political

Wow, I reread my last posting and i realize that it is pretty darn political.

So I should clarify that I am not usually one to pontificate about my political views without provication (largely because most of my friends do not share the same political views as myself... which can sometimes lead to respectful shouting... right mollie?) so yes, I am a conservative and I am in theatre! *gasp* and I don't really understand why most people think that liberal politics and the arts are inexplicably linked... (Isn't art about sharing different points of view? why is that point of view always the same?) I am living proof that you can be conservative poltically and still believe in the value of the arts in society... but this could be a whole other posting so we won't go there... and (they say that conservative are close minded!?!)

Speaking of Conservatism... here are few quotes from your friend and mine Ronnie (aka: the Great Communicator)...

"The most terrifying words in the English language are: I'm from the government and I'm here to help."
- Ronald Reagan

"The trouble with our liberal friends is not that they're ignorant: It's just that they know so much that isn't so."
- Ronald Reagan

"It has been said that politics is the second oldest profession. I have learned that it bears a striking resemblance to the first."
- Ronald Reagan

"Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it."
- Ronald Reagan

Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? and a touch of Conservatism from me to you...

Hey y'all... guess what ?? I am in the tourist capital of the world - Ft. Wayne, Indiana! (Woah- THAT was richly laced in sarcasm in case u couldn't tell) anyway... I am leaving for France tomorrow!! I am reading a lot of books about France and French culture and let me tell you it is fascinating stuff. I have also been trying to frantically brush up on my French... oh Mr. Joyce (my high school French teacher) must be cringing somewhere at the amount of French that has seemed to escape me over the years! but here's hoping it all comes back to me in the "moment"... um... yeah.

I have been thinking a lot about the future lately... I don't know where I will be next year but I hope that I can keep in contact with all of my awesome friends, (wherever you are!) I just want to say that I am going to miss all of you while I am out of the country and I appreciate you. I want to thank each of you for touching my life in a special way and enriching me with your friendship. You rock my socks...

Been downloading some new music... I’ll let you know what I love. (for some reason I always hate music when I hear it the first time... I have to live listen to it a few times before I like anything but if anything amazing sifts out of my downloading spree I will be spreading the word.)

And on a slightly political note… (I know I might get called a “Republican PIG” but luckily drunk Alex Raines isn’t around for this…) I think that lately the political mudslinging of the Democrats in Congress is in a word: appalling. Everyone knows that Samuel Alito is going to be confirmed… Everyone knows he is more than qualified… I support Alito because he will make a good justice of the supreme court, one who will follow the letter of the law and not interpret the laws according to his own political preference… simple as that. And as for the proposed filibuster bring it on, Alito is going to be confirmed no matter what you do you are still going to be outvoted Teddy. I think that the *desperate* measures by the Democrats in Congress to discredit the name of Samuel Alito is ridiculous and unnecessary.

Oh and PS… why is the mainstream press suddenly surprised that WAR is dangerous? Just because suddenly one of its veteran reporters is hurt in the field its ‘unexpected’ and ‘shocking’ that this can happen? HELLO?? War by definition is dangerous and if they weren’t so busy downplaying this “war for oil” then you would know that it is serious and people are dying everyday! It’s a shame that the press isn’t this shocked when soldiers get killed by suicide bombers. I’m not saying that the war is doing 100 percent the right thing… I do not think for example that Democracy is going to be the answer for peace in the middle east (after all Democracy has brought around many horrible dictators like Hitler and has brought about even more horrible genocide in the not so recent past… does anyone remember Rwanda?) But I think that the simple fact is that we can’t leave Iraq until there is some stability… It’s in the world’s best interest! Why can’t anyone else see this? Or are they blinded by their own country’s domestic problems and their own isolationist feelings? I think that this is just plain selfish.

