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dont_exist_at_all
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read my profile
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Name: Rachel
Country: United States
State: Pennsylvania
Metro: carlisle
Birthday: 3/15/1988
Gender: Female
Interests: thought, debate, action
Expertise: indecision, dressing like a communist, being an overachiever
Message: message me
AIM:  wandering315
Member Since:
6/6/2004
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| Hi, I'm in college now.
Thus, no time for xanga. Close.
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| Six foot twenty fucking killing for fun.What an excellent weekend.
Thank yous are in order
To Adam: for your hospitality, ridiculously comfy floor, French press
coffee, and pastries. Also for being generally awesome and hardcore.
To Kelly and my carpool buddies: for the transport, companionship, and organization (which I lack).
To everyone: for being ridiculously awesome and unlike anyone else I
know, for making this weekend one of the best in a long time, for the
good times, the conversations, the memories.
As I have expressed to a number of people, I am feeling a small
post-gov-school-like wave of nostalgia, missingness, and general
emotional drain. I love and miss you all so much.
EDIT: Weird question.
Which govies do believe bear the greatest likeness to Poseidon (Greek
god of the Sea), Hestia (Greek goddess of the hearth and domestic
matters), and Demeter (Greek goddess of agriculture)?
told you it was weird.
re the book: I'm trying again
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| EDIT: Some explanations because apparently I generate a bit of controversy:
Boo to the Mexican Presidential Election results.
For those not in the know, leftist
candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador very narrowly lost to
conservative Felipe Calderon, who is aligned with former president
Vincente Fox.
Why this merits a "boo":
1. The results are ridiculously close, with a margin of 0.6%. This has
generated waves of allegations of election fraud much like the
controversy following our 2000 election. These delays and uncertainties
suck for a developing country that needs to be on track to help its
people.
2. With such a small margin of error, the potential for election fraud does exist
3. I happen to believe that the continuation of Fox-style rule is not good for the US. Don't believe me?
What is the biggest reason the US should be concerned with Mexico?
Now, I'd say that we should want to strengthen economic ties to help
bring our southerly neighbor into the developed world and thus have a
great trading partner and ally. I think that at this point in Mexico's
economic and social development, a liberal government with safety nets
etc is best. Fox did preside over a growth in the middle class but to
lift the lower class out of poverty may require a different approach.
But that's me being all crazy liberal and caring about, you know, people's welfare and stuff.
To believe the Rebublicans in Congress, the biggest issue is protecting
ourselves from the Big Bad Mexican Illegal Immigrants. Taking this
stance, let's evaluate.
- Under Fox, ten bajillion illegal immigrants came into the US.
- Under a leader with the same governing philosophies as Fox..... what do you expect?
The definition of insanity, after all, is repeating an action and expecting different results.
And before you ask, I can live with Bush's immigration plan.
It's actually pretty decent. Nice mix of "toughen up" and "don't be a
jerk."
Boo, also, to this: http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2006/07/07/courts_in_2_states_reject_gay_marriage/
Synopsis: 2 states, Georgia and New York, upheld state laws banning gay marriage.
Oh, gay marriage. Now, I've always thought that this issue is a bit of
a no-brainer. Apparently people think otherwise. So, let's deconstruct
arguments against my views.
1. The Bible says homosexuality is wrong.
Absolutely. Can't argue with that. However, the Bible also says that
wearing clothing made of two kinds of fabric (Lev. 19:19), eating
shellfish (Lev. 11:12), trimming a beard (Lev. 19:27) and biweekly pay
periods (Lev. 19:13) are wrong.
Hey, if you're going with some of the Bible, go with all of it. Don't
pick-and-choose your abominations then turn around to make fun of
Unitarians.
More importantly, where was it ever established that the Bible is the
book of law for our country? Say it with me now: DEMOCRACY, NOT
THEOCRACY.
And please don't try to pull that "lol, the Founding Fathers were
totally Christians like omgz" crap on me. Yes, they were, but there's a
reason we have a little thing called THE FIRST AMENDMENT. They put it
there. Easy as that.
And as for motives, behold:
"An alliance or coalition between Government and religion cannot be too carefully guarded against." - James Madison
"Christianity neither is, nor ever was a part of the common law." -Thomas Jefferson
2. Gay marriage will destroy the hallowed system of traditional marriage.
I have yet to encounter a coherent argument as to how this would occur. Feel free to give me one.
[Insert cliched reference to Britney Spears' 55-hour marriage here.]
Furthermore, check this out. State with the lowest divorce rate?
Massachusetts. Yeah, the home base of the Marriage Destroying Forces.
Next 5 down: Connecticut, New Jersey, New York [ see above article], Pennsylvania, Wisconsin.
Funny, those all seem to be "Blue" states. Including the gay-governor-electing New Jersey. Fancy that.
Worst five divorce rates?
Nevada [further joke about Britney Spears], Arkansas, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Wyoming, Indiana.
[I know there is some controversy over these rankings. People say that
on the whole, more "liberal" states marry less and therefore,
logically, divorce less, which falsifies the rankings. But I think that
more marriage isn't necessarily an exonerating factor. If people are
marrying more, they are probably marrying younger and faster, with less
thought and time put into it, which I think counts as "desecrating"
marriage. (If one can even use such a silly dramatic term) And yes I
know that conservative contribute to low divorce rates in MA and
liberals contribute to high divorce rates in NV. But on the whole, it's
an interesting trend.]
Most definitely food for thought.
