Lately I've been taking a lot of Disney quizzes online, so I thought I'd put some of my results somewhere:

 
You are Megara

Which forgotten animated heroine are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

W00T!  A quiz that had Meg in it!

Megara, from Hercules -- At first glance, you're
icy and off-putting. You've been hurt in the
past, and you're willing to do just about
anything to keep those defensive walls up...
until the boy you never thought you'd fall for
comes along. You're trying too hard to be a
bad girl -- give in and believe in love!


Which Kick-Ass Animated Heroine Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

 

As much as I liked meeting people at the World Affairs Seminar, I'm really glad to be home.  No more stupid 3 hour lectures, no more walking back and forth from the auditorium that is like 10 miles from our dorms, no more eating cafeteria food (although it wasn't as bad as it could have been...), no more sleeping in dorms (which were more like ovens), and no more having to share bathrooms!  And best of all, I can see you guys again! W00t!

While we were there, a bunch of the most stereotypically gay-looking guys were also at the college for band.  I got a picture of one of them in the cafeteria:

Hopefully he didn't notice!

I was really pissed because I had brought my digital camera and laptop, thinking that I could take all the pictures I wanted because I could load them onto the computer and delete them from the memory card, but unfortunately I forgot the cord that connects the camera to my laptop .  Oh well, at least I got a few good ones.

I have been at this World Affairs Seminar thing since Saturday.  It's actually not as bad as I thought it would be, but it's still not incredibly fun.  We have to go to these boring lectures about globalization 3 times a day, and we hardly ever get any free time.  Thank god we have this talent show today so I can get on a computer!

There's a lot of people here from all over the world, and I've made friends with some of them.  My roomate, Krystle, is from Wisconsin, along with her friend Anna who is in the dorm next to ours.  They're both really nice, and we usually hang out together.  Today there was a three hour lecture in the afternoon that is mandatory, but we just ended up staying in our rooms instead (luckily we didn't get caught!).  I've also met these girls from Puerto Rico who taught us this song/game a few days ago, and while they were teaching us a bunch more people joined until like half the camp was in a circle.  It was fun, until they made me dance in the center, which was embarrassing!  It's funny to listen to them talk and see what I can understand, though usually their words blend together and I have no idea what they are saying.

The day we came a bunch of guys in short shorts and tank tops came into the lunchroom, and we've seen them all over campus.  Krystle, Anna, and I always laugh at them, especially when we saw this one guy with shorts that said "Cutie" on the back, and I got a picture of another guy who looks especially creepy.

It has been incredibly hot and humid outside the past few days, and the doorms were like furnaces.  Not even our two fans could make it much cooler.  Today was not as bad, though, so I'm hoping the weather will continue to be more tolerable. 

Two more days... 

I think I'm having a relapse into my Harry Potter addiction, hehe.

Anyway, I was on cosforums.com earlier today (which is a Harry Potter site, by the way, just so those two lines don't make it seem like I'm schizophrenic), and I happened to start looking at the part of the forums where they allow political debate.  Well, I can't really resist not voicing my opinion when I see something that I sincerely disagree with, especially when no one is countering other people's flimsy arguments, so I posted in a thread on gay marriage.  Unfortunately, as I found out last year, there aren't many conservative fans of Harry Potter (or at least on this board).  Actually, that is a massive understatement, but whatever. 

I posted my opinion knowing full well that I would be visciously attacked by the swarms of liberal Harry Potter fanatics.  Incidentally, there are a ton of rules on the forum about respecting the opinions of others, especially in the debate area where things can get very heated (I was involved in a debate that got a few people in trouble, but luckily I didn't, and I managed to get a fellow conservative out of trouble ).  So I made sure to be as respectful as possible in my post, and that nothing I said offended anyone (bold indicates a quote from another post):

 

Quote: Originally Posted by Katsumi: but the rights of homosexuals are being completely overlooked because they can't enter into the state of matrimony and have it recognized as marriage.  and that is a clear violation of their rights and freedoms.  disallowing it is unconstitutional.

One of the logical fallacies that people often use when arguing in favor of gay marriage is that homosexuals are being denied their rights or freedoms when the government refuses to recognize marriage between two people of the same sex. To counter this, I would argue that equality does exist in this context because neither homosexuals nor heterosexuals are allowed to marry another individual of the same sex. Thus, both groups of people are given the same rights. The question of gay marriage, then, is more about redefining marriage than it is about equality.

Quote: Originally Posted by Shughla: Is there anyone here who is against gay marriages?

I guess I'll stick my neck out and say I'm one of the few people here who is not in favor of gay marriage *ducks as various objects are thrown in her direction*. I think the mistake a lot of people make when characterizing those against gay marriage is that their arguments are founded in some sort of fanatical religious devotion or pure prejudice/homophobia. However, my objection has absolutely nothing to do with religion, and as far as I can tell, I'm not prejudiced against gays (I have a friend who is gay, as a matter of fact). My views are mainly rooted in defending the cultural definition of marriage as an institution for having and raising children in an environment with both a male and female parent instead of redefining it to accomodate the sexual preferences of the parents. It is an ideal that those wishing to marry and have children should aspire to, and not simply a way for two people to express their affection.

I read an article online for The Weekly Standard that answers the question, "What is marriage for?" which I think most accurately reflects my views on the issue (if anyone is at all interested). Here are, to me, two of the most important contentions of the author's argument:

"In other words, while individuals freely choose to enter marriage, society upholds the marriage option, formalizes its definition, and surrounds it with norms and reinforcements, so we can raise boys and girls who aspire to become the kind of men and women who can make successful marriages. Without this shared, public aspect, perpetuated generation after generation, marriage becomes what its critics say it is: a mere contract, a vessel with no particular content, one of a menu of sexual lifestyles, of no fundamental importance to anyone outside a given relationship...

The problem with endorsing gay marriage is not that it would allow a handful of people to choose alternative family forms, but that it would require society at large to gut marriage of its central presumptions about family in order to accommodate a few adults' desires."

I can understand how some people may still think that my views are bigoted and wrong, but this is what I believe, and I don't expect anyone here to agree with me. I just thought I'd share a few ideas so that this debate isn't completely one-sided

 

But sadly, that is not good enough for a liberal, and sure enough I was attacked:

 

Quote: Originally posted by Scarlet Tears: To counter this, I would argue that equality does exist in this context because neither homosexuals nor heterosexuals are allowed to marry another individual of the same sex.

I seriously cant believe you typed that. that is officially the dumbest thing i have ever layed my eyes upon. Equility does exist? excuse me? you said both hetrosexuals and homosexuals cant marry that of the same sex, and that makes it equal? - er....maybe because the issue is that hetrosexual people dont and cant marry people of the same sex - because they dont want to. Hetrosexuals are attracted to that of the opposite gender, therfor can marry those who he/she falls in love with - homosexuals fall in love with those of the same gender - yet are robbed of marrying them. If you call that equality then can you please send me the copy of the dictionary you are reading?

Why would a hetrosexual even want to marry someone of thier own sex?

so i think i speak for the majority of us when i say thats no great loss. hetrosexuals are in NO way affected by the fact that they cant marry their own sex whatsoever. Homosexuals on the other hand want to marry that of thier own gender - but cannot, and yet they can marry that of the opposite gender? if you call that equality then you are without a doubt the most dim-witted of people, and i am offended, sorry to be blunt, but there you have it, its my opinion.

Quote: Originally posted by Scarlet Tears: marriage is an institution for having and raising children

Your are more or less saying the point of marriage is to have children, therfor gay people shouldnt get married - are you saying that gay people marrying is pointless because they cant have children? what about hetrosexual people who are married and perfectly in love, but do not desire children? are they pointless to?

and just for the record marriage has nothing to do with children - two completely seperate issues, here's the meaning of marriage from the dictionary :

The legal union of a man and woman as husband and wife.
The state of being married; wedlock.
1.A common-law marriage.
2.A union between two persons having the customary but usually not the legal force of marriage: a same-sex marriage.
3.A wedding.
4.A close union: “the most successful marriage of beauty and blood in mainstream comics” (Lloyd Rose).
Games. The combination of the king and queen of the same suit, as in pinochle.

unless i am mistaking - i do not see the word children? sorry to break it to you but marriage is "just simply a way for two people to express thier affection".

I feel sorry for your friend

 

Ah, it is truly ironic when people who claim to champion tolerance are so intolerant themselves.  Also, I'm really glad this person took the time to actually read my argument carefully, because they completely twisted my argument when talking about the purpose of marriage.  I never said that one is required to have children in order to get married, I was merely stating what the real purpose of marriage is and has been for centuries. 

Whatever.  I'm not going to give this person the satisfaction of making me lose my temper while enjoying the fact that I clearly made him/her do so.  I've decided that it's more fun that way 

I took this test thingy that I found on Mal's LJ, and it was creepily accurate (except for the science/technology thing)

Your Birthdate: October 16

Your birth on the 16th day of the month gives a sense of loneliness and generally the desire to work alone. You are relatively inflexible, and insist on your being independent. You need a good deal of time to rest and to meditate. You are introspective and a little stubborn. Because of this, it may not be easy for you to maintain permanent relationships, but you probably will as you are very much into home and family. This birth day inclines to interests in the technical, the scientific, and to the religious or the unknown realm of spiritual explorations. The date gives you a tendency to seek unusual approaches and makes your style seem a little different and unique to those around you. Your intuition is aided by the day of your birth, but most of your actions are bedded in logic, responsibility, and the rational approach. You may be emotional, but have a hard time expressing these emotions. Because of this, there may be some difficulty in giving or receiving affection.

 

I am so glad that AP tests are over.  I think I did ok on stats (as long as they dont take off too many points for not having finished) and euro, I completely bombed fizx (no surprise there), and I did well on the multiple choice for psych but screwed up the essay part completely.  Right now, though, I couldn't care less because I'm just relieved that I survived.

Of course, my teachers have not started lightening our homework load.  Stupid take home test and essay for euro, project and reading Hamlet for English, final project and Great America stuff for fizx, video project for psych, and a lot of random crap and tests/quizzes for Spanish.  I swear, the only teacher who has any sense is Mr. Schez.  He's just letting us watch movies and stuff for a while, then we learn one more topic before he teaches us how to gamble.  He's so cool.

Speaking of movies, I'm watching them in two classes.  In stats we're watching "And the Band Played On," which is about how AIDS began spreading in the US.  Although the movie is really sad (what do you expect from a movie about a disease), there are some hilarious/disturbing parts.  Like when one of the workers from the Center for Disease Control interviews this one gay French flight attendant, who claims to have had 250 "sexual encounters" per year for the past 10 years (then he later decides that was a "conservative estimate").  Then there was this cross-dresser guy who wanted to buy a purse to match the purple blotches all over his face.  It's hard not to laugh because the guys in the movie are like perfect stereotypes of gays (not that I have anything against being gay, but I just think it's hilarious when guys act feminine).  And Schez keeps telling us to act mature.  Yeah, like that's going to happen.  We're watching a movie with gay guys talking about their sex lives, and someone swears practically every few minutes.  Acting mature (especially with the people in our class) is out of the question.

The other movie that I'm watching is called "Donnie Brasco," which is actually really good.  Johnny Depp plays the main character (  , who is this FBI agent working under cover to investigate this New York mob.  The problem is, he starts becoming really good friends with one of the guys that he is supposed to be investigating, and on top of that he always has to leave his wife and kids without telling them anything about what he is doing.  It was funny because there was this one part where they show a guy's head getting sawed off  and everyone in the class was like, "sick," and Gorman says, "um, you guys probably should have looked away a few seconds back."  Yeah, thanks for the warning!  We should watch it sometime, though (as long as all of you are allowed to watch R-rated movies now).

I'm so sorry I didn't get to go over to your house last night, Linda.  You would not believe how bad my head hurt, though.  I had a little bit of a headache after school was over, but then afterward I went to go get my hair cut, and of course they had to use all these sprays and chemicals that only made it about 10 times worse.  When I got home I just went to sleep, and I woke up a few hours later to go to the bathroom, which was a really bad idea because just lifting my head off of the pillow made it feel like my head was going to explode .  It was probably the worst migraine of my entire life.

I was looking at the news on drudgereport.com instead of doing my homework, and I came across this link to this slideshow of 99 of the most bizarre, disturbing, weird news photos.  I probably should have been studying for my stats AP test that I have on Wednesday, but this was much more interesting.

Today in gym it was hilarious because Mr. Young told us that badminton had been invented in France, and that it was played by French royalty.  So Linda and I decided to play like French people.  We acted all snobbish by holding our raquets with our pinkies up, and we kept hitting the birdies really lightly (since French people are wimpy).  Then I purposely stood there while the birdie flew over my head and said, "But I'm le tired." 

Afterward, we were talking about the French people attacking enemies with berets , and Linda said that they probably used baguettes instead.  It was funny because we started imagining the French people storming the Bastille with bread, which was made even more hilarious by the fact that they were angry because bread was so expensive.  But of course, they would not have been smart enough to eat the bread, because French people are just like that.

(For anyone who might not know me personally and somehow stumbled upon this, I don't really hate the French people.  I'm sure there are nice French people out there.  I just like giving them a hard time because their government is incredibly anti-American and socialist, and Jacques Chirac is a pompous idiot.  But of course, that is just my opinion ).

You might be wondering what the hell I'm talking about.

Well, the cat guts and eyeballs involve what happened in euro this past week.  Prescott was about to show us a video (the same video we had watched the week before) and was talking about WWII and the Nazis.  Then out of nowhere, either Wiv, Robert, or Carl asked him if old tennis raquets and violin strings were made out of cat intestines.  Prescott was like, "How on earth did you guys go from WWII to cat intestines?  There must have been some sort of crazy logical leap in between the two subjects, and I have no idea what it was" (those weren't his exact words, but it was something like that).  Apparently they had been talking about how people in Wisconsin want to legalize (or have already legalized) hunting stray cats, which still doesn't really explain the connection to what Prescott was talking about.  Of course, I doubt that they were even paying any attention to what he was saying, so maybe there wasn't any connection at all.

When we had finished watching the video, Prescott took out his trivial pursuit questions.  One of the questions asked which part of the eye continues to grow throughout a person's life, and Niki started laughing because Wiv had said, "the urethra?" but only she and Elliott heard him.  It was hilarious though because we started imagining someone peeing out of their eyeballs . 

Then the story about pennies and p-hats (which Linda already wrote about, but I feel like writing about it too ).  So yesterday Linda, Katie, and I stayed after school to work on our stats project.  We were flipping through he book and looking up definitions, and all of a sudden Linda burst out laughing because she had read the word "pennies" as...something else.  It took me like two whole minutes to understand that she had taken out the second "n" and the second "e,"  which is especially sad because my mind is deeper in the gutter than all of yours combined .  I felt like Megan, lol.  Then everything got even worse because we started talking about "grabbing p-hats" (which is something Mr. Schez taught us about that we laugh at because he was standing in front of the class going, "just keep grabbing p-hats...grabbing p-hats...grabbing p-hats..." and making a motion like he was picking something out of a box.  I guess you kind of have to know Mr. Schez and to have been there when he did it to think it's funny, but those of us who were know it's hilarious).  Anyway, the fact that we were grabbing samples of pennies as our p-hats, and so our joke took on a whole new meaning. 

Today in fizx, we started learning about magnetism, which leads me to my last story.  Mr. Simmons had these little magnetic hippos that he was showing us, and before he took them out he was like, "You know the thing that dogs do that just isn't right?  Well, these hippos don't do that."  And when he tried to make one hippo's nose touch the other's butt, the other hippo spun around  so that it's nose was facing the first hippo's nose instead.  We all started cracking up, and this one kid was like, "Well, if you had a different hippo that had the magnet turned the other way, then they would be like dogs," and Simmons started laughing and accused him of being sick for wanting to see two hippos do that.  I guess you kind of had to be there, too, but I just thought I'd share.

So now you know the story of the cat guts, eyeballs, pennies, p-hats, and kissing hippos.

I just wanted to wish Lauren a    W00T!