evil women?

This Monday has been uneventful so far. But I'm sick, so it sucks anyways. However, I made the executive decision to skip phil. and take an extended nap so I can go to band. I know, I know, my priorities may seem kind of skewed. But it's too late now. And we're sightreading in band. I like to sight read.

Oh, and on the way back from class just now, I was stuck walking behind a smoker. My throat is already irritated, thanks... it did not appreciate having to inhale cigarette smoke. Ugh.

So in Shakespeare, we just started reading Macbeth. And someone brought up the fact that a woman (Lady Macbeth) is the cause of all of the evil within the play. And how that wasn't fair. That made me think: people don't like to think of women as evil. By nature, women are supposed to be nurturing, motherly... which all adds up to "kind."

I don't buy that. Women can be just as evil as men. There's no predisposition for women to be nicer than men... it's just societal and cultural. Women are expected to be "nice." But if women are really equal to men, then women have just as much a right to be mean. I mean, ideally, it would be nice if everyone was kind to each other. But that's just not possible (apparently). However, this does not mean that I think that women have a predisposition to be evil... I don't think men do either.

Evil women in literature fascinate me. Maybe because they're better character studies. Maybe because I myself am evil.

Anyways, that's my schpiel of the day. I could blog about my fall break... but I think I'd rather sleep.

next weekend is almost here already. woo.

That's right. The next weekend starts TOMORROW for me. Yay for fall break. Of course, it's just a 4.5 day weekend, but still. Better than nothing. I've been kinda snippy lately, so I think it's good that I can get away for a few days. It might be my introverted self being resentful at all the social life I've had lately.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining about this weekend. It was some good fun. Friday night was Midnight Madness... it got boring after a while (as usual) and so Erin (one of the other flute players) and I began making animal noises. She does a really good angry hippo. Ask her about it. After getting home after 1 AM, I went to sleep at around 2 and woke up 6 hours later to play at "Morning Madness" (we watched the women's team's first practice and scrimmage). Came home at around 12:30 to take a looong nap... but not as long as I was planning. The heater pipes were clanging together and my next door neighbor was playing trumpet, so I woke up after about 2 and a half hours. I studied a little, chilled a lot, then got ready for my roommate's big birthday dinner... which was a LOT of fun. We went to the Safe House, which has this whole spy-theme... reminded me a lot of Alias (being the obsessed freak that I am). It was 3 couples... and then another guy, James, and me (a non-couple). It was kind of weird sometimes, but no biggie. At least I knew him and am friends with him... nothing is worse than being with a bunch of couples and a guy you don't know. It's like a blind date. But... not. Not like that I know what a blind date is like (thankfully). ANYWAYS.

Decided not to go dancing after dinner, since it was already about 11, and one of the couples and the guy decided to go home. And rather than go dancing with two couples, I opted to go home too. Don't get me wrong... all four people are good people... but the idea of going dancing with two couples is quite squiffy. Plus, I thought it would be better, with the band concert being the next day and call time being noon.

Which leads me to the band concert. It went quite well, though I messed up a few times. Blah. And it's on DVD. On my solo in one of the marches, the guest conductor made me stand up for it. As I sat back down, everyone applauded, even though the piece was only half over. It was the weirdest feeling ever.

Then I went home and studied. And studied and studied. Oh, and watched Love Actually. I had a midterm today, in theories of personality. I studied a LOT more for it than I did for the first test, so hopefully I did better. I really can't afford another bad grade in that class.

On the other hand, I got my theology midterm back (the one I took last week... apparently it was a midterm. Good to know. I thought it was just a normal test). I got a 97!!

Alright, I suppose I should get some stuff done. I want to try to go to sleep early tonight. But we'll see if that happens (it never does).

Oh, and if you do read this, drop me a comment. I like to know who's reading my blabber. :-) It would be much appreciated and it doesn't take a lot of time.

rant on The Ugly Duckling

It's finally the weekend! Yay! Too bad I have a test on Tuesday that I desperately need to study for. But it's the weekend. And next weekend (well, Wednesday)... I get to go home!! Yay!

