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November 29, 2004
Back to School
We had a guest speaker in Counseling Psych today, and he had some intriguing theories about addictions. He said that in his experience working at a rehabilitation clinic, most addicts had strong underlying emotions of shame, guilt, fear, and loneliness. These lead the addict to believe that he is unlovable. He engages in the addictive behavior as an attempt to take away the hurt. The addict will not recover "until he lets himself feel his pain." Interesting.
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Why do college students seem compelled to consume potent-smelling foods? Pizza, popcorn, buffalo wings with bleu-cheese dressing that sits unrefrigerated for a week before being disposed of... all cause entire floors of dormitories to reek of an extremely unpleasant odor.
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Quote of the Day:
"Academics, such as the next secretary of state, still decorate Washington, but academia is less listened to than it was. It has marginalized itself, partly by political shrillness and silliness that have something to do with the parochialism produced by what George Orwell called 'smelly little orthodoxies.'" -George Will's column, The Left's Last Paradise
Posted by Megan at 07:42 PM
November 25, 2004
Thanks
Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good;
his love endures forever.
Let the redeemed of the LORD say this -
those he redeemed from the hand of the foe,
those he gathered from the lands,
from east and west, from north and south.
Some wandered in desert wastelands,
finding no way to a city where they could settle.
They were hungry and thirsty,
and their lives ebbed away.
Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble,
and he delivered them from their distress.
He led them by a straight way
to a city where they could settle.
Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love
and his wonderful deeds for men,
for he satisfies the thirsty
and fills the hungry with good things.
Some sat in darkness and the deepest gloom,
prisoners suffering in iron chains,
for they had rebelled against the words of God
and despised the counsel of the Most High.
So he subjected them to bitter labor;
they stumbled, and there was no one to help.
Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble,
and he saved them from their distress.
He brought them out of darkness and the deepest gloom
and broke away their chains.
Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love
and his wonderful deeds for men,
for he breaks down gates of bronze
and cuts through bars of iron.
Some became fools through their rebellious ways
and suffered affliction because of their iniquities.
They loathed all food
and drew near the gates of death.
Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble,
and he saved them from their distress.
He sent forth his word and healed them;
he rescued them from the grave.
Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love
and his wonderful deeds for men.
Let them sacrifice thank offerings
and tell of his works with songs of joy.
Others went out on the sea in ships;
they were merchants on the mighty waters.
They saw the works of the LORD ,
his wonderful deeds in the deep.
For he spoke and stirred up a tempest
that lifted high the waves.
They mounted up to the heavens and went down to the depths;
in their peril their courage melted away.
They reeled and staggered like drunken men;
they were at their wits' end.
Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble,
and he brought them out of their distress.
He stilled the storm to a whisper;
the waves of the sea were hushed.
They were glad when it grew calm,
and he guided them to their desired haven.
Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love
and his wonderful deeds for men.
Let them exalt him in the assembly of the people
and praise him in the council of the elders.
He turned rivers into a desert,
flowing springs into thirsty ground,
and fruitful land into a salt waste,
because of the wickedness of those who lived there.
He turned the desert into pools of water
and the parched ground into flowing springs;
there he brought the hungry to live,
and they founded a city where they could settle.
They sowed fields and planted vineyards
that yielded a fruitful harvest;
he blessed them, and their numbers greatly increased,
and he did not let their herds diminish.
Then their numbers decreased, and they were humbled
by oppression, calamity and sorrow;
he who pours contempt on nobles
made them wander in a trackless waste.
But he lifted the needy out of their affliction
and increased their families like flocks.
The upright see and rejoice,
but all the wicked shut their mouths.
Whoever is wise, let him heed these things
and consider the great love of the LORD.
-Psalm 107
Posted by Megan at 10:02 AM
November 22, 2004
That's Just Silly
It was midnight last night.
36 degrees.
I had a term paper due this morning.
Only six pages of ten were completed.
Kristin and I drove through Wendy's and ordered Frostys.
Sometimes the most ridiculous parts of life are the most refreshing.
