I was raised a Godless heathen.

OK, OK, I’m being dramatic for effect, but I think it would be accurate say that I was brought up in a fairly irreligious household. I am technically a Christian, and my grandparents were all quite religious Protestants, but my parents live pretty secular lives. Although they were not churchgoers, they wanted me to be free to make my own decisions, so they encouraged me to try out churches of different denominations to see if anything resonated with me.

I remember going to Catholic services, Anglican, United and possibly a few others. I recall thinking that I hated wearing dresses, the services were too long, the pews were uncomfortable and the kneeling hurt my knees. Since the age of 10, I have only entered churches for weddings and funerals.

This is not to say that I was raised without a moral foundation. My parents instilled me with strong values, many of which are the same as those found in scripture. They simply did not attach those values to a particular religion tradition. Rather than encouraging me to act ethically in order to serve God or to ensure my place in the afterlife, I was simply told to be good. Full stop.

I read what I then considered the “Old Testament” on my own, without any guidance, when I was quite young. I found the whole thing terrifying. God seemed so wrathful, and for some time I lived in fear that I would carelessly commit a sin, and God would reach a reproachful finger through the clouds and smite me where I stood.

Several members of my father’s family were fundamentalist Christians, and I found many of their views to be quite intolerant. I’ve never understood people who feel the need to build up their own belief system by tearing down or judging those who think differently from them. At some point in my youth I developed a brief and harmless interest in the occult. Upon discovering this, my uncle took my father aside and warned him that he was a bad parent for raising me a pagan, and that there would be dire consequences for my immortal soul. I was incensed. My father is my role model for goodness. He is kind, accepting, loving, non-judgmental, open-minded and embraces those members of society that most people reject.

He embodies spirituality to me.

Later, my uncle and one of my aunts wrote me a letter quoting scripture, saying that I was straying from the path of righteousness and would certainly be doomed to hell. I was 12 years old.

These experiences made me suspicious of organized religion, I would say almost to the point of hatred. In grade 7, when our teacher started forcing us to read the Good News Bible (something that in 1984 was undoubtedly illegal in the public school system), I became an atheist in a burst of reactionary rage. This was short-lived, as I soon recognized the arrogance of thinking I could know there was no God. I know so little about even my immediate surroundings.

How could I presume to know the universe?

Despite my skepticism, I think a part of me has always been searching for divinity. In university I studied the Philosophy of Religion, but the arguments for the existence of God always left me wanting more. To me, St. Anselm’s ontological argument or Aquinas’ description of “the great watchmaker” started with a faith-based presupposition: “God exists therefore God exists.” Because I was coming from a secular perspective, I wanted more “proof”. What would have sufficed for me? Did I need to witness a miracle? Say a prayer and have it immediately answered? Did I want to God to tap me on the shoulder and say “Hey stupid, I’m right here.” I don’t know, but I think I have been looking for the key that will unlock my mind to allow God in.

About a year and a half ago I started reading the Torah. I decided to do this for a few reasons:

1) I had recently befriended Avrum, who told me that he was “more Jewish than he was anything else.” I felt like to truly know him I needed to understand more about Judaism.

2) I had read “The Chosen”, and was completely drawn to the scenes of Danny and Reb Saunders engaging in heated Talmudic debate. I love the idea that Judaism encourages questioning and critical thought, and that it is constantly evolving. My experience with Christianity (which I am not claiming to be representative of the religion as a whole), was that it stifled dissent and had an ideological rigidity.

3) I wanted to try reading scripture again as an adult, and to approach it with a more open mind. After all, it is the single-most read written work in the history of humanity, it is the starting point of monotheism, and it has influenced every aspect of our culture. How can I understand life without better understanding Torah?

Reading Torah has enriched my life in many ways. The first benefit I found was the intellectual challenge. The methods by which I have been learning satisfy my brain’s desire for order, depth and complexity. I love reading the weekly portion, then the haftorah, and then finding different commentaries by different rabbis. I am inspired by the variety and richness of thought and interpretation, and by the interplay of ideas. I am comforted to see that struggling with God is not seen as a rejection of faith, but a step towards strengthening it.

