Thursday, September 2, 2010

UGAmateurs

On Monday the UGAtheists held "Stone a Heathen Day" at our public forum in the middle of campus, Tate Plaza. They put up posters with quotes from the Bible about when you should stone someone, had a boy stand in the middle of Tate Plaza holding a sign that said "Heathen! (Me)" with an arrow pointing to himself, and encouraged students passing through the plaza to throw "stones" (water balloons) at the heathen.



I'm not totally sure how I feel about this yet. There are tons of people that like to think of themselves as open to new cultures and ideas; who sympathetically act interested in the culture of a Buddhist classmate or pretend they aren't put off by a stranger's turban. Yet it is almost unspeakable in this Bible belt of ours to identify as an atheist.

Randall Bourquin, president of the UGAtheists, is extremely involved on campus. He was an orientation leader (an incredible honor), is in a fraternity and is known across campus. When I showed people that video I couldn't help but feel their attitudes change towards him. He states in this interview that it isn't easy being an atheist in a community such as UGA. And I'm sure it isn't. People's reactions when you simply say you aren't a Christian mix between turnt-up noses and pity that the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ hasn't "saved" you yet. Oh, but he will.

So I think we should face atheism with open minds and consider it just another religion. Or...antireligion. In my mind, I'm not going to discriminate against any other theological beliefs because there is absolutely no way to prove it. If there were, we'd all be on the same page. We won't know until we're dead and then what? We're dead. So let's treat eachother with a little respect.

That being said. I think the UGAtheists pretty much just made themselves look foolish. They weren't expressing their beliefs, they were instead putting down other religions' beliefs. They aimed towards Christianity but the quotes they used about stoning came from the Old Testament, hence Judaism. They obviously did their research. Plus, it's just an international rule that Leviticus is a bunch of bologna.

If the UGAtheists were trying to prove a point that they should be excepted as having just another system beliefs, they approached it the wrong way. Putting down Islam doesn't prove a point for Christianity, just as putting down Christianity/Judaism doesn't prove that we should all be atheists. I think it's safe to say that all religions have completely bewildering parts about them. Including atheism. They could have built themselves up by having pamphlets and a table describing their beliefs but instead they made a giant step backward and have probably lost any hope of being accepted at this Bible belt university.

Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Mother may I?

I love the Duggars. And any other quickly multiplying family that TLC has to offer. Yet at this time in my life, the only reason I want a kid is to give me something to blog about.

Sunday, August 29, 2010

Snacks on the go

So it's back to school time and sitting through my classes has reminded me of something I meant to list out all last year.

Foods you shouldn't eat in class. All from personal experience.

Oranges. I decided to bring an orange to class one day and not only is it a messy fruit to peel, you get that shimmery film all over your hands which makes it dang near impossible to take any legible notes.

Chips. Could you choose a louder snack? A kid in one of my classes brought sun chips to our small class of 16 and did that thing where you try to open the bag slowly so it doesn't make a loud noise all at once but ends up just crinkling and crunching way longer than necessary. Just put the bag out of it's misery and open all at once.

Which leads us to pretzels. Like chips, it's possibly one of the loudest foods to eat. Plus you get crumbles all over yourself.

Trying to avoid crumbs? Maybe you'll eat an apple. On second thought, don't. It's a whole nother classification of loud foods. Instead of the crinkling of the bag, you get the loud slurping bites out of an apple. You'll probably forget to bring a napkin and end up drooling on yourself a little.

Last but not least, takeout. You'd think this one would be implied by the fact that it's an entire meal in a box, but I've seen it happen. You've got your loud styrofoam container with your plastic fork and it wouldn't be a big deal except that more than likely you will smell up the entire room. Which will either repulse your classmates or leave them thinking about lunch for the next 75 minutes.

When picking a snack for class, choose wisely.

Sunday, August 22, 2010

Doggone dead.

An article published in the UGA Red and Black the other day gave a profile on a 23-year-old student who had just been arrested for the fourth time.

