(15:32:28) Al0929: i am going to see brian's house! if i am not back by six pm, send the feds

I will be doing something with the Vagina Monologues. I have to wait to hear from Darcey to find out what, exactly, and what I will be reading if I'm reading. I am excited already. :)

It's raining like crazy outside. I don't want to walk to class, nor do I want to wait 10 minutes in the rain for the shuttle. But you know, I kind of have to get to class...sigh.

it's going to be a really, really long day.

starting with a flu shot. hopefully, i won't get the fever or aches that are sometimes associated with flu shots, since i can't really afford to feel bad this afternoon.

flu shot, class, home, lunch, class (where we're going to the compost farm, oh boy!), home for dinner, auditions for the VMs, home to get ready for apartment inspection so i can renew my lease.

phew. i am tired already!

Guess what we bought last night?

Tickets to Ani Difranco at Lupo's in November.

Eek!

I got the Nigerian scam spam today. I am always amused when I get classic spam! :)

"Partial Birth Abortion" ban passes Senate

I am so disgusted by this. What this means, basically, is that if I am pregnant and will die if I deliver my baby, I have to deliver the baby and die rather than abort it, unless I can manage to commit a felony and avoid that.

It really scares me, what they can take away.

I know it will probably never pass, but it still frightens me that there's any sort of support for doing that to women. I don't understand people who believe that the baby's life must always come before the woman's, even in a situation like that.

Okay this is why I love Alyssa.

"71. What song do you want played at your wedding? the mario music in level
two in the swimm-y world."

!!

Also, I laughed for about 5 minutes straight here:

"90. Studly or cutie: haha i can't believe they said studly."

Now, we probably all had a sense of this, but:

Research sez: regular sex is good for you.

i would like to state for the record that i have more work to get done today than seems humanly possible.

and i am going to do everything i can to be done by this evening so i can have a little bit of weekend, guilt-free.

ask me around dinner time how i did.

okay folks, i'm diving in.

my family was here this afternoon for a little while. it was fun and they brought me birthday presents! i got DVDs and books! they cleaned out my wishlist, it was very exciting. birthdays r00l.

and thank you to raina for bring up the vatican condom thing, because i was so mad about that and i wanted to say something to mom and now she knows. i just want her to know that i don't go to church because i don't believe in what they do as an organization and i don't want to support them or give them money, or go along with beliefs that aren't my own (not because i like to sleep in on sundays) and so when things like this come up i like to say something. anyway, enjoy the janes. ;)

we had falafel. i didn't eat much because i wasn't really very hungry then, but i am hungry again now, so i think we will make some tomato sauce or something.

I don't know if you guys know or not, but a bunch of conservative groups and President Bush have declared this week "Marriage Protection Week" (translation: a week specially commited to convincing people that only heterosexuals should have the right to marry). Rather than send you all the email: to help counter the hateful rhetoric these people are spreading, sign up with hrcactioncenter.org and their million for marriage petition, write to your representatives, and come out in support of the GLBT community. I feel like I only post angry stuff lately, I'll try to stop doing that. These are just the things that move me to rant and get the word out, you know.

I spent most of the evening studying for the MAT (Miller Analogy Test) that I will be taking soon so I can apply to grad school. And also going over a book on the GREs, so I can decide which one to take. I'm thinking it will be the MATs, but they are so much harder than they look or sound. But. I can fit studying for big tests into everything else! I will just be doing school-related stuff all day for the rest of my life, but it will be fine. Just fine. Fine.


Ooooh boy.

I went looking for more information on the whole Catholic church lying about condoms thing and foundthis. It's a statement of what the actual church's stance is (meaning those in charge, not just some rogue bishop somwhere) on contraceptives, and includes the misinformation about latex condoms being permeable.

It also says that it opposes contraception in part because they feel that contraceptives cause more people to have abortions, *because it will fail sometimes and create an unwanted baby*. okay, so if i don't use any at all but still don't want babies, won't i be pregnant more than if i used contraceptives, mister catholic?

I know that second part isn't new news, but you know. (And keep in mind as I rant that I am not Catholic-bashing here, I am angry with *the church adminstration* for promoting this. I realize the average Catholic isn't evil, but I feel that many of the people in charge certainly have some seriously wrong ideas that are really harmful to a lot of people.)

News report: The Catholic church is telling Africans not to use condoms because they have tiny holes in them through with the HIV virus can pass, putting thousands of people at risk for infection.

That makes me absolutely furious. Because the church doesn't believe in contraception, it is putting thousands of people at risk, encouraging the spread of HIV in a place where HIV is already so prevalent. It's a joke that they argue for the sanctity of all life when they are actively encouraging all of this needless death among innocent people.

An excerpt:

"In Kenya - where an estimated 20% of people have the HIV virus - the church condemns condoms for promoting promiscuity and repeats the claim about permeability. The archbishop of Nairobi, Raphael Ndingi Nzeki, said: "Aids... has grown so fast because of the availability of condoms."

Sex and the Holy City includes a Catholic nun advising her HIV-infected choirmaster against using condoms with his wife because "the virus can pass through".

In Lwak, near Lake Victoria, the director of an Aids testing centre says he cannot distribute condoms because of church opposition. Gordon Wambi told the programme: "Some priests have even been saying that condoms are laced with HIV/Aids."

Panorama found the claims about permeable condoms repeated by Catholics as far apart as Asia and Latin America. "

(19:23:41) der mauseballon: i love it
(19:23:42) der mauseballon: loooove it
(19:23:57) sarahmchinchilla: L O V E it

I lurve luv l-o-v-e you Meredith. :)

can i add a sixth? i often imagine being a photographer, and having books of my pictures published, and traveling all over the world taking pictures. my photos would win prizes and move people to laughter or tears. that is my sixth job. :)

stolen from ally:

five things you would be when you grow up:
#1 a way cool children's librarian, a la my inspirational crandall ladies. i'm going to take a little bit of each of them into whatever job i have, and i hope they know that.
#2 a sex educator, particularly for junior high kids or maybe high school (i feel it's important to start early though, so maybe like 5th or 6th grade in a perfect world where i could teach what i wanted to teach, and not just DON'T EVER HAVE SEX KIDS OR YOU WILL DIE kinds of rhetoric)
#3 i would like to work for/run a a progressive advertising company, designing ads with positive messages and images instead of the offensive crap that gets put in most magazines now.
#4 i would like to be a writer, and travel all over doing book signings and readings, and work every day in my cozy house on my computer, with tea or coffee and a kitty cat and ryan, who would also be a writer. :)
#5 my secret fantasy job would be being a pop star, singing and dancing and getting photographed all day. without all the negative issues fame brings, but with all the money and fun stuff. yeah. ;) this is a fantasy, okay?! :)

http://gnoosic.com/ is pretty cool. you tell it three bands or singers you like, and they guess what else you might like. funness. :)

Yeah, this pretty much sums it up.

it is rainy outside, so we're watching a movie this afternoon. guess which one?

it is "a little princess" and all thanks to rachel :)

yay!

Thanks to everybody who was so nice to me for my birthday - I've had IMs and phone calls and presents and cards and it's very sweet of you all. I will write more tomorrow but since one of the things I got for my birthday was a cold ;-/ I am going to bed right now. *hugs to everybody*

(10:51:17) UncleJohnnyS: happy birthday
(10:51:23) UncleJohnnyS: you're almost 30
(10:51:28) UncleJohnnyS: hahaha

:P :)