2007life

So this past weekend I went to the labor notes conference in Detroit. It was fairly informative and interesting- I learned lots of scary stuff about the Patriot Act and talked with Mexican sweatshop workers about how they are setting up worker's health centers outside of factories. However, the whole conference was overshadowed by the fact that it was held at the posh-est hotel I've ever been in- the Hyatt Regency. I mean, the thing had a rotating bar at the top. It seemed extremely odd to have a conference whose primary attendees are blue-collar workers, migrant workers, and students and make them pay a ridiculous amount of money to stay in/rent facilities in this hotel. Granted, its the only unionized hotel in Detroit, but it just seemed weird to be sitting in velvet chairs, sipping starbucks, and talking about how nobody has healthcare. My group ended up crashing at a pseudo-coop in Ann Arbor because of the ridiculous price of the lodging.Then there was the creepy University of Chicago guy. I've seen him at other conferences, and he always seems to be hitting on every girl in sight. Plus he just has this sleazy air about him. I made the mistake of sitting next to him in one of the sessions:Creep:Write these numbers down. 501 and 1276.Jeanette:Ok.Creep:We're going to have a big party tonight in those rooms. Going to get smashed and high- have fuuuuuuun.Jeanette:Sounds ok. Except I have to be in a good state to drive back to Ann Arbor.Creep:Nah, you don't have to go all the way back there. Crash in my room, you can share the bed.Jeanette:But all my stuff is back in Ann Arbor.Creep:You don't need anything...Jeanette:Ummm, that's ok, I think I'll pass.Creep*Interrupts entire workshop session* I think we should continue this discussion while partying tonight. We can talk about labor, get a little drunk, get a little high, you know have some fuuuuun...*cringes* the memories...I hate school. Its my last semester, and I can't motivate myself to do anything. Normally I'm pretty on-the-ball through the first half of the semester, but now I just don't want to do anything. Maybe because this semester really doesn't count that much- towards my "official" GPA at graduation, towards the GPA I put down when I am applying for jobs in December. I could not do anything and still walk in the "graduation ceremony" and therefore "graduate," I just wouldn't get a "degree."This weekend is another hippie naked party- the Virgo Slut Party! yay!

So this past weekend I went to the labor notes conference in Detroit. It was fairly informative and interesting- I learned lots of scary stuff about the Patriot Act and talked with Mexican sweatshop workers about how they are setting up worker's health centers outside of factories. However, the whole conference was overshadowed by the fact that it was held at the posh-est hotel I've ever been in- the Hyatt Regency. I mean, the thing had a rotating bar at the top. It seemed extremely odd to have a conference whose primary attendees are blue-collar workers, migrant workers, and students and make them pay a ridiculous amount of money to stay in/rent facilities in this hotel. Granted, its the only unionized hotel in Detroit, but it just seemed weird to be sitting in velvet chairs, sipping starbucks, and talking about how nobody has healthcare. My group ended up crashing at a pseudo-coop in Ann Arbor because of the ridiculous price of the lodging.Then there was the creepy University of Chicago guy. I've seen him at other conferences, and he always seems to be hitting on every girl in sight. Plus he just has this sleazy air about him. I made the mistake of sitting next to him in one of the sessions:Creep:Write these numbers down. 501 and 1276.Jeanette:Ok.Creep:We're going to have a big party tonight in those rooms. Going to get smashed and high- have fuuuuuuun.Jeanette:Sounds ok. Except I have to be in a good state to drive back to Ann Arbor.Creep:Nah, you don't have to go all the way back there. Crash in my room, you can share the bed.Jeanette:But all my stuff is back in Ann Arbor.Creep:You don't need anything...Jeanette:Ummm, that's ok, I think I'll pass.Creep*Interrupts entire workshop session* I think we should continue this discussion while partying tonight. We can talk about labor, get a little drunk, get a little high, you know have some fuuuuun...*cringes* the memories...I hate school. Its my last semester, and I can't motivate myself to do anything. Normally I'm pretty on-the-ball through the first half of the semester, but now I just don't want to do anything. Maybe because this semester really doesn't count that much- towards my "official" GPA at graduation, towards the GPA I put down when I am applying for jobs in December. I could not do anything and still walk in the "graduation ceremony" and therefore "graduate," I just wouldn't get a "degree."This weekend is another hippie naked party- the Virgo Slut Party! yay!

Dumb joke courtesy of my Econ professor:Professor: So we're going to have a guest lecturer next week- the most famous former student at the London School of Economics. Yes, Mick Jagger is going to give a lecture next week. The topic will be Constrained Utility Maximization, or you can't always get what you want.*chuckle**groan*

So my co-op had a membership meeting tonight for this woman- I'll call her K. Membership meetings are just a bunch of us that live in the co-op asking the person who wants to live here (membershipper) a bunch of questions to see if we want him/her to live here. So K is a really friendly person with a sweet dog. She's an undergrad, age 20. Everything's great about her....except...she's a stripper. She's basically straight-edge, and seems to have a level head about herself, but some of my housemates seem to want to reject her based on the fact that she's a stripper. To me, it doesn't really matter what she does at night as long as she's not endangering herself or other people in the house. She's vehemently anti-drug and seems to have a good relationship with her boss. So I don't really see what the problem is with my housemates. I thought we were trying to embrace diversity and be inclusive and not impose morals on other people. But that seems to be what's happening here. I really want K to live here, because she seems like a lot of fun, and would fit in well. It might also open up our minds a little more. I hope my housemates aren't going to be jerks about the stripper thing...Webster the gerbil seems to be warming up to me...he's letting me pet him and isn't running to hide when I open up the cage door. I got these treats for him today called "Hamsteroids" that are for hamsters and gerbils. The package claims that "when these toys fall into a cage, your pet goes wild for them" and they are "destined to be destroyed by hamsters, gerbils, etc." Guess what- Webster took one bite and spit it out. Talk about false advertising...I am going to be insane for the next week and a half with finals. Fucking school...If you could fuck a cartoon character, which cartoon character would it be? I choose Trent, Jane's sister on Daria.

So my co-op had a membership meeting tonight for this woman- I'll call her K. Membership meetings are just a bunch of us that live in the co-op asking the person who wants to live here (membershipper) a bunch of questions to see if we want him/her to live here. So K is a really friendly person with a sweet dog. She's an undergrad, age 20. Everything's great about her....except...she's a stripper. She's basically straight-edge, and seems to have a level head about herself, but some of my housemates seem to want to reject her based on the fact that she's a stripper. To me, it doesn't really matter what she does at night as long as she's not endangering herself or other people in the house. She's vehemently anti-drug and seems to have a good relationship with her boss. So I don't really see what the problem is with my housemates. I thought we were trying to embrace diversity and be inclusive and not impose morals on other people. But that seems to be what's happening here. I really want K to live here, because she seems like a lot of fun, and would fit in well. It might also open up our minds a little more. I hope my housemates aren't going to be jerks about the stripper thing...Webster the gerbil seems to be warming up to me...he's letting me pet him and isn't running to hide when I open up the cage door. I got these treats for him today called "Hamsteroids" that are for hamsters and gerbils. The package claims that "when these toys fall into a cage, your pet goes wild for them" and they are "destined to be destroyed by hamsters, gerbils, etc." Guess what- Webster took one bite and spit it out. Talk about false advertising...I am going to be insane for the next week and a half with finals. Fucking school...If you could fuck a cartoon character, which cartoon character would it be? I choose Trent, Jane's sister on Daria.