are they kidding?

I'm just going to be honest: I, as a woman in the United States, feel offended and ashamed of the republican party's candidate for Vice President. Clearly when Senator McCain looked at his list of possibilities, someone said "Oh HEY! Maybe if we pick a woman we'll get Hilary's old votes! LOOK THERE'S ONE! SARAH PALIN!"
And so, Sarah became, as we so lovingly put it, literally a heart beat from the presidency of our country. I've heard all the hype about the unbelievable gossip and controversies going on in her life, I've read the reports on her lack of experience or foreign policy thoughts, and I watched the SNL spoofs, laughing along at the obvious overtones of sexism and stupidity. Surely she can't be as bad as they say. Surely the republicans don't think that americans will fall for such an obvious move.

Check out SNL's portrayal of the woman of the hour...


Now, watch the REAL Palin speak with Couric. Here
Let's revisit some of the REAL dialogue:
Katie Couric:When it comes to establishing your world view I am curious what papers and magazines did you regularly read before you were tapped...
Sarah Palin: I have read most of them, again with a great appreciation for the press, for the media
KC: like what ones specifically, I am curious?
SP: all of 'em, any of 'em that have been in front of me over all these years
KC: can you name any?
SP: I have a vast variety of sources where we get our news to.
Are these people serious? Of course we are all familiar with politicians avoiding answering tough questions... But all Palin had to say was "Time" or "Newsweek" or something like that. It didn't even have to be true- just drop a name! Instead she gives us that stupid grin SNL makes so much fun of. Adorble it may be, but effective- no.
I'm usually not a fan of re-blogging, but My friend Jimmy had some great thoughts on this issue. He writes...

Does anyone find it offensive that McCain chose Sarah Palin as his running mate?
I remember thinking during her first speech at the RNC (about her and Hillary Clinton breaking the glass ceiling) that this has to be the most offensive political tactic in a long time. Not only is she running against Hillary Clinton's (whom she claimed as her partner in this) party, she is pretty much the polar opposite of HillDawg as far as their views are concerned.
To me this feels like the republican party is simply saying, "Here you go feminists. Here is your woman. Happy? Please vote for her and get back to what you were doing in the kitchen." Palin is simply a tool that is being used to steal woman voters, women who were originally going to vote for Hillary. The Republican party and McCain are basically saying vote for this woman regardless of her views because she is a woman, not because she has anything to bring to the White House. It seems as if though they are expecting women to vote only on the basis of description and not substance, as if they are trying to trick women into voting for them by throwing Palin at them.
This shows no respect towards what women were fighting for when they were supporting Hillary. This is a slap to the face of Hillary's cause. This is idiotic and offensive and it demonstrates clearly how low McCain is going to go to steal votes. There is no glass cieling being broken here, she is not even the first female VP candidate. Don't be fooled.

I couldn't have put it better myself, James. And that's why I stole yours. :)

and the winner is...

I found this "game" on CollegeHumor and kept it in mind while watching the Presidential Debates. I'm glad I didn't play along because McCain definitly said "bipartisan" more than enough times for me to reach my limit.

On another note- Obama was heard saying "That's not true" many times while McCain was talking. I feel like during a presidential election, and the debate especially, this is not a time to not have checked your facts.

I'm just excited for the VicePresidential Debate. I missed Palin's speech during the RNC so I'm excited to not only hear her talk, but see her under the pressure of a debate. More on her later...

never have I ever...

One of my favorite social/drinking games is "Never Have I Ever." For those who don't know, the basic version of the game is that everyone starts with all ten fingers up and each player takes a turn finishing the phrase "never have I ever..." Whoever HAS done that persons example has to lose a finger and/or (depending on the rules) take a drink. Last person to have a finger up/beverage left wins.

I am incredibly bad at this game for two reasons: 1- I apparently have done a lot of things and tend to get out quickly. 2- Since I have done a lot of things, I can't think of things I haven't done and therefore get yelled at for taking to long to come up with something when it's my turn.
So, I am taking to my blog to try and come up with things I haven't done. I'd really appreciate if those of you who read this thing and can think of things to add to the list would hit the COMMENT button below and help me out. On that note, friends, I am aware that the game itself, due to its nature and environment of play, can get sexual and inappropriate very quickly. Let's try to keep it clean here. (On second thought, these are technically things I HAVEN'T done, so Mommy and Daddy can't get mad!) Either way, I am trying to come up with obscure, entertaining tidbits that most people have done, that I have not.
Here's what I have so far: Never have I ever...

