Hey y'all. Long time no post. I'm slack. I'm know. I'm sorry.
By now, y'all know the verdict of the George Zimmerman trial. If you live under a rock and don't know (trust me, it happens; I've actually had to explain the entire scenario to actual Americans who had no idea what the trial was), the jury acquitted him. He's free to go home and terrorize the rest of his neighbors, nbd.
If that last bit didn't tell you how salty I'm feeling right now, then I'll tell you: I'm feeling really salty right now.
This is all I'm ever going to say on the internet about Trayvon Martin and the George Zimmerman trial:
(Some of y'all might want to close this window, go back to Facebook, and pretend you never clicked this link.)
A kid got shot for looking like he didn't belong in the place where his father lived. And the dude that shot him got acquitted. The prosecution was sorry, if I was the judge I'd have thrown the defense out of my courtroom, and the jury was a guarantee that he would walk. I said it from the beginning.
Y'all want to be real? Alright then. I don't have any faith in 6 people from 2 different but arguably anti-Black cultures to protect a Black child, even if he's already dead. I don't care how many children they have between them. I. Don't. Care.
You mad? Stay mad.
It's good to know that if some wannabe cop douchebro that believes their own hype sees me taking my daily walk and decides I look like I don't belong in my upper middle class neighborhood, they can stalk me, harass me, attack me, and kill me, and someone somewhere is going to dig through my Facebook, find pictures of me flipping the bird or smoking hookah with my kotmates, and send them to the local news as evidence of my inherent thuggishness. It's a real comfort to me to know that no one will ever mention my good grades, academic abilities, regular church attendance, or general goodness on tv, but they will find 5 people who are upset by this blog post and didn't like me in high school/college to say that I was a mean-spirited racist, and to insinuate that whatever I got, I deserved.
That really helps me sleep at night.
And now I have a few instructions.
If you want to say, "Anyone can be an internet activist, Lyssa; why don't you actually do something about it?" get out of my face. I am no one's activist. Y'all ought to know that by now.
If you want to say, "Lyssa that's not fair, I'm [whatever] and my best friend is Black!" unfriend me on Facebook right now. Pointing out your however many friends that you classify collectively as "Others" as evidenced by the fact that you just needed to point out to me that they were Black is not helping you. I've known [whatever] people with Black babies who were still racist. You are dismissed.
If you want to say, "White people die too and [whatever] people get away with it! Not everything's about race!" delete my number out your phone I am not playing with you. If OJ Simpson gets brought up ONE TIME I will not be held accountable for anything that comes out my mouth
And if you even think you might say that George Zimmerman ain't guilty, forget you ever met me. I don't need you in my life.
And that's all I have.
I'll get back to the regular stuff soon because I've actually already started classes again. Shout out to all of y'all in summer session 2! One day this will all be worth it!
Sunday, July 14, 2013
Wednesday, May 8, 2013
It's over!
Finals Week is FINISHED! Thank goodness; I thought that was never going to be over. Technically it was over with last Friday at 5:30 when I walked out of my last exam, but whatever. We're not being picky. It's the end of Finals Week. Let's just roll with it.
This was a really hard semester for me. I have no idea why it was so difficult, but it was. I've never had to work so hard for maybe a B. Curse you, grad school! I've never actually had to read the textbook before! And oh did I read those textbooks. I read them until I literally went cross-eyed, and then I went to sleep, woke up, and read them some more. Yet after my first exam last Tuesday, I walked out in a daze and called my sister saying, "Tina, I think I'm crying but I'm not sure." She was confused. I was confused. I still don't know how well I did on that exam. Or any of them, actually. All I know is I somehow managed to keep my 3.0 in tact. I don't need to know how I did it, or how well. I just need to know that it's done.
Most importantly, though, I now have nothing to do. And I have no idea what to do with myself. I could take a nap. I could watch TV. I could take a walk. I could make all the recipes I've collected this semester. I could play Sims for like 12 hours. I could read a book. I could work on my novel. The possibilities are endless!