So anyways, I have a rant. I was thinking about this while walking back from class the other day (yeah, I think about random things at random times). I can't stand fairy tales. They lie.

I mean, don't even get me started on the whole concept of the beautiful princess in need of rescue by a dashing prince. There is no Prince Charming. And in many stories, the prince kisses the princess without her consent. That would be considered sexual harrassment now. If I was in a coma, I wouldn't want some random guy (who I don't know) kissing me.

And then there's the Ugly Duckling. I used to love that story when I was little. The little ugly grey duckling grew up to become a beautiful swan. I thought I was this ugly little kid and maybe one day, I'd grow up to become a beautiful "swan." Well, I'm grown up (pretty much, anyways) and that hasn't happened. And I know it never will. You can't change how you look. What's wrong with staying "ugly" your whole life? Isn't it more important what is INSIDE you? Well, I guess in this lookist country, that's not entirely true. If you have the intelligence, you have to have the looks too, or you're less likely to be noticed.

Well anyways. That's my rant. Kind of short, but I'm hungry. Watching Friends and eating dumplings commences... now.

getting closer...

Wednesday is about over. The weekend is almost here.

Though really, I have a lot of stuff to do over the weekend, so maybe I shouldn't be so excited. But I am. And I'm even more excited about the weekend than I was when I last blogged (Monday, I think?).

So Friday night is Midnight Madness. Saturday night was supposed to be the flute dinner, but the flute dinner has been changed to a flute "lets have lunch and eat breakfast food." Basically, we're getting together after a pep band thing (that takes place in the morning) that came up kind of last minute. But we're playing for the women's basketball team, so it's all good. We like the women's team. Which means that Saturday night, I can fully celebrate Katie (my roommate) being one year older. Dinner and dancing at some club. I have yet to go to a 21 and over club. And Sunday, of course, is the band concert (Varsity Theater, 2 pm! Not like anyone who reads this actually lives in the area... or do you?).

My stomach has been giving me BIG pains today and yesterday. It comes and goes, but it's not exactly pleasant. I have really strong prescription pain meds... but they make me really really sleepy, and I need to study for about another hour. Plus, if I take a pill now, I won't be able to get up for class. And since I skipped the class on Tuesday, I probably should go on Thursday. Especially since I have a test in that class next Tuesday. It's been three weeks since the last test and this test is going to cover 6 theorists (this is for theories of personality)... which is about 5 chapters in the text (and each chapt. is at least 20 pages). It's a lot of material.

Oh, so today in philosophy, we got our synopses back... I had done mine the night before it was due and had no real clue what it was supposed to be, so I summarized the chapter. My prof was talking about what people did wrong (lots of bullshitting) and then he read out loud part of a paper that he said got it right. He couldn't name the author of course, but as he started reading, I thought "that sounds kind of familiar..." That's right, it was my paper. It was so nice to get something right for once. I got an A on it. :-D

Well, I just made a huge thing of genmai cha, so I'm going to drink that, listen to music, and get back to the studying.

is it the weekend yet?

Is it the weekend yet?

I think I ask that every Monday or Tuesday. But this weekend is shaping up to be really fun. Well, mostly fun. Friday night is Midnight Madness, which will be exciting at first, and then after an hour or two, I'm sure it'll become really really boring. We meet at 9:30 (PM) and will probably not be done until 1-ish (AM). The first major pep band event of the year though. Woohoo! Saturday is the flute dinner... more bonding with the flute section. Always enjoyable. And then after that, we're celebrating my roommate's birthday (which on Sunday, but we can't celebrate properly on a Sunday). And Sunday is the band concert. :cringe: My debut as piccolo player. And it's going to be on a DVD. :bigger cringe: I'm sure I'll be fine... but why does the DVD have to be made for my first concert on picc?

