The journal you are now encountering is my emotional dumping ground. I keep most of it behind a friends-only filter, so that the whole world doesn't see my business. This is my real-life journal, and one of the ways I have learned to constructively deal with my emotions is to write about them. My friends, family, and trusted others get to see the whole picture of me, warts and all. The only things I generally allow the whole world to read are miscellaneous memes, news articles, humor, political items, and anything else that happens catches my atten... oooh, look! Shiny!

If you would like to read most of my writings, you will need to create a LiveJournal account. Please email me to add you to the list: Write2Hagrid@kevyn.com

Also, if you are currently a subscriber and want to remove me from your friends list, that's fine. I won't be offended. I think calling it a "friends" list is a bit inaccurate, anyway. Just drop me a note to say you don't have time to read me right now, or whatever, and I'll understand.

It's official. I just got a letter from the WWU registrar's office, stating that they have evaluated my transcript, and agreed that I have completed all necessary requirements to graduate with a Bachelor of Arts.

Graduation ceremony: Saturday, August 22, 2008, 10:00 am, Carver Gymnasium, Western Washington University, Bellingham, Washington, USA.

I'm going to walk across the stage, naturally. DVR is paying for my cap and gown.

Mom says she will try to be here, but I am not going to hold my breath. She just went to Japan to visit my brother and his family, so I know she's strapped for cash right now.

One month and 4 days from now, I'll officially be a college graduate. My 22-year-long journey through higher education will be over.

Haven't done much of anything since Pride this past weekend (Not even answer emails or LJ comments). I *did* make it to job club on Monday. Went to Food Bank on Wednesday. Otherwise, I haven't left the apartment much at all this week, except to get cigarettes or to go visit Kokii & Kris.

I'm back from Bellingham's 2nd annual Gay Pride Parade, and what a wonderful day it was. The weather was perfect: warm and sunny, but not too hot.

We assembled at Bellingham High School, and I stripped down to my skivvies and had people paint my body day-glo with finger paint (I supplied rubber gloves to keep hands clean). It was really tribal, and I had fun (even if a drag queen did graffiti on my back... ;-)

I walked with the Faeries... Whoretense wore a fabulous flower print mini dress and her dog Sadie walked too, teledildonix in chaps, Rick in a most amazing pair of metal mesh and leather wings, Bruce in his bow tie, and even Ted in his wheelchair!

We marched to the Depot Market, and we even had bible-worshipping protesters along the route this year! We've arrived! (Last year, we just got ignored.)

And me, once again I debuted a new Scruffy Rumbler outfit, a skirt made only of neckties! I was amazing. Lots of people took pictures of me. And I got cruised by a really cute guy in the marching band. *sigh* If only I had been able to give him my card :-(

I'll post/link pictures as soon as they're available!

UPDATE: Photos of Bellingham RadFaes from Faces of Bellingham:

Outraged yet?

Karl Rove, defying a congressional subpoena to testify before the House Judiciary Committee on the attorney firing scandal, has fled the country, without notifying congress:

http://www.alternet.org/blogs/peek/91181

And, just in case the Democrats grow a spine, and hold him in contempt, he's apparently gone to Ukraine, a country without an extradition treaty with the U.S. How convenient.


And, in other news, reports are now surfacing that the International Red Cross has taken the position that the Bush administration has engaged in torture, and any administration official who ordered torture can be held liable for war crimes:

http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/07/12/international-committee-of-red-cross-says-bush-administration-guilty-of-war-crimes/


Buckle your seat belts. I have a feeling this ride is about to get a whole lot more interesting.

Came home, and there is an eviction notice posted on his door. I don't know if he's seen it yet.

Wow.

I'm back!

After spending days being hobbled by a sweet-tea-soaked-dead keyboard (*bzzzzt*), being forced to use the mouse and a virtual keyboard to type (*AAAAAAGH*), and totally unable to work on Wikipedia articles... teledildonix came to my rescue! He had an older-model (but still compatible) Mac keyboard lying around, and he gave it to me. Thank you so much, Kevin. Once again, you've pulled my fat ass out of the fire!

Today was a busy, busy day. I slept in, then ate a leisurely breakfast of Corn Flakes and Mountain Dew, and did almost nothing until noon.

Then, I showered, dressed, and started my day. ;-)

Caught the bus to the University, and paid my remaining fees (to keep the road to graduation in August clear), went to the bus station, bought a July bus pass, went to WorkSource downtown to meed with my DVR counselor. Turned out to be a really good meeting: we talked about how I should broach the subject of my disability with future employers (her advice: not until after they've given you a firm job offer in writing), what my plans are (short term: find a part-time job, long-term, find a permanent job), should I cut my hair & beard (no, but I do need a trim), how I can include my Wikipedia editing experience for any job I apply for, etc. I've also agreed to start going to job club every Monday morning, to network. Then she asked me what DVR could do for me, and here's what we came up with: DVR will pay for my graduation expenses (cap and gown rental). DVR will pay for a brand new outfit (shirt, slacks, shoes) for me to wear to interviews. And DVR will pay my bus pass all summer! Cool deal, no?

Afterwards, I went to Kevin's place to get the keyboard, then to get some groceries, including a $16 salad (don't ask), and now I'm home!

Now I just gotta get caught up on my emails and LJ comments...

With a very hearty appreciation for our next door neighbours: CANADA!

