Elenamary

Dear Hillary,

The only time my mother and I have ever discussed a potential political candidate, it was you.  My mom loves you.  She loves you for many of the same reasons the people who watch Opera love you.  She loves you because she sees you as a strong intelligent woman, who can lead a country and only her family together and forgive the infidelities of her husband.  I liked you because you inspired people like my mother to want to work on campaigns.  My mother has never worked on a campaign (unlike me) and she asked me to let her know when you were ready to run so that she could work on your campaign. 

This excited me and I imagined my mother and I working side by side on your campaign.Senator Clinton, we know you have wanted to be our president for awhile now and 2008 race is just around the corner.  Now, you have two people who have thrown their hats into the ring that I love.  I loved one of them years before I loved you, and one I have grown to love more than I love you.  They are Bill Richardson and Barack Obama.  Both Richardson and Obama with one white-USian parent and one-foreign born parent, both people of color, both with pretty-good politics (honestly often times better than yours) I identify with both a hell-of-a lot more than with you, but oh Hillary for you I would have joined forces with my mama, and worked on your campaign. 

Show me what you are made of Hillary, remind why I once loved you and why I should love you instead of Bill or Barack.

Love,

Elenamary

Olgita and I were at the thrift store and she asked me “You know how you can tell if something is expensive?”  I asked her how and she said well drawing the picture “When it has this sign” and she drew a dollar sign.

Her eyes were huge “You have upper level math”, I responded “I was an economics major, I needed the math” and I thought to myself, damn, that was back when I wanted to get a PhD in econ so I took more math than I needed.  ”You have a lot of upper level work in a lot of subjects” she declared while sitting straight up at the edge of her seat.  She, my new advisor, seemed excited scrolling through my transcript.  She stood up and asked me if I wouldn’t be so kind as to wait while she took my transcript to some other advisors “I’ve got to show someone what you’ve done.  I’ve never seen someone with so many credit hours”.  She left me as I sat there somewhat depressed wondering what those credit hours had gotton me.  I had a lot of almost complete minors, and a couple almost complete majors.   The only things that were complete were two bachelors one in economics-international studies and labor, the other in spanish linguistics, and a minor in latino/a studies (specialization queer feminist preforming artists).  What has any of this gotton me?

Not a helluva lot.  I need a beer.   Sometimes , I think maybe I should just teach and give up on this med school dream.  Sometimes I think I should run away to a beach, but how would I support myself.  I now know that I don’t want to get a PhD in eocnomis but I think that is the only thing I know.

I wasn’t that excited about Ted Strickland but he was a helluvalot better than Ken Blackwell.  But today, oh today is a differnt day.  Today I fell in love with ol Ted Strickland.  Today he told Ohio Republicans “BRING IT ON BITCHES”.  16 hours into his term, Ted Strickland vetoed a bill that had come to former Governor Taft’s desk.  Governor Taft had not signed it but was going to let it become law rather than veto it.

From The Columbus Dispatch 

The battle may come down to how you count to 10: During the 10 days after the legislature passes a bill, the governor can sign or veto a bill, or allow it to become law without his signature. At issue is when the period begins.

Taft said last week that he was allowing the bill to become law without his signature, which his office argues happened on Friday. But Strickland and his advisers say their interpretation is that the bill had not yet become law, so Strickland took the opportunity to veto it.  

I wish I could find a clip of Strickland speaking but he said something to the effect that he was sure that the Republicans would be taking him to court over it, and that he look forward to seeing them there.  If that isn’t a Bring It On Bitches! I don’t know what is.

Man, Strickland is off to a kickstart government.  Hell Yeah!

Journalism should be impartial. I can only assume it is difficult for any journalist to be impartial because of their own views. And of course, I bet editors have a hell-of a lot of influence by changing a word or two here and there. I came across this article published in both the Cincinnati Post and Kentucky Post and it really pissed me off. It was titled “Plea deals sought by caught illegals“. There are two words out of these six words that offend me…anyone want to guess?

Dictionary.com caught:

1. To capture or seize, especially after a chase.
2. To take by or as if by trapping or snaring.

The word caught reminds me of trapping a mouse. It is dehumanizing, and comes across as some kind of cat and mouse game. A chase, a hunt. I don’t want my people hunted.

The word “illegals” is even more offensive. People, humans, are not illegal. People commit illegal acts, but are not illegal. A nun who robs a bank, is not illegal, but she did commit a crime. Her act of robbing the bank was illegal, the nun isn’t “an illegal”.

The sentence, with the words “caught” and “illegal” is very dehumanizing. But I guess, it doesn’t matter since these “caught illegals” aren’t really human.

I need to purchase some kind of recording device to record the lectures I am attending (bio, physics, and chem).  I also would love to have an Ipod.  Is there any kind of excuse I can use to get an ipod as an educational tool?  I mean can you use Ipods to record lectures?  I would use the Ipod to listen to the lectures, but how to record them, I don’t know.  Plus if I purchase some kind of thingamabob how can I transfer the lectures to my Ipod.  Anyone know?

A quote from the article, Free Will: Now You Have It, Now You Don’t, published in the NY Times, yesterday;

Daniel C. Dennett, a philosopher and cognitive scientist at Tufts
University who has written extensively about free will, said that
“when we consider whether free will is an illusion or reality, we are
looking into an abyss. What seems to confront us is a plunge into
nihilism and despair.”

I think my words for 2007 are abyss, nihilism and despair.  Though at the reccomendation of my friend Josie I would like to add ennui, malaise, and poop.  With the reccomendation of my friend Pam, I add the word “eyeore“.  I wonder if Dr. Dennett would like to add any more?