My Conservative is Showing

A bill before the legislature would require some of Massachusetts oldest banking, financial and insurance companies to look deep into their history — and the histories of subsidiaries and predecessor companies — to uncover links to the slave trade, as a condition of doing business with the state.

via Bill would probe fiscal legacy of slavery in Mass. – Boston.com.

Are we SERIOUSLY considering this? Did several other states REALLY pass this kind of crap? I have to admit to agreeing with House Republican leader Rep. Brad Jones,  who “called slavery ‘a historical stain that is never going to be erased,’ but said the proposal sounds more like an academic or historical project best undertaken by a university rather than state government.” Doesn’t our state legislature have WAY better things to be doing with their time and MY money than research this? I find it hard to believe that anyone thinks any major company in this country doesn’t have some ties to the slave trade if you dig back far enough. It was a major business from before Europeans even came to this country–if you think not one tribe of Native Americans didn’t turn their hostages into slaves, you are sadly mistaken. I’m not condoning the practice; it was and continues to be a blemish on the world and the US, but how about looking forward, to those problems faced by African-Americans due to generations of slavery and prejudice against their ancestors. How about trying to further reduce prejudice and discrimination that’s still happening in many areas. I just don’t see how this knowledge will be of any use to anyone.

I guess it all comes down to priorities–I feel that all branches of the government has better things to do (like successfully restructure the Mass Highways and MBTA to save the taxpayers’ money) than ’study’ something that has no real bearing on society because it’s not going to change the past. Please do try to explain it to me though.

 

{GS} Escaped and Returned to Tell the Tale

This past weekend I went to the Great Escape, a weekend-long event put on by Girl Scouts of Eastern MA for leaders all over Council to get together to camp, socialize and attend workshop. I’m a little bit on GS overload right now, and kinda wish my job was starting now so I could get some of it out of my system. It was awesome getting to know other leaders and do some networking–I should create some simple little cards to make it easier to exchange info. I also learned that I know a lot more about Girl Scouts than I thought I did, and possibly more than some of the ‘trainers’ out there–I should present a workshop on GS History next year.

I also learned that I NEED to invest in some rain boots or something since I no longer commute via car. I also need to go through Billy’s camping gear and find his headlamps and see what else he has that I can commandeer–wtbrosie and I have a good start, but not NEARLY enough.

 

{GS} Off to a Good Start

The Girl Scout year has gotten off to a great start–even better than I’d planned. Over the summer Melissa and I got together with a couple of the Council staff members to create a Task Force for the Boston, Cambridge, Somerville area. Basically, these areas have very few resources and volunteers, so typically can’t work as individual Service Units. We realized over the summer that, without active Service Units, the girls aren’t getting all of the benefits of being Girl Scouts. By bringing together all of these under-served areas, we can have a ‘mega unit’ that will function like an SU for the time being. I’m really looking forward to seeing how this all pans out; we’ve had 2 meetings already and have some really big ideas, like an Adult Court of Awards (we deserve awards just as much as the girls do!!) and an encampment for the girls in February.

I’ve also been accepted to be a Council Facilitator (trainer). My training doesn’t start until February, but I’m excited to be able to offer more required trainings in the city since we get so few; I’m hoping to be able to provide some of the more obscure trainings that REALLY never get offered here.

Finally, I have a job! One of the Council staff members I’ve been working with suggested I apply for a part-time job as a Membership Aide. Basically, it’s what I’m already doing, only I’ll be getting paid for it.

 

Courses Ahoy!

This semester I’m taking 4 classes: College Student Development, Vocational Ed & Career Development, Counseling Theory and Financial Aspect of Higher Education. Out of them the only one I’m really not that keen on is Career Development–the prof is rather boring and disorganized, and the subject matter is less than interesting.

The other three however, are really interesting. I feel like Student Development is getting off to a fairly slow start, but I’ve had on less session than the other classes, and we’ve pretty much not ‘learned’ anything; we’ve been mostly focused on discussing the group projects that will be the culmination of the course. Counseling Theory is just fascinating in that I really enjoy learning about therapy and theories and whatnot–it’s the basis for choosing this program over some of the others. Financial Aspects may be my favorite as of right now. First of all, it’s taught by Mr. Feeny. Also, it’s an extremely ‘real’ class–we’re discussing the actual workings of a college, how finances affect everything, etc. I think I’m enjoying it so much because it’s the class I have the most experience in, having been involved with a university on a more financial level than most of, if not all, the other members of my cohort.

