Response to a Misinformed Man
In my last post, I received a comment that I had to blog a response to. Here it is:
Hello Gary Bridge/G. Armstrong,
First of all, it’s Ms. J. to you, not Miss. Thanks. Out of curiosity, what exactly do you assume I’m “trying real hard to do,” here? This is my personal blog. As far as I can tell, all I’m doing is writing my opinion about whatever topic I feel like—from politics to family issues, to what I’m cooking for dinner. That’s not exactly trying to make a worldwide statement and call for a revolution, mind you, but since you seem to believe my blog is important enough to critic on a greater level, I’ll meet you half way and answer your challenge.
So, Gary (or is it just “G?”), I don’t know who you think you are (and by that I mean: are you Gary Bridge of Cisco, or G. Armstrong of… I couldn’t begin to guess), but I don’t get the feeling that you are anyone qualified enough to “educate” Anne Korin, but for humor’s sake, I’ll just pretend that you are a person of some rank in the Ag world. But being somewhat of a headstrong woman, you’ll have to forgive me if I seem to lack respect for your high position. Now then, shall we begin?
First of all, you claim that growing any agri-crop for flex-fuel ethanol is “outdated.” Where do you get your information from, G.? And what is this miracle replacement liquid fuel that will replace it? Specifically what is this “something far more efficient, profitable and biodegraeable?” By the way, you spelled biodegradable wrong. Spell Check is our friend.
Let’s look at your statement from a timeline perspective. You are making the statement that agri-crop converted ethanol is outdated, yet there is nothing to replace it YET. You claim there is a greater cost-effective, bio-degradable liquid fuel in the works, but by definition: “in the works” does not equal “available now.” Thus, agri-crop converted ethanol flex-fuels can’t possibly be outdated. I don’t believe in sitting around and waiting for the next great miracle fuel to be available to everyone. The current (or as you say, “outdated”) flex-fuel technology we have can help out now. Not tomorrow, not a few years down the road—but today. Even yesterday. So why are we not jumping on this strategy like white on rice to rip the power of oil out of the Middle East’s and OAPEC’s greedy little hands? Oh, right. Because you want to wait for something better, that could take years to develop fully. I say “years,” because you’ve not given me a solid example of a replacement liquid fuel, and I gotta tell ya G., America can not push forward in the way we have been without liquid fuels. So humor me. Let me know of this great liquid fuel replacement that is biodegradable and more cost effective. And just so you know, you have to put money into something to get money out—so the miracle you are waiting for, could be a fantasy.
I don’t even know HOW to comment on how your miracle replacement fuel is going to be scarily “decentralized in ownership.” For one, that statement doesn’t make sense to me, and I’m betting to my other readers—I mean, doesn’t a replacement fuel have to exist before it can be “owned,” and coincidentally decentralized in ownership? For two, decentralized ownership of anything in today’s day in age might not be such a bad thing. This is America after all—governed for the people, by the people is just like saying, “decentralizing the ownership of the country,” is it not?
Your second paragraph, I’ll just post it here for your own luxury: “What would you think if ethanol plus other alcohols were produced for 15¢ per gallon from tires, or sewer sludge, or garbage or even coal or CO2 greenhouse gas? And I’m speaking of NOT growing any agri-product for low value carbon content and using diesel tractors, petrochemical-derived fertilizers and copious amounts of fresh water for just ONE annual harvest. Farmers will need to re-concentrate on growing food not fuel crops. Perhaps you have not understood the food vs: fuel issues surrounding corn ethanol and soy grown for biodiesel, etc. ???”
Okay, let me get this straight, are you telling me that other alcohols can be made from things such as coal—because honey, if you watched the videos I posted, you would know that I already know these things, but chose to focus on agri-crop for liquid fuels, mostly because I live in a rural area that grows a lot of corn, so it holds a special interest for me. But since you bring up coal among other things, let me lay this out for you: you are suggesting that you need more fossil energy to produce the energy we’d get out of coal, for example. That’s not a rational argument. Wrong even. First of all, it’s a law of nature—you have to put more energy in than you can get out, whether is converting coal to electricity, a barrel of oil to gasoline, or corncob or sugarcane to ethanol—it’s all basically the same law of nature. You must put energy in to get energy out. Simple. There’s energy inherent in the matter, and energy of conversion—we all learned this pretty early on in science. So arguing the difference in energy expenditure and energy profit is ridiculous. By the way, we get 1.3 times the amount of energy from ethanol than we put in to make it. That’s a profit, if you are not quite sure of the math.
But personally, and I agree with Ms. Korin, none of that should matter, if the overall goal is to take the power of oil away from the enemy and make it so that Americans are not paying for both sides of the war—i.e. paying for oil that funds radical Islam’s attempt to wipe out America. Right? So why even argue that ethanol is a bad idea when all it does is give Americans alternative choices to oil? I’m not saying it’s the only way—au contraire. I’m saying it’s a one way—it’s technology that’s available today, and it should not be ignored or passed off as “outdated,” while people wait around for a miracle that will take time to save us. One of the beautiful things about being human is being resourceful. If we have technology to use, no matter how outdated, we need to use it. Watch MacGyver… he does amazing things with simple “outdated” technology. And by the way, nobody cares about the energy balance for gasoline or electricity—what people care about is the cost. What people care about is if the usable unit of energy is economic.
Now, I believe that the second part of your concern in that paragraph is asking me what I think about sacrificing food crops for fuel crops? Well, let me tackle the food vs. fuel issue, since you obviously do not understand crop ratios grown in the US. You’re trying to ask a question that has been asked too many times to people who don’t do the research. That question is: if we start using our crops for fuel instead of for food, are we causing more poverty and hunger around the world. I understand the concern, but it’s just not going to happen that way, and here’s why:
People are flat out lying about the conversion of corn into ethanol is going to create hunger or starvation around the world. That’s almost a joke. Except I’m not laughing at those lies, and here’s why. OAPEC has been campaigning that very idea into the public, in order to stir up unreasonable fears. It’s an oil interest that is trying to derail its possible competition. Feeding into it is only damaging our situation more. The president of OAPEC himself said that “the 40% rise in oil prices is due to the intrusion of ethanol into the global market.” What does that tell you? It tells you that he doesn’t like his competition. Stupid.
Just think: Net US corn food and feed product, AFTER removing the corn converted to ethanol, has increased 23% on the year. And after you convert corn to ethanol, you have a leftover product called distiller’s grain—which is concentrated protein for animal feed. Maybe you didn’t realize this, but most of the produced corn in the US is used to feed animals, not humans. Besides the corn products that are used to feed us humans is horrible for us. Corn syrup is a horrible substitute for sugar that is converted into fat immediately and is probably the reason why America struggles with obesity. And another bit of info you should remember: we’ve artificially kept the price of corn low through agricultural subsidies, and the price of sugar high (the US sugar price is twice that of the world sugar price…) There are all kinds of artificial price controls out there that are a problem, and they need to be rethought out. None of that would be possible in a truly free market. And the food companies that are complaining the most about a rise in corn product are processed candies that are complaining because the corn used for making corn syrup is higher now that people are using it to convert to ethanol. And do American’s need anymore candy bars? Too bad for Russell Stover’s. That’s the market. They shouldn’t have had to go through the subsidies in the first place—and paid a real market price for their ingredients. But I digress. This is all neither here nor there when it comes to using corn for ethanol, so let’s move on.
The real question is, does this affect global hunger in some way? No. End of story. Net US food exports have increased, so the argument falls flat right there. And it has increased over the last five years. I don’t know why people are so nervous about corn to ethanol starving the world. It’s ridiculous. Truly ridiculous. And remember, there is a lot of land in our country that farmers are paid not to farm. So if the price of crop goes up, the farmers are allowed to use the reserve land to produce more. It’s quite simple. There is really no reduction in world food exports that is due to any corn to ethanol production. Have I made myself clear?
