Nicole

This is my old bookstudy group.

Georgia isn’t posing, she really didn’t notice the picture taking. I, on the other hand, am giving the camera the evil eyebrow. Bwa-ha.

I’ve been working on a research project, and the new August 1 WT just stole part of my thunder. That’s okay though. I’ll bring my, er, unique touches to it.

The ASPCA website has some good reminders for protecting your pets, and you can even request emergency contact stickers for free here.

I have a few days off work and school, which is nice. Though I don’t know what to do with myself. Spoken like a true workaholic, eh?

One of the things I’m doing is rereading Walden. It’s been a few years. While I still feel like Thoreau can’t hold a candle to Emerson, now that I’m a member of the ratrace, the book definitely resonates a lot more with me. Especially “Economy.”

Today is a holiday in the US, though not all people here even know. It’s called Juneteenth, commemorating the final end of slavery. Some towns have picnics or parades or barbeques.

See, Abraham Lincoln gave the Emancipation Proclamation January 1, 1863. January 1, 1863. All states who were rebelling against the Union had their slaves freed. The proclamation was to be enforced by Union troops.

But, as all totalitarian leaders know, when you control information, you control people. This is why freedom of the press is always the first thing to be eliminated.

Many slave owners in the South just decided not to tell their slaves about Mr. Lincoln’s speech. If they didn’t know they were free, nothing had to change. The plantations got 3 more plantings and 2 more harvests out of the “slaves.” These were free men, working for free.

Finally, a Union general and his troops–his name was Gordon Granger, if you’re interested–reached Galveston, TX, on June 19, 1865. 1865!!! Two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation! But you know what, the slaves were just so happy to be free, they celebrated anyway. And that’s why in some places, there are Juneteenth picnics, parades, and barbeques.

Now, I am the whitest thing outside of a glass of milk (and inside a glass of milk, it’s too dark to read?) but personally, I feel that both the original Juneteenth celebration, and all subsequent celebrations, should have consisted first of a former slave (or descendent) punching a white person in the face once or twice (2.5 times, maybe?) for those years of illegal free labor. And then I guess a couple hundred more times for the years of legal slave labor. And then, just to show there are no hard feelings (or hard facial bones now), the white person could come to the barbeque, though s/he might not have the teeth to eat with.

I realize that hitting random white people in the face might not be so popular with the white people, but it’s always cathartic to let these things out and get dialogues going.

Yesterday was the 10th anniversary of my baptism. :)

Kind of interesting:
From http://www.faceanalyzer.com
Race Analysis

40% Eastern European
60% Anglo Saxon

——————————————————————————–

0% East Indian
0% Middle Eastern
0% Southern European
0% South East Asian
0% Korean/Japanese
0% Chinese

Gender: FEMALE
Personality Profile

Intelligence 5.8 Average Intelligence
Risk 4.3 Low Risk
Ambition 5.8 Average Ambition
Gay Factor 1.6 Very Low Gay Factor
Honor 5.1 Average Honor
Politeness 5.7 Average Politeness
Income 6.4 $30,000 – $50,000
Sociability 5.8 Average Sociability
Promiscuity 4.3 Low Promiscuity

YOUR ARCHETYPE: White Collar
More

It’s weird to think that any other year, I’d be at the DC around this time in June. Times change. People change. Sometimes people change with the times. I guess I tend to change behind them. A lady should change behind something though. :P

I miss Pontiac. I miss a lot of things right now.

I can’t listen to Telemann. I used to love Telemann. For piano.

A picture I took the other day. Thinking, how many hours I spent there, and how maybe only 10 minutes of them really mattered. C’est la vie, I guess.

piccies always fun