Last Friday, in celebration of The End, my friend Widge came over. We got pizza, and junk food, and watched Disney movies (there are a lot of classics I haven't seen) and pretended not to be 23. It was glorious.
And now I'm looking for internships. According to my mother, I have to take one that's paid. In Greenville, SC, where internships are hard to come by in the first place because beggars are apparently choosers. Good luck to me. If anyone knows somebody that knows somebody that needs an intern, it me up.
Also, someone should take me to see Iron Man 3. Like, as soon as possible.
Introspective post on my first year of grad school coming up soon!
This was a really hard semester for me. I have no idea why it was so difficult, but it was. I've never had to work so hard for maybe a B. Curse you, grad school! I've never actually had to read the textbook before! And oh did I read those textbooks. I read them until I literally went cross-eyed, and then I went to sleep, woke up, and read them some more. Yet after my first exam last Tuesday, I walked out in a daze and called my sister saying, "Tina, I think I'm crying but I'm not sure." She was confused. I was confused. I still don't know how well I did on that exam. Or any of them, actually. All I know is I somehow managed to keep my 3.0 in tact. I don't need to know how I did it, or how well. I just need to know that it's done.
Most importantly, though, I now have nothing to do. And I have no idea what to do with myself. I could take a nap. I could watch TV. I could take a walk. I could make all the recipes I've collected this semester. I could play Sims for like 12 hours. I could read a book. I could work on my novel. The possibilities are endless!
Last Friday, in celebration of The End, my friend Widge came over. We got pizza, and junk food, and watched Disney movies (there are a lot of classics I haven't seen) and pretended not to be 23. It was glorious.
And now I'm looking for internships. According to my mother, I have to take one that's paid. In Greenville, SC, where internships are hard to come by in the first place because beggars are apparently choosers. Good luck to me. If anyone knows somebody that knows somebody that needs an intern, it me up.
Also, someone should take me to see Iron Man 3. Like, as soon as possible.
Introspective post on my first year of grad school coming up soon!
Monday, April 29, 2013
Blocus is upon us!
"Blocus" is what they call finals in Belgium. Yes, I know it's been two years since I left Belgium and UCL; be quiet and let me relive my glory days!
Anyway, it's finals week and that means I look properly a mess.
This has pretty much been all I did today: woke up, got dressed, came downstairs, read my finance book, took notes. By "got dressed" I mean put on a pair of leggings and a t-shirt. I haven't taken my hair down. I'm not going to take my hair down. I should probably pick out some clothes for tomorrow at some point (it's finals, but dress code still applies) but eh. I'll probably just end up doing that in the morning. I should also do some form of self maintenance this week, but that's probably not going to happen at all.
At one point today, I tried to feed myself and only ended up taking food out of the refrigerator, forgetting that I was trying to eat, and going back to the table. I had read another whole chapter of finance before I realized that I was still hungry.
Yeah. It's that crucial.
I both love and hate finals week. I love finals week because it signals the end of the semester and the start of some kind of break. I hate finals week because, well, finals. Tests make me nervous, and goodness will I be glad when this week is over. My last exam is on Thursday, and Friday after my interview I'm going home, and my friend Widge is coming over so we can celebrate the end of the semester by watching Disney movies and pretending we're not 23. It's going to be awesome.
So good luck to all of you who have exams in the immediate/near future! I'm sure you'll do fine. To all my friends who are graduating, congratulations! And to all of my friends who are graduating and have jobs waiting for them.... Congratulations. I hate you.
I'm kidding, of course.
Only I'm not.
Anyway, it's finals week and that means I look properly a mess.
This has pretty much been all I did today: woke up, got dressed, came downstairs, read my finance book, took notes. By "got dressed" I mean put on a pair of leggings and a t-shirt. I haven't taken my hair down. I'm not going to take my hair down. I should probably pick out some clothes for tomorrow at some point (it's finals, but dress code still applies) but eh. I'll probably just end up doing that in the morning. I should also do some form of self maintenance this week, but that's probably not going to happen at all.
At one point today, I tried to feed myself and only ended up taking food out of the refrigerator, forgetting that I was trying to eat, and going back to the table. I had read another whole chapter of finance before I realized that I was still hungry.
Yeah. It's that crucial.
I both love and hate finals week. I love finals week because it signals the end of the semester and the start of some kind of break. I hate finals week because, well, finals. Tests make me nervous, and goodness will I be glad when this week is over. My last exam is on Thursday, and Friday after my interview I'm going home, and my friend Widge is coming over so we can celebrate the end of the semester by watching Disney movies and pretending we're not 23. It's going to be awesome.
So good luck to all of you who have exams in the immediate/near future! I'm sure you'll do fine. To all my friends who are graduating, congratulations! And to all of my friends who are graduating and have jobs waiting for them.... Congratulations. I hate you.
I'm kidding, of course.
Only I'm not.
Wednesday, April 17, 2013
I'm slack. I know. I'm sorry.
Long time no see, huh? I know, I know. I'm slack. I haven't written here since... February? And here we are in April. I know, I know. I'm sorry. I'll do better.
Truth is, not much has happened with me since the last time I wrote in. I found out that I'm mildly allergic to seafood but I haven't stopped eating it (I made shrimp Sunday and it was DELICIOUS I have no regrets). I had to drop a class for the first time ever in my entire college career, which was really unfortunate. I lost my voice for 3 days thanks to pollen; nothing new there. I got my friend a birthday card and still haven't sent it. I bought a really cool pair of shoes. I started learning Mandarin Chinese. Life is good.
But now, it's the end of the semester and my professors have gone crazy. I have 2 case studies and a website due. Two of those things have to be done in groups. One of them is due tomorrow. All of this on top of my regular workload leaves me -324235 minutes in my day to sleep, eat, shower, and do other things that humans generally do. I'm tired, y'all.
And on top of that, exams are in 2 weeks. That's right. Two weeks from Thursday, my first year as a graduate student will be over. Expect a long-ish, introspective post on how it hasn't been as bad as I thought it would be. Except for finding internships. Now that is difficult. I'm actually still working on it. If anybody knows somebody that knows somebody that knows somebody who needs an intern, get at me.
Between case studies and internship hunting, I'm trying to get myself a life. Apparently my mom and her bro-friend find it hilarious that I spend pretty much all of the time outside of class in my house, and I am not secure enough in my youth and sociability to have two 50+ year olds mocking me so I've made a conscious decision to do better. Thus far, I've seen my LS and my neo two weeks in a row which is a record because that hasn't happened since undergrad, and I'm going down to Clemson on Saturday for the Eta Nu neophyte presentation. It's exciting because I get to dress up, wear my Africa teekee, and stroll in tall shoes. I couldn't do that (stroll) last week when we went to Upstate because an unfortunate accident left me with a limp, a very sore ankle, and unable to wear tall shoes. I'm not going to tell y'all what happened.
Andrea, if you're reading this you better not be laughing.
I just looked out of the window and it's going to storm. So much for me walking today! That's something else I've started doing since I don't like actual exercise routines. Gross.
Greenville friends, stay dry. And next time you hear from me, I'll have a something a little more substantial to say.
Truth is, not much has happened with me since the last time I wrote in. I found out that I'm mildly allergic to seafood but I haven't stopped eating it (I made shrimp Sunday and it was DELICIOUS I have no regrets). I had to drop a class for the first time ever in my entire college career, which was really unfortunate. I lost my voice for 3 days thanks to pollen; nothing new there. I got my friend a birthday card and still haven't sent it. I bought a really cool pair of shoes. I started learning Mandarin Chinese. Life is good.
But now, it's the end of the semester and my professors have gone crazy. I have 2 case studies and a website due. Two of those things have to be done in groups. One of them is due tomorrow. All of this on top of my regular workload leaves me -324235 minutes in my day to sleep, eat, shower, and do other things that humans generally do. I'm tired, y'all.
And on top of that, exams are in 2 weeks. That's right. Two weeks from Thursday, my first year as a graduate student will be over. Expect a long-ish, introspective post on how it hasn't been as bad as I thought it would be. Except for finding internships. Now that is difficult. I'm actually still working on it. If anybody knows somebody that knows somebody that knows somebody who needs an intern, get at me.
Between case studies and internship hunting, I'm trying to get myself a life. Apparently my mom and her bro-friend find it hilarious that I spend pretty much all of the time outside of class in my house, and I am not secure enough in my youth and sociability to have two 50+ year olds mocking me so I've made a conscious decision to do better. Thus far, I've seen my LS and my neo two weeks in a row which is a record because that hasn't happened since undergrad, and I'm going down to Clemson on Saturday for the Eta Nu neophyte presentation. It's exciting because I get to dress up, wear my Africa teekee, and stroll in tall shoes. I couldn't do that (stroll) last week when we went to Upstate because an unfortunate accident left me with a limp, a very sore ankle, and unable to wear tall shoes. I'm not going to tell y'all what happened.
Andrea, if you're reading this you better not be laughing.
I just looked out of the window and it's going to storm. So much for me walking today! That's something else I've started doing since I don't like actual exercise routines. Gross.
Greenville friends, stay dry. And next time you hear from me, I'll have a something a little more substantial to say.
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
Serious Business
Alright, boys and girls, here's an important departure from the usual. Y'all know I'm not the most serious person in the world, but I just had a chat with my law professor and I think this is worth sharing.
Most of you guys know I had a hard time during undergrad. Let me rephrase that: most of y'all know I had multiple hard times in undergrad. It was one thing after another, every semester, every day, every hour. I can only really recall one or two periods of college when I wasn't miserable 75% of the time because of an unexpected death, problems with my advisers, my family going batcrap crazy, my roommate trying to kill me with her pet hair, mold in my apartment; you name it, I dealt with it. But there is one thing--one incident in particular that, so many years later, still really sets me off.
Have you ever been harassed?
I'm not talking, "Johnny asked me out yesterday; as if I'd ever go out with him ew." That isn't harassment. That's slightly annoying, a little bit funny, and really unfortunate if you're Johnny, but it's not harassment. I'm talking "to trouble, torment, or confuse by continual, persistent attacks, questions, etc." Because for a period of time, I was.
I won't go into details. Most of y'all probably already know them. If you don't, shoot me a message and we'll talk. The point is, I filed a complaint and got told, "He's just being immature." I insisted that some higher ups be spoken to, was promised something would happen, and then I never ever heard anything about it again.
And the next year when I returned to campus, one of the first things I saw was that absolutely nothing had been done.
And according to my law professor, whom I spoke with today about the situation and what maybe could have been done since we were discussing anti-harassment laws in class, if something had happened to me I could have sued the university for gross negligence and a boatload of other fancy law terms that I won't bother naming.
I will definitely be mentioning this in the letter I'm writing to President Barker explaining to him why I will never ever ever donate one red cent to Clemson University. EVER. And he'll be damn lucky if in the future I even admit that's where I went to college.
I guess my point is if someone is bothering you, or hurting you, or generally making you uncomfortable, find a way to document it.
And if it doesn't stop, you go get yourself a lawyer.
Most of you guys know I had a hard time during undergrad. Let me rephrase that: most of y'all know I had multiple hard times in undergrad. It was one thing after another, every semester, every day, every hour. I can only really recall one or two periods of college when I wasn't miserable 75% of the time because of an unexpected death, problems with my advisers, my family going batcrap crazy, my roommate trying to kill me with her pet hair, mold in my apartment; you name it, I dealt with it. But there is one thing--one incident in particular that, so many years later, still really sets me off.
Have you ever been harassed?
