"We Are Not As Divided As Our Campaigns Suggest" or "Political Degradation in My Country"

So today I'm roaming the interwebs in search of a nice quote from Barack Obama to put as my political views on Facebook. My religious views are a quote from CS Lewis, so I thought it appropriate. As I'm trolling around and looking for words like hope and believe, I reach the bottom on the page and I see this:



SERIOUSLY? The fact that political campaigning has even gotten to this level of pandering is just outrageous. How stupid, exactly, do campaign managers believe Americans to be? I am genuinely offended by this, assuming that I will see Ahmadinejad and think, "Well, he kills people for fun and hates Jews, and Obama wants to give him cookies! Obama is just a Muslim-loving Communist Terrorist!" No thank you McCain, how about you assume I'm a little better than that. What makes me the most afraid and the saddest is that I know that there are people out there, looking to do research on a candidate, the minimal research requires of course, only to run into this ad looking just like the sort of advertisements for free Ipod deals and whether or not Lindsay Lohan's books are real. And they believe it, because they watch Fox news and they are victims of poor education or mercury in the water or whatever it is that made them such idiots and they think exactly the joke that I made up there. But they really, really believe it.

And it isn't about whether or not Obama is better than McCain, or who you should vote for, I won't tell you that. What I believe is that things like this distract from issues, and no one cares the differences between candidates economic ideas, healthcare plans, foreign policies, educational reform, unemployment rates or soldier strategies. No, we want a fast-food campaign, we want something bite-size. We want clips and blurbs and something that's dumbed down. I want to pick my candidate based on a 5-minute scan across a Google Search and a YouTube video. People just don't care anymore. They want it easy, they want it fed to them, and they want it in color, deep-fried, and with blinking lights.

Tactics like this prey on the type of people who are easily influenced and who don't care enough to educate themselves and John McCain's camp knows it. He is insulting us. Accuse Obama of being elitist? He's not elitist, he's just assuming that our IQ's are higher than our shoe sizes. He is treating us like adults and he gets marked as arrogant, while McCain treats us like imbeciles and gets called "our kinda guy." I'm ashamed that we want to be that kind of guy. I'm ashamed that we view intelligence as something that divides us, that because Obama is an eloquent man he doesn't understand the plight of the underlings. Why do we think ourselves underlings, anyway? Obama is not telling you that you're stupid, he is telling you to stop telling yourself that you are.

McCain, you are a better man than this, I know that. I don't want you to be president, but I know that you are a better man than that.

And WE are better than this, America, come on. We are better than this.

With Indignation,
Genevieve

"I've Already Had 2 Cups of Coffee" or "I Don't Wanna Go Home Because That Means More Packing" and "I Miss Lindsey, Come Home Damnit"

This week has been a transitional week. Between summer and the upcoming semester, between apartments, between being poor and getting help, between Lindsey being gone again and Lindsey being home again, between a semi-childish life and a semi-adult life. It's also between a shared bathroom and my own bathroom, of which I am most excited.

Cooper and I are beyond excited about moving into our new place. We have been planning together for a long time, and now we're so close we can barely contain ourselves. He and I are so alike, we are both looking forward to the simplest aspects the most. Things like being able to decide what goes on our new built-in bookcases, what we'll put in closets, which paintings will go on what walls. We're excited about having a refrigerator all to ourselves, of having a pantry, of putting a calendar in the kitchen we can put our schedules on and keep up with each other. We're excited about eating pizza off our unpacked boxes next Monday night, about buying a slipcover, about having a dining room table. We are two very easy to please people. I haven't met anyone else before who got as happy about the tiniest domestic habits as I do. We're already looking forward to Christmas together. We're just adorable.

In other news, my family has, yet again, come through for me. My aunt Greta is sending me money, thank Jesus, and my mother is offering to help me financially at least with set-up costs for my utilities. She can always give me just enough rope to be on my own, but also enough to keep a hold on me and help me when I need it. I only hope that when I have children I can find such the balance between cutting the cord and being so supportive as my mother has. She has no idea how she astounds me daily- or how incredibly grateful I am for the help.

My whole week is just class, babysitting, and packing. I have a paper due on Friday, then moving Friday and Saturday, work on Sunday, class again next week until Wednesday, then more unpacking and moving while we wait for the cable guys to come, Lambert's wedding on Friday the 8th, shopping in Birmingham with Cooper on the 9th, and then time to get back to my new apartment and revel in just a few days rest before classes start and I get to painting murals. I think this semester will be off to a great start.

This week doesn't count.

<3gen

"The Truth About Genevieve" or "Living A Life On The Edge, Never The Middle"

Truth About Genevieve #34: Genevieve shall never reside in between. Genevieve shall rest on one extreme or the other, and may trespass the gray areas only to investigate, never to stay.

After years of dating, falling in love, and being ready to marry nothing but slackers, failures, and men that can only be described as the reason that no one trusts this generation to get anything done, I have traversed the great between again and come to rest on the opposite man that I now find myself attracted to.

