traffic makes me want to kill myself

I made a post last month about how slow-walking people were the most annoying thing in the world. I lied.

It's traffic.

I left my house at 1:30 pm, to drive back to school. It should have taken 3 1/2 hours; 4 if you drive slowly (which I don't). But no, I just got here. It is now almost 8:30. That's a good (or bad, I should say) 7 hours of driving.

It took me a full THREE HOURS LONGER THAN IT SHOULD HAVE.

first win for captain fabulous: a story in pictures

1-0 to the Arsenal! So it wasn't especially pretty, but it was a win. El Capitan looked quite dashing with his new yellow band:



But of course, he wasn't the only one on the pitch. We also had Robin van Persie, doing what he does best:

Carlos Vela, a.k.a. Theo's Mexican twin:

Baby Jack Wilshere:

Aaron "Jailbait" Ramsey:
And, of course, the goalscorer. The pink-shod and half-naked Niklas Bendtner:

o captain! my captain!

My life is now complete. Well, almost. Why, you ask?

Because we'll be seeing a lot more of this lately:
Yes, Cesc is the new captain of Arsenal!

"It will be Cesc Fàbregas. This is a permanent thing. But I don't think I especially have to explain why." --Wenger.

No, Arsene. No, you don't have to explain. I approve.

Cesc says: "It is a great honour for me to captain one of the biggest clubs in the world. It is a proud moment. I know it's a big responsibility but together with my team-mates, I know we have the spirit and commitment to get back to winning ways and fulfill our potential."

Aw, he's all grown up. I'm just so proud right now! *tear*

My life will actually be complete when I see El Capitan Cesc in action at the Emirates.

[P.S. Clichy also approves.]

more pretty people: blog challenge six

This week, it's all about the ladies.

First up, tennis player Ana Ivanovic. Super jealous of her. Her boyfriend is also quite attractive. (Side note: He just helped Espana win the Davis Cup--and he's a lefty!)

Sylvie van der Vaart. Another one that I'm jealous of for both looks and romantic affiliations. Rafa is adorable and they're adorable together.

Eva Green. Her eyes are totally mesmerizing.
Chan Marshall, a.k.a. Cat Power. Gorgeous girl with a gorgeous voice.

Keira Knightley; not my favorite actress by any stretch of the imagination, but I do think she's beautiful.

Finally, Diane Lane. Hard to believe she's 43. No way I'll look that good when I'm 43. I don't even look that good now.

the boy from new joisey

Love him.

weird goings-on at valencia

Check out the number on the back of Marchena's shirt.
*click to enlarge*

(okay, it's a little hard to tell, but that's the best picture I could find. The 5 is clearly upside down.)

I don't get it, did they not notice before they sent him out on the pitch?


*is blatantly ignoring the Arsenal result*

redefining sidewalks

A friend of mine posted this note on facebook, and I thought I'd spread the word.

Hey friends at other colleges and universities,

I am a member of a student group here at Princeton protesting Proposition 8, California's recent ballot initiative that banned gay marriage. In the past week, our group has begun staging rallies on our campus for a measure we have dubbed Princeton Proposition 8 (PP8), which would ban freshmen from walking on the University's sidewalks by securing what we feel is the traditional and right definition of a sidewalk (a means of pedestrian and bicycle transit for use by sophomores, juniors, seniors, grad students, faculty, staff, and visitors only). We feel that California's Proposition 8 provides us with a very good precedent to take away the rights of a minority like this.

We are doing this because we are outraged. We are outraged because a majority voting to deny the rights of a minority is illegal, unconstitutional, and wrong. It is the very thing a constitutional democracy is designed to prevent.

Moreover, we are outraged by the fact that to date no one at our university is speaking out. There has been no public outcry; there has been no public discussion of the issue. Our goal in doing this was to create some.

And we have thus far been very successful. People are talking about this issue now. This satirical protest has people discussing the appropriateness of the analogy being made (that marriage, like sidewalks, are a civil right which cannot be denied to a minority simply because a majority wills it to be so). This conversation invariably leads to a deeper weighing of the issues at the heart of the matter.

Over the course of two days of rallying, our pro-PP8 petition has garnered over 400 signatures from enthusiastic "supporters" of traditional sidewalk values, including that of University President Shirley Tilghman. You can watch a video from our pro-PP8 rally on YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59IK28ry9eQ), or read about it in our campus newspaper (http://www.dailyprincetonian.com/2008/11/21/22209/). Since the posting of these items, they have been linked to by a surprisingly large number of blogs, including Andrew Sullivan's blog, The Daily Dish. The YouTube video has received over 14,000 views. Word is spreading. We will continue our rallies on Monday and Tuesday, with the eventual goal of organizing a formal vote to "pass" our law.

This is a letter inviting you to participate in our movement. At our college alone we can do only so much. But imagine if every college in the country started such a movement. Together, we'd be impossible to ignore. We could get the whole nation talking.

We encourage you to rally at your own campus for an anti-freshman-on-the-sidewalk University Proposition 8. This is a way for us to make our voices heard in a unique and profound way, especially in a world that views our demographic as complacent and apathetic.

If you're interested and want more information about what we did, email our organizer, Christopher Simpson, tagged in this note (cjsimpso@princeton.edu).

Feel free to copy this note and tag your own friends at other schools!

Thanks,
Lianna


Here's the video of their rally: