Elise Jenna

For the first time in my life, I'm scared. I am genuinely scared of what will happen if Palin is in office. I know Bush is a fuck up, but I just figured he was too stupid to actually do anything too terrible. (I was wrong.) But Palin. She's smart, and people like her. And she's fucking nuts. And that scares me. Sarah sent me this, and it sums up my thoughts perfectly. Give it a read. It's written by the women who created the Vagina Monologues.

DRILL, DRILL, DRILL

I am having Sarah Palin nightmares.
I dreamt last night that she
was a member of a club where they rode
snowmobiles and wore the claws of drowned
and starved polar bears around their necks.

I have a particular thing for Polar Bears.
Maybe it's their snowy whiteness or their bigness
or the fact that they live in the arctic
or that I have never seen one in person
or touched one.
Maybe it is the fact that they live
so comfortably on ice.
Whatever it is, I need the polar bears.

I don't like raging at women.
I am a Feminist and have spent my
life trying to build community,
help empower women and stop
violence against them.

It is hard to write about Sarah Palin.
This is why the Sarah Palin choice
was all the more insidious and cynical.
The people who made this choice
count on the goodness and solidarity of Feminists.

But everything Sarah Palin believes in
and practices is antithetical to Feminism
which for me is part of one story --
connected to saving the earth,
ending racism, empowering women,
giving young girls options, opening our minds,
deepening tolerance, and ending violence and war.

I believe that the McCain/Palin ticket is one
of the most dangerous choices of my lifetime,
and should this country choose those candidates the fall-out may be so great,
the destruction so vast in so many areas that America may never recover.
But what is equally disturbing is the impact
that duo would have on the rest of the world.

Unfortunately, this is not a joke.
In my lifetime I have seen the clownish, the inept,
the bizarre be elected to the presidency with regularity.

Sarah Palin does not believe in evolution. I take this as a metaphor.
In her world and the world of Fundamentalists
nothing changes or gets better or evolves.
She does not believe in global warming.
The melting of the arctic, the storms that are destroying
our cities, the pollution and rise of cancers,
are all part of God's plan.

She is fighting to take the polar bears off the endangered species list.
The earth, in Palin's view, is here to be taken and plundered.
The wolves and the bears are here to be shot and plundered.
The oil is here to be taken and plundered.
Iraq is here to be taken and plundered.
As she said herself of the Iraqi war,
"It was a task from God."

Sarah Palin does not believe in abortion.
She does not believe women who are raped
and incested and ripped open against their will
should have a right to determine whether they have their rapist's baby or not.
She obviously does not believe in sex education or birth control.
I imagine her daughter was practicing abstinence
and we know how many babies that makes.

Sarah Palin does not much believe in thinking.
From what I gather she has tried to ban books from the library,
has a tendency to dispense with people who think independently.
She cannot tolerate an environment of ambiguity and difference.

This is a woman who could and might very well be the next president of
the United States.
She would govern one of the most diverse populations on the earth.
Sarah believes in guns.
She has her own custom Austrian hunting rifle.
She has been known to kill 40 caribou at a clip.
She has shot hundreds of wolves from the air.

Sarah believes in God.
That is of course her right, her private right.
But when God and Guns come together in the public sector,
when war is declared in God's name, when the rights of women are
denied in his name, that is the end of separation of church and
state and the undoing of everything America has ever tried to be.

I write to my sisters. I write because I believe we hold this
election in our hands.
This vote is a vote that will determine the future not just of the
U.S., but of the planet.

It will determine whether we create policies to save the earth or
make it forever
uninhabitable for humans.

It will determine whether we move towards
dialogue and diplomacy in the world or whether we escalate violence
through invasion, undermining and attack.

It will determine whether
we go for oil, strip mining, coal burning or invest our money in
alternatives that will free us from dependency and destruction.

It will determine if money gets spent on education and healthcare or
whether we build more and more methods of killing.
It will determine whether America is a free open tolerant society
or a closed place of fear, fundamentalism and aggression.
If the Polar Bears don't move you to go and do everything in your
power to get Obama elected
then consider the chant that filled the hall after Palin spoke at the
RNC, "Dril Drill Drill."

I think of teeth when I think of drills. I think of rape. I think of
destruction. I think of domination.
I think of military exercises that force mindless repetition,
emptying the brain of analysis, doubt, ambiguity or dissent.
I think of pain.

Do we want a future of drilling? More holes in the ozone, in the
floor of the sea, more holes in our thinking, in
the trust between nations and peoples, more holes in the fabric of
this precious thing we call life?

Eve Ensler



September 5, 2008

Any thoughts?

ahaha.

so, update. let's see. watched a lame movie. it was lame. ba-zam! anyway, hung out by the river all day. actually went swimming- or let the current carry me for a ways. i'm sunburnt. it feels nice to be sunburnt in september. i like it. still looking for a new place to live. the search is not very promising with my current income. oh well.

cass is going to be here in four days! i cannot wait to see her. it's been almost nine months since i've seen her. crazy stuff.

So it's official. I'm a Portander. I have Oregon license plates. I have an Oregon license. I drive a Subaru. I have Tevas. I have a dog. I'm pretty much the typical Portlander. I even have checks that have a Portland address on them. It's interesting, not being a Michigander. It's the first time in my life. And I like it.

I met this cool guy at the park yesterday. We talked for over two hours. Our dogs played wonderfully. He has a girlfriend, but I wish we could be friends. I'm not sure how to go from that casual meeting in the park, to friends. It's complicated. And very difficult to make friends when you don't know anyone or go to school.

But really, I do have friends, I do. A few at least. There's Kate. And Kayla. And Kylie. And Achsa, And Mike. And Jenn. And Sarah. And Andrea. But some of those are just work friends. Whatev, I'm just in a depressed mood. I need to focus on the fact that I've met so many awesome people since I've been here. Not the fact that I have nothing to do on a Saturday.

And my work schedule changed. I work four ten hour days, meaning I get three days weekend! Very exciting stuff. And I'm training to do rooms, which I would really like to do. So good things are happening. Stay positive. Oh, and my mom is visiting soon. That will be fun.

Hilary and I got a new roommate. Her name is Jen. She seems really cool. I like her so far. She works at a vet too. So she understands my bleeding heart for animals.

It's been too long.

So I went to the beach this weekend. The Oregon coast almost never warms up, but it was in the mid-80's and now I'm terribly sunburnt. My fault. I don't really mind, except I was wearing my glasses, so I have a big pale spot across my nose. Ha, ha. I'm a dork. This weekend renewed my love for Oregon. Thank god. And I got a new (to me) car! Exciting stuff.

Woot, lj!

So Jake, Frederic and I left Bombay. We spent three days there staying with some friends of friends, or something. We staying in North Bombay, which is a shit hole. There is shit all over the streets and sink holes of trash. I was a little disappointed to see the great, legendary Bombay in shambles. But then we went to South Bombay and it was awesome. It was clean. There were so many amazing buildings and beautiful artwork. It was nice to see something like that. South Bombay is what I was expecting India to look like, and I finally found it. We took at 22 hour train ride to Agra, where we are now. We almost missed our train. We got to the station, only to find out we were at the wrong station. We took at taxi, he drove like a mad man, yelling at people, honking and flashing his lights the whole way. We drove, in city traffic, 10 kilometers in 11 minutes. Amazing. And then we ran to our train. We made it, sweating and red in the face, and the train took off maybe two minutes later. It was awful, but wonderful because we made it. We were on a nice train too, because it was all that was still available. So the ride was enjoyable. We are staying at a really nice hostel. It has a hot shower, three beds and a TV. It's only R500, which is like $12, I think. Anyway, we went to some Fort today, it was huge and beautiful. And we went to the Mini-Taj which was amazing. It was built back in the 1600's. Tomorrow we are going to the Taj Mahal. I'm excited. I'm sure it will be mind blowing. Okay. Adios.

Well my trip is coming to an intermission. I will be home on Thursday, then I'm going to Chicago for the weekend with my family and then I'll be moving in with Cass and Libby for a while, until I go to India in November.

I finally got to see real whales, not just rocks. It was amazing.

I briefly visited Emily in Raleigh. I had a lot of fun.

I'm in Asheville, NC now. I worked at the Women's Herbal Conference this past weekend. It was a lot much work, but it was so powerful. Seriously amazing.

On another note, I'm officially single. Ollie and I had a wonderful time on our trip, but we were fighting a lot. So, were we fighting because we don't get along anymore? Or were we fighting because we'd been in a car together for months? Only time will tell.

Either way I miss Ozark like crazy.

We stayed on a Christmas Tree Farm! It was magical. The people were so nice. They had lot's of neat dogs, two tiny kittens, three cats, no electricity, no running water and the house was beautifully built by the man, Ken, who lived in it. Seriously, it was a magical place.

Ozark tried to eat a bee. Instead he got a stinger in the lip. We didn't notice until much later, when his lip had swelled out significatnly. He looked so goofy.

Portland is a really neat town. We found an awesome restaurant where a person can get full for under $4. Amazing!

In Oregon, a person is not allowed to pump his or her own gas. That is really weird to me, and I don't like it. But I guess it helps the economy by providing more jobs...

Seattle is big and beautiful.

I'm flying to Raleigh on Monday. I'll see Emily for a bit, then I'm off to Asheville to work at the Women's Herbal Conference. Then off to Michigan! I will see you all very soon.

So is anyone willing to pick me up from the Greyhound station in Grand Rapids on Thursday, October 4th at 11:30am? I would really appreciate it.

I bought my ticket to India. It was about $1200. I'm close to broke and well worth it.

I want to move to Portland, Oregon. It's amazing. I promise any and all of my friends would love it here. So someone should move with me in January. We'll share a U-Haul. If we get a few people we can get a house. It would be awesome, I promise.

So I'm not moving to California immediately. I really want to visit Jake in India, so I'm going to spend the last of my money doing that instead of paying a security deposit and all that. That's where all of you come in:

I'll be in Grand Rapids from about October 5th to November 10th, I will need a place to stay. So if you have a room, or floor space or anything where I can stay for that time I would be eternally grateful. Of course, I will gladly pay rent. I won't have a car (but I will have a bike) so I'd like to leave near some businesses so I can get some lame job for a month.

Ollie will stay out here in Cali with the dogs and we'll do the long distance thing for a while (again). It's hard being together non-stop for so long, so the distance will probably do us some good. I need to take this time and be selfish by going to India. So I am.

On another note. I am going to move somewhere in January. Where? Not exactley sure. Possibly No-Cal, maybe Virginia. I don't really know. But hopefully (maybe) some of my friends will want to move with me? Anyone? Amy Jo? Annie? Kevin? You all seem up for a change.

Love and miss you all. For realz.

#1- We went to LA to visit Joe. The three of us decided to camp on the beach. And just down the street a movie was being filmed. So of course, we decided to check it out. They were filming on top of a mountain. We started driving up the mountain and our gas light came on. I guess the hill was guzzling gas fast and we stalled out due to no gas. So we're (Ollie, Joe and I) stranded on the top of this mountain about a mile past the filming set. Some totally Malibu women drives by and offers to bring me to the set. She drives me down, they say they can't help and she drives me back. Well the film crew was really our only hope, so Ollie and I walked back. We asked the people there for a ride to the bottom, but they said they couldn't due to insurance reasons. But this very nice fellow offered to drive to the bottom and bring up the fuel truck they were using. So he drove the fuel truck up. Turns out the movie is called "John Hancock" starring Will Smith and Charlize Theron. The man showed up with the truck, completely filled the tank, gave us some Gatoraids and said, "Courtesy of Will Smith." Ha, awesome.

#2- So we were driving up to San Fransisco and it was about three in the morning. The gas light had just gone on and Ollie wanted to wait until the next city to fill up. I insisted we fill up asap. So we saw a gas station and pulled off. We stalled out on the way to the pump, just making it. Ollie got out to fuel and turns out, they were not open. So we slept at the pump for three hours until they opened, to fill up. We should really start filling up before the gas light comes on.

#3- We are staying on a house boat in the San Fransisco Bay. Yesterday we went kayaking and saw bunches and bunches of seals! They are so fat and so cute. I could just hug them all.

#4- Ollie and I were watching these whales playing in the water. We watched them for a while. And then realized they were rocks. Neatest rocks, I've ever seen.

Ollie and I are moving to northern California. You'd love it there. Come live there with us. Seriously. I want to move, but I would love for my friends to come with me (that way I'll be a little less homesick). So any of my friends looking for a big change, move with us. We'll get a nice big house. I'll be driving to California with a U-Haul in early-mid October, so throw your stuff in the back and get in the passengers seat. Seriously. I would love you forever.

So we're leaving for New Mexico in a little while. I liked Colorado, a lot acutally, but there's no lakes, so I couldn't live here. I bought a new car, a 1983 Mercedes Benz 300 Turbo Diesel Wagon. I know, it's a mouthful. But we intend to run in on biodiesel or straight vegetable oil, if we can swing it. Oh and we acquired a dog... another one. But we're just dogsitting for a few months. Hopefully. But Parzana and Ozark are best friends, so it's okay.

But more importantly, this is best thing that ever happened to me:

Ayla and I went to the movies yesterday to see Stardust. We grabbed an old popcorn thing out of the trash and got a free refill. We then decided to grab a thing of pop, get a new straw and a get a refill. Ayla picked a cup out of the trash and gave it to me to be refilled. So I brought it to the counter and asked for a refill. The girl working looked at me a little funny and said they didn't give refills. I thought that was weird. We talked about why, and she was pretty nice and everything. I started to walk away and realized the cup Ayla had given me was a Taco Bell cup. I tried to get a free refill with a Taco Bell cup. Okay, maybe it isn't as funny if you weren't there. But it was awesome if you were.

So, we went to the rainbow gathering in Arkansas, acquired an adorable puppy named Ozark and a guy named Torrance. Went back to GR for a minute, so saw friends and went to a wedding. Then Ollie, Ozark, Torrance and I headed up to the Upper Peninsula. We met up with Kimball and her family. I got to meet Charlie. She is just lovely. Then we continued on our way. Stopped in St. Paul, MN, dropped off Torrance. Then drove over to South Dakota. We hung out there for a few days. Went to Wounded Knee, Mt. Rushmore, the Black Hills and Rapid City. We met a lovely mama named Brittany. She let us stay at he house. She made us dinner and breakfast the next morning, along with a packed lunch and a container full of cookies. We drove through Wyoming. We stopeed at a sweet park that allowed overnight camping, right on the North Platte river. They had showers and everything. Very classy. We camped it a night and then drove on to Colorado, where we currently reside. We are staying at our friend Becky's house in Manitou Springs, right near Colorado Springs. It is very nice. It is refreshing to stay in one area for more than a day or two. So that's where we are now. We plan on heading to New Mexico pretty soon. I miss you all. Much love.

PS- Oh and Harry Potter 7 was pretty sweet. I feel satisfied. Please respond with dorky Harry Potter remarks. Thanks.

So last night I had the unfortunate discovery that I have kidney stones. They are terrible. I realized it about 12:30 at night and was in the hospital until about 4am. Never again.

The worst part is the nurse turned the TV on for me and the movie “Are We There Yet?” was on. It was awful. And I had no way to change the channel. If the kidney stone wasn’t enough…

I scrapbooked for 12 straight hours yesterday. Only breaking to eat. It was fantastic.

I stayed up past midnight! I'm so hardcore.

I love wholesome fun.

So I want to go to the beach on Memorial Day. Since it's a holiday I have the day off from work and school! Woot. So to celebrate we should all go to the beach. I think Eric is going. And possible Cass. You should come too.

I understand that LiveJournal doesn't have feelings, but sometimes I feel bad for it because I never update. And when I do it's always x-posted to MySpace. So here's a LiveJournal only post:

I'm working. Eric is working today, which it neat cause then I can visit him. I think Kevin Timmer got hired here. I hope he doesn't hate it, I'll feel bad. I don't hate it, but then I again I just put in my notice of resignation, so the end is nigh.

It's weird how people go their seperate ways. I guess it happens after high school, but that's different. And now it's happening again. A lot of my friends will be back together for Kevin's party. It will be fun, I know it.

I had a fantastic weekend. I went to a bunch of garage sales and bought two AMAZING dresses. If you run into me I'm sure I'll be wearing one of them, cause I'm obsesssed.

Okay, that's enough.

Does anyone want to go to a bluegrass festival this Saturday? Ollie might go, but I think he's backing out. It's only $10 for the whole day. It will be fun. I'll drive.

I just had a five day long vacation. Five days. No work, no school. And what did Elise do with all that free time you’re asking yourself, well here’s a recap:

Monday: Cleaned up the house. Organized my shit. Picked up my brother and left for Chicago. Had dinner at Celtic Crown. They have dollar burgers. Really. One dollar, for a big delicious hamburger. Yum. Four people ate, got fries and beer for under $15. It was amazing. Mandie was supposed to meet up with us. She was late. A few hours later we had to rescue her from a KFC on the south side. It was just like when Chris had to rescue Brenda from the bus station in Adventures in Babysitting. Totally sweet.

Tuesday: Explored Chicago by my lonesome. It was way fun. I took the L every where and didn’t even get lost. I went to the Shed Aquarium and the Field Museum. Sea otters are my new favorite animal. Then I met up with my brother and Mandie for lunch. Mandie and I went shopping at H&M. I got a dress that looks like a nightie. I am in love with it. I left Chicago and drove to Oxford, Mi. I arrived around midnight.

Wednesday: Woke up and went to the job site in Kensington with Ollie. Helped work on a cob house. It was fun. I got my feet muddy. I got to work with people who were doing community service, mostly for DUI’s, they were really neat and I enjoyed them very much. Ollie and I drove back to Oxford.

Thursday: Ollie and I woke up probably around 9ish and stayed in bed until around 1. Then we made breakfast, omelets, of course. We hung around the kitchen for a bit taking our time and then around 4 we headed out with a blanket and laid in a field for a few hours. It was gorgeous out and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. We both fell asleep for a bit. Then we went out for pizza and went to bed. I have to say it was one of the greatest days of my life.

Friday: Woke up. Worked in the garden for a bit. Went and saw an adorable children’s play. Too cute. Then drove home. Got in a million traffic jams. Finally got home about 6:30pm. Did some laundry, cleaned myself up. Looked at our new set-up in the basement, Jake did an amazing job cleaning it. Watched part of a movie. Tried to sleep, but there was a party happening. After almost 4 hours of lying awake, I called Neil and slept on his futon.

That re-cap was probably only fun for me. Oh well.

All in all, not a bad vacation. Word.