Since I still haven't had a lot of time or energy to post to my site, I've been instead using my spare time to look at other sites.  Yesterday, I came across this one, and it made me laugh so hard that I had to give it props here.  It was one of those sites that I looked at it and said, "Damn, why didn't I think of that?"  I could think of a few people I'd like to write letters to (Britney Spears, Jessica Simpson, Demi and Ashton, to name a few).  Anyway, check out the site.  It's good for a laugh or two.

So my sister's wedding is finally over.  No more dress fittings, or worrying about the money I'm shelling out for everything.  In all, I think I spent close to $1,000 on this wedding.  I didn't really realize how much I had spent until after the wedding was over.  Between presents and the bachelorette party, it was close to that.  But I'm glad that I was a part of it all.  The wedding was a lot of fun.  We were a little worried because the rehearsal on Thursday night didn't go well.  The priest didn't know who was reading what, when or where, and he changed the ceremony against my sister's wishes.  Yes, you pay the church $400 for their services, and they just pretty much fuck it all up.  My sister was too overwhelmed at that point to argue with the priest, so she just went with it.  The flower girl didn't want to walk down the aisle and cried hysterically the whole time.  Then the flower girl and ringbearer were walking down the aisle at the wrong time.  My cousin, who was an usher, forgot to close the door before they played the Wedding March for my sister, and the priest yelled at him.  It was a great rehearsal!  I think we spent more time laughing at ourselves than actually rehearsing.  But the day of the wedding went off without any mistakes.  My sister, cousin and I went to get our hair and make up done.  I thought my make up looked a little whore-ish, but everyone else said it was nice.  We had to take a ton of pictures, and by the end of the night, my face hurt from smiling so much.  We had an Escalade limo, which was awesome.  We almost got held up on the way to the church by a stupid high school homecoming parade, but the driver just cut right into line so our limo ended up being part of the parade.  The ceremony was very nice, although I felt like all I did was work because I had to hold my sister's bouquet and fix the train on her dress.  But at least I didn't trip walking down the aisle.  The reception was a lot of fun.  I gave my speech and didn't mess up, which was really the only thing I was worried about.  After that, I was like, "Pass me the alcohol!"  It was just great to see all my family in one place because we rarely all get together like that on a regular basis.  There are family members I see on the holidays, but many that I don't see at all.  So it was nice to get them all in one room.  As stressed out as I was about the wedding beforehand, now it's sort of depressing that it's all over.  Now, I just have the marathon on Sunday to finish, and then everything of importance that I had planned for this year will be over.  I can go back to just concentrating on school and work.  Since I haven't been keeping up with the news, or anything else for that matter, I have nothing much to write about but this, so sorry if it's boring.  Hopefully, I'll have more time and more interesting things to talk about.  Until then, I'm done.

Well, school, work and my sister's wedding have taken up a lot of my time lately.  I hardly have time to look at my blog, let alone write on it.  However, I got on today because I needed my maid of honor speech for the wedding and saw a comment on my Hunger Strike post.  You can read the comment for yourself, but I responded and felt the response was worthy of a post, not just being buried in the comment section.  The reason I wanted to make this a post is because a lot of people have a misconception on terrorism and why it happens.  It is hard for people to think about the events of 9/11 and not be angry, not want to kick the shit out of Osama bin Laden and the rest of his crew.  Believe me, I hate him as much as the next person.  But I think it is important that we don't look at terrorist groups and immediately assume that everything they do is a result of their hatred for people who are different.  I took a class in political terrorism and violence and read a lot on groups like Al Qaeda, and what the American public has been conditioned to believe is that Al Qaeda and other terrorists groups do what they do purely out of hate for our way of life.  Bush has said many times that they hate our freedom.  That is not true.  Anyway, I'm starting to rehash what I already wrote so I'll just paste the comment here and be done with it.  Make no mistake, I don't support terrorism, but I don't think that we can just tie it up in a neat little package because it isn't that simple. 

