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Below are the most recent 25 friends' journal entries.
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| Wednesday, November 11th, 2009 |
prosewitch
|
4:31p |
physical achievement updates
I had an awesome climbing session last week in which I climbed 4 5.9s and a 5.8+ (which is about a mid-level climb, for those of you who don't climb at a gym). So I was feeling really proud of myself, since this is mad progress for me, until THIS week, when I climbed my first 5.10! Granted it was just a 5.10a, but I feel really awesome for making it up that wall all the same. I've also had a number of really good runs this week and last. I'm still doing short distances, only 2-5 miles, but I've been enjoying the nice fall weather, as well as no longer feeling the pressure of marathon training. I can just run because I love it! I also figured out that I may have to become an afternoon runner in the fall/winter, because when I wake up, my allergies are ridiculous and I can barely breathe. But within a few hours the congestion decreases, so I'm good to exercise. Part of me wants to whine but I like being a morning runner! however this seems to be the best solution for now, even if I lose hardcore points for not running before dawn. The Great Lakes Belly Dance Convention is this weekend--color me excited! It's rare that I get to take classes anymore. |
sarcastibich
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2:04p |
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kendokamel
|
1:47p |
It makes you wonder what's going past my office, every day!
A train came past, a little while ago, led by five (!!!) engines. Ten minutes later, it was still (!!!) going past. I joked that I was glad I wasn't at any railroad crossing in Bloomington, as it was long enough that it was probably blocking every single one. (It was moving relatively quickly, too.) Not one minute later, my coworker exclaimed, "OMG, I think this was the thing that just went past!" She pointed to this news report ( video) about a mile-long train parked somewhere up near Indianapolis for a week, distressing the locals because it was loaded with shipping containers marked with "explosives" and signs indicating that it belonged to the U.S. military. Apparently, it was sitting idle because there was a problem with the "manifest". |
| Tuesday, November 10th, 2009 |
sarcastibich
|
2:02p |
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| Monday, November 9th, 2009 |
prosewitch
|
3:09p |
some thoughts on accountability
I have only been sorta following the health care reform news, because it breaks my heart. I lean pretty liberal, given my hippie parents and Berkeley schooling, and I am dismayed at the fact that the people in charge of our country (until now?) seem incapable of realizing that health care access should be a universal right. I don't think this is an issue of big government or inclinations toward socialism or whatever--it may border on these things, but the bottom line is that people without sufficient access to health care are more likely to die. Access has become an issue of privilege, wealth, class, and power, and I am disgusted by the vehemence with which obviously educated and intelligent people deny their complicity in the system. And I am saddened by the people who have no choice but to go deeper in debt or die while trying to have the same basic chances at living life. Obviously, my feminism plays a role in this issue for me. And not simply because I'm a pro-choice, sex-positive feminist--but rather because I believe that many women have specific health care needs, different from those of men, and that these needs should be taken into account. Yeah, I believe that gender are sexuality are WAY socially constructed, but that's not the same thing as saying that women and men are essentially the same, since there are enough anatomical differences--differences like wombs and ovaries and breasts that often require medical attention in the case of babies, cancers, and other diseases, not to mention the dangers of socially being a woman, such as the high incidence of sexual assault in this country--that I think I'm justified in saying that if you're pro-woman, you should be pro-health care. That's my disclaimer for this post. Because I have feelings about this issue, and have been lax in keeping up with the developments, this is a somewhat subjective rant about it. However, it's something I think should be said to our lawmakers, because it really only rests on one piece of evidence, and it's an appeal to qualities inherent in the definition of the roles these people are inhabiting. It recently came to my attention that Rep. Alan Grayson gave a speech about the high numbers of Americans dying every year due to lack of health insurance. This speech was much-protested, to say the least. Grayson's rhetorical tricks aside, I think the important point is that Americans are dying due to lack of health care. The related, and in my mind obvious, point is that the American government exists to serve the people.
Hence if Americans are dying due to the government's actions or inaction, the government is at fault and should take steps to fix the problem.For me, this issue is at the crux of the health care reform debates. Yes, people can argue about costs, big government, privilege, whether public funds should go to abortions, and all that other stuff--but if government representatives are preventing actions that would CAUSE FEWER AMERICANS TO DIE, then they are fucking it up royally and ought to be held accountable. That's my little rant. I wish I could find a way to convey my thoughts to some of the people in the government right now. But they're all obviously intelligent people, right? They wouldn't have missed something so obvious, right? They wouldn't be so blinded by their own privilege that they'd be incapable of imagining the suffering of people without money to pay for doctors and medicine, or, worse, incapable of empathizing with the suffering of the poor, the uninsured, the immigrant laborers and laid-off workers, right? Oops. I think my cynicism is showing. I hope for fuck's sake that this is all already pretty damn obvious and that accountability is already something that people are thinking about. |
sapphohestia
|
7:43a |
Borrow a cart?
