Some chick at my university tried to defend Indiana in the campus newspaper. (Most of the student body come from elsewhere and slagging off the Hoosier State is a popular pasttime.) As a Hoosier myself, I defend Indiana all the time. I disagree with her on two points though: A) Corn rocks, and B) Most people from Indiana do not have street smarts (with the notable exception of those unfortunate enough to grow up in Gary or Indianapolis). That’s not to say we can’t ever acquire them, but growing up outside of big cities pretty much limits your opportunities to cultivate them at a young age. Heck, my town only had one stoplight. I understand the writer’s frustration, but even I admit that northern Indiana isn’t exactly the cultural center of the world (which is why I’m outta there).
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ND Drum Major
Hey! Check it out! Tambre Paster, a junior aerospace engineer and fellow Weasel, just became the first African-American drum major in University history! (Hey, Liz, she was in your section, wasn’t she?) CONGRATULATIONS, TAMBRE!
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Blackout
There apparently was a power blackout on South Quad last Friday night. Unlike the one that affected most of campus my senior year, the students did not run around starting fires and demolishing furniture. Damn. Those were the good ol’ days.
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“Faith-based initiatives”
I’m deeply skeptical about Bush’s plan to fund “faith-based initiatives,” but this article linking it to Notre Dame’s ACE Program made me pause. I mean, I have friends who’re doing this Program (it sends graduates to teach in under-resourced Catholic schools) and I definitely think that the work they do is a good thing. If Bush could guarantee that there wouldn’t be any sort of bias in giving out the money… But I really don’t think that’s possible, do you? Do you really believe that if, say, a Wiccan group was running such a similar Program, that their chance of getting funding would be anywhere near the same as a Catholic group? No way, José.
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Y2K
Salon’s running an interesting story on those Y2K “wack-jobs.” (Seriously, the author actually calls them that. Ha!) I hate those people. They remind me of when I used to work in a grocery store in my small town, and every time the weatherman predicted a storm we’d get a rush of old people buying jugs of water and flashlights. I’d stand there at the cash register, all of sixteen-years-old, thinking, “Wolcottville, Indiana is the last place anything remotely interesting would happen, let alone something environmentally catastrophic.” I really think there’s a deep human desire to hole up in a bunker for some reason. Either that or my natural optimism is once again setting me apart from the hordes of paranoid wack-jobs around me.
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I Choo-choo-choose you!
Folks seem to be lovin’ the Wiggum Valentine. I got mentioned on little.yellow.different., Lots of Co., and 13 Days From Monday. Awww, I’m glad you folks liked it!
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Deviant and Diverse
Oh, what a nice and relaxing weekend. I took advantage of the downtime to scan in photos from the Deviant and Diverse Party we threw back in October. They’re pretty funny.
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Plastic.com
Sorry for the lack of posts yesterday and today. I just haven’t felt the urge. My karma whoring on Plastic has sucked away any and all desire to visit other websites. (For the record, I’ve posted 14 comments and my karma’s up to 6.) I’ll try and do better.
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Roger Ebert’s new partner Richard Roeper dissects the success of Jennifer Lopez. I love it. Here’s a quote: “Jennifer Lopez is an undeniably beautiful woman who has shown promise as an actress in films such as “The Cell” and “Out of Sight,” and she’s a mildly talented singer/dancer of at least “Star Search” semifinalist caliber–but the fact that she has the No. 1 movie and the No. 1 CD in the country is a striking blow for mediocrity.”
Pisces buddies!!