Commencement post mortem May 29, 2008 ~ 1:14 pm
Posted by Julie in : Uncategorized , comments closedCommencement is over, bitches! That sound you hear right now? It’s angelic choirs rejoicing that my pain is over for another year. Tonight I go out to celebrate with my boy, and tomorrow I take the day off and do some of the grant writing crap I’ve put on hold for the last month. And read scripts, because I allowed myself to be volunteered for the playwriting award nomination committee at the theater. Oh, and knit, because Samang turns 1 year old next Sunday and I have to finish a sweater for her birthday party. Which, crap, means I have to go out shopping this week for a present for her. And since my mother is coming up the weekend after next, I need to get her birthday gift, too, since I won’t see her on her birthday. Wow, in one paragraph my life went from hallelujah back into the realm of stress…that’s amazing.
In the meantime, while it is still quiet in my office, I leave you with this thought: only at Some College would the graduates do the Wave in the middle of Chuck Schumer’s speech. I guess I should just be thankful that they mainly text messaged their way through the ceremony, shouldn’t I?
Gotta be astronomical May 19, 2008 ~ 2:19 pm
Posted by Julie in : Uncategorized , comments closedWhat are the fucking odds that Sloth and I would be in the exact same place on the exact same day, most likely within 500 feet of each other, and yet not see each other? That’s what I thought. And yet, it happened. We both were at commencement in the exact same place yesterday (for different people, of course) and only found that out today.
Dammit.
Attention, Asshat (And Kevin James) May 16, 2008 ~ 11:38 am
Posted by Julie in : Uncategorized , comments closedDear President Asshat~
I know that you and the English language are not on the best of terms. Hell, you’re not even on speaking terms a lot of days, and yes, that pun was intended. So, to help you out, I thought I would let you in on something. Appeasement? To quote a great movie, “You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.”
Appeasement, from your point of view, is talking to the “enemy.” Actually, no, that’s called being a reasonable human being. You talk to someone before you go to war with them because there’s a chance that you might not have to go to war. I know, this is a difficult concept for you, both the talking and the not going in with guns blazing. You think it’s a sign of weakness, and probably if you’re the one talking it is, since you have the verbal and intellectual capabilities of a seven year old. On a good day. Negotiation, it is scary for you because you know someone is going to hear your attempts at speech and realize that the college diploma on your wall is the product of Daddy Bush’s dollars, not any particular work on your part. But hey, cheer up! They know that already! The whole world knows it!
But to get back to my original point, the Wikipedia (and we all know I loves me some Wikipedia) defines “appeasement” as “literally: calming, reconciling, acquiring peace by way of concessions or gifts (the verb ‘to pay’ also goes back to the Latin ‘pax’ = peace). Most commonly, appeasement is used for the policy of accepting the imposed conditions of an aggressor in lieu of armed resistance, usually at the sacrifice of principles. Usually it means giving in to demands of an aggressor in order to avoid war.”
Nowhere in that is talking to the enemy mentioned, and generally with a definition? If it’s not mentioned? That’s not the correct definition of the word. Just sayin’. But I did notice something in that definition (actually, my boyfriend also noticed it, and I figured if two of us noticed it, maybe I should bring it to your attention, too): it sounds a hell of a lot like what’s been going on between the rest of the world and you. You said “Let’s go to war with Iraq!” and the world said “Okay.” “Now Afghanistan!” you declared, and the rest of the world said “Eh, don’t really want to do that, but maybe that will satisfy him.” and we went. Sure, it’s not quite like when Neville Chamberlain gave Czechoslovakia to Hitler, but it’s pretty damned close. “Let’s give him some land in the Middle East and some token support, and maybe he’ll stop being a wingnut.” The Twenty-first Century version of appeasement with you, Asshat, it’s not turning out a hell of a lot better than the Twentieth Century version did with Hitler.
Winston Churchill said “An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile hoping it will eat him last.” That doesn’t sound like what Barack Obama is hoping to do by talking to countries we don’t agree with. But it sounds a hell of a lot like what the rest of the world has done with you, Asshat.
Counting down the days until your sorry excuse for a presidency is over (8 months, 6 days, and 20 hours),
Evil Julie
PS: If you want to see Chris Matthews chew out Kevin James for using the word “appeasement” with no more clue about what it means than you have, Asshat, click here.
Spring cleaning May 14, 2008 ~ 11:09 am
Posted by Julie in : Uncategorized , comments closedI have many things that I want to be doing right now, and just not enough time. For instance, I want to take a photography class. I have a great camera, and I get good shots, but I think a lot of that is due to sheer luck. Couldn’t replicate that shit if I tried because I just don’t know how. I need to really understand how my camera works to be able to get the most out of it.
I also want to tweak the blog. I’m not happy with the way it looks, especially with my Ravelry progress bars. I could make the whole thing nicer if I knew where to start, but I’m way back on 1998 HTML knowledge, and the internets has moved beyond me. I need to figure out what freakin’ system I should learn to do the tweakage (is it CSS that I should be learning? or XML? or what?), buy a couple of books, and learn. Just like I did back in 1998 when I had an actual website. Of course, back in 1998 I also had a day job in the middle of nowhere and didn’t have any friends or family around to talk to. I lived on the computer because of that.
I need a spring cleaning of the website. And I need a spring cleaning of the mind. Get rid of all the stressful stuff, look into things that will get my mind back into good shape. It’s that time of year, after all.
It’s like a jail term, the way I’m counting down. May 13, 2008 ~ 9:56 am
Posted by Julie in : Uncategorized , comments closedIf I were the type to engage in pre-teen acronyms? My life this time of year would be summed up by OMGWTFBBQ!!! . But I’m not, so we will just say that I am up to my ass in alligators right now. I liken commencement season to childbearing: if we remembered how much of a bitch it was last time, we’d never do it again. Especially since I don’t get a cute little kid out of the deal, I just get more work.
On the menu for today: an off campus meeting to review student petitions for exceptions to the rules, trying to get audits done, a student calling me about a degree she is sure she got about 15 years ago that I have no records of, and my favorite, the first day of ticket distribution under the new computerized ticket system.
15 more days and it’s all over. That’s what I have to keep telling myself to get through this. 15 more days.
Weekend project complete May 10, 2008 ~ 10:31 pm
Posted by Julie in : Uncategorized , comments closed
The helix (outer cartilage) piercing is old. The rook (cartilage piercing right over my earhole, closest to my face) was done at about 7 PM tonight. Yes, it hurts. But not as much as the helix did. Amazing, how getting it done by a trained professional hurts less than going to Piercing Pagoda at the mall and getting it done with a gun.
Re-enry is hard May 6, 2008 ~ 9:02 pm
Posted by Julie in : Uncategorized , comments closedWork is chaos, my boss has a kidney stone and probably won’t be in for another day or so, and the new commencement ticket distribution program on the computer is causing all sorts of headaches. Let’s just say it was very hard to come back from a wonderful four-day weekend with Jordana and Samang. So I’ll share a look back with you guys to get us all through the next few days:
