Harder than I thought

Toward the end I could just feel the time slipping away from me. No matter how hard I worked the work didn't get done fast enough. And my illness and meds didn't make it easier. Especially not in the panic and fatigue departments. I can't work in either state. 24 hours/day for Grad Work -nap time -medication fog -sleep at night +panic -eat regularly or you get sick +symptoms = not able to finish

Luckily my professor, who I mentioned in the last post, works individually with each student to formulate a plan that will make them successful, given whatever situation and/or paperwork they may have from the school accommodation staff. I have very strong paperwork, and it happened to be about an issue that had touched my professor personally. So she knew how hard this is. She has offered to give me two incompletes if I need them (one for each class), which gives me a year to make it up. I'll have it done by Christmas though. Can't have it hanging over my head when next semester starts.

I'll write again when I finish both, by Christmas. Because I will finish.

OK, enough break. Back to work.

Hard but Fascinating

I am getting into the rhythm of Grad school. You have to see everything you do (other than homework) as just a brief break from the work you have to do. It takes a toll, all this homework and reading and classes. At least I am only taking 2 classes; some grad students have 3 classes, and I don't know how they manage.

My life has narrowed a bit since the Summer. Focus is the key word here I guess. At least Grad school is only the topic you chose, without any extraneous classes. I do wish there were some graduate classes in how to write, not just theory and history. I guess they need to make it that way for it to qualify as an MS. When I graduate, I will have a BA in the hard sciences (neuroscience) and an MS in Journalism and Mass Communications, which I consider part of the humanities. So odd. But I have always wanted an MS so I guess it works. And I can take 3 undergraduate courses as part of the degree, so I'll get my writing that way.

The main thing that makes this semester especially hard is that I have the "hardest" Professor for both classes. She teaches four classes, and I just happened to get two in the same semester. I had heard rumors, but I didn't believe them. Now that I'm learning from her I find that she is at heart a kind, knowledgeable and giving professor. The only problem is that she doesn't seem to have any conception of how long the work she assigns takes. We have all told her that we can't do it all and can't she narrow it down some. She declined to do so, which means people are haphazardly choosing what to read etc., and no two people in the class will have learned the same things at the end of it. For instance, she assigns around 700 pages of reading a week. In one class. It is impossible I tell you! That is like almost 3 good size books! And that is only in one class! I have her in my other one as well like I said and she doesn't stint on the homework there either. So combined it makes for one headlong plunge. I do find her to be very accommodating though; if you are truly ill she readily gives extensions. She just has this quirk of not realizing how many hours are needed to read 700 pages of dense, technical material.

Like I said before though, it is fascinating work. I enjoy writing (or I wouldn't keep a blog now would I), and this masters affords plenty of time for that, since we write a 25 page paper in every class, in addition to the weekly writing assignments. And I'll learn the "craft" in those undergrad classes, since it is assumed in the masters program that you have already done that. Overall I like it, I just wish there were more hours in the day to get it all done. But I'll manage, don't you worry about me!

I hope all of you are as well as I am or better.

New Semester

Here's the latest on my life:

School has started up again, and once again I'm taking two classes. It is going well and is all very interesting.

One is policy and law of media. We deal with libel law, copyright law, and restraint of the press, among other topics in law. Quite fascinating. I'm learning how to write a brief on a court case. Maybe I'll train as a paralegal and work for my lawyer friends! This is my favorite class.

The other is theory of media. It is a literature review of all aspects of media, from feminist perspectives, the developing world view and traditional mainstream thought. All engrossing as well. Expanding my mind.

You may have noticed that I don't take many writing courses. That is because they assume you are a journalism student and you took all that as an undergraduate. As some of you may remember, I graduated in neuroscience and so had precious little writing experience. I did have one excellent writing teacher, who really helped and encouraged me. She is one of the main reasons I'm here. That and the fact that I can't seem to stop writing. My diaries fill a shelf. Here I am blogging again.

So, here's my other news. To get those writing courses, I'm thinking of going to New Zealand. I mean, of course! It would be February to November of 2008. I found this great program through Study Abroad at Massey University in Wellington. They have excellent writing courses, even a science writing course, which is the angle I'd like to pursue. Use that neuroscience bent you see. We'll see if it happens. Still very much in the works at this point.

Next, I'm living in the dorms. Part-time now. Right now it is Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday here, and the rest of the week at home. Well, my main home I guess. This is starting to feel like home too. They mix up the single/double rooms in these high rise buildings with apartments, all on the same floor. I live in an apartment on the ninth floor. I have a single room, which is vital, and extremely kind and welcoming housemates. I got this place because my classes are at night, and after taking the light rail I wasn't getting to bed till 1 am. This is much better. I can unwind at my leisure right away, instead of waiting for a train for half an hour and then sitting in the florescent light of the train for an hour etc. So much better! I'm going to try and work it so that I segregate my appointment at my other house into every other week, so I can stay here longer and fully participate in the community here.

I think that is all the news. I'll keep you posted. Thanks for reading! I'd love to hear from any of you. I hope all is well with you!

I'm Back!

Yes, Finally Writing Again. I wanted to tell you my late summer triumph after five months of pain and anguish. (Is that a cliche? I don't care!)

Here's the story of my attempts to manipulate a bureaucracy.

I needed an appointment with someone who was imbedded in a maze of secretaries and other gatekeepers. I saw this person once, but needed to follow up with them in about three months. I naively thought I'd just be able to call at say 2 1/2 months and schedule an appointment. I couldn't have been more wrong

So I call at the time I'd set with this person but got his secretary. When I told her I needed an appointment she looked me up in the computer, said I'd just been here three months ago and proceeded to almost hang up on me. When I stopped her and repeated my request she overly slowly explained that no one returns earlier than six months. When I asked her to check with my contact to confirm that it was ok, she laughed and ended the call.

Now here's where I made my first mistake. I should have called back and been more forceful. I am too nice. It is true that usually people don't come back till 6 months. I was a special case, and I should have called 5 times a day demanding that she give me an appointment until I was successful. Sad that that would be necessary. I did call my contact directly but he never called back. I later learned he had referred the call to his "people", who dismissed it.

I did persevere in my own way, though. I called back at 6 months and was told I needed to speak to his appointment secretary, not the front desk secretary. The front desk one promised to pass it on to the appointment secretary, who would call me shortly. Right (she snorted derisively).

So of course she didn't call. I still didn't fit into a neat check box on their form so they just ignore me and let me fall through the cracks.

So I called her (the appointment secretary) about two weeks later. Hey, I'm a busy person, I don't have time to sit around and call people all day (though that seems to be what is required). Anyway, I got a hold of her, but she said I needed to talk to the interview people again. She says she'll refer me and they would give me a call. When the devil ice-skates in hell.

Again, I wait. (if you are keeping track it is now almost 4 months since I should have been in to see him). No one calls. They prefer to ignore that which confuses them.

Again I call, this time at nearly 4 1/2 months. I get ahold of the people who are supposed to interview me. The express confusion, saying they got all the information they needed at the first appointment. They have no idea why I was referred to them. And yet they sat on my file. I find out later that they were supposed to interview me again, but that is neither here nor there at this point.

They refer me back to the appointment secretary. I'l give you five guesses on whether or not she called. Oh, right first try! The answer is of course NO. No one calls.

Finally I have had enough. At five months I call the appointment secretary, calmly explain to her answering machine that this has gone on long enough and I would like an appointment. Oh, and I'm also going to report this incident to the complaint department. I shouldn't have to wait 5 months for my appointment.

This finally gets some results. That same day I have my appointment. The appointment secretary calls me and books it with alacrity.

I still report the whole fiasco to the complaint department, as I am completely fed up. They take it all down, and that same day I hear from the uber-boss of the whole department I had been wrangling with for all this time, who listens to my complaint kindly. I have nearly forgiven them when she says "Now if this happens again, you should be more forceful! Stand up for what you know is right!". I couldn't believe it! They still blame it on me, after 5 months! They are a horrible organization and if I didn't really need to speak occasionally with this one man I would be glad to never phone them again. She seems to fail to see that they should have done the right thing at the beginning, then I wouldn't need to call back again and again. Phooey on them!

