Antonin Scalia is the only argument for celibacy

Thu, 13 Jan 2005 23:05:04 GMT

I'm so confused and stressed out. Mrs. Edgar is really getting underneath my skin, and making me feel like I'm absolutely worthless. I've been going to school all week long, absolutely miserable because the last time I took two days off because I was sick, she told me that she hoped it wasn't going to turn into a "pattern of absences" like last year. I have no idea what the hell she's talking about. Yes, I took sick days last year. Why? I was sick. Am I not allowed to take days off when I'm sick? So now, because I finally took time off to help cure myself, I feel like an absolute delinquent. And to make matters worse, I'm starting to feel guilt for missing so much of English in the morning. I actually like Mrs. Donnelly. Maybe not her teaching methods, but she is a genuinely nice person. And, I'm going to have to pay a visit to my dearest friend, Dean Elmendorf, tomorrow. That woman makes me feel worse than Mrs. Edgar does, except in the opposite way. Instead of telling me that I'm not putting enough into school, she tells me that I value school too much, that my priorities are out of order. Maybe they are, but she doesn't have to call me out of a class by telephone to tell me that, and to tell me that I'm a bad person. Teachers are stressing me out waaay too much. I shouldn't care what Mrs. Edgar thinks. I should be able to brush off the fact that Elmendorf is rude to me. I should feel like I'm not a totally worthless being. Another thing that's bothering me is the school's late policy. If you make me provide my own transportation, then it shouldn't be my fault if I'm thirty seconds late to homeroom, because people were driving poorly. Perhaps if I had a bus available to me at a set time, then I wouldn't have to worry about whether people were driving slowly, and not turning, or not. It also doesn't quite equal out that I should have to give up 45 minutes of my time, because I was a total of 90 seconds late. Whatever happened to letting the punishment fit the crime? I'm 90 seconds late, well fine. I'll serve detention for exactly 90 seconds, and then the punishment will be done. I understand the purpose of the late policy, but being around 30 seconds late three times is absolutely inconsequential. This is homeroom, for god's sake. It's not as if we do anything in homeroom anyway. Were I two minutes late, my homeroom teacher would still be able to count me, with 8 minutes to spare. Wouldn't it be far more reasonable just to set the late time cut off at two minutes? Six minutes is a decent amount of time, but a minute and a half? And then, the administration feels the need to pull me out of one of my classes for ten minutes so they can assign me a restricted study hall. Now let's see. I've wasted 90 seconds of my homeroom time, and they've wasted at least 2 minutes of the teacher's time, and 10 minutes of my class time. Who is the greater offender in this case? It makes no sense. Evil. Chinese food is here, so I flee. Maybe it's high sodium and fat content will cheer me up.

Goly Moses! I've Updated!

Thu, 30 Dec 2004 02:36:22 GMT

Winter Break boredom has hit, and I figured now would be a good time to update. I love that I've been able to read the books I want. So far, I've finished off Night, Franny and Zooey, Me Talk Pretty Someday, and The Power and the Glory. By far my favorite is Franny and Zooey. So many people say it's Salinger's masterpiece, and without having read Nine Stories, I think it is. Maybe it's just my only child status that makes me think so much about the Glass children's inter-relations, but they're just so interesting. The characters are just so complicated, I keep thinking, and thinking. I can't get it out of my head. The Power and the Glory was fascinating, too, even if it was required reading. I'm glad I picked it over something so typical as Tess of the D'Urbervilles. I wish The Power and the Glory was required reading for Catholics, although I'm sure my confirmation teacher would disagree heartily with that. It's so hard being a half (in practice, not in blood)-Catholic. On one hand, I'd really rather be Jewish, on the other, whenever I hear someone say something that's probably true for most Catholics, but false for me, I get really defensive. When someone generalizes Catholics as Republicans, I try to defend myself. I don't even understand it. I barely practice the religion, and share only a few beliefs, so why do I so strongly associate myself with it? It's really frustrating. While we're speaking of religious things, Christmas was really great. All of my mother's family came over, but it was still really relaxed. Just a get-together among people who are comfortable with each other. I count myself as really fortunate to have such a loving extended family. The one thing that gets me really pissed off around the holidays is the people who go around ranting about how Christmas has lost all of its meaning, and now its just a pathetic reason to further commercialism. It hasn't lost all of its meaning, the meaning has just changed a little bit. We don't buy presents just for the sake of buying presents. The point of a gift-giving holiday is to try to show your love for someone by giving s/he something that s/he could enjoy or use. I don't see what's so undignified about displaying your love. As for recieving the gifts, if you're so upset about getting material possessions, maybe you should ask people to make a contribution to a charity instead of bitching about gifts people have gotten you to show they care. Hmmm, a holiday devoted to love, and family. Sounds terrible, just terrible. Sorry, that rant wasn't really directed at anyone in particular. Right, so back to books. My mom tried to stop me from reading Lolita. Coming from the woman who gladly bought me Carlin when I wanted it in 7th grade, it was odd. Her reasoning: Nabokov sounded like a pedophile. I defended my reading choice saying, "Mom, it's a book about a man having an affair [it was too hard to say sex at the moment] with a teenager. Of course it sounds like it was written by a pedophile, especially considering Nabokov was a master of prose. Besides the fact that you've always let me read Victorian books, and if you want to talk pedophiles... Look at Lewis Carroll. He wrote Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass for a little girl who he took pornographic pictures of, but you still let me read those. Besides, you've never censored my reading before, and you're not going to start now." I won, and walked, victorious, back upstairs to put Lolita in its rightful place on my bookshelf where it sits now. I don't even know why I want to read it, and I have a feeling that it's going to feel like I'm violating myself throughout the entire book. Oh well, I feel like it's a necessity. I made my first foray into the wonderful world of Virginia Woolf, and found it disconcertingly difficult. I barely understood it, which was frustrating. Maybe I'll try it again over the summer. I'll blaim my lack of comprehension on the fact that it was 2-4 AM when I tried it. I'd been awake for something like 20 hours, and had just finished night. Yup, that's definitely it. Definitely. Gah. Still 200 pages of Anna Karenina left. Why can't I just do Applied English? I would just read the books required for English, attend a discussion seminar on them once a month with other Applied English students, take a test on them, learn the grammar for the specific year, learn the new vocabulary (haha--new) for that year, take the Bullshits (oops, I mean Regents), and then be done with the whole waste of time business that is high school English. The sad part is that I actually like English as a subject, but I could clear two periods, and be able to read whatever books I want if the school would just institute a policy like that. Mmmm. I still have the A.P. World study guide left to do. I hate the Age of Anxiety, mainly because of his name, but the study guide is not helping its case any by starting out with Gertrude Stein. Fucking bitch who hated commas, that's what I have to say about Gertrude Stein. Other than that, I don't really mind the thinkers of the Age of Anxiety. I actually like Hemingway. But starting out with Gertrude Stein just makes me want to avoid the thing more than I normally would. Rapid topic change. Today was pretty uneventful, but I did talk to Greggy for a good three hours, which was nice. I haven't hung out with him in so long, and it feels nice just to discuss everything with him, and to listen to what he thinks. "Don't you think that / now's a good time to be / the ambitious freak you are?" Yes, Jamie Wellerstein, I do. I'm happy right now, but I could be happier. Especially if I knew I was going to the Harvard summer program. It's funny how when I left JSA, I was absolutely positive I was going back, but then I found Harvard. It's basically college, except with just one course. You sleep in the dorms, take the course with actual Harvard students and an actual Harvard professor (or an actual Harvard T.A. as the case may end up), can join a choir, and do activities with college kids. You can leave, and volunteer, and stuff, and, it's just so amazing. I want it so badly. Worse than I wanted JSA when I was applying. About at the same level of wanting as wanting JSA to go on for another three weeks at the end. So you can see, it's pretty bad. It's funny how it's only December, but all I'm excited about is summer. I think I'm finally ready for some JSA closure; I started printing out the pictures, and I realized that there are so many people I never think about. So many girls from my floor, and people from my class and congress who I haven't even thought about, really, since leaving camp. I guess when I was there, I knew that deep down, I wouldn't keep up with them, that they would eventually just end up as memories, but I'm deathly afraid that I'll just forget about these people. That time will erase these great (and not so great) people from my memory completely. Of course, I'm still incredibly thankful that I've been able to keep up with as many people as I have (virginia_bell , Sarah, and Tansy), but I still wish I could talk to everyone I met there. I rely on Tansy for all of my information about the fringe friends, and Camille. I was really happy to hear that Camille got into Georgetown, early action. She deserves it more than anyone I know; what an amazing person. She wasn't a spoiled suburban brat like most of us. She fundraised her entire tuition, and campaigned heartily for the fair and equal treatment of everyone. Unfortunately, Matt got deferred. Apparently he was crying. I bet that the admission people realized that he was waaay too good to go to Georgetown. What else could they have been thinking? I feel so bad for him. Okay, this entry is done. I've gotten all of my emotion and thought out for now.

I have spit on the grave of Arthur Miller, and single-handedly destroyed The Crucible

Fri, 01 Oct 2004 01:04:09 GMT

How did I manage to stuff so much crap into my Critical Lens? I feel like complete shit. For those of you interested in reading my 90-minute desecration of two classics, Great Expectations and The Crucible, here it is:

Theodore Roethke once said, “In a dark time, the eye begins to see, …” This idea of knowledge coming during hard times is incredibly true, and permeates both life and literature. In Great Expectations, by Charles Dickens, this theme is displayed mainly through the character of Pip. Arthur Miller uses the characters of John Proctor, Reverend Parris, and, in fact, the entire town, in The Crucible, to effectively convey this theme.
In Great Expectations, Dickens uses the characters Pip and Estella to convey this theme. Through his characterization of Pip as an essentially good person who is led down a path of snobbery and Victorian classism. In a scene involving Pip, and the ever-fair-weather friend, Uncle Pumblechook, Pip reaches one of his “lows” in the book. Magwitch has just lost his life, and thus, Pip, his fortune. In a juxtaposition with Pip’s dear Uncle Provis, Pumblechook chooses to rub salt in the wounds of both losses. It is at this time when Pip realizes how terrible he’s been to Biddy and Joe, and goes to make amends. It is with this scene that Dickens expresses both the theme in discussion, and another recurring theme of the book: know who your true friends are. Another such point in Pip’s life occurs when Magwitch has just been arrested. He realizes that not only is he about to lose a benefactor, but he is also about to lose one of his many surrogate fathers. He realizes this just as everything is about to be swept away from him. Estella is another Dickensian character used to convey the theme of knowledge arriving during difficult times. At the end of the book, after her marriage to Drummle ends, we learn that she has realized what a foolish mistake she made in marrying Drummle, and going through life as a hollow shell of a person. It is unfortunate that it takes an abusive husband for her to realize this, however it fits in well with her characterization as a stubborn person. Both the characters of Pip and Estella allow Dickens to convey many themes, among them that profound knowledge is often realized when the mind is most aware: during unfortunate circumstances.
Although its setting of a small New England town in 1692 is completely different than that of Great Expectations, Arthur Miller’s groundbreaking play, The Crucible, tackles many of the same themes, among them, the one addressed by Roethke. Several examples of this theme can be found in Miller’s work, including one carried out through the character of John Proctor. He realizes how sorry he is for ever having carried on an affair with Abby, and exactly how devoted he is to his wife and children. Unfortunately, this discovery is too late to save either his, or his wife’s lives. He happens upon this realization by comparing the havoc Abby is wreaking, with her accusations of witchcraft running rampant through the town, with his kind, devoted wife Elizabeth. It took the selfish acts of a girl trying to shirk punishment, at first unaware of the far-reaching consequences her actions might have to make John realize how good his wife is. Perhaps the most important use of this theme occurs when Abby runs off to Boston, taking with her Reverend Parris’ money. This allows for the seed of doubt to be planted in the Reverend’s, and, in fact, the entire town’s minds. Before this, they had been completely blinded by the idea that children could only tell truth. However, in stealing her uncle’s money, Abby proves herself to be far from the child-like innocent her uncle and the entire town, save the Proctor family, believed her to be. Finally, the community began to realize that they had been wrong. Arthur Miller used his play, The Crucible to convey many themes, including the idea that sometimes the light of good fortune blinds us to the truth, and that the darkness of difficult experiences may be needed to find that truth.
In both Arthur Miller’s The Crucible and Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations, many themes are conveyed to the reader using manipulation of characters and situations. Both attempt to address the idea of knowledge coming with difficult times and experiences. Additionally, both works lob heavy stones at the governments of the time, whether attempting to knock down McCarthy witch-hunts, or over-zealous executions and corrupt legal practices. Both have had long lasting impacts on life, society, and history.

