posted 2003/09/30 at 22:44
Arianna's out, dammit. Far be it from me to tell Arianna Huffington what to do, but while I recognize the strategy she's going for here, I think the principle of her campaign far outweighs any potential swing she could bring to the Democrats. By giving up on the campaign, it's kind of like she's saying that all the grassroots organizing that she and everyone else on her campaign did wasn't going to matter. Sorry, but I just don't have a good feeling about this.
posted 2003/09/29 at 23:27
Wednesday evening it's supposed to get down to 33 degrees here in Toledo. On the first of October. I'm so glad all that stuff about drastic environmental changes caused by humankind's interference with nature is just a bunch of liberal mumbo-jumbo, aren't you? Is Toledo turning into Buffalo or what? (Speaking of Buffalo, I already know they'll smoke Cincy next weekend. With the Browns not playing during that game, though, I kind of wonder if I may actually get four straight Bengals games on Toledo television ...)
posted 2003/09/28 at 19:33
New on Backwash: "Not Open for Debate". An admittedly second-hand look at the two debates last week, and the common thread I found between the two of them that sickened me so much. I admit this was a quickie column, as I've still got homework to get to here, but hopefully someone will comment on this one; I've gone three straight articles on BW without feedback on anything.
Oh, and just so you all know, they're going to start work on my caricature at BW soon. Be afraid. Be very afraid.
posted at 17:25
Yeah, I'm still here. I had a bit of an unexplainable depression fit on Wednesday and early Thursday, but then we had a good Spectrum meeting Thursday night and a few of us went out bowling the next night, so my mood's back on the even. Also, on Friday I picked up the first season of Soap on DVD and I've been busy watching that -- sorry, Soap has always been one of my favourite TV series of all time. Unfortunately, between that and the cookies I just baked for this Thursday's Spectrum meeting, I haven't been getting stuff like homework and my Backwash column done. D'oh!
But hey, the Bengals beat the Browns (and I got to see it -- I don't think I've actually seen the Bengals beat the Browns in years) and the Tigers avoided the modern-day loss record with a win over the Twins. Good day sports-wise, at least. Now to see if I can actually get some bloody work done here ...
posted 2003/09/24 at 13:57
It's the fifth week of the semester and I think I'm already starting to get a case of senioritis ... granted, I'm still coming off that cold and I don't feel all that great as yet, but I'm already starting to feel a bit of drain. The homework load for this weekend is obscenely big, so hopefully I can get a good start on it during the week and I won't get burnt out at the end.
The fun part about the counseling I'm currently undergoing? Why, it's trying to figure out the balance between caring for other people's feelings and caring for my own, of course. I've always been pretty bad at looking out for my own concerns, and when I do put myself first, I tend to do something really stupid. (Witness the events surrounding the end of the Situation.) I think I'm about to swing this big uncertainty in my life back to more concern for myself than others (well, the other), and I'm hoping I don't fuck things up worse than I already have in the past. The worst part is that I already know that if things don't get resolved, I have no one but myself to blame. This is just bothering me too much, though; I have to do something. Wish me luck.
posted 2003/09/23 at 21:33
Gallup Poll Analyses - Americans Grow More Doubtful About Iraq War
Dubya's approval rating is now down below pre-09.11 levels, more people than ever are saying the war in Iraq is not over, more people than ever think that the situation in Iraq wasn't worth going to war over ... is that blood I smell?
posted 2003/09/22 at 23:27
Well, Safe Sex Education Night made the front page of the campus paper and got a pretty good-sized article, so I'm happy. Hopefully between the Matthew Shepard Vigil and the GLBT Political Forum next month, Spectrum's visibility on campus will shoot through the roof.
posted 2003/09/21 at 15:56
Ah, you always know it's the end of summer when the Cincinnati Bengals get mathematically eliminated from the playoffs. By some miracle we got the Bengals game here in Toledo, and of course it's another close, painful loss. Ugh. Of course we'll get Bengals-Browns next week, making this probably the first time Toledo's gotten three straight Bengals games since the Bengals' last heyday in the early 90s. (And of course back then I was a Colts fan, so I didn't get a chance to enjoy it.) If I were the kind of person to bet on sports, I'd have solid money on the Bengals coming out of next week 0-4.
