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I am a full member of society now. Having completed the necessary milestones accorded to people my age by Western society, I am now expected to act like everyone else. Unfortunately, I have been sidelined by a recession. Not, just any recession, which is signaled by at least two consecutive quarters of negative economic growth, but, the Great Recession. So, I will flail, tremble with fear, quake, and sigh with anxiety at the daunting economic outlook for a while. After wards, I will have to lift my head, and march forth on an uncertain journey.

But, if there is anything that I have learned, is that nothing in life is easy. I was not born with a silver spoon in my mouth. My parents are not wealthy or well-connected. Nobody has charted my life towards success and happiness. Challenges face us all the time, and it can either make or break a person. I will not be broken.

Let's look at what is recession-proof, and what I don't have qualms with, shall we?
-Alcohol, sales of spirits go up during times of economic distress, but I couldn't help someone get access to liquor knowing that it plays a role in domestic abuse, for the most part. Also, I am not down with substance abuse of any kind.
-Health care, the demand for mental and physical health care goes up during hard times. I know nothing about anatomy or medicine, so that puts me at a severe disadvantage. I am cool with helping others, so let's put that in the "maybe" pile.
-Military. The big one. I could go on and on, so I think I will. Nothing gets recruiting quotas full like a recession. The selling point of any branch of the military is that you'll be set for life, if you hand over yours for a few years. Don't get me wrong, I am not knocking the work that the military does in any way, but my mom has certain opinions that color my sentiments. Back in the day, it was an option shown to delinquents or an obligatory rite as an American. Skip a generation, and the draft is gone. I, like all Americans have seen the evaporation of the presence of the US military stateside, only to saturate the Middle East and Central Asia, and I am dismayed to hear comparisons by older members of my family to Vietnam. I am tired of this comparison because no experience, however similar it may appear to be in the eyes of the observer, is exactly the same. Vietnam is not Afghanistan.
As you can see, I have mixed feelings about the military because it has a dangerous allure. For a person who values her ability not to withhold any thought on my mind, and my ability to travel at my leisure, I could see this as being the most difficult thing to relinquish if I sign on the dotted line.
So, let me lay it out for you like my dad did, awhile ago: The only to be pure is to be dead. That means, in way or another, most Americans, despite their political leanings, work with the military apparatus. My dad, who was a CO during Vietnam, works on thermal imaging that is used in drones, and other machines that drop death from above. My older brother, who gives subscriptions to The Nation to our family members, works in a lab funded by Homeland Security. So, is it crazy to think about 2nd Lt. Helen Fenimore USMC, or Ensign Fenimore?

No.

Break

I am still on vacation from college, and I am coming up to the last few classes in my undergraduate career! I just registered for the foreign service exam online, and am confused whether or not I actually am on the list... or whatever they use to know that I am interested in taking the exam. The foreign service exam seems pretty intense, perhaps I should have bought the study guide that is available on the website, how convenient. 

I am going to take some summer classes, so that I can graduate and get on with the rest of my life! It's not going to be just a few classes either, I have to take 4! Well, I should meet with my advisor to check my progress and make sure everything is alright. 

The inauguration is coming up, and as much as I would love to go and see it firsthand, DC is going to be packed and frigid. All the bridges leading into and out of the city are shut down on the day of and the days preceding the event, only available for foot traffic. Metro, which can only handle 125,000 people an hour is going to be inundated with millions of people (it is estimated) I'm going to pass on the chaos, though I have young, strong legs and a good bladder! 

I can bring snacks and be in a warm place at my house or go to my church if I want to socialize. Plus, I can see Obama close up!

Happy New Year!

This is my first post on the blog of the new year! Frohe neues jahr 2009, yeah, that was German. Today, I went to the Israeli embassy to protest ongoing violence in the Gaza Strip and the protest moved to the Egyptian embassy. My friend Jenn (from my history of Middle East and North Africa class that I took sophomore year) and I got on some news program, that was kind of cool. 