3. Gay marriage is "unnatural."
Defining "natural" as "one man and one woman married and possibly
raising children," all of these things are henceforth "unnatural":
single moms, single dads, extended families living together, unmarried
couples living together, widows or widowers raising a child, blended
families resulting from remarriage, celibate clergy, and emancipated
minors.
See anyone you know in there?
In sum, "traditional" does not always equal "right."
Examples: slavery, no women voting, no blacks voting, no inter racial
couples, segregation, and subsistence agriculture. And that's
just counting western culture. say nothing of the rest of the world,
where the rigidites of any strict moral code surely cringe.
4. If we give in to gay marriage, our society will descend into a
downward spiral that will quickly produce polygamy, incest,
beastiality, pedophilia, and the sacrifice of live humans.
Once again: give me a coherent argument and I'll give you credit. But not until then.
Joke: Yes, because the societies that enforce a strict moral code are
the ones that rise to the top of the global pile, like Afghanistan.
Real argument: Gay marriage is about rights. (see below) Gay couples
are entitled to rights. However, rights end when they infringe upon the
rights of others, as they do in the above listed instances. Gay
marriage does not infrine on anyone else's right. I think that's pretty
clear cut.
Basically, I support gay marriage because I don't think the government
has a right to prevent legal, consenting adult (taxpaying!) couples
from obtaining the same rights heterosexual couples are entitled to.
(making medical decisions, inheriting, visiting family in hospital,
etc) I also don't think the government has the right to legislate
morality and furthermore believe that the Constitution explicitly
forbids said legislation. Argue with me about that if you want.
And to this: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/07/world/middleeast/07mideast.html?ex=1309924800&en=be0aac18095376ee&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss
It saddens me to see groups working towards peace dissolve into violent struggle and negate years of hard work.
And to this (though this is more frightening than frustrating): http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/5149868.stm
I don't want to be blown up. Pretty straightforward.
However, hooray for this: http://www.pennlive.com/news/capitol/patriotnews/index.ssf?/base/news/1151976335245960.xml&coll=1
See above.
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| A YEAR AND A DAY AGO.
love and miss you all.
I decided this needed more to it; I needed to make an attempt to
capture the overwhelming bittersweet nostaligic reminiscent jealous
feeling we are all experiencing.
On the 14th of june adam and I sat in the new schenley plaza (remember
the big pile of dirt inbetween frick and forbes? its a very slick,
pretty park now) and sipped mediocre bubble tea and realized that this
year's governor's school will have a completely different, and yet
completely similar experience. They will be in a different dorm (not
Forbes!) will take different classes, will have different teachers (no
MichaeLinden) and will have a slightly different selection of
restaurants to choose from (minus Baja Fresh, plus Schenely Plaza and
Caribou coffee).
As we sat and felt that aching longing we are all now so familiar with,
we began to write adam's speech, the theme of which was change.
how much has changed in a year? how much have we changed since we
arrived with our parents at Forbes, nervous and hesitant, carrying
heavy bags? how much has changed in our lives, in our world? i think
you all have the same problem i have. these changes are so ineffable,
yet so unbelievably essential to our beings. anyone who wrote about gov
school for a college essay surely encountered the language barrier, the
invisible wall between our experience and the rest of our lives.
tangibles:
many of us stayed in a college dorm for the first time in our lives.
some of us spent extended time away from our parents for the first
time. many of us tasted thai/middle eastern/indian/dorm food for the
first time. we acquired at least a few words in language foreign to us.
we were shaken to our very roots by the searing realities of the world;
the monstrosities, the complexities. some of us cried the hardest we
ever had, and felt the most wrenching separation we have ever
experienced. we entered our final year of high school. we struggled
through ap classes and the soul-destroying dullness of our schools,
compared to gov school. we clung together for support, and found
ourselves driving across the state to see each other. we applied to
college, we were accepted or rejected or cast into the damning limbo of
the wait list. we commiserated, rejoiced, congratualted, and
matriculated. we graduated from high school, entered a summer of trips
to exotic locales or the drudgery of unskilled labor.
and now we're here, so far from where we once were. it seems that the
song "for good" has somewhat become our gov school anthem (along with
"get low," apparently. say nothing of the "dreidel song"). i don't
think i need to quote it.
thanks for changing me, guys.
im glad we made the journey together. | | |
| EDIT: One of my Gov School
friends has a whole lot of little kittens (15) looking for a loving
home. They are ridiculously cute. Leave a comment if you're interested
in adopting one.
EDIT2: JAPANESE STEVE IS GOING TO MACALESTER. WHY AM I NOT GOING TO MACALESTER?
Yes, it has officially been a month since last I updated. And yes, that was intentional.
Lots of things have happened in the interim.
For example, Prom, which was sexy. I still haven't managed to assemble
all of the pictures, but expect a fun-filled photo essay coming soon.
Andy came home from college. We've been hanging out a lot, and very late.
I've been fighting with los parentes a lot lately. In fact, two days
ago we fought so viciously that I thought they were kicking me out, so
I packed my bags and left. Turned out to be a big misunderstanding, as
these things usually are. Still a level of tension. Meh.
Grandparents arrive soon; immediately after that the great ingress of family members begins.
Oh yeah and by the way I DON'T GO TO HIGH SCHOOL ANYMORE. My last day
was Wednesday, and due to the lovely gift that is senior year second
semester final exemption, the end of my year was stress-free.
Graduation and the accompanying festivities are fast approaching, and I am extremely excited.
The gowns, unfortunately, are particularly ugly:
I like the caps, though:
Yes, that is a Wendy's. And yes, I am making a very weird face. And eating a frosty.
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