auralfixation

I had my tongue pierced for a while. The truth is it's not actually that painful when you get it done. The actual piercing part is less painful than when I got the top of my ear done. It was more painful in the following week. But still not horrible. I would just suggest a lot of ibuprofen to keep the swelling down, sucking on ice, and eating soft foods and liquids. That only lasted for 3 or 4 days and then I was back to normal. Word of warning though, the tongue is one of the fastest healing parts of the human body, so the hole will close very quickly if you take it out. Mine closed overnight. But it wasn't a bad experience at all. I'd do it again except I have to get jaw surgery at some point and will have to take it out again, so I figure I'll just wait until after.

If you're going to get contacts I recommend pure vision or night/days. This way you can just keep them in for a month without any damage to the eye (if you do so with weekly/two weekly's it cuts off oxygon to the eye and can severely damage them). I wear pure vision and they're wonderful, I can't tell I have anything on, I only have to take them out and put new ones in once a month.

At the time of my post I was just trying simplify the whole "gay is condemned by the bible" thing.

But I actually know what you're talking about Raven. There's a verse in Leviticus and a verse in Romans that people seem to cling on to and continue to use to "back up" their idea that being gay is a sin.

The problem is, that it is the people that control religion. It is the people that effectively created religion. So whatever that majority thinks is unfortunately what is going to control the participation of anyone in religion.

And because people are fallable and hypocritical, and like to cast blame and judgment anywhere but at themselves most religions created preach acceptance in theory but dont' have that in practice.

And the simple fact that the Pope is outlawing gay men from joining the priesthood shows how deep-seeded that ignorance and judgment goes. It is rediculous to make a move like that because it indicates that for some reason gay men can't control themselves as well as straight men can, that he somehow believes that all of the priests who have molested children in the past were gay, that gay men are somehow deviant and different. It's simply another way of persecuting a group that doesn't fall within that little box that apparently the Pope (as well as many other uninformned, ignorant individuals) think that people should fall into.

And like I said, that really just makes me lose my faith in humanity as a whole. When I was little I believed everyone was good and kind, but since then I"ve seen the way people treat each-other and I just don't think that everyone is that way anymore. Especially when people have the chance to change but simply don't.

Especially when I'm faced with the president of my own country choosing what's best for him rather than what's best for his people and the people of the world.

But I guess that's just growing up.

Technically the religion preaches that they'll burn in hell for being gay anyway, so they may as well lie cause what's another sin on top of that right?

No, but seriously, it really makes me question humanity in general when someone who is basically a leader of thousands of people can't make the distinction between being gay and being a child molester.

Perhaps a bit mental- but completely lovable.

You know, I never could get into the Simpsons. Or Futurama. The Family Guy is okay- but I think I'm just not an animation for adults kind of girl. I like my cartoons to be kid-like. Give me Rainbow Brite and Jem over the Simpsons any day.

From my experience girls actually prefer female doctors for that kind of exam. Feels safer.
Glad you're okay though, despite the... uncomfortable experience.

Thanks, that's exactly what I was looking for!

Speaking of pets- does anyone know if the quarentine for pets going into ireland is 6 months like the U.K. or if not, how long it is? I'm seriously considering coming to Dublin for a year for grad school and I want to know where that leaves me with my kitten.
Thanks.

Yeah, the missing questions were things like "Who did you send this to that is least likely to reply?" I didn't think they made much sense since it wasn't an e-mail thing anymore, so I deleted them, and I'm simply to lazy to renumber that many questions.

This was one of those messages where that habit of reading the latest post first probably wasn't a good idea if you hadn't read the one before it.

Haven't done one of these in years, my friend e-mailed it to me, and I thought it might be interesting to know more about CWAL folks. So if you feel like it, fill it out. I'll start.

1. What is your full name?
Pamela Sue Gonzales

2. What color pants are you wearing?
Pink. (they're sweat pants.)

3. What are you listening to right now?
Creedence Clearwater Revival (Have you ever seen the Rain?)

4. What was the last thing you ate?
Club Sandwich.

5. Do you wish on stars?
Sometimes.

6. If you were a crayon, what color would you be?
Perwinkle

7. How is the weather right now?
Yucky, gloomy rain.

8. Last person you spoke to on the phone?
Greg Spencer

10. How old are you today?
22.

11. Favorite drink?
Apple Juice (the european kind.)

12. Favorite sport?
Swimming. Baseball.

13. Hair color?
Brownish Red.

14. Do you wear contacts?
Yes

15. Siblings?
Sister Michelle

16. Favorite month(s)?
Hmm... April.

17. Favorite food?
Sushi. Chicken Korma. A Salmon/creamed potatoes/bread dish from a little pub in Dingle.

18. What was the last movie you watched?
Unleashed.

19. Favorite day of the year?
For lack of a better day- January 15.

20. What do you do to vent anger?
Cry.

21. What was your favorite toy as a child?
Legos.

22. Summer or winter?
Definitely summer.

23. Hugs or kisses?
Both.

24. Chocolate or Vanilla?
Strawberry.

25. Living arrangements?
In a house with Sara and Lex, two of my closest friends (coincidentally the ones I went to Ireland with).

29. When was the last time you cried?
A few days ago.

30. What is under your bed?
Nothing as of yet. I haven't set my bed up yet.

31. Who is the friend you have had the longest?
Mandy.

32. What did you do last night?
Went out for a goodbye dinner with the fam and then slept.

33. Favorite smell?
Patchouli. Lavender.

34. What inspires you?
Art, Music, Love.


35. What are you afraid of?
Not being in control.

36. Plain, buttered or salted popcorn?
sweet kettle corn

37. Favorite car?
Mini Coopers. They're just so cute.

38. Favorite Flower?
Daisies.

39. Number of keys on your key ring?
3

40. How many years at your current job?
2 weeks. It's a short summer job.

41. Favorite day of the week?
Sundays.

42. What did you do on your last birthday?
Went out with friends.

43. How many states have you lived in?
5

44. Have many cities have you lived in?
Way more than I can count. Around 20 I'd guess.


45. How many children do you have?
None. And I'd like to keep it that way for at least another 5 years.

~~~~~~~~~~

46. What is your favorite book(s)?
Jitterbug Perfume, The Anita Blake Series, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Villa Incognito.

47. How many times have you been in love?
Two.

48. would you rather lose your ability to see or to hear (really pick-- no trick
answers!)?
See.

49. what is the first thing you do when you wake up (after nature calls,
etc...)?
Check my e-mail.

50. how many times in your life have you drastically changed your mind about
what it all means, or had an epiphany, or something like that? do you think
will do it again?
More than I can count in terms of changing my mind. But ones that seriously affected my life? 2.

Well, these are the thoughts I had while reading your post Raven. The same things I would say to my friends here if they were having this dilemma.

1.) From what I've seen you're very pretty, so you have nothing to worry about in that department.

2.) If the guy is only after the best looking girl, you don't want him anyway, cause that's just shallow and means there's nothing there.

3.) If you don't speak up, they'll never know you have interest (they being your friend and/or the boy,) so nothing *could* ever come of it. And it's the possibility that you're really missing out on.

4.) It may sound like preaching, but if I've learned anything in the last few years, it's that if you can't be happy on your own, you won't be happy in a relationship, and the more you want and look for a relationship, the less likely you'll be to find one. So my suggestion is chin up and try to be happy while single. Love will find you quicker than you will find it.

When my friends and I were in Ireland we were able to get around by bus and train without too much cost and without a problem- and we pretty much touched three opposite sides of it. So I'd say a car isn't necessary.

Truth: I'm kind of scared to go see it. The previous make Wonka look like a blithering idiot- not a whimsical old man like the Gene Wilder Wonka was. Plus it's so near and dear to my heart because it was a childhood movie. I think I might go back and reread the book before I watch the film. They dub movies here (Germany) so I can't see it till I get back to the states anyway, and I won't have time the 3 days I'm back in Boulder before I fly out to Milwaukee to visit Greg. So maybe I'll talk him into taking me while we're out there... but I also want to go to Great America (Six Flags Chicago), so I may end up having to wait till it's out on video. Which in a way I'm not too sad about cause I can postpone being disappointed.

Is it really just an online persona Al?

That's interesting. I thought the Presidents of the USA broke up. Granted I only remember two of their songs (were they a two hit wonder?) so I don't know much.

Isn't it funny how sometimes you won't think of or hear of something for years, but then once you do, it's all over the place? I hadn't thought of that band in years and then my 16-year-old sister was playing "Peaches" the other day. And now Al mentions them. Sometimes there are odd little things like that in life.
Okay. I'm done rambling.

I read The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe last year. I saw it on my roommates shelf during the school year and figured I hadn't read it yet so I did. It wasn't bad. I wouldn't call it my favorite childrens book (that would be A Wrinkle in Time), but it was an enjoyable book. The movie has a chance of being great. If they do it right and with the special fx capabilities now, it could be good. Then again, it could turn out like the version of A Wrinkle in Time and suck horribly. But that was made for tv. The jury will just be out until I see it. As a general rule, the movie is never as good as the book- but sometimes it can come close.