And another thing… Who EVER thought that Hillary Clinton was actually going to WIN an election?? LOL! Why are the Democrats surprised by the early polling data that people would not vote for her in the next election? I am a feminist but I would never ever vote for a woman who is best known for her marriage to a former president, her radical far left agenda, partisan politics and a long list of political failures and scandals like Whitewater, Travelgate, and whom has even insulted GHANDI! Not exactly a winner people. And for the record: I am ALL FOR a woman president but I think at the very least it should be someone who is known for her own accomplishments and not for her husband’s infamous infidelity. I would much rather support and accomplished woman of either political persuasion rather than a woman defined by her husband.

However in a society that blatantly disrespects its women I have to say that I think the idea of a woman president is laughable. In our society a woman president doesn’t stand a chance. I wish it wasn’t this way, I wish that it could be different and I fully support change, but in our society most men are too busy marginalizing women, and objectifying us to realize that women are just as capable as men of ruling the country. What a freaking shock boys!

These are my opinions and if you do not agree please feel free to disagree with me… (that’s what makes America beautiful! it's called the first amendment...) so do it! Disagree! Tell me I am wrong. I’d love to hear your point of view.

And that's my conservative rant. thanks. I needed that...

I am sad that I am going to miss the State of the Union address.... by what a day?? I will be on a plane *during* it. **sigh** it figures.

Un Petit Bonjour...

I checked my email today and I got an email from my scarf friend in the Tuilleries gardens that I mentioned before apparently his name is Abdel and not Jacquelle... (I am apparently deaf in addition to a long list of other things that are wrong with me...) I was kind of surprised that he actually emailed me. I am sure he won’t mind if you read our private correspondence… (and if he does oh well…) Here's what he says...

bonjour summer,

comment Vas tu? Tu te rappèlle on s'est rencontré brièvement au jardin des tuilleries à Paris. Je me rappèlle tu m'avais dit que tu allais étudier à paris plus tard, n'est ce pas! En ce moment il fait trés froid à Paris, des temperatures en dessous de zéro. Peut-être tu pourras nous envoyer un peu de soleil de Texas:)) Alors quoi de neuf? A bientôt

Abdel

Bisous

OK, I know my French is a little rusty and I understand most all of this letter but I thought I would translate it with Babelfish (http://babelfish.altavista.com/tr) just in case and this is what it says it translates to: hello summer, how are you? You rappèlle one briefly met with the garden of the Tuilleries in Paris. I rappèlle you had thought to me that you were going to study with bets later, is not this step! In this moment the weather is trés cold in Paris, of the temperatures below zero. Perhaps you will be able to send to us a little sun of Texas:)) Then what is nine? With soon Abdel

Is it just me or does this not even qualify as Ebonics? I thought it was v. funny...

So what he really says is: Hi, how are you... I met you briefly in the Tuilleries in Paris. I thought you said you were going to be studying in Paris later, right? At the moment it is very cold in France, with temperatures below zero! Perhaps you will send us a little Texas sun! ( and I have no idea what 'Alors quoi de neuf' means... any ideas anyone???) until we meet again. Abdel

Kinda cute... not sure how to respondez yet... (if I decide to respond at all...) I do not think I am going to have any sort of lasting friendship of any kind with a dude I met randomly on the street in Paris and talked to for like 5 mins, if you know what I mean... and I am defiantly not going to have sex with a strange dude I met on the street and I am sure he thinks that I am easy because I am American so I just might avoid the whole situation... Besides I don't know how to say 'look dude let's just be "friends" cause I don't know you well enough to you know... nor am I really attracted to you...' in French... nor do I think the 'let's just be friends' concept even exists in France... Hmmm, maybe its best left unanswered, which is no fun but is probably for the better... what do you think? I feel like a bitch if I don’t respond but oh well… Um the real question is why are strange French men emailing me? And Yes this is my life… this is what I am worried about. Oh god my life is so hard…

How am I not Myself?

a cool pic of the train station in New Haven... I wish I had taken more pics, especially of NYC, but I was always carrying something or running to keep up and I didn't want to look too much of a tourist... next time I go I will def take more pics...
You

A kind of Eriee look at the path I was walking on on Campus at Yale.
You

Travels of a Gypsy Wanderer

So since I graduated I am beginning to feel like a gypsy. [as Cher would say… “gypsies, tramps and thieves, gypsies, tramps and thieves!”] I have been traveling a lot since the beginning of December! This was my third trip somewhere since school ended... and I love it. Traveling it the best. Airports are the best place to people watch ever... especially in what I call the 'Kiss and Cry' areas. Where people meet up with their families, I could spend HOURS in an airport and I have been a lot in recent months...

I just got back from the Big Apple where I interviewed for an internship at Juilliard yesterday and spent the weekend in New Haven, CT at Yale visiting the school and staying with my awesomely overworked friend Christina, the Queen of the Speed Walkers. It takes freaking forever to get to New Haven Connecticut, let me tell you… I felt like I was traveling to the end of the world! I lost a day of my life I will never get back just getting there… 1 car ride to the airport, 1 flight to Chicago, a 2 hour layover in Chicago, I flight to NY, one cab ride to Grand Central (where I was totally lost like for like 15 mins just trying to find the train platform… ok I can figure out the Paris Metro in less than a day (where the signs aren’t even in English!) and I get lost in Grand Central… go figure…) and one long ass train ride later I was in the middle of no where! Martha Stewart country only a little more cutthroat than Martha herself) It was cold but not toooo cold and no snow... thank god! Just a little rain... I also met up with Chris Peterson while I was there... who seems to be holding up well and loving Yale but not the town or the weather and I kinda have to agree. New Haven is a total Deathtrap! Aggressive panhandling, muggings, shootings, robberies, homeless people, in general dirrty scummy remote college town with not a lot going on... kinda disappointed in the area around campus although the buildings on campus are very beautiful gothic style architecture, that makes me feel like I am in Europe or something (which actually were only built in like the 70’s but look like they are from the 1370’s, oh America the Land of Deception!) I have to say that I felt way more safe walking around in Central Park at night by myself then I did walking around New Haven even with people around...so that was, uh… different… not like Tempe… (oh how I miss you already!)

But the program looks ambitious and the people seemed very talented, intelligent and cool... (not to mention tired, sickly and overworked… but hey that seems par for the course at YSD my friend) and I got to see “the Duchess of Malfi” which Christina designed the costumes for, and I thought it was a very interesting almost Brecht-ian production which was edgy and bold without being gimmicky. Amazing acting and a beautiful sound design. And of course Miss Christina’s costumes were fab! Very stylish, classic and modern… loved it. As for grad school I still have a few more campuses to visit to see before I start making up my mind where I am going to apply, namely CalARTS, CMU, and North Carolina School for the Arts.

And my first impressions of New York City were also very favorable. There was a ton of people everywhere I went… which I think is amazing that something like 8 million people live there! WOW. I felt a lot like Felicity (does anyone remember this show? I was a fan…) in NYC for the first time standing on the street corner with her luggage… that’s me! And I got to do a little *ahem* shopping while I was there with Christina (more like running to catch up with her… lol) oh H&M… four floors of shopping paradise… I love it! And I got see Time Square at night which was also beautiful and amazing! There was still confetti swirling around in the wind left over from New Years… I thought it was kinda poetic… I have to say I thought Times Square was a lot smaller than I thought it would be… I guess things always look bigger on TV. My other favorite part of the city is when walking down the street and all the sudden you hear this rumble underneath you… almost like thunder! And its the subway trains underneath you! How cool is that? I also walked a through Central Park, (actually I was hoping to walk all the way through the park on my way home from my interview and it is just a lot bigger than I thought it was… I’ll see you again Central Park and next time I will walk you…) I also walked through Strawberry Fields, which for the huge Beatles fan that I am, was soooo cool! Gorgeous! Beautiful! Wish you were here! (as Kate would say…)

Next getting all my stuff together for Paris! And FYI my degree at ASU has been posted… FINALLY! YAY! I am officially an Alumna! All I have to say is that I HATE big university bureaucratic bullshit!! … and to anyone who has yet to graduate from ASU ---double, triple and even quadruple check to make sure your application for graduation goes through… because they don’t bother to tell you until the week of graduation if it does not like they did to me. Bastards! Anyway, back home in the west (where I belong…) big sky country oh how I have missed you my friend!