This summer I was fortunate to meet a man whose love of Judaism, God and Torah emanate from him like a bright light. After some thought, I wrote to him and asked him if he would be willing to learn with me, or more accurately teach me, as he is a wealth of information and insight. He sent me some lectures to listen to by Rabbi Fohrman, starting right from the story of Adam and Eve.

Listening to the first lecture was so meaningful, but also made me realize that I truly know so little. What to me had been a childhood story about a tree and a snake took on a whole rich life, full of questions of morality and nakedness and personal responsibility and the purpose of life. I had so many questions, but I was nervous sending them to my learning partner. I felt like a neophyte, a child. I was worried my questions would be too rudimentary, that I lacked the tools to create a meaningful analysis of what I had heard and read. I was worried about wasting his time.

Instead of throwing up his hands in despair at my ignorance, he was gentle and encouraging. He answered my questions thoughtfully, and he directed me to different sources where I could do more research on my own. I now look forward to sharing my thoughts and questions with him, and I gain so much from his responses. I had enjoyed reading Torah on my own, but it is so much richer having someone with whom to share ideas.

I feel like something has shifted in me. What started as an intellectual pursuit has become deeper, more meaningful. The Torah has gotten inside me. I find myself thinking about what I’m reading and learning all the time: the moral and philosophical implications of the stories, the lessons that can be learned and applied to my own life, how I can expand my thinking.

This morning on the subway, rather than focusing on whatever social awkwardness I may have experienced yesterday or what I need to do at work today or the million other trivialities that take up my mental energy, I was thinking about Rebecca encouraging Jacob to steal his brother’s birthright, and feeling pain for Moses that after all of his commitment and fidelity to God, one act of hubris stopped him from being able to enter the promised land.

I know that I have started a lifelong learning process, one that feels like a blessing. Where will it lead? Will this be the key that opens my heart to God? I have no idea, but whatever happens, I know it will be a beautiful journey.

Really? Is anyone surprised that Tiger got caught? Well, I guess he is.

But the headlines are ridiculous with the best being the ones that wonder how Tiger could cheat on his hot wife? Ummm, because he’s a man and that’s what men do? That is not misandry, but truth. Black, white or “Cablasian” (as Tiger labeled himself when he hit the big time), women know it, men know it.

What’s infinitely more offensive is his mad scramble to save his endorsements and his complete lack of social consciousness in selecting for whom he shills. David Zirin over at The Nation gives some well-needed perspective on athletes and social accountability.

Does BUNA care if a Cablasian man cheats on his white wife with another white woman? Not one Fig Newton, no, we don’t. Do we care if Tiger makes corporate slavemasters like Chevron look good? Yeah, we care, especially if kids are being encouraged to emulate him and want to be like Tiger.

Dear ________,

Sorry again.

For the record, my behavior is not a reflection of how I feel about you. At all.

Love,

Kelsey

I have been laughing for the last 25 minutes.
I made a beer run to the local Albertsons, and Mr. Walkway might remember a special dude that works there. He is there all the time, mostly bringing in carts from the parking lot. He’s a big guy, maybe 6′5″ or so, and always super cheerful. He loves his job.
So, as I am on my way into the store, a girl who has just gotten done with her shift is on the way out, and as she passes him, she shivers and says “BRRR…..IT’S COLD!”
She got about 20 feet from him and he yells in this crazy excited shriek “YOU SHOULD HAVE WORN A JACKET”
I still have not recovered.

See, the thing about that bitch is… Her fucking sheep came back.

Bo can fuck the fuck off.

Wag that, bitch.

Catch Jennifer Chung’s recent performance at the famous Roxy as she sings an original song (‘The Way You Do’) accompanied by none other then the band Seriously. The audio quality isn’t the greatest in this clip but its great to hear her in a live setting and away from a webcam for once. That girl’s got some pipes. I hope to hear both her and seriously live in the near future too.

Lyrics after the jump.

The Way You Do”
COPYRIGHT 2008
Music by: Jennifer Chung & Johnny Yang
Lyrics by: Jennifer Chung

How do you do it?
How do you make me feel so secure?
How do you do it?
How do you make me feel so loved?

It took us sometime to find each other.
But I’m glad that it’s you and no other.
Everyone should know, ain’t under cover lovin’.
You’re my dream come true, that’s just how you do.

