Five Random Things About Me

1. I drink excessive amounts of water and diluted grapefruit juice.  It’s not that I’m always thirsty but I always have a glass around.

2. I might have a tinge of obsessive-compulsive disorder.  Actually, I was formally diagnosed with it when I was 13.  I was given medication to try to help it a bit, but I don’t think it worked.  I frequently find myself cleaning out my hard drives, rearranging icons on my dock, or color coding things.  It’s fun.

3. My favorite color is red.  Thus, “Slice of Red,” the red Celica, and many other red things (for instance, my comforter, pillows, favorite shoes, etc.).

4. I am pretty meticulous about grammar (although we all make the occasional mistake).  I’m one of those people that notices improper use of apostrophes.  Silly spelling mistakes just don’t make sense to me.  I’m not sure where I got this from, my mom is a pretty excellent teacher and taught me well, even though I was never taught phonics or spelling in school. (Actually, when I was going to school in Georgia I was taught always to use it with an ’s.  Silly Georgians).

5.  I never finish all the food on my plate.  I actually didn’t notice this about myself until my parents pointed out that every night when we’re doing the dishes my plate has to be scraped off.  Maybe there’s something psychological here like I feel like I ate less if there’s food left over?

What are five random things about you?

New Car Smell

So, I made the plunge, and I didn’t end up with an RX-8, but i did end up with a red sports car.

Any guesses?

I bought a Toyota Celica.  It’s pretty hot.  I didn’t get the RX-8 for several reasons:

1. The RX-8 weighs a lot more than the Celica, which means it doesn’t handle as well.

2. The Celica doesn’t have a rotary engine in it so it saves you on gas.  I know I said it wasn’t a big deal and it isn’t, but when you shut off a rotary engine you have to rev the engine up to about 6000 RPMs to get all the gas out so it doesn’t flood the engine- not the best way to increase your fuel economy.

3.  I got a great deal on the Celica, and the RX-8 at the dealership I went to had been sold.  I love the car I got, its name is Charley and we are already good friends.

 

My parents love the car and everyone has taken a turn around the block in it today.  Good thing the dealership filled up the tank.

So that’s all for now.

I actually do have a post about something that happened to me yesterday but I’m not sure I want to blog about the work I do… just seems like some things should be left alone.

Will think on it.

Blog later.

In Which I Discuss Why My Next Car Purchase Won’t Be A Prius

As noted in my previous post about cars, I have to get a new one so that my Civic can go to my brother.  Charlotte the Civic has been such a great little car, always fuel efficient and healthy.  Recently, I’ve been getting 33 miles to the gallon, which is better than either of my parents’ cars.  So yay for that.

With all of that coming up soon, people have been asking me why I don’t get a Toyota Prius or Civic Hybrid… after all, gas is $3.73/gallon and Mazda RX-8s aren’t on the green list.

 

So why not a Prius?

I am really into the idea of hybrids, in fact I would seriously consider purchasing a hybrid Mazda3 (not yet available).  Here’s the problem with today’s hybrids.  The current Prius gets 48 estimated miles per gallon in the city.  THAT’S WHAT WE’RE EXCITED ABOUT?  Seriously.  It blows my mind that people get all hyped up about that.  In this day and age, any car should be able to get that.  I’ll be excited when people start driving sedans instead of SUVs.. that’s a better transition than going from a Civic to a Prius.  I can justify 33 miles to the gallon or even the 24 that the RX-8 gets.  I have a little trouble with the Suburbans, Denalis, Tahoes, and Escalades that rumble down the road getting somewhere between 9 and 12 miles to the gallon.  

And I think they’re just ugly.  But I hear a new one is coming out in 2009 and it looks pretty sweet.

So maybe then.

Opine away.

Excerpts from an American Government Class and the Beauty That Is Passing Judgment

Yeah, I know, everyone wants me to shut up about politics and do more about Miley Cyrus and the annoying people at the coffee shop.  Unfortunately, though, I have not had time to even enter the coffee shop in over a week, and Miss Miley seems to be able to keep herself adequately covered.

Today’s subject wanders into the realm of the classroom and is less about being informed about politics.  (For more information on that subject, please see Sedgewick’s comment on my post about Bush bashing).  Let me give you a rundown of the people in my class. (For those of you who remember my Facebook blogging days- this is something like my rants about why I hate women although now I hate everyone).

I know only one person in my class, and I wish I didn’t know her.  So, for the purposes of this blog we will give everyone a name I deem appropriate.

