The Water Tastes Like Burning

So, as most of you know, I was in Columbus, Ohio from sunday through tuesday visiting the Ohio State University women's studies grad program. I forgot how nasty the tap water is there. I need to invest in a Brita water filter or something. Anyway, the professors are great, the program looks really awesome, and the students I will be studying with are really cool people (especially Arcenia, who not only recognized my Thor's Hammer right off, but is also a Pagan herself). I'm dreading the next two years a whole lot less than I was before I left. I'm still tired and want to be done with school, but if I have to go for two more years, I could do a lot worse than OSU.

The guy who drove the shuttle van that took me from the hotel to the airport on Tuesday said something that made me think. We were talking about all of the places I'd lived (Ohio, then Wyoming, then Idaho, back to Wyoming for school, and now back to Ohio) and he said something like "So you've come full circle!" Well, that's not exactly how I see it. I hadn't realized it until he said that, but I'd been subconsciously thinking of this whole situation as indicitive of my inability to escape. I'm stuck in a rut. I fucking hated Wyoming the first time I was here, and I tried to escape, but it sucked me right back here. Now the same thing is happening with Ohio. I keep trying to tell myself that my life situation is so much different now than it was when I left at 13 (for example, I'm not stuck in the middle of parental drama), but deep down I just don't believe it. I kinda feel like a failure.

And now, for something completely different....

Mulder, The Hands of Fate!


Mulder1
Originally uploaded by Raksha38.

I Love You, But Not Enough To Stop Eating.

I should have been asleep at 2 a.m. this morning, but I wasn't. Why wasn't I? Because, as usual, my brain wouldn't shut up. I very rarely think of anything important at times like these. Last night, I was making a grocery list that I won't need until after I get back from my OSU visit, making a list of things I need to do before I move out of my apartment at the end of the semester, and trying to remember all of the words to a Sesame Street song called "Up and Down."

I also thought a bit about the Baha'i fast. I know at least two people read my blog who aren't a part of my every day community here in Laramie, so I'll explain a bit. Everyone else skip to the next paragraph. A few of my friends are Baha'is. Recently, they had a fast which lasted something like 19 days where they couldn't eat or drink from sun up to sundown. Most of our group of friends got up at the ass crack of dawn at one point or another (and often more than once) to have breakfast with them as a show of support.

I was thinking about how much I liked that. Not the actual getting up at 5 am (or at 4:30 the day that I cooked breakfast) and not being able to fall back asleep afterward part. I liked the feeling close to my friends part. During the day, people would ask me why I was falling asleep, and I would tell them all about my friends' fast and how cool my other friends were for supporting them like that. They'd all look at me like I was crazy and say things like "Wow, you must really like your friends!" I'd just smile cuz, yeah, I really do like my friends. I wouldn't do something like that for just anybody, but Rachel and Ben are awesome. And my other friends are awesome too, so hanging out with them any time is great. I actually looked forward to breakfasts at 5:30 am. There was a calm (even with Brittany!) and cozy atmosphere that was really nice. Tessa's blue corn pancakes were also very nice (note to self: get that recipe). I was actually kind of sad when I got sick and couldn't handle getting up that early or moving around too much.

I'm glad the fast isn't an everyday thing, but I'm also glad that I took part in a little piece of it.

Okay, Professor X. You Can Come Pick Me Up Any Day Now.

I knew it! I am a superhero!

Check me out!

SuperheroGirl
Originally uploaded by Raksha38.

My powers are as follows: I always know which questions are going to be the Daily Double on Jeopardy about a second before the player chooses them, I know who's on the phone before I pick it up if I've met them before (no, I don't have caller ID), I can store vast amounts of static electricity in my body (pictured above) and release it in one violent jolt. My companion is the spirit of my dead cat Pookie. She's badass, yo.

Welcome To The FT, Bitch.

So, I'm sure y'all have heard me complain about the Fametracker boards shutting down, but all is not lost! There are several very good alternatives popping up (such as this one). Several people have saved entire threads from the old FT boards, too. The best one ever has to be the Jesus thread. Go. Right now. Especially you, Linus.

Some choice quotes:

"Biggest.Famewhore.Ever" - MiceNow

"And I liked how they left the ending kinda open for a sequel." - Caged Rage

"I'm so sick of Jesus being shoved down my throat all the time. Every time I go to church or open my bible, or even listen to Christian radio, I hear about Jesus and how great he is. I can't take it anymore! What a famewhore." - riotgirl7284

"The only reason he is famous is because of his dad." - biakbiak

"Where have you guys been? He was already replaced by Clay Aiken." - Kaylee

"I read an interview with him once where he said 'I am the way, the truth, and the life.' How self-centred can you be?" - Janie Jones

"Then, like the servers don't have enough to do, they fucking take a bowl of water and he starts washing their feet!!!! Hellooooo, we have health codes for a reason!" - Altoids Addict

"...not dead?" - Katie Girl

People With Alzheimer's Say The Funniest Things!

In the kitchen: [irritated] "So, we're just supposed to sit on the shelf until they give us directions, then?"

In the living room: "All people have the same kinds of thoughts, but when they go too far from home, other people just don't know."

To the dog: "You can count to twelve, right?"

In January: "Happy Easter!"

In the living room: "I need to sniff some mustard. If I can just get a bit of it down into my lung, it'll attack the germ and everything will be alright."

After dinner: "You can't touch these [empty dishes]. I'm running a scientific experiment."

To her granddaughter: "Hi, my name's Peggy. What's yours?"

About a half-used tube of toothpaste: "They called in that favor, so if the man shows up, just give him this."

See, This Is Why I Don't Have Internet At Home

I spend all my time messing around with stupid shit instead of doing my homework. F'rinstance, over the summer my comic book addiction began to take up more and more of my time. As a result, I spent an unholy amount of time doing google searches looking for fansites for minor X-men characters. One of my favorite sites actually turned out to be a hate site.

Once upon a time, back in 1986, Marvel, swept by a wave of nostalgia, decided to reassemble the original X-men team (Cyclops, Marvel Girl, Iceman, Angel, and Beast). To do this, they brought Jean back from the dead and gave the team their own title. They even de-furred Beast for a while. Several years later, of course, came the genius Peter David run (with an all new team). Hilarious, that was. The third team change was most people's least favorite, but I liked it. Mystique was there. But anyway, back to the topic at hand.

For a few issues, Iceman had a girlfriend named Opal Tanaka. I thought she was cute. Obviously, the ladies at B.U.C.K.S.H.O.T. did not agree. It contains all silly stuff you'd expect to find on a website devoted to hating such a minor character.

The most hysterical thing of all, is the "Who Fathered Opal's Baby?" feature where they go around interviewing a bunch of different Iceman action figures. Hysterical!

bighands2
Originally uploaded by Raksha38.

And then there's the hilarious "Bad Ex Game" between Iceman, Cyclops, Gambit, and Havok:

" And the more I thought about it, the more I realised how ridiculously bad Bobby's track record with women really has been. I mean, it's not like he's the only x-guy to fall for a few losers, but -- he's so, so _consistent_. And he does it on such a grand scale! There should be a - a _competition_ or something, just so he can get some kind of prize to make up for his complete and utter failure to ever date anyone worth spending five minutes on. He'd win first place _and_ second place.
Even if Scott played.
Actually, Bobby could win by such a large margin, he could _toy_ with them. Offer his exes in reverse order of crapness, so they think he's got nothing --
Bobby: Well, gee. This is hard. Let me think... crap ex-girlfriends, crap ex-girlfriends... I guess there was Lorna. She dumped me for Alex.
Scott: Madelyne. Do I have to mention what she did with Alex?
Remy: An' Rogue dumped _me_ in _Antarctica_.
Bobby: Darn. Guess I lose that round... Well, I suppose Judy was kinda mean. She had me lynched.
Alex: Scarlett. Had me shot, drugged, and brainwashed.
Bobby: Well, there was Infectia... she tried to kill me. Does that count?
Remy: Eh. Dat's nothin'. .Belladonna tries to kill me every time she sees me.
Scott: Ditto Maddie.
Alex: Ditto Maddie.
Bobby: Umm... gosh... Cloud? She turned into a boy, then a living nebula. That kinda sucked.
Remy: Cat. She turned into a nun.
Scott: Does a nun beat a nebula?
Alex: Yeah. Nuns are the worst.
Bobby: Okay, fine... hmm... How about Marge?
Alex: I don't think I ever heard about Marge.
Bobby: Oh, well, Marge was the daughter of Oblivion. He was, like, a supernatural entity or something. The personification of an abstract concept. I dunno. Oblivion. Nothingness. The Great Big Void at the centre of the universe.
Remy: And you... dated his daughter.
Bobby: Yeah, well. Briefly. Then she left me for her dad.
Alex: Oh. I'm assuming you don't mean that as in --
Bobby: Yes, yes I do.
Alex: ... Scott, you wanna take this one?
Scott: Dark Phoenix. Eater of Planets. Destroyer of Worlds.
Bobby:... call it a draw?
Scott: Fair enough.
Alex: So I guess that means --
Bobby: I have one left.
Alex: ... Right. Okay...
Bobby: Opal.
Scott: Well, Opal wasn't really that bad --
Bobby: And her immense pants.
Scott: ... okay. Bobby wins."
--Poi

Discoridanism: Not Just For Amusing Your Friends!

THE FIVE COMMANDMENTS (THE PENTABARF)

The PENTABARF was discovered by the hermit Apostle Zarathud in the Fifth Year of The Caterpillar. He found them carved in gilded stone, while building a sun deck for his cave, but their import was lost for they were written in a mysterious cypher. However, after 10 weeks & 11 hours of intensive scrutiny he discerned that the message could be read by standing on his head and viewing it upside down.

KNOW YE THIS O MAN OF FAITH!

I - There is no Goddess but Goddess and She is Your Goddess. There is no Erisian Movement but The Erisian Movement and it is The Erisian Movement. And every Golden Apple Corps is the beloved home of a Golden Worm.

II - A Discordian Shall Always use the Official Discordian Document Numbering System.

III - A Discordian is Required during his early Illumination to Go Off Alone & Partake Joyously of a Hot Dog on a Friday; this Devotive Ceremony to Remonstrate against the popular Paganisms of the Day: of Catholic Christendom (no meat on Friday), of Judaism (no meat of Pork), of Hindic Peoples (no meat of Beef), of Buddhists (no meat of animal), and of Discordians (no Hot Dog Buns).

IV - A Discordian shall Partake of No Hot Dog Buns, for Such was the Solace of Our Goddess when She was Confronted with The Original Snub.

V - A Discordian is Prohibited of Believing what he reads.

IT IS SO WRITTEN! SO BE IT. HAIL DISCORDIA! PROSECUTORS WILL BE TRANSGRESSICUTED.

This Is My Life, And It's Ending One Minute At A Time.

Tuesday March 1, 2005

12:13 am - Decide to quit doing homework and go to bed early. Socializing takes it out of me and I'm exhausted after this weekend.

2 am-ish - Finally get to sleep. My brain just won't shut up lately. Tonight, I was stressing over my final research paper for Gender and Religion. It's got to be 15-20 pages and at this point I'm so thoroughly apathetic about everything, I've been having trouble even writing 2-page response papers. The last one I wrote was so half assed, I wouldn't be surprised if Quincy won't accept it.

6:47 am - Wake up for no reason. Desperately trying to get back to sleep. End up staring at the sheet I pulled over my head to block out light.

8 am - I give up and get out of bed and get cleaned up.

8:30 am - Eat a bagel and read the final issue of Excalibur (an X-men comic). *sniff* Meggan and Brian got married, Douglock got amnesia, and Kitty, Kurt, and Piotr decided to go back to America to rejoin the X-men. Sad. I liked Excalibur, even if it tends to be the red headed stepchild of the X-Universe.

9:05 am - Rode the bus to campus. Listened to the Red Hot Chili Peppers on my diskman. I want to be Flea when I grow up. Only prettier.

