A big night for politiphiles...

Is that even a word? So tonight's the night--Bush and Kerry will finally go head-to-head. It's less about debating the points, and more about seeing who looks better now that we can finally see them side by side. My republican friend (yeah, I have one, I know...) insists that he has to watch the debates alone. I'm guessing he just doesn't want to deal with me chuckling every time Bush makes up a silly word or screws up his subject/verb agreement. My politically ambivalent friends are just pissy that ER is being pre-empted. As for me? I'm kind of excited about tonight, even though I know that a lot of minds are already made up and the debates aren't too important to most Americans. I want to see how my boy will do in the big leagues. If he blows it tonight, we're in real trouble, especially in Ohio. It's amazing. Living in Texas, I saw a grand total of two different political ads, both by Bush, both on MSNBC during primetime. Here in Ohio, you can't watch a primetime television show without seeing at least five to six different mudslinging video clips. This is ground zero for the presidential race--it's not a cliche, it's the truth. An invisible line runs through this state, dividing the urbanites and the rural families, the southern Ohioans who still fly Confederate flags and the ones up here, who consider themselves part of the northeast. Every vote counts. And for a few people, tonight might tip the scales one way or the other.

If you're watching tonight and you're not too sure what to be looking for in terms of strategy (I'm no political analyst, so I could definitely use some help here), MSNBC contributor Howard Fineman has put together a fairly non-biased, easy-to-understand checklist of important things each candidate needs to achieve tonight in order to come out on top. I don't know about you, but I'm looking forward to keeping score. Are we on the verge of real change in this country? Or will things just stay the same? I think the answer depends on a lot more than who wins on 11/2, but it's an exciting time to be a voter. Just don't blow it, Kerry....
-Peacegrrl

Healthy food sucks

I just ate this "sugar-free" tastykake thing, because it's supposed to be all low-carb and whatever, and it tasted like absolute crap. I know. I'm finally living in a place where I can FIND tastykakes (for those who haven't discovered the joy, they're what Hostess wishes they could be. Yum.), and I wasted my three bucks on the nasty "healthy" version. Bleh! I swear to you, I would have the body of Sarah Jessica Parker if I just didn't like to eat so much. Maybe it's in my Sicilian genes--I'm just not MEANT to be a little skinny person. It would be nice to have a totally perfect little body, but then I wouldn't have my curves...and from what I hear about the Ohio winter, I'll be happy to have the extra insulation.

Anyway, enough about my body-image issues. Today is a semi-blah, semi-okay day. Work is draining, as always, but I'm making a conscious effort to stop being such a pessimistic bitch and start looking on the bright side of things. In an effort to get the hell off campus and pretend to start having a non-work life, I dragged myself out of bed this Sunday and headed off to church. I know...when most people my age want to get a life, they do the bar/club thing. I went with religion. Not sure which is a better option, to be honest. Anyway, it was kind of nice, everyday families and old people as opposed to throngs of scantily-clad freshmen. I may even go back. Church can actually be really uplifting--if you find one that doesn't cram anything down your throat or judge you. You get time to sit, to chill, to meditate on God (or your version of a higher power). For me, it's one time when I can't distract myself with anything else--work, guy problems, family stress, whatever. Prayer is repetitive and somewhat reassuring. It gives me a chance to make my mind be still. And the singing is the best part. I'm comforted by the fact that every Lutheran church in the world sings the same old songs. It's kind of like finding a McDonald's in a foreign country--at least you know ONE thing will be familiar. Faith is a funny thing. If you think about it too hard, it's so easy to talk yourself out of it. But then sometimes you find a moment in your life when you just give up and figure to hell with it, I can't fix everything! That's where I'm trying to be right now.

Let's face it--I hate it when people are mad at me. I hate it when I can't give somebody the right answer, or when I screw up and I don't feel like any amount of apologizing will make it better. And most of all I hate it when people don't like me for no good reason! I'm pissy these days because life is not perfect--it's sloppy and boring and stressful and lonely, and I question the wisdom of moving so far away from everything that I knew and cared about. But it'll pass. If it doesn't, I'll only have myself to blame. I won't put myself into a comfortable box and stay there for the rest of my life. I can't. Yeah, maybe in two years I'll be right back in Texas, but at least I'll be able to say I did something else for a while. When I feel like this, I get anxious and moody and cranky, but I also have to believe that if I don't let a little homesickness and disillusionment get to me, things are going to be fine.

