Suit Distress

About 2 months ago, I got bangs.  It was a big moment for me, as my hair-cutting choices tend to be pretty conservative and predicated on me doing little to no work on maintenance.  Bangs are high maintenance.  But they're just so dang cute and after I read about my fifth article describing Zooey Daschanel as a girl who likes cupcakes and polka-dots (2 of my all-time favourite things) I figured I should start doing my best to look more like her.  So bangs.

Problem: I forgot that I really really hate hair maintenance and also that I'm not like Zooey in any other way besides the two aforementioned affinities.

Further problem: I over-think these kinds of things and end up getting mad at "the man" for putting me into a box that I've just constructed in my mind.

To sum up the issue, a friend recently was sitting in my room and said, "You do not come over as the kind of person who would own this many scarves.  Or this many books on political strategy.  Certainly not both."

I should say up front, my comment on hair maintenance may have been misleading.  I hate that, but I really, really love getting dressed.  I own way too much clothing and putting it together in new ways is just one of the best activities there is.  My first day working in the Senate, I felt out of place.  Apparently both Democrats and Republicans can unite on one issue: they are anti-colour.  Grey, black, brown suits.  Everywhere.  My bright yellow sweater felt sadly out of place.  And at lunch, everyone is apparently only willing to eat pre-packaged sandwiches and/or salads.  Again, my curry and cupcake felt out of place.

But why?  Why, The Man?  Why are people in yellow sweaters supposed to go work in cupcake shops and not allowed to write strategy memos?  Even here at the school district office where I currently work, people ask if I'm a teacher.  Because I wear polka dots.  Apparently in order to work in education policy, a boring black suit is required.  One response to this would be to say that I would like to be taken seriously and therefore will wear a suit.  But as my mother, who has been forced to go suit-shopping with me on the two occasions on which I have bought an event-specific suit, can attest, that is just not really going to happen.

I think this is okay (The Man).  If we're going to build a stronger link between practitioners and policy-makers, perhaps wardrobe should be the first step.  I like that when I go into classrooms to chat with teachers, they don't feel threatened, they don't feel like I'm from some foreign place where it's not uncomfortable to wear a jacket and heels all day.  I like that when I leave the Hill, people don't automatically know I work there from the suit-badge combo and feel like I'm "one of them".  I think it makes me a better strategist, a better policy wonk and a better advocate.  And also better dressed.

So everyone (you too, The Man), go out and get yourself something in yellow.  You're welcome.

Political Stories No One Cares About

CNN.  Because I'm working from home right now and watching you.  This one is for you.

A lot of people are consuming the news.  A lot more than they used to.  I assume very smart people work at these news outlets and do research on what people want to see/read/hear, so I fully acknowledge that I am likely in the minority on these.  But still.  I consume a lot of news.  So please stop these types of stories - they make me feel dumber.

1. Things Candidates Buy

I don't care about John Edward's haircuts, Santorum's sweater vests, Mitt Romney's multiple personal jets (I assume).  If someone looked at my bank statements, they would see a shocking percentage spent on frozen vegetables, Starbucks, and one-off iTunes purchases (damn you for making buying TV episodes so easy!)  This tells you close to nothing about me as a person or my ability to govern.  (I wouldn't be good at it.)  Also, campaigns are weird, weird times.  I have no doubt that Santorum actually needs a ridiculous amount of sweater vests - it is probably easier to leave one in every hotel in the country than trying to pack a bunch.  I don't know why Edwards needed that haircut, but meh, I'm sure he did.  Unless they're buying illegal guns or children, I don't care.

2. Things Candidates Eat

This is very related to item 1.  Romney talked about eating grits in the South. This got a disproportionate amount of news coverage.  I'm pretty sure you're required to say the word "grits" within 6 hours of landing anywhere below the Mason-Dixon line or they kick you out.  Obama ate a burger - and he's supposed to be the healthy president!  To be honest, I'd rather they take those 10 minutes of coverage and devote it to how he caved in on tax cuts - he's supposed to be the liberal president!

3. Gaffes Staffers Make

Let me be clear: I LOVE hearing about gaffes candidates make.  And this Republican field has apparently learned this and is doing its best to make me very, very happy.  Well done.  But yesterday, a Romney staffer made the now-famous "Etch-a-Sketch" gaffe.  First of all, he was not saying anything we didn't all already know.  Second of all...he's not Romney.  If he says something like that again, he'll just be fired. So who cares?

4. Candidates' Thoughts on Sports

Boring.

5. Other People's Coverage of Candidates

If you haven't picked this up, I always enjoy bashing Fox.  Well I should say, almost always.  (Side note: recent study shows that consumers of Fox News are actually LESS informed on basic political facts that people who consume NO news.  Yes there are a few issues with this study.  But still. Ha.)

