Why Alcohol and Politics Don't Mix

I mentioned it on Facebook and Twitter Sunday morning, but here's the full story (with pictures at the end) on what happened.

For those of you who have never been to College Station (or who haven't been in 25+ years), there is a part of town, right across the street from campus on University Dr., called Northgate.  It's the part of town with a lot of bars, a few restaurants, and, nightly every weekend, lots of drunk Aggies.  I was out with a few friends and Andrew at the local pub, O'Bannons, drinking, people watching, and just generally hanging out.  In the center of Northgate, across the street from where we were drinking, there is a numbered parking lot where many people park.  It's a high traffic area for vehicles and pedestrians walking to their cars, other establishments, or home.

Andrew and I only paid for two hours and I still needed to read and study, so we didn't want to stay out late.  We said our good-byes and headed back to my car a little before 12:30.  We were in my car because I was wearing a dress and hate climbing in and out of his truck while wearing one (it's not lady-like...and I'm sooooo not graceful).  Andrew was driving home though.  When we get in the car, I looked back and thought my back window had condensation on it because it was so clouded...but there was super low humidity and no condensation anywhere else...I started to freak out and said "Oh my God, is my back window shattered?"  Andrew told me to stay in the car and he got out.  I didn't listen and got out too because I was freaking out.  My back window was shattered!  He went and found a bicycle cop but I knew that were was going to be no point.  No cameras and with thousands of drunk people walking around, no one would be caught.  My back window was shattered because a beer bottle full of dip/chew spit was throw at it from, probably, the sidewalk or road running behind where we parked.  The point of impact was obvious.  The spit was all down my car, and the broken bottle was shattered by my driver's side window.

I wish that it had been a freak drunk idiot, blinding throwing his gross bottle full of spit, but it wasn't.  It's not really a surprise to anyone that know me that I'm a Democrat.  I may not bring it up in certain situations, but if you've ever kept tabs of my online or in school, you'd know.  I'm not ashamed of being a Democrat.  I have an Obama 2012 bumper sticker, a Texans for Obama sticker, and an HRC sticker.  The bottle was thrown because of the first two stickers.  (Side note: I'm almost certain that most Aggie bumpkins don't have a clue what the HRC, let alone what the blue and yellow equal sign sticker means, so I don't think it contributed.)

Both my parents agree that I should probably take the stickers off my car...and I agree.  I hate that I have to.  I hate that I can't express my views without my vehicle being vandalized.  If you disagree with me, then let's have a civilized discussion/debate.  I am vehemently opposed to many Republican figures/politicians/candidates, but I'm not going to vandalize something because of it.  It just frustrates me so much.

If you disagree with other's views, don't be a dick about it.  That may be crude, but it's true.  Be respectful, be open to listening.  You may not come to a understanding, but you can at least agree to disagree and be okay about it.  Ugh, I'll get off my soapbox now...here are the pics.

Oh, and I got it fixed today so all is well...

EDIT: (like 20 minutes after I originally posted this) I want to thank my wonderful boyfriend for carting me around all day yesterday and today.  He's such a sweetheart, such a trooper, and didn't even complain.  He's a keeper :)

Spring Break Recap

I just got back from grocery shopping and, I've got to say, shopping after being gone for a week sucks.  Eating today before shopping was even worse.  No milk for cereal, no bread for toast or a sandwich, no veggies, no fruit, no nothing.  Now my pantry and fridge is all stocked and it all looks delicious :)

I had a whirlwind week, but I can safely say it was amazing.  Two weekends ago, I got to see a ton of people in a very short amount of time, and I got to have Andrew by my side for all of it.  Dinner and drinks with Oscar downtown Saturday, Brunch with Laura and Jenny Sunday, and dinner with my mom, my bestie, and all my mom's adopted kids (all my high school friends).  Those jam packed two days were just the beginning of the best spring break I've had.  The only sad part was having to leave my cat with my dad for a week, but he was super glad to see me last night when we finally got home and he was even good in the car on the way back to College Station.

Back in December, Andrew asked me to travel to Denver with him over Spring Break to meet his sister and brother-in-law.  Ever since, I was super excited and nervous at the same time.  He had met most of my family already, but this was going to be the first time for me meeting anyone of his.  I was worrying and nervous for nothing because his sister and brother-in-law are super laid back, incredibly nice, and really awesome people to spend time with.  Their house is beautiful and Denver as a whole is a gorgeous place to live.