Let’s jump back a bit to the question of poverty. The opposite of poverty and hunger will come about from converting Agri-crops to fuel. There are around one hundred some countries around the world with a suitable climate for growing sugarcane. Sugarcane is by far the best crop to convert into ethanol, by the way. Okay, and many of these countries are poor and on the receiving end of US aid and support. So what does this tell us? We should encourage them to grow sugarcane, (which is way better than manufacturing tennis shoes or answering telephones.) The people in these countries began as subsistent farmers. They don’t want to work at Nike or Dell. They are better qualified to farm a crop that will benefit both our countries. Most people in these countries only have one good tool to lift them out of poverty—and that is industrial agriculture. They could sell their agri-crop into the global market and give options to everyone, thus stripping power away from OAPEC, as I mentioned earlier and in my initial blog on the topic.
Ms. Korin also mentioned that the US would have to lift tariffs and trade barriers to make this possible, but in doing so we could only better the economy from that point, so there’s no reason not too. And on that note, it’s true that in doing so, this idea might not look so great for the middle class. But you know what, this is a miracle for the poorest of the poor all over the world—because suddenly, the agri-crop they are selling has a higher value. Everyone would benefit if poverty were to gradually disappear. There’s no denying that.
I hope that I’ve stood up to your outlandish rebuttal against using ethanol. Again and as I said, it’s not the only option we could use, but a damned good one. Trying to convince people not to use the technology that is available and wait around for some other miracle is a waste of time and a poor decision on anyone’s part. But thanks for your opinion.
Who’s a terrorist? Gag me, Palin.
Well blow me. The Republicans have their panties all in knotty wedgies again. Okay, forgive me, dear readers, but this blog is going to be another bitching, informal spout off about how irritated I get from the McCain/Palin ticket. Alright, so yesterday Palin started foaming at the mouth about Obama’s relationship with Billy Ayers, the 1960’s extremist who in the early 1970’s attacked the pentagon and capitol with a group of underground militant hippies. FYI, Obama was 8 years old at the time of the attacks, so lumping him into terrorism for being an acquaintance with the guy some 35+ years later just ties my testicles in a knot. Here’s a direct quote from Palin on about the “friendship:”
“This is not a man who sees America as you see it, and how I see America. […] We see America as the greatest force for good in this world. If we can be that beacon of light and hope for others who seek freedom and democracy and can live in a country that would allow intolerance in the equal rights that again our military men and women fight for and die for all of us. […] Our opponent though, is someone who sees America, it seems, as being so imperfect that he’s palling around with terrorists who would target their own country.”
The New York Times article that I got yesterday’s quote from also stated immediately after that information, “The article to which she referred, in The New York Times on Saturday, traced Mr. Obama’s sporadic interactions with Bill Ayers, a founder of the Weathermen who later became an education professor in Chicago and worked on education projects there with Mr. Obama, the Democratic nominee for president.” Right, so they were practically neighbors and co-workers. They probably called each other “friends” as many people do with acquaintances they see on a daily basis.
Hell, I have a “friend” that I grew up with who (once was an innocent child but) is now a cocaine addict drunk who is so promiscuous that she started having sex with this random guy who came over to her house party a few years ago while I stepped outside to answer a phone call. She and her momentary beau didn’t bother to quit or finish up in a bedroom when I came back into her living room, but decided their drunken passion wouldn’t be bothered by my presence. I’d never do what this girl does, and I don’t approve of it, but it’s not my business to tell her what or what not to do, and I guarantee I’ll not end up in a similar situation again… so does that make me a drunk, promiscuous coke addict by association? No. So does living in the same city and working at the same place as Billy Ayers make Obama a fncking terrorist? Well sure it does! Not.
People should not be judged by the company they keep; it’s not fair. Everyone has a friend or two that they just don’t agree with, but still have heart enough to be kind and friendly toward them. Hell, Joe Biden is friends with McCain. I don’t judge him for it. Obama’s wife creeps me out, but I don’t judge him for it. I question what he sees in her, but I do not fault him for it. There’s more to a person than the people they talk to or party with. Lots more. It even goes as far as family. I have family members I disagree with and some I don’t even like (none of them are in my immediate family), but I’ll still sit down to a Christmas dinner with them. You gonna fault me for that? I do it to keep the whole family at peace, not because I agree with them. I just can’t understand what drives people judge others based on who they drink with or who they talk to or who they sent chain emails too. If I were the people I hang out with, I should be under house arrest, in rehab, therapy, and six feet under. But I’m not. I’m Jenai, an individual who doesn’t judge people the way fncking Palin does. I judge people on what they do and say for themselves. I judge Palin for her own fnckups, not the fnckups of her friends and family. But I guarantee if Palin were to judge me, she’d tell people I’m a bad person because of who I went to a pool hall with three years ago. She really REALLY pisses me off. And anyone who shares her opinions and stupidity breaks my heart.
But let me play devil’s advocate for a moment, just to make a point. Let’s say that I’m okay with Palin attacking Obama for the company he keeps. Let’s say that her argument is legit… she thought she’d be all smooth referencing a NY Times article that suggested a friendship between the Obama and Ayers, but guess what! Palin failed to mention the article very pointedly explained “the two men do not appear to have been close. Nor has Mr. Obama ever expressed sympathy for the radical views and actions of Mr. Ayers, whom he has called ’somebody who engaged in detestable acts 40 years ago, when I was 8.’” Jezuz, the two had not spoken over the phone or by e-mail since Obama came to the U.S. Senate three years ago. What’s her damn problem?
My References:
New York Times A
New York Times B
CNN
Oh, and who is Palin calling a terrorist anyway? I could give several reasons how Palin is more of a terrorist than Obama. She terrorizes the crap out of me… oh by the way, there are many Alaskans who don’t like her either. Check this out:
Random side note: This is serious. We should call all Republican-Hippy cross breeds “Sarah Palins.”
Natural Talent vs. Experience (Translation: Obama vs. What Palin ain’t got.)
So my pursuit of understanding Palin as an entity continues; well, I mean my horror continues, really. For my last Palin blog post, I received 3 (actually there were 4, but one comment was kind of broken in 2) comments from people who were not fans of my opinions of Palin. Actually they brought up things that had nothing to do with my blog on a whole, but whatever. I approved the comments, because I see no reason not too, but just make things easier, I’ll quote those comments here.
Comment #1; Arthur Pavis Says: Jenaicklefritz, I read almost your entire blog, but I had to stop. Here is a way that you can help our economy and also our country. Go out and buy a new car. Maybe an environmentally friendly type and drive it over a steep cliff you numb skull!
My thoughts on Pavis: First, “numbskull” is one word. Second, since this is a free country, he had every right to say that—even if it was infantile and pointless. You see this is the type of country I fear we live in today. Education teaches so little and our country is all about being the first to say something that most Americans come off as brazen simpletons. As I see it, the freedom of speech has become the freedom to speak without thinking, make an ass of oneself, and demonstrate one’s own pitiful personality and low I.Q. It’s a shame really. Perhaps if our country had a greater sense of pride in the future of our country and of ourselves, the overall American population would be less crass and have a firmer handle on rhetoric and debate; these are qualities I feel we need as a people to better ourselves and our nation. Plus, it would make is look better to other countries if we’re not slobbering over ourselves whenever we disagree with someone or something. Anyway, I also realize that this Pavis individual is probably only thirteen and hormonal, and not as stupid as he came off. Perhaps Pavis has democratic parents whom he’s rebelling against. I mean hey—it makes sense, right?
