Wooooaaahhhh!!

What a week it's been already, and it's only Tuesday!! I got a job yesterday, which is a certainly excellent thing for me. AND today, all of my Vonage hardware came in the mail. SO, I've been playing with my new toy. And guess what?? It works!! Hooray!! I've been having fun messing with all of the crazy cool features that Vonage offers. It's only 25 bucks a month for unlimited calls anywhere in the US, Canada, and Puerto Rico, so that on it's own is pretty sweet. Add to that the ability to pick whatever number you want with whatever area code you want (as long as it's a real area code), the fact that you can see all the calls you make or recieve in an online account, the fact that you can check your voicemail from any computer that has internet, the fact that they e-mail you everytime you have a new voicemail, plus all sorts of other cool things. Hence Vonage is the coolest phone service to EVER exist (as long as you get broadband internet service). (Psst, if anyone is considering signing up, and wouldn't mind listing me as a referral, let me know, I can get two months free service for referrals).

And here's another cool thing that happened today. Marvin came home today with two digital cameras/mp3 players that he bought for FIVE BUCKS each! Wooooaahhhh! The only bummer is that the memory cards that they were supposed to come with somehow were missing, so I'm going to have to look into finding a memory card. But, to be honest, that's ok with me. The memory card they provided was only 16 MB, and I would want far bigger for something that holds pictures and mp3s. So today was a techoweenie-licious day for Sarah!! hooray!!

Well...here we go....

Well my readers and reader-ettes (??) I am now gainfully employed out here in the Colorado Springs area. I've been hoping for a while now to get a job out here that was more meaningful than the standard receptionist 9-5 gigs I've been seeing in the papers for the past few weeks, and I've done it. I've been considering a position with an organization called Children's ARK for a while now, so today I went in and turned in an application. I asked if I could schedule an interview right away, and as luck would have it, I GOT an interview right away. I sat and chatted with the woman who was doing the hiring for a good half hour or 45 minutes about the job and what it would entail, and at the end she said "Well, what do you think about all of this?" to which I answered that I was pretty enthused about the job. She replied, "Well, I like what I see...so let's do it!" and started getting out paperwork right away.

I suppose you all are waiting with baited breath for me to tell you what my job is. Well wait in suspense no longer young masters. (I don't know where that came from). I am going to be what's called a Residential Counselor. Children's ARK is a residential...I guess you could say..."therapy" center for "at risk" teenage boys. And I guess, from what I hear, by "at-risk" they mean AT RISK!!!!! From what the woman I talked to said, this is the last stop for many of these kids before prison. Some of these kids are dealing with drug abuse, or alcohol abuse. They come from the harshest backgrounds you could possibly imagine and Children's ARK is there to help them become functional and happy in society. And my job is going to be basically like a summer camp counselor for them, except this isn't summer camp for them, it's where they live. They go to school at Children's ARK. They eat there, they sleep in cabins with the other boys. And for eight hours every day I'll be working with the other counselors at leading groups, keeping them on task, eating meals with them, etc. etc. etc.

And right now, I can hear all of you simultaneously thinking "This lady is nuts." And to be honest, I kind of agree with you. I'd be lying if I were to say that I wasn't kind of intimidated by this whole scenario. I'm pretty nervous about this. I'm pretty scared. BUT this is what I wanted. I want to eventually be a guidance counselor, and this will certainly help me know what I can handle and what I can't. I just hope I've got the strength to provide the kind of adult leadership these boys need in their lives. In my interview we talked a lot about the unconditional love that these boys need to have from us counselors. We need to be able to be there for them day after day, no matter what they do. No matter how far they push us, we have to be there the next day saying "Hey, you messed up, and you have to deal with the consequences, but I'm still here for you." I just pray that I have the strength for this.

Anyway, that's all I wanted to say for tonight. If anyone has some words of encouragement, now would be a great time. I'd love to hear them. I'm sure I'll keep y'all updated on this new adventure. :)

She actually said that!

Have all of you heard what Barbara Bush said about the unfortunate people who are/were trapped at the Super Dome and the Convention Center? She said, (I'm paraphrasing here, but this is pretty much it) "Most of them were underpriviledged anyway, so this is working out rather well for them." Excuse me?? EXCUSE ME???? No. I'm sorry, but no. That kind of response from a former first lady, or really from anyone is completely unacceptable. COMPLETELY. I saw a political cartoon today depicting her as Marie Antoinette (of "Let them eat cake" infamy). Now, I'm not saying we should chop off Barbara Bush's head, but that comment shouldn't go unchecked.

This just brings up the bigger issue of the government's response to this whole catastrophe. Number one, we have a completely incompetent guy in charge of FEMA who is being used as Washington's whipping boy so they can avoid playing the "Blame Game." Now, I'm not condoning Michael Brown's actions (or lack thereof) regarding Katrina at all, BUT there is no way that one man's mismanagement of a situation could have caused a disaster this huge. Number one, he didn't appoint himself to the position. Someone else appointed him, and someone must have known how underqualified he was for this job. And it's not like Brown didn't have a boss. He had someone that he had to ask permission from in order to get relief efforts dispatched to New Orleans. Why didn't his boss do something?

Number two, why on in the world did G.W. take so long in coming out of his FIVE WEEK vacation to address this issue?? And when he finally did leave his ranch, did he go straight to New Orleans? Of course not. He attended other photo-op events for a couple of days first. And then, his response?? "Man, I used to get WASTED in New Orleans, too bad its reduced to rubble. You're doing a heck of a job Brownie!" What?? People are starving and dying. Families are torn apart. And the best thing he can think of to say is, "Hey, I used to have fun here! Sucks that it's gone."

Now, I'm not going to get into the whole race card. Whether the lack of response is because New Orleans is mostly poor and black, or whether it was just a poorly managed relief effort, the issue is, something obviously went terribly wrong. There are problems that need to be fixed.

I saw a political cartoon just a little earlier that kind of brought up a good point. It depicted a billboard that read "Your Tax Cuts at Work" surrounded by the floodwaters in New Orleans. It kind of makes me wonder. People are so adverse to paying higher taxes to support programs that could possibly have worked to avoid a situation like this, but then AFTER a catastrophe happens, everyone doesn't think twice about ponying up to the Red Cross. Is it just because with taxes the government is requiring people to pay whereas donating to the Red Cross is voluntary? Is it because no one thinks highly of you for paying your taxes whereas if you donate to the Red Cross you look philanthropic? Is it because high taxes are associated with Socialism? Of course it's highly possible that the same people who don't want higher taxes are the people who look at a situation like New Orleans and say "Well, they were underpriviledged anyway, this is probably working out quite well for them"

On a lighter note....

Ok, so I've finally decided to get off the political wagon for a little bit and inform my devoted readership of my goings-on for the past while. If you don't know by now, I've officially left the mid-west and am currently residing in Colorado Springs with Marvin. It's been a process getting used to being so far away from all of my friends and family, but it slowly is getting better. As I get more used to the city, I become more comfortable here, and as soon as I get a job, I'm sure it'll get exponentially better. And now, a list of very cool things that I've discovered since I've been here:

1) A coffee maker that you can set to make coffee at a certain time of day. So, for example, if you can't wake up in the morning without your coffee, but hate waiting for it to brew, you can set it to brew at, say, 7:30 in the morning, so when you get up, you have a hot pot of coffee just waiting for you!

2) Red Robin restauraunts. Marvin and I went to one for the first time yesterday, and it was great! Their burgers were delicious, and it seems like they truly care about making their customers happy. We were checked up on at least 8 times. The manager actually came and talked to us three times, since he had heard that we'd never been to a Red Robin before. AND to top it off, since we were first time customers, they gave us free dessert! We ordered the ice cream mud pie, which would have been enough mudpie to feed at least four people. Needless to say, we were very pleased.

3) The microbrews out here are fantastic. Not that I want you to think that I"m throwing back bottle after bottle of beer day after day, but on the occasion that I've had a beer, I've ordered one of the microbrews native to Colorado, and they're great. Now you'd think that Wisconsin, the state of beer, would have the best beer. Don't let the German heritage of Wisconsin fool you. Colorado beers are superb. None of them that I"ve had are bitter or "skunky" at all. I personally recommend a Beehive with a lemon in it. Mmm delicious.

4) The band Martini Shot. They're a mostly-cover band from Pueblo that tours around Colorado on the weekends. During the week, most of them are high school music teachers, but on the weekends they ROCK OUT! They play anything from Michael Jackson to 311 to Tenacious D to classic do-wop oldies, plus a few of their own originals (which lean towards the ska-punk feel). The couple of times that I've seen them play, the place just hops. It's a ton of fun to see them, and if the right crowd is present, dancing will most definately ensue.

5) The club Rum Bay in downtown C Springs. Now normally, I'm not the "clubbing" type of person. The music that they play at clubs usually isn't my thing, nor are the kind of people that you can find at a club. But THIS club has an 80's club area that only plays 80's music. It's great because I can dance and I don't have to deal with the normal club atmosphere of stupid people being stupid AND Marvin dances with me then :).

6) Space Ghost Coast to Coast. Marvin and I picked up volume 3 of the show. For those of you who aren't familiar with SCC2C, in the late 90's Cartoon Network took several old cartoon characters from the 60's and reanimated them with different voices and put them in a late-night talk show like format. Space Ghost is the host with an evil man-sized mantis named Zorak (also of Brak Show fame) as the band leader, and a lava-man named Moltar as the producer. They have actual celebrities (I use that term VERY loosely) come on the show and hilarity ensues. Brak makes occasional appearances as well, which only ups the greatness. Perhaps the next time I'm back in the midwest, I'll bring the DVD's along so everyone can experience the wonder that is SGC2C.

7) Richard Cheese. I know, I know, the name, in it's shortened form could be VERY gross, but that's not what I was meaning. This guy is a lounge singer who covers new-ish songs in lounge-style music. He's covered anything from Disturbed to Led Zepplin to Sir Mix-a-lot. Pure gold I tell you. Hearing Baby Got Back sung by a lounge singer is too funny to resist. (His cover of Down With the Sickness appears on the remake of Dawn of the Dead for any of you who like zombie movies).

So, that's all I've got for now. I can't promise that I'll stay off the political wagon for long. There just seems to be so much yuckiness going on right now that not commenting on it would be rather difficult for me. But for now, I'll leave on a lighthearted note, as Space Ghost would say: I've got two turntables and your mommy's home.

Another thing I've been thinking about

Ok, so I seem to be going blog crazy lately, but there are a lot of things going on in the world recently that seem to be worth commenting on. I apolgize for the serious turn that my blog has taken recently, since I know that once upon a time this blog was kind of a humorous outlet for people. Hopefully soon I can return to my happy-go-lucky way of posting, but for now, you get to see the socially conscious opinionated side of me.

Now, to the topic at hand. It's interesting to me to see the difference between what's happening in Iraq and what's happening in the deep South in the past couple of days. 700 people just died in Iraq this week due to false rumors about a suicide bomber. I find it more than a little ironic that probably more people died due to a rumor and the resulting stampede than would have if there really was a suicide bomber in the area. Also, it seems to me that the media isn't fussing nearly as much about it as I'm sure would have happened if such a thing had happened on American soil.

I'm not entirely sure what that says really. There are several things that could be insinuated. Number one, it didn't happen on American soil, so naturally American media won't cover it nearly as extensively. Number two, we're dealing with a national crisis of our own and our own massive loss of life. Also, loss of life in Iraq seems to be more of a normal occurance anymore rather than something of note. At the same time though, 700 people is far more than the current death toll in the deep south, and Iraq is currently occupied by our forces. Does the lack of media coverage show a lack of caring? I don't think so. Does it imply a sort of bias in the media? Probably, but what media outlet isn't biased? (Granted, certain mega media outlets like the BBC are so huge that any biased is almost certain to be balanced by the alternate point of view).

It's also interesting to me to hear the situation in the south compared to certain areas in the Third World that have been ravaged by war and other such tragedies. I heard it said in one broadcast today that in Beruit, they would drop rations in from the air. People in New Orleans were wondering why they couldn't at least do the same for them.

I've heard New Orleans compared to a war zone, compared to Iraq, compared to many things. I'm not sure if making these comparisions is justified. I wonder if the people who are making these comparisons have ever been in a war zone? If they've ever been to Iraq? I see one great difference between what's happening in New Orleans and what a war zone might be like. In New Orleans, everyone is trying to acheive the same basic thing. Everyone is trying to either get out, or get people out, and being the rebuilding process. There's only one side. There aren't two groups of people who are duty-bound by their country to kill the other side. There aren't huge pieces of heavy artillary blasting through buildings and walls and people. Also, there is (hopefully) safety for these refugees within their own country. They won't be forced to move to a place where they don't know the language and the culture. In anycase, I feel like the New Orleans = war zone comparison is unfair and unnecessarily underestimates what a true war zone would be like.

The bloggers go crazy, and I'm joining in

Well, it seems as if recent hurricane events have sparked all sorts of ethical debates among bloggers (see MSN Slate's overview here http://slate.msn.com/id/2125438/?nav=fo) and of course, because I am who I am, I'm going to join in.

Number one issue that seems to be on bloggers' minds recently is that of looting. Is it ethical in a situation like this? What is the appropriate way of dealing with looters? Is the media's portrayal of looting racially biased? All good questions. Before I really get into anything heavy, let me just state my basic opinions.

In most situations, I'd say that looting is morally objectionable, BUT in New Orleans there exists a situation that makes looting of certain products almost a necessity. I've spent the morning listening to broadcasts covering the absolute lack of aid that is being provided to the unfortunate people that are trapped in New Orleans. Babies have died, elderly people have died, people have gone three or more days without eating, and no one is going in there to help them, because they are frightened of a mob situation. In that situation, where lives are at risk, and there is no help in sight, I would do what probably many people there are doing. Getting food from wherever they can find it. Getting items for basic hygeine where they can. In such a situation, I would do what I hope anyone would do in order to save themselves and their families.

On the other hand, looting for the sake of getting "stuff" seems to me to be completely out of line. What on earth are these people going to do with the plasma TV that they steal out of WalMart once they get back into the flooded streets of New Orleans?

Now, in one comment I read off of one blog, someone stated that looters should be shot on site, no questions asked. That seems a big harsh to me. Especially because in normal situations, someone trying to steal a TV wouldn't be shot without trying to detain them first. Others have said that since the merchandise is going to be probably destroyed by the flood anyways, who cares? I don't necessarily agree with that either. To me, that sort of looting is just people trying to take advantage of others' misfortunes.

Another issue that has sparked much controversey is the way that the media are portraying these looters. http://www.boingboing.net/2005/08/30/black_people_loot_wh.html
This link shows two different pictures of people with food items that they have aquired. One shows a black person and the caption states that he has just finished "looting" a grocery store. The other shows some lighter skinned (white??) people with a caption that states that they "found" the food at a grocery store. Also, there was this picture and accompanying story http://www.news2wkrn.com/nit/archives/2005/08/well_who.html#comments
of a police officer who appears to be joining in the looting.

Now, in the case of the black versus white depiction of people aquiring food, the pictures and captions were published by two different news agencies. It is possible that the journalists involved did actually question the people depicted about how and where they got their food, and one actually said that he looted, while the other said that he "found," but it certainly does raise some interesting questions about race and the media. As far as the other picture goes, I'd be more likely to agree with the blogger who urged people to use common sense. How likely would it be for an officer who is in full view of fellow officers and cameras to be joining in with the looting? I think its far more likely that the merchandise he's shown carrying was confiscated from someone else, and he was just doing his job.

Now, I have one other comment to make on the issue of looting. I had read somewhere this morning that the New Orleans mayor (or someone else in charge) had all the National Guard called off of the search and rescue mission, in order to curb the looting problem. Now, I don't have all the information, so I'm not going to claim to know what's best, but to me it seems, that if there are people in the city who have gone for days without food or water, if people are dying who had been depending on the system to help them out, I would make them a much higher priority than property crime. That is if I were in charge. To me, loss of life seems to be a much bigger problem than loss of property. But that's just me.

In any case, my thoughts and prayers go out to everyone in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. I wish I could be there helping.