test team independence
i have so much homework
oh god  ¶ 10:15 0 comments

  Work today was amazing. Half the high school track runners in the state of Wisconsin ate Rocky's pizza today. I thought it would never stop.   ¶ 22:10 0 comments

  Blar. I am tired. Thank you, Max, Ian and Nate. I couldn't do it without you.   ¶ 09:42 0 comments

  "There's a statistical theory that if you gave a million monkeys typewriters and set them to work, they'd eventually come up with the complete works of Shakespeare. Thanks to the Internet, we now know this isn't true."
-Ian Hart-  ¶ 14:27 0 comments

  Just because it's shiny doesn't mean it's good for you.  ¶ 08:35 0 comments

  New policies at work (the nursing home):
-no facial piercings or visible tattoos of any kind
-no 'outrageous' hairdoes, kitchen staff included (though we wear charming caps anyway)
-all formally 8 hours shifts are 7.5 hours... and you still need to get everything done by 2

Well, actually these have been in place for awhile but now they really mean it. My boss (she's ubercool... and I'm being very sarcastic when I say that) happened to be at OV today, so I asked her if unnatural haircolour would be okay, even if I just had it for one day. She stuttered a lot (that's what she always does) and basically told me hell no. Whatever. I think green hair is natural 'nuff.

Actually work today rocked. It was a half day for me, which means multiple-squared-yo-mama-mo fun for me! See, I work with this lifer, Gladys, who is super inept and makes my brain rot spending the day with her. But Vanessa, a peppy peppy Altoona senior, came and worked the second half of the shift... and somehow the 5 minutes talking to her while we were both *gasp* clocked in and not working made my job seem secretly fun. Or maybe it was the knowledge I was going home to sleep and then game.

Gaming today was awesome. It was at Walker's & Tony dmed. I'm a gnome druid, ninth level. (okay, we started at seventh... but let me be proud)

There is still hope for my sister--she likes Bjork.

  ¶ 19:57 0 comments

  "...and not to worry
because worry is wasteful
and useless in times like these
I won't be made useless
I won't be idle with despair
I wrap myself around my faith
and hide the darkness most fear...

poverty stole your golden shoes
it couldn't steal your laughter
and heartache came to visit me
but i knew it was a neverafter
we'll fight
not out of spite
but because someone must stand up for what's right
and where there's a man who has no voice
there I shall go singing...

in the end, only kindness matters...
in the end, only kindness matters...

I shall get down on my knees
and I shall pray

I shall get down on my knees
and I shall pray"

~jewel~
  ¶ 12:54 0 comments

  Alex's picture does rock. and rage.  ¶ 08:18 0 comments

  "Silent leges inter arma.

Illa iniusta bella sunt, quae sunt sine causa suscepta, nam extra ulciscendi aut propulsandorum hostium causam bellum geri iustum nullum potest."

Cicero is awesome.

"In times of war the laws are silent.

Those wars are unjust that are undertaken without provocation. For only a war waged for revenge or defense can be just."

Here's one Bekah might like:

"Nescire autem quid ante quam natus sic acciderit, id est semper esse puerum. Quid enim est aetas hominis, nisi ea memoria rerum veterum cum superiorum aetate contexitur?"

"To be ignorant of what occured before you were born is to remain always a child. For what is the worth of human life, unless it is woven into the life of our ancestors by the records of history?"  ¶ 08:08 0 comments

  The play went really well. I said my "i like my job" line twice accidently, and LeahKim said her "10 minutes, time's up" line twice acciedently... so I guess I really like my job, and Simone really can tell time.   ¶ 07:59 0 comments

  I have 80s fabulous hair today. It is awesome.  ¶ 10:43 0 comments

  come to my play! come to my play! come to my play! come to my play! come to my play! come to my play!

Suicidal rich kids yay! come to my play!   ¶ 09:13 0 comments

  I'm bad bad bad.   ¶ 12:36 0 comments

 
You are the little prince.


Saint Exupery's 'The Little Prince' Quiz.
brought to you by Quizilla
  ¶ 17:01 0 comments

 
Hey Everybody!!


