LIFE

today my boyfriend bought a LIFE magazine at a thrift store from feb. 21, 1964, and if i'm extra careful, i might just spill my beer on it. on the cover is the incriminating photo of lee harvey oswald brandishing his rifle and communist propaganda (back when leaflets could kill) and inside is a "clinical" analysis of oswald's life, including disturbing stories of junior high truancy and poor spelling grades in elementary school. poor spelling leads to a life of crime! it's fascinating to see the extent they went through to show how oswald was destined to be an assassin from age two- you can see it in the way he smiles in his baby pictures. discontent!

like any good skeptic, i plunged head first into the worst kind of internet distraction available to easily distracted people: reading wikipedia articles on JFK conspiracy theories. oh, i watched a little zapruder, looked at autopsy photos, considered the "tramps" theory, read about magic bullets. it was great fun until i realized that i had been looking at fairly unsubstantiated information for an embarrassingly long time, but recovered my intellectual confidence as we came to a conclusion that conspiracy theorists and people acquiescing to a totalitarian state are using the same part of the brain. naturally i can't recall the premise right now, but i'm pretty sure it was close to brilliant. or maybe bullshit, hard to say.

it's an awfully iconic photo to have lying around, though- it seems important somehow and i can't stop staring at it. and inside there's a story on beatlemania, and adds for bright orange toasted american cheese sandwiches! hours of fun!

to all those pissed off and spiteful clinton supporters out there, a message:

buck up! you act as though hillary clinton is the ONE CHANCE that a woman be a presidential nominee. what sort of opinion do you have of women that her losing the nomination is an insurmountable blow to all hopes of there being a female president in our country? I'm sick of the victimization surrounding this class of feminism. clinton was an excellent candidate, favored to win the nomination from the inception of her campaign, and it was an incredibly close race. her ability to do good in america is not void if she remains a senator.

think about it- what can you do to emulate the kind of change in america shown by the strength of her candidacy? you could spit and sulk and threaten to vote for mccain, or you can participate, remain positively engaged with our political process, encourage your friends to do the same. shake it off- if you let anger take over we will all suffer.