Dec 2, 2008 under Blogging, Personal, Rants. 4 comments. // First time visiting?
It's been a while since I've last blogged. The combination of stress, desire for sleep, and (I'll admit it!) laziness has prevented me from updating this website, and for that, I suppose I'm a poor webmaster (hopefully, the interval between this blog and the next should be much shorter).
As for what I'm "up to" currently, the next three weeks will be academic torture for everyone at my school. For some reason, teachers feel the need to cram as many assignments as possible into the small amount of time between Thanksgiving and Christmas break (I suppose we can attribute their cruelty to crappy time management skills)?
I don't know about the rest of the juniors in high school, but lately, my inbox has been filling up with useless junk mail from third-rate colleges--which, frankly, I find irritating. Is it just me or are the subjects to these e-mails incredibly creepy? Whenever I open my inbox, I see titles such as "Lydia, we've been analyzing your performance" or "Lydia, we've been watching you". If I didn't know any better, I'd have thought there were some tactless online stalker sending me e-mails.
I also don't understand why colleges include my name in every subject title in an effort to fool me into thinking it's some long-lost friend trying to contact me (almost as if I'll think "Ooh! I haven't seen Brown College in a while! 'Wonder what she's up to!") In fact, so few of my friends actually use my name in their e-mails that whenever I see it in a subject title, I immediately ascertain that it's some hole-in-the-wall college desperately seeking attention.
On an unrelated note, is anyone as happy as I am about the new Killers album? Quite a few people don't like it, because it doesn't have the same "Mr. Brightside-esque" sound for which The Killers have been recognized. Personally, I like this album's style (I enjoy that "new wave" 80s sound quite a bit).
What do you guys think?
Nov 3, 2008 under Personal, The World. 10 comments. // First time visiting?
I love elections. I love staying up late on the first Tuesday of every November, staring at my TV screen and nervously watching as the results for the "battleground states" scroll through the screen. I love watching people react as politicians disparage each other and tear each other to pieces. To me, it's even better than watching football (although football was never all that interesting to begin with, so that probably isn't saying much).
Nevertheless, you could probably call me heartless, cruel—sadistic even. But I don't really mind, because watching elections is just that enjoyable!
The reason I find politics so enjoyable is that absolutely everything is staged—speeches, presidential debates, public forums, you name it. Every candidate memorizes a list of talking points that he knows his party will find appealing, and generally, winners of elections are chosen based on who can state them more eloquently and passionately than the rest. This is why I find it incredibly humorous when a politician commits a gaffe or accidentally says something politically incorrect.
In fact, campaigns are so staged that anyone who tries to convince me of a politician's sincerity will earn a good laugh from me.
"But look at this picture of him! Don't you see the glimmer of hope in [insert any political candidate here]'s eyes as he heroically stares into the future? And don't you hear the authoritative, presidential tone in his voice? He's different than all the others—no seriously!"
It's called Photoshop and public speaking classes, everyone. If you're going to choose a candidate based on the emotions his overly-Phototshopped pictures evoke, you'll be making a big mistake.
Now, am I hinting at any particular candidate in this current election? No. But what I'm saying can easily apply to most candidates—some more than others.
Although, this isn't all to say that I hate every single politician. Some politicians, like Ron Paul, have earned a serious amount of respect from me, although I'll rarely place every ounce of my trust into them.
...Needless to say, tomorrow's election will be very interesting to watch.
