return address stickers

when I was 7 and we had just moved into our new house- everything was still in boxes and the furniture hadn't all arrived- leaving an incomplete air to the house- as if we weren't fully there and we could still move out- new return address stickers arrived. Some were clear, some were white with a rose encircling the T in The Gattusos.

In my house, death and sickness were not that far away- it was accepted. I don't know how to explain it- it wasn't morbid- but my siblings and I did not live in a Disney, pastel world. There was pastel- but there was scarlet, amber and night sky blue as well. It was just part of life- we knew that people got sick, people died, things ended. It wasn't until I was in high school, when a classmate of mine died, that I realized that other children had never been exposed or accustomed to death.

I never had a fear of dying, maybe now that I'm older, I will- but I was horribly, terribly afraid of being forgotten. Anytime that I go into an old building- I always passingly think of the people who had walked there before me- and I could not shake the feeling that one day another family would live in our house, and not know that I had lived there before. They wouldn't know that the floors were hardwood because of my allergies- or that the mirrored closet in my room had reflected my face first. I took the return addresss stickers and placed them everywhere around the house-so that one day when we left- people would find them and know about us.

The 2008 election is already documented by a 2006 TV shows and a really awful 2007..spookymovie

Joe the Plumber- the small-town, middle class average Joe that is at the center of a Media storm when both candidates try to sway him to their party.

This sounds awfully familiar...wait...didn't a movie with kevin costner just come up about this? It was called Swing Vote- the plot? "In a remarkable turn-of-events, the result of the presidential election comes down to one man's vote."

A random woman is picked to be VP, despite her lack of experience, for campaign reasons but then actually become president.
- hmm- that could be either Sarah Palin or that woman in that TV show "Commander in Chief" which had the exact same plot.

A young, ethnic, cute and charismatic man runs against a beloved republican bipartisan candidate.
Sound familiar? Did you think I was talking about the 2008 elections? because, actually, I was talking about the last season of the West Wing.

oh and- Two airplanes crash into the World Trade Building in a terrorist attack.
Here is the creepiest part-the actual 9/11 scenario, perfectly mirrored a pilot for an X-file spin-off that broadcasted in 2000.

a girl tries to lose a guy in 10 days. oh- you think I'm talking about the movie? I'm not. I'm talking about the actual article based on that exact same plot.

Note that all of the examples here happened AFTER the movie about it. Art no longer imitates life. Life is plaguerizing art and the Hollywood writers. Seriously- I'm starting believe that people watch these shows think to themselves- "wow-let's see if that could actually happen!"

Did these movies plant the seed for this reality? And why are real life people mimicking characters? Would Obama be able to run if Santos hadn't run first? Did McCain's advisors think, well, an inexperienced, soccer mom as president worked in that failed TV show- it could totally work for us!"

Let's just hope that the next president doesn't watch Eagle Eye. Or 28 Days Later.

Duracell abuses mortal terror of mothers for financial gain

Before 5 minutes ago, I had no reason to dislike Duracell. Now, I would rather order my batteries via QVC than buy Duracell. why?

a sunny afternoon in the park. all of a sudden, the birds stop singing, time slows down, and a white unmarked van speeds away. What to do? Use an electronic locating device. powered by duracell. and look! the child had only gone to get a balloon!


this is the newest commercial ad by duracell. awfulness. t first of all, what kind of crazy mother would have an electronic locating device ON HAND? second of all, is a chip implanted in the child? how does that work?

but I digress, the true reason this commerical is the worst is that it intimidates mothers into 1) buying duracell and 2) buying an electronic locating device by playing on their mortal terror of having their child stolen. In reality, child kidnapping by strangers is very not common in the US- this this is an unlikely fear for a mother to have. still, they have it. and it is disgusting that duracell is playing on the fear of people to get them to buy their batteries.

The Hell of Unemployment

Today is my 6th day that I have been unemployed.

These six days somehow seem so much longer. To be unemployed is to have constant anxiety, guilt and fear mixed in with a strong dose of boredom. most of all, there is the feeling that if a tree fell on you today, it wouldn't matter, because as an unemployed person, you are of no use to anyone.

I have taken to watching the office, both to amuse myself and to remind myself that as bad as it is being jobless, i would be just as worthless with a meaningless job- and that i would take to internally mocking my coworkers as a source of amusement. The Office is actually not far off- most of hte time I had finished my work with a day to spare- and would use that day to surf the web, play pranks, take 3 hour shopping excursions

and then there is the money issue. Since i am not making any money, I feel too guilty to buy, for instance groceries. At the same time, i find myself buying nonneccessary items, such as beads, because I need to cheer myself up because I won't buy groceries.

More alter, because after all, I have nothing but time.

