Better By Nightfall

I just found out that my aunt and uncle will be close by during my summer internship. I have to work for them when I visit, but they will cover my meals! THANK GOD! I won't die of starvation this summer. Huzzah!

Now, I still don't know about internet access. I may die from connectus rejectus if there isn't a place to hook up to the net. I'll worry about this further down the road, though.

Turns out my car decided to crap out on me again. No worries, though. I have AAA now and all went well. At this point in time I do not know what the problem is, but I am sure that whatever it is I won't worry about it. After all, this is, what, the fifth or sixth time this school year that I have had a problem with it. I am used to it by now.

Instead of focusing on the negative, I decided to list the things that went well today starting from when I woke up:

• AXE Snake Peel Shower Gel smells so good on me. That's what she said.
  
• The latte was just right. No sugar, light milk, and not too hot.
  
• Getting the full story alleviated confusion.
  
• Sold another book on half.com. Now I can afford aproximately 50 ramen packs. Woo!
  
• The guy that towed my car was a good conversationalist.
  
• My brother picked me up in a timely fashion.
  
• My iTunes has randomly selected a good assortment of music for this afternoon.
  

So, until further notice, I'm keeping it chill.

Song of the moment: Mr. Brown - O.A.R.


UPDATE

Turns out that my car's gas pump went to hell. Way to go, mi carro! Oh well. This is nothing new with good ol' Lobbi! Anyway, it works again. Hooray!

Now the question is, will it make it for the rest of the semester? We will find out on the next episode of Lobbi the Lobster Mobile! Duh duh dunn.

Every time I see car ads I realize how inferior my car is. Whether it is the Pontiac Solstice, Honda Fit, or Toyota Yaris, I am highly enticed by the advertisements. My car isn't bad, but it isn't amazing. I think the various problems over the last four years have driven me away from it. Truth be told, buying a new car would not change anything. Like every other car, it, too, would have problems in due time if not soon after it was sold. Plus, we know my luck with cars.

Still, it would be nice to have a new car.

I've been looking at various new cars over the last year and a half and I have to admit that I'm highly interested in the Fit. If I had the money and a good job, I would probably get one. As it is, though, I will probably never be able to afford one since I will be continuing into graduate school.

Even so, I will continue to dream about my burnt orange Fit Sport with chrome exhaust and 15" alloy wheels with an iPod hookup and with plenty of cargo space. But just because you dream something, doesn't make it real.

Damn my crappy car and those advertisements!

I took that internship in the Heartland. Here's to a summer of adventure. Something different, something new.

Maybe now I'll have some funny stories to tell instead of my usual caustic commentary on contemporary issues. One could only hope, right? Heh!

I know you've been downloading music lately. Or rather, I am guessing that you have been. Either way, I am curious if anyone else has noticed the accretion in Spanish lyrics by various popular artists that generally have no affiliation with Spanish culture. Jason Mraz. Avril Lavigne. Beyonce.

I understand the "need" to target the burgeoning audience of Latin Americans, but honestly, if you don't speak the language why are you singing in it. I think if you're going to sing in a foreign language and have someone else tell you how to pronounce the words, you are cheap and a bit of a sell out. It'd be one thing if you were being genuine about it and thought it would be a cool idea to produce a song because you decided to buy Rosetta Stone language software (which I totally want, but am too broke to afford at the moment!). However, we all know that you music stars are probably spending your monies on booze, clothing, cosmetics, and cars.

At least Jason Mraz's Spanish version of The Beauty in Ugly has some warrant. As for everyone else, quit trying to whore yourself out to another market. You aren't multilingual, so quit pretending.

Ok. It was bad enough that you joined up with the Black Eyed Peas and turned them into a hip hop bebop wannabe techno dance spaz band, but now your songs are all over the damn place.

I hate them. I hate their addictive melodies and shitty rhymes that easily get stuck in your head. But most of all, I hate that you spell out words in your songs. Did you recently learn to spell? Are you mentally retarded? Are you trying to tell the world that you finally know how to spell your nickname or the word "glamorous?” Heaven forbid you actually produce a song with substance. I mean your songs are about being a materialist hoebag. Congratulations. You're selling the oldest profession in the book. Can you do anything else? You and every other moronic pop star out there have the same rehashed bullshit songs.

