I've lost all faith...

Today was a sad day.  Today I lost faith in all mankind.  Humanity, if you will.  Today, I was embarrassed to be an American, a human being for that matter.  I was embarrassed to be living on the same Earth with the people that I do.  Let me explain.

I don't want this to come off as a big, preachy, political blog because what it really boils down to is having respect for one another.  I have a friend I work with... let's back up... I wouldn't call her a friend.  She's one of those people that you're friends with because of work, outside of work you probably wouldn't be friends with this person.  I'm pretty sure she was brought up as the little princess who always gets her way and is never wrong and these traits have carried into her adult life pretty clearly. 

I noticed a few weeks ago that she is sporting a fancy red bumper sticker on her car that reads "Read My Lipstick, Sarah Palin for Vice President".  Ok, I am all for freedom of speech (I was a journalism major for God's sake) and I understand you can have your opinions but something struck me as odd in this situation.  I really wanted to ask her why she is supporting McCain but I have come to find that political conversations can quickly ruin friendships.  So, I let it go.  Until yesterday when Palin's $150,000 wardrobe got brought up in our conversation we were having through instant messenger.  This opened up a very large and ridiculously idiotic can of worms which I will now paraphrase for you...

Small-Minded Idiot:  ... the only reason I'm really not voting for Obama is because he believes or agrees in late-term abortion and that makes me really mad that you could be 9 months pregnant and just have an abortion instead of giving it up for adoption.  Makes me sick to my stomach thinking that (her niece and nephew) might not be here if (her sister-in-law) didn't want them.  Plus, the huge tax increase that I can't afford.  Believe me, I was all for Obama until I compared the record and the plan.

Kate: First of all, Obama doesn't believe or agree with late-term  abortion.  He has said specifically several times that he completely supports the ban of late-term abortions.  Second, it's my body and my vagina and nobody, especially some government official who doesn't know me, is going to tell me what I can do with my body.  Third, if your sister-in-law felt that she needed to have an abortion you have absolutely no say in the situation, it's not your baby.  And lastly, he's not going to raise taxes unless you make over $250,000 a year, and I know damn well that you don't so that last statement was just dumb.

Small-Minded Idiot:  Yeah, I guess... I really don't get into politics (yet, let's remember that she has a Read My Lipstick bumper sticker on her car...) I do agree with some things that Obama says but for the most part he doesn't have a lot of experience and the whole "terrorist" thing freaks me out too.  The questions still hasn't been answered on why he started his political career in that guy's (William Ayeres) living room.  I still think that's really odd.  Keeping in mind that this guy wanted to bomb our country and was involved in terrorist acts.

I'm not really sure how I responded at this point besides laughing.  And I remember being pretty angry because of how ignorant and uneducated some people can be.  I felt like at this point it was useless trying to talk to this girl and our conversation kind of tapered off from there.  Until I came into work this morning...

I am not even half-way through my morning coffee when Small-Minded Idiot sends me another  instant message saying how bored she was and how she's sending me an email.... a "Muslim" email is what she called it.  My initial reaction was that she just found something funny online, a forward or a YouTube video, until my "New Mail" icon popped up and the subject read "Can Good Muslims Be Good Americans".  Good Lord are you serious!?  She was NOT giving up!  Even though she's "not into politics".  Before I even opened this ridiculous email I messaged her back to inform her that contrary to popular small-minded, idiotic retard belief Barack Obama is in fact NOT a Muslim.  It was her response which led to this post....

Small-Minded Idiot:  Yes he is... look at his middle name.

Oh...... my...... god........... my response:

Kate:  Oh my God, are you serious???  I could name my child Hussein if I felt so inclined, would that make him Muslim?  Is it a law that in order to be named Hussein you have to be Muslim?

I was flabbergasted.

She didn't really say much after that, probably just pretended to be too pre-occupied with work to continue our conversation.  So, I decided to open up this email and see what sort of propaganda had made it's way into her tiny head by, more than likely, her narrow-minded, Bible-thumpin' parents.  (Ok, in fairness, I don't even know her parents.  But judging by her beliefs and the comment her mom makes in the forwarded email, I can confidentaly say that my suspicions were correct)  Thus reads the email...

This is very interesting and we all need to read it from start to finish and send it on to anyone who will read it.  Maybe this is why our American Muslims are so quiet and not speaking out about any atrocities.  Can a good Muslim be a good American?  The question was forwarded to a friend who worked in Saudi Arabia for 20 years.  The following is his reply:

Theologically- no... Because his allegiance is to Allah, The moon God of Arabia

Religiously- no... Because no other religion is accepted by His Allah except Islam (Quran, 2:256)(Koran)

Scripturally- no... Because his allegiance is to Mecca, to which he turns in prayer five times a day

I can't go on.  It's just too much nonsense.  The email goes on to list other reasons why a "Good Muslim" can't be a "Good American" but to be honest I didn't even read the whole thing.  However, I did notice a note at the end of the email that said:

Perhaps we should  be very suspicious of ALL MUSLIMS in this country.  Call it what you wish it's still the truth.  You had better believe it.  The more who understand this, the better it will be for our country and our future... And Barack Hussien Obama, a Muslim, wants to be our President?  You have GOT to be kidding!  Wake up America!  Obama even says if he wins the election, he will be sworn in on the Quran ---not the Bible!  He was sworn in on the Quran for his current office and he refuses to pledge allegiance to the United States or put his hand over his heart when the National Anthem is played!  

