mcollinknight

A pinch and a punch for the first of the month!
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It's World AIDS Day today - typically a very big day on mcollinknight. This year in particular is a big one - the 20th anniversary of World AIDS Day, and apparently they turned the Empire State Building red (and Starbucks and RedWire are new on the Product(red) roster) - there's a booth in the UCU, and of course I wore my pin and bracelet (and red lip gloss! I was feeling adventurous). AIDS is one of those issues I feel extremely passionate about, but one in which I find myself least-equipped to do too much about - there's little to do here at home, and in terms of global aid, unless I've got money to give away, I don't really know how best to combat it. I read lots of books about it, I loan those books to other people, I wear my pins and I buy products which help pay for AIDS medication, but for it being one of the causes closest to my heart, I'm unsure what more to do, though I know I want to do more. I guess I'll just have to keep rooting for one of my brilliant friends to invent a microbicide (I swear Chris is halfway there already).

So. AIDS. Read a book. THIS book (it's incredible; everyone I know who's read it said it "changed their life"). Join(red).

Today was a useless Politics class, which meant that Burdz and I kept cracking up over "America: The Book" and kept having to cover our heads while we laughed. Burdz read Stephen's "I hate Harding" section and nearly cracked a tooth, she was laughing so hard. The only time I paid attention was when Coyote informed us all that Hillary is Secretary of State via some text he got (oh, PIDSSA students. Only WE would be on text-alert for something like that). Bwaha, last night after we finished watching the Colbert Christmas special we googled the candidates for the Liberal Leadership race, and apparently Ruby Dhalla is running? Of course, this required some "judicious Googling," and... well. I think this picture speaks for itself (that and the fact that she is #3 on Maxim's Hottest Politician List). Dr Ruby Dhalla is actually one of my heroes, and she is SO smart, I would love for her to run for PM, but in, like, 10 years. Coyote and I decided she should totally get with Justin Trudeau. Politics Power Couple!

Song meme ganked from theangrywaffle : "Put your iTunes on shuffle and write down the first line of the first twenty songs. Post the poem that results. The first line of the twenty-first is the title."

I took the train back, back to where I came from
Somewhere beyond the sea, somewhere waiting for me
And I say sometimes I feel like I could do anything
This could be one of those days when we must go our separate ways
Somewhere far away where I roam
Shakin' like the devil when she lets me go

Dust falls on the empty halls of my old school
Miss Marry-Ann kept her man in porcupine gloves
Every night she walks right in my dreams since I met her from the start
Don't wanna be second best, don't wanna stand in line

Waiting for the sky to bring some light
Helping the kids out of their coats, but wait the babies haven't been born
He was her husband who drove his wife home drunk from the parties
Beautiful girl, lovely dress, high-school smiles, oh yes
Tell me why must a man be of service

When you when you forget your name
With a little love and some tenderness we'll walk upon the water
Love is a burning thing and it makes a fiery ring
It's the perfect time of year somewhere far away from here
Me and my guitar play my way - it makes them frown
No other love - mama I'm flyin'.

As well, I have a list of books I need to read! This is mainly for my own reference. Because I am a major geek, most of them are non-fiction. Deal with it.

1. "Dispatches from the Edge," by Anderson Cooper
2. "When You Are Engulfed in Flames," by David Sedaris
3. "A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier," by Ishmael Beah
4. "Captain Corelli's Mandolin," by Louis de Bernieres
5. "The White Man's Burden," by William Easterly
6. "Never Learn To Type: A Woman at the United Nations," by Margaret Joan Anstee
7. "Banker to the Poor," by Muhammad Yunus
8. Any and all of the PostSecret books
9. "What is the What," by Dave Eggers
10. "The L Word" - love letters written by all kinds of amazing authors like Neil Gaiman, Margaret Atwood, etc.
11. "God Grew Tired of Us," by John Dau
12. "War," by Gwynne Dyer
13. "Shake Hands with the Devil," by Romeo Dallaire - can you believe I've not read this yet?! I can't.
14. "The Translator," by Daoud Hari - this is the guy who was the translator for the guy who wrote the article on the Sahel, who was captured by rebels in Darfur and tortured. Just some light reading, you understand.
15. "Life in the Valley of Death," by Alan Rabinowitz
16. "A Lion Among Men," by Gregory Maguire - he wrote the "Wicked" books, and my personal favourite, "MirrorMirror."
17. "The English Major," by Jim Harrison
18. "Gods Behaving Badly," by Marie Phillips
19. "Tsar," by Ted Bellcut