I’m Ashamed That It’s Come To This

Today is a sad day. A relationship in my life, one that has meant a great deal to me, may be coming to a sudden and tragic end. It was beautiful once, but increasingly I have to acknowledge that it just isn’t working for me any more. This decision was not an easy one, and it is with a heavy heart that I finally admit that I am giving up on the Democratic party. I need to figure out how to revoke my membership, because there does not seem to be any point in maintaining my affiliation with the party. The only possible reason I can think of would be to aid the only opposition to the right-wing, neo-conservative insurgency currently taking over all three branches of the United States Federal Government. But that only makes sense if the Democratic party is actually offering resistance, and not just a well-choreographed floor show.

And I’m not just talking about the Alito confirmation, although let’s be clear: he is a Neo-Con’s wet dream and we all know it; and the impending failure to kill his nomination is a beautiful metaphor for how low the party of Jackson, Johnson, Truman and FDR has fallen. Alito favors big business before individuals, executive power above civil rights, and the privileged over the disenfranchised. If the Democratic party cannot get its collective shit together long enough to oppose, and defeat, the appointment of someone who represents a veritable checklist of positions the party opposes, then the leadership and the players in control are either too weak or too stupid for my support.

Am I going to start voting for the GOP? No. Am I going to start paying more attention to the Naders and Jeffords out there? Probably.

But then again, I have been known to give out second chances like cheese steak samples at the food court. Show me you can throw some punches, and that you know where to put ‘em, and I’ll come back. This country needs an opposition party. If it is not going to be the Democratic party, maybe I’ll have to go start one. Oh, and before I forget, I started a website last week: www.sadlittlegirl.com. Nineteen Democratic Senators voted for cloture. I think that some of them might end up on the site.

Special thanks go to Catherine for reminding me to blog, and to our national leaders for sucking so greatly. Also, good luck to Dave as he presents his research tomorrow. I don't really know what he did, but it looks cool, may or may not lead to a cure for diabetes, and I'm fairly certain he started making up words about halfway through.

[donkey-punching is available at biblebeltbabylon.blogspot.com, blog.myspace.com/moontos and xanga.com/moontos]

Will I Say, Will I Do Anything You Want?

It’s the time of year that I love and dread. I’m hiring people to work in the lab for the spring semester. The process is exciting, in a lame way. People put in applications electronically, I read through them, pick out viable candidates, make contact with them, set up interviews and pick my team. It’s kind of like fantasy football except it’s real and much less sweaty. I’m using the European definition of football, by the way. Really, this is a very important week for me, although I’d rather be in Guatemala with my Dad.

Seriously, though, proper hiring is the key to me not having a frustrating semester. Well, I’m going to be working on my thesis, so frustrating is graded on a sliding scale. But hiring the right people makes the difference in whether or not the computer lab runs properly or runs into the ground. There is a certain element, though, of regret in the process. Surprise, surprise, Seth finds a way to indulge his masochistic love of regret. Yeah, I know, but I can’t help but lock up when I’m forced to pick my players. Weighing schedules, experience, personalities, and thinking about how those will all mesh together in all the different possible combinations of people is just mind-blowing for me. Perhaps my mind is easily blown. Perhaps I’m too taken with the path not taken. Thankfully I had to make the decision, as someone was waiting on me for dinner. If not, I might still be agonizing about it.

I wondered today, as I often do, how different things could be. For instance, did you know that Sylvester Stallone was originally cast as Axle Foley in Beverly Hills Cop? Yeah, true story. That would have been a massively different movie, and probably not nearly as great as it turned out to be. Yeah, that’s right. I love that film with an undying devotion that defies all logic film student snobbery. I watched it again today, at work, and I was surprised to see the amount of social commentary crammed into the first few minutes. Really, though, any social commentary in a Simpson/Bruckheimer film is something to write home about.

Anyway, I hired some kids, and I think I made the right choices. It’s hard to tell though. I mean, you never know when someone is totally bullshitting you to get the job. I know I’ve done that before, in order to close the deal. Job interviews, auditions, dates... sometimes we say whatever it takes just to win, or at least not to lose. I’d like to think, though, that after three semesters of doing this, I’ve become better at spotting the hackers and the non in this process, and those students that I hired today will turn out to be wise choices. Here’s hopin’!

[takin’ the taken path at biblebeltbabylon.blogspot.com, xanga.com/moontos, and blog.myspace.com/moontos]

Cause You Have To Believe “This Will Be My Year”

I remarked recently that I have not posted anything since before Christmas. I’ve been busy, I’ve been away from the computer, and I just haven’t found the right thing to write about. Also, the casual observer may have noticed a pattern to my posts: something shitty happens and I write about it. Well, nothing shitty has happened to me, personally or professionally, lately. OU even finished strong against Oregon this week.

Don’t worry, things are not perfect in Sethland. But they are so much better than they were a year ago when I started this thing. I’m thankful for that, and I’m thankful for everyone who has read this whiny/angry little blog for the last year and offered the insights/support/friendship that helped keep my quality of life on a steady upward slope.

In that vein, I have been thinking about what the future will bring for the bible belt babylon. I have a new iSight, and I swear that I will learn how to post vblogs. Yes, and more pictures (no more pickey-tures, though). By the way, that incredibly awesome lamp now has a rating of 6.2 on myspace.com. See, it IS awesome! It’s hotter than some people. I’ve also been trying to decide what kind of blog this will be. Will it be an incredibly honest, open, no-holds-barred kind of deal? No, probably not. I think I’ve got to keep it a bit cryptic, keep (some) names out of it, and make sure I don’t type anything I’m not willing to say. It also looks like the tone of the bible belt babylon will be a bit more positive than what I’ve cultivated in the past. After all, this is a new year. It’s a time for rebirth, rethinking, and... I’m sorry, I can’t even finish that sentence. Never mind.

So, this isn’t the most profound post I’ve ever made, but whatever. It’s free. And I’ve set the standard so low for this first post of the new year that all the others will surely be better.

Maybe the problem is that I’m posting from my Dad’s computer in OKC, and it just doesn’t feel quite as right as my iBook. I’m such a Mac whore. I’m an iWhore. Well, that’s it. Happy New Year, everyone.

[currently turning iTricks at biblebeltbabylon.blogspot.com, xanga.com/moontos and blog.myspace.com/moontos]