What is one to do with a $481.00 non-refundable ticket that one doesn't wish to use? I suppose it could be transferred to another time and place, costing $180.00 in the process. I could take a $301.00 trip on the $481.00 ticket and it could all be fine and dandy.
And I would consider it too if it weren't for Callista. I don't want to miss her.
There is a logic somewhere in this madness; and I'm the one who has it, despite accusations that I am unreasonable and wrong.
And it may be unreasonable from one perspective. We are all, after all, subject to our positionality. And if it is unreasonable, that does not make it wrong. You can continue to 'reasonably' destroy the planet while I remain stubbornly unreasonable until I contribute to a definitive difference in the world around me. Those who aspire only to what is reasonable seldom enact positive social change.
Gandhi was unreasonable.
I am sick of being held hostage by the dominant social norm. Hegemony, I will not be your submissive.
Though I will be labeled "selfish," "bitchy," "childish," "immature," and I'm sure the list goes on, how am I more of these than those on the other side? I am not. I appear so because the common discourse is not on my side.
Baltimore public schools: Meatless Mondays. Lou Dobbs says it’s a political storm in the making. Glenn Beck says its indoctrination. Why are the "Got Milk?" posters decorating our school cafeterias not accused of the same?
Oh right, dominant social discourses . . . Meat is not murder. Milk is not theft. And these products will not cause diabetes, cancer, obesity, high blood pressure, colon problems, global warming, water shortages, world hunger, deforestation, pollution, community destruction, avian flu, swine flue, mad cow disease, E. Coli, workers' rights violations, exploitation, or death. (by the way: they already do.)
I do not want to fly across the country. Sitting on a plane for over 5 hours is not a pleasant experience. I do not want to be called "psycho" or "a brat." (I will be.) I do not want to spend my days off of work and school away from my home and my things and my cats. I do not want to have a screaming and crying match with the people I love. (I will.) I do not want this headache, these stomach cramps, these shaky hands or nervous thoughts that have been following me since Sunday night. I do not want to fly across the country.
And if I don't? Others will have leverage to refuse to do the same come January. And if I do and we resort to fighting? I will be the one at fault by hegemony's law.
Some background information: Thanksgiving is on my birthday. I prefer not to be around symbols of the fallen world on any given day. But I assumed birthdays had leveraging power. (BTW, I was wrong. People are more sentimental about Thanksgiving than Birthdays. You may need that information in the future.) I asked if we could not have a turkey, but could have other items made with animal products. This was shot down. I asked if we could have a turkey and no other items contributing to the problems outlined in a ramble above. This was also shot down, despite my offer to do the cooking. Some people were worried some other people wouldn't come unless they could indulge all their destructive sentiments. And if I am threatening not to come, that is crazy. That is unreasonable. That is unfair.
And that is your background information. This is the last time I will be using my Birthday to ask for a gift.
I will also be a brat when I refuse their birthday cake or gifts that someone may have bothered to get me. (I will accept something from Callista. Something from Chris. Everyone else needs to stop kidding themselves . . . If they ever were.)
If this wretched holiday of gluttony and greed had not fallen on the marginally less wretched (though much more vain) holiday of my birth, I never would have thought to ask for such an apparently unreasonable gift.
I think my family is harder than most. I say this not only because I've had my fair share of stepmoms, so the rules are always changing, but also because I know other people's families. I know a couple that is getting married this weekend, and they are cooking an all vegan Thanksgiving for their families on Thanksgiving. (This is something I didn't even consider asking. I know people hold deadly sentiment too dear.) I know people who have gotten family members to go completely vegan for a week or a month in honor of birthdays. My husband's extended family has gone to vegetarian restaurants to celebrate birthdays that weren't even ours just to be respectful. People have suggested I offer to cook the meal if I want it to be vegan, as if this would solve the problem . . . Because to reasonable people, it would. To a normal family, having all the sides vegan would not be a big deal . . . especially if Thanksgiving fell on a vegan's birthday and that vegan offered to do all the cooking.
(This is what is unreasonable: I wanted to spend the day doing something I don't enjoy and have that be my sole birthday present.)
Gluttony, gluttony--the deadly sin that kills (see rambling list above if you would like to know how.)
I hate this situation. I don't want to even fly across the country. This would not make things better. People would still say, "Where's Calla?" and the response would still be, said in a snarky tone, "Oh, she refused to come because we didn't make the side dishes vegan." (For the record, I didn't ask you to make the side dishes vegan. I asked you to let ME make the side dishes vegan.) So, this would not make things better in terms of call and response . . . but at least I wouldn't have to see these people. No one would come by my sister's house before or after the meal, see me there, and lecture me about how stubborn and bitchy I am.
I am stubborn. I am not bitchy. I am quite the opposite of bitchy. I care too damn much. I care about animals, and people, and the environment, and this makes me unable to take part in the dominant social discourse. I won't sit down at your selfish table of gluttonous lies. "
"Thanksgiving." Can you imagine giving thanks for global warming? For an unsustainable use of land and water? For cancer? For diabetes? For theft? I can't. And I won't. And I won't be a part of this dinner. And I will bear the brunt of, "Stop acting crazy and just COME" because I have a $481.00 ticket and a 5 year old to visit.
These nerves and shakes and pains are making it hard to get through the days. And I don't want them anymore. And I don't want to fly across the country and watch others soak up sentiment.
Too upset to find a picture.
Showing posts with label sister. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sister. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Monday, March 2, 2009
Calla's Sixty-First Post
Hi. It's Calla. (As it ALMOST always is.) Tabby is writing a blog post. I'm going to write one also! But I don't think I have any kitty cat pictures. This is bad news bears. I will make do somehow. He is writing in his ethical journal, which he must keep for school. He is always confused about what to write in it. So, I am always trying to help him. He seems to think my ideas are always silly-face!!
For example, about a week and a day ago, (no, exactly a week and a day ago.) we ate at Sacred Chow in the West Village near Washington Square Park with Tabby's parents after Church. Now, my food (vegan blueberry French Toast, which turned out to be more like a huge chunk of blueberry bread that happened to be warm and a little bit fried.) came out super-de-duperdy LATE. And the waitress said, "I'm sorry. This is way too late. I'm going to take it off the bill." Now, we came home and Tabby was all "Ahh, I've only written two ethical journal entries so far and I'm supposed to've written 4!" (btw, he is on his third as of present.) So, as I am an extremely helpful girlfriend/fiancé/life-partner/whatever-I-am-considered-after-living-with-him-for-over-two-years, and I am also oh-so-good at noticing how almost every action we make involves an ethical decision, I said "Oh, write about how that waitress took my food off the bill." He thought this was dumb, and not an ethical decision. But it was. That was not her food. It belonged to the restaurant. By taking it off the bill, she essentially stole it. However, by making a customer wait an exorbitant amount a time for her food, the waitress was ethically inclined to right this wrong. She chose to do so by offering me a free meal. . . that, in reality, wasn't hers to offer. This is an ethical decision. Tabby thought it was dumb. So here was a list of other things about which I told him to write. (None of which he did.)
1. Buying things in sweatshops - to support a poor family's livelihood, or to boycott the abuse to which family members are subjected?
2. Eating at restaurants that serve meat - to order vegan food, thus showing the manager there is a market for it, or to spend your money supporting restaurants that do not spend money to support cruel practices?
3. A related note: Tom's of Maine was bought by Colgate and The Body Shop by L'Oreal: Do you buy from them since they've signed pledges to continue their ethical practices? Are you indirectly supporting animal testing, or are you showing the parent companies that cruelty free products sell better than that other crap they produce?
4. Donating to cancer/aids research - obviously these products are tested on animals. Many people would argue it is ethical to do so. They value the lives of humans above the lives of animals. However, with documented cases of the gov. testing phase 1 and phase 2 drugs on FOSTER CHILDREN, one cannot be sure that there money is only going to animal tests (which I oppose anyway.)
5. Organic vs. local? - Organic local food is ideal, but when you can buy local food that is not grown organically, or food shipped from across the country or globe that is, which do you choose?
6. When you give money to church or a homeless outreach, or nearly any nonprofit that is not associated with animal welfare, that money is probably going to some items (food and cleaning supplies for SURE) that are in opposition to your own morals.
7. Is it better to buy non-vegan food from a company that is dedicated to promoting healthful and sustainable diets, or vegan food from a company that processes all sorts of crap, but happens to have made something that is vegan? Probably it is best to avoid BOTH of these situations, honestly. [This was not a suggestion I gave to Tabby. I just thought of it now. Well, no, I had a conversation with Tabby about it one time in a grocery store, but re-thought about it now.]
Um, I don't know if I suggested other things. Maybe I did. It was over a week ago, so I don't remember. But regardless, he did not like any of my suggestions. HOWEVER, now he is writing about vegetarianism and Christianity, specifically is it pertains to Bartian theology. So clearly, he cannot escape the animal rights activism! :) I love what I created in him. hehehe. He had said how he didn't want all his posts to be about animal welfare, but I think they will be. Once you are this deep into something, you cannot pretend like it does not consume all of your moral opinions. I don't think there is anything wrong with that. I know there are other pressing issues, such as racism, homophobia, sexism, genocides, etc. And I do not think people should ignore these. And I, myself, stand up against these and often offer financial support to groups attempting to rectify these wrongs. However, my heart, and thus my time, is spent on animals. When a society has gotten to a point where sentient beings are treated as commodities, stripped of basic care, subject to hostile abuse simply because they are less evolved. . . Well, that attitude and culture taints the rest of society's assumptions and values. It is not OK to say "oh it's only a horse, who cares if it is abused?" That is one of GOD'S CREATURES. One should not treat it as though it were an OBJECT of PLEASURE created for MANKIND. Um, no. And to view the world through such a lens is DANGEROUS and TROUBLE (with a capital T that rhymes with P that stands for Pool. haha. No. The Music Man has nothing to do with this. . . at all. But it's pretty good, right?)
Alright, so that was one of my animal rants for the week. It is almost like I have a quota for those things, huh? And it's ridiculous, because I'm pretty sure they are kind of repetitive.
BUT, for lent I decided I need to do something for the animals EVERY DAY. Seeing as I should be doing more than whining about injustice every day anyway, I'm hoping this conviction sticks long past Lent. Well, I didn't think of this until Saturday night, unfortunately. And so I missed two days! But Wed. I went to a Farm Sanctuary Activist Meeting. Saturday I protested Foi Gras again at two different restaurants. And one of them is looking good. The other guy (Fork and Knife) is pretty much going out of business at this point, [Yet another ethical decision.] which is pretty sad, but also his own fault. Sign the pledge, and the protests will stop, you'll get more customers, less ducks will suffer. Everyone wins. Sunday I delivered literature about Farm Sanctuary to S'Nice. BUT I also left some at my church. Now, I am a fairly anti-social human being, as we have discussed in prior posts. So, though I have been attending St. Luke's for approximately an ENTIRE YEAR, I don't talk to anyone and I don't get involved. Well, I said in the morning, to Tabby I said, "Do you think I can leave some of these at Church?" And he said "I don't know." And then we got to church and all that was out on the table and bulletin board were church related items. So I thought, no. No point in asking. It will just be embarrassing. Well, I noticed in the announcements they had started a new "community' bulletin board that posted items unrelated to church in which people could get involved. And I had to get courage to ask about leaving some Farm Sanctuary lit. So, as a side note, I've been feeling so super guilty for not doing more in the realm of animal rights lately. God has given me this passion. It has been indwelt since I was four. . . or perhaps earlier. But four, the age I went vegetarian without the prompting of an adult or a group of peers, is a clear indication of such passion at work. My 6th grade persuasive essay against animal testing is another. Clearly, this is something that has been with me since a young age. God has also BLESSED me with both creativity and intellect. I have both the brains and the visionary-drive to really amount to something. Unfortunately, I was also given an unnatural anti-social tendency and an uncanny ability to get embarrassed at the drop of a hat! So, these character-flaws (if flaws are what they are) prevent me from using my gifts to their fullest. And lately, that has been plaguing at my soul. OK, well, I had to get courage. And this was a rather distracting revelation. I thought about what I would say all service. I was pretty glad Mother Mary was not giving the sermon, 'cause I had been weird and friended her on Facebook. I was already embarrassed about that fact, and didn't want to draw attention to myself by asking her strange questions. So, Mother Caroline was giving the sermon, and I, for some reason, am less comfortable around her than around Mary or Hugh, so it was still going to be strange asking her about the Farm Sanctuary Lit. Well, in her sermon, she briefly mentioned how saints and Christ and such were friends of the animals. Biblically speaking, a friend of the animals is someone who is Godly. So, I figured that was good. Even though it wasn't the POINT of the sermon, I figured she couldn't possibly say "no" after mentioning that fact. So, after service, I held up the line to leave to ask her about the Farm Sanctuary Lit. And she said, "Well, we can't post every worthy cause, but I don't see why we can't pin one up and leave a few." YAY! So, I only gave her a few. Like 7 probably or 8. I didn't want to overwhelm her or seem unappreciative or pushy. But, if she is pinning on up, even if the Lit. disappears, people will see the flyer and can still visit the website. So, I did that for the animals. And it was hard and SO EMBARRASSING. But I did it. And, unfortunately, it did not relieve me and make me feel like it would be easy to interact with people if it was for the animals. I think, instead, this will be a life-long struggle because of my weirdness. Like Moses, thinking he can't talk in front of people.
So, anyway, today I wrote Obama for the animals. I thanked him for cutting subsidies to factory farms, and encouraged him to give subsidies to farms with "humane" and environmentally friendly practices. I suggested he look at the farms certified by the nonprofit Humane Farm Animal Care. (I don't think any animal should be slaughtered, but raising animals humanely BEFORE you brutally, and with no regard for their feelings, take their lives away is a step in the proper direction.) So, if you like eating carcass, but are feeling either guilty or disgusted about the way that carcass was treated when s/he was a living, breathing being, check out this website. www.certifiedhumane.com/
This is now going to be unrelated to animal rights, at least this little part: I HAD A SNOW DAY TODAY! It is the only one I had during my undergraduate career. And snow days are a BEAUTIFUL thing. It is so so so so so so cold and SNOWY outside. I had to go out to buy my kitty cats food. But instead of going to the pet food store to which I like to go because it is a small business, I went to whole foods because it was closer. If I have to support a Big Box store, I guess Whole Foods is the way to go, right? But other than that trip, I have been INSIDE. I drank co-co, and it was yummy. I pretty much ENTIRELY wasted the day. Like it is nearly 11:00 p.m. and I didn't do anything productive. This is probably bad. But oh well.
SO, my sister has been a vegetarian since, like, I dunno, 2 months? It is good good good of her. She is having trouble giving up eggs, so I told her about the humanley raised people. And, actually, I don't know, for sure, what would be wrong with eating eggs from chickens humanley raised? Perhaps something to do with male chicks that hatch? I don't know if the nonprofit looks at that. I think I'll write to them asking about male chicks on layer-hen farms and veal calves on dairy-farms. Yeah, I have to go do that. But it was wonderful chatting with you. BYE.
Love,
Calla and her kitties. (NO PICTURE!?) I will find a picture of SOMETHING to put here. . . hmmm. . .
This is a GORGEOUS butterfly friend from the Ren. fair this summer. Can you believe people kill bugs instead of capturing them and letting them out the window? (Probably, 'cause probably you do that.) It makes me sad to go in the laundry room in the basement because there is fly tape hanging from the ceiling with dead bugs on it. :( IF YOU LIVE IN THE SUBURBS OR COUNTRY NEAR BATS, NEVER USE FLY PAPER. The wonderful batfriends get stuck in it. :( This makes me want to cry because bats are my most favorite animals. (Yes, I play favorites, but I treat them all with respect and love.)
For example, about a week and a day ago, (no, exactly a week and a day ago.) we ate at Sacred Chow in the West Village near Washington Square Park with Tabby's parents after Church. Now, my food (vegan blueberry French Toast, which turned out to be more like a huge chunk of blueberry bread that happened to be warm and a little bit fried.) came out super-de-duperdy LATE. And the waitress said, "I'm sorry. This is way too late. I'm going to take it off the bill." Now, we came home and Tabby was all "Ahh, I've only written two ethical journal entries so far and I'm supposed to've written 4!" (btw, he is on his third as of present.) So, as I am an extremely helpful girlfriend/fiancé/life-partner/whatever-I-am-considered-after-living-with-him-for-over-two-years, and I am also oh-so-good at noticing how almost every action we make involves an ethical decision, I said "Oh, write about how that waitress took my food off the bill." He thought this was dumb, and not an ethical decision. But it was. That was not her food. It belonged to the restaurant. By taking it off the bill, she essentially stole it. However, by making a customer wait an exorbitant amount a time for her food, the waitress was ethically inclined to right this wrong. She chose to do so by offering me a free meal. . . that, in reality, wasn't hers to offer. This is an ethical decision. Tabby thought it was dumb. So here was a list of other things about which I told him to write. (None of which he did.)
1. Buying things in sweatshops - to support a poor family's livelihood, or to boycott the abuse to which family members are subjected?
2. Eating at restaurants that serve meat - to order vegan food, thus showing the manager there is a market for it, or to spend your money supporting restaurants that do not spend money to support cruel practices?
3. A related note: Tom's of Maine was bought by Colgate and The Body Shop by L'Oreal: Do you buy from them since they've signed pledges to continue their ethical practices? Are you indirectly supporting animal testing, or are you showing the parent companies that cruelty free products sell better than that other crap they produce?
4. Donating to cancer/aids research - obviously these products are tested on animals. Many people would argue it is ethical to do so. They value the lives of humans above the lives of animals. However, with documented cases of the gov. testing phase 1 and phase 2 drugs on FOSTER CHILDREN, one cannot be sure that there money is only going to animal tests (which I oppose anyway.)
5. Organic vs. local? - Organic local food is ideal, but when you can buy local food that is not grown organically, or food shipped from across the country or globe that is, which do you choose?
6. When you give money to church or a homeless outreach, or nearly any nonprofit that is not associated with animal welfare, that money is probably going to some items (food and cleaning supplies for SURE) that are in opposition to your own morals.
7. Is it better to buy non-vegan food from a company that is dedicated to promoting healthful and sustainable diets, or vegan food from a company that processes all sorts of crap, but happens to have made something that is vegan? Probably it is best to avoid BOTH of these situations, honestly. [This was not a suggestion I gave to Tabby. I just thought of it now. Well, no, I had a conversation with Tabby about it one time in a grocery store, but re-thought about it now.]
Um, I don't know if I suggested other things. Maybe I did. It was over a week ago, so I don't remember. But regardless, he did not like any of my suggestions. HOWEVER, now he is writing about vegetarianism and Christianity, specifically is it pertains to Bartian theology. So clearly, he cannot escape the animal rights activism! :) I love what I created in him. hehehe. He had said how he didn't want all his posts to be about animal welfare, but I think they will be. Once you are this deep into something, you cannot pretend like it does not consume all of your moral opinions. I don't think there is anything wrong with that. I know there are other pressing issues, such as racism, homophobia, sexism, genocides, etc. And I do not think people should ignore these. And I, myself, stand up against these and often offer financial support to groups attempting to rectify these wrongs. However, my heart, and thus my time, is spent on animals. When a society has gotten to a point where sentient beings are treated as commodities, stripped of basic care, subject to hostile abuse simply because they are less evolved. . . Well, that attitude and culture taints the rest of society's assumptions and values. It is not OK to say "oh it's only a horse, who cares if it is abused?" That is one of GOD'S CREATURES. One should not treat it as though it were an OBJECT of PLEASURE created for MANKIND. Um, no. And to view the world through such a lens is DANGEROUS and TROUBLE (with a capital T that rhymes with P that stands for Pool. haha. No. The Music Man has nothing to do with this. . . at all. But it's pretty good, right?)
Alright, so that was one of my animal rants for the week. It is almost like I have a quota for those things, huh? And it's ridiculous, because I'm pretty sure they are kind of repetitive.
BUT, for lent I decided I need to do something for the animals EVERY DAY. Seeing as I should be doing more than whining about injustice every day anyway, I'm hoping this conviction sticks long past Lent. Well, I didn't think of this until Saturday night, unfortunately. And so I missed two days! But Wed. I went to a Farm Sanctuary Activist Meeting. Saturday I protested Foi Gras again at two different restaurants. And one of them is looking good. The other guy (Fork and Knife) is pretty much going out of business at this point, [Yet another ethical decision.] which is pretty sad, but also his own fault. Sign the pledge, and the protests will stop, you'll get more customers, less ducks will suffer. Everyone wins. Sunday I delivered literature about Farm Sanctuary to S'Nice. BUT I also left some at my church. Now, I am a fairly anti-social human being, as we have discussed in prior posts. So, though I have been attending St. Luke's for approximately an ENTIRE YEAR, I don't talk to anyone and I don't get involved. Well, I said in the morning, to Tabby I said, "Do you think I can leave some of these at Church?" And he said "I don't know." And then we got to church and all that was out on the table and bulletin board were church related items. So I thought, no. No point in asking. It will just be embarrassing. Well, I noticed in the announcements they had started a new "community' bulletin board that posted items unrelated to church in which people could get involved. And I had to get courage to ask about leaving some Farm Sanctuary lit. So, as a side note, I've been feeling so super guilty for not doing more in the realm of animal rights lately. God has given me this passion. It has been indwelt since I was four. . . or perhaps earlier. But four, the age I went vegetarian without the prompting of an adult or a group of peers, is a clear indication of such passion at work. My 6th grade persuasive essay against animal testing is another. Clearly, this is something that has been with me since a young age. God has also BLESSED me with both creativity and intellect. I have both the brains and the visionary-drive to really amount to something. Unfortunately, I was also given an unnatural anti-social tendency and an uncanny ability to get embarrassed at the drop of a hat! So, these character-flaws (if flaws are what they are) prevent me from using my gifts to their fullest. And lately, that has been plaguing at my soul. OK, well, I had to get courage. And this was a rather distracting revelation. I thought about what I would say all service. I was pretty glad Mother Mary was not giving the sermon, 'cause I had been weird and friended her on Facebook. I was already embarrassed about that fact, and didn't want to draw attention to myself by asking her strange questions. So, Mother Caroline was giving the sermon, and I, for some reason, am less comfortable around her than around Mary or Hugh, so it was still going to be strange asking her about the Farm Sanctuary Lit. Well, in her sermon, she briefly mentioned how saints and Christ and such were friends of the animals. Biblically speaking, a friend of the animals is someone who is Godly. So, I figured that was good. Even though it wasn't the POINT of the sermon, I figured she couldn't possibly say "no" after mentioning that fact. So, after service, I held up the line to leave to ask her about the Farm Sanctuary Lit. And she said, "Well, we can't post every worthy cause, but I don't see why we can't pin one up and leave a few." YAY! So, I only gave her a few. Like 7 probably or 8. I didn't want to overwhelm her or seem unappreciative or pushy. But, if she is pinning on up, even if the Lit. disappears, people will see the flyer and can still visit the website. So, I did that for the animals. And it was hard and SO EMBARRASSING. But I did it. And, unfortunately, it did not relieve me and make me feel like it would be easy to interact with people if it was for the animals. I think, instead, this will be a life-long struggle because of my weirdness. Like Moses, thinking he can't talk in front of people.
So, anyway, today I wrote Obama for the animals. I thanked him for cutting subsidies to factory farms, and encouraged him to give subsidies to farms with "humane" and environmentally friendly practices. I suggested he look at the farms certified by the nonprofit Humane Farm Animal Care. (I don't think any animal should be slaughtered, but raising animals humanely BEFORE you brutally, and with no regard for their feelings, take their lives away is a step in the proper direction.) So, if you like eating carcass, but are feeling either guilty or disgusted about the way that carcass was treated when s/he was a living, breathing being, check out this website. www.certifiedhumane.com/
This is now going to be unrelated to animal rights, at least this little part: I HAD A SNOW DAY TODAY! It is the only one I had during my undergraduate career. And snow days are a BEAUTIFUL thing. It is so so so so so so cold and SNOWY outside. I had to go out to buy my kitty cats food. But instead of going to the pet food store to which I like to go because it is a small business, I went to whole foods because it was closer. If I have to support a Big Box store, I guess Whole Foods is the way to go, right? But other than that trip, I have been INSIDE. I drank co-co, and it was yummy. I pretty much ENTIRELY wasted the day. Like it is nearly 11:00 p.m. and I didn't do anything productive. This is probably bad. But oh well.
SO, my sister has been a vegetarian since, like, I dunno, 2 months? It is good good good of her. She is having trouble giving up eggs, so I told her about the humanley raised people. And, actually, I don't know, for sure, what would be wrong with eating eggs from chickens humanley raised? Perhaps something to do with male chicks that hatch? I don't know if the nonprofit looks at that. I think I'll write to them asking about male chicks on layer-hen farms and veal calves on dairy-farms. Yeah, I have to go do that. But it was wonderful chatting with you. BYE.
Love,
Calla and her kitties. (NO PICTURE!?) I will find a picture of SOMETHING to put here. . . hmmm. . .
This is a GORGEOUS butterfly friend from the Ren. fair this summer. Can you believe people kill bugs instead of capturing them and letting them out the window? (Probably, 'cause probably you do that.) It makes me sad to go in the laundry room in the basement because there is fly tape hanging from the ceiling with dead bugs on it. :( IF YOU LIVE IN THE SUBURBS OR COUNTRY NEAR BATS, NEVER USE FLY PAPER. The wonderful batfriends get stuck in it. :( This makes me want to cry because bats are my most favorite animals. (Yes, I play favorites, but I treat them all with respect and love.)
Friday, February 13, 2009
Calla's Fifty-First Post pt. 2
So, this is unorthodox, with the numbering and what not. . . but remember I had to ask Christin about it. So, these are some pictures. How great are the computer ones!! Chris is using my computer! The very one, whose name is Silver, on which I am writing this very post! (Geez, who uses the word very like that!) Anyway, that is from Thanksgiving and so is the one with the Chuchumoomoo. The one with Chris in the blue thing is from Christmas time at Makutu's Island. (What a swell play place!) And also, the reason I am allowed to put these up is because Christin said only four of us read the blog anyway. . . I hope she is right. If she is wrong it might be dangerous cause I say things like places we go to play. If it ever gets popular for real, I could always delete this.
This can also qualify as a guest cat. . . But that was on accident. I hope the Kaylee cat doesn't get mad at me cause she was supposed to be next!!!
This qualifies as a Guest Cat, but since it was on accident, I am not giving him a number. He lives with my friend Audrey in L.A. and the vet said he is part Manx and part Siamese. . . AND THAT IS WHY HE HOPS!! He is cute when he hops.
This can also qualify as a guest cat. . . But that was on accident. I hope the Kaylee cat doesn't get mad at me cause she was supposed to be next!!!
This qualifies as a Guest Cat, but since it was on accident, I am not giving him a number. He lives with my friend Audrey in L.A. and the vet said he is part Manx and part Siamese. . . AND THAT IS WHY HE HOPS!! He is cute when he hops.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Calla's Fifty-First Post
So, there is oh-so-much to catch up on! Whatever will we do? Well. . . the goatfather is a wine made from the Goats du Roam people in South Africa. They make vegan wines and the goats lead them to the fruit to use. . . or something dysfunctionally cute like that. Perhaps you did not know that some wines are not vegan. This is true of beer as well. Some wines are refined with eggs, or fish blood or other gross things. They are just fined with said products, the said products AREN'T IN THE WINES AND BEERS. . . So, that was a nice bit of information, huh?
Um, so that's the goats.
What else is happening is I am so so so so so so so so so so so so sad about the veal calf friends! I don't know why, but last night I got super depressed about them, and it will not go away. I am sad for the Mommies too!! The babies are just ripped away from the mommies and the mommies cry out until their voice is horse and the whole while they are being endlessly milked for human consumption. This is not right. This is actually sort of pretty much evil. I cry over it a lot. I am going to protest Foie Gras on Valentine's day. That is evil too. Jesus does not like us abusing his creation and acting as if such sentient beings were placed on earth for our pleasure when they were actually placed on earth for God's pleasure. Ruthless Dominion is no way to rule. :( Tabby wrote a thing that I will make him copy and paste here as a guest post. I agree with like 96% of it or something. There is a little with which I don't agree, but all and all he is pretty good at life and writing so it will be swell to put up here. You should also read the book Is God a Vegetarian? I think that book is also swell even though the answer is no. . . because Jesus ate Fish. But the conclusion is that we should be. . . So i like it cause I don't like hurting the baby moos. :(
Um, more things happen all the time, but I can't remember them all. I know that I will put up this case statement I had to write. It is for my fundraising and development class. I had to pick a nonprofit on which to base all my projects for the semester, and I, OBVIOUSLY, picked Farm Sanctuary because they are the bestest people in the world! So, I had to write a case statement that was due today at 8:00 p.m. and it might be sucky cause I really don't know so much about fundraising yet since it is only three weeks into the semester. . . But I will put it up here anyway because I love the animals!!! Some of it is a little plagiarized off their website and mission statements and thingys because my teacher said that was OK since we are supposed to be pretending like we work for the company anyway. . . So, it's not like I lifted paragraphs or anything. Just some lists I have are the same as the website's. . . Only, I don't remember what (or actually if anything at all) is plagiarized. Next time I will keep track. Today this girl asked if there was someway we could cite stuff so we didn't feel guilty and my professor said "sure, put sentences you didn't write in red or something, I don't care." So, next time I will put sentences not of my own creation in red. But I didn't do that this time. I hope I don't get sued or something.
My senior thesis is going to suck so hardcore that it is like we are in a blackhole! (haha, that's funny because it is an entirely inaccurate description of what a blackhole does. . . I took a physics class once for the fun of it. . . I don't remember what it was called. I'll look it up. I looked it up. But not in a transcript, just on an assignment I turned in once. It said "contemporary physics." I don't know if that was the full title. The point is. . . I learned that that is not what a blackhole does!) So this is why it sucks: my pre-proposal is due on Friday but I am not good at life, so I have not done enough research to write a pre-proposal. That is what I have to do all of tomorrow. BLAH BLAH BLAH. When the actual proposal is due 16 days from now, I'll put it up here so you can see what I am doing and maybe even help me!!!
So, it was someone special's birthday today. (But really yesterday, as in Feb 11th because I am writing after midnight. But she lives in Arizona so it is still her birthday there. But she was born in Ohio which is the same time zone as New York which is where I live now. . . So, who knows!?) Also, no one remembers at what time exactly she was born! haha. We know Christopher was born at 5:45. We just know Callista was born sometime in the afternoon. . . It was after I was done with school 'cause I know that 'cause I saw her come out of Christin's vagina. EWWW. No, know what was gross? Not the blood. . . THE STRETCH MARKS. This is graphic. Christin might not like that this is up here. Seriously though Callista was born five years ago and it was the cutest day ever! (No it wasn't. She looked ugly as an infant. .. let's not kid ourselves.) BUT, it turned into the cutest day ever because she is cute now!!! I wonder if I'm allowed to put a picture of her up instead of one of my cats up. Would Christin let me? I have her on Facebook, so this really isn't much different. I will ask. In the mean-time, this post will remain vacant of pictures!.
Um, I'm sure there is more, but I'm not sure what it is. Oh yes I am. Tabby has class with stupid people that think they control reality based on how they treat the objects around them. For example, Mama Kitty becomes a cow when I treat her like a cow. . . That is the idea. They are dumb. (that is not the example they gave though, because they don't know Mama and they don't know that she is really a cow.)
Ok, now that is all for now. I will put up the case study and make Tabby put up the guest post.
Love,
Calla and her kitties. (They are both asleep in their beds that they love!)
Um, so that's the goats.
What else is happening is I am so so so so so so so so so so so so sad about the veal calf friends! I don't know why, but last night I got super depressed about them, and it will not go away. I am sad for the Mommies too!! The babies are just ripped away from the mommies and the mommies cry out until their voice is horse and the whole while they are being endlessly milked for human consumption. This is not right. This is actually sort of pretty much evil. I cry over it a lot. I am going to protest Foie Gras on Valentine's day. That is evil too. Jesus does not like us abusing his creation and acting as if such sentient beings were placed on earth for our pleasure when they were actually placed on earth for God's pleasure. Ruthless Dominion is no way to rule. :( Tabby wrote a thing that I will make him copy and paste here as a guest post. I agree with like 96% of it or something. There is a little with which I don't agree, but all and all he is pretty good at life and writing so it will be swell to put up here. You should also read the book Is God a Vegetarian? I think that book is also swell even though the answer is no. . . because Jesus ate Fish. But the conclusion is that we should be. . . So i like it cause I don't like hurting the baby moos. :(
Um, more things happen all the time, but I can't remember them all. I know that I will put up this case statement I had to write. It is for my fundraising and development class. I had to pick a nonprofit on which to base all my projects for the semester, and I, OBVIOUSLY, picked Farm Sanctuary because they are the bestest people in the world! So, I had to write a case statement that was due today at 8:00 p.m. and it might be sucky cause I really don't know so much about fundraising yet since it is only three weeks into the semester. . . But I will put it up here anyway because I love the animals!!! Some of it is a little plagiarized off their website and mission statements and thingys because my teacher said that was OK since we are supposed to be pretending like we work for the company anyway. . . So, it's not like I lifted paragraphs or anything. Just some lists I have are the same as the website's. . . Only, I don't remember what (or actually if anything at all) is plagiarized. Next time I will keep track. Today this girl asked if there was someway we could cite stuff so we didn't feel guilty and my professor said "sure, put sentences you didn't write in red or something, I don't care." So, next time I will put sentences not of my own creation in red. But I didn't do that this time. I hope I don't get sued or something.
My senior thesis is going to suck so hardcore that it is like we are in a blackhole! (haha, that's funny because it is an entirely inaccurate description of what a blackhole does. . . I took a physics class once for the fun of it. . . I don't remember what it was called. I'll look it up. I looked it up. But not in a transcript, just on an assignment I turned in once. It said "contemporary physics." I don't know if that was the full title. The point is. . . I learned that that is not what a blackhole does!) So this is why it sucks: my pre-proposal is due on Friday but I am not good at life, so I have not done enough research to write a pre-proposal. That is what I have to do all of tomorrow. BLAH BLAH BLAH. When the actual proposal is due 16 days from now, I'll put it up here so you can see what I am doing and maybe even help me!!!
So, it was someone special's birthday today. (But really yesterday, as in Feb 11th because I am writing after midnight. But she lives in Arizona so it is still her birthday there. But she was born in Ohio which is the same time zone as New York which is where I live now. . . So, who knows!?) Also, no one remembers at what time exactly she was born! haha. We know Christopher was born at 5:45. We just know Callista was born sometime in the afternoon. . . It was after I was done with school 'cause I know that 'cause I saw her come out of Christin's vagina. EWWW. No, know what was gross? Not the blood. . . THE STRETCH MARKS. This is graphic. Christin might not like that this is up here. Seriously though Callista was born five years ago and it was the cutest day ever! (No it wasn't. She looked ugly as an infant. .. let's not kid ourselves.) BUT, it turned into the cutest day ever because she is cute now!!! I wonder if I'm allowed to put a picture of her up instead of one of my cats up. Would Christin let me? I have her on Facebook, so this really isn't much different. I will ask. In the mean-time, this post will remain vacant of pictures!
Um, I'm sure there is more, but I'm not sure what it is. Oh yes I am. Tabby has class with stupid people that think they control reality based on how they treat the objects around them. For example, Mama Kitty becomes a cow when I treat her like a cow. . . That is the idea. They are dumb. (that is not the example they gave though, because they don't know Mama and they don't know that she is really a cow.)
Ok, now that is all for now. I will put up the case study and make Tabby put up the guest post.