Would anyone from my DC-area friends have a hand truck I might be able to borrow for moving? Thank you! |
| Sunday, November 8th, 2009 |
unforth
|
5:08p |
A Couple Weeks
Somehow, it's gone from being right after the closing to being a week in to November. I'm not quite sure how that happened; I do know that I felt like I lived about a month's worth in the last week of October. Either way, I'm finally getting around to the update I've been telling myself I'll write every day for the past week+. ( End of the Midwest Trip )( Closing )( Halloween! )( November So Far )Well, I think that's more than enough for now, given that my wrist got stiff doing all this typing. :) Until next time... |
| Friday, November 6th, 2009 |
d_c_m
|
12:28p |
Forget This - I'm Goin' to Wrockstock!
Hello! Yes I love my life and job and my friends and family and coworkers and I'M OFF TO WROCKSTOCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!I'll let ya' know all about it when I get back. ;) Oh and BTW, the subject line is a rewriting of a Wrock song. ;) ALSO BTW, if you listen to any of the live performances from last year and hear a zagahreet in the background - that's me. :) |
| Thursday, November 5th, 2009 |
kendokamel
|
10:28p |
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sarcastibich
|
2:02p |
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sapphohestia
|
7:59a |
Little Shop is Done
Show opens Friday and the costumes for Little Shop (apart from trying to scrounge up a belt for one of the gals) is DONE! I've never finished more than 24 hours early before. Woot! Also, it looks like I'm closing on the condo on Friday, Nov. 13th. Anybody interested in helping me move that weekend or the one after? I'll buy you pizza! :) |
| Wednesday, November 4th, 2009 |
kendokamel
|
7:19p |
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kendokamel
|
5:58p |
Hoooooooome
Oh, man, this week is sucking. But, despite my assurance that I am totally fine with taking the envelopes and badges home for the one conference (because really, it would take me about 3 hours total to label and stuff them alone while watching tv), Boss insisted on taking them home for his girls to work on. I do have a migraine that made it seem as if I was looking the wrong way through binoculars for awhile, but now I'm vegging on my sofa and watching tv. I'm kind of hungry, but I'm not sure I'm ready to drive some more. (Though, if anyone wanted to grab something and wasn't averse to driving, I could be convinced to get back into non-pajama clothing...) |
sarcastibich
|
3:18p |
Fiction recommendations
"Hunger Games" and "Catching Fire" by Suzanne Collinsreally good fiction, well written and easy to get absorbed/fall into. Female protagonist in a future-north-american world where the 12 districts send a tribute of a boy and a girl to battle to the death in yearly games "to remind the districts why they don't fight the Capitol." It made me cry and it made me stay up WAY to late to keep reading because it was so good. Left me very frustrated that the third book isn't out there yet. "Lies of Locke Lamora" and "Red Seas Under Red Skies" by Scott LynchBest fiction I've read. I like it better than LoTR. Great characters, great dialogue and story, great plot and plot twists. You will be a better person for having read these books. Third one in this series comes out July of 2010 |
sarcastibich
|
3:06p |
Great Big Sea's "Captain Kidd" video. Is it just me, or do the other folks in this video resemble the band, as either parents or offspring? |
sarcastibich
|
2:04p |
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prosewitch
|
12:23p |
there goes my hair.
I had a dream last night wherein my hair was cut very short. And I hated it. Part of it was just the style, since whoever cut it left me with some bangs but overall it was very short in the front (around/above my ears), but it was much longer in the back, down to the nape of my neck, so it was uneven in a really weird way. I knew that I wanted to even it out, which would make it look very boyish, which is a hairstyle I'd consider having again (though it didn't work so well for me in 5th grade, when I was frequently mistaken for a boy), but mostly I was disgruntled because it wasn't what I'd wanted. The interesting thing is that I actually am considering cutting my hair quite short, just for a change. But not just quite yet. And not quite that short. Does anybody have a dream interpretation to offer up? Or advice on which short haircuts would look good on me? I adore my stylist here in Bloomington and I know she'd never give me a bad haircut. We've discussed some possibilities for short hair for me, but I'm open to suggestions. (maybe later I'll post pictures of some of the styles I'm considering, but first I'm curious whether anyone has ideas for me) |
| Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009 |
sarcastibich
|
2:24p |
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sarcastibich
|
2:05p |
I got a promotion!