Comments #2 and #3; NANCY Says: The [D]emocrarts under Clinton are the guilty ones starting with Freddie Mac. Clinton put his buddies in there[] they took bad loans and cooked the books, and left with millions in their pockets. Of course it is easier to just point the finger to Bush. Pelosi and Reid would never have a proper investigation. Democrats protect their criminals. Rangel, Jefferson (refrigerator money) and the list goes on, even the [C]lintons(did we ever get the Whitehouse furnishings back?). Obama has NO experience he has a puppet-master. I wonder who is really running for President on the Dem side?? It sure isn’t Obama. … with [B]iden’s big mouth and [O]bama’s lack of info and needing a prompter…the debates will be a gas!!
My thoughts on NANCY: Well, it is easy to point a finger at Bush for the Nation’s fiscal slump, but I didn’t do that in this blog. I’m not sure I’ve done that in any of my blogs yet. I should do a little research and try it sometime. And, who cares about the White House furnishings? Really? What does she mean “did *we* ever get [them] back?” I never owned any White House furnishings to begin with, so I wish NANCY would please not flip out on a tangent that has nothing to do with the state of our nation. Honestly, would she ask her neighbors if they ever got their stolen TV set back for her? Whatever, moving on… I know the Clintons were not the most pristine people in the White House. But I’m not voting for him or her or any of their former “buddies” as NANCY called them. I’m voting for someone else—someone I can believe in to make things better after all the recent hullabaloo. And about Biden’s big mouth, sure he’s said some stupid things… for example: “Earlier in the week, in Columbia, Missouri, Biden urged a paraplegic state official to stand up to be recognized. “Chuck, stand up, let the people see you,” Biden shouted to State Senator Chuck Graham, before realizing, to his horror, that Graham uses a wheelchair. “Oh, God love ya,” Biden said. “What am I talking about?””
However, that’s not exactly the same as Palin’s verbal blunders—such as her entire interview with ABC’S Charlie Gibson. No, most of Biden’s errors on the job have been foolish little slip-ups, not flat out ignorance. He has the same stupid moments as everyone else. But he knows his government and his country. Can Palin say that honestly? No, she can see Russia from her house.
And accusing Obama of having a lack of info and needing a prompter is “a gas,” NANCY, because Sarah Palin couldn’t survive without a prompter. Which brings me to my next point. So many people are accusing Obama of not having enough experience to be a good leader. But is that even a valid argument; what about past bad leaders who’ve had experience and past good leaders who’ve had none? There are leaders of all kinds in this world who do good or ill—and so far I’ve not seen a trend between the quality of leadership and the amount of “experience” that leader has had. To me, leadership is a skill. A person is either good at it or is not. Some get it through practice, others through natural talent. Obama has natural talent—he is a leader already, whether the Republicans want to acknowledge that or not. But Sarah Palin… let’s just say that politicians shouldn’t have to cram for the big test. Obama knows what he’s doing. Palin doesn’t. Obama may not have experience, but neither does Palin. Accusing him of the same thing she is guilty for is hypocritical. The difference between Republicans accusing Obama of inexperience and Democrats accusing Palin of the same thing is that the Democrats know that leadership is a skill and Palin doesn’t have it. That’s where Obama will succeed and Palin with fail.
Comment #4; Rob says: Could it be that the years you described as “fabulous economically from 1991 to 2000″ were truly not…they were laying foundations on sand…
My thoughts on Rob: You make a very good point. There is much speculation about the Clinton administration and his cronies in regard to Fannie May, Freddie Mac, etc. But even if that entire eight or so years was as you say, “laying a foundation of sand, there is still no doubt that those years were good economically. I believe that the fiscal problem America is experiencing right now is a combination of things. I won’t deny that the Clintons may have made some shady moves, but that is not the only thing that through our country into financial turmoil. There have been many MANY mistakes since that sealed the deal. Tyring to blame everything on Clinton is like trying to make ice in the microwave.
I’d like to thank NANCY and Rob for their contributions to my blog today. I’m always interested in reading opposing views. It’s great for reinforcing my own opinions. It was a valiant effort on both their parts, but I believe that my fear and loathing of Sarah Palin is still enough for me to vote Democratic this time around. But thanks. And I’d also like to thank good ‘ol Arthur Pavis for reminding me how childish the American people come across. I had a great laugh, and I hope that he does well in high school government. I also want to recommend that Pavis join a debate team. They could teach him a thing or two about rhetoric, polemics/argument, and how to avoid appearing utterly obtuse—just a suggestion.
I wish like-minded people would comment to my anti-Palin blogs once in a while. Not because I feel bombarded with opposition, but I would like to be reminded that there are other people out there who realize that Palin could likely send women’s rights back 200 years. I want to see the community of people out there who have hope. If anyone out there is as afraid of Palin as I am and would like to read the words of a woman far greater than I on the atrocity that is the Republican VP nominee, please check out this article: Eve Ensler on Sarah Palin. It is amazing and only better states what I’ve been trying to say on my blog for weeks. Thanks for reading.
Never lose hope. Vote for change. Let’s bury Palin’s views with her Jesus horses.
Economic Reform:You’re doing it wrong. (I’m talking to you, Palin)
I’ve been reading a lot about Wall Street in the news recently. Frankly, it’s had me a little worried, though I do not fully understand big business firms and banking as well as I should like. Anyway, I decided that the issues will be resolved by the experts, so I won’t fret about it too much. But then today in Golden, Colorado, Sarah Palin made a speech, which used the demise of Lehman and the buying of Merrill by Bank of America to solidify the Republican plans for economic reforms—which I find to be useless in the overall scheme of the American-Global Economy.
Sarah Palin stated in her speech this morning, “[M]anagement on Wall Street has not run [the banks] responsibly, and has put companies and markets at risk. They place their own interests first instead of their employees and the shareholders who actually own these companies. So John McCain and I—we’re going to put an end to the mismanagement and abuses in Washington and on Wall Street that have resulted in this financial crisis. … It’s so important that the United States gotta remain the strongest financial market in the world. It must be the market that the American people and investors everywhere can trust. … [Wall Street reform] is gonna be one of the highest priorities of our administration.”
Okay, well, it maybe true that there have been errors, mistakes, and wrongdoings in management of a few banks this last week, but let’s get one thing straight: The Democratic Party has always had a far greater grasp on the concept of economy than the Republicans. Sarah Palin’s vow that she and Johnny are going to reform Wall Street and fix our domestic market and improve the global economy is laughable and a little more frightening than the current decline in Wall Street this very moment. Do they even have the experience or knowhow in this area? Let’s look at what really has been happening to the American market, shall we?
The way I see it, the US was doing fabulous economically from 1991 to 2000. If memory serves me correctly, that was nearly the entire terms of President Clinton, who served America from 1993 to 2001. During this time, the US prospered with the longest economic growth in its history. But as soon as the Republicans (George W. Bush) took the White House in 2001 and the US suffered terrorist attacks on Sept. 11th of that year, the economy went into a recession and only became worse over time. It’s true that the US economy began to recuperate in 2002 thanks to increased productivity and household spending, but the tight labor markets, the drag in household markets and the astronomical mortgage problems cannot be ignored as being key in the falling economy today. Overall consumption is affected by the housing and mortgage slump, and without household spending, general US cash flow begins to look like a heart stopped up with grossly high cholesterol. Basically, all the money is stockpiling with the rich, while the middle class vanishes and the lower impoverished class grows at alarming rates. This means US consumption in general is weakening exponentially and a solution could be difficult to find if not employ.
So what does this all mean? It means that bank management is a mere micro-fraction of the problem. It doesn’t even amount to the tip of the iceberg—it’s practically an eyesore on the economy, if that. What we need is economic reform, not simple management reform on Wall Street. The problem is not so high up. We need to start from the bottom, and work our way up. That’s what Obama has been saying for weeks.
