Journal

three days before new
october 11, 2004 ~ 11:35 a.m.

So, summer's over. It was pretty fun, except for the Lyme disease. That's what I get for working outdoors, I suppose. But I took the antibiotics for a month and it seems to be gone. Anyway, back at school, in Wisconsin, and actually enjoying my classes so far, or at least some of them. I've got Vegetative Communities of Northern Wisconsin, Intro to GIS, Meterology, and Vegetation Management. I was supposed to take Physics, but it didn't fit in my schedule so I got Meterology instead, thank the gods. I took Physics in high school and it was completely mystifying--and that was the non-Calculus based version. And having two plant classes is great, that's my main interest and I haven't taken a single one yet.

~~~

Someone stole "The Scream"!--Can you believe it? I mean, my first thought was, that was stupid--it's too famous for them to get away with it, you couldn't even sell it, so what's the point? Oh, and they also stole "Madonna", which is my second favorite Munch painting.

I learned this from the Daily Show (my gods how I missed cable this summer), which made a joke about how we might recognize "The Scream" as the painting that hung over our couch in our college dorm. Which is just incredibly funny because I happen to have it hanging over my couch in my dorm right now (well, it's not a couch so much as the spare bed covered with a comforter and pillows). But really, I'm not one of those fluffy college kids who thinks they're being all intellectual by having a famous expressionist painting on their wall; I'm the last person to think art is validated by being famous. I just really like the painting, partly because I did a report on it in my Humanities Through the Arts class in high school and learned all about Munch and the meaning of the painting. Also 'cause it's got great colors and brush strokes and composition.

~~~

I am really looking forward to this election. I missed the last presidential one by a measly month, and this one is way more important. Last time around I was a Nader/LaDuke supporter (even volunteered at their offices), but things are different now. So I volunteered at the Kerry/Edwards headquarters in DC this summer, and I'm voting for them in November. But more importantly, I've decided to take advantage of the fact that I'm living in one of the main battleground states, and I've changed my registration from DC to Wisconsin so that my vote will actually have some kind of impact. (Not that people in DC shouldn't bother voting; everyone should vote. But it's no secret that DC always goes Democratic). Things are looking pretty close at the moment, so it's REALLY FUCKING IMPORTANT that you vote on November 2nd.

I remember last time around a lot of people of my general age range complaining that we weren't getting much of a choice, that the candidates weren't including their issues, that their one vote won't make a difference. Well, we all know what happened. It's pretty clear that one vote (or 537 I guess) can make a difference, and that there are differences between the candidates (even if they are both white straight pro-business anti-same-sex marriage Yale-educated Christian males). And no matter who you are, the campaign issues do affect you. I know presidential candidates tend to ignore younger people, but that's because we tend to not vote. It's a vicious cycle, and it's only going to stop if we start voting, 'cause they're never going to start paying attention to us otherwise. That's their bottom line, and we need to work with that if we're going to change anything.

Last time around, when I was hearing everyone complaining about the candidates and announcing their intention to not vote, I was sitting there just livid because they were wasting their right to vote while I, who was really wanting to vote, was denied that right because of my age. Don't you all remember the people that fought so hard to give us our right to vote? That less than a hundred years ago only white men over 21 could vote? Women fought for it and got it in 1919. Native Americans fought for it and got it in 1924. African Americans fought for it and got it in 1964. Eighteen year olds fought for it and got it in 1971. How can anyone who has the right just dismiss it so casually? "Oh, they're not appealing to my interests." Well, duh! They're not going to if you don't make yourself heard! That's what this is all about. So vote! Okay?

~~~

Happy Coming Out Day, everyone!

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