Love,
Calla and her kitties. (They are both asleep in their beds that they love!)
Friday, February 6, 2009
Calla's Forty-Eighth Post
I am procrastinating. I have to write this review of this academic article. And it is boring and stupid and about ska. So, I don't want to write it. But I am listening to No Doubt now (third wave ska and what not). And that makes me mad because of my loss of CDs. :( So what happened is as follows: I never really had a permanent home. My parents got divorced when I was 7. So I guess I had one before that. So, the judge gave them joint custody. This was like as joint as it could get, as in my dad had us Thursday, Friday and every other weekend, my mom had us Mon-Wed and every other weekend. That was the school year. During the summer, it was split right down the middle half and half. Though my dad claimed he was supposed to have us every weekend to make up for the discrepancy during the school year. . . But he didn't start claiming this until, I dunno, I was ten or twelve or something. . . So, I don't know if that's true or not, but regardless we didn't follow it. So my point is this. My dad moved like every other year. When he finally moved into a house he supposedly liked we had to rent another house for like ever anyway as he and one of my crazy ex-stepmoms put a million dollars into remodeling the other house. So anyway, I NEVER knew where my stuff was growing up. This was, to say the least, obnoxious. It is also the reason I never want to leave the East Village despite the expense and the whole gentrification thing that has been going on since the 1980s of which I am clearly a part. 'Cause here is where I finally felt I had a permanent home, ya know? To have only ONE home and live in it all the time and to have kitties and a boyfriend you get to see EVERYDAY and then to work in the same neighborhood and to like to go to the park to look at the puppies and wish you could have a dog as well as two cats. . . well, that is what having an actual home feels like. So, back to the CDs. I took all my favorite CDs to college with me my first year, right? And so what happened was I lived in school housing. This small apartment right on Union Square with 8 of us inside it. RIDICULOUS. Probably, you will hear more about the ridiculousness someday. The kitchen was like 10 square feet the four bedrooms were the size of walk in closets literally. . . SO, it sucked. So I also had to move out right away in May. And I stored some stuff with Tabby (where I live now! It was stupid cause I moved the stuff out of this apartment in September and right back in in January!) OK, so, some stuff I stored with Claudette. . . who I then stopped talking to. . . I hope she is enjoying my green blanket, green lamp with flowered lampshade, laundry basket etc. So the rest of my stuff I managed to lug back to Ohio in two overweight suitcases. Well, there were my CDs. And I had them at my dad's house (the one that had been redone.) And I meant to load them all onto my computer, but didn't get around to it. So, I left them there when I went back to New York because I was trying to bring back every single book I owned, and so there wasn't room for music. (Isn't that depressing, to choose between music and literature!?) OK, so I didn't go back to Ohio until 2 years later. That was this past summer for Cristina's wedding. The summer before, I was supposed to go for a weekend, but my plane got all delayed and then cancelled and Tabby's dad had to get me from the airport at like 3 a.m. OK. So, that one year later I didn't have a chance to get those CDs. By the time I got back to Ohio again, my dad had divorced crazy stepmom #2 and that stupidly expensive house was on the market. While, crazy ex-stepmom had changed the locks on the house, so I couldn't get the CDs. So, that same weekend my dad called and asked if I needed anything from the house because he would be there the next weekend. I told him I needed my CDs. But he never called me and never mentioned them again, so I think it is safe to say he either forgot or they were already gone. Well, I get sad quite often that music collection has vanished. But I still have Tragic Kingdom because Christin rebought it or something and I put it on my computer one time in Arizona. But where is the rest of No Doubt, Outkast, Jewel, TFK, Nickel Creek, etc? (Yes, I have elcectic taste.) I am sad.
Well, I don't have any kitty pictures right now because I have to load them from the camera onto the computer. And I didn't yet. Just deal with it. I'll add two sets to the next post to make up for it. (THE NEXT POST WILL PROBABLY BE ABOUT GALACTICA)
You're only sixteen
Try to cross the line
But your little wings are intertwined no whoa no
Yeah you're only sixteen
And you're such a tease
And there's nothing you do
That can really please no whoa no
love, Calla and her kitties
Well, I don't have any kitty pictures right now because I have to load them from the camera onto the computer. And I didn't yet. Just deal with it. I'll add two sets to the next post to make up for it. (THE NEXT POST WILL PROBABLY BE ABOUT GALACTICA)
You're only sixteen
Try to cross the line
But your little wings are intertwined no whoa no
Yeah you're only sixteen
And you're such a tease
And there's nothing you do
That can really please no whoa no
love, Calla and her kitties
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Post no. 12
Maybe this should be titled "Calla's Fourty-Third Post." I'm not sure yet, but oh well. "Calla's Fourty-First Post" also had an ambiguous title nature. This frustration is born out of the same class as said post. This man has us read stupid readings. I can tell you that after one day of class.
OK, so let me just tell you about the article "African American Males' Reported Involvement in the Criminal Justice System: A Descriptive Analysis," by one Ron Stewart. Stewart admits many flaws in his study, and for that I respect him. However, there are about a dozen more he didn't notice. And for that I ask why he has A Ph.D. and I don't? And how come if I catch all these flaws, I can't even get a job as a research assistant?
So, I'm not gonna summarize the article. You can get the jist from the title, and you can look it up yourself on JSTOR or something.
Alright first flaw: Two of the characteristics of the survey respondents had to do with "Religious Preference" and "Church Attendance." The possible responses for the former were "Christian" and "Non-Christian." Alright, I am willing to accept this widely limited category if, for no other reason, I have been trained to accept these as fixed categories from all the protestant, college-educated, straight, white males who choose to marginalize the rest of the nation. So fine, Christian v. Non-Christian. (Not really fine, did you catch my sarcasm a minute ago?) Well 38% of the respondents were Non-Christian. The next variable is "Church Attendance." Not "Religious Service," nor "Place of Worship." Nope "Church Attendance." Excuse me for not being shocked that 69% of respondents attend church "infrequently" since 38% ARE NOT CHRISTIAN. Only 19 less people answered the question about church attendance than answered the question about religious preference. That means Non-Christians were answering it. STUPIDITY on Stewart's part.
OK NEXT: "Employment Status." There are two options here Employed or Unemployed. Anyone else catch two flaws with this right off the bat? (1) Underemployed is not an option. (2) There is no follow up to determine whether the employed people are part of the mainstream economy or the "underground" (for lack of better phrase) economy. If I am selling crack full time, and you are selling crack full time I may answer that I am employed and you may answer that you are unemployed. . . FLAWS. Furthermore, if I am selling crack part time and still can't earn enough to support myself, I dang sure feel underemployed, but there is no way for me to express this. So that is two more flaws and we are up to 3 flaws and one really annoying factor.
Flaw 4: The item "getting along with police" as measured by "an item asking respondents how well they and the people in their neighborhood get along with the police." May I emphasize the article "an". . . AN. . . ONE. One question which asks two different things. Well, first off, maybe I'm anti-social and I don't very well KNOW how my neighbors get along with the police, get off your lazy ass and go ask them yourself. Secondly, this is a study focusing on black males. If I am a black male who lives around a lot of people who aren't black, how my neighbors get along with the police is really pretty irrelevant to your study, now isn't it? Thirdly, and here is the really stupid part, TWO QUESTIONS WITH ONE ANSWER. If I hate the police and we fight with each other on a daily basis but my neighbors are all cousins of a police officer whom they love to no end. . . well, I can't answer that question truthfully no matter what I say. So actually that is flaw 4-6. . . and one really annoying factor.
Now, this man chooses to quote another study that I really know nothing about EXCEPT "They found that approximately 50 percent of the non-white, non-Hispanic population reported dissatisfaction with the police." Well, I hate to break it to you AGAIN Ron Stewart. . . non-white non-Hispanic ≠ black. Last I checked my boyfriend was half-Asian. Oh I just checked again, and he still is. He is non-white and non-Hispanic. How he feels about the police should be of no interest to you whatsoever. So, this may be a flaw in the other study. But why is he quoting flawed studies? Or not explaining these studies thoroughly so I don't think it is a flawed study if it is not. So this is flaw # 7 no matter how you slice it.
No let's get to the question on gang membership. Those respondents saying they had been (and one can only assume "or still are" though it is not written into Ron Stewart's report) in a gang got the opportunity to report on in what TYPE of gang activity they were involved. The problem is, it appears they could only answer ONE type of activity. Stewart's number add up to 100%. This means if I were involved in a burglary and an armed robbery I would get to report only one. . . and I could report which ever I so chose. So if I had been involved in like 7 burglaries but they were all a year ago and one armed robbery, which happened last week. . . well, I may very well report the armed robbery because that's the one fresh in my head. (no. 8)
So, I guess that is only 8 flaws and not a dozen. But I have one more flaw with the writing. I can't tell what Stewart's POINT is. It seems to be that black man are disproportionately involved in the criminal justice system. However, he keeps pointing out over and over again that there is a difference in criminal involvement. So I'm sorry. WE DO NEED TO FIX THE ROOT OF THE PROBLEM. This is true. But in the mean time, you can't go around pretending like all these men are in prison for crimes they didn't commit when you then admit they're mostly low-level drug offenders. Yeah, you're right, we shouldn't punish people so harshly if they're low-level drug offenders and we should end this "war on drugs" sooner than later. . . BUT THERE ARE STILL JUST MORE BLACK MEN COMMITTING CRIMES. So, since he constantly admits that, I don't know what his point is.
Oh, but may I also remind you he admits flaws in his own research. So maybe there are 12 flaws.
Or maybe he just writes poorly. Maybe all these flaws would be explained if I discussed his research with him in person. Maybe he just had trouble articulating some things in his article. Either way, remind me again WHY he has a Ph.D. if he either can't write or can't do research.
And that's all. And I'm frustrated that people get paid to publish this shit when I've done stronger research during my undergraduate career!!!!!!! AHHHH THE WORLD SUCKS.
(I wonder if Ron Stewart is protestant, straight and white. . . )
Guest Cat IV I know it's strange to have 2 guest cats in a row. . . but Christin was sad that Baby Broder was on display without Titty Tat aka Titters. This is Titters. He lives with my sister and he is a little cuddle love!!!
OK, so let me just tell you about the article "African American Males' Reported Involvement in the Criminal Justice System: A Descriptive Analysis," by one Ron Stewart. Stewart admits many flaws in his study, and for that I respect him. However, there are about a dozen more he didn't notice. And for that I ask why he has A Ph.D. and I don't? And how come if I catch all these flaws, I can't even get a job as a research assistant?
So, I'm not gonna summarize the article. You can get the jist from the title, and you can look it up yourself on JSTOR or something.
Alright first flaw: Two of the characteristics of the survey respondents had to do with "Religious Preference" and "Church Attendance." The possible responses for the former were "Christian" and "Non-Christian." Alright, I am willing to accept this widely limited category if, for no other reason, I have been trained to accept these as fixed categories from all the protestant, college-educated, straight, white males who choose to marginalize the rest of the nation. So fine, Christian v. Non-Christian. (Not really fine, did you catch my sarcasm a minute ago?) Well 38% of the respondents were Non-Christian. The next variable is "Church Attendance." Not "Religious Service," nor "Place of Worship." Nope "Church Attendance." Excuse me for not being shocked that 69% of respondents attend church "infrequently" since 38% ARE NOT CHRISTIAN. Only 19 less people answered the question about church attendance than answered the question about religious preference. That means Non-Christians were answering it. STUPIDITY on Stewart's part.
OK NEXT: "Employment Status." There are two options here Employed or Unemployed. Anyone else catch two flaws with this right off the bat? (1) Underemployed is not an option. (2) There is no follow up to determine whether the employed people are part of the mainstream economy or the "underground" (for lack of better phrase) economy. If I am selling crack full time, and you are selling crack full time I may answer that I am employed and you may answer that you are unemployed. . . FLAWS. Furthermore, if I am selling crack part time and still can't earn enough to support myself, I dang sure feel underemployed, but there is no way for me to express this. So that is two more flaws and we are up to 3 flaws and one really annoying factor.