When we were at the Egyptian embassy, people threw shoes at the building, for those who don't know, showing the soles of shoes or throwing shoes is a sign of disrespect in the Middle East. Though I support a ceasefire and peace, other people at the protest voiced their opinions of Israel being a terrorist state and Bush being equated to Hitler. Other than that, nothing bad happened! 

Yesterday, I hung out with my friend Pia, a German au pair who lives in Bethesda. Her family had a New Year's party, and I met another au pair from South Africa. I was still recovering from New Year's, so much partying in such a short period of time!

Eve of New Year's Eve

Been a While

I have now realized that I have not updated my blog in about two and a half months! So, in that time, I have finished my semester and am awaiting my grades, I have bought Christmas presents for my parents, friends, and brother. Since none of them know that I have a blog, I think that I can say what I got them:

Dad- assorted teas, chocolate orange

Mom- composition book, DVD

My brother, John- Rock Em Sock Em Robots

My friend, Jen- candy, Chipotle gift card, bottle of Johnny Walker (Black Label)

See, I try to buy stuff that I like, so if they don't want it, they can give to back to me! That's kind of wrong, but I take their likes and dislikes into consideration because I actually listen and pay attention. My mom says I don't, but I really do. Tomorrow, my brother, my best friend (Joey) and I are going to the movies, I think that we're going to see The Spirit. It promises to be a ripping good movie, and it will be a lot of fun because I'll be hanging out. 

I wonder what I got for Christmas. Presents are cool, but mostly, I like getting presents for other people. The look on their faces is very satisfying, unless they don't like what you got for them, then it sucks. 

Change of Season, Change of Pace

Today, at 11:44 a.m. Eastern Standard Time, the autumnal equinox happened. So, it is officially fall, and the cool breezes and crunchy leaf piles that come along with the change of the season await! Fall is one of my favourite seasons, summer being the other one, and the excitement of wearing sweaters, cuddling up in a ball underneath big comforters, and watching the treetops change from green to red, orange, and brown is bubbling inside me. But, school has dampened my spirits of enjoying all of these things that I love about fall. 

As the semester gears up to be quite a challenge, with more reading and assignments than I had anticipated, I will have to hustle and get out of my summer state of mind. The sloth, lethargy, and general laziness that I am experiencing will have to be replaced by a very focused and energetic student that I know that I can be. I am able to get some work done, but I always seem to be missing assignments or forgetting to complete some task. 

In good news, my friends are going to have an election day party. Shots for every swing state that Obama wins, and general hullabaloo. Obama `08!

Stat, Sarah Palin, and other craziness

I have not sent my news out on the internets for a while, and thought that I should. There is a lot of hub-bub surrounding John McCain's vice presidential nominee, Sara Palin. She looks like Tina Fey, and Ms. Fey did a very good job imitating her on Saturday Night Live. After eight years of gut checks and their disastrous results, I think that there should be "safer" choices and more aforethought. 

I am NOT being sexist. As a young woman, it scares me to see a woman who threatens to usurp rights availed to women through great sacrifice and effort. Mrs. Palin has experience as a mayor, governor, mother and wife, but I do not think that those experiences lend themselves to qualifications to become president (if required to do so) It has been revealed that John McCain has spoken, in the past that he "was not a governor for a short time, or a mayor for a short time" That means, he assumes that the relative inexperience of Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee in those capacities do not lend themselves to qualifications for president. 

My dad says not to sweat her because she is the vice presidential candidate, but with the chance of John McCain dying while in office (assuming he gets elected) because of his on-going battle with cancer, that will put her in the hot-seat. Meh, I'm voting for Obama anyways. 

Yesterday, I had a very relaxing Sunday full of awkward conversations with my parents about my future, procrastinating, and smoking weed. But, I eventually got around to do my statistics homework, and tomorrow I'll have to read for my labour economics class. Somehow, I forget to check updates for my classes on my computer while I'm in front of it. Interesting how people can avoid work while they're on a machine that helps them with it. Yay! Class doesn't start until 12:30 tomorrow, and I get to play soccer at 6.