Idiots

I was listening to Loveline on the way home from Indie Rocker's and heard the most ridiculous thing. Art Alexakis was on, which is already somewhat lame, and he and Stryker were chit chatting. They were blabbing about "Lords of Dogtown," and discussing their upbringings. What was laughable about the whole thing was that they were positively singing the praises of the stupid Hollywood-ized pap while simultaneously ignoring the fantastic and far better documentary that it was based on: Dogtown and Z-boys.

Morons.

Quote of the Day: "That was totally my high school. Wrong side of the tracks." Art Alexakis.

The best 101 update yet.

2. Get a new job Completed 7/25/06. I accepted a position with a local nonprofit fund development organization. I think it's going to be a great situation and a much better work environment for me. Plus, it's off the Hill and that's mostly what I wanted. Even better, I did it on my own, and that thrills me more than anything.

Let's just say that things are going to get so much better. I've earned a little champagne and plenty of beer this weekend.

Rainier to Pacific

97. Participate in the Hood to Coast.

I think that this particular 101 item might be completed since I don't know if I will have the time to do it as the Hood to Coast. However, since I completed the Rainier to Pacific relay last weekend, it might count as well. We'll see. If I don't end up on a Hood to Coast team, I'll count it. If I do, then it was a good warmup.

So about Rainier to Pacific. It was essentially a hash team, which made it a hell of a lot more fun. We did pretty well for ourselves, too. We started at 2:30pm and finished in 23:13:59. So we all felt pretty good about that.

We actually had two different vans, which was interesting. There was the girls van and the boys van. Apparently, there was talk of a trade, since the gys decided that RE was more of a girl and they'd trade him for me. Hee!

Lebanese tug-of-war

I've been spending quite a bit of the last week following the increasingly awful battle in the Middle East between Israel, Palestine, and Lebanon. I have quite a few conflicting emotions about it, mostly because I've learned a bit about the players both in school and on my own and the emotional side is definitely fighting with the logical side.

Logically, I understand that Israel absolutely has to go after its soldiers with everything it has. All three soldiers are being held by military sects that are only loosely connected to the countries they inhabit. Hamas and Hezbollah are not part of either the Palestinian Authority or Lebanon's government. Nor should they be. Well, I take that back. Hamas is essentially the current Palestinian government, but it shouldn't be. It was an extreme reaction to a bad situation, and I wonder how the Palestinians feel about it now.

Back to my original point--Israel has to go after its soldiers like it is because it needs to make a point that they will not negotiate. If they did, these groups would pick off their entire army, one soldier at a time. It would be the end of Israel, and they know it.

On the other hand, one of our former fellows here is Lebanese and he's in Beirut right now. One of the docs is still getting emails from him and he's doing OK, but I can't imagine what a terrifying place his city and country are right now. I really don't want to hear that we stopped getting emails. I don't. And that's where the emotional side steps in.

I understand that Israel's point is to punish these countries for allowing the militant groups into their borders and not giving them any consequences. I understand that some of these countries encourage these groups to go after Israel. But it's still scary when someone you know is over there, trapped in the middle of a warzone and you don't know if they're going to get out.

Quote of the Day: "We're not here to do the decent thing! We're here to follow fucking orders!" Captain Miller (Tom Hanks), Saving Private Ryan.

Woes of driving

I saw the most ridiculous thing while I was running an errand on campus. There was a surgeon, sitting in his parked Lincoln Mark LT truck with the engine running and the window down. He was also clearly eating his lunch. Now, I understand wanting the air conditioning on if you are hot, which it is. However, having the window down negates the AC, which negates the need to have the engine on in a parked car.

This is, like, #912 in the list of Why Oregon and Washington Drivers Are Idiots. Washington drivers are worse, but I have to deal with them less frequently.

Here are the worst offenders:
The Freeway Merge-Fearer
This is the person who feels the need to come to a complete stop on a freeway lane while attempting to merge into an exit lane. Seriously? So unsafe and ridiculous. Scienziata and I encounter this daily on our commute to and from work. One of us inevitably ends up screaming at the sedan that is creeping along trying to find a spot in between the traffic attempting to merge onto the freeway from the highway that brings them in from suburbia. If I'm not screaming, she does because she knows I'm thinking it.