Flaw 4: The item "getting along with police" as measured by "an item asking respondents how well they and the people in their neighborhood get along with the police." May I emphasize the article "an". . . AN. . . ONE. One question which asks two different things. Well, first off, maybe I'm anti-social and I don't very well KNOW how my neighbors get along with the police, get off your lazy ass and go ask them yourself. Secondly, this is a study focusing on black males. If I am a black male who lives around a lot of people who aren't black, how my neighbors get along with the police is really pretty irrelevant to your study, now isn't it? Thirdly, and here is the really stupid part, TWO QUESTIONS WITH ONE ANSWER. If I hate the police and we fight with each other on a daily basis but my neighbors are all cousins of a police officer whom they love to no end. . . well, I can't answer that question truthfully no matter what I say. So actually that is flaw 4-6. . . and one really annoying factor.
Now, this man chooses to quote another study that I really know nothing about EXCEPT "They found that approximately 50 percent of the non-white, non-Hispanic population reported dissatisfaction with the police." Well, I hate to break it to you AGAIN Ron Stewart. . . non-white non-Hispanic ≠ black. Last I checked my boyfriend was half-Asian. Oh I just checked again, and he still is. He is non-white and non-Hispanic. How he feels about the police should be of no interest to you whatsoever. So, this may be a flaw in the other study. But why is he quoting flawed studies? Or not explaining these studies thoroughly so I don't think it is a flawed study if it is not. So this is flaw # 7 no matter how you slice it.
No let's get to the question on gang membership. Those respondents saying they had been (and one can only assume "or still are" though it is not written into Ron Stewart's report) in a gang got the opportunity to report on in what TYPE of gang activity they were involved. The problem is, it appears they could only answer ONE type of activity. Stewart's number add up to 100%. This means if I were involved in a burglary and an armed robbery I would get to report only one. . . and I could report which ever I so chose. So if I had been involved in like 7 burglaries but they were all a year ago and one armed robbery, which happened last week. . . well, I may very well report the armed robbery because that's the one fresh in my head. (no. 8)
So, I guess that is only 8 flaws and not a dozen. But I have one more flaw with the writing. I can't tell what Stewart's POINT is. It seems to be that black man are disproportionately involved in the criminal justice system. However, he keeps pointing out over and over again that there is a difference in criminal involvement. So I'm sorry. WE DO NEED TO FIX THE ROOT OF THE PROBLEM. This is true. But in the mean time, you can't go around pretending like all these men are in prison for crimes they didn't commit when you then admit they're mostly low-level drug offenders. Yeah, you're right, we shouldn't punish people so harshly if they're low-level drug offenders and we should end this "war on drugs" sooner than later. . . BUT THERE ARE STILL JUST MORE BLACK MEN COMMITTING CRIMES. So, since he constantly admits that, I don't know what his point is.
Oh, but may I also remind you he admits flaws in his own research. So maybe there are 12 flaws.
Or maybe he just writes poorly. Maybe all these flaws would be explained if I discussed his research with him in person. Maybe he just had trouble articulating some things in his article. Either way, remind me again WHY he has a Ph.D. if he either can't write or can't do research.
And that's all. And I'm frustrated that people get paid to publish this shit when I've done stronger research during my undergraduate career!!!!!!! AHHHH THE WORLD SUCKS.
(I wonder if Ron Stewart is protestant, straight and white. . . )
Guest Cat IV I know it's strange to have 2 guest cats in a row. . . but Christin was sad that Baby Broder was on display without Titty Tat aka Titters. This is Titters. He lives with my sister and he is a little cuddle love!!!
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Calla's Forty-Second Post
This is just really quick to say: I feel bad for the catnip mouse! All the other stuffed animals are in the bedroom on the doorway railing thingy all safe and sound. They even take part in the household conversation on occasion, and Periwinkle made an espidition around the living room entirely unscathed. The only thing all these creatures have in common is they are stuffed with fluff. (much like Edward Bear a.k.a. Winnie-the-Pooh) The poor little catnip mouse is, on the other hand, stuffed with catnip. Because of this fate, which was no fault of his own, he is subject to constant harassment by the household felines. He is batted, bitten, scratched, and flung around on a daily basis. He is even missing a black-stitch eye from all of the abuse. Now, he is cute and little like all the other stuffed animals. Yet, he is tortured! I feel so sad for him. I am thinking maybe I should remove the catnip, fill the little guy with fluff and find a ball or sack filled with catnip for the feline enjoyment. He is in my lap right now because I picked him up and felt so sorry for his condition that I was compelled to write this; and so I couldn't just put him back on the ground where he would be subject to merciless attacks. HE EVEN HAS WHISKERS HE IS SO CUTE.
I have issues.
Love,
Calla. . . AND THE CATS DO NOT APPROVE OF THIS MESSAGE.
Guest Cat III this is Baby Broder. He lives with my sister and wishes he were a stray.
I have issues.
Love,
Calla. . . AND THE CATS DO NOT APPROVE OF THIS MESSAGE.
Guest Cat III this is Baby Broder. He lives with my sister and wishes he were a stray.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Calla's Fortieth Post
Wow, is that really how you spell 40th? It looks a little dumb. It should probably be more like fourtieth.
May I ask you a question? This is the question: How come everyone is so stupid!? Tabby's dad put on that show "are you smarter than a 5th grader?" and the answer, seems to be, yes. But then you think about how smart and educated are not exactly the same thing. It is not fair to say I am smarter than a fifth grader because I am 22. So, I might know more than them. But that doesn't make me smarter automatically. I bet when I was in 5th grade I was smarter than most people who knew a lot more than I did. OK, but that's beyond the point. The point is that most of the people on this show are just dumb. I'll admit I didn't know what organ produced insulin (the pancreas, by the way, in case you also didn't know.), but these people don't know really simple things like which vitamin is absorbic acid. Now, if you've ever read the ingredient list to anything you know that. So, it makes me wonder whether or not these people ever went grocery shopping in their lives. Like seriously, a lot of it seems to be knowledge people have to acquire in their daily lives if they plan on functioning in society. But, people don't know that "own" is the root word of disown, and that McKenzie is a proper noun. . . not a preposition. "In" is a preposition. It is just kind of confusing to me that these people exist.
Ok, second example of stupidity is CNN. I told you before they make me brain dead or something. But seriously, I was listening to it today while I cleaned, and they had "some of the smartest economists in the world" or whatever on the show being all like, "We have a trade deficit. We import too much oil from the middle east and too many goods from China." Uh. . . no shit Sherlock. I, who have taken exactly one economics class in my entire life, and this wasn't even a real economics class, it was about urban economies, could've told you we import too much! Oh wait. . . I DID tell you that. STOP BUYING ALL YOUR SHIT FROM CHINA AND LEARN TO RIDE A BIKE DOWN THE STREET.
Furthermore, these people on CNN (not the economists necessarily, just everyone at the news station probably) had never heard the terms NIMBY or "green collar jobs." And they had this other stupid chick on who was all, "We can't have big government telling our cities what to do. If they want more urban sprawl it is their prerogative." Right, and it is also my prerogative NOT TO DROWN when global warming causes the ocean to flood the island on which I live. So no, they aren't allowed to continue urban sprawl stupid bitch. I don't get it.
Also, people hate kitties and puppies. That is my conclusion. The humane society is trying to raise money to spay and neuter animals, and I tried to get all these people on facebook to help. But nope, they all want to get bit by a stray animal and die of rabies. Whatever, I guess that's their right. (http://photocontest.humanesociety.org/contest.html?page=viewIndex&contestId=1&clearSearch=1&paging=0 type in "Baby Kitty" and "Mama Kitty" on the search button.) Seriously, though, five dollars. They can't give five dollars to prevent the birth, and then death of, millions of unwanted lovey-faces.
Ok, so what else is happening in the world? CHRIS IS TEN TODAY! WOO-HOO PARTY. Except I can't party with him because I don't live near him. This is sad sad news. I have been babysitting children for a decade now that means! Someone hire me to watch your children. I need money.
Um, also what is happening is I don't understand the logic of lots of people. OK, so there is always like nude artwork or whatever. Alright, I have no problem with it. And a few people do, but as long as the piece doesn't look sexualized, most people will think of it as art. They won't throw some hissy fit about obscenity and objectification of the female body. (Let's face it, most of it is women.) Um, did I miss something here? Isn't the female body being objectified for the sake of art? Yes. Yes it is. Try to argue otherwise and you'll probably sound dumb. . . but you can try. So what? Now it's ok to objectify oneself for art but not for sex? 'Cause, face it, these same people who will like nude figures in art will be all up in arms if you show them some soft-core porn where the woman has a bra and panties on but is posed all sexual and her nipples are hard. I'm not kidding. Show these people real porn and they'll be all, "stop objectifying women!" "This is smut!" "Women's rights" "blah blah blah." Objectification is objectification. And if no one is coerced into this "objectification" I don't care if they are nude so men and women can look at them and go "hmmm. . . I love the way the light bends across the breasts here." Or so men and women can look at them and go "Wow, that's hot. I'm gonna masturbate now." Your body is being used for something apart from your mind to pleasure other people in either of the situations. And they are the exact same thing. I really want someone to argue with me. If you hate them both, ok, fine. If you like them both, ok, fine. If you are against porn but ok with nude art, you're stupid.
It's the same thing with manual labor even. If you need to make money, and you are strong, you are going to go be a mover or a construction worker or something. Your mind is not involved in this in any real way. You want money, you use your body. So, if someone who is hot, not necessarily strong, needs money, why can't s/he pose nude for someone? It's the same concept. It's just that everyone's afraid of sex. We live in such a sex-negative country. I don't understand why. There is nothing wrong with talking about sex. (In fact, there's something right in talking about it. Talking is the only way people can become informed. Information leads to well thought out decisions. Well thought out decisions are just better than decisions which are not thought out.) There is nothing wrong with nudity. Everyone has a body.
Probably it's Paul's fault. Why that man got to write half of the bible is beyond me. The man is asexual. And some people are asexual. That's fine. But don't expect everyone else to be. Just like if you don't like the taste of chocolate. . . well, many people, myself among them, are gonna disagree with you. Chocolate just tastes good. (hmmm. . . . dark dark chocolate. . . ) So, Paul, with his asexuality, somehow convinced us all that bodies are bad and disgusting. If bodies are nasty, how come Christ had one?
Then this leads us to the whole Christ never had sex. . . and if you're Catholic to some weird "neither did Mary" argument. First off, why wouldn't Mary have sex? If Jewish people were commanded to procreate, uh, I think Mary and Joseph would've had sex. And about Christ. So what if he didn't have sex. Maybe he was asexual. Maybe he was gay and couldn't because then he would be unclean according to Jewish custom. Maybe he knew he would die at age 33 and be unable to provide for a family. Maybe he was just too dang busy performing miracles and being God and what not. The fact that Christ didn't have sex is really no evidence that it's a bad thing.
I love tangents. OK, so what else is dumb about the world? Karl Barth. Well, I don't really know. Tabby knows. I guess there's all these people that don't understand the analogy of being. I will tell you what it is though. I maybe will paint it and scan it in here one day, and I will maybe not. But, picture this. There is a picture and it is pure purple in the center and pure red at the edges. The in-between is fading from purple to red. Get it? (If not, just re-read that until you do.) Now, here is the color code
red = grace/God
blue = nature/the world
So, that is the analogy of being as I understand it. I said so to Tabby and he said "yeah! You get it! That's a perfect description." But then we modified it a little like an hour later to say there are some spots that are redder than the purple around them.
Jesus is impossible to put in the picture because He would be fully blue and fully red. . . NOT PURPLE. Just fully blue and fully red simultaneously. This is why Christianity is like nuts.