As if that wasn't enough, you look like a man. I know you'll disagree, but honestly, if you have to practically perform reconstructive surgery to make yourself look like a WOman, then you are a man.

So please, for the love of humanity and the remaining shards of dignity in the world, disappear. D to the I to the S A P P E to the A and R … and don't return.

Two months from now I will be off on an adventure. In keeping with traveling over the summer, I have been offered a job in the Heartland that I'm probably going to take. It's an internship that will allow me to expand my public speaking skills and certify that I can, in fact, talk in front of people without worry (or so I hope!).

As of right now, though, I'm still considering it. I was offered the job earlier today and I have been contemplating it ever since. If I take it I will be alone for the summer. My friends will be here. My family will be somewhere (long story there for another time!). The only people near by will be my grandma and my aunt and uncle. I'm cool with that, but in many ways I'm apprehensive. I dig my family, but I worry about not having anyone closer to my age around. That and the lack of Internet access. You laugh, but it's serious! Most people who know me will attest to this fact. Truth be told, I think the lack of contact with people my age (i.e. my friends) is a double-edged sword. One the one hand I'll be advancing my resume and taking part in an experience few people get to do. I'll also get to know my co-workers and probably hang out with them. On the other hand, I won't get to see my local friends for the summer at all. Unless, of course, they come to visit me. The internship/job runs all summer and I will not get any vacation. This is what I call a break from college after I graduate. Yeah, I must be messed up.

I'm continuing to weigh it out. I know it will be fun, I know I am capable of the challenge, and I know I want to do something different this summer. Yet, my roots here urge me to stay. I'd love to bask in the sun here with my friends, burn my summer skin, and cherish the memories as I apply the aloe vera (damn my white skin!). I guess the questions are, how bad of a sunburn do I want and where do I want to get it?

I'll know soon enough, and so will you.

Bree sent me this story. Fascinating ad used to spark controversy and pull people toward one person before the primaries.

However, where this article cites the ad as negative and likens it to mudslinging seen in all politics, I contend otherwise. I think it's hilarious more than unfortunate or unscrupulous. In fact, I think it works against both Obama and Clinton because it makes them both look like bumbling fools who cannot maintain the democratic base they already have without pushing to gain more. Look, I know politics is about a war for the hearts and minds votes of the greater populace (i.e. those people that reside in California, New York, Texas, Florida, Ohio), but producing an illusory ad that alludes to some sort of Orwellian future is ridiculous. Instead of targeting people in party ads from the democrats should promote what the candidates support and how they differ from republicans. There is no reason to try and kill people off in the party if the presidential hopefuls are honest in their politics, if they are working for the good of their party and for the good of America.

Instead, we get ads like these that distort the public image of these people and the party they stand for.

It is ineffective. Plain and simple. In fact, I liken it to this mock ad from Futurama.

In other words, why should I care about this ad when it does nothing. It does not inspire. It does not display facts. It does not create a better image for anyone involved.

It distorts. It contorts the images of the two people involved and tries to create a juxtaposition that is largely unfounded. It tries to make the average American not vote or be in favor of Hillary Clinton, but it also cuts back at Barak Obama at the same time. It is an attempt to make the average American confused, and in this state of confusion it attempts to depress voters or those interested either person. This isn't how it should be. As the ads start earlier and earlier, as the campaigns kick off and build in momentum, people need to avoid the misconceptions and seek the truth. Don't rely on the television. Don't rely on the commercials and ads you see. Rely on information you can obtain and read. Rely on records. Rely on what is known, not what is speculated. Get involved and quit being inactive. This is what is wrong with politics in America.

Hey anyone who reads this. Please take my survey for my seminar project. I promise it won't take much of your time AND you'll be helping me out.

Click here to take survey

I appreciate it! Thanks!

