Polka Dots and Political Science

One thing you've done that NOBODY ELSE ON EARTH ever even CONSIDERED the fact that you MIGHT do?

2011-03-31T12:28:00.001-07:00

One thing you've done that NOBODY ELSE ON EARTH ever even CONSIDERED the fact that you MIGHT do?

Answer here

The privilege of a life story

2011-03-29T16:42:00.001-07:00

I had to get my oil changed today, and my goal was to sit at the dealership and work on my weekly reaction paper due for my Tuesday night class. The length was only 2 pages long, but the reading required in order to type these two pages is typically 30 pages or more. I had some time on my hands, so I parked myself in a seat, pulled out one of the articles, and started highlighting.

A lady next to me was waiting with her husband for their car to be finished, and she was knitting. Her yarn was beautiful, and I couldn't help but compliment it. Before I knew it, her husband joined in to our conversation, and proceeded to tell me his life's story. I never caught his name, but his story was intreaguing.

This man, before his retirement, had been a plumber who worked in various nuclear power plants around the country, the two specific ones he mentioned being in Michigan and Alabama. Mixed into his narrative were testimonials about the dangers of nuclear power, views on the ongoing issue in Japan, and yet an optimism about the rising safety measures that will eventually make nuclear power harmless.

This isn't the first time a person I've just met has unleashed their life story on me. Where some might see this as somebody wasting their precious time, I see it as a gift.

Everybody has a story to tell. They might not be novelists, or great writers, or amazing public speakers. They may take 3 hours to tell a 15 minute story, they may go into great detail or no detail at all. But the truth remains that these stories do exist, and it is a privilege to be on the receiving end of these narratives. As the listener, it is our duty to preserve and pass on these stories.

So the next time somebody sits down next to you and begins to talk about their life, take a minute or two and listen. You may realize that embedded within their life story are tiny gems that can be taken away and applied to your own life.

This is the part where I explain my laptop use

2011-03-08T22:00:00.000-08:00

After arriving home from my capstone class tonight, the class received an e-mail from the professor stating that the constant use of laptops by the class, which is set up to be one big discussion once a week on Tuesday nights, is distracting and takes away from the aforementioned discussion. Further use of laptops require an e-mail to him explaining why we feel the need to use our laptops, or we would be required to put them up at the beginning of class.
I disagree with this solution to faltering discussion for a few reasons-

It should be stated that the discussion is set up to be a "jump in whenever" type of discussion, allowing for three people who enjoy hearing their own voices to control it. Due to this style of discussion, other folks are apprehensive about joining the debate, as they feel they will be interrupted or interjected by one of these three people. So maybe a solution to this issue lies not within open laptops, but within the lack of moderation of these discussions that otherwise could facilitate dialogue.
There is no weight behind participation in discussions, nor is there any value in coming to class. Because of the 3-person-dominated conversations, the option of not coming to class is more appealing to many due to not feeling as if their opinions are necessary when the constant three are forever interjecting their own. When class participation is optional in a class centered on discussion, the situation is counterproductive. When class participation is almost impossible without snide interjections, it drives people away.
I feel counterproductive without my laptop, and I'm not sure how to adequately message him without making it sound like I don't have my priorities in order.

I'm ADHD. I have the attention span of a six year old, less if coffee is added to the mix. I thrive on the ability to multitask, and my laptop open during a class caters to this multitasking. I've even taken handwritten notes during a class before with my laptop open to my e-mail just to give me that added comfort level of multiple things to accomplish. Should I hand write my notes without my laptop, cell phone, or my e-reader in front of me, I end up going off on doodling tangents, missing the entire lecture or discussion and wasting precious class time because I don't have something else to do.
Being ADHD, I can be typing a paper on a completely different subject and still manage to contribute intelligently to class discussion. It's the nature of the beast that controls how I think- I have to stay three steps ahead of myself, or I get lost in the confusion of thought and planning, and it's hard to pull myself out.
The hour is late, and I have a full day of class tomorrow.

This is the part where I tell you about last night

2011-02-24T05:04:00.000-08:00

My beloved coffee maker decided to kick the bucket yesterday while B and I were in class, much to my dismay. Upon arriving back to our humble little cave, B soon discovered the line of coffee stretching down the counter top to the microwave, and after a lot of shuffling and moving things, was able to semi isolate the problem.
Half a bottle of Clorox Cleanup later to turn the counter top back to white, we abandoned the endeavor and went on a quest for a new coffee pot, particularly a Keurig. Of course, this is B and I we're talking about here, so this endeavor could not have taken place without a couple of memorable moments.
While in the home department at Macy's, after nearly choking on our own spit at over priced they were, we branched off to explore the options of a bowl with a handle for our Kitchen Aid mixer, seeing as I managed to put a nice half-moon indention into a cake I was working on two weeks ago with our current bowl. We were approached by a red-haired baby boomer female employee, who asked us if we needed any assistance...and then asked if we were looking to start a wedding registry with them. We politely declined and she walked away, but of course B couldn't leave it at that--
"I wonder how long those last. We could do one now, and then not have to worry about it in 3 or so years when we actually do get married."
I could see our wedding shower invitations now- "The bride and groom have been registered at Macy's since 2011."
But of course, it didn't end there, for as elated as we were that we had been mistaken for an engaged couple instead of two high schoolers taking their relationship way to seriously, we were still without a coffee maker. So, we went to Kohls.
There is an old addage that is something along the lines of, "A girl tends to marry a man similar to her father." In my case, I'm dating a man that could quite possibly be my grandfather's clone, and this was reaffirmed last night in the middle of Kohls.
In his defense, B is very money minded. Granted, his spending has increased considerably since we started dating, mostly because I tend to break random appliances (i.e. wireless routers) and he likes to spoil me rotten. But still, he is very money minded, and likes to get the most bang for his buck, which is understandable...in most cases.
We knew we were going for a Keurig, and Kohls was A LOT cheaper than Macy's. It took him 30 minutes to finally decide on the deluxe model I had so graciously picked out the second we got there. In the defense of the girlfriend, the one we ended up getting was $100 cheaper than the same model at Macy's, and apparently I'm good at making my case (either that, or B is just a sucker. I think it's the former. Actually, I'm going to pretend it is the former).
After a trip to Target for K-cups (where B found us some dark chocolate hot chocolate, a mutual favorite), we headed home and set it up, reveling in our new coffee maker bliss, and then went onto Keurig.com and ordered 101 more K-cups, most of which have nothing to do with coffee.
We're fun people, B and I.

This is the part where I start all over again

2011-02-22T11:36:00.000-08:00

If you ask anybody that I went to high school with how I am currently doing, I will probably get bad mouthed for being an angry jealous bitch...or something like that. Their views are valid- I did skip out on a wedding due to my dislike of the groom, and I did type up an angry blog about how I thought she was making the biggest mistake of her life, and she hadn't shot me an e-mail, text, or even a Facebook message the entire year before. I went to a movie with my friend instead, and partied it up at her graduation party with fireworks and bubbles. It was a bitch move on my part, and I assume complete responsibility for it, along with the guilt.
That was back in May.
I tried to apologize, reconnect, be a good person to make up for lost time and nasty things. By the sound of the message she sent me this morning, you would think I shot her dog.
Don't contact me ever again, Jess. You suck, Jess. You are such a hater, Jess.
Ok, so the last two sentences I made up for dramatic effect, but you get the point.
So this is the part where I let go of the past, as it seems to have let go of me. Yeah, it shaped me, created the person that currently hides in the shadows of this blog, but that doesn't mean that I have to hang on any longer. It dropped me like a hot pan when I left my hometown and never looked back for a second, and every time I try to return, it ends up burning me.
Mom lied. People don't change.
Ok, so maybe I have. In high school, I kept my mouth shut. I let people say things to me and wouldn't say anything back, only to scream about it in my pillow later that night. If anything, it kept the peace, and made the 4 years a little more tolerable. But even silence bit me in the butt- people still hated me. Shit, people still do- even more so now because I finally took my mother's advice and got a backbone. The bitter swill of irony biting people in the ass doesn't taste so good now, and it has turned many from my past against me.
Another "Mom was right" moment- I really don't need those people to be happy.
This is part of the reason I left the River City- the past hangs around down there. People may leave but they always come back. Hell, I go home every weekend. And I always run into somebody I knew once upon a time, and they've changed some, but not by much. Most of the people I graduated with are married with babies, or have babies and are getting married, or just have babies, or just are married. Save for a couple- myself included- who aren't on that route quite yet either by choice or because circumstances put them otherwise, the town seems to be stuck with the 1960's frame of mind with no plans of shifting to this century any time soon.
I can't change the events that make up my past, and if I could, I still wouldn't. I somehow got to this point I am right now, and I'm happy- genuinely happy with my life, my friends, and the man I love. This is the part where I send the past packing for the past, and live for right now.