I'm having trouble dealing with the fact that Edward Cullen is a fictional character

Ah, another post prompted by Google Reader goodness.  This time it was from a image posted by Stretch:

*whimper*

 I usually tend to take the Google search screen-shots at face value, but this one I had to check out for myself. Fortunately, I had to add a 'D' to get that entry.  Unfortunately, it is still an auto-complete option that yeilds 3,320 search results. Dear Lord above.  Most of the links, from what I can tell, are facebook, myspace, etc groups.

The facebook one, particularly has almost 25,000 members and almost 5000 photos, mostly either pictures of Robert Pattinson or or bad "art".

I'm sleeping with a shotgun from now on

Hold on for a second while I clear my browser and search history.

Now, shame mine, I have read all of the Twilight books and seen the first movie.  I am not proud of this. I have to wonder, though about this obsession. How starved for attention do you need to be to want this life? How lonely are you if you can become so wrapped up in the idea of this perfect(ly creepy) lover that you completely ignore the world outside of the books and movies?

To any Twilight fans that may have come across this posting expecting fangirl fodder, take a deep breath.  Look at the world around you.  You are beautiful, and there is probably some guy you know (the one who listens to your rants about how hard it is to find a guy like Edward, perhaps) who likes you. A lot. Just a thought.

Anyways, I'm going to go marathon Firefly.  Until next time: stay sane.

Semi-coherent ranting

Ah Facebook, giver of so many dubious joys and supplier of stalking tools galore, how you annoy me. Well, not Facebook per se, but perhaps the people on Facebook. Last year I recieved a message from my aunt about raising breast cancer 'awareness.' Enough has been said about the topic of 'awareness' and how little it translates into anything meaningful, so I will leave that alone. The message was as follows:

Hi Girls.....for the Breast Cancer awareness campaign this year we are doing a FB rally again. We did one last year where we posted the color of the bra we were wearing. It was so successful that it made the news. This time we are asked to put our shoe size, followed by inches (e.g. if you wear a five, you'd write "five inches"). Do not invite your guy friends! It gets everyone talking and gets the issue out there.

Something along these lines gets sent out every year, and so far I have been fairly tolerant of the whole thing, even participating. However this year has finally gone too far. (Warning: I may get my girl club membership revoked for showing this to boys. The horror.)

It has been proposed that us GIRLS, did something special in Facebook to help gain consciousness of Breast Cancer. It's so easy that I'd like you to join us to make it spread!

Last year it was about writing the color of the bra you were wearing in your FB status... and it left men wondering for days why did the girls have colors (apparently random) in our status.

This year it has to do with our love relationships, in other words, for the moment you are going through with your relationships.

What do you drink?
tequila: I'm a single woman
rum: I'm a touch and go woman
champagne: I'm an engaged woman
redbull: I'm a woman in a relationship
beer: I'm a married woman
vodka: I'm the "other one"
sprite: I'm a woman that can't find the right man
whisky: I'm a single woman but with friends that won't stop partying
liquor: I'm a woman that wishes she was single.
gin: I'm a woman that wants to get married
Now all you need to do is write down the answer for your situation in
your FB status (don't reply this email, just put it in your status).
Also, cut and paste this message and send it to all your girl-friends
as a message.

The Bra game reached the news. Let's make this one make it too and see
how powerful women are!!!!!

PS: NEVER reveal to the men.

Leaving aside the fact that I got this message asking me, an underage person, to post that I drink alcoholic beverages as my status and leaving aside the fact that who in the name of sweet raptor jebus would write down that they drink liquor ("wants to be single") or vodka ("the 'other one'"), there is a good deal that grinds my gears about this post.

Mostly it is the tone. I hate the 'us girls' attitude. The way it implies that a woman's life is defined by the men in her life. A participator's status is based around her relationships. How dare she define herself in ways that have nothing to do with how other people deal with her?

What really gets me is how much this entire set up is a desperate plea for male attention. Trying to intrigue 'the boys' and keep 'the men' from knowing what 'us GIRLS' are doing. The only way, obviously, to help the breast cancer cause is to make it clear to the big strong men how important it is. Then it will get fixed.