First off, that's not normal. After the first time you should give yourself a firm slap on the wrist. After the second time you should reconstruct your list of priorities. After the third time you should probably just lock yourself away.

So the last three offenses had to do with drunk driving, swerving, etc. Somewhat normal things. Her first offense, however, was for killing 7 puppies and leaving them in a box (with her address on it) behind a gas station.

WHO THE HELL KILLS PUPPIES!?

Like of all things people want to do to puppies (cuddle, kiss, walk, name) you chose to KILL them? Pretty sure that's a guaranteed ticket to hell. Pretty sure she'll be offered an executive position in hell.

Here's the article.

Thursday, August 12, 2010

Break it down

In the midst of recruitment I have caught a cold and am in serious need of a dose of testosterone. Needlesstosay, I haven't had much time to post. That being said, I found this awesome video of the girl from Step Up and all the Missy Elliot videos dancing. Pretty sure this is what I looked like that time I decided to quit my state championship volleyball team and take up hip hop dance with middle schoolers.

Sunday, August 1, 2010

riDictionary.

Over the past few years I've accumulated words that I like and I use them as my own form of jargon. I've gotten lots of comments on my personal slang and I think it's about time I explain some of them.

Naturally, most of my words are ridiculous. So I'm gonna call this my:

riDictionary.


Fly (adj.)
1. Cool. Bring yourself back to the 90's for this one.
In a sentence: "Yo Coolio! I know your crew says your hair is whack but I think it looks fly!"



Grill (noun)
1. Space. Personal bubble, per se. Usually preceded by "all up in my".
In a sentence: "Girlfriend. Your breath smells rank and you are all up in my grill. Take a generous step backwards, por favor."


Homeboy (noun)
1. Boyfriend. I used this one for about 6 months before I admitted I was dating my current manfriend. Speaking of manfriend, it is interchangeable with homeboy in this situation. This word is for those of you that hate the "b-friend" word and wait an awkward amount of time before committing.
In a sentence: "Homeboy cornered me and made me DTR. Guess he's my b-b-b-b-boyfriend now."
2. A male that is annoying you. This can frequently be the homeboy from #1. Most likely is. Ok, like almost always.
In a sentence: "Homeboy. Has it occurred to you since you moved in a year ago to clean your George Foreman?" (That sentence recently passed across my lips at which point homeboy responded, "I don't clean my grill outside, I don't clean my grill inside." He also didn't clean his sheets for 8 months. We're working through some things.)



Hoodrat (noun)
1. Stems from 0:54 in this video. Usually used in reference to a troublemaker or someone that lives in the city, possibly steals cars or wears his pants low enough to make you want to shade Grandma's eyes.
In a sentence: "I took the wheel out of my trunk and put it on my front yard to make room in my car and when I was on my way back I saw some hoodrat walking down the road with it." (Also a true story, courtesy of homeboy who resides in the ATL.)


Junk (noun, sometimes plural.)
1. Privates. Interchangable with "girl parts" or "boyparts", also words in my riDictionary. I try to stay away from crude language and both the "P" and "V" words, so adopting these PG-friendly phrases helps me out.
In a sentence: "Yea, boyshort undies are cute and all but they get all up in my junk when I wear them with jeans."
2. See: Grill. This is often confusing but hopefully when used in context your fellow conversater will get what your sayin.
In a sentence: "I'm trying to concentrate but you're all up in my junk with your heavy breathing and lack of knowledge of personal bubbles."


Nastynasty (noun)
1. Grossness. Especially includes bodily fluids.
In a sentence: "Eventually, I want to have kids but I don't want to deal with all their nastynasty so I'm gonna bring them to my mom's for diaper changes, nose wipes, and spit ups."




Woo (noun)
1. Ya know when you try on pants and they're awkwardly long right in the crotch? So you have that extra inch of fabric hanging down in case of a sex change or something? Yea...that's a woo.
In a sentence: "I was gonna buy this cute pair of jeans but the woo was out of this world. I could've hoarded things in there."


