Independence Day

Happy Fourth of July.
Happy 231st birthday America.
I feel so bittersweet about celebrating this year.
I think we have lost the meaning of "Independence."

It is not just relinquishing ourselves from British rule,
it is about having the stregnth to remain independent.
Our policies and nation building efforts have made us imperialistic.
We are an imperialistic nation.
We have lost the values our nation was founded on.
Within ourselves we have become intolerant, scared and complacent with the gradual elimination of our freedoms (habeus corpus, cough, senior bush).
On an international level we are controlling, minipulative and an all around control freak.

We must regain the values of tolerance, consideration and peace set forth by the writers of our constitution.
It is called Independence Day for a reason.
Our simplistic minds may prefer July 4th,
but the history of holiday should not be lost admist fancy fireworks and tasty barbeques.

Today Ashley and I went shopping at the mall.
I got two really cute tank tops!
One good for my presentation later this summer
if I can find a jacket for over top.
Later we went to Wal Mart...more cheap love.
Then went to Superior Grill,
where I could not help but get a margarita and the enchilladas.
YUUmmmmYYY!!!!

After dinner we had desert at Sucre.
I would not recommend the Cafe Glace...
I should have known by the bullshit name that
the drink itself was bullshit.
It was an over priced frappucino...which is sort of silly since those are overpriced anyhow.

Post desert we went to the top of the parking garage and watched the fireworks.
It was a lovely evening,
though as I said before, I find the entire holiday bitter this year.
Over the course of the year,
my political beliefs have started to be defined by my personal beliefs, not whom my parents should say I should vote for.
I feel this is an important step in maturing,
and I hope to keep this same level of passion towards it in the future.

Wow...started drifting there...
the point was...
I'm not happy with how our country is looking.
The pendulum must swing back.
We have gone too far.
The tide of change is flowing.
I hope by this time next year to feel differently and proud of my nation.
I hope we will all learn from the gross abuses in power both internally and externally our nation is fostering.

Happy Fourth of July!


What we are???


What we were.

Ahhh...two caca roaches in one dinner!

My lovely friend Katy and I both had insanely horrible days at work. What better way to solve the work time blues than food shopping at Wal-Mart, right?

Haha, well, I can't lie, it sort of worked. Commercialism, blatant materialism and the chance to spend my first paycheck bigger than $60 bucks in a looong time was pretty fantastic. We discussed our mutual scorn for Wal-Mart produce, Katy's fear of any meat other than venison (meat snob from Wisconsin), and my concern over if the jello would melt and go bad if I didn't keep it in the fridge? Does anybody know that answer...its the precupped(is that a word?) jello? I have one of those tiny college fridges that are absolutely useless, except to store one can of coke and one bottle of vodka. Oh life's subtle mysteries.

Anyway, after dropping my stuff off at campus, we hit her sublet for dinner. It is a tiny little building with a tight stair well, but once inside it opens up to a spacious living room, with gorgeous wood floors, tall windows and high cielings. These are the things I love about New Orleans.
The things I don't love about New Orleans?? The cacaroaches. I grew up in Florida, so we always called them cacaroaches...most people probably just call them roaches. Potato, potato...as I was taking out a spoon to stir the ravioli, out flies, yes FLIES! a giant roach!

As I scream and dance like a mad woman, wondering what thing just grazed my arm, I see the little bugger scuttle off under the dryer. Katy comes in, just in time to see the tail end of the 3 inch roach. I kid you not, the roaches in New Orleans are huge and equipped with wings. They have also been rumored to live in the pipes and crawl up through the toilet. I'd really prefer to believe that isn't true, or else I may have to invest in Depends until I graduate.

Now, I can laugh off a roach. Sure they are scary at first, but now that we were on roach alert, I'd be ready to stomp and Katy grabbed the spray. She prefers the spray and catch method, I on the other hand have no qualms about stepping on them, more regional differences I suppose. Roach #1 wasn't coming out, so we commenced preparing dinner, and as I was washing out the pot...what do I find???? Roach #2 crawling on the counter, towards the very sink I am washing the pot in!

Once again, I scream and dance like a mad woman. I drop the pot and the roach crawls behind the microwave. Now, you must be thinking, what kind of dirty house keeper is Katy? I swear she is one of the cleanest people I know (which maybe doesn't speak much for my friends...hmmm). Truthfully though, giant flying roaches are as much a part of New Orleans living as beignets and hurricanes. They are just a hell of a lot scarier.

In conclusion, I am happy to report we did catch one of the roaches. Roach #1 decided to crawl out of the dryer in the middle of dinner. So we were able to corner him behind the garbage can, then he made a daring exit by flying into the hallway, were Katy used her stunning roach spray powers to get him. We then trapped him under some Tupperware until he stopped moving. Roach #2 is still on the loose. We suspect he is somewhere behind the toaster oven and the microwave.

I have safely returned home. I don't really know what kind of damage roaches do, other than scare us, but I'd rather not risk it. Any of you know?? Regardless, I hope all of you sleep better knowing there is one less roach in the world!