Fifteen Days

So, you may have heard that the Supreme Court rejected Troy Davis's appeal for retrial, and his court date had been set for this following Monday.

Luckily, after the EU and other international leaders, along with 140,000 Americans, spoke against the sentence, the board of appeals has decided to grant him another stay of fifteen days. In that time, he has ten days in which the court will decide to retry him. His lawyers have the full two weeks to refile their appeals if that doesn't work out.

Please continue to fight for Troy Davis's freedom and the values of our democracy. Hopefully then, this guy'll get a retrial.

Nostalgia

For the first time since I arrived, I really truly miss living at home. Now, don't get me wrong - I love being responsible for myself and living with new people and in a new place, but I realized this evening that I need to go home next weekend.

Today, when I stepped into my apartment, it wreaked of hamburger. I tried to explain to my roommates why I'd prefer it if we didn't cook meat in the house - or at least warned me before hand so I could find a place to stay - but I don't think they quite appreciated my aversion to the smell of meat. It's not ethical snottiness, but a genuine disgust. I truthfully walked into my house and got completely nauseous, to the point that I hadn't been able to stomach food for a couple hours.

And that's why I miss home. I don't have to explain to my sisters or my parents why it's gross - they get it! We don't cook meat in doors for that reason. And yet, when I explained this, I got the feeling that not one of them gave a shit about what I said. And I know it's true. When Clint asked them not to smoke weed in the main room because it makes him nauseous, they were completely apologetic. When I asked them to limit the amount of meat or at least warn me ahead of time, they acted like I had asked them to cut down on their shower time because it was stealing all of my hot water.


I'm not sure what to do at this point, and I'd appreciate some advice. Though I'll probably get plenty of that this weekend when I'm finally home again.

Correction

So perhaps I was a little angry last night. I don't exactly mean all of the hatred behind a lot of what I said. At first, I did. I honestly felt strong violent impulses towards McCain, but then I realized - with a bit of reflection - that it was mostly just pent up frustration.

Sometimes being an atheist sucks. Sure, one can say it's not as bad as being gay or a racial minority because I get to choose my nonbelief, and on some level, I agree. I just don't agree for the same reasons. I think being black or Hispanic or Filipino is more difficult because it's something you can see. People look at Barack Obama, make a judgment, and find themselves genuinely surprised at how "articulate" he is. Some may look at how I treat others and feel no surprise because it's assumed I'm religious. If they knew I was an atheist beforehand, sure, I think they'd feel a level of surprise at how I actually do have ethics and principles which I adhere to. But that's not the point I'm trying to make.

What I mean to say is that I feel unrepresented in American politics, even by my own candidate, and I took it all out on McCain and his "pro-abortion" bashing. The problem here is that I do respect pro-life as long as it's consistent. In other words, a pro-lifer should be against the death penalty, war, and abortion in order to stick to his or her principles. John McCain does not appear to feel that way. Of course, it's all just party pandering. He's never said anything like that that I know of about pro-choice Americans that I've read or heard.

And this is where I come to my point... I forgive McCain his hypocrisy. Heck, we all practice it. I'm still mad that he feels he can sacrifice American democratic principles in order to win an election (aka freedom of belief and equal civil rights), but I get him. He was angry too. For different reasons, sure, but he's trying to win an election. That can hardly be easy or stress-free. He just played his cards wrong and came off as an angry, conservative jerk.


So I forgive him. I'm disappointed, but I've gotten over my anger. He said things I hate, but he said it in the spirit of party politics - and fuck you, party politics. You have no place in my democracy.

Fuck you, John McCain

I just finished washing the debate, and all I can think about is how I want to kick John McCain's judgmental ass. I'm sorry if that sounds incredibly immature in dealing with other political beliefs - especially when it comes to abortion - but when a candidate for the president of the United States outright attacks a group of Americans - no matter how big or powerful - on the basis that their morals are seriously lacking because they differ from his, yeah, I'm gonna be pissed. In fact, I'm not just pissed- I am angrier than I have been in weeks.

Who is he to impose his religious beliefs as a secular official on an entire nation? Who is he to say that because my lack of Christian upbringing and therefore lack of "mainstream" belief I have any less an important voice in this democracy? And, what, because I believe that people have a right to choose their religious beliefs, I'm suddenly pro-murder? What a fucking dickhead.

And I don't give a shit if it's just pandering. John McCain is shitting on my beliefs and my ethics because our opinions differ. Fuck him and his judgmental attitude. I will never give that man a chance again. He is supposed to be running for the president of the United States. The country that, according to its early documents, stands for freedom of (and from) religious belief, equal value in front of the government and society, and celebration of healthy diversity within politics.

And as for federalist issues... Should we repeal equal suffrage, nondiscrimination acts, and slavery bans because the federal government bans them and not just the states? Every social movement, every added right in America begins at the state level and evolves to the federal level. We can't wait around for all fifty states to give all Americans freedom from the majority religions because it may never even happen. Only about half of the states approved women's suffrage before the the amendment passed.

As an atheist and a minority American, I am insulted by the suggestion that his beliefs trump mine because more people agree with him. What a fucking asshole.

