It has happened...again

Every so often I find myself completely, utterly, and hopelessly obsessed with a television show, and thanks to my good friend Emily's prodding, this has happened again. Doctor Who.

At first, I found no interest whatsoever in the show. Emily would tell me about it every once in awhile, and i'd listen, but I was still revved up for Star Trek at the time and had no time in my life for another obsession. But, a few months back she had a bad day, so I decided I would cheer her up by watching an episode or two of 'that Doctor thing'. I picked a random episode on Netflix's 'watch instantly', and began to watch one of the greatest shows on television.

By chance I had chosen the first episode of the second season, the first episode with David Tennant as the Doctor. I knew I was hooked 5 minutes into the first episode when a christmas tree tries to kill the main characters. A freaking christmas tree. I love it.

Now, for those of you who don't know about this brilliant piece of BBC sci-fi, I strongly suggest you educate yourself on it. Doctor Who originally aired from 1963 until 1989, but in 2005 it returned and has run continuously since. This makes it the longest running sci-fi show ever made, which is fantastic.

I have always had a deep bond with television sci-fi and Doctor Who is no exception. It speaks to my heart.

However, I will admit that I haven't watched any of the original show yet. Currently, I am strictly on the new series. I kind of feel like I cheated. It's always hard to go back to the original after you've seen the remake (not that the new series is a remake, more of a revitalization, but the point stands). It's hard to look past the fashion changes and the shoddy special effects after you've been given something that caters directly to your generation. I'm terrified I won't like it; then what kind of fan would I be? The fair-weather fan of the geek world.

Regardless, i'll take what I can get.

Lastly, I would like to remark on how terrific David Tennant is as the Doctor. Utterly fantastic. His hair, his trenchcoat, his goofy smile, his genuine acting talent. I would love to shake his hand.

thank you
and goodnight

I know it's been awhile. i haven't done this since Obama was inaugurated.

In my defense, I have been ultra-busy. I was cast in my highschool's production of Beauty and the Beast, which is pretty cool. I'm the wardrobe, I guess my director thought it would be a good idea to cast the shortest/smallest girl she could find to play the LARGEST character available. I have to wear high-heels. But that isn't all i have been doing; I also took the SATs a few weeks back. That was the longest 5 hours of my life. Just me with only peanut butter crackers for company. I think I did okay, but i'll know for sure in 3 DAYS.

So, anyways...

A little while ago i realized that for the past 4 years of my life i've been dressing like a boy with bad taste. So, my mother and I went shopping for 'girl' clothes. Now, i'm slightly scared of 'girl' clothes because they have a habit of 'showing off' a person's figure. This makes me feel uncomfortable.

But once i wore my new clothes to school my friends said only this: "oh my god! You look like a girl!" That made me feel real good about the last 4 years of rugby shirts.

Here we are, in the third day of the Obama Presidency.

I feel giddy almost. The short-comings and embarrassment of the last eight years are behind us. Now, we have another chance. America has a lot of ground to cover.

I was tired of feeling ashamed of my country. I love America, and I think that in the right hands she could save the planet. Yet, in the wrong hands, she could be a terrible and corrupting force. In other words, I suppose America is something like a slightly less demonic One Ring. But in the last eight years, I've felt that I should apologize for being American when I meet someone from another country. I hated that feeling.

Obama gives me hope. When I first heard him make a speech, it was like someone had finally decided to clean the dirty windows and I was able to see outside for the first time in years. So, I chased that feeling in my own way. But I didn't dare hope. As I had remarked to my family on more than one occasion, he was a politician after my own heart. He seemed just too good to be true. I kept waiting to see an ugly side, perhaps all of the inspiration he instilled in me was just an act, but two years later i'm still waiting.

It's seems cheesy, but our president lets me see a better tomorrow. That perhaps we can do the right thing for once, and for the right reasons. As a teenager lost in a world of uncertainty, corruption, and advertising, I think I need that.

I may be too harsh in my judgements. I mean, all I am is a kid who doesn't know a thing about the world she lives in. But my opinion still remains: I could not have taken four more years of a bush policy government, Obama is the light at the end of dank and dismal tunnel.

What to talk about? That is always the question isn't it. The weather, I think.

It's snowing. A lot. I live near Seattle, Washington so usually it just rains. But this year its extra special: we have had constant snow showers for seven days. It's weird. Tycho [Penny-arcade.com] described driving on snowy roads with Seattle drivers as 'NASCAR in slow-motion'. And it's sooooo very true. I had first hand experience today and I discovered that I am one of those drivers.
In order to get my drivers license, my parents are forcing me to practice for a minimum of 50 hours [technically the state requires this but NOBODY CHECKS!]. So, if I want to get my license before I get arthritis, this means that I have to drive on Washington's snow-covered death traps they call the highways. Now, as my Aunt so aptly put it, 'Parents usually have to tell their teenagers to slow down, not speed up!" As you might have guessed, I do not fall into this category of teen drivers; my father was constantly saying "speed up! See all the cars blazing past you? that means your driving to slow!". The upside was that I got to log more time.
It doesn't matter anyway how fast I drive a car. I don't want a car, I want a vespa; it's impossible to go slow on a vespa, they look too cool to drive like a granny. My dad's car, on the other hand, is a Toyota Camry.

okay, yes I haven't blogged in a while, we all know this let's move on.

The subject of today's blog is the bullshit that happened in Arizona, Florida, and California on November 4th. Proposition 103, Amendment 2, and Proposition 8 all passed.

Now, I don't care whether you are religious, atheistic, black, white, short, tall, Democratic or Republican, NO ONE has the right to restrict the rights of others.

People keep arguing that gay marriage will lead to the destruction of the american family and the values that we hold dear. The only question I have for them is, HOW? What makes a 'nuclear' family better than one with two male parents? It is the love the members have for each other that makes a family work. Anyway, just because a man marries a woman does NOT make him a good father. There are awful parents out there; people who cannot support their kids, people who beat their kids, people who ARE NOT gay. Gay parents will take neglected kids out of foster homes and put them into a loving environment, I know this because the same-sex couples would have to work to get a child; a 'traditional' marriage could result in an accidental pregnancy, to people who never should have had kids. Also, I have another question, what is it about the american family that need protecting? Why is it all of a sudden something so holy and benevolent that we must discriminate against others of our own species to ensure its 'survival'?

Then there is the religious front. All I will say is that one of the reasons that i'm not religious is that I could never worship a God who tells his people to hate another. Also, if you are against gay marriage for whatever bigotted reason you've created, then I have just one thing to say to you DON'T MARRY SOME ONE OF THE SAME SEX, I could f***ing care less what you do with your own life but do not force your opinions or those of your God on others.

Also, what of the 'next people will be able to marry a goat' argument? Yeah, well that is a bullshit point anyway; who is out on the streets petitioning for that? Also, a goat does not have human rights, a goat is not on our intellectual level and a goat is not of OUR SPECIES. You cannot compare that situation to the gay marriage controversy because the previous one DOES NOT EXIST; it was simply made up.

During the Pro-Proposition 8 campaign in California, a large number of ads brought up the fact that gay-marriage would have to be taught in schools as being 'equal' to opposite-sex marriage. First, that isn't true; the wording of the proposition was twisted by the pro-prop 8 supporters. Second, why would that be a bad thing? It would teach young gay kids that they don't have to hide who they are; that it is possible for them to lead a normal life.

What truly angers me about this whole debate is how history is cyclical. Once one oppressed minority beats the odds and wins their rights, the next generation of conservative bigots picks a new group to hate. Where will it f***ing end? Never, when the world runs out of easily crushed groups of people who aren't white males, we'll just nuke the crap out of russia and launch ourselves into a nuclear winter.

I am of the opinion that we, the human race, are our own worst enemies. When will we learn to live together in peace? Never. That's not who we are. We are a group of angry, narrow-minded, and selfish creatures. We fear rational thought and tout the quick fix.

I am not gay. I am a 16 year old straight female. Women fought for their rights and won. Now women in California, Florida, and Arizona are taking rights from others who are fighting a similar battle. Cyclical. It seems that once people are assimilated into the majority, they forget their struggles.

I think I need to watch some Star Trek...anyway, my point is that gay marriage should be legalized, and if you don't agree with me then I pity you because when gay marriage is eventually legalized (which it will be), the history books will remember you as the bad guy.

School is approaching quickly. It feels almost like being given the death sentence, you know the day, you know the time, and all you can do is wait. Wait for the inevitable moment when you have to wake up, and walk that long walk to the chopping block. But in my case its more of a short walk to the bus stop. But either way, the simile stands.
This year I will be a Junior in High school. Since my school eliminated the Freshmen class last year, this will be the first time my class won't be the runts of the high school, a position we reluctantly held for two years. As you can guess, it is an exciting prospect. But I doubt that we will receive the kind of awe and respect we believe we deserve, the kids at the Mid-High School are just too damn cocky. I'll probably grow to fear them.

Oh, on a completely different subject, I have grown to love Star Trek: the Next Generation just as much as the Original Series. This is a momentous moment in my life, so I wanted to share it with you. The only problem with my love now, is that I have only seen 1 season. Season 2 is 16 slots down on my netflix cue, and my efforts to get it moved up have proved fruitless.
Obsession is a hard burden to bear.

Some of you readers might be wondering why we haven't had a comic up in two weeks, with the obvious exception of my stick-figure comic extravaganza. The reason is that as Rosie is now entering the mystical and magical world of paying for her college education, she's been a bit stressed out. So, to help her out a bit, i've sort of given her a two to three week sabbatical. She might be back next Monday or perhaps the week after that, I honestly don't know. But don't worry, there will be a comic on Monday regardless. I will draw another stick-figure masterpiece if it comes down to that.

But I do apologize sincerely for the lack of comics in the last two weeks, I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive us.

Oh, and as a side note: My family bought a bird awhile ago, an eclectus parrot. Her full name is Miss Anabelle Johnson, the personal secretary to Jed. The story for the name is a long one, and I'm not very good at telling it so I won't. We all just call her Miss Johnson anyway. She is a darling thing who loves to bite me, and screech loudly in a critical sort of way whenever I am singing. She also, apparently, enjoys pooping on my hand which she did for the second time not half an hour ago. She is a very sweet bird though, always cooing and eating peanuts. My cats however have a different opinion of her.