Seriously, people? Sack up and shove in. The person behind you will back off because they don't want to hit you. I am not kidding. Just be aggressive for two seconds and save me the ten minutes of aggro.

The Intersection Loiterer
We know it's rush hour. We know you really thought you could squeeze through that light. We also know that you are now holding up an entire light cycle of traffic because your German-engineered ass is sitting in the middle of the intersection. You are an asshole. FYI.

The Passing Lane Race Car Driver
This one actually drives Indie Rocker much nuttier than me. This is the person who can only do 55 on a two-lane road, but as soon as they hit a passing lane, they also hit the gas and start going 75. Of course, when the passing lane ends and we haven't been able to pass their ass, they hit the brakes and go back to 55. Seriously? You didn't want to go fast when there was absolutely no risk of anyone getting near you, but turn into Mario Andretti with a little more road? Dipshit.

The Left Lane Parker
I know the speed limit is 55. Or 60. Or even 70, once you get north of Vantucky. However, just because your superior, rule-abiding self feels like community policing the interstate by parking in the left lane and going exactly the speed limit does not mean that I have to pay attention to you. And I will pass you on the right. Might I get pulled over? Yes. Would it be worth it? Probably not. Do I care? NO.

Washington drivers are far, far more likely to do this than Oregon drivers. We're the jackasses passing on the right.

I used to be able to circumvent this problem in high school by coming roaring up behind the car in front of my in a Suburban. They typically beat feet to get out of my way. Strangely enough, people just don't see Subarus quite the same. And Indie Rocker is quick to point out that the proliferation of SUVs has lowered the fear factor considerably and most people don't fear Suburbans anymore.

Quote of the Day: "Cars didn't drive on it to make great time. They drove on it to have a great time." Sally (Bonnie Hunt), Cars.

Raring to go...

Chick Surf Weekend starts as soon as Scienziata, Bumbershoot and I get to the coast tonight, so I am ridiculously excited. I'm also happy that Indie Rocker is loaning me one of his boards and loaning me a bunch of surf DVDs to stoke up the chicas.

More than anything, I'm looking forward to a chill weekend. The job search, while looking very positive as of late, has been really draining. Work has also been very stressful, especially with my boss's imminent departure. Keep your fingers crossed for me, as I am not planning on being around to help break in a new boss.

Total sideline: My cousin just added me on MySpace. Awesome! That reminds me, I need to go pick a new song for my profile. Indie Rocker's most recent fave band, Martian Memo to God is getting old. I think I'm going to put on "Funeral" by Band of Horses because I totally love that song.

Hmmm...maybe I could stand to cut back on my coffee consumption. Eh, whatever.

Quote of the Day: "Really too late to/call so be waiting for/morning to wake you/is hard begun/to know me as hard/be goin' mad/is to know me all wrong." The Funeral, Band of Horses.

Can you tell?

Well, when there's a media blackout on the blog, it's probably getting to be a pretty clear indicator that my life has gone nuts again. Which is sometimes a very good thing. In this case, it means that I've gone on a first and second interview for a new job, done a ton of surfing, ordered my new board and drowned myself in planning Chick Surf. All of which makes me happy, but also contributes to a pretty serious case of stress.

Also, my boss sent out an email detailing her resignation today, so that threw everyone for a loop. I'm still trying to figure out what to do about using her as a reference. I'm almost positive that she would have nothing but good things to say, but I don't want to jinx myself with a bad rec. Argh. These things are seriously stressful, yo.

That, and the chicks of Chick Surf and being somewhat flaky this year. I am not happy. Commit, dammit!!! ;) Whatever. It'll all fall into place, just like it always does. I just need to have faith that will happen and I will not in fact be driven crazy. And some more sleep would probably help.

Good thing Indie Rocker's been about eighteen different kinds of awesome these past two weeks or I'd be tearing my hair out.

Quote of the Day: "Where is that monkey? I want to shoot at something!!!" Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp), Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest.