things and stuf

It’s been 24 days since I graduated, and I’m still unemployed. I feel like summer has been flying by and I’ve been doing a whole lot of nothing in the meantime. It took me about 2 days to pack up my stuff and 2 weeks to sell most of my furniture. Unfortunately, no one wants my loft bed right now. I could really use the money for that bed.

I’m sick of this.

Plus, in the midst of this nothingness, I need to plan my “trip” to Atlanta. The only problem is, I don’t know where I’ll be or what I’ll be doing in mid-July, so I can’t make any travel arrangements. As a planner (I blame my parents), I cannot stand waiting until the last minute to plan things. I can’t afford an expensive plane ticket and the overnight train option is definitely out. Of course, driving was never an option.

I’m going crazy and I can’t relax.

This transitional phase between school and work needs to end soon.

***Side note: Out of all the books I’ve started reading since late May, I’m currently reading my most recent purchase, The Stories of Eva Luna by Isabel Allende. It’s really good so far.

I stole this from one of my blog pals, Kay. Thanks :)

Anyway, questions:

1. What did you do 10 years ago?

- 10 years ago from today? Oh gosh - I was 14 and just finishing up 8th grade. Maybe this was the summer when my choir sang at Carnegie Hall… I think it was. That was an interesting trip - being a tourist in the city I was born in.

2. 5 items on your to-do list today:

- apply for jobs, buy coffee, go to the gym, call my uncle, and read. My life isn’t too exciting right now.

3. Snacks I enjoy:

- Recently, I’ve been eating a lot of watermelon. I need to stock up on some next time I’m at Whole Foods.

4. What would you do if you were a billionaire?

- Take care of my family. Of course. Whatever they need, I’d cover. I have a fairly large family, so hopefully I’d have some money left after this.

- I would take all of my closest friends on a trip to wherever. Basically, we’d hit up every continent.

- I’m definitely into the house renovation thing - I’ve always wanted to do something like that.

- Pay off grad school loans.

- Buy a new wardrobe. and a new computer. and an ipod touch. and a miniature pig. and an awesome loft in New York City to live in…

5. Places I would live:

- Costa Rica; Valencia, Spain; anywhere in England; Washington DC (one day); Hawaii

6. Bloggers I am passing the challenge onto are:

Whoever feels the need to answer these questions. Go for it, ya’ll.

I went to my first Pride Parade today. Although I’m not into the ladies (I love the guys) most of my closest friends are homosexual - so I went in support of my pals (and the LGBT community). Unexpectedly, I left with a lot of goodies:

I didn’t even have to flash anyone for these… only scream at the top of my lungs. I gave up once it started raining buckets.

I hate peanuts. I was really hoping these were pretzels, so I took them. Now I know not to fly Southwest because they serve peanuts.

Everyone was tossing candy at the crowds, so I got plenty of that. One group threw bouncy balls at us. That was pretty awesome (but weird).

The gay couple standing next to us gave us their extra condoms. I didn’t want to ask why they were giving them up, so I just took them. Perhaps they could tell I wasn’t a lesbian. Whatever the case may be, I hope those guys are practicing safe sex.

I am so tired right now. All that Pride really wore me out, I guess.

Why didn’t anyone (or Peter) tell me about these videos?

I had to find them all on my own - but I’m glad I did :) The part when the cookie hits The Stig is hilarious…

James, aka Captain Slow, is still my favorite.

I wish I could get excited about the new season… except I still have plenty of old episodes to watch.

I’m still on the list for tickets to the show. I really hope I can afford a round trip ticket to somewhere in the UK whenever I get selected.

This is a McDonald’s Southern Style Chicken Sandwich… and it’s completely lame.

Never in a million years will I find 2 pickles and a piece of deep fried chicken between a stale-looking hamburger bun appetizing. Ewww.

But have you seen the ridiculous commercials? I mean, I know most McDonald’s commercials feature Blacks and Hispanics and play into almost every stereotype, but I almost threw up when I saw the commercial with the 2 Black women talking about “Grandma’s Fried Chicken”…

Wtf. No.

I wanted to violently punch whoever thought that commercial was a good marketing idea. NOT EVERY BLACK PERSON ENJOYS FRIED CHICKEN. And the Black people who do enjoy fried chicken on a regular basis are not going to McDonalds for that nasty sandwich (I hope).

This just about sums up how I’m feeling:

This series of advertisements for the Southern Style Chicken Sandwich has served as another reminder to me that when it comes to selling products to the public, people of color are still horribly misrepresented. - LaShonna McBride, The Easterner - June 4, 2008

I will spend my life fighting these stupid stereotypes…

*** Side note: As a Black woman who enjoys her grandma’s fried chicken (maybe once a year), I bet that crap McDonald’s sandwich doesn’t even come close in deliciousness to my Grandma’s awesome chicken.

I still haven’t decided who I’m voting for, but this website is simply amazing.

Barackobamaisyournewbicycle.com

I just wanted to share:

An excerpt from “Performance Architecture” by Carlos Salum, Issue No. 46.02:

I’m a Thinker.

I believe that the quality of our life depends

on the quality of our thinking.

The many personality tests I’ve taken paint me as an Idealist,

Theorist, ENTP, Early Resolver, Explorer, Influencer and Innovator.

I am fascinated by the future.

I envision; therefore, I expect.

I am able to see the consequences of new approaches, change

and ideas in the real world.

I seek ways and means to change, isolate, neutralize or remove

dysfunctional influences and systems on a global scale.

My lifetime goal is to become a versatile, flexible

and creative thinker.

I like this mini preface. It reminds me of myself and what I strive for. There’s nothing wrong with being a creative thinker and wanting to isolate dysfunctional influences… I’m totally into that.

I kinda wish more people were into that too.

I have a jar full of rocks that I bought from Ikea.

I only needed about 5% of the rocks in that bag for an art project.

What on Earth am I supposed to do with the rest? I’m moving soon and I have no use for them.

Suggestions are welcome.

I only have 2 wigs and I need more.

Check me out:

I forgot to smile.

I bought that wig a few years ago when I decided I wanted to be a witch for Halloween.

And then there’s this one:

I’m sorry it’s blurry… (and I didn’t smile again).

I got this one last year - for Halloween, of course - when my roommates and I decided we would be the 3 stages of Britney Spears. I was the final stage, when she was kid-less, single, and wore a pink wig. Ha.

I really need to expand my collection… just for fun.

First of all, I am not a political person at all.

***Side note: Although I went to a school of public policy, I was the probably one of the few students who didn’t get some kind of sick enjoyment from American politics. I was okay with that.

I vote. I’m not a huge fan of labeling myself, so I don’t consider myself a Democrat or a Republican. I don’t vote for a specific party. I vote for the individual who will best run this country and do what I want them to do.

Second, I still haven’t decided who I will vote for to be the next President. As far as I’m concerned, I don’t have to make that decision until November 4, 2008.

———

So yeah, I finally watched Hillary’s speech last night. On the whole, it was good. I felt inspired to vote for Barack. I felt more proud to be an American. I felt like my vote for the democratic party would be THE vote needed to get Barack into the White House on January 20, 2009… What a feeling.

But I just want to point out a few parts that stood out in my mind:

1. 12:09 minutes - Hillary goes into a blurb about “What if a Democrat had been President for the past 40 years…”

We made tremendous progress during the 90s under a Democratic President, with a flourishing economy, and our leadership for peace and security respected around the world. Just think how much more progress we could have made over the past 40 years if we had a Democratic president. Think about the lost opportunities of these past seven years - on the environment and the economy, on health care and civil rights, on education, foreign policy and the Supreme Court. Imagine how far we could’ve come, how much we could’ve achieved if we had just had a Democrat in the White House.

First she mentions the past 40 years, then she goes into the past seven. I’m not really sure what one time period has to do with the other (there have been 3 Democratic Presidents in the past 40 years), but whatever. I’ll refer to the past 7 years… I don’t want to be a downer, but I’m not really sure the nation would’ve come incredibly far with a Democratic President and a Republican Congress (from the 104th-109th Congress; except for 107th, which was mixed). I definitely haven’t seen much action in the past 7 years on matters other than national security and defense.

I just want a government that will make some kind of positive change in American society.

2. 20:15 minutes - Hillary talks about her woman-ness. I kinda liked this part:

You can be so proud that, from now on, it will be unremarkable for a woman to win primary state victories, unremarkable to have a woman in a close race to be our nominee, unremarkable to think that a woman can be the President of the United States. And that is truly remarkable.

Hell yeah, it’s pretty remarkable. Hillary has said and done some really crazy stuff, but she definitely has paved the way for women in politics. I guess I can be proud of that.

3. 21:24 minutes - Good advice from Mrs. Clinton:

Always aim high, work hard, and care deeply about what you believe in. When you stumble, keep faith. When you’re knocked down, get right back up. And never listen to anyone who says you can’t or shouldn’t go on.

Spoken just like a good mom. I think I’ll take her advice. Again, Hillary is kinda crazy, but I admire her persistence.

4. 24:40 minutes -

Every moment wasted looking back keeps us from moving forward.

I couldn’t agree more. If Democrats really want to take the White House away from Republicans, Hillary and Barack supporters really need to unite and take some serious action.