the last one

this is my last require blog post. as i am typing this we are currently having a conversation about what would happen if we didnt have our blog posts. and now, paul, you are telling me i have until tomorrow. well im sorry, but im writing this one during class. so there.

and now you told us you like our section more. darn right.

the question is, will i remain in the blogosphere after this class gets out? i cant really say.

i have an embarrassing confession to make, which is that in middle school, i had a blog. and i wrote all my middle school thoughts in it. strange right? so, i am not a stranger to blogging. the things you find out about someone over the course of a semester right?

i guess i'll say thanks. this class was nowhere near as bad as i anticipated. also, i have two 15 page term papers due next week, and refworks is my new best friend. for that, i will be eternally grateful.

bye paul, see you around. [step aerobics maybe?]

sam sadler is the man

no really. i just read his e-mail reminding all of us to be safe on blowout tomorrow, but still encouraging us to have fun. the accidentals sang at his ceremony last week, and it was really cool. proof of how cool? look at this photo of him and my friend kanene:






















he built this city on rock and roll.

[thanks for letting me be a creepy facebook stalker kanene.]

heartaches are cured by the sea

I have been missing virginia beach like is it my job. i love the life i live at the beach more than anything else. at home, everyone knows each other by their first name, we leave our chairs on the beach, because we know we are always coming back soon. the weather is swelteringly hot and the humidity unbearable. I want to ride around in my car with the windows down and yell at the tourists who don't know where they are going. I want to put by bathing suit on and take my shoes off. Williamsburg has taken its toll on me, I'm tired, I'm pale, and I have been without salt and sand for too long. It is time to go home.

home strech

i have four posts left to fulfill my quota for this semester, and as i skipped out on the in previous weeks [for lack of time, not apathy i swear] the final four will be on my "topics of choice."

i choose this photo cartoon. it is tight. as is a all "A Softer World." check em out sometime. www.asofterworld.com

the media hype

well. politics are all about the media. government and public opinion in this country are fueled by that media machine. if you are shocked to find that the government influences the media, you are in for a rude awakening. because suprise, our government is run by humans, who are not entirely perfect. sure, we love to hold our government under the light of the founding fathers and the Declaration of Independence, and the halo of democracy, but we have to admit, there is a certain amount of behavior that is tolerated in the capital which would short circuit those lights. but we as citizens may have to tolerate it if we want to keep the image up in the modern world.

i do not support the current administration. i do not support the war in iraq. i could go on for this whole posts about aspects of the current regime that i have problems with. but, all administrations, even the worst that our country could possibly elect [ahem. drop.], there are certain strategies which need to be employed. control of the media, being one of them. it is not ideal, it is not perfect, but because i cannot provide a solution or alternative to it, i cannot criticize it. i don't support it, but i have to recognize that it happens.

slacker hero

this course hero group makes sense. open resources are not totally irrational to ask for. but it is so unecessary. we are college students. we can learn on our own. god forbid we have to work a little. professors are good people, despite what we as disillusioned youth are predisposed to think. they provide us with a good amount of accessible resources, which are easy to get to. it seems like the course hero group has spouted out of two general ideas: 1) that we as liberal college students feel the need to fight the manand turn everything into a case for the ACLU, that the first amendment
entitles us to whatever we want. and 2) we are getting so lazy that we dont want to work or do research or attend classes where we actually have to pay attention. we want resources handed to us. i mean... the group has its basis on facebook.

lets find a more credible cause people. there are people in the world who have it far worse off than not getting their college education handed to them.

its a carnival get it?

fair use seems like too much laws for a concept that is not entirely concrete. america is an electronic, cyber space nation now. we are all connected by a digital web, which you cannot put boundaries on. and that which you cannot grasp, you cannot regulate. the laws seem obscure, like those writing them don't really know what they are saying. and based on the incident in florida, that seems about correct. for a student to take notes on a professors lecture and it to cross copyright laws? isnt the point of a lecture class for students to take notes? it seems like we are trying to complicate our own lives, because humans feel they need to own everything, even their words and ideas. the study kits look like they should be considered cheating, and handled within the school. not a copyright issue. there is no correct side to this issue, because it shouldnt be an issue. fair use isnt a carnival, its a circus.