 

 

Many detainees at Gitmo have gone on a hunger strike.  While the strike began on August 8, I have only just heard about this.  I don't normally watch the TV news (for the same reasons I mentioned in my last post), so I may have just missed it.  But this is a pretty important story.  The detainees are taking a stand because they have been held (some have been there for three years) without trials.  Now, admittedly some of the prisoners may have ties to Al Qaeda or some other terrorist network, or may have information about same, but we don't treat our own citizens this way, why are we treating them like this?  They are people after all.  If we are going to invade a country and remove its leader from power because of the atrocities he has committed against others, shouldn't we be setting an example by not doing the same thing?  If the U.S. hasn't been able to find proof in three years that some of these detainees have ties to terrorist groups, then let them go.  Do you really think Al Qaeda or Hamas or Hezbullah needs them to operate if they've managed to carry out attacks without them in the past three years?  Do you think you're going to get usable information from them when they've been out of the loop for three years?  I doubt it.  And now the detainees who are participating in the hunger strike may die if the U.S. doesn't listen to what they have to say.  Saddam who?

I finally had time to read some of last week's Newsweek magazine.  Since I don't have much free time lately, my magazine reading isn't what it used to be.  I have subscriptions to about 7 magazines.  Most are monthlies, but some, like Newsweek, are weeklies.  Most of them end up piled on my coffee table.  Anyway, the point is, I read an interesting article in Newsweek last night.  It was regarding the Katrina disaster, and while we've all heard plenty about who did what and what went wrong, what I found interesting about the article was for once the author wasn't taking a soft line on Bush.  I expected to find a laundry list of who was to blame, according to what has been said by many politicians lately, and why it wasn't Bush or the federal government, but instead I found some of the same things being mentioned that I had previously read on the blogs (i.e., the fact that Bush had to cut short his vacation by two days and how no one in his administration wanted to tell him he had to do so for fear of angering him, and how he was riffing on a guitar when his ass should have been focusing on the disaster).  I'm wondering if now that the president's approval rating has taking a nose dive, the newspapers and magazines will be tougher on him in their articles.  And if that is the case, I don't know if that's good or bad.  I suppose it's good that the media would be doing its job and reporting the truth, not just what Bush wants them to report, but also bad that the media didn't start doing so until it was sure it wouldn't be labeled as unpatriotic or treasonous because it spoke out against Bush.  I have a propaganda in the media class on Monday nights, and last night something was mentioned that kind of tugged at me.  The professor asked the class, "What is the job of the media?"  And everyone answered, "To make money."  I know that answer is correct (even before the professor said so), but it saddens me.  I am pursuing an education in a field that is starting to disgust me.  Journalists are no better than politicians.  They curry favor with the president by attending backyard BBQs when they should be looking into how Bush is screwing up the U.S.  They kiss ass so they can stay in the White House press pool and get their questions answered even if it no longer matters what questions they ask because they are all going to report the same bullshit.  I chose not to renew my Newsweek subscription for this very reason.  I get my news from the blogs I trust.  I want to believe that this article in Newsweek is the beginning of more hard-hitting journalism regarding the Bush administration, but I'll have to wait and see.  I am unsure of the future of the media, but I hope it gets better. 

I've been so busy the past few days that I haven't even had time to look at my site let alone write.  My sister's bachelorette party was this weekend.  It was a lot of fun, but until it was over, I was so stressed out.  Worried that the coach wouldn't show up on time, that people wouldn't come, that the night just wouldn't go off the way I planned.  Plus I had three homework assignments to complete for this week.  I was so exhausted last week, both physically and mentally, that I came home from work on Wednesday (the only night I didn't have class right after work) and fell asleep for two and a half hours.  I rarely ever take naps like that except on weekends, but I was so tired.  I got used to not having class during the summer, and having three night classes is taking everything I have.  Not to mention the massive amounts of homework that are expected of me as a graduate student.  My job isn't that stressful, which is nice, but I still have to be here for eight hours a day.  Well, at least the bachelorette party was a success.  Everyone had fun, but most importantly, my sister had a blast.  She made $53 from the "Suck for a Buck" shirt I got her.  Some guys were giving her $5 and $10 just for the little candies that were on there.  Girls, if you want attention at a club, just pretend you're getting married.  The guys come running.  She was making money just to dance, for God's sake!  I'll probably be in debt for the next few months because of the party, but that's okay.  It was worth it.  Now, I just have to worry about getting down the aisle in a couple weeks without tripping over myself.  That's my next big worry.  I have this long dress, and I'm wearing high heels (I don't wear high heels that often).  When my sister and I went for our final fittings on Friday, I was walking around and trying to do the things I'll probably have to do during the ceremony (like bend down and fix my sister's train).  I'm not that steady when bending over so I'm hoping I don't fall flat on my face.  Then of course, I have to give a speech as the maid of honor.  A speech in front of 280 guests.  I have trouble getting up in front of a class of 20 to speak, so I don't know how I'm going to manage that.  But I have my speech prepared, in my head at least.  Here's the gist of it:

 

Traditionally, younger siblings have always looked up to older ones.  But in my case, I have looked up to Melanie as much as she may have looked up to me.  When I was unsure of where I wanted to go as far as college, Melanie was earning her bachelor's degree.  Then she went on to graduate school and earned her master's degree while I was, and still am, pursuing mine.  She coaches a high school softball team.  She works with special education children.  And every step of the way, every accomplishment she has made, I've been proud of her and looked up to her.  Now, we're here today to celebrate Sean and Melanie's marriage, and once again, I'm proud of her.  And I know that I will continue to be proud of her and look up to her for years to come.  Congratulations to both of you, and good luck with your future! 

 

It'll be something like that.  I don't want to be up there for too long because as people continue to stare at me, I'll start hyperventilating.  So let's see, my worries are falling at the wedding and hyperventilating during my speech.  Lovely.  Maybe I'll spill food on myself to complete the night.  Okay, well I'm going to try to keep writing as often as I can between work and school.  Until then, I'm done. 

I had my first Monday night class last night.  The professor is interesting, which always is a plus.  It's hell to sit through 2 1/2 hours of lecture with a professor who is about as interesting as a piece of cheese.  The material is also quite interesting given our current political climate.  The class is on public opinion and propaganda in the media.  But what I don't like about the class are the stupid fools I have to share it with.  I'm sure they were probably thinking the same thing about me, but at least I keep my mouth shut in class unless I have a well-thought out comment or question.  Some of these people just shout out shit like they have Tourette's.  Let's start with the girl in the first row with the smart looking purple barrettes in her hair.  She decides to throw in her two cents during our discussion, but she speaks as if she just got out of grade school.  She uses phrases like "more easy" and "their suing cases."  Suing cases was meant to refer to lawsuits, but I guess as a college student she hasn't heard that word yet.  Then the guy in front of me has an accent, I think.  I'm not sure if he just has trouble speaking, or if it's an accent, but everything he said sounded like mumbling.  I really tried hard to understand him, I think everyone did, but it was impossible to catch more than a couple words.  Then while someone else was talking, he started banging his pen against the metal rings of his binder.  How nice.  He can't talk, and he has ADD.  The girl next to him started to move away.  Wise choice.  The guy next to me told me how he was on his seventh cup of coffee that day, and even showed me his shaky hand.  He was kind of cute, even with the caffeine addiction, until he raised his hand in class and said he agreed with the Iraq war.  Then there was another guy who was in one of my classes last semester.  A real know-it-all.  He sits there looking all smug during class.  He piped up at one point and told us that if we have a problem with the way the government is run, we should be in government, not journalism.  I wanted to tell him how stupid that statement was, but I'm loathe to start confrontations in class, especially when I have another three months in there.  We should be in government?  Why, because working in government gives you the opportunity to make a difference?  Right.  Only if you're on the right side at the time.  Do you really think the Democrats in Congress are making much of a difference?  I'm sure they do to an extent, but it's not that easy to get things done when you are a minority in the House and Senate and the president is not of your party.  Sure, maybe I'll drop my journalism courses and run for office.  Start out small, maybe in city government as an alderman (because Lord knows, Chicago government isn't corrupt at all!!).  Then after greasing some palms and kissing some ass, I'll move up to state government, then federal, all the while having to continue to kiss ass to make a difference.  How many politicians go out of their way to fight for what they or their constituents believe in?  Not many.  Most of them are just towing the line.  So the way I see it, I'm going to make more of a difference in government by REPORTING on government than by actually being in it.  Provided the media quits being so freaking pansy-assed about reporting on the failings of government.  In England, the press was considered the fourth estate.  Its purpose was to report on the other factions of society.  In America, the media is supposed to serve as a check on government.  Lately, I haven't seen much of that going on.  But Mr. Know-It-All obviously didn't think of all this.  He just wanted to look good in his khakis and faux wind blown styled hair.  I have another class tonight - a different one with different students.  Can't wait.   

