(no subject)
I heartily apologize for my absence from LiveJournal. I had better things to do than to recall events and type them into my computer. :)
I've been back to writing my thoughts and life occurences in an actual paper journal. It's definitely better because my thoughts are expressed more completely and without any reservations.
A brief recap of the weekend:
Friday-Debora's bday party. It was pretty awesome. About 30 people showed up, there was some crazy rap, techno, and Arabic music with strobe lights, hookahs(strawberry and melon), drinking, and of course there was some really funny porno playing on the TV. hahah. I bought her the CUTEST pair of shoes ever for her bday, which she loved, and a lot of my friends came too....Dustin, Liam, Dima, Katy R, Buster(from 9th grade)...it was fun. I didn't get to bed until about 6am, then me and Rena woke up at 9.30. Debora and I had breakfast at Jerry's Deli in Studio City.
My agent did another one of those things where she called me last minute for an audition. I had to wait an unheard of hour and fifteen minutes before they let my group in. :/.
Dustin and I were Valentines and it was very sweet. The box I put together for him consisted of:
-a mix CD with a few of our favorite songs and other ones that reminded me of him
-candy necklaces and smarties
-poetry I've written about him over the past year with a note to preface it
:). It was all in a pink box with an eye love U torn out from magazines. He gave me (what else?) a heart-shaped box of chocolates and a big apology for his cliché gift-giving. heh. Then we went to this awesome Mexican resturaunt in West L.A. called Paco's Tacos. I had a very good strawberry margarita while we waited. Also, a tip: the way you can tell you are eating at a good ethnic resturaunt is if people of that ethnicity are the majority of the customers. Anyway, we sat down and had an awesome Mexican dinner with these hand-made tortillas. There was a little old lady in the corner rolling out each one by hand.
Came back, watched some DVD's, cuddled....
Today, I had to go and tutor Rachel at 11. Then I went to my grandma's for lunch, Sarah's to hang out/get my shirt back/make fun of an Olsen twin movie, then Debora's to retrieve my CD's I left from the party.
I have the day off of school tomorrow.
We released the new issue of the newspaper on Friday, and I wrote two articles in it. One about the Primaries for Editorial, and a review of The Butterfly Effect, which wasn't too exciting so I am only sharing the Editorial with you people:
Whose Vote is it Anyway?
The other day, as I was driving down Hollywood Blvd, I glanced at a refurbished Mustang littered with bumper stickers. The most prominent decal, located prominently in the center of the back window, read “ANYONE BUT BUSH 2004.” At first, I found it quite amusing that someone would simplify politics to such an extent. Upon further examination, however, I became alarmed and began to ask: Do Americans truly pay attention to the issues?
The race for the Democratic Presidential nomination this year is drastically modified from previous years because it has been compressed into a matter of a few short weeks rather than spread out over months. America, as a result, will have an Instant Candidate, much like an Instant Message: very quick and convenient, arriving with a pleasant bell or whistle, and easily responded to and forgotten about all upon a whim.
Allowing the media to deliver our choices to us challenges the idea of a democratic institution. These primaries were initially created by the founding fathers to give each state a chance to voice their equally important opinions of the candidates. The noticeably drastic contrast this year, for the potential nominees, has been to win the first two primaries, and then gather up all the other states’ votes by default due to media favoritism.
As a prime example of such hypocrisy, Howard Dean was the media darling going into the race, mostly because he had many young people such as high-school seniors and politically active college students rallying behind his anti-war, anti-Bush, and anti-establishment attitude. Democrats of all backgrounds were also beginning to believe that this former doctor and current governor of Vermont was capable of “saving” the White House. This attitude was perpetuated enough to land him on the cover of Rolling Stone(2/5/2004). As soon as, if not before, that issue was scheduled to hit newsstands across the nation, Dean was already being portrayed as too extremist and unpredictable for the masses. This complete turnaround was not due to a change in his campaign, but rather, a change in the way the press perceived him. His enthusiasm was now viewed as radical rather than passionate.