Its times like this when I thank my stars that the people I interact with, by definition, don't have this attitude. Thank God for Engineers.

Wow, I Kinda Suck at This

Hey guys. Long time no see...

As you may have noticed, there has been something of a hiatus between my last blog post and this one. Thank you, life, for getting in the way. Unfortunately, thanks to work (nine hours a day), commuting (four hours a day, and more on that later), rehearsal (two hours a day), eating (one hour a day) and sleep (six hours a day), life has given me precious little time for blogging.

Some fun updates on my life since August. I got a job. They let me into a nine-to-five (actually eight-to-four-thirty) job. I was as surprised as I'm sure you are. They even let me run serious projects that make a difference! My mother is so proud.

Thanks to the co-op program here on campus, I get to commute every day from Hoboken to Somerset. Now, you may say, a forty minute drive is not so awful! And I would probably respond, you are right , Reader. At least I would if I had a car. No, I get to take the train. All in all I rather like trains, it kinda comes with the territory when you go to an engineering school. I get to sit still for fifteen minutes between Hoboken and Secaucus and then for forty-five minutes from Secaucus to New Brunswick, then another co-op picks me up at the station and we take the ten minute drive to work. Sounds lovely, no? And it would be if not for a few minor details.

1. My first train leaves Hoboken terminal at 6:26 AM. Which means I have to leave my apartment by 6 to take the mile walk to the train station, or risk missing the train and getting to work 40 minutes late. Which means I have to wake up at 5. In the morning. Before sunrise.
2. Once I get to Secaucus and onto my connection, people will frequently decide that I seem like a kind and understanding person, who would like to talk to pass the train ride. I have no idea where they get this impression from, but it has spanned race, gender, age and varying levels of crazy. Its almost like I give off the vibe that I like people. Perhaps its time to take Peaches' advice and start biting people while foaming at the mouth. Or I could take it as an opportunity to meet new people and exchange world views, but let's not get carried away here.
3. I get off the train in New Brunswick at 7:36 or so. My ride (who lives five minutes from the train station) has decided that he simply cannot be bothered to show until 7:51. I am consistently late for work because of this. On the flip side, he refuses to leave work on time, especially when I have an appointment on campus.

This Friday was the worst on any count. The train to New Brunswick stopped at Rahway station, and told us that an electric line had gone down across the tracks. We were stuck in Rahway for two and a half hours. During this time as I quietly tried to read my book (Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, definitely worth a read if you haven't already), no less then seven people tried to initiate conversation. Fantastic day.

Other life updates, anyway. I was in, and just finished a fantastic production of Frayne's Noises Off, fun but emotionally (and physically) draining. I also took the initiative yesterday and cut my hair. All of it. Responses so far have ranged from Cute, to Dammit, to strange facial expressions followed by petting my head.

So that's my life in a nutshell right now. I had better sign off, its 10:40, past my bedtime.

Books

I have a friend who loves semicolons; I told him I would write a blog post using butt-loads of them. Because I suck at grammar, I will not be able to do this correctly; I'm instead posting a link to a comic about them. http://theoatmeal.com/comics/semicolon

Now that that is over with...

Books are a wonderful thing; I may only be saying this because I am a massive nerd. (Hey look! A semicolon!) Seriously, opening a book for the first time, the smell of paper, the feel of the paper edges on a well read book. What could be better?

The best/worst part of books has to be buying them. I love walking down the aisle of the usually abandoned SciFi/Fantasy section perusing the titles before me, leafing through the ones that look interesting. The awkwardness comes when there is someone else in the aisle. I never realize how private a thing buying books is until there is someone standing next to me, trying to do the same things that I am.

I never know what to do in these situations. If my life were a movie, there would be awkward flirting and an hour and a half of disgusting adorableness, followed by betrayal of some sort and possibly some explosions, a passionate make up kiss and the end credits. Luckily for everyone involved, my life is not a movie. However that still leaves me with someone-generally a male of even greater nerdiness than me- in my fortress of solitude created by the narrow book shelves.