Maureen Dowd needs to chill out

Maureen Dowd is a editorialist for the NYT. And she annoys me. I know that editorialists are supposed to write their own opinion and whatnot- but I wish that Maureen Dowd would explain where her hatred of Hilary Clinton came fron. Everyday she attacks Hilary Clinton for something new. Such as her husband cheating on her. And being a women.

I am not Hilary Clinton fan- in fact, I was the girl who laughed in a person's face when they asked me if I would like to work on her campaign. I am moderate but lean towards being a republican- a real one- not the Bush version of republican- and I was raised to consider Hilary Clinton the anti-christ. I was never really liked her. And I still don't like her. But I can understand why people do- and I respect that.

I don't like her b/c she doesn't have that much experience, I think she panders and I think she is a little power-hungry. And her health bill fiasco is indicitive of an inability to admit she was wrong, which is not a good quality for a president to have.

But why does Maureen Dowd hate her? I have been reading her articles for months, and I can't help but feel that there is a personal reason for her animosity of Hilary Clinton- there has to be or why would she dedicate a year of her life to writing an anti-Hilary editorial every two days?

Dowd doesn't look like a nice person. She looks like a smugjudgemental liberal person who is only liberal b/c they live in an upper-class bubble. From what I've read about her as well- the Katie Holmes figure in Thank you for Smoking was based on Maureen Dowd- which means that Maureen Dowd? might not deserve her high horse. And that fact that she has made me feel sympathy for Hilary Clinton means thats she must really be out of line.

Attack Hilary Clinton for her policy positions, her claims of experience, the fact that she has already managed to insult a world leader by stating publically that "he has no soul"- thus invalidating her diplomatic prowess claims, and the fact that she wants to take money from companies instead of using the tax money to fix problems.

Attack her for all these things- but don't attack her for her husband's poor life choices, for the fact that she sometimes makes incomprehensible clothing choices- after all, she is old- for the fact that she is a woman and admits that publically, Maureen Dowd.

British people are unbearably pretentious and annoying

Is this nationalistic?

perhaps. but whatever, british people- you deserve this one- doesn't mean i don't love you-but sometimes you need to be called out on your superiority complex

Behold the apex of annoying britishness:

Yes, we can? the moving, ambiguous fragment catchphrase that means nothing.

I am somewhat bitter. Up until last week, I had really liked Obama. Thought he was refreshing and an interesting person. I was also impressed with the support he had managed to gain, considering his lack of experience, connections and his last name, which I was afraid was too close for comfort to “Osama” for the mainstream American person.

Sadly, in the past week, Obama has managed to lose my support due to his desperate need for approval, er, “endorsement.” In the past week he has been endorsed by the Kennedys as being “A Man like my Father” and by a bunch of celebrities who don’t know what they’re talking about.

The Kennedy endorsement was given at my own school, American University, in an attempt to draw parallels between Obama and Kennedy, due to the fact that Kennedy gave his international, peace-corp speech there. The entire Kennedy clan was there to support Obama, and Obama? Just looked overwhelmed.

Then there is the celebrity endorsement- which consists of celebrities singing his speeches and whatnot. Now which luminous stars of the Hollywood galaxy have decided to back Obama? One of the Pussycat dolls, the Las Vegas group that globalized, the black eyed peas, whose latest hits consist of “My Humps,” the ex-wife from Greys Anatomy, and Scarlett Johannassen, who I believe made People’s 50 most beautiful list this year.


Issues I have with the ridiculously corny Obama video:

1) it is so condescending. Yes, we can? Really? That’s the line? Yes we can what? Elect Obama? Thanks, celebrities, totally did not know that we have a choice in who we elect. I mean, clearly, the American public didn’t really know that we could elect whoever we wanted…yet it seems so strange to me that Arnold Swarrtzenegger- the action-figure, Kennedy-related, person whose accent is synonymous with cheesy 80s action movies and fake explosions could be ideal choice for the republican party.
2) It’s annoying being told what to do by people whose entire existence lies in superficiality. Scarlettt Johannsen is one year older than me, a high school drop-out and never went to college. If she was just a girl in my town, would anyone listen to what she has to say? No. because she doesn’t know what she is talking about! However, since she was in a movie, clearly, we should all listen to what she says.
3) The lyrics that they sing from his speech? Not that moving or brilliant. In fact, they were just kind of poetic restatements of historical moments in history. So really, we should be mobilized around Abraham Lincoln and the women’s movement, and not Obama because he can’t exactly re-free the slaves or give women the vote again, can he? But due to the amazing PR agents and lighting and editing team, the video makes so easy to forget that he didn’t actually state any plans or ideas for being president, or even any original thoughts.
4)I’m not sure I want a president who wants avid support from celebrities, and I kind of liked him before.

What does it say about Obama that he so desperately wants validation from famous people? That’s not a good sign, people. Have we heard of other senators, congressmen, experienced politicians who also back him? I’m sure that some have, but it’s disconcerting that Obama has decided to use celebrities as his ambassadors to the American public.