Heavy hangs the head that wears the crown.

I have spent most of this afternoon on the phone.  I’ve been calling around trying to make final plans for the big Phi Alpha Theta trip March 7th.

I had to call MARTA in Atlanta to figure out what station was closest to Birmingham so that the group could park and then ride into Atlanta rather than attempting to drive in Atlanta traffic.  So I called and asked, and since I was there I asked how we would get from that station to the Atlanta Civic Center.  the lady very nicely gave be detailed instructions but she had to transfer me to another department when I asked about daypasses.  He told me how much they cost and what they are good for.  I said goodbye and hung up.  Then I called the people selling the Combo tickets to see the Tutankamun exhibit and the Terracotta Warriors exhibit, I asked how much group tickets cost and any other incidental fees.  Then I had to call the MARTA people back because I forgot to ask how long it would take us to do all that travelling.  Then I had to call the faculty advisor to talk about the plans.  Whew.  It looks like its going to be a very long day, nearly 12 hours.  We will have to leave no later than 6:30.  And we’ll probably get back around 6:00-6:30.  Ugh.

Now I am on the phone with Mom setting up her very own blog!  Her’s is Draws on Walls, I picked the title, follow the link to see it!  She’ll be very excited to hear from you!

So I was reading the news when I saw a blip about this video on CNN.  Appearently the soaps just had their first lesbian weddingand of course certain groups are angry about it.

The longer this goes one the less I understand it.  Why shouldn’t two men who love each other have just as much right as a man and a woman to have a big ceremony and a peice of paper to prove it?  I’ve heard most of the arguements, science and religion: God created Adam and Eve not Adam and Steve; biologically it could lead to the downfall of the species because homosexual couples are not able to procreate.  On the religion side, God is omnipotent, which means He should know how things will turn out in the future, and God created us all.  Using those to things shouldn’t God have known when He created a woman that she was going to fall in love with another woman?  And if it was wrong wouldn’t He have fixed that?  And if God is benevolent and truly loves us all why would He care if Ben and Stan loved each other?  You can’t say that God is benevolent and that he hates certain people.  It’s an oxymoron.  On the science side, I think that there are enough people out there that are having more babies than they want or can possibly care for that a few people who can’t have babies are not going to kill off a species.  You don’t tell heterosexual couples who are unable to have babies that they are threat to the continuation of the species.

Honestly, I look at all the people against gay marriage right now and I see all the people who were against interracial marriages.  They use most of the same arguements.  You don’t just decide one day “Hmm, I feel like being gay today.”  You love who you love and thats that.  Anybody who says that they just decided one day is lying.  They are either lying about the suddeness of the switch or they’re lying about being happy with the switch.

I think the government has NO RIGHT to dictate to me who I can and cannot marry.  They should just register my choice when I turn in my marriage certificate.  If the churches don’t want to perform gay marriages or recognize homosexual couples, fine.  That is their prerogative.  I don’t think the Government should dictate to them what they should and should not recognize.  This Nation was founded upon the separation of church and state.  It’s time that BOTH PARTIES started to remember that.

Sorry I got up on my soap box but I feel strongly about this and I wanted to register my views on the subject.

Now before I sign off I want to give a disclaimer.  I trust my friends and family so this is in no way directed at you.  This is to the nutjob that sits at home typing in keywords to find a blog to troll on, and wants to leave me nasty comments about my morals.  Feel free to disagree with me, I have several friends who do, just be warned, if you are going to get up on your high horse and start casting stones, I will too.  I welcome discussion but no outright dismissal.  MyMomma always said if you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all.