1. and 2.  There are two boys (and no, they are not guys or men) that do nothing but make ignorant comments and play flash based games on their laptops.  Currently, they are watching YouTube videos (with volume on) and giggling like little girls.  If I had to guess, I’d say their names were something like Josh and Matt.  Nothing that stands out.  You can tell they were the totally uncool but wannabe cool kids in high school that decided when they got to college they’d make everyone think they had been cool.

Final judgment: Utterly annoying.

3.  We’ll call her Agnes and I’ll explain why in a minute.  This girl has a Political Science degree from Boston College.  Judging from the size of the rock on her wedding ring finger and her obviously married last name, “Parkson” she found a rich white guy to marry and now she gets to sit in classes all day.  So the first question this girl poses is, why is she in a government class?  Well, this, my dear friends is the byproduct of the Texas legislature.  Even if you already have a degree, if you go to school in the state of Texas you have to take a Texas Government class.  The problem is, there isn’t enough information to fill a semester so the result is American Government with a dash of Texas.  It’s lovely.  So the reason I call her Agnes is because she’s Asian, and there this hilarious pattern with immigrant Asians.  When they come to the US, a name like Chu-dong or MinLing won’t really do so well, and they think they’ll get made fun of, right?  So at this point in their probably non-English speaking life, they pick a name off a list of American names and use it.  The hilarious part is, this list must be from the 1920s because the names are always something like Frank, Albert, Agnes, Cornelia.. names Americans don’t use today.  I think it’s great.  The reason “Agnes” sticks out to me is because she is a typical Asian student.  The professor says, “make you sure you check out the list of readings before Exam 1.”  Agnes says, “So do we have to do the readings before the exam or are they on the exam?” “Will they be graded?” “Is it okay if I write on my test?”  Asian people crack me up.  My grandfather says it is the result of coming from a society where every aspect of life is controlled.  When they come to a society like ours where everything is free and relatively unstructured.  They don’t know what to do with themselves.

Final judgment: Seriously, Boston College? I thought better of that school.

4. This girl is also Asian, but I suspect she was born here because she is a little too Americanized.  We’ll call her Jane.  She sits through the entire class and surfs the web on her rhinestoned iPod touch.  When it gets close to the time class is over, she’ll pack up loudly and say “umm, it’s time to go.”  Like the professor, who has a doctorate and is a Fulbright scholar, doesn’t know how to read a clock.  I think that is rude and disrespectful.

Final judgment: idiot

There are more but I think I’ve passed the daily limit of how much judgment can be passed.  More to come!

 

 

The Girl Who Brings Her Lunch to Starbucks and a Collection of Other Stimulating Topics

That’s right ladies and gents, I bring my own lunch to Starbucks.

 

I know this seems out of the ordinary but have you ever taken a second glance at Starbucks’ culinary selection?  You have sandwiches that are made offsite and thus, soggy by the time you get it.  There are tiny portions of various pastas that are seated on a lovely but deceiving bed of lettuce that takes up half of the package it comes in.  And all of these delights are available to you for between $4.50 and $6.50 and sometimes even higher.  I got my lunch at Firehouse Subs (not sure if they have these in other parts of the country but they’re GREAT) for something like $6 and brought it here.  

The reason this is of note is because bringing your lunch to Starbucks is apparently a no no among those who hold it dear.  There’s an old lady at the table next to me staring at me like I might hurt her. It’s not like I took my lunch into Subway and ate it!  Also, I did purchase a drink here and am sipping on it as we speak.  I’m supposed to be writing a paper for my class but blogging is more fun.

In other news…

Today is Bavarian day.  Every month, my family gets together and we cook foods from another country/region.  It’s really fun because we get to see what everyone else comes up with and it’s really fun to cook with other people.  Last month was Greek food and it was wonderful- all stuff I’d never try on my own.  For Bavarian food I was assigned (or assigned myself since I always get first dibs) desserts so I made a Raspberry Bavarian cake and this afternoon I’m making an apple torte. Gad, family’s great.

Also in the news…

The super duper mega-church here is hosting its own version of Dateline NBC’s “To Catch A Predator.”  A minister there was arrested this week for going to meet a minor he’d talked to on the internet with the intention of having sex.  It’s a real shame.  He’s a dad and a granddad and I just hate to see this kind of thing happen to men that are supposed to set examples for our young men.