How do you do it?
How do you make me feel like you’ll never let go ’cause I’m one of a kind?
How do you do it?
How do you make me feel like I’m meant to be yours and you’re meant to be mine?

Both of us have had our share of heartbreak,
but that’s the past and what matters is what we make.
Won’t forget what you’re worth, always appreciating,
I know you will too,
That’s just how you do

Do, do, do you see me?
Do, do, do you see me?
Do you see you and me?
Do you?

To keep it going,
We gotta work hard and try.
Never give up but they say,
“Do what you love and never work another day in your life.”

So let’s love like never before,
A love never loved, ever loved, ever before,
That’s for sure it’ll soar.
We will reach impossible heights.

How do you do it?
How do you do it?
How do you do the things you do how do you, how do you?

How do you do it?
How do you do it?
How do you make me feel this feeling that I feel..

Seriously is gearing up to start releasing a single a month for 9 months up until August 201. First up is their song ‘Immaculate Addiction’, set to be released on December 15th. They are an awesome rock band with a fresh eclectic sound so make sure to mark your calendars and support these guys!

Our new single IMMACULATE ADDICITON will be dropping December 15, 2009.  Check it out on iTunes, Rhapsody, eMusic, Amazon etc….Buy a copy and support out efforts to come to a town near you! 

Peace

Chris, Nathan, Josh, & Philip

Seriously

If you want to hear a preview of the track check out the clip of them performing live courtesy of HypnoticAsia.

So you’re walking down the street, minding your own biz, bopping to your ipod, jamming down in your head and then a crazed looney aka-man accosts you looking all kinds of deranged, or maybe not even deranged but the fact remains he accosted you. He immediately starts talking and expects an answer to his inaudible but most of the time unintelligible question. I do the polite thing and say nothing, continue bopping on down the road. He continues to talk, now getting progressively louder. You are now way ahead of him. He is now shouting. You are now a block away. He is now spewing profanity. Does this bother you? Yea I didn’t think so. Me either, this Lady Gaga track is fi-yah!

But please sir for future reference, my silence is your cue to shut the hell up! You have now embarrassed yourself by talking to no one. Seek help.

I thought it was about love…yea the love of money…

Who: EVERYONE’s invited – bring friends and family (they can shop online too)

What: Boutique Open House including Pampered Chef, Private Quarters, Cookie Lee Jewelry and a scrapbooking vendor. Lots of specials and deals to help you get ready for the holiday!

When: Saturday, December 5, 2009
10am until 2pm

Where: 4901 E Hearn Road
Scottsdale, AZ  85254

Why: To offer great deals to you and your friends and help you get some of that holiday shopping out of the way in a quick, easy, relaxing atmosphere. And we’ll have lots of refreshments available. Want to book a party? – Let the ladies know – the hostess specials are always fantastic!!

Come out and have some fun before the holiday shopping gets the best of you!

RSVP: email Jenifer@KellyDepp.com to let her know how many are coming so she has enough food for everyone.

Hope to see you there!

In a 38-24 defeat for the gay rights movement, New York State makes gay marriage illegal.  There is speculation somes votes were predicated on chances of re-election. What is the stigma surrounding a”yay” on “civil unions’ or gay marriages? Marriage is a civil right, so are we repeating history by denying these rights? Hmmmm…

This photograph, by far, disturbs me more than any of the others we took last Sunday.  Study it for a moment.  What do you see?

The most obvious thing?  It’s inflatable, and the biggest ‘residential’ one I’ve ever seen.  I’m surprised the Frisco Sign Nazi hasn’t found a ‘clause’ to ban these yet.  Hmmm, that does give me some good marketing ideas.  This inflatable, when crashing to its daily morning death, could possibly cover the house.  I guess it could be used during the summer as an exterminator tent.  I’m all about the mutli-purpose purchases.

My first thought when I saw this?  I wonder if the reindeer butts are sticking out the back.  Yes, E drove around behind it so I could look.  No butts.  Where’s the artistic detail here?

Now for the disturbing part.  There are eight reindeer, not counting Rudolph because he has a condo in Florida and he only helps when the weather is bad.  Where do Dasher and Donner live?  I checked the back, and there were no more stable doors.  I also looked around in the neighboring yards, just to be sure they didn’t have a separate stable.  Nope, they’re just simply not there.  I guess the recession has hit the North Pole, just like everywhere else.