But you know, everyone is guilty of taking things out of context (see: "I enjoy firing people"), and NPR/CNN/Slate, while you may do this less than other people because you're a little more center, it is still not interesting to talk about how other people are oh so irresponsible. General rule: If the Daily Show or Colbert Report can cover your news better than you, maybe just let them.

I'm sure there are a lot more that bother other people, and probably that bother me.  But as I know the president of CNN is positively addicted to my blog, I'll at least get these out there.

Uninspired

I turned in my first complete draft of my thesis this week, got back a midterm and a big paper, and am getting a serious case of senioritis...or 2nd-year-itis...or whatever the grad school equivalent of "good God why am I so close to done but not done yet"-itis is.  So this is going to be a very short post.  Because I have a large amount of Being Human to watch.  And, as the title would indicate, I am feeling uninspired.


BUT.


You know what is inspired?


This web series.


Enjoy.

Hatin' and Appreciatin'

This past week, I've been back home in sunny southern California, thoroughly enjoying all the beach time, perfect weather and burritos it has to offer.  Every time I'm home, all I can think is...my goodness I was such a whiny brat.
As I'm sure anyone from my home town would agree, this town is not exactly a happening spot, especially when you're a teenager and your mobility is limited.  I never understood why my parents moved there - it's small, it's boring, nothing is open past 7 PM.  When a small skate park opened when I was in middle school (possibly elementary school?) it was a BIG deal.  Will children be out and about...after dark?!  The hooligans!  We also talk like we're stuck in the 1950's in my town.
But anyway, when I drive into my town, this is what I see.

Seriously.  I lived here.  And complained about it.

If you've seen the movie Easy A (and who hasn't? AFI Top 100 List material if I've ever seen it), that was all filmed in my town and actually at my high school.  I went to see it with a high school friend at a theater in DC and we may or may not have pissed off everyone else in the theatre by yelling out everything we recognized.  As I said...the whole thing was filmed in my town, at my high school.  So we were slightly obnoxious.


So yes, every time I come home, I get mad at myself for wasting time as a teenager with all my complaining when I should have been soaking up the great weather, the beautiful mountains, the delicious oranges that grow everywhere.  And I've been beating myself up for this since my very first visit home in undergrad.  This, in part, is because I went to school in a really, really ugly place.  If you're wondering, Abilene, TX is not pretty.  There are maybe 3 trees in the whole town, and the grass is green for a glorious 2 weeks some time in April.  Otherwise it's brown.  Everything is brown.


It wasn't until I moved to New York and went back for a visit with some friends that I realized...Abilene is a pretty special place.  People are unbelievably friendly, you never have to work that hard to find friends, people throw amazing dance parties in their living rooms, and best of all, you can always find parking.  Always.  


So it's possible you are seeing a pattern at this point.  I did not.  I did not enjoy living in New York (it's crowded! People are mean! Everything is expensive! I have to be a teacher here!) and visiting Abilene just reinforced everything I was hating.  And the things I did actually like about New York got all mixed up and muddled in the hating.


I know everyone says that you have to live in the moment, embrace where you are, blah blah blah.  I have come to agree with that, but for totally cynical reasons.  This is coming up even more so at the moment because I'm trying to figure out where in the world I'm going to live when I graduate.  But anyway, currently, I live in Washington, DC (or "Warshington", if you're a Newt fan.  Also, if you're a Newt fan, you probably do not enjoy anything else I've written.  Sorry.)  I love my city.  Love it.  It's easy to get around, the buildings are beautiful, cool things happen here, and my school is pretty great.
Being happy with where I am, though, has also allowed me to be realistic about the things I don't like about living here.  For example, the winters are cold.  It's also annoying that my vote doesn't matter, there are no good cheap nail places and very limited Mexican food.  Also the winters are cold.  And it's taken all my past locations out of either their nostalgic rosy glow or PTSD-dominated nightmare state.  Examples: My hometown is really, really beautiful and cozy and has great burritos.  However, your neighbors have a ridiculous amount of control over your day-to-day life, nothing is open when you need it to be, and you are forced to run into your high school teacher when you're at the grocery store.  New York is cold and expensive and hard to get around and I did, in fact, have to be a teacher there.  However, the food is amazing, you can see some amazing concert/movie/talk pretty much every night of the week and there are bagels.  Delicious, amazing bagels.


So what is my point here?  My point is, if you're anything like me and you tend to idealize the past and complain about the present, there is a really good reason to appreciate the grass on this side of the fence.  It allows you to complain with greater clarity and specificity, and really, isn't that what makes the world go 'round?