Beatitful Day

Oh look! Another post!!
Today was wonderful! I had lunch with my lovely AJ at Jason's Deli, and then went with him to Best Buy and Barnes and Nobles, where we drooled over Half Life 2 and some books. We then drove back to campus and took a nap in the parking lot before we woke up and I decided I wanted Ben & Jerry ice cream.. so off we went back to Round Rock for ice cream, and found a place called 'Nothing but Noodles'... which sounded very appetizing to me. Then we drove back to campus, talked a little, and he had to head home, which was really sad : (. So I came in, watched some Auf Wiedersehen, Pet, and then uploaded some pictures to some online gallary I just started. Then I had a big decision to make. I hadn't had any dinner, but I wanted to go to Nothing but Noodles, but I was afraid that if I left, I wouldn't ever find a parking space, since everybody comes back to campus on Sundays. Anyway, we decided to go quickly and get our food to go, and hope for the best. So we went to Nothing but Noodles, and ordered, and got our food super fast. Within about 5 minutes of ordering. It was insane. So we piled into my car and I raced back to campus, praying for a parking space and screaming at all the red lights (actually we did that on the way to Nothing but Noodles, too), and while all this was going on, I had my car tuned into the TV radio station (to provide stereo sound or something.. 87.7FM, the lowest I can tune to in my car.. it's KXAN 36 (NBC)) and Law and Order came on!!! So we were listening, and getting into the story, and then we got back to campus. I raced around the parking lot, but there were no spaces!! Should I make another loop around or go for a further away spot?? I pulled into the second row of cars for one last look just as some girls walked in front of me. Were they on their way to the gym or getting in their car?? A parked truck's reverse lights came on! YEY! I was almost past the truck but I slammed on the breaks, shifted to reverse, and shot backwards a few feet. Turned on my indicator, and we waited for what seemed like forever before they pulled out and drove off. Score for Emma!! And Law and Order was on a commercial break, too! So we raced up the room! We had food! We had a parking space! The show was on a commercial break! And, as I found the channel it was on, it started raining, thundering, and lightning! A perfect atmosphere!! I ate my (very good) noodles, watched Law and Order.. watched another Law and Order: SVU that was extremely good (about 'the RDK killer', based off that whatsit killer who they just caught here), and ate some of the chocolate covered cherries that AJ brought me. Now I'm probably going to get ready for bed and head to bed, since I could use the sleep. Yey for a wonderful day, and thank you AJ!!

Hi

Just wanted to let everyone know I'm still alive. Tum te tum. I'm happy right now but most of the week I'm miserable and drowning in homework. La la.

What's in Your Pocket?

Washed my ski-shell jacket today. I love it, and have worn it all winter long.
Contents of the pockets of said jacket:
Right hand pocket:
- half the front page of the Nov 7, 2004 edition of the 'Travel' section of the Sunday Times with information about the laptop I was (still am) thinking of getting if my Samsung kept (keeps) dying
- Villars/Gryon keycard skipass from Switzerland, this Christmas

Left hand pocket:
- pocket pack of Kleenex balsam tissues (British)
- very old squeezy tube of Carmex
- 1 long brown hair
- Amo Complete Blink-N-Clean lens/eye drops travel bottle (with grains of sand in lid)
- piece of bedside stationary from the Raffles Hotel, Singapore (I have not been there), written in the top left corner 'Dem Sug.' in my stepmom's handwriting, 'crisp pink' apple sticker stuck upside down next to the Raffles Hotel logo, written on the main part of the note in pencil in my dad's handwriting 'Emma Hot water bottle' later added in black pen '+ cover' circled, and 'Boots + J Lewis'
- very old hand drawn (by my dad) map with directions from our house in Aberdeen to our old school, Hamilton, by bike, with many landmarks marked along the way (with grains of sand in the folds)

Breast pocket:
- two foldable spoons. never know when you might need a spoon!
- boarding pass stub for Miss Emma H*dcr*ft on British Airways from London LGW to Dallas DFW on flight BA 2193 on the 5 Jan at 1005 at gate 51 (which closes at 0950) for seat 12J.
- card for Papageno Restaurant (in London) 'The Show after the Show', with information on the inside about the 'Quartet Caberet' every Sunday & Monday evening with younger talents that are "destined to be the virtuosos & divas of tommorow." (as spelled in text)
- London Underground one-day off-peak travelcard for 23 December 04 at 0741, costing £4.30
- $70 WTF??! (i dont know when/why i got this or why it's been left in my jacket pocket)
- Ayr Saline Nasal Gel (great for dry airplane air)
- London Underground Tube map

Grains of sand are probably from the various shells and rocks I stuff in my pockets constantly.

