Saturday, March 21, 2009

On my mind as always: politics.

So I was going to try to fit this somehow into my facebook page, but too many things to say in the new 'whats on your mind' box.

ANYWAYS, I just have to say a few things about Obama and those who are constantly criticizing him in the media. I was watching hardball and Pat Buchanan was on there. Immediately I thought, hmm I'm sure I wont agree with anything he has to say, and it proved true. He was basically criticizing Obama for being 'too familiar' with the American people (ie- going on Jay Leno, town hall meetings, jacket off in the oval office (wtf!), etc.). To this I must say What the F*** is wrong with being familiar to the American people??? Isn't that what they are supposed to be- accountable to the people who voted the person into office?! Would it be better if the president hid in the White House and never came out and made decisions based on 'groupthink' or illegal monitoring of media/ opposition groups as past presidents have done? (and subsequently almost gotten impeached for I may add). I personally applaud Pres. Obama's going on the Jay Leno show- I think it was great. I personally become a bigger Obama supporter by the day. Though I may not agree completely with the tackling of the economic crisis- Obama is spot on with foreign policy and domestic (sans economic) issues- for example: attempting to make amends with Iran, normalizing relations w Cuba etc.

Bring on the critics, Obama has already begun to prove his actions speak louder than your words.

Friday, March 13, 2009

lilly-pool


Following Jenn's recommendation, I've posted my sixth picture down in my files. It's one of me in Liverpool (UK) in 2005, standing next to the Mersey River.
I was supposed to go up to Liverpool again last semester for a random weekend, but didn't end up going. Instead, Will and I had one of our first dates;)
Guess that's it for today because I am very very exhausted- 4 hrs of class and 8 hrs of work will do that to a person sometimes!

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Attempting to be a more active blogger...

In my attempts to be a more active blogger, I will try to comment and divulge interesting things I did or learned on a particular day.

Here goes for Tuesday, March 10....

1. I had a great class (global inequality) w/ Andrew Wright- a very smart man, who lovvvveesss political economy and makes economics actually seem interesting. Thoughts I left the class with today: "gee I hope I can get a job after graduate, so im not in a soup line someday like the people in the great depression video" and "is it ever possible that the economy will work?"

2. I had a work meeting, which was nice because i got to try the new foods on the menu- which are delicious!! yummy!

3. I rode the bus to and from the work meeting (1 pound each way, thus saving 1.20 which I woould've spent had I taken the tube.) I really like taking the bus actually. It's fun to look out the windows at all the people. And when I get off work at night, its fun to see all the drunk kids fall all over the place on the bus. haha

4. I should be reading for class right now, but I am distracted by my WORKING internet. And londonlite:) hehe

5. My Grandma sent me a birthday card (which I just picked up today oops). It was sweet. She recollected moments from my childhood, when she used to babysit me in the summer. Those were the days of macaroni and cheese, koolaid, jello and nickalodeon. The late eighties/ early nineties- ahhh, my childhood:)

All for 10-3-09!!!! or as we would write at home, 3-10-09!

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

The most rubbish blogger in the whole world= Dana

SOOOOO... been a while, I am aware. What can I say, I am rubs at blogging. But I will try harder. I swear.

New developments for the '09:

1. still w/ william;) he is wonderful:)

2. have a new job- as a waitress at the Chicago Rib Shack in Knightsbridge. It's pretty cool, I work Mon, Wed, and Fri usually. Usually tips vary from 0% to 10% which is not exactly cool, but it is London (they usually don't tip more than 10% unfort).... oh well.

3. classes are good. first class of the year was foreign policy and diplomacy- which was great! def up my alley- i love studying FP. currently working on paper for that class. it's about how the US govt. propaganda machine tricked the US public into supporting the invasion of Iraq. I swear it's not as 'Michael Moore'-ish as it sounds, mine is more theoretical.

4. still very poor. still eating tesco brand products. still scavenging whenever possible (usually at work now:)

5. jenn is coming to visit me in a week and a half!!! yay!!! cannot wait!!!!

6. got a new phone and plan so i can call home more cheaply- it's nice being able to converse w the fam on a regular basis

7. the fam is coming to visit in june!! (my graduation ceremony is june 26 and they will be here for that:)

8. my 26th b-day is Sat, and a week from then, Lora and I are having a joint b-day party:)!!

I guess that's about it for updates right now. I'll try to post more regularly in the future...... :)

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

How London changes a person....

This post is dedicated to my mom, because her piece of advice for me before I moved here was "don't change." So I figured I would make a list of all the ways living in London can change a person.....in no specific order:

1. you walk much faster- in order to get past slow people and because it's freezing out all the time.

