Dear United Apartment Management,

You are dicks. I went over to my friends apartment to which you manage. I went outside to fresh air... when I notice that MY CAR IS BEING TOWED AWAY. I run up to the guy, who I believe only has a 5th grade education and hasn't showered in 37 years and ask why the FUCK my car is being towed. He says that it's because I did not have a parking pass. NO SHIT! I don't live here, I had no idea I needed a parking pass! My friends didn't think it would be a problem at 1am! But apparently you decided to be assholes and have every car in the lot towed tonight that didn't have passes. Even though, those that showed up AFTER the office closed would not be ABLE to get them. Thank god I went outside when I did and saw them towing it! But I had to pay that ass a $50 "drop fee" which you WILL be paying me back for being idiots! And if you South Pointe management won't do it, I know the OWNERS of United and I will bring it to them.

So thank you for being morons and making my night suck. I am going to give you a swift kick in the cunt and voodo you into the next century.

Please die in a fire,
Jamma

I was reading one of my favorite political blogs (www.feministing.com) today and came across this lovely bit of information.

Apparently there is an anti-choice (I prefer that term to pro-life) group in Colorado sending around petitions to put a ballot measure in the up coming election to define a human being starting at a fertilized egg. That is BULL shit. They say the fertilized egg has th right to due process.

To quote the blog: “Does this mean fertilized eggs can petition the courts to make it illegal to use the most effective forms of birth control if those contraceptive methods create an inhospitable uterine environment for fertilized eggs? Does this mean that a fertilized egg can sue a pregnant woman if she miscarries?"

Basically what this group is doing is making all abortion illegal. But of course they aren't SAYING that. They simply want to define what a human being is and when it becomes such. Why, other than abortion, is that even necessary? They say that is because all human beings deserve equal protection. Well... that sounds to me like they are talking about abortion even though, nowhere on the petition or the ballot measure does the word abortion even exist. Sounds fishy and misleading to me.

Note the last line of the article that says: "Anti-abortion activists said similar voter-led initiatives or legislative efforts are under way in five other states, including Montana, Georgia, Oregon, Michigan and South Carolina."

Sketchers.

I am extremely proud of myself. I drove over three hundred miles this weekend. To some people that may not seem like a big deal, but it is for me. Those who know me well, will know that I hate to drive. I hate to drive long distances, I hate to drive places I've never been before. Yes, I have been to Charleviox/Beaver Island 1000 times, but I've never done the drive so I never pay attention.

Anyway... I went home for the weekend to visit my mummy/get the puck out of Mount Pleasant for a few days. I left Thursday after work at about noon. I was kinda nervous because I didn't know exactly how to get there, but I had my handy map of Michigan (with the rout mapped out of course) and my handy Google Maps turn-by-turn directions, so I was sure I'd do just fine.

Pulled into Charleviox exactly when I expected to, bought mom some Big Macs from McDonalds (because she was having a "big mac attack" and there is no McDonalds on Beaver Island). I boarded my plane at 3:30, and was off for a relaxing weekend with my mummy. Cuddling with Bear (my doggie) eating comfort food (meat loaf, mashed potatoes, homemade cheddar broccoli soup), and seeing the exquisite fall colors was so relaxing and wonderful! Sometimes I hate Beaver Island, but then there are times like these with I feel like it is paradise on Earth.

Some disturbing news however...

My mother had decided to return to church. Which I suppose isn't really DISTURBING, it is just not something I associate my mother with. But she has her reasons, and they are valid I suppose. I still do not support organized religion, and probably never will. But she is free to do whatever she likes, and I will support her in those decisions. As long as I don't have to go with her of course... to which she has agreed.

Second, apparently Beaver Island is full of homophobic assholes. Apparently there is this older gay male couple that goes to one of the churches there. Nobody apparently knew they were a gay couple until recently, and people want to kick them out of the church. Also since this has started, the one lesbian teacher at the school has had some back lash. They have circulated a petition to get her fired (which could be illegal in Michigan very soon if ENDA is put into law) which is just SICK. I don't even know what to say at this point that wouldn't be beating a dead horse.

So in conclusion... this weekend was mostly relaxing and I was spoiled because mummy took me shopping in Petoskey.

The end.

Right. Apparently my livejournal has become somewhat of a political blog... I'm not sure how I feel about this. But I digress...

How selfish are Oregon voters to not pass "Measure 50" yesterday. "Measure 50" would have raised taxes on tobacco products (about $.85/pack) in order to provide universal health care to children. To me, this is the MOST SELFISH thing I've ever heard of.

Let's do some math, shall we?

