XO: Hugs and Kisses to a Lovely Friday Out

Jon and I went to XO Asian Cuisine yesterday after hearing it mentioned all around. I was very pleased with the ambiance and, more so, with the green curry, which Audria suggested in Journalism. Nice and spicy, sweet and coconuty, and I enjoyed mushrooms for the first time (shitake!).

We hopped into Little Bohemia after dinner to visit Clark, their cash register cat. As usual, I only allowed myself to eyeball the fun shoes and hats and other artsy things...easier on the budget.

Overall, it was a charming evening on Monroe Center.

Dangling Modifiers

We saw two rattlesnakes driving through the desert.

(The adaptive vehicle allowed them to steer with their tails.)

Election Logic

If McCain / Palin wins = Kyla moves to Canada,
then does Obama / Biden wins = Rush Limbaugh moves to Canada?

No...the equation does not seem so tightly parallel. Sister Kathi suggests a modification:
Obama / Biden wins = Rush Limbaugh moves to Iran.

She's getting him a one-way ticket for Christmas, before he can make any comments that might get her golden boy pres elect assassinated.

Besides, she says, he'll be more comfortable there.

Dwain Reynolds the Third

A kid from my hometown is running for State Board of Ed. Qualifications? Day care teacher, and a degree in progress at Western.

But I voted for him. For old times sake. For the times he jacked off in Intro Spanish and theater rehearsal. For the day he pronouced the word epitome "ep-i-tohm."

Because he's running with the Green Party and probably won't make it anyway. Because I wasn't brave enough to write in a candidate for the Big Shot spot. Because I voted even though I have no faith in the governmental system.

What the hell. Go Dwain.

Advertising Ethics

"Attend one of the most open-hearted, open-minded colleges in America."

This is the slogan that greeted me on the Aquinas website when I logged out of my school e-mail account today...

...plastered, no less, next to Jeeps' sunbathed face, a guy who still couldn't get my name right after we both worked as RAs for a year. And I'm pretty sure this whitebread kid is not the shining example of open-mindedness.

I know, I know--tell that to the webpage designer or the marketing specialist. Who cares about Jeeps' personal diversity ethic.

But what about Aquinas?

Maybe if the tagline read, "one of the most open-minded private colleges in West Michigan"...

But in America?

Sure, one could amass a list of institutions that are far more snobbish, bigoted, and single-minded. Just look up any Ivy League school, or take a drive down the East Beltline, for that matter.

And I did originally come to Aquinas because it seemed so much more welcoming than some of these.

But in light of recent events, a new policy, and a diversity statement with glaring silences, I'm not so sure. This statement, with which I once might have mildly agreed, now seems to whitewash the truth, to carry a hidden seed of hypocrisy I find unsettling.

Philanthropy

Today I sat in a room with a twelve year old and made silly faces at her for an hour.

Yes, my volunteer hours will change the world.

Fatalistic

Talking to people in the army about our country's wars always makes me wonder whether we really live in a democracy or are just very well brainwashed.

My friend tells me his unit is packing up and pulling out of Iraq in the next two months. He also is certain his next deployment, within the next few years, will be to Afghanistan.

If the military is already planning the course of these never ending wars, how meaningful is all this debate about it? How much of a mystery is it, really?

I have a feeling that people in politics, when they are debating something like diplomatic strategy, already know how it's going to go down. They may make it seem like they're not sure what will happen--they say they'll do this or that if such and such does end up happening--and then, when that day comes: oops, Iran DID move its left pinky finger; guess we'll have to bomb everyone to hell. Surprise! But that was the plan all along.

So what's the use? We The People don't really have any say, unless you count Big Business as a people. Maybe the only reason Bush was such a bad president is that his disguise slipped and we realized what government has been all along.

Voting pacifies the masses.

And will I vote?

Yes. God bless Democracy.