The Latest, and Two Opinions

My parents gave up meat for lent, making them pescetarians. Pretty respectable. I gave up pizza, a commitment which I almost forgot yesterday night in Adam's Morgan outside jumbo slice.

The other night I had a dream in which I had a haircut, which is so far from my reality the past 6-8 months that it was pretty out there. It probably had something to do with the fact that 30% of my close friends volunteer the opinion that I need a haircut every time I see them.

It turns out I don't need to have my wisdom teeth pulled over spring break. In turn, I think I'm headed to NYC at some point over the week to hit up Supreme, hopefully some Big East games at Madison Square Garden, and other sick destinations that you couldn't find in DC.

Fiery, passion-filled opinions:
1) The other day at my mentoring/babysitting job the 14 year old I look after was watching a Disco Channel program featuring Steve Irwin and attack dogs. These dogs were dirty; trained to use their sharp teeth and attack humans in the groin?! Sounds pretty fucking awful if you ask me. Dogs are supposed to be man's best friend, and in turn our no-good police force takes them and brutalizes them to be an enemy. Isn't this something the Nazis did? Shouldn't that somehow reinforce how inhumane it is?

2) I was having a discussion the other day with some friends regarding the scene from Jackass where one of the members dresses up like a fairy and then becomes the "meter fairy" urban legend. Our justice system is really stupid and greedy in that this practice is illegal. How can any basic moral code be established if our own laws prohibit us from literally "helping thy neighbor" ? The indisputable root of the problem, as few would like to admit, is capitalism. The same people who pound consumerism into our heads make our laws, which is reflected by the aforementioned policy. After all, it is much more profitable to hand out tickets and ruin people's days than it is to have everyone pay their meter. Screw that

Peace reigns supreme, but how do we attain it?

I came across this awesome animated interview with John Lennon through a friend, which pretty much encompasses all I've done on my winter break--watch short films, a couple movies, and read. Wish I was back in DC already...

In hindsight

To quote Destroyer, as I believe to do would please many of my readers, "it was a good year, it was a very good year." Below are some pictures of experiences I've had, people and bands I've seen, and places I've been throughout my freshman year of college. Reviewing the pictures I wanted to show people for the purpose of this blog was temporarily cathartic, as I miss DC more and more as the days go by. I've fallen into the monotonous routine of going to work and then coming home and reading, playing basketball only on the occasional night with some old heads. There's not much to do where I'm from, and one of my favourite activities involves a tight used book store in the town where I work, which only perpetuates my routine. Anyway, by no means chronological, these pictures were from the good days.

Music
Aesop Rock.
Bon Iver - Rafik and I Metro'd it out to VA to see this show, and then caught a ride with a stranger back to the station. We didn't think to beg for a ride before we walked a couple miles in the snow.
The Go! Team. The night I drunkenly dropped my cell phone onto the Metro tracks, and everyone left me behind to wait to get it. Also, Nick came along, as was me birthday present to him.
Stars.
People
Ron Paul came to campus, and I paid ten lousy bucks to see him (look hard - he's only one of three facing the camera). Obama came to campus, and I didn't bother to wake up in time to wait in line. Disenchanted, to say the least.
Jimmy Carter. I was among the lucky ones to get a ticket, chiefly because I was in class refreshing and refreshing the web page to get one while others worked diligently in Photoshop.
Dave Eggers. He signed a book for my sister, and gave her name an umlaut.
His Holiness, the Dalai Lama. Or should I say "His Holiness?" Trish sent me an email shining a spotlight on scandal, and the only thing I can do at this point is hope to learn more:
http://www.westernshugdensociety.org/
Derel. Stenciling is everywhere, which is among the top reasons I love it. And check it, he's even got the Nike's on.
Protest. 'Cause when I'm not shoe-shopping, I care about the way people and their country's economies are treated.
Police state.
IMF/World Bank Protest.
"I.M.Fucked"
Some protesters, and a hobo wondering what the deal is. I think that girl goes to AU, also.Places
The Village Voice HQ, somewhere near Bowery.
The Rotunda in the Congress of the United States of America. Fancy.

Catholics Are An Attractive People

My mom awoke at 4 am to come to the District for the annual Right to Life march (to protest the anniversary of Roe v. Wade) and to give me money. In order to obtain said cash and see my mom and sister, I too had to get up at an unreasonable hour. It was a nice change to my daily routine to get up early and celebrate mass with family. It was also enjoyable to see Fr. Ted and talk politics with someone as solidified in his beliefs as him. Accordingly, there is no overpopulation problem and it's propaganda used to justify birth control. Interesting theory.

During mass, I was afflicted once again by my weakness--girls. It's hard to pay attention when there are cute ones around. This will probably always be a problem.

I am writing this post in Finite Mathematics class, which I am justifiably upset about paying for. Because of American's commitment to a liberal arts foundation, a mathematics course is required. This means that for someone as disinclined as myself, he is degraded to a review of middle school algebra. As Thom so correctly put it, I am taking "re-re math," because I am re-re-learning it. Should make for an easy A. After Rafik earned a 4.0 last semester, I was inspired to strive for the same. My first semester yielded a 3.78.

More to come, and hopefully before Friday's Finite class.