Yep, today is kind of my birthday (long story on the “kind of”), and I’ve turned 18. Unfortunately, I still can’t legally drink. Why? Because we have a stupid federal government that, thanks to Title 23 U.S.C. §158, manipulated all the state governments into raising the drinking age to 21. It used to be up to the state to decide the drinking age, but not anymore — federal government likes to take away any states’ rights it can, it seems.

One thing I can do, though, is vote.

We’ve got a presidential election coming up, and there are some points that need to be made after that last disastrous election. Contrary to most people’s voting, there are more than two political parties in the U.S., and there are also independant politicians. Contrary to most people’s voting, an election isn’t about picking the lesser of two evils.

In 2008, there is one really great candidate running, but you’re not likely to see him on one of the two big parties’ tickets, and you may not even see him on the ballot. This candidate’s name is Ron Paul. He’s vying for the Republican Party’s nomination, but he’s not your average Republican. Here’s the standard summary of his political history as a Texas congressman, taken from his website…

He has never voted to raise taxes, never voted for an unbalanced budget, never voted to restrict gun ownership, never voted to raise congressional pay (and he’s a congressman!), never voted to increase the Executive Branch’s power, never taken a government-paid junket, voted against the Patriot Act, voted against regulation of the internet, voted against the Iraq war, and he returns a portion of his office’s budget to the treasure every year.

For well over a hundred years, the United States federal government has been run by the Republican and Democratic parties. This kind of politics has been going on almost since the country started, and I say it’s time to stop it — or at least have a change of power.

The Democratic and Republican parties are nothing short of corrupt. The Republican party especially has almost entirely lost its vision during the last two presidential terms. Eight years ago, I probably would’ve voted Republican. Now, though, the party has moved too far away from its values of the last few decades.

I think the time has come to stop voting for the majority parties. The time has come to vote on principal, and to make politics about values and intergrity instead of crowd-pleasing. I’m not talking about George Bush type — a straight shooting who shoots America straight in the foot — but rather a wise leader who holds the values that have kept this country together for over two centuries. That leader is Ron Paul.

Like I said, though, you may not see his name on the ballot next year. That’s because the Republican party doesn’t like his anti-war stance, and they want to see him shut out of the race. We’ve all seen what some politicians from majority parties will do to rig an election. For example, look into Jeb Bush’s alleged scandal that one the 2004 election for his brother (look for the BBC documentary on Google Video). Thus, it wouldn’t be at all surprising if this presidential candidate didn’t show up in the ballots and voting polls come election time.

That’s where a new website, WriteInRonPaul.com, comes in. I’ve personally spoken to the man who started this website, and he’s been voting longer than most people have been alive. He’s used the write-in vote system many times, and he knows how the politics of elections work — and he’s trying to get the word out about what we need to do about it as voters. Check out the site for more info (and excuse the design template; I’m working on a new one for him).

Ron Paul for President in ’08
Because America doesn’t support socialism (or Hillary Clinton)!

As far as this blog goes, would it interest anyone if I started maintaining a photoblog? Examples of my art can be seen at XristosAnesti.deviantart.com. Your feedback would be greatly appreciated.

I’ve been busy with work and haven’t had the inspiration to write a good post lately, but I’ve been working on my site’s design. I’ve added a lot of graphics that make use of translucency. In the past, I’ve had an issue with some web browsers putting white in place of transparency in these images. The latest versions of Internet Explorer and Firefox should work fine, but I’m just wondering how many of my readers use old browsers or see my layout with lots of white backgrounds on things. If you’ve got issues with the design, or if you have any tips for things I ought to change, leave me a comment or message.

 
“A sermon full of mere words, how neatly soever it be composed, while it wants the light of evidence, and the life of zeal, is but an image or a well-dressed carcass.”
 - Richard Baxter

I drew the skeleton with no clear idea why, but with a general concept of the point I wanted to make with it. As I was finishing up the digital version of the image, I despaired of finding a proper quote to put with it, and decided to make it a “name the caption” post. Then, just as I clicked “save,” I decided to check up on a blog that I read regularly. There was the perfect quote for my picture!

It also reminds me of Matthew 23:27, which says in the ASV, “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which outwardly appear beautiful, but inwardly are full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness.”

