Quick update

I had my interview for the Great Swedish Adventure on Friday afternoon. I think it went reasonably well. I should find out by the 21st whether or not I got on. I also found out that they pay you for being on the show - far more than I'd be able to make at a normal job. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. One of the questions they asked me during the interview was something along the lines of "Why are you proud to be Swedish?" I spit out some answer about having well-defined roots, and how it was cool when growing up to be one of my few friends who was 100% of one nationality, instead of a mix. As I was saying it, I realized how fucked up that is, and was kicking myself inside for even thinking it. Seriously, what's the point in taking pride in something like a pedegree that's tracible to one area? You're born with it. It's not like something you earned. It doesn't affect the present, knowing your ancestors all came from one area. It seems to me like a very mild version of racism, only instead of taking pride in a race (which is equally stupid), it's taking pride in a country of origin. The more I think about it, the more I want to distance myself completely from that type of thinking. My sister, Kirstin, had an interview for the show right after mine. She ended up crashing at my house Friday night, then I drove her to LAX on Saturday. So, umm, I don't drive on highways. I really need to do it, and get over the phobia, but for now I just leave earlier and find backroads and ways around it. Anyway, so I drove her to LAX from Pomona using only back roads. Apparently, while the GPS software has an "avoid highways" function, it does not have a much needed "avoid ghettos" option. My GPS took me right through the middle of South Central LA. I don't think I've ever seen so much graffiti in my life as I did in the 45 minutes it took me to get through that one area. Having never been through an area that was that trashed and poverty stricken, it really makes me think about just how priviledged I've been growing up. Other than that, there hasn't been a lot going on around here. My roommate's moving out at the end of the month, since he hasn't been able to find a job out here. He's moving to N. Carolina with his mom, who's helping him with the startup costs of a guitar company. I'm really bummed that he's leaving, because it's been so nice having somebody from home to hang out with, but I'm also excited for him, since it's an opportunity that would be hard to turn down. Speaking of Stu, he had quite the adventure the other day. I guess he was driving home, and got pulled over, just across the park from our house. According to him, the conversation went like this. Officer: "You from Colorado, huh?" (Looking at his license plates) Stu: "yes." Officer: "What are you doing here?" Stu: "Visiting some friends." Officer: "You have any guns in your truck?" Stu (kind of baffled): "umm, no?" Officer: "You out looking for hookers?" Stu (getting really confused at this point): "No, I'm driving back to my friend's house." Officer: "OK. Well, you've heard about Pomona, right?" Stu: "yes?" Officer: "Have a good evening then." So he was never given a real reason why he was pulled over (he's guessing it's just for having out of state license plates,) and apparently the cops here think that people from Colorado are gun-toting rednecks with a penchant for prostitutes. And with that "you have heard of Pomona, right" line, apparently he thinks this stinkhole city must be nationally known for it's hooker reputation. I don't know which line of thinking bothers me/cracks me up more. Another cat seems to be trying to adopt me. This brown tabby showed up on our front porch one night last week, and now he refuses to leave. It's been a week, and everytime I go outside, and every time I get home there he is on my front stairs, weaving between my feet, meowing for skritches and food. He's really sweet, and I don't want to see anything bad happen to him, but I also don't have the room to take him inside. I also refuse to take him to the Inland Empire Humane Society, since I get a terrible vibe off of that place. I'm kind of at a loss for what to do about him, but as it stands, I guess we have a temporary outside kitty?