I've been a little busy lately. Classes are going reasonably well, and I don't really have all that much to report. I've become one of the more proficient BK workers in a meager four weeks' worth of shifts, progress with which I'm satisfied, seeing as I'll probably be working there throughout the summer (as my third job).

I have my first test in Criminal Justice tomorrow morning at nine. We'll see how that goes.

Mom is flying down from Toronto to Chicago on the 9th; I've found a sub for my shift that day so I can meet her at the airport. We'll be in Chicago until the following Tuesday; I'm trying to find some fun stuff for us to do via chicagoreader.com. After that, I'm heading to KC with Dan on the Wednesday of break to pick up Chrissy. I'll probably be in that area until Friday. I'm glad I've got most of my plans sorted out; I'm just a little worried about money. My mom's not the richest person, and I don't want her paying for every meal and every single thing we do, so I'll need some money for Chicago. My dad just paid a $100 debt for me, which I want to pay back relatively soon. My cousin wants to take me on a trip to Palestine in May with a student group out of York University in Toronto -- not exactly the safest vacation, but I definitely want to go if I can scrape up the cash. Given that I have so many things requiring money, you'd think that I wouldn't be inclined to run across the street to the nearest gas station as soon as my paycheck comes in, but alas, I am now $8 poorer and three packs of Camels richer. I need to start rolling these things myself, save some cash.

So, Chief Illiniwek is finally history, huh? I've been reading a lot of commemorative bullshit about the whole debacle. Honestly, why would U of I want to commemorate decades of racism-laced representation? I'm even more confused about why some of the people I know and view as normally perfectly reasonably people are so emotional about it; hello, we don't do shows in black face anymore -- how is donning some ridiculously flamboyant poor imitation of Native American garb and prancing around like a goddamned idiot for an audience completely devoid of Native Americans any better -- or any different? Just because most people in Southern Illinois have never run into one of the nations' people before doesn't mean that they don't exist -- no, white people didn't manage to completely obliterate them for all their efforts; fancy that! There are actually still some people who are offended that their heritage is being commercialized and mocked by the descendants of white settlers who murdered, raped, and needlessly relocated them. Commemorating such a symbol as the Chief seems to be pretty indecent, bigoted, ignorant, and completely insensitive. People down here just have no idea how insulting mascots like the Chief are to the people such sporting symbols mock. A basketball team on a reservation near my hometown renamed themselves the Fighting Whities in protest against similarly derogatory and defamatory mascots in Canada -- just to highlight how ridiculous the whole tradition is, no matter how ingrained it is in American sports culture.

Well, whatev.

I've been feeling really kind of distant lately; I don't find it difficult to get worked up about issues that I feel strongly about, but I've found myself to be really put off by strung out people and their personal issues lately. I can't help but to feel a twinge of annoyance every time I walk past some poor blubbering sophomore complaining to her BFF about her insensitive boyfriend's recent antics. I think part of this has come from hanging out with Dan so much -- I don't know his friends well enough to be actively involved in any of their drama, and from an objective perspective, that crap always seems incredibly petty -- especially when the people involved are constantly bitching about how strung out they are about it and yet withhold detailed information about whatever situation is apparently bothering them just because they fucking know that it is too ridiculous for any normal person to even break a sweat about. Dan himself is incredibly chill and easy to get along with.

It's not that I haven't been stressing out a little about my own personal issues lately, but I've found it to be much more cathartic to simply work through them on my own or to make constructive commentary on them -- not giving in to the destructive, petty emotional indulgence most people actually mistake for true 'angst' has been really helpful to me in keeping things on an even keel lately. Maybe part of this feeling is also due to the fact that Teryn has been roped into helping with set construction with a bunch of The-thes for a measly credit. She works ten- to twelve-hour shifts every Friday and Saturday until April 1st, and I've already heard enough about the personalities she's interacting with (horror stories!) for me to feel immense pity for her. Maybe this is singular to ISU theater kids, but GODDAMN, they are FUCKING ANNOYING, PETTY, SAD PEOPLE! If someone stubs their toe, it's enough to fuel terse, hushed gossip for an entire day! Well, okay, maybe it's not that ridiculous, but it honestly seems to be at least approaching that level. It makes me glad that I gave up theater completely after high school. I can't imagine having to deal with such high strung people on a daily basis.

That said, I just saw a wonderful production of the V-Monologues, and I'm pretty interested in getting into it next year. ISU's was a pretty independent production, and I think that's the only type of theater that could attract even a smidgen of interest from me in terms of acting or teching these days. Doing theater with people who aren't tangled up in the institution of theater could actually be, oh, I don't know, relatively "angst"-free and fun??

We'll see, my peeps.

Labels: Chief Illiniwek, Dan, Mom, school, Vagina Monologues

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