the war we forgot

So I spent a lot of time in the hospital yesterday. First, to find out that I have costochondritis - which, for those of you who don't know (as I didn't yesterday) is a condition where the cartilage in your ribcage is inflamed. Symptoms include (as I experienced) not being able to breathe or move or lift things without intense side pain. I honestly thought my lungs were going to explode and I was going to die. Neither happened, luckily. Hospital visit #2 was to sit in the waiting room after Matt has to go with fears of internal bleeding. I won't divulge additional details, but it was ugly. After a couple hours, we found out there's nothing wrong with him. I'm pretty sure they call Oxford's hospital (McCullugh and Hyde) McKill'em and Hide'em for a reason.

After about an hour, my pencil ran out of lead so I couldn't continue with my Math homework. I picked up the severely outdated Newsweek and read up on old news. Apparently, there is one American WW1 veteran surviving. Frank Woodrull Buckles. And he's 107. Britain is planning a state funeral at Westminster Abbey for when their last WW1 vet dies, and Canada and France are doing something equally badass, I'm sure. The only other country not planning on doing something for their last vet? Germany AKA CENTRAL POWER!!! I mean, c'mon America...give this guy some props.

Another interesting thing I read in the article is that for many historians, WW1 was the pre-modern war. It wasn't photographed or taped very much. Good old Frank Woodruff Buckles only has 3 pictures of himself in uniform. There are no memorials to WW1 on the Washington Mall, no blockbuster movies dedicated to it...

And lastly, the war ended with a promise: To make the world safe for democracy. Almost 100 years later, and is that happening?

shake the haters off

I'm writing about this right now because I finally uploaded the pictures to my computer, but, last week I went to my first political rally (as a dem!) For those of you who haven't known me as a non-AIESECer/college student/person with a soul, over the last 3 years, I've made the transition from hardcore Catholic conservative to bleeding-heart liberal. Was it the Economics major? Perhaps. A slap in the face from learning about life outside the "bubble"? Likely. I mostly attribute it to my involvement with AIESEC and many a late night conversation with one of my best friends, Adam Payne, over a cold one. Regardless...let's just say that I ran into some College Dems at this event who probably thought that was the last place they'd see me.

Anyways, at this rally, we were graced with the presence of none other than Nick Cannon (All That, Wild n' Out, Drumline, Gigalo) and Kal Penn (Kumar from Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle).

Granted, they arrived an hour and a half late because of the blizzard that hit Ox that day, but they were welcomed by over 500 students and a standing ovation. Which, is actually quite incredible, since Miami University is oft seen as a conservative ass school. As Matt put it so eloquently, our colors are white and red for a reason (signifying the color of most of the people at our school and their republican nature). Their talk was rather informative. They started off by talking about why they each got started on the campaign trail for Obama - Kal Penn told a heartwarming story about a friend who was given a choice: minimum wage in the States, or a $90,000 job driving trucks for Haliburton in Iraq.

They then answered questions from the crowd, including one directed at Kal Penn, asking what the Senator planned to do about marijuana legalization. I don't think he got that the joke was directed at him, but Nick Cannon responded with "I know how I feel about that!" For the most part, questions were answered with a comedic response by Nick, and a legit one from Kal. All in all, it made me love Obama as a candidate even more. Can't wait for March 4!

Last night I had an AIESEC party with the LC and we went to a Semiformal that many multicultural orgs were having on campus. The party was kickass (although, only one of the newbies came which is sucky for them, but probably good for their livers). The Semiformal was kind of lame, unfort. Francis' breakdancing and AIESECers doing the Numa-Numa dance got people's attention for a while, but it was mostly pretty boring, so we bailed and continued elsewhere. All in all though...a decent night.

seriously?

