Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Ryan Sorba

The republican club at my alma mater brought this dude to campus yesterday to deliver a speech called "the born gay hoax." Apparently his thesis is that people choose to be gay, it isn't natural, and gay people are out recruiting our impressionable youth. Totall bullshit.

So last night when he came, a ton of students showed up (more than could fit in the room he was scheduled to speak in) and started chanting really loudly and banging on pots and pans. He left halfway through his speech and didn't come back. Now there's some controversy over whether protesting him was appropriate.

A couple thoughts:

I'm not sure if it was appropriate, but I'm kind of proud it happened. It probably was immature, but you're supposed to be immature in college. Never again in your life will you be free to act out as much. Take advantage!

Also, the "this isn't how mature adults behave" argument reminds me a lot of the "this isn't how nice girls should act" line that women have been fed forever. Yeah, it's not how mature people act in polite society, but maybe they should! In general, women don't speak up enough because they're too worried about appearing nice. Good for the protestors for stepping outside the constraints of normal social mores for an evening.

Finally, liberalism does not equal absolute moral relativism. It's true that we make a lot of relativistic arguments. Think of: "just because your church says abortion is wrong, doesn't mean the rest of us think so." or "just because you think homosexuality is a sin doesn't mean the rest of us do!" However, that relativism is not complete, and no matter how fervently asshole republicans want to do so, you can't take it to its logical extreme. I think in general, we should err on the side of being more open-minded, not less, but when someone's opinion is basically lies (whether the lie is "gay people choose to be gay" or "intelligent design is a real scientific theory") we don't have to take it seriously. Not all opinions are worthy of respect. Some are just illogical and stupid.

Monday, April 21, 2008

magic beans

once upon a time, there was a cow named bob.
and every day bob ate piles of purple hay.
until one day, a vagabond set the hay on fire.
and because of that, bob started to go hungry and couldn't produce any milk.
and because of that, the farmer decided to sell her for some magic beans.
until finally, the farmer started growing the (magic) soybeans and stopped raising beef.
and ever since then, vasily the newly vegan farmer made enough money to buy bob back and make her a family pet.

I actually had a good weekend--passover, swimming outdoors, reading a good book. Nothing that made a good story, though.

Thursday, April 17, 2008

4 ways to tell I am more tired than I feel

1. When I got home last night, I tried to open the front door with my work key. (My work "key" is actually an rfid device.)

2. I then proceeded to pack my bag and go to the pool. For once, I even remembered to pack my bath pouf. What I didn't remember was my swimsuit.

3. This morning, I filled up the kettle to make some tea, put it on the stove, and then tried to turn on the flame by pressing buttons on the microwave.

4. I decided to eat cereal for lunch today. (shut up) I reached in to the fridge to get my carton of soy milk, and ended up taking out the brita pitcher instead.

Monday, April 14, 2008

the show

once upon a time, I started taking classes at WIT.
and every day, I thought, "I should really go see a show put on by the people who are teaching me."
until one day (this Saturday) I finally bought a ticket.
and because of that, I took the metro down to gallery place for the 9:30 show.
and because of that, I got there a little early and ran into a guy from my class.
until finally, the show started and we got to see the final round of FIST, which was awesome, and the troupe Jackie, which was also very good.
and ever since then, I've decided to drag my ass to shows more readily.

seriously, it costs no more than a movie ticket and is incredibly entertaining. hell, if you go to the right show, they will improvise a movie in front of you. too bad the spring run of shows just ended.

Monday, April 7, 2008

the grease fire.

Once upon a time, there was me.
And every day (well, every weekend anyway) I thought, "I should really go visit my friends in Baltimore who just had a baby," but I was too lazy to actually make the trip.
Until one day, I heard from the friends that they were moving to California.
And because of that, their friends hosted a going away brunch for them yesterday in NE DC.
And because of that, I *finally* got to meet the baby. Also, I helped make pancakes.
Until finally, I started a grease fire on the electric stove. Luckily I was not holding the baby at the time.
And ever since then, the baby's parents have wisely decided to take him out of the room whenever I am near dangerous kitchen appliances.

Thursday, April 3, 2008

sit com

I just realized the word sitcom is short for situational comedy.
my entire world just shifted.