May you never have a similar experience.

PS I now have his business card and direct line so this shouldn't happen again.

My Summer Job

Well I had a great summer job after all. I got an internship just like I wanted. I have a first cousin once removed in-law who works at the university advancement office at San Jose State University, where I go to grad school. They are the PR office for the university and put out the alumni magazine as well as all the pamphlets related to the school that are used in recruitment. The also deal with all the media and act as the spokesperson for the university.

So I visited my cousin there one day and she showed me around and it happened to come up that they had no intern lined up for the summer because the couldn't get a grant for that time. Well, I was really interested in being exposed to the world of journalism so I said I could volunteer my time if they needed someone. The did and I started right away.

I had so much fun. Everyone was so nice. They truly tried to give me interesting work, not just typing and copying, though of course as an intern I did that too. And even that was interesting because I got to see the types of documents that flow through a PR office, like updated guidelines for professors in relating to the media.

One thing that I didn't know was about clip logging. There are services that read every paper in the state (and contract with services in other states that do the same) and they cut out articles that mention SJSU. They then attach a little tag to the "clip" that says which paper it came from and the date it appeared and then they send them to us in big, bulging envelopes. I would go through all of them and enter the headline, date, person/department mentioned and their relation to the university (professor, alum etc.) into a spreadsheet. It was a little tedious but I enjoying seeing all the different ways that SJSU came up in the news. Mostly it was professor quotes, especially these two political science professors, but sometimes it would be some random alum in North Carolina that won an award so their bio showed up in the paper. Random stuff like that. Anyway, it was fun.

August 4th I will be out of town, so I won't write that day. But here I am early! I'll try to be early next time too.

It's true. Believe it.

On second thought, don't believe it, KNOW it, because it is a FACT, which is not something you take on faith.

We are in a period of accelerated global warming and it has a man-made component, if not cause. It is making the world unlivable for our form of life, and if we start now we can still do something about it. But time is short.

This fact was brought to my clear understanding this weekend by "An Inconvenient Truth," the new documentary featuring Al Gore. He is GREAT in the movie by the way. Funny, unhurried, secure in the truth of his statements. Very impressive.

The movie brought up tons of interesting information. For instance, we can tell the temperature of the world going back hundreds of thousands of years, mainly by drilling into the Antarctic ice. From these core samples progressive shavings are taken, and from the oxygen isotopes in the air trapped in the bubbles in each shaving they can determine the temperature. The time is known because they know the amount of accumulation each year.

The point is, when you look at a graph of this, you can see the range around an average, and you can see the last few ice-ages, and the last few warming periods, and then there is us now. We are so far out of range and it is happening so rapidly, it simply can't be a natural process. The only variable is us, it must be us.

I'm not worried about the Earth. The Earth has been here a long time and endured many extinctions. Because that is what we are approaching, an extinction, and we will be the ones going extinct very soon if we don't change our ways. I'm worried about our survival.

Go see the movie if you haven't already, and then write your elected officials, buy a Prius, and put photovoltaic cells on your roof. That's what I feel like doing, at a bare minimum.

Go see it now!

PS It is my new pattern to write on the 4th of every month. Happy 4th of July! See you August 4th!

I blather on . . .

That's what a columnist in the San Jose Mercury said - I blather on- and I think I'll steal it. Isn't that what blogging is all about? Talking to the air about everything and nothing in particular because it feels good to unload. Upload your brain to the internet.