These are random thoughts and quotations from the movie 300. If you haven't seen it, you should!

(Oracle flows to incense and melodic music)
Me: Damn! Those are some professional titties. Those nipples should be in National Geographic!! I think they have their own zip code!

Bree: Tell me about it. Looks like this is a movie for the guys.

(King Leonidas meets Xerxes who sits upon a golden throne)
Me: Xerxes, the Libberachi of history!


(King Leonidas stands naked looking at Sparta)
Guy next to me: (fart noise)

Bree: Well, at least the ladies get something!


(Watching the credits)
Bree and I: Asian Transexual?! (laughing)

Me: How bad would that suck for your resume? I was Asian Transexual 1.

Bree: Oh I know! I would hate to be Asian Transexual 3. They'd be like, "So, you weren't good enough to be number one, huh?"

Nationals came and went. The tournament I had been building up for and readying myself for came and went. Within only 72 hours of speech and debate, 5 years of my life disappeared.

I did well. Our team did well. We didn't get first place like we did two years ago, but we got second place and there is certainly no shame in that. I'll never forget how depressed our team was on the last night when the announced that we got second place, and how it upset me. I was and am proud of our team, this team. Sure, we didn't get first like last time, but who cares! We destroyed 50 other teams and lost first place by two points. No one else can say that. No one else had a team that took first place at every tournament they went to. No one else had a team with two All American students (of which I am one!). No one else has had as much success as we have had. And no one has the best damn forensics coach that we have.

I am not disappointed, even though I know most of my team still is. I wish they could see things the way I do, but I'm a grizzled veteran jaded by years of experience and perspective. I hope one day they realize what an accomplishment they achieved that night.

As for me, it is over. I am done. In a strange way I feel liberated from speech and debate, but, at the same time, I am saddened at the loss of it. I learned so much from my experiences that I know I will take with me forever (pending I don't get a stroke or Alzheimer's). It has been but a fraction of my life, but perhaps the most meaningful and most powerful.

I used to say that I believed there were speech and debate gods and that I sought their blessings lest I fail. In truth, speech and debate are what you make of them. There is no luck, no chance, and certainly no mysticism. It's not about the trees I killed nor the hardware I collected. It's not about the people I met nor the places I saw. It's about skill, good and bad pieces and judges. It's more than speaking. It's about thinking. It's about challenging yourself to be more than you thought you could be before. Most importantly, it is about growth.

This is what I take with me from speech and debate. Though it is gone and I am done with competition forever, I will always be part of this greater experience. Part of the art of persuasion, beautiful and just.

Scully,

Looks like the X-Files are heating up. A couple of days and I'll be in the dead zone, in ground zero. There isn't much time left. And though I prepare to venture forward, I feel lost in a wave of uncertainty propelled by chance...crashing on the shore of success. I don't know where I will end up on that shore, but I hope I am not anonymous. I want my time here to be worth something. I want our combined efforts to be worth every single fiber woven together. I hope it will be so. I cannot divine the future, but I feel this purpose and drive. They move me and tell me great things will come.

Wish me luck,
Mulder

Lots of things going down this week:

• Happy three-year anniversary to my blog! Woo! You would think that after three years I would have something more substantive to say, but I don't. Truth is, I've been blogging for five years but those older blogs were deleted because they were childish and lame. Thankfully much has changed since then. . . or so I hope.
  
• National debate tournament in four days. High stress, high anxiety, and high expectations. This tournament lasts almost a week (due to travel) and it sucks the lifeblood out of you. I know I'll survive and do well, I only hope that I don't get sick (like some people I know).
  
• My palindrome birthday in six days. I don't feel a year older. I don't look a year older. I probably won't be enjoying this day. Why? Because I'll be at the national debate tournament. In other words, I will not be celebrating much until March 10th or 11th or a week later.
  

I'm keeping it chill for now, but I can't deny that I feel the tremors of uncertainty. All I have to combat the unknown is preparation. The more prepared I am, the better I will be. I am getting closer and closer to that each day, but whether or not I will be flawless remains to be seen.