There is a man in my English class who I can actually call a man and not feel like I have to correct myself. He is very tall, very muscular, and is in the Marines. He has been to Iraq twice. He is probably an avid republican. He looks like he works out 2 hours a day. He has a shaved head. He has a massive cross tattooed on his left arm. I find him the sexiest man I have seen in a very, very long time.

I have never, ever been attracted to this type of guy, in fact actually repulsed by them. But now? After being surrounded by immaturity, irresponsibility, indecisiveness, and petty actions, a military man just exudes determination. He not only commands respect, but has a great amount of respect for authority and other people. He is committed to discipline, consistency, and his beliefs. From the way that he speaks, you can tell that he is very smart, practical, but understanding and tolerant. His laugh fills up a room. He knows what he likes, knows what he wants, and he goes and gets it. He is self-reliant, self-motivated, and did I mention he was self-gorgeous? Oh and what a smile...

I don't even know his name in case you wanted to ask. I have only heard him speak in class- in a voice that only Sean Connery could match in power and brevity- speak to some of his friends in class, and I have seen his handwriting. He doesn't doodle, he probably has never listened to silly music and danced in a kitchen, he probably doesn't like kittens or the movie Brokeback Mountain or RENT, he probably thinks blogging is stupid. But damn, I see him in class and I have to look straight at the teacher or my notes to keep myself from jumping the poor man.

I won't, by the way, actually jump him. But it never hurts to have eye candy.

<3gen

"What To Do Now That Lindsey's Back" or "Abigail the Rescue Dog"

As many of you already know, very well perhaps, I tend to get a little stressed. Usually over things not worth stressing about. This is why my phone is constantly speed-dialing Lindsey, my mom, or my sister, to find someone who can talk me down and assure me that no, the sky is not falling, calm the hell down.

Last night as I finally arrived back in Tuscaloosa from braving a terrifying, albeit short, rendezvous with a giant storm on my way home from Sheffield, I found my syllabus to start reading for class. Much to my chagrin, this revealed that my midterm was the next day, not Friday as I thought it was, and this led to a panicked search for my textbook which came up empty[I think I may have left it in Sheffield, can you look Lindsey?].

Immediately I'm in a frenzy. My notes are good, but many of them are actually in the pages of my book, not to mention that our syllabus refers to page numbers, not titles, so there is no way for me to look up titles of pieces that I missed class for. I was relying on reading the titles that I had missed classes on as my studying, seeing as how the class barely touched on the texts anyway, and now I had nothing for those days I had missed. No notes, no titles.

My first instinct is to tell my teacher I have cancer. No, bad idea. I then throw myself into a full-on pity party that is full of tears of frustration and me convincing myself that I am going to get a sure C on the paper I turned in because I know it sucked and was thrown together, I should just drop the class, maybe I should skip tomorrow, and then I get back to the cancer thing. Car accident? My gramma died?

I am all ready-at-the-helm to write a completely fabricated e-mail to get myself out of this mess when I think, "No, this is ridiculous. You're an adult, Genevieve, and you deal with this like one. You messed up, it happens. Study as much as you possibly can tonight, go to class early tomorrow, and suck it up."

So I did, and this morning I actually only had 2 questions on the midterm that I didn't know the answer to [and this was a hell of a midterm, too, 20 questions, all short answer ID's of author, piece, and historical context]. Then I get my paper back, A-. I apparently forgot that I'm an English major, I'm smart, and my shittiest papers still get A's. Sheesh.

So, all in all, I'm proud of myself for pulling out of this myself. Not even a tearful call to my mother at midnight! I also think that things happen for a reason, and if I had stayed at Lindsey's for even the 5 extra minutes to search for the book, I probably would have had a much nastier meeting with that storm last night than the one I had, and the one I had I hope to never have again. So I think this all turned out fine.

What gave me the idea that I even knew HOW to fail an English course?

<3gen

"Just Because Everything's Changing Doesn't Mean It's Never Been That Way Before" or "Tomorrow I Am Quitting My Job"

Lindsey, if you were here, there would be no way that you would have let me stay miserable at this job this long. But I stuck it out, like my mom said I should, and I tried my absolute best. And you know me, I am incapable of phoning it in, I can't just not try. But I also know when lemons won't turn into lemonade anymore, and that time is over. The best thing I can do right now is quit Target. It is a toxic environment, and Jennifer has offered to help me get more hours at the church. The people there really care about and love me and are proud of me and I need to take advantage of that ready-made team of helpers. I forget how surrounded I am by blessings.

Tomorrow I am walking into Target and quitting, no two-weeks notice, no nothing. I will give them the respect they have given me. Won't that look bad on a reference? I have a current job where I have been given a secret raise, and been offered my boss's position before she was asked to take it, my previous job keeps me on the payroll just in case I want to put in a few hours on a Saturday because they love me that much, and they gave me 2 raises in the time I was there. Target, I don't need your reference.

