i’ve been doing so much writing for everyone else that i haven’t taken the time to write for me and it shows. i’ve been close to meltdown mode ™. seriously.
there’s something in me that is compelled to write. i can’t control it. i can’t explain it, even. but i start having wild mood swings and turning into a neurotic, crazy, insecure person that no one in their right mind would want to live with.
and sometimes i don’t realize that i’m not writing like i should until i start getting testy. it’s almost like withdrawals. but for me, it’s more like grounding. it helps me get things off my chest. it helps me deal with things before they pile up. and that’s what has been happening. things pile up, i don’t deal with them before they do, and then i break.
i just have to remember that even when things are traveling at breakneck speed, i still have to stop and decompress. and i do that by writing. that’s my stress relief. without it, well, *shiver* – you don’t want to see the consequences.
Archive for » 2004 «
sooooo, i have a 10 page rough draft due tonight. guess i’d better start typing it, huh?
spammers have majorly gotten ahold of my gmail account in the last week, but especially the last 24 hours. it’s all being filtered properly, mind you. but it still annoys me. i don’t like unsolicited crap like that. when will you idiots out there that buy from them stop it? when did it become acceptable for our privacy to be invaded like this? and don’t give me patriot act bullshit, because it goes way back before it. like to telephone solicitors and door to door salesmen. i’ve never liked any of it. leave me the hell alone! i’ll buy what i want, when i want. and not because you told me it’ll get my teeth whiter or my clothes cleaner. this shit is out of control!
*anchored*
web designers – do you love to design but hate to come up with provocative copy? does the thought of writing fill you with dread or bore you to tears?
maybe i can help. if you would rather spend your time working your magic, but know you need dynamic content, let’s work together. contact me for more info.
i haven’t been posting a ton because all i’ve been producing is papers. oh, and testing on a major project that goes live tomorrow. which means i’ll be working at 9.30 in the morning. wheeee! but moving a new program into production entails a lot of waiting, so the boss advised me to bring my homework.
did i mention it turns out i’ve been having trouble with my laptop usb ports and didn’t know it? high speed usb doesn’t work at all – found out when i bought a jump drive and it didn’t work. the normal usb only recognizes that something’s plugged in after i put the computer to sleep and wake it up again. joy! but apple’s going to replace the board for me. i’ll be without the laptop for a week. maybe i’ll send it in while we’re at mom & dad’s, since i won’t have much time to do anything on it anyway.
so, putting up the paper. this time it’s for a lit class, not an argument, so it’s about my reaction to a piece. go over and read it if you want to. it’ll be up momentarily.
my truth claim is up. here’s an exerpt:
I miss the smell of freshly cut hay and seeing nothing but trees and hills for miles. I miss every shade of green you could possibly imagine in nature. I want neighbors that know the proper distance between houses is hundreds or thousands of feet, not inches. I want to let the kids run outside or to grandma�s or a cousin�s house, knowing they�ll be safe and are within shouting distance. I miss lying in the grass, watching cloud formations by day and millions of stars, clearly seen and seemingly so close you could grasp them, at night. I miss porch swings, Sunday dinner, church potlucks, and Friday night basketball games. I miss having family nearby that will just as likely show up right before you need them as they will when you call. I miss deals made on a handshake, being able leave doors unlocked, windows open, and keys in the car. I miss being around families that have been our neighbors for generations. I don�t want my children to miss those things. And they won�t.
just a month yikes! three weeks left in class, but i still have about 4 or 5 projects to go before i’m finished. i’d better hurry up and finish that damn research paper.
i’m reposting some of my writings over on my other site, and keeping it to mostly my papers and other writing endeavors. some of it may be duplicated, and some of it original content, but i’ll let you know when it’s been updated. i had to disable comments because after almost a year the spam computers finally found it and started hitting hard, but you can always email me or comment here. i’ll eventually get around to moving to ee and then i’ll reopen comments.
i’ll be posting my value claim over there (shortly). as always, no sources to prevent theft. i finally got my grade back. “a.” what a relief! i only hope the policy one turns out as well. i’d better get cracking on the extra credit, to be safe!
the secret to leftover turkey soup?
two things.
homemade broth from the turkey carcass.
2 buck chuck chardonnay.
no, you don’t drink the wine until everything else tastes good. you dump the bottle into the soup (or half, depending on the size of the pot you’re using). it makes the difference between okay soup and great soup.
we had to watch fah*ren*heit 9/*11 in my critical thinking class last week. then we chose a section of the film to research and either prove or disprove. i chose the section about the saudi nationals that left soon after the twin tower attacks. my paper will be in the extended section.
i will not include my sources to hopefully cut down on someone stealing from me, but if you need it, you can just ask. i had the damndest time finding the exact references in the 9/11 commission report, because there is no comprehensive index. i could have gone a lot more in depth, but decided not to since it’s only a page paper.
In Fahren*heit 9/*11, Mich*ael Mo*ore wants viewers to believe that the White House and the Saudi government conspired to sneak Saudi nationals out of the United States before commercial travel resumed after the September 11th attacks. He also leads viewers to conclude that the removals were somehow improper and that the Saudis were not questioned or interviewed and that because of special treatment, were allowed to �get away� without giving up any information they might have been privy to. On michael*moore.com, Mo*ore notes those Saudi passport holders left the country between September 11th and 15th, 2001. While technically true, only one Saudi left on September 11th and the rest left on or after the 13th, after commercial flights were allowed to resume. This is evidenced by a FOIA list of the passengers from judicialwatch.org. Mo*ore also notes testimony of Richard Clarke, where Clarke admits that he can�t remember who brought the proposal to him, asking that the Saudi nationals be allowed to leave the country due to fear of reprisals. Because Clarke thought it might have been the State Department or the White House Chief of Staff�s Office (which we all know NEVER does anything without the President knowing or giving permission, right?), but he could not remember for certain. And why couldn�t Clarke remember? Probably because this testimony was on March 24, 2004 � over 2 � years after the events in question. I doubt that I could remember at that point, considering I don�t remember a lot about that day, except the shock I felt about what happened. Alternately, in an interview with The Hill (hillnews.com) in May 2004, Clarke said he took �responsibility for it� and that the bin Ladens were known to the FBI. The final word, though, comes from the 9/11 Commission Report itself. They �found no evidence that any flights of Saudi nationals, domestic or international, took place before the reopening of national airspace�� They also �found no evidence of political intervention� or that �anyone at the White House above the level of Richard Clarke participated in a decision on the departure of Saudi nationals.� And finally, the FBI screened the passengers they needed to screen and have not since found any evidence to change their minds about how they handled the situation or who they interviewed (9/11 commission, p 329-30). Also of note is the fact that the U.S. government does not �routinely run checks on foreigners who are leaving the United States.� So it would not have been out of the ordinary or unusual for the Saudis to leave without interviews or any interventions (9/11 commission, n 27, p 557). So while Mich*ael Mo*ore may try to mislead viewers about the Saudi nationals� flights out of the United States after the attack on the twin towers), the 9/11 commission found no reason to believe it was anything more than the Saudi government requesting protection for its citizens (especially those in diplomatic or important government positions, say, relations to the royal family) due to fear of reprisals, much as the American government would do for its citizens overseas. If there had been any injury to the Saudi royal relatives, it would have been a diplomatic nightmare for the U.S.
i’m finally throwing some queries out there to see if they’ll stick. i don’t know what will happen, but at least i’m doing something and maybe i’ll eventually get some freelance writing work out of it. doesn’t hurt to try. and even if they tell me no, it’s better than doing nothing.
