my pebble.

Last night, after finishing what is perhaps the worst paper I have ever turned in- note to self try to start it mroe than five hours before it is due next time- I went into my room to go to sleep.

This is where it gets all weird. All of my windows are open as the building still feels the need to pump heat into my apartment. So it is pretty common to hear much of what is going on outside and in some of the other apartments. I walk into my room and stop, was that a scream? I stand still, and hear it again. A woman screaming out, begging for help, saying that “he” was going to kill her. All I wanted to do was ignore it. I had no idea where it was coming from, no idea who it was. But how do you ignore that? So I called 911 and told them what I heard. They said they would send someone over immediately. Immediately ended up being over ten minutes later. I could walk to the police station in ten minutes, it is that close. During the wait for the police I heard the woman yell again and again for help, before hearing a window slam shut. The police arrived, apparently someone else in the building called as well. But the screaming had stopped. There was little they could do. “Like a needle in a haystack” they said to me. So they walked around the building, spoke with the other person who called and that was it. They left. And that was it. I tried to go to sleep, jumping up every time I thought I heard screaming again, with two thoughts running through my head. The first being, if they had come sooner, if they hadn’t taken their time, they would have gotten there before the window shut, they would have gotten there in time to hear this poor woman plead for someone to help her. But they didn’t. It took them ten minutes to get there. The second thought was this, nearly everyone in the building had their windows open last night. Only two people called the police. This woman was screaming that this guy was going to kill her, and only two people called the police. Are we, as a society, that immune to violence that we cannot make a simple phone call to help out a neighbor?

So that was my night. All I can think about now is whether or not that woman is ok.

Another war? More Weapons Of Mass Destruction? Seriously??

 Does anyone else see a problem with attacking a country that has nuclear weapons With nuclear weapons? Does anyone else see any correlation between Iraq and Iran?

We will impeach a guy for lying about having “sexual relations” with someone other than his wife, but we have no problem sitting back and letting some moron attack other countries for no reason other than his own political gain?

The one good thing about the Red State’s President is that he is always there to provide some humorous quotes to make the work day more enjoyable.

This is in regards to Immigration as the Senate is looking into Immigration reform. The entire article that this was found in can be read here. The title of said article is “Bush tells Americans immigrants are not a threat”

“No one should play on people’s fears or try to pit neighbors against each other,” he said. “No one should pretend that immigrants are a threat to American identity, because Americans have shaped America’s identity.”
 

Because American identity is from Americans Dammit!!! Not those damn immigrants!

And that concludes session number 533,869 of “What the Hell Is Our President trying to say?”

“Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she
with silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore,
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

I don’t know why I bother. Everytime I try to post on this stupid ass website I mess something up and lose a kick ass post. Ah well. I will try to recover all of my sparkling witticisms. I would hate for you all to miss out.

My newest “First thing I will buy when I win the Pepsi Billion Dollar Sweepstakes”:

My very own bar/ apartment building in the North End. You know you all want to come live with me!!

So, I don’t know if I have mentioned this or not. But I have Malaria. Seriously. It is Jill’s fault. She is the one who went to the third world state we fondly refer to as “Poor Man’s California” or, “Florida”. So, while a bit terrifying at first, knowing that I had a disease that was supposedly “eradicated” in the US. Yet, in the end, I realized it was a great excuse to sleep all weekend without feeling guilty about getting absolutely nothing done! Yay!! My families seeming indifference to my plight was somewhat frusterating, but I chalk it up to denial that they might just lose the shining light in their lives…

Absolute best response to my declaration of Malaria Infection goes to Hector:

“You can’t have Malaria, that is what they get on Oregon Trail”

Classic. Often repeated. T-Shirt worthy.

For those of you, you know- out of the four of you that read this- who don’t know what Oregon Trail is, I say, shame on you and shame on whatever school system allowed you to get out of elementary school without a basic knowledge of what supplies are needed to safely wagon train cross country. To make up for it your assignment is to go to the local Salvation Army, invest in a sturdy Apple IIe, pop in the OT floppy and get to trailin’.

New Favorite Shows:

Top Chef

The Real Housewives of Orange County

Total educational TV choices. Highly Recommended. Two thumbs up!

Can anyone tell me where I can get a copy of Green Street Hooligans? It is apparently out on DVD as it is a choice on Netflix but it cannot be purchased anywhere. Grr.

Ok my friends. Have a happy monday!

T- 103 days until DMB hits Fenway!!!

It is a look at the origins, use and repercussions of the word slut.
How it began as a term to describe women who kept messy houses and has
become a word to describe, apparently, any woman who at any time
enjoys any type of sex. Or implies that she might. Or really, just
exists.

