day 6, WEEK 9

today, i am leaving for washington, d.c. after adventuring around pittsburgh and westmoreland county for the last three days. be back soon with plenty of pictures and much less moneys!

song-of-the-week song!! (WEEK 9)

day 1, WEEK 9

yesterday i spent a little more than an hour at a tea party rally at a dilapidated, old airport runway, and thus spent a little more than an hour setting a new standard for just how narrow-minded humans are capable of being

i went to the rally with an open mind and fully aware that i would not agree with what i heard or saw, but the moment my two friends and i stepped out of the car--we arrived late, so the keynote speaker was already at the podium--the keynote speaker, a man named kamal saleem, was shouting with a fiery passion about how "muslim women are owned by their husbands . . . their fathers," and that "allah is a deaf and dumb god."  far sooner than i expected, my quiet open-mindedness was tested.  i think i covered my open mouth with my hand before i was able to regain composure.  the speaker went on to say that all muslims needed saving from the darkness and that it was his personal mission to convert as many muslims as possible to christianity or judaism.

simply put, the things the speaker said were horrifying.  he claimed to have grown up as a sunni muslim, but if so then why he was comfortable stating that he was "jealous of the christian god . . . the american god," baffles me.  allah means the one god, the same god worshipped by anyone who believes in one god . . . oh, man . .  .

we also talked--more like debated--with a republican candidate for u.s. senate from pennsylvania, MARC SCARINGI, who told us that poor people who can't afford college simply shouldn't go, and that cuts to education are "just great"

you can be sure, i'll be voting for SENATOR CASEY come november 2012, whom i fully support, especially over anyone that calls himself a christian but believes that people born into less money deserve what they got

day 6, WEEK 8

tomorrow i will attend a tea party rally, and i hope to find some passionate americans to share with you all

until then, enjoy a corn-cob the size of my bedroom featured on target's ceiling:

day 5, WEEK 8

the beginnings of "chocolate frogs":

day 3, WEEK 8

person, place, and thing:

person: BI KIDUDE

place: RODEN CRATER

thing: THE OFFICIAL TEA PARTY PATRIOTS COLORING BOOK (made in the usa)

playlist-of-the-day list: SONGS to RUN to! (in no particular order)

dream on -- robyn
welcome home -- radical face
no sunlight -- death cab for cutie
vagabond -- wolfmother
yesterday's gone -- kele okereke
rise -- kele okereke
please don't go -- mike posner
beautiful world -- coldplay
run -- vampire weekend
djanfa -- amadou & mariam
summertime clothes -- animal collective
the winner is -- devotchka
stereo love -- edward maya & vika jigulina
o . . . saya -- m.i.a.
valerie -- mark ronson
je reviendrai -- pierre lapointe
sweet disposition -- the temper trap
what part of forever -- cee-lo green
mr. brightside -- the killers
almost anything from FLORENCE & THE MACHINE

and CHECK NIKE'S WEBSITE OUT!

day 1, WEEK 8

song-of-the-week song!

day 7, WEEK 7

LANGUAGE IS SILLY:

"we would like each other the most" can be expressed in just one word in swahili, as can "i did not go there," "it will not be cut up," "he studied it here," "i have not already given it to you" and many more

"sol" means "sun" in spanish, but "earth" in french

in french, "vagina," "clitoris," "ovum," "milk," and "eggs" are masculine while "masculinity," "sperm bank," and "dick" are feminine

"sex" is masculine in spanish but feminine in french, but "orgasm" is masculine in both

the sound /ya/ doesn't really mean anything in english unless you're canadian (lolz) but means, "already" in spanish, "I" in russian, "of" in swahili, "yes" in german, "there are" in french, and among other things "tooth" in mandarin chinese

the character for "it" in chinese, 它 is a knife under a roof

the character for "study" is 学: a boy with a fancy hat

"good" is 好: a woman and a boy

in mandarin chinese, america (美国) is literally "beautiful nation," germany (德国) is "moral nation," france (法国) is "lawful nation," china (中国) is "middle nation," and japan (日本) is "sun tree"

the word "fucking" is one of the only--if not the only--word in english that can be placed in the middle of a word as an infix, rather than as a prefix or suffix.  examples: "un-fucking-believable," "abso-fucking-lutely"

day 5, WEEK 7

america on a stick:

anonymous chicken with friends:

charles, again:

jealous, bandito came and put a quick end to the photo shoot:

day 4, WEEK 7

day 2, WEEK 7

this is charles, the kitten:

day 1, WEEK 7

careful, this is HIGHLY ADDICTIVE

this is just PLAIN AWESOME

this is GOOD CLEAN FUN

and this is HARRY-POTTER-FANARTASTIC

song-of-the-week song! (WEEK 7)

day 7, WEEK 6

the last two days i was adventuring in central PA and HERSHEY PARK, but i have no pictures because i didn't take a camera, and the girl with the camera was there by cover of lie to her parents so she couldn't risk pictures . . . thus, apologies on that.

instead, enjoy exploring the 1000 JOURNALS PROJECT, which i'll never stop thinking is just damn cool!

day 4, WEEK 6

some of my favorite lines from one of my most favorite books, LIFE OF PI:


"There are always those who take it upon themselves to defend God, as if Ultimate Reality, as if the sustaining frame of existence, were something weak and helpless.  These people walk by a widow deformed by leprosy begging for a few paise, walk by children dressed in rags living in the street, and they think, 'Business as usual.'  But they perceive a slight against God, it is a different story.  Their faces go red, their chests heave mightily, they sputter angry words.  The degree of their indignation is astonishing.  Their resolve is frightening.  These people fail to realize that it is on the inside that God must be defended, not on the outside.  They should direct their anger at themselves.  For evil in the open is but evil from within that has been let out.  The main battlefield for good is not the open ground of the public arena but the small clearing of each heart."

"For fear, real fear, such as shakes you to your foundation, such as you feel when you are brought face to face with your mortal end, nestles in your memory like a gangrene; it seeks to rot everything, even the words with which to speak of it . . . You must fight hard to shine the light of words upon it.  Because if you don't, if your fear becomes a wordless darkness that you avoid, perhaps even manage to forget, you  open yourself to further attacks of fear because you never truly fought the opponent who defeated you."

"Now I will turn miracle into routine.  The amazing will be seen every day.  I will put in all the hard work necessary.  Yes, so long as God is with me, I will not die.  Amen."

day 3, WEEK 6

white chocolate time!



day 2, WEEK 6

while watching the republican debate on cnn, i'm bizarrely reminded of the HUNGER GAMES and the "game masters'" system of scoring the candidates' potentials to win the game (if anyone hasn't read this book, in order to win the game, you must kill the other candidates until you're the only remaining).  in the debate, the politicians--like the hunger games' candidates--must make themselves look good, but in doing so i really see it as making the others' look worse than them.

anyway, following the "game masters'" scoring system of 1 to 12, and trying to be as neutral as possible:

[however, a note: i've known of former sen. rick santorum for many years since i grew up in pennsylvania, and my opinion of him is exceedingly low.  in addition, it annoys me to no end each time he refers to pennsylvania as if he still represents it when he has lived in virginia since 2001 and lost his senate seat five years ago . . . so it was particularly hard to be neutral concerning mr. santorum . . .]

rick santorum . . . . . . . . . 3

michelle bachmann . . . . . 7

newt gingrich . . . . . . . . . 5

mitt romney . . . . . . . . . . 8

ron paul . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

tim pawlenty . . . . . . . . . . 5

herman cain . . . . . . . . . . 6