Come see Misreadings!!


I'm in a play. It's very angsty. I'm not a very good actress.


I'm a teacher again. Someday I will accept that I am teachers in plays, just as Blake is henchmen in plays. But really. I don't like it much.


You should come to my play anyway. It's at 8 Thursday night and 4 Friday, in the Care theatre here on Campus, in the old Park school.


You can see me old and frumpy and all English teacher-y.
  ¶ 13:50 0 comments

  This has been such an Anne Frank week. I was listening to the mix tape Rachel gave me, the part from Ani's Living in Clip where she's talking about the born-again Christians and their "Did Anne Frank Find Jesus??" song when I saw a car accident on Clairemont. I mean literally, right in front of me. The driver of the little gold hotshotmobile jumped out and yelled, "oh JESUS!!" and it reminded of that time when I was really angry at Doug the Self-Rightous Catholic and Chris had just broken up with Jesus, and he was very sad about it--oh JESUS!!--so we don't talk about that guy in my house anymore.

That was a very long run-on thought, but i refuse to edit it. Gambling tonight. Repeat after me to make it true: sarah will win money, sarah will win money, sarah will win money, sarah will win money....  ¶ 13:46 0 comments

  Dan is rocking the ddr.   ¶ 01:40 0 comments

  Jenny says black teeth are gross.  ¶ 01:40 0 comments

  hi this is sarahs blog, i am jenny tho.. she needs my help...
hi this is sarahs blog, i am jenny tho.. she needs my help...   ¶ 00:36 0 comments

  wait.... that analogy didn't work. Thomas is putting my arm to sleep.   ¶ 14:12 0 comments

  just kidding... but it was funny. and yes, anne frank fan fic does exist. just like santa & m&ms.   ¶ 14:11 0 comments

  THANKS SOMETHING POSITIVE
"From now on, when people ask me to justify why I refuse to believe that if there is a God, he or she is kind and loving, I will point these people to Anne Frank Fan-Fiction''.


  ¶ 13:59 0 comments

  Easter today. Almost makes me wish i had a normalish religious family. I think i may become Catholic just so my mom's extended family will send me more cards. I bet my aunt has big family ham dinners or something. And an egg hunt. i must have some youngish second cousins who do that sort of thing. Hmmmm. Too bad Thomas and Sable can't search for eggs with any sort of purpose, or i'd be hiding some right now for them. I would organize an egg hunt with my dogs, but I'm still trying to train them to not pick up and chew on everything in their path. Must work on that. Anyway, if you read this today, call me, because I'm at home twiddling my hair and being licked by Thomas. I must be tasty. Kitty think so. Or call me tomorow. No school. Betta be a partay!  ¶ 13:37 0 comments

  Today at work the Todd held a flute/trumpet sing a-long for the old folks. If you do not think that a flute, a trumpet, the Todd, and thirty elderly singing is a very, very bad idea, you obviously haven't seen it. Most people can't sing. This condition does not improve with age. And I had nowhere to run, as it was part of my job to be in that dining room, setting tables.

The Todd is somewhat like the Todd from Scrubs. He's absent minded and likes to comment on things such as my knee pockets in my brown pants that I wear when I can't find my scrubs. The Todd, in fact, really likes my knee pockets and I think the two things he will ever know about me are 1: my dad is his boss 2: i have knee pockets. Maybe those are the only two things he really needs to know about me.... but it's still funny that every time i see him he either laments the absense of the brown knee pocket pants or celibrates their presence.

There's another cna there who calls Todd The Todd and makes obscure Scrubs references to me all the time. I need to watche that show more to understand them. Luckily, Blake has promised them to me. We will see when they come....  ¶ 13:14 0 comments

  I did nothing today.  ¶ 19:00 0 comments

  My future is decided, my fate is sealed: I'm staying here next year, and living with Abbey. I'm excited. I'm going to be on campus!! No more car for me!!

If you love me, come visit me in Putnam 241 next year. (Or if you love Abbey I suppose you could go there now.)

As for classes, I dropped Geog and got Spanish again. Why? Remember that time last semester when I didn't take Spanish and everything sucked, even though I took Japanese, which in reality is immensely cooler? I think I must have Spanish. I don't do drugs but I do jump off cliffs and speak Spanish poorly.

I talked to the Geol 115 prof and Geol 115 has been cancelled. ARGH. So I'm on a waitig list for all 3 sections of Geol 110, but they all already had long lists... and I'd have to drop 102 for any of them, and both Spanish and 102 for the one section with the shortest list. It was probably stupid for me to even think about that one. Because I just gotta have Spanish (see above).

Tony's DMing a campaign this weekend and I'm excited. Why? Well it's not because I'm great at D&D. In fact, a typical me scenario in D&D is hours spent designig a character, going to Blake's house and watching music videos instead while Nate & Kirk yell "420!! 420!!" don't get me wrong, I really like Blake's house (because it contains Blake's mom, who likes to cook, Blake, who is cool, Aggie, who is about as cute as a little sister can legally be, and Blake's computer, which is a century of entertainment unto itself.) and I really like hanging out with them guys (I admit I'm from Wisconsin). So anyway, I would go on but I have play practise now, I should make a character tonight. We'll see how far I get. The last character I made got killed when Kirk cut down the tree I was in. But mostly I just lose them when they're not even done....
  ¶ 13:53 0 comments

  Hoooooooooooow many seasons in one week? Old man Wisconsin certainly wants to find out. There are icicles on the trees and I can still feel my sunburn from two days ago.   ¶ 08:35 0 comments

  I dropped Spanish & got Human Geography. Why? Because the Geog teacher is cool. Good enough for me.   ¶ 08:33 0 comments

  class schedule, so far:
chem 115 (5 credits)
spanish 301 (3) (same teacher... blah)
eng 225 (3)
eng 190 (4) (I kind of want a few easy credits)
geol 102 (3)
total credits: 18. but 4 of that is film studies-- tough stuff!

all geol 110s and 115s are full. Bastards. But I might not be here anyway... so...  ¶ 08:45 0 comments

  Is a decision really made if I'm not happy with it? I don't really like being pragmatic....   ¶ 17:55 0 comments

  I was told I'm a "true Renaissance woman" today. (wow)  ¶ 17:25 0 comments

  I've changed my mynd again. Somebody just stop me now. Please.  ¶ 09:01 0 comments

  So Bekah's having the X-Men party II May 2 or thereabouts. The Matrix Reloaded comes out May 15, which is also (I think) our last day of school. I'm having a movie party (dress up!) and all are invited. I'm the lady in red.  ¶ 08:28 0 comments

  Yesterday was both Bruce's and Faron's last day at Rocky's. New guy is now the idiot formerly known as New guy, i.e., he's been fired already. And Andrea II is quitting, so the counter girls can't collectively be called AN dreeeeah any more. An era has ended.   ¶ 08:03 0 comments

  Yesterday after play practise we went to the costume area. OH GOD. By costume area I mean rooms and rooms and rooms of costumes. It was amazing. Especially compared to the two-cage dungeon chaos of MHS. A whole shoe & hat room, just for my pleasure. And we even found a costume for me. It's frumpy and gross and makes me look like I'm 50, but that is the point, I suppose. The costume rooms are in the old observation deck of UWEC's school, so the light comes from below and you can spy on kindergarteners during the week while sewing or playing dress-up. Almost enough to make me want to stay here and be a theatre major. Almost.   ¶ 08:01 0 comments

  I'm very utilitarian, aren't I? That's weird.   ¶ 12:26 0 comments

  To begin any argument, you must first recognize the innate goodness of every subject. [subject=person, idea, era, et cetera]

And if you're an Aristotlean, (sp?) to be is to be good. So the fact that the opposite argument even exists means it has some value.

That's one thing i really like about Aristotlean ethics. But it makes it damn hard to just say, oh, that person is just stupid or was just acting stupid at that time, so their actions are invalid... that's not a sound argument.

But no matter what side of the divide an idea falls: you must remember end results.

That's why, although Aristotle was amazing, his arguments didn't really help anyone. Same for Descartes. Descartes' goal was to see if he could ever, really, truly, know something. His conclusion: well, I know i exist. No shit. What about it? Descartes was a brilliant thinker; he contributed more to both math and philosophy than just about anyone. But his ideas incorporated into the average person's life makes that person's life meaningless. And he lived at the beginning of an era when rich French guys who wrote a lot got listened to.

I love Douglas Adams. He wrote once about how crappy being civilized is for the civilized: more so for the half civilized. (i'll see if I can find it online, Faron has my book and I have no hopes of ever getting it back) Life for the individual human would probably be better without our civilization, as it is. But at the same time, I personally couldn't imagine a world without Douglas Adams. And Douglas Adams couldn't imagine a world without the Beatles or neopolitan ice cream or beepers. (he had some other things on this list but I don't remember) He liked these things. A lot.

Main Entry: civ·i·li·za·tion
Pronunciation: "si-v&-l&-'zA-sh&n
Function: noun
Date: 1772
1 a : a relatively high level of cultural and technological development; specifically : the stage of cultural development at which writing and the keeping of written records is attained b : the culture characteristic of a particular time or place
2 : the process of becoming civilized
3 a : refinement of thought, manners, or taste b : a situation of urban comfort
(from m-w.com)

Such a basic thing and I define it differently constantly: civilized. I think it's the act of living how we do. Just our culture, not all humans through all time. Okay, there is a big difference between eastern and western, but anyone civilized is anyone who (as defined generally) writes and has government and (as defined by me) has an economy based on locking up the food (you don't work you don't eat, and you will be told when to do both). What I don't get is why we started it in the first place. Why then? Why at all? Why in the fertile cresent, China, Egypt, and America all within a few hundred years of each other? Why did the first three prosper, and the Olmecs just say 'screw this'?

Bekah says civilization is anybody, of any species, working together (probably with tools) with a leader or some kind of ordered social structure. I.e, otters, dolphins, gorillas, birds, early humans, et cetera. Lots of stuff. I think these are socities: and the difference between a society and a civilization isn't in who we take our orders from or whether or not we use levers. Civilization is unique to humans, and unique to a certain era. Every place that civilization exists, it's basis is on agriculture, wider-scale rulership (bigger than a family or tribe), alcohol, some form of control over the food supply, literacy, and either workers or slavery of some degree. Civlization is a mere splinter in time.

The study of history is the study of our civilization. It's hard to study all that stuff that happened before six thousand years ago because no one wrote about it. Oral histories are too hard to verify. Other than the archeological record, knowing anything for certain isn't too likely. In the last six thousand years, a lot has happened. I wouldn't even know where to begin to explain known history to someone: "ummmmm, so these guys got together and said, dude! this river is pretty cool! let's build a city here. Why not? It might have been the city of Babel, according to the bible anyway, and then Hammurabi wrote some stuff......... and that's why the game Marco Polo is so cool! Did I mention the female popes? that was odd....... so that's why we say 'rule of thumb' " It'd take days. The study of history is extremely important: almost every idea we are capable of has some precedent, be it with the Greeks and Romans or Oriental or whatnot. Our time has parrallels, often oddly familiar. History is real, at any moment. Just because people are dead doesn't (shouldn't) make them less human; personalities often grow after someone's death. All the man-hours leading up to this moment had as much value as all the hours to come. And some stories from the past are just plain awesome (Juana la Loca amuses me a lot, and Nero and Catharine the Great of Russia better be having bestiality parties in heaven.... ewwwwww... whoa. Whould they get along with the furries??). But it's also a big subject, and for some reason one that not many people really care about. You can't change the lives of the dead, right? Wrong! (okay, I'm being facetious... just bare with me?) Academia+history=lots of lost stuff being made public=the public's changing views about events of the past. I.e., their changing their mynds about the future. I.e., changing their actions. And the history of thought is amazing: once you know exactly how a certain idea came to you, it will change how you use that idea. You can't change the past but you can certainly reinterpet it.

