The Photo on my Driver's License

Good afternoon blogosphere! Lovely to see you today. Let's do this.

Last night, or possibly this morning, as it was quite late, I was Skyping with a friend, and we were comparing wallet contents. I'm a fulltime student, and as such, I am eternally broke, and don't really look in their much, so I had really forgotten all the crazy stuff I have in there.

After a few minutes, we got down to the good stuff: the student IDs, the old photos, and of course, the dreaded license photo. My photo...wow...there's few ways to describe it. To say it doesn't look like me is an understatement. Whenever I have used it for identification purposes, undoubtedly some explanation is needed. And that got me to thinking, why is everyone's DL photo so terrible.

It can't be about the cost of film, at least not now. When I got my license, everything was digital, so no cost wasted on film equipment there. The license lady never gave me another chance to take that picture, so now I'm stuck looking a little more...ethnic...than I usually do.

So really...I don't drive much anymore, due to the lack of automobile money that I possess, but seriously, I have to live with this photo until May 11, 2012, and people see it frequently. Would it have been so hard to snap another?

But I digress.

Drunks

Once again loyal readers, I find myself out of things to be angry about. In recent news, my boyfriend and I have cultivated a stronger relationship, I have great friends, and have nothing to rant about. UNTIL NOW.

I'm a typical university student, and as such I live in residence, mostly out of convenience as well as the fact that I don't think my mother trusts me out on my own in the world just yet. Of course, what are residences known for? Their wild and crazy outrageous parties!

Yes.

The parties.

Guess who doesn't party?

It's me.

Don't get me wrong, I've been to parties before. I like going to parties. But now, as a mature and responsible student, I have put my studies ahead of my own enterainment, and no longer go partying because I'd much rather study that chemistry. I know what you're thinking: I'm an exciting person. (Sarcasm BTW.)

So last Saturday, I am sitting in my room. It is 7 pm. I am studying some biology diligently. Then it starts. The blasting music, complete with a sub woofer so powerful it makes my bed shake from over 100 feet away. The people running up and down the halls screaming. The general drunkenness and debauchery that accompany any party of magnitude.

Now, as I said, I have nothing against parties. I have a problem with drunks. Because while this specific incident happened on a Saturday, it also happened on the Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday of that week. They decided to give up Thursday this week. Living in a relatively isolated hallway, I know who was at those parties, and it was the same people every night, and each time they were wasted beyond belief.

That is a type of party lifestyle that borders on alcoholism. Not to mention the great cost associated with being drunk 6 nights a week.

In short, I'm a good student. I want to graduate on time, preferably with marks I'm proud of. I don't understand how these people are going to do that because it seems all they have time for is getting drunk, and who has time to study when the tequila is calling?

But I digress.

Taking Fiction Seriously

Welcome, loyal or not-so-loyal readers! I apologize for the long gap. I recently started university, and have been very busy. But I'm back now! I'm planning on popping up a new rant every Wednesday with something that annoyed me at some point in the week.

Okay. I have a friend, let's call her F. F is a delightful young lady. We're good friends, and like all good friends, she has a few things I don't like about her (and I'm sure she doesn't like all of me too), but overall we're friends. One of the things that brought us together was our love of books. All kinds of books. We are both avid readers. Unfortunately, while I am more of a skeptical reader, she is more of a "literal reader".

Case in point, she recently had a very bad breakup. F was upset, and as a result turned to a series of depressing fiction novels. Depressing fiction is not usually my first choice, but I wasn't to judge. Until she announced that she had "indentified with the characters" and was now taking on their personal philosophy as her own. This was particularly upsetting as the book was about child soldiers in the third world, and did not have a happy ending. Silly F insisted that this LITERARY MASTERPIECE was the message she had been looking for, and set off to "find herself".

I sincerely hope that I'm not alone in being apalled at her behavior. Then I thought about it, and a lot of people have been "moved" by the fcition world. Oprah, I'm looking at you. Case in point, a few years ago when the Da Vinci Code became a film. Do you reacall how worked up people got? All because of a fiction book.