I'm not talking, "Johnny asked me out yesterday; as if I'd ever go out with him ew." That isn't harassment. That's slightly annoying, a little bit funny, and really unfortunate if you're Johnny, but it's not harassment. I'm talking "to trouble, torment, or confuse by continual, persistent attacks, questions, etc." Because for a period of time, I was.
I won't go into details. Most of y'all probably already know them. If you don't, shoot me a message and we'll talk. The point is, I filed a complaint and got told, "He's just being immature." I insisted that some higher ups be spoken to, was promised something would happen, and then I never ever heard anything about it again.
And the next year when I returned to campus, one of the first things I saw was that absolutely nothing had been done.
And according to my law professor, whom I spoke with today about the situation and what maybe could have been done since we were discussing anti-harassment laws in class, if something had happened to me I could have sued the university for gross negligence and a boatload of other fancy law terms that I won't bother naming.
I will definitely be mentioning this in the letter I'm writing to President Barker explaining to him why I will never ever ever donate one red cent to Clemson University. EVER. And he'll be damn lucky if in the future I even admit that's where I went to college.
I guess my point is if someone is bothering you, or hurting you, or generally making you uncomfortable, find a way to document it.
And if it doesn't stop, you go get yourself a lawyer.
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
Interview Worries
It's that time of the semester again when I'm running around to every single career fair I can. I know I mentioned the career fair last semester, but this is a different one. I skipped the career fair at Littlejohn this semester because let's face it: they don't really do much good. This is typically what happens (to me) :
"Hi, my name is Alyssa Sullivan. -blah blah blah talk about me blah- I'm looking for positions in -name appropriate metiers for a college educated young woman here-"
"Oh... well, we're really just looking for someone to run our production floor."
I seriously can't tell you the number of times that happened. I've worked in a factory before. It wasn't fun. I have no desire to return, not even if I'd have an air conditioned office this time instead of being on the production floor that's 100+° by 9 AM. No thank you.
And there was that one time when I introduced myself to the guy and he immediately told me to come back when I'd taken an interviewing class. I guess the way I say, "Hello, my name is Alyssa Sullivan," isn't right. Shaking my head. Moving along.
But this isn't the Littlejohn Career Fair. It's the MBA Networking Forum that I would have missed out on if I hadn't gone to see my adviser. I thought it was going to be in the evening so I decided to sit out (doing things in the evening is tricky for me), but when I said that she kind of stared at me and went, "No no no; it's at like 9 in the morning!" She then set diligently about the task of penciling me in wherever she could; wonderful, useful Clemson administrator that she is. Trust me. Those are very hard to come by.
The MBA Networking Forum works like this: you sign up for whichever companies you want to potentially work for, and over the course of the morning you have 10 minute one-on-one interviews with them. Jamie, my adviser, describes it as "speed dating for jobs." And it's on Valentine's Day! How appropriate!
So today I will be running around Greenville looking for interview clothes because I have is really seasonally inappropriate, and when I get home I'll be researching companies, running through sample questions, printing off ten thousand copies of my resume, and making myself look presentable.
Y'all root for me. Throw up a Hail Mary. Cross your fingers. Sacrifice a possum. I have to have an internship in order to graduate (again), and if I could land an actual paying job sometime here soon that would be great too. Student loans don't pay themselves back, and baby needs to buy her textbooks.
"Hi, my name is Alyssa Sullivan. -blah blah blah talk about me blah- I'm looking for positions in -name appropriate metiers for a college educated young woman here-"
"Oh... well, we're really just looking for someone to run our production floor."
I seriously can't tell you the number of times that happened. I've worked in a factory before. It wasn't fun. I have no desire to return, not even if I'd have an air conditioned office this time instead of being on the production floor that's 100+° by 9 AM. No thank you.
And there was that one time when I introduced myself to the guy and he immediately told me to come back when I'd taken an interviewing class. I guess the way I say, "Hello, my name is Alyssa Sullivan," isn't right. Shaking my head. Moving along.
