Rebel Rebel

My time goes by so quickly, yet I'm doing nothing interesting.

I made three dinners in the past three days. The following:

1. Chicken Riggies
2. Mac & Cheese Shepherd's Pie
3. Broccoli Cheddar Soup in Bread Bowls, Panera-style

Sense of accomplishment...check.

I really, really, really need to do important things, like make actual decisions about classes I want to take, because otherwise my life doesn't change and I will be stuck in Camden foooorrrrreeeeevvvvveeeer. It's not so much that I am slacking on making decisions, it's that I have NO EFFING CLUE what I want to do with my life. None. Nada. And it's not like going off to college where I had no idea what I wanted to do, and just trusted that I would figure things out at some point along the way. College was a necessity, I had to go. But I cannot make the decision to drop thousands and thousands of dollars that I do not have to get another degree unless I am confident that said degree will lead to a job. Ergo, I do not get to choose to do something I want to do, just something that will make me money and get me a job. Disappointing. I wish there was just something I loved, or was meant to do, or had the talent to do, like teaching or acting or engineering or basket-weaving.

I think living in the gray area, with my life on pause, is even scarier than living paycheck-to-paycheck, on my own for the first time. I am so terrified of getting stuck in a rut. Every day that I am still here in Camden is another mile further away from Rochester and the rest of civilization. I cannot stay here. I will be letting everyone down, and doing myself a terrible disservice. I am so afraid that I am only able to live up to my very limited potential. Bleck.

ANYWHO...I did some spackling this weekend. I am slowly working my way towards a room makeover. Room makeover = new coat of paint. Now, my room was last painted....16 years ago. And between then and now, I went through a very enthusiastic Teen Beat phase. And anyone who has ever been in a bedroom or dormroom of mine knows, I like to cover everyspareinch of wall space. Ergo, my walls here look like swiss cheese. Ergo, I spent several hours yesterday spackling, and reprimanding my mother for allowing me to express my creativity through wall coverings.

Ergo, I have now used the word ergo five times in this post. I am so cool.

So I don't know how much everyone else follows current events/ pop culture. Arizona shooting, yes, awful, but that's not what I am going to discuss now. I recently read that a new edition of Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn is being released, with all 219 uses of the "n-word" being cut. Now, I certainly understand the rationale behind this: the "n-word" no longer politically correct. I even remember when we read this in 10th grade and each time Nigger Jim was mentioned, I cringed a little. It's just the natural reaction! However, while it is not a P.C. term nowadays, it most certainly was during the time Twain wrote the story, and the time period in which the story itself is set. In fact, it kind of plays a large role in representing the whole story of slavery and how blacks were treated in that time, which iiiiiis kind of a big part of the story. And really, why stop with just one word? Slavery is so not P.C., why not just cut any mention of that out of the book as well? And you know, I really found all the slavery in Roots pretty offensive, why don't we cut it out of that, too. Can you imagine what would become of classic literature if we cut out all the things that are now deemed "inappropriate"?

While we're at it, it cannot go unsaid that while our delicate sensibilities will be spared of the "n-word" in one classic work of literature, we will still be bombarded with it in the movies we watch, the music we listen to, and even the conversations we hear on the street. Hell, if MTV still played music videos, you wouldn't be able to make it through an entire segment of TRL without hearing a bleeped-out n-word. And, I'm sorry, I know I am just an ignorant white girl, but I think it's bullshit for it to still be okay for black people to use the word. If you can so casually throw around a word that is forboten for a great majority of society to even utter, you are keeping the word in the public consciousness, and leaving the door open to the word being used by the wrong people, in an offensive way. You can't have it both ways.

But that's enough of my ranting, I'll leave it up to the professionals: there was a excellent editorial on this topic in the Post Standard this weekend that I think EVERYONE should read:

"...it is troubling to think the state of reading comprehension in this country has become this wretched, that we have tweeted, PlayStationed and Fox News'd so much of our intellectual capacity away that not only can our children not divine the nuances of a masterpiece, but that we will now protect them from having to even try."

And if you aren't bored yet, you can read this take on the situation from an Elmira prof. who is Twain's biographer.

Well gee, this post really took a turn. Sorry about that. I guess we'll have to wait till another day to discuss the jeggings I just bought today. Conan O'Brien is my fashion icon.

G'night!