Money

I really have to start making some money. So far, we've contemplated starting our own internet porn business, work at home scams, collecting for "charity," and opening a boarding home in the remaining 200 square feet that aren't currently being used.

Unfortunately, none of these options are desirable or terribly realistic.

In a moment of desparation, I signed up for a bunch of paid survey/paid email reading websites. Somehow, I imagine that I will get quite aggravated with them in the next week, but considering that I called my mother earlier today to see if I could sort/list her "stuff to be eBayed" pile, I think I'm hitting rock bottom with money. Luckily, I have $110 from a failed apartment deposit, as well as a $20 check that Matt signed over to me; at least that $130 can keep the "OH SHIT OH SHIT OH SHIT" panicking down a little bit. I also have textbooks, some duplicate White Wolf books and CDs to sell, so hopefully I can get rid of those things for not *too* little. The White Wolf books should all go for a fairly high amount, considering they are out of print and many are brand new. Hopefully, I won't have to touch the emergency $80 sitting in my ING account, but I might have to do so to pay some bills.

Aside from that, I'm contemplating things like trolling Goodwill for nicer vintage clothes that could be eBayed, and if I get too desparate, I'm going to start taking some loads of things to Buffalo Clothing Exchange.

On a good note, we've found a handful of studies through the Psychology Department at Temple. I found one that pays you and two friends $50 a piece for a "decision making study." But, as luck would have it, all three people must be of the same gender, and I don't have two female friends who would be available all at once for the study.

Damnit damnit damnit. However, I did manage to find two studies paying $15 a piece and we have plenty of subway tokens. (Thank you, New Boyfriend's irresponsible ex-roommate!)

At least my credit card bills are all current until July. I just have to figure out how to make the little bit of money I have last me until the very beginning of July. Oh yeah, and find somewhere to live for the first two weeks. SDC offered me a temporary place, but he's just outside of Trenton, and my entire life is based out of Philly right now. I would do it if I had to, but the thought of two hour bus rides just to see the new boyfriend and hang out with Matt and even go to a crappy job down here is simply not desirable.

I'll figure out the living arrangement thing later. One step at a time, one step at a time.

Life and whatnot

Boyfriend and I split up.
Currently living with Best Friend in the Gayborhood.
Fabulous things are happening for me.

Blog for choice

Why am I pro-choice?

Because I'm a woman. Because the government should have no say in what happens in my body. Because I'm a feminist. Because men cannot carry a pregnancy to term. Because white women still make an average of $.75 to a white man's dollar. Because pay disparities become even more abysmal when you take race into consideration. Because I never want us to return to the days of dangerous "back alley" abortions. Because, again, "back alley" abortions became even more dangerous when considering race and class. Because Gerri Santoro should not have died. Because Becky Bell should not have died. Because none of these women, or countless others, should have died, only to have their deaths mocked by oh so compassionate "feminists" for life. Because I realize that there are many factors that go into the decision to continue a pregnancy. Because an abortion can be the most difficult decision a woman makes or easiest. Because even if I disagree with a woman's reason for aborting, I do not want laws based on my morality, values or preferences. Because historically, certain women's reproductive choices have have been ripped from them because they were "unfit" for parenting. Because many of these same women are still manipulated into having their reproductive rights stolen from them. Because raging hardons are considered more important than 100% effective birth control. Because the government thinks it's okie dokie to prevent me from getting a script filled if my pharmacist deems it "morally unacceptable."

Because not being pro-choice makes absolutely no sense to me.

Consumerism

Things I want to order:

To-Go 2-tier stainless steel lunchbox
Bento sleeve w/ice pack, Vegan Lunchbox & some more utensils
Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World...if I can find it anywhere. *e-tear*
Tons and tons of healthy snacks from Pangea
THE BEST SOCKS IN ALL OF AMERICA!!!

Ugh. Why do I have a feeling that my financial aid refund is practically spent already? I still have to get about half of my textbooks and I've spent a few hundred on them already!

