The Empire Strikes Back


Last August, I heard someone say that the Vice Presidential debate would be like watching Luke Skywalker take on Darth Vader. Throughout the Cheney-Edwards duel tonight, those images kept running through my mind. The imagery is too perfect. What many people forget is that the first time Luke crossed lightsabers with the Dark Lord, he didn't exactly come away with a resounding victory. He got his hand lopped off, his psyche impaled, and his innocence shattered.

Granted, none of these things happened to John Edwards, at least, not on camera. But watching the grim VP and his wide-eyed challenger face off, you couldn't help but notice that Edwards was usually on the defensive. He did a good job -- he spoke pretty eloquently, knew his facts, and made (in my opinion, but I'm biased) better arguments than Cheney. Yet somehow Cheney gave the general impression of swatting Edwards' arguements off like flies. Dick Cheney is a smart, smart man. I'm not sure if, in his entire career as a lawyer, Edwards ever had to argue with a man like Cheney.

Edwards got some good jabs in. The debate came closest to paralleling Thursday's when Edwards astutely, directly (yet so obviously) told Cheney towards the end that we were not attacked by the same people we invaded. But Cheney was nasty with his cutting remarks about Edwards' frequent absence from Senate voting sessions.

Unlike Bush's stellar convention speech, Cheney did not for one minute even hint of winning me over. Edwards, who said "It's wrong" on at least two occasions, was clearly in the right and trying his best to advance that. No mistake about it, this was good versus evil. Unfortunately, it was also good getting its butt kicked by said evil.
So it goes.

Hair today...oh forget it.


I'm considering growing out my hair again. As much as I like it short, I feel like I don't take full advantage of the cut. My hair was always so noticeable and pretty, and it's harder to notice now. Hmm...high school self, where have you gone?

Here's the mail, it never fails...
I got my absentee ballot in the mail today! Woohoo! Actually, I got so much mail from organizations asking me for money and offering me free address labels. Today I had mail from Planned Parenthood (plus a petition), the National Parks Conservation Association (sticker and address labels included), Habitat for Humanity (more address labels, plus five cheesy greeting cards), the Appaliachian Trail Conference, and the Southwest Indian Relief Council. I have never given any of these people money, even though I would like to contribute to all of them. All I know is that I have way more address labels than I'm ever going to use.

Putting Bush in his place
Now Playing: "Wooden Ships," Crosby, Stills and Nash
Congratulations to John Kerry for working Bush in Thursday's debate! I think he really came off looking "presidential," whatever that means. I watched the SNL parody last night, which picked up on a point I had missed: Bush says "it's hard work" or "we work hard" a LOT. Before this I'm not so sure the presidency was thought of in terms of hard work. Bush seems to almost equate it to manual labor. I suppose it's an appeal to the common man, sort of like his Texas accent. I know people who were born in Texas that don't talk like that. Bush was certainly not born in Texas. He was born in New Haven. Why is he talking about hard work, anyway?


Congratulations to the Dodgers for their NL West victory! Yeah L.A! I have so much West pride these days. I'm not sure why that is.

Memory Lane
Now Playing: "The Other Side," David Gray
TheFacebook.com is amazing! A girl I haven't seen since third grade requested to list me as a friend. This inspired me to search all the people who went to PenHi and find out where the all go to school now! It was really fun. I considered sending requests out to a few of them. It's amazing what the internet can do. Someday w will live in a world where being a hermit is impossible.

The writing circle met today. Other than me, there were four girls who showed up, as well as a learning-disabled man from New Haven. I really wasn't sure what to do with him. He is writing a book about how useful computers are for people with disabilities. I would like to include him in the group now that he's here, but I was planning on it being all students. I guess I didn't make that clear on the ad. Anyway, it was a good meeting. There are two more people who want to join but couldn't come today. I'm really excited to read what everyone has done!

Archaeology is so cool!
Mood:  happy

I really love my classes this year. I'm learning so much archaeology so fast! I wish I were more motivated to make these blog entries as interesting as my courses are. I'm constantly learning about places I want to visit and mysteries I want to solve. My particular combination of courses is especially nice because they all cover different aspects and levels of the field. With ceramics, I get an in-depth horizontal study of one focused area of analysis applicable worldwide. With the Andes I get the opposite -- a vertical study of all elements in one geographic location. Finally, Foundations presents the history of the discipline in a way that illuminates the approaches we take and that our predecessors have taken in studying the past. They all connect beautifully with one another and some things I learn in one class often appear tangentially or in the background of the others. And it's fun. The world is my sandbox.

Rain Rain Go Away...
It is pouring rain here in the 'Have. It began in earnest around 2 pm and has been surging and resurging ever since. We didn't even get up the nerve to walk to the dining hall, so we ordered Chinese take-out. I'm jsut glad I'm not in Florida. I'm starting to think their ghastly weather this fall is a warning from the climate gods about what will happen if they screw up our election again.

Looks Like I'm Not Such A Loser After All...
Mood:  lazy
Three people got into TUIB.

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!

One sophomore boy, a freshman girl, and a senior girl.

This really makes last week's obsessing seem very silly.

I'm Getting Really Tired of Coming Up With Titles
I had a wonderful time at the Peabody today. It was the opening of the new giant squid exhibit and a series of kids' activities were put on. Kids dissected squid, helped draw a life-size squid on the pavement outside, made their own squid puppets out of paper and string, tired to throw a sucker-covered ball at an adhesive picture of a squid in with the intent of hitting its eye, and went to a talk about squid. I helped with the puppet making. Kids are wonderful, especially the intellectually curious variety. It made me so happy to see the little girl who knew the names of all the dinosaurs in the Great Hall, where I worked. I absolutely love this job.

That time in September
There's something about Late September that sticks with you. It is almost a season unto itself, neither summer nor fall. Somewhere in the hardening green and the ripe sky and the dying goldenness of everything is a young heart in a young body, standing on the chilly precipice of a rapid aging and awakening, only looking. Looking and realizing that things are to be lost and that all journeyways run through death (though they do not all end there). It is a season of bittersweet begininings, of silent understanding, of held breath before resigned and wordless plunges. And yet the smile of summer remains, and every green moment left will be, if not innocent, sweeter for it.