So tonight was the big debate. The debate which I did not watch because I working, ironically enough some of that working was on the debate. Well, not exactly the debate, but I was helping out ABC News and ABSAT (a satellite service of ABC) for the past few days. I really didn't do much of anything, but it was an interesting experience, and I met a lot of really nice people. I saw lots of people too. I saw Sean Hannity walk by and wasn't sure if I wanted to challenge him intellectually, bring up Joey's challenge or just cut to the chase and punch him in the gut if I got a chance. But then I just watched as he walked by. I also saw Mr. Colmes, he is frightening looking. Seriously, it was scary. It was surreal, everyone there, the politicians, the media, the protesters, the Secret Service, the President, me. Very strange. And I realized something today, as I thought about how my week has gone. Essentially I have been working three jobs - Red Robin, ABC (although not getting paid), and I started my new job at Firebird's. I also have studied and done homework, even though I haven't had class at all so far this week. That is entirely a lot of stuff in a schedule. But I have the opportunity to make that work. And it might. I think that I might be able to pull off two jobs and 21 credit hours. I might be insane in a few months, but hey, isn't that what youth is for?

This post is in response to recent clamor on http://poopshute.blogspot.com (Joey's blog).

A little late to hop into this one, but I wanted to make a few comments, as a neutral party. First of all, I read the post and did not find it aimed at anyone specifically, until names were brought up. Obviously I haven't been around for recent political discussions, maybe that was the Rosetta Stone that I was missing to consider the post an attack.

Voting is a right, but also a privilege.

This election will be my first vote, I'm super-pumped about it. I believe in it. Ed is right, the system isn't completely legit, but it is the one in which we live. So I will vote. I don't like Bush, I don't know if I even like Kerry. I think that some people look at the whole thing in too simple of terms. Vote or not vote, Bush or Kerry, etc. You can choose to "throw your vote away" as some may call it by voting for Nader or a write in. Or you can literally throw your vote away by not using it.

That is the choice that some are posed with. If you don't like the candidates, then waste your vote. It's like someone has given you a million dollars. You can waste it on candy and movies and other shit or you can throw it in a trash can.

But don't you think you would like to waste it on something?

One of the confirmations is in - I can go to Chile!

I'm am now almost positive that I will be staying in school longer than December 2004. Don't hold me to that, but I'm pretty sure. I have applied to an exchange program to Chile. The only thing that is holding me back from being sure that I got it is the fact that it is run through the College of Business, and they have to approve for me to go and "represent them" or something like that, due to the fact that Journalism and Mass Communication does not fall under the general business category. I should find out within the next few days.

What I also will find out tomorrow is if I got a job that I auditioned for. Fox Sports Net held auditions last week for the Campus Correspondent position for a portion of their programming called "SunDevil Insider." I went, the audition went really well and whether I get it or not, I'm happy about the experience. But I still want it.

So, in summary, tomorrow I will find out if I am going to be a correspondent for Fox Sports Net as well as if I will be able to go to Chile next semester. I hope that both don't happen. Because then I will have to make a decision. Boo.

Well, that's the end of today's discussion, next topic, conflicts of interest(nice transition, eh?). See you all then!

Oy! Lots of things to talk about. First of all, I am really enjoying school this semester. And it is strange, I am getting good grades on all of my assignments. I have never gotten a 100% on a writing assignment, and I got 2 in one week! I am having a lot of fun, and that is mainly the reason that I think that I am pretty much decided on staying in school a little longer before I graduate. Also, I am applying to an exchange program that would put me studying in Chile for a semester - sweet. It's like the whole college experience is coming together for me in the "last" semester.

And I must really like my classes, because I have been keeping up on my homework! I have a book review that I have to do, it isn't due for a month, and I have already picked out my book, started reading it and started finding other sources to support my point.

What the fuck is going on here?