I had planned on writing a post today regarding Michael Brown, head of FEMA, and how instead of firing him, the government recalled him to Washington and put someone else in charge of the hurricane relief efforts.  I was pissed because I didn't see how sending him back to D.C. was a punishment.  It seemed like a mere slap on the wrist given the horrendous job he did.  Not that Brown is solely responsible for what happened.  I think everyone in the Bush administration must take some of the blame, including that asshole Chertoff from the Department of Homeland Security (why the fuck hasn't he been fired?).  But I just read an article on MSNBC.com regarding Brown's resignation.  While I am glad to see he's gone, he shouldn't have been allowed to resign.  Resignation affords the person some sense of dignity.  Instead of having your ass thrown out on the front lawn with your shit in a box, you get to leave on your own, possibly even telling people it was your decision, not the government's suggestion.  And that was just too good for Brown.  Were the citizens of New Orleans afforded any dignity when they had to walk on shit and piss to go to the restroom in the Superdome?  Were they afforded any dignity when they were stuck in the convention center with no food or water?  No, they weren't.  And so Brown should have been tossed out on his ass.  If Bush was really unhappy with the relief efforts as he claims, he should have been the first one calling for Brown's termination (although if we really want to split hairs, the jerk should call for his own resignation as well).  But Brown was allowed to sneak out the back so to speak.  I have no doubt Brown will get a good tongue lashing, if not from the media definitely from the blogs, but he deserved to be fired.  If I fucked up in my job as much as he fucked up in his, my firm would have no qualms about firing my ass.  It should be no different in this case. 

All day yesterday and today I have been watching various programs on the History Channel and Discovery Channel about 9/11.  Even four years later, I tear up when I see the planes crash into the World Trade Center buildings and then the subsequent collapse of both buildings.  I've seen those images over and over again since 9/11, and yet it never gets any easier.  I remember where I was that day and will probably always remember it.  I remember getting into the elevator at work, and a secretary I worked with telling me that there were reports that an airplane had crashed into the World Trade Center in New York.  I thought she was mistaken.  She had to be because who would do such a thing?  But as I arrived at my desk and started getting ready for the day, I heard the same thing repeated over and over.  At some point during the morning, I found myself in an office with some of my fellow co-workers watching the tragedy unfold on television.  There were probably about ten of us in that office, and no one said a word.  We all just stared at the screen in disbelief.  Our firm eventually let us go home, as did most companies in Chicago.  I went home and watched the coverage on television, including the collapse of both buildings.  That night I left the television on while I slept because I was afraid of missing something, of finding out some other tragedy had taken place.  I will never forget how horribly sad I felt that day.  I can't even begin to imagine how the people who had loved ones who died in the Towers, the Pentagon, or on the various flights that were hijacked that day must have felt and still feel to this day.  Because it never gets easier.  The shock and horror of that day never disappears.  I believe that thirty years from now the images of the planes crashing into the Towers and the buildings collapsing will still bring tears to many peoples' eyes.  We will always remember.   

Ever have one of those days where things seem so overwhelming that you feel like you might choke from the pressure?  I'm having one of those days.  My sister's wedding is at the end of the month, and her bachelorette party is next week - a party that I am largely responsible for.  My school semester just started so I have classes three nights a week in addition to working full time.  I had my first class last night and already I have homework.  I have bachelorette party favors to put together in bags I haven't bought yet.  I have a Suck for a Buck t-shirt to pin candies to with candies and pins I don't have yet.  I have to order food, buy alcohol, verify that the list of attendees I have is all I'm going to have . . . breathe, breathe.  The amount of money I have to shell out is also causing me some stress.  I'm trying to just take it one day at a time because if I look too far in the future, I'll faint.  But even the next couple days make me want to hide in my bedroom curled up in the fetal position with my thumb in my mouth.  Oh and I forgot, I'm also training for the marathon in October.  Breathe . . . breathe.  My mom is always telling me I try to do too much, but she doesn't understand that a lot of what I have going on in my life is necessary.  I can't quit my job to make more time, although I wish I could.  I can't quit school because I want to attain a goal in life that a master's degree in journalism will help with.  I can't bow out of my sister's wedding because she'd kick my ass.  And I can stop training for the marathon because I've already paid the $95 entry fee and put in the training time.  Somehow I just have to figure out how to deal with it all without having a nervous breakdown, but it's hard.  I'm always afraid I'll miss something or not do something well, then I'll feel like a failure.  And that too stresses me out.  One thing I am glad about is that it is Friday, and I have the weekend to try to relax and start working on some of these tasks I need to accomplish.  Maybe it won't be so bad . . . oh revisions on a document . . . breathe, breathe!