It's Just Micheal

In the most populous state in America there is a proposition to reverse the Supreme Courts decision that a ban against same-sex marriage is unconstitutional and discriminatory. Proposition 8 is titled “Eliminates Right of Same-Sex Couples to Marry.” If you are unfamiliar with the courts ruling, refer to this here. I could rant for a long time on why it’s wrong to allow people to vote on allowing gay marriage or denying gay marriage to citizens of the United States, but I’ll focus on the positives. Today, Apple released this statement:

“Apple is publicly opposing Proposition 8 and making a donation of $100,000 to the No on 8 campaign. Apple was among the first California companies to offer equal rights and benefits to our employees’ same-sex partners, and we strongly believe that a person’s fundamental rights — including the right to marry — should not be affected by their sexual orientation. Apple views this as a civil rights issue, rather than just a political issue, and is therefore speaking out publicly against Proposition 8.”

I can’t express enough how extremely happy I am with Apple, AT&T, Comcast, Time Warner Cable and many other companies that have donated money to help the fight against proposition 8. This is the most costly ballot measure campaign in the country this year with $60 million raised total, for and against the measure. Between 2004 and 2006, 22 states had similar measures that all together totaled $34.1 million, so you can see how much attention this has received in CA. This is HUGE! Not only have companies donated money, but several individuals have as well. Brad Pitt, Steven Spielberg, T.R. Knight, Dana Delaney, Eric McCormack, Pete Wentz, David Geffen, America Ferrara, Tony Plana and Ana Oritz have all either donated money or have helped defeat proposition 8. It’s extraordinary how much support has come from companies and individuals.

I encourage everyone that lives in California to go vote NO! on Proposition 8 and be sure to take 5 other people with you. If you don’t live in California, then talk to those that you know that live in California to go vote no and encourage them to talk to their friends about the proposition. This is not only a big initiative for California, but will make a huge impact for all of America.

So Justin is amazing at photography. It’s purely a gift. He can see almost anything and photograph it in a way that no one else can see. Tonight we drove around trying to find some homes that we could easily photograph showing people living their lives, but we didn’t have much luck. Once we got back to his apartment, we started taking pictures of me and playing around. The first was to take a picture of me like he did of himself. Then we started to use the light box for portraits. This box has lights in a circle so that there are no shadows and it does an amazing job. Of course we had to photoshop a few blemishes off, but I love the way that it came out.

As I was watching the video on Justin‘s site, I thought of something that I haven’t thought before. In the debate of same sex marriage, the simple argument should be happiness. When someone is denied marriage to the person that they love, they are not being allowed to be completely happy. For everything that America stands for, everything comes down to allowing people to live their life to the fullest, and that includes happiness.

I want to be happy.

I can’t believe it’s been almost a month since my last post. It feels like it was a week ago that I was camping, but it’s been three times as long. A six day vacation isn’t long enough, but a five day work week is too long. It’s funny how time is different when you’re enjoying life.

Work is stressful. It’s stressful because I always seem to be short on money when the bills are due. The bills are due when I have no money. Every day I go to work telling myself, “Today is the day!” hoping that it will be the day that I have the magical sale that will make all things better. But that day never comes. Instead I realize that I’m wasting my time staying in Columbia. I need to face reality. I won’t finish school at Mizzou, I won’t be happy in Columbia, and I can’t stay for the few friends that I have left here. The first step to getting out of here is Kansas City. It’s not my dream, but it’s a start. I will be able to go home, save money and pay off debts while I live with family for a few months. Maybe even my car, less than $3,000 remaining in payments! I may stay in Kansas City for a while, although not ideal, it makes the most since. I need to let my career take me around the world, not take my career around the world.

