random shite

FINALLY, someone who feels the same way I do about the abortion issue.

My pro choice argument: All the people who grow up in screwed up homes where they never know love, then get pregnant and keep the baby because they've never known love like that and need it so badly. But they don't know how to give it, so the kid grows up with screwed up ideas about love and ends up with unplanned pregnancies of their own, and creates a broken household of their own -- a vicious cycle.

I also believe in the seperation of church and state, and since the idea that a lump of cells has a soul is a religious belief, corresponding laws should not be imposed on those who do not share that belief.

My pro life argument: Sheer respect for life. The people I've known in my life who were almost aborted themselves, some of whom I would not be the same without. To know a person like that, is to know a survivor. To meet anyone who fought their way into life and/or has fought their way through it is a powerful, powerful thing. Also powerful, is the idea that in the Western world we take life so for granted -- people kill others or even themselves -- while in other parts of the world there are people fighting with everything they've got to keep theirs. The sheer will of life, sometimes, is amazing. These are the people who are most alive, and know best what it means to be alive. These are the people who have taught me the most about what life is about, and have made the biggest difference in mine.

I don't know. I am one of those people who is pro choice in my political stance, but could never do it myself because of uncertainty about where I stand in my religious beliefs. I'm not sure if it is right or wrong, but I could never do it. But I do know one thing, and people like MLK and Nelson Mandela knew this, too: True change occurs in people's hearts, and that is where the work needs to be done.

On another issue, one where the solution is MUCH clearer --

Half a million Americans have now signed the ONE declaration. We're halfway there. So, if you haven't already:




And in my life...

Not much going on, really. Chicago was crazy busy, and fun, and a little drama, and very interesting...And now I'm back to life. For the next month of my life, I'll be working my ass off saving up for Ireland.

Ireland is just one month away.

Also, tomorrow evening I start guard training at the East Race -- that is, swiftwater rescue training. I promised Greg I'd do my best to help out before I leave for Europe...My mom questioned it, and she's right...I should be focusing on just saving up. But I feel like I owe him because he taught me to roll last year, FOR FREE, and also for all the times he chased me down in the speedboat and hauled my helpless little arse back to shore...

That and I just think I need it, for my sanity. I don't get much socialization, or physical activity, because my job is a desk job. I want to get a weekend job waitressing or something...maybe at the new Max & Erma's...just so I can have something different to do.

I've also been going to church, trying to fill that God-shaped (and maybe boyfriend-shaped too? lol) hole in my heart. A progressive one near my house called Granger Community Church, and occassionally on my lunch break from work I'll go to a half hour service at the Bascillica at Notre Dame...The services there don't do much for me spiritually, but they do have communion. And good wine, I might add.

I still don't really subscribe to organized religion. It's a personal journey for me, and I don't feel comfortable sharing it with people I don't know very well. The only person I've ever really felt comfortable talking to about it is Ryan, but for the most part he seems to be pretty disinterested in relating, even though he is a believer. So, for me I go to GCC mostly just to know I'm not alone. To know that there are people there if I need them, and to learn from them. But when I go to the services, I pretty much just fuck off and sit in the back and not really talk to anyone. That's the way I need it to be, at least for now. It's just a really personal thing, and very intense, and I feel very emotionally vulnerable when I'm there.

Also, curiously, I checked my grades online today and saw that I recieved a C+ in Art History (I honestly expected to fail), and recieved credit for the two classes that I failed (I was supposed to withdraw, but never got around to it lol). So...I dunno if that is a mess-up with the computer or what, but I'm not gonna argue with it. My grades are hilarious -- It's all A's and F's and very little of anything in between. lol. This semester went thusly:

Bellydancing: A
General Psych: A
Ancient-Midieval Art: C+
French II: F
Lit. of 1700's: F


And lastly, during my trip to Chicago last week, I resolved to move there by early 2006. joe_soup and I are talking about getting an apartment together. Woot.