So this week I got to start indexing!  You see, last semester when i was doing all my research for Peterson Hall (and had no free time and thus no posts) I spent a lot of time reading through the Board of Trustees Minutes and I literally had to just read through them because there was no index to help me find what I was looking for.  While I was bemoaning this hardship to Cary the Archivist he mentioned that someday he’d like to have them indexed.  Well I volunteered so that’s the main reason I’m working in the archives this semester.  And this week I finally got started.  Last week he pulled a couple of books on indexing for me to read over, and Tuesday I went in early and just read.  When Cary got there I was sprawled across the floor with one of the books.  Unfortantly indexing isn’t something that you can really learn from a book.  It’s an experience thing.  So I sat down and started working.  As a history major I’ve had a lot of experience researching and indexes can make or break a source.  Unless it’s a short book, if it doesn’t have an index I usually put it back.  We don’t have time to read an entire book on the off chance that it MIGHT have what we are looking for.  A good index is indespensible and bad index is worse than useless.  So I’m reading through the Trustees Minutes with the indexes I like in mind.  I actually enjoy indexing.  It sounds like it would be tedious and dull, but its not.  I have to think about every word, I have to beable to grasp the context quickly and I have to be able to simplfy it so that someone else can find what they are looking for easily.  The books all say that indexing is an art not something you can learn from a textbook.  The American Society for Indexing has a very informative FAQs page on Indexing.  Indexing isn’t something you can really get a major in, it’s something you just have to do.  I could see myself enjoying indexing as a career.  Unfortantly indexing is mostly freelance, most publishers don’t keep an in-house indexer, they just hire one on a case by case basis.  So I’m wondering do I have to ability to run my own buisness?  I’m not sure.  I’ll have to think about it.

In other news, Jeff and I went grocery and Valentine’s shopping yesterday.  Jeff and I went ahead an exchanged gifts but we are saving the cards for tomorrow.  Jeff bought me Personal Trainer Cooking for the DS.  I really like it!  Its got all sorts of recipes, a timer, video’s, step by step instructions, and a shopping list!  You can mark what items in a recipe you need and it creates a seperate list that you can take with you shopping.  I can’t wait to use it to cook!  It even has sushi!  Jeff and I are so there.  While we were out I also bought a treat for Zoey.  It’s called a Kong and it’s a rubber treat that you can fill with something.  For puppies that have little soft rubber ones with MeatWhiz (meat paste in a cheese whiz can, my own term) that is soft on their tummies.  Then as the puppy gets bigger you can graduate in size until they are fully grown and you can get a hard rubber one and fill it with peanut butter, instead of expensive MeatWhiz.  Appearently peanut butter is pretty good for dogs.  Anyway I hope she’ll like it.  I’ll give it to Mom when I see them this Saturday (tomorrow).

This week is College Night!  Which only the bestest college tradition ever.  You have my permission to be jealous.   College Night is Montevallo’s homecoming.  We don’t have a football team, so instead we celebrate with dueling musicals.  It started when Montevallo was still just a girl’s school as an inter class competition.  Eventually it boiled down to two sides, PV, Purple Victory, and GV, Gold Victory.  And the competition is vicious.  Now I’m not talking that brawls break out, but I wam talking that people pick a side and gernally stay that side until THEY DIE.  Scabs (my term for people who cross) are looked down upon as traitors.  One guy I knew switched sides after the first year and all of his purple friends, while still civil, were more like aquantinces.  I personally am a green with gold tendencies.  I dislike the snotty attitude of superiority that most Purples have since they are mostly from the arts departments.  Generally I root for who ever has the better show.  Last year both shows kind of sucked.  This year I hope they are better.  Saturday is the last night, thats when they announce the winner.  The show starts at seven when the front of Palmer Auditorium is packed by the Purple and Gold supporters who line up three feet from each other and scream their chants.  It gets LOUD up in there but honestly, it is one of the best things about campus.  The musicals start at 7:30 then they make the final announcement after they tally up all of the points which is usually 11:00.  It’s late but totally worth it.  Now the musicals are the only thing they do, they have basketball games and other things, but the shows are the most important part and worth the most points.  Oh and I forgot to mention that it is entirely done by students.  The teachers are only involved as judges.  The students, write, compose, direct, act, sing choreograph, make the set, everything.  We are talking professional grade musicals done entirely by college students.  It is amazing.