Ah, heck, we’ll have a “name the caption” anyway…

And when I get to Heaven,
to Saint Peter I will tell,
  “One more senior reporting, sir.
I’ve served my time in hell.”

Midnight on Monday, May 14th, in the 2007th year of our Lord found me running down a street near my house to get to a gas station. My friend was at that gas station, ready in his car with some energy drinks and a couple of accomplices. From there, we were going to hit a 24-hour Wal-Mart to pick up supplies for a very unique school project.

Thus began [My school]‘s 2007 Senior Prank.

We covered the main floor of the school, halls and classrooms alike, with foam cups full of water. The thinking there was that they couldn’t just throw the cups away; they’d have to empty them first. We put red food coloring in the backs of the toilets so the water would look like blood after flushing. We also filled a room with tables, and rigged a table to fall into place in front of the door when we closed it — that way, it would be very, very difficult to get into the room to take the tables out.

The highlight of the prank, though, was the parking lot. We put a table in every parking space, put four chairs around each, and wrapped them all together with plastic wrap. Then the leftover chairs were lined up and tightly wrapped together as a barricade to the entrance of the parking lot. A few other touches were added, such as plastic wrapping trees, putting fishing wire across another entrance, and making a circle of chairs in the middle of the road (also plastic wrapped, of course).

To top everything off, we put all the racks and carts needed to transport the chairs and tables into a covered shuttle stop and wrapped the whole structure very thoroughly in plastic wrap.

6,000 feet of plastic wrap, almost 5,000 foam cups, 3 packs of food coloring, and a trip to Waffle House later, at almost 5:30 in the morning, we all went home.

The school administrator was slightly upset that morning.

Thanks to Xanga Themes, I’ve been able to bring back the Meebo chatbox. It’s in the left sidebar, just under the profile. Try it out and tell me what you think!

Congratulations, congratulations, congratulations, congratulations, I have no earthly idea who you are but congratulations…

Got up on stage at graduation and realized, “Hey, I’m actually graduating.” Then I thought, “I wonder why everyone makes such a big deal out of this.”

I’ve had a lot of very significant days in my life so far, and none of them involved ceremonies.

I’m too lazy to write about my last day of highschool (and I didn’t take pictures), but Rachael’s done a great job of both.

Here: Rachael’s Entry

That’s how many four ounce containers of coleslaw I filled yesterday.

I’ve never eaten coleslaw before. I never intend to, either.

This is going on my list of personal injustices.

The Chik-Fil-A Chronicles, Espisode 2

Cashier: “Hi! How can I help you today?”
Customer: “Thanks, uh, I’d like a number one combo on a wheat bun, and I’d like it with lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, and bacon. Oh, and can I get that with grilled chicken instead of the fried chicken?”
Cashier: “Yes, sir.”
[Rings up a number four]
Customer: “I wanted a number one.”
Cahsier: “The number one is an original Chik-Fil-A sandwich; the number four is the chargrilled chicken club, which is grilled chicken with lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, bacon, and pickles on a wheat bun.”
Customer: “Yeah, but I ordered a number one.”
[Sighs and rings up the number one that's really a number four]
Cashier: “Alright, anything else?”
[Finishes order and walks into kitchen]
Cashier to Cook: “¿Santiago? ¿Vea ese loco número uno, allí? Si, es realmente justo un número cuatro. Gracias, Santiago.”

Customer: “Hey, can I get a number one with coleslaw?”
Cashier: “Yes, that’s a number seven.”
Customer: “Oh, ok…uh…yeah, so a number one with coleslaw.”
[Cashier walks out back and shoots himself]

EDIT: It seems people think these little stories from work mean I don’t like my job. I really do like my job. I didn’t mind cleaning up after the lady the other day, and it doesn’t really upset me that some people are apparently too dumb to read the menu. These are just moments that make me think about the way people work, so I figured I’d share them. Honestly, the job is great: enjoyable, rewarding, fun…the only thing lacking from that list is “high-paying,” but I guess I can’t have everything.

EDIT AGAIN: “seems like you like the job, except for the annoying customers part.” Nope, I like the almost all customers just fine. Very few of them are truly annoying, except the women who come in groups for inconsequential meetings of various types. Those kinds always leave messes, complain about the food, viciously claim half the restaurant as their own, and thier children usually mark their territory in the play area. You know, the way badly trained animals might do in your living room.