goodbye to you

we recently had senior meeting, the last time we would be with all the seniors from alpha chi. there was a slideshow with sentimental music, which was far more emotional than i normally allow myself to be. i have only been part of this group [proper term: sisterhood] for less than a year, but i already know i will love it for life. even after my first week in alpha chi, i knew it was the place where i was supposed to be, which sounds so contrived it makes me want to gag. saying goodbye to heaney was really sad. i was the first one she called off on her list in her senior will, and just hearing her talk about meeting me and knowing me, and how i will have to go on without her was sad. college moves far too quickly, i have learned this now. i have already lost an entire year. this post is far too frightening to continue.

the a-word

abortion is not illegal in the united states. no matter how many people wish it was, no matter that our president opposes it, not matter its religious implications; abortion is not illegal. the government regulates it and therefore the government should provide information on it. our country has yet to relate freedom of speech to the internet, and even more has yet to regulate what can and cannot be said on the internet. therefore, quietly disclosing information on such a topic is unacceptable. it is censorship in the simplest form. the government is failing to provide its citizens with vital information. i thought our country was beyond that. i am not sure how many arguments can be provided for or again such a clean display of censorship.

library music

finals have been driving me crazy. so i have worked out this awesome new playlist to keep me sane. it is about thirty tracks long, so i'll give you a good ten

1) good lovin- grateful dead
2) over the hills and far away -led zepplin
3) woodstock- crosby stills and nash
4) you got the silver- sue tedeschi
5) box of rain- grateful dead
6) louie louie- the kingsmen
7) thunder road- bruce sprinsteen
8) life during wartime- talking heads
9) juicy- notorious BIG
10) box of rain- grateful dead

try it out. not kidding.

loved of old school.

here at william and mary we boast several titles. the worlds second oldest college. the nations second best small public school. we are a "college" that runs with the best of universities and we want to keep it that way. it is common on campus to see us all glued to our laptops. we facebook, blog, e-mail, use listservs, stream content off the web, skype, google, and download with the best of them. but do we have potential for so much more? personally, that doesn't bother me. nor do i really care to pit myself technologically against other schools. because i am not sure that our school wants to boast that we are the most technologically advanced. that we are the most washed out by the glow of our computer screens. that we blog more than we talk to each other. that we can make the most happen without bothering to come into contact with other people. that we see our friends through our computers or phones than we do in real life. that sooner or later, we will be so dependent on our computers that we cannot function without them.

crime is not fashion

it has been an issue for years, downloading music or videos on the internet illegally. it is a problem that exists, but only in a "well that wouldn't happen to me type of way." you hear about the eleven year old in california being sued, but not you, or your roomate, bestfriend, sister.
what is worse, the fact that we as consumers continue to perpetuate this issue, or that the industry continues to do it. creators of utorrent or limewire, or of early napster, or any of those programs new exactly what they were encouragin users to do. is today's world so corrupt and greedy that people will create programs which are the pop-culture definition of illegal? even after the writer of that post admitted she got caught, those commenting back warned her its only "scare tactics" and its "no biggy."

really. we are addicted to downloading music like crack.
its creepy.

but what can i say, i do it. but you know, i can stop any time i want.

it's good to know it isn't just me.

college= privilege. every statistic in that video is relatable. michael wesch capture the american college experience to the t. we take everything for granted. we are paying enough money to support entire villages to sit on our laptops, not pay attention, facebook, and complain about classes in the meantime. we exploit technology for convenience, but slowly, surele, it is taking our lives away. our ability to learn and function. our ability to connect with those around us. are human's getting smarter or lazier? when is the last time you touched someone outside of your family?
when is the last time you worked out a math problem on paper? when is the last time you mailed a letter than wasn't a bill? when was the last time you signed onto the internet?