There really aren't enough words in the English language for me to describe how this forward made me feel.  I was embarrassed to be living among people who honestly think the things that were said.  Sad that people are automatically stereotyped just because of their religion.  I felt sorry for the people who read that email, believed it and forwarded it on without doing any fact checking at all.  Mad that these people are taking some stupid email that someone's "friend" who the people reading the email don't even know as law.  Entertained at the thought that I could just write an email like this and forward it to a few half-wits and people will believe it.  The list goes on....

I never understood why people (ahem.. Blinds) got so passionate about politics, but I realize now that it's because I was only looking at the big picture.  I never realized that it's about people's beliefs and the things that their lives stand for.  I am just realizing for the first time how seriously hurtful some people's narrow-minded and uneducated opinions can be.  It's this that I am just embarrassed to know that it is 2008, yet we still have people who can't accept other people despite their differences.  It's times like these that I think maybe I should move out of Missouri, but I'm sure they're everywhere.  Maybe the only way to get away from people like this are to just live off of the grid.  Instead, I take the high road.  I know that the things I said to Small-Minded Idiot today are weighing on her mind.  I know that after I disputed every single one of her nut-job claims that she questioned her "facts".  And sometimes, that's the victory in itself.  

Cold fingers

I'm having a hard time finding downtime in my life.  Trust me, there are plenty of things I could cut out of my life, but I guess I'm kind of selfish.  For instance, if you interfere with my spin class/yoga sessions every Tuesday and Thursday night I'll probably be pretty irritable.  However, it takes up 2 hours of my night.  I could probably ask A' to help with the dishes and laundry, but I'm a little bit of a perfectionist and chances are I would have to go back and do things my way in the end.  It's a vicious cycle.

Because of this I haven't had much time to work on my portfolio.  It seems like something I could just sit down, spend a few hours and it's done.  That's definitely not the case.  For me, you can't just force creativity.  You think that will be a problem with me in the future.  Haha, I hope not.  Plus, I need to do some research before I can truly delve into the process.  The good news is- I'm off work tomorrow!  Not only is that awesome news because any day off is great, but I will also have some time to work on this book.   Yes, I do have a hair appointment at noon, and already have a commitment to help some friends make their Halloween costumes (beer box robots anybody?) but I also have on my agenda to get something done on my book.  Alright, onto some other topics...

• If you've never seen Ace of Cakes you're missin out.  I love this show, maybe because I love cake.  You have no idea how much I want a cake from Charm City Cakes.  So, I told A' he should get me one, just because I'm so great (uhh, hasn't anyone heard of Sweetest Day?  Well, it's Saturday... hint hint...)  Not that I could really have a cake from Charm City considering that it's over 1,000 miles away, but I thought it wouldn't hurt just to check out their website... in case I'm ever in Baltimore... ya know?  Come to find out the cheapest cake they will even make is $1,000.  There goes my dream.
• While listening to the radio the other day I learned that you're not allowed to say "menstrual".  Believe me, I don't want to hear this word more than anyone else, but really?  I mean, who are they protecting my blocking this word, children?  I'm sure they're going to learn what it means eventually.  Weird.  I think that one day nothing will be censored anymore anyway so let's just get to it.  
• Tuesday night in yoga some lady decided that her 9-year-old daughter needed to join our class.  I didn't want to pass judgment and automatically assume that this little girl was going to ruin my hour of zen so instead I tried telling myself that maybe this was an encouraging sign that not all children are fat and lazy.  Well, I was right about the former... she ruined my hour.  I really tried hard to ignore her once I heard her mother shushing her and disciplining her in the middle of down dog, but I couldn't.  Every time I saw her out of the corner of my eye she was either laying on her back, rolling around, laying on her stomach wilding flailing her legs behind her or walking around.  Then she left.  Just walked out in the middle of class.  Don't worry, she returned about 10 minutes later only to pick up the free weights that are stored at the back of the room and proceed to do bicep curls for the remainder of class.  What I'm trying to say is don't bring your children to yoga.  Please.  Do me a favor, spare me the hour that I just wasted and either a) leave your child at home where you know she wanted to stay in the first place, b) drop her off at the gym's kid zone so someone else can watch her perfect her curls, or c) enroll her in kiddie yoga and let her waste someone else's time.  Thanks.

Tomorrow, I'm getting a hair cut and color.  I haven't colored my hair in years but I'm bored so why not.  Oh, and did I mention I get to sleep in?  Tomorrow will be a great day, Happy Friday!!

 

somebody's got a case of the mondays...

