Realism vs. Optimism

So here I am writing from the fabulous "Free wireless Internet" provided by the lovely and tightly cramped Bradley International Airport in Hartford( Note to Chicago: If dinky little Hartford has FREE internet, what the hell is taking you so long?), following two weeks of visiting family and friends.

Ever since I lived in Chicago I have only been able to make short trips home, thus making me feel like I never really get to spend time with my family. So this time I decided to make this trip as excruciatingly long as possible to ensure that we would all wanted to kill each other. This way it would hold me over for a longer time away. Weird logic right?

I know I've wondered a million times what it would be like if for one day everything shut down and the masses were left to fend for themselves.

In Chicago, I have become sickenly dependent on the CTA and I don't know what I would do if they were to strike. I complain about walking three blocks to catch the bus now! Screw 50 blocks!

So, I am a huge fan of Trent's blog "Pink is the New Blog" because he has a great way of making fun of America's pop culture obsessions. Today I found this picture done by illustrator Todd Umbarger on his site:

How friggin hilarious is that?

And on a completely different note, I found this link to a throw-back Soul Train video and wanted to share it with you.....because who doesn't love Soul Train?

Beware the wrath of the corporate monkeys......

So I've said it before and I'll say it again, I am not a corporate/or office person. It's not the life- sucking fluorescent bulbs or even the mindless babble that I find myself desperately trying to avoid every 5 minutes from the cows in Accounting. It's my own damn brain. Yup. It's me.

There is a great quote in the movie "Office Space" where the main character, Peter, is discussing his work day with these "Evaluators". He says something like, "In one day I probably do about 1 hour of real work." And this is what he does the rest of the time:

So here I am at my internship, just trying to make it through the day without becoming a "pod person" (aka corporate monkey) and I stumble upon this little gem of a quiz. (note: sarcasm)

It's been a while since I've posted anything. One word, Finals. Enough said.
So rather than whine about how uncreative I am because of school sucking out every inch of my brain capacity, I leave you all with this. Ah Beavis and Butthead. Ain't nothing like it.

Thats either one stupid cat or one really tough mouse.  

ARE U KIDDING ME?? 

Anyone interested? 

What would the world be like if Mozart never had a piano? Would the world be as colorful if Picasso had never learned how to paint? What would the game of baseball have been like if Babe Ruth had never picked up a bat?

These questions may seem silly, but they are not unrealistic queries when you consider the future of arts, music and athletic programs in schools.

Recently a teacher at a Southside Chicago Public School sat down to discuss her concerns for being trapped in a system that doesn’t allow children to strive. In her school, the primary focus is the basics, math and reading, but her fear is that the schools are leaving time for little else.

This posting is in honor of my mother who is currently sitting outside the White House with thousands of other people protesting George W. Bush. 

To all my fellow comrades who have fought along side me for years in the thankless, dirty, and frustrating trenches of the service industy: I commend your efforts. This blog is dedicated to all of the people who have ever been stiffed by customers, asked their age 99 times a night, had their asses pinched, been puked on or in the vicinity of, had to clean puke, wait on bachelor/bachelorette parties, I SAY THAT ONE AGAIN, Wait on bachelor/bachelorette parties, and listen to the general annoyance of women with shrill high pitch voices screaming about nothing while some asshole in a suit clicks his fingers at you as if your a fucking butler.

I am not your slave, I simply provide your drinks asshole.

It occured to me this morning as I read the Hurricane coverage in the newspapers, that you might need a little reminder of something.

As you surveyed the damage from a safe leisurely distance, you had the realization that not enough was being done to help the people. The realization struck you so much that you continued the feeling by expressing it to the mainstream media. And i quote,

"The results are not acceptable"

May I remind you that you are the PRESIDENT. You control the money, the miliary, and the economy?! So any failure on their part is a direct failure of leadership on yours!

Of course the response is not acceptable.......you suck. You are in charge. What else can we expect?

So, I have to say this. I admire Hugh Hefner. To me, if you are an 80 year old man and you can convince a woman...err......let me clarify... a beautiful woman, to frolick around your house and bedroom like a endless sexual game of romper room, I applaud you. And to do it with 3-7 women? Come on the guy has got it made!