That’s all folks.  I’m off to a lovely day on the Rhine (such as it is).

Why Bush Bashing Was Only Cool When You were 13

I apologize for my recent absence, I am taking an abbreviated government course and it’s pretty much taking up all of my time.  I’ve been sleeping, eating and breathing government and perhaps that is the reason for this post.  I encourage you to state any objections or support in the comments section because this is a controversial topic that I hope will fuel some thought.

 

People Who Don’t Vote and Bash the President

According to Census data, there are roughly 301 million people in the United States.  126 million of those are registered to vote.  Believe it or not, that does not mean the other half of the population is under 18.  It means people aren’t voting.  I’m sure there are good reasons.  You’re busy, you don’t have a car, you don’t speak English, or maybe you can’t get your fat posterior off the couch anymore.  Either way, we respect your right not to vote.  But if you don’t vote, you don’t have the right to bash the President.  If you don’t care enough about the elections to get out there and cast a vote, then you are not well enough informed to be able to make educated opinions about Bush, including what he did or didn’t do or you think should have done.

 

Everyone Else on the Bush Bashing Bus (and other alliteration)

Anyone else that thinks President Bush should be impeached or that he’s a bad leader, go get an envelope and address it to your local IRS office which can be found here. http://www.irs.gov/localcontacts/index.html  Then, put your stimulus check in it and send it back.  I guarantee whoever you thought would make a better President (ie- Clinton, Obama) would not be mailing checks out to Americans.  Aren’t the Dems the ones that want to reduce the national debt?  Yep, you go ahead and send that check right back and say you don’t want it because it’s from President Bush and he is a bad, bad man.  Also exercise your First Amendment rights and practice some freedom of speech in that envelope.  You tell him how you feel!  Just wait and see if they tell you they can’t take their check back.  

Okay, so now that that’s done and the government is getting A LOT of money back thanks to all you dutiful Americans who are working to reduce national debt, lets address the issue of authority.

What is authority?  It is someone who has legitimate power.  What happens when you get pulled over for a traffic stop?  Do you tell the cop that you think he’s full of crap and needs to get back in his car and drive home? I’ve never met anyone that has disrespected a cop to his face.  Why is that?  Is it because you like him or know him?  Probably not.  It’s because he’s in a position of authority.  President Bush is in a position of authority, too.  He is Commander in Chief.  That means, regardless of how you feel about him (and remember you’re 1/301 million), you need to respect him.  His job is harder than any job you will ever have.  He has to lead the world’s only superpower and thus, he has to also worry about the whole world.  He went to Iraq not to “force” democracy on anyone.  He went to Iraq based on the intelligence at the time and the CONGRESS (you know the one that Obama and Clinton were in) supported him.  So that’s 436 people to blame NOT one.

 

Everyone needs to just step off their high horse and respect the man that has to trim his nose hairs in the public eye and hope it doesn’t offend anyone.

 

Ladies and Gentlemen, I surrender the soapbox.

 

 

Sports Cars

I apologize for the lack of blogging the past few days, and if I said I’d been busy that’d be a lie- the truth is I just didn’t really get around to it.

So now that my laziness has been covered, it’s time to move on to other topics.

Sports Cars

In just a few short weeks, my brother will be turning 17.  It seems like just yesterday that I was turning 17. How time flies.  Anyway, when I was 17, my parents got me my first car, a silver Mazda Tribute V6.  It was a great car, I named it Bentley, and we had good times until I rear ended Mabel on Halloween of that year. Now that my brother is that age, it’s time for his first car, and since he’s already been awarded his first speeding ticket, I don’t think there will be any V6 engine for him.  The plan right now is for him to inherit Charlotte, the Honda Civic that runs like it’s brand new.  That means, little old me will be buying my first car, and I have been looking into the Mazda RX-8.  There’s a slightly used one I’ve got my eye on and it’s a real beauty.  The great thing about this car is that even though it’s a sports car and you pay the price for that in gas mileage, it’s technically a four door car.  See below.

The one I am looking at is black, just for the record- I’m not a fan of silver cars.  Everything else, is the same though.  So, those little wing doors are saving me about $80 a month in insurance.  For you car buffs it has a 1.3L R2 rotary engine with a 6 speed manual transmission.  It really is a true sports car.  Wish me luck.

 

 

In The News (my two cents): Miley Cyrus

The first time I saw Hannah Montana, I was at a friend’s house channel surfing late at night.  I don’t even know why I stopped on that show, but something about it must have caught my eye.  Since that time, I have bought every episode of the show on iTunes and kept up with it pretty religiously.  I even went and bought the second CD the day it came out.  

My thoughts on the show:

1. The acting is terrible, and BIlly Ray Cyrus doesn’t hold up his end- his acting is by far the worst of the bunch.  You’d think the one cast member with 25 more years experience than everyone else would be able to do a kids’ TV show by now but maybe not.  The rest of the cast is mediocre- but then High School Musical doesn’t have noteworthy acting either.  Not that the tween viewers care.

2. The writing isn’t much better than the acting, but it has its moments. 

3. Everything on the show is super colorful- which makes it look fake.  If they’d just tone down the saturation a bit it might look more real.  But again, how many tweens really care?

 

My thoughts on the CD:

1. The songs are catchy though the lyrics are not very original.

2. Most of the songs have very positive words and are easy to like.

3. Miley Cyrus is a terrible singer.  She’s on Ashlee Simpson’s level.

 

All of that brings me to my thoughts on the recent scandal of sorts started by her posing in nothing but a bed sheet.  First of all, in this day and age, who can blame her for thinking it’s okay for a 15 year old girl to do that?  Shame on her parents, not her.  Not that she’s entirely innocent, anyone who has ever seen Annie Leibovitz’s photography knows they have strong sexual overtones.  She should have known going into the photo shoot that it was probably going to make her come out looking like Jamie Lynn Spears about 20 minutes after being knocked up.  And really, it’s not the lack of clothing or the bed sheet that stuck out the most to me.  It’s the blatantly obvious sex hair and red lipstick.  I distinctly remember my mom forbidding me from wearing any kind of nail polish or lip color that was red (or any closely related variation thereof).  It just makes her look like a trashy whore, and is that what someone who is making $1 million a week from her wholesome image wants to do?

I doubt it.

The Problem with Lying

“If you tell the truth, you don’t have to remember anything.” -Mark Twain

I flipped on the TV today while I ate lunch and mostly channel surfed because let’s face- daytime television isn’t exactly award winning material.  The first show I saw was Maury.  Now, this is kind of a bad example for the subject of today’s post because the people that take their problems on to that show (or any show for that matter), are in a whole different playing field.  Regardless, the topic of the show was on cheating and the suspected cheater had been given a lie detector test.  A few channels down was the Tyra.  I have to admit, I’m a fan of Tyra.  She seems to be a pretty good role model most of the time.  Unfortunately, she stooped to Maury’s level today.  She was interviewing people who had been on the game show, Moment of Truth, and asking them questions about how it changed their life.  The girl I saw on the show was taking a lie detector test for Tyra to see if she loved her husband.

 

1. If you have to take a lie detector test to see if you love someone, you don’t.

2. If you have to go on to a reality, talk or game show to see if your significant other is cheating, they are.

3. If you are that desperate for attention, go the grocery store naked.  

 

Since when did our culture become so depraved that we wanted to watch this on television for entertainment?  We are quick to blame Hollywood, but everyone wants to be just like them and if we’d stop paying attention to their silly little lives, we would probably be a lot better off.

Everyone that knows me, knows I’m a sucker for celebrity gossip.  Why?  I wish I knew. Honestly, I’m just as much of a sucker for regular gossip.  So, a while back I nixed the Facebook habit and deactivated my account.  Today, I get rid of the celebrity news.  I am not going to fuel that fire any longer.  That, and I think Perez Hilton is what my dear friend Sedgewick would call a “douche canoe.”

Coffee Shop Observations #1

So here’s what I know about the people on the other side of the coffee shop I’m in.

They are grandparents, and their daughter thinks they favor one of her children.  They don’t approve of the way their grandchildren are being raised, but really, they are the victims here.  Their daughter is “an unstable person” who sends email messages to her dad saying “tell your wife…”  Apparently the daughter is a scammer and “it’s fun to watch her.”  She lives in Keller and “she’s always the martyr.”  The grandfather’s sister feels like everyone is looking at her.

End eavesdrop session.

First of all, these people are easily 20 feet away from me, I should not be able to hear their conversation, much less draw them a family tree.  What disturbs me about this situation is that these people are my grandparents age.  I’m only 20- still a kid- is this how people will be for the rest of my life? At what point do people stop trying to change everyone around them, and when they don’t change, resort to mindless gossip?  Unsettling.

Well, I have three websites that I want to finish today.  Blog later!