I can't wait to vote Obama.

Connecticut

I can hardly believe I forgot to post this on the big day (aka Friday), but on Friday, Connecticut legalized gay marriage. And according to Connecticut's constitution, the decision can't be appealed either.

So, ladies and gentlemen, our love is here to stay.

Like all social movements in America, it's only a matter of time before same-sex marriage is legalized on the federal level. Similarly, equal marriage is on its way in Washington, as long as all voting citizens of the state vote Mary Fairhurst for supreme court justice. Though she may be running uncontested; I can't remember.

In any case, celebrate! And keep fighting.

Contracting

Happy Indigenous Peoples' Day, folks!

I know it's been a while since I've written, but I've been more busy than usual, so I'm going to keep this to one story even though I have several. Later this week, I'll have some wonderful pictures of campus for y'all.


Anyway, this entry is all about how cool Evergreen is. And you won't even believe it. About a week ago, we had a guest visit our Russian language class who had taken a year of Russian before spending three months in Siberia. Our professor invited him to talk with us about her home country, and to explain to us exactly what contracting is. It is, in fact, the coolest thing I've learned about Evergreen's academics so far.

In essence, contracting is a really great way to get credit and money for attempting your own journey or project in life. It's really that open. All you have to do is write up a contract, get it approved by professors you've had, and sign-up for financial aid, and you could, say, spend a few months bumming around Siberia for essentially free. Of course, this dude wasn't just bumming around. He lived an almost entirely nomadic life - hunting and gathering all his food, living in temporary housing in the mountains, traveling by foot and boat across country... He really experienced Siberian life.

And he got credit for it. And it was free.

Nearly.

This is how cool Evergreen is. A student can write up a proposal for anything she wants to do, and as long as it convinces the school that she's actually going to learn something, she has the potential to get extra money for it. And this really includes anything.

I also met a great dude this week from Seattle who spent a year hopping trains and hitchhiking across country. In fact, I've met several people who have traveled in similar fashion. I've decided I'm going to take full advantage of the possibilities here at Evergreen. I'm going to network like crazy, travel all over the place with these folks, and meet as many people as possible.


This is going to be fantastic. I can't even wait for it all to begin.


On a similar note, I'm slightly homesick. I'm sick almost constantly from a poor diet (and the Greenery food is just terrible), and I miss my family. I don't miss Edmonds, though. It's not nearly as cool as this part of Olympia (we live next to a temporary rainforest, and it's stunning.)


Salaam.

Earth

It amazes me how many people are fascinated by space travel when they live on an absolutely stunning planet themselves and don't even realize it. That's not to say I'm not fascinated by space travel, because I certainly am, but I want to explore what this globe sports before I checked out others.

I bring this up because I found the most beautiful collection of photographs from around the world I have seen to date. They are truly breathtaking. Take a look:

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2008/10/earth_from_above_comes_to_nyc.html

Home

Reality finally struck me today. It was quite a shock. I realized, as I was walking out of my final class for the week, that I am in college.

Before that very moment, I had felt entirely out of place. But then, as I strolled through the muggy Pacific Northwest air, listening to the drizzle on the trees, I understood that I was home. The smell of wet concrete was all I needed to feel grounded again. It was the trigger that put me back in the present. That, and I had my first real day of classes today.

Oh, by the way, I just finished my first week of school! How exciting is that?! I have already spent more time reading about Russia per minute in the last few days than I have sleeping! That being said, I have perhaps been staying up too late to get a decent night's sleep. But in any case, I feel like I am a real student again. And I'm more excited than I have been in a long time.

This is my life. It's no longer prep work for something greater. Well... I guess it is kind of prep work for something greater, but in reality, I no longer feel like I'm waiting for the great peak of my existence. I suppose I always understood that there isn't really a great peak to one's existence, but years of public schooling drill the fantasy into our minds that we have a purpose, a goal, to fulfill. That is and isn't true; we do all have our own goals, but there isn't one single event or product that defines each of us. We are every moment that we experience, and every experience is as important to our existence as the next one. Some might not change our lives as others do - like the epiphany I had this morning - but they certainly hold as much importance in that we were alive then.

I am in existence, and if you're reading this, then you are too. We are the lucky ones. We have opportunity. We have love. We have literature and music and history. We can enjoy the view of Mt. Rainier. We can eat prepared foods. We can live wherever the fuck we want (kind of). We can make our own decisions. We have choices! How truly incredible is that?! We get to choose what we do. Sure, some instinct is involved, but we have the intelligence to choose to be different or the same, to dance or not, fries or onion rings, and even to be or not to be. Our freedom is such that we can choose not to exist. And that's not to say we don't have to deal with the consequences, but that's just part of the whole process of living.

I am ready for these choices. I am ready to study, to work hard, to learn, to think, to grow, to mature, to become something, to be who I am, to be who I want to be. So, I'm going to go read about Russia and then study my cursive.

I'm going to leave you all with a short, cliche phrase I've only now fully understood: Carpe diem, ladies and gentlemen.


"Our doubts are traitors, and make us lose the good we oft might win by fearing to attempt."