The Disney Princesses go hipster...

I love me some internet memes.

Video games & Violence

-- from Dueling Analogs

WTF Bobby Franklin?! Yeah, I'm talking to you, you SOB.

I normally try to keep my nose out of politics because frankly, I don't think I know enough about the workings as I should. However, when I read THIS new bill from Georgia state represenative Bobby Franklin, I got extremely pissed. Don't get me wrong, I agree with a lot of Libertarian viewpoints. But this, takes the f'in cake.

Good game conservatives. Way to show all the women out there that not only are you NOT on their side, but do you just plain hate us now? This bill that's being introduced will change the civil and criminal codes of the state so that victims of stalking, rape, and domestic violence must be called "accusers," not victims. Oh my f***ing god.

Burglary victims are still victims.


Assault victims are still victims.



Fraud victims are still victims.


If you've been raped, stalked, or beaten by a domestic partner, well, Bobby Franklin doesn't think you're a victim until courts say otherwise.

Here I thought that the Republican platform for 2011 was to cut taxes and reducing spending. It is NOT about demonizing Planned Parenthood or changing the definition of rape or revictimizing female crime victims by branding them to be "accusers", basically painting them as someone to be doubted. Don't get me wrong, you're innocent til proven guilty but this is ridiculous. Are you telling me that we have to WORK to become victims of a crime now?! As if reportings of sexual assault weren't slim enough, this is hardly going to help. How many more victims aren't going to come forward when the law doesn't even consider them victims til after the criminal is tried!


 It's so important that we take victims seriously, are we really that worried about people "accusing falsely"? Think about it, what population is the most vulnerable? Are men suddenly fearing for their lives, getting pregnant (that they might not have the right to intentionally terminate or accidentally miscarry if things keep going this way), or beaten by their partners? We aren't that far out from a time where the public thought women "asked" to be raped by what they wore, and where they went.

Women still have to get rape kits to prove anything happened. If he leaves no marks and wears a condom there can be no conclusive rape kit.What has been a problem longer: women getting beaten, abused and raped or people being falsely accused?

To you Mr. Franklin, I send a hearty "f*** you".

"The Lost Thing"

I saw this short on DailyMotion and thought it was a really well done piece. It's based on the children's book of the same name by Shaun Tan. It's won a ton of awards.

Edit (2/21/11): the short was removed from DailyMotion, so instead I have embedded the trailer below.

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Happy Valentine's Day!

Ah yes, everyone's favorite saccharine holiday.

I have to say, it really seems like you either love Valentine's Day, or really hate it. I get that people think it's overly commercialized (what holiday isn't at this point) but I think everyone has to define for themselves how they feel about the holiday.

Personally, I'm not a huge fan of this idea that girls put guns to their boyfriend's/spouse's heads and go, "Be romantic OR ELSE!" There are these huge expectations for guys to show their love in a very specific way. Namely, fuzzy animals, expensive chocolate, big bouquets of flowers and sparkly, expensive jewelry. I think girls need to understand that first of all, guys don't look at romance the same way we do. Let me give an example. I was at my boyfriend's apartment one day during the winter, and were about to go out. I went to find my shoes, and found them atop the radiator! Why is this romantic? It is because he thought of my well-being (without being reminded) and acted on it. He knows how much I hate being cold and thus, wanted to warm up my shoes for me. Pretty sweet right? Guys tend to be more "practical" when they show they love you. It's when they wash their car for you when you don't ask them to, or pick up your favorite candy bar on their way home from work, that kind of thing. Overly gushy statements of love don't really fit into their genetic code. But, he's still saying it, you just have to look for it. For us, we choose to go out for buffalo wings to "celebrate" Valentine's Day. It's an unromantic meal, but it works for us because we feel like consideration for each other is a 365 kind of thing. This isn't to say I look down on those who rock Valentine's Day the traditional way. Go for it! It's all about the love man. And for those of you snobs who are "too good" for Valentine's Day and look down on people who do celebrate it, shove it up your bitter ass.

Ultimately the day is about love. Loving your significant other, your friends, your family, your coworkers, anyone.

"Love is the only sane and satisfactory answer to the problem of human existence."- Erich Fromm, social psychologist

"In the depths of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer." - Albert Camus, Algerian-French author & philosopher

Debbie Downer incoming...

God, where do I even begin?

I am just not in a great place emotionally. I feel down a lot of the time, and that is not how I want to be.

I'm still having issues waking up on time in the morning. I can't make the transition from semi-conscious to awake, at least enough to get the motivation to get out of bed. So as a result, I'm taking my medicine late or sometimes forget, which means I sometimes miss my Lexapro dosage (an antidepressant). This could very realistically be why I'm feeling this way so often. Another direct result is that I miss class. It's the third week of school and between snow days and oversleeping I don't know where I stand. It's a vicious cycle and one of those situations where I'm not sure if the chicken or the egg came first, if that makes sense.

Every time this happens, I feel like a failure. Like I'm letting down myself, my family, and my boyfriend.

Thankfully we are only in the beginning of the school year so things aren't too bad as far as work load. Yet. This needs to change before I fall behind and end up more stressed out. I am also in need of making up work from last semester with my Spanish II class. I'm almost afraid to talk to the professor now, but I know if I don't I will end up with an F and I have worked too hard to come this far and mess it up now.

 I also worry about finishing and then not getting into graduate school. A Bachelor's in Psychology is pretty much useless unless you specialize through getting a Master's or PhD. Plus the economy is still in shambles. What if I can't find a job and my loans start piling up? My father has been looking for three years now and can't find a job. He is an extraordinarily qualified man when it comes to security and management. How the hell am I supposed to find a job if someone that valuable is being passed on?

I also had a cruel awakening when I applied for a credit card. I wanted to have my own so that I could better track my expenses instead of using my mother's. I got denied. I was flabbergasted because I had been building an impeccable credit score over the years. So Mom and I called up my credit report, and found that since I cosigned my car with my father I was also affected by the car payments. There were a lot of late ones. I had no idea that it was this bad. I e-mailed my father about it, I was upset, but not angry with him. It was just a very sudden punch in the face from reality. We have been struggling financially for some time, and while I knew this, didn't really see any tangible evidence til now. His e-mail also brought up how unfriendly the relationship between him and my mother is. It's so hard loving two people who really detest each other. Well, maybe detest is too strong a word. There is a lot of history there that I don't understand, nor am I sure I really want to. It's just amazing that the divorce was roughly 13 years ago and the wounds are still so fresh.

It just feels like a lot, and all of this stuff is on my backburner everyday. Some days are worse than others. Today is just a no good, very bad day.