9:35 am - Gender and American Religion class. Talked about the Men and Religion Forward Movement. Was somewhat annoyed by the article we read about it. The author kept trying to insist that gender itself really didn't have much to do with it. I totally believe that the economic and social changes she describes contributed a great deal to it, but considering the changes in gender roles going on at the time, I fail to see how gender itself could not have played a big part as well.

10:53 am - I tease Nerdy Girl about always running out of class without me. She responds by threatening to withhold her rope. Note to self: Don't tease Nerdy Girl about her bladder capacity.

10:58 am - Advised two students in my Intro to Women's Studies class (I'm the TA) about their upcoming media projects. Ooh, I feel all teacherly.

11 am - 12:15 pm - Wow, that's a great big blank spot. I can't remember anything from class. Yikes.

12:18 pm - Went to Ross Hall computer lab to print out syllabus for my Intro class. Annie was supposed to get me a copy a long ass time ago (I had to give my copy to a student the first day), but I guess she forgot. I needed it so I could look at the journal entry guidelines so I could slap a grade on the journals they handed in 2 WEEKS AGO. I finished reading and commenting on them over a week ago, but have been waiting on some kind of key from Annie. I give up.

12:30 pm - WAN meeting. Guerilla Girls might agree to come here anyway, even though we don't have all the money.

1-5 pm - Wow, another blur. I was at work at the Science Library, my boss seemed like everything was fine and there were no angry patrons on the other side of the counter, so I must have been doing my job. Hell if I can remember it, though.

5:08 pm - Caught the bus in front of the Classroom Building. Listened to RHCP again.

5:27-6 pm - Watched Law and Order: SVU until it was time to leave for my next class. Read an X-Force comic during the commercials. Will Roberto be deported back to Brazil? Will Dani defeat the crazy weird immortals with her spiffy new blue powers? Keep reading, True Believer!

6:03 pm - Scraped the ice and snow off my car. Of course it snowed today. It always fucking snows on Tuesdays.

6:30 pm - Quincy is sitting in on my Film and Religion class again. I really like her, even if she is a Calvinist.

6:50 pm - So, the film we're watching is called The Apostle. Robert Duvall is a Pentecostal preacher. This film is fucking terrifying. There are huge long scenes of people yelling things like "Praise!" and "Glory!" and "JESUS!!!!" (yes, they yell in capital letters with excessive punctuation). I feel like they're trying to brainwash me. I'm scared. If I start displaying monotheistic tendencies, please kidnap me and send me to a cult deprograming center.

9:32 pm - When discussing how Robert Duvall killed another character, Bob Torry (in true Pentecostal preacher fashion) shouted "Can I get a manslaughter!" to which the class responded "Manslaughter!" and "Amen!"

10:31 pm - I got 100% on my midterm, after adding in my extra credit. Sweeeet.

10:52 pm - Yes, Roberto went with the INS agents to get sent back to Brazil, but Domino smells something fishy. Before she can begin to investigate, though, a package arrives for Sam from the yet-to-be-destroyed mutant nation of Genosha. This other crazy weird immortal helps Dani tap into her new blue power again and she defeats the first two crazy immortals.

10:57 pm - Finish slapping grades on the journals for my intro class. Decide to go to bed early, so I can get up at 5 am to go to breakfast at Tessa's. Rachel and Ben should feel special. I don't drag my ass up out of bed that early for just anybody. If I stay up all night, that's totally different, but interrupting sleep at such an obscene hour just does not happen. I love you guys. (Note: Ben didn't even show up. Bad Ben! No cookie!)

11:59 pm - Yeah, I'm still awake.

Goodnight, John Boy.

Filthy Dream Update: Well, it started with a scary nightmare about being trapped in a Pentecostal-ish church, with people shouting weird things I couldn't understand (talking in tongues, maybe?). I kept trying to get out, but I couldn't find the door. That's what I get for going to bed so soon after I get home from Film and Religion. But then that dream cut off abruptly, af if someone (gee, I wonder who) had flipped a switch. In its place was a much, much more pleasant dream involving Wolverine (movie version), torn clothing, and the back of his pickup-camper from the first movie.