Capital Punishment, I Just Don’t Care May 27, 2007
Posted by wes285 in Capital Punishment.2 comments
The state of Ohio has had 2 botched executions in the last 2 years. The latest took over two hours and 10 tries to carry out. And you now what? I just don’t care. Have it, don’t have it, doesn’t matter to me. I have no stance on the issue because I don’t think its a very big deal. There are issues that are much more important. Poverty, education, “war” on terror, drugs, national debt, social security, medicare. Take your pick.
Since 1976, there have been 1065 (give or take a few) executions in the United States. That comes out to 35.5 executions per year. Cruel and unusual, maybe (I wouldn’t necessarily be opposed to bringing back the firing squad). But, so much attention is pointed towards the rights of convicted murderers while tens of millions of people, mostly children, in poverty are ignored. Unfortunately, it isn’t unusual at all. But it is most certainly cruel.
I would go into much more detail, but I gotta go pack for THE BAHAMAS. Yeah you know you’re jealous.
I’ll just leave you with this:
While in any given year 12 to 15 percent of the population is poor, over a ten-year period 40 percent experience poverty in at least one year because most poor people cycle in and out of poverty; they don’t stay poor for long periods. Poverty is something that happens to the working class, not some marginal ‘other’ on the fringes of society.
- Michael Zweig, What’s Class Got to do With It, American Society in the Twenty-first Century
That’s 36 vs. 45 in one year.
45 million that is.
Graduation and Other Randomness May 25, 2007
Posted by wes285 in College, Marijuana.1 comment so far
I graduated from college on Monday. I suppose the thing to do is to write about all the great times, how much I’m going to miss college, how excited I am for the future, how much I’ve grown and so forth. So here goes. College was great. I’m going to miss it. But, I’m really excited for what the future holds for me. I’ve grown so much in the four years at Maryland (okay, that ones debatable).
That’s it. Sorry to disappoint you all, but I have no idea where to start or even what to write about. So I’m just going to leave this one alone. Many of you (read: ten people) who read this are college graduates. If you really want to know what I’m feeling right now, just think about all the experiences you had in college and try blending them into a few cohesive thoughts. Yeah, thought so. You can’t do it either.
“Wonderwall” by Oasis is one of my favorite songs. It might actually be my favorite. Lately, I’ve had Ryan Adams’ cover of the song on constant repeat. It’s phenomenal. There’s something haunting, yet inviting about it. I couldn’t find a decent clip of him playing it on youtube, so we’ll just have to settle for some kids class project with the song as the background music.
Maybe this is just me, but some people just cannot answer the question asked to them on the first try. The worst offenders are my Dad and Casey. They give me the answer to some question, just not mine. The conversation might go a little like this:
Me: Can I take the car tonight?
Dad: Brad has it right now.
Me: Okay, that would be nice if I asked you “who has the car right now?” But that wasn’t it. Let’s try this again. Can I use the car tonight?
Dad: Yes.
Me: See, that wasn’t so hard was it?
I don’t know why we teach kids “La Cucaracha” in preschool. The real lyrics to the song are:
La cucaracha, la cucaracha
Ya no puede caminar
Porque le falta, porque no tiene
Marihuana que fumar
For those of you who don’t know Mexican:
The cockroach, the cockroach
Can’t walk anymore
Because it lacks, because it doesn’t have
Marijuana to smoke
So that’s why we have a drug problem in America. You hear that Mr. Drug Czar, we need to stop teaching kids “La Cucaracha” and “Puff the Magic Dragon”. I guarantee that ends the drug “epidemic” in America. It has to be at least as effective as the War on Drugs and way cheaper. Just think of all the mariju…I mean infrastructure the government could buy and set up in New Orleans. What a novel idea.
Mahjong in Heaven May 16, 2007
Posted by wes285 in Family, Mothers.add a comment
This Mother’s Day was a little different than in years past. On Thursday, my mom called me and asked me if I wanted to go to the cemetery before our usual family dinner (with all 30 of us or so). At first I was a bit confused at why she was asking. And then I quickly realized, to go visit my grandmother. My grandmother passed away about three months ago. I reluctantly agreed. You see, the two things I hate more than anything else are going to cemeteries and hospitals. I don’t think anyone actually likes going to either of these places. But I absolutely loathe both of them. Much more than the average person. Anyway, at the cemetery this exchange happened between my cousin Kendra and her 4 year-old son Grayson:
Kendra: Grayson, let’s go talk to Tai Po (great grandmother)
Grayson: But, what do I say?
Kendra: You know, happy mother’s day, we miss you.
Grayson: But she can’t hear me.
Kendra: Only her body is down there, she’s up in heaven.
Grayson: I knoooow, but that’s too far away.
When I was younger, anytime there was a thunderstorm, my siblings and I would just say it was the angels bowling in heaven. It made us a little less scared of the thunder and lightning. It’s storming outside right now. It’s just my grandmother and her friends shuffling the mahjong tiles in heaven. I’m sure she’s robbing her friends of their money right now. Or whatever it is they use for currency in heaven. It’s what she used to do with to us and our plastic chips.
Happy Mother’s Day Po Po. And Happy Mother’s Day to all the other mothers out there.