"Winter must be cold for those with no warm memories..."

My Favorite Things of the week:

www.Stuffonmycat.com - he he hee... a freaking hilarious website oh the things people do when they have too much time on their hands... An Affair to Remember - OK, always heard about this movie as being one of the great classic movies and never saw it, so i got it thru Netflix this week, (which is also amazing PS), and I have to say that I am in love with this movie! What a great story! What great acting! What beautiful color schemes! Love it! Clementines - The best type of oranges ever…they are sooo cute and small and tangy! My new camera - As most of you might know my camera was dropped into a fountain on Halloween... *sigh* and I sent it to the manufacturers to be repaired and instead of repairing it they send me a new and updated camera... I was excited! Incidentally check out my Halloween pics on my Facebook album... The House of Elliot – I know I am a sucker for BBC shows but this one is so good! I just finished watching the first season on VHS (gasp!) its about these sisters in the 1920’s whom start their own fashion house. It’s so cute. I am totally addicted… It about fashion, the British, the women’s movement and the 1920’s… what more could I ask for? Santa Fe - Its been so nice here like in the 40's and 50's and Sunny all the time... I have started walking my puppy, Rudy the incorrigible, everyday. Its so quiet, I always forget the still beauty of this ‘city different’,

OK, so I have to admit I am getting bored rather quickly here in Santa Fe… I love it here, don’t get me wrong, I just need something to do! I think it’s the fact that I still have *sigh* a little under three weeks till I leave for Paris and I am a bit impatient, well a lot impatient… but u know me…Luckily next week I’m going to NYC! (to freeze my butt off) YAY for travel! YAY for Yale! YAY for Christina! I can't wait!

My cutie younger cousin "Sarah the Liz" and I celebrating 2006 on our cruise.
You've Lost That Loving Feeling...

A New Year for You and Me

So i have finally decided on a New Year's Resolution... I know, I know… its a little late but you know its better late than never! So my new years resolution is "to become more well-read"... aka: to read more of the stuff I probably should have read already like Charles Dickens, Beloved by Toni Morrison, Crime and Punishment, Moby Dick, the Slaughter House Five, Catch 22, Catcher in the Rye... (and perhaps re-read a few of my faves like Vanity Fair, Sense and Sensibility or Mansfield Park, and Wuthering Heights.) And that's just the beginning. Over the last year I have realized I have a lot of 'Ridiculously well-read' friends, and so I am hoping to take the next few years of my life and play catch up... So, my absurdly well-read friends, (and you know who you are!!), Any recommendations? What absolutely HAS to be on my reading list?? Do tell!

OK and speaking of the New Year... Here (in no particular order) is my Top 20 New Favorite Albums of 2005:

*Coldplay – x&y

*Aqualung - Strange and Beautiful

*Beck – Guero

*Deathcab for Cutie – Plans

*Frou Frou – Details, Details

*Tegan and Sara – So Jealous ( intodruced to me by Brett)

*Imogen Heap – Speak for Yourself

*Jake Greider – Jake’s original songs are amazing! I listen to his Demo CD all the time. www.jakegoround.com <--- check it out.

*Jose Gonzalez – Veneer ( Which I stole from Brian)

*Keane – Hopes and Fears

*Fiona Apple – Extraordinary Machine

*The Killers – Hot Fuss (stolen from George...)

*Richard Cheese and Lounge Against the Machine – Sooo Funny! (Sarah Jennings you started this...)

*The Postal Service – Give up! (Thanks to Brett)

*Rilo Kiley – More Adventurous

*Wilco – Yankee Hotel Foxtrot or Summerteeth (I can't decide!!) (thanks to Christina B.)

*Hot Hot Heat – Elevator

*Jeff Buckley – Grace (Thanks to Jake and Mollie)

*Thievery Corporation – MCCM/ The Mirror Conspiracy

*French Kicks – One Time Bells (also thanks to Christina B.)

Ok so not all of them are New albums but they all rocked my year. What do you think rocked 2005?