Jack London

"You can't wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club."

Reject Prop 8

The U.S. government is a secular institution. The fundamental idea of the first amendment is the separation of church and state. Then why, California, is proposition 8 being upheld?

This past November, I took part in a march in downtown Seattle supporting the reversal of Proposition 8 - the bill that bans gay marriage in the state of California. No, I'm not gay, and I don't have an immediate family member who is gay. To me, supporting gay marriage is about supporting equality.

Thomas Jefferson felt the first amendment was the "wall" separating church and state. If that is truly upheld within our government, then why is the banning of same-sex marriage supported by the Christian beliefs of the sanctity of marriage only being between a man and a woman?

I support anyone who devoutly follows their religion, I admire finding faith and sticking to it. I, however, have never been one to follow one particular religion. I think the bible is an amazing text from our history, but to me, it is a text that is somewhat outdated.

Times have changed, our society has evolved. Religion and faith is about love and acceptance, and I think sometimes that is forgotten.

Banning gay marriage will not prevent gays and lesbians from being out and proud of who they are. Banning gay marriage will not prevent them from having families and children. Banning gay marriage only further oppresses our country and its citizens.

Same-sex marriage is the LEAST of our worries here in the United States.

Poverty, hunger, drugs, lack of health care, lack of employment?




Here's a few photos I took from the march in November 2008:

The best place to be during a recession? College.

The 2009 recession is the guy to blame these days.

Can't find a job? Damn recession! Credit card interest rate sky rocketing? Damn recession! House losing its value? Damn recession! Retail store/restaurant business slow? Damn recession!

I've had my share of beating the recession horse, but of every demographic in the United States -I'm pretty happy to fall into the "college student" category.

Keep this in mind: less than 5% of college graduates are unemployed. High school graduates make up 10% of those without work, while those who did not graduate high school make have over a 15% chance of being unemployed. (source: Time Magazine.)

Being a college kid without a steady job, my dad supports me fully. Rent, utilities, car payment, insurance, gas, 3 a.m. Taco Bell trips, Red Sox tickets, bar tabs (just kidding, dad!).

He paid for the large mocha (no whip) I'm drinking, the Macbook I'm typing on and the BlackBerry vibrating in my purse. I'm lucky because he works in the one and only recession-proof job in this country - the U.S. Government.

If the job market turns up empty post-graduation, the options are much more flexible for the under-25 recent graduate.

First being grad school; furthering your education never hurts, and then its buffer for a few extra years to wait out the recession. Second, many will also have access to government loans - at least enough cash to get a few extra packages of Ramen noodles in the pantry. Finally, there is the always available entry-level or minimum-wage paying job. For the typical single, childless college grad, the pressure to bring in the financial income is less. As long as there is peanut butter, jelly and beer in the fridge, things aren't too shabby.

For now, I'm not going to over think it. As much as I would love a job at the New York Times to brag about at my 5-year high school reunion (or a famous boyfriend, a.k.a. John Mayer), a lot could change before my graduation in 2011.

Until then, thanks dad!

Happy Birthday, Miss California. You're keeping your crown.

Happy 22nd birthday to Carrie Prejean. Your 15 minutes of fame is about over.

Donald Trump announced yesterday that despite the (semi) topless photos of Prejean that were a breech of her contract, she would keep possession of her title.

In case you are living somewhere in Antarctica, here's the latest on the Miss California contoversy. When asked by openly gay celebrity blogger Perez Hilton about her stance on same-sex marriage, Prejean responded:

Well I think it's great that Americans are able to choose one way or the other. We live in a land where you can choose same-sex marriage or opposite marriage. You know what, in my country, in my family, I do believe that marriage should be between a man and a woman, no offense to anybody out there. But that’s how I was raised and I believe that it should be between a man and a woman."

Many people criticized her response, saying she should "know her audience" and should have promoted same-sex marriage. While I don't agree with her, I don't understand why she was criticized for telling the truth.

She definitely could have worded it a little more accurately (opposite marriage? huh?) but she isn't the only person on the planet to have those same feelings. Sure, she upset Perez - most definitely a liberal - but who's to say that maybe a supportive stance of "opposite marriage" would have upset a more conservative judge. Even Donald Trump said at the press conference that announced his decision, "It wasn't a bad answer, that was simply her belief."

