:: Venting Insanity ::

:: Wednesday, September 08, 2004 ::

bethpage!!!!
EEEEEK!

It is *SO* different there! I felt so weird. There was no one there that I recognized, which was actually a bit disconcerting. Of course, that's probably because I'm used to being recognized. Everyone at the Patchogue campus knows me. It's a nice feeling. Walking into Bethpage today was like, 'I'm all alooooooooone!'

Anyway, it turns out I'm only going to have to go in once a week now. The class was turned into an independant study (yet another one for me!!!!!), and we only have to meet for a half hour each week. We're still going to meet in a group, but only on Mondays at 1:30. At least I don't have to make the trek in twice a week now... it cuts my mileage in half. Yay!

Of course, this means I'm going to have four independant studies for six classes. I have to get in touch with Prof Frascinella again to see how the paperwork for those is going. I need to start meeting with my professors. I don't want to start late... especially with an independant study.

I'm just hoping this happens. I *so* need to graduate. I wouldn't be pushing this hard if I didn't.

snapple "real fact" #182
A rainbow can only be seen in the morning or late afternoon.

:: Sunday, September 05, 2004 ::

consider the irony
Yesterday's scores...

NY Mets lost 7-0...
NY Yankees lost 7-0...

Is that kinda strange or is it just me?

snapple "real fact" #168
One alternate title that had been considered for NBC's hit "F*R*I*E*N*D*S" was "Insomnia Café".

terrorism doesn't recognize non-combatants
Russia Mourns Hostage Killings, Questions Mount for Putin

I had a horrible feeling it would turn out this way, especially since they gassed all those people in the theatre during the last hostage crisis. I knew a lot of those children were going to die.

This is horrible, yet the terrorists don't care. They will kill anyone. They don't think any of us deserve to live.

That is just so wrong.

snapple "real fact" #185
A male kangaroo is called a Boomer.

you signed me up for what?
Dad signed himself, Mom, and I all up for motorcycle lessons at a local Harley dealership. Can you see it? Me riding a motorcycle! LOL... The idea is kind of neat, and I think it's going to be fun. We all have to take our permit test first, and then the instructors escort us to the driving test. They supply the bikes and helmets, too.

Wish me luck. LOL...

snapple "real fact" #179
The first lighthouse to use electricity was the Statue of Liberty in 1886.

labor day blahs
When I was little, I always thought Labor Day had to do with birthing... probably because one of my dad's brothers has his birthday on September 2^nd. Go figure.

Either way, I know it's not anymore. While I think the true meaning of the holiday is long lost in the commercialism of cook-outs and drinking binges, there was once a reason to make this a national day off.

I found the History of Labor Day at the U.S. Department of Labor.

"Labor Day differs in every essential way from the other holidays of the year in any country," said Samuel Gompers, founder and longtime president of the American Federation of Labor. "All other holidays are in a more or less degree connected with conflicts and battles of man's prowess over man, of strife and discord for greed and power, of glories achieved by one nation over another. Labor Day...is devoted to no man, living or dead, to no sect, race, or nation."

Labor Day was created to honor the social and economic achievements of American workers. There's a debate on the actual creator... whether it was Peter J. McGuire, general secretary of the Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners and a cofounder of the American Federation of Labor, was first in suggesting a day to honor those "who from rude nature have delved and carved all the grandeur we behold" or... Matthew Maguire, a machinist and later the secretary of Local 344 of the International Association of Machinists in Paterson, N.J., proposed the holiday in 1882 while serving as secretary of the Central Labor Union in New York. What is clear is that the Central Labor Union adopted a Labor Day proposal and appointed a committee to plan a demonstration and picnic.

The first Labor Day holiday was celebrated on Tuesday, September 5, 1882, in New York City, in accordance with the plans of the Central Labor Union. In 1884 the first Monday in September was selected as the holiday, as originally proposed, and the Central Labor Union urged similar organizations in other cities to follow the example of New York and celebrate a "workingmen's holiday" on that date. The idea spread with the growth of labor organizations, and in 1885 Labor Day was celebrated in many industrial centers of the country.

The character of the Labor Day celebration has undergone a change in recent years, especially in large industrial centers where mass displays and huge parades have proved a problem. This change, however, is more a shift in emphasis and medium of expression. Labor Day addresses by leading union officials, industrialists, educators, clerics and government officials are given wide coverage in newspapers, radio, and television.

The vital force of labor added materially to the highest standard of living and the greatest production the world has ever known and has brought us closer to the realization of our traditional ideals of economic and political democracy. It is appropriate, therefore, that the nation pay tribute on Labor Day to the creator of so much of the nation's strength, freedom, and leadership — the American worker.

snapple "real fact" #136
Strawberries are the only fruits whose seeds grow on the outside.