More about that DVD... it's for this composer, Goldman, who composed a bunch of marches. We're playing a few of them. And for some reason, Marquette has been chosen to be the "sample band."

I'm really looking forward to having my nervous fidgeting on a DVD forever (I fidget like crazy when I'm nervous... I also shake profusely. It's a good time. Not).

But yeah, fun weekend. And then there are 3 days of classes after that and then fall break! Yay! I get to go home and see my family (including my dog, who I miss so much) and some friends (actually, probably just Tory. But that's cool. I love my sknank). And I'm going to go get my hair cut. It's getting long and my bangs are driving me nuts. And then I have to go into Hallmark and tell my manager when I can start work for Christmas break (it would be a good idea to find out when that is beforehand...).

So on Everwood, there is this new character, Hannah, who is painfully shy. She has a hard time talking to guys she likes. She reminds me of myself. A guy in one of my classes, who I think is cute, talks to me and I have a horrific time trying to talk to him back. The words just can't form coherent sentences in my head. And then I feel like I say stupid things. I probably don't... but he must think I'm some sort of crazy person. Which I am. But I don't like (all) cute boys to know that. The fact that I can't talk comfortably around this guy probably means I could never date him... not that it's likely to happen. And I'm not upset about that. Everyone should date people they are comfortable around... which is kind of a big "duh."

My webpage has been under construction for about a month. No, it's not taking a long time to do. I just don't have the motivation to get it all done. :sigh: One of these days...

Well hello there. Going to bed very soon but I thought I'd blog first.

Tonight was fun. A few of the flutes got together at Erin's for some ice cream (and sugar coma) and games and stuff. We played Catch Phrase, which is always entertaining. Especially when Megan asks if a male cow is really called a bull and I say that a baker's dozen is 12. Then we all walked to Dominos, got pizza, walked back, ate said pizza and watched Never Been Kissed (where I commenced to drool over Michael Vartan). And we did a lot of talking.

Plus, at the grocery store, I bought a little bitty pumpkin and tomorrow (well, later today) I get to attack it with paint pens. I've been looking for an excuse to use my paint pens (and if they have dried up, I'll have a fit!). I also have to study, but decorating the mini-pumpkin sounds more exciting.

Oh, so on my first research methods test, I ended up with an AB. Not bad. Actually, that's pretty damn good. And it makes me mad that I did so badly on the theories of personality test, because if I study, I AM capable of making good grades. So the moral of the story? Study, dammit. Studying for the weekend will consist of reading act1 of Henry IV for Shakespeare (zzzzz), reading/taking notes from the personality text (not so bad), and maybe looking over my notes for the theo test on Tuesday (I'm not too worried about this class, because I have a really good grasp of the material... like, if the prof asks a question in class, I always know the answer. But it's better to be prepared, right?).

I went to the mall yesterday with Anna. Express is having a sale and I bought a pair of jeans. And a birthday present for my roommate. Then we got chinese food from Panda Express. Mmmm americanized chinese food. But hey, it was pretty good. And from the grocery store, I bought cabbage and chicken dumplings, which are REALLY good. I definately like asian cuisine the best... which isn't surprising.

Okay, before writing about food makes me hungry, I'm going to go crash.

other whackos

While I'm on a roll, I found something else to rant about.

Taken straight from the MU events calender...

< 2nd Annual Animal Rights BBQ

Dates: October 5, 2004, Tuesday Location: Schroeder Field

Please come and enjoy a free hamburger in an effort to protest animal rights extremists (such as PETA) and appreciate the gifts God has given us. "There is room for all God's creatures, right next to the mashed potatoes." >

I find this kind of offensive.

I mean, I agree... PETA is kind of a whacko organization. I'm "only" a semi-vegetarian (I eat seafood and the occasional chicken) and I don't care if you eat a steak, rare, in front of me (though I'll have the last laugh if you die from uncooked meat poisoning). But it's just so condescending. I mean, animals are on the earth just for human use? It's horrible. It assumes that humans are most important on earth. Forget the fact that humans damage the earth the most... i suppose the earth was created just for humans to ruin. Now, I don't believe in any god, but I'd assume that the Christian God would not be as condescending as that.