In addition to everything else, rising oil and commodity prices can increase the risk of inflation more than we are already experiencing. I’m guessing that most people feel the crunch everyday when they fuel up to drive to the job that might not exist for them tomorrow, or try to buy the groceries for the week’s dinners for a family of four. True, the Federal Reserve is holding back on well-anchored inflation expectations, thanks to the many different scenarios predicting the next great depression and crumbled economy, though I’m not sure if that makes me feel fiscally protected or not. We shouldn’t only prepare for the worst; we should constantly be working for the better. No more economic stagnation! Let’s move for real change and positive reform.
While recent fiscal performance is anything but favorable over the last eight years, the key challenge may still yet to have been recognized, so our politicians really shouldn’t be pussyfooting around with Lehman, Merrill and A.I.G. True, those firms have made an excellent example for the McCain/Palin points of view, but they still pale in comparison to the overall crisis our country is facing. Reforming unsustainable entitlement programs could be the answer for a little while, but how does that help the millions of people who make up the lower class? Sure, without the reforms Palin talked about the federal spending on Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid will increase sharply over coming years, and threaten the long-run of fiscal maintainability, but without a solid middle class, those beneficial programs wouldn’t be accessible to anyone other than the wealthy anyway.
Again, I’m not “technically” a Democrat, because I refuse to blindly follow a political party, but I believe that what Obama is looking at when it comes to our economy is far better than anything McCain and Palin have suggested to fix our nation’s problems. Start from the bottom up. Don’t rely on the trickle-down effect to solve anything. The time is now, we cannot stagnate—and that is exactly how the McCain administration will try to run things. They will fix a small problem at the top, and hope that the trickle-down affect will do the work for him. Well that’s not good enough! We can do better. YES WE CAN.
Oh, and one more thing… I just felt the need to point out that Sarah Palin seriously does not know how to make a real speech. She always makes her addresses in public scream “hockey mom on a soap box” more than political candidate, if you ask me. Point in case: in her speech I just discussed today, she said:
“So glad to be with you here in Jefferson County [Golden, Colorado]—which is the beautiful gateway to the Rocky Mountains—it’s gorgeous here! Kind of selfish here, also; it’s great to be in the state that Denver Bronco Chris Cooper and the Avalanche’s Scott Parker [incomprehensible mumbling]. Both Chris and Scott are from Alaska and they got a lot of fans up there. And, you know, Scott was part of the Avalanche team that brought home the Stanley Cup. Another son of Alaska, Mark Schlereth—he helped the Broncos win the Super Bowl in ’98 and ’99! See we got that connection. And Alaskans—we like winning! And with Colorado’s help, we’re going to keep that streak going, it’s why we’re here—with your help, we’re going to elect John McCain the next President of the United States of America.”
Let’s break this down a little—translate it—if you will.
“I’m glad to be in a state almost as beautiful as my own. It’s gorgeous here! I’m selfish, I know. And it’s also very gratifying to me that some of your top athletes are actually Alaskans in Coloradan disguises. You know, Scott Parker, Chris Cooper, and Mark Schlereth are not really fighting for your state, they’re fighting for mine. And you know what, it’s okay, because we don’t have professional teams in Alaska. We just whore them out to the lower 48’s teams. That’s the only reason your Coloradan teams won at all—because of Alaskan talent. You know, that’s also why I’m running for Vice President, because John’s team wouldn’t stand a chance without a real winner. He’d lose the game and bring shame to the Republican team. But the Republicans know what winning is about, and that’s why they drafted me—an Alaskan—someone who knows about winning and will bring McCain all the way to victory. And that’s how we’ll win the war in Iraq, too! I sent my son over there just four days ago. My son is also an Alaskan, and he will crush the Iraqi team and bring the American team to victory just like his mom will for the Republics and how Scott, Chris, and Mark did for their respective Coloradan teams. We don’t just play they game—we own it—breath it—win it—always. Vote McCain!”
Yes, that woman has been hanging out with too many cheerleaders and listened to too many half-time speeches in the locker rooms. The Presidency is not a sporting event, although every time I listen to her talk, I wonder where the popcorn venders are… No, Sarah Palin is turning the election into the Stanley Cup or the Super Bowl. This is not what politics is about. The war is not played on short clipped grass or ice with distinctive goal lines. Hell, we don’t even know who is playing for whose team in War! Whatever she’s trying to accomplish with the whole “team captain” routine is pretty much lost on me. But, hey, maybe I’m just not as sports-minded as I thought I was. Why don’t you be the judge of her speech? You can view it RIGHT HERE.
Amended ex post facto:
Gawd it felt good to get all that out of my system. I’ve been wanting to be more humerus in my writing and blogging recently, but all I seem capable of doing lately is criticise Palin and the McCain ticket for their obvious shortcomings in the race for the Presidency. It’s just so easy! Anyway I hope you enjoyed today’s read and found this post to make up for my last two cop-outs. Cheers and good luck, Americans.
P.S.
Have I every mentioned on here that if McCain dyed his hair green and wore purple face paint, his head would look like an eggplant? Just thought I’d throw that observation out there. (Hey, at least his head would match what I predict his presidency to be if he makes it in to office– vegetative.)
I can’t think of a catchy blog post title.
Pre-Blog Note: Usually I try to edit the crap out of these posts until there is not a single mistake to be found (by my standards, which are on again off again strict) but this time I’m too tired. So if something doesn’t make sense, pretend it does. It’s how I get by.
So this isn’t an excuse for being negligent with my blog, and it’s not me attempting to gain any kind of forgiveness (though it would not be turned away, if you so choose to forgive me.) I also will accept donations.
No, what I have here is an honest to goodness (what is “goodness” anyway? It sounds like a Brian blog title…) update on what normally would be a daily updated web log thingy. I really don’t have anything interesting, or even remotely funny to write about. Just a lot of lame shit that piled up and coincidentally prevented me from visiting this part of the internet to do what it is that usually helps me in my daily procrastination ritual. I’m not saying that I’ve not procrastinated most of this summer, au contraire. Life doesn’t go on without me putting off what keeps the world turning. No, I just have been procrastinating in ways that do not involve blogging. (This is where my readers do that faux gasp in terror, as if the apocalypse has come, as prophesized by the goddess’s stories of neglected technology journaling.) Sorry, it’s been so long since I’ve blogged that I am allowing myself to be carried away in my BS whilst simultaneously not making the point I set out to publish here.
{There was a pause here for contemplation on my part. I really need to find a more clever way to let the reader know when I do that, without putting in a really stupid explanation of an actionless action. Paradox anyone?}
Alright, moving on. You might say that my number one reason for not blogging lately was that I was very busy pretending to prepare for my best friends’ wedding. I was a bridesmaid, which gave me the delusion that I would have many duties to fulfill. This of course is utter phooey (that’s the word of the day), as my soul and undeniably singular tasks (like the contradiction here?) were to show up in time for wedding photos, walk not run down the isle in line with my clones, and of course, set the mood for the bride, who had all the real important jobs… like looking fantastic, being adored by a churchfull of sappy-eyed friends and family, and making sure that her big day was not a total chaotic flop. I would have helped her with some of that, but I was much too busy believing I had important tasks to do.
Importance is my middle name. Or it would be if it wasn’t {ugly word edit}. Which reminds me, I still have to finish that name change paperwork… My middle name is supposed to be Sapphire. Right, and anyway, I mentioned that I was very concerned with my duties as a bridesmaid. So for the previous weeks leading up to my two best buddies from college finally tying the knot, I simply meditated and spent way too much money on bridal shower and wedding gifts that I had to buy for them, because I just knew no one else would. They couldn’t live without those items, trust me. I had to save their lives. (Some of the gifts I made sure to get them were: a garter for the bride, which is kind of like a gift for the groom too, an engraved gold-plated tag and wine colored cat collar with rhinestones for the bride’s new pet cat, and the all too important kitchen appliance: the rice cooker.)
