i'm the next big thing

Victoria, our lovely event coordinator (and new celeb--as you can see, the press loved her!)

Today I was a total celebrity. You may possibly see pictures of me on the Hard Rock Cafe website in about a week. Or interviews of me on the news.

We went into London today for the inauguration, decked out in our Obama shirts and buttons and waving our little American flags. The Hard Rock Cafe was packed, and there were people cheering and clapping and crying (I'm looking at you, Tyler!). The atmosphere was amazing. And I went all out in my Americanness and had a bacon cheeseburger. Delish. What wasn't so nice was the guy taking close up pictures of me while I was trying to eat said cheeseburger. I feel like pictures of me eating are going to crop up on the news now, and that's just awkward.

But anyways.Spot the Obama-alike! And yes, he had an English accent. It was a little surreal.

I've already said all that I can about the new administration, so I won't repeat myself. I will say that I'm feeling a little relieved and a lot excited. Can't wait to see how the next four years pan out!

hah!

I don't know how closely most of you follow US politics, so you may not have heard about Illinois governor Blagojevich and his...erm...recent issues. Or Illinois' more general problem with, you know, failing to elect any normal law-abiding governors. So anyways, my mother sent me this picture, and it gave me a chuckle.


There is also this. Yes, the White Sux fans can claim the President Elect as one of their own, and we get Blagojevich.

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:

america's not fixed yet

I'm not normally a huge fan of Keith Olbermann, because even though I agree with most of what he says he's a little too OTT for me, but this needed to be said and I think he says it well.



You go, KO.

old news. but still freaking awesome.

I love the West Wing. This is no secret. The show kept me sane during the Dark Ages, a.k.a. the Bush years (which I guess are technically still here, but at least there's a massive light at the end of the tunnel now). But I never thought that we'd actually be living the TV show.

I'm sure most people have heard of the similarities between Barack Obama and Matt Santos, and yes, it's not a coincidence. The character of President-elect Santos was based on Obama. What not many people know is that the Josh Lyman character was also based on a real politician, i.e. one Rahm Emanuel. Josh Lyman becomes Santos' Chief of Staff. Rahm Emanuel is now Obama's Chief of Staff.

Woah.

I'm so excited, you have no idea. Too bad they couldn't find a CJ to be press secretary instead of Robert Gibbs.

overwhelmed

So it's over. And I seriously cannot describe what I'm feeling right now. There are no words.



President Barack Obama...sounds good, doesn't it?

EDIT: Virginia also went to Obama. This is a huge deal. And Fairfax County was one of the major factors. Also, Montgomery County (the one that houses VT) went blue. My vote counted! And my volunteering helped! I'm so proud *tears up*.

i'm informed. go me.

You Should Be Allowed to Vote

You got 12/15 questions correct. Generally speaking, you're very well informed. If you vote this election, you'll know exactly who (and what) you'll be voting for. You're likely to have strong opinions, and you have the facts to back them up.

Should You Be Allowed to Vote?

Good thing, because I sent my ballot in a while ago.


So tomorrow's the big day. Everyone go vote for Barack Obama!

happy halloween!

Hope you all have a great night! Don't get too wasted, or you'll end up with embarrassing pictures floating around the net:


So yeah. Have fun, be safe, and watch out for monsters and aliens behind you!

florida = worst state ever.

Florida State just injured both our first and second string quarterbacks. Sean Glennon I don't care so much about, but Tyrod? Really? I'm heartbroken. If it's serious I'm gonna go down there and kick some Florida butt. We don't even have a third string QB.


Also, this crazy woman comes from Florida:



"Are you joking? Is this a joke? Is that a real question?"

Oh, Joe the Biden. You crack me up.

wait, don't i get a sticker?

It was fun!

i am vlad the impaler. don't tax me for working hard!

Disclaimer: I steal everything that is funny about this political campaign from the comedic geniuses at Wonkette.

Jumping on the whole "Joe the Plumber" bandwagon, the McCampaign has set up a "make your own sign" generator on their official website. The object is for you to fill in your name and occupation, and then I guess you can take your sign to a redneck rally and shout violent and racist things. Fun stuff, huh?


This is possibly the best idea they've ever had. It is serious fun!

Some possible rally sign ideas:

I AM Attila
THE Hun

I AM
THE Walrus

I AM creeped out by
THE saggy jowels

I AM the resurrection and
THE light

I AM voting for
THE other guy

The only problem is that the signs are sent to you through email, and they reject the ones that aren't serious. So I haven't gotten any official signs from them. Laaaaame.

nova is a state of mind...

...but apparently not actually part of a state.



Funnily enough, I agree with her. I disassociate myself with the *other* Virginia as much as possible. But I have to ask: if we're not really Virginia, does that mean we can secede? I vote we break away from the "real" Virginia and start our own communist egalitarian colony. Pantisocracy, anyone?

You know, many parts of "real" Virginia don't even like McCain. I spent three hours canvassing in Blacksburg neighborhoods on Saturday and only talked to one McCain supporter. Everywhere I went I saw Obama/Biden lawn signs, and many people I talked to invited me inside to talk for ten minutes about how much they hate Republicans.

It was a good time.

i will eat your soul!

Last night was the final presidential debate between John McCain and Barack Obama. I'm not going to go into the actual substance of the debate, because it wasn't anything we haven't heard a million times before. I just really wanted to post this Reuters picture.


I swear, this is not photoshopped. What in the name of Iker is that crazy man doing? Yahoo news says he is "react[ing] to almost heading the wrong way off the stage after shaking hands with[...]Obama". Looks to me like he's practicing his zombie impression. Halloween isn't for another 15 days, ya moron.

meanwhile, back in communist country...

I got home late last night and found this on my front lawn:



I figured it was my sister's doing, because she had been saying that she wanted one. But turns out my mom was the one that got it, and my little brother stuck it out in our yard.


I love my family.

greetings, comrades!

I'm sure looking forward to the demise of America's evil capitalist society once Barack "Osama bin Laden Saddam Hussein Stalin" Obama becomes president--er, sorry, I mean Chairman! Don't know what I'm talking about?

Joe McCain, brother of our dear old dotty Republican nominee John, called Northern Virginia "communist country" at a rally last weekend. This has cheered me up to no end. I totally don't agree with the campaign spokesperson saying that his attempt at humor was "unsuccessful", because it sure as hell made me laugh. My favorite part is at the end of the article, when she claimed, "John McCain and Sarah Palin are committed to winning the support of voters in Northern Virginia and understand the region's importance to victory statewide."

Yes, the region is very important. You won't win Virginia without NoVa. And guess what, McCampaign? You won't win NoVa. You're even having a tough time with the rest of the state, which is slightly hilarious seeing as how so many gun-toting bible-worshiping crazy rednecks live there. So call us communists if you must (because I mean, it's better than what Johnny calls his wife), but then don't come crawling back, begging for our support.

We've already given our elitist liberal bleeding hearts away to the other guy.