2. the tube is not quite as thrilling as when you were on it as a tourist.

3. you expect that you won't find things you need when you go to the store. (there are no wal-marts here, my friends.)

4. as a student in the arguably most expensive city in the world, you learn to make many many concessions in what you wear, eat, places you go, etc. Examples would be: my disgusting selection of food I buy at Tesco and eat because they are cheap (and oh-so horrible tasting); my wardrobe that has accumulated from things I've found on the sidewalk; pulling out my student card at any given occasion in order not to pay as much for something; reusing the same water bottle for months on end; etc.

5. its very possible to become a bit more cynical. (but as of right now, life is good pour moi, so i wont complain. except about money. and the weather.)

6. living in central makes everything outside of zone 1 seem like a foreign country. especially woolwich arsenal!!!

7. you get used to instant coffee.

8. you treasure gossip magazines more than you ever thought possible.

9. you start using british slang words in your daily dialogue. Example- "Does she fancy him? Because I know he wanted to pull her cus he thinks she's fit"- this is possibly a sentence thats come out of my mouth at some point in time.

10. NOTHING surprises you anymore.

I think that's a good start for a list. Perhaps I'll add more at a later date!

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

The day the world smiled!!!!!

OBAMA has won!!! He will be our next American president. And since my facebook status box isn't enough room to talk about my feelings regarding this year's election, I will use my blog!!

First of all, I personally am loving that Obama won, because I voted for him in the primaries and general (obviously).

Secondly, I live in London, and may I just say- the world (speaking for at least all of the non-Americans I know who live in London) is very happy! I'm going to make some generalizations here and say that they are FINALLY looking positively towards the US, as opposed to the past eight years, in which our popularity in the world shrunk drastically, and many nations began to consider us evil and imperialistic. They see Obama as a person with a more worldly outlook, someone who is not as stubborn and ignorant as Bush and his administration, and who will work with other nations for global solutions to problems.

Thirdly, I am completely annoyed with all the McCain supporters on facebook who are sore losers and whose statuses basically reflect their anger over Obama winning. I'm sorry, but WE (liberals and some conservative non-Bushers alike) have had to put up with BUSH for eight f***ing years now! Don't you think it's time we deserve a chance to have our representation in Washington?? I respect John McCain and Sarah Palin, and have not said anything deregatory about them as people, but that isn't enough for me to want to vote for them. Here's some great statuses I've read in the past 24 hrs= "Obama is a BAD MAN", "You will not see the change you are hoping for, you will be disapointed", "I hate ohio, I'm moving to Alaska", "I'm disgusted with Ohio" etc etc etc. Okay, I understand you're upset, and given the reverse circumstances (i.e. McCain winning) my status might say something like "I'm staying in England" or "I'm moving to Canada". I'll admit that. But it still annoys me that people would say things like "Obama is a bad man." If McCain had won, I would not put on my status, "McCain is a bad man." Get over yourself and give me a break.

Anyways, there's so much more I could say that would probably insult some people, but I'll leave it at that. Just thought it was better to blog about it that post a mean facebook status (i.e. sink to their level).

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Week off!

SOOOO... I finished my papers last week and handed them in friday (what a relief). I didn't work at all last week because I didn't want to freak myself out by having to work and finish the papers. So this week is our mid-semester break. Which is sweet. Unfort I agreed to work tommorrow, which means I can't really go anywhere travelling... I don't really have the money to right now anyways (hence the reason I'm trying to work. Unfort, the place I'm working doesn't have too much work this week. I handed my CV to a couple places yesterday, so maybe with any luck one of them will call?)

Went out last Wed to my school's halloween party. Since I didnt have any costume, I dressed up as an eighties girl- from my clothes. The only things I got to go with is some crazy eyeshadow. It was cool- the best part was the food (but i guess thats usually the best part in my mind lol)

Fri, my friends and I went to Zoo bar, some club in Leicester Sq. It was ok- we had to finaggle lower cover charges out of the door guy- but somehow Alex did it lol. They were also pretty insane about us not setting our coats down anywhere (mostly because they wanted us to check them- for 3 pounds? not gonna happen) But anyways it was enjoyable.

Sun, I went to Brick Lane w Arthur and Alex. It was sweet! It was rainy that day, but still pretty cool place. We got some good Japanese food, Alex got us kicked out of a restaurant, went through market, watched Brazilian he-she dancers, watched a weird artsy film at Whitechapel gallery, all in all a good time.

So, this week is dedicated to attempts at productivity (since I'm not going anywhere) and finding a halloween costume to go out on Friday. Anyways, thats all folks.