Sorry, All My Non-Militant Shirts Were Dirty

Living in a relatively small town, going to an ultra conservative private university, and it being the rural western United States, it is difficult not to stick out a little bit being one of the very few anti-establishment people around. Very quickly I realized how unshared my particular views were in the area. First came the scowls and death stares directed my way whenever I drove by blasting Rage Against the Machine at an appropriatly civil disobedient level. Then came the disapproving and disparaging remarks when all my class projects centered around important issues and events commonly ignored in the news and by most Americans. The final straw, perhaps, was the outcry against me for quoting the beloved author George Orwell, or maybe it was just the kid that ate my last strawberry yogurt. They are on the bottom shelf for a reason!

Needless to say I realized also a long time ago, that within this atmosphere I currently reside, I have in essence a target painted upon my back. For if there ever arises any anarchist styled graffiti, or arson engulfed police cruisers, or windowless store windows, the list of suspects in this small town is likely small, not to mention easily pinned on the only anti-authoritarian kid in town. So tomorrow I am packing up my wardrobe and from now on only wearing Care Bear or I (heart) NY shirts.

The lights are out on Division St.
and all the hate that rises through the cracks in the pavement
as the temperature falls,
This is where it hits the ground.

Saving Daylight Savings, for a Rainy Day

I have never been a huge fan of daylight savings, or of remembering things that occur only once or twice a year. Which would explain my dislike of award shows and presidential holidays. It seems clear to me that instead of changing the clocks by an hour once in a while during the year, a better proposal would be to eliminate certain hours of the day entirely. I'm only talking about a few hours of the day, but out of every day, not just for a few months at a time. The hours I would most like to see done away with would be from 6-9 a.m. It is during this early portion of the day when human beings are by far the most miserable. Wise men have often compared them to the feelings envoked when describing a bad divorce or the passing of a kidney stone. Why then do we every day subject ourselves to the pain and torment of getting up before we are ready, then slowly recovering from a zombie-like state the remainder of the morning. It is disfunctional that our institutions of learning and employment desire to torture us so by insisting that we are properly attired and available at such early hours. No one that has just awoken from an intense technicolor dream rivaling a civil war reenactment is ready to man a battle post in the army of insurance sales, or payless shoes, or biology department. The lesson in all of this is simple. Simply, don't register for classes at 7 a.m. and expect yourself to go to those classes multiple days a week when you hate getting up beofre 10. Also don't be surprised when after missing several sessions of such a class, and upon explaining to your teacher that you will be missing another session later in the week due to the fact that you would rather attend a punk rock show than his class, that you will be lectured on the importance of responsibility and attendance, and mandatory, and culpable, and other words of this nature in some sort of decipherable order. Case closed. Sleeping in is worth fighting for.