Jumping on top my soap box...

The above picture is from Ronald Reagan's Presidential Convention in 1984, but you could really insert any one's name on the various signs and banners, and have the Democratic or Republican conventions from this year. Thousands of people gather together to assert that their candidate is the best and that he should be President of the United States. One can get lost in the bright colors and loud music, and one could even forget the real reason they're there to begin with. Don't worry this is not going to be a "political" post in which I try to persuade you to vote for candidate X or candidate Y, but it is going to be a political post in the sense that I have a real issue with the way in which the political process operates today.

Having been watching the DNC this past week, (this does not make me a democrat, as I'll be doing the same thing next week with the RNC) I noticed some very disturbing trends in the political process. I'll spare you the details of the paper I wrote in college, that I'll admit, I'm still pretty proud of, but I will tell you that the process by which the president is elected today is nothing like it was when this country was founded nor is it anything like it was even 50 years ago. For purposes of this post, however, I'll concentrate primarily on the conventions.

Presidential conventions used to be the place where delegates would come together and debate about who they thought should be president. We're talking actually discussions about policies and issues. On the first night of the convention a vote was held and the top vote getter's would move on to night two. Then more discussion occurred! The four day event was marked by heated debates, enlightening speeches, and the strong desire to move the country forward. On some occasions, the presidential nominee was not known until the last day of the convention, something completely unheard of in today's day and age.

The reasons for this stem from primaries being held earlier, more money in the hands of very few candidates, and the need to 'unify' the party earlier. But is that the best way to do it? Is unification of a party so important that we lose sight of the issues?

Today's conventions are essentially pep rallies! Delegates gather for four days and yell and scream and throw a party for a candidate that is already known. There is no debate, no discussion of what the party as a whole stands for...nothing! I can't tell you anymore about the democratic party's stand on the issues today, than I could of three days ago. How can voters be informed about the issues if no one every talks about them? If we already know who the candidate is going to be and we're not going to do anything except where stupid hats with donkeys and elephants on them, why bother even holding these? They have lost ALL their significance!

Tonight takes us to a whole new level. O'bama is going to give his acceptance speech, but really any speech he's given since July has been an acceptance speech, to a crowd of 70,000 people. I have serious issue with this. As stated above, some candidates did not know until the last night of the convention if they were the nominee (and everyone thought the Hilary/O'bama race lasted a long time). These candidates did not have the luxury of speaking large groups of people; there was no grand, elaborate venue with guest stars and loud music, it was just the candidate and the issues....the way it should be.

For those of you who made it to the end, I can't promise that there will be no more 'political' post in the near future, but I'll try and keep them to a minimum. Politics is a passion of mine and sometimes I just can't think of any better way to vent, than to write it all out...

Okay, I'm calming down and going to class.

I'm Single, not Sick!

I had a great lunch today with a couple of girls from my class. Having just started classes and having not seen each other for the summer, we thought it would be fun to get together and catch up. Somewhere between the meal and the conversations about school, summer jobs, other classmates, and life in general, one of the girls, we'll call her Annabelle, decided to bring up, as she does every time we get together, my personal life. Now, while I don't mind talking about it, it gets old talking about it over and over again, especially when nothing changes. I'm single and while it used to bother me, it really doesn't anymore. It will happen when it happens, and I'm not in a rush anymore. Now Annabelle is two years older than me, she's dating this guy that she fights with all the time and is seriously considering breaking up with, which I believe she should since she doesn't want to talk to him most of the time anyway, so who is she to be forcing a relationship on me? Every time this comes up, she says, "Oh my boyfriend has this guy friend that would be perfect for you!" And while I appreciate the gesture, I'm not really looking to be set up, especially if the guy is going to be anything like her boyfriend.

Now the other girl, we'll call her Emily, is married and has a little boy. She's about my age, and she says, that you have your whole life to be married, so you should enjoy the time right now. Thank goodness she was there. I politely told Annabelle that I don't know where I'm going to be in two years, and that it really wasn't the right time for me anyway. I don't want to feel like I'm tied down to one area after I graduate. I'm sure that she's just trying to be nice, but really, it gets old after a while. I don't want to have be put on display and have a pity party thrown every time I go out!

Along the same lines, I've order a book that I can't wait to read cause I think it will be funny. It's called, The Bridal Wave, by Erin Torneo and Valerie Cabrera Krause. It's basically about being single while all your friends are getting married. I saw it advertised on Oprah and thought it would be fun to read. Basically it tells you how to deal, in a nice way, with people like Annabelle. I'll post more on it later!

I'm a nerd...

There is just something about a book store. I don't know what it is - I think it's a combination of the smell of new books, coffee and big comfy chairs. I spend a significant amount of time reading, however most of it's for class (I'm in law school, that's all we do), so one would think that I wouldn't choose to read for fun. But there is just something about entering into a book store that makes me want to buy a new book. Which I did...today...between classes....when I should have been reading boring things...oh well.