Sorry I have not written in so long. I blame it on the end of school - finals and 20 page papers and final projects fell down on me. I did very well, earning 2 A's. Well, OK, an A and an A minus. So I don't have a 4.0, but to be honest I don't really care or even understand the system. UCSC during my tenure did not have grades. We had a harder measuring system called Narrative Evaluations that consisted of a paragraph for each class that was written by the professor or in the case of large classes sometimes your TA, that described the purpose of the class in a few lines and then went through your performance test by test and paper by paper. Some people say it was just glorified grades because you could kinda translate them (Outstanding meant A+ and Excellent was A, Very good = B, Satisfactory = C etc.) but I still think it was harder because like I said they listed every paper, so you couldn't blow one off and have it all melt into a "B" at the end of the term. And if you were really good they would add a few words of effusive praise, like "She was excellent, in the top 5% of this class of 300, and I sincerely hope she decides to continue in this study as she would be a great asset to the field," which was always nice to hear. So it becomes like 60 letters of recommendation. It was very effective in getting me into graduate school. It is so sad that they have cut back on their use at UCSC. The spirit of my old school is gone. You can never go home.

I'm trying to get an internship or at least a job for the summer. Wish me luck!

The Chinese Disaster

Have you been following the news about President Hu's visit to the White House? It was full of the type of faux pas that we might consider minor annoyances but to a Chinese way of thinking they would be major insults.

One of the main ones is the Falun Gong protester during President Hu's speech. Why did it take so long to escort her out of the area? While we do favor dissent here in the United States (at least on paper), we also limit protesters to certain areas usually. Big protests need a permit for example. Environmentalist are routinely arrested for chaining themselves together to block logging trucks. Given the delicate relationship we have with China, it is vital we don't embarrass their leader. It didn't appear that she lied in obtaining her temporary credentials, and she wrote for a Falun Gong newspaper, so someone should have caught that.

The next one was how President Bush at first motioned to escort President Hu off the stage and, a moment later, when Bush realized they needed to stay on there to take a picture or something, he grabbed Hu by the back of his jacket and pulled in back. No wonder this was just an "official" visit and not a "state" visit. We can't even keep from manhandling our guests!

The third one that I remember was that during the official playing of the Chinese anthem it was announced as Taiwan's anthem. They said Republic of China, which is the official name of Taiwan, instead of People's Republic of China, which is mainland China. You must remember the ongoing tension between Taiwan and China, and the US and China over Taiwan. Confusing the two is a very basic mistake that should not have happened.

These sort of slight could have a big cumulative effect and hurt our relationship with China. This administration is incompetent and criminal.

How can I be Behind?

School is really heating up. I was still in the mind set of quarters, so at first this pace seemed really slow to me. But also with quarters school gets out later. We only have till May 23rd, which is really only a month away. It is a little scary. I have been keeping up with what I had to do everyday, and even working on the big projects some, but I still feel like I am behind. I better buckle down.

I'm doing a paper in one class about market-driven journalism, which is journalism beholden to capitalistic forces, such as advertising or shareholders. One could argue that all media need advertisers and shareholders, otherwise they would have no money to print newspapers or braodcast newscasts. Ideally, though, journalism would be concerned solely with delivering truth to the public. How to accomplish that and still maintain a profit so you can afford to hire a newsroom is the question. I've got some good references already so I think it might make an interesting paper. I like it so far, anyway.

I haven't been thanking you as much for reading as I have on my old blog, Shamrock to Kiwi. I guess it is because these entries or shorter so I don't feel so guilty at the end of writing them. But I appreciate anyone who reads my ramblings, no matter how short. So Thank You!!

What a Party!

Everyone cheer Cheryl and Ryan, the bride and groom! Hip, Hip, Horray!

That was even more fun than I thought it would be. My cousin had it planned down to the smallest detail, and the wedding and reception went off without a hitch.

The ceremony itself was fairly short, and took place at the couple's church. The place was packed, and everyone was so involved in the service, craning their necks to see the bridal party enter. The party was huge, with six each of bridesmaids and groomsmen, and two each of the flower girls and ring bearers. One flower girl was a little blond about three years old, and she was absolutely too precious for words. She behaved well during the service too.

The reception was yummy too. More food, I know, but I am traveling! Choice of broccolli salad with cranberries and walnuts or romaine with gargonzola, and then tri-tip or tortellini. I had the tortellini. I often get vegetarian when I travel (it was spinich and cheese pasta).

The dancing was fun too. Folks was very inclusive, so everyone felt welcome to get up and dance. We did YMCA of course, and just generally had a wonderful time.