So as you can see, prior to the wedding, I simply could not write in my web log, for I was mentally preparing myself for the very important task of being wedding furniture and friendly wallet. On a quick side note, I was more than happy to be matrimonial décor for my friends and wanted nothing more than to dote on them both with many gifts. And because I’m skipping the country again soon, I had to leave a good chunk of myself with them so they won’t forget me. Now every time they eat a bowl of rice they’ll think, “wow we’re poor. Can’t we eat better?”
Okay, so that really has nothing to do with remembering me, but I can pretend. I guess what I’m trying to say over all in this paragraph is that I hope no one takes my furniture comment as a complaint. I’m sure some angry-sounding sarcasm is dripping from the words, but I was hoping my words would be interpreted as joyful reminiscing on my part, rather than heinous bitching. It’s hard to be funny. I’m always afraid I come off more whiny than cheeky. Not that I want to be cheeky, but it’s far better than the overused sarcasm in today’s comedic cesspool. I’m trying to bring back the silly in humor. Angry just doesn’t do it for me anymore. It’s so high school.
In other news, I also shaved my pussy. And so far, this announcement has coaxed many a deep blush from men of all ages and maturity levels. However, I mean quite literally I shaved Farfie, my pet cat. Since I have a pretty nasty handicap (pet dander), I’ve not been able to pet my small kitty in almost a year. So when I finally forked out the cash to have the poor dear stripped of her pelt, I have had less time to type away online, because I had to pet the pussy. Just one more reason for my negligence here on Word Press. And for those of you who are curious, Farfie is sitting in my lap as I type this, wondering why the hell I’m not petting her. She has that, “you can touch me now, wtf” look in her eye that clearly lets me know I’m in trouble for petting the computer rather than her. Let’s hear it for jealous pussies. And I just now reread this paragraph and realized how double entendre this could be. I’ll let you be the judge of how you interpret it… (yay! ellipsis!)
{Here’s another awkward pause by yours truly.}
Let’s see, I’ve also been spending a great deal of time playing lawyer-threat tennis with my landlord. It feels like every time we have a disagreement (which is almost every time we speak) one of us threatens to sick our lawyer on the other one. The whole situation is actually hilarious to me. Not because I think our fights are petty (I know they are) but because I’m pretty sure neither of us actually has a lawyer on call/ on a payroll to defend our cases against the other.
However, I have no doubt in my mind that legal representation would not be hard to acquire if either my landlord and I finally decide to cut the idle threats and go for the gizzard. We wont though. My roommate and I are moving out this month. We’ll be out of the place before the landlord grows a backbone and decides to part with the money he doesn’t have to pay a guy to fail at making his case. So all is right with the world. But since we’re on the topic of my epic cold war with a shitty lessor, I might also point out how difficult it is to update blogs while waging evil-eye staring contests with a middle-aged (failing) entrepreneur who has too much property to handle and is too cheap to hire real agents.
Oh, and since we’re still on the topic of my neglected blog, I also would like to admit right here and now that my negligent streak is far from over. I am having a major garage sale this coming weekend, and will be studying my TEFL certification course and my last EWU course during my spare time while I’m preparing, pricing, and organizing the 95% of crap I need to rid myself of before I can move overseas. That means—you guessed it—I will probably not write anything worth reading for yet another week out of this summer. And two weeks after that, I’m going to Twin Falls, ID to visit relatives for another five to seven days. I’m not sure if they have electricity there, so I’m going to assume there’s no internet and warn you not to expect a blog post then, either.
So that’s all I have really to say about what’s been going on as of late. Again, this wasn’t an excuse or anything. It’s all just random crap to blog about, since gawd only knows why else I’ve not posted lately. Jeezus, you’d think I’d have developed a life or something. Or got a boyfriend or something. I know my lack of men is totally not contributing to my lack of blogging… hell, I can’t believe I’ve suffered from lack of men for this lon—wait, correction, I’m not “suffering” from that—anyway, I mean it’s still hard to believe how little masculine “presence” I’ve had this summer. Hopefully the adults in the room will understand what I mean, because I hate to be vulgar on accident, and I’m really not in the mood to be blunt-to-a-fault at the moment. I’m starting to wonder if the male influence in my daily life inspires to me write more, because (according to my calendar) there is a definite correlation between the amount of blogging I do to the amount of male contact I have. I should make a line graph to demonstrate the phenomenon. But I won’t. It would probably have a subliminal message between the blue and red lines that convince all who see it to forget to breath. It happens sometimes.
Random observation: I used a shit ton of hyphens in this blog. Whoopi.
Tattoos, WASP, & the state of Native America
Hello, and once again, long time no see. First I want to get an apology for my absence out of the way by saying, “You know, I’m damn glad that this is officially my last quarter in college so I never have to worry about taking another four week course again. They are too freaking time-consuming, and I don’t like them.” Okay, so that wasn’t really an apology, that was an excuse, but let’s get real here. I rarely apologize for what’s out of my hands.
Seriously, though, this last three weeks has been hell. (Note: I didn’t even sign up for the four week course until a week in, which made me 25% behind the rest of my class.) I’ve busted my butt, and the only time I had to write a blog… well, I decided to get a tattoo instead. It was my seventh tattoo, and of course, most people don’t even know I have any. They’re all hidden in very strategic locations.
Actually, there’s a story about the locations of my tattoos. A buddy of mine (back in Montana) told me I am brave for tattooing low on my hips. She thinks their locations are in a compromising area, I guess. Anyway, my response to her was this, “Well, I wouldn’t call it brave, actually. You see, the reason my tattoos are where they are is to hide them from the scrutiny of the male-dominated white Anglo Saxon Protestant society that shuns things like body art, masturbation, and minorities. So in a way, the placement of my tats are more due to my being a pussy rather than being anyone brave.” And that’s the truth.
Oh, and speaking of persecution and the WASP society… my Indian Studies night class was a touch tense this evening. There are five of us total, and the instructor actually graduated with me this year, so the class on a whole seems almost like a group-study, rather than a class, but I’m getting away from my story. Let me explain what went down tonight.
First, we watched a very mind-opening film about the persecution of indigenous American tribes and the raping of their religions. (Rape is my word to describe it, not the film’s. I just want to make sure no one thought the film was overtly pretentious; in fact, the film was diplomatically presented and very insightful.) Anyway, basically, what we learned was that the religious freedom that America boasts about is available to everyone except the Natives. This film was two hours of non-stop examples of how religious freedom does not exist for American Indians.
The kicker for me was that the Pope in Italy decided that the Apache’s worship grounds on Mount Graham in Arizona were not really holy grounds, and that the site was no more a religious and ceremonial location for the Natives than a common ant hill, and therefore the Catholic church would be justified in building a telescope (The Vatican Observatory) to study the heavens there, thus taking away a very important landmark from the Apache.
After the film, the five of us and our teacher discussed how when dealing with other religions, we must always remember to keep an open mind. I have to agree, because obviously the Pope didn’t have an open enough mind to recognize a legitimate religion and give it the respect it deserves. Before this film, I thought the Pope was generally respected for his acknowledgement of other religions, but now all I can see is how he completely passed off the Apache’s faith, mostly on the grounds that they had no tangible proof of religious practice. But how could they? Many indigenous tribes’ religions are oral based traditions. They do not put the same emphasis on tangible proof and material goods, like the idol-shunning Catholics do. (Does anyone else see the irony here?)
