Maybe I'll win, but for now I've decided to die.

→ `022`

2009-02-07T20:17:22Z

The Library will include:
·         The Hurricane Katrina Room which is still under construction.
·         The Alberto Gonzales Room where you won't be able to remember anything.
·         The Texas Air National Guard Room where you don't even have to show up.
·         The Walter Reed Hospital Room, where they don't let you in.
·         The Guantanamo Bay Room where they don't let you out.
·         The Weapons of Mass Destruction Room which no one has been able to find.
·         The National Debt Room which is huge and has no ceiling.
·         The Tax Cut Room with entry only to the wealthy.
·         The Economy Room, which is in the toilet.
·         The Iraq War Room. (After you complete your first visit, they make you to go back for a second, third, fourth, and sometimes fifth visit.)
·         The Dick Cheney Room, in an undisclosed location, complete with shotgun gallery.
·         The Environmental Conservation Room, still empty.
·         The Supreme Gift Shop where you can buy an election.
·         The Airport Men's Room where you can meet some of your favorite Republican Senators.
·         The Decider Room, complete with dart board, magic 8-ball, Ouija board, dice, coins, and straws.

Note: The library will feature an electron microscope to help you locate and view the President's accomplishments and will also include many famous Bush quotes:

"The vast majority of our imports come from outside the country.'
'If we don't succeed, we run the risk of failure.'

'Republicans understand the importance of bondage between a mother and child.'

'No senior citizen should ever have to choose between prescription drugs and medicine.'

'I believe we are on an irreversible trend toward more freedom and democracy - but that could change.'

'One word sums up probably the responsibility of any Governor, and that one word is 'to be prepared'.'

'Verbosity leads to unclear, inarticulate things.'

'I have made good judgments in the past. I have made good judgments in the future.'

'The future will be better tomorrow.'

'We're going to have the best educated American people in the world.'

'One of the great things about books is sometimes there are some fantastic pictures"

'Illegitimacy is something we should talk about in terms of not having it.'

'We are ready for any unforeseen event that may or may not occur.'

  'It isn't pollution that's harming the environment. It's the impurities in our air and water
that are doing it.'

'I stand by all the misstatements that I've made.'
--George W. Bush to Sam Donaldson

→ `019`

2009-01-24T20:45:20Z

Even though I didn’t have a ticket, I was lucky enough to get off of work and be one of the one to two million people who traveled to Washington D.C. to see the inauguration and swearing in of Barack Obama! Patrick, his sister, his dad, and I left Richmond, Virginia at 1 in the morning and arrived at the metro around 4:00. The parking lot opened at 3am and the metro began running at 4am. The line already wrapped around the whole third level of the parking garage but it took less than an hour to get to the station bridge and onto a train.

I took some really awesome pictures of the capital building around 5:30. We were directed to seventh street where we stood in “line” for about an hour and a half before the police told us that this gate may never open and to go to twelfth street. Instead of braving the crowd though, we took the metro to federal triangle and welcomed the half hour of warmth. Especially me, because I only had on a short sleeve shirt, sweatshirt, jeans, socks, and my vans slip-ons. The twelfth street gate was already open when we got off the metro so we walked right onto the national mall which had filled up fast.

We found a spot about a third of the way up, though, with the Smithsonian castle to our right and the Washington Monument and reflecting pool a mile and a half behind us. There, we waited for nearly two hours before the inauguration began. We tried to get into the museums for warmth but they were either to capacity or open only to private parties. We found a first aid tent for Stephanie by the natural history museum but they said she wasn’t hypothermic enough. How the hell would they know? They said that she needed to be on a stretcher. If she were on a stretcher, I assure you she’d be on her way to a hospital, not a damn first aid tent. I even saw people walking unassisted into said tent so they’re full of shit.

Moving on, the inauguration started about 20 minutes late at 10:20. It’s ok, though; I waited eight years, and I could wait another 20 minutes. The Marine band played three marches, followed by the announcement of the current senators, past presidents and vice presidents, Cheney, Bush, the very classy Michelle Obama and her just as adorable daughters and finally Obama! Everyone booed when Bush was announced and shown walking. I saw a pin that said, “pack up your shit and get out!” I wanted it so badly. Cheney was in a wheelchair and Bush senior walked like he just shat himself.

I’ve never seen so much jubilation and hope gathered into two square miles. I cried, but not as much as I thought I would. Several times, the crowd chanted, “Obama! Obama!” By the time he was sworn in, I was frozen from the waste down but I would do it all over again in a heartbeat; it was my first trip to Washington for an inauguration and I’m so proud that it was for Obama and not Bush.

Obama’s speech was a bit long-winded but it was so profoundly moving and honest. He really gets it. He knows the country has problems and he knows that he can’t fix them all completely or quickly. But he’s honest about it. He’s competent and intelligent and he will pull this country out of the grave Bush dug. People cheered and applauded his speech, and not because it (subtly) rejected the Bush administration but because he gave America new hope. People also cried, but not because of the crisis he mentioned. They cried tears of joy for a new beginning.

Although we weren’t nearly close enough to get any pictures of Obama, I took more pictures of the capital building while he gave his speech, but I accidentally deleted my entire camera and had to take more. We were en route to the metro when we were stopped across the street due to an ungodly mass of people and an overcrowded subway. People pushed and shoved to the point where there was no more room in the station and 10,000 people had to wait outside to be let in only a few at a time. By this point, my feet were so numb that I forgot I still had feet. I couldn’t feel anything below my knees and I could barely lift my feet up off the ground to walk.

