Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah

[typical excuses for lack of postage]

Speaking of lack of postage, did you know it takes TWO stamps to send an absentee ballot? Discrimination against poor college kids, I say. I'm going through the effort of voting, the state should cover the postage.

About voting... I went with my 3rd choice candidate. Why? Because my first two dropped out before I even got to vote. Having already procured a Democrat ballot, my choice was narrowed down to Hillary and Obama, and I think it's pretty obvious which way that decision had to go. I feel like my rights were constrained; I might have rethought and voted Republican if I could have gotten a Republican ballot. At least I voted. Hurray for boosting the participation stats for my demographic.

Otherwise, life's swell. Classes are interesting (maybe I should have been a history major) and not to tough for once, social life is going well, and blockbuster online continues to deliver fabulous movies for me to watch. Seriously, nothing gives me a happy high like a really well made movie. Most recently, I have loved Amelie and The Waitress. Another good development: we went to a Superbowl party at the Knights' clubhouse, and dude, never in my collegiate career have there been so many steady couples in one room. I could lean against Joey without feeling like I was making the whole room feel awkward, and what a huge relief. Nice to find groups of people like that; having mostly single friends is peachy but makes me worry about being offensively non-single.

For the history buffs: War in European History is a fabulous and concise history of war, and War & Genocide: A Concise History of the Holocaust is delightfully controversial while explaining the Holocaust really, really well.

In other news, I'm looking at immersing myself in starting a Timmy Foundation chapter at Notre Dame. We would do advocacy, education, and fundraising year round for our partner org in the Dominican Republic and do an annual fall break service trip for 20 students with medical personnel. What I love is they've found a dependable, excellent, in need local organization that we can support and work through. We're not starting from scratch (like some campus initiatives) and we would be doing more than just talking about making things change. We would have a measurable impact over time and an ongoing relationship with our partner org. Furthermore, being tied to this group would give the chapter a sense of permanency- something hard to obtain in a college club with overworked and short-term leaders and members. Basically, I think this is the best thing to happen to ND since the CSC was founded, and I want to be a part of it.

Yup. That's pretty much it. Off to a Poverty Studies guest lecture by a South Bend dentist. The title of his powerpoint? Boom Times for Dentists, But Not for Teeth! So witty.