Anyway, again, I’m getting off topic. So the instructor (who is half Native and half Catholic), the atheist student at the back of the class, me (who is a spiritual person), and the Christian girl to my right held the floor for most of the conversation while the two other classmates kept their heads down and tried to become invisible. The instructor, who was raised Catholic and Chippewa, brought up how important it was for him to remember that Christian and Catholic does not equal bad people, when considering his Native background. He said it was still difficult for him to be comfortable with the idea of the Christians and their treatment of the Natives, especially after discussing the Vatican Observatory. I can’t blame him for his biases, because the Vatican Observatory is just shitty and not fair.
I had to agree with him openly, and mentioned that I have many Christian friends who are by no means bad people, and often find myself trying to beat back my own biases whenever they remind me of the Christianity—mostly because of all the negative stigma the word carries. And then both the teacher and I agreed that a select few Christians have given our Christian friends a bad name through their racism and close-minded behavior, acting in the name of the religion. The atheist in the back of the class agreed and said that there are just some extremists out there who are too busy telling everyone else how wrong they are in their beliefs.
But then the Christian gal to my right started interrupting with a stress elevated voice. She said something along the lines of “it seems to me that this conversation is taking a very negative view of Christianity, and it’s no better than what is being done to the American Indians. There are problems on both sides here, and I think this conversation is starting to boast of how horrible Christians are, when we’re not! There are many of us who would never do anything that horrible ever. I don’t think it’s right to talk about how bad Christians are, as if they’re all bad!”
I asked her, “Who said Christianity was bad in here?” No one had said that once, and we were trying to say that bad extremists who happened to be Christian were causing negative reputations for the rest of their faith.
She tried to answer my rhetorical questions with, “Well…” And that was all she could answer with. I smiled that she even got the “well” out. We were not insulting her faith. She should never have gotten defensive… but then again, she did because she heard what she wanted to hear, not what was actually said. It didn’t end there, though.
Next, the teacher asked the quiet girl in the corner what she thought about the issue, and she said, “This is a very difficult situation, and people will always say how much better their religion is—”
The Christian girl cut in, “I wasn’t saying Christianity was better—”
Atheist guy cut in, “She wasn’t saying it was you let her finish—”
Quiet girl in the corner agreed, “I didn’t mean you at all!”
By this point I had totally shut up for these reasons:
I hate when people play the victim card when they start misinterpreting a conversation to be insulting or critical of their personal choices in life. The Christian girl was trying to act as if she was the only one who ever had to live in a world of religious scrutiny and contempt, when all of us in the room has had to deal with it at one point. Her reaction was so angry in response to our conversation that was attempting to reach a high point on the very idea that Christians are getting a bad rep due to the hierarchy that is acting as spokesmen for the greater majority of their faith.
We were actually saying how the world would be a better place if the non-Christians would remember that what we see on TV is not a proper representation of the Christian faith on a whole, and to try and break our anti-Christian biases. But the Christian girl in our class was not going to listen carefully, for she was much too busy martyring herself on the classroom alter. She was so busy making a scene that she couldn’t realize that we were not criticizing her religion, but were trying to remove negative stigma from Christianity and resting it solely on higher powered people who just happen to be Christian and just happen to mar the perceptions of their religion. But oh well. It’s not like we were giving credit to her faith for her sake.
Hell, most of my family is Christian. I don’t think they are bad people, but their religious beliefs are definitely misrepresented by some very nasty people who hog the media limelight. When I say that Christians get a bad rep, it’s for their sakes, mostly. And I was kind of insulted that my attempt to participate in a conversation aimed at taking the heat of Christianity ended with a Christian insisting that our conversation was unfair and totally criticizing of the religion. I had that, “Gee, see if I stand up for your faith again” feeling. If it weren’t for my own Christian loved ones, I’d not give a damn about the issue.
I kind of feel like there are too many “good” Christians that are a little too quick to cry persecution sometimes. I mean, my class was discussing the very serious and current persecution of the Native Americans. In this country, Christians hold the most power, so this girl’s attempt to cry persecution after that video seemed really disrespectful. Christians might have been persecuted at one time or in other places, but in America today, they are the privileged.
I wanted to tell her to “shut up, we’ve all felt like you do at one point, but this is not the time or place for sudden soap boxes; and I’d appreciate it if you wouldn’t insinuate that the rest of us are dogging on your beliefs. No one is shitting in your church, so stop misunderstanding us. If you don’t want to discuss the Natives’ persecution and the state and situation of Christians as a result of it, then leave.”
I know there are many good Christians out there… but even some of the good ones, like certain members of my family (or even my annoying classmate), do things that really irritate me and make it harder for me to kill my own personal biases against them. It’s not that I hate most Christians, but I do feel uncomfortable around them when they start talking about religion, whereas talking about religion with non-Christians is always a relaxing, insightful, and a delightful joy. But never with Christians. It’s stressful, irritating, painful, and ultimately leaves me feeling less educated and unfulfilled.
If anyone can explain to me why that is, I’d be thrilled. Thanks.
Anyway, that’s all I have today.
A toast: here’s to taking a shit.
Disclaimer. I know I have to delude myself into thinking that a perfect destination exists and that the likelihood of it is slim; I also know I must live life in a fairyland in order to maintain this delusion, but as it turns out, I’d rather talk crazy than hear it. So without further ado, I give you—my madness.
**********
Have you ever heard that phrase “happiness is a journey, not a destination” before? Well, what if the proverbial “they” were wrong? What if happiness really is a destination, and life is no better than a death trip? What if sorrow is merely the scenic route and false sense of security is an office job?
Lately I often wonder if I’ve been living my life all wrong. I had been subscribing to the idea that my happiness is a journey and therefore kept myself in constant motion to maintain some form of joy. I feel like this whole desire to travel while I’m young might just be just another form of self deception, and my “joy” is nothing more than a false sense of security. I’m stuck in dive-town Cheney, WA (in the summer, no less) and unable to get to my next great adventure because of basic restraints than everyday people experience ever day, and it’s making me miserable. My life is currently dull and heavy. It’s this down time in between my motion that gets me thinking: my life does not fit into the category of happiness when I’m miserable, and right now, I’m miserable!
So what should I do? If happiness is a journey, it is impossible for me to be happy while stagnant. But what if happiness is a destination? That would make all my misery and sorrow while stuck here give me hope and ambition that someday my life will change for the better! If I’m always reaching for that dream life—that higher destination, then my misery would be a second thought and not a present issue.
What if all those proverbs about enjoying every moment, when obviously it’s impossible, were just a load of shit? I mean it’s impossible to literally enjoy every moment. For example, constipation is not a pleasant thing, and naturally each of us will experience it at some point. Death and taxes too. It’s impossible to enjoy a difficult shit, death, taxes, and stupidity, and yet we all have to deal with these elements of life on a daily basis. (And if you don’t deal with shit on a daily basis, I recommend Phillips. It’s just not healthy to go without a good shit.)
Which brings me to my next point. Shit happens and is natural. The very idea that one can enjoy every single moment is just crazy. Besides, some people find it very good to pass a dirty log, the way some people feel fine after letting a big one rip. So wouldn’t it be more realistic to say that relief often comes after the shit is passed? And if that were the case, than relief (a form of joy) needs the shit to begin with in order to have something to compare to. Yes, that is just another way of saying we need the balance of evil in order to appreciate the good; I just put it into toilet humor for my male audience (and some of my female readers, too, who have toilet brains like any other man out there.)
So now you are probably wondering what my point is. And when you figure it out, please tell me. But in the mean time, consider this: why try to make every moment a happy one when you can enjoy the exhilaration of pursuit and dance after that eternal happiness lost in a distant destination? Happiness most certainly can be a destination. If it were not, then I wish not to go any further on this journey called life, and would much rather settle down, start a family, and see if my children would have more success at having one than I have.