Times Square is clear of people on New Year’s in twenty minutes because people are divided into sections and if they leave their designated section, they cannot return. Yesterday, people were milling about in any direction that wasn’t blocked off. They were breaking down barricades and jumping over fences. It was verging on mass hysteria at times. It looked like a march on Washington with people flooding the streets and blocking traffic. If there were an emergency, it’s almost certain tragedy. There was such a huge disconnect among the facilitators, volunteers, police, and military. No one knew anything and everyone told us something different. I understand that D.C. didn’t anticipate a crowd this size but the people who are hired to make sure things run smoothly cannot be uninformed and incompetent. Only one person died, though; she got run over by a metro train. With the circumstances, it could’ve been a lot worse.

We headed back to the car at the Springfield-Franconia station after Obama’s speech, and it took us nearly three hours to get from the national lawn to the car. I was glad to be warm but I endured the brutal cold to be a part of and witness history. There was no way a chill in the air could stop me. I can just sense a peace in the country that has been absent for the last eight years. I’m proud to say I’m the only one in my family who voted for Obama and proud of my state which has voted democrat for the first time in over 40 years.

→ `013`

2008-11-02T05:19:15Z

This week was quite fun; I turned 24 on Wednesday, went to the Poe museum on Thursday, saw Panic! At the Disco yesterday, and watched Texas lose to Texas Tech today.

My dad was out of town this whole week so Patrick took me out to eat on my birthday. He also bought me a Fall Out Boy shirt, Motion City Soundtrack's "Even if It Kills Me" vinyl, and the December issue of Alternative Press with Fall Out Boy on the cover. We went to Buffalo Wild Wings for dinner and I ordered 24 boneless wings; I always order more food than I can eat. I barely ate half of it. Today we celebrated again by getting food from Joe's Inn and having Cherry Pie (in lieu of cake). I got $50 from my uncle and $55 from my aunt (25 for my birthday and 20 for Halloween). I didn't get to open any presents so I didn't really have anything to look forward to but I'm getting way too old for my parents to buy me birthday presents.

On Thursday, I went to the Poe museum with my Romanticism professor and a couple classmates; there were supposed to be about 11 of us but no one else showed up. Patrick met us there and we took a self guided tour. They have Poe's boyhood bed, clues to his death, a room full of his first editions, a map of Richmond in the early 1800's, and two rooms of Poe in comics especially for Halloween. It was only $5 for students and $6 for adults. He and his sister were separated when he was just two years old when his mother died in a fire.

The only birthday present I asked for this year was two tickets to see Panic! At the Disco on Halloween at the Patriot Center in Fairfax, Virginia, two days after my birthday. Patrick wanted to go out to eat at Hard Rock Cafe before the show but even with directions it still took an hour to find. I called google 411 and found the address and we were there five minutes later. He told the waitress it was my birthday (close enough) so I got a free sundae and embarrassed in front of everyone. Patrick recorded it on his phone.

We left after 7 and got there for the last few songs of Plain White T's so we missed The Cab which was fine with me because I had no intention of enjoying them. The place was so empty; I was really shocked and disappointed. We still couldn't sit anywhere we wanted though, but we did anyway because someone took our seats. Plain White T's were dressed up in typical boy costumes: the grim reaper, vampire, etc. I'd seen them before so I wasn't too crushed when we missed most of their set. Since it was the rock band live tour, two bands from the area played in between Plain White T's and Dashboard Confessional.

No one from Dashboard Confessional dressed up; they wore their usual emo attire but Chris Carrabba insisted that he was going to dress up later as a shower curtain with nothing but his birthday suit on under it. They didn't play many songs; probably only 10 or so. They have about 8 CD's so I was really disappointed that they didn't play more. I'm a lot more familiar with their older material anyway and they played a lot of newer songs. I really wanted them to play Again I Go Unnoticed. No band ever plays any of my favorite songs by them, including Panic! At the Disco.

There were two more rock band live bands before Panic! At the Disco. Their set was surprisingly tame by their standards. Usually they dress up like clowns and have back up dancers and all kinds of crazy irrelevant crap. This time they all dressed up; Ryan was a mummy, Brendon was a vampire, Jon was a Mexican (I think), and I don't know what Spencer was but he looked like a farmer. They had jack-o-lantern buckets of candy that everyone on the floor got. I like their old(er) songs a lot more than their newer but it all sounded a lot better live, especially their newer songs. They didn't play Time to Dance, though, and that's the first song I ever heard by them and it's always been my favorite. They played for probably a good hour and a half but it seemed significantly shorter than that. The last song they played was Shout and they didn't even do an encore. The only way it could've been better is if Dashboard and P!ATD played for longer.

We didn't get home until after 6am because Patrick kept stopping every 10 miles to sleep and I can't drive stick so I certainly wasn't going to drive.

→ `000`

2008-04-27T02:30:44Z

I was nervous from the start
that our muscles might tear us apart
From the words that carve our lives
to the words that take us by surprise
From the sounds that disappear
to the changes we begin to fear
One day ~~I'll fail to breathe~~
and all you'll have are memories

FRIENDS ONLY
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