08 Wednesday May 2013
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This guy may win the award for jerk of the week. Apparently, he thought it would be funny or cute to display a sign reading “Toronto Stronger” at Game 3 of the Bruins-Maple Leafs playoff series. You can imagine that the reaction from Bostonians, Americans elsewhere in the country, and some Canadians was less than pleasant.
Incidentally, the Bruins beat the Maple Leafs in Game 3. So who’s stronger now?
04 Saturday May 2013
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For the record, using the Boston Marathon bombing as a political weapon to argue for or against gun control is completely inappropriate. When Arkansas Representative Nate Bell asked how many Bostonians were cowering in their homes wishing they had an AR-15 the night before the lockdown, social media responded quickly… and Nate Bell found himself apologizing for the “timing” of his unfortunate comments.
Apparently Wayne LaPierre, the Executive Vice President of the NRA, didn’t get the same memo, when he asked today “How many Bostonians wish they had a gun two weeks ago?”
The Boston Marathon bombings are not about gun control or gun ownership or gun freedom. What Bostonians wished for two weeks ago was a swift resolution to a horrifying and terrible event. What Bostonians wished for was peace and safety.
If you want to turn the Newtown tragedy into a gun discussion, that’s fine – although I would argue it’s inappopriate to not include a discussion about mental health in there. But the Marathon bombings were not and are not about guns. They are about terrorism and cowardice. Turning them into a pro or anti-gun weapon is just as cowardly.
01 Wednesday May 2013
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Civil unions are scheduled to begin today in Colorado. The Democratic Governors Association was obviously very excited about this historic occasion in the Centennial State when it tweeted the following:
There’s just one problem. Civil unions aren’t equal rights. The very fact that they are separate from marriage means they are not equivalent, otherwise it would be called marriage.
Don’t get me wrong – I’m excited for our brothers and sisters in Colorado who can finally be legally recognized as a couple. And I do think it’s a momentous step in the right direction, especially after Colorado voters banned gay marriage a mere 7 years ago. But the fact remains, as we’ve learned in the past, “separate but equal” is always separate and never equal.
26 Friday Apr 2013
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I’m probably going to catch some flak for this but… am I the only person who thinks this is going a bit too far with the Boston Strong theme?
I understand that Yankee Candle is a local company and that proceeds go to the One Fund Boston.
But what exactly is this Boston Strong candle supposed to smell like? Beer? A bathroom at Fenway Park? The Green Line? Dunkin Donuts? The exhaust from the Duck Boats? I mean… seriously…
[steps off soapbox]
25 Thursday Apr 2013
Posted in annoying, revelation, technology
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Four lessons to be learned here:
Thank you to CNN and Gawker for bringing this to my attention.
This is an actual email from one of the executive board members of the University of Maryland’s chapter of Delta Gamma. Way to keep it classy.
If you just opened this like I told you to, tie yourself down to whatever chair you’re sitting in, because this email is going to be a rough f*cking ride.
For those of you that have your heads stuck under rocks, which apparently is the majority of this chapter, we have been F*CKING UP in terms of night time events and general social interactions with Sigma Nu. I’ve been getting texts on texts about people LITERALLY being so f*cking AWKWARD and so f*cking BORING. If you’re reading this right now and saying to yourself “But oh em gee Julia, I’ve been having so much fun with my sisters this week!”, then punch yourself in the face right now so that I don’t have to f*cking find you on campus to do it myself.
