the lies ditriech tells himself

I am good at very few things.^sd

One of those things is pontificating about things in which i have no real reason to pontificate on. Politics is (are?) one of those things. So, seeing as I have the forum and/or soapbox to do so, I might as well make use of it.

Anyhoo.

I was watching The Colbert Report^sd2 and some guy^sd3 was talking about California's new proposed law (initiative?) that makes partisan primaries, well, illegal. Basically, what would happen is that there would be an open primary and the top two vote getters would be in the actual election.

To be honest I’m not totally against this. Partially because of Colbert’s reaction. He says, basically, that this will create more elected moderates. Now, again, I’m not a guy who’s in the in on politics and who does what and how much senator x plays to the base and how much he plays to the corporations, but I don’t really see this as a bad idea. Like seriously. This is probably one of the better ideas I’ve seen come out of politics in a while.

Look, in most states/districts, the primary is laughable anyway. Like the OH-11 (where humble ditriech is from) has been solidly Dem since 1983 (the year young ditriech was born). And it’s not just there. The California 5th, the Michigan 15th and the Pennsylvania 2nd have been solid Democrat since 1949, 1933 (when the frakking district was created), and 1949 respectively. And the Louisiana 1st, Missouri 8th, Wyoming at large and the Tennessee 2nd have been Republican since 1977, 1981, 1979 (when former Vice President Dick “Go fuck yourself” Cheney was the rep) and 1867.

Seriously. Think about that last one. A non-Republican hasn’t won the Tennessee 2nd since the fucking Civil War for frak’s sake. What is the point of a partisan primary there?

And in the competitive states, the candidates that better represent their constituents interests, regardless of party, will typically be in the top two. So how is this bad? How is the fact that an elected official accurately represents where they come from a bad thing? Why can’t we do this a) in California, and b) everywhere?

Playing to extremists obviously isn't working. I mean, that’s what got us these Tea Partiers and the fact that they can actually change Republican primaries^sd4 to begin with isn't it? Let’s govern America by actual Americans with actual beliefs instead of a party line. At the very least, it would be shit tons more fun.

ED NOTE: this week's BSOW is just turrable

I know I've gone on record before with this but I don't dance. Like at all^sd1. I just am too self-conscious^sd2 to even attempt to dance while sober and in front of other people. But it is important to this story. Obliquely, at least

Anyhoo, back in college, I had a crush on this girl who we'll call Serena^sd3. For like a while^sd4. In contrast to the rest of my crushes during this era^sd5, I rarely saw Serena. I mean, we had maybe a couple of classes together early, and of course in the dining halls every now and again. But she seemed like she was rarely around.

Fast Forward to 2005, after a series of (extremely unlikely events that led to me to hanging out at the Beta Acland semi-regularly^sd6. I was there one night during Senior week hanging out, and for some reason the conversation turned to Serena. It seemed as though everyone else there had the same general feeling about her: that she was comely, but unattainable. She just didn't--or wouldn't-- talk to anyone on campus. After a while, and with enormous amounts of liquid courage I^sd7 decided to go next door (which, conveniently, is where she lived) and talk to her. So we knocked on the door and her sister answered. Being that I was drunk (and that it was like 4 years ago now I don't remember what I talked with her about), I do remember that I told her who I was, and that I wanted to talk to Serena, who she said was upstairs asleep. Or something. I then told her about how I had a crush on Serena for like 3 years, yet was scared to tell her for numerous reasons^sd8. The primary one being that I was afraid she wouldn't remember me. After chatting for about 2 or 3 minutes, I turned to leave.

As I was walking back to the Acland, Serena said "I remember you Alan^sd9." So we talked for a while, I'm pretty sure I told her I had a crush on her then I left and went home or to drink more or something. Actually, the two aren't mutually exclusive. Anyhoo, the next night was "80s dance party night" and "Midnight Breakfast" . Seeing as I don't dance, I went for the breakfast option. Because bacon and hash browns are good at any time of day. But especially at like midnight. But, because I have a crippling addiction to 80s Power Pop^sd10 I went upstairs to listen for a while. And, because there wouldn't actually be a point in telling you this if it was otherwise, Serena was there. We look at each other. I went over to talk to her for a while (while, natch, this song was playing), and then I left to go play Kings.

Not the most exciting story in the world, I know, but it is the reason why this song is in my head every three months or so.

Take Me Home Tonight - Eddie Money (f. Ronnie Spector)

Eddie Money (f. Ronnie Spector)
Take Me Home Tonight
Can't Hold Back

Yesterday, for various reasons, was a pretty weird day, primarily because (well for most of the day at least) I had made a decision.

Well, ok, I technically make decisions everyday I guess, but it normally takes me about three or four weeks (at the very minimum, I've been known to take about a year to make a decision and even then it wasn't a good one.) to make any major decisions and usually by then the decision really has been taken away from me. But I'm digressing.

I went on my first interview Thursday in about 7 months. So of course I spent the majority of the day sick to my stomach because of nerves and whatnot (sd: I've been on only two previous interviews while I've been in the DC Metro area, and got a job offer from on of them. The other one I blame on the fact that I had a black eye.), because that's what I do. I get nervous about meeting people for the first time (which is weird seeing as I make my current living as a salesman and that's pretty much all I do), always have. But I got over that (mostly) and started on my (very time-friendly) trek to my interview in midtown(?) DC. I get on the train, and I'm checking gReader right here on Quincy, when this guy asked me how he could get to Gallery Place or Judiciary Square, while we were in Rosslyn going towards Farragut North. Now, I could have shrugged him off or told him to go look at a map. But instead I stopped what I was doing (not, unfortunately, because I was about to ruin), pulled up WMATA's trip planner, and told him exactly what bus and everything to catch to get to his final destination. Feeling good about myself, I then went off to my interview.

Feeling bad about myself after a subpar interview, I walked home as fast as I could in order to get home and start applying for jobs and drinking ASAP. Wait, I'm forgetting a crucial part.

Now, for those who don't know, I lost my id about a month ago, and now I needed a VA id instead of my glorious OH id. But, in order to get this id, I need my birth certificate , proof of SSN, address and all that jazz. But! In order to get your SSN you need a birth certificate. For whatever reason (and I'm going to go with laziness) my family couldn't find my birth certificate or my social security card. So I had to send off for another one (which costs about 40 dollars if you were wondering) which was sent via UPS. This would prove to be a problem. Since I just transferred to a new store, I didn't know what my schedule would be. And, since UPS wouldn't hold it until I did know my schedule, and the UPS distribution center was somewhere in Alexandria, it was looking like I wouldn't be getting my birth certificate and thus my license anytime soon.

Just that morning I changed my delivery date to this tuesday when I could hopefully be off, so the package would still be on the truck. I was walking up the stairs to my home when I saw that, for some strange stroke of luck, the UPS truck was there to make a delivery to another home in my little area. So, of course, I asked the driver if the package was still there, it was of course, and so I signed for it and went home a happy man.

The driver didn't have to give me the package then, he could've said that I would have to wait until my scheduled delivery, but he didn't and I'm thankful for that.

Just goes to show that sometimes one good turn does deserve another.