Yeah, I looked into doing something like that through a program called "Teach for America". For me the problem there lies in not being able to determine what age you'll be teaching. I want to teach high school, and with that kind of program you could be placed in elementary or middle school education because you get placed where they need you the most. And I'll admit it's a bit daunting to me just to be thrown into teaching without any experience in it. So I decided it was best for me to go through a masters program first. That way I can do at least a semester, probably two of student teaching. But we'll see, I need to do extremely well on the GRE as my gpa, though not atrocious, is not amazingly competitive. But I've been comparing schools and have kind of eliminated the ones I know I won't get into because of the acceptance rate and average gpa (NYU, UC-Berkeley) and some based on how expensive the out of state tuition is. So now I have a list of six or so schools (UW-Milwaukee, CU-Boulder, Boston College, UC-Santa Barbara, UI-Chicago, University of Washington, University of New Orleans) where the gpa is a in the vicinity of mine (within a point or two above) and I am studying for the GRE and trying to get a higher score then the averages for those schools. If I do that Plus getting excellent recommendations and writing a good personal essay I should be okay. Once I figure out where I got in I will start worrying about getting fellowships and financial aid and figuring out how I'm going to pay for it. Can only worry about one thing at a time, really.

Yeah, I remember living in New York. It was 9 at the time that I lived there, but that was about 5 years ago, so I can imagine how much it has gone up since then. When i first moved to boulder movies were 4 bucks for students, rediculously cheap, now they are 7, but that's still less than they were in NY, so I don't complain. Here on the base in Germany they are 3.50 for everyone. But that's just cause everything is cheaper on a military base, no taxes, etc... Too bad I can't use my i.d. card but anywhere overseas.

I'm looking at some grad schools in NYC. I'm not sure if I'll end up going, simply because the city is so expensive and I need to try to work grad school for not too much money (fellowships, perhaps working as an RA or something again to save money on housing), but I love the city so much that I figured it was worth at least checking out the schools.

That's what I hate about companies like that and money. It's more about profit then it is about humanity. I just don't see how it would hurt to make less of a profit (since they make so much), but save lives.

I think the biggest problem in the realm of HIV (once infected) isn't so much the lack of medicine (because though there is no "cure" you can effectively live wiht HIV for over a decade if you take the medicine) it's the cost of the medicine. There are places like Brazil that have worked around it by being able to make generic versions of the medicines, and because of that include free HIV medicine for those infected in their countries healthplan, but that is very uncommon in most places. In Russia, people of our generation are getting infected by the millions, and because it is fairly new there (they arn't "showing" the AIDS disease, but are getting infected with HIV) there is no help for them. The drugs are too expensive for most who are getting infected (by intravenous drug use) and the countries health plan is said to have spent less then $600 on HIV/AIDS care. And then there are whole continents like Africa, where the infection is spreading and they have no money at all. Volunteers do their best to prevent it, but the truth is that for most places that arn't lucky enough to be wealthy, HIV/AIDS is a death sentence, because though the drugs are available, they arn't accessible. There is a side of the argument that is that the money that pays for the drugs pays for the research for more drugs and a cure, but with patents and such, don't drug companies make enough money to allow other places to do more generic versions like in Brazil? And for that matter, why the hell is the U.S. spending so much money on a war, which kills more people than it saves, when it could be using it's money to help get the medication needed to make this world-wide epidemic more like an illness and less like a death sentence?

Sometimes I'm still surprised by how much money I save. Or how much money those buying me airline tickets save, anyway.

I found a ticket at student universe for 170, when everywhere else it was 250. Not to mention the dollar I save everytime I go to see a movie. The way I see it, every 8th movie is free!

This only supports my decision to go to grad school. That, and the fact that if I get a masters I get more money when I *finally* graduate and get myself a career. And if I get a ph.d. I get to be called Doctor. The title may just be worth another year or two.

Of course, there's studying for the GRE that takes a bit of the shine off of it. But, we can't have everything.

Wow, here it seems like I am the anomaly in that they were moving *really* fast when I looked at them. No matter how hard I concentrated I could not get the little buggers to stop moving. But I shouldn't be stressed because I'm not *doing* anything.

Weird.

Hey Pat, have you read Tom Robbins's new one yet? Villa Incognito? It's fantastic. You should check it out when you get the chance.

Thanks for all your suggestions everyone!