I am glad to hear that Bush got annihilated in the debate today. I unfortunately was in class and missed it, but I am anxious to read all about it tomorrow. God I hope he doesn't win the election, or not win the election again but retain the presidency. Seriously. He is not the dumbass that everyone makes him out to be. He's actually quite intelligent- no one gets through Harvard and up through the ranks of the Republican Party without some smarts. Even if your daddy is George H.W. Bush. He likes to be underestimated. He does, even he himself has said so. I don't want to see his face anymore. I don't want to hear his voice anymore. I don't want to hear about him being a dumbass anymore. I want him to go away. He can spend the rest of his life at the damn ranch in Texas for all I care. I just want him to go away, and rest in peace in the history books. If you ever get a chance to listen to what David Cross has to say about it, I suggest that you do (Shut Up You Fucking Baby). Funny man that David Cross. And read Lies, and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them. Due to my scholastic efforts of late, I haven't finished it yet, but I'm getting there, and enjoying it the whole way.

Ok, I'm going to go read now, and then fall asleep 5 minutes later because I'm sick. Good night.

P.S.
It's really cool that Hayden Library is now open 24/7 Monday through Friday. All you have to do is be a student, staff or faculty member, and show I.D. between 12:01 and 7:00 a.m. Bitchin'!

Do you know where my antenna is? If so, I would really appreciate it if you would tell me.

Much obliged.

Finally. After all of my complaining about wanting to see it, and no one wanting to go with me-either because they thought it looked stupid or they had already seen it- I rented and watched Mean Girls. It wasn't very good, but I liked it. All of this waiting hyped it up a little, but still, I enjoyed it. I am going to go continue reading Lies now, so peace out bitches!

Two posts in as many days??? Watch out world, because hell is about to freeze over.

Because my body doesn't like me, I couldn't sleep last night. I was up talking to people online for a while, when at about 1:00 a.m. I decided that I could be more productive and go to the gym, which I did. Surprisingly enough, since I joined Gold's Gym, I have been very good about going. I suppose that the fact that I enjoy working out helps, but it's just weird. I've never been disciplined about it before. Go me! The only err in my workout ways so far is that I only really like to go late at night. First of all, there are WAY less people there, and usually not a soul in the special room made for us ladies. And my body just seems to respond better to going at night. The problem that this presents should be obvious...

Ok, ok, I'll tell you. Working out increases energy levels. I don't know the chemistry of it, but it's a proven fact. So when I get home from the gym between two and three a.m., with an increased level of energy, it doesn't really bode well for going to school/work the next morning. And it certainly doesn't give me enough energy to read my textbooks. Although yesterday I did use this extra time before bed created by my workout for a productive purpose. In no affiliation with Joey's post about it, I started reading Al Franken's latest book a few days ago. So I thought that I would continue last night. So far it is excellent. The research and the writing are great, if you like brash sarcasm that doesn't purport to care who it pleases, which I certainly do. I don't feel like I have read enough of it to do a sufficient high school book review for you, but I shall, in the coming days when I have finished the book. I hope to finish it by tomorrow night, which should be a realizable goal, it is a very easy read. But I suggest that you all pick it up and read it, we can be like a book club. Instead of Oprah's Book Club, we can be the Ninja Gypsy Book Klan (yeah, klan with a "k" for emphasis). I like it. A sign-up sheet will be on the door upon your exit, or you can just leave a comment. We will be the greatest book klan ever!!!!

I think that I have written more about how I don't write than any other topic. But it seems more relevant this time.

I am taking a class called Writing for Public Relations. It is a lab format, so in it we are given a writing assignment, write it, and turn it in. A very simple process I would and do say. But apparently, I am better than I thought I was at it. On Wednesday in this class, after the assigning of the assignment, my professor came over to me and told me that in the next few assignments she wants me to "really branch out, and have fun" with them. Her reasoning is that she thinks that I am a very talented writer, and can take the assignments further. Later I raised my hand because in one of the assignments that she had given back, because she had underlined "was established" and I was pretty sure that it wasn't the name of a book, so I was confused. She came over, and informed that it was passive voice, not really appropriate for the "fact sheet" that it was in. She then informed me that it wasn't a big deal, but because of my new found talent she has decided to grade me harder to help me(to help my writing, not my grade). And even later in the class, she came back to me and asked, "Do you read a lot?" I wasn't sure if she was referring to the textbook that I am supposed to be reading and am not, or if she wanted to know if in general I am literate and occasionally like to indulge myself in my reading abilities as to not squander them. But the point of her question was if I enjoy reading on the side, and because I do, and told her this, she listed off a few authors and books that she wanted me to skim, again in attempt to help my talent.