Wow, this didn't feel like the day for a profound "feelings" post, but there you have it. I'm sure I'll have something less heavy to say in a few days. The presidential debates are coming up, and I imagine they'll provide plenty of sillier things to talk about. I wonder how much time we're going to waste with crap like gay marriage? And will Kerry be able to stand up to Bush's "good-old-boy" redneck appeal with his dry rich-kid ways? It's an interesting time we live in, folks...
-pg

Grrr...monday

So first off, many apologies for neglecting the blog lately. The sad truth is that I've actually had so much to do at work lately that I've barely had time to check my e-mail, let alone work on my favorite timewasters. And let's be honest, it's been a down time for me. I've been sucked way in by my job, I haven't adjusted to living in a new state, I've replaced cigarettes with a frightening caffeine habit, and as for men...don't even get me started. And nobody wants to hear about depression, right? So be happy I haven't posted in a while. I'm feeling optimistic today, though. Maybe this week I won't spend every waking minute counseling some freshman who's in tears because she hates her roommate. Maybe those loud people on the fourth floor will shut the hell up so I don't have to call them in for ANOTHER disciplinary meeting. One can always hope.
So, a recap of interesting events since my last post:
1. Went to a football game. Will NEVER do that again. Let's just say Thursday night, a losing team, and a college stadium that sells beer are simply not a good mix. I'm getting too old to tolerate the frenzy of a boozed-up crowd of horny eighteen year-olds.
2. I missed ER, thanks to the aforementioned football experience. So I'm now a week behind.
3. I feel like a loser because I'm actually BOTHERED by having missed a TV show.
4. I've decided that a coworker hates me and is out to destroy me.
We'll see if #4 continues to bear itself out this week. It's possible that I'm just being paranoid, but you never know...
So there are other things to discuss in a future post--the latest in peacegrrl men, of course, a few thoughts on church--I actually went yesterday, and of course I'm behind a political rant or two. So worry not, I'll be back. For now, I have to go to a professional development workshop. Do I expect to be professionally developed by anything that is covered in the next two hours? Of course not. But we're being optimistic this week, remember? More later...
-peacegrrl

Boredom is back!

So, those of you who read the last post and were somewhat disturbed by the idea of me doing actual work, well, breathe a sigh of relief. I've been sitting at my desk for almost two hours and had nothing to do. No room changes, no psycho-upset parents, no discipline meetings, nada. Fabulous. There was so much free time that I gave my blog a mini-makeover. All I really did was add a blogroll and rearrange some stuff on the sidebar. I swear, I'm flying blind half the time. I don't know shit about HTML. I guess and I cut and paste, and somehow it comes out looking okay. Thank God for the "preview" tool or this thing would be even sloppier than it already is. Anybody want to give me a tutorial?

So the blogroll was definitely necessitated by the fact that, well, I've found some pretty cool blogs lately. There's another "grrl" on the web--midwest grrl. And another Mason Jennings fan. These were definitely items of note. And then there are the blogs that I've been faithfully following for a while-- birdherder and secret exploits--and I suppose it's time to share them with my blogging pals. It's so refreshing to find something funny and intelligent in a cyberspace littered with popups and porn sites. And it's the best office timekiller since solitaire.

So hey, is anybody as excited as I am about the addition of Shane West to the ER crew? Does anybody else watch ER anymore? Yeah, it's getting a little tired, every possible relationship combination has been pursued and they've run through every "dramatic cliffhanger" I can think of, from helocopter crashes to the plague, but something about it still keeps me coming back for more. And I think the new blood will be a good thing. Shane West...mmmm. I've missed him since they yanked "Once and Again." Yeah, he did "A Walk To Remember," but I forgive him (okay, the movie wasn't THAT bad). Thursday nights are exciting again. And the word on the street is that Dr. Carter is going to be leaving us at the end of the season, so it will be kind of fun to see how they kill him off. If taking the semester off of grad school has provided me with anything, it's the chance to get into primetime TV again. Never mind that I'm now filling my head with fluff rather than knowledge! The Apprentice rocks my world!

So, stupid act(s) of the week...went out last night, had a little too much fun, ended up babbling to my republican coworker for the better part of an hour, after which I was depressed so I felt the need to babble away to my buddy/cousin (I think I'll nickname him Dallas, for reasons he'll be sure to understand.) and then after that I didn't feel I had been quite obnoxious enough, so I left a babbling message on The Boy's voicemail. Dumb, dumb peacegrrl. When will I learn? Damn Limle and her tequila shots! Bleh. At least I'm not hung over.

Well, despite all appearances to the contrary I actually do have some work to do before I leave early today (yay for leaving early, but boo because it's to say goodbye to a favorite coworker :-(...) so it's time to jam. Later...
-peacegrrl

Where the hell have I been?

Working. Really. Believe it! That's right, one of the many idiosyncrasies of a job in student affairs is that one day you're playing Word Womp and chowing down on Doritos because there's not a damn thing to do, and the next you're happy to have time for a shower and fifteen minutes of sleep before the next crisis. I feel like it's been ages since I've had time for my beloved blog. I haven't had a chance to watch the news, so besides the imminent doom of Hurricane Ivan, there aren't any current events for me to comment on/bitch about. Oh wait, I take that back, the assault weapons ban ended yesterday. Way to go, NRA. That might help to take some of the wind out of Bush's post-convention bounce. Speaking of which, my new institution's newspaper had a whiney cover story all about how two of its reporters got arrested at the convention because they refused to disperse when ordered. I have to say, many of the students at this place seem bound and determined to live up to its history. They'll protest just about anything, and most of them don't even seem to know what the protesting is even about. It's like those UT kids who say they're liberals but don't actually know anything about the issues they're so eager to embrace. To all the boys and girls out there reading this: Don't jump on a bandwagon because it will make you sound smart or because a rock star says you should. Educate yourself and then make up your own mind, based on your own convictions. I'd rather fight with a diehard conservative who knows what he's talking about than have some wannabee who just found out who's running for president take up my cause.

So has everybody heard Michael Moore's latest? He's not putting in F 9/11 for a Best Documentary Oscar, insisting that the reason is so he can pursue a last-ditch effort to get it on TV before the election. A lot of people are convinced it's so he can stack the odds in his favor for the Best Picture prize. And although I think it's an important film, and everybody should see it, as a true movie fanatic I have to say that I'll be pretty pissed off at The Academy if F 9/11 wins. It's not what the Oscars are all about. It's a documentary, not a movie. There aren't any actors or set designers. It captures the realities of current times, but I don't think it's the kind of thing that's going to endure, other than to serve as a time capsule for the G-Dubya Snafu-o-Rama. Let's face it--we aren't going to see it on Turner Classic Movies in fifty years. I'll be irritated if it even gets nominated. Mike, I'm not too sure what you're thinking. I've stood by you, so don't do me (and all of the other movie purists out there) wrong!

Today is a day from hell--meetings right up to 11pm, so I'm cutting this rant short. Thanks to my girlfriends for their winter weather advice. We'll see how long I last up here...
-pg

Ohio weather is for shit.

I guess it's not really Ohio's fault, it's that damn Hurricane Frances. In any case, it's grey, it's raining, and it's downright depressing. I'm being even crankier than usual today. And while we're on the subject, when did I get so moody? I didn't really notice it at first, but then people at work kept coming up to me and asking if I was okay. Maybe I just need to smile more. Or maybe it's the fact that I had a fourteen-day run without any time off. Who knows. Anyway, it's something to work on. I don't want to come off as a total bitch. I have to be honest, though. There's not a whole lot to smile about. We're at the 1,000 mark in terms of the lost lives in Iraq. Bushie just got a bounce in the polls thanks to the four-day crap-o-rama they call the Republican National Convention. My new khaki pants are covered in lint. I talked to The Boy last week, so THAT can of worms is officially open. No word from The Guy. Bleh! I should go shopping. Isn't that what we shallow, commercialistic Americans do best when we're feeling down? Spend money! And I got paid last week, too, so I'm temporarily wealthy. I'm told I should be looking for winter clothes. What exactly does one wear in an Ohio winter? A parka and snowboots? Seriously, I have no idea how to conceptualize below-zero temperatures. It's a good thing I crochet scarves when I'm stressed. At least my NECK will be warm.

So I got to see Kerry last week at a rally in Akron. And I have to say, in person he's much better looking, although his face really is abnormally long. Too bad Edwards couldn't come with him. Now THERE'S a reason to get motivated to vote, my friends. Yes, it's superficial, I'm sure he wants to be taken seriously for his ideals, yadda yadda, but mmmm...he's a lovely man. And have you seen his wife? Yup, she's a thick chick. Proof that curves rule! Anyway, back to politics...so Bushie made history last week by raising Medicare premiums by the highest percentage in 40 years. Whoo-hoo! Yay for making poor/old people's lives even harder! How the hell does Bush sleep at night? I don't know, maybe Kerry is nothing more than Bush Light, which is what I keep hearing people say. Maybe he's full of empty promises. But I say we have to start somewhere. Compassionate conservativism is a pile of lies. It's rewarding the rich with tax breaks, blaming the poor for their plight, and trying to turn the government into a state church. I'm sick and tired of hearing that Republicans are the moral conscience of our country. They aren't. How moral is to let millions of Americans live without healthcare, or spend billions to bomb another country while our schools fall apart?

Wow. I didn't know I had that enthusiasm in me today. I'm happy to report, however, that I have wasted the remainder of my workday with this post. I can now go home, change into my favorite ratty hoodie, and hang out with my friends and some watered-down Sex and the City. Laziness is what makes rainy days rule.
Over and out...
-pg

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