I do not give a flying f*ck, and Sigma Nu does not give a flying f*ck, about how much you f*cking love to talk to your sisters. You have 361 days out of the f*cking year to talk to sisters, and this week is NOT, I f*cking repeat NOT ONE OF THEM. This week is about fostering relationships in the greek community, and that’s not f*cking possible if you’re going to stand around and talk to each other and not our matchup. Newsflash you stupid cocks: FRATS DON’T LIKE BORING SORORITIES. Oh wait, DOUBLE F*CKING NEWSFLASH: SIGMA NU IS NOT GOING TO WANT TO HANG OUT WITH US IF WE F*CKING SUCK, which by the way in case you’re an idiot and need it spelled out for you, WE F*CKING SUCK SO FAR. This also applies to you little shits that have talked openly about post gaming at a different frat IN FRONT OF SIGMA NU BROTHERS. Are you people f*cking retarded? That’s not a rhetorical question, I LITERALLY want you to email me back telling me if you’re mentally slow so I can make sure you don’t go to anymore night time events. If Sigma Nu openly said “Yeah we’re gonna invite Zeta over”, would you be happy? WOULD YOU? No you wouldn’t, so WHY THE F*CK WOULD YOU DO IT TO THEM?? IN FRONT OF THEM?!! First of all, you SHOULDN’T be post gaming at other frats, I don’t give a F*CK if your boyfriend is in it, if your brother is in it, or if your entire family is in that frat. YOU DON’T GO. YOU. DON’T. GO. And you ESPECIALLY do f*cking NOT convince other girls to leave with you.
“But Julia!”, you say in a whiny little bitch voice to your computer screen as you read this email, “I’ve been cheering on our teams at all the sports, doesn’t that count for something?” NO YOU STUPID F*CKING ASS HATS, IT F*CKING DOESN’T. DO YOU WANNA KNOW F*CKING WHY?!! IT DOESN’T COUNT BECAUSE YOU’VE BEEN F*CKING UP AT SOBER F*CKING EVENTS TOO. I’ve not only gotten texts about people being f*cking WEIRD at sports (for example, being stupid shits and saying stuff like “durr what’s kickball?” is not f*cking funny), but I’ve gotten texts about people actually cheering for the opposing team. The opposing. F*cking. Team. ARE YOU F*CKING STUPID?!! I don’t give a SH*T about sportsmanship, YOU CHEER FOR OUR GODDAMN TEAM AND NOT THE OTHER ONE, HAVE YOU NEVER BEEN TO A SPORTS GAME? ARE YOU F*CKING BLIND? Or are you just so f*cking dense about what it means to make people like you that you think being a good little supporter of the greek community is going to make our matchup happy? Well it’s time someone told you, NO ONE F*CKING LIKES THAT, ESPECIALLY OUR F*CKING MATCHUP. I will f*cking c*nt punt the next person I hear about doing something like that, and I don’t give a f*ck if you SOR me, I WILL F*CKING ASSAULT YOU.
“Ohhh Julia, I’m now crying because your email has made me oh so so sad”. Well good. If this email applies to you in any way, meaning if you are a little asswipe that stands in the corners at night or if you’re a weird sh*t that does weird sh*t during the day, this following message is for you:
DO NOT GO TO TONIGHT’S EVENT.
I’m not f*cking kidding. Don’t go. Seriously, if you have done ANYTHING I’ve mentioned in this email and have some rare disease where you’re unable to NOT do these things, then you are HORRIBLE, I repeat, HORRIBLE PR FOR THIS CHAPTER. I would rather have 40 girls that are fun, talk to boys, and not f*cking awkward than 80 that are f*cking faggots. If you are one of the people that have told me “Oh nooo boo hoo I can’t talk to boys I’m too sober”, then I pity you because I don’t know how you got this far in life, and with that in mind don’t f*cking show up unless you’re going to stop being a goddamn cock block for our chapter. Seriously. I swear to f*cking God if I see anyone being a goddamn boner at tonight’s event, I will tell you to leave even if you’re sober. I’m not even kidding. Try me.
And for those of you who are offended at this email, I would apologize but I really don’t give a f*ck. Go f*ck yourself.
23 Tuesday Apr 2013
Posted in annoying
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… some of these people definitely need a lesson in how to read a map. Idiots.
“Czechoslovakia” hasn’t existed as a nation since 1993, when it was dissolved into Slovakia and Czech Republic.
http://publicshaming.tumblr.com/post/48547675807/the-definitive-people-who-thought-chechnya-was-the
19 Friday Apr 2013
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I dont think Arkansas State Rep Nate Bell knows Boston very well.
Feel free to email him Nate.Bell@arkansashouse.org and tell him what you think.
