OMG Yes.

There is a peculiar notion that pervades Social Justice activism, and it is that the task of upholding the level of discourse rests solely on our shoulders, and we are somehow failing at it. Everyone else – the trolls, the privileged assholes, the evo-psych “men are attracted to women because x and if you aren’t doing x why are you even alive” guys – they all get passes on upholding the discourse. Because the logic goes that we can’t possibly expect them to treat us any differently. We must be constantly defending our right to exist, our right to have discussions that aren’t taken over by people who don’t want there to be a discussion, and our right to set the terms of the discussion. And whenever we stop responding, stop defending our right to speak, the other side declares that our position must be indefensible. Because when they debate, they are representing their own views and opinions, but when we debate, we are supposed to be the sole representative of the movement at large.

(A Very Special Episode of Grey Areas: Privilege Denying Dude Edition)

Hey Leighton

Hey, no problem - I'm so glad I let you borrow my Pierre Hardy sandals. They looked great with that dress. But you're done with them now, so please send them on back to me any time!



It would really mean a lot to me :]

Day 27 - My month, in great detail.

I still haven't finished this monkey-fighting "30-day" challenge, so to that end:

Oct 20-26th
In lab, I was finishing up some DNA extractions from saliva samples. Roxy had a hipster themed birthday party, and I was studying for some upcoming midterms. I don't remember much else from this week. Apologies (?)

Oct 27th - Nov 2
I took Thursday and Friday off of lab to study for my midterms, which were on November 1. One went okay, and the other was absolutely the #1 worst job I've ever done on any test. I haven't gotten the grade yet, but if it is anything higher than an F- then the profs were very generous in grading heaping amounts of bullshit. Emily and I had our housewarming party on the 29th, and it went well. There was a lot of food and a lot of booze, which, for me at least, tends to set a party firmly on the side of awesome. It was a low-key costume party, which is perfect for me at this stage in my life. I didn't vote on the 2nd.

Nov 3-9
I drank a lot of beer in the week following my midterms. This was mostly because I hadn't had much beer to drink in the prior weeks while I was both studying and pretending to study. As a consequence of drinking so much beer, I don't remember much about this week, other than Casper and I getting food poisoning at Chipotle. And thusly falls an idol. But I'll probably get back on that horse sooner than I think, since I'm weak when faced with carnitas... just probably not at that location.

Nov 10-17
I was finishing up RNA extractions from blood in lab. Casper and I took a scenic drive through Malibu and parts of Ventura county. We ate Taco Bell, on account of this being a vendor that (dubiously) has not given us food poisoning. I am currently procrastinating while working on a take-home midterm, which involves a lot of asinine copying down of minute details from a paper about pesticides and Parkinson's disease. About 50% time I've typed Parkinson's today, I've unintentionally not capitalized the "P."

Overall notes - I've been working out. I still hate it, it hasn't gotten easier, and I'm too damn impatient to wait however long until my body starts looking like Alessandra Ambrosio's. (Ok, I'm just playing, I know I don't and won't have her body, but damn, she's had a kid, she's really kicking my ass into the ground here.) Anyway, my plan for the time being is just to utilize the gym to get into decent enough shape to try to start P90x again. By that token, I hear that 30+ minutes of cardio 4-5 days a week is what I should be aiming for, so depending on my mood I divide up that time on the elliptical and the bike, or just sit on the bike. (See? I even exercise lazy. But I still break a sweat, and my legs are definitely feeling it, so it can't be all bad.)

Also, I'm getting better at cooking, though my range is still limited to what I know and what I can afford. But I'm trying to branch out within that restriction, particularly by trying to learn about different vegetarian sides that I can pair with the enormous piles of protein that I'll inevitably want to throw on the plate. As always, I make bomb-ass salads.

Only three more posts left before I've done all 30 days! Ha.