Thanks for reading! I should thank you more often. :-)

Back Home Safe, on to Cousin's Wedding

I flew back just fine from my trip to Baltimore. I arrived home last Sunday without any trouble at all. Well, I guess the plane was late on the last leg, but I had my ipod and my magazines so I was just fine. We made up some time in the air so we weren't that late. Sorry I didn't tell you earlier.

Now we are at Davis for the wedding of my cousin. That should be fun. Nothing like a wedding to lift the spirits. Though of course I'm at the age where all my friends are marrying off, so it makes me feel a little lonely. Still, I wish her all the best. It is always nice to go to a wedding and get ideas of how you might want your wedding to be someday. Of course, it is not the wedding that is important, but the marriage. And I think my cousin will be good at that too.

NYC

We just returned from New York and I for one had a wonderful time. We stayed in the East Village, near Greenwich Village. We stayed in a building that appeared to be half apartments and half hotel suites. We had what amounted to a one bedroom apartment, completely with a samll kitchen and a tiny stove. Very cute.

Yesterday we saw the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). They were having a Munch exhibit, which I loved. So many of his pieces scare the viewer or at least make you feel squeemish. Very affecting. Such dark backgrounds and clothes and then a very white face. And then he has some that are very light and bright, like a horse pulling a sleigh through the snow, and people in colorful clothes on ether side of the street. Such a contrast. Some of his work is very detailed and pictorial, like some of the commissioned portraits he did. Such a difference from "Despair" (the forerunner to "The Scream") which shows a man's profile where the screamer usually is. But it still has the blood red sky. Just amazing. I bought tons of postcards.

Ok, now a bit of food. Settle down, it is just a bit! Today we went to Tom's Diner, the one made famous as the Sienfeld hangout and the setting of Suzzanne Vega song of the same name. So that was fun to be a part of the legend. See? Not much food.

Well, gotta go dinner is on. (ooops!, More Food!)

Lovely time and Sushi too

I know you were all waiting on pins and needles to see how the dinner out with my high school friend and his fiancee went.

Well, it was lovely. I realized later I hadn't seen him for four years (!) but we fell in to talking just like old times. That's the greatest thing about really good old friends is that you can pick right up as if no time had passed.

He gave me this great book called "A Short History of Nearly Everything", which is science writng, which I do too, so it was a great present.

His fiancee was great too. I heartily approve. So nice to see good friends so well matched. You want your friends to be happy in marriage and I'm sure they wil be. They work well as a couple already.

Well, I gotta go, we're going to run some errands. More later!

Travel = Food

A friend of mine whose opinion I respect read this blog and said that the entries from the trip were all about food, as if that was a negative. But isn't that what travel is all about? I go out so much more often when I am traveling, and sample such varied cuisine, and I want to share it with you. I do enjoy food, and probably think about it too much since I'm on a diet, so it is possible that I am leaning on the food too much. But heck, this is my blog and I can do whatever I want, right? So, food it is!

Do you agree? I'd love to hear from you and see if the comment section works.

Ellicott City

My mom, my college friend and I all went to Ellicott City today. We walked through the cutest part, a narrow kinda cobbled street lined with antique shops, cafes, and tarot/fairy-themed shops.

For lunch we ate at a vegetarian cafe called Sarah and Desmond. It is a three story place and we ate on the second floor. The top one is for children because there are toys there and space for kids to run around. I loved it. I had the "Bella Donna" sandwich, as did everyone in our party, but they had 1/2 sandwich and soup. The "Bella Donna" is a marinated and grilled portabella (which by the way is spelled several ways. Look it up!) mushroom with spinich and gorgonzola cheese. Yummy!

We also wandered in and out of lots of stores. Easter is comimng up - I can tell because of the decided bunny rabbit theme to these stores. I was tempted to buy a laser carved rock that said "Luck" in Chinese characters, but instead I bought a pin that had the maryland flag on it and said "Maryland", because I collect cloissonne pins from places I travel.

Have you seen the Maryland flag? It is heraldic, with a yellow and black checkerboard in alternate corners and red flur-du-lis or something in the other corners. Very Impressive.