18 Thursday Apr 2013
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While I’ve been fairly absorbed in the events unfolding in Boston for the last three days, there was one major headline on the Huffington Post that was hard to miss. Yesterday, the US Senate voted on amendments to a gun control bill. One such amendment was the bipartisan Manchin-Toomey amendment to expand background checks for guns sold over the internet and at guns shows. The amendment did not gain the 60 votes necessary to pass, falling short at 54 in favor to 46 against.
Immediately after the vote count, at least two members of the Senate gallery shouted “Shame on you!”. Family members of those killed in the Sandy Hook and Virgina Tech shootings were in attendance.
I’m not sure you can call an amendment “bipartisan” when only 4 members of the minority party vote for the bill. But the fact that the amendment was supported by 90% of Americans according to a Washington Post/ABC News poll and yet failed to pass in the Senate says something striking about our political system.
In case you’re wondering who voted for and against the measure…
*Note: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) supported the legislation, but he voted against it for procedural reasons, in order to preserve the right to bring the measure back up.
06 Saturday Apr 2013
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Not too long ago, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) Rider Oversite Committee issued a survey asking commuters if they would be in favor of extended hours on public transportation services in the city of Boston. For readers from New York or Chicago, I know it may be hard for you to imagine a subway or bus system not running 24 hours a day… but such is the reality of life here in Boston (and I suspect many other cities in the country).
MBTA thought that roughly 500 people would answer the survey. They were blown away when nearly 26,000 people responded with a resounding “YES”. Over half of respondents said they would be willing to pay at least double the regular fare to take a “night owl” bus of subway ride.
I, for one, am all in favor of extended hours on public transportation for multiple reasons. For one, it cuts down on accidents, injuries, and deaths associated with drunk driving, as residents are more likely to take public transportation into the city knowing that it runs later. Public transportation is especially important to young professionals, who coincidentally are most likely to use the late night service. Extended hours would also cut down on automobile traffic, as individuals who work late or overnight shifts might be more willing to take the “T” instead of driving to work. Finally, I truly believe that to succeed as a vibrant, modern city in the United States (and one that wishes to reduce automobile traffic in your city center) you need to offer residents a means other than a cab for accessing the nightlife and cultural attractions that keep a city humming.
To be clear, I’m all for extended hours. And I also commend the MBTA for “feeling the pulse” of the people. Residents continually clamor about the desire for extended hours; without actual evidence like this survey, these stories only amount to anecdotal evidence.
But issuing such a survey at the current time seems almost irresponsible. The MBTA is notoriously cash-strapped and indebted – although to be fair, much of that debt was forced on the agency due to the Big Dig. However, at a time when the MBTA is pleading with state legislators for new funding streams to close budget deficits and is floating the idea of either cutting service or raising fares, even considering the idea of extending public transit hours seems ludicrous. Residents of Boston and the surrounding areas that rely on the MBTA to commute in and out of the city every day constantly complain about the poor and unreliable service of the many buses, subways, and trains. How many times did the commuter rail shut down this winter? And how many days has it been since the Green Line or Red Line last suffered a breakdown? Do we really think that extended service will be any better? Perhaps we should focus on fixing what we have before we consider extending ourselves farther…
No folks, the MBTA shouldn’t even be entertaining the idea of extended hours until the agency can offer frequent, efficient, reliable, and sustainable service to the areas it currently serves – and without a negative operating margin. Without those fixes in place, public transportation service during extended hours will be subject to the same delays, inconsistencies and breakdowns, and will be yet another source of discontent with the MBTA for Bostonians.
04 Thursday Apr 2013
Posted in annoying, funny sayings
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I’ve previously mentioned via either Facebook or Twitter my utter disdain for folding the fitted sheet. I hate it. I even know how to fold the damn thing, but I still hate doing it. So naturally, this tweet from Dreaded Rear Admiral (@willrad) caught my eye today.
FOLDING FITTED SHEETS:
21 Thursday Mar 2013
Posted in annoying, Boston, gay, newspaper, relationships
I’m not going to win any popularity points with this one, but I don’t care.
Brian Lowder wrote an article for Slate that posted yesterday titled “Meet the Gaybros.” The subtitle was “They like sports, hunting, and beer. They make the gay community mad.”
I’ll tell you what makes me mad… articles like this one.