Found out that effective yesterday I have been promoted to a Senior Chemist. With the new title comes a pay raise, and new job responsibilities. I'll be helping coordinate the workload for a few other Lancaster employees at our job site, and working with the company who we contract with to determine workload/tasks. Means an 8% raise, a better job title, and a step-up for me. Management/supervision experience always looks good on a resume, and since I think doing analytical chemistry work could be something I'm interested in long-term this is a definitely a good thing. I'm confidant I can handle the responsibilities, so YAY! |
sarcastibich
|
3:01p |
|
tooth_and_claw
|
9:01a |
Bleep!
Since I am all aflutter with fandom-y glamour right now, have a fandom-y meme. Stole this from ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) vampirenaomi. Give me a character from any fandom, tv show, movie, book, or game you know that I know and I will tell you: a. My favorite thing about that character. b. My least favorite thing about that character. c. One person I would ship them with in their own verse. d. One crossover ship for them I think would be neat. e. One crossover universe for them I think would be even neater. f. Their ship from hell. g. Their song. h. The title of their biography or autobiography. i. The last bad dream they had. j. How they're gonna shuffle off the mortal coil, if they haven't already. Current Music: None yet |
kendokamel
|
8:06a |
Landyacht, ahoy!
This week, they gave me a Yukon! I feel like I'm driving the Titanic, but at least it has both a rear window defroster AND wiper. I had to ask for a scraper, though. I am short, and I will not be crawling all over that behemoth tomorrow at 6am, scraping the frost off with a credit card! |
| Monday, November 2nd, 2009 |
prosewitch
|
10:11p |
explaining oneself.
The current signature for my primary email account is: "A free woman in an unfree society will be a monster." --Angela Carter People sometimes ask me about this. I explain that Angela Carter wrote feminist fairy tales, and in her stories, she explored notions of both conventional and unconventional femininity and sexuality. Carter expressed the idea that both femininity and masculinity are channeled through socially acceptable expressions, and she often upset these normative ideas in her very sexy, kinda problematic, sometimes pornographic writing. This quote expresses an idea that is very important to me, the idea that anyone (but especially women) in a repressive society will become the Other, the forbidden, the complicit. Where do you think the witches and monsters in fairy tales come from? Not some primal source of evil, but rather the misunderstandings and mistreatments of man. I've always identified with certain monsters--Medusa, Lilith, other serpents and poor dismembered women--so this quote really speaks to me. But right now I'm reading Queering the Non/Human, edited by Noreen Griffney and Myra J. Hird. In their introduction they included a Haraway quote I hadn't seen before: "Theory is not about matters distant from the lived body; quite the opposite. Theory is anything but disembodied." --Donna J. Haraway I already adore Haraway for her cyber-feminism, but this quote just blows my mind, and expresses one of the reasons why I'm so drawn to theory (theories of folklore, culture, the body, feminism, whatever!). Theory's not out there, it's in here, inhabiting our imaginations and helping navigating our bodily experiences. Theory is messy, sexy, generative, fertile, mother, father, Other. Wordy, embodied, and yet uncontainable, theory is HOT. Maybe it's time to change my email signature? |
d_c_m
|
3:38p |
Thanksgiving 2009
Hello! Yes I am once again inviting those who wish to come to my house for some serious Thanksgiving Day feasting! I am making the turkey, stuffing, gravy, and mashed potatoes. Hubby is going to bake pies until he falls over (he's obsessed now with pie making and it is gooooood!!) If you come, do RSVP here and bring something yummy to eat! No, it doesn't have to be traditional Thanksgiving food. I mean we are celebrating being able to eat so hey, let's do it! WHEN: Thursday, November 26th, Thanksgiving Day proper. Doors open at Noon; Feasting begins at 1 pm. Doors close at 8 pm. :) WHERE: My house!WHAT/WHY: It's Thanksgiving! BRING: Something yummy to eat! (Any and all kinds of food are welcome!)ENTERTAINMENT: There will be Harry Potter movies playing upstairs with good company everywhere. RSVP: Please let me know if you are coming. Be well! |
sarcastibich
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3:01p |
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