We watched a TON of basketball while we were there (March Madness, duh) and we all took solace in each other's company as we lamented the utter beating our brackets took.  They were sad Harvard lost, Andrew was sad Montana lost, and I was happy that Baylor won (twice, but who's counting?).  Friday night, we watched Beauty and the Beast on stage in downtown Denver, Saturday we went to the St. Patrick's Day Parade and walked around LoDo (Lower Downtown), and that night, we went to the Nuggets vs. Celtics game.  Sunday, Andrew and I went to Red Rocks Park/Amphitheater, which was absolutely stunning.  It kind of sucked though because I am definitely not used to that high of altitude.  I was sitting down trying to not die while little kids were running around me and a hundred people were exercising, running up and down the rows of seats.  Jerks...anyway...

After Red Rocks, we went on the Coors Brewery tour which was really cool.  I had never been to a brewery before and free beer is always nice.  No pics from the brewery because I suck at remembering to take pictures (sober or otherwise).  The last stop of the day was a Mediterranean restaurant in downtown Boulder.  We met up with a couple Andrew knew from undergrad and had dinner with them and a few of their friends.  The food and company was fantastic.  It was cool to get to talk with people who have known Andrew for so long, and I discovered bacon-wrapped dates should be a staple at every meal.  So delicious.

Yesterday, we flew back to Texas, got in around 10 pm, drove back to get my cat, and then drove back to  College Station...needless to say, it was a long long day.

All in all, it was the best Spring Break I've ever had.  I got to spend it with the man I love and got to meet people (family and friends) he cares about.  

Now it's back to the daily grind of grad school.  At least I have my cat and man at my side for it :)

I hate packing

I hate packing for trips, especially when I'm flying.  If you're driving in the car, you have more room for stuff, so there's a less chance you'll forget something.  But when you're flying, you have limited space, limited weight, and limitless opportunity to forget something really important.

I also hate packing to move.  While I'm really excited to be moving at the end of the summer, I am NOT looking forward to packing my stuff.  I am a firm believer that once the stuff you own finds out you're moving, it starts to asexually reproduce.  "How did I end up with 6 rolls of duct tape? Did I really have this many bottles of body spray? Why do I have so many sticky note pads?!? I have too many books..."  Packing will be interesting, but luckily, my wonderful boyfriend will help me out if I need it.  I'm glad that I will be moving into the new apartment first,  (Our leases are a few weeks off from each other) so I get to unpack first.  PINK EVERYWHERE.  Haha, no.  I told him that I wouldn't decorate without his input.  It'll just be less stress to get most of my unpacking done without having to deal with twice as much stuff and boxes being in the way.  As long as Andrew doesn't unpack everything I own indiscriminately while he's helping me without even bothering to put it away before he unpacked the next box, we'll be ok.  Luckily, he's not neurotic like everyone I'm related to by blood and/or marriage.  Don't get me wrong, I love all of my parents to death, but they are all four a perfect storm of awesome craziness.

Also, I'll pay people to help me move my stuff (it'll just be in CS, so nothing like my last move) with gas money (if you don't live in B/CS and come help me move), pizza, and beer.

My cat is going to be so freaked out during the move though...freakout and thoroughly disgruntled.  Wait until he finds out we're probably getting a dog too.  Eeeps, I'll just deal with that when it comes :)

Surgery and Really Offensive Television Shows

While you may think I'm talking about Jersey Shore, Teen Mom, or Toddlers and Tiaras, I'm actually talking about two TV shows each called "American Diggers" (Spike TV) and "Diggers" (National Geographic).  As a student of Anthropology, these shows are an offensive to the entire academic field.  These shows glorify looting and there are people dumb enough to emulate what they see.  That's the part that scares me.  How much archaeological, historical, and cultural information will be disturbed, destroyed, and sold for profit?  At the end of my post, I have two links, each a petition against each show.  I encourage you to please sign these petitions.  

In addition to finding about these TV shows today, I also had a doctor's appointment this morning for my knees.  I've had really bad knees ever since high school and I've even been to an orthopedic doctor two years ago, but I only got physical therapy then.  Two years later, they still hurt and I want to see what's wrong.  After some x-rays, the doctor tells me my knee caps are weird.  He sounded much more eloquent when he said it, but that's the gist of what he said.  That and my cartilage. He recommended an MRI to get a better look at what's going on in my knees and then go from there.  Depending on what he sees, I might have to get surgery, which would suck.  I'll keep everyone updated so no worries.  

http://www.change.org/petitions/stop-spike-tv-from-looting-our-collective-past

http://www.change.org/petitions/national-geographic-society-wwwnationalgeographiccom-stop-airing-the-television-show-diggers