Yeah Irish...

Good job guys, way to go out well, even if you did nearly break the neck of their quarterback. I've tried all day, without any luck, to find a video online of Zibby's interception/almost touchdown. That was the most freaking amazing play all season- he ran nearly the whole field, lateralling it back and forth and generally being ostentatiously amazing. I will miss him sooo much. Trevor Laws was awesome too, sticking with it even after getting hurt. I don't want to know how much pain he was in, because it takes a lot to stop him, and the trainers ran out twice. What a guy. And Clausen looked pretty good too- it's awesome how he's learning. He's gonna rock next year. Anyway, here are my guys... I'm so glad they had a chance to end their last years this way.
Also, I totally agree with this guy. In addition to the best play ever, this game also featured the worse call ever. Those refs owe us another touchdown. In no playback, from whatever angle, did it even remotely look like that wasn't a touchdown. I'm glad it didn't matter in the end. but sucks for David Grimes. I would have given it to you, buddy.

EDIT- my mom is awesome. Tada, the best play ever:
http://sports.espn.go.com/broadband/video/videopage?&brand=null&videoId=3126109&n8pe6c=2

Lazy bum

I have discovered that when left to myself... I pretty much turn into a bum. Without classes to get up for, I sleep in. With spare time, I watch TV online. I don't even leave my room or get dressed. It's pretty much a crazy way to live. Fortunately, reality doesn't suspend itself for long, and soon routines and deadlines will be making themselves known. For now, I'm content to remember what it's like to set your own rules. Kinda fun. I feel like a small child home for the summer. Except, you know, for the snow. Yeah.

I also, you know, wrote quite the research paper on the anti-abortion movement (as I so politically correctly called it in my paper). Dude, they should so put me in charge of National Right to Life. I would win the country over in a heartbeat. Basically, I argued that if pro-life groups a) joined together and b) shifted most of their funding towards addressing poverty, one of the root causes of abortion, then everyone would figure out that abortion isn't necessary after all. Justice, not abortion, frees women. BAM. I just saved lots of babies.

It's ok to dream, right?

In the lane, snow is glistening/ A beautiful sight, we're happy tonight, walking in a winter wonderland

South Bend had a lovely white Thanksgiving, its first snow of the year. We should have four inches or so by tomorrow. Spending my first Thanksgiving away from home wasn't as lonely as I thought it would be, mostly because I spent the day fussing over a research paper that's 40% of my grade. Plus, I'll see my family next weekend when I trek down to Birmingham for my cousin's wedding reception. All is well. The poor-little-girl-we-miss-you phone calls from my family and extended family made me feel quite loved.

Back to paper writing. It never ends. I had forgotten how pretty the bare trees look, all edged in snow.

Political musings

I've decided that of the lunatics running for president, I would be the least unhappy if Kucinich or Gravel won. I like Kucinich best. Of course, someone that liberal is necessarily deeply pro-choice, which is regrettable, but I've come to the conclusion that for this election, at least, foreign policy, health care and environmental concerns need more immediate attention than Roe. Roe isn't being overturned any time soon; the only success the prolife movement can achieve right now is incremental legislation within the states. No matter how many prolife judges are appointed to the Supreme Court, public opinion is just not behind an abortion ban. Hearts and minds need to be won over first; even if we got a SC decision against abortion, as things are right now, the prochoicers would fight against it just as hard as we've been fighting Roe, and the battle would not be won. Time and persuasion- that's the ticket.

Anyway, Kucinich sounds like he knows what he's talking about. Plus, his slogan is "Strength through Peace." Pretty gutsy. Of course, he has no chance next to Hillary (or Obama or Edwards), so it's kind of a stupid idea to vote for him. Poor guy.

Update- Maybe not on the prochoice thing. According to this article:
"During his first three terms in Congress, Kucinich compiled a consistently pro-life voting record, earning a 95-percent rating from the National Right to Life Committee in 2000. "He absolutely believes in the sanctity of life and that life begins at conception," Kucinich's spokeswoman explained last year."
The prochoice business seems to be a recent development. I'm willing to be hopeful.

Footwear, you disgust me.

Foot fashion sunk to a new low today. My professor wore Heelys to class. For those who have fortunately not encountered them:Heelys (n.): obnoxious shoes with wheels built into the heels so that one can roll around in inline-skate fashion

I didn't even know they MADE adult-sized heelys; I had only seen them on little ones. He wore them primarily because his daughter bought them for him for his birthday, which I can appreciate. I bought my father black, red and gold striped (or were they blue and white checked?) suspenders in Germany, and I have yet to see the man put them to good use. Bad gift choice. But seriously: Heelys? Ew. Not only are they obnoxious and annoying, but apparently dangerous to your health. He complained that his left knee was quite bruised from falling repeatedly when trying to walk; the wheel on the heel often causes your foot to slip out from under you when you aren't rolling, just trying to walk. The pains dads go through for their daughters.

Also on my fashion don't list:
I already despised crocs in general, but fleece-lined crocs?! Are you serious?? I don't care how comfortable they theoretically are (and let me just say that after trying on pairs more than once to see what the big deal is, I'm not impressed), they're ugly.Finally, the bane of my existence: stilettos, 3 inch heels and up. I tried to wear cute strappy silver stilettos once, and let me just say, never again. The human foot is not designed to put so much weight on a pencil-sized point! It's just not feasible! The problem is that some women have trained themselves to endure the pain of walking on tippy-toes for an hour or more, and now all women feel compelled to follow. Fellow women (and cross-dressing men): Do not be so misled! Stilettos lead to heartbreak and broken ankles. End of story.

Also exciting

I'm a fan of quizzes today. This one is on political orientation.

WOO! I'm a communist anarchist! Not really; I'm just more anarchist than authoritarian and more communist than neoliberal.
The famous people closest to me on their graph are Nelson Mandela, Gandhi, and the Dalai Lama. Not bad company, that.
No wonder Bush and I don't get along. We're sort of in opposite locations, huh?

Question: is it possible to be in the 4th quadrant, both anarchist and neoliberal? Doesn't being neoliberal require government regulation of some sort? I feel like I should know this, given the fact that I'm a polisci major.

Exciting

I'm an INFJ (Introverted Intuitive Feeling Judging). According to wikipedia, this type is only 2% of the population. I feel special.
Yay for wasting time when I should be Getting Things Done.

Explain.

Someone explain this org to me: laptop.org

They distribute laptops to kids in third world countries. They say that their mission is "to provide children around the world with new opportunities to explore, experiment and express themselves." I've seen for commercials for their org multiple times on primetime TV, with a star from Heroes calling for donations, and their website is obviously expensive. This group is apparently quite rich, or at least they put a huge emphasis on media.

I just have one question: why, WHY should we focus on getting kids laptops when things like medical care and financial security are so much more important? Are we giving laptops to children while their mothers' HIV or TB goes untreated? While their family subsists on a minimum of food? Because in many places in the world, even if laptops aren't going to those places, these are the conditions. Laptops and education are important. But laptops are not necessary for education, and not necessary to live. I would be willing to bet that many of these kids will never leave their country of origin and will go into agriculture when they're older. Wouldn't money be put to better use assuring that they will receive fair prices for their products?

I don't understand.