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SixWaysFromNextWednesday
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Name: Ouisi
Country: United States
State: Virginia
Metro: Arlington
Interests: Theology. Knitting. Artsy fartsy stuff. Reading. Places that aren't Arlington.
Expertise: Dropping things. Falling over. Suddenly manifesting new and exciting speech impediments while talking to customers.
Occupation: Graduating college at the cusp
Industry: Retail (damn damn damn damn)
Message: message me
Member Since:
12/21/2005
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| So, I tend to get nasty sinus infections two or three times a year, and
they linger anywhere from a couple of weeks to several months. My nose
plugs up or oozes blood; my ears feel like somebody's twisting a pickle
fork in them; sometimes I lose my voice. Trying to sleep is the worst,
since as soon as I lie down my throat fills up and I can't breathe at
all.
Antibiotics don't work; I've been on all of them. I know a couple of
people who've had surgery for their similar, drug-resistant, persistent
and recurring sinus infections; both say that it didn't help at all.
I was trying to fight one off last winter when I went to stay for a
weekend with a friend. She and her parents smoke heavily. As soon as I
went into the house, my throat started burning. I left after just a
day, but the sinus infection had already hit hard, and it stuck around
for four months afterward. Now, four more months after the infection, I
realize something has changed.
I've lost my sense of smell.
It's gone.
I can sometimes smell things if I shove my nose into them, but usually
not. I can't tell if food is fresh or if it's gone bad. I forgot an
apple core in my backpack for a week, and even when I found it I
couldn't smell it. There is just one smell that I can still smell
clearly and at a great distance. One scent is left to me.
Wet dog.
DAMN IT.
What a life I have to look forward to.
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| I have re-read Humanae Vitae and am just as repulsed by it as ever. To break it down:
1. Everything in Humanae Vitae is true, because every official Magisterial teaching is true, because the Magisterium keeps saying that everything that it says is true. Do not question the circular logic! The Magisterium isn't afraid to quote irrelevant Bible verses at you.
2. If men can have sex with women without getting the women pregnant, then men will start abusing women and using women for quick sex. All men? Some men? Don't question us! Contraceptives are sinful in every circumstance.
3. That didn't make sense? How about this? The ability of couples to have sex without getting pregnant means that those darn kids will go around having a lot of sex. Only fear of pregnancy will make them behave! Ergo, contraceptives are sinful in every circumstance.
4. That didn't make sense? How about this? Contraceptives are a sin because they involve intervention, whereas NFP involves doing nothing. Don't take that out to the logical conclusion and ask whether all human activity is a sin. Please just focus on the fact that contraceptives are sinful in every circumstance, because they involve a couple having sex without having children because they don't want children just now, whereas in NFP, couples have sex without having children because they, um, they actually want children. Just not now. See the difference?
5. That didn't make sense? How about this? Couples who use contraceptives of ANY FORM (la la la don't argue with us there are no alternatives) are completely out of tune with their own bodies and are unwilling to fully share their bodies with one another. So it makes so much more sense to only have sex when the female's physical and emotional state are ambivalent or antagonistic toward sex. Did we say something earlier about men forcing the issue when the woman doesn't really want sex? Ignore that bit.
And now, some questions from an undereducated heretic:
1. How exactly does that logic work? How exactly do you justify having complete authority over me, when my conscience tells me that what you're teaching is wrong?
2. So, basically, you're planning for the lowest common denominator--the spouse who is a selfish brute? And you want this man to have children? Aside from the horrible fact that you would place children in the care of an abusive man, do you really, genuinely believe that most men would treat their wives that way?
3. Just keep on treating extramarital and teen pregnancy like it's the end of the world. That's a healthy attitude to instill in kids--reproduction as the bogeyman. Are you trying to increase the abortion rate?