I've done some research and found that Oregon does not pay sales tax. And that before the proposed increase the tax on a pack of 20 cigarettes was $1.18/pack. So that equates to:

BEFORE HEALTH CARE TAX
$7/pack
+ 1.18 tax
x 31 days a month
$253.58/month

AFTER HEALTH CARE TAX
$7/pack (most expensive cigarettes ever!)
+ $1.18 original tax
+ $.85 health care tax
x 31 days a month
$279.93/month

That's a difference of $26.35/month. And that is exactly why I think the smokers of Oregon are selfish or at least brainwashed by the big tobacco companies who apparently spent almost $12 million dollars on negative campaign ads. I, as a non-smoker, would be willing to give just under $30 month out of my pack check to be able to provide universal health care to children. And, if you're a smoker spending almost $300/month on a product that is GOING TO KILL YOU, what's an extra $30/month to make sure the children you are giving second-hand smoke, can have their health care provided?

And to be honest, my math is probably way over shooting this. First, most cigarettes are not that expensive. I only use that as an example because most of my friends smoke Dajarum Blacks which are just under $7/pack and I've never seen any more expensive than that. Second, not everyone smokes a pack a day, so that cuts the cost in HALF if a pack will last you two days (which makes the failure to pass this bill even worse since the increase would be less than $15/month for those smokers).

I just think it's a small price to pay to provide health care for children. And not only would this increased revenue have gone to universal health care for children, but also increased education to prevent children/teenagers/young people from smoking to begin with. Which is probably why the tobacco companies fought so hard against it.

I guess this just goes to show you how the American psyche works. Me, me me! Pass up the needs of children, for your own  selfish addictions.

I'm done.

So. ENDA (the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, a bill that would ban discrimination of GLB(T?) people in the workplace) passed today. This in my opinion is a VERY good thing. Why wouldn't it be? It's taken 30 years since the first thought of GLBT workplace protection to get it passed. However, my issue with ENDA is that to get it passed they changed the bill to be non-trans inclusive. That is - to not protect the rights of the transgendered population.

At first HRC (the Human Rights Campaign - which introduced the bill, and was a big portion of the push behind it) dropped their support the non-trans inclusive bill to make a statement that they would not support something that discriminates on any level. But then they decided (for whatever reason) to support the bill.

It came to a vote today and passed. My thoughts are 1) YAY it passed because it's a step in the VERY right direction, but 2) BOO because it's not trans inclusive, and I can see when they go to add the trans inclusive parts the conservative law makers will say "but there is already GLBT protection on the books" because they don't understand gay let ALONE transgenderd.

I guess my final opinion is the same as HRC. It's better than nothing, but they still need to push to get the transgendered population represented in the bill.

That is all. You may now return to your regularly scheduled lives....

So I've come up with a new life goal. It does, however, require some background knowledge. I'm currently working on (read: procrastinating) a "research portfolio" for my Intro to Social Work class (that is of course, due, tomorrow). I've been reading articles for it for many many days now (read: 2) most of which deal with the policies and procedures of gay adoption. Through reading these articles I've come up with a new life goal:

To develop a training program for social workers/adoption agencies about GLBT adoption issues (ie: parent sexual orientation does not effect that development of the child, 90% of child molesters are heterosexual males so there is little risk of molestation, and the children don't grow up with distorted gender identity/gender roles) and then study its effectiveness. I will however, have to hire someone to do the statistical analysis. I can gather the data easily. I'm good at that. But doing the math part of it... NEG.

While we're on the topic I need to rant:


In other news, I found a place to live next year. I'm living with my friend Ashley (who is amazing btw!) and the place is called... Woodside, or Woodsomething apartments. It's approximately two blocks from where I'm at now, and it's the same price... however the place is bigger, and has more included like central air conditioning (as opposed to a crappy window unit stuck in the wall), a washer and dryer, and my bedroom will be the same size if not bigger. The kitchen is kinda small, but I don't spend much time in my kitchen anyway.

I'm still doing really well in school. My attendance to my music class is pretty sketchy, but I don't care. I'm still getting an A. I got a 93% on my last HEV 110 (Diversity) exam, and a 96% on my HEV 211 (Marriage and Family Perspectives) ecomap assignment. Sweet.

Also, I know my schedule for next semester already.

BIO 151 (Human Biology) I have to take it for my major, not sure what that has to do with social work, but whatev.
SWK 250 (Social Work Policy and Practice I) it's scary starting to get my major underway...
SOC 221 (social problems) counts as a university program AND major class, yay double counting!
HEV 597O (Sexual Orientation) it counts as my last minor elective, and I'm taking it with Dr. Brad, who I had that GLBT family studies class for
REL 222 (Religious Traditions of India) my LAST university program! taking it credit/no credit just in case 15 credits is too much.

I should get back to writing my research. Blarg.

<3 all!