I would just also like to say that I am bad at interpreting the world in a standard way. I don't have expectations that most people have. This causes me to not understand a lot of jokes and to often become confused by "human nature." So, I have two examples of what I mean. The first one is a commercial. And there are these cowboys talking all manly about what a tough winter it is and how so-and-so lost half his herd. Then they zoom out and they're both eating these pancakes with candies and syrups all over. And they say "hey hun" (to the waitress they say this. The waitress in the commercial.) They say, "hey hun, can I get some more. . . " And I forget what they say but it has something to do with giggles and happiness and what not. And Tabby laughed. And I said "I don't get it." And he informed me that I don't get things because I never have expectations. He explained the joke to me. These were "manly men" eating breakfast and we zoomed out and they were eating like "girly" foods. So, turns out the commercial was for Denny's. And I guess the point was that if you want "real" breakfast you have to abuse pigs and chickens. How on EARTH, would I be expected to have that expectation? I don't think anyone should abuse animals.
So, I started thinking about what he said about how I don't have expectations and I thought of a really humorous example. It was a PETA shirt and it said "woof, woof, woof" all over it. And in the bottom corner was a pig saying woof. I didn't get it. Christin was the one who had to explain that one to me. She said we were supposed to expect a dog. . . but INSTEAD there's this pig. . . So, it's being all like "we need to think of pigs the same way we think of dogs." I guess the problem is I ALREADY think of pigs that way. (CUTE GIANT LOVEFACES!!)
I think this lack of expectations helps me to appreciate scary-go-round. Most people don't get it. But I get it perfectly. It is always so funny. John Allison is bad at regular expectations too. He just must be. (BUT OH MAN IS HE AMAZING AT GHOST BANDS!!!!!)
I think that is all I have to say for now. I start school again tomorrow. That makes me want to puke. Yucka-yuck-yuck.
Love,
Calla and furry friends.
May I ask you a question? This is the question: How come everyone is so stupid!? Tabby's dad put on that show "are you smarter than a 5th grader?" and the answer, seems to be, yes. But then you think about how smart and educated are not exactly the same thing. It is not fair to say I am smarter than a fifth grader because I am 22. So, I might know more than them. But that doesn't make me smarter automatically. I bet when I was in 5th grade I was smarter than most people who knew a lot more than I did. OK, but that's beyond the point. The point is that most of the people on this show are just dumb. I'll admit I didn't know what organ produced insulin (the pancreas, by the way, in case you also didn't know.), but these people don't know really simple things like which vitamin is absorbic acid. Now, if you've ever read the ingredient list to anything you know that. So, it makes me wonder whether or not these people ever went grocery shopping in their lives. Like seriously, a lot of it seems to be knowledge people have to acquire in their daily lives if they plan on functioning in society. But, people don't know that "own" is the root word of disown, and that McKenzie is a proper noun. . . not a preposition. "In" is a preposition. It is just kind of confusing to me that these people exist.
Ok, second example of stupidity is CNN. I told you before they make me brain dead or something. But seriously, I was listening to it today while I cleaned, and they had "some of the smartest economists in the world" or whatever on the show being all like, "We have a trade deficit. We import too much oil from the middle east and too many goods from China." Uh. . . no shit Sherlock. I, who have taken exactly one economics class in my entire life, and this wasn't even a real economics class, it was about urban economies, could've told you we import too much! Oh wait. . . I DID tell you that. STOP BUYING ALL YOUR SHIT FROM CHINA AND LEARN TO RIDE A BIKE DOWN THE STREET.
Furthermore, these people on CNN (not the economists necessarily, just everyone at the news station probably) had never heard the terms NIMBY or "green collar jobs." And they had this other stupid chick on who was all, "We can't have big government telling our cities what to do. If they want more urban sprawl it is their prerogative." Right, and it is also my prerogative NOT TO DROWN when global warming causes the ocean to flood the island on which I live. So no, they aren't allowed to continue urban sprawl stupid bitch. I don't get it.
Also, people hate kitties and puppies. That is my conclusion. The humane society is trying to raise money to spay and neuter animals, and I tried to get all these people on facebook to help. But nope, they all want to get bit by a stray animal and die of rabies. Whatever, I guess that's their right. (http://photocontest.humanesociety.org/contest.html?page=viewIndex&contestId=1&clearSearch=1&paging=0 type in "Baby Kitty" and "Mama Kitty" on the search button.) Seriously, though, five dollars. They can't give five dollars to prevent the birth, and then death of, millions of unwanted lovey-faces.
Ok, so what else is happening in the world? CHRIS IS TEN TODAY! WOO-HOO PARTY. Except I can't party with him because I don't live near him. This is sad sad news. I have been babysitting children for a decade now that means! Someone hire me to watch your children. I need money.
Um, also what is happening is I don't understand the logic of lots of people. OK, so there is always like nude artwork or whatever. Alright, I have no problem with it. And a few people do, but as long as the piece doesn't look sexualized, most people will think of it as art. They won't throw some hissy fit about obscenity and objectification of the female body. (Let's face it, most of it is women.) Um, did I miss something here? Isn't the female body being objectified for the sake of art? Yes. Yes it is. Try to argue otherwise and you'll probably sound dumb. . . but you can try. So what? Now it's ok to objectify oneself for art but not for sex? 'Cause, face it, these same people who will like nude figures in art will be all up in arms if you show them some soft-core porn where the woman has a bra and panties on but is posed all sexual and her nipples are hard. I'm not kidding. Show these people real porn and they'll be all, "stop objectifying women!" "This is smut!" "Women's rights" "blah blah blah." Objectification is objectification. And if no one is coerced into this "objectification" I don't care if they are nude so men and women can look at them and go "hmmm. . . I love the way the light bends across the breasts here." Or so men and women can look at them and go "Wow, that's hot. I'm gonna masturbate now." Your body is being used for something apart from your mind to pleasure other people in either of the situations. And they are the exact same thing. I really want someone to argue with me. If you hate them both, ok, fine. If you like them both, ok, fine. If you are against porn but ok with nude art, you're stupid.
It's the same thing with manual labor even. If you need to make money, and you are strong, you are going to go be a mover or a construction worker or something. Your mind is not involved in this in any real way. You want money, you use your body. So, if someone who is hot, not necessarily strong, needs money, why can't s/he pose nude for someone? It's the same concept. It's just that everyone's afraid of sex. We live in such a sex-negative country. I don't understand why. There is nothing wrong with talking about sex. (In fact, there's something right in talking about it. Talking is the only way people can become informed. Information leads to well thought out decisions. Well thought out decisions are just better than decisions which are not thought out.) There is nothing wrong with nudity. Everyone has a body.
Probably it's Paul's fault. Why that man got to write half of the bible is beyond me. The man is asexual. And some people are asexual. That's fine. But don't expect everyone else to be. Just like if you don't like the taste of chocolate. . . well, many people, myself among them, are gonna disagree with you. Chocolate just tastes good. (hmmm. . . . dark dark chocolate. . . ) So, Paul, with his asexuality, somehow convinced us all that bodies are bad and disgusting. If bodies are nasty, how come Christ had one?
Then this leads us to the whole Christ never had sex. . . and if you're Catholic to some weird "neither did Mary" argument. First off, why wouldn't Mary have sex? If Jewish people were commanded to procreate, uh, I think Mary and Joseph would've had sex. And about Christ. So what if he didn't have sex. Maybe he was asexual. Maybe he was gay and couldn't because then he would be unclean according to Jewish custom. Maybe he knew he would die at age 33 and be unable to provide for a family. Maybe he was just too dang busy performing miracles and being God and what not. The fact that Christ didn't have sex is really no evidence that it's a bad thing.
I love tangents. OK, so what else is dumb about the world? Karl Barth. Well, I don't really know. Tabby knows. I guess there's all these people that don't understand the analogy of being. I will tell you what it is though. I maybe will paint it and scan it in here one day, and I will maybe not. But, picture this. There is a picture and it is pure purple in the center and pure red at the edges. The in-between is fading from purple to red. Get it? (If not, just re-read that until you do.) Now, here is the color code
red = grace/God
blue = nature/the world
So, that is the analogy of being as I understand it. I said so to Tabby and he said "yeah! You get it! That's a perfect description." But then we modified it a little like an hour later to say there are some spots that are redder than the purple around them.
Jesus is impossible to put in the picture because He would be fully blue and fully red. . . NOT PURPLE. Just fully blue and fully red simultaneously. This is why Christianity is like nuts.
I would just also like to say that I am bad at interpreting the world in a standard way. I don't have expectations that most people have. This causes me to not understand a lot of jokes and to often become confused by "human nature." So, I have two examples of what I mean. The first one is a commercial. And there are these cowboys talking all manly about what a tough winter it is and how so-and-so lost half his herd. Then they zoom out and they're both eating these pancakes with candies and syrups all over. And they say "hey hun" (to the waitress they say this. The waitress in the commercial.) They say, "hey hun, can I get some more. . . " And I forget what they say but it has something to do with giggles and happiness and what not. And Tabby laughed. And I said "I don't get it." And he informed me that I don't get things because I never have expectations. He explained the joke to me. These were "manly men" eating breakfast and we zoomed out and they were eating like "girly" foods. So, turns out the commercial was for Denny's. And I guess the point was that if you want "real" breakfast you have to abuse pigs and chickens. How on EARTH, would I be expected to have that expectation? I don't think anyone should abuse animals.
So, I started thinking about what he said about how I don't have expectations and I thought of a really humorous example. It was a PETA shirt and it said "woof, woof, woof" all over it. And in the bottom corner was a pig saying woof. I didn't get it. Christin was the one who had to explain that one to me. She said we were supposed to expect a dog. . . but INSTEAD there's this pig. . . So, it's being all like "we need to think of pigs the same way we think of dogs." I guess the problem is I ALREADY think of pigs that way. (CUTE GIANT LOVEFACES!!)
I think this lack of expectations helps me to appreciate scary-go-round. Most people don't get it. But I get it perfectly. It is always so funny. John Allison is bad at regular expectations too. He just must be. (BUT OH MAN IS HE AMAZING AT GHOST BANDS!!!!!)
I think that is all I have to say for now. I start school again tomorrow. That makes me want to puke. Yucka-yuck-yuck.
Love,
Calla and furry friends.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Calla's Thirty-Fourth Post
If you have not heard yet, change.org is letting people vote for what they believe are the most important issues for the Obama administration. Everyone can vote for ten ideas. The top 10 rated ideas will be presented to the Obama administration on January 16th. There are three animal rights ideas and one idea to require public schools to provide vegan lunch options! Register and vote!! None of these are currently in the top ten. And you must love the furry furry puppies! So vote for animal rights options at change.org/ideas.
(The creation of a Department of Peace is number nine! Kucinich's dream may yet become a reality.)
In other news, this is the subsidized corn rant from a long long time ago in a state far far away. (I wrote it on my sister's myspace page while I was in Arizona about two and a half years ago.) If it is already here somewhere I am sorry I could not find it and that this is a repeat. But TV always shows re-runs, so my blog can show one too certainly!!
My name is Christin. My sister, Calla, hates subsidized corn
"The government subsidizes corn. . . and only corn. That is why this nation is fat. Everything has corn in it. Corn syrup, corn meal, etc. Livestock is fed with corn. Everything made with corn (meat included) is cheaper than things made without corn. But everything made with high-fructose corn syrup and all the fatty hamburgers are bad bad bad for you!!! Many people cannot afford to buy a five dollar salad from McDonald's, but they can buy that double cheeseburgers for a buck. Our nation is fat because it is much cheaper to be fat than to be healthy.
Corn pollutes our environment. Well, no not corn in and of itself. But the price of raising livestock on corn and shipping that livestock all over the country in fuel guzzling trucks is about the cheapest way a livestock farmer can make a living. When you eat food it gives you energy, but the amount of energy provided by every cow made into beef is no where near the amount of energy taken from the earth to raise that cow. Far less people would raise cows for meat for a living if the government would stop subsidizing the corn the cows eat.
On Wednesday July 27 2005 Economist Joseph Stiglitz appeared on Lou Dobbs and made the claim that poverty is up in Mexico because the farmers cannot compete with our subsidized corn. I don't know much else about that argument but it sounds like a good one.
Subsidized corn is a devil!!! BOYCOTT!! But it will take you hours at the grocery store i'm sure to read all the lables and you will not be able to buy the majority of the food you like. Boycott anyway."