We came home and just hung out and watched Oprah, which was fun. Orlando Bloom was on, and us three ladies much approved of that.

Tonight we are having sushi with a friend of mine from High School and his fiancee. Looking forward to it!

Eat Your Cannoli

We are going to have cannolis for dessert! We got them at an Italian bakery and it is very hard not to eat them before our tacos. Luckily, now it is now 45 minutes later and we have eaten our tacos and will soon eat the cannolis, which we got at a very popular Italian bakery in Little Italy, Baltimore. I can't wait!

We have been at Berkeley Springs this last night. We were able to stay the night with my Aunt and Uncle, who live on ten acres in the woods. We had a lovely time and it was so good to see them.

Last night we ate at Teri's, a wonderful restaurant in downtown Berkeley Springs. The walls are covered with art work that is created by the wait staff. Some of it is painted, it welded, some woven. One painted depicted 4 elderly ladies enjoying skydiving. The canvas measured 3 feet by 5 feet and looked very impressive. I loved it.

The food was yummy too. I had crab cakes, which were full of crab without much filler. We all had different kinds of seafood and it was all lovely. Then for dessert I had what they called a "Kentucky Derby", which was like a "slice of pie" shaped chocolate cookie, which also had pecans and coconut. So yummy!

We spent the rest of yesterday and today looking at the cute shops downtown, when we weren't hanging out at the house and chatting. I enjoyed all of it. Lots of interesting shops. Berkeley Springs is a very artistic.

Oh, here are the cannolis. Bye!

Alternate Ending

Well, we went to Washington D.C. today to join in the Cherry Blossom Festivities, but it has been cold here recently and they weren't really out yet. But we still had a good time.

I'm staying with my sophomore year collge roommate and her husband. They graciously drove us all the way from Baltimore to D.C. for the day. We were blessed with gorgeous weather today, mild temps that were easily braved with a trench coat and in and out of the sun. We took it easy, parking up by the Capitol Building (free parking on weekends! Yeah!) and walking done the mall. We stopped in first at the National Botanical Garden, where they were having a special orchid show. There are some beautiful ones, unusual pitcher type ones or spotted ones. It was so nice and warm in there, kept nice and humid for the good of the flowers. So beautiful!

Then we went to the Native American Museum and ate at the cafe, which I highly reccommend. They have it laid out in sections, with each one serving food from the Native American tribes of a region of the United States. I had some from the Southwest: a tamale and a piece of blue corn bread. It was actually blue, and tasted a little like gingerbread. Yummy.

Next we tried to see the souvineer postcard and stamp at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, but it had closed at three! Three, I tell you!! I had forgotton to check the time on the net before hand, so it is all my own fault, but still. Who closes at three?! We got a good walk in though.

After that we walked down the entire mall to the Lincoln Memorial, taking pictures along the way and looking at the kites flying as part of the Kite Festival. Apparantly there was a marathon this morning too, but it was over by the time we got there. Lots happening today.

Finally we went to the FDR memorial, which was even more cool than I expected. Lots of waterfalls and engraved quotes on redish granite. As you walked through it you traveled through his four terms, around corners and by waterfalls. There was braille everywhere, and at one place lots of raised faces and scenes so the blind could experience some of the messages of the memorial. I hadn't really realized he was president for so long - 1933 to 1945. I knew he had worked on both the Depression and World War II, but I had never really thought about how that meant it was more than 10 years. The memorial flowed well, and not just because of the water. I liked it more than I expected even.

Ok, that's enough, I have bored you now I'm sure. Congrats for making it thus far! I'm off to bed.

Spring is Here!

Here's a poem I heard ages ago:

Spring has Sprung!
The grass is Ris'!
I wonder where the Birdies Is?

It feels right for today. Just a few days ago here in the San Francisco Bay Area we had hard rain and showers, even thunderstorms, which are rare for this area. Today though the world had decided to fully flaunt springtime. All the trees were budding out and the grass is thick and green. So lovely! A fitting day on which to start Spring Break.