I don't know which s worse, the feeling of having my privacy invaded or the knowledge that this is as sacred a moment for them as it is for me. I invariably decide on the book in my hand as quickly as possible and head out to save us both.

I am not a lady

I am a google reader addict. I freely admit it. Ever since my stumbleupon mysteriously stopped working, I have used reader's suggested items for boredom interneting. Really, if you haven't yet tried it. it is a great service with a low learning curve. But on rare occasions, they suggest something that really gets on my nerve. Today, I came upon a perfect example: a fascinating copy of an article from the July '09 copy of Southern Living discussing how a gentleman "should" behave around a woman.

Where do I begin? Let's start with the overall tone of the article. The constant implication that women require special treatment or aditional manners paints the entire gender as a simpering decoration.

Unfortunately, most people have to live and work in the real world where following these idiotic rules is impractical and silly.

They even included a handy dandy list:

1. Stand up for a lady. Actually, this doesn’t just involve chairs. Now I assume that this first one is referring to the practice of standing when a lady enters or leaves a room or table. This is just silly. I have a small bladder and if you feel the need to get up every time I do you will just tire yourself out.
2. Know that the SEC has the best football TEAMS IN THE NATION. Big 12 fan? Hmm, perhaps you should keep walking. Huh? What does football have to do with anything?
3. Kill bugs. Delta Burke as Southern belle Suzanne Sugarbaker on Designing Women said, “. . .Ya know, when men use Women’s Liberation as an excuse not to kill bugs for you. Oh, I just hate that! I don’t care what anybody says, I think the man should have to kill the bug!” This was one of my favorites and falls under the, if I can't take care of it myself then I deserve to have to deal with the gross bug. The implication that no 'lady' can even bring herself to kill a mosquito is frankly amusing.
4. Hold doors open. This goes for elevator doors too. Why is this limited to women? It's called manners, people!
5. Fix things or build stuff. I once watched in awe as my stepfather built a front porch on the house he shares with my mother. He knew just what to do, cutting every notch, hammering every nail. The project was complete by sunset. Ok, here's the thing. I work in a theater. I have to build and fix stuff on a daily basis. Much like #3, if I can't handle it myself, it's probably outside your capabilities too.
6. Wear boots occaisionally. Not the fancy, l-paid-$l,000-for-these kind. We’re talking about slightly mud-crusted, I-could-have-just-come-in-from-the-field boots. Because real men wear boots. Obviously, I am swooning just thinking about this one.
7. Take off your hat inside. Again, manners.
8. Grill stuff. Seriously? Who watches a man grilling and gets all hot and bothered?
9. Call us. If you want to ask us out, don’t text and don’t e-mail. Pick up the phone and use your voice. I have no opinion on this one, but texting tends to prevent awkward voicemails. Just saying.
10. Stand when we come back to the dinner table. ”Just a little half-stand is enough to make me melt,” my friend Stephanie says. Stephanie needs to get over herself. I have already addressed this one.
11. Pull out chairs. Wait, that’s not all. Scoot them back in before we hit the floor. I clearly need a big strong man to handle that heavy chair for me. Let me just powder my nose first.
12. Pay the tab on the first few dates. ”If you ask me out, you pay,” Stephanie says. “If I ask you out, you should still pay.” Listen, guys, it’s just simpler this way. This made sense when women of any class were incapable of making money. Now it just keeps the power in the relationship firmly in male hands.
13. Don’t show up in a wrinkled, untucked shirt. Care about your appearance but not too much. Don’t smell better than we do. Don’t use mousse or gel. You shouldn’t look like you spend more time in front of the mirror than we do. I actually agree with this one, but as I am not unlikely to show up in a wrinkled untucked shirt, my standards here are pretty low.
14. Never get in bar fights. Patrick Swayze might look cool in Road House, but in reality, bar fights are stupid and embarrassing. You don’t look tough. You look like an idiot. Again with the manners. Not being a dick should not be something that has to be listed. Ever.
15. Know how to mix our favorite cocktail JUST THE WAY WE LIKE IT. Fix your favorite too. Sit down on the porch (it’s okay if you didn’t build it), tell us how your day went, and we’ll tell you about ours. And after I tell you about what a scamp Junior is being, we can go inside to have the dinner that I made in the house that I spent all day cleaning!

