To Hell with School!

No, I'm not dropping out, no worries. I got up early this morning, after accidently setting my alarm for the wrong time, but unusual for me lately, I got right up. I worked out (yeah, I still do that occasionally), listened to some music and got dressed up. Don't know why I felt like putting on fancyish clothes - and by 'fancyish' I really mean nice jeans, a good fitting girly t-shirt and a scarf. The scarf is a nice addition, I've found. I've actually been nodded at by people and one boy nearly ran into a pole! (I'm serious. If he had actually hit the pole I might have had to get his autograph. That crap doesn't happen to Sara very often.)

So I had plenty of time to make my bus, but I didn't. I also didn't fancy trudging all the way into downtown just to be late to a class that I've already finished reading the lessons for. So I decided to get breakfast. There's this nice cafe a short walk from my house. It's a cafe that leans more on food than coffee and it also serves booze, although I wasn't in the mood for that. The only problem with the place is that it's very cluttered and it's hard to get anything resembling privacy. Today it was especially crowded and I had to sit in a table in the middle of the room, right in front of the door, which made me a little self conscious. I forgot about it though, as the good atmosphere far outweighed the negative aspects. Johnny Cash was on the speakers (well, not literally. That'd be a little creepy, to have a dancing Johnny Cash on the speakers, seeing as he's dead and all), a guy with a mohawk sat in front of me, and behind him on the outside table (why anyone was sitting outside on such a dreary, cold morning is beyond me) was a boy with brilliant blue eyes that kept stealing my attention throughout my meal.

I walked home, but it was too early to stay there. I grabbed my laptop and my transit pass and decided to finally go to the airport like I'd been planning on for some time. Y'see, the Portland airport is one of the few airports to have fared well after the 9/11 security crackdown. It used to be that you could go to the airport and watch the planes take off anytime you pleased, but now you have to be a ticketed passenger to make it passed the security into the gate area. A lot of other airports had their shops and things on the other side of this obstacle and thus don't get too many shoppers anymore. At Portland, you can still shop and eat and drink and watch planes take off, due to the design. They also have this law that they can't jack up their prices above the average city cost of things. To me, that means the Portland airport is like a giant 24-hour coffee shop with big cushy chairs, free wifi and sockets to plug your laptop into. Oh and there's even a pub!

So here I am, watching planes roll around the runways and soaking in the atmosphere of the place. I love airports, at least I used to, before I came to associate them with panicked dashes with heavy luggage and a deep pit of anxiety in my stomach about the next unpleasant destination. Yes, most of my flying since adulthood (if you can call it that) has been for the army, which has tainted the whole experience for me.

It's nice to be here without that nervousness and without a heavy bag and without the prospect of a really long wait in line. I'm not thinking about making connections or how to get to my hostel when I get off the plane or whether my luggage is going to make it. No, the old feelings about airports are back: the excited tingle about heading off to new destinations. I've always had the travel bug, but sometimes it comes out of dormancy with a fury. Today would be one of those times. I mean jeez, I just came back from my last adventure three months ago! Can I really wait until summer to get out of here again?

Update: It occurs to me that I've never been to Spain, a place I've wanted to see since high school. Hmmmmmm....

He-lllllllllo, Mr. Bond!

Hi, my name is Sara and I am head-over-heels in love with the new James Bond. And to think that I called him a "twerpy, blonde guy" when I found out he was cast as the role. Mmmm, crow.....

I've never had a movie star crush before. Now what do I do?

Happy Turkey Day!

I'm down at the parent's house. I've spent the past several hours drinking coffee and will continue to do so until the margaritas are ready. Dad said last night that he'd be dipping into the booze mix at noon, but here it is twelve-oh-four and we haven't started yet. Ugh. Mom is happily cooking away (she claims that Thanksgiving is really pretty easy, except for the yams. Dad and I would revolt, though, if it weren't for the yams, so she continues to make them for us.), lil'est sis is playing video games and I'm wandering around the house in my pajamas. Last time I saw Dad he was heading out to do "yardwork" in all of his camouflaged hunting gear that I guess doubles as raingear. As to what sort of work one does in an Oregon yard in November remains a mystery, but as always Dad is endlessly amusing in his eccentricity. I'm sure the neighbors agree.

Best news of the day is that I've found the large book of CDs that I thought I had lost forever. I freaked-the-fuck-out last week when I realized I hadn't seen it in months. I emptied every box in the basement and was convinced that I had accidently thrown it away the last time I moved. I even went and bought the Clash Live from here to Eternity CD again. Well, now I have two copies of that great CD and a whole bunch more songs to add to my ipod! Yay!

"The Army - It's Everything you Like!"

Oh god, I haven't laughed this hard in a long time. I miss the Simpsons! This video clip was stolen borrowed from the blog The Largest Minority.

Striving Towards Mediocrity (Or, Making Excuses in Advance)

The only consolation I can take about the fact that it is now nine pm and I am only slightly further on my two papers than I was at nine am is that the last time I did this I pieced together what I thought was a phenomenally bad collection of writings and yet somehow received a 92. I think that my procrastination can be explained, at least in part, by some sort of weird perfectionism. Once I convince myself that I can turn in a paper that's simply average I can maybe go about getting it finished.

Yeah, that's it.

The Rain Begins Anew

We had a brief rest from the incessant downpour of last week, but lucky for us the pattern will be continued, this time with incredible amounts of wind! In case you didn't hear, last week houses were washed off into the ocean, and Mt. Rainier was closed for the first time in recent history after receiving 18 inches of rain in 36 hours. Obviously, we need more misery. I hope the power goes out tonight while I'm working on my papers due tomorrow! That would be fantastic. Speaking of, I suppose there's no way I'm going to catch the session at the pub tonight, as I haven't typed so much as a paragraph of those papers. Dammit.

Term paper blues

"It cannot but signify, and exists only through signification." Claude Levi-Strauss is a pretentious douchebag. There. That's my term paper.

But hey, at least the sun is out!

Cleaning up Rotten Tomatoes

Oh my god. I didn't post sooner because everytime I tried something even more joyous would occur! I am absolutely GLEEFUL at the turn of events in the past 24 hours. Holy crap.

If it wasn't enough that we took the House and the Senate, then Rumsfeld resigns! It's like the Fourth of July and Christmas! The only thing keeping me from dancing in the streets is that it's still friggin' raining. (seriously, will it ever end?) (Updated:Yes. Now it's hailing.)

Ok, now for a little analysis. Rumsfeld was an idiot, everyone knows that. Remember his "unknown unknowns" remark and the "north south east or west of tikrit" quotes? Hooo boy, he was a fun one. Too bad people were dying in the process. Well, this guy they got to replace him, Robert Gates, is no angel either. He was pretty high up the chain of command at the CIA during the Iran-Contra scandal, so more than likely knew about some of the illegal shit going on. Yeah, THAT's someone who needs to remain in government.

My first thought on this was the obvious: Rumsfeld is a scapegoat, sent away to appease the Democrats and public alike. The administration could say, "See? We're playing fair. We'll compromise! BIPARTISIANSHIP! *SQUAWK!*" But things in Iraq would just keep on keepin' on.

A small ray of hope entered my (admittedly over-excited mind) when I learned that this Gates guy is also part of the Baker Commission - y'know, those conservative thinkers that were supposed to come up with a solution for Iraq and that solution turned out to be.... well, to leave, or some such cleverly worded withdrawal. "Maybe, just maybe we're gonna see some redeployments coming," I thought to myself.

Then I saw this video. It's Bush talking, so if his presence on camera makes you wanna stick your fingers in your ears, just skip to the important part written below.

In answering a reporter's question as why the Rumsfeld resignation waited until after the elections, when just last week Bush said Rumsfeld was staying, Bush replies, "...the reason why is I didn't want to inject a major decision about this war in the final days of a campaign."

Whoa. They've never officially said anything about changing the course in Iraq. Now, I think we're going to see something dramatic. Rumsfeld's ousting wasn't just for show.

Could it be? Are our friends and family members in Iraq finally coming home?

Oh yes, and the title of the post occurred to me while trying to rescue the pile of tomatoes in the basement so they can be cleaned and frozen before they turn into a hairy, mold monster. As I squeamishly picked out the obviously beyond help toms ("Ewwww! I have to touch them with my fingers! And they're squishy! Ewww!"), I realized that it was a decent metaphor for the Dems cleaning up pile of unsavory problems.

The Soggy Shoe

It's cold, rainy and miserable outside. I dragged myself to class nonetheless, stepping in a huge puddle immediately upon leaving the driveway, and my shoe was sopped and squishing the rest of the day. I braved the storm once again this evening to procure a 22oz bottle of "Ruination IPA" and then I proceded to torture my neighbors by drunkenly banging on my mandolin until 11:40pm. I'm sure they'll understand.

Good news! One of my best friends in this whole big bad world is temporarily out of the army! He's doing some enlisted-to-officer college program that lets him be a semi-civilian while he goes to college, under the promise that he'll serve as an officer upon graduation. I'm pretty sure they hold some obligation over his head so in case he flunks out they can make him a fuel handler in Baghdad or something. Nevertheless, for the next few years or so he's going to UW up in Seattle, and this weekend we're headed to Salem to watch a women's rugby match. To (very) loosely quote him, "what sort of heterosexual man doesn't like to see women tackle each other?" I dunno, but I'm sure happy I get to see my friend again.

My house is too cold. At least that's my explanation as to why my favorite part of the day is the ridiculously long and hot shower I have in the evening. Perhaps tomorrow afternoon I'll get rid of the cardboard recylcables by stuffing them into a blazing fire in the living room. Hooray for a real fireplace! Too bad I don't have any peat...