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Quote of the Day:
"His mind is so open that the wind whistles throught it." -Heywood Braun
Posted by Megan at 10:17 PM | Comments (1)
November 21, 2004
You Are My Sunshine
Dear Mr. Sun,
I've missed you the last few days. Life has been rather dreary without you around. The grass is turning brown, the sky isn't as nearly blue, and the birds just don't sing anymore. Your absence has made it hard to get out of bed in the morning. It has even caused frost to appear on my car -- enough to warrant an ice scraper.
At this rate, I fear that the four-letter s- word is not far away. I have been thankful that the white frozen flakes have not yet made an appearance this school year, and I would greatly appreciate any assistance you could offer with prolonging this postponement.
Hope to see you again soon,
Megan
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Quote of the Day:
"But yesterday England fans threw the taunts back in Spain?s face and sang: 'One Armada and NO World Cups.' It was an ironic twist on the terrace chant aimed at German rivals - 'Two World Wars and one World Cup'. The Spaniards were THRASHED by English sailors when they sent the Armada to invade us in 1588." -A Sun article. You should really just read the whole thing. The pictures are great, too.
Posted by Megan at 10:53 AM | Comments (1)
November 17, 2004
Sundry Items
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Major Blow Dealt to Head Lice
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Quote of the Day:
Usually I am skeptical of the e-mails that are forwarded "from a friend of a friend," but from what I know about the kind of combat in which our troops in Iraq are currently engaged, there is factual basis for this one. Thus, it is, in its entirety, my quote of the day.
Posted by Megan at 11:25 PM
November 15, 2004
Priceless
Egg on my car: $5
Egg on James Carville's face: Priceless.
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Quote of the Day:
"This is like an onion -- we just keep uncovering more layers and more layers." -Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minn., Chair of the Senate Committee on Government Affairs, on the Oil for Food scandle after receiving new information at a hearing on Monday.
Posted by Megan at 08:47 PM | Comments (1)
November 14, 2004
Quote of the Day:
"Fall is really the season of yearning. At the same time we're aware of the earth's fiery glory, we're aware of its passing and the approaching winter. We yearn to stop time, to make our lives an endless Indian summer. But the message of autumn is to accept what is given. What's coming next may be harder." -Mary Pipher, Letters to a Young Therapist
Posted by Megan at 05:54 PM
What Happened to Tolerance?
An article I wrote for our school's new conservative newspaper:
My car is happy that the election is over.
Never in my three years of car ownership has my vehicle received such abuse as in the weeks prior to the election. I had been warned by some friends whose bumper stickers had been ripped from their cars and by another friend whose car had been keyed. I simply could not believe that my car would be the victim of such crimes while parked on the St. Olaf campus, even with a bumper sticker supporting a controversial candidate.
Unfortunately, this denial was naïve. One morning, muddy footprints on the trunk told a story of having been walked across the previous night. Just after those had washed off in the rain, I was greeted another morning by frozen egg streaked down my windshield and hood. Luckily, I had fifteen dollars in my checking account. I sent my car through the five buck gas station carwash, begging the water to spray out with a more force.
The water did not obey, and I returned to my dorm room. My father's warnings from my mischievous teenage years rang in my head: Egg takes the paint off cars. I grabbed my bottle of dish soap, stole my roommate's Windex, filled my Nalgene at the sink, ripped off a wad of paper towels, and marched back out to my car.
Scrubbing at the hardened yellow streams, I couldn't help but wonder what had happened to tolerance and respect. I feel compelled to take care of my car because I realize that I probably will not be able to afford to purchase another one in the next ten years. The thankfulness I feel for my own car carries over into an appreciation for the vehicles of others. I am careful not to door ding the car next to me in the parking lot, and I refrain from slamming the doors of my friends' cars. The thought of intentionally damaging a vehicle has never entered my mind.
Above all of the political argumentation, I believe in the first amendment. Few things made me more content during the election season than seeing a window with both a Kerry sign and a Bush sign. The ability to agree to disagree is a testament to the nobility of democracy. What is said about the capability of expressing one's political beliefs if one must resort to property damage to communicate them?