In other news, I've got too much to do to be writing this kind stuff up. Oh well. Have fun!

Roses, Vaginas, and Swords, OH MY!

My guess is that today (Valentine's Day for those of you living under rocks) must be the day that blogger get's the most new posts. I mean, the days around Christmas must be fairly high, but people are with family, away from home (and net) and depending on how busy, post over a few days after the season, not just on one day. But Valentine's Day? It really doesn't have anything to do with religion anymore, it's above all that. It's not a time you spend with family, really. And it involves love, and reminds people of their lack of it. Think about most blogs you read. The majority are depressing and dark, wishing for love and trust. So what day brings this side of bloggers out more than ever? TODAY! And those who are happily loving someone post about the wonderful things they are doing/did/received today. Adding it up, this must be the number one blogging day of the year. And what depressing posts they must be be, most of them.



For me, today was not unlike the many other days that gang up to create a year, except for a few things. The first thing was when I left my room my room this morning I ran into a rose. Yes, I know what you're thinking. "I know you're short Emma, but jeeze!" The reason I ran into it was because it was hanging from the ceiling by a ribbon. The ribbon-roses actually went all the way from the very last dorm on this side of the hallway (one down from mine, across the hall) to the lounge-area at the top of the stairs, over the couch, and to the coffee table, where it was covered in chocolate and hearts, with a big card in the middle that said 'Mwah!'. I'm guessing this girl has a boyfriend.

The second thing was that we had a Vagina Carnival on the main green grassy area (or, currently, yellow grassy area). I couldnt go for long, but from what I did see, it was amusing. Cupcakes with icing vaginas traced on them and red jam in the middle. Heh heh. Also vaginas that were like pages from coloring books, with crayons. Lots of other things, but I'm lazy.

The other thing was that the food hit a new low as far as edibility. It tasted like pure salt. Wow. I am really going to starve before the end of semester, because there is just nothing here to eat.

In other news, I have had a headache for a while now that feels like someone is beating my head with a sledgehammer.
Speaking of large weapons, check this out. (If Star Telegram tries to get you to sign up for something, I'm hosting a copy of the article HERE, so go there.) Oh Lamar is a lovely place, is it not? Ian told me about it, and I looked up the article on it.
Kodomo68: they whisked him away and put the victim in the hospital, cleaned up the blood and had everyone into class by 8:00
Loweaugen: bwahaha!
Loweaugen: high school efficiency
Kodomo68: "We wanted to let the kids know that the incident was quickly taken care of and their classmate was treated at the hospital and was OK," said Michelle Clark, an Arlington schools spokeswoman.
Kodomo68: they didnt tell us shit

You just forget, when you go to college, how crazy high school is. In a way, I miss it. Everything is so predictable here, there's none of that crazy wildness, rebelling against the oppressive teachers, trying to sneak around the system. *sigh*

Tis all for now. Hope you all had a wonderful Valentine's Day. Toodle-oo.

Please check out the post below and see if you can help me!

PS - By the slowness of Blogger, I'm guessing I'm right about today being the #1 posting day : )

Can you help the Emma?

I'm doing a project at school, for fem studies. I'm going to be making a brochure/webpage about advice for young fathers. One thing I'm hoping to include is a section with real-life accounts from people who have been in the position of fathering a child at a young age, what they did, and how they feel about their decision now (pros and cons). It could be anonymous if they so wished, and they could write me an email or talk to me over aim. If any of you know somebody who was in this position, I would be eternally grateful if you would talk to them and see if they'd be willing to tell me a little about their experience (even if the mother had an abortion and nothing much else was said about it). Thank you all!!!! : )

Would You Like a Dark Fuck Hole?

The last two weeks have possibly been the worst two weeks of my life. I washed my cell phone. I found the first page of my comp sci hw I already turned in 2 days late on Tuesday in my notebook today. I didn't turn in the comp sci hw today. I didn't study for my biology or chemistry tests. Have not ready for two weeks in architecture. Everything just keeps getting worse, even when I just cant imagine it getting worse. I've been having stomach aches on and off all week. I'm so tired. Oh, I forgot, I didn't write a lab report in chemistry because I thought all we had to do was these worksheet things, and so got a 27 on my first lab. I didn't do it for this lab either, but he let me take it back and I'm going to turn it in on Monday, though probably for points off (hopefully not like 70, and it'll still be better than not doing it at all). WTF is wrong with me?? I can't seem to get anything right.