I'm currently reading John Adams by David McCullough. It's good and if you like history, which I do, then I highly recommend it. Today's purchase, however, is truly, in every sense of the word, leisure reading. I bought Nights in Rodanthe by Nicholas Sparks. I saw the movie trailer and so I thought I would read the book first, because we all know the book is always better...I'll let you know. I cry at everything, so I'm sure that this book is going to be no different. I mean I cried at the trailer :)



I'm going to the beach in two weeks, so I'm thinking I can lie on the beach and enjoy this story "filled with a healthy dose of romance and emotion...a great way to exit everyday life and take a holiday." (says Bookreporter.com)

Competitive? Um, Yeah!

Recently, while watching my current past time, the Olympics, more specifically the Women's Team finals in gymnastics, Mr. Second Chance called me a "bitch". Well he said, "You're kind of a bitch." This comment came after Alicia Sacramone's second fall on floor exercise. I'll admit, that I can be a little harsh, but I believe that when you're selected for a team over other people, you should be able to perform at a world class level, but that's just me. Anyway, he assured me that this was only in the context of watching the Olympics, and that he wouldn't call me that normally. I quickly corrected his assessment of me and told him that I'm just a competitive person, and that it doesn't matter if I'm actually playing or not, I want my team to win.

This whole conversation got be thinking however about how competitiveness and bitchiness are seen as interchangeable adjectives. To me, they're not. It doesn't matter what game or sport is occurring, if I'm involved I want to win, and if I don't watch out. I get mad, quite and take deep breaths...and anybody who has played against me knows that this is point where they need to back off. When I watch sports, specifically football, I'm part of the team. I refer to them as "we", cause again I'm on the team.

To me being competitive is a good thing. Without competition, people would be complacent and mediocrity would be the norm. If I'm wrong and competitiveness and bitchiness are the same, then I'll wear my "bitch" label with pride!

Guilty Pleasure...

I LOVE the Olympics! It doesn't matter whether it's Winter or Summer, either way I find myself counting down the hours until the prime time coverage comes on. Given that my classes don't start until next week, my evenings aren't filled with reading and studying, but instead exciting events like, beach volleyball, diving, track and field, and my two favorites, men's swimming and any and all gymnastics! I wish I had been aware of these games when I was younger because I would have taken my swimming lesson much more seriously.

I fairly sure my neighbors think I'm crazy because during the men's 400 meter relay on Sunday night, I was jumping up and down and cheering quite loudly. Do I care? Not really...I mean this only comes around every four years!

These Olympic games have lead me to a new "crush" as well. I was not aware of Michael Phelps hotness four years ago; I don't know how I missed this, but I'm fully aware of it now. He makes me want to quit school move to Maryland and take up swimming professionally. This would be a poor life choice, but he would be the best poor life choice ever!

If you haven't been watching, start! If you have been, cheer extra loud for Michael! Ok, it's Olympic time!

Hi I'm Island Girl, and I'm Selfish...

Admiting you have a problem is the first step to recovery, right? I didn't realize how bad this problem was until recently when the guy in my life, and I use that term loosely, decided to move further away from me. Let me explain why this bothers me so much, "Mr. Second Chance" we'll call him, just moved closer to me about two months ago. Having him close and one of my best friends in the same time zone as me, was actually making look forward to the new school year.

Here is where the selfish part of me comes in. He was miserable in the town he was living in. He couldn't find a job he liked and he didn't want to be there. However, I think I liked that, because it meant he had more time to give me attention (which I like). Now he is going back to the place he loves, with a job he likes, and he's going to have friends again, some consequently are my friends as well. I should be happy for him. I should be the person I thought I was and congratulate him. I should not secretly wish he would change his plans and stay...but I do! Maybe I feel this way about him because I know that, unlike others, he doesn't need me anymore. I was his entertainment for two months while he was bored and alone, but now he's going back to the place where he has a life and he doesn't need my company. Am I even going to exist to him after next week? I guess only time will tell.

The fact that I feel this way about him, makes me wonder if I even really care about him. I never feel this way about any of my other friends. I want them to be happy. I want them to do what they want. The difference with them is that I know no matter where they go or what they do, I'm still going to be a part of their lives. With him, I don't know.

And so it begins...

I can probably count on one hand the number of people who will actually read what gets posted here, but I'm going to do it anyway for two reasons. One, I like the people I know will read it and two, I'm going to enjoy having an outlet for all the random thoughts and rants that up until now have stayed trapped inside my head.

I moved to a city several hours away from where I grew up about a year ago. I'm turning into a professional student I feel like, but as I've been told by several people the "real world" is very close, just a couple more years. While one would think that a year in a new place would be plenty of time to adjust, it has not proven so for me. Don't get me wrong, I love being on my own and having complete (well, almost complete) freedom over my life, but I feel like I'm in the wrong place. Having had ample time to mull over why this is, I've come to the conclusion that it's because I have very few friends in this new place and the ones I do have don't compare to the ones I left behind. I won't go on about this here, because I can assure you there will be plenty more on this topic in later posts.

I still consider myself I recent college graduate and I also consider college to be the best time of my life. I'm becoming concerned that nothing in my life is every going to live up to the amazing time I had while there. I spend a lot of my time trying to figure out ways to move all (ok, maybe not all, but a select few) of my friends near me so we can recreate college again. This is probably not a good idea, as we need to have jobs and staying out till 3 or 4 am would more than likely get us fired, but we're still young right?

If you stick around, I can promise there will be plenty of "not real" moments posted here, as well as the day-to-day happenings that make up my life. Enjoy!