The Weekend of Ass Power

Cabin Trip Part I: Indoor Fun (click to enlarge)

There are so many things to say about this weekend that I'm overwhelmed with ideas. It will suffice to say that asses were the theme of the weekend, and keeping one's ass covered lessens the chance of broken windows. Enough said.

More Ass Power

Cabin Trip Part II: Outdoor Fun (click to enlarge)

Well, here we are, with less alcohol in our hands. Oh wait, Buttweed's got a beer. Oh well, what can I say...drinking happens. The sunset on Saturday night was beautiful, and Patrick is totally ready for spinning fire without help. Look at him go!

Cornwallis Aging Celebration

Happy Birthday Ajai (click to enlarge)

On the who, what, when, etc. part of Ajai's birthday party invitation, the 'why' portion read: Because I'm not dead. Thanks for not being dead, Ajai! Love you, old man.

Finally!

Amy's Wedding Shower (click to enlarge)

Amy and Alex are FINALLY getting married. This is from the wedding shower last weekend. It's like an ocean of pastels. I promise we're not in a sorority, either.

Open Letter to Patrick, Author of "Ethical Defense of Gay Marriage in the United States"

The philosophy of Patrick gives people another lens for thinking about gay marriage.



Dear Patrick,
I want to let you know that I did, finally, read your philosophy paper from last term. You did an amazing job counteracting arguments against gay marriage, and gave me new fuel for my fire, so to speak.

These are your points that I had never really considered (or at least, that I had never noticed as a logical argument against bigots) -

Gay people are raised with the same cultural values regarding marriage, so to claim that they would take it lightly is erroneous. This is such an important statement. We take our values from the environment in which we are raised, so to argue that a gay person is treating marriage disrespectfully is flawed.

The value of marriage is relative to how we treat it: It is a culturally valuable institution only because we have decided it is so. This reminds me of money, and how money has no real value, only the value we, as a culture place upon it. So who is to say that we can't transform the perspective of marriage to include people that are homosexual?

The issue of gay marriage can be aligned with the evolution of the acceptability of interracial marriage. Isn't it amazing to look back on history, and see these parallels? I was moved to tears recently at a children's music program when a child spoke, in hind-sight, about the ridiculousness of slavery. I wondered if, in one hundred years, a child will make the same statements about gay marriage and our marginalization of people based on sexual preference. I believe that this will happen, and I can only hope it happens in our lifetimes.

"The establishment of equal rights is the first step towards equality, but is only one in perhaps a never-ending cycle." As a student of teacher education in our time of diversity conflict at the UO, I see this as crucial. We, as a culture, need to focus our efforts not on political correctness, but on becoming critical thinkers that can see the sometimes invisible experiences of people from different backgrounds. Only then can we develop a framework for treating people equitably.

"My preliminary conclusion is therefore that the opponents to gay marriage may indeed have studies to prove their point, but they are not as comprehensive and certainly not easily accessed." To simply say that studies are valid and reliable, as the person you spoke with indicated, is inappropriate, even at face value. Studies are only valid relative to the large body of results that they produce which indicate the same trends. If these institutions have conducted even twenty studies, who is to say that this is a large enough body of research? If the opposing institutes cannot give us information about their studies in full disclosure, we have no basis on which to see them as valid or invalid. We cannot look at the number of participants in their studies and decide if it was representative of our culture, if it was large enough sample. We can't tell if they used measures that have limitations, like self-reported surveys. We can't tell if the items in the measure were biased toward the institution's paradigm. No social scientist would ever accept results of a "secret" study as conclusive, and to not reveal research methods raises the question, "What are you leaving out?"

Thanks for letting me read your paper, Patrick. I wish I could comment more, but I'm out of time and taking up too much blog space. Love you much. Viva la revolucion!

Love Sara & the "We Love Patrick" Fan Club

I got a fever...

...and the only prescription is MORE COWBELL! (click to enlarge)

The send-off of uvo was quite the program. As scientific partiers, we experimented with a number of social phenomenon. Our study of human behavior yields the following peer-reviewed results:

1. "Do you want to make out?" is a highly successful pick-up line with a 95% return rate.

2. In this subculture, it was found that shagging babies is viewed as inappropriate, if not completely taboo. However, subjects were fascinated with cowbells. We therefore deduce that the cowbell is a highly regarded cultural icon.

3. As the length of a conversation increases, the likelihood of someone mentioning elephant cock gets closer to one. Therefore, long conversations are positively correlated with elephant cock.

4. Giggling is contagious and should be practiced with caution(a result of multiple studies throughout the night, thereby increasing stability validity of our study). However, in a controlled environment, consisting of at least one bottle of ouzo, the practice has yielded positive results.

5. Elephant cock is synonymous with "The Big EC" and "E.C. Cares." Ethnographic analysis of this group's regional dialect revealed that the terms are used interchangeably.

6. Given a party containing participants of both genders, the likelihood of making out in the middle of the floor is 4 to 30, a ratio that increases relative to the number of dark, carpet-covered spaces that are available. The spaces need not be divided by walls, nor do the subjects require privacy.

7. The introduction of a pinata into a crowd of people that have consumed four or more drinks is negatively correlated with guests' degree of politeness.

8. 20% of party attendees obtained a Butterfinger from said pinata.

9. One out of two brothers usually makes out at a party.

10. Given a choice of front or rear orifices, 99% of people would prefer to store hash in the frontal compartment. Caveat: Only if the frontal compartment is not in use. This finding cannot be generalized to the larger culture, half of which do not own vaginas and would not be considered experts in this area.

11. Bed stealing is an appropriate custom in this culture.

Things That Make My Day: 3

Installment 3 (click to enlarge)

Holy crap, what's funnier than a market that sells dongs?

Get on the Bus to Thirty

Making thirty a little more dirty (click to enlarge)

Our friend Mattweed just turned 30 and celebrated in style, tour bus included. He sent me these pictures and they're pretty fun, although they don't show Matt in his green leisure suit and Elton-John style glasses. The outfit was pretty awesome. This was one of two nights of excessive drinking this weekend...Saturday night pictures are coming soon.

I Love Ebay

Auction to Save a Kitty: Highest bidder gets to name him!

Don't judge me, I love kitties and they love me.