Today I woke up without a problem. That, in itself is a problem. You see, I love sleeping. I will choose sleeping over almost any other activity. I love my friends, I love going out, I love tv and I love the gym, but above all of those I will almost undoubtedly choose sleep.

This morning however was a different story. The reason I'm even upset about not being able to breeze through the snooze button 10 times like I normally do is the part that makes me the most upset. I was dreading work today. Don't get me wrong, I dread work everyday- sad, I know- but today I was really not looking forward to it. Friday honestly had to be the worst day of work ever. Just horrible. Basically, if something could have gone wrong, it did. If there was chaos that could have been created, it was. It was not fun. And Mondays are usually worse than Fridays around here.

Thus.... I will finish my portfolio this week. Fin.

Wacky Wednesday Edition

I've realized that I have a pretty hard time sitting down and writing if I can't find a quiet place to concentrate. Right now I'm at work, listening to the guys next to me pondering what exactly a hot crossed bun is, so excuse me if this post is scattered. I also just realized that I'm over this font....

Ok, I feel better now. So let's get down to business:

• Today is the last day to register to vote in Missouri. Are you hearing this? I'm actually encouraging people to register and vote! It is amazing, but over the past few weeks I have actually gotten into to this whole 'election' thing. A' and I have even been having debates on important issues instead of whether to watch The Hills or Troy. (I won by the way, we watched The Hills) I have been watching the debates, something you would never catch me doing in the past, and I was actually interested in it. Don't get me wrong, there is still a TON of stuff I don't understand but who knows, maybe this is the beginning of my ongoing political education.
• I finally got some things done that I have been putting off for a while. It's not exciting at all but boy did it feel good to get them done. We finally picked up a huge amount of clutter around the house, including our nasty, moldy inflatable pool that's been mucking up the backyard all summer. Whoever thought it was a good idea to buy a kiddie pool from Big Lots this summer was an idiot. Ok, it was my idea. And in my defense it had cup holders! The only problem was that we rarely used it and when it didn't get used, it wasn't maintained and it got really gross. Then we were just too lazy to go deal with the mess. Anyway, it's done now, whew...
• I sat down and wrote out thank you notes to my family for my lovely birthday party. I send cards all of the time but for some reason the concept of thank you cards are a little beyond me. I know that they're thoughtful, but to me a phone call or simple "thank you" would suffice. All I know is that when I get a thank you card I say to myself "Hm.. well, you're welcome." Then I usually throw it away. Either way, I thought it would be a nice gesture. I had a hard time coming up with different things to say to each person I was sending cards to, but in the end it felt pretty good. I have heard from most of them since they received the cards and they, in turn, thanked me for the card. Haha, what a thankful cycle it has become.
• I was in Wal-Mart the other day and decided to impulse buy (as usual) some Nair Shower Power because let's face it, I'm lazy. I've tried Nair in the past and I wasn't too impressed, plus it smelled awful, but I decided to give this new product a try. The perk to this product is that supposedly you can put it on and shower, then rinse it off instead of just sitting around and waiting on it. I'm all about multitasking. So I lube up my legs and yes, it still stinks- not quite as bad I guess. You have to wait a couple of minutes before getting in the shower, oh and you're not supposed to let direct stream hit your legs, which is kind of difficult if you're in the shower. So I wait, then I get in, and immediately it feels, and kind of looks like all of the lotion is just coming right off my legs. How annoying. I tried to avoid the "direct stream", and the directions did say that "some" rinse off is normal but I was still annoyed. When it was finally time to rinse off there really wasn't much left, but I did it anyway. My legs were super slippery, and it still felt like there were spots that were completely missed. Apparently if that's the case you're supposed to leave it on for longer. Well, I didn't feel like it so I just scrubbed the hair like hell. In the end my legs were pretty smooth and really soft. The appearance of smooth legs lasted for probably 4 or 5 days however it still felt like I needed to shave like normal. I'm not sure how that happened. I tried it again a few days later and left it on a little longer and I think it was a little more successful this time around. Overall, it was a pretty good purchase. It's nice not having to shave your legs everyday and really, there's only going to be one person rubbing on my stems so if they feel stubbly but look smooth I'm ok with that. Oh- also- the bottle says not to use on your lady parts. Trust me, don't try to be the tough guy. Listen to the bottle!
• I just have to say how much I hate people- generally girls- who go to the gym and talk on their cell phone the entire time they're "working out". I hate you. I hate you even more when you're casually walking on a treadmill that I could be running on. I hate you. Cancel your gym membership already and get off of my machine.
• I recently tagged all of my photos on MySpace. A little loserish? Yes, but for some reason it feels like I've checked one more thing off of my to do list. Ahh....
• And lastly, I would like to recommend Altoids Dark Chocolate Dipped Mints to everyone who will listen. They are delicious, addictive and I'm in love. If you like mint/chocolate, think Junior Mints, you will love these tasty little breath fresheners. I'm going to eat 1 right now. (and by 1 I mean 13)

I guess I'd better do some work today while I'm here. Or maybe not. I'll think about it. I promise to post again very very soon!