The film looked at whether or not the word slut should be added to the
list of Seven, the seven words that a congressman from California
tried to ban. Said list includes, Piss, Cocksucker, Ass hole, and Fuck
among others. Is Piss really more powerful and degrading and damaging
than Slut? Would banning the word slut end its use? We would still
have Whore, Tramp, Skank etc. So what would banning that one word
truly do? What would banning any word truly do?

Instead of placing the blame on the word, shouldn’t we be looking at
the mentality- the double standards- that create the attitude with
which the word is used?
We look at women who have multiple sexual partners as sluts. We look
at women who dance to closely to our significant other as sluts. We
look at women in tight clothes as sluts. For no other reason, other
than that they are not fitting into what we are told is appropriate.
Yet, what woman hasn’t worn tight clothes out to a club, or danced
with a guy who she isn’t  married to. How many women in this day and
age actually wait until they are married to have sex. And if, by
chance, you are that woman who waits, you are stuck with the brand of
prude. And, the worst part, the majority of the time it is another
woman who brands you with this Slut label.

Ignoring the blatant double standard that exists amongst men and women
and sexuality- men + lots of sex = “Da Man” vs. women + lots of sex =
“Slut” – and focusing on the word itself, would the banning of the
word end the mentality? Would deleting this word from the English
language allow for the labeling, the branding of a woman’s entire
being based on one thing, end?

So, ultimately, my confusion lies in that people are so focused on the
word, the four letters strung together, that they are ignoring the
rational- or lack thereof- that goes into the use of the word. There
are other words that can be used the same way. You can delete the “N”
word from people’s minds, but you could not delete the racist
mentality that backs its negative use. You can delete Slut from
people’s minds but you cannot delete the mentality that insists on its
continued use. And the sad part is, that with racism, at least you
know that it is coming. If you are a black person, you know that you
will have to deal with it, probably every day of your life. If you are
a woman, you never know what will make someone call you a slut. You
could wear the wrong shirt, dance with the wrong man, or kiss on the
wrong date. It is so completely arbitrary. Which is, perhaps, why it
can be so much more damaging than the racial epithets that are used.
Because while they are both backed by the same misguided hate and
ignorance, one is expected while the other is usually from out of
nowhere.

Gotta love the Onion for telling it like it is.

Once upon a time, long long ago I visited South Dakota.

I thought it was lame then, and I think it is even lamer now.

They have basically outlawed abortion. The only way it is still legal is if it happens accidently in the course of saving the mother’s life.

A woman could be raped. By her father. And would still be forced to carry the pregnancy to term.

So, let me make sure I understand this logic:

A woman is raped. Being violated in perhaps the most intimate and violent of ways. And once it is over she finds out that not only does she have to deal with the emotional repurcussions of the heinous crime that was commited against her, but she also has to deal with the physical changes that will ravage her body because a Rapists sperm has impregnated her. Then, once she is a complete emotional and physical wreck, she will not even be given the choice of whether or not to carry the daily physical reminder of her attacker.

Right. Great.

What’s next? Are we going to lose our right to vote? To own property? Are we going to belong to our father’s and husbands again?

I asked this question of Mike Rounds, governor of South Dakota who signed this legislation. This is no longer a question regarding the morality of abortion. This is a question of the morality of taking away the last choice that a woman might have in an otherwise helpless situation. Shockingly, I have received no reply.

This country makes me very very unproud to be an American.

So, during the whole, did he or didn’t he argument surrounding Barry’s alleged steroid use, I stood by him. I admitted that while yes he did seem to get rather large rather quickly, he was also getting older. Everyone gets bigger when they get older right? And once the testing became mandatory and he didn’t shrink down to  nothing like Sosa did, well, that seemed to only help my point.

Alas, I can live in denial no longer. An article in the newest Sports Illustrated includes excerpts from a new book coming out that details Barry’s steroid use. Starting soon after the home-run debacle that was the Sosa/McGuire record race. Which, I think, makes Barry’s addiction that much worse. He did it so that he could compete with McGuire and Sosa?? Two men who, after that historic season, have disappeared from baseball’s radar? I thought Barry was better than that. Then again, I had hoped that he was above using chemical enhancements as well.

So, in conclusion. Barry- you have crushed that last little bit of childhood naivete that rested in my baseball loving heart. You, Mr. Bonds, have taken away the last bit of innocence that kept me from being a completely cynical, dead inside person. You have made my heart so black indeed, that I find myself questioning the greatness that is Papi.

And for that I say, shame on you Barry. Shame on you.