Things I've done since my last update to feel less powerless and hopeless in our new national nightmare!

• Finished putting all my local and national representatives' contact information in my phone.
• Emailed Mayor Garcetti thanking him for his support of the LAX protests and keeping LA a sanctuary city.
• Called Feinstein's office, and WONDER OF WONDERS, ( Read more... )

As of today, I have officially had this journal for ten years. TEN YEARS ( Read more... )

My spirituality/religion has more or less arrived at a vague agnosticism, but it is things like this beautifully edited video with Neil DeGrasse Tyson talking about the most astounding fact about the universe that remind me that the sheer astonishing fact that the universe exists and that we exist in it is enough. For me, faith pales compared to ( Read more... )

I am thus far planless for the Fourth of July. I'm visiting my parents for the long weekend, and my family can't decide on what to do. I just want to go to a beach, because it's probably going to be hideously hot inland, and at least the beach should have a cool breeze.

Some links and thoughts:

• This Metafilter post on the eternal shame of your ( Read more... )

A couple of things that refuse to leave my head of late ( Read more... )

So now I have officially graduated! After three commencement ceremonies, I am all commenced out. Some notes about commencements:

• OMG general commencement was never ending. NEVER ENDING. Turns out reading 2400 students' names takes a long time. About an hour and forty-five minutes worth of time. That's what I get for going to big public university.
• ( Read more... )

Ugh, I really need to get to work on my policy brief. Like, really really. It needs to be seven pages long and I have a grand total of one sentence (that I'm probably going to delete) written. Plus side, I'm writing on something I'm knowledgeable about, and that I won't have to do much outside research for: the prospects of nation-building in ( Read more... )

I am back in Berkeley, and there is a not insignificant portion of me that wants to have a tantrum about having to do actual work other than desultorily poking at my thesis again. But it's nose to the grindstone time, so I'll shut up my inner nine year old. I'm taking things easy today, just catching up on reading and stuff, but tomorrow! Tomorrow ( Read more... )

Would you like a look at my thesis progress? Yes, no, I don't care, here are some screencaps anyway!

( screencaps behind here )

You know, when I woke up today, I didn't think I was going to do anything amazingly important or worthwhile, outside of my body image project. I did my project: a history of body image (mine and ours as American women), and felt good enough about it to present today and share some of my story with my classmates. It wasn't earth-shattering, but I ( Read more... )