Last night, Best Friend and I went to Horizons for delicious, delicious food. Since I was in a drunken haze the last time I was there (in July), I completely forgot that I had tried the Portabello Carpaccio when I went for anniversary dinner with Boyfriend. So I was all "YEAH I'M TRYIN' SOMETHIN NEW!!!!!!!" When in reality, I was trying the same damn thing. :( But then the bartender brought us the dessert menu and I was able to try a completely new dish! Saffron Creme Brulee. *dies* Creme Brulee was one of those "hoity toity totally bougee decadent, heart attack in a ramekin dishes that is way easier and cheaper to make than you might think" that I never tried pre-veganism. According to Best Friend, it tasted pretty close to the traditional dairy/eggified version, which he doesn't care for. Considering that he snuck five spoonfuls of it, I think he may have enjoyed the vegan version better than the dairy-mania. :) It was so good and I'm happy I don't live closer to them, or else I'd be spending all my freakin' money on food and cocktails.

All this thinking about the deliciousness that is Horizons is making me way more hungry than I should be at 4:15 am. *grumble* Maybe I should force myself into bed so I don't inhale everything in my kitchen!

CounterCrisisNW needs funds!

The following is the message posted on Livejournal. (This is why my last post turned into a total rushjob!) I can vouch for CounterCrisis.

Pro-choicers, please crosspost this and spread it around everywhere you can! Thank you!

Edit: Teehee. While reading my Livejournal feed, I just realized how appropriate it is to follow up a plea to middle class liberals with this post. EL OH EL.

---

Hi, all. It's that time again - we at CounterCrisisNorthwest have just recieved a phone call from Lovejoy Surgical Center in Portland requesting funds for a 17 year old girl from California who is 20 weeks pregnant and is pregnant as a result of a rape.

Although our holiday fundraising was successful, we've still been having money go out to the abortion centers almost as fast as it's coming in. The young woman in this case is about $425 short of the needed funds for her abortion and we only have just over $100 in the fund. If any of you can help out in any amount, it would be incredibly appreciated both by the fund and by this young woman.

Do you have someone with a birthday or a holiday need soon? You can also buy gift donations in the name of another person and we will e-mail you the personalized and printable PDF Gift Certificate.

A call to middle-class liberals

You say you're anti-war, pro-equal marriage rights, pro-choice, etc., etc., etc. So stop crying e-poverty* and stop insisting that it "doesn't matter" what you do, that assholes will still get elected. "Liberals" across the US have been claiming rainbows and puppy dogs and fluffy bunnies ever since the Democrats OMG SWEEPED TEH MIDTERMS! You know how it was done? Because volunteers and interns worked their asses off knocking doors and leafletting all over the place. Because people like you ponied up $25 now and again to contribute to their campaigns. Because people started to realize "HOT DAMN I CAN MAKE SOME SORT OF DIFFERENCE!"

So put your money where your mouth is.

If you're a liberal, you should be working your ass off to get Kucinich on the Presidential ticket. Do you really think that Obama, Clinton or Edwards will fully support your views in office? Bwahahahaha.

Here's the problem: the country has shifted so far to the right that anyone left of center is thought to be "liberal," when they are in fact almost as bad as the right. US citizens have heard over and over again that the 2006 midterms showed that OMG TEH COUNTRY IS SOOOO RIGHT WING CAUSE WE HAVE SO MANY CONSERVATIVE DEMS IN OFFICE. And most "liberals" argued their little brains out that this was soooooo not true.

Wasn't it? As I said above, the country has shifted pretty far right in the past 8ish years or so. It's shifted so far that not only are the right-wingers insisting that Congress is full of "San Francisco values" (lololol), but most "liberals" think they are so progressive and omgleftwing, despite the fact they think Clinton is a wonderful choice for president or that Pelosi as Speaker is some huge step for progressive values. Um. YEAH.

I understand that, right now, a white woman or a person of color will have to be fairly conservative to be elected president. And while I do feel that it's about damn time that we have a president who isn't an old white dude, I'm not going to get googly eyed over the prospect of a just-left-of-center minority in office. That is not a victory for me. It certainly isn't a victory when I'm worried about my civil liberties, specifically in respect to my non-belief. Considering that I've read some pretty fucking troubling quotes from Barack Obama regarding atheism, I cannot treat him like an actual liberal.