Now to the point of this whole story (which Guillermo pointed out to me yesterday)...

I don't write. I may be good at it, but I don't do it. So even if she grades the hell out of everything that I turn in and I read every word ever written by the suggested authors, it means nothing if I don't write for anything more than an assignment. I mean eventually I will have to write for my job, unless I for some god-awful reason decide to work for Red Robin for the rest of my life, so it will happen. But I am going to make a serious effort now. You all have this on record and can hold me to it, I expect that Guillermo will be the only one to, but still.

That's all for today, but I'll be back, for reals this time.

Your instructions for the day:

http://www.softpile.com/Games/Strategy_and_War/Review_09278_index.html

Go to that site.

Download the game (Pocket Tanks(and the free version is just as cool)).

Play and enjoy the splendor of its coolness.

It is possible that the entire commenting fiasco is dealt with...huzzah!
(And thanks Guillermo)

I don't get HaloScan, it gives you directions that don't make sense!

It has an automatic install for bloggers, how does it still not work???

I keep telling myself that I'll be better about writing frequently, every time I post I do this.  But to no avail, as weeks pass between posts.  I think that part of it is that I don't have my commenting system back up yet, so I can't eagerly await your feedback.  I will work on that.  If you know how to fix it, please tell me: jess.elliott@gmail.com, it would be appreciated.  The directions on HaloScan aren't very helpful.

 

We played volleyball tonight, it was nice to play again.  But both Joey and I noticed that it wasn't our A game of the past, due mainly to the fact that we no longer play weekly.  I'm down to start playing again...

 

I'm off to Mexico again this week for more of what some call "slave labor", I call it helping someone out.  By this time next week a family will be moving into their new home, and I am ecstatic to be a part of that.  A lot of people ask me why I go, every year, now twice a year.  I spend a week of my summer, in the sun, sleeping on the hard ground, in a tent, not near trees or anything aesthetically pleasing, and all day long I spend sweating and working hard.  My answer is that these people need someone to do it, they need a lot of someones, and if I couldn't pass on a little of what has been given to me, and what I have worked for, I would only have one question.  How selfish am I? 

 

So maybe I am volunteering for slave labor, but it's important to me, and it's important to the people who we help.  I guess it's hard to explain, but the entire trip is worth it for one single moment, and that moment is there every time.  I usually have a little tighter of a bond with the family, because I speak Spanish, and can communicate with them.  On our last day there, we present the keys to them, and usually the leader on our site says a few words.  Without fail, every trip during that time, it doesn't matter what language we speak, the family looks deep into my eyes with more graciousness than you'll ever see at the Academy Awards.   It is a "thank you" that doesn't even need to be spoken, even though it is, repeatedly, it is a "thank you" that is felt.  And I go back just to feel that one more time.

This test care of the darling Meg

Embarrassing isn't it? (I feel like a dissappointment to Joey)

