So Terribly Tempted

I don't think Adam blogs enough. I'm terribly tempted to make this blog Newts Awesome Blogorama or something. But I won't. But I'm tempted. I've got my eye on you, Jew.

Anyway. Today, I am sore. I went river rafting for the first time yesterday. I didn't get burnt, and it was quite awesome, but I went in there with a totally skewed view of what the fuck I was getting myself into. Seriously. When one says you will be floating down a river, MY first thought is, I am going to be laying on my ass in a tube, with a soda and a sandwich. I was wrong. This was 8 miles of 4 people paddling for 6 people, (because the two in the back were making goo goo eyes at each other). It took about 7 hours, with stops for food and drinks and some water wars. It was SUPER fun. I can't wait to do it again. But....At least next time I will know that it is going to be work.

I wonder if that's why no one told me lol.

Mid Year Movie Update

I feel like I spent a good portion of the year at the movies so far. I guess I haven't seen too many, so hey. But here is my mid summer recap.

District 13: Ultimatum - Never got to see this one. I noticed it was already on sale at the store though so I may need to pick it up.

From Paris With Love - I think this movie was out of the theaters about an hour after it was released. By the time I went to the theater to actually see it, it was gone. I haven't seen it on sale however yet though.

The Wolfman - Also unsurprising I didn't catch this one either. I swear I thought I'd been to the movies more. This one was also gone faster than I made it to the theater.

Shutter Island - Ended up not having the interest in it I thought I would. Rumors abound it didn't do well.

Cop Out - Again, out for like a week? WTH I'm annoyed.

The Crazies - Sigh, didn't see it either. Coworker said it was decent though.

Alice in Wonderland - Perhaps I am strange but I LOVED this movie. I think it was awesome. I heard that it wasn't that great, but actually, I really enjoyed it.

Clash of the Titans - It was ok. the 3-D was absolutely terrible, but the 2-D version was passable. More of a renter, I think.

Repo Men - The movie itself was fairly predictable but I liked it. The soundtrack is phenomenal.

The Losers - A surprise hit I think. Adored it, and have continued to quote it since. BlaGuyver

Kick-Ass - Still want to see this one, I need to get to the theater before it's gone.

A Nightmare on Elm Street - So disappointed. Scowl. They ruined Freddy.

Iron Man 2 - Yea, it was awesome and fun and funny. But, it was pretty linear. I didn't get anything I didn't expect.

Movies I saw that I hadn't thought I'd see:

How to Train Your Dragon - SO FAR MY FAVORITE MOVIE OF THE YEAR!!!!

And that's that. Check back in a few months for the rest.

-Newt

This is America. Speak English.

I work in a very small but diverse group. I am the only "majority", and I may even be considered a minority since I'm Jewish. The other members of our group are Russian, Vietnamese, Indian and Hispanic. And we all communicated perfectly - in English.

So why am I mentioning this? Well, I saw some friends who joined a Facebook page "This is America. Speak whatever language you want" and it set me off. The page description is "Just because you're American doesn't mean you have to be a closed-minded prick," and there are about 50 different versions of the comment "So hypocritical... wish all "Americans" who say they speak English could actually speak English..." Let me just say right off the bat that this last comment has nothing to do with speaking English. This is a way to take a jab at people without supporting your argument. Someone who can't spell and speaks some weird redneck language still speak English and they can still be understood, usually. Hell, there are probably grammatical and spelling mistakes in this blog.

Nothing bothers me as much as extreme right-wing and left-wing views. In my opinion this is so far liberal it frustrates the hell out of me. I don't expect someone coming to America to already know English. And I don't expect them to learn it in a week or a month. But they SHOULD HAVE to learn it. First off it's highly unlikely they can get a job to support their families if they only know their native language. Secondly, how is everyone supposed to communicate if we don't have a common language? If I moved to France I'd make an effort to learn French. Same goes for Spanish if I moved to Spain, and so on. But I constantly run into situations where a person doesn't understand me because they don't speak English. I actually had to put a note in Spanish on my water bottle that read "No Botar" so that the cleaning lady wouldn't throw out my disposable water bottle. If she had been Chinese I would've had to start hiding my bottles.

Look, I know this is a free country and I love that. I love America and I love that it's a 'melting pot'. Hell I love that there are forums where people can be as liberal or conservative as they like. But there is a point where you just can't let anyone do whatever they want. We can't have everything in every language. Amongst your friends and family you can speak whatever language you like. But if you ever need to interact with other people in America, I'm sorry, but you need to speak English.

- Adam

Maverick

Around 6 years ago or so, I went with my mother to meet a woman in a grocery store parking lot. Puppy, advertised relatively cheaply. We were hesitant, it was a little expensive. But as this dog popped his little puppy head over the womans shoulder I knew instantly my mother would get the dog. We think he was abused before we got him. He was always a little weird. He had major separation anxiety. He broke a screen on a window when we were gone and was sitting on our grass when we got home. He went through 2...I think only 2, door frames into the garage. He was mean sometimes, he got bit by the neighbor child and then got a little more aggressive. We'd been working on that. He was a douche sometimes. But he was also my protector. When I had my surgery he curled up with me all the time and made sure no one bumped me. When my brother and I play fought he would jump at my brother and keep me safe. He was my baby. We would sleep next to each other all the time and he snored like a person. When he got hurt two days ago, I never imagined the result would be that we had to put him down this morning. But the surgery, not only super expensive, was not a guaranteed fix. And it would take 3 months of 24 hour care, which we just cannot do right now. I miss him so much right now, and I hope to God that he is happy in Heaven right now, wagging his tail down at us. I love you Maverick.

