Groovymarlin.com

(Warning: this video is very disturbing at the end.)

WTF is going on at the University of Florida? Yesterday, John Kerry was speaking (I don’t know why) and taking questions from the audience at some forum. A student got up to ask a question at the microphone. Admittedly, he was kind of loud and rambling, but I’m guessing he was pretty nervous and also he obviously has passion for his topic (the fact that there was enormous fraud in the 2004 election, especially in Florida).

I suppose if I had wanted to ask Senator Kerry the question, I would given him a chance to answer, but being rude or slightly obnoxious is not grounds for arrest, the last time I checked. It certainly isn’t grounds for what happened next. The student, Andrew Meyer, was forced to the ground by no less than five University police officers. And then, most shockingly (no pun intended), while he was already subdued but still shouting to demand an explanation, he was violently tasered in the chest for at least five seconds. It is, quite simply, the most shocking, terrifying, sickening thing I have seen in a long time. The innate violence of it, and the obvious pain and terror in the young man’s cries are bad enough, but even worse is the realization that this is happening the U.S., “land of the free.” What about free speech? What about civil rights? Note that the officers never inform him he is being arrested, they never attempt to read him his rights. They tackle him, and taser him, and haul him away.

What. The. Fuck.

Raph Koster got tagged to answer this meme, and I enjoyed reading his responses. Also, he did not tag anyone in turn, which I thought was kind of cool of him. (I always hate it when someone sends me a humorous email that includes a chain-letter-like “forward this to 10 people or else” warning at the bottom.)  So I’m going to answer the meme, or at least try to. And I won’t tag four people at the end either (although my reason is more that I’m not sure I know four other bloggers well enough to tag them!).

Four jobs I have had in my life (not including your current job):

1. Temporary office/clerical worker (aka the seventh circle of hell)
2. Teenage slave at McDonald’s (aka the eighth circle of hell)
3. Personal secretary to the Director of Accounting at a large retail credit company
4. Labor management systems installer

Four Movies I have watched over and over:

1. Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
2. Army of Darkness
3. Goodfellas
4. The Big Lebowski

Four places I have lived:

1. Brook Park, Ohio
2. Gahanna, Ohio
3. Ashburn, Virginia
4. Leesburg, Virginia

Four Shows I love to watch:

1. Project Runway
2. Iron Chef
3. Deadwood
4. Rome

Four Places I have been on vacation:

1. Disney World
2. Las Vegas
3. Toronto
4. White Sulphur Springs, WV

Four of my favorite foods:

1. Sushi
2. Popcorn (made in a pot on the stove)
3. Pizza with sausage and mushrooms
4. Unadon

Four favorite drinks:

1. Bourbon and Coke
2. Starbucks grande vanilla skim latte
3. Fresh-brewed iced tea with a little sugar
4. That lingonberry soda they sell at Ikea

Four places I would rather be right now:

1. Playing poker in Vegas (and winning!)
2. Sleeping in a hammock somewhere warm
3. The Apple Store
4. Playing WoW in a really comfortable chair

I really haven’t lived many places. It makes me feel like a bit of a rube.

OK, I love this woman’s hair. She’s up there with Anna Wintour in my hairstyle icons gallery. But once again, a style that I totally covet would probably be inappropriate for me:

a. This is another person who has lots of money for frequent trims, plus a personal stylist/hair person who probably fusses over her before she goes anywhere outside her house. On me this would not be the same.

b.  The “falling in the eyes” thing is probably an essential part of the look which would drive me insane.

On the plus side, I did read somewhere that this kind of style is good for someone with fine hair (like me), and my bangs are (believe it or not) actually long enough to make this work. (I guess that makes them not really bangs anymore.)

Damn. With my hair growing out, I’m going crazy. Getting ready is a chore. What used to take me three minutes (blowdry, scrunch in a little pomade, go) when my hair was short and funky now takes upwards of 10 (blowdry, use curling iron or else it looks like a limp mop, hairspray liberally) now that my hair is hitting below the bottom of my jaw. I can feel it on the back of my neck and it freaks me out! It does look pretty, if I do the maintenance, but somehow I feel less stylish. It’s cute, but it doesn’t have the attitude, the in-your-face-ness, the sassiness that my short hair did.

There has to be a happy medium – some hairstyle that’s shortish and a little punky,  but doesn’t require a $70 haircut every four freaking weeks. Why can’t I find it?

Apropos of nothing, a random list of movies that I love. Most of these are older. Some of them are beloved by many, others are (seemingly) only beloved by me. Am I crazy? Got other ideas? Leave a comment.

• Chinatown
• Young Frankenstein
• Evil Under the Sun
• Terms of Endearment*
• The Shawshank Redemption
• Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure
• Alien
• Aliens*
• Goodfellas*
• Body Double
• North by Northwest
• The Professional (aka Leon)*
• Singin’ in the Rain*
• Blade Runner
• Bringing Up Baby

*Items with asterisks are films that my husband has found me watching for the nth time and said, in a slightly accusatory tone of voice, “You love this movie! If it’s on TV you HAVE to watch it!” Yeah…so?