So what do out of work reindeer do?  Play reindeer games?  There’s no money in that.  Update their reindeer resume?  The only experience they have is working for Santa flying a sleigh once a year.  Both are probably thinking they should have gone to college and gotten their degrees.  But they both know that with the economy the way it is, even that is no guarantee of a good job, or any job for that matter.

With two less reindeer, Santa will be carrying a lighter load this year.  I hope Santa has a tinselectomy and bypasses all the kids that have no needs and delivers some basic necessities to those in need.  Some of the elves should become farmers and make food, while others become carpenters and make prefab houses.  If they restructured Santa Enterprises, Dasher and Donner could have their jobs back and needy families all over the world could have food and shelter.

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good… morning.

I am so sorry for blogging about being tired, because to be honest I’m tired of just thinking about how tired I am, so today I’m going to talk about nothing that just adds up to something (if that makes sense).

So, today the oddest and most annoying thing happened in physics today. Today’s lesson was about simple machines (and anyone, who knows Mr. Elliot knows that some of the things he says makes you think like if he should really be saying that), anyways there is always this one person in my class, who always has to take what Mr. Elliot says seriously (I’m not going to say who that person is because it doesn’t matter). Close to the end of class, the lesson started to go towards ramps, and being that person that he is, Mr. Elliot started talking about how the Egyptians built that pyramids (which is really interesting, but that’s not the point). After he explained how the pyramids were built, he got into this whole rant about how good it must be to be egyptian because they had so many slaves and never needed to really do any hard work because they had at least 100 people to do it for them. Being that it is Mr. Elliot, no one took him seriously, but that one person who always gets offended by what Mr. Elliot says. But this time, this person got so mad, that she stormed out of class (when the bell rang) and everyone else in class had that “are you serious” look on their face.

Sometimes, I wonder if it is really worth it to be offended by what someone says, you know what the truth is and getting offended is just giving that person more attention. To make matters worse, if that person is intentionally trying to offend anybody, don’t make a big deal about,  just pull them to the side say they offended you and just move on. Don’t storm out of the classroom angry at that person, when they don’t even know what they did wrong.

Song of the post: Gold Digger by Kanye West

Ravenswood Community Services, which operates out of my church, All Saints Episcopal, was recently featured in two articles which appeared in New York TImes via the Chicago News Cooperative:

- “Outside a World of Wealth Stands the Reality of Hunger”
- “Vandalism at Food Pantry Shows Best and Worst of People “

You know, it’s really tempting to make broad generalizations. It’s really tempting to talk about RCS as though it’s a group of Robin Hoods, robbing the sidewalk space of a wealthy neighborhood to *gasp!* feed “the poor.” You know, “the poor” who need our help, our charity? Yeah, this is totally a story you’d like to read. It’s a feel-good story; you can feel righteous anger toward the family with the carriage house across the street, while you sympathize with the line of hungry men and women and children who wait patiently for generously proffered bounty.

That story is also bullshit.

Our neighbors are neither rich jackasses nor voiceless Jacob Riis photographees, okay? Everyone in our neighborhood IS A NEIGHBOR, IS A PERSON, whether they come in for dinner or just live down the block. Even if they did, actually, complain to the alderman about the people waiting outside of the church on Tuesday nights. I don’t care. If those people showed up, I would still welcome them in. We are not in the business of “rescuing” people or fighting the good fight against the indolent bourgeoisie around us. We… feed people. Who are hungry. Who need food. Physical bread, spiritual bread, it’s all good. On Tuesday nights, we have food.

On Tuesday nights, we also have coffee. I work with Betty, who volunteers social work services every other week; on those nights, I head up beverages with a rotating cast of assistants. I have the privilege of keeping my schedule free on Tuesday nights. As a graduate student, I may actually make less money than some of our neighbors. (Actually, I’m pretty sure that’s the case.) But I have social capital that they don’t. I have a safety net, hard-won as it is. So I make the coffee. One of our neighbors sets up the cold water, the hot tea. And our other neighbors help me carry the coffee out, help me wipe the table, bring me the empty carafes and sugar bowls: we work together.