Jeff and I went and saw Push in the theater last night.  That is a great movie.  It is everything Jumper could have been but wasn’t because it sucked.  Push is a great drama science fiction, with great acting from Dakota Fanning (no suprise) and Chris Klein (suprise)  The fight scenes were very cool.  And Jeff and I laughed out loud several times.  The basic premise is this:

In our world there are people with “Psychic” powers.  Watchers, who can see the future.  Movers, hwho can move things with their minds.  Bleeders, who emit this sonic scream that causes your insides to liquify.  Pushers, who can influence the thoughts and actions of others.  Stitchs, who can heal injuries or cause them.  Sniffers who by touching or smelling something can locate the user of the item.  Shadows who can cause someone to disappear from everyone but the watchers.  Governments want to control those powers, and amplify them to create the perfect soldiers.  Those with powers are captured and experimented on.  The movie follows two loose powers, a watcher (Fanning) and a mover (Klein) who have a chance to turn the tables on the governments who hunt the powers.  It is a really good movie with some great cinimatography.

Oh and that mess in the bottom of the referidgerator was a mix of wine and Koolaid.  Yuck.

Let me tell you about my great weekend.

It started on Friday.  That afternoon Daniel and I cleaned the kitchen.  Daniel cleaned the kitchen while I took care of the refrigerator.  I threw out all the left overs, some that had been in there since last year (ew), and everything that was expired.  Everything got checked and if they were expired I chunked it.  A lot was expired, boys like to buy in bulk and then not eat it.  I threw away an entire, unopened, giant tub of mayonnaise that expired two months ago.  There was a gian, terrible MESS (if there was a stronger word than mess I would use it) in the bottom of the refridgerator.  I removed the bottom drawers and there it was.

(photo by Daniel)

I sat staring at it for a moment trying to figure out HOW to clean it, when Daniel stepped up and said he knew what to do.  So I let him have at it while I washed the drawers and the shelves.  Once daniel had cleaned it and every shelf had been washed, I rearranged the layout of the fridge.  It’s very nice.

I had work that evening, which I was working with one of the good managers and a great cashier which makes my life much easier.

Saturday Jeff and I ran errands in the morning.  I mailed off some more stuff for swaptree.  And while we were out and about we went by Bailey, Banks, and Biddle so that he could pick out a wedding ring and I could start saving up for it.  Men’s rings are expensive, or at least they are at Bailey Banks and Biddle.  But, we get our jewelry from Baily Banks and Biddle for a reason.  The reason?  They are nice to us.  Some of you might not know the story so I’ll share.  Several Christmases ago my parents bought me a charm bracelet.  I like it a lot and I like getting new charms for it.  So for our second anniversary… or valentines day (I get the two confused because they are only like a week apart) Jeff bought be a lovely heart charm.  Well we went to teh mall to find a jewler who could put it on.  I assumed it would be one of those drop it off for and hour, pick it up and pay kind of deals if that.  Well we went it to Kay’s and the girl first looked us up and down and then very snidly if she could help us.  I asked if she could put a charm on for me and she sniffed and said that they don’t do that.  We left and went to the next store.  That one once again looked down on us because we were college students dressed like college students and said they could do it but they would have to mail it off and it would be back in a week to two weeks.  No thank you.  There were like five jewelry stores in the mall at that point in time (three have closed by now) and four of them treated us like crap because we were college students and they didn’t think we had money.  We went to Bailey, Banks, and Biddle last.  They have the fanciest sounding name and the nicest looking store so we figured that they would treat us the worst.  We went in and asked the lady and not only did she smile brightly at us, she worked on it right then and there.  Re-arranged the charms so that they were all evenly spaced, and she did it all for free.  I decided right then and there they were the ones who were going to get my money if ever I needed to buy fine jewelry.  Fast forward a year and a half, Jeff and I are engagement ring shopping.  We hit up a few of the other jewelry stores, were once again were are treated like poop because we are college students.  I insisted that I didn’t want the huge diamonds and the lady kept looking at me like I was stupid or annoying.  WE go to Bailey Banks and Biddle the lady treats us with respect shows us every ring in there until we find the one ring.  She helps size me, she helps Jeff gett it when he goes back, and after my ring is sized we went to pick it up right at closing time.  She amkes them reopen the store just to give it to us.  This is why Bailey, Banks, and Biddle gets my money.  It’s an abject lesson in respect and why you should give it to everyone.  I have told all ofmy friends that that is where they need to go shopping for their jewelry.  I just plain like every employee we’ve dealt with.  Their boss must be a great person.  Well  anyway, Jeff found a ring that he liked.  It’s made of Palladium, with a concave design, and this tribal etching/vine around it.  I thought it was very nice.  It was also 60% off which brought it down to 800 dollars (ouch).  I’m starting to save up now so that I can get it now before I’m paying off rental fees and location fees and photographers fees.  And I want to pay it off all by myself with no help from my parents or Jeff, espeically Jeff.  Hopefully the government will see fit to give me back some of the money I gave them in taxes and I can use that.

