Express Yourself

I hate the D.C. Metro. I hate the fact that it costs more money to ride during rush hours. I hate that how much you pay depends on where you go. I have never seen such stupid policies in any other major cities public transportation system. Basically, I hate the ludicrous amount that it costs.

However, there is one thing I love about riding the Metro: The Washington Post Express. There are several reasons for my love of this publication including:
1.)The extemely nice guys who stand in front of the Metro every morning handing them out.
2.)The condensed versions of articles published in the Post. Now, I can read almost the whole newspaper in half the time!
3.) It is free.
4.) Quotes from various area blogs.

Between my iPod, and the Express, my commute into D.C. is almost enjoyable.

Speaking of area blogs, how did this guy get a two page write up in the New York times for his successful blog published from Towson U? Because of this blog, he is already getting job offers, and is making a good chunk of change before he even graduates. No fair!

The Doors

My parents are getting the house painted. This means that the house now smells like paint, and that I have to remove the pictures from one of my doors. This is proving to be a very sad prospect.

We moved into our house 10 1/2 years ago. This was only the second house I had ever lived in, after spending my first 12 years in my beloved Peachwood neighborhood. The room in the old house was quite small, and while sad to leave that house, I was also quite pleased that in the new house my room was huge. Not only that, but I had two closets, and a shared bathroom.

After about six months in the new house, I decided that the doors of this room were way too bare. So, I went through back issues of Seventeen, YM, and Entertainment Weekly to find suitable pictures to hang on my doors.

The project of decorating my doors started at 13 with the front and back of the entrance to my room door. The project concluded around the age of 16 at the door to one of the closets.

Now, these doors have become a sort of time capsule to my entertainment and crushes of a time gone by. And now, I have to take some of them down!

Taking them down, I could only smile at the pictures of the "cute" boys from Seventeen magazine that had been hanging on my door for the last 10 years. I had also hung up a letter to the "WhatEVER" column from Seventeen Magazine that said:
"Dear WhatEVER!,
Why must girls call their periods their 'little friends'? Mine isn't a friend; I hate it. We should call it our 'little enemy'"-Confused
I had also hung up "Get a clue", and "Girls Rock."

Some celebrity crushes of days gone by include:
Matt Damon (circa "Good Will Hunting. Later, I would have an obsession with Ben Affleck, but in 1996, Matt was my man)
Jared Leto (a few years after "My So Called Life" was cancelled)
Matthew Fox and Scott Wolf (in the "Party of Five" days)
Jakob Dylan
Joseph Gordon Levitt from Third Rock From the Sun
Skeet Ulrich and Matthew Lillard from "Scream"
Ethan Hawke
Jon Spencer
Freddie Prinze Jr.
Prince William

Last night, as I sadly took down my time capsule, I reflected on times gone by through my door. Now, part of my 13 year old self is now in the trashcan. However, I was not forced to take down the pictures from inside my room, so my 14-16 year old self can still live on (at least until those doors get painted.)

My dearly departed decorated doors:

I guess I should be happy...

Almost two years after the death of my high school friend, Linda, her murderer was finally brought to justice. Today, Donta Allen, the man accused of the crime, pleaded guilty on what was supposed to be the first day of his trial. He will be sentenced in January, and is expected to receive life in prison with the possibility of parole.

I am not sure how I feel about this. According to the article in the Baltimore Sun, Linda's parents were accepting of Allen's guilty plea, which I am thankful for. I do not really have a strong opinion on the death penalty, however I think that in this case, that was what I was expecting Allen's outcome to be. With his guilty plea, there is the possibility that he could get out on parole one day, and he deserves life in prison without the possibility of parole.

After the police made an arrest in the case in March of 2005, Linda's father said that he was happy they had made an arrest, but that did not bring his daughter back. Today, that is how I am feeling. I am happy that there is now some sort of resolution, but it does not change the fact that Linda's life was ended tragically at the age of 21.

Linda is still on my mind all the time, and I think she always will be. I can only hope that today, her parents really are satisfied with Allen's guilty plea, and it will bring some small bit of closure to them.

The time has come

On Tuesday, I was an exit poller for the third time. I worked outside in the cold rain for 14 hours, (having to stay until 11PM to get the final tally numbers for my location), asking every 8th person leaving the precinct if they would fill out a quick exit poll.

I did exit polling for the 2004 elections. Many more people in Delaware were willing (and even eager) to take part then. In the 2004 elections, the early reports (partly based on the exit polls) projected Kerry as the winner. Maybe in 2006, people were mad at the exit pollers based on the 2004 elections. Or maybe people in Maryland are just meaner.

However, I still got a good number of people to fill out the poll. The survey asked questions about Iraq, what to do about Iraq, approval of George Bush, etc. What I found very interesting was that even people who voted for Republicans expressed dissatisfaction with Bush. Every person who voted Democrat said they did so to show disapproval of Bush.

It seems that the rest of the country felt the same way. Rumsfeld is gone, Allen just conceded the Senate race in Virginia, and the Democrats now have both the Congress and Senate.

Two years ago, when Bush was re-elected, I remember thinking that the people who voted for Bush would come to regret it. Obviously, many people did, and I can only hope that they will continue to regret it enough to elect a Democrat in 2008.