Here’s one of my favorite blessings, which we used at my campus ministry from time to time:

The Wisdom of God,
the Love of God,
and the Grace of God
strengthen us
to be Christ’s hands and heart in this world,
in the name of the Holy Trinity.

Sometimes, I really feel like every sermon I ever give, and every essay I ever write boils down to the same thesis: “shut the fuck up and actually do some shit, you guys.”

Or, as St. Francis said more eloquently: “Preach the Gospel at all times and when necessary use words.”

I’m glad to see that, in his follow-up article, Mr. Warren seems to have considered the power of his words, even if he isn’t checking his class privilege quite so much. Although the vandalism is very unfortunate, it did not do any permanent damage, and no one is holding any grudges. It’s sad that a window had to get broken and a church had to get flooded for someone to point this lack of grudge-holding out.

You haven’t seen posts from my mom lately because she has been travelling around the world! She has wanted to do something like this all of her so she finally had the chance to go with a few girflriends and do a little globe trotting.  Don’t worry about my dad, he was “busy” on the boat in the sun with Pito (the dog).

I considered editing her comments in the e-mail she sent me but it’s her opinion and that’s the end of it.  It’s her opinion, she’s my mom, and she’s right. If you have a problem with it then I’ll put it in my suggestion box a.k.a. the delete comment box.

“Here are some pics. of my trip to the Mediterranean.  I had fun and it was a great experience.  Learned a lot, and I don’t want to see any more ruins for a while.  Don’t even invite me to Egypt.  Sorry, but the pyramids are beautiful, but no thanks.  Cairo and Alexandria are super dirty and ugly.  The pyramids are beautiful, but the surrounding area is horrible and dirty.  Camels are dirty and smelly.  People are super dirty and pushy.  Can you tell that I don’t like Egypt?  Yes, I do not like Egypt at all.  Being in Cairo is like living in the dumpster.  I don’t care what some people say that people are poor.  You can be poor, but if you don’t have pride that’s another thing.  When you have the tendency of saving junk and don’t get rid of crap, then you have a dirty problem.  I don’t know what type of government they have, but I don’t think president or the prime minister, whichever way you call them, care about their country.  I though certain places in here (Puerto Rico) are dirty, but after seeing Egypt nothing compares.  My advice is DON’T GO.

Greece was beautiful, Turkey and Italy are beautiful also.  Italy and Turkey are very crowded, but when you go out of the city, they are both nice.  Greece is awesome.  Mykonos is a beautiful island.  We had seafood in there and it was awesome.  Look at the picture.

We went to Pompeii, and also saw Mt. Vesuvius and it is amazing.  The Vatican its incredible.  Finally, I got to see the real David. Oh, David, the perfect man.  He is so gorgeous and beautiful.  I spent about an hour looking and studying him from every angle and Michelangelo created the perfect man.  We went to a huge mosk and it was amazing.  The ruins are something that are unbelievable.

I went inside a pyramid in Egypt and it was awesome.

The cruise is not for young people, they are for old people.  If you think you are going to have a great night in there, don’t even think about it.  I figured old fogies party with food and then go to bed.  The ship was beautiful and there was plenty of food.  The crew and the cabins were excellent.  The crew works their asses off.  They are in the ship for 10 months and they work 7 days for long hours.  They only get about 8 hours off once in a while.  Horrible life if you ask me.  They do a super job and I respect all of them a lot.

Over all, I had a good time and it was worth it.  Take Egypt out and it would’ve have been better, but it was a good experience to see what I saw in order to enjoy what I have.

I will send you more pics later.  Between my friend and I we took around 1400 pictures.

In Sorrento (see picture) we got to drink Limoncillo and saw a demonstration of how they make water buffalo mozzarella. It is delicious also.

Enjoy.

Eric, I hope you are feeling better.

Thanks Mom!

Restaurants used to be customer focused; however, it seems more and more that they are becoming self-focused. The two restaurants I have visited in the past few days have changed. Maybe it’s not the restaurants…maybe it’s just the waitstaff. Whatever it is, I don’t like it.

The restaurant on Sunday morning is known for it’s delicious food. There is always a wait and there’s a reason. However, one member of our party ordered his food a little different. When it came to the table…the attitude was have it our way or forget it. Even after sending it back to have them get it right…it came back the exact same way it was delivered the first time. And the waitress really didn’t care. All she wanted was for everyone at the table to say everything was great. She was shocked when the man very eloquently told her off.

Last night, we visited a restaurant that I used to love. I could complete mix it up and order what I wanted how I wanted it. I don’t know if it’s the waitress or the restaurant changing it’s policy; however, I will not return to that restaurant again. To tell me that I can’t have my dinner the way I want it is completely ridiculous. I am the customer, aren’t I? And my boyfriend ordered his meal with all vegetables, no rice. Well, she didn’t bring out any potatoes – which are fantastic at this restaurant. When he asked where his potatoes were, she informed him that he had asked for all vegetables. I’m sorry, but doesn’t the majority of America include potatoes in the vegetable category? We all know it’s a starch…but it’s still listed under vegetables for the vast majority of us.

I used to wonder why so many restaurants are having a hard time making it these days. However, if my last two experiences are any indication then I have to say that I am no longer in the dark. It’s plain and simple: give the customer what they want and and you will stay in business.

When I was first diagnosed with diabetes I had about a two month period where it was all I could do to pull myself together and go to school. At that time, school was a two-mile bus ride away. It doesn’t seem like much, but it was near excruciating to get out of bed, take a shower and get dressed, then head to the bus stop and get going. My medication made me lathargic and sad.

I put up a message on the door leading to my Oakland bathroom saying “Take your pill, it wil make you feel better.” I drew little Metformin pills all around it. It really didn’t make me feel better at the time.

It made me feel much worse. My self-esteem dropped to an all time low. All I could do was dress myself and sit in on my classes, kind of exisiting oddly during the second semester of graduate school at UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism.

Flash forward a year and my medication had worked itself out. I was fine. I wasn’t tired and I felt 100 percent better.

That was until August of this year. I collapsed at home, requiring my frantic husband to take me to the hospital where I was pumped full of Morphine and sent home. They couldn’t figure out what the pain was in my stomach, or why it kept happening.

I was told to follow-up with a gastrointestinal doctor. I did. I had an endoscopy. I’ve had several medications.

And now I’m on antibiotics for an infection or problem I may or may not have.

The antibiotics are making me feel horrible, giving me extreme nausea and dizzyness. I woke up this morning and somehow knew that no matter how hard I tried to pull myself together, I wouldn’t make it to work.

I’ve called in sick already several times in the past couple months, a rarity for me. In more than six years of journalism this is the most I’ve called in sick for any job. I usually go to work when I have a cold and struggle through if I need to get something done. I do sick on the weekends, not weekdays.

I’m hoping to wake up tomorrow and feel better. I’m hoping the fever and the pain will be gone, as well as the nausea and vomiting associated with all of it. I’m hoping I can get up, get dressed, get out the door and drive the 20+ miles to my job. Because that’s where I need to be, not at home, sleeping for five hours at a time and waking up to my dog – who is obviously concerned for my well-being – leaving me stuffed bears and other toys to make me feel better.

My doctors don’t know where the pain is coming from. They don’t know how to get rid of it. It’s kind of a shot in the dark to give me antibiotics.

Throughout all this, I haven’t even been able to tell myself that a pill would make me feel better. Nothing, so far, has. And, for the first time in a long time, I can’t make myself feel better either.

so anybody that knows me, or meets me for anly length of time knows that I forget to keep in touch. its one of my fatal flaws, of which there are many. its a bit of a miracle i’m not dead.

Anyways, more about Cairo. I have decided that learning Arabic is exactly like having somebody hold your head under water until you black out, or at the very least your lungs start to burn and you start to get the fuzziness so often associated with near asphyxiation. but because i’m a masocist, i love it. i sort of think that Arabic was created to make peple want to ram their heads directly into the nearest wall. even the native speakers don’t know all the rules, awesome for me. i barely speak english, which is my native tongue.