THINGS I RECENTLY DISCOVERED I HATE: (Calla talks a lot too. . . the beginning of the end of my own myspace)
1) subsidized corn
2) people that use God as an excuse to hate
3) organized religion
4) what the majority of this nation has turned God into
5) the contraversy of the Da Vinci Code. FICTION! (my sister, Calla, thinks this proves the stupidity of the nation. . . but that is a whole nother rant)
6) ILLEGAL immigration
7) the fact that the U.S. has no official language (my sister, Calla, thinks it's stupid that the government doesn't like our national anthem sung in any language except English but English isn't our official language. . . so that's dumb.)
8) people that come to this country and won't learn English (my sister, Calla, thinks i'm ignorant)
9) ignorant people, especially ignorant people in their cars on the same road as me
10) the war in Iraq
11) America is more worried about aid to foriegn countries than our starving children in AMERICA! (my sister, Calla, hates that we call our country America when it is actually the United States of America and not America in and of itself. . . though it is on NORTH America, are Canada and Mexico are also. . . not to mention all the countries on South America. . . ) we should all move to Canada
12) abortion that is forced or used as birth control. (my sister, Calla, hates abortion. . . it would take a really long time to explain why. . . longer than the subsidized corn thing. basically, she thinks it is ALWAYS used as an excuse to cover up other problems. our country doesn't have to deal with rape or domestic violence or incest or educating people or poverty or bad maternity leave laws or lack of housing for pregnant and mothering college students or shitty adoption laws or dead beat fathers etc because we have abortion. she is a psycho about this one, really, and she thinks pro-choice feminists are also the devil. Go to http://www.feministsforlife.org because it is her favorite organization in the world. They work to REDUCE the number of abortions by getting at the root of problems. George W. Bush and his fricken abstinence only plan is INCREASING the number of abortions because Bush is also the devil and he refuses to educate children on the uses of condoms. ok cool. . . that was pretty long too. . . let's NOT move to Canada because they like abortion even more than we do.)
13) domestic violence and how ignored it goes and how most people blame it on the woman. (my sister, Calla, says AMEN!)
14) so many women and children live in the ghetto while the "daddies" drive around in their pimped out range rovers. ("how can you force that woman raising her children in the ghetto to have another child. You have to let her have an abortion." "How can you force that woman to raise her children in the ghetto moron!" ROOT OF THE PROBLEM!)
15) that Calla has taken over my myspace. . . it is as if it was a Callaspace. . . she even typed that!
REMEMBER! THESE ARE ALL THINGS I HAVE recently DISCOVERED I HATE. (Calla hates that in caps lock there was no way to emphasize recently)
That is more than the corn part. That is the whole thing I typed while my wonderful sister was telling me half of what to type. Probably not the whole thing would be a re-run even if the corn thing is. I did not just re-read it, so I don't know what it says, but I hope it was good!!
Also, you should do your best to remember that that thing is so so old so those things are no longer things my sister recently discovered she hates. I don't know if she even hates them all anymore. I didn't read it. I just copied and pasted and trusted my former self and my sister's former self to not frak the whole thing up.
Did you see King Korn? I saw it in the movie theater like a year a go. My boyfriend and I bought popcorn on purpose to be ironic. hehehe
Love,
you know WHO-OO
Christmas Photos Below
P.S. I had a vague recollection that Lou Dobbs was mentioned in the myspace note, so I just skimmed it post publication and this is an edit to say he annoys me. . . so I am tagging this note as such. Also, there is a bit about abortion in there.
(The creation of a Department of Peace is number nine! Kucinich's dream may yet become a reality.)
In other news, this is the subsidized corn rant from a long long time ago in a state far far away. (I wrote it on my sister's myspace page while I was in Arizona about two and a half years ago.) If it is already here somewhere I am sorry I could not find it and that this is a repeat. But TV always shows re-runs, so my blog can show one too certainly!!
My name is Christin. My sister, Calla, hates subsidized corn
"The government subsidizes corn. . . and only corn. That is why this nation is fat. Everything has corn in it. Corn syrup, corn meal, etc. Livestock is fed with corn. Everything made with corn (meat included) is cheaper than things made without corn. But everything made with high-fructose corn syrup and all the fatty hamburgers are bad bad bad for you!!! Many people cannot afford to buy a five dollar salad from McDonald's, but they can buy that double cheeseburgers for a buck. Our nation is fat because it is much cheaper to be fat than to be healthy.
Corn pollutes our environment. Well, no not corn in and of itself. But the price of raising livestock on corn and shipping that livestock all over the country in fuel guzzling trucks is about the cheapest way a livestock farmer can make a living. When you eat food it gives you energy, but the amount of energy provided by every cow made into beef is no where near the amount of energy taken from the earth to raise that cow. Far less people would raise cows for meat for a living if the government would stop subsidizing the corn the cows eat.
On Wednesday July 27 2005 Economist Joseph Stiglitz appeared on Lou Dobbs and made the claim that poverty is up in Mexico because the farmers cannot compete with our subsidized corn. I don't know much else about that argument but it sounds like a good one.
Subsidized corn is a devil!!! BOYCOTT!! But it will take you hours at the grocery store i'm sure to read all the lables and you will not be able to buy the majority of the food you like. Boycott anyway."
THINGS I RECENTLY DISCOVERED I HATE: (Calla talks a lot too. . . the beginning of the end of my own myspace)
1) subsidized corn
2) people that use God as an excuse to hate
3) organized religion
4) what the majority of this nation has turned God into
5) the contraversy of the Da Vinci Code. FICTION! (my sister, Calla, thinks this proves the stupidity of the nation. . . but that is a whole nother rant)
6) ILLEGAL immigration
7) the fact that the U.S. has no official language (my sister, Calla, thinks it's stupid that the government doesn't like our national anthem sung in any language except English but English isn't our official language. . . so that's dumb.)
8) people that come to this country and won't learn English (my sister, Calla, thinks i'm ignorant)
9) ignorant people, especially ignorant people in their cars on the same road as me
10) the war in Iraq
11) America is more worried about aid to foriegn countries than our starving children in AMERICA! (my sister, Calla, hates that we call our country America when it is actually the United States of America and not America in and of itself. . . though it is on NORTH America, are Canada and Mexico are also. . . not to mention all the countries on South America. . . ) we should all move to Canada
12) abortion that is forced or used as birth control. (my sister, Calla, hates abortion. . . it would take a really long time to explain why. . . longer than the subsidized corn thing. basically, she thinks it is ALWAYS used as an excuse to cover up other problems. our country doesn't have to deal with rape or domestic violence or incest or educating people or poverty or bad maternity leave laws or lack of housing for pregnant and mothering college students or shitty adoption laws or dead beat fathers etc because we have abortion. she is a psycho about this one, really, and she thinks pro-choice feminists are also the devil. Go to http://www.feministsforlife.org because it is her favorite organization in the world. They work to REDUCE the number of abortions by getting at the root of problems. George W. Bush and his fricken abstinence only plan is INCREASING the number of abortions because Bush is also the devil and he refuses to educate children on the uses of condoms. ok cool. . . that was pretty long too. . . let's NOT move to Canada because they like abortion even more than we do.)
13) domestic violence and how ignored it goes and how most people blame it on the woman. (my sister, Calla, says AMEN!)
14) so many women and children live in the ghetto while the "daddies" drive around in their pimped out range rovers. ("how can you force that woman raising her children in the ghetto to have another child. You have to let her have an abortion." "How can you force that woman to raise her children in the ghetto moron!" ROOT OF THE PROBLEM!)
15) that Calla has taken over my myspace. . . it is as if it was a Callaspace. . . she even typed that!
REMEMBER! THESE ARE ALL THINGS I HAVE recently DISCOVERED I HATE. (Calla hates that in caps lock there was no way to emphasize recently)
That is more than the corn part. That is the whole thing I typed while my wonderful sister was telling me half of what to type. Probably not the whole thing would be a re-run even if the corn thing is. I did not just re-read it, so I don't know what it says, but I hope it was good!!
Also, you should do your best to remember that that thing is so so old so those things are no longer things my sister recently discovered she hates. I don't know if she even hates them all anymore. I didn't read it. I just copied and pasted and trusted my former self and my sister's former self to not frak the whole thing up.
Did you see King Korn? I saw it in the movie theater like a year a go. My boyfriend and I bought popcorn on purpose to be ironic. hehehe
Love,
you know WHO-OO
Christmas Photos Below
P.S. I had a vague recollection that Lou Dobbs was mentioned in the myspace note, so I just skimmed it post publication and this is an edit to say he annoys me. . . so I am tagging this note as such. Also, there is a bit about abortion in there.
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Calla's Twenty-Sixth Post
I am not so good at being so very social. This may come as a surprise as I do not shut up if I am ever around you. Also, I am fairly friendly and will talk to anyone about small-talk one on one. But, I am not so very good at going to large groups for socializing purposes. Even one-on-one lots of people make me uncomfortable for various reasons–– either they are stupid, or they think I am stupid, or they don't understand silliness, or they don't understand seriousness, or they don't like kitties, or they don't respect my opinions about social issues, or they choose not to understand my opinions about social issues (this is a big one. Lots of people do this), or they use the word "gay" as a synonym for stupid (or something equally offensive like that), or they think I'm amoral, or I think they're immoral, or they are just this specific personality type that I can't describe in so many words suffice to say they are not content with any aspect of life but not because they are aware of all of the injustice in the world or anything like that, but because they are searching for some abstract notion of fulfilment instead of just getting fulfilled. So, see, I am not so good at being very social. I am good at being social with Tabby, which is why I live with him and am in love with him and what not. I am good at being social with Audrey and Christina because I've known them sense I was a kid. I am good at being social with Leo because he is a weirdo like me. I am good at being social with Chelsea because she is also a weirdo. I am good at being social with my homeless friend who wears a blue sweatshirt because I only ever have to talk to him for five minutes at a time and he's not one of those annoying types mentioned above–– however, notice I am not good enough at being social to know his name. I am good at being social with almost anyone with whom I had to work because if you're with someone enough hours of the day then they just see how you are anyway so there's really no point in not being good at being social. I am good at being social with my sister and her children because I love them the bestest. I am not so good at being social with one of my brothers and I am just ok at being social with the other one (the one who made the FUNNY PICTURE!!!! when he was in eighth grade.) I am dreadfully awful at being social with my mother because the only interest we share is kitty-meow-faces. Other than that we have nothing in common. With my father I am ok at being social like how I am with my one brother. With Tabby's parents I am pretty ok at it as long as I am not in a bad mood, because if I am in a bad mood, Tabby's dad will make my mood worse. This was a list for your reading pleasure. Probably there are other people with whom I am good at being social, but for some reason they are NOT ON THE LIST!? SORRY FRIENDS. Mostly I am ok one-on-one.
(She is saying "hello, will you play with me?"
And he is saying "no because I am an old man
it is scary when you chase me!")
So, anyway the other day I had a dejá vu. (Is that how you spell it?) I get them sometimes a lot, but never write them down, so now I am going to start writing them down. This one is from the class Theory and Practice of Nonprofit Management. We were discussing in small groups some questionable marketing situations. My group was talking about when Mattel offered to make a girl scout barbie doll. (Which is oh so wrong, on oh so many levels. Probably I needn't list them.) So then this is how the dejá vu went: Someone in my group asked a question about merit badges in girl scouts and that is when the dejá vu started, and then the rest of us didn't know about the badges and then someone else asked if when a girl got a merit badge if she would get a badge for her Barbie doll too, like a little tiny badge, and no one knew the answer and then the prof. said to come back together and that is how it ended, the professor broke it up. Do you know I love run-on sentences sometimes? Maybe I already said that before.
BYE!!!
Love,
Calla and her kitties
(She is saying "hello, will you play with me?"
And he is saying "no because I am an old man
it is scary when you chase me!")