Thank you for making this continent and this culture much more interesting. We aren't always the easiest elephant to share a bed with, but the U.S.A. needs Canada as an exemplar of how to be a civilized nation. Thank you.

awwwww shit.

I spilled sweet tea on my USB keyboard last night. I was high and drinking at the computer.

Fuck.

Now I am having to use http://www.litetype.com/ to type, using the mouse. Slow as hell.

BBC: EC warns on Roma fingerprinting

Chilling: "Many of them have disappeared."

(For kennapea)

I scanned my face and everything I was carrying on my person for the Face Your Pockets project (http://www.faceyourpockets.com/). At the time, I was carrying a pack of cigarettes, a lighter, my high school class ring (FKHS 1986), a Cingular cell phone that doesn't work, my keys, a handkerchief, my wallet on a chain, and a little LEGO figurine of Hagrid attached to the chain.

The Internet is about to become much more interesting.

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has just approved unlimited new top level domain names, and not just in Roman characters, starting in 2009.

.atheist anyone? How about .pagan?

Final grades are in now:

COMM 327 INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION: W
ENGL 335 Lit&Exprsn:Postwar Global Film: B
PLSC 445B0 Quebec Politics & Quebec-US Relations: B+


Did better than I thought I would in both classes. Interpersonal communication is the one I dropped.
School's over!

Diploma in August.

Comedian George Carlin had died at age 71.

Thanks for all the laughs, George. No one was able to articulate how bizarre the world is quite like you...

Here's his famous Seven Dirty Words routine (NSFW):

Was Québec responsible for Canada's decision
not to participate in the 2003 war in Iraq?


Kevyn Jacobs
PLSC 445B
Québec Politics and
Québec-U.S. Relations
Western Washington University
2008.06.18
=============================================
( Click to read my final paper )

Just when you think Christian merchandising could get no crasser, here comes the
"Talking Jesus Doll!" (Only $19.95! Be sure to watch the commercial for extra Mooby creepiness.)

This comes awfully close to the biblical prohibition against worshipping idols. Not that I care what Christians spend their money on, but do you really want to put Jesus on the same level as Barbie and G.I. Joe?

Yes, you too can "create a personal connection with Jesus" with a hunk of molded plastic containing a voice box inside! Also comes in Moses, David, and Virgin Mary versions.

And unlike the famous Jesus Action Figure marketed by Archie McPhee ("With moveable arms and wheels in the feet for miraculous gliding action!"), this Jesus doll is being marketed without a trace of irony.

I have to ask, is this Jesus doll anatomically correct? Because if it's not, Deuteronomy 23:1 says he's unclean: "No one who is emasculated or has his male organ cut off shall enter the assembly of the LORD."

Of course, this doll has lots of potential for mischief, too. If you could replace the voice box inside one of these, a la Barbie's "Math is Hard," what would you have Jesus say?

( Ganked from BoingBoing )

Wow.

Last night my hometown, Manhattan, Kansas, got hammered by a tornado. ( News thanks to kadyg )

Yes, yes, I know, this is Kansas we're talking about, what's the big deal? But Manhattan sits in a geographical oddity in Kansas: a river valley in the Flint Hills (which is the only geographically exciting pat of Kansas). The surrounding hills usually protect the town from the worst of Kansas weather. In Manhattan, tornadoes are rare.

Last night, though, a tornado ripped through town and slammed into the campus of my old school, Kansas State University. There don't appear to be any serious injuries in Manhattan (though there were deaths when the twister went through the nearby town of Chapman), but the K-State campus, where I went to school for many, many years (earning the degree I am finishing today at WWU, as chance would have it!) took the brunt of the storm.

Looks like the tornado destroyed and damaged some buildings on the northwest side of campus. Classes are cancelled, and details are sketchy, because they are still picking up the pieces this morning.

As I mentioned, Manhattan is my hometown (I love to fuck with New Yorkers with this fact), and I have spent 1/4 of my life there. Fortunately, I don't have any relatives left in "The Little Apple" -- they have all long since moved away -- but I have lots of friends and acquaintances in the area, and several people on my LJ friends list (kadyg,kcfairy,genetikayos,redhatguy) are friends I met and got to know during my years in Manhattan.

I am not reading the letter (yet). I am not doing my homework (yet).

I am reading Walt Whitman.

( Thanks to snousle )

(Most definitely NOT Safe For Work!)

Ganked from BoingBoing




Things you normally don't expect to find depicted in pre-Depression era animation:

• Full-frontal nudity
• Large penises
• Masturbation
• Vaginal sex
• Anal sex
• Oral sex
• Straight sex
• Gay sex
• Anonymous sex
• Glory holes
• Crabs
• Bestiality
• Penis duels

Things you will find in Eveready Harton, a 1929 pornographic animated short:
All of the above!

( This is so cute, in a pornographic way )

Remember on Monday, when I posted that it was really cold and wet and dark outside? Well the unseasonably cold spell for the Pacific Northwest has continued unabated. In fact, it's been the coldest June on record, here.

Today, the Seattle Times ran this headline, front page, above the fold:
Seattle weather: Colder than Siberia!

I just checked the National Weather Service to verify this, and yep, we're colder than Siberia right now (though not by much). At 1 PM today, Bellingham was +10 C (50 F). In Barnaul, Siberia, it was +12 C (53 F).

Wow. Colder than Siberia! I knew it was cold, but geez!

I suppose I shouldn't complain, though... I hear it's miserably hot back east and down south.