Everybody knows

Everybody knows that the boat is leaking
Everybody knows that the captain lied
Everybody got this broken feeling
Like their father or their dog just died



And that's all I'll say about the SOTU.

Although I did particularly like the part when he said that medical decisions should be made between a patient and a doctor - not insurance companies. Too bad he couldn't have tossed on there "not insurance companies, or governments, or activist Attorney Generals, or the handful of crazy religious wingnuts." That's the speech I would have written. F'n losers.

Did anyone notice that the only time that Bush and Cheney drank any water was at the exact same time? I mean, hello... puppets!!!! And, what the hell was up with Pelosi? Get that woman a drink of water. She kept licking her collagenated lips like she had leftover lollipop on them. Maybe that was the situation - she thought she was going to starve up there so they coated her lips with sugar to keep her awake. Um, and hello mister cameraman, not a flattering view of McCain while he was looking down to read something -- or, was he really asleep? And, good lord, does the Prez really alienate that many legislators that the only time they can get his autograph is while he's exiting the building? It's not a fucking Ticketmaster show and he's not Justin Timberlake, you nut cases.

Yes, yes, I did listen to what he said. I wasn't just playing Inside Hollywood or something. And, I agree with the reporters, it was somber and sober. But it was a bunch of hooey all dressed up in grown-up clothes, too. The average American will wonder why Pelosi didn't stand up more and won't necessarily get the significance of some of his "plans" or that he's requesting to remove earmarks after his fucking party accepted and encouraged and made it law of the land to slide slippery policy into fucking everything they could. And, I wonder if the average Joe/Jane will get the fact that he wants to allow government to only give doles to the elderly, the handicapped, and the poor snowflake babies -- and not to the middle class or the recently laid-off blue collars or the struggling single mom or the non-traditional, older student trying to work and pay her tuition. And do you think that the average American will understand that the guy who's gonna see to it that doctor's don't get sued for such silly and outrageous offenses as medical malpractice is Michael Leavitt who won't fire a guy who believes that birth control is bad and supports bullying and threatening pregnant women into continuing their pregnancies instead of opting for abortion.

Yeah, I don't have much faith in the average population. Yes, yes, they did make a statement when they voted for Democrats [or rather, voted anti-Iraq war]. But will they understand the politics of the SOTU tonight? Will they still call for an end to the war? Will they see through his b.s.? Will they - will we still call for impeachment?

And, that's all I'm going to say about the SOTU.



Anyway..

I took a break physically last week from men. The only man I saw was my ass doctor who didn't even touch me. It was purely a consult to discuss having the "tag" of skin [aka the tail of the devil] removed from my bumstar. We had to have an official consult so my insurance would refer me and cover the cost of my future surgery. Yee-haw! Surgery! Fun! Buckets and buckets. I have no idea how this is going to go down at all. [I'd tell you a funny story about James and surgery, but I don't have his permission to share. Anyway, he'd prolly tell it best.] All I know is that this will require a cut and, I imagine, some stitches near my bumstar. I will be purchasing shares of the Luv's corporation - specifically requesting a ton of my investment in baby wipes. The hospital has sufficiently tried to scare the beegeezus out of me with a packet of info containing a form for power of attorney, pages of instructions about what not to eat or drink before the surgery, and has me second-guessing my decision already.

School's going well. Crazy cat lady econ professor is indeed crazy cat lady. I'm remembering all her stories about the snowplow her husband bought, the cat she spent $1000 on, and the mini-storage rental business she owns, but I'm not understanding the correlations to economics. And I think her lectures confuse me more than just reading the book, which btw has nice photos and colors and bigger sized font and good examples and fun stories. I do feel slightly like they're telling me I'm either a retard or a 9th grader, but it's a nice, slow re-introduction into school. Stats isn't going any better - not that either are going poorly, it's just .. average, I guess. There are some things I'm experiencing that I remember from back in the day. The immediate camaraderie you can build with a classmate if you just introduce yourself and share a bit. All of a sudden I have a study partner or two! I'm being a very good student and reading all the material - and more! - than required. I'm grasping it all pretty well, too. And it seems perfect that the econ goes with the stats as I'm learning them. Correlation but not causation. Etc...

Applying's going well. The London School of Economics turned me down but that was expected as it was a long-shot. You're the first to hear this news. Please don't tell everyone, especially not my recommenders or family. I'm not ready to tell the disappointments. .... I've only got Hertie[Berlin], Leiden [NL], and Sciences Po [Paris] left to go. The grand total will be 12. Geezus if I don't get accepted by one of them!

Anyway... this is a good week. Men on the horizon. I'll catch up with schoolwork. Work-work's not too demanding yet. Next week I get to attend the State of the State and the reception at the Governor's mansion. It's also my mum's 60th birthday and my dad's 64th. I can't imagine a world without them and I can only hope that they'll be around for forever - even though I know that's not possible. And, what kind of gift says that? Got any suggestions?

Oh, and I posted an entry below that was free-flow following a playdate with SirMax. Enjoy!


And total PS. I haven't really been following them all that much, but I just spotted The Shins on Dave Letterman [I guess they were on SNL recently?!?]. If you click the link [to YouTube] or you know them at all.. Dave Hernandez, the back-up vocals and guitarist, you know, the hottest one of them all - well, he was in a band out of Albuquerque called Scared of Chaka. SoC played our basement back in the punk rock days. And, as drunk young girls are, my gal pal and I almost flipped a coin to see which boy we got: Dave or Dameon [the bassist of SoC]. But, we both kind of leaned toward one of the boys - she got Dave and I got Dameon. And... she got nuthin' that night and I got Dameon. .......... All my Minneapolis boys makin' it big now. Sigh. I loved that time in life.