On the topless photos, I definitely call B.S. She knew what she was doing. Carrie, little miss Christian, you should know better. Don't take your clothes off. Ever. Unless your lifelong goal is to get a bedroom in the Playboy mansion (although, Hef's birthdays are a little more numbered... the future bunnies of America have limited time) then my suggestion is to keep it PG-13 when adding photos to your portfolio.

Although if losing the Miss America pageant, getting called a "dumb bitch" by Perez Hilton and almost losing the Miss California title gets me a date with Michael Phelps (who Prejean is supposedly dating) then SIGN ME UP!

Rant

Apple: your iTunes bandwith sucks.

Scenario:

I am sitting idle in the airport on my surgical mask safari and decide that because I will be spending the next 12 or so hours on a flight, I should download "Marley & Me" ("Milk" was a close 2nd) to watch on the plane.

download time? 4 HOURS.

Now I am $3.99 poorer and increasingly more annoyed with the misleading idea of "instantly" downloading movies.

AND, as I was looking up movie reviews on the iTunes store, I discovered that MARLEY [the dog] DIES.

Thank you, irresponsible iTunes movie reviewers - Steve Jobs now is even more wealthy, I am without entertainment on this cattle car i.e. airplane, and even when it finally does download, I know the ending.

SWINE FLU IS STUPID (this is why)

Borderline hysteria is quickly rising over this swine flu, and I think its nonsense. It absolutely blows my mind because as much as yes, this is a "cause for concern" (and I quote President Obama) but the sudden onslaught of medical masks and school closures is a bit ridiculous.

Here in Fort Myers at the FGCU commencement, graduates were not permitted to shake the hand of the University President, Dr. Wilson Bradshaw.

I'm not concerned, so let me break it down:

--800 people (as of Sunday, reported by the CDC) in 11 countries have been diagnosed with H1N1, also known as swine flu. Now, keep in mind, there are 6,000,000,000 people in the world, so the percentage infected is .00000133% of the global population.

--The highest number of deaths has been reported in Mexico, and, to me, there are several outlying factors that have to be taken into account. In some of the poorest parts of the country, there is a lack of healthcare, widespread malnutrition and crowded conditions. Keep in mind that in the 19th century during the influenza outbreak, the flu was called the "crowding disease."

--Thousands of people die yearly from seasonal influenza, virtually the same disease with just a different source (i.e. not from pigs). In fact, rarely people die from the flu itself. Seasonal flu, just as swine flu, is fatal most often from the complications that arise (most fatally being pneumonia.)

That being said, tomorrow I will be doing the one thing that would put most hypochondriacs into unprovoked anaphylactic shock: flying on an airplane. 

This is my swine-flu-can-suck-it act of rebellion. I'm going to be on a surgical mask safari because I will be flying through some of the most central airline hubs from Fort Myers International Airport to Seattle-Tacoma Airport.

Things I am more concerned about than contracting swine flu:

• Heidi & Spencer procreating.  

These two just got back from their honeymoon in Mexico, and were spotted making out with their masks on. Let's hope that there aren't any mini-famewhores mid-gestation in Heidi's spray tanned mid-section.

• The United Airlines $15 bag-check fee for the first bag. Really? I'm flying United Airlines tomorrow, so I plan on bribing the bag check guy with $10. 

(bribing works. Last year, I came back from Seattle with two bags that weighed over 50 lbs and was facing a $150 fee to check my bags. $20 cash to the dude at curbside saved me some serious bills.) When traveling you are forced to bring at least one bag, so don't charge for the first one. To me, charge the people who find the need to bring six suitcases for a weekend trip to Montana.

• Latest reports that Paula Abdul kicked her painkillers habit. American Idol is going to be seriously less entertaining. Somebody bring back Sanjaya so I have someone on that show to make fun of for a straight 60 minutes.
• Lee going to Pakistan. 

My favorite half-Paki (a.k.a. Sarah's boyfriend) is making a trip to Pakistan this summer, and amid all the craziness going on with the war on terror I would like the XY chromosome in my third wheel trifecta to return to the US safely.

Off to Seattle tomorrow. See you soon, swine flu.