posted 2003/09/20 at 23:32
New on Backwash: "SEX, SEX, SEX, SEX, SEX". I was getting sick and tired of my columns not receiving any feedback, so I decided to just go for everyone's basest instincts. Actually, the column is about sex education, and my own efforts in that regard, so it's not an inaccurate column title. It's just purile. Then again, so am I.
posted at 23:00
Bowling Green 17 -- No. 5 Ohio State 24
Marshall 27 -- No. 6 Kansas State 20
Toledo 35 -- No. 9 Pittsburgh 31
The entire NCAA and the sports press are on notice as of right now: The Mid-American Conference is for real. (And stupid me didn't go to the UT game because I thought our Student Government President jinxed us when he predicted victory in an e-mail yesterday. D'OH!)
posted 2003/09/19 at 13:05
In case I haven't made it clear enough in the past, the Japanese professors here at UT are the coolest in the world. Chino-sensei, my first-year teacher from way back, just gave me a copy of the Japanese Aa! Megami-sama! (Oh My Goddess!) manga volume 26. She was also the one who gave me a gold bookmark for my birthday earlier this year. Is that cool or what?
I'm feeling pretty good now. My throat is still a bit sore, and I didn't get much sleep last night because my mind was still going in circles, and that made the interview I just gave the campus paper about the presentation all the more difficult. All in all, though, I'm feeling well enough that I'm making my normal, moody self pretty damn disgusted. Who knows, though, maybe I'm actually on the way to finding happiness here. Now if only my best friend will get hold of me ...
posted 2003/09/18 at 23:35
To borrow a phrase from an Internet pal of mine, shoo-wow.
We had about a hundred people at the meeting, which is absolutely huge for us. A few of them even filled out membership forms, so not only did we get the word out there about Spectrum, we bolstered our ranks as well.
As far as the presentations go, Thomas was great as usual; I had a couple of missteps, but given how sick I was, the fact that I had to cut things out as I was going because our room reservation was about to run out, and I was operating without an assistant (which isn't my usual m.o.), I did well. More importantly, people from David's House were there, and there's talk of me doing some presentations for them. This is something I've always wanted to get more into, and a door of opportunity just swung wide open for me.
Of course, now I'm tired as all hell, I only got home to eat half an hour ago, and I have to get to bed here soon for tomorrow's class, and I always have trouble going to sleep on a full stomach. I'll survive, though. This was a real good night, and I think I know what I'm going to be writing my Backwash column on this weekend.
posted at 13:03
Well, I'm still a bit stuffy in the head, but otherwise this cold has managed to work its way out of my system, just in time for tonight's presentation.
I don't want to say too much about the presentation -- I alluded to it in my Backwash column last weekend, I know, but normally I try to avoid mentions of those kinds of things in a forum like this -- but I am a bit nervous. I did this presentation last year (just a few days after the two-year anniversary of the .org), but that was for a much smaller crowd, plus I had an assistant. This year we're expecting attendance to be real high, plus I don't have an assistant this time. I've reworked the presentation so that I should be able to do it on my own -- provided the University can rig me with a hands-free microphone tonight -- but of course I'm still nervous.
Sex education in general is a very important topic for me; I think the main reason sex ed isn't as effective as it could be is because it's usually taught in a dry and boring way. Thankfully I've seen our other presenter tonight, Thomas Jackson from David's House, in action before, and I know he always finds a way to make things nice and interesting. And as for my presentation, well, I try to keep it interesting too, and I won't deny that part of the reason I'm doing the presentation tonight is for a bit of "shock value", something to draw people in who otherwise might not go to a safe sex talk. But, of course, my work in that area goes beyond the personal; there's also an element of politics to it that the whole community is starting to feel, and given my strong beliefs in that area, I guess there's an element of politics to tonight as well.
I just hope it all goes well. I'll leave you all with a line from Recoil I was just listening to, which has a number of levels to it that I can't even begin to describe to you; let's just say it's more important to me than you'll ever know:
"Every woman has an itch, and every good girl wants to switch."
-- Recoil, "Breath Control" (from Liquid)
posted 2003/09/16 at 23:45
So someone says they don't have a problem with me anymore and everything's okay with me, but then that person clearly goes out of her way to avoid me every time we're in the same room together. Of course, I don't dare approach her about it because if I am bothering her, I don't want to be any more of a bother than I already am -- but she says I'm not a bother, so ... ugh. And people wonder why I don't like dealing with other people.
In better news (and I wish I could have seen this ...) the Detroit Shock won the WNBA championship tonight. I swear, sometime next summer I am going to get to a Shock game; I almost went this summer, but couldn't quite swing it with classes and everything else I had going on.
And that brings me to this weekend. I haven't had any real interest in collegiate sports for over a decade, but this weekend in college football is, to say the least, interesting. UT is hosting #9 Pitt, the highest-ranked opponent ever to come to the Glass Bowl. Bowling Green (UT's traditional arch-rival, but where I may end up next year) is going down to face Ohio State, who are the defending national champions (until the NCAA makes them forfeit their victories last year thanks to the Clarett thing -- sue me, I used to be a Michigan fan and I still have residual hatred towards OSU). Going to Columbus isn't an option (and even if it was I have issues with Columbus back from my time at Antioch), but I'd get in free to UT-Pitt. I've never been to a college football game before, and I'm thinking there's no time like this weekend to try it out.
posted 2003/09/14 at 19:33
Ah yes, a Sunday afternoon in September with CBS. First I get to see Corey Dillon's single game rushing record broken, even if it meant Cleveland losing. (And if someone from Baltimore had to do it, why couldn't it be Chester Taylor?) Then, miracle of miracles, I actually get to see a Bengals game, and it's a heartbreaker of a close loss. And now I have to catch up on all the homework I missed because I spent all afternoon watching football. A huge lose-lose situation -- that's my life, all right.
posted 2003/09/13 at 22:20
New on Backwash: "Sick in More Than One Way". I couldn't think of much else to write about while I'm ill, so I tried to write something about issues of control and I wound up doing another pity column. Can't help it; when my body's this bad, it makes the other things in my life feel worse and worse.
posted 2003/09/12 at 18:54
Well, now I know why I was so tired Tuesday night: I was fucking sick. I caught a massive cold, and of course I still don't have my insurance card from UT even though they made me pay for their health insurance coverage this year. (You can always tell how whiny I am when I use so many italics in the first couple of sentences of my post.)
Anyway, I didn't miss any classes, but I did have to skip a couple of meetings I should have attended today. And running the Spectrum meeting last night was difficult to say the least. Thankfully I should be able to stay at home this weekend and rest, and hopefully that will be good enough to get rid of the bug. I really can't afford to be sick right now.
posted 2003/09/09 at 23:20
Good grief, what a night. This semester is going to take everything I have out of me.
Because I know I'll probably get on a big drama queen binge later (who, me?) and deny it, let me say right now that I really do like all the new people we've got in Spectrum, and it looks like we're going to be able to do some really cool things. And I'm not just saying that because I won the 45-minute marathon game of Egyptian Ratscrew earlier tonight when I didn't even start the game. (Sorry to beat you Ryan, but hey, weren't you the one walking out of the last meeting with four free pizzas?)
Interestingly enough, on the way out from coffee someone called to me (if you read this, I'm sorry I didn't recognize you but it was dark in that parking lot) and gave me a copy of Day of Wrath by Larry Bond. From reading the description on Amazon, I have to say that it doesn't exactly sound like my sort of thing, and I've been going back to Poppy Z. Brite recently for ideas for my own stories (speaking of which -- brace yourselves -- there will be a new story on the .org soon), but, um, thanks anyway.
Now to collapse into a heap and start the whole process over again tomorrow. I know I'll get through this semester, I'm just now sure how.
posted 2003/09/08 at 20:23
Well, my voter registration card goes out in the mail tomorrow. Everybody happy now? I swear, though, if I get called in for jury duty during finals week I'm going to take it out on all your asses.
Oh, and in light of the recent "we hate PC speak but the rules, as usual, are different for us" conservative diatribe about a certain q-word being used to describe the situation in Haliburtonland (formerly Iraq), and now this bullshit about Sunday's Doonesbury, allow me to just say a little something here:
Quagmire masturbation quagmire quagmire masturbation quagmire masturbation masturbation quagmire masturbation quagmire quagmire masturbation masturbation masturbation. Masturbation quagmire, quagmire quagmire masturbation. Quagmire, masturbation; masturbation "quagmire quagmire" quagmire? Quagmire! Masturbation? Quagmire; quagmire masturbation.
