Thursday, April 8, 2004

Current Mood: strangely congenial, considering the fact that I'm sick and all. Listening To: Reliant K Time: 8:30 PM Man, I need a new theme for this thing. I love Daisy, but I need a change. I think I have an icon/avatar thing I want to use, but I don't really have any good welcome sort of pictures. Any suggestions? Anybody? I've been sick the past couple days (to add to everything else), but I'm feeling better right now. This morning I woke up feeling sort of nauseous and I figured that was a bad sign, but after my shower I felt better. Or maybe it was the cheese. Magic cheese. Turned in the research paper today, as well. Talked about the lovely 1950s in which everybody wanted to be perfect but nobody was. Actually, out of all the decades in US history, I'd like to know more about the fifties than anything else. As a fan of Elvis and James Dean and beatniks, I think I would enjoy it immensely. Wouldn't want to live there, mind you. It's one of those "It's a nice place to visit.." sort of things. We're also getting into the Civil Rights movement. Capital C, capital R. Though there were many civil rights movements for many different racial groups and minorities, the movement is the big one, with Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks and Malcolm X. Which is also a very interesting period. The more I learn about the history of the US with slavery and then with segregation, especially when you compare us with the other nations of the world, the more it makes me frown. You kind of start to wonder, "Okay.. what were we thinking?" It's weird to think that the most advanced nation in the world (and at the time, we were) that stresses freedom and democracy abroad, could be so awful to our own citizens. And what really makes it horrible is that before World War II, blacks had thought that maybe that's just the way it was. But then when we let them join the military so they could go off and fight in place of our white boys, and they fought along side the French and British armies and saw that none of the other countries segregated their troops and that they actually treated them as equals, with respect, they realized that there was a lot about the picture back at home that just wasn't right. Whoo, historical tangent. You guys love me, though. ....right? But yeah. Interesting stuff. For history majors/enthusiasts, at least. Also, the weather is gorgeous. Today has been so wonderful. Walking to class, I thought, "This is perfect weather for a baseball game." And it is. It's warm without being too warm, and there's a great breeze to cool you off. It just rained yesterday, so the air isn't too incredibly infested with pollen and that other stupid allergy crap. I haven't been to a game in ages, either, and I'd really love to go one of these days. My family always went to see the Indians play during Spring Training at Chain of Lakes Park (Jacobs Field) in Winterhaven. I loved doing that, and I wish we got to go more. Everybody's always so busy now. But we would drive up, listening to Sister Hazel, Matchbox Twenty, Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty, or something like that, and we'd try to get there early so that we could catch some fly balls at their batting practice. Sometimes they'd come out and sign stuff afterwards, if you were lucky. We always sat in the same place, too.. right along the first base line, above the Indians dugout, on the metal bleachers way out to the side. Anybody could sit there, and I personally think they were the best seats in the park. You get the sun, you can talk to the players and get stuff signed, and you can see the whole field. Plus the food. Ice cream came in these little helmet cups and we got at least two each every time we went. The hot dogs were huge - we'd have contests to see who could eat theirs the fastest. Needless to say, I never won, but hey, it was still a blast. I remember getting really horrible sunburns in the weirdest places, especially on my legs because we'd have them all stretched out and they'd just bake. And depending on where the sun was, they'd sometimes only be on one half of your body. It was so worth the pain, though. And even though the Indians usually lost, because they haven't had a good team since.. 1997 or something, we always had a good time. Especially when our relatives came down to Florida and went with us - they're all from Ohio, so you know they were fans. Ah, those were the days. I miss that. But I also love remembering that sort of stuff, especially when I start getting stressed out or sick or tired or down in the dumps. Because I look back and I know that I've led a great life so far, and there's still a lot more to come. And even if things might be hard right now, they're not going to stay that way. I'll even look back on these hard times and smile because I'll know that I wouldn't be the person I am without them. My memories have shaped who I am, in a way, and more than that, they're like a history of who I am. So you know I love them. Okay, I think I'm done being philosophical now. Natalie and I are probably going to grab some Micky D's later for dinner (whoo), and I'm hoping that I'll also be able to head over to Wesley sometime today and participate in the festivities. Maybe I'll do some more coloring. Whee, oil pastels! So messy, but so fun! One more story before I go, though. The other day, I was walking to class (cause that seems to be just about all I do) and there was this leaf blower thing sitting on the brick seats next to the science library. I kind of slowed down and stared at it, looked around, then stared at it again. It was just sitting there, all by itself - nobody else was around, and I was so tempted to run and put it on. I could almost hear the ghostbusters theme song - the pull was that strong. You can be sure that if I had put it on, I would have run around singing the theme song. But alas, I did not, and so I shall never truly be part of the ghostbusters. Great movie though. And I'm spent!

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