Seriously, people? This is completely absurd! Any woman who expects her sensitive yet manly man to come out of the shadows and completely take care of her may love this attitude. Not me. I expect to be treated like an equal, not some flower. The way to win a woman over is to respect her as a person. This should not need to be spelled out, mostly because respect should be an automatic attitude to everyone. At one point, this article demands "Unless you are at a restaurant and the only lady in sight is the one taking your order, stand up. Now." Is the waitress not a lady? How does showing me more respect than her make you more of a man?

<\feminist rant>

People...ugh

First off, I just have to say that I love my job. Working at the campus auditorium, I get to deal with people who have the same passion for theater as me. Add in the benefits of unlimited access to an espresso machine and the best napping couch you ever napped upon, and I end up spending most of my free time backstage.

That being said, sometimes it can just drive me insane. This insanity generally comes in the form of what my coworkers fondly dub "bad people." Bad people seem to exist to make the life of the crew a living hell. Be it through malice (rare) or incompetence (common), the lack of communication and preparedness of these people is enough to drive me up the wall.

I have, over the course of the past year come up with a game of sorts. As I interact more and more with a group, I begin to grade their particular level of asshattery. I even developed a score system:

1. Coming to us the day of the event with some obscene request that could have been easily dealt with before hand (ex. lights, mics, banners) - 10 pts
2. Bringing children into the seating area for a long event - 1 pt each
3. Bringing children into the backstage area or as performers onstage - 2 pts each
4. Having a set... - 5 pts
5. ...that moves... - 10 pts
6. ...and is too big for our stage door so we have to open the large sliding door - 25 pts
7. Being an asshole to the staff... - 5 pts
8. ...in front of the audience... - 30 pts
9. ...because of something that is your fault - 50 pts
10. Being drunk/high/both - 15 pts
11. Unrealistic expectations as to what modern theater technology is capable of... - 5 pts
12. ...and then ignoring attempts to politely explain why you are an idiot - 15 pts
13. Not knowing how to use a mic... - 10+ pts
14. ...and tapping to make it work - 5 pts
15. Miscellaneous points are additionally awarded for general pain and suffering

All events are guilty of at least one of these things, and I will admit, the scale is relative. However it is not difficult to avoid most of these pitfalls and I have seen events range from a mere 10 pts to an astounding 647 pts (don't ever, ever let a children's dance troupe into your theater).

It is things like this that makes me hate humanity as a whole.

Must...not...use...cliche....

Garg! I'm jumping on the bandwagon, just to see what it is all about and this is my F1RST P0ST. Whew. Now that that is out of my system.

Hi, what I would like to believe is millions of readers crowding together to read my thoughts on whatever interests me this week but what will more likely end up being only people I know personally!

I guess that this would be a good time to do that silly introduction stuff for anyone who stumbles here and happens to not know who I am.

My name is Katie, I am going into my sophomore year studying Mechanical/Aerospace Engineering at SIT. I am a theater nerd (even though I spell it er not re), I play Dungeons and Dragons with a group of friends once a week and I am in a book club- yeah, even the nerds pick on me. I pretend to be as much of an Apple hater as everyone around me, but I happen to really not care all that much.

I am Catholic but, oddly enough, I am not a crazy person. Ok, I am a crazy person, but I am not a crazy Christian person. Politically, I go for the Democratic side of Libertarian. I can't stand pretentiousness or incompetence, which may or may not be occasionally contradictory.

Well, if you survived that, you know more about me than you probably ever wanted to and if you enjoyed it, a) you may be a masochist b) you may want to check out my friend Dan's blog Life in the Stratosphere at http://lifeinthestratosphere.blogspot.com and c) you may want to comment. Actually even if you hated it, please comment!

Signing off,
Katie

(edit for grammar. that's going to happen a lot)