Looks like I may be becoming the new Gertrude Stein here.
posted 2003/09/07 at 20:13
New on Backwash: "Whatever Happened to Liberalism?" A quick rant (I've got stories to work on for my classes this weekend) about how the media has distorted politics so as to be all about big business, and remove the possibility of true reform. And I'm going to register to vote despite that?
posted 2003/09/06 at 13:59
Am I ready for some football? Uh, no. I have enough on my mind right now without having to be reminded in every comedian's monologue that I'm a Bengals fan, thank you very much.
On another note, I've made the initial cut for MFA programmes I want to apply to. This is just a preliminary list, because I still need to wotk this out with my advisor, but for now here's where I'm hoping to be studying a year from now:
Antioch University Los Angeles
Bowling Green State University
Sarah Lawrence College
Syracuse University
University of Michigan
Failing my ability to get into any MFA programme, I'll try returning to UT to get an MA in English Literature -- UT doesn't offer any graduate programme in creative writing -- or going to Japan on the Jet Programme to teach English to Japanese schoolchildren. If all of that fails, I'll break my own legs so that the student loan people can't do that for me as I scrap to find a job with a four-year degree that really doesn't mean crap.
posted 2003/09/05 at 17:55
You know, I'm glad I got Monday off and all, but if I'd known how messed up this week would have been, I think I would have tried to enjoy my vacation longer ...
Tuesday I had to go into campus early for a counseling appointment, then between the appointment and classes I had to run halfway across campus to get my parking permit because for some reason the University computers didn't show me as having paid for one.
Wednesday I had to go in early for the Student Activities Fair, which I detailed in the previous entry.
Yesterday I had to go in early to pick up the Spectrum door key from the Plant Operations building halfway across campus, plus I had to leave my last class early to go and pick up the pizza for last night's Spectrum meeting.
Today ... well, I didn't have to go in early today, but I did have to stay a couple of hours late because they wanted me at the Campus Activities and Programming meeting, where I sat around for over an hour feeling totally lost as to what was going on.
Oh, and of course I have tons of homework this weekend. Welcome to senior hell, Sean ...
posted 2003/09/03 at 21:07
So here's a little slice of my messed up life for you ...
Today was the Student Activities Fair at UT. You know, where all the organizations set up tables outside to try to recruit new members and all of that. I had to run the Spectrum table, so I got in early, and spent about two hours (with a break in between for a class) outside, making sure people didn't take too many free condoms at once, answering questions and all that. I wasn't harrassed the whole time I was there, so I guess it was a success.
The thing is, when I got done there, I realized that I'd emptied my water bottle. Now, I normally carry around a thirty-three ounce Water Joe bottle (the venerated "Joey Absopure" for those of you who remember back that far), and normally it lasts me through the day. But I still had five hours before my last class let out. So I went down to the vending machines in the Student Union to get a bottled water, right?
I go down there, and it's a buck for a twenty-ounce bottle. Not quite as cheap as the mammoth jugs of Absopure at the house, but I gotta have something, right? The thing is, I had two choices for water: Dasani, which is made by the Coca-Cola Company; and Aquafina, which is made by PepsiCo. And I swear, I must have stood there for about three minutes, going through in my head all I knew about the Coca-Cola Company and PepsiCo, trying to figure out which company it would be less offensive to buy the water from.
I think I need a break from politics. Now.
posted 2003/09/02 at 17:16
So no sooner do I write my little screed on Backwash about the GameFAQs tournament and how the Nintendo fanboys and fangirls were monopolizing it, and how there would be another Mario/Link final, than what happens? That's right, Cloud beats Mario, Sephiroth beats Link, and it looks like an all-Final Fantasy VII final. Thanks to the FF7 fans for the show of support on GameFAQs, but don't you think you could have come one battle sooner?!? (I'm obsessed, I know.)
posted 2003/09/01 at 16:37
Right now it's sixty-two degrees outside with a biting wind, oppressive clouds and a constant, unrelenting stream of rain that depresses everyone. I do so like it when the weather outside matches my mood inside.
One week of classes in the bag, and I don't know how I'll survive this semester. I don't have a Japanese class to "fall back" on, and it's looking like my schedule, with Spectrum and all, will make it difficult for me to get everything I need to get done, done. I know, I've always found a way to get things done in the past, but right now I'm not seeing how I'll pull things off this semester.
And no, the difficulty hasn't let up. I've done what I could for now to break through it, and I may be able to do more in that area soon, but for now I'm just stuck where I am right now, and it's not a good spot. I can only hope things get better soon.
copyright © 2008 Sean Shannon