That is not to say that Dean is a more viable option than Kerry, Lieberman, Edwards, or Clark, for the Democratic Presidential Nomination, but his chances were certainly squelched by the press rearing its collective head in disgust over a previously inconsequential speech he made, conceding that John Kerry had indeed won the Iowa caucus.
The press has been afforded a gross amount of leverage as a direct result of shortening the duration of the primary season. There have been as many as seven primaries scheduled in the same week, forcing candidates to pick and choose their campaigning battles. This would ostensibly make candidates strong in some states and weak in others, but the vast influence of the media on American minds, as well as pressure from the rest of the voting public, reinforces the need to conform.
All of the first few primaries are in relatively unpopulated and unrepresentative states. Why is so much importance placed upon the first two primaries if neither Iowa nor New Hampshire has a divers ethnic or socioeconomic makeup? Is it to sway the rest of the population who may not originally share the same opinions of these smaller states?
California, which makes up one-eight of the U.S. populations, should logically hold an important opinion. However, it does not have its primary scheduled until March 2, a political eon away from the month of February. By this date, the media hoopla over the leading candidate(s), whoever this happens to be, will overshadow the actual facts and philosophies of the candidates themselves.
Americans are by nature more inclined to take the easy route with respect to politics. So when the evening news comes blaring into our living rooms, championing the greatness and “electability” of a candidate, we accept these opinions as true without performing any research of our own.
Individuals develop apathy from our society, and feel as though their votes in this so-called democracy will not make much of a difference.
The best solution to make the voice of our generation heard is to be skeptical. Not everything that is presented on the television, Internet, radio programs, or even textbooks is necessarily true for everyone.
Regardless of whether various groups prefer to reelect George W. Bush for another four years or to evict him from the White House, each individual should take all of the facts into account before he or she makes a choice. People may be surprised at what they discover.
----------------------------------------------------
I love this new Air CD(Talkie Walkie):
"Thousands of hairs two eyes only it's you
Some skin billions of genes it's you
I don't know why I feel that way with you
Biological
I need your DNA
Your fingerprints, the flesh around your bones
I'd like to know why all these things move me
Let's fuse our cells as one tonight
A part of me would like to travel in your veins
Biological
I don't know why I feel that way with you
Biological
I need your DNA"
Katy
I've been back to writing my thoughts and life occurences in an actual paper journal. It's definitely better because my thoughts are expressed more completely and without any reservations.
A brief recap of the weekend:
Friday-Debora's bday party. It was pretty awesome. About 30 people showed up, there was some crazy rap, techno, and Arabic music with strobe lights, hookahs(strawberry and melon), drinking, and of course there was some really funny porno playing on the TV. hahah. I bought her the CUTEST pair of shoes ever for her bday, which she loved, and a lot of my friends came too....Dustin, Liam, Dima, Katy R, Buster(from 9th grade)...it was fun. I didn't get to bed until about 6am, then me and Rena woke up at 9.30. Debora and I had breakfast at Jerry's Deli in Studio City.
My agent did another one of those things where she called me last minute for an audition. I had to wait an unheard of hour and fifteen minutes before they let my group in. :/.
Dustin and I were Valentines and it was very sweet. The box I put together for him consisted of:
-a mix CD with a few of our favorite songs and other ones that reminded me of him
-candy necklaces and smarties
-poetry I've written about him over the past year with a note to preface it
:). It was all in a pink box with an eye love U torn out from magazines. He gave me (what else?) a heart-shaped box of chocolates and a big apology for his cliché gift-giving. heh. Then we went to this awesome Mexican resturaunt in West L.A. called Paco's Tacos. I had a very good strawberry margarita while we waited. Also, a tip: the way you can tell you are eating at a good ethnic resturaunt is if people of that ethnicity are the majority of the customers. Anyway, we sat down and had an awesome Mexican dinner with these hand-made tortillas. There was a little old lady in the corner rolling out each one by hand.
Came back, watched some DVD's, cuddled....
Today, I had to go and tutor Rachel at 11. Then I went to my grandma's for lunch, Sarah's to hang out/get my shirt back/make fun of an Olsen twin movie, then Debora's to retrieve my CD's I left from the party.
I have the day off of school tomorrow.