Therefore, I end my rant today with this: IT IS FICTION. That is all. Not real. The people and events never existed, or are only loosely based on actuality. Please remember this. I'd like to believe that not everyone is delusional, and understands this. I could be wrong. I sincerely hope not.

But I digress.

Dr. Oz

Dr. Oz makes me depressed. He just does.

I recently had my wisdom teeth out. For those of you who have not had the experience, you spend a lot of time immediately after sitting around sliding in and out of consciousness. During one of my more lucid hours, I happened to channel surfing, and found the Dr. Oz show.

He made me very depressed.

Dr. Oz spends a lot of time fear mongering about how everything I do is killing me. And I mean EVERYTHING.

Shampoo - death.
Using soap - death. (WTF)
ANY kind of self medicating - death (Like...tylenol, or advil.)
Using tampons - (surprise!) also death.

These are just four things I do on a fairly regular basis. So I must be dying, and I imagine many of you are also dying as well. I mean, supposedly from an obvious standpoint, we're all dying, but he means like NOW.

He also hates Halloween. He thinks it's an unhealthy practice to allow your children even one day of sugar binging. Now. This is true. You shouldn't let your kids really eat themselves sick, but in the grand scheme of things, this seems a little pathetic. One day of sugar rush each year is not what's causing childhood obesity. It's the umpteen other lifestyle choices parents make for themselves and their children. Personally, I was a terrible Halloween binge-er every year from age 4 to age 15. And right now, I'm a healthy size 4. Because I usually ate right and exercised. I've never been much bigger than I am now. Because I have a healthy life, even if I indulge a little now and then.

Now, don't get me wrong about this terrible man. Personally, I think Dr. Oz could be a very nice person, if he couldn't ever talk about himself. And possibly if he would drink a solid gallon of high fructose corn syrup, possibly mixed with gravy.

But I digress.

People Who Know What's "Best" for You

I'd like to throw out there that I have been able to make my own decisions since I was twelve, mostly due to the fact that I was born with enough common sense to make educated choices. That being said, I know many people who are not so blessed, and are actually quite stupid.

So. Today I had a meeting. To make a long story pretty short, despite my qualifications, I was passed over for another person as a project leader for a non profit organization. Now, i understand that this is just how life works, and I should suck it up. That isn't what bothers me. My boss decided that it was "best" for me if I didn't take on this responsibility. My "boss" isn't really my boss. She's a nice, mid-50s woman who likes to be everyone's mother. She is currently the most senior member of this organization. When I talked to some of the other people who made this decision, they said they didn't agree with her decision, but she had said that I was young, and she knew best.

She isn't my parent. She actually has no responsibility over me. What makes me angry is that I don't think anyone knows what's best for me better than I do at this point in my life. I understand that sounds a little arrogant, but when I approached this lovely woman about her decision, she explained that she felt that given my current situation, she knew what was best. When I asked about what my "current situation" may be, she said that she just thought I was too youthful to take on responsibility. I then pointed out that the person she chose instead is a whole TWO MONTHS older than I am.

I'd like to repeat.

She isn't my parent.

So, for those people out there who are a little on the motherly side, if a person is over about 6, they form opinions. It doesn't hurt to ask them before making major decisions.

But I digress.

Limewire Users

Okay, first of all, I have nothing against Limewire. It's a lovely way to share music, and to hear things you probably wouldn't pay for. My issue comes the recent Hope for Haiti Now telethon/concert. An album was released with proceeds to benefit the victims of the Haiti earthquake. I think that this is a noble cause, and have given quite generously to the Red Cross fund. How does this tie into Limewire? Some particularly tasteless persons decided to post the album on Limewire, for free download. The album was to give money to the poor and homeless victims of a devastating natural phenomenon. I understand that it is only a 99 cent download off iTunes, but it is the very principle of taking money from people who need it most.

Whoever you are, who is taking funds from ill, homeless, starving, orphaned people, you should feel very bad.

But I digress.