Thu, 19 Aug 2004 04:22:26 GMT

AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!! I want to have the Hamm twins' babies!! That's right, both Paul and Morgan!! They're amazing athletes in the truly awesome field of gymnastics!! Of course, if you didn't know that, you should start watching the Olympics. AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!! I'm off to Maine for too long (5 days). We're going to the place where everyone else goes, Bar Harbor. I may or may not have my cell; it all depends on whether I can find it before I leave at 9 tomorrow. Then its six hours in the car, my favorite mode of transport ever. See you all on Tuesday!

Updation!!

Sun, 15 Aug 2004 03:14:50 GMT

Now, see I felt the need to update, but I really have nothing to say. OOOOOH, I spontaneously combusted today!! For all of you non-Omer people (freaks), its OM boot camp, except there's no possibility of unjustified war at the end of it. Ooops, there go my liberal views again, slipping out at any moment. Well, I guess that's just my bleeding heart. As I understand it, a bleeding heart is someone who has compassion for others. In a recent phone call (Yay! It was your voice. Let's do that from time to time, so we don't forget each other) with VM Bell, she pointed out to me the hypocrisy of people campaigning on "compassionate conservatism" (fortunately, no longer. There's little I hate more than BS) to be railing on certain liberals for their compassion. GAH, ANGER, ANGER, ANGER, GAH! Okay, I believe that rant qualifies as more than over. Mhmph. I still miss JSA, although I was considerably cheered to recieve my first e-mail regarding the year-round program. In fact, I've already been talking about going again next year. My liberal sister can't join me (what will I do without her, my fellow abortion term-paper writer?), but Greggy talked about going with me, and I talked about going again with Laura. I can't decide between Presidency or Con Law, but if Dr. Sheffer is still teaching Presidency, then that's my class. ACK! I miss the enthusiasm of JSA!! There's so much apathy here. If there's one political thing that I cannot stand, its apathy, more than die-hard conservatism. No matter who you vote for, just make sure you get out and vote. AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!! West Wing quotage!!!!!!!! Why can't I live in the West Wing? Life would be so much cooler if I could speech-write with Toby and Sam, or spin with CJ, or control with Josh and Leo. But no, I'm stuck in Albany. Oh well, at least I have a myriad of internships available to me, its just that I need to find some organization, or Senator who is willing to take me on. I should be a desirable candidate. I've already had an internship, and my work ethic (when it comes to this stuff, anyway) is pretty good. GAH!! I MISS DC, GEORGETOWN AND ALL THE PEOPLE THERE!!!!! And Gregg is leaving me!! He's going off to camp and leaving me here. Oh well, I get to send him a care package. Oh, Spontaneous Combustion was awesome!! We got assembled in to teams of seven during the second half of the day, and our team was consistently excellent. I sat out Hands-On, because, well, let's just say that its not my strong point. YAY!! It renewed my excitement for verbal and verbal/hands-on spontaneous. Ack, more later.

Pimping it out

Sat, 14 Aug 2004 03:24:44 GMT

When I say pimping, I mean of my community, sexydems. Go there. Basically, if you want to know about it, go there. Go there, go there, go there. More tomorrow (after Spontaneous Combustion), as my mother is nagging at me.

Sadness

Fri, 06 Aug 2004 07:01:00 GMT

JSA is gone, GAH!! What will I do without it. And i_am_gerg is in Martha's Vineyard, Molly's at camp, Jordan's doing all this Park Playhouse stuff, and he has a job, and Sara works sometimes, and so I've been sleeping pretty much all day, and shirking any form of work. Yay for we nightowl liberal JSA-ers (Malin, you know that's you.) And my favorite Bush-Condi obsessee hasn't been on. I need Doug, there are no conservatives here!! Not necessarily a bad thing, but I miss the perspective. More later.