So... it's been 18 years since I updated this damn thing. Probably because my life is boring as mutherfucking hell these days. But that's ok. Sometimes boring is good. Apparently it gives me more time to study, because...

I JUST GOT 101% ON MY SOCIAL WORK EXAM!!!

Apparently I've found my niche. Which is good considering I can't afford (monetarily or time wise) to change my major AGAIN. Lolz.

Also, not much going on my my life... classes are ok. I'm doing REALLY well this semester. I've set the curve in 4 of my classes on the exams, and got the second highest score in another. I've turned in several papers and the lowest score I've gotten was a 95%.

GSA is good I suppose. There's been some drama with people not doing their jobs, which means I might have to break out my whipping stick soon and kick some ass. But honestly, I think if we talk to them they will pick up their shit and start working. But coming out week was fantastic. The Drag Show was a blast. Some girls and I were supposed to do YMCA by the Village People, but schedules conflicted and no one could practice so we had to drop out. But it was still ok. It was a 3 hour show even with a bunch of the non-professional acts dropping out.

Halloween is just around the corner, and I'm ganna be Ginny Weasley again. My costume is ganna kick some ass! This year I have an effing wand, and Jenny is ganna let me borrow her maroon an gold tie! Jamie Samson was going to make me a cloak but I got too busy and too poor to do it. Maybe next year. *sadface*

Blah. Jayme is sleepy, but I'm at work so I must go do something productive with my time. Sweet.

Holy crap....

Apparently during my short hiatus from eljay.... it exploded.

Read more about it here: whydoesljcensor

I couldn't take it last night.

It was Kristen's graduation party. I couldn't handle it. I was too sad. And it didn't help that when I went upstairs to get a 10 minute nap in so my head ache would go away, I was ambushed by Jenny, Nick, Matt, and Nicole. Not that I minded, it just made me more sad because I will be leaving everyone in TWO days. And Dave is moving to California at the end of the month. So my goodbye to Dave was a final goodbye. There was lots of crying, and talking, and 5 people piled on top of each other on my bed. It was ridiculous.

As sad as it was though, it was good. These are the things I'm going to miss the most about these people. Granted I'm only going to be gone for about 4 months, but seems like a long time. And then there are those people who are moving out of the state! (Damn them) But regardless Dave and I said our goodbyes in private before the ambush happened and it was nice. It was nice to hear him tell me how proud he was of me, and everyone involved in the GSA. It made my happy.

After we decided it was probably time to check out down stairs, we find Kristen passed out in a heap, and everyone else is freaking making out on the furniture, and we are bored/hungry. So the five of us went to Lil' Chef for some food. I could have SWORN it was about 1am but it was only 11pm. But that will happen to you when yo start drinking at noon. Lol.

When we got back from there I was planning on sleeping because my head hurt real bad, but Kristen was done being passed out apparently, and there were people in my bed.... doing stuff... or almost doing stuff. But Matt and Nicole went and busted some knee caps and I got my bed back before people got the nasty on my bed. I told Kristen I was ganna sleep for just a little while and then come back down. Well a little while turned into about an hour and a half, and when I did wake up to pee, there was no noise coming from down stairs. So I went back to bed. Yay sleeping.

Now I'm awake and want to clean up. But there are approximately 13 people asleep in my living room. I could clean up outside, but I'd have to haul the trash out front and I don't feel like it. Oh... the front is a mess because we had a two kiddie pools, a sprinkler, and a slip-n-slide. Then people attacked us with silly string. Fuckin a.

I'm ganna go do something about that. Lame.

Love.

What an eventful year it's been. First semester seems soooo long ago. I feel like this year has just flown by, I can't even really remember much of what has happened. But over all my sophomore year of college went well.

My grades are no where NEAR what I wanted but that might have something to do with the major change... which is why I'm not overly concerned about it. I've gotten the grades I need for my U.P.s and I've only taken two of my major classes and gotten Cs which is fine because I have approximately 30+ more credits to take in it, and you need a B average for your degree. I'm ok.

This year was a trial and error year. We tried things with the living situation... some of them worked, some of them didn't work and Erica and I are changing them for next year. The GSA had an entirely new eboard most of which had no eboard experience what-so-ever. Next year is basically the same people but we've weeded out those who didn't work and replaced them with people who (we think) will. Next year is going to be the most amazing year ever. Even if I will be with out Kristen. Distance makes the heart grow fonder right?

In a few days I'll pack what little shit I need to, in order to go home. 8am Monday morning I'm leaving Mt. Pleasant for Grand Have/Grand Rapids, and then one week from today I will be working on the Island. And in approximately 28 minutes I will be unemployed for a week. I think that is going to feel GREAT! I have no school to worry about, no job to wake up for! It will be so nice!

Got a new tattoo as well! Well... kinda. Pictures later!