I'm traveling out to Baltimore to see friends and relatives this week. I'l be there all Spring Break but it still feels like a whirlwind trip because I have so many people to see. It also looks like the weather will be much colder, maybe even snow on Saturday, when we are planning on going to the cherry blossom festival in D.C. It would be neat to see snow-flurries against the blooms, as long as not many are knocked off. Should be fun in any case.

I'll try to keep you updated on my trip.

You're a Writer Now

i went to a great seminar this evening about the writing profession. It was filled with useful information about the mechanics of getting articles published. He gave us all the tricks so we could appear like professionals our first time out.

My favorite piece of advice boiled down to this: you are a writer when you think you are a writer. Not when you first get published, or when you get your first idea accepted, not even when you finish your first article. The profession begins when you intentionally say "I am a writer. That is the central focus of my life." And from this intention flows all the practical rigamarole that leads to publication and even more personal confidence when you answer, "I'm a writer" to the question, "What do you do?"

Another great piece of advice he had was that professionals sell, then write, while amateurs do it backwards. The pros write to editors with story ideas and only put in the effort of writing when the idea is accepted. This makes so much sense I'm surprised I didn't think of it before. Why write an article on spec? Better to know that someone wants it, and have already negotiated what sort of tone and direction is appropriate, before you set down to write.

The exception is newspapers. They run on such a tight timeframe that sending out a manuscript cold is OK.

I'm so excited about writing now (he was a very motivating speaker) that I want to sit down right now and get an article from my Shamrock to Kiwi blog and send it out to 10 newspapers. But, alas, it is bedtime. Maybe tomorrow.

Paranoid

Have you heard about this reclassifying of documents? Our administration is so paranoid that they are taking documents that have been declassified for years, in some cases over 50 years, and yanking them off the shelves to be reclassified. This is the weirdest thing I've heard in a while. These are articles that have been in the public domain for years. Most of them have been photocopied by private historians, so they already exist in private libraries and books. Removing the official copies does not remove them from circulation. The whole thing is madness.

Some of these documents are more than 50 years old and seem mainly to be on the reclassify list because they are embarrassing. If this truly is the reason it is not only ridiculous but also illegal, as the law clearly states that saving someone (group, country) from embarrassment CANNOT be the reason a document is kept classified or reclassified. The one I'm thinking of is a 1950s memo that predicted that the Chinese would not intervene in the Korean War, 12 days before they did. Would the US rather not have that bandied about? Yes. Reason enough to keep it secret? No.

As much as I think this is funny, it is also quite scary too. This administration, more than any other in recent memory, craves secrecy, because they know that if you control the information you control the populace. This program (which has been going on over 5 years by the way) is just the latest in their efforts to massage the media and information in general. Remember how Bush paid journalists to write favorably about his agenda? Notice how Cheney will only grant interviews to the ultra-conservative FoxNews channel? These are not coincidences.

Wake up people!

Acknowledgments: Slate, Blogcritics.org

Not a Dictatorship (yet)

I am getting tired of George W. Bush's claim that due to the "war on terror" he can do whatever he wants, including spy on American citizens without judicial oversight. Just because we are in a war (of his own making) he seems to think he has carte blanche to do illegal things. The Supreme Court has said that a war, any war, does not give the President complete and total control. We live in a Democratic Republic, with an ingenious system of checks and balances. No one person or one body can rule the country; it takes all three. Bush seems to have forgotten that.

I read in the paper today that Bush is now trying to get the Congress to retroactively say he has the right to spy on Americans. This whole business saddens me. Why must Bush make such a blatant grab for power? Is he so insulated that he doesn't realize how bad he looks? I think that may be true. I read another article yesterday that said the chief of protocol at the White House was the only person (aside from Laura Bush) who could tell the president he was wrong. That scares me. It means our president is surrounded by "yes men" and doesn't have anyone to tell him the unvarnished truth, if that truth is "You're wrong". No wonder Bush thinks this wiretapping which clearly exceeds the bounds of his power is legal.

Another thing Bush appears to have forgotten is that someday a Democrat will be back in the White House. Any grab for power Bush succeeds at will serve as a precedent for future Presidents of both parties. Does he really want a Democrat to have the same power?

The funny thing is, Bush could probably get permission for all his wiretapping from the secret court. As I understand it, it rarely refuses requests. So he could be doing all of this legally. Why does he have to be so difficult?

Freezing and Reading

It is FREEZING here! Well, cold for the California Bay Area anyway. It was in the 40s at 5 p.m., when the sun was still up. What's up with that?! It is almost in the 30s now (40.6 F according to the digital thermometer outside) and it is not even nine yet. We did get a dusting of snow of the various peaks around the Bay last Friday or so. That is always a big event here, even if it is only an inch or less and only in a few mountain areas. Our local newspaper ran the requisite photo of a kid next to a snowman, the surrounding area bare because all the snow had gone into building it. It is fun for a few days, but I'll be happy when we get back to 50s and 60s. I'm so spoiled.

Well I've been making some progress on my reading, of which I have a TON. Mom and I were discussing schools of thought on how to speed up reading and comprehension. One way, according to what Mom has heard, is to cut out the "inner voice" that "reads" along with you in your head. If you can make the information go straight from the page to your brain and skip this reader you go a lot faster. She tells me that it is possible to put a sensitive microphone on the throat of somehow who is reading (kinda the kind of microphone that you see on commandos in the movies) and it will pick up faint vibrations from the vocal chords that mimic the reader. With this set up it is possible to tell where a person is in a book, even though they are not speaking aloud, nor trying to convey the information in any way. Isn't that fascinating? Food for thought.

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs

Have you ever read that book? Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs? It was one of my favorites as a kid and still is, really. It is a very creative story.

It is about a "tall-tale" that a grandfather tells his grandkids about the tiny town of Chewandswallow. It has three hundred people and the most unusual weather you have ever seen. The weather comes 3 times a day and accounts for all the food they eat. For breakfast, for example, it might rain orange juice, followed by low clouds of sunny-side up eggs and pieces of toast. A shower of milk would finish the meal.

This idyllic existence is shattered with the weather begins to turn violent. The food items grow in size until a gigantic pancake covers the school, forcing it's closure. It just gets worse and worse until the townspeople fear for their lives. They decide to abandon Chewandswallow.

They take some of the huge stale pieces of bread that fell earlier and caulk them together sandwich style with peanut-butter. Using pieces of pizza for sails, they set off into the unknown. After many days of sailing, they arrive at a quiet coastal town that welcomes them, and they gradually settle in to a new life, even learning how to shop at the grocery store. So it is a happy ending.

This book fascinated me as a child. It really fires the imagination. I remember trying to think how my favorite meals could translate into weather. Like my breakfast of cereal, milk and juice would become milk rain and Cherrio hail, followed by showers of orange juice. But how would the transition work? What if you got both orange juice and milk in one glass? That would be gross! And would the milk rain interfere with the Cherrio hail and make it soggy? These are important issues! I suppose it is all pretend so you can make up any rules you want, but I like to pretend it is real and imagine the problems that would come with that reality. So you see how my mind works.

Well I visited my grandparents today (they are fine) and got some reading done, so overall a very successful day. I hope your day was too.

Brand New Post

Alright, let's get this thing started. Here is a first ever brand new post, hot off the presses.

What should I write about? I'll tell you what I'm listening to: Dianne Reeves, on the "Good Night and Good Luck" soundtrack. It is a wonderful album, especially if you like soft jazz. Good movie too, one that scarily parallels our own situation in this country today. It has some nice up-tempo ones too, though my favorite may be this this very slow version of "Straighten Up and Fly Right" that is gorgeous.

Have you ever listened to the lyrics of that song? I never had until just recently, and I discover that the title is not metaphorical, as I had always assumed. The song begins "A buzzard took a monkey for a ride in the air/the monkey thought that everything was on the square/the buzzard tried to throw the monkey off of his back/the monkey grabbed his neck and said 'Now, listen Jack'/", and that is where the title lyrics come in. It really is a little odd. Great song though.

Well, I should read some for my class. More tomorrow hopefully.