Have subconsciously taken to "sports-casting" my own solitaire games--and in a British accent no less. "And there goes the four on the five, the three on the four, what a silly move as there was already a three on another pile--oh wait! Our champion has employed the ever-useful Undo button and is presently rectifying the mistake. Good catch! She proceeds with unearthing an Ace! Fantastic, she unloads all the superfluous clubs that were clogging up good red cards and now runs through the deck placing the spades on the now free cards. Oh dear, she seems to be stuck, nothing in the deck is helping, could this be the end of our champion's run? Oh! Classic! She's spotted the seven hiding way in the back. And she's done it! She continues the streak!"

I am mad in the head. I didn't even realize I was doing it until I started talking out loud. Luckily it was very quiet so no one heard me. But still...

In other news, President Bush's language got a little fresh at the G8 summit in a microphone gaffe. A side conversation he and Prime Minister Blair were engaged in was, unbeknownst to them, picked up by the mics that were still on. Debating what to do about the erupting situation with Hezbollah and Israel, Bush said: Bush replied: "See, the irony is what they need to do is get Syria to get Hizbollah to stop doing this shit and it's over." Aside from the fact that it's improper use of the word irony, he's completely right. Whoa, was that the world tilting on it's axis? Hmm, perhaps it was pigs soaring into flight. Nevertheless, the key to this situation is clearly to get those stupid terrorists to sit down and shut up. Now, Mr. President. Any ideas?

So I agreed to participate in a study being done by a friend of a friend at Northwestern about Jewish college students and their religious identity (or something like that, it's been a while since I actually read the explanation). I'm starting to get a little nervous that I won't have much to say or that I'll be terribly incoherent (which anyone who's heard me tell a story can attest, is not exactly outside the realm of possibilites). I think perhaps I may be filmed, for some reason "documentary" is associated with the project in my head, so I'm thinking I read in the explanation that she's putting together a film on Jewish identity. Hmm, I better double-check that so I can dress accordingly. There's nothing worse than being the visual proof that Brandeis is where the ugly Jews go. (horrible, despicable, simply awful to say, I know, but so so true for the most-part--hmm, hopefully I'll have the diplomacy NOT to mention that in the interview...)

Have been trying desperately to get myself to work on my senior thesis. I think it could be a really great and interesting thing to research, and right now all I need to do is write a 2-page proposal. Not terribly hard, right? Heh heh, not if you're me! I'm really and truly impossible. And, to make it even worse, I know that this thesis, if done well, would absolutely be a leg up in helping me land a job in an area I'm interested in. I'm thinking that a good topic would be: How did the moral stigmatization attached to HIV/AIDS stymie the American government's (particularly President Reagan's administration's) response to the disease. What effect did this have on the proliferation of the pandemic? How is this stigmatization still manifesting itself? How does it compare to the moral-branding of past epidemics? What can we learn from the initial response to AIDS when trying to combat this and future pandemics?

Clearly it needs work, and the answers to many of the questions are painfully obvious, so I'll have to dig deeper for something more compelling underneath. But maybe it's a good place to start? The point is, I need to get that into a proposal form, with a plan for research and such, and then meet with a professor, get him to sign on, and then help me find the meat of the issue. Grrr, I'm definitely one of those students that needs handholding when it comes to the conception stage of a massive project. I hate that about myself, but I realize that I am seldom the "big idea" person and more often the "here's how to execute that best" person.

Big Question: What to eat for dinner?