We released the new issue of the newspaper on Friday, and I wrote two articles in it. One about the Primaries for Editorial, and a review of The Butterfly Effect, which wasn't too exciting so I am only sharing the Editorial with you people:
Whose Vote is it Anyway?
The other day, as I was driving down Hollywood Blvd, I glanced at a refurbished Mustang littered with bumper stickers. The most prominent decal, located prominently in the center of the back window, read “ANYONE BUT BUSH 2004.” At first, I found it quite amusing that someone would simplify politics to such an extent. Upon further examination, however, I became alarmed and began to ask: Do Americans truly pay attention to the issues?
The race for the Democratic Presidential nomination this year is drastically modified from previous years because it has been compressed into a matter of a few short weeks rather than spread out over months. America, as a result, will have an Instant Candidate, much like an Instant Message: very quick and convenient, arriving with a pleasant bell or whistle, and easily responded to and forgotten about all upon a whim.
Allowing the media to deliver our choices to us challenges the idea of a democratic institution. These primaries were initially created by the founding fathers to give each state a chance to voice their equally important opinions of the candidates. The noticeably drastic contrast this year, for the potential nominees, has been to win the first two primaries, and then gather up all the other states’ votes by default due to media favoritism.
As a prime example of such hypocrisy, Howard Dean was the media darling going into the race, mostly because he had many young people such as high-school seniors and politically active college students rallying behind his anti-war, anti-Bush, and anti-establishment attitude. Democrats of all backgrounds were also beginning to believe that this former doctor and current governor of Vermont was capable of “saving” the White House. This attitude was perpetuated enough to land him on the cover of Rolling Stone(2/5/2004). As soon as, if not before, that issue was scheduled to hit newsstands across the nation, Dean was already being portrayed as too extremist and unpredictable for the masses. This complete turnaround was not due to a change in his campaign, but rather, a change in the way the press perceived him. His enthusiasm was now viewed as radical rather than passionate.
That is not to say that Dean is a more viable option than Kerry, Lieberman, Edwards, or Clark, for the Democratic Presidential Nomination, but his chances were certainly squelched by the press rearing its collective head in disgust over a previously inconsequential speech he made, conceding that John Kerry had indeed won the Iowa caucus.
The press has been afforded a gross amount of leverage as a direct result of shortening the duration of the primary season. There have been as many as seven primaries scheduled in the same week, forcing candidates to pick and choose their campaigning battles. This would ostensibly make candidates strong in some states and weak in others, but the vast influence of the media on American minds, as well as pressure from the rest of the voting public, reinforces the need to conform.
All of the first few primaries are in relatively unpopulated and unrepresentative states. Why is so much importance placed upon the first two primaries if neither Iowa nor New Hampshire has a divers ethnic or socioeconomic makeup? Is it to sway the rest of the population who may not originally share the same opinions of these smaller states?
California, which makes up one-eight of the U.S. populations, should logically hold an important opinion. However, it does not have its primary scheduled until March 2, a political eon away from the month of February. By this date, the media hoopla over the leading candidate(s), whoever this happens to be, will overshadow the actual facts and philosophies of the candidates themselves.
Americans are by nature more inclined to take the easy route with respect to politics. So when the evening news comes blaring into our living rooms, championing the greatness and “electability” of a candidate, we accept these opinions as true without performing any research of our own.
Individuals develop apathy from our society, and feel as though their votes in this so-called democracy will not make much of a difference.
The best solution to make the voice of our generation heard is to be skeptical. Not everything that is presented on the television, Internet, radio programs, or even textbooks is necessarily true for everyone.
Regardless of whether various groups prefer to reelect George W. Bush for another four years or to evict him from the White House, each individual should take all of the facts into account before he or she makes a choice. People may be surprised at what they discover.
----------------------------------------------------
I love this new Air CD(Talkie Walkie):
"Thousands of hairs two eyes only it's you
Some skin billions of genes it's you
I don't know why I feel that way with you
Biological
I need your DNA
Your fingerprints, the flesh around your bones
I'd like to know why all these things move me
Let's fuse our cells as one tonight
A part of me would like to travel in your veins
Biological
I don't know why I feel that way with you
Biological
I need your DNA"
Katy