Swift Boat Veterans for What?
These days it seems the news is giving as much airtime to liars as it is to those who tell the truth.

Of course, "truth" has apparently become a pretty flexible word. Take the latest vector of the Republican smear campaign, the group called Swift Boat Veterans for Truth. These vets, who claim to have served with John Kerry, are on a mission to prove he was "no war hero." Their TV ad, highly publicized over the past week, is so false that not even the Bush campaign will be associated with it. The man who said he treated Kerry's first war wound (and claims he lied about his purple heart) is nowhere to be found on the candidate's medical records. In fact, none of the men who appear in the video were on Kerry's boat; they merely were in the country at the same time. All of the crew members of Kerry's boat joined him on stage for the Democratic Convention! Just which "truth" these veterans stand for is unclear. Maybe it's the same truth that Bush used when persuading the Congress to let him attack Iraq.

Senator John McCain (R-AZ), a fellow vet and friend of Kerry, publically derided the ad. In fact, McCain himself was similarly smeared during his 2000 primary run against...who else? None other than G. Dub. At this rate, though, I don't know what it would take for McCain to withdraw his support from the President.

Of all the talking heads out there, Jon Stewart seems to be the most astute, catching on to stories that the mainstream media glosses over. "But Traily," you say, "Jon Stewart's show airs on Comedy Central. It's fake news." That may be, but it's about as fair and balanced as, say, "The O'Reilly Factor," with humor instead of acute nausea. If Jon Stewart can't air on a "real" news network, neither should half the stuff on Fox News. As a matter of fact, I propose to rename Fox News "Comedy Right-of-Central." How's that for fair and balanced?

Cross Country
Mood:  smelly
This morning I went to practice with my high school running team. There's a tradition of inviting alumni to the Peninsula Course every August, and I thought i'd make an appearance. I ended up running most of the course but skipped out on the last killer hill to be nice to my hip flexors. Ah, the joy of that team! I feel so old, though. It's amazing how few people are left that actually ran with me. The team is much larger, with huge numbers of underclassmen whose names I don't know. It was great seeing so many old friends and running that darn course. It really brings the passage of time into focus.

Times like these make me half-wish I had stayed with the sport in college, but I don't think I could have done it. XC took too much out of me and I had nothing -- emotionally, physically, mentally -- left to give. It consumed my life entirely, and I'm still feeling the effects of that obsession with the body. I needed time to recover and rediscover parts of me that had been lost during the four years of running. Today I was incredibly happy and wouldn't have changed a thing.

Major Sighs of Relief
Mood:  celebratory
Today, Professor Tartaron emailed me to let me know that as long as the class doesn't fill up with grad students and upperclassmen majors, I'll be allowed to take his Archaeological Ceramics classes this year! This is a relief for me because I am very excited about these courses and they would ensure that I wouldn't have to take Chemistry for my Archeo major.

If I had received this a few days ago, I would be incredibly nervous about the class filling up. However, I read in the catalogue that in order to double major, no more than two term courses can overlap. This makes majoring in both Anthro and Archaeo very, very difficult, since the vast majority of archeology classes are cross-referenced under Anthro. It looks like I'll have to major in one or the other. Anthro is more general and gives me the most leeway in case I want to go down a different track. In that case, then, I don't need to worry about the difficult course requirements for Archaeo, which reduces my potential stress level quite a bit.

On a side note, since I don't want to make a whole new entry for this, the floor in our kitchen is done! Look at the cartoon of me enjoying the new wood floor! Yay!

I also wrote today. Thank you, Frank Herbert. And the Dodgers won. Methinks I will go to high school cross-country practice tomorrow to visit old friends.

Changes
My house has just shrunk dramatically, thanks to the new floors coming in this week. I'm confined to the backyard, the computer room, my parents' room, and to a lesser extent my own room. I'm also in the early stages of planning what to bring back with me to college.

The Dodgers traded some of their best players for pitcher Brad Penny a few weeks ago, with the idea that they can do well in the playoffs only with a stronger starting rotation. Well, yesterday against the Phillies Penny strained his bicep in the first inning and had to be pulled out of the game (which the Dodger lost, unsurprisingly, 4-1). They were having such a good year, and if they blow it because of these trades the fans will not be pleased.

Rereading Dune has reminded me that what I really want to do is write. More than archeology or anthropology, I dream of writing. However, I think it's important for me to have a career outside of literature in order to broaden my experience of the world from which I draw inspiration. One of my goals for myself should be to set smaller goals, and not be disappointed with myself that I haven't finished anything yet. This is still my "soaking up life" stage. That said, I should still write more :)

Of Symphonies and Sandworms
Mood:  chillin'
Now Playing: "Sonata No. 26 in E flat, Op. 81a," Beethoven
I've been listening to all my dad's classical music. He doesn't have the world's most varied collection -- disproportionate amounts of piano and Mozart, for example -- but it's great stuff. This fall I want to take the "Listening to Music" class to enhance my ability to take in the classics and distinguish them from one another. You'd think that with seven years of piano training I'd have had a fine exposure to classical music, but alas, I began to fall into the trap of preferring "songs" to "pieces." Don't get me wrong; I've always loved going to orchestra concerts and absolutely adore the one classical CD I own (and have listened to over and over whilst creating fantasia-like stories to accompany it). Well, no longer. I'm determined to be able to say "I like (say) Strauss" and mean it; to be able to pick a favorite piece that wasn't by Howard Shore. I'm currently enamored with Dvorak's New World Symphony (yes, I know that's not the real name, but it's concise), which actually echos one of Shore's LOTR themes in its second movement. Ahh, strings...