-played Monopoly

-seen Scarface, the Godfathers, Psycho, Pulp Fiction, most of the Indiana Jones, Matrix II or III, or most other highly rated movies of our generation

-gone skydiving

-gotten a tattoo

-broken a bone (only my nose, twice, which is technically cartilage)

-gotten into a real fist fight

-gone further than a kiss on a first date

Additions:

-read a Harry Potter book

-watched an episode of Saved By the Bell or 90210

-watched Heroes, Lost, or Entourage

Alright folks, help me out here. If you've thought of something but you're not sure if I haven't done it, add it anyway. I'll be going through the comments and adding to the list so check back to see if your suggestions make it.

love is in the air...

In addition to the many "pets" we have in our apartment (Ralph, Fred the plant, Ted the mini plant, Curly, Binky and Felix the cat, our stuffed animals) we have a new friend. His name is Pete and he is a pigeon who lives in the shaft between our apartment and the apartment building next to us. Many nights, as I settle into bed, I am lulled to sleep with cooes outside my window. Occasionaly, Pete stops by one of our window sills to, as we interpret, say hello.
The other night, Pete had a friend over. We call her Pamela. As I was laying in bed, I heard his cooes but this time, they were joined by hers. Based on what I hear, it appears Pamela is Pete's girlfriend.
Let's just say they had a good night together.

reunited and it feels so good...

Ralph, my black moor split tailed gold fish, was returned to me Saturday evening. He had been living in Jersey with my good friend, Dean. I am happy to say he is safe and sound and is currently napping in his sea cave (as per usual). He takes after his mommy, loves to sleep. I'm sure my poor little shwoopie is tuckered out not only from the move , but party festivities last night.
So glad he's home. :)

house warming shindig...

Last night we hosted our first party at our new apartment. I say first because based on how things went, we will surely have many, many more. We prepared for the party by obviously tidying up (doing dishes and putting breakable things in safe places) but my roommate stopped me before I could mop the floors (I good idea since a- no one cares and b- they need to be mopped more now anyway). We found an awesome wholesale beer warehouse on 207th street and we stocked our fridge full with over 150 beers for only about $90. Good beers too, none of that crappy PBR shit. As we finished getting ourselves ready, we popped open a beer and sat on our couch waiting for the guests to arrive.
At about 10:45 (the party "started" at ten) we were a little worried. Maybe all those "friends" we thought we had only hung out with us because they had to. None of them would actually make the effort to come to a party at OUR house. Maybe we were no where near as semi-cool as we thought we were. No one was here.
Suddenly, the door opened and in walked two friends, closely followed by another six. Within minutes beers were in hand and a steady stream of friendly faces was coming in the door. Our doorbell (which we named "the goose" because when you hear it, you think it's a dying goose) was constantly ringing; friends calling friends and more and more people wanting to come up to our humble abode. Groups changed, people came and went, but for the most part- people stayed and enjoyed themselves. The music was playing, the beer was flowing, and festivities were being had. At the most, I'd say about 30 people were here at once. Probably about 50 total throughout the evening. Groups separated into different areas of our apartment. Becky's room served as a more quiet area for intimiate conversations. My room was a relaxing space to lounge and listen to cool tunes. And the kitchen/living room was party central with the fridge and stereo system. At around 3:30 people started to hit a max. There was still plenty of beer but our bodies were incapable of ingesting much more. The final few of us enjoyed conversation on Becky's bed with our final drinks. Shortly there after, both Becky and I found ourselves congratulating each other as we passed out in my room. The final guests said their good byes and left us to our slumber.
We awoke this afternoon to about 30 or so beers left in the fridge, not a bad mess at all (people abided by the garbage bags) and a mild, if that, hangover. Success was ours.

Obamccain...

So tonight was the Service Nation discussion at my school which featured appearances by senators John McCain and Barrack Obama (and celebrity guest, Toby Maguire?). Their talks were nationally televised so I won't go into a revision of what all was said. All I can say is that going into the event, I had pretty low expectations for McCain and equally high expectations for Obama. Frankly, in this instance (and this one alone) I have to give it to McCain. He exceeded my expectations and delivered thoughtful and interesting responses to the questions posed. Obama, on the other hand, seemed less interested and, dare I say, cocky, with his responses. It has been well publicized that he has little pride in Columbia, his undergraduate Alma Mater, and he appeared to carry that with him in his talk, despite the overwhelming support he received from the institution. McCain, who's daughter just graduated from CU last year, spoke positively of our school and paid special attention to not offend his host.
One thing that had me exceptionally angry, which has nothing to do with with of the candidates speeches, was the poor planning that went into this even on Columbia's part. The lottery system that decided which students would be present in the room of the event made sense. Obviously such a popular event needs a fair and equal opportunity way to decide who can go. However, after stressing that the audience would be made up of entirely CU students, only about 150 actually got tickets into the event (the auditorium holds well into the 1000s). The rest of us had to settle for the "jumbo-tron" in our quad. Here's where things got tricky- for the first half of the event (before the candidates began) the screen either had no sound, was in black and white, or was just wonky looking. After resetting the system, administrators did their best to keep the picture and sound rolling and it became less distracting as the words of our possible future president took over our attention. However, the initial complications made the event all the more disappointing.
On a lighter note- as I was walking to get a seat at 5pm, I was passing brigades of secret service and police officers. One of the secret service men said to his comrades that it was time to "Begin Operation [unintelligible]." In response, a police officer leaned in to one of his comrades, near me, and said "how about some Operation Dunkin' Donuts!" True story.

