Oh...

Also, all the fuss the Republican party is kicking up over Obama's speech is laughable and demonstrative of the petty politics anyone voting for them is signing up for.First Obama is criticised for offering an ideology of change and bipartisanship. Now it is charged that Obama offering serious policy statements is 'misleading' because Obama is simply incapable of making policy. Their claim that Obama's plans to tax those making over $250 000 a year is hurting the 'working middle class' is a blinkered statement that treads parody. McCain continues the pretence of being a decent, hardworking, experienced man, while approving sniping attack ads with racist undertones.

The next post won't be on the American elections, I promise.

The Bureaucracy of Tedium

So Progress has been made on one of the things on my list, getting an Italian ID card. It turns out I need to quit my residency in Mirandola, and become part of AIRE, the constitutency of Italians abroad. This is fine by me, but I need to speak to the people at the Consulate General first. There's the rub. They're open from 9-12 every weekday. If you don't catch them in that three-hour window, you can call them from 15-18:30 on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and in any case if you want to speak to them you have to make an appointment by phone. (By calling at those times). In other words, this very nearly didn't happen.

In the end, I simply decided to send it by mail and let the postman sort it out. Maybe it's just me, but in this age of space-rockets and ''vulcanised'' rubber that we call the future, it's innately satisfying to compile a form, add a photocopy of your ID and proof of address, and send it in a manila envelope by post. Seriously, maybe that's just me.

Look forward to more Progress on items on my list coming soon.

Oh...

Also, I hope every American citizen of voting age realises that the hopes and expectations of the entire world rest on his or her shoulder(s). We can't vote, but more than any time in recent memory, the will of the world needs to be taken into account. The USA is very fond of calling its president 'the leader of the free world'. It's inescapably true so much of the time. There's a reason behind the world's keen interest in your elections, America, it's obvious.

Testing...

Right, so talking to the seething opacity of the internet is a lot more difficult than writing shit down on paper, the way nature intended.

There shouldn't be any fooling around on this blog, I've decided. Consider it where the final drippings of my thoughts go when they're done using my body (bastards). It is late, after all.

There are six things I need to do this year. Every year I make a list like this, in the hope that this time, dawn of dawns, will be the time that I actualise and potentialise and realise it all and improve myself. This has been going on since I was sentient, I'm pretty sure. No, probably a bit after that. Sigh, then it ends up sliding back to the same status quo, and next year's list grows. Obviously that won't happen this year, with the following things:

-Getting a driver's licence
-PROPERLY learning the goddamn harmonica
-Picking up enough guitar to get by
-Doing a fight or two
-Taking salsa classes with Eleanor
-Taking Arabic lessons at SOAS
-Wresting a goddamn Student Oyster Card from the money-grubbing sots at TFL.

That last one I added as a bonus. Still, this list is a pretty hefty one, by any standards, especially considering my earlier resolution to get a distinction in my Msc at SOAS. Maybe this blog should chart the slow loss of will for each of the goals, and end with a fantastically dramatic picture of my broken body surrounded by splintered musical instruments, salsa shoes, and a wallet full of expired cards.

Hey, but it can't all be that bad. If I actually focus and stop playing marathon gigs on Guitar Hero then I bet I can get most of this done. I even have an academic planner.

Ok, I'm going to keep an eye on myself with this blog, and imagine the peering of a thousand disembodied tappers from places like Wyoming or Manila, willing me to fail so they can validate their smug, popcorn-eating lifestyles. Fuck you.