But I still do have some semblance of a life, and therefore can’t stop my journey now. [And I sigh.]
So I think life is not a moment-by-moment happiness. And people who tell you otherwise are constipated and haven’t even tried to pass the shit their full of. So grit your teeth, clench your fits, put your feet on the side of the tub and give a world-class push. Get rid of what’s weighing you down. It will be painful, but no one who’s been through it before promised it would be easy. Take a dump of everything that makes you miserable while you can still take the pain, and heave heavy relief when it’s over. You’ll feel so light you’ll be walking on air, which would make travel much easier. Take that first step out the door and head off on a journey to your great destination. Remember: always think of your beautiful end, so that you never realize how miserable the now can be. And I will do the same
Reintroductions & Who I’ve Become
Lately I’ve talked with people on Facebook who I’ve not spoken with since my initial escape from Montana; friends like Justine, Andrew, Beth and Audrey, just to name a few. It’s not like I was running from these old friends, it’s more like I was running away from a Jenai I never really liked back in high school. I knew I was unhappy and felt that leaving the state was my only way to find peace with myself. But in doing so, I left many friends who (at that time) I felt I was undeserving of their friendship. After all, I subscribed to the philosophy: If I can’t love me, than what reason would anyone else have, other than pity? Sad theory of life, I know, but maybe I’ve grown? I hope I have.
recently started dialogues with after these last fi Anyway, this blog post is for those who knew me before college, and who would like to get to know me again. I’m not the same person I used to be; I can only imagine what fine people all of you have become since we’ve parted ways. No one remains a child forever, so I hope to reacquaint myself with all of you whom I’veve years. I must confess, three out of my five closest friends from high school I have pointedly ignored. I’m not gonna lie, there were a couple people I wanted distance from. Graduating from Skyview made me realize how stupid my uneasy friendships were. I felt that the only reason some of us were friends was more out of obligation, and so people like Dawn, Lexie, and Christine seemed like a liability to me. I wanted to leave town fast, and to try and maintain a vanity friendship seemed like more trouble than it was worth, so I cut ties with three of my seemingly “closest friends” from Skyview.
The only two friends I felt were worth the effort to keep in contact were the only two out of the six of us whom I felt were genuine in their friendship with me. They are Cara and Julia, formerly of the [Sir Name Censored] clan, but now sport shiny new married names. But they still seem to be the same courageous women I was friends with when we were kids. I still talk with them the most out of everyone I left behind. I just wanted it to be known that among everyone I met back in high school, I could trust those two with even my faults, whereas I had to hide them from the other three girls. They never respected me as a person with flaws, so I felt justified when I fell out of touch with them. And I’ve never regretted it.
Anyway, it’s been five years, so what have I been up to? I lived in Japan for one of those five years. I’ve made friends with people from all over the world at the international university I attended whilst there, some of whom I miss so terribly that I’m planning my future around seeing them again.
First there’s Sabina [Sir Name Censored], Bosnian beauty from Sweden, and my first friend in Osaka. The first words out of her mouth when she saw me were to insult my sense of fashion. She asked me, “What are you trying to be? Japanese?” I looked right back at her and said, “I could say the same for you, but at least I have taste.” I think we’ve been friends from that moment on. Or maybe it was the fact that we were both smokers and could smell it on each other, but I’d like to think we had a moment of mutual understanding—that our personalities would work very well together. Sabina had a Turkish sidekick, too. Her name is Pinar. She turned out to be someone neither Sabina nor I really knew, so I won’t go any further about her. Though I will say that Pinar is very despicable in my opinion, but that is neither here nor there. And I wish to talk about the other people who have made a huge impact on creating the Jenai I’ve become today.
Next there’s the amazing Peter [Sir Name Censored], American Hot Shot. If I hadn’t censored his name, you might think it was a stage name; but no, he is really just that cool to have one of those “famous sounded names.” He also makes Tom Cruise look like Lyle Lovett. I’m not sure what it was about Pete’s personality, but his confidence in himself and his dismissal of people (whose opinions of him were worth less than a single grain of rice) impressed me. Not because of his bad boy charm, dashing good looks, or quick wit… but because through all of his outward egotism, there was a man that knew a little about how to handle life when the shit hits the fan. I felt like he had a cockroach’s survival skill. Nothing could bring him down, and I wanted to emulate that trait. I wanted to appear like I too had a mind of steal and the confidence to hold my head high… although I’m not as good looking, there’s no reason why I shouldn’t be able to hold the same confidence.
Then there was Nathaniel and Gina, also Americans. From them I learned how to just be likeable for who I am. I’m not sure how they taught me that, or what specifically about them made me think, “hey! I can be a likeable person, too!” It seems almost kumbaya hippy stuff, but what I learned from them was slightly enigmatic and spiritual. I was drawn to their personalities, and wanted to be their friends even though I had little in common with them, other than maybe music and a love of the ladies. I miss them a lot.
Let’s travel to Egypt now. Zeina and Hana. They were two of my roommates during my time in the dormitory. Although I did not stay in the dorms for long, I made a very important friendship with both of these brilliant and compassionate women. I want to tell them my plans for Egypt, and will mention part of them here in this note. After I finish teaching English in Taiwan (more on that below), I plan to look into English language schools in Egypt. I know that I will never have the time or money to see the world while I’m still young, so I am looking into traveling under the pretense of finding work. I think I’ll just make a career out of traveling to teach English around the world. It may be the only way I’ll get to see my lovely former roommates again. Who knows?
My other roommates in the flat were Mika (Japan), Erin (America), Marlen (Dominican Republic/America), Rachel (America), and Sabina [a different Sabina] (Sweden). They also became very dear to my heart. I hope we can all meet again someday. Perhaps in Japan, if we can synchronize our futures and be on the same continent at the same time.
become, and the I’ve graduated now. I have a BA in BS, or more appropriately, a Bachelor of Fine Arts in English with a focus in Creative Writing. But instead of writing the next great American novel, I’ll do what most aspiring writers do… get a real job and most likely starve. As I mentioned earlier, I’m moving to Taiwan to teach English. I want to do it long enough to pay off my school loans, and perhaps learn a little Chinese. Before I do that, however, I’m writing a rather large article for a magazine right now. There’s no rules against posting a draft on Facebook, so I decided to come forward with some things that only a handful of people know about me, in order to share it with my Facebook friends. The article I’m writing also gives a great deal of insight into what happened in Japan that I kept a secret for about a year. It explains a lot about the Jenai I’ve become and a look at the Jenai I hope to grow into.
My next Note on Facebook will be the rough draft of my article, titled “Unmotherhood.” Since Facebook has privacy settings, I am comfortable sharing it with those who have asked me what I’ve been up to lately… and if they don’t want all the scary details, they are warned not to read on. Anyway, when my article is fully finished, I intend to have it published in a magazine or somewhere it would be appreciated. After my Facebook Note “Unmotherhood” I will try to write a few more notes that detail other adventures and life-changing experiences I’ve been through in college. Perhaps I’ll share them here in my blog as well. I hope that in posting my intimate stories, I can reintroduce myself to the friends in Montana that I never truly opened up to when I had the chance: when I was a child. I wish to step out from the shadows and perhaps strengthen old acquaintances and rekindle friendships with those who had shown me kindness in the past.
My name is Jenai. Pleased to meet you… again.
Americans are like snowflakes…
…Two might be the same, but for the most part, the odds of finding identical ones are like point-some-ridiculous-number percent.
Now, for the record, this is only a lame request to people who’d actually said (out-loud and in public) negative comments about Americans without thinking about what their words really meant and how untrue those comments were. Okay, now that I’ve said that…
I know it’s difficult to “hear” a person’s voice when reading the words online, but I would like everyone who reads this blog to imagine my voice the way it is intended to be heard (as if I should say this to my audiences’ faces.) Please read this post in a calm, caring, mother-like voice, that asks you to hear me out, and even possibly consider what I’m saying.
When I was attending an International University, I’d met people from many different countries. I’ve made friends in all corners of the world (pretend Earth has corners, please.) Anyway, I’m an American, but that has not stopped me from going out on the weekends and drinking with, for example: a Peruvian, Iraqi, Japanese, and European. Not once had this kind of mix of nationalities ever made me feel uncomfortable in their company.
But sometimes on campus, I would still hear MANY comments about how foul and ill-willed Americans are… and to quote some of that negative opinion, I have heard these phrases: “overly dramatic,” “too patriotic,” “loud,” “obnoxious” and even “stupid.” To those people (some of whom were American, themselves,) I would like to just ask you (please) not to generalize every American under those stereotypes.
For some people, being American does not mean being super patriotic or any other extremist stereotypes that so many people unfortunately see. For many of my American friends, being American means being born into a family and location (both of which we have no control over,) and feel grateful that we live in a country where family can become your friend and friend can become your family. Most of us cherish that we have the freedom to create our lives the way we want them to be. I’m not saying it is any better than anywhere else, I’m just saying for those of us born in the USA, most of us are happy with the American ideals we are mocked for by non-American American-generalizers.
And for the Americans whose families have not become their friends, I think that is because they didn’t work for it. America is a capitalist society: everything comes for a price, and hard work is necessary, even to attain happiness. That means we each as individuals must work hard and make sacrifices for those we love. America means freedom to my family and friends, and we have the freedom to be friends with anyone and everyone in a peaceful and loving environment. And I believe that my friends and family are just as quiet and considerate, non-violent (yet pro-active), caring, and honest as any other person from any other culture, so I’m a little offended by people who call all Americans “loud” or “rude.”
And to those people who have made many anti-American generalizations, I want to tell them that I’ve also been out in public with either those specific generalizers this blog is aimed at, or people from their same culture(s), and at times they had been far more outlandish and “rude” in Japan, than myself and some other Americans that were along with us. I’m not complaining about that, for its natural to lose your head for a moment in a stressful situation, and we’re studying abroad… stress happened often and came with the territory. But I never accused their entire nation of being a hot-head just because I saw them flip out once or twice.
Anyway, yes, some Americans are loud and obnoxious, and yes, my country’s global policies and choices have not been the best decisions ever made… but in defense of a country built on an idea of peace and freedom, I would like to say this: According to history, all of us come from countries that have made global mistakes, not just Americans. And most countries have grown and learned from their past errors. America is still young and headstrong enough to try foreign policies no one else has yet, to see if ANYTHING will work, and there has been failures, but that should go without saying. Please don’t hate peaceful US citizens for mistakes brought on by good intentions of current screw-up leaders. Yes the road to hell is paved with good intentions and all that, but all countries at one point in history were in the same boat; so I’m asking the people this blog is aimed at to stop pointing fingers.
Remember, there are good and bad people in every country. If you haven’t seen the good, than you are doing one of two things: 1.) Having bad luck, or 2.) concentrating on something that really doesn’t have any affect on your life, and are missing out on something beautiful in this world.
I ask those generalizers to accept everyone, even Americans. Don’t be blinded by anger for something a select few Americans have done, because other countries have the same type of people too, whether you want to acknowledge it or not. You don’t have to like the cliche of Americans, or what some of our leaders have chosen in world politics, but keep in mind there are still many of us who are trying to be an example of a respectable human (American not even being a thought in our minds as we do so,) and those Americans do exist. I would like to consider you as my friend, but find your generalizing, not offensive to Americans in general, but offensive to me as a person who just happens to be American by birth… someone you’ve spoken with as a fellow classmate in Japan… Remember, we were both in an international school at one time. We weren’t there just to learn Japanese, we were there to learn how to open our minds.
*That last paragraph was directly intended and directed for/at the several people I met in Japan at school who made so many negative comments about Americans, that I’d never heard them say anything else. Luckily for me, they thought I was Swedish, and just kept running their mouths. I didn’t bother to point out that I was American, because obviously my nationality was not wanted. Oh well.
Harvard Hotheads
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=91232541&ft=1&f=1001&sc=emaf
If I ever post my latest essay/article/thing I’m working on, you will notice a trend in some of my rants… it is my utter disgust with people who have a “members only” attitude, and try to segregate or alienate the rest of the world into categories defined by their own obstinate perceptions.
Anyway, the article I’m responding to today (see above) is about the mixed reactions that Harvard students had to J.K. Rowling’s commencement speech. I could not believe some of the things people had said about her as an official featured speaker for Harvard’s commencement ceremony. A person would have to be truly full of him/herself to assume that Rowling is not prestigious enough to deliver an amazing speech.
This twisted my panties in knots:
“I think we could have done better,” shrugged computer science major Kevin Bombino. He says Rowling lacks the gravitas a Harvard commencement speaker should have.
“You know, we’re Harvard. We’re like the most prominent national institution. And I think we should be entitled to … we should be able to get anyone. And in my opinion, we’re settling here. “
Since [Rowling], speakers have included such luminaries as Microsoft founder Bill Gates, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, other heads of state, Nobel Prize winners, and scholars.
“It’s definitely the ‘A’ list, and I wouldn’t ever associate J.K. Rowling with the people on that list,” says senior Andy Vaz. “From the moment we walk through the gates of Harvard Yard, they constantly emphasize that we are the leaders of tomorrow. They should have picked a leader to speak at commencement. Not a children’s writer. What does that say to the class of 2008? Are we the joke class?”
Good grief! Why don’t they just say, “You know? We’re better than everyone… we’re the elitists with glacial hearts and no imagination. We’re going to be the leaders of the future, and in order to fit the bill, we can’t lower ourselves to using creativity, compassion or understanding of the human condition. We’re too good for that!”
Did they even listen to the reason why Rowling was chosen as a featured speaker? Did they even know that: Rowling was “chosen by Harvard’s alumni. University President Drew Gilpin Faust applauded her selection, saying, “No one in our time has done more to inspire young people to … read.”
I guess Harvard grads do not understand the importance of read read read! What are they teaching the students there, anyway? Gawd, if they are really the leaders of tomorrow, I’m putting in an application with the rebellion right now. I refuse to be lead by a group of crudely educated elitists with no respect for the power of books and reading. Besides… Rowling had just as much right to speak as any other “A-Lister,” and it’s shameful that anyone would think of his or her own status as being too good for Rowling’s speech.
Makes me sick.
The article’s ending quote is:
“They’ll grow up,” says 1983 graduate David Epstein. “They’ll have a broader worldview and they’ll understand that there are many, many ways to contribute. You know what they say — the freshman bring so much, and the seniors take away so little.”
As a 2008 graduate, you would think that I would be offended by Epstein’s assertion. However, it’s hard to take offense to something proven so true by those yuppies at Harvard. They are graduating the same year as me but from a more prestigious school… and yet I wonder if I’m better equipped to enter the real world than they are, purely because I was taught at Eastern Washington University to appreciate the importance of reading, and the importance of writers who facilitate that urge in all age groups, (such as J.K. Rowling.) A-Lister degree or not, I don’t see how special those Harvard students are….
I would like to point out: I know not ALL Harvard graduates were as stupid as the elitist snobs quoted in the article. I was just responding to those quoted, and not all Harvard students in general. But I do question the teaching methods at Harvard, now that I know there were many students “offended” by Rowling’s invitation as a speaker. I hope Epstein is right, and that those morons will get a clue some day.
Okay, I’m done now.