I applied for a position at an upcoming store in Overland Park, KS. I took half a day off work to interview for the position, and I felt that the interview went well. The manager and assistant manager showed that they were very happy with my responses and sales role play. They had very encouraging comments, I felt sure during my drive to Columbia. I felt that everything was working out and I started to get excited about moving to KC. Today I spoke with Danny, the manager, and he felt that I needed more experience with the company and lacked excitement during my interview. He stated that I did very well during my interview, that I nailed all the questions, but felt that I needed to practice interviewing with my manager. He decided to go with other applicants, but encouraged me to not give up. This, of course, was a huge blow. I didn’t want to work the rest of the day, just wanted to stay home. That wasn’t an option, so back to work I went. I decided to see if there were any new job postings, and there were. A few in STL, one at another Circuit City, a few management positions, a few customer service positions, and one sales representative position in KC. The State Line Rd store at Ward Parkway. I applied for it and emailed the recruiting HR manager in Kansas City and asked who would be interviewing for the position. After she replied, I emailed the manager right away to get my name out there. I wanted to show her that I was excited about moving back to KC and wanted to work at her store. I’m not going to get shot down twice. I’m waiting to hear back from her to schedule my interview with her.

As much as I don’t want to leave the people that I have come to love here in Columbia, I need to get out of here. It’s time for me to leave.

So I moved into my new apartment a month ago. I was waiting to get my furniture and take pictures to write my post about it, but it may take longer than I thought, LOL. I love my new apt, it’s a one bedroom. So it’s just me and Peanut Butter. There’s only been a few times that I wished there was someone there with me. I’m enjoying living alone. Everything’a how I want it. Today my mom and grandparents came down to see it and to take me out for my birthday. And now I’m at the pool. It finally got hot enough to swim in a cold pool. I love having the wordpress app on my phone.

9 days from today is my 23 birthday. I will be celebrating it with Jenny, Jenny’s parents, and Mark. We will be camping at Pontiac State Campground park. I’m extremely excited. A nice break from work, which is very needed right now. I might do a small celebration with my friends when I get back from camping. Maybe I’ll get a couch as a birthday present?? Haha, I might be asking for too much.

So I have made another journey to St Louis, only a week after my last trip. This time the main reason is to work at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater for the John Mayer concert. I’m not sure what “work” will be involved, but I’ve been told that I don’t have to work during the concert and will rather get to enjoy the concert, for free of course! And I worked it out so that Jenny gets to go with me, for free of course! We will be leaving her apartment in 30 minutes to head up to the concert since I have to work there. The greatest thing is that I’m getting paid to drive up here, work the concert, and drive back to Columbia.

I drove into STL last night once I got off work and met Jenny at the movie theater to see Hancock. The theater was extremely nice and large, except that when Ali sat down in the seat, her ass was immediately wet. We’re going with the idea that it was soda spilled on the seat, nothing other than that. The movie was pretty good, not great, but good. It was a lot of fun with the group, minus the high school girl that was behind us, obviously high. She was laughing at everything on the screen, inclusing the word “Presentation.” Jenny took care of her with a snap of her fingers! After that, I noticed the girl has fallen asleep. It was great.

Tonight will be the concert, and then game night! I’m super excited about that because all of Jenny’s friends are a blast. They are from North Dakota so they have a fun accent. Tomorrow is the 4th of July, so there will of course be idiots all over this damned state. We will be sure to not be one of those idiots. I will of course update with whatever happens tonight and tomorrow. Until then, have a safe and happy 4th!!!

So I have found a place to live for this upcoming year that I will be in Columbia. It’s in a new community called the Links. I’m getting a one bedroom, so it’s going to cost me a little more than I have in the past, plus it’s extremely nice. It’s brand new, has a washer & dryer in the unit, plus a dishwasher and a big fridge. One of the things I like the most is the bathroom and bedroom. The bedroom is large and the hallway to the bathroom has 2 closests, opposite each other. One of which is a walk-in closet. I’m very excited about the apartment, and about living on my own, having the things how I want them and everything being mine. It’s going to be so nice. I move in July 26th. I’m sure I’ll have a small moving in party.

I went and saw the premier of Wall-E on Thursday night. I give it an A+, right above Finding Nemo. It was completely engaging the entire time, not once was I bored or distracted. If you haven’t seen it yet, you must. I am now a Wall-E fanatic.

And to the last of my post, I purchased the new Martha Wainwright album, “I know you’re married, but I’ve got feelings too.” I haven’t listened to it the entire way through yet, but have listened to the first half. So far there’s really only one song that I don’t care for. She has a lot of talent, but I think she does better singing with a male artist. Her voice is very unique, but really needs a male counterbalance to get a more round sound. For example; Snow Patrol and Martha Wainwright, “Set the Fire to the Third Bar.”

So it’s been 13 days since my last post, and much has happened since then. New York is no longer a go, which I think is best. Financially it’s much less stress NOT moving to one of the most expensive cities to live. I can focus on reducing my debt and increasing my savings. At first I felt extremely bad for Mark and ending his move to NYC as well, but I don’t think he’s very upset about it. His mom is more than he is I think. His parents were glad to see him set for school, and now he’s not sure what he’s going to do, but it’s really not my responsibility to make sure that he’s ok. He’s mentioned being roommates still and finding an apt in Columbia, but I really just want to have my own place. I want to have my own things and decorated how I want it to be. Having roommates is not for me any longer. Though, there are a few people that I would live with instantly, and I think you know who you are, .

Now that I’m not moving, I’ve been thinking about what I really want to do. Do I still want to move to NYC at some point? Or stay in Missouri, possibly moving to Kansas City? There is also the thought of San Francisco, where many of my friends have moved and are moving in the near future. Everything seems to be unknown at this point. I definitely do not want to be in Columbia for another four years, this place is going to make me go crazy! And I don’t want to be another person that gets stuck in this town.

Yesterday I went to Kansas City to pick up Peanut Butter from my dad’s house, he had been watching her since my trip to New York City. I had mentioned my trip to Justin the night before, and he showed interest in going, so I invited him along. It was nice to have someone along the trip, made it go by much faster. We went to my dad’s house and visited with him for a bit, then went to a Honda dealership to look around at cars. We test drove the new Honda Accord, and I fell in love with it! I feel like my time with my little Civic is about up and that it’s time to upgrade to a larger car, with four doors. I love Honda and will stay with Honda, and I love the new body style of the Accord. It’s an amazing car, I love it! we left Honda and went to dinner with my dad, step mom and step brother Dakota. It was really nice to see them, plus I’m really glad to have peanut butter back! Missy, my step mom, told me that Peanut Butter missed me a lot, and wouldn’t eat the first day that she was there! That made me feel really good.

After returning to CoMO, Justin showed me some new music that he got, and then I went home, watched some Sex & The City, and went to bed. I had set my alarm to wake up for my meeting at 8:15, but didn’t turn the alarm on, so I slept through the meeting, haha. I got up in time to clean up and get ready to have lunch with Max. We went to Okii Mama, and it was really good. I love that place, it’s the best Chinese food in Columbia, in my opinion. Now I’m at work, where I will be for another 4 hours! It’s not fun at all, very slow actually.

That should bring everyone up to date. I will be making a few more posts very soon, tonight in fact!

Today was a very busy day. We traveled to Brooklyn (from Queens), then to Wall St, to SoHo, to Central Park, to 157th St, to 196th St, and then back to Astoria (Queens.) I will try my best to update tomorrow morning, I am extremely tired right now. So check back tomorrow and you should see an update!

So this is my first post to my new blog. It is also my first post from my iPhone. Thanks to Justin, I will be able to keep everyone updated on what’s going on in my life.

As of right now, the only thing going on is NYC. I will be going up Thursday in attempt to find an apartment. We shall see what will happen. It’s becoming increasingly harder to actually leave Missouri. My entire family is here, with the exception of my brother in Iraq. Plus my friendship with Justin has become much closer in the past several months. Not to mention that I now have an amazing boyfriend. I know that what’s supposed to happen will happen, so I’m not going to force anything.

Since I am at work and not supposed to be using my phone, I’m going to conclude my first entry. Soon I will be updating more as my trip to NYC approaches.