4. You are stupid. I'm sorry; that wasn't a question. Let me rephrase. Do you think I'm stupid?
5. You use a lot of pretty words, but the more I read them, the more it seems as though your whole point is the opposite of what those pretty words mean. You've been talking about respect and holiness. So I have the choice of being either a breeding mare or a concubine? Thank you. Your respect for my worth as a person is overwhelming. | | |
| For those of you who live in NoVA, you're probably already aware of the
fraudulent farecard scheme uncovered recently by WMATA. SmarTrip
machines were being reprogrammed yesterday. I and many other commuters
were unable, after several attempts, to reload money onto our SmarTrip
cards. I tried at two different times of day at two different stations,
with my credit and debit cards.
This morning, I got a call from my bank about several charges to my
card yesterday. Turns out that some or all of the charges went through
on their end, but were never loaded onto my SmarTrip card. So I may
have lost several hundred dollars, which I will be trying to get back
today while on the phone with my bank and the bank I have my credit
card from.
So, if anybody travels Metro and tried to load money onto a SmarTrip
card yesterday, please check your banking/credit card activity, and
call the SmarTrip debit/credit line at 202-962-5711. Not that anybody
will answer the phone. | | |
| By the grace of friends, I am staying back with the family who I babysat for during my year off school. I live off of what used to be the master suite before the family re-arranged the house. It's a dressing room. I'm fitting (just barely, and with most of my stuff in self storage) into a space with exotic hardwood flooring, two windows, a bookcase, built-in shelves and drawers, and a dresser. My mattress (filched from a friend) nearly fits well enough to lie flat. I have the upstairs to myself with access to the kitchen and a full bath, and the family's wonderful. It's free. Free is a huge deal. Still, I live in a closet. Livin' in a closet. That's Ouisi.
Found an internship at an architecture, engineering and interiors firm downtown. When I finish, Marymount will give me the diploma that I've already earned. They charged me $4000 to take this internship. The firm pays, but not enough that I would've been able to make it through the summer without the free housing. Thanks to God for my support network here in Arlington. It's been a long six years and things won't get less stressful any time soon, but I know there are people here who won't let me crash and burn. Mental note: in twenty years, take some starving, homeless, terrified student under my wing.
Two weeks into the internship, I was sitting outside at the Metro eating a $1 frozen dinner for my lunch break, watching all of the people march back and forth between the office buildings, and I suddenly realized that I had become one of them. I'm a yuppie. Still poor, homeless, and just an intern, but a yuppie nonetheless. It was a horrible shock.
Well, of course, Ouisi, you majored in something that could only lead to an office job; what did you expect? I guess I just always saw myself as hillbilly, and it didn't occur to me that anything I did could ever make me something else. I don't like it. Feel like rebelling. Have the terrible desire to grow a rattail.
1a. See about consolidating those 12 loans that total $40k. Can't possibly afford individual payments.
1b. My lender no longer offers consolidation. Oh, snap.
1c. See about finding a reputable alternative.
2a. See about getting a resume on the IIDA website.
2b. Put together an electronic portfolio (hey, this is fun!).
2c. Put together a hard-copy portfolio (this is not going to be fun).
3a. See if there is any housing in this entire region of the country that I can afford with only one roommate.
3b. See if any of that housing isn't in a location that leaves me vulnerable to assault, murder, and being ground up into and sold as sausage meat.
3c. See if I can rope Joe into rooming with me.
4a. See if I have the time and energy to start blogging again.
4b. Not bloody likely.
4c. Grrrrmph.
5. Go stand on the side of the road, fling my arms up in the air, and screech, "Somebody love me! Somebody hire me, take me home, feed me and clothe me!"
6. Figure out if I'm good for anything other than filling an office chair.
It looks to be a rainy 4th of July. The Boy is probably horribly disappointed. I hope that it just goes ahead and pours steadily, so that we won't have to try to decide whether or not to go out in search of fireworks and then get drizzled on. I bought lemonade (soft and hard) and will be attempting a small roast, which may be the worst idea I've had in months. If we get rained out, we can have a picnic on his living room floor.
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