I would like to propose another acronym for the St. Olaf community: CAR. Consideration of how others may be influenced by your actions. Acceptance of the possibility that others may not share your opinions but are still decent human beings. Finally -- this may sound familiar -- respect for the dignity of others, despite differences in our beliefs.
(The last paragraph, for non-Oles, refers to this.)
Posted by Megan at 04:31 PM | Comments (2)
November 12, 2004
Right Girls' Night
I'm very much looking forward to this evening. A few of us CR girls are headed to our former Chair's apartment in Minneapolis for a sleepover. This has become somewhat of a tradition. It is incredibly freeing to hang out with a group composed entirely of conservative females. We bond through activities including:
Watching Fox News all night and debating who is cutest among Shepard Smith, Sean Hannity, and Joe Scarborough. (My choice is the latter, but he does get points deducted for appearing on MSNBC as opposed to Fox News.)
Eating M&Ms.
Sharing the latest gossip surrounding Laura Bush (has anyone else noticed how much weight she's lost?), Barbara, Jenna, and the dogs.
Discussing Ann Coulter's latest article.
Can't wait.
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Quote of the Day:
"Instant election analysis is like instant breakfast -- frothy and lacking in substance." -Mona Charen
Posted by Megan at 05:12 PM
November 10, 2004
More Words
Tuesday I had another one of my poems workshopped. I was completely prepared to have it torn apart, because I thought it was junk. Amazingly, however, my prof liked it. So it must be worthy of blog publication.
Here's the story behind it. Our headquarters during the 72 hour program was a widow's home. On her fridge hung a picture that made us all quite uneasy. I built the poem around the picture.
Birthday Card
For his 50th birthday,
he received a homemade card,
his picture printed in the middle.
Above it read:
I'll live until my purpose on earth is accomplished.
Beneath it read:
I guess I'd etter get to work,
or I'm going to be here for quite a while!
His wife stuck it on the refridgerator,
a flowery magnetic frame around the picture.
When friends brought casseroles,
most noticed the picture
when helping fir their long pans
into the short fridge shelves.
Few took the time to read the caption
occupie with checking off their list
of proper displays of sympathy:
food, hugs, platitudes.
His sister read the card,
began to sob,
wanted it taken down.
His wife refused.
Friends were left to wonder
whether the adamant wife thought
her husband had finally gotten down to business.
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In other news, this is definitely a hate crime. So much for tolerance.
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Quote of the Day:
"We need to be unified and we have a very clear agenda. I'm going to be fighting for that agenda with all my energy and all the passion that I brought to the campaign." -John Kerry. So the first task is for the democrats to get an agenda. Secondly, it must be a clear one. Third, they must unite around this clear agenda. Then, if the party makes it over all those hurdles, they are still be doomed. I mean, seriously, am I the only one who laughed when thinking of the amount of energy and passion Kerry had in his campaign?
Wait, here's another good one from the same AP article:
"(Kerry) believes there is a mandate for unity in the country, and that there are 54 million Americans whose voices deserve to be heard as we move forward as a party." -David Wade, a spokesman for Kerry. Now, I'm not a math whiz myself, but given that Bush received 59.5 million votes and Kerry received 55.9 million, who are the 54 million people that Wade has in mind, and why do they get their voices heard? That's excluding quite a bit of the population...
Posted by Megan at 10:58 PM | Comments (4)
November 09, 2004
Don't Know Exactly Who I Am
As I was turning the pages of my poetry book in class today, I suddenly saw not my own fingers, but my brother's fingers. It was quite a strange phenomenon. I flashed back one evening when I was ten or so. Our family was squeezed onto the couch (a feat that would be impossible today) and Pat was reading a passage out of my Bible. Unconsciously, he began rolling the corner of one of the pages as he read. I threw a fit, because it was my precious Bible, and I was a rather obsessive-compulsive little girl. But the story is beside the point. I saw his fingers in my fingers, and in his fingers I see Dad's fingers, and in my fingers I see Mom's fingers. Now the word "fingers" is beginning to sound strange -- a good sign I have run it into the ground.