Looks like they're taking the definition of identity theft to a new level.

no light thing

In exactly 7 hours and 20 mins, I get my little. All week, I've been spoiling her with AOII t-shirts and other paraphenalia, candy, fun beverages, and serenades from cute boys. I've been giving her pretty obvi clues as to who I am, so if she's anywhere close to the Facebook stalker I am, she'll know that it's clearly me.

On top of all this, I'm so nervous. I'm being entrusted with the life of another (socially, at least). My little will be a best friend, a confidant, a person to call when I'm having a bad day and want to bitch about my life. And I hope to be the same for her. Indeed...this is no light thing. You'd think I'd be used to this - seeing as I'm the oldest of 3 girls. But I feel like I'm going to be more of a mom than a sister.

I can't wait for the weekly dinners, the late night boozing sesh's, road trips to visit each other, and more.

If you're reading this, I love you little!!!!!

independance day in february?

Arguments continue with my mom regarding the traineeship this summer and fall. Unfortunately, we're both equally stubborn women. I'm standing my ground. She's threatening to cut me off.

Bring it on.

Oh politics....

I received an interesting email today regarding the Presidential Election...

How am I to vote for a person who deems it rational to claim "guns are too
dangerous" while voting in favor of murder (abortion) and abominations
to God (same sex marriage). I'll bet everything I will ever own that
abortion will kill more (approx 1.37 million) people this year than guns
(15,000-20,000), and that's not even taking into consideration that
completely eliminating firearms would at best put a tiny dent in the
number of violent crime and murder cases.

I don't even know how to respond to people like this. Besides pure disgust.

Fighting like a soldier of ideas

I honestly never thought I'd live to see this happen.

Even though Fidel Castro is 81 years old, I honestly thought he'd outlive me. I should start smoking cigars.

I broke it to my mom that I want to take next semester off to go on a traineeship. I looked into it, and I can do so, and still graduate on time. She doesn't know it yet, but resistance is futile. Her excuses are contradictory. She says she wants me to stay in the states so I can get a legit job when I graduate, but that I can go on a traineeship after I do graduate. Please explain how that makes sense... Also, she thinks the reason my grades were so bad last semester was because of AIESEC, which is not the case - I was struggling with new roommates who have a different lifestyle than my own, and a club sports team that put me under a lot of pressure and then proceded to screw me over. Of course, she also sees the imperfections of AIESEC, since I'm so involved, and because I talk about it 24/7. I'll make her see the light eventually.

Last night I spilled water on my laptop's keyboard, and when I press "a", it writes "asdf". Some of the letters don't work at all. Must figure out a cheap way to fix this...

life's like an hourglass glued to the table

If I could go back in time, would I change some of the decisions I have made? Sometimes, when I "suffer" the consequences of my actions, I wonder this. But, some of the "worst" decisions I have ever made (judging from initial consequences only) have ended up being the best. For example, I decided to move to New York City last summer 2 weeks before I arrived. I had no place to live, I knew virtually no one, and worked for an organization that I'd been involved with for less than a year. I started the summer off in a long distance relationship, lonelier than I'd ever been, and questioning my choice. That summer ended up being the best of my life. I made some of the best friends I've ever had...not to mention priceless memories.

Every decision I've ever mad has led me to where I am right now. And I wouldn't change that for the world.

Things that Keep Me Sane...

...when I feel like my life is about to fall apart

• the Beauty of Mathematics and Economics
• my wonderful friends, who I know would do anything for me if I asked
  
• AIESEC
• my mom
• stand-up comedy
• Entourage, Project Runway, Grey's Anatomy, America's Next Top Model...
• the perfect song
• my beautiful AOII sisters
• Miami University
• Facebook
• a gorgeous spring day

Just a random smattering. I'm counting down the minutes until Rowdies RoKs Spring '08 in Oakbrook, IL. Being a faci is going to be a wonderful adventure, and I can't wait for all the newbies to experience for the first time what I've spent the last 4 semesters falling in love with.

First Post Ever!

I'd much rather be doing this than studying for my Optimization exam tomorrow. The end.