusting, I'll now present my graduation gift wish list


TAH DAH!

I'm a natural-born dreamer.

It is funny that sometimes I forget the simplest things about life. Such as, that the southern hemisphere is having it's summer right now. As I shiver through the recent cold snaps that have brought Alabama to it's frozen southern knees, the residents living below that magical line are sun bathing and drinking from coconuts. Except for the Haitians... who have suffered from such a horrible natural disaster... And now I'm off my train of thought.

I should pay attention to lecture now. The director of the County Health Department is speaking on communicable diseases and vaccinations. He's an intelligent, kindly man. I should listen. Oh look! Next up is STDs presentation complete with graphics. Goody.

1.28.2010

A night on the town

I own a fantastic cobalt blue sequin dress that hits a few inches above the knee and has shoulder pads and a deep V-cut back. No lie. Bought it at a vintage shop. And it inspires me. It begs for a downtown night life where people of all sorts are making conversations and glimmery relationships while drifting in and out of different bars that are playing indie-jazz-blues-dance music that can be heard melding together in the park across the way where the folks who've drank their fill can wander and discuss their favorite constellations.

1.27.2010

Real Time Report

Listening to the State of the Union Address tonight is tons of fun - on mute. /ahem. Well, I am actually listening...after all. The body language is fascinating - Obama lifts up his chin and to the side when introduced and addressed directly, clasps his hands and points his fingers rather often while speaking. His delivery is extremely staccato, never finishing a sentence without a pause, yet he rarely stumbles or mistakes a word. I like how he says how he cut taxes for the students, the working moms, the poor. Yep. I'd like it better if he said "cut taxes for every citizen, because they're the ones paying our asses to be here." [SIT DOWN PILOSI! Good grief woman.] Biden looks very engaged and supportive, with just enough of a downturned lip to show stern empathy for the American people's plight. [STOP APPLAUDING, Obama's not saying anything worth hearing but I still want to listen.]

Such empty words. You say all the right things, dear President, and you are a good man. But I can't help but feeling, can't help but seeing, you are well-meaning college-graduate community politician playing with our lives. Do you have the wisdom to improve our country, long term? To cut-back and streamline expenditures? [What's that about a jobs bill? HAHA half the house stayed sitting.] To create a trickle-down method in the economy by giving the working middle class and all business owners the tax breaks to grow, invest, spend and create jobs for those who need them? Do you realize the working middle class is America's strongest hope, and your taxes will kill it? [That's right, you'll do to health care what you want, when you want, right?]

Lobbyists want to kill the health care bill? Really? How about half the American population? Because these citizens have experienced the money-draining government programs, and seen how they spiral into debt and into barely-sustained chaos, so they can't fathom what the government could screw-up with this monstrous bill. [Disagree with WHAT SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE? THAT EVOLUTION IS IMPOSSIBLE? Oh wait. Climate change. Never mind.]

Mr President. Please rethink your logic. If you want to save this country, you're doing it all wrong. [You reward success? Really? YOU DON'T GIVE TAX BREAKS TO THE WORKING MIDDLE CLASS! They earned their degree, their earned their job, and they're working. What's not to reward?] [Since when did a high school degree guarantee a good job? The 1950's?] [After 20 years, a student loan debt is dropped? How do you plan to fund that? Obama pixie dust?? Education is not a right. It is a privilege, Mr President.]

[Aww, Michelle. You're nice. And smart. I think you're a little micromanaging, 'tho...did you really just motion everyone in the house to sit? Haha.]

And I'd like to mention that there is free health care in America. It's called the Emergency Room. You can be seen, treated, and discharged. Yes, it is racking up our debt. But your health care bill will rack it up so much more. [All before you walked in the door? Classy. Very classy stab at a former president. Low form, Obama.] [Freeze government spending? Sounds good. Show me.] [Let's NOT try common sense. Let's try wisdom. Okay?]

When there is a bill as intrusive and pan-american as this, the control and and legalities the government will place on us will come too. It's inevitable. Freedom's will be lost. Are you overweight? Do you smoke? Do you get speeding tickets? Do you have a hazardous job? A genetic disorder? A genetic predisposition? Do you recreationally drink? Do you think the government won't be biased against you? After all, they will control your healthcare. And you are a health liability. Being fat, a smoker, and have a mother with breast cancer will buy you a ticket to health care discrimination. Do you read reports and articles from the other countries with government healthcare models? This is what they show. These are the stories. This is their reality. Do we want this as ours?

As a woman going into the health care profession, I encourage and support all preventative health care. Lower BMIs, drug rehabilitation, smoking cessation, driving slower, exercising, and eating well. However, I will not support a government that enforces them. It is unconstitutional. I also demand the freedom to conduct alternative cures and procedures, such as voluntary drug trials and midwifery. Will the government interfere in these choices under the health care bill? Of course. We will have given them permission.

[Obama, you're saying a lot of nothing again. Try to speak on something worth while, please. Just fluffy words right now.] [All our troops are coming home? Wonderful. How? More importantly, when?] [Biden, stop smiling. You scare me.] [Why do I feel like I'm getting spanked? I disapprove of your condescension.] [Yes, I worry for the next generation. For their freedoms. And my freedom to raise my children as I see fit.] [Stop telling us what lives on in us, we know.] Why do you keep saying "Washington" and blaming it for this past years failures? Your party's been in control. What's the hold-up? He keeps indicating he feels our pain. Does he really? Does he understand what is happening in our country?

Start anew? You mean, like, change. You said that already. For about 2 years. So. No new message tonight. Next year, perhaps. Here 'goes.

A government big enough to give you everything you want is big enough to take everything you have. 
-Gerald Ford, 38th President