Make every vote count

Senators Clinton and Boxer released their "Make Every Vote Count Act of 2005" today. I think this is a very important bill that needs public attention. I don't think anybody can actually deny that we have a voting crisis on our hands here. Something needs to be done. I think this bill has some excellent features, many of which aren't present in the republicans election reform bills. Here are what I think the most important things in this bill are.
1. A paper ballot will be provided for every electronic voting machine and this will be the basis for recounts (this is about the only thing in common with the republican bills, although admitidly, this is the most important)
2. Restricts the ability of chief state election officials as well as owners and senior managers of voting machine manufacturers to engage in certain kinds of political activity. (Can we say conflict of interest? Note that in 2000 and 2004 the chief election officials of florida and ohio, respectively, were extremely active in the Bush campaign. Also note that in 2004 the Diebold (company that makes lots of voting machines) CEO said that he would "deliver Ohio to Bush", and there were numerous reports of Diebold voting machine errors in Ohio.)
3. Makes it a federal crime punishable by a year in prison to commit deceptive practices such as sending flyers into minority neighborhoods telling voters the wrong voting date. (Don't have much to comment on this except that I think it's good)
4. Makes election day a national holiday. (I don't think this one is a big deal, and it seems to benefit people who are on a pay roll more than people who are on hourly salary, but either way.)

Anyway, here's the link to Senator Boxer's press release on the bill.
http://www.boxer.senate.gov/news/record.cfm?id=232372

I think this is very important spread the word on it. It'll be buried by republicans before ever making it to the floor, but we can at least make it known what's trying to be done. In my opinion anyone who is against voting reform is insecure with what the majority in this country actually is. This isn't about changing past elections, it's about making sure future elections are conducted fairly. In my opinion every election should be independently audited for accuracy.
Okay, that's it for me. Read about the bill, spread the word.

Scared

I think it's bad that I now live in a country where I am afraid to write my senator a letter because it's about the current administration and I'm afraid it could get me investigated. If you don't hear from me, it's safe to assume I've been taken somewhere by the government, and please come look for me.

Election rant

Ever since the election I've gotten out of the political game. Before the election I put so much of myself out there. I felt so optimistic about people, and I felt like I was making a difference. Now, I feel pretty hopeless. That no matter what I do, I can't make a difference. I worked so hard trying to educate people about the issues. I registered voters. I really put myself out on the line. I usually don't like to talk about my opinions with people, but I did. I read alot and I learned alot. I was prepared. I knew more about both candidates than most of the people I talked to. Most of them refused to change their mind. I'm amazed at people who are willing to ignore information because they feel like it came from the "liberal media". (Which I find amusing since it's coming out that Bush used tax money to pay off reporters...or is that just liberal propaganda, too?) People are just so unwilling to hear anything bad about Bush. I just don't get it. He has done so many aweful things, I don't understand how anyone could possibly give him the stamp of approval for 4 more years of his lying. Argh...I'm getting upset, so I need to stop writing and get back to work.
This is why I stopped with the politics. Maybe once Bush has finally finished his damage and is out of office, I can return to this stuff. Until then, all I can do is support my local congressman who I did help elect. (yay Chet Edwards!), and fight for the legeslation I believe in. It's going to be a long road, but hopefully we'll make it out.

In future posts I'm going to try to avoid the rants on Bush and focus on the legeslation I think is worth fighting for and against, and that will hopefully be the extent of my political blogging.

I'm boring, I'm a liberal...that is all

Well, I've decided that my life is officially boring. For the third day in a row I've sat here and tried to think of something interesting to write. Something interesting I've done. Something funny that's happened to me. Nothing. What do I do everyday? I work from about 9-5. I go to the gym for a couple of hours each night. I eat dinner. I talk to Danny. I go to bed. Oh well...
I have been talking alot more to a friend I had lost touch with. It's been good. I learned that she has become more liberal. Which makes me happy. I like it when my friends learn that being liberal isn't evil (we are from Texas after all), and that we are just as concerned with so-called morality as conservatives. We just think that education, the environment, and helping those in need are moral issues too. Speaking of being liberal in Texas, I find it funny that all the slander political ads in Texas use the phrase "Liberal. Too liberal for Texas." It's just funny to me.
Okay, I'm not getting into a political discussion today, so I guess I'll get back to work.

I'll bet you can't eat just one...

At the beginning of the day was it my goal to eat a whole box of girl scout cookies today? Not really. But fear not, I have almost achieved this. I opened a box of tagalongs last night, and I had 2 cookies. Today, so far, I have had 9 cookies leaving me only 4 more cookies to go. WOW. I wonder if it is better to eat the cookies this way, all at the same time; or if it's better to drag it out over weeks and weeks only having one cookie a day. I dunno. I suppose that when I go to the gym this evening I will have to kick myself in the rear. They're just so delicious, though. Mmmmmm.....

That'll be $1000, please

It's interesting how the cost of a wedding keeps going up and up and up. I keep finding all these things, and how much do they cost? $1000. Now that's an average, but they all cost about $1000. It's wierd. I really think that everyone who does weddings just got together in this big club and said "Let's charge about $1000. Then these people will be in a pickle, and they'll have to pay! Mua hahaha!" Okay, so I'm not having a huge fancy wedding, but I do want a decent, fun, wedding. We found a reception place that's well within our budget, but it's all these other things (DJ, cake, photographer, invitations, flowers, etc) that are blowing that out of the water. I'm just amazed.

Anyway, this is what we got done this weekend weekend :
We met with the cake lady. Liked her, liked her cakes. Yummy.
Danny and I met with the cruise guy. I yelled at a travel agent because they told me there was nothing to do in Belize (because they had no info on belize).
We met with the finance guy for our house to get that ball rolling.
We took our PREPARE marriage survey. Let's just say, I see the merit in some of the questions they asked. Some of them made absolutely no sense. But you know, our results should be interesting.
Danny and I also went and registered at Crate and Barrel. Let me say this. Registering is HARD. You have to find everything you want at a limited number of stores. Not to mention you have to figure out everything you need without knowing where you're going to live. We don't even have any idea as to what kind of space we'll have. You have to try to picture every room in your house, and how all this stuff is going to go together. I think we're going to end up exchanging a bunch of stuff when it comes down to it. I'm not very good at this.
We also went to a party that was held at our reception site.
I saw 2 bridesmaids try on their dresses. They fit way better than I expected, so I feel much much better! I feel like I can relax now.

Gosh! What a busy weekend. The only thing I didn't get done that I really wanted to do was to buy my shoes and petty coat so I can get my dress altered. Oh well.
Okay, next time I post I promis it will be something slightly more interesting.

I'm a girl that's why...

So it just hit me when I started crying because Heli, our visitng scientist, left to go back to China. Although I'm sad to see him go, I definately wouldn't normally cry over it. I'm so upset because I'm a girl; and girls have stupid hormones that do stupid things. Now I'm still pretty upset over this wedding stuff, and I do feel very left out, but this explains why I can't stop crying over it when I know it's just not that big of a deal. All of my friends will get to see eachother for a weekend, and I'll just have to get drunk here. It's happened before, it'll happen again.

I hate being a girl...

Whine...

Okay so, why is it when I know I shouldn't get so upset about something, I can't just make myself not be upset about it? And why is it that when I'm upset, I don't eat very much?

I found out yesterday that I don't think that I'm invited to a wedding that I thought I would be. No biggie, right? Well, except that I'd been looking forward to this wedding for a while, and all of my other of my close friends were invited (every one). So basically, my feelings are really hurt and I feel really left out. They're going to all get together in San Antonio for this cool wedding and a good time, and what am I going to do? Probably hang out in College Station. Life sucks.

What DO you do all day?

Okay, so I have been in my office for approximately an hour and a half now, and I have managed to do exactly zero work pertaining to my thesis. What have I done you ask? Well here it is:
1. I checked each of my 3 emails at least 10 times.
2. I worked on the wedding guestlist (this has multiple parts).
a) I typed in any addresses missing in my spreadsheet because I had simply written them by hand my printout.
b) I checked the save-the-date list to make sure I haven't left anyone out.
c) I estimated the number of actual invitations we need to order.
3. I signed a petition to send to congress and President Bush showing my support for the Climate Stewardship Act.
4. I looked through lots of pictures of boquets so that when my mom meets the florist she has some sort of idea of what I like. (Although I'm quite sure she'll still explain something that I really don't care for.)

So yes, this is what I've done today. I'm never going to graduate if I don't start working on my thesis.

I bow down to you

It is almost the end of the work day and I have learned two things.
1. I don't know anything about the internet even though I think I know alot about computers.
2. Alicia is very wise. She must spend many hours learning about the internet. (Is this what they teach you when you learn to be a librarian?)

The dress

Who designs bridesmaids dresses anyway?

I've decided that for my first post on weddings, I should discuss my bridesmaids dresses. First, I have 7 great bridesmaids. We found this great dress, and I convinced the store to give it to us for a great price (~ $50 less than any other store).
As it turns out, the person who came up with the sizing for these dresses must have been on some sort of drugs at the time. The hips are normal, the waist is TINY, and the chest is pretty big. So this is causing some major issues. Not to mention most stores only have one or two sizes available to try on. So what I've decided to do is for them to buy their dresses based on the top size, then my mom is going to let out the skirts so that they fit, and I'm just crossing my fingers that it all works out in the end. It's really turned into quite the ordeal. I only hope that everyone else isn't as stressed out over it as I am.
I will attach a picture once I figure out how to attach a picture.

Welcome

So as if I needed another distraction in my life, I've decided to start this blog. I've had a livejournal for the past 4 years, but I've gotten a little lazy with that which brings me here. I'm hoping this can be a place that I can write about my life. As crazy or as boring as it is. Maybe I'll even utilize my book, The Elements of Style by Strunk and White, every now and then. So maybe I'll become a better writer.
So, welcome. This is my blog, take it or leave it.