SOTUS Report 3020; Acronyms Are the New Spell It Out.

• I love watching the crowd and people walking in. Supreme Court followed by great applause for our first lady. She is grand (and that purple is a great color). Then cabinet! (I wonder who’s staying back tonight.) Some of the most fun moments are recognizing faces and names. Yes, I am a nerd.
• President! APPLAUSE! And schmoozing. Our president is so ~cool. (And that cute little wave to Michelle? Those two.)
• I think I’m expecting high rhetoric with this opening. Probably a good choice, if he chooses it. I didn’t want to spoil myself so I didn’t read the excerpts.
• Starting very much like a campaign speech. Blaming Washington, uplifting, hopeful. Harder to swallow from the President instead of a candidate?
• Wallstreet is such an easy scapegoat. (Ohh, joke! “It was as popular as a root canal.”)
• Yes to the right vs. easy choice. Governing is full of difficult decisions, people! We have become too compliant to short-term fixes with long-tern consequences.
• TAX CUTS! Pandering is what I call it. Tax cuts don’t solve every problem, or even most. SIGH. We call for deficit reduction, but we are unwilling to PAY IT OFF? No wonder being a politician is a thankless job.
• Government guarenteeing jobs, isn’t this Socialism!? Not that I don’t agree, I just wonder about people’s thought processes when they criticize.
• The transcripting man does not look happy, but he has a snazzy yellow tie.
• “How long should we wait? Washington has told us to wait for decades.” Long term! Good talk, and people should recognize the difficulties in getting things done, especially when poll numbers go down when anyone tries anything ambitious. We should not be a society of stagnation.
• Nuclear? Off-shore drilling? Should that REALLY be a priority? Clean coal? Does that even exist? CLIMATE CHANGE BILL! Change I can believe in.
• Exports, huh? Doubling in five years? This doesn’t sound good for the already weak dollar. Also should be on the list: cutting down on the number of subsidies we give out to industries for a truly free trade.
• Education reform! Not a sexy media topic, but very important, and his administration has taken some good first steps in the first year.
• As a college student, I agree with this reform.
• Health insurance reform. Hm, tough tough. “I didn’t take on health insurance reform because it’s good politics.”
• “I want to acknowledge our First Lady, Michelle Obama, who this year is creating a national movement to tackle the epidemic of childhood obesity and make our kids healthier.I want to acknowledge our First Lady, Michelle Obama, who this year is creating a national movement to tackle the epidemic of childhood obesity and make our kids healthier. Thank you, honey.” It all starts at childhood. Also, they are adorable, it’s true. Maybe a little too much for some, but I love it.
• It should have been touted as a cost-saver much harder during the legislation process. We still have time? Probably starting over.
• Fighting for the voiceless.
• Dems have been asking for bi-partisanship, Republicans drag their feet and claim to be trying to help. FIGHT ON (for health care reform)!
• Deficit reduction. More complicated than it sounds. And using executive order. Big man on campus!
• ZING! Former administration, zing.
• Campaign fianace ruling in the Supreme Court. Awkward.
• Earmarks! The internet is the future, Congress.
• “None of these reforms will even happen if we don’t also reform how we work with one another.” Two way street.  “But what frustrates the American people is a Washington where every day is Election Day.” The way congress works, so infuriating.
• “And if the Republican leadership is going to insist that sixty votes in the Senate are required to do any business at all in this town, then the responsibility to govern is now yours as well. Just saying no to everything may be good short-term politics, but it’s not leadership. We were sent here to serve our citizens, not our ambitions.”
• Stand beside dignity and freedom, however we have no right to force our system on others. It comes in different shades sometimes. It’s a hard line to walk to not overstep our lines.
• Down with “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell”! Equal Pay Law! What up, equality, it’s the United States!
• This spirit of change, it has touched me. He can’t do this alone, America. Let’s do this!
• “But remember this – I never suggested that change would be easy, or that I can do it alone. Democracy in a nation of three hundred million people can be noisy and messy and complicated. And when you try to do big things and make big changes, it stirs passions and controversy. That’s just how it is.Those of us in public office can respond to this reality by playing it safe and avoid telling hard truths. We can do what’s necessary to keep our poll numbers high, and get through the next election instead of doing what’s best for the next generation.”

Topics:

• Economy
• Financial reform
• Energy
• Education
• Health Insurance Reform
• Deficit
• Congressional obstructionism and partisanship
• Afghanistan
• Supporting military/veterans
• Disarmament
• Foreign aid / Human Rights / Haiti
• American ideals

Whole Transcript

PS: I’m pretty sure HuffPost wanted to kill people with their ridiculous SOTU drinking game.

Pretty touching speech, for me. Lots of Washington blaming. Very independent-minded. Still some high rhetoric. And now some Republican response from Gov. McDonnell from Virginia.

• What a ~diverse backdrop, Governor. And what a lovely building.
• Speaking after Obama must be a nerve-wrecking job. The presentation is important.
• “Doing too much” is just a euphemism of “we don’t want you to do that”.
• “Proper limited role of government at every level.” Depends on who you ask.
• “We want cooperation not partisanship.” You have a hard time of showing it.
• “Best health care system in the world.” Statistics (infant mortality, average lifespan, cost, etc) say otherwise, BY FAR.
• A website, twitter, and facebook, is that suppose to be impressive?
• So, are you pro-torture just because they’re ~not citizens? I’ve been watching too much Battlestar Galactica, but it’s too similar to the CYLONS AREN’T PEOPLE argument.
• Opening opportunity; does this mean Repubs are changing their platform? I thought they believe America is perfect and already gives same opportunity?
• Didn’t blow it like Jindal, still lacking some substance.

Well, that was fun.

 

To travels and trunks.

Henceforth our country is safe,
Our mountains and rivers begin life afresh.
Peace follows war as day follows night.
We have purged our shame for a thousand centuries,
We have regained our tranquility for ten
Thousand generations.

Nguyen Trai, fifteenth century Vietnamese poet

I’m starting to ready myself for studying in Vietnam. Reading the books, sent in my VISA application (however there was a mistake in the confirmation letter, so I hope it works!), and bracing myself for any sudden bumps along the way (I always forget something, and I feel like something is going to be overlooked and I won’t be able to go). I’m not sure if I’m going to use this blog, another one I have, or create another one. The only problem with creating another one is that’s just another I’m taking over.

Life’s full of nervous anticipation at the moment. Nerves, excitement, fear, all of it. I do need to work on my Vietnamese. It’s not very good, and it gets worse when I get nervous, which I will be when I get there.

 

Living life in the fast lane.

I was always bad at keeping up with blogging. My head is just all over the place and I can never figure out a template/theme that I wanted to keep. Plus I’ve been bouncing around the coast since the end/beginning of the year. Without that type of structure, things tend to go haywire. That and I will start plenty of posts without finishing them. Sometimes I won’t finish the text, I’ll start the post and then forget for what reason I’m writing about the topic. Sometimes I will want to have pretty graphics and never get around to making them.

It’s been a weekend full of silliness, Portland, and delightful, simple mainstream pop brought to you by YouTube.

My friend Abby this summer. She’s leaving for an Israel/France excursion in a few days for the semester. ♥

Also, you should be watching Chuck (Mondays on NBC) if you’re not. This week was the premiere of the third season.

Up next, in defense of some oft-hated blokes who happen to make music. Possibly.

 

You’ll never meet a happier bloke

To explain my extended absence (three weeks?!?), can I just say “end of semester”? After my bout with the flu, the school work started piling up, leaving me very little fun-internet time (I’ve barely checked Tumblr in a week! and haven’t read blogs in weeks). Plus my interest was predominantly in the politics/news area (so much excitement!).

With the turning of the November page to December, my wardrobe has seen a nice little shift to a more wintery level. Instead of heels and structured sweaters and blazers, I’ve been wearing flat boots and slouchy, oversized sweaters more and more. Plaid (not just checkereds) have also had a fun time in the past couple weeks. This week’s purchases will be the ugly sweater because those parties don’t happen on their own.

I’m also not into considering myself as someone with much style at the moment. It’s entirely possible I’m too fickle to be a blogger.

 

I am part of history

My good news/bad news of the week. Wednesday afternoon I started feeling sick with flu-like symptoms (my persistent cough, achey body, chills, fever which I didn’t realize for a day) and went to check it out the next day.

Swine Flu Test: Positive

So I was quarantined and told not to go to class the next day (I was in bed all of Thursday and didn’t go to class). Since home is less than an hour from my school, I decided to rest at home and spare my housemates any more germs than they needed. My fever was gone on Friday, but I still have a hacking cough and a semi-stuffy nose. My stomach also hurts from all the coughing.

Yesterday, I managed to catch up on almost all my shows! I haven’t decided if I am going to watch the rest of FlashForward, I’ll just marathon Heroes over the summer, and realized I will never get around to this fall season of So You Think You Can Dance.

Television is my drug of choice. I have way too many shows on my list, which is probably why I’ve been falling behind all season. The list of shows I want to watch is longer. Before I had style (because really, do I have style?) I had stories, and tv is my favorite source. I love books (and movies), but tv… my personal favorite.

I feel like waiting so long to finally watch the last two Mad Men episodes was a poor choice because I connected the dots from all the little mentions about the finale and it made everything that unfolded much less dramatic.

One of my biggest peeves this season is the lack of secondary characters. For some reason that I could choose to analyze if I wanted to, I am usually more drawn to the secondary characters than the main ones. Especially true of this show. All the characters are some of the most three dimensional and realistic (in that they all have strengths and faults) in television today. Even the most perfect lead imperfect lives and make mistakes for decisions. As much as Don and Betty’s storyline intrigues me, I want to hear more about Harry, and what’s going to happen to Sal, and I even miss the advertising pitches!

I guess the last two episodes just disappointed me because of the hype.

Other shows I caught up on:

Glee (one episode) [yes! an episode that showcased Artie and Tina! but Puck bores/aggravates me]

30 Rock (2 episodes) [always funny, but doesn't deserve every Emmy every year]

How I Met Your Mother (1 episode) [just off this season, especially this last episode]

Community (4 episodes) [the more I watch, the more I love; especially Abed]

Parks and Recreation (2 episodes)

Project Runway (three episodes) [poor season].

(I also watch The Office and Merlin, sometimes Top Chef, going to watch V soon…) Plus I watched Star Trek V: Final Frontier, what I was told was the worst of the original cast movies and it was pretty terrible.

{I was planning on adding pictures, but my internet is too slow to deal with any extra funny business. Sigh.}

 

Time to bundle up.

I’m probably too lazy for my own good and should find a productive hobby for myself. I used to be more inclined, then I became too indecisive – there is too much to fix in this world! Where do you start?! But one of the more frivolous subjects I want to become adequate at is knitting.

[All photos are linked to their etsy page; from top left thrush, shannongerard, pixiebell, and TheSnoodyPoodle]

I feel like my winter wardrobe is so empty with only a handful of hats, one of which my sister crocheted for me. I want more. Another little quirk my accessories drawer is in need of are knitted hair accessories. Bows! Mustaches! And just because I didn’t post any pictures of hats doesn’t mean they’re not at the top of my list, I just assumed you all know what a knitted hat looks like. Preferably slouchy because I am growing my bangs out.

Then there are the scarves. This is the year for the compact, and I have a delightfully long Gryffindor scarf made by my mother years ago that hasn’t found use yet this season. Mostly, circle scarves are longed for this season. Easy to put on and off.

So those are some of my winter wishes. That and health care reform. What are yours?

 

Blooming up from the ground

I don’t know how I feel about plastering my face all over this blog, so outfit posts might slow down (as if posts haven’t slowed down!). Last week has been quite long and full of procrastination, but nothing that could even be spun as productive. This week will be full of production because it has to.

[Photos and teapot earrings by Abby Kaufman.]

Blazer: Goodwill / Van Heusen
Sweater: Buffalo Exchange / J. Crew
Scarf: Target
Skirt: Harmony [antique shop in Olympia]
Tights: Target
Shoes: Bandolino

 

Halloween!

I’m too indecisive to be just one thing on Halloween, so on Friday I was a strawberry. My lovely friend Abby made the stem and she took the pictures. So all thanks to her. There should be a close-up because the stem was adorable! Please excuse the messy, messy room of ours.

For Halloween, I was going to be the house from Up, but never got around to making my balcony, so I was going to be Russel from the same movie, but didn’t get the balloons. I ended up just wearing my friend’s boy scout uniform from his childhood (and it was still pretty big on me, so I tucked it in). We later found balloons (at Red Robin where I got a coupon for a free Monster Shake next time!) and became Russel.

Hope everyone had a good weekend/Halloween!

 

Sucker for Sale

The Mod Cloth sale was quite fruitful for me.  I never bought anything on Mod Cloth before this morning. Now I am [almost] the proud owner of two jackets, a skirt, a pair of shoes, a necklace, and a scarf. Hooray for sales! Usually the site is a little more expensive than I go for. Even with sales it’s a little more than I usually buy, but then again I am used to Goodwill and Value Village prices. Click the image for information on the items.

Here are a few of the items that I also wanted on sale but either didn’t buy because of money, fit, or size.  The tights I should have gotten, but forgot about before I bought them. I could always go back and ask them to put them on like I did with the gray t-straps.

My biggest disappointment was the Goldie Trench.  There was only an XL left! I wanted a yellow jacket last fall/winter. This year I wanted a dark purple jacket, but that yellow is still edging at my heartstrings.

I have no idea how that mint bow skirt would look on me, so I don’t think I’d buy it before I try it on.

One of the downsides to internet shopping is that you can’t try them on. Sometimes an item of clothing looks amazing on the hook, but horrible on the body or the other way around. Shame, shame.

Hopefully I can look through all the weekend pictures from a couple weeks ago and write a few posts.