I heart Keith

Why do I like Keith Olbermann?
It's his little smirk. No, I don't like him because he's a 'crazy-rant guy,' because he is.
I like him because...... well, I guess I like him for the same reasons that I like most guys: pretty eyes and a cheeky smile.

So, the soup did not turn out alright at all..... D:
Blargh.

I've been on a bit of a downer lately.
With the crappy economy, it seems that jobs are starting to go down the drain..... and I'm worried about my own job. So, I'm thinking about going back to school.
Getting my masters in....... something, something, something......... something I'm good at, like...... eating?

And sweet crap people! Communism and Socialism is not the same thing! Do I have to beat the crap out of you, so that you will learn!?!

Soy soup

I'm making currently making soup. The kind that you're supposed to add milk to to thicken it up.

Easy right?

What I haven't told you is: I don't have milk. I have soy milk..... vanilla soy milk.

Hope it comes out alright.

Hate and politics

Sometimes, I utterly hate the fact that I work in news.
When I told my parents (back when I was still in uni) that I was changing my major from Film to Photojournalism, they were pretty confused.

"Aren't you the same one that refuses to watch the news with us? Because it makes your anxiety problem worse? Because it makes you paranoid?"

"Yes."

The conversation was similar when I told them that I just accepted the position I'm in now.

It's true, the news would(still does) make me utterly nervous and paranoid. My anxiety would go through the roof.

We've got several TV screens to view different stations, generally one for sports, one for local news and one for CNN.
So, there's news all the time.
Yesterday, I'm watching CNN and someone's at a rally for McCain/Palin and the people there are hideous.

And I don't mean in appearance.

They were shouting things like "Obama bin Laden!" "Don't vote for the negro!" "Kill him!" "Terrorist!"
There was even a guy holding up a stuffed monkey, and the monkey was supposed to represent Sen. Obama.

Really? Are you really doing this?

I'm not trying to pick sides, but are there people are Obama/Biden rallies doing similar ridiculous things? Not that I've seen.

This was in Ohio.

And people wonder why I hate the Heartland of the U.S.

I hate the fact that there are so many hiveminded people out there. I hate it and it scares me.
I also hate bigots, but that's common knowledge.

I have a column coming out this week. It's about being a decent human being when talking about politics. I'm sure I'm going to have plenty of hatemail.

I'll post a link when it's up.

God, I need a drink.

Scary Boob Month

October month of Breast Cancer Awareness and scary movies.
I make a point to watch lots of scary movies during October, and I'm behind. :(
This weekend is going to be 'Scary Movie Binge Weekend.'
I may go into a scary coma.

Movies on the itinerary include:
Red Eye (Korean film not American film of same name)
One Missed Call 1 and 2 (originals)
Cloverfield (while not a scary movie, it does have a monster in it)
The Devil's Backbone
The Orphanage

Possibilities:
REC (one hell of a movie), the Ring and Nightmare.


Picture very related, as is my costume for Halloween. Except, less scary.

Kittens: medicine for the soul

I've adopted a kitten and I've named her Murmur.
Why 'Murmur,' you ask?
Because, when I asked what I should name her, she said 'mur-mur.'
So, Murmur it is.

She is super affectionate for a hobo cat.
Someone at work found her in a used car lot and brought her back to work. She then cycled throughout the building, with noone wanting her.
And the end of the day, she slept in my lap as I typed and knew she was mine.

Kittens chase away the blues.
They could bottle kittens and sell it for tons of money.

Doctor: I need kittens, stat!

Good night, sweet prince

As you can tell from the altered image above, my ghost crab died yesterday.

No, I'm not going to get all depressed and start crying.
I'm OK, really.
But yes, I am lonely again.

I don't know if I'll get another pet to fill the empty tank and sits in my front room.

I'm downloading a free version of Ragnarok Online to help a little with the loneliness.

Sounds ridiculous, I know.

I know three people in town. They go to school, and I fear calling them up and bothering times where they could be studying and similar.
I know two people out of town. And I'm afraid to call them too. One's a teacher, she may be busy. One's living near my parents, she also may be busy.

And maybe I'm just coming up with excuses to stay acting like a hermit and wallowing in my self pity.

Anywho.


Nerd moment: did anyone else think of Watchmen when Tom Brokaw said 'the Manhattan project.'?

The language barrier

Words escape me as I scarf down some ginger licorice/liquorice and consider eating some apples and German honey. So, I'll just finally get down to posting my columns, starting with my language one. It's nothing big. Just an editorial on language and the effort or non-effort of people.

Lend a helping conversation
as seen in the July 3, 2008 edition of the Hattiesburg American

I applaud police officers learning the basics of the secondary language in their areas so that they can communicate with the non-English speaking community.
This extra skill helps with keeping the peace in all areas, not just English speaking areas.

I'm tired of hearing: "They came to our country, so they should learn the language."

Sometimes, you need to cut people some slack.

English is apparently the hardest language to learn as a second language. And just because someone is learning a language, doesn't mane that they are going to be automatically proficient enough to be able to communicate on a decent level.

I've learned Japanese, Spanish, Portuguese and French; this doesn't mean that I can just strike up a conversation in these countries.
Being able to greet people and knowing how to say my birthday only gets me so far.

And while I agree that one should learn the language of the country they are going to visit or live in, sometimes it's not just as simple as picking up a book.

Books give a lot of information, but no book can touch upon the insight a native speaker can give. And even finding a native speaker willing to help or tutor is not that easy.

Instructors, for either online or traditional classes, stress to all students that finding someone to 'talk' to is a huge step toward understanding, much less being fluent.
Every language class I've been in has stressed the same idea.

Although, I had to depend on fellow students since people fluent in other languages were hard to find. And there are very few cases where a person can achieve fluency without complete immersion in the country of the language they are learning.

Sometimes, classes offered for non-English speakers can only rely on unstable means and are not able to get the word out to citizens. Or worse, the area people are moving to does not offer classes.
Which leaves the immersion non-English speakers are exposed to whittled down to rude comments thrown at them by rude people and what they see on television.

So, before you're rude to someone because of their inability to speak English, why don't you turn that into useful energy and demand that the government, be it city, state or national, make English classes and language help available to everyone.
Or better yet, lend a helping hand... or in this case, a helping conversation.


And to answer questions that I got after publishing this article, and ones that may arise after this post: half of my family came over from different parts of Europe as recent as four generations ago: my family is French on both sides (I had a great-grandmother from France that didn't even speak English) and I had a great-grandmother who was Portuguese. So, I remember a little from what I learned. And I took classes at uni for Japanese and Spanish. The other half of my family that wasn't from Europe, is African and Native American.

I'm a mulatto/mestizo in the truest sense. But more about that in another post.

Good news for the years to come!

The Rose Happiness Project has been started!
Check it out here:
http://happycrazyroseplace.blogspot.com/

Completely nuts and teeth

Well aware that I skipped writing yesterday, but I have good reason: Pain and the blues.

I went for my teeth cleaning, which was a lot more..... stabbity then I expected. I don't think I've ever had a teeth cleaning before. At least not that I could remember.
Anywho, she told me I brushed very well and I had good teeth.... but also had a bunch of minor cavities due to my infrequent flossing. Very infrequent.

In fact, our initial convo went like this:

Doc: So, how often do you brush?

Me: Twice a day, mostly. Once, if I'm out of town or being particularly lazy. But I usually use mouthwash to make up for it.

Doc: Good. And how often do you floss?

Me: errr...... three or four times.... a year?

She tsk tsked.

Honestly, I'm wary of flossing. What if I pop out a tooth?

She assured me that wouldn't happen, but my gums would be sore until they got used to the attention.

After she tallied up how much had to be done and how much it would cost, my eyes goggled and, without meaning to, said:
Oi. Maxed out cards, here I come.

She then assured me that my insurance would take care of most of it. 80 percent, I believe. Which is nice.


After leaving the dentist, I proceeded to get bummed and started debating on whether or not I should get a second job.
After work, I suggested this idea to Manon and my mum.
Manon told me to sit down and stop worrying.
Mum told me that having a second job would turn me into a basketcase. .... well, more of a basketcase. And told me to stop worrying, and that things would be alright.

Yes, I worry a lot.

In fact, I'm worrying right now if I left the oven on...

No, it's off. Good. Safe.

Which reminds me of this:
(parental advisory, some cussing)


Love Eddie Izzard.


Also, there will be a new unveiling of a part of the Rose Happiness Project tomorrow. Stay tuned!

Currently listening to Tornado Man's stage from Mega Man 9. Go classics!!