Hmmm

Tue, 27 Jul 2004 04:56:55 GMT

So much to say, as of last entry. VM Bell, you are now part of my friends. In fact, you're my only one. Hmm. All meetings turned out to be a dissapointment, as Ted Kennedy and every single member of his staff were busy with the DNC, and Chuck Schumer sent a self-absorbed judiciary aide, because he was too busy roaming the halls reading a newspaper. Next we boarded an 8-person taxi, and people climbed into the trunk through the window (it was a station wagon, but the back fold down door wouldn't open). So that was fun, and I don't remember how long ago that was, but it feels like forever. Then we had endless class and lots of Congressional Workshop, where we tied votes even more. "Please, don't stop the exciting and stimulating Live Journal entry," you say. Well, if you insist. Went to the JSA dance, which is very correctly called a Hump-a-thon. Yeah, that was an interesting experience. Then came Sunday, my day of joy. I awoke early, went to a Baptist church, where I thouroughly enjoyed the music and almost died during the hour and 45 minute sermon. Oh, well. Next I wandered around the Mall, and into the Natural and American History museums, then Fahrenheit 9/11, and then off to Urban Outfitters with VM Bell to talk in loud voices about their evil ties with Rick Santorum. My day capped off nicely with dinner at Johnny Rockets, although I hardly ate anything. I made sure that both Tansy and VM Bell had some of my milkshake, because they have been living under rocks and have never had one. Right, then so there was today, which was really unproductive. I skipped class (I know, I'm such a delinquent), because of illness. They made me go down to the Tank in order to verify that I was really sick. So then I woke up at three, finished up my debate, went to CW, had an anxiety attack, and got taken to the hospital for 3 hours, where I was diagnosed with a mild heart murmur. Yeah, today was a whole ton of fun. Yay Rebecca!! Oh, Bill Clinton is sooo hott! (with the extra t). More later

Thu, 22 Jul 2004 03:32:08 GMT

Type your user name with your:

nose:qnnakournikomer

elbow:annakourtn i,kolm dfrtgf

tongue:annakoyrnii,o,mce fr

chin: Z Znmkjbhxc hjn jk zxcx
feet:ann azkourfnikiomer

eyes closed, one finger: annakiurbikiner

back of hand:annakournikomer

palm:ann ask-utfrniokm edrf

mouse: annakournikomer

wrist: ammnslpiktr olp;,,rtt

Thank you Gregg, for this wonderful solution to work.

Second Entry

Wed, 21 Jul 2004 04:38:49 GMT

Woot! I am here at Poli-Sci camp and don't have much to do (except debate, term paper and subsequents). What's that you say, you'd like to hear about how much work we have to do? Well, I will tell you. No I won't. I'm not in a "why did I sign up for summer school" rant kind of mood. I'm actually just really tired, but I love it here. I get to meet with someone from Ted Kennedy's office and Charles D. Schumer!! CHUCK SCHUMER!!!! Oh, if you're interested, I'm starting a chapter of the following organizations at BC: ACLU, Amnesty International, NOW and JSA. Come and join. Gah! We have to get on the bus at 7:10 tomorrow. In the MORNING!! AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! Emily Brooks (the awesome Senator Brooks from Chattanooga, Tennessee) is leaving camp. She was one of the coolest people I have ever met, so that really sucks. Ohhh, and I met a Libertarian. Actually, that was a few days ago, but I thought it was worth mentioning. Umm, more later, but I need to sleep if I'm going to violate human rights and get up before 6!

Fri, 02 Jul 2004 03:46:43 GMT

I have now jumped on the Live Journal bandwagon. I'm not sure about this idea of putting my plans online, but what the hell else am I supposed to be doing at 11:43 on a Thursday night? My lack of life might interfere with this journal thing, but I don't have anything better to do. I went bowling with Molly, Gregg and Emily, and you know what? I bowled a strike. I completely did it. It wasn't Gregg manufacturing scores. Ohhh, right, boycott Urban Outfitters.