-Newt

Tolerance WTF.

So, I like to think I am pretty tolerant of other peoples political views.  I never press my views upon anyone, and tend to discuss them only with like minded people.  I find it AWESOME today that by posting on twitter that I find the double standard of people I know (Like my supervisors and coworkers) discussing politics that differ from my own, openly, and berate the politicians they are discussing by calling them airheads, idiots, (one friend even said the anti-Christ) I Get bashed.  I really don't care what your politics are.  However, in my place of employment, wether it is mostly Democratic or not to my Republican, I don't think it should be discussed at all, unless it will directly affect how we operate.  Calling someone an airhead doesn't do anything for operations.  And frankly the double standard is annoying.  I don't care for many of the Presidents politics, yet never have I in a public forum bashed him.  He is still the president.  We still need to support him.  But the moment I mention that I am a Republican I get all sorts of interesting hate messages.  Some people simply saying they are surprised they are my friend, others telling me to go jump off a cliff, etc.  I find this fascinating, because AS a Republican, I have NEVER told any of my democratic friends that I want them to jump off a cliff, or that I am startled we are friends.  Simply because, as friends you shouldn't judge them.  Shocking, I know.  Good call for tolerance people.  Nice to know you practice what you preach.
 
-Newt

P.S. If you don't like it. Don't follow me. I don't care.

Something a little more serious

So, as a general rule I refrain from posting too much in the way of seriousness on this blog. I find it easier overall to just be silly and post things that make people laugh. But this last week and a half have been particularly rough for me, emotionally and physically. And I have no one local to talk about it anymore. If you don't want to read a serious post, skip this one, I don't mind.

My closest friend and I both got drunk and in a huge argument. Like most arguments go, both of us think we are the wronged party, and even after we kind of explained it to one another, we haven't really talked much. I'm not sure we will. I definitely feel wronged, and I am sure she does, and since we're both uniquely stubborn it will probably simmer for a long while before one of us breaks to talk to to the other. I don't really blame her, but I'm still hurt at the moment, and I'm sure she is as well. So, needless to say I feel very alone right now. We still had problems in our friendship regardless, she often said or did things that seemed like she had a problem with the way I acted or behaved anyway. I often felt like she had to be in total control of a situation and if I stepped out of that zone it would upset her. I don't know anymore.

My ex and I, who were friendly, also had a fight that same night. Again we both feel wronged, but in particular I felt betrayed and that he had picked sides and I was the one left alone. He's apologized, but I still feel like that trust that we had to back each other is gone and it doesn't make me happy. So I feel alone there too. And I miss him, he was my confidant.

I've had my third abnormal pap smear also, for those that don't know, that is a bad thing, especially as I keep having them. The realities of it, are that I could, potentially have cancer, or possibly have too much damage in whatever is going on down there. Some people know that I've had significant 'girlie' problems over the last few years and it seems to be getting progressively worse. The doctors aren't saying much but there's a chance I will never be able to have children. I'm trying to stay positive on this and think of the plus sides...such as (once I have my tummy tuck following weight loss) I will have an awesome stomach forever. Also, if I get my boobs done (another surgery hopefully covered by insurance) those will be perky until I'm 90. Maybe 91. So I go on May 18th to get more stuff looked at and possibly have chunks cut out of me for biopsy. (woo?). I've done it before, and it hurts, but I'll have the day off work.

On top of all that I've had vertigo for nearly 5 days now. In fact as I type this, the screen is kind of rocking back and forth from side to side, or so my eyes tell me. I don't like this constant dizzy feeling, and about an hour ago it started to get a lot worse than it has been. I went to the doctor this morning and gave away 17 vials of blood, no charge, for testing. The doctors hope that this part of it is just anemia based, but we'll see. I'm trying to stay positive there too. If it is iron deficiency anemia, my doctor is going to get me into a blood specialist and see about transfusions. So that will hopefully help.

My grandmother died a few weeks ago, and I've got a lot of guilt pent up about that. I hadn't seen her much lately. It was upsetting to us both, as she thought I was her daughter that passed away. That upset her, when realization set in, and I just didn't want to remember my grandmother as frail.

I don't know, I feel very alone these days. People I had thought were my friend have gone silent. I think because they were friends with the girl I fought with first. I see them talking to other people, but I'm left by the wayside. I'm not sure how that is friendship but I guess that is how it goes. I've never been the most sociable of people to begin with, and I think I was crawling out of my shell. But it all seems to be shot down right now.

Instead I've been trying to immerse myself in other things, work when I can, trying to figure out my plans for school, listening to audio books. (Those work great with my A.D.D. tendencies as I can listen while I hop around from task to task). I try to chat with people when I can online, but it's holding less appeal than it used to. I think I'm allowing a pretty shitty depression to take over me and I am not sure how to break out of it right now. The weather certainly isn't helping. I hate gloomy days.

I miss my friends, I miss being out and about. I miss being happy to be by myself. I don't know anymore though. Sometimes being alone is easier. Just not happier.

-Newt

Gays are violent?

So. I am not Gay. I don't care if you are. What you wanna stick where or with who isn't my concern. However! Facebook thinks I am gay. My daily Advertisements consist of frequent Gay ads, and okay, whatever. HOWEVER! FACEBOOK YOU HAVE GONE TOO FAR!!

Gays are violent?!?! Really?! Are all Gays Gun-toting Dominatrix women or something!?

That's actually kind of hot.

But I digress. These ads are getting weirder and weirder. Someone stop the facebook madness. Please.

-Newt