Reinterpeting the past: look at that defintion of civilization. According to Merriam-Webster, anyway, no one used that word until 1772. Civilization was a new idea to English speakers around the time of the American Revolution. That doesn't mean no one was civilized until then: it means no one realized that the way they were living wasn't the "normal" or 'usual' or most common way for people to live. Everyone anyone knew until that point was civilized, and if they weren't they weren't really humans: they were savages, barbarians, who needed some real help to become fully human. Around this time in English we had to come up with a word to define what we were (other than Catholic or Christian or whatever: these definitons had already been fractured beyond recall) and to separate us from what we certainly were not.

But maybe we need to be facetious to ever prove any point. Understanding the value of your opponent's claim rarely helps you win on yours. If you find winning to be the point of arguing....  ¶ 11:24 0 comments

  Assembly today... suckit. Terrible. Terrible, terrible.... but the 80s are so cool.  ¶ 13:22 0 comments

  Jenny! Party! When??  ¶ 08:10 0 comments

  I'm not going to the Viennese ball. I'm so excited. I know, I know, that's weird. Girls are supposed to really really want to get all fancied up and glossed and pretend they have manners and can dance every once in awhile... but I don't really like dances. I like the eating all dressed up before and the running around town all dressed up after. Actually what I like most about dances is the getting dressed up and curling my hair bit. Why? because I love curling my hair.... and I don't do it often because a) I lost the curling iron I liked b) it takes forever. As in multiple hours. Blah. But anyway, no Viennese ball for me! No hanging out with my sister and a half dozen stupid witnesses this weekend! I work! And I'm really excited, because I actually like my job. And Mary's having a Harry Potter party, and I will be there, albeit very, very late. But it's worth it. I'm not going to the Viennese ball.  ¶ 08:06 0 comments

  "what did you learn Fae Tucker?
what will you take from this world?
well, you may be reborn
but it's all just for scorn
(that's why killing don't pay
I say, that's why killing don't pay)"
~Indigo Girls~  ¶ 07:18 0 comments

  I love this school. I just went to see a counselour to discuss some hypotheticals.... she opened up my transcripts, and asked me if I have trouble applying myself. "With an ACT like that, you're clearly a bright girl... but with a high school ranking like that, you clearly have other priorities than school." (or you could just say I'm lazy) That's the third time that has happened to me, and I am very amused.   ¶ 12:55 0 comments

  "I heard someone tried the monkeys-on-typewriters bit trying for the plays of W. Shakespeare, but all they got was the collected works of Francis Bacon."
- Bill Hirst -

I'd think they'd end up with random Descartes quotes....   ¶ 08:20 0 comments

  I got my tragus pierced on Saturday (that's in the ear). God it itches. I can't go swimming for six weeks. I will go insane. Or Justin will kill me. Or take over our gang (we have a swim-on-wednesdays-gang that beats up the hydro-jazzer-cizers... or just laughs at them). Tony got his ear pierced too 'cause we're body mutilation buddies.

Yesterday I went out to eat with my mother. Spending time with my mother is a very tiresome experience, partly because she has stupid suggustions, partly because I'm a toddler in her head, and partly because she endlessly repeats the same things. I can only come up with so many responses for "how's your cat? how's your other cat? how's your dog? how's your other dog?" because really, though I love my animals, they are pretty much always the same. And you can be sure you'd hear otherwise if their stati change.

But then I saw Mary at Perkins, and she was all "I'm talking to my daddy about college! I like RIT! I like Harry Potter!" and it was awesome. Put me back in a 'pre-mom' sorta good mood. (to survive the remaining time w/o any incidents)

Then last night I dreamed I was in NY again with my mom & co, and I was getting a headache from trying to be civil to these people (suffer fools well?). Then in my dream I had this great idea: break out the Mary'onic'display! It was this little hologram a la Star Trek: the Next Gen & I could listen to messages from people. So I had a conversation with the Mary'onic'display and all was well. It was awesome.  ¶ 07:19 0 comments

  "no one's gonna sympathesize when we crash
they'll say you hit what you head for
you get what you ask
but we'll say
we didn't know
no we didn't even try
one moment there was road beneath us
the next just sky"
~ani~  ¶ 07:51 0 comments