Real phone call about a half hour ago

[ring ring]
Me [grumbling]: Hello?
Dipshit on other end of the phone: Julie? Is Julie there?
Me: You have the wrong number.
Dipshit: No I don't.
Me: Yes you do.
Dipshit: Ohhhhhh.
Me: [click]

Um. Yeah. I've had this number for almost 3 years. I can assure you that we have not been hiding Julie here for three years.

Five minutes later.
[ring ring]
Me [this better not be the same damn..WHAT THE HELL?]: You still have the wrong number. Goodbye.

Then I try to leave the phone off the hook because Boyfriend tried to go to bed a little before ten and the dipshit wouldn't get the fuck off the line. Everytime I pick up just to take the damn phone off the hook, dingbat keeps babbling about me daring to get a little brusque with her. Um, no. You're calling my house after 10 and you friggin argue with me when I tell you "wrong number." Somehow, I'm thinking that your stupid ass shouldn't expect me to be super polite under these circumstances. Oy.

So how is 2007 treating you, internet?

Religious discrimination?

Were Women Fired for Praying at Work?
By Cheryl Thomas
CBN News
December 20, 2006

CBN News.com - DALLAS - Two former University of Texas-Arlington employees say they were fired after praying over another staff member's cubicle and anointing it with olive oil.

The two women, Evelyne Shatkin, an administrative assistant, and Linda Shifflett, a development funds assistant, had joined in quiet prayer with a male coworker after employees had left for the weekend.

The male coworker was having problems with another employee and had agreed to prayer.

Later, both women received a termination notice from the university. The male coworker remained employed.

Shatkin says the dismissal caught both she and Shifflett by surprise.

They then filed a federal lawsuit citing religious discrimination. And since both women are over 40 years of age and the male coworker under 40, they included age and gender discrimination in the lawsuit.

In subsequent hearings by the Texas Workforce Commission and Texas Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Shatkin said she and Shifflett were both accused and rebuked, but never given a chance to present their side of the story.

More here.

Can I take this moment to puke my brains out? Okay, cool. Now that I'm done with the excessive vomiting, what would on earth would possess someone to even THINK about "blessing" a co-worker's cubicle?

The mind boggles.

Link snagged from Pandagon.

<3<3<3<3<3 yay i less than three kucinich!

He not only believes in sustainability, he practices it. Congressman Kucinich is one of the few vegans in Congress, a dietary decision he credits not only with improving his health, but in deepening his belief in the sacredness of all species. In the 106th Congress, his call for labeling and safety testing of all genetically engineered foods provoked a $50 million advertising campaign by the biotech industry. Kucinich hosted an international parliamentary session, attended by officials of 18 countries, on the social, economic, political and health impact of genetic food technologies. More recently he was one of the principal speakers at an international conference on water rights, where he called for governments to reserve public ownership of water resources.

Fabulous. Of course, he won't have a chance in hell of winning the primaries over Clinton or Obama (both of whom I think are crappy choices) because the Democrats think losing is hot and they enjoy taking the wimpy stance on friggin every damn thing. I had a conversation with a friend (a PoliSci major & hardcore Dem) who even admitted that the midterms were NOT a victory for the Dems, they were a loss for the Repubs. Keep that in mind, folks. Did we not learn from Kerry? People didn't want to vote for Kerry because he was a freakin' putz who did not clearly and concretely come out against the war. His whole platform might as well have been "No really, I'm better than Bush!"

Anyway, Care2.com and newsnet5.com are both running informal polls for progressive candidates. Go support Kucinich on them!

http://www.care2.com/news/member/249683893/246965 (req's signing up with the site)
http://www.newsnet5.com/politics/10511595/detail.html

:D

Due to Senator Doofus's pummelling of Ricky, I was able to vote with my conscience and can avoid douchebags whining about how I am a Green SPOOOOIIIIIILLLLLLERRRRRRRRR who hates democracy.

The polls closed at 8 pm. I think that Rendell's win was called at, like, 8:06. *teehee* Sestak's win was called right around 11 pm, so I'm in a wonderful mood.