I also have a paper to write tonight, so let's get started. I hope to channel some of your marvelous last-minute paper powers tonight Mullen, although I wish I was with you in OB with some coffee, music playing, and laughing.

Footnote: I had a dream yesterday afternoon that I was driving past Canterbury and I saw you in the bushes outside trying to catch Stumpy. I stopped the car and jumped out and ran to you and gave you the biggest hug that exists in the whole big world, and I was crying I was so happy you were home. You said I could go ahead where I was going, because you were home now and I could come back later and we would sit on the floor and talk. I got back in the car and started driving and then I woke up. I was so disappointed that you weren't really home, I tried to fall back to sleep so that I could turn the car around.

If you showed up at my door right now, it wouldn't be soon enough.

This is my late, late Thursday night.
Flossie turns 5 on Saturday.
I miss you so much.

<3gen

"Thank You" or "The Power of Prayer and Scrambled Eggs"

Oh Lindsey today has been so glorious!! One of the things that has been weighing on me so heavily lately is getting our leases taken over for this year. I have done all I feel I can to try and find people, posting ads and flyers everywhere, all to no avail. I felt completely out of ideas. Then today, I get this voicemail:

"Hello Genevieve, this is Monique from Campus Way to let you know that we have an opportunity today for you to get out of your lease without paying the $350 fee. Please come into the office before 1pm today to sign the papers or we will make the offer to someone else. Thank you."

PRAISE THE LORD JESUS CHRIST.

I have the biggest weight off my shoulders I don't even care about how difficult it's gonna be to move out of this place! Cooper is on his way home to sign the papers and we'll be free! I am absolutely ecstatic right now. heavens to Betsy.

This is my positively outstanding Thursday morning.
I wish you were here so I could hug you!
I love you.

<3gen

"The Technology of the Invisible" or "Have Adventures At Dawn, What The Universe Says"

Every day I am reminded why I am going to be a teacher, and today's realization came with how happy I felt to be in school again. I was dreading class beginning, simply because I have been sleeping in most days due to the rigorous schedule at Target, and I was not too keen on having class every day at 8 am. Luckily, my teacher is lively and fantastic and I was reminded of how much I love school, how much I love English, and how much I really love learning. Awesome.

I'm also embarking on some new adventures. This blog started out as a "Genny goes on a new adventure every day" sort of deal, so after you get back, my darling, it will probably turn into that. I can't very well write letters to Lindsey when I will go right back to speaking to you 6 times a day. So here are a few of the new adventures I've started on:

-- I have been offered a graphic/web design job for Capture Cafe
-- I will soon begin painting murals at First United in the nursery
-- I have now been appointed ira's official new playdate, and will be spending at least 2 days a week at his house [this is majority unpaid work, however, it something I desperately need for my soul]
-- I have started a new diet/exercise plan, and hope to get over the initial hump to fitness as I got over the initial hump to single-tude [i am also still troubled that exercise is not spelled excercise]
-- I now vow to complete 1-2 paintings a week, and get this damn website up. I've only had the frickin thing for 3 years now, let's stop making mommy pay for something that doesn't exist, shall me?

So yes, that's what we've started on. I'm on my way home now to paint, do some photoshop work on the old laptop, and [GASP] workout after eating a healthy lunch. Last night they had free pizza for us at Target, and I forwent the pizza and had my soup instead, be proud of me!!

I am now missing you more than ever, Mullen, and I can barely stand the days I am forced to wait for you to return. I know I'm learning about myself spending this first summer alone, but I can only get to know myself so well before I annoy myself.

This is my adventurous Tuesday morning.
Hurry home, my love.

<3gen

"Hummus for Dinner" or "The Trials and Tribulations of A Star That's Stuck"

There was a post here before that took 8 very flowery paragraphs to relate, "I got a flat tire this morning, but I made it to work anyway, and I realized it was well worth it when Ira told me all his stories from Disney World." Why on earth I felt the need to write that in novella form, the world may never know.

Today I needed to pick up my paycheck from the church, but the lovely angel church ladies decided they could leave early because tomorrow is a holiday. Thank you First United Church Bitches, I owe you for that one.

In other news, I feel a little stagnant. The two deals that we have in the works for people to take over our leases are both taking a while to get back to us, which means we [and when I say we, I mean me, because I'm taking care of it all] are hanging in the middle waiting for people to make decisions. I'm also waiting for class to start next week, waiting to get paid at Target, waiting for this guy to come talk to me at work about getting a job, and in general waiting for he school year to start again and Lindsey to get home and Apwonjo to get up and running so my life can be busy again. I don't like having a week off and returning to things being still. I need movement.

Also, Lindsey has not updated/checked facebook/called/revealed herself since June 27th and I am now in the middle stages of worry, preceding panic. You better do something soon, Mullen, or I'm gonna have to crash the embassy in full Rambo gear ready to wisk you away in a potato sack. You damn well know I'll do it, and you damn well know you'll fit.

This is my Thursday afternoon.
I miss you, please make contact.
I love you.

<3gen