So, anyway the other day I had a dejá vu. (Is that how you spell it?) I get them sometimes a lot, but never write them down, so now I am going to start writing them down. This one is from the class Theory and Practice of Nonprofit Management. We were discussing in small groups some questionable marketing situations. My group was talking about when Mattel offered to make a girl scout barbie doll. (Which is oh so wrong, on oh so many levels. Probably I needn't list them.) So then this is how the dejá vu went: Someone in my group asked a question about merit badges in girl scouts and that is when the dejá vu started, and then the rest of us didn't know about the badges and then someone else asked if when a girl got a merit badge if she would get a badge for her Barbie doll too, like a little tiny badge, and no one knew the answer and then the prof. said to come back together and that is how it ended, the professor broke it up. Do you know I love run-on sentences sometimes? Maybe I already said that before.
BYE!!!
Love,
Calla and her kitties
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Calla's Nineteenth Post
This is the first post I am writing since Obama became the President Elect. My sister cried a lot a lot out of joy. Mostly this is because my adorable nephew face (who is nine years old) is half-black with a single white mommy and he has been obsessed with race since he could talk. (Probably before he could talk, but he couldn't express this fact until he was two.) So, since the primaries he has been loving Barack Obama, and he cried when Obama gave his speech on MLK jr. day. So, my sister cried and such. WOO HOO Obama!
This was like the earliest they've called the election. Obama is overcompensating for the time he got yelled out for not wearing a flag pin by having like 8 million flags behind him for his acceptance speech. IIIINTERESTING.
Who is going to be in his cabinet? I hope he creates a department of peace and appoints Kucinich. HEHEHEHEHE. That would be super super cool. . . But I think Kucinich might be the only one nutty enough to suggest creating such a department.
Obama is about to give his speech. He has his cute babies with him! It speaks highly of him that his kids are cute. The little one looks good in black and I like that they had the balls to dress her in only black. . . Most little kids can't pull that off because black clothing looks like you're in mourning.
Ok, I'm gonna watch this.
Buh-Bye. Sorry no kitty pictures. I want to watch an historic moment.
This was like the earliest they've called the election. Obama is overcompensating for the time he got yelled out for not wearing a flag pin by having like 8 million flags behind him for his acceptance speech. IIIINTERESTING.
Who is going to be in his cabinet? I hope he creates a department of peace and appoints Kucinich. HEHEHEHEHE. That would be super super cool. . . But I think Kucinich might be the only one nutty enough to suggest creating such a department.
Obama is about to give his speech. He has his cute babies with him! It speaks highly of him that his kids are cute. The little one looks good in black and I like that they had the balls to dress her in only black. . . Most little kids can't pull that off because black clothing looks like you're in mourning.
Ok, I'm gonna watch this.
Buh-Bye. Sorry no kitty pictures. I want to watch an historic moment.
Friday, October 31, 2008
Calla's Sixteenth Post
So, tell me why at a gay club I get hit on twice and Leo only gets a semi-stalker? Tabby said "because if you're straight at a gay club, you have so few options but if you're gay you have a lot of options." OK, but tell me why a straight guy is at a gay club? Perhaps bi? And tell me why a guy, bi or straight thinks a girl who went to a gay club went there to meet someone? Now, that's just brain-deadness. And that is really all I have to say about that.
Since today it is Halloween, and yesterday it was about to be Halloween, some people were dressed up yesterday. At the club I saw two people in "Wildcats" shirts with the number 14 on the back and High School Musical 3 above the number. One of them was wearing a hat like Ryan always wears, so clearly he was supposed to be Ryan. The other one was wearing one of those headbands people wear when they sweat a lot. So, I'm hoping he was Chad and these people realized that Ryan and Chad are honestly gay together. (Don't tell me you didn't realize 'I don't dance' was gay innuendo.) (Chad is still in the closet because he hasn't overcome the stereotype that jocks must be heterosexual, despite the heartfelt song 'we're all in this together.')
(these are my wildcats)
I didn't see HSM 3 because it's in the movie theaters and I'm not going to pay to go see a Disney Movie, especially when I don't have any children with me. (Then there is embarrassment on 2 levels. It looks like you have no morals and you are a loser. . . and I am a loser, but I do have morals.) So yeah, I am a little sad that it was not on TV, but I think I will see it one day. Probably after it is on video and I am in Arizona Callista will have it and I will watch it. Leo saw it though. Now he has the songs on his iPod because he is a loser too. And that is why we are friends. Christin saw it too, and that is why we are sisters. (HAHA no it's not!! We are sisters because we have the same parents!) And also, she didn't see it 'cause she's a loser, she saw it cause she has children. YAY FOR CHILDREN.
So, what else? I don't know what else. I tripped yesterday because sometimes I like to wear these bright green boots that are supposed to be costume boots and aren't really meant for walking around all over town. . . but I do it anyway. So, there's no traction so I slipped and screamed and it was really a little funny because Celia was terrified that she was going to get cut because Halloween is supposedly Bloods initiation or whatever. (How many people are in this city? How many people get cut every Halloween? Your chances are so slim and also practically the same as any other day, but whatever.) So, we were walking in a crowded area (1st Ave. by 14th St., ya know near the L so it's crowded cause people are getting on and off the train.) and I tripped and screamed and Celia almost had a heart attack thinking someone was stupid enough to come up and cut me while I'm walking in a crowded area with two of my friends, one of whom happens to be a tall male. So yeah, I cut my knee but managed not to get a run in my leggings. Tell me how that's possible!? (Really, how is that possible?) And then this morning I have bruises on both my knees. This is what happens when you are uncoordinated, you legs always look like they belong to an eight year old.
UM, it is halloween! I did not have work today because Eliza is paranoid also and decided to send all the middle schoolers home right after school so they are not walking home in the dark. (It gets dark here early now and it is almost time to 'fall back.' Does that mean it will get dark even earlier? Let's think so, at 5 o'clock it will turn into 4 o'clock and it will still be as dark as it was at 5 o'clock. Yep, that means it will get dark even earlier. That is a little bit dumb, but daylights saving is a little bit dumb all the time. Since only 2% of this nation works in farming [and that includes the evil industry factory farms SO SO SAD] and we got mad electricity, probably we don't need daylights saving. Arizona doesn't do that.)
The End.
Love,
Meows and Me
Since today it is Halloween, and yesterday it was about to be Halloween, some people were dressed up yesterday. At the club I saw two people in "Wildcats" shirts with the number 14 on the back and High School Musical 3 above the number. One of them was wearing a hat like Ryan always wears, so clearly he was supposed to be Ryan. The other one was wearing one of those headbands people wear when they sweat a lot. So, I'm hoping he was Chad and these people realized that Ryan and Chad are honestly gay together. (Don't tell me you didn't realize 'I don't dance' was gay innuendo.) (Chad is still in the closet because he hasn't overcome the stereotype that jocks must be heterosexual, despite the heartfelt song 'we're all in this together.')
(these are my wildcats)
I didn't see HSM 3 because it's in the movie theaters and I'm not going to pay to go see a Disney Movie, especially when I don't have any children with me. (Then there is embarrassment on 2 levels. It looks like you have no morals and you are a loser. . . and I am a loser, but I do have morals.) So yeah, I am a little sad that it was not on TV, but I think I will see it one day. Probably after it is on video and I am in Arizona Callista will have it and I will watch it. Leo saw it though. Now he has the songs on his iPod because he is a loser too. And that is why we are friends. Christin saw it too, and that is why we are sisters. (HAHA no it's not!! We are sisters because we have the same parents!) And also, she didn't see it 'cause she's a loser, she saw it cause she has children. YAY FOR CHILDREN.
So, what else? I don't know what else. I tripped yesterday because sometimes I like to wear these bright green boots that are supposed to be costume boots and aren't really meant for walking around all over town. . . but I do it anyway. So, there's no traction so I slipped and screamed and it was really a little funny because Celia was terrified that she was going to get cut because Halloween is supposedly Bloods initiation or whatever. (How many people are in this city? How many people get cut every Halloween? Your chances are so slim and also practically the same as any other day, but whatever.) So, we were walking in a crowded area (1st Ave. by 14th St., ya know near the L so it's crowded cause people are getting on and off the train.) and I tripped and screamed and Celia almost had a heart attack thinking someone was stupid enough to come up and cut me while I'm walking in a crowded area with two of my friends, one of whom happens to be a tall male. So yeah, I cut my knee but managed not to get a run in my leggings. Tell me how that's possible!? (Really, how is that possible?) And then this morning I have bruises on both my knees. This is what happens when you are uncoordinated, you legs always look like they belong to an eight year old.
UM, it is halloween! I did not have work today because Eliza is paranoid also and decided to send all the middle schoolers home right after school so they are not walking home in the dark. (It gets dark here early now and it is almost time to 'fall back.' Does that mean it will get dark even earlier? Let's think so, at 5 o'clock it will turn into 4 o'clock and it will still be as dark as it was at 5 o'clock. Yep, that means it will get dark even earlier. That is a little bit dumb, but daylights saving is a little bit dumb all the time. Since only 2% of this nation works in farming [and that includes the evil industry factory farms SO SO SAD] and we got mad electricity, probably we don't need daylights saving. Arizona doesn't do that.)
The End.
Love,
Meows and Me
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Calla's Fourth Post
I have to do this post now so that I can do my homework. I only have school 3 days a week this semester, which is both good and horrible. It is good because I have 4 days a week without school. . . YAY! It is horrible because I don't do any work for school during those 4 days and then I have too much work to do on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. Wednesdays are the worst. I have three classes and work. I hate school. School is not my friend. This is technically my senior year, but I'm doing a BA/MA program. . . so really I am never allowed to leave ever.
My sister is following my blog! It is strange because her little icon is the same icon that this random girl at my school uses on the Facebook. Well, this random girl sent me a lil green patch request right before I went onto this blog, and so when I saw I had one follower I was extra-confused because I thought it was the same random girl. . . But then I clicked on it and it is MY SISTER!! YAY for sisters. I hope all of you have one because they are the greatest.
Moving on. . . for Halloween I am being Alison Vernon-Williams and Tabby is being Wade "Cry-Baby" Walker. The costumes are a bitch to find. I will put a picture up after Halloween after they are complete. Also, I don't really know how to spell Allison. (That is why I just chose to spell it two different ways.) My corset will not match my petticoat. :( No one will be able to tell who I am since I do not match. (HAHAHA. No one will be able to tell who I am ANYWAY!!)
Tabby likes to eat cupcakes. I made them and they are vegan and delicious. He says they are the best cupcakes ever. This is strange, because I think babycakes makes better ones. . . But for some horrendous reason, Tabby does not love love love babycakes. I love love love babycakes.
My kitty cat, Mama, is climbing in the space underneath the T.V. Her tail is sticking out. It's funny 'cause she can't figure out how to turn around. . . oh wait, she did, she did. She's so little it's funny.
Bye, Love Calla and kitty-meow-faces
P.S. SHE is the cutest little, as seen in the web address!!!
My sister is following my blog! It is strange because her little icon is the same icon that this random girl at my school uses on the Facebook. Well, this random girl sent me a lil green patch request right before I went onto this blog, and so when I saw I had one follower I was extra-confused because I thought it was the same random girl. . . But then I clicked on it and it is MY SISTER!! YAY for sisters. I hope all of you have one because they are the greatest.
Moving on. . . for Halloween I am being Alison Vernon-Williams and Tabby is being Wade "Cry-Baby" Walker. The costumes are a bitch to find. I will put a picture up after Halloween after they are complete. Also, I don't really know how to spell Allison. (That is why I just chose to spell it two different ways.) My corset will not match my petticoat. :( No one will be able to tell who I am since I do not match. (HAHAHA. No one will be able to tell who I am ANYWAY!!)
Tabby likes to eat cupcakes. I made them and they are vegan and delicious. He says they are the best cupcakes ever. This is strange, because I think babycakes makes better ones. . . But for some horrendous reason, Tabby does not love love love babycakes. I love love love babycakes.
My kitty cat, Mama, is climbing in the space underneath the T.V. Her tail is sticking out. It's funny 'cause she can't figure out how to turn around. . . oh wait, she did, she did. She's so little it's funny.
Bye, Love Calla and kitty-meow-faces
P.S. SHE is the cutest little, as seen in the web address!!!
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