The only bad thing so far is that I don’t have a job yet. I’ve applied to a couple of assistantships, but haven’t been hired. I’m not giving up, and should be able to make it financially for the semester, but I do need something in the near future. If the job I just applied to with Girl Scouts doesn’t pan out, I’ll go to Yankee Candle.

 

And Even More Settling

I officially begin week #3 of classes tonight. I’ve been pretty busy with classes and Ellie stuff and apartment stuff, so I’ve been super-duper neglectful of blogging, or much of anything except Facebook and PackRat lately. I’m loving living here, and we’re really pulling things together. I have class tonight, but am spending tomorrow putting away the rest of my stuff, doing laundry, cleaning the apartment (it’s Fall Cleaning time!!), and general domestic stuff. I’ll also spend some time playing catch-up with my reading since I was waiting for one book to arrive via mail, and for my refund to come in before buying the rest of them. I’m also pretty busy with Girl Scout stuff and trying to find an assistantship or other job to make a little bit of income.

 

Settling In

We’ve gotten to the point of moving in where we’re decorating. We’ve got some pictures up and are slowly distributing our other stuff around. I’m also working on organizing since I have free time lately.

Only one of my classes has posted to Blackboard and I’m kinda pissed about it. I want to buy as many of my books online as possible because, quite frankly, I’m broke. And cheap.

Girl Scouts–I’m not sure if it’s doing to be a good thing or if it’s going to slowly kill me. Hopefully it’s only because we are just starting out for the new year. I don’t even have a troop and I’m already running raged! I just need to figure out some stuff, prioritize and realize that I don’t have to do everything myself.

 

I’m Not Going to Work Tomorrow

Today was my last day…wow. The office had a cake and a small gift, which was really nice of them, but I hate being the center of attention so it was uncomfortable. Then my boss took my co-worker and I out to Firefly’s for dinner, where she gave me another card with money in it (she’s not great at buying gifts…). I’m definitely nervous about a ton of things–where am I going to get money to pay my bills? how difficult will my classes be? can I actually hack grad school? But overall, I’m okay.

The weirdest thing is going to be the fact that I no longer have to get up early and go to work anymore. Now all I have to concern myself with is school and Girl Scouts. It’s pretty freeing to be honest.

 

Culture Comes in Many Forms

I never talked about our day this past Sunday. Even though it was absolutely disgusting weather-wise, wtbrosie had a full day in Boston. That morning we went into Chinatown for the August Moon Festival. I used to go in with my family as a kid and teen, but I hadn’t been since probably my first year of college. it’s always a ton of fun, and I like begin able to expose wtbrosie to new things, like Dim Sum and Moon Cakes.

Afterwards, we joined the Boston Queer Adventurers and my friends Kim and Mel for Shakespeare in the Park. This is an annual free show performed by the Commonwealth Shakespeare Company (formerly affiliated with CitiCenter). This year they did The Comedy of Errors . I haven’t been able to get much theater in due to money and time, so I’m glad this is still happening in Boston–it’s good for the city too.

 

Adventures in Laundry

Here’s the backstory: Yesterday, while doing the laundry that had piled up during the move, I made the following Tweet, “I had no idea laundry could be such a process” I was posting this  on Facebook in reply to a comment on it, but I think it’ll be too long.

I got there with a ton of quarters, but they don’t TAKE quarters, you have to use a card. So I had to beg the other patrons to change quarters into a dollar so I could buy the card (I only had 10’s on me). Thank the gods someone was able to do so, I’d already put the laundry and detergent into the machine. I also had to figure out how to work the card–put it in, THEN select the cycle. The dryers required me to do that for every block of 8 minutes I wanted…

 

Almost Done

Our new place--click for more

I’m going to say we’re about 97% done with the move. All the furniture, most of my stuff and the cats are in. We’re heading back to Plymouth Saturday to pick up the last of the stuff that’s ours and that should be about it. There is still some cleaning and organizing that needs to be done, as well as some shopping (especially for bathroom stuff!), but the three of us are really pleased are are settling in. The boys are slowly getting used to the new place and were all over us last night, which is way better than hiding like they were Tuesday night when they arrived.