FML

CURRENT JAMS:
Morrissey - "Irish Blood, English Heart"
Morrissey - "The National Front Disco"

So I got my grades back today, and....yeah. 2 B+'s, a B-, and a C (y'all know which class that is). Which isn't bad, per se -- they're just grades, and I'm certainly not beating myself up over them. But....I was honestly hoping I did better. And I thought I was going to get at least some better grades than that. And as much as it isn't that big of a deal, it's still....depressing.

It was a perfect storm of factors, really -- I had a hard time breaking out of the rut I was in this summer, I was depressed when I started the semester and that sort of set the tone, I had (and still have) some mental health issues I needed to sort through, the classes were pretty blah, I didn't expect some of them to be that difficult, I got lazy and got poor study habits, I let the failures in one class affect how I did in the other three, I couldn't make myself care that much (and neither could some of the people I worked with), etc. etc. etc. I can't make any excuses, really. I just have to dust myself off when February comes around, and get better study habits and get more proactive. Which....I'm going to need help in. Help!! :P

I also have a Dreamwidth invite code if anyone wants it. :3

All right, here's some random links and other stuff I found recently, because I'm bored and have nothing else better to do:

Israel Admits Harvesting Organs From Dead Bodies Without Permission

You know, what really kills me is how some Israelis will call anything even remotely negative about their country's practices "anti-Semitic." Right, because talking about how inhumane, disgusting, and just plain stupid a particular country's practices are is just like bashing their entire nation and culture!

Military Science: Hack Stormy Skies to Lord over Lightning

A tiny part of me thinks this is pretty cool, but mostly a.) I don't see how lightning is so much of a big deal that we need to find ways to stop it, and b.) like this is ever going to end well.

Barack Obama Wants to Be at Work Today Just as Much as You Do, America

I know Obama's been getting a lot of flak lately from the left over health care reform and Copenhagen, and I've been feeling some of the disappointment myself (yeah, like you can really expect him to be your Magic Negro and have everything fixed in 11 months' time -- not gonna happen). But if he keeps doing awesome stuff like this? He's still got my support. And it would take something extremely bone-headed-ly stupid and inhumane for me to lose that. ;-)

Avatar: Condescending Racism or a Story of Transformation and Struggle?

An interesting response to the Avatar article I posted earlier this week. While the points he makes are interesting and valid, there are many things wrong with it, mostly that he acknowledges that there aren't enough movies with stories told from a non-white character's point of view, yet he dismisses it as irrelevant when it's really one of the huge problems with the movie and others like it. People who make movies, especially in Hollywood, tend to assume that trying to tell a story from a perspective other than someone who's white, male, straight, middle-class, etc. means that the audience won't be able to relate and live vicariously through the character -- which is total bullshit, because if you make the story good enough, you can make your audience relate with your main character no matter what. (Besides, this kind of story and POV is a Dead Horse Trope anyway -- it reeks of lazy storytelling.)

Then again, considering the website the above opinion piece is from, it seems like they are so blinded by ideology that they only want to see the messages they want to see -- which I'm sure are present, of course, but any critical analysis of any movie or other work of art means pointing out racism, sexism, homophobia, etc., and one can still appreciate a movie while acknowledging that stuff is there, which the author seems to brush under the rug. It would certainly help if I saw the movie myself, of course, but I'm not spending money (or wasting time torrenting) on special effects and a hype machine, and certainly not on what too many people are saying is a cynical ploy to get people to think they care about Native Americans though a made-up proxy when it really contains the same self-congratulatory bullshit that keeps race relations in the U.S. the way it is, no matter how well-meaning the movie may be. :/

8 Racist Ads You Won't Believe Are From the Last Few Years

If all examples of racism in the media were this blatant, we wouldn't be talking about Avatar.

Healthcare bills compared

A good rundown of the House and Senate versions of the health care bill, which will go into committee after Christmas, the results of which should be signed by early next year (I'd guess February).

The next two links are from atelierlune:

Iranians hooked on Korean TV drama

Some news from Iran that's somewhat amusing for once. XD (I should make an Iran update post one of these days, now that the situation is coming back into the news with Montazeri's death....:P)

The Addiction Habit

A brief and enlightening look at the history of the concept of addiction in our society -- and how and why it's being misused.

And apparently Paranoia Agent is going to be made into a live-action movie? It looks like mere speculation right now, but if so......WANT. SO. BADLY. :DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

And finally: