Check the friends list and say hi to Claire and Lauren. Clauren, as they're collectively known around campus, have a bazillion friends, are sweet as can be, and are hotter than hot.
So I was working on a political rant post, when I took a break and came back to check my Facebook, only to find that my childhood best friend, Ryan McAfee, listed me and sent me a message. He was at Oakridge in kindergarten, and there was a threesome of us and Eric Lee that was totally inseparable. Eric and I continually brought him up again over the years, wondering about him, and now almost 15 years later, we've been put back in contact with him. The recess trifecta of crazy little bastards who loved Mega Man and The Flash has been reunited as three 20-year-olds at three major universities all across the country. Amazing.After that, how can anyone say that the Internet is not humanity's single greatest invention?
It's April, and for some strange reason that means it's campaign season here in Austin once more. Hot off the heels of the losses of November, Austin's population got right back into the mix like the hotbed of liberalism and dialogue that it is. First, the city's gone crazy for Kinky Friedman, since he's running for governor. If you're totally out of the loop on this one, pick up the latest Texas Monthly - he's the latest college student's political hero to dress in drag on the cover of a magazine, in the tradition I suspect Jon Stewart started. In short, he's a popular Texas-flavored writer and musician, and he's not disappointing fans seeking a Texas-flavored politician. Even though one of his supposed ideas is to build The Great Wall of Mexico, I still support him for 3 big reasons.1. The Great Wall will never happen - way too much of an economic interest in Mexican labor.
2. Campaign slogans. With "Kinky in 2006: Why the Hell Not?" and "No teacher, librarian or lesbian left behind," this guy's got a great approach to grab voters' attention. And it's working - national news media is giving the guy great coverage.
3. He's a Plan II graduate, class of 1956. Not only must I show love to one of the more important institutions of my life, but I would near-blindly trust *any* P2 graduate to run my government. The only generalized group of people I'd choose over P2 to rule my world would be Rhodes Scholars, only because of their good track record in recent years - Bill Clinton and Wesley Clark could probably save the world all by themselves.Then we step down a level, to city council elections. It's nice that we have about as many people running as there were Democratic presidential candidates, but it also makes the process a tad inconvenient. I have yet to read up on any of the candidates or actually go vote, and I should probably do that, well, damn soon. And then it hits the level of downright annoyance: student elections. After seeing two years of college student elections, I honestly believe they should be banned and any important positions should be appointed by adults in charge of various offices. It was bad enough during student government elections. Everyone handed out t-shirts like humans needed them to breathe, and at the same time if you had friends working on a campaign, they needed your promised vote for sustenance. Drove me fucking insane. So what's the perfect thing to do after the SG insanity dies down? Start Plan II student elections! Now all my closest friends come bugging me every day, asking if I've seen their flyers, if the advertisement was effective, if I know who keeps taking down the flyers every night, and it goes on, and on, and on.So stop it. I'm your friend and I know you're running, yes, but please be aware that I have multiple friends and that includes your opponent. Take that into consideration, let me choose you for your merits and leave me the hell alone!But Kinky, you can come chill at my place any damn day, OK?
2. Campaign slogans. With "Kinky in 2006: Why the Hell Not?" and "No teacher, librarian or lesbian left behind," this guy's got a great approach to grab voters' attention. And it's working - national news media is giving the guy great coverage.
3. He's a Plan II graduate, class of 1956. Not only must I show love to one of the more important institutions of my life, but I would near-blindly trust *any* P2 graduate to run my government. The only generalized group of people I'd choose over P2 to rule my world would be Rhodes Scholars, only because of their good track record in recent years - Bill Clinton and Wesley Clark could probably save the world all by themselves.Then we step down a level, to city council elections. It's nice that we have about as many people running as there were Democratic presidential candidates, but it also makes the process a tad inconvenient. I have yet to read up on any of the candidates or actually go vote, and I should probably do that, well, damn soon. And then it hits the level of downright annoyance: student elections. After seeing two years of college student elections, I honestly believe they should be banned and any important positions should be appointed by adults in charge of various offices. It was bad enough during student government elections. Everyone handed out t-shirts like humans needed them to breathe, and at the same time if you had friends working on a campaign, they needed your promised vote for sustenance. Drove me fucking insane. So what's the perfect thing to do after the SG insanity dies down? Start Plan II student elections! Now all my closest friends come bugging me every day, asking if I've seen their flyers, if the advertisement was effective, if I know who keeps taking down the flyers every night, and it goes on, and on, and on.So stop it. I'm your friend and I know you're running, yes, but please be aware that I have multiple friends and that includes your opponent. Take that into consideration, let me choose you for your merits and leave me the hell alone!But Kinky, you can come chill at my place any damn day, OK?
Two bits of good news:1. I fixed my UT hosted pictures page! All this time, all I had to was kill the first line of code. If any errors still show up, send me a message and tell me what your connection and browser are.2. Two new albums are up! The best from the Jimmy Eat World show and the P2 Formal are all online, once again thanks to Picasa. You can click the link on the right to get to both of them.
Thanks to Picasa and Hello, here are some shots of the insanity and celebration that was my weekend. More pics will follow in a day or two, including The Picture of the Year. For now, enjoy the shots from Jimmy and the P2 Formal.