The article starts off with Lowder walking around Boston with a group of men who have dubbed themselves “Gaybros”, gay guys with traditionally manly interests like sports, hunting, and beer. They travel to the city’s “premiere gay sports bar” Fritz, where Lowder comments on the diversity of the crowd. To call Fritz a “premiere” anything is a joke; the fact of the matter is that Fritz serves a clientele who, unlike so many other places in Boston, don’t give a f*ck who you THINK you are. People go to Fritz not because it’s a great place to watch sports but because it’s low key and unpretentious. The “Gaybros” later head off to Club Cafe, a locale I would ironically dub the exact opposite of Fritz… but also not “premiere”. Lowder, on the other hand, makes an exit and heads to a house party at a “handsome” townhouse where he is surrounded by the “Crate and Barrel brand of gayness.”
Here’s why I hate this article. The “us versus them” mentality and the compartmentalization of gay culture in this article (and in real life) is ridiculous and does us a disservice. At a time when the community should be rallying behind each other in support of legal rights for ourselves and the rest of the LGBTQIA community, instead we continue to separate and ridicule one another. We do to each other exactly what the straight (male) community continually does to us. Gay men are, in fact, our own worst enemies.
The whole notion of “masc” versus “fem” is utter ridiculousness. The idea that gay men can only fall into one category or another is ludicrous. These labels, if you will, are not mutually exclusive. What this article highlights is a nasty division within the gay community, one that employs labels taken directly from the very people who oppress the gay community in the first place. The fact of the matter is, there is plenty of room within the gay community for everyone – Gaybros included.
In the words of the person who sent the article my way, “I can love watching the Emmy’s and watching the Pats on the same day. I totally go to Red Sox games because I’m a fan, but I also love to watch my design shows on HGTV. Cut the crap – ALL OF US.”
Gays – it’s time to grow up.
09 Saturday Mar 2013
Posted in annoying
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I’m heading to Pittsburgh tomorrow for what should be a few days of R&R with my family… hopefully. But Thursday night, I finally watched Up in the Air with George Clooney and Vera Farmiga, and I’m sitting here today thinking about the security procedures on airplanes and that damn safety video. I wouldn’t call myself an avid flyer, but certainly not a novice either. So every time I hear the announcement that smoking is prohibited on flights – I start to wonder who in their right mind thinks they can smoke on an airplane? And do we really need a reminder that there is a fine for tampering with or disabling the lavatory smoke detector? After all, there is a written warning on the smoke detector itself.
So I’m curious – all of you out there who work in the airline industry or travel a lot, is it time to revamp the airline safety video and cut out the part about smoking? Or are there still people out there who think you actually are allowed to smoke on a plane?
I’m also curious to hear people’s thoughts on the proposed TSA policy to allow small blades on planes.
08 Friday Mar 2013
01 Friday Mar 2013
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My question here is, how was this allowed to happen? It’s not like Bloomberg Businessweek is a small, no-name publication. And even if you can get past the fact that this cover is racist… it doesn’t effectively get its point across and misrepresents the causes of the housing bubble bust.
For more coverage, check out these articles by Matthew Yglesias in Slate, Emily Badger in The Atlantic, and Ned Resnikoff at MSNBC.
14 Thursday Feb 2013
Posted in annoying, funny sayings, gender, relationships
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Valentine’s Day is a rough day for anyone out there who is single. Trust me, I know. I’ve been there; and she’s a relentless b*tch. If it helps, remember that couples are boring and gross and will be waiting to sit down to dinner at a restaurant they’ve either already been to or are going to spend way too much money on for a crappy Valentine’s Day menu. Yes, I can still look through the haze that overcomes couples and both sympathize and empathize with all the single people out there. After all, this is still a holiday conjured up by Hallmark and Hershey’s… and maybe DeBeers.
So single ladies, get out there and find Mr Right Now… because you best not be looking for Mr Right on Valentine’s Day.
11 Monday Feb 2013
Posted in annoying, funny sayings
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If you’re like me and most of the people I know – you hate going back to work on Mondays.
09 Wednesday Jan 2013
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Once again, I’m foraying into politics. Please be kind.