But this isn't the Littlejohn Career Fair. It's the MBA Networking Forum that I would have missed out on if I hadn't gone to see my adviser. I thought it was going to be in the evening so I decided to sit out (doing things in the evening is tricky for me), but when I said that she kind of stared at me and went, "No no no; it's at like 9 in the morning!" She then set diligently about the task of penciling me in wherever she could; wonderful, useful Clemson administrator that she is. Trust me. Those are very hard to come by.
The MBA Networking Forum works like this: you sign up for whichever companies you want to potentially work for, and over the course of the morning you have 10 minute one-on-one interviews with them. Jamie, my adviser, describes it as "speed dating for jobs." And it's on Valentine's Day! How appropriate!
So today I will be running around Greenville looking for interview clothes because I have is really seasonally inappropriate, and when I get home I'll be researching companies, running through sample questions, printing off ten thousand copies of my resume, and making myself look presentable.
Y'all root for me. Throw up a Hail Mary. Cross your fingers. Sacrifice a possum. I have to have an internship in order to graduate (again), and if I could land an actual paying job sometime here soon that would be great too. Student loans don't pay themselves back, and baby needs to buy her textbooks.
Monday, February 4, 2013
Happy Black History Month, y'all!
I love Black History Month. I really do. I love it love it love it. I also love Black folks that say they don't see a reason for Black History Month. While I'm at it, I especially love white people that say things like, "But why isn't there a white history month?!" You wanna know why there's no white history month? Holla at me. Let me educate you.
...that was a little scary, wasn't it? Yikes. Let's lighten things up! Here's a list of my favorite Black historical and contemporary figures: one for every day of the month! If you see some names you don't know, look them up! You might learn something!
1. Josephine Baker
2. Thomas-Alexandre Dumas
3. Alexandre Dumas, père
4. The Statue of Liberty
5. Richard Allen
6. Mansa Musa
7. Zora Neale Hurston
8. Emperor Haile Selassie I
9. The Queen of Sheba
10. Saint Benedict the Moor
11. Madam CJ Walker
12. François-Dominique Touissant L'Ouverture
13. Alvin Ailey
14. Stagecoach Mary Fields
15. Nina Mae McKinney
16. King Peggy
17. Queen Nzinga of Ndango and Matamba
18. Lady Sarah Forbes Bonetta Davies
19. Mary Edmonia Lewis
20. Abram Petrovich Gannibal
21. Alexander Pushkin
22. Eartha Kitt
23. Malcolm X
24. MLK jr.
25. Angela Davis
26. Grace Bumbry
27. Jackie Ormes
28. Stokely Carmichael (Kwame Touré)
They're all fascinating folks, really; or objects (Statue of Liberty). Seriously; do y'all think I'd bother making a list of boring people? Go Google them!
...that was a little scary, wasn't it? Yikes. Let's lighten things up! Here's a list of my favorite Black historical and contemporary figures: one for every day of the month! If you see some names you don't know, look them up! You might learn something!
1. Josephine Baker
2. Thomas-Alexandre Dumas
3. Alexandre Dumas, père
4. The Statue of Liberty
5. Richard Allen
6. Mansa Musa
7. Zora Neale Hurston
8. Emperor Haile Selassie I
9. The Queen of Sheba
10. Saint Benedict the Moor
11. Madam CJ Walker
12. François-Dominique Touissant L'Ouverture
13. Alvin Ailey
14. Stagecoach Mary Fields
15. Nina Mae McKinney
16. King Peggy
17. Queen Nzinga of Ndango and Matamba
18. Lady Sarah Forbes Bonetta Davies
19. Mary Edmonia Lewis
20. Abram Petrovich Gannibal
21. Alexander Pushkin
22. Eartha Kitt
23. Malcolm X
24. MLK jr.
25. Angela Davis
26. Grace Bumbry
27. Jackie Ormes
28. Stokely Carmichael (Kwame Touré)
They're all fascinating folks, really; or objects (Statue of Liberty). Seriously; do y'all think I'd bother making a list of boring people? Go Google them!
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