Photo Blog/This I Believe: HAIR!

So a few weeks ago (when I posted the photo blog of Operation: Bald Eagle) Eli left me this comment-

"...I'm growing my hair out. I realize that it will be a change, but I guess I count it as being too inconsequential to be a satisfactory change in my lifestyle. A few of my friends seem to change their hair whenever they get restless or stressed out, and I don't really have a problem with it, I just don't understand it. Maybe you could shed some light on that in a future 'This I believe'? : )"

Well here at Lindsey in Lawrence we like to grant requests... so Eli, this is for you!

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Of all the things I know and believe, of everything I have seen and experienced, there is one thing that remains constant- my hair is going to change. (Like what I did there? Yeah, me too.)

As I told Eli, hair is one of those things we can control. Women (and some men) tend to change their hair when they go through changes in their lives. In the Old Testament shaving your head was a sign of mourning, and I have friends who have shaved their head as a sign of repentance or a sort of shedding of an old skin. Not too long ago, knowing that my relationship was over and there was nothing I could do about it, I splurged on a hair cut. If he was going to dump me, then at least I was going to know I looked good while he did it. Control, control, control.

On the other hand, some people are really attached to their hair. Quite honestly, I don't understand it and any insights provided would be greatly appreciated.

My hair, for me, represents different times in my life. As my life changes, so does my hair. Short hair with blond streaks? Freshman/sophomore year of high school. The incident with the black hair dye? William Woods- when our sorority bathroom constantly smelled like ammonia. Etc, etc, etc....

"Ah, that's interesting but where are the photos?" you ask. "This is supposed to be a photo blog!" Glad you asked...Observe the constant change in my life!

Aww, little Lindsey! So cute!

Little Bridget, even cuter!

Ack! Who thought the perm was a good idea?

Yes, Leia and I won a look-alike contest

What's worse, the hair or the jeans?

I dyed my hair black for a show where I wound up wearing a headdress and a wig.
Go figure...

The things we do for theatre eh?

Wait. Who let me get a perm again?

This one was taken roughly a year ago...

June 2007 before....

And after!

I'm not sure we could still win that look-alike contest...

So there you go...my constant change. I'm not sure how much light I shed on the issue, but at the very least it's good for a laugh ;-)

This I Believe pt. 2

Given that I'm a little emotionally drained right now, I've decided to do another exciting installment of my "Lindsey tries to be honest with herself and everyone else about what she actually believes about said topic" blog entry. I bet you're excited. ;-)

I took "The Politics Test" on OkCupid.com earlier today (the results are below), so I thought I might as well comment on that.

As it turns out I'm a "Strong Democrat", which is strange to me because the last 3 times I've taken this test (different times in high school and undergrad) my results have been more in the Centrist area of the grid. Apparently I was feeling a little more generous with my tax dollars (and yours!) today. ;-)

Technically I'm a registered independent, but right now I feel the country is so much in need of a change that I will be voting Democrat this November instead of throwing my vote away for a green party or libertarian candidate. From what I can see, John McCain is just George Bush without the funny accent, and obviously Dubba hasn't worked out so well these past 8 years.

I want to vote for Hillary, I really do. I think the US is ready for a woman president, however I'm not so sure the world is. Given the current global attitudes towards our country I think we need a great diplomat for a president, someone who can reach out to even those countries who are our "enemies". Unfortunately that will have to be a man. Barack the vote...eh Nate?

One thing that I do know is that I refuse to be a one-issue voter. I will vote for who ever I feel will be the best all around leader, the individual that will take the country in the best direction. If that means that I have to vote for someone who is anti-choice, but will pull us out of Iraq, fix the economy, help the environment, give us universal health care and better education, you'd better believe I will.

I'm also rather Marxist in my feelings towards church and state. Religious beliefs are a very private thing that needs to be kept in the private realm. They shouldn't be an issue in which candidate I vote for, unless I'm concerned that their personal beliefs will interfere with their ability to lead the country. I don't think churches should endorse (or campaign against) candidates or bills, I think the individuals members should choose based on their own personal beliefs.

But perhaps we're so overwhelmed with the anxiety of choice and change that it's just easier to let someone else tell you what to do.

Summing up: I'm an independent who will vote for whoever I feel will bring the most positive change and will lead the country in a productive, healthy direction. Separation of church and state is a must. The private sector and the public sector do not need to directly influence one another. Um, Barack in '08!

And Lindsey for philosopher-king in 2020! Ha!

You are a Social Moderate (55% permissive) and an... Economic Liberal (16% permissive) You are best described as a: Strong Democrat (16e/55s) Link: The Politics Test on Ok Cupid Also: The OkCupid Dating Persona Test

This I Believe...

(Yeah yeah I'm ripping the title off from NPR...I know)

This is the first entry in what I hope will be a series of entries where I give my opinion on...well...anything really. All that matters is that I'm being honest with you, my (rather anonymous) reader and putting it all out there. I'm setting aside my fears of judgment and rejection to better get to know myself. So disagree, argue, laugh, think I'm completely full of it; when it comes down to it, it isn't really about you. This might be slightly painful but hopefully a little enjoyable for all. :-D

I'm going to start with something a little easy, perhaps a little silly, but 100% honest. Here we go!

I hate robots.

Okay, okay...hate is a strong word. I strongly dislike robots.

Let me share with you a little something I wrote during my Classic Problems in Philosophy class junior year of college-

"I am not afraid to admit that I am a carbon chauvinistic speciesist. In order to be counted amongst those who actually have minds, you need to have grey matter like the rest of us.

I couldn't love someone who didn't have a mind, because any emotion they displayed, or anything they said to me would simply be the result of software. I'm not saying I would discriminate against robots, but I don't believe the artificial intelligence entity to be on the same level as those of us with brains.

Just because my Furby said "Kah may-may u-nye" (Furbish for "I love you") doesn't mean I believed it was capable of feeling love. It was simply responding to the program that says "If X happens, say Y". Consequently, I didn't feel any remorse when I accidentally gave it a heart attack with my TV remote control."

Clearly I am not a functionalist. I don't think you can recreate the human brain in silicon form. Even if you could make a computer program functionally identical to the human brain, it's still just a computer program. Maybe that makes me a bit of a soul theorist, but I think I'm okay with that.

At the end of my Theories and Methods class last week I pondered out loud whether or not Durkheim would recognize a church comprised of robots. One of the other students reminded me that computer technology is no where near that advanced and I had no need to fear a Matrix-style/I, Robot revolt any time soon.

Regardless, I want to be prepared.

Summing up: Part of my personal identity is dependent on me being a carbon-based human being. I do not believe I can be functionally re-created in a computer; there is something more to me than just electrical impulses. If there comes a time in my life where we run into an A.I. issue (a la the Matrix) you'd better believe I'm investing in an EMP (electromagnetic pulse) device.

(If you have any issues that you're interested to know my opinion about, feel free to leave them in a comment!)