The Democrats have taken back the House and will likely take back Senate. I'm not that happy - because it's Democrat controlled - but if I've got to choose between the two, I guess I'd rather have Dem control over Republican control. (Though I'd so much rather deal with a moderate Republican than a moderate Democrat for a million reasons that I'm way too exhausted to write about right this second.)

Oh, and in other election news.. It appears that the South Dakota abortion ban was defeated. I bet that makes Senator Bobby Doofus cry big, fat crocadile tears for all the poor baby fetuses.

Feeling a little snarky and sleepy. Time to get some rest.

VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE

"Politics is the Art of Controlling Your Environment"

That is one of the key things I learned in these years, and I learned it the hard way. Anybody who thinks that "it doesn't matter who's President" has never been Drafted and sent off to fight and die in a vicious, stupid War on the other side of the World -- or been beaten and gassed by Police for trespassing on public property -- or been hounded by the IRS for purely political reasons -- or locked up in the Cook County Jail with a broken nose and no phone access and twelve perverts wanting to stomp your ass in the shower. That is when it matters who is President or Governor or Police Chief.

That is when you will wish you had voted.
--Hunter S. Thompson

In honor of Election Day (US), I'm going to do a very small political link dump:

Anti-Santorum posters (downloadable pdfs)
Crooks and Liars
Poll closing times
Electoral Vote
2006 Key Political Races (MSNBC)
Campus Progress
Vote Smart
Green Party
Socialist Party USA
Legalize Marijuana Party/"NJ Weedman" (NJ candidate for US Senate)
The National Voter Protection Hotline (NOTE - THIS WILL TAKE YOU TO democrats.org. I intentionally left the Democrats & the GOP off of the above links because they're overexposed as it is.)

Please don't forget to get out there and vote!

"No" apparently doesn't mean "no."

Another disheartening article:

Court: Woman Can't Say No After Start Of Sex

ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- An appellate court said Maryland's rape law is clear -- no doesn't mean no when it follows a yes and intercourse has begun.

Awesome. So if I get drunk beyond belief, say "yes" and pass out, apparently raping my unconscious body is totally groovy in Maryland. If I go out on a date, say yes and my otherwise charmer suitor turns into a raging asshole - I'm not implying these two things are connected in any way - I'm shit outta luck. If some other circumstance happens and the "yes" turns into a "no," I'm beat. If, say, I'm with an otherwise charming suitor who does something triggering or insists on doing something I'm not comfortable with, thereby changing my previous "yes" to a "no," I shoulda considered every weird circumstance beforehand.

Geeze. Why don't we silly women learn? Afterall, it's our faults if our skirt is too short, if we're wearing too much makeup, if we've been drinking, if our hair is too short, if we're wearing jeans, if we look too masculine, if we haven't experienced heterosexual sex, if we're prudes, if we're easy, if we're married, if we're in a relationship, if we're in a "bad part of town," if we're out by ourselves, if we're out late a night, if we go to a bar alone, if we go on a blind date alone, if we don't have a gun cocked at every man we encounter, regardless of our relationship to him and so on and so on and so on. Why shouldn't we prepare for every strange situation possible? If we want to keep ourselves out of these situations, apparently we need to keep ourselves locked at home, away from everyone in the world.

Oh, but then I'm sure we should have anticipated burglarizing rapists.

I have to wonder how much of this "protecting men from false rape charges" decision is meant to actually keep women from ever consenting to sex. How much of it is simply a fear of the dreaded female sexuality and how much of it is actually about men losing control over women?

No.. This isn't inherently fucked or anything

Inmates help bring tourism to Wilson.

It is the highest-paid job at the prison, starting at $1 a day, said Olivia Jordan, supervisor of the call center. Inmates must take a tourism class taught at the prison through Wake Technical Community College before they can apply.

Well, gee golly! $1 an hour! These are jobs that would have typically paid AT LEAST $7/hour pre-extreme outsourcing. I've worked in call centers before. $7 an hour was the worst rate I've ever been paid. It is stressful, aggravating work that - believe it or not - requires a degree of skill. I'm not going to trying to argue that call center reps require a college degree, but Christ...this isn't exactly envelope stuffing. You work answering phones for a few hours and tell me you'd happily work for a buck an hour.

Oh, but I forgot, they're all a bunch of "animals" and "monsters" who get what they deserve, right?

About 80 percent of the women in the call center are there for either first-degree or second- degree murder, usually of an abusive husband or boyfriend, she said.

Out of the prison's approximate 1,300 population, "all of it boils down to a man — about 90 percent of them."

Oh yes. What monsters. *rolls eyes*

At least I'll have something to look forward to if I ever am in an abusive situation again. I, too, can make a whopping $1 an hour!

I can't even write about this anymore.

(Article link courtesy of a Livejournal friend.)

OH NOES TEH ATHEISTS ARE TAKING OVER!!!

Oh Texas.

Candidate for the Sixth Court of Appeals, Ben Franks, is reported to be a professed atheist and apparently believes the Bible is a “collection of myths.”

During debate over a plank in the State Democrat Platform, members of the Platform Committee debated dropping “God” from a sentence on the first page of the document. The plank stated: “we want a Texas where all people can fulfill their dreams and achieve their God-given potential.”

According to an article published in the El Paso Times, Ben Franks states: “I’m an atheist…”

Oh. The. Horrors.

It doesn't look like Ben Franks is taking donations, but man oh man, if I find a place, I'm so tossing him $20. It might not be much, but it's the damn principle of the matter.

On the subject of atheists in office, this article (by Edward Tabash) is an interesting read, but I think some parts of it are a little simplistic. I'm a little conflicted because in some respects, he seems to pit atheists against women and people of color. I don't think that's necessarily his intention, and I certainly understand the reasons for his frustration, but I don't think he articulated himself in a manner that will gain sympathy. (For example, comparing oppressions. I understand why it's done. He's reframing the arguments. Aside from small pockets of the population, most people will not actively admit to be sexist or racist; he's trying to frame atheism in the same manner. But, it still has the potential to people off, which is the last thing we - us dirty filthy atheists - need. There is a reason fundamentalist Christians do so well with getting out their message. They know how to subtly work the people.) But at the same time, I'm all "WOO HOO NON-BELIEVERS."

A very specific passage that bugs me is this:

Each of us must decide on what issues we can compromise our otherwise existing requirements of a political candidate, if that candidate is an Atheist or is uncommonly Atheist-friendly, like Governor Ventura. I cannot tell any of you what issues, that are otherwise important to you, should now take a back seat, if a viable Atheist or Atheist-friendly candidate is running, who may not agree with you on such issues. I do hope, however, that we will all at least think about the issues on which we can let an Atheist or Atheist-friendly candidate slide, if that candidate has a real chance of winning a given election. Each of us will have a different threshold, where compromise will be permitted, in order to support one of our own, or a candidate supportive of our interests as non believers.

For me, I can say that I will go very far in supporting a candidate that I may not agree with on a variety of issues, in a contested election, if that candidate is the most fervent supporter of the separation of church and state.

I agree that everyone needs to compromise on one or two issues during election season because it is so rare that we will find one candidate who truly represents every view we hold. However, the tone implies that I should - for example - vote for a candidate who is an atheist, yet promotes racist or sexist ideologies. I'm not going to turn my back on feminism or the anti-racism movement just so I can say "YAY ATHEISM!!!" Maybe it's just me or I'm being a little overly sensitive, but I doubt that I am. I'd bet that most people want legislators who represent them as much as possible and don't want to concede on very strong ideologies. (And in my case, are ones that humorously do not conflict at all, yet the way certain people would have you believe, I'm the one whose nuts.)

I think I might try to keep up on ye ol' public blog, especially through the midterms this year. (What a difficult goal. I'll have to keep posting for a whole week!)

Testing

Testing testing one two three.

I just set up a feed for Livejournal. I'm hoping this will work okie dokie.