After that we came home and started cleaning.  We cleaned all afternoon and evening.  Now my room is spotless.  There is nothing on the floor in wither the bedroomor the closet.  All of our clothes are either folded or in the dirty clothes hamper.  We have some hanging, from actual hangers!, in the closet.  We cleaned out the massive tubs that Jeff moved in with, finally after nearly a year and a half!  My laundry baskets are cleaned out of all their junk.  the bookshelves are full of books and dvds instead of them taking up space on the floor.  We vacummed and dusted!  It’s a miracle!

Late that evening Quinton and Jackie came over and we watched Eagle Eye.  I had seen it in theaters but no one else had, it was really good.  I think it is a very good thriller and I think Shia LaBeuf  is the star of our generation.  But that’s just my opinion.  After they left at about midnight when the movie ended.  Jeff and I went to sleep in our nice clean room.

Today, we rearranged some stuff and started figuring out where was the best place to things.  Some are located in the Random Stuff drawer for lack of a better place to put them.  Things like swim goggles, and small heating pads, things that you do still need, but don’t have a set place.  I have a drawer full of papers that I’m going to buy giant portfolios (yes perhaps more then one) for and store.  These are papers like papers I’ve written for classes that I want to keep, papers I’ve been given in classes, writings, notes, those kinds of things.  Then the crowning moment of the whole day.

Tonight was Steak Night.

Jeff prepared the steaks while I was put in charge of everything else.  So I started boiling water and heating up the oven while cleaning broccoli and preparing pans for roasting.  Daniel took over potato peeling duties after one and a half potatoes because appearently I looked incompetant doing it.  He accomplished it much fast than I could have and I chopped the potatoes so we could boil them.  Once the potatoes were boiling I popped the rolls in the oven, figuring that they were they best to be more room temperature than anything else.  Carla, Tommy’s girlfriend, monitored the potatoes while I drizzled olive oil over the broccoli and salted and peppered and potato salted them.  The rolls dinged I took those out and stuck them on the burner that serves as a vent to the oven and turned the oven up.  The potatos finished and I dropped them onto the pan with the broccoli and oiled, and salted, and potato salted them as well.  Then into the oven they went.  Jeff came up with the steaks just as I was thinking thatthe vegetables were done.  We couldn’t have times that any better if we had tried!  Everyone filled the plates and oh yeah!  I forgot my dinner from last night.  Pasta Salad.  It was Archer Farms (aka Target Brand) boxed pasta salad.  It was delicious and Jeff and I ate like we hadn’t been fed in two days, but we still had some left.  (When the box said 4 hearty seervings they weren’t kidding.)  So tonight we doled that out as well.  Everyone said it was one of the most amazing dinners they’ve ever had.  The vegetables were a big hit (Thaks Mom!) and the steaks were heavenly.  After dinner Patrick served up some cake.  It was amazing!  And delicious!  We fed 6 people, which includes 4 very hungry boy, and we had just enough leftover that I am looking forward to lunch tomorrow!  There is still pasta salad!  Amazing!

Also I have a great story idea that I’ve been working on.  When I told it to Jeff he was like “Well, whats the rest of the story?  What happens?  Now you have to write the book because I’ve got to know.”

AND I’m thinking about starting another website called Cassandra Says where I will recommend things like recipes and books and movies and tv shows.  I know I do that alot here, but this would be a website filled with nothing but reviews.  And I would find some way to have a search engine where you can select what kind of mood your in and find a book or movie or tv show to suit.  I think it would be kind of neat.  I’m just sort of thinking about it though.

Alright, enough.  Thispost has gone on long enough so I shall end it here.  Goodnight everybody!