My Parents Are Dirty Hippies

I'm sure this shocks exactly no one. A lot of people, upon learning that I was dropping out of Central, immediately asked me whether my parents knew, cared, what they thought, etc. My parents were pretty much all for it. My mom read a few of the books I had checked out of the library at the time (John Taylor Gatto, that kind of thing), and I think by the end she would've been a little horrified if I hadn't dropped out of school.

So, they're pretty freaking liberal. So-- and I think this follows-- my mom wants to get chickens. To put in our garage.

This strikes me as moderately insane.

There are dead chickens at Super Target. There are live chickens on farms in places where your next neighbor lives several bajillion miles away and there is no WiFi. We do not live in one of those places, but we do live six minutes away from Super Target, Rainbow, and that one shady discount grocery store.

Real, living chickens would squawk and strut and probably shit everywhere. I find this worrisome. However, I feel like I probably owe my mom one in the keeping-an-open-mind department in terms of letting me drop out of school. So we'll see.

It's Been a Minute!

So, I've been at camp, lazy, procrastinating, etc., for the past couple weeks, but here I am. BIGGER AND BETTER THAN EVER. (And with more metal punched through my skin! I got a second lobe piercing for both ears about a week and a half ago. The price and the degree of badassery don't really equate, I'd say-- 90 freaking dollars, and about 0% badass-- but hey.)

Anyway. Apparently I failed the Saint Paul Math GRAD Standard test. I guess the Saint Paul Public School system has no method of distinguishing between "failed" and "didn't take because is not planning to graduate, partially because of these stupid tests". Ah, the sweet smell of failed bureaucracy. In similar standardized-failure news, the MN legislature has decided to make that math test easier next year, because too many kids failed it. Why yes, legislature, that IS the reasonable solution! If kids aren't up to education standards, just change the standards! (Check it out.)

In significantly less idiotic news, I'm going to the Winnipeg Folk Festival in about two weeks. Which will mean seeing Elvis Costello twice within the span of about a week, weirdly. He's going on something of a whirlwind tour, and I'm briefly stalking him. I hope to have developed a pretty close relationship with him by mid-July. Just kidding...

In the Elvis Costello spirit, though, check out this amazing video of his:

Where In The World Is Carmen Sandiego?

Carmen Sandiego, man. What a babe. Also, what an awesome name.

So, I mention all this because I might be going on a trip... somewhere... this summer and/or next year. I am really, really cheap, and I've saved a lot of money from babysitting and nannying over the years. According to los parentos, I should spend all that money before they have to list the money we have on college financial aid forms. How about that.

Naturally, this goes against everything I stand for as a really, really cheap person. However, if the choice is between spending my money on an awesome trip and spending my money on college tuition, then I guess the choice is clear. So the question, then, is: Where to go?