"Nothing good ever came from slow-motion children..."

[chaletian]

♥ Praise the sweet lord and all his pigeons: I get paid tomorrow. The day after tomorrow I will be broke again, but never mind. That brief respite from poverty will see me through the long impecunious autumnal gloom of November.

♥ I popped into Foyles on the South Bank yesterday evening. I love that shop. Saw various potential presents, and will probably pop back in December. Also, have had a couple of cunning ideas for my parents.

♥ Katie and I broke our four-month National drought (I know – four months – we are actually genuinely shocked by ourselves) last night when we went to see The Emperor Jones, which I enjoyed a great deal. Paterson Joseph ftw.

♥ I am currently reading Introducing American Politics (which wins simply by virtue of having many, many illustrations, and people explaining complex political ideas through brief speech bubbles – genius). It is very interesting, though I still find myself a little bewildered at the fact that Washington DC (and indeed Puerto Rico – and who knew that was technically a part of America? Not me, that’s for damn sure as mustard) seems to have no proper Congressional representation. What’s that about? If there are any Americans (or indeed, non Americans) on my flist who can elucidate, I would be fascinated to learn the reason behind it.

♥ How much is today the most beautiful day? I popped out at lunchtime, and it was absolutely glorious. And herein lies the woe of daylight savings, because now by the time I leave work, it will be completely dark. Goddamn you, autumn!

♥ So, West Wing fanfic, eh? Me writing it, I mean. I feel quite proud. I mean, there I was, all scared and hesitant, and it has turned out more or less OK. I mean, the plot side of things is still sort of sketchy, and it’s not exactly the most tightly structured fic in the history of the world ever, but I think it works stylistically, and hey, you know that’s all that really matters to me…

♥ Groceries tonight. I have ordered too much bread and no more tuna. *sighs* Still, I think mostly it’s sensible stuff, and not ten boxes of cocopops and no milk.

♥ I love milk. This love does, however, mean that I can spend no longer than a couple of weeks out of range of a British supermarket (cuz, y’know, my milk thing). However, that is unlikely to be an issue in the near future. As Katie and I morosely commented on our exploration of Barnes at the weekend, while most of our friends seem to dash off to exciting places at the drop of a hat, our most exciting prospect was a weekend in Bath. Going on the coach. Staying in a hostel. Then we came home and discovered that even that wasn’t financially viable for the time being. But, as I said, on the plus side it means I can continue to enjoy my love of milk unhindered.

Comments

[katie__pillar.livejournal.com]

No tuna? That was shortsighted indeed, mon chou. I'm sure we'll struggle through (wo)manfully.

[celtic-tigress.livejournal.com]

The very general idea behind the lack of political representation for DC is that since it is the site of the federal government, it shouldn't be located in an actual state. Being located in a state would make it dependent upon that state's state government and the Founders wanted the federal government to be totally independent of all the states. Since DC isn't a state, they can't have members in Congress, or so some people claim, and so it works out in reality so far.

As for Puerto Rico, it is kind of the same thing. It is a US protectorate, but it isn't officially a state, so they can't have real representatives in Congress. There is a loud and ongoing debate on whether the people of Puerto Rico want to become a state, whether the US wants to accept them as a state, and whether it would be a good thing for them in terms of economy, government, ect, but so far they haven't signed on the dotted line.

[chaletian.livejournal.com]

Ah, that does make sense - thank you very much for explaining it! But isn't it an issue that a bunch of people are essentially disenfranchised?

[celtic-tigress.livejournal.com]

Mmmm, kind of. Some people are lobbying for congresspeople to represent DC, but as of right now, they have silent representatives. As in, they are elected, and they get to go to Congress and participate in the debates, and make their opinions known, but they have no vote. As of 1961 people in DC can vote in presidential elections as well.