Speaking of rediscovered loves, I started reading "Dune" for the second time yesterday. Man, do I love that book! Herbert's imagined world is so densely tangible and grittily real, and the characters are so lifelike! Even though I like the sequels well enough, they feel thinner in richness, and I miss young Paul too much, and the Duke. The full story may not be complete in the first book, but unlike many first volumes it does stand firmly on its own. So good!

Off to the Dodger game!

Joyfulness
Mood:  happy
I got my course catalog! I have my spring schedule planned out already, but there's still some flexibility in the fall. I get to take Native American Studies! Some high authority must have been listening to my complaints about the one sad hole in the anthro department. Ah, the joys of shopping period. Of course, all this is providing I can get credit for my summer archaeology program and don't have to take the intro course. I'm crossing all my fingers and toes and writing a letter to the profs.

We're getting a new "wood" floor in our kitchen and hallway. No more ugly green/orange/khaki carpet from the '70s!

I went to a party last night and everyone there was planning on voting Democrat! Oh, and one of my high school friends became a Reverend. He just filled out a form online, and now he can marry people. I don't think he's even Christian. What a wonderful world.

How True That Is...
Now Playing: "Rockin' In the Free World," Neil Young
Here is the "Bushism of the Day" from Slate:

"Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we."
--Washington, D.C., Aug. 5, 2004.

Truer words were never spoken.

Want more Presidential words of wisdom? There are always more Bushisms.

Irony in the Golden State

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger doesn't know it, but every time he gets in the car and drives he's breaking state law.

That's because Arnold drives a Hummer H2, which, at 8600 pounds, is too heavy to legally drive on most California residential streets. The legal limit, created before these mega-SUVs became all the rage, is 6,000 pounds. And Arnold's not alone: such mainstays as the Chevy Suburban the Ford Excursion, the Lincoln Navigator, and the Range Rover are technically illegal.

The weight limit was created because cars that weigh more than 3 tons can damage roads. Ironically, the drivers of these heavy vehicles actually get tax breaks by calling them "commercial vehicles." As long as the law is not enforced, these drivers actuallt contribute less to the tax money that repairs the roads while contribting more to the damage.

Yesterday in MSN's Slate Magazine, Andy Bowers wrote a much more detailed article on this subject. He proposed a solution which would be unpopular but very effective in terms of solving the problem:

"Why not classify SUVs under 3 tons as passenger cars and regulate them accordingly? Make them meet car gas mileage and safety standards, and let them drive anywhere cars can drive.

"For vehicles over 6K, classify them as trucks, pure and simple. Let their drivers use more gas, roll over more often if they want, and take tax breaks. And ban them from residential streets."

Mega-SUVs are bad for the environment, bad for national security because of our reliance on mideastern oil, and bad for consumer safety. It's never going to happen, but enforcement of this simple law might prove a much needed wake-up call to a nation that has gone Hummer happy.

More Personality Stuff
According to the Meyers-Briggs personality types, this is me:

57% Introverted/43% Extroverted
66% Intuitive / 34% Sensing
67% Feeling / 33% Thinking
53% Perceiving / 47% Judging



So I'm a "Quester?" Huh. Always knew it. :)

Ditching the Sophomore Slump
Mood:  on fire
Now Playing: "Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses," U2
I'm so excited for this year! I've been looking through courses online (the catalog still hasn't come, but I have faith) and I'm eager to start school. Anthro offerings rule this fall: "Language, Culture, and Society," "Ancient Civilizations of the Andes," "Evolution of Primate Intelligence," and the list goes on. I think I want to take an Art History class that will count towards my Archaeo major -- "Ancient Painting and Mosaics," as well as "Foundations of Modern Archaeoloy," a core course. My bibliophile friends and I have agreed that the English classes are lacking this semester, which would give me an opportunity to branch out and work on my major. I might go for "Dante in Translation," a Lit course, but I also am interested in "Listening to Music." The latter would be the easiest, and if I take Chem (with its lab -- ugh) I will probably have 5 1/2 courses, so an easy one wouldn't be bad. Then there are "Philosophy of Mind" and "Phil. of Language," either of which would be worth checking out.

Outside the classroom I'm also going to be branching out. I really want to take Tai Chi classes, but I'm not sure they have them until winter starts. I have decided I need more balance in my life. Besides the campaign, I'm applying at the Art Gallery to be a guide, which would be a lot of work but very fun. Finally, I'm auditioning for Tangled Up In Blue, the folksinging group. Don't laugh, people from home, I've gotten better since high school! I still doubt I'll make it but it's worth a shot.

Of course, I can't wait to see my friends again and move into my new room! Woohoo!