If It Does Not Fit, You Must Acquit May 14, 2007
Posted by wes285 in Uncategorized.add a comment
Some guy created a parody of The Simpsons called The O.J. Simpsons. Absolutely hilarious. So far there are three episodes, but FOX is trying to get them off the Internet so you better hurry up.
“If I Did It (Director’s Cut)”
“The Black and White Christmas”
“Warzone”
Utter Idiocy May 11, 2007
Posted by wes285 in Stupid People.add a comment
You love your friends. And you hate your friends. They put you in the absolute worst positions. You wish you could sit idly by and let things unravel the way they should. But, that never actually happens. This is the last thing I need right now.
I Want Some Crack! May 9, 2007
Posted by wes285 in Uncategorized.add a comment
I lost my Burt’s Bees chapstick the other day, so I went into the Commons Shop to get a new one. They have an entire stand dedicated to just Burt’s Bees stuff but they didn’t have the normal stuff. There was a “Lifeguard’s Choice” for sun and snow. I figured I’d try a new one I bought it. A day later I look in the mirror. You know the lifeguard who has sunscreen so think on his nose that its just white. Yeah. This was the chapstick to go with it. I pretty much walked around all day that day looking like a crackhead. I think I’ll tuck that one away until next year when I hit the slopes again and buy a new one.
Tyrone: Why do you think I carjacked you, Rhonda?
Rhonda: Cos the cops found you asleep in it high on crack!
Tyrone: That’s impossible, Rhonda. How can you sleep when you’re high on crack? Chinese riddle for you.
Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For May 7, 2007
Posted by wes285 in Religion, SGA.3 comments
I have spoke with the
Tongue of angels
I have held the
Hand of a devil
It was warm in the night
I was cold as a stone
But I still haven’t found what I’m looking for
But I still haven’t found what I’m looking for…
——————
Wesley Gee
Chief of Staff
University of Maryland
Student Government Association
(301) xxx-xxxx
That’s what my email signature used to be. Used to be. For two years, the SGA has been, not quite my entire life, but a very large part of my college experience. I met most of my best friends through the SGA and been involved with quite a few notable accomplishments on campus. No matter what people think about the organization, I am damn proud to have been part of it. But that’s all besides the point. Removing those five lines symbolized the end. Not just of my time in the SGA, but of everything. And I’m not sure I got what I came for.
Don’t get me wrong. I have enjoyed college, maybe a little too much as my mom would say. I love my friends and I have endless stories to tell my kids when they graduate college. And some I won’t. The last four years have been an absolute blast. In terms of experience, I got what I came for, and then some. “College is the best four years of your life.” I haven’t experienced the rest of my life yet, but I’m not sure it gets much better than this.
The summer after I graduated from high school, my parents and I were at a huge crossroads in our relationship. It was bad. Things flying across the room bad. Family therapy bad. Moving out of the house bad. We worked out most of the problems and I have a better relationship with my parents now than at any point before. One of the big reasons for the blow up was, that after 18 years of going to church just about every Sunday, I decided that I wasn’t going anymore. I all but told my parents religion is useless and has no place in my life. I had been told all my life what I was supposed to believe and what was wrong. Being the cynical person that I was, I wasn’t satisfied with being spoonfed my beliefs.
There was a span of about a year in middle school where I legitmately tried to be a good Christian and feel the things that the people around me claimed they were feeling. Maybe they really felt those things, maybe they didn’t, but I sure as hell wasn’t feeling any of them. At that point, I shut it down. Sunday services became an annoyance that I had to get through. Youth group was nothing more than a place to see some of my friends. I even stopped going to youth group altogether. The only reason I kept going to services on Sunday was because I didn’t have much of a choice. I knew exactly what would happen if I told my parents I felt like sleeping in and wasn’t going to church. We’d get into an argument, I’d get threatened with being grounded, the car ride over would be miserable, and it would be my fault that we were late to church. I guess graduation emboldened me, so I moved out for a couple months and haven’t been to church services other than Christmas and sometimes Easter since.
Coming into college, I wasn’t searching for some form of spirituality. In fact, at the time, I was running as fast as I could in the other direction. I was happy to just go to the occasional class, get hammered, and hang out with friends. Nothing unusual there and not much has changed since. But, after 4 years, I find myself in the same exact place. Looking for something. I don’t know how to describe it because I’m not certain what it is I’m looking for. I just know that I want it. I have a feeling it’s one of those things you can’t really actively look for. It just hits you in the face one day and once you do get it, you wonder why you spent all that time looking for it when it was right in front of you. I might not find it until the day I die, and I’m okay with that. But until then, I’ll be looking for it.
Cool Like a Bitches Brew May 5, 2007
Posted by wes285 in Uncategorized.add a comment
We’ll just call Mark Jenkins the Miles Davis of street art.
Libertarian is the 13th Astrological Sign May 1, 2007
Posted by wes285 in Politics, Stupid People.1 comment so far
Alex’s roommate’s friends aren’t exactly the brightest kids in the world. When they get drunk, it’s very likely that their IQ levels drop below 75 points. They had a keg at their apartment this weekend after Maryland Day and Melissa happened to be wearing a necklace with a Lady Liberty medallion on it. Real life is better than fiction:
Brendan: That’s a cool necklace. What is it?
Melissa: Oh, it’s Lady Liberty. I’m a libertarian.
Brendan: Oh cool. I’m a virgo.
