Life's a funny thing right now. War's on the horizon, and I don't know what to think. I fear the tremendous loss of life that war will bring, and I think this move will only bring us more trouble. Granted, I don't like Saddam or his regime, but I strongly feel this is NOT the way to approach the situation, especially as there's almost no support for these recent actions in the UN. Thumbing our collective nose at the world's UN ambassadors and being so goddamned 'American' in the worst sense (enforcing our views, style of gov't, and culture while ignoring the opinions of the rest of the world) goes against all that I've learned through interactions with people from different cultures. (Really, why bother having cultural exchange programs if we don't care about other cultures in world politics? Seems like waste of money...) I don't like being in another country and having people look shocked when I tell them I'm an American, and a Texan to boot - "But you don't ACT like an American! Most Americans are ill-mannered, opinionated, ethnocentric, egocentric loudmouths!" (add 'illiterate, uncultured cowboys' to that list if you substitute 'Texan' for American) There's a reason why citizens of other countries don't care for Americans. We have to quit acting like our culture/government/opinions/etc are the best around, as if there's no other viable perspective. We need to stop throwing our military around, cease our constant (undesired) intervention in other countries' affairs. I'm not a fan of the isolationist foreign policy, but for as long as I can remember we've had troops in other countries, and I remember losing servicemen on several of these 'peace-keeping missions', usually to those whom we were trying to help, but who resented our intervention. I'm certainly not advocating an absolute withdrawal from world politics, but a good dose of common sense, tact and diplomacy would do a damn lot for the white house right now. And maybe a good kick in the seat of the pants.

-sigh- Anyway, enough agonizing over world politics. Time to move on to more pleasant topics on the home front.

The good news:

1) Finals week isn't scaring me like it used to. This is probably due to the lack of phys and math exams ;), but I'm not complaining. Still a little worried about the h 161 paper and ec 130 final, though.

2) I'm happy. It's finals week, and I'm happy - I'm not fearing for my life or sanity. I'm in a relationship with a guy that I love, and I'm happy - I don't feel overwhelmed, or used, or in pain. I can still think clearly; I don't feel like I'm drowning in emotion. I don't feel like walls are closing in on me, or that I'm in danger of losing my independence.
I don't understand these things... I hadn't thought any of this was possible. Sure is nice to be proven wrong, though. :)

3) It'll be good to see Dad on Friday. Here's to the annual 'El Paso and back' road trip to register the truck. Hooray!

Ok, enough fun, back to the core paper. Whyever is it so difficult to write for that class, when it's so easy to write here and in other classes?