Things I ate on my 24th birthday:

  1. Pannekoek (Dutch crepe-like pancake) with apple, onion, and bacon, topped with weird/awesome Dutch syrup
  2. Whiskey gelato (!)
  3. Espresso chocolate
  4. Deep-fried tofu, cod with thai herbs with coconut rice, and pad thai

Aaand Alex bought me shoes. That was nice.

Other than that I’m pretty much in world-hatey mode.

I’m mad that I’m not more motivated. I’m mad that people can seriously be upset about a TV talent show that no one took seriously in the first place when they live at a country that is at war. I am mad when I see ads on the bus for a “pregnancy crisis centre.” I am mad when I read local bloggers dismissing the call for a higher minimum wage because 1) people who do menial work don’t “deserve” more and 2) it’s all teenagers flipping burgers, they don’t really need a living wage.1 I’m mad that I watched “The Search For The Next Pussycat Doll” the other night.2 I’m mad that I have this feeling that there’s nothing I can ever do to change anything.

1 Alex and I had a long conversation about how there could be other ways to make sure that the working poor get a living wage, like how in Europe there are various programs for guaranteed income subsidies, which accounts for how students living at home wouldn’t necessarily need to make $10/hour. There are nuanced and pragmatic ways to talk about a social safety net, but basically saying “people should suffer because that’s capitalism” makes me sad. When I hear people talk this way, I always think about this Pandagon post, which is what it took for it to click for me that poverty is a form of violence.

2 They are all THE SAME GIRL. I mean, one is tall, and one is short, and one has bangs, but these are their only distinguishing features.