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I spent the weekend in Birmingham, which was nice. I spent time with my parents and little brother and we ate loads of steak. We also talked about politics, and it was surprising, because my dad and I didn't fight. It's funny, when it comes to the Ten Commandments being displayed in a courthouse, we're all yelling at each other, but when it comes to the forced sterilization of deadbeat parents, we're in total agreement.
Eric had a party on Saturday night, but I am afraid I was a massive downer because I was just not in the partying mood.
I went to a Passover Seder on Monday night; that was a lot of fun.
It was me, Adam, and 7 other people in the courtyard of the law school. Our Seder plate was a compartmentalized styrofoam tray, the songs were deleted because noone could sing (and half the people weren't Jewish, so we didn't know them), we ate before the actual ceremony, and the ceremony itself had a decidedly leftist slant, all about liberation from our bonds and working for the liberation of others from theirs. I like that Jews are taught to be socially conscious. Most Christians never even think about social injustice until other Christians are involved (hence the reason that Samford students actually care about Darfur).
I should be writing a paper on alchemy, I should be writing an essay on the socialist milieu of working class Germany circa 1900, I should be doing any one of several things that have been assigned to me to finish by the end of the semester. All I really want to do is pack up my life, buy a plane ticket, and start over in a seedy section of East Berlin. Friedrichshain should do the trick. River access, central location, busy streets...
Don't get me wrong. I absolutely love grad school. I learn a lot, the people I've met are incredible, and I get paid to be here, so I am not working 40 hours a week in a coffee shop. The problem is, I am not doing anything. I thought this would be an awesome chance to improve my German...Instead, we do more talking about German, and little enough time using it. I want to run away and live in a shitty walk-up in a working class neighborhood of Berlin, teach English to pay my bills, and spend the rest of my time exploring. Life has the tendency to pass you by in places like Tuscaloosa. I'm too pretty and smart to spend much more time here...
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That being said, look at this picture of a guy with two superfluous nipples:
Have any Americans besides my friend Lydia ever heard of the EuroVision Song Contest? It's proof that Europeans are susceptible to cultural kitsch, but they just do theirs with so much flair...and synthetic fur, sequins, and insanity. Check out this video Lydia found. It's Ukraine's entry, by Verka Serduchka, the cross-dressing comedian.
Europe: I want to go back but I am still not sure why.
--LA police to get new flashlights. Yes, the LAPD is getting new flashlights, ultra-modern little LED numbers that are only 10 inches long and weigh ounces compared to the current model, which is two feet long and weighs 2 pounds. The new lights were ordered after videos of cops beating suspects with flashlights were leaked. Ramona Ripston, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California, praised the LAPD for the equipment change. "It's a really important step in the right direction, and it's going to make a difference in how the police department deals with the community," she said. "We've always felt that a flashlight was not an instrument to beat people with. This new one will serve the purpose it was intended to."
I honestly thought that cop flashlights were intended to be used as weapons. Whoops.
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--Meth use receding in some regions. That's some good news. Meth is bad shit. It will fuck you up. Stay away, rednecks, restaurant staff, and slutty gays, stay away.
--Many offers for chocolate Jesus, says artist. Honestly, I don't understand what the protests are all about. it doesn't even look like our traditional representation of Jesus. It's a naked chocolate man on a wall that someone called Jesus. People flipped out, and now the artist's gotten a lot of attention. Good job, simple-minded squawkers, you were used for publicity. Does it sting to know you were manipulated? Probably not, since you're so used to it...
--This update's been knocking around for a few days now, waiting to be finished...Whoops...
I've had a decent time in Tuscaloosa this weekend, hanging out with loads of people in a wide variety of settings...Nothing too spectacular, except for Friday night...Rene and Emma played a little concert in the German House on Saturday, and tonight Tracy and Milda had people over for Easter Dinner. In between social engagements I've been sleeping and reading the New Yorker a lot, which means no real schoolwork has been getting done. Panic begins...Tomorrow.
Panic should have begun weeks ago. I always do this to myself...
♥