IMDB's Top 100 Best Movies of All Time generate this HTML for your own page at ObeytheFist.com
Rank Movie Didn't See It/ Started It/ Finished It/ Hated It! 1 Godfather, The (1972) 2 Shawshank Redemption, The (1994) Finished It 3 Godfather: Part II, The (1974) 4 Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, The (2003) Started It 5 Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, The (2002) Started It 6 Casablanca (1942) Finished It 7 Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, The (2001) Started It 8 Schindler's List (1993) 9 Shichinin no samurai (1954) 10 Star Wars (1977) Finished It 11 Citizen Kane (1941) Finished It 12 One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) Finished It 13 Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964) Finished It 14 Rear Window (1954) 15 Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980) Finished It 16 Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) Finished It 17 Memento (2000) 18 Usual Suspects, The (1995) Finished It 19 Pulp Fiction (1994) Finished It 20 North by Northwest (1959) 21 12 Angry Men (1957) 22 Fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain, Le (2001) 23 Psycho (1960) 24 Lawrence of Arabia (1962) 25 Buono, il brutto, il cattivo, Il (1966) 26 Silence of the Lambs, The (1991) Finished It 27 It's a Wonderful Life (1946) 28 Goodfellas (1990) 29 American Beauty (1999) Finished It 30 Vertigo (1958) 31 Sunset Blvd. (1950) 32 Matrix, The (1999) Finished It 33 Apocalypse Now (1979) 34 Pianist, The (2002) 35 To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) 36 C'era una volta il West (1968) 37 Some Like It Hot (1959) 38 Third Man, The (1949) 39 Taxi Driver (1976) 40 Paths of Glory (1957) 41 Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi (2001) 42 Fight Club (1999) Finished It 43 Boot, Das (1981) 44 Double Indemnity (1944) 45 L.A. Confidential (1997) Finished It 46 Chinatown (1974) 47 Singin' in the Rain (1952) 48 Maltese Falcon, The (1941) 49 M (1931) 50 Requiem for a Dream (2000) Finished It 51 Bridge on the River Kwai, The (1957) 52 All About Eve (1950) 53 Se7en (1995) Finished It 54 Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) Finished It 55 Saving Private Ryan (1998) Finished It 56 Cidade de Deus (2002) 57 Raging Bull (1980) 58 Rashômon (1950) 59 Wizard of Oz, The (1939) Finished It 60 Sting, The (1973) 61 Alien (1979) 62 American History X (1998) 63 Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939) 64 Léon (1994) 65 Vita è bella, La (1997) Finished It 66 Touch of Evil (1958) 67 Manchurian Candidate, The (1962) 68 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) Started It 69 Treasure of the Sierra Madre, The (1948) 70 Great Escape, The (1963) 71 Wo hu cang long (2000) 72 Reservoir Dogs (1992) Finished It 73 Clockwork Orange, A (1971) Finished It 74 Amadeus (1984) 75 Modern Times (1936) 76 Ran (1985) 77 Annie Hall (1977) Finished It 78 Jaws (1975) Finished It 79 On the Waterfront (1954) 80 Braveheart (1995) Finished It 81 High Noon (1952) 82 Apartment, The (1960) 83 Fargo (1996) Started It 84 Sixth Sense, The (1999) Finished It 85 Aliens (1986) 86 Shining, The (1980) 87 Strangers on a Train (1951) 88 Blade Runner (1982) 89 Metropolis (1927) 90 Duck Soup (1933) 91 Finding Nemo (2003) Finished It 92 Donnie Darko (2001) 93 General, The (1927) 94 City Lights (1931) 95 Princess Bride, The (1987) Finished It 96 Toy Story 2 (1999) Finished It 97 Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003) Finished It 98 Great Dictator, The (1940) 99 Sjunde inseglet, Det (1957) 100 Lola rennt (1998)
Which movies have you seen?

I meant to post this a while ago but....

CONGRATULATIONS JOSH AND JOANN!!

I like Josh and I like JoAnn, so with their powers combined, what couldn't be awesome about it?

i miss my friends.

i don't know what happened, but i don't like it.

i miss them and it makes me sad.

"You ain't nothing to me if you've got nothing to say."
-Jet

I decided to change the template on y'all. I am trying to figure out how to add back in the comment system, bare with me, I'm no good at this.

I'm reading All the King's Men and it is pretty good so far, I'm digging it. Every once in a while amidst the dialect that would be best called ignorance, a moment of genius falls out of the sky (or the narrator, either one).

Example:
"The end of man is knowledge, but there is one thing he can't know. He can't know whether knowledge will save him or kill him. He will be killed, all right, but he can't know whether he is killed because of the knowledge which he has got or because of the knowledge which he hasn't got and which if he had it, would save him."

Chew on that for a bit.

I'm back, with many things to tell you all, and questions that I have raised, but I shall not share them all with you now, it would overwhelm you. But I will give you one short one:
Does hay grow? If not, how does it happen?

J	Juicy
E	Extreme
S	Sweet
S	Shiny
I	Innocent
C	Crazy
A	Appreciative

Name / Username:

Name Acronym Generator
From Go-Quiz.com