Imagine

Today has been one of the most frustrating days I've had in a long time. Granted, this entire month has more or less sucked. 2008 looked so bright from 2007...but I imagine that from now until January 2009, when Barack Obama takes his oath, things will continue to go downhill.

Personally, my life has been...a roller coaster of crap lately. I finally found out that I've been granted admission to University of California, Riverside only now to have it taken away from me because I can't pass my math class. I've always been really, really, really bad at math but it never bothered me much before, since I was really, ridiculously good at history and English.  Now, the only class I have left to pass with a C or better in order to transfer is this one College Algebra class, and I don't think I can do. I've made myself an appointment with Disabled Student Services to investigate the possibility of a learning disability like Dyscalculia but even a diagnosis with such a disease won't save my grades this semester. Bottom line: for the second time in the past two years, I've been admitted to the college of my choice, but probably won't be able to go.

Aside from my inability to comprehend numbers, there is my upcoming trip to Europe with my mother. Something that was supposed to be incredibly fabulous and awesome with a side of pure, unadulterated fun has turned into this giant monkey on my back. Airline prices are rising, and fast. "Oh, that's okay though, because we already have our tickets." Wrong! Airlines are now saying that hundreds of summer flights will most likely be canceled and travelers put on stand-by in order to maximize flight occupancy and minimize fuel costs. This, in conjunction with the constant reminder from my Grandma that the U.K. is full of terrorists (What about the terrorists in the U.S.? Chop liver?) and that they are on the happy end of our incredibly weak U.S. Dollar to British Pounds ratio, has turned me into this incredibly stressed, traveling MANIAC.

Speaking of fuel prices, what the hell? $3.79? Really? When I first got my Chevy Cobalt, back in April of 2006, it cost me about $26 bucks to fill up. Yesterday, it cost me $45. I can't afford that. I'm a full-time college student who works at Starbucks (don't even get me started on them)! Starbucks doesn't pay jack! And all of my family and friends, including my dentist and doctor, live 100+ miles away! Hope nothing happens to my health, or my teeth...cause I'd be stranded here.

And then there is the War on Terrorism. For that last time Bushy Jr., you CAN NOT declare war on an IDEA! That's like declaring war on Pow! Or Zap! Onomatopoeias can't be fought! I know that you probably didn't have a lot of time to study, when you were hiding from the draft in the National Guard, but even my 8-year-old brother who wants nothing more than to be a GI-Joe (which would result in some MORON like you sending him into some stupid campaign that had NOTHING TO DO WITH US in the first place), knows that certain goals cannot be achieved with violence or through force. In his case, it's getting a fourth Oreo or staying up past ten. In your case, it's the conflict in the Middle-East. I certainly don't know what the solution is, or even if there is one, but neither do you! And I think everyone would appreciate it if you would stop pretending like you do. GOD! What the HELL!? It really, really, really CAN NOT be that hard to be President. Especially not with your approach, you know, the one where you don't do anything and let your cabinet write your speeches, your generals plan your battles, and the American people fight your wars. I'm tempted to start in on the whole "stop-loss" issue, but I have hair dye in and I'd rather it didn't burn through my scalp. So skipping over that, I'd like to comment on the corn and rice shortage. I'm going to let someone else fight this one for me. Thank you Australia.

I'm going to go rinse out my hair. It should be red by now. I've dyed it red because I am upset. Upset at where the world is headed. The sooner people realize that we are all stuck on the same planet, together, the sooner we can start to make some actual, global, ecological, economical progress. But I don't see that happening anytime soon. And that really disturbs me. What would John Lennon say? Or Gandhi? Or Abraham Lincoln? Red is the color of 'mad'. And I am mad.