Enjoy your new knowledge of my vocabulary. Wish me luck that words from the riDictionary are on the GRE.

Sunday, July 25, 2010

Take your best shot

Last night the boyfriend and I watched Cheaters.

"The trashy show where 'detectives' creep on people before revealing themselves and then let the couple not-so-articulately yell at each other before putting their hands in front of the camera and storming off?" you ask? That's the one.

Homeboy only has 6 channels. Give us a break.

Anyways. The girlfriend was stalking her boyfriend who has been cheating on her for three months. At some point while she was chasing him through the parking lot of his karate studio (mental eyebrow raise) the police were called for a disturbance.

After Mr. Miyagi eventually surrendered to his furious girlfriend, she continued to fling expletives his way and eventually gave him a swift smack across the face.

At this point, the police intervened and arrested girlfriend on assault. Now while she was definitely obnoxious and probably a man in a former life judging by the looks of her, I'm on her side.

If you just found out your significant other has been lying/cheating for 3 months, you get one free shot. I, myself, would go for a knee to the groin but a slap in the face works, too. Unfortunately for homegirl, the police don't agree.

Thursday, July 22, 2010

Be my boyfriend? Check yes or no

Facebook made a bold move when they decided to include "relationship status" in the standard user's profile.

While the "relationship status" isn't usually as controversial as the "religious views" or "political views," it can be just as annoyingly underhanded and hard to keep track of.

I've boiled down the most common options when facing the relationship status question. Make sure to throw yourself completely into the part or else you'll confuse all of your somewhat friends. Here are the choices:

1.Nothing. You're mysterious. Or so you think. Either you don't feel like having the people who've stalked you since high school meddling in your beezwax or you don't know what you are. You might be hiding a somewhat controversial relationship or you may just be too cool for Facebook, in which case you say you have better things to do than update your profile. Which we all know is a lie. You check Facebook everyday and purposefully don't update things so people will believe that you really are too mature for Facebook. Give it up, it's a generational addiction and you aren't foolin' anybody.

2. "Single." Make sure to put up statuses about how much you love your "girlies" and how you can't wait to sip merlot Thursday night at the Winery. You might be desperate, or you might just be proud that you're a strong woman who doesn't need a man. You go, girl.

3. "Married" or "Engaged" to your BFF. You've probably had this up for years and refuse to take it down because you're stubborn and/or still think it's cute to joke about being lesbian lovers. It's sort of like Number 1 but you get the satisfaction of confusing people for a split second.

4. On again, off again. Now this is why the News Feed was invented. Because every time the two of you break up or get back together, I get to read about it on my homepage. And then I get to breathe a sigh of relief that I'm not you. Now I'm sure the two of you love each other very much and just can't stand to be apart, but how you share it with the cyber world is borderline embarrassing. You should read about Number 1. Or even resort to Number 3. Cause Number 4 shouldn't be an option. Unless you do it for your stalkers' enjoyment. In that case, I'm enjoying it and by all means, continue.

5. "It's Complicated." Not to be confused with Number 4. If you are a Number 4, your relationship is probably complicated, but it takes a certain breed to admit that you have no idea where you stand in terms of significant other. The Number 5 has thrown his or her hands in the air and just plain given up. Your crazy somewhat-significant has said something like, "I don't want to ruin our great friendship," or "I just think we don't need a label right now." At which point you should say back, "You're crazy. Make up your damn mind." But usually you're too much of a limp noodle to say that.

6. The "I have a new boyfriend and I LOVE HIM!!!" Not only do you put that you're "In a relationship" the day you decide to call if official, but you sit together at his laptop and change your relationship statuses and profile pictures simultaneously. You giggle about how perfect you are for each other and update your status with how excited you are about your date this weekend or how PERRRRRRFECT your new man is. He then "likes" your status and comments something nauseating like "I love you so much baby" for all the world to see. Congrats, newly coupled, but get a room.

7. The "We're super proud of how long we've been together" couple. You do things like use Picnik to edit lovey-dovey pictures of the two of you kissing, usually in sepia with high contrast. Your status updates everyone on how many years/months/days you've been together and how wonderful it is to have someone to bring you chicken noodle soup and watch the Notebook with you when you're sick. If you're a guy, you probably haven't gotten any in way too long and your girlfriend makes you put up a picture of the two of you as your default. Facebook has now made the Number 7s happier by making it possible to put up your anniversary under your relationship status. Joy.


Now what if things just don't work out and the relationship ends? Have no fear. There are more options.

The somewhat sane people out there are...
1. Just sad. You wait a few days and then take down the relationship status anyway. Unfortunately, Facebook still tells everyone that you are "no longer listed as in a relationship with" him. You let word spread about the breakup and pretend to ignore the wall posts saying, "What happened?" or "????" That's just unfortunate.

More fun, though, are those of you who are...
2. Bitter. You change your relationship status to "single" that night and continue to update your status with quotes from Christina Aguilera songs about being better than him anyway.

3. Not to be confused with the "I'm already over you." For the few weeks after the breakup you make sure to take pictures with ALL of your guy friends, possibly in compromising positions or kissing them on the cheek. All of these pictures are put up under an album named something like "Best Summer of my Life!!!" or "FREEDOM" which you know your ex will look through. Mainly because you stalk him like a pack of dogs on a three-legged cat.

For both 2 and 3, you now have free time to kill that was previously spent with your significant other. You have time, energy and reason to become a Facebook queen and you let the world know that you are having like SOOOO MUCH FUNNN being single!!!

A defense mechanism? Maybe. But I bet it feels so good.

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Karma

Remember Constance McMillan, the Mississippi girl who wasn't allowed to bring her girlfriend to the prom? I blogged about it when it happened and just came across this article. I'm glad things are working out for the girl. I'm sure she deserves a break.

Saturday, July 10, 2010

Eight legged oracle takes soccer by storm

Paul the octopus has been a very important player in this year's FIFA World Cup.

Promoted from his usual job as oracle for just Germany's soccer team, Paul has made predictions on games between other countries in the final rounds of the World Cup.

The sightly sea creature has two clear boxes lowered into his tank before the match, one team's flag on the outside of each box. The boxes contain the same amount of food and whichever Paul decides to open and eat from is the team he picks to win.

Paul correctly predicted Germany's destiny in the first six matches of the World Cup and has chosen Germany to win today's match. He has maintained a perfect record in predicting World Cup matches.

Talk of death threats and dirty money have occurred but Paul is not fazed, probably because he is an octopus.

Wondering who will win the cup, the phrase "Only time will tell" has now become, "Only time and Paul the octopus will tell."

Rumors of a clothing line and record deal for Paul the octopus have surfaced but none can be confirmed.

Staying true to his training in romance languages, Paul has chosen Spain to win the cup.

Thursday, July 8, 2010

Published!

While we were in Cambodia we all wrote one large article from start to finish. They were recently published in the Grady Journal.

HERE is the site for all of our articles and HERE is just mine.

Monday, July 5, 2010

Humble beginnings

I've recently decided to give Twitter a chance after a friend told me to quit updating my Facebook status and get a Twitter already.

So far I've learned that Lindsey Lohan and Kim Kardashian are friends and that people can update up to 1000 times a day. Neither of which I give a flying flapjack about. It probably doesn't help that I am not starstruck in the least.

So I'm not a fan yet, but I neither understand it nor care to be obsessed with it. I also don't have internet on my phone which puts me bounds behind other Twitteronians.

All negativity aside, one pretty cool dude you can subscribe to tells you awesome random facts. Yesterday he shared the first ever YouTube video.

Check it out.

Possibly not the most thrilling thing you've ever seen, but still kinda cool. This kid now probably has a bagillion dollars cause he helped start YouTube. And he likes elephants.