I'm a little concerned, though. The feed name is "da_public_blog." As in "DA Public Blog." As in, short for "drunkenatheist public blog." Not as in "da" public blog. I'm not straight outta the late 80s/early 90s and I have no need to act like some dumb white kid who thinks it's really cool to continually screech "I'M RICK JAMES, BITCH!"

I bet people won't get it. That makes me so frowny faced. :(

Yeah.

I have so much shit going on right now.

I'm trying to organize a donation drive with The Feminist Forum for Common Ground Collective. So far, I've gotten some responses on it. I'm hoping we can send down a nice-sized donation because I really want the community to get more involved with activism, even if is pretty much slacktivism.

Speaking of slacking, good god, I haven't done jack shit in the past few months. Grades are slipping (for my standards), friends are getting ignored, posts that need to be made aren't getting posted and I haven't gone out gone out in forever. However, Best Friend and I brainstormed on what kind of smear campaigns would be run against us if we ever went into politics. We came up with some winners involving throwing bottles of Bombay against the wall.

The dog and cat tried to play with one another this evening. It was a milestone in Beagle-Orange tabby relations. Poor beagle got thwapped on the head by the cat shortly after he started sticking his butt in the air and baying at the kitty. Boyfriend and I almost choked when this happened.

I have so many things I want to write about, but everytime I sit down to write, I'm overwhelmed with the feeling that what I have to say will suck. Which is funny, because the last time I posted something I was shaky about on the LJ, I received a bunch of really positive comments, included one that reaffirmed that I was making a whole shitload of sense. Tonight, I sat down and started writing about power dynamics in platonic relationships, felt that it turned into a ton of gibberish, so I posted it private and posted a video clip of the Temple preachers instead. I think I understand the reasons why; from what I can tell, they are directly related to the topic of my post o' gibberish. Because of the power dynamics and the way women are not only crushed in terms of education in co-ed settings, but also socialized to interact with others, I'm constantly feeling stifled like I might make the men uncomfortable. Which is totally silly because what I have to say is just as valid as the dominant views. (In my most humble opinion, it's actually more valid.)

It's funny to me that I'm posting this here, where anyone can stumble upon it and immediately know it is me. Practically every website I join has the login of "drunkenatheist" or some variation thereof. Yet, I feel too awkward posting this on a limited view in my Livejournal. I guess it's because I'm pretty certain that not a lot of people have the inclination to read this blog, yet Livejournal kind of forces you into reading your friends list. (Unless, of course, you read only certain filters on a regular basis.)

I want to keep on this blog, but I keep thinking "what direction do I want it to go in." I don't want family stumbling upon anything super personal, but I don't know if I really want to - or can - make this a totally impersonal sounding board type of thing. Oh, what a conundrum I'm having!

PRAISE THE LAWD

We are going to try to sell the house within the next year.

We're looking at renting until I am done with school. I'm trying to talk Other Half into the Ivory Towers of Fantabulous Center City, specifically Washington Square West. He's been pretty receptive to the idea thus far. All we have to do is put a little bit of money into some relatively minor repairs and then we can list this hellhole.

PRAISE THE DEITIES I DO NOT BELIEVE IN!

Not so much, Dubya.

So I didn't do Blog for Choice, mainly because I didn't think I'd remember or get a chance to do it. I know myself so well! Since I neglected to do it, I'll leave you with these wise words from the good King George:

I present to you Hurlfest 2006.

Vincent

We found an absolutely adorable orange and white male kitty around 5:30 am on New Year's Eve. After about a week and a half, no one claimed him and he was getting along great with Oswald and Ichabod, so we considered him ours. We named him Vincent and set up to have him declawed yesterday. (This was primarily for our older pets' safety; Oswald liked poking him with his nose and Ichabod would chase him around late at night.)

Everything went fine with the declawing itself, but he unfortunately had an allergic reaction while he recovered in the vet's. He died last night less than an hour out of surgery. Boyfriend (who spoke to our vet's office both times) said his doctor was really broken up when she called back to give him the news. We're going to have him cremated.

I feel a little guilty about it because I'm really opposed to declawing cats. (I wouldn't have gone along with it if I thought Oz and Ick could have been trusted to not get him riled up.)

This sucks.