However, I am a woman, so therefore I see something a bit perverse in the whole situation. First of all, after watching the new E! television show "Girls Next Door", I desperately wanted to hate them and their lives. But I didn't. Seriously, how can you hate on a lifestyle that sweet?

Recently I was lucky enough to escape the claws of corporate america, school, and my other job long enough to have what we Americans call a "Vacation". Vacation to us is really any time where we are not involved in some sort of activity that involves thought. To the rest of the free world a Vacation is called a "Holiday" because you are actually gone long enough to break free of the mental imposition created by the mundane actions of everyday life. Fuck yeah! Celebrate! Its a Holiday! If only we were so lucky.

Anyway, back to my point. On my "vacation" I found myself sitting among a few folks out to catch a drink in the early afternoon hours at a family resort. Hell, its a vacation.

Following the posting of my relgious debate with "Peter", I had an interesting conversation with "W" who we will call "Will". Below is a transcript of our conversation.

"W":

Today, in the Chicago Tribune there was an article about how the FAA is beginning to have weight issues aboard aircrafts due to the rising weight of passengers.

Sometimes I am embarrassed to be a human.

When did it become acceptable to be morbidly obese? And I wonder whether the culture in this country is changing so much that skinny people will eventually become the outcasts and target of all mocking.

The interesting thing is, there are food shortages and humanitarian crisises of epic proportions occuring right now in Africa. There are 3 and 4 year old children that weigh about 14 lbs, and here in the states we have "super babies" hitting 50 pounds.

Dear Chicago Cab Drivers,

Alright cabbies , I got some beef with you. You see, I am on to you. I have figured out your ways, and Im here to say......um.....im here to say......ugh..........Well I figured you out!! Haha!

Here's the deal, I take cabs on a pretty frequent basis, about 2-3 times a week. Usually late at night when public transportation becomes a bit too scary for my taste, or after a night of light to heavy drinking.

Lately, I have been lucky enough to stumble upon some interesting people with whom I share very heated, in depth, and interesting theoretical debate. I myself, not being particularly attached to one affiliation of religion, am usually interested to hear what others have to say and offer, but am usually left scratching my head by realizing how completely attached some can be to the notion of their "God". Now, to preface, this will not be anti-religious or pro- religious rant. Nor will it be some sort of defense of my own opinions. The following is simply the transcripts of some very interesting debated emails that I shared with some very cool people, topics ranging from libertarianism to Christianity.

It is hard to celebrate sometimes, when you are surrounded by drama. And it's easy for anyone to get cynical when you live in a country that seems to get worse and worse economically and politically every year.

And usually, I find myself to be one of those cynics. This year for some reason, I felt good.

Last week at work, as every one marveled at getting out early and spending an extra day celebrating the "Holidays", I couldn't help but have an instant gag reflex. Not that I don't enjoy having a day or twelve off from work, cause I do.

As people all over the U.S. join together this weekend for a little independence Day celebrations, it makes me wonder what we are really clinging on to. This week marks the retirement of Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, and conservatives and liberals alike are scrambling about in speculation and anticipation. And I'm not afraid to say it......I'm just a wee bit worried. First of all, I know O'Connor was not your typical conservative. Although many of her opinions had more conservative leanings, there were always just a few moderate opinions that gave me hope for a more balanced bench. She was a voice of reason and often fairness, sometimes facing harsh opposition.

So, I’ll just say it now, I am not a huge sports person. Now that’s not necessarily to say that I don’t enjoy some sports.

For example, I love football and for Monday nights I will always be thankful. I like hockey. Actually let me clarify that, I like going to hockey games. There’s something about the cheap beer and men kicking each others asses that really gets me going. It’s kind of like watching gladiators.

As for basketball and baseball……I guess I just really need to be at the game……under the influence, to really get involved.

As of the last few days, the United States has once again been pushed back in the ranks of countries leading the world in technology in medicine. Hwang Woo-Suk of Seoul University in South Korea successfully cloned an embryonic cell from the DNA of a sick patient, the second successful clone in two years.

And here we are in the United States scurrying around with our priorities completely out of wack.

Sick people? disease you say? Screw em’, we need oil and gas for our SUV’s!!!!!

Remember that one class in high school that you couldn’t stand and without fail would always forget or purposely not do the homework? For me it was Algebra. I don’t know what it was, the Susan Powter look-alike teacher, or just the idea of sitting around trying to figure out why x= AB cause honestly we all know you will never need to know that stuff, despite what your parents said.

I just couldn’t get into it. So it was punishment upon punishment to have to drag the Algebra book home with me under the context of “homework” as if the class work was not torture enough.

Imagine coming home from school or work one day and finding your parents sobbing in the kitchen clutching photos of family a world away. Imagine the frustration you would feel at knowing that you came to this country in hopes of gaining opportunity, while leaving behind everyone and everything you know.

Now imagine that one day, your new land of opportunity, a land that you had become a proud citizen of had decided to invade your homeland for reasons you could never understand. For reasons that are insignificant to you because the only thing that matters to you there is your family and their safety.

So I know that people are probably sick and tired of hearing the youth of America regurgitate the satirical views of Comedy Central’s The Daily Show as truth, I know I am, but I have to give it to Jon Stewart for keeping his show more real than a lot of top networks programming, even under the context of satire.

Okay so as much as it pains me to talk about the pope AGAIN, I will. It's not that I'm against Catholicism or Christianity as a whole, its just that I am against that idea that if you dont believe what they believe, than your gonna rot in hell.

I quote the pope in 1981: "the church cannot be an association of free thinkers."

So today marks the day of the death of the Pope. Seems like a pretty big deal right? Honestly, I'm not what you would call a religious person, more like a spiritual one, but I can still see the significance of his death. He was a world leader, Christ he had his own fuckin city. Wait can I say christ and fucking in the same sentence....? I'm not really to sure on the rules of these things. Anyways, he died yesterday and the whole Christian faith mourns. I can understand that, but man do I not understand where the modern religious ideals have gone.

It occurred to me recently that we live in a society of good-hearted, well-intentioned complainers. These are the people who sit on the sidelines and watch life pass by, too scared to actually join in, but quick to point out when others make mistakes. In this country, we are lucky enough to be surrounded by endless opinions, thoughts and ideas that often create mass and sometimes hysterical dialouge. However, it seems that people are often so caught up in the mix, they forget to actually attempt to solve problems.

So here we are again amidst another Jackson controversy. We go through our daily lives focusing our attention on another media feeding frenzy over some guy that we will all pretty much agree is not all there. Now, I won't lie, I danced to Thriller and have to say that Off the Wall was one of the best albums of the 80's, but it doesnt change the fact that the guy has a few screws lose, or has just screwed one too many times. Okay, I know thats gross, but seriously, how is it that we set aside so much time out of our days talking about something that really has minimal importance in the greater scheme of things? Do we not remember that there is a war going on???

Every year, children around the world awake from a one eyed sleep, to scurry to their living rooms in anticipation of finding their Christmas dreams come true. Some get baseballs, in hopes that they will one day play for their favorite team, some get dolls that they dress up and make their own. On a similar morning about twenty years ago, one little girl got a typewriter, and so began the adventure that she would create for herself.

Recently, in one of my classes we were reading excerpts from dream prose. All this talk of dreams keeps bringing me back to the bizarre dreams I've been having about my dad and my family back home.

Especially the dream where I had skulls in my mouth. There is something particullarly disturbing about that one. Perhaps it is because I remember it so vividly, when often my dreams escape me as quickly as random thoughts daydreamed at the most boring parts of the day.

There has to be some reason that I keep having the dreams about home. Do I subconciously miss my old life while my aware exterior enjoys the freedom and independance of the life I have created here and now?

I always thought that at some point there would be some magic map handed to me along the weathered path. It hasn't been till recently that I realized that I am the magic captain of this crazy ship of dreams, and without a compass or map, and I would have to find my own way. And along the way I have discovered things rivaling Stonehenge or Mayan Ruins......... Friends, good friends anyways, come once in a great while. And when you discover these friends, hold on tight and enjoy the ride. Some are like the ferris wheel, scenic and predictable, but always amaze you when you get to the top, some are like the Teacups at Magic Kingdom, crazy and unbalanced.