Like in the Bible, the whole story of Noah's ark. Noah had to take care of all the animals in the flood. Yeah, right. Animals may not have the thinking capacity of humans, but they have better instincts (and better hearing/eyesight/smell/etc) and I think some of them would have been able to fend for themselves.

Alright, that's my second rant. I think I should stop now before *I* offend anyone.

right-to-life wackos

So, first off, apparently today is Peter O'Toole today. Two of my three profs mentioned him and a movie that he was in... and highly recommended the respective movies. I think there may be a Peter O'Toole conspiracy going on.

While I was walking back from campus, I passed one guy who was muttering to himself. And another guy who was holding his... crotch. And no, it wasn't some dirty homeless guy. It was a student. I wanted to ask him if he was afraid his balls were going to fall off if he didn't hold them in place. Or maybe he was protecting them. Just in case.

Best of all... the Right-to-Life crazy people have struck again. In the quad of the campus, the crosses are stuck into the ground (all the tiny holes they are going to leave will make the grounds maintenance people do a happy dance, I'm sure). You know which crosses I'm talking about... or you live in a cave. Which actually wouldn't be such a bad place to be when it comes to the freaking crosses that are supposed to represent tiny graves of aborted fetuses. Each cross represents two abortions. You know the schpiel.

I'm not saying that I advocate abortions. I don't think they're great and I don't go around telling every pregnant woman or woman who could become pregnant one day that they should have at least one abortion in their life, preferably four or five. But if you want to get rid of abortion, making it illegal is not the answer. Illegal abortions happened in dark, dirty alleys and other dark dirty places. And women got infections and died (look what happened to Penny in Dirty Dancing). OR the women, desperate because they absolutely could not have a child (and really, who are you to judge their situation or say 'well, they should have had the baby anyways'?), would do the abortion themselves. And the common tool used in these home abortions? A hanger. That's right, a wire coat hanger.

Instead, wouldn't it be smarter to support organizations like Planned Parenthood, who do provide abortions... but they also teach about the different types of birth control. They also inform teens about sex. It's scary how many teens are sexually active... but don't exactly know how a woman gets pregnant. They also provide extensive information on the different abortion procedures (it's amazing how many right-to-lifers don't exactly know the different methods of abortion. It's not just the crying, trembling fetus being yanked out of the womb and then the doctor smashing its head in). If you want to get rid of the need for abortions, you have to educate people.

Interestingly, the Bush administration has been cutting back funding for organizations like Planned Parenthood and backing plans to teach abstinance only... and get rid of sex ed. It's very unrealistic to think that if you teach a teen how abstinance is the only way to go, they will not have sex until they're ready to become pregnant. Teens have raging hormones... and they are curious. There will be teens who will have sex, no matter what you preach to them in the classroom. And what about the inner-city kids who don't have any type of sex ed to begin with? Is it smart to cut off places like Planned Parenthood, who try to reach out and educate them?

Wow, didn't mean to go on a whole rampage about abortion. I just get carried away. Yes, there are religious issues about how the life begins at conception... but you can't use that as the reason to make abortion illegal for EVERYBODY in the US. Not everybody is a Christian. And not everybody believes that life begins at conception. I certainly don't, and until it can be scientifically proven when life begins, I absolutely am insulted by someone else's beliefs being forced to become my own. I have a mind and I can think for myself. If you don't like abortions, don't have one. It's that simple. Don't shove your morals down someone else's throat.

Aaanyways, so how's that for a Monday rant? At least I bought some cookies n'mint chocolate (from Hersheys) to pacify me so I don't go on a rampage and rip all the crosses out of the ground and burn them ceremoniously. I'm tempted to go put some wire hangers on the big signs out on the quad.

I suppose this is what I get for going to a Jesuit university.