The point is this: there are times when I suddenly remember my family not as individuals, but as a singular entity of which I am a part. When I had this sensation in class today, another image subsequently appeared in my mind. The other day I added the new electoral maps, by state and by county, to the wall next to my computer. I now have the electoral maps from '88 to present on my wall. Above those hangs my Reagan poster, beside which hangs a small portrait of President and Mrs. Bush, below which hangs a picture of the president (when he was Governor) giving the "one finger victory salute." This is just part of one wall, but you get the picture.
These two contrasting images could lead me in no other direction than to wonder who I am. I know I can be many things, but sometimes I fell like I am so many things to so many people that it makes me dizzy.
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To further add to the confusion of my identity, here is a picture of me wearing a lawn sign and preparing to beat the crap (or candy as the case may be) out of a donkey pinata at our victory meeting last Thursday. Photo courtesy of Katie.
Oh, and here's one of me holding the severed donkey for the Minnesota Speaker of the House to finish off.
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Quote of the Day:
"We're referring people with election-related stress to the Democratic National Committee." -Karen Jacobs of the Center for Group Counseling in a local Florida newspaper article entitled Kerry supporters seek therapy in South Florida.
Jacobs's approach lies is contrast to that of Douglas Schooler, who seems to see the new trauma as a big dollar-sign:
"A lot of Kerry voters don't know what to do with their anger, because there was no recount, so they've kept it bottled up... I help them transform the anger into more positive emotions... (Symptoms) include feelings of extreme anger, despair, hopelessness, powerlessness, a failure to function behaviorally, a sense of disillusionment, of not wanting to vote anymore ? that sort of thing. We're talking about a deep, unhealthy personal suffering that can best be remedied by intensive short-term therapy.'"
I'll simply say this: my theory alligns more with that of Jacobs.
Posted by Megan at 08:30 PM
November 08, 2004
We Can Only Hope
Howard Dean considering bid to chair Democratic Party
...Ken Mehlman and Ed Gillespie Write Letters of Recommendation
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Bonus Quote of the Day:
Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you
rest. -Matthew 11:28
Posted by Megan at 10:16 PM
Crawl Back into Your Arms
Sometimes I get nostalgic and wish I were six again.
After doing laundry the other day, I crawled into a bed of crisp, clean sheets and breathed in the scent of laundry detergent and drier sheets. I was taken away to the days when I didn't have to wash my own linen or put it on the bed and was periodically surprised at night by sheets that my mom had laundered during the day. I would usually express my delight, albeit with little regard for the work that had gone into the process. My mom would tuck me in with a smile on her face, not concerned about being recognized for her labors, but happy that I was happy.
Yesterday was sunny and beautiful. As I walked outside, I was taken away to the days of sitting on the back patio after school. Somehow at home the sun is always warmer and the air always smells sweeter. Not only that, but the sky is bluer and the grass is greener. And I'm not just saying that.
Sometimes I miss being small. I miss being swept off the ground by my dad's strong arms. I miss having the thrill of my life be careening through the house piggy-back, squealing as we bounced down the hall. I miss being held -- burying my face in a warm chest and falling asleep on a shoulder.
Most of all, I think I miss the certainty and the security. I miss the feeling of protection -- that nothing bad could possibly happen. Sometimes life feels like a battle. Usually I feel empowered by fighting it for myself, but there are times when I just get tired and want to crawl into clean sheets -- without having to wash them first.
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Quote of the Day:
In his hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind. -Job 12:10
Posted by Megan at 10:08 PM | Comments (2)
November 06, 2004
One For the Record Books
Fun fact: I am a marathon sleeper. I have been known to frighten people by sleeping for extremely long amounts of time. I abuse this ability by pulling all-nighters, or doing as I did during election week and sleeping only a few hours (4 is a good number) for a few nights before catching up with one long stretch. My record: 16 hours in one run.