this just in...

So for the summer I usually leave my TV with a friend since putting it in storage is expensive and I can't exactly take it on the subway to my uncles. I usually have friends staying on campus or that live nearby who offer to take it off my hands on the condition they get to use it (which I'm totally fine with.) Last Spring I was scrambling to find someone to take it when my neighbor at the time offered to help me out. When I came back to school this Fall we hung out a few times and spoke often. Phrases like "Oh, I have to get you your TV!" or "Hey let me know when I can get my TV back from you" were exchanged fairly often.
Cut to just now... I received a post on my wall of one simple word: "Fuck." Being that both of our lives are filled with drama I thought nothing of it and IMed her to see what the problem was. She promptly called me and informed me that her mother THREW OUT my TV.
Who the fuck throws away a perfectly good television? Especially without asking where it came from and if it belonged to someone.
BUT- here's the catch: she is not offering to replace it in any way. Granted I found the TV at school and "borrowed" it for free, but it is still of monetary value. Now, if I want a TV, I would have to buy a new one. To me, if you are responsible for someones belonging, regardless of what it is or how much they spent on it, and you lose it, you should do your best to replace it. No questions asked. Perhaps common decency is not as common as I would have hoped.

oh Columbia...

This is awesome.

Also- James Franco (and other celebs) go to my school. I passed him on the way to class and we made eye contact. Dreamy, you ask? Dreamy.

update on computers...

I got my dell back today. As I turned it on I held my breath, praying the display didn't short out on startup as it had done so many times before. As of now- it works! It's so nice to be able to type on a keyboard with working keys. (I had been using my old computer that, due to an unfortunate tea accident, lacked working G, H, ", and Backspace keys.) Now I can take my computer to class and take (better?) notes...
On a similar note- I'm trying to figure out a plan of attack for transfering my itunes library from my ipod/old computer to this one. Anyone know how I can get it in its entirety, playlists and all? (Even the songs that aren't on my ipod?)
Oh and speaking of ipod, my ipod touch is now officially tricked out. For some reason I was unaware of all the applications you could get for FREE! I always knew I was missing random, useless, timewasting, gems of entertainment that I can take with me wherever I go. :)

a new motto...

"Instead of wishing you could be; do and you will become."
I used to admire those people who were confident enough to do something unique. I still do. But lately, I've realized the only thing that sets me apart from these stylish, young, go-getters is that I hold myself back. Questioning myself, "can I pull that off?" "what will so-and-so think?" The confidence I once had in myself, and trust in those around me, was gone. I needed to jump start my mojo- do something crazy to remind myself I am unique in some way; that I am the one in control of my life. So- I cut my hair off.
Now, I'll be the first to admit- it's just hair. It will grow back and it's not a big deal. And it's not like I shaved my head- the cut I have is stylish and flexible with my mood. A lot of women in my family have short hair including my mom and my always stylish cousin, Zoe. So it's not like I am in untrodden territory now. But, you'd be surprised the amount opposition I faced. Friends telling me not to go through with it; that it was a bad idea and I would regret it. But, as usual, when I set my sights on something, I do it regardless of what people say- or at least I try to. So I did it and, I'll admit, at first I regretted it. I didn't hate it- but I most definitely did not love it. But now that I am letting myself have more fun with it (faux-hawk, spiking, etc) I am enjoying it so much more.
The best part, I think, is seeing other people's reactions. People who thought I would never do something like this; those people who consider stylish/short hair only for the artsy and trendy people (as I once thought). Seeing that glint in their eye as they reevaluate me and my coolness factor has proved quite entertaining. I've realized hair doesn't mean a thing...I am the same me. It's just fun to see people wondering to themselves "when did Camille get cool?" Newsflash- always been awesome sauce- but if crazy, nontraditional hair is what it takes to share that, so be it.