In other news:
The religious fanatics haven't won yet, and some people still realise this country was founded on freedom of religion (and freedom from religion).

But they will continue to try and cause as much misery in the world as they possibly can... Gotta love Christian Love™.

In conclusion:

The A-word

So I wrote my first 'response' paper for feminist studies yesterday and turned it in. We're allowed to write about anything we want, as long as it preferably pertains to the reading and relates to feminism. I thought of this while reading, and I think it's an interesting thing to think about, and we had lots of interesting discussions about it yesterday. It is a pro-choice thing, obviously, because with 'pro-life' it would be completely null and void, since regardless of what either parent wanted, the kid would be coming.
Anyway, please disregard the not-so-great format of the paper - I wrote it in about 30 minutes. I just thought I'd put forward the idea for people to think about.
PS - For those of less acquainted with modern-day feminism, it is a fairly unanimous agreement these days that feminism is not 'man vs women' but 'equality for all, regardless of gender, race, sexuality, etc'. Don't think femi-nazi, think simply assertion of times and situations when people are discriminated against.

Is the Feminist Stance on Abortion Anti-Feminist?
or
Abortion: The Father's Side

  Whenever it is reported that a woman was forced by her husband to have an abortion, the whole country cries out in unison. Those who consider themselves 'pro-life' are aghast at the 'murder of another life' (I use this wording because the scientific and philosophical argument as to what life is and when it begins is not what I am discussing in this paper), while 'pro-choice' groups - where most feminists fall - are appalled that a woman was forced to take an action that, in their view, she alone should be allowed to decide to take. But what about the other side of the issue? When is a man not forced to 'have an abortion'? Under current laws, he has no say over whether his child lives or dies. And, by scientific and legal definition, the child is his. Scientifically, it his as equally his as the mother's, while legally, this is not so true. Whether he wanted the child or not, when it is born, he will pay child-support for 18 years. One might argue that he shouldn't have been in such a situation, if he didn't think he wanted a child. The same can be said about women, but they have a way out: abortion. A man does not.
  It is not fair that a woman who does not wish to have a child should be forced through the metal, emotional, and physical trauma of having her sexual partner's child. In the same way, it seems unfair that a man who wishes to have a child should have no say whether he can or not - unfair to force him through the mental and emotional trauma of loosing a child. Is it truly women's place to declare themselves the sole regulators of human reproduction? To me, this seems rather elitist and wrong. It implies that men cannot desire children, or, if they do, they must get permission from a woman to have them. I am not suggesting that every time a man wishes to have a child, a woman should step forward and offer herself as a vessel, but simply pointing out that the decision to have children is extremely swerved towards the female side. This is a 180° twist from a hundred years ago, when females held no rights over their children at all. This too is wrong. Most modern feminists would agree that feminism means equality for all people, including males. In this quest for equality of all, should we not try and accept that males can be primary caretakers as well as women, and can desire children or not desire them?
  Because of the physical aspect of childbearing in humans, it's hard to find a middle ground as far as who has the right to decide what without seeming to violate someone's right as a human, one right in particular that is very little voiced in any way other than 'pro-choice' abortion activism, in which it refers exclusively to women: the right to reproduce, or not to. Men have this right too, but it is not recognized.
  It seems that these definitions of abortion and women's rights, as declared by the feminist side, might actually be anti-feminist. These definitions cast women as the sole beings capable of making the decision to have a child, the sole beings capable to raise a child, and the sold being capable of feeling loss when forced to terminate an at least potential life. How many studies have been done to tell the untold stories of the men who find their girlfriends, wives, or even simply sexual partners, have aborted a zygote, fetus, or child that was half his, and cried, because he has lost his baby?
  As I stated before, I am in no way suggesting that women should not have the right to choose when they have a child. It just seems that we are denying this same choice to males, by stating things the way we do now. Unfortunately, I have no solution to this dilemma, only the suggestion that we look harder at the roles we cast ourselves into as participants in reproduction, and what rights each gender has toward a tangled web of DNA, half his, and half hers.