I tied the record last night. I fell asleep at 6:30 PM (I know -- tragic on a Friday night, but I just couldn't stay awake any longer) and woke up to my alarm at 10:30 AM the next morning. The really sad part is that I could have slept more. My only interruptions were my phone ringing at 11 PM, morons being loud in the hall at 1 AM, and the cross country meet testing their megaphones outside my window at 9 AM. These only woke me up long enough to mumble a few choice words and pull my covers over my head.
Sleep brings me so much joy.
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Quote of the Day:
"I guess John Kerry went into the primary without a plan to win the election." -Ann Coulter
Posted by Megan at 11:10 PM | Comments (1)
November 05, 2004
Bush Wins Iowa
Posted by Megan at 12:10 PM | Comments (2)
November 04, 2004
W Stands for Victory... Times Two
What a ride.
Sunday: church, followed by 8 hours of phone calls to get people out to vote for Bush.
Monday: 6 hours of phone calls and 6 hours of door-to-door to get people out to vote for Bush.
9:00 PM - Returned to campus only to hear that the College Democrats planned to set up a tent on campus on Election Day. I met with my team of about 6 other CRs who were committed to the campaign to the bitter end. We discussed how we needed to have somewhat of a presence on campus even though we were going back the next day to work in targeted precincts. At one point we were so emotional that four of us, including one guy, were in tears.
Tuesday: Organized campus publicity until 1:00 AM. Slept until 3:45 AM.
4:00 AM - hung Bush door-hangers in the dorms with my team.
5:00 AM - slept
7:00 AM - left for our headquarters in our targeted district. Ran door-to-door until it got dark, about 6:00 PM.
7:00 PM - Made phone calls to my CR membership list to make sure everyone had voted.
8:00 PM - Headed to the MN RNC victory party at the Minnetonka Marriott, where we watched the returns on projection screens in the packed, steaming hot ballroom.
Wednesday:
12:30 AM - Retired to our complementary hotel room to watch more Fox News, including Mr. Trial Lawyer Edwards annouce that they were still in denial.
2:00 AM - All 4 of us girls fell asleep while watching Fox News, realizing that there would be no conclusion until at least the next morning.
4:30 AM - I woke up to hear Andy Card declare a Bush victory, and turned off the TV.
9:00 AM - We all woke up at turned on Fox News to find that nothing new had happened.
10:00 AM - We headed to Caribou Coffee. As we sat discussing the frustration of the situation, a woman came up and told us that Kerry had just announced that he would concede the election.
11:00 AM - We sped back to Olaf.
12:00 noon - We all met in the office to watch Kerry's concession and Bush's victory speech. So much for returning to class.
After many laughs, tears, hugs, and celebration, life goes on. It was hard to return to class today. Schoolwork seems so insignificant compared to re-electing the President. But now I am fairly confident that I have found my purpose in life. I don't know how I would feel if it would have gone the other way, but I do know that there's nothing like the feeling that you've had a part in determining the course of the greatest nation on earth.
Also, I must point out that although Pat called this election long before I did, my one-week prediction was spot on.
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Quote of the Day:
There's an old saying, "Do not pray for tasks equal to your powers; pray for powers equal to your tasks." In four historic years, America has been given great tasks, and faced them with strength and courage. Our people have restored the vigor of this economy, and shown resolve and patience in a new kind of war. Our military has brought justice to the enemy, and honor to America. Our nation has defended itself, and served the freedom of all mankind. I'm proud to lead such an amazing country, and I'm proud to lead it forward....
The campaign has ended, and the United States of America goes forward with confidence and faith. I see a great day coming for our country and I am eager for the work ahead. God bless you, and may God bless America.
-President George W. Bush, Re-Election Acceptance Speech, 11/3/04, The Ronald Reagan Building, Washington, D.C.
Posted by Megan at 06:24 PM | Comments (2)
November 02, 2004
Freedom is Not Free
Vote for President George W. Bush and your local and state Republican candidates.
Earn your victory.
Posted by Megan at 12:35 AM | Comments (2)