anyways enough about arabic and the insuing pain. I have decided despite the gross contradictions and the total lack of personal space and the immense traffic and horrible dust and garbage, i like cairo. there is a lot to dislike but theres even more to like. first, the people are hilarious, until you pass a group of boys that won’t under any circumstances leave because they find you intensely interesting. that is annoying but i have very quickly learned the words to go along with get the fuck away from me…plus i sort of have a built in bodyguard in the form of my flatmate. hes your typical fitness fanatic outdoor hunter from georgia. we get along and i have also informed him that for my entertainment he will mercilessly be mocked and when people are aroudn and laughing they are not laughing with him, they are laughing at him. its awesome!! once again, this proves my ticket to hell is waiting for me at window one. Also, there is no such thing as a line in Cairo!! everyone just walks to the front and shouts what the want, its a douchebags dream scenario…but i digress…Alexandria was awesome as well. i liked it but there were so many people ther because wee went during the feast and that was a bit of a dumb move but who cares, i got to see the library of alexandria!! when it was closed!! americans rule, everyone else can suck it, just kidding.

also, if i decide to enter into the institution of marriage i have several egyptian me willing to be my hsuband. this is something i will never get used to. the amount of attention that is paid is unnerving not to mention if you fall for it you deserve to be sindeld or something worse to happen to you. the old adage dont trust anyone is absolutely true here. nobody is telling you the truth and if you fall for it then you got what you deserved. my favorite line is, “dont trust anybody, trust me, everybody is lying to you, i am being honest with you.” Uhhhh are you shitting me. that sentence doesn’t even make sense when anybody with an IQ above 80 dwells on it for even a second. my other favorite line is “i love americans, obama gooooood” my only option is to say obama…so yup for self preservations sake i have repeated obama’s name more time than my own during my short stay here.

holy crap before i forget, they have printed everywhere the mein kampf in arabic!!! just let that statement seep in a bit and the roll it around your brain a little more, yup the mein kampf in arabic. I have pictures to be posted very soon.

i dont’ think they really knew what hitler was about but i guess if they want to roll with it sure…except some tought hitler was from britain, in case you didnt already gather, education not so great unless you pay high fees for private school. also, not something many egyptians can afford.

theres more to talk about but i can’t remember it right now and i also have to go to class so, more later, hopefully i will actually keep up with them this time.

“The right to be heard does not automatically include the right to be taken seriously. [FART NOISE]” Hubert H. Humphrey

Nicki,

Thanks for replying. I didn’t really have to tell the guy that he needs to put me in his schedule, as literally minutes after I clicked on “publish” he called and asked me out. But I will keep your advice as I am sure this will come up again. We went to the movies and then to a wonderful candle-light romantic dinner by the sea. I thought that every time I go out with him I like him even more.

Only…. when I asked him why does he think that men are not loyal he turned serious and replied: “Men are not loyal because otherwise the human race would have been driven to extinction”. As I looked at him in bewilderment, he continued: “It’s just a fact that the female population is outnumbering the male one, plus that men die earlier and so that leaves too many women for too few men.” Wow. Seriously???

Well, I guess noone is perfect.

As for your case, that new guy seems awfully cute. Although I have told you how I feel about dating under-educated men, I always think that I should give it another try. Every case is different and we should have faith in people after all. Give him a chance, but proceed with caution Although you might end up frustrated or wanting to change him and the way he thinks. If, after a couple of dates, you’re really convinced that things will not work out between you two, I ‘d say just come out and tell him that you just want to be friends – there’s nothing wrong with that!

love  you!

Courtney

Yes, it was a bit cool yesterday, but it was a beautiful day and it was fantastic to be out on the bike. There is nothing that clears my head better than being on the bike. I stop over-analyzing everything and start just being.

When we’re on the bike, everything that has been on my mind, bothering me or getting on my nerves just seems to disappear. It’s me, my boyfriend and the bike. That’s all that matters and that’s all I care about in those moments.

Riding is always better when you’re with friends. We had a great breakfast at Butterfield’s in Scottsdale; however, if you don’t want your food the way they decide to prepare it…you’re SOL. I have to say that I’ve never heard someone put a waitress in their place in a more simple, honest manner than I did yesterday. Bed service, good food.

After the restaurant experience, we headed down through the Central Corridor to South Mountain, rode to the summit then hit the 51 and beat the rain back home. Curling up by a fire with hot cocoa, we ended the day watching a movie.

It just doesn’t get better than that. Hope you all had a great holiday.