A lot of the fighting in Congress in the past few years has been to strike what insiders refer to as “grand bargains”. Basically both Democrats and the GOP want each piece of legislation to do more – go big, go bold. The debt ceiling debacle and the recent fiscal cliff negotiations are prime examples of attempts at grand bargains – trying to fix more than one problem at a time and essentially kill multiple birds with one stone. Notably, each has failed.
An opinion article on CNN.com claims that these grand bargains are doomed because in the long run, there is always a loser in going big. A Representative or a Senator may get something they want in a bill, but only by agreeing to additions that are only likely to anger their constituents. “A combination of lawmakers lacking courage, the threat of primary challenges and nobody wanting to put skin in the game makes it incredibly difficult to get a big, bipartisan deal done.” Author Dan Merica claims that it is the next election, and more specifically fear of negative press, that hinders these great deals.
But perhaps it’s more simple than that. Maybe it’s too hard to create really big deals on Congressional financial details when Congress has failed to pass a working budget in several years. One might consider that a “grand bargain” as well, but perhaps it might make creating other big deals easier knowing that there is a solid budget framework to start from rather than the “bandaid” solution of continuing resolutions.
Or maybe, quite frankly, the only way for this particular Congress to get anything done is to scrap the big deals and focus instead on small bills that are easier to accomplish. I’m no political insider, but perhaps instead of trying to create grand bargains and “go for broke”… try something a little smaller to fix.
22 Saturday Dec 2012
Posted in annoying, gay, revelation
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To say that we all struggle with body image may be an understatement. I would argue very few people in this world are completely satisfied with the way their body looks. For most people, that revolves around their weight or the shape of their midsection. This is nothing new of course, women have tackling body image issues for centuries. And right behind them is a subculture of chiseled ab obsessed gay men. But just how bad is body dysmorphia in the gay community?
Well after reading this article from Instinct, I’m beginning to think it’s a lot worse than anyone ever imagined.
In fact, a survey of 384 men in England with an average age of 40 showed that 48% of those surveyed said they would give up a year of their life in order to have a more muscular and leaner body. While that’s disturbing enough, roughly 10% of the men said they would choose to die more than 11 years earlier to have the perfect body now.
The article goes on to discuss how body image is an issue for everyone but has been under reported in men, and middle aged men in particular. The authors of the study point out that gay men are under tremendous pressure about their bodies.
First let me say that in no way am I happy with how my body looks. I realize it’s fine (most people would argue that I should be thankful), but it is nowhere near perfect. But I also have no delusions that it will ever be perfect. Yes, I’d love to look more like the pictures of Ryan Gosling or Sean Patrick Davey – but I’m not heart broken that I don’t look like them. And I certainly wouldnt shave a year off of my life to have a “perfect body” – what seems like an impossible ideal. And 11 years? Forget about it.
But the thing that kills me about articles like this is the fact that they reinforce the stereotype of what the “perfect body” is… IN THE ARTICLE. Clearly they knew exactly what they were doing when they used the picture of a guy with chiseled abs, well defined pecs and arms, and a body fat percentage low enough that you can see his superficial inferior epigastric veins on his abdomen. Not to mention the shirtless model in the ad for the Aspen Gay Ski Weekend (you might have a different ad when you look at the article, but I’m sure it will also depict a shirtless muscle stud). Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining about the shirtless hot guy. But if you think the gay community has body image issues, it’s no wonder why…
20 Thursday Dec 2012
Posted in annoying, funny sayings
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In light of Instagram’s recent blog post to change their policies and allow them to sell user’s photos without compensating them, I thought this was only appropriate. (Btw, Instagram’s co-founder Kevin Systrom later apologized… but dont be surprised if this happens at some point in the future.)
14 Friday Dec 2012
Posted in annoying, emotional, inspirational, music, seasons
A friend of mine posted on Facebook the other day asking what song people thought was the most annoying Christmas/holiday song. There were definitely some good responses although some people put down the song they find the most depressing around the holidays rather than the most annoying. I had one very clear vote…
Christmas is 11 days away after all (holy crap, seriously!?) So here goes… which song is your favorite Christmas song? If you come from a religious tradition – is there a religious Christmas song you really like in addition to secular ones? And which Christmas song makes you want to claw your eyes out?
My favorite religious Christmas songs:
